Chapter 9: The Nightmare Of Loss
Opening her eyes to the feeling, and the small almost silent breaths of someone beside her had woken her. Cynder picked her head up and looked to her side to see that Spyro was laying with her next to her side. Her eyes widened a little as she thought he was separated from her, but she smiled, glade it wasn't true. Slowly standing up as to not wake him, she moved her head down to kiss his cheek. Almost touching his scales with her lips, he disappeared into a dark black cloud, and a creepy laugh and giggle echoed throughout her mind. Shacking her head and rubbing her eyes, she put her paws back to the ground and saw she was in the Guardians Chambers now. "So, do we have any plans on what to do with Cynder? What do we tell her about what happened to Spyro?" Terrador asked, looking over at Cynder before exploding into a dark puff cloud. Cyril looked at Cynder as well and apologized, "I'm sorry Cynder, he just doesn't love you... No one does." As he exploded into a puff of black smoke, Volteer was the last as he said, "Don't feel bad Cynder. He never liked you any way." As he exploded into a dark cloud, Cynder cried as she started to fear, "Wait! What's happening?! What are you all talking about?!" A chuckled emerged from behind her, and as she turned to see, it was Spyro. "Spyro..." Cynder whispered. Reaching out her paw, Spyro ran. "Wait!" She cried, running to catch up to him. As she ran, and cut the corner of the Chambers, she realised she was running past tress and bushes now. Her paws cracked the leaves underneath her as she continued to run after Spyro. Stopping in the middle of an open field, she looked around and cried to find Spyro, "Spyro! Please, where are you?" A growl came from the bushes. Looking over to the buses, she saw as Spyro had emerged from them. But a friendly greeting was the last thing she got, "You just don't know when to quit, do you? Do you ever even listen? I told the Guardians to break the news to you, I don't like you. I only ever needed you so I could ensure that I got back to Warfang safely, that's it."
"Spyro... no... no, you're wrong! I know you care about me! Every time I thought you didn't, you showed me you did! This isn't you Spyro, I know you care about me, I know it!" Cynder cried taking a step forward. Unfortunately, the growl and Spyro's words made her take the step back, "You never knew it! I always had to help you for you to even understand it! You're a waste of my time. There are more girls out there for me then you, and I can easily make off with one of them then have to help you through your garbage of a past." Cynder started to tear up, but she tried to stay strong as she thought, "This isn't Spyro, this isn't him, I know it isn't... I most be dreaming, I have to be... Please tell me I'm dreaming."
"Great, now I have to help you through something else I don't care about. I knew I should've let you run away, but I knew that with those apes around, I would have more trouble from my weak body. Chancing you around the entire world was stupid for me but since I had already done it, I might as well had committed to it... I should've left you in the woods," Spyro spat his last sentence, causing a skip in Cynder's heart beat as she was now unable to control the fear and sadness she felt. "But, what about last night? You said you couldn't sleep without me. You fought with the Guardians, you tried to be with me. What was that all for?"
"I needed to keep you happy long enough for me to get my strength back. That way, if you ever turned, I would just kill you. You remember, how you asked that? I was only staying because I wanted to kill off the last bit of darkness, and you were right. But now that you know, I just need to kill you off before you do turn from your emotions," Spyro growled, walking over towards Cynder with his tail blade to his side, and a dark evil growl. Cynder stepped back, but her back hit a tree. Standing above her, she ducked her head and cried, "Spyro, Wait...! Wait..." Stopping what he was doing, he decided to listen, "I know you don't care about me, and I know you don't want to have to deal with my past, but... But, what if... what if I love you instead?!" Picking her head up with tears, she looked at Spyro and continued, "If I love you, if you love me, you won't have to worry about my past, I won't bring it up, and won't cry about, and... even if I do, I will find a way to handle things on my own, away from you. Please Spyro, you're the only one I can't lose... I just... I can't..." Sighing with how long this was taking, he disagreed, "No!"
"Wh... what... Spyro..."
"I said no. I'm not going to deal with you anymore, what part of that don't you understand? You think all because you'll love me, that will make up for everything you've put everyone through. If it wasn't for you, my father would've never died! Think about that for a second. It was your fault that all this ever happened... And there are way more beautiful dragoness then you'll ever be. Getting a kiss from them will feel even better then getting a kiss, from a monster," Spyro growled, pulling his claw up to slash at Cynder as she laid there frozen and saddened by what she had heard. Falling to the ground, her body went limp, and she awaited her death. "Spyro... please... please," Cynder softly cried, hoping that he would hear her cries and change what he was about to do. He growled as he said, "Goodbye... Cynder."
"No... no..." Cynder growled, hearing Spyro whip his claw down to her neck.
"Spyro!" Cynder cried as the tears from the dream were still flooding her eyes even now.
Spyro's eyes shot open from the cries of what he heard was Cynder. Standing up, digging his claws into the bed, he launched himself off the bed, breaking the bed in half. Sparks fell to the ground, and grumbled. Looking over towards Spyro as he ran towards the door, Sparks grumbled once again as he laid on the floor, "Spyro, the door doesn't work..."
Spinning around right in front of the door, he slammed it open with his fist. The door broke off its hinges and was thrown right up against the wall with a loud crack. Running out of the room, Sparks flew up from the ground and said, "Well, I guess that works."
Running over towards Cynder's room, he quickly grabbed the door knob and threw the door opened. Seeing her cry on her bed angered and saddened Spyro as he knew this wouldn't have happened if the Guardians never would've separated them. Running up and jumping on the bed with her, he wrapped his wings around her body, and tried to ease her as her body was trembling, "Cynder, it's me, it's okay, it's okay."
Unable to hear his voice from the shock she was in, she dug her claws into the bed, and whipping her tail blade around, she launched it at Spyro. Putting his paw on the side of her cheek, her tail blade stopped right in front of his neck. Picking her head up, and trying to open her eyes, as all she saw was a blurry purple figure. Rubbing her eyes she tried to see who it was. Her eyes widened to see it was Spyro, and he smiled at her.
"Sp... Spyro?" Cynder murmured, still in shock from the dream.
Wiping away a tear that had fallen from her face, he continued to smile as he whispered, "It's okay I promise. Were you shaking because the thoughts and feelings of my kisses were to much for you?"
Cynder's smile got wide from his words, and pulling her tail blade back down, she quickly wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. Putting her head over his shoulder, she let the tears roll out her eyes as she hoped and believed that Spyro would let her do so. To her joy and satisfaction, she was able to, and even Spyro rested his head on her shoulder. Nuzzling his cheek against Cynder's, Spyro asked with a soft whisper, trying not to frighten her, "Are you okay, Cynder? Did someone hurt you, did anything happen to you?"
Slightly tightening her grip, she softly cried, wishing she would never have had to say such a thing, "You hurt me..."
Spyro felt a stab to the heart. He never wanted to hurt her, and now that she had said something, he felt as if he had failed. As Sparks flew into the room, he looked to see the two. Looking at Sparks, Spyro growled as he asked, "Go get the Guardians right now."
Not wanting to tick off Spyro any more then he already was, he obeyed, and quickly flew out of the room to find the Guardians. Feeling more tears from in his eyes, he felt and heard as what Cynder said echoed in his mind, stabbing at him as he knew he had failed to keep his promise. Clenching his teeth, Spyro apologized with a sad tone, "I'm so sorry Cynder... I never, I never should've let the Guardians talk me into being separated. I failed you, and... I'm sorry."
Taking his wings off her body, and pulling his head back, Cynder's grip tightened more as he tried to back away. He was confused on how she felt. Pulling her head back, and looking at Spyro, she cried, "Spyro, please don't leave me. I'm sorry, I, I'm scared and, I wasn't thinking straight and... I just, I just had a really bad nightmare, that's all."
Taking her wings off of Spyro's, she continued, "I know you probably hate me because of what I said, and what I did, almost killing you with my tail blade. I'm the one that hurt you and... If you want to go, I understand. I won't be mad."
Chuckling with a smile, Spyro laid down on her bed. Looking at one other, he patted his paw on the bed next to him, telling her to lay down with him.
"But..."
Pulling his wing up, he raised a brow, and waited for her, as he knew she could resist. Shacking her head, she took her chances and laid down next to him. Curling up against his body, she snuggled her head underneath his, and put her head against his chest. Putting his wing down over her, he put his tail over her tail, and whispered, "I don't hate you, and I never will. You shouldn't be the one that is sorry. None of this would've happened if I just fought more with the Guardians... But, what... how did I, hurt you?"
"No, it, it wasn't you it... I had a dream, and, it was about all of my fears. My fears of you hating me, you killing me because of a mission the Guardians put you one or... or you not actually caring for me. You said you only used me so you could insure you got back to Warfang safely because of your condition... and... I didn't known if it was true or not..." Cynder murmured, feeling awful for having to tell Spyro about her fears that she has about him.
"Cynder... I would never use you to get to where I want to be. I want to help you get to where you want to be. Even with my condition, back when I was stabbed with that arrow, I wasn't thinking about what would happen to me, I was thinking about what would happen to you, and how terrible it would be if you were hit. So I took my chances, and things worked out great."
"But you were stabbed, and I should've seen it coming and, you almost died."
"Better me then you, and I wanted that to happen. I didn't want you to have to experience even more pain. Besides, a good night rest, and a nice heartwarming kiss on the cheek really makes up for everything that happened. Was I mad at you, of course not. Was I mad at the dark creature that did it, yeah, that's why he's died."
Cynder giggled slightly at his words, and he chuckled hearing her giggle. Frowning as she remembered her dream, she murmured as she remembered, "Spyro, in the dream, the dream Spyro also said how, how you hate that you have to help me through my past. And you hate having to help me when I feel down or when I cry because of my past, or because of something that happened... Is that... Is that really how you feel?"
"What?! Cynder, no. Helping you through your past is one of the best things I love doing. Helping you through your past makes me smile because I know that one day, you'll never have to fear. And even if you do, I will take on that fear with you Cynder, because you're not alone, and never will be. Especially after tonight, I'm going to have a nice talk with the Guardians."
"Spyro..." A voice came from the door.
The two looked over to see the Guardians were standing next to each other with frowns, wondering what Spyro would say to them.
"Spyro... we're sorry about..."
"Don't even try to apologize to me. I trusted you all. You said nothing would happen to Cynder, and then I wake up to find out she had a nightmare, and I wasn't there to help her because you wanted me to sleep in another room, away from her. There isn't a single apology you could ever give me that would make me accept what you all have done," Spyro growled, interpreting Terrador before he was able to explain himself.
"Spyro, please, we truly are sorry, we don't know what we can do but if there is anything we can do, please, we will try and make it up to you."
"There isn't anything you can do aside from being better Guardians, and I thought I could trust you all to do just that. I missed you all, I truly did, and I thought with Malefor gone, we could all come together and finally enjoy peaceful times. But it's kinda hard to enjoy peace when the Guardians can't do anything right... I can never trust any of you ever again."
"Spyro... it's just... we haven't really been the same, after learning of... Ignitus's demise."
"Don't talk about what happened! But you know what, maybe you're right, maybe Ignitus was the only one who was really a Guardian. He protected my life, and Cynder's, and you all can't even agree with my decision. I lost my father, and if I lose Cynder because of your decision... Don't ever separate me from Cynder ever again, don't even try."
"We promise, Spyro. And, we still and always will be sorry, truly. Please, if there is any way..."
"You already said that, and I'm already going to say no!"
The Guardians all frowned, looking to the ground, they were wishing that things could've been better. Nuzzling her head slightly against Spyro's neck, he pulled his head up a little. Pulling her head out from underneath his, she looked at the Guardians and asked, "Terrador?"
The Guardians picked up there head, and Terrador murmured, "Yes... Cynder?"
"Please be honest with me. Why did you separate me from Spyro? Is it because of the fears you still have of me? Is it because of something that I did, something you all still aren't sure about? I just want to know the truth of why you separated us from one another."
She's right. The only reason I agreed to let Cynder stay at the Temple was because I agreed with Ignitus. And now that I had my own real opinion in the matter, I made the wrong one. But I don't want to tell her that. I just need to go with the excuse I made up, Terrador thought, explaining to Cynder what had happened, "Well, it was because we had so much to do and so much to repair in Warfang, we didn't know if we would be able to make sure all the rooms were up to par with being able to sleep well in, so we, we... I guess..."
"Made us do your dirty work?" Spyro finished his sentence for him, disappointed by such an answer, "What happened to you all? I came back to Warfang with a smile and hopes that maybe everything would be able to slowly heal over time but... But now you're telling me this?"
"Spyro, we are sorry, we truly are. I know you don't care but... Do you know how stressful it is to walk out there? We... We've seen more then enough dead moles, and even dragons. I thought by doing this, it would help in some way, and I was wrong to do so... Spyro... We just want to know that, like you said, everything will heal back. We want that too."
"And how does separating me from Cynder help that?"
"It doesn't, and we now know that, and we will never try to do something like that ever again."
Spyro still didn't trust them as much as they were hoping he would. Pecking Spyro on the side of his cheek, Cynder looked over at the Guardians and said, "I understand what you all have gone through, I know it was though, especially seeing death. But all I ask is that you keep a promise and never try to separate me from Spyro again... because who knows... that could be me or Spyro in the future."
The Guardians all shivered at her words, sacred to even think about what she had put in their heads.
"I know Spyro's mad at you all, and I am too, but, just promise to never do something like this again, and give me the rest of the night with Spyro alone, and I will try to convince him not to kill the three of you. Sound good."
Terrador smiled as he promised, "I promise then. Thank you, Cynder. And to you too, Spyro. We know how you probably feel, but we will try to make things right, I promise."
Spyro snarled, not wanting to make them feel better about what had happened, but he felt a little bad turning away from the Guardians, but he didn't know what else to do after what had happened. The Guardians turned and walked away with one another out of the room, Sparks included. Terrador shut the door, but as he did, he stopped, and apologized once again, "I'm sorry, once again Spyro. We will make it better, we swear."
Shutting the door, Terrador walked back with the other Guardians.
Looking to Cynder, Spyro asked, "But I don't understand. After what happened, because of what they did... Why?"
"Spyro, I know what happened seemed bad, but they've learned from it. It was a terrible dream, but at the end of it, no one was hurt, you were safe, you proved me wrong, and I was able to cuddle up to you and kiss you with out having to worry about those fears again. I agree with you, the Guardians messed up, but I forgive them. The last thing we want is to be enemies with the Guardians," Cynder explained, pecking him on the cheek once again.
"Enemies? I would never become enemies with the Guardians... depending... You don't think I was really that rude to them, do you?" Spyro asked, somewhat feeling bad now, but thinking back to the nightmare that Cynder had, he didn't know how to feel.
"You were just protecting me, and I understand. The only think I would say is, the Guardians aren't like Malefor. They aren't trying to control me, they aren't trying to kill me, and they aren't trying to hurt me. They just made a mistake. It's okay about how you reacted, but the Guardians really do feel terrible about what happened. Maybe you should just let them go with a pass this time."
"Does that mean I did do the wrong thing?"
"I wouldn't say wrong. You just acted how you acted. I don't think you were wrong, I just think that maybe we should forgive them just this time. We are never going to have peace if we have bad blood with the Guardians."
"Yeah... you're right."
Putting a paw on the side of his face, she whispered, "Hey, I'm not mad at you, I've never been. I'm just saying what might be best, but your decision have I've stood by... just like in the volcano. I stood by you then, and I will now. I know you will make the right decision. But now saying that, what is your decision?"
Putting his paw over Cynder's paw on his cheek, he sighed with a smile, "Alright, alright. If you weren't so beautiful, and your voice wasn't so beautiful as well, I probably wouldn't have done it, but you've convinced me. Especially with the part about the Volcano... Thank you Cynder."
"Yeah, well... I wasn't going to lose you... So, when are you going to talk with the Guardians about everything that has happened. I'm not telling you to forgive them, just, cut them a little bit of slack."
"Probably tomorrow. I'm already laying down with you, and I am still pretty tired, so I guess that leaves me with one question for you to answer," Spyro answered, pulling his paw back down, and watching as Cynder did the same with her paw.
"Oh, and what could that be?"
"Will you allow me to lay with you tonight on your bed?"
"I allow it. Now and when ever. But since it's my bed, you shall sleep on the floor tonight."
"What? You just said you allowed it. What happened to that?"
"I just needed to get your hopes up, and then crush them. Hahaha."
"You're so evil."
"Evil? So that's how you feel about me?"
"Oh my gosh... what if I said yes?"
"Then... I know you would be lying."
Spyro smiled at her words, and she'd smiled back, knowing that that is what he wanted to hear. Pecking her on the cheek, he looked at her, and whispered, "You know it would always be a lie... But what I wonder is, is me sleeping on the floor a truth or a lie, because if you want me to get up, I shall."
"No! No, I was just joking with you," Cynder quickly disagreed, snuggling up against Spyro again, feeling his warmth and his scales against hers, and laying her head down on his paws, she put her head against his chest.
"Sounds good to me," Spyro agreed, laying his head down over Cynder's, and the two closed their eyes.
"Goodnight Cynder."
"Huh... It's good to hear you say that again. Goodnight Spyro."
"Spyro seemed awfully aggressive back there. You know, back when she was with Malefor, and we did the same thing, he was the same way. You don't think maybe some of the darkness from Malefor got to Spyro?" Volteer asked as the four walked back to the Guardian Chambers.
"Volteer! Don't be like that. They both had their reasons. We made the same mistake twice, but it's not going to end up like how it did last time. I know it looks bad, I know it's scary to think about how dragons say the past repeats itself, but it's not going to," Terrador disagreed, growling somewhat at Volteer's suggestion as they entered the Guardians Chambers, "Spyro acted how he acted. He was scared for Cynder's life, he didn't know what happened, and she could've died... And because of what we did, he wouldn't have been able to do anything."
"Plus, like we all know, he did lose Ignitus. I mean, those two were like father and son. He's just going through a tough time right now, and I know we aren't exactly making it any better on him. It was stupid for us to split them up because we were tried and busy. We have this time now, and we couldn't easily done such a task, and avoided all of this, and yet, we didn't," Cyril sadly said, thinking about all the work they did, but they could've easily slept in a bed by themselves.
"You guys did this because you couldn't sleep in the beds? How come you didn't just go and sleep in those beds once you were tired or something?" Sparks asked.
"Last time we did that, we had a long talk with with someone who pulled a prank on us and almost got us killed. If you look at Spyro, you see your claws being shoved in your wings if you do something like that. If you see Cynder, well... most dragons still think of her as a murderer, and no one would mess with her, so we knew they would be fine."
"So you did this because you were scared of getting pranked again, sissies."
"Sparks, the prank blew a hole in the back walls and we almost fell to our death if we hadn't woken up in time."
"Wait, what?! Who was the prankster?!"
The Guardians all looked at one another, not wanting to answer, but they knew that it would best to tell Sparks, as long as the other two weren't around.
"Sparks... the prankster... the prankster was Malefor."
"What?!"
"Malefor, pulled a prank on us while we were sleeping. We almost did die but as he saw us falling, he saw we weren't waking up. He made a ice slide just in case we did almost hit the ground, and he yelled at us to wake up before we did hit the ground. The two who where sleeping in the beds at the time were me and Terrador. He said he couldn't pick us up because Terrador was to fat and I was to cold and his paws would've gotten frostbite."
"Naw, you guys are just joking with me... hehe... right?"
"Sparks... Just, just forget we even said anything. Let's just go back to why we are really here. We need to build them their own little house. I already have idea's and buildings plans thanks to the help of Volteer. If we are lucky enough, we should be able to get this done by tomorrow, but that also means we need to do something about Spyro and Cynder. Suggestions?"
"I will send them on a scout mission to cheek for survivors behind Warfang, that should keep them gone for a while," Terrador suggested.
"Sounds good to me."
"But with that being said, we might as well get started now. It's the least we can do for what happened. Cyril, I need you to go and grab some moles around Warfang and see if they can aid us in the build. Most of the wall should be good and repaired so it shouldn't be to difficult."
"On it," Cyril said, running out the Chambers to find moles.
"And make sure some can also repair the wall and door!" Terrador yelled out to Cyril.
Looking over at Volteer, he continued, "Volteer, you are my plans guy, so lets see what you've got. And then I will help with construction as well. And... Sparks, this is a crazy question but, would you like to aid in this build as well? You never know what kind of good could come from it."
"Huh, sure, why not. I mean, what else am I going to do? Plus, less time away from Cynder means more on my life span so let's do this."
"Alright, let's go for it," Volteer said with a sigh, knowing their was going to be more work involved.
