Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The One Who Inherits The Light ❯ Another Wanderer ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

By: Karen A

Chapter 2

Another Wanderer

It was beyond shocking for Nephthys and Seto to see the damage and devastation brought to Waset all in the last few days. Buildings had been crushed or burned down, animals and several unfortunate civilians killed, and the clinics and local schools and temples were now crowded with the wounded and homeless...

Kaiba accompanied The Lady of the House as she made her rounds through the city, assisting her whenever they found those in need of treatment, which was often. There were only so many physicians in the city and it's outskirts, so their making their way from their own village to help was greatly appreciated.

There were those who had lost friends and loved ones who were in need of comfort, those in need of food and shelter after the horrible attacks on the city, there were those with severe injuries, wounds, broken bones and limbs, even several cases of horrific burns...

Two little boys who couldn't be more then eight and three had been severely burned and would need a great deal of care and time to recover properly...

Nephthys and her assistant first washed the wounds, then made the mixture in which to treat the burns; Milk of a woman who had given birth to a boy, gum and ram's hair… As she applied the mixture she recited the required incantation…

"Thy son Horus is burnt in the desert. Is there any water there? There is not any water. I have water in my mouth and a Nile between my thighs. I have come to extinguish the fire."(1)

Although The Lady of the House had resolved not to show weak eyes, she wept silently to herself as she covered the wounds and burns with the clean white bandages… Why must these innocent children suffer what poor Asha had been through?...

For the young former CEO it hit twice as close to home. Not only were these kids burned as Asha was, but they were the same ages Mokuba and him had been when their father died in that car accident... Also, if he looked at them close enough and ignored the burns, they even resembled his little brother and him somewhat...(2)

As soon as the boys were as comfortable as possible in their beds, asleep, and the last patients had been taken care of for the evening, Seto finally had time to take a short rest and sat himself down on the back steps outside the clinic…

He leaned easily against the step and breathed in the cool evening air as Ra began it's journey downwards into the Nile… Though he rested his eyes, he couldn't get those two boys, and the other victims of this attack, out of his mind…

"Anu?…" came Nephthys' voice beside him, and he felt her hand on his shoulder. "I thought I would find you out here. Are you alright?."

He nodded and reached up with his hand to touch hers as she sat down beside him. "Fine," he answered. "Anyway, I'm not the one you should be concentrating on, Vixen."

She looked at him, frowning thoughtfully. "It really affected you, didn't it?. I could tell."

"It did," he admitted. "This was… was the worst disaster I've ever seen…" He shook his head and blinked back the tears that threatened to form in his eyes. "Those two boys… They looked just like Mokuba and I… Even the same age as we were when…" Here his voice trailed off and he swallowed…

"I know," The Lady of the House answered, squeezing his hand consolingly. "I've been a doctor for years and it still affects me, every time."

Kaiba looked at her… He squeezed her hand back… It was time to confess something else to her…

"You know what scares me most though?," he asked. "That I think this is really what I've always wanted to do in the first place."

Nephthys tilted her head with interest. "Really?…"

"Mmm hmm," the young CEO murmured…

"Does this have to do with your parents?," she asked softly…

He was silent for a moment… She did not pursue the question further, but waited for him to decide weather he would answer her or not…

Finally, he spoke again… "I remember when my mother died… giving birth to Mokuba… and when Dad died in that car accident… I wished there could have been a way to save them… and I… I wanted to be a doctor, or an assistant to one…"

The Lady of the House brushed her bangs from her eyes. "I never knew that…"

"That's because I never spoke of it to anyone but Mokuba before," Seto sighed. "But, aside from building Kaiba Land, that was my dream… to keep people from dying and leaving their kids all alone…"

"That's a good dream to have," Nephthys smiled thoughtfully. And to think, it had taken her years, until she had seen little Mariasha's burnt face and destroyed encampment, to open her eyes and realize that same dream…

Just then they were distracted from their conversation by a commotion nearby…

"Please, Sir, I must go to the palace and find him. I'm worried he may be in danger."

A white haired young woman in a ragged, dusty tunic who's back was to them was pleading with a strong looking man that was driving a small ox-cart.

The man laughed loudly, but unpleasantly, and his face showed a touch of redness, as if near drunk.

"The palace?. And how would a foreign street urchin like you know anyone at the palace?." Then, without giving her a chance to answer, he continued. "Mind you, you're a lovely one…" His eyes narrowed and he began looking her up and down like a prize horse… "I may be able to get you close to the palace…" he leered slightly, "For a price."

From where they were, Kaiba and Nephthys looked at eachother in alarm… They didn't like where this was going…

Trembling slightly, the girl backed away… "No… I… I don't think so…" she murmured…

The man only chuckled darkly and drew closer to her, reaching out his hand and touching her face… "Come on now, don't be standoffish."

She tried to pull away, but he seized her arm and held her by her small shoulders, making her cry out in pain.

"No! Please!," the white haired girl cried, nearly sobbing in terror. "Please, let me go!. I must find…"

Nephthys gasped as the girl's please were answered with a sharp and hard slap to her face!. Her frail white form collapsed to the ground in a heap and lay there, unmoving…

Her assaulter grunted in both surprise and self satisfaction. "Ugghh?!. Well, I never meant to knock you out cold, but this'll just make things easier." He knelt by the unconscious girl. "Stupid foreign wench!. You're lucky a man's taken an interest in you." Grinning cruelly, he brushed her long white bangs from her face and his hand traveled down her neck and to the front of her tunic as he prepared to touch her under her clothes…

Just then, another hand shot out and seized his wrist, twisting it in a way it was never meant to!. With a strangled cry of pain, he moved back and turned to glare at Seto Kaiba, who still gripped his wrist!.

"That kind of interest she doesn't need!," the young former CEO growled.

Furious, the man with the cart pulled his smarting wrist away. "Hey!," he snarled. "That girl is mine!. I claimed her!. She's my property now, and I can do as I want with her!."

Seto moved to place himself in front of the unconscious girl. "She's not "property" at all, you nimrod!. Now get lost before I break your other arm!."

"You have no right!," the large cart driver practically screamed. "I told you, I claimed that white wench!. Do you realize how much a brothel, or even a harem, would pay for her?!. I refuse to pass up this chance!."

"And I refuse to let you lay another finger on her!. What's wrong with you? She's just a kid!."

"You, stay out of my business, or else!." The larger man started towards Seto, his good fist raised…

But, of course, Kaiba was not one to be discouraged by raised fists and threats. "Or else what, " he sneered, crossing his arms, "You'll hit me with your good arm?."

But before either of them could do anything more, Nephthys moved between them. "That's enough!."

"Get out of my way woman!," the large cart driver growled angrily. "This stupid child needs to be taught a lesson!."

He made a move to push her out of her way… but before he could she had pulled one of her surgeons tools, a sharp scalpel, from beneath her sash and was holding it near his neck…

"Hold your toung!," The Lady of the House hissed. "Am I also a child that you dare trifle with me?."

He blinked in fear and backed away from her slowly…

She put her scalpel away. "Hmm, that's better."

"That… That girl is still rightfully mine!," the large assailant protested.

In response, Nephthys took several rings and bracelets off her fingers and wrists and a few pieces of silver and gold from her tie up purse, then, to the young former CEO's surprise, threw them at the cart driver's feet.

"Here, you want to sell her for money?," she snapped. "Save yourself the trouble. These will be worth more to you!."

The larger man glared at her before picking up the coins and jewelry. He could not deny it, these would be worth more then what he could get for that white girl, even if he hadn't gotten the chance to pleasure himself with her…

"Fine," he growled. "Pleasure doing business with you, my lady." And with that, he gathered up the rest of his "payment" with his good hand and went back to his cart…

As he drove away, hopefully never to be seen again, Seto knelt by the unconscious girl and turned her over onto her back…

"Poor kid," he murmured as he studied her face. She was young, younger then him in fact. She couldn't be much older then her mid teens. Something about her reminded him a little of Mariasha, in a way.

Nephthys felt the young woman's wrist, neck and forehead…

"Pulse is a little slower then I'd like… She's exhausted and sorely undernourished… There's signs of a fever coming on…" Then she briskly got to her feet. "She needs medical attention as soon as possible. We should get her inside the clinic."

"Alright," Kaiba nodded. Then he got up himself and lifted the frail white body into his arms… Almost instantly he felt a pang of concern. The vixen hadn't been lying when she'd said the girl was gravely malnourished… She weighed no more then a little child would have…

As he carried her back into the clinic, his eyes rested on her lovely sleeping face… He laid her gently on one of the unoccupied beds and tenderly brushed a few stray silvery white bangs from her closed eyes… A frown appeared on his face... What was this sense of familiarity he felt?… Had he seen this girl's face before somewhere?…

He didn't have time to ponder on that however, for Nephthys was already preparing her treatments.

"Seto, get a clean cold washcloth and I'll mix a little belladonna;(3) We must bring the fever down from her head, then we can see about feeding her something as long as it's not to solid."

Obediently, her assistant did as instructed, and was soon running the cold washcloth over the girl's smooth white forehead, face, neck, arms and legs to bring down the fever while Nephthys spoon fed her the medicine and a bit of food…

Once again, the young man's eyes wandered over to her soft young face and he watched as her breathing became less strained and more rhythmic… He wondered who she was… Where had she come from?… Why did she seem so familiar?… From the looks of it, she was probably a wanderer, just as he had once been…

"Hang in there, kiddo," he thought as he clenched the washcloth in resolve. "It's alright now. The vixen and I won't let anything happen to you."

**********

(1) Actual ancient Egyptian remedy and incantation for treating burns.

(2) Remember those two little boys in the anime version of the Egyptian Arc that looked like Seto and Mokuba as kids, the ones who were killed by Zork in front of Seto's eyes?. Well, I decided I'd have them survive!.

(3) Ancient Egyptian remedy for soothing fevers, as well as the gums and epilepsy.