Hey guys.. so… a little romance will be added to this and the few following chappies so hang in there!
I had a really hard time making this one.
So please…
READ ON!
How It All Began
Chapter 21: New Mission
Silvia smiled. She was happy to have her family back together again.
Suddenly, the door was flung open with a BAM and a feminine voice was heard.
"JESSIE! THE OTHERS NEED YOU IN THE TRAINING ROOM. THE– " it paused.
Hans gasped. It was a puffin! A beautiful female puffin. She stared right at him with gorgeous green eyes. Her head feathers were neatly brushed back, hiding her bangs by a ribbon on her head.
"There's a new puffin here? I thought I was the only one." She said calmly.
Hans melted.
"He's not new, you are newer than him. You remember Skipper, right? Those reports and stories you've been hearing." Jessie reminded.
"Y… yes…" she replied.
"Well, the puffin you are referring to is Hans. The only team mate left of Skipper's team." Jessie explained.
"Hans?" the puffin neared the other. "Hmm… I'm Katrine. Nice to meet you."
Hans blushed. "N… N… Nice t-to meet you t-too, aha." He stammered.
Katrine chuckled.
Skipper rolled his eyes. He knew these clichés all too well.
"Er… What were you saying, Kat?" Jessie asked.
"Oh, oh yes. Your presence is needed in the training room. Something 'bout a little accident with the weapons." Katrine informed.
Jessie face-flippered. "Alright. C'mon Jon. I might need a little help." She said, heading out the door.
Jon and Silvia followed.
Katrine, still standing in front of Hans, smiled. "So… you're a puffin huh? It's been a while since I saw another."
Hans blinked. "Really? Where do you come from?"
"I was following behind my flight, flying somewhere here in Antarctica when a strong chilly wind blew us apart. It blew me far away from the others no matter how hard I tried to fly against it. My wings grew tired and I gave up. I fell down and broke my wing. Doc said I'll be stuck on the ground for a few weeks." Katrine explained.
"And they believed that story?" Skipper snorted.
"They saw it. They saw me falling and they headed toward me. They didn't arrive before my rough landing, though." Katrine said, stretching her left wing only to whimper and fold it again.
"Did Doc do anything to help?" Hans asked.
"She bounded it with some kind of bandage and told me to not take it off at all costs. A few days later, she took it off, saying it needed air."
"But your flight left. You can't find it." Skipper narrowed his eyes.
"I memorize the pathways of my flight. They'll be back after a few seasons. If not, then I guess I'll be crashing here." Katrine then smirked at Skipper. "But I can assure you, Skipper that I am no spy. I know you have encountered spies before. Twice… in the same day… Not to mention that you lost one of your team mates on that very day."
Skipper took a step back but remembered that he was very well known here so there was a reason why she knew about him.
"So your flight passed here. Is der by any chanz dat your flight is da same as mine?" Hans said, hardly containing his excitement.
"I don't think so. We never left ONE puffin, young or old in Antarctica." Katrine replied. "Why?"
Hans slumped. "The flight that I belonged to left vhidout me. *sigh* And I could not fly because I did not know how…" Hans extended his wings the examined them.
Katrine tilted her head in confusion.
"Long story." Hans said, folding his wings. "And… I don' wanna talk 'bout it."
"C'mon! I'd love to hear a story." Katrine begged.
Hans cleared his throat while covering his beak with his left wing in attempt to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. "You wouldn't be interested." He pressed.
"Please?" Katrine took his flipper/wing(I got tired typing wing).
Skipper grunted. "Oh, humor the lady, Hans. I'll go see what duties are in store for me. You two have fun." Skipper said, dismissing himself. He didn't want to see more of this.
"Aye, Skippah." Hans said, giving him a small salute before turning back to the female puffin in front of him.
Skipper slid toward the training room. The newbies would be training there now. And since he was "popular" here, they might ask him lots of unnecessary questions.
He smiled as he sighted the training room door then stood up, pushing the door open.
He saw a few young penguins learning a new move. They paid no attention to the newcomer. Skipper sighed then looked around, searching for familiar faces.
Steph was there and so was Violet. Luckily, the two cream-colored brats were nowhere to be seen and so was Michael. He was probably with the two. Steph and Violet were both talking to Jessie.
Jessie turned her head and noticed Skipper. "Skipper!" She called, signaling him to come.
Skipper walked toward her. "Hey Jessie. I just came by to see if any of you needed help…"
"No. We're fine here. The situation was already taken care of. But anyways, that's not what I needed to tell you…" Jessie replied.
Skipper narrowed his eyes.
"Agent Steph and I have been talking and she agreed that you could stay a while. Mostly because I need you to go on this mission…"
Skipper straightened. "Mission?" He interrupted.
"Yes." Jessie said. "One of our youngest agents has gone MIA. No, he hasn't been kidnapped… well… at least not YET. Our cameras caught him running out the door. He's somewhere near the Leopard Seal Territories. He brought some weapons from the training room with him so it'll be a bit hard to bring him back."
"His name is Ryder Whitley according to these files Jessie gave me." Violet informed, pushing a folder near Skipper.
Skipper picked it up and opened it. There was his profile, a few mission files and pictures of him. He was a light brown penguin, not something you see everyday. He had dark blue eyes and his head feathers were pulled back (just like Nigel in his agent mode! XD).
"It would be safer for you and Hans to return to Denmark immediately for your own safety but a little mission won't hurt." Steph said while Skipper examined the photos.
"Alright. I figured that you four could do this one together…" Jessie continued.
"Four?" Skipper repeated, closing the folder.
"Oh, yes. I'm giving Katrine and Violet to you for a while, Skipper. It's just temporary. After all, you still haven't chosen a new… w-well because…" Jessie cleared her throat. "…N-never mind."
"So when do we go?" Skipper asked.
"As soon as you can; obviously not now because Hans is with Katrine for a while. We can't blame him for trying to communicate with his own species for once, right?" Jessie chuckled.
Skipper nodded his response. I wonder what the two puffins are up to… he thought.
"…and dat's how my flight left me. It's not too long. I do not want to bore you to death." Hans smiled.
The two were sitting on a big piece of ice right outside the SMPFHQ.
Katrine chuckled. "… B-but. It's really not so bad. I mean… If your flight didn't leave you, you wouldn't be here with me, right?" she said, scooting closer to him.
Hans blushed and smiled. "Yes."
Katrine leaned on his shoulders and let out a satisfying sigh.
"Hans?" Skipper's voice was heard. The two puffins stood up immediately.
"Skipper sir!" Katrine said, saluting to him with respect.
"Skippah?" Hans tilted his head.
Skipper gave Katrine a slight nod, making her put down her flipper then said, "Hans, Katrine… I know you two lovebirds are having your romantic fun and all… But we have a mission." Skipper informed them.
"Mission?" Hans repeated.
"Apparently, one of the young agents in SMPF has left the building along with some weapons from the training area. Cameras spotted him near Leopard Seal Territories. So that's not good. We have to bring him back at all costs." Skipper crossed his flippers.
"And Jessie expects you and Hans to go alone?" Katrine guessed.
"No. Violet and you are coming with us. Jessie says there is 'safety in numbers' and all that…"
"Who the heck is Violet?" Katrine put a flipper on her hip.
"Cat." Hans answered briefly.
"Since when did cats get to Antarctica?"
"Ever since Agent Steph brought us here." Skipper said.
"Alright. What's the plan?" Katrine said, nearing Skipper with Hans.
"We'll search for clues. Hans and I will check on the training area to look for any traces of the young cadet, while you and Violet will check the security cameras for more clues. Got it?" Skipper ordered.
"W-wouldn't it be better if we split with one girl and one boy per team?" Katrine said, taking Hans' flipper.
Skipper grunted. "UGH! Fine. You and Katrine can pair up. Violet and I will investigate the training area."
"Did someone say my name?" A brown, orange, and white she-cat wearing some kind of black jacket and a black and white striped scarf jumped out of the door.
"Gosh it's freezing out here." She complained.
"Oh, Violet. This is Katrine. Katrine, Violet." Skipper said.
"So this is Katrine…" Violet said, sniffing her.
"Er…" Katrine said, taking a step back.
"S-sorry. I'm a cat. This is how we familiarize ourselves to new people. We memorize their scent. It's a bit hard to pick up scents here in the cold. Let's head back inside… please…" Violet added, dashing to the door.
The others followed.
When they got inside, Skipper told Violet about the plan he discussed with Katrine and Hans earlier.
"Oh, I'm fine with that." The she-cat smiled.
"Alright then. Hans, Katrine, go find us some more clues. Violet and I will head to the training area to see what we're dealing with." Skipper said, pointing at one of the halls.
Hans nodded and held Katrine's flipper then he ran down another hall with the female puffin following behind.
Skipper slid on the floor toward the training area with Violet running behind him.
Soon, they reached their destination.
Steph and the other agents in training were gone so it was completely empty. No signs of life anywhere.
"Okay. Let's search for more clues." Skipper said, sliding toward the weapons storage closet.
Violet sniffed at the training materials (like the dummy).
"Okay. So there's a few throwing stars, a tranquilizer gun along with a few dozen darts, and a staff missing here. So we better prepare for a fight." Skipper said. "What do you have, Violet?"
"How can I detect this young one's scent if I don't know him at all?" Violet snorted, flicking her tail in annoyance.
Skipper took out a folder from one of the drawers and threw it toward the she-cat. "Here." He said.
Violet flipped it open. There were a few pictures of the light-brown and white feathered cadet named Ryder Whitley. Flipper prints were stamped on to the paper.
Violet got a good whiff of it. Disregarding the ink scent, she distinguished another penguin scent.
"Thanks." She replied then flipped it back closed. She gave it back to Skipper, who returned it back where he found it.
"So what now?" Violet asked.
"We ask what the puffins found." Skipper said before leading the cat out of the room.
"Have you got something?" Katrine asked.
"No… Not yet." Hans replied, pushing keys on the key board, scanning videos of previous recordings of each camera. "You?"
"Nope." Katrine called, sitting in front of her computer. "Wait, wait! I see something!" she said, motioning to the male puffin to come see.
Hans saw a penguin in a white hood, wearing a white backpack. 'Okay, he really wants to be camouflaged in the snow eh?' he thought.
The penguin in the video was holding a tranquilizer gun, looking cautiously from side to side as if he expected someone to pop out of nowhere.
"He is going to da Leopard Seal Territories alright. And he's with a tranquilizer gun. I am sure DAT won't make it be easy to capture him." Hans crossed his flippers.
"Okay. So we report this to Skipper, then we go find Ryder?" Katrine asked.
"Ryder?" Hans looked confused.
"That's his name. I used to watch lessons on hand-to-hand combat and learned some of the young cadets' names." Katrine told him.
"Impressive." Hans complimented.
"C'mon. Skipper and Violet are probably waiting for us." Katrine said, turning her computer off.
Hans did the same with his and headed out with Katrine.
"Hans! Katrine!" A voice called. Skipper and Violet were running right to them
The two stopped and they were face to face with them.
"What did you get?" Skipper asked.
"Ryder's armed with a tranquilizer gun. Heading to the Leopard Seal Territories." Katrine replied.
"In a white robe so he can be a bit camouflaged in the snow." Hans added.
"So… as much as possible, we must avoid getting hit with the tranquilizer darts." Violet tilted her head.
"Okay. We move out now. I don't want that kid to be ambushed by seals. And remember. We must NOT hurt him, at all costs. We must bring him back conscious, unhurt, and very much alive." Skipper reminded.
"Roger that." Hans said.
Skipper then led his little team out and into the cold.
Violet's paws were half-frozen and she was struggling to keep up, but she kept her pace and ignored the chilly pain in her pads. She still had the jacket and scarf that kept her warm.
She then focused on the scents and sounds of her surroundings.
She heard the slippery sounds of the Skipper's belly on the snow, the pitter-patter of Hans and Katrine's feet, and the thump of her own paws.
She extended her senses a bit further.
Snow… Snow… That was all she picked up. Wait! She picked up another scent. A familiar scent.
"Guys! I smell something!" She hissed, not wanting to be heard by the penguin she detected.
The other three stopped behind a pile of snow. Violet padded toward them, flattening her ears against the cold winds.
"We're at the border of the Leopard Seal Territories. Do you think what you picked up was Ryder?" Skipper asked.
"I recognize the scent. I'm 99.5% sure." Violet estimated.
"Close enough." Skipper said, peeking over the pile to look for the young cadet.
"Nothing in sight… Yet." He reported.
"Then we have to keep moving!" Katrine whispered.
"Yes, but we have to keep hidden." Hans replied.
"Let's move!" Skipper led the other three toward another pile of snow near them, then another, then another, then another until Violet spoke up.
"The scent!" She whispered. "It's stronger now." Violet said, poking her nose up in the air. She looked at where the wind was coming from and peered over the pile of snow.
There! She thought. There was a white-hooded penguin with a white bag. He was holding a tranquilizer gun with two light-brown flippers, ready to shoot at anyone who neared him.
"He's there. But if we startle him, he might shoot. We might as well show ourselves." Violet suggested.
"Sounds easy enough." Katrine said, standing up from her crouching position.
Together, the quadrant walked toward the young one, who was looking the other way.
Skipper cleared his throat before saying, "Ryder?"
The hooded penguin gasped and turned, pulling the trigger on his weapon toward the sound.
Skipper felt a sharp thing on his chest and glanced at it. It was the tranquilizer bullet. "What the-" He said before plopping onto the ground.
Ryder removed his hood and ran toward the penguin on the floor.
"Chilly Cheese Fries! It's Skipper! Oh dear, Oh no…" he heard a voice say.
This was the last thing he heard before giving in to the full effects of the tranquilizer bullet and everything was dark.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Okay, that was it!
So! What do yah think?
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Don't know what to review? Here are some guide questions:
What do you think about Katrine?
What do you think about Ryder?
What do you think about the plot so far?
Choose atleast two of the questions! XD
Alrightie then!
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