Raven to the Rescue

When Raven returned to her room later that evening, she was greeted by a familiar sight; Apple studying on her side of the room with what looked like yet another doting forest creature in tow.

"Hey Apple." Raven said.

"Hello!" Apple responded cheerfully. Despite Raven's decision to reject her legacy and Apple's disapproval of Raven's decision, the two girls still made an effort to get along. Raven couldn't find it in her heart to hate Apple and after cooling down after the initial outrage of Raven ditching their story, Apple held on to the hope that she could change roommate's mind about destiny by getting to know her better.

"Whoo! WHOO!" The animal by Apple's side suddenly said. And as it limped forward, Raven could see that it was an owl.

"Who's this?" Raven asked.

"I found him in the forest today. The poor little sweetie hurt his wing and foot, but with a little love and care, he'll be back to normal in no time." Apple said.

"Whoo! WHOO!" The owl repeated urgently.

"Wow, sure is excitable, isn't he?" Raven remarked.

"It's OK, B.B.." Apple cooed to the agitated owl. "This is Raven's room too. And even though she's a villain, she won't hurt you."

Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm NOT a villain." She said with the air of someone who has had to reiterate an obvious fact over and over again. "And why B.B.?"

"I came up with that just now." Apple chirped happily. "It stands for Baby Blues. See how pretty his eyes are?"

Raven looked closely at the owl (which seemed disgusted by its new name). "Yeah, they are..." She said. And familiar, she thought. Where have I seen eyes like that? She wondered. "What kind of owl is he?" She asked.

"I don't know. But he's beautiful isn't he?" Apple said as she stroked him. It didn't escape Raven the the owl seemed uncomfortable with Apple touching him.

"Erm...yeah..." Raven responded slowly. That's weird. She thought. She had never seen an animal that didn't like Apple before. Well, save that dragon she attacked two weeks ago.

"And he's one of a kind! He's the perfect pet for me!" Apple declared.

The owl's eyes widened and he began to screech and hoot furiously as if he was outraged by the idea.

"Uh, Apple?" Raven said over the din. "I don't think he likes that very much."

"Oh, poor B.B., did I ruffle your feathers? I'm sorry; I'll got get a nice brush to smooth them out again." Apple said.

"That's not what I meant..." Raven began.

"I'll go see if Ashlynn has anything good for birds." Apple said. "I'll be back in a minute!" And she bustled out of the room.

Raven turned to the owl once Apple had left. "Hey, what's your problem?" She asked. "Do you not want to be a pet?"

The owl stopped shrieking, glared at her, tore a page from Apple's notebook with his good talon, grabbed a pen and scribbled:

NO!

"You can write?!" Raven said in surprise.

It's me, Rae. The owl wrote.

"It's me, who?" Raven asked in bewilderment.

The owl gave Raven a look of contempt and pulled back the feathers on his chest with his good talon to reveal a sparkling, crystal swan charm.

"ROTTY?!" Raven shouted. "What happened?! What are you doing here? And like that?! Are you trying to prank Apple again?!"

Rotbart furiously shook his head as he hid the swan charm in his feathers again. Get me OUT of here! He wrote as soon as his talon was free again.

"I'm back!" Apple said as she walked into the room with Briar Beauty and Blondie Lockes at her heels. "There he is," she said proudly to her BFFAs.

"Wow, he's really cool!" Briar said appreciatively.

"Oh definitely, I'd say he's just the right pet for you!" Blondie gushed.

"I know, right?" Apple said. "And once we give you a nice grooming with this brush we found in Ashlynn's pet care kits, B.B., you'll be the fairest of the birdies!"

Rotbart looked as though he was about to explode from humiliation, rage, and fear, and Raven knew that she had to act fast:

"UH-OH." Raven said deliberately and loudly.

The three royals turned to stare at her.

"Uh-oh?" Said Briar.

"What do you mean uh-oh?" Asked Blondie.

"I just remembered where I've seen that owl before." Raven said.

"Really, where?" Asked Briar.

"And why uh-oh?" Added Apple.

Raven blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"In General Villany. He's cursed."