I'm finally back with a new partner. I thank Unnoticeable_Demon for helping.

Tiger crept closer. "Who are you?" She asked the child without thinking.

The boy blinked in surprise: "I don't remember. I just know that I have to give you this." He answered in a soft voice and as he knelt down in front of Tiger he took from his small back a strange looking book. It looked quite old with its heavy leather binding, but when the child opened it and slowly turned a few pages, Tiger could see that it was completely blank.

"A sketchbook?" Tiger guessed as she came even closer to inspect the quality of the paper. Then she collected herself and looked at the boy in great surprise. "Wait, you can understand me, even though I'm a cat right now?"

The boy didn't answer, instead he silently closed the book and laid it in front of Tiger.

"You dream of stories, now you can draw them." He said to her.

"What do you mean I can draw the stories I dream of?" Tiger asked, confused.

"You can draw your dreams to figure out what's going on out there." The boy answered.

Tiger was still confused about all of this and she began to get frustrated. "But how do you know that I can do this? Do you have a role in this?"

The child only stared at her with big blank eyes. Tiger, however, did not back down and stared back. Feigning ignorance would not work on her! But then the child turned suddenly and trotted off with surprising speed.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Growled Tiger. Her eyes fell on the book in front of her. "Well, guess I have to bring it with me while I try to find out how to turn back into a human." And with that decided, she gently picked up the book with her teeth and sped away in the opposite direction the boy had disappeared to.

Tiger tried to be quick, but the truth was that she had no clue how to turn herself back into a human and her confusion about this caused her to completely lose her way. Everything looked so big around her that it closed her in. She tried to move faster so she could see around the buildings and maybe recognise an alleyway.

BAM! Tiger had hit something on the road. It had been low to the ground and taken her front paws from under her. Tiger got launched forward upon impact and fell painfully on the pavement. The shock dazed her for a moment, then she heard a faint noise from the thing she had hit and looked about her in curiosity. She had hit a small yellow duck with a large dislocated feather on its head. The little duck sturred and carefully sat up. Something about the way the duck used her wings to push herself up, told Tiger that this was no ordinary duck.

"QUACK!"

Tiger had not expected the duck to freak out once it noticed her and it startled her. She jumped back in surprise and even let out a little hiss before she could stop herself.

"Quack! Don't eat me! I taste bad!" The duck cried out in panic.

"Wait, that voice…" Tiger thought out loud. The two animals stared at each other for a second, then they both relaxed.

"Wait, that pendant." The duck said.

"Duck? Is that you?" Tiger asked in amazement. The duck was also wearing a pendant, which is on its own peculiar, but Tiger knows Duck's pendant is red, just like this duck's pendant.

"Tiger?" The adorable little duck stared at her and if it was possible for Tiger to grin, she would have done it. Duck looked so silly.

"What happened to you?!" They both asked each other in unison.

Duck began her explanation. It was confusing and hard to follow. Mainly because Duck was not sure about the details herself. Apparently there exists a strange old man outside time. That man wrote a story about a prince who battled a monstrous raven and that prince happened to be Mytho from the Ballet Academy. So this man gave Duck a pendant that turned her into a girl to help Mytho play out his role as prince.

"But, I just want Mytho to be happy!" Duck insisted earnestly. "He has lost his heart and now he can't feel love or happiness, so I will do whatever it takes to get all his heart shards back for him." Duck looked determined, but then sighed sadly. "But I am still only a bird. If I do anything that resembles a duck I will change back and Mytho doesn't know I am a bird."

Tiger stared at her and waited for Duck to continue, but she didn't. What Duck just said made her wonder why she herself turned into a cat. No man had come to her and that boy didn't explain much either. Her best guess was that she just ran out of energy. Did that also mean that Tiger was originally a cat then? Tiger couldn't remember ever being a cat, but then again, she didn't know much about her past. Just then her pendant began to glow and Tiger could feel herself changing. When the light dimmed she found herself being human again.

Duck nodded to her and quacked. Resolutely she turned on her little webbed feet and waddled to a little puddle nearby.

"Duck, what are you doing?!"

But Duck didn't answer. She just hopped right into the shallow water and upon contact her pedant began to glow brightly. So brightly Tiger averted her eyes. When the light dimmed away she dared to look at saw Duck sitting sheepishly in the puddle, knees drawn up to her chin.

"Oh yeah, when I turn back into a girl, I'm naked." She said lamely.

"Well, find something to cover up with." Squealed Tiger uncomfortably and she looked away again.

"No fair. Why do you have clothes and I don't?" Retorted Duck sounding offended.

Tiger ignored her and stood up, still not looking in Duck's direction. "Why don't I go on ahead, and you can catch up later?" She said evasively and she began to walk towards the girls' dormitories. She could now easily see where to go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Next morning

Once upon a time, there was a man who died. The last story the man was writing was about a brave and handsome prince who vanquishes a crafty raven. When the man died, the raven and the prince escaped from within the story. The prince took out his own heart to seal away the raven. But this power, which had been granted solely to him, was nevertheless forbidden. Thus sealed, the raven troubled them no more, but the prince's heart was shattered and the shards scattered all over town. Ever since then, stories and reality have intermingled in the town, making it a world where the fantastical was no longer fantastical.

With a start, Tiger opened her eyes. "That dream…"

Then she remembered what that boy from yesterday had told her and reached under her bed to pull out the sketchbook that he had given her. Now it was still in her mind, she wanted to draw a quick sketch of the dream before it would become vague in her memory. She could always add more detail after school.

"Duck didn't come back last night… I wonder what happened." she mumbled to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror to fix her collar.

"Ugh… I hate this uniform." She grumbled.

When Tiger arrived at the school a very strange scene greeted her. Mytho passed her and he was in company with an anteater. An actual anteater, talking, upright and in school uniform. Just as they were taught by a cat, there were animals who were acting like humans and this anteater was in their beginner's class. Or was she? Tiger could not remember seeing her yesterday or the day before that, but maybe she simply never talked to her….

Tiger's thoughts were interrupted by Duck's voice from up ahead. When Tiger looked up she could see Duck flapping her arms and trying to distract Rue who otherwise would walk right up to Mytho and Anteaterina. Her efforts were in vain however. Anteaterina had spotted Rue immediately and sought to distress her. She dragged Mytho along and stopped right in front of Duck and Rue.

Completely ignoring Duck, she sneered at Rue. "Oh my, is it Miss Rue? Please allow me the pleasure of informing you that Mytho is going to accompany me now."

"What?" It was an angry snap that came out of Rue's mouth, but surprisingly there was no shock on her face.

"Hey, is this some kind of bad joke?" Tiger exclaimed, but nobody paid her any attention.

"It seems quite clear who the winner is here. Excuse us." Anteaterna continued as if she had shocked Rue and with a sly smile she turned with Mytho and left.

"No, no, don't listen to her. I'm pretty sure it's not true. That wasn't for real, so it's-" Duck tried, but Rue gave her a calm smile and interrupted her.

"Doesn't bother me." She said and she actually did sound quite at peace with the situation.

Duck was surprised. "What?"

Tiger second that. "Come again?"

"Thank you, though. You're so sweet." Rue said to Duck and Duck blushed.

"I…" She stammered, but Rue left and Duck couldn't finish her response. If she had one, which Tiger doubted as she watched her flustered friend.

That whole day people couldn't let the 'Anteaterina-Mytho-Rue drama rest. At least they saw it as drama and were excited about it, but Tiger couldn't say she cared about it all that much. It was weird, yes, but it was not their business and Rue seemed pretty calm about it all. So, why would other people be upset about it? It was all because Mytho was popular with the girls and Rue was interesting because of her talent. It was ridiculous! Tiger just tried to ignore it as she tried to work on her sketch in the common room between classes. In her dream she had seen a town that seemed to be trapped inside a snowglobe and the shards of the prince's shattered heart had shown bright red as they had scattered to all corners of the snowglobe.

"What does it all mean?" Tiger wondered aloud as she stared at her drawing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the break, the beginner's class and the special class had a period together.

Mr. Cat sat them all down and began his lecture on the importance of practice.
"With Ballet, take a day off and you will know. Take three days off and your peers will know. Take a week off and the audience will know. As this adage demonstrates, daily practice is of the utmost importance. And so, we will have a test once a month from now on to assign you to a class. In the worst case, you'll be dropped to the probationary class."

"What? Probation?" Piqué groaned and she was not the only one. The whole beginner's class had erupted into mummers.

"That or I'll have you marry me!" Mr Cat hissed and spit, to get everyone back in line.

Duck, unfortunately, was not taking the hint and cried out: "What?! No way!" Pique and Lillue closed her mouth, but the damage was already done.

"No… no way?" Mr Cat repeated angrily.

"You need to chill." Tiger hissed to Duck, but Mr Cat was already distracting himself by giving himself a good scratch.

"Mr Cat." Anteaterina called out suddenly. It startled Mr Cat. He arched his back and his hair stood on end.

"What, what Miss Anteaterina?!" He spat to her in irritation.

"This special class is strictly halved in five?" Anteaterina continued, unbothered.

"Yes, so?" Retorted Mr Cat.

"Then I suppose someone will have to be dropped to make room for me." Anteaterina declared shamelessly as she looked over to the special class.

"A declaration of war!" Piqué gasped.

"Taking not just her lover, but her status too!" Lillie agreed with her usual joy in drama.

"How exciting!" They cried out in excitement.

"To prove my worthiness, I shall dance a Pas de Deux with my partner!" Anteaterina called out. "Come, Mytho!"

Mytho had not bothered to speak up during all that had been going on about him and sat quietly behind two other girls, who looked behind them in shock when Anteaterina aimed her command at them.

"What?!" They both breathed, but Mytho's expression still didn't change. Silently he stood up and obeyed. Anteaterina just laughed in triomph as she took his hand.

"You know what you sound like? An obnoxious brat." Tiger said to the arrogant anteater, but again she was ignored.

Anteaterina and Mytho began to dance. It was already an unusual Pas de Deux because in it Anteaterina danced the man's part. It was simply unavoidable because she was much taller than Mytho. Nevertheless she performed with dignity and grace.

"Guess it wasn't all talk, huh?" Piqué whispered as she watched the dance with fascination.

Tiger was watching as well, but she was far from impressed by the performance. 'She might be good, but her expression, ugh… She looks so desperate and has no joy, which isn't fun to watch.' She thought to herself.

Then, the dance was suddenly at its end and everyone was taken aback by it. There was a second silence, there some murmurs of 'wow' could be heard, but that was all. Anteaterina, however, was not put off by the less than kind response to her performance.

"Miss Rue, I would very much like to see your Pas de Deux. But whether or not there is an actual partner for you." She continued to sneer.

"That was mean." Duck whispered.

"She's so full of herself." Tiger agreed.

"Rue is in a pinch." Piqué added, but she still sounded excited by all this, so was Lillie, who just echoed her comment.

"Would you dance with me?" Rue suddenly asked in their direction and Tiger immediately looked at Duck, to whom Rue seemed to be speaking.

Duck, however, was completely taken aback by this and frantically looked around herself: "What? Me?" She asked.

Rue gave her a confident smile: "That's right." She replied.

"Duck's in a pinch!" Piqué and Lillie cried out happily and they grabbed the poor girl's face as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening. All around them people started to murmur again, but Rue was absolutely serious about it all and waited patiently for Duck to join her in front of the class.

Rue began to dance and Duck tried to keep up.

"Wait till she messes up. A storm's brewing." Piqué breathed.

"Knock it off, you two. This will be good for Duck. She'll get some good experience." Tiger hissed to the two silly girls. She knew they didn't really mean Duck harm, but they could show her some support so now and then!

Duck struggled on. With every move she was a second too late and she was simply not able to dance on point and it made every clumsy move look worse.

'Come on, Duck. Just have fun.' Tiger thought, willing her friend to do better. If only Duck wasn't so aware of her own beginner's level. This was the beginner's class, she was not so different from the rest of their class. Luckily Duck began to loosen up as they danced on. It was in Duck's nature to be positive and she loved to dance and soon her eyes were sparkling with joy. Unfortunately that did not improve her dancing technique. At the end of the dance Duck had to jump and it almost worked, but her stance was so wrong it was astonishing Rue could support her and keep her own dancing correct and graceful.

Tiger looked to her left and happened to see Fakir not so subtly look away. She scoffed. If only he had kept watching he could have seen the pure joy on Duck's face, something that Anteaterina definitely did not have.

'Now that's a true expression.' Thought Tiger and she felt proud of her friend.

The performance was done and yet again, there was silence, but then Fakir slowly brought his hands together in applause. Mytho soon after joined in and everyone else followed. Tiger then stood up to face Anteaterina.

"While your skills were good, you completely forgot about your expression. Seeing you so desperate isn't enjoyable, which is why there was no applause." She told her straight out. Yes, she knew she was being blunt, but Anteaterina had to know. It would help her in the end. She would never be happy if she kept making the same mistakes and took it out on others.

Tears began to flow from Anteaterina's eyes. "So you're just going to laugh at me?" She asked in a bitter voice.

Tiger took a step back, slightly shocked. "What did you say?"

"It's not fair!" Anteaterina growled and she clenched her fists.

Duck looked from one to the other, lingering on Anteaterina's expression and understanding flickered in her eyes.

Tiger at that moment made a decision and raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Tiger?" Mr Cat said as normal and matter of factly as if nothing had happened. It was amazing how cold teachers could be in the face of distress to make life easier for themselves.

"I'd like to show you that I deserve to be in your class and not be demoted." Tiger said resolutely.

"Very well, but I have to draw a line here. It is not up to you to make this class a battlefield. I will decide who needs to prove themselves and who is assured. If you disrespect me, I will have you marry me immediately!"

Tiger rolled her eyes. "Mr Cat, calm down."

Mr Cat whimpered and backed down to sit and frantically started licking himself.

The music started to play. It was the music from a Ballet piece called Diana and Actaeon. A legend about a mortal Hunter and the Roman Goddess of the hunt. Originally it had to be performed together, but Tiger was not planning on dragging anyone along like Rue and Anteaterina did. She would just dance the part of Diana. It was not really a Pas de Deux anyway.

Tiger started to dance. It started slow with a few graceful turns around the stage. Of course, Tiger didn't really have a stage, so she made sure she didn't space out her steps too much. Like Duck, Tiger was not yet able to dance on point, but unlike Duck Tiger was better at keeping her balance and her cool. She tiptoed gracefully on her soft ballet slippers and performed the advanced dance as well as she could. She was able to move from one leg to the other and make the pirouettes in time with the rhythm of the music. The dance was powerful and really showed the might of the goddess of the hunt. Tiger could feel herself be confident and fearless as she made the attitude turn, performed the axis and executed the three arabesque turns. It was a wonderful feeling and it showed clearly on Tiger's face.

'Fakir, look at me. I'm not an eyesore or worthless. If you still refuse to see that, I'll keep hunting until you open your eyes. After all, your acceptance is my prey.' Tiger thought determined and dared a glance in his direction. Fakir had not turned away this time. He was watching her, but his face showed disinterest. It was obvious he was just waiting for Mr Cat to pass his judgment on her dancing.

A fire was ignited in Tiger when she noticed it. It made her very angry. She did not deserve this treatment from him! Deviently she looked directly at him and managed to catch his eye. As their eyes met, his expression changed. It was just in a flash, but Tiger could see that he had recalled something from their past. His scowl loosened and his eyes showed past hurt. Just for a second, then he shook his head and the scowl was back in place.

Tiger finished and the whole class erupted with tumultuous applause. Only Fakir, Tiger noticed with pain, wasn't looking at her at all.

'Augh… Fakir, why can't you just keep your stubborn head up?' She thought and she had to resist the urge to bite her lip in frustration.

"Thank you, Miss Tiger. That was lovely." Mr Cat said to her and it caught Tiger by surprise. For a moment, she had forgotten she was in class.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A sharp sound of claw hitting skin ripped the air in the otherwise quiet backyard of the school.

"You think nothing of the humiliation that I, your girlfriend, just went through?!" Anteaterina yelled outraged. She stared hard at Mytho, but not even a slap in the face had changed the vague and unbothered expression on his face.

"Not really." He replied truthfully.

"Did you not do your best on purpose?!" Anteaterina demanded to know.

"I don't know." Mytho mumbled, still in the same monotone.

"Do not mock me! Just so you are aware, if you had not been Rue's boyfriend, I would not have asked you out in the first place! Goodbye!" Anteaterina turned and walked away.

Duck, who had been hiding nearby with Tiger came forth and tried to speak to Anteaterina. "Uh…" she began as compassionately as she could, but Anteaterina only saw conflict.

"Have you come to laugh at me?!" She therefore asked.

"No, I wouldn't." Duck tried.

"There's nothing funny about this." Tiger put in and also stepped forward to back Duck up.

"Wait, uh-" Duck reached for Anteaterina's shoulder as she passed her, but suddenly drew back her hand in surprise. Her pendant had started to glow.

"Leave me alone!" Anteaterina yelled and left at a quick pace.

"What's going on?" Duck wondered aloud and she looked to Tiger, who could only shrug. "Anteaterina!" Duck called and she ran after her.

Then Tiger's pendant began to glow as well. But why? She was not connected to the heart shards, was she? Because that had to have been the reason Duck's pendant glowed and the reason why she ran after her. Somehow Anteaterina possessed one of Mytho's heart shards.

Tiger shook off her confusion and started to walk into the direction Duck and Anteaterina had disappeared to. Luckily she didn't have to go far. Quite soon she could hear aggressive clawing at a bush, accompanied by Anteaterina yelling in frustration.

"It's not fair, not fair!" She cried out and her anger gave way to deep rooted sorrow. She sank onto the ground and as she did from her body emerged a reddish light. A shimmer that took shape to resemble Mytho.

"I know, go on and cry." The strange being soothed and he hugged Anteaterina's head. "It is not fair."

"That's not Mytho." Tiger said, astonished.

"What is that?" Duck whispered as she watched the red being soothed Anteaterina.

Tiger then noticed a blue ball of light shining around Anteaterina and the Red Mytho. It was ghostly floating up and down around them and clearly invisible to anyone else.

"Somehow, I know what I have to do!" She said, amazed at herself. There was bright blue light from her pendant and next to her a red glow began to spread from Duck's pendant as well. When they both had transformed they stepped forth as one to reveal themselves.

"Who are you? Have you come to laugh at me as well?!" Anteaterina asked them as soon as she saw them.

"No, Anteaterina. But the one next to you is not your partner." Princess Tutu informed her gracefully.

"Don't be absurd!" Anteaterina retorted. "You are mocking me!"

"I would never laugh at someone who is hurt. But you have something that's not yours and I would like to have it." Princess Clara told her kindly.

"Please come dance with me, Anteaterina." Princess Tutu said and she warmly put out her hand to Anteaterina, but the latter wasn't moved by any kindness.

"I refuse."She spat back. "You couldn't possibly understand how I feel!" Anteaterina took a step and entered into a ballet pose like a battle stance. Her whole body began to glow angrily and the ground shook. Suddenly they were not in the school grounds anymore. There were great stalagmites erupting from the bare earth as Anteaterina started to pirouette with great speed and strength.

"Anteaterina! Is that your way of dancing?!" Princess Tutu called out to her in the great rumble of the earth.

"Yes! To make your audience surrender, that is art!" Anteaterina panted while she did not slow down.

"It's not! It won't solve your problem!" Princess Clara tried to reason, but it was no use. Both she and Princess Tutu tried to keep dancing, leaping over sudden dams of earth, trying to keep close to Anteaterina, who was determined to keep them away.

"But that isn't how you really feel!" Princess Tutu told her desperately.

"Oh no, I believe it from the bottom of my heart!" Anteaterina replied with malice and she conjured a wave of dirt and sent to wash the two princesses away. Both Princess Tutu and Princess Clara screamed as the wave hit them hard and knocked them off their feet.

"This is my way of dancing!"

"If that is what you believe, then you're really in trouble!" Princess Clara called out to her, coming to her feet again. She had enough of this stubborn… girl?

"Clara's right! Why? Why do you seem to be in such pain? There's no joy in your dancing, none at all! What are you so bitter about?" Princess Tutu added, still hoping to get Anteaterina to calm down and listen.

"That… I want to beat Miss Rue. To win by any means necessary!" Anteaterina yelled.

"Those feelings… those feelings are not truly yours, Anteaterina." Princess Tutu tried again while she kept spinning over the rough terrain. Once close enough, Princess Tutu stopped dancing, daring to float in the midst of that hostile world Anteaterina had created with her frustration. She peacefully arched her arms above her head and the treacherous earth changed into water.

"Forget your bitterness and hatred. I want to see how you truly dance. It will be much more beautiful. Let us dance together." Once again Princess Tutu reached out her hand and this time Anteaterina took it and they began to dance together. "To your heart's content. Be honest, be free, yes, this is truly your way of dancing."

"I feel such joy!" Anteaterina cried out happily and there was finally a smile on her face. Fully contented Anteaterina danced away and as she went Mytho's heart shard was released. It floated towards Princess Tutu and spoke to her.

Princess Clara went to Anteaterina. "Just because you admire Miss Rue doesn't mean you have to be like her. You could be great, like Miss Rue by excelling in your own style of dancing, not copy someone."

Anteaterina nodded and walked away, humbled by what Tiger had told her.

Tiger then focussed her attention on the little ghostly ball she had seen. It was still there and as she came closer it burst open to reveal a memory. A memory of a young Tiger messing up on the bar. She fell, disappointed, but got back up again. A young Fakir was watching her with a smile.

"So Fakir doesn't remember our times together. His memories have scattered." Princess Clara realized. The memory faded and transformed into the little blue ball again. It zoomed towards Princess Clara and hovered in front of her. Carefully she held out her hands and the ball settled itself in her cupped hands. Carefully, Clara began to walk, but the ball didn't vanish or float away.

Next to the little arbor, she could see the real Mytho and Fakir was with him. Mytho was not stable on his feet and Fakir held him up.

'Maybe if I return his memories, he'll respect me again.' Princess Clara thought and she spoke to the little sphere in her hands. "May this memory reach his heart."

The ball began to float towards Fakir and again it was obvious only Princess Clara could see it. It went into Fakir's head and vanished. Fakir suddenly bowed his head and shook it wearily. 'What is this?' He thought. Why did he suddenly know how sweet and amazing Tiger used to be? And why had that changed?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Now then, the special class will be the same five people as before." Mr Cat declared, satisfied. There was a polite applause from the class, following these expected words.

Mr Cat turned to Anteaterina. "And Miss Anteaterina?"

"Yes?" Anteaterina replied. Her bitter attitude had gone and so was her lack of any respect for anyone else. She was patient and ready to listen to help and encouraging words.

"Your performance was good, but the decision is to wait and see this time around." Mr Cat told her kindly.

"Yes, understood. I have decided to stop copying Miss Rue and find my own way of dancing." Anteaterina told her teacher calmly.

"I look forward to seeing it." Mr Cat now turned to Tiger. "And Miss Tiger, your performance was wonderful, which makes me wonder why you're in the beginner's class. Therefore, I've decided to move you up to the intermediate class."

"Thank you, Mr. Cat. I'll keep working hard so I can someday surpass Rue." Tiger declared and she felt a fire burn in her heart. Yes, one day she would join this elite group and go even further than Miss Rue in dancing and skill!

"Okay, enough of that." Mr Cat sighed, after all he was all about love, not war. He continued to look further down the row of students till he found Duck. "And as for Miss Duck."

"Yes?" Duck squeaked eagerly.

"Your performance was also quite good." The teacher began in the same kind tone.

"Yes?" Duck asked hopefully.

"However, you owe it entirely to Miss Rue, thus you're assigned to the probation class." Mr Cat told her with a smile.

"QUA-" Duck screamed in shock and covered her mouth quickly as she backed away.

"I knew it." Piqué and Lillie sighed in unison.

Tiger scoffed and rolled her eyes. Duck had left the room and she just knew she was having a panic attack somewhere else. As a Duck.