#cadrabbling

The massive turtle lazed in the shallows until he felt the start of pins and needles tingling up his limbs. Don rolled his shoulders, flexed his fingers and toes to dispel some of the feeling. He needed to move. But he didn’t want to go back to shore just yet…maybe he could find a reef out in the deeper waters, like he and Hunter had in the lake. He was considering his options, stretching his limbs and paddling with the incoming waves when he heard a high pitched trill. Don immediately perked up, eyes snapping open properly to follow the sound. He lowered his hind legs until they touched down, claws digging into the sand to help keep him steady as he moved to stand upright. He scanned the shoreline for the source of the noise when, oh. There. Sitting on the shore, just out of reach of the gently crashing waves, wearing the biggest sun hat Don had ever seen was another turtle. Kind of? Mostly. It was looking directly at Don and as soon as their eyes met it began trilling again, fidgeting along the edge of the receding water. Don squinted, head tilting. Did he know this turtle? He wasn’t sure, something about them seemed familiar. His throat clicked as he replied to the seeking sounds with a low chirp of his own. Something long and pink, a tail?, flicked behind the smaller turtle, kicking up small clouds of sand. It continued to chirp and call to him, crawling just out of reach of the ocean’s tide. Well, it wasn’t like Don had anything more pressing to do. And he was definitely intrigued. He lowered back down onto all fours and began crawling his way back towards the shore, ducking under the waves every now and then as he went. As he neared he continued to look over the smaller turtle, ok so maybe they weren’t a complete stranger. Something here was familiar. He shook the excess water off his scales and shell as he finally reached the shore. Don slowly approached, looking over the smaller reptile. It flinched back, cautiously chittering as Don stepped closer. Don stopped a couple feet away, head low, nostrils flaring as he tried to place why this particular turtle was so familiar. It crawled forward to meet him, beak wrinkling as it sniffed and chattered, ducking around Don’s larger form to examine him up close. Whenever the tide would come in the smaller turtle would shriek and jump away. Don watched this pattern repeat a handful of times before stepping in. The next time the other turtle got close enough Don leaned down to gently but firmly nudge it backwards, away from the tide. It chirped and squeaked at him, the pink spines along its back and arms fluttering. Its limbs scrambled against Don’s scales, pin prick scratches and slimy slaps as it chirped worriedly. Don’s responding rumbles were low and hopefully soothing, the little thing seemed hesitant to be pushed away from the shoreline despite its obvious anxiety over the water. When Don was finally satisfied that he had the other turtle a safe distance away from the rolling tide he settled back on his haunches, body blocking the view of the water for good measure. Now that the smaller creature wasn’t jumping around as much Don was finally able to lean down and do a proper investigation of his own. He made sure not to move too quickly as he encroached on the smaller reptile’s space, sniffing and just barely nudging along their scales, collecting as much data as he was able. It continued to quietly peep, shivering slightly under Don’s watchful gaze, and he had to wonder if it too had instincts that told it a predator was near. Well, they’d be fine, Don wasn’t hunting right now. And even if he was, other campers were not on his list of viable prey options. As long as he was aware enough to keep it that way at least. 

Don eventually pulled back to sit, head tilting as he tried to place where this familiar scent…these familiar sounds came from. He knew them from somewhere. A part of his hindbrain brought up an image of Smokey, and that had Don reeling. This…this obviously wasn’t his little brother but…underneath all of that writhing pink flesh were shockingly similar yellow spots, bright green scales, a warm inviting scent that still had remnants of family and affection despite it being tinted sour with decay at the edges. Don shook his head and snorted, frustrated. The other turtle flinched. Don instinctually rumbled out a reassurance, doing his best to relax his posture. All of that was going to be boxed away for later. For now, he could try and puzzle out why this other camper had been so set on calling Don to shore. The larger reptile leaned down again to gently nudge a smaller shoulder, throat clicking with intoned question. Thus far it didn’t seem like this other camper could talk with Don, not in the same way he could talk with Smokey or Hunter or Mikey, despite them both making very similar vocalizations. Maybe it had something to do with the pink growths covering the other reptile’s body, Don did his best to avoid those as he bumped his beak against green scales. The other turtle slowly began to relax after the 5th bump, hopefully realizing that Don wasn’t going to attack it. It eventually lifted a little clawed hand to hesitantly push Don’s snout away and he let it without issue. The smaller creature blinked up at Don with its mismatched eyes before it cautiously began to crawl to the side, around Don’s larger body. Don wanted to reach out to stop them, because they were trying to get near the water again, but he stopped himself. Lowered his arm back down, just to observe. The little turtle continued to click and chitter as it slowly crawled back towards the tide, looking back over its shoulder at Don to chirp a little louder before continuing forward. Don got the hint. He leaned forward until he was back on all fours and began to follow his smaller companion back towards the water. The smaller reptile faltered as it closed the gap between it and the tide, its entire body tensing. Its spines and tail raised, a very quiet hiss scratched at its throat before it moved to retreat. The little body was quick to seek out Don’s, weaving its way between his arms to duck under his plastron with hiccuping little chitters. Don had to freeze mid-stip to make sure he didn’t trample the little thing underfoot. The addition of the hat meant it’d been a very tight squeeze to get to its current hiding place. Don could feel it brushing against his underbelly uncomfortably, he growled out some of his annoyance. If the other turtle didn’t like the water why was it so insistent on going near it? Don shifted his weight, about to take a step back and away from the other mutant, but it squealed and latched onto his arm. A long pink tentacle wrapped up to his elbow, squeezing every time Don attempted to pull away. He growled again and the creature’s chitters took on a pathetic note of apology, but it didn’t release its vice-like grip. Ok. This was fine. Sure. Don snorted. He looked down at the creature, brow furrowed, before looking back up towards the water. Don lifted his arm again, but this time he moved to take a step forward. The little turtle clumsily moved with him. Alright, that was…something. Don took another step forward and then another and another. His smaller companion continued to hang onto him as they closed the distance between themselves and the incoming tide. Don could feel their little body trembling against his own but that didn’t stop them from shakily moving forward.

Don stopped, right where the tide barely began to lap at the tips of his claws. The little reptile had gone eerily quiet and still, save for its nervous shivering. Don carefully shifted his weight, trying to sit again despite the awkward angle his little companion was at under his plastron. Don watched as the little turtle stared down at the bubbling tide, stiffening every time the foamy edges came up to gently soak Don’s scales. The larger mutant carefully lifted the arm that wasn’t tied up with a pink tentacle and reached for his companion’s scaled wrist. Don gently wrapped his larger claws around the green scales, waiting until the small limb stopped its nervous twitching before carefully guiding it forward. The smaller reptile began squealing as Don closed the distance between its hand and the water. Don leaned down and pressed his beak against the smaller turtle’s shoulder, purring softly until the smaller turtle calmed down again. Once his companion was as relaxed as he was going to be, Don guided their hand the rest of the way down until the tips of their claws were dipped into the receding foam. As the tide lazily crawled its way back up the shore the little reptile tried to pull its arm away but Don held firm. He could feel its tail thrashing under his torso as the water creeped closer. Don watched as the tide washed over both of their claws, the little turtle’s trills turning panicked for only a few seconds before they slowly petered out. The tide pulled back again and Don continued to hold his companion’s wrist hostage, keeping it against the sand, allowing the tide to gently splash over their scales until the trills and the struggling and the shivering stopped. Soon enough Don didn’t have to hold their wrist anymore.