Chapter 10 Taking in Hope

Wow, chapter 10 already? Wow. And right before the end of the year too. Yay! So, as you may know. I'm not doing any more summaries. What I will tell you about this chapter though is that we are going back to Violet. Gloria, Seymour and the others and see how they're doing.

Happy Feet 1&2 and all its content belongs to its original owners. Skyler the Elf Owl and I only own our OC's and WaterBendingQueen88 owns her OC's, Eria and Matt. All rights go to them. Same goes for any songs used in this chapter. All belong to their original owners.

Also, to answer MarioFan65's question, the Doomberg still happened, but the colony was evacuated before it could trap them. It's still where it was during the movie, but it can't do anything to hurt the penguins now. Thanks for asking.

Enjoy the chapter!

As the chicks and the rest set their plan into motion, meanwhile, back in Antarctica, the Emperor penguins were facing a new obstacle. Finding a new home. A group of mainly single males and Elders, plus the main group, had left the comforts of Adelie land, along with the penguin families and their chicks, in order to scout out the land for their new home.

The Amigos stayed behind with Eria and Matt to reassure the others of the group's safe return and to also alert the group if the chicks and/or Mumble returned. Plus Ramon didn't want to leave Carmen's side with their blossoming relationship in progress.

Seymour, Gloria and Violet took the head of the group as expected, with Cole and Krista close by their sides, along with surprisingly Noah the Elder. When asked why he was embarking so far and this perilous a journey at his age, his only reply was that by the Great Guin's will that he would reach the new land a christen it in the name of the colony even if his last breath and steps were taken there. No excuses he had said. No one objected. He was stubborn and would stay true to his word, even if his end did come to pass there.

The entire group was anxious to find their new home soon, for soon the endless night would approach in the turn of the earth's rotation from the sun during the winter time, and no one wanted to have so little shelter from the icy, freezing blizzard winds that would come with it. No, they needed to find a sheltering home so their families and chicks could survive and grow and thrive and continue to the next generations. Yet it also needed to be placed relatively nearby to the sea, for fishing needs had to be considered so for survival matters. Some wanted it to be next to their neighbors in Adelie land, but necessary matters came first.

They had started early morning on the first day to get an early start on the search. It had now passed and so hard the second day. Night had fallen across the frozen land where they had trekked. They had decided to stop and rest for tonight on the middle of the flat plain of land somewhere between Adelie land and the land of the Elephant seals. Many complained that it was unorthodox and quite unhealthy to sleep on an exposed part of land with no ice walls or anything to shield them in the wind began blowing extra chilly tonight. Noah had protested against any complaining and reminded me to many of the winters-back-home survivors that they had endured the icy blast by creating a huddle and sleeping pressed together. Since all the females spent their winters at sea fishing food for the males and chicks, they would need to be coached by the males the proper way to sleep while in exposed conditions.

So it was done. If you were a skua or something flying above the flock at the time, you would have found it hard to distinguish any single penguins against the great, black flock of penguins tightly pressed together. Over at the front, the head group was trying to fall asleep, but were finding themselves incapable of doing so. Their eyelids just wouldn't stay closed long enough to fall asleep and they felt too full of energy to feel tired. Many of the other penguins had already fallen asleep, heads lowered and rested comfortably on their chest. For the group, their heads just felt painfully uncomfortable to be stretched down right now and their feet were way to tappity to stay still for the night.

Gloria and Seymour decided to discuss quietly with one another some of the new changes they might have to face in the new land with Cole and Krista. Violet stood apart a few feet from the group and the flock. With her friends talking together as couples while hers wasn't here now made it felt wrong to conversate with them. Without Mumble here, by her side, she felt so... so torn. Like her heart had been split in half and he had taken a piece with him when he left.

"I suppose that makes sense," she thought to herself. "I mean with our heartsongs and all that jazz. Two hearts becoming one." It seemed almost like a lifetime ago. The day during the mating season that lead to them finding out their true soulmates. Then after their adventurous journey and quest to save the colony, nxt they had had discovered that they were parents to three, wonderful chicks. Her chicks. How she missed them so much. She remember waking up each day, looking adoringly at her slumbering chocks, and sometimes her peaceful mate, who despite him drooling his in sleep more than one occasion, was pretty adorable in his sleep.

How she cherished her chicks and all their features. How she loved Skyler's creative and imaginative personality, Erika's bold, yet kind attitude, and Erik's shy, yet loyal demeanor. She adored all there different antics with their friends, her nieces and nephews. She had been so thrilled when she discovered her friends' chicks had become best friends with hers. They were just too cute together. Even Krista and Cole's chicks. Despite her first impression that they would be quite like their mother, they to had come to be wonderful friends with the chicks.

"Oh Guin. Why did they have to all be taken from me?" It seemed so unfair. First all the chicks, then her home, now her mate. Was the first penguin deity tormenting her for fun? True Seymour, Gloria, Krista and Cole had lost their home and checks to, but at least they still had each other. They probably didn't have nearly as much pain in their hearts of the grief they felt over loss.

She sighed and watched absent mindedly as her breath took the form of a small mist before her face. Her thought lazily went back to the memories as a chick when she, Mumble and the others would see who could make the most impressive or biggest breath mist when it was cold enough. Usually Seymour would win. He always did say that most of his buff body was the result of an extra large pair of lungs to beatbox with and extra big heart to pump his song to his feet and give the love to everyone. It was sweet of him, she could see why Gloria had married him. Her bold style went great along with his strong strong. But to her, Mumble would always be her one and only. His style was different and sensitive, yet sweet and unique. It was just perfect for hers, creative and inventive.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of snow being grounded underfoot reached her ears. Her head turned and her violet eyes focused in the dark of night the form of Krista approaching. Her walk was a little hurried than usual and her brown eyes frantically darted around in the night to try and adjust to the low light the night provided.

"Violet," she called out as she walked closer to and spotted her. There was a certain urgency to her voice that made Violet instantly perk up.

"What is it, Krissy," she said. Despite being their nemesis in their earlier years, Krista had warmed up and become and much nicer penguin to them. But she still didn't necessarily like the nicknames she gave her. Right now though, it seemed like she didn't even care of the shorter version of her name.

"It's some penguins. They're getting uneasy with this whole thing and now an argument has broken out. Noah requests that we work it out," she replied. Violet sighed. Another worry to add to the list. Some of the penguins had been restless and paranoid for the past few days. It was only a matter of time before the mountain blew its top off. Might as well quench the fire before it burned over.

"We're all gonna perish in the night," one penguin screamed. Some others were already riled and muttering uneasily with one another. Others were trying to calm the others down, but they could be seen close up shaking too with fear. By the time Krista and Violet joined the others, most of the penguin in sight could be seen shivering or talking fearfully to each other. The two spotted the others with Noah in the crowd, so they headed for them.

Noah was trying to deliver a calming speech to calm the shaken Emperors, but the screaming and uncertainty among them wasn't helping. He had stepped down from the piece of ice he had been using as a platform and sighed in relief once he saw the two approaching.

"Thank the great Guin you are here. Paranoia and uncertainty has set amongst us, just as I fear Not even the calming words of hope has brought peace back to this deteriorating society," he explained.

"Any other ideas how to calm them down," Violet asked. Noah pointed his flipper to his left where Gloria and Seymour were attempting to calm down a few penguins.

"Those two have been negotiating for some matter of minutes, yet I do not see any changes yet," Noah replied.

"Yep, and you're not going to since these guys are stubborn," Gloria said as she and Seymour walked over.

"Yeah, they ain't listenin' to a word we sayin'," Seymour added. Krista nodded, but then rapidly started looking back and forth, left and right.

"Where's Cole," she asked. The two shrugged their answer. She suddenly flinched as she felt something touch her flipper, but relaxed when she turned to see Cole standing right next to her.

"Right here, sweetheart," he answered. "Still no changes on my side either though." The six of them flinched when they heard another penguin cry out in fear, but this time it was his words, not the volume of his voice, that shocked them down their spines and sent cold caterpillars crawl back up.

"We are all dead out here. We're lost and we'll die out here. All hope is lost!"

"No it is not," came the deep, resounding voice of Noah. He had finally reached the end of his patience and some scolding was needed to set the straight. All muttering and screaming penguins instantly clamped up and focused on him. He stepped back onto his ice platform and stood proud and stoic before all of them, despite his hunched back.

"Did the great Guin turn his back on us when the fish had disappeared, or did he send saviours to end the plight? Did he not aid us when our home was destroyed just recently, or did he ignore our prayers to get out alive? Did he not first set foot on this barren land and bring forth a multitude of others to this land of which we call our home? No he did not!" He swept a flipper to all those out there. "Are we not the descendants of those first penguins who followed Guin and chose to believe him as he made here, this solid land, our home? We are Emperor penguins! We are proud! Though we stare hopelessness in the face, we shall not yield!"

"Yeah. Give them the real, brother," Seymour cried out in agreement.

"Yes, speak on it, Noah," Cole added.

"Though our future seems uncertain, we shall not be broken by the thoughts of the faithless! Because we are fortitude! We are bold defiance! We are one glorious Emperor nation, and we shall reach our new home!"

"But what if we don't," came a cry from the audience. Another wave of panic spread through the crowd. Screams of fear were renewed. Noah sighed and glared angrily at everyone. Suddenly, Violet tapped him on the flipper and nodded her head at the platform and then the crowd.

Noah stepped down and stepped out of the way to let her on. "Be my guest, though I do not know if it will work any differently for you." Violet nodded, though her face was a bit unsure. She lifted up her foot and placed in on one of the ridges of the ice before pushing up to propel herself to the top. She stared around at the frightened and yelling penguins before opening her beak and screaming on the top of her lungs, "Be quiet!"

Her voice, still not used to yelling things at high volumes, left off an awful, grating screech at the end of her sentence. Luckily it got every penguins' attention and shut them up quite nicely. Violet was then aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring directly at her. She quickly swallowed down her fear, mainly her glossophobia*, and stood tall before all of them.

"Please. Let's not think of all the cons to the situation we're in. I know it's hard right now, but we all need to do take in faith, and have hope that we will arrive in a new place that we can call home."

"But how can we just take in faith n' hope when all seems lost, huh? How," a penguin from the audience asked. Everyone was silent as Violet tried to come up with a rebuttal for the question. After a moment's hesitation, she opened her beak to speak again, and..

"Just when you think
Hope is lost
And giving up
Is all you got,
Blue turns black,
Your confidence is cracked,
There seems no turning back from here"

All eyes turned to the side where the voice was coming from. Even in the dark and with the murmurs of the group, Violet could still make out the penguin and the voice singing. Krista. Her voice sang clear and bright of the trials they were facing at the moment.

"Let's not let our anger get us lost
And the need to be right comes at way too high a cost"

Mellifluous, yet powerful, the song broke free into the night and stirred the hearts of all who were listening. It was a song of truth, yet one of inspiring hope as well.

"That's when you can build a bridge of light,
That's what turns the wrongs all right
That's when you can't give up the fight"

Some of the penguins began adding in their own voices to the melody. More and more started singing along once they heard the voices of the others joining in harmony. Though Seymour, Gloria and Violet couldn't sing, they could say the words and let them flow into song if they whispered the, softly and held them in their hearts.

"That's when love turns nighttime into day,
That's when loneliness goes away,
That's why you gotta be strong tonight,
Only love can build us a bridge of light"

As the last note of the chorus took flight into the night, the night was suddenly lit all aglow. The auroras had come early and were illuminating the night in their gentle, yet bright colors. The gentle, pulsating light in streams chased away the dark of night and wrapped the land in its glorious light. It spreaded out to all the corners of the night sky.

"Deep breath, take it on the chin
But don't forget to let love back in

That's when love can build a bridge of light
That's what turns the wrongs all right
That's when you can't give up the fight

That's when love turns nighttime into day,
That's when loneliness goes away
That's why you gotta be strong tonight
'Cause only love can build us a bridge of light

Only love can build us... a bridge of light"

The auroras suddenly faded as soon as they arrived, all but one stream of bright teal, green and pink light that seemed to blaze through the sky like a path and dip into the horizon like a path of the night. The part of the horizon seemed to light up more brilliantly than the other places where it was. Suddenly, as if the light was calling out to them, Violet and the main group began walking towards the spot on the horizon. Noah suddenly looked down from the stream of illumination to them and also began walking alongside them. Soon everyone turned their gaze from the aurora australis after hearing the sound of feet crunching snow underneath, and began to follow the path of light in the sky leading them to the place it lit up.

If it wasn't a sign of hope from the great Guin himself then who knew what was.

Meanwhile, at the Johannesburg zoo

A man sat alone at his desk, looking at a newspaper. All around the walls of his office were newspaper clippings with animals or zookeepers on them and pictures of animals. Right on his desk was a picture of the zoo's prized, genetically-white lions.

One of the newspaper clippings showed a picture of the zoo's recent, newest addition, an immaturely molted, yet fully mature Emperor penguin, brought in from fisherman off the coast of Cape Town. They had offered him cheap since they had captured him exhausted while out on the ocean, and it was a good deal. Already, within the first day of the male penguin's arrival not only had the crowds come into see him, but to see his tap dancing skills he displayed. Crowds had came in greater, not only because of his arrival, but of his talent.

Right now he was reading an article about a zoo also in South Africa about it's penguins also drawing in crowds through dancing. Eight Emperor penguin chicks, plus a Macaroni penguin and, curiously enough, a puffin, had all tap danced together just as his zoo's penguin had. He was examining the front page with the picture of them dancing in the enclosure. His thoughts were wandering between his penguin and the eight penguin chicks.

He then suddenly picked up the phone and began dialing a number into it, 411. Once he heard a voice through the other end, he said, "Hello, this is the director the Johannesburg zoo. I'd like you to please get me on the line with the South Africa zoo director."

*glossophobia: the fear of public speaking. Very common fear, about 75% of the human population have it. The cure: just going up there and doing it anyways. Learned that in Speech and Debate last year.

I'm glad this chapter came out faster than usual. Next we're going back to the chicks, Lovelace and Sven to see how's it going. For all you guys out there, have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. Sincerely, v.t.7