Zach had never seen mountains before he had arrived in Lhavit. He thought he had seen mountains on his way up to the city gates, but oh how he had been wrong. Of course, what he had observed had been mountains, but up here in the untamed, vast emptiness... These were mountains. The Drykas paused for a brief moment, arrested by the sheer expanse of the vista surrounding him. He had been so focused on the track before him, setting one foot in front of the other, that he had not looked ahead properly to see what was out there.
And now that he did? If he wasn't already short of breath thanks to the thin air, the sight would have taken it away. The peaks rose and fell into the distance, each painted with trees of different colours and some topped with cloud. He imagined that not many people had ever had the chance to see this landscape. Zach almost wished that he had been better at painting so he could remember the sight forever.
A frigid gust of wind shocked the hunter out of his thoughts and back onto the path before him. Having rested his legs for a brief moment the muscles had cooled and protested at being put to use again, but he slowly warmed as he started to move once more. Small, weather rounded stones occasionally rolled away from his feet as he went, trudging along the never-ending path along the mountain.
Zach returned to alternating his gaze between the path ahead, and the ground at his feet. The occasional tracks he had been seeing became less and less common, and eventually he lost track of the blood spatters all together, not realising that the colour had changed up here to blend in with the ground that it fell upon. There was only one way he could reliably move however, and that was along the path. Periodically he would stoop to peer closer at the ground as he went, relief sparking when he would spot a small impression left by what could only be the little fox.
All notions of a hunt were lost from the Drykas hunters mind as he fixed his gaze on the single winding path ahead. There was only one option now and that was to see his decision through. He had no idea what the end of that would actually entail, but he hoped that he would reach it before he found himself stuck out here with no chance of return.
As the path stopped heading upwards and instead started to snake across the side of the mountainside, Zach hesitated. He had not even realised quite how high up he was. This tiny mountain path was no Lhavit street, streets that were safe distances from the edges of the Peaks. This landscape was just about as alien as it could get for him, and now he fully understood why the Lhavitians found the idea of horses so amusing.
Zach shook his head once and stepped forward. And stepped again, and again. Eventually he pulled his thoughts away from the sheer side of the mountain below and focused on moving forward. Always forwards. His brow furrowed as he eventually came across an abrupt change in the path ahead. He slowed his steps as he approached, noticing that the path seemed to peter out somewhat. He glanced down first noting the dense foliage below, and then up to see that part of the mountainside appeared to have fallen down onto the path he was traversing.
As careful as he tried to be with his approach, Zach's feet still slid beneath him, the soles of his feet gliding over loose stones. Still, he made it to the place he had been aiming for, and crouched to examine the rockfall closer to try and discern what options he might have.
It was at that moment he felt it. One foot went first and the Drykas was too slow to stop the other from following. Instinctively he tightened his hand into a vice grip around his bow, holding his most prized possession tight against his chest. Zach's mind emptied as he fell, the world spinning around him in flashing colours of grey, white, green and brown, over and over and over. He felt things hitting him but the pain didn't register, so shocked was his mind at the reality of what was happening.
It felt like he had been falling for an eternity when an impact so sudden and so hard jolted his mind into sharp awareness. Pain flooded his body, lights popping behind his eyes as he felt his shoulder snap in a way it was never designed to do. Before he could even clear his vision, Zach felt himself tip forward again darkness surrounding him as he fell through the floor of the mountain.
Dirt and small stones scraped at his skin as he landed and slid, finally, to a stop. For a few chimes Zach lay where he was, not daring to move lest the mountain throw him off again. Slowly, he cracked open an eyelid to find himself in near-darkness, lying on the ground in some sort of cave. His bow was still clasped in his hand, miraculously having survived the fall. Zach glanced up at the cave roof to see the distant opening he had clearly entered through.
A growl sounded from somewhere off to the side, and without thinking Zach leapt to his knees. Pain lanced through his shoulder and the hunter hissed through his teeth. His eyes darted round the dimly lit cave and came to rest on the snow white fur of the little fox that had led him here in the first place. Without taking his eyes off the creature, he carefully tested his shoulder. The pain was incredible, but he managed to discern that it thankfully wasn't broken, but dislocated.
For a couple of chimes Zach watched the poor fox try to put distance between them, clearly scared by the presence of the hunter. He remained still as it tried to leap up to a ledge without success, its ruined foreleg proving useless in the situation. As the fox resorted to stuffing itself into a small nook, Zach's eyes finally fell on the other exit to the cave. He would need to pass the fox to do it, and he had no idea how it would react if he moved any closer. The hunter hoped that the small pack he carried with him had fallen somewhere nearby too. He knew he would at least need the water he kept in there soon.
His eyes fell again onto the Misty Fox, snarling quietly at him from its corner. The little creature had made it this far with its injury, so there was clearly life in it yet. If the fox would allow him to, Zach would try to help it in some way. He had limited supplies with him usually, but the most immediate matter to attend to was his shoulder.
Not taking his gaze from the fox, even for a moment, Zach lowered himself back onto the ground till he was lying on his back. He didn't really know what he was doing, but there were vague recollections from various hunting injuries collected by his friends over the years back in Endrykas. At the very least, he assumed he would need to have the back of his shoulder supported to have any chance of success, and the ground was the closest thing to hand. He didn't fancy wandering off inside the dark cave to find a suitable wall. He bent his elbow out at 90 degrees from his body, and began to rotate his shoulder upwards so that his hand approached the top of his head.
The pain was incredible, like nothing he had ever experienced before, but he could feel his shoulder trying to slide back to where it should be. Zach clenched his teeth and continued to move his arm, hoping to hear the pop of the joint slotting back into place. All the while, the growls of the frightened fox sounded in his ears and Zach could only hope that he would have the pair of them in less trouble as quickly as possible.
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