Disclaimer: PoM and ToS do not belong to me.

"A cursed dagger made from the bone of a wicked dragon."

An interesting thing about Julian; he was just as, if not more, stubborn than Skipper. Maurice knew this. Mort understood it too. Marlene realized it, but not to it's full extent. Everyone else was clueless. But when something was interesting enough for King Julian to take an interest in it, he put his all into whatever it is.

Which is why he worked so hard to help the others find the Devil's Arms. He pushed past a nearby bush, looking for the next weapon in the lineup. He was with Maurice and Mort, as Marlene was confined to the Zoo. The penguins went in the other direction. And never, not ever, had Julian worked this hard before.

"Your majesty? Would you mind getting off your furry behind and helping us push this stone!" Maurice snapped at his leader. Julian, who was sipping a smoothy nearby where the three were working, looked up briefly from his drink and scratched his chin.

Finally, he responded, "No, you are doing alright on your own." Maurice growled, but continued pushing the boulder. The king lemur gave a smile towards his companions. They really were more like a family then they realized; maybe he should start treating them like it. Then again, if he did that, who would do all his stuff for him?

Something caught the king lemur's eye in the nearby bush, but it vanished in a second. Curiosity overwhelming him for a moment, Julian left his servants to push the heavy boulder, while searching for whatever it was that got his attention. Eventually, after a few minutes -Or if you were to ask Julian, a few hours- he pushed his way through a bush. And gasped.

There it was, in the middle of the forest. A red dagger was laying right there, in the sun, for anyone to see. The dagger was shaped like a bone, with the center part occupied by a green ball. Separating the blade and the handle was a strange ornament that looked like three human finger bones. And the entire thing seemed to shake.

Julian stared at the marvel, a strange feeling overwhelming him. It was as the others described finding a Devil's Arm to be like. Anxiety, fear, and every emotion in between came into play as he approached the dagger. But as he reached down to pick it up...

"Stop right there!" An accented voice called out, making the lemur king stop dead in his tracks. He turned to the direction of the voice, to find a squirrel who popped out of the brush, jumping upwards and landing on one foot, one knee, and his fist. He looked up from the ground. "That dagger belongs to ME, and me alone. Do not try to touch it!"

The lemur gasped with outrage. "NO. You did NOT just go there, my furry friend. That dagger hereby belongs to da KING! Which is me, by the way. Now, if you don't mind handing it over..."

The squirrel snarled. "You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!"

Placing a finger on his lips, Julian went into thought. "You know, that is a bit extreme. I mean, it's a sword-"

"The correct term is 'dagger'."

"Right. Dagger. And dagger's can be replaced." Julian inched his way towards the weapon as he spoke. When he arrived next to it, he outstretched his had towards it, slowly. "So, how about we let bygones be bygones and you give me the dagger?" Mere centimeters away from the blade, Julian's hand was smacked away by the squirrel.

"Enough of this!" The squirrel spat. "I will take my dagger, and you will leave." After finishing this statement, he attempted a roundhouse to Julian's head. The lemur ducked, just barely dodging it, grabbed the dagger, and ran for dear life. The squirrel was in hot pursuit.

Julian gripped the dagger tight to his small body, afraid of letting it drop. It was more instinct than anything that kept his fist from loosening it's grip, allowing the small blade to fall to the ground. He made the mistake of looking around, and found the squirrel hot on his heels. Hoping he didn't hear Julian gulp, the king ran as fast as he could ahead, hoping to lose his pursuer.

Now, as we all know, Julian is not the most athletically inclined of the gang of zoosters. Okay, you remember that, right? Good.

The lemur king felt something snag on his ankle, but didn't process it until he landed face-first in the mud. The dagger went soaring high into the sky, flipping and reaching the peak of it's ascent quickly. While he was watching this, he didn't notice another presence next to him in the mud. Apparently, the squirrel was just as bright as Julian. They watched the dagger fall, until it landed on the ground nearby, dagger first into the earth.

The two looked at each other, then at the dagger. They repeated this motion for a while before both sprang up, running for the Devil's Arm. If the squirrel even knew what it was. The squirrel pulled ahead of Julian, and for a moment he was afraid of losing. Then, an idea popped into his head. A crazy one, but it just might work.

Taking off his crown, Julian tossed it up into the branches. The crown, heavier than it looked, broke several branches on it's descent. It landed on the ground in front of the squirrel, who stopped. A moment later, he was covered in debris, leaving Julian to speed past. He picked up his crown on the way, making sure to give his opponent a wink for good measure. The squirrel growled.

He swept the dagger up as he passed, doing a one-eighty spin and stopping. "HA! Who is da master? ME! I'm da master! Better luck next time, Squirrel-face." And with that, Julian ran off. He traveled a few meters before someone called his name, getting his attention and causing him to crash into a tree. He dropped the dagger.

"Oh, you found another Devil's Arm..."

"Good job, Ring-Tail!"

"Excellent work, your majesty!"

"Congratulations!"

"HAHA!"

"Hooray for the king!"

"Yes I did; Thank you; Of course it was; Thank you; Ha-ha back; and OFF DA FEET!" Julian addressed Private, Skipper, Maurice, Kowalski, Rico, and Mort separately.

Skipper looked at it, puzzled. "But how exactly DID you find it?"

So Julian explained about his encounter with the squirrel. From the talk, to the chase, to the race. When he finished, he expected praise coming his way. Instead...

"Yeah, SURE Ring-Tail. And maybe the Sugar Plum Princess will come by personally to give us the next Devil's Arm." The king pouted.

"It's TRUE I swear!"

Kowalski butted in. "It's not nice to swear. We have a child in the vicinity." He gestured to Private, who was staring at his feet. Julian shrugged.

"Um, Skippah?" Private spoke. "Can we go back now? It's getting dark..."

"Good idea, soldier. C'mon, men. We'll continue this tomorrow." Skipper lead the penguins and lemur back to the habitat. Rico carried the weapons, Kowalski examined a list, probably drawn up by the Baboon, and Maurice and Mort were conversing about something he didn't care about. The only one silent and/or indifferent was Private. He walked behind the group, keeping a fair distance from Rico.

Julian pondered this for a moment, then shrugged. If something was up with the little penguin, than it wasn't his place to interfere. Besides, if something was wrong the other penguins would be acting on it, and they weren't. Therefore, he must be fine.

Oh, Julian, if only you knew.

Okay, a couple notes: Sorry for taking so long. I finished Tales of Symphonia for the fourth time, and now I have to play-through it again to get the Devil's Arms for the descriptions. That, on top of Writer's Block and stress about school starting, has prevented me from writing.

I really believe Julian is more observant and clever than most give him credit for. But not THAT much. I hope I got him right. I like to think I know the main characters well, besides Mort. More to come eventually.

In the meanwhile, please enjoy your in-flight meal. Don't like it? Toss it!