Here is chapter 2! :D

Have fun! :)

Chapter 2: So Much Closer

But what was wrong with him? Why did he think so much about different, maybe unimportant stuff, instead of paying more attention to bombs, explosions and fish like usual? He looked closely at his reflection in a muddy puddle of water on the surface of their habitat what had remained from the rain from yesterday. He was not even sure if it was him... Well, the outside was certainly still him, but there was something in his eyes. As if he was someone different from the inside. And at that exact moment he wondered if he would ever be the same again.

"Rico! You need to do these exercises too, I said no exceptions. Crazy weapon experts thus including." He heard Skipper call out to him. 'Crazy? Has he always called me crazy?' Rico thought before sticking his tongue a little out of the side of his beak and beginning on his assigned exercise, appearing as normal as could be. Or at least, as long one looked him deep in his eyes. Because his eyes would betray him. His eyes would let the others know that he had changed. That he wasn't the one they thought they knew so well anymore... That he had become someone different, his behavior, his thoughts... As if there was someone else inside of his own old body.

And when he really thought about it, the others had never really truly known him. He had always been a mystery to them, wild and untamable as a stallion. They were often unable to understand even the simplest things he said, anything he pointed out for them. But he had to give it to them, they were getting better in playing his crazy game of hints. That was their easiest escape, playing his game of hints instead of taking the time to listen to him, to learn his language. Even though he learned to understand theirs quite well. And apart from that, he knew perfectly well what their body language exactly meant, why didn't they understand his?

The rain which had left the country yesterday had returned in all its force. But Rico knew that Skipper wouldn't stop the training. Not even for the shivering small Private, or the already tired scientist. No, Skipper would continue the training until it was completely finished. No exceptions. Not that Rico really minded, he enjoyed the training, he always loved working out and going the distance, even though he could be a little lazy sometimes. He wasn't a fan of rain either, but he didn't mind the water pouring down on his greasy feathers, which basically kept him completely dry underneath them. The training somehow took his mind off of business.

Things he shouldn't think about, things he never thought about before. Where was the sound of fireworks that had always irrupted his sane thoughts before? Where was the urge to set everything on fire? Where was his lust for chaos and violence? What was happening to him?

It wasn't for long that Skipper called it a day. It was weird for Rico, he had thought that Skipper wanted to extend their boundaries, push them harder, further... But nothing else was more true, Skipper was done early with his training. They moved inside the HQ, all soaking wet, with their feathers ruffled on their bodies. Kowalski, Skipper and Private were all shaking violently, probably from the harsh coldness that had accompanied them with their training, but Rico felt nothing at all. No cold, no shivers, he was not even tired. And if he wasn't leaving puddles on the floor under his feet, he wouldn't even say that he was wet. No, Rico felt good, even though he confused himself every moment, even though he was completely wet.

Kowalski handed him a towel with what appeared to be a smile. Rico caught some muttered words from the scientist about Skipper's fierce training schedule, but Rico couldn't care less. He had enjoyed the training and besides that, he was hungry. For the first time in a while, Rico felt like himself again...

FIIIIIISSSSSSSHHHHHHH!

Wasn't he lost after all? As long as he was able to think about easy things like food and explosions, could he become his old self again? Could he return to the way he was before... Before when actually? When had this all happened? Why had it happened? He remembered eyes... Sparkling green-grayish, lively and young... He could recall it as if they were piercing into his own eyes again, as if they were only inches away... Coming closer... And closer... And even closer... And they disappeared again, poof, gone.

Rico silently wondered what that could have meant, why he saw those eyes so clearly, hauntingly, while he did not recognize them. But they were bewitching, they made him transform, that pair of green-grayish eyes. But how longer he thought about them, how more and more they seemed to disappear and lose their color. How more they faded away in a dark white and black blur, until he saw no more than just the shimmering in the pupils. Away… Away…

While Rico was staring at an opposite wall, Skipper waddled towards him. An unusual soft look was on his face and he was about to start a sentence when Rico looked closely in his sapphire blue eyes. It was as if Skipper shivered and then the penguin backed a little away from Rico, even though his facial expression hadn't changed at all. "Never mind." Skipper mumbled and he waddled away from Rico, seemingly off-set, maybe a bit… Afraid?

What had just happened? Rico asked himself for the next couple of minutes. Why would Skipper behave like this? He waddled up to him and then suddenly turned around, as if he forgot what he was going to do... It somehow made him feel hurt, as if he was forgotten and unnecessarily. Just an old paper left on the pavement in the rain, in the dirt. On the other side, it gave him plenty of time to sort his thoughts out... And it still felt unusual that his thoughts needed to be sorted out. Normally it was no problem at all, explosions by the explosions and fish by the fish. Easy as can be. But now, he had more thoughts than he ever thought that one was possible of having. Thoughts about things concerning more than his selfish needs and ways. Things concerning others and their opinions... And for the first time, Rico got scared by his own mind, by the large green-grayish eyes reappearing in front of him. Closer… Closer…

What is going on?

Thank you for reading! :)