Portal Three: Hyrule

"Cuz I heard 'eat'." Marie said, grinning.

Malon chanced a timid smile. "Well, come on then. To the farmhouse."

Marie almost squealed out loud, "I've been in there so many times," she whispered to Cat.

Cat shook her head. "I bet you have..."

"It's absolutely charming," Marie gushed, going into fangirl-mode, "So quaint and adorable!"

Malon, a few feet ahead, could not hear her, thank God. The poor girl would have been scarred to know that a weird Earthling popped in and out of her house unannounced without her knowing.

Cat glanced at a chicken, who was following a bit too close. "Back off, birdy..."

"...Don't do anything rash. They'll rip out your eyes."

"Yeah...I noticed..." She bared her teeth, hissing.

Marie quickened her pace. "Okay...okay...remain calm...don't panic..." she said, "Don't freak on me, Cat, y'hear? DON'T FREAK ON ME! WHY ARE YOU PANICKING?! AHHHHH!"

Cat blinked at Marie. "I'm not. You are. So don't, or I'm gonna smack you." She grinned. "No pressure!"

Marie laughed: a high, nearvous tittering sound.

"Me? Nervous? No...I'm calm. I'm composed. Why, I'm the epitome of composure! I'm a rock! I'm solid! I'M A-OKAY! NOT PANICKING! I'M DANDY! OH GOD, DON'T LET IT GET ME!"

Marie jumped behind her friend, whimpering. "I hate chickens..."

"Chickens taste good," commented Cat, watching the bird peck at her shoes. "Barbecued."

Marie cowered in consternation.

"But these aren't barbecued..." she pointed out, "They're very much alive...with sharp claws and beaks and those beady little eyes..."

"You just described my little brother," coughed Cat. "More or less..."

"Yeah, but there's one of him.." she said, looking hastily about.

Her voice was a craggly whisper: "...They're everywhere..."

Cat stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you listening to yourself, girl? You sound like you're going insane!"

Marie looked at Cat blankly. "When I was a child, I had a bunch of pet chickens...I fed them in my hand and visited their pen every day. One day, I went in, and they swarmed me, chasing me around and pecking me. For the longest time, I wouldn't go in the pen, or near the chickens."

She looked a little pale, "Then, when I finally got enough courage to expose myself to them again...I went to the pen and found them all dead, shredded. Wings, heads, legs...they were all scattered about like broken rag dolls. Blood was smattered all over the coop...everywhere I looked was a sea of torn, ravaged poultry bodies and feathers. Their beady, glassy little eyes were looking at me, Cat! Looking at me!. I...I couldn't do anything but scream and fall to my knees...and cry..."

[....True story.]

{{.....T.T......}}

Cat blinked. "Wow...I'm sorry...I didn't know..." She stared at the ground, not sure of what to say.

[[]]


Marie shrugged. "It's an irrational fear that I should overcome. But I can't, right now. I'm getting there, even being in the same vicinity as them..." she said, tossing the poultry a nervous look.

Cat bit her lip, sympathizing with her friend.
((Hey, where's Malon?))

------
Door jerked her head up, hearing voices. "Hm...another Skullkid, perhaps? Interesting..." She climbed off of her stump and began wandering around, looking for the voicemakers.

Malon had somehow made it to the farmhouse, and was busy fishing around in the icebox for something to fix.

[Maha!}

{{That's my line!!}}

Cat poked her head around the door. "Anything we can do to help??"

------

Tiptoeing through the fallen leaves, Door made her way closer to where she thought she had heard the voices. "Dum-de-dum-de-dum..."

Door turned, tilting her head to the side. "Someone there?" she called, wanting to pinpoint the voices' location.