Disclaimer: I do not own any Spyro canon characters. I only own my own OCs, Alec and Cinder.

If you don't like this story, then just don't read it. There are over 1,500 Spyro fanfics plus over 150 Spyro crossovers. You've got a large selection.

~Chapter 1: Brothers~

It was morning in a small Artisan village, a young silvery gray dragon was asleep on his bed when another young dragon, a purple dragon, walked in, "Hey, bro, wake up. It's time to go to school," the purple dragon said, trying to wake his brother up. But his only response was an incomprehensible mumbling, "Wake up, you silver sleepy head!" He exclaimed as he tried nudging his brother awake. This did manage to invoke a response from the silver youngling...a bark? Apparently the silver sibling was dreaming that he was a...dog?

The purple dragon thought that this was priceless and couldn't resist to pass up an opportunity like this. He started off by petting his bother like a dog. And the response was his tail wagging back and forth. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" the purple dragon teased. This caused his brother's tail to wag faster and his tongue to lolled out of his mouth, "Speak!"

"ARF!" the silver dragon barked like a dog.

"Good boy!" the purple dragon said, "Now...Fetch!" The silver dragon then got up and started running. He ran head first right into a wall. The purple dragon was then rolling on the floor laughing at his brother's expense.

"Spyro, are you tormenting your brother again?" an ocean blue dragoness called into the room?

"U-Uh...No, mom," the purple dragon responded nervously, "I...uh...I was just...just trying to wake Alec up so we can go to school."

"Then why is his head sticking out of the other side of this wall?" Spyro's mother asked while she was looking at her son's head, which had a dazed look on it.

"Well...Alec was...having a dream that he was a dog," Spyro tried to explain, "And...and I...uh..."

"And you decided to play fetch with him, didn't you?" the dragoness asked, looking through the door at her son with an accusing look.

Spyro just lowered his head in shame and guilt, "Yes..." Spyro confessed, "But I just couldn't resist. Alec is just so easy to tease when he has those dreams. I just wanted to have some fun. I didn't know he'd actually run into the wall."

"How many times has something like this happened in this month alone?" the mother asked as she walked in.

"Seven..." Spyro said reluctantly, "...Eight including this one."

"Right. And how many times have we had to fix something that was broken because of it?" his mother continued.

"Thr..." Spyro stopped himself as he thought of the newly made hole in the wall that his brother was trying to pull his head out of, "...Four."

"And how many times should you have learned your lesson?"

"Eight..."

"And how many times have you learned your lesson?"

"None..."

"And how many more times will it take for you to learn your lesson?"

"No..." Spyro was about to say 'none' like he usually does. But since he knew this time that it wasn't true, he thought otherwise about his answer, "...I don't know..."

"Well, at least you realize that," the mother said, "And that's the first step toward learning your lesson. Now, will you help me get your brother out of this wall?"

Spyro followed his mother over to Alec to help her pull his head out of the wall. It took a few pulls, but they managed to get Alec out. Alec fell backward, falling on top of Spyro and pinning him down. His mother however picked him back up.

"I'd better be sure that you're alright," his mother said as she took Alec to check on him, "And you stay out of trouble, Spyro."

X~~~~~X

Alec and Spyro were both carrying backpacks as they were walking to school. Alec had a bandage on his forehead from running into the wall.

Spyro had his head lowered in shame, "I'm sorry, bro," he apologized.

"Sorry? For what?" Alec asked cluelessly.

"For this morning."

"What about this morning?"

"I was teasing you while you were dreaming! ...Again..."

"Oh, that," Alec said cluelessly, "I totally forgot all about that."

"I hope that doesn't mean you have amnesia!" Spyro exclaimed, knowing that it was a definite possibility.

"Oh, so just because I've had amnesia five times before, you automatically assume I have it just from a bump on the head?" Alec questioned.

"For starters, that wasn't just a bump on the head. Second, considering how many times you've bumped you head...because of me...I'm surprised you don't have some sort of brain damage," Spyro said, "And finally, you had amnesia six times. Don't you remember that incident three years ago on our tenth hatchday party?"

"I did not brain my damage," Alec said, accidentally mixing up his words, "Wait...three years ago? Our tenth hatchday party was only two years ago."

"Uh...no it wasn't," Spyro said, "We're thirteen."

Alec then stopped in his tracks, "So you're telling me that I've been looking forward to our next hatchday for nothing?" Alec exclaimed, "I was so excited to becoming a teenager finally just to learn that I've already been one for eight months now?"

"I guess you don't remember our tenth hatchday."

Alec and Spyro continued on their way, Alec still trying to comprehend that he had lost an entire year.

"Oh, hi Spyro! Fancy meeting you here!" a childlike dragoness voice called out. That's when a pink dragoness with blue eyes and a heart shaped necklace walked up next to Spyro. She was only about a year younger than the two brothers.

"Hi, Ember..." Spyro said in an annoyed tone. He knew that Ember had a crush on Spyro. Then again, it was so obvious that any dragon that didn't know must've went to another school. It was also obvious that Spyro did NOT share the same feelings for her...well, it was obvious to everyone but Ember that is.

"It's been so long since the last time I saw you," Ember said, "Where have you been all this time?"

"Ember, it's only been the weekend. That's two days," Spyro said, "Although, two days away from you isn't nearly enough," Spyro said under his breath.

"Is it me, or does Ember not realize that I'm here too?" Alec asked.

"So, what have you been doing over the weekend, Spyro?" Ember asked, completely ignoring Alec.

As annoying as Spyro thought Ember was, a grin formed on his face as he couldn't resist what he had to talk about, "I've been teasing my brother like I always do," Spyro said, invoking a glare from the silver-gray dragon, "He was dreaming that he was a dog and I convinced him to play fetch. Then he ran into a wall." Spyro then pointed to Alec's bandage. "Did you know that Alec had amnesia during our tenth hatchday, and that for three years, he thought he was a year younger than he really was?"

"You mean he actually thought that for the last eight month, that he was actually twelve?" Ember laughed.

"And I thought you said you were sorry," Alec mumbled as he blushed in embarrassment.

Spyro was in fact surprised that he was having so much fun talking with Ember like this. Even if it was at his brother's expense. This wasn't the first time he's actually enjoyed himself around Ember though. It was just that it was rare for him to enjoy Ember's company.

"Will you promise me that you won't tell anyone about this?" Spyro asked Ember, respecting his brother enough to not let word about him spread, "I mean, I shouldn't have told you about it. But it was just so funny, I just couldn't resist."

"Anything for you, Spyro," Ember said as she began to act all lovie dovie with Spyro. But she was honest with what she said. She would keep Alec's secret for Spyro, and Spyro knew it.

Spyro, Alec, and Ember all arrived at the school grounds, joining with the crowd of several other younglings. Some older and some younger. Some red, some green, some blue, some yellow, and some with other colors as well. Spyro, Alec, and Ember stood out like sore thumbs, since they were the only ones at that school of their colors. There were several other gray dragons. But none of them had the same silvery coloration that Alec had. Although pink wasn't that common of a color, it wasn't rare either. But Ember was the only pink dragon at that school. As for Spyro...purple dragons were very rare, making him very unique.

However, younglings are far too carefree to notice things like the color of another dragon's scales. Unlike adults, who often make color a big thing and will often keep to their own kind, younglings didn't see different colors to be different. They only saw other dragons as being dragons. It's the parents that teach their children to dislike other races.

As the group of young dragons continued to wait, the bell finally rang, signaling the start of the school day. The mass of dragons entered the building. Spyro, Alec, and Ember went to their first class.

"Good morning, class," a golden yellow adult dragoness said as she walked into the classroom, "Now before we begin today's lessons, I would like to share an announcement. There are two new students joining the class." The mention of new students caused murmurs to sound throughout the classroom. "The first student comes here from Stone Hill. His name is Flame."

A red dragon came walking in. He looked eerily similar to Spyro other than color. Alec on the other hand seemed to pick out the details that nobody else seemed to notice...well almost nobody else. Ember must've noticed these details as well because she wasn't interested in him like she was with Spyro. And that must mean that Ember likes Spyro for who he is and not how he looks. Either that or she just likes him because he's an extremely rare purple dragon.

"The second student comes here from Dark Hollow," the teacher continued, "Her name is Cinder." A gray wind dragoness then walked in. Her appearance was different from that of most dragonesses they've seen. She had nine horns. Two horns were where most dragons had their horns. They were rather short, about half the length of an average dragon's, and strait. Then there were four more horns going down the sides of her face, the last pair being just above the jaw bone. The last three horns were on the back of her head. They were thin and curved back, giving the appearance of spines.

Cinder also had a uniquely shaped head. It had somewhat of a triangular shape to it from the top of her head to her muzzle. Her body structure had a more feral appearance to it, like that of a predator. And the blades on her wings and tail just help to emphasize the predator appearance.

Alec then raised his paw to ask a question, "Is Cinder originally from the Beast Makers land?" he asked.

The teacher looked down to Cinder for her to answer. Cinder however had a surprised look on her face, "How did you know?" Cinder asked in surprise.

"Well for starters, it's obvious from your appearance that you aren't originally an Artisan," Alec began in his usual cheerful way, "I was able to see from your body structure that you have a more animal-like shape, which is a trait that Beast Maker dragons have. And the blades on you wings and tail just confirms that. Although, the shape of your head and your nine horns look like a Dream Weaver dragon."

"Show off," one of the other students in the back said.

"Sorry about my brother," Spyro spoke up, "He has an eye for detail so strong that he probably sees details that aren't even there."

"Actually, he's right," Cinder said, "My mother was originally a Dream Weaver. She traveled to the Beast Makers land once. There she met my father, who was of course a Beast Maker. And there was where I hatched and grew up."

Alec's expression changed from his usual cheerful and playful one to a much more serious one. And his tone of voice changed to match his expression, "There is also a sadness deep within you," Alec said in an eerily dark and serious tone, "You feel lonely. You've been transferred from school to school so many times and so often that you rarely have the time to make friends. And when you do make friends, you're transferred once again. So you avoid making friends to avoid having to lose friends. You wouldn't be transferred as often as you are if..."

"That's enough, Alec!" the teacher spoke up, snapping Alec out of his trance.

Alec saw that Cinder was struggling to hold back her tears as she was on the verge of crying, "I-I'm sorry," Alec apologized, not fully realized what just happened. It appeared that Cinder was relieved that the teacher stopped him when she did though.

"Alec, I'll be seeing you after class," the teacher said. With that said, the new students took the two available seats. Flame took the seat that was next to Ember, leaving the only option for Cinder being the one next to Alec.

"H-How did you know all of that?" Cinder asked, her voice trembling.

"I wish I knew," Alec replied, "I don't know how I know what I know. I just know. I'm sorry about that. It's just when I get like that, it's like someone else is controlling what I say and do. And because of that, I can't stop myself when I start. I'm just glad that the teacher stopped me before I said something you might regret."

"What do you know?" Cinder asked in a hushed tone.

"That's another thing when I get like that. My memories of what happened become fuzzy," Alec said, also in a hushed tone. But I remember something about you being an orphan, and that's why you've been transferred from school to school." Cinder hid her shock well. But Alec's attention for detail allowed him to see the shock as if it was supposed to be obvious. "I assume your shock tells me that I was right?"

Cinder just nodded in response.

X~~~~~X

After class had ended, Alec went to the teacher's desk to see what she wanted. The rest of the class however just left and went to their next class. All except for Spyro that is. He may enjoy teasing his brother, but he was also loyal to his brother as well. He was even willing to be late for class if it meant it would made Alec feel better.

After a few minutes, Alec had come back out to see his brother waiting for him, "So what did she have to say?" Spyro asked him.

"She suggested that I go see a psychiatrist..." Alec mumbled.

"You've already seen three shrinks already," Spyro said as they headed down the hall, "One of them is because of your strange behavior. That one was a dud. One of them was for all the times...I...teased you in your sleep. He concluded that there was no brain damage that he could see...and you've gone to see him...I lost count. And one was for the six times you've had amnesia."

"Actually, I think it qualifies as still seeing him, since there's a good chance that, thanks to you, I'll have amnesia several more times in my life," Alec pointed out, "I just hope I don't end up losing another hatchday."

"But my point is, what else is there for you to see a shrink for?" Spyro asked.

"She thinks that I have Split Personality Disorder," Alec said, "She thinks that because my personality completely changes when I go into my...my trances, I might have more than one personality. And because of that, she thinks I need psychiatric help."

"She may be smart. But I think that you having a split personality is completely bogus," Spyro said.

"Is it though?" Alec replied, "When they happen, I have trouble remembering what I was doing. And my personality does completely change. Maybe she's right. Maybe I should see a shrink about it."

"No! I won't let you!" Spyro exclaimed, becoming protective of his brother, "Even if you do have a split personality, which you don't, the best thing to have isn't psychiatric help. Psychiatrists are good when it comes to brain damage and amnesia. But the best thing for something like this is the support of friends and family!"

"You really think so?" Alec asked, cheering up a bit.

"Well, that and the fact that shrinks are expensive," Spyro said, "I don't think we should have to pay 5000 gems just to find out that nothing's wrong with you. Remember what happened when they tried to diagnose why you acted weird? 'Oh, there's nothing wrong with him. It's just a part of his personality. Now here's my bill for 5000 gems.'"

The two brothers laughed at Spyro's mock up of a psychiatrist. Then they reached their next class three minutes late, partly because they were talking along the way.

X~~~~~X

Spyro wasn't the only one waiting for Alec. Down the all and around a corner, Cinder was peeking around the side as she waited. She didn't want to be Spotted by either of the dragons. But her curiosity got the best of her and she had to see what was going on.

Once the two brothers headed down the hall, Cinder followed them, making sure that she wasn't seen by them. She listened to them talk about what the teacher said to Alec and all of that. She had gained an interest in Alec. But with the purple dragon there with him, she was too shy to actually go up to him to talk.

However, the purple dragon gained her interest as well. She couldn't explain it, but there was something familiar about the two brothers. Was it possible she had met them before? Probably not. This was only her second school that she has attended in the Artisan land. And they didn't look like they've traveled. But if they haven't traveled then how did the silver-gray one know so much about the Beast Makers and the Dream Weavers?

As she continued to listen, she heard the purple dragon cheer Alec up, "But the best thing for something like this is the support of friends and family!" The purple dragon exclaimed. Then she heard him make a joke about how psychiatrists are expensive and the two of them laughed.

Seeing them laugh made Cinder smile. But the smile quickly faded as she was reminded how rare it was for her to feel happy like that. Then the purple dragon's words came to mind. 'The best thing is the support of friends and family.' "What if you don't have them?" she asked herself quietly.

Her thoughts however were quickly replaced with another. How was she going to explain why she was late? She could claim that she got lost. That would be a valid excuse for a new student. But that thought was dismissed as she realized she was holding a map of the school in her paw. This was going to be a problem for her. But knowing her luck, she wasn't going to have to worry about it for long, seeing as she'd probably get transferred in a month or two anyways.

Sorry for taking so long to update this story. But I'm sure you're glad that I did...right?

I know that you already knew who the characters were and that making their identities a 'mystery' at the beginning was unnecessary. But I thought it was fun. My original version of the 'game of fetch' didn't have Alec running through a wall. But I figured this version was more entertaining. And considering how many times that has happened, it might explain why Alec seems so goofy somethings (brain damage).

And yes, I introduced Ember and Flame, even though they weren't introduced until A Hero's Tail. But the fact is that they must've existed at some point. So I just figured I'd add them in now. Besides, it would get boring if I stuck with the original series completely. After all, Spyro is the only dragon his age in the first game. I'll admit that the introduction of Flame, Ember, and Cinder weren't exactly how I originally planned. I originally planned Cinder to be the only new student, Ember was going to be introduced at school rather than on the way to school (although personality wise, she's about the same) and Spyro wasn't going to actually enjoy himself with her, and Flame was already going to be one of Spyro's friends.

And just so you all know, Spyro doesn't hate Ember in this story. He just hates how clingy she is to him. And Flame does not have a crush on Ember...yet. I was trying my best to describe the design of Cynder from TEN, because that design seems more 'feral' (and just in case you don't know, feral basically means wild). I also like that design better because it gives her a more innocent appearance. And I intentionally didn't point out her markings because in this story, she doesn't have them. I connect those markings to her time under the control of Malefor. And so I consider those markings as (for lack of a better term) a curse mark. And since Cinder is the reincarnation of Cynder, and not Cynder herself, she doesn't have the curse mark.

And I think I'll finish off my rambling session with one final note. I'm currently Beta reading the story Legacy of Legends by Viperwatcher. I suggest to go read it. I promise you won't regret it in the long run.

Please R&R.

~The Angel of Darkness, Alec~