Dust And Snow

[Amaterasu]

When Amaterasu and Urist approached the site that Murasaki had marked for them, the goddess wrinkled her nose.

“Wha’s the matter?” asked Urist, noticing her displeased look.

“The smell of powder lingers in the air. Don’t you smell it too?”

“Mmmh, nae ah don’... bu’ yer nose’s finer’n mine, aye?”

“Well… that’s true. In any case, powder. The sort that the Nipponese used for fireworks… it smells like a lot of it exploded. Did they have a workshop here that got blown sky-high?”

Urist sniffed the air as his nose began picking up a scent too. “Ah, there it is… ah, tha’s the smell o’ gunpowder. Don’ think it’s too abnormal though, ah mean… we’re talkin’ ‘bout a minin’ operation, aye?”

“Indeed, but there was also mention of trapped miners… perhaps an explosion caused a cave-in?”

“Tha’s definitely possible… this sorta gunpowder gets used fer Blast Minin’ by dwarves too. It’s a dangerous tool though, ‘specially if it gets used by someone who doesn’t use it properly.”

As they drew close to the site - a mining camp with a very obvious mine entrance, surrounded by storage sheds and other buildings - Urist wasted no time. He jumped off the Nimbus as Amaterasu slowed down and rushed ahead into the mine, following the feeling in his gut, while the goddess first found a spot to leave the mount at and followed at a more moderate pace.

Inside the mine Urist accelerated his rush down the shaft as if he were pursued by the devil himself. He skipped the lift and ladder rungs, instead he simply grasped the lift rope with his gloved hands and slid down along it, and did the same with the ladders that got in his way. The smell of used gunpowder grew stronger with every step and that spurred him on.

Finally he came to the end of the shaft, and saw himself confronted with… an oversized feline? He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Oi, puss. Get outta here, it ain’t safe.”

“Be careful what you say, dwarf”, the cat replied much to his astonishment. She turned to him and transformed as she did, until a young human stood before him. She didn’t look very happy. “Are you one of the miners?”

Urist blinked, astounded at her sharp tongue. “Nay. Ah’m here because-”

“Then leave again. I can handle this on my own.” She turned back and looked ready to ignore the nuisance that had interrupted her work.

“Hold on!” Urist raised his voice. Not the best course of action in an unstable mine, but he refused to let this girl jerk him around. “Ah’m here ta help. An’ ah wouldn’ recommend tryin’ ta remove that rock I saw ye digging around unless ye wanna bury yerself alive.”

“What?” She sounded miffed to have her actions questioned, but at least she didn’t ignore him any longer. Urist calmed a little.

“Let me take a look, girl. Ah’ve had me share o’ minin’ operations before, an- Bruenor’s Beard…!”

The girl had shifted to the side and let the lantern she had beside her cast its light on an enormous raw ruby. It was a gem unlike anything he’d seen before. Of course, a Prime as King Bruenor could just summon a gem this size if they wanted, but for it to occur naturally… the greed native to all dwarves glimmered in his eyes and he walked forward, reaching out to touch the gem. He wanted it.

A forceful tug on his collar tore him back into reality, and away from the gem. “What do you think you’re doing?!” the girl’s voice rung sharp as a knife.

“That ruby, ah want ta…”

“That’s a Red Dust crystal, you idiot! Have you no idea how volatile these things are?” She shoved him back and Urist stumbled and landed on his rump. “If that thing blows up there won’t be enough left of you to fill a matchbox with.”

The dwarf blinked. “Dust crystal? What’re ye talkin’ about?”

Just as Amber was about to tell the dwarf that she had no time for expansive lectures a new set of footsteps, these treading softer than Urist’s boots, filled the cave. Soon Amaterasu came down.

Both her and Amber’s neck hair involuntarily stood on end as they saw each other. However, Amaterasu pushed the feeling back and bowed. “Good day”, she said. “You must be Amber… I’m Amaterasu, and I see you’ve already met Urist. Your friend Murasaki gave us directions here and pointed out that you might need some aid.”

“I don’t. And yes, I’m Amber, but there’s no time for pleasantries. There are miners trapped down there and our time is short. I have to break them out before something worse happens.”

“That is why we’re here”, Amaterasu insisted patiently but firmly. “I am a Prime with… an extent of powers that could aid you down here, and Urist has a fair amount of mining experience.”

“And that goes out the window as soon as he sees a sparkly gem”, Amber remarked with an angry glance at Urist, who was just getting up and dusting his backside off.

The dwarf had calmed enough by now that he didn’t snap back at the catgirl. “So, yer sayin’ tha’ this ehh… Dust crystal, tha’ it can explode?”

“As a rough estimate the gem behind us has enough energy to power Fort Amber for a year, by itself. Now imagine all that energy released at once.”

“Are those gems where the powder smell is coming from?” asked Amaterasu. When Amber nodded she stroked her chin. “In that case I should avoid using Cherry Bomb or Power Slash… Amber-san, have you tried using your Prime powers yet, to clear a path by de-summoning?”

The faunus’s ears perked a bit and her cheeks flushed. “Of course I have!” she replied, looking flustered. “I just haven’t felt it necessary yet. Anyway, your dwarf friend claims that it’s risky destabilizing the roof so we shouldn’t go about extracting Omnilium willy-nilly.”

“We could stabilize the walls and roof using our powers then”, suggested Amaterasu. “Urist, can you point us to which parts look least stable and we’ll create metal archways, roofs, walls and pillar supports to prevent the roof from collapsing? Amber-san, you are more familiar with these crystals than either of us are, so could you advise us on how to best handle them?”

“Ah can do tha’.”

“I… guess. Sure.”

“We’re sorry to jump on you like this”, she went on to say as she sat down on her knees, rump on her heels, and slowed her breathing to enter a state of focus. “I would like to speak to you afterwards, but it goes without saying that aiding these good people takes priority.”