CHAPTER ONE

The only sound was the waves around them, the gentle rocking of the boat. Perfect serenity. Miguel lay on the deck, arms crossed behind his head, leaning up against Altivo's side. The horse was breathing slowly, asleep. Miguel's blonde hair was tousled by the salty ocean breeze, and he gazed tiredly up at the blue sky overhead. He blinked slowly, and when he opened his eyes again, a face blocked his view of the sky.

"What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be helping. This boat isn't gonna get to Spain all on its own." Chel glared down at him, hands on her hips. She pursed her lips unhappily, waiting for him to say something.

Miguel yawned and propped himself up on his elbow, looking back at her with raised eyebrows. "Uh, it kind of is, actually," He nearly snapped at her, unhappy that she disturbed his peace. "The weather is perfect right now. We're sailing on perfect course back to Spain."

Chel shifted her weight from one hip to the other, obviously trying to look intimidating. Miguel rolled his eyes and stood up, "I'm going to go find Tulio," He pushed past her and walked off, going below deck.

Ever since they left El Dorado, it seemed like Chel was giving him more and more of that sassy attitude. And it wasn't like he could complain to Tulio about it - the two were still clearly infatuated with each other. The three of them had stolen Cortez' unattended ship and begun the long journey back to Spain, and Chel had somehow apparently appointed herself to be in charge. Because, yeah, she was the one who knew what she was doing. The woman had never been on a ship like this in her life! And she kept bossing Miguel around. Surely there was an end to the madness coming soon, right?

Miguel sighed heavily, peering around the corner. Below deck it was cool, shaded, and pleasant. Tulio was hunched over a table, finger pinned on a map spread out in front of him, appearing to be deep in thought. Clearing his throat to announce his presence, Miguel approached him.

Tulio spun around and smiled when he saw him standing there. That smile tweaked something almost painful in Miguel's heart and he dismissed it, smiling in return.

"Do you, uh, need any help?" He offered, glancing around Tulio at the mess of maps scattered about the table there.

"No, no, we're sailing straight for Spain. I recalculated just now. We should arrive in just a few days."

"Oh... well, that's great!" he laughed happily and wandered over to a storage barrel sitting in the corner, lifting the lid off and withdrawing a bright red apple. There had never been a more perfect ship to steal than this one. There was rations stored for a crew of twenty men, and the three of them plus Altivo had food and water enough for them to practically feast the entire voyage back to Spain. He took a bite out of the apple, watching curiously as Tulio returned to hunching over the map.

He felt helpless, although it wasn't like there was anything he could really be doing. They'd found cards and darts, but those could only be entertaining for so long. Miguel often found himself extremely bored, spending most days wasting away the hours on deck napping with Altivo. He could only imagine how distressing this must be for the poor horse, being confined to this ship for days on end. At least Tulio could focus on mapping out their course and such. He'd become a sort of captain to them, which was suitable considering he knew more about sailing than Miguel did, and certainly more than Chel did.

And here came Chel now, swaying those hips of hers, wearing that cocky smirk on her face as she waltzed up to Tulio, snaking her arms over his shoulders and kissing his cheek. Miguel froze mid-chew and felt his stomach sink at the sight.

"I guess I'll just go, then," he announced dejectedly, slipping away and going back on deck. Neither of them even looked up at him, too engrossed in each other.

"Hey, Altivo, old boy, want some apple?" He offered the half-eaten fruit to the horse, who took it from his palm excitedly, munching away. Miguel left the horse to his treat and wandered up to the captain's cabin, sitting in the luxurious seat once reserved for Cortez himself.

He leaned back in the chair with yet another heavy sigh, trying to push the image of Chel and Tulio out of his mind. Seeing the two of them together always made him feel awful.

Forget Miguel. Those words played over and over in his head, ever since that day he'd walked in on Chel and Tulio talking about going to Spain. Together. Without him. Of course, he and Tulio had been on far worse terms than now at that time. But still, to even think that his friend, his partner, would have even considered leaving him behind... all for that girl. All for Chel. What did Tulio really see in her anyways?

He hated to admit he was jealous of how much time Chel got to spend with Tulio. Before Chel had come into their lives, the two of them had spent all of their time together, pulling off cons and making a living. Now, it was like their friendship had never been as strong as Miguel thought it was.

Muffled laughter told him that the couple had come up from below deck and were now sitting with Altivo, as the horse gave a small neigh in greeting to them. Miguel held his face in his hands, reluctant to go join them. That would just result in him sitting there, ignored, basically alone. He longed for the times when it was just him and Tulio. Maybe when they got back to Spain, she would be out of their lives again, and go her own way.

There it was again - that painful twinge in his heart. He slumped forward and leaned his head of the large desk in front of him, frowning.

"Miguel, why so lazy? Did you even offer at all to help Tulio? You know, he works hard studying the maps every day." Chel steps into the cabin, surprising him. He kept his head turned away from her, not even dignifying her with eye contact.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Maybe if you actually paid attention around here, and got your tongue out of Tulio's mouth, you'd realize he can map our course just fine without me," he grumbled. Chel gasped and stood in the doorway for a moment, like she was searching for the right words, before Miguel heard her footsteps stomping away.

"That wasn't very polite."

Oh, shit...

Tulio's bitter words met his ears and Miguel cringer, turning slowly to look at him. "You heard that?"

"Yeah, I did." Tulio crossed his arms, although the expression on his face wasn't as sour as Miguel had expected it to be. "Why do you talk like that to her? You two have been bickering more and more lately. Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, you kind of did," Miguel pouted, "Me. Every opportunity we might've had to just relax, talk about old times, come up with some new cons for when we reach Spain again... You spend every waking moment with that girl and she treats me like rat piss."

"No she-"

"I know she didn't want me to come," Miguel told him, "She doesn't want me here. And I'm really starting to think that you don't want me on this voyage, either. I should've stayed in El Dorado. At least they accepted me there."

"They only accepted you because we lied to everyone about being gods. What would you have done when everyone found out? You couldn't have kept up the illusion forever."

"The chief knew. I know he figured it out. He didn't care."

"That's just the chief. What about everyone else? When they stopped thinking you were a god, they wouldn't have needed you anymore. But Miguel... I need you."

Miguel's eyes grew wide but he quickly tried to hide his surprise. "No, you don't. You never need my help at all. I'm just a muscleman to you. All I ever get to do is work the sails, and that's hardly any work considering we've had fair weather almost the entire trip."

"I need you..." Tulio repeated stubbornly, more quiet this time. He looked crestfallen, defeated. Miguel felt horrible for making such a distressed expression like that ever play across his best friend's face.

"I need you," he retorts back at Tulio, "You never pay any attention to me. What happened to partners? I could fall overboard and neither you nor Chel would notice for days."

"That's not true!" Tulio blurted, taking a step closer to him.

"I..." he trailed off, turning away to hide the hurt in his own face, "I'll just go my own way when we reach Spain. You won't have to worry about me anymore, alright? We can stop kidding ourselves. Chel is more important to you. You two can go get married and never see me again."

"Miguel, I - !"

"You said we should arrive in just a few days, right?" He cut him off, "That gives me some time to plan what I'm going to do when we're back home." He got up from the captain's chair and moved to pass Tulio and leave the cabin. Just as he passed him, Tulio unexpectedly reached out and grabbed the fabric of his sleeve. Miguel spun around to face him, "What do you want, Tulio?" He felt ridiculously close to tears with how upset and frustrated he was right now, and all he wanted was to get out of there and find some privacy.

"Please don't do this. Don't be this way. Look, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. But... we're partners! What about the cons? The adventure?" The look in his eyes was almost pleading.

"I can see that your adventure lies with Chel these days. It's okay. I hope you two are very happy together."

"Miguel - "

"Forget Miguel." He spat back at him, and Tulio's eyes grew wide with shock at his own words.

"You heard - "

"Yeah, I did. Now please, just... let go of me." He pulled away from Tulio's grip and left the cabin. He all but ran below deck to the sleeping chambers, burying his face in a pillow and choking back tears.

Tulio stood in the captain's cabin, alone, still staring at the door, wishing Miguel would reappear there. Instead, Chel entered, grinning at him, "There you are. You look upset. What did Miguel do to you?" She held his face in her hands, gazing at him with concern.

"Nothing... it's what I did to him... I'm sorry, I have to go find him. There's a lot I have to say right now... even if he is angry with me. Wait here." He brushed past her out of the cabin into the sunlight of the upper deck. Altivo whinnied at him and he patted the horse fondly, looking around for Miguel. When he was nowhere to be seen on deck, Tulio made his way to the lower level and crept through the shadows. He heard a faint noise from the sleeping chambers and went in that direction, rounding the corner to see Miguel curled up on a cot all alone.

"Miguel?" He called out, approaching him.

"Just... Please just go away, Tulio. You've already done enough. I'm sure Chel is missing you." He wiped his eyes, and Tulio wondered if he'd actually been crying. That thought made his chest tighten, and he knelt beside the cot.

"Chel doesn't need to be here right now. I told her to wait in the cabin. I want to talk to you right now, not her."

"What's there to talk about, Tulio?" Miguel sat up slowly, his eyes full of sorrow. "I told you I'd get out of your hair. You and Chel can go be happy. Please just go."

"You don't really want me to go right now." Tulio said stubbornly, not moving an inch.

"You..." Miguel curled his knees up his chest and buried his face, "You're right. I don't. But seeing as how being around keeps causing me more and more pain... I think you should just go."

"I'm not leaving."

"Tulio," Miguel looked up at him, and Tulio could see very plainly that there were tears in his eyes, waiting to fall. The way Miguel's voice trembled made Tulio pause. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and finally, with a heavy sigh, Tulio stood back up and began to walk away. Just before rounding the corner, he glanced back over his shoulder to see Miguel had curled up on the cot again with his back to him.

The coast of Spain was visible on the horizon within the next day and a half. Miguel stood up in the crow's nest and stared at the city ahead of them, feeling excited and sorrowful all at once. In the next hour or so, they were close enough to make out buildings and people. And finally, they pulled the massive ship into the port.

Miguel clambered down from the crow's nest and climbed onto Altivo's back. On horseback he slipped off the ship unseen by the others, pushing through the crowd of people that had formed around the ship. Everyone was expecting Cortez and his men to be returning on that ship with treasures from El Dorado and tales of adventure. That wasn't a disappointed crowd that Miguel was willing to deal with right now.

"I regret to inform you," He heard Tulio shouting to the crowd, "That our captain Cortez and the remainder of our crew vanished on the land we discovered, on the journey to the evidently nonexistent land of El Dorado." The crowd collectively gasped. "We were the only survivors, and we return on the brink of life, exhausted, empty-handed."

Miguel snickered, amazed that the crowd was buying the whole lie. But considering Cortez and his men were stranded on that island, unable to reach El Dorado and now lacking a ship, they would probably never be heard from again. Just as Tulio and Chel were making their own way down the ramp off the ship, he gently kicked Altivo's side and the horse set off at a steady trot, taking them farther away. He looked back and saw that Tulio was searching the crowd, finally noticing that Miguel had vanished. Chel held onto his hand tightly, taking in the sight that was beautiful Spain. Miguel glared at her, her hand laced in Tulio's, and then ushered the horse onward.

"Miguel!"

"He's gone, he obviously - "

"Miguel! Miguel!" Tulio shoved his way through the throng of people around the ship, frantically searching for the familiar blonde hair and red shirt he knew so well. Their horse, Altivo, was also nowhere in sight. Where had he gone? Was he okay?

"Tulio, he clearly just left us here. He doesn't even care about you."

"He..." Tulio stumbled out of the crowd, scanning the streets in every direction. "He didn't..." He sank to his knees, distraught. Miguel had said he would leave... but Tulio himself had asked him not to. He needed him, Miguel was his best friend! "He didn't even say goodbye."

"He's just being cold-hearted."

"Don't you talk about him like that!" Tulio spun around to face Chel, leaping back to his feet. She cringed back at his tone and he leaned near to her face, eyes narrowed. "He left because of you. I've been spending all of my time with you... and I completely forgot about my best friend. My partner..." He backed away from her, eyes still darting back and forth, hoping to spot Miguel.

"Me?" Chel threw her hands up, "You gotta be kidding me. Well, fine. Let him leave. If he still thought you were best friends, he wouldn't have disappeared like that. And he took the horse! How are we supposed to get anywhere?"

"I need to find him," Tulio said determinedly, ignoring her harsh words. He started off down the street at a fast pace, not caring if Chel followed or not. Footsteps behind him, indicated that she was. He stormed through the streets, quickening his pace until he was going at a steady run. Every blonde-haired man he saw, he hurried to catch up to. But every face was a stranger. Eventually the frustration got the better of him, and he stopped abruptly, panting.

"He's gone, Tulio." Chel stopped beside him, gazing at him earnestly. "Please can we just find somewhere to stay? Don't you have a home here to go to?"

Tulio sank down against a stucco wall, slumping forward and resting his face in his hands. "No... there's nowhere. Don't you think I would've checked there first for him? When we left Spain we'd just been living out of barns. Stealing from farms and living off cons..." He sighed heavily, "I don't know where to look. I can't lose him. He's too important to me."

"Come on, Tulio, can we please, please, just find somewhere? I'm so tired. I just want to rest." Chel knelt down, trying to meet his eyes.

"There's an inn down the road that accepts work for pay. Ya know, help them out with cleaning and such. We can stay there until we come up with some money." His voice was nearly void of all emotion, and he barely shifted to look through his fingers at her.

"Too bad we lost all that gold, huh? We could afford any place we wanted."

"Yeah, well, the gold is gone. And so is Miguel."

Chel rolled her eyes. "We can look for Miguel more tomorrow if you want, okay? Can we please just go to that inn?"

"You go to the inn. I have to keep looking. I have to find him. I feel so awful. I pushed him away and now he's gone. What if I never see him again? I can't let that happen. I just can't. I would never forgive myself. He means so much to me."

"Just come with me. You can look later."

"Chel. I said I have to look for him." Tulio pushed himself up to his feet, glaring at her now. "I'll meet you at the inn later. Just go. I have to find him. I can't believe he just... left like that."

She looked like she wanted to argue more, but finally she gave up. "Fine. Bye." She whipped around and strutted off in the direction of the inn, leaving Tulio standing there alone.