Abner and Becca relished on the success of their plan. It had by all means been a close one at first, but now that they were way up here so high in the sky, with nothing and no one to stand in between them and their vile goal, they had all the reasons to celebrate. They shared a hi-five and cheered.
"We did it, Abner!" Becca howled, "I can't believe we actually pulled it off!"
Abner was so excited he could just start dancing. "I know! I almost wanna pinch myself to make sure I ain't dreamin'!"
King Julien, on his part, was anything but that. Lying there on his side across the seats, all tied up and defenseless, he scoffed at his abductors. "Why are you doing this?!" he yelled at them. "Why can't you just let go of things, like Karl did?! Even he had a change of heart!"
Becca turned to face him, and maintaining an evil grin she said, "Why're we doin' this? Well, just think o' how sunny ev'ryone's gonna be when they learn the oppressive tyrant that's been rulin' over 'em for so many years is finally gone! I'd say we're doin' this kingdom a favor by gettin' rid o' ya!"
The king was simply speechless. Sure, the two rebels had tried to kill him in countless occasions before, but none of their plans had ever been particularly smart or well-thought out; easily dismantled and thwarted by simple intervention from his friends – or just by dumb luck. This however, was different. There was nobody to help him now. He was trapped up here with his fate, and right then was when he started thinking that this could really be the end for him.
Well, this is it... this is how KJ the Thirteenth, the greatest king of all time, dies... getting thrown out of a rusty sleigh and splattering on the ground like a spoiled mango on Christmas night. How unfitting...
He kept grimly going over such ghastly ideas in his mind, when Abner's voice brought him back.
"Well KJ, how's it feel to know ya won't be carryin' out that plan o' yours to shower us all with death, huh?"
"What?!" he said in an outburst of disbelief as he snapped out of it, eyes moving back and forth between the two, "What in Frank's name are you on about?! Death?!"
"It don't matter!" Becca raised her voice as she cut in, "We know yer takin' us all for a buncha idiots with this whole stupid Christmas nonsense and were schemin' somethin' awful with this sleigh thing, so obviously it's our mission as revolutionists to put a stop to it!"
Julien was about to argue something in objection, but the evil woman silenced him again. She didn't care about what he had to say.
Then Abner brought the sleigh ever-so-slightly higher, just in case the already massive fall wouldn't somehow be enough to do the job. He couldn't help but giggle a little in a twisted manner when he did so as he anticipated what they were about to do.
The rebels were finally ready to carry out the final phase of their plan: to kill the king of the lemurs once and for all. The height was optimal; one that would ensure nothing could survive the drop. From their position, they could almost reach up and touch the black clouds that covered the moon. The cold, hissing gushes of wind grazed the three lemurs and made them shiver.
Becca forced King Julien up to his feet and positioned him against the railing. Looking down, he yelped in fear at what he saw: the ground below was so far away that all the trees were but small blips within the sleeping jungle. He could also see the light coming from the towering Christmas tree at the heart of the kingdom, but this time there was no one celebrating around it. Even the ginormous great baobab – the island's most distinguished landmark – looked smallish from here.
Julien gulped down a lump in his throat, "Com – come on guys, this is insane! Listen, can't we settle this over a cup of Brown Julien? It'll make your insides all fuzzy and warm – make you think clearer!" he protested shakily in a poor attempt to convince them to let him go.
"Oh, we do plan to have some o' that later, after we're donewith ya! Start sayin' your bye byes, King Julien, 'cause yer gonna die!" Becca stated wickedly. "Madagascar'll finally be free, and we, the Lemur Alliance Liberation Army-
"LALA for short," Abner interjected from his position at the controls.
"Will be its liberators!" she finished with an air of drama. "Yer gonna pay for ev'rythin' you've done! Killin' Banana Guy Mike, poisonin' the waterin' hole, controllin' the weather to make it snow and freeze us all to death, gov'rnin' over us with an iron fist...!" she turned to Abner, "Er, what else, hun?"
"Um... bein' an awful artist, y'know, the kind whose paintings make ya wanna barf?" he proposed.
A horrible image of a painting depicting the king as a warped, tentacled monstrosity flashed on Becca's mind, which made her quiver and added to her feelings of scorn for the king.
"Yeah, that's right, that too!" Becca's voice then boomed with pride, savoring the coming victory. "Yer reign o' terror is over, and nobody's gonna save yer sorry tyrannic behind this time!"
She put a hand on His Majesty's back and was ready to throw him overboard. Julien wanted to scream as he felt himself slipping over the edge... when a loud roar suddenly rose from somewhere behind them. One that wasn't coming from their sleigh. Veering his head behind their vehicle to see what was up, the king's eyes brimmed with untold happiness as he spotted the source of it: a shiny flying object with two people riding on it, coming at them at high speed. He instantly recognized those figures. The unmistakable bright orange fur of his bodyguard, and the elegant brown shape of... it can't be.
"Oi, that's what ya think, you bloody bumpkins!" a female British-accented voice echoed in the wind. The criminals turned around and gasped, stunned: Clover and Karl were flying right on their six in hot pursuit, chasing after them on the latter's chair.
"Aw shoot, it's Clover! With Karl!" Abner pointed in alarm, stepping away from the controls. Becca was so surprised to see them that she just froze in place like a deer in headlights. Her hand was still pressed against Julien's back, and he was dangerously close to tipping over the railing and to his inevitable doom.
"Unhand the king immediately, you despicable fiends!" the fanaloka yelled at the villains. He then turned to the lemur girl. A small indicator on the right armrest had started bleeping shortly after take-off, and a small screen warned him that the fuel tanks' reserves were at barely over 1% – only enough to last slightly over a minute or two more. His features hardened, and he lifted his voice over the wailing of the wind and the combined work of a half-dozen rocket engines. "Clover, I'm sorry to announce that I must land right away; my fuel reserves are at an all-time low! I will not be able to assist you any longer!"
But Clover gave him an uplifting nod. "Gotcha! I'll just figure something out; I've been doing this kinda thing my whole life, y'know? I 'ppreciate the ride though!"
After wishing her luck, Karl commanded his chair a little closer and to the right of the sleigh, until both machines were soaring side by side about a meter away from each other. With that, Clover leaped off and boarded the sleigh with a short roll as Karl veered off. Meanwhile, taking advantage of her state of shock, King Julien shoved Becca back with his shoulder, freeing himself from her hold and safely falling back onto the seats. He couldn't be any happier to see his bodyguard. As he looked at his kidnappers' dumbfounded, fear-stricken faces, he lifted his brow at them as if telling them you're so screwed now!
"Clo-Clo, thank Frank you're here! Boy, am I glad to see you!" he rejoiced.
The Captain of the Ringtail Guard clenched her hands into fists as she took one step forward. Her teeth were gritted, and a dangerous fire burned in her emerald eyes. Then she slowly spoke in a low voice, "You have the nerve to kidnap my king, after he invites you to a feast out of the kindness of his heart, then plan to kill him...? On Christmas?" she smacked her fist into her other palm and cracked her knuckles. "Bold. Move."
This made Abner and Becca wince and back away. If any of them had been wearing pants, they sure would've been soiled by now.
"Abner...?" Becca meekly said, not moving a hair.
"...Ye – yeah?"
"What do we do now? This wasn't part o' the plan..."
Abner quickly had to think of something. Although fear overrode most of his thinking processes, an idea soon popped up in his mind; it was absolutely crazy, but it was all he could come up with in such a situation. He held his hands up as he slowly shuffled his way back towards the control panel. "A'ight woman, no need to break our faces; let's all just calm down 'ere... I'mma comply and land this thing all nice and slow... then ya can have yer king."
Clover stood where she was, eyeing him with a deathly glare while keeping tabs on Becca as well. Abner just hoped she didn't suddenly snap and throw them both overboard herself. Instead, the crowned lemur immediately went for the king and snapped the ropes binding him.
"Are you okay, Your Majesty?" she asked him with concern while helping him up and looking him over for any signs of physical harm. When the king confirmed he was fine (minus the scare) with a big smile, she turned again to his kidnappers, while he hid behind her. Pure venom laced her voice when she opened her mouth. "Alright. Now be a good pair of morons and I may just break your arms instead of killing you. Land this thing! NOW!"
Abner flinched at that last part, then nodded in compliance as his hands drifted around the controls. He gripped the control lever... and then, with all the strength he could gather, he ripped it right out of its socket in one swift move. When it came off with a distorted metallic screech, a bright outburst of golden sparks spewed from the now-empty and damaged socket.
"Aha! I gotcha now, chumps!" he exclaimed proudly as he brandished his new makeshift club. More, smaller sparks burst around, and an alarm began ringing out from somewhere, almost drowning out the blast of the thrusters. A red light blinked repeatedly on the dashboard.
Without that lever, they had lost all directional control over the sleigh.
"Abner, ya dope! What've you done?!" Becca shouted in alarm and brought her hands to her head.
"I just got us a weapon to defend ourselves with!"
Clover's already furious expression hardened even further. "Just try it, peabrain! Make your move!" she snarled, stretching her arms to her sides in a protective stance as she stood in between the villains and her king. She mentally scolded herself for not seeing a tactic like this coming. Then she turned her head back at Julien and pointed at the empty compartment behind the seats, "King Julien, take cover! I'll take care of these two!"
Heeding her order without question, he vaulted over to the large cavity, where he withdrew and watched, waiting for his bodyguard to take care of the rest. The fact that she was here eased his worries so much and made him feel safe.
Right then, Abner went for the attack with a cry and lashed at Clover with a swipe of the lever, only for her to dodge to his left so fast he didn't have time to register it. Confused, he looked around, but it was like she had vanished out of thin air. Then, appearing right behind him, Clover reared her arm back.
"Hun, behind ya!" Becca warned him.
Abner spun around, and his face suddenly came into contact with the crowned lemur's powerful fist. Absorbing the full force of her straight punch, he flew back and collided against the seats, where he sank onto the floor. The lever was dropped beside him with a metallic thunk, and he grasped his rapidly swelling muzzle in his hands, grunting in pain as he lay there, "Ahhh! I think that crazy woman just broke my nose!"
To fuel his anger, Julien was cheering his assailant on like this was a fun game to him.
Becca didn't take it kindly to see that.
"Yer gonna pay for that!" she hissed angrily over the shriek of the alarm, "We ain't only gonna off yer precious king, yer goin' down with 'im too!" She took the fallen tool and lifted it over her head, then swung it down with the intent of smashing it on Clover's skull. However, the expert fighter effortlessly stopped her attack – she grabbed Becca's wrist mid-swing and kicked her on the chest, knocking her back and causing her to drop the weapon, which Clover picked up and flung overboard. The lever plummeted to the endless dark void below, never to be seen again.
"You're out of options... give up!" she ordered. "Before I stop going easy on you!"
But Becca wasn't going down without a fight this time. She and Abner were closer to achieving their goal than they had ever been before, and by Frank nobody was gonna ruin their plan when triumph was so close she could almost taste it. And even though it terrified her to go up against Clover on her own, and knew she was no match against her, she valiantly stood her ground. She forced herself back to a standing position with slight difficulty and gritted her teeth at Clover – a move that honestly surprised the orange lemur.
"Never!" she yelled at her, "This is our master plan, and nobody's gonna ruin it; not even ya!"
The bodyguard adopted a battle stance, a mirthless smirk slowly splitting her lips. Her patience with them had run out. "Fine... have it your way then. Better for me." At incredible speed, she hurled herself straight at Becca and tackled her, both of them somersaulting over the seats and crashing onto the big compartment next to a cowering King Julien. Clover pinned her wicked enemy down to the red floor and raised her fists to pummel her face into oblivion with a flurry of punches, when the king caught sight of Abner recovering from the earlier punch and coming at them to help his partner.
"Hey Clover, watch out!" he alerted his protector.
Clover whipped around in a split second and shot out her left hand to grip Abner's throat as he lunged at her, then headbutted him with bone-shattering power. His face twisting into a grimace as he felt this new throbbing pain on his forehead on top of his swollen muzzle, the blue-eyed lemur rolled backwards – his vision blurrying – before collapsing onto the cold, hard floor. He was pretty much out of the fight after that.
While she dealt with him, Becca had managed to slither herself out from under Clover. She straightened herself. "Abner! Ya a'ight?!" she called out, but her partner in crime didn't respond or move. He had blacked out. Once again, she was the only one left standing.
This sent her over the edge. Great anger and pent-up frustration bubbled up inside her; she wished to jump at Clover and shred her to pieces, even if she knew she couldn't – but just then, as her eyes flew to her right for a moment, she noticed King Julien's gray form, curled-up on the floor right next to her. Then she thought... if she couldn't beat Clover directly, then she'd have to take more... drastic measures.
So, before either the king or his bodyguard could do anything about it, she grabbed him and yanked him up and, taking him hostage, moved back as close to the railing as she could get. Clover instantly made a lurching move forward, but Becca only inched the king even closer to the danger zone, shaking a darkly-furred finger at her.
"Ah ah ah! Stay right there, or yer pal gets it!" she threatened. And Clover knew she was serious. One wrong move could result in a disastrous end.
"Clo-Clo, help me! Don't let her do it! I like living and you know I'm not good at dying!" he cried out, awash with new anxiety.
"Alright, alright!" the bodyguard lifted her arms in the air in apparent surrender, "I'll do whatever you want! Just take it easy and let him go!"
But in reality, she had a trick up her sleeve.
When she heard her say those words, Becca couldn't help but start laughing. With the king hostage, she had the upper hand and control over the situation. Or at least, that's what she wanted to believe. She was so caught up in the moment that she didn't notice Clover's long tail snaking its way towards her legs and slowly wrapping itself around her left ankle... She gave an almost invisible nod to King Julien as a gesture of reassurance, which he discreetly returned as he tried to mask a growing optimistic smirk. Had Becca been paying any attention, she would've caught it too.
"Yeah, that's right! Not so tough now, are ya, huh?" she gloated and taunted, "Ain't nothin' ya can do now! After gettin' rid o' ya both, we, LALA, will reign supreme and Christmas'll be nothin'-
Her little victory speech was abruptly cut short when she felt something gripping her ankle tightly. She snapped her head down in surprise to find Clover's tail firmly coiled around it like a furry snake. The rebel's expression at once changed as the cunning bodyguard boldly grinned at her. Then, Becca felt her world go upside-down as Clover whipped her tail back to throw her off-balance and send her tumbling down to the floor. She let out a sharp groan as she painfully banged her head against the metal while the king held onto the railing to avoid doing the same. Becca stirred once and stopped moving after the impact as her eyelids fell shut, seemingly knocked out cold.
"Less bragging, more paying attention, sunshine!" Clover jeered, waving her tail around.
Now that both criminals were out of the way for good, the crowned lemur was at once at Julien's side; she took the king by the wrist and led him back towards the control panel to attend to other, more pressing matters.
It seemed all of the royal's fears had been totally washed out in an instant, as he produced an unconcerned smile and winked at his savior. "Ha ha, that was just awesome, Clo-Clo! It's always fun seeing you go all crazy ninja on the baddies! I mean, when you did that to Abner," he imitated the headbutting move she had done, "I swear even I felt it!"
Clover crouched down to collect Abner's body from the floor, and slung him over her shoulder, "Yeah yeah, these nitwits should be grateful it's Christmas; otherwise I would've just thrown them both overboard and be done with it! Would save us a lot of trouble down the line, actually."
After dumping him at the back with Becca, King Julien and Clover sat down in front of the control panel. The red light was still blinking, bathing their faces in a deep shade of red in tandem with the never-ending blare of the alarm. Sparks still sizzled occasionally out of the lever's broken socket.
"Okay, the big question now is," Clover began, "what do we do with this, Your Majesty? We can't control the sleigh anymore!"
Julien crossed his arms and furrowed his nose. "Yeah, I've noticed! Between being kidnapped and this I haven't even had time to go over the thing properly! Isn't there any way we can land?" he looked around the dashboard, "Like a switch or a little gizmo somewhere?"
He was starting to get anxious again. The situation certainly was looking dire. They didn't know how the sleigh worked – it had gotten stolen before they even got to see it fully, let alone get an explanation from Timo on how to operate it.
While they were searching for a way to bring the sleigh to a stop, in between their talking and the alarm, neither of the two heard Abner and Becca stirring and rising on the compartment behind them. Having had just regained their senses (something that came as a surprise to them, to wake up so soon), they stayed low as to not be seen. They could hear the lemurs talking, but couldn't make out the words. Becca dizzily managed to rise up on her knees a little bit and peeked her head over the edge to see what was going on. Both Julien and Clover were unaware of their presence.
She ducked again and made a myriad of strange hand gestures at Abner (who was rubbing his forehead to ease the persistent pain), though he simply stared at her.
"...Sorry, what are ya tryin' to say?" he then whispered after a while, "I ain't gettin' it."
Becca let out a low growl which only made her head ache even worse, then told him, keeping her voice low and gentler, "I'm sayin' we attack 'em at the same time! They ain't expectin' it, so this is our chance to take 'em both out!"
Abner nodded, albeit reluctantly. "Are ya sure 'bout this? If we try anythin' again, they might throw us to the fossa for dinner or somethin'!"
But Becca couldn't care less now – she was fuming on the inside. "Yeah, I'm sure! I've had enuff o' this! Aren't ya angry? Just look at yer nose! That ain't goin' away with a massage!"
She just had to remind him of that. The flaring pain fueled his anger and convinced him to keep pushing it against his better judgment. "Right. Damn 'em! This ends right 'ere, right now!"
His partner held up three fingers and began counting down. "On one... two... three."
Then they crawled out of the compartment and creeped forward silently. The other two lemurs were still oblivious to all of this, still busy fumbling with the controls. When Abner and Becca got close enough, they came to a rest and nodded at each other.
"No Your Majesty, I don't know what we can-
Clover stopped mid-sentence as something caught her eye. On one of the glass gauges embedded on the dashboard, she saw the muddled reflection of the two rebels about to pounce on them. She only had half a second to duck along with Julien before the two criminals sprung at them with murdering intent.
Missing their targets, Abner and Becca flew over the lemurs' heads and clumsily crashed against the control panel – and Becca's right hand landed squarely on a round button near its center. The same button she had pressed to start up the sleigh in the first place.
The ignition button.
She shook her head from the blow, adopting an aghast expression upon realizing what she had done. She took her hand off with a squeal and recoiled, looking at her partner horrified.
King Julien and Clover didn't know what Becca had done, but judging by hers and Abner's looks, they knew she had screwed up really badly.
The four lemurs collectively uttered one simple thing.
"Oh oh..."
"Oh mama..." Abner mumbled. "And ya called me a dope..."
None of the passengers knew what happened next. For a moment it seemed like the whole world had come to a stop. The rattling of the engines suddenly ceased, the flames of the thrusters sputtered and flickered as the engines died out – and the sleigh at once fell out of the sky.
All four lemurs inside felt a scream rip at their throats as they were thrown and nailed down to the floor by gravity. To King Julien's utter horror, his precious hat also flew off his head and was blown away by the currents before disappearing from sight.
"Nooo! My hat!" he reached up, "I lost my beautiful hat!"
"I think... that's the least of our worries now, Your Majesty!" Clover strained to tell him. They could barely hear each other, as the wind was hissing in their ears with the force of a tornado. The ringing alarm screeched faster and louder than ever. The sleigh rattled and swished wildly as it continued its ill-fated drop.
They were falling fast. Very fast. Julien struggled to peek his head over the side; his eyeballs grew huge and wide as he saw the ground approaching them at bullet speed. He slowly turned to his bodyguard. "Ehhh, Clover...? What do we do now?"
The orange lemur got on her knees and tried reaching for the button to bring the worn engines back to life, but they failed to reignite; the strain on them was too much. A small flame was all they could manage before becoming inert again.
Much to their dread, the sleigh was lost. It had been the second Abner had ripped the control lever off. There was nothing they could do to save it; they had to jump, or they'd go down with it. Additionally, the immense friction of the wind had started doing quite a number on it; bolts and screws were flying off left and right, and a few panels were straight out teared off its frame.
"King Julien, we gotta get outta this death trap, there's nothing we can do!" Clover shouted as she managed to fully stand up on shaky knees. She had to use all her strength to keep herself upright.
"What?! No!" he yelped, his voice cracking, "We can't leave the sleigh, we need it!"
"There's no time to argue! C'mon!" she offered him a hand to help him off the floor, whose metal panels were clattering as if they were about to fall apart right beneath them.
Although he didn't want to leave the sleigh behind, the ringtail knew they had to abandon ship immediately, so he relented and took her hand. She lifted him in her arms and placed a foot on the railing, ready to jump. Julien threw his arms around her neck and looked down nervously. What was concerning him the most now (beside the high probability of death), was the method his bodyguard was about to use to escape.
"We've only got two options: we jump or we die! Hold on tight!" Clover waited for the perfect moment to take the leap. Any second now... She held off till they were close enough to the ground, then took her chances.
Julien grabbed onto her for dear life as he shouted, "Er, Clo-Clo, just saying, I – I don't think jumping out a sleigh free-falling at a million miles per hour is really a good – IDEEEEEEA!"
Before he could voice any more of his protests, Clover leaped off as far as she could. The king's terrified scream faded away as the stranded criminals watched them disappear.
"Hey, hey, wait! What 'bout us?!" Abner cried after them. One of the floor panels suddenly came off and zipped over them just as the right thruster broke off.
"Forget 'em, plan's wasted! Evasive maneuvers!" Becca shouted as both made an effort to lean over the opposite side, and jumped out on their own.
As they fell through the windy air, Clover aimed for the nearest tree. Maybe with a bit of luck, they'd survive without major injury. Clover was ready to take the brunt of the fall to shield Julien from harm. She unceremoniously plowed onto the tree's thickly snow-covered crown, which served to cushion the impact somewhat, then bounced off and fell. The drop against the ground itself was much less pleasant; doing a sideways roll so that she'd land on her back, she crashed against the snow, grunting as a wave of pain shot up her spine. But being as hardy and resilient as she was, she withstood the hit with no real problem.
Now that they were at last on solid ground, she and Julien let go of each other, and he plopped to the snow beside her. Luckily, both were okay. The two lemurs lay there for a moment, heads spinning; but they had no time to rest – when they opened their eyes and gazed at the sky, they saw the fallen sleigh and other debris coming straight towards them like a missile. Letting out a big gasp, Clover was up in an instant as she lifted the royal once more and made a run for it.
Putting out as much distance as possible, they hid behind another tree and ducked as the sleigh came crashing down and collided against the ground with a colossal bang. Its fuel tanks ruptured, and the machine exploded in a vast fireball that rocked the once-peaceful night. The resulting shockwave swayed the surrounding trees wildly; leaves, dirt and melting snow flew from all sides as metal rained everywhere, and the earth itself appeared to shake. The inferno rose above with an ear-splitting screech that reached far and wide before fading.
The two lemurs didn't dare to stand up until all the commotion finally settled down and the area was again plunged into silence several long moments later. Then Clover realized Julien was latched onto her as if his life still depended on it, eyes clamped shut and teeth chattering. She frowned a bit and said, "Um, King Julien, you can let go of me now. We're safe."
The ringtail opened his eyes as he took in his surroundings. His ears were ringing, and adrenaline still pumped through him. "Oh, right. Sorry." Then he worked to pluck his hands off his bodyguard, leaving ruffled marks on her fur. After taking a second to collect himself and clearing his dry throat he added, "Thanks for saving my butt – yet again – by the way. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up."
The lemur girl saluted, yet her voice held a hint of sadness on it, and with good reason. "All in a day's work, Your Majesty..."
When the area had been deemed safe, the two lemurs came out from behind their cover. The jungle almost looked like the aftermath of a war. The trees closest to the point of impact had been incinerated by the explosion, scorched metal hunks of all sizes were strewn everywhere, and little flames licked away at the seared grass all around them.
As much as the ringtailed king was happy to be alive, that feeling vanished in an instant when they approached the burning wreckage of the vehicle that would've served to spread so much joy and Christmas cheer tonight. As the fire consumed the destroyed sleigh, cinders sparked out and crackled, engulfing the area in an ardent glow. A cloud of black smoke was flowing from it and swirling upward.
"Oh Frank... no... my sleigh..." Julien muttered miserably under his breath as he stumbled and dropped to his knees; his eyes rapidly felt teary as a veil of sorrow overcame him. Just when the situation had looked like it would be resolved and things would go as planned, it all came crashing down ruthlessly.
Clover crouched beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty... I..." she closed her mouth, as she didn't know what to say. She wasn't good at comforting people at all. Right now, she only felt an unspeakable rage quickly boiling up inside her as she cursed those responsible for all of this. She felt the manic urge to punch someone's head off, smash and tear the nearest object to pieces, turn the whole forest into a pile of rubble – but she somehow managed to keep her wrath under control. It wouldn't do them any good now.
"...I'm sorry I let this happen..." she spoke suddenly, casting her eyes down at the ravaged soil. "I failed you. If only I had been more alert then maybe none of this would've-
Julien's whisper-low, emotionless voice interrupted her. He took his eyes off the fire to look at her in the eyes. In them she saw hurt. "No, Clover... don't blame yourself for this. You didn't fail me, you saved me..." he brought his vision back to the glow, "That's what matters most in the end."
She sighed, her anger gone and replaced by sadness. She only hoped Maurice and the others would show up soon. They couldn't be too far away, and the huge crash, not to mention the column of smoke, sure must've had alerted them to their position.
They spent several silent minutes, in what felt like hours, staring at the twinkling blaze. Then, the rustling of nearby foliage was heard.
"King Julien! Clover! Are you okay?!" Maurice shouted breathlessly as he rushed to meet his two friends, avoiding the small fires along the way. Seeing them alive and well returned the aye-aye all the energy he had lost earlier. And when he reached them, he pulled them both in a tight embrace and didn't dare to let go, encircling his bushy black tail around them. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you guys, we thought we'd lost you! We saw the sleigh coming down from afar and we believed – and that explosion-
"Relax Mo-Mo, we're fine..." Julien cut him off as he broke away from the hug. "I am, on the outside at least..." he added, stifling a sniff.
"OOOHHH, KING JULIEN!" shouted Mort as he threw himself at the king and looked him all over. He was always more than happy to see him, but now he felt purely ecstatic and relieved. "Are you okay?! Did they hurt you?! Can you walk?! Where's your hat?!" he asked a load of questions the king couldn't hear. His broken heart was overwhelmed with feelings of anguish and hopelessness, and his eyes were devoid of the happiness that had beset them merely a few hours ago.
"Where are Abner and Becca? Did they...?" Maurice questioned Clover as he gave her back her hat, and she simply shrugged in response as she put it on. She had no idea where they were – if they even had survived the fall – and she most certainly didn't care now.
The royal advisor glanced around the demolished area, then at the mangled, twisted and charred remains of the sleigh, and scowled harder than he had ever had before in his life. He didn't know what had happened up there for things to end up this way, but he did know how he felt. He felt ill; wholly sick to his stomach as he saw his best friend in such a wretched state.
"How could they, Your Majesty? How could someone be so cruel and heartless as to do something like this? Especially during these times?" he pondered. As much as he tried to find a reason, he couldn't wrap his head around it. Sometimes there was no easy answer to these sorts of questions. That, he figured as much.
"I don't know..." Julien whispered as he wiped his nose. "What I do know is that our Christmas is ruined!" he suddenly cried out as he broke out in despair. "RUINED! How could this happen? What have I done to deserve this? Me, the kindest king there is! After working my butt off for my peoples, this is what I get?" he pointed with both hands at the wreck, then threw his head down limply. He ran his fingers around the top of it, where his missing hat had been previously resting, and whimpered.
Many things were running through his mind at once. One particular thought that stressed him wormed its way inside his head: what would his people think if they were to wake up from all the ruckus and find the group like this? If that happened, they'd be forced to reveal their secret plan, their little white lie – that Santa was them all along, and the magic and wonder that loomed over this night would be lost. Fortunately for them, they had crashed in a quite distant and isolated part of the jungle, far away enough from the kingdom that nobody could've heard a thing.
Maurice, Clover, Mort and Timo gathered around and held their king close to show him their support. They were all feeling the same way as him. But this time, it did nothing to lift his spirits. The king's dreams had been savagely crushed and stomped on, and no amount of cheering-up from his friends would make it right.
"I only wanted to bring happiness to my peoples... all those gifts I had planned to give... all for nothing."
"I'm sorry, King Julien..." Timo then stated in an apologetic tone. "But... I'm afraid I cannot build a new sleigh. I barely had sufficient parts beforehand; now I don't have enough to make a simple music player..."
The tenrec's words stabbed the king like a knife. Without a sleigh to travel in, it would be outright impossible for them to carry out their mission. It hit him hard; to know that the festivities were about to end like this, so abruptly and bitterly. And although the gifts themselves hadn't been harmed (they were still safely stored back at the Cove of Wonders), Julien couldn't bear the thought of telling his people Santa wouldn't be coming after all to deliver them as promised. Not tonight, not ever. The thought of all his subjects waking up tomorrow to find nothing awaiting them only served to make him feel like he had failed as a king. He didn't want to believe it but... there was nothing that could be done.
"It's all over... our Christmas is done for..." he lifted his head and looked up at his stricken friends with grieving eyes. A single tear trickled down his cheek. "Let's just go home, guys... I'll gather the peoples tomorrow and tell them what happened. I only hope they'll understand." As he dejectedly shot one last look at the sleigh, he sighed, got up on heavy feet and turned to leave.
"Your Majesty..." Maurice began, but he only tripped over his words. There was nothing more to be said. Exhaling, he glanced at the others, and together they plodded after the king.
Yet before the group could walk more than a few steps, a sixth presence made itself known.
"Worry not, my friends," a polite voice stated from the gloom. As they all veered their heads, a certain fanaloka emerged from the shadows. "Perhaps I can shed some light upon this moment of darkness..."