Hey, everyone! I decided to edit this chapter and make it longer… My nephew made me watch Finding Nemo with him and this idea just fit in the plotline! I'm sorry if the old version of this chapter confused you, but I was in a hurry to post this since my mom wanted me to make dinner! I've tried to arrange it in a more tidy way!

Oh, and by the way, we owe this chapter to Kyo1 lover, it was her ideas that inspired me to make this in the first place! She is a life saver or is it plot saver?

- SERPENTINE (?) -
- Chapter IV -

It has been two months since Yami had laid and now he was enjoying the sun on his favorite spot, a flat rock near one of the streams close to their den. Laying lazily on it and enjoying the warmth it provided, Yami dozed into a light sleep while waiting for his mate to come back with his hunt. When he next opened his eyes he noticed that Ra had already crossed the sky, he blinked the fogginess away from his mind while he looked around for the golden naga but everything indicated that he hadn't come back yet, which was odd. Atemu usually didn't take that long to find some poor animal to prey on. Maybe he saw me sleeping and decided to return to the den, Yami thought while sliding from his rock and moving toward the direction of their den. Halfway there, Yami paused as he heard the sound of a scratching noise but when he didn't hear it for a full minute he shifted and went back to continue his journey, only to have his eyes widen when he heard the noise again, this time accompanied with some rustling. Yami stopped all movement and concentrated in finding the direction the sound was coming from only to find joy fill his heart!

The sound was coming in the direction of their nesting!

Giving up on looking for his mate, the black rattler moved quickly and shiftily to the site, already picturing the sight he was going to meet… His and Atemu's kits covered in dirt and looking around them with curious eyes, wondering the wonders of the world while waiting for at least one of their parents to come looking for them. He was so excited, so happy that when he came to the clearing he was grinning like an idiot! But what he saw made his heart stop… Jackals were digging his nest, trying to find the eggs he had so painfully laid. His sight also caught some of the canines fighting for something a few meters away, growling and snarling at each other. When one of them moves to the side, he felt his soul leave his body. On one of the jackals' muzzle was blood while at his feet laid what was left of one the kits. What was supposed to be a happy reunion had just turned into a cold vicious nightmare!

A powerful growl resounded in the clearing, revealing a golden naga who with an angry cry charged at the perpetrators. In his rage, Atemu spared no one and nothing, tearing into the flesh of his enemy and rejoicing in the painful whimpers it made. He used his tail to crush the air out of some, smash their skulls against the ground while his claws slash their flesh until nothing was left… Only when most of the jackals were dead or had run away did his rage subdue. He could smell his mate not far from him as he moved into the clearing and to what was left of their nest. With a tired sigh, he turned and watched Yami dig his way through the sand with trembling hands.

As far as the rattler had seen, the jackals had only one kits with them but he couldn't be sure if they had already gotten the other two before he got here so he dig... Dig until his hand came upon something warm and wet, retracting his hand with his heart beating hard against his chest, Yami looked down and saw his pale hand covered in clear liquid along with some bloodied sand. A whimper made its way up his throat, the jackals hard and hungry digging had cracked the eggs, or at least one. He felt a warm hand descend on his shoulder giving him a comforting squeeze. Looking up at his golden mate, he watched him with pained eyes before he too went about digging out their remaining kits.

None of them said anything while they continued their task, afraid to upset the little calm silence that surrounded them. They eventually came upon the cracked egg; the newborn kit had gashes from the jackals digging claws. Either he died from lack of air or from the many wounds that were still slightly bleeding. Atemu watched as his mate cuddled the deformed kit to his chest, caressing him with his fingers as if trying to wake him up. The sadistic part of him promised to find the remaining jackals and make them pay dearly for what they had done, and then he was going to present his mate with their furs. Nodding to himself, the crimson eyed naga turned back to the nest ready to dig the last egg but the slight moving of the sand made him pause…

"Yami" he called, turning to his mate and pointing at the moving sand "Yami, beloved, look"

Tired and pained amethyst eyes settled on his mate, Yami didn't want to see the other dead kit having seen the other two was more than his heart could handle. But upon seeing the hope on the crimson eyes, he sighed and let his gaze lower to the nest where he saw tiny hands try to dig their way out… Eyes widening, the rattler pushed his lover away rather harshly making him go down with an 'off' but he didn't pay him notice since his eyes were focused on the little arms that has just came out from the sand. Letting a watery chuckle, Yami started to help the kit out from his sand prison.

"That's it, little one, come out to the world" he urged while keeping the sand from crushing the moving kit (Yeah, try digging a hole in the sand and you'll see how frustrating it is when all the surrounding sand starts to fall into it!) He heard rustling and looked slightly from the nest to see his mate slide away from the clearing

"I'm going to get food" he explained at his confused glance "I'm sure the little one will be hungry after all the exercise"

Nodding to his mate, Yami returned his attention to his kit to see that he had managed to make it out almost completely, a little boy it was. His human half was as tanned as his sire; his tail had almost the same colors as his except that they were mixed with some brown and gold. He still couldn't see the color of his eyes since it will take some time for them to fully develop (I read that some snakes' offspring finish developing their eyes only after they are born/hatched) Cooing slightly he took the kit in his arms, caress him while he glided softly to the nearby stream, his son was in need of a bath

Atemu may have said he was going to get food but in reality was busy burring the dead kits. Deep enough that Yami would never know where they were at. He kept his eye on the surroundings, looking for any predator that may had followed him at the scent of kits' blood. When Atemu was done he said a small prayer to the gods, praying for his kits' save passage to the other life. With one last look at the tomb he had made, he smiled sadly and made his way back to the den. He was sure that his little lover had already bathed the kit and had now returned to the safety of their home.

Upon arriving, he saw Yami curled up in the furs with the kit safely tucked in his arms. He crawled up against the back of his mate, curling his tail with the others making Yami woke up slightly and look tiredly at him, smiling sadly he curled up against his tanned chest and pulling the kit between them. Atemu smiled and settled back on the furs to catch some sleep before going out hunting, Yami and him may not need to eat every day but with a kit now with them he had to make sure there was enough food in case the kit needed feeding.

Yami's eyes opened and he found himself suddenly wide-awake. He frowned as he sat up, wondering at the sudden clarity of consciousness. He slid from the bed of furs careful to not wake the little lump that was still resting beside him. It had been three weeks since they had Yugi with them and two weeks since the little naga had opened his purple eyes, a mix of red and magenta around the iris. His heart swelled with pride, Yugi may be smaller than the average but he had proved to have a quick mind and never-ending energy. (Nagas' kits develop faster than human babies due to the need of being able to protect themselves from predators)

With one last look at his son, who snuggled deeper into the furs, he turned to leave the den. He was almost halfway there when the sound of something growling caught his attention. Frowning deeply he moved cautiously to the entrance, only to froze at the confrontation before him. Another naga, with cerulean eyes and a thick mass of brown hair, stood before Atemu, the tri-colored haired naga's face one of annoyance. They argued in a language Yami did not recognize but the twisting syllables brought something to the forefront of his mind and his frown deepened as he recalled a garden. He wasn't supposed to be there, he remembered, but fascinated with the whitish blue flowers that basked in the moonlight drew him forward. The past superimposed on the present and only did he broke out of it when a hand clasped around his.

He shrieked as he tried to get out of the hand's grip, but upon hearing Atemu's voice and setting his eyes onto crimson ones he calmed down until he looked over his mate's shoulder and saw the unknown naga approach them. Before Yami knew what he was doing, he was up and hissing threateningly at the other with his rattler vibrating beside him. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to protect, but protect what? He mused.

That's when all hit Yami and something inside him snapped.

He snarled, smashing his tale on the ground making his rattler shake viciously and charged against the bigger naga. The two nagas rolled on the ground, the blue tailed one surprised at the sudden attack, hissing and snarling in an attempt to subdue the other. Yami shoved the other hard making the other naga fall back, crashing on the ground with a grunt but before he could lunge forward again a mass of gold was upon him, trapping him between the ground and a body. He tried to shove whatever was on him, he had to! But a warning snarl was hissed on his ear…

"Stop" it said "He isn't a threat, he is -"

"I don't care who he is!" Yami shouted while trying to squirm out of his mate's arms "He is a threat to my kit!" he snarled and almost bit at his mate's arms that where trying to stop him from lunging at the unknown naga who, fortunately or not, didn't catch the last part as he was examining his blue tail where Yami had scratched him "Get off me!"

"Will you calm yourself?" Atemu shouted back "He isn't a threat, Yami! He's my cousin!" he turned to the blue tailed naga that stood a few steps away from them, he was about to say something when a wail came from inside the den and he was roughly thrown off his mate who scurried back inside

"A hungry wail?" asked confused the aforementioned naga before his eyes widened and he shrieked "A hungry wail? You didn't tell me you had kits! Do you think I'm suicidal? Or better yet, were you trying to KILL ME?"

"Shut up, Seto! You're not helping!" his cousin replied licking the claw marks on his arm "I thought he was still sleeping, otherwise I would have told you to get the hell out"

"You know how fathers' are when with kits! He could have killed me and what about Jou? Were you going to leave him mate less?"

"You're overreacting" Atemu calmly replied, getting the furious response of 'Overreacting? Me?' from his cousin "Go back to the city, once the kit is capable of travel we'll follow" he waved Seto away and not even waiting for a reply he too ventured inside. He had a mate to confront

So, how did it go this time?

I just had to edit this chapter, I felt unsatisfied with the other one…

And please, remember that while they are snakes, they are also half humans! Did you really expect Atemu to hold his hormones back for that long? Since I'm not fond of OCs, I plan to use some of the remaining YGOH characters names to compliment the other roles I have in mind.

I wanna thank all of those who reviewed! And I may be the author but it is the fans that motivate the plot! I expect to get some of your ideas! It really doesn't matter if it's for the upcoming chapters or something that already passed, anything you tell me will find a way into this fic… somehow! :D

PS: I won't be updating until the end of Easter… which is this Sunday.