”sea witch, sea witch, sea witch see everything,” came the sing songy voice out of the caves, followed shortly by the woman herself; daria looked thicker with her winter coat, a little older in her face, her voice a little more mature now. there was no denying the blank innocence in teal starburst eyes, nor the golden cape draped down her back. the red earred woman had kept to herself for a while now, once again in a fit of her purposeless wandering, collecting what might peak her fancy here and there. she had gone quite a ways this time, searched all the farthest reaches she may, without crossing into Somebodies Homes, and had met quite the interesting few. they had taught her New Things, things she would have never dreamed of knowing. “sea witch,” she sing songed, fragment of a shanty, the only thing her wandering mind had kept from her nights with the old women. she knew not of what changed in the worlds of those around her; there was something too loud and too ancient in her soul to be able to hear the gossiping words that filled her ears. the aspects of their lives were foreign and confusing to her in ways she could not explain, even if she had the capacity to.

she was in pursuit of new things from the grotto; bones, specifically. once, she thought she had stumbled onto the carcase of her own species, but it was dark and she had seen the flush of sickly green that came with what most knew as fear. she had not chosen to stay very long. once, she had come across the mostly intact ribcage of a rabbit. Someone’s meal, perhaps. it had been spring, and she had carried it to the valley and lovingly arranged flowers through the hollow spaces between each bone. she had adored it, bright pink and yellow flashing vividly through her head, and had mournfully parted with it at the end of the day; leaving the grotesque artwork perching daintily on a rock, a macabre vision for anyone who happened to come across it. since then, she had incorporated more nature into her discoveries, leaving a trail of carcases and flowers, leaves, greenery, in her wake.

this was her mission today, in search of something that would inspire soft teal to spread across her mind, feelings of what others could call muse flowing through her idle brain. brilliant starbursts scanned across the rocky terrain before her, pausing here and there in contemplation before flitting away in search of a better move.