I slowly opened my eyes and was immediately met with tremendous pain in my head. I slowly sat up and stretched my aching body.
"You're awake! Thank goodness!"
I was shocked to hear a familiar voice and looked around for its place of origin. There, sitting by the fire, was a seemingly unharmed Private. I bolted towards him as fast as my body would allow me and pulled him into a hug. I instantly felt tears fighting to escape me and didn't even try to hold them back.
"Private...I'm s-so happy to s-see you!" I said in a tear-ridden voice. "W-where are we? A-are we both...dead?"
Private slowly rubbed my back as I sobbed into his chest feathers. I can't believe how weak I feel, but at the moment I really don't care.
"It's okay," He cooed, "and we're both still alive. We're back in the cave. I found you lying down in the snow and carried you back here."
Just the fact that Private was still alive partially lightened the weight that I had been carrying.
"Are the others here too?" I asked hopefully.
"No, sorry. I still don't know where they are."
I felt like I never wanted to let the younger go. I was surprised that he had managed to hold up better than I had.
"I wish we were back home. I felt like I was actually going insane back there. Some of the things that I was thinking just weren't things...logical." I finished.
"Well, just be glad that you're back here, you're safe, and as far as I know you're perfectly sane."
We spent a few moments in silence before I remembered something that happened before I had left the cave in the first place.
"Private, about that letter..."
"Oh that, I kind of panicked a little. I was actually just going to throw something away." Private admitted bashfully.
"...it meant a lot."
"Well it's true. I love all of you. More than anything in the world."
I could feel myself start to tear up again.
"I...I love you too."
Private smiled as he ran his flipper through my feathers. After a few more minutes of clinging on to him, I finally let go and started to regain my composure.
"It's funny isn't it?" I chuckled wiping some stray tears away.
"What's funny?" Private asked confused.
"That a few days ago we were all back at the zoo enjoying ourselves."
Private started to laugh a little as well.
"Yes, I suppose it is funny how much can change in such a short amount of time."
I can't put my flipper on it, but I feel extremely confident at the moment. Like I know the others are fine. Like I know everything's going to be all right. Maybe it's just because I'm finally in the company of someone other than myself.
"Would you like to eat something?" Private asked.
I'm just now realizing how famished I really am.
"That sounds wonderful actually!" I chirped.
Private walked over to our bag of supplies and pulled out some fish. He started to roast it over the fire while I figured I'd look and see for myself what supplies we have left.
"Good news! Someone remembered to bring a walkie talkie!" I said excitedly.
"That's right! Skipper packed them both before we left!"
That statement caught my attention. Both of them? There's only one in here. Unless...
"Private, are you sure Skipper packed two?"
"Of course! I saw him do it myself!" He answered certainly.
I held the single walkie talkie in front of his face.
"There's only one here."
Private stopped to think of something to say.
"We could have lost it on the way here." He suggested.
"That's not what I think." I told him. "Maybe Skipper planned for something like this to happen."
"Ooh! Like a team building exercise?"
"Either that or just a prank. Regardless, I believe that Skipper purposely grabbed a walkie talkie before leaving. He might even have informed Rico of his plan and had him do the same."
"So that means..."
"Our companions are alright." I told him.
15 minutes later
"I think I've finally fixed it Private."
I showed him the newly repaired device.
"Excellent! Sorry for dropping it." He said shyly.
"Throwing it is more like it." I told him. "But that's beside the point. I'm going to try and contact Skipper."
I fiddled with the thing for a little while before I started speaking.
"Skipper, can you read me?" I asked into the speaker.
A few seconds of nothing before I heard a voice respond.
"Loud and clear soldier."
"Skipper! Thank goodness! Where are you?"
"That's classified Kowalski." He said simply.
"Classified? WE HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN DAYS AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT IT'S CLASSIFIED?!" I yelled.
"Calm down soldier. Geez, can't you take a joke?"
"...yes. Sorry sir."
"Good. Now I want you to do exactly as I say. Firstly-
"Kowalski!" Skipper's voice boomed in my ear.
I jolted up and hit my head on something hard. I looked around and noticed that I was back in HQ.
"Get up sleepyhead! We've got training!"
I jumped out of my bunk and engulfed Skipper in a hug.
"What is this?" He asked.
"I'm so glad to see you Skipper! How did you get us back?"
"Get you back from where?" He asked confused.
The reality then hit me: it was all a dream. We never went to Antarctica, never got separated, nothing. I let go of him and stared awkwardly at the ground.
"Sorry sir, must've been a dream." I told him.
"Well, I expect you topside asap. Understand?"
"Yes sir!" I saluted.
Skipper nodded and then left to join the others. I smiled at the realization of it all being a figment of my imagination. Still, if I was truly stuck in a near-death situation, I'd want my brothers to be at my side until the end.
Hello! How're you all doing? I started this chapter a few weeks ago, but I didn't know how I wanted to go about doing it, so I waited before uploading it. Now with this story finished, I think I'll go back to focusing on my drabbles and my Kico/Pripper story. I hope you have a fantastic day and, as always, thanks for reading! XD