Moving Fast Enough
(DISCLAMER: Tell me if you think I'm going too dramatic too soon. The whole point of this story is to keep things sort of upbeat and like a series of sorts. Tell me what ya think people)
"So he dragged her off?" Aladdin asked a still soggy and reeking of garbage Mozenrath.
"Yes. I couldn't see them through the crowd. The girls mother's body should still be there, though I'm not sure if that will be any help." Mozenrath sniffed his paw and shook himself angrily. "The bastard threw me into a trash heap!" he snarled and almost wished the chef would throw another tub of water on him.
"There's a little girl in jeopardy and your worried about your pride!" Aladdin said in astonishment.
"Hey! I've done my part! What do you want from me I'm a cat, and my magic's acting oddly now that I'm not in the same body!" He tried to shot a bolt from his collar and only got the jewel to glow a bit. "See! It doesn't recognize me in this form."
"There's nothing I can do about that. Talk to Genie when he gets back from his visit with Eden. Maybe he can help." Aladdin suggested. He wasn't really concerned with Mozenrath's problems at the moment. In fact, he was of the opinion that the less power the sorcerer had, the better.
"That bubble headed moron. I doubt it." He saw Aladdin's mouth open to defend his friend. "Besides, magic's don't mix well."
"What about the girl? I spent most of my life on the streets but I was never caught by any of the slave traders." Aladdin explained.
"And I never dealt with caravans of any sort, beyond magical ones stupid enough to come through my land." Mozenrath started to lick himself and remembered what he'd been thrown into. "What about that parrot of yours.he's done a few shady dealings here and there."
"That's like saying you've made a few mamluck here and there." Aladdin scoffed but considered the sorcerers idea. "Still, he may have heard a few things."
"Well the why don't you ask him then?" Mozenrath said irritably.
Aladdin sighed and rubbed his head. "Fine. Sheesh first heroic thing you've done and you get all commanding over it." He muttered and went to find the parrot.
~Heroic?~ Mozenrath's pink nose went up at the word. He was no hero. He was just doing this to make sure he didn't end up roasting over a turn style with demons poking at his flesh. It had nothing to do with heroics.
"So the big bad sorcerer has gone animal. I'd call the vet and see when he can do neutering Al. There is the pretty little white kitty who hangs around the palace gardens!"
Mozenrath growled at the scarlet parrot flying over to rest on the arm of the couch. "Watch it bird or you just might wake up to find your wings clipped." He snarled and slashed out at the bird.
"Awk!' Iago jumped out of Mozenrath's reach and onto Aladdin's shoulder
"Mozenrath." Aladdin said scolding. "And you." he turned to the macaw just as Iago was pulling his tongue back into his beak. "We don't have a lot of time here. That little girl could be getting sold as a slave.or worse."
Iago blushed under his feathers and coughed ashamed. "Well a yeah. See most traders don't do kids. Too high profile see. But since Agrabah only began cracking down on the slave trade in the past couple of years, most of the big guys still hang around, hiding their slave market behind a caravan trading company."
"What about the child dealers?" Mozenrath asked, still trying to ignore the smell of garbage.
"They don't deal inside Agrabah's walls. From what I hear, there's a nice little Oasis about twenty miles east of here where they meet up with their prime merchandise. They allow some of their best customers to have first pick before they take the kids on to bigger cities." Iago shuddered. "Jafar went there once or twice in the old days. Looking for guinea pigs. Not a pretty place Al. They keep those kids more like animals than children."
Mozenrath saw the determined, heroic look on Aladdin's face. He was so used to being the cause of such a look it was odd to see it reserved for a lower scum. "We have to get there Iago."
"What are you kidding me?" Mozenrath scoffed. "Look at you! For someone now entitled to Palace Attire you still look like a street rat." Mozenrath hopped off the couch and faced Aladdin. "Poofy, unkempt hair, calloused fingers, un manicured nails. And even though it's of a better material, you still wear the same vest trousers combo of the streets."
Aladdin gritted his teeth and asked for patience. "Oh? Well then what do you suggest? They'll recognize any of the white and gold outfits I have for official use.
Aladdin scratched his head and sighed, frustrated.
"Well.they won't recognize my outfit." Mozenrath suggested.
"Oh no! No! I am not wearing that depressing black outfit you always trounce around in." Aladdin protested.
"There's no time to argue! The outfit won't be recognized, and it's rich, so they'll mistake you for some sort of foreign royal or noble." Mozenrath argued. "All it would take is a quick trip to the Citadel. I even have a store of treasure there we can use to buy her with if necessary."
That statement left Aladdin's protests dead in the water. "Your going to pay to save someone.out of your own proverbial pocket.?"
Mozenrath balked, his ears going flat against his head. "I.I don't really have much of a choice do I? I mean.I was sent back to earn my way and I'm doing it. So don't damn well complain!" he snapped and turned his tail up, trying to strut away with some dignity as Aladdin chuckled loudly.
"This is the most uncomfortable outfit I have ever been in." Aladdin muttered tried to adjust the high collar on the sorcerers outfit.
"Will you stop fiddling with the thing. You look so damn stiff their going to think you just put this stuff on today!" Mozenrath argued.
"I did!" Aladdin snapped as the entered the Slave Traders camp ground. Around them, Aladdin could see scores of men and women in cages, many of them with chains around their necks and feet. All of them dirty and desperately needing a meal. It tore his noble heart to see them suffering. If he had thought he could get away with it, he'd have torn open the cages right that second and escaped with them all.
"Don't even think about it hero." Mozenrath nipped Aladdin's ear to get his attention. "I know what your thinking and we just don't have the time or the money."
"Funny. Your treasure room seemed plenty big enough to me." Aladdin bit back but forced himself to look ford. What met him was an even worse sight.
Children.
Fifty or sixty children, all huddled together on the auction block, dressed in rags and looking very malnourished. Many of them were chained too tightly and bleeding at the ankles and wrists. Aladdin heard the cat under his the turban draw in a deep breath of shock, and quickly suppress it.
"Children." Aladdin whispered. "How could they do that to children." He felt his heart wrenching inside.
"Remember Aladdin, most people in the world can't afford to have the moral fortitude you do. Look at the auctioneer." Mozenrath pointed with a paw to a scruffy looking man with a long beard. "I'll bet you a thousand denari he had a family of his own. This is just a trade to him, just like selling silks or fruit. You consider him a bad evil man automatically because of his profession. But, when it all comes down to it, he is just a man."
Aladdin was surprised to hear such a statement from the sorcerer. "I didn't know you were a philosopher Mozenrath." He sarcastically remarked.
Mozenrath once again promised himself to pee on Aladdin's fez once this was over with. He looked down at the hero and saw the look on his face. He was watching the children , and the adults too. Is eyes were entirely focused on their state, his mouth had a small, pitying frown on it, and his hands twisted the end of the black cape angrily. Mozenrath sighed. "We're not leaving with just one slave are we?" he asked.
Aladdin walked faster towards to auction block.
"Didn't think so." Mozenrath muttered.
The auctioneer was selling off children right and let. Most of them, as soon as they were bought, were whisked off in camels and traveling tents of towards their fates.
"Mozenrath." Aladdin tapped the turban. "Go to the back and see if you can spot any keys for the chains."
"What am I the monkey?' Mozenrath snarled but dropped stealthily to the ground and disappeared behind the block. He could see that all of the children were indeed connected by a large black chain, each one with neck, wrist, and ankle locks. He crept up on stage and sniffed at the complicated mechanisms and watched what the seller was doing. Every time a child was bought, he took a specific set of keys from his belt and undid a sort of locking system connecting each child to one another.
~So not only do I have to get the children disconnected from one another, I have to free them enough to run.! Mozenrath meowed out loud once and dodged behind a barrel when the auctioneer turned to look. ~We're luck their about to close for the day, I don't think we can pull this of in broad day light.~ Mozenrath double check the key clasp on the auctioneers belt and mentally memorized it with the group of children being sold.
Aladdin wasn't at all surprised to see Mozenrath trod up to him, looking rather self satisfied. "Any luck?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"Some. The children all have a connected main chain which won't be a problem. But then it branches off into neck, wrist, and ankle cuffs. I couldn't figure out which key belongs to which kid, so I don't suppose you brought your pick set.." Mozenrath saw a set of oddly bent metals and wires in Aladdin's hands. "I see."
Aladdin grinned. "Old habits are hard to break."
They hung around the outskirts of the camp until nightfall. Mozenrath noticed that some o the more important buyers were pitching lavish tents and staying for the nights. With just a bit of focus, he managed to produce a richly (and gaudily) colored tent with a few pillows to make it look noble enough. "Get some sleep." He instructed Aladdin. "The best buyers will be making unofficial deals for a few more hours."
Aladdin shook his head and sat back against the pillows. There was silence in the tent for a while, uncomfortable silence between two long enemies.
Aladdin was the one to break it. "So you really saved a kids life huh?"
Mozenrath nodded his furry little head. "Yes. Some stupid prince on a horse in Getzistan was tearing through the roads like a bat out of Hell and almost ran him over." He explained shortly.
"Really?" Aladdin said skeptically.
"What you think I'm here in this body because I like the smell of catnip?" Mozenrath snapped and lounged against a coushin.
"Like your old body was that great." Aladdin jibbed and rearranged the clothing he was wearing for the fifteenth thousandth time. "You were skinny as a rail and twice as tall. This clothing is the worst."
"It's not my fault your fat and short." Mozenrath licked his fur and stretched out. "It just so happens that my muscle was in a much more intelligent place."
"What? Your back end?" Aladdin laughed.
If a cat could smile.."No. My front." Mozenrath licked his leg as Aladdin adjusted the cloth between his legs. The hero stopped dead in his movements, abruptly reminded of what sort of skin this clothing had been next too.
The sky darkened into dusk, and in a few hours the sun had set, leaving the stars to light the people bellow. Aladdin felt a sharp bit on his ear and woke up. "Ow!" He opened his eyes to see Mozenrath staring at him yellow green eyes.
"Come on, most of them are asleep now." He began to walk out of the tent. "Damn it what are you waiting for." He whispered as Aladdin stood up and removed the turban and cape.
"It's hard enough to walk in this crap, let alone run in it." Aladdin discarded clothing until he was down to the midnight blue trousers and shirt. The only extra pieces of clothes were the red belt and heeled boot. "Better." The ex street rat said and shoved his lock picks into the belt.
"Yes yes you look very dashing. Now come on." Mozenrath ran from the tent behind the wooden stand and didn't wait for Aladdin to follow. The hero kept up surprisingly well considering he was following a black cat in the middle of the night. They carefully avoided any sort of light, even just a torch, as Mozenrath lead the way.
(DISCLAMER: Tell me if you think I'm going too dramatic too soon. The whole point of this story is to keep things sort of upbeat and like a series of sorts. Tell me what ya think people)
"So he dragged her off?" Aladdin asked a still soggy and reeking of garbage Mozenrath.
"Yes. I couldn't see them through the crowd. The girls mother's body should still be there, though I'm not sure if that will be any help." Mozenrath sniffed his paw and shook himself angrily. "The bastard threw me into a trash heap!" he snarled and almost wished the chef would throw another tub of water on him.
"There's a little girl in jeopardy and your worried about your pride!" Aladdin said in astonishment.
"Hey! I've done my part! What do you want from me I'm a cat, and my magic's acting oddly now that I'm not in the same body!" He tried to shot a bolt from his collar and only got the jewel to glow a bit. "See! It doesn't recognize me in this form."
"There's nothing I can do about that. Talk to Genie when he gets back from his visit with Eden. Maybe he can help." Aladdin suggested. He wasn't really concerned with Mozenrath's problems at the moment. In fact, he was of the opinion that the less power the sorcerer had, the better.
"That bubble headed moron. I doubt it." He saw Aladdin's mouth open to defend his friend. "Besides, magic's don't mix well."
"What about the girl? I spent most of my life on the streets but I was never caught by any of the slave traders." Aladdin explained.
"And I never dealt with caravans of any sort, beyond magical ones stupid enough to come through my land." Mozenrath started to lick himself and remembered what he'd been thrown into. "What about that parrot of yours.he's done a few shady dealings here and there."
"That's like saying you've made a few mamluck here and there." Aladdin scoffed but considered the sorcerers idea. "Still, he may have heard a few things."
"Well the why don't you ask him then?" Mozenrath said irritably.
Aladdin sighed and rubbed his head. "Fine. Sheesh first heroic thing you've done and you get all commanding over it." He muttered and went to find the parrot.
~Heroic?~ Mozenrath's pink nose went up at the word. He was no hero. He was just doing this to make sure he didn't end up roasting over a turn style with demons poking at his flesh. It had nothing to do with heroics.
"So the big bad sorcerer has gone animal. I'd call the vet and see when he can do neutering Al. There is the pretty little white kitty who hangs around the palace gardens!"
Mozenrath growled at the scarlet parrot flying over to rest on the arm of the couch. "Watch it bird or you just might wake up to find your wings clipped." He snarled and slashed out at the bird.
"Awk!' Iago jumped out of Mozenrath's reach and onto Aladdin's shoulder
"Mozenrath." Aladdin said scolding. "And you." he turned to the macaw just as Iago was pulling his tongue back into his beak. "We don't have a lot of time here. That little girl could be getting sold as a slave.or worse."
Iago blushed under his feathers and coughed ashamed. "Well a yeah. See most traders don't do kids. Too high profile see. But since Agrabah only began cracking down on the slave trade in the past couple of years, most of the big guys still hang around, hiding their slave market behind a caravan trading company."
"What about the child dealers?" Mozenrath asked, still trying to ignore the smell of garbage.
"They don't deal inside Agrabah's walls. From what I hear, there's a nice little Oasis about twenty miles east of here where they meet up with their prime merchandise. They allow some of their best customers to have first pick before they take the kids on to bigger cities." Iago shuddered. "Jafar went there once or twice in the old days. Looking for guinea pigs. Not a pretty place Al. They keep those kids more like animals than children."
Mozenrath saw the determined, heroic look on Aladdin's face. He was so used to being the cause of such a look it was odd to see it reserved for a lower scum. "We have to get there Iago."
"What are you kidding me?" Mozenrath scoffed. "Look at you! For someone now entitled to Palace Attire you still look like a street rat." Mozenrath hopped off the couch and faced Aladdin. "Poofy, unkempt hair, calloused fingers, un manicured nails. And even though it's of a better material, you still wear the same vest trousers combo of the streets."
Aladdin gritted his teeth and asked for patience. "Oh? Well then what do you suggest? They'll recognize any of the white and gold outfits I have for official use.
Aladdin scratched his head and sighed, frustrated.
"Well.they won't recognize my outfit." Mozenrath suggested.
"Oh no! No! I am not wearing that depressing black outfit you always trounce around in." Aladdin protested.
"There's no time to argue! The outfit won't be recognized, and it's rich, so they'll mistake you for some sort of foreign royal or noble." Mozenrath argued. "All it would take is a quick trip to the Citadel. I even have a store of treasure there we can use to buy her with if necessary."
That statement left Aladdin's protests dead in the water. "Your going to pay to save someone.out of your own proverbial pocket.?"
Mozenrath balked, his ears going flat against his head. "I.I don't really have much of a choice do I? I mean.I was sent back to earn my way and I'm doing it. So don't damn well complain!" he snapped and turned his tail up, trying to strut away with some dignity as Aladdin chuckled loudly.
"This is the most uncomfortable outfit I have ever been in." Aladdin muttered tried to adjust the high collar on the sorcerers outfit.
"Will you stop fiddling with the thing. You look so damn stiff their going to think you just put this stuff on today!" Mozenrath argued.
"I did!" Aladdin snapped as the entered the Slave Traders camp ground. Around them, Aladdin could see scores of men and women in cages, many of them with chains around their necks and feet. All of them dirty and desperately needing a meal. It tore his noble heart to see them suffering. If he had thought he could get away with it, he'd have torn open the cages right that second and escaped with them all.
"Don't even think about it hero." Mozenrath nipped Aladdin's ear to get his attention. "I know what your thinking and we just don't have the time or the money."
"Funny. Your treasure room seemed plenty big enough to me." Aladdin bit back but forced himself to look ford. What met him was an even worse sight.
Children.
Fifty or sixty children, all huddled together on the auction block, dressed in rags and looking very malnourished. Many of them were chained too tightly and bleeding at the ankles and wrists. Aladdin heard the cat under his the turban draw in a deep breath of shock, and quickly suppress it.
"Children." Aladdin whispered. "How could they do that to children." He felt his heart wrenching inside.
"Remember Aladdin, most people in the world can't afford to have the moral fortitude you do. Look at the auctioneer." Mozenrath pointed with a paw to a scruffy looking man with a long beard. "I'll bet you a thousand denari he had a family of his own. This is just a trade to him, just like selling silks or fruit. You consider him a bad evil man automatically because of his profession. But, when it all comes down to it, he is just a man."
Aladdin was surprised to hear such a statement from the sorcerer. "I didn't know you were a philosopher Mozenrath." He sarcastically remarked.
Mozenrath once again promised himself to pee on Aladdin's fez once this was over with. He looked down at the hero and saw the look on his face. He was watching the children , and the adults too. Is eyes were entirely focused on their state, his mouth had a small, pitying frown on it, and his hands twisted the end of the black cape angrily. Mozenrath sighed. "We're not leaving with just one slave are we?" he asked.
Aladdin walked faster towards to auction block.
"Didn't think so." Mozenrath muttered.
The auctioneer was selling off children right and let. Most of them, as soon as they were bought, were whisked off in camels and traveling tents of towards their fates.
"Mozenrath." Aladdin tapped the turban. "Go to the back and see if you can spot any keys for the chains."
"What am I the monkey?' Mozenrath snarled but dropped stealthily to the ground and disappeared behind the block. He could see that all of the children were indeed connected by a large black chain, each one with neck, wrist, and ankle locks. He crept up on stage and sniffed at the complicated mechanisms and watched what the seller was doing. Every time a child was bought, he took a specific set of keys from his belt and undid a sort of locking system connecting each child to one another.
~So not only do I have to get the children disconnected from one another, I have to free them enough to run.! Mozenrath meowed out loud once and dodged behind a barrel when the auctioneer turned to look. ~We're luck their about to close for the day, I don't think we can pull this of in broad day light.~ Mozenrath double check the key clasp on the auctioneers belt and mentally memorized it with the group of children being sold.
Aladdin wasn't at all surprised to see Mozenrath trod up to him, looking rather self satisfied. "Any luck?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"Some. The children all have a connected main chain which won't be a problem. But then it branches off into neck, wrist, and ankle cuffs. I couldn't figure out which key belongs to which kid, so I don't suppose you brought your pick set.." Mozenrath saw a set of oddly bent metals and wires in Aladdin's hands. "I see."
Aladdin grinned. "Old habits are hard to break."
They hung around the outskirts of the camp until nightfall. Mozenrath noticed that some o the more important buyers were pitching lavish tents and staying for the nights. With just a bit of focus, he managed to produce a richly (and gaudily) colored tent with a few pillows to make it look noble enough. "Get some sleep." He instructed Aladdin. "The best buyers will be making unofficial deals for a few more hours."
Aladdin shook his head and sat back against the pillows. There was silence in the tent for a while, uncomfortable silence between two long enemies.
Aladdin was the one to break it. "So you really saved a kids life huh?"
Mozenrath nodded his furry little head. "Yes. Some stupid prince on a horse in Getzistan was tearing through the roads like a bat out of Hell and almost ran him over." He explained shortly.
"Really?" Aladdin said skeptically.
"What you think I'm here in this body because I like the smell of catnip?" Mozenrath snapped and lounged against a coushin.
"Like your old body was that great." Aladdin jibbed and rearranged the clothing he was wearing for the fifteenth thousandth time. "You were skinny as a rail and twice as tall. This clothing is the worst."
"It's not my fault your fat and short." Mozenrath licked his fur and stretched out. "It just so happens that my muscle was in a much more intelligent place."
"What? Your back end?" Aladdin laughed.
If a cat could smile.."No. My front." Mozenrath licked his leg as Aladdin adjusted the cloth between his legs. The hero stopped dead in his movements, abruptly reminded of what sort of skin this clothing had been next too.
The sky darkened into dusk, and in a few hours the sun had set, leaving the stars to light the people bellow. Aladdin felt a sharp bit on his ear and woke up. "Ow!" He opened his eyes to see Mozenrath staring at him yellow green eyes.
"Come on, most of them are asleep now." He began to walk out of the tent. "Damn it what are you waiting for." He whispered as Aladdin stood up and removed the turban and cape.
"It's hard enough to walk in this crap, let alone run in it." Aladdin discarded clothing until he was down to the midnight blue trousers and shirt. The only extra pieces of clothes were the red belt and heeled boot. "Better." The ex street rat said and shoved his lock picks into the belt.
"Yes yes you look very dashing. Now come on." Mozenrath ran from the tent behind the wooden stand and didn't wait for Aladdin to follow. The hero kept up surprisingly well considering he was following a black cat in the middle of the night. They carefully avoided any sort of light, even just a torch, as Mozenrath lead the way.