The beach listed lazily to the right as David stumbled out of Marina's transport chamber, his legs wobbling like they'd forgotten how solid ground worked. The Cuddlebugs shot past him in a fury of excited chirps, their tiny forms darting through the morning air with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for finding unattended snacks or small trusting animals.
Not a lot of difference between the two for those little savages, if I'm being honest though. Now, for the important business...
"Oh thank fuck," David muttered, dropping to all fours and pressing his thinly furred face against the sand. "Sweet, beautiful, non-moving ground. I promise I'll never take you for granted again."
Marina's amused ripple of bioluminescence painted the shallow water in patterns of teal and gold. "Drama queen. You weren't even in there that long."
"My stomach begs to differ." David's ears swiveled grumpily as he watched his Cuddlebugs perform what looked like an interpretive dance number about their newfound freedom. "Pretty sure I left my dignity somewhere around that first deep-sea horror choir."
Captain, clearly overjoyed, had somehow acquired a tiny shell and was now conducting their siblings in what might have been a victory celebration or possibly an exorcism. The rest of the squad followed their lead with varying degrees of coordination, their usual military precision completely forgotten in favor of pure chaos.
"Speaking of horror," David said, finally trusting his legs enough to stand, "you mentioned something about an 'Incident' with the local wildlife? Because I'm getting some mixed signals about these crabs of yours."
Marina's tentacles waved expressively, sending ripples through the crystal-clear water. "Oh honey, that's a whole story. You might want to sit down for this one." She paused, then added with obvious amusement, "Though you're already pretty close to the ground."
"I will have you know," David's dignity suffered another blow as he tried to shake sand out of his fur, "that I am perfectly capable of standing up straight right now. I'm just choosing not to. For... tactical reasons."
"Mhmm." Marina's tissue rippled in what was definitely a laugh. "Well, about those crabs. They used to be normal enough - you know, for post-Wave wildlife. Then Wave Two hit and..." She trailed off meaningfully.
David's ears perked forward. "And?"
"And suddenly they're the size of small cars, painting themselves with tribal markings, and decided violence was the answer to everything." Marina's tentacles gestured in a way that somehow conveyed exasperation. "Which, fine, lot of that going around. But then they had to go and kill Marcus."
"Marcus?"
"Sweet guy. Used to stop here between courier runs. Always brought treats for the local fish, crabs too." Her voice carried genuine sadness. "They ambushed him while he was resting. Dragged him right onto the beach."
David's fur bristled slightly. "I'm guessing that didn't end well for them."
"Let's just say the local aquatic community took exception to losing one of their own to what we considered our 'pets'." Marina's bioluminescence pulsed darker. "Very violent exception. Now they're stuck on the north beach because it's too rocky and shallow for anyone to get close without beaching themselves. I won't lie, I snatched a couple of them myself for their trouble."
"Huh." David watched as Captain organized their siblings into what looked suspiciously like a conga line. "Not worried about them trying anything with me? I mean..." He gestured at himself meaningfully.
Marina's laugh sent ripples across the water. "Honey, you're basically their worst nightmare. Besides, you can fly. What are they going to do, aggressively snap at your shadow?"
"Fair point." David's wings stretched wide, working out the kinks from being folded so long. "Speaking of flying, I should probably do a lap or two. You know, make sure everything still works after that underwater rollercoaster you call transportation."
"Rude." Marina's tentacles splashed water in his general direction. "But you've got about five hours before I'm ready to move again. Just try not to start any trouble while I'm sleeping? The last thing we need is more excitement out here."
David snorted, already gathering altitude. "Please. What are the odds of that happening?"
"You'd be surprised," Marina called after him as he banked toward the island's interior. "And hey, if you're looking for water, it rained recently. Might get lucky!"
"Yeah, I remember!" David shouted back, his voice carrying easily over the sound of waves. "The lightning looked weird as hell from up high!"
The morning sun painted the island in shades of emerald and gold as David gained height, his wings finally stretching to their full span. Below him, the Cuddlebugs abandoned their impromptu beach party to fall into formation, their tiny forms casting perfect shadows against the sand.
Time to see what other surprises this pit stop has in store.
The island spread beneath him like a very lucid acid trip. What should have been normal tropical vegetation had clearly gotten the System's memo about spicing things up. Palm trees twisted into impossible spirals, their fronds shimmering with colors that belonged in a blacklight poster. Flowering vines that might have been orchids once now bloomed in patterns that were as beautiful as they were bizarre.
"Well that's definitely not in any travel brochure," David muttered, banking around what appeared to be a absolutely massive bright purple pitcher plant. "Unless someone's marketing to the 'probably hallucinating' demographic."
Here and there, barely visible through the dense canopy, he caught glimpses of what might have been human construction. Might have been, because whatever the Wave had done to the plant life had apparently taken "reclaiming" as a personal challenge. The few concrete fragments he could spot looked more like gravel than ruins.
His ears swiveled constantly, tracking the island's ambient sounds. Birds that definitely weren't in any guidebook called from the technicolor canopy, their songs carrying harmonics that made his fur stand on end. Something that might have been a monkey, if monkeys had started accessorizing with extra limbs, watched him pass with far too many eyes.
Captain suddenly chirped alertly from nearby, the sound carrying unmistakable excitement. The rest of the Cuddlebugs immediately perked up, their tiny noses working overtime as they caught whatever scent had grabbed their second in command's attention.
"What you got, buddy?" David asked, watching as his tiny squad started doing their best impression of pointing dogs. "Because if it's another one of those glowing fruit things, I swear-"
The scent hit him then - clean, fresh water. His throat immediately reminded him that drinking seawater was absolutely not an option, no matter how desperate he got.
Come to think of it, when was the last time I actually had anything to drink? Yesterday? Night before?
"Right," he muttered, following his nose and the increasingly excited Cuddlebugs. "Guess we're on a water run. Try not to get eaten by whatever's probably living in it?"
The Cuddlebugs led him to a natural depression in the land, where recent rains had collected into a surprisingly decent sized pool. The water looked clean enough, though the way it caught the morning light suggested it might have picked up some of the local flora's opinion on appropriate coloration.
"Fuck it," David decided after a moment's consideration. "If it kills me, at least I'll die hydrated."
He dropped to all fours at the pool's edge, his muzzle barely touching the surface as he tested the water's scent. It smelled... weird. Not bad weird, just weird weird. Like someone had tried to describe water to someone without a sense of smell and had gotten creative with the interpretation.
The Cuddlebugs had no such reservations. The entire squad dove in face-first, their tiny forms creating perfect ripples as they attacked their thirst with typical enthusiasm. David watched them for any signs of immediate death, and when none were forthcoming, finally gave in to his own desperate need for hydration.
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Several minutes later, he was satisfied but waddling with urgency away from the waters edge. Not because of the water - that had been fine, if slightly tingly - but because his body had apparently decided that what goes in must come out. Immediately.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," he groaned, already scanning for an appropriate spot to handle nature's call. "This is not the kind of emergency landing I had in mind."
Finding a suitable location turned into an exercise in rapid decision making as his bladder made its demands increasingly clear. He finally settled on a cluster of ferns that looked appropriately private, though he could have sworn they giggled when he approached.
"Yeah yeah," he muttered, positioning himself carefully. "Laugh it up. Just... try not to watch? This is awkward enough without an audience."
David tried very hard not to think about just how much liquid he'd managed to store, or why it seemed to be taking approximately forever to empty. The ferns, for their part, seemed to be enjoying the impromptu watering.
"I feel like I should be making a 'marking my territory' joke," he mused, still going strong. "But honestly? I'm just impressed at this point. Like, biologically speaking, where was I even keeping all this?"
Captain chirped questioningly from nearby, clearly wondering why their master had decided to water the local plant life with such enthusiasm. The rest of the Cuddlebugs maintained a respectful distance, though David could feel their mixed confusion and amusement through their mental link.
"Don't judge me," he called back, finally finishing what felt like a record-breaking performance.
With his immediate biological needs handled, David's curiosity about the island's more mysterious residents began to surface. Marina had mentioned the crabs stuck to the north beach, and he had to admit - the idea of cow-sized crustaceans with attitude problems was too interesting to ignore.
"What do you say, team?" he asked his assembled Cuddlebugs. "Want to go see what these angry shellfish are up to?"
The tiny creatures responded with unified enthusiasm, clearly ready for whatever adventure their master had in mind. Captain took point as usual, their tiny form zipping through the undergrowth with practiced ease.
Time to do what I do best - be absolutely terrifying while having no idea what I’m doing in a place I've never been before. Claire would love this place...so many good 'comfy spots'.
David moved through the jungle like liquid shadow, each motion precise and predatory despite his internal monologue running on pure elevator music. Months of hunting had turned stealth into something so natural he barely noticed doing it anymore. The Cuddlebugs followed his lead perfectly, their usual chaos replaced by the kind of coordinated movement that would have made special forces teams jealous.
"Do do do do do, checking out some crabs," he hummed under his breath, carefully navigating around a flower that definitely hadn't gotten the memo about appropriate color schemes. "Just a totally normal day, definitely not stalking anything, la la la..."
His first hint that he was on the right track came in the form of what looked like three spiky not-quite-coconuts lashed to a crude pole. The construction had been driven into the ground at an angle that suggested either artistic intent or complete incompetence - he couldn't quite decide which.
"Boo-de-doo-de--Well that's not ominous at all," he muttered, examining the marker more closely as he cut off his impromptu theme music. The not-coconuts pulsed with a dim inner light that made his fur stand on end. "Because glowing fruit on a stick is totally normal and not at all concerning."
A clear path led away from the marker, worn into the ground by what had to be multiple sets of very large claws. David followed it with the kind of casual grace that made apex predators look clumsy, his form barely disturbing the local vegetation as he moved.
The first actual crab he spotted nearly made him break cover with a whispered "what the actual fuck."
The creature was indeed roughly the size of a small car, but that's where any resemblance to normal crabs ended with extreme prejudice. Its shell was covered in intricate patterns painted in what looked like white chalk, the designs suggesting either religious significance or a really enthusiastic geometric phase. Multiple eyes on independently moving stalks swiveled in patterns that spoke of active intelligence, while its claws...
"Is that a spear?" David breathed in outrage, watching as the crab casually manipulated what was definitely a crude weapon with one of its smaller appendages. "They've got...thumbs? Why do they have thumbs...Who approved this?"
Following the path eventually led him to the north beach, where he got his first look at what passed for crab civilization. The village, if you could call it that, straddled the line between land and sea with the kind of architecture only a crab could love. Crude structures made from salvaged materials dotted the rocky shore, half-submerged in the shallow water.
David quickly scaled a convenient tree, settling into a position that gave him an excellent view of the proceedings. Below him, dozens of the enhanced crustaceans went about their business with surprising organization. Larger specimens emerged periodically from deeper water carrying various edible things, depositing their finds at what appeared to be a central collection point.
But it was the activity near the center of the village that really caught his attention.
"Are they... are they dancing?"
A group of crabs had formed a circle, their movements synchronized in what looked suspiciously like an EDM concert had collided with a religious ceremony. Their shells reflected patterns that definitely hadn't been natural before the Wave, creating a lightshow that would have made any DJ jealous.
"Crab rave," David whispered, barely containing his amusement. "They're actually having a crab rave. In the middle of their... wait, what's happening over there?"
His ears swiveled toward movement at the village's edge, nearest the jungle itself, where a group of larger crabs had cornered several smaller ones against a rock formation. Even from his perch, David could tell this wasn't friendly interaction - the bigger crabs' body language screamed aggression, their claws raised threateningly as they advanced on their victims.
The first blow made David's fur bristle. The larger crabs were straight up beating the younger ones, using their claws with the kind of casual cruelty that spoke of routine behavior. One of the young crabs tried to flee, only to be knocked back into the group with a particularly vicious strike that left a visible mark on their tough shell.
"Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?" David's voice dropped to a growl as he watched another blow land. He glanced at his assembled Cuddlebugs, who were already tensing for action. "Team? I don't like that. Time to make a point."
The Cuddlebugs dropped from the tree like tiny avenging angels, their usual adorable appearance somehow transformed into something considerably more vicious. They struck the larger crabs from multiple angles, their synchronized assault driving the bullies back through sheer shock value.
David moved closer through the canopy, making sure his intervention was having the desired effect. The larger crabs were definitely not enjoying their introduction to angry murder-fluff, their attempts to defend their delicate eyes growing increasingly panicked as Captain maintained perfect coordination of the assault.
The younger crabs huddled together, their eye stalks tracking the chaos with what might have been awe. One of them happened to glance up, catching sight of David's form in the foliage. Its reaction drew the attention of its companions, and suddenly David found himself the focus of several sets of eyes.
Well, in for a penny...
David rose to his full height on the branch, spreading his wings to catch what little sunlight filtered through the canopy. He made a slow, deliberate gesture that somehow managed to combine regality with absolute menace, then turned his head to address the young crabs directly.
"Everybody gets one," he hissed, not really expecting them to understand but feeling the moment demanded something profound.
Then he melted back into the jungle like smoke, leaving behind a scene that would definitely need some processing time for all involved. The Cuddlebugs returned to him instantly at his mental recall, their tiny forms practically radiating satisfaction through their link.
A quick glance back confirmed the larger crabs had abandoned their beatdown and vanished into the nearby ocean. Not even the vague impression of their location was detectable beneath the water, the Team having thoroughly driven them off.
Finding a new observation point further from the village, David settled in to watch the aftermath of his intervention. His mind wrestled with unexpected philosophical questions as he observed the crabs going about their lives.
"So what counts as people now?" he mused quietly, watching as another hunting party emerged from the deeper water with their catches. "I mean, we're all monsters these days. At least they started as actual crabs..."
The village's routine continued below, the recent excitement largely unnoticed or chalked up to random chance. Larger crabs with heavily armored shells continued their fishing runs, while smaller ones distributed and stored the food with surprising efficiency. The white chalk patterns on their shells caught the sunlight as they moved, creating an ever-shifting display of tribal markings.
After an hour or so, David decided it was time to head back toward Marina's cove. "Come on team," he whispered to his assembled Cuddlebugs. "Let's go stretch our wings properly. Pretty sure we've given the locals enough to think about for one day. We can fly around for a while and get some exercise. Good job earlier with the dickass crabs."
The flight back gave him his first real look at the island from high above. The tropical paradise stretched out below him like a jewel set in endless blue, its beaches curving in patterns that reminded him of Marina's bioluminescent displays. Flying around an island at sea was a new experience - something about the isolation, the perfect circle of horizon in every direction, made the whole thing feel almost dreamlike.
As he banked toward Marina's cove, a thought struck him. "Wonder if anyone's ever tried making peace with them?" he mused, already planning to ask Marina when she woke. "I mean, besides the whole 'murder Marcus' thing..."
__________________________________________
Back on the north beach, in a quiet corner away from prying eye stalks, a group of young crabs had gathered. Their shells, previously marked with the same tribal patterns as their elders, were being carefully decorated with new designs. White chalk moved in deliberate strokes, creating patterns that looked suspiciously like bat wings wrapped around full moons.
The word they'd understood - "one" - was repeated in clicks and whistles as they worked, their movements clumsy but carrying the weight of ceremony. Above them, the strange not-quite-coconuts pulsed their eternal light, casting shadows that danced like tiny wings across the sand.