[table][row][cell][img]https://i.imgur.com/tbIvwoy.png[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240504/7ea89157aa7490b85c1faa2a61df7e74.png[/img][/cell][/row]
[row][cell][sub]Location: Elara's Home[/sub][/cell][/row][/table]As the silver-haired handmaiden appeared, her pale blue eyes meeting Kira’s fiery orange ones, Kira’s heart thundered wildly against her chest. The pull was immediate, primal, nearly overpowering—the urge to close the distance between them, shove Elara back inside, slam the door, tear her open and— [color=DC561E][i]‘Stop.’[/i][/color] She dug her nails into her palm, grounding herself as her humanity wavered. 

Yet, beneath the monstrous urge, the human part of her faltered when Elara spoke. The ache of memory was sharper than hunger.  

[i]Elara didn’t recognize her.[/i] Kira’s heart sank, a deep, wrenching ache that hollowed her out. 

Of course, she didn’t. Why would she? They had been children, teenagers back then, sharing brief moments that Kira had clung to like a lifeline. Elara’s kindness had been a beacon during those turbulent times, but Elara had just been herself—warm, patient, unknowingly life-saving. Kira had just been another face to help pass the time within frigid castle walls. 

A coldness glazed over Kira’s eyes as the realization settled in her chest, twisting like a blade. A shift in her mental state triggered, a defense mechanism snapping into place. [color=DC561E][i]‘Foolish.[/i][/color] Foolish to let herself slip into sentimentality, leaving her heart exposed. She knew better than that. 

Kira’s walls rose again, locking the vulnerable parts of her heart away, out of reach. Elara was better off not remembering her anyway. Safer. This would become another wound Kira would carry alone, as she always had.  

Uncontrollably, her gaze flicked to Elara’s neck, her pulse visible beneath pale skin. The sight of her jugular—pulsing, delicate, sweet—sent a shiver of hunger and shame down Kira’s spine. Her jaw tightened as she dragged her eyes back to Elara’s, fighting to regain control. She blinked, realizing she’d let the silence stretch for longer than natural. 

[color=DC561E]“Elara.”[/color] Kira’s voice came out colder than she’d intended, sharp and restrained. It was better that way, she told herself, but the name burned on her tongue, a ghost of the warmth it once held. A part of her hated the bitterness there, but it felt necessary—armor against both the beast within and the ache that Elara’s lack of recognition caused. 

While most people likely knew Elara even if she didn’t know them, Kira’s choice to address her by only her first name was a misstep—a lapse in formal expectations between strangers. To Kira, they weren’t strangers at all. 

[color=DC561E]“Is everything alright?”[/color] she asked, her gaze briefly drifting past Elara into the warm, open space beyond the door. Returning her attention to the handmaiden, Kira couldn’t help but to search those pale blue eyes for a flicker of recognition again. But there was nothing. No spark. No remembrance. Nothing. 

Something within her—that traumatized child within—still wished for it. She wanted to be seen. To be remembered. To be wanted. Goddess, it ached. After all these years, [i]it still ached[/i]. 

The ache in her chest turned dangerous, molten anger bubbling up to fill the hollow space.

She clenched one of her fists tighter, her nails biting into her palms. She could feel it building, the simmering rage entwined with old wounds and fresh disappointment. All stoked by the feral beast who wished to be let loose. 

[color=DC561E]“I saw what happened in the forest,”[/color] she finally said, trying her best to distract herself. [color=DC561E]“And I can smell the blood.”[/color] Her eyes flicked past Elara into the home again, the scent still thick in the air. [color=DC561E]“Do you need help? A healer?”[/color]

The words came out steady, but an image flashed in her mind—her lips on Elara’s neck, fangs sinking in as the warmth of blood filled her senses. Bliss. 

Her eyes settled on Elara again, forcing herself to root her feet into the cold, solid ground. 

She wouldn’t retreat, not yet. Instead, she waited, watching Elara, her heart torn between wanting to protect her and the feral desire to overpower her. 

And she despised herself for it.

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[sub][b]Interactions:[/b] Elara [@Qia][/sub]