Even at their insane speeds, it took them around a quarter of an hour to reach their destination. For other races, this would have made the travel alone useless, as they would have ended even more dirtied than when they came back. But for innately airborne species like fairies, I didn’t matter. The long flight actually made it easier to dry the hair on the way back. Or at least that’s how Icasondra justified herself the needlessly far bathing spot.

A random spot in the forest where a lake of considerable size was situated, was her hidden bathing spot. Not that really hidden considering the size of the body of water, but the Evergreen was vast, expanding for days without end. And thanks to Stillwater fairies, the village needed no natural running water like rivers, making it a deserted place where only animals would come to drink.

“What do you think?” Icasondra extended her arms to show the sheer magnificence of the location.

“Big.” Alta responded taciturnly.

“Yes!” The Moonlight fairy added excitedly. “I only come to this place because it’s like a half-an-hour flight from the village, so it’s like a private spot reserved only for me. I even gave it a name.” She flew higher up in the air. “Clair de Lune!”

“There doesn’t seem to be any moons.” The chimera commented.

“Because it’s still day, you silly!” She chuckled. “This place is beautiful on the night as the Triumvirate shines upon the surface of the lake. Truly magical.”

“Then why have we come in the day then?”

“Because I wanted to bathe now?” Icasondra raised her dirtied feet.

“Fair enough.” Alta nodded. “So, how does bathing work?”

The Moonlight fairy gave the Blossomflame a stern frown. “You just clean yourself with water?”

“I see.” The chimera expressed without showing any emotion. Then her dress fell to the ground.

“Why?” Icasondra screamed a guttural reaction.

“I need to be naked to wash myself, don’t I?”

“Yes!” The fairy admitted in rage. “But you threw the dress on the ground! It’s made out of silk and Aecansomdrys has taken a lot of time to do it, you can’t just leave it on the dirt!”

“Oh.” Alta gasped in surprise.

The chimera picked up the dress, patted it slightly to remove any traces of dirt, and hung it on a nearby branch.

“Better?” She asked for confirmation.

“Yes...” Icasondra sighed. “We’ll have to bring it a Stillwater later.” And got herself naked.

She was too tired to even bother about decency, and Alta was right, they were going to wash themselves. There was a difference between being naked in public like Alta had done or in private or in the bath.

Still flying, Icasondra left her turquoise dress on another tree, not risking getting it any dirtier. She also hung her clean dress in a nearby branch along with the clean undergarments. Then she finally took her used ones and put them in the dirty dress.

In her hands, she had a maroon towel and a bar of soap, the rest of her body deprived of clothing.

She looked at Alta, who tilted her head in realization and also removed her undergarments. She had forgotten she had been wearing them, hasn’t she? Icasondra mentally sighed. If I hadn’t been wary, she would have entered the lake with the undergarments and left them soaked.

Even though the fairy was too tired and angry to be bothered by her or Alta’s lack of clothing, she rushed into the water as she felt unprotected being exposed to the elements in the middle of the forest.

The water was incredibly cold.

She instantly regretted her decision. Clenching her teeth, she left the towel and soap on the shore as she wouldn’t use them yet and went further into the lake. With a few strides, her body was mostly submerged except for her head and wings. The tip of her Moonlight wings showed off slightly and her platinum hair drifted on the surface as a tentacular mess.

Another misconception other races had, fae included, is that fairies couldn’t have baths. That was because fairies’ wings are incredibly weak, and whilst it’s true, they are also more resilient than they seem.

Icasondra couldn’t fly in the water, the dense liquid making it even harder to flutter them, though she could still move them slightly. Fairy wings could also get wet and therefore become heavier. Depending on the climate, one couldn’t fly during a rainstorm as the pressure, the wind, and the water would be too much to handle.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Wait, what about Blossomflame wings? The Moonlight fairy realized.

Alta slowly entered the water, not without taking one step backward as it was cold, but nonetheless, made her way inside. As she was submerging to Icasondra’s level, the light on her flame wings slowly dimmed, becoming smaller and smaller until the fire almost extinguished, only a vague trace of orange light coming from her back to show that she was indeed a Blossomflame fairy.

What a nice back... Though Icasondra’s thoughts slightly shifted to another subject.

“What are you looking at?” Alta asked, her head barely showing above water as she went even deeper.

“Nothing!” Icasondra instantly responded though she corrected herself after recalling how the chimera didn’t like such responses. “I was just thinking about how your wings worked on the water.”

“Hmm...” Alta tried to twist her neck to see her back, but she fell short. She kept pushing.

“Stop, you are going to hurt yourself.” The fairy warned her.

Then a loud crack was heard as the Blossomflame’s neck deformed like a tree’s trunk in a tempest. The crunching sound almost made Icasondra puke. Yet her dread quickly vanished as she noticed how Alta’s neck elongated. Oh, right. Shapeshifting. She thought after taking a deep breath to settle her stomach. I wish it wasn’t so... crude.

“Hmm, they have dimmed. How curious.” Alta commented nonchalantly.

The sight was uncanny, chilling Icasondra more than the frigid waters. The chimera twisted her neck, as if it was a tail, to have a better look at her backside.

“I had thought that they would stay aflame because they are magic, not true flames.” Alta shifted her neck back to normal. “Magic is curious.”

You are more curious. Icasondra pondered looking at the shapeshifter. As Alta regained her fairy shape, Icasondra fixated on her. She had been avoiding looking at her, but seeing the Blossomflame’s spotless skin manufactured to perfection, it was difficult to remove the sights from her.

Doesn’t she have my body? The Moonlight fairy felt a heat that irradiated even beyond the water’s temperature. Thinking about her body this way... Does that make me a narcissist? And if that’s the case... well, that’s a good body to be proud of, no?

The fairy’s thoughts came to an end as the chimera slowly swam toward her.

“This shape isn’t appropriate to move in the water,” Alta commented as she moved her arms and legs around, splashing all over the place.

She hasn’t noticed I was looking at her, has she?

“Well, fairies are meant to fly,” Icasondra responded with perfect composure. Or the best one could have as they floated naked in a lake. “Even Stillwater fairies that are meant to control water aren’t good swimmers, we aren’t just meant to."

“Is there life in this body of water?” Alta asked, a hint of lust in her eyes.

“Y-yes?” The fairy responded, terrified upon seeing such emotion displayed.

“One minute.” And the chimera disappeared into the water.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Icasondra screamed, but Alta had already gone too far for her to hear anything.

Icasondra tried looking for her, but the lake was deeper than it appeared. Even as she tucked her head underwater to search for the chimera, the waters were too dark to see anything. No. She saw a shallow light, dim but present. Her wings! The orange light was really far, and Icasondra doubted she could reach it. She wasn’t the greatest swimmer, to begin with, and she was a worst diver. Lung capacity wasn’t a characteristic fairies had plenty of.

The Moonlight fairy swam upwards, her hair and wings now totally drenched. Well, I would have done so either way. She looked down once more, now over the surface. She could see the light getting brighter and brighter, so Alta was already coming back.

The Blossomflame fairy jumped out of the water with magnificent grace, her blood-red mane doing a perfect arc with her jump. But what surprised Icasondra was what Alta had in her mouth.

“Is that a fish?” The fairy looked at the small figure whirling around in the mouth of the chimera. “And it’s alive! What are you going to do with it?”

“I wanted to see how aquatic creatures moved underwater as it’s incredibly inefficient doing so with the only creatures I know of,” Alta explained after putting the fish in her hand. “So, they are called fish, huh.”

Icasondra looked at Alta’s eyes, her vertical pupils dilating, and noticed the same lust as she paid attention to the fish. It was like seeing a cat looking at a mouse or in this case some tuna. Oh, so it’s that kind of lust. Thank the moons. She sighed alleviated.

“You want?” Alta offered the fish with her open hand.

“What?” The sudden gesture took her aback.

“The fish,” Alta added. “Thanks to you, I no longer need to consume biomass to imitate it. So I was thinking that you needed some nutrients. You haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

“True.” Icasondra mussitated and looked at the sun, it was nearing twilight.

Now that she says it, I’m a bit hungry. But as she looked at the fearful and unknowing eyes of the fish, she couldn’t bring it up to eat it. Fairies were omnivorous, yes, but they enjoyed fruits and vegetables more. And I rather eat meat I haven’t seen move beforehand.

“Thanks, but I don’t like fish much.” The fairy refused in the politest way she could muster.

“Understood.” Alta nodded, then she threw fish into the air and punched directly into the water.

Icasondra blinked thrice. “What was that all about?” Her voice brimming with confusion and rage. “Why did you have to do that to the fish?”

“I sent him where he was.” The chimera responded blatantly. “It was the most efficient way.”

“You have hurt it!” The fairy fought. “Maybe it’s even dead!”

“He is not.” Alta negated with complete confidence. “I have inspected his whole body, his not weak enough to perish for a punch simple punch, not even get hurt because of how and where I hit.”

“Em...” The sheer confidence in the voice of the chimera left Icasondra speechless. “You still can’t do that!” She replied. “You can’t attack others just because it’s the most efficient way, it’s-“

“Indecent?” Alta interjected.

“What? No!” She negated with her head. “It’s wrong!”

“Wrong... I see.” The chimera responded with her usual tone, though this time Icasondra felt that there was some understanding.

Maybe I can guide her and teach her that violence is bad with these lessons, so she doesn’t do anything wrong in the village. The fairy meditated; her mind still confused by the sudden act of cruelty. Maybe...