Whoo hoo! Just finished Dragons legacy chapter five yesterday and started writing this! Whee! Now I have to get to the part where Seto is, and did we mention that the next chapter of Dragon begins from Seto's side of it? Hehehehehehehehehheheehehe... Oooo... It's HOT here... and heat does funny things to our mind...
Yugi blushed as he looked down at himself, amazed by the quality of the clothes he was dressed in and awed by the relish his master had taken in dressing him. He was wearing dancer style pants, with a wide silver sash gathering them at the waist, and similar silver cuffs gathering the loose pants at the ankles. The top of the outfit was a white midriff vest, mostly open with one silver latch holding it together at the top, and white gauzy sleeves that were gathered in silver cuffs at his wrists. There was silver embroidery on the back of the vest, but Yugi hadn't gotten a good look at it before his master had dressed him in it. He had also been given soft white hall slippers, which he despaired of keeping clean. Aside from the white gauzy material used on the sleeves, all the rest of the cloth used in the outfit was embroidered in delicate white on white patterns, adding a subtle layer, but still keeping the ligh t softness of the cloth.
There was also the way that his master was looking at him now, and it made something in Yugi tremble. "Well, come along Yugi, I have made arrangements for you to stay at the temple during the day." Yami said, somehow taking his eyes from the absolutely delicious looking little slave.
It only took a few minutes for them to reach the dark temple, and as soon as they got there Mokuba dragged Yugi into the back room to play for a little while before their lessons.
"A moment to talk Seto." Yami asked.
"Of course. What is on your mind?" Seto said turning back to Yami.
"Is there any way for me to communicate with Yugi mind to mind? I remember reading somewhere about such things when I was younger." Yami said, adding the last part blushing when Seto raised one eyebrow at him.
"There are actually several ways to do that, but all of them are complicated and usually only usable for short distances." Seto said. "Which is why we don?t use them very often, but that would probably be enough wouldn't it?"
"Yes, probably. What would I need for the link?" Yami asked.
"Well, the most common one is one that would let you read his mind whenever you wanted, but you wouldn't be able to talk to him that way. The second most common is a two way link that would allow you to communicate whenever you needed to within a certain range. The range in any of these spells depends entirely on how much mage potential both participants have." Seto explained.
"I would prefer the two way link. The distance shouldn't really be that much of a problem." Yami said.
"In that case, you will need to identical items, preferably pendants or something. As long as you're both holding or wearing these items you should be able to communicate. There can't be any other spells on these items, though they have been copied by magic in the past." Seto said. "It will take at least a week to cast the spell, and then a token upkeep of energy every now and then."
"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this." Yami said, asking a subtle question.
"While you sit in council each day, I generally have nothing to do and have taken to the library in my free time. I found a book on this kind of thing last week." Seto explained, snorting. The temple didn?t really require that much to keep it up and running in good condition, and so Seto had quickly turned to reading and gardening to stave off boredom.
"Well, I have pendants, I think, and so we can get started on it later today if it's okay with you." Yami said.
"Not a problem, I'll see you when you come back." Seto said, "For now I'm going to start the boy's lessons."
Yugi was delighted to find out that he was going to be learning to read and write, though he was a bit confused at first. After he started mastering the basics, he asked Mokuba and Seto about it, and found out that his master wanted him to be able to communicate with people. Yugi whole heartedly devoted himself to learning this then, and soon was able to read and write as well as Mokuba. He practiced his dancing each morning before his master awoke, and sometimes in the evening as well.
Yami for his part was happy to learn that his slave was as smart as Seto had assumed, and as soon as Yugi could write well, he started talking to the boy. He learned quite a few things about his little slave, and was quite satisfied with his hidden strength. When Yugi made his mind up about something, there was very very little that could be done to persuade him to think otherwise.
Mokuba almost died of embarrassment when he learned that Seto had appropriated Shizuka to watch out for Yugi and himself. He quickly got over it and by the end of the week they were all fast friends and getting into much mischief.
Yami was unaccountably nervous that day, though he did very well at hiding it. The pendent that would allow him to communicate with Yugi was to be finished today, and Yami would be able to finally give it to Yugi. Yugi had been a very quick study as far as writing, but it was very trying to talk that way.
After morning court, Yami sought out his little slave and found him with Mokuba and Shizuka in the library. Yugi was a little bit away from where Mokuba was reading to Shizuka, and Yami had to smile at his little ones tact.
"Yugi." Yami said from the door to get his slaves attention. "If you would come with me." Yugi obediently rose to follow him.
"See you later Yugi." Yami heard Mokuba call before resuming his reading.
"I take it those two are still dancing around the subject?" Yami asked when they were far enough down the hall not to be heard, and he saw Yugi nod out of the corner of his eye. "I hope they say something to each other soon, it's getting a little bit... nauseating." Yugi shrugged, grinning unrepentedly.
Since Yugi had started taking writing lessons with Mokuba, Yami had noticed that the smaller boy was a bit more relaxed around him, using his expressions to communicate. The small boy could express a lot too, because he was able to express things with his whole body instead of just his face. Then again, without being able to speak it was probably his only means of communication most of the time.
Soon they reached Yami's private garden, which was attached to his suite of rooms. A fountain stood in the centre of the garden with a large ledge to sit on when Yami had the leisure to, and a small pathway around the fountain was cobbled with smooth white stones, as was a path leading to the door leading inside. The rest of the area in the garden was taken up with plants of one kind or another. Most of the plants had broad leaves to give the garden plenty of shade so that it would be cool instead of hot. It was not as elaborate as Seto's garden, which had flowering vines crawling on the walls and grass instead of cobbling, but it was a nice garden. Yugi often practiced his dancing here in the mornings instead of inside.
Yami led Yugi to the fountain and motioned for the smaller boy to sit next to him. "Yugi, I have something for you." Yami said, presenting one of the enchanted pendants to the small slave boy. It was an inverted gold pyramid with many symbols and markings, on a simple chain. Yami was already wearing his, and waited nervously for Yugi to put his on.
-...wonder why he's giving it to me. Really wish I could ask, oh well.-
- It's so we can communicate without having to resort to writing.- Yami explained silently. "I hope you don't mind, but it will be faster and easier than making you write everything." he added aloud.
-Oh so you can hear what I'm thinking now? That's going to take some getting used to I've never been able to actually talk to someone before even though its not really considered talking I guess... - Yugi made a conscious effort not to allow his whole stream of consciousness to pour though the link.
- It's alright, I don't mind.- Yami said. - I want to learn more about you after all.-
- Is that why you made these? It seems like an awful lot of effort to go through just for me. I hope you're not put out or...- Yugi's thoughts trailed off and Yami could feel him trying to find some thing to say that wouldn't sound rude.
- Not at all, you under value yourself. I wanted to be able to talk to you for real, that's why I made these. You don't need to worry about being a bother or anything. There is a way to close the link, but it does require practice.- Yami said, partially responding to half formed thoughts. He naturally had a more controlled mind because he was a sorcerer, but it was nice to listen to Yugi's mind. It was.. refreshing.
- Oh.. - was all that Yugi could come up with.
Yami started taking Yugi to his court with him the next week, just so he could have the smaller boy closer to him during the day. Since the fatality rate dropped quite steeply while Yugi was there, no one objected to the Dark Prince bringing him. After a few months of taking Yugi to the court with him in the afternoons, and talking with him almost the entire time, Yami was more fascinated than ever by his little slave. Yugi had a very quick mind, and once Yami had been able to convince him that there was almost nothing he could do or say to really upset Yami, he had a very well developed sense of humor. As often as not he was behind the pranks that would get Mokuba, Shizuka, and himself into trouble, though generally they had the good sense not to upset too many people.
It was just after one fiasco involving a tree, six desert pies, and a bird's nest that Yami started receiving reports of more and more magic talented children coming from the western towns and cities. A great many of them seemed to be the orphans left over from when the house of Brannar had extended its territory and attacked their neighbors the Solar Tribes. Their magic was slightly different from anyone else's, as almost all of the Solar peoples had possessed some kind of magic talent or gift. It was extremely hard for outsiders to train them to use their magic because it worked differently, and didn't follow the same channels in their bodies as other magics. ((((And lets just leave it at that because it's VERY complicated))))
An emissary from the house of Brannar had arrived earlier that day, and Yami was supposed to see him in court sometime within the next day or two, but Seto and Anzu were supposed to have meetings with him first because it was the temples jurisdiction to take in and train magic talented slaves and orphans.
Sighing, Yami finally got fed up with the paper work he had been occupied with that morning, and wend looking for Yugi. Having the little one near always made him feel more calm and able to deal with the idiots he had to work with.
Jou was not having a good day. First he had gotten lost on the way to the temple, and now he had gotten lost on the way back to his master's room. Stopping for a moment by one of the large windows looking out on some garden, Jou was surprised to hear a voice that he had never been able to get out of his head.
"Slow down you two! I think we lost her this time."
"Nu uh! That's what you said last time and she still caught up. Come on Yugi, there's a shortcut back to the temple this way." a young boy's voice said, and a moment later, three young figures came around the corner into the hall Jou was in. One had long hair, and was wearing a black tunic with gold embroidered into it, marking him as a priest or priest in training of some sort. The other boy was small with tri colored hair, and he was wearing white dancer style pants and a white tunic with flowing sleeves and intricate embroidery on it, though a gold collar on his neck marked him as a slave.
The last to turn around the corner was someone who he wasn?t sure he would ever see again. She wore a simple dress made of undyed cloth, and had a plain leather slave collar on. "No, we definitely lost her, besides hasn't she been warned that she isn't allowed in this side of the palace anymore?" Shizuka said to her companions, before actually looking down the hall.
Jou quickly turned his eyes away and hoped she wouldn't recognize him, while he panicked in the privacy of his own mind. If Keith found her or found out that she was from the Solar tribes, he would undoubtedly try to use her or capture her.
"Jou?" She said suddenly. "Jounouchi! It is you!" Shizuka ran forward and enveloped him in a fierce hug. "How dare you try to ignore me!"
"Taru'un ol xor naut, olen whol dossta sreen'aur." Jou said, smiling and hugging her back before gently pushing her away. "Usstan inbal ulu alu, ussta jabbuk shah drithin." Jou's smile faltered some as he turned to leave, because he did feel his master trying to call him through the magic suppressing collar he wore.
"Usstan uil kne'al." He heard Shizuka say softly. "Go in health Dalninuk."
"Don't Shizuka, please." Jou said. He wasn't sure how much his master understood of the Solar language, so it would be best to not use terms like that until he was certain they wouldn't be overheard and repeated. He then hurried away from her and her friends.
"Who was that Shizuka?" Mokuba asked, staring after Jou and Shizuka turned back to him.
"Oh just someone I met before I was sold here. Come on, isn't your brother supposed to be waiting for us back at the temple?" She said, going cheerfully on her way, determined to ignore the pain that she felt for her brother.
Yugi nodded enthusiastically, and skipped ahead, conveying energy and brightness with every movement.
"Alright." Mokuba said, wondering both what language they had been speaking and why Shizuka would lie about someone she had called brother.
Aaries: Hehehehehe.. FORESHADOWING! The only question is can anyone guess what it is?
Chaos: Probably. Anyways, this chapter has some of the Drow language in it. For the record we do not own the drow language, though we have made up some words when the dictionary we printed didn't have a suitable word.
Jef: Do you think that people would be too upset if we didn't put the translation in? The scene will be repeated word for word in the next chapter of Dragons Legacy, and so will be translated there.
Aaries: Eh... We'll se how it goes. If you guys want a translation added on to this chapter or in the next chapter of this fic, let us know with a nice review. ((winks))
Chaos: Hehehehe.. that's bad. We know people want a bit more action in this and Dragon, but be a bit patient ok, next chapter begins evil plots between Tae and Keith, and a bit of excitement.
Aaries: Do you think there should be a failed kidnapping attempt first or not? (((Smiles)))