Lion Head Mesa We were cut from the same stone.

Sub-territory inspired by this park in Arizona (example, example, example) - throwing this up as a RO but I'll make references in future posts.

Nazli had time to waste, which was rare, but she was not needed and she had much on her mind.

The scrubland gave way the further south she ran. Nothing grew here; the ground was hard like dry clay, with ledges leading up to slatted mesa segments or down in to pock-mark valleys, some which looked to be no wider than her own hips. Spidering paths every which way.

She decided to keep to the high ground and avoid the potential for hidden danger, such as snakes in the cooler and deeper portions, and found something wholly new as she went. The above paths led to a forest of sorts - nothing that stood tall and proper as a living forest ought to, but once maybe it was alive and thriving.

Now, these massive trees were stuck on their sides. They had petrified in to stone (or something very near to it), with some log segments being triple her height or more - five, six, maybe ten times that - and when Nazli found them, she thought they were curiously smooth boulders. She thought her path had taken her across these high pieces of mesa and flat rock, when in reality she had been dancing from ledge to ledge of petrified wood.

Everything looked to be eroded; everything dry, dessicated beyond anything she'd ever seen before. Her head bowed to inspect the surfaces with some reverence, as this was the work of Ra, most assuredly - she had never been so certain of the gods as she was in these moments.

On her return she would bring with her a piece of stone layered as if it were wrapped in bark, as it was, and there were inches of rich red-brown encircling a stony core. The object was a little wider than her muzzle and easy enough to carry; she would present it first to Senmut and see what he had to say about it; then maybe Makono, if it was a suitable gift - though it was not rare by any means, she had not seen the likes of it within Akashingo.