Chickens of The Dawn

The Hunt

The sun crept back up over the distant treetop and the hens found themselves waiting for a rooster to announce the morn.  No crow came, other than a black bird that screamed and cawed at them as it sailed over their tree.  Jenny sighed, her bones aching from yesterday's long trek.  Evidently, the rest of her flock felt the same.
"UGH. Why on earth did I come on this fool journey? Good grief I ache!" Sheryl cried out loudly.  Jenny smiled inwardly, knowing that this was the test, the test to see who wouldn't give in.  She knew she wasn't, for now that she had taken on the leadership role, weakness was not an option.  Compassion for her comrades, yes.  Giving up a day into the journey? No way.
The young chicken leapt from branch to branch until she was once again on the lowest  stick.  She flapped her wings and jumped down the the ground, sword tied to her waist.  Slate, Fleece, Ann, and Bethany were close behind.  Allen, Neon, and Sheryl were slower but eventually made it down. 
"Slate, Bethany, come with me.  Fleece, you keep watch.  Go back on the first branch if you want.  We'll be back."
Bethany stepped foreword tentatively, followed by Slate.  Jenny had a plan, but unsure if it would work. 
Her ancient brethren were defined as excellent an predator to any small rodent, and the young hen wanted to make this the goal for the morning.  It wasn't like it was a rush.  They only knew that they were headed west, towards the legendary rebels, only rumoured to exist.  Jenny shook her head to clear it and took off into the forest, Slate and Bethany scrambling after her.  Testing her senses, the hen stopped, sleek grey feathers blowing in the wind.  Slate and Bethany came to a halt beside her and copied her, scenting the air by opening their mouths and letting the forest aromas waft to the roofs of their beaks.  Jenny smelled a mix of pine needles and sap, moist soil, moss and mushrooms, with a small addition of mouse.  The only reason she recognized the scent was the abundance of the furry creatures back in the barn.  Then she focused on her hearing.  She closed her eyes and let the peace overwhelm her.
A soft breeze rattled the near branches.  The insignificant crackle of twigs beneath the chickens feet.  Her own shallow breath, as well as Slate and Bethany.  But there it was again.  A heartbeat, not unlike her own, but with a much higher rate. Jenny tried to detect it, noting that it was coming from her left, the opposite of her companions.  "Don't move." She whispered.
Suddenly the hens became paralyzed with fear, obviously thinking there was some sort of danger.  Jenny ignored them for the time being and crept to her left, taking one step at a time.  She opened her eyes, her strongest sense, and scanned the undergrowth.
There it was, right at the edge of the bramble, just a still as the two hens.  The furry little creature was smart enough not to move, as it had obviously identified the hens as predators.  It's back was turned to her, and she struck its spine, killing it instantly.  The instinct had come to her so naturally, and she almost gobbled down the entire thing.  She picked it up in her beak, displaying it to the other hens, who sighed with relief.  "You're gonna eat that?" Bethany asked, quite disgusted.
Jenny nodded and shook her head.  "If we can got two more, we can ration them between the ten of us." Slate explained, understanding Jenny's logic.  Bethany scrunched up her face.  "Make that nine.  I will not eat that.  It's not in me."
"Our ancestors were the famed Jungle Fowl.  They ate this type of food breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  We are no different!  Besides, what would you eat?  Bugs are not enough for a chicken, let alone anything else." Slate asked defiantly.  Jenny felt a surge of pride for the intelligent chicken.  She was glad Slate had come along, and seemed to understand her thoughts perfectly, educated as much as to know about the fabled Jungle Fowl.
Bethany sigh-growled and muttered something inaudible.  Jenny chuckled and covered the dead mouse with a pile of needles.   "Saving it for later." She explained when the two hens gave her questioning looks.  The trio moved along through the forest, admiring the tall majestic trees that towered around them.  Slate eventually caught a scent and followed it, staying close to the trail they had marked.  She returned minutes later with three baby mice and what must have been the two parents.  She had stuffed the babies in her beak, stuck one of the mice in her foot, and one impaled on her make shift sword.  Jenny whooped and congratulated her, taking the baby mice so she could speak.  She modestly explained that she had stumbled upon them.  "It was nothing, really."  She mumbled, her comb rosy.   Bethany scoffed and tried to catch one herself.  It turned out it was actually an owl pellet, basically a regurgitation ball, and had sent them all running back to the rest of the flock in fear. 
Upon their return, they all laughed it off, including Bethany, and told the others of their adventure.
By noon, they had eaten two of the adult mice among them all and were then packing up their little camp.  Jenny had fashioned another two weapons out of sharpened sticks, so now only two were left defenceless, other than beak and claw.  They were just about to leave, when there was a ruckus in the field they had come out of.  Panicking, Jenny shared them all up the tree as fast as possible, trying to stay hidden.  "What was that?" Ann yelped quietly.  Silence enveloped them as they listened, and the threat made its way into the forest.  Directly beneath their tree.  Jenny strained her neck to see what it was, but Slate called out first. 
"Yoko?"
The white hen looked up, stumbling backwards.  "Slate?  Guys?  You left without me!" She yelled.  Jenny laughed, not able to suppress it at the sight of the hen.  Her neck was completely bald, with the additions her rear end.  Her feathers were a mix of orange cream colour and white.  She immediately began jumping from branch to branch upwards, and Jenny had to admire the old hen's determination.  "Got me self a weapon too, but that blasted rooster took it from me!" She said between jumps.  Jenny and the others also leapt downwards and met her in the middle. 
"What are you doing?  We gotta scout from above!  Then we gon' see where we be headed!" Yoko said, exasperated.
And with that, the hen took off up the tree once more.