A soft violet light appeared around the rooster, and a deeper, almost purple glow appeared around me. Within seconds, the wound on his neck, along with several others he'd received during our fight, quickly disappeared, while a wound appeared on my neck, along with some cuts on my arms (now healed but still slightly red and painful), and a twist.
The pain of these wounds opening helped clear my mind enough to silence the urge to completely dry the rooster. Moments later, he was almost completely healed, and I had new wounds that were already closing again.
He looked at me, and I was sure I saw confusion and surprise in his eyes, as well as in the eyes of the hens, who had by then recovered (partially) and were "on top" of the rooster.
For my part, I just looked at them and said,
"So? Ready to talk?"
********************
Shortly after healing the rooster and the other hens, who still looked at me suspiciously and hostilely, I treated my own wounds by drinking the blood of a rat I found inside the neighbor's even more destroyed room.
It might seem strange to see me asking a question like, "Ready to talk?" Since I was the one who basically broke into their house, fought, and almost killed the tenants, but didn't finish the job. Why bother doing something like that if you're not even going to finish it?
I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that of me.
But there's a very simple reason I changed my mind. Initially, I had intended to kill these chickens, drink their blood, smoke the meat for stock (yes, I know chicken meat isn't good for making jerky, but you have to work with what you have). And get some eggs (if I was lucky, maybe even some fertilized ones).
But shortly after seeing these chickens, that initial idea vanished. They're an intelligent, organized group, and protective of their own, which I greatly respect. Plus, they have powers, which is a great addition to my family's security. So my proposal to them is:
"We'll help you get food and help with security. In exchange, you'll give us some of your unfertilized eggs, some blood, and help us with our security, too. What do you think?"
It may seem a bit unnecessary to say that, in exchange for their help protecting us, we protect them, but it's not really.
Even though I've only been awake for a few hours, I'm familiar with apocalyptic worlds (according to fantasy stories), and I know that the two biggest concerns are always food and safety. How can you get food without a safe place to sleep or even wean?.
Especially with children (chicks in this case).
The most common solution, and the one usually used in these stories, would be to become nomads. If nowhere is safe, it's better to stay constantly on the move to avoid being caught.
But for species like chickens, even magical ones, this option is a bit difficult for several reasons. So why not opt for the second best option: find someone strong who needs something from you and make a deal, which is our case.
"You saw that if I wanted to, I could have killed you, and that was just me alone. Imagine if the lazy girl watching from up there had joined in. Believe me, despite her appearance, she's quite strong."
I said, pointing to my sister on top of the wall behind me. Let's ignore her reaction to what I said.
The rooster looked at himself, the chickens, and the state of the neighbor's yard. Then he looked at my sister, who in turn smiled and waved goodbye. I'm sure I saw him tremble a little, but still maintaining the most haughty pose he could muster, he looked back at me.
He stared into my eyes without blinking for about 10 uninterrupted seconds. He then closed his eyes and did what I've never seen a real-life rooster do (although I still secretly think I'm in an extremely realistic dream): a reverence.
Soon after, the hens I fought also bowed in the same way, and further back I saw the chicks doing the same.
I'm not sure what I should do in this situation, so I just used what I know about bowing etiquette, waited about three seconds, and returned the bow. This yielded an interesting notification.
[The Flaming Rooster's big hen (inferior impure phoenix) has acknowledged you as their master and protector.
In exchange for safety and food, they swear to offer a tribute of blood, eggs, and labor.
Do you accept these terms?
()Yes ()No]
That's kind of unnecessary, isn't it?.
I made that proposal, so the answer is obvious.
[Congratulations on becoming the master of the Flaming Rooster (Lesser Impure Phoenix) chicken.]
[You received experience for defeating the chicken.]
[You acquired the [Taming] skill.]
[Experience for the skills [Body Reinforcement], [Unarmed Combat], [Obsidian Claws] increased by 1 level.]
Wow, I got experience even though I didn't kill any of the chickens, plus a new skill.
Great!!!!
********************
Mari's POV
I love my family.
Even when we have our arguments and occasional disagreements, I still love my family. My father, my mother, my sister, and of course, I also love my brother.
Even though he's the one who irritates me the most (actually, between him and our father, it's hard to say who irritates me the most depending on the conversation).
But if I'm honest, even though I love my brother, I'm also a little afraid of him sometimes. Siblings fighting with each other is common, and siblings fighting in defense of each other is just as common.
Now, a sibling getting into a fight so big that it drags the entire school down and has to go to the police station and spend a day in jail, that's not so common.
That's what happened to us, but the bad thing is that it didn't happen all at once. There were at least three times, involving me or our older sister.
The worst moment was the third time, when I really started to fear my brother. When he almost killed someone.
I won't go into details about why or how, just that the result was the other guy being disabled for life. While my brother got a permanent criminal record, and the only reason he didn't go to prison was because he was a minor and it was considered self-defense, even if it was an excessive use of force.
Of course, I was happy both that he "won" and that he didn't get into trouble, but I imagined he would. But I never want something like that to happen again, not only because of the risk he ran of suddenly dying, but also because of the possibility of that look returning.
A look that was both cold and calculating, yet incandescent with an almost animalistic rage.
And why talk about it now?
Because just now, I saw that same look, albeit very briefly, in his eyes when he bit the rooster's neck.
It's been hours since my parents and I woke up and saw the world in this state. Almost a whole day actually, and even though it wasn't that long, we already saw each other and did more things than I told Nando about.
I'll just say this: it wasn't for nothing that our parents rushed out of the house to find our older sister. Because of this, I already know that expecting him to become normal in this situation is unrealistic, but him embracing this animalistic side so soon worries and terrifies me.
The annoying, know-it-all, and protective brother I know already had a chance of becoming something completely different before. Now that he's no longer human, how easy it would be for him to go beyond that and never come back?
I don't even want to think about it too much, honestly.
That's why, when I saw that enchanted look as he bit the rooster's neck, I was ready to intervene. Not out of pity for the rooster or the hens (maybe a little for the chicks), but out of fear that if he killed the rooster like that, the brother I know would be lost, even if only a little.
And it's only little by little that fills a bucket.
And that's also why I was so relieved to see him forcing himself to stop drinking the rooster's blood. Not only that, but also healing him, the other chickens and even taming all the chickens.