The day was passing in the city of Warfang. This city, which in ancient times was a military city, now, with the times of war long having passed, was a peaceful place, where everybody could live their lives calmly and relax as they did their own affairs.
Creatures of all kinds moved to and fro in the streets. Dragons, with their massive forms, took up a good space of the streets. After all, Warfang was originally a city build by dragons for dragons. But there were other creatures into the city. There were the cheetahs, there were bunnies, moving back and forth. There were also moles and some wolves in there, as well as fauns, centaurs, and other creatures that came from all over the land.
Warfang had grew into all these years of peace, and now it was a place where all kinds of creatures lived. It was a good place to live, and there were a lot inhabitants in it. All of them different from each other, but all of them with a lot of things in common, like the fact that they all had their own dreams and ambitions, and they all wanted to find the true happiness by searching for it.
As a result, different creatures usually choose the same professions, despite all their differences. Cheetahs and moles could work in the same profession as wolves and bunnies, and even dragons choose common professions for themselves. In ancient years, dragons would choose professions which were turned to ones of leadership and war, however, the times had passed and changed, as well as the world. Now dragons choose different professions, from workers in construction to professors and caretakers. Some dragons choose professions that were according to their personalities and to what they admired and wanted to their future. After all, everyone had dreams, and everyone was ready to go after them and to make them come true.
Including the protagonist of this story. Yeah, this is all about him, as well as the ones he met along the way...
Into a street from Warfang, into a very well located place, there was a big place. It was a bakery. The front of the store was decorated with the colors of red and golden, and upward there was written the name "Frosted Dream". This place was rather famous. Well, maybe not the most famous place of the city, but it was really famous in what said about bakeries, and was famous enough to have a lot of regular customers and also to have a lot of cash as income.
Inside the store, there were several glasses, stands and shelves, all filled with all kinds of sweets. There were cakes, cupcakes, small snacks, some cheesecakes, and several other small sinful pleasures that would make anyone drool at the sight. There was also several creatures in there, all of them buying the sweets that were all made in there.
This place had some amazing sweets, that was for sure. People talked a lot about them and didn't hesitated to spent a lot of money to have some of these sweets. Both the ones that were in show into the stands as well as the ones that could be ordered to be made.
Many attributed it to the owner of the place, who had the fame of being one very talented baker. Speaking of him...
"Three more Strawberry Dreams, four Cheetah's Eye cupcakes and another round of Sugary Flowers!" Said a figure as he entered into the kitchen of his bakery. This one was a dragon, and he was a big one. He was slightly bulky, and he had crimson colored scales, and golden underbelly and horns, as well as his wing-membranes. The tip of his tail was shaped like a flame, and he was wearing a white colored apron over his neck, which traveled down his chest and was tied over his underbelly by strings on his back, right behind his wings. This dragon was no other than Apollonir Fireheart, the owner of that bakery, and maybe the most famous baker of the whole city, and, according to some, the best of them.
He looked over at all the ones into his bakery, most of them cheetahs and bunnies, and also some moles, all of them working hard to prepare all the requests that they had received, all of them wearing the same white aprons as their boss and all of them working hard under his watchful eye.
Apollonir passed by the bakers under his command, one by one, to see if they were doing everything right, and ready to lead them a helping hand and a small nudge in the right direction if they done anything wrong. Luckily, all of them seemed to be making their work nicely, all of them working very well in mixing all of the ingredients and being very careful. Luckily, all of them already worked for him enough to know most of the recipes and to be able to prepare them from memory.
Apollonir smiled to himself as he saw all of his employers making a good work preparing all the new orders. The Strawberry Dream, which was one big cake made out mostly of strawberry cream and pastry, and decorated with whipped cream and also a lot of pinkish strawberries, one sweeter variety called "White Princess". The Cheetah's Eye cupcakes were a special cupcake prepared with caramel and some special berries, decorated to look like the same colors of the eyes of a cheetah, these ones were also in deep demand. Finally, there were the Sugary Flowers, maybe one of their most famous sweets, which consisted into some beautiful cockie-like sweets made out of caramilized sugar and baker-pastry decorated with edible ink, all made into the shape of beautiful flowers, all of them with different colors and tastes, and all of them equally delicious.
Apollonir saw all of the bakers preparing the dishes, whipping the pastry to make the cakes, working into the sugar to caramelize it, and separating all of the ingredients to get all of the dishes ready. He smiled to himself as he saw each one doing it sucessfuly, seeing that this time that they passed working with him had helped to hone their skills. Especially of one in particular...
There were also some dragons working into the bakery, but not very much. There were two red dragons, a green one, a white one and a icy-blue one. All of them working into the recipes that they had just been passed. There was one more, though, one that really stood out among the other dragons. This one was purple in color. He had a slightly toned physique, which was fitting considering that he was around his 19 years old. He had regal-purple scales and a golden underbelly and horns, much like Apollonir himself, and he had red for his wing-membrane.
He was now baking out the pastry for the Sugary Flowers, and was making a very good work as it was clear that he was putting dedication into it. Thep urple dragon was balancing into his hind legs, using his tail to support himself, as he used his forepaws to hold the ingredients and to prepare them according to the recipe. His apron was slightly tainted by the ingredients of the baking.
The dragon was putting a good effort into making it, maybe more than the other dragons. It was clear by the smile on his face, that he was happy for doing it. He seemed to really like making his job, and anyone that was near him could notice it. Not only by the look on his face, but with all of the happiness that he was putting into what he was doing, and all of the dedication that he was putting into the work he was doing right now.
Apollonir, of course, noticed it fairly easily, as he could see how happy the young dragon was for making all these things. His happiness in it was so great that it was almost contagious, the way he smiled and the passion that he seemed to show into baking, it was something really beautiful that gave pleasure to see.
Soon, Spyro was done of the first set of Cheetah's Eyes and he was already carrying them slightly into the air. Flapping his wings, the purple dragon was creating a gust of wind that was keeping the cupcakes in the air, as the young dragon took a deep breath and breathed flames underneath them, heating them.
All the dragons had their own elemental powers, which was usually indicated by their colors. Apollonir, for instance, was a fire dragon, which was good, for his fire element was very useful when it came to cooking. Each element was helpful with certain matters, which were, in some cases, useful to the work a dragon would choose. That was another thing that Spyro had of special.
The purple dragons were very rare, and they were special, because, while one dragon could only hold one single element, the purple dragons could hold several. Some said that they even had all of them.
That was how Spyro was able to do it, for he was holding both the wind and the fire. Not only that, but Spyro also could held other elements, like earth and ice, and also electricity. Each element had their own utility, and in that work, Spyro used a little one her and a little one there. This variety of abilities made Spyro a very verstile worker, and helped him be one of his best employers.
After a few minutes of high temperature fire, Spyro finally let the cupcakes come down, and he made the wind fly around them, cooling them down rather quickly, until all that was left was a warm temperature, which was perfect for eating.
The purple dragon smiled to himself as he looked at the round of cupcakes that was ready. He barely even notice someone behind him, until he spoke. "Another round?"
Spyro craned his head back, to see Apollonir looking at him. Spyro smiled at the older dragon, who sniffed at the cupcakes. "May I?" He asked, putting a paw halfway in direction to the cupcakes.
"Sure! Be my guest!" Spyro said, giving a wamr smile at the older dragon. Apollonir smiled back, and he picked up one of the cupcakes and he gave it a bite. He chewed them lightly as he let the flavor spread to his mouth and all over his tongue. As he chewed, Spyro looked up at him, expectation clear in his eyes as he looked at the older dragon.
There was a moment of silence, until Apollonir swallowed, and he smiled at the young dragon. "Very well done, Spyro, it is delicious."
By hearing this, the purple dragon's face brightened a lot, and he had to control himself not to dance in place. Sure, Apollonir had already complimented his cooking skills a few times by now, however, it was hard not to get so happy each time that someone who understood so much of bakery complimenting his work.
"Good to see you are still improving more each day." Said Apollonir, and Spyro answered with a "All thanks to you, sir."
Apollonir chuckled. Spyro had been with him for almost six months now, and it was not only working as a baker. Spyro was also his apprentice. Apollonir could still remember when Spyro appeared in there a long time ago. He was a curious dragon who would keep a while looking at the sweets.
At first it would seem that he was only interested in eating them, however, one day, he caught Spyro trying to sneak into the kitchen. After a while of an awkward situation, Spyro confessed that he wanted to see the sweets being made. The dragon confessed him that he wanted to learn more of how to make sweets, with a vivid blush on his face.
Looking at the young dragon, Apollonir asked him if he knew how to bake, and Spyro meekly said that he tried the best he could. After hearing this, Apollonir surprised Spyro by saying that he wanted him to bake something.
Spyro was taken back by this, and he hesitantly nodded, even though he didn't had any idea of what he should bake for the master baker. Spyro had decided by one recipe that he was pretty confident with. One that he had learned in an old book, and that he had practiced for a while.
It was a simply recipe of homemade cookies, and he was sure that it was nothing special for the older dragon. Spyro was visibly nervous as he got ready to work, but it seemed to dissapear once he was cooking the recipe. Apollonir looked at him as he prepared everything, and once he was done, he offered it to the red dragon.
Once Apollonir was ready to taste, it seemed that all the nervousness of Spyro had came back to him in triple. Apollonir simply took the cookies and tasted one of them, under the worried look of Spyro, who looked almost dread.
Apollonir tasted the cookies, and, as the same time that they were not exactly the best he had ever eaten, they were far better than what he could have possibly expect from such a simple recipe, nor of anyone who never had any baking lesons before in life, as Spyro himself had said to him.
According to the purple dragon, he had learned this recipe, along with a few others, from some old recipe books, and that he had "tried" a little in them, adding new ingredients. He said it took a while for him to get it right, and his face cringed as he remembered the taste of the recipes that he had to try in himself.
Needless to say, Apollonir was very impressed. This young dragon had really learned to do something so good out of pure attempt and fail? That was somewhat impressive. Also, Apollonir liked very much the way that the young dragon seemed to enjoy making the cookies, as if he was truly happy with it. Indeed, this young dragon had all the qualities that were attributed to very skilled bakers.
Apollonir had saw a lot of potential into that young dragon, and that was exactly the reason why he had invited Spyro to work into the bakery as an apprentice. He could still remember when he said that to the purple dragon, and he chuckled everytime that he thought back at the stupefied, unbelieving and astonished look in it.
The next thing he knew was that Spyro was saying yes a lot of times, hugging him tightly, and after that, Spyro started to work for him, and to learn with him at the same time, as his pupil.
Spyro showed to be eager to learn, and while he was still being a bit inexperienced with the swing of the commercial aspect of baking, he was showing to be a very versatile and fast learner. He quickly learned a few tricks from Apollonir of how to use his elements to help in the cooking, and also, some tips of the other dragons working in there, as well as some non-elemental, but very important tips coming from the other employers. Soon Spyro was proving to have a very promising future into what was related to baking, and what was more important: he seemed to simply love it.
Apollonir smiled at his young student, and petted his head lightly, making the purple dragon blush a little. Soon the orders had to be taken, but that didn't meant that the work was done. They had to constantly keep working to keep up with all of the demands. That was the price of being sucessful.
The day passed, and the sun was almost setting when it was time to close for the day. "Okay lads and girls!" Said Apollonir, looking at all of his workers. "We made a good job today, everybody go home and sleep well, we will have another round of it in the morning!"
The employers all sighed as they had finished cleaning the whole place and putting everything where it should be, and they all started to head back home. Some glad that the day had ended, and others talking about the day. All of them still anxious for their next paycheck. The advantage into working in a place that was so big and so famous was that the payment was worth all of the hard work that they were forced to do every single day. Besides, most of them liked working with bakery.
Apollonir was looking at all of his workers start to head back to their homes, all of them ready to rest after a long day of work. However, there was someone else that was not happy for having to go.
This one was a purple dragon. He was into a corner of the kitchen, looking down sadly, as he was sighing deeply. Apollonir looked at him, adn approached him softly. "Spyro?" The purple dragon looked up at him, and Apollonir said, "Time to go home."
The purple dragon sighed, and he started walking out. He helped Apollonir to close and lock the bakery, to be sure that no one was going to sneak inside during the night, it was surprisingly how many had already done it, if not for the money, then only to be able to sneakily get one of the sweets. Not only that, but there were also some other bakers, from rival places, that were trying to get their claws into Apollonir's recipes, which were a well kept secret. "Always keep your personal recipes safe", was one of the first lessons that Apollonir ever taught to Spyro, in this ambient, there were a lot of bad behaved dragons who were envious and would do anythign to get their claws in the recipes of their rivals and use them to gain money at the same time that they got the rival out of the game. That was a lesson that Spyro was going to have to remember if he ever wanted to take a career at baking.
After they were sure the place was safe, Spyro finally turned to leave, and he smiled at the older dragon when he said, "I'll be back tomorrow." Apollonir was able to smile at this, and he waved a bye to the purple dragon as he walked away and flapped his golden and red wings, taking flight and floating away.
Apollonir looked at the vanishing dragon as he was going away, and he let out a sigh. Anyone who saw Spyro like that would assume that he was sad because the day of work was over and he could not back anymore. However, Apollonir knew pretty well the true reason why Spyro would be sad for going back home.
As Apollonir turned and flapped his own wings to go back home, the thought on his head was that he just hoped that these two would come to terms...
Spyro flew across the city, and he soon was getting near home, and he landed gently in front of the two store-high house that he called home. Reaching out in the bag he had around his neck, he reached out for the key and unlocked the door, walking inside his house.
"I'm home!" He called out, entering the hall and soon getting into the living room, well furnished, and it was a pleasing place.
Soon, Spyro was greeted by another dragoness. This one purple just like him, and clearly very older. She was dark-purple in color and had white underbelly and her eyes were silvery in color. She had white flecks into her wings, all of which sparkled in them, almost as if they were stars.
She smiled at him, as she said, "Hello, sweetheart, how was work today?" She asked, nuzzling him, and Spyro smiled as he nuzzled the purple dragoness back. "You know, mom, hard and hot, that kitchen is always moving."
The purple dragoness smiled at her son, and she said, "I'll have dinner ready in fifteen minutes, hope you don't mind waiting. Oh, and I hope you have not eaten much of these sweets at your work, you know that it robs your appetite."
"Mom!" Spyro said, blushing slightly at his mom talking to him as if he was still eight years old. Maybe it was one thing of the mothers. Spyro sometimes thought that he was never going to stop being her little hatchling.
He sighed as he walked to the living room, aiming to just take this time to relax. However, his hopes for this were cut short when he hear da familiar voice saying, "So, back from another day making candy, huh?"
Spyro had to supress a groan as he closed his eyes, and he looked over to see another dragon who was already in the living room, reading a book as he stood there, unnoticed by Spyro until he had spoke.
This dragon was bigger than Spyro, and also bigger than Apollonir. He was black in all of his body, except for his underbelly, which was as white as bone, and his horns, which were the smae pure white in color. His wings were big, and a careful looked would see that they were full of holes and small tears, as if they had been showered with a rain of spikes over the years. His tailblade was shaped like a mean scythe, one that looked that could probably cut out the leg of a dragon easily. In his face, he wore a mask, which for many, looked much more like a skull from some dragon which covered his face. His eyes were visible through the holes of the mask, and they were both crimson as blood and focused into the book that he was reading, held by his forepaws.
This dragon was a gaunt visage, and he was not the kind that anyone would want to see in a dark alley, and many would be scared by seeing this dragon in front of them. Spyro, however, knew this dragon quite well already, and he didn't had many reasons to be afraid of him. Well, at least not anymore.
"Goodnight, father." Spyro spoke to the black dragon, his father, in a very formal, almost cold tone, as he sat by the other side of the room, not even casting him a second glance as he sighed and simply laid there, hoping that this would at least be calm.
However, his hopes were frustrated as the older dragon said, "Don't you get sick of the smell of sugar all the time?"
Spyro looked at the black dragon, holding back a nasty remark, as he managed to simply say, "I'm used to it. Besides, it is a job, like any other."
The black dragon let out a scowl, not making any effort to hide it. "Yeah, what a job."
Spyro had to hold back the grumble coming form the deep of his throat as he turned his attention to somewhere else, be it the paintings in the walls or even the ceiling, anything that would keep him distracted from the black dragon sitting a few meters away from him. It was just fifteen minutes. He just needed to keep control and then handle the dinner and he could go to his room and avoid another fight. He just needed to say nothing.
However, the balck dragon didn't seemed to share his opinion, and he said, "For how long you still plan to work in there?" He was asking it as if it was casual. "I know that the cash is pretty good, but it is already time for you to find a more suitable job, don't you think?"
Spyro dug his claws into the wooden floor, gritting his teeth, as he was able to say back, "We already had this talk a few times by now, didn't we?" There was a lot of contained anger at his answer, but he was not going to bite, he was not going to let it happpen yet another scene.
"Yeah, indeed, we did." The black dragon said, most of his features still hidden behind that mask of bone. "Still, you are into that same job. What do you think that means?" He looked at Spyro as he asked this, Spyro, however, didn't looked at his face. Instead, the purple dragon only let out a sigh.
"Maybe it means that I have found a direction for me in my life." The purple dragon said to the older dragon, who snorted at him.
"Well, you could at least tried to find a better direction than this." The black dragon said almost coldly at him, "It is not too late yet, you know?"
Spyro didn't even dignited himself to answer to that. He knew that if this went on for too much time they would eventually start to have another fight, just like last night. Why dinner was taking so long?
Spyro still tried to remain into silence, and the black dragon seemed to finally attend to it, but not before he said, "I just wish this 'candy maker phase' of yours end soon and you get over it."
Spyro dug his claws into the floor as he wanted to shout out a very nasty answer at the black dragon. However, he was happy for finally being left alone and in silence. At least it didn't ended in yelling like last time. Spyro was happy with it.
The rest of the time was spend into a deep silence, which was broken only by the sound of the breathing of the two dragons and the sound of the pages of the book flipping. Spyro was thankful when the sound was broke by the sound of his mother's voice.
"Exedra, Spyro, dinner is ready!" She called from the kitchen, and Spyro got up, as well as Exedra, the black dragon, and both started to head to the kitchen, none of them saying a word.
The dinner was rather uneventful, as they all ate silently their roasted sheep. The tension was still evident into the room, as Spyro and his father still were not talking with each other since the beginning of it. The purple dragoness, who was Spyro's mother, decided to break it.
"So, How was your work today, Spyro?" She asked to her son, and the purple dragon was actually able to smile.
"Very nice. Lots of clients and lots of things to do." The purple dragon said to his mother "Appolonir says I'm getting better and better into baking. I can already make all of his recipes from my memory."
Spyro was happy for seeing his mother smile at his sucess, a true smile, not the mocking kind that his father usually gave him. It was good that at least one of his parents didn't seemed to dissaprove what he had chosen to do of his life.
At the table, the black dragon humbled softly as he kept eating, and Spyro shot him an angry glare, as well as his mother. "Exedra." She said, and the black dragon said, "Honestly, Galaxia, I don't think that is good to encourage this."
It was taking too long. Spyro just knew that it was taking too long until it started.
"Exedra!" Galaxia, Spyro's mother, said to her husband, but the black dragon simply shrugged and went back to eating silently, as if nothing had happened.
Spyro was glad that it at leas didn't developed. Still, he was not willing to take a risk, he finished his food quickly and wished good night for his family and he went upstairs, but he still could hear his parents' voices.
"Exedra, why you act like that?"
"Galaxia, I really think that this kind of behavior is not to be encouraged."
"What is wrong with what he does? It is a profession, just like any other!"
"Excuse me if I can't see making candy all day as a profession."
Spyro stopped halfway to his room in the second floor as he heard it. It took all his will power to not go back in there and scream in his father's face all that he thought. Instead, he only kept there as he still listened to what they were saying.
"This kind of 'profession' is not fit for a dragon like him." Exedra's voice said, "He should search for a more suitable job, like joining the guard or maybe entering to the special forces. Now that would be a real profession."
"I don't see any problem in doing what he likes to do." Said Galaxia, her tone letting it clear that she dissaproved what her husband was saying. "He likes to do it and it gives him money, and it make him happy. I really fail to see where the problem is."
"The problem is that a dragon like him should not attain himself to this kind of job, and I also think that Spyro knows it. You will see, this is all just a phase. At some point he will lose interest in it and he will search for a real job. We all will leave this all behind and move on with our lives."
Spyro clenched his teeth as he had already heard enough. He went fast to his room, leaving his parents behind to continue their talk, as he closed the door behind himself.
His rom was big and nice, as fitting for a dragon who was almost full grow by now. His room was nicely decorated, with a few shelves in walls to keep books, a chest in the corner to keep his personal stuff, and also a big bed with purple mantresses. Spyro barely gave anything else in there attention, he simply dropped his bag in the ground and threw himself in bed, making it creak under his weight as he laid in there, breathing deeply.
Why?
That was all that Spyro could ask.
Why?
Why his own father had so much trouble with Spyro doing what he wanted to do of his life, instead of following his ideas?
Well, maybe it was because Spyro was a dragon, and the profession of a baker was not exactly fitting in the ideas of what his father thought of a profession that ws fitting for a dragon. Maybe it was enforced by the fact of Spyro being a purple dragon, a very rare breed, and this made him somewhat even better than a regular dragon (even though Spyro himself never thought of himself this way), and he should search for something that was better than baking.
Of course, he always insisted for Spyro to find a profession that was "fitting for him", like being a member of the dragon guard, making part of their armies, or maybe joining the Special Forces, a group of dragon who did important jobs, like exploring unknown areas, hunting down dangerous criminals and rescuing people in danger. More than once Spyro even heard him saying that Spyro could maybe even join the Guardians.
However, Spyro didn't wanted any of that. Since little he had loved baking, and it was more than a childish passion for candy and all the thing of it. It was a true passion that he had, and it was the way it made him feel. He truly loved backing, and it was something that he truly wanted to do.
His mother always thought it to be cute, and always gave him the support, but his father never approved. He didn't liked his son spending so much time thinking about candy and wanting to be near bakers and the like. Spyro still remembered when he said that he was going to work into the bakery and learn to bake with Appolonir Fireheart. His mother was really happy for him, his father, however, even with that skull mask that he always wore all the time, Spyro could easily make out see each freckle of the frown that he had. He remembered that he and his father barely talked right to each other after that day, and their talks were most about Exedra trying to convince Spyro to drop this job and search for another one. Of course, the purple dragon barely even listened to him.
His father could call it a phase and always say that he would overgrow it, but Spyro knew that he was not going to overgrow it ever. It was something that he really loved, and it was a thing that he truly wanted to do. His father seemed to refuse to see it, for he didn't wanted Spyro to have a profession that didn't fit his own views of a profession fit for a dragon.
Spyro could hardly even care. He sighed as he picked up a book from one of the shelves, and he started to read it, to take his mind away from the subject. After all, he knew that, if he thought about it for too long he would have a lot of trouble to focus and to sleep later on. He rather distract himself and let his father think whatever the heck he wanted. After all, he was owner of his own thoughts, but he was never going to be the owner of Spyro's.
The purple dragon already knew what he wanted, and not even his own father was going to make him give up on it. He was going to go to the end, and he was going to keep getting better, until he could be as good a Appolonir. Spyro could still dream, and he knew that it might take a long while before he could say that he had reached the famous baker.
Spyro was still having a lot to learn, but he wanted to learn, actually, he was anxious to it, and he would be more than happy to learn all that he could to someday be a baker too. He didn't indeed what his father was going to say about it, all he cared was that he was going to follow his dream.
With a smile, Spyro knew that, despite anything that went on his way, he was going to keep baking, and that he was going to keep searching for what he wanted for his own future.