[Trade] Twin Thing

There were pros and cons to having only two eggs in a clutch. On one hand you had two hatchlings, easier to feed and easier to focus your attention on individually. They also only had each other in the nest when their parents left to hunt, so their bond could grow unbreakably strong. Unfortunately this also meant that the pure concentrated sibling urge to fight was focused entirely on one other individual. All the strict parenting in the world couldn't curb a hatchling cryolophosaurus' urge to bite their sibling really, really hard. It was no different with the twin cryos in the deep forests of Isla Kela, barely a few weeks old and already willing to commit fratricide. The humans used to call this a ‘Cain’ instinct as a joke, the indescribable sibling experience of throwing something really hard at someone you love more than anything.

Currently the twins were channeling this natural instinct as quietly as they could, whisper-shouting at each other while their mother slept. They circled each other around the perimeter of the same nest they had hatched in, barely minutes apart. Their mother joked that the second one egg started cracking the other did too so they wouldn’t have to hit milestones alone. Their typical sibling camaraderie was gone in this moment, however, replaced with hissing, spitting anger. They scowled at each other, sheer fury in their eyes as their latest grudge match began.

"Unfair!" Fainel hissed, her eyes darting quickly to their slumbering mother before returning to look at her sibling with righteous rage. "You can't do take-backs in tag, that's not fair!"

"You didn't say we were doing no take-backs," Frasil sniffed. She was smug about her recent victory and refused to back down. She wasn't opposed to  a bit of skullduggery to get the upper hand, especially when Fainel had somehow grown faster than her twin, though perhaps the feathers were only giving that illusion. She wouldn't admit it in a million years but Fainel was easily faster than her and every game of tag would be a wash if she didn't cheat a little bit. Frasil thought it was only fair, Fainel was faster and she was smarter, they both played to their strengths. Her twin was still furious and decided to ditch words entirely, flinging her gangly hatchling body at Frasil and knocking her clean off her feet. They both tumbled out of the nest in a messy tangle of tails and limbs and slid down the gentle hill on the other side. Frasil kicked and squirmed out of Fainel's grasp and bit her on the nose, a short snap more like a scolding than an actual strike. Fainel swiped her tail at her twin, managing to whip her side and making her spit in anger. "Quit it!" the smaller twin growled.

"No, you started it by cheating!" Fainel retorted. A twig snapped behind them and both twins went on full alert, staring into the undergrowth. It was a large cat, brown in colour with thick black stripes around its eyes and a bright pink nose. Its pale orange eyes were fixed on the twins, specifically on Frasil, the smaller target. Their tiny cryo crests rose in a threat display and both of them hissed in unison. The cougar responded in kind, hissing and showing her mouth of razor sharp teeth. Fainel continued the open mouthed threat display but her eyes darted over to Frasil, who met her gaze briefly and nodded. The benefit of twins you see, especially twins so close that they were constantly beating each other up, is that strange flavour of telepathy they seem to possess. Without a word exchanged, Fainel charged forward, arms wide and screeching while Frasil ducked quickly out of the cougar's line of sight. With her twin's flashy distraction she managed to get behind the cat and chomp down on her tail, making the beast yowl and swing around to swipe at the other cryo. With her back turned Fainel nipped at the back of her legs, making her turn again. She tried to face them both but the hatchlings deftly circled her, keeping at least one of them out of her line of sight at all times. Deciding to cut her losses, the cougar leapt back into the undergrowth and the sounds of plants rustling and bending under her signalled her full retreat.

Satisfied, the twins walked back to their nest, their earlier argument forgotten until Fainel laid eyes on the divot they had made by rolling out. She wriggled down into the soft lining of the nest in a grumpy sulk as she continued to stew in anger. "You started it," she grouched under her breath. Despite the quiet tone Frasil heard and immediately bristled again.

"I did not-" 

"Children," a low voice growled threateningly. They both looked up to see a single green eye watching them."Sorry mama," they said in unison. Their mother stared hard at them for a moment, taking in their muddy appearance and the new hole in the side of her nest. She decided to close her eyes and go back to sleep, leaving the twins to exhale a sigh of relief. She knew she had little to worry about, even if they were troublemakers Frasil and Fainel would be fine as long as they had each other.

"Sorry about cheating," Frasil finally said after a long and tense silence. Fainel beamed at her, and nuzzled into her sister's side.

"Thank you Frasil, I love you," she said cheerfully. Frasil rolled her eyes but didn't reject the cuddle. It was cold out here in the forest after all.

"Yeah, love you too Fainel. I'll teach you how to cheat so you can prank someone else," she promised. "No, you're not allowed to cheat when we play," she said preemptively, grinning when she felt Fainel’s pouty sigh. They sat in a more companionable silence this time, letting the ambience of the forest wash over them as their mother softly snored.

“You wanna go find that cat again?” Fainel whispered. Frasil pretended to sigh and think it over.

“Yeah, let’s go.”