It was getting dark by the time she got to a lake. It was in some sort of valley, and on the other side of it, a rocky hill, that she could not see past. Since the lake wasn't that big, she quickly got around it, and planned to scale the hill, but up close she realised it was higher than she thought, and it would be too dark by the time she got up.
She had to find a place to sleep. Luckily, at the light of the near full moon, she could see that the hill opened up below to wrap itself above the lake. After a few minutes of search, she found a part that was shielded from all sides by rocks, a small cave probably carved out by the water, but that had enough space that stayed dry for her to try to get some sleep. It was really just a nook, surrounded by water and rocks, but it was great to protect her from the wind and rain, and- were there animals out there? Hopefully those wouldn't get there too.
It was hard to fall asleep like that, in a strange place, on the cold, hard rocks. But eventually, she managed to, and fell into a restless slumber - until she found herself awake at first light.
No - that wasn't right. She looked out of the cave, and there was no more light out there than when she went to sleep. Except... in there, there was. The water seemed to be glowing. It was like moonlight, except she couldn't see the moon from where she was, since the cave walls shielded her from most light. She jumped up. Was someone there? Or... something? The light seemed to come from the water, so she tried to find the source, and she couldn't, but... did something move in the water?
She backed up as much as she could - which wasn't much, but at least she put a few feet between her and the water, and picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground. She watched. After a few seconds, she saw movement again, under the surface. It was something big... though she couldn't tell how big.
She tried to remain as still and silent as possible. Or should she maybe shout? If it was an animal, she could probably scare it away. A normal animal anyway... who knows what kind of strange creatures lurked there in weird dream land that she got transported to...
After letting her fantasy run wild for a minute or two, she was definitely even more surprised when the thing bobbed up from under the water... and it was a woman, who looked around the same age as her, in her early twenties, with short black hair, and a round, slightly brownish face, and eyes larger than anything Rebecca's ever seen. Rebecca also saw, as the woman leaned out of the water, that she was at least half naked.
"Don't be alarmed," she said. She had a strange accent that Rebecca's never heard before. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Who are you?" Rebecca shouted, not putting down her rock.
"My name is Saima."
"Come out of the water."
"Okay. I'm a bit awkward on land though."
Before Rebecca could ask what that meant, she started to crawl out of the water. And crawl really was the right word - she pulled herself out by her hands, and soon Rebecca saw why. At first what came out was a nude woman's torso, but her stomach was a lot more hairy than any woman Rebecca's seen. But the hair was short, and too shiny, not at all like human hair. That continued down, until at waist-height she was completely covered in it - Rebecca didn't even know if it should be called hair or fur. But then, instead of a pair of hairy legs, what followed was a tail, that was most like a seal or sea lion's tail, except completely black.
"Wh- what are you?"
The seal-woman laughed. "I'm Kopur."
"What's that?"
"It's my people. In your language, they also call us selkies."
"Are you a mermaid."
"If you wish. I don't mind that word. It is however a bit rude that you haven't told me your name."
"I- I'm Rebecca."
"Hi, Rebecca. Are you a human?"
"Yes? I didn't know I had options."
Saima laughed again. "I didn't know you had that option. Humans are rare here."
"Yeah, well, I don't know how I got here, to be honest."
"You're lost?"
"Yeah... kinda..."
"Maybe I can help with that," she said, smiling. "I know the way back to the land of the humans."
"Really? Please, tell me."
Saima pulled back to the water a bit.
"I'm unsure if I should... my people have had a rough history with yours."
"Please! I'm stranded here, I don't have any food, and I don't know where I am!"
"You say that, yes. But still, I should be wary..."
"Please!"
"Okay. Let me bring here a few of my friends. We'll decide together. I won't be long!"
With that, she waddled back to the water, dived down, and was gone. Together with the light.
Rebecca waited for her, until she convinced herself that she dreamt the whole thing. But then, the light slowly came back, from under the surface of the water, and so did Saima. She pulled herself up on shore, with another selkie, this one with dark brown hair and fur, and a bit more plump, but equally short hair as Saima, and equally naked. There were two more - all women - in the water, who only showed their head.
"This is Essi," Saima pointed to the other one on land, "and this is Hilma and Anu. Girls, this is Rebecca. She's the human I told you about."
"Nice to meet you," Essi said.
"You too," Rebecca answered.
"So," Saima said, "we discussed, and Anu was adamant that we do not give favours to humans."
"Please," Rebecca pleaded again, to the one Saima introduced as Anu. "You can't just leave me like this."
"Don't worry, darling, we won't," Essi cooed. "I managed to persuade her. That if it's not a favour, then we can give you the way back."
"You can?"
"Yes. But. You'll need to give us something first."
"Give you something? But I don't have anything! I don't even have food for myself!"
"It's okay," Saima said. "You do have something that Hilma needs."
"Wh- what is that?"
"Your laughter," Hilma said. Her accent was thicker than both Saima's and Essi's, and her voice was a bit rasp, like she wasn't used to speaking. "Human laughter has some very potent properties, but it's such a rarity to come by."
"You want me... to laugh?"
"Yes," Saima answered. "We'd need a bottle or two. Hilma can collect it."
"Sure," Rebecca said. It was not like this was any weirder than seal-women. "H- hahahahaa..."
"No, sorry." Saima shook her head. "It has to be sincere. Don't worry, we'll help you with that. After you've eaten, of course. We'll bring you food right away."
Anu clicked her tongue.
"But first," Saima continued, "we need to seal the deal."
"Uhm... how?"
"It needs to be in water. Can you come in please?"
"Uhm..." It wasn't like she had a choice. She quickly slipped out of her shoes, then jeans, then her T-shirt, until she was in her underwear, and followed Saima into the water. It was quite cold, and deepened very suddenly, the waves quickly reaching her shoulder.
"Alright," Saima said. "So you promise to give us two bottles of laughter, in exchange for us telling you the directions to your home?"
"Yes."
"Okay." She grabbed her shoulders, then she gave her a kiss on her right cheek. Rebecca followed suit. After that, it was a kiss on the left cheek... then Rebecca froze for a moment, when Saima also gave her a kiss on the mouth. She very quickly became aware that she was in her underwear, and Saima was completely naked. She started blushing, but the kiss was gone as soon as it started.
After that, they gave her a blanket that was somehow still dry, despite having been pulled out of the water, and some sushi-like food that tasted really good. After she's eaten, Essi gave her a container with some kind of oil in it.
"Spread this over your body," she said. "It will keep you warm."
Rebecca did, spreading a thick coat of oil all over her skin, following their advice. It did immediately warm her up, though it also left her skin all slippery.
"What now?" she asked.
"Now we make you laugh," Essi answered.
Before Rebecca could ask what she meant, she quickly felt Essi's fingers on her
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