A/N: Elllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Someone gave me sugar! Woooo SUUUUGAR! Okay.... Okay... I'm okay. Okay? Are we ready to begin? Yes? Okay! Let's begin!
Thank you so so so so so so much for your support! You are all amazing. Keep crushing that vote button! My world just spins with all the warm fuzzies when I see a notification from a vote! Also, comments are very welcome! I love them. I promise I don't bite. Well. Not hard at least. Okay! I don't bite hard...often. Moving along. I have mentioned this on fanfiction.net but I don't know if I mentioned it here. I do take requests. So don't be shy and let me know if you have any *winks.*
SyraTsukiano: Oh I know. I'm awful to poor Yugi. I really should write something nice and romantic for him.
Jofisk They have both saved each other now. Their experiences together have forged an unbreakable friendship between them. Yugi has come a long way from when he first started as a freshman in college.
Enjoy the chapter!
/Thoughts/
A smile tugged at Atem's lips and his rich laugh echoed throughout the throne room. The villager who he was holding council with was a jubilant elderly man with quite the sense of humor.
"Atem?"
The Egyptian Pharaoh glanced over his shoulder towards the direction his mother's voice came from. His smile instantly disappeared when he saw the expression on her face. Her eyes were wide and frightened; her normal glowing caramel complexion pale. She held her cell phone out to her son, "Atem, you need to take this."
Confusion crossed his tan features as he stood, forgetting about conducting court. He closed the distance between him and his mother in only a few strides. He accepted the phone she offered.
"Hello?" the uncertain baritone drifted through the phone.
"Atem," A stiff professional voice came across the line.
"Hello, Seto," Atem responded, keeping his responses short.
"Did you know that Yugi's emergency transmitter was activated?" Seto inquired. A moment of silence filled only with the rapid sound of Seto's keystrokes on his laptop passed between the cousins.
Anger and worry flared from deep within the Egyptian, "What?! When?"
"Almost three days ago. I thought you had someone watching for that transmission when Yugi was on sight..." Seto partially stated and partially asked.
"We do," Atem growled, "Ra! Three days! I have to go, I'll check why I was never informed of the transmission and have help sent to the coordinates."
"No need. I've already sent a rescue crew," Seto responded.
Atem breathed a sigh of relief. Help was already on its way to the love of his life, "Thank you, Seto."
"You're welcome. You need to find out what happened. If it's a technical problem, I will send someone out to fix it. If it is personnel, that is your department. I will call you when I have updates," a click followed by a black screen informed Atem that Seto had hung up.
"I appreciate your help, Seto," the pharaoh whispered, staring at the black screen. His handsom features darkened, "Now to go find out what happened."
Pure unbound rage burned behind Atem's eyes, handing the phone back to Aziza before his desire to throw it overcame him. He stormed out of the throne room towards the control room created for the emergency transmitter. His purple cloak whipped behind him, floating up with each step. He had to get to the bottom of what just transpired. He rounded a corner and flung open a large wooden door with such force it almost came off the hinges. The two guards that sat in the room were in the middle of a conversation when they caught sight of the livid pharaoh. They cowered before his intimidating presence, backing up until their backs were against the wall.
"What in the NAME OF RA ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" Atem's voice started out low and escalated with every passing syllable.
The two guards looked at each other. "We...were working, Your Highness," one of them answered. The other nodded, to dumbfounded and terrified to respond.
"THAT conversation did not sound like work gentlemen! You were suppose to be watching for a transmission from Yugi should he get in trouble!" Atem's fury seemed to make him grow in height until he filled the entire room.
"There wasn't any transmissions." The first guard defended.
"Oh? Then what the fuck do you call that!" Atem pointed at a flashing red light above a monitor which contained a long list of times and coordinates.
The two guards stared at the flashing light, "I don't know how we could have missed it."
"According to Seto Kaiba, the designer of the technology, this transmission has been going off for almost three days!" Atem screamed at them before turning to the guards that had followed him, "Seize them! Take them to the dungeons.
Searing crimson locked on the frightened guards, "If Yugi dies, Gentlemen, there will be hell to pay. I want a full report of who has been working this room for the past three days. There is going to be serious consequences for this."
\/\/\/
Yugi returned to the makeshift cave with two fish in hand. When they could not find shelter, Yugi found a few small trees all bunched together and used them to build a makeshift cave with the tarp and rope from his bag.
The petite archaeologist cleaned and prepared the fish Yugi for cooking. He shifted the boiling water off of the fire and replaced it with the fish.
"The water's ready. We just need to wait for it too cool," Yugi told Keith, pouring some of the water into a canteen. The rest he poured into a bowl to use for cleaning and sanitizing Keith's wound and bandages.
He was worried about his blonde friend. He was getting weaker. The tri-colored man did his best to keep infection at bay with the supplies they had, but he could tell infection was beginning to set in. The blonde hair lay limply against his scalp. Fresh droplets of sweat formed accross Keith's pale flesh. The wound was red with splotches of yellow. A festering puss oozed out of the crevices, bringing with it a foul stench. Yugi turned his head for a gulp of fresh air. He held his breath and returned to cleaning the wound.
"Were you able to catch anything?" Keith asked, watching Yugi work diligently on his leg.
He nodded, "It's on the fire cooking."
"Thank you, Yugi," Keith grunted.
"Mmm hmm." Yugi smiled at his blonde counterpart.
"Why do you think it's taking so long to be rescued?" Keith asked the unspoken question that weighed down on both of their minds.
"I'm not sure. Maybe the signal isn't getting through," Yugi finished cleaning Keith's leg and went to check on the fish. He was grateful Atem had showed him some tricks with cooking fish or they would have added "starving" to their list of problems. When fish were thoroughly cooked, Yugi speared one with a stick and handed it to Keith.
"Not bad shorty. This is tasty. Is the water cool yet?" Kieth tried his best to keep his mind off of the pain.
Yugi nodded, putting his fish down in order to support Keith's head in one hand and pour the water into his mouth with the other. The water filled Keith's desert dry mouth, spilling over onto his cracked lips.
He gasped after drinking the liquid,"Thank you."
Yugi took a sip as well before replacing the lid, /Need to boil more water soon./ He sighed, leaning against one of the trees that made up their makeshift shelter.
"Yugi."
The tired amethyst eyes rested on Keith, "Hmm?"
"You need to get some sleep man. You've been up this entire time since the accident," Keith forced a smile.
"I can't," Yugi replied looking away.
"Look, Yugi. You can't do any more for me than what you already have. Please sleep a little bit. I will wake you up if I have to," Keith attempted to rationalize Yugi into falling asleep.
The petite man sighed, "No, I'm fine. It's okay. Get some rest."
"You are sure a stubborn little shit aren't you," Keith rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to rest this time. You need the sleep. You've been awake for over three days straight."
"Just a little bit longer. I can last a bit longer" Yugi repeated, shifting against the tree he was leaning against.
"Don't make me come over there and knock you out," Keith threatened, weakly.
Yugi laughed, "You couldn't catch me if you tried right now."
"I don't know about that. You're not as fast as you usually are since you haven't been sleeping. I may actually be able to catch you to give you a good knock over the head," the blonde smirked.
"I may not be at my top speed at this time, but you still couldn't catch me with that leg." Yugi returned with a smirk of his own.
Keith grit his teeth, "I'm begging you to get some sleep. We will be okay while you rest a few hours."
The amethyst eyed archaeologist rested his tri-colored head against the tree, "Really, I'm okay."
Keith flung his arms up into the air growling, "I give up."
A triumphant grin passed over Yugi's lips as he began to watch the flames of the fire flicker. The crimson flames reminded him of Atem's eyes; both fierce and untamed yet beautiful and elegant. He felt drawn to the flame; the fire performed a mesmerizing dance as it licked at and consumed the wood. His eyes drooped, feeling the weight of his exhaustion wash over him all at once. Keith smiled, watching Yugi's large amethyst pools slowly close and his head fall to the side; unable to fight off impending sleep any longer.
"About time shorty. You need sleep too," the blonde whispered.
\/\/\/
Yugi felt something move his leg. He blinked, being pulled out of his dreamless sleep. He rubbed his sore cramped neck and glanced inquisitively over at Keith. The blonde's eyes were wide as saucers with...excitement?
"How long was I out and what are you so happy about?" Yugi stretched.
"You slept all through the night," Keith grinned at him.
Yugi stood and stretched his stiff limbs even further, "What are you grinning about? I know my hair is a mess, but isn't that expected after being stranded in the jungle for...how long as it been?"
"Shhhh!" Keith exclaimed, "Listen."
Yugi paused, halting all movement while he listed hard. He heard a distant sound drifting on the air; something not from nature; but man-made.
"Do you know what that is?!" Keith asked.
The petite man's eyebrows furrowed, "it sounds like...Oh Ra! A helicopter!" Yugi ran out towards the river where sound grew immensely louder. He lit a flare and waved it over his head when the aircraft came into view. The helicopter flew overhead before turning around, giving Yugi a good look at the machine. /KC?/ Yugi wrecked his frazzled brain until realization dawned, /Kaiba Corp! Ra we are saved!/
\/\/\/
Atem paced the length of the throne room. He could not focus on anything except his worry for Yugi. His cell phone vibrated in his hand, startling him. He almost dropped the device while trying to answer it, "Kaiba?"
"We found them, Atem," Seto's answered without delay.
"And! Is he okay?" the Egyptian pushed.
"He's fine. A bit dehydrated, but he is perfectly fine. Keith seemed to have been in a fight with an crocodile though. They have both been taken to the hospital. I will make sure Yugi calls you as soon as he can and I will personally place him on a flight home when he is released," the CEO explained.
Atem could feel the relief overcome him, "Thank you, Seto."
"Of course."