User blog:Ihaveawiixboxds/четыре

Ihawxd continued riding through the expansive fields of grass. Along the way he spotted some birds soaring in the air and a few rabbits and gophers, but not much else. The landscape was monotonously dull, and the traveler's spirits rose quit a bit when he spotted a single tree off in the distance. Upon approaching the tree he decided it would be best to take a short rest. He dismounted and sat down beneath the shade that the foliage provided. Reaching into one of his packs, Ihawxd withdrew a primitively drawn map. The map depicted Holden and the mountains surrounding it quite well but did not offer a very good representation of anything else. Ihawxd was only able to make out three different locations. Whether or not they were inhabited was not information that the creators of the map had so kindly omitted. All the guide offered were three different dots and a lazily drawn compass that allowed the reader to discern north from south. One of the dots was directly south of Holden, there was a second one east of it, and then there was a final dot on the far east side of the map. Since the map was so blank, the young voyager had no idea if he was going in the right direction. He just had to hope he had maintained a straight line south from when he left his hometown.

"That's one of the worst maps I have ever tried to decipher." Ihawxd stood up and stuffed the useless parchment back into the sack from whence it came. His horse looked at him as if to say "that's the only map you've ever tried to decipher" but didn't actually say anything because, well, he was a horse. Ihawxd stared disapprovingly at his mount before hoisting himself up onto the saddle. "Come on Alderaan, let's go find one a dot!"

It wasn't until dusk that the two found anything other than some more birds. What they did discover, though, was exactly what they were looking for. After hours of galloping through excruciatingly repetitive terrain, Ihawxd and Alderaan found their path blocked by a towering stone wall. By pacing around the wall the duo arrived at a wooden gate. After standing, staring at the gate, for a couple of seconds, Ihawxd ventured to knock. He received no reply, so he tried again, this time banging rather than knocking. This elicited a response.

"Calm down out there! I heard you the first time!" an annoyed voice shouted as the gates laboriously began to swing forward. Once they had opened just wide enough for one man to fit through, a guard appeared, blocking the entrance.

"Well, can I come in?" Ihawxd asked.

"We just need to make sure this isn't a trap, it's standard procedures and whatnot. I'd get fired if I didn't do this, and as boring as guard duty gets, you can sleep on the job and you still get paid, so I don't want to get fired." the guard nonchalantly explained while he surveyed the area. "Anyway, you can come in with your horse. Just don't cause any trouble and leave me be."