[private] there must be something in the water; Islay and Fenwe

[Islay]

The two-toned girl looks up, momentarily startled by the presence of another. A glowing mare - perhaps a little older than herself - approaches and Islay has to ignore the desire to tug on the shadows in the jungle behind her. On the Mainland, she was familiar with the concept of strangers.

But not on Islandres and her immediate reaction is to cloak herself in darkness.

Stranger than the unknown mare is what happens before Islay. (She has known for a while that Gale can shift but it is not something she has seen for herself.) Her blue eyes widen and the filly steps back to allow the shifter room to change into a more comfortable skin. And it would seem that Gale's shift is not the only shock for the morning. He is leaving for Hyaline, he tells them. For a moment, she thinks of asking him for how long.

Oh.

Gale looks at her and then to the other mare, who Islay realizes she still hasn't greeted. "I," she starts, looking between @[Gale] and the teal mare. It is easier to focus on introductions first for the adolescent. "I'm Islay," she tells the other. Islay feels like saying more: that she wishes her father was still on the island, that she had a chance to talk about this with Aestas, that she wishes Gale wasn't leaving at all.

So she swallows all those words down and instead asks @[Fenwe]: "Do you know how to lead?" Islay decides to reveal her only attempt at leading anything anywhere. "I tried to get a starfish to follow me to shore once. But he wasn't like my stars and I'm afraid he ended up as a... snack for the birds."