Happy Gobble Day everyone :D What am I thankful for? Let's see, Blouper, my beta, who is so freaking awesome I find it hard to believe she's not Wonderwoman. Knockknocktimerico, who else would put up with my ramblings and ideas, and everyday problems like he would? uh, no one, that's who. Littlebirdy05, for being a great author, for being amazing, and for reading my story, Kowalski's Origin, and keeping it going. For the producers of POM, for making this great show, and of course, I'm also grateful to have YOU fellow fanfictioner, reading this. I mean, what's the motivation if no one is reading? So, yes, hope your day is great and full of fun :D

Searching

Kowalski saw Marlene jump into the tree. His heart seems to climb to his throat as he runs to her, forgetting completely the frustration of being wrong. The last thing he sees is her leap off and run down the forest. He hears loud growls echo through the trees and realizes instantly what was going on.

"I think she's just gone wild." Private had summed it up perfectly before, how could he have forgotten? Never let Marlene out, those had been the orders Skipper had given them, and here they were, in the middle of Worthington forest, in the open.

I have to find her.

But the eagle! Even if she hadn't flown through here exactly at the precise time that he had assumed there was still a high possibility that she might show up soon. If he left to look for Marlene he might miss the chance to give the egg back.

He hugs the egg close; in the same way that he had seen Marlene do so many times. He didn't want to give it back. There was so much still left to learn, so many mysteries to solve, so many tests… so many things that he had hoped to be able to teach to the young hatchling.

But he knew he had to return it, he hadn't told Marlene yet, but the chick was actually very big now, there was barely any time left before it hatched.

Think Kowalski!

He had to figure out what to do. But what could he do? It was either loosing Marlene or leaving a chick motherless.

He looks up at the sky.

Nothing.

He wasn't one to believe in omens, but at a time like this he was willing to go with what seemed best. No time to consider options now, the eagle wasn't there and Marlene was still within reaching distance, that was all that mattered.

Kowalski places a tight grip on the egg and jumps into the branch that Marlene had previously occupied. Once he manages to climb down the sky disappears from view, covered completely by the dense trees. He searches around for any sign of Marlene, finding a few broken twigs and bushes that appeared to have been shoved aside.

He runs the way they lead, hoping to be able to catch up with her. The vegetation in the place was hard to go through; scratching at him and making him stumble a few times. He needed something to cut through the woods, but he had left his bag behind!

With no other choice, Kowalski picks up a long branch off of the ground and uses it to shove aside ferns and branches. The stick digging sharp splinters onto his flippers. He thinks about stopping to take them out, knowing that if not treated correctly a splinter could become infected, but he decides against it. An infection was nothing to the possibility of Marlene's dea. Kowalski cuts off the thought, focusing once again on shoving the hindering vegetation aside.

The hints to the direction Marlene took were so subtle he had to stop every now and then to make sure he was going in the right direction.

"Marlene!"

No answer.

"Marlene!"

Nobody there besides him and the egg.

He looks around anxiously, hoping to see a patch of brown or white, but he only sees the rough brown of trees and the white of a few shy flower buds that barely peeked out of their stems. He keeps running, the egg in his arms beginning to slip. The almost imperceptible trail becomes even less noticeable a few steps ahead, and once he had walked that far it suddenly disappeared.

No fur, no branches shoved aside or broken twigs. Kowalski drops the stick and turns in circles, the only sign of any other creature having been there was the trail he had made.

Worry bubbles in him, his thoughts spinning faster in his head with no solution forming. He opens his beak to call to her, but instead he hears himself ask, "What now?"

So many smells! The fresh wind, the wet earth that smelled like leaves, the pine trees, the scent of other animals, all for her to investigate freely. Marlene feels the soft caress of the wind against her fur as she jumps from branch to branch. It was so exhilarating to see the ground so far beneath her, and to hang on to the nearest thing at the last second, maneuvering her body so that she was thrown into the air once more. Growls echo through the woods as Marlene laughs, her fangs glinting in the occasional glimpse of light.

Marlene stops on one of the branches, surveying her surroundings. Where to go? She breathes rapidly, trying to smell the forest and catch her breath at the same time. So many things. So open. She had to go to it all.

She jumps off and grabs onto the next branch, but something makes her slip. Marlene clutches tighter onto it, but it was too late. A scared whine escapes her as she falls to the ground.

The soft floor of leaves prevents her fall from being detrimental, but she was still annoyed.

Marlene gets up grumpily, shaking off pine needles from her fur. She looks down as something catches her eyes. She watches a single brown feather float slowly to the ground amid the many leaves. She cocks her head to the side. Somehow, the feather looked familiar.

Bird.

She picks it up and sniffs it, the silky softness of it tickling her nose.

Eagle.

It seemed so familiar, where had she smelled this before?

Mother eagle.

She looks up curiously at the tree that it had fallen from, feeling like there was a certain importance to it. It wasn't significant like water or food, but she could feel the need to find it all the same.

She climbs up the tree with ease, her sharp claws keeping a good grip on the tree bark. Once on the branch she had slipped from she sniffs around, and catches the same smell as that of the feather lingering on the branch. After a quick inspection Marlene realizes that the smell was still in the forest. She begins going from tree to tree once more, this time with a purpose in mind.

Mother eagle.

Mother Eagle swoops around the forest, looking for food. She sits on a branch to rest her wings. She hoped she would make it back to Alaska soon. Perhaps there she would at least know where she was.

It was dangerous to travel lately, but she had to do it. She would prefer to just be high in the sky but the trees were too dense to look through. There really was no choice right now, she had to eat. Her stomach growls almost painfully, and she was tired of flying for so many days without stopping. Right now, all she had in mind was food. Hunger had been the last thing on her mind after the incident, but now it was about all she could think of. She had to find some food!

She could remember how the hunters had taken her mate down while in Alaska. She had been left to cope with her egg by herself, and she supposed she wouldn't have made it if the humans hadn't stepped in. She couldn't remember much after they gave her a small shot, but when she had woken up she had been in a strange city, with food beside her and her precious egg beneath her. The humans had set her free to choose a location and create her own nest. Once she had gotten settled, they brought her food if she didn't find enough, and occasionally checked in on her. Things had begun to get better.

And then, the day had come when the zoo animals showed up.

She feels the anger return to her as she remembers the way the lemur had taken her egg, how the penguin had attacked her when she tried to take it back, how the otter had grabbed it and disappeared. The penguin had looked for the otter, she had looked for her egg, but she knew from past experience that once lost, an egg is forever gone. So she left.

And now, here she was, in the middle of a forest, starving, barely able to fly anymore, and alone. She hoped that in Alaska she would maybe find some of her old friends, maybe get back to her old nest, and hopefully avoid the hunters.

A soft rustling makes her turn around. A small furry creature was making its way towards her. Although the creature was quite far from her, she could tell it was an otter. Most specifically, it was something she could eat.

Lunch is served.

Marlene sees the eagle swoop towards her. She stops in her tracks, confused at the fierce look on the eagle's face and the way her claws reached out to her. Survival instinct kicks in instantly, and Marlene jumps at the eagle, hitting her on the face. The eagle gives a high shriek of fury and prepares to attack once more. Marlene dives off of the branch and once on the ground she turns to face the eagle, every muscle in her body readying for battle.

Kowalski searches for any trace of Marlene. He flips over leafs, inspects tree bark around him, and looks around him every few seconds. Each leaf that he turns over, each piece of tree that shows no sign of Marlene, and every time he looks around once more make him more and more frustrated. His movements become more rushed, and he can hear his breathing speeding up.

Where is she?

As form of response, he hears a loud shriek. He stands up, instantly alert. He could recognize that sound anywhere, it was the sound of an eagle! Being the only thing he could go by, Kowalski grabs the egg and runs to the place where it had come from, ignoring completely the wild ferns and shrubs that dig past his feathers and into his skin.

The closer he gets the more noises he hears. Fierce growling and piercing caws sounded through the forest, followed by sharp snaps and hits. Kowalski runs faster, he had an idea of what might be going on, and if he was right then it wouldn't be good.

He gets to a place in the forest that didn't seem as dense. The overgrowth was pushed down, bent, and broken. He hears a loud yelp and looks up. Marlene lay on the ground, her face twisted in pain as she clasps her arm, which was oozing blood from a cut on the side. In front of her the eagle stands glaring at her, a few feathers missing from her head. She nears Marlene, what was in her mind all too clear. Kowalski feels fear for Marlene rise in him, and, not being able to think of anything else to do, he puts the egg down and leaps at the eagle.

Marlene stares confused at what she saw. A penguin was attacking the eagle, trying to hinder her. She gets up and glares at the penguin; this was her business! With a sly leap, Marlene tackles the penguin off of the eagle and bears her teeth at him. The penguin lays on the ground in shock.

"Marlene?" He asks. Marlene blinks. That sounded familiar…

The eagle grasps her with her claws, throwing her against a tree. Marlene felt the wind knocked out of her and a sharp pain on her spine. She gets up with renewed anger.

Kowalski goes to her.

"Let's go!" He tells her, pulling on her arm. Marlene pushes him to the ground. He stands up again, confusion on his face.

"Don't you realize-"

Kowalski lets out a frightened "Woah!" as the eagle appears in front of him. She swipes him with her beak, which he tries to dodge but still gets a cut across his white feathers. He stands, unable to believe that this had happened. Marlene also stands still, though it wasn't out of surprise. She feels wild rage rise in her, it was very illogical anger, because she couldn't remember ever meeting the penguin before, but for some reason, the sight of him being hurt pushed her to the edge.

She runs to the eagle, who in turn rises off the ground. Marlene grabs onto her feathers, yanking as many as possible. The eagle pecks at her with her sharp beak but Marlene ducks in time. Kowalski goes to them. He grabs her paw, trying to pull her away, but she kicks his face. This was her battle. Kowalski shakes his head but otherwise ignores her gesture.

"Marlene stop!" He yells, still holding tightly to her paw.

Marlene growls.

The eagle spreads out her wings and rises into the air, taking Marlene and Kowalski with her. Kowalski yanks Marlene's arm harder. Irritated, she opens her mouth and bites his flipper as hard as she can. Kowalski yelps and lets go, falling down and landing on his back. He gets up with a flip and looks at them, ignoring the sharp pain that was starting to develop across his chest.

Mother eagle was now trying to get away, that was obvious, but Marlene was still keeping up the fight. He had to stop her before she hurt the eagle, or herself. He runs to the nearest tree and begins to climb it. Once at the top he gets ready to jump, the wind ruffling his feathers.

The eagle falls to the ground, giving a surprised shriek. Marlene stops hitting her long enough to look around. A weird, thick, string-like thing was on top of her. She picks it up and sniffs it. It smelled like fur from lots of different animals. She tries to get it off of her but the more she pulls the more of it comes. She becomes angrier and angrier, fighting against the restraining rope, all to no prevail.

Kowalski stands on the tree stunned. Where did that net come from? He looks around and sees a man walking towards them. He had messy dark-brown hair, dirty jeans, and a flannel shirt with various small rips on it. On his back a long rifle hung from a rope tied across his chest. He has a superior smile plastered on his face as he bends down beside the imprisoned animals.

"Well, well. What have we here?" He says, "You two little creatures don't get along very well do you?"

He tries to pet Marlene but she bites his finger. The hunter draws back, the smile gone.

"You won't be doing that for long." He whispers to her. Marlene bares her teeth. The hunter smiles and picks up the net, taking Marlene and the eagle still in it. Marlene goes crazy, scratching, biting, and hitting the net. The eagle sits still merely trying to stay out of her way. The hunter ignores Marlene's attempts at getting away and walks down the forest.

Kowalski watches even more shocked than before, trying to figure out a way to set them free. The hunter bends down suddenly in a spot that seemed familiar to Kowalski. The laugh that the hunter emits tells him exactly what spot it was. Dread spreads through him. He walks farther down the branch, trying to reach for what he had left there, knowing all along that he was too far away. It was too late anyway.

"Guess this is my lucky day." The hunter says merrily. He stands up, a small brown egg on his hand. Whistling as he walks, the hunter makes his way back to his home, glad with the day's proceedings.

Behind him, a small drop of blood falls from a high branch, the creature to whom it belonged to not even realizing how deep the wound it had emitted from really was.

Side notes, to those of you who haven't done so yet, you should check out the POM fan site, it's really neat really, and several of our Fanfictioners are part of it, me included. The link is .com/spots/penguins-of-madagascar if ya'll want to check it out :) Also, reminder, there is a trailer of this story on my profile if you're interested, and a poll on the Marski subject. Also, review if you want, it'll be like a great delicious feast for me :D