OOC| tempting to draft it and come back later for an edit/spruce, but everyone's so impatient to get a-going! so here goes. crusty rustflakes.

BIC|
Though Gypsy traded enough words with his Bearer to make the travel work, he was torn between the urge to enjoy the ride, desire to converse and ask questions, and the need to check on his bondmates as the land they all were pretty strongly attached to receded farther and farther from them - with rather astonishing speed, considering the smoothness of the ride! Treasure and Avvie were closest to him, and very near one another. They also seemed the most at ease of the two pairs. Both held on loosely, though at times he caught Avvie letting go to stick his face into the breeze of their passage then turn to grin widely at his mate. Treasure's face was graced with a smaller smile, but it never did go away. Fancy had a look of deep concentration, and Sunray looked a bit dismayed. Neither let go. A few times he saw Fancy's wings open the smallest bit, though whether it was in enjoyment of the wind, for balance, or in a fleeting wish to propel herself aloft he couldn't say. All right, mates?

There were a couple nods, a few affirmatives, and Avvie's Sunray's Bearers both pulled forward and passed Gypsy in an effort to keep up with Tribe and her Grokni. Sunray must've made a reflexive reaction, for the race ended there for him. Surprise took over as the entire group dove as one, a deep and melodious voice echoing a half second behind Tribe. Hold! Gypsy followed their instructions just in time and took a deep breath. He braced himself and then could not help but be swept away in wonder at the beauty of their surroundings and the rush of adrenaline that came from diving into the unknown waters in such a way. Instinct kept his body streamlined and moving with his Bearer, and suddenly they surfaced. Was the water a different hue? The landscape sure was different!

Shaking his head to clear his nose and eyes of water, Gypsy breathed deep and looked around for his companions. There was his love, eyes shining with wildness that made her look more goddess than anything else. Avvie broke the surface with a whoop and a laugh, Treasure following shortly after no longer in the hollow of her Bearer but swirling amidst the eddies and whirls around her. She fought the currents with some difficulty as they were rather large, but her grin returned as her Bearer came gently up underneath her, placing her neatly back into its nook. She grinned appreciatively and she could see her exchanging words with her savior.

Fancy arrived, hanging on to the fin before her as though it were her saving grace. Almost as soon as the eddies and swirls eased, she let go and released herself from her bearer, swimming strongly through the water with her wings folded out to the side as though preening like a swan. She constantly swished those wings, drying them he suspected, but likely also using them along her side as slight rudders to navigate the swirling water.

Where was Sunray? It was a few long moments before he joined them, breaking the surface with a launch straight up. Gypsy couldn't even be sure he'd been connected to his Bearer upon surfacing. It was clear the sun stallion struggled with his waterlogged wings, but he made them work, angling toward the nearest outcropping of land in a frenzy. Wellp. Three out of four wasn't terrible...

Avvie cannonballed off of his companion, surfacing to tread water until his new silver-blue friend lifted its great head from the water and met him forehead to forehead in a jovial bump. Treasure disengaged from her rescuer finally, turning to watch the purple form disappear and calling a Thank ye kindly!

Gypsy realized he was lingering. That was truly fantastic, I thank you for the passage. I should love to know more of you and your kind. Forgive my friends their less than graceful demeanor, they are not big travelers and may not have known what to expect. And as you see, they two may be more comfortable in the sky than the sea. Best of currents to you, friend! As he had talked, his Bearer had begin to lower and he now had enough clearance to begin swimming without worry of his hooves coming into contact with smooth whale like skin. He also heard what sounded very like the rumble of deep waves - laughter? - before the blue green form disappeared swiftly into the waves.

Enjoying the heavy feeling of bringing half his body size in water with him to dry land, Gypsy dripped great sloshes of water to the beach as he approached the bondkin before him. He headed for his place next to his Waterlily, brushing her side with his and halting only when he touched as much of her as he could. Avvie did much the same with Treasure, both giggling as they shook water onto the other. Fancy looked at him steadily, then shifted her gaze to Tribe. I do apologize. That took me quite aback, as I can see it did for Sunray. Celsa said it was ok, but I still fear we acquitted ourselves poorly. Gypsy didn't miss the look she shot at her own mate and didn't envy him the scolding he might well receive later. We had no way of knowing, surely. Done again, 'twould be better. I am certain. Treasure reached out with a gentle whuff to Fancy, imploring peace.

My fault, I invited you along and didn't think to get more information or look after you as I normally would for other.... errr.. nonadventurers... He said it not as an insult at all, but the whole situation of bringing others into an adventure made him worry about many facets of their behavior and Tribe's opinion of them as well as their wellbeing. Another glance at Sunray showed him shuffling his wings, though he didn't look abashed. Ahhh, next time Sunray'll know to ask before, eh? Trust Avvie to diffuse the situation if possible.

Perhaps starting their own Circle wouldn't be a bad idea. No rule stated that their Circle couldn't be closely tied with those of his bondkin and Tribe's as well; he knew there were many she cared for deeply that may be in other Circles... The Wandering Path flickered in his mind, and he tried to recall if it came to him from memory of a Circle that already existed or if perhaps that might be the perfect name for one of their own making.

He looked to his lady, his love, to see her reception and what she would make of the wobble.

She tracked the conversation with her eyes as everyone took turns apologizing, her confusion growing with every word. Was she expected to apologize for not giving some sort of detailed account of what to expect? Her heart was too wild for that, if she was to be honest, although she did hold the fleeting thought that for the sake of her Gypsy stallion, her Magpie, she would make an effort.

Whatever do any of you have to apologize for?

It wasn't quite what she had intended to say, but it was what was in her heart. She was not a mare to held duplicity in her heart.

For creatures who are not of the sea, you handled the voyage fairly well. And I found Sunray's dismount rather spectacular! I had hoped for exactly such an expression of airborne joy, once the ocean released us from her clutches. As for warnings; well, if you'll forgive my saying so, that simply isn't the way that such things work. One never truly knows what lays beyond the next bend in the path. Even here, on this island that I have explored for countless days and nights, I cannot say with any certainty what might be around the next corner. It is the way of life, amplified a thousand fold during distant travels.

Rather they knew it or not, rather they were comfortable admitting it or not, it was true. Even at home, there was always a surprise waiting around the next corner; a bondkin who came for a visit, a beast of the realm, a friend from distant lands, something would be there in one moment or away at the next. Surely they must know that, on some level?

Rather you realize it or not, my friends, there is never a need for any of you to apologize for being exactly who you are. You are not of the sea and are not familiar with her dance or the beat of her song, as I am. Gypsy may have some familiarity with her, through his own travels, but he knows far more about the sway and hum of sands and earth than I can, even with my wanderings; it is who we are, and there is no flaw in that, no fault to be found. Our differences make us stronger, each holding a strength that compliments and accommodates for a weakness in another.

She cast a smile to each of them, the bemusement still dimming the usual glitter in her vibrant gaze. Perhaps she didn't fit with them as neatly as she had believed; perhaps she was still without her tribe, without those that would truly understand the wild dance of her heart. Either way, she couldn't understand what was in their hearts.

Perhaps it was best to simply move on. She could give some warnings, for the moment, although even still it was beyond her to grant them a detailed account of what was to come. Life truly didn't work that way, in her experience.

My complimenting strength at the moment is having been to this island before, so I can, at the least, grant you some small warnings. There are portals scattered across the beaches here, oft seen as little more than a shimmer in the air or a sliver of some color that doesn't quite seem to belong; they are subtle, unobtrusive, fitting naturally to the landscape. They move, and are only as permanent as the desire of they who first wished for such a gateway to be borne from the wishing well. Further through the trees the portals are scarcer, and near the peak of the snow-capped mountain they are wholly rare; I have only ever found a scant few that fed out into the snowy storms.

She turned as she spoke, casting her gaze inland, towards the forests and the great, towering beast that once had been a volcano. Tribe smiled as a sharp trill reached her ears; they had caught the attention of the copy birds. Ears perked, she took a cautious step forward, careful to cast her eyes over the sand directly in front of her before setting her hooves back down. The trill repeated, louder this time; clearer.

Cassian! Move your arse! There's treasure a-waiting!

Treasure, huh? Someone must have been on a quest of some kind and passed through this nexus point, a place between places.

Patience, woman! What good is treasure without grog?

What in all the realms was 'grog?'

Cassian! Move your -

The strangers must have spent some time on the same argument, she laughed, and took another cautious step towards the trees. Avian friends! Hear me!

The trilling stopped, and for a long moment silence reigned. A glint sparked in Tribe's eye; she had the floor.

Pass the falls and under the stone, through light and mist to the Well's pure tone.

Pass the falls and under the stone, through light and mist to the Well's pure tone!

A satisfied swish of her tail followed the excited repetition, and she took yet another step forward. They enjoy rhymes, she said in an absent tone of voice, her eyes scanning constantly as she all but danced across the sands. Follow me; match my steps, she called, and pranced ever closer to the trees, her eyes once again bright with excitement as the trilling copy-birds spread the call she'd given them farther and farther.

Pass the falls...
The Well's pure tone...