Twinkle's Story: Chapter 33

*Hey guys! I'm here with Chapter 33, as you can see. :)*
*Nightcore Fairy Tail songs are so epic!*
*I also edited the other blogs and art pages, so check those out.*
*Unexpected beginning much? >:D*
*Enjoy the chapter! ^o^*
*Contains violent suggestions. It gets very violent towards the end- I suggest that you don't read the end of this chapter alone and in the dark. >:)*
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ARDERE

"There's something about her......" I murmur dreamily in my sleep. The heather that makes up the inner edges of my bed blows toward my nose. As I feel a tuft of heather enter my nostril, I sneeze. I wipe my now dripping wet nose with a paw.

"About who?" I hear a familiar- too familiar- voice say, her warm breath on my other outstretched paw that lays in front of my snout, the tip of my nose pressing against my paw fur.

"Whoa, sis! How long have you been here?" I ask, flashing my eyes open. I sneeze again, the tuft of heather that entered my nose just moments before blowing into her face. She disgracefully shakes her head, the tuft of heather falling right outside of my bed.

"Oh, come on! Get out of bed already!" she says eagerly, beginning to hop in her steps.

I roll my eyes at her. "You know I'm still sick, Autumn."

Defeated, she sighs. "It's boring without you, Ardere."

I reluctantly sit up in my bed. Puzzled, I say, "I'm still here, aren't I?"

"I know that! I mean- how to put it?- it's boring not being able to play with you."

"You can play with Mae then for all I care," I reply stretching my back as I climb out of my bed.

"Mae gets boring after a while. And besides," she pauses to stand up, "she's way older than us."

"You are a hyper machine, Autumn," I remark.

The mysterious glint in her eyes returns. Every time it appears, it makes me feel uneasy. Triumphantly, she declares, "Then I'll be the better hunter than you!" and then giggles.

Frustrated, I take my foot that's on the edge of my bed off. Without watching my step, I clumsily fall. As I stare up at her my underside stinging from the loud impact it had with the ground, I snort. I mutter sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah. Sure you will."

Autumn helps me guide myself back onto my feet. I reluctantly thank her, embarrassed that I needed help from my little sister. Feeling uncomfortable by the way she keeps on looking back at me, I ask, "What?"

She giggles before answering. "Who were you talking about in your sleep?" Autumn smiles mischievously as she mimics what I said. "'There's something about her'- do you like anybody?"

Feeling suddenly embarrassed, I lean my ears against the sides of my head. "No, of course not."

Perking her ear up, she says, "You sure about that?"

Standing up more careful this time, I say, "You know I have to keep hunting as my main focus. I can't let anything else get into my way."

"I can picture you and Ma--"

"I don't have a crush on anybody!" I interrupt, despite feeling my face beginning to burn.

We walk out of the den, into the outside. Bright sunlight filters through the canopy of leaves. I adjust my eyes to the sudden bright light.

"Then who were you talking about?"

"None of your business," I reply, trudging ahead of her.

She replies by running up to me. "I'm your sister- your only sister-, Ardere. You can tell me anything."

"I'd rather not bother with you."

"Oh come on, bro! Tell me!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

After several minutes of arguing later, I finally admit to Autumn the thoughts I secretly kept in my head. "Autumn...." I begin.

"Yeah?" she says, perking an ear up and facing me.

"Remember that day from all those months ago? When, you know....."

"You have to be more specific than that," she says much more serious this time.

I breathe in and out slower. "Ever since that day, she has never escaped my mind. Not once."

I sit down, wrapping my tail around my paws. I then motion for Autumn to do the same. I let everything spill out of my mouth.

"When I was lost in the annual gathering crowd, I became 'lost'. I lost my sense of direction due to how scared and overwhelmed by how many others were here. We just got a tour of our entire pack's territory, the evening before. And I accidentally crossed the wolf-fox borders. And then I... well, I.... fell in a hole. And got stuck."

"You do know you never explained to anyone in the pack what happened to you that day? Not even Father...."

Our father is the leader of our pack. Our wolf pack is the pack closest to the fox territory's border.

"Of course not! You really think I'll be able to tell Father, and still live? You know how strict he is!" I pause, wide-eyed, "Autumn, I'm begging you! Please, oh please don't tell him what I'm telling you!"

I feel relieved when I hear her say, "I promise."

"Thanks, sis."

"Besides, we have to keep a few secrets to ourselves being siblings and all...."

"Yeah, sure."

I then explain the rest. "Of course I was scared out of my mind back then! I honestly didn't care who could rescue me. But then, there was this fox....."

"Oh dear Zios. Did it be all lovey-dovey on you?"

I shake my head. "No, of course not! She actually was being quite cruel- well, I thought she was acting cruel- to me. But, I don't know what happened, she then became very nice to me. She helped me climb out of the hole, reassuring me."

"A fox? Are you sure it wasn't just an russet-colored wolf patrolling the border?"

"Yes, it was a fox. And did I ever say the fox was that color?"

"What color was it- she- then? Brown, black, silver....?"

I laugh quietly. "None of those, actually. She was actually blue."

"A blue fox!? No such thing...."

"Oh, you better believe me." I then go on descriptively telling Autumn what this peculiar fox looked like.

"Oh my Zios, she actually seems... real! Except if you're secretly an exceptional storyteller."

I laugh, my eyes sparkling. "Oh, I can't tell a story for my life!"

"I highly doubt that. So... Why is she in your head now?"

"That's the thing," I say, looking at Autumn and then in the direction of the horizon. "She never escaped my mind ever since that day. I don't know, sis, but there's something about her. It's like she's got spunk or something like that. Something's telling me that she'll be the face of change."

"Well, you did say she was blue. And besides, no other animal would go help out another animal species for the good."

"Yeah, it's like..... Never mind, that was a stupid thought."

"No, it's not. Go on, tell me."

I take a deep breath. "It's like she took that first step to reuniting us- well, our species- again. As one."

Autumn and I go on discussing this strange fox for quite a while. Suddenly, we hear footsteps heading our way. I don't know why I feel chills run down my back.

I skip a heartbeat as I hear that other familiar voice. There stands Father. Right in front of us. I gulp.

"Mind telling me what you're talking about, Ardere?"


TWINKLE

Dawn has distanced herself from us yet again. Something tells me she's still too overwhelmed by seeing us. Even if she has been expecting us, I still think she's not used to seeing other people- even if it's just Duke and me.

I look suspiciously at the black jacket that Duke is still wearing. "Are you sure you want to keep that on?"

"I'm positive," Duke says curtly, not bothering to even look my way.

"It's so hot here. Isn't the black making you uncomfortable?"

He turns his head to look at me, and slowly blinks. "Gosh darn it, Twinkle! Stop flirting with me!"

Feeling slightly hurt, I timidly say, "I wasn't flirting with you. It really is hot here."

Completely ignoring me, he continues, "It actually makes me feel very comfortable, thank you very much."

Getting fed up with him, I say much louder this time, "What's gotten into you? Ever since Dawn left, you've been acting like a total jerk."

"You have no idea what I'm going through."

"You're not concealing anything, Duke, and you know that."

Yes I am," he pauses and then whispers, "Twinkle, you don't understand. Believe me, I really and truthfully don't want to hurt you. Because I.... I don't think I can handle the pain inflicted on me if I hurt anyone else."

"What in the name of Mira are you talking about?"

He takes a long sigh. "I know you know about the black flames," he pauses, "Right?"

I hesitate before nodding my head.

"Well, I've found out that this black jacket is the black flames- or the majority of them- in its concealed, shut away form. And I'm not exactly sure what'll happen if I take it off."

"Well, can you take it off?"

"I'd rather not."

"I saw the wings too, Duke."

"If I take the jacket off, will you shut up?"

Feeling slightly offended by that, I nod my head once.

He stops pulling the zipper slider down as it comes in level with his heart. He releases his grip on it, and throws his arm back down at his side.

Eyeing him suspiciously, I say, "What? You can't take it off?"

Saying as if in a distant voice, Duke whispers, "No......"

"What?"

"What did he do to me!?"

"Who? What?"

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?" Duke shrieks, his shrieks feeling as if a beast is tearing him apart internally.

"I.... I don't know." As I'm about to grab the jacket's zipper, he grabs my paw and forcefully brings it down at my side again.

Despite that, I try again. This time, however, I successfully have hold of the zipper before he does. As my fingers wrap around the zipper slider, Duke pleads, "Please Twinkle, don't."

I give him a sympathetic look for a brief moment, then focus back on the zipper. "I know this is hurting you. Let me get rid of all your pain."

"I'm afraid that can't be done."

"What are you even saying, Duke?"

"Ah, never mind. Go ahead. Take this awful jacket off of my body, Twinkle. See who I really am."

Why is Duke suddenly speaking like this? I shrug off the thought. It can't be that much of a big deal. Right?

I then continue unzipping the black jacket. When it's unzipped all the way, I'm surprised to see Duke quickly take his arms out of the sleeves and then throw the jacket behind him as if it's a ragged up article of clothing. Then two tri-colored- black, purple, and orange- flames shoot out of his shoulder blades. They look as long as one's arm's length each. He slowly flaps the fiery wings, and reopens his eyes.

Feeling a shadow overcoming me, I take- or attempt to- a step back. As I'm about to place my foot back on the ground, I suddenly feel lots of pressure on my... rib cage? I then see Duke's arms wrapped tightly around me, his wrists forcefully pressed up against my rib cage.

He arches an eyebrow and his other eye twitches as he asks creepily, "Where are you going, miss? We just got started!" His eyes flash.

I definitely saw a faint hint of dark purple in his eyes that weren't there a minute ago. "You're making me uneasy......"

He releases the pressure on me and takes a step away from me. I take a shuddering breath.

I then notice that he has his arms crossed in front of his chest, his right paw over his left one and over his heart. Instead of bright orange flames, deep jet black flames shoot out of his claws. The flames are larger in size, too. They're almost as long as his fingers. The black flames form an X in front of his chest.

He gives me an evil grin. "Don't betray me, girl. Don't make me upset. Don't betray me. I don't want to have to kill you."

"What!?" I gasp, becoming more and more petrified as each passing second ticks by. Who are you? Who are you!? 

As I puts his arms back at his sides again, I see what looks like black ashes slow down from being thrown off of him.

The results make me wonder if the black shirt was made up of black ashes. Many, many dead ones.....

I cough; the coughs evolving into gags; the gags evolving into chokes.

Now Duke- if he even is Duke- has two large fiery wings that are mostly black shoot out of his shoulder blades, black flames on the tips of his fur, orange and purple zig-zag- shaped blazes that appear to be glowing scattered throughout his head hair, and a dark purple outlined in black flame- just like the one on his heart- around his left eye.

And he's also shirtless. Dark purple complicated paths, the ends shaped like endless vortexes, glow intensely as they wrap around his body. Almost as if they're constricting him like a snake. But it looks like they're not hurting him in any way.

Getting more and more freaked out, I try to run away from this- creature?- as fast as I can.

His left eye twitches again. "I thought I asked you," his eye flashes more purple than amber, "'Where are you going'?" The black-tipped flames grow even larger.

Is it just me, or are the black flames leaning toward me?

Suddenly, I hear a voice from above. Fauna!?

The voice repeats itself. This time I'm certain it's her.

"Twinkle," she gasps, "Twinkle, you've got to run as far away as you can from the guy in front of you. If you want to live, run in the direction Dawn left off towards when I count on 3."

I look up and give her a confused look.

"Darn it, Twinkle! There's not that much time! Oh Zios, oh Zios....."

I point my index finger of my right paw up to the sky, then my middle finger, then my index finger.

Fauna nods her head quickly. "Okay, I'll explain afterwards. Just run as fast as you can on the count of 3," after a second's pause, she begins counting, "1.... 2..... 3!"

On "3", I come back up on my feet- which feel are already lit on fire- and sprint in the direction I'm pretty sure Dawn headed in.

After running several yards away, I take a daring look over my right shoulder.

I see this black shape fighting against this pale yellow shape. As I turn my head back around so I'm looking forward again, I hear a faint explosion.

Minutes later, my heart settling in my throat, I see the pale yellow shape fly towards me. As it comes into my focus, I see that inside of the pale yellow aura is Fauna. She has a determined look in her eyes as she wipes her left paw on a side of this weapon that looks like it's made of metal and some other material that she firmly holds in her right paw. It looks so awkward in her paw. Her angel wings ruffle in the late evening breeze.

"I will protect you until the very end. I will fight for you from nobody and anybody. I don't care who or what it is, I will fight for you to the end no matter what. I don't care if the odds are against us, I will protect you even if it may result in other casualties. I will never, ever let you go for as long as forever exists."

I look back again. Even though the distance between me and him is so big, I can still see what's there. I feel chills run down my spine. "D-Did you k-kill Duke?"

"No and yes," Fauna replies.

"WHAT!?" I screech.

"Duke back there was being controlled by this other very malicious demon who morphed into him suddenly because he is......."

"Go on," I urge Fauna.

She gulps. "....... that fox's reincarnation."

Speechless, I stare up at Fauna completely wide-eyed.

"Duke's full first name is actually 'Duke Fierdan', and if you guessed, Fierdan is supposedly the name of the original. Fierdan is one of the most powerful and darkest foxes to ever exist. He has killed hundreds upon thousands of innocent foxes in his lifetime. If one does just a single act of disagreement between them and him, he will try as hard as he can to kill that person. Nine times out of ten, he is successful. Fierdan has mastered hundreds of killing techniques- some he prefers over others. They range from being burned alive- by his own black flames of death-, to being electrocuted by phantoms, to a simple tool in a toolbox. Once dead, he rips the clothes off the victims' bodies to serve his own benefit. He cleanses the blood from the clothing and stitches them to this cape. I also heard that he burns the bodies with his very own flames. It's also rumored that Fierdan's parents are the very spirits of Zios and Mira when they're in fox form. I just got original Fierdan's spirit away from Duke Fierdan's body. I am not sure if I hurt Duke, but I hurt the Fierdan spirit. It's just the price that now has to be paid."

I respond by feeling myself break like broken glass. No, not glass- ice. The ice of me shattering like a glass. The ice melting into waterfalls. The waterfalls coming out of my eyes.

"Can we do anything to save Duke?" I ask.

"No. Duke always was- I mean is- the reincarnation of Fierdan. Nothing can stop that. Except if Duke dying counts as a way of stopping that. If he'd legitimately kill himself for the overall good of civilization," Fauna pauses, "But I know you don't want Duke- only Duke- to die; only Fierdan. Same with me." 

I reach up to Fauna who floats just in front of me. Tears soaking my face, I hug her as tightly as I possibly can without suffocating her. Even if she is an angel-fox now, I'm still careful around her. Not like Fierdan back there......

Even though I nearly just fell victim to Fierdan who morphed into Duke's body, my heart tells me I need to find out if he is okay.

But my feelings toward what Fauna has done are much stronger.

I push Duke out of my mind, and just focus on being here. Here with my little angelic sister.

Who possibly just saved my life.