I discovered that the real problem with the swamp wasn't the giant insects.
It was the humans.
I heard them before I saw them.
"I'm telling you, it was real. It jumped like… like a very fast green thing."
"That sounds like a spirit."
"Or a monster."
"What if it brings good luck?"
I slowly sank into the water until only my eyes were visible above the surface.
"Great," I muttered. "Five minutes out and I'm already an urban legend."
I peeked out a little more. From behind a fallen log, I saw a small group of people at the shore: two peasants, a nervous merchant, and… yes, one of the adventurers from the other day. The mage. I recognized him by the ridiculously pointy hat.
"It's her!" he whispered excitedly. "The frog girl!"
I sank back under.
"I hate that name."
I peeked again. This time more carefully.
"They say if you see her and she doesn't attack you, you'll have a good harvest," one of the peasants said.
"No, no," the merchant replied. "I heard she curses liars."
"What if we offer her something?" the other suggested. "Bread? Gold? A kiss?"
My right eye twitched.
"Why do they always get to that conclusion so fast?"
I took a deep breath. Alright. Simple plan: appear, scare them, disappear. Easy.
I leapt out of the water in a controlled jump and landed on a rock in front of them, crossing my arms with all the amphibian dignity I could muster.
Absolute silence.
They stared at me. I stared at them.
I tilted my head slightly.
"Croak."
One of the peasants dropped to his knees.
"I knew it! It's a spirit!"
"I'm not a spirit!" I said immediately. "I'm a… uh… entity. Alive. Very alive."
That didn't help.
The merchant dropped a bag that clinked suspiciously.
"Does it accept offerings?" he asked in a trembling voice.
I looked at the bag. Then at him. Then at my hands, covered in poorly tied leaves.
"No," I replied. "I accept privacy."
"It speaks!" the mage whispered. "That confirms it's intelligent!"
"That confirms I can talk," I shot back. "The bar is low."
I took one step forward. They took three steps back.
"Listen," I said. "I don't grant wishes, I don't give luck, and I don't want to be worshipped."
"Then… do you punish?" one asked, hopefully.
"No!"
I sighed. Clear communication wasn't working. So I moved to plan B.
I smiled.
Not a kind smile. A slightly too confident one.
I placed a hand on my hip, tilted my body without realizing it, and let the light reflect a little on my damp skin.
"But," I added, "I am very fast."
I jumped.
I vanished from their sight, reappeared behind them, and croaked right into the merchant's ear.
"AAAAAH!"
The group exploded into panic. They ran in different directions, crashing into each other, shouting completely contradictory things.
"She's good!"
"She's evil!"
"She's pretty!"
"It's the end times!"
I watched them flee from the top of a tree.
"…Alright," I muttered. "I admit that was funny."
I dropped lightly to the ground. My body moved more and more naturally among roots, trunks, and puddles. Jumping was no longer a problem.
It was… fun.
Too fun.
As I moved deeper into the swamp, I heard more voices. More rumors. Some left flowers. Others prayed from a distance. One group had even placed a painted stone with a smiling frog on it.
"No," I said. "No, no, no. This is escalating way too fast."
I tried to ignore them, moving quickly, using the fog, the water, the trees. The swamp was mine. Every jump carried me farther, safer.
But the rumors grew.
"The Green Lady."
"The Protector of the Mud."
"The Swamp Waifu."
I stopped dead.
"The what?"
I looked at my reflection in a puddle. Hair stuck to my skin, bright eyes, a relaxed posture I hadn't even noticed.
I sighed.
"Great. I can't even be a terrifying monster in peace."
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"That explains a lot."
I sat down on a rock, swinging my legs.
"Today's conclusion," I said. "Talking confuses things, smiling makes it worse, and humans need hobbies."
I looked down the path disappearing into the fog.
"Tomorrow, I move farther away."
The swamp croaked with me.
For some reason… I didn't feel alone.