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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:02:27 GMT -6
Fiera dug around in Lunara’s piles of stones after that incident, wondering if perhaps she had been a bit too hasty in ignoring her mining castoffs. If she had missed a whole elemental crystal falling out of the wall, what else had she ignored in her mining frenzy? There could be a whole pile of jewels sitting out here for all she noticed! Sure enough, she found a good couple of colorful stones that she had completely missed her first time around. She kept the mine cart open as she worked, plucking them off of the ground one after the other. Lunara watched silently as Fiera kicked herself for missing so much. Who knew how many credits worth of valuables she had just left on the floor like this! After a few minutes though, Fiera realized that she wasn’t finding any more gems and was probably good. For now, at least.
Fiera 1 Lunara 13.1/15.1 31
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:02:41 GMT -6
The humanish bowed and backed away after that, letting Lunara get back to her game of rock arrangement. The yumenokei gracefully strode back over and began filling in the gaps that Fiera had poked in her patterns, replacing them with more boring in color and texture but similarly sized and shaped pebbles, nudging them into place with a careful paw. Fiera nodded politely and left her to it before getting back to her own work. Once the mine cart was secured, she was ready to get back to opening up the wall. She had uncovered another vein of metal now, flashing bright against the darker stone around it. While the last vein had been a dull brownish color, this one was a bright silvery color. She was hoping it WAS silver- that would be a fantastic windfall just about now. She lifted her pick axe, ready to open it up and find out.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:03:04 GMT -6
The rock here in the growing alcove seemed a little softer than before, as far as she could tell. Or perhaps she was just in the rhythm of it now, her muscles warmed up and ready to go. Either way, the work went quickly and smoothly, with chunks of stone falling effortlessly around her feet. Fiera was being more careful now though, keeping a sharp eye on the stones she knocked out for any sign of valuables trapped within. She wasn’t about to miss any more gemstones, not after the near disaster last time. When a flash of color and a glassy glint caught her eye as it fell to the floor, the cat woman stopped immediately, bending down to investigate. She set her pick axe to one side as she did, ready to access her other tools. With one hand she adjusted her bright pink headlamp’s light, letting it shine directly onto her findings.
Fiera 3 Lunara 13.3/15.3 33
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:03:24 GMT -6
Sure enough, the chunk of stone she had knocked off had not one, but TWO flashes of color inside it, with the stone itself interspersed with big chunks of that silvery metal. Fiera got out her chisel, hammer, and brush to match with her new task. She gently tapped away, and soon the two gems were freed from their casing, clattering to the ground. Fiera decided she’d investigate them later, and instead tried to focus on what was starting to look like a pretty good lump of ore. She kept tapping at it gently, knocking off the useless pieces of plain rock and revealing more silver underneath. Sure enough, she soon had a decent nugget of silver, which she eagerly picked up and turned over in her headlamp’s light before popping open the mine cart. She nestled it in next to the bronze-like material, in what she was dubbing the ‘metals’ side of the cart.
Fiera 4 Lunara 13.4/15.4 34
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:04:09 GMT -6
As for the other two gems, one of them was immediately recognizeable. The jade was a familiar shade of green, pure and strong. This chunk was completely unblemished, with a consistent color throughout. Fiera could get a good price for this if she really tried, though it was on the smaller size. Still it was high enough quality, so she put it away in her mine cart next to the other piece of jade. The other gem was a little less recognizeable. It was partially translucent and a dusky brown color. In Fiera’s opinion it was a little boring, but she was already coming up with a sales pitch for whoever so much as glanced at it. Just because SHE didn’t appreciate didn’t mean nobody else would. She’d make them like it whether they wanted to or not. So she put it away with her other gems, brainstorming what to say.
Fiera 5 Lunara 14.0/16.0 35
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:04:25 GMT -6
From there, she turned back to her pick axe, picking it up before going back to her wall. The alcove, once a shallow and barely noticeable scraping of the wall, was now tall enough that Fiera could just barely fit herself in it when fully standing up. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite long enough for her to do that for any actions other than just standing around. She’d have to dig a little further before it was long enough for her to mine properly, to have the room necessary to swing her arms around the full distance. As of right now she’d either smack her head on the low ceiling of the old tunnel or hit her arm on a wall if she tried to do that. Now that she knew it was possible though, the additional motivation was all she needed to keep going, hacking away at the wall like a madwoman.
Fiera 6 Lunara 14.1/16.1 36
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:04:46 GMT -6
That one chunk of silver ore was turning out to be all she was going to get out of that particular vein, unfortunately. While the vein was wide, stretching from each wall of the alcove to the other, it wasn’t very tall. It was for the most part blended in with the rest of the volcanic rock. It was a pretty effect, drawing strings of bright silver through dark, almost black stone, like a black velvet dress embroidered with silver. Functionally though, it was a little useless as Fiera couldn’t hope to separate that metal from the stone with her current tools. It was just useless set dressing. The silver lines didn’t even make it pleasant for her to mine, what with how the light from her headlamp kept reflecting off of them and into her eyes. She forged ahead though, only a little bit chagrined. Perhaps she would get through the vein soon, to greener pastures so to speak.
Fiera 7 Lunara 14.2/16.2 37
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:05:01 GMT -6
If anything, that was just further motivation for Fiera to keep going. Soon she found her feet completely covered in stones of varying sizes, and Lunara could barely keep up moving them out of the way. Fiera was appreciative of her yumenokei’s efforts. She hadn’t even asked Lunara to help but on some level the creature must have realized what needed to be done. She kept coming in and out of the tunnel, nosing the differently sized rocks out toward the entrance, piling them up on either side so the tunnel wouldn’t get blocked. Hopefully she’d be able to keep it clear enough that she could get her mine cart in here soon, instead of having to carry it over uneven ground. Fiera was trying to keep the ground smooth enough to roll a cart on, but the falling rocks made it more than a little difficult for that purpose.
Fiera 8 Lunara 14.3/16.3 38
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:07:44 GMT -6
They made a good pair like this, Lunara shifting the stones and Fiera making more for her to shift. The yumenokei hardly seemed to mind- perhaps she thought it was some sort of game. "Hey." Fiera said breathily, glancing down at her pet. "Keep an eye out for more gems for me, eh?" She said with a chuckle. The yumenokei tilted her head. She couldn't speak, but Fiera had the feeling that Lunara understood more of what she was saying than she'd ever know. The moon rabbit hopped to the front of the cave again, kicking more rocks out in front of it. Fiera hoped that the way out wouldn't be blocked off after this- though she could always kick the stones further down the tunnel. It would just be annoying, is all. Fiera stopped to take a breath, wiping her brow with one arm and cringing at how much dirt she probably just wiped onto her face.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 16, 2020 19:11:05 GMT -6
It really was such dirty work, mining. She thought this as she lowered her arm back down, looking at the dirt caked on it. She was always caked in dirt coming out. Fiera always had to take nearly an hour long shower after she mined, which she was sure that the neighbors she shared her apartment building with loved. What could she say, her tail needed a lot of rinsing. She couldn't keep it hidden either- she didn't think anyone in the labs even SOLD tail pockets for mining. Maybe she could be the one to invent them- wouldn't that be a nice source of credits. But alas, Fiera didn't think that sort of business was her thing. She wasn't nearly honest enough for it- which said something, considering what most people's perceptions of businessmen were like. No, her current job as a public speaker- and future politician- suited her quite nicely.
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Post by Jack on Feb 16, 2020 22:37:48 GMT -6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 17, 2020 12:03:34 GMT -6
As she mined, Fiera felt a bead of sweat land on her skin and start rolling down the back of her neck, approaching her shirt collar. Ugh, something else that she'd have to shower off later. She hadn't been sweating that much so far, but she supposed it was about time. She reached up with her sleeve to wipe it off, though there likely wasn't much point in the long run and felt... something... slimy. And moving. Something bubbled up deep in Fiera's throat, and she let out a loud squeal of surprise, flinging the intruding whatsit onto the floor. She spun around, waving her arms with her headlamp flashing wildly around the room. Lunara bounced in with a sense of urgency, her work arranging stones outside forgotten. What could possibly be the matter? Fiera stammered incoherently, pointing at a specific spot on the ground. Lunara approached it cautiously, ears held high.
Fiera 11 Lunara 15.1/17.1 41
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 17, 2020 12:21:22 GMT -6
It was... a grub. Not even a large one, if you were comparing it to golossle babies. It was still definitely a classic beetle grub though, with a fat white body and disproportionately long jaws. Another person might have even found it cute, but Fiera was a huge wimp when it came to regular insects, to say the least. As it wiggled helplessly on the cavern floor, she babbled more and raised up a foot to stomp it- only for Lunara to step between them. "Oh come ON! It's grooooss!" She wailed pathetically, but the yumenokei only plucked the grub up off the ground like any other stone and carried it out of the tunnel. Fiera groaned- at least it was out of her way now? Then, she heard a rustling coming from the mine cart. "Lunara! You'd better not be touching my things!" She called out, hoping that she could hear her with those big ears.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 17, 2020 13:00:31 GMT -6
A moment later Lunara padded back in, looking for all intents and purposes like the crisis was resolved. "I swear, if I find a grub in that mine cart you are in BIG trouble, missy." Fiera said, and Lunara simply looked off to the side as if Fiera was referring to someone else. She would NEVER do that do her. The humanish rolled her eyes and turned back to the rock wall. She had just found two new gems when the grub incident happened, and was more than happy to get back to work on teasing them out. It didn't take a lot of effort, thankfully. They seemed pretty loosely fitted in the wall, as if they had already existed before the lava flowed around them and cooled solid. Only a few taps of her chisel were needed to make them both tumble to the ground, one after the other.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 17, 2020 13:04:51 GMT -6
Before picking them up, Fiera decided to go back to the mine cart to fetch the gem identification guide. She hadn't seen these ones before (or at least she was pretty sure she hadn't), and wanted to find out what they really were before putting them away. Lunara seemed a little alarmed at that, placing herself in front of Fiera to try and stall her. She was easy enough to step over however, and soon Fiera had her hands on the lid of the cart as Lunara fretted in the corner. She opened it, and... sure enough, there was a grub sitting happily in her gems. The humanish turned around and gave Lunara a deep, loathsome stare, and the yumenokei refused to meet her gaze. She put her hand in the cart... and pulled it back out before she could grab the grub. Ugh, she couldn't STAND the idea of touching that ugly thing.
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