I do not own Princess Tutu or any of its characters.

Y'know? I was looking at the word count for this story a few days ago, and boy was I surprised! It's at around 20, 000 words already! That's a lot for only 9 chapters ^_^; Did I go a bit over board? What do you think?

In any case, please review and I hope you enjoy!

Mytho, where are you? Where are you going? Ahiru followed intently after Mytho but soon lost track of his ever retreating shadow. Ahiru, finding it hopeless to catch up with him, paused in her running to catch her breath. As she took in a deep breath she turned her head around and around and eventually spotted the end of a shadow disappear around the corner of a building. "There!" She whispered to herself and quickly continued her pursuit.

Once she rounded the corner, Mytho was already out of sight and all that she could see was a forest of trees in front of her. "He must've gone into the forest." Pressing onwards through the trees, it had taken Ahiru a good while before she finally reached a clearing. Since only small bits of moonlight here and there made it through the foliage above, Ahiru could only rely on the quiet snaps of twigs and branches ahead to judge whether or not she was really going the right way. Once she stepped out from behind the trees and into an open area, Ahiru recognized the place almost immediately. In front of her was a grassy shore that lined the edge of the crystal pond that she had just visited earlier that day. The once calm and soothing surface of the lake seemed even more beautiful under the moonlight, but also gave it an ominous feeling.

Then, Ahiru saw that at the end of the dock nearby, stood the subject of her pursuit, staring out at the lake. Ahiru cautiously approached him, but made sure to leave a good distance between them on the dock. "M-Mytho?" Ahiru could see him turn his head slightly, and he said, "Ahiru? What are you doing out this late?" Ahiru almost felt relieved. It seemed like Mytho was still himself, but Ahiru still felt unsure.

"I-I could ask you the same thing, Mytho. Why are you out here alone?" Mytho did not answer. He simply stood at the edge of the dock with his back to her. After a few moments, Ahiru hesitantly stepped forward to see if he was all right, but almost as soon as she did so, he turned around to face her. "Mytho?" Ahiru stepped away from him. His now red eyes focused solely on her.

"You know...I've always had to settle on eating normal, tainted human hearts." He took one step towards Ahiru, who in turn, stepped away. "I've always wanted to try eating the Prince's pure heart. But if I did that now, that would be destroying my vessel." Ahiru didn't like where this was going. Mytho kept approaching her menacingly and his eyes began to stray away from her face, and down to her heart. Ahiru gulped. Oh no...what should I do...ah, I know! Maybe Princess Tutu's dancing could- Ahiru remembered back to the last time she had transformed into Princess Tutu in an attempt to bring the Prince back to his senses. At that time, her dancing had no affect on him, instead, he swung his sword at her! That's right...Princess Tutu's dancing might not be able to help the Prince right now! Does that mean...all I can do right now is run away? Ahiru took one last glance at Mytho before closing her eyes and running in the opposite direction.

She had almost made it into the cover of the forest when she suddenly felt a hand squeeze tightly around her wrist and pull her back. Her back fell against Mytho's chest and her heart began beating rapidly. It was all beginning to seem familiar. Ahiru turned around to try and release her arm from his grasp but was suddenly pulled back against his chest again. This time, his hand held her by shoulder to hold her in place. "Your heart...it is just as pure as the Prince's." He whispered into her ear. "I wonder if it tastes any better than those other beautiful hearts I ripped out." Ahiru gasped and twisted her head slowly to look at him, but she almost wished she hadn't. His red eyes were hungry for blood and his school uniform had somehow changed into the clothes of the Prince of Crows.

Then, she felt a sharp pain in her chest as Mytho dug his claw-like hand into her skin. The closer he got to her heart, the more the pain grew, and Ahiru's gasps of pain turned into one loud scream.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Fakir shot up from his pillow and immediately looked to the window. "What was that?" It couldn't have been Mytho...could it? Fakir swung his legs off of his bed and urgently made his way across the hall to Ahiru's room. He opened the door only to find an empty room. "Where did she...?" Fakir heard another cry and he was sure that he recognized it. "Damn it! That idiot!" Fakir ran back to his room and grabbed his sword before storming out the front door.

He ran in the direction that the screams had come from as fast as he could, praying that Ahiru was all right. That moron! Why did she not wake me up at least?

When he had finally reached the lake, he spared no time in his rescue. Immediately, he charged at Mytho with his sword. With an angry hiss, Mytho jumped out of the way and ran back into the forest. Fakir stared off after him before kneeling down beside Ahiru, who had now collapsed on the ground. Fakir dropped his sword and gently turned Ahiru over on her back. Her chest was covered in blood and Fakir pressed his hand against her wound in an attempt to stop the flow.

Without another thought, Fakir carefully scooped Ahiru into his arms and carried her back into town.