I skidded to a stop using my face as a brake. I leapt straight up as fast as I could, and spun around in mid air.

"That was a cheap shot!" I complained.

"No, it was fair," First Hen argued. "Do you wait for the mouse to see you before you pounce?"

"Fucking chickens," I muttered, more angry that the bitch was right. I was going to pounce on her ass all right, looking or not.

I took off running, but didn't head straight for First Hen. I wanted to thin the peanut gallery a bit first and charged into the heart of the flock and pounced at the black and white chicken, Twelfth. Not because I was angry with her or anything, she was just the most convenient target.

And I missed. I had her by surprise and came in fast, but she was still faster. Now she was standing next to me, still squawking, faint surprise the only expression on her vapid face.

"What did I do?" Twelfth asked.

I didn't answer but spun around, claws out. I didn't think I'd injure anyone too badly with my claws so long as I was careful, but I was perfectly fine with little cuts.

And I still missed.

She squawked again and was standing right next to me, but now a single step to the left. I didn't even see her move.

This time I tried subterfuge. Whirling the other way, I feinted towards another chicken before swiping both paws at Twelfth in a pincer move.

This time I saw the blur. The chicken moved so fast for just an instant it was like she blipped out and rematerialized a step away. Her running away was a normal chicken waddle, no special magic there.

These chickens were fast. Magic fast. How exactly did that work? How did they go from standing still, to standing still but somewhere else?

Enhanced leg strength? Nah, it wouldn't matter how strong the legs were, there was a limit on how fast anything could move on flesh and bone.

Actually, I can't assume that. The rules of physics as I understand them don't necessarily apply here. But that doesn't mean some old fashioned experimentation won't work. I looked around the outcropping. Many of the chickens had fled with most of them watching from the cliffs. First Hen was watching me from the base of the cliff.

It didn't matter which one I caught. Maybe taking a dumber bird hostage will let me take a swipe at First. I saw what was one of the dumber chickens eating a rock. I crept up on my chosen victim, gathered my feet under me for a powerful lunge, and got kicked in the rump so hard I went airborne again.

"Fuuuck!" I yowled. First Hen had come up behind me when I wasn't looking. I'm doing a shit job of keeping track of my environment.

Where is my brain at? I should already know exactly how many chickens are here, how many went to the cliffs, and the dimensions of the space I'm fighting in. I should know exactly where the edges are and already have plans to use them. Damnit, I should have already worked out which chickens were magic and which ones weren't. When the hell did I get so sloppy? If I was losing core skills and habits here… Fuck. For just an instant I had the sense that someone I cared about would be upset with me over that, but I couldn't quite grasp it.

Not the time. I'll get kicked in the face again that way.

Get it together, self. There are sixteen chickens down here, and eleven on the cliffs. This field of wildflowers is narrow, varying between about twenty and thirty feet, and about a hundred and twenty feet long. There is mana here, I can feel it, but I can't tell if it's from the chickens or the location. My goal here is to catch a magic chicken. I'd prefer First Hen, but I'd take any of them.

Some chickens have power, some don't. I'd bet most of the ones that fled were the ones without power. But normal chickens can be pretty stupid, so I bet at least a couple were still down here. I started stalking the flock. I crouched down to make it harder for them to keep track of where I was in the flowers.

Whenever I got close to First and Second Hens my whiskers let me know they were there. I didn't notice that when I was pouncing on Twelfth. But, I hadn't been paying enough attention. I'm gonna need to refill my attention wallet and fix this lazy habit.

I circled them, and took notice of which chickens positioned themselves strategically, and which ones didn't. The non-strategic chickens had a tendency to peck at random flowers and scratch at the dirt the moment they weren't looking in my direction. There were three of them, and I could safely ignore them. Seven other chickens were still down here and close to me. First, Second, and five others. One was the mostly black one, a reddish orange one, two were brown, and the last one was speckled cream.

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I decided to be simple. I figured I would be faster than them, having four feet and all, so I chased them.

I run, I leap, I pounce, I miss. Chickens dodge, chickens scatter, chickens peck my ass. Repeat. All this needed now was some Yakety Sax.

Yup, I was a faster runner but I couldn't get a claw on a single one, and I would wear out long before they couldn't dodge anymore.

Alright. Next tactic. They knew I was here, so sneaking wasn't going to work, but I could possibly get close enough for a good pounce.

I kept trying to maneuver, but I could not get into pounce range on First or Second. They always knew exactly where I was no matter how I ducked into the wildflowers. Speckled cream was the most skittish. She never stopped running, and she bawked and dodged if I so much as looked at her.

I kept my eyes locked on First, and tried to line up on the black one. When I charged, First darted away before I was even half way there. That was fine. I twisted in midair and got a claw on the tailfeathers of black.

It wasn't enough, she dodged away.

If they could see me, they could dodge. Physical contact wasn't enough to stop them from dodging. The movement was instantaneous. The dodge range seemed limited though. Let's test that.

First Hen was near the cliff, so I tried to herd her into a corner. She was the one I wanted most. I got her between the cliff and a pile of rock. The only way she could go was straight up or out through me.

With three rapid bawks she dodged right around me.

Honestly? I was fucking impressed. I wished I had that talent too.

There wasn't going to be anything physical I could do to catch these chickens. Under almost any circumstances they'd be able to dodge away. The only exception that might exist, is if I had a solid grip on them, not just touching them. Getting that solid grip was the puzzle.

New plan.

"That dodge ability you have is amazing," I said. I made my body language as open and friendly as I could with my tail straight up. I wasn't hiding anything. Really. "Do you all have that same talent?"

First Hen clucked, "We do. There was a rooster that had a different ability once. He could snuff out fire. Alas, he could not dodge and he was eaten." Her clucks turned mournful.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So this dangerous thing is something that eats chickens?" And whatever gave them magic could give different stuff. Blaise was in luck. Though the image of Blaise dodging while bawking like a chicken was hilarious.

"It will be dangerous for you too," First said. "You need to be able to catch it, or dodge it."

I nodded and climbed up the cliff a short ways. "You haven't told me anything about it. Is it dangerous to humans too?" I tried not to eye the orange chicken on the cliff ahead of me. She was gossiping to Twelfth and not looking at me.

First Hen cocked her head. "Humans kill everything. Nothing is dangerous to humans."

Well, that was seriously not true. But things dangerous to chickens were likely not dangerous to humans.

I made eye contact with Twelfth and smiled. The vapid chicken smiled back and did nothing to tip off the orange chicken for the instant before I landed on her. "Caught you." Instinct took over and I grabbed the chicken's neck in my fangs. I was just able to stop myself from biting, but I still tasted blood.

The orange chicken panicked, flailing and screaming beneath me. She couldn't move or dodge with me holding onto her. So this dodge talent did have some limitations. I still wanted it.

The chicken shivered. I shivered too. It felt like she was trying to activate her power and pass right through me. My whiskers were positively vibrating. The moment passed and the hen stilled. She didn't get away.

I had to force myself to let go of her throat. I wanted to bite down so badly. Instead I turned to First Hen. "I caught one of you. Now you'll show me where the mana concentration is? And tell me how you all became dodge chickens?"

"Your ability to capture one of us is not the only question here," First Hen said. "You are a cat. All cats are hunters. You need to be able to not get caught."

I let my captive go. I didn't mean to traumatize her as much as I did. The poor thing staggered away. "Me not getting caught isn't going to do bupkis for my human friends."

First Hen cocked her head like she didn't understand me. "Humans kill everything. You don't need to worry for the humans."

"These humans are children. They can't kill anything."

"They are still humans," First Hen said, spreading her wings in a shrug. "Now dodge."

First Hen did that funky blur thing and kicked me again. I dodged most of it this time, at least enough that I didn't go tumbling. Next followed several minutes of me feeling like the mole in a whack-a-mole game until I managed to jump away.

I was so done with this shit. I didn't know if she was actually trying to teach me something, or if this was just an opportunity to bully a cat. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get a claw on her. I watched First Hen fluff out her feathers, lower her head, and stalk towards me. I was being menaced by a fucking chicken.

No more fancy moves, no more darting and weaving. I pounced straight at that bird. She dodged. Her dodge was faster than Twelfth's, with less blur and more blip. It honestly was a really sweet power.

That didn't matter though. I owed that bitch a bunch of kicks. Mine would come with claws.

Ninth suddenly came flying down the cliff. "First Hen! The humans have gone inside!"

"Well then. No reason not to show me too then," I said. I'd have to wait to get back at her. I needed a counter to her dodge first. My time will come.

First Hen clucked in agreement. "I will show you. I will show you the magic berries and Chicky Chicky."