FicWad

Once upon a time, there was an old couple who tried to keep a lame little duck as their child. 




When they discovered that the duck was actually a girl, they burned her nest out of excitement.




"No longer will she be a duck!" They proclaimed wildly. But the girl was watching. 




"You... You destroyed my feathery nest. Why have you done this?" She burst out in tears.




"Do not cry... come, become our daughter! Sleep in a bed, not a nest. We shall love you and care for you as our own." They comforted, grabbing her in their insanity.




"I would have lived with you forever had you not mistrusted me and burned my feathery nest. Why can't you just accept me for what I am?" She cried.




The old couple, realizing that they were wrong, lowered their heads in shame and began to cry. "Please forgive us... We're sorry... Please tell us how we can ever make it up to you." They begged.




"I don't want anything else anymore. Just give me a spindle and a thread." She sobbed.




So the old couple fulfilled her request... though their eyes were also filled with tears.




The lame little duck girl began to spin the yarn outside, waiting and watching. 




Her former flocks saw her and began to beg for her back, for she was such a good girl. 




But she would not accept any of them, for they had abandoned her in the forest. 




Finally, after the passing of each flock, she had enough feathers to cast over herself... and to fly away, fully healed as a duck once more...




Leaving the old couple childless;







And all alone.

-------------------------------------




The fat old gander flapped his majestic wings. In no less than a blink, the water on which the knight and the great gander stood began to raise up upon a massive sport of water.




"A... battling platform?" Fakir mused aloud to himself. But he had not another millisecond to think, for the great strong gander was soon upon him, snapping at the knight's legs for a quick kill.




"Ergh, ha!" The knight shouted, blocking the gander's beak with his blade. He slid his sword away and swung it all around him, trying to slice the gander for an easy kill. 




But the gander was far too agile– as husky as he was, he danced nimbly and speedily on the rushing water, his webbed feet all too accustomed with walking on water. 




The knight struggled to keep his foothold on the spray of water. Though it was easier to move around on than in the still water, it was far trickier than fighting on solid ground.




/Fakir! Fakir! /Duck cried, rushing around the water sport restlessly. No matter which way she looked, she could not find a way up to the top.




/My daughter, do no interfere! One shall soon be dead, and you will finally have a proper husband./ 




The fat old gander spoke in truth.




Papa! Why? Neither Fakir nor the Gander should die! Why couldn't you just listen to me?




/...Why does someone have to die for this?...! /Duck cried, shaking her head in horror.




Why couldn't you just marry the great Gander while you had the chance? You could've parted with your human lover and no blood would have to be spilled. 

/This is all because //you don't know who you truly love!/




Fakir pirouetted his leg away from the snapping beak of the Gander, grand-jeté-ing into the air and taking his sword in both hands. 




Foolish knight! You don't belong with Duck. You can't even hear her words. How can you spend the rest of your life with a creature you don't even understand? The strong gander honked, back flipping into the air and landing a blow on the knight's leg. 




Fakir fell to the ground upon the shooting spire of water.




"I can... 




Because I truly love Duck." He gasped, taking his sword back in hand, blocking a piercing jab from the Gander's forceful bite.




"Quaaaack!" Duck cried. /Fakir! I... know!/ 

She sobbed, strongly paddling near the base of the forceful geyser.




The geyser grabbed her up in its stream and shot her upright through the sputtering platform.




Duck! No! Her father cried.




The great Gander aimed for the knights legs and tore into it. Duck shot out between them, forcing them apart and rocketing skywards. "Quaaack!" Duck yelled. 




Even if I disappear into a speck of light, because of the curse...







"Quaquaqua-quack!"




Fakir, I love you too.




Fakir could hear her words at last. Beneath the guttural quacking he could understand what she meant.




"Duck... you fool." He murmured, dropping his sword to the water's floor. 




All the waterfowl watched in awe as Duck fell back towards him, her body glowing in an iridescent shine.




Fakir reached out and caught her firmly in his hands, holding her close.




"You weren't supposed to say that– you were supposed to leave it all to me– I said I would protect you, you..."




He could no longer hold onto her. 




Her limbs shot outwards, and with all her newfound weight on him, he could no longer keep his balance–




Holding onto to her as tight as he could, refusing to let go, they fell off backwards from the platform.




Splaaaash!




The water fell silent.




The geyser crashed to the ground and the great Gander circled the area in which they had drowned.




The water fowl all gathered. 




Daughter... daughter... where are you? Where...




The fat old Gander lowered his head. 




So you...




Really did love each other.




Like Odette and the Prince... Must you two drown... 







...to be together at last?...




Moved to tears, all the ducks and the two ganders instantaneously began to cry and lament their actions.




Lamenting and mourning.




Quacking and honking.




The water began to bubble.




Out from the water stood the knight, carrying her in his arms.




"Shut up, you annoying birds... 




...I'm the Knight, not the Prince...!"




The birds all quieted. 




This did not last long, though.




For then they soon began their honking in a new form of upset.




What... is that... our little Duck?




What is this strange occurrence?




Is she?...!




"I thought I told you all to shut up! ...Morons!" Fakir yelled, looking down at his arms in fear to see what they were all so upset about.




He saw Duck as a real girl once more.




"Fakir... Are you... o-ok?" She stuttered weakly, grasping her broken arm across her bare chest.




His face flushed completely red– 




–his heart suddenly audible through his chest.




"Huh? What's wrong?" Duck asked, looking down at herself.




"..."




"Kyaa!" She shrieked, jumping out of his arms and back into the water.




~Can a knight's true love break the curse of a princess...?~