Unexpected Refuge

Quote:A thankful, partially embarrassed smile skirted across Ashtoreth's face as Leon left the option open to her of using him for support. While it was very generous considering their combined deteriorated states, it only told her just how bad she must have looked. Was it so very obvious that her legs just might give out at any moment should their tentative strength weaken in just the right spot? Could her fatigue be written so clearly and precisely upon her face that, with a glance, he could tell she might need assistance somewhere during their two to three minute journey? Well, at least he hasn't given me a pitiful look yet, she consoled herself, though was unsure just how reassuring it truly was.

With only another second's pause, the brown colored wolf started on what would seem like the longest leg of their journey, and without giving herself time enough to consider just how much she might regret that first step, the small grey wolf followed suit. No sooner had her paw touched the ground, she felt the answering ache and throb glow within her paw pads, wincing herself as she lifted her other paw to place it down, and then the other, and the other, until, hobbling a little from the pain, she kept up a slow but steady tread behind him. Her legs, for the most part, felt numb as the mechanics of the motions drew them into a monotonous routine for which she was grateful. Her paws, on the other hand, were less forgiving.

Her expression drawn into one of discomfort and weariness, Ashtoreth drew her gaze upward from the ground before her, which she had been watching closely for misshaped rocks to further cause her pain, to stare after her companion with mild curiosity. Ten years old he had said he felt. If he felt ten, then she felt thirteen. Her gait was uneven and wobbly, her legs stiff and uncooperative. Combined with the fact her paws did honestly feel ready to fall off, she could only remind herself that this journey would be a short one and rest would follow soon. Just a little further now, only a little further, she instructed, lowering her gaze again and focusing her energy on maintaining her wobbly but steady gait.

As the grasses gave way to dirt under her paws, she managed to lift her tired gold and purple eyes again, this time looking beyond Leon toward what she suspected to be their destination beginning to rise up out of the ground where it waited for them. Her ears perked faintly, the indiscernible brow above her eyes rising with interest. "Is that it?" she managed to ask, unable to care anymore that her own exhaustion had begun to creep into her voice.

-- ashtoreth

OOC: If this reads weird in comparison to the others, I blame the lateness of the hour. xP