(Warning: This chapter contains violent, and bloody themes.)
Emma looked around desperately she was in a tiny cage, surrounded by darkness.
Not again. She thought, a horrible feeling in her stomach. She started to rattle the cage bar but she drew back in a scream pain. She looked down at her flippers, and they burned as if some had coated them in acid. She tried to heal them but she just couldn't. Suddenly, lights came on all around her, and Doctor Blowhole was standing in the middle of a room, with Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private strapped to a table. She tried to close her eyes, or turn her head away but she couldn't do that either. The pain in her flippers was intensifying.
"Welcome back Emma." Dr Blowhole said,a devious grin spreading across his face.
"This isn't real, this isn't real." Emma whispered to herself.
"You still have to watch though." Blowhole remarked, showing his teeth. He went up to Skipper and took a knife out. Emma gasped in horror as he cut off Skipper's flipper. Skipper flinched in pain and closed his eyes. Blowhole went over to Rico and cut at his foot. Rico made a very un-penguin like growl of pain. Emma's eyes started filling with tears.
"STOP IT YOU MONSTER!" She screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.
"Oh, but I've only just begun." Blowhole replied, evilly, walking over to Kowalski and slicing down his side. Kowalski let out a gasp of pain, and fear was in his eyes.
"This isn't real." Emma reminded herself, trying to wipe away her tears.
"Maybe not Emma, but this will happen someday, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, and it's someday soon, this is just your brain's way of telling you it's coming, you should be thankful actually." Blowhole said, strolling over to Private slowly.
"No, I'll never let this happen!" Emma replied, determinedly. "My brain's just being stupid, and giving me nightmares for no reason."
"You really think so?" Blowhole commented skeptically, as he plunged the knife into Privates stomach.
Emma woke up in a hot sweat. Her breathing was shallow, and quick, and she had been crying. She looked around her hastily, and saw she was in her bed. Her breathing calmed down a little when she fully realised she was awake. She scanned the area to check for any unfriendly brains. It was clear.
I can't go back to sleep, I know I can't She thought sadly. She checked the time, and it was 5am. I'll read a book. She decided, getting her drawstring bag out. As she pulled out a book, she realised one of her hundreds of stuffed toys she had in the bag had came out with it. She looked at the toy, and recognised it instantly. It was her purple rabbit, Flopsy, that Skipper had gave to her when she was born. She looked at it lovingly, and sat it next to her in the bunk. She then looked at the book she had pulled out. It was one of the fairy books she liked collecting. She read the front. Ruby, the Red fairy, I remember this one. She thought, and opened it up. She spent a good hour or two, reading a few of these books. Around 7am she felt sleepy again, but she was scared to go back sleep. Emma you have to go back to sleep, or you won't get through tomorrow. Well today technically. She thought, sadly. She closed her eyes and fell back into her nightmare.
At 11:45 am, she woke up again. Her eyes, and face was so wet with tears, she felt like someone had thrown water on her face. She stumbled out of bed and walked over to the team shakily. She noticed that Private was still asleep.
"Hey, Em did you sleep wel- oh my gosh are you ok?" Kowalski asked, suddenly looking really worried. Emma couldn't even manage words, and she burst into tears. Kowalski hugged her immediately, trying to calm her down.
"Las- last nights was the wo- worst it's ever been." She stammered in a whisper. "I- I kept saying it wasn't real but it di- didn't help." She added, still crying. Kowalski kept hugging her gently, resisting the urge to stroke her hair feathers. Eventually she calmed down, and she pulled away. "Thanks Kowalski." She said, smiling at him shyly.
"Anytime Em." He answered, going a bit red. Emma sat down on the cinder-block table, and made herself a love smoothie. (Private had told her the secret recipe) She sighed, and looked around at her team. They were all looking at her worriedly. Behind her she heard a noise, and she realised that Private was waking up.
"Morning everyone." He yawned. His eyes fell on Emma, and they widened in surprise. He ran over to her, and sat down beside her, looking at her with concern.
"Hey Private." She said forcing a smile.
"What I told you yesterday didn't help did it?" Private asked, holding her flippers. Emma shook her head sadly. He embraced her in a tight long hug, and stroked her hair gently. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, pulling away. Emma shook her head.
"Not now, and not today, maybe one day when these nightmares stop." Emma replied, taking a sip out of the love smoothie. She got out her sketch book, and started drawing.
"How much stuff have you got in there sis?" Skipper asked.
"Oh, way too much stuff to count." Emma answered, starting to smile. "I've got tons of stuffed toys in here, lots of art stuff, and even a laptop, and a Nintendo Ds, I think."
"eally?!Hatsool." (Really?! That's cool.) Rico remarked, gobbling two fish in one.
"Yuppers." Emma replied, feeling more cheerful. They watched Tv for a bit, and then they went up to training.
"Ok so today, we're working on avoiding flying objects, so I'm going to put a tennis ball machine on, and give you all a tennis racket. If you hit the ball back, or get out of the way, you stay in the game. If you get hit, you're out. I'm joining in in this exercise too." The team nodded in understanding, as Skipper handed out tennis rackets to the team, and kept one for himself. He went over to the tennis machine, (which Emma didn't even notice was there) and turned it on. He put it on a gradual setting so it would get faster the longer it stayed on. A tennis ball flew out, and nearly hit Kowalski, who just jumped out of the way in time. Skipper ducked suddenly, and the tennis ball hit Private.
"Aw." Private said, sitting down outside of the training zone. Rico chuckled and lost concentration, getting hit in the face with a tennis ball. Private burst out laughing. About 10 minutes later, it was down to jut Emma and Skipper. Emma had a devious plan, but she didn't think Skipper would let her do it. Then something else struck her. She looked at the machine and thought hard. Suddenly, a ball got jammed in the machine.
"I'll go and fix it." Skipper said, strolling over. When he was looking right in the eye, Emma let the ball free, and it hit Skipper right in the beak. To not make it seem obvious, she went over to Skipper.
"You alright Skips?" Emma asked, hiding a grin.
"Yeah, I should have been more careful there, I guess you win that sis." Skipper said. Emma smiled, and out of the corner of her eye, Kowalski grinned at her. He knew what she did. After a while more of training, Private saw the humans coming towards the habitat.
"Skipper, we've got humans!" Private called desperately. "And we haven't put the tennis ball machine away!" Skipper looked at the approaching humans, and panic filled his eyes.
Emma looked around desperately she was in a tiny cage, surrounded by darkness.
Not again. She thought, a horrible feeling in her stomach. She started to rattle the cage bar but she drew back in a scream pain. She looked down at her flippers, and they burned as if some had coated them in acid. She tried to heal them but she just couldn't. Suddenly, lights came on all around her, and Doctor Blowhole was standing in the middle of a room, with Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private strapped to a table. She tried to close her eyes, or turn her head away but she couldn't do that either. The pain in her flippers was intensifying.
"Welcome back Emma." Dr Blowhole said,a devious grin spreading across his face.
"This isn't real, this isn't real." Emma whispered to herself.
"You still have to watch though." Blowhole remarked, showing his teeth. He went up to Skipper and took a knife out. Emma gasped in horror as he cut off Skipper's flipper. Skipper flinched in pain and closed his eyes. Blowhole went over to Rico and cut at his foot. Rico made a very un-penguin like growl of pain. Emma's eyes started filling with tears.
"STOP IT YOU MONSTER!" She screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.
"Oh, but I've only just begun." Blowhole replied, evilly, walking over to Kowalski and slicing down his side. Kowalski let out a gasp of pain, and fear was in his eyes.
"This isn't real." Emma reminded herself, trying to wipe away her tears.
"Maybe not Emma, but this will happen someday, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, and it's someday soon, this is just your brain's way of telling you it's coming, you should be thankful actually." Blowhole said, strolling over to Private slowly.
"No, I'll never let this happen!" Emma replied, determinedly. "My brain's just being stupid, and giving me nightmares for no reason."
"You really think so?" Blowhole commented skeptically, as he plunged the knife into Privates stomach.
Emma woke up in a hot sweat. Her breathing was shallow, and quick, and she had been crying. She looked around her hastily, and saw she was in her bed. Her breathing calmed down a little when she fully realised she was awake. She scanned the area to check for any unfriendly brains. It was clear.
I can't go back to sleep, I know I can't She thought sadly. She checked the time, and it was 5am. I'll read a book. She decided, getting her drawstring bag out. As she pulled out a book, she realised one of her hundreds of stuffed toys she had in the bag had came out with it. She looked at the toy, and recognised it instantly. It was her purple rabbit, Flopsy, that Skipper had gave to her when she was born. She looked at it lovingly, and sat it next to her in the bunk. She then looked at the book she had pulled out. It was one of the fairy books she liked collecting. She read the front. Ruby, the Red fairy, I remember this one. She thought, and opened it up. She spent a good hour or two, reading a few of these books. Around 7am she felt sleepy again, but she was scared to go back sleep. Emma you have to go back to sleep, or you won't get through tomorrow. Well today technically. She thought, sadly. She closed her eyes and fell back into her nightmare.
At 11:45 am, she woke up again. Her eyes, and face was so wet with tears, she felt like someone had thrown water on her face. She stumbled out of bed and walked over to the team shakily. She noticed that Private was still asleep.
"Hey, Em did you sleep wel- oh my gosh are you ok?" Kowalski asked, suddenly looking really worried. Emma couldn't even manage words, and she burst into tears. Kowalski hugged her immediately, trying to calm her down.
"Las- last nights was the wo- worst it's ever been." She stammered in a whisper. "I- I kept saying it wasn't real but it di- didn't help." She added, still crying. Kowalski kept hugging her gently, resisting the urge to stroke her hair feathers. Eventually she calmed down, and she pulled away. "Thanks Kowalski." She said, smiling at him shyly.
"Anytime Em." He answered, going a bit red. Emma sat down on the cinder-block table, and made herself a love smoothie. (Private had told her the secret recipe) She sighed, and looked around at her team. They were all looking at her worriedly. Behind her she heard a noise, and she realised that Private was waking up.
"Morning everyone." He yawned. His eyes fell on Emma, and they widened in surprise. He ran over to her, and sat down beside her, looking at her with concern.
"Hey Private." She said forcing a smile.
"What I told you yesterday didn't help did it?" Private asked, holding her flippers. Emma shook her head sadly. He embraced her in a tight long hug, and stroked her hair gently. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, pulling away. Emma shook her head.
"Not now, and not today, maybe one day when these nightmares stop." Emma replied, taking a sip out of the love smoothie. She got out her sketch book, and started drawing.
"How much stuff have you got in there sis?" Skipper asked.
"Oh, way too much stuff to count." Emma answered, starting to smile. "I've got tons of stuffed toys in here, lots of art stuff, and even a laptop, and a Nintendo Ds, I think."
"eally?!Hatsool." (Really?! That's cool.) Rico remarked, gobbling two fish in one.
"Yuppers." Emma replied, feeling more cheerful. They watched Tv for a bit, and then they went up to training.
"Ok so today, we're working on avoiding flying objects, so I'm going to put a tennis ball machine on, and give you all a tennis racket. If you hit the ball back, or get out of the way, you stay in the game. If you get hit, you're out. I'm joining in in this exercise too." The team nodded in understanding, as Skipper handed out tennis rackets to the team, and kept one for himself. He went over to the tennis machine, (which Emma didn't even notice was there) and turned it on. He put it on a gradual setting so it would get faster the longer it stayed on. A tennis ball flew out, and nearly hit Kowalski, who just jumped out of the way in time. Skipper ducked suddenly, and the tennis ball hit Private.
"Aw." Private said, sitting down outside of the training zone. Rico chuckled and lost concentration, getting hit in the face with a tennis ball. Private burst out laughing. About 10 minutes later, it was down to jut Emma and Skipper. Emma had a devious plan, but she didn't think Skipper would let her do it. Then something else struck her. She looked at the machine and thought hard. Suddenly, a ball got jammed in the machine.
"I'll go and fix it." Skipper said, strolling over. When he was looking right in the eye, Emma let the ball free, and it hit Skipper right in the beak. To not make it seem obvious, she went over to Skipper.
"You alright Skips?" Emma asked, hiding a grin.
"Yeah, I should have been more careful there, I guess you win that sis." Skipper said. Emma smiled, and out of the corner of her eye, Kowalski grinned at her. He knew what she did. After a while more of training, Private saw the humans coming towards the habitat.
"Skipper, we've got humans!" Private called desperately. "And we haven't put the tennis ball machine away!" Skipper looked at the approaching humans, and panic filled his eyes.
