As the only miner in the Sea-Cucumbers tribe, and understanding that it was far more successful to work against stone and rubble as a team, Shenzi found herself continually rejoining the Or'sol team. Gradually, she was beginning to feel more familiar around the other miners, who included the builder Ma'groth and the blacksmith Mordo'kai.

But today–was the first day they were accompanied by Talyn, a tark'ee so fluffy that she assumed he may have been a yet-undiscovered subspecies. "Ready to go?" Mordo'kai smiled at Shenzi and the others, a harness over his chest and a stone pickaxe at his side. "Ready!"--they all agreed, all at once. Although their leader was rough around the edges, he was captivating and genuine, only wanting the best for the crew.

Mireh was easily one of the most boring regions of B'av–rolling fields of green, temperate weather, and maybe just a few trees, if you were lucky. It was great for gathering plants, sure–as many white and gold flowers spotted the field, and even wild strawberries–Talyn thought she saw one just now.

The City of Blitzaron, a gigantic mountain that filled the leftmost sky, loomed overhead–but outsiders weren't exactly welcome there. No, but it was in the mines where Mireh truly shined, or at least so explained Ma'groth, as he pulled up some overgrown bushes and tossed them out of the way to reveal a dusty drain-cover. "Can you help me get this?" He asked Mordo'kai, and together they swiftly lifted it up and tossed it onto the grass.))

It was a bit odd, wasn't it? What was a drain doing here of all places, out in the middle of the field? Talyn glanced back at Blitzaron and then down again, considering that this might've been a drain leaving the big city–but something still felt… Well, off about it. "It's dark down there," Shenzi commented, leaping out of the way so that Mordo'kai and Ma'groth could throw down the heavy metal drain-cover. And they did, huffing lightly with exertion before also glancing down. The former procured a flashlight from his satchels, and pointed it in.

There was a ladder leading down, but it was thick with rust–as if exposed to some place wet and damp underneath the ground. The stone itself of the upright tunnel appeared cracked and rugged, with moss clinging to the surface. "Belemoids first," Shenzi gulped, recognizing that she didn't want to try to shove in her big shoulders until the other miners were out of the way first. The orange Mordo'kai wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and hopped in, head-up and tail down. Ma'groth followed, and then Taryn, mimicking as though she was tipping a hat to Shenzi.

When the tsabhua squeezed herself through the tight downwards tunnel and her feet finally hit the cold floor below, the oher miners all were pickaxe-ready. "It is a tunnel of some kind," Ma'groth pointed out, using his expertise as a builder to point out the rudimentary, yet clearly dredged canal. Taryn squinted her nose at the stink of the water–not sewer water, mind you, but whatever had seeped in from above. "Well, it looks like they gave up before it was fully built," Mordo'kai grunted at a wall of only roughly-chipped ores.

Shenzi's orange-gold eyes focused on a silver glimmer. "Let's help 'em out," she shrugged, and smacked it with her stone pickaxe. Despite her trained blows and her mighty muscle, only a few pathetic crumbles fell loose. "Hmm," the fluffy tark'ee behind her considered, "I see why they gave up now." Mordo'kai and Ma'groth collected closely, the blacksmith paying close attention. "But my Gods–that's iron ore!" He exclaimed, "If we come back with that, the tribe can be prepared with more tools and weapons!"

And so, despite the difficulty of breaking through the wall of stone, the four pushed together as a team. When all four struck the blows of their stone pickaxes as one, the cracks began to widen, and the rubble started to fall. Chunks of raw iron ore came loose, and Mordo'kai delighted in them, touching each one and commenting on the quality. Ma'groth watched on with amazement, Talyn learned from the blacksmith the best she could, and Shenzi continued putting in the muscle.