Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Proliferation of the Lotus Flower. ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

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Blonde hair rustled gently in the cool breeze, exhaustion ate away at the mage, but he couldn't turn in, he still had an hour left of watch. The mist behind them was still thick enough that he doubted anyone could be following without an archmage of some kind. Jounouchi snorted tiredly, he doubted even another archmage could get through his fog.

The crows nest swayed gently and his eyes drooped further. He'd just about exhausted his magical reserves in the last few hours and nothing but rest would help. Of course, he hadn't told Yami this, Yami would be pissed off enough as it was, never mind finding out that if they were attacked there would be next to nothing Jounouchi could do.

"Joey! Ahoy, wake up bucko. Swap time. Ya' look like shit."

Jounouchi peeled his eyes open and nodded dully to his replacement. "Feel like't too." He murmured.

He pulled himself over the edge of the crows nest and wrapped his legs around the line below him, then simply fell forward and caught the rope, hand over hand he slid down the lines until flipping ungracefully upward again as he reached the deck. The blonde yawned and headed for the door under the poop deck where his quarters were.

The ship was always so quiet at night; the pirates who guarded the decks at the wee hours of the morning were very solemn and silent.

Jounouchi closed the door behind him and almost ran straight into the sword at his neck.

"Where is the prince?" A cold voice growled.

Jounouchi yawned again and pushed the blade away tiredly. "With the capt'n."

The sword hissed through the air and would have sliced Jounouchi's arm if the human hadn't simply stepped away.

"Take me to him now!" The Elf hissed, blade swinging around for another slash.

Jounouchi frowned and side-stepped the attack to flop onto the bed behind him, he closed his eyes in his tiredness.

"'M too tired for this bilge. I'm sure ye've got a headache too, so just leave me alone and I'll leave ya alone. Okay?"

Seto growled more and moved to cut Jounouchi's head off. The human flicked his eyes open and rolled under the blow, hitting the floor softly on the balls of his feet; without missing a heartbeat his leg snapped out, foot connecting with the Elf's kneecap and the he was flipping up and grabbing Seto's sword from his suddenly empty hands.

Jounouchi yawned and leveled the sword at Seto's neck; the guard had bent over to grip his knee, but froze now. The knee wasn't hurt badly anyway, Jounouchi had hit his nerve, not dislocated the kneecap. "I c'n disarm five men in five seconds, Seto, takin' on one Elf is not a hard t'ing for me, no matter how tir'd I 'm. now, will ya listen to me for a minute?"

Seto grunted, his pride was obviously hurt, but Jounouchi couldn't give a damn right then.

"R'ght. As I said, the little princeling is with the capt'n. There ain't no safer place to be on the whole rig then wit' Yami. Besides, it's the middle of the night, an' I 'm deathly tir'd."

Seto flicked his ears back, obviously trying to decide what to do.

Jounouchi groaned and held out a hand in front of Seto's face. "'M sorry, beautiful, but 'm just not in da mood. Flick!"

The brunette slumped as the sleep magic hit him instantly. Jounouchi stumbled and dropped the sword, groaning in pain he fell into his bed and succumbed to the sleep that beckoned him.

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Thin rays of sunlight crept into a revitalized subconscious and tickled at a waking mind. He mewed softly and burrowed his face closer into the warm pillow, scrunching up his eyes.

It was no use; the rays had done their job. He was starting to wake. Whimpering again Yugi curled his fingers around the soft cloth of his pillow. The soft, even intake of breath lulled him briefly before he suddenly tensed.

Now, even just waking up, it was an easy thing to figure out. He didn't have any pillows this big on his bed. And if he did, he'd be sure they didn't breathe. Nor, to his esteemed knowledge did his room catch the salty smell of the sea.

It also did not, for certain, rock back and forth.

Heartbeat speeding up in panic Yugi opened his lilac orbs and looked up, for some strange reason he got the impression he was staring into a mirror before common sense told him he was being silly and to wake whoever this man was.

Mustering up his courage Yugi opened his mouth.

"Excuse me?"

There was no response or flicker of wakefulness.

"Excuse me?" Yugi pushed a little against the chest he'd been sleeping on.

Still nothing.

"Excuse me?" He asked a little louder, pushing a little harder.

Nothing.

"Excuse me!" He shouted near the man's ears.

The result was instant, Yugi was suddenly pulled under a very dangerous pair of wine colored eyes and their owner, and a sharp weapon was digging into his neck.

Yugi squeaked, lilac orbs going wide in fright and body freezing.

"What?" A deep, sultry voice growled.

"I'm sorry to wake you… but… uhh…. I… I was… just… kind of… wondering… uhh to be blunt… where I am?" Yugi swallowed and pressed himself further into the bed, trying to avoid being nicked by the scary blade against his throat, his voice was a timid squeak.

A grunt issued from the dark man's throat and the blade eased away and down to the side of the bed. The pressure on his body was relieved as the man- Mr. Pillow- got up and checked a window, snorted and began undressing.

Yugi blushed and turned his head away.

"You've been kidnapped."

Not having expected the reply, it took a moment for the words to sink in.

"What?" Yugi turned around and stared, forgetting his manners for the moment in his shock.

"You've been kidnapped. You're at my mercy. You're on a pirate ship. Get it, kid?"

"Are you serious?" Yugi asked, still staring as the man walked around-naked- and began dressing in fresh clothing.

"Always."

"…Yes!" Yugi punched the air and grinned. "Alright, an adventure! Ha! And no one to protect me!" His face fell. "Oh no! You didn't kill my body guards did you?"

The man stopped moving and turned to stare at Yugi oddly. "No, we didn't. You're happy about this situation?"

Yugi smiled and nodded. "I am, sir. I've never been threatened to my face before, and this is going to be so scary! I might make friends with some random underling and manage to escape through bribery- … so, how much are you asking for me? I expect it's a lot? Don't worry, my father will pay it. Hey waiaminute… if you're a pirate, sir, then how did I get kidnapped? I mean, as far as I know, I was in my room when I went to sleep."

Mr. Pillow grunted. "Call me Yami. We haven't worked out what to do with you yet. T'was an unfortunate mistake that we got you. Tell me… would the King give the gem for your safe return?"

"The… gem? You mean the gem we received from the Gnomish Isle? The most expensive gem in all the lands?"

"Aye. That would be the one."

"I would expect so." Yugi said simply.

"Good. Do you have a name, princeling? Or shall I just refer to you as boy?"

Yugi slapped his cheek with a blush. "Oh my! Where have my manners gone? I am very sorry. My name is Crown Prince Yugi of Slyvia, I am heir to the kingdom of Slyvia, I am honored-"

"Yugi, right?"

Yugi blinked and nodded. "Uh… yes, to put it simply."

Yami finished dressing in a red chemise and black pants and strutted over to the little prince who perched on his bed.

"You are free to move about the Lost Pharaoh, if you need clothing you can borrow something from in here, as I am the only one who matches your frame besides our cabin boy- but I gather you don't want to wear gnome's clothing?"

Yugi nodded. Gnomes were notorious for not washing their clothing.

"Fine. The rest of the crew should leave you alone, be back in this room by sundown. If you try to jump, trust that the punishment will be harsh."

"Uh… I understand…" Yugi opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again, he wanted to ask 'what if I get lost' but it was hardly a polite thing. Considering he'd been granted free passage unless he attempted escape. He didn't mind the threat though- it was a small thing considering the chance to see real pirates.

"Spit it out." Yami said coldly, obviously aware that Yugi wished to say something.

"I… well… in the unlikely event…. If it should happen… um… what if I get lost? I've never been on a ship before."

Yami sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. If Yugi had been a crewmember, he would have jumped and tried to hide at the sigh, but the boy didn't realize that Yami was indeed the captain of the vessel.

"Okay. Get dressed and I'll give you a tour."

"What do I have to wear?"

"What?" Yami asked, he was getting exasperated.

"What do I have to wear? What color would you like me to wear?" Yugi asked innocently.

"What does it matter? Just pick something you like and put it on."

Yugi blinked. "Pick… pick something I like?"

"Yes. T'is of little concern to me."

"What about your entourage? Should I choose a color that they would approve of?"

Yami rubbed his eyes and touched the battle axe at his waist in an annoyed gesture. "Look, no one cares what you wear- high ones, you could go out wearing what you are now and they would not care. T'is not important. T'is of no concern. T'is nothing. Do you understand?"

Yugi's eyes widened and he blinked. "So I could wear a black shirt, black leggings and no vest… and no one would mind?"

"Yes! Gods be damned, what kind of person can't choose clothing for themselves!" Yami howled; wine eyes full of annoyance.

Yugi stood and met Yami's eyes with his own innocent orbs. "You're lucky! You're a pirate! You have no idea what it's like dressing to please others! I've never had a day in my life when someone said 'just wear what you want'. Oh yes, life as royalty is wonderful; no friends, no freedom, no choices, this is probably the best time I've ever had in the morning and you want to ruin it for me by yelling!"

Tears began to well in Yugi's eyes and lead balls settled themselves in Yami's gut. "Don't cry, little one. Please don't cry…"

Crystalline tears spilled out and down Yugi's cheeks and the prince sniffled. Yami did the only thing he could think of, he put his arms around Yugi's shoulders; evidentially it was the right move as Yugi let out a cute little hiccup and latched onto the pirate.

Yami had a headache.

# To be continued…

Sweet notes: I apologies for the late chapter. I have dozen's of things that have been delayed. Usually the holidays means the net everyday… but since my parents fucked up our internet connection it's been weeks since I got on last. To add to this for some reason whenever you lovely people review MM won't show it for a few months so I get no emotional support because of their delay… I think I've had the most uneventful holidays ever.

Yugi: Of course it doesn't help that your conscious is guilty for not studying your Japanese, does it?

Sweets: shuddup.

Yami: or that you played games rather then wrote?

Sweets: shuuddduppppp…

Marik: what about not getting your printer working?

Ryou: Oh well, at least you did the favorites thing.

Sweets: Yeah!

Bakura: Even though you didn't finish it.

Sweets: Shuddup Bakura-chan…. Or no booty for you in Kourui!

Seto: Which you haven't finished.

Sweets: Shuddup!!!!!

Jou: You know… if you don't make some progress soon… I'm going to have to stop recording the sex Kaiba and I have.

Sweets: No!!!!!!!

Otogi: Hey, not even in our fandom… you didn't finish your NW fiction.

Sweets: Shuddupppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All: So get working slave!

Sweets: *crying* please send me reviews *cringes as she's whipped* please?