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 contrased 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?"