A/N: We are back with chapter 4 of The Chosen: A Shrouded Destiny! Thanks to all reviewers, especially one of my favourite, top 5 authors, Cudabear! I really hope whoever else is reading this would check his work because it is phenomenal! ENJOY!

Chapter 4:

Good Deed

I woke up to the silent morning breeze on my face.

It was a wonderful feeling. It made you feel refreshed, like all your troubles disappeared for that moment in time. I had the usual dreams I had everytime I slept here. Dreams of when my parents were alive and we would just be the happy family we were before.

I sat up and gave a small yawn as I stretched my flippers above my head. I was still wondering why last night's dream felt so real, like my mom was really there. Her voice sounded so angelic, so alive.

"Maybe she entered my dream?" I thought. I grabbed some fish from my pack and filled my empty stomach. "Nah, that's a bit too farfetched."

When I finished my breakfast, I stood up and packed my gear up so I could head straight for my dad's grave. I turned around when I reached the cave entrance and whispered goodbye to my mom.

"What the heck?!" I suddenly blurted when a barrage of screams greeted me as I approached the cave where my dad's grave was. I turned to look back at The City of Penguins not too far away and saw a seemingly familiar sight.

"Hunters. After this long they came back only now?" I asked myself. I really didn't realise back then about the fact that I talk to myself, a lot. Many penguins have told me this countless times throughout my time here so I am fully aware of it. Who else could I talk to other than me?

"Better stay clear of that place. I don't want a repeat of..." I shook out the thought before I could finish it. I didn't really want to remember those many years ago. They are too painful to experience again.

Without another word or thought, I entered the darkness of the cave, the little light of the morning sun revealing the icy interior that held my father's grave. It was pretty hard to see, but the whiteness of the ice and snow effectively bounced the miniscule amount of light enough to see straight.

It was a pretty mesmerising sight to behold; the subtle light shining through the translucent ice, making it appear like crystals in some fairytale land of some sort. The snow looked a lot better with this lighting, almost like how the sun lit up the big blue ocean enchantingly. My mom would surely love this place, if she was still here that is.

I waved at another pile of small rocks, marking the place my dad's body. "Hey dad. Nice to see you again," I said. I found my place on a stump of ice and began, retelling my current progress. Some penguins actually called me a weirdo before because of what I do every year, but it was the only way I could do to be with them each year.

However, a few minutes into my recount, a big, cold gush of air whooshed pass me. I actually shivered from it but I knew that I was tolerant to the cold winds in Antarctica, so why do I feel cold? I looked behind me to see that none of the snow was moving, meaning that there were no winds.

"What the?" I decided to ignore it and turned back, only to get the biggest scare I could ever get in the history of biggest scares ever. "GAAAHHH!" I screamed. I fell backwards and immediately I started to back away from, well, my father.

"Allard. Let me..."

"AAH! Who are you! You...you can be a-alive! I saw you d-die!" I blurted out in fear. "I must still be dreaming. Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" I said, slapping myself to try to awake from this dream.

Then, I felt something colder than ice on my back. I froze up, slowly turning around to see what it was. I got the shock of my life when I saw what, or more of who, it is. "MOM!"

I instantly started panicking, not bothering what they were saying. "This can't be happening! This CAN'T be happening!" I repeated as I covered my eyes.

"ALLARD!" my dad said, putting his cold, translucent flippers on my shoulders. "We are your parents. Please, let us explain," he pleaded. I just nodded open-beaked at him. "Thank you. Ann..."

My mom then, FLOATED, beside my dad. They looked just like they were when they died, not a bit older than their passing.

"Look Allard, remember my dad?" asked my mom. I nodded blankly. "Remember how he keeps saying that he sees things other penguins can't?" I nodded as well. "Well, that's because he has a third eye; the ability to see spirits like us."

"Ann doesn't have it, because it is only passed on to every other generation in her side of the family, which means..."

"I have it?" I replied, finally catching up with what's going on. "Are you saying I can see you because I have a gift? So you and mom are..."

"Yes, we're spirits," they replied in unison.

My parents were spirits? But I thought spirits lived, up there? "Then why are you not in heaven? Don't you want to be there?" I asked naively.

Mom then gestured me to sit back down, so I did. "It's not how it works exactly. Yes, when we die we go to heaven, but those are the ones who have nothing left to do in this world," she explained. "We are here because we still have something we need to do before we can go."

"Then, what do you need to do?" I asked.

"We're here to help you find..." A scream then interrupted my dad, causing us to turn to face the cave entrance. It sounded closer than how it would sound if it came from The City Of Penguins. It sounded like a little girl.

"You were say..." They were gone. "What? Where'd they go?" Another scream pierced the air, startling me.

"Somebody! Help! HEEEELLLLPPPP!"

It sounded very close. I couldn't decide if I should help or not for fear that it was a hunter chasing her. I needed to think fast. What would my dad do? Dang, they were here a second ago, why did they go? Or did I just imagine the whole thing?

Before I could make a second thought, my conscience took over and I ran out to try and locate the source of the screaming. A blur of blue zoomed past my right side, causing me to turn.

A leopard seal, apparently the blue one from yesterday, was after a young penguin chick. "Oh, thank god it wasn't a hunter," I said in relief. "Hey, over here!" I yelled at the chick. She immediately glanced over to me and started running in my direction.

"Uh, maybe I should have thought this over before doing it." When they neared, I took out my knife and readied it. She ran behind me and that gave me the signal to point the knife at the leopard seal.

It instantly slowed down before stopping just before my knife pierced its throat. "Back off! Leave her alone or you'll regret it!" I threatened, twisting the knife towards its face.

To my surprise, it just knocked my knife away faster than you could blink. "I'm not afraid of that penguin play-thing," the leopard seal said in a rebellious teenage boy-sounding voice. "I just want a snack."

"Oh snap," I said before backing up as he stepped forward. "Stay behind me, I'll protect you," I assured. Apparently, my luck today was drained when my back hit the cold ice wall of the cave. The entrance was on the other side of the wall boxing us in on my left. Even if we could go in the cave, we'll just get more cornered.

"Gotcha," he taunted, smiling deviously. We covered our faces from the sight we were about to witness. I was going to die, and so would the penguin chick I was protecting. We waited for the pain to come, but instead we heard a voice yelling stop.

A/N: Whoa! Cliffhanger! Oh, I bolded and Italic the sentences where the 'spirits' talk. It's is just so it's clearer. So, next chapter a familiar sounding pair from before which means a new part of the story! R&R to support this so far!