Soulless

Chapter 1: Leaving

Private lay in his bunk, sobbing lightly while watching the storm outside rage on. In his flipper he held a picture that he and Skipper had taken together. They were on top of the clock tower, in each others' arms, smiling. The young penguin looked down at the picture below him, but it only forced more tears. It had been a week since Skipper completely crushed Private's heart, but he could still remember every horrible moment as if it had just happened..

Private was sitting at the table in their HQ, eagerly waiting for his beloved to join him. Skipper said he needed to talk to him, but he was nowhere in sight. The little soldier smiled when he finally heard the fish bowl entrance slowly open, followed by the sight of Skipper climbing down. Private jumped up and hugged the leader, burying his face in the others chest

"There you are, Skippah! I was starting to get worried." He said with a chuckle. But Skipper didn't reply. In fact, Private realized that Skipper hadn't even hugged him back, he just stood there, emotionless.

"Is something wrong, Skippah?" The younger penguin asked, slowly pulling away. The leader finally looked down at Private, but he had a completely blank expression on his face.

"Private, we need to talk..."

Private could remember every heart-crushing word being spoken by the one he thought he'd be with forever. He hadn't even been given a reason why. Right after Skipper broke up with him, he just left. Left him alone, to sit there and wonder why something like this happened to him. The next few days, Skipper wouldn't acknowledge him at all. Every time the leader would give commands, he would never speak directly to Private, and Private would do the same. He didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he just sat back in the corner, isolating himself from the others, in hopes that it would all turn out for the better. But after the week was over, Private knew Skipper wasn't ever coming back to him.

Private had finally gotten sick of waiting for Skipper to confront him, so he decided to leave the HQ and look for him. After a couple minutes of searching, Private finally found the leader walking into Marlene's habitat. He wondered why he was over at her habitat, as he usually never visited the otter. Private didn't want to make a scene, so he decided to stake out and wait for Skipper to leave. That proved to be an extremely long process, as the little penguin was waiting for nearly 3 hours. When the sun had started to sink down from the sky, he finally gave up and went back to the HQ.

Once inside, Private found Kowalski and Rico, sitting together and watching the TV.

"Hello, Private," Kowalski greeted when he saw the younger penguin approaching. "Where were you?" Private slumped down on the couch beside Kowalski and looked at him sullenly.

"Just...looking for Skippah. I wonder why he was at Marlene's for so long today." Kowalski gave him a questioning glance.

"Private, Skipper has been visiting Marlene for quite some time now, I thought you knew?" Private was now confused.

"Wha..What do you mean?" Kowalski and Rico both looked at each other, worry covering their faces.

"Private, Skipper and Marlene are engaged."

Those words crushed Private from the inside out. He sat there on the couch for a few moments, dumbfounded. Then the tears came. Kowalski hugged the sobbing penguin until he finally stopped and looked up at the strategist.

"When...When did it happen?" He asked, sniffling. Kowalski looked at him, obviously not wanting to answer.

"K'walski, please tell me!" Private pleaded, and the scientist gave in. With a heavy sigh he finally answered,

"A week ago today. I'm..I'm sorry.."

Private couldn't believe his ears. Skipper proposed to Marlene the same day they broke up. How could he have done that? It meant only one thing: Skipper was seeing Marlene behind Private's back.

So there he was, crying his eyes out in his bunk, wishing none of this had ever happened. He just wanted to be with Skipper, but he wasn't sure what to do, especially after the recent news he heard. How could Skipper have treated him like that, and without even telling him what was going on? There was no other way for Private to feel any more betrayed or alone. His leader and true love left him in the dust, alone. Private got off his bed and left the HQ. He found himself walking. Walking towards the entrance to the zoo. 'Skippah left me. Killed me inside. Betrayed me..' He could feel himself picking up the pace. He was now in the park, nearly running, the tears still dropping from his face. 'He doesn't need me. He..He doesn't even want me..' He slowed his pace and turned to the zoo before him.

"If you don't want me in your life anymore, Skippah... Then so be it.." He whispered out to himself, trying to hold back his tears and he turned around again and ran...