Beachy Keen
The day was sunny, bright, and warm. The perfect day for adventure or so Cosmos thought. Having been the first one to rise from the depths of slumber, he was already wide awake. Lovebird and Verdant had always complained about him waking them up in the early mornings, but he never let their grumbles stop him. Someone had to get them going! Turning around to the siblings in the den, he pressed his nose against Verdant, nudging him awake.
Verdant grumpily blinked up at Cosmos, letting out a whine of complaint before attempting to bury his face into the feathers of his sister. Not one to be ignored, Cosmos huffed before stepping over to Lovebird, and deliberately landing a firm nip on her flank- right next to Verdants head.
With a yelp, Lovebird jolted awake, but Cosmos had already moved away, leaving a half-asleep Verdant to take the blame. With an annoyed screech, the only girl of the group rolled over herself, latching her teeth into her brother's fluff instinctively. Verdant came fully awake with a scream, pulling away from his sister and rolling across the floor. However, not all of his feathers came with him, a good amount still being left in Lovebirds mouth. Sheepishly, the bicolored female dropped the clump, before quickly grooming her brother's flank in apology. Verdant glared at the smug Cosmos, but there was no heat in the glare.
“Now that you two are awake… let's go!” Cosmos paced happily, running up to bump his nose against Verdants before running off. Quickly forgetting the reason they were even scuffling in the first place, the siblings followed their friend from their parents' den and into the wilds.
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Verdant was not at all happy with where Cosmos had brought them, his happy energy quickly turning into disdain. Stubbornly the young cryolophosaurus dug his heels into the dirt. “I’m not touching that.” he snarled angrily, giving the pale sand a death glare. Cosmos had brought them to one of his favorite places, the nearby beach. His being the keyword. While Verdants whole family were covered in feathers, Cosmos was lacking the downy overcoat. Because of this, he was much more sensitive to the cold and often dragged the other two down to the beach. However, he never had to deal with the annoying after effects of the beach- endless sand stuck deep in his feathers, and a dampness that never went away. Verdant was fairly sure there was still sand in there after their last trip a week ago.
Lovebird gave him a sympathetic look from where she was standing on the sand, Cosmos having stuck his head into a nearby sand burrow attempting to grab some sort of critter. Lovebird purposely stomped onto the ground, causing the burrow to collapse on the troublemaker's head. Reeling back and shaking sand of his face, Cosmos looked at Verdant with a dismayed look. “What? But the beach is great! So many things to chase, and the waters great to splash in!” He ran up to Verdant, looking at him with big sad eyes that made a bit of the stubborn cryolophosaurus’s resolve shudder. “Is it because of the sand? I’ll help you clean it!”
Suddenly embarrassed, Verdant dipped his head to the ground, before hearing a giggle and sending a glare at his sister. This was her fault. Meeting Cosmos’s earnest gaze again, he sighed. “Fine, fine…” he grouched, only to be instantly yanked forward by an overexcited Cosmos. Grimacing as he stepped forward onto the sand, Verdant couldn't help but smile as Cosmos shot him a happy grin.
Lovebird watched the two from the sidelines, shaking her head a bit. The two were obvious, even if they hadn’t realized it yet. Ah well. It was the beach! Time to relax! Quickly turning mischievous she burst forward, bodily tackling her brother into the nearby ocean. “Tag!” she squealed mischievously, leaving her brother sputtering in the water as she bolted off. Behind her, she could hear Cosmos cackling and soon her brother's crush passed her, his longer legs aiding his race for speed. Lovebird could hear angry yelling from Verdant behind her, but his wet feathers slowed him down and prevented him from catching her. Throwing her head back, Lovebird laughed loudly and happily.
That laugh ended early, however, as she was tackled. Letting out an oof, she found herself pinned down in the sand, a dripping wet Verdant glaring at her with a mischievous spark in his eyes. “Wait- no- bro-” her frantic pleads were cut off with a shriek as he shook himself, sending feathers, sand, and water flying everywhere. Lovebird squirmed frantically, but it was too late. She was soaked.
Verdant let his sister up with a grin, making sure to give one more shake for good measure. She grumbled back good naturedly, only to pause and tilt her head at something that had been uncovered by the tussle. “Hey guys! Come check this out!” she called, nudging at something with her nose.
Curious, Verdant peered over her back, and they were soon joined by Cosmos peering around her other side. Carefully, Lovebird scraped away the sand, uncovering many small round objects. Verdant carefully poked at one of the pale “stones” with his toe, only to jolt back and yelp as it cracked. They all froze, carefully backing up in confusion as a small beak poked through the stone. “Its… an egg?” Cosmos was the first one to break a silence. As if his voice has sent off a shockwave, several of the other eggs began to shift and crack. The trio watched in amazement, crouching down in the sand. Even Verdant didn’t whine about the rough sand, captivated by the miracle of life happening before them.
Together, they watched as many baby turtles emerged from the eggs, crawling from their sandy nest towards the nearby ocean. Should the trio have been older, or more experienced, or even a bit more hungry they may have tried to snatch up the delicate hatchlings. However, none of those were true, so they simply sat and watched in excited silence, only disturbed by the small clouds of sand kicked up by their wagging tails.
However, the peace was eventually broken by loud, obnoxious shrieks from the sky. Craning their heads up, the trio watched in horror as seagulls swopped down onto the beach, pecking at and generally terrorizing the baby turtles. Lovebird and Verdant gasped in horror, brushing against each other. It was something natural, sure, and something that they themselves may have done another time- but it was still unpleasant for them to witness.
Cosmos hissed angrily, getting to his feet. Always one to take action, never one to sit around. He quickly lunged forward, letting out a loud shout. “HEY! GET AWAY!” He snarled, carefully jumping over the panicking baby sea turtle and chasing after the now also panicking birds. Verdant and Lovebird were not far behind him, yelling their own insults at the dumb birds as they fled. “Thats right! Stay gone!” Cosmos bloated, before turning back to the turtles. One unfortunate baby had been tipped over, and was urgently flapping around on the sand. Gently, the dinosaur nudged at the little baby, flipping it over onto its belly again. The hatchling scurried off, soon making it into the ocean and vanishing into the waves. Verdant rested his back on Cosmos’s back, laying next to him in the sand again. Lovebird followed soon after. Together, they sat in the sand, watching the baby turtles gain their confidence back and move past them to the ocean. And it was not long before they fell asleep, falling asleep the same way they did every night- together.
