Brightbill returns to the Nest confused after hearing from other goslings that the geese will soon leave the island for many months. Brightbill asks Roz whether the news is true, and Roz explains that geese migrate south for winter.

Brightbill asks whether Roz will migrate with the flock, but Roz says she cannot fly or swim and must remain on the island. Brightbill wants to stay with Roz, yet Roz tells Brightbill that migrating with the flock is the safer and wiser choice.

Because Brightbill wants to know more, Roz takes Brightbill to Loudwing and the other geese by the pond. Loudwing and the flock explain that the journey south will take a couple of weeks, depending on the weather, and that the geese will gather with other flocks at a lake in a wide field before returning to the island in four or five months.

On the way back to the Nest, Brightbill tells Roz that Brightbill has been feeling a powerful urge to take a long flight. Roz identifies this as instinct, a survival force shared by animals, and says Roz has instincts too. Brightbill accepts that his instincts are telling him to migrate, but Brightbill worries about leaving Roz behind, while Roz reassures Brightbill that Roz will be fine through the winter.