ORIGIN

Ahh, it was late to the party. Much, it seemed, had already happened--but better late than never. The Piano was not one to offer reasons or excuses, and the Masked Merchant did not seem like the type to care, as long as it got done. So it didn't. Instead, it rolled right into Hydra after the small, scrungly-looking jackal. It had no particular reason for following this specific Gembound, either, other than that it simply wanted to. Maybe it was something about the jackal's smallness. The Piano was capable of offering protection. Maybe it simply didn't want to be alone.

In any case, the Piano rolled after Fleas with some difficulty. Its wheels did not do well on sand or rocky ground, but its movement became easier on the smoother, wind-and-flood-polished stone of the Crucible. It had started playing a jaunty little tune, a light Classical sonata it'd learned from the library in Cepheus. To pass the time, you see. Otherwise trekking through this hot desert could get terribly boring.

As Fleas began to search, so did it, cracking open its heavy ebony lid and extending two hundred and thirty strings of varying lengths to probe cracks in the walls and turn over stones.

Its initial search yielded nothing. Disappointed, the Piano wriggled and writhed the alien gold writing on its side to look at what Fleas was doing. She'd already found something, it seemed. The Piano strummed a few strings thoughtfully.

"Perhaps," it suggested to the jackal suddenly, "there is a way of working together more smoothly." While some strings had returned to their positions to enable its speech, others kept moving outside its body as it rolled through the Crucible, digging through more stones and alcoves. "Would you like to link our senses together? We could share each other's senses--you could find things with your magic, and I could retrieve them." It clacked its keys meaningfully and flexed its strings. The jackal looked nervous. Reasonable. There were plenty of things to make one nervous here that might lurk within the canyons. I could do the heavy lifting and brave the dangers... Two strings tossed a sizable boulder in the air. It was feeling rather show-offy today. "You wouldn't have to worry about something jumping out at you if I helped." Ah, but what was that under the boulder it'd just used as a prop? Something useful, perhaps? The Piano snatched it up for a closer look.

The Piano's attention was split between the jackal and the two-toned gemstone it had uncovered and was turning in its strings. "Mhmmm," it hummed noncommittally in response to the jackal's fierce declaration. Her conviction was something to admire, but they were just gems. It wanted to laugh at the way Fleas's eyes bulged and her glare withered at the sight of it, though. It would be lying if it denied the warm glow of satisfaction spreading through its ebony skeleton as the jackal's tone changed immediately. It was intimidating! Imposing! This pleased it immensely.

"As you wish," it agreed easily to her terms. It didn't feel any particular loyalty to the Masked Merchant; if they found magical stones left over from some unfortunate Gembound ages before, it could simply save them for the Organization's stash. They were bound to come in handy sometime. It stowed the ametrine away inside itself and moved to retrieve Fleas's findings. Its strings strained to lift the slab of stone covering the adamite at first, but then it unhinged the rest of its strings that it had been using to speak and the task became much easier. It casually shoved the stone aside and poked at the tentacled fossil imprint. What a strange creature, it tried to comment, but no sound came out. It realized that none of its speech organs were currently attached. How inconvenient.

In any case, it tossed the adamite inside its mouth with the ametrine and moved on to the next. Ah, now this was good! And not a stone, either, so they could turn this in to the Merchant without making their partner feel bad. It pried the spear loose and waved it wordlessly at Fleas, as if to show it off, and gave the air a few experimental jabs with it. Interesting, but not the most comfortable to wield-- for a piano, anyway. It reattached some strings to speak. "Nice find, partner! We make a great team." It carefully laid the spear inside its mouth, wrapping several strings around it to secure it. Then it began to scour the area for similar objects--weapons, armor, anything of the sort.

It patiently swept through the wind-carved walls, probing each alcove and behind each boulder for anything that might be of use. It didn't forget the ground beneath its wheels, either, the sweep of its strings through the sand leaving crescent imprints.

"So," it said to Fleas, in an attempt to strike up some casual conversation. It thought that conversation was a skill that every mob Organization member should have, but sometimes it found relating to other Gembound a little difficult. It couldn't imagine why. Anyway, the jackal looked rather nervous, and it found itself wanting to reassure it a little. It had seen some Gembound smile at each other in a friendly gesture, but it wasn't sure how it would do that--perhaps grow some teeth on its strings and make a fiber-art smiley face in midair? Some instinct told it that might not turn out well. "You've met this Merchant before? What does he do, run a shop or something--? Is that what this is for?" It was realizing that it had very little idea of what was really going on, but research was a lot of work and the choice of reward had been very tempting.

As it spoke, the strings it had been combing through the canyons came across something solid, and it extended more to grab it.