The tranquility of the day was hardly lost on the harbor seal as it basked upon sun kissed sand. It was the first sunny day after a string of stormy ones, though Arya expressed no preference to either truthfully, for her any day on the beach, rain or shine, was a good beach day. On this particular day she opted for her pinniped form, despite the many families with small curious children wanting to get as close as possible, she didn't mind their presence. She blended in with a group of natural harbor seals who had accepted her presence, continuing to lounge in the sun's rays ignoring her and the world around them. Any time a child or, on the occasion, an adult dared inch close to her in attempts to pet her or take a picture, the tendrils of her mind reached out and placed the appropriate amount of fear into them to keep them at a respectable distance; not only for her but for the other natural inhabitants of the beach who just wished to rest in peace without being harassed. As a marine biologist and mammalogist at the local aquarium, she understood the importance of watching from a safe distance, no matter how cute and friendly the animal looked.

Her plump, blubbery body rolled over in the hot sand, grains sticking to her pelt. There was nothing like sunbathing on the beach, and it was even better to do it as a seal. Though the heat was starting to reach an uncomfortable level even for her, and when she peeked her warm amber eyes open she could see the sun drawing closer to sunset; some families with younger children had even begun to pack their stuff. With a wide yawn, she stretcher her flippers and rolled onto her stomach. Moving as a seal was not particularly fast or graceful, but she had spent 24 years galumphing and was quite efficient with it, even compared to her wild counterparts. She bounced her way along the sand until she reached the cold embrace of the ocean's waves. The water engulfed her and, where on land she was rather slow and clumsy, in the water she was agile and quick, truly in her element.

She sped through the water, spinning, diving, and rolling through the water with a sudden burst of energy. She slipped out far enough from shore to keep from people, but close enough from fear of the deep darkness the ocean beckoned her too. The depths of the ocean were terrifying, darkness itself was scary enough but she knew what lurked in the darkness of the ocean and actively avoided it. She glided through a forest of kelp, watching flashes of fish dash from her, fearing they her next meal. This part of the ocean was always so peaceful, sharks rarely traveled to these parts and with a thick sea of kelp full of fish, it was a paradise for pinnipeds and sea otters. After several minutes of swimming about, she decided it was time to head back to land, making the awkward galumphing back onto land. Sand clung to her damp grey fur as she hobbled up the beach to where she had hidden her clothes among a large grouping of rocks. After some clumsy climbing, which didn't even seem possible for her round, stumpy flippered form, she made it to where her clothes were and where she could hide within the rocks to change back to her human form. Where once a small grey seal lay, a equally small girl now sat with freckles instead of spots and brown hair instead of silver fur. Quickly she put her clothes on in case anyone was around, though she hadn't seen or sensed anyone,scampering back over the rocks to make the walk down the beach to her car.