| Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a hot spring in this godsforsaken wilderness.
Passing the murky pond in the Secret Grove, Sheba considered diving in for what seemed like the umpteenth time. And once again, remembering the frigid temperature and who knew how many dead plants lay rotting in the brown water, she sighed, thought better of it, and resumed her pacing. The pond wasn’t really that appealing in the first place, she knew, but ever since she’d been stranded out here and suddenly had all sorts of neighbors traipsing through her temporary home, she was desperate for a bath. She had avoided her own reflection for three years now, but now that she no longer had the darkness of the Heart Caves for cover, everyone else could see the havoc that Fireball had wreaked on her body. Not only was she devastatingly ancient, but her time underground had left her rather the worse for wear. Her hair had grown long and matted, the once-meticulously cultivated braids loosened and buried deep within the knots and tangles. Though her glass baubles remained, alongside of them rested twigs and leaves and all manner of things—she didn’t even want to know what she must have picked up sleeping on the ground. Her coat remained white under the smears of mud and dirt on her belly, but where it once was smooth and glossy, now it stretched thin over jutting bones. Patches had fallen out, and the dark skin beneath was dry and scabbed in places from lack of exposure to light in the caves. She was in a sorry state, she knew. But it was either look like a hag or freeze to death looking like one, because she certainly couldn’t soak herself to the bone in this weather.
So instead, she was left to pick forlornly at the twigs that clung stubbornly to her hair and to stare at the muddy little pond, waiting out the days until she could make the journey back to her caves and blissful solitude. If her appearance deteriorated all the more in the meantime…well, perhaps at least it would be enough the scare off the passerby, and she could finally have some peace amongst the willows.
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