Bast was not a creature given to deep introspection and heavy thought. Oh, she was clever and bright, that was not what kept her from spending her days plotting philosophical issues that could weigh on the mind, heart and soul. It was more that she had decided early on that living life in the Now was what would give her satisfaction, so why complicate things further than that?
And it had worked, for the most part, up until quite recently. She adored her immediate family, adopted though they were. Even Horus. Most days. She loved to sing and dance and that seemed to give other people the inspiration to do so as well, and how fun was that? But in an attempt to be more than just a frivolous wiggle worm, and mostly to make her mother proud, she'd wanted more than just singing and dancing. So she'd been protecting kings.
But that's how she ended up with her current dilemma which was making her think harder than she wanted to about deep things, things about herself, things about the direction her life was taking, things about how she wanted her future to be. Because she enjoyed protecting kings, she did; it utilized skills she already had and she loved showing them off. Plus, taking care of somebody that took care of an entire group? Made her feel like she was really making a difference. She was good at it. It's just that Sekhmet was better.
Way better.
It wasn't that she was upset about being shown up. Well, not that upset. Alright, a little upset. But it was more than that. It made her feel a little bit like she was play-acting at being a protector, like her contributions weren't worth that much. It was a cruddy, crappy, icky, yucky feeling. Bast did not like it, and she wanted it to stop. She just wasn't really sure how to make that happen. Yet.
But she'd figure it out. That's why she was out for a walk today. Taking a stroll near the Nile was supposed to clear her head. Thus far though, it had just been one distraction after another. Mostly when children had wanted to play with her. Now she was approaching another small cluster of homes, and she glanced ahead to see if there were any kids out running around.
What she saw instead had her pausing, then frowning. Something was very wrong with that picture, and it wasn't just because it included Ahti. It was because it included Ahti and a snake, and that look on Ahti's face. Bast transformed into a less conspicuous form, then slunk forward, low, her belly brushing the ground. She was going to see what this was all about.