Based off the movie The Grey. However, it is only connected in premise and setting alone. The characters, events, and themes are altered.
Now, let me explain before you guys start asking questions. I've adopted this story from GearSolidSnake, so everything that you see in this first chapter was written by him. Everything after that will be my writing. Hopefully, the difference isn't too jarring, considering I've never actually seen The Grey. I do know roughly what happened, though.
I do not own Penguins of Madagascar or The Grey, the characters and premise belong to their respected owners as such.
A blinding flash of white. They say it's the first thing you see coming into this world as well as when you leave it; that deadly color, a symbol of holiness and purity.
We're born into this light; we die in this light. The same kindness and mercy in life is the same desperation and withering decay.
We're born. We Live. We die. It's inevitable.
Our main character realized this at an unforgivablely young age. A penguin at the Central Park Zoo would be thought as the least likely to understand this so deeply. Yet, this discrimination of species did not spare him of life's cruel nature.
Despite everything, this young operative tried his best to mask the pains of life. Amongst his squad of fellow penguin agents, he found the strength to shield himself from the cruel knowledge of our own eventual demise. Life was worth every cent to him. Every day was spent to its fullest extent. Even in the heat of their most dangerous missions, he felt as alive as could be. He had the trust and strength of his friends to guide him. He wasn't a frightened child anymore.
Not only through his comrades, but also this penguin found hope through a female otter at the zoo; Marlene. Her gleaming outlook and every positive aspect surrounded in her aura helped to him recover.
He learned to forget...
How did this individual become like this? How could a penguin become so detached in his knowledge of the universe?
It started with his unfortunate childhood. The memories of his parents were vague. He hardly remembered anything about them. He was orphaned when he was very, very young. When he was hardly able to handle himself, his parents departed into that blinding envelope of light and darkness, never to return. It was after these events he was accepted into his current squad.
All he could remember was a single, meditative conversation with his father.
The older penguin had tried explaining to his young son what this life had in store.
"Son..." the father said, a flipper resting on his son, "You're mother and I will be gone for a bit. We've got to go on a trip, okay? We may not be back for sometime."
"Why?" the young penguin asked sincerely.
Dad thought carefully before saying, "It's about our work. You're the man of the house now, but we'll be back for your birthday, and we'll throw a big party. Does that sound good?"
The fledgling nodded gleefully.
"But in case something happens, I want you to know that nothing bad will happen to you. We have someone to help you in case your mother and I run into... trouble..."
He giggled, "Nothing could happen to us. We're gonna be family forever!"
A painful look of remorse lay hidden in the father's expression of playfulness and innocence. "Well..." He tried explaining, "That may not be. Your mother and I love you with all of our hearts, but sometimes we won't be there at your side. Sometimes we won't be there at all. I don't think there's any way to stop this."
"Why?" The young penguin asked sincerely. His eyes showed a conflict of innocence and reality. He didn't want to hear this kind of talk.
"Son, this world can be mean. Everything dies. One day, your mom will die, I will die, and even you will die. But you've got to ask yourself what your life is worth until that day."
This new information sat with the small child. "Dad..." He finally continued.
His father was gone. Everything around the small boy was engulfed in the snow and ice... A blinding light all around...
"Dad...?!"
Life has come to reap the rest of its bounty...
"Agh!"
Our hero awoke on the freezing snow. His tight feathers blocked the wind chill, thankfully. His head was in the deepest daze, as if he had slept for centuries.
White... All around was a deep, bone-chilling white. The wind blew fiercely as visibility was reduced to only a few feet, with the snow piling around all sides.
The penguin stood up. "Hello?!" He called out. "Hel- agh!"
He reached his flipper reached down to his stomach, only to reveal a ghastly red liquid. Blood. He struggled to keep hold of himself lest he fall victim to shock, then to the vicious frost around him.
A small shard of metal had inserted itself into his soft flesh. What to do... What to do...? If he pulled it out, he would open the wound further and bleed to death. But, its current state left it a hazard.
His left flipper was gashed. The snow upon the wound numbed it at least, yet the penguin could hardly walk.
Large metal plates lay strewn across the snowy field. Further ahead, he could dimly see the fire of a ruined engine tank.
Plane crash... That's all he knew... Just a plane crash...
There was blood staining the fluffy snow all around. Not his blood either. He looked to see the mangled carcass of another animal. Our hero didn't get a chance to see who is was, only the bloody heaped now packed on by the snow and ice.
"Help! Can someone help me?!" He called out desperately.
What... What just happened...?
Everything up to this point lay as a haze. How did he come into this precarious state? Where was he? Who else was alright?
Even more pressing was the most important question of them all: How the hell would he get out...?
"Hey...!" A voice called further ahead. A figure shuffled its way over to our protagonist at a limping pace.
Soon, the wind died down enough for the two to see each other clearly. Something was wrong.
"Hey! What happened?! Hey- Oh my God...!"
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