Ahh, childhood. That wonderful time when you look at the world with bright, hopeful, trusting eyes. New experiences, good or bad, come along seemingly every day. And video games can often be played after school with friends, who will tell you secrets and tips that they (or, often, their eternally wise older siblings, who only put that fake bug in their bed as a joke, sheesh) have learned along the way.
I, being an only child who did not start playing video games until after several of my peers, was lucky enough to benefit from their experiences. And while I ordinarily preferred to watch others play the more difficult games such as the Zelda series, sometimes I would pick up the controller to play parts which I enjoyed. Not being great at the games, but loving the exploration, it was not rare for me to take over when reaching a new, safe little town.
Without question, the game of my childhood was Ocarina of Time. In it, the town perhaps most explored was Kakariko Village. There was just so much to do, and so many interesting ways to move about the town, that my friends and I would often end up there whenever we played. In Kakariko, one of the best ways to move about in the Child Link Era involved a seemingly harmless little chicken.
A Cucco.
At first, Cuccos were nothing more than a fun way to glide around town. We would try to hop that one fence; everyone who knows the game well is nodding and saying “Yep, I know that one” about right now. We would try to see who could travel the furthest without touching the ground from a certain spot. Just fun, innocent things that one does with a chicken that is large enough to carry a child just by flapping really hard.
Then, one day, everything changed when my one friend, who had one of those all-knowing older siblings, made a friendly suggestion while I was playing.
“Hey, you should hit the chicken with your sword a bunch, something really cool happens, my brother showed me.”
His timing could not have been more perfect. It was a sleepover, and there were four of us there. Three, including me, had no idea what would happen. Link, in Child form, even had more than ten hearts, giving him some real endurance. But this was the same kid who had shown us how to make a Gossip Stone turn into a rocket based off of his brother’s suggestion, so we trusted his word absolutely. If a mere stone could launch into space, what could this already interesting Cucco do? So, I gamely chased after the bird with my sword until something happened.
The result, as you may imagine, was one of the most terrifying, hilarious, amazing, and panicked few minutes of my video gaming career.
As the endless horde of furious Cucco rained all the fires of their feathered vengeance upon poor, helpless Link, I yelled and tried running each way, my other clueless friends alternated between uproarious laughter and trying to give some kind of advice, and the one who had told me to try this was beside himself, curled on the floor laughing his head off.
The Cuccos only clucked furiously and continued trying to peck Link into an early grave.
Eventually, with only two hearts remaining and having tried every weapon in our inventory, I accidentally ran into a door, which Link opened and escaped into. Suddenly the haunting sounds of a hundred angry chickens stopped, Link was able to catch his breath, and I was able to join my friends in their laughter.
Then, of course, I handed off the controller, we got Link all healed up, and the next friend in line took a turn at angering the almighty Cucco.
Since that glorious day, I have struck many a Cucco enough times to get them to call in the swarm. It has certainly become something of a tradition for new Zelda titles, as long as there is a Cucco to find, but nothing could ever quite match the first time, and that is a memory that I will always look back on and have a hearty chuckle about.
And I will never, EVER, hit an actual chicken in real life with a sword. You know, just in case.
