It’s a surprisingly warm spring evening when a small group of young dragons gather at the very edge of the ocean. The waves are calm as they roll over the pristine, white sand, before leisurely sliding back the way they came. The splashing is minimal, and with all the seabirds roosting for the night, the air is quiet and calm. Despite the late hour, the moon has risen, full and bright in the sky above them, and it reflects off the beach and the surface of the water to create an almost ethereal glow.  

Where four young dragons are gathered, the sand below them writhes and cracks apart, the soft sound of cracking and scratching drawing their attention. Ophiuchus presses her snout to the area, snuffling at the strange section of ground, bright eyes filled with wonderment when something nudges its way through the soft sand. She jumps back like a startled cat, swiping at the mysterious creature with her tiny claws.  

Three little Rayfins, too young to have ever tried to hunt anything of their own, let alone anything on the ocean’s shore, are all gathered around the Warden, also observing the strange animal currently trying to wriggle free from the sand. They all share a confused look with one another, but Furnace is the first to try and investigate levelling her snout with the tiny body that finally breaks free of the sand and starts flailing its little fins in the air.  

Daavin also leans down, poking at a different creature that appears from below the ground, blinking its big, brown eyes at the dragons gathered arounds its nest. It flinches away from the touch and Rift jumps back in response, startled by the abrupt movement. Daavin grins at his fellow male Rayfin in amusement and receives a nip to his side from Rift in retaliation.  

Meanwhile, Ophiuchus starts digging at the sand, moving away enough of it to free the first baby. The moment it’s free the little creature starts trying to scuttle away from them and toward the water behind them. Curious, they watch for several minutes as it tries to flee, finally starting to get a hang of using its flippers to pull itself through the sand.  

Before it can get anywhere near the water’s edge, Furnace shoots forward and snaps up the tiny animal. Watching the animal running from her is too much for the young hunter’s instincts and, with a few swift snaps of her jaws, the turtle is crunched up enough for her to swallow. She may not be much of a hunter herself, but even newborn Rayfins have the drive to give chase to escaping prey.  

Seemingly realising that they could have a potential easy meal here, Ophiuchus quickly starts trying to unearth the next turtle, before she easily flicks it out of the nest and onto the sand next to the Rayfins. Both Daavin and Rift lunge for the baby turtle, only to end up slamming their large heads against one another with a loud clack. Quick as a strike of lightning, Furnace shoots forward and grabs yet another hatchling for herself.  

Daavin makes a broken whine, trying to lick at Furnace’s face in case she has any leftovers, while Rift simply huffs. Furnace ignores the two males, cringing at the drool that now covers the side of her snout. She shakes her head, flinging droplets of saliva all over the place, a large drop landing directly between poor Ophiuchus’ eyes.  

While Ophiuchus attempts to shake her head to displace the foul drop of drool, Rift shoves his head into the sandy nest, moving his snout left and right until he nudges up against something in the ground. He zeros in on it, grappling with the tiny animal between his teeth, before he finally gets a good hold on it.  

Immediately, Daavin starts battling with him over the tiny morsel of food, snapping at his friend’s face. Unfortunately for Daavin, Rift is quick to swallow down the little turtle before the other Rayfin can even chance getting a hold of the tasty snack. He whines again, this time choosing to flop down onto the sand with a pathetic little sigh.  

Ophiuchus and Furnace, now both free from Daavin’ saliva, decide to ignore the two bickering males and continue combing through the sand. There is a seemingly unending supply of baby turtles that are bursting forth from the ground and trying to flee from the massive predators looming over them.  

Rift and Daavin break away from their little scuffle upon realising that there are little turtles scrambling away from them while they’re distracted. They both snap out of it and both grab for their own prey. They snap up the food like a pair of starving dogs, barely pausing to chew before they swallow down the delicious mouthfuls. The baby turtles taste much better than their adult counterparts, still covered in the sticky liquid from inside the eggs.  

Eventually, Ophiuchus has dug deep enough into the sand that she encounters the small collection of eggs that have yet to hatch. She takes one of the eggs between her teeth, biting down on it with perhaps a little too much force, causing the egg to explode in her mouth with a mixture of tasty egg white, yolk, and baby turtle. She had been expecting a much harder surface, like the thick walls surrounding a bird egg, but instead it’s soft and leather-like, much easier to tear apart with her sharp teeth.  

Furnace licks up some of the egg dripping down the side of the Warden’s mouth, happily tasting some of the egg white. She leans down, snatching up an egg for herself, also munching away at the unhatched egg. She rumbles, pleased at the pleasant taste that meets her, and goes so far as to swallow down even the shell.  

While Daavin is mindlessly munching away on a turtle, Rift notices there are no further turtles breaking through the ground and, upon realising there’s only limited eggs left, swiftly grabs the side of the turtle Daavin is currently trying to eat. Rift gives it a good yank, but only tears off a chunk of the meat. Daavin shrieks, affronted by the theft, minor as it may be. He tries to tackle the other Rayfin, ending in with the two of them once again wrestling on the sand.  

Furnace rolls her eyes at the other Rayfins, sharing an exasperated look with Ophiuchus, before the two return to their meal.