They hadn't uncovered much in Boreas - or maybe they hadn't tried enough. Kat wasn't sure. Either way, he trudged back towards Auster, feeling rubbed raw by his failures. He couldn't help the spiraling thoughts: if he'd tried harder, dug further, looked more closely, maybe things would have turned out differently. But they hadn't, and he headed back towards home beneath the red sun feeling sorry for himself.
He was edging around the coast of Auster when he felt the ground shake again. Softer, this time, nothing like the tremors of the original quake that had unearthed those spires. Although he was caught in his feelings, he generally felt more confident on his home turf and didn't waste time in heading towards the shouts and sounds that beckoned further inland. After he left the shore behind, he could see what was drawing such a commotion: great chasms had opened in the ground, surrounded by furrows and disturbed soil that weren't quite like anything he'd ever seen. Katsurō blew out a long breath and simply stared at the chaos.
