A seal and a boy played "toss-the-fish" at the docks.
The toddler laughed as the half-eaten piece of scales and bone sailed back over his head, and he reached back to grab it. The seal dove back under the water only to leap back up and catch the tail in its mouth when it was tossed back toward it. With a bark of mirth, it surged out of the water to land halfway on the dock, the claws of its fins scraping the wood. The child ran to hug its nose while it wolfed down the fish, and then the seal slipped backwards into the water, bringing the toddler with it.
"Skel!" a woman's voice called from one of the canoes. "We need to go. Is'oz, come grab your things."
The seal popped its head back out of the water, the boy wrapping his arms around the blubbery neck. He patted the creature on the head and said, "I guess we gotta go. Bye, Skel!"
With a soft grumble, the mammal swam over to the canoe and gently deposited the boy, Is'oz, in the canoe. The toddler patted her head again and then gathered the ropes and bags of clothing he was responsible for. His guardian smiled and waved at the seal before starting to row, striking out toward one of the other many isles of Yoreiq.
Sighing, the seal watched them go with a bored expression. She flicked her tongue over the piercings in her mouth and then turned back to the docks, swimming quick as a flash underneath. There was a hollowed area, secure and reasonably hidden, where she disappeared. Wriggling about, she loosened her skin; slender but callused human hands pulled the pelt off the rest of the way.
The naked girl swam back out from underneath the cluster of rocks, her dark head breaking the surface with flashes of pale neon blue. She smiled and slicked her nearly-shoulder-length hair back before climbing onto the docks. She grabbed the pants left there and pulled them on before looking toward the rest of the village.
With the little boy gone, Skel had nothing left to do, and generally that meant havoc. Her dark eyes scanned the Yoreiqi people going about their lives, walking from hut to hut, and she plastered an innocent expression on her face as she walked among her adopted people.
The selkie searched for her next victim.