Disclaimer: I don't own Happy Feet or the Amigos.
This is dedicated to i 3ramon (it won't let me put that sign that I don't know the name of...), who requested that I write a story of the Amigos. This will be one of those really long one-shots….if it's a chapter story, I doubt that I'll finish it.
"Aye Chihuahua. Ramon!" an angry Adelie mother yelled out at her chick, who wandered away from the pebble nest AGAIN.
The fuzzy Fuzzball named Ramon hurried back to his mother. He dared not hesitate, or he'll get a disciplinary beating.
Ramon was a rather small chick, the runt of the rookery. And unlike most of the other chicks, who had dark gray down coat, he had a brown one, like a young King penguin. But he didn't care if he was different.
"Sí, Mama?" Ramon asked nervously. She pecked him sharply on the head.
"What did I tell you about wandering off, huh?" she yelled at him. Ramon rocked back and forth.
"Sorry, Mama." He said, trying to appeal to her better nature. His mother gave him a sideways glance.
"Hijo, I say this because it's for your own good. Stay in the nest or else you'll get visited by pájaros de monstruo." She said.
Ramon shivered at the last words. It means 'monster birds' and he had no intention to hear more. The three day old chick huddled closer to his mother and fell asleep.
--
A week later and little Ramon was allowed to wander from the nest for a short distance. Happy of this freedom, the chick wandered from nest to nest to meet the other chicks. However, it wasn't very easy.
"¡Salga, niño anormal!" a parent yelled when little Ramon got too close to the nest. The chick paused. The adult was telling him to leave and called him a freak (or abnormal child, your choice…) to top it off.
He was different, but did that mean he was a freak? He went back to his mother, who noticed his saddened attitude.
"What's wrong, chico?" she asked. Ramon didn't answer. "Come on. You have to share. Just let it out."
"Mama, am I 'anormal'?" he finally asked. His mother paused before answering.
"No, hijo. Why do you ask that?"
"Because everyone I meet calls me stuff."
"Ignore them! You're a pingüino especial. And one day, you'll be better than all them." She reassured. Ramon smiled and wandered off again to resume his search for friends.
Finding none in his own colony, he'll visit the neighboring Adelie rookery. They weren't very far, but it would be a dangerous enough journey for a chick. After all, it was almost traditional to have a skua nesting colony nearby too.
It was stupid if you asked little Ramon. Why do the Adelies keep nesting here if predators nest here too? He shrugged to himself. Adelie Land is a very strange place…and he still didn't understand all its weirdness.
He crouched slightly and prepared to run across as fast as he could. Even if he meets a skua, he'll give it a piece of his mind.
He took off, surprised by how fast he could go if he really tried. He was about half way there, when something spoke out.
"Hey." It wasn't a very loud voice, but it was enough for him to skid to a stop. He looked at the source. Then he walked towards it in curiosity.
"Hola." He greeted as he went closer. The thing tilted its head.
"What?" it questioned. Ramon stopped in front of it.
"Huh?" he returned, not knowing why the thing was asking that. There was an awkward silence. Ramon took the time to look it over.
It was a creamish colored Fuzzball, about the same size as himself. But it wasn't a penguin, for it had no flippers. Instead, its front limbs were held like a tight z. In fact, add some proper feathers on it and it'll look like a-
"You're a Flying Bird." He gasped. His mother always warned him about these things. Strange…it doesn't look very dangerous.
"And you're a Flipper Boid." Replied the thing. Ramon paused.
"You talk weird." He said, referring to its young accent. The thing looked unfazed.
"You talk weird too." It told him.
"Really?" Nobody ever told him that he sounded weird. They may call him 'Freak' and 'Misfit' but not one penguin told him anything about his voice. It gave him something to ponder about.
"What's your name, Flipper Boid?" It broke the silence.
"Ramon. ¿Qué es tu nombre?" Ramon took his turn.
The thing hesitated, a rather confused expression on its face. The penguin chick was thinking if this bird was stupid or something. Why else won't it understand a simple question like that?
"What's your name?" He rephrased.
"Ramon!" A voice yelled before the other bird could answer.
"Uh oh…" Ramon muttered as they turned to look at his mother, who was running pretty fast in his direction. She looked angry.
Ramon's parent stopped behind her chick and glared at the young bird he was talking to. The little Fuzzy thing tried to stand in order to back up. But it only managed to stumble backwards a clumsy step or two.
Ramon's mother began yelling in Spanish. The Flying Bird couldn't understand a single thing, but judging on how Ramon flinched at each word said, it must be bad.
When the adult penguin took a menacing step forward, two shadows fell on the scene. Before long, both of the Flying Bird's skua parents were at its side, protecting their chick in turn.
"Back off Flipper Boid!" The female skua yelled, flaring her wings. Her mate joined in the threat posture.
"Then keep away from my baby, pájaros viles." Ramon's mother shot back.
As always, Ramon flinched at the insult. He looked up at his angry parent.
"Mama…" He started. His mother looked down at him.
"Quiet, hijo!" she snapped. Ramon immediately shut his beak and looked at the other chick he was once talking to. It stared back, sadly. Ramon couldn't even say bye before his mother pushed him towards the colony again.
--
"Hijo, what did I tell you the day before?!" Ramon's mother yelled, catching the attention of the neighboring penguins, including one of the chicks. Ramon looked down at his feet, feeling himself blush in shame.
"Stay in the colony." He answered softly. Then he got a bit more rebellious. "But Mama, I…."
She interrupted him.
"No buts! How many times do I have to drill something in your head?" she continued. Ramon still tried to explain.
"We were just…" Again, she didn't let him finish and only started nagging some more.
"I don't care what you were doing! It's malo! Very bad!" Ramon frowned and took three steps closer, his posture angry.
"Let me tell something to you!" he said, unknowingly starting a life-long habit. But right now, it only got him pecked.
"Don't talk to me like that! Just wait until your padre gets back." Then she left to let off some steam and conversate with her friends, leaving her son grounded to the nest.
Ramon rubbed his head, tears of anger falling from his eyes. He was just trying to make a friend. What's wrong with that?
The other chick that's been listening in on the argument wandered to him and jumped into his nest.
"Hola. You alright?" he asked. Ramon looked at him, wiping his tears away.
"Sí." Was all he said. There was a small pause as Ramon sniffled.
"I'm Raul." Introduced the other chick. Ramon smiled, starting to feel better.
"Ramon."
"Do you want to join my group? We're called the Amigos."
Ramon paused. The Amigos? Raul was inviting him to be friends. It was more than he could ever hope for.
"Okay! Who's the other pingüinos?" he asked, wanting to meet the group. Raul hesitated, fidgeting.
"Well, including me and you…there's…well…me and you."
Well, it was a start. Speaking of start…
"Don't worry! We'll make our group!" Ramon exclaimed.
--
Months later, it was time for Ramon and Raul to fledge. They lost their baby feathers, except Ramon still had a small crest of his on his head. They stood at the edge of the water, getting ready to dive in for the first time.
"Well, mi amigo, we'll go out and find other pingüinos to join our group." Raul said to his friend. So far, since starting their group, no other penguin joined. So the two plan to go off in search of other Adelie rookeries in an attempt to find fresh recruits.
"Go with the group Ramon!" he could hear his father yell. Ramon ignored him. He didn't want to spend his first swimming with penguins that were hostile to him. He'd rather go with his friend.
His father muttered: "Perdedor lastimoso…"
It meant 'pitiful loser'. Ramon paused at the insult, but jumped in the water no less. Raul followed soon after. The two porpoised away from the other Adelies, whooping in triumph and joy.
They never felt more free!
--
Raul and Ramon jumped out of the water and shook themselves dry. Looking around, they found what they were looking for. Another Adelie colony. Smiling, they moved towards it.
"Hola." Raul greeted a penguin. The other bird turned the other way.
"Everyone's so friendly here." Ramon said sarcastically as they moved on to another Adelie. Suddenly, Raul nudged Ramon.
"Hey, chica alert." He muttered. They stared as a female Adelie waddled pass them. They continued to stare even as she disappeared from sight.
"I like this place. Everything's nice." Ramon said, completely contrasting his earlier sarcasm.
"Hola." Somebody greeted them. They turned to see a rather tall Adelie with a cardinal-like crest on the back of his head. They smiled and went up to meet him.
Then, two other penguins joined the tall Adelie. They too had feather crests on their heads. The one on the right had a flat black one and the other on the left had a black wispy one.
They seemed happy to see them.
"Welcome to our colony. Where you from?" the flat-crested one asked.
"Adelie land." Raul and Ramon answered at the same time. The other three smiled.
"We knew it. We were just about to go there." The tall one informed. "By the way, I'm Nestor. This is Rinaldo"-points to the flat-crested one- "and this is Lombardo." He points to the other.
"I'm Ramon and this is Raul. Why do you want to go to Adelie Land?" Ramon asked curiously.
"Why did you come here?" Rinaldo returned good-naturedly.
"To look for new members of our group." Raul answered. "We're called the Amigos."
Nestor, Rinaldo, and Lombardo smiled.
--
The swim back to Adelie Land was anything but easy. Raul and Ramon had their mission accomplished. They had three new friends that they were taking back to their home colony.
So what was the problem?
This time, they had another visitor.
It was like there was an explosion behind them. They yelped as they somersaulted through the water, then they turned around to check things out. There was nothing there for a second, then the surface on top over them exploded as something crashed into the water.
"Madre Mia…" Nestor muttered as they were sent somersaulting again.
"What is that?" Raul asked both to himself and to the others.
"Leopard Seal!" Rinaldo exclaimed in panic. The penguins swam off as fast as they could, especially Raul, as he was the chosen target of the massive predator.
His panicked yells were heard by Ramon, who swam after the seal to save his friend. Nestor, Rinaldo, and Lombardo followed him, although they were slightly reluctant.
"Whoa!" Raul cried out as the seal snapped its jaws at him repeatedly. The attacks always missed by barely an inch. "Good Whiskers. Sello agradable…AH!"
The seal snapped again, ignoring Raul's comments. The penguin swerved to the right in an attempt to lose his pursuer. When he didn't feel a rush of water behind him, he risked pausing and looking around.
The seal was nowhere to be found.
A predator who could be seen is scary. A predator that's invisible is horrifying!
But Raul could see his companions rushing towards him and he allowed himself to feel relief. He realized that they were yelling something and he finally understood.
"¡Detrás de usted!" Was what they were calling. It meant 'Behind you."
Before Raul could react, he felt something clamp onto a patch of his feathers on the back of his neck.
"¡Ayúdeme!" He yelled, calling for help, struggling for all he's worth. He could hear the seal's dark chuckle, and it scared him even more.
Suddenly, Ramon zoomed pass, grabbing his friend as he did so. Raul was pulled loose, leaving some of his feathers behind. Now back in the game, Raul followed his friends as they made for the beach near Adelie Land.
They made it, with the seal splashing out with them about a meter away. It puffed out some mist, growling in disappointment. The Adelie penguins scuttled backwards in fear that the predator would lash out.
But it didn't. Instead, it made a slow and awkward move for the water. The penguins looked at each other, then smiled at their new discovery.
--
"Screw pebbles." Ramon said. The others looked at him. It was nesting season, but Ramon was not going to waste his time collecting rocks. He thought it was another stupid idea.
"But…amigo…How are we going to get the ladies?" Lombardo asked. Ramon turned away and walked off.
"Attitude." He answered.
--
"…so she says to let it out!" Ramon told them his 'girlfriend' story. Of course, he was improvising. It was actually his mother who said that, but his friends didn't know that.
Suddenly, the ice a few yards away exploded and they jumped.
It was a Leopard Seal with a strange penguin. The seal was about to bite down on the bird when it fell back to the ground. The penguin skidded towards them…
My first story of the Amigos...I realized this is practically the only exclusive story of the Amigos...Please everybody! Read and Review!