Sorry for taking so long in updating this, but I had an enormous amount of problems XD

I really hope you like this ;)

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Chapter 7: Nueva-Adelie

The watcher of Emperor-Land was struggling to keep his eyes open. He had been looking at the horizon for all the night, not really understanding why he had to. Females were there and they weren't expecting any congregation of penguins anytime soon. An emissary of the council appeared in his house and told him that the Council needed him to be the guard that night and probably the next one. But they didn't told him that the reason why he had to be on duty was that three chick had run away from the territory and an adult had gone after them. He was supposed to make Noah aware when they returned.

The night was coming to its end, but the moon seemed to not want to go. He was very tired, but he wouldn't leave his post. His duty was to obey the orders of the council. Besides, in only one hour more the sun would raise and he could go home, kiss his mate and sleep a bit. He really needed the last one. He had spent the whole winter with his egg, then he had to watcher for three days until the females returned, then the party and now this. With his duties as a guard of the Council and his duties as a father, this particular winter had been pretty hard.

Duties as a father? No… the blessing of being a father. He remembered to his little chick. The fluffy feathered boy should been sleeping at that time, resting between his mate's legs. His mate… the sweet female whose song had simply melted his heart. She would be waiting for him, probably still awake. She was very worried about her husband been the guard that particular night. She had a very bad feeling about it, but he didn't pay attention. She used to worry about him all the time. Sometimes that was cute, sometime was annoying; but he got used to it. After all, he was going to spend the life with her, so he didn't really have another choice.

He was staring at the frozen plains (Even when he didn't know it, this was a wise decision since the chicks couldn't swim, so the only way to return was by walking), but for some reason he decided to turn his gaze to the sea. There was a thick fog covering the water surface and all the space above it. This fog became denser as it approached to the horizon. Actually, he wasn't able to see very far… and judging by the wind's direction, that fog would soon cover Emperor-Land. But it was just that, a fog!

Nothing to be scared… nothing to see… nothing to inform. Just another boring night watching the infinite white plains of Antarctica.

His eyes were heavier than before. He was way too old for being a guard. He had nine years (An emperor penguin usually lives fifteen years) and a new-born chick to take care of, so it was very likely that this was going to be his last mission. Actually, he had already decided it! He would retire after this mission and spent all the time he had left with his family.

His eyes winked once… twice… and the third time they did, they didn't open. A soft snore was released from his beak. A short nap wouldn't hurt anyone, would it? After all, there wasn't anything interesting or dangerous at sight. In his dreams, he visualized his life with his chick. He saw himself walking along his son and leaving him at his first day at school, then the image changed and he saw how his fully grown son waved his flipper as he was leaving the territory with all his schoolmates in their first trip to the ocean, the day of his graduation. A very big smile appeared on his beak when his mind showed his images of his son dancing and singing with a female in what it seemed to be the singing ritual.

"That's… my… son…" The penguin whispered in his dreams. But all this peace was about to end. The tall pillar from where he guarded the territory was suddenly shaken. He lost his balance and fell on his belly, this of course woke him up instantaneously. He grab to the pillar with flippers and feet, doing his best to not fall. The piece of ice where he was laying was about thirty meters, so it was almost certainly that he wouldn't survive if he fell.

The earth (better said, the ice) kept shaking under him violently and it didn't seem to ever stop. Doing a great effort, he managed to stand up. He opened his eyes and directed them to the sea. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. A huge mass of massif ice was coming in straight line to Emperor-Land. The ice had a greenish tone, just like his wife told him that the ice in the other part of the Antarctica was. The block of ice was bigger than the territory itself! To make things even worse, the winds and the sea's tides gave to this monstrous iceberg an incredible speed. The continental ice couldn't even slow it down. The iceberg simply destroyed everything it touched, without even scratching.

The guard realized then that this iceberg was going to crash in Emperor-Land. It was very late to do anything. He also realized with horror that his watch-pillar was just in the middle of the iceberg's way. He was simply in a hopeless situation. He couldn't jump and he didn't have time to descend, so… his fate was sealed.

He took a quick look back, at the entrance of the territory. He only hoped that those two giant ice formations that were at the beginning of the inhabited area, just a hundred meters behind him would be enough to stop this iceberg.

He took a very, very deep breath. Then he sighted but smiling. He opened his flippers, like if he was embracing his destiny. Images of his chick, of his mate… of everything he dreamed came to his mind. A tear fell from his eyes, but his smile grew as he started gigging a bit. Anyone who could see him would think that he was insane… and in that moment, he kind of was.

Then the iceberg crashed on his pillar.

He was right in one thing… this would be his last mission.

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BBBBBBRRRRRRUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!

Mumble was pulled out of his dreams violently by a thunderous sound that echoed through the frozen Antarctic's plains. Gloria, who had secretly followed him, had been awake for a while and now was hugging him tightly, completely terrified.

"M-Mumble… w-what was that?"

"I-I-I don't know… I… wait… Gloria? What are you doing here!

"What I'm doing here?" She asked, a bit offended "I'm going after my chick, that's what I'm doing!"

"No, no, no… it's too dangerous. I want you to return and…"

"Dangerous? Did you forget, Mumble, that I walked all the way back from Adelie-Land to Emperor-Land… alone? And also that I had to swim across leopard seal's territory to return home?"

"But this is different! We don't know if the chicks went to Adelie-Land!"

"Mumble I'm sure that they are going to be there. They probably followed Ramon. Don't worry about me, I will be fine, but…" She said as she turned to the direction of Emperor-Land "I'm still worried about that sound"

"It was… very close to Emperor-Land… I just don't know what it was"

"It sounded like an explosion… or maybe an iceberg collapsing… I just hope that everyone is ok"

"Yeah, me too…" Mumble took a quick look at the sky. The sun was just rising, so it was pretty early. If they resumed their walk now, they could catch up with the chicks before noon and return to Emperor-Land before sunset "Come on, honey. We have to keep moving" He told to his mate. Gloria nodded and both of them started walking toward Adelie-Land. The footprints that they were following the day before had banished due the wind, but fortunately, Gloria remembered pretty well how to get to Adelie-Land. Mumble was a bit more confident right now. If Erik and his friends were there, he knew that the amigos were going to look after them until he arrived, so they will be safe.

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Meanwhile, several kilometers ahead:

The same weird noise had woken Erik, Bo and Atticus up, but they didn't think about it very much. There wasn't time for that, they had to keep walking if they wanted to reach Adelie-Land before someone find out that they had escaped.

They only walked about a hundred meters when they found something. A small crack on the ice, similar to the one where Erik had hid after his accident. But what was interesting about his was that there were footprints that went from the crack and continued to the horizon.

"These things are from who I think they are?" Atticus asked. Boadicea bowed her neck and examined the footprints carefully. She studied its form, length and profundity… and then she shared her result.

"Well, apparently the owner of the feet which made these footprints is surely shorter than an Emperor penguin, so I deduce it's an Adelie. The shape, although being a bit deteriorated, it almost the same that the ones we followed yesterday. The profundity of this tells me that the penguin has twelve kilos, approximately. And…"

"In Penguinish, please!" Atticus interrupted Boadicea's explanation.

"These are Ramon's footprints. They are the same we followed yesterday" Atticus looked back, then to the crack, then back again and then he took a last look of the crack before speaking.

"He was just in front of our eyes and we didn't see him! We could have saved a lot of time if we just walk a couple of meters more!" Atticus complained, raising his voice a bit "He could be in Adeliehood right now!"

"Stop complaining, fuzzball. We didn't know he was here" Bo told to him.

"Do you realize that you're a fuzzball too?"

"Yeah, but unlike you, I'm proud of being one" Atticus was about to respond something, but he decided better not. He was going to lose the discussion anyways, so he'd better not waste saliva "Ok, come on everyone. We have to keep moving. Adelie-Land shouldn't be so far" Bo declared and the three chicks resumed their trip, having again footprints to follow.

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"They were here…" Gloria said. She and Mumble had arrived to where the chicks had spent the night. As soon as they arrived there, Gloria spotted a fluffy feather on the ice and, after studying it for several seconds, she reached that conclusion.

"Are you sure that feather is one of his?" Mumble didn't want to be mean, but he wasn't very sure about trusting in Gloria's tracking skills… he didn't know if she had tracking skills, actually.

"I gave birth to this chick, Mumble. I know how my child's feathers are"

"But… I watched him hatch. It almost the same"

"No, it is not. This feather is from him; don't ask me how I know, I just know it. When you become a mother, you will understand"

"When I become a mother? What do you mean? I'm one already" Mumble replied quite confidence, but skipping a little detail. Gloria looked away and giggled "I said something funny?" Mumble asked, only causing that Gloria laugh even more "Gloria, what happens? I only said that I'm a moth… wait a second!…"Only then Mumble realized that he was being teased.

"Oh, you are? I didn't know it!" Gloria said as she laughed softly. "Who is the father then? Because I'm sure I'm not" She said, faking a masculine voice at the last phrase.

"Very funny, Gloria… very funny…"

"Oh, come on! It was just a little joke! Please, don't be angry with me, my… my… big brave girl!" She said, laughing loudly this time.

"Are you enjoying this, don't you?" Mumble replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, yeah! Now I see why you enjoy making these jokes"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever… we have to continue walking. We have to find Erik and his friends before nightfall" Mumble then noticed four sets of footprints in the snow a few meters ahead. He walked to them, with Gloria following him closely, still giggling a bit "And I think where they go, follow me Gloria"

"Mumble, wait…" She replied, looking carefully at those footprints and their directions. Her funny mood had disappeared, she seemed pretty worried now.

"What happens? Another silly joke of yours?"

"No, no, no… erhm… the penguins who did these marks… are not going to Adelie-Land…"

"WHAT! So we have been tracking down the wrong penguins?"

"I don't thinks so..." She answered "Look at these marks: there are three little traces…"

"Erik and his friends, Boadicea and Atticus"

"Exactly… and one slightly larger but not enough to be an emperor penguin, so it has to be Ramon. All of them are heading to the East; but if they wanted to go to Adelie-Land, they would have gone inlands, to the South-East. The Black Mountains are there (black because they are of rock, instead of ice) and adelies' home is not far from them"

"Are you… are you sure? Out here everything looks pretty much the same" Gloria nodded.

"I walked on that path only once, but I remember it perfectly. Trust me"

"I do, Gloria… but Ramon said that he was going to return home! Where could he have gone?"

"I don't know, but wherever he is going, he is carrying my child with him!" Gloria said, sounding pretty upset.

"Take it easy honey, I'm sure it wasn't his intention. Now come on, we have to speed up the pace" Mumble said, as he and Gloria resumed their walk, following this new trail.

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Atticus: Now walk out!

Bo: Now walk it out!

A: West side, walk it out!

B: West side, walk it out!

A: South side, walk it out!

B: South side, walk it out!

A: East side, walk it out!

B: East side, walk it out!

Bo and Atticus had been singing for a while as they walked, just for fun. Atticus was now aware of what Bo was hiding and, despite being a bit uncomfortable for keeping secrets, he trusted in his cousin's judgment. Erik wasn't in good mood to sing, but he was enjoying his friends' performance. It was really cheering him up. But then, Bo suddenly stopped.

"Hey, listen…" She said. Atticus and Erik obeyed, paying attention to a sound that was almost inaudible

"I can do this. No, you can't. Yes! I can do this. No, you can't" The chicks looked to each other and walked in the direction of the voice. After walking up a little snow hill, they found just what they were looking for: Ramon "I tell you I can do this. And how many times do I have to repeat it? You can't!" Ramon was standing next to the shore of an inner sea, walking from side to side and apparently speaking to himself.

"Is that the famous Ramon?" Boadicea asked.

"Who's talking to me? You! Who are you? Me! Who said that? "

"Em… yes…" Erik shyly replied.

"And with whom is he speaking?" Atticus asked.

"I… I don't know…" Just at that moment, a small wave came from the sea and hit the shore where Ramon was, drenching the poor adelie and leaving him stretched on the ground.

"I told you…"Ramon spoke (better said, whispered) to himself again, causing the chicks to laugh of him.

"He is certainly funny" Bo said and both male chicks nodded "Come on, let's go speak with him"

"Bo, wait!" Erik stopped her "What if he don't want us to go to Adelie-Land? Maybe we should… follow him in secret"

"Oh, Erik…" She chuckled "He won't leave a bunch of little penguins chicks to roam in the immensity of Antarctica unsupervised, will he?"

"I… guess so"

"Ok then, come on!" With Boadicea's order, the three chicks run at Ramon side.

"Heeeeey!" They shouted happily when they where closed.

"Hey! W-w-what's up? W-what this? W-what's up!" He said as he stood up. He noticed Erik and his friends immediately, but he didn't recognize any of them at first "What the…? What are you doing here, kids?"

"We are coming to Adelie-Land!" Boadicea quickly replied. Ramon eyes widened as his face showed how worried he was about this.

"Oh no, you aren't. You are here without your parents, this is chicknapping. Now go, shoo! Shoo!"

"But we can't! We are fugitives"

"Fugi-wha-?"

"Fugitives" Atticus interfered.

"Oh!... fugi-what?" Bo sighed in frustration.

"We fled from Emperor-Land! We're rebels! Three comrades seeking thrills and adventure!"

"And tasty snacks!" Atticus added, while he rubbed his belly with both flipper.

"Atticus, stop thinking with your stomach!" Boadicea told to his cousin as she narrowed her eyes.

"I can't help it! I'm hungry"

"You always are!"

"You're always saying odd stuffs and I don't complain about it"

"Guys, stop arguing please!" Erik interceded. Ramon focused his attention in this particular chick. He noticed that he was quite short for an emperor chick… and he was sure he had heard that voice before… but where?

"Sorry, Erik" Bo and Atticus said.

"Erik?" Ramon thought "Ok, I just know I heard that name before…" Then he noticed something different in this chick: blue eyes. Only then he realized with who he was dealing. "In the name of…! That's Tallboy's chick! Oh, goodness! I can't leave him here alone! Mumble would kill me! But if I took him with me, he will think that I chicknapped him and he will kill me! But if I took him back home, I will have to explain Tallboy why his hijo was with me… and then he will kill me" He sighed, but the chicks didn't noticed. They were busy talking between them "I'm dead anyways so… vamos a casa"

"Ok, little ones, I made up my mind. I'm taking you to my home"

"YEAH!" They shouted in excitement as they jumped to hug him.

"I'm going to regret for this… I know" He thought as he continued his march, this time accompanied by three little penguins.

Their walk was a very quiet one. With the exception of some predictions about how it would be the place where they were going, the children didn't say anything ... at least not to Ramon. They spent the time whispering to each other jokes about the dual personality of Ramon. Just innocent children's jokes, but Erik couldn't help it but feeling a bit bad about it. His mother had taught him to treat other penguins in the same way you would like them to treat you. He didn't like other penguin to make fun of him, so he shouldn't be doing that.

His mother… how he missed her right now… he even was starting to miss his father. Maybe his hate for him was slowly disappearing from his heart? It could be, but it was too late. He had already chosen his path as a self-exiled… and he had dragged his friend with him. How magic friendship can be. Leave everything you know and love just to help someone who doesn't have a true bond with you? It's something that sounds pretty stupid.

In any case, they were together in this now. Three friends ... three rebels ... three comrades. Erik was clueless about the real reason why his friends had come. He knew it wasn't just because they were friends, but he couldn't care less. He was happy that they had come. Maybe the was s a bond between them, after all. A very strong bond of friendship ... but ... when friendship is that strong ... doesn't have another name?

"Ok, kid. We are here!" Ramon proclaimed while they were walking up a huge snow hill.

"Here? This is your home?" Atticus asked as he glanced over the place.

"No, big fluffy. My home is passing that" Ramon said, pointing to an arc of ice in the top of the hill. Apparently, that was the entrance to the adelies' territory.

"Yeah, don't you hear that, Atticus" Boadicea said, beckoning that they had to remain in silence. Cheers and shouts of excitement were heard from behind the entry "Those must be the adelies"

"That's right, Fluffita" Ramon said and continued walking to the top.

"Fluffy, Fluffito, Fluffyta, Big Fluffy… that penguin is definitively the most creative creature in the whole world!" Bo joked with her friends and shared a loud laugh with them "Aren't you excited, guys? We finally arrived to Adelie-Land" Suddenly, Ramon stopped abruptly and turned to them

"Adelie-Land? No, no no kids. We are not in Adelie-Land. We don't live there anymore!" He said, earning three confused and a bit scared faces. The three chicks rushed to the top of the hill and took a look at this new territory "Welcome to Nueva-Adelie" Ramon said, appearing from behind.

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And here is where that annoying black screen with the legend "To be continued…" appears! XD XD XD

R U mad, bro? Well, sorry if you actually are :/… but I didn't want to include the description of the territory in this chapter.

Well, that's all for now. I really hope you liked this and I'm sorry for taking so long :(

Read you soon ;)

KevinBlu