After the mine was cleared out Wait and Frostbite were quick to climb back to the sandy surface. With the sand cleared out navigating the maze-like mines was luckily far less of a chore, and the two found their way back up fairly quickly. The day had been hot, and while the mines provided some well-appreciated cool air what the two really wanted was some nice, cool water.

They were quite startled, though, when they got to the surface, only to be nearly ran over by a small group of whelps. They were all yelling questions excitedly, with some reaching up to Frostbite's pickaxe to try and touch or hold it. The two tried backing away, but couldn't make much progress, and eventually reluctantly tried to listen to the whelps.

The first whelp, Fizz, curiously pipped up. What do crystals smell like?" Wait was taken aback by that- he had never bothered to smell a crystal, after all, but "luckily" from him another whelp answered the question. "I think there's even edible rocks! Isn't that where hard candy comes from?" Dumpling said, sounding fully confident.

"Please- do not eat rocks?" Frostbite spoke over the group, not sounding all to confident. But who would be when surprised by a group of whelps trying to eat your mining efforts.

A Tark'ee called Sorbet rolled his eyes. "They probably only use the rocks for the flavouring! That's why some crystals smell like cinnamon." Dumpling seemed to think that made sense, nodding as the Tark'ee spoke. "Cinnamon is my favourite! Did you mine any cinnamon crystals today?" she asked the two.

Wait and Frostbite were stumped at this point- neither was really sure how to deal with the situation, preferably in a way that would result in no whelps eating rocks.

A timid-looking Valentin spoke up while Fizz and Dumping started debating rock flavours. "Uhm, is it safe to mine in Issiq? The ground always feels all sandy... What if the mines collapsed?" Wait was more than happy to answer a question that was, at last, not about eating rocks. "Well, it's not really any less safe than mining in the other regions- The mines here are built with consideration of the sand, and even when a hallway collapses rescue teams get sent in to clear the tunnels and get anyone who is inside out safely."

The whelp seemed satisfied with this answer, nodding and politely muttering a quick thank you. Frostbite was happy that at least Valentin had a useful question that wasn't about eating rocks- he had started becoming worried for the future of the planet.

"Well," Frostbite spoke out, "If that was everything-"

He tried to push past the crowd, but the whelps did not seem to like that one bit.

"But we weren't done asking questions yet!" Cypher called out, sounding offended. "I wanted to know what your favourite rock is-"

Wait chuckled, amusedly watching Frostbite try to send the whelps away. He knew that it was a loosing battle at this point, more were gathering as they spoke, curious about the commotion.

Another whelp had already walked over, hand raised. Azada had always been taught that good manners would be appreciated, after all. "Can I see your tools? I think my friend has one just like yours, but his is less shiny."

Frostbite sighed, seemingly realizing that there was no getting out of this. "All right, but we have to leave before the sun goes down- until then you guys can ask questions, alright?"

The whelps nodded eagerly, seemingly satisfied with that proposition. Wait however knew that they would likely not be so happy when it was actually time to leave.