[b][i]Tuesday, Spring 2nd[/b][/i]

A pink-and-orange sunset stretched across the sky as a golden light gleamed from the sun. It seemed to cloak everything that lay before it, as if time itself had just been captured, and everything came to a halt. The whole world seemingly began to glow with a golden aura of life. Ryder knew that this moment would only last for about half an hour, but, just like every other evening, he felt as though he could exist in this moment forever. Everything was golden, and he felt good. 

Spring had just begun about two days ago, and the weather had finally shifted from bitter and cold to comfortable and warm. The Winter had been a boring one, in Ryder's opinion, and lacked the adventure he sought from life. Being a traveler, Ryder roamed from town to town in pursuit of excitement, stopping for a few days at a time to scope out his surroundings. He remained in the last town a bit longer than usual so that he could escape the icy winds of the Winter, but at the first sight of Spring, you can bet that he was back on his feet and back to the road. At midnight on New Year's, Ryder had seen a glorious display of fireworks twinkling in the sky from a distance. He immediately thought to himself, "Now [i]that[/i] looks like an adventure!" and decided to head off in that direction. Three days later, he seemed to finally be approaching his destination.

Directly beneath the golden rays of the sun was a beautiful valley, completely engulfed with the light from the sunset. Seeing this place from a distance reassured Ryder that he had [i]definitely[/i] made the right decision in traveling to this destination next. He could already tell that he was bound to find an adventure there.

"Well, I'd better get going," he laughed to himself as he scratched his head. "It won't be too long before it starts to get dark out." Ryder grabbed his bag and rose to his feet, giving one last long gaze at the sunset before smiling to himself and turning back to the path that lead to the valley. Something felt right about this place to Ryder. He hadn't even arrived yet, but there was something about how the light shined onto the valley that drew him to it. That light didn't last very long, however, and night quickly fell upon the land. Ryder had anticipated the arrival of night, but thought he had more time than he did. Nonetheless, he decided it would be best to continue on to the valley, rather than set up and rest until morning. The sooner he could find his next adventure, the better!

Or at least, so he thought. At this point, Ryder had just passed a small town beside a large mountain, and was continuing along a path that ran beside a thick forest. The valley appeared to be directly on the other side of the forest, and Ryder thought it might be a good idea to cut right through the forest to get to the valley more quickly. But the moment Ryder set foot into the forest, something quickly brushed past his shoulder, and sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" he grunted as he rose to his feet again. He looked around apprehensively, attempting to locate the figure that had knocked him over, but the forest was far too dark to navigate, and the figure seemed to be nowhere in sight. "Maybe cutting through the forest wasn't such a good idea..."

Returning to the path that wrapped around the forest, Ryder resolved that he wouldn't wander back into the forest until the sun had risen again. Once it did, the forest would definitely be on his list of places to explore, along with that mountain and town he passed a few moments ago. He probably should have been a bit more concerned about the figure that had knocked him over in the forest, but Ryder was too excited to arrive at his new destination to even care. There were a few rustles in the bushes here and there, but Ryder dismissed them as nothing more than animals prowling about the forest on a late-night stroll. The valley he had seen earlier was only a few minutes away now; he was sure of it.