Holy ****! I've been gone for so long. So, uh... how is everyone? Heh heh...
Ace was exhausted, to say the least. He and his uncle Nigel had traveled from London to America for the past two days. He knew little of where he was going but trusted his only family's judgment. The last thing he wanted was to be rude to his uncle, but the reality they found themselves in seemed so unfair. Soon, Uncle Nigel was to leave him alone with strangers, never to be seen until God knows when. Why? When he was little, the elder penguin would convince him that he would never leave him, that they were together until the end. Plans change. People change, too, it seems.
As the little penguin slept curled into a ball in the shipping crate, unconscious fear nestled into the back of his mind, giving him nightmares. He dreamt once that his new roommates hated him and shipped him back to London. The worst one he dreamt of was the one where his Uncle Nigel never returned. He saw himself as an adult, alone, waiting for his family to return after so many years that he lost count, but the waiting was futile. That dream caused him to wake up crying.
He couldn't help but think, what if his new roommates didn't like him? What if they were all mean or chose to ignore him? Uncle Nigel had mentioned that they were like an army unit. What if he was trained to death? What if he was too weak to complete the training? So many what-ifs…
Suddenly, Ace awoke to a nudge in his side. He sat up straight, awake and alert. Uncle Nigel had told him to be vigilant on their trip, although he couldn't figure out why. It was as if he was frightened that someone was following them or watching their every move.
"Wake up, lad. We're here," Uncle Nigel said.
Ace glanced around their dark crate, cocking his head to the side. "How can you tell?"
"I heard the humans removing us from our transport. We're in the Central Park Zoo for sure."
Without another word, Uncle Nigel jumped into action, kicking open their crate and smashing the entrance to pieces. Ace quivered, covering his eyes at the action. He didn't know the elder penguin had it in him to do such a thing.
Nigel held out a flipper, telling Ace to stay back. Cautiously, he walked out of the crate and checked his environs. Once the cost was clear, he signaled Ace to follow. The little penguin exited the compartment, squinting at the sunlight scintillating from the window. As he shielded his face, Nigel stared at it, the wheels in his head turning.
"Follow me, Ace," he ordered.
Abruptly, Nigel belly slid over to a stack of crates, leaping over the pile and flipping gracefully, landing on his feet. He was within jumping distance of the open window, turning to Ace to follow his lead. The shorter bird blinked at his uncle in surprise, knowing he could not perform that. He waddled over hesitantly. Determined to make his uncle proud, he puffed out his chest and jumped as high as possible. His body snacked against the crates clumsily. Nigel cringed, watching the little penguin fall back to the floor on his back.
"Ace, are you alright, lad?" he called from the top of the stack.
The little penguin only replied with a meek, "ooooh…"
"Enough faffing about. We need to get out of this storage unit before the humans notice us," Nigel said, a little impatient.
"I don't know if I can do it, Uncle Nigel," Ace huffed.
"Poppycock! Jump, lad!" Nigel ordered. The elder knelt down, extending his flipper as far down as he could. "I believe in you."
His encouragement inspired Ace. He took in a deep breath and took a running start. With all of his might, he leaped onto the stack of crates, clasping his uncle's flipper tightly. Grunting, Nigel pulled the small bird onto the landing.
"Jolly good," Nigel said, slapping his nephew on the back.
Ace beamed, but soon the moment had passed. He remembered that he would miss his uncle's faith in him.
The two leaped out the window and into the fresh autumn air. The season had just begun, Ace noticed that most of the trees were still green, but some had started decaying already. The trees enclosed the large zoo, surrounding the brick wall. Ace wondered what was beyond that wall, but it would have to wait for another day.
Uncle Nigel took Ace's flipper in his own, and the two began to make their journey to the famous penguin habitat Ace had heard so much about. As they waddled across the zoo, Ace's curious eyes wandered. There were so many animals. One he saw made his eyes widen. A large lion was…dancing? That's what it had appeared to be doing, at least. He looked to be rehearsing for something. Ace didn't know for what, but he decided to let the Lion be. Next, he saw the dancing lion's neighbor, a zebra running on a treadmill. A treadmill? Why did the zebra have a treadmill? What kind of humans ran this—
"Ah, here we are," Uncle Nigel said, tearing Ace away from his thoughts. Ace shrugged; he would have to look more into these potential neighbors in the future.
Ace looked at their destination, which was not enough by any stretch of the imagination. It was nothing but a flat piece of concrete surrounded by a chlorine-filtered pool. The only decoration—if you could call it that—on the fake ice flow was a feeding bowl.
"Um…are you positive this is the place, Uncle Nigel?" Ace asked hesitantly.
The two leaped over the fence and onto the flat concrete. Ace stomped on the concrete as if testing its sturdiness while Uncle Nigel looked around skeptically.
"Peculiar…this penguin habitat seems to be lacking, well, penguins," he said suspiciously.
Suddenly, the single fishbowl Ace had seen earlier slid to the side almost as if on its own. The sound of grinding metal against concrete made him jump behind Nigel for safety.
A penguin with a flat head appeared from a secret hole, staring at the pair with a scowl. He looked Nigel up and down, crossing his flippers. "State your business, hairy brother."
His voice was rough a stern; Ace couldn't help but notice.
Uncle Nigel smiled kindly at the stranger. "Yes, 'ello, old bean! And how are we this evening?"
The flat-headed penguin furrowed his eyebrows, causing Ace to gulp nervously. "Depends on why you're trespassing on our base."
Suddenly, a second penguin emerged from the hole, a slim penguin with an oval-shaped head. As if by magic, he fished out a clipboard from behind his back, swiftly flipping through its pages. "Skipper, I believe these are our new habitat mates from the shipment order we saw on Alice's computer." The slim penguin jabbered so quickly that Ace almost couldn't comprehend what he said.
The flat-headed penguin, whose name appeared to be Skipper, face-flippered himself, groaning, "That was scheduled today?"
He looked genuinely annoyed; it had worried Ace that they had come at the wrong time.
Uncle Nigel jumped back into the conversation without missing a beat. "Right-io! That's exactly why we're here." The elder penguin guided Ace out from behind him and placed him before the two penguins. "This is my nephew, Ace. He would love to join your fine unit."
Skipper placed a flipper to his beak and studied the little penguin up and down. "A little young, isn't he?" he asked skeptically.
"Indeed," Nigel agreed, still with a smile on his beak. "You see, I have to leave for a critical job. Under the circumstances, I cannot take him with me, sadly."
Ace fought back the tears as he listened.
Nigel continued. "I realize he is young, but I'm hoping you'll take him under your wing and teach him how to be a penguin while I'm away. He's a brilliant lad, and the humans love him!"
Skipper and the slim penguin jumped out of the secret hole, and a giant penguin followed shortly after. Ace shivered as he studied the latter one. This penguin had a scar running down his beak. He wondered how he got it.
Skipper waddled over to Ace and studied him up and down. The boy could only stare back nervously as he was suspiciously scrutinized. The skipper constantly looked grumpy, unlike his Uncle Nigel. How could he get used to this guy?
"Do you talk?" Skipper asked Ace, squinting his eyes at him.
Ace swallowed the large lump caught in his throat and hesitantly squeaked, "I do."
"Sir, from now on," Skipper ordered.
Uncle Nigel perked up. "Marvelous, so you'll train him?"
Skipper let a slight smile tug at his beak, looking back at Ace. "Why sure. We could use a cute little guy on our team to distract the humans from our work. A little hard work and training will mold him into a fine penguin." He slapped Ace on the back. He knew the skipper meant well, but it stung a little.
Nigel shook Skipper's flipper happily. "My thanks to you, Skipper. You won't regret this."
"I'm sure I won't," Skipper said. He then turned to Ace and crossed his flippers over his snow-white chest. "We'll call you by your rank. From now on, you will be referred to as 'Private.' Is that clear?"
Ace looked at Nigel, who gave him an encouraging smile. He then turned back to Skipper, suppressing his tension as best as possible.
"Yes." Suddenly, Nigel coughed to get Ace's attention. Ace stood at attention. "Yes, Sir," he corrected.
"At ease, Private. You'll learn," Skipper said kindly. Although he seemed very stern, Ace felt that his new leader was patient, making him feel a bit better. Still, he would never replace his uncle.
Skipper turned to the other two penguins. He pointed at the slim, tall penguin. "How about you meet the team? This is our strategist—and my lieutenant, Kowalski."
Kowalski looked up from his clipboard to wave at the young penguin. Ace wondered if he was much of a socializer.
Then Skipper turned to the scary penguin with the scar. "This is Rico, our weapon's expert. He doesn't speak much."
"Hello!" Rico squawked. He smiled an unpleasant smile, and Ace smiled back nervously.
"Oh, don't worry about Rico," Skipper said, reading Ace's emotions. "He doesn't bite...unless I order him to." Suddenly, Rico's mood changed. He looked evil, winking at Ace.
"Oh, dear," Ace whispered.
"And I, as you may have heard, am Skipper. I will be your leader."
"Very pleased to meet you all," Nigel said. "My name is Nigel, by the way."
"Nigel," Skipper repeated with a firm nod.
"Well, lads, I best be on the slip. Thank you again for taking in my boy," Nigel said. "May I have a moment with...er, Private?"
"Of course. Men, as you were!" Skipper ordered. The three simultaneously back flipped into the secret hole, and the fishbowl slid back over the top as if by magic.
Nigel and Ace stood in silence, waiting for one to say something, but both seemed tongue-tied. Finally, everything was clicking in the little penguin's mind. These were his final moments with his uncle until God knows when. At the thought of that, tears welled up in his eyes. Nigel looked down at Ace and flashed him his best comforting smile.
"Now, now, lad. You'll see me again," he said, getting down on Ace's level.
"Yeah, but when?" Ace cried.
"I wish I knew. I really do," Nigel said sadly. He ruffled the small bird's head and smiled again, struggling not to cry. "You'll like it here, I promise. That Skipper fellow seems like he runs a good unit. You'll go on adventures, just like you wanted. You wait and see."
"I want to go on adventures with you, Uncle Nigel." Ace sniffled.
Nigel hugged his nephew tightly. The two stayed attached in the other's embrace for what seemed like an eternity, and even that wasn't long enough for them. When they pulled away, Nigel looked into Ace's big, cobalt eyes that were shiny from crying. "One day, we will. This isn't goodbye, you hear, boy?" he asked firmly.
Ace nodded solemnly, encouraged by his uncle's words. "I'll just miss you a lot."
Nigel gave him a pat on the back. "I'll miss you too. Do me a favor, Ace."
Ace perked up a bit. "Of course."
Nigel grabbed his nephew's shoulders tightly, staring him straight in the eyes. "Do you remember what I've taught you about what is the most important thing in the world?"
"Family. Love," Ace replied.
Nigel smiled again. He then tightened his grip on Ace's shoulders. "You must promise me that you will never, ever lose track of what is most important. You'll befriend these lads; I know you will. Cherish them, keep them close, for they are your new family. If you lose sight of what matters most, you'll find yourself freezing to death in the cold of the void."
Ace soaked in his uncle's words, somehow feeling braver as he listened. He puffed out his chest, furrowing his brow. "I promise, Uncle Nigel. I won't forget what matters most."
Nigel proudly smiled, placing his flipper on the tiny bird's round face. "I can't wait to see you all grown up. Think you'll have a Mohawk like that big fellow down there?" he joked.
Ace snorted. "Gosh, no."
Nigel chuckled. He then pulled Ace in for one last hug. After a long time of embracing, he took off into the sunset, leaving Ace on the fake ice flow of the penguin habitat.