[Gift] [Treasure Hunt] Coastal Caves

Severe storms had ravaged the islands for the past few days. Not even the off-shore wreck of the cargo ship that Steelwater Flock called home was spared. Galia strutted through the hold; flinching whenever she heard the hull creak as howling winds rocked the boat. There was a weirdly organised chaos below deck, plenty of the flock swooping in and out, fetching scrap materials for repairs. The Bosuns and Bulwarks formed a chain of communication up the main corridor, shouting orders to keep the crew organised across the huge ship. Her father and brother, Serapion and Typhoon, were helping to patch up any particularly large holes in the hull that needed a bit more strength than the smaller fliers could manage. The crew seemed to have it covered.

Galia turned and made her way up a stack of crumpled shipping containers that acted as a slippery staircase to above deck. She made her way to the rear of the ship, where the towering structure that was once the accommodation for the long-gone human crew of this ship stood. She squeezed up the narrow metal stairs to the floor above the deck. Inside, Želva, a pale blue suchomimus with brown patches and spots, was tending to injured crew and drifters who rested among piles of mattresses, blankets and pillows.
“How are you holding up?” Galia spoke in little more than a whisper, trying not to wake the sleeping patients.
“We’re okay up here,” Želva gave a toothy smile, turning to tenderly brush her long snout along the back of daughter’s neck,  “could use some more herbs, Polaris is heading out to find some.”
They glanced to the corner of the room, where a white tropeognathus was rummaging through the shelves to see what supplies the stewards had, occasionally clacking her beak on tins and the likes. She briefly turned her head to look at them at the mention of her name, before shaking her head and starting over on her counting.
“Need anything else?” Galia asked.
Zelva paused to think, “some food I suppose, everyone’s going to be hungry after all the repair work.”

Polaris finished counting and turned her blue eyes towards the two Steelclaws.
“You can join,” Polaris said softly, “I’m ready to leave.”
“See you starboard,” Galia replied, looking up as Polaris glided over her back to a broken window. Polaris simply clacked her beak as an affirmative, she was never much of a talker. Galia headed back outside, making her way to the hold once more. Below deck, a section of the storage containers were dedicated to storing scrap metal and other resources. From here, Galia grabbed a partially torn lobster trap, tangled in rope which she held it from. A gap between the containers in the storage area led to an opening in the red rusted hull. Steelclaws like herself used this as their way in and out of the ship, since they couldn’t simply fly out like the Steelwings. The carnotaurus stepped out onto the rocky outcrop and was immediately pummeled by the salty waves. She took a deep breath of the fresh sea mist, relaxing as she looked up to see Polaris waiting on the side of the top deck. The white tropeognathus took flight, appearing as Galia’s guiding star in the stormy skies. With that, Galia plunged into the cold ocean.

The rough seas made her swim a little longer than usual. Polaris circled overhead, keeping an eye for drifters, lost resources, and anything that might want to take a bite out of Galia. The trip was uneventful. Galia slowly made her way onto shore, taking care to readjust to having to support her own weight on dry land. Polaris swooped down, landing on Galia’s bright blue back.
“We rest on the way,” Polaris chirped, anxiously looking up at the now lightening sky, “be back before the sun is out.”
Galia walked down the coast, with Polaris leaping off her back to collect sea holly; the bright purple flowers were easy to see among the sand and dune grass. The stewards often used this plant to help clear the mucous from drifters who commonly caught pneumonia from being lost at sea. Galia’s toothy mouth wasn’t quite as effective as Polaris’ beak when it came to collecting plants. Instead, she would take these moments to lay down as Polaris gathered sea holly, bringing it back by the beak-full to stuff into the lobster trap Galia was wearing. When Polaris was done with a certain patch, she would hop onto Galia’s back and the two would get moving to the next.

Down the coast, a cave came into view. They slowly made their way towards it, zig-zagging from the dunes to the water’s edge, collecting sea holly and washed up seaweed, which they would use as makeshift bandages. As they reached the mouth of the cave, the two peered inside.
“We could take a look in here,” Galia suggested.
Polaris clicked her beak as she thought, before speaking, “no herbs in here.”
“We do have a good amount of herbs,” Galia motioned to the half-full lobster trap wrapped over her shoulders.
“Maybe food,” Polaris said quietly.
They stepped into the cave, sand becoming rocky ledges beneath Galia’s feet. Without the rain hitting their backs, the two felt slightly warmer. Water filled the center of the cave, like a river between two ravines; it was just deep enough that Galia could swim in it and maybe have her toes barely touch the floor.

Just a few feet in, Polaris hopped down. The cave faintly echoed with the sound of her beige claws tapping the sandstone as she scrambled down one of the ledges. Then, the sound of her chewing on something rough, as if she was eating rocks. Galia peered over to see what she was doing. Polaris looked up, holding a cracked mussel in her mouth. Just below the water, there were thousands of mussels attached to just about every surface. Galia lowered her head and shook her neck, feeling the rope rub against her scales as it slid towards her head. It caught on her horns, but with a big flick she managed to get the lobster trap free. Her green eyes scanned the walls of the cave. She found a large rock, barely managing to lift it with her mouth, and placed it in the middle of the rope loop. With her black toes, she carefully pushed the trap and rock towards the rock ledge.
“You can fill that,” Galia said, “I’m going to see if there’s anything larger in the cave.”
“Be quick,” Polaris replied, glancing outside to check the weather.

Galia headed further into the cave. Even here, she could faintly hear Polaris’ teeth scraping across rock and mussels. As the cave began to bend right, the water channel in the center narrowed. In the water, a rowboat lay sideways, wedged between the two ledges in the cave. A hole in the cave ceiling allowed a dim light to shine through, centered on the boat. It was badly broken with a few planks scattered around it. Galia reached down to grab a plank. Her teeth sunk into it a little too easily… Rotten wood would be of little use for the ship repairs. However, the shaft of light made something glisten. It was a small golden box, encrusted in jewels, nestled against the side of the rowboat. Galia carefully placed one foot onto the rowboat, causing some of it to splinter. She grimaced as she slowly reached down to pick it up with her mouth. It was times like these she wished she had arms like her suchomimus family…

But she was successful. She trotted back to Polaris, flicking her tail in glee with each step. A treasure for her pile of shiny things. Upon hearing the loud footsteps approaching, Polaris lifted her head over the ledge. Her pale blue eyes seemed to sparkle with interest for a moment, but the quiet tropeognathus quickly went back to shoving mussels into the lobster trap.
“I didn’t really find much, just a rotting boat,” Galia explained as she approached, watching the flier work, then glanced at the trap that was now nearly full, “we could head back before the sun comes out.”
Polaris nodded, shoving the last mussel into the trap. The carnotaurus moved the rock anchoring the trap out of the way. Polaris grabbed the rope with her beak, lifting it for Galia to slip her head into. Once it was secure, Polaris leapt into the air, flapping her wings a few times, before landing on Galia’s back. The two made their way back out into the light rain.