The Hippogryph seems to follow his direction, pushing through sulfurous smoke and weaving through gouts of steam before lighting upon the rocky outcropping. Ansgar utters a low warbling sound of discomfort, clearly this place making him uneasy as his feathers bristled considerably. Hakon dismounts and quickly prepares herself, looking about them through the slits in her helm, a small frown curling her lips before she reaches up to help Aven down.

Aven glanced around the area as he takes Hakon's hand, vaulting off Ansgar's feathery back and onto the volcanic rock. He'd only seen it on the map, so he'd assumed the island was pre-formed, not a volcanic slab of ash. Still, it didn't affect their mission adversely: in fact, it could aid them considerably. If the channel was still pumping out lava, it would be much easier to follow by the heat of the ocean floor above it than anticipated, one obstacle of the daunting quest averted straight away. Perhaps fortune was on their side for once?

Aven stroked Ansgar's head. "This is as far as you can go, Ansgar. Thank you for taking us." His eyes glanced toward the water, a section away from the molten discharge. They couldn't get too close to the magma channel, even underwater, or they'd surely boil alive. He pointed to the tides on the rocks. "We go down from here, and follow the heat. That should lead us toward the tectonic plates."

Ansgar idly clacked his beak, pushing his beak warmly into Aven's hand. The tuft of feathers upon the Hippogriff's head seemed to flare considerably as his great amber eyes stared down at the boiling water, releasing a low, chirruping-whiny that sounded quite concerned. Lifting his head, the Hippogriff turned toward Hakon whom embraced him quickly, murmuring," Hush, sweet Ansgar, circle the island near sun down- look for us." She plants a quick kiss upon his forehead as the creature backs away, pounding his massive tawny wings before taking off running from the edge of the rocks- expanding his massive wingspan and leaping off. The massive drafts of heat from the volcano immediately tossing the beast high into the air and out of sight.

Hakon stepped up beside Aven, grasping his hand as she looks down- carefully concealing the fear in her face,"… How do we get down there without boiling alive?"

Aven raised an eyebrow at her mention of sundown. Surely, she wasn't serious? Had he not…. oh dear. "Haki, sweetheart, you realize that this journey may take us weeks, maybe months? There's a very adequate reason this kind of feat is not attempted often, and crystallized Ether so rare as a result: it is an arduous and perilous journey, into a realm that most have not dreamed of exploring nor have the means to do so." He glanced back at the water, leading her along the outcropping away from the magma flow. "As for our route, we'll need to stay at least a hundred and fifty meters away from the channel at all times, to be safe." A tendril of shadow rose from the water at his beckoning, forming a disk for them to stand on. "I'll take us as far as I can away from the boiling shore, you should probably inform our feathered friend about our lengthened time away."

Hakon glances to him, offering a small smile, shrugging her heavily armored shoulders," It doesn't hurt to be optimistic," she protested quietly, offering a horse chuckle before bringing her fingers to her lips, a shrill whistle of almost deafening proportions ripping from her lips- as the sound faded into the low gurgle of magma, an answering and distant shriek was heard.

Looking back at Aven, she nods and pauses, stepping upon the dark disk as she offers him her armored hand," If I may- how will we know when it is a safe distance, dear?" Vaguely, Hakon's mind drifted to being boiled alive- hundreds of thousands of miles away from her children, never to be found, leaving Aven all alone with the weight of her mortality upon him… Shaking these thoughts off, she offered a smile.

Aven gives Hakon a casual wink. "When the water isn't quite literally able to cook us alive, of course." By that, of course, he meant he had positively no way of knowing. Even with magic, there was only so much that he could do, and remotely sensing water temperature was not one of them. Their best bet would probably be to have him test the water himself, since his body could regenerate the injury. "I'll probably just dip a toe in periodically as we go to test it. Don't worry, it'll heal." He takes her hand, and steps onto the disk, and without hesitation, it begins to move outward along the boiling water, away from the burning shore and submerged magma.

" Honestly my dear-" she sighs faintly with a dry chuckle,"-one would think there is a better way of testing the waters then dipping your toes in, then observing if any flesh is left when you pull your foot out." Rolling her eyes with a gentle smile, she turned to him, cupping his face gently in her heavily armored hands, looking into those lovely silver eyes which rippled with the life of shadows within the iris. Her brow furrowed, as it did when she deeply contemplated something or concern reared its ugly head.

" Allow me to place my greatsword in the waters- if it warps, then it will be too hot, is that fair?" She asks quietly. Briefly her mind flickered back. Back to home. She wondered if Jace and Elenoir had been woken yet, they were probably harassing Ansgar to some degree if he had returned home by now, plucking his feathers and pulling his tail- only to get lightly swatted at as their nanny fretted over the fact the creature could very easily swallow both children in a single gulp. Her lips curl into a tired smile," Is that alright?"

Aven sheepishly returned to the center of the dark disk. Simple solution were often the most fortuitous, solutions he sometimes tended to overlook. It wasn't exactly his fault, most of the problems he endeavored to solve on a daily basis required several levels of conjecture and hypothesis, and had no simple answers. He supposed Hakon also completed that aspect of him, able to see the world in more straightforward terms than Aven himself. All the more reason she was his everything. "Of course, Haki, I hadn't thought of the obvious."The water around them had ceased to actively produce steam, but the temperature was still hot enough to melt skin from bone, easily seen by the puff of mist emitted when Hakon dipped her sword. Aven grimaced: that would have been his toe…

The further they traveled, the less steam began to warp the tip of the blade. Hakon bites her bottom lip, doubt began to weigh heavily upon her. Perhaps she was meant to be mortal, and the Fates themselves would do anything to remind her of that fact. Shaking these thoughts away, she once again allowed her thoughts to drift to home, to the twins- a small smile pursing her lips. Her eyes flickered to Aven, seeing him grimace, a low chuckle echoed from her lips," Aren't you glad this isn't your toe?" she teases gently, lifting the blade briefly from the water to show the now slightly curled tip, arching a slender eyebrow before kissing his cheek. Looking down again, she notes the lack of steam, looking to him curiously," I believe we may have arrived."

Aven reached tentatively down, dipping a finger in, preparing to wince. It was strange, there was a time when Aven could have severed his own hand and barely flinched, a demonstration he'd given a multitude of times to prove a point. Indeed, the water was hot enough to scald him slightly, but they needed only a few more meters before it would be livable. He retracted his hand, dismissing the burn on his finger, as the disk traveled a good twenty five feet father, before lowering them into hot-spring-like conditions. "Seems you were right, Haki. From here, we go down."
He winces suddenly, glancing at his finger in surprise as a dull pain echoed up his arm. The burn… I've regressed that far… The past few months had brought more than a small amount of worry to Aven, who, admittedly, had been growing weaker and weaker by the day. He hadn't informed Hakon as of yet, the burden of such knowledge not something he wished to place upon her in the middle of her regaining her passion, rebuilding an order of knights.
It had started with Aven noticing the shadows beginning to reject him at random, and his wounds healing progressively slower. At the rate he was going, it would only be a week before he healed no faster than a normal human, and this, of course, was the second reason he hadn't told Hakon. If they succeeded in their mission, and obtained the Crystal Ether, he'd have the materials to ensure Hakon would not perish of old age, a fervent wish of his. of course, if he did not find a cure for his own condition, it was likely that not only would he be reduced to a normal human in power, he would only live at maximum another month, as his body will by then have completely lost it's ability to mend itself.