Selchie
Legacy Name: Selchie

It would best to recount this story from the beginning.

This tale starts, like so many others, with tears. Seven tears, carefully allowed to fall into the turbulent waters off the northern coast of the isle. They drew the selchie to their shedder, like a moth to a flame. Peeking above the water, he saw a woman sitting upon a rock at the water's edge, her face hidden in her hands, her hair obscured by a shawl. Her sobs were unmistakable, however: even as a seal he could hear the sadness contained within them. The selchie made his way ashore, and with great difficulty, shed his seal skin for the first time to become a human. In his haste to transform himself, he overexerted himself and passed out upon the damp sand.

When the selchie awoke, his seal skin was gone. He searched the beach high and low for hours on end, but to no avail. Without his skin, he would not be able to return to the ocean, and would be forced to remain with the humans forevermore. Resigning himself to this fate, the selchie-turned-man followed the single path that led from the beach. In a quarter-hour's time, he stumbled into a small town. He was met by an old woman who, shocked at the selchie-man's nudity, gave him some of her husbands old clothes and welcomed him to the town. She asked him what his name was, and when he genuinely couldn't remember, she suggested the name Sean. The old woman was kind, and the selchie-man was grateful for her kindness. She offered him dinner and a place to sleep, and told him that the next day they'd see about getting him a job in the village. That night the selchie slept restlessly, dreaming of the deep, dark sea.

The next day, the old woman got the selchie-man a job working on a fishing boat. He was good help to the men, confident in the water, and knowledgeable as to where the best spots to fish were. They were grateful for his assistance. He settled into a mundane routine, and soon forgot almost entirely about his origins. His dreams, however, continued to be haunted by dreams of the sea.

It was almost a year after he found his way into the village that he met Cathleen. She was at the market, perusing the various wares. He was instantly drawn to her, like a moth to a flame. She glanced at him from underneath her eyelashes, smiling ever-so-slightly. They talked. And talked. Every day, after hauling in fish from the sea, he would go to her and talk. He was in love, and she seemed to reciprocate his feelings. They got married, and in time, she bore him two children. The older, a boy, had his mothers ember hair and her emerald eyes, but the olive skin of his father, while the girl resembled her father with her dark hair, sea-blue eyes, and olive skin. The husband loved his children, and they loved him back, and his life was almost perfect. He still, however, dreamt of the churning waves and hidden currents of the ocean.

Over time, his children grew. He aged, but his love for his wife still remained. The children were clever and curious, and the father joked that they were like the seals that so often followed his fishing boat. They were constantly exploring, and often would bring items back home for the father to explain. He told the children of all sorts of things, from mermaid's purses to corkscrews, and from bird's eggs to brandy. One day, however, they brought him something he thought he'd never see.

When he first saw it, he had assumed it was a simple animal hide. However, when he had it his arms, there was something different. A feeling like ice ran up his arms when he unfolded the skin. It was a dark brown, mottled here and there with gray spots. It couldn't be his skin. He had given up hope finding it years ago. He asked the children where they had found it, and they replied it was in a hidden compartment in their mother's chest. She had stolen his skin, and he had fallen in love with her. He had had children by this woman. And while he loved his children, the call of the ocean, now no longer a dream, but a reality, was too strong. He kissed both of his children gently on the forehead, and took off towards the ocean. His wife saw him running towards the sea and screamed, chasing after him, begging, pleading for him to not leave her; however, her pleas fell on deaf ears. The selchie-man quickly reached the shore, and with one last look towards his old life, his false life, he pulled the skin over his head, and as a seal, plunged into the ocean.