However insignificant this trip may seem to an another, for Rowena it's huge. For the first time in a long time, she has something to look forward to. Her thoughts play like a movie behind her eyes, and there's never a new release. The same tragedy is all she sees, until this anticipated break in the routine lets her imagine something else.

Spring melts the snow from the Peak. The last of Rowena's winter coat is carried away with the wind, and new shoots bring sweet nourishment. Much like her father, and her grandparents before him, Rowena is well adapted to life in the wilds of the Lost Islands. A few days of spring eating brings the shine back to her coat, and a few weeks return some fullness to her figure. Rowena is a new horse as she walks side-by-side with Macabre. Macabre's comments are even enough to elicit a chuckle, a rare sound coming from Rowena.

She is selfishly glad to leave Wasp behind for this trip. Rowena sorely misses Macabre's undivided attention and sole companionship. Though there will be a third horse accompanying them now, she can't imagine anyone distracting Macabre like Wasp does. There is so much Rowena hopes to accomplish today. Restoring worn out bonds with Macabre is one of them. A trip down the mountainside in companionable silence is enough to start the process.

A piece of the night greets the earliest morning light. Rowena moves like a shadow through the fog until she finds his golden shape, hardly discernible from the warm glow of the rising sun. The dark mare's coat gleams damp with what might be morning dew and what might be sweat. Her heart beats so loudly she worries Macabre might hear it over the ocean's break. Embarrassed, Rowena remembers what it felt like to feel Midas' touch upon her cheek.

What is it that draws Rowena to stallions colored of light and warmth? Perhaps it's the contrast. Their image alone casts a light into the darkness of her world. Midas' light is so different from Ailill's. Her emotions swirl, confused, like the eddies caught among the rocks of the crossing shore.

Before she can open her mouth to introduce them, it becomes clear that Macabre and Midas are already acquainted. Rowena's dark eyes dart between them, words lost to her surprise, and her ears turn nervously. "We ran into each other near the Falls." Rowena states, echoing Macabre's tone back at her. "He's the one I was telling you about." Macabre's reaction is concerning. Is she just surprised or do these two have a bad relation? Rowena didn't consider the possibility that these two might know each other, and she definitely didn't consider potential animosity. Today isn't off to the start she had hoped for at all. "How do you know each other?", she demands, a touch of panic rising in her voice.