the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Sharp had no idea where to start.

She'd spend the last who-knows-how-long pacing through the bones, trying to figure out what the Collector meant. The lizard was a young gembound, not a very smart one by any means, and ambiguity was definitely not her strength. Find a way to move things without other's help? That was far different from anything she'd done before. To be fair, she didn't do much beyond eating, sleeping and collecting rocks, but the point still stood.

Perhaps she could use super cool awesome magic to move it? No, all she could do was funny sparks. Maybe she could break it down into small pieces and move it individually? Well, then it's just broken. For the briefest second she considered throwing it onto the back of a cave deer or Kooru and crossing her claws, but a mere glance at those sharp hooves immediately crossed that out. Was there no real way to do it? Did Collecty-friend trick her? Her oh-so friendly mind argued against that ('nobody tricks their friends, ever!'), but it slowly felt more and more like the truth to the child. She couldn't do it.

A vertebra rolled away, kicked in frustration.

Wait a second. Rolled. It moved. Sharp's tiny brain finally began to process physics. She turned around, slowly, and investigated it again. It was a large, smooth spinal disc, long separated from its body. Perhaps she could replicate what just happened again? She reached out a tiny paw and set the disc back on it's side before pushing it. Sure enough, it went! A bit wobbly, sure, but it was going. A massive grin grew across her face as her tail thumped in excitement. Perhaps she could use this somehow...?

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Fast forward a few minutes later and Sharp was pacing excitedly.

She could use this! She could use this! She wasn't exactly sure how it'll help, but it was a start! What if she could get a million of those little spine things and rolled them around!

After a bit more excited dance-trotting and squeals of elation she finally calmed down enough to get back to work. Alright, she needed more of those disc-thingles, at least two or so. And bigger; that vertebrae was way too small to contribute to anything. Or perhaps a stone circle would be more useful? Or maybe wood? She wasn't strong or dexterous enough to craft any of the latter, so she'd just save that for a last option. For now, fossils were the way to go.

It was a rather good thing she was small and unnoticeable, for there were others in the caves who would likely take offense at this gravedigging little kid. And if someone approached her, they'd know she was making something. And she couldn't let anyone know what she was doing, 'cause Collecty-friend said so!

Sharp went shifting through the bones, looking for something large enough for her to use. 'There!' A large, alien skeleton jutted out from the sides of the fortress. With a bit of hard work (and a squeamish ick) she pried out four good-quality disc joints for use. They weren't very large or even very smooth, but they rolled just fine, and the insides were filled with soft marrow she could easily hollow out.

She vaguely noted the lights overhead dimming slightly for nighttime, and briefly wondered how long this whole adventure had been. But now wasn't the time to think about that. Her project was starting.

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the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

She needed a rod.

Sharp tried putting a scrap of wood directly on top of the disks and letting them roll. That did not work out. Each "wheel" went careening in completely opposite directions, leaving the plank sitting sadly on the floor. She needed to find a way to keep it all together. As she noticed earlier, the center of the bone was plain marrow, hardened by time but still malleable. It took a while for her slow brain to get to it, but what if she took a long, thin stick and poked it through two bones, so they couldn't roll away?

Now, finding a good stick was easy. While the place was mainly barren soil and bones, there was the occasional shrub sticking out of the ruins. Nothing near the level of Eridanus, mind you, but enough to keep the food chain from completely collapsing. All she had to do was find a nice, long branch and-- there! she crawled over a small trench to look down upon a scraggly bush growing out of a puddle. It'll do. She quickly snipped the largest branch with her tiny rows of teeth and dragged it back to base camp.

Now came the hard part: actually putting it together. With some difficulty the sungazer twisted her neck around until the rod was roughly vertical, facing down her 'wheel'. She thrust it downwards towards the center, but missed, the stick crumpling against hard bone instead. The end in her mouth jammed against her gums ("Ack!") and she dropped it in surprise. Now all she had was a broken branch and a sore, swollen mouth. That did not go well.

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

After gnawing on some stones to ease her swollen mouth, Sharp was ready to get back to crafting. This time, a bit less brash. She prodded the wheels, trying to find a way to carve through that weird core. Maybe, instead of just jabbing it in harshly, all she needed was to gently push it in and let the marrow crumble before it. That should do the trick, right?

The mottled lizard slunk through the throng of bones once more on the "hunt" for sticks. Once again, it wasn't terribly hard to find, though she did have to go a bit further to find a good shrub. This one was more dead than the last and easily snapped two, though she cringed when she accidentally dropped one into a puddle. Caves, there were puddles everywhere in this room! A lot of them deeper than her! Luckily enough she didn't have any major setbacks bringing it back, so she got to work on the actual bit.

Gently hoisting the pole in her mouth now, she set the tip onto the marrow and tried to slowly push it in. Sure enough, it slid through the marrow like butter. She dropped it and pushed at the bone with her nose until it was securely fashioned around it's base. Sharp went back, rolled over the second wheel, and slowly turned it directly onto the other side. Good as well! A quick test whacking her tail against it proved it was mainly stable, so she picked up her second rod and tried for another pair. Pick up, crane neck, and screw. It was a bit quicker now that she knew what she was doing, but it still took time.

After many gruelling minutes of work, she stopped to take a look at her work. Two wheel-and-axles, rough and primitive, but complete. She pushed one experimentally, and her face blossomed with glee when it rolled. Oh, Dread was gonna be so impressed! Sharp'd almost forgot about him, so caught up in this weird sidequest that her original mission was nearly abandoned. Hopefully he hadn't forgotten.

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

The wheels were down. Next: the body.

Sharp had decided she liked wheels a lot. They spun around and, up to this point, were her greatest life achievement. But those alone weren't going to be pulling anything around. Trouble struck when she tried to place a loose bone directly on the axle, only for it to fall off the moment it started rolling. The sungazer tried placing it down in all sorts of configurations, but it still showed no progress. This was getting confusing, especially for a child like her.

Sharp gnawed on a stone in frustration until an epiphany struck her. She'd need something long and round, two main ones and a few smaller ones as well. 'A bone!' What a great idea! Of course, when you're surrounded by nothing but bones (and have been for the past hour or so), it's pretty hard to think of anything else. This time not a vertabrae disc, but something larger, and stronger. She waddled towards a small bone pile and dived right into it, the tiny sungazer spying for something that met her needs. The light was low and it was a tight squeeze, but sure enough there were many funny femurs in there looking most promising.

Now, getting huge bones larger than herself out of a tangle was a challenge within itself. She snagged her tail gem against a rock for sturdiness, braced her legs, and gripped onto the closest bone with her mouth. The bones clattered around her disgruntedly as she pulled, but thankfully didn't fall. She scooched backwards until it was fully out, spat out the end, and clambered back in for another. She kept on doing this a few more times until she had a good selection of bones. Some of them were smaller than others, and certainly not the most elegant, but they'll do the job just fine.

♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

the   thorn produces delicate roses
sharp

Now it was time to actually put this all together.

She'd already gone through most of the gruelling thought behind it, so all she had to do was execute it. That wouldn't be too hard, right? Sharp had taken a little break to eat some bugs, but she was getting impatient and wanted to get this finished soon.

She nudged her wheels apart until they formed a weird rectangular shape, setting down some small bones on each corner of the axles. 'That should be stable!' Sharp dragged over one of the larger femurs and, as gently as she could, set it down over the leftmost side, hanging slightly over one of the edges. The sungazer went back to the next biggest, dragged it over, and did the same.

She prodded it with a dull black claw, but found it was still unstable. Of course! She needed something to hold it together! How did she forget that? She vaguely remembered the last time she came here, where she slipped into a muddy puddle and felt how sticky it was. That should work! She waddled over to the closest puddle and scooped up some mud, shoving it into her mouth for safekeeping. Of course, it was incredibly disgusting (and definitely unsanitary), so she sprinted back as quick as she could and spat it back up on the floor. Taking a paw, she scooped a smaller handful up and smeared it over the joints (excluding the axle). It'll take a while to dry, so in that time she'll assemble the rest of it.

And so Sharp went. Pick up bone, place down, smear with mud, and repeat. The two long sides were now double-storied and she put a smaller, thicker bone for the back "wall". The floor was made of smaller femurs (and some random bones she found laying about) arranged into a horizontal pattern, one long, thin bone crossing over in the center. It was a confusing pattern but it seemed sound enough. By this point mud and grime completely covered Sharp from head to toe, but she didn't mind. All that mattered was getting it done. For the final touch, she gently placed a spare stick across the two bones sticking out and "glued" it down. Should this work, she'll be able to bite onto it to drag the carriage along.

After some time it was complete. The bones were set, the mud was dry, and nothing had catastrophically collapsed yet. Now it was time to test it out. Tentatively, the mud-caked sungazer waddled into position, right in front of the carriage. Sharp bit down on her "steering stick" and slowly began walking forward. Slowly, and with quite a few alarming creaks, the vehicle began moving. It worked! It worked! She tapped her feet in joy (softly, as to not disturb her invention). She made something new, something that was so ultra-awesome-super-cool that Collecty-Friend had to like it! She kept on powering it forward, moving in wide circles and twisting around to get a feel for it. It certainly wasn't the best she could've done, and looked rather ridiculous, made of mud and bone, but she didn't care. She did it.

With a smile on her mouth and a dance in her step, Sharp led her newly made cart away from the fortresses and back to the Collector.

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Exit Sharp.