Introducing Britannia

(A/N: I am so sorry about my delays! I've been extra busy trying to work out the genuine plot of this story; I've got it all under way now so I'm back on track to writing. Um…do you think you guys can take 24 chapters: smile : I know it's a lot but there are plenty of surprises. It shouldn't take me too long now to write it up. I'm quite proud of the ending, I hope you'll like it shall I ever reach there.

I've also had help with the Scottish accent, as one of my friends has so kindly translated it for me! Thank you for everyone who reviewed chapter 4!)

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The sunlight was stripped and warm on their feathers as Rocky and Ginger stepped out into the open. Rocky raised his wing to his eyes to shield himself, and searched the island slowly, an expression of surprise and disbelief falling across his face. Ginger followed his stare, seeming confused.

"Hey, err…can we say 'dead'?" he muttered under his breath, his dark eyes watching the surroundings. There seemed to be no one in sight, hardly much commotion was going on, and it was very eerie for both of them to step into a world of silence.

Ginger frowned. "Where is everyone?"

"I dunno," Rocky shrugged, lowering his wing back down to his side and giving Ginger a doubtful look. "Maybe nobody's up yet?"

The hen shook her head. "No, it's not that early. Besides, I could have sworn that I heard a good crowd up and about this morning…before you woke."

"Hey, you woke me," Rocky reminded her, with a smirk.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. We still need to figure out what's going on," Ginger fretted, looking around another time curiously. Everything seemed to be well in place, nothing appeared to be different. Ginger was just beginning to think that something terrible had happened when a noise came up from in front, over the hill.

Her eyes widened. "What was that?"

"What? What was what – you heard a noise?"

Ginger nodded slowly, listening carefully and squinting into the sunrise. "It came from up there," she pointed. "I think I heard something – someone. I think it was laughing, maybe it was Fowler."

"Maybe," Rocky mocked jokingly, crossing his eyes.

Trying not to laugh, Ginger tugged a little at his wing. "Stop that, come on," she told him half-seriously, pulling him further onto the island. Rocky didn't struggle, for he was as puzzled as his girlfriend was at the moment, instead he just followed at a slow pace.

As they grew closer to the hill, the sound became louder. Rocky and Ginger clambered quickly up the steep mound and peeked over the top, unsure and curious of what they would see. What lay before their eyes was indeed surprising, and caused both of them to gasp out loud.

"Holy, moly," Rocky whistled, his deep voice low with amazement. Below them, in the nearby field quarters stood a circle of chickens, gathered tightly around one individual and talking away to themselves excitedly.

The one chicken that stood in the centre was rather tall, with a figurative posture, a soft but clear voice that could be heard from afar, and even more importantly, distinctively raven black feathers…

"That's him!" Ginger suddenly blurted out, so quickly that Rocky jumped from the interruption. "That's the rooster that came here last night! The one in the middle, the dark-feathered one, can you see him?" she asked, directing her question to Rocky, who now had a strange look on his face.

After a moment of silence, he finally snapped out of it. "That's the new guy?"

"Yes, of course."

Rocky coughed a little in his throat, hoping it didn't sound too obvious. "What's the deal with the fan club?" he wanted to know, trying not to make his voice as slippery as it sounded. "He sure got popular, huh?"

Ginger noticed the tone in his voice and smiled smugly at him. "If I'm not mistaken, you weren't exactly wanting isolation when you arrived, Mr Big-Shot," she said in correction, watching his expression fall away. "You sucked it all up, am I right?" she gave him a look, which brought him a meek grin.

"Hehe, ya got me there," he recovered quickly, straightening himself up. "But what can I say? Everyone wants to be noticed." He shot another look down at the rooster again, almost looking as if he wanted to turn back and have nothing to do with him, as if he didn't want to know anything about him whatsoever. "What'd ya say his name was…again?"

Ginger sighed, hoping that this wouldn't lead up to more jokes. "Azul," she said. "And no, I don't know where it came from. Maybe if we went down and asked, he might just explain." She gave Rocky a hopeful gaze.

Rocky waited, staring up at the sky with his wings clasped. "Here's an idea!" he proclaimed, pointing at her all of a sudden. "You go down and ask, Ginge, I'll just wait up here, and – whoa!" His words were stolen as Ginger quickly grabbed hold of him again and began to pull him down the hill, not even looking at him.

"Hey!" he cried out again, trying not to stumble.

"I don't know why you're so unsure on meeting him," Ginger began patiently, her approach gaining on the circle before her. "But you're at least going to say something, aren't you?"

There was no response. Apparently he had given up the argument, or at long last he had run out of comments to say. He hung behind her, a small tight force of resent holding against his heart.

Why was he holding himself back?

"Excuse me!" Ginger called out politely, stepping up to the group and directing her voice. The other chickens, at the sight of her, stepped aside to let her through, wondering why their leader hadn't been up to check on this earlier. Rocky stayed back still, making uncomfortable expressions.

The noise and commotion was so loud that Ginger could hardly hear herself. Everyone seemed to be talking so excitedly and quickly that it was impossible to get a word in. For a moment, she felt like shouting to raise her voice, but she knew that even that would be a challenge. In relief, she spotted her friend Mac nearby.

"Mac!" she almost called out in reply, pushing a random hen out of the way to make a clear path, she had left Rocky behind in the chaos and didn't know if she dared to go back. She shot a glance behind her, but he was nowhere in sight, and Mac still hadn't heard her.

Ginger had to force her way up to her and tap her on the shoulder. Mac quickly looked around at the contact and saw her friend standing there, looking annoyed but confused. "Mac, thank goodness," Ginger panted, clearly not pleased with the way everyone stood out. She frowned as she glanced around at the huddle of hens, now in a tight pact gathered near Azul.

"Guid day hen! Ur ye aw reit?" Mac asked her, scribbling away at her notes as usual. Mac's appearance differed from Ginger's, with her mop comb and bucked teeth, and the magnified glasses that she always wore. The Scottish hen was Ginger's life long friend, and had been so for many years. She could always tell whenever something was wrong, like now when she saw her expression before her.

"Fine," Ginger sounded tonelessly, glancing around at the large circle before her. "Good grief."

Mac nodded, though not looking up. "Oohhh aye, quite a crowd, isnae it?"

Ginger just stared, fascinated for a moment. Then finally, she found her voice. "I-I didn't expect so many others would be here just to meet him," she commented, noticing that Mac looked up at her over her notes, surprised to hear this. "I mean…he only came last night…I wasn't intending this much attention!"

Now it was Mac's turn to stare. She put on a confused sort of face and watched her friend, and every now and then she kept darting her gaze back and forth, trying to get a glimpse of the new rooster herself. She at last turned her view to Ginger, and scratched the side of her head with her pencil.

"Och, aam sorry," she began, her voice directed loud. "Ah didne hear 'at ye awreddy kent heem." She shot a glance towards Azul, watching as he grinned at a bunch of hens, obviously talking so fast that he couldn't even hear them.

"I do know him, Mac," Ginger explained, her eyes fixed on him now. "I met him alone…he'd run aground and I told him that he could stay. He seemed pretty unsure about staying here then…but now he looks as if he wants a game of twenty questions." She put her wings on her hips and frowned a little.

Mac sighed, looking about herself. "It certainly looks as if he's settled in noo," she said, her hazel eyes lighting up and beginning to search the crowds. "Um, whit aboot Mr. Rhodes? Has he mit heem yit?"

Ginger just shook her head slowly. Rocky definitely looked as if he didn't want to meet this stranger, and no doubt he had probably turned tail and rushed back to the hut, not wanting to stand about. He never had been someone patient, in Ginger's view. She let out a sigh of indignation and rolled her green eyes.

"I'll go and talk to him," she said, making her way through.

There were a few bumps and pushes and various cries, but Ginger finally managed to break through and reach the centre, marching up to Azul, not meaning to seem angry in her strides so she tried to cover it up with curiosity, and approached him.

Azul pardoned the next few questions that others were tugging for answers, and eventually caught Ginger's eye. He offered a grin at her and waved a little, explaining to the other hens that he needed to talk to someone. He squeezed his way past and walked up to her, his blue eyes full of excitement.

"Morning, Miss Ginger," he smiled, brushing himself down.

Ginger blinked, not as angry as she expected herself to be. Pointing around at the vast large circle, she faced him on. "What's all this?"

Azul chuckled. "Would you believe it? I take one foot outside this morning and I feel as if I'm ready to be attacked! Hundreds of these chickens come rushing straight at me, but not like your entry last night, I might add."

It was at this point that Ginger managed a weak smile herself.

"They're all asking me these questions, I feel as if I'm someone important! You've got a lot of decent friends here, Miss Ginger…how do you keep up with all of the names, and everything?" He pretended to stagger as if he were carrying a heavy load, before continuing. "Sorry to be such a bother, and all…"

Ginger didn't know what to think. She felt confused, but yet relieved that Azul wasn't angry or upset at all of this new awareness. She made out another small smile, but only from her thoughts. Gesturing towards the others, she offered a small acceptance, her face upwards in a friendly intake.

"Maybe there is a way to know everyone better," she said. "Tonight I'll arrange everyone together outside, if you like. You can share your story with us, then…and maybe things will be simpler."

She was pleased at the approval expression on the rooster's face. He twiddled his feathers a little and looked happy for the invitation, finally beaming brightly at her. "Thank you kindly," he told her. "I'll be looking forward to it." He finished his task of brushing himself down again, straightening out his ebony black feathers.

"Great," Ginger proclaimed, her voice softer now. "I'll arrange it all, don't worry. You'll hopefully meet everyone here and…you know, not feel like such a stranger among us anymore. We don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Well, I appreciate it," Azul said gratefully, grinning again. "I do."

Though she had been a little surprised at the commotion of the morning, Ginger couldn't help thinking that it wasn't Azul's fault. Somehow, he managed to not get onto her bad side much; she found that she could hardly be angry with him for anything. Unlike Rocky when he first…Rocky! she suddenly remembered.

Azul was just taking off again to meet the rest of the crowd, when something snapped inside Ginger's head. "Oh, wait," she said aloud, quickly following him, watching as he turned to look at her, a little puzzled. "There's someone you haven't met just yet. Rocky…he's one of the other roosters."

There was a passive silence, broken by a squeal of protest from a nearby hen.

"Oh," Azul nodded. "I see."

"Well," Ginger continued, "Maybe tonight you can be acquainted…he's pretty unsure about all of this – he doesn't suit to change, you see…and he was sort of taken aback by all of this news. It would be great if you got to know him."

He smiled at her, but it was a bit of a clumsy smile…a little too uncomfortable for Ginger's liking. Why were these roosters so cautious around each other? Was it something to do with pride, or dignity? Ginger could never figure it out, but she didn't really want to wait around and guess.

"Of course," he replied quietly. "Of course…"

Ginger beamed back at him, not noticing the tension in his voice at all. "He also wanted me to ask you something," she said.

"Oh? What's that?"

Here she paused, hoping that her question wasn't going to sound too impolite. It had sounded fine before…now it just seemed rushed and inappropriate. She swallowed anyway, and put on a gaze that she trusted was friendly. "Um…he wonders where your name came from," she answered. "Whether it was from ancestors or just simply a favourite in your family name, he was saying so earlier."

Though it had been ruder when Rocky had mentioned the question, Ginger wasn't going to argue against that.

All that Azul offered was a sly grin, before turning away from her and stepping back into the crowd. "I suppose you'll find out tonight at the meeting," he muttered to her quietly. "I'm sure then you'll hear everything. You and this 'Rocky'." With that, he disappeared and was swept away again by another horde of rampaging chickens. Strangely, his voice had sounded rather hurt.

Ginger just stared at the spot where he stood, wondering what his words meant. Why couldn't he have told her then? Was there something deeper behind his character, a story to tell? The hen didn't really have a response to what she would have said if he really had told her, maybe he wanted everyone to hear at the same time. Even so, why hide it from her so mysteriously?

"Odd." Ginger whispered to herself, before turning back and making her way through the circle again, thinking things over carefully, and being rather glad in her heart that it hadn't been Rocky and Azul's first meeting by the yard.

To be continued

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(A/N: I'm so sorry about the lack of updates I've been having. I have a whole bunch of new stories I've been posting and I've been trying to go back to this one in my spare time. I hope you like this chapter and expect a chapter 6 to be on its way soon! I can promise you you'll learn further into Azul's past. It's interesting, I can guarantee. Please R&R!)