The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 32 – Stowaway

THE OTTER YAWNED.

She hadn't realized just how tired she was up until she had snuggled up in the hammock that was hung in the captain's quarters. Its cloth was torn and old, and the pillow she rested her head on smelled like mildew. She didn't care though; she was expecting to have to sleep on the hard deck. The best she had hoped for was to use a coil of rope as a pillow. Now she was laying still in the hammock, the waves slowly rocking her from side to side.

It hadn't been long before the events of the day finally caught up to her. As she laid, aches and pains slowly made themselves known. It was like they were seeping out of her bones and muscles, and she couldn't believe just how much they hurt. She had already inspected herself for injuries, and found a few nasty looking bruises. She didn't know if they were from her fight with the human lady, or with the penguins on the dock. Either way, she new that between both conflicts and her long travel across Long Island, she was exhausted.

"It's just as important to rest once in a while as it is work hard," mom said. "All work and no play makes Marlene a dull otter."

She had always been a harder worker than her brothers. They tended to fool around, as boys often do. They splashed in the river and scared away the morning's catch when her father and her were fishing. They play fought with the sticks that she had collected for constructing shelter. They always seemed to have more fun than she ever did.

"Come play with us, Marley!" called her brothers as she struggled to pick up the sticks they had strewn about. "You know you want to!"

She wondered what her family would think of her now. She was on a stolen fishing boat, being driven by a crazy penguin. She was on her way to confront a great evil. She was on an adventure. Her aching bones constituted that fact.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her neck. She felt there and to her surprise noticed that there was a small cut. It was hardly deep enough to bleed, but it still stung. She realized again that only her thin fur and paper skin had been between that knife and her jugular. Only an inch had separated her from life and death. She curled into a ball, wondering if she should have just continued relaxing at the zoo.

"My girl ain't fragile!" she heard her dad say. Mom had her arms crossed, looking sternly back at her husband. "She's more than ready to come hunting with me and the guys! She's already proven herself on our fishing trips. She hauls back more than I do, most of the time."

Marlene had never gotten a chance to go hunting with her dad. It was shortly thereafter they had been taken into captivity. There was nothing to hunt in that cage, no rodents, no bugs, no fish.

"Would you cut that out, Marlene?" scolded dad, looking down at her, paws on his hips. "You can't hunt what's already dead. That's just not right."

Marlene shook her head. She remembered attempting to pounce on a dead clam that had just been tossed in the habitat, claiming that it was actually alive and might have been able to fight back. She remembered her dad said it because he was stressed. Her eldest brother had just been taken a few hours ago, at that point.

Marlene tried to clear her head of those memories. She needed to focus on the task at hand.

She wondered where they would end up. Were they going directly to Antarctica, or were they going to Denmark? Was Sarge going to attempt to retrieve the Sun again? If he was going directly there, would they try to stop him? Marlene suddenly didn't like the idea of going on this adventure. Antarctica would be cold. Too cold for an Asian otter. She didn't like the cold. Was it the cold she was afraid of encountering, or was it Sarge and his henchmen?

She was thinking about way too much at once. She tried her best to clear her head again. This time she was a little more successful. She heard the sound of the waves lapping up against the side of the boat again. She sighed.

It wasn't apparent to her at first, but she thought she heard a shuffling somewhere nearby. At first she thought it was just something in the room shifting from the rocking of the boat. It wasn't until she heard a knocking that she perked her ears up and began looking around the room.

It was pitch black. The only window rested just above the surface of the water and the moonlight was blocked out by the eerie fog. She held her breath, waiting for the next sign of the noise.

Another knock. Marlene couldn't help but feel a little nervous. It wasn't the first time a strange noise had proven itself to be a threat to her. She slid out of the hammock. It was a little further to the floor than she had thought and she stumbled as she hit the planks, making them creak.

The knock was still there. It was getting louder. Judging by its irregularity, Marlene knew it wasn't just something tapping up against the wall from the rocking of the boat. She felt along the wall near the door for the lamp she knew she saw on the way into the room. Her heart accelerated a bit as the knocking continued.

"Private?" she decided to ask the darkness. No answer. Her hand finally felt the wall sconce she had been looking for, and she clicked it on. The ancient bulb sparked to life, giving a very dim light. Marlene was still thankful for it.

After a moment she had made out the room. There was nothing there. Only a small desk, a trunk, a wardrobe, and the hammock. She still heard the knocking, and her best guess told her it had to be coming from this room. The otter remained on edge.

Straining her ears, Marlene found the knocking seeming to be coming from the trunk. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she tiptoed over. It was latched shut, but now she realized that the trunk was shaking slightly, banging up against the wall every so often, producing the knocking noise. With a shaky paw she undid the latch. Before she could even think to try to open the lid, however, it flew open.

A flurry of white and gray spilled onto the floor in front of her. It was Julien, and he was taking in huge, greedy lungfuls of air.

"Julien!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air, "I should have known it was you!"

Julien didn't say anything, but continued gasping heavily.

"How long have you been in that trunk?"

"I.. am not... knowing..." he heaved. Marlene walked over to the trunk and noticed a rubber seal around both the edges of the lid and where it closed, presumably to make it watertight. Unfortunately for Julien, it had also been airtight.

"De king was panicking after it wasn't opening again," Julien said, standing up. He had finally stopped gasping, but was still breathing heavily. Marlene noticed his fur was still in shambles. His face had lines of dirt on it and his crown, though it was ragged before, was now completely missing.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Skipper asked you to go back to the zoo!" The otter said, angrily. Julien rubbed the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"I was thinking you might be needing de king's help in fighting de evil-penguins?" he offered.

"Ugh! I can't believe you. You scared the crap out of me!" Marlene was mad. She knew Julien had not really done anything wrong, but she had really thought she was in danger again.

"So..." Julien whistled, "What is der to do on dis stinking boat, anyway? It smells like Mort after he fell in the sewer." Julien held his nose.

Marlene wasn't amused. She crossed her arms and said simply, "I'm going to tell Skipper you're here."

Suddenly, Julien looked scared. He grabbed her paw and tugged lightly as she turned to leave.

"There is no need to be hasty," he said. "There is being no reason dat Skipper needs to know..."

"That you're here? He's already got me to deal with. He'll want to know if he's got another stowaway."

Julien didn't say a word for a moment, but just looked at Marlene. The dim, flickering light from the sconce illuminated his face in such a way that made him seem young; innocent. The light danced in the lemur's hazel eyes as Marlene realized he was pleading with her not to go tell Skipper. Suddenly she looked down and noticed that he was still holding her paw in his. She yanked it away, noticing an awkward smile from the lemur king.

"Are you afraid of him knowing you're here, or something?" she asked, crossing her arms again.

"Of dat fishy penguin?" Julien scoffed as if he was offended. "Of course de king is not afraid."

"Then whats the big idea hiding in the trunk like that? You don't usually hide around."

"If Skipper had been seeing me sneak onto dis boat, he would have kicked me right back to de zoo."

Marlene had to agree with that. She knew that she was on this crazy adventure more by force than by Skipper choosing to allow her to go. If she hadn't gotten in that fight with the humans in the park, he probably would have forced her to go back to the zoo as well.

"Well you're here now," said the otter, provoking another smile from the lemur. "I seriously doubt Skipper would make you swim all the way back to Long Island."

Marlene let loose a small chuckle, and Julien's hoarse laugh followed. She couldn't help it – but she gained some level of comfort from him being on the boat. She was friends with the penguins, of course, but they were never super close. With Manfredi and Sarge in the picture now, she felt disconnected from them entirely. Marlene thought briefly back to her discussion with the Lemur King all those weeks ago when she had been thinking about adventure. She wondered if he would be easier to talk to than the penguins.

"So why did you follow us instead of going back to the zoo?" Marlene asked. Surprisingly, Julien looked awkward and rubbed the back of his head with his paw. He smiled widely, but Marlene could see that it was no longer genuine.

"Uh... you see... de King wants to be seeing the world... and..."

"Pfft," interrupted Marlene. "What's the real reason you're here? I mean, coming out here without Maurice or Mort, hiding in that trunk, ruining your fur... it's just not like you Julien."

Julien averted his eyes to the ground, away from Marlene's, but didn't say anything. Marlene cocked her head to the side in confusion. What was he hiding from her?

"It is being you," he said suddenly, not looking up. The realization hit Marlene like a ton of bricks. She didn't want to believe it though. He couldn't be suggesting... that.

"You've been following me around for the last month," she thought aloud, "and you always showed up right when I needed your help the most..."

"I was trying to protect you, Marlene." he said. Marlene couldn't help but shiver slightly at the sound of her name. She couldn't tell if it was because she was creeped out or flattered, though. As Julien finally glanced up at her again, she felt her cheeks burn and decided to avert her own eyes. She looked out the window by the hammock and began inching that way.

"Dat is why I am being here," spilled Julien. "It is like I have dis feeling inside my chest whenever you are around. Sometimes I just want to rip it out so my mind isn't exploding with a bazillion thoughts when I am watching you. I am not knowing what dis feeling is, and sometimes I hate it. But den its like I can't get enough of it, you know? I don't really like talking to my chunky-monkey Maurice at all, but talking to you gives me the worms in the tummy. Listening to you is like listening to my favorite songs, but my words are being caught in my throat when I am trying to talk back."

Marlene still hadn't looked back at the lemur king. Her heart rate was increasing slightly now, though. She continued to inch closer to the window. She wasn't sure what to say back. It all made sense. His random visits to her habbitat, her random bumping into him throughout the zoo, him coming to her rescue, him following her out of the zoo. Why hadn't she realized this ages ago? The whole situation now was beginning to make her a little uncomfortable.

Her face was set ablaze when Julien grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, making her eyes meet his. They stayed this way for a little while, Marlene frozen by Julien's gaze. She had never noticed how beautiful his eyes were until this moment. The dim light was reflecting off of them, giving them a warm glow. The warm glow hugged his face as well. With his fur matted, and ruined and his crown missing, Marlene saw an entire new side of Julien she had never seen before. He was beautiful. Her breath escaped her.

"I think I am loving you, Marlene," cooed the lemur. His face inched closer to hers. She could feel his paws shaking where he held her shoulder. She could feel her own paws shaking, her heart pounding in her ears. Her gut tied itself into a knot. She found it hard to breathe.

It wasn't until she felt his hot breath on her own face that she pulled away. She wriggled out of his grasp, immediately backing away from him. She felt her back hit the wall behind her.

"I... I, uhh... need to get some fresh air," she lied, pointing towards the exit. She managed the courage to look back up at the lemur for a moment. She wish she hadn't. His arms limp, his mouth twisted into a frown, his big eyes glazed over with forming tears. She felt hot and uncomfortable. She slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her before collapsing against the wall adjacent to the captain's quarters.

Julien... loves me? She wondered. The only thing she could think of was his saddened face. It broke her heart.

~Author's Note~ If you read the whole story up to this point, you know this chapter was going to happen eventually. I'm not very good at writing this kind of stuff, so please let me know what you think! (On a side note, why is this one of the only stories that has a Julien/Marlene pairing?)