As most of you can probably guess from the title I'm taking the old fables from Aesop and going to be inserting the Strawhat crew into the midst of them. For those of you who are too young to know who Aesop is (No he isn't part of Ussop's family), he is an ancient Greek writer and philosopher. Think of him like the ancestor of your modern day school teacher. His fame came with his popular stories he would come up with to help teach lessons to the average farmer and also the nobleman. In short he told his stories with life morals attached to them. To make them relevant he would often use animals as the main characters so as not to personally offend any of the higher class, which could get you killed in those days, and also the farmers were familiar with dealing with these kinds of animals. He is probably best known for the story of the Tortoise and the Hare (which I will include here also).

I tried to stay as close to the original fable as I could, with a little expanding here and there, but there were some I just couldn't help but flesh out a bit more. Sorry if that should offend anyone. Also I tried to match the Strawhat crew up with animals that would fit their personalities (ie: Nami as fox or Zoro as a wolf) this comes into play in this chapter. Even though Chopper is a deer, Sanji seemed to fit into this spot more. As for the moral of the story I'll include it at the end of each chapter, and if you happen to disagree with the moral, you'll have to find a time machine to take you back to ancient Greece to complain to the original author. So without further ado let's see how much I can screw up Aesop's Fables for you.

Disclaimer: Don't own Aesop or OP

The Stag and the Hunter

All was peaceful in the forest on this warm, lazy, summer day. The birds were singing happily in the treetops that swayed with the gentle breeze and all the forest animals were out and about, enjoying the afternoon. The beautiful butterflies danced along the meadows. The cheerful little rabbits played amongst the summer grasses. And a young stag made his way through the woods in a show of great importance.

He tossed his antlers about in an exaggerated fashion, showing all the animals how noble he thought he was. The stag was on his way to the pond where all the animals gathered on occasion to meet with each other and drink. On his way there an old badger stuck his white and black head out of his hole in the ground.

"Hey, you, young buck. Where are you headed looking so important today?" The black and white badger was known very well through this part of the forest. His name was Brook and even though he was old and couldn't keep up with some of the younger animals he had a reputation for being a help to whoever needed it. However, the deer did not take this into consideration as he pranced past the hole Brook lived in.

The brown furred stag only tossed his head higher. He didn't bother looking back to the old hole digger. "My name's Sanji, not 'buck'. I'll have you know, old Badger, I'm important every day for I have something that no one else in the forest has." He soon left the badger behind and continued on his way. "That is very true. I do have something that no one else in the forest has. After all, the badger does not have a pair of such fine antlers. That is what makes me greater."

Soon two young foxes bounded in the middle of the path. Sanji jumped back, startled at the sudden appearance of the pair. One was a light orangey-red color and the other had very deep red almost black fur. Despite the fact that foxes ate meat these two and the stag were friends.

"Oh, hello Sanji, sorry if we scared you. We were just coming back from a hunt." Nami, the orangey-red vixen, said with a polite smile.

"Yeah, it was a good hunt." The dark furred fox added to the conversation with a lick of his chops. Luffy grinned a foxy grin in Nami's direction. "Though Nami did most of the hunting."

Sanji chuckled nervously at the two carnivores though he knew he didn't have to worry about being on their menu. "No one I know, I hope."

The vixen let a sly smile slide onto her face as she looked from Luffy to Sanji. "Not unless you normally associate with voles and mice." The deep red fox chuckled at Nami's words.

"Come on Nami. I wanna get back to the den." Luffy said as he rubbed his shoulder against his vixen's. It would've been cute- had he not spoken in an annoyingly whiney tone.

Nami rolled her eyes but allowed Luffy to guide her out of the deer's path and more toward the edge of the trees again. Before she was gone for good, however, the vixen stuck her head out of the underbrush and spoke once more to their friend. "By the way Sanji, I wanted to tell you, if you're going to the pond be careful. I heard from Robin that a hunter was spotted in the forest earlier. And stop nipping at me Luffy!" Nami turned sharply and disappeared back into the bushes followed by the sound of a young male fox yelping in pain.

The sound of the fox's tussle faded away and Sanji shook his head in bewilderment. He never could figure out how those two became mates. "So a hunter in the forest? Well I don't have to worry about him, not like the foxes. After all, I have something that no one else in the forest has. The fox does not have a pair of marvelous antlers like these. That is what makes me greater."

The young buck continued on his way to the pond without a glance back. After a short while he came upon an old birch tree, he knew the pond wasn't much farther. Sanji bent down to nibble some grass at the base of the tree since he hadn't eaten for a while now thanks to all the interruptions.

Suddenly a noise from above caused the brown stag to look upwards into the tree limbs. He frowned in annoyance. "Yo, stick legs." Sanji knew this creature, as much as he didn't want to. On the lowest branch of the birch tree sat a fuzzy tailed squirrel. There was a mocking smirk forming around his buck teeth.

Zoro, otherwise known as the most annoying animal of the forest, was one creature the stag couldn't stand. The bushy-tailed gray squirrel lounged lazily atop his low hanging branch. "What do you want, tree jumper?" Sanji asked, already irritated at the smaller animal.

"Nothing at all. I happen to know you're headed for the pond but I wouldn't if I were you." Zoro said, not bothering to reply to the deer's name calling.

"Why not, oh wise one?" Sanji asked sarcastically.

The gray squirrel scoffed, his tail flicking back and forth. "A hunter is headed this way. If you had any brains in that horned head of yours, you'd lay low, but then again I guess you don't."

"They're antlers, not horns." The stag said holding his head that much higher. "You may fear the man, the foxes may fear the man, and even the old badger fears the man. I don't fear him because I have something that no one else in the forest has-"

"Yep, you sure do." Zoro interrupted. He jumped down from his branch to land agilely on the stag's antlers then to his back and finally shimmied down his long legs. "No one in the forest has such long and skinny legs that look like they're walking on sticks from the trees."

Sanji snorted and stamped his hoof where the little squirrel was mere seconds ago. He was too late. The young buck followed the bushy-tailed creature's laughter into the treetops where it soon faded away. Snorting indignantly again the brown furred deer shook his head. His proud antlers scraped the bottom of the leaves of the branch Zoro was resting on earlier. The young stag passed by the old birch tree and within minutes was in sight of the pond.

The buck looked around and smiled. He was the only one there. "It seems everyone else has heard the news of the hunter as well. I guess that leaves me the only one who isn't afraid." Still he wasn't stupid. Sanji slowly stepped out of the cover of the woods, gingerly placing one hoof in front of the other, but soon he became bolder. Without a smell of any humans around the stag walked out of the tree-line confidently and towards the water.

After taking a long drink from the cool water Sanji looked down at his rippling reflection. He truly was a creature with a beautiful appearance. He didn't have one scar to disturb his smooth brown fur. He was known to be the fastest deer in the forest, no one could outrun him. And, of course, his pride was his magnificent antlers that sat grandly on his head. All of a sudden the words of the fuzzy tree rat, Zoro, came back to him. "No one in the forest has such long and skinny legs that look like they're walking on sticks from the trees." Sanji glanced down at his spindly legs reflected in the water. It was a shame that such a noble creature like himself had to be carried around on these little twig legs. Sanji was so engrossed in staring at his reflection that he didn't hear nor smell the human sneaking up on the tree-line nearby.

Suddenly the sound of a twig snapping made Sanji look up on full alert. The stag turned his head to look behind him and that's when he caught sight of the hunter through the limbs. The human raised his gun but in a flash the young buck had fled, his nimble legs able to carry him faster and farther than any human hunter could accomplish.

Sanji dodged tree trunks and leapt over roots and brambles in his escape from the pond's watery bank. He hadn't gone far when the brown furred deer glanced behind him to see if he were being pursued. This is when it went wrong. Not paying attention to where he was going, Sanji ran right into some low hanging limbs that tangled into his antlers, as the human drew nearer the young stag grew more desperate. He pulled this way and that but the limbs refused to give up their hold. Looking around again Sanji felt his heart drop at the sight of the hunter come around the tree he was caught in.

"Well, it's my lucky day." The man said more to himself than Sanji. "Your legs carried you so fast you would surely have gotten away and if not for your beautiful antlers you would not have been caught."

=0=0=

Moral- We often despise what is most useful to us.

Okay so let me know what you think. Should I continue? Hate it? Love it?

I'll probably update once a week or so, it depends on how I feel. Though, right now I can safely say I'm absolutely slack-jawed at the recent manga chapters. I have been seriously underestimating the Strawhat's upgrade in power and attitude. I'm going to have to reevaluate future chapters of 'Starting Again' before continuing that story.