S a l e t é I I

XVI - Griffes - Cinq

The girls were left with either a left or right turn as they reached the end of the road they'd been following, after their stint in the alleys and paths concealed by the numerous houses. Straight ahead was a reasonably high wall made of the corrugated metal, its top lined with generous amounts of barbed wire, the barrier that it formed running all the way in either direction.

Cassia figured that this was the junkyard's fence.

It must have been about nine feet tall, the wire that topped it sometimes draping down across the mismatched panels, boarded up missing sections present in several locations. The metal itself often wasn't in the best condition, and many of those repairs were on the basic side, but everything still stood mostly firm.

That and those spikes still looked sharp.

"The entrance is down this road, but we're not going in right away." Monet said to Cassia as she continued to lead her companions, taking the right turn now.

This area was certainly busier, and they shared the route with others both coming and going, almost everyone carrying a bag or bags of various sizes with them, either already loaded or set to be loaded during their trips. Like seemingly everyone else within the reaches of Lower Merveille, these individuals were almost always rugged in appearance in some way or another, with dirty hands or faces, untidy hair, patched up clothes and weary eyes being frequent features.

Men made up most of those around them, with only a few women present.

They weren't as unpolished as they could have been, and efforts had been made to preserve appearances where possible, even if those efforts were minimal. The fact that everyone was on equal footing was something that Cassia found... Oddly comforting.

Hopefully, it would mean that being judgemental was off of the table.

Eventually, a fairly wide opening appeared to their left, an entrance into the grounds of the junkyard itself,although Cassia couldn't get a very good look due to the higher number of people. Voices formed a haze of noise in which she could hear everything from laughter amongst people who must have been friends, to fair discussions, to less than civil exchanges.

The air was warmer here... And she didn't know whether that was something to feel comfortable about or not.

The road they'd been following for a while now began to curve, the barrier to their left curvingwith it. Uliana was still upbeat, clearly glad to be out and about, and so Cassia felt fine in asking a few more questions.

"Is everyone allowed to go into the junkyard?"

"Yes, which is both helpful and hindering." Monet replied, once again without looking back.

"Mhm. It's why Monet doesn't really like the place." Uliana clarified, leaning closer to Cassia for a moment.

"I don't mind the place, it's the people I dislike. They have a habit of causing trouble." Monet replied.

"What kind of trouble?" Cassia asked, even if she could make a few guesses.

She recalled what Monet had told her at the beginning of their current outing. Asking was simply her way of abiding by that lesson.

"People sometimes get into fights over anything good they find. It's honestly kind of stupid." Uliana said, the older girl soon expanding upon this.

"Others will wait for people to do the searching for them, so that they can steal from them as they leave."

"R-really?"

"I've seen it happen. This is why we always travel as a group, it makes these incidents much less likely to involve us." Monet explained, her reasoning soothing Cassia at least a little.

Each outing only made her more thankful for ending up with them, her old desire to be helpful reaffirmed right along with that gratitude.

"You'll be fine, Cassia. I won't let anybody hurt you." Monet said.

"I'll look after you too, obviously." Uliana was quick to add, the girl in red not especially impressed by this comment.

"You'll probably be the one to start the trouble, if there is any."

"You need to come up with some better insults." Uliana replied, already smirking again as she continued.

"At least I keep you on your toes! Without me, you'd be totally dull."

"And what if I enjoy being dull?" Monet replied, an eyebrow raised, her expression a reward to the younger lass.

Jabs aside, they seemed to be getting somewhere.

"It's not much further."

Monet drew Cassia's attention back to the road ahead, which looked as if it would be ending soon, more buildings coming up in front them. Upon closer inspection, these structures didn't block the way ahead entirely, as a small path remained between them and the barrier.

It was verging on being a bit of a squeeze, but they were able to get through without much difficulty, more cluttered alleys awaiting beyond the initial passage.

"Living right next to the yard must be pretty handy, don't you think?" Uliana began as the three of them kept moving, slowing their pace a little to avoid some of the disordered fixtures taking up space on the smaller route they'd chosen.

Bags of rubbish had been left in this area, despite the presence of a literal dumping ground on the other side of the wall immediately to their left. Cassia didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You'd be able to call dibs on everything that gets dumped there."

"Many people come from afar to wait for newly arrived loads. There's no telling who will get to sort through it all first." Monet replied, which sounded as if it was something that Uliana had already understood.

The thought of waiting around for what could very easily turn out to be actual garbage didn't sound like the most riveting or pleasant way in which to spend one's time. Even so, and in spite of everything she believed about cleanliness, Cassia could understand why people would be willing to do it.

"Do you do that? Come and wait, I mean?" She asked the older girl.

"No. It would be nice to get the first pickings, but it's during those early times that most of the squabbling occurs. I avoid it."

"It's not awful. We always come away with something." Uliana added, to which the girl in red nodded.

After navigating those cramped alleyways for only a short time, the girls stepped out into what looked like a small courtyard of sorts between mismatched houses of varying heights, with that ever-present barrier wall still to their left. This time, however, that barrier was adorned with an assortment of scaffolding that had been set up to mend the top segment of the boundary, which looked as if it had been there for a good while without any repairs actually being made.

Even the platforms that made it up had needed repairs at some point. Half of them were dipping to one side, with an assortment of bins and barrels being used to prop them up. Whatever work had been started here, Cassia was sure that it was never going to be finished.

That did, however, leave it open for use. By climbing the framework, they would have been able to see over the wall due to the damage it had sustained. This was very clearly their vantage point.

"Are we allowed up there?" Cassia asked, realising too late that she'd most likely just asked a silly question.

"Nobody will care." Monet replied, simply enough.

Uliana went ahead to test the scaffolding, making sure that it had remained durable in the time since their last visit - whenever that had been. She tested the main beams by attempting to give them a shake, and whilst the frame did move slightly, it took some considerable effort from her to get it to do so. For the most part, it looked sturdy.

For the most part.

"Looks good." She assured her companions, after which she set about starting to hoist herself up, Cassia and Monet both awaiting their turn as she went.

Whether or not it would hold the three of them all at once was the latest concern in the newcomer's mind.