Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Differences Don't Matter ❯ On the Other Side ( Chapter 25 )

Yugi burst open the door to the bar and looked helplessly around for the owner. “Makoto,” he shouted. “Makoto, I need your help!” He looked in the back and even in the room the bartender had let him use during his stay there. The worst hit Yugi when he couldn't find his grownup friend. “No…”

 

“Yugi…”

 

“No!” The elf didn't want to believe the worst, but in the back of his mind he knew that it was the truth. Makoto had gone with the rest of the men in the city. He'd gone into the forest, most likely with some kind of a weapon, and was going to help the humans win the war against the elves. “We have to go, Yami!” He ran out the door without waiting to see if the older was following him.

 

“Stop, Yugi!” Yami grabbed the distraught elf's hand and pulled him roughly into his chest. “You have to think about what you're doing, Yugi, or else somebody is going to get hurt.”

 

“Yami, Yugi!”

 

The two looked towards the voices calling them and saw Bakura and Marik making their way over, a pitchfork in Marik's hand and a kitchen knife in either of Bakura's. They tossed them to the ground angrily with sweat dripping off their faces.

 

“They won't listen to reason, Yami,” Bakura huffed, his hands on his knees to help him stay standing as he caught his breath.

 

Marik agreed, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. “First they just laughed at us like we were joking, then they yelled at us when they found out we were serious, than they tossed those these at us like our minds would suddenly change and we would join them. They've already gone into the forest.”

 

Yugi panicked, looking around for something to do and when nothing came fast enough he just dropped to his knees and sobbed in his hands. “I don't even know how I'll be able to stop all this! I feel so lost!”

 

Yami knelt beside Yugi and rubbed soothing circles into his back. “Just take a deep breath and listen to what you're instincts are telling you to do.” He saw Yugi close his eyes and taking deep, uneven breaths. “Now, where do you feel like you're needed most?”

 

There was silence and everyone waited patiently for Yugi to answer the question. The elf's face contorted with concentration. Tears stained his cheeks and his hands were covered in soil and dust from the road. His nice, black pants were now covered in the reddish brown muck of the street and his shirt was also painted in the grime.

 

Birds in the street tweeted loudly in the quiet street. It seemed even the ladies had either decided to stay in or went with the men to help looking after any captives that would be taken. A large crash had all the birds flocking from the quickly and the humans' heads jerked to look at the smoke rolling up.

 

“I wonder what the heck that was all about,” Marik murmured. Yami and Bakura both shrugged.

 

Yugi glanced up as well to see the last curls of smoking floating away from the tree tops just near the entrance of the forest. “The woods,” he whispered. Everyone looked at him questioningly and he stood up, standing taller than either of them had ever seen him before. “I need to be there and that's where I'm going.”

 

“Then we'll go with you,” Marik announced, getting nods of agreement from his cousins. Bakura gave a thumbs up and Yami wrapped an arm around his waist. “We'll do whatever you need us to, just as long as we can help.”

 

Yugi's eyes became teary once more, but for a completely different reason. He wiped his violet eyes quickly. “Thank you.” The four of them headed off for the stables to grab horses. They would need speed if they were going to have a chance at catching up with the rest of the humans.

 

“I just hope Malik and Ryou are okay,” Marik said as he attached the reigns onto his horse and pulling himself up. Bakura nodded, staring off into space for a moment.

 

Yami shook his head. “Weevle is with them and if that elf has managed to survive this long than they should be okay.” He pulled out a beige horse with a white star on its forehead and hauled himself up after dressing her. Afterwards he pulled Yugi up to sit behind him. “But still, leaving them alone for so long could be dangerous. The dogs will sniff them out if they're too close.”

 

“Dogs,” Yugi looked up quickly.

 

The crimson-eyed human nodded. “Yes, if I know my father as well as I do than he and some of his partners no doubt brought along hunting dogs to take out most of the elves in a hurry.”

 

“Then what are we waiting for,” Bakura questioned, digging his heels in his horse's sides and galloped away. He was followed quickly by other two horses.

 

~~

 

Weevle, Ryou, and Malik all looked back when the boom sounded behind them.

 

“What in the high heavens was that,” Ryou asked, looking bug-eyed at the other two.

 

The other two shrugged nonchalantly, still staring towards the area where smoke was starting uncurl itself.

 

“Whatever it was,” Weevle commented, starting towards the next tree, “the sound couldn't have been any good news for us. We've got to move faster.” Agreeing, Malik and Ryou quickly followed after him. As they went on their way they continued to enlarge the plants by speeding their growth as they went from engorged tree to engorged tree.

 

They arrived at the center of the forest in good timing, hoping to have put a large amount distance between them and the group of humans coming after them. They climbed down from the tree they were in and were immediately stopped from continuing into the village.

 

“Stop right there, intruders!” It was silver-haired elf done up in high pigtails and her blue eyes reflected the color of ice. A sharpened spear gripped tightly in her hands proved she was serious enough.

 

Weevle stepped forward. “Please, we mean only the best in coming here. Fetch High Elder Morzin and he'll identify who I am.”

 

“Or you can just turn around and come back the way you came,” the girl demanded, poking the elf's chest with the spear.

 

Frustration started to build up within the pointed-eared creature and he shoved the spear away from his face with his face wrinkled with anger. “Listen, you, something big is coming and we've come to warn you. The least you could do is hear us out.”

 

“You're an outsider as far as I'm concerned and therefore you aren't allowed to come in here unless you have a letter from your own elder.”

 

Malik pushed Weevle behind him and grew to his full height in attempt to intimidate the girl, which was easy since he was so much taller than the both the blue-haired elves to begin with. Ryou watched from behind his best friend, too timid to say anything but anger was beginning to rise in him as well.

 

With his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face Malik demanded, “And what of Yugi! He's part of this village and a vital key to ending this war! Or do you want this whole place going up in smoke and your families being separated and beaten.”

 

There was a gasp that everyone turned to look at when Yugi's name was mentioned. Malik and the elfin girl didn't look until the taller elf's outburst was finished. A young woman was the source of the noise and she had cherry red hair pulled back in a high ponytail with the strands twisted into hundreds of little braids going down her back. Next to her was tense man with raven black hair and a stern look. He was holding her forearm gently but firmly. “You know Yugi,” she asked. “You know my son?”

 

“Eliza, no,” the man next to her protested, but the girl pulled her arm away from his grip and hurried over to Malik.

 

“Please, do you really know my son? Where did you hear that name?” The woman was hysterical and her eyes wide as she shook Malik's shoulders with trembling hands.

 

Ryou decided to step forward and he placed a calm hand on her shoulder. “Miss, we're friends of Yugi's. My name is Ryou and this Malik and Weevle.” He didn't get any farther because of a sudden hush that went over the crowd.

 

From the crowd an elf that didn't look any older than forty appeared, but Ryou and the other two, being elves themselves, knew perfectly well that this elf was far older than he appeared and was without a doubt he was the high elder Weevle had asked for.

 

“What's going on here? Mitiki, why do you trouble your own kin? In times as desperate as these it is only right to welcome fellow brethren who come seeking our aid rather than turn them away.”

 

The female elf bowed her head lowly. “Forgive me, Elder Morzin. I was wrong in my attempt to turn them away.”

 

“All is forgiven,” the wizened elf said, placing a hand on her hunched head. “What can I do for you weary travelers?”

 

Weevle pushed his way forward again and knelt on the ground, taking Morzin's hand and placing it to his forehead as he lowered his eyes. Without a word the kind brown eyes of the elder knew who the elf.

 

“Do my eyes deceive me or could this possibly be Weevle the Wanderer before me?”

 

“I am, High Elder. Forgive me for returning to my forbidden home, but I come here of great importance.”

 

The elder smiled and gestured for the submissive elf to stand. “All has been forgiven years upon years ago, my friend. It is you who keeps away from this land, not the land that keeps you away. What brings you back to your first home at last?”

 

Weevle offered a gentle smile and stood up once more. There was a sense of serenity in the air that seemed to fill and relax everyone who breathed in. Morzin and Weevle didn't seem to take as much notice in the effects of the small breeze as everyone gathered around, but their postures were severely more relaxed than before.

 

Everyone in the area stood upright, but not stiffly so due to the light wind, but their ears were definitely the most strained of any area of their bodies. Even with the advanced hearing none of them wanted to miss a syllable of what was to be said. The woman claiming to be Yugi's mother was the closest to the small group and her breath was held unknowingly as she waited for the reason of the unexpected arrival.

 

“My lord, humans walk in the forest and they're seeking this place. They mean to capture more elves and then wipe out the rest entirely. Yugi is doing his best to try and stop it, but none of us have been able to figure what it is he's supposed to do exactly.” He stopped when Morzin held his hand up for silence.

 

Turning to the red-haired woman the elder said, “Eliza, Yugi is the proof of union between yourself and Kalab; is that right?”

 

“Yes, High Elder Morzin. Yugi was captured and taken away from us.”

 

A curious look crossed the elderly elf's smooth face and he looked to the skies for a moment before looking at the dirt of the ground. “If my aged mind recalls correctly, for some reason yourself and Kalab sheltered your son and rarely let him see the true light of outside. I always wondered what you were afraid of, whether you were overly protective of him or if it was something that had to do with your fellow kinsman.”

 

An ashamed look crossed both of the adults' faces and they refused to look at the high elder or anyone else. When it became neither would say anything in their defense a murmur filled the crowd of what the couple could've been hiding.

 

“They knew of the human attack and didn't tell anyone,” someone yelled from the crowd.

 

“Traitors! They should be exiled,” another shouted angrily, a rock sailing through the air and landing a few feet from the elves.

 

“No! No, that's not true,” Kalab said defensively, holding Eliza tightly in his arms. “Please, you must listen to us.”

 

Nobody wanted to listen though. Nearly all of the elves in the group had lost one or more of their family and friends to the humans and all the emptiness and anger came out at once when the opportunity arose, whether the two were guilty or not.

 

“They were keeping their son hidden so he wouldn't be taken, but they weren't going to warn anyone else!”

 

Malik clenched his fists tightly at his sides, half-moons from his fingernails imprinted into his palms and he could feel the earth around him beginning to grow from his elevated emotions. Behind them another explosion sounded and suddenly vines and bushes behind him grew to enormous sizes and blocked the exit with knots and thorny branches. Everybody gasped and all yelling ceased.

 

“That's enough,” he shouted, his voice echoing in the enclosed clearing. “Stop making excuses and listen to what they're trying to say.” Nobody said a word and above a bird was heard chirping curiously in the trees. All eyes were on the previously ignored couple and the high elder, who surprisingly allowed the cruel comment to go on for so long, nodded for the couple to explain their actions.

 

Ryou hurried next to his best friend and laid his head on his back, just underneath the collar of his shirt, and rubbed slight circles into his back. “It's okay,” he soothed. “You can relax now.”

 

Malik nodded and let his muscles relax again. He was more shaken up from the power of his personal explosion than the actual yelling from his fellow elves. He now realized why Yugi was so weakened when he'd lost control of himself. Now in the forest, where his forgotten about power was easily controlled he realized he could have uprooted a thousand-year-old tree if he tried hard enough and it was only because of the tranquility in the air that he didn't.

 

Eliza and Kalab both nodded agreeably at each other and Kalab moved forward. “As you know my grandfather was a great seer of what was and will be.” There was a short talk that weaved through the crowd. When it quieted he continued. “He came to us the day before our son came into this world and told us something that made us have the hardest decision of our lives. He said to us that our Yugi would be the end of the war because it has been told that the one who bears the tri-circular mark will be the one to unite the two worlds of human and elves. We didn't want to believe him, but it turned out to be the truth when we saw on our saw's wrist the mark.”

 

“We decided together that we would hide Yugi as though it was a curse and not something that would help us all. It was wrong of us and we see that now that we should've trusted Yugi and help him through his destiny rather than refuse to tell him anything about the mark. As it is, whether we tried to fight it or not the world's are once again warring and Yugi knows who he is,” Eliza finished.

 

Morzin rubbed his chin for a second and nodded. “I can understand your fear. Your first child and there was a chance of losing him easily before he even had a chance to survive. Solomon told myself as well that the union of the two worlds was soon to come, but when none came forward I believed it was nothing more than an old elf's last wishes before his time faded. Now everything fits together.” Here it turned to Malik and Ryou. “You say Yugi is thinking of something to do even now. Is he safe?”

 

Ryou smiled and Malik felt comfortable enough to smirk. “He had troubles earlier, but we believe now that everything has been sorted out,” Ryou explained. “We could not point out a better person than who is with him now.”

 

The elderly creature chuckled lowly, a deep laugh from his throat. “Love at such a tender age. Some things are truly amazing. It appears as though little Yugi united the world's without even realizing it.” Nobody understood his words except for the three friends.

 

~~

 

Yugi and the other arrived at the entrance of the woods and they stopped with fear. The destruction and horror of the image and only at the beginning of the long journey was enough to give them the image of the nightmare that could happen to them if they failed. However, despite his fright, Yugi pressed on and everything followed him without hesitation.

 

I'll save everyone or die trying….