The water was still. Unblemished and unmoving, clear blue depths reaching deeper and deeper with little activity. That is, until a dainty blue pointe slipper touched its surface, disturbing the lake and rippling the top layer. Another joined it in a dance, slowly its melancholy nearly overcame that of the lake's. The girl's eyes were closed as she danced on the lake, her facial expression seeming aloof until her crystal blue eyes opened and let her secret audience see the clouds in them.
The white-haired boy watching her sighed quietly, watching as she went through the motions without feeling or knowledge of what she was missing. "Ahiru…" He sighed to himself, "I wonder what your smile looks like..." The boy lifted his hand to rest his head on but looked down to find it had turned into a pure white wing. His amber eyes widened in surprise, and suddenly he was thrust out of his dream.
Sitting up quickly, Mytho shook the dream from his head. Seeing the light stream through the sheer curtains made him jump out of bed in a panic. Surely with it being so light outside, he must have been very late! He quickly dressed in his workout clothes-a white t-shirt with blue leggings-and made his way to the ballet building. He all but ran to his classroom and opened the door, already muttering apologies when he saw it was devoid of other students, save for one lonely redheaded girl practicing in the middle of the room with her back turned to him. Her normally long, orange colored hair was pinned up in a bun with the flyaways tucked behind her ears. She had on a white leotard, with pale blue pointe shoes.
Mytho stopped halfway into the room as he stared at the previous subject of his dream, he heard no sounds but the soft melody which drifted from the record player and his own heartbeat drum in his ears. When the girl turned her head, Mytho got a glimpse of her curved nose, full lips, and dull blue eyes. He didn't really know what to do-should he leave her be or just practice with her? He was already there-who knows how early-and it'd be a waste just to go back to his dorm. The girl, Ahiru, hadn't noticed his presence yet. That or she was ignoring him.
With nothing else to do, Mytho set his bag down and took a place on the bar, stretching and practicing a couple positions. He made sure he was loose before he stopped to see how far into the dance Ahiru was. He recognized the song, it was from the Snow Queen ballet. It was a piece they were learning in class and were probably going to perform for the other classes once Mister Cat chose parts for students.
Once he knew which part Ahiru was dancing, Mytho joined in. It seemed to him she was practicing for the part of Gerda and was dancing to The Town, though she was missing a partner to play Kai. For that, Mytho joined in. Ahiru's dancing was already technically perfect, and Mytho was sure if she tried out she'd get the part, but nevertheless, there were still parts which required a partner. In that, Mytho helped.
After finishing the song, Mytho turned to her as he wiped the sweat from his brow, and asked, "Are you going to try for the part of Gerda?"
Ahiru shrugged and flipped the record over, deciding to practice a song from a little later in the ballet. "I don't know," she said simply.
"What about the Snow Queen?" Mytho asked, figuring Ahiru might have wanted a more mature role.
"I don't know," Ahiru replied again.
Mytho nodded and opened his mouth to speak again when the first notes of the song pounded out, dramatic, emotional, and very much, unlike Ahiru. At that very moment, inside walked Rue, Ahiru's best friend and roommate.
"Ahiru, what are you doing talking to this boy?" Rue asked in a snotty voice, her nose turned up.
"I was dancing…" Ahiru replied.
"I was just helping her…" Mytho said, at the same time as Ahiru.
"There's no need to speak with such drivel, come on Ahiru there's no need to be in class so early." Rue grabbed Ahiru's wrist, walking her out.
"Uh, good luck at tryouts…!" Mytho called out to her, but Ahiru was too far away for his words to reach her.
Mytho sighed and turned the record player, Ahiru's expression still weighing on his mind. Mytho lifted the needle on the record player and took out the Snow Queen record, replacing it with Sleeping Beauty. Even though it wasn't something they were working on in class anymore-it was their ballet from last semester-it was still one of his favorites.
As the music for Rose Adagio began drifting from the speakers and Mytho took position. Last semester when they had performed it, he had played one of the suitors, and he remembered Ahiru had played Aurora, with her boyfriend Fakir playing the Prince. Mytho remembered wishing he had gotten that part, and even trying out for it despite knowing that Fakir and Ahiru almost always get lead roles or at least important roles.
He practices for about half an hour, putting on different songs from the Sleeping Beauty ballet, and just as the final notes from the soundtrack died out, one of his very good friends walked in, with his other friend trailing behind. Their names were Femio and Pique, and both had very distinct and clashing personalities. Mytho was sure if he weren't there to split them up, a tragedy was sure to arise in the form of one of them murdering the other for some great injustice, a phrase Femio liked to use a lot when Pique was being her usual brutish self.
If that wasn't an indicator that Femio was overly dramatic, then his description just might. Femio came from a family of great wealth but rejected his noble origins to come study at the Kinkan Arts Academy, where he studied ballet with the other two. While his hair was naturally dark brown, he usually dyed it a dark purple. He had a flair for the dramatic as well as a pet bull and a servant that followed him around with the explicit purpose of throwing rose petals around whenever his young master started in one of his monologues.
As for Pique, she was a tough and tomboyish girl whose hair was also usually dyed purple, though closer to magenta. She kept both Femio and Mytho in line and their heads out of the clouds. Mytho didn't know much of her past, and she didn't talk about it very much.
"Mytho darling!" Femio called. Both friends must have just come from the locker rooms, as they were already dressed and ready for class. "You're early! Pique and I were both so worried when we saw you weren't still asleep in your room. I swear, she started crying."
Pique punched Femio's arm, glaring at him. "I wasn't the one who cried, you were!"
Femio laughed, his eyes not meeting either of theirs. "Okay, so maybe I cried! But it was because-" the purple haired boy was gearing up for a monologue, his servant close behind with a bag of rose petals at the ready-when Mytho stopped him.
"Do you guys know much about Ahiru?"
They both looked at him, at first confused, then with knowing looks growing on their faces. "Mytho, are you telling me you're an Ahiru guy? I always pegged you for a Rue guy." Pique said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders to pull him down closer to her height. "I'm sorry to inform you that she's in a very lasting relationship with Fakir, I doubt they're gonna split soon. Maybe you should just go for Rue~" Her voice took on a sing-song tone, mimicking that of Femio's. She has definitely been spending too much time with that guy.
"What?" Mytho pulled back in surprise. "I don't have feelings for her, I'm just curious!"
"Well… While I personally don't believe that for a second," Femio started, with Pique nodding in agreement, "I can tell you that no one really knows all that much about her."
Pique piped in, "She's in the advanced class and while she dances really well, everyone always hears Mister Cat talking to her about how she needs to dance with more emotion. Namely, any emotion at all."
Mytho thought on this. He already knew she and her friend Rue were extremely popular, but he hadn't known they both had fan groups.
The red-haired girl stayed on his mind for a while, during class and after class.
After class, Ahiru found herself walking across one of the many bridges in the town. It was stone mostly, and curved. The distance from the calm water below was about a meter, or maybe more. Looking down, she noticed a duck sitting below the bridge and looking up at her.
The duck quacked at her, and Ahiru felt something swirling in her chest. As she reached into her bag for something to feed it, she heard the duck quack again. Pulling out the sandwich she was planning on eating for lunch, she tore off a piece of the crust to give to the duck.
Ahiru reached down, her free hand supporting her on the railing of the bridge, and leaned her body slightly over the side of the bridge.
As she did this, Mytho found himself walking towards the bridge. He stopped when he saw what she was doing, a small smile framing his face.
By now Ahiru's full body weight was being supported by her arm on the railing, half of her body hanging off the edge as she stretched her arm out to the hungry duck; her face was still showing that blank apathy. This made Mytho curious. The redhead was going out of her way to feed this animal, yet her face made it seem as though she really couldn't care less.
The railing for the bridge was wet with mid-morning dew, as well as from rain the night before. Ahiru was unaware of this, and when she leaned just an ounce too much of her body weight on the railing, she found herself falling over the edge.
Mytho cried out and dashed forward, but he knew it would be too late. That is until he felt a gentle warmth radiating from his chest, and a soft light envelops him in its embrace. Looking down, his clothes began to transform. His simple school uniform changed before his eyes into an outfit more befitting royalty. Suddenly, he had on tights, a princely jacket with the collar becoming feather-like and white with pink hems. His sleeves turned into full-length puff-sleeves ending with frills, banded with pink. His collar was adorned with a pink cravat, pinned down with a red and gold pendant that was reminiscent of a dragonfly. His shoes had changed into pink ballet slippers. Lastly, he felt the weight of a half-mask over his eyes. Had he had a chance to look in the mirror, he'd have seen it was white with gold accents, with a single white feather sticking up out of the side. It only covered his one eye, curving down over his cheek and up his forehead, looking very much like a swan was resting on his face
Mytho leaped across the canal, catching Ahiru halfway through her descent, and landed safely on the other side, Ahiru nestled snugly in his arms. Mytho blushed, and quickly set her back down to stand on the grass, though the heat from where his bare skin had touched hers still burned as if they were still in contact.
Ahiru looked up at him, something stirring in her irises, and she asked, "Who are you?"
"Well, I'm…" He hesitated, suddenly remembering the dream he had that morning. The white wing which had replaced his arm, his inability to dance with the princess… Then, he remembered. And when he remembered, he ran.
Ran far away before the noise could escape his lips. A single, startling, honk.
After all, he was only a swan.
AN: As stated in the tags, updates for this will be infrequent. Sorry v-v Comments, concerns, and the like are all welcome!