The blue grass and the purple leaves of the trees waved daintily in the soft wind. A muddied beaten path, just wide enough for a carriage or two, cut across the forested, rolling hills and was warmed by the rising sun.

A young man stumbled across the path. The beauty of this place completely escaped his unfocused blue eyes. He was drenched from head to toe, and what was left of his suit and pants were clinging to his body. His dress shoes were worse for wear, and his souls were walked ragged. His skinny frame trembled in the wind as he winced with each step. There was hardly a sound aside from the whistling of the wind and the uneven footsteps of a seventeen-year-old. He had walked for hours already and would likely walk for hours more.

As the sun started to reach its apex, the sound of running and the rolling of wheels could be heard up ahead. If Neidr was more conscious of his surroundings at the time, he would have long ago made way for the Carriage, or tried to hitchhike. However, he had long focused solely on each step he was taking. At first, he was inundated with the thought of giving up, but he had no idea where that old fogey had transported him. After walking much longer than he had ever gone before, he had focused all of his energy on just moving forward. Soon enough he was entranced and all he thought about was each and every step.

The violent and sudden arrival of an old carriage broke Neidr from his revelry. His eyes contracted as he watched a small carriage fly over a hill just up ahead. The carriage itself was no better than the ramshackle one he had come to Rotham in. The rotten wooden boards were riddled with holes, and the back left wheel looked like it could fly off at any moment. Just looking at it bounce up and down while the three others held stiff made watchers feel fear for the riders in their gut.

“Did we get them from the same shop?”[Neidr] Neidr wondered aloud.

What was most surprising to Neidr was the fact that this carriage was actually pulled by a Rackler. These lizard-like creatures could grow five feet high and fifteen feet long. When they were mature, they could actually breathe fire. Their tails were decorated with deadly spikes and the v-like horns that grew on their head could impale a man clean through. Needless to say, they were expensive. This creature's price tag didn't match the cart that it pulled at all. Neidr quickly shook his head, he had no time to think about that now. Racklers were actually very fast for giant, lumbering reptiles. That Rackler though was younger and smaller than adults and was thus even faster than them.

He quickly glanced at the driver. Going this fast, there must be something important they need to do quickly. They didn't even seem to care that they would break their carriage sooner or later treating it this roughly. They had to be either brave or stupid, but Neidr was shortly stumped, seeing the undisguised panic on a young girl around his age's face as she desperately tries to control the rampaging Rackler. The blond haired girl sported a bowl cut and hazel eyes and was adorned in well-made if patched clothes of mostly brown, but also red, green, well whatever fabric was available to close a hole.

By this time, he had already shot straight into the forest. He watched as the carriage wobbled and swerved across the path kicking up rocks and dirt along its way. It turned a sharp corner and nearly toppled over as it went down a hill and escaped his sight.

Neidr breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to keep walking, but he soon realized his body wouldn't let him as he collapsed. The adrenaline had faded, and his state of mind vanished. The fatigue of walking since early last night and not eating since yesterday morning finally caught up with him.

"Whatever."[Neidr] Neidr let out a turbid breath and scanned his surroundings as he lay flatly against the ground. The purple flat-leaf trees provided plenty of shade, and he spotted a grape vine upon it. Neidr didn't have the best track record with berries, but he knew that grapes should be safe. Probably. Neidr felt a little relief as his stomach rumbled and his feet stung. However, mostly, he was tired. He slowly shut his eyes and tried to sleep while listening to the rustling leaves in the wind.

Neidr thought about what the original Neidr did. In the story, he just travelled with his family guard. This enabled him to both arrive on time and with great fanfare. No scouring the mountain. No crazy old man. No grueling march to the school. By all accounts, the original Neidr was doing much better than his replacement at this time. Cursing himself, he regretted it. He had to be the first new host to actually do worse than the first! If he just hadn’t been scared of being exposed at the Neidr Barony. If he just took his time to get here. If he didn’t purchase the first carriage he saw. Neidr let out a self-pitying laugh, but his anger was soon disturbed by the sounds of heavy breathing. It got louder and louder, and then he felt something wet touch his face.

His eyes shallowly opened to see a sharp toothed maw of a furry beast dripping its rank saliva upon his face. It sniffed around him checking his scent and the only thought in Neidr's head was,

'Fuck',