Sparrow Hood wasn't what you'd call a typical fairy tale hero. He and his father are viewed poorly by both sides of the struggle between good and evil, and so he sticks to his band and he stays on the sidelines rather than getting dragged into this ridiculous destiny rebellion.
However, if he absolutely had to pledge his allegiance to one side, he'd be a good rebel. While stealing from the rich and giving to the poor seemed admirable and easy to do with his natural talent and a lifetime of practice, he wasn't exactly all that interested in just doing what his old man already did and still does.
He strummed his guitar quietly, unusual for him of course, but at the moment he was deep in thought and didn't want anyone to see him like this.
He stared up at the sky and wished he'd invested in archery classes after all. Those stupid clouds looked like swans. That was the last thing he wanted to think about.
He continued strumming, his usually obscenely loud instrument instead churning out a soft and soothing melody. He had no idea what tune it was, but it sounded familiar to him somehow, and he nearly had lulled himself to sleep...
Until a very shapely and pointed foot landed a swift pirouette propelled kick to his face.
"AAH!" He jumped, striking the cords hard like he normally did, the shrill sound causing flocks of birds to scatter like confetti.
A rather peeved Duchess glared down at him, her hands on her hips. She was bent over at the waist, towering over his collapsed form, and just by her dangling hair he couldn't resist and stole a glance at the view her generously low neckline provided before returning to her eyes.
"Really, Sparrow?" She simmered, "Swan Lake?"
He stared up at her confused and tried to speak but his mouth just hung open, a dull and primitive 'Uuuuh' tumbling out.
She smirked in irritation and she swung up her ever pointed toes at him, meeting his nose threateningly, "You know how I react to that stupid cursed ballet!" She growled, pressing her toe hard onto his nose before whipping her foot back into place.
She stood up straight and crossed her arms, unimpressed with his silence.
"What about it?" He asked, "why are you telling me this?"
She screeched and clenched her fists at her side, "Are you serious? Sparrow, you were playing Swan Lake! I compulsively dance whenever I hear it, so I would know! How could you not realise you were playing an extremely complex tune on your stupid guitar?"
His eyes bulged and he felt his heart stop. Oops...
He looked at his guitar, and then at her, and then smiled sheepishly, "I...guess I was..." He thought back to that ridiculous wooing class he had tried out once before he quit because Daring was annoying...
"Thinking of you?" He tried nervously.
Duchess remained frozen in the exact same position, her face still unimpressed.
"What?" He shrugged, "I don't know! When I started learning music, they made us read all kinds of boring stuff so I guess I just coincidentally remembered that one specific tune!" He lied.
Living in a room with Rot-barf it was always playing. Initially he hated it, but now secretly, he'd listen to it when said vomit-villain wasn't in the room.
Duchess rolled her eyes and then relaxed her posture, "Just, don't do weird things like that anymore please? Ode to joy, the nutcracker, ANYTHING ELSE and I couldn't care any less... Okay?" She concluded.
Sparrow stood up quickly and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, okay.." Before dashing off before she could say anything else.
She stared in the direction he'd gone and then once he was out of sight she let the blood rush to her cheeks, her heartbeat oddly heavy. Secretly, she was flattered that the thought of her alone could cause someone of such poor musical taste to subconsciously play the classics.
And then, there was something else...why was Sparrow thinking of her? Of course, sure there isn't anything strange about thinking about people, especially if they're relatively close but...
She cleared her throat, and then danced off to the lake again, trying hard not to think about it.
Sparrow on the other side of the school was furious with himself for having gotten caught like that.
"STUPID, IDIOT!" He cursed himself, kicking around his stuff, and practically ready to flip his whole stupid four poster bed and toss it out the window.
Tucker and a few other Merry Men sat in awe as their lead guitarist carried on like a raging ogre. They weren't sure what was bugging him. Earlier in the day they'd congregated here for a band meeting, and were concerned that he was late.
No sooner did one of them go to see if he was okay, did he bust through the door, screaming and red as his hair in the face.
"WHY? WHY SWAN LAKE? WHAT KIND OF A PANSIE PRINCE CHARMING DO I THINK I AM?" He shouted.
That line earned a few snickers from the group, who all quickly silenced once they'd gained Sparrow's attention.
He probably would've done something even more childish and retaliated, but then the overpowering scent of vomit-villains' expensive cologne entered the room.
Rotbart glanced around the dilapidated room and then at all the food trash and rouge teens lounging around like it was their hideaway. He sighed and then glared at Sparrow. He'd asked for him to stop holding his bro-fests in the dorm room, but clearly and...obviously come to think of it, such diplomacy was out of the question when it came to petty criminals.
"Okay, get out all of you but Sparrow, unless you ALL want to BE sparrows... Because I know a very hungry kitty in the Beasts and Mythical Creatures enclosure..." He drawled out menacingly.
They all screamed and scattered, rushing out the door two by two.
All that remained was Sparrow.
"Had a bad day?" He asked casually, overstepping a broken stool and kicking aside some pizza crusts.
Sparrow tossed a slice of pizza at his face in response, still simmering.
Rotbart peeled it off his face and began to eat it. Sparrow hated him. It was too hard to calculate what was going on in that mind of his. He gave away no signs of any emotion when he wanted to be especially cryptic, and with him, that was all the time.
"Swan lake? I thought you got over me playing that semesters ago." He said, having heard that last screamed line.
Sparrow huffed and then stepped back, for the first time examining the mess he'd made. He decided to change the topic, "You can use your magic to fix all this crud up, right?" He grit his teeth.
Rotbart smiled softly and chuckled, "No. My magic is bad, my little bird." He replied.
Sitting down on his bed, he stared at the other redhead intensely. While spying on his precious Duchess he'd witnessed their little altercation. Suddenly in that moment he began to wonder...
What would happen now? If Ravens destiny wasn't so horrific he would have rebelled in a different manner by way of asking the swan princess to be his. Now that he couldn't do that...who would be left behind to have her at their mercy?
He finally spoke again, "If you wish to have her, you had better get your act together or I won't let it happen." He stated.
"Wh-what? How...?!" He stuttered out.
"I know love when I see it. You're quite lucky too I must say. Had this been last year I'd have erased you from the books." He explained.
Sparrow felt a violent chill erupt over his body at the way he spoke so casually about things like that. He should've roomed with that troll guy after all. This was just a bit too much sometimes.
Shortly after he'd been coerced into cleaning up the mess in the room he did however think about what he said.
"Get my act together..." He mumbled. All this time he'd been completely unconcerned with keeping the attention he'd gained from the girls here. For the longest time he had wished to fly solo for the rest of forever after, picking up a few beauties here and there but dedicating his life to his music and nothing else.
Then BOOM in flies this bitchy swan lady who had to stick her beak into everyone else's story, and for the most part he secretly loved jumping on for the ride. He didn't know when he'd started to actually get attached though...
Maybe it was always there, or maybe it began the day Duchess came flapping up to his hideout in a wreck, freaking out about her destiny. She had never been so emotional in front of him before, and when he asked her why she'd come to him of all people she had said, as though matter of fact, that he was her only friend.
Eventually he found himself standing before the enchanted lake, but by now it was empty. He sighed and sat down against a tree, his guitar in his hands. Despite himself he began to play that cursed tune. As he played suddenly he began to understand what that vomit villain had always been going on about. The sad and melancholy tune that lulled oneself into a state of despair, and drowning.
He felt like he was drowning... And then suddenly a pointed foot shot out and halted his hands as the strummed and he gasped for air, able to breathe again. He looked up at her and she looked down at him.
"I suppose you're doing that to mock me?" She guessed.
In the dimming evening light he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she really was. All that late night listening to his roommate carry on and under his breath about her, had gotten to him because now he too saw it. She was so sad.
She he was still awaiting his explanation, and so before he could let the moment pass him by, he said "I was just...thinking of you."
While it made him feel stupid and he was certain he sounded like a fool, Duchess stood back up and crossed her arms, considering that for a moment. Was he really just thinking about her? Was that it?
"Really?" She asked.
Sparrow sighed and set his instrument down against the tree, standing up to face her.
"You know what's the best part about my story? It's the part where I get to steal precious things from those who are well and better off who don't deserve them...and then giving those precious things to those who truly need them."
"What do you mean?" Duchess whispered nervously due to the decreasing distance between them. Sparrow closed the gap and removed her arms from around her chest and held her.
"This school is full of suckers that they can force destiny onto. They don't need you." He stepped forward again, holding on to her as they backed into the water. He would stay afloat so long as she didn't let go of him, or so he'd overheard his roommate saying once.
"And let's just say... I know know someone who does need you."
Before Duchess could reply he kissed her, and she grasped him suddenly.
She only pulled away to look him in the eyes, "...take me away from it all..." She surrendered. "I'll go with you."
And nd with that, she began to dance, and he followed her as best as he could. Unlike Rotbart he hadn't the grace or skill, nor had be watched her routine from his window for years, but he trusted her to not let him drown, and in doing so neither would she.
From his window Rotbart sadly smiled. Now that she had found love, even if he didn't approve, there was nothing left for him to lose. He would embrace his new story and rest in peace whenever fate might choose to take him now.
-And so ends Part One-