The Beach

Shan leads you down a narrow path onto a sandy beach.
"Here we are," she says, and points to a dark spot on the horizon. "That's Kenil Island; that's where you'll be going next. This beach is actually quite empty at the moment...the only thing that might be around...if I can find her..." Shan's voice trails off and you look around, taking in your surroundings. All you can see are the mountains and deep white sand from the base up to the water's edge. The sea is strangely calm with no waves-or very few-at all.
Shan puts a strange tube into her mouth and blows. A low musical note sounds across the shore and a few seconds later, a strange creature the like of which you've never seen before slides effortlessly onto the hot sand.

"This is Cirra," Shan tells you. "She's an AirWater Karoma from DragonMoon."
Cirra looks at you curiously, then dives under and brings a large shell to the surface. Not quite sure what to make of this, you take it.
"Uh oh," Shan says with a smile. "You'll be playing for hours now."
"Playing?" you echo.
"Throw the shell."
You obey and Cirra dives after it, faster than you thought possible. As she brings it back for you, you notice a certain roughness of the water further out.
"Ah," Shan says. "Meet the rest of the gang."
"This is Ice Star," Shan begins. "He's like, the boss here. He's a Firewater male."
"Uh...Ice? Star? And fire and water?" you say, not quite making a connection between the names.
Shan laughs.
"Well, ice is frozen water, isn't it? And the stars are (mostly) just fire."
"True," you admit. "So who's this one?" you add, stretching out your hand towards a slightly smaller Karoma. It sniffs it curiously, then scampers back away from you.
"You're honored," Shan says teasingly. "That's Kori, and she's a white female. She's usually very shy; doesn't make much of a point of going to strangers. And this last one," she says, indicating a rose colored Karoma, "is Sango-Kawa. She's also a female, and she's a CoralRiver Karoma."
"They're very playful," you say as you throw the shell again, this time with four Karomas chasing after it.
"Yes, aren't they?" Shan agrees. "Obviously, we've never had any Karomas here before, so we can't tell if this is normal or not...still, given that they're all like this, I suppose it is. Oh...look over there!"
She points and you glance over obediently.
"That's Kondaku," Shan says. "Like Kori, he was abandoned...it seems people just don't want the lower ranking Karomas." She shrugs. "Their loss. I actually think Kondaku's the most handsome Karoma...not that the others would thank me for that," she adds with a grin. "And that-" she points to what looks like an underwater rainbow "-is Sparkle." You pause to admire the Rainbow Karoma as she darts about under the water. A few minutes later, she swims out of sight.
"Now," Shan says, "let's see if we can't get you across this ocean."
She produces another 'whistle' and blows it several times. There is no response from anything.
"Ah," Shan says, seeming a little embarrassed for the first time since you've met her. "It seems our resident Dagmire is busy transporting another suck-ahem, visitor. It could take her ages. Sorry to cut the tour short like this, but you could be waiting hours. Perhaps you should come back again later. If you follow me, I'll take you back to the Kendan Rainforest and Heather can take you back home."