Brothers and Trials

The Dorms

The look on Skipper's face was terrifying some of the older students that had been coming to the academy for years, that or it was Rico's size. Either way, Skipper's smile was a rare thing to see and it creeped out the students at the academy. One of the few to not be scared off was the ever annoying neighbors who lived in room 4Q of the dorms, more specifically their leader, Julien.

"Eh, what the heck is wrong with you?" Julien the 13th was an African prince from the small country of Madagascar that lived at the bottom of Africa. He was tall, thin, and lived for a good party. He was still wearing his traditional Madagascar outfit, having just come from the airport. He was a rich boy with little to no respect for others.

"What do you mean, Ringtail?" Skipper tended to call him that because it was his last name, and it was the same thing that his penguin counterpart called his annoying neighbor, the lemur who happened to be named Julien.

"Eh, you are smiling, duh. Did you get dumber over da summer, or something? You never smile."

"Sure I do. I smile for the school pictures, don't I?"

"Not really, no. It's sorta a fake-y smile that is even creepier, but you know, you actually look normal, kinda."

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks." He then glanced to the confused faces of his brothers. "Boys, this is his royal annoyingness, Julien Ringtail..." Skipper then noticed his usual entourage was with him. "... and two of his roommates, Maurice Ayah and Mort Brown."

Maurice nodded as his name was called and smiled warmly. He was slightly portly and was the captain of the football team. He was also Julien's tutor, which to the young prince, made him his advisor and subject to rule over. He had dark grey hair and was wearing a set of American clothes already. His family were old friends to the Ringtail family and tended to end up as their advisors. An old Madagascar saying went as "When you have an Ayah standing behind the throne, you know you are in good hands". Maurice was only 15, but he understood what his job was.

Mort was a small boy who was only eight years old and under the care of Maurice. Maurice had taken the young boy under his care when he and Julien had found the young boy at age three sleeping on the streets. All the young boy knew was his name. Julien though, had made the mistake of kicking the boy to wake him up. Mort grabbed onto the first thing he felt, trying to seek warmth, and that had been the prince's feet. Since then, Mort had always felt the most comfortable around Julien's feet and was one of the most loyal people to Julien, though not the brightest.

"Hello." Private gave a smile and wave like he had been taught.

"Hello." Mort waved with his tiny hands and his big eyes showing an adorableness that almost matched Private's. "Who are you?"

Private looked to Skipper who smirked and nodded. Private smiled back to Mort. "I'm Private, and these are my brothers, Kowalski and Rico. And you've already met my oldest brother, Skipper."

Skipper grinned at the shocked face on Julien. It was one of these times when he wished he had his cellphone for a picture, but he had left it in his bag which was on his bed. Private, thankfully, had predicted his older brother's wish and pulled out the phone that the Amarillo Kid had gotten him to keep contact. He snapped the picture and grinned as the shock was still on the boy's face.

After a minute of the face staying like that, Kowalski couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Heheh, how long is he going to stay like that?"

Maurice sighed and waved a hand in front of the boy who then snapped out of his petrified shock. Julien shook his head and looked at the four boys again. "Seriously?" He then looked at the scar on Rico, just where Skipper had said it was. "Uh, you got that in a fire?" Rico nodded slowly, wondering where this was going. Then Julien pointed to Kowalski. "You are really a sciency guy?"

"Yes... why are you asking these strange questions?"

"Well duh! Everyone says that..."

"That Skippah's the abusive leader of a gang of children? That Kowalski's a mad scientist and that he made Rico? That Rico's a monster? Believe me, I've heard it all before, and I can personally confirm that none of that is true." Private's voice was hardened as his baby blue eyes became a stormy baby blue. Rico grimaced as he thought about how he was really created. Kowalski looked at the youngest incredulously while Skipper glanced sadly to the others. The rumors were always thick and mean. It didn't help that Skipper was usually escorted onto campus by an agent or two. They usually made it worse for him. "None of that is true, not even that little Private, the baby of the group is dead." Skipper bit his lip, wondering what the psychological damage to Private would make him do. Needless to say, it was a relief when Private just smiled again, returning to his usual happy self and opened the door to their dorm. "I'm gonna go unpack and claim a bunk. Dibs on a top!" He ran in.

It took a second for the others to shake off the shock before a smile returned to Skipper. He nodded into the room and the other two raced in there, each calling out the bunk they wanted. "I call next to a window!"

"Op unk!"

Skipper then turned his attention back to their neighbors. "Well, that was fun, but I gotta help them get good classes and get settled in. We'll see you guys later." Before Julien could say anything back, Skipper was inside and had locked the door already. He turned towards the bedroom part of the dorm and grimaced. The three others were in the same alignment of bunks as they had been when they were kids. Rico on the top left with Kowalski under him, and Private sitting on the top bunk above Skipper's, clutching his Lunacorn and Penguin dolls. Rico was brushing out his "Commando Mom" doll's hair, and Jiggles was sitting on the ladder of the bed next to Kowalski as he set up a study lamp attached to the bed. Skipper smiled. Definitely a great day. "Hey Private, think you can send me that picture? I want to have a copy of his royal nuisance to look at when I need a laugh." Private smiled and nodded as his brother recited his phone number. This was going to be a good year.