Moving on past here, you will find a small wider area in the cave- and finally some Arachno- though only four of them and they aren’t terribly threatening. Arachno are also the first monster you will find that responds specifically to sound- running past them will cause them to attack you, but if you walk slowly (quietly), they’ll ignore you. Of course, you are probably much higher level than them, so you don’t even have to worry about it, since they won’t notice you on account of that.
Past the Arachno, you will enter another cave- but this one contains a rather grisly surprise. Three men in armor are lying here dead- traders from Colony 6. Though a bit surprised, Reyn admits that this explains why it has been so long since a trade shipment came from Colony 6. Shulk, however, is more interested in their wounds. He points them out to Reyn, who exclaims about their not being made by Mechon, but rather by monsters- probably something local. He expresses his pity over the fact they didn’t even die facing Mechon, but rather to common monsters. Shulk, on the other hand, seems to be more concerned with those who were left behind, the traders’ families and children. Reyn is confused by this and asks his friend why he brings the topic up- but Shulk just brushes it off as nothing. After spending a moment thinking, he points out that the three unfortunates should be returned to the Bionis.
Here the scene fades out, and when you return it’s to a view of the nearby pool- as you may have discovered in your conversations with the citizens of Colony 9, Homs tradition means returning the dead to the Bionis that gave them life. This generally means burial at sea, lake, or whatever body of water is available. Presumably this means that Reyn, with some help from Shulk, brought the traders to the pool and sank them to the bottom of it.
After a few moments the focus shifts to Reyn, who brings up to Shulk how tired he is after all of that hard work. Shulk suggests taking a break so as to be rested, and points out that if the monsters around are that dangerous, being tired is a good way to a bad end. As Reyn was the one doing most of the work, Shulk offers to take the first watch.
There’s another brief fade-out and then you get to see Shulk sitting in front of the fire as Reyn comes to take his turn at watch. Shulk is surprised at how short a time Reyn was resting, but Reyn admits that he didn’t actually sleep and because of this he still feels like he just did a set of practice drills.
