[Voice]

[seadevil]

[It's late at night when the entry appears and the voice that speaks is melancholy and a bit slurred at times, as if he's been drinking.]

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who tended a beautiful garden. Every flower was her friend and the garden itself was her pride and joy. Then, one morning, she awoke to find her garden in ruins and her flowers trampled and tattered.

“What happened?” cried she, “Who has done this horrible thing to my garden?”

“Look closer,” said the scarecrow who watched the next garden over, “As I watched my garden, I saw your friend Dog tear your garden up.” The princess looked, and sure enough found the footprints of a dog in the mud. She was heartbroken, for why should so kind a friend do so terrible a thing?

“You must go find that dog,” said the scarecrow, “and give him a good thrashing for trampling your garden.” And so the princess set out to do just that. She set out from the remains of her garden and headed for Dog's house. On her way, she ran into her good friend Crow sitting on a branch and preening her feathers.

“Where are you off to with such a frown?” asked Crow.

“I am off to find Dog to give him a good thrashing, for he has trampled my garden and all my flowers are gone.”

“That is a sad thing,” said Crow, “but I've not seen Dog pass this way. Are you sure it was he?”

“I am sure,” said the princess, “for it could be no other.”

“I see,” said Crow, who was a wise bird, though a fickle one, “I shall fly ahead to see what I can see. Before you find Dog, you should go and speak to Dragon, for he sees much and mistakes little.”

The princess was vexed by Crow's words, but she knew better than ignore the advice of such a worldly creature, so she traveled to the lair of her friend Dragon. Dragon was engaged gloating over his fine claws, as dragons are wont to do, but he gladly put them away when he saw the princess approach.

“What brings you to my lair, my dear? You are far from home and your lovely face seems quite troubled!” said he.

“I am off to find Dog to give him a good thrashing, for he has trampled my garden and all my flowers are gone,” said she, “but Crow said that I should first speak to you.”

“And wise that she did,” said Dragon, “for I did not see Dog pass this way, nor do I know him to be the sort to trample a kind princess's garden.”

“I too thought him such a creature,” said the princess, “but I know what I have seen in my garden.”

“But more important is what you know in your heart,” said Dragon, for he saw much, as Crow said, and knew what was true. “Go speak to Dog and it will be clear.”

As it had been her intent from the very start, the princess was quick to heed Dragon's words and continued her journey to Dog's house. Dog saw her coming from afar and waited at the top of the hill for her to arrive, wagging his tail all the while, for he knew nothing of what had happened and was very happy to see his friend come to visit. The princess, still set on giving him a thrashing, approached with a stick in hand, but upon walking up to Dog and seeing his big earnest eyes filled with nothing but joy, she dropped her stick in frustration, knowing that it could not have been her dear friend who had destroyed her garden, but now left with no idea who may have done the deed.

“What is wrong” asked Dog, because he could not bear to see such a sad face on anyone, much less a friend.

“My garden has been trampled and all my flowers are gone. I thought it was you who did it, but now I am at a loss.”

“I assure you it was not me, nor do I know who it could have been. I am truly sorry.” And Dog truly was, because he was quite a sincere sort of beast.

“I know,” said a new voice. It was Crow, returned from her travels. “You seek Fox, not Dog, and the fairy that guides him. What's more, is that this is the doing of the scarecrow who set you on this quest in the first place.”

“Though we don't get on, I don't believe Fox could do such a thing, but as long as the fairy bewilders him, he too is a victim of this scheme.”

“Then I shall free him,” said the brave princess, “before I set things right.”

And so the princess and Dog traveled on to Fox's den, where she was met at the entrance by the evil fairy, his eyes full of malice and his twisted form filled with nothing but hate for man.

“Stand down!” said the princess “For you are an evil creature and I shall not hesitate to give you a proper thrashing.”

The fairy only laughed. “Nothing is so wonderful as something beautiful that is destroyed. So it was for your garden, so it shall be for you.” He raised his magic jewel and tried to strike the princess down, but she was too quick for him and thrashed him within an inch of his life and trod over him to reach where Fox was waiting.

“I am sorry,” said Fox, who had heard who he had thought a trusted advisor speak of such terrible things, “I knew not of your garden, though if you wish to thrash me for it as well, you are well within your rights.”

“I will not,” said the princess, “for you too are a kind and honest creature. Come with me, for together we must all put an end to this.”

And so the princess, Dog, and Fox traveled back to where it all began where the scarecrow was still watching over his pristine garden.

“So you've returned,” said he, “but why are Dog and Fox at your side?”

“They are at my side because they are blameless in this. This is all your doing and I ask you why. Why would you destroy such a beautiful garden so close to yours?” asked the bereaved princess.

“Simply because it is so close to mine,” said the scarecrow, “Why should I allow someone else's flowers the light of the sun when mine deserve it more? Mine shall be the most beautiful garden, for it is mine and the only one that matters. My flowers shall be the happiest and I shall be the greatest scarecrow of all.”

“That is not so,” said the princess, “for while flowers love the sun, they have little interest in a scarecrow. When you are gone, they shall still grow and no one shall speak of you again.”

The scarecrow was enraged. “Nonsense! I shall watch over this garden forever while the rest of the land falls to ruin!”

“I will not allow it,” said the princess, and she pulled out the scarecrow's stake and together she, Dog, and Fox built a bonfire and threw him upon it, never to be spoken of again. And like the princess said, the flowers thrived without him. Together with her friends, the princess decided to replant her garden and together they still tend it to this day.

Comments

[allendsmeat]

[listens with rapt interest, and is almost lulled to a half sleep because he's listening so much, but that's okay because he half dreams of the characters. Vivi as the Princess, Usopp as the Dog, Nami has the Crow, Kai as the fairy, Sanji as the fox --though the scarecrow was a creepy scarecrow with a turnip head and for some reason the hill was actually the top of Zoro's head and Luffy thinks for a moment how big his boogers would be before opening his eyes]

Do you think a garden like that really exists?

[seadevil]

[It's an okra head, not a turnip head, Luffy, come on.]

Aye, it does. Someplace far from here. Far indeed...

[Out of his reach for far too long and likely to remain so for far longer than he'd like.]

[allendsmeat]

[well okra is gross]

Is that where your home is?

[he rolls over onto his stomach and peers at the journal]

Or somewhere you wanna go?

[seadevil]

My home, my island. It's been far too long since I've seen it.

[Having so many people around him now that come from his world (if not the same exact version of it) has made him more homesick than he can recall ever being.]

[ryuuhime]

[ Kosuiryo listens to the story with great interest, her face contorting to smiles and frowns and then befuddlement as she tries to make sense of the story. She can see the story played out in her head, her sisters taking place of the Dog, Crow, Fox, and the centipede taking the place of the scarecrow. But the fairy…a faceless demon. ]

It is good that the scarecrow was vanquished -- why should a beautiful garden be ruined for the sake of jealousy.

[seadevil]

Why, indeed? Why also would someone agree to do such a thing, for obviously the scarecrow did not dirty his own hands? Some questions are beyond one simple fairy tale to answer.

[ryuuhime]

Is the story true? Did it truly happen?

[Voice]

[crackpotcrocker]

[Denzel's ears twitch on the mention of fairy.]

Wait... What about a - fairy!?

[He continues listening on to the talk before asking.]

Is that what your world is like?

...And why are some of these words so slurred?

[Denzel remarks about to himself.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

It's but a fairy tale. I've hit the rum a bit too hard, I think, and it's left me quite maudlin.

[Voice]

[crackpotcrocker]

Oh. Well that's disappointing.

[Crocker mumbles to himself in a rather ominous statement.]

Althought you never do know...

[There's a short beat.]

Rum?

[Pray tell what is that?]

[Voice]

[grandlineswag]

The scarecrow was an extremely poor planner. He left far too many loose ends, and had no back-up plan for emergencies.

[Voice]

[seadevil]

Not so, for he knew the princess to be a foolish and headstrong creature at heart. There are many other versions of this tale, but this is the only one where she has the good sense to listen to the sound judgment of her friends and so it is the only one with a happy ending. The others are far more bleak.

Re: [Voice]

[grandlineswag]

As these tales are often wont to be.

voice;

[knightlyidol]

[As Makoto listens to the story, she can't help but feel that something about the Scarecrow sounds familiar. But what...

"Roses? I hate them. I can't forgive anything more beautiful than me!"

Ah. Her first meeting with Regina. Of course.]

...I wonder if that's the best way the story could have ended for everyone.

voice;

[seadevil]

There was no other end for it, you see, and of all the versions of that tale there is to tell, this is by far the happiest.

[Those enraged, remorseless dark eyes still haunt him. That he could ever have trusted the words of such a man...]

voice;

[knightlyidol]

That doesn't mean there might not be a happier version possible though... right? I just don't know if it's right to punish the scarecrow that excessively.

[Voice] - [1/2]

[wavesoakedlegs]

[For those with the right kind of knowledge, this tale is really transparent in some ways. Only a few figures are a mystery to Mitsuhide in this; he won't speculate about those himself (though Motochika might do).]

[However, tonight Mitsuhide is comfortable and feeling relaxed enough to comment about one very interesting part of this tale:]

Captain, I have to admit this is quite strange.

[There is the sound of him shifting a little.]

Why would you bring up that Princess again?

[2/2]

[behisstrength]

[There's a brief hum in the background, and then Motochika adds:]

Who was the scarecrow?

[Being direct works better than merely speculating.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

It was not my intention to tell you two a bedtime story!

[Can he burn his journal so he doesn't have to think about this further?]

[It's some time before he decides that he should at least answer their questions, though they could at least have had the decency to WRITE THEM.

A princess is best suited to a story such as this, for it was purity of heart that the fairy so derided and who would one expect such a thing of if not a princess? As for the scarecrow, perhaps if I told you that his garden could truly be found across the sea from that of the princess under but three stars?

Voice

[wanderer_from_ys]

You are a good storyteller, Captain.

Voice

[seadevil]

Of course I am.

Voice

[wanderer_from_ys]

But it seems sad the scarecrow didn't know how to just accept having his own garden would be fine.

[voice]

[rebellions]

[While Ragna has ─ surprise, surprise ─ little to no interest in Motochika's story, he actually manages to listen to all of it without nodding off. Success.

Okay, to be honest, he doesn't really have anything better to do at the moment. So there's that, too.]

... You sure like telling those, huh.

[voice]

[seadevil]

Aye. A man should share his talents with the world!

[This story was less pleasant to tell than most, considering the issues he's been trying to handle lately, but he can't complain about how much attention it's gotten.]

[voice]

[rebellions]

Never knew boring people to tears was considered a talent.

[It wouldn't be Ragna is he didn't have something rude to say on every occasion, now would it?]