Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from this story... for now. (I might put in an OC later on.)
The Truth
Chapter One: Attacked in the Silence
A quick flash of movement and a short rustling of bushes told the young dragon that he was not alone. He stood up on his muscled hind legs and parted his jaws to take in the scent of the stalker. This was what the shadow lurking in the underbrush had been waiting for: when a dragon stood on his back legs, he or she had defenses that were drastically lower than average, seeing as how they lose some of their balance and agility.
The assailant flung herself out of the bushes and crashed into the purple scales that covered almost the entire body of her prey. A muffled grunt echoed around the clearing at the force of the impact. In a matter of seconds, both of them were back on their feet. They slowly began to circle each other.
One of them was fuming with pure rage at being attacked when all he had been trying to do was obtain a moment of rest from the grueling training that he was put through every day. A glimmer of hatred was shown plain and clear in his usually soft violet eyes. His breath came in quick gasps from the excitement he had felt when he had been torn from his thoughts by this antagonist.
The other was smiling in triumph at succeeding in knocking the legendary purple dragon to the ground. She let out a small squeal of glee as she rushed at him again. She thought that this would have the same result as her last attempt.
She apparently thought wrong because her attack was met with nothing but the hard trunk of a maple tree as her prey unexpectedly stepped to the side, causing the poor bit of foliage to lose some of the bright green leaves that had only recently appeared on its branches. She shook herself and looked up to find the purple dragon on the brink of mad laughter. She ran to a nearby puddle that had not yet evaporated since the rain of the previous afternoon.
She let out a small groan when she saw her reflection in the puddle: a few twigs had fallen from the canopy of the maple tree and apparently decided that they much preferred to wedge themselves in the small space between her horns than to remain in their usual place amongst the highest boughs of their tree. Not only that, but also her horns and the black scales on the back of her neck were dripping with sap that had come from the gaping hole that now marked the entry point of her horns into the tree.
She glared at him for a brief moment before collapsing with her own laughter. This confused the purple dragon a great deal. Why was his attacker laughing at herself? Then he finally caught a glimpse of her face… Cynder?
He sighed and said, "What are you doing out here Cynder? It is terribly dangerous in the Enchanted Forest, I know that you know that. You should go back to the temple where it is safe."
Cynder stopped laughing and looked straight at Spyro. There was a deep look of worry in his eyes, the eyes that had hypnotized her whenever she looked into them. She looked into those eyes and said, "I can look after myself Spyro. I am not the little dragon that you saved in Convexity all of those years ago Three and a half years ago I might have listened to you and gone back to the temple, but not now. I can do things on my own. I do not need you to help me with everything. I appreciate your concern though."
Spyro looked at Cynder. He looked at her arms and legs, how they had changed in the time that he had known her. They were perfect in being muscled and still holding the feminine touch in their shape. He looked at her wings and how they had grown to be magnificently shaped, as powerful as they were beautiful. Then he looked at her face, how it had become longer and so beautiful that he almost could not bear to look away. It was definitely true that she was no longer the frightened child that he had risked his life to save in Convexity. Weather he liked it or not, she had grown up.
"I was not trying to tell you what to do. It is true that you are not a child anymore. I just do not want to risk your safety out here. If you were injured I – I would never forgive myself," Spyro whispered.
Cynder's eyes widened as she took this in. "I know that the Enchanted Forest is dangerous beyond comprehension, but I am not in any danger… because I am here with you," Cynder said carefully. Spyro stared at her because in all of the time that he had known her, the words that had just come out of her mouth were the closest thing to saying what he had wanted to say all along.
"Come on Cynder, it is getting late. We should be going back to the temple. If we do not return soon, Ignitus might begin to worry," said Spyro. He intertwined his tail with Cynder's, making her blush, and they began the short trip back towards the temple.
Nothing could have prepared them for what they found when they finally arrived…