Chapter Two

"Don't you think it's strange that Eggy's mum just left him like that?" Private asked Rico. The two of them were busily trying to set up a place for the duckling to stay, and after a few minor technical difficulties (Rico had trouble coughing up the bedsheets for Eggy's bunk and thought for a moment that he'd be stuck with half a lacy pink pillowcase hanging out of his beak all day), things were going smoothly, and the two penguins had time to talk. "I mean, like Skipper said, she went all over the city looking for him! Don't you think it's suspicious that she left him behind for migration?"

"Uh-huh," Rico replied/

"You don't think something bad happened to them, do you?" Private asked, his eyes lighting up with fear. "What if Miss Kitka ate them?"

"Araaawk," Rico said dubiously. "Skwak braawk ark..."

"Yes, you're right," Private amended. "She probably wouldn't do that. But what about her falcon friends? They're not all good like her! One of them even tried to eat King Julian! What would stop them from eating some cute... adorable... ducklings..." It was obvious from the look on his face that Private had traumatized himself, so Rico placed a comforting flipper around the smaller penguin's shoulders.

"Uh-uh," he said, shaking his head. Private turned to look at him.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Skwak," Rico replied, nodding. Somewhat reassured, Private got back to work.

"Yes, you're right," he said. "Mama Duck and the ducklings are probably on their way to the beach in Mexico right now! And soon enough they'll notice that they left Eggy behind and come back for him!"

"Uh-huh," Rico nodded, watching as Private went about his duties with renewed confidence. He never noticed Rico furrow his beak nervously, concern clouding his eyes.

"You mean the little duckling that tried to beat everyone up is back?" Marlene asked, surprised. "And you let him come back! After all of that?"

"Well, it was Skipper's idea in the first place..." Kowalski muttered before shaking his head. Now wasn't the time to rehash past events- he needed intel (and not the computer processors), and he needed it immediately. "Don't worry. It won't happen again. I was wondering- have you seen any ducks around here lately?" The otter looked confused.

"No... wouldn't have ducks already gone south for the winter?" she asked. Kowalski shrugged.

"That's what we though, but it seems that Eggy was left behind. Considering how protective Mama Duck is of her children, we think something sinister might have happened." Marlene gave a nervous chuckle.

"You penguins are so paranoid," she said, although it was clear that Kowalski's observation was unnerving to her as well. "Mama Duck must have just accidentally left him. You've seen it with the humans... one of the kids gets separated and a little while later one of the parents comes to pick him or her up." Kowalski nodded, then looked pensive.

"But how many of those kids stay separated for days? With the exception of that little girl who's parents abandoned her here how many kids are left alone for so long?"

"What? You mean this has been going on longer than just today?" Marlene looked shocked. "How long has he been alone?"

"He won't say, but judging from the state of things when I found him, at least five days," Kowalski replied grimly. The otter nodded.

"I haven't seen any ducks around here. I'm pretty sure they all left already, but I'll keep an eye out. You might want to go ask around some more, though. Bada and Bing might have seen something, or the badger sisters, they know just about everything that goes on in this zoo. I'll certainly look around, though."

"Thanks, Marlene," Kowalski said. Marlene smiled.

"And if you're sure that he's not going to try to beat me up again, bring Eggy by, OK? I'd like to see him again."

"Will do," Kowalski saluted before exiting the otter habitat. He might as well continue his sweep of the zoo... Marlene was right, Bada and Bing might have seen something happen, Phil and Mason tended to have a good grip on what went down in the zoo, and like Marlene said, one of those perkily bipolar badger twins probably knew something, considering how much they liked to get up in everyone's business.

"You... weren't kidding... when you said... you'd kept up... with your training," Skipper panted, lying flat on his back after sparring with Eggy for a good two hours. "You're making... me... feel old!" Eggy hadn't fared much better, however, having collapsed into a chair once they were finished.

"You didnt go... easy.. either, sir?" he panted. "I'm tired!" Skipper laughed.

"And you should be, after all that effort you showed. You're pretty good, but a few things need some work. When you execute the North Canadian Chokehold, for example, your form is all wrong. Don't feel bad, it's an easy mistake to make, but you should focus on correcting it, or you could dislocate your wing. And it's generally not a good idea to attack with your beak, unless what you're attacking is dinner! If your enemy has a weapon you could get seriously injured. But we'll work on all that tomorrow. That's enough for today, we don't want you getting too tired." Eggy seemed kind of disappointed, so Skipper ruffled his feathers in a reassuring way.

"It's only you're first day, we don't want to push you too far," he said. "Do you have any questions?" Eggy looked as though there was something he desperately wanted to say, and even managed to get out a squeaky "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"...never mind. It's nothing," the duckling seemed to lose his nerve, something that did not go unnoticed by the penguin.

"Are you sure?" Skipper asked. "I'll help you if there's anything you need to know right now." Again, Eggy seemed to be trying to gather his courage, but failed again to pull himself together.

"Don't worry, sir. I'm sorry, sir. It's nothing."

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

So is acting up right now... seems like whenever I try to access a chapter in a story or my profile (well, anyone's profile, really) I'm getting errors. I wonder if the server is having problems?

Well, anyway, thanks for reading.

-Kaboom