Chapter 12: Seek and Hide
Aladdin, Warek, Iago and Abu reached the entrance to the Oasis, and in well enough time to see the odd sight of the lake freezing over, a thick sheet of ice progressively covering the lake save for its rapidly shrinking center.
In the center of the lake, struggling to keep afloat in the water, was Jasmine. From what Aladdin could tell, she was fighting something that was pulling her under, but she managed to keep her head above it most of the time to keep breathing. She didn't seem to notice them, but kept calling for help.
Aladdin was glad she was able to hold on for this long. Just a little longer, Jasmine, we'll get you out.
Warek's brow furrowed. "We can't cross the ice, otherwise we'll slip in with her. And to whatever's trying to pull her under."
Aladdin's plan came to mind not long after he scanned his surroundings, looking for a means. He motioned to the edge of the forest, not far from where they came. "We need some strong vines. Get as many as you can and tie them together. Iago, we need you to fly one of the ends to her. We'll pull from the other end when you give us the word."
They worked quickly, and before long, they had a vine that had both strength and length. Iago quickly flew the vine and dropped it within Jasmine's grasp. Though Jasmine was pulled under at the precise moment Iago dropped the vine (causing the bird to panic), the firm tautness of the rope from beneath the water made him realize that she was holding on.
"She's got it! Pull!" Iago shouted.
Abu, Warek and Aladdin pulled, essentially becoming a tug of war between the three and the vine that'd wrapped itself around Jasmine's leg and pulled her under. For a time, Aladdin and the others had the advantage, managing to pull Jasmine out of the water and onto ice, even while she gasped and coughed. Even then the weed was determined to pull her back in. Iago tried to seize the vine not far along from where Jasmine gripped it and pulled, but the seaweed was still stronger, jerking backward and making Jasmine yelp as it pulled her backward.
Then Aladdin had another idea. "Iago, use your beak to clip the bind! You're closer to it."
At first Iago was going to question Aladdin's sanity because he'd think the binded vine that Jasmine was holding onto was pretty important in this tug of war. At least until the bird realized Aladdin had meant the other bind - the somewhat thick seaweed around Jasmine's ankle. It'd come out of the water enough to be cut like a piece of string. Easier said than done.
He flew over to the seaweed's length from the closing gap in the lake and winced. "Hopefully this isn't gonna taste as bad as I think it will."
It took a few good bites, but the seaweed finally broke. Jasmine went skidding over the ice toward where Aladdin, Abu and Warek were pulling, while the seaweed slinked back into the lake's waters just before the lake completely froze over. An odd sight in the middle of a warm night in the desert.
Aladdin helped Jasmine to her feet, and she embraced him. "I'm so glad you're all right, Aladdin. Thank you, all of you."
"Our pleasure, Princess," Warek said with a small smile.
"I just hope your thanks extends to giving me somethin' to clean my beak after biting that thing through." Iago coughed and gagged a few times as he flew to perch on Warek's shoulder. "I'll be tryin' to get this taste outta my mouth for the next few weeks."
Aladdin exhaled slowly, his momentary relief disappearing from his face. "Now we just need to find Rajah, Genie and Carpet. If Jatika got to them..."
"Who's...?" Jasmine asked, but realized almost immediately what Aladdin meant. "He was Jafar, wasn't he? And what I heard earlier was Rajah?" Her voice rose with panic and recognition.
Aladdin blinked. "You knew?"
"I knew Jafar was acting strange - like he wasn't who he said he was. It was too late for me to stop him when I found out. And I heard a roar coming from that side of the Oasis one of the times I surfaced. It came from that way." Jasmine pointed to the west side of the Oasis.
"Then we'll follow that lead, and hope it takes us to them. When we find him, Jatika's going to wish he never crossed us," Aladdin said, narrowing his eyes, squeezing her hand gently. Abu screeched a few times with worry, as the group headed west of the lake.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Warek, and Abu called several times for Rajah, as they searched together past the sands and through the trees.
"Where are you, you overgrown flea-bitten furball?!" Iago shouted as they entered the western expanse of the Oasis. He gave Jasmine a start, considering he'd taken a perch on her shoulder. She gave the bird a side-eye glare, even as Iago's call echoed through the area.
Warek raised a brow, snorting. "Well, that's one way of getting his attention." But no sooner had the words left his mouth when they heard another roar cut through the trees. That left the entire group on edge.
"Am I good, or am I just that good?" Iago said.
Aladdin ignored him, motioning his hand forward. "Come on, he's not far ahead."
When they came to a clearing in the forest, they saw Rajah with his head laying between his paws. He was awake, looked a little stunned, but it ceded to considerable irritation. The tiger saw Jasmine first, who rushed over to him and embraced him. Rajah winced, whimpering.
"Oh Rajah, what happened? Are you all right?"
He purred softly, nuzzling against Jasmine. The rest of the group caught up, but Rajah looked ready to pounce on Aladdin as he showed. His growl was low and deep. Aladdin flinched, instinctively taking a step back as the tiger looked like he would advance, but Rajah winced and lowered just as soon as he'd risen. Either from exhaustion or somehow being hurt, Aladdin wasn't sure. But it didn't stop his fierce growl or gaze toward the Agrabah prince.
Abu looked thoroughly confused, scratching his head underneath his fez. He scurried up Aladdin's leg and found a place on Aladdin's shoulder. Aladdin calmed a little, but his body was still stiff.
"Rajah!" Jasmine scolded. "Stop, what's wrong with you?"
Iago cut his eyes over to Aladdin. "Geez, what did you do to make him mad?"
"I didn't do anything! I haven't seen Rajah since I was..." He paused, a thought occurring to him, one he didn't like at all. A hard scowl settled over his features. "Wait a minute, I think I know exactly what's wrong."
It was everyone's turn to stare at Aladdin as his fists clenched at his sides. Jasmine looked concerned, not expecting the anger in Aladdin's voice. Aladdin had an idea about why Rajah would react to him like that. And if his thoughts were right, he'd had enough of the game being played against them.
He decided to test his thoughts, reaching up to one of the fruits in the nearby tree, and advancing toward Rajah slowly. He stopped short of where he knew Rajah might bite him, and held out the fruit.
Rajah looked confused, but still weary as he bared his jaws.
Aladdin's tone was gentle, resigned. "This is where I got the fruit I gave you in the courtyard, Rajah, remember? If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't offer this. Take it. I know you're probably hungry after everything that happened."
Rajah sniffed at the fruit a moment, then fed off it similar to what he'd done with Aladdin back at the Palace. But instead of giving Aladdin a brush off, Rajah looked a little guilty, searching Aladdin's face before leaning forward and nudging Aladdin's hand. Aladdin hugged the tiger around his neck, closing his eyes and running his fingers gently through the tiger's fur.
"I'm so sorry, Rajah."
"Sorry?" Iago asked, sharing a confused look with Jasmine as they looked at each other. Abu screeched in sympathy, as if he suddenly understood what Aladdin was getting at.
"I don't understand, Aladdin." Warek said, frowning. "Why are you apologizing?"
Aladdin opened his eyes and looked between the concerned faces around him. He took a deep breath. "Because I think Jatika attacked Rajah earlier, and Jatika disguised himself as me when he did it."
"Brilliant plan, no? The tiger didn't know what hit him until it was too late. Not only did I drain him of a good amount of fear, I was able to contain you two in vessels so that I can continue having a power source to hold my nightmarish haze over Agrabah." Jatika looked between the Genie and Carpet, who were encased in twin magic spheres that suspended themselves in mid air in one segment of the Oasis forest. He was in his usual impish form, not worried at all about Aladdin or the others finding them, because he'd provided plenty of distraction for them.
Genie frowned. He wasn't liking his newfound captivity any more than Carpet, but he wasn't happy either at Jatika's actions. "Uh, forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but I don't think you realize just how mad Al's going to be when he finds out you did that. Jasmine too."
"Mad?" Jatika laughed, waving a causal hand in dismissal. "Oh don't be ridiculous, my pretties. Because one by one, I'm going to make sure I scare Aladdin and every single one of your companions to death. Get it, scared to death?"
Genie rolled his eyes, appearing bored. "I missed the punchline."
Carpet seemed to agree.
Jatika's fury bubbled, causing the tiny - yet menacing - imp to tremble. "If you must recall, fear fuels me. I have all the power to wield to destroy your friends. I have the power!"
"Yeah, yeah, go find a sword or something to hold over your head to say it with, though I wonder how you could hold one if it ends up being bigger than you. Anyway, thing is, my buddy Al's a wonder kid. He'll find some way to stop you." Genie turned to Carpet and seemed to mutter something under his breath. "I knew there was a reason I hated imps. Their egos are over the full moon. All powerful ego, itty bitty little imp."
"How dare you!" Jatika's eyes glowed and shot a beam of red powerful energy from them. The magic wrapped around Genie's sphere, sending bolts of red lightning inside the sphere where Genie was.
"Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! You have the power, I get it!" Genie winced.
Jatika laughed. "I think I already know what my next move will be, and you're both in for quite a treat." Jatika shapeshifted into a likeness of Genie.
"Oh, I'm not liking this plan already," Genie said, swallowing a large lump in his throat.
"Yes. One by one I will turn your friends against each other, until their fears consume them, and I will be the only one left standing."
Genie winced, thinking it was awkward to hear Jatika imitating a likeness of his own voice.
"Toodles, pretties. I'm off to do some scaring. Don't wait up for me!" Jatika said before he vanished.
Genie looked over at Carpet. "Okay, Rug-man, I think we're going to have to put our heads together and figure out how to get out of these things. Though..." Genie paused considering something then snapped his fingers at the thought. "Jatika said that we're both power sources fueling the nightmares over Agrabah, right?"
Carpet nodded.
Genie grinned, a sly look crossing his features. "I wonder if we can somehow influence the kind of dreams they're having. Instead of nightmares, I think we should give them something to laugh about. That should zap Jatika's power source, and free up Agrabah from their snoozing." His smile vanished just as soon as it came. "Just hope we can do it in enough time so that he doesn't give Al and the others any more trouble."
"Do you think we're okay leaving Iago and Abu to watch over Rajah?" Jasmine asked as she, Aladdin and Warek moved ahead.
Aladdin nodded. "I think they'll be fine as long as they stay in one place. Rajah was too weak to go searching with us, he should be fine with Iago and Abu for now. I think between the three of us, we can find Genie and Carpet on our own."
"I still can't believe Jatika put a spell over Agrabah," Jasmine said, clenching her fists at her sides. "If anything happens to Father or the city, I..."
"We'll be okay, Jasmine. We'll stop Jatika long before then." Aladdin put his hands on Jasmine's shoulders, squeezing them lightly.
"Considering the powers that Jatika has, how are we - mere humans - to stop him?" Warek asked, a weary frown on his features.
Aladdin released Jasmine, running his fingers through his brow. "Jatika's power works by fear, so we can't let him scare any of us - that's the first thing. We have to stay close. And I think Jatika's wielding his magic through a single power source, if it's anything like how Genie and I encountered him in the dreamworld."
"So if we find that source and destroy it, Jatika won't be able to use his magic?" Jasmine asked.
"I believe it," Warek said. "The imp did say he harnessed the magic power of the Oasis on these full moon nights, and he feeds on fear. That power has to gather into something. Destroy the source, and he won't be able to use powers beyond his own latent abilities. But it's easier said than done."
Aladdin sighed. "Yeah, I don't think his power source would be as obvious, especially if he tries to shift into one of us."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "If that's the case, we need to find Genie and Carpet as soon as we can and get back to Rajah and the others. We shouldn't leave them..."
A rustle close by startled them all into silence. Warek visibly trembled, looking around the area wearily. The merchant was trying not to be afraid - he'd done well up until this point, but it was hard to do considering a shapeshifting imp with powerful magic pursued them.
"Stay close, something's definitely here," Aladdin said, his eyes also scanning the area. Jasmine squeezed his arm with one hand.
But in the same moment a familiar figure fell out of a nearby tree and came crashing to the ground at their feet.
"Genie!" Warek, Aladdin, and Jasmine said at once.
"Err...hi guys, long time no see." Genie looked sheepish, though wincing from the fall.
"Where have you been? Are you okay?" Aladdin asked.
"Fine, except meeting an imp that's been a major thorn in my side. Carpet and I got ambushed," Genie said, frowning even as the three of them helped him to his feet. "Any of you seen Rug-man? I think he might still be in trouble."
"We were afraid of that," Jasmine said. "We thought he was with you."
"He was, at one point, don't remember much after that." Genie scratched his head, frowning.
"Carpet's the only one we need to find now. What form did Jatika take on when you last left him, Genie?" Aladdin asked.
"He was Jafar again, pretty much. But who knows, he could be anyone now."
"I was afraid you'd say that, my magical friend," Warek said, swallowing hard.
"We need to stick together just in case Jatika decides to attack again, and get back to the others as soon as we can," Jasmine said.
Genie shapeshifted into a soldier. "All right, let's move out people! Operation Find Carpet is underway!" But even as Jatika-Genie moved forward of the three, none of them saw his wicked grin.
Aladdin had fallen a little behind in his steps, searching the path behind them to make sure nothing followed him, Genie, Jasmine or Warek. He was also searching to see if Carpet would show above or through the trees, but to no avail. He groaned, kicking a stray, tiny rock into the darkness.
Jatika hasn't shown up once since Genie and I crossed him in the dreamworld. I wonder if he's watching us to see what we'll do, Aladdin thought. He figured he needed to be on his guard to see if the tricky imp would do anything. Aladdin knew Jatika's power had grown since putting Agrabah under the sleep spell, but he wasn't sure by how much. Genie and him had been lucky enough to break the sleep spell, but it didn't mean Jatika was any less of a threat. If anything, he seemed to be more dangerous than before, especially if the imp had hurt Rajah on his behalf.
Jasmine walked alongside Genie a distance ahead, followed by Warek and then Aladdin not far behind the merchant.
Warek turned to face Aladdin, looking over his shoulder. "Something troubling you, Prince?"
"I'm just wondering why Jatika hasn't shown up by now. It's bad enough he attacked Rajah. He's trying to scare us against each other, like it's a game." Aladdin told Warek about how Jatika had disguised himself as the merchant and tried to harm him in the dream realm.
Warek listened with growing horror, and shook his head as Aladdin finished the tale. "If he's capable of doing something like that..."
Aladdin nodded. "We need to be careful, otherwise..." Aladdin's eyes found a stray puddle of water up ahead, over which both Jasmine and Genie walked past at the exact moment.
He expected Jasmine's reflection, but not the reflection standing next to her.
Aladdin's heart leapt in his throat. There was a moment he felt the sharpness of his fear being sucked out of him, making him wince, but it ceded quickly to his focus to act, especially since he realized two things at once - Genie was really Jatika, and the partially glowing lamp at Jatika's side was the source of the imp's power.
This needed to end. Now.