Poor Poluky's been captured by zookeepers while hunting for fish on his home turf of the North Pole. Now he's stuck in a cage with only a few rocky hills and some vegetation to walk between. His capturers didn't go easy on him -- a few hits with a strong whip and he was down and out, ready to be taken hostage. Then he blacked out from the sheer pain it caused him...

Poluky wakes up inside his unfamiliar prison at 11:00PM -- it's almost midnight hour, and the confused young Ursus starts to feel the pain of his injuries getting more and more intense by the minute. Fortunately, he is suddenly able to hear a soft scraping against the metal of one of the bars of his cage. A small Ant Eater is sitting in the corner of his own small prison, though he doesn't seem to mind one bit that he's been captured. ''H-Hey...!'', Poluky whispers to his neighbour, ''...y-you there...! C-could you... get me outta here, please...?'' The Ant Eater looks up from what he is doing, and casually walks in the direction of the badly injured bear. ''Yes, I can help you'', the critter says, to Poluky's surprise, ''see that hole in-between those bars?'' ''Yeah...?'', Poluky replies, unsure about what is going to happen next, or what the Ant Eater means. He touches his right hind leg. A big wound becomes visible once he moves the patch of fur on that spot away. ''G-GAWW...'', Poluky groans, ''it... h-hurts so bad!'' ''Don't touch that!'', the Ant Eater exclaims, ''c'mon, don't do that! You're only making it worse'' ''I... ~URGHH!~ ...-I g-guess so...'', is the only thing Poluky is able to reply. ''Hi, my name's Sniper'', says the Ant Eater, ''hey -- need any help gettin' through that barrier?'' ''If... If you c-can do that...'', Poluky groans. Sniper walks towards the two only uneven set of bars present in the fence and with no effort whatsoever, he pushes both bars away. A horrible sound of bending steel fills the area. ''Eh? is this big 'nuff, mate?'', Sniper asks, ''see of ya' can pass through this?'' Poluky wipes his injuries clean, slowly walks in the direction of the torn-open part in the iron barricade and makes his first attempt of getting his hairy body through the hole... He's ~barely~ able to squeeze through! ''Aww~! ...M-Man...!'', Poluky whispers, ''I wish I was still just a bit smaller... then I'd fit through this fence no problem...!'' Finally, he puts his left hind leg through the opening, and the next moment he finds himself in the adjacent stay, together with Sniper. ''Now that wasn't so hard, was it?'', the Ant Eater comments, before heading to a small metal gate with a rusty lock attached to it -- ''c'mon. Follow me, bud! I'll open this lock for ya', then we cheese 'em!'' Poluky watches in pure awe as Sniper effortlessly unlocks the lock with his bare claw! ''C'mon, bud! Le'sgo!'', Sniper whispers. Poluky won't let himself be told that twice! As fast as his injured body can carry him, he flees the steel prison they both find themselves in. The next moment, the two unlikely friends are standing outside the row of poorly-maintained cages. ''Now le'sgo that way, Poluky!'', Sniper whispers, and as fast as they can, the two animals start running across the the empty zoo stays. Suddenly, Sniper stops dead in his tracks, almost causing his frigid friend to collide head-first into his back! ''Ssst...! Poluky...!'', the Ant Eater whispers, ''...be careful...! Over there...! ...We've got ~companeyyyy...~ The way he speaks that last word, makes Poluky shiver. Just shy of ten metres away from the spot the two animal buddies are standing, sits a lonely man, wearing a blue uniform and a blue cap -- he almost looks like he belongs in a police office rather than a zoo. One thing they do know for sure, is that this man must not notice the two traspassers -- otherwise they'd be sent back into their respective prison just like they were only a few minutes ago... (''C'mon! This way!''), whispers Sniper, in such a way that Poluky can barely hear what his pal is telling him. Poluky sees the Ant Eater suddenly manouver into a completely different direction, so he follows. A few metres away, they can spot some kind of portal... That must be the zoo entrance! If they can make it through that gate, they'd be safe! Suddenly, they hear the man's low voice fill the area: ''Hey! HEY! GET BACK, YOU TWO! BACK TO YOUR STAYS, NOW!''. (''Hurry...!''), Sniper whispers, (''I'll lead the way! C'mon!''). They can hear the footsteps getting closer at a rapid pace. The zookeeper is getting closer and closer... <KRREEEEE!!!> <BLAM!> The gate closes with a loud noise as the duo continues their escape. The zookeeper is now standing behind the closed gates of the zoo grounds. ''Phew! That was CLOSE, dude!'', Sniper sighs, ''un-holy guacamole, he almost had us!'' Poluky is out of breath in such a way that he can't answer his friend's sigh of relief. Imagine, if that man would've been able to catch up to them, and put them back into their cages... ''T-Thanks, man...'', Poluky manages to get over his lips, ~U-UGHH...!~ H-He... h-he didn't make it to the gate in time... Thank goodness we're safe!'' Sniper puts a claw on Poluky's back: ''That was way closer than it had ANY right to be, mate!'' Poluky couldn't have said it better. ''Now... come with me, P'luke'', the Ant Eater says, ''let's get the hell outta here! I've had it with this place! C''mon, les' get'cha to a doctor. Those injuries do NOT look good!''. As fast as our Polar Bear friend manages to cheer himself up again, he runs after Sniper, knowing that his new friend will lead him to safety, and that he is able to provide some much needed medical assistance after this misadventure is over.

~ THE END ~