((backdated to before pip went to polaris))

"Collector!" Called a small voice. It came from atop a bone pile. Rather small for anyone else, but mountainous to the shifting mantis atop it. Pip. The deed had been done. The bomb had been planted. And Pip, apparently loose lipped, had revealed a lot about the secret secret. But there was totally no way the Collector would ever know that! He'd probably even be happy that she shared it!

Pip took in a gasp of air. "Colleeector!" Then after a muffled 'oh, wait,' she began again. "Tall friend! I did what you wanted! I gave Aure the fluff and kept it secreeh," She trailed off. "Cret-ish! Secret-ish! Yeah! He liked it! I think!"

There was a pause. "Mmm..maybe!" She began to shake her abdomen. If her voice didn't bring him out, her song would. A repeated ding, like that of a bell, emanated from her. Rising in tenor with each ding, from barely audible to around average volume.

"Ahh, just here," came the crooning response, the black-cloaked figure sweeping out from behind the nearest pile of bones tall enough to hide him.

He approached the little mantis and crouched, peering at her. "How terribly good to see you again, Pip. Please: tell me everything."

@Pip

"Collector!" She said. There was genuine excitement in her voice, but a slight nervous waver. "I did it! I'm pretty sure! You're always here when I need you, Collector!" She padded as close as she could to him, without fear of falling and being forced to use her wings.

"Oh! Um, anyways! Yeah, I did it! It was real cool. He umm...he saw me! There was a big crash, and then he came to see what happened! And I shouted surprise! Oh! But things worked out! He liked it, I uh...I think? He acted kinda weird, is that how wet eyes act when they're surprised? I'm always excited to be surprised.Hey, are you a wet eyes, Collector? I mean, your eyes glow and my eyes are hard so they don't glow or look wet. Or maybe hes just...like that all the time?"

Somewhere along the way, Pip had forgotten the initial point of the conversation. And, by miraculous luck had managed to steer clear of the topic she'd very much untruthed about. For now, or at least until the Collector prodded her gossamer thin ability to lie.

"Oh yeah! What'd'ya make? Will it make everyone like me? Or want to come to me? Ooh! Does it make it easier to find people!" She said, the moral implications of any of those the last thing on her mind at that moment.

@Game Master Dark

He had been about to whip out the gift, in all its green glory, when a brief check with his senses warned him that it was no longer... viable.

A frown creased his face behind the hood. "Ahhh," he began, and he sounded... troubled. He began to speak, pausing to heave a great, theatrical sigh. "Pippin... My gift... is now worthless to you. I will need to make another. That is through no fault of your own, little one. It seems that you have learned that magic that I was to teach you, to grant you through my power. Tell me: do you have the ability to link your mind, your heart, with other creatures, lesser creatures-?" The 'gift' had been... questionable, perhaps, but it would have allowed Pip to link to Lesser Gembound. But now-? His magic told him that she'd learned this on her own.

Forgotten, for the moment, was the situation with Aure; instead he was wondering, quickly racking his memory, what he could 'grant' the little mantid now.

@Pip

"Oh," Pip said, a little deflated. She had been excited for tall friend's gift. The Collector's next question had her rifling through her brain. "Mmm little creatures? Nooo i dont think so...I eat them sometimes though." She hummed. "Oh!" She perked up, her abdomen wiggling. "I got a big friend though! Er, little! I call em little blue! He came from the big blue glowy! Ooh! I'll get em, one second! Hes shy though! He doesn't respond to much." Pip skittered off, leaving little time for reply, obviously excited. When she returned, a minute or two later, she carried a blue stone in her claws. She crawled back upon the pile of bones, as close as she could get to the Collectors face, so that he could see the stone. It pulsed rainbow softly in her claws.

"I named him little blue! He's my friend." She rubbed her face against the stone, and it shimmered. Pip obviously taking that as a sign of love. "See? He can't walk or anything so I have to carry him everywhere! He likes talking to me, though! Right?" She said, looking back at the stone. It rippled bright colors.

"Little blue also showed me a pretty place! The ground was blue like him, and the sky was all rainbow! Oh, do you want to hold him? Maybe he'll show you too!" She extended her arms , holding little blue out for the Collector to take, as trusting as they come.

@Game Master Dark

The Collector reached out, surprised--though it was hardly visible behind the hood--to take the little Spire piece. With interest, he turned it carefully in one hand.

...Huh.

"You linked yourself to-... A rock," he observed, blankly. Somehow, this was not surprising.

Though--it was not just any rock, was it..? No, there was... potential, here. "A very fine friend," he said, at last, holding it up to the light. He then looked down at Pip, and sadness crept into his tone. "It has thoughts, you know, but it cannot speak them. What would you say to this, then: as payment for your task, I can grant your rocky little friend here the ability to communicate with you directly? To express itself, rather than having its persona trapped in stone..?" The Collector paused, then clarified, simplifying: "I can make your rock talk to you, if that is a good payment?" he offered.

@Pip

"Little Blue isn't a rock! Little Blue is my friend! Like you!" She said. Had she lips, she would've been pouting right about now. It was the first thing she'd disagreed with her morally questionable friend, the Collector, on.

She leaned closer. Her non-existant pupils would've been widening right about now. "You--you can do that? Wow, you're a great friend, Collector! I always wondered what Little Blue is thinking when he goes all rainbow. He does it a lot. I--yeah I'd love that! I'd love to hear Little Blue talk! No one deserves to be trapped! Especially not a good friend like Little Blue!" She wriggled, seconds from bouncing around. And then she was.

"I cant wait! Usually I just talk to him and tell him about stuff I do! He can tell me about everything he sees! Everything he sees me do! Oh, no, everything we do now! Ooh--we can bond over our favorite places, our favorite colors, our favorite foods!" She paused, realizing she'd never seen little blue eat. "Can you make Little blue eat, too? I've never seen Little Blue eat before. Then we could really bond over everything!"

@Game Master Dark

The Collector lifted crimson pinprick eyes, for a beat, to stare at Pip as she insisted that the rock was not, in fact, a rock. "...Quite right," he agreed, at length. "And I can do that, indeed... No, I cannot make it eat. But it will speak to you, certainly. I will be glad to pay you for your most excellent service."

Hands clasped around the little rock, and a curl of magic wisped into it. The Collector shuddered--sagged a little, even, a heavy exhale escaping him. Whatever he had done, it had not been easy.

After a moment to catch his breath, he lifted the turquoise to the light. It shone there, shimmering with rainbow hues, and he frowned as he regarded it. "It's missing something, don't you think-?" he mused--and then made a soft "ahhh" of inspiration. Clawed hand delved into his cloak. "I had been considering enchanting this for you, but the gold sets off the blue quite nicely, no?" A miniscule gold-threaded scarf was neatly swaddled around the stone.

Pip would begin to feel something itching at her mind, something distant, something weak, something only now being born.

"...No, it's still not quite right," the Collector said, frowning beneath his hood. He was still, for a moment, and then in a flurry driven by a sudden, grand idea, his clawed again dipped into his infinite cloak. This time, two tiny objects were plucked forth from the cloth, and then carefully affixed to the stone, where they would remain. He turned the rock toward Pip.

Two small googly eyes rolled a little at the movement, and the itching in her mind turned into a full-blown murmur of speech. "...Hello?" came the tentative, frightened thought of a newly-formed being.

The Collector offered down the stone, a smile in his voice as he asked, "There--what do you think of that?"

Identified Item!

Pip has received an identified item from The Collector!

2★ Little Blue A chunk of turquoise, shimmering with rainbow light. Decorated with googly eyes. Comes with its own scarf.

☆☆☆☆★★ Little Blue A chunk of turquoise gemstone, shimmering with rainbow light. Two googly eyes roll and spin when it is moved. It is faintly warm to the touch. This stone is linked with Pip, and has the ability to communicate with her. It complains about being a rock, and vaguely lays the blame on Pip. It is a selfless rock, though, and instead of being malicious or ominous, is quirky and helpful. It is sad, always miserable about existence as a rock, and is shy and fearful around all living things and new experiences. Little Blue is thoughtful rather than impulsive, and being emotional often tries to offer advice but, being a rock, this advice is almost always terrible. It also tries to make jokes, from time to time. These are also usually terrible. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 10 SPECIAL: none MATERIAL: Turquoise ATTACK: N/A ADDED: None DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 1 EQUIP: n/a Currently owned by: Pip

@Pip

Pip watched the Collector work quietly, curiously, but not still. Absolutely anything but still. She trembled with joy, her claws twitching as she ached to get closer.. She occasionally switched her position, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. Pip's eyes sparkled as she recognized the gold scarf, her gold scarf.

"Yes!! Yes, that will keep Little Blue warm! She nodded furiously, her abdomen wagging like a dog's tail. Her stone glowed, and a chiming happy song exited her. Pip leaned in as close as she could, watching intently as the Collector finished by gluing a pair of eyes onto Little Blue. Pip squealed. She jumped at the opportunity to take Little Blue from the Collector soon as the stone was offered. She rubbed her face against the stone. Little Blue made a small, uncomfortable noise.

"Hello! Hello, hello, hello, Little blue!" Pip squealed happily, unable to hug her familiar hard enough. She looked back up at the Collector, her mouth aquiver. "Oooh, thank you tall friend! I--It's perfect! Thank you so much, tall friend! You're one of my favorite friends!" It was, admittedly, not a very long list. But the Collector was still pretty high up there.

"Little blue can speak to me now! Ooh, I'm gonna tell everyone, absolutely everyone I meet how nice you are, Collector!" Pip nodded vigorously. The Collector was truly selfless. All he did was help people, and gift his friends! "Little Blue! What do you want to do? You can tell me your favorite places to go! Oh! And then we can go there all the time! You cant eat, but we can still do everything else! How does that sound?"

The stone was silent as it tried to parse everything Pip had thrown at it, and trying to figure out how to reply. Little Blue eventually settled on and responded with an: "Um..ah, nice? Maybe?"

Pip squealed. They were going to have so much fun! Pip hopped to the ground, clutching Little Blue close. "Thank you, tall friend! I won't forget this! Ever!" She called behind her as she scuttled away. Oh, she had to thank the Collector for this! She'd repay his generosity someday!


@Game Master Dark
;exit pip unless stopped!