[hr][h1][center][color=#DBFFFB]Elina Ruvina[/color][/center][/h1]

They had run for quite some time and distance, and Elina was tired. Her long silver hair, usually perfectly kept, was marred with more than just a few errand strands, and her forehead was laced with sweat. She was thankful that they'd finally stopped, and directly in front of the Castle. There, it was safe, and she could catch her breath. Elina was breathing quite hard. Perhaps she shouldn't have refused Vespa's occasional invitations to join her as the elder twin practiced her sword techniques. Just how out of shape was she?

Still, she managed to recover her aristocratic bearing and procure a small handkerchief from an equally dainty pocket. With it, she wiped the sweat off of her face. Her normally pale cheeks were now rosy in color.

[i]Werewolves[/i]. She was still trying to comprehend their significance, and the swiftness of their flight from the forest. Alexina was a brave woman, but for her to have fled so quickly... Elina did not know much about werewolves. Much of the lore she did know pertained to blood magic and necromancy. Vespa, by contrast, knew far more about those things than her, and was a vastly more talented witch, equal to or perhaps even surpassing the fiery Alexina beside her. There were Lorelai, Genoveve and Laina, too - all good people who seemed to know what they were after. All who seemed to be Elina's total opposites.

The pain in her limbs, borne out of exhaustion, came to underscore the centerpiece of Elina's thoughts at the moment: that she was, out of all the members of Castle Bloodrose, the most inferior and the weakest witch. Perhaps even a liability. These were notions not at all unfamiliar to her by any means, but ones that were quite frequent, especially recently. There were [i]werewolves[/i] back there. If Alexina hadn't been there for her and she lingered in the forest instead... the silver-haired girl shuddered.

Somehow, she managed a smile. Luna too looked worse for wear. Gently, she picked the cat up and let it rest upon her bosom.

"I'm a little tired," she said, "but I'd be more than happy to accompany you to Lady Bloodrose."

[@Aerandir][@Ellion]