Firestone Hot Springs i always wanted to die clean and pretty

The smallness of Neverwinter Forest persisted, and what Kitsch once enjoyed now vexed her. She had appreciated the solitude during her convalescence, but the pearl was truly a social creature and, as her spirit began to perk up, so did her desire to socialize. The girl had been raised a socialite and rather enjoyed the duties that came with such a standard.  Ondine was nice, but scarce; there was a small boy running around and Kitsch had caught the scent of an unknown people – but they had not reached out to her first, so in the madonna’s mind, they were not worth her time.
 
But still, there was the voice in the back of her mind, softly reminding her they wouldn’t like you anyways and, for extra measure, chanted songs about her worthlessness.
 
So Kitsch ventured from the forest, but she never went far. She was overcome with worry that her directional sense would, yet again, forsake her and the wastrel would be separated from her angel of mercy, West. But the areas directly surrounding the forest held many wonders and they were actually quite near Teaghlaigh’s home, she discovered, though their scent was old. They appeared to have moved on without her – but it was no matter, as she had moved on too.
 
That day, the girl visited the hotsprings that sat directly to the east. It was a lovely spot, though the sulfuric scent of the groundwater was much too pervasive for her sensitive nose [for the first few minutes at least]; but Kitsch loved the way the waters soothed her tired muscles, relieving an ache that had never seemed to dissipate and letting her mind melt and mix together as if she were chocolate fondue in a double boiler. The relaxation she felt was reminiscent of the poppy, a want of which she couldn’t seem to rid herself of – and until West would share more of the medicine with her, the hot springs would have to do.

Kitsch waded into the pools up to her hollowed breast, held her breath as her body adjusted to the warmth and then sighed loudly, her entire body releasing it's tightness and slumped into the moving, heated waters. She was, somewhat, at peace.

the lumbering bear completely missed the girl as he blundered towards the hot springs, squinting gaze fixated on a certain large pool a distance from her own. he was rather upset, as he had completely forgotten the location of a rather interesting boulder he had meant to return to and examine. his dull eyes were made even smaller by the way he furrowed his rather fat brow in anger at this fact, body moving gracelessly over to the edge of the pool. 

he did not waste a moment before crashing down into the pool, grunting with loud pleasure as he did so, as the warmth seeped into his lumbering form to heat his bones. his gaze fluttered closed, and he sunk deeper into the pool, moment one of pure relaxation. his gaze flitted open once more when he was struck by the fact that he seemed to have missed something. 

craning his neck, he peered to his left, where promptly his gaze fell upon a wee little wolf. his brow narrowed in anger. what was she doing here? never mind that she had been here first, but this was his spot, all of it? was she watching him? was she up to the general no-good that all wolves were? flabbergastered by this woman and not happy in the least, his gruff voice broke the silence, thickened by an accent that made his words all the more harsh. "OI. Wha'd ya do'een 'ere?"

oh, this is delightful <3

The warmth permeated her skin and her muscles, caressing her bones with a wet, fluid hand. Eyes closed, breathe released once more and body lowered into the hot spring  — the water crept over her pink, tender belly [healed from the clawing], then over the gamine lines of her breast [healed from the ache of her injured rib], then rippled across her withers that still bore the stick-and-poke scars but, this too, had healed. The pearl rested in the water in a crocodilian manner, with only her nose, eyes and ears left above the surface. 

There —suspended in the water, suspended from reality — she did not notice the lumbering entrance of the beast. The crash of a large mass into a nearby hot spring was what drew her attention, and drew it fast; the suddenly wresting of her consciousness from the velvet cosseting of the spring gave her a shock and her head jerked back, submerged entirely for a moment, and Kitsch arose sputtering with a burn in her nose, a sting in her eyes and a dripping in her ears. This all was truly uncomfortable but, at that moment, was nothing more of a mild inconvenience — her entire mind was attune to the huge splash she had heard, wishing to know what [short of a boulder] could do such a thing… but the water in her eyes would not clear and she blinked furiously to remain her sight.

After a few heart stopping moments of inaction, a hulking brown mass unveiled itself in her clouded gaze. The beast was unlike anything the colleen had ever seen — massive and rotund, many times bigger than she with jaws made to crush bodies like hers. It’s claws, long and sharp; it’s face, fear inducing. Almost instantly, Kitsch hauled in a huge breath and gasped loudly at the hellbeast, looking her way and speaking in words entirely indecipherable in her horrified state.  Her eyes, now grasping the entire composure of the creature, widened in white hot fear. She had heard stories about things like this — they ate little girls and picked their teeth with the bones. It meant her harm.

Having never seen a bear before, Kitsch could hardly believe beasts like this existed. The girl reeled and threw herself backwards, peddling the water with her twiggy legs, throwing herself and twisting in the water to get to the far wall of the spring. ”oh my god,” she heaved, gasping for her breath.”oh, oh, oh” the girl repeated as she attempted to claw her way out of the hot spring but her frantic, flailing ink-dipped paws could not find purchase upon the slippery shore. She gave up — surely this thing could be reasoned with. Kitsch gulped, attempted to still her hyperventilating so she could talk calmly to the hellbeast. But then she spun around, saw the creature again and it all came right back.

”WHAT ARE YOU…!” she screamed, clearly terrified.