Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Pointed Ears and Dancing Fairylight ❯ Affections Reaching Across Time ( Chapter 2 )

Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! They spur me to write faster. And that's a good thing for you guys. *giggle*

Threnody: Idiot! Just start the damn story already!

*gasp* Thren-chan, you cussed! O.O

Threnody: -.-;

Ok then! Without further ado, on with the story! As always, all disclaimers apply, folks!

Of Pointed Ears and Dancing Fairylight

Chapter Two: Affections Reaching Across Time

A rustle behind him, behind the tree; he jerked at the unexpected noise and turned his head, trying to peer around the thick trunk of the oak tree.

Startled crimson clashed with curious violet...

**********

Yami gasped and immediately bit his lip to keep from shouting out in surprise, dropping the golden puzzle in his startled shock.

/shock fear anxiety stop! who what happened where?/

The youth blinked sharply, realizing that the strangely magical purple eyes were -- of course-- attached to a face, which was in turn attached to a small, slender body clothed in rustic, medieval-style fabric in various shades of green that seemed entirely out of place outside of a Renaissance Fair. "What?" Where had that-- that voice come from?

/WAIT! who who who? not him not him! don't let down your guard idiot! trick trick tricktricktrick!/

The depths of unearthly amethyst eyes whirled, darkened and lit up in various stages of unfeigned anxiety, the gaze darting around like a bee to spring flowers, yet always returning to rest on Yami, as if magically drawn to his lithe form. Yami winced, feeling as if that too-sharp gaze could pierce his very soul, and the person... thing... creature... in front of him mirrored his action, eyes narrowing in sudden decisive conclusion.

And suddenly, he was gone. Crimson eyes widened in another bout of supreme shock , and Yami somehow found the energy to half-crawl closer to the giant oak and peer all the way around the tree, thinking perhaps the boy-- for he somehow knew the strange, unearthly being was male-- had retreated farther behind the tree. Nothing.

Then, a steel hand on his shoulder, and something sliding into a position against the throat. A curved, wicked-looking blade, from what Yami could actually see of it. He sucked in a harsh breath and stilled instantly.

/strange energy light noise music stillness you killed him!? lingering magic in the air enemy mage!/

There it was again. That strange, nearly incoherent voice in his head, scrambling desperately for some sort of handhold; Yami twitched the slightest bit when he realized it must be coming from the other boy. It was either that or he was officially insane, and there was no evidence for the latter, this strange scene in front of him aside.

"Whoever you are, I don't know exactly what you're... talking about... but I haven't killed anyone." he ventured, hoping perhaps this strangely violent youth would take the sword from where it rested against his neck.

/... We'll see, human./

Yami sucked in another sharp breath at the first totally coherent thought he'd gotten so far. It was cold and sharp, full of laced venom and tinged with the hint of determined vengeance, with a strong undertone of choking despair. What does he--

Another brilliant flash of light, this time only burning in his mind instead of in front of his eyes, followed almost instantly by a sharp tug at his consciousness, like something was trying to force it's way in whether he wanted it in or not.

Oh. He readily obliged; there was nothing he needed to hide, though the thought of someone else in his mind beside himself was a trifle unsettling. He immediately shrugged the feeling off as a necessary evil.

The ruby-eyed youth felt his eyes sliding shut of his own will as something that somehow smelled like soft cherry blossoms caressed his mind gently, searching for something inexplicable-- a will, a desire, was the closest Yami could guess at for it's goal. He somehow knew, even through the pleasant haze that settled over his mind, when the boy's inner search located what it was seeking-- and that it wasn't what had been expected.

As if by magic, the blade positioned at his throat vanished, and the hard grip on his shoulder was released, causing him to fall dazedly to his hands and knees. Yami stared blankly at the soft grass clenched beneath his fingers as a throbbing headache made itself violently know to his brain. He winced and gracelessly let his body topple onto it's side, staring wide-eyed at the boy next to him as a shockwave rippled through his already emotionally-battered body. The boy... the boy looked like him! In fact, the two were almost identical, barring the height-- the other was more than a head shorter-- and the eyes.

"You..." the other youth gasped out in an utterly defeated tone, choking on a sob as he glared sorrowfully at the ground, hands clenching into fists and fingernails digging painful half-circles of blood to the surface. "...You were right."

/anger sorrow helplessness why? why? no choice and yet.../

The boy choked back another sob as Yami watched on silently, then fell to the ground in a battered heap, small fists pounding uselessly at the hardened dirt beneath him, once, twice, three times in insuppressible inner torment. "He did it! He actually... actually let himself..."

As the boy dissolved into a chorus of chocked, harsh sobs that wracked at his thin frame, the thin strands of honey-blonde bangs shifted and fell into his face, revealing the small, delicate-looking shells of his ears.

The slightly pointed shells of his ears.

Yami blinked, the headache suddenly pushed to the back of his mind for the moment. There was no way he could be seeing that right. He has pointed ears. Great gods, he's an ELF! A real, living elf.

An elf that looks remarkably like me. An elf that seemingly appeared out of a golden pyramid puzzle.

An elf that seems scarily fragile right about now.

As he had heard Yami's private, inner thoughts, the elf paused, then jerked and sat up quickly, making a cursory swipe at his damp eyes as he locked gazes with Yami. A small, tentative smile graced his lips as he sniffled and took in a shaky breath. "I... I'm sorry, I just..."

"It's alright." Yami found himself saying as he sat up, trying to comfort this seemingly so-young soul. "It seems like everyone feels a bit down around here."

That earned him another small-but-genuine smile from the boy, and it seemed to Yami like the whole world brightened with that expression. Almost immediately, the birds began chirping up in the trees, a burst of song that surprised Yami after what seemed like such a long time of silence.

That's strange. It's like his emotions affect the world around him. He shook that off as the boy continued.

"My... my name's Yugi. Yugi Motou."

/who who who? harmless but not strange magic here not all right/

"Yami Hitokage." Yami replied, "And, if you wouldn't mind, could you cut that whole mind-speaking thing out?"

Yugi froze at the totally unexpected words, another bit of mind-speech containing mostly frightened emotions hitting Yami like an invisible wave of emotion, before the youth flushed uncomfortably and looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry. It's a reflex."

Yami shrugged, "Nothing to be sorry about, little one. It's just a bit... unsettling, is all," he shifted to pick up the golden puzzle from where it still lay on the forest floor as he spoke. Yugi's eyes widened as they followed his movement, locking onto the shining object with a burst of familiarity.

"The Millennium Puzzle! You have it!" he burst out, eyes widening in delighted surprise. Yami stared at him, confused, then nodded slightly.

"I don't know what you mean by 'Millennium Puzzle', but yes, this is mine," he acknowledged.

"Can I see it?" the youth demanded in a breathless rush, eyes sparkling in a sudden indefinable surge of hope as he leaned closer in fascination, balancing precariously on his knees and practically jumping up in barely contained excitement.

Yami was curious as to what was so fascinating about the little trinket, but nodded nonetheless and wordlessly held it out to the small boy, who almost literally snatched it from his grasp. The smaller of the two eagerly ran his hands over the various miniscule planes and ridges crisscrossing the slightly larger-than-palm-sized item, violet gaze seeking every nuance in the construction, before he smirked a bit in triumph and pressed down on some sort of hidden switch that Yami had failed to notice earlier.

Immediately, a shining ray of sparkling amethyst light jumped from the golden trinket in Yugi's hand, seeming to come up against an invisible wall in the air some ten feet away from them both, the light washing out from the point of contact like ripples across a disturbed pond; until these, too, seemed to come across a barrier of their own. The strange, magical light seemed to pulse as it gradually formed into a solid door of nothingness, where nothing but inky darkness could be viewed from the end the two youths were standing in.

"Come on!" Yugi stood up hurriedly and walked with an inherent grace up to Yami, determination in his face as he grasped one of the human's wrists and tugged him upwards, beginning to drag him when Yami didn't immediately follow him. The darker youth vaguely realized that the overwhelming fatigue he had felt earlier had suddenly and inexplicably vanished. "We need to hurry! Every minute we spend here is another minute wasted!"

"Wasted on what?" The taller boy demanded, even as he kept pace with Yugi, straight towards the strange door of magical energy. He was amazed at how fast Yugi seemed to switch between emotions, and also a bit relieved that he was no longer feeling those same strong feelings the way he had been feeling them but moments earlier.

"Wasted on trying to save my realm, of course! Why else would he have sealed me in that puzzle for a thousand years?"

"What?" Yami sputtered, but even as he paused in bewilderment, Yugi was stepping confidently through the violet portal of light, cutting off any reply the smaller boy might have made and pulling Yami through with him. A flurry of tingles raced up the taller youth's spine as he felt himself being pleasantly ripped in two for a split second before he found himself standing quietly in pitch dark. The only sound that reached his ears through the smothering silence was the shallow noise of Yugi's breathing, the tight grip on his arm his sole anchor to reality in the absolute blackness. Yami felt he would have been lost without it, but then a quiet whisper etched a break in the silence, and a soft purple light lit up above their heads.

"Here." Yugi reached up and hung the Millennium Puzzle, which now suddenly sported a metal chain looped through the hole in the middle of its base, around Yami's neck. "Wear it like that. It's for you, anyway."

Yami stared at him for a long, intense moment without answering, and Yugi flushed again, glancing away nervously. "The whole reason that you were the one to finish that puzzle and release me, was because you were the one fated to have it. A thousand years ago, a... friend of mine sealed me into that puzzle, in hopes of finding the one that is prophesized to save the Shadow Realm. My realm." He lifted his eyes to meet Yami's crimson ones again. "That's why I have to bring you back. Back to a thousand years ago, to the time right after I was first sealed away."

TBC...

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Well... that was a bit unexpected. I actually didn't plan it to write like that, but write like that it did. Oh well...

Threnody: 'Oh well'? That's all you can say? You're pathetic.

Aw! You're so mean, Muse-chan! *cries*

Threnody: Hn. *glares*

Anyway, minna-san, that was the second chapter! Tell me what ya think, onegai! Comments and advice feed a hungry muse, ya know!

Threnody: And I need it, seeing as I'm suffering from malnutrition.

*blinku* How do muses get that?

Threnody: By having only really, really bad ideas to feed on.

... *sniff* You're so mean, Muse-chan! *cries*

Threnody: Didn't you already say that?

*sob*

R&R, onegai!