#deep cosmos

There were very few that had the privilege of seeing the view that Brianna saw every year on her annual cross country migartion. She saw the trees and flowers begin to bloom after the winter season was finally over, leaves unfurling, the small lakes and rivers finally flowing again, grass growing, and animals of all different shapes and sizes emerging from slumer to begin their lives once more. She was truly amazed at the bright and cheery atmosphere. For as long as she could remember, her only wish was interacting with it; to be able to hold it in her hands, smell the flowers that she had heard so much about, pet the animals, plant a tree and be able to truly appreciate it, but Brianna knew that was a fruitless endeavor, so she simply went on and kept moving along. Brianna made sure to avoid touching anything as she floated through the forest in her black gown and veil, only ever glancing at the beauty around her and never touch; she felt the elusiveness of life taunt her in their race; close enough to see its beauty, but never close enough to touch, no matter how far she reached or how fast she ran. As she was deep in thought Brianna saw a single blue flower falling amongst all the leaves, she was rendered to a halt as she moved her veil away from her face, feeling the still cold spring air nip at her nose as she caught the flower; she smiled at the small thing resting on the palm of her hand, right before it withered and died at her touch; a curse all living things were doomed to faced if they were to ever touch her; and as fast as the smile came, in quickly disappeared, replaced only by a small sigh as Brianna disposed of the flower to place the veil over her face once more and continue on with her quest. As Brianna moved along the forest looking at the trees, she caught sight of a beautiful white horse trotting near a deep lake surrounded by pine trees and rocks of various sizes and flower patches scattered around the edge, just as she was about to leave once more, the gentle breeze and rustling leaves were replaced by a peculiar sound; almost as if someone was singing. She looked around trying to make sense of the melodic tones filling the air as she knew no towns would be around for miles and there doesn’t seem to be a traveler anywhere in sight. As she floated closer to the lake, she realized the dulcet tones came from the white steed, stooping down to get a whiff of the flowers; it was far too distracted to realize Brianna had been looking at it, couple that with the fact that Brianna was sheilded by a thick stretch of foliage, hiding even her extravagant black gown within it. The horse galloped closer to the water and metamorphosed into a beautiful thin woman with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, her white mane formed a silver dress that hung off her shoulders so ravishingly it had taken all of Brianna’s will to pry her eyes away from it. Brianna moved towards the beautiful stranger and inspected her every detail; the closer she got, she discovered that there were hooves in place of where human feet would be. It hadn’t taken long for Brianna to be mere feet away from the beautiful creature, she hid behind a large willow tree as the woman gracefully moved along the lake side, placing things on the ground as she did. Brianna couldn’t help but be taken by her presence, she had been so distracted that she landed on the forest floor, killing the newly sprouted grass under her feet; she moved closer to the willow and heard the sound of the creature singing once more, the tones richer than they were before. Brianna closed her eyes, letting herself lean into the music, she hadn’t realized that she had accidentally leaned upon the willow until she saw the rotting spread throughout the tree, starting from her fingertips. Brianna’s horrified expression only got worse as she heard the melody stop and the woman face the willow tree, watching it die quickly “Who goes there? Show yourself” the woman loudly proclaimed as Brianna brought herself up from the ground once more and moved closer to the open lake. Once in the sight, the woman’s eyes grew larger due to recognition as she quickly bowed down in front of Brianna “Forgive me dear necromancer, I did not intend to raise my tone at you. Please spare my life; I am but a simple kelpie” her voice had gone soft and almost shriveled up, Brianna let out a sigh at the frightened creature, gesturing for her to stand up, to which the woman did; her dress dirtied by the ground. Brianna was used to the people fearing her. After all, she could literally end their lives with one touch, because of that Brianna had an immense influence throughout the land and that had only increased when she started studying Necromancy, now being able to talk and bring back the dead as well as cause it. “You obviously know who I am, but I’ve not the slightest clue who you are. Tell me kelpie; what’s your name?” Brianna circled the woman in order to see her from every angle as she stood with her head down and her arms laid infront of her “Aquaria, young miss” Brianna stopped in front of her once more trying to give off a sense of control over the situation before she gave Aquaria the smallest smile “Ok Aquaria, I shall spare your life. Go back to your lake, water spirit” Aquaria bowed down and thanked her as she turned and immediately morphed into the white stallion once more, running into the lake, where she then transformed into a water serpent once deep enough. After the whole ordeal Brianna continued her trek over to the nearest kingdom, entertained by the image of the beautiful Aquaria as she moved along the forest floor.