It took Lou and Georgie the better part of the day to reach the summit. As Lou had anticipated, the trail conditions grew less and less favorable the farther they traveled. By the time they reached the peak of the mountain, the dirt of the path had been replaced almost entirely by jagged rocks and stones. Georgie had several cuts across her fetlocks that were oozing droplets of blood down her hooves. As soon as they reached a relatively flat, stable section of earth, Lou slid out of her saddle and examined her mount's wounds.

None of the cuts were deep, but they would definitely be sore, especially with the hard riding they'd been doing recently. Lou took a handful of water from one of her skins and trickled it gently over Georgie's cuts, rinsing the dust and grime away. The mare whickered appreciatively, swishing her tail in contentment.

As Lou repacked her supplies and stretched out her stiff muscles, Georgie suddenly snorted, her muscles taut and eyes focused on something below them.

"What's wrong, girl?". Lou laid a hand against her mare's neck. Georgie snorted again and tossed her head in agitation. Lou peered down the opposite side of the mountain, searching for whatever was provoking her horse. The steep view made her head swim, and she couldn't spot anything. She crossed her arms and frowned. Georgie was only growing more irritated, pawing at the ground and sending tiny chips of rocks flying through the air.

"Alright, girl", Lou muttered finally. "Hold tight." She stepped closer to the side of the mountain. On this side, the trail was completely indistinguishable; it was just a straight shot down through the dusty, sparse undergrowth. Lou's stomach flipped, and she felt bile rising in the back of her throat. She did her best to shake the uneasy feeling away and shuffled closer, reaching out to grab the branches of a stubby tree nearby for balance. She leaned out farther, anchoring herself with the tree, searching for any sort of movement. She even held her breath for several moments to better hear any sound that could be coming from below - nothing.

Lou turned back to check on Georgie. The mare still had her ears pinned back against her neck, but was no longer striking at the ground or dancing about on the little bit of stable ground they had. Lou guessed that was a good sign. She cast one final look down at the face of the mountain and spun slowly to face towards Georgie and pull herself back up.

She was almost at the top when her foot skidded out from under her. Her heart skipped a beat, but she didn't panic; she dropped to all fours and dug her hands into the ground, hauling herself upwards with all the upper-body strength she could muster. She was nearly lying flat on the ground when the rest of the dirt beneath her feet dropped away.

Lou fell through the air for several moments before her head crashed against the rock below her with a thunk. The rest of her body crumpled down onto the boulder, and she slid a few more feet before coming to a halt. She lay still on her back for what felt like hours. The whole world had gone a strange gray color, and she could hear Georgie whinnying from far above her, but her cries sounded muted and distorted.

Lou drifted in and out of consciousness for a few minutes before she felt awake enough to try to sit up. As soon as she did, however, a searing, fiery pain shot through her side, and she fell back against the rock with a shriek. When the pain faded, she prodded her side gingerly with her fingers. She could feel that at least one of her ribs was bruised, if not broken. It didn't feel as though any of her organs had been damaged. Her head, however, was still spinning, and her surroundings felt muffled and distant.

She couldn't stay on this rock, injured and waiting for help, forever. Achingly slowly, Lou got to her feet, lurching unsteadily when she finally stood to her full height. Georgie neighed at her again; this time, she sounded much closer and clearer. That must be a good sign, Lou thought. She turned back to the mountain face she'd fallen down. There was a significant chunk missing from the soil a few feet above her head; that must have been where she fell. So she hadn't tumbled nearly as far down as she'd originally thought. She reached up to feel the packed dirt, her rib screaming in pain as she did so. It was damp and firm; not bad for climbing, but she'd need something else to pull her up in her state. There were no trees, bushes, or any other sort of undergrowth on this section of the mountain. She'd have to make do with the sparse roots sticking out from the dirt.

The climb was agony. She'd only fallen about ten feet, but she had to traverse the mountain face at a painfully slow rate to avoid irritating her injured rib or getting too dizzy. The roots were scattered throughout the soil, so she often had to claw her way through the dirt with her fingers and nails to reach the next one and drag herself up higher.

It took her nearly an hour to climb up from a fall that had taken only a few moments. By the time she finally reached the summit, the last of the sun's light was disappearing in the west. Lou dragged herself up by the sparse grass until her chest lay flat against the ground, then wriggled her way forward on her abdomen until she was back on solid ground. She couldn't have sat up if she wanted to; the pain in her rib was unbearable and her head was spinning from the concentration of the climb. As she slipped slowly into unconsciousness, she felt Georgie's breath huffing softly against her ear. Lou smiled and softly rubbed her nose as everything went black.

Iris and Aspasia remained on the flat land for awhile, Iris grazing and Aspasia sat against a rock. The sun was hot and beat down on both of them viciously, but neither seemed to mind too much. Aspasia used her hat to fan herself, eyes closed contently as she leaned her head back. Sweat dripped down her neck, and hair clung to it all around. She could see the white froth on Iris from the sweat forming, despite him having not been worked. Aspasia slumped down even more against the rock, stretching her legs out and raising her arms above her head. Every bone in her body seemed to crack all at once as she stretched. The heat seemed to put her in some sort of trance. She became tired, and her back didn't seem to hurt as much anymore.

Aspasia knew how risky it would be to nap here, but she didn't care all that much. She took one final look at Iris before she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take over. She rested for a good few hours or so until she was startled awake by the sharp whinnies of a horse from not too far, and then a horribly loud shriek. Aspasia looked around in a panic, scrambling to her feet and pulling her knife from her belt. Much to her surprise, though, there was nothing there but Iris.

Her breath came rapidly and her hands shook as she gripped the wooden handle of her knife. What the hell was that? Mountain lion? Cougars have one hell of a voice, and they can often sound like humans. And by the sound of it, this one had attacked a horse. The sun was beginning to set, and she didn't exactly want to risk going anywhere near the area right now. So she waited, and waited until the sun was long gone. Aspasia then quietly approached Iris and took her small medical bag from her saddle bag and began the trek back up to the summit. Although it was much easier on this side, it was still a nasty workout. Iris was right by her side the entire time, seeming to climb up with ease.

If it had been a horse that was attacked, she could possibly assess the injuries and take the horse as her own. It would certainly lighten the load on poor Iris. Soon enough, the two made it back to the summit. As she made her final movement to hoist herself upwards, the sight almost made her slip back down. A woman and a horse, the woman seemingly dead. Oh. Aspasia crouched and quietly approached the woman, eyeing the horse warily. She held her hands up as she moved, a motion to show she had no weapons. Hopefully the horse would understand.

Aspasia was now crouched next to the woman, who was lying with her chest against the ground. Upon further inspection, it was not a cougar attack. There were no bloodied claw marks, there was no stench of death in the air. She reached a hand out and gingerly placed it on the back of the woman, feeling the faint rise and fall of her body. So, she was alive. The woman was undoubtedly a bounty hunter, which made her curl her lip in disgust.

Nobody but trappers, traders, bounties, and bounty hunters crossed these mountains. Aspasia couldn't help but pity the woman, though. She rose to her feet, and as carefully and gently as she could, she flipped the woman onto her back. Perhaps the hunter would leave her alone if she could heal her.

There was no blood on her body, no visible wounds. She turned her head as she heard a loud whinny, and then a warm nose against her back. Iris was now next to her, looming over the both of them. He was absolutely horrifying from this angle, mostly because of how tall he is. Aspasia turned her head back towards the woman who lay in the dirt. She cautiously began to feel around her body, stumped as to what was wrong. It was quite obvious she was unconscious, as she would've woken up to the sound of them climbing back to the summit.

Iris had moved to the other horse, checking it out. A small smile crossed her face as Aspasia's hand grazed the ribcage of the woman. That was the problem, injured ribs. Slowly, she took the cross-body bag from her shoulder and opened it, digging through it for a second. She then pulled out the wrap she had been using for herself.

Aspasia hesitantly began to wrap it around the ribcage of the woman, lifting her up slightly to get the fabric fully around her. There wasn't much that could be done, she really had no idea how to fix bones. Only open or infected wounds. As she finished wrapping the fabric tightly, she slipped two fingers underneath the wrap to check that it wasn't too tight. She couldn't stay here, she had to get moving again. "Iris. Come on, boy." Aspasia quietly called out to the horse, and he nickered in response. They began their trip back down the mountain, as quickly as possible without falling.

They had made it further than the platform this time. Surprisingly, there was a small path that shortened the time it would take to make it down the mountain. The path was a straight shot directly down to the trees, incredibly dangerous but quick. Aspasia directed Iris towards the path, and he skidded to a halt. He didn't want to go down it. She spurred him gently at first, using encouraging words to try and get him down it. Unfortunately, he still refused.

She spurred him harder until he threw his head back and snorted, moving his body from side to side nervously. Finally, after a little while of movement, he finally moved forwards down the trail. Rocks fell down as he pried them upwards with his hooves. Iris snorted fearfully as he began to slide down, lowering himself to the ground as all four of his hooves slid against the rocky ground. He tried his hardest to stop sliding, but it didn't do much use. "It's okay.. It's okay.. settle down boy." Aspasia patted his neck the entire time, whispering to him as he threw his head around wildly.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally made it down. By the time they had reached the trees, the sun had began to rise again. At least they were finally done with the mountains. Her mind drifted back to the hunter back at the summit of the mountain, and she wondered if she was okay. Aspasia knew it was foolish to have helped her, much less leave her alive.

The warmth of the quickly-rising sun on her face woke Lou early the next day. She yawned and tried to stretch, only to grimace when she felt something hard and sharp dig into her back. She must have accidentally unturned a rock in the earth as she slept last night...

Lou's eyes flew open as she suddenly remembered the events of the previous day. As panicked as she felt, she forced herself to sit up slowly and was somehwat relieved; though she had a persistent, dull headache, the dizziness and bleariness she'd experienced before was gone. Most surprisingly, while her ribs still ached, the sharp, breathtaking pain was gone. Lou probed at her side gingerly with her fingertips and paused when she found a thick layer of fabric between her shirt and skin. That was odd. She didn't recall pulling any bandages out of her saddlebags before she passed out. If she'd had the time and energy to bandage her entire abdomen, she would've been able to at least set up her sleeping bag instead of sleeping on hard, rocky ground that could have potentially worsened her injuries.

Lou was concerned that the movement of pulling her shirt up would aggravate her wounded ribs, so she slowly unbuttoned it instead, taking care to not reach too far with either arm. Once her shirt was open, she cautiously rolled up her stained undershirt to examine her bandaging job.

Lou froze. These bandages hadn't come out of her saddlebags. They looked significantly older than the ones she'd stocked up on before leaving in pursuit of the mark. There was a massive splotch of dried blood on the front as well. As damaged as Lou's ribs might have been, she hadn't sustained any open wounds in her fall that could have bled that much. As quickly as she could without dizziness overtaking her, Lou lurched to her feet and hobbled over to Georgie. The mare was standing a few dozen feet away, alert eyes trained on the trail coming up the side of the mountain for any danger. Lou gave her a grateful pat and began rummaging through her saddlebags. Just as she'd expected, all of her bandages were intact within the bundle of burlap that made up her first aid kit. She was becoming more and more fearful by the minute. She did a quick once-over of the small surface area of the summit, searching for any footprints or other indicators that someone else had been there. There were a few spots where the dust appeared to have been scuffed up by something, but there was no way to tell if it had been the wind or perhaps a wild animal passing through.

Breathing quickly from the combination of her search, the pain in her ribs, and the panic coursing through her body, Lou hauled herself into Georgie's saddle. She was able to lift herself up with little difficulty, but the shock of pain that shot through her side when she sat down made her grind her back teeth together. She spurred Georgie towards the side of the mountain, all the while glancing around her to ensure she wasn't being followed or watched.

As Lou had anticipated, there was no trail on this side of the mountain face, only crags of rock and sparse clusters of trees and brush. There were a few grooves in the ground where previous travelers had wound their ways down the mountain, but none of them were very well established, and many of them looked like they were only comprised of loose dirt. Lou opted to find her own way to the ground.

The difficult going meant that Lou's ribs jarred with every step Georgie took. Though the compression the bandages provided gave her a little relief, the jolting pain soon became nearly unbearable. Steering Georgie down the mountain was almost impossible; the mare quickly resorted to finding her own path rather than following Lou's instructions. That was at least a bit of a relief. Lou sat deeper in her saddle and gripped the horn in an attempt to stabilize herself a little more.

It took hours for them to finally reach solid ground at the base of the mountain. By that time, Lou was almost delirious with pain and half-asleep on Georgie's back as her mare navigated her way down the mountain. Georgie snorted softly, jerking Lou out of her uneasy rest.

Before them stood a forest similar to the two they had encountered previously. However, the foliage of this forest was much thicker than the others; beyond the treeline, it was so dark that Lou couldn't make any of the scenery out. Georgie snorted again, this time louder and more restless. Lou didn't particularly want to go in there either. The darkness and the overgrown foliage would make it effortless for someone to sneak up on and ambush them. On the other hand, Lou could get closer to the mark without being detected thanks to the thick plant cover.

Lou prodded at her ribs again. Without the jolting motion that traveling down the mountain entailed, the sharp pain was slowly ebbing away, though they were still sensitive and sore to the touch. With a deep sigh, Lou gently spurred Georgie forward. The mare balked for a moment before hesitantly stepping past the treeline.

It felt as though it had suddenly become night. Even now that she was in the forest, it was still difficult for Lou to distinguish any of her surroundings that were more than a few feet in front of her. The temperature must have dropped at least twenty degrees, and the sudden loss of the sun made it more apparent; Lou could already feel herself beginning to shiver. Contrary to what she would have believed, the thick foliage seemed to muffle all the regular sounds of the forest. Birdsong and the soft rustle of small creatures moving across the forest floor sounded distant, even though she knew they must be close. She forced herself to breathe in and out several times. She could already tell that Georgie was on edge, and her being nervous too wouldn't help matters at all. Apprehensively, Lou nudged Georgie forward again, the pair shoving through the tall foliage that coated the forest floor.

The shade that the thick canopy of leaves provided seemed to be heaven. The frothy sweat on Iris had long disappeared, leaving only traces of white against his midnight black coat. Birds sang and called out to each other, occasionally fluttering and diving past the pair. Aspasia could hear the wind in the leaves, causing her to look up. The majority of the trees consisted of massive oaks, birch, and the occasional pine. A rich, thick earthy smell combined with the smell of the pines. Iris came to a gentle stop as a little fox kit suddenly crossed their path, scampering after what looked like a mouse. As they walked, they went through patches of sunlight that had managed to slither through the cracks of leaves in the canopy.

There was a slightly wide path surrounded by trees, but the grass hadn't been worn down. On either side, there were trees, but never any in their way. Dead leaves and twigs crunched under the weight of Iris. Aspasia couldn't help but think back to the bounty hunter again. If she hadn't died throughout the night, she was probably still tracking. She let out an irritated grumble.

The forest had shown no signs of ending anytime soon, and she was content with that. Since the bounty hunter tracking her was obviously injured, she was probably able to stop and rest somewhere for a day or two. Lord only knows that both her and Iris desperately needed to stop and rest. Her entire body was in excruciating pain, and his legs were cut up from briars and rocks. She didn't know what time of day it was, since she couldn't see how high the sun was. She could only guess that it was around noon, or slightly after.

Aspasia could hear the faint churning of a stream nearby. It would probably be the right idea to head that way for a break. A large, scruffy pale doe jumped out in their path, pausing directly in front of them. Iris raised his head in surprise, staring at the doe who stared back at him. She stood for a second, then lifted her tail to reveal the white underside. The doe bounded off after that, leaping over a fallen log and disappearing into some thick underbrush.

In a short while, the stream came into view. The clear waters reflected in the sunlight, which streamed down. The canopy of leaves vanished above the stream in one part, then swallowed the rest of the stream. Iris increased his pace to a trot as he spotted the water, his great hooves pounding against the deep green grass.

Aspasia quickly dismounted as Iris came to a stop. As usual, her ankles stung like hell and caused her knees to buckle. She nearly fell into the water, only being caught by grabbing onto her stirrup. Iris moved down onto the bank, immediately lowering his head to take long drinks of water. Aspasia took her canteen from her saddlebag and crouched down on the grassy bank, opening the cap to fill it with water. Afterwards, she lowered her own head to drink from the stream. Trying to drink water that's running towards her proved to be a slightly difficult task.

Aspasia stood and brushed her knees off. She then grabbed her bow off of her saddle, grabbing a few arrows from her quiver. Hunting would be perfect here, especially since she was deathly low on rations. Starting a fire to cook it would be much too risky, so she would have to salt it and dry it.

She lowered herself to a half-crouch and silently crept through the trees, balancing her weight in her legs. It wasn't too long before she spotted a few rabbits, peacefully eating patches of clover. Aspasia readied an arrow and pulled back the string, her hands shaking as she did so. She closed her eyes and released the arrow, listening to the loud squeak that rang out. She hadn't missed.

Aspasia opened her eyes again and hurriedly rushed over to the rabbit, who had died upon impact of the shot. The arrow had went directly through the lungs. "Thank you, little buddy." She smiled sadly as she stroked the now bloodied fur of the rabbit. Blood pooled out into the grass as she picked the rabbit up, holding it by the ears in front of her to prevent the blood from getting on her clothes.

Aspasia brought the rabbit back to where Iris was now grazing. She sat criss-crossed in the grass, laying the rabbit out in front of her. She quickly got to work skinning and gutting the rabbit. Aspasia took her time, and after a while had perfect cuts of meat. She laid the furred hide out in front of her, then placed the meat on it. She took the salt from next to her and began to rub it into the meat, using very generous amounts. She then did the same to the hide, and hung them on her saddle.

Not the most efficient way, but it got the job done. Plus, it was safer there and no predators could get to it without getting kicked by Iris. Aspasia bent down on the bank and washed her hands off in the stream, watching as the clear water turned red. The blood drifted downstream, further tainting the water as it went.

The sunlight was warm on her hair and face. Aspasia tilted her head back, closing her eyes to allow the sun to shine on her face. It was comfortable in contrast to the direct heat in the mountains. Finally, after a good while, she lowered her head and opened her eyes again. The sun seemed to show no sign of setting soon, and she couldn't hear any sort of noise that indicated someone was coming.

Aspasia pulled her medical bag from her saddle again, then sat down by the river. She wasn't too far in the forest, so anyone who entered would reach her shortly. Slowly, she unbuttoned her shirt and flung it on the ground beside her. The sun was now warm against her bare stomach and back. Carefully, she unwrapped the bloodied bandages from her body. She took great caution to avoid them getting stuck in her wound. Aspasia cupped some water in her hands and splashed in on her wound, shuddering as the water trickled down into her jeans. She repeated this process a few times, then used her shirt to dry it.

Aspasia then carefully wrapped the new bandages around her body, slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her pained cries.

Georgie huffed contentedly as the shady canopy of trees began to cool the thin layer of sweat atop both her and Lou's skin. It was a drastic change from the scorching, unforgiving heat and sunlight of the dozens of miles of plains and mountains, but it was certainly a welcome one. While the trek up the mountain had been bleak and barren with little sign of plant or animal life, the lush forest was full of the melodies of birdsong and the sound of animals scurrying through the underbrush. It made Lou feel a little less alone; sure, she had Georgie, but riding for miles with no sign of any other people or animals could get a little lonely.

Lou had lost sight of the river atop the mountain when she took her fall; she could hear it bubbling faintly in the distance, but it sounded as if it was still at least a few miles away. In the meantime, she and Georgie passed clear pools of groundwater cooled by the trees overhead. The water looked clear enough, but Lou was always wary of stagnant water. She had no way to know what'd been drinking out of there or what might have seeped in through the soil. She might've taken a few sips if she'd had a skin to filter the debris out, but her waterskins were too thick, made specifically to keep her water supply in. She let Georgie take a long drink when the mare tossed her head towards one of the pools, though.

The shadows of the tree trunks and the thick foliage made it difficult to discern any prints on the trail. Since the soil underfoot was primarily clay, it normally would have been easy to make out any kind of track, much less giant hoofprints. Lou thought she could see the faint outline of a horseshoe in the dirt, but she couldn't be sure. Climbing on and off of Georgie's back was getting harder and harder; Lou's muscles still ached painfully from the fall, and the sharp pain in her ribs returned in full force with every sudden movement she made. She ground her teeth as she pulled herself into her saddle and kicked Georgie forward again.

She took another break shortly after, opting to stay on Georgie's back as she scarfed down a biscuit rather than try to dismount and try to find somewhere on the ground to prop herself up. She slipped the last handful of crumbs to Georgie as they continued on. Lou wasn't sure how much more long, taxing riding she could take. The pain in her ribs seemed to worsen with every minute that passed, and she could feel the bandages around her torso beginning to dig into her skin. She would have to at least re-wrap them soon, if not completely remove them. Taking them off, however, meant that she would lose the compression around her abdomen, and she was certain that was the only thing keeping her pain manageable.

It felt like hours when they finally reached the creek, although the sun had barely moved across the sky from what was visible through the treetops. Lou had been expecting a contiuation of the river snaking through the plains, but this brook had obviously broken off from the main water source at some point before the woods. Regardless, it was flowing steadily, and she let Georgie take several gulps before directing her over to a large rock by the banks of the creek. Steeling herself against the inevitable pain, Lou grimaced and slid out of her saddle onto the flat, firm surface of the rock. Since the rock was higher up than the ground, the pain wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting, but it still made her bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying out. Moving as slowly as she could, Lou lowered herself so that she was seated on the rock's surface. She slid out of her overcoat and unbuttoned her shirt to examine her ribs. Even with the thick bandages obscuring them, she could tell there was a significant amount of swelling. Painstakingly slowly, she unwrapped the stained bandages and set them in a neat pile on top of her coat.

The sight of her ribs elicited a gasp from Lou. They were swollen to at least twice their normal size, and her skin was mottled purple and blue with bruises. There was still no bleeding, however, or anything sticking out at an abnormal angle. Very gently, she poked at her side. Without the extra padding from her bandages, her skin was so sensitive that she nearly jumped off the rock at the touch of her own fingers. She still couldn't feel any broken bones, but it would be almost impossible to with the amount of swelling. With a sigh, she began to tediously re-wrap the bandages around her abdomen. She wrapped them as tight as she dared, groaning as she pulled the fabric taut against her side. Once she was done, she tied the ends of the bandages into a knot and tucked them under the layers already wrapped around her ribs.

Lou took in the scenery around her as she redressed. The forest really was beautiful; flocks of birds swooped above the creek through the patches of sunlight streaming through, and she could see what looked like the silhouette of a herd of deer on the other side of the water. Very carefully, she laid down on her back on the rock, closing her eyes as she took in the peaceful atmosphere. Georgie was standing nearby, dozing; if anything tried to creep up on them, she would react. The thought left Lou feeling comfortable, and she found herself beginning to doze in the cool air.