I'll put out your fire

What's in the water

Splash!!
Kyoko snapped to her senses the second she hit the icy water. Why the hell did I do that??!! She kicked her legs and swam towards the surface, genuinely pissed with herself for doing something so incredibly stupid. Only when her head broke through the surf did she feel something brush against her arm. Something scaly. She looked around and saw the boat a few feet away.
I've gotta get out of the water. She paddled to the boat in a rush, and sighed in relief when she reached it.
It was only then that she panicked a little. She had reached the boat safely, but there was no way for her to get on. Most likely all the crew was asleep, which would be fine, if she had time to wait for them. But she didn't have time, because a little splash from where she was before indicated whatever was in the water was moving towards her, and pretty quickly at that.
She scrabbled at the wood, trying to get a grip so she could pull herself up, but it only resulted in her hand receiving a massive splinter.
This isn't how I wanted to die. But it seemed the world did want her to die this way, because as she braced herself, preparing for something to pull her under, she saw two glowing eyes through the water. She gulped as something rose out and grabbed her arm with a surprisingly human-like hand.
"Are you okay?" The creature asked, and Kyoko's jaw nearly dropped. "That's a pretty bad splinter," Getting a better look at the creature, who was currently studying the piece of wood in Kyoko's palm, it was clear that she was a mermaid.

Another short chapter I'm sorry! I just keep finding really good stopping places. Oh well. :/