A/N: I shouldn't be posting this, I should be working on a new chapter for 'The Untroubled Land'…but I am posting it. Meh.

Revised April 2010: I have renewed interest in this story and plan on keeping it active over the summer, starting in May when I'm done with my exams. Before that, I thought it would be a good idea to go through and edit.

Pairings: YamixYugi BakuraxRyou, and MarikxMalik with side SetoxJou and MaixIsis.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

Chapter One

Green eyes snapped open and Ryou found himself in his own well lit bedroom. The familiarity did not bring him any comfort though as he could not shake the eerie feeling the dream had given him. The feeling that something was just…wrong.

Quit being so stupid it was just a dream. Not even a scary dream, just an odd one. The teenager told himself, running a hand through his white hair and sitting up. He couldn't shake the feeling though. Not only that; it was getting steadily worse. Come on Ryou, snap out of it! Just get up, start the day, and forget about it…

That thought was changed to 'go back to sleep' when the green-eyed youth glanced to his window and saw it was still very dark outside. Odd…The wrong feeling intensified when Ryou looked to the candle beside his bed; it wasn't lit and yet his room was as bright as mid-day. Ryou's eyes widened considerably as the light in the room brightened. It continued to brighten until there were no shadows or colour.

Just blinding white.

"Ryou? Ryou, are you ok?" A young man tentatively knocked at an old wooden door. When there was no answer he pushed on it lightly and stepped inside. Purple eyes looked over the interior of the bedroom noting that the bed was both unmade and unoccupied, a rare occurrence. In the two years that Yugi had known and lived with Ryou he had learnt a lot about his friend, one of the first things being that the other boy was a complete neat freak. Making his bed was the first thing he did every day. Once Yugi had walked in before he was done and the white-haired young man had actually apologized….Of course that had been over a year ago, soon after they'd first met. Ryou had changed a lot since then. He was still obsessively tidy and timid, but he'd grown a bit of a spine.

"Weird…maybe he's downstairs already?" Yugi shrugged and left the small room, though he had a bad feeling that Ryou would not be downstairs.

He was right. The tri-haired boy searched the whole of their small dwelling and found no sign of his friend. Panicking, he started calling the other's name and desperately ran back upstairs to Ryou's room. This time he scanned more closely, looking for some clue as to what had happened rather than for Ryou himself.

Almost immediately he noticed two things. One; Ryou's window was open. It was far too late in the year to sleep with your window open. Two; there was a piece of paper sitting on the windowsill held in place by a small rock.

Forcing himself to be calm, Yugi walked over to the window and picked up the paper. There were only two words written, but they were enough to stop Yugi's breath. So shocked was he that he didn't even notice when a breeze took the paper from his hand, or when it shifted to become a bright green leaf before reaching the ground. The words echoed threw his mind as if they'd been screamed and not simply written.

Come home.

"How long you think we're supposed ta keep'em like this?" A blond with light brown eyes asked, crouched down so he was eye-level with the white-haired captive. The boy's eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem aware of anything around him. He could have been thought dead if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest.

"Indefinitely," A tall brunette deadpanned, leaning back against a grey stone wall. He was being sarcastic, but the other seemed to miss that.

"No way! I mean, how's he supposed ta eat and all that? We can't just let'em starve!" Outraged, the blond jumped to his feet and stood in front of the other.

"Always about food with you, isn't it mutt?" An amused light shone in the blue eyes of the taller kidnapper.

"HEY! I'm being serious here, Kaiba!" The 'mutt' growled out his response. Seto simply smirked and petted Jou twice on the head.

The two of them had been together for nearly two years, greatly shocking everyone who knew them. Even the few who had expected them to get together had expected it to be a momentary passion rather than anything lasting. However, all who were shocked were also happy for the couple. The relationship was a healthy one; it had forced the once immature Jou to grow up (to some extent) and the once cold Seto to stop being distant (to less extent).

Twin doors at the end of the grey corridor Seto and Jou were standing in opened and through them came a lithe figure with piercing red eyes. The man wore black clothing with a navy cape trailing behind him. The cape was clasped at the front with a shining gold pin that matched the subtle crown circling his forehead. Over the crown hung golden bangs, though his hair was three colours; blond, black and red. The spiky tri-coloured hair was not the most unusual thing about him though. No, that honour was reserved for the fox ears and tail sprouting from his head and back; crimson fur tipped with black. The newcomer approached the kidnappers and their captive with an air of authority. He looked purposefully to Ryou, then back up to Jou and Kaiba. "Explain. Who is this human and why is he here?"

"Well, uh, ya see Yami…your highness…" Jou fidgeted, unsure of what to say. Seto was about to step in and save him when their king saved him the trouble.

Sighing, Yami shook his head. It always either hurt or annoyed him when one of the two standing before him addressed him as royalty as they were both people he considered friends. "Never mind, I know you two must have a reason for this. Relax, drop the human disguise, we'll discuss this in my chambers."

Seto nodded while Jou sighed in relief. Two white-blue flames burned upward from Seto's head while a third came from behind him. When they died white fox ears and a tail were in their place. A similar phenomenon occurred with Jou, though the flames were green and the parts replacing them were a soft brown.

In a room off the hall where the three foxes were talking, a tanned youth with blond hair quite a few shades lighter than Jou's listened at the door. He cursed quietly when he heard Yami say they'd continue in his chambers; he wasn't allowed anywhere near there. The king handpicked all the servants who were allowed to clean his personal rooms and Malik, besides being new, wasn't a very good servant. He was short tempered, had some major problems with authority and was far from lucky. Not that luck has much to do with being a servant, but if you're going to go around listening to people's private conversations it can help a lot.

For example; Malik was leaning heavily on a door while his hand rested on the knob. When he shifted slightly, he accidentally turned the knob causing himself to fall face first onto the floor in the hall.

All three foxes turned to look at the boy who had not yet picked himself up, seeming too stunned by his own situation to do so. It wasn't quite sinking in yet that he'd been caught spying on the king and when it did it would not be pleasant.

However, it would appear luck was at least a little on Malik's side that day as Yami's mind was on too many things to worry about if he had been listening or not. "You there, human, take this other human to a cell down- " The ruler paused when he saw Jou shake his head franticly. Seto explained why.

"It would be in your best interest to treat this boy well, at least for the moment. We'll explain more once we have some privacy." The last words were accompanied by a pointed look at Malik. When he finished speaking Seto placed two fingers on Ryou's head. They glowed blue for a moment before fading. "The spell will lose its effect in a few minutes."

"Fine," Yami sighed again, not at all pleased that he had no information about the situation. "Take him to a guest room then."

With that the monarch headed off down the hall. Seto nodded to Jou before following their king, catching up quickly thanks to his longer legs and the fact that Yami was a tad on the short side.

Jou turned to the servant, who was now standing and dusting himself off. "Namu, man, you got to stop being so nosy. Almost any other day you would have been fired on the spot and dumped in the nearest human village without any of your memories."

"I know, I know. I guess I just can't help it," Malik laughed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, the whole reason I chose to stay here when you found me was because I was curious about Foxes…well, that and not really having anywhere else to go."

The brown eyed fox just shook his head. "You're hopeless…come on, give me a hand here." Jou picked Ryou up by his underarms and waited while 'Namu' grabbed his feet. They carried the white-haired boy down the hall and up a flight of stairs to another hall. They went in the first door and set Ryou down on a fluffy double bed.

"So…why's he here?" Malik asked, before remembering his place. "I mean, if I'm allowed to know that…"

"Normally, no but…" Jou thought for a moment. He knew he couldn't risk the castle staff gossiping about this, it would do nothing good for Yami's reputation, but in order for no one to find out the boy couldn't leave the room. Someone had to watch him and get him food and all that, and Jou – though he was only supposed to be one of the fox king's guards – was a fairly busy individual. "…well, if you can keep your big mouth shut about it, we need someone to watch over the guy. He'd probably feel better 'bout it being another human."

"My lips are sealed! I promise." Malik nodded enthusiastically, speaking in a voice that was noticeably softer than his true one. One thing he had been very lucky in was gaining the trust of Yami's - in his opinion - dim-witted guard.

"Ok then, I'll explain when - " Jou was cut off by a startled squeak from the boy on the bed. Moments earlier the white had faded from Ryou's eyes and his senses had returned to him. "- when he wakes up."

Ryou sat up and looked around the room. It was most defiantly not his bedroom; it was quite a bit nicer than that. "What…where am I?" He then looked to Jou and Malik, noticing Jou's ears and tail. "Wha…What?" He questioned in a quiet, curious voice, though it was also laced with fright. The white haired boy was shaking slightly as he pushed himself back against the headboard.

"Whoa, relax, nothin' ta be afraid of. I'm Jou and dis here's Namu. You're in The Den, that's the Fox Castle, and…umm…welcome?"

A/N: There…you'll find out what Malik's up to next chapter and get more info on Ryou. It probably won't be a quick update though as I'll want to get another chapter of my other fic out first.