I have ideas... Many ideas... The outline was a good idea. I'm pretty excited about this chapter. I made outlines for all my other fanfics that I'm currently working on and to my surprise, I actually got more ideas. Now my feelings for writing have been renewed. The name of the previous chapter, Silver and Gold, represents the song it stands for, which is about old friends and new friends. It was a little hard to write for Autor because everything on the internet about him is so vague. Aheh. Let's just start the story.

Chapter 4: The First Glimpse

"So Ahiru, when did you move here?" Pike asked. Both her and Lilie were dragging the poor duck to wherever it was that they were going.

"Last-ouch-night" Ahiru answered as they dragged her over a bump.

"Wow. So soon?"

"Yeah, everything happened suddenly."

"Does that mean you suddenly had a crush on Mytho?" Lilie teased though she really was asking.

"Wh-wh-wh-how do you know?" Ahiru cried. It hadn't even really been a day yet.

"I just have that sort of power to scout out doomed love, but I want to hear about you and Mytho" she purred.

"Ummm, well, he's really handsome..." Ahiru started nervously. That's not enough she told herself. "He has this lovely smile that makes you want to like him even more."

"Ooh, sounds like you got it bad" Pike joked.

"She does have it bad Pike because Ahiru could never confess her feelings to the amazing Mytho who probably already likes someone else" Lilie sang, oblivious to Ahiru's gaping mouth.

"Don't worry about her so much. She enjoys teasing all star crossed lovers" Pike told Ahiru.

"Star crossed lovers?" Ahiru mumbled questioningly.

"Yeah, it's when two people who care very much for each other are separated by forces that some can never explain." Ahiru visibly slumped over, feeling dejected at her explanation. It didn't apply to her and Mytho, exactly.

"We're here!" the duo proclaimed.

Ahiru fell with a thud from their grasps. "Oof! Where are we?"

"The central square" Lilie responded. Ahiru got up and dusted herself off. She walked around the entire area of the circle. Beautiful colors and wandering animals were everywhere. She looked in each window, inhaled all smells, observed all the customers at the shops. This was nothing like she had ever experienced before. The lonely duck had lived in the Lake of Despair, which isn't always a very exciting place to live in, all her life.

"The central square is incredible!"

Pike dismissed her with a "It's not that special." Then she turned back to one of the shops. "Anyways, since it's your first day here, Lilie and I wanted to make you feel welcome. So, you get to go shopping for clothes with us."

"R-really? I mean w-we just met and everything and you're both being so nice to me and it's not like I deserve any of this niceness and I don't want you to waste your time with me so I just might go back to my room and stay there forever." Lilie and Pike blinked rapidly.

"Oh Ahiru! That's the spirit!" Lilie cheered, completely ignoring Ahiru's rant. "You've got to start looking at everything like it's a tragedy waiting to happen."

"She-she's serious?" Ahiru asked helplessly.

"Maybe she, maybe she isn't. All that matters is that you're with us, whether you like it or not" Pike shouted in encouragement. She grabbed the stunned strawberry blonde's hand and took her into the store.

Unlike the ballet store Fakir went to the first time, this one supplied casual ware. Lilie and Pike sat Ahiru down. Then they raced around picking out random articles of clothing. They pushed her into a changing booth and waited impatiently for her. Out she walked in a beige turtle neck with yellow cuffs, yellow shorts with feather designs on both sides, white and orange striped socks, and red shoes with orange duck feet designs on top.

"Yes! I knew going with the duck style was a good idea!" Pike shouted in joy.

"Your name does mean duck. We decided to go with that theme" Lilie added.

"I like it! It's so comfortable and stylish. I couldn't ask for anything better" Ahiru said with a twirl. Laughter filled the almost empty store.

"Okay... Let's pay for it" Pike said.

"What does pay mean?" Ahiru asked innocently. Lilie, missing the significance of the question, summarized it as her having no money.

"Oh no! Poor Ahiru is as broke as a record player. With funds that low, she'll never be able to give Mytho a gift for his birthday or the holidays!"

"B-birthdays? Holidays?!" Ahiru sputtered.

"Oh Ahiru. You'll never be able to woo him like this. I'll pay for you this time" Pike told her. Ahiru bowed her head in gratitude.

Once they paid for the outfit, the girls went to the entrance. Just when they were about to head out Ahiru spotted a ridiculous costume on a mannequin. A brown hat with various colored feathers protruding from it was set on the head of the mannequin. A dark red coat with a green lizard design on the back covered it. A pink handkerchief dangled from its neck. Along with that, another dark green coat was on it, followed by brown stockings and shoes.

"What a crazy looking outfit" Ahiru said aloud.

"That was what Drosselmeyer used to wear when he was alive. Everyone knows that" Pike spoke, perplexed at Ahiru's reaction to Drosselmeyer's clothes.

"Who's Drosselmeyer?"

"What?! Ahiru! How could you possibly not know who is?"

"I don't know!"

"Drosselmeyer, Ahiru, was a master story writer. Whatever story he created came true, no matter what. He made this land and turned it into his masterpiece. He still liked to write books though. He had a thing for tragedies. A bit unusual for a guardian, huh. Every time he sits down with a cup of tea and jots down all his ideas by candlelight. He also really liked birds. Said once that they were thought and imagination. Despite all his miraculous powers, Drosselmeyer wasn't able to keep himself from growing old and dying. He named the king a long time ago before he died, and he has ruled ever since."

"Wow..." Ahiru whispered, amazed.

"That's not all. Do you know of the war between the swans and the crows?" Lilie asked in a mysterious voice.

"No..."

"Drosselmeyer once wrote a book called the Prince and the Raven. It's about a handsome, loving, selfless prince, who is also a swan, who fights a terrible, gigantic raven that eats people's hearts. The one he most wants to eat is the prince's heart, one that can love everyone and be loved by everyone. The Raven controls hoards of crows that attack anyone they see on sight, so the prince has to use his flock of swans to protect them. Naturally they'd come to life just like all of Drosselmeyer's creations."

"Oh...that's too bad."

"Well, all we can do is hope for the prince to stop the Raven. It has been at bit of a stalemate for a while though" Pike informed her. Suddenly Ahiru turned to her friends in excitement.

"Maybe I could do something to help!"

"How?"

"I don't know, but that won't stop me from trying!"

Meanwhile, Fakir had taken Rue and Mytho to a café. Not wanting to deal with their confusion inside, he told them to wait for him while he bought their food. They sat down on a bench neighboring the café. Rue relished being with Mytho. Ever since she met him he had been nothing but kind to her. It was unlike her father in too many ways to count. It certainly helped that he was good looking. And the way he danced, it just drew her breath away. Though there was a problem. She was a crow, an eternal enemy of the swans. She could never be with him. Their love would be doomed from the start. He might even be the prince!

"These thoughts are dangerous" she thought sadly.

"Excuse me" a voice said. Rue pulled out of her thoughts to face the person in front of her. It was a girl with an anteater in her arms.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask the name of the boy" the girl rudely said to Rue. Rue brought a hand to her chest offended.

"I am Mytho" said boy replied.

"What a unique name. Mine is Anteaterina. I've never seen you before handsome. What's cooking good looking?" Mytho stared at her, unable to answer. Rue was equally shocked but recovered quickly.

"We are waiting for our friend to get our lunch. You are disturbing the peace so please leave." Rue felt the hairs on her body bristle in tension. Her eyes gleamed with a dark, hateful light.

"Hey, you can't talk that way to me! What are you, his girlfriend?" Anteaterina spat.

"If that means mate...then yes, I am his girlfriend. Now go." The anteater sprang from the arms of the girl and ran away in fear. It had sensed the evil aura radiating from Rue.

"Ugh no! Come back!" Anteaterina called to her pet. She went after him.

"Thank you Rue. I wouldn't have known what to say then" Mytho said to the still tense Rue.

"If you aren't able to defend yourself from commoners like her coming to snatch you away, then I'll just have to protect you. I will be your girlfriend and you respectively will be my boyfriend. That way you'll be safe. Understand?"

"Yes."

Fakir came out with their food in small bags.

"Fakir. Mytho and I are girlfriend and boyfriend now. It is to protect him from anyone that tries to take him away from us" Rue informed him. "Mostly from me" she thought.

"H-how do you know about that? I never mentioned anything about dating" he said staggered.

"Anteaterina was trying to get Mytho to be her mate. That's how I found out" she answered briskly.

"Her? I guess I could see her being attracted to him. Alright, you have...my...permission to date Mytho." Rue smiled in satisfaction. Maybe they could be together this way.

"Now we'll be together Mytho" Rue rejoiced. All he could do was nod and give a small smile.

"Let's find Ahiru now. You can eat on the way" Fakir commanded. As they walked, a small black feather flew from Rue and landed completely unnoticed on the path behind them.

"The story progresses as our characters gain a little more depth to their personalities. A jealous crow will only spell trouble for the rest of their troupe. How long will you be able to hind your evil tendencies, Rue?..." an old voice croaked in anticipation.

And end of chapter. I enjoy writing an evil Rue. I realized that I'm going to need to fix some spelling mistakes in the earlier chapters. I'll do that when I finish the story though. High five for lazy tendencies! You know, there was something else I wanted to say but I just can't remember what. When Ahiru has to pay for anything else in the story, I'll just give her a magical unlimited amount of money. Same for Rue and Mytho. That's what they seem to do in the anime anyway. Can't wait for next chapters! See ya!