a d e s e r t {{ROSE [open]

[ferdinand]

Prince Ferdinand easily stood out among the natives of Agrabah. His fair skin, his colorful attire, and the magnificent white stallion that followed him most certainly gave him away. He was merely passing through the city on another of his many travels. Having wandered through the desert for a while had made finding Agrabah a welcomed relief.

The boy was fascinated by his surroundings. They were very different from anything he'd ever known. The people, the architecture, the culture - everything! Ferdinand knew that he'd have many stories to tell Snow White when he returned home. Thinking about his beloved wife caused the Prince to pause momentarily and sigh. How he missed her! She meant the world to him, and to be away from her for even a moment caused him heartache. It just so happened that as he stood there, his eyes settled on a booth nearby.

The seller was selling many different jewels, all looking rather expensive. Of course, money was no object to Ferdinand; he'd plenty of gold to spend. While the Prince wouldn't have normally bothered with the salesman (many of the booths were owned by rather shady characters), a particular necklace caught his eye. It was gold, with a large ruby in the center. "How wonderful that would look on Snow White!"[/color] he thought to himself, smiling. It'd be a different sort of gift for a change, rather than the usual bouquet of wildflowers Ferdinand brought her.

Deciding to take his chances with the salesman, the Prince pulled on Kaiser's reins and walked towards the booth. Ferdinand was unsure if the seller would understand him, but it was certainly worth a try. "Excuse me, Sir! I happened to notice that particular necklace you have for sale. Might I buy it?"[/color] Lucky for him, the seller understood - spoke perfect English even! He offered it to the boy for a rather hefty price, but explained that it was because it real. Unlike the other sellers, this one didn't seem to be the cheating sort, so Ferdinand felt no reason to not trust him. It took only moments before the Prince was leaving with the necklace in hand, undoubtedly proud of himself.

[Carl Fredricksen]

Not everyone noticed it, but a dirigible (with "The Spirit of Adventure" written on the sides as a proud decoration of yesteryear) arrived outside of Agrabah's marketplace. It lowered until one could safely step off of it. Unsurprisingly, Carl Fredricksen, the current owner of The Spirit of Adventure, stepped out and walked inside the marketplace. It wouldn't be long before the dirigible rose out of any potential thief's reach; the dirigible was either sentient, or Carl had a crew inside.

The old, white-haired, bespectacled man in his late 70's, wearing an aviator cap and goggles above his glasses and attired in casual clothing for an elderly man, happily scurried through the marketplace, as if he were a man only in his 50's. He needed fresh fruit, but he wanted to visit someplace new in the process. Agrabah was a perfect compensation.

By coincidence, Carl ended up walking fairly close to Prince Ferdinand. They should have been noticeable to each other, considering they were literally the two men there with the lightest skin tone.

[ferdinand]

Ferdinand looked over the necklace dangling from his hand. As happy as he was with the buy, he wanted to be sure he hadn't been cheated. Being a prince, he'd seen plenty of jewels in his lifetime to be able to tell whether one was fake or not. It took little time at all for him to determine that the necklace was indeed real. All the better, for the redness of the ruby was like that of Snow White's lips.

At another stand, the Prince was able to purchase a matching set of gold and ruby earrings. Even better, since what would a necklace be without earrings to match? Not wanting the jewelry stolen, Ferdinand placed it all inside his tunic; that way, no one could pickpocket him without him feeling it. The boy had little tolerance for thievery and dishonesty, and there could be no doubt that he'd turn a pickpocket in to the proper authorities.

As Ferdinand continued down the street, his blue eyes continued to survey his surroundings. It just so happened that said eyes ended up settling on a small, elderly man. Normally, most people wouldn't have paid any mind; however, the Prince couldn't help but do so. The man was light-skinned as he was, and was wearing strange apparel. Being from the Middle Ages, it was no surprise that Ferdinand thought such; the man would probably think the same of him. Even so, the boy decided to strike up a conversation with the man. Perhaps the man had been here long enough to be able to help him find out where he was.

There was a warm smile on the Prince's face as he approached the man, waving to him to catch his attention. "Hello, Sir! I couldn't help but notice you. Might you be able to tell me where I am?"[/color] If Ferdinand had an idea of where he was, he could try to contemplate where he should go next.

[iago]

Ah the market place, the perfect spot to go for anything from dates to just people watching. The din of haggling customers, the lowing of the camels and other livestock intermingled with the softer sounds of the city.

It was also the perfect place to pick up suckers, as Iago had learned, if you said the right thing- people would be eating out of your hands in no time. He'd been about to convince a rather haughty looking woman that her pearl necklace wasn't all she thought it was when the murr of the market changed.

The red parrot flew off, taking a perch on one of the buildings balconies and easily spotting the flashy prince.

"Get a load of that guy. Geez, talk about your sour thumbs!" he flew down for a closer look, landing on a stall near Ferdinand. He spotted the other, older guy too. Sheesh, the Market was crawling with weirdos today.

[Carl Fredricksen]

The elderly man stopped and jerked slightly when he received the surprising, friendly welcome from a particularly handsome, young man. The old man's wrinkly face tugged as he smiled, and he waved lightly in return to both the man and his elegant horse.

"Afternoon!" the old man happily responded. "If I read my map correctly, we're in A-gra-bah." The bespectacled senior pronounced the location's name as if he wasn't entirely sure of the correct pronunciation, which was the case. He placed his hands (the left had a wedding ring on the appropriate finger) on his hips while continuing to smile.

"You're not from around here, are you?" he asked. "'Course, I'm not, either! Heh. The name's Carl." He offered an aged hand for a polite, gentlemanly shake. He continued smiling all the while. The old man was in high spirits. Just as he offered his hand, he noticed the colorful parrot...