Billy Hatcher: Rewritten
Chapter 2 – Start of Adventure
Hi, Billy Hatcher fans, wherever you are. Happy almost Christmas. This is my gift to the fandom, in hopes that we can come together as a group and be revived.
Notes on capitalizations of 'Crow' and 'Chicken': When referring to the intelligent races of morning land, these names will be capitalized. If a character sees one as normal, their thoughts and/or narration will have the word in lower case. E.g. Billy sees a Crow, but thinks it's a crow. I hope you understand, dear reader.
His shoes kicked up the dirt on path North of his home village. He skimmed the surroundings as they zoomed past, looking for the rotted stump that marked where the hidden path was. Soon, he caught it whizzing behind him. Billy's sudden stop made him fall to the dirt, knocking the air out of him.
"At least I found it," he wheezed to himself. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his sweater, then entered the forest beyond the stump. Grass, leaf litter, and sticks had been trampled by him and his friends going this way for years, leaving a clear path for them to follow.
At the end of the path was a clearing in the woods, with his three other friends sat at the far end under a large tree. Bantam looked up from his pocket watch with a look of disappointment.
"You're late, man."
Chick scoffed, pulling at the grass. "Let me guess," his eye roll was smoothly followed by a glare at Billy. "Didn't set your alarm?" Rolly frowned at the youngster's cold tone.
Billy tried to laugh it off. "Whoops." He'd hoped they would let it slide, but the three stood up and surrounded him. Bantam leaned in, his face mere inches from Billy's.
"We've decided that you'll be it today, as your apology." The older boy smirked playfully.
"I wasn't that late! C'mon, guys..."
"We waited a damn hour for you!" Chick snapped, causing Billy to flinch at the curse. Chick may be the youngest of the four, but his mouth was the worst. That's just who he was.
When Billy was about to speak again, a rustle in the undergrowth caught his attention- no, he corrected himself; the rest heard it, too. The group then caught a peeping sound, small and faint. They all went quiet. Bantam stepped forward, each step lasting an eternity, and gently reached out to part the leaves. Billy heard him gasp.
When he stepped back, the rest saw what he'd discovered. It looked like an anthropomorphic bird- maybe a baby chicken? Some of it's soft, yellow feathers were torn out. Various cuts over it's body stained the plumage with blood.
"We need... your help... p-please," the chick begged with a feminine voice, staring up at them. She stepped forward and her shaky legs gave out underneath her. The impact of the ground shot pain through her feeble body. Gasping for air, she raised her head of the grass and gave one last, faint call for help before collapsing.
Rolly screamed, falling to her knees beside the chick. Bantam knelt beside her and helped move the bird on her back. After a moment of thick silence, Rolly whispered, "I think she's still alive."
Chick furrowed his brow. "But what is she? Where did she come from?"
Bantam scanned the trees above. "There's gotta be more of them. She said 'we need your help.'"
Help with what? Billy wondered. Just then, dread crept down his spine and made the hairs on his neck stand up. He whirled around. Perched on a low-hanging branch were two evil birds with empty eyes. In contrast to their shadowy bodies, their breasts and beaks were white. One of the birds gave out a loud, scratchy caw. Crows? But... I've never seen crows like that.
The Crow that cawed now clicked its beak, eyes locked on the passed out Chicken. It shifted its weight from foot to foot. It spread its wings, fanning every feather with care. And then, it launched into the air and swooped to deliver the final blow to its prey with a final caw.
The next moment happened quick. Billy jumped for the stick at his feet, grasping it firmly with both hands. He swiveled on the ball of his foot, swung his arms back, and leapt. With the Crow below him, he cracked the branch on its head.
"Yeah! Bug off, crow!" He whooped. The Crow stood up in a daze and flew away with its partner.
"Billy, she's waking up," Rolly called. He dropped his weapon and hurried over. The chick's closed eyelids twitched once, then twice, before they finally opened a crack.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Her body began to glow faintly, then so bright the group had to shield their eyes. Billy couldn't feel the ground under his feet as light consumed them. When it faded, the five were nowhere to be seen.
I hope you've enjoyed this fic so far. I try really hard to bring something new to the table, especially since there's another rewriting of this cutscene already on this website.
As for chapter schedules, I'm thinking once a week. Maybe on Fridays. These past few chapters were short and easy, making them the exceptions. If I finish early I'll be tempted to post sooner... But I must resist! Consistency prevents writer's block!
Oh, and, if you read this far, thank you so much for checking out my fic! I'd love if you would leave a review, or maybe PM me so we can be friends! We both like this niche game, after all.