Destructive girl

- Okay, guys! I'm so sorry for what I've caused! But I'll do a favor in exchange for what I've done! So please, don't kill me!

   In tears, the poor little Blue cries to the crowd. They were all looking at her menacingly, which left her scared to the bone. She worries about her two friends too; where are they now? But she can't look through the crowd to see what happened to them. There's just one way to check: make an escape out of this first. Blue looks up at the serpents with sparkly eyes. One of them shakes their head, and the others follow. They don't want to keep her alive, but yet Nimare steps up.

- Wait, we can still make some work out of this girl's help. Let's see if she's useful before killing her, should we?

   Another female Nimare agrees to it. Her voice echoed somewhere in the crowd.

- Yes, I think so! And we don't have anyone who's seriously injured or dying, right? I don't think we should kill a living person for this incident, but we need to make her pay for it!

- Yes! Killing is way too cruel!

   At almost the same time, other fish in the crowd quickly came to support the first Nimare man's idea. The serpents looked at them with a little bit of confusion, but it's easier to understand since the fish are not in the same tension with humans as the snakes. But how can she help? They quickly came up with an answer.

- Hey, human girl! You will help us cut the ice into cubes to store for the summer. If you are deemed to be too weak, we'll kill you.

   The Nimare man turns to Blue, saying something to her in a cold tone. The human girl cannot be happier. All of the three humans are trained soldiers; strength is not something they lack. She nodded to him and then spoke loudly to all the Nimare.

- Don't worry, everyone! I won't let you down! And now, can you please untie me? My wrists hurt!

   The Nimare man glanced at her with a mix of annoyance and amusement before signaling to his comrades to release her. As the ropes fell away, the human girl rubbed her wrists, grateful for the newfound freedom. She wasted no time in joining the Nimare in their task, grabbing a nearby pickaxe, and getting to work. The cold air nipped at her cheeks as she chipped away at the ice, her movements swift and precise. The Nimare watched her with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism, unsure of what to make of this human girl who seemed so eager to prove herself. But as the ice began to take shape into neat cubes, their doubt slowly transformed into respect.

- She's not as weak as her looks!

   They whispered to others. For now, the fish people are clear about Blue's strength; they stopped watching and picked up tools to help her too. There is plenty of ice, and one human girl can't handle it all quickly. While the men are working, the female Nimares dive down the water to bring up separated pieces of the thick ice layer to get them all in shape. Blue asked why they needed to do that while they could just leave the little icebergs down there until they melted. They told her that in darker areas, the fish can get hurt when swimming past the sharp edge of an ice piece without seeing it. So whenever they acknowledged there was broken ice in the water, they tried to search for it and handle it as soon as possible.

   But, weirdly, Blue cannot find her friends even when she's released. She didn't pay attention to the large hole in this lake when Collett sometimes rose her head up to take a breath. Lana is sick as hell, so she can't even move. Blue got so worried, but she didn't dare speak up to someone to ask for her friends, as she was scared of being killed or misunderstand that she's being unrespectful to them. So all she can do and planned to do is keep breaking the ice into cube shapes until the snakes take a break, so she could ask where Collett and Lana are.

   The ice cubes were piled high after an hour. Finally, they decide to rest their weary bones and let Blue roam around freely. That's when she saw Collett coming out of the water with her skin faintly switching to purple shades and a Nimare man swimming next to her. She was about to come for some questions, but she hid somewhere to pee on them. "Is she having a crush already?" is the thought inside that little girl's head.

- How was the tour? Do you like the underwater world?

   The Nimare man asks excitedly. Collett looks like she's about to die at any second, but she tries to smile and answers.

- It's… wonderful! I will surely swing by later for another visit! But I guess... my human body is not really familiar with this temperature. I will go up for some heat. See you later!

   The fish man was a bit confused, but he didn't ask; maybe humans etiquettes and behaviors differ from those of the fish, so he wouldn't bother more.

- Goodbye! See you around anytime soon!

   After the last line, he dove into the water to mind his own business. Collett climbs out of the lake in a near-death state, and if Blue doesn't quickly run over to help, maybe she collapsed right there and fell into a more serious state. The little girl was more than panicked when she touched her friend and found out her temperature was very low and her skin was more solid than usual. She doesn't know who to call for help or where she should go. In the most clueless situation, an old serpent who looked like a fisherman came up to them. Looking into Blue's eyes, he said it in a low voice.

- I know this will happen; humans were not born to partake in these activities. Another friend of yours is in my place, and I also keep the clothes of this girl. Bring her to my cabin; I can help.

   Blue stares at the old fisherman, doubting his words, as she knows the serpents are in tension with humans and it won't be easy to help them out. But in this situation, she can't waste time, so Blue nodded.

- Please lead me to somewhere warm! I don't think my friend is fine!

   Her voice sounds like she is going to burst out crying. Some serpents and Nimare around started to notice, and he pulled her away.

- Indeed, she is. Head this way.

   He leads Blue to his cabin, where the heater is on, and Lana is there waiting for them. Seeing Collett, soaked, wet, and unconscious, she only let out a short laugh.

- How funny that we ended up the same way, right? I think you should do something to impress the Nimare when you're back to work, or else they'll doubt your disappearance. You don't want to face their anger, right?

   Blue was stunned midway when she's wiping water on Collett's body and put thick blankets on her. She stares at Lana.

- Wait, how do you know?

- I watched you since you offered a favor by not being killed. I'm bored to death here; am I not allowed to watch?

- But...

- They will be upset at you, Blue. Do you know how to carve?

- What?

- Ice carve. You and the serpents are handling ice cubes, right? I learned that the Nimares love watching ice carving. Maybe with a good carve, you can impress them and erase the doubt. Are they taking a break right now? You know what to do in this position; entertain them.

   Lana said all of those in a tone like she's a girl boss or something, which made Blue a little uncomfortable. But thinking about it again, she owes the Nimares a favor for saving her life, so she shouldn't mess it up by roaming around and disappearing like she did nothing wrong. Finally, Blue nodded in a way of giving up.

- Okay, I'll try.

   When she walks out of the cabin, just as expected, a fisherman comes to her, asking where she has been. She's a little bit freaked out, but she regains control right at that moment and asks.

- Hey, sir, can I borrow one ice cube, please?

   The fish person has one eyebow raised. Maybe they don't know her intentions, but they were just turned away. Slide another cube into their arm and place it in front of Blue. She gave him a mysterious smile, as she's going to do a magic trick or a cool thing similar to that. With a little pickaxe in hand, she looks into his eyes and says so dramatically while waving her hand.

- Behold! I'm going to show you the art of ice carving!

   It seems like a hard type of art to do, because he was surprised. Blue quickly raised her arm, planning to take out some ice on the needed edges. Full of energy and hope, she hits the ice cube with her tool. It cracked, and then the crack spread to all the surfaces. In a loud sound, it was broken to pieces.

- Oh, damn…