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Rulers and Rogues	By : Khat Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 10587 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Got this one out on time, though there's not an entirely good reason for that. Apparently one of the girls at the camp I'm working at brought her cold with her, and I managed to catch it. Nothing too serious, just a lot of coughing and sniffling, but, because I don't want to accidentally pass it on to the whole town, I didn't end up working at the store this weekend, which gave me plenty of time to get this done up. Ah well.
This is mostly a set-up chapter, I suppose, and I don't think a few of the set-ups are going to be very popular. But, to quote a line from one of my favourite movies, things aren't always what they seem. There's still some pretty big secrets hanging around.
******
It was to Wolf’s private embarrassment, private because he’d never admit it to anyone else, ever, that he actually stayed where he was, fuming, for a good ten minutes before it occurred to him to simply untie the leash. The bastard hadn’t, after all, forced any commands on him.
Actually, he had, now that he thought about it, left him entirely unguarded. There had never been any commands to stay anywhere; the invisible fence connected to his choker had been strong enough to do the job. He had checked, and nearly passing out and falling down the stairs once had been enough to stall that idea. The only command he had at the moment was not to remove the collar or chains.
But, what to do with his newfound freedom.
He would, of course, get out of here, but he needed to get Shizuka first, at least. Which meant going back to the suite, possibly. He hadn’t seen her at the party. Actually, he had seen her very little since that embarrassing morning. She, at least, was able to come and go as she pleased, it seemed, and the bastard always had her running errands for him. And running errands had better be all he had her doing.
But standing around here all day wasn’t going to get him anywhere anyway, so he started off down the hall.
It took him another ten minutes to get completely lost.
It wasn’t that the place was confusing, though the dark didn’t help at all, but he had been through here only twice, once on his way up to the suite, and once back down to the party, and he had hardly been in a proper mood to study his surroundings then.
A light appeared up ahead, and he froze, looking around for a hiding place. With his luck it would be one of the other three kings, and he’d find himself dragged back to Seto, again.
He ducked through a random door a few feet back down the hall, only to find that it was already occupied, by two women and four men. They had obviously been discussing something, the six breaking off mid-conversation to stare at him.
“Well,” one of the women huffed. “Seto Kaiba’s catamite. Sit around long enough and maybe they’ll all walk into our hands.”
“Hey!” Wolf snapped back irritably. “I’m not a damned animal. I don’t even like cats all that much.” The woman blinked at him, then laughed. Wolf lunged. He might have the chains, but he could still do some damage.
Not enough, though. He’d only caused a couple bruises, and given one of the women a black eye, most likely, before he was tripped up and ended up on the floor, someone on his back, the leash pulled tight enough to choke and the length of chain between his wrists trapped under him, holding him helpless.
The situation might have ended up worse, had three guards and an extremely irritated brunet not broken through the door that moment.
“I told you to stay.” Kaiba snapped once the rebels had been dealt with, six bodies leaking red on the floor. He grabbed the loose leash, jerking Wolf up, away from the spreading pools, not being gentle about it at all.
“Stupid bitch called me your cat.” Wolf growled, turning his head at a muffled noise. Kaiba heard it too, and shifted the flashlight he held towards the back of the room, where a figure lay bound and gagged.
“Shizuka.” Wolf jerked forward, and was hauled back again sharply, while one of the guards, at Kaiba’s short command, went to release the younger sibling.
“I’m all right.” Shizuka assured them once she was released, then added, “she said catamite, not catamount.” Kaiba smirked, and Wolf could feel the amusement from him.
“What’s the difference?” He asked, knowing full well he was the butt of the joke, but wanting to know, anyway.
“She called you my boytoy, Puppy. Not that she was wrong.”
“Fucking asshole.” Wolf growled, directing the insult for both him and the dead woman.
“If you don’t stop cursing, I’m going to gag you.”
Wolf growled, but bit back his answer to that. Kaiba ignored the noise, tugging on the leash and leading the small group from the room.
“Where is everyone?” Shizuka asked, staying close to Kaiba’s left side. Wolf had tried to move over towards her, but the bastard was keeping a close hold on his leash again, and fighting wasn’t going to get him anywhere, at the moment. “What happened?”
“Everyone’s apparently decided tonight was the perfect night for an attack.” The ruler answered shortly. “The only lucky point is that whoever’s handling that monster isn’t, at the moment, in league with the rebels, so they’re fighting each other as much as the palace guards. As it is, though, we need to retreat and regroup, and find out what it is we’re dealing with.
“What about the others?” Wolf said, giving another short jerk on the leash, more reaction then any serious attempt. “Prince, and Fox, and Anzu.”
“Let Yami and Bakura worry about taking care of them. If they reach the meeting place, we’ll see them there.” :Mai has joined the rebels, to spy on them for me, and Anzu and Melinda and their children are already on their way there. The others will just need to be smart enough to use the unhappy slave ruse as well.: Melinda must have been the mother of Yami’s boy, Wolf supposed. He wondered a moment about why the brunet had used mindspeech, but then realised why. Someone had to have helped the rebels get in. Any of their own guards could be a spy.
There were a few more small battles along the way through the palace, and they picked up a few more guards and one nearly hysterical maid that Kaiba used the rod on and then left sleeping in an empty room. Too dangerous to take her with them, he pointed out when Shizuka asked.
Their escape was pretty anti-climatic, actually. They went out through the back of the palace, into the garden, past a fountain with a red eyes and a white eyes facing each other, mouths open to attack, though the ‘attack’ was two sprays of water.
“What, are we just going to hide out back here?” Wolf queried after a few moments of silence. “It’s not that big a yard.” It was huge, yes, especially to someone who had grown up in a Japanese city, but it wouldn’t have taken more than a couple days for them to be tracked down.
“Be. Quiet.” Kaiba snapped, pausing then as they came to the wall. There were decorations back here, as well, including a somewhat amusing fountain featuring the Kuriboh brothers riding a Plasma Eel, all of them spraying water from their mouths.
Then, suddenly, they were outside. Wolf blinked, staring back at the wall.
“Let’s go.” Kaiba muttered. He sounded exhausted now.
“But how…” The blond began, gesturing.
“Leave it, Mutt.” The ruler answered. “It was magic. Come on.” And that was the only answer he got, as the CEO led them off into the night.
******
Yami was gone…
Yugi sat curled up on the couch where Bakura had dropped him, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The thought ran through his head again.
Yami was gone…
He could still feel their last mind-touch, pain and anger and, at the end, just a touch of fear, and then, suddenly, nothing.
He was alone again, the same as he had been before he had solved the puzzle. Before, it had been just been normal, of course.
And then he had gotten used to Yami. Even while he had been blocking him, there was still the knowledge that he was there. He had wanted to stop Yami, of course, but he had never intended something like this. He hadn’t actually thought of the repercussions of winning the battle. Yami and the others might have been put to death, he realised now. He and Ryou both would have ended up alone.
“I’m keeping him. I already started doing some training with him.” The statement caught his attention finally, and he looked up, blinking, just realising that the other people in the room were having a conversation. Malik sat on the desk in the office, since that was obviously what it was, while Bakura and Marik faced off. It was Bakura who had spoken.
“I would think you’d be more interested in finding Ryou. I can take care of the orphan.” Orphan? It was a bit of an odd word, like Yami had been his father, rather than his other self. And what did they mean, find Ryou?
“You’d end up ruining him. If you didn’t outright kill him.”
“You’re both assuming I’m not planning on freeing him.” Yugi shifted his attention to the last person in the room, sitting in a chair, quiet enough that he hadn’t noticed him thus far. Brown eyes were watching him. “He’s coming to, finally. Hello, Yugi.”
“H-Honda?” It was, but there was something wrong. Not the looks, though he did looked a little rougher, and his hairstyle was a little different. No, there was a light in his eyes that made Yugi very nervous, a crazy sort of look. He had seen that rabid gleam before, and it had never boded well.
“He’s not going to join up with you, if that’s what you’re intending.” Bakura stated.
“You don’t know that.” Honda answered. “How about it, Yugi? You can be part of the ruling class, rather than the bedslave of one. My partner and I would make sure you’re very comfortable.” A creature coalesced into being then, standing just behind Honda’s chair. It was the monster from earlier, though not as big now. The thing was roughly humanoid, but covered in shiny black and forest green scales, its head more reptilian-shaped. Two evil green cat-slit eyes regarded Yugi in a manner that seemed hungry, and a forked tongue flicked out to taste the air.
“I wonder if it tastes as good as the other.” It hissed thoughtfully.
Yugi saw red.
“You killed him.” He growled, and was up off the couch and headed across the room before he even thought about it, nor did he have any real idea of how to attack the thing, even as he was hoisted up by the waist, just struggling to get at it, to do something to the monster that had killed his soulmate.
And then he was falling still again, set down to kneel at Bakura’s feet. That damned ring again. He would have shuddered if he could have. It felt dirty now, tainted somehow, a wrongness threading through the shadow magic.
Marik was grinning amusedly, and Malik had come down off the edge of the desk, looking concerned, but neither Honda nor his ‘new friend’ had moved in the slightest, both watching Yugi silently.
“Kill him.” The demon hissed again. “He will be trouble.”
“No.” Honda disagreed. “He’s just upset at the moment. I’ll give him time to come around. Do what you want with him, Bakura, but I don’t want him hurt too badly.”
Yami was gone, and he was being given to Bakura as a plaything. Yugi slumped down, eyes on the floor, feeling despondent.
“Up, runt.” Bakura huffed, releasing the control. Instead of obeying, Yugi ignored him and pulled back into his mind.
******
The hallway was the same, dim and still. Two doors stood across from each other, both closed, one unmarked, the other with the eye displayed prominently on it. Yugi rushed to Yami’s door, pushing on it, but it remained firmly closed, the doorknob having disappeared completely. It might as well have been a carved relief in the wall.
Finally, Yugi gave up, turning to his own door. He had only been here once since Yami had locked him out, had given up when he had found the door just as firmly locked. Now, though, it opened easily under his hand.
The room beyond had changed again. It was back to the original bedroom, though the bed had chains hanging from the corners, the sheets tattered and threadbare, the walls painted in dull grey. The broken toys still lay on the floor, and the light that shone in was dim, like the sun through storm clouds. Dust lay heavy on the shelves that lined the walls, coated the picture frames that stood on the nightstand.
And the room seemed pale and washed out, as if the colours were being leeched out of everything. It was cold, too, as he stepped inside. Was this the result of being locked out of his soul room, or simply because Yami was gone? Or, maybe it was actually an accurate reflection of him now
A spot of solid colour caught his eye and he spotted a Kuriboh stuffed toy lying carelessly on the floor beside the bed. Unlike the rest of the room, the toy’s shades were sharp and true. Yugi went over and picked the toy up, surprised to find that it was warm.
Kuriboh had always been an ally to him and Yami, showing surprising abilities despite its low power and small size. It had to be a sign to not give up hope, didn’t it?
He was Yugi Motou, after all. The King of Games, the Black Prince. He had gone up against his own soul mate, against the Pharaoh himself, and, no, he hadn’t come out on top, but neither had he been bowled under. It was just another crazy madman, just another otherworldly demon. He could survive this, as well.
If he could keep Bakura from destroying him…
******
“Hair’s too noticeable.” The words came through dully, fading in and out.
“Cut it. Dye it dark.” Who were the men talking about? “By the time it grows out, someone’ll have him safe in their playroom.”
“I suppose. The bruising’ll bring his price down too.”
“Tell them the truth. He fell down a set of stairs. I guarantee you, this little sweetheart will bring in a ton. He was already perfectly trained…”
:Kura?:
Ryou fell into darkness again.
******
It was dark the next time he woke, just enough light for him to see by. He lay on a hard surface that bumped and bounced every few seconds. A truck, probably, he thought dully. Every part of him hurt. For a few minutes, he couldn’t think of why that was, or where he was, but then, slowly, the encounter with Annalee came back to him. She had hit him, and he had, obviously, fallen down the stairs. He was lucky he hadn’t been killed, he reflected.
:Kura?: There was no answer, and when he reached out, all he met was a wall of fog. Ever so faintly, he could still sense his other half, still knew he lived, but he might as well have been trying to touch the moon. But if he could sense Bakura, then Bakura could sense him. Whether the thief thought he had run or not, he would still track him down. It was only a matter of time.
Slowly and painfully, Ryou pushed himself up, looking around. He was locked in a cage, just large enough for him to sit comfortably, or lay curled up. The bars were wide enough that he could have stretched an arm or a leg through, but no more than that.
Many of the occupants of the other cages, for the truck walls were lined with them, had taken advantage of that, the ones on the bottom row, like him, sitting with their legs stretched out before them, or lying down, sharing their space with their neighbour’s lower end, the neighbour returning the favour.
A lock of hair fell in Ryou’s face, and he reached up to push it back, pausing halfway in shock. The strands, which should have been gleaming white, or, at the least, a dirtied soft grey, were, instead, a dark honey brown.
Nor was it as long as it should have been, he realised, feeling a whisper of air across the back of his neck. The thick length had been cut, a rough, straight hack just a little past his chin.
It was just hair, he reminded himself. It would grow back, the dye would grow out. But he had worn it long since middle school, had been forbidden more than a trim since Bakura had come on the scene, and it made him feel a little naked and frightened now.
“Heard the boss talking about you. Figures you’ll fetch top dollar.” Ryou looked to his left, where his neighbour sat against the back of his cage, long legs stretched out in front of him. Green eyes looked Ryou up and down hungrily, and the newly brunet shivered. “I wouldn’t mind a taste.”
The robe and jewellery he had been wearing was gone too, Ryou realised, replaced with a rough too-large shirt that barely fell long enough to cover him and slipped down from one shoulder. It might have been white, at one point.
“Leave him alone, Frank.” Another voice hissed. “He’s going to have enough misery, soon enough.”
Ryou only looked away, not bothering to answer. Misery was most likely right. He doubted anyone who bought him would care whether they put marks on him, or whether he was properly cared for, so long as he could fulfil the purpose they wanted him for.
Though, he would not be in their place for all the world, when Bakura caught up with them. His head might have been pounding hard enough to wake the dead, but he knew that. Bakura would come, and heads would roll.
******
We finally find out who's behind the 'big bad'. Did anyone guess? I did drop a few very vague hints, mostly location-wise.
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Rulers and Rogues