Quests

The waves crashed hard against the rocks that sat just beyond the drop off for the ocean from the sands shores, the weather was rough on the beaches today, the trees sitting on the edge of the beaches crashing back and forth in the winds. The kick up of sand could be seen off further up the shore, a fast figure making quick work flicking up water as the tide came in quickly before leaving as fast back into the ocean. A flash of pink followed by pitch black feathers dashed quickly across the rocks that lay in the sand before jumping down and his claws making a soft sound as he caught himself. “ Ah I love this place, even in the bad weather” he added before letting out a chuckle before ruffling his feathers as some were wet from the large splashes that had been hitting the shore with the heavy winds. It had been awhile since Minks had made his way back to the beaches after he had explored them the first few times and he was excited to be back, his claws in the sands and the water that dampened his feathers making them all oily looking due to them being black.

The wildlife was a breath of fresh air here for Utah as he always got bored in the forest hunting and exploring the same things everyday. Even if the weather was not too great Minks didn’t mind the beach was always a great place to visit and today on the menu was to explore more of the beach and what it had to offer, an object coming up from the tide that caught his eye as he walked through the wet sand approaching it. The object was green in color and it looked almost like a plant that had come from the sea, Minks leaned down to sniff it and it was wet and cold but even grosser slimy causing him to jump back a bit when it touched his snout. 

“Ew what is this thing, it's slimy and smells bad” he said before touching it with his foot before holding it up and shaking it to get the slime feeling off him. He studied it before deciding to back up and continue down the beach, the water coming up and down wetting his feet and claws as he walked keeping a tort pace, before stopping once more to sniff the air, the winds moving his feathers. “I wonder if there are plant eaters in the water or if any of the ground walking ones come down here?” he asked himself before looking back at the seaweed. “Eh whatever off to explore more surely there is more stuff around here” he added before coming to a large stone that was on the beach it seemed to have been moved and had stayed there for years maybe from the rough storms that hit the island every once in a while.

“Whoa look at this big stone , it must've washed up during the storms” Minks added while looking up and walking around it. The rock was covered in dead and old coral. It seemed it was large and had some wildlife crawling on it as it provided shelter for them. Minks spotted a crab crawling on it as it carried some sand in its claws , he got closer and sniffed the crab but felt a sharp pain on his snout before jumping back shaking his snout “ow ow ow!” he yelled seeing the small crab pinching his snout with all its might “Let go before I eat you” Minks growled before shaking his snout once more the crab letting go and landing on the sand before scurrying away from the utahraptor.

“Little bugger, I didn’t get near them last time, guess they pack a punch behind those claws” Minks said out loud before spotting a familiar object he loved every since he first visited the beaches, It was shells he loved and collecting them was even better! Minks trotted over quickly unburying the shell from the sand as he looked at it with wide eyes  picking it up in his jaws seeing more ahead, he needed to collect as many as he could the weather wasn’t a bother for him. Collecting shells was all he wanted and that's what he was going to do, ignoring everything around him as he kept at collecting.

“Man I can’t carry anymore there’s just so many”  Minks said as he stopped, he was far down the beach and needed to find a spot to stash his finds to continue exploring with ease. The utahraptor stopped finding a good spot in the sand on the beach, placing them with care and attention before backing up with a soft smile. This was his favorite thing to do while down here it would never get old. Minks turned around and sighed looking at the crashing waves before walking to the water, his feet and claws getting soaked with the incoming tide.

“I wonder what it's like to live down here all the time,” he said looking out towards the sea, his claws sinking into the sand as he ruffled his feathers letting the water splash him. Living in the forest was getting boring for the black utahraptor. It was always hot and sticky, full of branches and rocks of course there were ponds but they were for drinking; they were never colorful like the corals that sat off the bottom of the beach's waters. Minks always wondered what it was like to be a marine dinosaur always in the water near the beach , being able to float around and splash near the sand in the ocean and all of its colors. He got lost in his thoughts as the water had gotten rougher due to the pick up in the storm the waves crashed hard into the shore rocks causing Minks to back up.

“Every pretty place does have a bad side” he sighed before stepping back onto the dry area of the sands, returning to his pile of shells he had collected sitting nestled to them as he lay in the sand. The winds picked up and where Minks was laying there was an overhang of trees giving him cover from them, “well time sort through these, this should be fun let's see what we found!” He took a few shells in his mouth to shake off the remaining sand on them, the shells' colors popping as they became clean as he placed them in the sand that wasn’t wet admiring them.

“Ah look at these there are so many different colors, all so different shapes and everything” he said looking over them. The beach was a calm place for Mink’s and every time he came back to explore there were always new things to find and see, if the weather was bad or good he always wanted to come here and being here was his happy place. He wondered why more utahraptors didn’t come here often. The forest always seemed too boring and the same old to him out here this is where he felt alive and free. As it neared the evening Mink’s decided to get up after sitting and watching the sea calm for hours as he sat in peace , but it was time for him to go back into the woods leaving the beach always saddened him but he couldn’t stay out here forever.

“Well I should go back , even though I don’t want to. I could stay out here forever” he mumbled to himself, getting up and shaking his feathers out before turning around and picking his shell pile up in his claws. The waves kept crashing against the rocks as the tide came in and out calmly, now Minks heading towards the tree line back that divided the forest from the coast. Maybe it was time to come to the beach and leave the forest. It always sat at the back of his thoughts but he never carried it out.

“Well I can always come back again” he said before watching more crabs skitter across the sands to go back into the open ocean, most clicking their claws at him before continuing on. Minks finally got back to the main area he usually stayed in but today he was further then before so making his way back took a bit longer but he had finally made it back to the thick brush jumping over the brush and landing back into the forest area making sure he didn’t drop his shell collection as he jumped, he always shared them with others he knew when he got back. Taking one more look at the sandy beach he sighed before heading deeper into the forest, his tail swaying back and forth sand dropping off him as he shook himself to get the rest off. 

The beach was always Mink’s favorite spot on the island and maybe it was looking like a more permanent spot for the utahraptor.