Kings of the past

Chapter 13

The King sat in his chambers holding onto a leatherbound book, staring at it blankly but his mind was far from it. He had intended to give this to Yugi, so he might be able to see that he had tried to get home... but the longer his search parties took to find his sons, the higher the chance was he'd never see either of them again.

He missed Yishan and he wanted so much to know the man Yugi had become. He was saddened that he was angry but he understood why and yet a part of him was proud as well... he had become strong, independent and brave even without him. His friends were kind, thoughtful and showed how much they cared for him too. Yugi was quick minded and unafraid of a challenge ... he'd become a man behind the curtain of time but in one night he might have just lost him as well.

He was receiving updates regularly but they were few and far between, all of them the same: no word yet. They had to wash up eventually... unless they were already prey to the wilds. He was loathe to think of the possibility but it was one he couldn't deny.

Pocketing the journal he left to watch out over the balcony. The fresh air was comforting but the sounds of the jungle couldn't soothe his worries, not until his sons were returned.

"How is this taking so long? How far could they go?" Joey complained.

"I know. I thought we would have found them by now, they weren't gone long and by the state of the room, they wouldn't have fallen long before we showed up." Tristan added.

"Keep searching. They had to have left tracks somewhere." Atem ordered them as he scanned the soil alongside their native companions.

He was having enough trouble keeping his own cool, let alone listening to the concerns of his friends. He was feeling just as terrified as they were and just as much despair was creeping in as well. He feared they'd been taken by the jungle and the last thing he did for Yugi was nothing. He sat there and played with his water just hoping he'd come back all the while he was brawling with Yishan and falling to their doom ... no. He couldn't think about this yet. He needed to focus. Tristan was right. He sensed Yugi's need for him and acted immediately. They were not far from them, they just needed to keep searching.

He heard bird calls then and the natives moved to investigate, to find a cave nearby with a rock placed inside. Muddy prints were here too but not in a natural sense and if they looked closely they found wood chippings, as if it had been carved.

"Do you think it was them?" Joey asked.

"The natives think so. Look at the way the mud is... there were two people here. Both of them were here and if either of them were dead they probably would have left him here... they're alive. We can't be far." Atem said. Finally, a ray of hope.

As Yugi and Yishan walked, or as close to, the finally came across what Yishan referred to as a bridge, which was really more a great log across the river. Yugi was nervous to cross with Yishan's ankle the way it was but he allowed Yishan to lead the way as he carefully walked in the river against the push of the water and using the log for support. That was clever, Yugi thought and instead he balanced over it to help Yishan up out of the river.

"We go up stream now." Yishan said, sounding awfully pleased with himself.

"How far until the city?" Yugi asked.

"Next sun."

"Tomorrow? Okay." Yugi said.

"Yugi..." Yishan said then. He sounded, unsure though... for the first time he lacked confidence.

"Yes?"

"No. No talk."

"What is it?" Yugi asked, nudging him slightly as they walked.