Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Proliferation of the Lotus Flower. ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

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Wine coloured eyes glanced uneasily around the deserted streets, the sound of minstrels coming from just about every house and tavern in the city along with raucous laughter and the sound of wood banging against wood was painfully loud. The smells were wonderful and the pirate captain mused that he would send someone to steal a few roasts when everything was stolen and they were in control.

But right now, cautious sneaking was in order.

And; using a silence spell two pirates slid down the alley ways and progressed toward the castle, getting through the gates by floating some sleeping powder into the drinks of the guards and transgressing the grounds for a good place to scale. Ahead of the silent two, three other pirates, dressed in normal courtier clothing, walked confidently into the castle; undercover as it were.

The guards at the front gates had been left alive so that any passerby wouldn't raise the alarm, but sleeping so they wouldn't raise the alarm themselves. The 'courtiers' had concealed all their weapons.

After a few moments of wandering the grounds the two pirates found a good place to scale and did so; only to come across a patrol, luckily, still under silence no one was able to yell or raise the alarm while they were struck down. Now on the third level of the castle the pirates sped up, there was little shadow cover, with all the celebrations and lights; so speed, luck and silence were the only things left in their field.

As Yami danced along the castle wall he glanced up at one of the lit windows and caught himself slowing; in the window, details clear to the world was one of THE sexiest things the pirate captain had seen outside of jewels and money.

Perhaps it had something to do with the way that the teen was undressing, revealing such perfect curves and creamy skin that it reminded the pirate of pearls. Or maybe it was the erotic thought that, there he was; slinking in the shadows to do some stealing, and what should he do but look up and steal the sight of a beautiful boy stripping down for whatever reasons.

Well, he was sure it was a boy, all he could see was the neck downward and the chest was pretty flat for a lass.

Yami turned back to Honda, his golem bodyguard and motioned to the window. The mythical creature followed Yami's gaze before frowning and looking back at Yami, shrugging as if to say he didn't know what was being pointed out.

Yami glanced at the window and swore colorfully, although no sound came out; the boy had obviously moved away or was just a figment of the pirate's imagination as there was nothing but a dim light now.

No matter, he could have a look once they had taken the gem.

Yami shrugged and began sprinting once more. Just ahead of them was an opening into one of the main towers of the palace.

Yami motioned to slow down as he opened the door, glad that the silence spell Jounouchi had cast before they left the streets was still in place.

The door led onto a walkway with a set of steps directly opposite them and two sets going upward and downward.

Yami motioned to the upward steps and his companion nodded, crouching low as they shuffled across the walkway to the upward stairs. There were guards just below them and Yami could hear the silence spell beginning to break as conversation drifted up to them.

"Is Ryo sure?"

"Yes, Seto, he's sure. You don't trust a vampire's eyesight at night?"

"Of course I do, but I haven't heard anything enter this area in the last five minutes…"

"Don't you find that unusual though?"

"…Look, Halfling, if you want to worry, go check on Yugi and tell him in excited tones that nothing's happening, and while you're at it tell that undead mage that he's seeing things."

The sound of hurried footfalls faded off and Yami swallowed, from the sound of it, now only one guard was left. But it only took one to raise the alarm.

Yami turned back to Honda, about to give him the word to attack when a new voice made him pause.

"Oh!'m sorry… I must be lost; could ya' tell me which way it is back to the ballroom? I was talking to a friend as she was leaving and I think I took a wrong turn…" Jounouchi's voice sounded from below.

"Hn. Wouldn't expect much better from a human. Well, you probably can't hear it, but the most noise is coming from that passage down there, which is where all the action is. If you follow it along you should come to the main hall and then take the furthest door to the right and if you're in the kitchen it's your other right and you should be in the ballroom."

Yami suppressed a laugh, Jounouchi was the most useful mage he'd ever encountered, for one; he was keeping his captain out of trouble by distracting the guards. Something the pirate captain would usually delegate to the consorts of the ship.

While the guard talked, Yami and Honda made a quick break for the upward stairs, trying to move both fast and silent at the same time. The pirate captain opened the door and rushed in, closing the door quietly behind them before moving up the stairs.

When the ship had first docked he'd sent Mokuba out to gather information about the castle; the security of the objects in the castle wasn't all that bad. But for the people… the security was top notch according to the gnome's information. The royal family was apparently very paranoid about their own well being.

This was just fine, since Yami had no plans to try and kill any royalty.

They got to the top of the stairs and out the door and then into a long corridor. Yami motioned the other to follow him as they sprinted down the length of the corridor, soft boots making little sound on the marble floors.

They turned a corner and Yami dropped to one knee, drawing his battle axe as he went and avoiding a blow to his head before cleaving one of the three surprised guards across the stomach, separating the top and bottom halves of his body.

Honda's kendo stick whooshed over his head and sliced through two guards in one blow.

The bodies fell to the ground and the two pirates were left with an empty corridor and a few doors. They moved on, looking for the right door. Malik had gone on ahead and was supposed to locate the treasury, which, from the information Mokuba had gathered, was on the higher levels of the palace. Once the half-elf found the treasury he would use a connection spell between himself and Jounouchi to relay the information and then tell Yami. Yami and Honda were creeping in so that they could steal the gem and leave without anyone suspecting the other three. It wasn't one of Yami's more brilliant plans, and it was lengthier than it needed to be, but it meant that the crew had a sort of safety net incase someone got in trouble.

The two turned another corner and came up short; leaning against one of the doors was a surprised and fragile looking Bakura who simply blinked as they skidded around the corner.

Yami blinked hard. The fragile Bakura-look-a-like was obviously just a look-a-like… but the resemblance was uncanny.

"Well, t'is not common to see two of me first mate everyday, is it?" The pirate captain commented dryly.

Honda shrugged.

"What the hell is going on here- ohh! You're the ones I saw scaling the wall." The Bakura look-a-like seemed to place two and two together and smiled in a softly gentle way. Most un-Bakura-like.

"I'm afraid you're not getting through this door I guard, so go back to whoever hired you and tell them that they keep getting the wrong corridor to go down…. That is, if you're still alive after this… Chi!" He pointed at the ground under their feet and the stone started to shake, obviously about to give way.

Yami growled and jumped backward, motioning for the golem to take care of things. "We're meters away from ultimate wealth, I don't care who he is; I want him dead."

Honda nodded and jumped the hole in the floor to make a few swipes at the white haired like-a-like. The pale mage ducked and twisted, loosing an arm off his robe in the process.

"Capt'n, what are ya' doing down here?" Malik's voice asked from behind the pirate.

Yami turned with a frown to his navigator. "We're trying to get through this door, I'd a bet the treasury is behind it. Look at this, T'is a likeness to Bakura, ne?" He motioned to the swerving and ducking mage, who was obviously too occupied with avoiding being hit to cast any spells.

Malik raised an eyebrow. "Not everyday…"

He smirked but shook his head. "Sir, the treasury isn't very far from here…. Do ya have to kill 'im?"

Yami shrugged. "Ye're welcome to 'im if ye want."

Malik nodded, looking the soft form over with a disinterested gaze. "It would be fun."

"Honda! Let Malik have a go, he's a smite to get back at Bakura for the prize earlier." The crew had found it rather amusing when the were-tiger had shown off his chaotic looking Malik prize. The half-Elf had received far too much teasing to let it go lightly.

Honda paused mid swing and stood back, nodding his concession. The pale mage looked a bit worn out from dodging the blows, unused to such quick attacks.

Malik smirked more. "Dun worry, it'll only hurt for a little bit." He put his hand behind his back and his fingers closed on what looked like empty air. There was a shiver of Elven magic before a long black scythe shimmered into sight. The navigator drew the weapon before him and spread his legs to take the weight into balance.

The pale not-Bakura frowned at Malik, shaking his head and muttering something that sounded like 'the gods are so sadistic to make two of him' before clapping his hands together and speaking clearly.

"Chen, guardian of stone and earth come forth and protect I who call. Through centuries of bond I summon, hear my undying call! Lighter Dragon Sword of Stone!" a portal appeared before him and a sword, half dark, half light shimmered inside of it, with his final words the whole sword turns over and is covered in the light part. He reaches his hand in and pulls it out of the portal. The portal closes like an eye blinking shut and the pale mage twists the sword above his head.

Malik snarled softly. "I fucking hate magical weapons. Capt'n, excusing the Millennium Puzzle."

Yami shrugged and petted the giant battle axe comfortingly.

The mage bit his lower lip and brought the sword around in an arc. A shock wave spreading outward from where it sliced the air.

Malik ducked under the shockwave and twisted his scythe in the wrong direction, bringing the weapon up as he rolled forward and raised the black metal to smash against the pale hand holding the light sword.

The mage screamed and dropped the weapon, which immediately disappeared into a puff of smoke, presumably going back to its own dimension. He doubled over, holding his aching hand as if it had been broken, which could be very possible, considering the fragile appearance of the mage.

Malik smirked and let one hand fall back behind him, using his scythe to support his weight as he twisted, still on the ground and kicked the pale form's legs out from under him.

The mage fell on his ass and growled in a tone that seemed to lose it's humanity in every word it spoke. "That's it, no more nice Riyu." ((#1)) He parted his mouth slightly and his fangs flipped out, curving longer, his nails grew almost an inch and his skin seemed to drain backward, confirming to his skeleton and showing his sharp bones.

Malik's eyes widened and he said very clearly, "Fuck," before the vampire launched himself at the navigator.

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Sweet notes: Well, I spent about half an hour on the notes today. And then I sat there for a while and thought about what I'd said.

I mean, I was pretty pissed off.

Being one of those people who bottles everything up and then just EXPLODES can sometimes lead to stupid, rash decisions. And Goddess knows, I don't want to upset or crush any more people this year *is referring to the 'normal love' incident she had a few weeks back*.

So I got rid of my rant.

I deleted like two pages of writing because it was what I wanted to say. And, face it; you don't want to hear what I want to say. So, here's a summary of what I got rid of:

I prefer to spell Ryo's name without an extra 'u'. In the long run, it doesn't make much difference because the Romanji way of spelling Ryou would probably be Riyo *since that's how you say it in Japanese*.

I don't want to have to yell and scream like I spent two pages doing a few minutes ago.

You're all smart people, you're all responsible, and intelligent, I shouldn't have to debate with anyone how I'm going to spell a name.

I shouldn't have to get upset about it.

I have enough stress as it is (with moving house on both side of my parents, going days at a time without internet, looking for a job, planning savings for my trip to Japan this time next year, trying to figure out how I'm going to do all this, the normal hassles of school, and not to mention, my lack of sympathy for anyone after pushing and pulling and carrying heavy objects up six flights of steep seven step stairs) without having problems with my online friends and fan base. I'm in the middle of about six or seven stories at the moment, you should see my 'probably not going to be finished' folder and don't remind me about something for Samhain.

So please, if you're nitpicking; nitpick my grammar, or spelling, not my choice of how I write names. This isn't The Great Weiss Kreuz And How To Spell Schuldich's Name Debate ™.

I've never really insisted an author spell something a certain way; I mean, if you like the story you should be mature enough to not try and censor someone into doing things 'the exact way' because that's what governments do, and then society starts doing it, and what do we get? *smirks* another FF.net obnoxious catastrophe. And if I'm mature enough to spell things how I want and not go off at others for it, why can't you be?

Anyway, reviews? Did you like this chapter?