Oystercatcher Tide Pools bounty of the sea

If her companion had been performing his duties properly, Meteora never would have been taken by surprise. As she was in the process of extracting a crustacean from one of the pools, a voice cut through the air and startled her. Her muscles tensed and her jaw loosened, allowing the crab freedom to drop back into the waters— but, it being a rather dumb creature, opted to fight for its life. In the very same moment she released it, it grasped the tender fur near her ear and neck and swung to dangle there.

She turned to loose a threatening growl in the drudge's direction for his error and shook her head over the sand in an effort to dislodge the crustacean's grasp. Perhaps sensing that it could do no further damage, and neither could she, the crab loosened its grip and fell to the ground. Meteora placed a firm paw upon it, pressing it into the wet sand, and finally looked upon the stranger that had approached.

"Every day," she said slowly, her accent lilted, "is a good day to fish."