Mudminnow River we are the greatest pretenders

Swiftcurrent Creek... the name of that place rang a distant bell for Mordecai, though he did not connect from where he had heard it from. It may as well have stemmed from ancient history, though he had also unknowingly spent a night there during their travels to the Hollow. Nevertheless, he also picked up on the supposed name of the region that they were residing in — Rising Sun Valley — and it was fitting.

The talk of fire almost gave spark to a shift in his demeanor, but Mordecai refrained. The Plateau was well behind him and the devastation rendered there in that eastern valley had not gone unnoticed by him. They were all fortunate.

"I can't say I've gleaned a whole lot from them myself. With such close company, we've thought it best to avoid stepping on toes, or worse." Beyond that, to him it seemed no different than any other place he had been through across this particular wilderness. Valleys and hills, mountains that jut from the ground, dotted with forests and curved and shaped by countless rivers and creeks. "But, it seems quiet here and we'll take that. Beats having to worry about where not to go," he went on to say, thoughts brushing over his venture to a particular woodland he hoped did not have a twin.