literature

Sudden Inspiration

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Duck peaked out from behind the stage curtain, only letting one of her eyes show as she looks at the crowd. The chatter of human voices reached her ears, both from behind her on stage and in front of her. She gulped, gazing at the large crowd gathered to watch the ballet.

"Duck! You have five minutes!"

"Aaah!" Duck jumped and turned around to face the director. "Oh - okay! I'll be backstage soon!"

"Hurry, please," the director sighed, rubbing her temple. "I need all of the swans together before they're onstage."

"A-alright," Duck muttered. The director walked away, and Duck continued to peer out at the audience from the curtain. "Where is he?" she whispered. "Fakir's too injured to dance, but he still said he'd come!" Her eyes scanned every row as best she could, but with how many people there were it was hard to make out many faces. "Maybe he's in the back," she decided. Her shoulders sagged as she forced herself to not cry.

"Hey Duck, what's wrong?" Pike said behind her.

Duck closed the gap in the curtains and turned to see not only Pike but Liliae, as well. "Oh, I just thought someone would be here, but I don't see them."

"Aww, she looks so sad! How adorable!" Liliae squealed, squeezing Duck's face between her hands.

"Hey-owwwwwww!" Duck squealed from the pressure on her cheeks.

"Adorable? Talk about depressing!" Pike corrected the sadistic blonde sharply. "You're looking for Fakir, aren't you?" she asked Duck. Duck managed to nod with her face still between Liliae's sharp grip. "Yeah, I figured as much. He's quite devoted to you, lucky duck." She smirked, crossing her arms.

"I bet Fakir forgot to show up and then they'll fight as soon as she-"

"Liliae! Get back with the ball attendees, you're in the first scene," the director snapped, coming up to the trio. "Pike, go find Yuma and Mai and the three of you join the rest of the villagers."

"Yes, ma'am!" Both girls ran to do as asked. Liliae dropped Duck to the ground in her haste.

"Ack! Owww...." Duck pushed herself to a kneeling position on the floor, moaning. Well, that can't make things worse than Fakir not showing up does, she thought, rubbing her nose. "I hope he makes it before my scene," she said to herself, frowning.

Eventually she rejoined her group, other ballerinas that were dancing as swans in the ballet. She could only watch bits and pieces from the back, but what she could see filled her with awe and wonder. However, by the scene with the prince and his friends, she was biting her nails in nervousness. Oh no, I'm on soon! What if I mess up? There was that one move on pointe I kept messing up in practice. This is a beautiful ballet, I don't wanna ruin it! What can I do? Why did they make me a swan when even Liliae is a better dancer than me?!

"Position!" a stagehand whispered to the swan dancers. They lined up with Duck between the middle and the back. That didn't help Duck's mood one bit.

Why did I even decide to become a ballerina? she moaned to herself. All that practice and grace and portrayal of emotion... it's still hard, even after becoming human again. I'm not Princess Tutu now - why am I doing this?

Suddenly, the music changed, or at least Duck thought it did. Peering over shoulders of the girls in front of her, she saw Freya dancing in the role of Odette. She barely recognized the girl from the flower garden wearing Odette's white dress. "Wow," Duck breathed, watching her with awe. She dances so beautifully, as lovely as one of her flowers. I want to dance like that someday. Maybe there's some hope for me since I'm no longer just a bird.

Suddenly, the first swan ballerina in her line moved out onto the stage. The rest began to move out one by one. Uh-oh, gotta pay attention, she reminded herself, clenching her hands then releasing them. Just before the girl in front of her danced out into the lights, Duck glimpsed a familiar face - a young man with crutches sitting in the front row - and her face burst into a grin. It's Fakir! Her eyes glowed, and she barely noticed the director's cue as she spun out to her position on stage. He 's here! He'll see me dance! I can't be clumsy when he's watching me! She no longer thought about what she was doing - each pointed toe, spin and extended arm came with grace and beauty from her very heart.

That spurt of inspiration made her dance her very best, matching the movements of the other ballerinas surrounding Odette, the Swan Queen. Although she was not the lead role, that night Fakir's very presence transformed this Duck into a beautiful dancing swan.
:iconcommentplz:

Even though technically :iconfakiru-week: is over, I have two more prompts left to finish for it and I'm not letting anything stop me now! :D

Day 6 - Inspiration

... Yeah, this one is rather confusing compared to some of my other pieces. I still hope it makes sense to you and that you like it :) I kinda have it here that's she's inspired by both Freya and Fakir, but I wanted more emphasis on Fakir (obviously, cuz Fakiru rocks and all :D ). I do like adding minor characters when I can, though, in case you didn't notice. :heart:

Oh, and Swan Lake is amazing, at least the versions I've seen, and since Princess Tutu alludes to it so much (Princess Tutu = Odette, Princess Kraehe = Odelia, Mytho = Prince Siegfred, etc.) I felt it was a perfect fit! :la:

Princess Tutu TRIVIA: Yuma and Mai, briefly mentioned here, are actually characters only seen in the Princess Tutu manga, and they replace Pike and Liliae as Duck's/Ahiru's best friends. Interesting, eh?

Other writing pieces for Fakiru Week:
Shades of Blue Being lakeside after rain truly was a wonder. The wind was still, the sky almost cloudless. Dew sparkled on the grass and trees, making their shades of green more vibrant, and the lake shone a deep sapphire blue in the bright midday sun. However, Fakir wasn't focusing on his surroundings. Instead, he stood on the shore, hands in his pockets, and watched Ahiru as she whacked at cattails with her beak and wings. He smiled at the happy quacks she made as she amused herself with the long grasses. One particular cattail caught her interest, and she ducked her head into the bundle of cattails to pluck it out from the middle. She pulled as hard as s Love in Youth "Duck! Give it back!" A young man clad in white chased after a young woman with red hair pulled back in a thick braid.

The woman laughed. "Catch me first, Fakir!" she called back, holding a feather quill above her head. Sunlight glinted off a gold band on her left ring finger.

"Why you moron... prankster!" Fakir yelled back, continuing the chase. She laughed even harder at that. They ran through the meadow, treading white and yellow flowers underneath them. Both of them were smiling through the chase despite Fakir's earlier words. Once Fakir could almost touch the hem of her long skirt trailing behind her, but she darted away before he coul
Fight From a Nightmare - PTT The swords crashed into each other and pushed each other away. Mytho spun and danced backwards, his onyx black sword held out in front of him by one hand. Fakir held his sword vertically with both hands, the silver metal of the blade shining. Mytho attacked, driving Fakir backwards with every swing of his cursed sword. Princess Tutu stayed with the unconscious Retzel, crouching over Fakir's friend protectively as prince and knight continued their duel.

Fakir found an opening, swinging towards Mytho's torso. Mytho bent back, dodging the blade by inches. Only black feathers from his clothes were cut. Again Mytho drove forward in his heated att
Warmth Without and Within A picture frame on the wall rattled as Fakir slammed the front door shut behind him. In one arm he had his paper, quill and ink; in the other he held a shivering yellow duck wrapped up in his coat. "Okay, next time I'll keep a better eye on the weather," Fakir muttered as thunder boomed outside. Lightning flashed through the window as Fakir set his writing materials on his desk and placed Duck gently on the couch near the fireplace. "I'll get the fire going," he told her before rushing outside through the back door.

Duck quacked softly as she shuddered in the soft fabric of the coat. Water droplets rolled off her head onto the couch. Normall
A Life with Feathers Fakir sat crouched over his paper, writing with only lamplight to guide his hand. He pushed strands of hair behind his ear as his writing hand slowed down. Suddenly, he stopped, crumpling up the sheet of paper with his free hand. With a grunt he tossed it into a square bin that sat by the opposite wall a few feet away from him. "It's still not working," he whispered as he began writing over again on a new blank page.

"Quack?" came a sleepy response from the foot of his bed. Duck looked at Fakir with worried eyes, even as her eyelids drooped. "Quack quack quack."

"Yes, Duck, I know I need sleep," Fakir replied. He continued writing.

"Quack
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