#anywhere

Grete hears the Piano music... and gets the shakes almost. Could it be? A musical teacher? She remembers her parents... Piano or Violin, Piano or Violin- there was no other option. Naturally, she does what any sane sensible girl would do... she flees while others are gathering

She's feeling much better after a few days by the fire, but still a little.... wobbly, in her magic? The first day of recovery was the worst. Waking up and realizing how quiet it was without the buzz and hum of her stones around her. It was almost like being back in her "bedchamber" under Harkson, with only the unfriendly stone of the walls and none of her geodes or unpolished agates to keep her company.

But now... she knows the dreaded sound of those keys. Sparrow WOULDN'T, would she?!

The Ivory chains!

"Hey, Grete, feeling better?" Ashlee says

A harried look over at Ashlee. "Did you hear it? If the snow is gone, I'm going outside. No one can find me if I make it to the fort! And I bet it's too cold for the sharks."

"What?" Ashlee says confused "hear what? Only thing I heard was the Piano"

"I mean, she's good, but duty first, I wanted to make sure you were okay" the ugly ugly troll says

"I don't WANT the piano. My fingers are too short and stubby and it just goes blonk blonk blonk and it's terrible!"

"Oh.." Ashlee says "Well, I don't think the baroness would MAKE you take lessons if you don't want to. I mean, she gives art lessons sure but she's nice about it and it makes her feel good, but art AND Music? " A thought "No mind can hold both at the same time I bet."

She looks at Ashlee for a loooong moment, then nods slowly. "I guess you're right. I just heard it and remembered my old piano tutor, he would set up this... ticky switch thing?" She wags a finger back and forth like a metronome. "And if I didn't get the keys right, I had to start over, again, and again, and again, the same notes over and over..."

"that sounds HORRIBLE" She gasps

"It wasn't even music, like that.... oh, it stopped." As the piano song comes to the end. "It was just DONK DONK DONK."

"I think it would be nice to play Piano but I think I like art more . Music is wonderful but then it's done, art stays" A sigh of contentment

Her nose wrinkles a little. "I guess if you LIKE making it. We would go to the museums for culture but it was never fun. I know there are ones that have dinosaur bones in 'em, but we'd go to the ones where you have to wear something frilly, and then look at, like, one time it was a single popped balloon in an empty bucket and said "Childhood" and everyone was all "Oooh" and "Ahhh" and I just don't GET IT."

"I don't get that either" she says "But you know, if you want to go to a fossil place you should ask the Baroness. She likes you, and she's nice. I bet she would do itt"

"She likes everyone. But there's only ONE of her, and LOTS of us."

"Do you want to show me YOUR art?" Curiously. "I'd like to see it, if you don't mind me being honest."

"Really?" Surprised "it's.. it's not as good as hers" A worried look "Sometimes I wonder if it's not like the 'bonk bonk bonk' version of drawing"

"You keep looking at all of my new stones, and you never say "ew those are just a bunch of rocks.". She reminds Ashlee. "It's only fair if I see what YOU like, too."

"Well to me, at first, they DID look like a bunch of rocks, but that's because I wasn't looking at them right. You're the one who showed me the difference, some are smooth so you don't see the that, you have to feel it, and some are shiney but only in certain lights.. and that's cool, and even the ones that seem to be plain dull rocks can be smoothed and used to become art took kinda. I like your rock stories because I get to see what you see with them.. makes me think. but not boring like school thinking"

"Maybe art is like that. It might just look like a bunch of splotches or another dang picture of water lillies unless you know what you're looking at."

"Maybe" she does guide Grette and pulls out a folder , a gift from the Baroness that oflder, and shows her art work. Mostly pencil drawings. "Sometimes I see something ordinary but then I realize it's not so typical.. like.. well, this" She shows a drawing of a girl peeking out behind a curtain. KIND of looks like Irene

Grete looks over the drawing, with an assessing eye. "It's different from Sparrow's art. She has color everywhere. But it looks a bit like what Miss Nessa draws. Her stuff looks like real things. Mostly plants. Is that Irene?"

"It's supposed to be" She sighs "I can't get her hair right.. I mean.. the shape and stuff and I think her eyes are shaped just a bit different"

Clearly a bit discouraged "Some lines are harder to do"

"Well, she doesn't hold still very much. She's always moving. Maybe if you tried something more... swishy. Like water color paint? Her hair is light and pastelly like that, and it might look more like when she's always here then there and then back again, because it's...." She makes a vague gesture with her hand. "....swishy. Oh, I don't know the art words."

"Line drawings are easy for plants and crystals because they hold Still." A grin.

"Swishy sounds right" She assures "Maybe.. she does move a lot. Now, nessa, she's great. I mean, it's very realistic, like you said? But it's so clear and precise"

She flips to another page, hey, this one is cool! It's got Grete in a Toph outfit Earthbending!

"Hey! I don't have anything that looks like that. How did you know how to draw it?" Literal minded, this one!

"Well, I know what Toph drawinggs look like, and I know what You look like.. kind of.. " She has trouble with hair "and I kind of mixed the two?"

"I like it! Maybe... can I borrow this?"

"You can have it if you like" A light blush

"Yeah! I gotta go show this to Hope." She carefully rolls the page up, NOT folding it!

A smile at that , albeit on an ugly face , then "Look, I.. I don't know much about music, but if you DO end up with folks telling you to take music lessons, you should get to pick the instrument. Maybe something uhmm percussion?"

“Maybe. That might not be so bad.” She allows

"Are there music instruments that involve rocks?" She pauses thinking.. probably not

"My mentor always talked about the music of the mines. When you're down deep and everything else is drowned out, and there's the the tapping of the hammer and sometimes a drip, drip, drip..." She sounds wistful. "I've never been in a REAL mine."

"You cheer for the dwarves in fantasy stories don't you?" Not said meanly

"Well, yeah! They're the best." Matter of fact.

"I think Trolls are probably related too, strong and smart. It's not your fault that you're too tall to fit in a PROPER shaft."

"Trolls aren't considered nice in modern mythos... most folks think we were monsters under bridges or on computers.." A sigh "I guess Giants IS a better term, but thanks" She nods "You should talk to Hamlin.. I know you don't want to take Piano and you shouldn't have to, but he does songs if you ask, and he knows Dwarf songs. I don't know WHY he knows them but he does"

"He sang a song about a troll the other day! Named Big John!"

"YEah?" She beams

"Yeah! He might sing it again if we ask. Or maybe he wouldn't, and we'd have to ask for a different song?" Brow furrows. "Maybe Stu can translate."

"But who would translate for Stu?" She says "I think the Piano has stopped. Let's track him down?"

"Snitch that is" She says

"Oh, sure. But if they try to make me sit on the bench, I'm making a break for it." She says seriously. Maybe joking? Maybe not...

Finding Snitch is not hard, they find the rat pooka pacing "Darn it, she's good, she's talented.. and she's humble- a triple threat!"

Grete straightens up. "Did someone threaten you, Mr. Snitch?"