Union Of The Sands
(A/N: Just a promise that a new story is coming. I won't guarantee soon as I am making a lot of promises for stories, but I do have many chapters of this one done. I realize some fans are waiting for a sequel to my last story, Aladdin and the Lord of the Black Sands, so I'm working on it. I won't guarantee another chapter soon as this is only a promise one will be coming. My motivation is sort of drifting all around right now. But I hope you enjoy.)
Marketplace Run-In
"Ah Agrabah; so peaceful, so sunny, so bright, and not a villain in sight. Finally! If I never see the forty thieves again, it'll be too soon," Iago stated from his place, lounging on carpet.
"Don't kid yourself Iago. It's only a matter of time before someone else shows up," Aladdin replied with an adventurous glint, as he clenched a fist in anticipation.
"Until then let's just enjoy the marketplace Aladdin," Jasmine said in a knowing yet affectionate tone, as she took Aladdin's arm.
"Thanks for letting me tag along with you guys," Sadira said.
Jasmine was about to reply, when Genie popped up, saying, "No problem kiddo. It's been ages since we last saw you."
"Huh?" Abu asked in question.
"Genie, it's only been two weeks since the incident with Khartoum, Abis-Mal and the seven thieves," Aladdin said.
"That's not what I call it," Iago stated, standing up from lying on Carpet, wings on his hips, then taking off and flying around Aladdin. "I call it the, 'holy crap Aladdin has an evil brother' incident!"
"Iago!" Jasmine sharply warned. Aladdin had begun to look away, expression angry and cold, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes.
"What? It's the truth," Iago defended. Abu began to chatter angrily at the parrot. Iago's eyes hardened and he replied, "Hey monkey, Aladdin's accepted it okay, he just doesn't like it! There's no point in trying to shelter him from it."
"There's nothing to shelter me from!" Aladdin shot.
"Except the fact that your brother is your arch enemy," Sadira said with a smile. Genie made a slashing motion across his throat. Sadira's smile fell and she cleared her throat, looking away from Aladdin.
"Aladdin…" Jasmine began.
"Can we drop it already?" Aladdin quickly said. She fell silent. He sighed, then smiled, saying, "Look, I just want to have some rest and relaxation with my beautiful wife and all my friends, okay?"
"You got it Al, Mozenrath, off topic. Let's start shopping!" Genie declared, turning into a tourist holding a bunch of shopping bags. Sadira rolled her eyes with a sigh.
1001 Arabian Nights
Meanwhile, a flying eel tore down the streets at breakneck speed, tipping over carts and making merchants and women scream in terror. The poor little thing looked terrified. He glanced behind him only to see Rasoul and his men still on his tail, though he had tried desperately to lose them. "Stop running you pest!" Rasoul ordered.
"Don't you mean flying?" the fat guard remarked through panting. The thinnest of them shot him a dagger glare, warning him by eye contact to shut up.
"Help!" the little eel cried out.
1001 Arabian Nights
Aladdin and co stopped at a merchants cart to look over the wares. "Oh Aladdin, look at this! It's gorgeous!" Jasmine exclaimed, picking up a necklace.
"Just like you," Aladdin flirted. Jasmine smirked at him. Sadira rolled her eyes and looked despondently away. They went back to admiring the wares. Sadira, though, soon got bored.
She ceased to pay attention, opting instead to look around at the people in the market. All at once, however, she heard Rasoul's voice yell, "Stop right where you are you little pest!"
She gasped and whirled automatically. She realized right after, though, that she wasn't in danger with Aladdin and Jasmine nearby, and relaxed. He must be after some other poor citizen of Agrabah. She squinted to try and see who it was. On making out the rapidly nearing figures, though, her breath caught in her throat. No way. It couldn't be. All at once the small flying creature shot passed her like a bullet. She watched after him in surprise. The guards rushed by suddenly, spinning her around and around. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," she exclaimed as she spun. She stopped, dizzy, then lost her balance and fell.
She shook it off then leapt up, saying in shock, "Xerxes?" Sure enough she could now make the eel out. She turned quickly to Aladdin, calling, "Aladdin!" She found, however, that the others had strayed off a little ways, leaving her behind. Sadira frowned, upset they forgot her, then made a frustrated sound as she crossed her arms. She looked after the poor creature pityingly. "Oh fine, I'll take matters into my own hands," she said to herself. Instantly she raced after the guards.
She saw Xerxes suddenly take another road. She slid to a halt, looking around for a way to head him off. She spotted a rope and grinned. She ran to it and clambered up to the roofs. Instantly she ran across one towards the ledge. She leapt across to another building, then another. She smirked victoriously on seeing the road Xerxes was heading for. She was glad for the shortcut. She would have never caught him otherwise.
Xerxes turned down the road, trying for a desperate race to the safety of the next bustling street. The one he was on wasn't nearly busy enough to disappear into. Sadira saw him coming from above. At that moment she dropped from the roof of the house and snatched him as he was floating passed her. She smothered his cries and hid him behind her back in a second. As the guards raced by her, completely oblivious, she grinned innocently at them.
1001 Arabian Nights
As soon as they were out of sight, she let the eel slither free, saying, "Whew that was close. Are you okay little guy?"
Xerxes looked at her in surprise. His eyes widened innocently in a look that seemed to convey relief, gratefulness, and wonder. "Sadira save Xerxes? Sadira remember! Xerxes okay," he said, nodding. All at once he was around her neck laughing, cuddling to her, expressing his gratitude. She grinned, giggled, then scratched his head with a finger.
"Oh aren't you a cutie," she cooed as he collapsed, relishing the petting as she smothered him with belly and chin scratches and basic pampering.
"Sadira!" Aladdin suddenly called. She gasped. Xerxes quickly hid behind her back. Just then Aladdin, Jasmine, and the others reached her. Worried, Aladdin asked, "Are you okay? What's wrong? You just ran off."
"Oh, n-nothing. I-I just thought I saw, uh, um, an old friend, yeah, that's it," she quickly said. They looked suspiciously at her. She grinned innocently, though, and showed no hints of lying.
After a moment, Genie broke the silence, teasing, "Well that's a relief. And here I thought you were off scheming up another one of your 'get Aladdin to love me or else' evil schemes." Xerxes instantly perked up at this sudden declaration, intrigued.
Sadira frowned angrily at the genie. "Genie!" Jasmine shot.
"What? I was kidding," Genie defended.
"Big mouth," Iago grumbled. Abu almost laughed, but covered his mouth in time.
"You say something bird boy?" Genie asked, turning into a mobster with a gun pointed at Iago.
Iago cried out in alarm and flew off of Jasmine's shoulder, saying, "Ah, of course not! Nothing at all!" Aladdin nudged Genie with a scowl, prompting him to turn back into normal.
"As long as everything's okay," Jasmine said with a hint of worry in her eyes.
"Oh it's fine," Sadira reassured, brushing it off with a wave of a hand.
"Good, because me and Jasmine have some unfinished business to get to back at the palace," Aladdin said, taking both of Jasmine's hands and placing his forehead on hers. She grinned up at him.
"Oh please, get a room!" Iago yelled.
"Hey!" Abu exclaimed, dragging the bird down and covering his beak.
"So you're going now, huh?" Sadira asked, feeling a pang of jealousy, and feeling out of place suddenly.
"Yes, father will be worried. He expected us back by now," Jasmine said.
"Okay, how about you guys come to dinner tomorrow? I'm getting better at cooking," Sadira hopefully said.
"Yeah, sure thing," Aladdin agreed.
"Goodbye Sadira," Jasmine said. Aladdin kissed Jasmine's neck, making the princess smile and take his hand, leading him away.
"Oh, yeah, goodbye," Sadira replied, feeling a pang of sadness.
"Believe me, it disgusts me too," Iago said to her, hanging back on noticing her upset expression. "I'm this close to moving in with you until Cassim comes back," he added. "At least you don't have a sickening saccharine love life."
"Gee, thanks Iago," Sadira sarcastically said. The bird grinned nervously at her icy glare, then flew off after the others.
1001 Arabian Nights
Sadira watched longingly after them and sighed deeply. "You can come out now Xerxes," she said as she walked into the privacy of an alley. The eel followed obediently. She turned to him then asked, "Now tell me why you're here." Her eyes hardened suspiciously as she suddenly thought of something. "Wait a minute, is Mozenrath here too!" she demanded, looking quickly around.
"Mozenrath not here," Xerxes said. "Mozenrath send Xerxes to scout Agrabah and spy on Aladdin so master can come up with plan."
"Well you can tell Mozenrath he can forget it! While you're at it, tell him to take a hike and stay away from my Aladdin," Sadira angrily said.
"Yours? Aladdin Jasmine's," Xerxes said, slightly confused.
Sadira blushed and looked quickly away, saying, "He is. I can't believe I ever had a crush on him at all. He picks his teeth. I just called him that because, uh, well, because, um, he's everyone's hero, yeah, never mind what I call him! Just go back home before you get caught."
"Okay," Xerxes agreed. With that he flew off. He'd heard enough, now, to bring something interesting back to his master anyway.
1001 Arabian Nights
Mozenrath lounged on his throne and sighed, saying, "Whatever will I do. I'm so bored. I should be taking over the seven deserts, starting with Agrabah. As soon as Aladdin, my dear brother, is out of the picture, the deserts will be mine once and for all!" He punched his armrest saying, "Why can't I come up with anything! Where is Xerxes? What's taking him so long with the report? I'm waiting for inspiration here!"
"Master!" he suddenly heard the creature call. The eel streaked in, right for Mozenrath.
"About time you got here! What's the report?" Mozenrath harshly asked, grabbing the eel by the throat.
Xerxes coughed then answered, "M-Mozenrath, have news."
Mozenrath dropped him and demanded, "Well what is it?"
"Sadira…" Xerxes began.
"The sand witch," Mozenrath interrupted with a laugh. He lit his gauntlet menacingly, warning, "I'm getting impatient Xerxes. Don't bore me with her. Sand witches are nothing. What of Aladdin!"
"Master, Sadira loved Aladdin," Xerxes quickly said.
Mozenrath froze. After a moment he sat down relaxing, eyes interested, then said, "Did she now? Continue." This sounded promising. Jealousy was always fun to work with. It could be twisted in so many ways. But that would involve the hassle of getting her onto his side…
"Sadira once evil Mozenrath. Used to plot against Jasmine and Aladdin to get Aladdin to marry her, but now says she can't believe had crush on him. Sadira invite them over for supper tomorrow," Xerxes said. Mozenrath's eyes began to glitter excitedly. Well that was new. Maybe it wouldn't be as hard as he thought to 'convert' her, if you will… Now he just needed to get her here. Two heads were better than one, after all. Well, with exception to that imbecile Amin Damoola.
"Was she now?" Mozenrath said, a million plots flying through his head. A sand witch might just be useful to him. Maybe it was time he tested her power's limits. He stood abruptly. "Good work Xerxes." Xerxes relaxed and let out a breath, relieved. He didn't have anything new on Aladdin to report, but Mozenrath seemed to already have an idea plotted out.
"Master have plan?" Xerxes asked.
"Oh yes Xerxes, I always have a plan," Mozenrath replied. "We're going to let Aladdin win."
"Huh?" Xerxes asked, completely lost.
"With the help of the lovely Sadira, of course," Mozenrath said.
"Mozenrath sick?" Xerxes asked, slightly concerned.
"Mozenrath a genius Xerxes," Mozenrath retorted as he grasped Xerxes' neck, grinning maliciously. Xerxes swallowed, uncertain about this whole thing.