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Xaivary continued on her way, confident that when they got to the tidal pools they would be readily identifiable. The tide was still heading out at this time of day, and was far enough out that only the more far-flung of the pools amongst the rocky areas would still be completely invisible. That concern set well aside in her mind she began to mull over the details that Zo had stated about her desired "spot" aloud.

"Well if you want somewhere high, particularly if you're after cliffs, you're going to have to look near the mountains. If you want a lot of water you'll want to be in or near the forest, which is pretty much all around the base of the mountains on the coast side anyway. I'd say not too near the sea, since the water isn't drinkable and there would be less game this close to the coastline. Unless you could come up with a really great way to catch a lot of fish, anyway." They reached a rocky patch and she began picking her way over it, keeping an eye out for any of the pools. "Now the mountains north of the most heavily inhabited areas I know are already occupied by a rather large herd... and since you're talking about hunting you probably wouldn't want to be too close to there anyway. Game would be more scarce and there'd be more potential for hostile encounters with the locals. Like I said before, a lot of people get nervous around pointy teeth."

She spotted a tidal pool and halted her walk, peering at it for a moment before changing coarse and proceeding at a slower pace. "My best guess would be to head north from here and then follow the barrier range around and see if you can find something suitable. I have traveled around quite a bit but I haven't gone that far myself yet, so I don't have any more clue beyond that."

Stopping at the pool's edge she nosed around a bit until she found a piece of seaweed to dislodge. "If you're hungry there's probably some fish in here. They tend to get washed in with the tide and then get stuck in these little hollows when it washes back out again. Oh and... it's slippery, so don't fall." With that she grabbed the seaweed between her teeth and gave it a solid yank to pull it up out of the water. She didn't chew on it right away; far too much salt water was still dripping from it for that. She didn't mind waiting for a minute, though. Maybe she could occupy herself with watching Zo fish, if the dark mare was inclined.

Xaivary grinned a bit and set her seaweed aside on the rocks to dry a bit. "Well... if you're going to have a herd around, you can do a better job of taking care of them if you know what else is around anyway, I'd think. It's also fun to look around even if you're not the herd type. It's why I'm out here, anyway."

A quick jerk of her head at the seaweed and she offered an identity for it. "That's seaweed. One of the few plant-things here that are worth eating. The grass is dry and tasteless because of all the salt in the water, so..." She peered down into the pool for a moment before splashing her hoof into it near a small, scaly, finned creature with a rounded oval body and slightly bulgy eyes. "And that's a fish. They live in the water. Sea or river, just different kinds. Some of 'em are big... some aren't, like that one. I've heard they're tricky to catch, but when they're stuck in the pools like this they can't go far, so."

Shifting back from the slick edge of the pool, Xai swung her dampened hoof in an idle pendulum motion, side to side. "During the fall time there's some... Salmon, I think? They swim up stream from the ocean, hundreds at a time. I hear lots of meat-eater types hang out by the rivers that time of year because it's easy pickings and there's so many of them there's not even much point in fighting over them. Nice right before winter, I'd think."

Having run out of things to say for the moment she turned back to her seaweed and found it just dry enough to be enjoyable. With a small grin she picked it back up and started chewing with gusto.

Xaivary halted her chewing for a moment. "I wouldn't have thought to try it either. My friend that lives around here told me about it." She watched for some moments after Zo splashed into the pool before pausing her chewing again and clearing her throat. "Check by your tail..." She grinned good-naturedly and bobbed her head slightly. "Just hang out by the rivers in the fall time, you're bound to see some. They'll be a lot easier to spot too, from what I've heard."

"Well... we weren't friends yet at the time. We'd just met, actually. I think she was trying to be helpful? Kind of like what we're doing now, I guess." Xai shifted away from the pool to make sure Zo had room to climb out safely. She could only shrug about the lack of fish-catching skill on Zo's part... it's not like she was any better at it. "The Kawani tend to use sharpened sticks and nets to catch fish... either stab them or trap them so they can't get away. Not really sure how it's done out in the woods..."

Xai turned to face the northward side of the beach they were standing on and canted her head. "Well... I guess we're checking north first anyway. Let's just follow the beach north until we find a river mouth and then follow it inland? We'll probably wind up by the mountains eventually that way, and hopefully some likely spots for that home you're looking for?" She had a feeling this was going to be a rather long journey, and into territory she didn't really know anything about. At least she had good company for that sort of traveling, though! There wasn't a lot that would mess with a Kalona, after all. "And after that we'll just go where the wind blows, I guess."

An odd way to start an adventure, maybe, but Xai wasn't going to complain. Most people never even got the chance to have an adventure, she sure as heck wasn't going to pass this one up. And the wind would blow her back this way sooner or later, anyhow. It always did.

"Well if you figure something out you'll have to show me when you get the chance. I'd like to see that!" She could certainly appreciate an interesting application of ingenuity like that. Especially since Soquili lacked those handy thumbs that the two-leggers had.

"Well, we'll head up to the river, and maybe follow it a ways. Then we'll see. Depends on if it's time for me to go check in with people, I guess." More like let what few friends she had know she was still alive. She wasn't precisely the most frequent of visitors, but she liked to check up on them and let them check up on her, basically.

Xai actually followed Zo for a short way before mentioning rather mildly, "You know we'd probably reach the river faster if we went down the beach the other way." She kept her face straight through the next bit too. "I know you were wanting to look around, but I wasn't sure how fast you were wanting to get there, so..."