Blackbeak Bluff you got yourself in a dangerous zone

In the silence that followed the matriarch drew near. Instinctually, Whip felt like pulling away or rolling to expose stomach in a display of conditioned submission. Had it not been enough? Had his thoughts not satisfied her hunger? He could not stop himself from wondering these things. But the boy did not turn away. He stood firm with expression blank — holding strong despite the sudden flash of fear in his eyes. It was only an instant, barely noticable to any conscious onlooker, but the feeling was real.

He tensed.

His fear however was unfounded. The Matriarch touched him with a tenderness that Whip had not felt since his parents had left this worldly plane. It was then that all the tension in his body melted away. His shoulders rolled forward and his head drooped. He took a long breath and his eyes closed. "I do," he repeated. For some reason, hearing from himself made it easier to process. "I belong here." For the first time, Whip felt like he finally believed it. There was nowhere to run to -- the sea was now his home, and it would be until the day he died.