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Chicken Stroll, part 12


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#1 Guest_Laufey_and_Ophidia_*

Posted 21 November 2007 - 08:30 AM

Chicken Stroll


Part 12

Nalia and Dekaras were waiting for Edwin and Andorel as they strutted or limped back towards their chosen coop. If they had been in human form, they would have had their arms folded crossly. As it was, they both had their crests raised and their feathers pressed against their bodies, and they wore identical glares. The ground beneath Dekaras' feet was full of score marks.

“Oh, crap.” Andorel muttered softly. Edwin found himself nodding in agreement.

Nalia strutted forward. “So, you're back. Did you enjoy yourselves?” She asked quietly.

Dekaras stayed where he was, and preened a wing, apparently calm and relaxed. “Well, I am sure that little performance was well worth the effort.”

“Well, act'ally...”

“You see, Andorel had...”

“WHAT IN THE ABYSS DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?” Nalia yelled. “YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!”

“Nah, he'd never've killed me...” Andorel started to reply, but Dekaras cut him off.

“It's not every day I get to see two of my friends involved in an illegal cockfight, and it was both educational and remarkably, incredibly immature.”

“DON'T YOU REALISE I HAD TO SUFFER THROUGH THAT WHOLE LITTLE DISPLAY? I COULD SENSE EVERYTHING THAT WAS GOING ON...”

“Have you forgotten your humanity- my apologies, Andorel- or your other
demi-human status to the extent that you feel the need to defend a territory...”

“...THOSE SCRATCHES, ALL THAT PECKING AND HAVING FEATHERS YANKED OUT THAT AREN'T EVEN YOURS...”

“I...”

“...next, I have no doubt you will decide to have a crowing competition- oh, you've already done that, of course...” Now Dekaras voice was starting to get slightly louder, though he still sounded calm. Neither the hen nor the black rooster were paying any attention to each other's rants, and Andorel and Edwin's heads bobbed back and forth between the two angry chickens,utterly unable to fit in any kind of reply.

“...WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST CONTROL YOUR TEMPERS A BIT BETTER? IT ISN'T THAT HARD TO ACT MATURELY...”

“But...”

“...You could have settled your differences simply by talking it through, but I suppose that would be too complex for you to grasp...” By this time, the assassin did sound angry.

“...IF YOU EVER, EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL MAKE BOTH YOUR LIVES MISERABLE!”

“...you preferred to risk your lives and lose all semblance of control instead...” Dekaras voice was getting louder and louder.

“...I'D NEVER HAVE THOUGHT YOU WOULD EVER PICK A FIGHT WITHOUT GOOD REASON...”

Both Nalia and Dekaras took a deep breath, and yelled at the two thoroughly browbeaten roosters.

“HOW COULD YOU BE SO CHILDISH?!”

The silence was deafening. Andorel looked at the two glaring chickens and swallowed. “Um. Sorry?” He nudged Edwin slightly, and he started.

“What? Oh. Sorry.”

“Sorry.” Nalia said, with a flat look at the two shame-faced roosters. She turned to look at Dekaras. “Did you hear that? They say they're sorry.”

The assassin kept alternating a disapproving glare between Edwin and Andorel. “I suppose,” he said, “that it is a tiny step up the ladder of maturity. However, given that they started out in the lower basement, I cannot say I am terribly impressed just yet.”

“But Vaddy,” Andorel tried to cut in, “we honestly are...”

“You know, Vadrak,” Nalia went on, “I wouldn't be surprised if they don't even understand why they should be apologising. Maybe we should ask them.”

Dekaras nodded. “An excellent idea,” he said, and then proceeded to circle the two nervous roosters in a gradually tightening circle. Both Edwin and Andorel gulped and pressed closer together. “Yes, a small oral exam ought to be just the thing.” There was an ominous glitter in his eyes as he turned towards Edwin. “And I believe I will give my favourite student the first opportunity to demonstrate his cleverness, as he is so fond of doing. Go on, boy. Explain to me, in your own time, exactly what you did wrong.”

“Uh...” Edwin said, his head lowered enough that his beak almost hit the ground. “I...shouldn't have hit him that hard. But you don't understand, he said...”

“What he said is his responsibility,” the assassin interjected. “What you say or do is yours. So, tell me why what you did was wrong?”

The red rooster winced as his eyes drifted towards the deep gouge marks on the ground, and then towards the Nalia. The white hen was still limping a little. “It...it made you both worry about me,” he admitted. “And it caused my familiar pain, and a wizard should not do that.”

“It made us both worry a great deal about both of you,” Nalia spat. “We thought you were going to kill each other! And yes, it did hurt! But I suppose you never gave that a single thought, did you? No, you were far too busy getting back at Andorel for teasing you.”

“And speaking of which,” Dekaras said, “Could you perhaps inform me, Andorel, exactly why you saw fit to do that? Especially given that you ought to know how I would feel about such a thing.”

Andorel cleared his throat, his green comb flopping awkwardly over his eye. “Er...see...I only wanted to help...”

“By pecking each other into bloody mush? A very novel way of helping, I must say. Does it perhaps occur to you that there might have been a different way to do that?”

Andorel sighed. “Yeah. We should be workin' together to get outta here, not fighting. Sorry, Vaddy. Sorry, Nalia.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry, Eddie.”

The white hen and the black rooster nodded approvingly and turned towards Edwin, not saying anything. The transformed wizard squirmed a little. “Yes,” he said. “Working together. Not fighting. Sorry, Teacher Dekaras. Sorry, Nalia.” He fell silent, and gave them both a hopeful look, that was met with stony relentlessness. Eventually, he gave in. “Sorry...Andorel.”

“Now,” Nalia commanded, “Shake hands.” The two roosters gave her a stony look. “Oh. No hands. Sorry. I guess you could preen each others feathers...”

“I'm not touching his feathers, I might catch something!” Edwin replied in disgust. Dekaras cleared his throat quietly, and Edwin's comb paled. “Oh, very well. Forget I said that last part.”

“Good!” Nalia said, raising her head up high. “Now, we really need to decide what to do next. If we all act like adults, I'm sure we can get out of here. Vadrak and I are good at locks and things, Edwin knows a lot about magic that might help, and Andorel...um...Andorel can...”

“Andorel has various innate abilities due to his parentage, and great strength.” Dekaras commented, in slightly sharp tones.

“Don't forget that blood thing that...” Andorel slowed down, and paused, looking at Dekaras. “...that...that hen over there can do, the black and white one that's watching Vaddy. I'm sure I saw it, um, do summat. Ne'm mind.” He mumbled, looking at the ground., avoiding Dekaras' gaze. A thought suddenly arrived in his head that he was a lousy liar. He looked sideways at Dekaras and winked.

There was a brief pause.

“Leaving all this aside, what is the logical next step?” Edwin asked, breaking the silence.

“We need to find out more about our keepers, and...” Nalia suddenly stopped and looked oddly uncomfortable. “Excuse me, I've got to go.” She hurried off suddenly, claws pattering on the ground.

“What the heck was that about?” Andorel demanded. “She got the runs from eating some bad seed or summat?”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Edwin snapped. “What Nalia chooses to do or not do is none of your business.” The rooster cocked his head on one side briefly. “She says...Oh no. Not again! How many times do...arghhh!” Edwin's neck feathers started to rise, and his crest turned redder, and he gave a quiet moan.

“Edwin!” Dekaras cried. “What's the matter?”

“It's...nothing!” Edwin said, and then doubled over again as a somewhat louder groan emerged from his beak. His claws were digging deeply into the ground and now and then he flapped his wings desperately. “Nothing, nothing at all! Nnnnnnnggghhh! (The persons responsible for this extreme indignity will be made to suffer, suffer greatly!)”

“Don't be ridiculous!” The assassin took a step closer, looking deeply concerned. “It is obvious something is wrong. What is it? Is it the fight? Sometimes an injury can appear minor at first, but internal bleedings can be insidious.”

“No...not hurt...” Edwin's beak was wide open, and his crest was blood red. His tailfeathers were making little strained bobbing motions, up and down, up and down. “It will pass in a moment, I assure you, and...ooompf!”

“Not the fight you say...” Dekaras cocked his head curiously to one side, as he tried to make sense of what was going on. A motion out of the corner of his eye momentarily distracted him and his noticed that somebody was watching him with unnerving intensity. It was a hen, mostly white but with some black feathers, and the fascinated look in her eyes was quite disturbing. Briefly, he wondered what she could possibly be thinking about, and then turned his attention back to Edwin. If not the fight, then what? It had started just after Nalia ran off...”Nalia? You are feeling something through the familiar bond, something that Nalia is experiencing?”

“Um...maybe...” Edwin sounded extremely embarrassed, and quite out of breath. “She's...almost...there....just a little...further...nnnnnnfff!” He collapsed with exhaustion, leaning against the side of his worried teacher, breathing heavily. “I will never,” he muttered, “ever, in my entire life want to eat an egg again! How is it even physically possible, it is like trying to fit an elephant through a rabbit hole!”

Dekaras processed this for a few seconds, trying to come to terms with the fact that his son had just laid an egg. Well, at least laid an egg by proxy. Somehow, he didn't think that 'congratulations' would be the proper response to make. “I think,” he said in a carefully controlled voice, “that there are many fascinating natural mysteries, but that some of them are best experienced as a neutral observer rather than as a participant. In other words, we should redouble our efforts towards an escape, and hopefully we will manage it before this is repeated. Andorel, I'm certain you agree?” He turned his head towards the strangely silent half-orc, wondering about his lack of comments about Edwin's plight. Andorel, however, had gone missing.

Andorel had started to watch Edwin laying an egg, and decided to make himself scarce. Not because he was squeamish at all, but because he knew he wouldn't be able to watch much longer without bursting into laughter- and Vaddy would have really not liked that. And anyway, there was a really tasty looking grub, just lying there wriggling and absolutely begging him to eat it. He was actually quite enjoying being a chicken. Grubs as big as your head, and no teeth to get sandy bits stuck in. Of course, he wanted to get turned back into a half-orc, since getting et didn't sound very nice, but heck, why couldn't he enjoy himself a bit while the smart guys figured out how to rescue them all? He bobbed his head down to pick up the fat, grey grub- and headbutted another chicken. He looked up in surprise into the dark eyes of a skinny brown hen with mottled feathers. “After you, lass.” He said, ducking his head as a sort of bow.

“Thanks.” She replied, beak full of larva. “You can speak?!”

“Yes.” She replied, nodding. “Are you human, then?”

“No.” She said. “Am chicken. Was once human. Long time ago.”

“They din't kill ya?”

“Lay eggs, stay alive.” She said, and fluffed up her feathers as a kind of shrug, and then pressed her warm head against his chest affectionately. “Roosters eaten. Take care.”

“Uh, right.” Andorel replied uncertainly. The hen delicately preened one of his chest feathers. Ohhh, that's just too nice. He felt an odd, hot, but pleasant sensation in his scalp, and realised that his green comb was no longer flopping over his eye. He squirmed with embarassment. Gods, you can't hide anything when you're a chicken! Think about cold showers, dead puppies, anything!

“We help you.” She looked up again.

“Who's 'we'?” Andorel asked, slightly disappointed that she had stopped preening his feathers.

“We...” She suddenly looked past him. “More food!”

Andorel turned around to look. There was another delicious fat grub on the grub behind him. And another. And another one after that, all in a line. “Great!” He said, and started to walk towards the first grub, then stopped. “Where did they come from? I reckon this is a...”

A wooden box thumped down over the top of him, and as he was carried off, he heard the squawking of a very angry hen.




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