It was difficult to leave the Crossing. Faolain knew it was even more so for Rivaini, and she admired her courage for willingly leaving her brother once again to accompany the Teke on the search. She felt some measure of guilt for separating them again, but ultimately was immensely grateful for the other mare’s companionship and her confidence in their success rose even as they stared out over the sea. "I have a feeling we won’t be gone long," she said, not breaking stride as she entered the surf. She knew Rivaini was probably not much more keen on another dip in the ocean than Iscariot, and she turned her head to meet the russet mare’s eyes as the waves rushed around their legs. She wanted to ask if the other woman was alright, or if she needed to wait; but Rivaini did not strike Faolain as the type to respond to being called out in such a way, so instead she just nodded to the silver mare, hoping to convey confidence and comfort through the brief glance.

The swim was not long, but a violent storm was raging somewhere close, and Faolain fought hard to avoid it. Strong winds swept across the waves, spraying foam and froth across the dark, tumultuous surface of the water. They were lucky not to be pulled in, and Faolain was rattled by the thought of the storm tearing them apart and washing them away. Rivaini’s already been through that once, she thought, and shivered as the island of Atlantis rose up before them. It looked just like the face of a mountain from the distance, with no shore in sight and no way to ascend the grey cliff face, but as they drew closer Faolain saw that it was not as steep as it had looked. The mountain was covered in a thick blanket of jungle vegetation, separated from the sea by a narrow strip of white sand. The sky was still overcast here, and fat droplets of rain began to fall before they made it to the shore. Faolain made sure Rivaini was still with her and made a beeline for the trees once their hooves were on solid footing.

"That was really close." she had to shout over the sound of the rain hitting the canopy above them, but at least the wind was calm. She hated to think what was happening a couple miles away where the storm was at its thickest. "Are you okay?" Here she paused for a few minutes, catching her breath, letting Rivaini catch hers. She smelled no herd stallion’s borders, though there were definitely traces of other horses here. They were faint, and she wondered if the forested area here was abandoned. While they rested, Faolain’s eyes swept over their surroundings, but she found it hard to see much through the dense trees and undergrowth. A short distance away, however, she could hear running water, and speculated that a river met the ocean not too far away. That was a good sign.

When they had caught their breath, Faolain made her way to the source of the sound. A river did indeed cut through the dense jungle to pour into the ocean, and Faolain followed it upstream with her eyes to see that it led up the mountain. A clear path followed it upward, and Faolain looked to Rivaini to hear her thoughts, but ultimately up was their only option.

The climb was not too bad, though Faolain worried that if there was anything at the top of this thing worth coming back for, Iscariot might have a rough time following them up. The zig-zagging trail was fairly gentle, if a little slow, and Faolain was comforted by this, and by the dense trees that continued to hug the mountain even when it became terribly steep. If anyone took a tumble, the trees were right there to catch their fall. Eventually the ground evened beneath them, and Faolain and Rivaini looked out over a shallow valley nestled behind the ridge they had just climbed. Faolain’s breath was taken away by the richness of the land, and by the sparkling little lake that fed the river they had followed up here.

She turned to Rivaini. "Did we just get lucky?" she asked breathlessly.