Ocean's Breath Plateau the snack that smiles back

under the watchful eye of a caretaker, sirmiq trudged his way to the edge of the lodge and looked to a world he had not known was so big. scents he had been familiar with all his life were stronger here, and sights he had never known to exist were taken in gulping stares. 

the scurry of a crab lingering near caught the boy's attention, and he readily wiggled his tail in playful excitement. he took the creature to be either food or a toy, and set after it with hurried leaps of hunger driven steps. he tripped, but bounced back with no tears or cries to derail him from his mission. 

the crabbed recoiled with claws raised defensively, and sirmiq raised a paw to bat at it in a challenge.

He was searching for his wife. For his father, too. But his bruised heart melted when he came within sight of the lodge, where one of the seal hunter babes was out in the sunshine.

"They pinch," he said to Sirmiq, nodding to the boy's minder to say that he would keep watch for a time. He did not move to stop the boy from playing, however. He might bleed, but it wouldn't cause any real or lasting damage. It would be good practice, in the panther's opinion.

He settled nearby on his elbows, hindquarters just slightly lifted in anticipation. He would jump in for the rescue if it became necessary; for now, he only batted the creature back towards the boy as it scuttle for safety.

someone appeared, but sirmiq paid him no mind. the boy's focus was wholly to that of the strange little creature. it walked weird. why did it walk weird? he raised a paw and gave a smack to the top of the crab's dome, narrowly avoiding the pinch of claws. 

his stomach gave a grumble as the big man booped the crab back towards him. baby blues gave an expectant look to the adult before falling back towards his poor choice of prey. he smacked the crab once more, but the creature just kept on going. how did he make it stop?

instinct told him to grab it and give it a shake, and so that's exactly what he attempted to do. he got about as far as lowering his nose before the little crab latched on and gave a good squeeze. sirmiq retaliated with a yelp and a furious shake of his noggin. when that did not result in the release of pain, the boy took off to as fast of a run as he could manage whilst likely giving himself whiplash in the process.

The boy toddled out not long after his brother. When he saw Dutch, he alerted sharply like a drug-seeking dog — this was a man that he knew, and he often had strips of dried meats to steal and play with, so long as Chagak made it to him first. He bounded forward, slowing only as he caught sight of the crab.

"Wuzzat?" he demanded, charging bravely forward once more. But then claws clamped painfully on Sirmiq's face, and Chagak gave a startled cry of his own.

"HEY," he yelled, and when the crab paid no mind, the boy rushed in to try and help...

... only to be pinched by the opposite claw.

Chained together this way, Chagak only succeeded in causing them more pain as he threw his weight back against the restraint clamped to his ear.

"Hold on," Dutch called to them both, "Peace, peace! Let me see — "

But Chagak was not listening. He was trying to tackled the creature that was attached to he and Sirmiq both.

pls skip Dutch this round!

While some of his family trailed beyond the lodge, Sea Hunter was content to be left with his own company for a little while. He lay quietly amongst the furs, gnawing at the wing of a seagull that his father had brought that morning - happy to do so without the need to sweep it out of a jealous sibling's reach.

He was so focused on chewing to relieve the discomfort of growing milk teeth that he did not register Dutch's arrival. He did not hear the words he spoke to the other cubs, but the yowl from his brother at last had Sea Hunter distracted enough to venture from the lodge. He hovered at the doorway, ears forward and eyes wide as he watched the commotion unfold.

chaos continued as chagak stumbled into the scene and attempted to play the hero. except his brother did not quite fit to the role yet as sirmiq quickly learned. the two became linked together almost comically, crab now dangling between them as both children fought to pull away from each other and the pain. the adult came over to help too, but by that point chagak was practically falling over to curb-stomp the little creature. 

it released it's grip on sirmiq's nose and the boy quickly reeled back with paws flung to his now throbbing sniffer. he fell to the ground with a cry, pinch marks indented where the little crustacean had attempted to turn him into sirmiq the red-nosed pup. the pain soon turned to anger as the boy lifted his face with tears welled in the corner of his eyes. he was going to kill and eat that damn thing for revenge! he charged at the creature once more with a battle-cry, this time mindful of those terrible claws.

Dutch was worried, now, remembering that they did not yet know how important it was to protect their little eyes from those claws. His paw came down very briefly on the crab's flat shell, pinning it while he took the smaller, sharper claw holding on to Chagak between his teeth. One powerful bit damaged the limb beyond repair, forcing it to release the boy in the process. With the sharper claw incapacitated, he felt just a little less uneasy about the game.

He stepped back; only seconds had passed during his intervention, and the boys were now free to continue their game.

Chagak, having seen the actions taken by Dutch, charged in alongside his brother. A tinny warcry squeaked out of his lungs as he smacked the crab like a cat: bap-bap. bap-bap-bap. This did nothing to damage it, but it did prove that at least one of the claws was now useless.

A creature had gripped his brother's with strong claws, pinching noses and ears that'd gotten in the way of its peace. Sea Hunter watched, relief in the sag of his small frame that it was not he who was among the fray. He leaned against the doorway of the lodge, keen to maintain the distance between himself and the chaos unfolding before his eyes.

Dutch intervened, freeing both seal hunter children, and the audible crunch between the adult's jaws drew Sea Hunter's ears forward again. Chagak bapped at the shell with a paw and Sirmiq charged in with new determination. He barked out his encouragement.

one claw was left dismantled but the larger one still boldly swung up in the air as a warning. sirmiq rounded to the back of the creature, yips and growls tossed to the air as he feverishly brought down an ass-whooping upon the crab. sand thrown here and there, loud whoops of cheer given as chagak bapped their assailant. 

embolden by the cheer of his sea hunter and the support of dutch and chagak, sirmiq set upon the crab just as he'd seen the adult do. he swept up the small creature with a cautious grab before giving a few rough shakes to send it to the stratosphere. it landed a ways off where it lay stunned for a moment. the boy took advantage of the opportunity and seized the larger claw between his jaw, a blaring snap marking the sound of victory.