Hunting Passion   von Atemue
================================================================================
                            Kapitel 2: Gêmu sutato!
                            -----------------------


Title: Hunting Passion
Part: 2/?
Author: Usagi [miakalikestamahome@hotmail.com]
Warnings: angst
Genre: Romance, Angst, Supernatural, AU
Pairings: Yami no Yuugi x Yuugi
Criticism: Constructive criticism welcomed

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I don't make money from fanfiction.

Description: They came at midnight. He didn't know how they were able to intrude
into his house, but somehow they succeeded. They were a male and a female. HE,
was the leader, obviously. She seemed to be some kind of apprentice to him. Not
that it really mattered. For they were both strong and deadly.

But when a young teen is able to run from the grasp of his captors, it is the
start of a long game of hide and seek. He finds a new side to himself he would
have never dreamed he had. And it helps him to keep the game to his advantage.
But he knows the game will never end, at least not before his death. Because his
hunter is a vampire.

Thanks to my betareaders SF and Deb for the usual quick work. ^^

Gêmu sutato – Game start

***********

Gêmu sutato!

There was heavy silence for a moment. The young teen stared at the vampire for a
long time, his fear of the dangerous, deadly, glowing red eyes forgotten for
now. It was overpowered by his fear of the consequences he would have to face if
he gave his name. After all, why had he not been asked for his name earlier?

It was the vampire who interrupted the silence in the end.

"Well?" he asked, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I..." the young teen stuttered before he swallowed and gave up. "Yuugi," he
whispered. "My name is Yuugi."

"Yuugi?" the vampire repeated with surprise and raised an eyebrow. "How
interesting. Well, Yuugi, telling me your name wasn't that difficult, now was
it?"

He gave the boy a wide smirk, showing his fangs quite clearly. Yuugi just
swallowed again and threw the other a distrusting look. It seemed to only amuse
the creature of the night, because he started to chuckle.

"Don't worry, I won't eat you... yet," he added with a malicious grin. Yuugi
didn't even dream to comment that the 'yet' wasn't very comforting at all. After
all, the main purpose of the vampire's actions was surely to cause him worry and
fear.  Even though he could not hide his fear from him, at least he would not
support his purposes by voicing what was on his mind.

"Now, Yuugi..." the vampire started but he was interrupted by the female vampire
who suddenly burst into the room.

"Sire! Sire!" she shouted, not caring whatever it was she was interrupting. The
male vampire growled dangerously.

"I gave you an order, Rebecca," he snarled, the threat in that voice hanging
heavily in the air. The girl cringed slightly but she didn't back away.

"Forgive me, sire, but there is a man at the door. I think he wants to speak
with the owner of this game shop. Sire, I'm hungry, I want to eat."

She whimpered the last part and her lips were pursed, showing how discontented
she felt about their current situation. The male growled again and with a sudden
move, he pushed the teenage boy from his lap.

Yuugi, who hadn't expected this, fell to the ground quite heavily. The vampire
only cast him a sideglance.

"Go to your room, Yuugi! We'll continue this later."

The teenager got to his feet quickly, but instead of following the order he
looked at his captor.

"But..." he whispered before he burst out. "Don't do anything to that man,
please! He may be a friend of Jii-chan. You can't just kill him, please!"

The vampire looked back at him with a mix of annoyance and surprise.

"All this time you've been obeying nicely and just when I don't need it, you
decide not to follow my orders? Though, you surprise me. You never spoke up when
it was about you. But the second it involves another person, even a stranger,
you show courage. Well, we'll see about this man. Just go to your room now!"

And by the sound of the voice Yuugi knew that this was the vampire's final word.
Hanging his head in defeat Yuugi silently turned around and left the living
room. Opening the door to his own chamber he sat down at his desk. He sighed
deeply and let his head fall over the headrest to look out of the window which
was just over his head.

He was worried for the foreign man who was waiting outside the house. What if it
was one of his jii-san's friends? What if the vampires decided to hurt him? Kill
him? He knew he was currently in no better position than this man outside. His
life was in danger. He should be worried about himself, but for now he just
couldn't think of himself. His parents and his friends always told him that he
was too kindhearted and selfless.

Sighing again, the teen closed his eyes and let his head fall back further. He
stayed still like this for a time which seemed to him an eternity. However, his
silent musings were suddenly interrupted by loud voices.

A little startled, but curious nonetheless, Yuugi got up and snuck to the door.
He pressed his ear against the wood and was able to hear the conversation
clearly.

"... don't care anymore! I want to eat!" The female vampire seemed to be
throwing a tantrum. Her voice was high and she sounded exactly like a child who
did not get the sweets it wanted.

"I want to eat! I am hungry! And if you don't allow me to kill the man, I want
to kill the boy!"

For a moment Yuugi heard nothing but he guessed it was because the other vampire
was speaking more quietly. If there was something he had realized beside the
fact that the male vampire was strong and very dangerous, it was the fact that
he didn't seem to be the type to shout.

Quite the opposite. Yuugi's impression was more or less that the vampire was far
more intimating when he lowered his voice. But what the male vampire was about
to say didn't matter anyway. Maybe he would decide that his life was over. Or
maybe he would decide that he was supposed to live a little longer.

Fact was, as Yuugi suddenly realized, whatever happened, the longer he stayed
the larger the danger would become for his family. There were only a few days
left before they would return from their little holiday trip. They would arrive
home, not expecting anything wrong and they would either end up as the vampires'
next meal with Yuugi already dead, or him being forced to watch their deaths.

No, he couldn't risk this happening. He had to warn his family and if he stayed,
he would be of no help to them at all. He had to flee, right now, while the
vampires were still distracted by their own fight. Having come to a decision,
Yuugi ran to his window and opened it. To try and leave by the door was out of
question. The vampires were still in the hall, blocking his way.

He looked out of the window, checking the only escape route he had. It was a
little high, but it was still possible to escape over the roof. His best friend
Jonouchi had come in and out this way once when his mother had forbidden her son
to leave the house and meet his friends because she thought he was playing too
many games.

Jonouchi Katsuya, who was a wild, outgoing teenager and a little of a rebel,
thought otherwise back then. So, without Yuugi's family knowing, he visited
Yuugi that evening by climbing up to the roof and entering through the window.
Using the same route, he'd left the house when it was time for Yuugi's mother to
check on her son.

Yuugi had never thought that Jonouchi's little visit would one day be the key to
save his own life, but now it was Yuugi's best chance to escape. Climbing onto
his desk, the delicately built teen was about to pull himself through the window
when he remembered something.

Jumping down, he hastened to his wardrobe and raked through his drawers. With a
quiet sigh of relief, he finally fished out a big silver chain with a golden
inverted pyramid on it. The pyramid had been a puzzle once.

Yuugi had gotten it on his eighth birthday as a present from his jii-chan. He
was told, that the puzzle was said to be a magical object and hadn't been solved
for millenniums now. The old man also added that it once belonged to a powerful
pharaoh, an ancestor of their family. That was the day Yuugi learned that he had
Egyptian blood in his veins. It was quite funny but the idea made him kind of
proud.

As for the puzzle, Yuugi had started to work on it right on his birthday. But it
took him all in all eight years to complete it. In fact, he had completed it
just some weeks before his family took off for a holiday and the vampires showed
up.

For Yuugi, the inverted pyramid had been his greatest treasure and he used to
wear it on a chain around his neck. But then the vampires showed up. They hadn't
noticed the puzzle back then but somehow Yuugi was afraid of what would happen
if they ever found the puzzle. That was the reason why his greatest treasure had
been hidden away in his wardrobe until this moment.

But now, when he was about to finally escape from this place, he was not willing
to leave his greatest treasure behind. With a determined face he closed his
wardrobe again and put the chain around his neck, right where it was supposed to
be.

Getting back on his desk he finally climbed out of the window and carefully
climbed his way down from the roof. He had to be careful because it was already
dark outside. But he reached the edge of the roof without any problems. Looking
down the wall, he searched for what his best friend back then could have used to
climb up the house; he found a gutter pipe. 

Climbing down the gutter pipe seemed to take forever. Yuugi was afraid  that the
vampires might at any second find out that he was not in his room anymore, but
so far it seemed his escape had been unnoticed.

Now, finally standing on solid ground again, the delicately-built teen threw one
last, longing look up to his lighted room under the roof. Then he spun around
and ran for his life. He knew, as soon as the vampires found out he was missing,
they would start to hunt him.

The night was still young. Spring had just arrived and nights were longer than
days. But if he survived the night, he was sure he could find a way to leave
town and go to the place his family was staying at. All he had to do was warn
them and then figure out what to do next.

***

Yuugi was running through some deserted alleys. His heart was pounding and he
felt tiredness creeping up his legs, trying to slow him down. But he could not
slow down. He had to get away as fast as possible.

For the next few hours after his escape, Yuugi had been hanging around the
places filled with people. Discos, restaurants, arcades, it seemed too easy to
vanish into the crowd. But then it was past midnight, police officers started to
patrol the lively areas for anyone who was still under age and out without any
parental company.
 
The teen knew, because of his height he would be in trouble if seen by the
police, and in the worst case he would be brought back home. That was the last
thing he wanted. Thus he was forced to leave the lived in areas of the town and
try to stay in the more deserted places.

But that alone was dangerous enough. Not only did he risk meeting a vampire, but
there was also the danger of being picked on by bullies, thieves or drunkards.
However, it was his best bet to not be alone on the streets, and yet, not get
caught by police officers on the lookout for kids who had broken the curfew.

This way he got through some more hours, until he suddenly spotted the male
vampire weaving through a group of drunken businessmen. That was the moment
Yuugi decided that it was time to leave the crowd of people and run for his
life.

Now he found himself back in a small alley he was sure he'd never been in
before. He had lost all sense of direction long ago. But as he neared the end of
the current alley, he spotted the light of some kind of hostel or even a hotel.

He decided to take a rest at that place and try to hide there for the rest of
the night. At least he would be with a crowd and he didn't think the police
would come there and ask questions.

Speeding up a little more he was just about to leave the alley behind when he
bumped into a body and fell to the ground. The teen groaned and clumsily arose.
Massaging his abused butt he looked up to apologize and paled.

It was the girl, grinning maliciously at him. She stepped forward causing him to
back away, right into the dark alley.

"I found you," she sang tauntingly. "Now master has to end the game. I won."

Swallowing, he tried to supress his fear and look her right in the eye.

"What... game?" he stuttered.

"Master always plays with his victims, didn't you notice?" she continued in a
singsong voice. "He always waits for the humans to try and run away. Then we
will hunt them down and when one of us catches them, we win."

She made a pause to yawn and show her deadly fangs in the light of the street
lamps.

"You took sooooooo long to start his game this time I nearly lost my patience
with you being so obedient. You let me suffer. I was hungry. You have to pay for
that, you know?"

She licked her lips, looking more and more like a predator that was out of
control.

"I think I will take my first bite at you right now. Master will be here any
moment. But I am hungry now. I am taking this as a reward for getting you
first."

Yuugi's back bumped against a cold wall and he whimpered in his mind. He was
trapped and they both knew it. Opening her mouth a little so he could see her
deadly canines clearly, she walked up to her prey.

'This is so not fair!' Yuugi thought desperately. 'She is just like a predator
right now. She has the teeth of one and even the claws. I wish I had something
like this. Or if I were an animal. A tiger for example. They are big and strong.
I would have claws to fight her off. Why am I so useless that I can only stand
here and allow her to bite me? I don't want to die! I want to fight! I want to
have a weapon to fight her off!'

He could feel her readying for the attack and in his desperation he lunged
blindly at the vampire. If he had to die the least he could do was try to hurt
her. Maybe he could punch or scratch her in the belly.

The young teen was too lost in his fear and desperate thoughts to even notice
the light suddenly appearing from his beloved treasure. He didn't notice what
happened to his body or the strangled gasp of the vampire girl.

What brought him back to reality was the high pitched scream of a female, and
that his right hand suddenly felt very strange and very wet. The same hand he
had raised to fight.

Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the terrible view of a
bloodied, torn open belly. It belonged to the female vampire and she was staring
down at him with a mix of horror and pain.

The next thing he became aware of was the fact that she was starring DOWN at
him. Sure, he had unfortunately a very small build for his age but as far as he
remembered, they had been at least the same height. He was definitely not
smaller than her. He didn't remember going down on his knees.

That was the moment he realized that his whole body felt VERY strange and since
when was he able to see THIS good at night? And smell? The smell of blood was so
strong; he couldn't imagine blood smelling this strong. At least not for the
nose of a human.

The vampire, Rebecca, tried to speak, but she ended up coughing up blood. Still
staring at him in disbelief, she fell to the ground. The blood loss was too much
for her.

Still utterly confused about the whole situation, Yuugi looked down to his hand
and what he saw made him scream in terror. Only the sound which was supposed to
be a human scream, turned out to be the roar of an animal.

There was no human hand. Just a paw. A big, yellow paw with black stripes,
deadly claws and dirtied by still fresh blood. Yuugi quickly realized what kind
of paw it was. The paw of a tiger, definitely.

Near to having a panic attack, Yuugi checked his body as good as he was able to.
What he saw were parts of a tiger, what he felt was a long body. He stood on
four feet with a straight back, not curved as it would have been the case had he
been in a human body on hands and feet. He was nearer the ground now and he
could also feel a tail attached to his back which swung back and forth quickly,
the most obvious sign of his rising panic.

The former teen was so shocked with his new situation, he never noticed the
female vampire breathing out her life. Or that people were starting to come out
on the street, curious about the roar they had heard.

Only when his now, very sensitive hearing and smell picked up on the nearing
people, a bit of calmness came back to his mind. He was surprised that he was
able to think so clearly in this kind of situation but without thinking further,
he bit into the upper arm of the vampire and started to quickly drag the dead
body over the ground backwards into the dark alley.

The lighting of this small street was bad, and he hoped the people would miss
the blood on the ground. After all, they were looking for the source of his
roar, not a dead body, weren't they?

Snorting in exhaustion, he managed to drag her body all the way back and around
a corner into the next alley without being seen by anyone. Still feeling
insecure, he pulled her through some more alleys until, even with his new won
strength, exhaustion finally announced he was at the end of his tether.

Breathing hard, he collapsed to the ground and let go of the upper arm as if
burned by it. He could still taste blood and foul flesh in his mouth and it made
him want to vomit. What kind of nightmare had he stumbled into?

He took some deep breaths, trying to get some strength back into his body and
also to calm his nerves. Now was not the moment to panic. He absolutely needed a
quick, working mind. The situation right now was of course very unusual but it
was not as if his life had ever been normal since the day the vampires had
invaded his home.

'Okay, Yuugi', he reprimanded himself. 'It's not every day you end up being a
tiger, but whatever happened, it saved your life and if you were able to become
an animal, there must be a way to become human again. No need to panic. After
all, the other vampire is still out there and after you so you need a calm mind
for thinking.'

He sighed, though in his current form it came more out as a snort. Closing his
eyes he tried to forget about the fact that right beside him was a dead body.

'Think, Yuugi, what happened before you became like this? I was cornered by this
Rebecca. I saw her claws and teeth and I was thinking how unfair it was that she
had weapons just like an animal and that I was just a stupid human with nothing
to defend myself. I wished, damn that was really crazy, must have been my nerves
but... yes I WISHED I would have been a tiger and then suddenly I AM a tiger?
Maybe...'

He concentrated. He concentrated really hard, wishing he could be human again
and this time he noticed the sudden light behind his closed eyes and he was
aware of his body feeling strange. He waited for a full minute before he was
sure the light and the strange feeling were gone and then slowly opened his
eyes.

He was standing on two feet again and when he looked at his arms they were human
arms and hands. One of his hands was still bloodied up to his elbow though, but
he didn't care right then. All that mattered was that he was human again. He was
still wearing the clothes he had been wearing when he ran away and the puzzle
was still hanging round his neck, slightly glowing.

Noticing the slowly fading light, the young teen thoughtfully took the puzzle in
both his hands regarding it with curious eyes. He remembered what his jii-san
had told him about the Sennen Puzzle. That it was supposed to fulfill a wish of
the person who was able to solve the puzzle.

"Did you save my life?" he whispered in awe. "But what exactly did you do to me?
Was me changing into a tiger just a one-time thing? Or am I able to change every
time now?"

Now that his nerves had slowly started to calm down again, he began to further
analyze his situation. If his transformation into a tiger had been the one
single wish the solved puzzle was supposed to fulfill, did that mean he would
not be able to change again? But if that was the case, shouldn't he have been
unable to change back into a human? After all, that would have been two wishes.

But if this meant he could now change into a tiger at will, he would be able to
fight. And if THAT was the case, was a tiger the only animal he could turn into?
It might help if the other vampire cornered him, but for escaping Yuugi didn't
think it was such a good idea. In fact, he got a massive headache just by
imagining the ruckus and fear a loose tiger would cause in the town.

He needed to find out as much as he could about the new power he seemed to have
and he needed to be quick. For now there were two questions to clarify:

Was he able to change again? And what was he able to change into?

He started to feel slightly nervous again. Past experience told him that this
was his gut feeling warning him of approaching danger. The other vampire was
near. He needed to be quick.

Just to be on the safe side, he dived into the next alley, a little away from
the corpse. Taking a breath, Yuugi decided to find an answer to the second
question first. If he was able to take different forms, then in his current
situation it would be helpful if he was able to fly.

Taking another deep breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated hard, wishing to
be a dove. There were many doves around this city so it would not be something
uncommon.

It took a few second but suddenly he could see the light behind his eyes and
felt his body changing again. When he opened his eyes, the world had suddenly
become very big. He looked down and noticed some white feathers and feet of a
bird.

Laughing in a mixture of disbelief and sudden excitement the coo of a dove
echoed through the quiet alley. He tried to use his wings, flapping them
experimentally a few times before being able to fly unsteadily, a little above
the ground.

His rush of excitement ended though when he suddenly heard the noise of faint
footsteps. Feeling fear creeping up his spine, he started to move his wings a
little quicker, stronger and just like a young bird that was flying for the
first time in its life, he was able to rise higher until he was high enough to
look over the whole maze of the alley.

Yuugi spotted the dead body of the girl and decided to set down in a safe spot
above the alley and watch what would happen. Also, he was tired from his run
anyway. In his new body he was warm, the cold of the night not bothering him
anymore as it had been in his human form. Yuugi guessed this was because of the
natural protection a bird had against the weather. He was even sure he would be
able to sleep like this without problems and without having to fear he would
fall to the ground.

Somehow he was adapting really quickly to his new situation. The feeling of
being a bird right now, was natural to him, as if he had been changing forms his
whole life.

'Maybe I should find out a little more about this strange puzzle if I ever get
the chance,' he thought with some lingering fascination. But his thoughts were
interrupted when the faint steps he'd heard earlier suddenly became very loud.

Then the shadow of a person was rounding the alley. Whoever it was didn't seem
to be in a hurry because the steps were slow. However, the person stopped
instantly when it spotted the dead body of the vampire lying on the ground in
the middle of the alley.

Humming to itself in wonder, the figure started to walk again and as the shadow
came nearer, Yuugi was able to make out what the person looked like. To his
horror it was none other than the male vampire who had now found his dead
comrade.

Trying to stay as calm as possible, the bird watched as the vampire kneeled next
to the girl and examined her body. He didn't take long and when he rose again,
Yuugi noticed that he was holding a wooden stake in his hand.

Without any visible hesitation he rammed the piece of wood through the dead
girl's heart. To Yuugi's utter astonishment the body turned into ash in front of
his eyes.

After his work was done the vampire calmly pocketed the stake and then he 
looked up, right into Yuugi's eyes. If he hoped that the action was just an
accident the teen was informed differently when the creature started to grin.

"So, you are a shifter," he addressed the suddenly trembling bird with a calm
voice. "Now this is interesting. It gives the whole game a totally refreshing
touch don't you agree? I think I like the new rules."

"How could you know?" Yuugi burst out, but his question only ended up as cooing.
Still, the vampire seemed to be able to understand him without any problem.

"Because, no matter what kind of form you take, you smell human nonetheless. And
part of Rebecca's blood is still on your wing, by the way. This means your smell
is very strong right now."

He grinned again and licked his lips.

"I have to admit I am very excited now. I've heard of shifters before but I've
never met one. Usually the ability is passed down within the family and it was
said that the last active shifter banished the power of his family until certain
conditions are fulfilled. Since then, shifters seemed to have vanished from this
world."

Yuugi blinked, astonished about what he'd just learned.

"I never knew my family inherited the power of a shifter," he admitted. "I
thought this ability was part of my treasure. Jii-chan always told me that it
was a magical object."

"No, the power must have been within you the whole time," the vampire explained,
understanding the cooing sounds the teen made as if they were normal spoken
words. "So, this night has been the first time you've changed, huh? And you were
able to kill Rebecca with your newfound abilities. Congratulations."

The vampire licked his lips, his eyes now shining with a strange hunger. Yuugi
didn't know if he feared it or not. It caused his heart to pound and his body to
shudder but somehow he was not able to decide if he was just afraid.

"I am going to enjoy playing with you," the creature of the night all but
purred. "And just to be fair, you should know one thing."

He closed his eyes concentrating on something. To Yuugi's utter horror there
were wings growing out of the other's back. Finished with his work, the male
opened his eyes again, grinning.

"Never feel safe," the vampire all but whispered. "Because if you think you are
safe with your newfound flying abilities now... you're dead wrong!"

And he took off from the ground until he was right in front of the little dove,
looking him eye to eye.

"I guess we are still on equal terms now, don't you think, Yuugi-kun?"

The vampire grinned before he moved his head to look at the sky. In the
distance, both creatures were able to see the horizon slowly lightening. It was
finally morning and the sun was about to rise.

The creature of the night looked back at Yuugi, unimpressed about the signs of
the sky, and yawned.

"It's not as if I wouldn't be able to survive during the day," he explained the
small animal. "But I admit, searching for you the whole night kinda wore me out.
Thus I am not taking my prize now but retreat to sleep."

He turned around and took off higher into the sky. Before he flew away though,
he turned his head to take one last look at the white dove on the wall.

"If I were you I would use the time of day you have to get away as far as you
can. Because know this: the game has just begun!"


TBC...

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