The Issiqi dessert was hot during the day, temperate at dawn and dusk, and freezing at night. Still, it's allure for those who wanted to explore was irresistible. Some of Skyward's inhabitants were staying with Boti's tribe to help with some repairs from a recent sandstorm, and some of those had been all but dragged along and eager to do other things.

Garnet stuck xir head around the door experimentally, seeing nobody about. The lights were dim in the hallways, clever mirrors shining the slight of the moon above into the tunnels. There were also small, dim lamps at certain internals so people didn't blunder into walls, but also didn't blind them and waste power. In the dimness the striation of the sandstone was barely visible, more as an impression in the shadows than any clear color difference. Garnet liked to trace those as xe walked down the hallways, sometimes.

"Is it clear?"

Shaken from xir thoughts, Garnet glanced back at the three pairs of eyes that blinked expectantly. Clay, Waveform, and Ember were crammed together, waiting for the go ahead. The four of them - well, Waveform had found it first and then told Ember who had told the rest of them - had found a crack they could barely squeeze through that lead into some old lava tubes. And while the adults did the boring things like maintenance or moving sand… they had decided to explore.

"Yes!" Garnet whispered, and scampered out into the hallway, looking both ways before pausing for Waveform to tumble out. "Where did you say the crack was, again?"

"This way!" Waveform whispered, then scampered off.

The rest of them followed him as they cautiously made their way through the tunnels, dodging others awake at this hour. It was eerily quiet, but as they drew closer to Waveform's cracks, Garnet began to make out odd sounds.

"What's that?" xe whispered as they clustered around the gap in the sandstone that lead into darkness.

Clay, ever the one to be prepared, unshuttered a small lantern and held it out towards the crack. It illuminated all of… nothing.

"What's what?"

"Don't you hear it?"

The four of them paused, tilting their heads as their ears flicked, then Ember wrinkled her nose.

"What's that smell?"

Garnet sniffed deeply, the strange sounds forgotten, then sneezed loudly. All of them froze, looked at each other, waiting. The sound of footsteps coming closer made them stiffen, then Clay lunged for the crack, claws scrambling, and then they were through.

"Come on!"

Waveform was next, then Ember, and finally Garnet, just in time for a light to brighten the corridor on the other side. Clay shuttered their lantern, and the four sat waiting in the dark as the light got closer, then passed without any seeming interest in the gap in the wall. They all breathed a sigh of relief, then Clay unshuttered their lantern.

"Ooooh," Waveform said, delighted.

They were in a tunnel that seemed almost to have been made by one of the tolaats the adults told them about, round and smooth-sided, but it was made of stone. The sides of the tunnel had vague ripples that reminded Garnet of the marks on a seashore when the tide flowed in and out. It was beautiful but also… eerie. That strange smell permeated the air, and it was so empty…

Waveform, never one to pay attention to little things like common sense, had started following the tunnel one way.

"Wait!" Ember called, looking half like she was going to bolt back through the crack to the safety and surety of the tribe's home, "Where are you going?"

"To explore, of course!"

Clay and Garnet exchanged looks. "But what if you get lost?" Garnet called.

"I have chalk!" she held it up. "Aren't you coming?"

Ember finally nodded her head reluctantly, and Clay did as well, seeming to have the same thought Garnet had - better to accompany Ember then to have her get in trouble all on her own with no help…

They started down the tunnel, and only then did Garnet remember the strange noises xe had heard… did that mean that they were perhaps not alone down here?

Well, only time would tell.