DISCLAIMER: The Road to El Dorado and all related characters do not belong to me. They belong to Dreamworks.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone! I really appreciate all of the wonderful comments and favorites on my previous El Dorado tale, "Never Forget". It really inspired me to write more on our favorite duo Tulio and Miguel! Unlike my previous fic, this is a multi-chapter story. Tulio and Miguel have not made their journey to El Dorado. In fact, this story has nothing to do with El Dorado. Tulio and Miguel are whisked on a similar adventure that bring them to the ancient city of Atlantis! Unfortunately there will be no Altivo, because he would really complicate things and I'd probably forget to write about him halfway through. Anyway, here's the first chapter to their new adventure! I've got some great ideas, so I encourage you to read on as I put up chapters. Thanks for reading and please review!
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Chapter One: Cast Off
The narrow streets of Spain were littered with civilians with busy lives. Crowds gathered along the market plaza, voices almost as loud as the music in the distant city center. Mandolin strings were plucked and strummed, flutes and bells accompanied the jaunty melody, motivating the people to rhythm their footsteps. The sun was high and bright and those rays danced with the music as they reflected off of traveling soldiers' armor. Tall, brutish men squandered the streets, one hand on the hilt of their sword while the other shielded their eyes from the harsh sunlight, glaring down the dark alleyways.
"Clear." One of the men uttered with an annoyed undertone, gesturing his fellow soldiers that the area was secured and combed. There was nothing threatening about the darkness of the alley, just a pile of empty ale barrels. "Search the square and secure all exits. I have a feeling they haven't gone too far." Their voices were but echoes to the ears of their victims. As the men dispersed from the edge of the alley, a very eager pair of emerald eyes peered over one of the empty ale barrels. A hand flew out from the darkness and pulled the gaze out of view as a fourth soldier passed the alley. Slowly, the pair of eyes remerged and a figure stood from the back of the barrel.
"Let's go then." Miguel gave a smirk and began his way towards the streets, only to be stopped by a weight that suddenly grabbed onto his forearm and yanked him backwards.
"Not yet, you lunatic! We can't just go out there without a plan."
"I thought we had a plan?" The blonde raised a curious eyebrow. Tulio gingerly smacked himself in the forehead.
"Did you not hear those metal-headed behemoths? They're blocking the exits!" The raven-haired man scowled through clenched teeth. Miguel cowered against the wall as Tulio flailed his arms in animated angst.
"Well don't snap at me!" The blonde pouted with angled brows, placing his hands on his hips and then crossed them over his chest.
"I'm not snapping," Tulio spat, pointing a finger in the other male's face, "I'm trying to figure a way to save us from the guillotine."
"Tulio."
"This is serious, Miguel."
"Tulio..."
"If we get caught this time there's no talking out of it. We need a really good disguise."
"Tulio!"
"What?!" Miguel took Tulio's pointy chin and directed towards the empty ale barrels that they had been hiding behind.
A few moments later, the two conmen had encased themselves in the confinement of the wooden barrels and were well on their way to sneaking around the guards. Walking barrels wasn't exactly a common sight in Spain, or anywhere for that matter, especially when all they had to see through was a small hole meant for a cork.
"This isn't really what I had in mind when I said we needed a good disguise." Tulio whispered hoarsely, trying to direct the both of them across the alleyways and busy streets. "In fact, this is probably the worst disguise since the Trojan Horse."
"Yes, but the horse worked for them, didn't it?" Miguel returned with a smirk in his voice.
"That isn't the point! The Trojans were brainless barbarians, these are highly intelligent Spanish soldiers! Wait - shhh!" Tulio paused, his partner clanking into him before they went dead on the streets as four soldiers walked towards them. They were busy chatting amongst themselves while the two wanted men shivered inside of their barrels. They also obliviously were stationed in front of the most popular ale house, where dozens of people sat outside to enjoy their cool drink. They were about to get caught in front of their favorite place, where all of their acquaintances would laugh as they were dragged to be hung or decapitated.
"Look there, a few ale barrels for us working men." One of them scoffed, walking over to the near tavern and ripping a few mugs from the customers that sat outside. The civilians gasped and glared, completely appalled by their brutish behavior and quickly left, leaving the tavern and the street vacant. A second soldier grabbed two faucets and jammed them into the cork holes, putting Tulio and Miguel in complete darkness. "What's this?" They all grew silent, inspecting something. The two conmen inside of the barrels put their hands together and prayed. Tulio was just about to reveal himself and run when the third soldier kicked his barrel. "They're empty! That just goes to show you the kind of respect these peasants give to the men that fight for their lives. Toss 'em into the bay; Cortez will be coming through here any minute and we don't want any garbage in his way." The four men shoved the two barrels onto their sides, almost causing Miguel and Tulio to tumbled out. The soldiers hadn't noticed their legs and feet as they turned and kicked the barrels to roll off the edge of the street and into the harbor. They didn't even hear the two men shriek as they splashed into the water, bobbing along the large ships.
"Greeks: one; Spanish Soldiers: zero." Miguel snickered as they floated on the gentle waves, their barrels quickly filling with water. Tulio was tempted to retort, but merely scowled to himself in defeat.
Eventually they had to ditch the ale barrels as they sunk into the ocean, leaving the two men to swim to safety. Safety, however, was a rather scarce thing to come by and they decided to hide on the port side of one of the large harbored ships, away from any eyes. First thing was to get them out of the water without being seen and they were lacking a disguise, practical or otherwise. Tulio spotted a long rope seeded from the deck of the ship, branching into the sea. It was the anchor and the perfect thing to grab onto.
"Here's the plan: We climb this rope, get on deck, get to the dock, and run until we hit China." The raven-haired Spaniard gave a confident smirk, Miguel pursing his lips. The blonde didn't argue, however, and followed Tulio in grabbing onto the sturdy rope and slowly making their ascent towards the deck of the ship some twenty-some feet up.
"All hands on deck! Man the boat you lazy brutes! Step the mast, hoist sail and prepare for cast off!" A voice hollered from aboard the deck and all silence was void. Crewmen stomped around the ship, unfurling the large white sails that filled with generous wind. Miguel glanced up at Tulio, who was halfway up the line, and gave him a very concerned look. "Haul anchor, hard to port!" Now that made Tulio nervous. The partnering Spaniards swallowed their fear with an audible gulp as the rope they clung to was slowly being pulled up towards the deck. Tulio swatted Miguel and shoved him further down the rope, sliding down until they both sat in the curves of the anchor. Luckily, they hadn't pulled the anchor onboard, but Miguel and Tulio were now dangling nearly twenty feet into the air. If they jumped into the water, their splash could attract some very unwanted attention. Before the two of them could further devise a plan, the ship began to move away from the harbor and they were sailing out to see on the ship's anchor. Tulio glared at the other male straddling the metal across from him.
"Don't blame me!" Miguel growled, furrowing his eyebrows, wrapping his limbs around the anchor.
"I blame you..."