Sorry it's taken so long to update. I will try to update faster but I've hit another wall. Writers block is such a pain. Anyway, I hope this chapter is one in which you will enjoy.
"You shouldn't do that," Julian stated. He could see it in Skipper eyes. He was worrying about them still. They had been in the back of this truck for what seemed like days. Skipper had told him that they had only been in the truck for five hours. There was a small hole above Skippers head. That's how he could see his eyes. Julian didn't know how he knew. He just did.
Skipper looked at Julian. "I know I shouldn't, but I cannot help it," Skipper replied solemnly. He couldn't just stop worrying about them. He knew what Julian was talking about. He knew his face had worry written all over it. The truth was he didn't care. What he cared about was finding out if they were ok. That and getting him and Julian to a safe location. He had been trying to figure out where they could go that was safe but was coming up blank.
"That's ridiculous!" the driver shouted.
Skipper and Julian became silent to see if they could catch any of the conversation. It might tell them where they were.
"I have my passport. I gave you the destination. I told you what was inside, I showed you the shipping order. What else do you need!" the driver shouted frustrated.
"I'm sorry, but this is Quebec, we need to be tight on security. Just call your boss and let me talk to him," Another man replied calmly. He had a French accent.
"Quebec?" Skipper whispered to himself. The name sounded familiar, but he didn't know where he heard it. "Quebec. Quebec. Where have I heard that before?" It took him several minutes, but he finally got it. "Quebec! Of course! Unit Nine is located in Quebec," He said. He turned to Julian. "This is our stop Ringtail. Let's go."
Julian was a little confused, but Skipper seemed to know what he was doing so he just followed the penguin. He was still a little terrified.
Without a word Skipper and Julian lifted the back door, undid the ancient lock, and jumped out. Skipper closed the door and relocked the ancient lock. It was a very old lock. He and Julian ran off the road into a nearby bush and waited for night to fall. It was best to travel under the cover of darkness. Less humans less traffic, more shadows, more hiding places. Skipper needed to find a patch of woods. Real woods. After that he'd be able to find one of the towns and from there he'd be able to locate Unit Nine's home base.
When they were at the edge of a forest Julian started acting like Julian again. "I am not going in there!" he objected. "It's dark and there are scary, slimy creatures in there and it's dark. It is no place for a king!" He didn't like forests. He was more of a jungle person. Like the jungles in Madagascar. Creatures in forests were wilder, more dangerous, and more scary looking. He hated forests. Not to mention how scared he was to go into one. If it was a jungle it would be an entirely different story.
Skipper sighed. They didn't have time for this. Manfredi and Johnson could be anywhere and Julian was worried about bugs and shadows. They had to get to Delivaria. Once there they could sleep for a little while. They could find Unit Nines' base in the morning. But they'd have to go into the woods first. "Come one Julian," He said annoyed. "We have more things to worry about than scary sliming creatures and darkness," he grabbed Julian's shoulders forcing the ringtail lemur to look him in the eye. "We're being hunted! We don't have time for this."
Julian considered that. If being hunted was worse than going into the woods then he might want to go into them. Even if they were dark and scary and filled with mean creatures that might eat him alive. "No," He replied forcefully. "I am not going." He turned his back to Skipper and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Not voluntarily," Skipper mumbled to himself. "Sorry Julian but we really don't have time for this," Skipper said as he grabbed Julian's arm. He turned and ran into the forest. He ran straight for a few minutes before he recognized where he was. He was actually on the path to Negario. Negario was the fishing city, located underground close to a river. There was a rock with a grey panel that was actually made out of rocks. The panel moved the rock uncovering a trap door. Through the trap door were stairs that led down into the city. He just had to stay on the path.
Julian had screamed when Skipper yanked him into the woods, but after a few minutes it was clear that struggling and screaming did nothing so he skipped along behind Skipper (like he had done back in the zoo) trying to keep up. It was a good thing Skipper was pulling him along or he would've been long lost by now. Skipper was fast for a penguin. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the woods or the creatures within it.
The moon was full providing a dim lighting to the forest. It was just enough light for Skipper to see oncoming trees and other obstacles, and still follow the path. There wasn't any conversation at all. Julian was too focused on keeping his eyes closed and Skipper was focusing on getting to Negario in one piece.
Skipper jumped over logs, bushes, ran around trees, without slowing down. When being hunted by assassins with the Skill that Manfredi and Johnson, speed was you worst enemy and best friend. Speed could lead you away from trouble, but it could also bring you to the assassin too fast to slow down in time. Speed could save you, but it could kill you too. Your brother, was hiding. If you could find a good enough hiding spot then you could disappear and the assassin would walk right past you and not even know it.
Negario would be their hiding spot. And speed would get them there before Manfredi and Johnson could locate them. Hopefully.
Skipper found the rock without a problem; he had been to Negario many times. Letting go of Julian's wrist he typed the code into the panel and waited a few seconds for the rock to move.
Julian kept his eyes closed so he didn't see anything.
Skipper opened the trap door and pulled Julian into the stairwell. When they were low enough he closed the trapdoor and listened for the scratch the rock made when it came back over the wooden door. It closed successfully so Skipper continued to pull Julian down the stairs until they reached the bottom. He was surprised that Julian had remained so quiet. They were standing in the doorway to a lit hallway. Skipper looked back at Julian and saw why the lemur hadn't said anything. His eyes were closed. Skipper was glad Julian had been too afraid to keep his eyes open. It saved him a lot of annoyance.
Skipper let go of Julian and told him to open his eyes.
Julian obeyed. He opened one eye just a little and saw that they were no longer in the woods. They were safely located in a stone hallway. He opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"State your business," a guard at the other side of the hallway demanded.
"Wait a minute," Skipper replied calmly. He had to remember where in Negario this hallway led to. Before they could rest they'd have to find the leader of Negario.
The hallway they were in lead to a small building on the left side of the city. The small building was on a main street. That main street had ten turn offs to back roads where most of the citizens lived. At either end of the street were the North and South main roads. Each one was longer and had fifteen back roads attached to it. At the other end of both streets was the East main street. The leaders' house was just like all the other middle class houses on the outside. The Negario leader liked to be involved in his city. He liked his people to like him, so he made his house look like the middle class. The interior was that of the upper class. He fit in perfectly with the rest of the city and was even part of the fishermen group. His house was in the middle of the East main street.
They were on the west side of town. They needed to be on the east side. Skipper thought for a moment. He needed the leaders' name. But what was his name? N-n-n-something. It started with an 'N'. Nihoto. That was his name. Nihoto. "We need to see Nihoto," Skipper said to the guard.
"Came over so I can get a better look at you," The guard replied.
Skipper walked up to the guard, he had to pull Julian up.
Julian was afraid of the guard. The guard had armor on his chest and head and a mean looking spear at his side. He also had a knife and what looked to be darts on a strap than ran from one shoulder under the other. He was scary looking. He was a scary looking opossum.
"Skipper!" the guard said happily. "Man I haven't seen you in forever. Glad you and the unit got rid of that goon. Man he was scary," he said casually.
Skipper smiled at the guard. "I know it's been some time," he replied. "But we don't have time for a reunion. Me and my friend here are being hunted and I really need to talk to Nihoto," he explained.
"Oh, ah… sure, yeah. You know where to go right?" the guard asked.
"Yeah. I know, thanks." He walked past the guard –still pulling Julian- and walked out into the street. It was late at night so hardly anyone was out on the roads. Only fisherman and late workers were out. The towns around Unit Nine, though the unit was made of all penguins, were very diverse. Of course more water animals lived in Negario, more foragers in Delivaria, more carnivores in Genhii, and more self-protective in Yulanda. Any animal could become a part of any city, so no one questioned a penguin hastily pulling a lemur through the streets.
Using the main roads saved them a lot of time. They made it to Nihoto's house in a few minutes. The guards outside snapped into position when Skipper ran up to the house, but when he got close enough for them to make out who he was they relaxed and stepped aside so he could enter. Since he was pulling Julian along they let him in as well.
The inside of the room had purple and blue tarps hanging on the wall. There were two desks on either side of the room. Both were covered with neat piles of paper, fishing records and such. On the back wall was an array of weapons hung neatly on the wall. They all had a thin line of blue and purple paint at the handles. There was a doorway to the right, next to one of the desks. In the middle of the room were two tables. One was a circular, war planning table. The other was a regular old table.
Nihoto was sitting at the regular table looking over some files.
"Nihoto," Skipper called. He didn't want to disturb Nihoto. Nihoto probably had a lot of things to do. But this was important.
Nihoto looked up from the papers. "Skipper," he said sluggishly, though there was a hint of surprise in his voice.
Skipper was surprised by the look on Nihoto's face. Nihoto looked absolutely exhausted. He had bloodshot eyes and bags under his eyes. He looked like he was half asleep. He probably was. "Wow, you look terrible," was all Skipper could say.
Despite how tired he was, Nihoto laughed. "I feel worse than I look. Trust me," he replied. Nihoto was a river otter. He was strong, but not the strongest. He was a good leader and was able to switch from one mind set to another without a problem. He was a good guy too. Easy to talk to most of the time.
Skipper shook it off. He wasn't here to talk about how tired Nihoto was, though Nihoto could probably use the talk. "We need a place to stay tonight. We're being hunted," He explained.
It seemed to take Nihoto a minute to comprehend what he was being asked. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. You could use the weapon shed," he answered.
"Thank y-" Skipper started.
"You're being hunted?" Nihoto asked surprised.
"Yeah wel-"
"By who?" Nihoto asked.
"Manfredi and Johnson," Skipper replied.
"Manfre- what? Why? I thought they were the good guys?" Nihoto asked severely confused. And tired. "I thought they were dead?"
Skipper took a deep breath. "They faked their deaths as a final test for me. I was supposed to become one of them but did the exact opposite. Their target was my friend here," Julian waved nervously, "But when they found out I lived in the same place they decided to go after me too. They are assassins now and their targets are us," He explained.
"So why do you need to stay here?" Nihoto asked. He seemed to be waking up.
"While we were making our escape Kowalski, Rico, and Private tried to distract them. It worked, but they aren't as good as Manfredi and Johnson. They're probably injured, I need to get to the unit so I can contact them," Skipper replied.
"Don't you think they'd be dead?" Nihoto asked.
"No. Assassins only kill their targets. At least their assassin group does. That doesn't mean they won't critically hurt," Skipper explained. He hoped Nihoto, even though he was close to passing out, would understand.
"Oh, I gotcha. You just want a place to rest for the night so you can go to the unit, make sure your friends are ok, and disappear for the traitors show up?" Nihoto asked, putting everything together.
"Yes," Skipper sighed, glad the Nihoto understood.
"That is fine with me."
Skipper nodded and turned to leave. Everything was working out so far. He was tired, not as much as Nihoto was, so he didn't want to think too far ahead. He would contact the zoo tomorrow. Then he could think ahead. He was almost at the door when it hit him. He needed to make sure Nihoto was ok. Nihoto was nice enough to hide them for the night. He turned back to Nihoto. "Are you ok?" he asked.
Nihoto looked over at Skipper. "Do I look it?" he asked tired.
Skipper shook his head. "Why are you so tired?" He asked.
Nihoto rubbed his eyes. "You have enough problems, runnin away from assassins and all, to deal with my problem," he replied. He didn't want to give Skipper his problem.
"Who said I would deal with it? I just want to know what it is," Skipper insisted. He wanted to make sure Nihoto wasn't driving himself crazy. It was the least he could do.
Nihoto sighed and looked down at the papers on the table. "The fish. They are disappearing. We are starting to catch less and less. Even my best fishermen are getting less fish in their nets. We think that there are fishers upstream catching more than the law allows. You see the fish in this stream are protected. Humans can only take so much before their fishing becomes illegal. I sent some of my men to investigate last week. But none have returned. That means that not only are the humans upstream illegal fishers, but poachers too," Nihoto explained. "This is bad. And I fear it will only get worse."
Skipper thought for a moment. He had the need to figure this out. Nihoto was a good guy. The people in his city were also very good people. They deserved a solid answer. "Let me go," he finally said.
"No," Nihoto replied forcefully. "You and your friend are already in a lot of trouble. I cannot let you do that."
"Nihoto, you need an answer. I can get you that," Skipper negotiated. "Julian won't come with me. I'll leave him in the shed. Just give me some armor and one of your men and I'll look like one of your guards."
Nihoto thought for a moment. "Fine, but you better be back by morning. If you're not… I'll kill you myself," Nihoto replied begrudged. He went into the back room and came out with penguin armor. "Take one of the guards out front."
Skipper took the armor and put it on. "Thank you," he said.
"Remember, morning," Nihoto warned.
"I got it don't worry." But Nihoto didn't have to worry. Skipper was the one who needed to worry. He had to stay alive, and keep Julian alive. He walked outside and told one of the guards to follow him. He was a weasel. The weasel was strong but small, the perfect match for the job he was needed for. Skipper lead Julian to the weapon's shed on the north side of the city. He pushed Julian inside. "Stay here and don't move," Skipper ordered. "I'll be back by morning to get you." He closed the shed and walk with the guard to the west side of the city.
The whole way there Skipper worried about Julian. The lemur was probably going to listen to him, he was too afraid to do anything else. But then there was the little voice in the back of Skippers head that told him to stay with Julian. That Julian would be better off if he was there. Skipper wondered that himself. If Julian needed him so he wouldn't feel afraid. The truth was, he probably did. As he walked up the stair that lead back into the forest, Skipper knew Julian was scared out of his mind. But he had to repay Nihoto for providing a hiding spot.
Skipper and the weasel guard went up through the trapdoor (the rock moved, uncovering the trapdoor, when the trap door was pushed up) and into the woods. They snuck their way through the woods along the river bed. They became sneakier when they neared the upstream bridge (a bridge that went over the river. It marked where upstream was).
Up in the trees…
"More guards? The poachers caught the other group that went up there," Manfredi whispered.
"Yeah, well we can't do anything about it so shut up!" Johnson whispered back harshly.
"These ones are sneakier. I don't think they'll be caught," Manfredi whispered.
Johnson didn't reply. The two watched silently.
On the ground…..
When they got close to the bridged they stopped. Hanging on the bridge were six thick ropes.
"Nihoto was right," the guard whispered, "the fishers are taking too much."
Skipper nodded. "Let's take out those nets then," he whispered. They had to take out the nets so the fish could go down stream. Then the city could get the fish.
Skipper had grabbed a knife when he put Julian into the weapons shed. He took it out and looked over at the guard. The guard did the same. Skipper put a flipper to his beak, signaling to be quiet. The two carefully lowered themselves into the water and swam to the nets.
There had to be at least a hundred fish in each of the three nets. Skipper and the guard went to work. Using their knives they quickly cut through the nets and released the nets. They swam downstream (underwater) until they were a few yards away from the entrance to the city. The guard knew when to get out so he jumped out first and Skipper followed. Once they shook the water off, they went back to the rock and uncovered the trapdoor. They walked back down the stairs and into the hallway.
"Well now we know where all the fish are going," the guard sighed.
The entire operation took a few hours. "You should be getting the catch of your lives now," Skipper replied.
"Yes, we should wake the fishermen," The guard said excitedly.
"You go get some of your friends to do that. I have to check up on someone," Skipper replied. "Tell Nihoto for me."
The guard nodded. With a short wave to the guard, Skipper took off towards the weapons shed.
Julian had been shaking with fear ever since Skipper left. Questions like, what if he was caught, or what if Skipper never came back, harassed him for hours. Being surrounded by dangerous weapons didn't help any. He closed his eyes and rocked himself back and forth. He was so taken into his own mind thinking about those questions, that he didn't notice Skipper came back.
Skipper felt bad when he saw Julian. Julian was rocking back and forth and shaking violently. He went over to the lemur and tapped his shoulder. "Julian?" He whispered.
Julian jumped, and screamed. He pushed himself back into a pile of weapons. They came crashing down over him with a dozen clinks and clanks. He started to shake more violently. He didn't know who it was, but he was sure whoever it was, was there to kill him. "No it's not me! You have the wrong peoples!" he shouted terrified.
"Julian it's me," Skipper said calmly. "Julian?"
Julian didn't move at first. "S-Sk-Skippah?" he asked nervously. He didn't want to anger whoever it was if he got the wrong name. It sounded like Skipper. He really hoped it was Skipper.
"Yes, it's me. I shouldn't have left you here alone," Skipper replied. He felt really bad about leaving him alone now. He gave the poor lemur a panic attack. He walked over and pulled all of the weapons off of Julian. "See," he said stepping back, "it's just me."
Julian crawled forward and got up. He started to calm down knowing Skipper was there. His panic attack was dying down now. He felt as if he was able to breath with Skipper there. He never really felt anything towards the penguin. Skipper was the slap happy penguin. He was hard core and no fun. He was annoying sometimes too. But right now, he was none of that. Ok maybe he was still hard core, but he was more…protective it seemed. That's what gave Julian the sense of protection. Skipper was there, whatever bad things came at them he'd be able to handle right? Julian hoped so. Skipper had stopped every problem before, whether he caused it or not. He could get them safely back to where they were before.
Skipper wasn't so confident. Which was odd because he always had confidence in himself. But now he wasn't so sure. He knew now that he had to stay with Julian at all times or he'd have a panic attack. Skipper knew that he couldn't stay here forever. Most of all he knew that if Manfredi and Johnson were here, in the forest, then when they left tomorrow morning they'd be dead meat. Knowing how clever and skilled they were, not to mention the years of practice they've probably had, they probably were here in the woods. That was a bad thing. If they were going to get to Unit Nine's home base they had to go undiscovered. But how could they do that? It was too risky to just go and do it. They needed some sort of cover. Skipper tried not to think about it, but he couldn't. Julian was counting on him to keep the two of them safe. Skipper, although he didn't really like Julian, couldn't let him down. Or die for that matter. Until they got rid of Manfredi and Johnson, he and Julian would have to be best friends. That shouldn't be too hard, compared with everything else they'd probably have to do.
There suddenly came a frantic knocking on the door of the shed. Skipper and Julian both locked at the door fearfully. Julian was more terrified than Skipper of course. Skipper rummaged around for a few seconds until he found a helmet. He slammed in onto Julian's head and fixed his own head gear. Cautiously, he walked to the door.
Julian didn't do anything but sit and watch. Fear had returned his body to Shaking. The helmet that Skipper had slammed onto his head had helped him feel a little protected. He was still afraid of what could be on the other side of the door.
Skipper picked up a spear on his way to the door. He slowly cracked the door open. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's me, th-the guard you took up-upstream," the guard replied. He sounded nervous.
Skipper opened the door and pulled the guard in. he closed the door quickly behind the guard. "What is it?" he asked.
"They're here. Those men, um.. Manfredi and-and Johnson," the guard stuttered. He was shaking a little now.
Skipper swallowed hard. Manfredi and Johnson were here? That wasn't good. That was the exact opposite of good. That was horrifying. What were they going to do now? They had to remain hidden. They couldn't be discovered. If they were discovered… well they could kiss their tails good-bye. That couldn't happen. Skipper couldn't let that happen. Skipper grabbed his head. What was he going to do?
Julian froze with fear. They were here? He was going to die. He and Skipper were going to die right here. They were going to die!
The guard saw Skippers distraught and thought for a moment. Manfredi and Johnson weren't a threat to him so he could calm down. He thought for a few seconds. "Hey, I know what we can do," he said.
Skipper looked up at the guard.
"Listen, if they come here, I'll act like your commanding officer. You two lost some weapons. I'll scream at you until they go away," the guard explained.
Skipper let out a breath. That could work. That might just work. "Oh my god," skipper sighed rubbing his eyes. "I think you may have just saved our lives," he said to the guard. "What's your name?" He had never asked the guy for his name.
"Filo," the guard replied.
"Filo?" Skipper asked. He had never heard that name before.
"Yup Fie-low," Filo replied.
"Well thank you Filo," Skipper said thankfully. Filo could have very well saved them from death.
They were quiet for a moment. A moment was all it took.
"I told you if he was here I would know," a muffled voice said from the other side of the door. It sounded like Nihoto.
"Looks like it's time to test your plan," Julian said nervously. He was more scared now than he had been before. He really hoped Filo's plan worked.
"How do we know you're not hiding him?" Johnson said forcefully.
"Why do you need him? Why are you looking so hard?" Nihoto countered.
"What's it to you?" Johnson growled.
"If you don't trust me you must want him for something very important. And if so why don't you trust me?" Nihoto asked with perfect authority.
"We need him for a mission. And we don't trust you because you would side with him over us. He's hiding from us," Johnson hissed. "Move out of the way."
Filo faced Skipper and motioned for Julian to got up and come forwards.
Reluctantly and fearfully Julian stepped forward.
A second later the doors to the shed shot open.
"What do you mean you lost them?" Filo said in a very believable fake annoyed voice, "how could you be so irresponsible? How- How is that possible!"
Skipper opened his mouth to reply.
"Did I give you permission to speak? No! Keep your mouth shut soldier! What you've done could get you demoted! Do you understand me!" Filo shouted angrily.
Skipper and Julian nodded nervously (not because of Filo but because of who was standing behind him).
"Filo," Nihoto said calmly, "what is going on here?"
Filo turned to Nihoto. "Oh, I did not see you there sir. These two lost an entire shipment of arrows. We needed those for the new recruits," filo explained.
Nihoto picked up on the lie right away. "No, how is that possible?" he replied in disbelief (also very believable). "How could you do such a thing?" he asked forcefully.
Skipper hung his head. This was working. This was actually working. Julian saw Skipper hang his head and did the same.
Nihoto sighed. "Go back to the training palace and train them till dawn Filo. That will serve as their punishment. We will recover them tomorrow," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Filo replied militantly. "Let's go," he hissed at Julian and Skipper.
Skipper followed Filo and Julian followed Skipper. He relaxed his tail making it drag on the floor. He was relieved that this was working. But he was still scared out of his mind that his hunters were so close to him.
They remained in single file, looking sad until they were behind the doors of the training palace.
Julian fell back onto the hard floor. He didn't necessarily care at the moment. He was tired and wanted to sleep.
Skipper shook his head and grinned. Julian was still going to be Julian. But he didn't mind right now. Manfredi and Johnson bought it. They were safe, for now. They had escaped detection and could probably rest for the night. But before that he had to figure out how this all happened. "How did you know to come get us?" He asked.
"Nihoto told me to go look to see if you were here. I knew right away that you were and I knew that he knew. I had heard some of the conversation you had with Nihoto earlier so I knew that those had to be the men who were hunting you. I knew where you probably were because you had left your friend their when you and I left for upstream, so I went to the shed. You know the rest from there," Filo explained.
"Thanks, for the save Filo," Skipper thanked. If it weren't for filo he'd be dead. They'd both be dead.
"I will watch the door. You and your friend should get some rest. You will need it," Filo replied.
Skipper nodded and dragged Julian, who was already fast asleep, to a corner of the room. They were still in a training area and needed to be out of the way. He sat up against the wall and fell asleep too.
Nihoto came to the training palace after Manfredi and Johnson left. "Filo open the door," he called.
Filo opened the door and let Nihoto in.
"You will watch over them until they wake," He said. "We will contact the unit in the morning. I do not want them to travel to the base unprotected."
"Yes sir. After what Skipper has done, they deserve protection," Filo agreed.
"Good." Nihoto looked over at them. "Let's hope they will survive long enough to return to their lives. The ones they had before they became targets," He said calmly. He felt bad for them. He did not know the Lemur, but if Skipper was protecting him, then he was a good guy. The way he acted told Nihoto that he was just not very brave. But you didn't have to be brave to be a good man.
Filo nodded.
"I am going to send two more to guard the outside," Nihoto added. "Tomorrow you will go with him and the escort from the unit to the unit's base. I want to know what happens."
"Yes sir, you'll know everything I do," Filo replied.
"You are a grand soldier Filo," Nihoto complimented, and then he turned and left. The two guards arrived a few minutes later.
That wasn't too bad was it? I thought it wasn't too bad. R&R! : )