"Morte, wait!"

A red-haired girl in a bright pink dress was striding indignantly away from the blond boy who was running after her.

"I already said I'm sorry!" the boy cried out in an indeed apologetic voice.

The girl did not slow down, her long hair billowing after her.

"It was just an accident, Morte!"

At this point, the red head suddenly spun around, causing the boy to crouch down instinctively with his hands over his head.

"OH YEAH? DO YOU REALIZE THAT IT WAS MY MOST FAVORITE DRESS YOU JUST RUINED? AND YOU RIPPED IT IN HALF! IN HALF!" she seemed to be beside herself with anger.

"My, it looks like you've just signed your own death sentence, Kyrie" said another boy covered in green.

"Agan, don't joke like that! She's going to kill me for real!" Now it was Kyrie's turn to run for his life with Morte hot on his heels.

They were currently on a trip to the Winter Continent to visit Rhi'a, their 300-year-old-female-dragon friend. She's a little odd, what with all the future-seeing things, but calling on her once in a while can certainly be enjoyable. The group mostly traveled by Agan's trading ship, which had recently served as a free transport ship for them in case they needed to go somewhere that included crossing the sand sea. It was common that they went together.

This morning, however, Kyrie made a serious mistake. He took on the job of cleaning the ship deck and had nearly finished it when he came across Morte's room. The floor here gets really slippery when it's wet and caused Kyrie to fall face forward. Everything would have been fine if he hadn't grasped Morte's clothes when he fell. The next moment, he was lying with half of Morte's dress in his right hand, the rest was still caught on the hanger. Kyrie knew immediately that he was in for it this time.

"Naja, help me!"

Kyrie ran around and hid behind a spectacled young man who heaved a sigh.

"Honestly, can't you two act more matured for once in you life?"

And he ducked as Morte made an attempt to seize the boy behind him. Then suddenly…

CRASH

"What the?"

The ship must have hit something as it began to shake violently.

"Damn! A sand whale! Hold on everyone!" Agan voice rang out.

Too late. The ship nearly fell on its side and the impact threw Morte off her balance. She tumbled into Naja, who collided with Kyrie and the three of them dropped into the sand sea.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh"

The whale quickly swam away. Sand whales weren't the kind of creature that went looking for a fight. The ship soon regained it position and Agan went over to the banister, calling

"All right there, you three?"

No one answered. Agan looked down at the place where they just fell and saw nothing but white sand.

"Now where the heck are they?"

I gave up trying to write long story. I'm just not cut out for it. And I'm not English, so please forgive any mistake. I just hope this story is okay.