Yuki couldn't believe his luck; he was going to live through this fiasco. Before he had time to finish his happy thoughts, the carpet made a crash landing in the sand and he was standing at the feet of the banana. He couldn't wait for this roller coaster from hell to let him off.
"Ah…you have my lamp, I presume?" asked Tohma in his silkiest voice.
"This it?" asked Yuki laconically, swinging the lamp by one finger, just out of the banana's reach.
Ryuichi stood miraculously still, with the carpet hovering behind him while Yuki handled the remainder of the situation. Caspian poked his head out from behind the rock to watch the proceedings, and muttered commentary to himself.
"Good, very good. I'll just take that off of your hands…" said Tohma, edging closer to Yuki by the second.
"Oh, I don't think so. You owe me. This was no pleasure cruise." Responded Yuki curtly. He'd decided long ago that he was a royal idiot to have left prison.
"I sprung you out of that prison, we're even you conniving little…"
"I'm not little."
"Give me my lamp, or…"
"Or what? You're a piece of fruit for god's sake." Responded Yuki while he put the lamp behind him, out of the banana's reach.
"I'm no fruit, I'm the Grand Vizier!" yelled Tohma, his voice saturated with indignation. Upon realizing his mistake, he gasped audibly.
"Oh, really now. That's interesting." Said Yuki. "Wait…you're the one that had me arrested!"
"Uhh…" stuttered Tohma. He hadn't anticipated this turn of events. "I…I…"
"You what, thought you could get away with this? I should kill you!" snarled Yuki, beyond anger at this point.
Tohma couldn't respond directly, being too afraid to face the incredibly ferocious Sapphire in front of him, and instead meekly gestured to Caspian.
"It was all his idea…" Tohma whispered, unable to talk coherently due to fear.
"Oh that's original. Blame the stupid parrot."
"Excuse me? Who are you referring to as a, what was it, 'stupid parrot'?" Caspian sniped at Yuki, not feeling especially happy about having his intelligence questioned.
Yuki stared at Caspian for a good long minute before he had the coherency to speak. It had been beyond a long day for Yuki, and the cause of all his trouble was standing right in front of him.
"It's all your fault…" Yuki finally responded. He turned to face Tohma, not wanting to deal with the subject of a talking parrot. "You…you…"
"I don't know what you're talking about…" replied Tohma as he backed away from Yuki and away from the cave.
"I hate you." Yuki answered, looking more than a bit disconnected. "I…hate…you…"
"Yuki?" quipped Ryuichi. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine…" replied Yuki as he started to advance on Tohma.
"Yuki?" Ryuichi asked again. "Yuki?"
"Not now…I have to kill a banana…"
"You shouldn't kill him…that wouldn't be nice…Kuma doesn't like it when you're not nice Yuki…" replied Ryuichi, trying to grab Yuki's arm to stop him.
Yuki didn't answer Ryuichi and instead easily shook him off and picked up a rock. He moved towards Tohma with an evil glint in his golden eyes.
"Yuki!"
Again, no response. Tohma let out a squeak and tried to wield Caspian as a weapon.
"KUMAGORO BEAM!" screamed Ryuichi, throwing Kuma as hard as he could at Yuki's head.
The bunny bounced off of Yuki's head and knocked him to the ground. Tohma fell over backwards and Caspian swooped behind a rock. Ryuichi calmly walked over to where Kuma was laying and picked him up. He brushed the sand off of the bunny and turned to Yuki.
"Feel better now?" Ryuichi asked Yuki, who was sitting on the ground looking dazed.
"Yeah…thanks." Replied Yuki as he stood up and shook the sand out of his hair.
Yuki walked over to Tohma and prodded him with his foot until he came around and stood up.
"I want amnesty for this lamp. Unconditional. I never want to be arrested, harassed, or chased ever again. Are we clear?" Yuki stated firmly to Tohma. This was better than death, anyway.
"Hey! What about me and Kuma?" asked Ryuichi from the background.
"Fine. For both of us." Returned Yuki, playing with the lamp in his hand. Tohma, now that he was once again standing, did not look happy at all.
"That was not part of the agreement, you know that!" Tohma spat at the triumphantly-posed street rat.
"Then I think I'll just hold onto this little beauty, what do you say?" Yuki smirked as he finished the sentence and started to juggle the lamp in midair.
"You…you…" stuttered Tohma, his face turning bright red with the effort of containing his anger.
"Yes?" asked Yuki, inclining his head toward Tohma with a smirk. "Can I help you with something?"
"That's my lamp…" snarled Tohma.
"Correction. This is my lamp." replied Yuki, still taunting Tohma.
"Fine, fine…I'll grant you both amnesty." Said Tohma, realizing this was the only way to get his lamp back.
"Tohma! What are you doing?!" hissed Caspian in Tohma's ear. He had returned at one point during the conversation. "Don't let him win!"
The gears in Tohma's head started to spin, and he was blessed with a grand idea. He smiled at Yuki and restated his acquiescence to the proposal.
"What about Kuma?" asked Ryuichi quietly, tears starting to pool behind his eyes. "Kuma's too soft for prison, Yuki!"
"Don't tell me, tell him." Yuki replied coolly.
"Alright, alright. The rabbit too." Answered Tohma. "Just hand over the lamp and I'll draw up the documents."
"Draw it up first. I don't trust you." Yuki said suspiciously from where he was standing. Ryuichi was standing behind Tohma, brushing sand off of Kuma's bowtie.
"I don't take orders from street rats." Muttered Tohma menacingly. He was tired of being bossed around, and he was getting sick of seeing his master plan falling apart.
"And I don't take orders from pieces of fruit." Yuki returned sarcastically, tucking the lamp into his pocket. "I might as well keep this seeing as we can't seem to reach an agreement."
That said, he started to walk off into the desert, back the way they came.
"Wait!" Tohma yelled.
"I'm listening…" Yuki hissed. He quietly watched Tohma, and glanced at Ryuichi, who was still stationed behind Tohma.
Tohma sighed, and rubbed at his eyes. This situation was completely out of hand. He was making deals with a prisoner. His master plan was completely destroyed and flapping in the wind. The lamp was just out of reach, behind a ridiculous agreement. His parrot was being insolent. And to top it all off, he had destroyed half of his boa searching for the said parrot.
Tohma took a quick look around, and started to panic. There was no tasteful way out of this. Unless…the gears in his head started to turn, and he smiled a classic Tohma grin at Yuki. All he had to do was convince Yuki to turn over the lamp before he signed the paper that would free both of the criminals from future imprisonment.
"I'll gladly sign the paper that releases you from any criminal responsibility for the rest of your lives, but you have to give me the lamp first. It's necessary." Tohma said in a silky voice. He was doing his best attempt at being trustworthy.
"No dice. I want the papers." Yuki spat back. "I'm getting tired of this. Draw up the damn papers or I'm keeping this piece of junk."
"A compromise is obviously called for." Tohma returned, trying to formulate an alternative.
"Obviously, dumbass." Caspian hissed from his spot on Tohma's shoulder.
Yuki stared sullenly at Tohma, waiting for him to cave.
"How about this –" Tohma managed to say before Yuki cut him off.
"No, how about this: give me the papers or I'll destroy the lamp. Does that sound good to you?" he posed in a menacingly sarcastic voice.
"Fine! I'll give you the papers but I'm not signing them until you give me the lamp!" Tohma yelled with a little bit of arm flapping. His patience was teetering on the edge of a knife.
Yuki stood still for a moment and thought over the compromise. He didn't really have any other choice, and he knew it. The vizier in banana's clothing wasn't going to budge.
"Alright." Yuki finally replied. He watched Tohma gather some papers from inside the ridiculous costume, and then he wandered over to the entrance of the cave.
"Here." Tohma said after a five minute period of silence and writing. "Here are your damn papers." There was a definite edge to his voice now.
"Let me see them." Yuki returned, reaching out for the papers and keeping the lamp safely tucked behind his back.
Yuki glanced over the papers, noting the Royal Vizier's stamp in the corner. There wasn't anything missing from the legal jargon, and Yuki folded the papers and put them into a pocket. He pulled out the lamp and casually tossed it to Tohma, who dove for it frantically.
"Now sign the last page." Yuki said to Tohma. "It wasn't included with the ones that you gave me."
"About that…" Tohma answered, an evil glint shining in his eyes.
With one fluid motion Tohma was standing in front of Yuki and had him backed into the entrance of the cave. A sudden explosion caused part of the ceiling to fall in, blocking off the main chamber form the lava. Tohma reached forward and grabbed Yuki's shirt, pulling him close.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yuki asked Tohma, trying to keep his balance. His feet were only halfway on the desert ground.
"No witnesses." Tohma answered, malignity showing on his face. "If I get rid of you, no one will find out you're not dead."
"Not dead?" Yuki asked, not understanding Tohma's words.
"Oh, it's SO shiny!" squealed Ryuichi from right behind Tohma. "Look Kuma-chan!"
Tohma whirled around, almost letting go of Yuki's shirt. Ryuichi was holding his lamp.
"You…I…Give me that!" Tohma screeched, as Ryuichi started playing with the lamp.
Tohma tried to make a move for Ryuichi, but was weighed down by Yuki. He was about to release his shirt when the street rat slapped him across the face. Tohma, took a step backwards, watching as Yuki regained his footing. Yuki stepped forward, wanting to finish the fight that he had started. Without warning, however, Tohma walked up to Yuki and shoved him as hard as he could. Yuki shot Tohma one astounded look before he toppled into the cave's gaping entrance.
For five seconds, nothing happened. Tohma stared at the cave entrance, Ryuichi kept hold of the lamp, and Kuma hung in the balance. Caspian was silent for once.
"TAG! You're it!" squealed Ryuichi, tapping Tohma in the shoulder.
"What are you doing?!" Tohma asked in a startled tone. "Your friend is most likely de-"
"Catch me if you can!" Ryuichi squealed. He ran away from Tohma and jumped into the entrance of the cave.
"NOO!" Tohma shrieked, and ran to the entrance. He was speechless. They were both going to die, and take his precious lamp with them.
"Mika's going to kill me…" Tohma said to the empty night sky.
"So you don't want to be here either, then?" Shuichi asked from his comfy bed. Neither had been able to sleep, and Hiro had wound up in Shuichi's room.
"No, but I agreed to coming just to get out of that place." Hiro replied looking up at Shuichi from the floor.
"Was it as bad as this place?" Shuichi asked, leaning back into his pillows and sighing.
"Not quite…my mother doesn't want me dead, and the Royal Vizier is planning world domination." Hiro responded.
"Lucky you."
"I suppose…" Hiro said. "But my palace isn't near as interesting as this one. We don't have any elephants."
Shuichi didn't reply, and instead was staring at the ceiling with a dazed look on his face.
"Shuichi?" Hiro inquired, slightly worried about his new friend's mental state.
"Hmm?" Shuichi whispered back, completely absorbed in his thoughts.
"Are you alright?"
"Sure…"
Hiro got up from where he was sitting and looked at Shuichi. He was sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling, not noticing anything around him. Hiro poked him in the foot and got no response whatsoever. He moved up, and poked him in the stomach, and then in the face. Still no response.
"Shuichi?" Hiro asked firmly, concerned.
"What?" Shuichi said finally, snapping out of his coma. "What's going on? Who died?!"
"Wha? No one died, you wouldn't answer me."
"Did I miss something?" Shuichi asked, scratching his head and staring around the room with a goofy smile on his face.
"Maybe you should go to bed…" Hiro said, pushing Shuichi back onto his bed. "You need sleep."
"Yeah, sure thing…" Shuichi said, turning to go to sleep. "Night, Hiro…"
"Sleep well." Hiro said, and exited the room. "That was strange…"
Hiro shrugged his shoulders and walked back down the hallway to his own room. He had a feeling that this was only the beginning of insanity.
Shuichi sighed again, and rolled over. He couldn't get Yuki out of his mind.
"Hiro probably thinks I'm insane…" Shuichi said to himself, putting an arm behind his head for support.
Ever since he had found the dungeon empty, he hadn't been able to rid his mind of the image of Yuki. He was completely stuck on the street rat, and everything that had happened that night. Whenever he thought of Tohma, the hatred burned inside him, but just one thought of Yuki extinguished all anger with a wave of sadness.
He felt guilty; responsible for the death of his midnight rescuer. He was dead because of him. The thought made him start crying again, and he frantically dabbed at his tears. He hated to cry like this. Spontaneously was fine, but when he was in real pain, he felt like his heart was being ripped in two. He gasped for breath and tried to stop the tears. It was hopeless.
The only thought of relief was that he hadn't broken down in front of Hiro. The man probably thought he was insane already, what with the giant elephant, but now he was assured in his thinking. He tried again to stop the tears, and failed. Looking out his window, towards the moon, he stopped fighting his feelings and let the pain course through him.
"Hey…hey Caspian?" Tohma asked quietly, innocence choking out through his voice.
"Don't even think about it." Returned the cranky parrot. He was way overdue for some Fruit Loops.
"Just fly down and see if they're dead!"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No way!" Caspian answered. Instead of waiting for Tohma to throw him into the cave, he jumped off of the man's shoulder and took off for Agrabah. He was sick of the sand.
"Get back here, Caspian!" Tohma yelled into the night. The bird was long gone. "Dammit all…"
On that note, Tohma gathered his boa and the costume and set out for Agrabah. The street rats were dead, and his lamp was gone. He sighed, and started walking. As he started to walk away, the ground shook. He turned around just in time to see the cave entrance collapsing on itself. Even if the street rats had somehow survived, they'd never get out now. He looked up at the stars, and the early sunrise, and again started walking back to the Palace.
I never, in all my wildest dreams, thought that this post would take me this long. Sorry about that guys. College is a time suck. Thanks for the reviews!! Caspian thanks you as well, though he would prefer donations of Fruit Loops. Catch you on the flip side...or at the end of the next chapter.
-Amaya