C’mere crab!

Harpie wanted to catch Rubert a friend. He seemed to be lonely, despite having Harpie constantly by his side. In a way it made Harpie sad that he may not be his best friend after all, but he was determined to surprise his companion with a new friend! Maybe he could even catch two!

He had been walking along the beach for a while now, Bluppy and Static keeping Rubert distracted for him. He peered inside some paper bags and turned over some palm leaves in search of one of the little crabs. He had found one earlier, behind a rock in the shadow of a palm tree, but it had scuttled away before he could get his stubby fingers on it.

He did catch one, almost as soon as he had left his friends with Rubert, but it too scuttled away after pinching his arm. It was still sore.

That was nearly half an hour ago, and he was getting tired. He kept running over to pebbles or broken smashed brick shards, thinking they were the small creature he was searching for, but they never were. He was starting to get tired, so decided to turn back.

••••

Static was play bow-ing in front of Rubert, trying to be friendly despite the creatures snapping pincers. Why was he so hostile? Static was only trying to help!

With an annoyed squeak, Static sat back on his back paws, looking very similar to a meerkat. Rubert continued snapping his pincers, scuttling from side to side. For some reason. Harpie arrived behind Static, who dropped down to all fours with a huff. 

The Draphibi explained his failed attempt to find Rubert a friend, and sat down with a miserable look on his face. Static gave him a reassuring nudge with his muzzle, and sparked his tail briefly, before heading in the opposite direction down the beach Harpie had gone earlier.

He found a plastic bag beneath a large tree branch and used his teeth to pull it out with a huff. Hanging it on his bushy tail,  he trotted to the shore. He would catch Rubert a friend, no matter how much he hated the thing, and cheer Harpie up. No hermyte could escape him! 

He traveled for about ten minutes before spotting his first victim. Struggling to suppress an exited squeak, he crouched lower to the sand and began to creep towards the thing tapping at a rock. When close enough, he quietly sat back on his hind legs once more, pulling the plastic bag slowly from off his tail. The Hermyte was still tapping the rock. The reason why was beyond Static. It didn’t matter though. All that mattered was it was distracted. He lifted the bag up and brought it down fast over the crab. 

He finally allowed the earlier exited squeak to escape, and looked down triumphant at his prisoner. It was laying down on its back, not moving at all. Oops… he hadn’t killed it, had he? He squeaked again, panicked this time, and quickly lifted the bag up once more.

The moment the crab’s shell was free, it jumped up and scuttled to the waters edge, disappearing into the foamy waves before Static could do anything about it.

Having been unsuccessful himself, and now feeling very un-motivated, Static headed back to his friends.

••••

Bluppy saw Static arrive empty-pawed and gave a small huff of disapproval. His friends were soo silly. Both had tried to catch the Hermytes with force, instead of actually asking. Or even just being nice. 

Now it was Bluppy’s turn to show them how. He had left five minutes ago, this time heading towards the small dunes where the grass grew. It seemed a more peaceful place, with lots of places for the little critters to hide.

He arrived at the dunes and continued to pull himself forward on his stubby legs. 

He spotted a Hermyte of his own and croaked to let it know he was there. It twisted its eyes round to look at him momentarily before turning back to digging a small hole. For whatever reason. 

Bluppy began to approach it slowly (Slower than usual) and circled around it until he was on the other side of the hole. The crab didn’t look up, seeming intent on the hole. Deciding to help, Bluppy began to scoop sand out of the way along with the Hermyte, slowly making progress on the project.

About half an hour passed and they had begun to unearth a small object. Bluppy leaned forward to inspect it, but his coworker scuttled forward and shoved the thing into its mouth. 

Oh. So it was digging for food? How odd.

After the crab had finished cleaning it’s face with it’s pincers, it began to wander around the area, Bluppy close behind.

Bluppy wasn’t fast, usually hitching a ride of the back of one of his friends, however much he hated their speedy running and seemingly endless energy. Luckily the Hermyte wasn’t a fast as he predicted, but it was still speedy, and Bluppy was struggling to keep up.

The crab led him behind a large patch of grass, where it again started to dig. Bluppy arrived on the other side of it once more, slumping down with a huff. Finally some rest…

Just as he was about to close his eyes, the Hermyte snapped its pincers on his tail fin, making his shoot up again. The little crab signalled for him to help again before continuing to dig. With a sigh, Bluppy began to dig once more.

••••

Harpie was just about to go looking for Bluppy when the Bettabo arrived, over an hour later, with a Hermyte riding on his head. He and Static rushed over, Harpie especially exited.

Bluppy allowed the Hermyte on the ground, who was greeted by Rubert. The two circled each other with snapping pincers, causing Harpie to frown in disappointment. Would they not get along?

Bluppy allowed the crab he caught back onto his head and Harpie picked up Rubert in his short, fat fingers. They headed back to where they were resting before and set the crabs down, who eyed each other suspiciously.

Harpie couldn’t tell if the hunt was successful or not.