A Tale of a certain Strawberry

A story of a princess from a far away land.

A TALE OF A CERTAIN STRAWBERRY

Once upon a time, far, far from here, many years ago, there was a land - a kingdom called Nameless. Funny name, yes, but it was as old as darkness. The land was known for magic and strawberries. One sunny day the royal couple had a child, a girl. Proud of their country they named her Strawberry. Strawberry was the most adorable child the kingdom had ever seen. Even when she was small, she had long and thick black hair, huge blue eyes and a small cute mouth. Even though she was so cute, she was a real trouble maker. When she was five she was exploring a healer’s room. She hid and broke stuff by accident, important expensive stuff. One drink she found was pink and sparkly, and she drank it. The drink wasn’t ready yet and a pair of cat ears and a tail grew on her. Even when everyone got mad at her, she found it awesome. Her favorite thing to do was run around in the big yard of the castle, with her black unicorn called Kitten. Strawberry got Kitten from her father, the King, when she turned six, and the two grew up together. The girl was really busy all the time, she kept running and climbing and, of course, falling over. Every time she fell and got a scratch, Kitten pressed her horn to the wound and healed it.

One day Strawberry was climbing the castle’s barrier with Kitten closely keeping an eye on her from underneath. She saw a boy a little older than her leaning his back against the wall, on the town’s side. The girl crouched above him and threw a rock to his head. The boy cried out, held his head and looked up.

”I’m Strawberry”, she introduced herself and let out a cat-like meow. He laughed, bowed and told her his name was Beet. He was the only child of a peasant and often wandered around the castle’s barrier. They talked for quite a while, Strawberry was sitting on the barrier and Beet underneath it. Kitten stomped the ground nervously, because Strawberry was too small to be that high and away from the castle for so long. After that she would meet the boy almost every day in secret.

On the day of Strawberry’s 15th birthday the king died from a brain fever he got from a foreign country. The kingdom had healers but they weren’t adept enough to cure unknown serious illnesses. On that day Strawberry got her father’s katana, the title of a warlord and she got to name a knight for herself. Naturally she picked Beet. This caused a lot of gossip and hassle because no-one knew anything about the boy. To him and his father it was a great honor, so he accepted happily. Beet moved in the castle so they didn’t have to meet in secret anymore. When the king died, the queen closed up and all her love vanished. In the blink of an eye all fun and play was no longer acceptable. There were many nations who wanted war against Nameless, to get their magic and legendary strawberries. The king’s sword was sharpened and Strawberry and Beet headed to the warzone riding their unicorns. Strawberry’s reputation as a ruthless and young defender of her kingdom echoed fast and wide. People started calling her Strawberry Evil. But the kingdom was becoming safer and safer, and the citizens of Nameless were pleased with their princess. Because Beet was always on her side, in war and outside it, he got the name Berry Boy.

One day Strawberry was planting seeds and Beet was sitting on the edge of the field, cleaning her katana.

”They turned out black”, she noted with a confused voice when the strawberries came from the ground.

”Maybe you put on too much water or magic?” Beet asked still cleaning the katana. Strawberry shook her head and sat next to him with a heavy sight.

”Mother once told me that the berries an evil person grows turn out to be black.” Beet put the katana to the ground.

”Defending the kingdom, our kingdom, does not make us evil”, he comforted her and started braiding her long hair.

”I want more pink clothes. Everything is so… black. Both of our hair and armor even.” Beet nodded and petted Strawberry’s cat ears and tail. Kitten was playing next to the field near them, she had grown to be the most graceful unicorn the kingdom had ever seen. Strawberry looked at her pet with pride. The steed had helped over at the warzone many times and never got hurt or lost her horn. Strawberry got up and jumped on Kitten’s back.

”I’m going to talk to mother”, the girl said and left running back to the castle.

”Always in a hurry”, Beet sighed, put a ring back in his pocket and continued cleaning the katana.

Strawberry marched into the Crown Hall where the queen was reading on her throne. Strawberry picked up a pink book from the bookshelf and gave it to her mother. The queen lifted her look to the girl and gave out an interrogative sigh.

”I found it a while back, mother. It tells about nurses that sound way better than healers. Mother, I want to-” The queen lifted her hand and looked at her daughter with a blank face.

”We have healers, Strawberry. That book is humbug. You are a princess and the future ruler. Do not even think about getting excited about trash like that. Also, your unicorn will heal you every time the healers are not there.

”The healers or unicorns didn’t cure father”, Strawberry said with an impatient voice. The queen gave the book to a servant who took it away.

”You will soon be of age, get married and rule this land. There are still wars going on. Forget about useless things and focus on what is important. With Berry Boy by your side our land might have a bright future. Whether he is a knight or king, he will keep you in order.” Strawberry stood still, silently, for a while and then bowed and walked out of the room. Outside the door the servant gave the book back to her.

”Thank you, Pier”, she said with a warm smile. ”I’m so very tired of wars.”

Strawberry and Beet were walking alongside a river. On the other side there was a herd of oxen running and playing. The river was shining in the sunlight and large carps were following it.

”Do you miss the other side of the wall?” she asked. Beet shook his head.

”And we visit the town every now and then”, he said. Strawberry nodded and glanced behind him. On top of a small hill a white deer with red horns was standing. It was calmly grazing.

”Look at that… You don’t see that creature everyday”, Beet laughed. The deer lifted its head up and looked at the pair. Glitter was falling off from the horns to the ground. Beet looked at Strawberry who was staring at the deer with elated face. He moved a tress from her cheek behind her ear and gently pressed his lips on hers. She blushed and made a confused face.

”The deer will give us luck, my princess… Strawberry, my future queen, will you marry me?” he asked with a soft voice. Strawberry had a wide smile as she laughed and nodded. The white deer made a hollow loud noise and walked away. Beet put a shiny silver ring to Strawberry’s finger and kissed her.

”Strawberry, my princess! Kitten has gotten ill”, Beet panted after running to the girl, who was reading the healer’s book. Strawberry dropped the book and went running to the stalls. Unicorns don’t easily get sick so it was a big deal. The king’s unicorn had died in battle, it was Kitten’s father and the first unicorn to die in the kingdom. Kitten was lying on top of hay inside the stall. Her breathing was heavy and foam was coming out of her mouth. A healer was examining the unicorn’s mouth and took out black mush. Strawberry recognized it and ran to the field. Kitten had gotten to the field. The gate was open and she had eaten all the black strawberries. Strawberry threw her tiara to the ground and left out a scream that had all her frustration and sadness.

”Quite a scream”, Beet mumbled and hugged Strawberry, calming her down.

”That’s that for the white deer’s luck”, she cried. Strawberry rubbed her face and went back to the stall. She kneeled next to Kitten. There was nothing they could do, so she stroked the unicorn’s snout until she fell asleep. Strawberry cut off Kitten’s horn and gave it and her katana to Beet.

”Take these to the blacksmith. I want the horn to be forged to the sword.”

”But-” ”I know”, Strawberry whispered. Beet bowed and went to talk to the blacksmith. Unicorn’s horn would make the sword able to cure, so it couldn’t be used to hurt anyone anymore. The bones of a unicorn are like diamond and the flesh is like batter, only thicker. So Kitten’s bones were used to make candlesticks and jewelry while her flesh was turned, with a little magic, to a cake decorated with strawberries. The cake was eaten at Kitten’s memorial that had half the kingdom present. Strawberry was wearing the same dress and hat as she had on her father’s funeral. The katana that had now been forged with the horn, she kept close to her. Once Strawberry had eaten her piece of cake, she retired to her room with Beet.

”I’m going to leave, Beet”, she said and picked up the pink nurse book.

”I’ll go study to be a nurse and leave this kingdom. Mother can still rule and she won’t miss me. You will take over-” Beet stopped her with a kiss.

”My princess, I will follow you wherever you go. Now and forever. Besides, you’ve promised to marry me, so you owe me a wedding.” Strawberry smiled relieved. The pair talked and planned their coming trip through the night. Strawberry wrote a letter to the queen. They would leave in the middle of the night and return after some time, at least for a visit.

The next day Strawberry spent hours on the field. She collected all the strawberries and their magic. She looked closely at the view, her kingdom and castle. Under that tree she and Beer had shared their first kiss. Next to that beck Kitten was always playing. From the top of that rock her father would always show her what the countrymen were doing. It would be hard to leave home, but she’ll get used to it. Besides, she got the three most important things with her: her father’s katana, Kitten’s horn to cure people with, and Beet. Even though she felt wistful, she was excited, too. She had never been outside the kingdom.

”It’s almost evening, my princess. Have you finished packing?” Beet asked while coming to the edge of the field. Strawberry nodded and went inside with her strawberry basket. Soon, night fell and the two snuck out with their belongings. Beet lifted the stuff to the carriage while Strawberry harnessed an ox and told him where to go. They didn’t need a driver, because once an ox got instructions of where to go, he knew exactly what road to take. Strawberry got up to the carriage next to her bridegroom and the pair vanished from the castle’s gate. A new road was about to open, they could leave everything bad behind.

© 2016 Strawberry Evil

Author's Note

The picture I made on Rinmarugames, and is only a reference of how the princess Strawberry looks like.

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Reviews

Midnight Otaku

Wonderful. I really enjoyed this story. Also would you mind if i used your idea of putting an avatar from Rinmarugames as my story picture.(not your's one i make)