Follow That Sound (Open)

On a sunny, beautiful day, Bradley was roaming the park, trying to relax after another long night of hunting for crime and training. He settled down on a nearby bench and began gazing into a large ornate fountain. He became lost in the fantastic designs of fish, seagulls and coral, all crowding around a mermaid statue with a harp. He began imagining the mermaid coming to life and serenading the passersby. He smiled and closed his eyes, imagining the harp's song, when, almost magically, he began to hear an actual harp playing. It was faint, extremely faint, but obviously nearby. It seemed that the rest of the park's patrons couldn't over their children's laughter, their dog's barking, or, simply the sound of their footsteps.

The song seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite understand the method from where he was. He focused on the plucking and began following the noise as if he was almost in a trance. He followed the sidewalk so he entered another wooded area. The sound guided him a few yards in and stopped him in his tracks as he felt the song move into the woods, away from the pavement. He pushed aside a few branches, blocking his sight and discovered a dirt path!

Now with a surge of adventure, he ducked under the foliage and dashed down the path to find the source of the song. He now understood the melody, Fireflies by Owl City. Not really his style, but, a chance at discovering something mysterious and new made it seem like the most beautiful song in the world! Through the bramble, he could see a small stream emerging next to the path. As the rushing water grew louder, so did the enchanting song. Finally, he found it. The destination of the stream and the source of the song. He quietly emerged into a clearing that held a lake and found the harp...and the player...

"Um...wow...hello?" he tried to project shyly. A mermaid! A real mermaid in Jump City! And he thought this place was amazing enough already! Fiery villains, duplicating burglars and now a mermaid! Impossible, and yet, here she was...

"No wait!" Bradley yelled as he ran up to the pond and knelt by the banks. "Don't be scared! I'm different, too!"

With a quick glance to the rocky shore, he began levitating three round stones towards him and around his head, hoping it would make her feel better. He slowly let the stones drift to the ground as he realized what he was doing. Why wouldn't he just walk away? Did he actually just reach out to probably the only soul that was even more shy than he was?

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying decide what to do next. "Um...hey...my name's Bradley. It's...uh..nice to meet you..." he held his hand out towards where he thought the mermaid was, hoping she'd take the bait.

Slowly, Bradley's moved his hand back behind his back as he realized that there was no handshake coming along. "Well...yeah...it's nice to meet you!" he said with a small smile.

He took a seat and frantically searched for something to say. He was in need of a friend in this new town and he just couldn't let a chance like this escape him. "So...um...I couldn't help noticing but...um...you've got a tail." he said, frankly. "How did you get to this pond...um...where'd you come from?"

It wasn't everyday that you met a mermaid and he wanted to learn as much he could when he had the chance.

"I get it. So, you're alone. So am I..."

Bradley decided not to pry to much into her past as he realized that he probably wouldn't want to tell a stranger his life story either. What were the odds though, that an ancient mermaid was sent to this place and this time. Bradley was amazed at hot much coincidence seemed to make Jump City the center of almost all supernatural or superhuman activity in the world and sometimes even in the galaxy! This did seem to be the right place for him after all...whether he liked it or not.

"Have you been in Jump for very long? It must not be very nice being limited to this little pond...your harp playing was very beautiful, you know..." he added, trying desperately not to blush.

Luna began swimming over to Ghost, relieving some of the tension from the situation since it seemed like she was actually starting to open up a little bit. She rose up from the water, revealing her tail, which was amazing and all, but what caught Bradley's attention was the large scar around the mergirl's body.

"Oh no! What happened, Luna?" he exclaimed motioning towards her scar. "Are you...um...are you alright?"

Unsure of what to say, Ghost could only manage to mouth, "Whoa..."
This girl had really suffered at the hands of the people that he wanted to protect. The stupid, ignorant, rash people of the world that shunned whatever was different. Feared the new rather than seeking to learn from it, and acceptance was just out of the question. They attacked her...almost killed her...because she was...well...like him. What would happen if someone knew what he could do? Would he be attacked, too? Be tested on like in a science fiction movie?

Maybe he shouldn't take the chance...Bradley had taken on the ego of Ghost because he thought it was cool...to become a superhero like all the ones that he read about but...maybe there was a purpose for it. He needed to be separated from the regular world while he used his abilities to protect himself from...from what might happen...

Although he didn't like not trusting people on principal...it had to be done, for his own sake. Suddenly, he realized that he had just gone silent in the middle of a conversation, creating an awkward pause.

"Er...sorry for bringing it up...I just...well..." he scratched the back of his head, not sure of what to say. "I'm sorry about what happened to you...it must be weird suddenly being in a whole new world. How are you adjusting?"

Bradley smirked as he heard Luna try to describe vehicles to him. "Um, most people call them cars," he added with an amused grin.

He paused for a moment and looked confused as he realized what she had actually said. "What, did you just say 'out-run'?" He focused in on the girl's tail and thought carefully about how to point out the elephant in the room. "Um...isn't it kind of hard to run without legs?"