Chapter 23: Chicken!

"Buk, buk, buk, ba-gawk!"

"… Hum?" Pete and Claire shifted their attention to what sounded like repeated clucking.

"Buk, buk, buk, ba-gawk!"

"That sounds like…?" Claire squinted her eyes in the direction of the animal-like sound, noticing a small white creature with a red feathery head dashing on the path towards them, clucking aggressively as it did.

Too aggressively, they would say.

"Is that a… chicken?" Pete blinked. It's… coming this way?

"Oh, it looks so cute!" Claire crouched and stretched her arms out. Interacting with animals was not something she could do in the city, and now an animal has presented itself! "Come here, little chicken!"

"Buk, buk, buk, ba-gawk!" Its eyes locked onto the blonde-haired human.

This chicken was on a mission.

"Uh…" Claire took a step back. Its piercing eyes made chills crawl down her spine and gave her second thoughts. As if she could feel that chicken was looking at her with murderous intent! That chicken is… coming straight this way, isn't it?

"BA-GAAAWK!" answered the chicken as it flapped its wings and let out a war cry.

"E-EEEEEP!" Claire squealed in terror. "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU KILLER CHICKEN!"

"BUK, BUK!" A red glint flashed in the chicken's eyes as it tried to peck Claire.

"C-Claire?!" Pete called out.

"HELP ME, PETE!" Her eyes shut, Claire flared her arms out wildly, trying to fend off the attacking chicken. "IT'S TRYING TO EAT ME!"

"BUK, BUK!" The chicken ran in circles around the two farmers.

"Stand still!" Pete approached the chicken with careful steps; he readied his arms. This chicken is a feisty one!

"I DON'T WANT TO GET EATEN BY A CHICKEN!" Claire cried out as comical tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Calm down, no one's getting eaten today!" Pete threw his arms towards the chicken but it jumped to the side, dodging his grasp.

"Wait, Chickie! Come baaack!" A voice shouted in the distance. "You aren't supposed to leave our land!"

"Buk, buk?" The chicken craned its head around, taking notice of a girl running in their direction.

With a tender swiftness, Pete wrapped his arms around the chicken and lifted it. "Got'cha!"

"Goodness, Chickie!" The girl stopped in front of them. She panted for a moment before putting on a stern expression and raising her finger. "Only naughty little chickens turn tailfeather and run away like that. Didn't I tell you to stay put?"

Ah, does this chicken belong to this person? Pete thought as he gently patted the chicken. Chickie, huh…? That's a fitting name.

"Um, thank you for catching Chickie for me." The long pink-haired girl raised her head, drawing her hands to her back. Braided hair curved around the side of her face with a red ribbon tied around it. She wore a white and green dress with a red layer on top. "She's one of our store's chickens."

"Oh, sure thing." Pete offered a smile. "Chickie seems like a… nice chicken."

There's nothing nice about that chicken! Claire finally regained her composure and stood next to him. Lot of words she wanted to utter out loud, but a new resident of Mineral Town had presented herself to them.

"I only took my eyes off of her for a second, but that's all sneaky little Chickie needed to get past the fence." The girl pouted.

"She must be a fast chicken, then!" Pete chuckled.

"She's so fast that I have a hard time catching her, and she always barrels off at full speed." The girl puffed her cheeks and folded her arms. "I worry she'll get hurt."

You worry she'll get hurt?! Claire's eyebrow twitched, her arms trembling slightly. You should worry about the poor human it decides to hurt! Me!

"You know, I don't think we've had the pleasure." The girl took a closer look at the two farmers. She placed a hand on her chest. "My name is Popuri. It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too." He smiled sweetly. "My name is Pete and…," he glanced at Claire, realizing she wasn't in the best mood, "… this is Claire. We're the two farmers who moved here recently."

"Ah, you must be new people who moved into that farm." Popuri clasped her hands. "So, your names are Pete and Claire? Those are nice names. Thank you for being so friendly out of the gate!"

"Thank you for being welcoming to us, too." Pete grinned, subtly nudging Claire's elbow.

"… I hope we'll be good friends," Claire added, rubbing her arm.

"Hehe!" Popuri blushed with a bubbly smile. She then held her chin. "Say, um… do you two like chickens?"

"… Are you seriously asking me that?" Claire clenched her teeth, unable to contain her hatred towards the chicken. "I swear, I'm going to cook that—…"

"Y-Yep! Yep!" Pete interrupted and covered his partner's mouth. "Who doesn't?"

"Really?" Popuri's eyes sparkled with delight. "Oh, I just knew you two seemed like the chicken-loving type!"

"Of course!" Pete drew his gaze to Chickie and caressed its feathers. "Chickens are adorable, after all!"

"I'm totally smitten with chickens!" Popuri twirled her arms around and struck a pose, pointing at Pete's heart. "And as Papa always said. A heart with room for chickens is a heart full of love."

"We couldn't agree more." Pete patted Claire's shoulder, hoping she'd keep it together.

"Anyway, I'd better take Chickie back home before she can get into any more mischief." Popuri took the chicken back from him, carrying it in her arms. "If you ever have anything you want to ask about chickens, come visit us, okay?"

Pete nodded. "We'll drop by, for sure."

"In fact…" Popuri's eyes lit up. She took a few steps closer to him, his face mere inches away from hers. "Why don't you visit us right now? I'm sure my family would love to meet you!"

"Hmmm…" Claire silently observed their closeness.

"A-Ah, if you think so!" Pete took a few steps back. "We're exploring Mineral Town, so I think that's a good idea."

"Hehe, great!" Popuri smiled, then turned around and set the chicken on the ground. "C'mon, Chickie. It's time to go home. Follow me, okay?" She walked to her farm, looking back after every few steps. "That's a good girl!"

Pete and Claire stared at Popuri and the chicken as they walked away, eventually disappearing into a house.

Pete folded his arms, slowly turning his gaze. "… Are you all right, Claire?"

"I didn't know chickens could be this ruthless!" Claire stomped her feet, puffing her cheeks out. I just wanted to pet the chicken because it looked cute! Turns out chickens can be crazy!

"You put on quite a show."

"… You're enjoying my demise, aren't you?" She huffed.

"What? No!" He waved his hand, the corners of his lips curling up. "Of course not! There's clearly nothing laughable about… being attacked by a chicken."

She whipped a finger at him. "Wipe that smile off your face!"

"Look, if it makes you feel better…" He scratched his cheek. "As a kid, I was once chased by a flock of chickens."

"What did you do to get chased by a group of them?"

"I was chasing one with a stick." He closed his eyes and raised his head. "Good times."

"Uhuh." Claire locked a hand to her hip. I guess that's much worse than being attacked by a single chicken.

"So, what do you say to taking up on Popuri's offer?" Pete asked. "I think we should introduce ourselves to her family. And that also happens to be the next place after the Forge."

"Hmmm…" Claire glanced at the next house, appearing in deep thought.

"I was expecting you'd be excited about our adventure through Mineral Town." Pete tilted his head. "… You're not holding resentment against that chicken, are you?"

"Yes, I am!" She huffed, clenching her fists. "That chicken was going to eat me, Pete!"

"No, it wasn't!" Pete sighed, placing a fist on his forehead. "Listen, Claire. I assure you chickens don't generally chase humans around unless you give them a reason to."

"What reason was I giving that chicken, then?!" She slammed a palm on her chest. "I just wanted to pet it!"

"Maybe it was excited about meeting you!" He gave a cheeky grin. "Maybe it just wanted to aggressively greet you!"

"… You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dream of it." He gently patted her back and walked past her. "Come on, let's continue our adventure through Mineral Town and greet Popuri's family."

Claire stared at his back moving farther and farther away. Right… I wanted this to be our adventure. She took a deep breath and recollected her thoughts, letting her emotions simmer down. I can't let a chicken affect me! She began running to catch up with her partner.

"Wait up, Pete!"