It would be a lie to say he wasn't scared. He'd never left the Kingdom before and he didn't even know much about the outside world. Just what he's heard from the conveys and travelers that came through the kingdom. But the princess was worth it to him.
He traveled far, far beyond the borders of the kingdom. [Complete with hand gestures.] Through the thick forests, over the deep canyons, across the ragin' rives that surrounded the kingdom, that usually kept it safe from invading armies. The goin' was slow, havin' to learn how to deal with such things for the first time.
After a long, hard week of travel, he finally reached the next village. At first, he asked around for anyone who might know where the feather came from. He got an estimated size for how big the creature would have to be, far bigger than any bird, but no one knew of where he might find such a creature.
But the trip was not wasted. While he could not find the bird, he did find somethin' else.