Wheeling Gull Isle Cordelia

WC: 946

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Thresher winced slightly when Driftwood inquisitively went too close to the shell, causing the hermit crab within it exposed itself long enough to get its threat across before receding back inside where it would be safe. Clearly, Driftwood had either never seen a hermit crab before, or he hadn’t expected for one to be in that shell. Thresher had learned to be very careful when inspecting shells, as a great deal of them contained hermit crabs, or snails of some type- and those ones really smelled bad when you tried to collect them, as they would inevitably die when away from the salt water for too long. Hermit crabs weren’t generally too dangerous- but they could deliver a pretty nasty pinch, apparently. Thresher- an ever-careful creature- had managed to avoid getting pinched by them, and had learned to look for the telltale, slightly purpleish claw that they used as a sort of door to keep the rest of themselves from being seen from within the shell. If a hermit crab got too big for its shell, then its large, dominant pincer wouldn’t even fit inside. She had been told that they were shell-traders, and she liked that idea...That once the hermit crab got too big, it simply searched for a new shell- just like what she and Driftwood were doing then.

He was both surprised and grateful that she had warned him, and it made Thresher’s little heart swell with pride to have helped a fellow packmate. She had a keen interest in sea life, which had also given her a healthy amount of respect and fear for the creatures that lived by or in the water. Of course, she would go nowhere near the seals or sea lions that occasionally came near the shore, and she watched with wide eyes as occasionally she would see a whale breach to expel a jet of air above the surface of the water. If a group of humpback whales came close enough for her to see, she enjoyed thoroughly seeing their black and white flukes appearing above the surface before they went down for a deep dive. She could tell when they were about to dive, as well, before their fluke even showed. Though they would breach several times to get a new breath of air, the shape of their backs was different when they would dive below, exposing their great, mottled fluke into the air before sinking below the surface. It was as though their great spine would curve slightly, giving them the humpbacked appearance for which they had been named, before their small, arched dorsal fin would disappear and their massive tail fin would lift. Hermit crabs were much less impressive than whales or sea lions, but they were still quite cute, and she liked little things for the qualities they possessed as much as she liked the larger things.

Driftwood seemed surprise that crabs lived in shells, and she gestured to another one, scuttling down the beach- before a wave came in and pulled it away below the surface. They had a special set of gills, which would allow them to live underwater, so she did not feel bad for it. ”Hermit.” She reiterated quietly, and scanned the beach until she saw another one- a slightly larger one, and gestured to it. ”Make shells. Trade them.” She said, though her explanation wasn’t terribly descriptive. ”Hermit make shells...Grow...Trade for bigger.” She said, wishing then that a hermit crab would trundle along and demonstrate that very feat- but catching one in the process of doing so was very rare- even Thresher hadn’t seen it happen, but she had been told that it was so, so she believed it.

He thanked her and she giggled as he reached out, expecting the same, gentle as silk touch that she got from her parents, but instead got a brushing with his muzzle that was much more reminiscent of the way that Sixgill and Grayling played together. It didn’t hurt her, of course- she wasn’t made of fine china even though she might have looked as delicate as a teacup. He ruffled the fur up along the nape of her neck, but she simply shook her pelt out- her long, tufted ears flopping comically against the sides of her face, to settle the fur back down so that she didn’t have a mohawk. She waved her tail from side to side and tilted her head curiously when he asked her about becoming a beach guardian. She hadn’t put any thought into what she wanted to be when she grew up- as those days seemed so far away, and unlike her brothers, Thresher was content to simply live, rather than seek out goals and hunt or guard. She wasn’t sure she wanted to guard the borders along the land bridge, as strangers weren’t her favourite...But guardian of the beach had a certain appeal to it.

”What do?” She asked then, curious about hearing more of what this task involved. Thresher would likely be suited to become a Naturalist of sorts, as she took a keen interest in the life of the other animals that lived around her that were not wolves. She would still eat meat and hunt, as she understood that for her survival, wolves needed to kill. Still, that fact did not make her appreciate the wildlife around her any less, nor did it make her think that wolves were far superior to other animals. After all, even a tiny thing like a hermit crab could bring a wolf to tears- so even small things could be mighty.

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