Twinkle's Story: Chapter 21

*The long awaited chapter is here! Yay! :D*
*MENTIONS: Blood (not in a violent way, though) and Thematic Elements.*
*CONTAINS: (Love).*

*I've created all the quote messages used throughout this chapter and story, such as "There's a part in all of us... that wants to be free."*

*Enjoy! ^-^*

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TWINKLE

I take a deep breath and sigh. There's so much he doesn't know. How I really feel about everything. There are some things that I've concealed in myself. They can become totally lost and forgotten; just another burden from deep down and inside. Or they can be let out, vanishing into the night sky like a wave of mist. I slowly blink open my bright blue eyes again from having them closed for around a minute. I have made my decision. I will let go of them. It'll be like doves flying out of a cage, flying higher and higher. But this time there aren't any doves. Or anything else peaceful-like and calm. Quite the opposite, in fact. It'll be a fight for survival- and not everybody survives. I take another deep breath. It's time for me to let go.

Duke just sits there next to me. He looks beyond the rooftop, and into the unknown. A faraway look in his eyes. He then looks up and turns his head toward me. "I think I know the answer. It's all connected. Their deaths have sparked up the prophecy." His eyes then start blazing, like there's a blazing fire concealed in his eyes that wants to burst out. As quick as that moment came, it vanishes again, leaving his eyes their normal orange-brown color again. "My uncle died from the forces of fire. My aunt died from the forces of water. Water is just ice in its liquid state. Everything fell apart since then. Twinkle, I know it's crazy that their deaths relate to our mysterious prophecy, but you've got to believe me. No matter how crazy it sounds. Because I know its true. It's no coincidence, or anything like that. Their deaths correspond with us."

 I slowly nod my head. It is connected. I'm about to say that I agree with him, but then something prevents me from speaking. Another one of those sudden gusts of cold air comes our way. This time however, it's more stronger and powerful than the other gusts of cold air that have been occurring throughout the entire night. Perhaps it's stronger and colder because we're more high up in altitude. We're on a skyscraper's roof, for crying out loud. Suddenly it comes over us, like an ocean wave washing ashore. However, this isn't a wave. It doesn't die down, or anything. It doesn't even just pass by. It just stays with us.

Before I can stop myself, nevertheless control what I'm doing, I lean over towards the direction where Duke is sitting. Our sides brush against each other. With an exhausted sigh, I lay down and lay my head on Duke's lap. Then, my teeth start chattering like crazy. I then start shivering. Duke, however, doesn't show the tiniest sign that he's freezing from the sudden cold. He looks down at me. Our eyes lock. I sheepishly giggle, then say, "I guess you're right. I'm c-cold. How are you not freezing!?" My teeth start chattering again. Duke just looks at me, warmth in his eyes. He lets out a laugh. I avoid his amber gaze and say, "Let's go back inside. It's obviously way too cold to spend the night out here." I then start to stand up to go towards the roof's entrance door. Duke grabs my arm, which causes me to sit back down. "No," he says in a commanding voice. "Uh... I mean... Let's stay up here. We haven't been up here in ages, anyways."

"Uh... okay?" is all I can say. Duke takes a deep breath, and then says, "Look, Twinkle. I'm not cold at all." I begin shivering again. "It feels like it suddenly dropped twenty degrees in under a second. Look... I know your freezing, Twinkle. I feel fine, really. More like the opposite for me. Ha. Ha." I give him a tired look. Duke then looks at me for a moments, then down at his shirt. He lets out a long sigh as he looks at the area where his heart is. As he notices me looking there as well, he looks up again. "That old thing can't possibly keep you warm. No wonder you're shivering so much." I look into Duke's eyes, and into the ring of fire. He gulps, and I can't put a reason to it. What is he trying to say?

 Before I can ask, Duke tugs at the edges of his shirt. "Here. I know it's not that much, but at least it won't let you be freezing out here. I don't like to look at you in pain. I don't like to see like this. And hey, this might help." Before I can understand what he's doing, nevertheless decline the offer, Duke takes his T-shirt over his head, and then puts the shirt on me. Or as much as he can, anyways. As I put my arms through the sleeves, he smiles back at me. "Feel better?" Shocked, I just nod my head. I actually am not as cold anymore. Speechless, I just look into his fiery eyes once more.

As I look at the design on the T-shirt, I realize that it isn't a sports jersey at all. It's just a cool-looking shirt. It also is a tad bit loose on me. Cold air seeps through the area between where the shirt is and my own body. All of a sudden, it feels like my heart was shot some adrenaline, or something because it then starts beating way faster than before. To keep my body temperature up, or as a response to what Duke did, I don't know. All I know is that it feels like it might burst out of my chest at any moment now. I finally turn around towards Duke again. His left arm covers the entire left side of his body, including where his heart is. I stare at him confused as well as shocked, while he looks back at me in embarrassment. Duke then lets his left arm fall down to its side. Our eyes lock again. Ice in my eyes; fire in his.

 I gasp in astonishment as I see that he has a tattoo- and on his heart. "Wow! Cool! You've got a tat-" He interrupts me as he traces a claw among the tips of the dark purple flames. He closes his eyes; only the amber color shows. "No. This isn't a tattoo. This is-" I interrupt Duke this time. "Then why do you have a purple and black flame? It reminds me of ph-" He gulps again and says, "Don't say. I know. Yeah. That... Beats me why I have this for. I'm not one of them, obviously." He giggles, slightly awkwardly.

"Umm.... okay. So it's a mark, eh?" I say, as I come more closer to Duke. It's like he read my mind because he says, awkwardly, "Yeah sure. I don't care. Uh..." I smile back, as a response. We're now so close to each other that our tails are wrapped around ourselves. Duke's tail behind me; my tail behind Duke. I also now feel his steady breaths, rising and falling so calmly. No, not just his. We breathe in and out at the same time. As one.

I then tentatively raise my right paw, the one closest to Duke, and place it on his heart. I feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeats. So much calmer and steadier than my own. I blush, slightly embarrassed, as he moves so we're now facing each other. Duke then places one of his paws on my heart. He keeps it there, just like what I'm doing. We both look down at our paws, each on the other's heart. We both stay silent for a few minutes. We both look up at the same time, which results in our eyes locking yet again. His warm-but-not-sweaty paw, makes me feel even warmer even though no flames shoot out of them. I raise a finger on my paw that's on his heart, and then start tracing it along the outer parts of the flame.

I stop as Duke breaks the silence. "Now you see why I never took my shirt off with other people around before? Because of the flame. And I had to 'release the flames' to you, Twinkle. I'm not exactly sure why, but I knew that it had to be done. Y'know..." We take both our paws off each others' hearts at the same time. I pull out a loose dark gray thread that hangs out of the T-shirt. As it lands next to me on the roof, I flick it away with my finger.

Then, I focus my attention back at Duke. "Whoa..." I breathe as I look at him. Even though all I see is light brown fur and his abs, I know that he will always have permanent scars. Even though they clearly aren't external, I know that they're still there. I conclude that all those scars aren't lifted- not in the least. They must be internal scars. And we both know that those types of scars hurt the most.

However, there are the two scars, or scratches, that are clearly external. The one on his right shoulder, and the one just above his neck and near an ear. I delicately trace a finger along the dried blood of the scar by his ear. All the way from the area just slightly below his ear to the backside of his neck. The one that I made clearly visible to anyone. I sigh, as I remember me pulling out that hair that kept the scar hidden from view. It still makes me feel so ashamed, even after all these weeks. I whisper, "You should really have this looked at. Like put a bandage on it. At least something." Duke just shakes his head. "I'd rather not," he says he in a stern but soothing voice.

I stand up again. I ask, a bit embarrassed, "I know that I just did it before. I forgot how I did it, though. And I know that I can shoot ice out of my claws because I did it once before. Like yours but with fire. Gosh, I feel pretty stupid right now!" I remember doing it when ice overflowed out of my heart locket as I stuck a claw in the keyhole. I raise a paw. I make sure it's the same one that made my heart locket icy. Duke looks at my heart locket and laughs, "Oh! Maybe that's why you're freezing? I should've known!" Our eyes lock again.

"I've also noticed something else, too. I think our powers, mine being fire, yours ice, are to protect ourselves from the weather we were born into. I was born in the winter; you in the spring. Warmth protects the cold of winter; coldness protects the heat of spring. Maybe that's why you're cold and I'm not? Eh, just a guess." I nod as I turn my paw out a certain way and focus. I know that it's best for it to come when thinking about certain events. Especially emotional ones. So I think of a few. After several failed attempts, I grumble to myself. "Ugh! How'd you do that?"

Duke looks at me, warmth in his amber gaze. "No, Twinkle. You're doing it wrong. First off, you hold your paw out like this." He grabs my paw's wrist and makes it identical to his other one that's in the same position for about to shoot fire. He lets go of my paw. I curse myself as my paw suddenly starts shaking. I look like I'm a lunatic! "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why you so shaky? You have to keep it steady for it to work." Duke grabs my paw again and brings it into the same position as before. "Now watch me." He takes a breath, and then throws his paw slightly forward. His fingers are more spread out than before; his claws retracted much farther out. Tiny flames then shoot out of his claws.

Then, I try. I concentrate much more this time. Mainly because it looks like it's a task I've just been taught by my mentor, and one that I want to ace before his very eyes. I throw my paw slightly forward, copying Duke's movements. I gasp in astonishment as I see a bright icy blue light shoot out of my claws. It grows a tiny bit bigger the more I hold it out. I then wave my paw in the air. "Oh my gosh! This is amazing!" I exclaim. "Thank you so much!" I then hug him once again, our powers still shooting out of our claws. Duke smiles back at me, full of compassion and admiration.

After a while, we stop shooting our powers out of our claws, and sit back down again. Duke stares back at me, flames in his eyes. He then speaks in a foreign-like voice. Like it's not even his own voice.

"Our world has fallen into utter destruction. It has become corrupted to its entirety ever since the Jamaasian War. No matter how hard we try, it can never come back the way it was before. We all want things, but we can't always get them. We all hope for a better tomorrow; a light to show us the way in the sea of darkness. But that's not always the case. There's a part in all of us, from the mighty eagle to the timid bunny, that wants to be free. You see, Twinkle, we're all trapped in something. The corruption of society. The corruption of our lives. The corruption of the world, perhaps. Each and every single creature has tried at least once to get themselves truly free. But you know what? That'll never happen because it's another impossible task. Just one of those millions of questions that we want answers to, but can't. Not all questions have corresponding answers to them. We all try escaping from all the insanity of our world, but it never truly goes away. We all try countless times. Alas, we can never be truly free. And that's why we're all connected; related. We all fight the same battle, the Battle of Life. For as long as we may live, it's an ongoing battle. More powerful than any battle that results in bloodshed; more powerful than almost everything. Except for one thing; one element. And that's what we call the power of love."

I now remember the other things I had to 'let go'. What I really feel about all this. I close my eyes for a moment slightly longer than usual and blink them open again. "They were right. It was my fault. I should've protected her more carefully at the battle. I let her die! And then I let myself be attacked by phantoms. Not once- twice! They're right. I am a senseless fox who should know better. I shouldn't be angry at them. I deserve it."

"Why are you being so hard on yourself, Twinkle? You did all could to save her. You're a great sister to her, you know that.."

"No, Duke! I could've saved her, but I didn't. It's like I chose not to. I can never forgive myself for what I've done to my innocent, little sister. I can never forget it, either."

"Twinkle, look..."

"I still remember the scene exactly. Exactly, Duke.  The phantom floating in the air a decent distance away from the battle. The arctic wolf's look in his eyes as he glared at that phantom. The yellow eyes. More deadly than anything I've ever seen in my life. The shot of the arrow, flying through the air. The unexpected crash of the arrow as it flew down way too soon. The... the... the arrow g-going into Fauna's neck. There wasn't even any blood, really. She just died. That one moment when I wasn't literally next to her side; having her back. Nobody mourned her except for me. The battle still raging on. Like she never even existed. I told my parents what happened. My parents wouldn't even let me see her being buried. They never let me say 'goodbye' to her. Ever since that day, I've been a burden to them. I'm a burden to my own family. Honestly, what's the point of me still living? No one loves me anymore, anyways. Well, then there's you. Honestly, Duke. Why are you even doing all of this? Tell me the truth. Why do you do this? Honestly, Duke, I'm not even beautiful."

"Twinkle, you've got to understand some stuff. Okay? Fauna was automatically at a disadvantage at the battle. She was the youngest fox there, for one. She died with bravery and respect, defending our territory with her life, so the greedy arctic wolves wouldn't steal anything else from us. Twinkle, she died a hero. If we are gonna remember Fauna forever, which we will, let's at least acknowledge her in a more positive way. Especially not the way you're thinking. And she's blind! Blind ones can't see things, so she couldn't have possibly seen the arrow rushing down towards her. Stop giving yourself all the blame, Twinkle! It was not your fault! And if your parents tell you that it is, you know what? They can die in a hole, for all I care! Because they are wrong! You sure do deserve to live, Twinkle. You already died once. I don't want you to die again until you need a cane and hearing-aids. I want us to live until we're old, ancient foxes. I don't know about you, but I want us to die old, and live together until the day we die. You understand?"

"Okay, I kind of get your point. But you've never answered my question. Why do you do all of this- and for me, of all foxes? I'm not even beautiful. There's plenty more other foxes that are way prettier than I'll ever be. Honestly, Duke do you even know? Duke, you're hot. So hot that you're fire. And I'm... I'm nothing compared to you. There are so many other foxes in this world, so why did you choose me? Before you've came around and basically entered my life, my life was plain nothingness. At times, I felt like I shouldn't even be alive anymore now that my sister is dead, and my parents hate me. I felt like I had no soul. And you... you've brought my lively spirit back to me. You gave me hope when life is at its impossible. And not just for me; for the both of us. And Duke. I don't even know how to begin to thank you for all of this. I really mean it. Every single word."

"Twinkle, you've got to understand. To me, you're the prettiest fox who has ever lived. In my eyes, you're better than all the other foxes. But then again. It was our destiny to find each other and be together. Right? It was fate that brought us together. Come on, Twinkle! We're the fire and ice foxes, for crying out loud! And remember. 'Nothing can stop the forces of fire and ice. Ever.' You said exactly that, Twinkle. So I don't understand what you're saying."

I sigh another long exasperated sigh. "When I look at myself in the mirror, especially since I'm even more physically different than other foxes now, I see only one thing. Ugliness. And I know I shouldn't have to feel this way. Because I know that I'm really not. But when I'm with you... I begin to get that feeling again."

"How many times do I have to say this, Twinkle!? You are beautiful. You were never ugly. Only your feelings make you feel that way."

"Ha. No I'm not. I'm not beautiful in the least. More like decent-looking."

"Yes you are! Come on, Twinkle! Your name is Twinkle, for crying out loud! Your eyes are so beautiful that your parents named you that because of your eyes. They twinkle in every possible light, but sometimes you feel like you have to dull the twinkling sparks in your eyes. Honestly, Twinkle, I don't know why. But then again. How do you think that you're anything but beautiful?"

"Stop trying to make me feel better. I am not!" I shiver from the cold yet again.

"Hmm... What to do, what to do... Twinkle, how can I let you know that you are, in fact, beautiful?"

I shrug. I'm getting tired of this stupid and pointless argument over... I don't know what anymore. "Ha. You can explain all you want, Duke, but it'll never convince me that we're equals."

Duke moves even closer to me now. Sitting right in front of me. Only now do I notice the shiny drop of gel on the top of his head. Or how he has a speck of white fur under his nose. We can both feel as well as hear each other's breaths. We're so close to each other that only the length of a claw retracted all the way out separates us. I look into Duke's fiery amber eyes, as he looks into my icy blue eyes. Suddenly, the small space that separates us, breaks. Unexpectedly, I feel Duke's lips and mine gently touching the other's.

Suddenly, I don't feel as cold anymore. I then rest my back against Duke, my head leaning on his chest, feeling every single heartbeat. "Do you believe me now that you are beautiful, Twinkle?" He asks me. I whisper, still feeling shocked, "Yes. Yes I do."

I then feel myself drifting off to sleep as I still stay in the same position. Both hearing and feeling Duke's heartbeats. All throughout the rest of the night and into the sunrise.

DUKE

I sigh, satisfied. I have 'released the flames'. At first glance, it seems like a beautiful thing. But at a second glance, it makes me realize something. I haven't shown anyone else the flame before. And now that I've shown Twinkle...

Anything can happen. And I'm getting a bad feeling about this. And it seems that I'm correct yet again.

That was one of the last peaceful nights Twinkle and I will ever spend together. Or for as long as things are, at least.

I can feel some wings of flames from my shoulderblades growing bigger and bigger until they're like wings from a fiery creature. Wings from a phoenix.

In that moment when I kissed Twinkle, I could practically see a red phoenix and a blue phoenix together. As one. Just like Twinkle and I. And just as quick as that moment starts, it ends. And we both disappear. Just like the phoenixes in the night sky. And what only remains in the sky is twinkling stars in the sea of darkness. Just like Twinkle and I. There are so many signs that show that now, fire and ice are one. Fire and ice united to form one marvelous thing. The one thing that we both wished for.