New Name

(A/N: Wow, this story was missed, lol. I got so many reviewers for the third chapter, thank you! It encouraged me to write a fourth, so I have. I'm pleased that there are some people who have been with this dragging story since it was posted; I especially have you to thank.)

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"Hey, hey…what're you…?" Rocky was disturbed the following morning by sunlit rays hitting him sharply in the face, narrowing his eyes as he attempted to shield himself. He rubbed his face sleepily with his wings, his hair tousled from sleep.

Ginger had been pacing back and forth for quite a while now, waiting for her boyfriend to wake up. In impatience, somewhere halfway through her walk, she had thrown the door open in a last try…of course bringing in the morning to rouse him. It had in fact, worked like a charm but Ginger still never stopped her action.

Rocky's dark eyes revealed confusion as he stared at her. "Ginge…" he groaned, his eyes shutting slowly as he stretched back out onto the bed, his deep voice dragging. "Ginge…what's the time? How long have you been marching like that?"

Now she shook her head at him, watching him snuggle back into the confounds of his rest. "Rocky, I've been waiting ages for you to get up…don't even think about drifting off again." She forced back a laugh as he ignored her still, yawning widely but trying to pretend that he was already asleep.

"Eh…why didn't ya just wake me properly?" he asked groggily.

"I would have done, but it probably wouldn't do much good," she almost snapped back, her green eyes wide with edginess. She forced herself to walk over to the bed with the little humour she had and tried to shake him. "Come on."

"No, Baby Doll…please…"

Ginger rolled her eyes. "I thought I told you not to call me that, anymore."

"Yeah, but I can't be bothered to listen…ya know that…"

Huffing in bother, Ginger straightened up, showing that she meant what she said. "Yes, of course I know. Can you please wake up now?"

Rocky blinked sleepily. "What?"

"I said…" Ginger began slowly, teetering on the edge of losing her temper, "Are you going to get up now, Rocky? There's something I have to say."

Shifting about clumsily, Rocky thought over this for a few moments. Often he did this, annoying her to the most level that she could take. He knew it wasn't a good idea to get her angry so soon in the morning, but he could tell she was urgent about something and he wanted it to wait as much as possible.

"Hmm…nah…" he droned.

"Fine!" Ginger joked back, trotting off to the corner of the hut, where a container of water lay on a stand by the wall. Rocky heard her moving towards it and managed to lift up his head enough to watch her, suspicion in his voice.

"Where ya going?"

Ginger smiled him a sly smile as she made to pick up the container in her grasp, almost a smile to convince him that what he was about to get would not be as pleasant as he was wishing it to be. This had happened before, and Ginger knew that Rocky could sense it. "There's always this way," she laughed. "It's cold and wet…"

"Um…nah – I'll get up," Rocky stumbled quickly, sitting up so fast and dodging away to the side of the wall, away from the water. "Just don't get me with the water, huh? Put…it…down…" he joked, motioning slowly as if it would go off at any moment. There was a slight smile tugging away at his face.

The container was released and placed back on the stand. Ginger didn't really see any point now that he was up, it wouldn't be as much fun. Sighing, she turned to him and smiled. "Did you hear me before?" she asked, challenging him.

"Er…yeah, you said ya had something to say."

"Oh, so you do listen. Well, yes. I have something to tell you, Rocky, and hopefully the rest of the others before the day is through," Ginger said.

Rocky frowned, looking surprised. "What is it?"

Now Ginger shifted about on the spot, rubbing a dirt mark into the floor with her foot. "Well…do you remember last night? When we were sitting out together?"

Grinning, Rocky nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Oh, Rocky – pay attention! Can you remember what happened afterwards? You had to back inside to sort yourself out…I think you must have gone to sleep then, because you were like that when I came back. Anyway, while you were gone…something happened."

Now Rocky seemed shocked, thinking of all the options it could be. Something dangerous perhaps…had something terrible happened to her while he had been sleeping away like a blooming baby? He couldn't remember her crying out, otherwise he might have heard her. "Like what?" he asked slowly.

"Well," Ginger began again, "I heard this noise down by the riverbank…and when I went to go and investigate, there was someone there. Heaven knows…it was one of us! Well, not one of us, but a rooster! He'd travelled here over a while, on a raft, Rocky! Can you believe it?"

Finding all of this hard to take in, Rocky stared at her for a moment. Then he snapped back, blinking quickly. "Whoa, back up!" he said, turning his feathers in that particular action. "Let's rewind here. Are you trying to tell me that another rooster came to the island last night?" His voice went rather high as he finished.

"Well…yes."

Rocky stared at her, dumbfounded. There were a few moments of silence before he spoke up, addressing her. "I never expected you to say 'yes'," he said, a small frown playing across his face, shadowing his eyes.

"Oh, what did you want me to say?" Ginger argued back.

" 'No' would be great! That would have made my day, Doll-face!"

"Why on Earth were you wanting me to say that?" Ginger questioned.

"Well, I - " here Rocky cut off, rubbing the back of his neck with his wing and staring her right in the eye, not wanting to answer but finding no way out of it. At first he wasn't sure if she was making it up…it sounded as if she wasn't, though. "I-I thought you were joking," he finished clumsily.

"As you've probably figured out already, I'm not," Ginger retorted, finishing. She stared up at Rocky, feeling a little perplexed herself. Why was he taking this so hard? Usually he didn't mind if something new happened.

Now Rocky sighed indignantly, patrolling across the room himself and looking as if he were going to throw himself about in rage. "What's he want here?" he demanded, his voice quite shrill. "What's he come here for?" he rounded on Ginger, who had her wings crossed over her chest and was staring at him still.

"Did he tell ya?" Rocky asked.

"No, not really. He came here by accident, he said. He needs to find somewhere to stay until his raft is mended. I said I wouldn't mind if he rested here for a while…you don't mind, do you, Rocky?" Ginger looked up at him, her eyes searching him for responses.

Rocky huffed. "Course I don't mind, Ginge. Whatever gave ya that idea?"

"I can't imagine," sighed Ginger, rolling her eyes.

Stepping over to her, Rocky brushed back his comb and let it flop back into place as he considered what to do. He glanced at her thoughtfully, his beak pursed. "Did he give you a name?" he questioned slowly.

Ginger nodded, feeling relieved at a simple request. "Yes, he did. Azul, I think it was. He's British, Rocky…don't laugh!" For at that moment, a small smirk had begun to cross the rooster's face, trying to hold back some sort of chortle. Ginger knew that even asking for a name was not what he was really after.

Scoffing, Rocky chuckled. "What kind of a name is that?"

"I'm not sure, I've never heard of it before."

"No surprise there," Rocky argued cheekily, grinning.

Ginger frowned at him a little. He really wasn't taking this news well, not as well as she had hoped him to. What difference did it make about a name? He didn't normally poke fun at the names of some of the other chickens on the island, and even if he did he kept his comments to himself. Why should this one be any different?

"Gee, what were his parents thinking?" Rocky muttered to himself.

Trying to hold in the tolerance she had left inside of her, Ginger tried to keep her temper down as she struggled to hold her cool. "Rocky, just forget about the name, all right? He stayed here overnight; he was really shaken up…" she trailed off, watching the expression on his face gradually change. "I-I thought you wanted to meet him," she finished quietly.

Now Rocky stared at her. He really didn't want to meet this newcomer, but it really seemed important to Ginger. Not that Rocky was uncomfortable talking and introducing himself to strangers, of course…but for some reason, something was holding him back from seeing him. He couldn't understand what.

"Well…" he dragged, shifting about again, "Yeah, I guess…I suppose…if ya really wanted me to, I would. Ya know I would, Ginge."

"So what is it?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, I dunno," Rocky stuttered. "I guess it's just so sudden, y'know? This hasn't happened before." He looked at Ginger carefully, trying to show the hidden meaning of his grudge in his eyes. How could he prevent this so quickly? He really didn't want to go out there and see this rooster for himself.

Ginger nodded carefully, thinking things over. "No, it hasn't," she admitted, finally pleased that she got a sensible answer. "But you'll have to get used to changes around here, Rocky. I should know…I've had to deal with them all my life, and I expect somewhere along you've had to as well."

Rocky darted his eyes away, taking this in. "Yeah," was all he would say.

"So please give him a chance?" she pleaded. "He's only here for a while. The least you can do is to be a friend to him. He obviously didn't have many if he was trying to get away from something, maybe that's all he needs right now. Maybe his past was a sad tale."

"He's not the only one," Rocky answered back, but his reply was inaudible to his girlfriend. She didn't hear his response and Rocky was pleased that she hadn't.

"I have to let the others know he's here," she said, beginning to bustle about, organising her time. "They haven't had the word, yet. I'll have to fetch him out and then get the rest to meet him. The last thing I want is panic and chaos when they see him out and about." She stood up on tiptoe and gave Rocky a quick kiss on the cheek.

She smiled at him. "I won't be long."

It was only a few seconds as she had made to leave the door, when she heard more footsteps approaching behind her. Turning, she saw Rocky following her back, a sort of resolute appearance in his brown eyes.

She tried to hold back a laugh. "Where are you going?" she wondered, now only inches from leaving the hut but still holding her ground to find out this mystery. Rocky really didn't want her to have any more moments alone with this stranger without him. Maybe he wanted to be friends with him, after all.

Of course, the real meaning was blind to Ginger's gaze. She, on the other hand…did not know, or had not even considered the real reason for Rocky's actions. They were something that he kept to himself, or for the time being, anyway. Until he had figured it all out, that is.

"Out," he told her, taking her by the wing and smiling at her. "Come on."

To be continued

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(A/N: Well, another chapter's finished! I'm sorry that this chapter was only Rocky and Ginger again, but I promise next chapter will have others! I've planned out this story in full, so I can assure you more chickens will be seen in the next update. Until then, I hope you liked: smile : )