Fan Fiction ❯ If There Be Thorns ❯ The Beginning ( Chapter 1 )

If There Be Thorns

By Maggie Griffin

Summary: After a chance encounter in the market place, Sadira takes it upon herself to form an apprentice in a young girl named Aini. But things don't go as planned when during one of her first lessons, Aini unleashes a sand storm into the garden of Arbutus

Rating: PG-13 (for *mild* swearing and *mild* suggestive content *wink wink*)

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure

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Beneath the vast deserts that spread around the prosperous city of Agrabah, an all-together different world dwelled in its own existence. Sole witness to this world, the young woman who stood in the caverns of the forgotten 'Witches of the Sand' concentrated on the words before her, layed out so plainly on ancient scriptures, yet sometimes so difficult to understand.

"Come on. Sand into glass, how damn difficult could it be?" Sadira sighed in exasperation. Truth was, she was rather tired of having to wade through the sand floor in the caverns below the desert. With the fact that she spent more time there then anywhere else, she would have liked to be able to at least walk comfortably. "A nice glass floor, that's all I ask. Without lighting this place on fire like that nut Mechanicles. Hm, where's one of his fire-breather's when you need one!"

With another heavy sigh, Sadira closed the rather large tome before her, wiping her eyes with her hands to clear her blurred vision.

"This witch stuff is getting more and more complicated!" She waved her hand in the air, and a chair produced itself from the sand scattered around her, hardening enough so she wouldn't go through it when she finally collapsed backwards onto it. "But worth it!" She added as she sat there.

For a moment, Sadira closed her eyes and relaxed, trying to sort out through the rubble that her mind had become in the last few hours. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she reared up out of her seat.

"OH NO! I TOTALLY FORGOT!" She yelped, and made a mad dash for the exit, heading up towards the desert.

"So typical of me to forget! I should have been there ages ago," Sadira shook her head, and tried to level out her breathing as she ran.

She recalled exactly where she was running to, remembering how Aladdin had approached her in the market, and has asked for a rather mysterious rondez-vous at the palace. For a fleeting moment, Sadira found herself hoping that he had changed his mind about her, but in the next instant, hushed her own thoughts.

~What am I thinking anyway? Jasmine and I are friends now, and I wouldn't do that to her. Not even if I did get the chance!~ Sadira thought, chastising herself for ever considering that Aladdin had any ulterior motive under his hat besides what was probably a friendly get-together.

Outside, the sun had begun to set, reminding Sadira that she really had to start an attempt to get back to civilization. She really was spending too much time trying to understand the sand scrolls.

Within a short time, Sadira found herself running through the marketplace, and doing her best to avoid collisions with anyone or anything in the way. Namely fruit stands, merchants, and palace guards.

Luck it seemed, was not with her.

As she rounded a corner, she felt herself connect hard against something, and briefly found herself wondering if she had run into a wall. This wall however, seemed to cry out and fall backwards, mimicking Sadira's own descent as she fell back rather un gracefully.

After a moment of recovering from her small calamity, Sadira looked across from her and realized that the wall she had hit was actually a young girl. She looked to be perhaps four or five years younger then Sadira's own twenty-one, and was staring back at her with large, frightened green eyes.

Perhaps that was what caught Sadira's attention first. The girl before her was clearly of Arabic origin, her long brown and black hair toppling in messy curls around her back and shoulders, and her skin just slightly tanned from the often blazing desert sun. Her eyes however, were unlike any Sadira had ever seen. Not just any green, but an un natural bright green colour, something so strange that Sadira could hardly tear her gaze away.

"Oh...s.sorry, I'm so sorry!" The girl spoke, stuttering her words in what could only be described as sheer nervousness. Her voice was light and shy, strained from nerves and possessing a child-like tone to it. This effect was further increased by her lips, which seemed to shake ever so slightly as she spoke, and gave the illusion that she was constantly pouting because they were full.

All in all, a rather naive face.

Sadira shook her head, clearing away the temporary haze, and stood up, brushing dirt and sand off herself.

"Hey, don't worry about it! It was my fault really, I should have been looking while running!" Sadira grinned, and extended a hand to the girl, who still looked up at her from the floor in a somewhat dazed manner. After a moment's hesitation, the girl reached up and took Sadira's hand, standing up straight.

Sadira was somewhat surprised to find that the girl was about her height. For some reason, she had looked much shorter when they had both toppled to the ground.

"Th...thank you!" The girl stammered again, and quickly brushed the dirt from her dark green robe. After a bit of speculation, Sadira determined that the girl was clearly not palace material. Another one of Agrabah's poorer children, no doubt. The idea made Sadira somewhat bitter, recalling her own sorrow before she had discovered the Sand Scrolls.

"No problem. Sadira smiled again, trying to lay the girl's nervousness at ease. "My name's Sadira, and sorry again for bumping into you like that!"

"I'm Aini, but please c..call me Ai! You don't have to be sorry, it was an accident."

Sadira nodded, pleased that 'Ai's' stuttering seemed to be lessening.

"Well, even though it was an accident, I'd like to make it up to you anyway. Why don't you come with me? I'm heading over to meet some friends and I'm sure they'd like to meet you!" Sadira suggested gently, seeing the girl tense up at the mention of meeting anyone. "What's the matter? Their a nice bunch of people, I promise! Their like any good friends you could have," she smiled widely, recalling all the strange adventures she had experienced in the past because of Aladdin and Jasmine.

"I don't have....," Ai started, but trailed off quickly and looked away.

Sadira paused, then spoke a bit more gently.

"You....don't have other friends? Go on, you can tell me," she urged gently, seeing the forlorn look on Ai's face.

The girl nodded her head, though she didn't say a word.

"Well, that's not true!" Sadira stated plainly, mock anger on her face. Ai looked back at her, a bit startled by her statement. "It's not true, because I'm your friend....aren't I!" The last few words were a statement, not a question. Despite that, Ai nodded slowly, a shy smile playing across her lips.

With that, Sadira laughed and grabbed hold of Ai's hand, pulling the startled girl with her towards the palace. They ran together, and eventually were both laughing and having a surprisingly good time in each others company.

Sadira herself felt a new level of elation. Despite the fact that Aladdin and Jasmine were both her friends, she had never felt like she was truly part of that particular group. It had always been Aladdin and Jasmine. Then Sadira too. Never Aladdin, Jasmine, and Sadira. Which rather left her feeling like a third wheel, even though she knew Aladdin and Jasmine didn't mean it like that at all.

Now she had her own friend, who didn't make her feel like she wasn't supposed to be there, and who seemed to be just as startled about their sudden friendship as she was.

"Your friends live in the palace?" Ai asked, looking up at the towering building before them in awe. Sadira was pleased to see that in the time that it took them to get to the palace, her stutter had completely vanished.

"Yeah, I guess I left out some stuff," Sadira spoke sheepishly. "Namely that Jasmine is the princess, and Aladdin is her boyfriend"

"Aaw, I don't believe you!" Ai spoke skeptically, though with a hint of amusement in her voice. Never the less, she looked at Sadira expectantly, and was rather surprised when the young woman smirked, then knocked as hard as she could on the large gates before them with her fist.

Moments later, the gates opened, and a palace guard looked down at them. He was a rather large man, muscular with a beard and a scowl on his face. He sneered down at both of them, then turned his sight on Sadira.

Ai expected that at any moment, they would have to turn and bolt from the gate, but instead watched as Sadira greeted the guard casually.

"Hi Razoul! Jasmine and Aladdin are expecting us!" Sadira smiled, seeming completely unfazed by the way the guard was scowling at her.

"I know the princess and the street rat are expecting you sand witch....but I don't remember them saying you could bring another street mouse with you!" He looked at Ai pointedly, who looked down at the floor.

Ai waited, expecting that at any moment, Sadira would probably ask her to leave in favour of going to see her other friends in the palace. She wouldn't really blame her, who would pass up an opportunity to go into the palace to spend time with someone like her anyway.

Which was exactly why she was so shocked when she heard Sadira speak up again, this time her voice dangerously low and commanding.

"Do not talk to her that way!" Sadira had found herself surprisingly on the defence over Ai, particularly when she had seen the submissive way Ai had hung her head, waiting for whatever was decided. She had hated seeing that.

Razoul stared back at Sadira, and although he seemed to have acquired a new sort of caution, he never the less attempted to stare her down. His attempt at intimidation seemed to go un noticed, and for a moment, Ai thought she saw the dirt and sand around his feet begin to ripple.

But in another instant, all was calm again, and Razoul was stepping to the side and opening the gate wider. Without another word, he let them both enter, and then left both Ai and Sadira on their own.

"W..Wow, that was brave!" Ai had started stuttering again, much to Sadira's dismay. Never the less, she said nothing, and only smiled, her ego puffing up a little.

They walked through the garden together, during which Sadira had to pry Ai away from staring at all the beautiful flowers in awe.

"I've never seen such a beautiful garden!" Ai gasped as Sadira pulled her along.

"I can tell!" Sadira replied wryly. "You like flowers huh?"

Ai nodded, though grew silent when her eyes travelled in front of them. Sadira followed her gaze and was not at all surprised that the younger girl had frozen in place and had gone silent. A large, floating blue body made its way over to them, and within moments, Genie made a grand entrance.

"HEY! YOU BROUGHT A FRIEND!"

Sadira was not at all surprised at Ai's shocked reaction. She yelped, and hid behind Sadira, looking at Genie with wide, though curious eyes.

"Do you mind Genie, your scaring her!" Sadira rolled her eyes, and gently urged Ai forward. "Aini, I'd like you to meet Genie. Genie, meet my new friend Aini! We sort of...ran into each other at the market place!"

Ai gazed up at Genie with a shy expression, but smiled all the same.

"H..Hi!" she squeaked, her voice strained rather painfully.

Genie grinned from ear to ear, and in the next instant, produced a ridiculously fluffy bunny rabbit from a black top hat he conjured from thin air. Without a word, he put it into Ai's arms and patted her head affectionately.

"Aaaaaw, so cute!" He gushed, making an effort to amuse Ai further by sitting her on a small pink cloud.

To Sadira, who had watched the event unfold in silence, the scene now looked almost disturbingly adorable. Ai was looking back at Genie with confused blinking eyes, still holding the ridiculously fluffy bunny, and now sitting on a pink cloud.

"Aaaaaaw!" Genie gushed again, admiring his handy work.

"Anyways....," Sadira cleared her throat, trying to stop herself from bashing Genie over the head for his lack of self-control. "Have you seen Aladdin and Jasmine, we were supposed to get together or something. Aladdin wasn't very clear!"

"Oh yeah! Just follow me!" With that, Ai was back on the ground, safely walking beside Sadira.

"Anything else I should be warned about?" Ai asked.

"Come to think of it, watch for a psychotic talking bird and a thieving little monkey!" Sadira replied casually, missing the clueless look on Ai's face.

Genie led them inside the palace and into the grand dining room. As the doors opened, there was a cheer from the inside, and streamers and balloons came swirling down at Sadira and Ai, courtesy of Genie's magic.

"SURPRISE SADIRA!"

The shout gave Sadira such a scare she actually took a few safe steps backwards into the hallway, bumping into Ai and taking her along.

When the air had cleared, she saw Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Abu, Genie, and Carpet were all gathered inside the room. The main dining table was filled with all sorts of food, and just looking at it was making Sadira hungry.

She entered the room with Ai in tow, both looking between the other occupants of the room and the food on the table.

"What's...what's this all about guys?" Sadira asked, unable to mask the surprise in her voice.

"A little party we organized! I know you've been feeling sort of left out lately, so we all wanted to make it up to you!" Jasmine smiled, motioning for Sadira to come sit down. Sadira obliged, sitting next to Jasmine and leaving Ai to stand rather awkwardly to the side, not really sure of what she was supposed to do.

"Hey, who's your friend?" Aladdin asked, noticing Ai looking somewhat dismayed by herself.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry Ai, I guess I got caught up in the surprise. Guys, this is my friend Aini. Ai, these are the Aladdin and Jasmine that I told you about earlier. This is Iago and Abu, the same monkey and bird I warned you about, and magic Carpet!" Sadira motioned to each of them in turn, and watched as Ai looked to and from each person as she introduced them.

"Wouldn't you like to sit down Aini? Don't be shy!" Jasmine offered her a set on her other side, and Ai gratefully walked over and sat down modestly, straightening the creases in her robe.

"P..please call m...me Ai!" she stammered once more, worst then before. However, she smiled genuinely.

"Look at her, she so cute!" Genie couldn't stop gushing, already visualizing Ai on another cloud with another ridiculously fluffy animal.

"Well, is this a party or what? Let's start eating already, I'm starving to death here!" Iago squawked, his beak already diving into a bowl of fruit in front of him.

Without further ado, the group enjoyed the food and talked amongst themselves. During which Ai's stutter lessened and lessened until it was once again completely gone, and she looked almost half-comfortable to be amongst so many people.

"Well, a friend of Sadira's is a friend of ours!" Aladdin remarked as Sadira recounted the tale of how she and Ai had met at the market. Ai felt happier then she had ever felt before, glad to be accepted among so many people so easily.

At one point during the party, Iago leaned towards Genie.

"Say, why do you suppose she doesn't have that many friends? She's a nice kid!" Iago remarked, even he a bit taken by how genteel Ai was.

"Well look at her. Ai's so shy, she probably has a really hard time getting to know people, probably just talk to them. There are a lot of people that would want to take advantage of someone like her. This has been a bit easier on her because Sadira introduced her to us, which is great!" Genie replied, genuinely glad to have met Aini.

At the end of the party, Jasmine pulled Ai away to a corner to talk with her in private while Sadira made herself busy by bidding everyone goodnight. She was getting ready to go back to the caverns under the desert and get a good night's rest, and has asked Jasmine for a favour on her behalf.

"Ai, do you have a place to stay?" Jasmine asked gently, not really wanting to embarrass the girl because she already half-knew what the answer would probably be. After spending some time on the outside of the palace, Jasmine had come to understand that not all people were born as lucky as her, and as well provided for.

"Well, yes and no...," Ai trailed off, looking at her hands sheepishly.

"Well, that settles it then, come on!" Jasmine beckoned, and let Ai say goodnight to Sadira before leading her down a long hallway.

"Where are we going?" Ai asked, still unsure as to what Jasmine was up to. Sadira had promised to come and visit her soon, but Ai wondered how Sadira would be able to find her later.

"Your going to stay here for the time being. I hate to say it, but the streets of Agrabah aren't safe for a young girl like you at night!" Jasmine sighed, and stopped in front of another door. She opened it and stepped inside, waiting for Ai to follow.

The room they were in had a large bed with expensive-looking sheets. Dark blue and white drapery made up the room, with two dark shelves off to one side, and two large windows at the other end of the room, opposite the bed.

"Consider this your room for the duration of your stay!" Jasmine smiled.

That night, Ai slept the best she had ever slept in sixteen and a half years. She dreamt pleasantly, eagerly anticipating the events the next day would bring.

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Next, Sadira offers Aini the chance to become a Witch of the Sand. However, teaching her backfires when she accidentally sets a spell at Arbutus' doorstep...