Oystercatcher Tide Pools place your bets

"I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!"

A quartet of wolves picked their way along the shore, raucous in their revelry and paying no mind to the seagulls that were still trying to sleep in the sandy hills to their right. Two women, almost identical in appearance, were almost shouting the words to their chosen song, playing up their expressions as they danced around a third and fourth wolves - two men - in what seemed to be a concerted effort to annoy them.

One man seemed unphased, and carried on as if there were not two harpies crowing in his ears. He did not even look as one of the women suddenly took up a passionate solo.

"Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet!"

"As much as I'd love to listen to this all day, it looks like dinner has arrived. Let's pause the encore, shall we?" the man said dryly, fighting a smile.

The soloist made a noise of displeasure. "It's dinner and a show, Bron. You don't pause, you just enjoy." She cleared her throat as if getting ready to begin anew, but was halted by a look from her twin. They'd been travelling for several days without pause, and while there'd been plenty enough food to pick off the shore, they hadn't stopped for a real feast in some time. "Intermission!" she declared, bounding the rest of the way toward the pools up ahead. Her twin seemed to see it as a challenge, and the pair reached the pools long before the men, leaving poor Bron to enjoy the silence in their dust.

When the two pairs came back together, the twins were already picking through the tidepools, and the Soloist was shaking a small crab from her whiskers. Bron chuckled as it flew off, only to have her chase after it and pounce on it once more. But there was little excitement after that, and the quartet grew further and further apart as they perused the fine buffet laid out before them.