The sharp sound of leaves crunching under his cloven hooves reached Johannes large ears as he continued to travel past more trees. A few days had passed since he first entered this forest. It was a familiar forest for Johannes, with its large amount of needled trees and the odd leafy tree here and there. These leaf trees were bare now as their majestic red, orange, and yellow coloured leaves were found everywhere on the ground. 'Or attached to my coat', Johannes thought wryly. With his brown fur and darker mane of hair, it was very easy for substances to get mixed in, much to Johannes dismay.
To no surprise, cleaning himself was often an adventure. He chuckled to himself as a recent bathing incident came to mind. It had occurred after a taxing day of uphill travel. It was early evening when he reached the top of the hill where a small creek with a log in it was found. The cool, blue-green water had been refreshing against his sore body until one of his hooves slipped against a rock, causing him to slide, fall, and jab his tusks in that same log. What a evening that was! Johannes had been mortified at first but, now he could admit that he must have been a funny sight to behold. Those hummingbirds that had swarmed around his head at the time had certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves at his poor attempts at escape.
He climbed over some overgrown roots and went up a steep incline before finally reaching the outskirts of the forest. He blinked his blue eyes rapidly as he adjusted to the sun's bright light. The warmth of the afternoon sun was great to feel again after spending a few days in the dark and damp forest, with its high-reaching trees. In the distance the mountains loomed. Johannes squinted his eyes at the mountains. The tops of the mountains was covered by snow. Signs of an early winter perhaps? Although Johannes preferred the colder climates, he also knew how challenging it was to live here during the winter. He traded mostly with the odd job here and there of guiding Soquili through these parts. In winter though, finding suitable materials to trade was a formidable task.
He was a tenacious stallion though and only gave up when he was at risk of injuring himself. As he moved further away from the forest and closer towards the mountains, he thought about what to collect for trading. The area here was familiar to him; however, he hadn't visited these parts since early summer. The pigments he gathered sometimes were more attainable in the lower lands than they were here as were a variety of herbs and fruits. His beads came from those lands too, from a village that lay within a valley. Johannes rather liked his beads, albeit for shallow reasons. He walked further along, lost in thought.
