--Chapter III---

Riku could only feel the heat glistening onto his forehead as he awoke from the crash. He moved his hand around the ground and felt some sort of sand, which told him he was either on a beach or a desert. God let me be home, he thought, as he slowly opened his eyes and began to sit up. He looked around and saw nothing but desert as far as he could see. He then noticed the King looking at the wreckage of their gummi ship.

"How bad was our landing?" asked Riku, still tired from the impact.

"Not good." Replied the King as he continued to look. "We need a few gummi blocks before we can get back into space again."

"Where are we going to find some gummi blocks here though?" asked Riku.

"Well, I'm still not sure about that. Gummi blocks don't just grow on trees. We're going to have to find a cave of some sort."

"Well, what are we waiting for? No sense hanging around here." Riku and the King then selected a direction and began traveling as far as they could. After a while Riku and the King were approached by a mysterious old man.

"Hello travelers, care for some water?" asked the old man, holding out a cloth canteen with water in it. Riku and the King both took some sips from the canteen and then looked at the old man. Riku could sense that something was not right about this man, but could not quite figure out what. It was like he was being attracted by the darkness, but his scent, if it was one of the darkness, was easily being masked.

"Ah, yes, I can see what you're searching for." Continued the old man. "Far, far to the east is a cave known as the Cave of Wonders. Inside is a mystical lamp. Bring me the lamp and you shall have these." The old man held out his hand, revealing a handful of gummi blocks, exactly the ones the King had mentioned were needed to repair the gummi ship. "Do we have a deal?"

Riku had still questioned the validity of the man's words, but saw no reason that they could be led into a trap. "Sure," said Riku. "Where will we meet after we have the lamp?"

"Outside the palace at Agrabah. I will be waiting for you there." Riku nodded at the King and both left east for the Cave of Wonders.

As the two left a red parrot flew out of the robes of the old guy.

"Haha. Jafar, did you see that? We were able to find a couple of suckers to get back the lamp you lost." Said the parrot as the old man, Jafar, began to smile.

"Yes, Iago. I was concerned when that monkey ruined the chances of getting the lamp for us. Maybe while this kid is at it he'll take care of the street rat for me." Said Jafar. Jafar then magically switched back to his black robe with red and black turban. He then began to laugh a dark laugh.

It had become nighttime by the time Riku and the King reached the entrance to the Cave of Wonders. They traveled inside the dark caves and searched for a way to light the path forward. Riku finally did find a torch and walked until he saw a path down to a seemingly endless pit. Riku stopped the King after a few seconds.

"Did you hear that?" whispered Riku to the King.

"Yeah. I think someone else is here besides us." The King whispered back. Riku then looked to see three people on the ground. At least he thought it was three people. One was some sort of a small monkey, one was a human boy. Maybe a little older than Riku. The other was… a rug? Riku didn't understand how a carpet was moving around, but after some of the things he saw at Hollow Bastion with the seven princesses, he believed anything was possible at this point. Riku then saw the boy pull something out. That had to have been the lamp he was searching for.

Riku jumped down to the floor, followed by the King.

"Hey there." Said Riku as he landed on the ground. The monkey then ran toward them and started screaming some sort of monkey gibberish.

"Abu cut it out." Said the boy as Riku stood up. "What brings you here?"

Riku stayed silent for a few seconds. "We need something from this old man we met in the desert and he told us he'd give us the item for that lamp you have."

"Sure, I don't seem to have a use for this old beat up lamp anyways." The boy said as he handed Riku the lamp. "Wait a second. Did this man have some disgusting teeth and a sort of humpback?"

"Yeah what about it?"

Aladdin immediately took the lamp back. "We can't let him have it!"

---TO BE CONTINUED---