Thank you all so very much for all of the adds and great reviews!

I do not own, or claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, or any of the other settings and characters (other than a certain "S Kath") that will appear later. This is a work of fan-fiction, crossed with a love…okay, obsession, of RPG's.

I also make no claims to any of the characters or places in the story that Syrus is writing. Well other than Syrus Kath and Jadin!

I would like to, as always, give thanks to my good friend (and muse) Tab. Other thanks also go out to my gaming group: Larry, Andy, Chad, Heather, Partho, Matt, and Pinky! Thanks guys!

Reflections in Ice: A Yu-Gi-Oh GX fan fiction/crossover with (well, I can't tell yah yet!) Rated T for language, violence, and *ahem* (yes there will be romance and yaoi later on) …. As always, reviews are appreciated!

Reflections in Ice: Chapter 6

Syrus rolled over at the sound of the buzzing alarm clock. He waited for a moment in hopes that Jaden would get up and shut it off, but his friend held to his normal pattern, which was to totally ignore the alarm. Syrus gave a slight sigh, unrolled from the covers, padded over to the clock and shut it off.

He walked over to the bottom bunk where Jaden slept. "Hey, Jay!" Syrus said as he gave Jaden a slight nudge. "Time to get up! C'mon, Jay! I don't wanna be late!"

Jaden let out a snort at he woke. "Mornin' already? Man, feels like we just got to sleep!" he gave a stretch and threw off the covers as he rolled out of bed.

Syrus was already in the process of getting dressed. Jaden joined him by the closet and started dressing himself. "So did you get any sleep?" Jaden asked as he pulled on his black shirt.

"Yeah a little bit." Syrus said as he pulled on his yellow turtleneck. "I wrote a little more and it kinda relaxed me."

Jaden looked down at the smaller boy and smiled. "Remember, bud, anytime you wanna talk, I'm here for yah!"

"I know. I just hate feeling like a baby that's all!"

The pair finished dressing in silence and ate a hearty Slifer Red breakfast of oatmeal (how it could be both lumpy and runny at the same time was just one of those things one didn't want to know the answer to), burnt toast and juice. They finished eating and started down the path towards campus. A low rumbling could be heard off in the distance and they looked up at the sky.

"Looks like rain." Jaden mumbled.

Syrus gave a little giggle. "Hey, be thankful. They'll have to call off tennis class today."

Jaden laughed. "Why do you care? You're excused from P.E. until next week!"

"Yeah, but your missing the point. If they call off P.E., they might have a Free Dueling period."

Jaden's eyes lit up. "Oh! Wow! I didn't think about that! You really think they will?"

Syrus gave a shrug "They might, or then again we might have to attend a spur-of-the-moment lecture by Dr. Crowler."

Jaden groaned. "You just had to ruin it didn't yah?"

"I'm just being a realist." Syrus said as he opened the school door as the first drops of rain started to fall. A crack of thunder sounded and Syrus jumped forward into the building.

Jaden had to hide a grin. Syrus was deathly afraid of thunderstorms (which was just one of the many things the little duelist was afraid of).

"Wow Syrus." A voice sounded from just inside the hallway.

"Yeep!" Syrus yelped and jumped again, placing his hand over his chest. He looked up and saw the smiling face of the queen of Duel Academy. "A…Alexis. You…you scared me!" he squeaked.

She gave a laugh. "I can see that. What I was going to say was that I don't think I've ever seen you jump that high, but you proved me wrong." She walked over and gave the smaller boy a pat on the head. "What's got you so jumpy today, Sy?"

Jaden walked up. "He's had a couple of bad nightmares lately, 'lexis."

Syrus' face flushed with embarrassment and a little bit of anger. "Thanks a lot, Jay!" he fumed as he stormed off down the hallway.

Jaden had his usual look of innocent confusion on his face as he looked at Alexis. "What'd I do?"

Alexis sighed. "I think you may have embarrassed him a bit, Jaden. You know how touchy he's been lately. You might want to have a talk with him at lunch."

"Yeah, that's a really good idea." Jaden nodded. "Thanks 'lexis!" He looked up at the clock on the wall. "Ugh. We've got Dr. Crowler's morning lecture, don't we?"

"So what's the big deal? You usually sleep through it anyway."

Jaden laughed. "Heh. Yeah. Well maybe Crowler'll be so busy jabbering away that maybe I can straighten things out with Sy before lunch. See yah in class." He gave her a wave as he made record time to his least favorite instructor's class.

Syrus was already sitting in his usual seat. Jaden made his way over and sat down. "Hey bud." He said.

Silence was his only reply. The little bluenette had his nose buried in a textbook. "Look, Sy. I'm sorry. I just thought…"

"No you didn't."

"Huh?"

"You didn't think, Jaden!" Syrus snapped. Jaden winced as he was unaccustomed to this tone of voice from his friend. "That's your problem. Now leave me alone. I need to study."

Jaden took a long look at Syrus. He could count on one hand the number of times that his friend had raised his voice at him. He started to open his mouth but thought better. "Give him some time to cool off." He thought.

Class started and it was as bad as Jaden had thought. Usually he would nap, but not today. Crowler had a pop quiz planned. He gave a moan as he received the stack of papers. Jaden took one from the top and passed the rest to Syrus, who almost jerked them out of his hand. Syrus took one, handed the stack to the student next to him and silently started work

About fifteen minutes later, Syrus stood up and took his test up to Dr. Crowler. Jaden noticed this and sighed. He usually delivered both of their exams as Crowler was another thing on Syrus' phobia list. Jaden noticed that Syrus said something to Crowler, who gave nothing more than a slight nod of his head, and Syrus left the hall.

"Wow! You really pissed him off." Chazz's sneering voice came from behind Jaden. Jaden growled under his breath and went back to trying in vain to complete the test.

Unfortunately for him, the bell rang and he had to turn in an incomplete exam. Jaden quickly hurried to his next class hoping to catch up with Syrus. Halfway down the hall he remembered. "Oh, dang! P. E.'s next. Sy doesn't have it till next week." He shook his head as he entered the boy's locker room.

One thing was in his favor. The downpour outside resulted in postponement of the dreaded tennis class and sure enough, a free duel period resulted.

Jaden looked around the arena for his friend. Syrus may have been small, but there was no mistaking his hair. He spotted a Truesdale, but not the one he was looking for. "What the heck?" he thought as he walked over to Syrus' older brother. "Hey, Zane."

Zane looked over and nodded towards the Slifer duelist. "Jaden." He said in his usual neutral tone. He arched his eyebrows. "Where's Syrus?"

"Um…I was just going to ask you the same question. We had a little bit of a…"

Chazz interrupted. "They had a bit of a lover's spat." He smirked then quickly sought a safer area to avoid the elder Truesdale's possible retribution.

Zane glared at Chazz then turned the same gaze to Jaden, who gave a shudder. "What did you do to my little brother?" he asked, his voice had a slight growl to it.

"I shoulda stayed in bed." Jaden moaned as he covered his face with his hands. He sighed and looked at the scowling Obelisk duelist. "Now I kinda know how Sy feels." Jaden thought. "Look Zane," he said, "I wasn't thinking, don't say it, and opened my big mouth and I think I hurt Sy's feelings. I'm trying to find him to say I'm sorry, but I can't find him anywhere."

"He is probably in either the library or computer lab since he has been excused from P. E. class." Zane said, the menacing tone gone. He, however, still continued to scowl at Jaden.

"Thanks Zane. I'll…"

"Jaden Yuki to the Duel Arena Floor." The Dueling Proctor announced.

"Dang it." Jaden muttered. For the first time, he was somewhat reluctant as he approached a duel, but his trouble with Syrus was quickly forgotten as the duel progressed.

Zane watched the lanky Slifer duel for a moment then sighed and shook his head. He started to walk out when he saw Dr. Crowler approaching. He gave a slight moan.

Alexis noticed Zane's predicament and mouthed, "I'll go look for him."

Zane nodded. "Yes, Dr. Crowler?"

Alexis took a quick look in the library. It was all but deserted. "No Syrus here." She whispered as she headed towards the computer lab. The school was all but deserted as the majority of the student body was in the arena.

She rounded the corner and heard the 'clack' 'clack' of typing keys. Sure enough, Syrus was sitting at one of the terminals typing. She took a peek over his shoulder at what he was typing.

Syrus Kath--Reflections in Ice:6 - (Mis)Adventures in the Whispering Cairn:

(Into the Cairn)

The four walked for about fifteen minutes towards the hills, finally arriving at the entrance to the Whispering Cairn. Tarah snorted as they walked towards the opening in the earth. "Doesn't look like much." She said with scorn.

Syrus turned towards her. "That's what I tried to tell Hewe. The Whispering Cairn's been all but picked over ages ago, but he insists that there's still treasure inside."

The dwarf chuckled. "Aye, treasure. We just have to be smarter than those before us!"

"Well, there'd better be! Just remember, you've promised the Church of St. Cuthbert half of everything we find."

Syrus' head spun towards Hewe. "H…half?" he whimpered. "But that only leaves us with…"

Hewe cut him off. "I know what I'm doing, youngling!" He gave Syrus a firm nudge forwards.

"Wait." Tarah said firmly. "What are we to use as a light source?"

The dwarf snorted. "I don't need anything."

"Well, we do." She said. "You're the 'leader' of this expedition. You're supposed to supply us with equipment."

"I have plenty of food and water for us all." Hewe said smugly.

Tarah scoffed. "Rope? Lanterns and oil? Torches perhaps?"

Hewe said something in Dwarven. Syrus didn't speak Dwarven, but growing up on the streets like he did, he had picked up quite a few curses in several languages, and could tell immediately it was something unpleasant relating to Tarah's parentage. He cleared his throat.

"I..."

Everyone spun to look at him. He took a few steps back. "I…I can provide light." He whimpered. He timidly walked up to Preston. "My s…staff…may I have it back?"

Preston just stared at him blankly. "Whu?"

Syrus chewed his lip. "Um...my…'beating stick.'" He said as he pointed to his quarterstaff still in Preston's firm grip.

"Oh…okay…" Preston said dully as he handed the stick back to Syrus.

With shaking hands, the young apprentice waved his hand over the top of the staff and spoke a word in the language of the Dragons. "LIGHT" A bright sphere of light appeared on the tip of the staff.

"Hurmph." Tarah snorted. "At least someone's thinking ahead. Shall we?"

The group cautiously walked inside the entrance. Just inside, a slight sighing noise could be heard.

"Must be why they call it the 'Whispering Cairn.'" Syrus thought to himself. He slowly walked over to the wall. In the illumination provided by his spell, he could make out a mural of some sort on the wall. Unfortunately time and vandals had left their mark and only the faintest traces of the original work could be seen. One panel appeared to show a several tall, androgynous beings engaged in some sort of battle with spidery demons. He moved forward a few steps and examined the wall closer. The wall seemed to be raised slightly in places. Syrus ran a shaking hand over the raised place and moved his head down, placing his ear against it.

"Oh!" he gasped aloud.

The rest of the group stopped to look at him. Syrus started to grin. "The…these are pipes…air from somewhere is moving through them. That's where the sound's coming from!" He squealed in delight.

Hewe shook his head. "Great, boy, but come up here and take a look at this." He pointed forward. Syrus walked over and looked in the direction the dwarf was indicating.

At first glance, it appeared to be nothing but a pile of rubble. Syrus cautiously walked forward. An outline of a small arch could be seen and the rubble was shards of glass. There was some odd writing around the arch. He carefully walked forward and moved his nose to within an inch of the runes.

Tarah gave Hewe a questioning look. "Blind as a Grimlock." Hewe mouthed. Tarah nodded.

"Hmm…" Syrus thought aloud. "This kinda resembles Auran...but not…hmm…" He took a few scraps of parchment out of his pack and started to make copies of the runes. "Master Allustan'll know what they are."

"Well?" Tarah asked impatiently.

Syrus hadn't heard her. He kept examining the runes. "Definitely some form of Auran…" He bent down to examine the shards of glass. Speaking in Draconic, he cast a spell. "Detect Magic."

The pieces of glass glowed with a faint aura that only he could see. He moved in closer, not that doing so had any effect. Very ancient, almost faded traces of magic still lingered on the shards. Syrus turned in the direction of the arch. The same miniscule traces were on it as well. He concentrated, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. "Ah!"

"Ah?" the others echoed.

Syrus adjusted the ill-fitting spectacles on his nose and looked up with a sheepish grin. "Um…sorry. I kinda forget myself sometimes…Well, from what I can determine on the spot, those runes on the archway, which isn't an archway at all, but the frame of a mirror, and these shards of glass are what's left of the mirror, which had to have been broken with a tremendous force to shatter what was possibly a minor artifact, had to have…"

"Uh, Syrus?" Hewe tried to interrupt.

"…been an artifact for trace magic to still linger for so long after it…"

"SYRUS!!"

Syrus jumped. "Wh…what?" he asked frightened.

"You were babbling." Tarah smirked.

He looked sheepish. "'m sorry…I do that when I get excited." Syrus took in a deep breath. "I can't be sure what this was, but the writing seems somehow connected with the Elemental Air language, Auran."

A loud snort came from Tarah. "Again…we already know that from your ramblings."

Syrus felt his cheeks flush. "A…and there's some old residual magical traces on the arch and the glass…conjuration/summoning type magic, but very faint…"

Hewe walked up and placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. "You did fine, lad. Anything we should be concerned about?"

The little bluenette shook his head. "N…no."

"That didn't sound very reassuring." Tarah said with her usual disdain.

"No." Syrus said firmly. "Nothing's dangerous…well about this thing at least. I'm gonna take some of these shards back to Master Allustan. He'll figure out what this is!" Syrus managed a weak smile.

Hewe tightened the straps on his spiked gauntlets. "Well, let's press forward, shall we?"

"Ohhh…pretty!" Preston dully said. The three turned to look at him. During Syrus' explanation of the shattered mirror, Preston had wandered over and had brushed away some spider webs. Beneath the silk was a sight. A mural, still in its original glory could be seen. The scene was of a chamber bathed in a full spectrum of light as several lanterns hung from the ceiling, each lantern of a different color.

"Wow!" Syrus gasped, his jaw dropping. "Beautiful!"

Even Tarah could find nothing to scoff about that.

They studied the mural before continuing down the corridor. Hewe was in the lead this time, his dwarven sight allowing him to see farther than could the three humans. A moment later, he held up a hand. "Hold!" He said. "I see something ahead."

Syrus whimpered as he took a tighter grip on the glowing quarterstaff. Both Tarah and Preston readied their weapons, as Hewe quietly made his way forward.

It seemed like hours to the boy before Hewe spoke again. "'S alright! Only bones, and from the looks of 'em they've been here a while."

They made their way up to where Hewe was standing. A skeleton dressed in rags lay crumpled on the floor. Hewe was searching through a crumbly backpack. Syrus started to open his mouth to say something about leaving the body alone, but then he remembered that he was an adventurer now, and that adventurers did this sort of thing.

Hewe removed an oddly-shaped piece of granite. "Hmm…looks like a finger." He said as he held it up. Sure enough, it was a stone in the shape of a finger…probably from some statue. Without a word, Hewe placed it into his belt pouch and continued forward.

Up ahead, a greenish glow could be seen. The party cautiously made its way forward. The corridor opened up into a large chamber. On the ceiling were several lanterns, all of a different color. The light came from the green lantern. In the middle of the room, a large sarcophagus could be seen. The shape of it was odd, however. It was made in the shape of an arrow.

But before they could investigate further, a deep growl was heard from the group's right. Turning, they spotted three large wolves who had spotted them first. And quicker than Syrus had thought it possible, they charged!

"Wow, Sy!" Alexis said. "That's really good! What happens next?"

"EEEEP!" Syrus jumped and in doing so, unplugged the computer. "Aww, man!"