By now Way was just as breathless from the steep incline as she was from the view, but since leaving Woodwall it seemed every view was stunning. Looking out from the top of the foothill that made up one side of Woodwall's valley, she pondered her next step. The day was halfway through already, but to stop now felt wrong. The rain had just ended. It was better to continue, but which way should she go?

When leaving the valley it had just been a matter of building up distance between her and Woodwall. Now? The whole of the planet seemed to stretch out before her, though truly she only saw as far as the horizon.

Noticing the aches in her body more now that she'd stopped and assessed herself, Way figured the next step would be to find shelter. A coat had not sufficed at all, and though she had no intention of living a sedentary life now that she was free, she needed a place to stop and take care of herself. Her feet were blistering, her legs sore, and a warm fire once night came would be a welcome change from sleeping in a puddle.

As she stood there at the top of the hill, catching her breath, a glint of light reflected into her eye. Looking down at her feet, she saw a strange object. It looked to be made out of rock, but the sides seemed too smooth and regular to have been naturally occurring. In the center of it's face was a thick, polished black needle. That had been what caught her attention.

Though the disc sat on an uneven surface, the needle stayed put. 'Was it magnetic?' she wondered. Picking it up, she almost dropped it when it suddenly lit up beneath her fingers. She held it by it's flat edge, it's shape resembling that of a coin, but as large as her palm. The glow shifted and then subsided as she stood there observing it. 

'It almost looks like one of those old compasses the settlers used', Way thought, 'except, there are no markings.' As if reacting to her thoughts, The surface illuminated around the outside edge, in what looked like tiny symbols, though she couldn't quite make out what they depicted. If they were letters, they were foreign to her.

Holding up the compass, Way looked back out across the world, and the needle began to spin. Behind her and down the valley's slope lay her previous home, Woodwall, before her and to the east lay more valleys and foothills, to the south a plane of grasslands, and northward a towering chain of mountains. It was towards those mountains that the needle pointed when it finally stopped. The look of those mountains was intimidating and bleak, their great grey mass looming into the distance; But as they went off towards the horizon they grew blue and misty, and the fuzziness of their outlines spoke of untold mysteries.

Way liked the look of those mountains. She accepted their challenge. North she would go.

--

As she walked, Way had to wonder if that flying creature had left this compass for her. It didn't make much sense, but why else would such a clearly man made tool be out in the forest? Perhaps some animal had stolen it from one of the settlers, all those years ago, and left their compass here? That almost made sense, except this compass looked rather different from the diagram she'd seen before. She would have to look through the data crystal later and check.

--

As Way walked along, following the point of her odd new compass, she began to hear a soft sound, one that grew louder as she went, until it was a roar that almost drown out her thoughts. When she had chased the flying creature up the valley's slope, she'd lost sight of the river, but it seems she'd just found it again.

'The river must have it's source somewhere in the mountains' she thought, as she walked along it. Passing the rapids, the roar quieted, and the flow of the river slowed. Now that the River's current had lost its ferocity, there were plenty of plants growing at its edge. As Way walked, she carefully picked a few, trying not to touch any that looked fuzzy. From what she'd learned from the data crystal, some of those might cause irritation to the skin. She put these samples in her bag, and hoped they'd stay on top of her other stuff and not get crushed.

Now that she was walking close to the river, she could see there were many tall grass-like plants. Most were blueish, and blended in with the water in the shallower parts. She had noticed it was getting shallower, and the roar quieter as she went. Now that she had left the valley, the ground had become less rocky and steep too.

'Maybe there will be a dip in the terrain up ahead?' she wondered. Way glanced up, shading her eyes from the sun with her arm. It had gotten quite hot again, and she'd taken her coat off once more, but the spray of water from the river was some relief. In front of her she saw the angle of the slope ease up more, almost leveling out, and several tree-like plants drooping over the edge of the river in an elegant way.

Once she had reached them after some minutes more of walking, she saw that their branches made a sort of dome around their thin trunks, and shaded the ground beneath them nicely. Stooping and separating the slender branches of one tree, she stepped beneath its canopy, and sat.

The shade was nice, and the sun still had a ways to go before it would set, so she took out her journal, and began to write. She'd decided to spend the rest of the evening testing plants for edibility. Her rations really wouldn't last her more than a week or so longer.

as of the end of my second day in the wild, I've left the valley of Woodwall. The feeling of freedom is a relief. Heading north, towards mountains.

-First up close view of native fauna-remember to sketch later

   -was a weird flying creature with strange coloring. Did not match the blue-greens of the wild.

-found strange compass, note to self: look through data crystal for info on compasses

   - were they made of stone?

As the sun set in a beautiful display of colors, Way fell asleep to the gentle lull of the river.