11. The Prophecy
Private shuddered with fear, because he felt that they were being watched. But Skipper tried to focus on to reach the supermarket as quickly as possible. "Skipper, something is wrong here. I think we are watched by someone." whispered the little penguin quiet, but the leader didn´t listen to him. Marlene saw the two, as their fear crept under their feathers, but she waited for the right moment to attack her prey.
"Come on, faster, Private. The sooner we can get it behind us, the sooner we'll be back home." Skipper muttered, and crept further ahead. Private whimpered, hoping that the whole mission will pass fast and without any trouble. Skipper was extremely tense. Now that he knew that these vampires were almost impossible to defeat, he was afraid of what they could do with them if they would run them into their hands. Street by street, they became more and more tense. Skipper could feel the eerie atmosphere already physically and tried to supress the fear that came over him.
Private crept behind him, like a shadow. He dared not to move more than a meter from Skipper and was frightened at every little noise. He noticed that the wind was stronger and the icy cold that surrounded them, was even colder. "Skipper. Something´s wrong here." Private whined and nudged his leader. "What's wrong, Private?" Skipper asked, annoyed, because the little penguin disturbed his concentration. Marlene followed the two penguins and had to hide, as skipper looked up randomly in order to investigate Private fears. She wanted to surprise them with a quick attack, like a cat, the observed her prey first. But Marlene also noticed that the wind was blowing much more than usual. The leader felt that something was in the air.
But he couldn´t say whether this was a bad sign. He looked into the misty sky, but he couldn´t see anything but the dark, gruesome, black haze that covered any view of the sun or the moon. Suddenly, a lightning flashed, which hit the wall in front of their eyes. Blinded by the light, the penguins didn´t know what this was supposed to be. Even Marlene stopped immediatly because she was already about to attack them. The light was so bright that Skipper held his flippers protectively over his face. But as soon the flash had appeared, as quickly it disappeared again. Private hid in fear behind his leader and hoped that there was no other monsters, that was about to kill them. Skipper looked up, he just saw a distorted silhouette casting a sinister shadow on the wall and got ready to attack it. But when he pulled out his knife, the person got out of the shadows.
It was Mrs. Jenkins. With a fixed gaze, she walked to the penguins and Marlene watched in awe. "You? What are you doing here?" Skipper asked, but he was still cautious. Maybe it was all a trap. "Bridle your knife, son." There is no reason to attack me. " Mrs. Jenkins said in a husky voice, but Skipper didn´t want to drop his knife. "What are you doing here?" asked the leader again, surprised and a little scared at the same time. But Mrs. Jenkins walked on to them until she was only a few centimeters away from Skipper. She pushed the blade of his knife to the side and looked at him.
"I'm here to tell you a story. The reason why you were brought back to life, Skipper." said the squirrel and the leader gave up his defency. "What story?" Skipper asked, confused, and walked a few inches back. "Listen to me, my son. I do not have much time. You are back again for good a reason. To defeat the dark forces and save your friends from harm." Mrs. Jenkins said with a sinister tone in her voice. "That's what I figured out myself. But what's the point?" Skipper asked, curious, but Mrs. Jenkins pointed to the small Private, who was still anxiously hidden behind Skipper.
"Private?" What has he to do with it? " asked the leader and stood protectively in front of his son. "He brought you back to life. His desperate wish and longing for you, have revived you. If the young Private had not existed, then you were not here. In the darkness there are not just the dark forces at work. His wish was so strong that you've been ripped from the beyond, because you're here to finish one last task. " explained the granny squirrel, but Private winced frightened when she mentioned his name.
Marlene couldn´t believe what she was hearing. She suspected that Skipper posed a threat to their kingdom of darkness, but she didn´t know that all this was Private fault. She eagerly listened unnoticed, as Mrs. Jenkins told the whole story. Skipper turned to Private, and looked at him quizzically. The leader had no idea how bad his death for his little friend really had been. He had abandoned him, his friend, his son. Skipper suddenly remembered their conversation that they led shortly before his death. Private wished that his Skipper would be like a father to him. He also wanted, but before he could build a genuine father-son relationship with him, they got seperated by death.
Skipper was deep in his memories, as he felt Mrs. Jenkins put her bony, old hand on his chest. Just above his heart that he had killed him before. "Your death was totally unexpected and you were forced to let your friends down. But now you are here to protect them from the evil powers here. You have a little friend or more a son for whom you have to take care of. Your mission is to restore balance in the world to defeat the darkness that simultanly ripped you out of life. " Mrs. Jenkins said, and pressed her hand tighter on Skippers chest as whe would directly look into his heart. "I´m supposed to save the world from darkness? But how can I do that? I'm just a penguin I´m not a superhero. What should I do against such evil forces?" Skipper said in despair when he realized that the fate of this world was all alone in his flippers. "You have the power, my son. You will find a way and your friends will be by your side. You are the only hope for this world of darkness." Mrs. Jenkins said, looking at the sky.
"But what happens if we do it? Will he stay with us forever then? " Private asked sheepishly and stepped out of Skippers shadow. But Mrs. Jenkins hesitated with her answer, as this would be a terrible prophecy, which was also hard for her to tell them. "Without you, the whole earth will soon be covered with darkness. But you're the only hope to stop this. I see that your heart is strong enough to do this task, but then ..." murmured the mysterious squirrel. "But then what?" Skipper asked, startled, because he wanted to know what will happen to him after he defeated the darkness if he was able to defeat it.
"You will return. Back to the dead. This is your destiny. You have entered this world as a mortal and you will re-enter as a mortal, you will leave again." Mrs. Jenkins answered, sounding sad. "That means I will die again when the job is done. If I would not die before?" Skipper stammered aghast. "This will be your fate, but it may change anytime, my son. This world is so distorted by dark forces, that the fate of shows sometimes vague visions I can only point vague." said the squirrel and took her hand from Skipper chest.
Her touch left a strange tingling sensation on his skin, but the leader was now more concerned about his fate. The fate of the world laid in his flippers and he had no idea how he should handle the task. Another flash appeared, and Mrs. Jenkins disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. Skipper stood completely still, because he couldn´t believe what he had just heard. No matter how it all would end. He would die again, that was his inevitable fate. But he couldn´t let down his friend again. He had to cope with such an important task, but the reward was the sole death.
"Skipper, you don´t worry about it. She don´t even knows what she is talking about." Private stammered softly, trying to get rid of Skippers doubt, because he didn´t even believe in the words of the old lady. He didn´t believe that his father would die again. That would be a completely unexpected turn that would shatter Privates heart and soul into thousand pieces again. "Private, you know I love you, son. I'm so grateful that I live through you again. But if I should die again, then I want you to not slip back into despair, like the last time. " Skipper whispered softly and hugged the little penguin.
But he had no idea that they were threatened with a danger which they had watched all the time. Marlene still hid on the roofs and had listened to the whole prophecy. She knew what to do. She has to get Skipper out of the way so he was not able to end the kingdom of darkness. She also wanted Private pay for his stupid wish, that brought the leader back to life. She would not risk that anyone would destroy the dark realm that gave her all her strength. Marlene had enough of playing hide and jumped from a rooftop down the street.
Quiet as a breath of wind her feet touched the ground so that the Penguins didn´t immediately notice their presence. The otter showed a devilish grin and approached Skipper and Private who just had to digest this terrible prophecy now. "Oh so touching. Two helpless penguins, a father and a son. In front of me and in front of my growling stomach." Marlene hissed and Skipper and Private panicked when they saw the otter approaching them. "Marlene, what are you doing here?" Skipper asked, and stood protectively in front of the small Private. "Oh, I heard everything and now I know what what I have to do. At first it was a game, but now everything is deadly serious." Marlene replied, grinning. She seemed very happy, as they would talk about something trivial, like the weather.
Step by step she approached the two penguins and threw a briefly gaze at Private again and again, but Skipper noticed that immediatly. "You don´t dare hurting him. Just over my dead body!" Skipper hissed angrily, clutching the handle of his knife so tightly that his flippers started to hurt. "Well, this can be done very quickly. But where the fun?. No, Skipper. I'm just here to punish those who had dared wishing you back to life." Marlene said, and showed her dagger-like teeth. "No. Don´t come closer. I´m warning you!" Skipper said with a mixture of panic and despair. He knew he had no chance against her. Marlene was also aware that they could kill the leader with a single blow.
But she was a hunter who liked to play with her prey. For now, she wanted to give the small Private suffering that he had revived Skipper back because he represented as a certain danger. Now, the otter was not more than half a meter away from the penguins. She heard Privates whimper as he desperately hid behind Skippers back. The leader tried to keep the vampire away with just a knife, but Marlene thrust the knife with a weak blow away and it slammed against a house wall and split in half. Skippers whole body was trembling with fear, but he tried to be strong and prepared for an attack. "Your fear is written all over your face, Skipper. You have no choice. But I'll make you an offer. Give me the little one and I will spare your life. For now." Marlene giggled softly with a diabolical grin. "No, never." shouted the leader and went into attack mode. "Well, I'll just force him to come along." the Otter said the bored and was just a few inches from the penguins.
Skipper felt his heart burst almost as Marlene's hand reached out to grab Private and he stood protectively in front of him. But now, Marlene had enough, because she wanted to finally do her job. Like a flash she rammed her elbow into Skippers stomach and the leader firmly slammed against the wall, where was his knife laid broken. "Skipper!" Private screamed and backed away from her, but he couldn´t escape her greedy hands. She quickly had the little penguin in her grip, but now he was more concerned about Skipper, who was lying unconscious on the floor.
Marlene also wanted to examinate her work and went together with Private at Skipper and the little penguin just hoped that the leader was not injured. "See what happens when you don´t obey me. Let's see if he is still alive." Marlene laughed merrily and Private got a painful stinging in the stomach. With one hand the otter gripped Skippers neck and pressed him against the wall. With the other hand she held Private, so he could not escape. Marlene pressed harder on his throat and strangulated Skipper, so he woke up.
After a few seconds the leader opened his eyes and gasped because he could not breathe. His stomach hurt like hell, and an unpleasant nausea rose up in him. But he quickly saw that the small Private was captured by Marlene. He knew no way out of this situation and couldn´t think straight. "Marlene ... please ... Let him go ..." Skipper weakly whimpered and groaned in pain. "Oh no. I will go and take him with me. You ca, just like you look for him like you were looking for Kowalski. That will be fun," Marlene giggled and let go of Skipper.
The leader fell roughly on his aching belly and gasped. He looked up and Marlene gave him one last glance before she disappeared with Private into the dark. Skipper heard the little penguin calling his name from distance. "Private ... no ..." coughed the leader and curled up in pain. His stomach revolted and Skipper pressed his flippers on his belly. He turned on his side, starting to throw up and fell in despair. "No, that can´t be true. I have failed." coughed the leader and leaned against the wall, alone and panting in pain ...