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Thread Title: 「 Can’t Help Falling in Love 」 

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As you travel the snow laden area, a soft breeze carries the fresh scent of flowers. It’s an unmistakable sweetness that tricks your mind into believing spring had arrived early, but the frozen landscape would disagree with that thought. Where was that scent coming from? Perhaps you should investigate.

Thread Participants

OOC partner: Tasha
Character 1: Elli
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Desired skills: N/A
No triggers listed

OOC partner: Rem
Character 2: Taro
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Desired skills: N/A
No triggers listed

SKILL : HUNTER ( 1 / 5 )

With Northfall's peaks quiet once more, Elli pressed her luck past its protective borders. She wasn't exactly afraid of travelling alone or doing most anything by herself, but she couldn't quite shake the image of her deceased father crushed by rocks. It made her more mindful of unsteady land as she traversed the mountain she once trusted.

Truthfully, she wasn't sure she had any trust left for anything or anyone, save for her brothers. They were constants, her port in the storm of life and loss. She sometimes worried they'd leave her one day, too, like everyone else inevitably did, and the thought settled bitter on her tongue. It led her out into Northfall's outskirts and then into the tundra at large.

She wasn't entirely aimless as she stomped across the frozen alpines, however. Near-directly, she followed the trail of Amaris when he left after the tourney. If he had good sense, he would have expedited his travel back home because, if she found him in this random foray, she likely would have ambushed him. It was fortunate (for Amaris) that she wouldn't discover him and, instead, was brought to a dead stop by the scent of something sweet and alluring.

It smelled like spring and life, full of floral notes and nectar. She envisioned a meadow full of fresh blooms at the scent's origin, but that couldn't be right - it was winter. The north was frozen and dormant, all fangs and claw for those who underestimated it.

She didn't seek the bizarre scene out actively, half-afraid it was a trap, but she wound up just at its edge all the same when she crested a hill. Had she subconsciously brought herself here, or was some spell responsible? Pink-painted treetops waved invitingly as she peered down at them, uncertain if it was wise to waltz right in. This world was strange and magical sometimes, though she had seen less of its magic and more of its unforgiving punishment since she drew her first breath almost a year ago.

... Maybe she could use some magic, a more vulnerable part of herself suggested. As if she were powerless to resist its beckons any longer, Elli lurched forward in her descent from the hill crest, embarking on the path of floral rain and sun-warmed grasses.

Skill: 「 - 」

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Taro was off roaming, doing the many things that Taros did. It began with a simple exploration, shifting into a failed hunt of a particularly clever hare, and ended with him lying at the top of a hill. Gradually, he pushed himself forward with his hind legs, until he slid down the steep drop on his side. Once reaching the bottom, his face was covered in a pile of accumulated snow. His head lifted, allowing him to shake it rather vigorously, removing whatever clumps tried to cling to him. A loud sneeze escaped him, echoing in the empty area and causing a few nearby birds to take flight.

It was after he sniffled that he noticed a floral aroma. It was sweet and welcoming, but also wrong—right? Had he sneezed so hard he was smelling things incorrectly? Taro scrambled to his feet, inhaling deeply through his nose to make sure it wasn’t some sort of mistake. It was so clear, there was no possible way he couldn have misidentified something so obvious.

Taro began to run. Whatever this was, he wanted to see it with his own eyes. Eager for what this new world had in store, his pace was an energetic sprint. He’d known it wasn’t exactly a “normal” place, but having a field of flowers or forests of blossoms in the dead of winter was something he needed to see. Curiosity was a dangerous thing at times, but it also filled his life with joy and enrichment.

In the distance there was a canopy of blush-pink trees that reminded him of cherry blossoms—of home. Taro grinned, his body practically leaping through the air in the final bound. Ink-dipped paws pressed off a thick layer of packed snow and landed in a warm bedding of grass. The Fujiwara wolf had no explanation for the magical experience, but he wouldn’t take it for granted.

Petals fluttered down like flurries of snow, some getting stuck in his longer strands of fur as he pressed into the pocket of spring-like weather. Taro released a deep breath, closing his eyes and basking in the serenity of it all. As his amethyst gaze reopened, he spotted a figure a short ways ahead. Were they there this whole time and he’d simply missed them?

With a causal and ever-confident gait, Taro began to close in, his easygoing smile lining his lips habitually. The closer he got, the more the gears turned in his head. She looked… special. As if she belonged to this mystical tunnel leading to—where did it lead, again? Each step a new flag would wave in his mind. This was no ordinary girl, was it? あるきつね (A kitsune…) he uttered under his breath while observing her — A yōkai. It made sense, all of it. The mysterious yet magical atmosphere, him being lured here, a kitsune posing as a beautiful girl. It was the perfect plan, but unfortunately for her, Taro was not so easily tricked.

The man cleared his throat, announcing himself, his posture relaxed yet self-assured as he approached. He wasn’t one to allow others a large, personal bubble, she he didn’t stop until he was practically looking down at her with a soft, playful smolder.

You’re going down, yōkai.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

The presence of the other eluded Elli as she canvassed the ground, sweeping her tan nose across the strangely springtide earth. Nothing about this patch of warmth and overgrowth made sense when the world she had just left was frozen solid.

She turned to check the space behind her, only to find more of the forest trail now sprawled in her wake - all remnants of the alpines were gone.

How bizarre - and suspicious.

Elli swallowed the sense of unease that rose with not having her bearings before she swung her head forward once more - just to bump into a figure of silver and white right as they cleared their throat. She hopped back reflexively with a grumble, dark ears pinned as eyes of earth and sea snapped toward the source of her obstruction.

Before her stood a man dressed in monochromes, holding an expression that ordinarily might have grated on her.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but anger did not yet flare - a rarity of late. Maybe it was the strange scent in the air that gave her an edge of tolerance, but she wasn't pushed to demand a blood bounty from the unfortunate stranger... yet. Her lips flattened into a line.

Who are you? Elli prompted. Do they not practice personal space where you come from?

Skill: 「 - 」

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A strange mix of eyes looked up at him, Taro fell silent as attention shifted between the warmth of rich brown and the chill of a crystalline blue. They were… quite beautiful, really, they were. Which only fueled his suspicion that this “girl” was not the wolf she was posing to be. You expect him to believe he and a pretty girl were “randomly” fated to meet in a cherry blossom forest of magic? Sure, okay buddy. This was a kitsune spirit and he was meant to be her prey. Taro had an issue though; how was one meant to lure a yōkai from its act and reveal its true nature?

Her voice pulled him from his mind, causing Taro to grin teasingly and sway his tail a few beats. She was a tricky thing, wasn’t she? For a moment, he considered not revealing his name, but it was best to keep her ignorant to how much of the truth he actually knew. He would have to play the role of a kindly stranger and not the yōkai hunter. Fujiwara, Taro Fujiwara, he introduced himself with a paw lifted to his chest, proud by all rights. He was a pretty big deal—at least he felt so.

The man leaned his face forward, neck craning until his eyes reached her level to maintain solid contact. Personal space is a bit too stuffy for me, if you wanna get to know someone, then you gotta get near ‘em, Taro also didn’t like being told no or having to follow strict rules, so of course he wouldn’t listen to some kitsune’s request for space.

Mischief flashed across his amethyst gaze, looking over the girl in front of him. He still needed her to break character. In a soft whisper, his face still lowered to hers, he spoke. You may want to close your eyes for this, it was a sultry tone, as if begging for her consent, all the while he was leaning in. His lips were making their way closer, his eyelids heavy as if intoxicated by her and unable to refrain any longer. He’d linger there, his lips nearly pressing to hers, able to feel one another’s breaths. Then quickly, he moved past her face and towards her ear, grabbing a petal that landed there. A playful smile spread to his as he triumphantly held the petal tenderly, Had a petal on ya, he muttered through the sides of his lips, still holding the pink blossom piece.

SKILL : - - - ( 1 / 5 )

His arrogance should have been affront to every fiber of her being, it really should have - but the only display of annoyance she could summon was almost manufactured, a subtle flexure of her ears as they remained slanted back, not unlike a devil's horns.

Somehow, she couldn't find it in herself to channel her usual anger, at least not yet. It was not to say it did not brew beneath the surface, however, as her eyes leveled at him with the promise of retribution if the levies holding her patience in place were to break.

The man appeared to have a love for theatrics, one paw drawn to his chest as he introduced himself - did he expect her to know of him? His name didn't mean jack shit to her and her expression was unmoved, save for the rising of a single brow.

Was this guy for real? His strange behavior was perhaps his saving grace, at least until he leaned in closer. Elli's muzzle threatened to fold into a snarl, preluded by the appearance of the tips of her fangs past a faintly lifted lip, as her neck arched back to earn space from his looming form.

I know you as well as I'd like to, Elli quipped, but only a half dose of her usual venom found its way into her words. It was harder to think and focus, she was discovering, when the thick air pervaded her senses.

He seemed unfazed, however, as he drew closer. Elli felt her pulse quicken with something that flirted between intrigue of what he was getting at and the desire to do nothing more than sink her fangs into his smug face. Would he be so arrogant then? Few she met had dared to press her, to refuse to relent to her whims and wishes - she was accustomed to being the aggressor, or the one plucking away at the strings.

That was not true here, and she was frozen almost like a deer in headlights as her control continued to be stripped away by Taro's unexpectedly gentle motions. He closed further into her space, so near their breath would pool between them, and a warmth she was completely unaccustomed to feeling pulsed within her veins. Elli gave nothing away, but she did not move away and her eyes latched to his, refusing to close them as he suggested - there was a question there within them, one she could not put into words.

As quickly as he drifted near, his tender movements changed - it was almost jarring, the way he pivoted to grab a flower petal she hadn't known, or cared, about.

She released a breath she hadn't meant to hold in a hiss through her nostrils, her brows furrowing. The slow-creeping anger she had failed to find presented itself, rising to the surface.

Her throat rumbled with a growl, lips peeling back to flash white teeth. Without further warning, she lunged forward, attempting to tear the petal from his grip. It was less about getting the petal as it was to rebuke him and steal back the symbol of the small piece of vulnerability she had shared unbidden.

Give me that, and then I'm going to kick your ass, she snapped, knowing full well the delicate petal would crumple into pieces beneath her shearing teeth.

Skill : 「 - 」

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Suddenly the yokai began to get angry, and Taro couldn’t fathom a single reason as to why that was. She’d demanded the petal he held, even going as far to snap at him in hopes of getting it. But there were literally hundreds, if not thousands, all around them. Yet she specifically wanted the one he was holding onto? Oh, maybe… oh. Ohhhh. He understood it now, she wanted a little indirect kiss. She seemed eager to hold the petal in her lips after he had held it in his, it was almost flattering, who knew kitsune were such romantics at heart?

Taro grinned, his tail waving playfully as he released the petal and allowed it to flutter down towards her paws. She’d mentioned wanting to fight him, but he knew it wouldn’t be wise to accept a challenge like that from a yokai, especially in a tunnel of magic. I guess you could say this wasn’t his first rodeo, or at least it wasn’t how he imagined the rodeos should go. What was a rodeo?

Don’t know if fightin’ ya would do any good for me, unless you’re just lookin’ for an excuse to get all close, first the indirect kiss and now she wanted to make excuses to snuggle up? Yokai were tricky beasts, and this one was proving that tenfold.

Didn’t think I’d be your type, Kitsune. I’m flattered, really, but I don’t think it’d work out, how old was she anyway? She looked younger than him, but a yokai could easily be hundreds of years old. Would that make her an old lady? Was he even into older women? Nah… maybe not. Yeah, it clearly wouldn’t work out.

But he still fully intended to bring her home, after all, he couldn’t allow her to roam freely through this world. It was dangerous. She was dangerous. Taro would protect them all. How valiant he was.