Disclaimer: I do not own All Hail King Julien or any of its characters. I do own Emily, Patch, Weasel, Lilian, Elizabeth, and the fossa with names, and the idea for this story.

The sun was reaching its highest point in the sky as Mort continued to track Patch through fossa territory. Ideas kept popping into his head as what Patch could be up to. He knew that none of them made sense, especially the volcano one, but he wasn't going back without some information to give his king.

Patch moved at a fast pace and he turned corners as if he knew exactly where he was going, and Mort started to wonder how well he knew this area. Finally Patch stopped and Mort slipped into a cluster of bushes. He strained his ears. Were those pawsteps? Hardly daring to breathe, Mort listened closely.

Then he heard a low voice. "Elliot has returned."

"Greetings, Mac." That was Patch.

"Have you come with news?" a second voice asked with a hint of impatience.

"Yes, Sander. They think I am the king's brother. They keep calling me Patch."

There was silence for a moment, and Mort took this opportunity to peek through the leaves of the bush he was hiding in. Three fossa stood in front of Patch, but the ringtail with a black spot on his belly didn't look scared. He stared calmly at the predators, and the fossa didn't seem hostile.

Finally the first fossa spoke again. "That could come in handy. Get close to the king," he told Patch. "Earn his trust and when he least expects it, that is when we will strike." He let out a menacing laugh that sent shivers down Mort's back.

He is evil! "I have to warn King Julien!" he said out loud, about to make a run back to the kingdom, but when he turned around his path was blocked by the fossa, this time their teeth bared. Rustling behind him made him glance over his shoulder to see Patch walking through the bushes to join them.

"What are you doing here?" the king's brother demanded.

"I followed you!" Mort admitted, pointing accusingly at Patch. "Because I knew you were up to something! Wait until I tell King Julien!"

The fossa named Mac rolled his eyes. "Annoying little creature. What do we do with it?"

The third fossa crouched down and snarled at Mort. "Fossa eat."

"Simon, sit," the second fossa growled at Simon, who let out a huff but obediently sat down on his hackles.

"Now, what do we do with him?" Mac repeated, flicking his tail at Mort. "He could ruin our plan if he warns the lemurs. We need to make sure he doesn't do that. But that doesn't mean we eat him," he quickly added when Simon opened his mouth, but he closed his jaws and his ears drooped sadly.

"Remember, Simon," said Sander," we need all the lemurs in order for our plan to work."

This was weird. Mort might not be the brightest around, but even he knew fossa eat, fossa sleep. It was unheard of fossa planning. What were they planning though? I have to find out and warn King Julien!

"Take him back to the others," Patch decided. "We can't risk him exposing me. But I do need to get back before they start to suspect something. I'll return with more news when I can."

Mac dipped his head. "Don't fail us."

"I won't." Patch hurried away, soon disappearing from sight.

While the fossa was watching Patch leave, Mort tried to sneak away, but a paw pinned his tail to the ground and suddenly he was hanging upside down, staring into the mouth of a fossa. For a moment he thought they had changed their minds about eating him, but then one of the others slapped Simon on the back of his head.

"Simon, no. Now come on." Mac turned and stalked away, Sander closed behind. Simon sunk his teeth in Mort's scruff and followed his friends. Mort tried to wiggle free but couldn't. He sighed and went limp.

What now?

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"What are you trying to say, Maurice?" the king demanded, crossing his arms angrily. "Are you accusing my brother of something he didn't do? Because if you are," Julien went on before Maurice could answer," just stop it. I escaped the fossa many times, and I'm not up to anything! He is my brother after all. Maybe he got my fossa dodging skills."

To prove to his adviser how amazing he is, Julien started jumping around, pretending like fossa was attacking him. He moved out of the way just before imaginary flesh ripping teeth closed on his tail. Not watching where he was stepping, he tripped over a root and he lost his balance, bumping into something solid and fuzzy. Alarm shot through him when he saw Emily lying on the ground, looking dazed.

"Oh, I didn't mean to knock you over!" Julien reached out, taking hold of her hand and helping her back to her feet.

Emily smiled at him. "That's okay, Your Majesty. I'm not hurt."

Julien felt himself blushing as he stared into her bright green eyes. Then he was distracted from the female lemur when Maurice started talking. "I didn't mean he was up to something," he said. "I was just wondering how a baby lemur who barely knew how to walk escaped predators like the fossa. They once ate half the kingdom, babies and adults! It just doesn't make any sense…"

"He's right," Clover agreed with the aye-aye. "He is definitely up to something! And we need to find out what that something is!"

"Now wait a minute!" Maurice widened his eyes. "I said I didn't mean he's up to something. It's just… weird, that's all."

"But he has to be up to something," Clover insisted. "He escapes the fossa, and years after everyone thinks he's dead, he just suddenly shows up again. It's more than weird. It's suspicious!"

"Maybe Weasel was right not to trust him," Lilian murmured.

Julien couldn't take it any longer. "Stop it! All of you! I told you my brother is not up to anything, and I want to hear no more of this nonsense! Okay?" He stood with authority, daring anyone to say something else bad about Patch. He couldn't believe they were even talking about all this right in front of him.

Maurice, Clover, and Lilian bowed their heads, avoiding meeting the king's gaze. Emily appeared beside him. "We shouldn't be discussing this. Look at the sun." She pointed up. Julien followed her gesture. The sun was starting to set. "Patch has been gone way too long. We need to go find him."

"She's right," Julien said. "Come on everyone." The king turned to leave, but he froze when the bushes started rustling and Patch came walking out nonchalantly.

"Hey," he greeted them.

Joy shot through Julien. "Patch!" He ran to his brother and hugged him tightly. "Oh, I was so worried about you. You were gone for so long, I thought something bad had happened to you!"

Clover appeared next to them, looking suspiciously at Patch. "What took you?" she demanded.

Patch slipped out of Julien's arms. "Sorry, I went too far and I realized I didn't know my way back. I finally got directions from someone."

"Where's Mort?" asked Emily, knowing that he had followed Patch because he didn't trust him. "Did you see him?"

"Oh yeah I saw him." Patch nodded slowly. "He said he had something else to do and to tell you all that he'll see you later."

That's odd, Emily thought, frowning. Mort is almost always hanging around Julien and Maurice. It was totally out of the ordinary to see him with someone else or off by himself. I have a bad feeling about this…

"So anyways," Patch went on before any more accusations could be made," it's getting pretty late. Was there anything else you wanted to show me?"

Julien thought for a moment, before an idea popped into his head. "Just one thing, and now is the perfect time to go there. Come on!" He grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him away with him, aware that the others were following them. Emily brought up the rear. She was starting to have doubts about Patch's intentions, like the rest of their friends.

Ever since he's shown up, everything just felt weird and out of place. For Julien's safety, I need to keep a close eye on him. And I also need to find out what happened to Mort. I have a feeling Patch isn't telling the truth.

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