Skipper woke up early the next morning. It was a force of habit. He would normally be waking up the guys by now. He didn't even know if they were still alive or if their injuries had killed them. It was a heart wrenching thought. To not have them there, to think that when this was all over, they wouldn't be there, was just…it was just horrifying. Skipper didn't always have friends to turn to. There were huge gaps between the time he was separated from his family to the time he was found by Manfredi and Johnson. Huge gaps. When he lost them the only ones who were really there were Kowalski Rico and Private. And they've been with him ever since. Not having them there would be like… taking half of his life away. Half of his sanity too. He couldn't bear the thought of losing them. Yet that's what he thought about all morning.
There was a clock on the wall above the training area's entrance. It read 7:30. Seven thirty in the morning. Seven thirty. He had been up since five o'clock AM. For two and a half hours he had sat against the wall and thought about a million ways they could've been injured. It didn't help him at all. The only thing it did was fill him with more worry. He shook his head and tried to think about something else. Worry wasn't going to do anything for him right now.
It was seven thirty in the morning. The training are was half filled with soldiers training and practicing. Better safe than sorry right? Skipper glanced over at Julian. The lemur was curled up on the floor two feet away. His tail was curled around his body. Julian, despite how unnatural and terrifying this was for him, was doing better than Skipper would've ever imagined. He was listening and doing what he was told to do. Skipper couldn't believe how (for lack of better words) good Julian was being. He was staying out of the way for the most part. It seemed to Skipper that the lemur was actually trying to help. That came as a surprise.
Skipper caught Filo walking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and watched as the weasel came closer. He saluted casually and stared at Filo, waiting for the reason why he walked over. There had to be a reason.
Filo cleared his voice. "Nihoto contacted the unit. He told them to send a small armored group to help out with something. We kept it short and didn't hint at anything. Our messenger is going with an escort but we didn't want to give you away. If the message gets there on time someone should be here for you and thirteen hundred," Filo informed.
Skipper nodded. That was good news. So far so good. Now the messenger had to get there and someone had to come to the city before Manfredi and Johnson returned or they'd be dead. Skipper had faith though. Negario was a trustworthy city. People and all. And the unit was a highly skilled unit. He was just paranoid, like always. He had to calm down. Nothing bad was going to happen. Not today anyway.
"Would you like me to get more guards?" Filo asked concerned. "You look a little… overwhelmed.
Skipper stared at Filo with a lost look. He was overwhelmed. More so now than he had felt in a while. He let a nervous laugh escape him. "No. I'm… I'm fine," He said forcing himself to calm down. He took a deep breath. "I'm fine."
Filo stared at him for a moment making sure he really was ok. "One more thing before I return to my post," He said. "They asked for George. Is that ok?"
Skipper sighed in relief. It was ok. That was fine. Perfect. George would understand. He never really trusted Johnson. He would make sure nothing happened to them too. George was absolutely perfect for this. "Yeah," Skipper replied, "That's perfectly fine."
Filo nodded and jogged back to his post.
Skipper sat back against the wall. Five hours. That would be enough time to rest and get some things together. He got up and walked over to Filo. "How fast could you get someone to bring me new armor?" he asked.
"Five minutes tops," Filo replied confidently.
"Could you get my friend some too?" Skipper asked.
"Yes I can," Filo replied. He turned, opened the training area's door, and whispered something to one of the outside guards. The outside guard jogged off and Filo closed the door.
"On their way now," Filo informed.
Skipper nodded. "I need to talk to Nihoto," he said, "watch over my friend for me."
"But you-"
"I can handle myself. I just need to talk to Nihoto," Skipper reassured.
Filo gave Skipper a concerned look. But he let him go.
The training area was on the South main road. There was a courthouse on the same road. It was on the east side of the road. Using that Skipper took off towards Nihoto's house. He hoped Johnson and Manfredi had left last night or he'd be walking right to his death. He shook that out of his head. He was going to asked Nihoto for some water canteens. If he was going to be running for a while he would need something to carry water in. they would have to be able to survive anything anywhere. Water would be very helpful. They could be lost in a desert or dry lands or stuck in a drought. Either way they'd need water.
Skipper ran through the crowds of people. Everyone had a different destination. They had to go to work to pay their dues or to the market for some food, or to the river to fish, or to the waterhole for water. Skipper had to go to the leaders house to discuss getting canteens so he'd survive being hunter. He didn't fit in here. Then again he really didn't 'fit in' anywhere. When he got to Nihoto's house the guards stepped aside like they had done before. But Nihoto wasn't there. He was probably in his room sleeping. God knows he needed it.
Skipper looked around the room. It seemed so lifeless without Nihoto. He wondered if the otter was really still sleeping or if he was out somewhere. Nihoto wasn't exactly a sit-at-home-and-do-nothing-all-day type of guy.
"Miss me already?" Nihoto said cockily from the entrance.
Skipper spun around at the sudden noise of Nihoto's voice.
Nihoto smiled. "A little jumpy are we?"
Skipper smiled. It was amazing what a little sleep could do for the guy. Give him four hours and he'd run for two days. "Just a little," Skipper replied, shaking his paranoia off.
"I got to thinking this morning," Nihoto started, "you two are going to be leaving today when the unit come's to getcha, hiding your tails wasn't enough of a thank you for saving the whole city. Especially when your life was at risk. So I got you something that might come in handy." He threw two canteens and a strap with a knife and three darts to skipper.
Skipper caught them and stared at them for a second. It was unexpected. Completely excepted in the nicest way, but totally unexpected. "Thank you, Nihoto," He said.
"No, thank you," Nihoto replied. "I have to get to work. Got a meeting with Kohat today."
"Wouldn't want to mess that up," Skipper said. "I'll let you get to it then. Thanks again," he called as he walked out. "A meeting with Kohat," Skipper whispered to himself as he walked back to the training area, "poor guy." Kohat was the president of Yulanda, the manufacturing town. He was a business man and very stubborn. He was an armadillo whose claws were worn and cracked from the work he's done. He was an excellent manufacturer of all sorts of items ranging from the deadliest arrows to the softest cloths. But he was hard to talk to, if you didn't know how to talk to him that is. Negario was a fishing city, and Yulanda was a manufacturing town. The two had little to do with each other. Especially since Delivaria was the major crop village. Most of the food came from them anyway. Talking to Kohat was going to be a big challenge for Nihoto. Skipper hoped it would turn out ok. He wouldn't be here to find out though.
By the time he got back to the training area it was eight ten. Julian was up and sitting in the corner where Skipper had left him. But the lemur looked very tired. Skipper walked over to Julian and picked him up off the floor. "Julian, Nihoto gave us these," He held up the canteens, "do you want to come with me to fill them or stay here?"
Julian looked at Skipper. He looked around the training area. He really didn't want to be left alone again. And since the people who wanted him dead where here, or could possible still be here, the option of staying alone was completely out of the question. He didn't want to die. There were too many days left to part for him to die. "I will go with you," he said.
Skipper turned around and started walking. "Come on," he said calmly. Julian wanted to come. Skipper couldn't blame him. He probably felt safer around someone he knew. Skipper didn't really mind it. Julian had been quite up until now. Maybe something in that little brain of his has clicked and told him that this wasn't a time for goofing off and partying. Maybe he was just too scared to do anything. Who knew?
Julian didn't want to get in the way. He wasn't going to try to. He just didn't want to be alone. It scared him. It was never something he particularly liked (unless something wonderful like smoothies or power or something like that came with it). He followed Skipper to the door of the training area.
Skipper walked past Filo. But since Julian was with him, Filo followed. The water well was at the center of the city. It was a pipe that lead out to the river, but instead of getting rid of water it brought water into the city. It was the cities cleanest water source. Skipper knew exactly how to get there.
Julian didn't know where they were going. You kept glancing around for the two penguins that were after them. He finally understood why Skipper was so paranoid all the time. Someone was always after him. Skipper was always a target. That made things better. A little. It meant Skipper was used to being chased and hunted down. Which meant he knew exactly what to do. That was a major relief for Julian. If Skipper knew what to do then at least they wouldn't be totally out in the open for the two killer penguins to kill them. That was a good thing right? If he was understanding things correctly. He hoped he was.
Skipper led them through the crowds of people. He didn't see Manfredi or Johnson once. Not once. They weren't in Negario anymore. Still Skipper didn't let his guard down. Bad things were bound to happen when you let your guard down.
When they got to the water well they filled their canteens. Skipper slung the straps over his shoulder and continued walking. Julian followed.
They walked through the back roads for the rest of the morning. Skipper wanted to blend in with the crowd. He also wanted to get Julian used to the walking. If they were on the run they wouldn't be able to take rest stops all day. Skipper got Julian some food though. That they would be able to find easily. At least for the first few days. The city got food from Delivaria so there were fruit and vegetable stands.
Julian didn't mind following Skipper at first. After a while it got very tiring. He didn't want to walk anymore, but he didn't want to be left behind. He didn't want to get lost in this place. Then Skipper got him a few mangos. Walking didn't seem to be a problem anymore. Mangos were his favorite fruit. Favorite food. They gave him energy too. As they walked on and on, Julian started to realize that this place wasn't very rich. It looked like a normal place. There were no rich people or any signs of wealth really anywhere. How did these people live like this? He asked Skipper, having really nothing else to do.
"Happiness," he replied. "People are happy with what they have. They don't think about what they don't have. Cherish what is already here before them. It leaves more room for them to be happy."
Julian thought about that for a few seconds. It didn't make sense to him. Happiness. How could someone live off of happiness? It didn't seem possible.
Skipper looked back and saw Julian's confusion. "If you don't think about what you don't have you are happier. You have more time to think of what you do have, more room for happier feelings instead of wants," he explained.
Julian understood what Skipper meant. He just couldn't imagine having to live like this. It seemed so hard, so difficult. How they could live like this beat him but he wouldn't want to live like this. Never in a million years.
When they finally walked back into the Training area it was twelve o'clock. One more hour and they'd be on their way to the unit's home base. One more hour. Skipper and Julian didn't really have much to do. They had canteens for water and they had a way out of the city without being seen. Filo handed them the armor he'd gotten when they walked in. Skipper had to help Julian get into his armor. Then there was nothing else to do but wait. So that's what they did. They watched the soldiers train for an hour and a half before Filo walked over and told them that George and his squad had arrived.
Skipper got up and walked to the door. Filo went before him.
"Look I don't know what's so important here. Everything seems fine," George stated when Filo approached. "What do you need from me?"
"It's not what the city need from you," Filo replied calmly. He moved out of the way so George could see Skipper. "It's what he needs."
Skipper stared at George for a moment. "This isn't very surprising is it?" he asked assumingly.
George just stared at Skipper for a few seconds. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. Why did Skipper need his help? Moe than that, why was the message so simple. Skipper would have to be in big trouble for something to happen like this. He rubbed his head with one of his flippers. "What did you get yourself into this time?" He sighed.
Skipper didn't know how to say it. So he just came out and said it. "I'm being hunted," he explained. "My friend and I actually."
George gave him a skeptic look. "Are you joking with me?"
Skipper looked around. "No, I'm not. I am being hunted and can't stay here."
"Fine," George sighed. "Come. Since you are in armor you should blend in pretty well. Who's the friend?"
Skipper went back to the corner of the training area and half dragged Julian to the door.
George looked Julian head to toe. Sized him up. "This? Is your friend?" He asked Skipper confused.
Skipper let out a deep sigh. He didn't like to think that way but having Julian as a friend during this wasn't exactly going to be easy. "Yes."
"Fine, let's go before whoever is hunting you gets here," George said walking away.
Julian, Skipper, and Filo followed George and met his army in the woods. From there they traveled to the unit's base.