The Throne of Flame: Chapter Twenty Two
Clover was quick on her feet. They all were (save for Eva, who flew), blazing a trail through the sticky, humid jungle to save King Julien. It required quite a bit of maneuvering to get through the trees without a copious amount of scrapes and stinging scratches, but Skipper didn't particularly care about that at the moment. All he wanted was to make sure the king - his king - was safe and sound.
It was a solid forty minutes of running, all of which Skipper panted through like a dog in heat, but never slowed, never stopped, not even as the sun began to set. His heart was exploding in his ears, his lungs screaming, but there was nothing that could slow him from finding Julien.
They eventually reached an odd, particularly dark section of the jungle, shrouded in trees that were noticeably thick, where Clover slowed to a walk. She didn't hesitate to pull the shrouding leaves to the side, revealing what at first appeared to be a small area of clearing. Upon closer inspection, however, it was much larger - though only a few yards in circumference, it was a very noticeable bald patch in the never-ending fauna. It was secluded from the rest of the world, the thick foliage surrounding it discouraging anyone to enter.
The grass was a deep green and it seemed to suck in their feet with every step. Flowers skimmed the side of the brush, but never grew near the center. Across the stretch there was a small hole in the rocks which closely resembled the entrance to what could have been a large cave, but was instead only an alcove. The perfect place to hide someone. Skipper rushed forth before any of them, eager to get to Julien.
"Julien! Julien, are you down there?" He hollered, even though he knew that he was.
He bent over and looked down, nearly having a heart attack of relief when he saw the lemur king gaze up at him in utter shock. Julien was damp and dirty, one ankle risen to the air as he laid on the musty floor.
"Skipper! You… Came for me!" He shouted back, seemingly shocked, and he wobbled to stand on one foot, the other one bent behind him as he steadied himself on the wall.
"Are you hurt?" Was his first and foremost question, as it appeared he was, though Skipper wanted to tell Julien how glad he was that the king was alive. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, truthfully, but words failed him. Now was not the time.
"I have been sprained with my ankle." Julien called back, and gestured to his elevated foot to demonstrate.
"Hold on your highness," Classified peered down, procuring a rope from seemingly thin air. "We'll get you out of there."
He lowered the rope down slowly, and Skipper was tempted to snatch it out of his hands and throw half of it down so that Julien could just grab hold already. He held his breath when Julien latched on, delicately so, hooking his good leg around the length. Classified pulled the rope up even slower than he had lowered it, and Skipper began to bounce from foot to foot. The tension of it all was killing him. He just needed to be close to Julien as soon as possible.
The very moment Julien was placed onto the grass and they were a safe distance from the alcove, Skipper embraced him. He made sure to keep away from his ankle, though, not wanting it to ruin the moment. Julien immediately hugged him back, and Skipper couldn't help but bury his beak into the soft fur, inhaling with so much relief that he felt for a moment he couldn't breathe. Julien seemed just as elated, leaning into the hug and sniffling happily, squeezing him a bit tighter. Their hearts beat against each other, feather and fur and all sighs of relieved happiness.
When they pulled apart, Classified took it as cue to speak. "It's a pleasure to meet you, King Julien XIII. I am the leader of the North Wind, an elite interspecies task force dedicated to helping animals who can't help themselves. I've been given the duty of protecting you and your kingdom from any and all attacks, including ones against yourselves."
Julien regarded him with a very strange stare, as though the husky was an alien. "Who hired you? South African Control Squad?"
"Ah, yes, actually." Classified seemed slightly surprised at Julien's knowledge.
Julien's face turned somber - the visage he wore for political matters - and he nodded. "I am familiar with their work. A very good group, eh? They have been protecting us from outlying threats for a long time in exchange for resources. I am not knowing what they do with what we give them, but I'm thinking it's medicinal ingredients."
Classified was still taken back, clearly having expected Julien to have been less intelligent (he did tend to surprise others, didn't he?). "Yes… I suppose so. In any case, your highness, I am to remain by your side until you deem yourself safe."
The lemur's eyelids lowered, almost derisive, as a toothy smirk rolled across his lips. "I already have someone to keep by my side, but I am being thanking to you for the offer."
Classified sputtered out a noise of shock, clearly not expected to being treated inferior, let alone by a lemur, king or no. It would have been funny if not for the fact that Skipper was still recovering from the thought of almost losing Julien.
Julien disregarded Classified after saying this, and he turned instead to Skipper, who held more of his interest. As soon as he did, it happened once more - the connection they had, engulfing them in a romantic seclusion. Julien's eyes were intense, as always, but in a melancholy manner. Bloodshot, presumably from having cried (a thought that almost broke Skipper's heart on it's own), but perpetual in their beauty. Skipper was instantly captivated, taken entirely by Julien's disheveled beauty. It was more than that, too. It was his entire being, his presence that sent an immediate calm into Skipper.
Despite the danger they'd been through together, there was something so comforting about being close to Julien, something that he couldn't dispel even if he wanted to. Julien made him feel relaxed - he was the bit of normalcy within his crazy, ever changing world. Even if he was some cause for that craziness, he was always there, always present, a never-ending factor, and that was what tied them together. They wouldn't be able to get away from each other if they tried, and he had a feeling that neither of them would.
Julien was more to him than Lola could have ever been; he was real, he could speak. He wasn't a wooden bobblehead, he wasn't an object. He was warm and made Skipper feel more secure than he did with the biggest missile available. He got the feeling that it was a mutual sense of comfort, too; Julien seemed just as enraptured as he, which only caused his heart to beat faster, his feathers to grow light with delight.
After a moment of staring, Julien leaned forth again, and just before he wrapped his arms around Skipper, his eyes welled up with fresh tears. In a moment he was sobbing bitterly into Skipper's shoulder, leaning into him as his tail sank in a dismal fashion. He held the penguin tight, who in turn, was surprised, yet found himself soon rubbing the lemur's back. He wasn't used to comforting others or even showing affection, but he knew he couldn't let Julien down. Not right after his whole world was shaken as it was. Julien continued to cry for a little while, until he settled down into hiccups.
"I was s-so scared," he whispered so that only Skipper could hear. "Maurice hates me - you are being the only one who I can trust. He… He tried to kill me, Skipper. He tried to kill me. He was going to let someone else rule and he hates me."
There was more to it, he was sure, but he allowed Julien to sob into his feathers with a consoling nod. "He doesn't hate you, Julien. He told me he only wanted to protect you…"
He cringed, and decided to leave out the part that Maurice somehow had come to the conclusion that it was best to protect Julien by killing him. A great amount of sense that made. There was clearly something wrong with Maurice. Skipper was no stranger to mental disorders, he had some for himself and he was positive by this point that Julien had some form of PTSD (he clearly coped differently than Rico). A mental disorder on it's own was no violent danger, but when combined with the circumstances, Skipper could see how it went wrong.
Julien pulled back to look at him, his pupils dilated and eyes glassy with tears. He sniffled, and then leaned forth to press a delicate kiss to Skipper's forehead. His heart lurched in excitement as his body warmed when Julien did so, a soft gasp sliding from his beak. It was such an unexpected gesture of affection (but then, Julien had the tendency to be spontaneous) that it came as a pleasant surprise and he couldn't help the warm, yet plaintive smile that crawled across his beak.
He supposed this meant that the kiss in Julien's 'corner of paradise' truly did mean something, a thought that brought a happy sigh to his lips, especially when Julien nuzzled his cheek. They were, of course, yanked out of their moment by a loud clearing of the throat. Skipper jumped back, startled, though he was still holding the king by the arms.
Classified, Eva, and Clover were staring at them with mixed expressions. Classified looked highly amused, if not slightly encouraging of Skipper's romantic life. Eva looked bored about the whole thing, as she almost always did, and Clover seemed rather surprised. She'd probably seen it coming from a mile away, but hadn't expected what was bordering upon PDA.
"If you two love birds are quite done, we should head back to the safe-house. That ankle needs to be iced asap." Classified absolutely smirked at that.
Julien held up a finger, tilting his head. "Actually, only one of us is being a bird. Just want to make that clear."
Classified chuckled at that, and Julien sent him a thin smile that indicated to Skipper he hadn't meant it as a joke - he'd taken the term literally and was honestly confused as to why Classified referred to him as an avian. Skipper smiled lovingly and pushed his flipper into Julien's paw, who turned to him and smiled brightly.
"Figure of speech," he mumbled under his breath, and it clicked with Julien, who too laughed.
It was dry, though, slightly forced, even if he did find the mistake mildly humorous. He wasn't going to escape the terrible emotions of what he'd been through that day. His most trusted advisor, best friend, only family, had attempted to murder him, and Skipper would bet money that he hadn't given a clear explanation as to why. Another scar to add to what must have been a list for Julien, for him to have been the way he was - so mistrustful, elusive, and secretive. Similar to Skipper himself, who had his fair share of trauma - a great deal of which had been administered to him by enemies like Blowhole and Hans.
As Clover and Eva began to head back, Julien stole a kiss on Skipper's cheek - garnering a goofy smile - and then was carried by Classified the rest of the way.
Beneath his elation, a feeling of discomfort began to grow, and his smile faded with it. They still had to watch out for that other assassin, who would no doubt still be out for Julien's blood once they discovered he was in fact safe and sound. He would have to keep a sharp eye out for them, and he certainly didn't plan on letting Julien out of his sight anytime soon.
His gut told him that it wouldn't make a difference, though.
