There is a hidden war on the streets of New Orleans between the chickens that run free throughout the wards and the cats that claim those same streets. I wrote this short story as a kind of primer for myself as I consider whether or not to expand the concept into a novella. As a kid I was obsessed with Watership Down and have always dug the idea of writing stories that feature slightly anthropomorphized animals. I set the story in modern times but the characters exist in an epic struggle and their dialogue resembles something that wouldn’t be out of place in high fantasy.
Please read and enjoy.
“You must always remember to lead with your talons forward. The enemy will give no quarter.” Naargle spoke with his eyes shut tight. His head moved in its usual rhythmic bob as it always had but these days it seemed to me that it was slower than I recalled. The chicks around him strutted and chattered. I was the only one listening to the old rooster’s words.
“It feels like we will always lose to them, Naargle,” I called back to him.
“Use your gifts and you will prevail and should you ever find yourself surrounded remember your wings will carry you from harms way,” he clucked and left me alone with his final words. It has been a year since that conversation and I have grown into a rooster myself. I am Likak, a guardian for our hens, and I am honored to be chosen for the task. Some of my brothers though stronger are not as astute. Their minds are on food and procreation. I think back on Naargle nearly every day. That was the beginning of my training I discovered and Naargle continued to instruct me and a few others on defense of the flock. Naargle died last winter below the wheels of a black Skreek.
“Koo, I need you to move the hens to the neker rows,” Bik ordered as he strutted towards me. A chill ran down my spine as I thought of the neker rows. The food there was spare and the white stone monoliths and the strange spirits that drifted through that space were terrifying.
“Why?” I asked in return.
“The enemy is on the move and the cats don’t go to the neker rows. The high walls and cold stone will keep them safe,” Bik looked down on me with his eyes below a high rigid neck of orange and brown.
I dropped my head and felt stupid for asking. “I will honor your name at the call to the sun.”
He let his neck relax with my admission of fealty. “Thank you, Koo. Understand, you are my best and bravest man. Most of the young don’t understand that we are at war, that is until they are confronted by our foe and die by their claws.”
“I will protect the flock with my life,” I said with my head still bowed. I thought back to the first time saw the enemy. It was a sleek calico monster and it moved like lightning. It stalked Koo and the other chicks in an empty field between two double shotguns. The women rankled and clucked at the creature’s approach as the beast swatted a chick to the ground and batted at it with its two front paws. “Stop, please,” the hens shrieked.
“I’m only playing,” the creature demurred with the chick pinned under his paw.”You, dear ladies, are the real feast.”
“This is truce ground,” Eela the bigger of the two hens spoke up. “You may only hunt on the uneven path or the black place of pain,” she knew the cats didn’t care about truces where their stomachs were involved as all chickens understood. Their nature was as predator so any truce would be short lived. Koo almost laughed at how naive he had been as a freshly cracked chick.
The calico casually batted a pullet to and fro as she eyed the women. “I think the truce applies to hunting. This is merely entertainment,” she stomped on the chick with here claws extracted. The knife-like claws pierce the chicks wings and it squeals in pain. “I could turn my attentions towards you.”
“Please leave,” Eela tried to project a strong voice but even as a chick I could hear her fear. The first understanding of chickens in this war was the simple edict, cats feed on fear.
If a cat could smile she would’ve. She stared down at the pullet with her piercing green eyes before lifting it with her claws gripped around it and batting it into the solid wood of a fence. The chick landed on the ground and shuttered as its life left its body. The women were in shock as the body twitched its last. While they were in their grief the cat leaped at Eela as it growled. Instantly Eela slashed at the cat with her back claws but the calico already had her claws into Eela’s flesh as they rolled on the ground. The cat’s yowl echoed off the two houses and alerted other cats in the area of a fight. I remembered my heart threatening to beat out of my chest as the other chicks and I could only watch.
That was the first time I had ever seen Naargle. His plume was a majestic contrast of green and red with a vibrant tail. He swept in from the fence that bordered the yard from the uneven path. He led with his claws and caught the cat with his talons along the flank. Blood didn’t immediately come but the calico raised her hackles and hissed at Naargle with her head low and her hindquarters high. I looked up at him with his head held high and his neck rigid. His form was pitch black silhouetted against the sun as he stood before the frazzled predator. “You know the pact!” He bellowed with a voice almost as loud as his call to the sun.
The cat tilted her head towards the ground at looked at him with a sadistic gleam in her eye. “I know you. You scarred Thesaly not a week ago.”
“Aye, and I will do the same to you if you don’t honor the pact.” I chirped without warning which caused Naargle to cast his eye towards me. Despite the sun’s shadow I saw him wink at me.
The calico seemed to take his words as a challenge and batted Naargle across the face with her mitt. He was forced back from the hit and took a moment to correct his stance. He used his wings and rose in the air what seemed like a hundred feet at my young age and slashed the cat’s cheek with one claw and his right shoulder with the other. Blood was flowing from the first wound and the cat kept her distance from the powerful rooster that engaged her. Other cats had at that point gathered at the fence wall at both sides to watch the battle. The calico seemed to feel their eyes on her and tilted her head, “I honor the pact.”
I watched the cats at the wall and saw their leader. He was called Macho a fat tom curled at the center of the clustered cats. The calico saw Macho as she looked around the growing audience. “This isn’t how it appears,” she purred. “I chased a cockrell in from the uneven ground.”
His expression affected the usual boredom that permeated his presence. He spun around twice before laying down on a tangle of branches that laid against the fence. The assembled cats were silent waiting for his words as indeed they would come. Finally after several languid eye blinks he seemed to consider the breach by the calico. “Do you think you can defeat this chicken?”
She was silent for ages while she pondered the question. There were political reasons she should answer no but her pride seemed to negate that thought. “I can kill this creature and feast.”
Macho yawned without looking at her and said, “finish it then,” before curling up with his head faced away from the fray.
The calico turned to the proud cock in front of her. “What is your name?” Naargle asked.
“Sundown,” she purred before asking in return, “Why do you ask?”
“I like to know the names of those I defeat in combat.”
She growled and spat as she launched herself at him. The proud chicken rose in the air just over her and dropped his back claws into her back before landing on the other side of her. She howled in pain and ran across the field launching herself off the fence as she bolted around the yard in frustration before attacking again with her claws extended and her paws reaching out towards him. Naargle pressed forward hitting Sundown in the sternum before gripping her legs with his claws. He tore into her flesh and left yet more wounds as he floated over the top of her. Naargle was two steps ahead of the calico at every turn. He didn’t kill her that day but he proved a point that I have carried with me to this day. We are capable of defying our oppressors despite their insistence that we can not.
I was reminded of the present when I heard a squawk from behind that proved to be a small clan of geckos crossing the uneven path. Some of the women picked at them and one managed to rip a tail free from the geckos as they passed. I walked with the women down the uneven path. My head was on a swivel watching as many angles as I could muster for movement. Cats were our primary nemeses but the region was home to Chicken Hawks as well and they could appear even at night but now as the sun set against the west they were in their element. “Why must we leave now? I am carrying eggs that need to be laid in two suns,” Neeska whined at me from behind.
“Bik ordered it for your safety,” I answered.
Binni chirped in after Neeska, “we were safer in our lot, what do the neker rows offer?”
“Defense, higher ground, and perches the cats are reluctant to claim,” I answered and couldn’t help but roll my eyes at their chatter. They are the treasures of our society but it didn’t help when they questioned every movement. I crossed the black place of pain and watched my ward’s passage. The Skreeks were fast and stealthy appearing suddenly out of nowhere with their glowing white eyes and their roaring groans. It wasn’t them I needed to be worried about. I saw a cat perched on top of a house just above the uneven place. It had pitch black hair with a single swath of white that ran from its forehead back to its shoulders. Across the street there was another cat, a gray and white tabby then I spotted a third that was spotted black and white. “Damn,” I cursed and followed after the women into the black place of pain. The black ground was cracked and mounded towards the center of the strip. Skreeks were lined up dormant to the sides of the black place of pain and I didn’t see their eyes shining anywhere. During the day some eyes didn’t shine but day was rapidly becoming night.
Three of seven hens were still crossing when I saw a shining red Skreek burst down the black place of pain. I called to the sun and shouted for them to fly. Eekor, Kaand, and Fleek screamed as they saw the red Skreek. Fleek flew into the air and touch back on the uneven place but Eekor and Kaand struggled with their movements panicking as they tried to lift off the ground. Eekor lifted off and touched the gray-white surface of the uneven ground but Kaand struggled as a second blue Skreek bared down on her. She was still in the air as the red Skreek passed and dropped back to the black ground but the second startled her as their roars blended with each other and she was clipped on her left side as it passed her. I saw her flutter her good wing but I could see her body was broken beyond repair and as much as it pained me I needed to leave her there. The three cats noticed her and her injuries and my mind told me it was a better strategy to leave her than to see to her comfort. I let out a dirge call from my lungs which was caught by one of my brothers who carried the call on then another and another and another until the air was filled with the song of Kaand’s death.
There was only one more black river between us and the neker rows. I was happy for the short journey but I also dreaded the rows in my heart. I kept my eye on the cats moving from rooftop to rooftop as we moved along the uneven path. I chose not to alarm the hens with talk of the stalking cats. It seemed two had dropped away but I was able to spot them again as we made it to the last black river before the neker rows. It’s tall white walls were mottled with green lichen and open rust red spots where the brick shown through and just beyond the towering mausoleums and statues of Leevers long since dead. The last black river was clogged with Skreeks along the sides slumbering but there was also a long parade of the beasts slowly rolling forward. I watched the rooftops for the cats as we were temporarily trapped by the smelly belching creatures. There was a break in the line but it moved slowly. The hens had fallen out of line and were pecing idly at the ground. Only Fleek was watching me for guidance. “Gather,” I ordered and they turned their heads up to me.
“How will we cross?” Fleek asked.
“There is a break just there and we will need to cross quickly as a flock when it happens.”
“Why should we listen to you? Kaand lost her life to your lead, young Likek,” Eekor sneered at me and her birthmate Kikket joined her in scoffing.
Movement from above showed the black stalker just above Eekor and Kikket. The cat leaped spread eagle with his claws out as he fell on Eekor. I jumped at the beast with my talons forward and my wings flapping wildly against the air. The hens shrieked and ran headlong into the black place of pain. I caught the cat against his cheek and knocked him into the side of a bungalow. The other two cats took the opportunity to snatch Meesh who straggled behind the others. Meesh was squawking and trying to swing with her claws but two were too much for her as the orange tabby clamped his teeth around her neck killing her. “Run now!” I yelled and the hens burst for the black river flapping their wings and crowing as they ran. The Skreeks seemed to be startled by their sudden movement and screeched in response. I headed towards them covering the hens’ escape. The black cat squared off with me. “Cheap shot,” he growled.
“I am sworn to defend my brood,” I yelled at the cat and called to the sun trying to alert other Likek to join me. They crowed back their distance. I was too far away and there were other attacks. This was the cats’ offensive. I cast a quick glance and counted four hens at the wall of the neker rows. The cat jumped at me and swatted my face. Three quick strikes stunned me and I struggled to keep from being pushed into a raging Skreek. The cat’s claws extended and his paw rose for a killing blow. I braced for the strike but instead heard the cry of Fleek as she jumped at the cat. The other two saw the struggle and the gray and white saw an opportunity to have his own meal in Fleek. His tail twitched and he pounced at her.
Fleek wasn’t quick enough to avoid the gray cat and was caught below the creature as it wrapped her in his limbs and bit into her neck. I flew into the air and came down on the black cat catching his neck and slashing through the flesh. His cry told me that it was a killing blow. I called out to the gray cat who was teraing into Fleek who only had seconds before her life would flee. The call was enough to get his attention but not enough for it to release her from his grip. “Take your victory, cockrell while I take mine,” He gleefully gripped Fleek tighter with his claws.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Claudius,” he tilted his name, “why?”
“I like to know the names of those I defeat,” I said and held my neck rigid and tall as I looked down at the tom cat.
He laughed but released Fleek and padded towards me menacingly. “You have called your last sun, cockrell.”
“I am Koo, proud rooster and Likek of this brood and I will honor your name when next I call the sun, Claudius,” our dialogue ended and he tore into me ferociously. His attack was so quick and so brutal that I had worried for a moment that I had been foolish to challenge him but I managed to kick away after a claw tore across my chest. I flew backwards and realized a black Skreek was moving at me on my left. I managed to fly backwards and landed on the beast’s cold hide. I could see the Leever riding him. They screamed at me from the saddle but I had no time to react before Claudius leaped after me with his hackles raised. I pecked at his face and jumpmed on top of him. He managed to twist away and took another swipe at me. This one narrowly missed my eyes. Once again I flew backwards further onto the Skreeks back as the Leever banged from inside the Skreek.
Claudius slinked out of breath as he chuckled at me. “You are good, I admit but this fight will end with your brood in me and my siblings overstuffed bellies!” He lashed out with and stood on his hind legs as he slashed at me. I brought my wings up in front of my face to block his claws from my face and neck an instant before his claws would have taken my life. Without looking I lifted off one more time with loose feathers trailing me knowing another Skreek was right behind me. I hit its hard skin and nearly skid to the front as I watched Claudius leap after me. He wasn’t as lucky as the Skreek roared forward hitting him in the shoulder and knocking him down to the black river. I looked to the neker rows and saw Fleek weary and wounded but with the other hens of her brood. I shuddered as I heard the cry of Caudius as the Skreek stepped on and through him in its path.
The orange cat was still feasting when I crossed to the uneven path in front of the neker rows. He and I locked eyes he cast his gaze towards his fallen brethren, licked his chops, and returned to his meal.
We crossed into the neker rows and strutted deeper in. Luckily there was feed spread around a chalk white monolith. The food kept the brood from compaining as I sat on a cool white slab resting. A moment later I rose and called out our victory and our defeat. The night quickly swallowed the sky as I continued to honor those who died today both friends and enemies. I heard responses in kind across the land. It was good to hear the calls even in darkness. “Who goes there?” a deep voice called from behind.
The voice startled me so I raised my neck plumage to show strength and size to the interloper. The words came from a pitch black rooster who I had only ever heard in stories. “Gogin,” I whispered. The Gogin were mystics and witches his presence here was an omen but I couldn’t know if it was a good or bad omen.
“Aye, and you are Koo. I have listened to your calls to the sun since you were born. Naargle spoke of you often.”
“I am humbled but I don’t know you,” I said with a bowed head.
“I am Gree and I have a task for you,” the hens sat in stunned silence, only Fleek came in behind me to rest her head against my neck. “It is your destiny to end our war with the cats.”
The End
Neon Rabbit 