Page 35 of Kraken the Seal

Thankfully, unlike the rest of the colony, her seal saw me as her mate, so she wasn't terrified of me.

Letting go of my appendage with her flipper, she moved up to inspect me. Her little nose booping me all over as she explored my fully shifted body.

It was delightful.

I petted and touched her with only the very tips of my appendages. I didn’t want to accidentally make her feel trapped. Far from being bothered by my touching, she burrowed into several of my tentacles. It took me a moment for me to realize she was treating me like a kelp bed and playing. I made my appendages extra-long, and she zoomed through them like a seal obstacle course.

We played for about twenty minutes until she had to go up for air. I bobbed on the surface while she poked her head up to breathe and look around. The other boats were keeping their distance, and there wasn’t any other traffic in the area. The shoreline was within sight, and the sea was calm.

I knew my mate was taking this all in, even in her seal form. She slapped the water a few times with a flipper, as if testing her movements. She did a few high bobs, coming half out of the water a little like a whale breaching.

Once she was done with that game, she flipped over and dived back down. I followed her, staying close as she explored.

A school of mackerel caught her attention, and she jetted off toward them. Predictably, the school moved so that there was a gap everywhere she swam. Wanting to hunt was instinctual, knowing how to hunt effectively wasn’t.

I could tell she was getting frustrated, so I snapped out a tentacle and stunned a few fish. She rushed up and swallowed them whole. She looked pleased with herself for a full second before her human brain must’ve registered that she’d eaten raw fish right from the sea, bones and all.

I was quick to catch another fish and eat it while she watched. I pointed at my beak and ate another one. I was trying to show her that it wasn’t a big deal.

She blinked, then moved to press close to me. I wrapped my appendages around her, petting her back to help comfort her. I couldn’t know what it was like to suddenly have all new instincts, but it had to be strange and discomforting at best. It had to be downright frightening at worst.

I was filled with pride all over again. If I had to face what she was dealing with, I’d be mentally devastated.

We stayed like that for a while, then she wiggled free of my gentle grasp and swam off. It seemed she was ready to explore again. We found the school of mackerel, but she only played at trying to catch them. I watched as she darted in and out of the school, making them twist and turn as a group. Her little harbor seal face was so joyful that my tentacles wiggled with happiness.

Because the sea was a dangerous place, I was constantly scanning for threats to Nina. I spotted a good-sized leopard shark coming straight at us, probably attracted by all the movement. I made myself big and fanned out all my appendages. That was all it took, and the shark turned and left. I wasn’t something it wanted to tangle with.

Nina never noticed, she was much too busy finding out how fast she could turn as she played with the school of fish.

When a rockfish swam below us, she dove deeper to investigate. I followed her, shrinking down to my previous size. She found everything so fascinating that I thought about how much she’d enjoy witnessing the whale migration.

I was making all kinds of plans when I remembered that this wasn’t Nina’s natural state. She’d be returning to fully human soon. It made me a little sad to think of losing my little harbor seal, but reversing the spell would make her happy. That made me happy.

She went up for air two more times before she decided she was done playing in the water. I followed her to the stern of the boat, but then watched her bobbing in the water, looking confused.

I shifted and treaded water next to her. “Is your seal refusing to shift?”

She bumped clumsily against me. I took that as a yes. Several of my tentacles emerged to wrap around her, doing their part to soothe her with petting.

“We will return to the water,” I said, talking to her seal. “Even when we’re on land, we’ll never be far from the sea. We'll never ignore your needs or deny you the water. It's important that you're patient with your human side. She’s new to all of this.”

I could feel the seal relaxing as I spoke. It took a little while, but eventually the seal released her hold. The moment Nina’s human eyes looked up at me, I lifted her up into the boat.

“Are you okay?” I asked, heaving myself up. Several appendages were still out, and they grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Nina. They left me dripping wet and cold.

“I think so,” she said. “It was a lot of fun until the very end. I was tired, and I could tell we needed to rest, but she didn’t want to stop. When I tried to picture my human body, she would push at me and disrupt my thoughts. It was a little scary.”

I opened my arms, and she came to me to press against my chest. My arms and several appendages wrapped around her.

“Your seal was tired too,” I said. “She has the instincts of a true harbor seal, but she’s basically newly born and out of shape. She was scared that you wouldn’t let her back in the water. Ifthis happens again, keep telling her that you’ll be coming back. Picture the next swim and remind her that we have to rest.”

“Your words are making both of us feel better,” Nina murmured. She started shaking, and I thought it was a combination of cold and exhaustion. I picked her up and walked her into the cabin. I put her on the bed and tucked blankets around her. When I tried to stand up, she made a protesting sound.

“I want to make you some tea,” I said. “A warm drink will make you feel better.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said. “I need to keep touching you.”

I could understand that. Mates thrived on touch.