"Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down! Dear gods, don't look the frickety fuck down!"
Minerva repeated this manic mantra in her mind while keeping her eyes shut away from the world outside. Which kept the panicking primate from seeing her present surroundings but not from feeling the roaring wind as it rushed through her short fur and stabbed her skin like a thousand frigid needles nor of Shadow's feathers enveloping her thick fingers as they gripped the soft plumage tighter and tighter until the hawk's sharp squawk suddenly stabbed the lady lemur's ears. At which her amber eyes flew open and were immediately blasted by a blistering burst of air.
"Ahh!" Minerva yelped as she swiftly shut her eyes against the stinging pain while her paws flew up to shield them.
"Oy, what's going on back there? What are you doing to Shadow? Oy, look at me when I'm talking to you!" At Clover's harsh bark spat in her ear, Minerva reluctantly opened her eyes and was greeted by the lemur queen giving her a scolding scowl over her shoulder from her seat in between her subject and the back of Shadow's neck.
"S-sorry Clover! Sorry Shadow! I...I..." Minerva anxiously apologized to Clover, then Shadow before her explanation died on her fumbling tongue. For when she looked down at Shadow's face, she also saw the jungle below the hawk. A roaring river of green so, so very far below.
"Oy, what are you looking at?" Clover irritably asked as she followed Minerva's wide eyed gaze. At which understanding came to the queen and she scoffed at her subject, "Oh, don't tell me you're afraid of heights?"
"I am!" Minerva squeaked out a squawk as she swiftly looked away from the world below and lunged forward to bury her face in the back of Shadow's neck, pinning a startled Clover between herself and Shadow in the process.
"What the…!?" Clover exclaimed, then growled through bared teeth and thought to herself that this was the same lemur who Sage praised for being so courageous. That she was braver then any solider, he swore.
"Dear Frank, I don't remember you being such a baby last time!" Clover carped, to which Minerva snappishly replied,
"Oh no, I was scared shitless then too! You just didn't notice!"
"That's because I had more important matters to focus on as I do now! Now, get off of me!" Clover snapped back and started arching her back against Minerva's chest. This and the queen's strained groaning as she struggled to budge her made Minerva conscious of the positions they were both currently in.
"Oh. Heh, heh, oops!" Minerva said in stunned realization, then awkward sheepishness and with a matching smile and her eyes still closed, she promptly leaned back enough for Clover to sit up straight once more.
Once freed from her blubbery cage, Clover thought about chewing out the mountain lemur for such disrespect but didn't feel like wasting anymore breath on her spineless subject. So she kept her mouth shut instead for the remainder of the journey, as did Minerva. Who continued to keep her eyes squeezed shut until she no longer felt the wind raking her fur with it's cold claws and heard Clover say curtly in her ear,
"Alright, we're on the ground now. Open your eyes and get off!"
At which Minerva cautiously opened one eye to see that indeed, Shadow was now standing in a small open clearing surrounded by jungle. "Oh thank gods!" Minerva cried out in relief, leapt off of Shadow and landed on all fours onto the gorgeously green ground. Where with a gleeful guffaw, she then rolled onto her back and spread her arms out amid the soft sweet grass, tenderly brushing her fingers through their beautiful blades as she melted into them, closed her eyes and breathed out an adoring sigh.
"Hello?"
Her eyes flew back open and she sat up straight with a start when a deep masculine voice suddenly came from close by. One that sounded familiar though Minerva couldn't quite put her finger on exactly who it belonged to. She then looked over at Clover and saw that the queen had climbed off of Shadow, with her arms crossed over her chest as she and her companion scowled over towards where Minerva heard nearby rustling. At which the mountain lemur followed their unfriendly gazes and saw Zora walking out onto the clearing.
"I thought it was you." Zora said as she approached the trio, with her leery gaze lingering on Clover. Then, she looked over at Minerva, who anxiously picked herself up off the ground at the sudden attention, and the mother to be's expression softened. "Are you Minerva?"
"Y-yes." Minerva replied timidly, to which Zora came closer to her and held out a paw as she cordially said,
"Pleased to meet you."
"Y-yeah, same." Minerva replied a bit more awkward fashion as she took Zora's paw in her own. Then, the women shook paws and as they did, Zora looked over Minerva's shoulder and asked with cautious optimism,
"Is anyone coming?"
"N-no, it's just us." Minerva told her, trying hard to hide her unease as she thought about her peers (but most of all Benson) not even knowing about the wedding that they had all been invited to, and was uncomfortable all the more when Zora looked back at her with a face falling into disappointment and let go of her paw as she said in kind,
"Oh."
Realization then dawned on Zora with a start and she anxiously apologized, "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean…! I-I'm glad you're here, I just...", before sheepishly trailing off while turning her face away from Minerva's knowing gaze.
"You wish Benson was here too." Minerva thought to herself solemnly as that all too familiar cocktail of cynicism and sympathy towards the bride to be coursed through her heart
"This is what you get, take it or leave it!" Clover groused, which earned her swift scolding scowls from both mountain lemurs accompanied by a critical question from Zora.
"Well, can I at least also have a reason why you're here a day early?"
"That's what I'd like to know!" A new voice demanded, at which everyone turned to see a dark brown lemur with a white fluffy mane stepping out of the jungle with a dozen or so more lemurs following on their peer's heels, with some such as the maned lemur giving the newcomers scrutinizing scowls while other's expressions were more puzzled then hostile.
"Yeah...care to explain, Clover?" Minerva joined in after a surprised second, recalling her earlier hunch concerning the queen's initial evasiveness on the matter and the fact that she herself had meant to bring it up during their flight, away from the prying ears of her fellow citizens, but had gotten too wrapped up in thinking about potentially falling off of Shadow and her broken body splattering across the jungle floor that conversing with Clover had temporarily slipped her mind.
"If you all must know, it's been too long since I've assessed Dr. S and since he and I are going to be busy as is tomorrow, I figured it would be better to get it over with today. Besides, now you two have more time to hang out." Clover replied, with a surly edge lacing her otherwise composed answer that ended with obviously sarcastic delight. To which Zora glared at the queen for a moment more before then turning to Minerva, with her face softening as she offered meekly,
"Well, we were just about to start training but you're free to join us if you want."
"Training?" Minerva asked, confused, shoving aside the feeling that Clover wasn't telling the whole truth for the time being.
"Oh yes, your brilliant idea! Tell ya what, I'll let you explain everything and I'll see you tomorrow!" Clover first told an offended but not surprised Zora, then Minerva. Who shoved aside her own irritation to awkwardly tell the bride to be,
"Uh, sure, I'll tag along."
And so, Clover went off to see Dr. S while Minerva was lead by everyone else back the way they had came from and was soon brought to another open clearing. This one being larger, with a big chalkboard tucked in a corner that had writing scribbled on it that Minerva didn't read and a pile of unknown objects stacked next to it that she too only gave but a passing glance. For what really caught the mountain lemur's eye were items that she was all too familiar with. A dozen or so fossa and lemur dummies scattered about the center of it all, with bullseyes painted on various parts of their wooden bodies standing around in various positions waiting for mock combat while a menagerie of bows, spears and other weapons sat around long tables set up on the sidelines, ready as well.
It was then that Minerva was informed that Zora was now teaching self defense to a growing number of the kingdom's citizens while simultaneously continuing Dr. S's training as well, alternating between teaching both lemurs and snake in the same sessions to splitting the students up depending on the lesson or if Dr. S was at his other job, with both being the case that day. This all both astounded and intrigued Minerva, who gladly followed everyone to the chalkboard and stood at the back of the crowd as class began with all eyes on Zora.
"Alright, so, just to get you up to speed real quick, Minerva, I've been teaching everyone how to use everyday objects to protect themselves with when aren't more traditional weapons on hand. Since you're here, I think it would be a good day to go over what we've learned so far. So, with that said, can anyone give an example of what we've learned so far?" Zora said to Minerva and the trainees, several of whom promptly raised their paws in reply to their teacher's expectant question. To which Zora looked over each appendage along with their eager owners for a thoughtful moment before pointing and saying to, "Becca?"
"Pens and pencils can be great for stabbing folks, specially if ya get em in the eyes and throat! High yah!" Becca eagerly answered and thrust her fist forward to happily stab an imaginary enemy, hitting open air where a lemur had been standing but had taken a couple steps forward just as Becca had started speaking. Just as several other students surrounding the eager lemur had simultaneously distanced themselves from her as well. Probably all in anticipation of their peer's enthusiasm, Minerva thought to herself in amusement.
"Yes! If you're using a pen or pencil as a weapon, always aim for the eyes and throat! Both will hurt like hell and give you time to make your next move! Very good, Becca!" Zora gladly agreed, pointing at both of her own aforementioned body parts as she spoke to every student before landing her gaze and praise on Becca, who stood tall as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave a wide smug smirk in reply.
It was then that Minerva saw a lemur not walk but roll to Becca's side. For they weren't standing like everyone else but sitting in a wheelchair. To which Minerva's eyes widened to twin suns, which she then briskly blinked a couple times to ensure that they weren't deceiving her. They weren't. There was indeed a lemur in a wheelchair among the trainees and Minerva kept staring at them in a stunned daze as Zora called on lemur after lemur who gave answer after answer that were all but a muffled murmur in Minerva's ears until the object of her shock raised their paw and Zora pointed to them while saying,
"Yes, Abner?"
"Well, it's more like an idea I'd like to add onto. Ya see, I've been thinking about what you said about using a chair as a shield and I was wondering if I did that while sitting in my chair while somebody pushed me real fast, if that might make a good battering ram?" Abner asked, meek and thoughtful, fidgeting with his paws at first before finishing off his argument by thrusting them out as if pushing an imaginary chair.
At which Zora gave a closed lipped hum and placed a paw to her mouth in pensive pause before then pulling her paw away to say with cautious optimism, "That might work. Care to try it out?"
And so, dummies were removed from their battle positions until only one remained. A faux fossa about the same size as the real animal that was mostly made of wood that lacked the bullseyes painted on most of the other dummies with a wide open mouth that housed tiny sharpened stones acting as faux fangs. This pretend predator was left in the middle of the clearing while the rest of it's kind ended up on the sidelines along with every real lemur present save for Becca and Abner. Who got ready for their mock battle on the other side of the field, with Abner positioning one chair overtop his own until he had himself caged in between them just right, then clamped his fingers around the former's armrest like a snake squeezing it's prey while Becca gripped the latter's handlebars just as strongly as she impatiently paced in place, biting her bottom lip as she kept her sunrise eyes on their faux foe all the while.
"Okay, ready!" Abner happily declared and gave a thumbs up to Becca. Who with a gleeful giggle, promptly propelled the pair forward, with both wife and husband baying for battle as they flew across the field before colliding with their faux foe, causing it to leap back from the impact. The dueling duo then came to a swift stop as they watched the mock predator fly over the field before descending back down to the ground, where it proceeded to briskly bounce across the long open stretch before coming to a halt in a crumbled heap.
"Yeehaw! We did it! We got em, baby!" Becca triumphantly proclaimed as she leapt up into the air and pumped her fists upon landing back on the ground. She then happily looked over at Abner as he lifted the shield chair off his own and stared at the dented dummy in stunned astoundment while uttering in kind,
"It worked!"
"Hell yeah it worked! You're brilliant, hun!" Becca praised and hugged her husband as a stunned smile spread across his lips, then looked over at the lemurs now walking towards them. "Ya'll see that!? That dummy never knew what hit it!" She bragged, letting go of Abner to punch the air for emphasis.
"Not bad, for your first time." Zora complimented modestly as she approached the pair, with a small smirk dancing across her lips as she then asked, "Care to do it again, this time with more resistance?"
A challenge that husband and wife happily accepted, giving off jovial howls as they soon slammed into a faux fossa with metal rods for legs staked into the ground, sending that one flying as well as everyone else watched on with great interest. Including Minerva, who kept an especially close eye on Abner. For while there were disabled mountain lemur soldiers (such as Campion with his one eye), the former nurse had witnessed time and again warriors forced to retire after becoming wheelchair bound. So Abner presented quite the astounding exception and Minerva was ever more amazed as he and Becca knocked over dummy after dummy with ease.
Until Zora told the couple to stop, saying that it was time to give their peers a chance to demonstrate what they were capable of. Which was met with some resistance.
"Aw, come on! Just one more time!" Becca begged, to which Zora firmly, irritably told her and Abner,
"No! You've knocked over like twenty dummies for Frank's sake! That's enough!"
"One more ain't gonna hurt nothing!" Abner pestered.
"Yeah! Just one more! Or-or something else! Something really super duper hard to knock over! Like...like…" Becca insisted, then trailed off as she struggled for an example, her amber eyes desperately darting about until they landed on Minerva, who still stuck out among the shorter trainees even at the very back of the crowd. At which Becca's face lit up as an idea sparked in her brain and a wicked grin came out to dance across her lips as she happily exclaimed, "Minerva!"
"Huh?" Minerva uttered, confused.
"You're so big and strong, it'd be real hard to knock you over!" Becca flattered her with a sly smile.
"Yeah!" Abner excitedly agreed, then added in his own deceivingly sweet manner, "And it would really help us with our learning!"
"Uh..." Minerva uttered uncomfortably, taken aback by this sudden request coupled with the pair's pleading puppy eyes. She then looked around at the other students and was met with an array of expectant gazes as they too waited for her answer. Then, she looked over at Zora and found the teacher with her face scrunched up in thought.
"She would be harder to move then a dummy..." The bride to be pondered out loud, then looked over at Minerva and found the other woman staring at her as if silently saying,
"Are you kidding me?"
At which Zora's pensive expression fell promptly and after quickly clearing her throat, she then awkwardly told Minerva likewise, "You're the guest. It's your call."
"Is it?" Minerva thought to herself critically but, between recognizing the merit in everyone's logic, her desire to remain on these lemur's good sides and maybe being just a tad bit curious herself, she begrudgingly conceded to Becca and Abner, "Fine! Let's get this over with!"
Which was met with triumphant delight from the persistent pair and soon, both once again prepared themselves for pretend combat, only this time with a perturbed Minerva holding up a large wooden shield as their target. For even on the other side of the clearing, the mountain lemur could see the eagerness etched into Becca's face, the wide wicked grin dancing across it, the way the smaller lemur's feet pranced in place as if the ground beneath them were hot coals along with hers and Abner's steady grips on the chairs shielding him. All that combined with all the injuries inflicted by the couple's peers (including said couple themselves probably) that the former nurse had treated told her that no matter how she resisted, that this fake battle was going to end in very real pain for her.
"Ready?" Zora called out to the contenders.
"No!" Minerva anxiously thought to herself but shouted out loud with as much enthusiasm as she could muster (Which wasn't a lot), "Yes!", while keeping her eyes on Becca and Abner. Who let out gleeful giggles as Becca's feet pranced ever faster.
"Okay!" Zora declared and raised up a flattened paw, "Ready? Set? Go!", then sliced it through the air in one swift sweep.
At which with an ecstatic, "Yeehaw!", Becca launched herself and Abner forward, with her feet almost flying over the field as the pair bayed for battle louder then ever. While Minerva's remained rooted to the ground for a split second longer before she too charged onward, with her scared screaming blending with her opponent's whooping war calling for a fleeting moment before both sides collided. Upon which the force of the impact shoved the parties apart, with both shields flung aside as Minerva fell flat on her back, then swiftly plowed across the clearing before coming to a stop while Abner's wheelchair briskly flew backwards before toppling over onto Becca and grinding her into the ground until husband and wife came to a halt as well.
Which sent shocked gasps rippling through the now alarmed audience and all raced over to the downed contenders. Which included Minerva, who took a few more stunned seconds to regain consciousness, hearing words that she couldn't make out over the ringing in her ears that simmered into silence as she slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a cluster of concerned lemurs standing over her.
"Ow." The mountain lemur moaned as she sat up cautiously, then promptly sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut as her paws flew to her throbbing head. "Guess this is what I get for not telling you guys that I'm not a fan of even pretend fighting! In fact, you can say that I fucking despise it with every fiber of my being!" She snarled with teeth and bitterness bared, her fiery eyes flying open at the last spiteful syllable. It was then the resentful lemur heard an urgent sounding clamor of voices coming from close by and through a break in her also curious crowd, she saw another group of trainees lift Abner and his chair off of Becca, who lay sprawled out at the end of a trail of exposed earth.
"Oh my gods!" Minerva cried out in alarm and in a flash, flipped herself onto all fours and raced over to the couple. Where she swiftly stood up on her back legs just as Becca sat up and furiously looked from her to Abner and back again as she went on to say, "Oh gods, oh gods, why did I do that!? Why did I do that!? I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have come at you that fast! I should have stood still! I shouldn't have done this at all! I should have said no! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!", with her paws alternating between raking her sore skull to flying about almost as if grabbing and shaking an imaginary version of herself as she did.
"Minerva, it's okay! It was an accident!" Zora tried to tell her but her anxious assurance was drowned out by Minerva's frantic fretting, with the panicking pacifist touching an arm and leg and holding up two fingers as she asked her opponents,
"Oh gods! Oh gods! How bad does it hurt!? Can you feel your arms!? How about your legs!? How many fingers am I holding up!?"
"For Frank's sake, will you shut the fuck up!?" Becca snapped, taking Minerva aback with her harsh bark, then rubbed her temples as she twined, "Your hollering is making my head hurt worse!"
"Mine too!" Abner complained as well as he massaged his own throbbing skull.
"Oh gods, I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Minerva anxiously apologized at a softer volume and covered her mouth with her paws. To which Becca gave an irritated growl and asked her in kind,
"Agh, what I wanna hear is if me and Abner knocked ya over or not?! Everything happened so damn fast, I couldn't tell!"
"Me neither!" Abner added likewise.
To which Minerva nodded her head while keeping her mouth covered and several other lemurs backed up her silent statement.
"Yeah, you did alright."
"Slammed her to the ground."
"More like plowed her into it. Go look at those trenches ya dug if ya don't believe me." One pointed out while pointing a thumb over their shoulder towards where Minerva's body had left a gaping scar of exposed earth.
All as Becca and Abner's faces lit up brighter and brighter as they stretched into wider and wider grins until Becca suddenly shoot up to her feet and threw her paws in the air as she shouted, "Yeeehaw! We did it!"
"Wooo doggy!" Abner too cheered in triumphant. The pair then rushed to each other and proceeded to give hugs and high fives in an exhilarated frenzy while chanting likewise,
"We did it! We did it! We did it!"
All as everyone else stared at them in stunned surprise. Including Minerva as both relief that seemingly neither husband nor wife were seriously injured and anger that neither seemed to care about her plowing Becca into the ground swirled simultaneously within her sore skull. At which the latter furrowed her brow into a stern scowl but before she could share these thoughts, Zora approached the couple with a firm frown of her own as she said to them,
"Excuse me?"
Which stopped the perky pair mid high five and both whipped around to give Zora gleeful expressions turned galled. "What!?" Becca barked.
To which Zora replied with an irked closed lipped growl before commanding in kind, "Alright, you two have had your fun. Now it's time to step aside and give someone else a turn."
"Alright, alright, keep your fur on." Becca conceded likewise as she started rubbing her sorest arm. Though when Minerva inquired about it, Becca insisted that she was fine. That all she needed was rest. Which was immediately followed by Abner concurring in kind and Minerva didn't argue with either lemur anymore after that.
Though she still kept an eye on the couple just in case either showed signs that they weren't fine, with quick concerned glances now and again as Zora went on to ask if anyone else wished to give a demonstration. Of which there were many volunteers, with a captive audience soon watching one trainee after another show off their makeshift weapons. From rocks stuffed into socks to bash a fossa's skull in to swiftly sweeping brooms to knock an enemy off their feet, with Zora giving critiques to each and every one with some more approving then others, though she made an effort to keep even her harshest criticisms constructive.
"No, no, spread your legs like this. It will give you better balance."
"Having only one eye open isn't going to give you better aim, remember? It is going to give your enemies a great blind spot to strike at!"
"Yes, shampoo works on wooden floors but what if you're outside? Use something that will be slippery on grass and dirt like...like..."
"Marbles?"
"Hmm, yes. Yes, try that."
This remained Minerva of her own combat training which had been less pleasant to say the least. From her snail like speed to her shitty balance to her hesitantly at laying a paw on her peers, she sucked at being a solider in training and everyone from her sergeants to her fellow students never let her forget it. Which is why they unanimously informed Koto's lackeys of this ineptness when Minerva applied to be a nurse, that the 'pathetic pansy' would be more useful to the kingdom in her preferred profession or doing literally anything else besides fighting. This spared Minerva from being forced into any and all real combat for the entirely of Koto's reign, to which she felt begrudging gratitude towards her cruel critics in a much more tolerable manner then with Benson.
The thought of whom sent a pang pulsing through Minerva's heart that she tried hard to dismiss. It would have been too dangerous to tell him about the wedding even without Clover and Sage to worry about. What if she had told Benson everything and then he started acting like he was obviously hiding something from their allies? That would have surely roused some suspicion and certainly some of their companions would have confronted Benson about it. To which Benson might have cracked under the pressure and let the cat out of the proverbial bag then and there or he might have done so with a careless slip of the tongue during more causal conversation or even if he was capable of keeping his composure with their companions, who was to say it would have been the same story with Zora and Uncle King Julien? That the brute wouldn't have confronted the groom to be and given into his savage nature to attack first and talk things out never or…?
Minerva then remembered what Benson himself had to say on the matter. That if he ever got the chance, he would tell Zora that while he wasn't happy about her relationship with the elder Julien, he was willing to give it a chance for her sake. To give Julien a chance to prove that he truly was a changed lemur and that his love for Zora was the real deal and that got Minerva thinking about his disagreements with her and their companions. About how while Benson had certainly lost his temper during these arguments, he never raised a paw at any of them. At support beams and chairs and other inanimate objects that happened to be in his line of sight but never using any as any sort of weapon against his allies. He had even been working on how he handled such situations with lemurs aligned with Campion and Clover. That while he still sometimes got into physical altercations with said lemurs, he had also been walking away from them without throwing a single punch more and more, with Minerva having both been told about and witness to first hand. Which had made her proud of her companion in spite of her complicated feelings towards him.
…
...Whatever. None of that mattered now, Minerva thought to herself as she turned her attention back to the present. She was going to attend Zora and Uncle King Julien's wedding and Benson wasn't. End of story.
.
.
.
Zora left the field after training ended, at which time Minerva approached several of the bride to be's lingering students. Who were more then willing to answer her questions concerning their unlikely teacher, starting with how she came to teach them and Dr. S in the first place. To which it was explained that it had been Zora's idea to resume the unlikely protector's training and that had swiftly snowballed to include the very lemurs he was protecting due in part because of the person who had first replaced Clover as head of security, a lemur named Ted. A fact that had been hidden from most but was now known by all since he formally relinquished the title to Dr. S. Though before Minerva could become but so outraged at this deception, she was informed that Ted could fight about as well as a fish can fly. That even his macho man alter ego, Snake, had become a spineless coward who talked big game but turned tail at even just one opponent larger then himself. Then even if he could singlehandedly fight off a pack of fossa, the lengths it would take to bring him out of Ted were more trouble then they were worth and left too much room for things to go horribly wrong. With it being unanimously agreed upon, not just among the present students but the entire kingdom as well, that if Snake and/or Ted had attempted to protect everyone back when shit first started hitting the proverbial fan, his/their efforts would have ended in disaster. And anyhow, the cowardly captain did end up helping his fellow citizens when he and his wife opened their home to those who lost theirs as a result of King Julien's failed slew of security systems.
And yet, Minerva couldn't help but hear a prickly edge lacing this defense all the while. A sour sliver slipping through the trainee's tongues, skirting Ted's name throughout. Which brought Minerva to the conclusion that no matter how they tried to dismiss his deception, that these soldiers in training held at least a sliver of resentment towards their former captain. A hunch that was backed up all the more when a woman named Annabel (One of the many lemurs who had stayed with Ted and his wife after losing her own home) gave a contemptuous tsst before wrapping up her recount with, "Whatever. Who needs him anyway? Dr. S has kept us safe better then he or Snake ever could."
A sentiment that was met with agreement all around except from Minerva. Who took a thoughtful moment before asking Annabel, "So, it's safe to say you're really grateful to Dr. S, huh?"
"I am. He's been there for us and I hope that I can be there for him too." The solider in training solemnly, tenderly told her. To which Minerva then asked,
"So, he's why you're training with Zora?"
A question that took all aback, with stunned stares and quick glances this way and that as Minerva felt a tension swiftly shroud the crowd in those silent seconds, much to her confusion. Though before she could acknowledge it, Annabel broke the queer quiet herself.
"He's...one reason. Zora says that we can't depend on only Dr. S to protect us! That if something happened to him...if he got hurt or k-killed, then there might not be another band of heroes swooping in to save us! That we need other options and one of those options is us knowing how to save ourselves! That we did it before! Along side the other kingdoms to save everything and everyone we love once! So why can't we do it again with Dr. S!? And she's right and that's why I'm fighting not just for Dr. S but for everyone I love no matter what it takes!" She told Minerva, tentatively at first but after a few small stumbles, her words gained confidence as she spoke, so that by the final syllables of her solemn statement, earnest awe blazed in Minerva's heart not just towards Annabel but all of the soldiers in training and even a sliver of respect for Zora in spite of herself. Which is why the cowardly mountain lemur decided not to question the crowd's earlier unease. At least not directly. Instead, with a hunch in mind, she attempted to cautiously coax out an answer from Annabel.
"Do you know what Zora's fighting for? Why she's going through all the trouble to teach you guys when she knows how you all feel about her?"
To which the trainees were taken aback once more, with a new wave of stunned stares and quick glances swiftly rippling across the crowd. Though a shroud of strange tension didn't drape itself over that surprised silence which, after her brow furrowed into a firm scowl, was briskly broken by Annabel.
"It's all to protect herself, her precious 'Jules' and their spawn. She doesn't give a damn about any of us. She's using us and we're using her. I know it. She knows it. We all know it." She tried to keep her reply composed, though Minerva still heard it's piqued edges loud and clear, with especially brazen venom oozing out of what Minerva figured was an affectionate nickname that Zora called the elder Julien and a title for their unborn child that she knew all too well. That and that way Annabel averted her eyes accompanied by the rest of her tensing body made her unease painfully obvious to Minerva. Who then looked at the rest of the trainees and found obviously uncomfortable lemurs all around. To which Minerva herself became increasingly uncomfortable and raked her brain for a way to remedy the unease when the lemur who had been subtly steering her meddling mind shoved his way back to it's forefront.
"I get it. I do. I know that has to be so hard working with Zora no matter how much it benefits you and your loved ones! It can't change the past and I just want to say that I have nothing but respect for you all! For acting like actual adults trying to make something good out of this fucked up mess you've been dragged into! Honest, I do!" She told all in earnest awe that once again left everyone else lost for words including Annabel as nagging pangs pitched her heart.
Not because she hadn't told Minerva about Laura. That her sister's death gave her all the more reason to protect her remaining loved ones from the monsters who had murdered so many of them. For the solider in training didn't need the pacifist's pity, as she already received plenty of that as is. No, it was the other reason why she put up with Zora and her 'Jules' staying where they didn't belong, enjoying lives they didn't deserve when Laura couldn't. The day that the former tyrant's latest evil scheme was exposed and Annabel and her fellow soldiers could kill him for his crimes and imprison Zora for hers, with it being unanimously agreed among all of her students to keep their plan a secret from all of the mountain lemurs especially those believed in the tyrant lover's innocence. Said mountain lemurs might not trust the trainees to wait until their 'innocent victim' and the man 'manipulating her' were both exposed as the conniving con artists they really were. That the trainees might grow impatient and jump the gun on enacting their revenge. And then there was Minerva, who was not only friends with several of aforementioned mountain lemurs but was also leader to the group of them who believed in giving Zora and Uncle King Julien the benefit of the doubt. If she found out about the trainee's plan, then surely she would tell her friends about it so then they could all stop it in order to protect both betrothed, right…? Then again, Minerva knew what it was like to be trapped under a tyrant's iron fist. Maybe she would understand why the trainees weren't waiting for dumb luck to kill their tormentor? Maybe she would trust their patience? Maybe she wouldn't tattle on them?...But even if that were so, Annabel wouldn't want to put her in that position. She had enough problems without having to hide such a secret from her friends. Which was why it was best for everyone in The Julien Kingdom to keep their lips sealed. And so, without meeting Minerva's campfire eyes, Annabel gave a her an awkwardly sober,
"Thank you. That's very kind. It's nice to know our efforts are appreciated."