[Trade] Fishy Friends

The soft sand of the shore was uncomfortable against Fables feathers as she wiggled across the ground, pale feathers quickly taking on the grainy texture. Fable huffed, shaking herself off as she stood. The juvenile had come to the nearby lake to spend some time to herself, away from her family- instead, she was quickly realizing just how boring it was to be alone for hours on end.

The waters of the river pooled, some of the smaller waves lapping at her feathers when pushed too far. Fable didn’t mind the water- it was cool and refreshing to feel it wash over her feathers, and it was able to help clean her hide of grime. 

Still. The juvenile was bored. And hungry. She eyed the water with steadily increasing interest- she had heard that food could be found and brought from the pools, and she had seen the shadows beneath the waves herself- yet she had no ability to swim. Shame. She was hungry too.

The sound of water rippling caught Fables attention, she opened her eyes to see something heading towards her- a dark shade under the water, splashing and bubbling sounds kicking up. Another shape joined it- the juvenile utahraptor was quick to hop back, eyeing the water warily.

But what surfaced was not focused on her. A young suchomimus, cladded in soft black feathers speckled and splattered with white and light purple marks wrestled a large fish to the surface- only a juvenile herself, the fish was nearly half her size and it was frantically wiggling in an attempt to escape. 

But help was nearby. A second suchomimus, a light brown juvenile also covered in splashes of white, was quick to emerge from the water and grab the fish by the tail. Strange glowing marks covered her feathers, resembling distant blue stars in a dawn-tinted sky.

Fable watched in silent astonishment as the two wrestled the fish to the shore, pinning it down as they attempted to keep it from flopping away. The black suchomimus looked up, noticing Fable for the first time. “Hey! You over there.” The utahraptor started, looking around wildly before remembering she was the one only here. She pointed at herself with a wing. “Yes, you! Come help us hold this down, and I'll let you take some of the share!”

The white raptor paused for a moment, before moving forward. Her parents had taught her to never trust strangers, sure, but these strangers were her age! And it seemed like they were much more concerned with making the fish into a meal than her. And if she helped, they may be even less likely! (Among other reasons…)

Her hooked claws attempted to grab onto the fish, but Fable found it was little use- her claws were not the right shape to dig beneath its scales. Instead, she grabbed onto its tail with her sharp little teeth, closing her eyes and not letting it fall to the ground until she felt it not moving.

Fable stepped back as the fish fell to the ground. The black suchomimus quickly started tearing into it, but the brown one was instead focused on her. Fable fumbled, stepping back as the other shoved her long, glowy snout in her face. “H-hello?”

“Thank you for helping us with the fish. I am Eshei! That’s 5827.” She nodded at her friend, who was busy diving up the fish. Fable winced and turned her eyes away from the scene. “It was our first kill.” Eshei went on proudly, shaking herself happily. “Well, your first kill too. Maybe. You held onto that bass like a pro! Have you caught any before?”

“Well-uh.” Fable stuttered, unsure of how to respond. Thankfully, she didn't have to- because that's when 5827 chose to butt in.

“That's an utahraptor, Eshei!” The young suchomimus had seemingly been distracted by the fish, instead reaching over and nudging her friend roughly with her snout. “Utahraptor hate to swim! It gets their feathers wet. They aren’t waterproof like ours.”

“Not true!” Eshei argued back. “There was that one utahraptor we met on the beach, remember? He could swim!”

“He didn't have feathers!” 5827 shot back, turning to Fable. “So, is it true? Can you swim?” Two pairs of eyes stared at Fable expectantly.

“I-Ive never tried before. I don’t know.” Fable ducked her head a bit self-consciously. It was normal for utahraptors to not swim much, of course, but in front of two suchomimus it made her feel a bit self conscious. 

5827 let out a triumphant noise, nipping gently at Eshei’s side. “Ha! That means I get the first and best cut of fish. And I guess you get the second one.” She looked at Fable quizzically. “Wait, if you cant swim, have you ever had fish before?”

Fable shook her head. “N-no. My parents have never brought fish to use before, and Ive never been able to catch in.” In her young life she had eaten a combination of all sorts of foods, small rodents, eggs, and even other dinosaurs- but she had never had fish before. And from the smell of it? She wasn't sure she wanted to.

“What!” Eishe seemed shocked. “You need the first taste, then!” She quickly snagged a bit of the carefully proportioned fish, presenting it to Fable. The utahraptor looked at the bit of meat hesitantly. It was… fresh, and oddly pink compared to what she had eaten in the past.

Gulping, Fable quickly took the bit of meat and popped it into her mouth. It was… an interesting taste, for sure. Not all bad, but something that would take a bit of getting used to. Fable opened her eyes to see the expectant grins of the suchomimus. “I-its good.” She muttered weakly, subtly wincing. 

It seemed to be enough for 5827 and Eishe, who burst into cheers before devouring their own portions- bones, scales, and all. “Say, what's your name, stranger?” Eishe asked, picking a fishbone out of her teeth.