Chapter 15: The Rat and the Tiger
Aladdin had already seen Abbi and Abu leave with the madwoman, so she would be too busy to notice that her dumb as dirt guards were missing. Aladdin had bribed some kids to distract them, so now the coast should be completely clear.
Aladdin was still cautious as he snuck around on the rooftops to the back of the animal tent and found the X Abu had marked for him. "Here we go," Aladdin breathed before he cut himself an entrance with Babkak's knife.
As he lowered himself down into the musky tent, Aladdin tried to think about how happy he would be after this. However, nothing could distract him once that nightmare-inducing smell hit his nose again.
5 years ago…
That odor had been the first thing Aladdin had noticed. The strong scent was unpleasantly sweet like overripe fruit or rancid rum.
From what Aladdin could see, the whole tent had a sickeningly sweet vibe. The pastel colors, paper lanterns, and streamers should have looked childish and cutesy, but the overall effect was not that.
Aladdin did not want to go inside. He did not want to take another step.
"Hey," Kassim hissed, turning back. The older boy was several feet in front of Aladdin and had nearly left their hiding spot. "Shake a leg, Aladdin. It's time to go."
When Aladdin didn't immediately jump into action like usual, Kassim asked, "What's the matter with you?" He looked Aladdin over and took in the boy's wide-eyed stare. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?"
Aladdin met Kassim's questioning look and suddenly Aladdin just knew that even his favorite brother would make fun of him for not being strong enough or brave enough to go inside some smelly girly tent. So, the street rat forced out a laugh and said, "Cold feet? Nope. Not me. I've got the hottest feet in the desert. It's just…"
Aladdin's eyes looked around frantically trying to find an escape. Then he saw it. There was a smaller tent not too far away with the same frilly pattern around it. "What about that tent?" Aladdin jerked his head at the other less sinister-looking tent.
Kassim frowned at it. "That's probably her office, but it's not in our plan. We don't have time to check it."
"But Abu could be in there," Aladdin said quickly. "What if we split up? You could check this one and I could go into that one."
Kassim looked between Aladdin and the other tent.
"Please Kassim," Aladdin pleaded, "I'll be quick." The little street rat almost believed what he was saying now. Maybe Abu was in there and Aladdin would be doing Kassim and the monkey a favor by checking the tent that didn't smell like sugar-coated death.
"Fine," Kassim said, giving in, "You got two minutes."
Just like that, Kassim had saved Aladdin's life and Aladdin had doomed his.
Today, Aladdin eased himself inside the tent and quietly landed on the tiger's cage. It was like Abu had described it: a meter tall if you ignored the wheels, pink, and made of heavy iron.
Aladdin tried to tell himself that this was no big deal. All he had to do was ignore his childhood trauma and talk to a freaking tiger. It was basically just another Saturday.
The street rat got onto his stomach and crawled to the edge of the cage. Then he leaned over slightly and peered inside.
A pair of large blue eyes glared back at him.
Aladdin showed the pale beast Abbi's headband. "Abbi said that you were smart and that you'd recognize this as hers. She sent me here to save you."
The tiger didn't move. He just continued to give Aladdin that disdainful look.
Cats.
Aladdin would never understand why people preferred them over monkeys.
"Anyway…" Aladdin said, waving the headband around, "she's distracting the animal merchant outside, so—"
The tiger stood up, suddenly fully alert.
"So, you do understand me," Aladdin said hopefully.
The tiger growled softly.
"Or not…" Maybe, the tiger just wanted to pounce on the ribbon. "Look, I need ya to nod if you understand. Otherwise, I'm not gonna explain the rest of the plan."
The tiger eyed Aladdin for what seemed like an eternity before he gave the street rat a slow and somehow insulting nod. It almost felt like the tiger was questioning Aladdin's intelligence.
Aladdin frowned. Seriously, what did Abbi see in this hoity-toity creature? Maybe it really would be better off as skin.
Whatever. Aladdin had his own reasons for helping.
"Okay cool," he said, "we're on the same page then. Right?"
The tiger nodded again. This time, the beast was quick about it.
"So, like, I'm gonna unlock your cage and then you need to get up here without, and this is key, you need to do it without touching the ground using Jump 3." Aladdin held up three fingers. According to Abbi, Jump 3 was a backflip maneuver.
The tiger narrowed his eyes, not pleased with the instructions.
"It's important. There are some…" Aladdin paused. What had Abbi called them? "Typhoids in the ground."
The tiger looked even more skeptical, letting Aladdin know he'd totally mispronounced that fancy name for the demon spawn that lived here.
"Look, I really don't have time to explain," Aladdin said, "Just don't touch the ground, okay?"
Another nod from the tiger.
"There's a good kitty. I'm gonna unlock the door now." Aladdin took out his lockpicking set. Then he carefully eased himself forward so that he could reach the lock and went to work.
The lock was surprisingly complicated to crack, especially with him hanging upside down. Aladdin sweated up a storm as he told himself to go faster. Abu, Abbi, and his very freedom all depended on this.
No pressure.
An age passed. The tiger had long since gone back to sleep by the time the lock gave a reluctant groan and tried to fall onto the ground. Aladdin, ever quick, caught the damn thing before it made trouble. "Easy-peasy," he said, breathing hard and sweating harder.
The satisfied street rat got up and went over to the back of the cage. Then he stomped on the metal.
There was a growl inside. The lazy beast was awake.
"Alright, pussy cat," the street rat said, "It's open. Go for it."
Aladdin waited for the tiger to do its thing. A backflip should be impressive, but then the street rat saw the tiger's white paws grab the top of the cage instead.
That's when things went wrong.
The tiger's weight far exceeded Aladdin's and the cage began to tip. The street rat, sensing trouble, did what he promised to do.
He cursed the stupid tiger and fled the scene.
A/N: Happy Birthday Rajah!
Technically, Rajah doesn't have a canonical birthday, but my version does, (it has to do with his alter ego, Prince Dhiren) but you can learn more about that from my other major Aladdin fic, Rajah's Curse. This is a very exciting moment for me because it's a meeting between one of the main characters of this fic and the main character of Rajah's Curse, i.e. Rajah.
That's it.
I should hopefully have more chapters for you sometime in the next few weeks. Until then, bye!
