For once, my tendency to worry and overthink is defeated by my full stomach. Not long after I finish eating everything goes dark and I sleep like the dead. In the morning when I wake up my mind is clear and I feel pretty amazing.

So, after breakfast, we set out to explore the remainder of the island before the end of the day. As expected, we don't find anything of note other than some beautiful scenery. While there is nothing useful to us I am sure that a botanist would consider this heaven on earth.

We return to camp for dinner and then sleep, once we wake up we have breakfast. After we are done eating we break down camp, pack up, and launch the canoe. Then Brightfire starts rowing us towards the next large island, but we have to pass a dozen smaller ones first.

We have made it about halfway to the next island when we take a break for lunch. Brightfire is pretty tired at this point, so after we eat I use shapeshift to row for a while. After around fifteen minutes the headache gets so bad that I have to drop shapeshift.

Brightfire takes over rowing and we continue moving towards our destination. As we get closer it is easy to tell this island isn't like the others, it is not only bigger but also has mountains. In fact, other than a thin stretch of beach all we can see is tall cliffs.

The cliffs are made of white stone and stretch upwards for hundreds of feet. We can just barely see a line of green at the top where the cliffs end, probably jungle. It is getting pretty late by the time we are getting close to the island, we need a place to camp.

Instead of landing immediately, we follow the beach north as we look for a place to camp. Luckily, we spot a cave, or at least a dark spot that looks like it might be a cave. So we hit the beach and head in to check it out, it is decent sized and uninhabited, perfect for us.

The only downside is that it is on the cold side, but a fire will soon fix that. Besides, the way we all sleep in a pile is pretty good for keeping everyone nice and warm. The fire just makes it more pleasant while we sit around and eat some dinner.

We don't bother fully setting up camp, we will only be using the cave for the night. We will need to find another spot to camp once we move to the top of the cliffs. I certainly don't plan to climb the cliffs more than once if I can help it.

Brightfire shouldn't have any trouble going straight up the cliff and I am fairly sure I could too. The problem is Nala, we will need to find some sort of path up the cliffs for her to use. So, in the morning, after breakfast, we move the canoe into the cave and then set off on foot.

We follow the beach for the rest of the morning looking for a path up to the top. However, by the time we stop for lunch we still haven't found anything of the sort. We also haven't found the end of this side of the island, making me think this is the biggest island so far.

After lunch we continue following the beach north looking for a suitable path. Instead what we find is an area where there is no beach, just the ocean crashing onto the cliffs. Unfortunately, since we left the canoe behind our choices now are turn back or swim.

Not waiting for Brightfire to try and talk us into going back, I jump in and start swimming. Nala follows me right away and I circle back to swim next to her incase she needs help. With a sigh Brightfire follows us into the water and swims hard to catch up with us.

Nala is a surprisingly strong swimmer and doesn't seem bothered by the deep water at all. The stretch with no beach lasts for almost a mile, but halfway across I spot something interesting. There is an area where the cliff is broken and a small stream is pouring into the ocean.

With a light growl I get Nala's attention so that she follows me over to take a closer look. Brightfire has no choice but to follow the two of us, but I can hear her grumbling. The water is dropping from only about five feet up, a bit too high for Nala to reach.

With a little trouble I manage to get under her and give her a platform to jump from. Once Nala makes it, I do the same for Brightfire, then I climb up myself. By the time I climb up Brightfire is already complaining about being soaked to the bone.

To put a stop to the complaining, I grab the cleansing stone out of the pouch and use it on all three of us. Afterwards I put it away, ignoring Brightfire's stare, and take a look around. The water is coming from a pond that is fed by a waterfall coming from higher up.

Now that I can get a good look, it looks like the water has slowly carved stairs out of the cliffs. Of course, they are only stairs to something around a hundred feet tall, each step is between five and thirty feet. However, a lot of the surroundings are broken and should provide easier ways up.

Around the pond are some trees and other plants, but that is all that is in this little bowl area. Since it is getting late we may as well camp here and start the climb in the morning. When I turn to look at Brightfire to convey this, I find her standing and playing with the cleansing stone.

"Meow?"

Brightfire says "Why didn't you tell me about this stone sooner? Do you know how long I've had to go without a bath?!"

I really try, but in the end I can't help it and bust up laughing at her, which gets me a glare. When I finally manage to stop laughing I go and take a drink from the pond, it is crisp and refreshing. There is also a small amount of mana in the water, making me think there might be something interesting above us.

For now we set up a temporary camp and have some dinner before going to sleep. In the morning, after breakfast, I start searching for the easiest way up to the next level. When I find it, Nala is able to make it up with a series of jumps and we follow her.

The next level is another basin similar to the first one, just a bit bigger. After giving it a quick search and finding nothing we start looking for a path to the next level. In the end it takes us most of the day to make it to the top level where we find a lake.

To either side of us the cliffs are still a bit higher than we are, but the stream from the lake has cut its way through. The odd thing is that the cliffs are the highest point in sight, from the lake the terrain descends. The lake is fed by runoff from the cliffs on either side and maybe a spring or two.