Firestone Hot Springs i always wanted to die clean and pretty

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.