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Marne slipped a small fob watch out of his jacket pocket, "Dang it, I'm gonna be late..." He hissed to himself, he was sprinting through the hedges of a maze that was the shortcut to his home. If he didn't make it in time, his parents would know he had been sneaking around the servants house again and she would be punished for his mistake. Marne's nice clothes were stained from falling a few times into the grass, and he knew he would catch hell from his mother if she were to find him as he was, but it would be better than his father awaking to find him gone.

The moon was setting low in the sky, and Marne could catch the signs of the sun rising on the other side of the hedges. "Oh no..." He could barely catch his breath as he ran, lucky for Marne he had always been a spectacular runner, in his youth he had literally run circles around his tutors. Sprouting from the hedges beautiful red flowers heavy with the dew of morning, globules of water dripping from their petals to the wet grass below.

Water flying into the air behind Marne, the young man grinned at he saw the manor over the hedges. "Almost... there..." He panted, planting one foot in front of the other he grew excited, he was going to beat his father... And then, his foot met empty air. Time slowed as Marne's foot sank into nothingness and met no ground, he found himself falling into a small hole, but for some reason it seemed to expand to swallow his whole body up.

Marne's mouth flew open, but as he fell and attempted to scream it was as if his voice had been stolen. Falling, light faded as he plunged into the ever present dark. Dew dripped from above and landed on Marne's neck, it was cold and seemed to keep him aware of the fact that he was quite awake, this was no dream he was to be waking up from. Falling, floating, rising, these sensations pressed against Marne's body but still he could see nothing in the dark.

Marne wasn't sure how to feel, thoughts became distant as he fell, eternity passed and still Marne lived on as if he were an immortal in the darkness. There was nothing and then... "Ooph!" Marne's body collided with the ground, it wasn't painful, just surprising after falling so far. The well dressed man laid on the ground for some time, he thought about standing but it was hard after being in the darkness so long...

"Aren't you going to stand you odd little thing?" A bemused voice questioned of Marne, the man didn't say anything, the voice couldn't exist... "Are you just going to ignore me? That isn't very nice, humans are so inconsiderate of others..."

Marne growled and opened his eyes and winced doing so, there were a bright pair of lights shining down on him. "I'm not inconsiderate..."

The voice chuckled, "So, now you talk to little me..." The lights dimmed enough for Marne to be able to see, the face was large and appeared to be feline. "I'm so happy that a lord such as yourself deigned to speak to a lower being such as I, a lowly cat..."

A shiver ran down Marne's back, the while the cat spoke he carried a large smile on his face. Marne moaned as he pulled himself up onto his knees, "Don't speak to me like that, I'm not like my father..."

The cat's eyes followed every one of his movements, "Oh, do you have daddy issues little runner?" The cat was annoying Marne, but he didn't pay attention to it, he brushed off the dirt of the ground and stood up. Glancing around, he saw that he stood in an odd clearing of purple trees with red leaves, "Trying to find a way out already my little lord? It's not so easy, especially when you've doven in so deep."

Ignoring the cat's remarks, Marne started to walk down the path. He didn't know where he was, but if he didn't start to move now he wasn't going to get anywhere. He heard tsking from above, "Are you going to continue to follow me you mangy stray?" Marne questioned, not taking his eyes off of the road ahead.

"You act unsurprised little lord, do you pretend that reality isn't so?" The cat asked, his voice sliding around Marne's head.

Marne sniffed, "I've obviously taken a great fall, my mind is currently playing tricks on me. When I've had proper medical attention, you will be nothing but a long gone memory." He slipped out his watch from his pocket, it didn't move, indeed it was frozen at the very time that he had fallen into the hole. The young lord scowled, "I truly have taken a hard fall, it shouldn't take long for my father's men to find me thankfully."

But the cat did nothing but laugh, he wasn't visible for Marne to see but it was as if it were swimming through the air nearby. "My little lord, you see things in black and white. Let a little color in..." Along the path, red roses sprouted splitting off from the main path and created a path into the brush of the forest.

Marne stopped and looked suspiciously at the path formed by the trail of roses, "Cat, do you try to trick me by making a second path?"

The cat tsked once more, "Of course not my young lord, I thought you might like to take a shorter path than engaging yourself to an extensive trek on this very long road. This shortcut shall have you getting where desire much faster." Marne's eyes turned towards the road ahead, indeed it did seem to go for a long distance and he couldn't see the end.

Glancing at the sidepath, Marne thought it over before nodding. "Thank you cat, let me see where this might take me." Slipping his watch back into his jacket, Marne stepped off of the path and walked into the brush and came out on the other side to find himself in a grand courtyard. It was full of what appeared to be weeping willows, but they were all oddly bent with bulges at their midsection. "Why are all of these trees misformed?" Marne questioned, he had known many a weeping willow but none like these.

"These trees are shaped as such due to mistakes of strong oaks, they abandoned their duties and their widows were left misformed as such due to their mistakes." The cat spoke, Marne noticed the cat's form appearing between branches of the willows briefly.

Marne walked through the willows, he heard the occasional sob and what sounded like wails of a babe. He blinked, something about the whole scene offset him. "Where am I, cat?" He questioned, walking through the court approaching what appeared to be a large castle made of strong stone.

"You approach the grand kingdom of the Serv, her majesty the queen is due to have a ceremony very soon. I thought you might like to observe the ceremony before you head on your way home, I've heard it to be very touching to all who observe it." The cat's voice rode on the wind, fading in and out as Marne wove in and out of the trees.

Approaching the grand castle, the weeping trees slowly disappeared to give way to gorgeous cherry trees with serene faces upon their bark. Marne reached out to touch the gorgeous wood of the tree when a voice shrieked out, "Don't touch her!"

Marne jumped in shock and turned to voice the voice, a woman in an elegant dress approached him with a look of disdain upon her face. Her face was gorgeous, but it appeared to have an odd sort of pain on it as she looked upon him. Marne realized that he was in the grace of royalty and fell upon his knee, bowing his head as he did so. "Pardon my intrusion on this occasion my queen, I only planned to pass through to get home but I didn't realize that you were holding a ceremony today."

The queen sniffed, she seemed disgusted by him even when he was below her. "This area is forbidden to all males during the ceremony, had you touched one of these precious trees..." She hissed, her hand stroking the bark of the tree lovingly. "You could've taken away their purity, and with it..." Her eyes flicked to Marne angrily, "Their chance at a long life."

Marne gulped guiltily, "I apologize, is there any way I can repay you?"

Looking at the bowed male, the queen stroked her chin as she circled him, her eyes appraising him. "Yes... I have but one thing you can do to repay..." She let out a high whistle which brought a dodo running into the courtyard, a long trumpet balanced on his back as he ran up to Marne. "Take this trumpet, I would like for you to blow it once and then you'll be free to do what you desire."

Looking at the trumpet, Marne's eyebrows grew close in derision. Should he do it...? Marne slipped the watch out of his pocket as if it might've started ticking once more, but it stayed frozen still. Marne sighed and slipped the watch back into his jacket pocket and took the trumpet in hand before standing, his knee slightly damp from the dew of the grass. "I shall do as you request your majesty."

The queen's face lit up with an odd look of glee, "Perfect, we shall start the ceremony in but a few moments. Come, follow me and I shall show you where you shall stand as the ceremony takes place." Leading the man to his post, the queen's hand brushed each of the tree's flawless surfaces she stopped in front of a gate which stood tall with a pair of impressive looking iron doors between. The queen gestured towards a spot in front of the pillars, "Stand here, when I step out to speak to my dear followers, you shall blow your horn and that will be all."

Marne nodded and watched as she walked through the gates and into the palace, he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe that I'm doing this..." The cat appeared next to him, smiling as his tail flicked behind him.

"What, answering to a woman, to your superior? Or are you surprised that you're not answering to your father for once?" The cat, his stripes seeming to undulate strangely, causing Marne a slight headache.

Grunting in annoyance, Marne glanced away as he waited for the ceremony to start. "Cat, where are we really? I mean, what is this place?" He watched as what appeared to be fish swimming through the air, "This obviously isn't earth."

"Abandoned the pretense that you're unconscious my young lord?" The cat asked as he backstroked through the air, his body flexing and moving through the air as if he were swimming.

Marne sighed, "I'm honestly not sure what to believe..." He went quiet for a moment, "I'm more worried about what happened to her..."

The cat's face suddenly appeared right in front of Marne, causing the human to slam into the wall behind him violently. "Oh, have a cute girl waiting for you at home?"

Looking slightly abashed, Marne sighed heavily and wiped his forehead. "Of the sort..." Before he could ask anything of the cat though, the gates started to swing open slowly and the cat vanished with no words said. As the queen stepped out, Marne gawked. She was dressed in a gorgeous dress with red markings that resembled hearts adorning the corset, as she stepped out Marne suddenly jumped as he remembered to blow the horn. Fumbling with the horn, Marne licked his lips and blew heavily into the horn letting out a rather nasty sound.

The queen frowned slightly, but kept on a gorgeous smile as she stepped out followed by one lone person. Marne was curious to why he had blown the horn, but then as he looked out towards the trees he nearly screamed in shock. The faces in the bark had all turned to face them, the trees slowly shifted from their wooden form to resemble gorgeous woman of many ages. Their hair flowed behind them in waves of gorgeous strands, and their skin was flawless and without a sign of injury or blemish.

Marne's gaze turned to the willows and he gasped in shock and disgust, the woman who came out from the willows were in clothes of terrible quality, and their skin showed layers of dirt and grime as well as scars here and there. Their hair was shortcut and their faces showed nothing but grief and self-pity, "What in the...?" He started to ask but a fierce glare from the queen was enough to silence him before she gestured to the one who had followed her out of the gates, it was a woman of impeccable beauty and youth.

The queen spoke loudly, her voice carrying all the way to the willows, "Dear ladies of purity, this is the newest bud who had decided to join your ranks." The women who had come from the cherry blossom trees approached with smiles that showed off gorgeous pearly whites, they appraised the new girl who allowed them to lift her arms and brush her hair lightly.

The willows didn't approach though, they all stood around miserably looking at the cherry blossoms with looks of sadness, jealousy, and even pure spite. After a few minutes of looking over the girl, they nodded to the queen who smiled before speaking to the girl. "You have been accepted, let the blossoms return to their place and then you may take your place." The girl smiled and nodded, her hair blowing in the air lightly.

As the blossoms walked back to their places, flowers blossomed underfoot which sang merrily about the newest entry. Each of the women took their place, and as they did they began to dance in a swaying motion that set Marne's whole body on edge. As the girl started to walk past Marne towards an empty spot, she screamed out as she tripped and reached out and grabbed Marne for support. There was a shriek of rage and disgust as she righted herself and realized what she had grabbed onto, Marne's eyes widened in shock as the girl's hand that was wrapped around his arm started to darken and become darker like that of the willow's.

"No..." She whispered in horror, the blossoms looking at her with contempt at the very idea of touching a man. "No! I didn't mean to, please help me!" She screamed out to the blossoms, but the women quickly turned into trees and their faces faded away, but not without glares of disgust at the girl. The girl ran to the trees and pleaded with them to let her become one, but as she neared any of them their roots pushed her away as to not let her unpure self touch them.

The girl screamed in sadness and distress as her beautiful gown became a dirty garment, the queen looked at her with disgust. "You have been defiled, you have lost your purity. Go to the willows and take your place, you miserable piece of filth."

The new willow wailed and screamed, but her feet still carried her towards the willows and found a place among the dirty and engorged willows. Her own stomach had started to bulge as their did as if she had eaten many a steak, she shot a look of pure hatred at Marne before stiffening and her form shifted into that of a pitiful willow.

Before Marne could comment on anything, he found himself being grabbed by oddly shaped men. The queen approached him with a look of contempt, Marne's heart felt like it was being clenched by a fist. "I... I didn't do anything..."

The queen smiled, but Marne felt no warmth from it as she stroked his chin. "Oh I know..." The man hissed in pain as he felt her well filed fingernails cut into his skin, "But you see, I was really hoping of having another blossom in my garden. I'm quite upset..." As some blood dripped onto her fingernails, she lifted them to her lips and licked off the drips from her nails and she smiled maliciously. "You see, I'll admit, I'm a bit vain... My garden has a lovely assortment of white roses..."

One of the guards holding Marne coughed but he could hear something about them painting the flowers, but the queen continued on as if nothing had been said. "Now, how to pay me back for what you've taken from me..." The queen sighed as she tapped her finger against her chin, Marne winced as her sharp nails collided with the skin but there was no cut. She froze and a malevolent smile appeared once more, "I know the perfect way."

Marne gulped and felt sweat beading on his forehead, "P... please, let me go... I have to get home, my family..."

"No longer matters, well they won't matter in just a couple of moments." The queen giggled, a high pitched giggle that cause Marne great fear. She snapped her fingers and a blue dodo sprinted out from a nearby hedge and stood next to her, "Go fetch me an apple." She said to the dodo, the little bird rocketed off and in less than five minutes he was back with a white apple.

Marne looked at the apple doubtfully, in his life he had never seen a white apple. "W... what is that?"

The queen fingered the apple carefully, her eyes never leaving Marne's. "This, is a very special apple. I found a tree of these recently, when one of my men ate one... well..." She giggled once more, Marne wanting to tug himself from the arms of the guards but it wasn't any use, the guards were stronger than they appeared. "You'll find out for yourself..." She finished before forcing open his mouth and forcing his teeth down upon the apple, he tried to spit it out but after a rather painful smack from the guard, the white apple slid down his throat.

At first there was nothing, Marne gasped as the apple settled in his stomach. "W... what's gonna happeurch!" But before he finished his last word, a grunt of pain escaped his lips as his body hunched over and he felt a ripple of magic pass over his body, "No... no no no..." He hissed, something felt off...

The queen chuckled, her hand clutching the apple. "You have no idea how excited I've been to use this apple, sadly I've had no reason to use it until now..." She tapped her chin, "I just wanted a blossom today, you've offered me something quite nice though, I guess another willow wouldn't hurt set my beautiful blossoms apart." She giggled, "So... I hope this will fix you up my friend."

Marne screamed out in pain, his pain ringing out across the yard. It was as if a ax were being swung into his mind. Rational thought was pulled apart and smashed as the apple worked its poison into his body, his vision twisted and turned as the queen's giggle rang in his head. "You... you witch..." He was able to speak, but once more the pain overcame him and for a moment he started to gnaw at his arm in a desperate attempt to escape, but another smack from the guard just caused him to scream out in pain.

The queen watched as the apple worked its spell upon the human, it wasn't noticeable at first, the screams of pain were the only indicators that something was wrong. But now the human's muscles were rippling beneath the skin, muscles twisting and shrinking as shocking white fur began to spread across his white flesh. The woman smiled, "Gorgeous..." She whispered as she stroked his chin.

The touch was agony, the stupid woman kept on talking and touching him, it was agony to his senses. He couldn't remember his name, the pain was too much, his mind was ringing with her voice and the voices of his thoughts, but his thoughts were so jumbled... They whispered to him about some woman, and a lord and his wife... But he didn't care, he just wanted to stop the pain, maybe if he bit his tongue it might stop the pain?

The queen gasped as the human bit his tongue violently, "Stop that right now!" She smacked him.

The smack hurt like a sword being shoved beneath his flesh, he screamed again but that just hurt his throat. His body ached and twisted as he felt himself changing, then the horrendous giggling started...

The queen looked around curiously, the willows had started to giggle, it was an eerie sound that rang through the bright clearing. The blossom's faces appeared and looked disgruntled at the sound of the willow's laughing, the human started to moan in anxiety even as his body changed. His stomach bubbled out into a gut as his body shrank, his pants and shoes slipped off becoming mushrooms as they hit the ground as his legs shrank and paws grew at his feet.

He was going to be late... he didn't know what he was going to be late for, but he knew he was going to be late... was he late for a date? He needed to look at his watch... dang, the ticking was getting loud in his head, he couldn't think....

Long white ears grew on top of his head, they twitched as they caught the sound of the fob watch that didn't work ticking in his pocket... and the giggling! He needed to get away from the giggling, it was so loud! The queen watched in interest at the man's coat shrank down with him, fitting his new rabbit body. His face pushed out into a muzzle and on the tip of it, his nose became pink and twitchy.

He... he was... human? No... but he was a bunny... he... the ticking! Thoughts ran into one another as the once human tried to think, his sanity was giving way to the insanity... the wonderful bliss of insanity... The laughter... the ticking... the queen's giggling... it cracked the rabbit.

The rabbit yelled out in shock as he slipped out of the guard's hands as his arms had shrunk and he dragged a small fob watch out of his jacket pocket, its arms didn't move but still the rabbit looked shocked. "Oh dear, oh me, I'm going to be late!" He bowed to the queen, "I apologize your highness, but if I don't hurry I will be late!" The rabbit sprinted off, his feet striking the ground as he hopped along.

The queen chuckled as the guards looked disgruntled, "Your highness, the perpertator just..."

She waved away their concerns, "Don't you worry, he'll be back. He's late, but once he's met his date..." The queen turned back to the castle, her hands brandishing the trumpet he had dropped. "He'll be back just in time..."

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A girl laid in the grass, her eyes closed as the breeze brushed her blond hair. As she laid there, she heard a queer sound, it sounded like a small voice and a bit of ticking. She opened her eyes to see a rabbit looking desperately at a watch, "Oh dear, oh my, I'm going to be late!"

The girl pulled herself onto her elbows, "What dear rabbit, are you going to be late for?"

The rabbit looked at her in astonishment, "Isn't it obvious girl?" He himself didn't know, but it was sheer silliness that the girl asked. Then as if a switch were thrown in his mind he found himself being dragged towards the land of the queen, of the cat, his home... His eye flew back towards the unticking watch, "Oh dear, oh my, I"m going to be late!" He bowed to the girl, "Pardon me, but I must be getting back to her majesty."

As he hopped away in a hurry, the girl blinked in surprise. "Her majesty...?" She hopped up onto her feet, "Whatever could he mean?" Interested in what the rabbit meant, the girl followed him through bramble and bush until she found herself at a rabbit hole. She looked downtrodden for a moment before one of the cherry blossom tree's branches flew out and nudged her just enough so that she found herself falling... down... and down... and into a wonderful land... of both horrible, and great things...