ORIGIN

Singing crystals. Singing crystals. Strange six-limbed creature had said there were singing crystals somewhere or another and that seemed like just the thing that Bremen needed to spice up his bazaar! He'd encountered the stranger back in one of the tunnels for just a brief passing a while back but he had forgotten soon afterwards and it was only just recently that he remembered again. Were they still there? Were any crystals still around? What if everyone else had already gotten them all? No surely someone would have tried to trade them by now if they had seen them.

Then again, the six-limbed lady had said there was a reward for them so that meant she was probably the main person to trade with. All the easy spots were probably bare which meant one thing- if he was going to find anything he had to go to the most dangerous place he could think of to search, the dam!

Thus the strange little hybrid sneaky snuck around the perimeter of the dam area, ears pointing in all directions in rapid succession to try to listen for any kind of singing made by the rocks. Hopefully none of the golems below had taken up singing as a pastime or this might be really difficult.

A low hum caught Bremen's attention as he prowled low to the ground, jumping between cover as the scary golems worked below. They hadn't seen him yet, at least he didn't think so. Slowly, methodically the oddity made his way toward the sound until he came upon a small space between two larger rocks, in which apparently had grown an unusual gem, one that hummed with an audible noise.

Bremen felt a wave of pride as he began to stretch his little webbed cat-like paw into the opening, partly out of finding what was doubtlessly one of the crystals and partly because he had managed to be even quieter than the crystal. At least he imagined himself to be so.

After prying the gem up from the ground Bremen chomped at it and held it in his beak. As fortune would have it the crystal itself was pretty small. He’d be able to grab a few of them before he was overburdened. It's humming came from him now though, which would make sneaking around even harder. Did he dare take the risk of a continued search?

Yes, was that even a question? He'd managed to evade detection for most of his youth alongside his Noodlekin, no way would he stop now! The hybrid ducked down low to the ground again, unconsciously humming along with the crystal in his mouth and began his search for another gem.

Even though he was decidedly less sneaky now that he had a crystal stuck in his maw Bremen took a chance wandering closer to the golem nest, knowing that the loser he got to danger the lower the chance that other gembound had scavenged the area clean of crystals. Luckily for him between his natural agility and his small size flitting from rock to rock and using the land to his advantage was no issue whatsoever. Within a few minutes a second humming reached his ears.

It was getting dangerously close now, but most of the golems were still congregating around the dam itself. There were probably still a few around here but not in such a concentration that he'd be in impossible danger.

Especially with a crystal right there in the open! Bremen dashed out from cover and scooped the gem up out of the ground as he passed by, rolling back into the shadows at the end of his movement. That was two down! He wouldn't be able to hold too many more but this place was apparently a gold mine! Just a few more and he'd have no choice but to go back to turn in his haul.

The hybrid's mouth was singing a duet now, so even if he noticed two more singing crystals buried between rocks and upon a ledge he decided not to grab them quite yet. Each gem he grabbed would make the next one harder to go after with his need to sneak around. He could get those on the way out. he just needed to locate one more good one.

Ears snapped toward a sound as he approached about as far in as he was comfortable getting. There was singing, yes, but also shuffling. With mouth humming outside his control the creature craned his long neck around the edge of a boulder he was hiding behind, peering out to see a single lone golem that was in the process of extracting a rock from the ground. Not just any rock though- a crystal!

That would be the last one he needed before he could make his way back out of the dam area. Possibly the last one that was in this area at all! He could just turn back now and grab the others but was that the best idea. Unlike the swarm deeper into the dam one golem couldn't be too much danger, right?

In probably the most daring... and stupid... maneuver Bremen had attempted in his life Bremen braced himself and dashed out from cover and rushed the golem, attempting to grab the gem straight from its hands.

He... didn't do so well. The creature shifted as he darted past, making him miss altogether. What he did succeed in doing however was alerting the creature to his presence!

He had another split second before the construct would be able to react. This would be a perfect time to spread his wings and take to the air, making off with two gems and little that the ground-bound golems would be able to stop him. But of course he couldn't do that, he only had two and now that he had been seen it would probably be a bit more difficult to get the others. It was now or never.

Skidding along the ground Bremen doubled back and rushed the golem again, hoping to grab the gem and hoping it was still dazed enough it wouldn't be able to counterattack very effectively.

Bremen's heart raced as he ran as fast as his little body would let him while still trying to reposition the gem into his beak with the others. That made three, and the last one he would be able to fit into his beak. Any others he would have to carry haphazardly in his paws.

This slow down, however, would come back to bite him as just as soon as he managed to position the crystals properly a stone boulder slammed into him from behind, knocking his feet out from under him as he was propelled a few feet forward and onto the ground. The golem apparently had not been happy about having its gem stolen away from it. Pretty understandable but it didn't need it! The golems had lots of rocks back at the dam, the wouldn't miss just one stone.

Or perhaps it was after the other stones that Bremen had found. He did have quite a few now. He was no fighter, so running and evading was probably the only option. Perhaps he could run fast enough away that he'd be able to get the rock gemstone before the golem caught up? He had to try!

Bremen ran as fast as his little legs would propel him but the golem matched every step he took. An unfamiliar feeling began to tug at the edges of his mind. Fear perhaps? That would make sense, people were supposed to feel fear when they were in danger, that helped keep them safe. This was definitely dangerous so of course he'd be a bit nervous. Still, as he had observed earlier it was just one golem, and he still had his wings. Perhaps if he rushed by the place where he had seen the ground-bound gem earlier he'd be able to scoop it up and fly away.

The gem was in a twisty turny area with a lot of rocks though. Possibly good for shaking the golem but at the same time difficult to fly out of. He could also fly right now and escape but again that would mean abandoning the fourth stone as no doubt the golem would keep tracking him from the ground for a while.

Once again Bremen decided that the prize was worth the gamble. if he managed to get the ground crystal then he'd be able to fly up to get the ledge crystal and he'd have a total of five: one for himself, one for the shop, and three for the six-limbed lady.

He had thought he'd created enough distance. He had thought that he had time to reach in and grab the last ground-bound singing crystal. He had been wrong. Just as soon as Bremen's webbed paws reached around the gem and brought it close to his body a fist came flying from nowhere and slammed right into his ribcage, sending pain shooting through the small gembound's body. It was everything he could do to keep his beak closed and hold onto the four gems he had collected as he went skidding toward the edge of the winding path.

The golem didn't look like it was going to let up. Even as he lay on the ground the rock monster was closing in for another swing. Bremen wasn't about the give up though. He had done well in the obstacle course and what was a golem attack but another kind of obstacle, right?

Wings folded down onto the ground allowing him to right himself quickly even as his front paws still held onto the singing crystal. Paw paws touched the ground as he prepared to jump out of the way of the next blow.