Starter for morpho-the-knight
On the outskirts of Pupupu village, JUST shy of where civilization turned into forest was a rare sight.
A dark gray emperor pengi chick in two layers of shirts slightly too big for him and a scarf was waddling along, blissfully ignorant of the fact that both of his parents and his siblings were more than likely panicking over the youngest child disappearing on them.
He did hesitate at the edge of the forest. Derek WAS still a very young chick. The low light of the forest likely made him at least a little nervous.
“… … … ”
But curiosity won out, as he waddled in to see what was in this forest he was told he was too young to enter.
Deep in the forest, a small cave sat, its rocky sides stood against the harsh cold, making it a perfect place for the orange armored knight to live, Morpho glanced outside the entrance, a feeling of unsureness racked his mind, it had been many days since he had left his home, and the wood supply was running low.
Reaching out the butterfly warrior picked up his winter garments, hiding his wings within his cape, replacing his armor for more weather protected, placing his face scarf, he went out unsure of who or what he may find, it was a big forest after all, and it could be anything.
Unbeknownst to Derek, he was headed in the direction of the cave. Luckily for him, it seemed the chilly air was too much for any large carnivores that were not already hibernating to bother with, The forest was relatively quiet, save the occasional wind through the trees.
Derek had his neck craned high, marveling at the trees around him, not really paying attention to where he was walking.
Walking through scattered snow, Morpho searched the frosted covered ground in search for any limbs that a tree may have lost during these harsh storms, it was quiet, just the way he liked it, the wind wasn’t as strong as it had been, almost wanting him to stretch out his wings, but he knew that was not a wise thought, shaking his head, he glanced up at his surroundings, and he could have sworn he saw something move out in the distance woods.
The chick stopped for a second, to both catch his breath and watch a few snowflakes settle on the end of his beak. He wasn’t bothered by their cold, being a penguin.
Which probably explained why he let the snow pile on his beak grow a bit too large, causing some of the snow to get in his nostrils and made him sneeze. Quite loudly.
Said snow pile exploded like a tiny, icy bomb and Derek let out a startled peep.
Morpho froze in place as he heard a sound, nearly dropping his bundle of wood, as the instincts to reach for his blade’s hilt boiled within, his eyes glowed softly, looking for the target of said noise, he heard something something similar to that of a bird that he had sometimes heard before the snow had come, it sounded different, but familiar no the less. With that the curiosity seemed to bubble within him, along with a slight fear, after all, it could he another beast of sorts, placing his bundle down, and he began to stealthily walk towards the noise.
Derek stood there for a second, shaking the snow off himself, blinking his dark eyes to clear them of a few stray flakes.
His feathers were fluffed out in a comical way from being startled.
“… … … *Peep?*”
He could hear footsteps approaching, but something about them didn’t sound animal in origin.
Derek started waddling towards them, but in his haste to find out who that was coming his way, accidentally tripped and fell through some shrubs when the footsteps were RIGHT in front of him.
Morpho was more or less surprised, he had not expected to find a small fluff of feathers, and cloth to be what he would find out in the middle of the woods. Glancing around for anything out of place before feeling the need to lower his guard.
“…are you alright?” He asked unsure if he’d get an answer.
Derek struggled to his feet… then froze upon locking eyes with the knight, as if transfixed.
The boy couldn’t help but think to himself that this guy kind of reminded him of Meta Knight…
Raising his hands to chest height, he nodded his head in affirmation (Albeit still with that transfixed look on his face) as he began to sign:
<”Yeah… I tripped. It happens a lot.”>
He continued, signing a bit slower than he would with his family. He didn’t know how well this newcomer could understand sign language. So he was erring on the side of caution.
<”Are you new? I’ve never seen you.”> he said with a curious head tilt.
Morpho squints slightly, he knows this language from somewhere, but he cannot remember it very well.
“I live here deep in the woods. I don’t leave it very often…” his voice fades into a hushed whisper as if deep in thought. In reality he was questioning if he had answered correctly from the bits and pieces he had picked up.
A hint of a smile crossed his beak upon realizing the stranger understood him. It was always so awkward when he needed to talk to someone who didn’t understand, and none of his family were around to translate.
This was followed by another head tilt, this time the other way. It was accompanied by a look of concern. <”Why not? Don’t you need stuff like food and medicine?”>
By the facial reactions the young had given Morpho, he could assume he answered correctly, glancing down at the signs he was given, he understood a bit more, but not completely.
“I have my herbs and food in my abrigo, I leave to gather wood”
He looked confused, and seemed to think hard before he began signing again.
<”A-B-R-I-G-O?”> Derek asked. He’d never heard the word, and had no idea what the sign for it would be, so he spelled it out.
<”What’s that?”>
Morpho looks slightly confused but then realized the misunderstanding.
“Ah, abrigo it means…shelter…? I believe in the native tongue. I am sorry I confused you.”
He bows slightly apologetically.
Derek smiled, shaking his head.
<”You don’t need to apologize!”> Then he remembered the word shelter usually meant short-term living space and found himself a little worried for the lepidopteran knight. <”You said you live in a shelter… Did something happen? To your old house?”> He signed with a look of concern.
Morpho shaked his head. “I am afraid I do not remember…memory is not my good….” He reaches up and adjust his scarf his eye lights dim slightly as he feels a slight headache come on from the stir of thoughts.
Derek had seen the dimming eye lights.
He knew Meta Knight did that when he didn’t feel well. Assuming this fellow was of the same species, there was a good chance this might mean the same thing…
<”Are you okay? Your eyes did the thing our head knight’s eyes do when he feels bad… “>
Morpho’s eyes sparked back up with surprise, not many who he had encountered would detail his eyes dimming.
“Si. I am alright, gracias for asking….” Morpho glances around the forest for a moment before turning his attention back to Derek.
“May I ask what you are doing out here? Not many visitors come to the woods.”
Derek laughed, the first vocal sound he’d made since the encounter. He was also scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
<”Well… I’m actually not supposed to be here… I got curious because my parents and my brother and sisters are always telling me I should stay away from this forest… so I wanted to know what was in here… “>
He hoped he wasn’t about to get in trouble. ESPECIALLY if it turned out this guy knew his father. Dedede would ground him for at LEAST two weeks, which is an eternity for a little kid.
Morpho tilts his head slightly, picking up every other word, but he kind of understood what Derek signed.
“Our family isn’t wrong…there are many monsters that live in here.” Humming softly, Morpho kneels down and picks up a branch of wood that was slightly buried under the snow.
<”But it’s cold, so they’d all be asleep until spring, right?”> Derek asked.
He’s been told about hibernation, since he’d expressed worry to his parents earlier in the year that the animals had seemed to start slowly disappearing.
<”’Cos most of the animals the monsters eat are probably also sleeping?”>
Morpho humming stops and he glances up at Derek.
“Some but not all….there’s been one that breathes fuego that comes to try to attack travelers.” Placing the small bundle of wood under his arm and stands up.
“Would you like something to eat?”
He could guess by context that “fuego” was probably fire. He was worried for just a moment, until the offer of food came up.
<”Oh, yes! I would!”>
He pointed at the bundle before he continued signing.
<”Is that why you were picking up the wood?”>
“Si but It’s mostly for warmth. I have some apples I can cook if you’d like to join me? Unless you think you’re family is worried then perhaps another time.” Morpho’s eyes close almost as if he is smiling.
Derek’s enthusiasm dropped just a little. On the one hand: food. On the other hand, he knew damn well his parents were probably in full panic mode right now.
<”… I would, but… I gotta be honest, Dad and Mom are probably freaking out right now, yeah… “>
Despite his tendency towards gluttony, no one could say Derek wasn’t a good kid.
“Ah another time maybe, would you like a guide home or at least to town?” Morpho seems slightly disappointed, it had been a while since he had anyone to share a meal with or to talk too, but understood the urgency of worried parents.
He felt bad that he couldn’t stay for lunch. The butterfly seemed nice, and he sounded sad. But he could at least take him up on the latter offer.
<”Yeah, I could use a guide back. If that monster’s out here, I might be in trouble if it finds me.”>
He could at least keep this guy company a little longer until he got back to his family.
Morpho’s mood seems to perk up with that.
“Come along then, towns isn’t far, but it would be wise if we hurried before a storm comes.” Morpho took a few steps to the right clearly excited to be able to a guide.
<”A storm?”> He looked up.
The thick cover of foliage provided by the trees had prevented Derek from noticing just how dark and heavy the clouds were becoming. <”Wow, my mom and dad would REALLY freak out if that happened before I got back… “> He looked a bit guilty as he signed.
“Well little one we better hurry then the storm waits for no one.” Morpho’s footsteps shuffling in the snow as he walks towards the location of the town.
Looking up, Derek could see the clouds were that heavy blue-grey that usually means snow. And lots of it.
Now that he thought about it, the butterfly didn’t look as well-equipped as he for cold weather… Derek could handle even the heaviest of blizzards with no trouble, being a penguin, but his friend Dandelion had said something once about bugs not handling cold very well…
<”… Will you be able to get back in time? Those clouds look like they might be about to drop a whole blizzard on us… “>
“I should be fine, I’ve been in storms before.” Morpho’s voice seems to have a sing song tone to it, he loves the snow, even if he doesn’t have the best tolerance to the cold, and actually was pretty excited for the snow.
Derek gave a small chuckle before he continued.
<”My dad and me like the snow, but Mom and my siblings don’t like it as much. I think their home planet is a lot warmer than Pop Star.”>
He paused for a moment to jump a small, raised root that was in his way.
<”Dad’s been to Ripple Star before, but I haven’t. I wanna go, though.”>
Bringing his right mitten to where his “mouth” would be.
“Is that what this place is called? I never really learned the name….the snow I’ve come to enjoy it with the short amount of time I have with it.:
Glancing at Derek to make sure he didn’t fall off or trip on the root.
Derek looked up, stepping down off the root.
<”Yeah! Kind of a weird name, though. Most planets in the Gamble Galaxy are named after something about them. Aqua Star is covered in water, Rock Star has a lot of mountains and caves, and Shiver Star is REALLY cold.”>
The chick shrugged before he continued signing.
<”And Ripple Star is named after Mom’s family!”>
Morpho hums softly in thought, it maybe have been cloudy from the coming storm, but he couldn’t help bit admire the worlds beyond this on star that they live on. Turning back his attention to the uncharted paths ahead.
“Sounds like her family is pretty important to the planet.”
Derek nodded enthusiastically, a huge smile on his face.
<”Yep! She’s the Queen!”>
Derek was too young to fully comprehend the significance of this, nor the significance of his father’s title. Or his own, for that matter, being that he was next in line after Dedede.
Morpho stops in his tracks, he seems to recall what the title “Queen” ment, its a bit fuzzy, but he knows it means something important. He doesn’t say anything upon this knowledge for he knew he would have to figure it out for himself and continues to walk but keeps an eye on the young one to be sure he doesn’t fall or injure himself.
“That must mean it’s also named after you as well.”
Derek shook his head.
<”Nah, Mom met my dad after I was born. So I guess Mom’s actually my stepmom? I don’t remember having a mom before her.”>
He scratched the back of his head.
<”My family’s a little weird. Mom has one daughter from her first husband, and her son was adopted before my dad and her got married. My oldest sister was adopted into the family when I was one.”>
