To become a superhero was an amazing thing indeed but Specterdust still had a ways to go to truly become the superhero she wished to be. But today was a step in the right direction. She heeded a call for guardians to a new species and was rewarded with one of the firsts. She looked down at an iridescent black and teal bi-pedal bird. It was called a cockatrice. She smiled happily that one did indeed choose to go home with her. “Well hello there,” she said softly, “I’m Specterdust.”
The creature cocked it’s head up at her, it’s feathers fluffed out before settling. “H-hello,” he said to the noul he had chosen. She was shorter than the others except for a foal. He flapped his wings and then settled them back in close to his body, waiting.
Oh! Specterdust grinned, “I guess we should head home.” Specterdust turned and started to walk away, she paused and made sure that the creature was following her and he was. She continued forward, leading him back to her parents’ place as she didn’t yet have her own. It seemed her mother was done for the day, the foals had all be collected by their parents. “Good, we have the place to ourselves now.” She said turning to looked down at the creature again. “I guess I should name you.”
She laid down to be more eye level with the cockatrice. She tilted her head one way and then the other as she thought. He seemed to be keyed into a flying bug, which he stalked and then snapped up. Specterdust smiled as she watched the newly revived creature explore his world.
“How about Kevin?” It seemed so random but it popped up in her head. She was sure she’d seen it somewhere. The creature paused, turned and looked at her. “Is that an okay name to you?” she inquired.
“Kevin. Kevin…..mmm yes. Kevin.” The creature responded. It was still growing it’s word bank it would seem.
“You’re going to be my sidekick, Kevin. Every superhero needs a sidekick or support character. At least that’s what I think.” She paused. “We can go on adventures, help nouls and other creatures, even play if that’s what you’d enjoy.” She tilted her head at the funny creature.
Kevin stood up tall suddenly and let off a loud screech.
Specterdust’s eyes went wide as her body leaned away from him. “Well that’s certainly a loud voice you have there….is that your super power then?” She laughed and sighed. “You know what, let’s go on a walk. Then you can stretch your legs or even ride on my back if you’d like. Then you can get a feel for Homewood.” She stood up and stretched her legs. “Let’s go.” She moved away from her parents’ home, her foalhood home and headed deeper into Homewood. Kevin ran ahead of her, darting to and from different spots. He seemed quite thrilled to explore his new home. Occasionally, Specterdust would catch him stalking a small mammal or invertebrate.
Yeah, she thought, this is going to work out great. She finally had a sidekick to accompany her on her adventures, to share stuff with and so much more. Though it seemed like it would be a bit slow and steady at first. Kevin was still so new to this world. His kind had been here before but a lot has changed and even her kind was new to him. But he seemed to be taking everything in stride. He would even dart back to the safety of her shadow if something surprised him. That made Specterdust feel good, she felt like he trusted her enough, like a baby seeing it’s parent for the first time.
They past a number of other nouls busy about their day. She’d greet them and they’d say hello back. Some definitely gawked at Kevin, it wasn’t every day that a vivify noul revived an old species. Cockatrices were definitely something interesting to look at. All the ones that arrived with Kevin were colorful and varied in plumage. The possibilities could very well be endless with them. When the sun caught Kevin’s otherwise black feathers, they shone in a vibrant color away that was certainly beautiful. He also had a nice line of teal feathers down his back that hue shifted between green and blue.
Kevin walked over to her and suddenly jumped on her back, “Specterdust”.
She paused in surprise, he said her name.
WC: 750
