In dreams you will lose your heartache...

[pas_de_ducks]

Characters: Duck and ANYBODY
Open? :D yes
Where: OUT ON THE TOWN
When: This afternoon
Warnings: your teeth might fall out



The crown she could deal with; the songbirds were sort of a nice surprise. The dress, however, had to go.

Of course she'd been surprised to see herself depicted in a book she'd never seen before--just before the dizziness hit, her heart had leaped at the thought that Princess Tutu might be in more stories--but waking up had been a total shock. The nice old man in the castle had called her "Princess Duck" and even kissed her hand very graciously. All she'd been able to manage in response had been "wha" and "buh" and the occasional "um?"; she was pretty sure she'd missed half of what he'd told her about this place and how things worked.

In a daze she stumbled out of bed, only to discover that her legs were all tangled up in about a million layers of lacy petticoat. Somehow she was in an enormous yellow dress with a huge skirt and puffy sleeves. Her own simple school uniform was nowhere to be found. The crown was tasteful enough when she looked at it in the mirror--gold and shiny, with jeweled ducks on it that managed to look dignified instead of ridiculous--but the dress was just too much. It itched and the skirt dragged and going through doorways was an ordeal.

The songbirds started to flock to her, in twos and threes, chirping little tunes of welcome and friendship at her as she made her way out of the castle. They, too, called her "Princess", even though she tried to tell them that she was just plain Duck.

After about half an hour of wandering around on the unfamiliar streets, with people pointing and whispering and the birds happily twittering at her, she decided she'd had about enough.

A woman hanging laundry out to dry found herself suddenly confronted with the sight of a rather red-faced princess leaning over her low front gate.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am? Can I trade you this dress for some pants and a shirt or something?"

Comments

[schrien_die_raben]

Rue was less than pleased at the arrival of their other guest, but, seeing Duck's happy face, she decided not to show it. It saved her the time of telling her, at least.

[loyalbeyonddeath]

He caught her in a whirl of skirts and frills, struggling to hold back a laugh at the sight of her. Giddiness and amusement mingled in a lopsided smile. A beat passed before he could think of anything to even say.

"You look like a wedding cake."

[pas_de_ducks]

"See? See?" Duck's words were almost lost under her bright giggles. "I told you so, Rue! I tried to trade it for something else to wear, but Rue stopped me."

[schrien_die_raben]

"I think she looks nice," Rue said, a little grumpily. "As a princess should."

[loyalbeyonddeath]

"And she does look nice," Fakir said dismissively, before bending down a bit to mutter to Duck, "She just doesn't want to be the only one who looks like a cake."

[pas_de_ducks]

That prompted another fit of giggling, as well as a playful nudge. "I bet you showed up in something embarrassing too--"

A sharp, joyful bark came from somewhere behind Fakir, and an enormous Samoyed came scrabbling around the corner, looking for all the world as if he were grinning. Duck's eyes widened. "Hey, it's Valiant! How'd he get here?"

[schrien_die_raben]

Rue blinked down at Valiant, pulling her skirts away as he approached her.

"Just when did you two get a dog?"

[loyalbeyonddeath]

Fakir broke away from Duck to give Valiant some attention and hopefully dissuade him from gets his dusty paws all over Duck's dress. He seemed content to shuffle in place and grin... for the time being.

"Last year," he answered after a moment's thought. "Time is strange here."

[pas_de_ducks]

"He got so big..." She shook her head fondly and then glanced from one of her friends to the other. "So where have you been staying? Rue and I were going back to the castle so I could change."

[schrien_die_raben]

"Obviously he's staying in the village," Rue said immediately, not-so-subtly pulling Duck closer to her. "The castle is for the nobility."

[loyalbeyonddeath]

Fakir's head snapped up. "I am a knight and just as entitled to go about the castle as I please," he said, sparing little venom in his tone.

[pas_de_ducks]

"And if we're all supposed to be champions here, we're probably all supposed to be at the castle sometimes." She didn't resist being pulled closer to Rue, although she did reach out to take Fakir's hand in her free one. "Maybe there are some other people from home there already. And after I get out of this poofy thing, we can all go exploring!"

[schrien_die_raben]

Though she glared at Fakir, Rue realized it would be pointless to fight with him while Duck was here, so she decided to drop it.

"Just don't get lost," she said to Duck, her tone fond. "We don't know yet how dangerous this place is."

[loyalbeyonddeath]

"I'm sure she can take care of herself," Fakir said, glancing down at their joined hands. He didn't exactly believe that, but somehow he felt obligated to contradict Rue.

[pas_de_ducks]

"We'll all take care of each other," Duck corrected, flashing them both a brilliant smile. "Now. Which way was it to the castle again? Back down the main street, right?"

[schrien_die_raben]

"Right this way," Rue said, pulling Duck along. Once again, without asking.

[loyalbeyonddeath]

Fakir, still clasping Duck's hand, was tugged along in turn. He wondered, briefly, when they started subtly fighting over Duck instead of Mytho.

"Of course, you should be escorted," he said, his tone flat and dry.

[pas_de_ducks]

"Escorted by who? Someone taller than we are?" Her smile turned teasing for a moment. "You have a sword and a big dog. I think we'll be all right."

[schrien_die_raben]

"It's not like the thorns are going to just jump out and attack us," Rue said, though as she spoke she began wondering if that was actually a possibility.

[loyalbeyonddeath]

"I meant by me!" Fakir said, his free hand on Valiant's collar as they hurried along. "And besides, Rue, it's never just the one danger. It's never that easy."

[pas_de_ducks]

Duck made a sheepish noise and leaned against Rue a little, not sure whether to be impressed or intimidated by how quickly Fakir had gone from happy to serious. "Well--if anything happens, at least we're together. And you've still got a sword, right?"

She peered over at the sword that hung from Fakir's hip. It was different from either of the swords she'd seen him wield (though, honestly, she would have been shocked to see him still sporting the light-sword his adopted father had given him back in the City).

"...that's not Lohengrin, is it?"

[schrien_die_raben]

"She's right, Fakir," Rue said in a loud voice, and a look that said he'd better stop worrying her. "We'll be fine, won't we?"

[loyalbeyonddeath]

Fakir sighed. "Yes, I'm sure," he said, resigned. "And no, Duck, it isn't. It's mine, though, but I can't be certain how I know that so well."

[pas_de_ducks]

"Well, you're a knight," she said thoughtfully. "And all knights have some kind of sword, don't they? So maybe this one just found you. Kind of like Valiant."

She paused for a moment before adding, "Does it have a name? Your sword, I mean."

[loyalbeyonddeath]

"Not as of yet, seeing as I just found it. Or it found me," Fakir said. Had she been reading his books, to get such an idea so spontaneously? "We'll see in time."

[pas_de_ducks]

"Oh, speaking of names. I, uh... I wasn't paying that much attention when I first got here, so... do either of you know what this place is called?"

[schrien_die_raben]

"No idea," Rue said shortly, though to be honest, she could barely recall the old man's speech to begin with. It had simply been so overwhelming that much of the details had been lost on her.