"It doesn't make sense to me," Shenzi yawned. She had discarded her pickaxe on the sand. Now she shrunk against the edge of a cliff, grateful for the tiniest sliver of shade it offered.

"Sure it does," Mordo'kai answered, swinging his pickaxe powerfully and connecting with the sandstone. The strike was hard enough that it instantly shattered a chunk of the hard substrate into crumbles.

Beside him worked the black-furred belemoid Ma'groth, the builder raising his pickaxe high above his head. He stood alongside Karl'eem, the blue tsabhua who just appeared happy to be there. Slowly the miners chipped away at the cliffside, each consecutive strike of their pickaxes ever-so-slightly out of sync. The noise was grating, but ultimately productive. Click-click-click. Crumble!

((They were near water, at least–the Lake Of Visions made sure of that. The large pool sat surrounded by colorful clay steppes on all sides. But as a tourist destination, it was open–too open for Shenzi's liking. The day was cooler than usual, allowing for their mining operation and for the merchants to be out and about in full force.

Past the mine and on the edges of the sparkling lake, they peddled their wares of trinkets and illicit services. When Karl'eem had passed by earlier, he remarked that one tark'ee offered to end "any rivals", while a belemoid stared him down due to not having any cash. Even now, Shenzi could feel their judgemental eyes on the four—quite like the hunting hawks above. Occasionally, one streaked down from the sky after a huldah rushing for a burrow.))

Neither Ma'groth, Karl'eem, nor Mordo'kai seemed to mind the staring, though–maybe because they had Or'sol behind their back. They may have been a peaceful colony, but no doubt, they would stick together if one of their own was threatened or harassed.

"There isn't a mine yet–because we're making one!" Mordo'kai finished, realizing his throat was rather dry. "Alright, break for a minute–drink and fill up your canteens again!" Karl'eem eagerly quenched his thirst.

Ma'groth refused at first. "I can keep mining–" he insisted, but Ma'groth stopped him. "No way, you've been goin' at it all day. Why not let Shenzi have a turn?" He gestured to the lounging tsabhua. She sighed, but realized that she did have to hold her own weight eventually. "Alright," she shook off her dusty pelt.

Karl'eem and Ma'groth each finished off their canteens, and then made a quick trip over to dip them into the salty pond. Although they couldn't be heard from here, their mouths were moving through some humerous conversation.

"I know it might not look like much," Mordo'kai gave a thumbs-up, "But trust me, this right here is exactly where we want to mine." Shenzi didn't see much–only a canyon wall that was being painstakingly broken into rubble–but that twinkle in his blue eye seemed hopeful.

They all returned and picked up their stone pickaxes, Mordo'kai adjusted the straps on his climbing gear, and they went back to work again–swinging and humming the workday away.

Suddenly, a few minutes in, someone struck a blow–maybe it was Karl'eem or Ma'groth. The sandstone wall shattered, not as a piece, but as a square wall. With a loud crack, it collapsed inwards into a pitch-black room.

"What?" Shenzi blinked, shocked to find that what she'd thought was a solid cliffside had been hollowed-out internally, all along. "I knew there'd be a cave here," Mordo'kai gave a smug grin, "Looks like we made it in, lads!" He meant no offense to her in this–she could be a lad too, really.

"Looks like nobody's been in here in thousands of years," Karl'eem grinned, confidently stepping forwards only—only to have to backtrack, sneezing from the dust. "It might be less of a mine though," Ma'groth the builder pointed out, "And more of a… tomb."

((The sides of the open chasm were certainly made of brick, clay hardened and shaped into matching-sized rectangles. Based on the labyrinth of tall spiderwebs, insects had been inside–at least at one point in time.

The smell was musty, and the walls were brightly painted with red and blue dyes—as if they'd been colored yesterday. Shenzi gulped, feeling uneasy.

Could this be a tomb where a pharoah was laid to rest? Or maybe where a treasure hunter stashed away their lifetime of booty? It was too dark to tell anything.))