As a marine biologist, Arya was well accustomed to the native wildlife that lived off of Sacrosanct's beaches. To add to that, she was a mammalogist for the local aquarium, and so she spent her days surrounded by and caring for many species of marine mammal, most of which local to Sacrosanct. This knowledge had always helped give her a sense of security when she ventured to swim in the ocean in her seal form, because, while seals were considered predators, they were also very much so prey to many larger species of animal. Arya could use her knowledge to predict which time and place would be safest for her from sharks that lurked not far from the coast line, but more importantly, it helped her in avoiding the transient pod of killer whales that stopped by for a short period of the year before leaving for different waters. That was, until today, when that knowledge failed her and she found herself face to face, or rather snout to rostrum, with one of said orcas.

Her heart rate accelerated immediately upon her big, brown seal eyes locking with the darkness of the large whale's own, hidden in the black of it's own skin coloring. The fight or flight instinct that lived in all creatures kicked into high gear in Arya, sending her into a panic with only one thought in her mind: run. Her small, grey form shot through the water without a moment's hesitation, she had hoped to get a slight head start on the whale, to duck into the reef closer to shore where it would be much harder for the whale to maneuver and use the speed he had on her. Arya's mind raced, this whale wasn't even supposed to be here this time of year and especially not this close to shore! Of course sometimes lone males could break from their pods, or sometimes young whales would get lost from the pod, and those were usually the exception to the rule and why a lone orca would be hanging around the coast.

When escape didn't seem to be an option, Arya found a gap in the rocks, forcing her chubby body in and pushing as far back as she could in hopes that the killer whale couldn't get his massive head in far enough to grab her. It worked, her brown eyes watched in horror as teeth snapped inches from her and the whale bashed their head in an attempt to grab her, but just couldn't get close enough. Her heart pounded in her chest, and slowly her lungs began to feel the strain of needing more oxygen...which meant leaving her safety to breath but meeting the lingering whale. If it hadn't been for her empathy, her sensing a string of complex emotions that animals like whales or porpoises did not have the capacity to feel, Arya very well may have either drowned or been eaten. Instead, in a last ditch effort to save herself, she reached out with her mind, grasping at any semblance of humanity she thought she felt, and called out to the Whale.

And it worked. The dark eyes that once held nothing but hunger and a predatory gaze so suddenly shifted to surprise and guilt, two very human emotions. As luck would have it, her wouldbe killer was a shifter as well, and just as quickly as he had wanted to tear her limb from limb, he was now apologizing profusely, spiraling into a panic attack at the thought of eating another of his kind. Arya was quite frankly stunned by the turn of events, but quickly used the gap he had given her to slip out from her safe hole and reach the surface for some much needed air. She tried to reassure the other Were that, despite trying to eat her, she held no ill will toward him. Hell, even if he wasn't a Were, Arya would not have held any ill will toward a normal killer whale just trying to do what nature intended of them and catch a meal. Yet he continued to panic, saying what a horrible, terrible person he was for almost eating her. Instinctively she reached out, using both her power and her own gentle, kind disposition to calm the male.

"It's okay, you don't need to worry or stress yourself out about this," her words were so gentle and soft as she spoke, despite having just been distressed herself, her own natural nurturing instinct to care for others took over and she was more concerned about calming the other Were than making sure she was alright. Her attempts to calm him seemed to work, his demeanor changing from anxiety to something more excitable. Brown eyes blinked curiously as he continued to insist that he would be her bodyguard now to make up for his almost eating her. His flurry of emotions left her feeling a little dizzy as he was just a bundle of energy now when moments before he was anxiety and guilt ridden, and before that he wanted to eat her! "I think it would baffle most people to see a seal sitting on top of a killer whale, its natural predators, back," she said, laughing lightly at the strange, down right silly, idea of her just hitching a ride on his back while he protects her from other ocean threats.

Arya could not help but to apologize, jokingly of course, about making the other Were go hungry, watching in amusement as he grinned in a very goofy whale fashion. It was kind of endearing really, just how like his natural counterpart he was. While Arya had never worked with Killer whales in captivity, she had worked with several cousins in the smaller species of dolphin and knew that their mannerisms were similar to those spunky animals. Arya laughed lightly as the other Were exclaimed in bewilderment at his stomach's rumblings. How truly odd this person was, to be so upset and then in the next moment so carefree and energetic. Before she could even get another word in, the whale was once more speaking and then suddenly shifting...or rather shifting partially.

The small seal jumped slightly in surprise as, right before her eyes, the other Were shifted, but not entirely, no this Were shifted only his upper torso, everything below still very much orca. He looked like a very very strange merman, and then he suddenly grabbed her, enveloping her soft, chubby body in a tight bear hug, or rather whale hug she guessed. It took her by surprise, air bubbles shooting from her nose as she made a soft oof noise under the water. If she could blush, she would be bright red, embarrassment and awkwardness filling her small frame as she didn't know just what to make of this situation she was now in. Soft brown eyes watched as he opened his mouth, and then he quite suddenly released her to dart to the surface for the air he seemingly forgot he needed. Arya blinked for a moment before surfacing herself, watching as he coughed the water from his lungs and commented about forgetting his need for air.

He was certainly strange...and attractive. Arya was incredibly glad she was in her animal form to hide the blush as she tried to avert her eyes from the shirtless man in front of her. The seal made soft rumbly noises behind a closed snout, as if she was saying something before she looked at him with the realization that his brain was now human with this partial shift, and she no longer could communicate with him, unless either one of them shifted. Arya would die before she shifted and left herself be naked in front of him. The seal opened its mouth, a strange, yet adorable, noise came from it, sounding like a slightly deeper cat in some way, as Arya attempted to somehow let him know. She wanted to ask what his name was, but right now she couldn't do that.