Everyone met in the underground cavern. Luckily no one had been too hurt in our scuffle with the guards, and aside from some scratches and bruises everyone was in tip top shape. I was walking around the cavern, talking to all of the crewmen and thanking them for their help, when I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Azumi?" I cried, running to a lone figure in the corner, "is that you? Have you come back?"
Azumi was smiling as she turned towards me. "Yes, I've come back. I couldn't let you guys go and get yourselves killed without me, you know."
I blushed as I thought about how badly my plan had turned awry. Those silly papers! If the papers could have been forged properly...but Fernand walked over towards us and I was forced to stop my line of thought.
"Ah, Drake! I see you've met our wandering hero. Azumi helped me fight off those guards on the ship. If it hadn't been for her, well, I would have taken them all out myself and gotten twice the glory! Ha ha!" Fernand slapped me on the back and I staggered forward under the blow. Everyone in the cavern was laughing, finally shaking off the nervous excitement of our close call with the King's army. Soon the liquor was brought out, and many of the crew began singing songs and dancing. It was very reminiscent of the first time that I came to this cavern, although I avoided the liquor this time around. That stuff was strong, and I remembered the hangover that I had after I let Fernand show me around the first night.
About an hour into the party we heard, or rather I guess we felt, a large explosion that shook the entire cavern and shook dirt down from the ceiling. Everyone grew quiet for a moment and just looked up. No one moved. Then, after about thirty seconds, people starting quietly talking again. Someone toasted the crewmen that went on the library job, and soon after that the din returned to normal. I went to go find Horatio.
I found Horatio sitting by himself behind some of the larger crates that were continually dotting the landscape of the cavern. He had a drink in his flipper, but he was still mostly sober. I sat down next to him, and he threw his drink on the ground and put his head in his flippers.
"That stuff is awful." he mumbled. "Where do they find it?"
I didn't want to pry too much, because I knew that Horatio needed some time to come to grips with what happened, but I was genuinely worried about him.
"How are you holding up, Horatio?" I asked him. "I know the plan didn't go exactly as we planned, but..."
"Oh, don't worry about that. It's not your fault, Drake. If only I had been able to obtain those papers...but it doesn't matter now, I suppose. I'm just hoping that the recovery crew comes back soon."
I looked towards the entrance to the cavern, as I had been compulsively doing all night. If the second part of my plan ended up failing, then we were truly doomed. Suddenly there was a great noise outside the entrance of the cavern, and everyone stopped talking and ran to take cover. Those that were sober grabbed some weapons and hid near the entrance of the cavern; with more penguins than usual coming in and out lately it was not certain if this place was still as secret as it used to be. The noise grew louder and echoed off the tunnel walls as someone came closer and closer to our cavern. Horatio jumped up and ran over to the entrance. Finally someone came into the light.
"They did it! They did it! Hooray!" Horatio shouted from the entrance, running frantically around the penguins who had just entered the cavern and who were pushing a bunch of soaking wet crates. "They salvaged our crates! Hooray!" Horatio frantically pulled open the lid of one of the crates and looked inside. The crate was sealed at the top with a plastic sheet and Horatio cut this open with a sword that one of the crewmen had. The books inside were high and dry, and Horatio was running around like a crazed penguin, prying the lids off of all of the crates and making sure that the cargo had been kept high and dry. Azumi, Fernand and Aleister came over to check out how everything had gone.
"Well well now, Drake, isn't it a good thing you had this backup plan? If you hadn't...."
"I know, Fernand. Everything would have been lost. It's just too bad we weren't able to save the library, too. Thanks, Aleister, for lining the crates for us. I had hoped we wouldn't have to use it, but I'm glad we took the extra precaution."
"Oh, it's no problem, no problem at all!" said Aleister, beaming from ear to ear. "You see, I realized one day while I was in the woods, that if you extracted a certain element from a certain kind of tree, it was waterproof! Then I tested this theory by manipulating the structures at an atomic level and--"
"That's great, Aleister," I said, hastily cutting him off and turning back towards Fernand and Azumi. "And thanks for your help, too. If the ship had been taken before we were able to throw the crates overboard, we still would have lost everything. Azumi, I wasn't sure if you were coming back or not..."
Azumi smiled and waved her flipper, indicating that she didn't really want to talk about it. "It was no big deal. Now, let's unload these crates somewhere safe, shall we?"
Once the crates were stored everyone's spirits rose tenfold. Horatio joined the party, dancing and singing with the rest of the crew and drinking the horrible liquor like a seasoned sailor. He had forgotten about the library for the moment and was just rejoicing that we had managed to save a handful of the most rare and valuable books. Aleister was in a corner somewhere with a couple of other penguins showing them how to operate the makeshift laser light show he had just cobbled together. Fernand kept mostly away from the crew, sitting back and watching everyone make a fool of themselves and watching to make sure that the noise level did not get dangerous--even though we were far underground, you can never be too careful in these situations. I went over to the bar to grab a drink and join the festivities, but Azumi pulled me aside.
"Drake, please don't drink anything tonight. I need you to be clear headed--I need your help. Later, we'll talk later." Azumi whispered all of this to me before I even had a chance to acknowledge her presence, and then she left, wandering over to Fernand who I now realized was drinking water, not liquor. So that meant that something was going down tomorrow night--and before I even had a chance to celebrate my latest, almost disastrous, adventure.
With these thoughts on my mind and the close call of our adventure sobering my mood I headed for a place to sleep for the night. I had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be another long day.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Day 31: Ambush
I stood in shock as the King halted, waiting for me to respond to him. I couldn't believe that my plan had turned out so badly! I was dumbfounded. Immediately I thought of Fernand, and my eyes flicked over to the general direction of the ship. I could swear I could hear sounds of fighting coming from that direction, and I tensed up. Fernand was all alone on the ship, if they had even sent a couple of guards over there...
"Ah yes, your pesky friend. We know all about the ship you have waiting. Don't worry, we took care of him." The King smiled, almost gleefully, as he imagined what was happening to his nephew right now. I turned my attention back towards the King and the guards who were slowly closing their circle around us. It started to drizzle, and soon the sounds from the fighting on the ship quieted down and were eventually erased by the sound of the soft patter of the rain.
Suddenly there were sounds of a furious scuffle at the back of our group.
"Ah ha!" I heard someone yell. I quickly turned around to see what was happening, but was caught on either side by guards so that I couldn't move. I still couldn't see what was happening very well, as it was very dark, but all of a sudden a flash of lightning emanated from behind one of the crates. The flash was blindingly bright, and the guards that were holding me let loose their grip as they shielded their eyes. I took this opportunity to wrench myself free from their grip and grab my sword. The other crew members, trained in basic combat skills, also took this opportunity to arm themselves as well and we were soon in flipper to flipper combat with the armed guards.
I tried to make my way to the back of the line, where Horatio and Aleister were. As the only two penguins without combat training they would be the most vulnerable, and I feared the guards would soon notice that they were either unable to defend themselves or simply bad at it. However, when I found the two of them Horatio was surprisingly calm, and Aleister was guarding him and shooting his insane electric weapon at any guard that dared to come near them. So that was what had made that noise! Aleister had enough sense of mind to provide us with a distraction so that we would be able to break free.
"Come on, you two!" I yelled at them, straining to make myself heard over the sounds of fighting and the rain, which was starting to fall more heavily. "Make a run for the river! If we get into the water, we can hide!"
Aleister ran ahead of me, and I turned to Horatio to push him forward so that I could guard his back. But when I caught sight of him I saw that he was trying to run with a crate, the one which he had packed himself and which he was refusing to let go.
"Horatio, drop it! We don't have time for this. We can move faster without the crates!" But Horatio gave me one of the steeliest looks that I had ever seen and shook his head. He was determined not to leave behind his precious cargo, and at my words he just doubled his efforts with the crate and ran faster. I didn't have time to fight with him, so I turned to the rest of the crew to tell them to run. However, when I turned around I found that the crew had incapacitated all of the guards and we were alone. The King was nowhere to be seen.
"Alright everyone, let's move! Reinforcements will be here soon, I'm sure. Leave the crates and make a run for it!" I didn't want to take any chances with the crates slowing us down, and I wanted to make sure that everyone got out of this safely. Besides, with the ship captured, what good would it do anyway?
"Hold it!" Boomed a voice from the darkness. It was raining rather heavily now, and visibility was near zero. I heard a figure approaching very quickly, and then something slammed into my chest. The force knocked the wind out of me, and for a moment I lay stunned, but I could see who it was that knocked me down.
"Fernand!" I cried, as he offered a flipper to help me up, "You're okay! The ship--"
"Don't worry! Come on, everyone grab a crate and move it! We don't have much time."
I was stunned, and I didn't fully understand what was happening. Just a second ago we were surrounded and it looked as if we were all going to be locked up for life, and now here we were, running with our prizes through the pouring rain towards the ship. Every crew member had grabbed a dolly and were furiously pushing the carts toward the ship. When we got there I saw Aleister and Horatio already there, both panting. I also saw a number of guards, at least six or seven, tied up to the mast, all unconscious. While the crew were securing the crates below deck, Fernand was busy trying to get the ship away from the bridge and preparing our escape. I turned back towards the library and realized that we were almost out of time.
What I saw advancing towards us was an army. Many of them were carrying torches, including the King, who was in front with his sword drawn. So that was where he had disappeared to! He had not gone to save his skin, as I had supposed, but to summon the reinforcements that were most likely already on their way to destroy the library. Our ship was gradually beginning to leave the bridge, but it was slow moving at first and the army was about to overtake us.
In an instant we found ourselves surrounded by the army. They had crossed the bridge and were flanking us. I saw a unit break off from the main group to go secure the other bridge, which we would have been forced to cross under on our way out of the city. It looked like there was no way out. The King made his way to the middle of the bridge and jumped up on the railing.
"There is going to be no negotiating this time, you fiends! I won't let you get away. Archers, fire!"
Fernand and I, the only two still on the top deck at this point, ducked when we heard the order. As we both slammed onto the deck I could hear the arrows piercing the sides of the boat, and though it seemed like there were hundreds of arrows that hit the ship none of them hit us. Fernand motioned to me to move towards the stairwell, and we began to crawl towards the stairwell so that we could go below deck. Something smelled funny though. Through the rain I could smell something most sinister---fire.
The arrows the army had shot at us were not meant for us specifically--they were meant for the boat. Each arrow was lit with a torch and then fired at our ship. The rain seemed to slow the fire down, though, and with enough time it would put out the fire completely. It looked as if we had enough time to make it below deck, at least. Then we heard the next order.
"Second wave, go!"
Fernand and I stopped in our tracks, reluctant to move until the second wave of arrows had been fired. However, the second wave was not the archers, as before, but something completely different. An explosion rocked the other end of the boat, and the fire began to flare up violently and spread more quickly than before. It looked as if the second wave were throwing some sort of gas balls at our ship, which, when they erupted from the impact of being thrown, exploded from the flaming arrows which were still smoldering throughout the ship. There was an explosion right behind us, and we were thrown towards the stairwell that led below deck.
We were safe for the moment. The ship was rocking with explosions, but would hold for a minute or two. We found the crew all assembled downstairs, running around furiously trying to secure the crates and get all of the work done. The ship began to rock even harder as more gas balls were thrown at it, and then suddenly everything stopped.
"Something bad is about to happen, I just know it" said Fernand, who looked haggard. "We have to get out of here."
"We have to jump!" I said, running over to one of the portholes and prying open the window. "We have to get off this ship! They are going to blow it to smithereens!"
A huge explosion rocked the ship, and the upper portion of the deck was blown away. In an instant most of the crew had jumped out of the portholes scattered around the room. Aleister was stuck in one of the portholes, and I pushed and pushed until he finally squished through. Fernand and Horatio and I were the only ones left in the room when another explosion tore through the ship. We were all thrown to the other side of the boat, where we managed to crawl through the wreckage and into the river. We all sped as fast as we could away from the ship, and when we were about 100 yards down the river we surfaced and turned back. With two more giant explosions the boat exploded into a million pieces, sending pieces of wood flying everyone and a giant fireball into the sky. We could see the King silhouetted against the blast, and his dark figure set against the fire was burned into my memory as we all dove underwater again.
Continue reading Day 32: Alive.
"Ah yes, your pesky friend. We know all about the ship you have waiting. Don't worry, we took care of him." The King smiled, almost gleefully, as he imagined what was happening to his nephew right now. I turned my attention back towards the King and the guards who were slowly closing their circle around us. It started to drizzle, and soon the sounds from the fighting on the ship quieted down and were eventually erased by the sound of the soft patter of the rain.
Suddenly there were sounds of a furious scuffle at the back of our group.
"Ah ha!" I heard someone yell. I quickly turned around to see what was happening, but was caught on either side by guards so that I couldn't move. I still couldn't see what was happening very well, as it was very dark, but all of a sudden a flash of lightning emanated from behind one of the crates. The flash was blindingly bright, and the guards that were holding me let loose their grip as they shielded their eyes. I took this opportunity to wrench myself free from their grip and grab my sword. The other crew members, trained in basic combat skills, also took this opportunity to arm themselves as well and we were soon in flipper to flipper combat with the armed guards.
I tried to make my way to the back of the line, where Horatio and Aleister were. As the only two penguins without combat training they would be the most vulnerable, and I feared the guards would soon notice that they were either unable to defend themselves or simply bad at it. However, when I found the two of them Horatio was surprisingly calm, and Aleister was guarding him and shooting his insane electric weapon at any guard that dared to come near them. So that was what had made that noise! Aleister had enough sense of mind to provide us with a distraction so that we would be able to break free.
"Come on, you two!" I yelled at them, straining to make myself heard over the sounds of fighting and the rain, which was starting to fall more heavily. "Make a run for the river! If we get into the water, we can hide!"
Aleister ran ahead of me, and I turned to Horatio to push him forward so that I could guard his back. But when I caught sight of him I saw that he was trying to run with a crate, the one which he had packed himself and which he was refusing to let go.
"Horatio, drop it! We don't have time for this. We can move faster without the crates!" But Horatio gave me one of the steeliest looks that I had ever seen and shook his head. He was determined not to leave behind his precious cargo, and at my words he just doubled his efforts with the crate and ran faster. I didn't have time to fight with him, so I turned to the rest of the crew to tell them to run. However, when I turned around I found that the crew had incapacitated all of the guards and we were alone. The King was nowhere to be seen.
"Alright everyone, let's move! Reinforcements will be here soon, I'm sure. Leave the crates and make a run for it!" I didn't want to take any chances with the crates slowing us down, and I wanted to make sure that everyone got out of this safely. Besides, with the ship captured, what good would it do anyway?
"Hold it!" Boomed a voice from the darkness. It was raining rather heavily now, and visibility was near zero. I heard a figure approaching very quickly, and then something slammed into my chest. The force knocked the wind out of me, and for a moment I lay stunned, but I could see who it was that knocked me down.
"Fernand!" I cried, as he offered a flipper to help me up, "You're okay! The ship--"
"Don't worry! Come on, everyone grab a crate and move it! We don't have much time."
I was stunned, and I didn't fully understand what was happening. Just a second ago we were surrounded and it looked as if we were all going to be locked up for life, and now here we were, running with our prizes through the pouring rain towards the ship. Every crew member had grabbed a dolly and were furiously pushing the carts toward the ship. When we got there I saw Aleister and Horatio already there, both panting. I also saw a number of guards, at least six or seven, tied up to the mast, all unconscious. While the crew were securing the crates below deck, Fernand was busy trying to get the ship away from the bridge and preparing our escape. I turned back towards the library and realized that we were almost out of time.
What I saw advancing towards us was an army. Many of them were carrying torches, including the King, who was in front with his sword drawn. So that was where he had disappeared to! He had not gone to save his skin, as I had supposed, but to summon the reinforcements that were most likely already on their way to destroy the library. Our ship was gradually beginning to leave the bridge, but it was slow moving at first and the army was about to overtake us.
In an instant we found ourselves surrounded by the army. They had crossed the bridge and were flanking us. I saw a unit break off from the main group to go secure the other bridge, which we would have been forced to cross under on our way out of the city. It looked like there was no way out. The King made his way to the middle of the bridge and jumped up on the railing.
"There is going to be no negotiating this time, you fiends! I won't let you get away. Archers, fire!"
Fernand and I, the only two still on the top deck at this point, ducked when we heard the order. As we both slammed onto the deck I could hear the arrows piercing the sides of the boat, and though it seemed like there were hundreds of arrows that hit the ship none of them hit us. Fernand motioned to me to move towards the stairwell, and we began to crawl towards the stairwell so that we could go below deck. Something smelled funny though. Through the rain I could smell something most sinister---fire.
The arrows the army had shot at us were not meant for us specifically--they were meant for the boat. Each arrow was lit with a torch and then fired at our ship. The rain seemed to slow the fire down, though, and with enough time it would put out the fire completely. It looked as if we had enough time to make it below deck, at least. Then we heard the next order.
"Second wave, go!"
Fernand and I stopped in our tracks, reluctant to move until the second wave of arrows had been fired. However, the second wave was not the archers, as before, but something completely different. An explosion rocked the other end of the boat, and the fire began to flare up violently and spread more quickly than before. It looked as if the second wave were throwing some sort of gas balls at our ship, which, when they erupted from the impact of being thrown, exploded from the flaming arrows which were still smoldering throughout the ship. There was an explosion right behind us, and we were thrown towards the stairwell that led below deck.
We were safe for the moment. The ship was rocking with explosions, but would hold for a minute or two. We found the crew all assembled downstairs, running around furiously trying to secure the crates and get all of the work done. The ship began to rock even harder as more gas balls were thrown at it, and then suddenly everything stopped.
"Something bad is about to happen, I just know it" said Fernand, who looked haggard. "We have to get out of here."
"We have to jump!" I said, running over to one of the portholes and prying open the window. "We have to get off this ship! They are going to blow it to smithereens!"
A huge explosion rocked the ship, and the upper portion of the deck was blown away. In an instant most of the crew had jumped out of the portholes scattered around the room. Aleister was stuck in one of the portholes, and I pushed and pushed until he finally squished through. Fernand and Horatio and I were the only ones left in the room when another explosion tore through the ship. We were all thrown to the other side of the boat, where we managed to crawl through the wreckage and into the river. We all sped as fast as we could away from the ship, and when we were about 100 yards down the river we surfaced and turned back. With two more giant explosions the boat exploded into a million pieces, sending pieces of wood flying everyone and a giant fireball into the sky. We could see the King silhouetted against the blast, and his dark figure set against the fire was burned into my memory as we all dove underwater again.
Continue reading Day 32: Alive.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Day 30: All the World's a Stage
Horatio and I were standing in front of the mirror, staring at the strange penguins looking back at us. We were both wrapped almost entirely in black, with only our beaks poking through the fabric. Our white stomachs were entirely camouflaged, and we had long, slender swords hanging from our waist.
"How do we look?" I asked Horatio, who was tugging and pulling at various parts of his outfit.
"We look like we are going to a costume party we forgot about and were forced to use bedsheets as our outfits."
"Well, that's only partly true. Let's go." I said, pushing Horatio out of the window. We couldn't risk going out the front door and being seen by the hotel staff. The road was quiet and dark, with only various patrols wandering around the streets. It was 9:30, and most of the inhabitants of Byrd had sequestered themselves inside their houses to avoid the brutal guards. Very few lights were on in the houses, and we stealthily made our way towards the library. It took us longer than expected to get there, since Horatio was a little slow and extremely frightened of even the slightest sound, but we arrived without any trouble. We could see the boat next to the Erebus Bridge and we made our way towards it.
"Any trouble?" I asked Fernand, who was directing his crew silently around the boat.
"No. Well, not yet. We got some funny looks from the guards when we gave them the papers, but no one stopped us. All the same, we should hurry. If they think to double check the papers..."
"Don't worry about it." I whispered, "we'll have enough time. Come on, Aleister, it's time. Do you have your gun?"
Aleister ran over to me carrying a wicked looking weapon which was attached to a backpack he was wearing. "Do you want I should turn it on?" he asked, all excited and looking like a penguin chick in a krill store.
"No, no! Not yet." I whispered urgently to him, "but be ready if we need you. Is everything ready?" I looked around and the whole crew was waiting near the edge of the boat, each one of them pushing a dolly with a large crate on it. I took the lid off and looked inside. Good. Empty.
"Come on, Horatio! Fernand, if we are not back in forty-five minutes, abandon the boat and go hide somewhere. It's showtime!"
The library was only about one hundred yards from the boat, and I motioned for the whole crew to follow me to the back of the library, away from the street. Horatio and I were leading the group, with Aleister running behind us, trying to keep up. We reached the back of the library where there were two guards stationed. It was dark out, but they were standing under a light and I motioned for everyone to stop. Horatio and I walked into their circle of vision, and they immediately put their weapons up.
"Put your weapons down, you fools!" I hissed at them, stepping menacingly towards them. "You are going to get yourselves killed."
"Identify yourself! Immediately!" said one of the guards, shaking. I could tell that these were newish recruits judging by how jumpy and nervous they were, which meant this might go easier than I thought.
"We are on official business for the King. If you dare to stand in our way, you will be punished."
The guards still didn't lower their weapons, but I could see them glancing at each other questioningly. "We weren't made aware of any business going on tonight. I'm afraid we're going to have to clear this with our supervisor."
I pulled myself up straight and put on the most haughty look I could. "Do you know who we are?" I spat out at them. "We don't go through official channels. We are the King's personal guards, do you understand?"
The guards began to lower their weapons, though it was obvious they were still skeptical. "What business could you have here? You must know that the King intends to--what I mean is, that the library has been declared--well, we have orders from the King himself not to let any books in or out of this place until...well, until the business is finished."
I started laughing at the guards. "Books? You think we care about books? You think that is why there are so many guards around here all the time?" I looked at the guards as if they were simpletons, and walked conspiratorially towards them. "I'll tell you a secret. The books are not why this place has been guarded so heavily. This is." I motioned for Aleister to come forward, and he jumped into the light with his weapon gleaming and his eyes sparkling. I nodded at him, and he flicked a switch on the weapon. It came to life at his touch--humming and sparking, it looked like some angry electrical animal. The guards jumped, and I put my flippers around their shoulders, all friendly like. "Maybe you want a demonstration?"
The guards had been convinced. "No, no. Just...go on and do whatever it is you came for. You'd better hurry though, the demolition team is supposed to be here soon."
I looked at Horatio, who looked back at me in surprise, but he concealed his emotions quickly and nodded. The guards opened the doors for us and I ordered the crates inside.
Once the doors were closed we began our work. Horatio took charge at this point, and ordered the crates to go to specific areas of the library. He had little pieces of paper which he passed out to the penguins who were pushing the crates, indicating where the most valuable books were.
"Once you get these, take whatever you can fit inside the crates. Pack them neatly to make sure we get as many as possible, but hurry! I fear we don't have much time." Horatio took one crate himself and ran to his office, where many of the most rare and expensive books were safely locked away. Aleister had gone with one of the crew members to the science section, and was picking out some of the most important science works in the last decade. Horatio was running around as much as possible, directing the crew and pulling other specific books off the shelves. All in all, the operation took about twenty minutes, and we all gathered back at the back door. The library was more empty than it had been before, but there were still a good number of books on the shelves that we wouldn't be able to save.
Horatio stayed towards the back of the group, looking sadly on all of the books he was forced to leave behind. I knew it was hard for him to choose which ones to take and which ones to leave. I knew it was harder still knowing that this beautiful library was going to be destroyed on the whim of one penguin, one insane, crazy penguin, in order to have complete control over every aspect of penguin life and history. I gently nudged Horatio, who had fallen into deep reverie, and I could see tears at the corners of his eyes. I smiled at him, and he nodded.
"Alright." he said softly, "we can go."
I ran to the head of the group and opened the doors. As I guided the crates out of the library, I noticed that the two guards had left and the light above our heads had been broken. Uh oh, I thought. This can't be a good sign. As we started on our way out of the library, I became aware of a number of guard penguins making a circle around our group. They were all pointing their weapons at us, and there would be no way we would be able to talk our way out of this one. A figure stepped forward and addressed me.
"Well well now! I wasn't expecting you, Drake--although I suppose I should have been. You've been nothing but a nuisance since you got here. Guards!" The King smiled a malicious, evil smile as he took a step towards me. "You're not going anywhere this time!"
Continue reading Day 31: Ambush.
"How do we look?" I asked Horatio, who was tugging and pulling at various parts of his outfit.
"We look like we are going to a costume party we forgot about and were forced to use bedsheets as our outfits."
"Well, that's only partly true. Let's go." I said, pushing Horatio out of the window. We couldn't risk going out the front door and being seen by the hotel staff. The road was quiet and dark, with only various patrols wandering around the streets. It was 9:30, and most of the inhabitants of Byrd had sequestered themselves inside their houses to avoid the brutal guards. Very few lights were on in the houses, and we stealthily made our way towards the library. It took us longer than expected to get there, since Horatio was a little slow and extremely frightened of even the slightest sound, but we arrived without any trouble. We could see the boat next to the Erebus Bridge and we made our way towards it.
"Any trouble?" I asked Fernand, who was directing his crew silently around the boat.
"No. Well, not yet. We got some funny looks from the guards when we gave them the papers, but no one stopped us. All the same, we should hurry. If they think to double check the papers..."
"Don't worry about it." I whispered, "we'll have enough time. Come on, Aleister, it's time. Do you have your gun?"
Aleister ran over to me carrying a wicked looking weapon which was attached to a backpack he was wearing. "Do you want I should turn it on?" he asked, all excited and looking like a penguin chick in a krill store.
"No, no! Not yet." I whispered urgently to him, "but be ready if we need you. Is everything ready?" I looked around and the whole crew was waiting near the edge of the boat, each one of them pushing a dolly with a large crate on it. I took the lid off and looked inside. Good. Empty.
"Come on, Horatio! Fernand, if we are not back in forty-five minutes, abandon the boat and go hide somewhere. It's showtime!"
The library was only about one hundred yards from the boat, and I motioned for the whole crew to follow me to the back of the library, away from the street. Horatio and I were leading the group, with Aleister running behind us, trying to keep up. We reached the back of the library where there were two guards stationed. It was dark out, but they were standing under a light and I motioned for everyone to stop. Horatio and I walked into their circle of vision, and they immediately put their weapons up.
"Put your weapons down, you fools!" I hissed at them, stepping menacingly towards them. "You are going to get yourselves killed."
"Identify yourself! Immediately!" said one of the guards, shaking. I could tell that these were newish recruits judging by how jumpy and nervous they were, which meant this might go easier than I thought.
"We are on official business for the King. If you dare to stand in our way, you will be punished."
The guards still didn't lower their weapons, but I could see them glancing at each other questioningly. "We weren't made aware of any business going on tonight. I'm afraid we're going to have to clear this with our supervisor."
I pulled myself up straight and put on the most haughty look I could. "Do you know who we are?" I spat out at them. "We don't go through official channels. We are the King's personal guards, do you understand?"
The guards began to lower their weapons, though it was obvious they were still skeptical. "What business could you have here? You must know that the King intends to--what I mean is, that the library has been declared--well, we have orders from the King himself not to let any books in or out of this place until...well, until the business is finished."
I started laughing at the guards. "Books? You think we care about books? You think that is why there are so many guards around here all the time?" I looked at the guards as if they were simpletons, and walked conspiratorially towards them. "I'll tell you a secret. The books are not why this place has been guarded so heavily. This is." I motioned for Aleister to come forward, and he jumped into the light with his weapon gleaming and his eyes sparkling. I nodded at him, and he flicked a switch on the weapon. It came to life at his touch--humming and sparking, it looked like some angry electrical animal. The guards jumped, and I put my flippers around their shoulders, all friendly like. "Maybe you want a demonstration?"
The guards had been convinced. "No, no. Just...go on and do whatever it is you came for. You'd better hurry though, the demolition team is supposed to be here soon."
I looked at Horatio, who looked back at me in surprise, but he concealed his emotions quickly and nodded. The guards opened the doors for us and I ordered the crates inside.
Once the doors were closed we began our work. Horatio took charge at this point, and ordered the crates to go to specific areas of the library. He had little pieces of paper which he passed out to the penguins who were pushing the crates, indicating where the most valuable books were.
"Once you get these, take whatever you can fit inside the crates. Pack them neatly to make sure we get as many as possible, but hurry! I fear we don't have much time." Horatio took one crate himself and ran to his office, where many of the most rare and expensive books were safely locked away. Aleister had gone with one of the crew members to the science section, and was picking out some of the most important science works in the last decade. Horatio was running around as much as possible, directing the crew and pulling other specific books off the shelves. All in all, the operation took about twenty minutes, and we all gathered back at the back door. The library was more empty than it had been before, but there were still a good number of books on the shelves that we wouldn't be able to save.
Horatio stayed towards the back of the group, looking sadly on all of the books he was forced to leave behind. I knew it was hard for him to choose which ones to take and which ones to leave. I knew it was harder still knowing that this beautiful library was going to be destroyed on the whim of one penguin, one insane, crazy penguin, in order to have complete control over every aspect of penguin life and history. I gently nudged Horatio, who had fallen into deep reverie, and I could see tears at the corners of his eyes. I smiled at him, and he nodded.
"Alright." he said softly, "we can go."
I ran to the head of the group and opened the doors. As I guided the crates out of the library, I noticed that the two guards had left and the light above our heads had been broken. Uh oh, I thought. This can't be a good sign. As we started on our way out of the library, I became aware of a number of guard penguins making a circle around our group. They were all pointing their weapons at us, and there would be no way we would be able to talk our way out of this one. A figure stepped forward and addressed me.
"Well well now! I wasn't expecting you, Drake--although I suppose I should have been. You've been nothing but a nuisance since you got here. Guards!" The King smiled a malicious, evil smile as he took a step towards me. "You're not going anywhere this time!"
Continue reading Day 31: Ambush.
Day 29: In Motion
I had sent Aleister and Horatio to the market to get supplies for our plans. Fernand and I continued to the secret cave using the river entrance, which I made careful note of and tried my hardest to remember, in case something went wrong with the plan and I needed to escape quickly. When we finally reached the cave I was glad to see that there were many of Fernand's crew there, all busy moving their cargo to and fro. I called out to them, and laid out the plan.
"My friends!" I cried, my voice ringing throughout the large cavern. "You have helped me once before, and now I am calling on your help again. I am on a mission to preserve the history of your great city and to ensure that the tyrannical King is not able to wipe out the culture of this marvelous place." There were some murmurs around the crowd at this, and everyone moved in closer to hear me speak. I was nervous. "I am going to need some help from you. It will be dangerous, but I need five or six volunteers to go with Fernand." Many penguins leapt forward to volunteer, and Fernand chose six of them to go with him. I thanked them, and Fernand turned to me quietly.
"Now, I'm all for this, but where is it that I am leading these penguins? I'm still not clear on what we are doing..."
"Don't worry about it. I need a ship."
Fernand looked and me for a second and laughed. "Oh, yeah, sure. I have my ship parked up right next to the King's Palace, let me go get it for you." He looked at me earnestly and took me aside. "It will take days for me to go get my ship. You don't have the time."
"I know," I said, trying not to meet his eye. "That's why you have to go steal one."
Fernand looked at me blankly for a second, then stepped back, eying me as if I were mad. Which, looking back on this whole thing, perhaps I was. I was anxious to calm him though, and I outlined my plan.
"Listen, there are dockyards down the river a little bit, right? Well, Aleister and Horatio are procuring some fake work orders and are doing a little recon on the docks to see what kind of security they have. Once we meet up with Aleister and Horatio I am going to need you to go get the boat and meet me by the Erebus Bridge--right next to the library. We'll be waiting there for you at ten o'clock."
Fernand looked at me in surprise and nodded, and then broke into a huge grin. "You're all grown up!" he choked out, and he started to fake some tears and tried to grab me in a bear hug. I slipped away from him and went to complete the rest of the plan, while Fernand gathered his team to brief them.
.....
It was seven o'clock. Time to meet Horatio and Aleister, hopefully back from the market with a ton of supplies. Fernand and I went to meet them, and we found them at the rendezvous point we had agreed on earlier that day. Horatio looked rather frazzled, while Aleister was wandering in small circles mumbling to himself. Horatio saw us first and ran towards me.
"Ah! My friend!" He turned back and looked at Aleister and lowered his voice. "I hope you are not going to leave me with him again, are you?" We both turned to look at Aleister, who was now shouting something about equations at the top of his lungs while Fernand rushed over to shush him. Poor Horatio.
"Did you get all of the supplies?" I asked, looking anxiously around. Horatio was only carrying a small bag, and Aleister only had his backpack on.
"Oh yes, everything is fine. We sent it down to the docks, where they are locked up and waiting for someone to come pick them up. Oh yes, here are your documents." Horatio handed me the bag, looking a little sheepish. "You know, it's very interesting. Documents of these kind are very hard to procure, you know." He cleared his throat and looked at the ground.
I suddenly became very nervous. "What do you mean? You were able to get the work orders I asked for, right?" If we didn't have the work orders to take the ship, then the whole plan would be ruined. We couldn't risk stealing a ship right out of the Royal Shipyards, we would be caught almost instantly and would have no way to transport the books to safety.
"Well, here's the thing. Actually, no, we weren't. We don't have any work orders. I am so sorry! I am not the right kind of person to go on these missions, looking for black markets and such, I just am not a street-wise penguin, you know!" He looked pleadingly at me, and I sighed and looked in the bag. I pulled out some pieces of paper and looked at them intently.
"But Horatio, what's this?" I cried, looking at the paper, which looked very much like what I thought a work order would look like.
"Alright, alright. We were cataloging books about five years ago when I came across a whole book full of bureaucratic paperwork from the 1400's. They were very interesting to read, you know, full of names of ships and signatures from all sorts of different penguins. Anyway, I recreated one of those work orders and forged some signatures and changed some dates, and viola! A custom work order, just for you."
"But Horatio, those documents you read in the library were over two hundred years old! They have probably changed forms and such by now." I looked at Horatio, who was still embarrassed at his failure and staring at his feet. I looked at my watch. Seven thirty. We didn't have much time.
"Alright, they will have to do. Fernand, here are your papers." I handed the papers to Fernand, who was trying to steer Aleister towards us. Fernand looked at the papers suspiciously, and then shrugged and put them in his bag.
"All right!" I said, meeting the expectant looks of the group. "Fernand, good luck. Don't forget to pick up the supplies at the storage shed. Aleister has the keys to get them out."
Fernand looked at Aleister, who was intently staring at the key and not moving. Fernand sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "I guess that means he's coming with me, huh? Don't look so happy, Horatio."
I wished everyone good luck and pulled Horatio away. "Time to get into costume!" I said, pulling Horatio into the hotel room. "We have to look the part!"
Continue reading Day 30: All the World's a Stage.
"My friends!" I cried, my voice ringing throughout the large cavern. "You have helped me once before, and now I am calling on your help again. I am on a mission to preserve the history of your great city and to ensure that the tyrannical King is not able to wipe out the culture of this marvelous place." There were some murmurs around the crowd at this, and everyone moved in closer to hear me speak. I was nervous. "I am going to need some help from you. It will be dangerous, but I need five or six volunteers to go with Fernand." Many penguins leapt forward to volunteer, and Fernand chose six of them to go with him. I thanked them, and Fernand turned to me quietly.
"Now, I'm all for this, but where is it that I am leading these penguins? I'm still not clear on what we are doing..."
"Don't worry about it. I need a ship."
Fernand looked and me for a second and laughed. "Oh, yeah, sure. I have my ship parked up right next to the King's Palace, let me go get it for you." He looked at me earnestly and took me aside. "It will take days for me to go get my ship. You don't have the time."
"I know," I said, trying not to meet his eye. "That's why you have to go steal one."
Fernand looked at me blankly for a second, then stepped back, eying me as if I were mad. Which, looking back on this whole thing, perhaps I was. I was anxious to calm him though, and I outlined my plan.
"Listen, there are dockyards down the river a little bit, right? Well, Aleister and Horatio are procuring some fake work orders and are doing a little recon on the docks to see what kind of security they have. Once we meet up with Aleister and Horatio I am going to need you to go get the boat and meet me by the Erebus Bridge--right next to the library. We'll be waiting there for you at ten o'clock."
Fernand looked at me in surprise and nodded, and then broke into a huge grin. "You're all grown up!" he choked out, and he started to fake some tears and tried to grab me in a bear hug. I slipped away from him and went to complete the rest of the plan, while Fernand gathered his team to brief them.
.....
It was seven o'clock. Time to meet Horatio and Aleister, hopefully back from the market with a ton of supplies. Fernand and I went to meet them, and we found them at the rendezvous point we had agreed on earlier that day. Horatio looked rather frazzled, while Aleister was wandering in small circles mumbling to himself. Horatio saw us first and ran towards me.
"Ah! My friend!" He turned back and looked at Aleister and lowered his voice. "I hope you are not going to leave me with him again, are you?" We both turned to look at Aleister, who was now shouting something about equations at the top of his lungs while Fernand rushed over to shush him. Poor Horatio.
"Did you get all of the supplies?" I asked, looking anxiously around. Horatio was only carrying a small bag, and Aleister only had his backpack on.
"Oh yes, everything is fine. We sent it down to the docks, where they are locked up and waiting for someone to come pick them up. Oh yes, here are your documents." Horatio handed me the bag, looking a little sheepish. "You know, it's very interesting. Documents of these kind are very hard to procure, you know." He cleared his throat and looked at the ground.
I suddenly became very nervous. "What do you mean? You were able to get the work orders I asked for, right?" If we didn't have the work orders to take the ship, then the whole plan would be ruined. We couldn't risk stealing a ship right out of the Royal Shipyards, we would be caught almost instantly and would have no way to transport the books to safety.
"Well, here's the thing. Actually, no, we weren't. We don't have any work orders. I am so sorry! I am not the right kind of person to go on these missions, looking for black markets and such, I just am not a street-wise penguin, you know!" He looked pleadingly at me, and I sighed and looked in the bag. I pulled out some pieces of paper and looked at them intently.
"But Horatio, what's this?" I cried, looking at the paper, which looked very much like what I thought a work order would look like.
"Alright, alright. We were cataloging books about five years ago when I came across a whole book full of bureaucratic paperwork from the 1400's. They were very interesting to read, you know, full of names of ships and signatures from all sorts of different penguins. Anyway, I recreated one of those work orders and forged some signatures and changed some dates, and viola! A custom work order, just for you."
"But Horatio, those documents you read in the library were over two hundred years old! They have probably changed forms and such by now." I looked at Horatio, who was still embarrassed at his failure and staring at his feet. I looked at my watch. Seven thirty. We didn't have much time.
"Alright, they will have to do. Fernand, here are your papers." I handed the papers to Fernand, who was trying to steer Aleister towards us. Fernand looked at the papers suspiciously, and then shrugged and put them in his bag.
"All right!" I said, meeting the expectant looks of the group. "Fernand, good luck. Don't forget to pick up the supplies at the storage shed. Aleister has the keys to get them out."
Fernand looked at Aleister, who was intently staring at the key and not moving. Fernand sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "I guess that means he's coming with me, huh? Don't look so happy, Horatio."
I wished everyone good luck and pulled Horatio away. "Time to get into costume!" I said, pulling Horatio into the hotel room. "We have to look the part!"
Continue reading Day 30: All the World's a Stage.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Day 28: Help
I outlined the plan I had in my head to Horatio. At first he wasn't convinced, but it was the best thing either one of us could think up in such a short time. Horatio's sources had implied that the assault on the library would happen in two days, so we had almost no time to come up with something better. I couldn't really count on Azumi's help anyway, since she had disappeared after our meeting in the bar. We were going to need some additional help with the plan though, and with that in mind I decided to try and find the cave that Fernand had hidden me in after my escape with the law. I decided to try my luck with the river, even though I wasn't exactly sure that I would be able to find it again. First we stopped by the hotel, since I needed to pick up a couple of supplies. I returned to find Aleister alone, tinkering with various objects on the bed with his new library book propped up in front of him. He was deeply absorbed with whatever he was doing when Horatio and I walked in.
"Aleister, are you doing alright?" I asked him, wondering what trouble he had been getting into since the ninjas left. Aleister nodded imperceptibly, and pointed to the closet. Horatio and I both looked at each other in surprise, but Aleister still didn't say anything and kept pointing his flipper towards the closet. Horatio and I slowly started to walk towards the closet door. There was some rustling inside and we all froze, but the noise was barely perceptible and it soon stopped, so we continued on our way. I grabbed a lamp to use as a weapon, and I held it above my head and motioned for Horatio to open the door quickly. He nodded, and lunged towards the door and I made ready to bash someone's head in.
"Wait, wait!" came a familiar voice which I couldn't place just yet. In my effort to stop the downward force of the lamp I fell backwards with a loud crash, and the penguin from inside the closet came bounding out. It was Fernand! I was so surprised by this unexpected face that I nearly fell over again.
"F...Fernand!" I cried, grabbing him by his flipper, just to make sure he was real, "what are you doing here? How did you know...what...I'm so surprised!"
Fernand started laughing. "I can see that! I'm sorry I startled you, but that wasn't my intent. Your friend here" he gestured to Aleister "told me that you should be coming back soon, but I wasn't sure it was you I heard coming down the hallway so I hid, just in case. Actually, I was looking for Azumi, is she not with you?"
I filled Fernnad in on what had happened at the bar and how Azumi had become so upset and just left in a hurry. Fernand nodded seriously, but he didn't look surprised.
"Azumi parted on bad terms with her father." He said, obviously not wanting to talk about it too much. "She probably feels guilty about what happened to him, being arrested and all. Anyway, what are you up to?"
I realized that I hadn't told Fernand about Horatio yet, and about my plan to help save the books from the library. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Fernand, this is..."
"Horatio!" yelled Fernand, turning around and grabbing Horatio and hugging him tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long! How are you doing?"
"Ah, Fernand! I'm so glad you are safe! You know, everyone worries about you. Secretly, maybe, but they still do worry."
I was shocked. "How do you two know each other?!" I cried, realizing that I could never keep up with everyone here. Fernand must know the entire population of Byrd!
"We're related." explained Horatio, looking a little sheepish. "We're cousins, once removed. Or something of that sort, I don't really remember how it all works. My grandfather was King Edward, the penguin who established the library I am now trying to save."
"That's right" said Fernand, looking at Horatio. "King Edward was my great grandfather, although I never really knew him. He died before I was born. Anyway, I don't get to see much family anyway, on account of being an outlaw and Arthur trying to kill me. You know. It makes for awkward family times."
Horatio and Fernand looked at each other and started laughing. Maybe I just wasn't getting it, or maybe I was more worried about the plans we had to complete that night. I cut right to the chase.
"Fernand, we need to save the library. Arthur is going to destroy it soon, and Horatio needs our help to save some of the most important pieces of penguin literature. I need you to show me where the secret cave is, because we're going to need some help."
Everyone became very serious. "I understand." said Fernand, gathering himself up and assuming a stern expression on his face. "We should get going then. What about your friend?"
We all simultaneously turned towards Aleister, who was still sitting on the bed in the same position he had been in when we walked in, completely oblivious to the conversation we had just had.
"We should leave him here." I said, not wanting to have to watch him. However, Aleister had other plans. At these words he jumped up and nearly tackled me.
"Let me come with you!" he said, pleading and grabbing at me like a small chick, "I don't want to stay here! I want to see the city! I want to see the sights!"
"Well, you know it's not exactly going to be a walk in the park, Aleister. We have work to do."
"Yes, work! I like working, I can help! I want to help save the books too. This one is most interesting!" He held up the library book he had stolen, showing us all the marks and corrections he had been making to the book. Horatio let out a little yelp and ran to take the book from Aleister.
"What have you done? You are not allowed to write on the books, sir!"
Aleister shrugged and sat down on the bed, gathering up his electrical components. "I didn't have any paper for notes! Where else was I supposed to write down my ideas?" He snatched the book back out of Horatio's flippers and put it in his bag.
"Well, that's one last book we don't have to try and get out." I said, trying to herd everyone towards the door. "Let's get moving."
And so we left the hotel again, with one more ally on our side. We could have really used Azumi on this mission, but who knows where she is. And if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. We all followed Fernand to the underground cave, ready to set my plan in motion.
Continue reading Day 29: In Motion.
"Aleister, are you doing alright?" I asked him, wondering what trouble he had been getting into since the ninjas left. Aleister nodded imperceptibly, and pointed to the closet. Horatio and I both looked at each other in surprise, but Aleister still didn't say anything and kept pointing his flipper towards the closet. Horatio and I slowly started to walk towards the closet door. There was some rustling inside and we all froze, but the noise was barely perceptible and it soon stopped, so we continued on our way. I grabbed a lamp to use as a weapon, and I held it above my head and motioned for Horatio to open the door quickly. He nodded, and lunged towards the door and I made ready to bash someone's head in.
"Wait, wait!" came a familiar voice which I couldn't place just yet. In my effort to stop the downward force of the lamp I fell backwards with a loud crash, and the penguin from inside the closet came bounding out. It was Fernand! I was so surprised by this unexpected face that I nearly fell over again.
"F...Fernand!" I cried, grabbing him by his flipper, just to make sure he was real, "what are you doing here? How did you know...what...I'm so surprised!"
Fernand started laughing. "I can see that! I'm sorry I startled you, but that wasn't my intent. Your friend here" he gestured to Aleister "told me that you should be coming back soon, but I wasn't sure it was you I heard coming down the hallway so I hid, just in case. Actually, I was looking for Azumi, is she not with you?"
I filled Fernnad in on what had happened at the bar and how Azumi had become so upset and just left in a hurry. Fernand nodded seriously, but he didn't look surprised.
"Azumi parted on bad terms with her father." He said, obviously not wanting to talk about it too much. "She probably feels guilty about what happened to him, being arrested and all. Anyway, what are you up to?"
I realized that I hadn't told Fernand about Horatio yet, and about my plan to help save the books from the library. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Fernand, this is..."
"Horatio!" yelled Fernand, turning around and grabbing Horatio and hugging him tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long! How are you doing?"
"Ah, Fernand! I'm so glad you are safe! You know, everyone worries about you. Secretly, maybe, but they still do worry."
I was shocked. "How do you two know each other?!" I cried, realizing that I could never keep up with everyone here. Fernand must know the entire population of Byrd!
"We're related." explained Horatio, looking a little sheepish. "We're cousins, once removed. Or something of that sort, I don't really remember how it all works. My grandfather was King Edward, the penguin who established the library I am now trying to save."
"That's right" said Fernand, looking at Horatio. "King Edward was my great grandfather, although I never really knew him. He died before I was born. Anyway, I don't get to see much family anyway, on account of being an outlaw and Arthur trying to kill me. You know. It makes for awkward family times."
Horatio and Fernand looked at each other and started laughing. Maybe I just wasn't getting it, or maybe I was more worried about the plans we had to complete that night. I cut right to the chase.
"Fernand, we need to save the library. Arthur is going to destroy it soon, and Horatio needs our help to save some of the most important pieces of penguin literature. I need you to show me where the secret cave is, because we're going to need some help."
Everyone became very serious. "I understand." said Fernand, gathering himself up and assuming a stern expression on his face. "We should get going then. What about your friend?"
We all simultaneously turned towards Aleister, who was still sitting on the bed in the same position he had been in when we walked in, completely oblivious to the conversation we had just had.
"We should leave him here." I said, not wanting to have to watch him. However, Aleister had other plans. At these words he jumped up and nearly tackled me.
"Let me come with you!" he said, pleading and grabbing at me like a small chick, "I don't want to stay here! I want to see the city! I want to see the sights!"
"Well, you know it's not exactly going to be a walk in the park, Aleister. We have work to do."
"Yes, work! I like working, I can help! I want to help save the books too. This one is most interesting!" He held up the library book he had stolen, showing us all the marks and corrections he had been making to the book. Horatio let out a little yelp and ran to take the book from Aleister.
"What have you done? You are not allowed to write on the books, sir!"
Aleister shrugged and sat down on the bed, gathering up his electrical components. "I didn't have any paper for notes! Where else was I supposed to write down my ideas?" He snatched the book back out of Horatio's flippers and put it in his bag.
"Well, that's one last book we don't have to try and get out." I said, trying to herd everyone towards the door. "Let's get moving."
And so we left the hotel again, with one more ally on our side. We could have really used Azumi on this mission, but who knows where she is. And if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. We all followed Fernand to the underground cave, ready to set my plan in motion.
Continue reading Day 29: In Motion.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Day 27: A Plan
Aleister and I had a couple of hours to kill before the others showed up, since our mission had hit an unexpected snag and we had to return early. I was impatient to tell Azumi about what we had learned from Horatio, but I was also glad that she wasn't here so that she wouldn't find out Aleister had left the hotel room. I took a nap for a couple of hours before the rest of the team returned.
"Nice to find you were productive today." said Azumi, entering the room from the window and finding me fast asleep on the nice, comfy beds. "I'm glad I didn't have to, you know, work or anything."
"Don't worry Azumi! We..I mean I did what you wanted us..I mean me to do. That's right, I went to the library, all by myself, and talked to Horatio just like you asked me to. Well, mostly."
"Alright then, what did you find out? Did he tell you what is going on around here?"
"Well no. The library had been taken over by the military, and Horatio was afraid to talk under the circumstances." I told her all about the guards at the library and how Horatio wanted to meet her later that evening.
"That's fine." Azumi said, looking abstractedly around the room. "I...well, I found where my father was being kept."
"Oh, that's great!" I said, "Did you find out why he had been imprisoned?"
"Sort of. The King is rounding up all sorts of penguins and imprisoning them under false pretenses, just to get them out of the way. I don't know why he has targeting specific groups though...but we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, he's being held at the Tower of Byrd."
I nearly choked. "The Tower? That place is huge! It's a fortress! It's where...it's where they execute people!" Once again I was forced to remember that awful place where I almost lost my head. I do not like this city.
"Well, we'll talk about that later. Let's go meet Horatio. Come on Drake, we'll go. Everyone else stay here, we'll be back soon."
We left the hotel again, I by the front door and Azumi out the window. She met me on the street and we walked towards the pub that Horatio had told me about earlier that day. Azumi didn't speak much during our walk, and I could see that she was worried about her father. What could he have done that landed him in the Tower? I wondered. I suppose almost anything these days will land you in trouble, especially if he is as hard headed as she is. Maybe he used to be a ninja like her. Maybe we are all in danger.
Eventually we reached the pub that Horatio had told me about. It looked deserted from the outside--the windows were dirty and there were only a couple of very drunk and sad looking penguins sitting at the bar who turned and looked at us when we walked in. They sized up Azumi, looked at me, and then turned back to their drinks. The bartender, a very inquisitive looking fellow, asked us if we would like a drink. We both sat down at the bar, as far away from the other patrons as possible.
"Um, well, we might have the wrong place." I stammered, looking at all of the empty booths. "You see, we're waiting for a friend, and he said he'd be here."
"Oh yeah?" asked the bartender, leaning in closely and for some reason lowering his voice. "Tell me, what's your friend's name? I might have seen him around here."
"Um, well, it's Horatio. He works on the other side of town. He said he would meet us here, but..."
"I'll take you to him. Follow me, and be quiet about it."
The bartender filled up the other patrons glasses and then slipped around to the other side of the bar. He motioned for us to follow him, and he led us down a dark pathway that eventually came to some stairs. He led the way down until we came to a large wooden door. He took some keys out of his pocket and opened the door, and to my amazement the room inside was brightly lit and full of penguins, all drinking and playing games and laughing. It was such an astonishing sight, coming from that miserable bar upstairs, that I stopped in my tracks, but the bartender was forging his way through the crowd and Azumi started pushing me.
"Here you go, fellows," said the barmen, leading us to a more secluded part of the room where there were private booths, "have a nice night."
Horatio was sitting in one of the booths, anxiously watching the crowd. When he saw us approach he began smiling and waving for us to come over.
"Sorry about all of the secrecy and whatnot, I should have told you about all that, ha ha! But the government's got an eye on everybody around here, so we have to be extra careful where we spend our time. They don't know about this place though, well, I hope they don't." Horatio took some sips out of his glass and motioned the waiter over. "Come come! Some spirits for everyone, my good sir, for we are saved!" He seemed to be talking rather fast, and I could see that he wasn't entirely sober. The waiter brought us some drinks, and Horatio toasted Azumi and I. Azumi, however, didn't touch her drink, and she looked like she was ready to get down to business.
"So, Horatio, how have you been?" Azumi asked him, evidently wanting the start the conversation.
"Oh well, you know. Things have been getting pretty tight around here. Arthur is becoming nearly intolerable! Always sending guards and the like over to my library to take some book or the other. He says that they are dangerous. Don't want to give anyone any ideas about anything. Lately, though, he's been sending more and more guards over to my library, and they are harassing the patrons! They stay all day now," Horatio started gesturing to me at this point, "you saw how they are! Looking at everything. Writing down names. Various students have gone missing from the University, and now penguins are too terrified to visit the library any more." Horatio wrung his flippers very anxiously. He was obviously very upset about the state of affairs, and he plainly showed his concern in his face.
"I'm sorry that's happening to you, Horatio. I don't mean to sound crass, but a couple of books missing from the library isn't exactly something you need to call out the cavalry for, though. It's unfortunate, but you have to see the bigger picture here. There are people who need our help, Horatio." Azumi started to get up from the booth, and motioned me to follow her. I was surprised; usually she had more patience for this sort of thing. She must really be worried about her father. It was starting to cloud her judgment.
"Wait, wait!" cried Horatio, grabbing at her. He looked imploringly at me, since I hadn't moved, and Azumi glanced at me. I asked her to sit down, just for a minute, and she grudgingly obeyed. "I need to tell you the rest! Azumi, please, you have to listen. Okay, ready? I have learned, through various highly placed contacts, that Arthur is planning on destroying my library. Can you believe it! My library, which his Grandfather King Edward the III built, is going to be destroyed!" Horatio blurted out all of this information and held his head in his flippers, shaking back and forth.
"But why?" I cried, trying to console Horatio, who was incredibly upset. I stole a glance over at Azumi, who was looking at Horatio but seemed disinterested.
"Arthur says that the books are a nuisance, that penguins are wasting their lives hidden inside of books instead of being out in the world, doing something, or in this case fighting the Seals. That's what he really wants. The reality of the situation, though, is that Arthur wants to rewrite history. And who will stop him if no one remembers what really happened? Oh please, Azumi, they are going to take everything, the histories, the fictions, the works of philosophy, everything! I need you to help me!"
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Azumi asked angrily, suddenly turning on Horatio with flashing eyes, "why am I supposed to be the one who has to help everybody? I hate the King as much as anyone, yet everyone has to come to me with all of their problems with him. Maybe someone else should try and fight him! I have problems I need to attend to as well. I have to go." She got up suddenly, looked at both of us very quickly and then sprinted out of the room. We were both so shocked that neither one of us moved for a minute.
"Oh, I didn't mean...well, I didn't know that she...oh, I'm so sorry!" said Horatio, who was shaking with embarrassment. "She's right, it is my problem. I...have to find...I have to deal with it myself." I could see Horatio trying to build up as much courage as he could. "Perhaps I could write a letter to the King, explaining everything. Perhaps I could write a letter to the editor, or...oh, I am so hopeless with these things." Horatio sank down on the table and hid his head in his flippers again.
My brain began to reel in terror as I thought of the King destroying all of those wonderful books. The history books! I wanted to read all of them and learn as much as I could about the history of Byrd! And the philosophy books! I wanted to read about all of the different theories that the Kingdom's brightest penguins had thought of. And the works of fiction! They must be so different than what I was used to in my day. I wanted to find out all of this. I needed to learn everything I could about this culture, and I wasn't about to let the largest store of knowledge be destroyed.
I stood up quickly at the table, startling Horatio, as well as a couple of other patrons who were sitting around us. "Come on, Horatio!" I yelled at him, grabbing him and dragging him out of the booth, "I will find a way to help you! I think I know just the thing!" And yanking Horatio to his feet I began to push him towards the door. It was still early in the evening, and I had an idea!
Continue reading Day 28: Help.
"Nice to find you were productive today." said Azumi, entering the room from the window and finding me fast asleep on the nice, comfy beds. "I'm glad I didn't have to, you know, work or anything."
"Don't worry Azumi! We..I mean I did what you wanted us..I mean me to do. That's right, I went to the library, all by myself, and talked to Horatio just like you asked me to. Well, mostly."
"Alright then, what did you find out? Did he tell you what is going on around here?"
"Well no. The library had been taken over by the military, and Horatio was afraid to talk under the circumstances." I told her all about the guards at the library and how Horatio wanted to meet her later that evening.
"That's fine." Azumi said, looking abstractedly around the room. "I...well, I found where my father was being kept."
"Oh, that's great!" I said, "Did you find out why he had been imprisoned?"
"Sort of. The King is rounding up all sorts of penguins and imprisoning them under false pretenses, just to get them out of the way. I don't know why he has targeting specific groups though...but we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, he's being held at the Tower of Byrd."
I nearly choked. "The Tower? That place is huge! It's a fortress! It's where...it's where they execute people!" Once again I was forced to remember that awful place where I almost lost my head. I do not like this city.
"Well, we'll talk about that later. Let's go meet Horatio. Come on Drake, we'll go. Everyone else stay here, we'll be back soon."
We left the hotel again, I by the front door and Azumi out the window. She met me on the street and we walked towards the pub that Horatio had told me about earlier that day. Azumi didn't speak much during our walk, and I could see that she was worried about her father. What could he have done that landed him in the Tower? I wondered. I suppose almost anything these days will land you in trouble, especially if he is as hard headed as she is. Maybe he used to be a ninja like her. Maybe we are all in danger.
Eventually we reached the pub that Horatio had told me about. It looked deserted from the outside--the windows were dirty and there were only a couple of very drunk and sad looking penguins sitting at the bar who turned and looked at us when we walked in. They sized up Azumi, looked at me, and then turned back to their drinks. The bartender, a very inquisitive looking fellow, asked us if we would like a drink. We both sat down at the bar, as far away from the other patrons as possible.
"Um, well, we might have the wrong place." I stammered, looking at all of the empty booths. "You see, we're waiting for a friend, and he said he'd be here."
"Oh yeah?" asked the bartender, leaning in closely and for some reason lowering his voice. "Tell me, what's your friend's name? I might have seen him around here."
"Um, well, it's Horatio. He works on the other side of town. He said he would meet us here, but..."
"I'll take you to him. Follow me, and be quiet about it."
The bartender filled up the other patrons glasses and then slipped around to the other side of the bar. He motioned for us to follow him, and he led us down a dark pathway that eventually came to some stairs. He led the way down until we came to a large wooden door. He took some keys out of his pocket and opened the door, and to my amazement the room inside was brightly lit and full of penguins, all drinking and playing games and laughing. It was such an astonishing sight, coming from that miserable bar upstairs, that I stopped in my tracks, but the bartender was forging his way through the crowd and Azumi started pushing me.
"Here you go, fellows," said the barmen, leading us to a more secluded part of the room where there were private booths, "have a nice night."
Horatio was sitting in one of the booths, anxiously watching the crowd. When he saw us approach he began smiling and waving for us to come over.
"Sorry about all of the secrecy and whatnot, I should have told you about all that, ha ha! But the government's got an eye on everybody around here, so we have to be extra careful where we spend our time. They don't know about this place though, well, I hope they don't." Horatio took some sips out of his glass and motioned the waiter over. "Come come! Some spirits for everyone, my good sir, for we are saved!" He seemed to be talking rather fast, and I could see that he wasn't entirely sober. The waiter brought us some drinks, and Horatio toasted Azumi and I. Azumi, however, didn't touch her drink, and she looked like she was ready to get down to business.
"So, Horatio, how have you been?" Azumi asked him, evidently wanting the start the conversation.
"Oh well, you know. Things have been getting pretty tight around here. Arthur is becoming nearly intolerable! Always sending guards and the like over to my library to take some book or the other. He says that they are dangerous. Don't want to give anyone any ideas about anything. Lately, though, he's been sending more and more guards over to my library, and they are harassing the patrons! They stay all day now," Horatio started gesturing to me at this point, "you saw how they are! Looking at everything. Writing down names. Various students have gone missing from the University, and now penguins are too terrified to visit the library any more." Horatio wrung his flippers very anxiously. He was obviously very upset about the state of affairs, and he plainly showed his concern in his face.
"I'm sorry that's happening to you, Horatio. I don't mean to sound crass, but a couple of books missing from the library isn't exactly something you need to call out the cavalry for, though. It's unfortunate, but you have to see the bigger picture here. There are people who need our help, Horatio." Azumi started to get up from the booth, and motioned me to follow her. I was surprised; usually she had more patience for this sort of thing. She must really be worried about her father. It was starting to cloud her judgment.
"Wait, wait!" cried Horatio, grabbing at her. He looked imploringly at me, since I hadn't moved, and Azumi glanced at me. I asked her to sit down, just for a minute, and she grudgingly obeyed. "I need to tell you the rest! Azumi, please, you have to listen. Okay, ready? I have learned, through various highly placed contacts, that Arthur is planning on destroying my library. Can you believe it! My library, which his Grandfather King Edward the III built, is going to be destroyed!" Horatio blurted out all of this information and held his head in his flippers, shaking back and forth.
"But why?" I cried, trying to console Horatio, who was incredibly upset. I stole a glance over at Azumi, who was looking at Horatio but seemed disinterested.
"Arthur says that the books are a nuisance, that penguins are wasting their lives hidden inside of books instead of being out in the world, doing something, or in this case fighting the Seals. That's what he really wants. The reality of the situation, though, is that Arthur wants to rewrite history. And who will stop him if no one remembers what really happened? Oh please, Azumi, they are going to take everything, the histories, the fictions, the works of philosophy, everything! I need you to help me!"
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Azumi asked angrily, suddenly turning on Horatio with flashing eyes, "why am I supposed to be the one who has to help everybody? I hate the King as much as anyone, yet everyone has to come to me with all of their problems with him. Maybe someone else should try and fight him! I have problems I need to attend to as well. I have to go." She got up suddenly, looked at both of us very quickly and then sprinted out of the room. We were both so shocked that neither one of us moved for a minute.
"Oh, I didn't mean...well, I didn't know that she...oh, I'm so sorry!" said Horatio, who was shaking with embarrassment. "She's right, it is my problem. I...have to find...I have to deal with it myself." I could see Horatio trying to build up as much courage as he could. "Perhaps I could write a letter to the King, explaining everything. Perhaps I could write a letter to the editor, or...oh, I am so hopeless with these things." Horatio sank down on the table and hid his head in his flippers again.
My brain began to reel in terror as I thought of the King destroying all of those wonderful books. The history books! I wanted to read all of them and learn as much as I could about the history of Byrd! And the philosophy books! I wanted to read about all of the different theories that the Kingdom's brightest penguins had thought of. And the works of fiction! They must be so different than what I was used to in my day. I wanted to find out all of this. I needed to learn everything I could about this culture, and I wasn't about to let the largest store of knowledge be destroyed.
I stood up quickly at the table, startling Horatio, as well as a couple of other patrons who were sitting around us. "Come on, Horatio!" I yelled at him, grabbing him and dragging him out of the booth, "I will find a way to help you! I think I know just the thing!" And yanking Horatio to his feet I began to push him towards the door. It was still early in the evening, and I had an idea!
Continue reading Day 28: Help.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Found: Between Pages
Note written on back: Here is Horatio Longbottom, the Kingdom Book Master. This portrait shows him when he is calm--he is a very studious and learned penguin and wants nothing more than to spend all day surrounded by his books doing research. However, what this picture does not show is the feisty nature that emerges when his books are threatened. I witnessed that trait firsthand. Available at the Museum for purchase.
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