The wind whipped harshly at my fur, as the biting cold stung my eyes. My cheeks already had Frozen - Uma Aventura Congelante tears clinging to them, and I had no energy left to wipe them away.

Perhaps I was being childish, getting upset over some guy. After all, I was only eleven; surely there was someone else out there for me?

But I wanted him.

Everything about him made me tingle. His ebony pele, peles that shined constantly, her blood red eyes that seemed to be aware everything, his smile that lit up his whole face. I cared for him, I dreamed about him, he held a precious part in my life.

But of course, the feeling wasn't mutual. He thought I was a stupid kid, who didn't know the concept of love, who didn't understand 'real relationships'. Sure, I may be young, but I'm certainly not dumb.

Obviously that didn't matter to him, as he'd already gone out to be with someone else. But the worst part of it all, the complete and utter cereja upon this monstrosity of a cake, was that his new girlfriend was the person I trusted the most in the entire world.

She's my best friend, my big sister, who's supposed to watch out for me and take into consideration how I feel. Surely, one would think that he'd do the right thing and say no to him. But what did she go and do?

Not only did she go off with him, but she stayed with him even when she knew how crushed I was. Even when I yelled that I hated her, sobbing till my head pounded and my coração throbbed like burning fire, she still stayed with him.

I didn't hate her though, I never could. I wanted to hate her so bad, but I loved her too much, even despite her thoughtlessness.

I ran deep into the forest after I saw them walk off together, yet again. I couldn't take facing the others in the state I was in, it would only raise awkward questions.

I'd stumbled my way through leaves, rocks and twigs, cutting, scratching and bruising myself until I'd found a quiet area.

The area, which I now was curled up inside, looking like a bundled mess, was a murky pond overgrown with weeds. cerceta, verde-azulado and grey as cores splattered across the water, looking dirty and cloudy. Weeping willows created a shield all the way around the miniature-lake, and the sounds of frogs and crickets rang faintly in my ears.

To be honest, I wasn't sure why I had stopped here. Maybe perhaps it was due to the fact that the surroundings reflected my mood, and were sad with me. Perhaps it was a comfort to me, knowing I wasn't the only one down.

Shaking and alone, I mulled around on a thought that kept popping up, that maybe I should return início soon. But yet again, I rejected it; I was just not ready to face them all.

When would I be ready to face it?

Probably never.

"What's with the sulky face cat girl?"

My head shot up so fast I winced at the strain in my neck muscles. Yet that didn't matter, what did matter was the fact that an intruder of my privacy was standing not too far away.

I could just about see him, esmeralda pele, peles gleaming proudly, and the scratches on his mid-section standing out sorely. He arms crossed, and a smirk so cocky it made me shudder. That could of course mean only one person.

"Leave me alone Scourge."

"An' why would I wanna do that?"

I curled myself tighter, wrapping my silver tail across myself like comfort blankets. Really I had thought I had dealt with enough today, and I really couldn't deal with the anti-hero coming in to bully me.

"Just please…" I dropped my head down, my chin buried in my chest. "Go, please just go."

All that answered my plea was a low chuckle. Scourge was dragging his feet towards me, in slow lazy steps, laughing softly to himself, looking genuinely amused por my request.

Amused por my pain?

Jerk.

Even though he had been walking at a pace snails could rival, he seemed to reach me far too quickly. Standing just a few feet away from me now, he smirked down at me. Not laughing anymore, but still looking amused.

"Look at you." He gestured with a careless wave of his arm. "All broken and lost, like a kicked puppy. And who woulda thought;" He paused momentarily, to lean down slightly at me. "That it would be over some emo-hog, whose twice your age."

I uncurled at that, startled por his words. "How do you know that?" Instantly I bit my lip, because I had sounded hysteric, something he'd obviously pick up on.

The upturn of his lips proved me right. He waggled a finger, teasingly. "Now really, that's for me to know only." Straightening his back out again, he stood with pride and power. "You must feel betrayed, what with Nightwish stealing away your man." His gaze flickered upwards. "It must make you angry; knowing that you're 'Big Sis' ruined what could have been a relationship for you."

Despite how much I disliked Scourge, he had a valid point. It did make me angry, because I could have had a shot with Shadow. We could have been happy together; it could have been something special.

"I do feel betrayed." That came out as a mumble, "I really thought that he and I would work, it felt right." My voice became stronger, "But most of all, Nightwish knew that! She knew how I felt, she knew everything, and she still chose her will over me." My fists clenched, an attempting to control my shaking, "His so-called little sister, some sister he is."

Scourge looked upwards again, chuckling to himself.

Complete and utter jerk.

"Well I thought I'd never see the day." He gave me a toothy smile down at me, "Little Crystal, throwing a rebellious fit like a moody teenager. But what the best part is, she's slagging off his idol!" Tilting his head, he purred; "Amazing, truly."

To be perfectly honest, it felt strange being mad at Nightwish. I mean, sure I'd been frustrated at her before, but only over little things. Like eating all the comida at lunch when I hadn't had anything, or being way too loud in the morning when I needed some decent sleep.

But never before had I been like this.

Somehow I think I was still in shock, because never had I thought that she'd betray me like this after everything he'd done for me. Everything we'd done together. Not after every adventure we'd been on, not after she'd protected me from every harm there was, not after she'd held me for hours when I'd cried till I felt sick-

'Then how come she's not holding you now?'

I had always hated my conscience.

"It aint worth it kid." The voice surprised me, because it wasn't taunting for once. It came out quite soft, not particularly friendly, still arrogant, but soft.

"What do you mean?"

Scourge quirked a half-smile. "It aint worth getting hung-up on some guy, trust me."

I scowled downwards, not having the nerve to scowl at him. "I don't care, I wanted him."

Hearing him click his tongue in disapproval, I realized I said the wrong thing. "Talk about awkward and picky." He grumbled loud, deliberately I assumed, "Look, tell me now, what exactly did you want?"

Confused, I stared up at him. "What do you mea-?"

"Just answer the damn question, twerp."

I thought about the question. What exactly did I want with Shadow? I mean, I said I wanted him, but why? It wasn't like it was something in particular about him, it was just generally. But what did I want from him?

"A relationship" Scourge tilted his head for me to continue, "I wanted to experience the things everyone else does, dates, holding hands, first…" I trailed off, feeling my cheeks burning up.

"First what?" He looked down on me for a moment, and then broke out in a full-scale grin. "Oh man, you wanted a relationship for a bit of a smooch?"

Quickly I back peddled, knowing he'd got what I said wrong. "No, no, that's not what I meant, honest-"

"Of course you didn't." Suddenly, his grin faded, and it left Scourge's face grim and bitter. "Listen; as much as I hate to admit this, you are a bright kid." My eyes widened, he did not just say that? "So you should be able to understand what relationships really are, if I tell you the truth."

My brow furrowed, I didn't understand. "What do you mean?" I seemed to feel dumb, the amount of times I had asked that.

Scourge simply stared down at me, expression stone cold, unforgiving. "You need to get it out of you're head that relationships are this wonderful thing, because that is a delusion created por soppy fairy tales." His mouth quirked up again, but it was anything but cheerful. "Relationships always end in tears, especially you're first one."

Getting the drift of where he was going, I narrowed my eyes. "I'd rather have been in a relationship than rejected that way I was."

He bent at the waist, and suddenly I felt small and helpless. Like a servant bowing down to his king, the fight all gone from me. "So you'd rather have gotten attached to the guy, and to be crushed afterwards, when you found out he'd hated you all along? You'd rather try to be a sweetheart to him, but only come across as a little girl?" He bent lower, his voice dropping to a whisper, "You'd rather have awkward kisses, which were not filled with any feeling but doubt?"

I'd been pushed down so many times, made feel like a child, intimidated into not fighting back. Finally, I broke. "You don't know anything! It might have not been like that, it might have worked, it might have been right. And even if it didn't, I still would have had some experience, I would have known I had given things my best try!"

Panting, I fell silent. My voice had been shrill in the eerie atmosphere, and now words failed me. My hands were fists, digging into the ground so hard it hurt. The hedgehog above me looked down in shock, and that gave me a dull sense of satisfaction.

Slowly, he dropped his face down, so all I could see was the topo, início of his head. Yet again, he let out a chuckle, low and menacing.

Now I regretted yelling at him at all.

"You're obviously not going to listen to my words." He took a long breath in, then out. I couldn't urso it, "So I'm just gonna have to show you."

Then, he had crouched so fast I didn't even see him move. I just kept thinking that he was too close, that something wasn't right.

And that's when he kissed me.

It all happened so quickly I didn't know what to do, he had grabbed my face between his hands, bruising my cheeks. Then he was just there, lips forced on mine. I screwed my eyes shut, not bearing to look into his face. He pulled my face closer, and suddenly it wasn't just a press of lips together. His tongue was attacking mine, brutally and forcefully.

Yet to my horror, I was beijar back.

'It isn't right, this is wrong. Wrong!'

His sharp canines were cutting into me, making me taste blood. The kiss was hot, wet, and it hurt. I couldn't seem to stop myself though, my mouth worked against my will, and I just could not control it.

'This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, not like this, not with him.'

Vaguely I realized I was sobbing, but I couldn't break away. He was too powerful. Or I was too weak. Perhaps it was both.

'Stop it now!'

I was too confused, I didn't understand anything. Wasn't I supposed to hate this? I was sure I did, but I was beijar back, and I just wanted more. But none of it was right, I wasn't right. 'No, no no.'

Then it was all gone, he'd pulled back, and I was gulping, begging for air. Tears were streaming freely down my face, and I kept my head down, refusing to look at him. How could he do this to me? How could he?

"Now you see." A sob escaped me, because he didn't sound any different. Completely unaffected. "That's reality girlie; kisses aren't something from a fairy tale. You wanted so badly to experience it, and I gave it to you straight."

"No." It came out mumbled, so low even I had to strain to hear it. "No, not this, no no no…"

He grabbed my chin between his fingers, jerking my head up roughly to meet his eyes. I whimpered on instinct, thinking he was going to kiss me again, but he simply spoke. "You seemed so eager to learn kid, and I thought you wanted the truth, and some experience. I simple gave you what you wanted, no harm done."

I shook my head, with difficulty as his grip was still like iron. He didn't understand, there was harm done. I wanted experience, but not like this.

"I was tough, I'll admit that. But someday." His sapphire eyes shunned into mine, like two piercing spotlights, which I simply could not look away from, no matter how badly I wanted to. "Someday you'll be thankful that I taught you early on, so you are prepared for reality."

"And besides," He smirked on instinct, "At least that kiss was meaningless, you have no sticky relationship to work through, it was just experience. Really, you should be thanking me."

But it meant something to me. It was confusing, heartbreaking, yet I needed mais of it. It was my first kiss.

My first kiss was with Scourge.

Dear god.

Letting go of my chin he rocked back on his heels, looking completely at ease. I should hate him for what he's done; I should be beating him up por now. But for some reason, his weird sense of logic got me wondering if he had a point.

No, no of course he didn't. He can't have done, can he?

"I'll tell you what, since you took my lesson…" He raised an eyebrow, thinking of the word to describe my state. "On board, I'll return you a favor. I will stop Shadow and Nightwish being together, for good."

Despite my mixed feelings towards him now, the offer still intrigued me. "But…how?"

Tapping the side of his nose, he glanced coyly at me. "Now, that's for me to know and you to find out. Obviously though, we'll have to keep this meeting strictly between the two of us. mais for you're sake than mine."

imagens filled my mind. My sister, Blaze shaking her head in disbelief, my brother, Thorn gasping in horror, my adopted mother, Zondra frowning in disapproval, Manic scowling in jealousy….

I nodded.

"Good girl." He narrowed his eyes, and suddenly I realized he wasn't wearing his sunglasses today. "So, keep in mind that I'll carry out my plan to dividido, dividir Shadow and Nightwish as long as you comply. If you try to stop me, I will tell them all about this."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Are you going to do something-"

"Just do what I say; it should be a win-win situation for you." His face said otherwise.

He stood up, flashing me one last tooth smirk. "You'll thank me one day."

Then he was gone.

The wind he'd left behind chilled my bones, making me shudder relentlessly. I resumed the position I had before, hugging myself, because nobody else would. I knew I felt mais confused than I did before. I couldn't decide however if I was mais crushed than before, or slightly mais comforted. Perhaps it was both, even though that didn't make sense.

Nothing made sense now.

Now all I could do was wonder, what was Scourge going to do? How could he simply get Nightwish and Shadow to just break up?

To be perfectly honest, I think I knew the answer, and I simply didn't want to think about that.

I wiped the fresh tears, and old ones, away from my now sticky cheeks. It was getting late, and Blaze would be wondering where I was. It was only a matter of time that she would search, and if she found me like this, I wouldn't know how to explain myself without telling the truth.

Standing up, my legs were shaking like jelly. I almost fell back down, but forced myself to stay upright. I had to get back, before they found me. I turned my back on the pond, walking in the direction I had came from. I wished someone else were here now, just to help me walk back, because I felt so weak.

Of course, there wouldn't be.

Perhaps I had to stop living in the fairytale I had created for myself. It brought nothing but heartbreak, and rejection. Maybe Scourge had a point after all. Or maybe I was manipulated easily.

I simply couldn't make my mind up over anything. Even though I'd just been given a 'reality check', it simply muddled my outlook on all things in general.

I guess I had no choice now, but to let things pan out as they were supposed to.

'That's reality kid'

Then reality sucked.