Bakura could do little but stare at the letter. Eyes wide and mouth ajar with horror.

"Bakura?" asked Marik, with a hint of fear.

Bakura fainted.

He coughed, finally able to reach the edge of the river.

He wept as he made himself small, trembling because of the cold. Soon he started to feel tired, his eyes closing slowly.

He heard voices coming for him.

He felt cold and in pain. They had been traveling for a while now and the men now kept him in a tight leash. He was drugged half the time, impeding him from even trying to escape like last time.

He had no idea where they were, he didn't even know for how long they travelled, but it felt quite long.

Next thing he knew they were out of Tenjoukai and he was in someone else's hands.

Katsuya roared as he broke yet another wooden sword.

"Trash!" He stomped to get another one.

Seto waited for him, his own wooden sword in hand. He had been on babysitting duty for almost a week now, not that anyone had asked him. He had been spending his time with Prince Katsuya, making sure he took breaks, ate, drank and sleept, and didn't work himself to death with training.

Neither Royal had taken good the awful surprise of their brother's disappearance and probable death. He couldn't blame them, neither had his cousin. In fact, he had discovered that for someone known as the infamous bastard Prince, he was quite beloved.

Prince Katsuya came back with another sword. Seto sighed, Prince's Katsuya emotional instability was quite taxing but he couldn't bring himself to be mad, he would be the same if something like that happened to Mokuba.

"I think that's enough for now your Majesty," sait Seto.

"What? You're tired already?"

"That's none of your business," Katsuya huffed at Seto's snark "But you are mistreating yourself. If you continue like this…" He stopped at the Prince's tear filled eyes "We're not giving up."

"Of course not!" He hiccuped, tears running down his face "My brother is out there and…! And I'm here… Doing nothing!" He threw the sword on the floor. "I can't do anything! Shizuka is going blind, Yugi has been kidnapped again! And I can't do anything!" He sobbed. "I feel so useless…" he hid his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with his contained sobs. He hiccuped.

He looked up when he felt a comforting hand on his head.

The Priest stood there, with that juxtaposing soft look in his ici eyes. Katsuya felt a strong urge to hug him.

So he did.

He trapped the Priest in a tight hug, hiding his face in his chest. For a moment Seto was frozen in place, but soon enough he embraced the Prince, letting him cry his heart out.

Yugi rested his head against the metal bars.

He was afraid, and he was angry and yet he wasn't trembling, maybe because of the raw exhaustion that he felt. He was still wearing the black and ink blue Qiyao Ruqun that Pegasus gifted him, which was a good sign.

He felt dirty. His hair was greasy and he was, no doubt, covered with dirt and dust, maybe even some blood. He was almost grateful to the blinding darkness he was trapped in when that thought crossed his mind. He shivered.

He rattled the bars, an upset scream tearing out of his mouth. He just wanted to go back.

He heard someone walk to him, but couldn't see a thing. Fortunately, the man brought with him a torch dimly illuminating part of his face. His voice was hoarse when he spoke, and Yugi couldn't understand a word of it, although he wasn't sure if the man had catched onto the fact that he didn't speak his language; probably not since at the lack of response Yugi received a kick to the face, throwing him back, onto the floor. The man said some other words before leaving Yugi cursing under his breath.

Mai had been coping differently, but just as bad. She had taken to drinks and bets when she wasn't busy working on something or with someone.

She rested in a sofa of her room, drinking directly from a bottle of sake.

"Mai"

"Grandfather" she responded, still not drunk enough.

"Mai, please."

"Then let me go."

The Emperor sighed. That had been his fight his grandchildren since they got back with the bad news. Mai and Katsuya had demanded he let them go out to look for their baby brother but Sugoroku didn't have the heart to, he couldn't even stomach the idea that something might happen to his grandchildren. Both grandchildren understood the Emperor's feelings but staying there and doing little to nothing was driving them crazy.

Sugoroku left Mai alone, tired of having the same discussion over and over again.

Mai brought the sake back to her mouth and kept drinking.

The men immobilized him, pinning him to the cold ground. He screamed and kicked as they undressed him, leaving him only in his undergarment. Then they shackled him, wrists, ankles and neck; and dragged him out of the cell. He yelled profanities and unsuccessfully squirmed; if he wasn't going to free himself then he would at least be as annoying as possible, he was only stopped by the hard kick to the stomach that he received once they had enough.

He was thrown into a cart. There was a boy, with brown eyes and messy light and dark brown hair. He looked ragged and his eyes had a natural glimmer to them.

The boy knelt as close to him as the chain that connected the shackle on his neck to the wall let him. He asked something in a foreign language and Yugi could only whine in response.

Once he too had been chained to the cart did the men left, closing the door behind them; and it wasn't long before they were moving.

The boy cradled him as he tried to get air in his lungs. Once he finally did he cursed under his breath. The boy must've heard him, because next he spoke in Yugi's mother tongue.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a soft accent.

"I am now," said Yugi, finally able to sit up on his own "thank you"

"Don't thank me, I didn't do anything" said the boy flustered "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Yugi" he replied, not feeling like sharing more information "And what's your name?"

"I'm Judai Yuki" he smiled "Your name sounds familiar, have we met before?"

"I don't think so, but my name is quite rare so it's not much probable that you've heard it before" Yugi tried to get comfortable on the floor "Your name sounds familiar too"

"Mmmm, if you say so" said Judai, thoughtful "Where are you from anyway?"

"Where are you from?"

Judai scratched the back of his head nervously, he pouted at the floor briefly before answering.

"I'm from a little country named Aaru-no-Yami, but I'm not sure if it still exists, or if it will much longer"

"Oh" he gasped, feeling pity for the boy "I heard what happened" the boy nodded as he hugged his legs, resting his head on his knees "I'm sorry"

They fell into silence for a moment.

"Do you understand what they say?" asked Judai, Yugi shook his head "I only understand a little. They said something about selling us, I think"

"They're going to sell us as slaves" gasped Yugi "We have to escape"

"How?"

"I'm not sure but" he mused "There must be a way"

She looked around, lost.

She kept walking, knowing well that if she were to stop they would catch up to her, and the didn't have the energy to fight.

Breathing heavily, she trying to deeper and deeper into the forest, maybe she would be able to get to spirit territory, maybe even reach a village or something.

She heard their steps, closer and closer. She walked quicker, her shoes abandoned long ago. There were scratches on her soles, making the walking painful. She tried to quiet her whines, and tried to not stop.

As she walked and walked it became more and more painful, but she wouldn't let herself stop, couldn't.

She tripped, she couldn't keep walking, and the men were close, she could hear them. She couldn't get back to her feet, it was too painful, so she crawled. It slowed her down and it was making her crazy, her heart racing with panic, she felt it was going to explode.

Her palms were sweating and small rocks and other things hurted her skin.

She heard the men closer and closer and her eyes filled with tears, she wouldn't be able to escape, she was sure. But it didn't mean she would just give up.

They traveled for a couple of days, until they got the outskirts of a village that looked terribly traditionally Tenjoukain.

They were dragged inside a house through the back. There were men waiting for them. Yugi squeaked when he was thrown to another's hands. Hands that immediately started stripping him of his dirty garments.

"NO" he shrieked "STOP"

He heard a grunt, a punch and a gasp. Judai, across the room right in front of him, was been treated the same as him and he had kicked a man in retaliation, receiving a punch for his efforts.

Yugi squirmed and tried to throw punches and kicks to free himself. Someone pressed his face against the floor and more hands were on him, keeping him still to make it easy to strip him naked. Judai was in the same situation. But neither would give up just yet.

Yugi grew more and more distressed. It felt like a burning in his chest, and it expanded. He shrieked, but it didn't sound human. His teeth grew sharper and his nails elongated into white claws. His skin darkened, covered by black scales. Red orbs appeared on his body, tearing his skin. His eyes turned crimson and his pupils changed, turning very much like those of a snake. From his back grew a pair of black wings and a lizard tail. He grew on size and his shrieks grew in volume, the sound hurting their ears.

The men let go off him and Yugi, now a growing dragon, growled. He roared and Judai was set free too. Yugi lashed out to the men, all who were too surprised to really react. Judai was on the floor, half naked and bruising, gaping at the dragon.

He broke to roof with his gigantic size. Debris falling on the men, some even hitting Judai, knocking him out.

Yugi cradled Judai with his front paws and flew away.

The table was upside down, ceramic broken, the bed undone and messy.

Bakura breathed loudly.

"Done?" asked Marik from the door.

"Yes..." rasped Bakura.

"Better?"

"No"

"Do you want a hug?"

"...Maybe"

Without another word he walked to Bakura who was hunched and tense and gently hugged him. Bakura sighed and let himself be hugged, hiding his face on Marik's shoulder. Marik hummed as he petted Bakura's fluffy hair. After some time Bakura relaxed and hugged back. Marik looked at the door where Rishid stood with tea for both, he sent him a grateful smile.

Judai could barely keep his eyes open.

He felt as if the cold air cutted his skin like ice shards. The noise of the air was deafening him and he felt as if they were flying to fast for him to be able to breathe properly.

He still wasn't sure what had happened. One moment he and Yugi were being stripped and the next Yugi was turning into a gigantic black dragon and breaking them free, probably killing their captors in the process.

He didn't fear for his safety, Yugi had taken him with him in his escape, so he thought safe to assume that he would protect him.

Yugi had him safely in his front paws, careful that his claws wouldn't hurt him.

He had one arm free, which he used to protect his eyes from the wind. He closed his eyes and looked down, trying to protect his eyes he patted Yugi to try to get his attention. He didn't know for how long they had been flying but he felt that it was about time to stop.

He heard a whine as Yugi descended, first slowly then faster and faster. Now he feared for his safety, for both their safeties. He felt Yugi changed size, shrinking as they fell.

The process was as slow as when Yugi transformed back at that shack.

The fall was slow, by the time his feet touched the top of the trees Yugi was still bigger than him, his wings trying to keep them up. He felt nauseous. When his feet graced the floor Yugi had almost returned to normal and was unable to keep them up. The speed made him unable of stopping, so both fell into a lagoon.

He fought to keep themselves afloat, his senses were a bit fuzzy and his head was spinning. Somehow he managed to drag himself and Yugi to the edge, where he promptly passed out.