The Little Penguin’s army trudged along the icy earth under a bleak grey outline. FLIP! FLOP! FLIP! FLIP! FLOP!

A small puddle of water was quickly being devoured with ice. After a harsh rain the Little Penguins were having difficulty finding land that wasn’t slippery and that they would have a decent position on. A place where they could hold their own against the Emperor Penguin’s army.


BOOM! BOOM! Thunder boomed overhead. A dark storm cloud paraded above following the Little Penguin’s along their journey. A storm was brewing and the Little Penguins were in desperate need of shelter. If they could at least reach the Yellow-Eyed Sea before the storm began then they could simply wait it out.

Two penguin nations were separated by the Yellow-Eyed Sea. The Emperor Penguins had hoped to acquire the land occupied by the Little Penguins so as to overpower all the other penguin nations and become the most powerful nation.

The Little Penguin’s were a small but proud nation and wouldn’t give up their home so peacefully. War had broken out and been raging for over 5 years now. For the Little Penguin’s to enter the dark depths of the Yellow-Eyed sea was suicidal, but necessary to their survival.

“We will find shelter in the Yellow-Eyed Sea!” Penji declared. Penji knew as the leader of this band of broken spirits that he had to inspire some hope in them. “Fort Fiord land has been obliterated,” Penji announced, regretfully. “Our sacred fort could not withstand such horrendous weather conditions.”

“But sir, if we head to the Yellow-Eyed Sea, the Emperor’s could capture us,” Ramón cried. “I know little one…. But the heart of our cause is much more than that of a power-hungry nation whose only opinions are death and devastation.”

“We must redeem the rights of our people of Chinstrap.” Ramon looked to Penji as an example of what he aspired to be. He embodied the reason he joined the army. He wanted respect and praise from all the people of Chinstrap. All he wished was to hear his mother and father say I’m so proud of you. Even though he knew that they were already proud of him, he had to prove himself and this was his calling. He wanted to see the gleam of hope ignite in his people’s eyes

But he was ashamed that he didn’t have as much courage as Penji and the other Littlies. The fear of death coursed through Ramon’s veins and coiled down his spine.

Ramon began convulsing. “Calm down little one,” Penji cooed. “The worst is yet to come and you must be prepared.” “I’ll try,” Ramon replied sheepishly. “Don’t just try it, embrace it!” Penji suggested. Ramon gave a weak nod of enthusiasm then faded way.

After a long endearing walk of over 2,000 miles, the Little Penguins were only 100 feet away from the Yellow-Eyed Sea. BOOM! BOOM! Thunder boomed even louder than before. The storm was approaching at lightning speed with a look of death in its eyes.

A few of the Little Penguin’s had begun to slip and fall under ice. “Keep a steady pace and don’t break all at once,” Penji warned. A slippery slope lead down into the Yellow-Eyed Sea. Down the slope and into the crystal clear waters the penguins dropped one by one. SPLASH! SPLASH! WOOSH! KERPLUNK!

The penguins dropped into the waters with an impeccable form. A form so spectacular it would be the envy of any Olympic Simmer’s eye.

Penji and his army plunged down into the deepest depths of the sea. Suddenly, Penji caught sight of an aqua blue ice fort nearby. It lay hidden underneath a humungous glacier. The fort was a complete square. Its frozen walls were all symmetrical with one another. In the fort, laid 3 cannons and a ton of artillery. Red hot chili peppers. The intensity of the hot peppers could overcome any small pieces of ice; deteriorating ice slowly but surely. Pride swelled in Penji’s heart as he realized that they would not be powerless against the Emperor’s army.

Penji immediately began waving his team in the direction of the fort: Fort King.
“Quick Load the cannons!” Penji directed the army. “We shall wait here patiently for the Emperor’s arrival and then we will bombard them with peppers until they beg for our mercy. We now have the element of surprise. Something the Emperor’s army would never expect.” Penji raised his flipper in declaration. He stood there looking out at all his people and saw a slight flicker of hope now ignited in each of his men’s eyes.

The Little Penguins floated in the water dipping in and out to refresh for the coming battle. The penguins bobbed in the sea awaiting the place where they would either stomp out victoriously or be crushed in a devastating defeat.

RING! A bell tolled somewhere off in the distance. The ring deafened all the conversation and cleared the area for battle. The waters trembled under the might of a strong and ruthless force approaching. With the echo of the sound, the Little Penguin’s new the enemy were near. They could hear the pitter patter of their feet against the hard, cold ground.

Penji and the other men soon took leaves that were left with Fort King and wrapped them around their waists to hold their weapons. The chili pepper burned against the slick skin of the penguins. This would severely injure any penguin with the right blow to the head. Penji pondered taking out the leader of the Emperor’s and leaving the rest sitting ducks. Without their tyrant leader, the Emperor’s army couldn’t survive with fear instilled in them. The leader of the Emperor’s army, Snare, had motivated the group with fear, which would not stand against such adversaries whose hearts throbbed with the fire of independence. This was his mistake.

Looking out at his men one last time, before the first shot blew, Penji saw the fear of death no longer running through their veins. They would now die valiantly or win triumphant at long last.

BOOM! CRACK! BOOM! CRACK!
Shots of chili pepper screamed out of each of the three cannons. “Fire!” Penji commanded. “Show no mercy.”

The Emperor’s army danced around the ice trying to averse the flying bombs. The bombs busted with red hot fire. Read paint colored the crystal ice. The blood of the Little Penguin’s was now being launched onto the causes of their grief.

Penji suddenly spotted the Snare of the Emperor Penguin’s army waddling away cowardly. “Coward!” Penji cawed. Penji quickly loaded the first empty cannon he could find and bombarded mercilessly toward Snare.

“Are you scared?” Penji teased. BOOM! BOOM!
Snare took one fatal glance back towards Penji and met his fate. His red eyes opened wide with shock as Snare was knocked out with a red hot chili pepper the size of this little army’s heart. A size much too grand for Snare to comprehend. Snare dropped down in defeat. Soon enough all the other Emperor Penguins began to scurry away furious.

“The battle is won. The war is over!” The Little Penguins exploded in cheers of victory. They jumped up and down flippers high in the air. “Now we the people of Chinstrap are free!” Penji declared. “The Emperor’s can control us no longer. Our destinies are ours to control and today the true fighters came out victorious!”

Once the Little Penguins arrived back in Chinstrap, they raised their flag up on the highest nearby glacier. Penji, Ramon, and the other brave penguins penetrated the ice with their symbol of freedom.

The flag now undulated proudly in the chilling winds. The flag, now firmly planted in the stone cold ice, would forever stand as a sign of hope amongst any disparity