S a l e t é I I

XVI - Griffes - Six

Cassia took one last look around the murky courtyard before she stepped up and allowed Uliana to assist her with scaling the platforms. They wobbled again slightly as she took the girl's hand, bracing herself for the imminent effort.

"I've got you. One, two..."

Uliana began her attempt to hoist her up onto the first elevated level, giving Cassia the boost that she needed to reach the edge, after which she was able to climb up without further assistance. She felt a little unsteady at first as she got to her feet, her fears regarding the stability of the scaffolding eventually proven to be misplaced, as it all held beneath the two of them.

Monet stepped forward, jumping up and getting a hold of the edge of the same platform by herself. Cassia had been about to offer some help when the older girl pulled herself up without much effort, practically no hesitation occurring between the actions. The framework rattled again, though this too was slight, much to the new girl's relief.

"Take a look. Cassia, can you see?"

Now that they were higher up, and thanks to the broken segment along the top of the barrier here, Cassia found that they were indeed able to look out across a sizeable area of the junkyard, which was situated below at the base of slopes that enclosed it as a whole, placing the whole zone at a deeper point than all of the land that surrounded it. Such geography only made their vantage point more effective, although it wasn't completely perfect.

Much like the streets they'd been navigating to reach their current spot, the junkyard was dotted with lights of various styles, evidently arranged by residents or those visiting for the sake of practicality. They varied in quality, some standing as meagre wards against the darkness whilst others were valiant in keeping it at bay, all of them coming together to form what was, overall, a decent glow.

Cassia could see two entrances - the one they'd walked by earlier and another on the far side of the zone, this one being large enough to accommodate large vehicles. No other ways in or out were visible, and the perimeter barrier that ringed the area was in strong condition for the most part, leading her to believe that those two routes really were the only ones.

Aside from that wider road leading away through that larger exit, the only thing beyond the far barrier walls was more rough housing.

How big was Lower Merveille, anyway? How long did it go on for? Hadn't Monet once said that part of it was exposed to the sea? Cassia still couldn't make out anything in the way of daylight at all.

Daylight... Now that would have been a good find.

The main features of the view before her were, of course, the numerous mounds of what looked to be indistinguishable garbage. A closer look enabled her to begin making out certain things amongst those darkened heaps, however, such as old appliances, tangled metalwork, a myriad of bags of all sizes and much, much more.

Many of those bags had split, leading to their contents spewing across the other rubbish and the paths marking the area. Cassia was able to catch the less than ideal smell hanging in the air from where they currently were, which didn't get her too excited for actually descending further into the grounds.

These heaps of trash, many of them piled considerably high and separated by a network of curving paths and dirt intersections, all came together to form an unpleasant sort of maze. Cassia could understand now why getting a look from afar before heading in was a wise idea, although the layout wasn't the only thing to attract her attention; there was movement in that low lighting, often subtle, undeniable to a focused eye.

It was difficult to really make out who anyone in particular was, but they could at least see roughly how many people were in each area. Those who were around others must have been forming groups of sorts, and people were very rarely alone, with pairs acting as the smallest parties. Most were busy sorting through things, whether they were searching vaguely or digging through in a concentrated effort, some of those larger groups of three or four individuals combining their efforts.