Operation: Baby Poof
Chapter 6: Flock or Family
"GAAHh!" Raff screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Wait! Wait, guys! Look!" Private pointed at the window that was near him. "It's Huntah!" he said.
"Hunter?" Skipper tilted his head.
The young leopard seal waved at them from outside and smiled.
"OH! Iz Hun-er!" Rico relaxed.
"Hunter's a friend of Private's. She helped us escape from the other seals the last time we were here." Skipper explained to Raff.
Hunter then swam to the back of the sub and began pushing it upwards, toward the surface.
"Thanks, Hunter. Once again, you have saved our tails." Skipper thanked when they were safe and sound on the solid icy ground.
"Hey, no problem." Hunter said before she hi-flippered Private.
"So… why are you guys here in the middle of the night? You do know that we send hunters in the middle of the night, right?" Hunter asked.
"That is classified information, Hunter." Kowalski said briefly. "However, we had no idea that your father sends hunters at this hour."
Hunter rolled her eyes. "Well, c'mon. I'll show you to my cave. And yes, it's safe there. Nobody ever goes to my cave because it's far from the group. And I like it there. It's quiet, peaceful…"
"And loaded with traps for penguins!? Hmm?" Skipper guessed.
"WHAT!? Of course not…" Hunter said. "Oh just follow me." She began sliding away from the leopard seal group and toward a distant cave.
As the five penguins slid in the cave, it was dark and only a small fire lit the far inside. "You made a fire?" Raff said.
"Sort of…" Hunter replied.
"But that's impossible because the sun's rays are weak here and there are no rocks to create a…"
"Yeah, I know. The writer just needed a fire." Hunter smirked.
Skipper narrowed his eyes and backed away from the fire.
"And no, I'm not gonna fry you with it." Hunter rolled her eyes.
"MEeeaah, just to be sure." Skipper lay his head on the soft snow a few meters from the fire.
Private lay down just beside Hunter and Rico lay beside Kowalski by the fire.
"Are you sure you don't want to scoot closer to the cozy fire, Skipper?" Raff asked.
"Positive." Skipper replied with a grunt.
"Really sure? It's warm and cozy here." Raff told him.
"I'm sure, Raff." Skipper said.
Raff sighed and looked at his commanding officer.
Then he walked toward him and lay down beside him. "Then I'll sleep here with you."
Skipper was about to protest but he sighed then slowly drifted off to sleep.
(PoMlovah611: And NO! DON'T SHIP THE STUPID BROMANCE ON THIS ONE! I KNOW WHAT YOUR THINKING! DON'T SHIP IT! … IT'S A FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP… NO BROMANCE!)
…
Skipper slowly woke up and yawned. He felt a little warmth on his right side and looked at it.
"Raff, *yawn* wake up…" Skipper said to the penguin beside him.
Raff groaned. "What time is it?"
"Dunno. Kowalski?"
Kowalski sat up. "Yes, Skipper?"
"What time is it?" Skipper asked.
Kowalski looked at the entrance of the cave. "I'm not quite certain… but I'm pretty sure it's morning."
"Yeah, right… real helpful interpretation, Kowalski." Skipper rolled his eyes.
Kowalski crossed his flippers and grunted.
"Is the Rico awake yet?" Skipper said.
"AYE, 'KIPP-R." Rico replied.
"How about the Private?" the leader penguin asked.
"Private!?" Kowalski shouted.
… No reply …
Kowalski looked at where Private slept last night.
"*gasp* he's gone!" he reported.
"And so is Hunter!" Raff panicked.
"Private's in trouble!" Skipper said, sliding out of the cave with the three.
"Really, Skipper? Is 'Private's in trouble' the only theory you have in mind?" Kowalski asked while sliding on his belly with the others.
"Of course! What could possibly be another reason why the two of them are gone!? Put your paranoia cap on, Kowalski… And I know you have one." Skipper growled.
"Hmm… I seem to have left it back at the sub!" Kowalski exclaimed sarcastically. "Besides… I don't think Hunter would ever do anything to Private… Maybe they went on…"
Skipper stopped, making the other three stop as well.
"…A fishing trip!" Kowalski finished his sentence proudly.
Private hauled six fat fish onto the ice and out of the water.
"Hey guys!" he beamed at them.
"Hope you didn't mind leaving you there in that cave. We just thought you'd like some breakfast." Hunter said.
Kowalski smirked at Skipper. "Told ya! … GAH!" he shouted.
Skipper knocked him down with a punch, making him land on his belly. He then pinned him down by putting his foot on his back.
"What did you say, Kowalski?" he scowled.
"Nothing! Skipper! Nothing whatsoever!" Kowalski whimpered.
Skipper snorted then smirked. "That's what I thought." He lifted his foot, letting the smart penguin stand up.
"Here, Skipper! Have some!" Raff gave a fish to Skipper. "They're delicious!" he smiled.
Skipper smiled gratefully at him before wolfing down the delicious meat of the fish. "G-good job, Private."
Hunter sniffed the air then gasped.
"You guys should hide… now!" she said.
Rico and Skipper headed back to the cave. Kowalski covered himself with snow. Raff slid away from them then hid behind a pile of snow and Private dived in the water.
"Hunter! You're father's looking for you! It's time for the hunt! You know how he wants you to lead this group in the future." a brown seal said, sliding closer to Hunter.
"Well, tell daddy I don't want to be a penguin-killer. I'm a fishetarian!" Hunter reasoned.
The leopard seal sniffed. "What's that smell… Food?!"
"Eh, No! I just eh… that's just your nose playing tricks on you."
The seal shook his head. "Okay… but anyway, you should get back to the group…"
Private exploded from the water, breathing heavily. "I.. NEED.. AIR!" he exclaimed.
"It is food! FOOD!" the seal called.
Other brown seals began shouting "FOOD!" sliding at them, eager to taste penguin blood.
"GAH!" Private shouted, getting back in the water.
The seals dived into the water, chasing after the penguin.
"No! Wait!" Hunter tried, jumping in the water.
Skipper came out of nowhere and dived in too. The other three penguins followed.
Private swam as fast as he could, trying to shake the leopard seals away then Hunter swam past him and kept pace right in front of him.
Private knew what she wanted him to do, and grabbed her tail. Hunter immediately swam faster and up on the surface, jumping out of the water and landing on the soft snow.
The young leopard seal gathered a lot of snow and covered the hole with it.
The leopard seals stopped when they saw the blocked hole and swam back to where they came from.
"Wooh! We're safe." Hunter said, relieved.
"Wait!" Private exclaimed as he saw movement in the covered hole.
Skipper jumped out of the hole, pushing the soft snow out of the way.
"Those leopard seals are dumber than I thought." Skipper smirked when the rest of the team jumped out, shaking the water out of their feathers.
"Skipper, shouldn't we focus at the mission at hand?" Raff asked.
"Mission?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah! We're gonna find my parents!" Raff smiled.
"Which we suspect is somewhere in Antarctica." Kowalski continued.
"Well, there are lots of penguin flocks around here… We've got Adelie penguins, Emperor Penguins…" Hunter stated.
"He's a KING penguin." Skipper added.
"Ah, yes. The King penguin flock. They roam around everywhere and are very protective over their females and chicks. The Hardest flock to corner… Not that I would want to corner them…" Hunter told them.
"Great. Which way?" Private asked.
"It's hard to find them if they keep roaming. You'd want a tracker to be with you then." Hunter said proudly.
"Oh, if that's the case… Rico can track 'em." Skipper smiled at Rico.
Hunter blinked. "Skipper, I meant me."
"What?"
"ME! I can be your tracker."
"Okay, that could work. Go on right ahead, Hunter." Skipper said.
Hunter began sniffing the air for King penguins. "I'm detecting… KING PENGUIN!" she stuck her nose in the air, sliding toward the scent.
"They've gone a bit far…" she reported.
The five penguins followed the tracking seal.
…
"How much further?" Private asked.
Hunter sniffed the air. "I'm not sure… They Adelie scent is mixing with the King scent… But I'm now picking up scents of Chinstraps… and their close."
"Oh, chinstraps. They're no threat…" Skipper rolled his eyes.
"That's where you're wrong, Skipper. Next to the Kings, the chinstraps are a wild bunch." Hunter said.
"Wh-what could possibly make them a threat?" Kowalski asked.
"You'll see…" Hunter growled at a pile of snow.
The five penguins stood in fighting stance.
A rope was thrown around Hunter's snout, one around her tail and one around her waist and flippers.
"HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" Hunter said.
A small group of chinstrap penguins jumped out of nowhere, holding the ropes.
"Greetings, fellow flightless birds of Antarctica." One greeted.
"Chinstraps, would you mind letting our friend go, here?" Skipper crossed his flippers.
"Friend!?"
"Yes, this is Hunter. A strict fishetarian seal. Very friendly…" Private smiled.
The chinstrap penguin snorted. "PAH! There is no such thing as a fishetarian!"
"Hmph. Tell me about it…" Kowalski mumbled.
Private gave Kowalski a small shove.
"Look, just let the seal go… she's our tracker…" Skipper said.
"Tracker? What exactly are you tracking then?" the chinstrap growled.
"The King Penguin flock." Raff spoke up.
The chinstrap eyed the penguin. "… I see you're a King..."
"I-I'm not quite sure about that… but I think so…" Raff looked at his feathers.
"Um… EXCUSEME!?" Hunter interrupted through the ropes on her snout.
The chinstrap penguin rolled his eyes. "Let her go, boys…" he ordered.
Hunter stuck her tongue out and rubbed her snout when she was finally free of the ropes.
"KA VEE GO?" Rico asked.
"Yes, yes we can go, Rico." Skipper started walking away from the group of chinstraps.
"Wait…" The lead chinstrap called. "If you're looking for the King flock, they passed here a few hours ago heading west."
"Thanks, chinstrap." Skipper thanked before following the tracking seal toward the west.
…
"Sk-Skipper? I th-think we should stop…" Raff stammered.
They were going against the chilly wind and Raff was starting to lose it.
"What?" Kowalski said.
"We're almost there. I can feel it." Hunter said.
"Raff, we can't give up… We've come a long way. We should keep going. You're not a quitter, right?" Skipper told Raff.
"R-right…" Raff said.
"Good." Skipper slightly smiled at him.
"BE ALERT!" Hunter shouted and everyone looked around.
Everything was quiet.
"Hmm… I could have sworn they were here…" Hunter mumbled.
Suddenly, something slammed into Skipper and pinned him down. "H-hey!" Skipper growled.
"AAH! SKIPPAH!" Private screamed as someone behind him restrained him.
"HEWP!" Rico's voice was heard.
"WH-WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Hunter asked.
"GAH!" Kowalski shouted in panic.
"Guys? What's going on?" Raff asked.
Raff felt someone grip his shoulders and gasped.
TO BE CONTINUED…
There you have it guys!
I did this chapter in the beach!
JUST SAYING!
Anywhoo…
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