As you head out from Djose Temple, you note that the sea to your left is surprisingly calm. Likewise, the fiend population along the highroad isn't as aggressive as they'd been the day before. This is much to Kaia's annoyance, who decidedly complains at every opportunity you aren't fighting something, but she's the only one who verbalises it. Chappu, to his credit, just looks bored, the flat of his blade against the back of his neck as he rests both hands at either end of the weapon.
It's as you're reloading your gun after a particularly brave oversized bee dive bombed Kaia that you focus on Shelinda. The young woman is… Focusing quite intently on the scenery around her, as if trying to figure something out. Could it be that she has an idea why the fiends aren't as active today?
Well, can't hurt to ask.
"What's on your mind, darlin'?"
The acolyte doesn't even glance your way as she responds, forgoing politeness in favor of scrutinizing the area as carefully and thoroughly as she possibly can.
"It's odd how few fiends are about today; I am just trying to see if I can spot any reason for their decreased presence, though I haven't noticed anything that would explain it quite yet."
"D'you know a lot about fiends?" Chappu asks casually, glancing in the priest's direction.
She hums, doing one last scan of the area, before finally turning and giving the group her full attention.
"I don't know if I would say a lot, but I am confident I know more than most, at least. The faith is quite stringent when it comes to teaching about the dangers of fiends, and rightly so."
You give a light hum, thumbing through a few of your rounds as you mull that over.
"Well, that's good news for us. Since you haven't warned us, though, I'm gonna' guess nothing's coming to mind?"
The acolyte shakes her head, looking faintly worried and clutching her newfound rod just the slightest bit tighter.
"No, and that worries me more than if I did find some manner of explanation. As things stand, I have no idea as to the cause, when by all rights, there should be even more fiends then there were yesterday."
There was definitely something going on here, and while under normal circumstances you might be interested enough to check it out, you had other plans today.
"Whatever the reason, we've got a cache to track down," you announce as you slip a hand into a pocket, "we can worry about the fiends later."
"You got it, boss man," Kaia says in a normal tone of voice for once, a vaguely disappointed look on her face before she perks right back up and lifts her massive blade single-handedly, "Hey, maybe we'll find the fiends while looking for this cache thing! They gotta be somewhere, right?"
That was… Unfortunately true. It's unlikely the fiends just up and vanished, so they had to be doing something.
Amnesiac activates! Intelligence test partial success!
Not having any real foundational experience to utilize makes figuring out anything interesting a lost cause - still, you give it some time to roll around in your head as the others deal with what few pitiful fiends there are still roaming the highroad. First and foremost was the obvious, if clearly ridiculous idea that there was another of those sinspawn roaming around, attracting fiends.
That's a great idea until you recall that the day before, the fiends had been on the rise. So far as you knew, fiends didn't migrate or anything like that, so it's not as if they'd just wandered off somewhere else because of the time of year. That only left someone maybe doing something while you weren't looking, or some other outside influence.
Neither of those sat well with you; partly because it didn't actually explain anything, and partly because you didn't really trust other people.
You don't have time to come to any real conclusions in the end, as you arrive back at the overlook on that fateful beach you'd woken up on. Staring out over the dead, grey sand, you can't help but grimace.
Nearly every single body is already gone. Washed away by the tide, or taken by fiends. What remains, though, isn't really a pretty sight.
"...Would that we could do more for them," Shelinda mutters from beside you, just loudly enough to be audible, gazing sadly at what few remnants there are, "None deserve a fate such as this."
Not really sure how to respond, you just reach up and readjust your hat, a quiet frown touching your lips. Fortunately, you're saved from having to do so by a large hand resting on your shoulder.
"Hey, cheer up!" Kaia orders, "We're still here, aren't we? And other people made it out too!"
A silence once more falls over your group as you all process that, before Shelinda once more breaks it.
"You're right," she says softly but with conviction, eyes hardening with resolve, "I must count my blessings where I can. And I must not allow myself to become blind to the plights of the living."
"That's the spirit!" the warrior woman cheers, giving the acolyte a rough pat on the shoulder, sending her stumbling a few steps forward, "Keep it up, Shelly!"
While the two women have their short discussion, you turn your gaze back from the beach to the sheer cliffside behind you. It's a long way up, and that's likely exactly where this so-called cache is.
"You know how to get to the command center?" you ask, cutting over the end of the conversation with a serious tone.
It takes a moment, but Shelinda straightens, looking back to you with the faintest hint of embarrassment on her face.
"Yes, of course," she assures quickly, "Please, follow me."
And before you can respond, she turns and begins walking.
"Wait up a second, I had an idea."
She stops before she can take more than three steps, turning back to you, curious.
"What do you have in mind?"
You jerk a thumb towards the cliff by your side.
"Why don't we just climb it? Shouldn't take me long to make up some climbing equipment, courtesy of those tools the alchemists gave us."
The acolyte just stares at you for a few moments, before she turns to look at the cliff, her head slowly craning to look at the top of it, her eyes locking on it. Eventually, she turns back to you.
"I am… unsure I am strong enough to make the climb myself," she admits softly.
Only for Kaia to once more clap her on the shoulder.
"Don't worry 'bout a thing, Shelly! I'll just carry you up there! Piece of cake!"
What happens next is fascinating to watch. Shelinda instantly turns a bright red and is unable to look at any of you, or anything except the ground at her feet as she shakes her head furiously.
"No no no, there is no need for that, I assure you!" she responds hastily, looking beyond embarrassed at the very thought, "I will manage on my own, somehow! It cannot be so difficult with equipment to make it easier!"
… Maybe climbing isn't the best idea.
What's the right approach?
[] Just go the long way round. There's probably fiends, but that might mean stuff to loot, too.
[] Climb the cliff! Do it!
