Romeo wandered in Orion, his violet eyes darting curiously. His tiny claws tapped a rythmn on the stone beneath his paws and he hummed to their simple rythmn. Of course, there was a tiny scuffing sound too, as he was carrying something very heavy on his back. A big wooden thing which made noise with it's strings. He didn't know what its original use was, but it made funny sounds. Nice sounds. And all were different. If he held the strings at one end, they made different noises, too!

Excitement raised the fur along his spine and the little tanuki glanced around. He was alone here, it seemed, in this crumbled city. His heart beat visibly through the clear stone on his gem as Romeo sat back on his haunches and twisted around so that he could pull the... noise-object, over to his front. He looked it over as he had so many times before, blew off some dust with a happy sigh.

Wordlessly and with bated breath, Romeo reached out his soft paws and plucked at the strings each in turn. Clear thrumming sounds filled the air. His ears twitched, pricked, and another shiver ran down his spine. He'd done this a hundred times over and yet it never seemed to get old. Yet... the order was always the same, same sounds. And Romeo wanted to make something new; like he did with his voice. Romeo stretched out and his claws trembled minutely. He gently plucked the strings, in a different order this time.

Pride surged through him.

He'd just made something entirely new.

@Fate

Leaving the tunnel that came from Pisces, the place where she had hatched, Fate was eager to learn about the world she was born into. She hadn't done much since hatching, nor had she met many people and she wanted to change this. Her walk down the tunnel gave her plenty of time to think and ponder the strange place that were the caves.

Her most interesting thought, or at least to her, was the circumstances of her hatching. She pondered the probability that she could have hatched the first time she tried to, whether it was even possible and what it would have taken to increase her odds.

She decided that she liked the idea that odds could be pushed ever into her favour, even if just by slight amounts.

Lost in thought once more, Fate found that she had wondered mindlessly into an entirely new area of the caves. It differed completely to her hatching spot in Pisces. There were large stone structures in a ruined state scattered everywhere but what captivated her most was what could be found by looking up.

She saw all the lights in the sky, but what were they? She pondered, determined to find out.

Just as quickly as the glittering sky distracted her something else grabbed her attention. It was a tune in the distance, largely different to the tweets of lesser gem bound birds she had heard (but never seen) in her walks through the tunnel.
Curious, Fate went to investigate, moving towards the epicentre of the noise.

Romeo liked this. The more he moved his paws aroundand experimented, the more he found patterns which he preferred. Then he'd repeat them, he'd pluck them again and again, and hum them quietly in the back of his throat.

He changed the string he plucked and it changed and soon, the music had completely evolved. And yet... Romeo wanted it to be more. As pretty the tune was or could be, it was a lonely sound in these halls. However much he hummed, there was something missing. Romeo knew it could be better. So much better. And he knew how, exactly what it needed.

Romeo's tune drew silent for a moment, and in that moment he was aware of something moving his way. He could hear the tapping of claws like his own. Romeo's fur prickled. Boy, would the lucky newcomer be in for a treat!

Romeo began to pluck at his strings again. This time, he focused entirely on the strings, their vibration and their lovely sound.

He plucked and plucked, and soon became aware that the sound was no longer alone. A low droning hum had filled the air, causing his eardrums to vibrate. His gem glowed softly, illuminating his heart. No longer lonely in these fallen streets, his music had found the perfect bassline.

As she got closer and closer, the almost-fully black pup began hearing an assortment of tunes and compositions. She drew closer still and eventually a low hum accompanied the soundtrack. The music coupled well with the atmosphere. It was curiosity invocking and awe-inspiring, much like the landscape around her.

Most curious of all, it made Fate feel safe, more safe than she had ever felt before. She adored the feeling and it made her go back on her original plan which was going to be to sneak up on the creature creating the music. She instead decided not to disturb the musician and proceeded to walk behind him and lay down, enjoying the tunes he played.

Romeo kept on playing for a while, until the vibrations had begun to drone off into complete silence and the music became more plain; at least, it did to his own ears. With that in mind, Romeo kept on plucking the little strings for a while, listening for a good point to stop.

Aha, there it was!

Romeo pulled the last string, and...

Bink!

The final note resonated sour, causing Romeo to flatten his ears against his skull and wince. A shiver passed along his spine and fur along it stood on end. He looked at the noise-maker as though it were all its fault. The poor unsuspecting object didn't respond.

Romeo sighed deeply, finally looking up and looking around. It was only then he finally realized he wasn't alone here as he turned to return the noise-maker to his back.

"Yikes! How long have you been there?"

He hoped they hadn't heard the off-note he'd played. How embarrassing. With ears as big as the stranger's, he could have deafened them!

@Fate

Just before the beautiful tune had ended, one final note was played. The final note left an awful feeling in Fate, it made everything that came before it sound less amazing. A good ending is quite important, Fate decided to herself, shielding her ears in case another note was played.

The maker of the music turned and noticed his company laying behind him. It seemed she had caused him a fright, she smiled at that.
"Long enough!" She replied, taking her paws away from her ears, it didn't help much considering they were half the size of said ears.

She stood up and moved around to the front of the strange character so he didn't have to crane his neck just to talk to her. "So! What's your name?" She said, tilting her head in question.
She hadn't met many people but she knew that she wanted to meet as many as she could. The world was her oyster and she wanted to know as much as she could. The first step, as it always was, was introducing oneself.

@Romeo

Romeo looked over them, slightly disliking the idea of being watched for however long she'd been watching him. Nontheless, it was another new voice and he'd never really seen a creature like this before. Except perhaps Harper. They possessed a similar shape. Both very... Ah... foxy? Perhaps this stranger was another fox. But they were bigger. Much bigger than he was, too. The raccoon dog felt like he made up for that in sheer... fluff, though. Aha, jokes. He wrinkled his nose. Jokes aside though, he felt his voice made up for that small size.

"Uhm, you didn't hear that, didja?" he asked after a moment's hesitation, his rounded ears drooping. Duh. The answer to that one was obvious as he noted she removed her paws from her ears. "...ah. Sorry." He bowed his head deeply. "F-first time making more than a couple notes, ya see..."

He quietly slung the large, heavy object onto his back, to where it towered over him. "The name's Romeo," he introduced with a bow, dropping onto his chest. The long end of the noise-maker made a small clunk as it touched the ground and the raccoon dog immediately straightened up. "What about you?"

@Fate

"My name's Fate." She said with excitement. She hadn't had her name for long, but she quite enjoyed it nonetheless. To her, Romeo was a curious thing and the object he flung onto his back was very strange.

Even more curious though was the crystal cast into his chest. It was a see through and showed the inner workings of the raccoon dog. It discomforted her slightly but she couldn't stop staring, as rude as that was. A shiver ran from her head to tail and she could stare no longer.

Fate needed a distraction, Romeo's gem made her too morbidly curious. "So! What is that?" She asked, beckoning to the strange stringed object that he slung onto his back.

@Romeo

"Fate," Romeo gave a small hum and a swift nod. A curious name; Romeo couldn't help but wonder if it had some deeper meaning behind it. The raccoon dog had chosen his own name because it sounded pleasant and was easy on the tongue. Romeo.

All too soon, Romeo noticed her gaze boring imto his chest. It wasn't exactly a new thing, and everyone else seemed to do the same. Rude to some perhaps, but Romeo usually took said stares as compliments. After all, he'd spent time too simply staring into a pool of water and watching his heart beat like a fish in an aquarium. If he found it fascinating, surely it wouldn't be right to condemn people for staring. In thst sense, he was a little prideful of his gem, although he knew it could be quite disconcerting at times.

Fate's attention was suddenly dragged away, and turned instead to his noise-maker. "Oh!" He exclaimed, a hint of pride sneaking into his voice. "This is my noisemaker. I assume you heard it sing?"

@Fate

"Oh, so that's what made that..." She paused, thinking about the song Romeo played but also remembering exactly how it ended. "...that dreadful noise?"

Fate silently addmited to herself that she was being rather blunt, especially as she quite enjoyed his song, its ending just soured it for her.

She considered his gem some more, comparing it to her own. She pondered the idea of it growing to its current state or whether it was like that when he hatched. If the former was true, she hoped her gem never grew like that. She had grown fond of the little diamond-shaped Quartz that lay between her eyes and never wanted it to change.

@Romeo