Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Stealing My Heart ❯ Band of Thieves ( Chapter 2 )

—Another chapter of Stealing My Heart is here. Now is where Ryou tries to find his place in the world. He obviously had no place back in the city. Also, Ryou isn't as young as you think. You'll find out how old he is in this chapter.

 

Chapter 2 - Band of Thieves

 

Ryou struggled back into consciousness when the sounds of the hoof beats had completely died away. He sat up and looked around for his clothes. They were beside and shredded to strips of cloth. Ryou wanted to cry, but he knew crying wouldn't mend his clothes. And men don't sew…that was a woman's job. (Author: forgive that comment - that was the basic thinking back then.)

 

He tied the strips of cloth together and wound them around his waist and between his legs so that it covered most of his private areas. He spied the water canteen and shook it. There was still water inside, but not much. Ryou knelt down by the river and filled the canteen. He stood and shaded his eyes at the sun. There were still some hoof prints in the deep sand from the hooded figures' horses.

 

“I should at least thank that one man. He did save my life after all.” Ryou said to himself. Luckily, his father had taught him how to track people and animals in the desert. Ryou set off, following the trail of hoof prints as the sun climbed higher into the sky and gradually fell as though falling slowly off a cliff.

 

By sunset, Ryou saw a small pile of rocks. This pile steadily gave way to a huge canyon on the horizon. Ryou squinted his dark brown eyes against the brightness of the setting sun. He thought he saw a cavern entrance surrounded by the rocks. He trudged through the sand, still following the hoof prints.

 

Suddenly, he heard a horse's whinny behind him. Ryou stopped and turned around to see a hooded figure upon his stead and aiming an arrow straight at Ryou's heart.

 

“You're trespassing, boy.” the man said. Ryou didn't recognize his voice from the men who'd rescued him.

 

Ryou got down on his knees and tried to look as pathetic as his life had always been. “Please sir. I didn't know I was trespassing. I was l-looking for a group of men like you. They w-were riding to here and they…well, one of them saved me from drowning in the Nile.”

 

“That doesn't explain why you're here, boy.” the man said, lowering his arrow a little.

 

“I don't mean to correct you, sir, but I'm not a boy. I'm sixteen years old, sir. I'm a man now.” Ryou said. “And I came here just to thank the man that saved my life. Th-That's all, sir, I promise. Just to thank the man who saved me.”

 

The man on horseback gave Ryou a hard look as if questioning what to do with him. “You're coming with me, boy.”

 

“Wait, I can prove my story. Here's the canteen he gave me!” Ryou held up the camel skin canteen and the man—who had dismounted by now—stared at the canteen.

 

“Striker…”was all he said, before taking a rope from his saddle. He took the canteen and tied Ryou's wrists together as tight as he could. The man mounted his horse and grabbed his mount's reins in one hand and kept hold of Ryou's rope in the other.

 

Pulling at the rope, he said, “Keep up, you. And if you give me any trouble, I'll kill you now instead of later.”

 

Ryou gulped and started walking near the man's horse. At least they were going in the same direction he'd been heading. The man pulled at the rope once or twice to make sure that Ryou was still following obediently. The horse made a fart as a warning and Ryou took a couple steps to the side while the horse did its business.

 

They eventually made it to the rock pile. The man dismounted and a little slave boy about seven years younger than Ryou came over to take the horse's reins. Ryou blinked because he hadn't seen any slave huts or stables. The slave boy had just appeared as if by magic. The man pulled Ryou's rope.

 

“If you don't know how to climb, then I suggest you learn quick.” he said. Ryou was about to ask why, but he didn't need to. He glanced up the jagged and the smooth rocks at a little cave entrance. He had misjudged where exactly the cave entrance. Ryou didn't mind the climbing part so much, but he would've climbed so much better without his hands tied. His feet slipped twice and the second time Ryou almost got a sharp rock buried in his brain. Luckily, his knee had braced his fall.

 

When they got to the cave, another hooded figure came to greet them. The two men spoke quietly to each other as Ryou stood quiet and solemn. He turned to look out at the desert. The sun's light was fading and the sand was washed with shades of orange, yellow, and red. It looked like a field of fire. Close to the horizon was Pharaoh Atemu's great city. Blegh! Great city indeed, Ryou thought harshly. I have nothing, but horrible memories back there.

 

A pull on his rope brought Ryou back from his thoughts. Ryou stumbled forward as the man holding him led him inside. The other stayed in the shadows of the entrance. Obviously he was the lookout or sentry of some sort. The cave was cold and dark as the night sky. Finally, torches began to light the way. The walls appeared to be more manmade instead of dug out of the earth. Then they stopped in some kind of common room. Men with their black hoods pushed back and drinking and eating merrily were sitting either on the dank floor or on wooden chairs.

 

They all became silent when the man brought Ryou in. They all looked the same. None of them even looked like the recognized him. One of them was different though. He wore a red jacket that was open to reveal his well-muscled chest. He had dark, sinister eyes that looked as though they could hypnotize you into doing whatever he wished. He had a scar on his left cheek and wore a black shenti with beige colored slippers. But his hair was what really startled Ryou. This man's hair was just as white as Ryou's hair!

 

“Master, look what I find wandering around our domain. Apparently, he claims he was rescued by Striker's gang.” The man holding Ryou's rope said.

 

The white haired man stood and walked over to a man on the other side of the room. He grabbed the man's black cloak and hauled him to his feet. “Is this true, Striker?” he asked in a voice that made Ryou blush.

 

The man called Striker said, “We were riding back when we saw these boys trying to drown him in the river. I thought nothing much of it and then the boys ran off when they saw us coming. I dismounted and pulled that kid out of the water. We thought maybe he had something valuable and that's why they had attacked him.”

 

“It's because I'm different!” Ryou blurted out. “They called me the White Demon, because of my hair is as white as Osiris's wrappings. I stole because I had to. It was the only way to survive in that horrible city. I hate it! I hate everything about it.”

 

The man in the red jacket looked at Ryou. “You're a thief too, eh?”

 

“W-Well…not exactly a thief, sir. I'm a pickpocket.” He told of how he had only stolen food and water and everything he had needed to continue living.

 

“He could be a promising thief someday, sir. We could keep him as an errand boy or even a stable boy.” Striker whispered to the man in the red jacket.

 

“Maybe…” He continued to stare at Ryou as if sizing him up. “Lock him up until I figure out what we're going to do with the boy.”

 

———————

 

Ryou curled up in a ball on the smelly blanket on the damp floor of a small room where they supposedly kept prisoners. He was the only prisoner, although there were the remains of a skull in the farthest corner. Ryou didn't want to die here, although maybe it was better if he did die. Maybe it's for the best, he thought. Maybe I'm meant to die.

 

Suddenly, someone unlocked his prison door and entered the room. Ryou looked up unmoving as he saw the man in the red jacket standing before him. Ryou wanted to plead to the man to help him, but he figured it would be no use. No one had really listened to him his whole life, so why would somebody who just happens to have the same hair color listen to him now.

 

The man dropped a wad of new clothes at Ryou's side and then knelt down with a knife and cut his bindings. Ryou sat up in shock. “Wh-Why are you doing this?”

 

“You're a servant now. You steal, then you're going to steal for us. There's an easy way to hide your hair and I'll show you later. Now get dressed and come find me later.” the man said. He turned to leave, but Ryou stopped him.

 

“What is your name sir? I'm Ryou.”

 

The man looked at him over his shoulder. “They call me Bakura…the Thief King.”

 

—Don't get anxious, it's just Chapter 2…Bakura is…erm, probably almost his mid-twenties. I'm still debating on the age difference. Anyways, Chapter 3 will come up soon. Keep watch for it.