Kel took the miner's helmet off the hook and twisted it around until he could get to the back of the lamp. He opened up the back and took out the used batteries and put in new ones. It was always best to just replace batteries and not wait for the light to go out. More than likely it would go out while in some dark cave and trying to replace the batteries in the dark was just a bit tricky.

Kel clicked the last battery into place when Toffee walked in. She had a large pack cinched to her back which had lots of pockets.

"I heard there was a new part of the main cave that opened up. I can't wait to see what's inside." Toffee said as she grabbed one of the pickaxes off the hook. She quickly checked to make sure the straps holding the blade cover were secured before putting the handle through the straps on her bag.

Toffee grabbed a couple of empty leather bags and stuffed them into a large pouch on the other side of her harness.

"I heard, Which is why I am going. Who knows what we could find. Gold, Tin, copper. We need more materials for the black smith to make anything useful. " Kel said as he also grabbed a pickaxe. Kel mirrored Toffee in checking the blade cover before adding it to his own pack. He added a soft bristle brush and a coarse bristle brush to the pack.

"Ready to go?" Kel said as he picked up the miner's helmet he had been working on and placed it on his head.

"Yep!" Toffee said gleefully. She followed Kel out of the mining storage shed and into brisk cold weather. Snow lay in heaps on the ground and snow lay heavy on the branches of the evergreen forest that lay not too far from the village. The mountains were no longer the black but a grey white covered it. The larger of the suns peeked up over the rim of the tallest peak.

"It's a good thing the entrance isn't too far." Toffee said as they started tracking through the snow.

"Yes it is. We would be frozen if it was any farther and would be unsafe to go. " Agreed Kel.

They walked on in silence. Each watching their steps closely so as to not stumble over anything hidden in the snow.

Toffee was just starting to wonder if they had gotten lost when Kel stopped in front of her.

"We are here." Kel announced.

Toffee looked up and noticed that they had indeed made it. The cave entrance was marked by three glowing lanterns. Toffee noticed that a fourth had gone out.

"We will light that one when we leave." Kel said. Then he ducked into the cave. Toffee followed.

Inside were lanterns hung from the posts helping to hold the beams of the cave. They did not cast much light and made the cave gloomy with weird dancing shadows. This part of the cave was old and had already had it's treasures found. They would need to go deeper.

The cavern had several tunnels that lead deeper into the mountain. Each tunnel was clearly marked by both a sign and a number of torches. They took the number 3 tunnel and made their way deeper inside. Kel and Toffee passed several small caverns until they came to the last one. This one was smaller than all the others and showed signs that it was presently being mined. Tall timbers leaned against one side and a new cart sat waiting to be used.

Kel flipped on his lamp and took out his pick and started working on the cavern wall. Toffee followed suit. Her bioluminescent helped her to see where to start digging.

"I am going to find the biggest gem ever!" Toffee exclaimed as she started digging into the cavern's wall. The wall was a bit softer then she was expecting but she just thought that it was because someone else had been working in this same spot.

Kel grunted as he swung his pick axe. "I don't really care. I personally would like to find some ores. The black smith said he could really use some. "

"Oh right…. Hey, what's this?" Toffee said. She stepped closer to an off white rock she had just exposed. Toffee took a single claws and gently started to dig around it.

Kel stopped his own digging and came forward. Kel shinned his lamp directly on the spot.

Toffee gently scrapped around the rock and rock got longer and started to look more than just a rock. Could it be?

Kel stepped closer and took out his brush that he had packed. He hadn't been expecting to use it. But he had learned that it was always good to pack for the unexpected.

He gently brushed the loose sand and dirt from the rock exposing small cracks and chips in the stone but it also showed more of the shape.

"I think you're right." Kel breathed. "It looks like a fossilized bone."