Chapter 3-Elise and Company

"Will Kowalski be okay?" Skipper asked the Pole Cat anxiously. From what he learned, her name was Elise.

"I've seen worse," she mumbled with Kowalski in her teeth. "Yeah. I can heal about anything."

"Why is that?"

"Why, I'm a medic of course," she said. "You're not the only one who is in the military."

"You're one of us!" Skipper exclaimed happily. "It's nice to be around someone familiar and that I can share common ground with. Where is your team?"

"Don't have one," she replied. "I am retired for now. Here at Clevelantis we are just scattered until we are needed."

"Clevelantis? That's where we are?" Skipper confirmed.

"We passed this place on our ship to Antarctica," Kowalski added.

"You are days away from Antarctica. You sure strayed far. Well, tell me all about the ship wreck. That must have been terrible. I watched the whole thing from my home. The explosions were so bright I could see them from here."

"My team!" Skipper said excitedly. "Are they here?"

"Not that I have seen," she answered with disappointment. "We are here."

Pole Cats were very swift creatures. There was a cleft of rocks up ahead. Clutching Kowalski tightly, she jumped rock to rock tirelessly until she reached the top. Skipper struggled so she gave him her unusually long thick tail to grab on to while she took him up. Then they walked down into a little clearing of sheltered rocks and it seemed like the perfect place to live. She placed Kowalski down on a clump of grass and disappeared into her den. She seemed distracted by something.

Then she emerged with her bundles. Draping from her mouth was a tiny Pole Cat kit. It was so small that is was just a ball of fuzz. It's eyes squinted open and it squealed as she carried it. She placed it down gently in front of Skipper. The little thing was a rich brown like Elise with dapples in its fur. He looked up at her questioningly. She left without another word and disappeared back inside the den and returned with another. It was gray dappled with two white paws. The two of them squirmed in a heap on front of Skipper.

"These are my kits," she introduced. "Keep them warm while I get some herbs for your friend."

Skipper felt inferior by being assigned this mommy mission. The kits squirmed and squealed and felt the world around them with their tiny paws. He layed down next to them and watched them. The chestnut dappled Pole Cat kit crawled towards him.

"No," he grumbled. "Go the other way. Go on, scidaddle."

It clawed and sniffed at his belly. He watched with curiosity as the other one did the same. What pathetic little creatures. They couldn't even walk and didn't even seem to know what they were doing. They were nothing like adult Pole Cats even though the one that saved them was the only one he had ever seen ever. He shivered when they started to suck on him like vicious squids and he pushed them away as fast as he could. What on earth were those cute bundles of evil doing? Elise was watching from her den. Her ears perked at the squealing of her kits and she turned away from what she was doing.

"Be nice to them," she warned. "They're just hungry and I will feed them in a moment."

She finally finished her business with the leaves and herbs. She carried them over to Kowalski and crouched down next to him. He was very weak, but natural reaction dried up the blood on his wing. She began to groom away all the dried blood causing it to bleed all over again.

"Trust me," she purred. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

Elise set to work on chewing up the leaves. They just looked like ordinary plants to the young privates. So this was what a medic did…How boring! She made a poultice and dabbed her paw in it.

"Hold out your wing," she said gently. "It should feel good."

Kowalski did and she rubbed the green juice all over his wing. He closed his eyes with pleasure and sighed contently. He peeked open one eye to watch Skipper be harassed by the hungry Pole Cat kits.

"Having fun over there, dude?"

"Well, these little things are evil," Skipper said darkly. "Just waiting to suck out my blood…"

"Fine, fine," Elise meowed with annoyance. "I'll feed them."

Elise licked each one on the head and settled down next to them. They immediately abandoned Skipper with looks of hatred and began sucking on Elise's fat stomach. She layed down her head and closed her eyes.

"W-what…" Skipper was about to ask what they were sucking on but he changed his mind. There was one thing he hated being and that was a burden. "We will leave as soon as Kowalski gets better."

"Leave to where?" she asked without even opening her eyes.

"Um…Wherever our team might be," Skipper replied. Somewhere off this island."

"How will you get there?" she purred with amusement. "You're ship went down yesterday."

"We will find a way," he insisted.

"Stay with me," she said. "There is no point on you leaving yet. Just stay here until your team shows up or something. Besides, you don't even know how to live around here. There is plenty of room, don't worry."

"I wouldn't mind staying a few days," Kowalski agreed. He looked at Skipper for approval.

Wait a minute. He looked at Skipper for approval. Skipper felt a sense of pride and well earned leadership when Kowalski was waiting for him to call the shot. He could imagine what TJ felt every day with a whole team and ship under his command. It was a screwball idea to venture out into the unknown when he has so ignorant. He could learn a lot from this Pole Cat. Maybe his team would show up later.

"Yes," he agreed. "We will stay with you. Can you tell us about the island?"

"After a nap," she purred sleepily. "You two could sure use some rest. Make yourselves at home. By the way, Skipper, the kits are drinking milk, not my blood."

Skipper went to sleep shortly after Elise and Kowalski. He only slept for about an hour before he woke up and just layed there, listening to the gentle breathing of Kowalski, Elise, and the kits. Without warning, he was attacked by hunger. Then he remembered that he hadn't eaten since the day before and he spewed that all up so he was very hungry. He couldn't just wait around while this hunger ate through his insides. He silently got up and decided to go fishing. Every ocean had fish and he was pretty good at catching them. He left the group silently.

This place wasn't so bad. The soft sandy ground was a good substitute for snow and the trees provided shade from the uncomfortable heat. He went to the shore of the island and stared into the water. He then dived in and searched for fish. He swam all over and didn't see any fish. He went deeper and deeper into the ocean and saw nothing. Minutes passed and he had no luck. What kind of sick and twisted place was this? He would starve if he didn't get some decent fish. This was the same ocean he had always been on so why was it so different.

Skipper slipped out of the water and decided to try somewhere else. He pointed at the water accusingly. "Okay, you stupid fish, have it your way," he threatened. "But I will find you, you hear me?"

"Um…Who are you talking to?"

He whirled around to see Elise standing right behind him. Her ears were perked up with amusement and she joined him by the water. "Not talking to fish, are you?"

"Fish? What a joke! There is nothing here!"

"You're just ignorant, that's all," she pointed out simply.

"What? No I'm not."

She rolled her eyes. "Ignorant is not the same as stupid. Well…you are naive as well. Fish here are not like they are down south. I can catch you one if you'd like."

Skipper watched excitedly and expected her to plunge into the water and emerge with a yummy fishy feast. Instead she crouched down and just waited there. She didn't move a muscle and just watched…and watched… and watched… He was getting bored. He didn't have time to waste. He was starving now.

"What are you doing?" he said annoyed. "I need fish."

"Shut up and they will come out," she whispered.

Skipper sprawled flat on a rock and watched from up high. He stared at the sand. This Pole Cat had bees in her brain. How did she expect the catch fish by being a dust collector. Then he saw where the fish were. They were in the sand. Little silver fish finally emerged from their hiding places in the sand, dozens of them. He was so disappointed though. They were so small that they couldn't even be described as fish. The ones he caught were about as big as himself, not little shrimpy silver ones. How disappointing.

With lots of expertise she swiped her paw in the water and scooped out three fish at once. She picked them up in her mouth and placed them in a pile. Skipper's mouth watered, but it would be rude to not resist. He waited impatiently. She scooped out three more… then six… then another two… She had a whole pile in a matter of minutes. The pile was taller than he was. He looked at it with amazement. She had to feed five including herself so this would be just enough.

"Help yourself," she offered. "I can teach you how to hunt later."

Skipper folded his wings and squinted at her suspiciously. "But we're not staying here that long."

"I know you want to leave, but you have to stay with me," she meowed kindly and hugged him affectionately. "It's okay to miss them, but you need to think of what is best for yourself."

Skipper felt sick at the thought. She was right though. Until something happened, he had to stay with her. How long would that be though? For now, all he cared about was eating. He devoured as much as he could along with Elise. He was so hungry that he forgot that manners were invented for a reason. Elise put a paw on front of him.

"You've had enough. The rest are for Kowalski and the others are to store for later."

The two of them started on their way back carrying the fish with them. Skipper felt more complete now that he was fed, but another question bugged at him. He noticed that Elise self-appointed herself to care for the two young penguins. She cared about them deeply and was a military medic. She was very useful and he had meant to ask her a question ever since they started on their way back. He was scared to ask and held it off the whole way. They were almost there and he had to ask.

"I have a question," he began confidently and tried not to let his voice falter.

"Sure. I will try to answer it the best I can."

"Um…I thought a lot about what you said and you are right. We might be a while. Thank you for taking care of us in our time of need."

"Your welcome. It's just instinct since I have two of my own. Do you need something else?"

"Yes, I do." He took a deep breath and then forced out the words. "We might be here a while and we can't fall back on our military training. I know you're not a Captain or a Lieutenant, but…Can you train Kowalski and me to become soldiers?"

Elise nodded. "Of course I will. I know as much fighting as I am required to. I am touched by your offer and I accept."