Far Off Memory

Chapter Two

The next morning, I had my first mission to an outside world. Agrabah, a desert filled with... well, sand, with some small buildings nearby.

"You ready, Chirithy?" I ask, seeing the anthropomorphic cat appear out of smoke. "I'm ready, but it still is super hot here, right?"

"You're right. Gotta go!" They say, disappearing into another cloud of smoke. I blink, and a couple guards knock me down.

"Watch it, kid! Don't get in the way, we're trying to catch a robber here!" With that, they bolt off towards a city.

"Go on, get after them! They might need your help catching that guy." With those words in my ear, I stumble up and rush towards the sandy buildings.

I leap in front of the guards, smiling. "Wait, let me help you catch him!"

"You're a kid. He can be super dangerous. I'm not just gonna let one get hurt," one of the guards replies.

"I'll be fine, I promise!" I give them a smile, ready to go, and without even waiting for a reply, I leap up the buildings, scanning for someone. Then, I see a guy, running with jewels in his hands. "Hey, you! Stop!" I jump on top of roofs, running towards the rather poor-looking man. I stop, seeing shadows crawl off of the ground. Dang it, there were Heartless here too? Starlight appears in my hand and I start to smack at them. I slide past the rest, grinning. Keep running, keep running.

"Where are you going?" Chirithy asks. "There are still Heartless!"

I look at them, "But I need to go after the robber!"

"That doesn't matter right now. What if those Heartless attack innocent people?"
"That dude just stole from innocent people, Chirithy!"

"It's better than attacking them!"

"Fine," I follow their words, turning towards the Heartless. I use my medals, attacking them all at once.

"See, it didn't take too long, did it?" Chirithy asks.

"No but it could have been enough time for the guy to escape!" I leap on top of the buildings, scanning - and then I see him, dressed in light clothing, with a purple vest and white pants with a piece of cloth sewn on. That was the robber? He looked like he had nothing to be robbed of, himself! Still, a thief was a thief, and I had to stop him.

I leap down onto the sandy ground in front of him, and he nearly drops the jewel. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Aladdin!" He says, then points to a monkey on his back. "This is Abu!"

"Does everyone in this town have an 'Abu'?" How odd, were they like the Chirithy? I cross my arms.

Aladdin gives me an odd look. "No!" He replies defensively. "Abu is special, one of a kind, unique!" Abu runs down his arm, and Aladdin shows me the monkey. "You'd do best to remember that... um-"

"Lacuna."

"Lacuna! My Abu is no ordinary monkey!" He rambles on for quite a while, and then I sigh.

"Mr. Aladdin?"
"Yes?"

"Do you even have enough money to feed your Abu?"

He shakes his head, "No, not really. Not even enough for myself."

I stare at the jewel. It was wrong. I sigh. "Okay, Aladdin, I'm going to give you a deal. If you return that jewel, I'll help you get some munny. I'll take on some jobs."
He looks at me, "Really?"

I nod. "Yes. But you have to return that jewel."

He lets out a sigh, "Okay. But can you return it? Say that the thief dropped it. But, if I go there, then they'll arrest me." He drops the ring in my hand.

"Understood. I'll tell them you ran off, okay?" I reply, and before he has a chance to say anything, I run to the guard's outpost, kicking up sand.

"Excuse me, guards?" I call out, holding up the ring. "The thief dropped the ring! I couldn't catch up to him." I place it on the desk, waving my hand.