Dense clouds billowed overhead, twisting and threatening harsh monsoon rains. The desert of Issiq was often unforgiving. The day often brought sweltering heat, whilst the night could freeze a whelp solid. Novruil was first awakened by the thud of thunder. He and his mining troup had been spending the past week out in the sandstone desert, seeking precious ores. Novu gave a soft nudge to the vibrant purple tsab asleep beside him, Lungric. She woke with a start, yelping and kicking backward. Unfortunately for Kahawai, who was directly behind her, he got a kick straight to the noggin. "Hey, what the hell!?" Kaha leapt up, shouting and shaking his head.

"Shoot, sorry Kahawai, it's time for us all to get up," Novruil muttered, stretching as he stood. Lungric was quick to follow, pulling her leather bag of previously obtained goods onto her back.

Leema took a bit longer to awaken, rubbing her face into the dirt in a back and forth pattern, trying to scrape away the grogginess. "Why are we up so eaaarly, isn't it still dark?" She whined, blinking in the soft light.

"It's only dark because the storms are coming," Lungric replied, avoiding Kahawai's glare. She gazed upward at the high sandstone ceiling and trailed the red, orange, and yellow lining down to where their toolmarks lay bare scraps of copper. "We've also stripped this place raw, I'm sure."

"Best we head deeper in, see if we can find more." Novruil brushed the sand and dust from his pelt, returning the radiant blue and purple hues that shimmered through his pelt. Leema reacted eagerly, shaking herself free of the same sand and dust, and beginning the scampering down through the sandstone tunnel.

Truthfully it was a slow descent into the sandstone cave, the air stale and well baked from a millennia of desert sun. Stippling layers of warm hues spoke a story of the land. Uneasy steps down the winding corridor lead to a long multi-colored cavern several hundred feet long, with eroded holes in the ceiling allowing the muted sunlight to filter through. "It's beautiful," Leema muttered, gazing upward to the sky. Clouds billowed above, but no rain came- At least not yet. Novruil muttered an agreement, adjusting his pack. He walked to the nearest wall, examining the red and yellow streaks for an inkling of ore. Kahawai seemed disinterested, nipping at Lungric's heel.

"What was that for,"Lung hissed, swatting away Kaha's face. She knew exactly why the belemoid was agitated, "Okay okay, it was an accident! I'm sorry, can we just get to work?"

Kaha muttered under his breath and thrashed his tail, kicking up red-yellow sand and dust as he trotted off. His dark claws scratched heavy at the walls of the cave, snagging on flecks of metals. "Over here," he called out with a heavy grunt, chipping away a solid red stone.

Leema, Novruil, and Lungric were quick to his side. The tsabs grabbed at their picks, beginning the heavy work of swinging and chipping away at the sandstone wall. Leema and Kahawai took their positions just below, clearing away the debris and separating the glinting metal shards from the sandy chunks. "Stand clear a moment- Lung help me with this," Novruil muttered, focusing his pick on a large vein of glinting copper. The belemoid took several steps back, recognizing the danger. Concussions were not something to seek in the wilderness, especially when none of them had medical training. The tsabs swung in tune, chipping sandstone away in rapid succession, thudding away until with a heavy crack, the copper ore landed at their feet. "Impressive," Novu muttered, gazing over the hunk of raw metal.

"How are we going to carry that back?" Leema sounded skeptical, moving closer and poking at the hunk. "Surely too heavy, right?"

"We can break it into smaller pieces, and each of us can take a piece," Novruil declared, gently pushing Leema back as he swung his pick down roughly. It stuck in the metal, sheering it down the fault line. Lungric took his lead, following the fault line up until they were left with four decently sized strips of raw copper. "Everyone grab one. I think it's time we headed home." As if on cue, drips of heavy monsoon rain platted the sandy floor. The scent of the oncoming monsoon storm was overwhelming, dust puffing into the air with each droplet. A sandstorm would be quick to approach, should they not evacuate.

Kahawai was the first to pick, grabbing the second largest wedge of raw copper and shoveling it into his abdominal pouch. "Let's hurry, then."

Lungric snagged the third largest, shoving it into the leather pouch and charging up the tunnel. Novruil snagged the largest, and assisted Leema in wedging the metal chunk into her smaller abdomen pouch. She muttered a thanks, and followed the troupe. It'd be a long haul, but hopefully the desert would be forgiving, at least for the few hours it'd take to reach Nuryuhr.