Time became intangible when you resisted it as long as he had.

The birth of gods, the death of civilizations, the world torn asunder, and still he remained.

Once, he had fought alongside one who had earned his loyalty with her wit and cunning, her smile a devious thing that promised pain for all that stood in her way. She drew all manners of beings to her pack, and yet he knew in her heart that he ranked above the rest.

But he failed to protect what mattered most, batted aside like he was nothing more than a fly as his pack was slaughtered mercilessly, their entrails growing cold against the sand. His master scratched at the godling's hands, trying desperately to free herself from his grip as the plan went horribly wrong – she wasn't meant to get that close but his bull-headed master was determined to uphold her vow.

All he could do was watch as her eyes first went cloudy and unseeing, then her kicking legs slowed, and then her hands went limp. She too was cast aside and he lost himself within his grief. He felt too broken to fight in a world without her, like he was missing half his soul, and so he laid on the ground with wheezing lungs, hoping to die as his master's foolish kin waged war against the godling. Success came at too steep a price and he did not care about the fallout, stuck in a form that could not even shed a tear for the ones most precious to him.

The world unraveled around him, and he wished it swept him away into the void of nothingness so he could forget his pain. His prayers went unanswered and he raged against the gods and fate for tying him to this plane.

He lived in shame, hiding in a corner of the world so he did not have to face his failures. He was too sick with grief to remain in the body that his master loved, brushing her fingers lovingly across his scales as she called him the most beautiful creature in all of existence. He adopted a form that would frighten all that came near, spikes lashing out of his spine, teeth sharp as razors and claws ensuring a swift and brutal death to anyone stupid enough to pester him.

His master's kin and her rabble still somehow found him, tried to convince him to fight for their cause, but his master was gone, stolen and defiled by the godling that once killed her, and he fought for no one but her. Especially not for those that prided themselves on hating what remained of her.

They challenged the godling and failed as he knew they would.

He knew that isolation was not what his master would have wanted for him, so as the world shook once more, he reluctantly flew until he found a land where few mortals dared to tread, hoping that he might find some comfort in a simple life.

He had been content to live out his days in his new sleek form, a gentle lord of his domain and all manner of beasts that his master would have cooed over. They were simple creatures, focused on food, shelter, and safety, but they were his to mold and shape. The brightest of them was touchy and territorial, rarely listening to him unless he could promise it more power, but he was fine with that. His master always said that the greatest creatures were those with the strongest will, of which he was a shining example.

But then parasites invaded his domain.

Wretched creatures who ate his beasts and wore their skins while making a mockery of them by stealing their names. He seethed with anger, but he held back his wrath. They were tainted with an energy that made him wish for the days he would tear through mortals like razors through paper, but he stayed his claw.

If he rid his domain of this pestilence, it would bring him into a war he had sworn he would never again be a soldier in. They would leave in due time, based on their boasts, and he was a master of outliving his enemies.

The wretched creatures failed to catch a mortal who was stupid enough to wander about in his domain, chasing it fruitlessly over days. He found himself curious of who had evaded their grasp because the parasites had proven to be competent hunters even if they lacked the wit to know they were being used. He had only meant to look from afar, but he did not find the mortal he was looking for, so he ventured further into the open than he planned.

When the mortal made her presence clear by falling onto the ground, he had been amused by her bedraggled and mud-stained state until she brought her head up to stare at him.

She had stars beneath her skin, a supernova within her golden eyes, and hair spun from silver moonlight that peeked through the dirt.

He froze at the unexpected sight.

One of the last peaceful memories of his master came forward from the dark recesses of his mind, breaking through the barrier he had crafted to spare himself pain.

"There's one key difference between her and I," his master had once said one evening when it was just the two of them in her office, her face oh so sad and angry in a way he could not fix. Two letters rested on the table and after reading them both, her master had sat down heavily in her favored armchair, glaring at the offending pieces of paper until he had dropped his favorite brush into her lap and insisted she pay attention to him.

"Some people are meant to be heroes and others… Well, others are like you and I. We don't have the luck of the universe on our side, we had to carve out a place for ourselves with blood, sweat, and tears. We don't throw ourselves into conflicts because we have basic self-preservation and know better than to get caught up in that sort of chaos. And besides, most people who are called heroes are little more than figureheads who happened to be in the right place at the right time with an audience to fawn over them."

He had nipped at her fingertips when her brushing stopped as she got caught up in her ranting and she smiled, resuming the rhythmic motion. But her gaze remained distant and her smile faded as she looked at the letter that made her eyes light up with hopeful joy when she first received it. Her joy had faded as she read on and he would have set it on fire if he thought he could get away with it.

"But there are people worthy of the title of hero out there." His master's voice trailed off as she looked at the other letter and her face hardened. She tilted down until her forehead rested against his and he pressed back eagerly, closing his eyes.

"She is one of those fabled heroes, and when we meet again, please help me remember to be kind, my lovely ––."

The girl with stars in her veins didn't run, and he was half-ready to run because he had no use for heroes who had more bravery than sense, viewing every non-human being as an obstacle to be slayed or subjugated.

Then her voice rang out tremulously to beg for him to leave.

There was no confidence, no bravado, no steadfast belief she would prevail, just a desperate plea to let her keep her vows. The plea resonated with him, echoes of a time when he had begged the heavens to free his master from the fate that had befallen her.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The words tumbled out of the girl and he found himself intrigued by the way she bared her soul so casually to a creature she could not be sure understood her plights.

He had to flee as a pack of his beasts came near, as he would never kill one in the defense of a mortal, but his curiosity had been piqued by the interaction with the star girl. So he followed her, staying out of sight as she wandered through his domain.

Thrice now he had encountered the stargirl, twice he turned away, and it was the third time he had decided to finally lend her aid. Fate's hand was heavy, but in this singular moment, he did not fight its sway, giving into what was inevitable.

The smartest of his beasts agreed to help, as he promised magical flesh to feast upon and grow stronger and he led the way to the parasite's camp.

He felt Stargirl's power swelling from afar and he worried he had changed his mind too late and Stargirl was on the precipice of disaster. As soon as the magic spiked into levels she couldn't survive, it faded in the space of three heartbeats, and his beast was crashing into the flimsy defenses of the camp, sending a spray of water to announce its mighty presence.

There was a woman laid over Stargirl, and the sight of her profile as she rose to stare down the parasite defiantly made him still. The timber of her soul was unexpected and wrong in ways that made his claws ache, and she was especially strange with the way her soul tangled with another's. Hair the color of freshly spilled blood against the snow, flinty emerald eyes that pierced through the veil he surrounded himself with, she saw him and yet, it was not the same, never the same.

He drew back until he was a mere spectator in the battle, telling himself he wanted to see how these fledging heroes fought rather than admit he was afraid of the stranger. They had decent enough teamwork but they were woefully weak and unprepared for a foe of this magnitude – if he had not graced them with his beast's presence, their blood would have fed his domain.

But they survived, and he supposed that was fate's answer to what his future held.

Stargirl was ecstatic to see him as he approached her with his best adorable expression that always made his master fold, walking alongside the Stranger. The Stranger showed no reaction to his presence save confusion and wariness. It irked him, the way she viewed him as a mere unintelligent beast, and he expressed his annoyance the only way his form could – clacking his beak disrespectfully.

He followed the baby heroes to the mortal village at the edge of his domain. He knew their names but he decided he wasn't going to use them as his master always said that nicknames were a sign of closeness. They may not know it yet, but he would become a fixture in their lives because he knew, deep down, he knew his master would want him to find a new pack.

Stargirl's was obvious, as was the Stranger's, but he had to examine the boys more closely. It didn't take long for him to settle on names after observing them. The tall one would be Inferno and the shorter one would be Priest, both based on the magic rolling beneath their skin and what he knew of their personalities.

He left them briefly to inform his beasts they now had the gift of free-will, to which they responded by trying to eat him. A proper and dignified response that showed they had good instincts, so he left, satisfied they would flourish even without his tender care.

The fact that the Stranger prepared the basket for him to accompany the baby heroes even after she had had a glimpse of his true nature gave him pause. He had thought she would be more afraid of him, but the Stranger argued for his inclusion that it was inevitable, and that… he didn't know what to feel about that, so he chose to enjoy the bliss that came from Stargirl's gentle scritches.

Traveling was always boring, and so he chose to sleep in his new basket. Memories that had collected dust behind the barrier in his mind invaded his dreams, dragged forth by his new resolve.

The evening he met his master, he was a half-starved and mana-mad thing that was met with kindness he didn't understand, too young to even formulate a proper thought.

"Oh you're a feisty little fella," she had said, eyes sparkling with delight even though he had nearly bitten her finger off. "We're going to be the best of friends."

She held food within her hand, drawing him close enough until she lunged forward to wrap him in his arms. It was foolish as when he fought against her grip he drew blood, but she just laughed and held him even closer.

He was small within her arms, but under her tender care, he grew stronger and larger, until he could finally soar high above the sky with his master nestled safely between his wings, strapped in with the harness she had crafted.

"I wouldn't trade this view for anything," she had said, staring out at the horizon stretched before them and he rumbled in agreement.

The days spent with her were the best in his life, and reliving them in his dreams hurt because he knew he would never get them back.

He used to curl up in the corner of her office by the fire, content to bask in both the heat and her presence. He no longer fit the carrier she first made for him, but he placed his most precious items within it, marveling at the way they sparkled. More beasts joined him, companions banding together to protect their foolish master who chased dangerous creatures because she believed they wouldn't harm her despite all evidence to the contrary.

But his master was weak, little more than a mortal herself, and that made him and his companions work hard to ensure her continued survival. A storm anaconda snapped its jaws towards her blind spot and he growled, lunging forward to wrap his teeth around its neck –

"Perry, you little shit, I was trying to give you breakfast!"

He stilled as he became aware of his surroundings, allowing the Stranger to take her finger back from his maw as he stared at her in shock.

It was morning now, the rays of sunlight resting gently upon his fur. The Stranger looked mildly irritated, eyeing him with wary suspicion as she held her hand to her chest. There was a pile of worms next to him, a wriggly and dirt-covered snack, but he looked back towards the Stranger, the name she called him echoing in his ears.

"Perry?" asked Stargirl, looking between them with confusion.

The Stranger paused, looking unsure of herself as her gaze fell to the ground.

"Perry the platypus has a nice ring to it," the Stranger defended herself weakly.

Inferno gave the Stranger a flat look. "Perry? Really?"

"It is fun to say," Priest pointed out after mumbling it to himself.

"Exactly!" the Stranger said, standing a little taller now that she had support. "Short and sweet, easy to yell if he gets into trouble."

Stargirl tilted her head, considering it. She turned to him with a thoughtful gaze.

"Do you like it?" Stargirl asked.

He took a long breath in, forcing his racing heart to calm. Not since his master died had he been called by a proper name, as mortals only saw him as a mere beast, and he had been fine with that. He had no reason to have a name when he had no companions to call for him.

The name the Stranger called him… though she could not know, she could never know, it had been the nickname his master once crooned in his ears as she lavished him with affection. His true name lay buried within his core, tucked away because it was the very first thing his master ever gave him and it was the only gift not even time could steal away.

There was no way he would tell these baby heroes his precious name, but…

He… no, Perry nodded at Stargirl, taking comfort in the way her eyes sparkled in joy.

She stuck out a hand towards him, saying, "It's very nice to meet you, Perry!"

Perry huffed at the ridiculous Stargirl but obligingly put his webbed foot onto her finger for a handshake.

Their destination was a city called Meadowyar and while Perry was familiar with it, it had been a very long time since he last set paw there. Regardless of the changes in the city, he knew these baby heroes would certainly be a handful based on the trouble they had already found themselves tangled up in, but luckily they had Perry to make sure they all stayed alive long enough to chase their destinies.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.