Chapter 16: Treasure Hunting

Kowalski reached back and pulled the small blanket closer to him with a small shiver. It was a futile move though as he remained cold. He opened one eye and glanced over at the larger bunk along the other adjacent wall. The sleeping dolphin there didn't look cold at all, in fact he looked fairly comfortable. He squinted at him with a frown.

Really was not fair that he, a penguin, was chilly, and the dolphin was comfortable, but he supposed it must be from how hard he had been sleeping that his body temperature dropped. He had fallen back asleep the moment they had gotten to the bunks on the sub anyhow. How long had they been resting again?

He glanced around for a clock, but didn't see one from his current position. Once again, Kowalski looked over at Francis. He then quietly stepped down from the bunk, blanket still wrapped around himself, and tiptoed over. Then, he dropped the blanket at the edge of the bed and gently wormed his way under Francis's blanket next to him and snuggled in.

Yes, this was much warmer. Very cozy. He closed his eyes and prepared to go back to sleep.

"It seems I've been invaded."

Kowalski's eyes widened and he peaked from under the covers with a sheepish smile. "Hi."

Francis looked at him with a raised brow. "Did you miss me or something, Mittens?"

"NO!" He scowled, pulling the cover back over his head. "I was cold."

"You're a peng-u-in."

"Penguins can get cold too, Dolph-uh-in."

"Mmm, might be because of your lack of blubber." He poked him with a chuckle.

Kowalski swatted him away. "I also have thinner feathers if you want to keep a tally of all the ways I'm inadequate for Antarctic temperatures."

"So what you're saying is, you need to eat more and get your proper nutrients and you might start fluffing up and not be so cold?"

"You're one to talk. How are you not freezing? It's not like you have a lot of insulation either."

Francis shrugged, pulling the penguin closer. "Perhaps I'm not as cold blooded as you peng-u-ins think I am, mmh?"

Kowalski smiled slightly as he enjoyed the cozy warmth close to him. "Well. Good. But I'm still saying, if you think I'm underfed, then I'm also going to point the mirror at you, Bottlenose. Boneyest dolphin I've ever hugged."

"Fine. Why don't we make this a deal then? We both make sure the other remembers to eat so we don't freeze this winter."

"Deal." He nodded shortly.

"Great." He propped himself up by his flipper. "So my little elderly thirty-five year old, are you still cold, or are you ready to get on with your birthday?"

"Is both an option?"

Francis gave him a look and rolled his eye. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose that means I need to warm you up." He smirked before leaning over and gently nuzzling his back with his rostrum.

Kowalski's eyes widened and his feathers rustled and he quickly scrambled from the bed. "I'M WARM. I'M WARM."

"OH NOW YOU DON'T WANT TO CUDDLE? COME BACK."

"I'M GOOD, BUT THANKS," he squeaked over his shoulder as he slid out from the room towards the dining area, not pausing to wait for Francis. However, once he rounded the corner, he stopped, stood up, and smoothed down his feathers before hiding his face in his flippers and leaning against the wall. He just shook his head.

When he finally looked up from his flippers, Francis was rolling around the corner. He cleared his throat. "Sorry…"

"Don't be. I know a flustered tactical retreat when I see one." He rolled his eye. "Come on. We'll eat then grab the metal detectors."

Kowalski stepped off the platform onto the beach, his small metal detector in flipper and a small pack on his back. For a moment he stood there and grinned out at the beach before them. Sure, deep down he knew they probably wouldn't find any buried treasure, but the concept and possibility of it thrilled him in an almost uncontainable way.

He glanced back over his shoulder as Francis came down the ramp behind him. "I have a stupid question."

"What? Need help working your metal detector? Looks like a pretty simple model."

"No, that's not-" He took a breath. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW IT'S MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT LOOKS!"

Francis smirked and rolled closer. "Then what's the question?"

"I was wondering…" He trailed off and scowled. "Blackbeard's breeches. I forgot my question."

"Well if it comes back, let me know." He patted his head before pressing a button on his segway. A small, built-in metal-detector extended outwards from the front and a green sonar-like hologram glowed on the panel. "We'll cover more ground if we split up. Maybe we can meet back up in an hour if neither of us have found anything of note by then? At that point we can check out the forest."

"I'll take the west?"

"Then I'll head east. If you find anything, you can call me, or just scream. I'm sure I'll probably hear you."

Kowalski side-eye glanced at him. "Well, then how would you know if I found anything from if something was trying to eat me, hmm?"

"Eh, either way I'd need to come your way, right?"

"Touche." He adjusted his headphones with a nod. "Alright. I'll be in touch."

The two then set out on their separate ways down the beach, scanning slowly with their devices. Seven bottle caps, 2 tin cans, a nickel, and a fishing hook later Kowalski started getting bored. It was apparent he wasn't finding anything of value out on the beach, but he knew it wasn't time to start heading back to meet up again. He looked out at the ocean with a smile, then his gaze fell upon some small pebbles by the water.

Kowalski's brow furrowed as he felt the sudden urge to go pick through them. Instead he shook his head and continued down the beach, scanning once more. And yet, he found himself glancing back towards the pebbles. Finally, he sighed and waddled over to them.

"Not sure why I'm doing this. I got a fresh rock last week, so it can't be time to swallow a new one yet," he murmured to himself as he glanced the rocks over. He nudged a couple over with his foot until he spied one that caught his full attention. He bent over and picked it up with a small smile. "Heh. It almost matches Francis's eye." He reached back and pocketed it in his pack for later.

He then noticed that his backpack was vibrating and took out his phone. "Kowalski."

"Hey, I'm just playing trash collector on this end. You finding anything?"

Kowalski glanced at his findings and shook his head. "No. Mostly bottle caps."

"Alright. Then I say we move on to the woods early. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I was getting a little bored myself. I'll meet you there." He slipped his phone back into the pack, shouldered it, grabbed his metal detector, and waddled back to their meeting spot. On the way there, his mind returned to that pebble in his pack and it made him feel oddly warm and fuzzy inside. He wasn't sure yet what he wanted the pebble for, but his instincts were saying to keep it, so might as well listen to them, right?

Kowalski smiled as he waddled up to the waiting dolphin. "We're metal detecting in the woods?"

Francis glanced down at him, shaking his head as he scrolled through his phone. "Not exactly. We're moving to Plan B. How familiar are you with geocaching?"

"...Can't say that I am."

"You really need to get out of your lab more than just for missions." He held his phone down for him to see. "Geocaching is essentially a GPS coordinate treasure hunt humans do. They hide a small treasure, post the coordinates or clues, and then people can find them. I had Red One check the site ahead of time. Supposedly, unless he told me the wrong island, there should be one around here somewhere."

"So a modern treasure hunt?"

"Exactly." He put his phone away. "We'll go south west."

Kowalski nodded but then looked skeptically at the segway. "How are you going to get there? I don't think those are made for off-roading?"

Francis smirked and pressed a button. "Oh don't sell my invention so short, Mittens. I came prepared." The ball-like wheel covered itself in a blue sheath with tread. "And I've got more options where that came from should I require greater traction."

"I stand corrected." He chuckled before starting towards the woods. He then paused. "On second thought, you should probably lead since you have the coordinates."

"Right." Francis nodded and rolled forward and Kowalski followed briskly behind him.

After a few minutes, the duo were already very well into the forest. They tried to keep to the trackways as much as possible for the sake of Francis's segway. After all, it may have more traction with his innovations, but it still was a segway with a three hundred pound dolphin aboard. Quicksand or deep mud would not be their friend. Arguably, neither would fallen timber, but the great thing about having a laser built-in to a robotic eye is that it can be used to cut a segway-sized chunk out to keep the path clear.

In this way, there were multiple timber chunks Kowalski found himself shoving out of their path. As he pushed this most recent one away, he looked over his shoulder. "Are we getting anywhere close?"

Francis took out his phone and double checked. "Yeah. We're getting closer." He glanced back at him. "Need a break?"

"Honestly a break and maybe lunch doesn't sound horrible."

The dolphin nodded, looking at his phone again. "If this map is current, then off to our left should be a stream. We could take a break there." He looked over with a slight frown. "That's going to be downhill…" He murmured and then sighed. "Just in case I slide, you should follow behind me again. I don't want to accidentally roll over you." He rolled off their path into the brush.

"Noted and appreciated." Kowalski stood up and waddled after him.

However, they didn't get very far before Francis stopped with a look of concern. "Stop."

The penguin raised a brow. "What's wro-" But before he could finish, the ground sunk in from below Francis and down the dolphin fell right before his eyes. "FRANCIS?!" In a flash he was down on all fours by the mouth of the hole, peering over the edge, attempting to see him through the cloud of disturbed soils. "FRANCIS? ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU DEAD?"