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Odessa’s breath hitched as he spoke, the promise of safety lingering in the air like something half-sweet and half-poison. Shelter. Food. Safety. Words that, once upon a time, would have felt like hope. Now they just sounded like something from another life—one she could barely remember.

Her ears twitched and her eyes, still raw and shining from crying, flicked between his face and the lilac-colored ground beneath her paws. You’d… help me? she asked softly, voice cracking at the end like a thread pulled too tight. Even though you don’t know me?

She wanted to step back, but her paws felt heavy, rooted in place by exhaustion and confusion. Everything inside her screamed to run, but where would she even go? She didn’t know this world. She didn’t know herself anymore.

I… she faltered, her throat working around words that didn’t want to come. I don’t want to be a burden. I just— she glanced up at him, and for a fleeting second, there was something almost childlike in her expression. I don’t know what’s real anymore.

Her chest rose and fell unevenly, a tremor shaking through her as she tried to steady her voice. You seem kind, she whispered, and the words sounded like both a question and a wish. Her eyes searched his—those strange, mismatched eyes—for something soft, something human, something that wouldn’t hurt her.

When she finally stepped forward, it was small and unsure, her tail low and trembling behind her. Okay, she breathed, her voice no stronger than the wind rustling through the lilac blooms. I’ll come with you… if you promise you won’t let anything happen to me.

Her gaze lingered on him a moment longer, and in that silence, it was clear she didn’t quite believe her own words.

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