Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Fun With The Penguins

Fun with Penguins

...

When Jack had mentioned the effects climate change were having on the South Pole at the last meeting, Bunny, like the other Guardians, had expected him to do something about it. But… but not this. Really, anything but this. What was the kid thinking? The Guardian of Hope, seething, silently promised to wring the little blighter's neck when she saw him next.

It was one thing to spread a little frost on her sentinel eggs or the tunnels (which she hated to the point of chasing the winter spirit around the world until she caught him) but another thing entirely to turn her Warren – a spring haven – into a near perfect replica of Antarctica, complete with icebergs floating in the dye river. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was a colony of penguins huddled together right in the middle of the snow-covered clearing.

"How did he even get you here?!" she asked in confused fury.

The sound of her voice attracted the large birds' attention and as one they turned to stare at her with beady eyes. Bunny stood to her full height, making it clear to them that she was boss and would not be intimidated. A rather chubby one (she couldn't be certain but she was pretty sure it was the one who had first confronted Tooth down at the Pole) stepped away from the group and waddled towards her, something held in its beak. It looked up at her expectantly until she took what turned out to be a folded piece of paper, turning away as though bored the second its duty was over.

"'Hello, my name is George,'" Bunny read aloud, raising a brow. "'I have been designated 'General Penguin' for the duration of our stay with you. Please refer to me as Sir'? What the heck is this?" she flicked the paper (which was written in a slightly messy but still elegant script that probably was the work of Jack Frost). The penguin, George, didn't even bother to look at her and started preening under one wing.

"'As you know, the South Pole has been having some trouble lately'," she continued reading. "'Jack has been trying to restore a bit of order but my colony and I do not understand the concept of not following him and have, as a result, put ourselves in some rather precarious situations that could have easily been avoided. Because of this, Jack has deemed it safer for us to remain here with you where we will not be inclined to stand in a large group on thin ice or throw ourselves off high cliffs before checking if there are predators waiting below.'"

Bunny shook her head, brow continuing to furrow the more she read. "'Jack will be back to collect us as soon as he is finished. You do not have to worry about feeding us, as we are capable of going lengths of time without food and someone will be coming to bring us some fish every now and again anyway. P.S. Do not let us leave the Warren and don't be mean to us or we will show no mercy.'"

The letter was crumpled within a furry fist and a loud, infuriated cry of 'Jack Frost' quickly followed, so loud that had there been anyone standing in the Outback near the opening to her Warren they would have heard it loud and clear. Believer or not.

...

...

North looked up from the ice block he'd been carving as something black and white moved in his peripheral vision. It was safe to say he was more than a little confused to find it was a penguin. Staring at him. Silently judging.

"Where did you come from?" he asked, gently setting his prototype aside on the bench.

The penguin didn't reply, not that he'd really been expecting one, and proceeded to fully enter the room, turning its attention to a shelf near the door. North watched in bemusement as it seemed to inspect the contents on display before apparently finding his matryoshka doll worth further investigation. The only thing that stopped North from getting up and shooing the penguin away then and there was the way it was so careful in gripping the wooden doll in its beak (and also the fact that it was there in the first place considering there weren't supposed to be penguins at the North Pole).