Title: Penguinarty
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: G
Length: 329
Summary:  Sherlock, the Emperor penguin, has been called in on a case
Penguin AU, also written for whatif_au Animals AU

Sherlock waddled along rapidly.  Being an Emperor penguin he was taller than JW the King penguin and therefore managed to waddle faster as well.  In addition JW’s left flipper was hurting again, so he was limping slightly.  Therefore Sherlock arrived at their destination slightly before JW.

So when JW caught up he asked Lestrade, the Humboldt penguin, what had happened.

“There’s a hole in the ground,” Lestrade said.

“And Sherlock’s looking into it,” JW replied.

“Idiots, the lot of you!” Sherlock squawked.  “This hole has been created deliberately.”

“Brilliant,” JW said.  “How do you know that?”

“The shape of the hole.  It’s been very carefully crafted.  If penguins had just been taking the odd stone to build up their nests the hole would be very uneven.  This is quite smooth.”

“Could it be a nest of some sort?” Lestrade asked.

“What would use it?  Have you seen any birds large enough to need a nest that size?”

“Um, no,” Lestrade replied.

“It would be ideal for a dragon,” JW said.

“Or an ostrich.”  Donovan, the Chinstrap penguin had so far not contributed to the discussion.

“For the last time, dragons only exist in stories,” Sherlock said.  “And whilst ostriches do exist, they are not found at the South Pole.  No, this is not a nest.  I believe it’s been created for catching krill, especially the particularly juicy ones which are around at the moment.”

“Hmm,” Lestrade said appreciatively and licked his beak. 

Sherlock ignored him and added, “Normally they get washed up and then back out to sea.  Here once they were in the hole they wouldn’t be washed back again.”

“So, instead of everyone getting a fair share,” Donovan said thoughtfully, “Someone is collecting them up.”

“Precisely.  And there is only one penguin around here who would do that.”

As if on cue a Rockhopper penguin cackled above them.

“Penguinarty!” Sherlock exclaimed.

The Rockhopper penguin cackled again and a couple of juicy krill fell out of his beak.