Once upon a time, there was a rooster. It was the king of the coop, the master of the sunrise, the father of all the new chickens in the area. It led a happy life and welcomed every sunrise with an enthusiastic crowing.

It lived in a coop behind a tavern on a path midway between two cities. The tavern got plenty of customers yet was somewhat wild, with a forest within ten meters of the tavern in every direction.

Back to the coop, it was a simple wooden hut surrounded by a short fence meant to discourage wild animals from entering. The area within the fence was covered in shit from the chickens pooping wherever and the lack of someone cleaning it for awhile.

Every morning, a worker would come around to collect eggs and release the chickens. The rooster would head out with the chickens and protect them. He would eat the occasional bug while keeping a lookout. The hens, on the other hand, wandered about recklessly while clucking. It was up to the rooster to protect them from wildlife, dogs, and drunkards.

Everyone respected him and treated him like a king. Even the workers kept their distance when they herded the chickens back into the pen for the night. Once the night set in he would intermingle with the chickens for a little bit before settling down in his roost for the night. Then everything would repeat in the morning; then the next, again and again onwards, until the day it dies.

At least, that is how it was supposed to happen. But one morning, the rooster was woken before the sun came up. The sounds of metal and clucking rang chaotically around him. So, he panicked and tried to run. Before he could, a hand shoved him from behind into a metal cage.

The front of its body crashed into cold, hard iron bars that dug through the feathers and skin to transmit pain and cold. All of his feathers stood up as he got pissed off. Someone dares to mess with his coop and capture him? Not if he can stop it.

The hands of the perpetrator held the cage from below and above, with its chest pressed against the back. This translated to 3 different places to attack for the rooster. It chose the hand holding the cage from below, as it was closest to its most powerful weapon, its claws.

The next moment a cry of pain stood out amongst the noise of clucking and metal. The perpetrator gripped his hand and stared at the three new gashes on his hand. Blood began to flow and fill the air with a metallic scent. Then he ran off as the other men in the area laughed at him.

The caged rooster fell to the ground, making it hit the side of the cage again. But he didn't care; he was triumphant over the person who tried to contain him. Unfortunately, the cage was shut tight or he'd run away or confront the perp's comrades, who were packing away the hens in cages.

The rooster's feeling of accomplishment hit a high as soon as the sun peaked over the trees. It let out a resounding crow for all to hear. The hens being caged went silent, the perpetrators stopped caging hens; the sounds of clucking and metal paused to listen to the rooster's majestic call.

Nothing could ruin this moment for the rooster. Except maybe the perpetrator he clawed coming back and kicking the cage violently. This time, the rooster hit the metal with the side of his head and got knocked out. While consciousness escaped the rooster, the perpetrators held a conversation.

"Screw this rooster, it cut my hand open. I want to kill it now," said the perp while putting pressure on his wound with a cloth he found nearby.

Another one walked over with a caged hen in his hands and calmly stated, "Orders are orders, we need livestock on the boat for the journey or we won't have fresh food for months. You just got unlucky and were careless with the beast. Besides, you might've just killed it now with that kick."

"Naw, it's still breathing. But I don't understand Captain Noah. Why can't we just bring some dried food?" Asked while kicking the cage lightly and seeing some movement from the rooster.

"Go ahead and eat foods while the rest of the crew has chicken or beef. The captain is just trying to make the journey less miserable."

"I'm miserable now..."

Then darkness took over. The rooster fell in and out of consciousness as it moved around. At one moment it was bouncing around in a wagon; the next it was on top of a crate by a body of water. Then a large ship came into view.

None of this knowledge made sense to the rooster; it had never seen anywhere but the tavern and surrounding forest. Also, it was an animal that wasn't capable of comprehending what was happening to it. Fortunately for the rooster, it was knocked out for most of the journey, making it less stressful. And once again, everything went dark for the rooster.