Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Burning Sea ❯ A Whale of a Tale ( Chapter 1 )

Burning Sea

hato-chiisai

YAOI WARNING Yami/Yugi, Ryou/Bakura, Malik/Marik, Seto/Joey, Tristan/Otogi

DISCLAIMER: Do you know what a dislcaimer is? Well, if you're smart enough to know what it is, you're smart enough to know that I do't own Yugioh.

Chapter 1

A Whale of a Tale

The three boys ran up to the bow of the ship known as the Lady of Faith, giggling in excitement, as the vessel left the harbor. White hair fluttered in the first boy's face, impeding his vision. He stopped his sprint, and brushed his bangs out of his large brown eyes, and stared at the ocean before him. His two friends came up next to him, staring at the foamy splashes the ship made as it sliced through the water.

"Malik," Ryou said. "Could you tie my hair back like yours? I can never get it right." The taller boy on his left, with tan skin and long blonde hair, grinned, and gathered Ryou's hair at the back of his neck, and tied it there.

"That's why I keep mine short." Yugi giggled.

"Yugi, you wear a freakish creature on your head." Malik snickered, as he turned his attention back to the water. Yugi scowled, and stuck his toungue out at Malik.

"Let's give a big hand for maturity, people!" Ryou snickered, making Malik laugh, and applaud, while Yugi gave Ryou a dirty look.

"You boys behaving yourselves?" A gruff voice snapped, making the three jump. They tunred, and stared a very nasty looking man, glaring at them through one good eye. Ryou gulped.

"Uh, yessir." He mumbled, and man got up into Ryou's face.

"Your father may be the captain, boy, but I'll have no shennanigans on THIS ship." Ryou nodded, slightly.

"Y-yessir." He squeaked, and the man glared hard at him.

"Kento!" A man in a blue uniform appeared.

"Captain!" Ketno said, and saluted him.

"Stop scaring the boys." Ryou's father chuckled, and Kento grinned, and ruffled Ryou's hair, giving him an amused wink.

"Sorry sir. I coulnd't help it. C'mon, boys, I'll give you the grand tour, as the Captain is busy!" Ryou swallowed, and glanced at his father.

"Go on, Ryou. Kento's a good man. He just likes to have fun with new people. Now run along." Ryou's father said, lsapping Kento on the back. Ryou smuiled, and nodded.

"See you later, Dad?" He asked, giving his father a hug.

"You bet. See you at lunch. And keep Malik out of trouble."

"Hey!" Malik protested, and Kento laughed.

"I can tell you and me are gonna get along great." Kento told Malik, steering him away, brushing past the captain, whbo suddenly cleared his throast. Kento froze.

"Kento?"

"Aye, sir?"

"My compass......" Ryou's faterh gavce Kento a look, and held out his hand. KEtno gave a sheepish smile.

"Aw, dammit. I can NEVER lift anything off of you." He said, giving him the compass he had picked from his pocket. "C'mon boys, let's go!" Ryou, Malik and Yugi followed, as Kento began to talk on and o about anything of interest on the ship. Ryou was glad that his father had decided to take him along on his voyage, even if it was only for a week, which was why Ryou's best frineds were allowed to come. His father was often gone on long voyages, and would come home every now and then with amazing stories to tell his son.

But now that Ryou was sixteen, he was allowed to acompany his father on the shorter trips. It was his dream to one day captain a great merchant ship like his father, and his father's father, and his father before him. His friends knew this as well, and were extremely excited when Ryou had asked them to come along for a short journey. Yugi and MAlik's parents had been thrilled. Yugi's father was a silver smith, but Yugi had no interest in that trade, and Malik's family was a band of gypsies that had moved on and left Malik and his parents behind, after Malik's mother took ill, and was unable to travel any longer. The two boys had yet to find a profession that they wanted to become an apprentice of, even though others their age had been apprenticed for quite a few years. Thei parents hoped that the boys would be able to find their calling on the sea.

Kento talked animatedly about everything, from bow to stern, from helm to hull. After lunch, he began to tell them stories of the sea, of storms and monsters, like the mythical Kraken, a giant quid over a hundred feet long, that dragged ships to the ocean floor, and the sea serpents, and the dreaded Sirens and mythical mermaid. He trold stories of great whales, and of the dolphins saving the lives of men who had ben shipwreked. The boys listened in fascination. But the story that intrigued them most came that evening, after dinner, when the crew of the ship had gathered above deck to drink, and tell stories, as usual. Ryou's father stood at the helm, overlooking the crew, and at a place where he could hear all of the tales that the men told. Kento leapt up, after some of the usual run of the mill tales had been thrown around, and commanded everyone's attention.

"Enough of these trivial tales that have been exagerated upon aso much they more than likely no longer hold any truth. Let us regale our young adventurers," He ruffled Ryou and Malik's long hair, making Yugi, and the cabin boy, Mokuba, giggle. "With a story as real as myself. And one that we all know well. Ryou, Yugi, Malik, have ye ever heard tell of, the Pharaoh?" The crew grew silent, and Ryou's father frowned.

"The Egyptian Kings?" Malik asked, cocking his head.

"Oh, he's a king all right. The Pirate King!" Kento said, grimly. "And as real as you and me, young Malik. He is the Pharaoh of the Seven Seas, he is. You see, there have been numerous men known as the King of the Seven Seas, but this pirate takes the cake. He gained the nickname Pharaoh among his crew, and it stuck. Though, his crew is constanly changing. I doubt there's a single man on his ship that were there when he first began his crusade. Well, with the exception of two..."

"Kento!" Ryou's fatehr called. "Do not frighten these boys with your ridiculous stories!" Everyone stared at him.

"Dad, we're not scared." Ryou insisted.

"Captain, do you deny that this man does not exist? Do you beleive him to be a myth?" Knto snarled. Ryou's father frowned, and looked away.

"No, I do not. I know he's very real. But it's not necessary to tell the boys."

"But we wanna hear!" Yugi whined.

"Please, Dad?" Ryou asked, giving his father the large pleading eyes that he knew would work. The captain sighed.

"Very well. Kento, continue."

"Where was I?"

"You said that there were two....." Malik said, not knowing what the "two" were.

"Ah, yes. You see, the Pharaoh has two very loyal companions, his first and second mate, although, which is which, no one knows. The first, is a tall mysterisous man, well, they're all mysterious, but, anyway, he's known as the Arab. For he came from the Middle East. He wields a pair of deadly Scimitars, and is dressed in the garb of his native land. Though tales say that his back is covered in scars, of an ancient writing of a dead language. His skin is the color of, well, THIS color!" He grabbed Malik's arm, and held it up, letting all see the color of his tan skin. "And just as our dear little friend, he has pale golden hair, like wheat ready for harvest." He pet Malik's hair. "Cold cruel amythest eyes. The other is from a land even farther to the east. He wields a blade known as a Katana, with an ivory handle, that matches his ivory skin. His hair hangs long, and can only be matched by that of our dear captain's son." Ryou felt all eyes turn onto him. Ketno knelt before him. "Ever wondered why the sea men would stare at you, as if they feared you?" He fingered a strand of Ryou's hair. "This is why. You remind them of the Great Theif of the East, who stands at the Pharaoh's side, his blade feasting on the blood of dozens of sailors."

"W-what about the Pharaoh himself?" Yugi asked, breathless.

"The Pharaoh.... The Pirate King. None has ever been as successful as he, little one. No man has faced his rapier and lived. A mighty warrior that even the Spanish Armada fears. They say that he has supernatural powers that he shares ith his two right hand men. He has never failed on a raid. It is rare that a ship is able to sail away from his attack, and even more rare that a survivor is left on the ship. The only survivors known, have been women and children, and the occasional wounded man. He has golden bangs on head of black hair, tipped in crimson, just like you, little Yugi. But his eyes burn like red embers, and he kills just to dull his blade that he might enjoy sharpening its edges again. Pray that you never run into him, children."

"Enough, Kento." Ryou's father said, sternly. But Ryou wasn;t satsfied.

"What is the name of his ship?" He gasped. Kento looked at him.

"The Black Magician."

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A pair of ruby eyes narrowed as they watched the Lady of Faith slowly make her way across the sea, under the crescent moon. Another fgure stood by his left hand, aslo staring, as a third approached and took his place on the right.

"Well?" A deep voice said, and the one who had just arrived spoek.

"A merchant ship. Delivering goods to the trading post. One lookout. Sleeping."

"Are you sure, Bakura?"

"I have assurances from Seto. His brother has never failed us before. And even if he did fail to drug the lookout, we would have to go in to get him out." Baura said, tucking a lock of silver hair behind his ear. The man with ruby eyes nodded.

"Very well. Move."

"Aye, sir." Both men said, and left the side of the man with the ruby eyes. The ship pulled along side the Lady of Faith, and sure enough, the lookout was dead. A small figure appeared from the shadows.

"Mokuba....." The man with ruby eyes said, nodding to the young boy. "Well done."

"The captain is in his chambers, Pharaoh." Mokuba said, before the man picked him up, and passed him to another man on his own ship. The Pharaoh nodded to his crew, who began to creep onto the Lady of Faith. He whirled when one man slipped, and yelped.

"Fool!" Pharaoh hissed.

"S-sir!" The man gasped, as his captain drew his rapier.

"I have no use for a bungling idiot like you. Bakura. Take care of him." On that order, Bakura cme up behind the poor man, and silently slit his throat, then lowered him quietly into the water. Pharaoh nodded his approval, and looked at his crew.

"Go." He hissed, and with a loud slam, the door to the bunks was opened, and the pirates flooded in, killing as quickly as they could.

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Ryou, Malik, and Yugi jerked awake at a yelp outside their window. Ryou frowned, at a murmur from the deck above, and then gasped when a body was slipped into the water. Malik and Yugi stared at the window, nervously, as Ryou crept over to it.

"There's another ship out there!"

"We should wake your dad." Yugi whimpered.

"What's its name?" Malik asked. Ryou squinted his eyes to see. Suddenly, he went pale, and he tuned frightened eyes on his friends.

"The Black Magician...." Around their room, the violence suddenly, and loudly, began.

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I have no clue where this idea came from, but I like it. If you guys like it, I'll continue it. Let me know in a review, k? And in case you do ,like it, Next Chapter: Captured

OH! Millennium Balance, the sequel to Koibito Yami is up! Go read!