A.N. - I'm aware I haven't worked on this fic in awhile, but it's been a pleasure to pick it back up again!

Chapter 5: Piece By Puzzling Piece

"Come on, keep waddling, Peng-u-in, you're almost up the hill."

Kowalski glared over at the dolphin apparition, swimming in the air, backwards, just in front of him. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one waddling in pain."

"Does it count if I say your slow waddling pains me? Come on, the quicker you waddle, the quicker you have shelter." He grinned.

"Shelter that I'm probably going to have to build, but I have no tools and no energy, Dolph-uh-in." He grumbled.

Blowhole turned and cackled. "Oh don't get your feathers in a twist, I'm aware. That's why we're heading towards a small cave….I think."

"You think?"

"The island seems familiar so I'm pretty sure, but your memory is foggy also, so ehhhh we're relying on gut instinct."

Kowalski groaned at this. "Can't I just curl up and accept the end?"

Blowhole whipped around and narrowed his eye, inches from his face. "No. And do not make a suggestion like that again, are we clear? Like it or not, you're living, or I'll kill you."

"…You know, that sounded oddly familiar." He leaned back slightly with a puzzled look. "Someone else made that same threat to me recently."

The dolphin turned away, shaking his head. "It's not a threat, it's a promise...He wouldn't threaten you…Anymore." He clears his throat.

"You know who said that?"

"Yes, because I'm your memories. We've been over this." He sighed. "But don't strain yourself trying to remember, it's not important currently."

Kowalski frowned, but nodded, concentrating on getting up the hill before him. He scrunched his eyes shut against the pain in his head and ribs. Just one step at a time. He could rest soon. Maybe take a nap.

He opened his eyes again. "You seem friendlier now."

"Want me to be snarkier?"

"No, I'm just stating an observation, Blowhole."

The dolphin glanced at him. "My personality is going to shift based on your memories. If I seem gentler, then it's because you're remembering me in that way."

"Fascinating…." He considered this, pausing to lean against a tree to catch his breath. "So I must remember the actual you to care about my well-being."

"Kowalski, you can think later. Shelter and nourishment first." He shook his head. "Maybe you'll remember where we are and that'll jog some of your other memories."

The penguin nodded and started forward again with a sigh. This was such an odd predicament to be in. He only had puzzle pieces of facts and memories pertaining to himself, injuries that he couldn't remember from what, and he was hallucinating a sassy dolphin….Who strangely was rather attractive. He's definitely not okay…But at the same time, he wasn't feeling nearly as anxious as he felt he should be feeling. It was a weird, calm feeling, one that made even less sense than talking to a dolphin who's not even really there. Maybe it was the familiarity of the island around him. He had to agree with him, he did feel like he had seen this place before.

Kowalski suddenly started more closely watching the ground and the trees around him. He had definitely been here before. Some time with…Someone? He had been here with someone, yes. Not that he could remember who, but it was something positive. He could remember that.

He then stopped. "That hole. It leads to an underground ship." He looks over at a gaping sinkhole off to the side of the path. "Someone fell down and we both followed it there."

Blowhole glanced over and nodded. "Yep. Do you remember what you were doing on the island that time?"

"….Treasure hunting?" He tapped his beak. "Are you certain I'm not a pirate penguin?"

"I'm completely certain you're not a pirate."

Kowalski sighed and passed the sinkhole. "Then I don't know why I would have been treasure hunting with anyone."

Blowhole stared at him for a moment before rubbing a flipper across his face. "I didn't think it'd be this hard to let you remember on your own with a little prodding from me. But I'm not going to just give you all the answers."

"Well, if you know them, why not tell me?" He scowled at him.

"Because your head is hurt and that would be too much too fast. I don't want you to have an aneurysm or something out here where there's no medical care."

"Is that a risk with concussions? I can't remember."

He rolled his eye with a deadpan expression. "You remember the hole, what it leads to. Maybe you'll remember something else soon."

Kowalski huffed and turned down another path. As per his scattered memories thought he would, he came upon a small cavern and waddled inside. Dark, damp, and a little cold…But it would work for shelter. He leaned back against a cave wall and slowly slid down to a sitting position with a sigh.

Survival…Think survival…He looked up at the ceiling as he thought. He'd need to gather wood for a fire before nightfall for warmth and to ward off predators. He should find something to eat…But in all honesty, he wasn't hungry, just nauseous. Perhaps he'd wait to look for food tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax. Just a little nap, a short, 5 minute nap—

"Resting is fine, but don't sleep."

Kowalski cracked an eye open and glared at the dolphin. "You're not even real."

"I'm real enough to you, aren't I? Catch your breath then we need that firewood." The dolphin looked out of the cave at the sky. "You only have a couple hours."

With a long sigh, the penguin stood up, wincing against his ribs. "Alright, alright, I'll get up." He waddled over to the dolphin, glanced at the sky himself then waddled a few steps away to the trees and some fallen sticks and brush. He bit his tongue against the pain of bending to gather them before carrying them back to the cave.

"Do you remember how to build one?"

"I'm sure I do as long as I'm not thinking about it." He shrugged, piling the sticks and rubbing two together. Making fires, simple thermodynamics at play. A little friction building heat and eureka!

He leaned forward and blew on his tiny flame, coaxing it to grow as he added it to the sticks and brush kindling. After a little more coaxing, he sat back once more. Yeah, that'd work for tonight.

Kowalski glanced up as his translucent companion floated over and laid by the fire as well. He then took out the little notebook he had found earlier on the beach.

"This is mine?"

"Yeah, you take a lot of notes for missions, inventions, and other things you don't want to forget."

Kowalski flipped open the cover and started skimming the pages. Several were drawings that likely would make sense if he remembered the context…He grinned slightly. He had to admit, he was a darn good artist.

He flipped another page, past a page of equations, and stopped on what he could only presume were mission notes. Despite the slightly dizzy feeling in his head, he read it hungrily.

"What's a Dave?"

"Octopus villain. Enemy. We don't like him."

Kowalski nodded slowly, reading the note. "I was on a mission…With my brothers. We were going to this set of coordinates because Dave was thought to be there, but then…Something happened, and I ended up here." He rubbed his temples, squinching shut his eyes. "There…There was… There—"

"Hey, hey, don't try so hard. That's enough."

He opened his eyes to find the dolphin's rostrum just inches from his own beak. He reeled back with a jump. "NEWTON'S KNICKERS, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PERSONAL SPACE?"

"Oh I've heard of it, as you have, but neither of us subscribe to the notion." He shrugged, but backed up nonetheless.

Kowalski sighed and looked at his notebook again. "I need a map…And my current location."

"Check your notes for a November date a few years ago. That ought to have a set of coordinates."

"I doubt these notes go back for multiple years if I take as many notes as you say I do." He shook his head. "But…This island is near North Carolina, I remember that much."

Blowhole raised a brow. "Oh yeah? Why would you, a penguin of New York, be so far south for treasure hunting?"

"I visited….Doris?" He furrows his brows. "Is she like my girlfriend or something?"

"NO." However, noting that his outburst was a little stronger than he had meant, the dolphin cleared his throat. "No, she's not your girlfriend. But yes, you did see her there."

Kowalski smoothed back the feathers of his head. "But why did I visit her? Who did I visit her with?" He started to ask before shaking his head. "Nevermind, not useful information. The location of a map, that would be useful."

The dolphin drifted over and looked over his shoulder. "Check the back pocket."

"It has a back pocket?" He flipped to the back with a surprised hum. "It has a back pocket." He slipped a flipper tip in and pulled out a damp map that he immediately, though gingerly, unfolded and laid on the ground. "Thanks, you're finally being helpful."

The dolphin rolled his eye. "So glad to be of service."

Francis sighed, rubbing his flipper over his face as he leaned over a map and a sheet scribbled over with equations and coordinates. This was getting nowhere fast…He needed it to be faster.

Here he was, an evil genius, and he couldn't confidently narrow down the probable location of one single penguin. In his defense, perhaps he was too close to the issue. It was hard to think with his thoughts and concerns constantly drifting back to Kowalski.

Did he survive the storm? Did the mast break his rib and puncture his lung and then he drowned? Or perhaps he hit his head and it was over swiftly. He bit his tongue and shook the thought away.

He didn't have time for this…He needed help…Someone who wouldn't be too emotionally attached to the situation.

"Red One!" He then shouted, leaning away from his work.

The lobster skittlered in and over to his side. "Yeah, doc?"

"I want Parker looped in. I need my best agent on this, too. Skipper has his skills and all, but he's like me. He's too close to think straight. Parker is less…." He gestured with a sigh.

"Yeah, he and Kowalski aren't besties." He nodded. "I'll call him up and see what he says."

"Tell him it's an order and I'll pay triple his usual rate."

The lobster nodded once more but with a sympathetic smile. Tentatively, he then gently tapped his boss's side with his claw. "…We miss him too, boss."

Blowhole heaved a sigh and hung his head. "That'll be all, Red One. You can go now."