Unknown

Skipper stared off into space as he listened to Marlene drone on, his head propped up on his flipper. Marlene sat across the small table from him rambling on and on, a small group of Zoosters also had gathered around to listen to what she had to say. The young otter was talking about the tragic loss of one of their own; Ted the polar bear was found dead in his habitat that very morning. The zookeepers had said he passed of natural causes, of course being who she was Marlene was trying to persuade the group to have a funeral for him.

He'd rather not, he just wasn't in the mood, he'd rather just let the zookeepers deal with it. Alice the surly zookeeper strolled past him interrupting his tedious thoughts, pushing something on a trolley. He couldn't see what it was, a dark blanket was concealing the content. He watched as she headed in the direction of Ted's habitat without even turning her head in their direction. It couldn't be a lift, it looked to be a cage- but the large polar bear wouldn't fit, it was far too small. So, what could it be? He found himself thinking this as he watched her disappear from sight.

His interest peaked Skipper tailed behind the woman, Private, Kowalski, and Rico beside him. They hid behind a near by trash can observing as she opened the object and entered the cave. Ten minutes later she returned, shut the device and wheeled it away. The four penguins slid inside and looked around, there was nothing there, no sign of Ted's body.

Skipper arched his eyebrow in confusion "how is this possible? She didn't carry the body out with her".

"Perhaps whatever Alice had with her disposed of Ted's corpse" Kowalski suggested.

"It wasn't very big" Private frowned "what could remove a large animal so quick?".

They left the habitat and followed Alice, she stopped at a darkened area beside the Zooviener shop and entered. Marlene leapt down from her seat at the table and stood beside them.

"There you guys are, I was wondering where you went. So, the rest of us agree that we should have a funeral" she began.

Skipper waved her off with his flipper "yeah, yeah great. Listen Marlene, do you know what's in this habitat? he asked, pointing out the mysterious area.

Marlene stared at the bared off habitat for a moment before shaking her head "I can't say I do, why?".

"Well, Alice removed Ted's body with whatever is in there- or so it looked" he answered suspiciously.

Marlene rolled her hazel eyes with a sigh "guys, just let it be. I gotta go start planning the funeral, please don't do anything stupid" she pleaded. The four said their quick goodbyes to her, and she left with a quick glance over her shoulder.

"Well, you heard her; time to go inside" Skipper announced.

Private raised his eyebrow "didn't she say not to go inside?".

"Which means go inside" he clarified with a nod "don't you speak girl?".

Private folded his flippers over his chest "apparently not" he muttered crossly. They watched as Alice left, and slipped inside before she closed the door. As soon as they entered they were engulfed in the shadows thrown across the small area, they could hardly see their own two feet.

Skipper blinked and squinted, straining to make out the various outlines with his unguided eye. "Rico, flashlight" he dictated, Rico did as he was commanded and handed him the saliva covered item. Skipper flicked it on and moved the bright beam through the darkness, revealing a treehouse shaped object perched atop a tree.

"Whomever resides here must be a bird" he noted "the question is who are they? And what do they have to do with Ted?".

Private let out a high pitched squeal, the three faced the young rookie who was staring down at a pile of bones mortified, and looking like he may hurl any second. Kowalski knelt beside the remains and examined them.

"Polar bear in origin, these are most definitely Ted's".

"I think I'm going to be sick" Private whimpered.

"I guess that explains what happened to his corpse" Kowalski spoke, he scribbled something down on his clipboard and put it away.

Skipper stroked his chin with his flipper as he sized up the bones with a thoughtful look "what kind of bird could eat a whole polar bear?".

"None, it would have to be a large group" Kowalski corrected him.

Skipper glared at him "what kind of birds could have done this?" he repeated agitatedly.

"They would have to be carnivorous in nature" said Kowalski whilst he flipped through his notes. Private tugged on his flipper and directed his attention to above them; an unknown feathered creature soared above the tree.

Skipper shone the flashlight on the creature, his eyes widened to the size of saucers "sweet molasses, it's a vulture!". The beady eyed avian perched on a low hanging branch and stared down at them, they stared back with wide eyes and jaws to the floor.

Private trembled, and cowered behind Rico "w-what's a vulture doing here?" he quivered.

"Isn't it obvious? Alice is using them to dispose of the carcasses of the animals that die" Kowalski stated.

"Right you are" a sudden voice spoke from seemingly nowhere, they turned to the source of the sound; the branch. The vulture continued to gaze at the penguins through its black eyes.

Skipper's face hardened "why are you in my zoo?".

"To eat your dead friends" the vulture answered with a dry chortle "is there a problem with that?".

"Well...it is the circle of life" Private replied hesitant.

"I suppose it's alright" Kowalski interjected with his own opinion "animals have to eat, and the zoo does have to find a more cost effective method of removing those who perish".

The vulture nodded and shooed them off with his wing "well, off you go. It was lovely conversing with you".

Private, Kowalski and Rico exited the closed in area, dragging along a reluctant Skipper, he looked back at the tree with a suspicious frown "I don't trust that vulture".

"I'm sure they're perfectly friendly, Skippah" Private reassured with a smile " let's just not worry about it and go to Ted's funeral, it's the least we can do". The four black and white birds prepared themselves for the ceremony and headed to the Zooviener shop. Nearing the doors they quickly realized that the audience was smaller than they imagined. They had questioned Marlene about it, she said she didn't know why there wasn't much of a turn out- everyone had agreed to go and say their final goodbyes.

After the service was finished Skipper decided to check the habitats and see what had happened, they found them bare. On the third place he searched he discovered a few brown feathers. A few weeks passed and the amount of animals decreased throughout the hours, noticing the strange pattern the troop high tailed it back to the mysterious habitat, discovering the door was wide open they let themselves in. Upon entering they were immediately met with a stack of bones, Private gasped and hid behind Skipper. He rolled his eyes and they proceeded further, eying the area with caution.

Kowalski felt something crunch beneath his foot and looked down, in front of them was the still intact skeleton of what looked to be a badger, insects were crawling over the still flesh covered remains. Private doubled over, and released his stomach contents across the ground. A swarm of vultures swooped down and gnawed away at it, he jumped and backed away with a grimace.

"I knew it" Skipper growled "I knew those vultures were no good".

"You should have stayed away when I told you to" a familiar voice resounded, they lifted their heads to see the vulture they had spoken to before. He launched himself from his perch and nested in front of the bewildered flightless fowl, more vultures gathered around them in a complete circle, hunger and bloodlust in their eyes.

"Didn't you ever hear that curiosity killed the cat?" another asked, her head tipped to the side with a crooked grin.

"Guess we'll have to kill you" a smaller one said "we wouldn't want anyone else to discover our little secret".

Private gulped and cowered behind Rico who regurgitated a lead pipe with a glare through his narrowed eyes. "But we're both birds, you wouldn't eat your own kind, would you?".

The circle closed in on them with another step closer "food is food" they chanted in unison "we must eat".

The four stood with their backs pressed against each other, prepared to fight as the gap between them and the carnivorous birds closed. They continued in a eery manner with cringe worthy smiles twisted across their faces "you will see the light never more".

Several birds flew at Private, he tried to swat them off, they retaliated and dove into his face, pecking his eyes out with their sharp crooked beaks. He fell to the ground with a scream, his vision swimming as the blood began to fill up his eye sockets. Then darkness, his brothers torturous cries swarmed into his still working ear holes as they each met a brutal demise. The blind penguin stumbled around in the ever lasting darkness, calling their names and feeling for them.

All he felt was a warm sticky fluid beneath his foot, and the tears running down his cheek.