Skipper had been missing for two weeks since he ran away from Johnson on the watch tower. Johnson had been takeing it pretty hard.
"He'll be back." Manfreddi said calmly.
"Not this time. I messed up hugely."
"He sprung me. I know he hasen't given up on us."
Skipper had come back for Manfreddi right away, but had disapeared after that.
"He hasen't given up on you, maybe, but he's given up on me for sure."
"He's just mad. Remember back when we were chicks and he ran off for three whole days cause you-."
"Don't remind me."
"Come on Johnson. You didn't mean too. Skipper just needs time to cool down."
"Face it Freddi he's not coming back."
"He might if you were to appologize." Hans said from the door way.
"I don't even know where he is!"
"Then we'll find him." Hans said.
"Yeah!"
"I don't know guys. He's gotta be pretty miffed at me."
"Thats what the appology is for. You're not good with the social skills either, are you Johnson?"
"No." Johnson said lowering his head.
"Where should we be looking for Skipper?"
"I...don't know."
"Where did he go last time he ran away?"
"This is diffrent."
"How so?"
"Well last time we ran away we were in Antartica." Manfreddi added.
"And where did he go in Antartica?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
Hans looked to Manfreddi for help. Manfreddi sighed. "He went to his moms."
Hans looked confused. "You mean he didn't already live with his mother?"
"No. He lived with us."
"But you're as old as me! I'd barely even lost my donw feathers when I met you! Whats the age for joining the penguin army anyway?"
"Only reqirments is that you've lost your down feathers."
"You must have lived with someone!"
"We lived with Skippers uncle for a while."
"Oh good."
"But not for long."
"Well if Skipper had a mother why wasen't he already living with her? And where were your parents in all of this?"
"My parents abandoned me, Johnsons parents...died, and Skippers dad walked out on his mom and died shortly after."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be. We met eachother and made history. Thats the part of our life that counts."
"I don't mean to pry, but why couldn't you have lived with Skippers mother?"
"When Skippers father left her she had a break down. Picked up some bad habits to cope."
"Like what?"
"Whenever humans came to study us, our penguin colony I mean, they'd leave supplies. One supply they were never short on was liquer. She'd drink herself dead every night just to get to sleep. She'd also go to the humans coal mines and burn things."
"Burn things?"
"First she burned everything that belonged to Skippers father, then things that reminded her of Skippers father, then almost anything."
"So you never expected him to go there?"
"It would have been the last place we looked, if not for Freddi here."
Manfreddi scratched the back of his neck. "I kinda...threatend a fisher into telling us where he saw him, since he'd been gossiping about seeing Skipper sneaking around a bad neighbor hood. And...he told us what we wanted."
"Aha!"
"What?"
"All we gotta do is ask around, see if anyone has seen Skipper then let Freddi here talk them into giving us exact details."
"What if I can't make them talk?"
"I've seen you in action. You can do it."
Hans smirked. "Then lets go get Skipper!"
"Yeah!" Manfreddi and Johnson said in unison swapping high fives. The search begins.
