"C'mon, Habarga. You can do it. This isn't much different from the fruit stand!" Kae urged her pet raven. "Just take that emerald one. That's all. I'll be watching from the tower." She pointed across the busy main road of Agrabah's marketplace at a new jewelry stand, with the bracelets and necklaces and earrings out in the open for display. Habarga, who was squirming anxiously on her arm, let out a caw that sounded much like a whine. Her sharp talons dug into her skin nervously. Kae sighed. "I don't blame you. Switching from stealing apples to jewelry is a difficult transition."
She walked a ways down the road, keeping an eye on that emerald necklace. Kae sighed, using her other hand to run her slender fingers through her wild mane of sun-kissed auburn curls. Habarga could see the disappointed look on her face as her deep-green-eyes gaze dropped from the stand towards the ground as she leaned against the brick building they had called home for years, affectionately known as "The Tower".
With an irritated and defeated hoot, Habarga shook out her feathers and spread her ebony wings, taking off and gliding a good three feet above the jewelry cart, circling around it casually. A smirk crossed Kae's face. She knew she could always count on Habarga, ever since Habarga practically saved her from a fire when she was little, by waking her up and leading her out of a burning house. That was one of her earliest memories, but she did remember sobbing afterwards, because her mother had perished in the fire. She couldn't remember exactly what she looked like, but her soothing lullabies and ringing laugh were unforgettable.
She watched, wringing her wrists and causing the bangles on her arms to jingle, as Habarga waited for the street merchant to turn his back and dove downwards, clamping onto the emerald necklace with her beak, and flew swiftly away just as he turned back around. His eyes widened as he groped around the front of the table, searching for the expensive, emerald-studded silver chain necklace.
Within seconds, Habarga landed back on Kae's left arm with a squawk, shaking her head and letting the necklace dangle. Kae's smirk widened to a full smile. "Good girl!" She squealed in delight as Habarga dropped it into her open hand. "I got me a new necklace, and you've earned yourself a day off. Come home in a few hours." She watched as Habarga took off, cawing loudly and flying upwards into the afternoon sun, high in the sky.
No clouds could be seen that day. It felt like an enlarged oven in the marketplace of Agrabah. Thus explains her outfit choice that day; a simple green piece of cloth tied around her like a sarong, just about two inches above her bellybutton and a ripped and frayed black skirt of a strong, jean-like material. A thin green cloth tied around my head helped to tame my wild red mane. Silver chains hung about her waist and shirt, and her every-present collection of silver jewelry adorned her arms, fingers, wrists, and ankles. At last, she had found the perfect necklace to wear daily.
The harsh sunlight blurred everyone's vision, and Kae could barely see through the hazy "fog". She strode forwards, her thin sandals kicking up a dusty cloud. She eyed the carts on the other side of the road, earning herself scowls from the merchants behind them. Then, at an old jewelry stand, she spotted a golden scarab beetle pin, encrusted with jewels of all colours and shapes. Must be worth more than the rest of the jewelry on display! She concluded.
The elderly man behind the stand looked half-blind and half-asleep. He seemed to stare off into the distance with a glazed look in his eye. Perfect.Wiith a quick glance around, she realized she wasn't the only one aiming to grab it off the cart. Kae spotted a young man, not much older than her. He leaned casually against a wooden fence, chewing a green apple he held in his hand. His skin was well tanned, and he was lean and muscular. And not too ugly, she thought. Well, the side of his face she could see wasn't, anyways. He ruffled his ebony hair with his other hand. He must have been a good three inches taller than her.
His eyes focused on the scarab beetle pin, as if he was scheming to obtain it. A tiny, brown monkey climbed up his pantleg back, finally resting on his shoulder. It held the tiny fez on it's head securely in place before mumbling into his ear. The mysterious man nodded, blinking his eyes. A familar mischeivious glint in his eyes, one that was often seen in many street urchins planning to pull off a stunt, reminded Kae of her own. She smiled, tilting her head to the side and studying his face.
Suddenly, the monkey's eyes landed on her staring face, and he jabbed the man in the ear, pointing her way. He turned his head to face her, and Kae got a good look at his handsome, dark face. He raised an eyebrow, pointed at his nose, and motioned with his head towards the scarab beetle; universal streetrat sign for 'I saw it first, wanna help me get it?'. A smile crept up on his face, and Kae had to bite lip to avoid a longing sigh at the sight of the heart-melting grin. Must have been doing this longer than I have. He has the grace of a pro. Maybe we could hook up later so he could help me out a bit...Then, blinking to pull herself back to reality, the young girl nodded.
They both approached the cart, slowly walking. Once they both got to it, he rapped his knuckles on the table. "Sir? Excuse me, wake up!" His voice was gentle, soothing and deep. Must be a good singer, Kae said to herself. When the spindly, white-haired man failed to awake, he let out a quiet laugh. "Easiest pull in the world." He chuckled to himself. I giggled along, hoping I didn't sound immature or childish.
Like they have been practicing this for years, they looked both ways up and down the road for any sign of palace guards in unison. The monkey squealed, reached out for the beetle. Out of nowhere, the old man's eyes flew open and his wrinkled, bony hand gripped onto the monkey's. It squealed as he pulled the monkey in. "Abu!" They man next to her yelled, pulling him back.
"Guards! Help! Theif!" The old man screamed out, and several guards appeared around the corner.
Kae groaned. "Damnit! I hate how they appear out of nowhere like that!" They caught sight of them. The tallest one in the middle grinned an evil snarl, pointing directly at them as they rushed down the street.
The man and the street merchant must have not seen, because they continued a tug of war with Abu, pulling on his vest and arm. She shook the man's arm, alerting him of coming danger. He looked their way, mouth agape.
She couldn't stand there and let him get caught, even if he loved that darn monkey. Kae pulled him by the arm away from the cart, down the road and away from the guards. "Aaargh!" He moaned, looking back to see a sad looking monkey, being grabbed by two guards as the rest followed behind them.
Kae led him around the busy marketplace streets. The wove in and out of crowds, occasionally glancing behind them. The guards seemed miles away and none could be found in sight.
"I think we lost them." He panted, stopping to rest by a fruit stand. "I need to go back and get Abu!"
She shook her head defiantly. "You can't! We have to make sure they're not right around the corner!" She warned, looking around nervously. Was she just stalling? Kae took a deep breath. "Follow me. I'll take you to the tower. You can see Abu from there."
He stubbornly followed her, sheilding our faces with long pattern cloth we nabbed off a nearby stand. They blended in with the crowd, headed towards the abandoned home beside the Tower. It overlooked the marketplace and the castle's back gardens. You'd have a perfect view of the sunset there.
Finally, they came towards the tall brick building. Kae motioned him in, and he followed with reluctance. Up seven flights of stairs, she got to the rooftop. "You stay here?" He asked, looking around at the filth and cobwebs littering the floor. "You're not a very good thief." He folded his arms across his muscled torso with an amused smirk, despite just losing his pet monkey.
She laughed, pointing to the thin makeshift bridge from the rooftop leading to the next building's top floor room. "We cross that to get to my house, The Tower." Kae replied, stepping onto the bendy wooden bridge. "Careful. Don't look down!" She warned, making her way across the bridge like a tighrope walker.
Kae heard him scoff. "I can handle heights." He said, and she felt him step onto the bridge behind her. With a secret smile, she purposely stomped on the right side of the bridge. It creaked and almost flipped over, and a yelp escaped his mouth. His hands flailed around, landing on her hips to steady himself.
"Er ... sorry." He hesitated and let go. His touch is so warm... Kae sighed to herself.
"I thought you could handle heights."
He shrugged, one step behind me as she jumped through the window, pushing the scarlet curtains aside.
She hoped it didn't look messy. Kae had several trunks opened in a corner, over flowing with clothes and jewelry, among other stolen goods. A silver birdcage hung by the window, where a happily-cawing Habarga sat perched.
"Oh, um, meet my bird, Habarga. Saved me from a fire a while ago, and is a native bird of Agrabah." Kae explained, hastily shutting the trunks. He looked around, and the expression on his face was impressed.
"Habarga. Hmm. Agrabah backwards. Ver clever." He mumbled, approaching the raven. Habarga squawked shyly, tucking her face beneath her wings. He laughed one more, sighing.
Kae sat in a corner stool, pulling a velvet cushion onto my lap and squeezing it. "If you're gonna stay here, you'd better give me a name to call you by." She said, awaiting a response.
He looked her way, eyes locking. "I'm not planning to stay long. I need to get my monkey." He cast a glance out the window. "But ... you can call me the Prince of the Streets." He answered jokingly.
"Ah, really?" She asked with mock fascination. "Then call me the Princess of the Streets." Kae grinned. "Streetrat royalty, we are."
He pulled up a stool next to her. "Streetrat royalty. I like that." He said after a moment of thought.
Kae could tell by the way he spoke and looked around that he was definatley uncomfortable. While thinking for some topic to ease the tension, a booming voice yelled out and startled them. Rushing to the window, they saw a large guard holding a tied-up Abu on a wooden pole.
He waved it around like a crude flag. Aladdin and I stared, mouths agape. "That bastard!" We gasped.
But the guard simply grinned. "Aladdin, we know you're out there with the theif-girl, Kae! You have three days to turn yourself and the beetle pin in before your precious monkey gets it!" A cruel laugh stretched his wide mouth open, revealing blackened teeth.
WIth a final thrust in the air, he handed the pole to a smaller guard beside him, mumbling something into his ear that made him erupt in high-pitched giggles.
"Oh god!" Aladdin groaned. There was nothing Kae felt like she could do ... for now.
"We'll get him back! You'll see. Us scoundrels know how to improvise in situations like this."
With a weak smile, he looked into my eyes. "We're not just scoundrels. We're streetrat royalty."
The Other Princess of Agrabah by Jae