ERD
Watching the stranger halt momentarily at the sound of his voice echoing across the beach then proceed to pull himself the remainder of the way from the churning waves and onto the sandy shoreline, Erd continued to smile boyishly, outwardly appearing completely unbothered by all of this. Oh, he felt Ard shift and press closer to his offside, the down of their wings intermingling, but he refrained from casting a glance towards his twin just yet. For now, the young warlock kept his gaze rooted on the stranger and allowed his grin to grow larger at the much larger man’s words.
“I’ll take your word for it, friend,” he remarked jovially enough, a little pep in his step as he dared venture closer by one single step, ears forward and expression shifting into one of open curiosity, “So long as a big ol’ kraken monster doesn’t come scoop you up.” Did Novus even have monstrous water creatures like krakens and giant octopus here? For a moment, Erd’s expression shifted as he seriously mulled it over, seeming to completely forget that he was in the company of a stranger. Did Novus have krakens? Why had he never seen one? Maybe they were just really good at hiding? Maybe they didn’t eat horses here? Well, okay. In his defense, it wasn’t like they lived in Terrastella for long, but still… Huh. Maybe he’d ask Marisol or Theodosia, the next time they ran into the other members of the Halcyon unit.
The man, with his dark colors stained a deeper, richer earthen variation due to the water still clinging to his skin, seemed to know better than to get too close to the warlocks, and that was probably for the best. Any closer and Erd really didn’t know how Ard might react. Still, it was nice that the unknown fellow seemed keen enough to know to respect their personal space, and that alone was a plus in his opinion. The stranger then introduced himself, saying that his name was ’Rhone’, and Erd gave a polite little nod of his head. Meeting Rhone’s rich brown eyes, the silver warlock’s smile softened. There was something about this man’s eyes, so deep and profound and honest, that instantly put him at ease.
“Good to meet you, Rhone. I’m Erd.” The petite warlock’s grin grew and he tilted his head, motioning with his muzzle towards Ard’s glowering, somewhat standoffish form. “That’s Ard. He doesn’t talk.” It was always better to just be upfront about it, just on the off chance that someone got their ears in a twist, took offense, and copped an attitude in regards to his brother’s selective silence. Rhone didn’t seem like the type to really care about that though, but, well… You could never be completely sure.
“Sorry if we interrupted you or something, Rhone. We were just out for a stroll… Are you, um. Do you live around here? And, I was just kidding. About the kraken, I mean. I don’t think Novus has krakens or other weird tentacle-water monsters. At least I haven’t seen any…”
