NOTE: I don't own ANYON E OR ANYTHING in this story, except for a made-up character.

Gp75 presents…

RAIN

OF TEARS

FROM THE CREATOR OF LegendarySpyroGyro

SPYRO sat in his cave, enjoying life. The school caves were a major step up from the New York-style apartments in the temple back home, which had one room, a table, and a bunk. Compared to those, this place was a friggin' mansion: a full-stainless kitchen, a king size bed, a 42" hi-def flat panel TV, ten beds and 6 ½ baths. That's the low end.

Back to Spyro. He was lying on his bed in the main room, right when you walked in (let's face it, after school, sometimes you just want to bury yourself between the covers), looking at himself in the mirrors.

Spyro was still relatively small at this age, just 12 years old, but his purple titanium skin sparkled in the light of his bedside lamp. His horns were about a foot long and painful to touch, because he sharpened them every day.

He looked at his claws. The little nails glowed gold with a brilliance rivaling that of diamond.

Sitting up, he looked at the clock. 12:30 in the morning. The others had already left their caves and headed to school. He usually liked school, but for one reason only, and that reason was also only 12 years old, but this one was black- a shimmering, midnight black that told the story of a rough life, one of depression, secrecy, and hatred. That reason also had beautiful eyes, a glowing sapphire in sharp contrast to its black skin. And its name suited it perfectly.

Cynder.

For a second, Spyro was forced to think about what he had done to deserve a three-day suspension. See, there had been a fight in the cafeteria that day. Some poor little 6th grader had the great luck of spilling his milk in some 8th grade bully's mac. The bully stood up and threw the little one across the room. Soon, the 6th graders and 8th graders met in a clash of the titans and Spyro leapt up out of his chair and had the bully down before he could say, "Ahh, crap, I shouldn't ha' done that 'cuz now Spyro's gonna get me."

Ahh, well, he thought, as long as Cynder's okay…

He decided to go make a ham sandwich. But about halfway through that, Cynder busted through the door and ran straight into his arms. He could feel her tears streaming down his shoulder, a feeling he didn't like. At all.

"Cynder, what's wrong?" he asked caringly.

"…th…tha…that…"

"That what?" ushered Spyro, as he sat her down on the side of his bed, anxious to know what was wrong.

"…that BULLY!" she screamed. "Spyro, I-I've been living in terror for the past two months and every day, he's extorted me, bribed me, threatened me…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Spyro, getting to his knees in front of Cynder and taking her hands gently in his, "what bully?"

"I don't know his name, I just know that he wants me dead, that's all. Every day, he points to me and says, 'Two days'. I'm afraid that this time he will kill me. If I ever needed you, it's now."

"Well you know that I'll gladly take myself out if it means dies, too. Just know that I want him to live every second of the rest of eternity in fear for what he's done to you and I will stop at nothing to make that happen."

Cynder shot up and pulled Spyro into her arms.

"Thank you, Spyro. God bless you. God bless you."

"God bless all of us," whispered Spyro in her ear.

Cynder blushed. She did that every time Spyro saved her. And standing here now, hugging him, she thought she might actually have a…No, she thought. The Hero has too many other girls chasing him. You've got absolutely no chance.

She pulled away, looking outside. It was raining. How suitable, she thought to herself, standing there.

"Guess I better get going…" she sighed, sad that she had to go. She turned to leave. "No! Don't leave. You can stay as long as you want. We can even share the same bed, if it makes you feel more comfortable," Spyro invited.

Cynder was surprised. Spyro didn't do this for everyone. As a matter of fact, this was the only time he ever did this. "You-you're kidding, right?" she breathed, placing her hand on her chest.

"Serious as a heart attack. You can do anything you want here. Use anything, make

anything, break anything," he said, laughing at the last one.

That night, Spyro and Cynder found themselves at the foot of his bed. Cynder was still a little excited that Spyro was taking her in.

"So," said Spyro, after taking ten minutes just to construct this mess of a sentence, "what is this guy doing to you?"

"Robbery, bribery, extortion, abuse-pretty much the whole book," she responded, trying not to remember exactly what he did.

"Anything…else? Like, you know,…weird?"

"No, none of that. Seems he's more hell-bent on killing me than he is doing that."

"Good. You never know about any of the guys in our school."

"Except for you," she responded, rubbing Spyro's shoulder.

Spyro couldn't help but blush. Still, he kept his eye on the prize-her safety.

"Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to sit away from you tomorrow."

Cynder looked horrified. Was he going back on his word? After swearing to save her?

"No, no, just hear me out. If he notices me, he'll stop doing it. So I need a seat far away so I can scope him out. I won't actually be jotting down notes, I'll be recording his description. You'll be a little scared, I'm sure, but it's a lot better than being dead. After all, I'm not doing this for anybody but you."

She looked at his hand and put hers on top of it. "Thanks, Spyro. I really appreciate this," she whispered, looking at the clock. 8:30 pm.

"So I guess we should be heading to bed now," she yawned.

"Yeah, I guess we should."

They climbed under the covers, pulling them all the way up to their shoulders.

"See ya in the morning," said Cynder.

"See ya in the morning," responded Spyro, clicking off his light.

Dawn came and with it a splash of light only magnified by the cave's panoramic front window.

Spyro awoke and found Cynder's face an inch from his. An omen of future events? he wondered as he got up, stretching. Cynder got up as Spyro turned around, dropping his jaw from the sparkle of her skin in the morning sun. Finally after a few minutes just standing buried in her beauty, he finally gathered up the intelligence to say, "Morning, Cynder."

"Obviously," she responded, laughing. "G' morning to you too," she said after Spyro was done rolling on the floor from the joke.

She watched Spyro get his stuff on. First the badge strap, then his high-altitude mask.

"Why're you suiting up? It's not a mission, you know," she had to ask.

"For me it is," he responded, pulling the mask down around his neck. After grabbing a granola bar, he and Cynder rushed off into the sun, ready to meet this challenge head on. Little did they know, the challenge was ready to meet them head on, too.

They got there and there was a rush of kids, as usual. Spyro grabbed Cynder's hand, determined to not lose her. It was a little bit painful, but she didn't pay attention to it. She was focusing on the dragon leading her.

He took her to the guidance office and skipped the line. After a few minutes of waiting, a lady appeared at the front desk and asked them what she could help them with.

"I'm here to get my seat changed," he responded.

"Oh. And what class are you in?" the lady inquired.

"Mr. Ignitus," answered Cynder.

A few seconds later, the lady returned with a sheet of paper.

"Okay, Spyro, you're in seat 23," the lady pointed out, putting her finger on the seat in the far right of the classroom, halfway across from Cynder's seat, seat 11.

When they got to the classroom, Spyro told Cynder what to do.

"Okay, here's the deal. When he starts picking on you, don't say anything. The teacher will call him to the front of the classroom, and that's when I'll start recording."

They then walked in. They got a few minutes to just sit together and talk, when the bell rang. Spyro ran to his seat and got organized, leaving Cynder's mind in a chaotic state.

The class flooded in and started chatting for about three seconds when a mammoth forty-foot-tall dragon with sharp spines, huge horns and red scales sat in the doorway.

Ignitus.

The class went silent as he walked in the door.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mr. Ignitus," the class responded monotonously.

"Now before we begin, I must remind you that…THOR! Get over here NOW!"

A green dragon, with black spines and wings, about six feet tall, dropped his head and walked over to the front of the class. Spyro looked over at Cynder, who winked at him.

This must be the guy.

He jotted down the guy's name and description and sat back to watch Ignitus' slow destruction of Thor's soul.

"MAY I REMIND YOU THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK ONE THING ABOUT CYNDER DOES NOT MEAN IT'S TRUE!"

Thor was on the verge of tears. Exactly what Spyro wanted.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Yessir," Thor whispered.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"YESSIR!"

And just like that, Ignitus sent the crying youngster back to his seat and began teaching. Spyro's hand jotted down everything Ignitus said, but Spyro himself was in dreamland. This was going to be easy.

Notice I said "was."

Four hours later, the lunch bell rang. Spyro hurriedly packed his stuff up, frustrated that he had to leave Cynder alone for thirty minutes. He wished he could follow her, but the school had three cafeterias and she and Thor were assigned to one across the school from his.

He had chosen is favorite meal, but it didn't taste very good. After all, Cynder was a sitting duck now that he couldn't protect her. All he wanted to do was sit close to her and tell her it's okay, but he couldn't and he was steaming because of it.

The back-to-class bell took forever to ring, but when it did, he took off across the school at a flat sprint and found her leaning on a post, watching the throng advance.

Spyro ran up to her and grabbed her hand.

"Cynder, please tell me you're okay," he panted, eyes wide.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" she asked, almost as concerned for him as he was for her.

He thanked God for her welfare, then straightened up and responded, "I'm good. So whadda you want to do? Just hang here until the crowd clears a bit, then go back to class?"

"Yeah," she smiled, watching him lean on the pole with her. They chatted for about ten minutes. The class bell rang as they started walking.

Class sped by in a blur. Spyro checked on Cynder from time to time, and each time she winked, he grew more relieved.

Eventually the day ended. Spyro and Cynder were just relieved to get away from the torture of class.

Their merriness didn't last long. They were outside when Cynder vanished.

Spyro looked around and couldn't find her anywhere. He checked a pole. Nothing. Shocked, he cursed himself for being so careless and pushed through the crowd at breakneck speed.

There! He heard a voice!

He looked around. The voice seemed to be coming from his right. He noticed a throng of kids gathered around a kid with a knife, kneeling over something, about to stab it.

Cynder was sprawled on the ground. Thor had her by the neck. He raised his knife.

"Nighty-night, dark dragon," he whispered through clinched teeth.

Suddenly something purple appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Thor with all the velocity in the world. The two rolled for about fifteen feet and Spyro had Thor on the ground. The two had been glaring at each other for about five seconds when Spyro jumped up and pulled Cynder off the ground running. As they left the ground, Thor raised his knife at them.

"I'LL GET YOU, DARK DRAGON! I'LL GET YOU!"

Back home the two talked for hours about the day. They were just relieved that Thor hadn't been able to get them. They could hear it storming outside and decided to go there before the power went out. They knew it would, and since Spyro's door was automatic, it would be nearly impossible to pry open without any power.

Outside, Spyro gasped. It was a beautiful sight. It was already dark out and the rain shimmered in the starlight like crystals falling from the sky. Cynder took a seat against the Plexiglas front wall. He couldn't help but see what her skin looked like in this weather. Her skin shone with a clarity that he had never seen before. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Even more beautiful than the night.

He sat beside her. Together they just enjoyed each other's company until Spyro noticed a scab on her right cheek.

"Where'd that come from?" he asked, staring at it.

"What, this?" Cynder said, touching the scab and wincing slightly. "that came from when the guy slap-scratched me."

"Well, we need to get that healed."

He led her away from the wall to make sure that his magic didn't reflect and blind them. He sat her down halfway to the edge of the cliff and began healing her, leaning close to make sure he got every inch of the injury. He felt himself losing control suddenly. He couldn't help it… their faces were so close…

He turned her head and lip locked her. He expected her to pull away, but instead, she just embraced him, held him close. After about ten seconds they pulled away, but not far. Spyro opened his mouth to say something, but it didn't come out.

How hard can it possibly be to tell someone how you feel?

"Cynder, I…" he stalled.

Come on, ya wuss, it's only three words!

"Yes?"

"Cynder, there's something I've been meaning to get off my chest for eleven and a half years, since I first met you. There are these feelings inside me, see, that I only get when I see you. I mean, I go every day just thinking about you. I can't get my mind off you. I don't even want to. You're like a cigarette, and I'm addicted to you. What I mean to say is…I love you."

Cynder let him go. She was shocked beyond words. She started to walk over to the other side of the cave entrance. Spyro sighed. "I know that this was probably a little fast, and I apologize. I just had to-"

"No, it's not that, it's just…I was thinking the exact same thing!" she exclaimed, running back to him.

Please let this night last forever, she thought. Just this once.

RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!

Spyro hit the sleep button on the alarm clock, but it didn't work, so he reached for his silenced 9mm and shot it.

Cynder moaned. "Spyro, I told you not to change that ringtone. I'm trying to get some sleep."

"The sleeper wasn't working, so I had to shoot it." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. He was about to go back to sleep when he remembered that school started early that day. He got out of bed and sat down, trying to actually eat a full bowl of cereal for once in his life. He had swallowed his first bite and the second one was at his lips when he decided that he couldn't do it.

Cynder was already out of bed. As he was suiting up, she came over from behind him and kissed him good morning. Spyro returned it, but he was already planning what to do. Head-on or with friends? He was still undecided as he left.

They got to the first block of class at 4:00 a.m.-five minutes late. He was taking his stuff out and getting ready for another long, boring day at school when Thor walked over to him with an ominous message.

"Today. Second block. Main square. Bring friends."

Spyro twirled the pen in his finger, confused. This doesn't look good, he thought, getting back to work. And we all know that if you've been fighting your whole life and a situation doesn't look good, then chances are, it's not.

He hung on that as he waited for the second block. He thought he should just hang back and enjoy the final ninety minutes of his life. But then, something clicked inside him and he got back to work. Not schoolwork; strategy. If he had a crtain amount of soldiers coming from this side, then this amount coming from this side...no. Too unorthodox. He needed something less confusing.

He strategized until the bell rang. He had alerted his friend Flame to get some good infantrymen lined up. He had showed up at the right time, nevertheless he was the only one there.

He looked around, noticing that the lights had just shut off. To his front left, three fake pillars decorated the wall. To his right, the lockers. There was a stage to his rear-left. Taking notice of all this, he shifted stance. Almost as if on prompt, a fairly well-organized army appeared in front of him. He looked around for his own men. They spilled over the stage in a mass like cows over a hill.

Both armies arrived at the same time. "Sides," came a voice. The army in front of him split like the Jordan and Thor walked up casually. Now was the time to get serious.

"Hey-hey, Spyro man, big S, wazzup?" greeted his worst enemy.

"Listen, here's the deal. We fight, I kill you, and then we can be friends," hissed Spyro.

"Whoa, dude, lighten up. I was only thinking the exact same thing," Thor retorted.

"Yeah, well, you ain't going to be thinking much more after I'm done with you." Spyro walked back to his side, who immediately straightened up. They waited for the other side to get organized, then waited tor the command.

"Charge," he whispered.

And in less than a second twelve billion tons of steel met in a gigantic CLASH! Dragons were now flying through the air, flaming, swinging. Spyro remembered to keep one eye on the culprit.

Suddenly something tackled him to the ground. He flipped his attacker up into the air and kicked him into the other army. When he landed, he found himself in the middle of thirty-six other dragons. One tried a flying tackle which Spyro lazily threw over his shoulder. Two came from either side with hard punches; Spyro snapped their necks between his fingers and threw them back into the crowd as one tried to firebomb from above. He averted the firebomb and broke his attacker's wing with a kick to the bone. When he landed, he dodged a bar to the head and flipped it (and its owner) over his head, not listening to the resulting crackk.

Then he noticed Thor standing over Cynder, who was collapsed against a wall. He dropped everything and ran that way. Once he was there, he tackled him to the ground. Both armies stood back. They knew better than to get in the way of either of these guys.

Thor rolled on top of Spyro, who punched him in the side of the head. Dazed, he fell off as Spyro jumped into the air. Spyro got a nice little fist in the side of the mouth, and looking down, realized he couldn't land. Now he was mad.

And just like that, an orb of power appeard around him and shot outward, magic bouncing around inside it like a rubber ball inside a tire. His life flashed onto the outer walls as a voice came into his mind.

"The legendary Spyro, it said, after all this time nothing more than a weakling. You forgot to guard your one best tool-your mind. Now I kill you!"

Magic erupted from his head and poured into the ball. He fell to his knees, gasping for air. Not that there was any. His life flashed before his eyes. He grabbed his head, only amplifying the power. He fought it with all his might, but no matter what he did, it didn't work. He peered up to see Thor controlling the attack. Every time he puhed against the attack, it hurt Thor.

His magic was nearly gone. He decided to use what he had left to create his final push. He applied all his force to the attack, screaming in pain. Then...

...it all ended...

...and he found himself on the floor. He got up, noticing Cynder was gone. Again. Alarmed, he ran back to Ignitus' room.

"Spyro? Where have you been? On another mission, I suppose?" Ignitus asked, eager to know where in the world he had gotten so dirty.

Spyro laughed, surprised at Ignitus' ability to guess exactly what he had done.

Ignitus took this as a yes and resumed teaching. Spyro walked over to Cynder's chair to make sure she was doing her work. But instead, he found something far more amusing:

"SPYRO sat in his cave, enjoying life. The school caves were a major step up from..."

NOTE: this story is not in the official LegendarySG continuity.