I really enjoyed writing this chapter!

I hope that you'll enjoy it too :)

Chapter 21: The Beginning

"Private, I am your brother."

It was hard to believe that the penguin in front of him didn't even know who his own family was and what had happened to them. Private knew nothing of his own life. Boris knew that it was all to blame on Skipper and Nigel. They had concealed the truth.

"I will tell you everything Private, from the beginning. I'm sure that you will understand everything when I'm finished." He smiled at his little brother, but Private seemed too astonished to say a word. So Boris just started his story. It felt like he was there again, for the first time.

The building in front of him was tall. Grey. Cold. The windows were blinded and the front door was tightly shut. The penguin in front of the building shivered. Why did he had to attend this military school? He felt a little homesick, he wanted to stay with his family in Antarctica. But his dad had said that he had to become a soldier. So that's why he'd come here. His green eyes scanned the building. He was afraid, what would he find inside? Would he make some friends? The door opened, revealing a tall muscular bird. He had dark sunglasses on and an earpiece by his ear hole. "You are Boris?" The little penguin nodded, he was a bit afraid of the penguin in front of him. "Follow." Boris waddled inside the building. If it was possible, the interior on the inside of the building was even colder and grayer. It appeared that they were in a hallway and it was empty. Nothing else than complete grayness. Boris wished that he could turn back.

He followed the penguin from room to room. Every room had the same cold atmosphere. Everything everywhere was grey. Or black, when there was furniture placed in a room. The large penguin stopped in a room with a two chairs and a table. It looked like an interrogation room. The penguin pointed at one of the chairs. "Sit." Boris nodded again and sat on the chair. It was hard, cold, just like the building. Boris wondered if they were the only two penguins in the building. He hadn't seen anybody else yet. The door opened and revealed a medium-sized penguin. He had scars all over his body and dark grey, almost black eyes. Boris expected to hear a harsh voice again, but the penguin sounded soft. At least softer than the other penguin. Boris relaxed somewhat. "So, you are Boris? " Boris nodded. "You want to become a weapons expert?" Boris nodded once more. "You have permission to talk, Boris." The penguin at the other side of the table looked somewhat amused. "You had some experience with fighting?" "Yes sir." Boris confirmed. "I've had some training from my father." The scarred penguin nodded. "Good. Well, welcome to the military school." He smiled at Boris, but Boris couldn't smile back. He was scared. "If you would follow my colleague." Boris nodded and waddled towards the same penguin who had let him in. "Good luck, Boris." The penguin said to him, before waddling away into another room.

He waddled silently after the penguin. What was that about? They waddled through an empty hallway towards an elevator. "In here." Boris followed the large penguin into the elevator. The penguin pushed one of the buttons and the elevator went down with an incredible speed. Boris felt a wave of nausea getting over him. "Get used to it kid." The large penguin was so harsh and cold, Boris felt totally out-of-place. He wasn't a cold person. He loved puppy's and rainbows. The elevator stopped suddenly. Boris was glad that he could get out of there. The doors opened, showing yet another grey large room. Doors were at all sides of the room. But there were penguins too, penguins of his age and some older ones. But none old enough to be a fully trained soldier.

In one corner of the room was a bunch of slightly older penguins. They were laughing about some jokes. There was a penguin, alone in the furthest corner of the room. He was all alone, apparently doing some karate kicks. Every kick he made was perfect, but missed something. It missed the feeling. The bird turned around and Boris saw the expression on his face. It was sad, painful. The bird continued on his exercises. It was beautiful to watch, all the movements told their own story. Boris turned to look at the large penguin. "You stay here. Wait for further orders." Boris nodded and waddled into the room. All the penguins were together in groups. There was a group playing chess at the other side. They all looked like geeks, but they enjoyed their game and each other. And there was bunch of penguins playing some card games. But the most were just talking to each other. No one noticed him. No one but the lonely penguin in the corner of the room. He was apparently done with his karate training, because he was waddling towards him. "You are a new one? " Boris nodded. The penguin extended his flipper to shake. "I'm Skipper. Welcome." He took the flipper and shook it, thankfully to have some company. "I'm Boris." Skipper smiled at him. "They will come back for you in a couple of minutes. Why don't you join me with karate exercises?" Boris nodded excitedly. "It would be a pleasure."

Skipper turned out to be real good at fighting. Boris constantly lost from him. But he didn't mind, he enjoyed being with someone friendly. Skipper gave him some tips and they worked immediately. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Boris? Will you come with us please?" Skipper had stopped his attack and watched them, waving. "Good luck!" Boris smiled back at him. "Thank you!" And he waddled with the two penguins out of the room.

So did you enjoy it?

The next chapter(s) will be flashbacks too.

I mention this, so you won't get confused ;)