The Princess and the Rabbit
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or setting.
This fanfiction was made for fun, not profit.
Epic Mickey is owned by Disney.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is owned by Disney and Universal.
Princess Tutu is owned by GANSIS/TUTU and ADV Films
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Chapter 2
Oswald ran. He ran fast and he ran hard. He bounced from one rooftop to the other, not really going anywhere in particular. He ran and ran, with his eyes wide, and his mouth agape. And all the time he was running, in his mind, he keep repeating the same four words over and over, "I don't belong here. I don't belong here. I don't belong here."
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"That was pathetic!" Fakir sneered, glaring down at a small shape no bigger then a bread basket, it's big, blue eyes timidly looking back, "What good was all that practice if this was the best you can do!"
The dark haired boy stood in an area behind the school, a small space between a building and the large wall that surrounded the town. The ground was nothing but dirt and the only green to be found was from the few scant bushes and a tree or two. The target of his ire was currently hiding in such a bush, ether not wanting to let one of the other students see her, or being too ashamed to let Fakir see her fully.
Sticking her tiny head out in to the open, she answered his quarry in a series of rapid quacks, "Quack quack, quack-quack, quack quack quack, quack."
"Don't give me that old excuse," Fakir shot back, "if you focused more, you wouldn't be in this sorry state!"
The shape cast her blue eyes to the ground. She gave off a sad, dejected, "Quack quack-quack, quack."
"Well, maybe you're not trying hard enough!" Fakir spat, taking a few steps toward the bush, towering over the shape, "Maybe you really don't want to be more then what you are. Maybe you are content with being just a duck; just a useless duck."
From the bush came a frantic response, "Quack-quack, quack! Quack quack quack-quack, quack!"
"Then I will see you tomorrow in the usual place, and don't be late this time!" he turned to leave, but paused, one eye on the shape, "One more thing, I don't want you to put on another performance until I think you've improved."
The little head shot up to reply, but was met with an angry stare that kept her quite.
"Idiot." He muttered under his breath as he walked off, leaving the small shape alone.
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The rest of Piké's day was uneventful; first off to the lessens room for afternoon practice, next a quick change, and off to a proper classroom for academic lessons, then, with school over, a walk around town with Lilié, and finally returning to the dormitories before curfew and up to bed. Through it all, she could not forget the strange rabbit-doll-monster-thing, wondering if that story it spattered out was true and if it was, hoping it somehow got home. Wherever that is.
She shook her head. There was nothing she could do for it now. She needed to get her mind off it, she thought as she got ready for bed. As she pulled up the covers, her mind drifted to the wonderful Fakir. She hadn't seen him since the park. This was not usual for Fakir; rumor had it that he was looking to transfer to the literary division, and thus had been spending all his free time in the library reading and writing. There had been, however, some who clamed there were times in the day were he was absent from there as well, disappearing from the school grounds completely.
Piké smiled, it was things like this that made Fakir so wonderful. He was so aloof, so mysterious. This is why Fakir had every girl in school fawning over him, including Piké. Not that she would ever be the one. She would be satisfied if he just found someone, and live happily ever after. Any girl will do. Well… any girl but Lilié, she might kill him in his sleep. Stifling a great yawn, Piké reached over to her lamp, switching it of, and leaned back in her bed. It was no time to think of Fakir or rabbits or other such things, she told herself, things will work out. No need to worry at all.
She rolled on her side, closed her eyes, and let sleep take her, hoping for only the most peaceful dreams.
Then those hundred voices began their chanting, "Nothing… nothing… nothing…"
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The night was cold. Very cold. The cold wind blew through the cold sky and shook the cold trees as a cold rabbit curled up under a cold park bench trying his best not to be cold and failing.
Oswald held himself as he shivered, eyes staring out into the darkness, unfocused and scared. He hadn't been this scared since the Blot… no, no this was worse. He thought it had been bad when he had exiled himself to Mickeyjunk Mountain to guard the jug, the Mad Doctor betraying him, his friends missing and him left sad and dejected. But now he realized he had been lucky, ironically enough. Even then he had at lest a roof over his head, a warm bed to retire to, and a pack of minions to do his biding. No, this was true exile; lost with no way, no home and no one to trust.
His day had been in a word, horrid. His encounter with that girl and her crazy friend had only been the tip of the iceberg. As he was escaping the dormitory grounds, he ran into a ferocious dog that chased him for three blocks before he lost it. As the day wore on and he got hungry, he tried to steal some food from some restraint in a wooded area, only to be chased out by the female chef throwing various cooking utensils, including a very solid kettle. His head still ached. An attempted to sneak into a house for shelter resulted in a similar eviction, and now he was under a bench, starving and freezing.
He closed his eyes tightly, a single tear hitting the dirt. He missed his friends. He missed Ortensia and their children, he missed Horace and Clarabelle, he missed the animatronic Donald and Goofy, he missed Gus and the gremlins, and he missed Wasteland. There! He said it! That place that for a long time he wanted to leave, to escape, to forgo for fame and stardom. He wanted to go back. He didn't want to be here, cold, hungry and alone.
Moving to the side slightly to stick his head out from underneath the bench, he gazed up at the starry sky, shining bright and beautiful in its complete indifference to his suffering. As he gazed, he said, in a horse whisper, "What now?"
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Piké did not sleep very well that night. Not very well at all.
All night, she had been in and out of sleep, propelled out of her rest each time by nightmare after nightmare. At lest, she thought they were nightmares, though she never had nightmares quite like these. And the strangest thing is that that orange haired girl was in all of them.
They all started mundane enough. She, Lilié and the mystery girl would do ordinary girl things, such as walk about town engaged in a pleasant conversion, though she still could not hear what was being said. And just as all three seemed to become relaxed the strange girl with the brad suddenly disappears to a chorus of "nothing" and Piké would spring awake. The first few times this happened, Piké was more confused then anything else, so she would shrug it off and go back to sleep.
But it only continued: a peaceful dream with the orange hair girl; the very same girl vanishing; and Piké awake, upright in her bed. As she continued to watch this braded hared, freckled teenaged girl fade out of existence over and over, she began to feel something about this girl, like she should know who she is.
This strange uneasiness increased, and as she watched the poor girl disappear at the end of every dream, uneasiness turned to distress, distress turned to despair, till finally she woke up terrified. After that, she refused to go back to sleep until it was time for morning classes, four hours later.
As a result, when she got to the lessens room, she had to perform the physically strenuous morning ballet practice while completely exhausted, Lilié pestering her the entire time, saying how sad it was that Piké had been affected so much from yesterday's adventure, and that she would be there to hold her and comfort her and make sure she would not get better.
It was silly, Piké now thought, to loose sleep over a girl that doesn't exist. Because of those stupid dreams, even the most rudimentary starch on the barre was a chore; she was going to be signaled out by the teacher for her sloppy performance, that's for sure.
As she raised her left leg onto the barre, grabbing onto the long horizontal pole for support, she glanced around the large lessons room, its huge windows flooding the room with light as the other students scattered around the room did various exercises. The rest of the beginner's class was warming up for the upcoming lessons and she was still getting started. Piké gave a sigh. If she didn't shape up she might even be dropped down to the probationary class.
She gave off a yawn, her eyelids feeling heavy as she turned her head back to the barre. It's okay, she told herself, all she had to do was survive till lunch, and then she might be able to sleep for an hour or…
"Piké, are you listening?"
Piké slowly turned her head to Lilié, on the barre next to her.
"I'm sorry." she apologized, "You were saying something?" She gave a half-hearted smile.
Lilié looked into Piké's tired eyes and showed her worry and concern by braking into giddy laughter. "I just said that I wonder what happened to that rabbit-thingy from yesterday."
"I really don't care what happened to it." She intoned, head turning forward, staring into space.
"Oh, I bet he spent the whole night shivering under a park bench, poor thing." She happily sang.
Piké did not look at her, eyes barely open. "He's a rabbit; a wild animal. He'll be fine."
"But think of all the horrible, horrible things out there: thieves, murderers, muggers, fearsome beasts, monsters, geese…"
"Uh-hmm…" Piké murmured.
"…vampires, werewolves, circus clowns, squids, forty-story tall birds, man-eating onions… Oh, that poor little rabbit, alone against the world. It just fills me with excitement!"
"Hmmm…"
"Oh, I wish I could hug him and squeeze him and call him… Piké are you listening?"
Lilié turned to see Piké, her head down and her eyes closed, yet her leg was still up on the barre, standing on the other leg while still in mid-stretch.
Lilié gave off the nastiest sweet smile ever, but her attempts to gush over how pathetic her friend was were interrupted by a loud, authoritative voice.
"Miss Piké!"
Piké bolted awake, tumbling out of her precarious position. Oh great, she thought, the teacher.
She quickly picked herself off the floor as she spied the figure moving toward her. It was a giant cat, six feet tall, clad in a green leotard and… oh, wait…no it wasn't.
It was a woman, tall and lean, her brown hair cut short and posture impeccable. Her stern face, young enough to be attractive but old enough to have the wrinkles of age and wisdom, was set in a frown. Her very well built body was clad in a purple leotard, and she walked with all the grace of a prima ballerina.
It was Madame Verrückt, the ballet instructor, and definitely human.
Why did she think the teacher was a cat? Piké shook her head. The lack of sleep must have been getting to her. How could she forget Madame Verrückt?
After the "missing month" happened, the people of the town did what people do when faced with a puzzle that requires calm, patients and a level head to solve: they panicked. Once the madness died down and the fires put out, the school decided to do something smart and count up the students and faculty to make sure no one was missing. Everyone was accounted for… except for the ballet instructor. Not only was the ballet instructor missing, according to the records they didn't have one, not for years, which was ridiculous, when you consider the full class of ballet students of different levels, proof that someone had been instructing. Trying to remember what happened was useless, all any one could recall was that there had been a ballet instructor, just not who it was. After shooing away a random stray cat found in the lessons room, they went to work finding a new instructor as quickly as possible, and Madame Verrückt was the only one who would take the job in such short notice.
The woman marched up to Piké, hands behind her back, face humorless. "Miss Piké, did I just see you sleeping in my class… in the middle of a stretch?" she raised an eyebrow as she said this last part.
Piké made to answer, but Lilié was quicker. "Oh, no ma'am, she was just… um …closing her eyes tight in concentration. She would never sleep in your class."
Piké was stunned. It seemed that, despite all the pushing, smothering and assaulting of stuffed animals, somewhere deep down, Lilié really did ca…
"After all, you know poor, poor Piké is not good enough to sleep in class, such a sad thing."
…or maybe not.
Madame Verrückt leaned over so that her eyes met the small girl. "Very well, Miss Piké, I will be lenient this once, but if I catch you napping again, I will make you m… m… m…"
Piké's back stiffened in terror. This is it; she was going to force her to m…
"Marinade an anthill!" Madame Verrückt proclaimed and then promptly cartwheeled away, a move, Piké was certain, that was not taught in ballet.
Piké blinked. Why had she got so nervous for? It was just one Madame Verrückt's weird threats. Nothing ever came of them, a sign that she got off easy.
Relieved, she returned to the barre as she ignored Lilié's continued prodding. Her head was still heavy with sleepiness as she shakily brought up her other leg to starch. This is going to be a long day, she thought, but at lest after today it would be over.
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Piké staggered down the cobblestone street completely unable to walk in the manner of a human being. Morning classes had been torture. Her body had been too weak from the sleepless night to do anything, made worse by Madame Verrückt's watchful eye and Lilié's attempts to find new ways to comfort and insult her at the same time. She had to keep her self from cheering in glee when the class was dismissed for lunch.
All she wanted now was to slump back to the dormitories and get some much needed sleep, or what little she could get before afternoon classes start. Behind her, Lilié marched happily, basking in her friend's misery.
"Oh, poor, poor Piké, exhausted from yesterday's excitement. Such a delicate thing you are!"
Piké made a small, angry noise, but said nothing. She was not in the mood to deal with Lilié, not when she couldn't properly deal with walking. Seriously, why was she friends with this girl, anyway? It was a mystery… literally. Several months ago, she was a new student just getting settled and was surprised she had been even accepted into the Academy, frankly. She had seen Lilié a few times, with their room right next to each other it was inevitable, but they had not really talked all that much. Then the "missing month" happened, and suddenly they were best friends… for some reason. The few memories she retained only told her so much, and her pride kept her from breaking the friendship. Sometimes, she wondered what happened during that month that caused her to befriend such an odd girl.
As soon as this last thought crossed her mind, a sharp pain hit her forehead, on the spot she had been hit the day before. She came to a halt, almost causing Lilié to crash into her.
Piké brought her hand to her head as the world began to spin again. Dazed, she tried to stagger forward … only to find that she was already walking, upright too, unlike a moment ago. As the pain lessened, she saw that she was no longer on the small lane headed toward the dormitory, but on a large street flanked by fancy shops and restaurants, an area she immediately recognized as the shopping district. Also strange was the fact that she was alone, a fact that a quick glance behind her confirmed. The strangest of all, however, was something that she didn't notice: that there was not a chorus of a thousand voices chanting "nothing."
The teenaged girl continued to walk, glide almost, along the path, looking about her in a strangely casual fashion. Then, she saw her, the orange haired girl of her dreams, standing at the corner. She was wearing the oddest outfit Piké had ever seen in her life: the top was off-white with yellow frills at the end of the long sleeves; the shorts where an ugly shade of yellow, puffed out making her hips look ridiculously wide for her age, and had a pair a wings embroidered on the each side; the shoes where a pair of red clog-like things with red and white striped socks polled up to just below the knees; and completing the outfit, a dark red, tear drop shaped pendent hanging from her neck. This, combined with her far off expression, made her seem like a lost little duckling looking for her mother.
When the girl's blue eyes came upon Piké they lit up like searchlights, and she made to walk toward her. She had an unsure look on her freckled face, and as she spoke, in a voice far too young for a preteen, she stuttered and paused constantly as if she had not talked to anyone in years.
"A-are… you f-from the… dancing s-school?" she squeaked.
Piké tilted her head in curiosity. The girl must have seen her uniform. "Do… do you mean the Academy?" she ventured. The girl's eyes lit up again, her face bright with wonder and excitement like a three-year-old. "Yes! Yes! A-academy! B-ballet! I wish to dance ballet!"
That was a bold statement, Piké thought. Before she could answer, a loud, horribly bubbly voice emerged from behind her.
"Oh, how adorable!"
She turned her head and there she was: Lilié, both hands clasped together and touching her right cheek. Piké had so many questions for her: where have you been?; Who is this girl?; Do you know her?; but the only thing to leave her mouth was the last thing she wanted to say. "Who are you?"
Lilié just walked past her and over to the strange girl, with a nastily giddy smile on her face and gave the girl massive hug, startling the poor thing.
Piké found herself saying things she shouldn't be again. The words just came out of her mouth.
"I know you! You're that girl in the room next to mine."
Lilié, however, was too busy depriving the orange-head of air to notice Piké. "Oh, you poor thing! To have diluted you're self into thinking that a pathetic nobody like you can get into the Academy. Oh, poor, poor thing!"
The girl fought her way out of Lilié's hug, and began flapping her arms up and down angrily, as if she was trying to take flight. "I did! I did! I did get into the Academy! See! See!"
Out of her pocket she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Lilié. As Lilié smoothed out the paper, Piké peered over her shoulder to get a look. She recognized it immediately: an acceptance letter from the Goldcrown Academy of the Fine Arts Ballet Division.
Piké looked back at the orange haired girl, who was darting her head about her as if looking through new eyes.
"You can dance?" she ventured.
"Yes, I c-can!" the girl stated. She lifted her leg and arms in an Attitude pose… and promptly fell on her bottom.
Lilié gave a squeal, and rushed over to the girl on the ground. She began to fawn over her and tell her how wonderfully pathetic she was. The girl just sat there, looking dejected, as if she crushed all her dreams the moment she fell. Then a hand appeared, offering to help her up. Rising her head, she saw Piké, smiling down at her. "Well, if you have an acceptance letter, they must have wanted you. I'm Piké, what's your name."
"My name is…"
"Piké!"
Another moment of dizziness Piké was back where she was a moment ago, on the street going toward the dormitories. She was bent down, a position she did not remember getting in, gasping for air. She turned her head to see Lilié, standing there with a look of concern that seemed suspiciously like a look of bliss.
"W-what happened?" Piké asked, trying to steady herself as she stood.
Lilié jumped up and down in excitement. "You were just standing there for the last few minutes, mumbling to your self. I was so worried!" she said as she continued to jump happily.
Piké rubbed her forehead, the pain and dizziness already subsiding. It was all just a dream, nothing to worry about. It was just like the dreams from last night… except it happened while she was awake… and she could understand what everyone was saying… and it was clearer and easier to remember than normal dreams… OK, maybe there was something to worry about.
She turned to face Lilié. There was something she had to know.
"Uh, Lilié," she asked, not sure how to proceed, "did you… have you… do you remember ever meeting a girl with freckles and a long, braded, orange hair?"
For perhaps the first time that day, Lilié's face changed from a cheerful grin to a meditative frown as she retreated into the arcane horrors that were her thoughts.
"No, I don't think so… there was that one girl… no wait, she was bald, never mind!" Her smile returned, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason." Piké said, feeling a lot better now. All she needed now was some sleep, and to forget about the dreams. "Let's just get back to the dorms."
"Don't you want to go see the Dancing Duck?"
"'Dancing Duck?'"
"That's what all the girls are calling it. Come on, who knows when it will stop appearing." Lilié pleaded.
"You can go if you want." Piké sighed, "I'm beat. I didn't get any sleep last night."
"Oh, you poor, poor, poor, poor thing, still bothered by yesterdays encounter with that horrid beast!"
Piké raised an eyebrow. "You were the one who wondered if it was alright."
"Oh! That's because I think horrid beasts are adorable. They're just so cute, for unnatural monstrosities."
"Hay, I resent that remark!"
The two girls stopped in their tracks, heads whipping about, looking for the familiar voice; the voice they heard yesterday. The rustling of a nearby bush caught their attention, nestled between a tree and the side of a building. It would have been easy to miss. Pulling the branches aside, they found the rabbit-thing, franticly scooping dirt out a small indentation in the ground, barely a few centimeters deep. It didn't seem to notice them as it continued its shoveling, its attention occupied by its futile effort.
After a few moments of watching this strange endeavor, Piké spoke, "Um, excuse me…"
The rabbit sprang up and spun around, its tiny black dot eyes wide in shock, darting between the two girls.
"How did you find me?" it demanded.
"You just called out to us!" Piké exclaimed.
"I did?" the rabbit said, adopting a look of worry. It was at this point that Piké noticed the rabbit looked a bit shabbier than it did the day before. Its black, inky fur was ruffled and covered in dirt and mud, and its eyes held a crazed look.
"Maybe I did." It said thoughtfully. "I've been saying odd things lately without me knowing. Yellow cement cheesecake. Though, how do I know I say odd things without knowing if I say odd things without knowing? Giant man-eating pineapples. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Pig from apricot-land."
Suddenly the rabbit leaped into the air and Piké could feel a pair of long feet land on her head, a large, upside down, black and white head blocking her vision.
"But, enough about me, let's talk about me!" the rabbit babbled. "You're one of them, aren't you?"
"Them?"
"Yes, they have been watching me for hours. They think I haven't noticed them, but, oooohhh, I'm too clever for them. Look! There's one of them now!" It pointed into the street at an old, discarded boot lying on its side. Piké glanced back at the round face not an inch from her own to see that one of its eyes was twitching.
Before Piké could say anything, Lilié spoke up, "Oh, and what have you been working on over there." She pointed to the hole the rabbit had been digging, if one could call it a hole.
It hopped down from Piké's head, "Oh, that? That's the burrow I've been tunneling all morning!" It exclaimed proudly.
"All morning!" Piké repeated.
"Yeah, but it's not done yet. Can't find a place to put the jacuzzi."
Piké decided she had enough. "Yes, well, good luck with that!" she said as politely as possible. "I'm sorry I can't stay and talk crazy with you, but I must really be going…" she turned to leave.
"Not so fast!" The rabbit suddenly erupted, marching over to Piké, passing Lilié, who had, and would continue to, watch the scene the same way someone would watch a couple of kittens sleeping in the sun.
"Now that you two know that I am here, I'm afraid you will have to… die!"
Piké stood shocked, unable to move, as the rabbit sprinted forward, stopped in front of her… and… and… kicked her in the shin. It wasn't even a very hard kick ether; she barely felt anything.
"Are you dead, yet?" the rabbit inquired, its eye still twitching.
Piké's eyes glanced about, not sure how to answer. "No…" she said carefully.
It gave her another light kick. "How 'bout now?"
"No."
Another kick. "Now?"
"No."
Another one. "You dead now?"
"No."
Another one. "Dead now?"
"No."
Another one. "Dead now?"
Piké felt it was time to ask the rabbit a question that had been bugging her since she set eyes on it again, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, sure, I'm fine. Just fine. Feeling a little cranky, maybe a little psychotic, but other than that… of course I'm not okay!" It suddenly shouted, its eyes twitching, "I didn't receive any sleep last night! Do you think I normally act like this? I'm exhausted! Oh, but you wouldn't know any thing about that, would you? While I was starving under a park bench," at this, Lilié gave an I-told-you-so-esque sound that the rabbit ignored, "you have been eating plenty of delicious food, sleeping in a comfy bed, and served on hand and foot by your playing card minions!"
At Piké's look of confusion at that last one, the rabbit added, "Wait, you don't have playing card minions, do you? Well, it doesn't matter. I don't need you! I have my burrow, so why don't you two just go… do… girl… things!" And with that, he pivoted on his foot, and marched off… promptly tripped over his "burrow."
Piké looked sadly upon the rabbit as it (no, he) slowly, pitifully picked himself off the ground, pausing once or twice as if he wasn't sure he wanted to get up or not.
"Oh, so cute!" Lilié, who had been watching the exchange silently but ecstatically, couldn't stop herself any longer, and jumped out and grabbed the rabbit in a hug, the cracking of bones could be heard as she squeezed.
"Oh, you lost, lonely, sad creature, with nowhere to go. How lovely. Oh, if only there was just someway for me to protect this poor thing!" she gushed as she strangled the terrified rabbit, the false worry and false concern in her voice sounding particularly false. Her face lit up in a false epiphany. "I have the most wonderful idea! You can stay with me in my room! Isn't that great!"
"Noooooooo!" the rabbit exclaimed, wriggling out of her arms and leaping back before calming himself, "Uh… I mean, it's not like I don't appreciate the offer, crazy-girl-that-almost-killed-me, but people would get the wrong idea. Yeah, let's go with that." He spattered, obviously still shaken up by his last encounter with her.
"Ah, how cute, you're shy. Don't worry, little bunny rabbit, Auntie Lilié is here!" Lilié said, smiling wider and holding out her arms.
"Auntie!" the rabbit huffed, "I'm old enough to be your grandfather's grandfather."
Lilié made a frown that looked a lot like a grin, "What's wrong, bunny. Why don't you like me?"
"Why? You tried to kill me yesterday!"
"Oh, I've tried to kill Piké dozens of times already, and she never says anything."
"Are you some kind of teenage psychopa…?"
"Hay!"
The rabbit and the blond haired girl immediately stopped their bickering and turned their heads to the purple haired student standing in the street, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"I know where he can stay."
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The two girls walked swiftly down the drab gray hallway of the girl's dormitories, Oswald close behind, glancing here and there, hoping that no one would burst out of one of the many doors flanking them. He still didn't know if he could trust these girls, but what choice did he have. After just one night he had been behaving like a lunatic. If these young ones had shelter, he couldn't pass it by. And if it was a trap… well, then he was prepared to die the way a king should: crying like a little girl.
As they continued, they came to the purple haired girl's door, the last door in the hall… and walked right past it. At first, Oswald was confused, but as they came to the hall's end, he found that it was not quite the end as a small passage in the right wall came into view. They turned into it and there, at the top of four steps, was a lonely door.
"Kind of hidden for a dormitory room, isn't it?" he questioned.
"It's a dorm room alright. But the other girls say that no one has stayed here in years, probably because it is so tucked away like this." the purple haired girl explained as she tried the knob. "Rats, it's locked!"
"Step aside." said Oswald, deciding that if he was going to go along with this, he might as well go all the way. He removed one of his long ears from his head, ignoring the gasp from the purple haired girl. He then pressed an invisible button near the top and out popped several Swiss Army tools. He muttered as he began to sort them out, "Lets see… big knife… small knife… tweezers…. nose-hair clippers… nuclear powered potato peeler… comb… ah, here we go: lock-pick! I'll have this open before you can say 'Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.'"
He got to work, and in a short while he heard the soft "click" of the tumblers falling. He turned the knob and the two girls and rabbit entered through the doorway.
Well, Oswald had to concede, it was a room alright; it just wasn't like any school dorm room he had ever seen before. In fact, it looked more like a loft. He wasn't even sure where the bed was until he looked back and saw it was right of the door, suspended above the ground in a bunk, accessed by a ladder. The only piece of furniture was a battered table in the middle of the room and a beam of light streaming out of the window brought little warmth to the dark space. But what really got Oswald was the immense feeling of loneliness that permeated every bit of the room. Oswald knew a thing or twelve about loneliness, in fact he considered himself to be an expert on the subject, so he knew that particular feeling when he felt it. In fact, it's not a feeling that's altogether easy to forget.
"Wow, I've never been in here before." The purple haired girl marveled, "Gives me a sort of sad, uneasy feeling."
"I know!" cheered the blond girl, "Isn't it wonderful?"
Oswald shrugged, "I've been in worst." It was true. This definitely beat a mountain of merchandise featuring the mug of a hated, younger half-brother.
The purple haired girl's face lit up. "So this will do?"
"Sure, at lest it's a roof over my head." He turned to the girl, "Hay, Kid. What's your name?"
The girl was taken aback, embarrassed that she had forgotten her manners. "I'm Piké," she gesture to the blond, "and that's Lilié." Lilié widened her smile in response.
Oswald gave a cocky grin, "Oswald." He introduced himself and turned to look out the window. "So, you said this was a dormitory? For a school?"
"The Goldcrown Academy of the Fine Arts." Piké answered, "One of the best art schools around. Lilié and I are in the ballet division."
"Ballet?" the rabbit king pondered, "Isn't that that thing with the dancing alligators and hippos?"
Lilié gave a giggle, but Piké grabbed her head as if in pain. "No," she said after a while, "just humans."
"Oh, well, that doesn't matter," he said, leaping onto the table, "the important thing is that we're all entertainers here!"
"Entertainers?" Piké said, crossing her arms in disbelief. "You are an entertainer?"
Oswald puffed his chest out in pride. "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: cartoon star extraordinaire! Perhaps you've head of me?"
Piké shoot a glance at Lilié, who just shrugged. "No…"
Oswald lowered his head, his proud expression turning melancholy. "Yeah, of course you haven't. I bet you've hear of my brother, though; Mickey Mouse."
"No," Piké tilted her head in thought, "can't say I have."
"Of course, you've heard of him, everyone and their grandmother's dentist ha- what did you say?"
His head suddenly shot up, nonexistent heart racing.
"I never herd of him." Piké said with a shrug. Lilié gave a confused look.
Oswald could not believe what he was hearing, "You haven't heard of Mickey Mouse? You know, short guy, round ears, red shorts, high squeaky voice…"
Lilié clasped her hands together. "Oh, he sounds adorable. I do hope he's suffering!"
"Wait," Piké raised her eyebrow, "you're a rabbit but your brother's a mouse? How dose that work?"
Oswald didn't answer; he was too busy being shocked. "You don't know who Mickey Mouse is…"
Piké came forward, slamming her palm onto the table. "Yes! I don't know him! Is there a reason I should?"
Oswald continued to stare at the girl, trying to contain his shock. How could she not know who Mickey Mouse was? Everyone knew who Mickey Mouse was, just as no one knew of him. All these years and now he found someone who didn't know his goody-two shoes brother? After thinking that Mickey was pretty much the most popular… thing in all of creation, he finally, finally found someone completely ignorant of that stupid mouse! What good did that do him n…
A thought crossed Oswald's mind, and a smile spread across his face.
"No, no reason you should of heard of him." He said, answering Piké's question five minutes after she had asked it. "Just my younger brother; no one to be concerned about. Just a nobody; a has-been. I, on the other hand, am astounded that you haven't herd of me. I'm world famous." He put his hands behind his back, crossing his fingers.
"Really?" Lilié suddenly stepped forward, excitement in her eyes.
"Y-yes…" Oswald stammered, taken by surprise by Lilié's sudden interest, but it did not take long for his ego to take over, and his chest returned to a puffed out position, "Of course I am! I've been in dozens… no… hundreds of cartoons-"
"What are cartoons?" a skeptical Piké asked.
"Be quit, you!" Oswald snapped at her before turning back to the starry-eyed Lilié, "Yes, I am famous, perhaps the most famous cartoon character in the world. I've been in everything: books, toys, moves, comics, video games…"
"What's a video game?" Piké asked again.
"I said quit!" Oswald hissed and turned back to Lilié. "So you see, my face has been on pretty much everything. Why, there is probably no place were I am not known."
"Except here." Piké snarked with a sly smile.
Oswald gave her a fierce glare but before he could say anything, Lilié cut in. "Oh, I always wanted to meet a celebrity."
Oswald's heart skipped a beat; at lest, it would have if he had one. Finally, after such a long time, a fan. Someone to adorer him, to cheer him, to ask him for his autograph, to…
"I love celebrities! There is nothing more tragic than a celebrity! I adorer to hear of how they fall from the public spotlight, becoming husks of their former selves, forgotten to the ages." She said this in a manner of a five-year-old talking to her favorite doll.
Oswald's long ears suddenly went limp, his bottom hitting the table top. After that he just sat there, sadly.
Piké stepped forward worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Just forget everything I just said." He sighed to the floor. "I'm not famous. Just forget it."
Piké made to say something but was interrupted by the soft chimes of a faraway clock.
Lilié gave a delighted squeal. "Classes are starting! Come on, Piké, we don't want to be late!" she singsonged, dancing out the door.
"Hay!" Piké shouted, "I haven't gotten any rest, yet!"
Piké scampered to the door, but the rabbit's voice stopped her.
"Hay, Kid!"
Piké turned her head to Oswald, still sitting on the table, with a sad smile.
"Thanks."
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The chimes carried far across the little town, alerting students that it was time to return for classes. It even reached the small pond nestled deep within the large park; a small pond that was currently surrounded by a crowd of very disappointed students.
The Dancing Duck had not shown. Noon had come and gone with no duck, and as the bells chimed, the students reluctantly stood from there spots on the grass.
This wasn't an unusual occurrence, the duck would sometimes disappear for a day, maybe two, but it was still a disappointment none the less. The only thing the sad teenagers could do as they marched back to school was hope that it would be there the next day.
No one had noticed that Fakir had been missing from his usual spot under the tree.
