Disclaimer: Neither I nor members of the KPSlashHaven(dot)net own Kim Possible. She and related characters are owned by Disney and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. While I have written some segments of the pages to follow, I did not write them all. Still if there is something you would like to make use or mention of elsewhere it is best to ask me who to get permissions from.
KP Slash Haven Presents
Kim-addin, 1-15
Forward: Here is the second anthology. With the original thread title of Ala-Kim, comes a mad-libbed bedtime story told to Kasy Ann and Sheki Go, the adorable twin daughters of Kim and Shego first introduced by NoDrogs in his A Small Possibilities universe. They have also made appearances in other fanfics, but as ND is launching this, these are his versions. See his disclaimer in Segment 1.
1) NoDrog
Inspired by Disney's Aladin. Aladin, Kim Possible, and all related characters property of Walt Disney and used without permission. Kasy Ann Possible and Sheki Go Possible are the intellectual creations of me, NoDrogs, and I give permission for their use in the story.
---
It was evening in the Possible household. Kim was working late at Global Justice, finishing up some paperwork, so Shego Possible was tucking her two lovely daughters into bed.
"Mom?" asked Kasy, as Shego tucked the pale skinned, red-head little girl into bed.
"Yes, dear?" asked Shego. "Do you want a glass of water?"
"Uh-uh," said Kasy. "Wanna story."
"Yes, a story!" said her raven-haired twin sister, Sheki. "We want a story."
"Ok," said Shego, sitting down in a rocking chair. "One story, then to sleep, both of you. Agreed?"
Skeki and Kasy nodded eagerly, snuggling into their beds and getting ready to listen.
Shego looked out the window, her eyes unfocussing.
* * *
The city of Middlebah was a happy, prosperous place. Despite being in the middle of a hot, sandy desert, the royal family kept the people safe and prosperous through the use of magic medallions. Now, while most of the kingdom was happy, there were some who were not.
One of those people who was not happy was the beautiful princess, Jas-go. One reason Jas-go was not happy was because she had been ordered to stay in the palace while her father and brothers were off adventuring. Jas-go's mother had died when she was younger, so her father's younger brother, Prince Drakken ruled the kingdom in her father's steed.
Tara looked up and stretched. She was dressed in a tiger skin suit that covered her torso, leaving her tanned legs and arms exposed. Around her neck was a collar, signifying her status as a personal servant to the royal family, and she wore a headband which featured two triangular, fake tiger ears poking up. She saw her mistress, Princess Jas-go, slipping on the clothes of a commoner rather then the rich, shimmery fabrics she normally wore. "You're not planning to slip out again?" complained Tara.
"I can't stand being cooped up in this palace another minute," said Jas-Go, tucking her medallion under the tunic she was wearing so that it would not be seen and reveal her disguise. "You better not tell anyone."
"I won't," said Tara. She perched on the princess' bed and watched as Jas-Go went to a long, polished metal panel that served the princess as a mirror. Jas-go touched the side of the mirror and the mirror swung out, revealing a secret passage. "You better be back before dinner. Your uncle and the royal Vizier Montey have another prince for you to meet."
Jas-Go shuddered in distaste before wrapping a scarf around her lower face to keep out sand and to help hide her pale, olive green skin. "I'll be back," she promised, and set off down the passage.
* * *
Kim-addin looked at the fruit vendor's wares and sneered. "You call these melons?" she demanded, pointing. "They're as soft as cheese in this sun."
The vendor frowned, poking the firm fruit to verify that the melons were still hard.
"And look at that!" said Kim-addin, pointing at the dates. "You call those olives?"
"They're…," the vendor started to say, but was interrupted by Kim-addin.
"No, no, I won't be doing any buying from you today," she said with a sniff. She turned and pranced off, turning the first corner. She waited a few minutes, and soon a desert molerat, dressed in a brocaded jacket and round hat, scampered toward her, pulling a bag.
"Did you get them?" she asked eagerly.
Rufus, the desert molerat, nodded eagerly and opened the bag. Inside were the melons the cunning molerat had managed to snatch while the store keeper was distracted by Kim-addin. Kim-addin's belly rumbled at the sight and her mouth watered. Life as a street rat was hard, but Kim-addin had had no choice after her parents and brothers had been lost in a freak sand-storm while traveling with a caravan. Kim-addin took one of the melons and broke it open, eagerly devouring the inside of one of the sections. Rufus eagerly began nibbling on the other melon.
Kim-addin had half finished her melon when she saw two hungry, beggar children looking at her. Kim-addin sighed. "Here, kids," she said, tossing the uneaten half of her melon. The two children grabbed for the melon eagerly.
"Wha…," squeaked Rufus, clutching his melon. He saw Kim-addin get up and leave. With a sigh, Rufus rolled his mostly un-eaten melon over to the children. "Here," he said, then squeaked in surprise as the two children grabbed him and hugged him in thanks.
Hearing her companion molerat squeak in distress, Kim-addin turned and laughed at the sight of the two children hugging the desert molerat, despite Rufus's efforts to wiggle free. "Come on, Rufus."
The two children reluctantly set Rufus down, allowing him to quickly straighten his jacket and hat, before he set off to join Kim-addin in seeing what surprises the market of Middlebah held.
* * *
Princess Jas-Go, disguised as a commoner, slipped out of the secret exit of the palace and hurried to the market. She didn't notice two figures watching her from the shadows.
"Do you understand your orders?" Vizier Montey asked. Even in the heat of day, Montey wore his official robes of state. A monkey, dressed in a black jumpsuit, rode on his shoulder.
"I understand," said the common hood he was addressing. "You want me to attack the girl, get her necklace, and bring it back to you. What happens to the princess, you don't care."
"Correct," said Vizier Montey. "Only her necklace concerns me. Fail me, however, and you will wish I left you in the dungeons where the Prince's guards threw you. Do you understand?"
The hood nodded nervously.
"Then go," said the Vizier. "And bring me back that necklace!"
2) Love Robin
Unaware of the interest the Grand Vizier Lord Montey had in her, the Princess proceeded on her nightly sabbatical as if it was indeed any other night. With the loose ends of her hijab wrapped about the lower part of her face, she moved among the last of the day's populace of Middlebah's bazaar district.
She hated to hide her visage, but she knew nearly all in the town surrounding the palace knew her features intimately, it being minted on many of the realm's coins. She sighed, even outside the oppressive atmosphere of the palace, she was yet still a captive.
Oh how she longed to leave behind the trappings of her life and be care-free! Like the nimble redheaded street urchin which dashed across her path… .
Princess Jas-go blinked. Street urchin? Now he looks like he has not a care in the world! She thought, pausing to watch the antics of the laughing young waif as he dashed along, a small desert molerat, hiding its nakedness with a short vest and fez, scampering back and forth between his fleet feet happily.
The simple folk can enjoy life to its fullest! Not like me with all the incessant tutoring of protocols and what is expected of a princess and member of the royal family.
From her vantage point the olive complected woman failed to see that the redheaded street rat she thought a young boy was instead a teenaged girl older than she figured. Which is understandable as Kim-addin was slight of frame and because the rarity of water in the desert kingdom meant the poorer classes could ill afford to regularly wash away the dust of the desert… .
***
"Eww!" "Cool!" the twins, who had been paying rapt attention suddenly squealed before saying in unison, "They don't have to take baths‼" As usual, the sisters had slightly different ways of looking at things, even though they always arrived at the same conclusion.
"Mommy… I mean Kim-addin was dirty?" asked Kasy. Sheki rubbed at her face then inspected the hand, satisfied to see no dirt on it. At least, no more than a healthy child usually has no matter how hard or often diligent parents scrubbed them.
Shego chuckled, reflecting that not too many years ago she hardly ever made this particularly affectionate sound with anyone. "Well, in those days in that place for the truly poor, water was sometimes worth more than the lives of two little girls!" with a face of mock fierceness she pounced on the pair, eliciting excited squeals of equally mock fear and giggles.
"Don't be getting any ideas you two! We are far from being that poor, so you have to take your baths everyday‼" Using both hands Shego tapped a nose each with a finger.
"Now be still and let me continue. Where was I? Oh yes… ."
***
As Jas-go had fun watching the boy have fun all of a sudden a racket, around the corner of the building and unseen from her view point, suddenly erupted as a loud and familiar voice barked, "Now listen up uuurchins! It's detention for you all!"
3) NoDrog
Ah-Steven Barkin stomped down one of the many crowded streets of Middlebah. Even in the early evening, the compact dirt streets still radiated the stored heat of the noon day sun, causing Ah-Steven to sweet uncomfortably in his guard officer uniform. He would much prefer to be guarding the palace, which was kept cool through an intricate set of fountains. However, he had his orders. "Come out, urchins!" he cried again. "It's the detention cells for you."
Kim-addin darted down an alley, fleeing before the guards could spot her.
Jas-go considered for a moment. If she was caught by the guards, she only had two options. The first was to reveal who she truly was. As a princess, she would be escorted back to the palace, but then would be watched more closely to make sure she didn't sneak out of the palace again. If she didn't admit her identity, she would be kept in the cells until she found some way to escape or she was spotted for who she truly was. Neither option was pleasant. She ducked into the alley after the person she assumed was a street boy, before the guards led by Ah-Steven could spot her.
Much to Jas-Go's surprise, the alley appeared to be a dead end, with no sight of the presumed street-boy or the desert molerat.
"Psst, over here."
A cloth covering on one of the alley walls moved aside, revealing Kim-addin standing in a narrow crevice in the wall. Jas-go pushed past Kim-addin, crawling through the narrow crevice to the other side of the wall.
The clothing of Jas-go, while they concealed her body from view, did not keep Kim-addin from feeling the well curved body of the disguised princess as she pushed past. Kim-addin resisted the urge to reach out her hands and feel more of the strange woman's body; first they had to escape from the guards. She pulled the cloth covering back in place, to hide their escape route, and followed Jas-go.
Jas-go found herself in a large, obviously abandoned house. The few pieces of furniture were in disrepair, and there was dust on the floor. Footprints in the dust, including a set of desert molerat footprints, showed that the room had been used as a hideaway.
Rufus was standing on a wood table, one of its four legs perched on a small keg in order to make the table level. He went over to a candle and began banging two rocks together, until a spark from the rocks ignited the candle.
"We're safe here for the night," said Kim-addin.
"Why are the guards rounding up urchins?" Jas-go asked.
Kim-addin shrugged. "It is at the order of the Regent, Drakken… or at least, of Vizier Montey. Rumors say the captured urchins are being forced to dig new wells, supposedly for water; but the place they're being sent has never been known for having any water. Are you a stranger to Middlebah, not to know this?"
"I… had not heard those rumors yet," said Jas-go. She pointed at Rufus. "Is that your pet vermin?"
* * *
Rina poked her head up, from where she had been laying on Sheki's pillow. The naked molerat tended to randomly alternate between beds. "Nake' molerat!" she chittered.
"Yeah, how dare the princess call Rufus vermin!" said Kasy.
"Now, now," said Shego. "Remember, the princess had grown up in a palace and didn't know any better.
* * *
Rufus shook a miniature paw at Jas-go. "Desert molerat!" he squeaked.
"This is Rufus," said Kim-addin. "He's not vermin, he's my best friend."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend," said Jas-go. She curtsied to Rufus. "I am Jas-go."
Kim-addin pulled off her cap, revealing her long red hair, and bowed. "I am Kim-addin."
"Oh!" said Jas-go. "You're a girl!"
Kim-addin frowned, not sure if she should feel insulted or not. "Of course I'm a girl. I'm still the best street rat in all of Middlebah."
"I'm sure you are," said Jas-go. She blushed, hastily adjusting her hijab to disguise it. Kim-addin was not like the other women Jas-go knew from the palace, who were always quiet and demure, none of whom would have thought of claiming to be as good as or better then a man.
"The guards will be out searching all night," said Kim-addin. "It's best if we get some sleep."
Jas-go looked around, at the hard, dusty floor. Part of her longed for the soft feather beds of the palace, but part of her thrilled at the adventure she was having. "All right."
Kim-addin opened a cupboard, taking up scraps of blankets and rags she had gathered, laying them out in a corner.
"Shouldn't you be making two beds?" asked Jas-go.
Kim-addin frowned. "It gets cold at night, I was only planning on one… ."
"Please," said Jas-go. While in the palace, Tara often slept at the foot of Jas-go's bed in case Jas-go needed her in the night, the bed was much larger than the pile of rags Kim-addin had available.
Kim-addin shrugged but obediently separated the bundle, making a separate nest for Jas-go. She laid down on the one of the piles, and Jas-go laid on the other. Rufus blew out the candle and scampered onto the pile Kim-addin was laying on, curling up against Kim-addin's chest.
Out in the alley, the hood cursed. He had tracked the princess to the alleyway, but the guards had forced him to temporarily abandon his hunt. He would have to wait until the guards had left for another section of town before he could search the alleyway for the hidden exit the street beggar and the princess had used.
4) Rampant
Kim-addin slept lightly, years of surviving on the streets demanded it. So Jas-go's snoring woke her easily. Jas-go, now she was a strange one. Now, not being up on the latest scuttlebutt wasn't all that strange, in and of itself, but she seemed off. She followed Kim-addin rather than find her own hidey-hole. She insisted she wasn't new to Middlebah, but Kim had never met an urchin who preferred to sleep alone. As much a defense against the loneliness of having no home or real family as protection from the cold, street urchins when given the option would always seek something alive to curl up next to, be it humans, dogs, cats, or even the pigs. Kim had the feeling that Jas-go was not lying to her, so that only left one explanation.
Jas-go was new to the whole street scene. She had probably lost her family and fortune just like Kim-addin had, but just recently. That's why her clothes, while certainly not fancy were still in good repair. That also explained why she was so careful about covering herself, she was hiding a pretty face and, if what Kim-addin had felt earlier when they had been pressed together was any indication, well curved body, from those with less than honorable intentions.
Kim's musings were interrupted when someone outside sneezed.
5) NoDrog
The hood rubbed his nose, cursing under his breath. This alley had several coverings along the walls; it was a common method, in Middlebah, to use such hangings to cover cracks in order to keep out the cold at night. Many of the hangings, including the one he had just checked, were dusty. The result was the fact that he had just involuntarily sneezed. He turned to the next covering, pulling it back to search for a crevice or doorway large enough for the princess to get through.
Kim-addin shook Jas-go, silencing her snoring.
"Wha' is it, Tara?" asked Jas-go, groggy for a moment.
"There's someone outside," said Kim-addin. She gathered her few items, ignoring the pile of rags she had bedded on, and went over to the chimney. Jas-go watched as Kim-addin begin to climb up the chimney, with Rufus on her shoulders. As soon as Jas-go could, she began to follow the red-headed street rat.
The thug pulled up the next-to-last hanging and found a crevice, large enough for a person to eel through. He forced his way through, struggling through the narrow space which Jas-Go and Kim-addin had managed easily before.
He was just in time to see Jas-go's legs vanish up the chimney. "Hey!" he snarled. "All I want is the necklace!"
Kim-addin and Jas-go hurried up the chimney, hearing the thug trying to follow him. Both the street rat and the princess were both in excellent physical shape, and they were able to out distance the hood.
They climbed out, Kim-addin not noticing the extra layer of dust covering her and Jas-go. "What necklace does he mean?" Kim-addin asked. "Did you steal something from a jeweler?"
"No, he means this, and it's mine," said Jas-go. She reached up, taking out her amulet. It was a thin gold chain, holding a chunk of green glowing rock. Legend said that the amulets had been made from a piece of star that had fallen to the Earth thousands of years ago. "My father gave it to me, before he… left."
Kim-addin nodded, thinking that Jas-go meant before her father died. While the necklace was obviously valuable, Kim-addin understood how sentimental value would keep someone holding onto something even when she could sell it for food.
"Well, we have to get going. Once he gets up to the roofs, we'll really be in trouble," said Kim-addin.
Jas-go made a decision. She handed the necklace to Kim-addin. "Go to the palace tomorrow, and ask for me, Jas-go. Give me the necklace back then."
Before Kim-addin could say anything, Jas-go set off running off in one direction, over the houses of Middlebah. Kim-addin shook her head and, carrying both Rufus and the necklace, started to run in the opposite direction.
The hood managed to finish the climb, streaks of sweat standing out against his soot-blackened faces. He saw two figures running in different directions, one obviously the princess. With thoughts of what rewards he could claim from the vizier, he began chasing after Jas-Go.
Jas-Go's body was toned from years of dance practice. She was not used to running or trying to escape through the skyline of Middlebah. She soon found herself cornered, the goon coming toward her. "Where's the necklace?" he demanded.
"I don't have it," Jas-go said, lifting her chin defiantly.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"I'll never tell you!" she shouted.
The goon growled and raised one meaty fist, slamming it down on poor Jas-go's head. Jas-go collapsed, unconscious. The goon pawed through her clothing, soon discovering that the magical pendant was indeed gone. He gathered up the princess and carried her back to Vizier Montey's secret workshop.
6) catrlgirl
The vizear growled as he stared at the bare neck of the princess.
"She is not supposed to remove that necklace. It's the royal families claim to power."
"Sorry sir, but I did my job I expect my payment."
"Oh yes, my good man. I'm sure you do," Monty said before he lifted his now glowing staff with a monkey's head. The hood was soon drawn into the glowing eyes and his mind went completely blank.
7) Love Robin
After having his small army of monkey minions remove the catatonic hood, Lord Vizier Montey growled angrily in the part of the palace he considered his Inner Sanctum.
His black robes swirled about him each time he reversed his stride. Under the ever watchful gaze of his chief monkey companion, Chi'ago, Lord Montey reveled in the simple joy of going barefoot, something he could only do away from the eyes of lesser understanding beings.
For none would appreciate that Montey was a man obsessed. Obsessed with going back to the primal roots of humanity. Obsessed with becoming a monkey.
Nay, more than that, with becoming the Monkey Sultan!
His last quest gained him only partial success. He had gotten hold of a spell from the fabled Monk Who is Also a Monkey. Well, he grinned evilly, 'was also a monkey' to be precise as he had wrest it from his dying hands.
Which as it turned out was a bit premature on his part, and thus a learning lesson for the vizier, as it seems there had been a vital missing element that only the monkey monk had known. So as it was the invocations meant to grant him a form between that of Man and Monkey, the form rumored to have been the same as that of the godling Monkey Sultan, left him not fully transformed but instead with only the feet of a monkey.
Both his greatest achievement and folly, it was only here he could unfetter them.
"Where is the necklace!" Montey whirled in place, pointing his Monkey Staff at Chi'ago. The curious artifact was another of Montey's successes. Fashioned lovingly by his own hands, it was carved in the likeness of a raging monkey, in the jaws of the head was a flawless black pearl the size of a man's hand. An elongated tail drooped straight down to form the staff's five foot shaft.
Chi'ago chittered in his native tongue but it was obvious that Lord Montey knew it. "What do you mean I should be patient!" he railed. "I'm the epitome of patience!" the man spun about again.
"In fact I've been patient my entire life…," Chi'ago slapped a hand against his temple. He knew what was coming by heart, and could he speak the human tongue he'd be able to recite the coming speech word for word in time with his master.
The Monkey Minion had to content himself with mimicking his Lord's pacing gesture for gesture, knowing that he would go unseen, so absorbed was the man in his rant.
"For you see Chi'ago…," the vizier stood in front of the carpet hanging along the far wall, weaved with the images of the doings of a fabled Monkey God.
(with apologies to Madonna and Dick Tracy)
"Once upon a time I had plenty of nothing,
Which was fine with me.
Because I had learned of monkey, power, and gained a love,
Of the sun, the stars and the moon above,
Had learned of the clear blue sky and the deep blue sea.
That was when I learned the best things in life were not free."
Indicating his minion's perch, but not bothering to see the monkey, he continued…,
"Then time went by and now I got plenty of plenty,
Which is still not fine with me.
'Cause I got monkey, I got power,
But what have I to go with 'em?
'Who could ask for anything more?', I hear you query.
'Who would ask for anything more?' Well, let me tell you, hear me?
"Got my diamonds, got my yaks, got a some feet I adore.
I'm still not happy with what I got, I want more!"
He whirled again, shaking hand and staff to the ceiling…,
"Count my blessings, one. Two. Three!
I just hate keeping score!
Any number is fine with me,
As long as it's more,
As long as it's more
"I'm no mathematician, all I know is addition
I find counting a bore.
Keep the number mounting, my treasurer does the counting!"
More! More! chittered Chi'ago, knowing his place in this almost song-like recital.
"I got power, monkeys too, even more than as before,
Got my feet and the sky of blue,
Now, however, I own the view!
More is better than nothing, true,
But nothing's better than more! More! More!
Nothing's better than more!
"If one is fun, why not two?
And if I like two, I might as well have four,
And if i like four, why not a few?
Why not a slew?"
More! More! Chi'ago added.
"If I've got a little, why not a lot?
Add a bit and it'll get to be an oodle.
Every jot and tittle adds to the pot,
Soon I'll have the kit as well as the caboodle!"
More! More!
"I'll never say when, never stop at plenty,
If it's gonna rain, I say let it pour!
I'll be happy with ten, happier with twenty
If I like a penny, wouldn't I like many much more?
Or does that sound too greedy?
That's not greed, no, indeedy.
That's just stocking my store!
Gotta fill my cupboard, remember Monkey Hubbard."
More! More!
"Each possession I'll possess
Will help my monkeyness to soar.
That's what's soothing about excess.
Never settle for something less.
Something's better than nothing, yes!
But nothing's better than more, more more…"
Except all, all, all, the minion jumped in early.
"Except all, all, all!"
Lord Vizier Monty finished his dramatic soliloquy, his staffed gripped in both hands, held aloft by up stretched arms.
It was then that he was brought back to his surroundings by a sudden groan from the Princess where she lay stretched out on the floor where the hood had dropped her.
8) Rampant
"Leave the singing to the professionals Montey," snapped the Princess. "You remind me of the time Tara got a hairball." After a pause, "Chimp has a future on the pro circuit though."
9) NoDrog
Montey lowered his staff and cleared his throat. "Princess! I am so glad to see you awake. While it may have appeared to you I was merely singing, that was, ah, um, a healing spell! Yes, a healing chant in Mayde-Eet-Uppa, which just coincidentally sounds a bit like Middlebagian. I assure you, however, that the meaning of the words are quite difference, since that song was actually a healing chant."
"It didn't work very well," said Jas-go, rubbing her aching head. "What happened?"
"Two guards found you in the streets of Middlebah," said Montey. "You apparently had been abducted, and your kidnappers for some reason abandoned you in the middle of an alley, after taking your necklace. "
Jas-go felt her throat. Except for bathing, she had not taken the necklace off since her father had given it to her, and she felt strangely vulnerable without it.
"If you can tell me anything about your abductors, so that I could search for the necklace?" asked Montey. "Only in order that I may return it to you, of course."
"I… managed to get the necklace away from my abductors," said Jas-go. "I gave it to a street rat, with orders to return it to the palace."
"A street-rat?" frowned Montey. "Likely you will never see it again; undoubtedly the rat has sold it to some fence for the necklace to be melted down."
"It's better that the necklace be destroyed then fall in the hands of Middlebah's enemies," said Jas-go, firmly. "Besides, this street-rat might surprise you."
"If you ever see this street-rat again with your necklace, I will be surprised indeed," said Montey, bowing and making sure that the robes covered his prehensile feet. "But now, you must sleep." Before Jas-go could object, Montey took out a bottle and uncorked it under Jas-go's nose. A sweet smelling perfume filled Jas-go's nostrils, and she felt herself slipping unconscious.
Once he was sure the princess was asleep, Montey cut off a small lock of Jas-go's hair. He then summoned two of the guards he had personally recruited and curtly ordered the guards to take the princess to her bedroom. Only after the princess was safely out of his inner-sanctum did Montey begin exchanging his grand robes of an imperial vizier for the common rags of a beggar. His staff shifted, taking on the glamour of a humble wooden walking stick.
He walked through his own hidden tunnel out of the palace and cast the hairs into the wind. "Find the street rat she spoke of. Find the necklace of power," he ordered the hairs, in a mystic language that was a mix of hoots and grunts.
* * *
Kim-addin crouched in the shadows outside of the palace walls. She was having a crisis of conscious. Oh, not about keeping the necklace. Kim-addin knew how precious mementos of family could be. She was trying to decide between following Jas-go's instructions, to give the necklace to a guard, or of slipping into the palace herself. Assuming Jas-go was some low level servant, Kim-addin was confident she could find her. Also, Kim-addin's experience with the guards had left her extremely cautious of them. While some of the guards were kind hearted, just doing their jobs to keep Middlebah a safe and happy place, many of the newest guards were cruel, taking delight in flaunting their authority and grinding down the people they were supposed to protect.
Rufus, perched on Kim-addin's shoulders, shivered as the wind briefly shifted, seeming as if it was blowing in all directions directly toward Kim-addin and himself.
"Hello there."
Kim-addin turned. She saw a very old, wiry looking begger man, supporting himself with a wizened old wooden staff. He was peering at her with bright, greedy eyes.
"Go away, I have nothing for you," she told the man.
"Ah, but I think you might have something for a person I know," said the man. "A necklace, perhaps?"
Kim-addin blinked, surprised. One of her hands automatically moved to check the pocket she had placed the necklace in. "Do you know Jas-go?"
"Oh, I do, I do," said the man, cackling happily.
"Can you take me to her?" demanded Kim-addin.
"I can take the necklace to her," said the man, holding out his hand.
Kim-addin crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No. She gave it to me, I'll give it back to her."
In his disguise, Montey gnashed his teeth. For a moment, the urge to just strike this dirty young boy (for so Montey assumed Kim-addin to be) almost over-powered him. However, he drove the thought back. In order for the necklace's power to work, it had to have been freely given to the current holder. Thus, while the goon could have taken the necklace by force and then given it to Montey, Montey could not use force himself in order to take the necklace.
"Very well," said Montey, resorting to guile. "I will take you where the necklace belongs."
Much to Kim-addin's surprise, the man scurried away from the palace, following a path that led away from the capital city of Middlebah.
10) Rampant
As they crossed into the desert, Kim-addin began to get a strange tingling up her spine. A tingle every child in Middlebah knew very well. "Whoah! What's the sitch here? We can't go into the sigil grounds except during festival. It's forbidden." Now Kim, like most adventurous children, didn't really obey that rule, but in the presence of someone from the palace she was reluctant to cross into the forbidden territory especially at night. They said mad untamed Janni roamed taking the form of beasts to rend trespassers limb from limb.
11) NoDrog
Montey growled. Each of the medallions would only work on certain dates. If he did not manage to get Jas-Go's medallion to the proper spot before midnight, it would take years for the same astrological configuration to occur. Thinking quickly he raised his staff and muttered an incantation.
"What did you say?" asked Kim-addin.
"I said, you want to return the necklace, right?" demanded Montey. "Behold!" He pointed at where his magic had twisted the moonlight, creating an illusion of Jas-go walking across the sands.
"Jas-go!" Kim-addin cried, rushing after the departing mirage, not noticing that the illusion Jas-go didn't leave footprints behind her.
Montey shuffled after it, knowing that if he got too far from the medallion, he would have to rely on his own magics to deter the magical creatures which roamed these enchanted sands, guarding the Pit of Blunders.
The illusion Jas-go reached a large stone arch and faded away.
"Jas-go!" yelled Kim-addin, rushing toward the arch, then stopped. The ground underneath was shaking, and she could see what appeared to be a sand dune forming behind the arch.
"Yes!" cackled Montey, rushing forward. The sand dune rose up, towering over both Kim-addin and Montey, then the sand poured down, revealing a giant stone monkey, bearing two cymbals. The giant stone monkey pounded the cymbals as it spoke.
"I am the Guardian of the Pit of Blunders,
Magic too wild and strange to let free.
Bound by the Monkey Rajah to aid his kin,
I stand watch as my destiny.
If given a medallion by willing hand,
Call me forth and enter in,
But beware if you enter false,
For never more will ye see your kin.
Many treasures there is within,
But seek ye out for only one.
If two are touched, then beware.
The summoning of me will be undone."
The monkey froze, and more sand spilled out, revealing a large pit with a spiral staircase leading down.
"What is this?" demanded Kim-addin.
"If you wish to return the necklace, you will need something within the pit," said Montey. He licked his lips, nervous. None of the scrolls he had read had told him that only one treasure could be removed from the cave of blunders at a time; he had assumed that once the cave was open, he could take as many as he wanted. He thought hastily, trying to recall which items were rumored to be within the cave, and which was the most powerful. "You will need… ah, yes, the Monkey Lamp of Nov-Ull-Tee. It is the form of a monkey, holding three glass bulbs, one in its mouth, and one in each hand. It has a long, stringy tail with a strange knob at the end."
"Doesn't sound much like any lamp I ever heard of," muttered Kim-addin.
"Just fetch it out, and all shall be revealed!" promised Montey.
Kim-addin shrugged, deciding to trust the weird, rag-garbed man. Carrying Rufus, she began descending down the stairs into the depths of the pit. As she took the first step, torches mounted along the side of the pit suddenly ignited, illuminating her way down.
At the bottom of the pit, Kim-addin discovered items placed on pillars, each pillar with a label. She stopped at one of the pillars, putting down Rufus and then looking at the label. She was glad her parents had had the time to teach her to read before they and her brothers had vanished in a freak sandstorm. "Acme Dynamite Boom-erang. Light, throw, RUN!!!" she read. Shaking her head, she moved on, searching for the Lamp of Nov-Ull-Tee, not noticing as her Desert molerat companion began climbing up a pillar marked 'Everlasting Bowl Of Cheese'.
* * *
"Mmmm, cheese!" squeak Rina Molerat, from where she had been curled up on Sheki's pillow.
Shego rolled her eyes. "Yes, Rina, that's exactly what Rufus was thinking."
"What happened next?" asked Kasy excitedly.
12) Rampant
"Nothing, I gotta go." Sheki rolled out of bed and bee-lined for the bathroom.
13) catrlgirl
Shego glanced as he daughter literally shot out of her bed and then towards the bathroom at an almost unhuman pace.
"You better go too hon'," Shego suggested to the other girl who complied. When the two returned the story recommenced.
_
Rufus scampered up the the pedestal holding the tempting bowl of cheese only to be snatched away by Kim's quick hand.
"NO‼ Only one thing, remember? So we have to get what we came for." Rufus stretched out his tiny paw willing the cheese to come to him as Kim carried him deeper in to the strange cave.
_
"Nuh Cheese," Rina cried disappointed, slumping on the bed.
"As I was saying," Shego continued.
_
Ala-Kim was amazed at all the treasure, jewels, lined the walls, and amazing things were wherever her eyes turned. However, her feet where what she should have been watching as she slipped on an intricate rug to barely catch herself.
14) NoDrog
Kim-addin gasped as she stepped on a rug and felt the rug shoot out from under her feet. Her hands reached out and she managed to catch herself on the cold stone floor. Looking around, she saw the rug and also the pedestal that had apparently originally held the rug. She looked at the information on the pedestal.
"Magic Floor Rug. Simply sit on the rug and push off from a wall. Rug effortlessly slides over any floor surface.
"Well, let's just hope stepping on something doesn't count as touching," Kim-addin said to Rufus as she got up and continued looking for the Nov-Ull-Tee lamp.
"Dere! Dere!" squeaked Rufus, rushing up to Kim-addin and tugging on Kim-addin's robe. Kim-addin turned and saw that Rufus had indeed spotted the Monkey Lamp of Nov-Ull-Tee, just as the strange hermit had described. She walked over to it and stared at it.
Some statues are beautiful. Some are ugly, twisted. Some are misshapen, some are beautifully formed. This one, however, was…
"Tacky!" complained Rufus.
"You said it," agreed Kim-addin. "I don't even see where you put the oil in this lamp." She bent down and picked up the lamp.
Immediately, the floor of the pit began to shake. "Uh-oh!" squeaked Rufus, pointing at the spiral staircase. The stairs had folded down, going from a staircase to a smooth ramp. There was no apparent way to climb it, even if Kim-addin could reach it in time.
Thinking quickly, Kim-addin grabbed Rufus and carrying both the lamp and the Desert molerat, lay down on the Magic Floor Rug. Aiming for the base of the ramp, she kicked off from a handy pillar.
The floor rug shot off like a rocket, gliding easily on the floor despite it's load of lamp, girl, and molerat. Kim-addin released Rufus, counting on the molerat to hold onto the rug on his own, and used one hand to brace the carpet before it could slam into the wall.
Kim-addin then got up and began pushing the floor rug toward the ramp like a bob-sled runner, pushing the rug with her hands as her feet ran on the stone floor. At the last second, she shoved off with her feet as hard as she could, trying to ride the magic floor rug all the way up to the ramp.
Up the ramp the magic floor rug went, with its three passengers; girl, rat, and lamp. Kim-addin could see the entrance of the cave. Sand was already starting to spill down the entrance, but it looked like they might be able to make it. However, the floor rug was slowing, gravity fighting against the initial speed of the rug. Kim-addin kicked against the walls of the pit and the smooth ramp, trying to add more speed to the carpet as it was approached the exit, moving slower with every foot. Just as Kim-addin though the rug would get close enough to allow her to climb out of the pit… the rug stopped, and began sliding down the tunnel. The giant monkey statue rumbled as it moved forward, covering the entrance of the pit.
"NO!" screamed Montey, staring as the pit was sealed off. He stared at the giant monkey statue as it descended into the sands, waiting for the next time someone would bring a medallion to summon it.
The rug, carrying Kim-Addin, Rufus, and the lamp slid all the way down the ramp, speeding up like a roller-coaster. Once at the bottom, it raced along the pit floor, bumping off pillars like a pin-ball in a pin-ball machine, until the rug at last crashed head-first against the pillar of the Everlasting Bowl of Cheese. The Bowl on the pillar wobbled and fell down, soon covering Rufus and the Lamp in warm, gooey cheese sauce.
15) Love Robin
As the sands smoothed over as if never disturbed by none but the winds in millennium, evil Vizier lord Montey straightened to his normal height, tossing back the beggar's robes, revealing the hump to actually be Chi'ago perched on his shoulder. He raised his staff above his head with upraised arms and screamed to the high heavens, "Nooooo!!!"
***
Meanwhile, back at the palace…
Jas-go bolted upright, instantly awake. She was unsure why, but something cold had gone down her back, as if she had suddenly been cut off from some integral part of herself.
Shivering from the feeling which was already slipping away like a bad dream, the exotically pale olive woman checked first her body… intact, and then her surroundings…, my room, my bed. Was it just a dream?
Lifting her head from her place at the foot of the bed, a sleepy-eyed Tara blinked at the sudden motion of the extravagant water-filled mattress. The chambermaid considered herself blessed that she was graced to share even such a small portion of such rich elegance. "Mistress?"
"Tara!" the still shaking princess held out her arms towards the slave girl, wiggling her fingers invitingly, "Come, comfort me."
With a small smile the girl, her golden tresses branding her as the most expensive of slaves, crawled on all fours, her tiger-striped nighttime robes and ever-present cat-ears completing the illusion of the guard animal normally in the company of female Royals. Jas-go appreciated her girl's motions as she drew out her seductively fluid approach, perfectly mimicking the majesty of the mighty feline she would have been had the Regent Prince Drakken not been allergic to them.
With a practiced purr Tara cuddled up next to her mistress ready to simply share her body warmth to hold back the cool winds to come off the desert in the dead of night, or perhaps to share the more heat producing skills all harem wenches learn while awaiting to be called to the pleasure of their master's chambers. 'Tara the tiger' nonetheless counted herself lucky that her rare golden tresses captured the princess' eyes, making her Jas-go's 'pet' and sparing her of life in the harem.
She purred louder as her mistress pulled her in for more than simple cuddling, but even as the chambers filled with the sounds of their play, the chills that had rudely awoken the green princess could not quite be chased away… .
Notes: As you can see this is a retelling of Disney's Aladdin. Sort of. It started as a challenge on the Haven and evolved into a Round Robin, as many of NoDrog's ideas do. Tara Jah, in the role of Rajah, is my contribution to the story and thus started the association of Tara as a neko, or catgirl, which has been picked up by a few of the Havanites, myself especially.
Looks like this RR will be posting up to 15 segments as some are rather short.
The many contributors of all of the anthologies I'll be re-printing are looking forward to comments and reviews, of both the entire stories, and their segments.