Wandering over the little sand beach that bordered the lake that her wonder took its name from, Nis was feeling restless. But also kind of lazy. Hardly a good combination, but it was what it was. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t have things that she could do up here. She still had shelves to put up, cushions to put out. Not to even mention that multiple swaths of silk sarongs that she’d brought up here with the intent of turning them into curtains for the various alcoves. Point was, there was a great deal to be done and here she was staring at the lake.

Sighing a little, she finally gave in and sat down at the water’s edge before pulling her boots off and setting them to the side. Over the lake, she watched the wisp darting around. She’d gotten fairly good at judging its mood, if bits of energy could be said to have moods anyway. And today it seemed like it felt as restless as she did. It flickered erratically as it flew up and then dove down to skim over the water. Maybe it wanted to play and was put out by her listlessness? She had no way of actually knowing. Even so, she could tell something was going on in whatever passed for its wispy little mind.

“Come relax, little one,” she called. “We can explore later…”

At the sound of her voice, the wisp shot over to hover in front of her face before racing back to hover over the lake. Maybe it was fascinated by some of the tiny fish that had just… started to show up. Frankly, she was too, but had chalked it up to Magic is Weird, Yo. But since it seemed to want to stay close to the water and she didn’t want to shout, she sighed and got to her feet, shedding her gown and armor. Then, she ran into the water and dove. When she surfaced, spluttering, the wisp hovered just above her head, flickering wildly. As she began to swim further out, it stuck close. She could swear that she could almost hear it squealing. Taking a breath, she went under and swam, keeping her eyes open so that she could see the tiny fish.

It was funny, Nis thought, as she re-surfaced for air, how damn clear the lake water was. Once she was able to corner a Mauvian and ask for some help in rigging underwater lights, she was going to explore every sunken inch of the lake. For now, she had to stick closer to the surface, but that was fine. She treaded water, watching as the wisp shot high towards the rocky ceiling. It hovered there for a moment and Nis found herself frowning. The wisp was getting brighter. And that was something completely new. It stayed there a breath longer, getting brighter and brighter before diving towards the lake. Now, Nis was certain that it was making some sort of noise and as she swam to intercept it, it grew too bright to bear and she squinted. Then, it seemed to explode in a flash of sparkling light.

Crying out in alarm, Nis shielded her eyes and as the explosion faded, she heard a splash as if something had fallen into the water. s**t, had the wisp’s exploding shaken rock loose from the ceiling? She looked up and couldn’t see anything alarming. Looking back to the water, she saw a small wake moving quickly towards her and froze. She knew her lake and there was nothing living in it that was big enough to make any sort of wake. But before she could become too alarmed, a tiny, fuzzy face popped up in front of her and squeaked adorably at her.

Long whiskers decorated its pale face and it looked like nothing so much as an otter kit. Only, she’d never heard of white otters with pale lavender skin and star shaped noses. It flipped onto its back and floated contentedly for a moment before flipping back and swimming in ecstatic circles around her. Thinking quickly, Nis thought about how fascinated the wisp had been with the water lately. The wisp had exploded just before she’d heard the splash that must have been this little thing entering the lake. And it seemed to be familiar with her and comfortable in her presence…

Holding out a hand carefully, she waited for the little otter-like creature to approach. Which it quickly did, shoving its face into her hand and squeaking excitedly. Then seizing her fingers very gently with its jaws, it tugged at her, clearly wanting her to move deeper into the lake with it. Which she was mildly confused by, but happy enough to oblige. As they swam, the otter ducked and played and circled her, delighting in the bubble trails it created.

By the time they both crawled back onto the beach, Nis was thoroughly worn out. The otter acted as if it had merely been out for a brisk stroll. It bounced along behind her as she went to find a towel and dry clothes. And once she was dressed and collapsed into a pile of cushions, it bounded up and into her lap before curling up into a fuzzy ball and falling asleep.

Looking somewhat bemusedly down at it, Nis once again came to the conclusion that magic was weird. But she wasn’t going to complain when it gave her a baby otter to play with and snuggle. Idly stroking the damp fur, she did have to wonder a little how a wisp became a solid animal. Then, she dismissed the thought as unimportant because otter baby.

And, as she dozed off, she thought that Joy was going to die from cute once she found out about this.


Word Count = 977