Pochi, Tama, and Yuma—the three huge chickens living on Brook Mountain—patrolled the land every day. Usually, two of them did this together while the other stayed with Sano, their owner. Sano owned Brook Mountain and the mountain behind it, as well as Pochi and the other chickens, but he was not exactly dependable. He would often be found crying out in pain when a bug hit him on the head, tripping up over the slightest thing, or cowering in fear over vipers—small venomous snakes. He was a big cause of concern for the chickens.
That being said, it’s not as if the chickens held any feelings of mockery or contempt for him. Sano loved the chickens, and he strove to do his best in his own way. The chickens loved their clumsy owner as well.
“Hm? Pochi, Yuma, are you two heading out today?”
The three chickens answered Sano. “Going!”
“Staying!”
“Going!”
He nodded his head and smiled. “Do you mind if I go with you today? I won’t stay with you the whole time.”
“Sure!”
“What?”
“Sure!”
“Tama, you should come too—that way, we can all go together,” Sano said with a smile. Tama brushed him off, as if to say, Do as you please! which drew an awkward laugh out of Sano. It seemed Tama had decided to watch over the house while Sano and the other chickens were away.
“Are you not coming with us, Tama?”
Sano tried asking several times, but Tama eventually got irritated and pecked him, at which point he finally gave up. Tama gestured something to Yuma with her eyes, and Yuma seemed to understand it.
“Going!”
“Staying!”
“Sano!”
“All right, got it. Tama, you can go out and play if you want.” Sano looked back at Tama with a concerned expression, while Pochi trotted off somewhere, and Tama urged Sano forward.
What a worrywart of an owner, the chickens thought, but they were quite fond of him.
While Sano was away, Tama was busy pacing around the house, catching and eating vipers and bees, and dealing with moles in the fields. There was a lot more to the mountain than Sano could see.
As for Sano and the other chickens, their outing was a peaceful one. Pochi led the way, while Yuma took care of the rearguard. Pochi took a detour to the eastern side of Brook Mountain and began to climb it, intending to patrol higher up in the mountain today. Naturally, they adjusted their pace to their owner and walked more slowly than usual, taking care to also pick a route that Sano could trek through comfortably.
The chickens were a lot more careful to accommodate Sano than he could imagine.
“Are you guys always climbing up here? This is rough...” Sano said, panting and laughing awkwardly. He was still doing his best to keep up with Pochi, who cocked his head. Pochi had taken care to pick a route that was easy to climb, and yet this was still too much for Sano. Just how weak was he? Pochi grew concerned.
Despite that, Sano persevered. However, today they weren’t able to climb any farther than that.
“Hm?”
To Pochi, not being able to reach a place he was always able to was an unusual feeling. He’d definitely been able to go there two days ago. There was a spot up ahead with a pool of spring water, and he wanted to show it to Sano, but it seemed it was not reachable today.
“Can’t go.”
“Not today.”
Yuma also tried, unsuccessfully, to find a way forward, and so they informed Sano of that.
“Eh? Well, I guess that sort of stuff happens sometimes.” Sano seemed puzzled, but he didn’t inquire any further.
This was a rather unusual mountain, and the chickens knew it was also home to many unusual happenings. They were able to roam Brook Mountain, the mountain behind it, and the one to the north freely, but for some reason, that was not the case for the mountains to the east or west. They had attempted to brave their way onto Loud Mountain and West Mountain, but it was as if there were an invisible wall or barrier blocking the way.
That also seemed to be true for the giant lizard from Loud Mountain and the snakes from West Mountain, making it all the more confusing. However, oddly enough, that didn’t happen when they were with Sano. Eventually, they’d just learned to accept it.
“We can’t go up, so are we going down now?”
Pochi looked at Yuma, who nodded.
“Down.”
“Down.”
“Okay, then. Show me the way.”
After a change of plans, Pochi began to descend the mountain. He was aware there were a few wild rabbits living on this side of the mountain farther down. He’d previously caught one and brought it to Sano, hoping it would make for good nourishment, but he’d been told to let it go. Still, just showing them to him should be no problem, he figured—he decided to take Sano there.
A little ways down the mountain, Pochi turned to Sano and said, “Shhh.”
“Shhh?” Sano looked confused. His voice echoed rather loudly in the quiet of the mountain.
Pochi seemed slightly disappointed. He thought if you made that much noise, the rabbits wouldn’t come out, and once again, he stopped and instructed Sano to stay quiet. This time, Sano understood what he meant. Pochi knew from watching TV that “shhh” was a way to signal to others to be silent. The living room in the house where they lived had a large TV, which the chickens could see from the earthen floor where they usually stayed. Occasionally, late at night, Yuma would turn on the TV and watch it in an attempt to learn the language Sano spoke, but that was a secret. Unlike Tama, who was a heavy sleeper, Pochi would sometimes wake up to the noise and join Yuma in watching TV.
Back to the main topic...
Pochi sat himself down. Sano thought he looked adorable in his feathery fluffiness, but naturally, this was unbeknownst to Pochi, who simply waited for the rabbits to show themselves from behind the grass. There were many of them living here, so it wouldn’t take too long to spot one of them if they stayed alert.
It must have been ten minutes or so, but to Pochi, it felt like an eternity. He was not a very patient chicken to begin with, though he didn’t mind waiting for prey he could eat, such as boars or deer. However, waiting for a rabbit to show up just so he could show it to Sano was an entirely different story.
Sano did as he’d been told and stayed put.
Just when Pochi thought maybe they should try going somewhere else soon, they heard a rustling sound coming from the grass and spotted a brown rabbit. The rabbit twitched its nose, looking for any signs of danger nearby, and then went hopping away.
After the rabbit had gone out of sight, Yuma turned to Sano. “Rabbit,” she said.
“Oh, I see... Pochi brought me here to show me that rabbit, right? Thanks.”
Sano stood up, and Pochi followed, as if to confirm Sano’s suggestion.
“Just don’t hunt rabbits, okay?”
The chickens were already well aware of that. Pochi was just showing him around. He bemoaned Sano’s lack of understanding and turned away from him.
“I didn’t know there were rabbits here. I wonder if there’s a nest nearby,” Sano said nonchalantly. Pochi and Yuma exchanged stares. I think we’ve already shown him around enough, they thought to themselves.
“Sano,” Yuma called out.
“Eh? What is it, Yuma?”
“Go home.”
“Oh, right. I guess this is it for me today. Sorry for interrupting.”
Pochi showed Sano the way to the nearest road.
“Thanks for today. Pochi, Yuma, I’m going home, so I’ll be counting on you guys to patrol the mountain, okay?”
Pochi walked away, while Yuma stayed behind with Sano.
“Yuma? Aren’t you going with Pochi?”
“Sano!”
Sano beamed at her. “I see. You want to go with me, huh? Well then, let’s go back and let Tama know she can go play.” Sano gently stroked Yuma’s feathers.