Everything was in place. Farren and I had gotten up an hour before dawn to cut down a tree big enough to block the road. But still we were working right up until the moment our scout we had placed farther down the road signaled to us that the prince's carriage was coming. Quickly we all got into positions. All the kids hidden high up in the tree's ready with ammunition. Farren dashed up a nearby tree as well, and I ran a ways into the shrubbery.

~.~Prince Siegfried~.~

I heard the guards call the carriage to stop.

"Is something the matter?" I asked as I stepped out. They looked at me before gesturing to the large tree that blocked our path.

"That's strange," I said walking up to the fallen tree. "What could have knocked it over?" I felt the area where the tree had been uprooted. "Wait a minute…" I thought aloud. Bending down I looked at the stump of the tree.

"It's been cut…!" I said quietly, but not quite enough that the guards didn't hear. One with a salt and pepper beard grabbed my upper arm and started rushing me back towards the carriage while another one shouted:

"AMBUSH!" almost on cue, arrows and large stones started flying at us from every direction. The guard that had grabbed me let go and went running back to the group, drawing his sword as he went. I was about to do the same when I heard the sound of something whizzing threw the air at me. I whirled around when something yanked me to the ground. I heard a thudding sound as the arrow that was supposed to hit my head embedded itself into the side of the carriage.

I looked over at my savoir to see a girl about my age. She had gnarled long dark hair that resembled a bird's nest. Her face was caked in dirt, and she smelled like she hadn't had a bath in ages! The biggest thing that stood out though, was her large violet eyes that peaked out beneath long, dark lashes.

"Run." She said, grabbing my hand in her small slim one she pulled me off the road and into the bushes. Pulling me along behind her, we raced away from the ambush site not stopping until both of us were red faced and out of breath.

"I- I- Thank you. You just saved my life!" I managed to say between wheezes.

"Well, only barely…" she gasped, already regaining her composure. 'She must do a lot of running…' I found myself thinking.

"How- how can I thank you properly?" I asked. I watched as her bright amethyst eyes light up. She was about to say something when, somewhere far off a horn sounded. A look I couldn't place flashed across her face when she heard it.

"Oh, I have to go. But, if you really want to find me, my name is Sara!" she said before she dashed of deeper into the forest, disappearing from my view completely in a few seconds.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~.~Sara~.~

I felt exhausted! I had spent nearly the whole morning looking for Duck, but to no avail. Flopping down on one of the green grassy hills on the school's campus, I decided to try to catch a few 'Z's'. 'Maybe, knowing Duck… she'll just come find me...' I thought sleepily.

I had only been lightly dozing for a short while when I felt someone plop down on the ground next to me. Expecting it to be Duck I shot up and tackled them the ground, straddling their waist.

"DU-!" I stopped myself; it was not Duck at all. In fact, it was Mytho's waist whom I had straddled, and Mytho whom I was currently sitting on top of.

… And Mytho who's forehead I had kissed this morning after saving from falling out of a window and seeing pants less...

Awkward.

"Oh," I began, trying to sound put out, "it's you. I thought you were Duck…" Mytho stared blankly up at me, unblinking. 'What was I getting all worked up about?' I thought 'this is Mytho we're talking about, completely emotionless!' Rolling off him, I noticed the book in his hands. 'Oh, he must have come here to read…'

"Prinz uno Rabe by Drosslemyre?" I said reading the title of the cover.

"OH! The Prince and the Raven? Is it any good? I've heard of it, but never read it." I said. Mytho had opened the book to his current spot.

Mytho stared at me before saying- "Not really." I sat myself more comfortably next to him and looked over his shoulder at the page he was on. On one page there was a detailed drawing of an ornate carriage being attacked by unseen enemies, and a dirty looking girl pulling the prince to safety. The caption under said 'The Attack' the other page had very tiny typing on it.

"Smeesh! How can you read this print, Mytho?" I asked.

"I just can," he said. I nodded and shrugged.

"Must mean you have better eyes than me," I said. Stretching out on the grass I laid down next to Mytho. Scooting myself closer to him to take in some of his warmth. "I'm tired, so I'm going to take a nap. Could you wake me if you happen to see Duck toddling around?"

"Yes," he replied quietly, his eyes focused on his book.

"Thanks darlin'." I said, throwing an arm over my face to block the sunlight a bit. I quickly fell I into a light doze.

~.~Duck~.~

I peeked back around the statue at Mytho; lying down next to him was none other than- Sara! She was curled up on her side sleeping while Mytho sat next to her, petting her head gently with one hand while the other held his book.

"Aww, they look so perfect together!" I thought out loud. At that moment, Mytho looked up from his book and straight at me.

"Eep!" I yelped, he saw me! 'Well,' I thought 'I still haven't apologized for his leg yet.' Steeling my nerves I walked up to him. I watched him nudge Sara, waking her up. She sat up, her long chestnut brown hair tousled with blades of grass in it. Blinking her bleary eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness she looked like she was about to say something. But before she could I marched right up to Mytho.

"Well, you see….um- I'm so sorry!"

~.~Sara~.~

"What?" Mytho and I said in unison.

"Your leg… is your leg still hurting you?" she asked

"Not really." Mytho said

"So it's all better now?" I asked

"Thank goodness!" Duck said, looking relieved. Mytho just stared at her, and she began to do this weird nervous laugh. Duck stumbled away a few feet before plopping herself down on my other side.

"You reading a book?" Duck asked. I sweat dropped. 'Goodness, this girl…' I thought.

"You like books, then?" she asked next. I had to resist face palming myself at this one. 'Okay,' I thought, 'third one, I'll intervene.'

"Is the book interesting?" she asked. That one was an okay question, but it still looked like she was beating herself up over it. I was about to jump in when Mytho said

"Not really." 'Wow, is that his catchphrase for the day?' I thought. But this seemed to bring Duck out of her wallowing.

"I don't know if I particularly like or dislike books." He said

"Damn," I said, "I think that's the most I have ever heard you say all at once, Mytho!"

"Oh, really?" he asked turning to me.

"And now we're back down to two words again…" I said but Duck didn't seem to be listening to us anymore. For a while I tried asking him different things trying to get lengthier responses out of him until-

"Good day, Mytho," said a voice above us. I looked up to see Anteaterina.

"Oh, hi Rue! - Qua-!" Duck said before clapping a hand over her mouth. I glared up at Anteaterina, I didn't like her. She was always trying to get into the special class, and had even challenged me to try to get in once… Obviously I had beaten her.

"What do you want Anteaterina?" I asked none too kindly. She glared back at me before saying "I'm not here to talk to you, Sara! Mytho, may I take this seat next to you?"

"Sure," Mytho said. She sat herself down on the other side of Mytho.

"What exactly are your thoughts on Miss Rue?" Oh no, I can smell a scheme coming…

"I don't know," Mytho said. 'Mytho… WRONG ANSWER!' I thought at him

"Also, it's none of your business!" I said butting in.

"Again… I'm not here to talk to you, Sara!" She spat at me.

"You do love her don't you?" she asked. 'I swear to god Mytho if you say not really or I don't know I will-!'

"Not really." He said. This time I really did face palm myself. 'Mytho you are walking yourself right into a trap!'

"Then, might I ask you to be with me instead?" she asked. Great, now I have to play hero.

"Sorry Anteaterina, but I literally like just asked him to be mine, and he said yes! So, too bad for you, anyway we got to fly- tootles!" I said and grabbed Mytho's hand and dragged him away with me before Anteaterina had a chance to reply.

We were off down the hill. Me tugging Mytho, when we were a safe enough distance away I stopped.

"Smeesh! Why do I get the feeling we haven't seen the last of her for today?" I asked

"I don't know." Mytho said

"Sweetie that was a rhetorical question…" I sighed, shooting him a pitying look.

~.~.~.~.~

I was standing next to Rue with the rest of the class. I was wearing my usual black and white leotard when Anteaterina stood up.

"Uh oh…" I muttered, here we go again. Pinching Rue's arm I nodded over to Anteaterina.

"Heads up!" I whispered to her.

"Mr. Cat," She said.

"What?" He demanded

"The special class dance company is strictly capped at five?"

"Yes, so? Meow?"

"Then, I guess someone will have to be dropped to make room for me." She said confidently. The class 'ooooh' at this and I heard Pike say "A declaration of war!"

"Trying to take not just her lover, but her status too! All in one day!" Lilie said swooning.

"Yeah!" Pike said

"How exciting!" they said in unison.

"To prove my worthiness," Anteaterina said "I would like to dance the pas de duex with…. Mytho!"

"Looks like she's not done taking cracks at that nut." I whispered to Rue "Unfortunately, Mytho's quite the hollow nut!" this caused Rue to erupt into a short burst of giggles. I heard Pike and Lilie say farther down the in unison:

"Wow, an even more exciting turn of events!"

"This can't be!" I heard Duck say. 'Oh Duck, why yes it can…'. They danced to Tchaikovsky's Hungarian Dance. I had to give it to them, they were good dancers, but both were lacking in something big… Mytho danced more like a puppet than a person, and Anteaterina had no joy in her dance.

"Guess it wasn't all talk, huh?" I said to Rue, "She's definitely improved sense when she challenged me."

"We can still easily take her." Rue replied, looking uninterested.

"Miss Sara, I would very much like to see your pas de duex." she challenged, turning to me once she had finished dancing.

"Wow, didn't see that coming." I muttered "I thought she was aiming all this at you this time." again, I merely got a shrug in return from Rue, who was busy examining her nails.

"Best get up there, then." she sighed in a bored tone, but I could see the smile that tugged on her dusty pink lips.

"Sure!" I said as I stood up.

"But I would like to borrow Mytho for my pas de duex, if that's all right." I announced. This brought about more 'oooh's' from the class.

"No! She can't do that, can she Mr. Cat?" Anteaterina exclaimed, before Mr. Cat had a chance to say anything I interjected.

"Well, by sharing the same partner we're getting rid of more variables to out dances. You are evaluating us, not who we dance with. And if we had a partner that was better or worse it might change our dance." 'Man,' I thought 'I would make a good lawyer!'. Mr. Cat nodded, seeing the reasoning as valid.

"That makes sense; proceed as you like Miss Sara!" I smirked; the entire class knew I had just won the first round. I hadn't gotten a chance to dance yesterday, so I had a lot of pent up energy and was ready to give my best performance yet.

We got into position as Tchaikovsky's waltz from Swan Lake begins to play. 'I am SO ready!' I thought. Every single move I made I put feeling and elegance into. When Mytho and I touched images and feeling, completely irrelevant raced through my head. From what I could see Mytho was experiencing it too. Passion flowed through me anew, adding to my dance. I vaguely heard the class 'oooh's' and 'aaah's' and sighing's. But I was too focused on the thoughts, ideas, emotions, and memories that were racing through my head at lightning speed.

When our dance ended, we got a standing ovation from everyone, even Mr. Cat. There were whistles, hoots and hollers. Some were shouting 'Bravo!' and 'Brava!', but I was only slightly aware of it all, I felt dazed and slightly dizzy from what I had just experienced. The moment we stopped dancing everything disappeared into foggy memories that were only fading further into nothing. I leaned into Mytho's side to steady myself.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Mr. Cat said, calming everyone down.

"What terrific craftsmanship on both of your parts! Sara, you are definitely staying in the special class! And you might have just stolen Miss Rue's spot at most talented dancer!" as Mr. Cat said this, out of the corner of my eye I saw Anteaterina with tears running down her face storm out dragging Mytho behind her.

Walking back to my place I whispered to Rue.

"Was I really that good?" I asked her

"Good? You were amazing, Sara!"

"Then I wished someone could have videotaped me…" I muttered. At that moment I saw Duck disappear after Anteaterina and Mytho.

"Sorry, gotta go." I said before running out after them.

~.~.~

When I had finally caught up with Duck we just came upon Anteaterina and Mytho when-

SLAP!

"You think nothing of the humiliation I just went through?" Anteaterina demanded

"Not really." I mentally face palmed myself. 'Nice Mytho… nice.'

"Did you not do your best on purpose? Why didn't you dance like that with me! You like Sara don't you? Tell me!" she demanded.

"I don't know."

"Don't mock me!"

"Just so you are aware, if you hadn't been so close to Rue and Sara, I would not have asked you in the first place! Goodbye!" and with that she stormed off.

"Um.." Duck said, but Anteaterina only had eyes for me.

"Come to rub it in my face, have you?" she asked.

"Uh, no. Not really." I said.

"Uh wait!" Duck said grabbing her sleeve as she pasted us. At that moment, Duck's pendent began to glow.

"What's happening?" I asked

"I don't know. Wait Anteaterina!" Duck said chasing after her. I glanced back at Mytho, but he seemed fine so I ran after Duck.

"It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" She shouted, ripping apart a tree stump with her claws.

"Not fair…" she said, dropping to her knees and sobbing. A red glow began to emit from her before taking the form of- Mytho?

"I know, go on and cry... It IS unfair." 'Whoa, am I trippin' or somthin'?' I thought

"A heart shard!" Duck said.

"A what shard?" I asked.

"It's what we need to gather to return to Mytho, I'll explain later. But right now-!" Duck was cut off as her pendent began to glow. Enveloping us both in its glow, we transformed, now I was Princess Snow and next to me was Tutu.

"Who are you two? Have you come to laugh at me as well?" Anteaterina demanded

"No Anteaterina, but the one next to you is not your partner."

"Don't be absurd!" she said

"Please, come dance with us!" I said, holding out a hand towards her.

"I refuse! You couldn't possible know how I feel!" she said. She began to dance, as she did rocks and dirt appeared surrounding us.

"Go Away!" She said

"Anteaterina! Is that really your way of dancing" Tutu asked over the uproar.

"Yes! To make the audience surrender, that is art!" A giant rock shard flew at Tutu knocking her to the ground.

"I'll take this one Tutu!" I called to her. She nodded and backed out of the way. I jumped over the flying dirt and towards Anteaterina.

"But that isn't how you really feel!"

"Oh no, I believe it from the bottom of my heart!" she said, picking up pace. I leapt out of the way to avoid hitting another rock shard.

"Waterfall!" I called using it's weightlessness to stop any oncoming flying objects, also using it's weightlessness to get closer to Anteaterina.

"This. Is. My. Way. Of. Dancing!" she said, punctuating each word with a violent twirl.

"Then why do you seem in so much pain? There's no joy in your dancing" I asked.

"That's…-"

Sara was wearing her usual black and white leotard, standing with the rest of the Special Class. I watched her and Rue stretch out and begin to dance.

"Aww! It's so magical!" I thought

"I want to dance like you, Miss Sara, Miss Rue!" I said

"Really? I don't think you should," Sara started, resting her head in one of her lender hands "I don't want a dancing clone." Sara said, wrinkling her nose.

"You can't dance like us, it's impossible." Rue replied, looking down her nose at me. I could feel my eyes begin to burn with unshed tears.

"-I want to beat Rue and Sara! To win by any means necessary."

"Those feelings…" I said calmly, twirling like her. "Are not truly yours Anteaterina." Her twirling slowed to a stop. Her head hung low, she looked so sad. The raging dirt was replaced with a calm water surface.

"Forget the bitterness and hatred; show me how you really dance. I'm sure it's muck prettier then how Rue and Sara dance. Let's dance!" I took her hand, and we began to dance.

"To your heart's content!" As we danced, I could feel the hate and sadness ebb away from her. When we finished, she stepped away leaving the heart sharp Mytho to stand in front of me.

"You're-…"

"I am the feeling of bitter disappointment, shattered and forgotten."

"But this is not where you belong." Tutu said from the other side of the clearing.

"Must I wander again?" It asked.

"No," I said to it with a kind smile "You need to go back."

"Can I go back?" Disappointment asked.
I giggled and nodded. "Of course, sweetie!"

"Will I get to see you again?" Disappointment asked, I blushed lightly before saying,

"Most likely you will, very soon."

"I'm so glad!" Disappointment said; a relieved smile on his face. With that he disappeared and turned back into a glowing red shard. Hearing footsteps behind me I found Mytho standing there staring at me. With one hand I held the heart shard out to him.

"Here," I said offering it to him. The shard floated from my hand and over to Mytho and enter him, right over his heart.

"Mytho!" I heard Fakir shout from somewhere far off.

"Uh, oh!" I said. Tutu grabbed my arm and yanked me away off farther into the forest.

Once we had turned back into ourselves I steered Duck over to a nearby tree.

"Okay, spill."