Onto the tenth day! Today's challenge is...fables! So...the setting is a bit AU to fit.

Words: 2,012
Character(s): Kaitou Kuroba, Shinichi Kudou, Ran Mouri, Heiji Hattori, Kazuha Toyama, Aoko Nakamori, Gin, Saguru Hakuba; mentions of Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, Genta, Haibara, and Sonoko
Rating: G
Prompt: #10; Fable with the setting of: Near the cows at a farm fair
Disclaimer: Not mine!! Gosho Aoyama owns all!
Notes: The main moral of the story is "don't judge a book by its cover", though I seem to have accidentally written in a couple others ( ^^;; ). I haven't written a fable since third grade or so...and I had to look up what a farm fair was, so I can only hope it's somewhat slightly accurate.

The Lonely Bull

Once upon a farm fair, in a parallel dimension, lived intelligent animals. Included in these animals were the sheep, the horses, the chickens, the pigs, and the cows. Of course, that meant that there was a bull there as well. If one looked, then they could see a cat or two, some pigeons, and a sheep dog on the land.

In this place, was a large crow named Gin, with feathers as black as coal. The crow was a nasty character, who picked on some of the other animals and stole their treasures. It had its black eyes now set on the rumors it had heard about the bull's treasure.

But nobody wanted to go near the bull, save perhaps some of the other cows. After all, Shinichi the bull was large, and had horns that were intimidating.

But Gin wasn't afraid of any bull. He wanted Shinichi's treasure of pretty rocks that said bull had found over time, and he was going to get it.

So, one sunny afternoon, Gin flew over to the cow pen to try and find the treasure. He didn't see Shinichi anywhere, so he figured that he cold easily find and get away with the treasure.

A sudden shadow blocked the light from the sun, and Gin looked up, ready to attack whomever had made the mistake of sneaking up on him.

But his cries died in his throat, and his beak halted mid-peck.

It was Shinichi…who was even larger up close.

Gin had only seen him from a distance, and had figured that the bull wasn't that big.

But, now that he stared up at the bull, he couldn't help but feel something he had never felt before:

Fear.

Shinichi stared at him with sad, eyes. Then, he asked, "What are you doing over here, crow?"

Gin screeched and flew into the air a bit as he shouted, "Don't talk to me! Don't come near me, you big buffoon!"

Shinichi frowned as best as a bull could, but didn't respond. Gin's words had hurt him, even though he had heard them all the time.

Gin flew higher into the air. "You're even bigger and dumber looking up close!"

The crow was certain that there was no way he could get the treasure, now. Not since he was afraid of the big, dumb bull.

With eyes narrowed, Gin flew off to leave the pen. It wasn't fair! Someone else could take the treasure before he could maybe fool someone into getting it for him!

Then, a great idea crossed the crow's mind.

If he couldn't get the treasure, then nobody would!

With a laugh, Gin launched into the air and flew until he landed at the sheep pen. He looked at a sheep grazing by the fence, and said, "Hey, did you hear? The brown bull is a maniac!"

The sheep looked up in confusion, then inquired, "Shinichi?"

"Yes! Him! He's crazy! He tried to attack me just for landing near him!" Gin gave his best impression of being ruffled and traumatized.

The sheep gasped.

"Tell your friends! Stay away from him!" Gin was inwardly laughing as he said this to the sheep.

The sheep nodded. It had already been wary of the bull next door, but this proved it!

The sheep told his friend, who told his friend…and before long, the entire pen knew of it.

Heiji, the sheep dog, tilted his head when he heard the news. "I don't corral the cows, so I've never really met Shinichi. Is he really that bad?"

"Oh, yes!" his sheep friend, Kazuha, responded. "I heard it from Mitsuhiko, who heard it from Ayumi, who heard it from Haibara! That bull is bad news! I mean, look at him! He's so big! He must be just as stupid! Not like us sheep! Or you!"

Heiji glanced over at the cow pen, where the bull was grazing with the rest of the cows. He supposed that the creature did seem a bit scary…and there were those horns, too! He could fence the sheep, but not even he was brave enough to go up against that bull!

They were interrupted by Ran the cat, who had snuck into the sheep pen again. "What are you all talking about?"

"Shinichi. You know…that scary bull!" Kazuha answered the tabby cat.

Ran climbed up onto the fence when Heiji eyed her hungrily. "What about him?"

"He's big and scary!" Heiji barked.

"I hear he killed a crow!" Kazuha explained to her feline friend.

Ran nearly yowled. "Really!?"

"Yep! He looks the part, too! Poor crow was minding his own business, from what I heard, and BAM!" Kazuha paced a bit. Then, she jumped a bit. "I'm going to go tell Genta over by the pig pen! They should hear about it, too!"

Heiji barked as Kazuha ran off towards the direction of the pig pen.

Ran stretched on top of the wooden fence. "Shinichi doesn't look that tough to me. Are they sure about those rumors?"

Heiji gave a doggy shrug. "I heard it from Kazuha. He is a big guy…he could stomp us flat if he wanted to. I'm sure killing off a crow or two is no problem."

Ran sat up. "But that just doesn't make sense…"

Heiji yawned. "Either way, I ain't gonna go near him. He looks dangerous, and stupid. Not a good guy for an intelligent conversation. Now…I see Ayumi straying off to the edge. I better go round her up."

Ran watched the dog run off, then nearly jumped when a familiar pigeon landed on the fence next to her.

"Not going to chase me today?" Kaitou the pigeon asked as he tilted his head.

Ran stood up. "I'm trying to figure out if I should be afraid of Shinichi or not."

"The bull? What about him?"

"There's a rumor that says that he killed a crow," Ran responded.

Now, Kaitou was a crafty pigeon. He was different from the others in that he wasn't afraid of hanging around with Ran, who was a cat. Sure, he still looked for scraps from the humans like other pigeons, but he didn't quite fit the mold.

Even Aoko, his pigeon friend, thought him to be unusual for a pigeon. That never stopped him, however.

Kaitou never really thought about the bull, or any of the other animals besides the other pigeons and his friend, Aoko.

Perhaps she would know more about this.

"I'll go ask Aoko." Kaitou flew into the air.

It didn't take him long to spot his friend, who was by a bench with the other pigeons, waiting for crumbs to drop from the humans.

"Hey, Aoko! What's up?" Kaitou asked as he landed.

"Did you hear about the bull?" Aoko questioned.

Apparently, Kaitou was right in asking about her about it. Did the entire farm know the bull supposedly killed a crow?

"I heard that he went into a rage and tried to break out! And that it took five humans to stop him! Isn't that scary?" Aoko chirped.

Kaitou blinked at her. All he had heard was the rumor about a crow. And at the moment, he was beginning to doubt it. Sure, Shinichi looked scary, and he was certainly big, but Kaitou wandered all over the farm, and hadn't seen any sort of trouble.

"Everyone is staying away from him…I am, too! I hear that if you look at him wrong, you'll end up dead like some poor pigeon!"

"What? I thought it was a crow!" another pigeon named Hakuba broke into the conversation. "He killed a crow!"

"It was a pigeon!" Aoko argued back.

Kaitou was sure his beak was hanging open as yet another pigeon argued that it was a sparrow.

This was getting to be way too much for the curious pigeon. He was a little scared about facing such a large animal, but he had to know what really happened. Without a word to the arguing pigeons, he took into the sky and flew over to the cow pen.

Kaitou landed on the fence, surprised to see Ran the cat there.

"I thought I'd take a look," Ran told him when he landed. "Shinichi does look scary, but isn't it lonely to eat by yourself all the time? I usually eat with Sonoko. You know…the calico."

"I know who Sonoko is. I was just wondering about Shinichi, myself. I want to know why he's spreading rumors to scare everyone!" Kaitou fluffed his feathers.

Ran took on a determined look. "There's only one way to find out!"

And with that, the brave cat jumped into the cow pen.

Kaitou gawked at her a moment, then gave a smirk as best as a bird could and glided down to fly next to her.

"You don't have to come," Ran stated as she stalked with determination over towards the lone bull.

"I want to."

The can rolled her eyes at the eccentric pigeon, then crept towards the bull.

Shinichi paused in his eating and turned towards the two animals when he heard their approach.

For a long pause, nobody spoke.

Then, finally, Ran broke the silence. "Hi."

Shinichi bowed his head a bit to look at the smaller animals. "Hello. What brings you over to this side of the pen?"

Kaitou drew up his courage. "We want to know why you're spreading rumors that you killed a crow! Or a bird…or some animal…"

Shinichi blinked. "I did no such thing." He looked away from them. "Even the humans are afraid of me. Nobody comes near me. I hear them talking…saying how stupid I am, how ugly I am…how big. I can't help it that I'm big. I'm a bull."

Ran looked up at him. "You didn't kill anything, did you…"

"No," the bull answered.

Kaitou chirped. "I knew it! But, then, where did those nasty rumors come from?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Perhaps it was a human. Perhaps it was the crow that insulted me this morning. Unfortunately, creatures tend to judge on appearance. For instance…you are a cat, and you are a bird. And yet, you two seem to be friends. Isn't that strange?"

Kaitou and Ran exchanged an amused and slightly enlightened look.

"I've often thought the same thing," Kaitou had to agree.

Ran stepped over, then rubbed up against the bull's leg. "You know what? You aren't big or scary. You're kind and smart! I'm sure others would know if they talked to you."

"They're too afraid to talk to me. You've heard…there are daily rumors…"

Kaitou rolled his eyes. "Ha! Leave that to me! You're a cool guy, Shinichi!"

Shinichi looked startled. "You would speak for me? Why?"

Ran purred. "That's what friends do. I know that I would like to be your friend."

"Me, too! You're fun to talk to!" Kaitou hopped about.

Shinichi appeared to smile, and the two swore they could see tears of joy in his eyes for a split second. "Thank you. That means a lot to me to hear."

Ran giggled and sat down next to the bull. "That's what friends do, silly!"

Kaitou flew into the air. "I'll be back in a flash! Perhaps I should say something about crows…"

"Two wrongs do not make a right. I'm happy with just the two of you as friends. If more want to be my friend, then even better! But you shouldn't say nasty things, because words can cut deeper and stay around longer than teeth or claws," Shinichi warned the pigeon.

Kaitou pouted, then sighed. "Alright. You win. I won't say anything. But, I will say that you aren't a bad guy, Shinichi!"

With that, the pigeon flew higher into the air, and called out for the whole of the farm to hear:

"Hey, everyone! Check it out! This is big news! Don't believe everything you hear! That bull is a really nice guy! He just looks big and scary, but he's not! Let that be a lesson for you! Never judge somebody by the way they look!"

END