While Raghu was the first to get off the boat, he didn't make it far onto the stony shore. His wobbly knees only permitted him a few steps before he fell to them softly. For several hours he had endured the steady, unfamiliar sway of the waves, and though nausea had fortunately eluded him, the feeling had enervated him severely. Needless to say, collapsing to the ground in front of six other kids about his own age was very embarrassing, especially since four of them were girls.

He turned around into a sitting position and grinned at the others blearily, but it looked like their collective focus was elsewhere. Upon watching the others rub shoulders, cluster together, and otherwise attempt to get warm, he was suddenly struck by how cold he was himself. Festive colors, which Raghu had in abundance, didn't necessarily make for warm clothing. His mind instantly raced for a way to both make himself warmer and make himself stand out; his father always said that a good first impression was important.

As the well-dressed ginger attempted to ascend the untrustworthy stairway, Raghu turned around to face the sea. Even in the short time they had been on land, the quiet boatsman had already vanished into the blanket of mist on the water's surface. The boy closed his eyes, and began to breath in, oblivious to the seagull-induced hubbub behind him. As Raghu inhaled, he held his hands around his mouth as if he was preparing to call someone, and the air rushing into his lungs took on a reddish hue, suffused by heatwave. A small but bright orange glow shone from his mouth, though nobody was in position to witness it. Before Raghu could properly Expel, however, a splash of sea foam from a breaking wave entered his gullet, and he coughed violently. A jet of sizzling-hot air burst from his mouth and hit the water, where it created steam. Fora few seconds Raghu coughed violently, hoping to keep from making a scene.

When he finally turned around, he found himself completely alone. In less than half a minute, everyone else had made their way up the stairs. He could see them up the path, fending off seagulls. “At least nobody saw that,” Raghu muttered, and he hurried up the stairs after them with an uncomfortable fire in his belly.

About halfway to the rest of the group, Raghu abruptly ran into someone else. He flinched out of surprise and almost fell over backward. In his haste, he hadn't even seen the girl, whose stone-gray robe made her blend in with the seaside rock face impressively well. “Whoa,” he spouted out, fixing his belt. “Where'd you come from?”