Zone E -- Highlands

[Corporal Light]

If he had noticed that the map on his tablet contained holograms of the geography of the island, he would never have even bothered heading into Zone E.

The first indication of the trouble he would run into in the future was a sudden incline in the earth, as well as a gradual reduction of tree life all around him. He had originally pegged it as just another oddity of the island before it dawned on him just exactly where he was and where he was going.

A few minutes later, his back was up against the jagged edge of a rock wall, sliding at a snail-like pace along a path only barely big enough for his feet to balance on. Teeth chattering from the cold wind threatening to push him off, he grasped the wall for anything to latch onto as he slithered his way through.

The sky had turned into a nice shade of ocean blue, with nary a cloud to be seen. Despite this, the light of the sun had not yet gotten high enough to break through the outlines of the mountains, and thus Isaac had to settle for a chilling shade. It likely wouldn’t have mattered, however, given the sheer scale of the mountain he had been so fortunate to climb. While the entire region was not flat by any stretch of the imagination, with hills covered with forestation serving as the majority of the land formation, it was the mountains that stood out the most. Even up high, they towered him, looming over him. From his position, he was able to see their snow-covered summits through the small, wispy clouds that circled them. He wondered if there was anyone else in those mountains, and if so, if they were going through the same hell he was going through.

He turned his head to the side. A few feet to his right, the path steadily expanded in size until it morphed into a more traversable road of rock, snow, and pine leaves. He sighed in relief. Finally, he had a chance to go a little bit faster! As a result, he sped up his pace, inching towards the pine-leaf pathway.

Suddenly, the mountain shook. It was brief, but its vibrations were so ferocious that it went on for far longer. As he clutched the wall behind him, a few tiny pebbles fell onto his helmet, clanging against the metal. Clarke’s eyes trailed them as they plummeted down, disappearing from view into the trees below.

His breath escaped him; his eyes widened; his knees felt like jelly. The path was only a few steps away, but it seemed so far. He struggled to move a single muscle, more than content with remaining where he was until the contest ended and he could make a home in Coruscant rather than have to deal with a life-or-death situation like this.

But he couldn’t do that. Not now, not while he could still win. The path was so close! It was just a few more steps. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Only one way to find out.

He slowly, ever so slowly, so as not to disturb the sleeping giant of a mountain he was tiptoeing on, glided over to the pine-leaf road. He didn’t even so much as take a breath until he reached it, so dogged his single-minded stubbornness and so silencing his terror. As he walked down the now expanded path, he forced the experience out of his mind and buried it within himself, where bad memories went to die.

Team Space Man (Isaac) --- Moving from E9 to E8.

Also, should have said this last time, but Isaac does not physically have the item from D2.