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“Here we go,” Alya says. “I’m going to start filming now.” She hits the start button. “Hello and welcome to Field Explorations! Today I’m at the beaches of Normandy, which are most widely known for being the site of D-Day. But recently, there have been some rather odd sightings on the beach, including some seal species which are non-native to this region. I’m joined today by my girlfriend, professional fencer Kagami Tsurugi, and marine biology student Kim Le Chien! Say hi to the camera!”
Kim waves awkwardly. Marinette had recommended for him to join this expedition, but he wasn’t really sure what to expect from Alya Cesaire. It had been a while since he last saw her. Longer since he last saw Kagami. But the two of them are dating now, so that’s something.
Alya spins the camera back towards the waves. “Today’s exploration will be looking for evidence to substantiate these claims. Kim’s with us so we can look in the waves, and I’ve always heard that beaches are romantic.” She turns the camera back at her so it’ll pick up the fact that she’s winking at Kagami, who blushes. Even though Kim’s not aromantic, he understands Alix’s plight sometimes around romantic couples. “But now’s not time for a date. That’ll be off-camera.” Alya smiles. “It’s time to search for seals!”
Kim isn’t really sure if he believes the rumors about the seals. After all, it could be possible that someone really bad at telling the difference between species found them. Or an albino seal.
“The seals here in the channel are mostly harbor seals and gray seals,” Alya intones. “However, there is photographic evidence to show that leopard seals have been found here recently. If we hit the jackpot, maybe they’ll be out sunbathing — that’s why we’re here on a sunny day. Viewers, if you come out here doing the same, make sure to put sunscreen on!” She makes a thumbs-up sign at the camera.
“Seals often come out when the rocks are warm,” Kim says. “They’re more fond of the warmth than anything else, and since they’re mammals, they need to come up for air. Sometimes whole packs will spend hours up here with the baby seals of the family. Leopard seals are native to the Antarctic, so it’d be quite unusual to find them here.”
He’s not even really an expert, just the only person who knows anything about marine biology that Alya could contact on as short notice as this. But he’s providing the expertise.
Maybe this’ll serve him as something resembling field experience? He doubts his professors would approve, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like this can get him punished by the university at any rate.
“Leopard seals?” Kagami asks. “What do they look like?”
“I’m glad you asked!” Alya responds, smiling over at Kagami. That part is scripted — the words aren’t precisely the same, but the format is what was scripted. “So, here’s what the typical seals from the channel look like.” She shows Kagami the assets she’s planning on showing on the video. “Here’s what leopard seals look like — you can tell what they are by the spots on their back, which is why they’re called leopard seals in the first place.”
“Oh,” Kagami says. “I see. Let us embark on the expedition, then.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Alya responds.
Kim absolutely does not want to go into the water today. Alya’s going to do some exploring on her own, then she’s going to follow Kagami around with the camcorder, and then she’s going to follow Kim a little bit, and then there’s going to be a segment where Kim wears a GoPro and dives into the ocean, and the camera footage will be used in the video too.
He may as well do some off-camera poking around, while he’s at it. There’s a cave along the beach — he isn’t much of a spelunker, but he wants to take a look at it. When he goes inside, he finds that the cave is mostly flooded — good thing he’s wearing waterproof shoes. He knows Alya won’t be looking here. After all, she’s looking for signs of the leopard seals sunbathing. A dark cave is the last place to look for that. But caves are full of all sorts of interesting things.
And then, lo and behold, there is a leopard seal in here.
And then he takes a closer look. It’s just the pelt.
Kim curses. Who would be so stupid as to leave behind a seal pelt here? All the poachers usually are looking for the seal pelts, after all. And it’s not a corpse, it’s just the sealskin. What the fuck is going on?
And that’s when he spots the person.
“Okay, what in the world is happening today?” Because his day can’t get any more confusing right now. He should not touch the sealskin, but he does approach the person. “Who are you?”
The person speaks a language he doesn’t understand. He takes out his phone and pulls out a translator, turning on the microphone. “Who are you?”
The person looks up. Short, red hair. It’s a really bright shade. The language she speaks is Gaelic. Odd, but not overly unusual — Kim thought it was a dying language, but Ireland isn’t that far away from here. The person had asked him the same question.
He flips the translator and types in I’m Kim. He presses the button to allow the phone to speak for him. I don’t speak your language, he adds, and lets the robot speak again.
The response comes in — the person’s said to give them a moment, so Kim does so. When they resume, they’re speaking in French now. “What are you doing here?”
“What?” he says.
“I can…adapt to the language of those around me,” they say.
“Um, do you know what that sealskin is?” he asks, pointing to the skin in question.
“It’s mine,” they answer, and that clears up absolutely nothing. “My name’s Ondine. It’s nice to meet you, Kim.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s yours’?” he growls. If there’s one group of people he hates more than anyone, it’s poachers. He doesn’t want to believe that the girl in front of her is an actual poacher, but he will not hesitate to contact authorities. There aren’t many people who will actually do something about the murder of an endangered species, but it is a crime, and he has the seal pelt to prove it.
And then she takes the sealskin, wears it like a hood, and submerges herself into the limited water.
Before his very eyes, Ondine transforms into a seal.
Can this day get any weirder?
Wait. He’s heard about something like this before.
Selkies are real?
He takes a deep breath. He absolutely cannot believe it.
He also absolutely cannot tell Alya, at any cost. He has to let Alya believe that he hasn’t found anything.
Is he a good enough liar to pull it off?
He walks out of the cave.
“Just in time, Kim!” Alya yells. “Time to film your segment. Did you see anything interesting in your spelunking?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” he answers. “Typical tide pool life, really. It’s fascinating to me, but I’m a marine bio student, and to most people it’s not really interesting.”
“Alright! Now, where would you say would be the best place to find them? I’ve covered the ground a little ways behind the cave, but Kagami and I didn’t find anything. We’ve been waiting for you to come back from the inside of the cave.”
Was it really that long?
“Let’s head in the other direction, then,” Alya says, and she whips out the camcorder again. “Alright.” She starts filming. “We’re going to explore in the other direction now!”
Alya finds sufficient leopard seal proof — a small group sunbathing. It’s proof that they’re in existence in the Channel, and that’s enough for today. So phew, he doesn’t have to swim.
They all bundle in the car and get driving back — he doesn’t know what to do with the knowledge now. He’ll have to take the train or bus out here sometime for himself — something else.
The video goes up a couple weeks later. English Channel Leopard Seals? (Feat. my gf)
He watches the whole thing. Alya’s ideas are well-developed, and the video is good, but it feels weird to be keeping such a big secret about them. But the selkies would rock everything they know about the world. He needs to keep this close to his chest.
He won’t be the one who exposes it. It would pose danger to all of the selkies.
“You need to tell your pack to leave,” he tells Ondine, the next time he sees her. It’s shortly after the video dropped, and he’s at the beach again. “I…there are other humans looking for everyone like you.”
“Really?” she asks.
“Your pelts are rather distinctive in this area,” he says. “Flee south. You’ll find sanctuary there, and you won’t be seen as unusual. Your discovery would be…bad for you. A lot of you would be killed for your skins.
“There’s a secret behind them, actually,” Ondine confesses. “If someone who isn’t part of the selkie’s pack possesses their skin, then that person can…control the selkie.”
“That makes it worse, not better,” Kim says, slightly strangled. “You really need to get out of here now. I don’t want all of you to be controlled, because they would control you. There are a lot of people that want to exploit other people, and you’d be the next target if they knew of your species. I care about you, and I don’t want something bad to happen to you or anyone else.”
She takes a deep breath in and out. “We aren’t supposed to have any contact with humankind. I can’t tell the elders to leave on my word alone.”
“Tell them that your skins are unusual here, that they don’t blend in with the others, and humans are starting to notice,” he says. “You don’t need to have contact with us to be aware of that. Just…say that you’ve been observing. That’s all you’ve needed to know.”
“Okay,” Ondine says. “I’ll…talk to them as soon as I can. Thank you so much, Kim.” She stands up. “I’ve heard this is traditional, among people from your land.” She kisses his cheek, and then dives into the water, swimming into the ocean.
He hopes it’s the last time he sees her.
The leopard seals leave the Channel. Alya makes a follow-up video attempting to explain the anomaly.
Kim graduates, and lands a post in Antarctica. It’s the best opportunity of his life, and he can’t wait to leave to continue his studies. He can’t believe he’s actually managed to actually get here. He can’t believe he’s here now.
Wait.
Antarctica. He told Ondine and her pack to leave…for the southern waters.
For Antarctica. Could he see her again? Wow. That would be…absolutely surreal.
What were the odds?
As it turns out, the odds were very high.
“What are you doing here?” she asks him.
“How are you not freezing?” he responds, bundled up in so many layers.
“Our skin does a lot for us,” she says. “How’d you get here?”
“I work here now,” he says. “So…I guess I’ll be seeing a lot more of you now.”
And they pick up right where they left off.