Of Singing Mice and Angry Birds
Raven didn't have to wait long for things between Apple and Rotbart to escalate. Two days after Headmaster Grimm refused to intervene, Sparrow barged into Raven and Apple's room.
"HEY APPLE WHITE: DO SOMETHING 'BOUT THOSE MICE, 'CUZ THAT'S NOT RI-IGHT! OW!" The thief musician half-sang, half-screeched as he shredded on his guitar.
"Sparrow. Do you have to...sing everything?" Raven said through gritted teeth. It was easy for her to see why her brother hated his roommate so much.
Sparrow ignored her and said to Apple: "Seriously, you've got to get those singing mice OUT. ASAP."
Apple smiled sweetly, but it didn't escape Raven that there was a slightly sinister glint in her eye. "Why Sparrow?" Apple said with the charm of a perfect princess. "Doesn't Rotbart like my little gift?"
"He has no clue about your gift. Well, YET." Sparrow informed her.
Apple was very taken aback by this. "Oh. Are they bothering you then?" Despite her new-found love of annoying Rotbart, she was generally careful to do things that wouldn't affect Sparrow too much. As future queen, she needed to be considerate of all her subjects. Just not Rotbart.
"No, the little dudes are cool. Especially the fat one, he bs a sick box!" Sparrow said. "It's the owl that's freaking the shit out!"
Raven groaned as she face-palmed. Odie. She thought. Of course Odie would get involved.
"Owl? What Owl?" Apple said in confusion.
"Rot-barf's owl!" Sparrow half-shouted.
"I never saw an owl!" Apple said defensively.
"He usually sleeps all day in his little hole." Raven explained. "The mice must have woken him up."
"Yeah, and he's mad as hell! And hungry!" Sparrow added.
"Oh dear!" Apple cried in alarm. She thought that Rotbart would only shoo the mice out, not let his owl eat them! "Those poor little musical mousies!"
And she immediately rushed off to Rotbart and Sparrow's room with Sparrow and Raven close behind.
When Sparrow opened the door to his dorm room everything was in total disarray. Books, homework, sheet music, cursed items, guitar picks, rubber snakes, boxers, briefs, and all sorts of clutter affiliated with Rotbart and Sparrow were scattered everywhere. Two desks and a bookshelf had been knocked over, and feathers from shredded pillows and duvets were floating in the air. And in the middle of all this chaos, the seven white, formerly-singing mice were squeaking and desperately trying to hide from a very large, very crabby-looking owl of an indeterminate breed who was screeching furiously as he tried to grab them.
"SEE?!" Sparrow said. Raven stepped forward and tried to calm the ruffled bird down:
"Nice Odie...It's OK, Odie..." Odie suddenly stopped, sharply turned towards Raven, gave her a look that plainly said "No. This is not OK. Fuck off," and resumed hunting. "Typical." Raven muttered as she rolled her eyes. Odie was just as pig-headed as his owner.
"I'll handle this." Apple said confidently. She marched into the middle of the room And Raven and Sparrow stood back, wondering what she was going to do.
Apple opened her mouth and began to sing:
Come little friends,
Let this fighting end,
La-La-La-La-La Let's sing and be friends,
La-La-La-La, All friends to the end!
The effect Apple's singing had on the animals was remarkable. The mice stopped squeaking in fear and Odie stopped tearing the room apart. And within two minutes, all of the mice were circled around Apple and humming along to her singing. And Odie was perched on her shoulder and nuzzling her as if he was a great, feathered kitten. Raven had never seen him so affectionate with anyone other than Rotbart. All in all, it was a pretty adorable scene.
And then Raven and Sparrow heard Rotbart yelling in agony from down the hall.
"Rotty?! Are you OK?!" Raven anxiously called as she ran towards him. He was doubled over, covering his ears, and was looking a bit like someone was attacking him.
"AAAAAARRRRRRG!" The young sorcerer roared. "WHAT IS THAT RACKET?!"