The sands of Issiq were thankfully calm during the initial trip. The newcomer, Sapphique, hulking and hefty, was surrounded by a small handful of whelps. She glanced over them, the next generation of Nuryuhr's populace. Her tail wrapped delicately around her webbed paws, "Hello, whelps!" Her dialect sounded odd, clearly not from the region. "I'm Sapphique, and I was told we'll be uh-" Her gaze was pulled to the side by the chirping of a bright green Tark'ee whelp.

"Missuh Sapphie!" It called, chirping loudly. "M'Bird! Why'd'ya you sound like that?" Bird's head was tilted to the side, its eyes bright and curious.

"Birdie, you can't just ask someone why they sound like that!" A similar Tark'ee whelp, purple this time, shoved Bird to the side.

"Yeah Birdie! Korey's right!" Significantly shorter than the Tark'ee was a stout Tsabhua. She had an odd tone herself, also obviously not from Issiq. "You can't just ask that!"

"Why not?" Bird shot back, shoving Korey to the side and chirping in the Tsab's face. "You can't tell me what'ta do Taco, you sound funny too!"

Sappique gave a gentle understanding look to Taco. The saltwater Tsab had only arrived a few weeks before Sapphique herself. "I'm from the Ocean dear, far from here. I talk like other Ocean folk," She stood slowly, making sure to sweep her tadpole tipped tail at a slower rate in order to not shovel sand. "Anyhow- Back on task kiddos! There's a bug nest nearby, and the head of agriculture wants us to go look at 'em!"

"Oh bugs're real tasty Miss Sapphie!" Bird bounced, its curls bouncing with each thump. Despite its odd look, it did appear happy and excited. Taco gave an odd look and a blech sound. Korey seemed to be pondering the idea of it all. With that, Sapphique gave a gentle look and nudged them along.

Padding through the warm sands, the troop slid winded their way down a canyon wall. In the distance was an impressive, although not exactly towering, spire. It seemed to be moving, shifting in the sunlight. The sandstone reflected a decent amount of light, warming the canyon with a soft red glow. Saph let out a soft sigh of relief. She wasn't quite used to the unwavering suns and their harsh glow.

Korey and Bird were quick to rush, running below the crown of trees lining the canyon floor. They chattered, laughing and biting at each other. Sapphique hesitated, looking downward to Taco. The young tsab's legs were struggling to clamber over the stones, and she called to the running whelps, "Wait for meeee!~"

Sapphique let out a gentle sigh, nudging the small Tsab with her nose and helping her scramble up the rock and follow the Tark'ee whelps.

The spire was an astounding sixteen feet in height. The surface was crawling with the insects, quickly identified as termites. They were bulging, scrambling insects, with impressively large jaws and heads. With no hesitation Bird scooped forward, attempting to swallow one of them. It latched onto its tongue, leading to a loud shrieking wail from the whelp. Korey was soon to follow, but was smart enough to nip the head off first. "They're tasty!" The purple whelp bounced, then paused to watch Bird's fretting.

"Oh poor Bird-" Sapphique swooped in quickly, plucking the bug off of the whelp's tongue. "You ought to be more careful." Taco watched intently, looking for blood- None came. Sad.

"Do they really taste good?" Taco looked disgusted by the scrambling feet. Her only real experience with insects was with buzzing, biting flies. "What do they taste like? Dirt?"

"Not at all!" Korey went to grab another. Bird was gripping its beak and rubbing, clearly upset. "Like those orange long veggie! Uhh-"

"Carrots?" Taco offered, suddenly intrigued.

"How odd…" Sapphique leaned forward to examine the insects. They seemed to react to her breathing, raising their heads in a threatening pose. They clearly seeked to protect their home. "Wonder how many there are."

"We can check!" Taco lifted her small body, rearing back and slamming four legs into the side of the termite mound.

"Oh goodness-"

"Whoa!"

"That's a lotta' bugs, wowie!"

The termites swarmed from the various ventilation holes throughout the mound. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of them charged. Taco quickly scrambled back, her mantle fluffing up in surprise. "Whoooa-"

"Well I think it's safe to say that's plenty for a colony or two… Let's make sure to mark this place down. Perhaps the department head will be satisfied with our discovery!" Sapphique announced, sweeping the whelps back with her tail.

"We gotta bring a few back don't we?"

"Yeah! What if they're poisonous?" Bird chimed in.

"P- poisonous!?" Korey tried to wipe the bug out of his mouth, with absolutely no result. He'd already long since swallowed several.

"I doubt they're poisonous, dear." Sapphique shook her head softly, a smile creeping on her lips. "I think we'll be alright without a sample, let's head home."