Ian crouched down to his knees, his hand pushing aside the remains of a once-large ore rock. The faint glint of silver ore made the miner smile. All he needed was one more piece and he'd be able to upgrade his hammer. He got back to his feet and wandered around in search of more. When his eyes caught the lump in a corner, he walked towards it.

He rubbed his hands together, lifted his hammer over his head, and-

RING!

"Sh-!" Ian hissed, stumbling with the heavy weight over his head. The tool made a dull thump as it hit the ground. Ian cursed at himself for forgetting to turn his cell phone to silent. He pulled the annoying item from his pocket and stared at the illuminated banner on the front.

"Kasey! Ugh..." His grip tightened around the phone. Then he opened it and pressed the receiver to his ear. "What do you want? I'm in the mines."

"Oh wow, I didn't know you got signal down there. That's cool."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Is there a reason you called me?"

Static made Ian flinch a little. Then Kasey's voice came again. "I wanted to come mine with you."

"But you hate mining since you can never find anything."

"I know, but I wanted to give Renee something. She's been feeling bad the last few days and I...I don't know...I just wanted to give her something to cheer her up a bit."

Ian chuckled. "Okay I'll meet you by the entrance." He pressed the disconnect and lifted his hammer out of the small hole it created when he dropped it. The miner was just about to head down the stairs when the ore he was about to break caught his eyes yet again. He quickly pulled out his hammer once more and slammed it into the rock.

A deep blue stood out from the black. Rare ore. Ian suddenly felt the need to do a fist pump in celebration of his new find. He needed to stop hanging around Luke so much. He shoved the ore in his bag and shuffled down the stairs.


"Yo, dude." Kasey greeted once Ian had made it from the higher levels of the mines. "You look like you have a bunch of stuff. Good haul?"

Ian nodded, dumping some of the ores and wonderfuls in the shipping bin so he could get them refined later. He slung the rucksack back over his shoulder and nodded towards the opening. "Let's go." When the two of them got inside, Kasey was a little taken back. The first time he had been in here had been his last, but still. When did that second staircase get here?

"Surprised? Owen and I found this opening last summer." Kasey nodded, figuring Ian had a whole story to tell.

"We had Calvin research them a little. He found out that they are duplicate stairs to the ones that lead up to the top. It's not like the other path that has just a couple of rocks in the way, this path is completely covered. So much that I haven't gotten past the third floor."

"Wow."

"So what kind of jewel are you looking for? Diamonds and other white stones are plentiful in the upstairs as well as the yellow ones. Purple, green, and all the others are in the lower levels."

Kasey snorted, picking up a hammer that was leaning against the wall. "You sound way too formal or whatever. A guess an amethyst. She has a some amethyst earrings I've seen her wear before. I could make a necklace or something to match."

The two men went ahead and descended, the temperature increasing by every floor. After the 15th floor, Kasey had to stop to wipe the sweat that was getting in his eyes. "Damn, is there a volcano down here or something!"

"Yeah, something like that."

The fishermen blinked. "Dude I was joking."

The miner grinned. "I wasn't. There is lava on the 30th floor. That's why it's so hot."

"Well duh."

Ian rolled his eyes, smashing his hammer into a clear crystal only to get a green wonderful. He sneered at the wrong wonderful, but picked it up nonetheless. Kasey heaved his hammer and slammed it into a crystal too, ending up with nothing. "I hate mining. I have terrible luck."

"You don't have bad luck. You just don't pick the right crystals. Go for that one in the corner."

Kasey mumbled under his breath, his hammer being dragged behind him. Kasey heard an unsettling crack and looked down. The place he had just stepped was crumbling, and his weight caused the rock to give away completely.

Ian called out his friend's name as he fell through the pit. "Kasey, are you alright?"

A moan came up through the darkness. "The things I do for that woman."

"Yeah, I probably should have warned you about the pitfalls."

"...I freaking hate you, Ian."

Ian found his way to the stairs and met Kasey on the floor below. To Ian's amazement, the cavern was practically filled wall-to-wall with crystals. He helped Kasey to his feet, and the two of them got started on searching for the right gem.

Kasey started to get a feel for the hammer as he gained practice, but on one of his swings, his hands slipped and the hammer slammed into the center of his boot. A sharp pain went through his entire body, his brain screaming at him to remove the tool from his foot. Ian winced at the sight and Kasey just stood there immobilized, his eye twitching.

"Ouch. That looked like it hurt." Ian said.

Kasey slowly turned his head towards him. "How about I show you how much it hurt?" He yelled, coming at Ian with hammer in hand. Ian shrieked, dropping his own tool and making a mad dash around the cave, Kasey limping behind him. When the fisherman made an attempt to slam his hammer into Ian's foot, he jumped out of the way. The iron collided with a wonderful that happened to spill out of Ian's bag.

The impact caused the jewel holder to crack and break open. The two stopped running when they heard the sound. Ian bent down to examine what was left of the purple wonderful.

"Holy cow." He muttered, standing up with something in his hand. Kasey dropped his hammer, asking what had happened. Ian turned around, the vibrant purple color standing out in the worn-down mining gloves Ian wore. "I told you you don't have bad luck." He said while smiling along with his friend. The two men headed back up the stairs, hammers in hand as they began their walk to the accessory shop.