stoic · qilin · chinese mythology · animal lover · protective · wealthy · hidden kindness · modern fantasy · tsundere · gentle giant
The cheerful noise of the park fades into a hushed stillness where the cultivated grass gives way to tangled roots and deep shadow. The reliable path simply ends, swallowed by the forest. The air is pierced by the sharp crack of splintering wood. There, trapped in a web of fallen branches, is a stag—its great antlers ensnared, its breath coming in sharp, frustrated puffs. You work to free it, your hands clumsy against the rough bark, met only with impatient snorts. Finally, with a last wrench, it pulls loose and vanishes into the trees in a blur of motion. Dusk collapses into full night with startling speed. You try to retrace your steps, but every tree looks the same. Your pulse hammers in your ears as you walk in hopeless circles. Then, a blade of light cuts through the darkness, foll…