Kassandra woke up with a groan. She blocked the light out of her eyes when she opened them. She couldn't really see anything but she knew she was near the ocean. After her eyes adjusted to the light, her ears confirmed her belief when she gazed out and saw miles and miles of ocean.
She looked down and saw that her boat had washed up on a rocky beach and that some water was leaking on the far side of her boat. She sighed, knowing this was to be expected.
"Well, at least you're away from home", Kassandra said to herself, after assessing the condition of her boat.
She jumped out and got a better look at her surroundings. On the opposite side of the beach was a huge forest, bigger than any she had ever seen back in her village.
She leaned over and grabbed the pile of rope in the boat and proceeded to tie it around the bow and mass thwart. After they were fastened, she got the 2 ends of the boat and with a heavy grunt she began to haul it across the beach.
It took her longer than she expected, especially when she had to drag it over the huge roots of the trees near the beach. After about 25 minutes of tiring exertion she finally managed to successfully disguise her boat among the trees, shrouding it with surrounding fauna.
She huffed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She looked back across the ocean and noticed the sun was a little past high noon.
"Okay, I have enough time to find shelter...and food", she added as she felt her stomach grumble.
She sighed and looked back at the neverending forest. With nothing else to do she took off, trying to find a suitable place for her.
Kassandra had to admit that the forest was beautiful. The plush plant life and various shades of green and brown heavily contrasted to the environment she grew up in. She wouldn't mind living here for awhile.
However, she soon regretted that when a bitter wind blew across her flank. She cringed, not expecting such a cold wind. She didn't think winds could get that cold. Wearing a short, white dress that also didn't cover her upper arms didn't help either. She recalled a time when there was a harsh winter back home. Little did she know that it was about to get a lot deadlier.
A sudden snort and rustling of leaves sent her on alert. She spun around and saw the bushes shaking. She grew tense as a group of wild boars emerged. She was heavily outnumbered and they all seemed ferocious. Kassandra took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly reaching for her weapon.
They snorted and squealed threateningly, starting to advance on their prey. She smirked as she tore the weapon from her side and unveiled it to her attackers.
Her whip uncoiled as it sank to the ground. It was thick towards the handle and thinned out toward the tip much like any other whip. However, many of its kind, it had a deadly alteration to it-It was made of metal. The whip was made of small, interlocking pieces of metal that can easily bend in any direction once braided together. In length, the whip was about 17 feet long. The whip split in half, like a snake's tongue would, at the fall. Instead of poppers at the end of each fall, there was instead a narrow and thin, crystal-shaped spike. It was metal except for the handle. That was made of dense wood and adorned a thicker spike at the end of it.
The boars paused for a moment before resuming their hunt. Kassandra slowly worked the whip around her as they circled her. She steadily increased her movements as they halted and looked at her.
Suddenly, one charged toward her from her left side. She saw it and immediately flicked her whip in its direction. No sooner did it leave a deep gash on its side, causing it squeal in pain and back off.
2 more charged her from the front. She easily whipped downward, causing one of them to go sprawling in the dirt as a mark was left across its face. This didn't stop the other boar however. Kassandra quickly sidestepped and watched as it charged past her. She quickly snagged its hind leg with her whip, jerking it to a halt. She then swung the boar high above her head before sending it crashing into another nearby boar.
This sent a few boars running, but that didn't stop the biggest boar from standing his ground. It huffed and snorted angrily, pawing at the ground.
Kassandra gazed at the boar, suspecting it to be the leader. She stood up and cracked her whip menacingly, doing her best to intimate the creature.
The boar snarled and charged at Kassandra. She cracked the whip forward, but she missed when the boar dodged right and proceed to plow right into Kassandra. The impact took her off guard and sent her flying a good 15 feet.
She groaned as she the breath was knocked out of her. She looked up just in time to see the boar snap its jaws at her. Kassandra gasped as she spread her whip out and caught his jaws with her whip at the last minute.
The boar snorted angrily as the metal snake wedged itself between his jaws, preventing him from defeating the human female.
Kassandra struggled as the boar thrashed around, trying to free itself. She then twisted the whip around its neck and constricted it tightly.
The boar gasped and struggled against his captor, trying to get air in his lungs. But Kassandra kept her grip around its neck, unwilling to let it live anymore.
Steadily, the boar slowed its movements down until it slumped to the ground, dead. Kassandra stayed there on top of the boar, huffing and puffing. She definitely didn't expect to use up so much energy fending off the boars.
She looked out toward the sky and noticed that it was filled with streaks of orange and purple, signaling it was dusk.
"Well, at least I have food", Kassandra said to herself.
She coiled her weapon back up and proceeded to drag one of the boars by the legs. She did plan on it eating it but another blistering cold wind changed her priorities. She had to find shelter, now. Quickly, she hid her food between some bushes before she took off again at a quicker place, desperate to find a decent shelter that would protect her from the harsh climate.
The sun was almost below the horizon, signaling the beginning of night. The winds grew harsher, leaving Kassandra in a trembling state. It didn't help that it started to lightly snow either.
She really regretted leaving in such a hace. She regretted not having things packed in advance but given the circumstances, she didn't have much time to prepare. She had to leave immediately or face the consequences.
The snow fell heavier as Kassandra wandered aimlessly. Her thin apparel did nothing to protect her from the elements. She prayed to her gods that she would live to see the morning. Her shivering got worse as another wind battered against her, the cold numbing all of her senses.
In all her life, she never faced a cold night like she did tonight. She still pushed on. Her will to live guiding every fiber of her being.
At long, last her prayers were answered. She spotted a cave amidst the white background. With nothing left to lose, she trudged forward. She collapsed onto the ground, grateful that the cave isolated her from the harshness of the environment. In fact, it seemed warm in here, not that she was complaining.
What she did notice was that it was dark and wet, considering how she could only see dark silhouettes against the pitch black of the cave as well as hear slight dripping noises.
She crawled on her hands and knees, too exhausted to stand up. She decided to feel the cave floor for a comfortable place to sleep. She thanked the gods that it was warm enough to not need a fire, since she couldn't find any materials to start one. At long last, she found a slanted rock, balled up, and fell asleep.
It was dead night when she was woken up. Some type of hot, moist air blew across her unconscious form, stirring her awake. She fussed before opening her eyes. What she saw next shook her to her very core.
A deadly 2-headed reptile, with purple and green colors was gazing at her. She had never encountered a devil like this before in her life. She scrambled away from it, breathing quickly in fear. She had no idea what it was, but the folklore she grew up with gave her suspicion of what it was.
It drew closer, curious and suspicious of the human dwelling in its cave. It didn't look like a threat. That is, until it made this hideous cracking noise. That prompted the dragon to go in defensive mode, hiss, and roar loudly in the human's face.
Kassandra figured that if she tried to intimidate it, it would back away in fear. Her suspicions were confirmed when the reptile-now-dragon hissed and roared in her face. This caused her to scramble to her feet and run out of the cave in fear.
The snow was lightly falling but she didn't care. She was fending for her life. All of a sudden, she saw a green smoke out of the corner of her eye before a bright flash lit up the darkness. A sudden blast of heat catapulted her forward and sent her down a a steep hill.
She screamed as she tumbled down the hill. She was slapped by many bushes and leaves as she continued her descent. When she finally reached the bottom, she was covered by a big bush, protecting her from the snow. She tried to get up but she was too disoriented and tired to care. With nothing else to do, she let herself fall asleep.
The Zippleback watched the human tumble down the hill until they could see it no more.
"Well, that was interesting. I hardly expected her to fall down the hill", the right head said.
"Even though that was unexpected, she deserved it. She slept in our cave and tried to attack us", the left one countered.
"Should we tell Toothless about this? I have never seen her before on this island, so she must be some type of intruder", the right one suggested.
"Let's wait until morning. No need to disturb the alpha. And besides, where is this human gonna go where we can't find her", the left one responded as they returned to their dwelling.
Little did they know that Toothless was wide awake and talking to a certain Night Fury who just happened to show up on his island unannounced.