The morning air stung the snake's cold blooded body as he walked a poorly beaten trail out into the wilderness surrounding Alvadas. When first he had taken off, Svan had encountered easily wandered through the gently rolling valley that the city was nestled in. Now however, the snake was crossing through the rough mountains that bordered the valley. The trail he walked was a new one that was likely made by travelers crossing earlier in the spring than him. Svan sank to the ground and let his hand brush over the trail. It was a rough path made of dirt, and formed by nothing more than the beatings of feet as travelers made their way out of the valley. This far from the city the trail was little more than a shadow on the ground, and dew covered bits of grass shot up through the brown dirt as nature worked to reclaim the land. The real problem wasn't that the trail was small though, the problem was that it was thinning.
Standing back up Svan climbed over a rock and surveyed the land ahead. The path he was now walking winded into a pass that split two ways. Unfortunately, Not only did the trail split at that point, but it disappeared all together. Apparently these roads where not well traveled. The snake hopped of the rock and continued down the path. As he approached the fork in the road, Svan pulled out his map and glanced over it. The dhani squinted as he tried to find some sort of clue of where to go with the map. Releasing a sigh of defeat, Svan looked down at the trails and noticed something he hadn't seen before. Large beastly paw prints marked the ground to his left. A brief memory of once seeing a
rashkari violently tear into its meal was all Svan needed to make his decision to take the other route.
This was a decision that Svan soon came to regret as he realized that the path he now took was much steeper than the other. Straining under the weight of his luggage, Svan managed to call and pull his way up the rocky surface. After several long minutes of working his way up, Svan paused to catch his breath. While he was naturaly strong, he wasn't built for this kind of work. The snake streched his aching fingers and muttered to himself,
"There just HAS to be an easier way." His eyes scanned over the course ahead and came to rest on a large rock above him that protruded out of the earth.
"Hello there."After fishing through his backpack Svan produced a length of rope. He adjusted the rope until he held both ends in his hands, and then with his strongest throw he shot the middle of the rope over the protruding rock. The rope lassoed its way around the boulder and Svan pulled it until it was taut. After a few test tugs to check how secure it was, Svan let a proud make its was over his face and jumped over the ledge. For a brief few moments he was sure that something would break and he would fall to his death bellow. Luckily, instead of breaking, the rope held and the dhani was able to sidle his way over and up the mountain with ease. After he did this two more times he began to wonder what was so difficult about rock climbing, and on the third time preforming this maneuver he received his answer.
The rock he had wrapped his rope around the third time was weaker than the previous two, and shortly after Svan attempted to climb the up the side of the mountain the rock broke. Immediately the snake began to flail in a vain attempt to grasp something to hold on to, but as his arms trace arcs through the air they met nothing but smooth surfaces. Svan tumbled backwards and began to roll uncontrollably down the sloped surface. He made a brief attempt to morph his hands to get a better grip, but his efforts were quickly stopped by the slamming of his head against the rough mountainous surface. Quietly, Svan slipped into unconsciousness with the expectation of never waking again.
Which of course left Svan incredibly relieved when he later woke to find him self not only alive, but largely uninjured. While he would never know, being knocked unconsciousness had saved his life. While in this state, his body was able to absorb the shock of the blows with ease when he had fallen down the moderate incline. Of course since Svan didn't know this, the only thought that passed through his mind was
Shyke my head hurts. Petching mountain, petching rock, petching- is that blood? Am I bleeding?! Oh no, am I gonna die? I'm gonna die out in the middle of nowhere, and no one will remember poor ol... wait, whats my name?! Why can't I remember my name!!! The snake paced back and forth in a frenzied fashion until he finally remembered who he was. Once calm, he let out a exhausted sigh and clutched the back of his head to stop the bleeding.
After a few moment of breathing slowly, Svan's senses returned and he remembered what he was doing. He moved over to a low edge and climbed it. With his newly claimed vantage point he was able to see that he had gotten past a good deal of the mountainous area and before him stretched another valley filled with scattered forests and beyond that was the sea. He cast a look back and saw that there was a trail bellow him as well. This one was likely the same path that had the paw markings earlier. He wondered briefly if that path would have been easier than the one he had taken, but the thought was pushed away by the sound of his stomach growling. The dhani hopped down the ledge and walked down into the coastal valley. As he did so he notice the next array of mountains to his right which were taller and longer than the last. His stomach growled once more, and Svan decided that if he was going to make a plan to get through the mountain range it would be better if he had a full stomach. Never one to waste rations Svan decided that if there was some woodland to hunt in he might as well use it. With supplies strapped to his back, Svan moved down the earthy path into the valley
