The rooster woke up some time later; only able to see the aftermath of the damage. The rooster found himself floating amongst the ocean, with only a piece of wood to keep afloat.
This piece of wood was quite obviously a part of the ship; which was nowhere in sight now. The only thing that could be seen is an island and the dark clouds in the distance. Of course, there's also the morning sun rising off in the distance. Praise it.
The rooster let out a weak cluck to welcome the morning then it began pruning its feathers. There were all sorts of small cuts and bruises just beneath the feathers. Plus, they were all messed up and frilled from the static electricity.
The cage still surrounded our protagonist; but didn't serve its purpose anymore. It was broken and bent in various places, allowing the rooster to come and go from the cage as it pleases. It seems that the cage took the brunt of the damage that might've befell him.
The rooster nervously looked towards the clouds. They were far away now, but that wasn't reassuring as the memory of the lightning was fresh in his mind. Thankfully, the piece of wood below him drifted away from the clouds; This brought him closer to the aforementioned island, little by little.
Then it walked out of the cage; it was unpleasantly cold and bit into his feet. The wood below his feet was better than the cage but was still unpleasant. Every time he moved, it sunk down a little and water touched his feet. At least, there was no problems with traction; the wood was torn and chipped in several places.
With water splashing against its feet, the rooster bent down and drank a little. To his horror, he found that it was salty and tasted nasty. This water part of an ocean and was, by no means, freshwater.
He walked back and forth on the piece of wood, looking for a dry spot. Ironically, whenever he found a dry spot, his weight shifted the wood; his weight pushed it down and made it partially submerged. The best spot he could find was the opposite side of the cage; the cage and rooster acted like kids on a pseudo-teeter totter.
It didn't stop the water; Instead, it kept the water even and just barely touching the rooster's feet. His solution to this was to alternate between lifting one leg and the other.
Meanwhile, the piece of wood slowly drifted off towards the shore of the island. The shores themselves gave off a feeling of paradise; it was lined with soft, white sand and spotted with trees. Farther inland was rolling green hills and verdant forests.
This feeling of paradise was shattered by only one thing; a rustling in one of the trees close to the beach. A snapping sound reverberated as one of the branches broke and fell, bringing an obese man with it. He seemed to slow down right before hitting the ground, making it so no noise occurred.
At least, no noise until he started shouting, "Master has told me to investigate the ship; it's best to investigate from high places. Alas, none of these trees can hold my weight. So I have no choice but to keep climbing to dutifully fulfill the request even though this may make me fail it." Then he started laughing maniacally.
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Annoyed by the noise, the rooster let out a few clucks. This caught the fat man's attention; he rolled over to his stomach and looked over at the water. His eyes seemed to shine-no, they were actually emitting light.
The fat man's stare seemed to look into the rooster's soul. A shiver passed through the rooster's body as he became completely frozen; relaxing his lifted leg and even breathing was impossible.
"A rooster... rooster rooster rooster? Cock? Dick? Richard? An idea is forming," mumbled the fat man. But to the rooster, it was like the fat man's mouth was right next to his ear.
Then he looked away briefly, in a direction inland. Allowing the rooster to be free; collapsing on the piece of wood and breathing desperately. Even breathing in a bit of seawater and almost drowning.
"Master wants me to survey the destroyed ship and bring back any survivors. This piece of wood counts as surveying the wreckage and this rooster shall suffice as a survivor," this voice, once again, sounded like it was coming from right next to the rooster.
Except this time the fat man was right next to him; in the short time the rooster was trying to avoid drowning, he had somehow reached the piece of wood. It was like he just teleported there; even now, he was casually standing on the water as if it was solid.
The rooster tried to run, but there was no where to run. Soon, the fat man reached out and tapped both his feet; which stuck them to the wood somehow. Then the fat man slung the whole piece over his shoulder, leaving the rooster upside-down while the cage fell and sunk into the water.
For the next hour, the rooster had no choice but to be carried along with the piece of wood by the fat man. They moved inland quite quickly, passing by hills, forests, villages, mountains, plains, and valleys.
At one point during the journey, the fat man flipped the wood, preventing the rooster from dying from blood pooling in his head. The rooster was in no condition to be grateful; not that it would or could do so anyways. Instead, it just huddled up fearfully, remembering what the fat man was capable of.
"Master will be proud; I completed this mission and I now have the perfect thing for his request last week. The sun is shining, it's the beginning of a great day, and my name is Lo Qi!" mumbled the fat man named Lo Qi.
Once the sun reached its zenith and the morning ended, they reached a small building complex. It was composed of a cozy house, a walled in garden, and a horse stable. Lo Qi started giggling uncontrollably as he ran the last few meters to reach the cozy house. His fat rippled and swayed side to side majestically as he ran.
Upon reaching the door, he stopped and composed himself; trying and failing to stop his incessant giggling several times then knocking on the door.
From inside a powerful yet slightly harsh voice, as if the speaker was old or sick, responded, "What is it?"
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Author's note: Scratch the double upload. Tired. Will do tomorrow or the next day. Need to stop procrastinating but it's 3am for me while writing this.