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When Reki woke up that morning, the first thing he did was sing.
Reki was one of the prettiest roosters on the surrounding farms. His crest was a red that was a little darker than normal, but it still glowed in the sunlight. His feathers, smooth and slender, perhaps even silky, were utterly graceful. Near his head, they were an almost red orange; which was darkening until it reached the tail feathers, which had a dark tone, a mixture of black with blue and green.
Reki was known to have the best of singing; it never got to irritate any of the neighboring humans, even with him singing at 3 or 4 am. Another striking feature of the rooster, which he was known to human neighbors in the region, was that he always walked with a headband around his neck; Reki's owners explained that one day this thing just appeared and the rooster never let go. It wasn't a problem, besides being very funny and causing a good laugh.
Reki woke up late today, as the sun could already be seen peeking out of the utter darkness, daring to overshadow the moonlight with its own. He starts to sing, walking just far enough outside of the favorite tree he liked to sleep in.
He can hear chanting coming in the distance, and irritated, he rudely yells back. The other screaming being says nothing more.
Reki hears a clucking behind him; and turning around, he can see his 3 younger sisters, chickens with their pastel brown feathers. As if it were genetics, or something like that, their feathers were also bright and ended up standing out among the chicken.
"Cluck, Cluck" Says the biggest of the 3 chickens now awake, awakened by the singing of her older brother. The 3 go out together looking for food. Reki grunts in response, but doesn't go after them. They've grown a lot in the last few weeks; they no longer needed Reki to escort them.
Nearby, the large structure that the humans usually stay in begins to glow, indicating that the humans are waking up. Maybe they'd drop corn on the ground today, and then Reki wouldn't have any major problems hunting for food. There are days he does this with all the time he has.
Reki sings again, just because he wants to, and moves a little closer to the gigantic structure that the humans lived in, waiting for at least one of them to come out.
The elegant rooster's patience soon wears out, when none of the humans inside the house doesn't come out of it, and impatient and hungry, he screams again. Humans seemed to move faster when he did that.
He can hear a murmur of voices inside the house now. A progress. Humans always talked too much, and that indicated they were awake and ready to feed him.
He circles the front of the house, and luckily someone comes out. It was a human female, because she had this long hair and a higher pitched voice. She goes to a small room that is separate from the house, a little further back from the land, and comes out with three ears of corn in her hand.
Reki shifts his weight between his feet, excited at the idea of not having to walk so much to satisfy his hunger. The human cuts one of the ears of corn in half, and twisting one of the parts, grains of corn begin to rain on the ground.
Reki had been the first to appear there, but while he was getting as much grain as he could, other chickens and their chicks appeared, wanting to steal the food that was his. (Well, it wasn't just for him, but what would a rooster think?)
After threatening some beings that got too close to him, and receiving a curse from the human, who looked at him sullenly, he decided to just be quiet, and pick up the grains that fell near him. The 3 cobs end, and the human goes after two more, but when they run out, she just makes a funny sound and claps her hands together, heading towards the house again.
Indifferent to the fact, Reki yells a noise, and goes looking for something to do. Probably he'll scratch those worms that kept popping up from the ground and were hard to catch.
The sun was high now, the blue sky taking over everything and illuminating the view, making it easier to see the path he was taking. He quickly steps on the ground, leaving no marks because the grass was dry.
Reki doesn't know where he wants to go, but these weeks ago he found a hole in the boundary of the fence that separated their land from the neighbor's, and he went to have a look there every now and then. Well, don't blame Reki. He has barely left his land since he was born.
He crosses the boundary, towards the neighbor's newfoundland, and starts walking there too.
Reki had the misfortune of bumping into the "boss" rooster once. The other had been so mad at Reki that he wanted to hit him, but Reki was superior in every way. He chased the other poor rooster away with a few whoops and a few well-placed pecks.
This one doesn't bother Reki anymore when he walks around there, he just walks away. Probably for the best for everyone involved.
There were also these 4-legged beings that barked and wagged their tails frantically, but they never did any harm to Reki. One only came close to him once, sniffed him, and went back to where he was previously, lying down on the ground. Reki doesn't think he'd want to pick a fight with one of these. They were at least 3 times bigger than Reki.
Nobody bothers Reki today, so it's not all bad. He just sings dumbly and scratches the ground, perhaps in search of something new.
But the more he walks, the more he thinks he is going to get lost, and getting lost in the neighbor's land isn't the best idea. Reki decides he has to go back home, after a little over ten (10) minutes have passed.
But when he directs his feet the other way, towards his house, Reki sees it.
Reki isn't quite sure what it is, but it's one of the most fascinating things he had seen in his entire life.
Most of the magnificent body part in front of him was a kinda-dark blue, with a mixture of green and white. Its head had some feathers, which formed a kind of inverted triangle, the tips having a very intriguing pattern. But what caught Reki's attention was his feathered fan, so long that dragged along the ground, and the adornments of the feathers looked like eyes, using and abusing strong and colorful colors.
It was the most beautiful individual he had seen in his entire life. Not even those pretty chickens passing by on those giant 6-wheeled things were as pretty as the being in front of him. Absolutely stunning. Reki could easily had mistaken it for a god or something.
The being looked kind of unhappy. Walking with his head down, the other one dragged its graceful feathers across the floor, without any ceremony, seeming not to care. He looked so sad. Reki had also never seen such a sad being before, apart from humans, who were quite distressed and sad from time to time. Reki didn't care much for humans, but the creature before him looked too unhappy to just be ignored.
Reki carefully tries to approach the beast, taking slow steps so as not to startle the being of unknown origin. He still had no idea what it was, but it certainly wasn't something like his family or anything like that. Of all the roosters he saw, none were as weird and stunning as the individual in front of him.
The individual seems to notice his presence, and turns to look at him. His eyes scrutinize him, mostly looking disinterested, but he doesn't seem to really want to hit Reki or anything like that, so it's a point for the rooster.
Reki stops a few feets away from the beautiful creature, feeling nervous like never before. That creature was doing things to him that he had no idea what they were, but his already racing heart starts to beat faster and he feels himself almost jumping, throwing his weight on one foot and then the other.
The being seems to lose interest in him after a few seconds. It simply turns, and with all the grace the being could muster, he ignores Reki, gracefully tossing its long feathers to Reki's side while actively avoiding looking at the rooster.
Unacceptable. Reki might not be maybe the best looking rooster in the world, but hey, give him some credit. He has the best singing in the region, the prettiest and silkiest feathers, he's not ugly at all. To be ignored like that was ridiculous.
Feeling a little frustrated, Reki takes his steps away from the creature, deciding that he would go back home. It would do no good to stand there if the beautiful creature won't even look at him.
But Reki wasn't giving up on studying the divine being either.
And there was Reki, in the next day, spying on the dazzling being again.
Those big 4-legged beings wouldn't even look at him anymore, probably already familiar with him or something. Reki feels special.
He could see the beautiful creature from afar. It still looked crestfallen, scratching at the ground, head down even when it wasn't dragging its beak across the dirt. Its long, elegant fan of feathers trailed across the grass, the early sunlight hitting its down, and in places, bouncing the light, making it shimmer.
Reki doesn't know how to approach. He wants to see the creature happy.
A human neighbor comes out of his house, and in order not to be caught, the elegant rooster hides behind one of the bushes. Reki seriously judges the garden he is in; it has less life and green than his own backyard. Maybe, if Reki could sneak the divine individual into his backyard, he would be happier.
The human goes directly to the peacock. The blue animal turns, almost in surprise, and takes a few steps back.
With a corncob in hand, the human twists the kernels to the ground. The peacock quickly seems to come to life, and it rushes towards the grains with unusual animation.
Well, the divine creature seems to love food. Even Reki, who is happy when he receives his food, is not as excited as the blue individual in front of him. Well, Reki is no divine being, and he quickly states that the gods who walk the land and live in it feel hungrier than usual. Of course, there's no credibility to what an errant rooster thinks, but...
There is an idea.
Later that day, Reki has a whole ear of corn in his beak.
Don't ask the elegant rooster where he got it. He could have stolen it from the pantry… He could have, but he clearly didn't. How could a rooster so easily walk into the pantry, steal an ear of corn and leave? Almost impossible…
The multicolored animal walked gracefully, carefully holding its gift so it wouldn't fall. Balancing an ear of corn in his mouth was complicated, especially for such a small beak, so he would have to be careful. Well, his present had seen worse days, but it was the first one Reki saw and decided to take it. Maybe he should have looked for the best cob? Of course, but even if he wants to give something of value, food is food...
Already on the neighbor's land, he just looks with bright eyes for his newest and most adorable favorite being. He spots him, sitting by a bush, looking down at the ground.
Reki doesn't know if he has to announce his entrance before approaching. It's the right thing to do, isn't it? If roosters have ethics and courtesy classes, this is probably taught in them. Of course, roosters are often moody, and probably get the worst grades in ethics classes because of their bad behavior, but Reki doesn't even imagine being moody with such a divine being.
Reki will announce his entry. Placing the cob on the ground for a moment, he shakes its silky feathers and makes a loud sound. Not that loud, but enough for the individual to hear if he wasn't deaf.
It works. The peacock looks at Reki, curious for a minute. He shakes his feathers back.
It doesn't seem to be a rejection. Determined, Reki lifts the cob again with his beak, and as gracefully as he can, he walks slowly towards where the bright blue animal is.
When it is right in front of him, the other animal stands up, and shakes its long feathers. It shines in the afternoon sun.
It's now or never... Reki lowers the ear of corn, right at the beautiful creature's feet, and takes a few steps back.
The peacock blinks once, twice, staring at what he has been so graciously given. And then he starts jumping up and down with happiness.
It was a miracle. The miserable being, who had shown no trace but sadness since Reki saw him, was now jumping happily, looking overjoyed at the piece of food that was handed to him, then attacking the cob with great hunger. He looked like he was starving, because in less than three minutes, there wasn't even a single grain of corn left on the ground.
The being looks at Reki, with shining eyes. He was absolutely splendid.
Reki would bring as many corn cobs as he could just to see the peacock happy like that. Reki softly sings his contentment. The other being watches him curiously up and down now. He looked absolutely interested in Reki. One point for his ego. Do roosters have ego?
Reki shakes his feathers, and astonishingly, the peacock shakes its own too. This certainly wasn't an act of rejection.
The rooster has never been so happy in his entire life either. Not even when he discovered there was a mountain of corn in the pantry, not even when his little sisters, little cute beings, were born. Making the divine individual happy made him surprisingly happy too.
The happy moments between the two animals doesn't last that long. When Reki was about to move closer to the handsome individual, about to approach a god himself, one of the neighboring humans shouts:
"KEL! Where's that silly peacock?"
"I don't know, Dad! And his name is Langa. I'm going to look!" The supposed Kel says, and Reki can hear hurried footsteps coming from the neighboring humans' house.
Reki knows he could get into trouble if the humans see him. With a hasty farewell, the rooster puts his legs to work, heading back to his field.
Humans always got in his way. It was so, so criminal. How could anyone in their right (maybe not) conscience do something like that to him? A crime, utter nonsense. Well, Reki wasn't a quitter. He will see Langa soon.
Another day, another escape to the neighbor's backyard. Reki, once again, brought an ear of corn as a courtesy to his newest friend.
Were they friends? Very likely. Langa hadn't rejected him yesterday, he probably wouldn't turn him down today. Langa was his newest friend now; the same knowing it or not. This made the rooster very happy.
The peacock seemed to have liked that spot by the bush; he was there today too, sitting around, not doing particularly anything. That; until he spots Reki.
When Langa sees Reki, his whole existence seems to light up, and the peacock quickly stands up, happily hopping up to the elegant peacock. Surprisingly close, Langa weakly pecks one of Reki's wings as a greeting.
Langa seemed to be happy that Reki was here. Too embarrassed to stand on ceremony, Reki carefully places the corn cob on the ground next to Langa and steps back 2 steps.
Langa pecks happily at the corn on the cob, picking grain by grain, but this time, Langa doesn't eat them all. Leaving at least a third of the cob intact, the peacock kicks the spike back to Reki, indicating it was for him.
What a most adorable, incredibly kind being. Reki had brought the cob to Langa, and he had given him a part back. Even as probably hungry as Reki saw yesterday, Langa returned a portion of what was given to him as thanks.
Shaking his feathers, Reki quickly pecks 10 or 15 kernels, and returns the incomplete cob back to Langa. Reki wasn't hungry; when he went to steal the cob from the pantry, he couldn't resist satisfying his hunger right there.
Langa makes a low, curious sound. Without complaining, he finishes all the kernels, and throws the cob away without any more corn.
Eyes gleaming, Langa twirls around for a second, resting his beak affectionately against Reki's down. Abnormally happy, Reki returns the gesture, weakly pecking at one of the peacock's pretty feathers.
Langa ruffles his feathers, and in one swift movement, he turns back to where he was before. But he turns his neck, looking at Reki, implicitly asking the rooster to follow him.
Reki would never in the world complain. He follows the peacock, who walks slowly, dragging the feathers of his closed fan across the ground. The rooster walks considerably faster than the peacock at his normal pace, but for this special occasion, he slows down his pace. Walking out in front of the peacock was completely impolite; and Langa seemed to be a polite animal to tolerate such a mischievous act.
The two sit at the foot of the bush that Langa seems to like. Very pleased, Langa sings loudly, happy to be able to stay with his newest and most important friend.
Peacock Langa has been unhappy since he arrived at this farm a week ago. The evil humans took him away from his family and dumped him here, and for 4 whole days, they just left him wandering aimlessly in the dull backyard.
The humans didn't give Langa enough food either; For such a vain being, he ate much more than usual, but these demands were never met.
Humans were mean to him too; they yelled at him if he was in the wrong place or if he started singing of his utter sadness. The only nice human was Kel, who stroked his feathers when he was obviously downcast. Kel was the smallest human in the house, too; out of all 3 human dwellers, Kel was relatively smaller than the other two; a teenage human.
In a way or in another, he was so unhappy. So, on the fifth day of his abode, when he saw the rooster peek around one corner of the backyard and glare at him, Langa just ignored him.
The rooster was the most beautiful he had ever seen, its feathers glossy and rich with color, but the first day he saw it, he wasn't happy enough to care. Langa ignored him.
And then, the next day, the same rooster came to meet him, and gave him food. A whole cob of corn.
Aside from some humans, no other being had ever been so kind to him. No animal had ever been kind; in addition to his father and mother, who raised and cared for him with all the affection they could. But the beautiful and graceful rooster arrived, performed dazzlingly and gave him the best gift he could receive in all his few years of life.
He hadn't had time to talk to the animal the day before, as the humans had disrupted his happy events, but here was the same being today, who had brought him another gift.
From one pea to 100 ears of corn; Langa would accept anything that came from the beautiful rooster that was in front of him, sitting next to the only bush he had liked. Overjoyed, Langa sings loudly, a sound that can reach even the most distant farms.
The rooster's eyes widen, his pupils dimming in surprise, but when Langa finishes his show, Reki decides to show he's not far behind.
Reki has one of the more prettiests voices. Known for not disturbing any humans with his crowing from early in the morning, he is the best rooster in the region. At this very moment, the rooster puts together his best voice, and crows passionately, and as loudly as he can, to a peacock.
The peacock fell in love with the rooster's gentle act; The rooster fell in love with the elegance that emanated from the peacock. An unexpected couple.
Day after day, Reki would come with a new ear of corn for the peacock. The two would share, spend at least an hour together with each other, and soon the rooster had to leave, only to return the next day.
It was a couple completely in love. When Reki leaves, for the well-known grounds of his own home, Langa again becomes the personification of unhappiness. All his sparkle fades, and the only thing he can do is sit under the bush, head down, while waiting for the love of his life to come back.
Reki always took so long and had very little time with Langa. And there wasn't much the peacock could do in return.
A surprisingly passionate couple. Reki, when he has to go home, becomes unhappy and barely sings. He never wants to leave his newest love alone in the neighbor's land; he just wanted to stay with the peacock forever, sharing ears of corn and spending hours and hours together scratching the ground for worms.
They could even make a nest together, to sleep with each other without having to be separated, even to have each other's warmth on the coldest of days. But both of them lived in different areas; it was not possible to make a nest among them.
If this was once a dream, now it could become a reality.
The human Kel, as an only child and a resident of the fields, never had many friends at his age. He usually lived alone; studied at school and returned home, helping with the few crops they had and playing with the dogs. It was never enough. That is, until he saw an advertisement for the sale of peacocks one day, and as he thought the beings were very beautiful, he insisted that he would like one. Kel got Langa.
But the human Kel saw how unhappy his newest pet peacock was. Always head down, sitting in the same spot every day. Hungry and alone, the animal would stand next to a single bush that had a larger amount of leaves, doing absolutely nothing all day. Langa was a docile animal, so he always let Kel pet him or play with him. But even with Kel taking some of his time to keep the peacock company, he was still absolutely miserable.
That, in the first four days of his residence.
Kel could see that rooster approaching Langa every morning after the fourth day, always with an ear of corn in his mouth, and the two always stayed together. The peacock seemed to have all his spirits lifted when he was with the rooster. The two animals would stay together for a few hours, and then the rooster would inevitably have to leave, and Kel could see again how sad his peacock was.
Kel knew the rooster; it was the famous Reki, the most famous rooster in the region for being better in every aspect. Kel never understood, as the elegant rooster's crowing wasn't that different from the others, but you could tell that his feathers were actually prettier.
Langa and Reki got along so well that, when separated, they were sad. Kel didn't like to see Langa sad; so he talked one sunny day with Analiz, the neighbor who was the daughter of Reki's owners. Analiz was the same age as Kel. He had never really spoken to her before, but she seemed to be a nice person, and hopefully, she would understand her situation.
Analiz was surprised when she heard Kel's proposal, but amazingly she wasn't against it; she found the situation funny and decided to help.
Analiz and Kel, together, dug a hole in the boundary of the land, and built a small hut, big enough for the two beings to be together, with pieces of wood and canvas near the boundary. They had no idea how to get the animals' attention to the hut, but that they would figure it out in time.
A time that wasn't particularly necessary.
Reki, another day, was going to his beloved's land, when he saw the carefully built structure near one of the borders.
It was new. It wasn't there yesterday, and when Reki decided to stop by to have a look, he stated it was terribly convenient.
Humans were the mostly annoying, mean and certainly unhappy beings that ever existed, but they managed to make these amazing constructions. Reki admits that with just his feet and his beak he could never do something like that; these elaborate constructions were unique to humans. Many times they built things and abandoned them, leaving them free for anyone smart enough to use.
The structure was almost in the middle of the two chevrons, big enough, empty for Reki to fill with whatever he wanted.
It's exactly what you might think. The perfect place for Reki and Langa to build their nest.
Reki wanted to take this new step in his life a few days ago. Of course, he liked sleeping next to that tree he'd slept in all his life, but after meeting his newest and most beautiful lover, sleeping in trees wasn't a big deal. Reki noted that Langa couldn't climb a tree like Reki; his feather fan was too big for that. Their priority was a nest. Langa also agreed with his line of thought, as the two together a few days ago, were looking around the boring and dull farm that Langa lived to see if they could find a nice place. Unsuccessfully.
Well, if Reki was able to take this human structure conveniently built for him, Reki and Langa would have a nest soon enough.
Happy with the new perspective, Reki quickly crosses the land, going to meet his newest love to announce her genius idea.
Without much effort, he finds Langa, and excited, runs to him. Langa notices all his agitation, and curious, he waits for Reki to approach him.
Almost jumping up and down with excitement, Reki implicitly asks Langa to follow him. The peacock does so, with no problems, and soon the two lovesick animals are looking at the newly built structure, the elegant peacock already knowing what could come out of it.
Langa sings loudly. And in a second, he was off looking for the best branches he could find, leaving Reki alone to do the same. Together, they would have the best nest in the whole region.
Reki and Langa, a beautiful couple formed by a rooster and a peacock. Reki known to be the best rooster in the region; Langa known to be the single most elegant peacock of all nearby lands. Together, the most passionate couple you could ever meet.
The two left early in the morning to look for food; they spent the afternoon playing at scratching worms, and when necessary, the two looked for new branches or leaves for their big and beautiful nest. They worked, sang, and spent their time together, almost never apart.
None of the humans in the region can really believe the situation; just Kel and Analiz, who became good friends after the surprising event.
But Reki and Langa didn't need human approval or anything like that. They didn't care one bit. They just lived their life together.
Today was a special day. Reki had given that cloth, the one that was always around his neck, to Langa, as a thank you for everything the peacock had done for him. A pure act of love. The sash looked much better on the peacock, as it was blue and matched its feathers, than it did on Reki.
In return, Langa got plenty of insects for the two of them to eat together, sitting on the grass, undisturbed.
It's a good day. It's not often that you get so many bugs at once; either Langa is very lucky, or the rain he had last night helped him get the delicacies. Reki couldn't help but see, with his amber eyes, how beautiful his lover looked with the dew falling on his feathers and reflecting in the sunlight.
It was a surprising couple in love, free, and very happy.