While my first, initial uses of Whipping Waves did manage to get me out of the immediate danger I was in, they were also... less than controlled, to put it mildly. In the throes of my panic, I ultimately ended up slamming myself into a reef and catapulting myself over forty feet into the air, which definitely contributed to the stress of the overall situation.
Thankfully, without the pressure of being actively attacked all the while, this ability is turning out to be much easier to both use and limit to a reasonable speed. My initial method wasn't really the best, but pulling and pushing myself through the water, with the water is surprisingly simple now that I've got the hang of it, and still way, WAY faster than I was going before. Why I didn't think to try something like this sooner I don't know, because now that I have, I'm realizing just how stupid an idea it was to try and swim across an ocean by hand. Getting to that island wasn't exactly tiring, but it still took a sustained and constant effort, whereas now I'm barely exerting myself at all, Ranamon's inherent hydrokinesis only feeling increasingly natural the more that I use it.
I laugh as I launch myself out of the water like a dolphin, do a three-quarters front flip, and land back upon the surface feet-first, using a tiny plane of constantly-rising water to surf atop it for about ten seconds before letting myself slip smoothly back below.
...and on top of that, it's genuinely just quite fun. I've never really been that fond of swimming before, but assuming this counts, I think I may have just found myself a new favorite hobby.
With my newfound skill, the remainder of my trip to the islands on the horizon ends up being much more enjoyable than the first bit, if still fairly uneventful. I do spot an absolutely enormous silhouette way down in the deep at one point, looming out of the abyss below like the passing shadow of a titan, and a chittering pack of Dolphmon tries to follow me a few minutes later, seemingly wanting to play. Thankfully however, my current speed causes me to rather rapidly outpace both of them anyways, allowing me to avoid any unwanted interactions or distractions.
Soon enough, the island chain draws near, close enough that I can now distinguish individual trees and rocks. Doing my best to recall the location of the one I'm looking for with respect to the others around it, I adjust my trajectory, heading for the land mass at the center of the bunch. It doesn't look particularly different from its neighbors, and I can't tell what its overall shape is from here — but if I'm right, I think I'll be able to identify it pretty easily anyways.
Slowing to a stop roughly a hundred feet out from land, I rise out of the ocean atop a miniature wave and begin circumnavigating the island's perimeter, visually scanning the beach as I go. If I have the right place, there should be a rather noticeable landmark somewhere around here...
I end up having to go all the way around to the opposite shore to find it, but find it I do — set up on the beach, exactly as I'd hoped, is a small but well-built wooden building, situated next to a small stone hut. The sign built into the metal roof proclaims it to be "Toucan Paradise", AKA, the Toucanmons' tropical cabana and shack.
...all four occupants of which are currently rushing outside, having evidently spotted me.
"Ranamon...? Lady Ranamon?!"
"Is that really her?!"
"Oh, look over here, please look over here!"
"We're your biggest fans!"
I blink at the quartet of large, cartoonish toucans now furiously waving at me from shore, the huge, bright red half-eggshells they wear standing out like sore thumbs against the sand.
Ah, right. These were those guys that had that... "fan club" for Ranamon. A very dedicated, passionate, and proud fan club... or, perhaps more realistically, an "obsessed to the point of it being slightly creepy" fan club. A "you could really use some other hobbies" fan club. An "I probably should have been a bit stealthier about this to prevent them from seeing me in the first place" fan club... but too little, too late for that.
As the group continues to all but beg me to come closer, I quite deliberately ignore them, not particularly wanting to deal with Ranamon's fanatical devotees right now. That being said, I also can't seem to make myself simply dive back underwater to escape their gaze, possibly because... well... they obviously want this more than anything. To meet Ranamon in person, I mean.
And even though I'm not really her, I'm not sure I have the heart to simply blow them off.
I struggle not to bite my lip again. I know they're hardly the nicest Digimon around, being highly judgmental at best and mostly just out for themselves, but do I really have it in me to simply ignore them? To take their dreams and snap them over my knee? From what I remember, to dismiss them as things stand would crush their hearts as assuredly as if I took them each in hand and squeezed until they popped...
I sigh.
I'll give them two minutes.
The Toucanmon cheer wildly as I pull myself to shore, running up as I alight on the beach in front of them, though not coming so close as to crowd me.
"Hiya..." I greet them, waving a little awkwardly.
"Lady Ranamon, this is such an honor!" one of them excitedly squawks.
"We had no idea you'd be passing by our island today!"
"We've wanted to meet you for so very long!"
I plaster on a smile.
"Well, it's nice to meet you all too."
One of the Toucanmon tilts their head at me.
"Huh... you sound a little different than I thought you did."
"You idiot, don't be rude!" one of the others immediately scolds them. "A thousand apologies, Lady Ranamon!"
...what? Why would I sound any different from her when I literally am- oh, right. Ugh, fine.
"Ah'm afraid ah'm not quite sure what ya mean."
The Toucanmon who spoke up blinks, then laughs. "Nevermind! I must've just been imagining it!"
"Of course you were!" another rebukes. "Lady Ranamon has the voice of an angel!"
"And she's even more beautiful up close!"
I try not to fidget at the overly-complimentary comments — not that they're really about me to begin with, but it's odd being treated like this by complete strangers, let alone enormous cartoon birds.
"So, um, what exactly brings you here, Lady Ranamon?" one of them asks.
"Yeah! Did we get selected from some sort of fan sweepstakes?"
How the heck do they know what a sweepstakes is- nevermind.
"Nothin' like that." I reply with a small shrug. "Ah just happened to be in the area, and saw you boys wavin' at me. Pure coincidence."
The Toucanmon preen for a moment at their good fortune, until one of them abruptly bolts upright.
"Oh, how ill-mannered of us to make you stand out here! Please, come inside!"
"Yes, yes! We have so much to show you!"
Before I can even respond, I'm ushered from the water and up into the large, open-walled cabin a little ways up the sand. The inside is actually more spacious than I realized from afar, including a small dining area, a combination bar and kitchen, a changing room, and even what looks like a small, sectioned off souvenir shop. I find myself seated at one of the tables in short order, while the Toucanmon... pose?
"Welcome to the Toucan Paradise Sea Shack!" they announce in obviously-practiced tandem.
"Service is of course free for you, Lady Ranamon!" one of them follows up as they drop out of their stance.
"After all..."
They pause, running behind the counter and huddling up for a moment, before abruptly springing back out — plus or minus a few accessories.
"...the chance to gaze upon you is payment enough!"
My smile grows slightly more brittle as I take in the headbands they've adorned themselves with, which have characters scrawled on them that I'm pretty sure are Japanese, despite the sign on the front of the shack having notably been in English. Though I can't read the text, the tiny hearts surrounding the words give me a pretty good idea of what they say anyways — especially in tandem with the large buttons sporting Ranamon's face that the Toucanmon have stuck to their eggshells, and the small paper hand fans now gripped between their feathers, which bear similar illustrations.
Slightly uncomfortable, I allow my gaze to drift elsewhere, landing on a nearby wind chime — which I then of course notice has a thin strip of paper attached to the bottom of it, from which Ranamon's image once again stares back.
My image.
"Well now, ain't ya'll sweet..." I say a bit weakly.
Even as I say it, I can't help but wonder... why do these guys like Ranamon so much, exactly? I mean, they're treating me like some sort of celebrity, which I'd assume isn't because they're just big fans of the planet being deleted piece by piece, but if the Toucanmon don't know about Ranamon's "job", what do they know her for? Was it ever explained? What exactly does Ranamon do in her off time that would bring them to make merchandise of her in the first place?
"Just sit tight Lady Ranamon!" one of them says before I can dwell on it for too long, popping a chef's hat on and hurrying into the kitchen. "We'll fix you up the best meal you've ever had!"
"Yes, we've got the finest cuisine this side of the ocean!"
"We also happen to have a variety of beach and surf toys if you'd like to-"
"She doesn't need toys you birdbrain!" another one squawks. "What do you expect her to do with those? Tell her about the swimsuits!"
"Huh? Hers is perfect as is, she doesn't need one of those either!"
Despite myself, I find myself laughing a little at their antics, relaxing slightly as I do. Off-putting as it is to have these four hanging on my every word and action, panicking at the mere thought of offending me, it's also... oddly flattering? Combined with how nice this place already smells, presumably from whatever they usually cook in here, it almost makes me want to stick around a little longer after all.
...but I really shouldn't. And two minutes is definitely up.
"Sorry boys," I demur, standing back up, "but ah'm afraid ah'll have to decline those generous offers."
The Toucanmon with the chef hat nearly throws the frying pan he's holding into the ceiling, while the rest comically rear back and spread their wings in shock.
"What?" the Toucanmon with the highest voice exclaims, looking utterly crestfallen.
"Did we do something wrong?!" the chef desperately pleads. "If our menu isn't to your liking, we can-"
"It ain't that!" I hurriedly reassure them, holding up a hand. "Ah'm sure your food and shop are wonderful, and ah'd gladly stick around if ah had the time. But ah really do need to get back to what ah actually came here for."
"...what's that?"
Right, I suppose I didn't actually tell them. How to frame this...
I make a quick show of looking around, then beckon the Toucanmon closer.
"Can ya'll keep a secret?"
Their eyes collectively light up.
"Of course we can!"
"You can count on us!"
"Our beaks are sealed!"
I give them a quick, close-eyed smile. "Good. Ah'm lookin' for an... ancient artifact, of sorts. Ah'm afraid ah still can't tell ya all the details, but it's real important that ah find it before someone else does, and-"
"Ooh, wait! Do you mean the beast spirit?"
The other Toucanmon turn and glare at the one who interrupted, who shrinks back at their clear irritation — conveniently causing all four of them to miss how utterly taken aback I find myself in that moment.
"Yes..." I say, slowly. "That's actually it exactly... ya wouldn't happen to know where it is?"
"Ah- no." the Toucanmon who spoke up mutters, still looking chastised by his fellows.
"We don't even know what it looks like, or what it does." another one elaborates. "Just that you've been looking for it for a while now."
'How?', I don't ask, held back only by the fact that I'm pretty sure Ranamon should already know that. Seriously, what...?
"Well, ah'm pretty sure it's hidden somewhere around this island," I continue after a moment, "ah'm just not sure exactly where."
The Toucanmon perk up again in unison.
"Really? We can help you find it then!"
"Yeah, we're experts at finding stuff!"
"Or we can be experts at finding stuff!"
"Whatever the case, we're at your service!"
Though their enthusiasm is still a bit much, I do take a moment to actually mull it over, genuinely considering their offer. It would be nice to have some extra eyes on hand, and apparently they already even know what I'm looking for... but then again, keeping the Toucanmon around would require keeping up this act as well. Not to mention, I seem to recall them turning on Ranamon as soon as she actually found her beast spirit, owing to Calmaramon being comparatively "ugly" in their eyes? Granted, part of that might have just been down to how Ranamon also dropped any and all airs at that point (and gained a really grating voice in the process), but I'd still rather not have to deal with that myself.
...not to mention, with the way these four seem to look at me like I hung the stars in the sky, I'm actually kind of reluctant to ruin their image of me.
"Ah appreciate the offer," I finally say, "but the spirit is most likely somewhere underwater. Ah don't think ya'd be much help there, so ah'd better stick to lookin' for it myself."
Four equally despondent "Aww..."s ring out as the Toucanmon slump in place, all looking more than a little downcast.
"W-well, in that case," one of them stutters, "we wish you the best of luck, Lady Ranamon!"
"Yes!" the high-voiced one rallies. "We have the utmost faith you'll succeed!"
"And please do come back if you change your mind! About our help or being hungry!"
"Will we ever see you again...?"
I turn away from them and lift my chin a little, tapping on it with a finger.
"Hmm... you might," I say, vaguely, "and ah'll still be around for at least a little while longer. For now though..."
Walking back outside, I pull a small wave up over the shore and step onto it, letting it lift me into the air — then, on a lark, look back over my shoulder and wink.
"Seeya~!"
With that, I have the wave sweep me off the beach and smoothly deposit me back into the ocean, giggling to myself as I dive back down beneath the surf.
Heh, that was surprisingly fun once I relaxed a bit! I don't know how long I'd have been able to keep that up, but without the stress of potential discovery and subsequent deletion thrown into the mix, playing into Ranamon's role was actually almost enjoyable — even the Toucanmon's absolute adoration was strangely nice, once I got used to it. They were so incredibly eager to please that I almost couldn't help but want to strut a little at the end there.
...I sure hope I'm not turning into a tease.
Laughing a little at the absurdity of that thought, I turn my focus back to the vast, watery expanse before me. It's not like I was lying to the Toucanmon about needing to get moving — that spirit won't find itself, and while I know I've got the right area, I've still got a lot of potential ground, or rather, sea to cover, and who knows how much time to explore it.
I firm my expression.
Let's get to it!
