Finally, after 10 minutes, the boy finished constructing his plan. 'She seems to be a native of the town, and an important one at that, seeing as she can do… that. Maybe I can befriend her? She seems knowledgeable about this world's herbs, and seeing how she is with those rabbits, she must be at least somewhat easy to talk to. I'll start my network from that.'
The boy hyped himself up as he approached, 'I got this, I'm pretty much a lady's magnet, I ooze charisma, once I greet her, it'll instantly make her drop her panties.'
Crow silently cleared his throat as he neared from behind and slowly began to rise to his feet, "Uhh… hey."
The rabbits jumped to their feet in shock, yet the girl stayed sitting with her back facing the boy, soothing them back to lying down as she petted them and then continued gathering herbs.
The girl's voice was soft like silk sheets with an accent similar to Icelandic on Earth, "Took you long enough, I was wondering when you were going to come say hi."
Crow tilted his head, "Huh? You knew I was here?"
The girl let out a small laugh as harmonic as wind chimes as she continued picking the herbs and placing them into the basket, "Hard not to notice such a big, strong boy such as yourself."
Crow's face froze into that of confusion before morphing into a playful smirk on his lips, "Psh, funny coming from the bunny whisperer over here."
The girl let out a light chuckle, "Is that so? Careful now, don't make me sick these carnivorous beasts on you."
The boy's eyes sharpened as he adjusted his stance.
To that, the girl leaned back and started laughing as she rolled on the ground, slightly dirtying her white dress, "Bahahaha, you went so quiet. I bet you put on a really scary face just now."
The girl looked back, rubbing the tears of laughter out of her eyes.
Crow paused.
'Is… is she-'
Yet the boy's thought was interrupted as the girl smiled at him, "My name is Lóa, what's yours?"
Crow took about 3 seconds to regain his bearings as he looked at the girl before returning the smile, "My name's Crow."
.
.
.
For what felt like the next few hours, the 2 talked and talked, laughing as they did so.
Crow told his many stories of his time on Earth, though describing them as having occurred in "Another place" or "Another part of town."
The girl pouted as she eyed the boy suspiciously, "There's no way that's true."
"It is," the boy smiled. "I was a Thief. Among the best there was too, especially for my age. Had never been caught before then either…"
The boy stared at the ground as he subconsciously gripped the grass.
Lóa curiously blinked at Crow, "Before what?"
Crow snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly replied, "Oh, nothing."
Lóa also described her boring life of being a pampered daughter stuck in a mansion, not allowed to see the world.
"It's awful. Guards following me 24/7 and even maids have to bathe me." Loa groaned with a sigh.
The boy couldn't help but think back to his home in the real world as he replied, "Sounds pretty rough."
She was only allowed to go out today for the arrival of the Blessed and decided to sneak out, pick some herbs, and spend some time with the rabbits now that she had the opportunity.
.
.
.
The sky continued to unfold into an orange tint as the two chatted until Crow stopped and pondered.
Lòa, noticing this, called out to him, "Hmm? What's wrong, Crow?"
A hesitant smile spread across the boy's mouth, "This might sound weird to ask, but with you being... ya know... how did yo-"
"I know." The girl cut in as she chuckled lightly, "I was wondering when you'd ask to be honest."
Crow raised an eyebrow yet nodded his head as he waited for her to continue, "Here." The girl said as she stretched out her hand, a smile on her freckled face.
The boy gazed down at the girl's outstretched hand, then back up at her charming smile, 'If she really wanted to kill me, she would've already tried... I think." And so, without a moment more of delay, he took the girl's hand.
Yet as soon as he did-
WHOOOOSH!!
His entire vision went white.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Finally, when Crow regained his bearings, he looked around to notice that he was in what looked to be a pink and white throne room of a grand castle.
There were dazzling pink chandeliers with white flames flickering in the shapes of rabbits.
Crow's eyes raised in shock as he slowly walked along the pink carpet towards what looked to be a human-sized marble rabbit statue, along with many others that lined the hall.
The entire room's theme seemed to be pastel pink and white, giving the otherwise regal space a sense of comfort.
Crow muttered to himself as he took in this sudden change of scenery, "What in the f-"
"Are you quite done snooping around my castle? Hehe." The voice and soothing laughter of Lòa shocked Crow as he nearly yelped in fright, quickly spinning around to see the girl sitting there on a throne in the middle of the room.
The throne looked to be custom-made for her despite her lounging on it lazily.
She was now dressed in a regal pink dress that came down to her ankles with a pink and white scepter in hand, "Here, here, subject, hehe." The girl covered her mouth as she giggled.
Crow looked at the girl in shock, then down at himself, now realizing he was wearing the same rags he was previously, except now they were stark white.
"Ahh," the girl stood up and tapped the scepter against her head as if just remembering, "Let me assist you."
WHOOSH!
Without any warning, Crow's outfit was changed to that of male nobility, yet it was mostly white with pink accents laced throughout.
"Come on," Lòa called as she waltzed past Crow, leaving him there dumbfounded.
He soon caught up, leaving the castle room and out into a whole world before him.
There were lush lands of pink grass and snow white bunnies of varying sizes grazing across the fields.
Herbs of all shapes and sizes were sprouting about, interlacing mixes of pink and white.
Crow could barely believe his eyes as his mouth hung open, 'I-is this like a fukin game within a game? Where am I?'
"Helloo??" A hand was then raised in front of Crow's face, shocking him back to attention as Lóa continued, "Sooo, what do you think?" She said with a smile, her hands behind her back as she crossed her legs over.
Crow looked around. Out in the distance, he could even make out roaring pink waterfalls.
"This is awesome, but..." the boy paused, Lòa's eyes furrowed, worry in her eyes as the boy continued, "How? Where? But you're-"
"Stop thinking so much, silly." The girl turned to look at him with a wide smile, "We only have so long. Let's have fun!"
With that, the girl ran off into the fields with Crow closely chasing behind.
They frolicked along the field as gigantic rabbits ignored them, too occupied with munching on herbs.
Things would pop up here and there as the girl beckoned, seemingly out of midair.
A flower sprouted from the ground and rose into Lóa's hand as she took a deep sniff.
"How?" the boy sputtered out as he saw this.
The girl gave him a smirk as she responded, "This is my world, silly, there's obviously limitations to what I can do, but honestly... being inside that mansion all day, I prefer to spend my time in here."
The mood grew quiet after that as Crow began to look around, "Well... what do you usually do for fun here?"
Lòa grabbed her chin as she looked up, "Hmmm... I usually just play with the rabbits and pick herbs."
0_0
"What?? Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?!" The girl asked upon Crow's lack of reply.
"Well, I mean... if that's what you always do in this place?.. What was the point of leaving town and coming out here?" The boy asked with a confused expression.
"Well..." Lòa responded as she slowly walked forward with her hands behind her back, "This world is like a dream, and dreams could never come close to reality."
Finally, the 2 were an arm's length away as her eyes met his, "Plus, if I never went out, I wouldn't have met you."
A tingle went through Crow's heart as his face blushed, "Mmm." The boy cleared his throat.
"Uhhh, you said time was limited in this place? How long does it last?"
The girl's finger tapped her chin as she looked up, "Mmm, about a day. Time moves really slow outside when we're in here, though."
"Awesome, since you always do the same thing over and over, I think I have some ideas for what we can do!" Crow spoke as he rubbed his palms together.
.
.
.
[Moments later at the top of a giant pink waterfall...]
Lòa's nervous voice spoke out, "C-Crow, are you sure about this?"
Crow upbeatedly assured her, "Of course, where I come from, we call things like this waterslides. We'll be fine, I'm right here with you."
The 2 were sitting atop a gigantic inflatable rabbit.
Lòa had, of course, adjusted the waterfall to slant per the boy's instructions.
Making it one of the longest slides Crow had ever seen, causing him to gulp inwardly.
'Well, it's a game, not like we'll die from it.'
With that thought in his mind, he looked back and shouted, "Hang on tight!"
Loa's eyes widened, "Wait, noooOOO-"
Her long scream stretched all through the land as the pair zoomed down the waterfall.
WOOOOOOSHHH!!
.
.
.
SPLASH!!
Blub...
Blub...
"Gahh!!", Crow's head shot up from the lake, fear in his eyes as he looked back towards the waterfall.
'Holy shit! That was horrifying. I know this is a game, but I'm never doing that aga-"
"Wooooh!" Lóa's voice sounded out behind him as her head splashed out from under the water. He could hear her giggling, "Let's do that again!"
To which Crow looked at her, back at the top of the waterfall, and at her again.
.
.
.
[A Few Hours Later...]
Crow and Lóa stood in front of a massive rock that towered over both of them, standing around 10ft(3.04M) tall.
The boy looked over and asked, "Ya sure if I trace my finger, you'll know for sure where to carve?"
The girl gave a proud response, "Of course! This is my world after all!"
The boy let out a wolfish grin as he leapt forward and moved his arm around in dramatic fashion.
10 seconds later, the girl slowly walked forward as the patterns Crow formed slowly began to meld onto the rock.
"What does this mean?" Loa asked as she tilted her head as if that would allow her to fully grasp the meaning behind it.
Crow came up beside her with his arms on his waist and a beaming smile, "My name's Crow, and your name's Loa, right?"
The girl peeled her eyes at him, "Uhuh?" urging him to continue.
"Well, I had you do our initials."
Upon the rock, in a rather slightly messy handwriting, the initials "C+L" were embedded.
The boy continued, "So when you come back here, you can remember the fun moments we had. Especially when you're lonely."
The girl looked at him, then back at the rock, staring at it as the seconds ticked by.
Crow quickly tapped his head as if remembering, "Aah, but that's not to say it'll be the last, because even though I'm gonna be the strongest and out hunting, I'll always make sure to come back and who knows maybe take you with me."
A soft smile tugged at the corner of the girl's lips as she gazed at the rock, her eyes glistening in the light of the silver sun.
The 2 stood there for some time, the soft wind and the rustling grass serving as a pleasant sonata for the blossoming relationship.
.
.
.
The next few hours, scenes of a boy and girl racing down pink waterfalls, playing catch and kicking around pink and white spotted balls, riding giant rabbits, amongst many other activities, could be seen.
.
.
.