Prologue

As dusk fell, dust and sand flew around as the night wind picked up and the sand dunes had an eerie silence around them. The desert was a vast expanse of sand and had no cities for many, many miles around, but one lone rider knew exactly where he was going.

A man, short in stature, rode a black horse across the desert, kicking up debris in his wake. A cloth was tied around his head like a turban and he was swathed in rags. His white complexion was smooth and his cat-like eyes were outlined with black, giving him an unnatural glare.

As he skirted yet another sand dune another rider caught his eye in the distance. He increased his pace and eventually reached his companion. "I have what you want, Sadiq," he said, ignoring a greeting.

"Very good, Gupta. I knew you would get it. Now give it to me," Sadiq commanded as the one in rags stepped down form his horse. Sadiq was better dressed than his unfortunate partner, a black and red cloak and a red fez graced his frame while a plain white mask rested across his eyes. A hair, splitting in opposite directions lay at the base of his neck as a small brown cat, with the same hair on its head, flicked it lazily with its tail.

Gupta reached his hand into the folds of his clothes and produced half of a small beetle pendant. "What about your end of the deal?" he asked without any emotion

"First the pendent."

"First my reward."

Sadiq laughed, the cat on his shoulder moved restlessly. "You ask for your reward yet your job isn't even complete yet," he smiled. "Once you do as I say you will have treasure beyond your wildest dreams." Moments passed before Gupta reluctantly passed him the pendent.

Sadiq took it greedily, fishing for something in his own pocket. He produced an almost exact replica of the metal beetle, and without hesitation brought the two together.

A blinding light erupted where the two pieces touched and seemed to come to life. It zoomed out of the man's hands and flew across the sand at an alarming speed.

"After it!" Sadiq yelled as they both leapt back onto their horses and galloped after the flying beetle. With the magical pendent still in sight they raced through the desert, silently and quickly. Just as fast as the beetle started flying though it stopped and dove into the sand.

The Earth shook and sand rose high up into the air. As the two riders stood watching, the sand formed into a gigantic tiger head with flowing orange eyes.

"Who dares disturb my slumber!" the tiger spoke, shaking the landscape. Its voice was dark and raspy and the very sound sent shivers down their spines.

Gupta slowly walked over to the large monstrosity, giving a few glances back to Sadiq. "It is I, Gupta, just a humble thief," he said in a quiet voice. The head seemed to analyze him silently, air slowly filtering through his open mouth and Gupta could see a faint yellow shine come from inside.

"Only one may enter here. The diamond in the rough." It spoke once again, before Gupta could take another step forward. He took one last glace at Sadiq, but the sinister man quickly shooed him off. "Go, bring me the lamp." He hissed. The small cat on his shoulder awoke yet again from his sleep and looked towards the thief's predicament.

"Where did you get his weirdo?" he asked his master, being careful to keep his voice low.

Sadiq glanced down at the small cat for only a second before his gaze went back to the thief, "He is only doing our dirty work. He does not matter and once we have the lamp, all our troubles will be over and we won't need him anymore."

Gupta, his face still expressionless, could see the man talking, but to whom, he did not know. He turned back around to face the entrance to the Cave of Wonders, and ever so slowly, started forward. He reached the mouth in four steps and paused. Air breezed over him, slightly moving his rags. His right leg seemed to move mechanically as he placed it on the first step, his weight gradually setting on it.

The quiet thief let out a breath he didn't know he had when nothing happened. Just as he was about to take another step though, the ground started to shake. It rumbled and roared as Gupta turned to run away, but he didn't make it. The tiger's mouth snapped closed, crushing him and seemed to melt as the sand turned to normal. The wind picked up and sand flew around, making Sadiq cover his eyes in protection.

The tiger's head deflated and its eyes stopped glowing. "Only one may enter! The diamond in the rough!" it bellowed one last time. A minute later, all that was left of the Cave of Wonders was a small sand hill with two halves of a beetle pendent sliding down it. When Sadiq uncovered his face, nothing was left. He cursed in frustration and the little cat on his shoulder jumped down onto the sand.

"Now what?" the little cat meowed as his claws sifted through the sand. "We don't have the lamp. You said he would get it for us. Did he? No. Instead he gets crushed by a giant sand tiger head."

Sadiq didn't answer. He ignored his companion and picked up the two halves of the pendent and slipped it into his pocket.

"Be patient, Heracles," the cat looked up, eyes narrowing at the sound of his name.

"What do we do now? Wait here until we get another thief to volunteer his life?"

"No, we find him." Sadiq noticed the confusion in the cat's eyes and continued. "The diamond in the rough. We find the diamond in the rough, and then we get the lamp." He chuckled as he strode back to his horse. Heracles climbed on his shoulder as he stared down at the cat, "and then, we will have want we want."

I told you that i would continue this whole little Disney-Hetalia series! I showed you! Well I am not far AT ALL *cough still chapter 1 cough* BUT i thought that if i actually uploaded the prolouge, it would push me to write faster and get me motivated cause i wouldn't want you guys to wait awhile. As you can see by the title, Antonio...i hope you can guess what Disney story it is. If you can't...then something is clearly wrong with your brain and you might want to get it checked out. It uses the first name of the main character so i did it for Hetalia.

So anywho, i hope you like this. Reviews are encouraged so i know if i should continue this or not.

Editor/Helper/Annoying loudmouth Dane:Moonlight-Is-My-Innocence

~Maple