Later that evening, the commander was in his office, organizing his paperwork and filing it away. As he finished up, he looked at the picture on his desk of himself, his surrogate father, Charles Angelwing and his mentor, Gerald Thunderbeak. If it weren't for them, the commander wouldn't have made it this far in life. The two drakes taught him everything they knew on leadership, assertiveness and compassion.
The commander sighed silently but fondly, recalling those old days. "Yer' grand-kids are really coming along, sirs.' The middle aged duck said, nostalgically. 'If only you two could see fer yer selves."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, the commander responded. "Come in." A a rather huge female drill sergeant stepped in.
"Commander, Sir!' she saluted. 'We just received an urgent message."
"Tell me, Shimmerwing."
"An aircraft is coming in from the south, and has failed the I.F.F code. It's gotta be the Saurians."
"How long until it reaches the city?"
"It will be in the city at dusk. The air craft, is a warship. And according to reports, it has five times the firepower of Monitor Towers." Shimmerwing replied.
"Not good. Send for Captain Thunderbeak and the McMallards immediately!" The commander ordered.
"Sir, yes sir!"
Twenty Minutes Prior
Danielle was walking down the hall, heading for the ice rink, feeling a tad excited. Canard invited her there to teach her hockey. While she was happy to be with him, the female hoped she didn't screw anything up in her first Hockey practice. Well... her first practice in years anyway.
"Hi, miss Angelwing."
The female duck turned around to see the same male medic she dismissed nearly three weeks ago. She awkwardly looked at her shoes, but replied to the young male." H-hello. Uh, Clapper...right?"
"Yep. Clapper Gooddrake.' He smiled. 'How are you today?"
"Okay…"
Clapper was a lanky, young drake who had white feathers, a bowl haircut and a short, yellow beak. He wore a basic grey button up shirt, with cadet blue pants. He smiled politely toward Danielle, while she just kept her eyes on her boots.
"C-can I help you?"
"I was to get a chance to talk to you, that is if you're not busy." He replied.
"Uh, well... actually, I have to be somewhere." She responded, quickly glancing up at him, then back down again. Thankfully, the drake didn't seem overly discouraged by her answer."
"Oh, I see. Maybe another time?"
"Goodrake. Come on, it's yer shift y'know." Abby called out to him.
"Uh, coming! Sorry about that, miss Angelwing. I'll see you." He said as he turned to leave.
When he left, Danielle sighed with relief. Clapper seemed a bit too friendly towards her. While it was nice and all, there was something amiss about this time. 'Does he have a crush on me?' she wondered with concern. Before she realized, she was standing before the entrance to the ice rink. Danielle took a breath, pressed the key code, and went in.
As the crisp air touched her feathers, Danielle gazed at the ice ahead before stepping forth into the rink itself. She could hear Greybeak, Wally, and Canard talking. "And then I said, 'You talk to me like that again, and we're through!'"
Wally gasped at Greybeak. "What'd she say?!"
"You know my mom.' The taller drake groaned at the memory. 'She grounded me for a week."
The female poked her head out from the corner, then fully stepped out. Canard looked up and when he saw her, he had to resist the urge to smile. "Angelwing."
Danielle saluted to him. "Evening, Captain."
Canard gestured her to come over to the bench. She did so, and found a pair of skates waiting for her. "So then,' Danielle started as she put the skates on. 'What are we gonna do for practice?"
"Tonight, we're just going to work on speed and passing the puck." The tan male replied. Then he took two hockey sticks from the rack and went back on the ice to wait for Danielle. Once she had her skates on, she came out, then Canard handed her one of the sticks. "Alright Wally, pass me the biscuit!"
"Coming your way, Sir!" The stout bird called out, as he smacked the puck away. The puck just zoomed across the ice, until Canard expertly stopped it."Angelwing, I want you to stand at the center ring."
"Uh, okay." Danielle skated gracefully toward the center. Canard skated close enough, passed her the puck and skated to the center of the attack zone. Once he was in position, "Go for it, Angelwing!"
The cream colored female skated forward, pushing the puck with her stick as she started to build up speed.
"Here!' Greybeak called out. 'Pass it to me!"
"No, me!" Wally replied.
Mentally counting to three, Danielle skidded to a stop, and passed the puck to Greybeak.
"Not a bad pass' Canard pointed out. 'But don't stop to strike. In a game, you gotta keep your pace."
Danielle gave a shy shrug. "Sorry." She whispered to herself.
"Just keep going, Angelwing." Canard encouraged. Danielle started skating again, around the rink. Wally caught up to her. "Here Danielle." He said passing her the the puck. Danielle almost missed it, but caught the puck with the end of her stick. "C'mon!' Greybeak called out, skating up a head. 'Let's see you make another pass." Danielle readied the puck, and smacked it back to Greybeak. She looked back to find Canard was slowing down.
Really noticing himself, his friends and his gir-uh friends, playing hockey reminded the tan drake of something. Something from the past. Something he had almost forgotten about.
...
It was the home coming game between DuCaine Univesity and Drakeston Community College, and students a like were buzzing with excitement. DuCaine University had the upper hand. 'Thunderbeak shoots! He scores!' His team won the game! And while Canard was the best player on the ice, he knew he couldn't have done it without the team, especially Wildwing. Whom he considers the best goalie ever. Speak of the devil. His best friend excitedly skated up to him, and the two of them exchanged a high wing.
"Right on Canard!"
"You too, Wing!"
...
"Captain?"
Canard came out of his revere when a female voice addressed him. Danielle was in front of him, and looking right up at him with concern. "Is...everything okay?"
The drake in question looked away, not willing to say it at first. He can't say it, not out loud. But then again, this is Danielle, right? He gestured her to come closer so he could whisper it. The dolly's face went from concerned, to sad but understanding. "It's okay to feel that way, Captain."
"Thinking about Wildwing again?" Greybeak asked. The tan male looked annoyed. He says that like it's a bad thing. Before he could reply though, Wally spoke up.
"Captain, I know you want to find him, but..." He was cut off when Greybeak gave an unsure shrug. "It's gonna be impossible."
"You won't talk me into giving up, so don't try!" Canard glared sharply at the other two drakes. "I didn't say that you-' Wally smacked Greybeak's shoulder. 'Ow! That's still tender, y'know!"
"Well you-!"
"Ahem!" Danielle didn't mean for it to be so loud, but that got the other two males to stop and look at her. She didn't say anything, but the look on her face was enough to keep them quiet. Then her gaze went back to the captain, as it turned gentle.
"Don't worry,' she said softly. 'You'll find him. You always know just what to do."
Comforted by Danielle's words, and touched by the faith she had in him, Canard gazed at her with a small smile and half lidded eyes. He just couldn't help himself this time. Her kindness was simply beyond description. "I guess she's aptly named...Angelwing." he thought. The dolly was about to say something, but then she saw the look on his face. Her heart skipped a beat, and she started feel weak in the knees. But she caught herself, and looked away.
"So then,' Danielle hesitantly asked, bringing the drake back to Puckworld. '...shall we get back to it?"
"Oh. Uh...yeah." Canard replied. Mentally embarrassed at losing himself so easily.
But before they could continue their game, their comms went off. "Captain! We have a situation! The commander wants everyone on deck!" The voice said. Danielle gasped silently. This must be an emergency.
"Copy that!' Canard replied, going full military tone. Then he turned to the others. 'Practice over! Let's move!"
