The horses trotted quickly through the forest, anticipating something she could not yet see. Lincoln lifted his head and inhaled deeply, breathing in the air. Nervously she spoke to him.

"What is it? Is there trouble ahead?"

He laughed, a deep belly laugh that left her aching in her soul.

"No, or yes, depends on how you look at it, I guess. We're approaching the sea."

The tree line started to become sparse and suddenly dropped off into nothing. They had reached a cliff. Octavia felt the breath rush out of her. Below them was a soaring expanse of blue. They had reached the sea. Seagulls flew overhead, their squalls filling the air. She rested her head on Lincoln's shoulder, simply enjoying the outstanding view. She breathed in the air, the faint scent of salt in the air.

"It's beautiful."

Lincoln started to nudge the horse.

"Wait! Where are we going?"

He let go of the reins and pointed to a small path down the cliff that she had not seen before. She held on tightly to him, afraid of falling, as they maneuvered the horses down the steep cliff. Soon they came to a stop at the bottom and she took in the surrounding land she realized that it was made of sand. They were on a beach!

Lincoln swung himself off of the horse and reached out a hand to help her down. She gently took it and hopped off of the horse. He started untying the food bag from their horse.

"We can stop and eat lunch here."

She beamed at him and plopped down on the ground, running her hand eagerly through the sand.

She ate quickly so she could at least dip her feet in the water before they left. Octavia rushed to the water's edge, whooping in delight as wave after wave crashed into her feet. She was left in peace to marvel at the sea as the others discussed what to do with the horses. Lincoln called to her.

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of ocean to see once we arrive. Now come on, we want to be out of the boats before dark. "

They travelled down a narrow strip of land where an old, rotting, dock stood with four boats tied to it. They unpacked the horses and loaded everything into the boats. The diplomats got in first and then extended a hand to Luna, helping her in. Lincoln got in the last boat and extended a hand to help her in. She jumped in the boat, too excited to even take notice of his extended hand. He withdrew it and quirked a brow at her.

"Having fun?"

Having fun? Why of course she was having fun. She had been in a boat before but never one out in the ocean. It was thrilling. Octavia would have barely noticed the boat moving were it not for the wind in her face and hair. She trailed her hand lazily through the water as Lincoln rowed. At one point he even let her row for a bit before her arms got tired, her muscles unused to this kind of labor. As they reached the shore of land, she hopped out and helped them push the boat up the shore. Her pants were soaked to her waist and her hair was a wind ridden mess, but she was happy, and that was all that mattered.

"What happens to the boats now?" She asked.

"Someone from one of the nearby villages will come and take them back to their village to keep them safe until we have use of them again."

She nodded, that did make sense.

There were paths all throughout the forest at they rode and each time they passed a new one, Octavia would curiously ask Lincoln where it led to. Lincoln was very patient with her, answering each of her questions with well thought out responses. Before she knew it they were back in boats again, and this time she was able to row for more than half of the time. As they approached the nearing shore, she saw huts. She saw small huts and long huts and smoke coming from fires. She saw women tending a fire and men skinning animals. She saw children playing in the ruins and older ones netting fish. There was a market full of people selling their wares and even more people buying them. They reached the shore and this time Octavia did not get out to help push the boats up. She was too nervous. What if these people didn't like her? She reminded herself that she didn't care, she shouldn't care, this wasn't her home, her real home, and never would be.