We should be! They're paying for our time going into the desert and the investigation we're doing to get them answers. "There's nothing there" is still an answer, even if it's one they don't want.
[she shrugs]
If they try not to pay us, it's gonna be a problem... for them.
[she will mind read them and find something to blackmail them with so they pay if they try to cheat them :/ ]
[this is truly a terrible duo to cheat money from so hopefully the adventurer's guild will not do that!
in any case, the rest of the trek to aaru village is easy enough. sure, they run into a few more hilichurls along the way, but that's nothing they can't handle. no sandstorms to speak of, which means the people back at caravan ribat were just paranoid, or they're going to have some trouble when they head further into the desert.
it's a bit before sunset when they arrive.]
I don't know why people back there were so worried. That was an easy walk.
[sheba stop judging people you barely know challenge...]
Anyway, we made pretty good time. It's probably safest if we set out for our investigation in the morning - unless you prefer to move through the desert at night when it's not as hot?
The heat doesn't necessarily bother me. I came pretty prepared for it.
[ so, he doesn't mind either way. ryo isn't particularly tired, but he realizes it would seem strange to not be even a little after they traveled so long and he isn't supposed to be used to desert travel, so. resting is fine.
We might as well get some rest and set out in the morning, in that case.
[better safe than sorry. sheba also doesn't feel particularly tired - but who knows how long that will last once they're trekking through the sand again.
she stretches a little as ryo digs through his bag, tilting her head slightly to one side with curiosity.]
I can gather some information from the locals tonight, too. The researchers we're looking for traces of likely stopped here on their way to their research site.
[so, maybe she can pluck some info out of their minds - even if they don't want to share it.]
[ hm, she really is a curious one. which has its pros and cons-- being stuck with someone on a mission who doesn't notice their surroundings usually ends up being a headache and more like babysitting. the downside is that she is obviously nosy.
he pulls out a small book. ]
I like to take notes.
[ which isn't a lie. sometimes you used to be a scholar and the habits do not die. ]
well this is weird. he is fairly sure he did not imagine that odd feeling earlier when she tried to mind read, but since it didn't happen again and he has no idea what it actually was, he can't really question it too hard.
for now, though, he reorganizes his belongings and will take this time alone to go through his phone. unfortunately childe is useless for asking things about sumeru and on the assumption that scaramouche is even alive in this timeline, that bitch doesn't use his phone so he is also useless. he puts his stuff away for now and will just take notes on what happened today. ]
[sheba has a couple of nice, pleasant conversations!
whenever she asks about the scholars they're looking for traces of, she gets the same answer - the scholars did pass through, and they did purchase some supplies, but they headed off into the desert on their own and haven't been back since. from what the people in the village are saying, how they vanished and what happened to them is a mystery.
but people don't always say everything they know, and as sheba concludes her last conversation with someone within ryo's line of sight, he'll see that as soon as she turns away from the villager, the smile drops off her face and she frowns.
once they've regrouped and found somewhere to talk (me, not remembering if there's an inn or if they're going to have to camp out) - ]
...they're hiding something. Everyone's telling me the scholars went into the desert on their own, but I overheard someone talking about how they'd brought along one of the Village Keepers with them.
[she actually read their mind and heard this, but unfortunately, the person whose mind she read did not think of the person's name.]
I guess it makes a little bit of sense that they might have accompanied them... Village Keepers were scholars at the Akademiya once. What doesn't make sense is the fact that the villagers are hiding it.
[ so it really is some sort of weird conspiracy then. it would be a lot simpler if it was just that they had gone into the desert unprepared and gotten horribly lost. those kinds of stories are pretty common, but...
ryo sighs. ]
Did they say which direction they went off to? It may not help narrow it down too much since the desert's large, but it's better than nothing.
They were going to head west first, to examine the area around the Mausoleum of King Deshret, and then head north from there to try to find the Eternal Oasis. Or, at least, that's what they were saying.
[she frowns, crossing her arms.]
...but I did overhear one of them mumbling about how they didn't know how they planned to get past the Tanit camps.
[ ryo's first thought is that this girl is somehow very good at eavesdropping at the right time.
his second thought is that at least they have a direction to head to. the problem with the desert is, again, even if you are headed to a specific location in it, it's so easy to get turned around-- all it takes is one bad sand storm. but knowing what spots they should have hit along the way would give them a general idea of the path the group should have taken. ]
... interesting. We can head that way in the morning, then. You're all stocked up?
[idly, sheba wonders how she would ever get anything done if she couldn't read minds. ah well. it's fine.]
Mhm, I'm good to go whenever.
[she does not seem at all daunted by the prospect of setting out for a trek through the desert, even though now it seems like there's a chance foul play might be involved. she is pretty confident in her ability to hold her own.]
[ it shouldn't take too long to reach their destination, and things might end up in a fight.
... which yeah, ryo isn't too worried about, but it is easier to deal with people when you are alone than with a witness around and sheba seems to be very observant so.
he will settle down to rest. well he goes to write down notes and then he will "rest" ]
well, not really. she is pretending to sleep. it's not especially obvious that she's just pretending, either - she'd more or less perfected the art of feigning sleep during her days as lord babi's "honored guest" in tolbi. but she can hear the rustle of papers and the skritch-scratch of whatever he's using to write, so she
blatantly violates his privacy and tries to mind read him again i'm sorry. you really waited for me to be done with work just to get this bullshit tag]
[ it works this time because he thinks she is asleep, but unfortunately he is not thinking anything too spicy or interesting-- it really is just about the quest and things like that.
the only thing that might be interesting, is that after a bit, he does think, i guess i should go see childe once this is taken care of.
not to fight him but just to see if anything interesting has happened. ]
[suspicious!! why is he thinking about a fatui harbinger!!
anyway, once her snooping is done, sheba will actually sleep.
she wakes up bright and early the next morning, refreshed and ready to go. onward to the west and the mausoleum of king deshret... however, as they're heading for the western exit of the village, they'll find that there's a young kid waiting for them there.
"You two are from the Adventurer's Guild, right?"
sheba glances at ryo, raising an eyebrow, and then turns her attention back to the kid to nod.]
That's right.
["I want to commission you. I have mora. I saved up my allowance for it..."]
[ that said... it is odd for him to have just been waiting for them. word might have spread around from sheba scoping out the village, but you never know. ]
But what is it?
[ on a surface level it seems like ryo is being nice to a child but he really just wants to know if this is a trap or not. ]
[well, sheba is now invading this kid's privacy and reading his mind as he talks to him. she does not have any way of sharing this with ryo, since she does not want to tell him that she can read minds, but the kid's thoughts at least line up with what he's saying.
"My uncle went into the desert with the scholars... everyone keeps saying it'll be fine and he'll come back and to not talk about it, but it's been too long. Since you're looking for the scholars anyway, could you find my uncle and bring him back home? I can pay you!"]
[sheba is paying closer attention to the mind reading now, just in case the kid tries to hide anything, but he does not. having decided to commission them, he's also decided to be an open book.
"He said... he said some of it had to do with topics that are forbidden for scholars at the Akademiya to be researching, so they would have to be very careful. But don't tell him I said that when you find him, okay? I'm only mentioning it in case it helps you think of a place to look... I don't know what kind of things are forbidden to research but maybe you do. You're adventurers!"
unfortunately they are also outlanders but sheba does not say that part.]
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[ like
if you don't know what you're doing, it wouldn't be too difficult to just die in the wilderness ]
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[she shrugs.]
If that's what happened, it's not gonna be easy to find anything unless we get really lucky.
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Would we still get paid, you think?
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[she shrugs]
If they try not to pay us, it's gonna be a problem... for them.
[she will mind read them and find something to blackmail them with so they pay if they try to cheat them :/ ]
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[ unfortunately ryo would just shoot them.
this is a really bad duo to try to cheat money from actually. ]
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in any case, the rest of the trek to aaru village is easy enough. sure, they run into a few more hilichurls along the way, but that's nothing they can't handle. no sandstorms to speak of, which means the people back at caravan ribat were just paranoid, or they're going to have some trouble when they head further into the desert.
it's a bit before sunset when they arrive.]
I don't know why people back there were so worried. That was an easy walk.
[sheba stop judging people you barely know challenge...]
Anyway, we made pretty good time. It's probably safest if we set out for our investigation in the morning - unless you prefer to move through the desert at night when it's not as hot?
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[ so, he doesn't mind either way. ryo isn't particularly tired, but he realizes it would seem strange to not be even a little after they traveled so long and he isn't supposed to be used to desert travel, so. resting is fine.
he goes to sift through his bag. ]
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[better safe than sorry. sheba also doesn't feel particularly tired - but who knows how long that will last once they're trekking through the sand again.
she stretches a little as ryo digs through his bag, tilting her head slightly to one side with curiosity.]
I can gather some information from the locals tonight, too. The researchers we're looking for traces of likely stopped here on their way to their research site.
[so, maybe she can pluck some info out of their minds - even if they don't want to share it.]
...looking for something?
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he pulls out a small book. ]
I like to take notes.
[ which isn't a lie. sometimes you used to be a scholar and the habits do not die. ]
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[she will not be taking notes, but that's because she has a good memory for this kind of thing (and can just read minds for a refresher anyway).
she makes a mental note to read his mind again once she spots him writing. for now, though...]
Okay, I'm gonna go ask around about the scholars. I'll let you know what I find out!
[away she goes to be social...]
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well this is weird. he is fairly sure he did not imagine that odd feeling earlier when she tried to mind read, but since it didn't happen again and he has no idea what it actually was, he can't really question it too hard.
for now, though, he reorganizes his belongings and will take this time alone to go through his phone. unfortunately childe is useless for asking things about sumeru and on the assumption that scaramouche is even alive in this timeline, that bitch doesn't use his phone so he is also useless. he puts his stuff away for now and will just take notes on what happened today. ]
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whenever she asks about the scholars they're looking for traces of, she gets the same answer - the scholars did pass through, and they did purchase some supplies, but they headed off into the desert on their own and haven't been back since. from what the people in the village are saying, how they vanished and what happened to them is a mystery.
but people don't always say everything they know, and as sheba concludes her last conversation with someone within ryo's line of sight, he'll see that as soon as she turns away from the villager, the smile drops off her face and she frowns.
once they've regrouped and found somewhere to talk (me, not remembering if there's an inn or if they're going to have to camp out) - ]
...they're hiding something. Everyone's telling me the scholars went into the desert on their own, but I overheard someone talking about how they'd brought along one of the Village Keepers with them.
[she actually read their mind and heard this, but unfortunately, the person whose mind she read did not think of the person's name.]
I guess it makes a little bit of sense that they might have accompanied them... Village Keepers were scholars at the Akademiya once. What doesn't make sense is the fact that the villagers are hiding it.
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[ so it really is some sort of weird conspiracy then. it would be a lot simpler if it was just that they had gone into the desert unprepared and gotten horribly lost. those kinds of stories are pretty common, but...
ryo sighs. ]
Did they say which direction they went off to? It may not help narrow it down too much since the desert's large, but it's better than nothing.
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[she frowns, crossing her arms.]
...but I did overhear one of them mumbling about how they didn't know how they planned to get past the Tanit camps.
[she heard them thinking that, actually.]
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his second thought is that at least they have a direction to head to. the problem with the desert is, again, even if you are headed to a specific location in it, it's so easy to get turned around-- all it takes is one bad sand storm. but knowing what spots they should have hit along the way would give them a general idea of the path the group should have taken. ]
... interesting. We can head that way in the morning, then. You're all stocked up?
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Mhm, I'm good to go whenever.
[she does not seem at all daunted by the prospect of setting out for a trek through the desert, even though now it seems like there's a chance foul play might be involved. she is pretty confident in her ability to hold her own.]
Let's get some rest and head out early.
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[ it shouldn't take too long to reach their destination, and things might end up in a fight.
... which yeah, ryo isn't too worried about, but it is easier to deal with people when you are alone than with a witness around and sheba seems to be very observant so.
he will settle down to rest. well he goes to write down notes and then he will "rest" ]
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...
well, not really. she is pretending to sleep. it's not especially obvious that she's just pretending, either - she'd more or less perfected the art of feigning sleep during her days as lord babi's "honored guest" in tolbi. but she can hear the rustle of papers and the skritch-scratch of whatever he's using to write, so she
blatantly violates his privacy and tries to mind read him again i'm sorry. you really waited for me to be done with work just to get this bullshit tag]
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the only thing that might be interesting, is that after a bit, he does think, i guess i should go see childe once this is taken care of.
not to fight him but just to see if anything interesting has happened. ]
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anyway, once her snooping is done, sheba will actually sleep.
she wakes up bright and early the next morning, refreshed and ready to go. onward to the west and the mausoleum of king deshret... however, as they're heading for the western exit of the village, they'll find that there's a young kid waiting for them there.
"You two are from the Adventurer's Guild, right?"
sheba glances at ryo, raising an eyebrow, and then turns her attention back to the kid to nod.]
That's right.
["I want to commission you. I have mora. I saved up my allowance for it..."]
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[ that said... it is odd for him to have just been waiting for them. word might have spread around from sheba scoping out the village, but you never know. ]
But what is it?
[ on a surface level it seems like ryo is being nice to a child but he really just wants to know if this is a trap or not. ]
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"My uncle went into the desert with the scholars... everyone keeps saying it'll be fine and he'll come back and to not talk about it, but it's been too long. Since you're looking for the scholars anyway, could you find my uncle and bring him back home? I can pay you!"]
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I see. That should be fine then. Did you uncle tell you anything about it before he left with them?
[ tries to dig for any information. ]
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"He said... he said some of it had to do with topics that are forbidden for scholars at the Akademiya to be researching, so they would have to be very careful. But don't tell him I said that when you find him, okay? I'm only mentioning it in case it helps you think of a place to look... I don't know what kind of things are forbidden to research but maybe you do. You're adventurers!"
unfortunately they are also outlanders but sheba does not say that part.]
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We'll be off, then.
[ they were already off before they got interrupted. but once they head out, he'll glance at sheba. ]
We seem to have gotten ourselves into a mess.
[ this is getting more complicated than a simple rescue mission. ]
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