Months Later
Several months later Bast and you go back to check on the pride. You find them living in a large cave. It has been so long that you aren’t even sure which of the sphinxes were tourists and which one was the guide. They all seem content with themselves, two of the sphinxes are eating some meat while two others are lying off to the side. You can tell that one of them seem to have gotten a lot larger, at least in the belly area.
“I-is she pregnant?” You ask.
“It would see so, yes!” Bast remarks, a proud smile on her face, “It makes sense, fertility and my magic always seem to be entwined. I wouldn’t be surprised if another of these sphinxes had a litter of her own on the way.”
When he returns Bast has a long conversation with the leader of the pride. He sings the praises of his pride, how much his sphinxes have learned and how flowers of compassion are blossoming in their hearts. His soft yet firm touch has guided them from a path of destruction onto the path of the pride, their focus now on preservation of themselves and their upcoming young.
It makes you feel good, in a weird way. You remember those bumbling, crude poachers and what they aimed to do mere months ago. Now they’re a big happy family. Bast didn’t mention brainwashing them or anything, could they really have reformed on their own? Are they truly happy like this? You believe, at least, you want to believe, that they are really happy like this, living as a pride. You want Bast to be doing good, because that would mean you’re being used as an instrument of good. And thinking like that helps make this weird situation all the more bearable.
Written by Kolaghan on 09 September 2018
The end (for now)