WARNING: Another character death below. I have to say I enjoyed writing Aladdin as a feral leopard. I'm experimenting with other similar situations in different categories, only those situations deal with wolves not leopards.

Chapter Ten- Punishment

Genie flew higher as Aladdin's claws swiped through his tail. He didn't know why his friend was attacking them. His brutal attack on Iago had been shocking; it was almost as if his cat side had taken control of him. He looked down to see empty sand below him. Did Aladdin tire out? Whew, that's a lucky break, he thought.

Suddenly, Aladdin sprang upward from in front of them, grabbed Abu in his mouth, and jumped gracefully off Carpet. Genie heard Abu yelping and he looked back to see Aladdin bite down silencing Abu in mid-yelp. The magical duo flew back to Aladdin who turned around and growled at them as they landed.

"Al, what's wrong with you? You just killed two of our friends." Aladdin didn't answer; merely growled threateningly. "A-Al? Can you hear me? It's Genie, your friend."

Aladdin stalked toward the blue genie, claws and teeth bared and ready to be used. Genie backed up as Aladdin advanced. The leopard crouched down, about to pounce when a voice full of authority called, "Aladdin, stop!" The leopard stopped and turned to face the two leopards that came running up to him.

Jasmine stared in horror at the dead monkey lying a few feet away. They were too late: Both of her animal friends were dead. She bowed her head as tears fell and dripped onto the sand. She turned her tear-filled eyes to Genie and Carpet. "I'm so sorry," she cried. "I didn't want this to happen."

"Sorry?" Genie repeated angrily. "Just what did happen?"

"The obedience spell had a dangerous twist to it," Mozenrath replied. "As long as he stayed with us, he would listen to every order we gave. If he were to escape then at the next sunset, his obedience would cause him to turn feral and impossible to control."

"He's feral now?"

"No. We caught up to him. If we didn't find him by tomorrow night, then he would have become a feral leopard at night for the rest of his life."

Aladdin, who had come back to himself by Mozenrath's voice, sank to the ground. The realization of what he had done was vivid in his mind and buried his face in his paws. He had no choice but to live at the Citadel and stay close to either one of his masters or he would lose control of himself at night.

Or I could kill myself, he thought. I've already killed my best friend and Iago. How can I live with myself with that knowledge inside me?

"Aladdin?"

He lifted his tearstained face up to see Jasmine looking down at him. "Jasmine, please kill me."

"What?"

"I can't live with what I've done."

"We're not going to kill you," Mozenrath stated as he came up to them. "The fault is ours. We should have told you what would happen if you escaped from us."

Aladdin nodded. Mozenrath was right; if he had known the danger of escaping, he would never have attempted it. "I swear I will never escape again."

"Al, no!" Genie exclaimed.

"I have to go with them, Genie. If they hadn't shown up when they did, I probably would have killed you, too."

"But, genies are eternal."

"I know, but if I don't go back, I'll turn feral and will kill anything I come across. I don't want that to happen."

Genie sighed. "All right, Al. You win. Go on back to your new home."

Aladdin padded after his masters as they headed back to The Land of the Black Sand. He still believed he should be punished for escaping if he wasn't going to be killed for murdering his friends. Tears leaked out of his eyes and spattered onto the sand as he walked. Perhaps his punishment was the unending grief he would experience for the rest of his life. He looked at the two leopards in front of him. He had thought of killing them not too long ago, but now he knew that he couldn't because that would leave him as a feral leopard at night forever and he didn't want to live like that. He most likely would kill himself the morning after his first feral night.

Jasmine walked close to Mozenrath and said softly, "So, we're not going to punish him?"

"I had considered letting it slide. It is our fault for not warning him. You feel differently?"

"Possibly. I was toying with the idea of finding a way to, say, remove his humanity for a little while? It may help reinforce who's in charge and it would be in his best interest to obey."

"Keep him in leopard form day and night? Interesting. How long would that last?"

"A few days, maybe a week at most."

"I think a week sounds good and I can invoke the punishment with a spell that I can now use thanks to the ring you gave me. I will use the spell in the morning after breakfast."

Mozenrath watched Aladdin from across the table at breakfast the following morning. It looked as if Aladdin hadn't slept at all last night; he had dark circles under his eyes and there was an expression of misery on his face. He's clearly grieving and still regretting what he did. I think his spirit is completely broken. His promise not to escape again certainly points in that direction.

Jasmine got up from the table and stifled a yawn before saying, "I think I'll go take a nap. For some reason, I'm tired and I feel like eating mice for a snack afterwards."

Mozenrath smiled at her. "Go ahead, Jasmine. Aladdin, come with me to the Throne Room."

Aladdin didn't reply as he stood up and followed the sorcerer out of the dining room. He stood before the throne as Mozenrath put on a ring and then sat down to face his servant.

"Aladdin, I had considered not punishing you, but Jasmine gave me a suggestion last night on our walk home." Mozenrath raised his gauntlet and swirled it in a circle. "I, your master, punish you by removing your humanity from you for one week." He fired at his servant, who did not try to dodge the magic coming at him.

Aladdin felt his humanity being pulled from him, but he didn't care. He felt relief that he was being punished. He watched as his body shifted into his leopard form and fully understood Mozenrath's words; with his humanity gone, he would be a leopard day and night until his humanity was returned to him.

"Aladdin." The leopard snapped to attention at Mozenrath's voice. "I should tell you that the risk for turning feral has increased now that you're a leopard all the time. Furthermore, you won't be able to talk except for cat sounds. I trust you won't go wandering off without either Jasmine or me, yes?"

Aladdin sank into a bow and nodded his head.

"Good." Mozenrath put his ring onto a stand next to his throne and shifted to leopard form. "Now, let us go hunt. Jasmine has claimed that she desires some mice for a morning snack. I think it's a sign that she's pregnant." Aladdin looked at him, surprise written on his face, which made the were-leopard smirk. "Oh, yes, Aladdin. You see, I read the entire scroll when I was trying to break the spell and then again when I wanted to claim a mate and have a family. A small list of signs was included in that section. Your other master is mostly likely expecting a litter of cubs. I suspect she may end up staying a leopard when she is close to delivering. Of course, she'll retain the ability to change back to human. But for now, let's go get those mice."

Jasmine had retired to Mozenrath's and her chambers for a nap after breakfast after claiming a desire for a mouse snack to her mate. She wasn't sure why she wanted mice to eat and chalked it up to her cat nature. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep and didn't awaken for at least an hour. When she came around, she felt refreshed and hungry. I hope Mozenrath found some mice, she thought. She yawned and stretched before opening her eyes.

She saw her forelegs stretched out before her and she craned her neck to see her leopard body. She was surprised; she had gone to sleep as a human, but she woke up as a leopard. What was going on? She leaped out of bed and padded down to the throne room to see her mate sitting on the throne reading a scroll while Aladdin lay beside it in leopard form. Clearly, Mozenrath had punished him, as he said he would.

Mozenrath looked up and smiled at her. "Ah, you're awake. Your snack is waiting in a cage in the dining room."

Jasmine nodded. "That's good, but something strange happened. I was human when I went to sleep, but when I woke up, I was like this. This has never happened before."

"It's another sign."

"Sign?"

"Yes. The desire for mice and you shifting into leopard form are signs that you're pregnant."

"I-I am?" The shock on her face gave way to a look of pure joy. "This is great! We will soon have a litter of cubs to raise! Am I going to have to stay a leopard until they're born?"

"I don't believe so. You may want to be a leopard when delivery is close, but you can still change. Your unconscious shifting was just a sign of pregnancy."

Jasmine changed back to human before leaving for the dining room to have her snack. The mice were still alive and she used her claw-like nails to kill each one before devouring them. She was aware that her actions were very cat-like, but she didn't care. She was a were-leopard after all and a pregnant one at that. It's possible that I'm going to want fresh meat more than usual now, which means Aladdin will be hunting a lot more.

I also enjoyed writing about Aladdin's punishment. In the next chapter, which will be the last, Aladdin will be acting differently which will be explained.