Animal World/Vanilla Muffin

## Forbidden Rose Garden

In a garden bursting with blossoms lived a gentle beast tamer.

He had a head of long hair, snow-white and downy-soft, and sported a pair of delicate horse hooves and supple horse ears. with a face fresh and fair like some deep forest angel.

Every sun-up, he would busy himself among the foliage patiently bringing moist, sweet dew to each flower.

Occasionally, he would bring back a group of humans.

A little girl living amongst the greenery saw that they all wore shackles.

"Why don't you have any shackles on you?" the people asked the girl in astonishment.

"What are those? I was born and raised here, and I've never heard anyone mention that."

And so, that was the first time the girl became aware there was a world outside the garden.

It was a world ruled by wild beasts where most people would be put in chains from birth and placed in the circus to provide entertainment for the beasts.

There was a six-fingered pianist, a blind magician, a sea siren with a tail...

They would twirl and perform under the lights, getting chased and torn apart amidst roars of laughter until blood stained the curtains red.

The little girl covered her mouth in shock.

She finally knew why the people that the beast tamer brought back every day were always riddled with wounds and bound in chains.

But the beast tamer would work around the clock to heal them. His whip would transform into a towering rattan tree whose leaves would give off a healing glow.

Aside from this, in the center of the garden was a rose that had never blossomed.

Thorns entwined around it into a fence as if protecting the tightly closed bud.

"Why hasn't that rose bloomed even though it's spring?"

The gentle beast tamer smiled softy and plucked a clover flower, placing it in the girl's palm.

"Because... it is a rose bearing hope. I'm sure that one day it will blossom with great intensity."

The genial sunshine fell upon him, gilding him in a layer of light gold; but the little girl thought that his face was a bit pale.

Later, the number of humans in the garden gradually increased until there was even a faint reek of blood in the air.

The girl discovered to her delight, however, that the rose had a few petals opening up, like a shy maiden.

Later still, even more humans discovered the garden's existence.

They shouted and wailed for the beast tamer to let them in.

The beast tamer agreed, but only the little girl noticed a crystalline drop at the corner of his eye.

The beast tamer grew busier and busier, too busy to ever tend his garden again like he used to.

One night, she saw the beast tamer after a long absence.

But his shoulders had become so thin, and his face so pallid like a waning moon.

That night, countless people yearning for sanctuary flooded in like a rampant ride. They trampled the garden gate to pieces and toppled the walls.

The beast tamer stood alone in the night air watching the boundless surge with both grief and bitter pain.

Meanwhile, the rose suddenly burst into bloom, and its fiery red petals were like leaping tongues of flame enkindling an intense brilliance.

"The rose has bloomed! Our hope is here now, right!?"

The girl cried out joyfully, but the beast tamer shook his head dolefully.

"No... when the rose blooms, that's when the garden withers..."

"The seed of this rose will help you maintain the power of the garden, but if its limits are exceeded, the garden will collapse. When the rose blossoms, that is its hour of death."

In the depths of a secret realm, thus spoke that chameleon with its swishing tail and amethysts for eyes.

"You really intend to trade your taming powers with me for it?"

"Yes... I've made up my mind. Even if this world really will be destroyed... before that, I'd still like... to plant a garden."

Even if it's only a single flower.

Amidst the chaos and tumult, the garden crumbled and fell bit by bit, like a crystal ball.

The beast tamer quietly closed his eyes, and while everyone looked on in panic, he swallowed that withered rose in one decisive gulp.

Sharp thorns pierced his heart, and warm blood and tears melted into the gloom of the night.

"Don't...! I can give my strength to you! I don't want this garden to disappear..." the little girl clutched at that clover flower and spilled tears of her own.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd echoed her words, first one person, then another, until a chorus of voices stood like a mighty tower.

Under the moonlight, a miracle occurred.

The withered roses around the beast tamer bloomed forth once again, unfurling into a vast expanse of brilliance.

From that day on, the legendary garden and the beast tamer never returned.

But it was known, if only by the people there and the night breeze, that there was now an extra wanderer in this world.

He had angelic, snow-white hair, and odd horse hooves and ears.

He went on his way, always planting new roses.