Sequoia Coast walrus fat

Raiyuk remembered scouting a group of seals inland, with Dutch. The water there had been cold but not this cold; the seals large, and from what he had learned through these days of travel and stories, the creatures of the ocean would be even larger.

He had to trust himself. He was ready — that's what he thought as he watched his father plunge beneath the surface of the water. It was a mantra he recited to himself as he stepped in to the sea and felt the obnoxious shock of cold race up to his elbow.

The boy followed his father in to the water. He was not yet ready to dive deep, and bobbed there acclimating to the cold instead. The water slicked his fur along his body and for the time being, Raiyuk looked too young and awkward, as if he had been swept backwards in time.

With a few steadying breaths, he plunged beneath the surface.

From above, there was stillness, and then an array of frothing and bubbles rising from where he'd entered, and lastly Raiyuk resurfacing with a gasp; he had not been able to fight the urge to make that gasp despite the warning. Everything was cold! His teeth hurt. His head pounded.