I am Squirticus!

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 14th April 2011

Characters: Tiernan
Description: A tale of Squirt's Day
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 4 of Turn 6
Notes: Starring Squirt, the firelizard companion of Tiernan.
"Shinies" are probably markers attached to a fisherman's traps(think something you'd use to catch crabs). Shellfish are whatever the Pern Crustacean equivalent to crabs are.

Squirt hovered a dragonlength above the Seawing's highest mast, taking
in the sights and sounds of the ocean below. He enjoyed Rukbat's
warmth on his sea blue hide, the smell of salt and fish in the air,
and the breeze that was making allowing him to lazily drift about. His
master had tried to convince him to go scout out land, but he'd merely
cheeped in confusion and winked /between/. He'd _never_ think to look
for him right above the ship! Silly man!

It was about mid-day, and Rukbat was at it's highest point in the sky,
causing a heat that most humans would have considered to be quite
oppressive. Squirt didn't care much though, as the cloudless sky, and
light breeze was a welcome change from some of the heavy storms they'd
been sailing through as of recent. Any day that he didn't have to stay
on the ship was a good day for the young firelizard. Yes, perching on
master's shoulder, with a claw grasping his ear, and a tail about his
neck was enjoyable. But master moved around a lot, and yelled a lot,
and Squirt ended up getting tossed off his shoulder more often than
not. The sky was the best place to be for Squirt, although perhaps if
they did find land, he could find himself a lovely green to snuggle up
to while master was busy tending to the ship!

His lazy drifting was interrupted when he noticed something shiny
glinting out on the water. Now that was something interesting!
Flitting quickly /between/ he reappeared right above the object of his
attention. He wasn't certain what precisely it was - just some
miscellaneous flotsam out on the water. But it was shiny, and that
meant he want it. Grabbing it quickly in his talons, he realized it
was heavier than expected, causing him to *dunk* gracelessly into the
water. After a brief moment of being submerged, he surfaced again,
cheeping in disgust at the shiny.

Leaping lightly back into the air again, he cocked his head somewhat,
trying to figure the best way to get the shiny back into his safe hole
on the Seawing. Lacking somewhat in intellect, his decision was to
simply try what he'd attempted before, grasping at the shiny with his
claws. This time, he noticed that the shiny seemed to be attached to
something else, a long chain that went deep into the water. With one
final cheep of frustration, he flew off, looking for something else of
interest.

He soon found another source of entertainment, in the form of diving
through the peaks of the little waves that formed as a result of the
breeze. In addition to the shock of the cool water against warm
firelizard hide, he also noticed small fish jumping through the waves
in much the same fashion that he was. Both of these provided him with
tremendous entertainment, with the latter contributing to his already
slightly distended belly. Despite master feeding him, he had a knack
of sneaking into the ship's mess, and stealing a bite or two to eat.

Belly full of yummy fishies, Squirt came across another shiny, very
similar to the first. He was initially dismayed at how these shinies
taunted him so - being so pretty, yet not something that he could take
back with him to add to his collection. But the chain attached to this
shiny was only a bit under the water, and he could see shellfish
crawling on it, just below the water. He made an unsuccessful attempt
to dive for one, which scuttled too low for him to dive.

Growing annoyed with having his desires thwarted, Squirt blinked
/between/ once more, reappeared far enough above the shiny that he
could barely see the small shellfish scuttling up it. He waited for
what seemed like an eternity, until one of the shellfish surfaced. He
waited a moment, studying his foe carefully. It looked hard on the
outside, so unlike a fish, he couldn't dig his claws into it and tear
it apart for easy eating. It also had two pincher like claws that
Squirt wasn't too happy with. They looked like they might hurt him,
and Squirt didn't really like to be hurt. When he was hurt, master put
sticky creams on him that made him smell funny. It took a lot of
preening to get the creams off, and master yelled at him when he did.
That made Squirt sad.

Squirt folded his wings, executing a perfect dive, falling like a blue
dart towards the sea. He pulled out his talons just in time to try and
snatch one of the shellfish, who snapped at him with it's pinchers.
Diverting his course at the last moment, Squirt hit the water with an
unceremonious *PLUNK*.

Chittering his annoyance, Squirt swam back up to the surface, spitting
water out of his mouth. The shellfish paused, almost as if to dare him
to try again, and waved his pinchers in Squirt's direction. Squirt
flew up once more, trying to figure out if there was a better way for
him to catch it. Squirt was a fearsome predator, and this shellfish
merely his future dinner! He would not be beaten by dinner!

It then occurred to Squirt that the back side of the shellfish didn't
appear to have any pinchers. He guessed that if he managed to catch it
unawares, he would be able to grab it from behind. Diving under the
water, he opened his multi-faceted eyes, watching the critter from
underneath. he'd never expect a firelizard to attack from below!

Squirt waited until he was nearly out of breath before he got his
opportunity to strike. Surging forward with unexpected speed, he
grabbed the shellfish with his front talons, and used his wings and
rear legs to push him up into the air.

Flying with his burden was an unexpected challenge. The shellfish was
heavier than it looked, and once removed from the water, it began
moving frenetically, legs and pinchers moving at full speed. It tried
to find purchase with it's legs to run away, and finding none, tried
to pinch at it's captor. But Squirt had grabbed it at a good angle,
and he managed to avoid the pinchers.

Another unintended problem was that Squirt had succeeded in catching
it, but had no idea how to actually get to the tasty meat inside the
shell. Pausing for a moment, Squirt decided to take it back to the
Seawing. Perhaps if he dropped it on something hard, he would be able
to crack it open. But as he approached, he saw his master flailing his
arms, and screaming at him incomprehensibly. _That_ would work. He'd
give it to master! Master would help him eat his prize!

Cheeping excitedly, Squirt hovered just out of the reach of Tiernan's
flailing arms, and dropped the shellfish on the unsuspecting captain.

"AUUUGHHHH!!!!!" Tiernan cried, as the shellfish lashed out with his
pinchers, catching Tiernan's soft flesh in a tight grasp. "SQUIRT YOU
SHARDING DIM GLOW!"

Last updated on the April 27th 2011

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I am Squirticus!