Dryad

Nereid

They couldn't keep me inside anymore because I started scratching the door and staring out the window like a mentally ill person, so they finally decided to take me with them to the lookout. Of course, at first I thought of just going back to where I came from, because Vadim must have already got worried and I guess he thinks that I'm still angry that Maksim left, so I'm protesting like this, but they didn't want to let me wander too far from them and kept on looking over and checking me. They could've put me on a leash too. They took me along their usual route, at least as much as possible because I have my own route plan and I have to climb every big sticking out root and jump over every fallen tree trunk.

In the middle of my exploration of an unknown part of the forest, I heard the soft sound of water and immediately went to investigate. I would have to wash up before going back. They will say that I deliberately went to roll in the mud and poor is that servant who has to wash the same mud from my clothes every time. They wouldn't have to if they didn't make me wear it. In winter, three to four months of sleep and warm hugs are enough for me. I just walked away regardless of their remarks and calls to come back and went to find the source of the sound. If I had known that it would be this easy to get away from them, I would have run away immediately:

-Klarissa!-the elf's voice rose higher than usual, which is a bad sign when it comes to his nerves and patience, and I heard him follow me, but he couldn't stop me.

In the bay, I found the shore of a small lake into which flows a stream with many small waterfalls. I dipped my hands in - the water is unusually warm, especially for this time of year, but it's not for me to ask too much. I guess the logic behind it is as simple as the question of how the centaur came to be. I took off my dress and dived in completely ignoring the fact that I actually don't know how to swim because I had no one to learn from:

-Klarissa?!-said the ranger's upset voice again, which would have easily driven everyone alive in the forest to seek shelter.

It didn't take long for them to reach the lake and find me floating not far from the shore. I can't see his face very well, but it looks to me like he's sorry he doesn't have a chain at home:

-See? She was just looking for water. And I thought that you scared and chased her away.-the boy complained:

-She's been with us for three days, and I don't remember a time when you didn't complain so much. Did I raise you to disrespect me?

-I'm not saying that you have problems with your nerves... but boars don't run in the other direction when they hear my voice.

-Go look for wood.-someone got offended.

No matter how angry he got and tried to call me back to shore, today I decided to be deaf for a change. If he wants something from me, let him swim after me. I was more interested in the fairy that landed on one of the round rocks sticking out of the lake and I had to catch it. The impatient old ranger didn't appreciate my sense of fun. Actually I think he almost left me there in that lake to play with butterflies and went on, but then he sat down on the side and it was like he didn't know where to go with himself anymore out of frustration.

In my clumsy floundering in the water, I thought I saw someone hiding behind the rocks, but it was too big to be a fairy. And I haven't seen any fairies with blue-green hair. Or gills on the neck. I floated up to her to see her better, and she seemed to be afraid of me for a moment, but she, unlike the others, easily recognized the other nymph:

-Shhhhhh...-she directed me and showed me with her hand to be calm and not reveal her location, and between her fingers I saw her swimming skin:

-Tarlow and Pavel sometimes come to my lake, but they have never caught me yet. It seems to me that you were not so lucky.-she said looking at my necklace.

She couldn't help but to see the scars I carry, but she didn't mention them, as if it was clear to her how they came to be and she didn't even have to ask. She was more interested in the shells and stones around my neck, but they weren't nearly as big and numerous as the ones she had:

-You found that in the stream, didn't you? Here at the bottom, there are bigger and more beautiful ones.-she told me, and at that moment she disappeared under the water.

I didn't have to wait long, she was back soon and she had several shells in her hands, but before she could give them to me, one of the fairies landed on her hand and picked them all to see what she liked best. I would pretend to be shocked, but why? Fairies would steal a child if they liked it:

-You can take others.-consolation prize. Better than being beaten by a fairy.

I managed to create small flowers in my hands, it's hard for me to do anything more while it's still cold, but that was enough. What would I have to give her for the pearls? What would a fairy do for a pearl? I can only steal honey from bees, but there is rarely anything like pearls in the forest:

-Klarissa!-the elf called me again because now he was obviously worried that he couldn't see me. Maybe he thought I drowned.

The nymph got scared and hid under the water, and I was left peeking out and holding on to the rock. We're not going back until I say we're going back. The real fun started when he decided he didn't want to sit on the shore anymore and had to do something. He got up again and walked along the shore and I wasn't sure if he was going to leave or jump into the water. That was the day I found out that he knows how to swim, and very well. The fairies who bullied him, splashed and played around him only slowed him down a little and annoyed him a lot, but he found his way to me:

-Come here!-he warned me and caught me from behind.

I got scared for a moment and tried to clumsily swim away as far as possible, but I wasn't drowned on the spot. No matter how unstable it was under our feet, I was held in place and could not break free, and the fairies escaped him:

-Why are you like this? I'm good to you, you should listen to me.-he complained, but he didn't find understanding, only my attempts to hug and drown him.