Ch. 2 Learning Curve

Love of Dragonesses coming at you with chapter two and we get to see Ellis transform for practice (overseen by Cyril of course) and he gets a surprise. I will inform you all of this now, he won't be in dragon form for much of the fic but for fights that are not possible to win or for training he will be in that form for obvious reasons.

Dovahkiin will be out by Friday as usual and due to overwhelming responses Alduin will have an anthro form instead of a human form but when she walks into a city, expect people to fear her. Other than that please enjoy the chapter!

Credit for the idea of how Ellis is affected while transforming goes to Mr Beaver Buttington. Weird pen name but his idea actually was a great one so thank you man!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters are copyright of Activision…..for now. Sony is apparently thinking of buying the Crash and Spyro franchises.

Ellis stood in the training room of the temple with a small frown. Cyril had told him yesterday to work on his other form but Ellis didn't think that he would actually be watching him but apparently he was and so were Spyra and Cynder. It was bad enough that they wanted to watch him but it would even worse when they saw a less than desirable problem happen and how much it affected him.

"How does it usually happen?" Cyril asked as he studied Ellis.

"I really don't know; the last time it happened was when I got really angry at Malefor for those words back at Warfang after the battle." Ellis said in thought. "The other time was when I felt helpless while seeing Spyra and Cynder fight with the Golem in the caves."

"So your emotions control it then." Cyril summarized. "Ok, try to imagine those two in trouble again. Think of them fighting Malefor and they are on the losing end and they need your help." Cyril said as the aforementioned dragonesses threw him a scathing glare.

"I'm trying but nothing's happening." Ellis said as he had his eyes closed and was really trying but he just couldn't do it.

"I think helping us defeat him rendered that option obsolete." Spyra said as she laid down on a patch of grass on the floor.

"It's a possibility." Cyril said in agreement. "Did anything happen in your life that might make you angry or upset; possibly a potentially distraught moment?"

Oh boy, did Ellis have plenty of those in his life. The number of times his father came home in a drunken rage and hit his mother for no reason, the amount of times he was in the hospital because of that same rage being turned on him, the number of police reports showing abuse but nothing ever getting done and the worst part of it was the ostricization of him and his mother from the rest of the family because of the lies he told them. Ellis hated every minute of it and he hated his father for every single punch he took and every single bruise he had to live with.

As these memories were returning Ellis's emotion were turning to rage and awakening another primal entity in him. His features also started to change as his skin became hard obsidian scales, his stomach became a dark naval blue scales and his eyes became blood red in color.

Spyra and Cynder watched with extreme fascination as their friend and love interest began to change in front of them. They saw him in both forms but they never saw him change so this was a new experience for them and they didn't want to miss a second of it.

'I don't know which is better…him as a dragon or him as a human, both have their qualities.' Spyra thought as she unconsciously licked her lips.

'His scales almost match mine in color and they definitely fit him but I do enjoy it when he gives good massages, dragon or human…..so hard to choose.' Cynder thought as she subtly shifted her wings a bit.

'Either way and form…..he's mine!' They both thought at the same time.

Cyril was torn between fascination at the change happening before him and his worry for Ellis having to go through this. On one claw, Ellis had to learn more about his new side but on the other claw was his worry as his guardian and pseudo father. His worst fear as a father was about to come true.

As soon as the scales appeared Ellis let out a blood-curdling scream of pain as large spines the color of blood followed by wings of dark naval blue as well and from his scaled head came white horns. They would've looked great on him were they not covered in blood as Ellis was curled up in a ball and shivering in pain as he whimpered. Spyra and Cynder were immediately by his side and covering him with their wings as they tried to sooth him and Cyril walked over with a worried glance.

"What happened?" Cyril asked worriedly as Ellis whimpered.

"My back felt like it was being ripped open by bare hands and my head was even worse." Ellis replied as he shook. "That happens every time and it's one of the main reasons I don't like this."

Spyra and Cynder nuzzled him lovingly as Cyril took in the situation. 'If he does it enough then it could lessen to only a dull pain instead of a severe problem but as a father…it's partially my fault since I want him to do it.' "We can do this another day if you want too. I don't want to push you into something that causes you pain." Cyril said in a calming tone.

Ellis only raised his head a little before replying. "Just give me a minute…I'll be fine….."

Cyril snorted. "You don't need to try and put on a show for me Ellis, if you aren't ready for this then tell me. I will not have you get hurt because you don't want me to be disappointed in you, that won't happen and you know it."

Ellis put his head back down as the words hit him and he felt a little upbeat at them. He always felt that he needed to do more to live up to Cyril's standards but it seemed that he already did that, though it was hard to top defeating Malefor. "I understand." Ellis said in response.

Cyril nodded approvingly. "I want you to work on an element today; I don't expect you to master one just yet but I want to see some progress. Unfortunately I have to teach today so I will leave you in your friend's capable claws but tomorrow…." Cyril stopped as Ellis huffed before he perked up. "Tomorrow will be you and me practicing combat." That dropped Ellis's stomach very fast.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ellis asked fearfully as Cyril gave a very unnerving grin.

"It is more than ok…using your power is all fine and good but what happens when you find yourself unable to use them? You need to learn how to fight and I don't just mean as a dragon, you will be fighting me in both your forms to fully comprehend how much you can do." Cyril replied as Ellis paled.

"But….." Ellis began but Cyril only walked away laughing.

"I leave him in your care girls…please try to teach him instead of ogling him." Cyril laughed as he walked out while Spyra and Cynder had red hue's appearing on their faces.

Ellis shook himself and they took it as their cue to move off of him and he eyed them warily. "Ogling me?" He asked as they both turned away.

"It's nothing…let's get started." Cynder said as she tried to lead him away until Spyra stopped them.

"I believe that he would better off learning something simple first." Spyra said as she narrowed her eyes at Cynder.

"And I think he should focus on the more difficult ones. The Shadows aren't a walk in the park you know." Cynder shot back angrily.

Ellis could almost see the fire coming from both of them as they snapped at each other and he suddenly felt like a sheep in a lion's den….ok a sheep in a lionesses den or more accurately in a dragonesses den. If he didn't think of something fast then not only would this come to violence then they would severely hurt their friendship that seemed to be more strained as the day progressed. What he needed was a way to bring them both back together but Sparx was gone for the day and they had different styles of training. 'Damn elemental differences…why can't they just get along like flame and wind….wait that's it!' "Why not Fire and Wind?" Ellis asked as they turned their glares on him.

"What did you say?" They both snarled.

"Well fire needs oxygen to keep going and since wind is made of oxygen…if you combine the two then you could have a great combo between you both." Ellis said as their glares lessened and they gave it some thought. "You both could train me and also it could help you both with more control over your own elements and I'm sure Cynder could find a way to make a tornado without being in the center and combine that with Spyra's fire breath….." He trailed off as realization dawned on them

"A fiery tornado." Spyra said excitedly as she imagined a whirling fire column tearing through apes and grublins.

"That does sound pretty cool." Cynder agreed as she imagined that same column coming down on Malefor with a vengeance.

Ellis sighed as they finally agreed on something and they set about it not only training them but also training themselves and coming up with new combo ideas. Ellis listened whenever they spoke about how to do something and whenever he was doing it wrong or whether he wasn't putting much power into his breath. They went like this for half the day, only stopping for a light lunch and continuing until it was dinner time. By then Ellis was completely exhausted and yet he made a lot of progress on his fire element but he could sustain wind for longer than a few seconds and that had him a little disheartened.

"It's alright Ellis; it's going to take some practice to get better." Cynder replied as the three walked to the dinner hall.

"I didn't make much progress like I did with fire." He said simply as he hung his head. He had returned to human form a while ago and watched the two dragonesses work their own moves into combo's and he had to admit that they did have great form and it felt like they were putting on a show for him though he could've swore he saw them smirk a few times at him.

"As I said, Wind is tough to control and it will take time. Fire is the most common element and the easiest to get a hold of but the darker elements are very difficult and I am positive that I won't fully master them until I am as big as I was when you two met me." Cynder said as she tried to cheer him up and it did work some.

"Spyra said that you gave her a run for her money during that escape flight." Ellis said as Spyra nodded in agreement.

"I was actually getting scared during that." Spyra replied as Cynder blushed at the praise.

"I didn't want to hurt you but I didn't have any control." Cynder replied as Spyra gave her a hug.

"I know and you're here now and you're my best friend." Spyra replied as Ellis smiled before walking away. He would let them have this moment together but he had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen that would almost destroy their friendship forever.

And I will stop it right here and give you all some pause to think on what happens next. I did enjoy writing this chapter and we saw Spyra and Cynder go more heated rivalry and tried to subtly seduce Ellis and as you can tell it did work a little bit. Things will go from good too bad for their friendship up until their ultimatum and I am thinking of having the interest from other dragons take place after that to give it some drama but the pairing is set so don't worry. I won't go all out and break them apart but expect some drama coming between the three of them as other dragons try and make their mark.

As usual, read and review and be on the lookout for Dovahkiin out this week! Till next time my fellow dragoness lovers!