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Leyenda laughed. "I suppose I should have seen that coming," she grinned at Lin. "Well, you'll fall in love someday, I'm sure. I just hope that it's a bit calmer than all of this."

As she watched, Kelirahc used his good arm to lift Celeb effortlessly to his shoulders and then left the water and started back towards them. She smiled and waved to him, and he grinned back, his teeth startlingly white against the black of his skin.

"And it looks as though it's finally time for us to eat," Leyenda smiled at Lin. "I didn't mean to keep you from your meal ... I'm sorry. I just didn't want to eat without Kelirahc."

When Kelirahc and Celeb arrived, Kelirahc leaned forward and kissed Leyenda lightly on the forehead, then reached out and took her hand in his own. Leyenda blushed a bit, but she smiled back warmly.

"Hey Leyenda," Celeb called down to her from his perch on Kelirahc's shoulders, "do you think Mama could heal his arm? Because I bet he would be even more fun with two arms he can use instead of just one!"

Leyenda smiled at her brother. "Well," she said warmly, "we could ask, right?"

She had intended to do just that the first time she had bound his arm, but he had wanted to go in the opposite direction and she hadn't forced the issue. After all, she hadn't been able to communicate to him the reason she had wanted him to go towards the beach with her.

Though she had to admit, he had been using his arm despite the fact that it was broken, and it didn't seem to be bothering him too much ...

Kelirahc looked curious to know what they were saying, but Leyenda didn't know how to tell him. Healing wasn't exactly something she could show him with gestures.

"Ih," she smiled at him, using one of the few words of the ancient tongue that she had learned. "Come, let's eat."

"Come on, Lin!" Celeb cried gleefully, his arms outstretched as Kelirahc followed Leyenda forward.

Rhea was late to breakfast because she had also chosen that morning to wash, though she had headed up the beach for some privacy, but soon even she was finished eating, and the group prepared for their journey to Kelirahc's village.

"I want to come too!" Celeb said stubbornly as they prepared to leave. "I want to come see Kelirahc's people!"

Arwen bit her lip thoughtfully. On the one hand, she thought it would be good for him to come and see what his brother in law's people were like, how they lived ... but on the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure she trusted them yet, and she was worried for her son's safety.

Celeb pouted. "But I want to go with!"

Arwen knelt next to him and stroked his hair gently. "Celeb," she murmured, "we're just going to check it out and see what they're like, and then we'll be coming back. We're going to be on this island for a while, Earendil is making a map of it and that takes a long time. There will be other chances to visit, you'll see."

Earendil was nearby, and he headed over to them, overhearing the conversation.

"Hey," he smiled, kneeling down next to Celeb. "I'm not going in today either. Maybe you could stay with me and help me with my work? What do you say?"

Celeb glared at Earendil. He clearly was not happy with the suggestion, but he didn't outright refuse either. He was after all a rather obedient boy ... but he wanted to go with so badly ...

Celeb sighed in defeat. He knew that no amount of pouting would get him what he wanted, and he wasn't that type of child anyways.

"If I can," he mumbled, sticking his hands into his pockets and wandering off.

Arwen rose slowly, watching him as he headed off. "He'll be fine," she smiled. "He always does this when Leyenda goes away ... though this time must be particularly hard for him, since we're all going."

It would be the boy's first time without any of his family present.

Shiro and Rhea came over to join them, their bags over their shoulders. Whisper was napping in the shade of the shelter - she wouldn't be joining them this time either.

The two of them nodded. "It will be interesting," Rhea noted, "flying on something rather than on my own." She smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. I imagine it will be less tiring, at the very least."

"And a lot faster," Shiro added, "if it can turn a two day journey into half a day."

Arwen looked thoughtful. "That makes it sound like it's quite a large island," she murmured.

"It is," Leyenda put in as she and Kelirahc joined the group again. "It has to be at least the size of the elven Southland - though I would imagine that once Earendil is finished his map, we would know more."

Shiro turned to Kelirahc and started speaking with him, and Arwen looked around a bit. "Then we're just waiting for Roydon," she said softly. "He was just going to pack some food and water into his bag, just in case."

Leyenda sighed. "I told you, Mother, you won't need it," she said patiently, though she had obviously told Arwen the same thing before. "The fruit there is very juicy."

"I know," Leyenda smiled. "I suppose I'm just a bit eager, is all. It's absolutely beautiful out there ... I mean, the beach is nice, but in the jungle, there's just this ... peace, this beauty that you can't find anywhere else."

Suddenly she spotted her father coming over, and she looked over at Kelirahc.

"Shiro," she murmured, "will you tell him it's time for us to go?"

Shiro nodded and relayed the message, and Kelirahc nodded. He walked away from the group so that there would be space for him to summon his spirit, and then he did just that: touching two fingers to his mark and then sweeping his arm out to the side, the magnificent white dragon shimmered into existence.

Rhea still looked a little nervous, though the dragon merely glanced at everyone before lying on the ground submissively.