If There Be Thorns
By: Maggie Griffin
Summary: After a chance encounter in the market place, Sadira takes it upon herself to form an apprentice in a young girl named Aini. But things don't go as planned when during one of her first lessons, Aini unleashes a sand storm into the garden of Arbutus
Rating: PG-13 (for mild swearing and mild suggestive content wink wink)
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure
NOTE: Aini is, in fact, eighteen years old. Some of you have asked and she is simply very child-like and inexperienced, making her seem far younger than she actually is.
--
Beneath the vast desert that spread around the prosperous city of Agrabah, an all-together different world dwelled. Sole witness to this world, the young woman who stood in the caverns of the forgotten 'Witches of the Sand' concentrated on the words before her, layed out so plainly on ancient scripture, yet sometimes so difficult to understand.
"Come on, sand into glass, how difficult could it be?" Sadira sighed in exasperation. Truth was, she was rather tired of having to wade through the sand floor in the caverns below the desert. Having spent more time there then anywhere else, she would have liked to be able to at least walk comfortably. "A nice glass floor, that's all I ask," she pleaded with the unsympathetic tome before her.
With a heavy sigh, Sadira moved away from her work, wiping her eyes to clear her blurred vision.
"This witch stuff is getting more and more complicated!" She waved her hand in the air, producing a chair from the sand scattered around her. It solidified just in time to catch her collapsing backwards into it. For a moment, Sadira closed her eyes and relaxed, trying to sort out through the muddle that her mind had become in the last few hours. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she reared up out of her seat.
"Oh No!" She yelped, making a bee-line for the exit, "I forgot!" Taking the stairs two at a time, she emerged from the caverns below into the harsh sunlight of the Arabian desert, instantly blinded. She wasted no time, realizing she had been expected for some time now. It was typical of her, of course, this business of becoming so absorbed in knowledge that hours could fly by without her raising her eyes from the tomes even once. Sadira shook her head, trying to level out her breathing as she ran.
Gasping for breath, she recalled the meeting that had prompted her present panic. Recalled Aladdin approaching her in the crowded marketplace, aloof and mysterious. His face, usually so easy to read, betrayed none of his true intentions as he had extended an invitation to the palace on behalf of himself and Princess Jasmine, playing the dumb messenger to her inquisitiveness. For a fleeting moment, Sadira hoped that he had changed his mind about her, but she quickly forced such thoughts from her mind.
What am I thinking anyway? She chastised herself. Jasmine and I are friends now, and I wouldn't do that to her. Not even if I did get the chance! She felt a rush of guild for even considering that Aladdin had any ulterior motive under his hat besides what was probably a friendly get-together. Besides, when would he ever choose someone like me over someone like her? She reminded herself sadly. It hurt, of course, deep inside. Still, she comforted herself with the knowledge that in the end, she was doing the right thing by everyone.
By the time Sadira arrived in Agrabah, the sun had began to set, reminding her that she really had to start making more of an effort to get return to civilization. It was becoming a bad habit, the way she could spend hours upon hours pouring over the scrolls and tomes to be found in the vaults of the catacombs.
Soon, Sadira found herself running through the marketplace, doing her best to avoid collision with anyone or anything in the way. Namely fruit stands, merchants, and palace guards.
Luck it seemed, was not with her.
As she rounded a corner, she felt herself connect hard against something, and briefly found herself wondering if she had run into a wall. This wall however, seemed to cry out and fall backwards, mimicking Sadira's own descent.
After a moment of recovering from her small calamity, Sadira looked up and realized that the wall was actually a young girl. She looked to be no older than Sadira herself, perhaps eighteen at most, and was staring back at her with large, frightened green eyes. Still, her face and countenance gave off a distinctly child-like aura.
What first caught her attention, however, was the girl's heavy stutter.
"Oh...s-sorry, I'm so so-sorry!" The girl apologized. Her voice was soft and shy, strained from nerves and possessing a child-like, undeveloped tone to it. This effect was further increased by her lips, which shook slightly as she spoke, giving the illusion that she was constantly pouting.
Sadira was the first to stand, brushing dirt and sand off her legs as she did.
"Hey, don't worry about it! It was my fault, I should have been looking while running!" Sadira grinned, and extended a hand to the girl, who, instead of taking it, continued to stare up at her with the same wide-eyed expression. After this moment of hesitation, the girl reached up and took Sadira's hand, letting the older girl pull her up.
Sadira was surprised to find the girl was even shorter than she was, a fact that did not escape her, having been self-conscious of her own rather small stature for some time in the past. But the girl standing timidly before her looked to be no taller than five feet.
"Th...thank you!" The girl stammered again, and quickly brushed the dirt from her dark green robe. After a bit of speculation, Sadira determined that the girl was clearly not palace material. Another one of Agrabah's poorer children, no doubt. The idea made Sadira somewhat bitter, recalling her own past as a homeless girl growing up on the streets of Agrabah. Was the child before her of similar origin? She wondered. Certainly it appeared so. She knew that look, the look in her eyes, the fear and uncertainty. You never knew who was out to get you, who could hurt you in any number of ways for any number of reasons. She felt a pang of sympathy. To a street mouse like Sadira, strangers had ushered both hope and fear. She resolved then, that if this was the case, she would try to be one of those people that didn't inspire the latter.
"No problem," Sadira smiled, trying to lay the girl's nervousness at ease. "My name is Sadira! I'm sorry again for running into you like that!"
"Oh...Oh, n-no, it's alright," the girl's eyes widened, "It was an accident!" After a moment of hesitation, she quickly added: "My name is Aini!"
Sadira nodded, pleased that Aini's stuttering seemed to be lessening. She felt a sudden rush of camaraderie for Aini and decided right then and there to get to know her if she could.
"I'd still like to make it up to you. Why don't you come with me? I'm heading over to meet some friends and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I brought some company," Sadira suggested gently, seeing the girl tense up at the mention of meeting anyone. "What's the matter? They're nice people, I promise! They're like any good friends you could have," she smiled widely, recalling all the strange adventures she had experienced in the past because of Aladdin and Jasmine.
"I don't have...," Aini started, but trailed off quickly and looked away.
Sadira paused.
"You...don't have other friends? Go on, you can tell me," she urged gently, seeing the forlorn look on Aini's face.
The girl nodded her head, though she did not say a word.
"Well, that's not true!" Sadira stated plainly.
Aini looked back at her, startled by the sudden statement. She opened her mouth, feeling as thought there was something that needed saying, yet she could not force the right words. Sadira intervened further.
"It's not true, because I'm your friend...right?"
Aini, touched by the sudden proclamation of friendship, still could not help the cautious nagging in the back of her mind. Self-preservation wasn't something she was particularly spectacular at, but she still managed well enough thus far. It was such caution that allowed for that. Still, despite herself, Aini nodded slowly, a shy smile playing across her lips.
With that, Sadira laughed and grabbed hold of Aini's hand, pulling the startled girl with her towards the palace before she was met with protest. They ran toward the gates, the sprint serving to relax them both until they were laughing had having a surprisingly good time in each others company.
Sadira felt a new level of elation. Despite the fact that Aladdin and Jasmine were both her friends, she had never felt like she was truly "one of the gang" as she liked to put it. It had always been Aladdin and Jasmine. Then Sadira too. Never Aladdin, Jasmine, and Sadira. Which rather left her feeling like a third wheel, even though she knew Aladdin and Jasmine didn't mean it like that.
It was a nice notion, to be spending time with someone else entirely. To be on the inside, for once, even if it was just a two-person circle.
"Your friends live in the palace?" Aini asked, looking up at the towering building before them in awe. Sadira was pleased to see that in the time that it took them to get to the palace, her stutter had completely vanished.
"I guess I left out some stuff," Sadira spoke sheepishly. "Namely that Jasmine is the princess, and Aladdin is her boyfriend."
"Aw, I don't believe you!" Ai spoke skeptically, though with a hint of amusement in her voice. Never the less, she looked at Sadira expectantly, and was rather surprised when the young woman smirked, then knocked as hard as she could on the large gates before them. Moments later, the gates opened, and a palace guard looked down at them. He was a rather large man, muscular with a beard and a scowl on his face. He sneered down at both of them, then turned his sight on Sadira.
Aini expected that at any moment, they would have to turn and bolt from the gate, but instead watched as Sadira greeted the guard casually.
"Hi Razoul! Jasmine and Aladdin are expecting us!" Sadira said, completely unfazed by the way the guard was scowling at her.
"I know the princess and the street rat are expecting you witch...but I don't remember them saying you could bring another street mouse with you!" He looked at Aini pointedly. She, in turn, looked down at the floor. This simple exchange and the subsequent gesture of Aini's gaze drifting submissively to the ground brought a feeling of protectiveness over Sadira that she had seldom experienced.
Aini waited, expecting that at any moment, Sadira would probably ask her to leave in favour of going to see her other friends in the palace. She wouldn't really blame her, who would pass up an opportunity to go into the palace to spend time with someone like her anyway?
Much to her surprise, when Sadira did speak it was not to send her away.
"Don't talk to her like that!" The older girl scowled. "She's my friend!"
Seeing that his barbs would do little to sway Sadira, Razoul opened the gate just enough to let them pass through, reserving some nasty remarks he muttered under his breath as they passed. He knew better than to tangle with friends of the Princess, even if they were just a pair of beggars.
Sadira denied him the satisfaction of seeing the anger in her eyes as they passed.
Razoul stared at Sadira, and although he seemed to have acquired a level of caution, he never the less attempted to stare her down as she passed. His attempt at intimidation seemed to go unnoticed and for a moment, Aini thought she saw the dirt and sand around their feet begin to ripple.
The moment passed as they left Razoul behind to tend to official visitors that had followed after them, his manner instantly that of a respectful and dutiful soldier. His two-faced attitude made Sadira sick.
"W-Wow, that was brave!" Ai had started stuttering again, much to Sadira's dismay. Never the less, she said nothing, and only smiled, her ego puffing up a little.
They walked through the garden together, during which Sadira had to pry Aini away from staring at all the beautiful flowers in awe. She couldn't really blame her. The Palace boasted some of the loveliest gardens Sadira had ever seen.
"I've never seen such a beautiful garden!" Aini gasped as Sadira pulled her along.
"I can tell!" Sadira replied wryly. "You like flowers, huh?"
Aini nodded and opened her mouth to speak on the subject further. Before she could utter a word, her eyes fell on a quickly approaching figure, making his way between the pillars that lined the entrance into the palace toward them. Sadira followed her gaze and was not at all surprised that the younger girl had frozen in place in shock. A large, floating blue body was making its way over to them. Within moments, Genie was making his grand entrance.
"Hey, you brought a friend!" He greeted them with a boisterous cry.
Sadira was not at all surprised when Aini yelped and hid behind her, looking at Genie with wide, curious eyes.
"Do you mind Genie, you're scaring her!" Sadira rolled her eyes, and gently urged Aini forward. "Aini, I'd like you to meet Genie. Genie, meet my new friend Aini! We sort of...ran into each other at the market place!"
Aini gazed up at Genie with a spellbound expression, having never before seen such an odd sight. A floating, blue man, whose extremities seemed to vanish into a curling blue trail of smoke beneath him. Still, this did nothing to impair his movement as he slid through the air with great ease and flair.
"H-Hello!" she squeaked, her voice rising a few octaves.
Genie grinned from ear to ear, and in the next instant, produced a ridiculously fluffy bunny rabbit from a black top hat he conjured from thin air. Without a word, he put it into Aini's arms and patted her head affectionately.
"Aaaw, so cute!" He gushed, making an effort to amuse Aini further by sitting her on a small pink cloud.
To Sadira, watching these disturbing series of events unfold in silence, the scene displayed before her looked disturbingly adorable. Aini was looking back at Genie with confused eyes, still holding the rabbit and now seated on a pink cloud a few feet above ground.
"Aaaw!" Genie gushed further, admiring his work.
"Anyways..." Sadira cleared her throat, trying to stop herself from bashing Genie over the head for his lack of self-control. "Have you seen Aladdin and Jasmine? We were supposed to meet here a while ago!"
"Oh yeah! Just follow me!" Genie replied before setting Aini back on solid earth.
"Anything else I should be warned about?" Aini asked Sadira as they walked side-by-side.
"Come to think of it, watch for a psychotic bird and a thieving monkey!" Sadira replied casually.
Genie led them inside the palace and into the grand dining room. As the doors opened, there was a cheer from the inside and streamers and balloons came floating down from the ceiling, courtesy of Genie's magic.
"SURPRISE!"
The shout gave Sadira such a scare she actually took a few safe steps back into the hallway, bumping into Aini and taking her along. When the air had cleared, she saw Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Abu, Genie, and Carpet had all gathered. The dining table was filled with all sorts of food and just looking at it was making Sadira hungry.
Entering the room with Aini in tow, Sadira looked between the other occupants of the room and the food on the table.
"What's...what's this all about guys?" Sadira asked, unable to mask the surprise in her voice.
"A little party we organized!" Jasmine replied. She placed a hand on Sadira's shoulder and led her further into the room. "I know you've been feeling sort of left out lately, so we all wanted to make it up to you!" She motioned for Sadira to come sit down. Obliging, Sadira sat next to Jasmine and left Aini to stand rather awkwardly to the side, not really sure of what she was supposed to do.
"Hey, who's your friend?" Aladdin asked, noticing Aini looking somewhat dismayed by herself.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry Aini! I guess I got caught up in the surprise. Guys, this is my friend Aini," she motioned, "Ai, these are Aladdin and Jasmine. The bird and monkey in question are Iago and Abu and the one your standing on is Carpet!" No sooner had she said this that the small rug Aini had inadvertently stood upon rippled gently beneath her feet. She gave a little yelp and quickly moved to allow Carpet to rise from the ground and shake her hand with one of its tassles.
"Wouldn't you like to sit down Aini? Don't be shy!" Jasmine offered her a seat beside her and Aini gratefully walked over and sat down modestly, straightening the creases in her robe.
"P-please call m-me Ai!" she stammered once more, worst then before. However, she smiled genuinely.
"Well, is this a party or what? Let's start eating already, I'm starving to death here!" Iago squawked, his beak already diving into a bowl of fruit in front of him.
Without further ado, the group enjoyed the food and talked amongst themselves. During which Aini's stutter lessened and lessened until it was once again completely gone, and she looked almost half-comfortable to be amongst so many people.
"Well, a friend of Sadira's is a friend of ours!" Aladdin remarked as Sadira recounted the tale of how she and Ai had met at the market. Aini felt happier then she had ever felt before.
At one point during the party, Iago leaned towards Genie.
"Say, why do you suppose she doesn't have that many friends? She's a nice kid!" Iago remarked, even he a bit taken by how genteel Ai was.
"Well look at her," Genie shrugged, careful to keep his voice down, "She's so shy, she probably has a really hard time getting to know people. There are a lot of people that would want to take advantage of someone like her. This has been a bit easier on her because Sadira introduced her to us!" Genie replied.
At the end of the party, Jasmine, at Sadira's secret behest, pulled Aini away to speak with her in private. Sadira, meanwhile, busied herself by bidding farewell to the other party-goers. She was getting ready to go back to the caverns under the desert and get a good night's rest, having asked Jasmine for this favor in Aini's behalf. She knew she would have to speak up for the girl in this instance, Aini could hardly be expected to work up the nerve herself.
"Ai, do you have a place to stay?" Jasmine asked gently, not really wanting to embarrass the girl because she already knew what the answer would probably be. After spending some time on the outside of the palace, Jasmine had come to understand that not all people were born as lucky or well provided for as she. With that knowledge ever present in her mind, she tried to do good whenever she could.
"Well, not a 'place', really...," Ai trailed off, looking at her hands sheepishly.
"Well, that settles it then, come on!" Jasmine beckoned, and let Aini say goodnight to Sadira before leading her down a long hallway.
"Where are we going?" Aini asked, still unsure as to what Jasmine was up to. Sadira had promised to come and visit her soon, but Aini wondered how Sadira would be able to find her later. She supposed they might run into each other in the marketplace. She hoped so.
"Your going to stay here for the time being. I hate to say it, but the streets of Agrabah aren't safe for a young girl like you at night!" Jasmine sighed, and stopped in front of another door. She opened it and stepped inside, waiting for Aini to follow.
The room they were in was not particularly grandiose, but to Aini, who had nothing but the street to compare it to, it was the lap of luxury. Dark blue and white drapery hung on the windows. A large bed was against one corner, with two dark cupboards placed on either side of it and a tiny balcony just opposite that.
"Consider this your room for the duration of your stay!" Jasmine smiled.
That night, Aini slept better than she could remember. She dreamt pleasant dreams, in which she eagerly anticipated the events the next day would bring.
--
Next, Sadira offers Aini the chance to become a Witch of the Sand. However, teaching her backfires when she accidentally sets a spell at Arbutus' doorstep...