The two wolves looked at the children with hungry eyes ready to jump and lash at them but lost interest as soon as Royse fell on his back. The two wolves turned around and began playing with the other animals. The storehouse was filled with all kinds of animals playing around with other species. They weren’t afraid of each other at all they were more friends than opponents. The kids closed the door as fast as they could so the animals wouldn’t run out and escape, but it seemed none of them had any interest in leaving. 

Royse and Mira stood right next to each other confused about what was going on. The sheep were playing with the wolves, the foxes were playing with chickens and the owls were playing with the mice. Not one predator went running towards their prey, and not one prey went running away from a predator. Mira was done staring at the animals in confusion and just wanted to get what she needed to leave the farm. Soon Betsy joined them by sliding both doors open by herself.

 At first, the two kids were startled which then turned into disappointment and resentment and the feeling was mutual. Betsy had learned what happened from Kaleb and how they were planning to betray her at the very end. 

Betsy didn’t show her bitterness toward them, because of how shy she was around people. On the other hand, Mira had no problem showing her discontent on Betsy’s arrival.

“What do you want?” Mira asked with a raised eyebrow and a monotonous voice. She didn’t want to be around Betsy, because the last time she was with her it didn’t end well. 

“I came to help,” Betsy responded with a low and soft voice trying not to seem less intimidating. Her eyes on the ground fixated on her shoes. “The farmer said he wants his chickens and wolves on the sled.”

“We know that already, do us all a favor and just leave!” Royse screamed at her, stomping one foot on the ground. He said this in pure anger trying to get her to leave the farm out of fear. “We don’t need you in here so just go now. Before you get one of us killed.”

This made Betsy flinch and have pity on them. Kaleb’s current health wasn’t the best, but it’ll get worse over time. He has a fever that can potentially kill him over time if not treated properly. She felt like this whole situation was her fault, if only she hadn’t dragged Kaleb into this then his friends wouldn’t have to live in constant fear.

“These chickens aren’t normal, they are quick and agile, I just can’t imagine their strength,” Betsy warned them she couldn’t catch the animals herself so normal humans wouldn’t be able to do so either. 

“We’ll see about that.” Royse spat not believing a word Betsy just said.

Royse found a chicken inside a sleeping sheep coat trying to steal a bit of warmth from the cotton. He grabbed it by its neck and held it up high trying to prove that Betsy was lying. Mira had her arms crossed observing Royse catch the chicken with ease. She turned around to Betsy and scoffed at her in disbelief. Thinking that Betsy was just lying for attention. Betsy looked at them with embarrassment and confusion her eyes turned wide when she saw Royse pick up the chicken only to be attacked with a swarm of gusts when the chicken started flapping its wings. The gust made snow go into Royse’s eyes making him drop the chicken. 

Mira turned around as soon as Royse dropped the chicken. She couldn’t believe that her brother just let go of the chicken. She stomped her way to a rooster who seemed to be messing with a cow’s tail. She took the chance to catch the distracted rooster and snuck up behind it. She launched herself onto the rooster with the element of surprise. It noticed Mira’s presence a second before getting caught. It flapped its wings making a bunch of feathers fly off like a mini tornado disappearing in it. Thinking that the chicken was still in the feather blast it created she reaches her hands inside it and nothing. The rooster had disappeared through its own feathers like magic.

“cackle-doodle-doooooooo”

“What the-” The children said in unison, astonished at what they saw.

They all turned their gaze at the same rooster that Mira tried to catch thirteen feet away from where it was a second ago. It's as if the rooster was laughing and taunting at them for failing to catch him. Mira sighs and slumps down upset that she didn’t catch the rooster. She takes a closer look at the chickens and notices something wrong and then at the other animals. She stands up straight in shock and slaps her forehead in astonishment. 

“Do you see anything wrong with these animals?” Mira asked picking their brains to see if they could see it too. She couldn’t believe missed it when it was right in front of her face “There’s something amiss here”

“They are really friendly to one another” Betsy answers in a small voice, believing she had the right answer. Looking up at Mira in hopes of getting it right.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Mira looks at her with disgust and disdain. She crossed her arms in annoyance still expressing her hatred towards Betsy. “You’re incorrect.”

Mira then turned to Royse who was still confused about what she was talking about. His eyes scanned the whole barn slowly turning his head to see what was wrong with the animals. He squinted his eyes to see what was wrong, His eyes flashed open as he quickly turned his head towards Mira in shock. At first, they didn’t notice what was in front of their faces which was the animals' colors. They were all red, down to their very eyes, skin, fur, feathers, and tail. The animals were crimson red or bright red. These animals weren’t normal.

“They’re all red!” Royse confidently shouted his answer, pointing his finger at the strange animals. A cocky smile spread across his face. Royse was now on the same wavelength as Mira. ”Of course, the farmer uses some kind of Forest Merchandise on the animals.”

“If the farmer uses a Merchandise on the animals then we can use it too,” Mira said making the same smile Royse was making. She was planning on stealing the Merchandise used on the animals herself, to fight the Gasyer family. “We should have a fighting chance against the family if Betsy can barely fight the animals herself.”

Betsy didn't say anything afraid of being scorned or attacked by them. She was too timid to stop them or tell them to stop so she left her head down playing with the snow on her feet. While Mira and Royse were planning on stealing the Farmer’s Merchandise, Betsy noticed how some of the animals became just a little bit quiet, mainly the chickens. She looked up to see flocks of chickens staring at them with wonder in their eyes. It was as if the chickens had plotted against them and now were waiting on their next move. The chickens' frightening glares made Betsy nervous and turned to Mira and Royse who were still talking about stealing the Merchandise.

Once Mira and Royse were making their way to the door to leave a small hen got in their way. It seemed angry ready to attack them on the spot. Royse tapped the chicken on its side with his foot to get her out of the way, Mira was shooing the chicken and gesturing for it to go away. 

This only made it even angrier showing threatening signs that it’ll attack back and only Betsy saw this. The chicken seems ready to charge at them and it does with a tremendous amount of speed it jumps up and shoots itself toward Royse’s head. The chicken launched himself at him like a bullet that was locked in for the kill only for Betsy to save him.

If the hen had hit Royse's head with its small beak he would have been dead. 

The small hen barely misses Royse by a few seconds before Betsy tackles him down to the floor. Betsy landed on the floor with her shoulders and her eyes met the chicken that just attacked Royse. She was face to face with a chicken that was as deadly as a bullet and as small as a crow. Fury can be seen in the small chicken's eyes, it was scratching the floor ready to charge at Betsy’s eyes that was filled with fear. 

It launches with its beak first going in for the kill until Betsy catches it with her bare hands grabbing its small head and slamming it onto the floor.

Suddenly, the same chicken that escaped from Mira’s grasp earlier was back to help its friend. The chicken did the same trick and exploded its feathers causing it to go inside Betsy's eyes unable to see what was going on she felt a sharp pain in her hand, it was as if she was holding onto a drill spinning around her hand. Her whole hand was getting scraped. The speed would soon pick up splashing blood everywhere. By the time she could realize the blood coming out of her hand, it was almost blown off. The small hen was whirling around in Betsy’s hand like a rampant tornado and the other chicken served as distraction. 

Betsy was still holding on to the small hen with one hand, refusing to let go as it tore through her fingers. Mira then came up with a plan on the spot realizing what was going on she pointed at a water trough that was bigger than a whole cow. Mira was trying to signal Betsy to throw the hen into the trough hoping it wasn’t frozen. Betsy got the signal and switched the chicken into her other hand almost dropping it in the process. She bolted her way towards the trough while the hen kept spinning causing her other hand to bleed.

As the hen was shredding her hand she stopped in front of the water trough. She held her hand forward above the rusty trough and grunted in pain and frustration. The trough was frozen, she made a last effort and punched the ice hoping it was just the top that was frozen. Her efforts didn’t go in vain as the water splashed when she punched it with the hand she was holding the chicken in. The ice seemed to be only layered from the top and not completely frozen. She let go of the chicken in the freezing water filled with cold ice chunks. Betsy watched the hen flare its wings around to fly and to avail it couldn’t escape.

 Its soaked wing was too heavy to fly out. The small hen was just splashing around in an effort to swim. Betsy's anxiety of her hand being chopped off subdued into relief letting out a sigh of relaxation. The pain in both of her hands appeared as soon as she loosened her nerves, making her flinch in pain. Royse and Mira finally exhaled, they were unable to breathe through the unnerving scene that unraveled in front of them. The suspense made them hold their breath not knowing what to do or say at the moment. 

The fight was far from over, even though the small blood-thirsty hen was restrained in the watering trough, the other chickens wanted a piece of the action. This time it was an older male rooster who seemed to be as old as time itself that came forward toward Mira. It stood there with its lanky legs that resembled a dried twig ready to break in pressure. The chicken was so old it was shaking and had some of its feathers missing from its body.

Mira turned around towards the door ignoring the old chicken right under her feet. She wanted to go back and scowl the farmer who sent them there. Mira wasn’t intimidated by the frail-looking rooster except for Betsy and Royse their eyebrows furrowed and their jaws were agap. They looked at the chicken like a bomb ready to explode any second.

“Let’s go, this was highly unprecedented, that useless farmer could have at least warned us about these chickens,” Mira murmured in an angry tone. She was also worried about Betsy’s wounds which were painful to look at. “We don’t need his training anyways we’ll just steal whatever Merchandise he used on those animals to make ourselves stronger.”