"So, why are we here, again?" Solar asked as Twilight led her, Spring, and Midnight along the crumbling base of a cliff. It was a surprisingly warm day for Kerah, especially in Rekes, and the older tsabhua were visibly enjoying the sunlight.

Twilight turned back to grin at them. "A really long time ago, this was a muddy riverbank! A steep one, too!" he called, then glanced up at the cliff above them. "Well, not as steep as that, I guess. But a lot of things would get stuck in the river mud and stay there. And now! It's a cliff! And the freezing and thawing is breaking it apart! Lots of rock falls!" The mention of rock falls made the miners glance around nervously, but Twilight continued, unaware, "And most importantly! Lots of fossils in those fallen rocks!" He turned to the group. "And that's where you come in. I need your digging expertise," he finished.

Solar stared at him. "When you said you needed the help of us miners, I thought you wanted, like, tin or something," she griped. "Not…. dead animals. Shouldn't you be asking one of the hunters for help?" Spring laughed quietly behind her.

Twilight huffed, his tail twitching. "They're not just dead animals- actually, there's not even any animal left! They've completely turned to stone! It's just the imprint of the animal that used to be there. Stone is your specialty, right?" he asked, side-eyeing Solar.

The white-splashed tsabhua glared at him, and it was Midnight who decided to answer. "Sure is," she said calmly. "Show us to the stone animals and we'll get digging."

Twilight's offended look turned uncomfortable, his ears twisting back. "Well, I don't know where they are just yet. I was told this is a great place to find fossils, but we have to look for them, first," he said. "Just look for anything that doesn't look like a normal rock, right?"

Spring spoke up before either of the does could. "That doesn't sound too hard," he replied. "Sounds fun, actually. Like a scavenger hunt."

Twilight brightened. "Yeah! A scavenger hunt!" he exclaimed. Solar rolled her eyes but did not complain as the four tsabhua turned to exploring the rocks around them.

They were near the coast and at relatively low elevation, with the sea breeze keeping the air cool instead of cold, despite the season, though the temperature may become uncomfortable as the turning of the day cast their part of the cliff into shadow. The stone under their feet was blue-grey, with no traces of the glowing crystals that veined Rekes. It shifted, broken into many pieces by gravity and the passage of time.

Midnight was the first to find something. "Is this what we're looking for?" she called, holding up a piece of rock with a paler shape like entwined worms spread across it. Twilight bounded over and snatched it up, visible excitement on his face.

"Yes! Exactly like this!" he cried. "Look, it's some kind of ancient sea creature!" Spring and even Solar crowded closer to look at it. The fossil was a strange sort of thing, unidentifiable to any of the miners. "We need to find more of these," Twilight explained. "The ancient life of Xiunus is not well categorized, we could be finding completely new species! We might even be able to name some of them!"

This caught Solar's attention. She rather liked the idea of having something named after her, so as the group split back up to resume fossil hunting, she took to turning over rocks with renewed vigor.

They found several more fossils throughout the day, becoming better able to spot the odd creatures as they learned more about what they were looking for. Midnight proved to have a knack for it and Spring's strength was useful in moving the larger pieces of stone, though unfortunately Solar was left behind somewhat, despite her enthusiasm. It frustrated her to find something she was not good at, and she grew snappy with the others as the day wore on.

By contrast, Twilight's good humor only grew with each fossil they found, and at the end of the day he stood beaming over the collection, turning them over with careful reverence. "We have so many," he whispered. "I can't wait to come back tomorrow."

The other three looked at each other. He hadn't said anything about coming back tomorrow.