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
As the group rose to the top of the plane, the sun was just beginning to set, casting beautiful rays of orange and pink onto the treetops. Julien was in the lead, guiding his brother along the back of the airplane, while the others followed them apprehensively. They were still wary of Patch. He had been missing most of the day and then returned with news from Mort, saying he had other plans. Julien was the only one oblivious to the strangeness of his brother.
"Something's not right here," Maurice whispered to Clover, Lilian, and Emily. "Julien doesn't want it to be true, but I don't think we can trust Patch."
Lilian and Emily exchanged glances before agreeing with the aye-aye. "And what about Mort?" Emily added. "I'm starting to really worry about him."
"Yeah. Shouldn't we send someone out to look for him?" Lilian questioned, but Maurice shook his head.
"I'm sure Mort will be fine," he insisted. "I'm more worried about Patch. He's up to something and we need to find out what so we can warn Julien."
Clover stepped forward. "Just say the word and I will take care of him." She cracked her knuckles, then punched the palm of her hand threatening.
"No!" Maurice exclaimed which caused Julien and Patch to turn to him. The aye-aye swallowed nervously. Did Patch just narrowed his eyes?
Rage burned inside Julien once more. "What is the meaning of this? Are there more accusations being made here?"
"No, Your Highness," Maurice quickly answered, shifting his feet nervously. "No one dares question your final decision. Whatever you say, we believe."
"We just hope you thought this through…" Emily added hesitantly, and Julien gasped. Even Emily was against him. Julien was growing tired of them talking badly about his brother, especially right in front of him!
"Enough!" Julien exclaimed angrily. "I will hear no more of this! Come along, my brother. We shall leave these others behind." He grabbed Patch's arm and pulled him away.
Maurice, Clover, Lilian, and Emily watched as they jumped into the trees. Then they glanced at each other, frowning. "What have we done?" Emily murmured.
"Julien was excited to see his brother again and we ruined it for him." Lilian sighed miserably.
"I still say Patch is up to no good," Clover insisted. "But I do feel bad," she added, shifting standing positions. "We shouldn't have spoken about Patch like that in front of him and Julien."
"Come on, guys— um gals," Maurice quickly corrected himself. "Let's go apologize." He hurried away, toward the trees, and the others followed him. Maurice, Lilian, and Emily waited while Clover checked inside the plane for the king and his brother. The orange lemur returned, shaking her head.
"Where did they go?" Lilian wondered.
"They couldn't have gotten far," Maurice pointed out. "We'd be able to find them faster if we split up. Let's meet back here and whoever finds the king, bring him and Patch back with you."
The others nodded and hurried off in different directions. Maurice stayed near the plane. He checked inside one more time in case Clover missed something. Then he climbed down the tree and gazed around. "Your Majesty!" he called out, looking in a bush and then behind a tree. "Your Majesty! King Julien! Patch!" Nothing. Maurice sighed. "Where did they go?"
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Clover checked behind every tree, around every bush, but there was no sign of her king or his brother. She forced passing lemurs to stop and answer questions.
"Have you seen King Julien?" she demanded a family of lemurs who stared at her with huge, scared eyes.
"N-No, we haven't seen him," the mother stammered, holding her infant closer to her chest.
With a sigh, Clover let them go. She kept asking around, but nobody knew where the king or his brother went. "But I can't give up!" she said out loud, and she continued her search.
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Leaves hit her face as Lilian ran through the forest, but she didn't care. She had to get to the clearing just in case Julien was there. She felt awful about what happened. It was a miracle from the Gods that Julien's brother had returned after years of everyone believing he was dead at the jaws of the fossa, and it had been clear that Julien just wanted to make up for lost time. But Lilian and the others wouldn't let him enjoy their reunion.
Bursting out of the bushes, she immediately spotted Weasel. He was talking to a large group of lemurs that surrounded him. His twitching tail betrayed his annoyance. Nearby, Elizabeth was watching them, a smirk on her face. Clearly, she liked seeing her brother so uncomfortable.
Lilian ran over to her. "What's going on?' she asked, confused.
Elizabeth shrugged. "I was just having some fun when those uptight lemurs—" She gestured to the lemurs talking to Weasel— "got all offended and told my brother on me! Whatever." She huffed and crossed her arms.
Typical Elizabeth, thought Lilian. She always plays the victim, but she probably did something to annoy the others like cutting in line for the water slide or throwing mangoes at them. The "fun" she calls is really just her causing trouble. But right now Lilian had no time to worry about any of that. There was no sign of Julien in the clearing. She had to speak with Weasel.
Walking up behind him, she tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped, startled. Glancing at her, he sighed and relaxed. "Oh, Lilian. It's you. Did Elizabeth tell you what she did?" he asked.
"No, but—"
"She broke off a branch and started swinging it around," Weasel went on, interrupting the female lemur.
"Weasel—" she tried again, but once more he didn't let her talk.
"She accidentally—" He put air quotes to that word—" smashed these lemurs' dinner. I'm trying to calm the situation, but everyone is very upset with Elizabeth. I pointed out that there's plenty more mangoes to go around, but they say they are getting tired of Elizabeth always causing trouble. I don't know what I'm going to do, Lilian…"
"I'm sorry, Weasel." Lilian frowned. "I wish I could help you, but I'm looking for the king. Have you seen him?"
Weasel blinked. "Julien? Yes, actually."
"You have?" Joy rose in Lilian. "Where?"
"Him and Patch came running through here in a hurry like all the fossa was on their tails. Lilian, what's going on?"
"I'll explain on the way," Lilian promised. "Come on, Weasel! Let's see if we can catch up to them!" She took off in the direction Weasel pointed to, the orange-and-black lemur right behind her.
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They had the whole kingdom covered. Maurice stayed close to the plane. Lilian checked the clearing, while Clover walked the village and asked lemurs passing by if they've seen the king. Emily circled the outskirts of the kingdom in case they got this far. She knew it was dangerous being so close to the fossa side of the island and she had to keep her guard up, but she also had to find Julien.
Kicking a rock into a bush, she groaned miserably. "How could I hurt him like that?" she demanded herself. "I should have kept my worries to myself or better yet, just believe him when he said his brother wasn't up to anything." She sighed. "I hope one of the others has found them already."
She froze when she heard rustling behind her. Spinning around, she prepared for the worst, but instead sighed with relief when Julien and Patch stepped out. She ran to her king and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Your Majesty, I'm so sorry for questioning you. I'll never do it again. I'm so glad to see you!" She hugged him tighter, but she started when she heard him gasping for air. Letting go, she stammered," S-Sorry."
He fixed his crooked crown, then smiled at her. "I'm glad to see you, too," he said.
"We were actually just talking about you," Patch admitted with a sly look at Julien.
"You were?" Emily blinked in surprise.
Startled, Julien stared dumbfounded before snapping out of it. "No we weren't!" he insisted, blushing as he remembered the conversation he and his brother had right before running into Emily.
"So what's with you and that female ringtail?" Patch had asked.
"Which one? Lilian or Emily?"
"Um… Emily?"
Julien started stumbling over his own words. "Um… I… um… I don't… know what you're talking… a-about…"
"Oh, come on, brother. I saw the way you two look at each other. Are you two… together?" Patch looked at him knowingly.
Julien sighed longingly.
And that's when they ran into Emily, so Julien was caught off guard when Patch mentioned to her that they had been talking about her.
Julien opened his mouth to change the subject, about to ask Emily what she's doing way out here, when he heard a low growl in his ear. Fear froze him.
Fossa!
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