Cara had been feeling the urge to head down to the woods most of the week, which in and of itself wasn't highly unusual as they still felt like the most familiar place on the island. What was unusual was the unsettling and often confusing dreams (no seriously, she had no idea what a half-fixed, half-variable home-loan even was, let alone why she'd want one) that had accompanied this feeling.

But since hunting things usually made her feel better, she eventually gave into the urge, and was stalking through the preserve, bow in hand.

[For two.]

The ride out to the location indicated on Zedd's parchment had been marked by sullen, mulish silence on Cara's part and awkward silence on the others'. Finally, the wizard reigned his horse in.

"We're here."

Cara stared at the structure Zedd was pointing at. "That's not a school. That's a bridge." A rickety wooden one at that. Clearly, this was a sign the whole idea was flawed and Richard should listen to her when she said she didn't need to go back to school.

"That's because the school is in another world," Zedd explained. Again. "One where time will pass much faster for you than for us. You must cross the bridge and the school will be on the other side."

"I can see the other side from here. Nothing but empty fields." There wasn't even a fog.

"There is powerful magic on that bridge," was the only elaboration Zedd gave.

In the end, after no small amount of verbal prodding from Richard and Kahlan, Cara eventually stood on the riverbank, bow in one hand, pack on her shoulders. She turned back to the others. "When I get to the other side and there's no school, we'll stop with this idiocy, right? Go rescue something in distress? Probably Richard."

"We'll miss you too, Cara," Kahlan said, before shoving her onto the bridge with a firm push between the shoulder-blades.

After that first step, there was nothing for it but to keep walking, however reluctantly, one foot in front of the other. Halfway across, the air in front of her swam, and the sight of empty fields dissolved into that of a small city on an island, a castle dominating the skyline. Under her boots the creaking wooden boards were now solid black stone.

Cara spun in place, a much wider and longer bridge stretched out behind her, and she was alone.

[NFI as Cara's gone up to the school.]