The soft pitter-patter of pawsteps came through the Canis entrance. Sharp, two gold nuggets clutched uncomfortably in her mouth, walked into the bone room with the intent to find more stuff. While Polaris was wonderful in it's own right, it didn't give her much to trade with, so she was trying the next best option. Here, there were bones, and stones, and if she was lucky she might stumble upon some of those weird things she saw in the Jupiter-den too! Maybe she could even impress Dread by finding something mega-awesome, like a massive mountain of gold and quartz! That's what dragons like, right?

Wait a second. Hadn't she heard about someone here? Sharp had overheard somewhere (likely during that Orion meeting) about a "Collector", who was someone who gave... goods? That must've been it. She hadn't had much success on her own, but she wasn't going to give up on the promise of shinies. Maybe he could help her?

Sharp gently set down her stones in a secluded crevice near the tunnel opening and went scurrying down. How did one find a "Collector", anyways? Did you have to hunt one down like a rabbit (she certainly hoped not)? Did you just have to wait for one to appear? Though there was one thing Sharp knew, and that was if you don't know what to do about something, just shout at it until it resolved itself.

And so she did. Sharp heaved a big, dramatic gasp and then went sprinting through the bones as fast as her stubby legs could take her. "Collector? Collector? Colleeccttoorr?" she cried, her shrill voice echoing softly against the fossils. She spun around a corner and went clambering again. "Co-llec-tor!" The lizard finally stopped to catch her breath. She'd hardly been running for more than a few dozen seconds, but doing so was hard while shouting into the air, having stubby, weak legs, and trying to dodge all those bones. She only had to hope that 1.) the beast had heard her call and that 2.) he was willing to engage with a dull, oblivious child like her.

Sharp spun around in surprise as a voice seemed to answer from behind her. Sure enough, a figure was there, standing as if he'd always been there. Did he... fly? She wasn't quite sure, so she just scrapped the thought. The beast was giant, seeming to loom over her despite being several yards away. Pitch-black horns and an odd cloak marked his silhouette, the latter of which reminded her of those odd pelts Serendipity wore. But unlike Dip, he didn't radiate kindness. Sharp didn't exactly catch onto that last part very well-- the instinctive half of her little lizard brain yelled at her to run away from the predator, but she quickly tuned it out. The Collector was going to help her out like an awesome friend, so there was no need to fear! Right?

Sharp's goofy, innocent grin grew even larger as the figure gave a dramatic bow. "I'm Sharp! I'm Sharp-and-Spiky!" she chirruped, head straining to meet his ruby eyes. "I heard you have stuff! And I'm looking for stuff!" -- she took a deep breath before continuing -- "You see, there was this scary-friend-with-wings, right? I think he was a 'draa-gun'. And he had shiny stuff, and I wanted shiny stuff, but he said I had to get him stuff before he gave me stuff. And I tried to find some things myself but it was really hard so I thought 'I know! I find awesome Collecty-friend and get a gifty-thing to trade!" the exultant sungazer rambled, her gem-studded tail flicking excitedly with every breath. "Do you have something cool I could give to scary-friend? Something so awesome, it'd impress a dragon?" Her large eyes peered up to his shadowed face, acting more like a child begging for candy than one making a deal with a shady entity. "It'd be really nice, and I bet he'd thank you a million times!"

The Collector was, to Sharp, enthralling. He was so tall! He had a cool cloak! And best of all, he had stuff to share! Her pointed head trailed him as he walked with even more excitement than she usually possessed. She would get the best gift ever! Dread would be so impressed! Maybe he would even teach her how to be big-scary too!

It was what he said next that bent her mind around. Find... method? Sharp wasn't exactly a very intellectual gembound. There weren't many thoughts in that head of hers that didn't revolve around existing things. Think about food? Yes. Think about friends? Yes. Think about shinies? Double yes. But thinking of something that didn't exist yet was... unusual. She wasn't very proficient in magic, and what she did have was just showy sparks. She'd have to find someway else to do it.

And the second part. A gembound who likes scary-friend and has a message? Seemed easier to comprehend, but she still had to find out move-gift-method before she could actually get the gift.

Still, she needed some questions answered before she could fully wrap her head around this. "Will do, collecty-friend! Will be super secret!" she chirped towards the figure. "But who is Rather-Likes-Dread that I meet? Where do I meet Rather-Likes? And I bring message-gift to you, right?

Sharp listened to the Collector's words, her tail tapping against bone. Not knowing what her end goal truly was was a bit of a bummer; she wasn't exactly the kind of lizard content with uncertainty. But Collecty-friend said so, so it had to be alright! Maybe it was some super-secret, ultra-cool mega-friend, and she couldn't know about it just yet because they were planning a party!

Sharp nodded with a surprising verve (and a smile on her face) when the figure drew out a parchment. She'd never seen one before and so was briefly fascinated by it-- what did all those squiggles mean? The Collector said to "sign" it, and his little tap seemed to imply it meant touching it with a paw. 'Well, that's pretty easy!' she thought. She stretched upwards, going onto the very tips of her hind feet to plant four tiny claws onto the page. "Done!" the sungazer giggled. "When do I start? Wait-" --gasp-- "Do I get to start now?" her voice was brimming with enthusiasm, eager to start the promise of a quest-- and a wonderful gift for Dread, too.