Twinkle's Story: Chapter 22

*Well, well then. It seems that I've lied to you. I'm here posting Chapter 22 on a Monday night. Please. Let me explain! Umm... Okay so. I haven't posted a new chapter in a month now (oh sorry, I'm a few days off...), and I might, just might, be busy this upcoming weekend as well. And I actually didn't have that much homework that I had to finish tonight. So I'm not stressed out about that. And no. This happening ever again would be very rare. Having only one thing for homework in high school.. Ya. So yeah. I'm so happy that I finally have time to post a new chapter. Like finally! Oh yes. When I was in the locker room for gym in school today, I suddenly had an amazing idea for this chapter. So now it won't be as boring as intended as being before. Yay! However, my amazing idea that I suddenly got during gym class today has some... (idk what to call it, uh... I'll just call it 'things'. XD) that may be not as 'yay' worthy. Lawl. :3*

*This by far has got to be the most romantic-like chapter in my novel. If you don't know where this is going, this post is a chapter that's like "lovely-like :3". Tehe. Umm... now for the uh symbol. Yesh lawl. o3o*

Merpa derp! ;)

*This post contains violence. And this time, it's actually realistic-like. Eww... Realistic things in my story? School is influencing me, guys! I need your help! ;o; Umm... I don't have a symbol for violence. I don't believe that is necessary. Eh neither are the hearts for "lovely-like :3". But whatever.*

*They're bad influences, guys. Do NOT do what Twinkle and Duke said they used to do. Do NOT. Also... Don't do that in school. Their school is corrupted. I mean 'was'. Wait, it still is corrupted. Yesh lawl.*

*It's already 8:30. Heh, heh, heh. I really should start this now. Hmm, hmmm, hmmmm........ Okay, I got it.*

*Enjoy the chapter- well, only the positive parts! ^o^*

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TWINKLE

The repetitive sound of little birds chirping is all I hear. Their annoying chirps are the only thing I hear in my ears. Then, I feel something sharp inside one my ears. Still groggy from sleep, I reluctantly open my eyes. I wince as I open my eyes to a very bright, sunny day. I rub my eyes, and then get interrupted by a loud squawking sound in my ear. "Ugh!" I moan, still half-asleep. I turn my head slightly to the left. "Ack! Stop squawking in my ear, you stupid bird." I exclaim, as I see this tiny bird with a pointed beak about to open its beak to squawk in my ear again. I smile as I watch the annoying bird fly away, beyond the edge of the roof. I put a paw up to my ear because that bird made my ear hurt.

"Ugh, stop moving! The green is hurting my eyes! You're such epic. Why do I see red in my eyes instead of black? What is this!? Ack, it burns my eyes!" I suddenly hear Duke mumble weirdly in his sleep. I smile, almost giggling, as I put my paw that's to my ear down. I try to reach the top of his head with my paw, but it doesn't quite make it. It falls on Duke's snout. "What the... No. I don't want to go to the unknown. Huh?" I hear Duke say, groggily. Even though what he's saying with his eyes closed doesn't make any sense, I like how his breath is making my cold paws slightly more warm. Suddenly, his eyelids start to open. Gulping in fear and embarrassment, I take my paw off right before his eyes are open. I awkwardly sit upright again, and give Duke a nervous glance.

I begin to stammer, as I realize that he's looking me in the eye. I then realize that my paw is still up in the air, and not by my side like my opposite paw. I sigh as I begin to lower it, so it'll then be at the same place as my other paw. Halfway, I feel Duke swiftly grab my paw's wrist again, and he places it on his heart. In between my paw's fingers on his heart is the dark purple and black fur. The fur that makes up his flame. The fire from within. Duke then moves, so he's sitting upright as well. He grins as he looks back at me full of appreciation. He then puts his own paw on my heart, like it's now natural for him. Duke then gives me one of those looks that looks like he's either thinking or puzzled about something. "Twinkle, you've got to learn something. Okay? You shouldn't be embarrassed and nervous over... Let's see... Nothing! You're worried because your paw fell on my mouth. Well, I don't really get the nervousness of it at all. Was it because I was kinda sleeping? Or for me to shut up? I promise you, I usually never talk so much gibberish in my sleep. I actually was up, but not fully awake to open my eyes yet. But anyways, back to the point! Twinkle you really shouldn't feel worried about that. Especially since we already-"

"You mean 'you', not 'we'. I was not expecting that at all," I sigh for a moment, avoiding his intense eyes, and then continue. "Duke, it came out of nowhere. Yours touched mine first, which obviously led to mine touching yours afterwards. You kissed me first."

Suddenly, the ends of the Duke's shirt sleeve flail like the wind. A wind that's much more calmer than the one the previous night. "Oh right. Your shirt. Here." I try my best to be careful as I take off Duke's shirt. It seems that I wasn't careful enough. The ends of my worn-down shirt that I've been given to wear at the hospital, come up just like Duke's shirt. As it just reaches halfway up my back, I grab the ends of my shirt and quickly bring it back down. Once I see that my back is completely covered by my shirt again, I look down onto the floor of the roof, and then I start to feel my face burning. "That's nice," I hear Duke's voice in my other ear. Taking a deep breath, I turn back to him. I don't really know why, but I feel slightly disappointed that I can't clearly see the flame on his heart anymore. I roll my eyes. "Blame the old shirt and the wind. And don't you dare bring this up to anyone!" Duke just giggles back.

Then, we exit the roof, and start heading back downstairs. As that large gap of the space from that fallen step appears as the next step, I gulp. "Oh Zios. How are we possibly making this jump? Without falling to our deaths." I look down from the gap. The closest level from below the gap is the first floor. Not very helpful from being all the way on the top floor, the 16th. "Go back." Duke says. I listen. As I'm about to take another step back, Duke wraps his arm around me and says, "That's as far as you can really go without falling to your death." I quickly nod my head. Duke takes a deep breath. "On 3, run as fast as you possibly can. Don't worry. I'll help you, and I've got you." I feel Duke's arm around me become a little tighter. Our paws are together, fingers interlocked. I take a deep breath and sigh. What in the name of Mira is he thinking!? "Okay. 1..., 2......, 3!" I'm too terrified to keep my eyes open, so they're shut very tight. On "3", I feel like I'm being pulled along by this machine of some sort. It feels like we're running so fast, that we're actually running faster than a lightning flash. Well, not literary. It sure feels like that, though. I then remember that Duke is one of the fastest foxes in the entire school. Our running speed accelerates as each millisecond passes by. It's hard for me to keep up with this incredibly fast speed. As I feel Duke's paw squeeze mine a bit tighter, I run way faster. The fastest I've ever ran in my life. The next thing I notice is that I suddenly don't feel anything under my feet anymore.

"Twinkle!" I hear Duke shout my name. Too petrified, I open my eyes. "Lean forward... Now!" I then lean forward, like my life depends on it. Which in this case, is correct. The tips of my toes touch the edge of the next step. I take another big step forward, so that my feet aren't at the edge anymore. As if by instinct, I look over towards the direction where Duke is. I breathe a sigh of relief as I see his feet completely on the step as well. We're breathing so fast. "Well, well then." Duke says between breaths. "That was quite something!" I nod my head, not really paying that much attention to what he's saying. We then just stand on the step, catching our breaths. A few minutes after, we continue to walk down all the flights of stairs. Finally, we see the door. I weakly open the front doors of the Tall Tower, and then walk outside again. I just stand at the door, wrapping my arm around one of the four pillars that are on each side of the door. One on the left side; one on the right side. And then one behind each one on each side. I just stand there, still catching my breath.

Duke goes to the one just in front of the one I have my arm around. My arm barely goes around the wide pillar. He looks like he's leaning by the way he's standing. However, just his elbow is leaning against the pillar. I conclude that he must've put all or most of his weight on one side- the side closest to the pillar.

After standing, facing each other for several awkward seconds in silence, I say the first thing that comes to mind. "Hey, Duke. Know what's weird?"

"What?" Duke says, calmly.

"I was singing a song from a movie about ice and how it's all... frozen. About the singer letting it go. It was a song about ice powers, basically. And I was singing it before I even knew that I, myself, have ice powers. It was when I first turned blue. Think it's a coincidence? I'm not very sure myself, so...."

"Uh okay. Good to know. Ice powers.... That's nice."

"So moving on now. How to put this? Umm... Duke...What was your motive?"

"My... motive? What does that mean?"

"Ah, you know, you."

"Huh? I still don't get what you're hinting at, Twinkle."

I blush, slightly embarrassed at myself for suddenly thinking about this now. "Was it your intentions to... you know... kiss me after we left the hospital last night?"

This time around, Duke blushes. "Well... uh.... It was in the moment? Uh... No. Umm.... I mean... I don't know. How else could I possibly let you know that you're wrong and I'm right? Because talking sure didn't work out... And it is true. Twinkle, you are beautiful. You can say I'm wrong, but I'll just contradict you for as many times necessary. And for confidence, I guess... I dunno."

"Okay." I clear my throat. "Are you sure you never had any former girlfriends before?"

"Twinkle, I don't like where this is going. Why are you so 'lovey-dovey' all of a sudden?"

I can feel my eyes glowing as I don't back down. I continue to stare him in the eye, even though he's now trying to avoid my gaze. "Did you ever have any other girlfriends? Like perhaps Sparkle?"

Duke gives out an exasperated sigh. "Sparkle and I are cousins, Twinkle. Why in the name of Mira would I date her?"

"I don't know. Maybe because back in school, she was like the only girl fox you hung around most often. Anyways, if you suddenly come up to me one day, when I'm in a hospital for goodness sake, and suddenly say you have this kind of weird crush on me without talking to me that much before... That's pretty weird, Duke."

"She was the only fox I really knew when I moved. And we're cousins! We have a strong family relationship. We even live in the same house! That's how close we are! Then, after a few months of being in school, Infinity walked up to me. He's my first unrelated friend I've ever had since the move here. So that's why we're so close."

I whisper, looking towards the ground, seeing the dark green grass swaying in the breeze. "I've lived here my entire life, and I never had an unrelated friend before you suddenly came into my life. Not a single one."

"Oh." is all Duke can say to that.

I take a deep breath, and breathe out slowly, stalling every second possible until I have to speak again. I swallow. "They all harassed me, teased me.. bullied me. Every day in school. Each subject, each class.. Your cousin being one of them. Not the meanest one, though. Surprisingly. And you.. you..." Suddenly, I feel tears coming to my eyes. A teardrop drops onto the grass. I imagine the teardrop being like a glass falling down, sending the water droplets in all directions as it crashes onto the blade of grass. I sniff from sadness at the school memories. "You were a bystander. You ignored me every, single day of school. And if you really did love me for all that time, you would have stopped it way before. Way before it became anything serious. Too scared to stop it because your cousin was a major part of it? I don't care if she wasn't the one who said it, but all of them were a major part in it. She was in that group of girls. In my eyes, they should all die."

"No... You don't mean that! You're just a little angry, that's all.."

I yell back at Duke, all the past school memories rushing through my mind like a hurricane trapped in a tight space. "A 'little angry'!? No, Duke.. I wasn't 'a little angry'!" I sigh. "I don't do it anymore. But I used to. Oh, I used to. And that changes everything." I take a deep breath. "They even made me cut. Being abused just by the ways of the world. Every single day. Oh, the weekends? That's when I'd be mentally abused by own parents. Not a break." I turn one of my paws out, so that the wrist faces upward. Slightly above my actual wrist, I move the claws on my other paw in an "X" shape, drawing the "X". Duke just looks at me, horrified. I'm not sure why, but I think of it as my advantage. I repeatedly draw the "X" right above my wrist, with space between my wrist and my claws. "That's what I'd do as I was cutting myself. If you're wondering why there are no scars or whatever on my wrists, it's because I don't use a weapon. Knife... I'm not that stupid. I just use my own claws. With just enough force and pressure to... to draw blood. Just thin red lines against the blackness of my paws."

Duke, wide-eyed, looks at me. "Oh my Zios! Twinkle... no. No.. You've never cut! Never cut, never cut...."As Duke keeps on repeating himself, his voice sounds like it's fading away. I sense fear in his voice.

I flash him a stern look. That makes Duke go silent. "One day I was really depressed, so I wrote a poem. I titled it "Unique"...."

"Oh right. I remember that poem. It was a beautiful writing piece, even though it's all so solemn."

"I finished writing it right after I cut myself. One of the drops of blood fell on the paper. That's why the paper I wrote the poem on was all crumpled up, ripped, torn... I'm actually not scared of blood, Duke. But seeing it on others, like on the people I love. That.. that scares me."

I take another deep breath and sigh. "The day I brought in the poem was the day we both got detention." I then think back to that day.:

"Oh.. Hey, Stinkle. Your backpack pocket's unzipped. Let me zip it for you! Wait. What's this? A crumpled up paper? Ooh!" She came up to me in the hallway, one day between classes.

 The sound of the zipper was like battle cries in my ears. The sound of it being unfolded was like the sound of a ticking time bomb. Her reaction after reading it was like a death blow to the heart.

"What the.... What the heck is this poop!? Who writes about this? Oh right. Stinkle here does. Oh Zios. For crying out loud, the battle took place so many months ago. Who cares that your sister died? I'm glad that she died! One less friend in your stupid, pathetic life."

I glared at her. "Oh. You're just jealous that I can write and you can't. It's okay. Not everyone is talented at writing."

"I'm not talented at writing? Oh please! Have you looked in a mirror recently? And you know what? I was cheering when your sister died at the battle. It was so much fun!"

"Fun? Fun!? Fighting at a senseless battle created by greed is considered fun to you!? No wonder why you're such a brat."

"Haha. Whatever."

I then thought about what she said more thoroughly. "You wanted her dead? You wanted my sister dead!? Did you plan for her death? DID YOU!?" I shrieked at her, even though I already knew what I was saying didn't really make that much sense.

That was only the beginning of a fight. After that bratty girly fox yelled for the security guard to come after I punched her in the nose, she blamed everything on me. Everything. And that's how I got my first ever detention.

As I was heading for the doors to walk home when the final school bell rang, the security guard who gave me detention stopped me in my tracks. "Oh no you don't. You're coming with me." The security guard scolded me as I was about to open the school doors. I remember his harsh, rusty, old paws forcefully grab one of my paws. After walking down several hallways, we stopped at a door. "Here's the detention room. Now go." He spat back at me. Without another word, I opened the door for detention.

As I stepped inside the classroom for detention, I was quite surprised by how full the room was. Almost all the desks were occupied by other students. Except one. I gave out a reluctant sigh as I walked over to the one empty desk. I shrugged as I pulled out my poem from my backpack. I placed it on the desk, and then I started to unfold it and flatten it out. No adult foxes were in the room; just other students. I traced a finger along the words I wrote, now smudged. The smudgy blue ink dripping down ink from every letter.

Unique

Life. Different people have different meanings of that word, life. The dictionary says the word, life, simply is the opposite, the separation, of death. But no. I think that word, life, has a much deeper meaning than just that. Oh, so much more.

 Saying that life is plainly the opposite of death is like fighting with the ways of the world. It's like saying that the dark is the opposite of the light. Or that the element, fire, is the opposite of the element, water. And yes. On it's surface, that is correct. They are both entirely different. However, if you dig deep, deep down until you hit the core, you'll see that they are quite similar. Let's take fire and water, for instance. Fire can be known for being bad or for being good. Fire can be bad when it sends one trapped inside a burning building. As a contradiction, fire can be good when it warms one up, so that they don't die when left out in the cold. Water, too, can be known for being bad or for being good. Water can be bad when it sends one drowning in the waters, completely alone. As a contradiction, water can be good when it saves one from dying of dehydration. Now, let's take light and dark. Light is good when one is not trapped anymore. As a contradiction, light is bad when it sends your most loved one blind for the rest of his or her life. Dark is good, even though most see it as only setting a negative impact on the world. Dark is good when it causes relaxation. Dark is bad when the monsters haunt one's dreams at night. Even though they are complete opposites, they do have at least one thing in common: a good, and a bad.

 Then, there's me. That one that's not like all the others. Life. Life has segregated, isolated, me from the rest of it. "Why is that?" they may ask. It's just one thing, really. I am different. No, that's way too ordinary. It's because I... I am unique.

 I am deformed. In almost every, single way possible. But one. And that's why I am unique.

 I may not be the smartest in my classes. I may not know what the day's top trends are. I may not have the prettiest, neatest paw-writing. I may not know much. I may be that one quiet fox who sits in the corner in school. I may be the one that's constantly bullied, day after day, week after week, month after month. I may be the one who's only close friend was her little sister. But even that has been taken away from me. I may have no friends. I may have parents who have broke me. I may be the one that lives each day in fear of how I'll possibly survive the next one. I have memories that nobody would ever want, not even in a million years. Except if you would actually like to live a life of just heartache and pain.

 I may not have the fluffiest, most shining, tail. I may be that short fox with the shoulder-length wispy hair. I may not wear the top trending outfits. But at least I'm modest. I may not be the fastest runner, or the most athletic fox. I may not be that girl who dates every boy in the class. And through all the hardships, I still have my dignity.

 Because that's why I am different; unique. I may be deformed, broken, in every other possible way. Whether it be mentally, emotionally. or physically. All other parts of my body may be unlike the rest of them. But at least I don't have a broken heart. No. Not all others have broken hearts due to break-ups or things of the sort. Others have broken hearts due to trying to be copies in a corrupted society. I, however, do not have a broken heart. All the hate I've been given through my entire fourteen or so years, have only damaged my brain. My heart is still pure. And it won't fade away as quickly as all the others. The ones without a pure heart.

 It may be a struggle surviving each day. Alone. Completely alone. But I do know one thing. Some day, whether it be tomorrow or in the next ten years from now, I will be something. I do have a destiny. And now it's just the matter of finding it. But first, it's the matter of conquering, overcoming, the obstacles that are in life's way.

 And that is what makes me unique. I am proud to at least accomplished one thing throughout my entire existence. Being unique.

Right when I finished reading it again, I looked around the room. I didn't really recognize anybody, except for one. The fox who was sitting at the desk to my right. I think he was one of the guys in my class who actually wasn't that bad. Well, we didn't really talk much. Without even meaning to, we avoided each other as much as possible. He looked like a pretty handsome guy who probably went out on tons of dates. He had light brown fur with darker brown hair on the top of his head. He then warily looked up at the clock that hung on the wall right above the door, and muttered to himself. After a while of just looking around the room, I felt a bit awkward. I was about to put the crumpled up paper back in my backpack. As I grabbed the paper to bring it off the desk, the muttering fox who I was sitting next to, spoke.

"Hey, mind if I read it?" He asked me, tugging at his gray shirt collar. Self-consciously, I put a paw on the middle of the paper as I put it back on the desk again. I wasn't that good at covering it up, though. The blank white spots on the sheet of lined paper on which I wrote the poem on was visible between the spaces between my fingers. 

"It's something quite personal. So no. You can't read it." I said, quietly back. Even after I just said that, he leaned his chair forward and looked at the paper. He just stood there, right at my desk. I then realized that he was actually reading it. I covered up the paper with my paw again. "Hey! I just told you that I didn't give you permission to read my paper. So stop it!"

He got up, but he didn't go back to his chair to sit back down. He gave me a mischievous little smile of his. "Well, it's too late now. I finished reading it. So there!" He said, as if proclaiming victory.

I gasped. "No... stop it! Take it back!" I gulped. How was he going to judge my poem?

He just looked me in the eye for a brief second, then turned away. "What do you mean? "Unique", huh? That title's pretty nice. As a matter of fact, I like this poem. Maybe because it's one that relates... Ah, never mind. The comparisons, the emotions put into creating such a masterpiece, how it's so solemn. This is really good!"

I gasped in shock. "Whoa... You actually like my poem? Thanks so much!"

"Oh. You wrote it?"

"Oh shoot. Now you probably hate it now that I told you I wrote it. Hey, I don't blame you. Everybody else hates my guts, anyways. So no big deal."

"Huh? No.. no. I still think this is one of the best poems I've ever read. Like I read that much, in the first place. Ha. But still. You're a talented writer..." He gave me a flustered look. "Oh gosh. I know you from somewhere.. Same class? Miss Fox, is it? What's your name again? Sorry, I forgot it."

As I was about to say my name and ask him his, a teacher whom I've never once met before, entered the room. The guy I was talking to rushed over, and sat back at the desk he was at before. The teacher looked like a strict teacher by the way she held the clipboard as she walked around the class. She grunted as she passed by the other students. Then, she came to the space in between where the nice, respectful fox was seated, and me.

"Oh goody. Looks like we've got another one here for detention. Great.." She muttered as she wrote something on her clipboard while she was facing me. "Twinkle..." She grunted as she finished writing on the clipboard. "First time detention. Whatever." She then turned around, facing the guy who complimented me of my writing.

"Oh. It's such a pleasure to see you with us again, Mister Canis. How great.." She muttered, sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She scribbled something down on the paper the clipboard was holding. She was about to walk away, but instead so called "Mister Canis" spoke back.

"Again, can you please tell me why I'm the one who always gets the detentions? I didn't really do anything wrong today. I guess defending my dignity gets me in trouble, and nobody else..."

She gave him a cold look. "Well, maybe if you don't always use physical violence to 'defend your dignity', you won't always get into trouble."

"I hate my life." He grumbled.

"Well, get used to it. Life isn't always fair, Duke." I agreed with that statement so much. I still do, to this very day.

He closed his eyes, and whispered. "Oh, you don't know the half of it.."

By then, she walked away from our two desks. We looked at each other again, and we then turned away. But even as I turned my head, I got the feeling that he was still looking in the same direction that I was. He was looking at me. And I liked it.

From that day on, I could put a name to that one and only fox who complimented me. And that guy's name is Duke Canis.

Detention was the best part of that day. However, he never really spoke to me that often during the school day. But I knew he wanted to. He just couldn't. And so did I. As detention ended, I whispered, "Goodbye, Duke Canis." He just waved.

I blink open my eyes again, and I take in what's around me. I look down at the ground, watching the green grass sway in the breeze. I look right below me, and I see the wet blades of grass. Suddenly, I feel a finger wipe away all the tears on my face. I must've been crying a lot by how wet my face now feels. After Duke's finger gently touches my face, causing all my tears to be wiped away, he puts his paw down. He takes a step back, and takes a long breath.

I see the pillar that he's now standing in front of. The aging gray and silver colored stones that make up the pillar, is eroded in some parts, which causes the pillar to be an odd shape. Jagged edges are also on the surface of the pillar. Duke traces a claw down one of the pillar's many jagged edges. Afterwards, he leans his back against the pillar.

"Hey, Twinkle.." Duke starts. "I now have an answer to your question. About me having former girlfriends. You're the one with reason. I need at least one good reason to date somebody. The other girls?" He shrugs. "Eh, not really. They just date whoever they think is 'cute' or 'hot'." He pauses for a brief moment, before continuing. "You obviously don't do that. Neither do I. Never had; never will. And anyways..." Duke motions with a finger for me to move closer to him. Without a second thought, I find myself walking closer. We face each other as we both put a paw on the pillar's side closest to us. "... Have you ever seen me kiss another girl? Well, have you?"

I close my eyes for a few seconds, thinking about all the school memories and such. Even though, I still find it hard to believe, I still say the truth. "No. No, I haven't." I then feel my face getting hot as I whisper, "But you sure are an exceptional kisser."

Duke stares back at me with his fiery eyes. "Well, well then. And anyways... If I really did have another girlfriend, would I be able to do this?"

As quickly as when we leaped over the missing step going up towards the 16th floor, I feel Duke wrap both his arms around me; his paws around my back. Slowly, I feel Duke's arms go lower and lower. Suddenly, he stops; his paws on my hips, close to where my tail is. I then hear some noises that I can't put a name to. It sounds like metal being unbuckled. I then hear a light crash as it falls onto the ground. Suddenly, my tail feels weird. It's light? No, it couldn't be. I turn my head a bit, and I look out from the corner of my eye. My tail protective piece that I'm not required to wear anymore is laid out like an odd scrap of metal on the ground. I swish my tail around. It sure feels good to not carry my tail like a burden anymore. My tail is free again!

Duke then holds my tail in one of his paws again. After holding my tail steady, he lets go. I keep it still. Then, he gently brushes a finger on the top of my tail from the base to the tip. "How's that?" he says. I smile back, as a response. "I take that as a 'good'." Duke concludes, no longer touching my tail.

He puts his arms back to his sides. We look into each other's bright eyes yet again. Everything else around me fades away as I look into his eyes. The only thing that remains is the amber flames in his eyes; everything else faded away. "Zios, I love you..." I start to whisper. I get cut off by Duke as his lips touch mine. A stronger, more confident, longer-lasting kiss than the one last night. Then as I see the same annoying bird out of the corner of one of my eyes, I kiss back. That sent the bird a message, alright. Even though it's a decent distance away from us, my eyes start twinkling as I watch it fly right on by.

Then, we let go. And in that moment, we feel like we're the happiest foxes in the entire world. This time around, I get a sudden happy thought. Duke and I will always be together. Together forever.

DUKE

Screams. A cry of agony. A plead for mercy. Through the thick fog, I can just make out a tuft of blue fur. "DUKE, MAKE IT STOP!" the blue-furred fox screeches. After being paralyzed in shock for a few seconds, I take a deep breath. Then I run into the fog. I immediately notice something. Something deadly. My throat suddenly feels itchy. I cough, then begin feeling weak. I then realize something. This isn't just ordinary fog. This isn't fog at all, actually. My heart skips a beat. This is smoke. The destruction that I've created. I then continue running through the deadly smoke. After running through what seems like endless gray, I finally see color. Hope- or is it?

The familiar blue fur comes into my view more easily now, since I'm more closer to it. I start breathing heavily, my paws on my knees. "Don't worry. I'm here. It's all going to be okay." I say, as calmly as I can.

I then see her eyes. I gasp in shock. I see tears about to fall down from the tips of her eyelashes. Her pupils dilated so much that the only part of her eyes that aren't black is around the outer layer; the clear, icy blue, twinkling part of her eyes in only a thin line. "Please," she says, weakly, "Please go away from me. It hurts too much." Our eyes lock yet again. Ears laid back against her head in submission as she takes a small step back. "Please," she whispers, tears falling down from her cheeks like tiny crystals. "I can't take it anymore. Stop hurting me. Please."

With a puzzled look on my face, I take a step forward, moving closer. I then see a look of pure fear in her eyes. And in mine, insanity. "I said, 'please'. What more do you want from me? I can't live on like this anymore. The only thing you don't have of me is my soul." After hesitating for a moment or two after she said those words aloud, I take another daring step forward. The blue-furred fox with the icy blue eyes, then stretches her arm in front of her. A powerful motion, even though it looks like her paw's just trembling. Ice in a bright blue light, shoots out of every single one of her claws.

I then feel flames behind me. The flames of horror. Reaching closer and closer to the ice. Closer and closer. And then it all ends.

"Oh thanks Zios," I breathe, my heart still racing. "Just another daydream. That wasn't real. Thank Zios." I then feel a finger poking my side. I rub my eyes again. "Wha-"

"What in the name of Mira are you talking about? Now stop being lazy, and get up!" I hear Twinkle say. But before, I stand up from laying down surrounded by the green grass, I grab Twinkle's protective tailpiece. As soon as she realizes what I'm about to do, she exclaims, "What are you doing!?" I just ignore her as I put her tail back into the tailpiece. I pause before I snap it shut.

"This is to protect you from.. from.." The tailpiece shuts tight as it closes completely around her tail. "From me." As I see disappointment in her eyes, I sigh. "No. Your tail isn't ugly, or anything. It's just that.. that..." I take a breath. "It's for the best. You need to be protected from me. This is only for your own protection and safety."

Twinkle just rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Whatever." She kicks the ground.

"Twinkle, please understand. I'm begging of you. Please." She just mutters. Almost as by instinct now, I place my paw that's closest to her, onto her heart. It sends both of us a brief moment of peace as our paws touch each other's heart. She sighs, still a bit reluctant. It looks like her paw has a mind of its own as it goes onto my heart. Her fingers tug my shirt. I don't mind, though. As I feel her heartbeats as she feels mine, another thought comes to me. It amazes me how a heartbeat can drastically change. Like just over a week or so ago, her heartbeats stopped altogether. Last night, however, her heart was beating so fast that it almost seemed impossible to remember that it stopped beating once.

I think back to what Twinkle said a few minutes ago. That she used to cut herself. It sends shivers down my spine. We're even more alike than I realized. A few years ago, when I was around 11 or 12 years old, I got depression. Severe depression. Dark thoughts. Darker than the poisonous smoke in the dream I just had now. That nobody loves me. And that was the least painful one. It horrifies me beyond measure as I connect the two thoughts. We both suffered so much pain in our past, that we both used to cut ourselves. I also used to cut myself in an "X" shape on the insides of my wrists, just barely coming in contact with any blood vessels or arteries. Just barely. And as Twinkle showed me that she used to do exactly that too, it brought back memories. Like when I would hold the blade of the shaver barely above my wrist. I remember one time, before I was going to bring the blade down, I said, "I'm such a..." Before I finished the sentence, I brought the sharp shaver blade down. The tip of the blade puncturing my fur and then my skin. As I took it out, seeing the tip coated in a crimson red, I didn't even flinch. I finished that sentence. "... Jerk." I then repeat my thoughts aloud, as I inform her that I also used to cut. We both feel uneasy yet comforted, afterwards. Uneasy for talking about such a topic aloud and actually to someone else. Comforted because it made us realize something.: Nobody's ever alone. Not even in the toughest times. The only time when you're certainly alone is when you give up. On life, hope, anything. And even though we were (and still are) on the edge between giving up and still playing the game of life, we still didn't made the wrong decision yet. We both did not give up.

I then think back to that school day. The day we both got detention.:

Several other students and I were talking in the hallway as we were heading for the cafeteria for lunch. Boys and girls together. As in dating. Then, the boy closest to me whispered in my ear, "Duke, I think she likes you." He pointed across the large group. I resent being around the popular foxes at school. Just based on looks makes one popular or not? How idiotic. The amount of resentment rising even more after this day. I then looked where he was pointing to. A girl with long, flowing golden hair with lots of makeup on. The girl that just recently became single again after breaking up with her former boyfriend. I just snorted.

"Admiral? Really!?" I whispered back in his ear. "No way. I don't think we'll work out. And besides," We entered the cafeteria. "I don't even like her."

I don't think that Admiral (who was also in the group) heard me. However, she came closer to me, and she then broke me off from the others in the group. Feeling uncomfortable, I tried going away from her and the rest of the group. "Haha. Duke... You sure are something! Haha." She laughed, pointing a claw at me.

Backing away, I rolled my eyes. "Uh.... okay? Good to know, I guess..."

Admiral just stared back at me. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "No idea. But I don't really-"

She interrupted me as she began to explain. "It sure does surprise me that you've never had a girlfriend before. Especially since it's... well... you. This is so ironic! You being the hottest fox in our grade at our school, being a star player on the soccer team, being so hot...."

I just stared at her blankly. "Excuse me...?"

"... Yet never having a girlfriend before. Never mind kissing a girl... On the lips. What also intrigues me is that everyone who has seen you at least once knows that you're extremely hot, yet nobody has seen you shirtless. What's the matter? Too scared to get a girlfriend? Don't worry, Duke. I think it'll be fairly easy for you to get one, though. Such as me." Her chemical-covered face then came right in front of me.

I took another step back, but she still stayed closer to me. I sighed, annoyed at her. "I don't feel like dating, kissing, or taking my shirt off, at the moment. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Oh. But you surely want to date some girl, don't you? Like come on! You're Duke for crying out loud! The Duke! Of course you do! Stop denying it! And I always wanted to date you, and I'm currently single..."

I shook my head. "Sorry, no thank you."

"Why not!?" Admiral retorted.

"Because I said so," I replied as I walked more into the cafeteria in an attempt to catch up with my friends. "You see, Admiral, well.. I... If I was to date anybody, it would have to have at least one solid good reason for it. And me dating you isn't a solid good reason. Especially since you just break the hearts of all your 'boyfriends' anyways. And let's be honest here. We're nothing alike. You might think so, but we're not. Whoops, sorry."

Admiral just cackled up in my face. "Oh! I know a little something that might change your mind about possibly dating someone... Such as the fabulous and perfect girl fox- me!" She held me down like a toy. Trapped. No escape. And if there possibly was, it wasn't fast enough. She kissed me on the lips for just a brief moment. When she let go, she started giggling like she was under the influence of laughing gas. "How about that!" she said, matter-of-factly.

Disgusted, I snarled, "You really think that would make me suddenly fall for you? I'm not an idiot, darn it! In fact, that would make me, as well as any other sane guy, hate you even more. Now go!" I glared at her.

"Haha. I still kissed you, though. Now I'm gonna tell our group here that we're now officially dating." She flipped her hair, and started towards the group.

"V-" I began, but bit my bottom lip to stop myself. I was raging in anger now. I felt like I might explode.

Admiral looked over her shoulder. "What did you say, hun?"

"V-.... V-....." Bubbling with fury, I let the fox swear come out. In the olden days, it was used as a regular word. But ever since the War, even swears have changed a bit. "You know what, Admiral? You're a darn vixen! VIXEN!"

She just had a sly grin on her face. Unfortunately, a security guard at lunch heard what I said. Before I noticed him coming towards me, I ran up to Admiral and slapped my paw on her face- hard. It left her a slight bruise. "Ouch! Hey, that hurt!"

"Then stop being such a stuck-up brat," I said as a response to her.

And that's when the security guard came up to me, separating me from Admiral. "Bad language and physical violence in school. Duke, honestly. How many times till you realize that every time you do something violent in school, as little as in slapping somebody, you will get detention." He quickly checked something he was holding, then looked back down at me again. "Duke Canis, this is the fifth detention you've gotten this month alone. And it's only the second week. What's gonna be next? Having to suspend you? Expel you? When will it stop, Duke?"

The school day continued. Going slowly- as usual, nowadays. I remembered to go to the detention classroom this time around. I waited, and waited. In aggravation and boredom.

And then a nice, kind, quiet girl came into the room. I was rather surprised at seeing such an innocent-looking girl in detention. But I'm the one who should know the best that looks can be quite deceiving. Oh yes they are.

Another thing Twinkle and I have in common.:

We both hate Admiral's guts. The brat who made us both get detention that day. And on that same day, we both had the same thoughts.:

We both wanted her dead.

I then stare down at the grass at our feet, watching the grass sway in the breeze. And then Twinkle does the same.