A young, small penguin was creeping along in the shadows, breathing heavily, trying to stay hidden. His down-feathers ruffled in the breeze, making him shiver. He looked around the corner only to see nothing. He sighed in relief and tobogganed over to the next wall.

'Almost there,' the young bird thought. 'Almost home.'

He suddenly froze in his tracks when he heard footsteps nearby. He pressed his body against the cold concrete wall, hoping that the unknown person wouldn't see him. He clamped his eyes shut and held his breath.

'Please, please don't be Snapper!' the youngling thought in a panic.

After a few terrifying moments, the footsteps receded. The penguin let out the breath he'd held, glancing around to see if anyone else was around. Smiling, he rounded the corner.

"No!" the penguin screamed, running head-first into a large, tough penguin known as Snapper.

"Hey, guys! Look!" Snapper yelled over his shoulder, yanking the young penguin from the ground. "I found him!"

A group of penguins formed around the two, closing in around them, yelling at the helpless penguin in the stronger one's grasp.

"Where's that fish you promised me?" Snapper sneered, face inches away from the youngling's.

"I don't have any," the smaller penguin whimpered. "There was only enough for me. I ate it all, Snapper."

"You know what that means, don't you?" Snapper said, grip tightening around him flipper, crushing it.

"Snapper, please!" the penguin pleaded. "I'm sorry! I promise it won't happen again! I'll give you all my meals for the next month!"

"Sounds good to me." The larger penguin glanced at the group, a smile forming on his face. "But unfortunately for you, you still have to be punished," Snapper said menacingly.

He threw the small penguin to the ground and pounced on him, throwing punches and yanking him back whenever he tried to get away.

"Stop! Please!" the young penguin screamed.

Snapper ignored him, and instead began punching harder and faster.
The youngling spotted an opening in which he could escape if he was fast enough. In-between punches, he leapt up and ran as fast as he could. Snapper growled in annoyance and followed after him, quickly overtaking him.

Snapper grabbed his flipper and pulled, sending the child sprawling across the ground. He stepped on his flipper, keeping him in place.

"You're gonna regret that," Snapped hissed. He lifted his foot and stomped down on the youngling's wing.

He let out a scream as he felt his wing snap. He had never felt pain like this before; this time, Snapper had gone too far.

"How's it feel, you stupid, good for nothing baby?" Snapper laughed. The group joined in, mocking and jeering at the injured child.

"Hey, leave him alone! Get away!" came a shout from behind the crowd.

The crowd immediately dispersed in a panic; no one interfered except for the adults, and there was severe consequences if anyone was caught bullying someone.

A rather small penguin stomped over, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed into slits.

"You!" he yelled, pointing at Snapper. "Get off of him!"

Snapper stood up, stepping on the youngling's chest to ensure he wouldn't escape. "And just who do you think you are?" he demanded.

"A military officer," the penguin answered with authority. "And if you don't get off him, I'll have to report you for physical abuse."

Without anymore questions, Snapper sprinted in the opposite direction, a cloud of dust forming behind him. The officer nodded and waddled to the small penguin's side, a concerned look drawn upon his face.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, supporting his head carefully.

"It hurts!" the child wailed, clutching his right flipper. "Make it stop hurting!"

The officer knew that his wing was broken by the way it was angled. He carefully picked the bawling child up and briskly walked away. He examined the young penguin as he walked. The child looked extremely young, as he still had most of his down feathers. He was bruised cut all over. The officer sighed sadly, shaking his head. 'Poor kid,' he thought, 'No child should have to go through that abuse.'
They quickly made it to a large building with a red cross on it. The officer immediately knew that this was the clinic. Glancing around, he spotting no one, and cautiously walked into the building. He set the child down, who had managed to calm down by now, and pushed some boxes over to the table by the window. Soon, he had stairs that he could carry the injured youngling up.

He scooped the young penguin up and carefully climbed up the makeshift stairs. Setting him down on the table, he rushed away and searched for the supplies he would need to fix the child's wing.

"What's your name?"

The officer froze momentarily before resuming his search. "Um, you can call me Skipper," he answered slowly. "What's your name?"

"I don't have a name," the youngling sniffled, glaring at his feet. "My parents left me when I was only two days old. I was told that they didn't want me, so they just left." He trembled, a tear sliding down his face. "I just... why didn't they want me?"

Skipper's face fell. "Oh gosh," he mumbled, flippers shaking as he grabbed some gauze. "No, no, no... it can't be..."

Private was genuinely confused. "What is it?" he asked quietly, wiping his tears away with his good flipper.

"Um, nothing, nothing," he lied, quickly walking back over with the gauze in hand. "Alright, this may hurt a bit. Just try to keep still, 'kay?" Skipper began to carefully wrap the gauze around the younger penguin's flipper.

They both stayed silent for a while before Skipper broke the silence. "Since you don't have a name, I'll just call you Private for the time being. And before you ask why, it's because it's the lowest rank in the military, so it works because you're young. Besides, I suck at coming up with names."

Private giggled, sniffing. "That's fine. It suites me, I think."

Skipper nodded and asked slowly, "How would you like to come with me? You wouldn't have to worry about being bullied anymore, and it would be nice to have someone to talk to."

"I would love to!" Private exclaimed, a large smile on his face. He grimaced, as he had hurt his flipper in his excitement.

Skipper smiled as well. "I'm glad that you're willing to go." His face darkened. "But if I tell you to do something, you do it immediately, no questions asked. Understood?"

"I understand!" Private said.

"Good," Skipper nodded in approval. "Are you able to walk?"

"I think so." Private stood up with Skipper's help, and was relieved that he was able to walk just fine. He smiled in triumph.

"We leave immediately," Skipper informed, helping Private walk down the stairs. "Do you have any personal belongings that you want?"

"No, I don't-" Private stopped short. "Oh, wait! I do have one thing! It's a green notebook. Um, can you come with me to get it?" Private gazed up at Skipper with wide eyes.

"Of course I'll come! I don't want you getting hurt again." He ruffled the feathers on Private's head.

Private laughed nervously, "Yeah, wouldn't want that..."

A/N: Well! I decided to rewrite this chapter (and probably all the other chapters) because I wasn't satisfied with how they were written. I'd say this is an improvement from the original, wouldn't you say? And I'm slowly writing the next chapter (you know, the one I promised I'd gonna write but never got around to it? XD), so keep your eyes open for that! :)