Soul Dragons

"...I don't think it's so bad," Yugi stated tentatively, then winced as his friend turned a sharp glare on him.

"Not so bad? Not so bad?!" Joey turned and pointed at himself. "Look at what I'm wearing! Why do I have t' do this?! I'm not even from this stupid city!" he exclaimed, then huffed and crossed his arms.

No one really understood what he was complaining about. The tight, dark leather pants and black fishnet shirt he was wearing did nothing but show off how sexy he was. ...Then again, it might have been because he was showing off how sexy he was to Seto, the prince who hadn't once given up the chance to tease him.

Téa sighed and shrugged helplessly. "What do you want us to do, Joey? They said at least one person from each household and the rest of us are currently in relationships right now."

"Come on, gorgeous," Bakura teased, yanking the blond toward the center of the city. "Time for you to go see the prince."

"I didn't even know the prince could marry a guy! Why?! Why me!?"

Ryou smiled weakly. "Well, at least when Seto sees you, he can't call you a mutt."

Tristan smiled and slapped Joey on the back. "Yeah! He'll just laugh his ass off because you're the one from our household!"

Duke scowled and slapped the brunet in the back of the head. "Try and be a little sensitive, Tristan!"

Joey couldn't help but grin as he listened to his friends bicker. He loved causing them to get annoyed with each other. It may be sadistic, but at least he wouldn't be the only one suffering. Besides, Duke's teasing was all in fun; Seto did it to be malicious and cruel. Needless to say, Duke didn't really like the prince.

"So... explain how Seto's supposed to choose his bride again?" Yugi asked, looking up at Yami and Bakura.

"Soul dragons," Bakura answered vaguely, shrugging.

Yami sighed and rolled his eyes, then smiled down at his hikari. "Every royal has a pair of soul dragon eggs given to them when they turn thirteen, and they have to keep the eggs for another year before they hatch. The dragons accompany their royal everywhere. Then, if one of them suddenly flies away and lands on a person's shoulder, that person is the royal's soul mate."

"...If you think about it, it's kind of romantic," Ryou stated, smiling, and Yugi and Téa nodded in agreement.

"I swear if one of those little bastards land on me I'm gonna squish it."

Tristan scowled. "Oh, stop being such a coward, Joey. If the dragon lands on you, be a man about it! At least you'll have all the time you want to annoy the guy!"

Joey stopped walking, scowl slowly fading into a frown. He didn't really know why he annoyed Seto so much. One day the prince had just... insulted him. He'd insulted the prince back, had about half of the royal guard on his ass within five seconds, and then Seto had called them off. Since that day, he hadn't stopped cutting into him with his insults.

"...I hate when he does that," Duke sighed, then grabbed the blond's shoulders and steered him forward. "Come on, Joey! No more making yourself depressed!"

When they found themselves in the center of the city, they were surprised by the amount of both girls and guys there, eagerly awaiting the prince's arrival. ...It was almost disgusting how anxious they were. Obviously, these people would be thrilled to be Seto's bride.

"...I got nothing t' worry about," Joey told himself happily, as he stepped into line. "I mean, what're the odds that one o' those stupid little 'soul dragons' is gonna land on me?"

xXxXx

"I do not like this! How am I supposed to be able to pick out who Seto's soul mate is!" Red Eyes exclaimed, flapping his wings in agitation. "I mean it is not like he is the easiest guy to pick for! What if he does not have a soul mate because he is so mean!?"

"...Red Eyes, calm down," Blue Eyes ordered calmly, not moving an inch as he watched the buildings pass. "You will look at his soul mate, and just... know. Besides, you can just ignore anyone moderate. His soul mate is going to be someone either really submissive or really rebellious."

Red Eyes sighed as he caught sight of the center of the city, filled with tons and tons of waiting and willing prospects. "...How am I supposed to choose out of this...?"

"Just... fly around. See if anyone draws your attention," Blue Eyes answered, unable to help feeling pity for the small, black dragon. "If you cannot find his soul mate, we will just go to a different city, and you will look there."

The little dragon sighed, a small, almost undetectable whine leaving his tiny throat as he leapt from Seto's shoulder and began flitting around, from one group of potential brides to another. Another sigh escaped his scaly lips.

"Is that the dragon that's supposed t' find Seto's soul mate? It's cute."

'What was that!?' Red Eyes looked around frantically. 'That is the soul mate I need to find!'

"Too bad the little guy's gotta find the soul mate of a complete and utter asshole. Moneybags is so lucky."

He turned and started frantically to look for blond hair. 'Only one person would call Seto that! Where is Joey?!'

"What is that thing doing...? It looks like it's having some sort of panic attack..."

'I am! I am having a panic attack! Keep talking, Joey!' Red Eyes squeaked in delight as he finally caught sight of the blond and sped toward him. 'There you are!'

Joey raised an eyebrow and took a step back in alarm as the dragon flapping toward him showed no sign of stopping. '...Somehow I just know this ain't gonna end well...'

The little black dragon squealed in delight as he latched onto Joey's head. "I found yooou!"

The blond let out a grunt and reached up to try to disentangle the dragon from his hair. "What the hell 're ya doin'?!"

Red Eyes let out a squeak of distress when he found himself suddenly caught in tangled (though clean and sweet smelling) blond locks. "Oh, shit!"

"Stop strugglin' and I might be able t' get ya outta my hair!"

The dragon paused in his struggle, allowing the human just enough time to disentangle him, then blinked as he suddenly found himself sitting in Joey's strong but gentle hands. He looked up and smiled. "Thanks!"

"...Are you serious?" Both blond and dragon looked up to see Seto scowling at them. Dimly, Joey could hear his friends laughing their asses off. Damn them. "The mutt is my soul mate? ...Kill me now."

"Look, I'm not happy 'bout it either, moneybags!" Joey exclaimed, glaring at the prince, before looking down at the dragon looking up at him with big, innocent eyes. "...'s kinda cute though."

"...I'm so glad you think so," the brunet answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Joey scowled at him, then sighed and set the dragon on the prince's shoulder. "Yeah, whatever, moneybags. Like hell I'm marryin' you. Tell this thing t' find a different soul mate." Red Eyes scowled and latched onto the blond's hair again. "Shit!"

Seto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, despising the fact that everyone in the general area was staring at them. "As much as I would love to do that, mutt, I can't. The dragon chose you. Therefore, you are my bride."

There was silence for a while from the blond. It was almost alarming, how silent he was. He didn't seem to realize that everyone was waiting for his answer. It almost got to the point where people wondered if he had died standing.

"...So lemme get this straight..." he murmured after a few more agonizingly quiet minutes. "...I'm... s'posed t' marry you, and... be happy about it?"

"Yes," Seto answered bluntly, scowling at him again. "Now will you get on the horse so we can go? These stares are getting annoying and I don't want anyone killing you in a jealous rage. Red Eyes almost had a heart attack once already; I don't want to make him do it again."

Joey frowned and looked down at his feet. "...I guess I shouldn't mind fakin' happiness for a little longer, huh?"

"What?" the brunet asked, genuinely confused, before he found his new-found bride sitting behind him with his arms around his waist.

Deciding he'd just ask Joey later, he kicked his horse into a trot, thankfully getting away from all of the jealous glares directed at Joey and the heartbroken (yeah, right) gazes of those rejected.

xXxXx

Red Eyes flapped around Joey's head for a few minutes, anxious, then flopped down on his mess of blond hair. "Are you terribly, terribly mad at me for finding you, Joey?"

Joey sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "No, Red Eyes. I'm not terribly, terribly mad at ya."

"Are you sure?" the little dragon asked uncertainly. "I mean, some of the insults you and Seto threw at each other were pretty mean this time!"

"Well it's just that--" The human sighed again and stopped walking. "...It's just that... maybe he's right. Maybe I am... just a useless dog."

"What?!" the dragon squawked in disbelief, taking flight again. "How could you say that?! Seto never really means anything he says, Joey! You gotta believe that!"

The blond shrugged forlornly and walked over to a window so he could see outside to the castle grounds. "I'm not even from Domino, Red Eyes. Yugi and the others found me in Kyoto, eating outta the trash, just like one o' the worthless stray dogs Seto is always referring to. If it hadn't been for them, I'd be dead right now." He pressed his hand to the cool glass as he watched a few snowflakes-- the first of the season-- begin to fall to the ground far below and smiled bitterly. "I betcha if I died right now, Seto wouldn't care."

"He would so care!" Red Eyes exclaimed angrily, then huffed and flew away. "I don't want to talk to you right now, Joey! You're being mean to Seto! All he's ever done is tease you and you make him out to be a cold-hearted monster!"

Joey turned and watched the irate dragon fly away, then sighed and looked back out the window. "...I just... wish he'd see me as more than a worthless mutt sometimes," he whispered, watching as snow began to pile up on his windowsill.

xXxXx

Red Eyes flapped over to Seto angrily and huffed, tucking his wings in carefully as he landed on the prince's free shoulder. "Humph!"

"Hmm, that Joey human is rubbing off on you," Blue Eyes murmured, shrugging nonchalantly.

Seto raised an eyebrow and looked at Blue Eyes. When the dragon simply shrugged again in response, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, alright, fine. What's wrong, Red Eyes?"

"Oh, Joey's angsting like an Emo who's lost his eyeliner!" the little dragon snapped, tail swishing. "He thinks that you wouldn't care whether or not he died!"

The brunet sighed and looked back at the papers he'd been reading. "He's right."

"Do not say that, Seto," Blue Eyes ordered sharply, eyes narrowing. "Stop saying what you do not mean about that boy. You are hurting him."

"Like I should care," he sighed, shrugging. "I mean, anyone would have to be desperate to want to marry that mutt."

Red Eyes turned toward the door quickly, then let out a distressed shriek-- making both Seto and Blue Eyes wince-- and flew out. "He didn't mean that!"

"...I didn't know he could sound like a real dragon," Seto stated, turning to look at the doorway.

"No, you just refused to acknowledge that the dragon of your soul mate is, in fact, a dragon," Blue Eyes snarled, scowling. "He came to get you to go to your bride and comfort him, but what did you do? You insulted the poor boy even more! What else was Red Eyes supposed to do but go and try to comfort your soon-to-be wife?"

The human shrugged again. "It isn't my fault the mutt doesn't know how to deal with stress."

"No, he just thinks that anyone would have to be desperate to want to marry him." Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes and took flight, making to follow after his companion. "If your bride decides he is not worthy of you and tries to escape, it is no scale off of my nose. After all, I am not the one who was supposed to love and cherish him; I am only to love and cherish Red Eyes."

xXxXx

"I told ya he wouldn't care if I died or not!" Joey whispered, not daring to uncover his face. "He doesn't care about me! Why would he? He was right! Anyone would hafta be desperate t' actually wanna marry a worthless mutt like me!"

"He cares, he just doesn't know how to show it," the little dragon replied sadly, then bowed his head in defeat. "I'm sorry, Joey."

"Don't be sorry, Red Eyes. It's not your fault." Joey stared at the flurries of snow dancing just outside his window and sighed softly, then sat up straight quickly, nearly dislodging the dragon from his lap. "I'm not stayin' here if he doesn't want me."

Red Eyes tilted his head innocently. "What are you going to do then, Joey?"

"I'm leavin'. It was nice meetin' ya and all, Red Eyes, but I'm outta this place. Seto won't care anyway," the blond answered, patting the dragon on the head, before leaving his room and walking toward the garden quickly.

The soul dragon let out a squeak and was quick to follow him. "Wait! I want to come with you! If you're gone, he'll just make me come find you!" When the human merely nodded, he let out an indignant squawk. "Wait up!"

Joey laughed slightly and turned to face him. "Sorry, Red Eyes, I just can't wait t' get outta here! No more 'you can't do this' or 'not that way' t' make me feel stupid and outta place."

"Why are we going to the garden? I thought the point was to get out," Red Eyes asked in confusion. "The garden's impenetrable."

"Meanin' people can't get in," the human responded, walking out into the garden nonchalantly. "But has anyone ever tried gettin' out through the garden?"

"...No, I guess not. But how--" Red Eyes looked up at the large willow tree the blond had come to a stop in front of and tilted his head. "...Oh."

Joey flashed him a small smile, then climbed up the tree expertly, swinging from some branches like a chimp as he made his way up and around to the top of the wall. Once he reached the top, he sprang down nimbly, as if the wall were not twenty feet up. When he landed, he rolled forward so he wouldn't injure his legs, then looked up at the wall.

"Red Eyes, are you comin'?"

"I'm coming! Wait up!" the little dragon exclaimed, flying over the wall to land on his shoulder. "We should go."

"Hey! Kid! Who the hell are you? Get lost!" a few guards shouted, running toward him.

"...I'm assumin' now would be a good time t' run away," Joey stated, then took off at a sprint. The guards, in all of their armor and carrying their spears, had no chance of catching up to the once-street urchin, and no hope of catching sight of his face, as his back was to them.

-x-x-x-

Blue Eyes let out an enraged roar, and suddenly another priceless vase was shattered by white lightning. Mokuba frowned and crossed his arms. "Why do we even have so many vases, anyway, Seto?"

"Get down!" the elder brother exclaimed, tackling the raven-haired teen to the ground. Lightning struck a tapestry just above where they'd been seconds before.

The humans in the great hall scrambled toward the door, not wanting to be the next target of the infuriated dragon. After making sure the room was evacuated, Seto made his way out as well. Ever since Blue Eyes had found that Red Eyes was missing and it was heard that a blond boy was seen running from just outside the garden wall, he'd been ballistic, and the room was slowly being decimated as the dragon, now grown to his full, imposing size (and nearly filling the room, if it weren't for the fact that it was incredibly high, so he had room to fly), attacked anything it deemed worthy of destruction.

"S-Seto?" Mokuba asked tentatively, frowning. "Doesn't Blue Eyes reflect what you're feeling? Are you really that angry?"

The brunet growled and looked away from him. "Just who the hell does that stupid mutt think he is, running away and taking Red Eyes with him?!"

Of course, the teen was well versed in the language of Seto. Translated, he meant, 'Why the hell would Joey leave? I'm worried about him.' Congratulations, Seto, you have a heart.

"Your highness!" a servant girl called, running toward him (which was surprising, considering everyone was running away from the room where the raging dragon was). "I found him outside! He was trying to crawl toward the door! I think he's hurt!"

Seto stared down at the little black dragon in her arms in horror. Soul dragons reflected what the humans they were attached to felt. If Red Eyes was so horribly incapacitated, that meant that Joey was in the same state. What was he to do?

-x-x-x-

Joey stared down at the red-stained snow blankly, his mind slowly registering what had happened. He'd been attacked by five men-- or was it six? Oh, who cares, it was a lot-- and then all he could feel was pain and anger and pain and confusion and pain--

Snow wasn't supposed to be red, was it? Well, he better get out of the street incase someone decided to come and finish him off. He wouldn't want Red Eyes to perish just because he couldn't manage to crawl into the bushes. He dragged himself through the snow weakly, panting, only to find himself collapsing just feet from it. He groaned softly, and the last words that registered in his mind were, 'Seto... help me...'

-x-x-x-

"Do you want anyone to come with you, Seto?"

"I'll move faster if I go alone."

Seto sighed softly, rubbing his arms to try and keep the circulation going. The horse beneath him, usually so noble and proud, was trudging through the snow slowly, showing how the cold had affected it as well.

"Seto... help me..."

He had no idea how far Joey had traveled, or how far Red Eyes had traveled back. He had no idea where he was going and no idea if Joey would still be alive when he found him-- or whether Red Eyes would still be alive when he returned to the castle.

"Doesn't Blue Eyes reflect what you're feeling? Are you really that angry?"

Yes, he was that angry. Joey had left; he hadn't even left a note. He'd run away with no intention of coming back, and it hurt him that the blond would do that to him.

"If your bride decides he is not worthy of you and tries to escape, it is no scale off of my nose."

That had been his fault, too. ...He'd said some of the cruelest things, just to get a rise from the blond, never thinking that it would hurt Joey in the end. Well, it turned out it had hurt Joey, and now he was lost, maybe even dead.

'I never meant to hurt you... I just thought... you'd get angry and brush it off again... Have I been hurting you this entire time?'

Blood.

The horse, realizing what the red snow meant, shied and let out a whinny of fear, ripping Seto back into reality. Gazing at the blood only momentarily, he looked around for the source. When he saw a church just a half mile up the road, he took off for it at a gallop.

-x-x-x-

Joey groaned and grabbed his upper-arm, whimpering softly. "Ouch..."

"I'm glad that you've woken up. I didn't want to have to wake you."

The blond looked up in confusion to see a woman with long black hair and deep brown eyes smiling at him. "Who're you?"

The woman's smile widened. "My name is Isis. What's your name, little one?"

He looked down at his lap, blushing lightly. "Joey."

"Well, Joey, it's a good thing Odion and Marik were on their way back from the city from shopping and came across you," she answered, checking a bandage on his arm, then a wound on his chest. "If they hadn't discovered you, you would probably be dead right now."

Joey frowned and looked himself over. "What's wrong with me?"

"You had a pretty bad cut on your arm, and you were stabbed in the chest. I think that someone was trying to kill you."

He winced and grabbed his head. "Oh! I remember now! A bunch o' guys attacked me for my money! ...But I don't have any money. Sucks t' be them." The reason why he was out in the snow to begin with suddenly registered in his mind. Letting his hands descend to rest in his lap, he sighed sadly. "...Not that anyone would care."

Isis frowned but decided not to question him. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I-- Red Eyes!" He looked about frantically for the tiny dragon. "Where's Red Eyes?! Did they take him!?"

Before she could comfort the panicking teen, a knock came at the door. "Sister, some tall guy claiming to be a prince is here. Thought you ought to know."

Joey, eyes locking on the door, sprang to his feet quickly, not stopping to wince as pain ripped through his chest wound. The boy he knocked into and familiar prince he sprinted past did not manage to grab his attention. As he stumbled out onto the snow covered ground, he looked around frantically. He didn't know where he was or where his dragon companion had gone.

The time he took to pause from disorientation was the amount of time his body needed to remind him that HEY, WE'RE INJURED!

He grabbed his chest wound with a whimper and started to collapse when he was swiftly pulled into someone's arms. He looked up to see who had caught him, because it sure as hell wasn't Isis, and blushed a little as he found Seto glaring at him. He looked away quickly.

Seto sighed loudly, then turned to Isis, who'd followed them outside. "Thank you for taking care of him."

She smiled and clasped her hands in front of her. "It was no problem at all, your highness. Is this the bride your dragon chose?" When he nodded, she nodded back to him. "He's perfect for you. I don't think he should be traveling, but I know you'll want to get back to the castle. You should have a doctor look after him once you get there."

The prince nodded, then looked down at Joey and scowled. "We'll be having a nice chat on our way, won't we, puppy?"

Joey winced and looked away from him as he was set on the horse's back. Seto climbed up behind him and dug his heels into the horse's sides, making it take off at a swift trot. Truth be told, he'd never thought the prince would pursue him. Red Eyes, maybe, but Red Eyes would have made it back. ...And he should be healthy by now, so why--

"Moronic, insane, insolent mutt!"

The blond flinched at the insult and covered his head, fearing that he may be hit. "I'm not a--"

"DOG!" Seto finished angrily, losing his stoic façade for probably the first time. "One wing of my castle is destroyed, my soul dragons are at each other's throats, my staff doesn't function without having at least one panic attack every day and I had to spend three days searching for you when I could have been doing other things!"

Joey kept his mouth shut and bit his cheek to keep from speaking. He'd never seen the brunet so angry; hell, he wasn't even seeing it! He was just hearing it, because he was sitting in front.

"And do you know whose fault it is?!"

"Who cares?!" the blond snapped angrily, trying to ignore the tears in his eyes. "I'm a stupid, worthless mutt that anyone would hafta be desperate t' marry and no one would care if I died, so what's it matter?! No one cares!"

Seto growled and turned the blond on the horse to face him. "That's not true!"

"Oh yeah?! Who?! Who cares?!" Joey asked, sniffing slightly as he ran the back of his hand over his eyes.

"I do!" the prince snarled, before grabbing the back of the blond's neck and pulling him into a searing kiss.

Joey squeaked softly and grabbed his shoulders, blushing, then gasped as the kiss was broken just as quickly as it began and hid his face in the brunet's chest. "...Why? Why do ya care?"

"Because you bite back," he ground out, before pulling him into another kiss.

The blond let out a muffled yelp as more blood rushed to his face. When he realized that the prince was not ending the kiss any time soon, he sighed and hesitantly slid his arms around his neck. Seto attacked the blond's lips savagely, tongue soon darting into the fray, and wrapped his arms around the smaller teen as he dominated his mouth.

Joey whimpered as the prince put pressure on his chest wound and quickly turned his head. "Y-you're hurtin' me! Let go! My chest, it hurts!"

Seto frowned in concern and sighed. "We're stopping at the closest hotel and getting you some medical attention."

The blond blushed a little and looked down at his lap, then looked up at him again inquisitively. "...Could I..." he trailed off, blushing a bit more, then looked away again. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to face the taller teen and gave him a quick, chaste kiss.

"...Hmm..." The brunet smirked and began closing the distance the smaller teen had replaced. "Silly little puppy. Always so curious."

"I'm not a--" Joey began, scowling, but his comment was swallowed as the prince's mouth crushed his own. He whimpered and grabbed the brunet's shoulders weakly. "Mm!"

Breaking the kiss only momentarily, Seto continued, "Maybe I'll let you explore when we're in the privacy of our own room." The blond blushed again before his mouth was once again dominated by the taller teen's own.

-x-x-x-

"Oh, Joey! I was so worried about you!" Red Eyes exclaimed, tangling himself in the blond's hair fondly. "I was afraid you'd been raped and murdered and cut into itty bitty pieces and--"

"Please... stop describin' what your imagination came up with," Joey answered softly, looking a bit sick to his stomach.

Blue Eyes frowned. "What is wrong with him, Seto?"

"Doctor gave him something to make him heal faster that isn't quite agreeing with his stomach," the prince answered, smiling a little as he slid his arm around the blond's waist. "And his back may ache a little."

"A little?! Why you--" Joey began, glaring at him, but stopped and whimpered as his stomach lurched.

"What? Why would Joey's back ache? He wasn't attacked that hard..." Red Eyes murmured in thought, frowning.

"Seto had him on the bed," Blue Eyes answered, leering at the brunet knowingly. "...Or did you even make it to the bed, Seto?"

"I made it to the bed. I didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was." Seto smirked and glanced down at the now blushing blond. "God, he was good."

Red Eyes tilted his head innocently. "How good?"

Joey blushed even more and hid his face in the prince's chest. "Seto, don't be so mean t' me!"

"...He screamed like a banshee and writhed like a fish out of water," the brunet stated, smirk growing as the smaller teen groaned and tried to make himself as small as possible. "I have to say, Red Eyes, you definitely chose the right person."

"Oh, so now you agree with me?" the little black dragon asked indignantly. "You need to have more faith in me, Seto!"

Seto looked down at the boy blushing in his arms and sighed softly, eyes softening as he saw the blond's eyelids fluttering as he tried to stay awake. "...Yes, I do," he agreed quietly, then scooped the blond into his arms. "Come on, puppy. Time for bed."

Joey turned and nuzzled the prince's chest slightly, grabbing the silk shirt he was wearing in his hand tightly. "'kay... Ya tuck me in...?"

"Yes, I'll tuck you in. ...In fact... I think I'll join you," Seto answered, placing a chaste kiss on the blond's unresisting lips. "Goodnight, puppy."

"...Goodnight..."

As the two humans walked away, Red Eyes began to cackle. "SUCCESS!"

"...It is really creepy when you do that," Blue Eyes pointed out, sighing.

"Who cares?!" Red Eyes exclaimed, shrugging slightly. "Seto's being nice to his bride and showing affection openly! That's good news!"

"I refuse to question your logic," the white dragon replied, flying after the two humans quickly. "Come. I want to see if Seto cuddles with him."

Red Eyes followed him silently, but inside, he was about to burst from happiness. 'Yay! Joey and Seto get a happy ending after all!' His eyes took on a hungry glint. '...Now if only I could get Blue Eyes to show me the same affection...'