Has this story been done before? It just sounds familiar to me: Set in 1840s Scotland, a boy named Noel Jennings (who I originally made to poke fun at Dickens' protagonist by making Noel a poor, starved, sickly orphan) journeys Scotland with a talking chicken named Luther. I don't know what it is they do, but that's in my head now. Anyway, Luther talks like a higher up British subject while Noel talks like a common begger with slurs and the like. Very amusing and quite British if you don't mind me saying. XD Still, it sounds familiar.
It doesn't sound like anything I've heard of. And it sounds cool. You should write it. And, even if the boy/chicken concept WAS familiar, it's the adventures they have and their personalities that will set them apart. (Look at your signature, dude.....)
Oh, I know, I know. I was just saying the concept of boy/chicken was absurd, hilarous. XD I don't really know the plot though. A part of me wants to do a Lady Hawke thing where the chicken is really a knight from the 1540s that was cursed by some witch to be a chicken for eternity until three hundred years later, the knight finally discovers a way to break the curse and enlists the help of Noel. Of course, I'd have to explain how he managed to survive three centuries and why he didn't think of this sooner. XD I definitely see fantasy elements in this story, though.
This kind of reminds me of a Julia Stiles (I think?) movie about a prince-turned-frog who'd been hopping around in NYC ponds, but then this woman kisses him and he turns into a prince from the King Arthur era...in modern NYC.... It's not too similar to your story, though. I love the idea of a cursed knight as a chicken...that's awesome. And there's definitely room for fantasy elements.
There are several better reasons to have a talking chicken, I think. Like, a witch cursed her cat familiar to be a chicken or something. Something out of the ordinary. Still, go for it. I don't mind the sound of that, so long as there's actually a POINT to their journeys. I mean, if it's just "Noel and his chicken, Luther, travel across the Scottish highlands just because they can" well... you know.
Oh don't worry, I'm trying to figure out why Noel and his chicken, Luther, are wandering all over Scotland. So far I have... (a) Trying to break the curse so Luther can become the knight human he once was. ~~~ Question: What would happen once Luther is finally restored to his human form? Would he just drop dead as he's now three centuries older than he used to be? Dematerialize as his soul goes to the afterlife? (b) Trying to find Noel's uncle, who abandoned him at the orphanage. ~~~ This could be Noel's quest that would tie in with Luther's. Somehow, they agreed to help the other to pursue a common goal of rightening wrongs done to them.
a) has plot holes. I mean, chickens don't live for that long, so technically, as soon as he was turned into a chicken, wouldn't his body drop dead? But, of course, that also has the plot hole that he's not being turned into a chicken that has lived for 20 odd years. He's just being turned into a chicken. I mean, it'd be pretty cool if his transformation was more recent and, as time went on, his chicken body began to break down and deteriorate. Like, after he's lived a chicken's life, he begins to moult and actually ROT. That'd make sense. Dematerialisation doesn't work either. Please don't do that. b) makes more sense. Perhaps Luther was told that a witch turned him from a knight into a chicken, and when they find Noel's uncle, they find that he's a warrior of some description. He probably has a wicked cool claymore. Luther would be into that, you know? Then there might be some cool stuff and Luther would be transformed into a human, or a leprechaun, maybe. A british leprechaun could be cool. He'd find out that he was lied to. He was never a knight, and the witch only cursed him because he refused her the secret to accessing the hoard (see Neil Gaiman's American Gods).
Perhaps, upon the moment of his dechickenization, his body turns into the state and age he was at the original time of the curse.
Good point. Maybe instead of him being cursed as a chicken for 300 years, he was cursed for only ten years or however long chickens last. Luther is frantic, wanting to return to his human state before his chicken body dies. Luther, while in the orphanage had heard tales of a witch living in the Scottish highlands and he recalls this when he meets Luther. Of course, after he calms down when he discovers that a chicken is engaging normal conversation with him.
