The Sand Storm (version 2)

Arthur walked for days through the desert, through sandstorms, through the cliffs, and over the hills.

One day, he tiredly walked through jagged rocks. But his foot got caught on one of them, and he tripped. He took off his torn sandal and threw it away from him. Then he removed his gold armbands, wristbands, and pendant and took off the ring Lester gave him. He was about to throw the ring away, but he looked at it for a minute and put it back on his finger, as a reminder of the bond he had with Lester and his last fateful day in Egypt. He took off his wig, and threw it aside. Sand started to blow towards him and buried the wig.

A sandstorm began to brew, and Arthur didn't move from his spot and had himself covered in sand and buried under it, waiting for his fate.

The next day when the sandstorm subsided, a camel was walking along until he came over to a tuft of blonde hair in the sand. The camel sniffed it and took at bit of it, bringing Arthur up from the sand. He looked up tiredly at the camel and it spat the hair on his head, much to the young man's disgust.

The camel started walking away, and Arthur noticed the water container on the side of the saddle. "Hey, wait!" he replied, as he pulled himself out of the sand and ran over to the camel. He grabbed the water container, and the camel started dragging him somewhere. After what seemeed like a while, Arthur tiredly held onto the water container until the camel brought him to an oasis where a flock of sheep where having a drink of water in a stone pool.

Arthur let go of the water container and looked at the water in the pool. Relieved at seeing water for the first time in days, he leaped to the pool, dunked his head into the water, and started drinking it. He took a breather and looked up to see a sheep drop his jaw and baa in shock. His relief was cut short when he heard some children screaming, and one of them exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"

"Help!" the other voice called out.

"Let our sheep drink!" a third voice exclaimed.

Arthur looked over the sheep to see a couple of men harrassing a trio of girls.

One of the men was 6 feet, 2 inches, tall and very slender, with bony, gangly limbs and fingers, usually bent bent legs, and a noticeable hunchback, wearing a white long-sleeved tunic, a long dark green skirt, and black sandals. His name was Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

The other man was tall and slender with black hair and a scarred face, wearing a heart-shaped eyepatch on the left eye, a red long-sleeved tunic, a long matching skirt, and black sandals. He was known as the Knave of Hearts.

One of the girls was 17 years old with fair skin, dark pink lips, long dark brown hair, and dark blue eyes, wearing a black sleeveless, turtleneck-styled bedlah top, a matching skirt, and transparent matching sashes on her arms. Her name was Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.

The second girl was 15 years old with fair skin, long orange hair, a long neck, and blue eyes, wearing a red bedlah top with transparent matching frills on the bottom, a white sarong, red Arabian pants, and olive green Arabian shoes. She also wears a transparent red veil covering her nose and mouth. Her name was Candace Flynn, Vanessa's younger sister.

The third and last girl was 10 years old with fair skin, long black hair, and blue eyes, wearing a lavender bow, a matching tank top, and a matching skirt with gold lining. Her name was Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Vanessa and Candace's younger sister.

The Knave of Hearts was taking water from a well while Vanessa and Isabella tried to pull him away, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz was shoving a sheep away while Candace yelled, "Leave us alone, you big, dumb bullies!"

"Stop it!" Isabella screamed.

Arthur was angry, seeing the men tormenting the three girls, but he thought there was nothing he could do to stop them. He looked the other way and saw a couple of camels with their reins tied to some pegs on the ground. He knew they belonged to the two thugs. Then he thought of an idea, snuck over to the camels, and untied the reins.

"My father's the high priest of Midian! You're going to be in big trouble!" Vanessa shouted, as the Knave of Hearts held her arm, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz grabbed Candace and Isabella and they shoved them aside. Arthur got their attention and called to them, "Hey, you! Aren't these your camels?" He pointed to the camels he was holding beside him with a smirk.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz and the Knave of Hearts looked at him with begging faces, knowing what Arthur was going to pull on them. The young man commanded the camels to go, and the thugs ran after them as they yelled, "No, no, no, no!"

"Wait!" The Knave of Hearts panted.

"Wait! Stop!" Dr. Doofenshmirtz called to the camels as they ran after their runaway camels. The girls watched them run and they turned to see Arthur leaning against the well in exhaustion. Suddenly, the well's wall crumbled, and Arthur fell in it with a yelp and a loud splash.

The girls rushed over to the well and saw the young gentleman trying to stay afloat in the water. They grabbed the well and started pulling him back up. As they helped Arthur up, a familiar young woman, also their older sister, came over and laughed, "What are girls doing?"

"We're trying to get the funny man out of the well." Isabella said, as she and her sisters pulled the rope.

Alice came over to the well and chuckled, "Trying to get the funny man out of the well. Well, that's one I've never heard before." She still looked the same since escaping Egypt the other day.

She heard Arthur let out a loud yelp from the well and gasped, hearing his voice, "Oh, my." She called down to him, "Oh, uh, d-don't worry down there! Uh, we'll get you out! Hold on!" She grabbed the rope and helped the girls pull Arthur up. She saw Arthur all soaking wet and said with a glare, "You!"

Arthur looked at her and recognized her as the Median girl from the banquet back in Egypt that he helped escape. Alice knew this would be a good chance at getting her revenge on Arthur for humiliating her at the banquet, and with a smirk, she let go of the rope, and Arthur fell down the well with a yell, and a loud splash was heard at the bottom.

The girls looked down, and Alice just shrugged with a smile. She simply smiled, "Mm-hmmm." She walked away from the well, and the girls watched her leave. Vanessa scoffed, as she put her hands on her hips, "That's why Father says she'll never get married."

Some of the Medianites helped Arthur out of the well, and he was in a tent, naked and getting cleaned by some ladies. Cinderella dumped some water on his head, and she and Anastasia Tremaine started to washing his armpits, arms, chest, and even behind his ears. Arthur stammered as the women washed him, "You don't have to do this. Ladies, please, I'm really...I'm really quite..."

Drizella Tremaine started washing his feet, and Arthur chuckled nervously, "No, not there, please."

The women kept washing him and he chuckled, "That tickles. Ladies, you've cleaned every inch of me." He shot up in suprise with a small gasp and chuckled nervously, "Whoa! I guess I was wrong." He looked over and saw Alice and the girls peeking through the tent and laughing at him. Their laughter was cut short when they heard a man's voice say to them, "Let me through, let me through. I want to see him!"

The girls moved away, and an obese English man with fair skin, a big nose, and both a red mustache and hair, wearing a heavy white tunic with thick gold lining, a matching headdress, and brown shoes, came in. His name was Sir Ector of Camelot, and he is, of course, the girls' father and the high priest of Median. He saw Arthur and smiled warmly, "Ah! You are most welcome."

Arthur covered his front with a towel, and Ector came over to him, gave him a bear hug, and lifted him up with his strength, nearly crushing Arthur. The girls laughed at their father's greeting to him, and Ector smiled as he covered Arthur with an orange sleeveless long, loose tunic, a burnt orange long-sleeved, loose robe, a matching sash tied around his waist, and brown sandals, "You should not be a stranger in this land. You have been sent as a blessing. And tonight, you shall be my honored guest." He chuckled in glee as he left the tent.

Alice went over to Arthur and said to him with a giggle, "My father, Sir Ector, high priest of Median." Arthur couldn't believe the girl he humiliated in Egypt and helped escape was really the daughter of a priest.