[Trade] Chasing Rubies

Tarok yawned, they had been on a hike for a while and the thinner air up on the mountain range didnt help him with fighting back against his slowly creeping in drowsiness.

Infront of him walked Aki with more than his usual pepp in step and infront of the small jade colored chaser walked Tony, his two tails gently swaying behind him as he walked. The pickaxe secured on Tonys waist reflected the sunlight every so often.

"It shouldn't be far from here." said Tony, tossing the words over his shoulder toward his two travelling companions. When Tarok looked up he believed what Tony said, after all the peak of the mountain seemed so close from here, but mayhaps it was just perspective or wishful thinking fooling him into believing that.

"So what are we actually looking for today?" asked Aki, who apparently hadn't paid attention when the group had gone over this before they set out on their trek.

"Are we chasing stories again?" added the small chaser, this question more pointed than the last.

Tony raised an eyebrow and then chuckled. "No, no, Aki my friend, of course we aren't chasing stories. There is a lot of valuable materials on mountains, its just about us going up there and finding them. Especially precious stones hiding within the mountain walls." he whistled to indicate that these gems were worth quite a bit of cash.

Tarok nodded, quickening his step momentarily to walk beside Aki on the mountain path. "I'm mainly interested in fossils myself. That or meteorites. Maybe we will find something." added the greencoated puller with a soft smile, which was enough to playcate Aki.

"Fine fine," he waved a paw dismissively. "Just no more pranks please, my paranoia can't take that." Tony chuckled at the small chasers words, but nodded, electing to play nice at least for now.

The trio would continue their ascend toward the mountaintop at a steady pace. Tarok especially enjoyed the view. The snowcapped mountaintops were beautifully contrasted by the lush greens at the foot of the mountain. Meadows and forests as far as the eye could see. He could spot birds of prey circling in the distance and when he strained his eyes a bit he could even make out a herd of sheep at the bottom of the mountain which were currently being herded by another reosean and a human.

The small colorful flowers growing throughout the greenery made for a vibrant landscape that would put anyones mind at ease. Well at least those of people who weren't afraid of heights.

Soon the trio made it to the top of the mountain and Tony retrieved his trusty pickaxe from his side, enthusiastically glancing around the rocks atop this rocky plateau he was already mapping out in his mind where he would strike with his trusty implement first.

Aki stayed close to Tarok whilst Tony got to work helping the puller look at the various rocks that Tony was dragging up and checking them for prehistoric plant fossils or similar, yet the two of them had little luck. Tarok however was enjoying getting to spend time with Aki regardless of them not finding what he was looking for.

"Maybe we need to try a different spot." offered Aki pensively, he was intent on finding something for Tarok and hoped that starting at a new location might help with achieving just that, yet Tony shook his head. "I've gotten a good chunk of common stones out of the way, if we go a bit deeper I'm sure we will find something, after all... look." he pointed toward his digging site, a gleam of something red catching the other twos eyes. Looking closer they could see the tiniest ruby hiding amongst the rocks in the wall.

"Help me clear out some of the debris please. Where theres one precious stone, more are sure to hide closeby." said Tony glancing toward Aki and Tarok who stopped looking through the larger chunks of rock that Tony had unearthed and rather commenced helping him clear the excavation site. The puller and chaser worked together, digging and dragging pieces of rock to the side to allow Tony a cleaner workspace where the ruby should it fall wouldnt vanish from sight if it would fall amongst all the rubble.

Once cleared Tony continued to swing away at the stone wall and soon the ruby laid before the trio of reoseans, all of them curiosly glancing down at it.

"Its pretty." noted Aki, enamored by the vibrant red gemstone infront of them. Tarok as well as Tony nodded before the later stashed it in a leather satchel, netting audible protest from the chaser. "Hey don't just pocket that-" to which Tony shook his head. "I don't intend to, but I want to continue digging and would hate to lose that ruby."

Aki nodded, understanding why Tony had pocketed it. The trio would continue digging for quite some time, unearthing a handful of precious gems in the process.