*Sometimes a story*

*Will have another story*

*You won't understand*

Chapter 9 – A Storybook Tale

(TARDIS' PoV)

"Really some days this place gets really filthy." She said as she walked down the library's isle toward a section where some of the books had gotten out of order. "Honestly, no visitors for such a long time, how can these books get out of order without even being touched? Not to mention dust… doesn't serve anyone's interest besides mystery solvers."

She reached the books and with speed that you could not hope to achieve, rearranged all the books into their proper positions. "They wished they could see how I did that." She said to herself with a smirk.

As she prepared to send all the books back into their storage, she saw one book that she knew she had to read. "Relevance is important, after all, if we do not know the story how can we expect to understand it?"

She pulled down the thin twenty eight page book, and looked at the cover. "The Flower, The Warrior, and The Soldier." She said, opening the picture book to the first page and began to read the story.

The first page showed a picture of a great warrior, standing guard by a bridge that led to a small village.

"A long time ago, there was a village that rested near a bridge. In that village were many peaceful people, and guarded by a single warrior that had vowed to protect the village from all harm. The warrior was a wise person, who was skilled with his sword, and used those skills to protect the peaceful village from all harm. Years passed and the village continued to thrive in peace, until one day the warrior left on an errand for a flower merchant."

She turned the page and it showed the warrior with a bucket of water that he had fetched from downstream.

"The warrior was asked by the merchant, to fetch some water for a new flower garden that he wanted to feed. Without hesitation the warrior agreed to help the merchant, and within the hour, he had retrieved a bucket from the fresh water stream. As he finished his task, he decided to rest and looked up into the sky to imagine how wonderful life was. Until he smelled the scent of smoke, and saw smoke rising from the village."

She turned the page and saw the picture showed the warrior in shock, watching as the village he protected for so long burning before him.

"The warrior rushed back, but he was already too late, the village was in flames and before he could lift a finger to save it, it burned to the ground. All those he had protected were gone. The friends he had made, the homes he had protected, the people who counted on him, all gone before his very eyes. Grief filled the warrior as he fell to the ground, crying in sadness as he blamed himself for the fire. 'Had I just been there,' he yelled to the air, 'This would not have happened!' Yet as he finished his screams, the only answer he got, was silence."

She turned the page and the next picture was the warrior, crying as he picked up a small glowing white seed, protected from the fire by being wrapped in a wet blanket.

"The warrior went through the charred remains of the village, trying to find anything or anyone that had survived the fire. Yet all he found were burned ruins and charred bodies. Until he reached the flower merchant's shop, and started looking around under the burned wood. As he dug, he found what appeared to be a burned towel and a wet spot under it. As he pulled the towel away, he discovered a single white seed. The flower merchant had managed to save this seed from the fire, by wrapping it in a damp towel and hiding it underneath it. All that remained of the village was the Warrior that protected it and this single tiny seed. The warrior wept with this knowledge as he took the seed."

She smiled as she turned the page, the picture revealed the warrior presenting the seed in his hands before a shrine and bowing before it.

"The warrior was saddened that he and the seed were all that remained of the village, and wanting to make amends to his failure to protect the village went to the shrine of Seikatsu. He knelt before the shrine and presented the seed before the shrine, and asked for guidance. 'Please tell me, what I must do to make amends for my failure!' He asked of the shrine. 'All that remains is this seed, and myself, please tell me what I should do!' And as he sat there, holding the seed, the air shimmered before him."

She turned the page and the next picture revealed the warrior in the same position, but this time a beautiful woman covered in flowers and wearing nothing but a gown of leaves reaching out and cupping the hand holding the seed.

"The Deity of Life: Seikatsu appeared before him, and with a kind smile and gentle hands, held the hands that were holding the tiny seed. She told him to plant the seed near where the village once was, and to watch over the seed as it grew. She told him that he must take care of the seed, to treasure it for it and it alone survived the fire. And in protecting it and taking care of it, it will learn to care for him as well. She finally told him, that he must use the water found from the river that he was asked to retrieve from the flower merchant, for that river was sacred to the village, and would give the seed a life unlike other seeds."

She turned the page, and the picture showed the warrior planting the seed and watering it with the water from the river, while at the same time holding an umbrella with his free hand, and his sword buried in the dirt.

"So the warrior did as Seikatsu said, and planted the seed where he used to stand watch over the village. Each day he watered the seed with water from the river, and built a house nearby to watch over it. Many months passed with the warrior fetching water each day, watering the seed where he had planted it and spending each day protecting it from everything. The elements, the wildlife, even travelers who did not know why he was standing guard over a patch of dirt, he protected the seed against all. Yet still the seed did not grow."

She turned the page again, and this time the picture showed the warrior sitting before a white flower as it was growing, a speech bubble from his mouth indicated he was talking.

"The warrior spent every day, and every night that he could, talking to the seed that he watched over. He spoke to the seed and told it of his misery, and how he felt he could never atone for what he failed to do. He told the seed that he would watch over the seed, watch it grow, and would stay close to protect and nourish it each day. He would do all to atone for his failure, and perhaps maybe find some measure of peace. As he spoke to the seed each day, the seed eventually began to grow, little by little into a beautiful white lily flower."

She turned the page to show the warrior falling asleep next to the beautiful flower that he had been watching over so carefully and vigilantly.

"It was on one particularly dark and cold night when the warrior sat watch over the plant, that he finally found the courage to confront his inner fear. He told the flower that he finally had a reason to keep going and set aside his grief. He declared, as his eyes began to fall asleep, that he would rebuild the destroyed village. He hoped that the flower would watch over it with him, and he and the flower would guide new villagers to this home. He said he would do this, because he cared not only about the village, but also the flower that he watched over."

She turned the page again, and this time the picture showed the warrior sleeping soundly next to the flower, and it was wrapping its leaves and roots around his hand.

"On the night, when a year after he first planted the seed passed, the warrior fell asleep watching over the flower at night. The flower had spoken not a word, and it would never speak to him. Yet when it felt how exhausted the warrior was from watching over it, the flower could not help but feel an emotion no plant could ever feel. It could not express this feeling the way the warrior has, for even though he did not admit it, the flower could sense through the ground the deeper meaning behind his words. So using the sacred water that he had fed it constantly, it pushed its roots as far as they could, and its leaves as large as it could, and gripped the warrior's hand. In growing its roots and leaves, it grew even more beautiful and larger than ever before. For the first time a flower learned to love, and it kept ahold of that feeling as strongly as it could."

She turned the page and grew sad, seeing it was coming to an end, but still looked at the next picture which showed a new arrival onto the scene, an armed soldier with fancy armor.

"One day, a soldier arrived as he traveled from lands far beyond, searching for wonders to present to his lord. When he spotted the warrior near the bridge and the flower, he assumed he was watching over the bridge. The flower caught his eye, and he became smitten with it, for such beauty he had never seen before. He wanted to claim it and bring it back to his homeland to share with all. However the warrior would not let him dig it up, saying that the flower was stay where it was, for he wanted to rebuild the destroyed village with its help."

She turned the page and saw that the picture showed the warrior and the soldier, locked in battle with the flower to the warrior's back. It watched the warrior carefully, extending its roots beneath the ground, as if trying to help him however it could.

"The soldier challenged the warrior to a duel, declaring he would take it by force. The warrior accepted, saying he would never allow the flower to be taken from where he had planted it. As the two dueled their skill became evident, for both were evenly matched. The only difference was that the soldier was driven to bring the flower to his homeland, while the warrior was driven to protect the flower from being taken away. The flower, not idle by any means, pushed its roots closer to the dueling pair, trying to help the warrior however it could, but unwilling to interfere for fear it might do more harm than good."

She turned the page once more and looked as the image showed the warrior lying on the ground with a sword in his guts, blood pouring from the wound and onto the ground, the flower wilting as it drank the blood with its roots.

"The duel ended, but in defeat for the warrior, badly wounded the warrior fell next to the flower that he had cared for so much. With his final breaths, he whispered to the flower, asking it to forgive him for failing to protect it, like he had failed to protect the village. While the soldier boasted of his glory, the plant could not bear to see the warrior to see the warrior dying before it. It pushed its roots to where the warrior's blood was spilled, and drank deeply of the warrior's essence, not caring that after a year of drinking the pure, sacred water from the river, the warrior's blood was poisonous to it. It drank deeply, even as it began to wilt from the poisonous blood, it refused to stop until death claimed it as well. It cared so much about the warrior that had tended to it, that it would rather let death claim it and the warrior than allow the soldier to claim it."

She turned to the final page and looked at how the warrior, floating above the clouds, held a small tiny flower in his cupped hands, while the flower's petals pointed to his face and its roots twirled around his body down to his feet.

"Moments after the warrior passed on, he was joined by the flower. The flower finally spoke words to him, now that their mortal bonds had been broken. 'You cared for me all our lives, and I cared for you as best as I could. Our love will feed me from now on, so I shall never leave your side, together we shall be… and together we will always be.' It said to him, as it wrapped its roots around him as they both ascended into the heavens, where they joined the villagers that had been waiting for them to arrive."

With a sad smile she closed the book and put it back on the shelf. "When you know the story and how things will end, you never really visit the same story again and again." She said as she turned and left the library. "Still… that doesn't mean… it will always end the same way. Now if I'm correct… those two should be dueling any moment now… I know how it will end but…"

She shook her head with a smile. "Oh well… I suppose that knowing everything that will happen is both a gift and a curse. I'm glad I don't have to spoil the ending like that book did for me."