"the circus is coming to town!" Hoppy cheered as she ran through the village, awaking everyone except the early-waker Dogday.
"what?" Dogday asked, exiting his home as Hoppy ran past.
"the circus is coming to town! I'm so excited!" she cheered.
"really? when?" Dogday asked, her joy infecting him.
"next Tuesday! in four days! eeeeeek!" she squealed.
"it's six in the morning! what in the name of Grain are you yelling about?" Kickin' asked as he opened the door to his small house.
a teenage chicken critter wearing a black bag on his back trotted through a dense forest.
he was a light yellow chicken critter with an orange beak and hair-like clumps of feathers on top of his head, which was hidden by a black newsboy cap. along with the hat, he wore black leg warmers.
"hey kid! what're you doing out here by yourself?" a hiking pale blue adult sea otter critter asked from a small distance.
"I-I'm Benjamin" the chicken critter replied.
"where's your parents?" the sea otter critter as they approached him.
"in heaven" the chicken critter, Benjamin replied in a blank tone.
"well do you have any family?" the sea otter critter asked.
"I have a little brother but he's still at the orphanage. I gave him our dads jacket before I left" Benjamin explained.
"alright. you have somewhere to go?" the sea otter critter asked.
"there's a circus in town. I'm gonna ask if I can join them" Benjamin explained.
"okay but if they don't accept you, go straight back to your brother okay? I'll tell him how your doing" the sea otter critter replied, turning to head in the same direction Benjamin had come from.
"woo! circus!" Hoppy cheered as the group walked down a path in town.
"Kickin' come on! you're lagging behind!" Bobby called over to Kickin', who was a few feet behind the group.
"I'll catch up!" Kickin' called back, a brown saddle bag over his shoulder.
"are you sure it was a good idea to bring Kickin' along? hes always so bummed out by the time we get inside and doesn't cheer up until the next day" Picky asked.
"he insisted on coming. come on, I have a good feeling about it this time" Dogday replied.
"you always have a good feeling about the circus" Picky responded with a slight scowl.
a teenage chicken critter stuffed a bag of chips into a black bag while kneeling down in a large orphanage kitchen.
he was a light yellow chicken critter with an orange beak and hair-like clumps of feathers on top of his head, which was hidden by a black newsboy cap. along with the hat, he wore a dark-ish yellow collared buttoned jacket slightly oversized and black leg warmers.
"Benny?" a voice from the entrance asked.
the teenagers head snapped in the direction of the doorway, where a chick Kickin' was standing there confused.
the hair-like clumps of feathers on his head were flopped down in front of his left eye and he had a worried and confused expression. he wore light blue pajamas with a light yellow egg pattern.
"what are you doing?" Kickin' asked.
the teenager, Benny sighed as he stood up and walked over, taking off his jacket as he did so.
"Kick, I'm gonna be gone awhile so I need you to take care of dad's jacket. okay?" Benny told Kickin' as he draped the jacket over his shoulders.
"o-okay. how long will you be gone?" Kickin' asked, clearly upset.
"probably a while. I promise I'll come find you in...seven years, hows that?" Benny spoke as he ruffled the feathers on Kickin's head, making him laugh.
"so when I'm fifteen years old right?" Kickin' questioned, to which Benny nodded.
"fifteen years old" Benny repeated.
"fifteen years old" Kickin' muttered under his breath as they arrived at the circus.
"what was that?" Bobby asked, the closest to him.
"nothing. I'm gonna go look around" Kickin' replied, only for Bobby to grab his wing-like arm.
"nope! everytime a traveling circus comes to town, you insist on going but then you run off by yourself and when you come back your all bummed out and refuse to talk to us!" Bobby spoke with frustration.
"I promise I'll talk to you okay! I just have to ask them something!" Kickin' replied as he tried to pull away from her grip.
"what?" Bubba asked.
"if he works here!" Kickin' growled as he escaped her grasp and ran off.
"'he'?" Crafty repeated.
"you ready for the performance Ben?" a young adult brown deer critter asked as she stood behind a stage with a young adult Benjamin.
she was a desaturated light brown with her hooves a dark-ish brown. she wore a pale brown short jumpsuit with long sleeves with a see-through pale pink ribbon belt.
Benjamin wore a black shirt with gold buttons, a bright red tailcoat with a gold trim and a black top hat hiding the hair-like clumps of feathers on his head. along with that he was holding a black staff with an orange orb on the end.
"of course Aika! I'm all prepared!" Benjamin winked.
"come on then. the performance is in ten minutes" the deer critter, Aika replied, grabbing his wrist and guiding him outside.
they walked towards the tent for a minute before Aika turned to Benjamin, noticing his expression.
"hey what's wrong? you seem a bit down" Aika spoke, stopping their short walk.
Benjamin sighed.
"Kicks fifteenth birthday was last month. I promised I would come find him" he admitted.
"oh Ben. don't worry. we'll find him" she spoke, hugging him as she did so.
Kickin' walked up to a pale blue and pink adult wolf critter stocking up a stand.
"excuse me" Kickin' spoke to get the wolf critters attention, succeeding in doing so.
"oh hello young critter. what can I do for you today?" the wolf critter asked.
"does anyone named Benjamin chicken work at this circus?" Kickin' asked.
"oh yeah! he's the ringmaster!" they replied, causing Kickin's eyes to light up.
"why do you as-oh he's gone" the wolf critter said, realizing he had run off.
Kickin' ran up to his friends, who were crowded around a stand as Dogday bought them snacks.
"come on! let's go in! it's going to start any minute now!" Kickin' complained as he grabbed Hoppys wrist and began pulling her towards the tent.
"woah! what's got you so excited?" Hoppy asked as she pulled away.
"it's a circus! who wouldn't be excited!?" Kickin' practically yelled.
"uh you? literally five minutes ago. and speaking of five minutes ago. who's 'he'?" Bubba queried.
"doesn't matter! I wanna go in!" Kickin' replied before running off to the tent.
"what's up with him?" Bobby questioned.
"this is the most excited I've ever seen him" Dogday commented.
"I feel kind of concerned" Crafty whispered, to which Catnap nodded.
"me too" he signed.
Kickin' sat in his seat between Bubba and Picky, his bag in his lap as he stared with excitement.
as the crowd finished finding their seats, the lights began to dim.
when the lights were completely off, the lights pointing at the arena switched on to reveal Benjamin standing in the center with a large plastic bucket a few feet away from him.
"ladies, gentlemen and gentlefolks! girls, boys and enbys!" Benjamin announced into the orange orb on his staff, leading the crowd to cheer with Kickin' being the loudest.
"I'll be your ringmaster today but before we begin, have you seen my friend Charlie? he's yay high and a purple elephant" Benjamin said, gesturing with his wing-like hand to about two feet above his head.
the crowd began looking around, whispering filling the tent.
suddenly, someone behind the crowd began tossing juggling balls into the large bucket.
"oh! who's doing this?" Benjamin asked the crowd.
"its me!" the person behind the crowd announced as one of the lights focused on them.
he was an adult purple elephant critter with clown make up on their face. he wore a bright red t-shirt and bright yellow overalls with a fake flower on the left strap.
"ladies, gentlemen and gentlefolk! Charlie! take it away" Benjamin declared before leaving through the curtains leading to backstage as the adult elephant critter began walking down the steps.
the group left the circus tent, smiles on all seven of their faces.
"I've never seen Kickin' so excited about the circus before!" Bobby commented.
"he seemed extra excited about the ringmaster" Dogday replied.
"hey. speaking of the ringmaster, did he look similar to Kickin' to you?" Bubba asked.
"yeah, they almost looked...related?" Crafty added.
"speaking of Kickin'...where'd he go?" Picky asked, searching through the group for that familiar shade of yellow.
Kickin' walked into the middle of the circus arena, holding tightly onto his bags strap as he watched the last of the crowd leave.
"hey kid, you're not supposed to be here" Aika said as she approached him.
"oh. I'm Kickin' chicken. I heard my brother Benjamin chicken works here?" Kickin' nervously explained, surprising Aika.
she then grabbed his arm and began dragging him backstage.
"hey!" Kickin' complained before they disappeared behind the curtains outside.
"hey Benny! you have a visitor!" Aika announced, getting the attention of Benjamin, who was taking off his coat.
"Kick?" Benjamin spoke, his eyes widening at the sight of the teenage chicken critter.
"Benny!" Kickin' cheered, being let go by Aika so he could run to his brother.
the brothers hugged each other happily as the older ones lover watched.
"Kick! how are you here?" Benjamin asked as they stopped hugging.
"I've lived in smiling village for three years! I've checked every circus that came by since I came here!" Kickin' explained.
"I'm so sorry for leaving you. it was stupid of me to abandon you at that place" Benjamin apologized.
"it's okay! cause I met Picky and then we moved here together and then we met Dogday and Bobby and Crafty. then I kicked a ball and it hit Bubba in the face and then I got yelled at by Hoppy while Catnap helped Bubba and now we're all friends!" Kickin' rambled.
"look, look. the circus is taking a break next month for two weeks. how about I come back then and you can tell me all about your new life and your friends? sound good?" Benjamin asked, crouching down slightly to get to Kickin's eye level.
Kickin' nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion.
"excuse me, have you seen our friend?" Dogday asked as he approached the wolf critter.
"I don't know. what does he look like?" they questioned.
"he's a yellow chicken, about fifteen. his feathers are swept back on his head" Dogday explained, his gestures matching his words.
"oh yeah. he came around earlier. asked if the ringmaster, Benjamin worked here. then he ran off when I said yes" the wolf critter replied.
"did he say why he was asking?" Crafty spoke up.
"nope. he gave me a question and I answered it. simple" they answered.
"woo!" Kickin' cheered, trying to pick up Bobby from behind. and failing.
"eep!" Bobby squeaked as he put her down before running off with a cheer.
"Kickin' wait!" Hoppy yelled as she followed him.
Kickin' sighed as he entered his house, closing the door behind him. it was fairly small, being a shed originally. there was just a nest-like bed, a microwave, a mini fridge and a desk acting as a kitchen counter with a set of shelves underneath.
he tossed his bag to the side and hopped into bed.
"I can't believe my brother is finally going to meet my friends next month!" Kickin' said to himself.