Road to Kalshahar

This is a Road to El Dorado fanfic in which Tulio, Miguel, Chel, Altivo and Bibo travel to India to find the city of Kalshahar. It was published on Fanfiction.net on May 12, 2003.
== Plot ==
It was midnight on the Indian Ocean, 1522. A galleon was gliding across the water, the waves gently rocking it like a baby's cradle. The crew was sleeping soundly in their beds, except for one. It was the captain, Albert van Schuester. He was a tall, thin man with ebony black hair and dark, wolf-like eyes which contrasted sharply with his chalky skin. He wore a brown jacket that hung loosely from his slender frame, beige trousers and black shoes. He gazed off into the distance, at the endless starry sky. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a voice saying, "It's time you retired to your chambers, sir." van Schuester turned around to see a short fat man walking onto the deck beside him. "In a moment, Andreas," came the steely, emotionless reply. "You'll look like a walking corpse tomorrow. You should get some beauty sleep." "Andreas, I've been thinking..." "About what?" Andreas sighed. He was cranky about being deprived of precious sleep. van Schuester continued, "I've been thinking about what lies across the ocean. About new lands." His Dutch accent was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Andreas facepalmed. "Get your head out of the clouds, van Schuester! That's all you seem to think about!" He turned on his heel and returned to his chambers. van Schuester continued to stare out to the horizon, and said, "Somewhere, just in our reach, is a new land. Chock full of riches. Just within my reach." van Schuester chuckled sinisterly.
The next day, Tulio and Miguel were in the marketplace of Seville. The merchants cried out, "Pistachios! Fish, we fry it, you buy it! Silk, imported from far off lands!" as the two conmen walked through town. They were accompanied by Chel, the girl they had met in El Dorado, Altivo, Cortes' former warhorse, and Bibo, the armadillo. "You know, Miguel," Tulio said, helping himself to an apple, "our lives have truly been eventful." "Seems like only yesterday we were mistaken for gods in El Dorado," Miguel sighed, thinking back to the life of luxury. Altivo was drinking water out of a barrel, when a man ran up to him yelling, "Shoo! That's the water I sell to the public!" In response, Altivo spat out his drink through his teeth at the man. He was truly displeased and marched off, cursing. "Miguel, that horse is gonna get us in trouble, one day," Tulio mouthed to his friend. The group continued to walk through the town. Then, out of the blue, an elderly man dressed in rags and walking with the aid of a cane hobbled up to them. "Ah, if it isn't the famous El Dorado travellers!" he screamed. "Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in." "Who's that?" Chel asked. "That's Jose," Miguel answered. "The town madman." "This guy makes Cortes and Tzekel Kan look like good friends," Tulio explained. He then turned to Jose. "The asylum let you out for fresh air?" Jose decided to ignore this comment and pulled Tulio and Miguel aside. "I have something I've been meaning to give to you," the madman whispered. His eyes shifted from side to side and looked as though they might pop out his skull. Finally, he fished an ancient looking map out of his pocket. It had several images on it, including that of an ancient city. "What's this?" Miguel asked, curiously. Jose answered, "This is the map to Kalshahar." "Kalsa-what?" Tulio raised one eyebrow. "Kalshahar''. It's an ancient Indian city. Thousands of years old." Tulio opened his mouth, but Jose cut him off. "Of course, many have died trying to find it. But, you could succeed." He chuckled, "Adios!" before retreating.
After Jose left, Miguel snatched the map out of Tulio's hands and exclaimed, "Miguel! This map could be our key to fame and fortune! We'll be rich!" "Hold that thought, Miguel." Tulio raised his hand, stopping his friend. "Why would we risk our lives again just to look for gold?!" "Tulio, think about it. We'll be treated like royalty. Like El Dorado all over again!" Miguel then proceeded to put on the puppy dog eyes. Chel said, "You better believe him, Tulio." At this point, Tulio threw his arms up in surrender. "Fine! We'll go!" "Yes!" Miguel cheered. Tulio then thought to himself, Question is, how are we gonna get there? He then saw a massive galleon approaching the dock. It was decorated with flags of horizontal red, white and blue stripes. The flag of the Netherlands. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" The group disguised themsleves as sailors and snuck onto the ship. The captain, van Schuester, was busy talking to Cortes. "It's a pleasure to do business with you, Cortes." "Thank you, it's the least you can do," Cortes replied. van Schuester nodded and bidded them farewell in Dutch. He and his men boarded the ship.
That was when he saw Miguel, Tulio and Chel disguised as sailors. Altivo was standing nearby, eating apples. "I've not seen you around here before," he said. He shrugged. "You must be newcomers." Miguel, in a terrible Dutch accent replied, "Ja, we are newcomers. From the Hague." Andreas, who was helping some men carry a heavy barrel, asked, "van Schuester, who are the new recruits?" "Just some landlubbers from the Hague." He turned to the group and pointed in their direction. "To the galley and make yourselves useful! I want a crew with full bellies tonight! It'll take at least three weeks to get to India! One, weather depending!" He marched off across the deck and consulted the crew. "India is only a few days away! We'll be there!" Miguel asked, "Tulio, what are we going to do?" Tulio replied, "We'll break out! Dead of night. We'll be out of here." That night, while the crew were sleeping, the group saw the opportunity to sneak out. "We'll leave our clothes in the ocean. That way, they'll think we drowned." He dressed some sacks in their outfits and threw them overboard. They then hijacked a lifeboat-just like in El Dorado-and tried sneaking in but Altivo began whinnying. "Altivo!" Miguel shushed. "The whole ship's gonna be up!" Tulio yelled. They landed in the water and Miguel began rowing. "Do you think they bought it?" Chel asked. Tulio said nothing, but crossed his fingers. On the ship, van Schuester came marching out of his chambers accompanied by several drowsy looking crew. "What happened?!" he snapped. Andreas replied, "Some of the crew fell overboard. We tried to rescue them, but they were lost to the water." He held the sodden outfits. Andreas sighed and said, "Take off your hats in respect. This tragedy shall not hinder our mission."
The next morning, the group had reached land. "We're here!" Miguel cheered. Tulio followed suit. "Yes! India!" The two celebrated. Chel rolled her eyes. "We follow the trail to Kalshahar!" Miguel proclaimed. They trekked through the jungle and came across several landmarks. One of them was a huge lake. A whole host of animals were gathered around it. A herd of chital deer were drinking peacefully. A flock of parrots were perched in a tree close to the the water's edge. A tiger lazed under a rock, ready to hunt in the cool of the night. As the group took a refreshing drink, Miguel pointed. "Look!" A herd of elephants had arrived at the water to bathe and slake their thirst. "Ya might wanna get out the way!" Miguel said. Tulio moved out of the way, but too late. One of the elephants sprayed water out of its trunk, and Tulio was thoroughly soaked to his skin. The others laughed, while Tulio simply scowled. "That is not funny!" They then approached a huge rock outcrop. A massive sloth bear was approaching them and Tulio decided it was a good idea to run. The group then approached a huge temple complex. "This place must be at least 2000 years old!" Tulio cried. Then, he realised they weren't alone. Dark familiar eyes began peeking out and soon the group were surrounded by monkeys. The curious primates began climbing all over Miguel and Tulio. "Get off, you little apes!" Tulio fell to the ground, as the monkeys tickled him. After leaving the temple, they moved onto a large rock formation.
Tulio looked down and saw an enormous python constricting his waist. He prised the enormous snake off of him and it slithered away. Miguel then saw a huge king cobra slithering up to him. After a while, the snake hissed angrily at them and slithered off into the jungle. The group then approached rock with a tiger's face carved into it. "I wonder what they call get this then?" Miguel asked. Tulio responded, "Tiger Rock or something like that?" Before Miguel could ask the blatantly obvious question, "Why would they call it that?" a huge Bengal tiger came charging out of the undergrowth, snarling. "That would be why," Chel quipped. The travellers took off screaming through the jungle, with the tiger chasing after them. Just as the huge beast had his quarry cornered and was moving in for the kill, the group's saving grace came when a group of lion-tailed macaques resting in some nearby trees gathered. The monkeys armed themselves with fruit and began taking aim. The tiger roared in anger as he was pelted and retreated into the jungle.
The monkeys swung off and Miguel panted, "That was close." Then Tulio whispered, "Look." They followed him through the jungle, up the river and towards a huge waterfall. They walked straight through the waterfall and when they exited, they had approached an extravagant Hindu city. The architecture was marvellous and there were canals dissecting their way through the city streets. The group had arrived in Kalshahar: the lost city of the jungle. The citizens, who up to this point had been going about their business, turned and smiled at the travellers. "Wow, this seems like a warm welcome," Tulio proclaimed. Suddenly, the crowd parted. A huge Indian elephant was making its way towards the group. Sitting on top of it was a white-haired man dressed in extravagantly long robes and jewellery. Sitting next to him was a young man, about Chel's age, with black hair and dressed in robes of golden, red, white and pink and a golden medallion. The elephant was flanked by several soldiers on horseback, and stopped in front of the dumbfounded group. The man and his son dismounted and approached them. "It appears we have visitors," he smiled. He then said to the travellers, "Welcome to Kalshahar. I am King Ashoka. This is my son, Prince Raju."  Tulio answered, "I'm Tulio. This is my friend, Miguel. This is Chel, the horse is Altivo and the armadillo is Bibo."
Prince Raju smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He had a Tamil accent you could cut with a knife. "Come we will take you to the palace." Tulio said, "Palace? Now we're really getting the royal treatment!" The group walked through the marketplace towards King Ashoka's palace. It was a huge gilded building with towers which seemed to touch the clouds. The domes were enormous and rounded. The palace was surrounded by towering walls and inside this was an extraordinary royal garden. There was a huge pond and a fountain in the center. The garden had also attracted some of the local wildlife. Peacocks flashed their exuberant tail plumage. Parrots flew overhead. Monkeys swang from the trees. Deer grazed near the water. The group walked through the gardens and into the palace. The interior was even more amazing than the city itself. It was decorated with several murals and paintings and there were statues everywhere. There was even a huge pool. The group walked past the feasting hall. It was so huge, you could fit the entire city in there. The group then entered the king's throne room. It was enormous and gilded. There were tapestries hanging off the ceiling and at the centre was the the throne. It was shaped like a lion and had a red silk cushion on it.
"This is purely amazing!" Tulio felt as though he had entered the gates of heaven. The amount of gold here makes El Dorado look more like a village, he thought. Another man entered the room. He had greying hair and was dressed in long robes of blue, gold, white and red and wore a lot of jewellry. He was accompanied by a young woman. She had ebony hair falling past her shoulders and was dressed in a red and gold sari, with several bangles on her right wrist and a golden necklace. "Who's that?" Miguel asked. Ashoka replied, "That's King Sabu of Manjahar. He's a close friend of mine." "Who's the babe?" Raju answered, "That is Princess Indira. She's destined to be my wife." Sabu bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my old friend, Ashoka." "And you as well, Sabu." Suddenly, Indira enquired, "Who are the visitors?" Tulio thought hard and then he replied, "We're ambassadors from..." he racked his brains trying to think of somewhere far from Kalshahar. "...Babylon." Sabu nodded, "Babylonian ambassadors, you say? I'm impressed."  "We haven't heard from Babylon for several years. To send ambassadors out of the blue. Quite a rare event." The prince raised his eyebrows. Then King Ashoka said, "We're having a feast later this evening. I wager you'll be joining us?" The two men-and Chel-clamoured "Yes, of course we'll be there." Sabu clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! I'll leave you to get ready! I'll stable your horse." The servants ushered the group into another room. Tulio told Miguel, "Ya know, we are really on cloud nine." 
Meanwhile, some distance away, the Dutch ship was moored offshore. van Schuester and his men walked onto the beach. "Here we are, men. The jungles of India. If we're lucky, we'll find Kalshahar." "If the tigers don't get us first!" Andreas whispered to some other sailors. "Did I say something to make you laugh, Andreas?" van Schuester whipped round and scowled at Andreas, who meekly shook his head. "Wait a second." van Schuester stooped down and noticed some footprints in the sand. "Footprints. Someone must have arrived before us. We'll follow the trail to Kalshahar." They headed off into the jungle. At the palace, the evening was really in full swing. The table in the feasting hall was set. The food was exotic and the table was surrounded by royal figures. Tulio and Miguel were dressed in long robes of blue, gold, red and white. Chel wore a green and golden sari with golden earrings. The two men were stuffing their faces, while the guests looked on, decidedly appalled. Indira whispered to her father, "I know this sounds rude, but I think I've seen monkeys with better table manners than our guests!" Sabu added, "Even I have to admit the guests are prestigious but have etiquette like animals!" King Ashoka was sitting at the other end of the table. Prince Raju was sitting next to him. He stood up and cleared his throat. "It is with great honor that we raise a toast to our guests!" he announced. The guests raised their chalices. Another man entered the room. Unlike the king, he was so thin he looked as though he hadn't eaten in years. He had black hair and he wore red and yellow robes, which looked as though they were sagging off his skeletal frame.
"Ah, Chirag!" King Ashoka rubbed his hands together. "Please, welcome the visitors." "It is a..." Chirag stopped to think for the right word. "...pleasure to have visitors from outside the kingdom visiting us." He said the word pleasure as if it were some filthy obscenity. "Yes, we're happy to meet you too." The feast continued long into the night. As the travellers headed off to their chambers, Prince Raju pulled them aside. He whispered, "Chirag is my father's advisor. I don't trust him." "Why?" Tulio mouthed. "It's...a long story," Raju replied. Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, van Schuester and his men were setting up camp for the night. "Come on, men! Put a bit of elbow grease into it! We'll get to Kalshahar if it kills us!" "Or if the tigers kill us!" one of the sailors cried. van Schuester, who was mildly annoyed, stormed over and whipped out a rapier. "If you don't stop complaining, I'll kill you myself!" "No, I'm serious!" The sailor pointed and a huge tiger was approaching them. He was moving in for the kill. That was when van Schuester picked up a gun and screamed, "Leave, or I'll turn you into a fur rug!" He fired several shots, but the tiger eventually retreated into the jungle.
"There. Now that oversized tomcat can't bother us." van Schuester defiantly slung the gun to the ground. He went on, "Alright, boys. Let's get some beauty sleep." The sailors finished pitching their tents and settled down for the night. At the palace, Tulio and Miguel were settling down in their royal chambers. "Miguel, we are well and truly in the lap of luxury." Tulio kicked off his shoes. Miguel lounged on a couch. He replied, "Yes. I'm not saying I didn't like El Dorado, but this tops it." Chel entered and said to the two men, "Alright, boys. I'm just gonna head to my room. See you in the morning."  She strutted away. As the group fell asleep for the night, Chirag snuck out of the palace and into the jungle.
Meanwhile, at the Dutch camp, everyone was sleeping. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps woke all the campers, including van Schuester. "Who's there?" he snapped, picking up his gun. He saw who it was. "And you are?" van Schuester enquired, lowering his weapon. "I am Chirag," the man replied stepping out of the darkness. "The Royal Advisor to the King of Kalshahar."
"You know, now that you mention it, we're searching for Kalshahar." "Well, there are two new ambassadors from Babylon over there."
Category:Fan Fiction