She hadn't really stayed up in that tree for very long, perhaps ten minutes, when she glanced down at herself and realized she was covered in soot and ash, and her own sweat, and the charred remains of Artorias' outfit. She let out a heavy sigh as she jumped down from her perch, deciding that perhaps now would be a better time than ever to take a bath, undisturbed.
She had followed the stream down a ways, realizing it opened out into a river; the waters were calmer in this section though, which was why she hadn't heard it before from the main road. She had stripped her clothing and armor off, leaving them neatly folded after shaking them out on some rocks on the shore, and she stepped into the waters without fear or hesitation, and Artorias was soon to find out why.
When he found her she was under the water, and she came up with a sudden splash, throwing her long hair back, for once out of its braid, as droplets were flung in a graceful arc overhead. The sun was starting to set, the light tinting everything it touched in hues of pinks, oranges and reds, but the light still shimmered and bounced off her scales. They adorned her shoulders, fading down to her back before resurfacing again and coating the entirety of her tail.
When not put up in its braid, her hair was shockingly long, falling all the way down to her hips, which he could see clearly since her back was to him. It appeared the dragoness hadn't noticed him yet--no, her attention was suddenly drawn to the water. She blinked, looking down--and then she giggled.
"Hey come on stop that tickles--" She laughed, and whatever it was seemed to heed her pleas, coming up to the surface instead.
Its head was
huge. Bigger than her thighs, and when it opened its mouth it showed huge rows of needle-like teeth, and it was headed straight for her! And then it calmly veered to the side, closing its mouth again as its full length surfaced. It was an
Arapaima, and it was over 4 meters long. Any sane human would have been terrified, it could probably eat a person for breakfast. And yet she reached out and pet it, eyes shining brightly as she wrapped her arms around it and submersed herself in the water with it, as it pulled her along like a little tugboat.
"Look at you! Oh my gods you're so big, look at you!" She spoke to it like she was a proud mother, and perhaps it was at this point Artorias would notice that that wasn't the only fish playing with her.
At first they just looked like regular currents in the water, flashing and catching the light as they moved up and down, but upon closer inspection, the water was teeming with
fish. They were swarming around her, rising to the surface and going back down again, and a few other arapaima, as well as some gar, and other big freshwater fish, were all itching to get a chance to be showered with the dragon's attention.
Her ride dipped below the water and she went under with it, disappearing for a few moments before they rose back up, swimming in Artorias' direction now and it was then that she let go of the big fish, standing up again so the waterline hit just below her belly button--and then she noticed the grandmaster standing on the shore.
....
........
...............
She instantly covered her chest with her arms and dropped into the water, but not before he probably got a chance to see a blush flash across her face, and then that disappeared into the water too until all he could see was her eyes and the top of her head and her antlers staring at him in shock from where she was submersed in the river water. She didn't say anything. She couldn't.
He just saw her
mostly naked. And didn't
SAY ANYTHING.