The heat was oppressive on his dark coat, and clearly, he wasn't the only one that was suffering. Tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and too far from home to have ready access to water, Pyxis never thought this would be the way he went out, but here he was, panting and lightheaded, seeking the shade of a mountain that did not belong to his family.

It was the buzzing that caught his attention first. His eyes narrowed as he rocked on his paws. Was it inside his head or within the environment around him? Purple eyes narrowed, convinced he was seeing double, no triple... wait was there even a word for that many? An army of insects was on the move, all headed in the same general direction. It was as good a sign as any, he supposed, to follow them in the hoped they might lead him to water, or at least a cooler place to rest.

The mouth of the mine yawned open before him and he paused for only a minute before seeking refuge inside. Immediately, the temperature seemed to drop as he followed the metal lined path down, down, down. Soon there would be a fork in the path, and he would have to choose which way to go.

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Xina was ready to throw in the towel. It was monstrously hot. Her lips cracked, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth with panting. She didn't know the planet could even GET this hot! She rolled into the grass under the oppressive heat but the usual cool strands of grasses were as warm as her.

She lay there in the meadow before the mines, her eyes struggling to focus on what was in front of her. A tiny subtle movement caught her attention though. It was a worm, digging into the dirt in the direction of the big cavernous maw of the mines. Huh.

He sat up, panting hard, and looked over the grasses. She saw someone that reminded her of a few of of the Syndicate members. What were they doing? White paws grabbed at the soil and she launched herself into a lope through the brown overcooked plants. She ducked her head as she entered the cavern, even though she was certainly small enough to pass through without problems. She was several paces behind the other one.

Xina felt a few crunches underfoot. What was this? She looked down and noticed she had crunched a couple of beetles as she entered. As she looked around she noticed several hoards of beetles moving into the cavern!

"Hey!" She called out to slow them up ahead of her. She caught up to Pyxis just as he was about to choose which path to follow! She crunched another beetle under her pale paw and made a disgusted face.

"What's with these bugs?" She asked him smacking her lips. Noticing that more bugs were going down one of the tunnels than the other. "Where are they going?" She asked out loud and followed the direction the bugs were leading. Could she smell water? She didn't wait for Pyxis to lead or catch up.



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