Yo! It's been a while. To make up for the long delay, this is gonna be a triple update (though they're all quite short, unfortunately. But hey, three short chapters are better than one, right? And it'll mean I can cut a chunk out of the request list)
This one's not a request - it's been sitting on my own ideas list for a little while now. The other two are requests. Enjoy!
Disclaimed
...
Documentary: The Life of Penguins
...
"Weighing up to forty-five kilograms, and reaching a height of around 120 centimetres, the emperor penguin is the largest of all living penguin species."
The camera zoomed in on the colony of birds in the distance. They appeared unassuming enough, chattering away to one another and feeding their babies. The cameraman returned the lens' focus to the field reporter.
"They are found only here," the reporter continued, "in the freezing temperatures of Antarctica. As you can see behind me, they are rather social animals, with both males and females foraging for food and raising the chicks."
The reporter turned, gesturing for his crew to follow as they made a cautious approach to the still-oblivious birds.
"Their diet consists mostly of fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods, though this varies from colony to colony."
A single penguin called out as it spotted the humans' approach, and as one the rest of the colony turned to stare. Wary of spooking them, the film crew came to a slow halt.
"Ah, they've spotted us," the reporter smiled. "In order to survive in such harsh climates, penguins within a colony must work together for mutual protection. Keeping an eye out for predators is one such example of this, as we have just seen."
The cameraman turned his camera's focus back on the penguins as, in a single unit, the colony began waddling over. He cast a wary glance at the reporter, not really knowing how dangerous these birds could be if threatened (that one time with the moose in Canada had been bad enough), but the reporter's beaming grin set his heart at ease.
In a matter of moments, the whole colony had mingled with them, as if the film crew were just another part of their colony and not strange invaders. One of the birds, a particularly chubby one, peered up inquisitively at the camera, cocking its head to the side.
The reporter opened his mouth to continue, but before he could utter a single word, the chubby penguin let out an ear-splitting shriek.
The colony reacted immediately.
As one unit, they charged the documentary crew, sharp beaks grabbing onto clothes, shoes, equipment, anything they could reach. One of the sound technicians gave a cry of 'retreat', but it was highly unnecessary; anyone with any sense was already a good few hundred metres away and counting. A particularly tall penguin latched onto a strap on the cameraman's camera and he tugged futilely at it, trying to wrestle it free without injuring himself or the surprisingly menacing bird. He didn't like the glint in its eyes.
After almost a full minute of useless struggling, the cameraman spotted two more birds heading in his direction and at a furious waddle. He decided it was time to cut his losses. A camera could be replaced. His limbs could not.
With a frustrated growl, he released his grip on the very expensive piece of equipment and high-tailed it after the rest of his crew. Maybe it was time for a career change.
...
...
Jack's arrival in Antarctica was heralded, like it so often was, by a chorus of excited chirps and assorted noises. His feet barely had time to make contact with the ice before he was being swarmed, his colony pressing itself against him on all sides in their own version of a greeting.
"Hey," he chuckled, ruffling the feathers on the closest one's head. "Did you miss me?"
The penguin snapped playfully at him, waving its wings excitably.
"So what have you been up to while I was gone?" Jack asked, plonking himself down to be further smothered.
George pushed his way to the front of the crowd with his own posse, each dragging something along the ice. The other birds all parted to make room. They finally came to a halt before him, looking mightily pleased with themselves as they showed off their prizes.
Jack stared at the assortment of technical equipment in silence for a long time before breaking down into hysterical laughter.
Guest Review Responses:
Guest: I promise you I have not forgotten. This is the reason I've had requests closed for ages - the list is so long that it takes MONTHS to get through even a small portion of it. As of this triple update, the eating/appetite request is number 6 on the list. I'm slowly but steadily getting through them all.
StarLight234: Yes, I agree completely! I think in particular the way they sort of usurped him and made him redundant and unwanted really caused a lot of the problems. I hope your exams went well!