A/N: These drabbles come from a prompt table I found while poking around the internet. Some will be silly, some will be serious. Enjoy.

The Penguin Credo

1. Beginnings

"Kowalski, analysis."

"It's a young penguin chick, Skipper. He seems to be injured. They probably captured him in order to help him through his healing process."

He opened his eyes slowly, taking in everything around him. There were three of them standing above him, although he didn't know why. They hadn't seemed to even realize he had woken up.

"Options?"

He watched in fascination as the tallest pulled out a clipboard, scribbling down on it furiously before turning it for the others to see.

"We could drop him in the polar bear exhibit."

His eyes widened at the idea, fear gripping at his insides, especially when the one with the scar sniggered. The leader paused, considering before shaking his head.

"What else you got?"

"We could take him in and train him as part of the team."

He shrunk back as the leader's gaze suddenly snapped towards him. He felt tiny under the strong gaze, scooting back a little.

"Now that's an idea. What do you say, private?"

He didn't know what team he was joining, but it was better than becoming polar bear food, so he simply nodded.

2. Middles

"No! No! Stay away!"

"Sweet Galileo, don't go in there!"

"Gah!"

Skipper raised an eyebrow as he slipped through the fishbowl entrance, sliding down the ladder. His team was gathered in front of the television, wrapped up in the horror movie they'd found earlier that day.

He smirked in amusement, rolling his eyes as they cried out things to the characters. Why were humans so stupid? They just waltzed on over toward the creepy sounds without so much as a plan or weapon. Skipper turned away, planning on getting a bit of work done while they watched their movie.

An hour and a half later, he couldn't help noticing how quiet his team had become. Skipper smiled, seeing that all three had managed to fall asleep, leaning on each other a little. He stood up, grabbing three blankets and placing one over each penguin's shoulders.

"Bunch of knuckleheads." He'd grown far too attached to his team, but he didn't bother trying to fight it. Being close only made them stronger.

3. Ends

"Skippa'!"

He heard his name, though he couldn't quite place where it was coming from. He stumbled forward a step or two, and then back another before he finally fell back against a wall, panting heavily.

Through half-lidded eyes, he watched his men take down what was left of those dirty carnivores. He rested a hand on his stomach where he felt three slash marks, the blood sleeping out slowly and staining the white feathers of his belly.

Private was the first to run up to him, trying to look over the wound, though he obviously didn't know what to do about it. "K'walski! Rico!"

Skipper smiled slowly as the others hurried over to help. Kowalski did his best, trying to tell the leader to breathe easy, hold still while he did this and that. It was starting to lose feeling, their voices only soft echoes.

"It's… been a pleasure… boys…"

"No, Skippa'! Hold on!"

He raised a trembling fin, holding it to his head in a proud salute. The others stared at him, unsure of what to do. Finally, one by one, they returned the gesture.

Skipper closed his eyes.

4. Insides

"Screwdriver."

Kowalski flinched as he heard the retching sound of his teammate retrieving the needed tool. He made a face as it landed in his hand, sticky and wet, but he gave a nod of thanks anyways.

"Hammer."

There it was again. He did his best not to think too much about it, the constant regurgitation of things that shouldn't be in there anyways. The things that stomach acid could do to him.

"Pliers."

It couldn't taste that good either. Finally, Kowalski couldn't take it, turning to face Rico.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

Rico blinked slowly before shaking his head. "Nuh-uh."

"Not even a little bit?" Another shake of the head and he frowned. "If you say so…" Sighing, he turned back to his work. "Payphone."

Kowalski cringed, not even wanting to think about that one.

5. Outsides

"K'walski!"

The tallest penguin blinked, looking up as he heard his name being called. He removed the goggles he was wearing, raising an eyebrow as Private – only a little over a year old - bounded up to him, clinging on to him.

"What is it?" he asked the youngest member of the team, startled by his obvious panic.

"Look!" Private stepped back and brushed his flipper over his tummy. Easily, several feathers fell out. "Something's wrong with me!"

… He had to be kidding? Kowalski blinked slowly before giving a soft chuckle. He took Private by the shoulders, carefully leading him to the coffee table where he sat him down.

"Private, I assure you, nothing is wrong."

"But-"

"You're molting," Kowalski continued, cutting him off before he had time to worry too much. "It happens every year. It's perfectly natural."

"R-Really?" he asked, looking down at himself and again brushing loose feathers away. "I-I'm not going to die?"

"Really. You're just shedding your old feathers to grow back new ones. Just stay out of the water for a little while."

Private smiled widely and nodded. Kowalski shook his head, watching the youngest penguin run off. He cringed a little, watching some of his fluffy little feathers hit the ground.

Now who was going to have to sweep that up, he wondered.