Hello, this is my first story~ Though, it's a remake of Kurai-Onii's "Kura", so it's not mine, all credit goes to her! Please go read her's I'm sure it's way better than this one~

-Echo

Once upon a time there was a beautiful prince, but he had an enchantment on him of a fearful sort which could only be broken by love's first kiss. He was locked away in a castle, guarded by a terrible monster. Many brave knights attempted to free him from this terrible prison but none prevailed, he waited in the monster's keep. In the highest room of the tallest tower for his true love and true love's first kiss.

Bakura shook his head and his white hair swung back and forth, muttering a ,"Like hell", before ripping out the page he was on in the book with his razor-sharp claws. A deep sigh escaped his pale lips as he turned his scarlet eyes up at the wooden shack that stood proudly in the center of the darkest forest that danced with shadows both day and night. A rumor was spread throughout a nearby village that sat near the forest. And according to this rumor, a creature wicked to the core resided there. He was like a pale shadow with his wild white hair, near ivory skin, and crazed blood red eyes. But, Bakura loved to hear the rumors and stories, he liked the feeling of being feared and it kept strangers away so he could have his privacy. A smirk making its way to his face, he let the torn page flutter carelessly to the ground and made his way back to the his home. As he did so, his clawed hand patted an old wooden sign that had the words, "Beware demon!" in a sticky red liquid and right below it was a rather crudely drawn picture of Bakura's head, his fanged teeth showing and his hair as wild as ever.

…

A united cry rang from the men of the nearby village, the flames on their torches making the ends of their pitchforks glow in the darkness. They were going over the last details for their plan to capture Bakura, though some were obviously braver than others as some near the edge of the circle shivered and trembled in fear. Even those that didn't had glimmers of worry in their eyes.

Their feet pounded against the forest floor, making whatever few animals were there scamper away in fright. Serious and determined expressions adorned their faces as they knocked over and trampled the signs Bakura had put up, cracking sounds coming from them as the men stepped on them, splinters scattering the ground. They didn't have second thoughts about it, though a small group of the men straggled behind the rest, not wanting to be a part of the search party, but knew how greatly their reputations would be effected if they stayed behind.

…

The demon couldn't help but lick his pale lips as his red eyes stared at the bloody steak that laid in front of him, the juices spreading out on the plate. Just as his fork was about to pierce his meal, the sound of snapping twigs and splintering wood forced him to snap his red gaze from his food to the window. A growl rumbling in his throat he angrily pushed out his chair and stomped to the window, his hair a bright contrast from the murky darkness. He narrowed his eyes to see the smallest sparks of fire floating among the trees and foliage.

The snarling noise he made faded away and he tilted his head ever so slightly, thinking of how he could mess with the villagers. He could use a little fun, it had been a while since anyone had come to "visit" him. He managed to sneak through the woods without being spotted, as he knew the twists and turns like the back of his hand, and followed stealthily behind the group.

He watched with glinting eyes as they reached the edge of the trees and peered at his home through the spindly and ugly branches.

"Do you think it's in there?" one of the men asked in a hushed whisper, his eyes wide.

No one truly got to answer as another male, brave yet foolish, declared, "Let's go get it!" Just as he stepped forward, an arm blocked his way, the owner of said arm giving him a glare, along with the harsh warning of, "Stop! Do you even know what that foul creature could do to you?! He'll grind your bones to make his bread!" Before he could say anything else, there was a loud, booming cackle like thunder that erupted from behind them, making every man jump and spin around in shock.

"Interesting idea, but I'm afraid that would be giants, dumbass." Every step Bakura took, the men took one back. A sick and threatening grin stretched across his face, his fangs glinting in the silvery moonlight as he continued, "Demons are much worse; we'll drink ever drop of blood in your body and pick your bones clean of every piece of meat." He then added in a casual manner, "It's actually quite good with toast."

One brave soul took a few steps forward and swung out the torch in his hand at the unfazed demon like a sword, shouting, "Stay back! I'm warning ya!" Bakura simply smirked again and blew out the flame on the torch as if it were nothing more than a simple candle.

"...boo." At the demon's "threat", every man screamed in terror at almost the exact same time, their hands shaking and dropping their weapons to the ground, scrambling away from the creature and fleeing into the brush. A quiet but sadistic laugh shaking his body, the thin demon called out after them, "And stay out!"

Hearing a fluttering sound and a flicker of beige in the corner of his vision, he turned and picked up a flier off the ground near a few spare pitchforks. He raised an eyebrow and, thanks to the fact that he was a creature of the night, could easily read it as if it were daylight. A gnome was drawn onto the aged-looking paper and in large letters above it read, "Wanted, fairytale creatures." Scoffing and rolling his glowing eyes, he easily crumpled up the paper and threw it carelessly behind him, muttering out, "Bloody humans..." before making his way back home, to where he could hopefully eat his steak.

…

The two pairs of purple eyes watched with fear as several unique but wanted creatures were shoved into cages and wagons, being sent to who knows here. A unicorn was practically being shoved into a large wagon by a pair of men in armor and there were three bears trapped in cages. Yami, the owner of the darker shade of purple eyes, lightly tugged at the binds on his wrists and glanced at the brunette woman who held two ropes in her hand, the other rope tied to his tan companion, Marik.

"Tea, please don't do this!" pleaded Yami, staring hopefully at said woman, "We'll be good from now on!" When he was ignored, Marik chimed in, having the same worried look on his face, "Yeah, untie us!" This only earned him a smack to the face and he yelped in surprise.

"Shut up!" Tea demanded, her blue eyes turning into daggers at she glared at the two.

The guard who sat at the wooden table shouted, "Next!", his eyes looking expectant. Tea instantly dragged the two boys after her and stopped in front of the table, Yami and Marik sharing terrified looks.

"What have ya got?"

Tea grinned proudly at the question and answered with a sing-song voice, "I've got a magician and a hybrid~" "That's worth quite a bit of gold..." the man nodded slightly, turning his cold gaze onto the two creatures in question, "...if you can prove it, that is."

"Of course I can!" the woman also turned to look at Yami and Marik, "Now Marik, show the nice man your ears and tail." The blond shrunk back, keeping his gaze on anything but her. Annoyed, she turned her attention to the shorter male, "Yami, cast a spell...come on you little bastards!" Her voice rose as neither boy obeyed, obviously straining against the rough ropes to get away from the fed up brunette.

After a moment of silence, the man without a helmet rolled his eyes, "I've heard enough out of you, take her away." At the command, the two knights behind him rounded the small table and grabbed her small shoulders, forcing her grip on the ropes to lighten before she was pulled away all together as she was dragged away, still fighting. "We don't have to listen to her anymore!" Marik happily cheered, letting a pair of golden cat ears spring up from his wild hair and the tail slip out from his belt loops, waving around happily.

The man jumped up from his seat in shock and pointed, "He's a hybrid! Get him!"

Yami shot a nasty glare at the hybrid and pulled out an ebony staff from behind him, shouting in a deep voice despite his height, "Marik, you moron! Why do I have to do everything?!" As he waved his staff around in small circles, a sparkling red magic surrounded both teenagers and they began to float upwards until they were out of reach of the knights below.

"A magician!" cried the man by the table, angrily slamming a fist onto the wood.

Without thinking, Marik clung to the the shorter male's arm and cried out mockingly, "It's sad that the devil woman was telling you the truth! We're outta here, bitches~!"

Yami's face lit up with panic, his eyes widening, "Marik, stop that! You'll make me lose-" Just then, he was cut off as the crimson aura quickly faded away and they fell to the ground, grunting on contact with the hard ground.

"Seize them!"

Almost instantly recovering from the painful fall, Marik gripped Yami's forearm and took off into the forest like a colorful blur, the knights right on their tails. As they ran, the magician hissed, glaring harshly at the hybrid, "Why do you always have to ruin things, Marik?!" "Ha~ Because it's more fun that way!" Marik replied in a sing song voice, not seeming to take it as an insult like most would. He glanced over his shoulder, and seeing that the armored knights were gaining, he picked up his pace as much as he could, still dragging poor Yami behind him. But it didn't last long as he suddenly ran straight into something hard, knocking him backwards and nearly falling on top of Yami.

While they were dazed and in pain, as soon as they heard one of the knight's voices yell, "Get back here!" they scrambled and cowered behind whoever they had literally bumped into. As the knights came into clear view, they stopped in their tracks as they spotted Bakura standing in front of the runaways, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You there, demon." the leader stated, visibly shaken just by the sight of the taller demon.

"What?"

Gulping nervously, the man pulled what seemed to be a scroll, a large blue 'P' painted onto the back, and nervously read, "By the order of Lord Pegasus, I am to take all three of you into custody..." He trailed off as he met the demon's crimson glare, "Oh, really? You and what army?" Confused, the man glanced over his shoulder to see that his knights had abandoned him and all their swords and shields had been dropped. Casting one more look at Bakura, he gave out a terrified cry and rushed away from the three, nearly tripping on everything as he fled like a gazelle from a lion.

Bakura rolled his eyes, acting like chasing off a group of brave, trained knights was child's play, and began to retreat deeper into the woods. Marik's face was alive with shock before he looked back at Bakura and happily cried, chasing after the pale demon, "Wow, you're awesome!" The white-haired male hesitantly stopped in his tracks and gave the hybrid an odd look, "Me?"

"Yes, you~ That was amazing how you scared off those guards!" the blonde continued, gushing praise at Bakura before turning to Yami and nudging him, "It's good to be free, isn't it Yami~?" The magician didn't answer so Marik just continued to chatter happily to Bakura, eventually to the point where the demon wasn't even sure what he was saying anymore. Barely managing to suppress a growl, Bakura placed a pale hand over the tan male's mouth, but to his astonishment, Marik kept talking, though it was muffled, and didn't even seem to notice.

He finally snapped and yanked his hand away, a growl mixed in with his questions, "Why don't you go celebrate your freedom somewhere else? What about your own friends?"

"...but Yami is my only friend..."

Yami narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, mumbling under his breath, "I would use that term loosely-" "Well I"m not going back out there!" Marik declared loudly, his tail bristling at the thought of being chased by those knights again. Then, an idea popped in his head and it instantly escaped his mouth, "Oh, I know! We'll go with you~ With your scariness, Yami's magic, and my dashing good looks, we could rule the world!"

Fed up with all the nonsense, Bakura took in a deep breath and spun around, snarling like a beast, fangs and eyes flashing dangerously that would send horror through anyone's body or scare them to death. Marik stared stupidly at the demon, purple eyes wide, tail swaying limply and ears lowered against his head. Satisfied that he had frightened him off, Bakura smirked and continued on his way, passing under a slanted log that was stuck between two ledges.

However, he had been wrong as Marik used his cat-like muscles to leap on top of log and peer his head down so his face was right in Bakura's, his blond tail hanging from the other side. Bakura stopped, nearly jumping and scowled as Marik began to speak, yet again, "That was really scary! And if that doesn't get rid of them your attitude certainly will! Seriously dude you're a pretty big jerk. Yami can be really mean too, like that one time when he stole all my clothes while I was taking a bath in the river and I had to run through the town butt-"

Bakura roughly put his hand over Marik's moving mouth again and demanded, eyes glaring, "Why are you following me?" The bronze-skinned hybrid jumped down from the log and stood back up properly, simply pointing at Yami, "Because I don't want to be all by myself with him." He seemed to pout slightly, like a child, "He's always casting spells on me and hitting me..." Ignoring any other complaints from Marik, he glanced back at the magician who hadn't spoken much throughout the whole encounter, "How do you put up with him?"

"I tune him out as best I can." was Yami's simple answer, looking exasperated and giving a small shrug, still holding his staff from earlier.

Still hearing Marik whining about all the pranks Yami had pulled on him, Bakura spun back around and shouted loud enough to cut off the hybird, "Shut up! Look at me you dumbass, what am I?!" He stretched out his arms and stared at Marik, his eye seeming to twitch slightly.

A thoughtful look crossed Marik's tan face and he looked the demon up and down carefully, having a hand under his chin. His tail waved around until it stopped in a shape similar to a question mark and he moved his hand from under his chin, his palm facing up and his fingers curled slightly, "Really pale?"

"No, I'm a demon!" Bakura retorted, staring at him like he was stupid and continued with his explanation, "You know, like, steal your soul and drink your blood. Doesn't that bother you...?"

After sharing a quick glance, both Marik and Yami said in serious voices, "Nope."

"...really?"

"Yep." Yami gave Bakura a nod, his eyes showing that he couldn't care less.

Marik gave the demon a genuine, wide smile and cheerily asked, "I like you man, what's your name~?"

Bakura stared at the two, still getting over the shock of their indifference and continued down the trail, the two still following close behind him, "Uh...Bakura." "Bakura? What kind of a name is that?" Marik asked, raising an eyebrow and putting a hand to his hip. Yami gave him a warning glare before the trio reached the top of a grassy hill, staring down at Bakura's home. "Who lives in that dump?" came Marik's rude question, nose wrinkled in disgust.

"That's my home." Bakura said, his calm voice holding a dangerous tone before easily heading down the hill, passing by the sparse flowers that grew. "And it's beautiful! I love the way you decorated the place." Marik perked up, trying to hide his dislike for the rundown place and glanced over at a boulder that laid nearby, "I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder~" He was suddenly hit upside the head by Yami, who was still glowering at him.

"Moron."

"Jerk."

"Dumbass."

"Bastard."

Bakura snarled as they reached the bottom of the hill and glanced back at them, "Quiet! You're both annoying as hell-" His face was twisted, he had never been more irritated by any two people than right now.

"Can we stay with you?" Yami asked suddenly, wide-eyes staring at Bakura.

"What?"

"Can we stay with you, please?" Yami repeated slowly and hesitantly, almost in a pleading manner, hoping the demon would agree yet knew he wouldn't.

"No." Bakura grunted.

"Oh come on, we can't go back out there!" Yami yelled, suddenly grabbing Bakura's arm tightly, stopping him and was now begging. "Don't leave me alone with him, I'll go crazy! If I go on a psychotic rampage, it'll be on your head!"

"Fine!" Bakura loudly sighed and put a hand to his head, feeling a headache coming on and not able to argue anymore, "You can stay for one night, now get off me!" Yami relaxed instantly and released his arm, pushing past the pale demon and into the house. Marik also rushed in and acted like it was his own house, practically curling up on the nearest chair, while Yami asked, "Where do we sleep?"

Glaring at Marik for a moment, he answered in a cold voice, "Outside."

Yami blinked in surprise, looking like he was going to object for a moment, but he was smart enough to stop himself and nodded hesitantly, "Oh...that's okay, I guess..." The magician's voice trailed off and headed back outside, Marik sadly slinking off the chair, he had grown attached to it in the few seconds he was on it.

"Goodnight..." Marik's voice was sad and weak, though Bakura took no notice and slammed the door shut behind the two.

Sighing in annoyance, hearing the two carry on a whining conversation outside his door. The demon shook his head and hoped they would shut up soon.

Outside, Yami was frowning and leaned against the wall next to the door, his head on his shoulder and eyes drooping. Marik was curled up similar to how a cat would, his head on his hands and tail laying tiredly over his thigh. "...it's so cold..." the hybrid complained and tried to curl up tighter in an attempt to keep warm. Yami nodded, feeling himself shiver and goosebumps covering his arms. He was snapped to full awareness as Marik tried to cling to his arm, but he scowled and yanked it from his grip, "I'm cold but not that cold."

The two said nothing more and eventually drifted off to sleep, the shadows on the edge of the trees beginning to move.