Qadir gasped as he pulled himself onto a new beach, snorting the salt water from his nose and shaking out his soaked mane. His coat, dripping the wretched water he kept plunging into, looked nearly black as he stumbled further onto the beach. The sand clung to his pasterns, and he snorted again as if that would shake the irritating grains off. Well, this is what he got for throwing himself into the ocean again. At least the swim had taken less than a day. If this cluster of islands were any farther apart from each other, he would have given up entirely on exploring.

But here he was, breathing heavily and still dripping on the pale sand below him. This was a bad idea. At his age, he should have stayed in his desert and spent the rest of his days in peace in comfort. Instead he decided to cross the vast ocean and continue to cross it in search of a new home. Stupid, stupid stallion. He left his mate, his herd, and his beautiful home for adventure. His glory days were behind him; this was no way to spend his golden years.

He sighed sorrowfully, but shook his mane again to try and dislodge the feeling of dread. No use in worrying and chastising himself about it now. Instead he lifted his heads from the glimmering sand below to scan the area around him. A jungle –or forest? He hadn't been around many trees in his life, so he had little idea what the wall of trees in front of him were– took up most of the land, from what he could see. But his eyes weren't what they used to be, so he started to slowly walk in a wide berth around the trees, instead opting to stay on the beach and see how far it might stretch.

The sun warmed his hindquarters. Qadir's ears flicked water off and allowed the welcomed heat to relax his muscles, his weight shifting more gently from side to side. He enjoyed the warmth of this land, even though it couldn't match the heat of his desert. This was still warmer than the waterfall land he had first come across, and he relished in the sunbeams.