Sekhmet felt disgusting. The mud had dried on her pelt, making her feel itchy and heavy and just all around gross. Though usually the tepid creature would reject any sort of help, she knew that she wouldn't have any luck on her own. It was winter and she had never been in these lands before- without the help of Jericho she didn't know that she would have ever even found her way out of that swamp. She loped beside him now, the winter air a biting chill upon her face. Jericho had promised a warm bath as opposed to a frigid one, and Sekh found herself grateful to the strange male. Perhaps she wasn't one to accept help, but washing this mud off of her was too enticing an idea to let pride get in the way.
And though Sekh was prideful, she was also aware of the fact that she was vulnerable here. Vulnerability. She hated that feeling. It stirred some deeper feeling within herself, the need to prove herself, the need to be viewed as equal. Her upbringing hadn't provided many opportunities to prove that fact, and so she had become irritable, closed off and angry. There were no words to express the fury she felt when confronted by her own insecurities.
The homely female slowed as Jericho did, her silvery-purple eyes staring at the yawning mouth of the grotto. She stopped a few feet behind him, her head tilted curiously as she tried to peer into the gloom. Her gaze shifts to the wolf that had led them here as he speaks again of the springs, and Sekh gives a few small wags of her tail. His voice sounds gentle and calm, and with a begrudging sigh Sekhmet realizes that she had to accept the help now. It was freezing, even more evident as her body calmed down from the run, and there was no way she was going to find another warm place to take a bath.
"I don't see many other options." Sekh said with a small chuckle. "So I guess I'll have to trust you." Trust. Wasn't that a novel idea? It was such a funny concept, something that seemed so central yet was so hard to attain. Sekhmet knew some that trusted too easily, some that didn't trust at all- and figured she was leaning more towards the latter. But she was usually a decent judge of character, and Jericho seemed honest if not a bit weird. She was always talking about her fearlessness when confronted with something physical, but rarely did she have the chance to let fearlessness shine with something of a more... emotional nature.
Sekh glanced back at the other female to see if she would follow as well, before padding forward, closing in on the gaping darkness. "Lead the way." she said, flashing Jericho a toothy grin. |