elsewhereuniversity:

This is based off the wonderful story about the selkie roommate by @justanothergreyface, because I also adore stories like that. 

———————————————————-

Selkies aren’t like most of the Gentry. They belong to the sea and earth, echoing a discordant blend of beastial instinct and humanity, a strange mix that humans have difficulty understanding and makes them very uncomfortable. More importantly, selkies have an extreme vulnerability, like a target painted on their backs, and while that target is well protected and small and very hard to hit, if a human manages to land a bullseye some poor selkie will be dragged off, forever a captive separated from home. No matter how hard they try to hide their pelts, they are still animal enough to be easily distracted and forgetful, and all it takes is one mistake. The only thing that can save them after that is the intervention of another human. So unlike other fair folk, they appreciate kind, helpful humans a great deal.

Although it was rare, more boys at Elsewhere have managed to steal a selkie girl’s pelt than you would think. For all that selkies were wild and disconcerting, some humans are sadistic and possessive enough to capture one for her extreme beauty alone.

There are also humans who find this practice disgusting and horrifying to the degree that they refuse to allow it to continue.

There is a very quiet, secretive club on campus called the WSP. Outsiders don’t know what they do. They don’t hold many meetings, communicating and organising almost exclusively through a group text. There are many members, all kinds of different people. They wait, and watch, and act with quick and quiet efficiency. The full name of their organisation is Women for Selkie Protection.

When they return a pelt to a captive girl and walk her back to wherever she wants to go, their eyes do not fill with pity, but with barely contained rage. They do not do anything to the boys responsible. They do not need to. A few days after one returns a girl’s freedom, she might pass a beautiful girl with dark, knowing eyes and too sharp teeth,  their eyes meeting, mouths twisting twist into gleeful, ferocious grins. She might quietly whisper “Sister,” as she passes. The beautiful girl might whisper it back.

x