Duel 002: Peaceful Days! The Fluffiest Training Montage Commences

[fluffydeathdealer]

[It's a bit of a pain, being in a school with no teachers.

Ryou Bakura isn't the type of kid who really likes being too active; he's about on the level of most ordinary teenagers. But after being laid up for so long with the burns to his arms and leg, not only is he extremely restless, but he's sure even his metabolism won't hold up much longer, with the amount he eats. That's why, after checking to see that Henry isn't home to take him up on that training offer, he's decided to try treating this like school and taking an hour or so to do his very own gym class, all by himself. It'd be easier with teachers, but... he doesn't have a choice right now.

Most kids probably would just take the break and be lazy, but right now, Ryou's working hard. Apart from the occasional break, he can be found pretty easily in the east wing, dressed in gym clothes and doing everything from running laps on the track field to climbing ropes.

...though that last one is more like 'falling off ropes'. Stupid mats... they don't cushion that fall at all. Hopefully nobody's dumb enough to stand below him.]

Ow...

[Time for a banana and some water, he thinks.]

Ah, I'm so tired...

Comments

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He heads inside, setting the box on the coffee table for whenever Henry feels the need for a snack or gets too curious, and sits down - with a little difficulty and adjusting of the sword.]

Eheh... this is weird.

[He sounds cheerful.]

[helpusduelist]

It will be for a while. But think of it as the first visible sign of our training.

[Oh, he's curious all right. He sets his box down and looks into the one Ryou brought.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Inside of the box (and beneath the cream puffs) is a little glass case, with the lid off. The five figures inside are carefully arranged, and carefully designed. Rosenkreuz looking stern, wielding his sword like an angry teacher with a ruler. Eleanor and Harriet pushed close together in the corner like giggling schoolgirls, happy smiles on their faces. And Jack and Henry... very closely arranged indeed, so their figures fit together, but look normal when apart. The five are arranged so that none of them are actually 'foremost', all of them gathered closely, so that they have their groups, but still stay close.]

Un. I'll do my best not to mind it. After all, it isn't much.

[helpusduelist]

[...Henry can't help but smile widely at the sight of the little figures, reaching down to gently pick up the figure of him and Jack.]

...you truly have a talent, Ryou.

[His voice is fond, soft, and happy. After a moment, he replaces the figures, taking the cream puffs out and carefully putting the lid of the box back.]

Thank you.

[fluffydeathdealer]

I'm glad you like them. I had fun making them. I'm going to make the others soon, once I get a proper picture of them in my head.

[Ryou's voice is filled with pleasure. Seeing Henry so happy with them is a joy and he smiles all the brighter for it.]

[helpusduelist]

Of course I do. They're beautiful and they're from you.

[He'll be opening his box now, showing a... whole lot of tied stacks of cards, dear lord. Have they been hoarding these things?]

There should be most anything you can think of in here.

[fluffydeathdealer]

...woah. You guys must have been collecting these cards for a long time... I doubt even Kaiba-kun has this many.

[Shifting, he reaches out to take a look at some of the cards.]

[helpusduelist]

We've been trying to get as many from the machine as we could, in case we found something to work well with our decks, or in a case like this, where we needed to make another one.

I'm far from an expert on deck building in this time... but if you need my help or for me to look for a card, I'll do what I can.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Is there anything specific I need to know about building a deck that will work with the duelling style you spoke of?

[Checking through cards, gently. Judai's words are in his head suddenly.

Cards you can trust...

Maybe he should go about it less logically than usual.

He spreads the cards he's holding on the table, leaning over to look at them seriously.]

[helpusduelist]

With dueling in our time, the monsters are sealed within the cards themselves. This means that they will be constantly resonating with your soul and will always be in this world with you. It's important to pick monsters that have some feeling with you, that you feel loyal to and that you can make feel loyal to you as well.

Some are slow to trust, but can be won. Others, like the Charmers, can sense the feelings of someone and know immediately what they want. Still others are not loyal to any master but themselves.

I can offer some opinions on ones that I have seen in my time, but there's many I...

[Henry trails off, looking curiously, not at Ryou, but at the girl so cutely snuggled in his lap. She looks up, giving Ryou an adorable smile and giggling, then reaches out, pointing at one particular card in his spread.

Ryou might be able to hear the girl's voice, faint as it is. She's calling to you...]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Imouto-chan, she is? Thank you. You're kind to let me know...

[Of course... it's that card. His hand reaches out to touch it, ghosting over the card... before taking it.]

Hello, again. It's been a long time.

[Yes, Henry, he's talking to the card. He looks over at Wynn and Henry with a smile.]

I used to use this card in my first deck... I'm surprised. It sounds like she forgave me...

[helpusduelist]

[Henry smiles, Wynn hopping out of Ryou's lap to disappear back into Henry's deck.]

...and that's the last point. Sometimes, in a war duel, a monster must be sacrificed for the win. You must find those who can understand this... and who know that, despite this sacrifice, that you still care deeply for them and are thankful for their protection.

[As he speaks softly, there's another ghostly presence behind him. This one, however, is one that should be intimately familiar to Ryou. Because behind Henry stands his ever firm and caring guard, the Dark Magician.]

A Duelist and their deck are as much of a partnership as, say, Eleanor and Harriet are. They must be able to trust that you won't throw them away, and you must be able to trust your life to them.

[The Dark Magician nods softly, looking at the card in Ryou's hand with a soft, approving smile.]

...And though it's hard to hear her voice like this, I believe that Wynn was correct. She wishes to be beside you again.

[fluffydeathdealer]

That monster...

[Dark Magician... Yugi's most treasured follower. He smiles at him softly, before looking down at the card.]

This woman... If it wasn't for her sacrifice, the other me would have killed someone important to me back then. Even though I had to force her into her destruction... Even then, she still wants to come back.

[His voice is quietly touched as he holds the card.]

I'll accept. Thank you.

[helpusduelist]

The Dark Magician... he's been with me since I was a young man. He's always protected me... and there were times where his "life" was given in a duel for the win. But he understood that it was a necessary sacrifice... and he can feel that I had never done it without reason.

If she wishes to come back... it must mean that she must understand. For these Monsters... they cannot die as easily as we can. They can feel pain and betrayal, they can become attached and affectionate.

Even if you had to force her to it... I bet, if you ask her, she'll say that she came to understand it. When you have the cards you feel close to... we'll begin the summoning with her.

[Here, Henry addresses the card.]

Please be patient until then.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Even with you... the Dark Magician is still loyal. I wonder if your entire family line is tied inexorably with that monster.

[His voice is soft and thoughtful as he sets the card on his knee. One down...]

She was my card... not his. In that duel, I was trapped within the cards too. Within this card.

[He taps the Change of Heart.]

He meant to use it to command Yugi-kun... but I think he forgot I was sealed inside of it. Or maybe he expected me to obey. Who knows?

[Almost on instinct, his fingers move, trailing over the cards as he thinks. He may not have the ability to sense them, but that duelist's instinct is still high within him. That 'heart'... he's trusting in it now.]

[helpusduelist]

Hah... it's possible. He found me first, so who can say? But he's been a loyal and trusted friend, and I owe my life to him on more than one occasion.

[The Magician smiles proudly, looking back to Ryou softly.]

Mmm... yes, the Spirit mentioned that skill of his to seal souls in objects. But to seal them in cards and use those in a duel? I hadn't thought that was possible.

[fluffydeathdealer]

In a game of darkness, it's entirely possible. All of us were trapped in our favourite cards. The Change of Heart, which was mine... but the others...

The Flame Swordsman... Cyber Commander... Magician of Faith... and the Dark Magician.

[He smiles fondly at the Dark Magician in turn.]

With his power... it seems that whatever he seals can become 'alive', as long as it has the ability to move. Since a game of darkness calls the 'real' monsters from their world, the sealed souls would be using the monsters' bodies as their own.

Or, in my case, manifesting on the field when played.

[helpusduelist]

Interesting... so a slight variation on our Deck Leader armor, as we borrow the armor and defense of our creatures.

[But that's something he didn't know. It can become alive if the object can move... so one sealed in something like a doll...]

I hadn't known that. Thank you for telling me.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Ahaha... yeah, actually. That's pretty much exactly it. If it hadn't been for the situation, it would have been kind of funny seeing Yugi-kun in the Dark Magician's robes... and me wearing a dress.

[His voice is softly cheerful again.]

I don't know much about his power... but I'll tell you if I remember anything more. The only thing I really remember about that duel beyond that was that the other me... seemed to lose strangely.

[helpusduelist]

[That perks him up some.]

"Lose strangely?" What do you mean?

[fluffydeathdealer]

The thing is, until then, he was leading the duel. Yugi-kun had taken a lot of damage and more than once, our friends had been sent to the graveyard and had to be pulled back.

But... even though he could easily have won in that turn, he played her.

[He taps the card on his lap.]

And then me.

If he'd played me first, I would have had no choice but to take over one of my friends... because he had no other monsters on the field. Like that, it would have either broken Yugi-kun, who had no other way to return any monsters, but also left him vulnerable to attack.

Hy playing her first, he easily lost... because I just took over her instead, and let them attack me.

But he knows his own power, and he knows souls, so he had to know I was sealed in that card. And he knows me well enough to know I was willing to do it. So... I keep wondering. Why would he set himself up to lose?

[helpusduelist]

The Spirit seems quite a crafty man... it could be any number of reasons, one of which could very well be that he wanted to lose. The question then becomes why? What could he have hoped to gain by losing in such a duel?

[Henry blows out a bit of air, thoughtfully.]

Now I'm curious myself. But I doubt he'd give such information out easily. Especially if it really was a simple mistake.

[fluffydeathdealer]

He sounded angry, but... he's good enough of an actor to play the role of 'Ryou Bakura' day in and day out. So I don't know his motivations at all.

It could be a mistake... but it's bugged me for a long time now. Just like the battle before I came here. It seems like strange decisions.

[helpusduelist]

If I had more to offer him, I'd try to get the answers. As it is, he already has my dagger, I would never give him my monsters, and there's little else I possess here.

So I suppose it will have to remain a mystery. But look at it this way, Ryou...

Soon enough, you will be as much a mystery to him, if this training still goes well.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Un! I'll be sure to work hard toward it. It's definitely an appealing thought.

It's always been uneven, after all. That guy always knows what I'm feeling, so guarding those feelings is kind of difficult, but it seems to be working.