Oh, woe was The Piano! Its beautiful ebony-like surface, once shining and now covered with dust, went unadmired. The resonant sonority of its two hundred and thirty strings echoed through Canis, but there was no one to appreciate it. Its voice carried the beauty and weight of a lorn being, singing for only dust, bones, and white fungus to hear. Its hammers struck series of shimmering notes and weighty chords into the still air that would surely tug at the heartstrings of anyone who listened, regardless of whether they possessed strings.

It had found and pored over a series of short, yet enchanting works for several cycles now, and today was the day it would perform it for all of Canis to hear. It did not know whether those it had once encountered here were still around, nor did it call for them. It had simply been carefully growing something within itself, and now it was ready to be released into the world, regardless of who would hold witness to it.

The last notes of a delicate melody hung in the air as The Piano finished another Nocturne. It was about halfway through, it estimated--though it had a rather terrible sense of time, especially when it was caught up in the performance, it at least knew its approximate progress from how far along it was in its book of sheet music. It listened to the last vibrations of that melody fade away with a rapt fascination, as if it had not sounded those notes with its own strings, before it finally unhooked a string and turned several pages of the book resting on its stand. All for show to signal a transition, you see; it could hardly let the sound of rustling paper interrupt its music when it was actively playing.

@Vindicator

The music that echoed through the narrow walls of Canis was heard by the drifting angel, its attention captured by this new melody. Instinctively, it turned to the family and searched their memories, hearing echoes of memory of similar things, music in small increments but nothing so sophisticated as this in recent times. Not here in these caves, at least.

Curious, it turned its path to follow towards the source. It saw the Piano already through the many Lesser eyes in this cave - a walleye rabbit in particular was watching nearby, the mold growing from every inch of its fur giving sight to the approaching drone. Eventually, it came into view and the Vindicator could see the Piano with its own not-eyes.

What a strange being it was, very unlike-beings, quite like the Vindicator itself. Inorganic in appearance, yet it did not fool the drone into believing it was anything but Gembound. The keys that moved without touch and the shifting paper between its melodies was enough of a clue. There was a strange mix of wonder and disgust - what a beautiful thing it was, a unique oddity the likes of which the Hive rarely saw, yet its asymmetry kicked an unpleasant sensation in its alien brain. Oh how it wanted to break it and remold it into something more orderly.

But that is not the Vindicator's purpose. Nor its true will.

It approached, gliding silently over the bones and rocks of Canis, until it stood before the Piano, silent at first, waiting for the moment in which the song ended so it did not interrupt the performance. When the moment came, it spoke, its two-toned voice a melody in itself. "What beautiful sounds with which thine grace this cave. It is a sorry admittance that The Vindicator had yet to hear such songs before this day. How art thou creating such sounds?"

@The Piano

It became aware of the Vindicator's approach, but its attention was too focused on its own music. Only when the last notes of a nocturne came to a rest could it direct its attention to its audience, whose form was-- The Piano's first reaction was: It is as perfect as myself. Smooth, polished, with no hint of organic weakness or imperfection like the fur, scales, and skin it saw in other Gembound and its prey. It looked like it, too, had a purpose beyond just existing, like The Piano's body was perfectly molded to play music--though what this marble-like being's purpose might be, The Piano did not know.

It was also wholly unaware that while it observed and approved of the Vindicator's shape, the Vindicator was quietly thinking about The Piano's disgusting asymmetry how to forcibly break and remake it.

Instead, its strings hummed with soft approval for the Vindicator's etiquette in not interrupting. Its respect and appreciation for music already earned it a favorable bias from The Piano. "The Vindicator..." They had similar names, too, although The Piano did not know what a 'vindicator' was. Words like that rarely came up in sheet music books. "I am The Piano, and my music is my voice. You may think of it as my singing, but in a way I am uniquely capable of." Though its words consisted of comprehensible syllables somehow, it was clear that the resonant chords forming them were just another kind of sounds its keys could create just by playing. Its voice was superior to all others it had met before in that way--no one else could produce so many notes at once; no one else could perform a piano melody with so many voices by themselves! --Unless they were playing an actual piano, or The Piano, instead of singing, of course.

"Yet we are both gifted with naturally suitable voices for music." It had to acknowledge this. The chorus of voices from one being was truly interesting, and a different texture from The Piano's own. Its voice could be harp-like plucked notes, crystalline drops, or powerful chords, but it always had a percussive character to it. The Vindicator's voice, on the other hand, offered a wholly different character. "It would be a waste not to use it for music, if you are so interested in these harmonies." It waited for an indication of the Vindicator's attitude. Though its eagerness could not be read from its featureless ebony faces, it could barely hold itself back from offering up its knowledge of sheet music libraries and various magical music-related devices should it show any sign of interest.

These dusty, empty, uncultured caves could always use more like-minded musicians!

@Vindicator

"Music," It repeated back, fascinated. What was the point of music in a world of Order, not quite a question that had been posed before in its memory. But it quite liked to imagine a perfect world, in which all was perfect and crystalline pure, all things were one and orderly, set to one of the Piano's beautiful nocturnes. It was not...a normal vision of Order, the music would have to be changed, of course, to be more perfect, and the performance could have no faults, but it imagined it would be quite the addition.

It was further fascinated by the speech it heard from the living instrument. A voice unlike anything. The Hive carried messages and communication through thought and feeling passed through the link, and The Vindicator communed with gembound through words and syllables. But this being communicated through pure melodies, shaped into words in a way it had never heard before. Truly, unique.

"Thou art uniquely gifted, then, blessed by that which created thee. To speak through such beautiful melodies...yes, a gift." And if a statue could blush, the Vindicator would have a light dusting of rose upon its cheeks. Instead, it raised and threaded its spindly fingers together. "Truly? It had not thought of such a use. Will thou play a melody again? It will replicate, or try."

It would wait for the Piano to play something, and then attempt to replicate it with wordless humming. Its voice was nice, sure, the two-tone chiming ever in tune, ever in harmony, but its actual musical talents to quite latch onto what the Piano played for it wasn't...great. The notes it sang were a little random, and didn't quite form any kind of melody at all. It was its first attempt, after all.

@The Piano

The Piano watched the Vindicator carefully, and when it showed definite interest in musical aspirations, it could have leaped for joy... only its legs didn't bend like that. "Of course," the living instrument positively beamed, little glissandos and ornaments decorating the ends of its words. "Let me think and choose one..."

It mentally flipped through its repertoire. Though it had had cycles to learn more and more music, naturally, the pieces it knew were written for piano. Though the Vindicator's voice was not limited to singing one thin note at a time, it was also not suited to the complex decorated runs that adorned so much of the music it had learned. It decided on a relatively simple, nostalgic-sounding melody from an intermezzo it had seen in the library some days ago, and when it was the Vindicator's turn to sing it back, The Piano played some soft chords to accompany it.

Unfortunately, the angelic creature stumbled over the notes, and the melody dissolved the confusion. "Ah..." The Piano sighed when it was over. Perhaps the music it had chosen was still not the best suited for the Vindicator's unique voice, or perhaps it simply needed a little more time to practice. "Practice and patience are the best teachers," it mused, trying to be encouraging. "Your voice is suited for music, but you will need to work to develop it! It took many many cycles to learn the music I know now."

It clacked its keys thoughtfully. "Your voice is so different in character from mine... it follows that there must be songs suited more to my voice than yours, and vice versa! You can sustain notes, but my notes fade away. My notes are like crystals and raindrops, but the texture of your voice is like..." It searched its mind for a suitable comparison. "Like orb-light, or the curtains in the Palace." The Palace! Excitement seeped into its voice, accentuating its sentences with leaping staccatos. "There is a large library of music in there. It will surely be productive to search for vocal music fitting your talents! Or--" It was on a roll now. It could not contain all the ideas within it! "I know a Collector who lives within this very cave. He is a talented player of the fiddle, which has yet another wholly different musical character! If you wish to speak to him, let us call him over! I am sure he will be delighted to see another interested in music."

@Vindicator