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Of all the creatures to survive the apocalypses of the ancient world, scholars agreed that one of the most prolific was the humble crab. For one reason or another, the crab had probably been around for most of pre-destruction history, and they'd crtainly been around for all of the earthling's collective memory. Maybe they weren't quite the same crustaceans scuttling about, but so many species had adopted that shape and behavior that it didn't much matter. Alas, though they had long ago reached the pinnacle of evolution, they still hadn't risn to the top of the food chain. Today saw two girls strolling down a winding path from tidepool to tidepool, checking traps and chucking the crustacean contents into the tight-woven baskets they bore.

Einsol had needed out. They were still planning the hunt, since it turned out tracking people was a whole lot harder than tracking beasts. She'd kept her impulses towards murder as tightly reigned as possible for a good while, 'cos there were no acceptable targets for it in their pack. Also, Ushi and Sae might fall apart if their family couldn't hold it in. It was Honi that saved her today, asking for extra hands to empty the pool-traps. Now that they were far enough away from the ranch... "Thanks, Honi. Was gonna start breakin' stuff if I stayed in any longer. How've you been holdin' up?"

"Yeah. Takin' too long to get a lead; I'm gonna start gnawin' my claws like a bored Janarim if this keeps up." Not too much danger of that. They still had the red pepper coating to put a stop to similar bad habits. Shaking off her impatience, the younger sister turned a trademark bright grin to the elder. "Glad to hear it. More people need to know how mud can change their lives." Much as she enjoyed wet dirt, she was just teasing. Her girlhood difficulties telling clay from mud had become something of an in-joke in recent years.

Grin and itchy impatience vanished at Honi's groan, and more importantly, the scene causing it. She promptly trotted up, poking curiosity around the pool by way of her walking stick. Something that came with growing up on a ranch was a familiarity with the damages animals caused. She focused on a splintered bit of wood, still bound by some shredded rope. Wasn't gnawed nor snipped. Ain't any crab or fish I can think of'd smash the whole cage if it got loose. Something was missing, though. Traps didn't win out every time, but they usually didn't get damaged left alone, either. And there'd been no storm recently. "Hey Honi. I might be missin' somethin'. Can you see any scrap o' what this cage caught? Might've been some idjit havin' a laugh ater he stole the catch."

In fairness, Einsol had found certain sorts of mud quite useful in her learning, her teacher imparting a method of emplaster involving a mix of certain soils and mashed aquatic plants. Good way to keep a poultice on and even modify its effect, if you had the time. The irony might have been lost on Einsol herself, but not so the rest of her family.

A shrug came at the notion. "If it's some troublemaker, it's nothin' talkin' it over won't fix. Just gotta ask 'em politely not t'do it anymore. With manners, like 'Kina said." Having focused mostly on the wreckage, the young healer hadn't noticed the prints 'til now. The tide was still receding, leaving several of the larger pools connected by stretches of salt water. Yellow eyes didn't turn up in time to see anything but ripples, further out. Oh. Somethin's there. Wasn't a person, then. Ain't crushed up enough for a Yaotl gettin' his foot stuck, an' there's no big ol' footprints. Most anythin' else would've done it neater. Options filed through her mind, familiar shapes and signs of local wildlife.

There weren't many that fit the bill, and most of them left distinctive marks on this sort of sabotge according to their own natural equipment or temperament. The heavy stick twisted in her hand, pointy end sticking up. She was glad she'd taken the time to fire-harden this one. It was a good find, this stick. Calm as you please, the yellow-robed girl began to back away, never passing her sister. "...Yeah. Let's try another. Just in case, did'ja bring more than your knife, Honi? Maybe yer sling? If not, y'might wanna find a stick or a stone. Think we got someone stakin' a new territory this season. Probably snaptrotter, 'cos I don't see any drow nose-holes around."

"Yup. Might be a younger one if he's stakin' this close to the ranch, with all our snappers. Eyes an' throat-pouch are still soft, but his nose is a little more vulnerable than one grown. Could tell better if he'd pop up some." Some tricks had been taught to each child, for each beast Kiyelt brought home. Even if they didn't get into the family business, their survival was their parents' business. Snaptrotters had a couple structural weaknesses. For example, they had an unrivaled strength of jaw to bite down. But once they'd snapped shut, a child could hold those chompers closed. ...One of their family's children, anyway.

More ripples from the water. They were far enough away from the shoreline that an ambush wouldn't work. Was he going to rush? Adolescence made many creatures bold. It was good for the weave of things if something too bold got rebuked. A pair of eyes popped up, turning this way and that. Bright colors around them, and lurking under the water. "Definitely young. Don't turn your back. Two of us, he might not be too stupid." They kept up the steady pace, not turning to run. Prey ran. And snaptrotters could sprint something pretty.

"Dung. Didn't think he was that fresh to huntin'. Okay, how big a clutch do we have...?" Three four f- no, just four. Right. Dinner gets to wait. Really wish I brought my own sling now. Einsol shifted, shuffling between the mama and her big sister. Honi was indoors more, didn't keep her huntin' knife as sharp as most of their kin. The important thing here was to get away. If that meant givin' Honi a headstart, that was fine. Earthlings usually had the stamina to outlast snaptrotters. ...If not necessarily the speed. Snappers tended towards sprinting in their pursuit, but weren't set up so well for extended chases. A downside of their otherwise versatile breathing setup.

The current situation was tricky. They hadn't gathered much of anything yet, which left leaving their catch out. Running wasn't much better. Once they ran, they were definitely food, had to commit to speed. Einsol couldn't remember the last time her sister had run full tilt, and she wasn't convinced she could maintain distance enough to outlast this intruder. Let alone the young ones, which recovered quicker. For the moment, she kept up her steady retreat, weaving with her spearpoint to as not to get it caught in heavy jaws. Had to keep it near enough the snout as to make them wary, jabbing occasionally to make it flinch. A ticklish dance. Where they weren't scrambling up to one sibling, the good boots beneath a yellow liene stomped down just before open maws, having them skitter back a little.

"Honi, there's a good stick a little to your left. Get it if y'can an' jab at their noses after they snap. If not, keep tossin' rocks if they get too close. Won't hurt 'em much, but we're not fightin' outta here. Just gonna keep backin' up, off to the north path. Need you at my back 'Kay?" Contrary to her voice, which naturally lent itself to happy chirps, Einsol kept her tone low and soothing. In part for Honi's sake, in part to make the predators think them less of a threat, but mostly to keep herself from doing anything... rash. Like charge and stick sharpened wood under the big female's jaws. Alone, it might have ended well. Maybe. Here, not so much.

The stick itself wasn't bad, with several points broken nicely around on end. Not exactly practical for combat, but they didn't need the solid penetraion of a spear here. That it was spiky would do just fine. Good defensive adptation in most critters. True, it would still snap under a snaptrotter's jaws, but so did bones. If she still had a point, she still had a good tool here. One of the younglings skittered too close, chomping at her sister's ankle. The younger girl planted one foot, drew back and kicked it hard enough to push the juvenile a foot or two to the side. With Honi at her back, Einsol knew where she was and what she was about. Took a couple concerns out of her head, freeing up concentration. "Don't go for the mouth. You wanna focus on it, that's just how people're wired. But keep aimin' for the nose an' eyes. There ain't any beast what don't try to protect its eyes."

She spared a moment to glance back at her sister, flashing her sunny smile. "Just like Ma and Da taught us, hey?" That, of course, was the moment the mother's jaw decided to snap closed right by her cheek. The 'prentice healer stumbled back a step with a sound that turned from surprise into an open snarl, waving her crude spearpoint at the snaptrotter's eye and landing close to it. The big female backed off quickly, a few scales disturbed and a scratch in her hide. To her reptilian brain, a solid chomp was not worth losing an eye. "Okay, okay. Keepin' my peepers on target. That's my bad. C'mon. Let's get to the road."

With the potter there to guide them and keep an eye on their sides, Ein could focus more. Focus helped. Helped in her footing, where she moght otherwise have slipped into a dip in the earth. Or where another youngster tried to get a n** in and cought the toe of her boot for its trouble. Most importantly, she didn't need to worry about getting surrounded. One step at a time, back, back, back...

With Honi's help deterring them and Einsol's more aggressive warding, they reached the road before too long. The younger sister didn't relax, even though the dangers of being surrounded had passed. Whichever way her sibling took, she kept her eye on the big lizard and faced it squarely, spear leveled. It might well still charge, which would make further retreat difficult. Bracing against it? With those jaws ready to close on a still target? Ha! more likely she'd die inflicting a mortal wound while Honi got away. Or getting pinned under the corpse even if it missed the bite perfectly. No, better to stay on guard as they kept moving away.

They were gonna want to come back later on and put markers down, plant signs of bigger creatures than the snappers while they slept. Reptilian though they were, snaptrotters were also more intelligent than they were belligerent. They could be tricked with time and care. Like yaotl tracks and scents. Or gerru, should one wander over from Oba. Very little was dumb enough to mess with a healthy yaotl, let alone the massive gerru. "Still ain't safe to relax. She can charge a long ways quick."

Stern as she tried to sound, the blue knees under her liene were starting to tremble. The fire-hardened spearpoint, though, never wavered from her grip. Quicker going now, without hungry adolescents nipping at their ankles. So it likewise wouldn't be too long before the mother turned tail and left, satisfied that the intruders had been driven out of her territory. Only then did the younger girl let the tension evaporate, breathing deep and slow. "I'm. I'll be good." Bright eyes turned back to her elder, the face around them tight and worried. "Are you? Did they get'cha anywhere?"

As Honi searched, so too did the 'prentice healer's roam clinically up and down the other girl. Her sister was alright and they weren't about to get et'; that was enough for Einsol to resume her bright grin. ...A bit toothier than usual from all the adrenalin, but bright just the same. "Hm? Oh. Yeah, couple bites. Not much worse than home." The looked down, noting a red stain on the outside of her boot, a few missing patches of skin from extremities by way of near misses. The boot one wasn't exactly comfortable, on reflection. "Hmm. Let's siddown for a sec an' catch our breath."

Trusting the snappers at her back was a fool's choice. The same bright yellows glared behind her to make sure the stragglers had turned. When satisfied, she took her sister's hand and guided them both down to a seat on the road. "Didn't notice the foot. Might've happened when I kicked one. Let's just take a breath an' check, huh?" She loved her sister, but like so many people, she got all excited about the life and death times. Keeping a soothing cadence was best here.

The boot unbuckled easily, but removing it took more care. With the high wearing off, the pain was clocking in. And well it should, getting bitten even lightly by a snaptrotter. The outside of her right foot was punctured in several places and bleeding pretty well. With a wince, the blue girl moved it, looked it over, and eventually nodded. "Good thing I brought the travelin' kit. Gonna wanna disinfect this when we get back." A hand dipped into the opposite sleeve, fishing out a roll of linen and a flask of salt water. "I'll wash it, but the angle's awkward. Can ya bind me up after?"