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

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During a small hunt, you end up tracking prints left by a young hare. Eager for a partially-easy meal, you pursue them with a giddy little skip in your step. Minutes havepassed since you began following their trail, but the large-footed indents began to change, the further you walked. At first, it looked like a strange struggle, or maybe its pace had changed. But now you notice the paw prints are shaped like well defined hearts. What kind of animal could leave such a thing in its wake?

Thread Participants

OOC partner: Tskani
Character 1: Annelise
Alignment: neutral good
Desired skills: Maybe healing
No triggers listed

OOC partner: Nomé
Character 2: @chompi
Alignment: True neutral
Desired skills: Maybe Ranger
No triggers listed

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tunnel of love badge

The rumble of her belly is the only sound that drags her forward, a perceptive series of steps that bring her heterochromatic gaze toward the subtle prints that marred the snow. Alue had cast aside her bundle of herbs and followed the likes of a rabbit, intent on catching a meal. But as her path had twisted and turned, Alue had not noticed that the world around her had appeared to shift—to change. An assortment of twisting branches converging to a tangled place in the center as her paws would take her through a tunnel created by the magic of nature.

Had she looked further than the pawprints she tracked, she might’ve noticed that the trees were now in the shape of hearts, their ruddy branches of brown and cream softening against each other as they intertwined their limbs in a quiet, tangible hug.

However, such anomalies were lost on her as the large-footed tracks appeared to end.

She paused in her pursuit, a craning head falling to the side as she stared.

The tracks were no longer doubled in pairs, marked by the indents of creeping toes and bushy tails—but instead…they were hearts as well. A clearly defined shape that caused her brows to cinch and her mind to reel.

What could this be?

Tentatively, and perhaps with a bit more hesitancy than she had embodied before, Alue strode forward—following those tracks with a suspicious and curious frown. What could you be…? She whispered to nobody but herself as she jogged a bit further down that tunnel of love.

Not long ago he had tailed this white little bushy tailed hare, for a while it was rather easy to keep up the chase.. till it wasn’t. However the crisp crunch, and easily indented grass left him the perfect path. He wasn’t starving, no, buttttt he did feel a few rumbles creeping and that only called for a snack.

The prints were bigger than the average runaway, and the more he looked.. they were weirder too..? Every few steps it was like a shift in its shape, one moment elongated hind limbs and the next.. what was it? A heart?? His quick paced steps took a pause whilst he crouched and took a closer look, a whiff of the scent even. Smelt like hare and yet.. these weren’t hare tracks. 

A few more paces forward, seconds passed, then minutes; These tracks were no longer even attempted by a hare, his pair finally leaving the trail, he was suddenly less aware of where he was, were there hearts on these branches? LEAVES??

They seemed to close in together, making some kind of tunnel with heart.. everything, and the trees weren’t even the same color, they were lighter, and lastly the tracks were no more.

“What the shit..” Regardless of the oddly shaped leaves, and everything else telling him to turn back, he continued his pursuit, this must’ve been something he ate… oh.

“Those damn berries, I knew they were too ripe..” A last grumble to himself, his eyes no longer to the ground and now on what could be ahead.. maybe he’d find his lost hare.

A sickening feeling twisted within her gut as a mixture of dread and fear curdled in her stomach. The prints of what had been a rabbit had vanished before her eyes, and there remained the delicate curves of a heart in their place. Uncanny, and yet unbelievable, as Alue finally grappled with her tiny ounce of courage. So small it battered and thrashed against her tongue as she forced her multi-hued gaze toward the sky.

A sky she could not see, by the simple fact that the groves around her bent and twisted into an intricate tunnel that echoed the very same shapes littered across the ground.

Her stomach flipped again.

In some form or fashion, it reminded her of those haunted caves, with their decrepit walls and ravenous shadows that had wished to rip and shred. And yet, her fear was dissuaded by a gentle, warm breeze that caressed her sides and fluttered past strands of auburn fur.

Her head turned curiously as though she could catch the wind in a tangible grasp and see it with her very own eyes. However, as futile as it was, her nose had caught the unlikely scent of warmth, of honey paired with the sweetness of a rose, and she paused, balking with a quiet drop of her mouth.

They were in the dead of winter, she had presumed…and yet, it smelled like spring, on the verge of summer. That was…odd, was it not?

A warmth spread in her chest, comforting the delicate beat of her heart as she found her paws involuntarily moving forward as if encouraged by that gentle blow of the wind.

And as she walked further into that grove of curled heart-shaped trees, her spirit began to soar. An eddying feeling of release, freedom, and peace wrapped around her mind like a cocoon for safekeeping. She smiled gently as the curves of her lips twisted across her features, her eyes absorbing the beauty that this tunnel-not-cave offered her.

Maybe she should enjoy herself, she thought.

And then, a voice had come whispering past the wind. Alue would snake a waving head toward its source. Hello? She echoed into the trees, je deviens fou (I’m going crazy), were her mumbled words hastily thrown beneath her breath.

But she continued until the scent of that summer-time warmth spread like weeds across her senses and briefly introduced a hint of something…copper.

There was most definitely someone here.

Is someone out there? She called out down the tunnel, her voice a wavering lilt as she peered forward with narrowing, careful eyes.

He padded forward, his tassel swaying behind him without the smallest care in the world. It was quite strange really, it was all sweet smellin’ and such, as if he was in some kinda flower field, it made his nose tickle. He wasn’t too fond of flowers, too many in one whiff and he was sneezin’ like a goat in distress. Luckily for him it wasn’t too overwhelming on his poor snoot, and while things were sweet, he hadn’t forgotten the mission at hand still wondering where that damned hare ran off to.

The trees were weird here.. they made a rather unnatural tunnel, where did it lead to and why? All these lovey dovey colors and shapes were somewhat giving him an edge, and not the good kind.. everywhere he looked, hearts hearts hearts! Not a single-..’Hello? Is someone out there?’ Well now wait a minute.. there was a voice that wasn’t his own in this cave tunnel thing, and it sounded pretty as it did proper. A playful smirk staggered across his lips and there was now a new found pep in his step.

“Ello?” He called, ears straining for the faint whistle of a voice. She sounded a ways from him, but surely she couldn’t have been too far and the only way to find out how far was to keep up the pace and that’s exactly what he did. For a while it felt as if he was walking in circles, the weaving tunnel with hearts and leaves that all looked the same to him did him no justice. He gave an exaggerated sigh, though soon enough he heard pitter-pattering of another growing closer.. and closer until reaching another corner where he’d pause his steps.

Well he wasn’t wrong, the proper pretty voice definitely belonged to this properly pretty lady, and pretty certainly wasn’t the word for it. For a moment he was stunned, flustered even and who would’ve thought? Tarot, the Tarot flustered?? The thought made him chuckle to himself, but alas, there he was. “Well hello there gorgeous” He greeted, his head nodding in the same gesture. “You didn’t perhaps follow a weird lookin rabbit in here did ya? Or maybe I really am dreamin’, but I’m not too sure even I could imagine someone as dazzling as you” His words followed with a softly smile toothy smile, his tongue fiddling with the loose piece of straw between his teeth.

Cautiously, she ventured toward the sound of that reciprocated voice—a gentle hello whispered in the wind. If there had been dread that curled in her gut for the world that now twisted and turned into a spectacle of hearts, it was misplaced and hampered by the delicious smell of warmth, flowers, and honey. Enough to soothe her lingering anxieties as she continued to step forward through the tunnel of trees.

This was not the cave, she reminded herself.

This was…something better.

It had not taken long, with her gentle gait and upturned ears, for the scent and sight of the other to grow stronger within her peripheries. And all at once, a man built with a taller physique and draped in the colorful tones of an autumnal forest came to be. His eyes glowed like the fine whisps of candle fire, and Alue could not help herself but smile.

She paused in her step as the sound of his voice rolled to her ears, and had she not been trained to keep her composure polite, Alue feared that the heat that reached her ears would cause her expression to contort to one of bashfulness and embarrassment. Alue would not say she was ugly; she knew she had to hold a modicum of attractiveness as a Princess—however, since her life as a wolf began, those words had not been uttered before.

Why did they cause the briefest of flutters in her stomach?

Her multi-colored gaze rolled to his as that delicate smile continued to weave across the shadows of her auburn fur. He was very nice to look at, too. Far nicer than she expected…

Hello, she offered through a quiet lilt to her voice, her accent rolling from her tongue as she took a tentative step forward. Though the sweetness he harbored in his word caused those butterflies to reignite again—almost instantaneously—as her nose fell to the crook of her neck.

He, no doubt, possessed a silver tongue.

Breathe, Alue, she reminded herself as she took another quick succession of breaths. For a woman who did not balk at the sight of war and blood, she was positively unraveling at the sound of just two little compliments sent her way.

She twisted that heterochromatic gaze back to him, her smile growing as her tail waved amicably behind her. You are kind, she uttered through a light-hearted chuckle, and correct. She returned with a nod, There was a peculiar rabbit with an odd-shaped footprint—did you see it too?

Her head fell to a small tilt as she gazed across the other man’s expression; that warmth (whether caused by his sweet words or the air that seemed to intertwine) caressed her sides until her paw steps took another tentative step forward.

—she felt like a schoolgirl again, all giddy and weak in the knees.

My name is Alue, She offered, Who might I have the finest pleasure of meeting?

His own smile seemed to pull at his lips with the sight of hers, yes this Tarot was quite used to wooing the ladies if not for fun or just to get what he wanted out of them but she was.. she was a dream. He found it funny how he previously cursed the over ripened berries he snagged off a some random bush, to nearly bowing down and thanking them. What a mystery this anomaly was, however he was more than happy to dig up, or at least try to find the source of such sweetness and flair if it was with this doll.

The brute gave a quick nod, his golden gaze leaving the dame for just moment, a curious look passing over the walls that surrounded them and what looked to be an opening, another tunnel maybe? “Kind?” He repeated, his head cocking just barely an inch. “I’m only bein honest Darlin” He mused, his piece of straw falling from one side of his mouth to the other, finding his own giddy nerves to settle with shifting it between his teeth, though her next sentence definitely flickered a previous moment for him. “Yea! He was gonna be a snack of mine if he had just hopped right into my teeth like he was supposed to, I almost had the lil’ bugger before we passed those bushes” He huffed, lightly admitting his defeat.

“If I find him again though, I’ll be sure to let you have the bigger half” He playfully offered with a light chuckle beneath his breath, however his ears were soon to tune into something new, her name. “Alue” He repeated, letting the phrase slip off his tongue. “A pretty name for an even prettier face” He mused, before continuing and offering up his own name. “Oh trust me, Sugar, the pleasures is all mine” He took a few steps forward, his crown dipping for just a moment, a more respectful greeting, to him at least. “I’m Tarot, but you, Darlin’, you can call me whatever you want”

After a few moments seemed to slip away, he gently brushed past the dame, finding himself taking a few long strides to the entrance of another one of these weird lookin tunnels, it too was adorned with the hearts, and flowers, though it felt different in a way, he sure as hell didn’t know what it meant, but he definitely didn’t mind the thrill of finding out. “I don’t suppose you know where this one goes to? I’m not too sure what’s goin on with these freakish tunnels, but I don’t think they’re dangerous” He stated, looking back towards the dame, a cheeky smile playing across his lips. Besides they were already there, what could a little exploring hurt?

Perhaps it was merely the pheromones this odd tunnel gave off or something wonky that lingered from the smell she sniffed from the heart-shaped feet of what had undoubtedly been a rabbit before…or maybe it certainly was the sweet, alluring words that drifted from the man’s lips. Whatever the reason, Alue was feeling good.

There was an indescribable flutter to the beat of her heart, a warmth that spread from her chest and down to her curling toes as the man shot her another look, his presence alone enough to send her ears aflame and her smile to grow.

What an odd sensation.

Her chuckle bubbled from her lips in a softened tone as she blinked toward the man with a playful smile, You have yourself a deal, Monsieur, She cooed into the air, Although, I’d like to check the rabbit’s feet before we dine— those pawprints in the earth were certainly too fantastical to be real…right? Maybe it had been just a trick of the eye, she thought in a futile attempt to rationalize the irrational.

Alas, her thoughts would give her no newfound answers as her attention was quickly replaced by the sound of her name, rolling from his lips in a pleasant ring that had that warmth in her chest full-on blooming.

Tarot, he said, introducing himself with a pleasant dip of his head—charming and a gentleman too. Her smile only seemed to grow. Tarot, she rolled across her tongue after a pause, tasting and savoring its sound atop her lips as she returned the pleasant dip of her chin. Exquisite, she murmured in kind, Where do you come from, Tarot? She asked with quiet curiosity. Was he merely a figment of her own imagination?

If so, that would be far too cruel of a reality for Alue to swallow…alas…

Her eyes trailed toward the place of his words, toward the tunnel that beckoned them forward. Her steps matched his own, her body unintentionally finding a perfect fit beside his own—not too close, but enough where the warmth of his silhouette seemed to caress her side as she sauntered forward.

When had Alue ever been so bold?

I fear I do not, she murmured beside him, A few moon phases ago, we had these awful, terrible caves pop up… she explained with a weary breath, her eyes drifting toward her paws as she pointedly fled from his gaze. The memories of such awful caves still lived within the memories of her bones, enough so that on the most terrible of nights, nightmares still plagued her mind.

She sucked in a shuddering breath as she blinked past those darkened memories, But this… she countered with a glance toward Tarot, has felt more like a dream than a nightmare.

Her tail shifted into an easy, purposeful wag behind her, Care to lead the way?

Tarot watched the chestnut dame with a curious, focused gaze. She was certainly a fresh sight, considering all he’s ran into since he’d been here were trees, grumpy bears and the occasional passerby, and yet she was no regular passerby, he found her in these freakish tunnels, all proper and pretty, she looked as if she didn’t even belong here, definitely out of his league, like a princess or something. He even wondered if there was a prince outside these tunnels looking for her, it’d be a shame of course, a sad sight indeed watching the pitiful guy losing to him..

Oh, you didn’t think Tarot would give up and let her go just like that did you? He so loved a fun challenge, and besides, she may had been a little more than a smidge out of his lane, but all roads merge at some point don’t they?? I mean.. who could resist this charm? With the bonus of a such a handsome face at that!

Overly confident? Maybe. A tad bit arrogant? Definitely!

He heard her call him something in some language he couldn’t understand, gibberish was all it was to his ears, albeit pretty gibberish. She couldn’t have learned that from these damned woods, they were too boring for that, was she an other worldly being of some kind? Planning on stealing him away by luring him into these tunnels? A good way to go he’d argue, all she had to do was bat those pretty pair of green and gold and he’d follow her off a cliff.. maybe a cliff is a little extreme.. but you get the point! She even said something about checking the rabbits feet? Proving his otherworldly theory more right because he would never check its feet, hearts or not, a hares a hare, or maybe that’s just him..

Where’d he come from? “Well considerin’ I landed here only a little bit ago..” He started, his voice quieter, somewhat more to himself than to the dame on his right. “I’d say I’ve been everywhere!” He stated, quite confident with a slight huff in his chest. He wasn’t completely stretching it, before landing in this place he had wondered all over the place, until he’d found himself a little band, they were all good buds, nothing more than a bit of stealin here and there, nothing too gruesome, all fun in the game really! But they might’ve went a little too far with one of the bigger rivals in the area. They fought well together, even chased them off, but he’d gotten hurt in the process, it was only supposed to be a little nap but then.. well now we’re here.

“I’ve been on plenty adventures, Princess, daring tales that’d scare you out of that pretty skin of yours” He teased, a soft laugh falling between his lips. He’d be happy to tell her all about em’, all of them were true for the most part, along with the added sprinkles of imagination of course. However his attention was soon drawn to the remaining of her words, it seemed she’d came across other places like this, and apparently they weren’t the best.

“Well this place isn’t too bad, it couldn’t be terrible with you here” He chirped, a quick wink falling between his words and his smile remaining, the bounce of his straw piece shifting places once more. “If this is a dream though..” He started once more, his golden gaze faltering from the dame for just a moment. “It’s a damned good one, and you better haunt the next ones too” It was a playful set of words, yet there was a heavy hand of hope that settled between them, it’d be a cruel joke to have him make up all this, just for her to disappear whenever he’d awaken, but this had to be real right? You don’t talk about dreams in a dream! Common sense really..

With that, he gladly took the first steps into the new tunnel, keeping a pace that wasn’t too fast or too slow, just enough to where they were still beside each other, and yet still making good distance. He was curious on what they’d find in these tunnels, maybe he really would be led off a cliff, or perhaps they’d find that snack of a hare, or maybe they’d run into something completely different, something exciting even? Whatever it was, they’d find out soon enough.

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Skill: Ranger

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Her smile was soft and gentle in her expression as she watched him, eyes coasting across his own as she selfishly memorized his features to heart. He was a good-looking man, kind and charming, and a welcomed relief from her days of hunting monsters and murderers and threads of her own fleeting life. It is a shame I hadn’t seen you before, She murmured in kind, but I am glad to have met you now.

Her tail swayed easily behind her, an idle swing as she brought her attention to his. However, his use of a particular pet name hadn’t gone unnoticed. ’Princess,’ he had said, and for a brief moment, Alue’s world stilled. How…How had he known? Her heart dropped to her throat, and her stomach lurched in quiet retaliation as his pleasant laugh rolled like wine from between his lips.

Alue subconsciously followed suit.

Her own laugh was perhaps a touch strained as she played off her distress through an amicable smile and a calculated tail wag. Did he…know she was living a double life? Did he know who she truly was? No, impossible!

Play it cool, Alue.

Daring tales, you say? She added with a quick flick of an ear, My skin is thicker than it looks, Alue assured the man, and I would be honored to hear some of those adventures of yours.

Despite the anxiety that gripped her flanks or the fear that simmered within her blood, Alue continued her pace beside the man—her smile never dropping as he spoke warmly. Perhaps he did not know who she was. Maybe it had been merely a pet name he had conjured up absentmindedly and without thinking about what it could mean.

She liked those thoughts better than the potential reality.

Tarot’s voice drove her out of her reverie and back toward the waking world as she twisted a glance his way. A laugh bubbled from her lips, and she could not help but nod. If only you will do the same to mine, in return, she quipped back—far too quickly for her to take back.

Her steps trailed beside his own while Alue’s attention focused on a running stream’s quiet notes. It gurgled proudly between the walls of their tree-like tunnel and sang an idyllic song that lured her paws to the front of their never-ending path. Do you hear that? She asked Tarot with a quick backward glance.

And just as her eyes were to coast back to the front, the sight of the hare was a fleeting image before her. One moment there, staring at them, with the largest feet Alue had ever seen—the next, gone. His steps marked prints in the softer earth, guiding them forward and towards the bubbling noise.