Ice and steam

The sauna´s air burned inside her nose and lungs. Her skin was bright red and sweat trickled across her skin. The parts of her skin that were pressing against the wood stung with heat.

Fluttershy wiped a hand across her face and felt the moisture collecting on her fingers. A few drops dripped from her fingers and hit the wood smattering. Within a moment they vaporized and disappeared.

She leaned back and felt the hot, dry wood searing the skin on her back. It´s almost time. She thought. Just a little bit longer. Fluttershy reached forward and poured some water onto the black rocks. The water hissed and instantly transformed into warm steam.

The first breath dried her throat and made her heart raze. Fluttershy leaned forward and put her hands on her knees and started breathing through her nose. The heat even stung her eyes now.

It is time. Fluttershy rose, adjusted her bikini and pulled back her hair. She tied it up behind her head and started putting on the wetsuit. The neoprene outfit was a little bit tight for her and squeezed around her neck as she pulled on the hoodie, but she didn´t mind. She sat back on the wood and pushed her feet into the shoes. Finally, she strapped her weight belt around her waist and put the gloves on.

Fluttershy took her diving goggles and fins, and walked up to the door. She closed her eyes and took deep breath. Slowly she let it slip out of her. The beat of her heart slowed down. Another breath filled her. This one she held longer before letting it out. It zipped out of her slowly and the beat of her heart was almost silent. She put a hand on the door and opened it.

The outside was painted in white by snow. A soft wind blew past her but the suit blocked it out. She could only feel the cold wind on the parts of her face that weren´t covered by the wet suit. Her eyes, her nose and her lips.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and kept her arms hanging to her side. Slowly, she let the cold air into her lungs through her nose. She kept it for moment, letting it get warm. Then she let it out through her mouth. Little snowflakes feel on her cheeks and lips. They melted and trickled slowly down her face.

Her eyes opened and she looked over the bay once again. All of it was covered in white. Except one black square on the ice. She walked down the sauna´s stair and stepped onto the frozen water. The icy crystals crunched beneath her feet and the wind brushed against her side. She walked towards the black square in the water.

With her feet on the edge, she stopped. She stared down into the water. Her blurred, distorted reflection stared back. Underneath it was nothing but a jet black, endless abyss.

Fluttershy spat into the goggles and rubbed saliva around the glass with her fingers. She squatted down and dipped the goggles in the water. The water splashed against her hand. Despite the gloves, some water slipped between the layers. It stung like needles and she could see little drops of ice being formed on the goggle´s glass as she lifted it out of the water. She put the goggles over her head and let them slip down to her neck. She sat down on the ice, put on her fins and let her legs sink into the water. The broad fins slowed her legs down but soon her legs were down to their knees in the black water.

She could feel the water slowly filling up her legs and the cold stung down to her bones. At first it burned, like red hot needles being pushed through her skin, but she kept her breath slow and soon the pain seemed lighter.

Fluttershy put the goggles over her eyes and took a slow breath. Her stomach rose and sank with the ribcage. Little puffs of white smoke spread from her lips as she exhaled. It felt as if the world was slowly tilting, rocking back forth with each beat of her heart. She leaned forward and stared down into the water. Her lungs filled and her head started slowly rising. When her head was tilting backwards her lungs were just about to burst with air. She forced a few hard mouthfuls of air down and pushed herself over the edge.

The water wrapped around her and engulfed her in a moment. The water pushed itself between her skin and the suit. The cold bit and cut into every part of her body. Within the blink of an eye, her skin was covered icy goosebumps. The world was dark and silent.

Fluttershy twisted around and kicked a few times with her fins. She ended up looking at the underside of the ice. The patches that weren´t covered in snow emitted a muted blue light. She kicked with her fins and played with a couple of air bubbles trapped under the ice. She pushed them around, split them into two and created new ones by letting little puffs of air out of her mouth. The light shimmered against the flat bubbles.

After a few moments, Fluttershy stopped moving. She stopped kicking and pushed herself away from the ice with a finger. In the corners of her eyes she could see little bubble drifting slowly upwards. She let herself slowly sink and felt the pressure built up in her ears. She squeezed her nose and exhaled lightly. A squeaking sound came from the inside of her ears and the pressure disappeared.

The square she came in through shined like a bright, white beacon. It grew smaller with every passing second, growing more and more into a little distant star.

Her lungs twitched inwards and Fluttershy closed her eyes. She opened them again after just a moment. With one movement, she turned around and ended up looking upwards. She put her arms above her head, put one hand atop the other and started swimming upwards by moving her entire body in a wave like movement. The speed shoot her upwards. In her ears, she could hear the water passing by.

The tips of her fingers meet the solid ice and Fluttershy stopped her ascension. Despite the cold, her fingers were not numb or lost any sense. She put her palm to the ice and tilted backwards until the tips of her fins meet the ice. The snow shifted and moved by the wind. She leaned her head back, looking for the opening in the ice. It was just a few kicks away from her. The light reached into the water like a white pillar.

With just two kicks she reached the square and broke the surface. She let out all the air in one hard push. Her lungs gasped franticly as she leaned on the hard ice to stay afloat. Subzero water dripped from her suit and bits of it started freezing in the wind. Yet, her heart stayed at its slow steady rhythm. Fluttershy took of her goggles and looked up. She saw only the white frozen landscape again. Little sparkling flakes passed by as steaming breaths passed through her nose.

Something bumped against her leg.

Fluttershy put her goggles back on and stared down into the water. Just below the tips of her fins, a large white shape moved through the water. It swam and moved around the black with ease and agility. One of them looked up at her. Her blue eyes meet a single black little eye. She took her head out of the water.

A beluga. Fluttershy thought.

Thoughts raced through her head. She put a hand on her goggles and was about to take them of when something stopped her. The hand was twitching. Trembling almost. She closed her hand into fist but it still shook.

A deep breath passed her lips. She put both her hands on the ice and sank down until the water reached up to her shoulder.

The whale bumped into her legs regularly. Only soft little bumps, like an eager puppy ready to play.

She filled her lungs with the final breath and forced down the last bits of air. Her lips closed and Fluttershy pushed herself down under the ice.

By curving backwards and pushing with her hands on the ice, Fluttershy turned to press her feet against the underside of the ice. With one hard kick, she shot down.

The beluga swam up her. It spun and made a strange squeaky noise. The mouth didn´t open as the sounds were being produced. Instead the massive forehead wobbled like a gel.

Fluttershy reached out and put her hand on the whale´s stomach. Though she couldn´t feel it through her glove, the texture of the stomach was smooth and soft.

The beluga pressed itself closer to Fluttershy, inviting her to take hold of the fins.

There was a moment of hesitation as they both hung still in the black water. Fluttershy looked up at her feet and saw the opening in the ice. The white light reached down between her fins and flickered against the dull blue colors of the ice. It shimmered like a large, white star. She looked down and saw the face of the beluga. Its snow-white skin was only contrasted by the two little black dots that made up its deep eyes.

With steady hands, Fluttershy took hold of the fins and the whale made a hard strike with its tail. Together they shoot down into the water like an arrow.

The light slowly faded and the darkness wrapped around her.

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