A/N: Well, no one guessed what the references were, so I will tell you here. The first one was: "Everyone knows that when you insult my pride, you get skinned alive." Spyro retorted. "No they don't." "When they find the body they will."- That was referencing 'Once Upon a Time'; Rumplestiltskin said something like this to Belle. The second was a reference to Red vs. Blue, Syra saying to Gahiji 'no one likes you Doughnut'

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or any character from the cannon Spyro franchise, I do, however, own my OCs.

Chapter Nine: The Bath

"No thanks, I'd rather go with Dimitri." Syra said, a slight franticness creeping into the edges of her voice. Ignitus chuckled and shook his head. The wound on his arm had thick leaves tied around it. Dimitri had been able to find a few red gems to heal it, but not enough to bring him back to fighting state; just enough so that can move around again. Ignitus looked to Dimitri and Sparx and motioned for them to leave. Dimitri nodded and walked out of the cave with Sparx following. He took off and flew in the direction of the nearby Dragonfly village with Sparx flying by his head. Syra gulped.

"Little one, I can barely tell if you are black, dark grey or dark brown. You need a bath." Ignitus said firmly. He cracked a small smile, amused by the hatchling's reluctance to bathe. "And you smell of ape, blood, and wet dog." He said again. Connor snorted at the last part. Syra giggled. "Come, you need a bath." Ignitus said firmly.

"No, I don't want to take a bath!" Syra said, trying to shift through the shadows, but instead lit herself on fire. "That could have gone better." She said as she stared at her flame covered paw. Connor walked over and kicked dust onto her until all of the flames were doused. Now she was dirtier. Ignitus crinkled his nose as he stared at the dirty hatchling.

"You are taking a bath." Ignitus said, not leaving room for argument. His tail snaked around and pushed her in front of him. He continued down deeper into the cave, pushing Syra in front of him along the way. Eventually, they reached a three way fork. Ignitus pushed Syra down the tunnel on the right. They continued walking for a while before they came across a spring in a dome shaped cave. There was a small hole in the roof, not large enough for Syra to escape from. Rays of sun filtered through, and there were a few makeshift torches on the walls. Beneath the torches was a large block of soap, a sponge, a bottle of scented oil, a water basin, and a canister of some kind of polish all wrapped up in a drying rag. The water gently bubbled in the center, not from heat; this spring was actually one of the springs that fed into the Silver River.

"Where did you get all of this stuff?" Syra asked, obviously stalling.

"The dragonflies were kind enough to provide us with cleaning supplies." The water was cold, so Ignitus breathed a light flame on the surface of the water, warming it so that is wasn't so cold. When he turned to tell Syra to get in, he noticed that she was missing.

"Where could she be...?" He muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin. He looked around to try to find her. Ignitus started to peek behind some of the rocks on the ground, but couldn't find the black dragoness. He started to look into the cave where they came from, but she didn't show up. He remembers something an old friend had told him: No one ever looks up. Ignitus did, however, look up now. There was nothing special about the ceiling of the spring. But now he noticed a spot that seemed slightly blacker then the rest of the ceiling. Raising an eyebrow, he reared up on his hind legs, using his tail and wings for balance. He reached up a forepaw and prodded the spot. His claw met warm scales. He landed back on his feet and looked back at the spot.

Syra let her wings fall from her underbelly as well as her head to curl back from her chest and peer, upside down, at Ignitus. She giggled nervously. Ignitus reared up once more and used his forepaw to gently grab her and place her on the ground. "Now in." He said and pointed at the spring.

"No, I don't wanna!" She complained. It was hard to believe that this was the same hatchling that gave demands for the information of the wind guardian's whereabouts. Ignitus sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Please, the quicker we do this, the faster it will be over, and the faster you can be done. Just get into the spring." He said, hoping to use sense to sway this young dragon. If it was any other hatchling, they would have just listened to him. But Syra seemed to defy him for defiance's sake. Syra stomped a small paw on the ground. "No." she said firmly. Ignitus sighed again.

"You are going to take a bath, it is that simple. You don't really have a say in the matter." He now said, telling her instead of asking her. Once more she shook her head and stamped her little paw. He sighed once again. "I have tried asking you, I have tried telling you, so now I will try forcing you." Ignitus said, slightly sad. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to force the hatchling, but his patience was wearing thin, and he was high-strung because of the nightmare. He reached out and picked up Syra with his forepaw. The sudden motion caused her to squeal slightly. He motioned to put her in the water, but she stopped him.

"No." She said firmly with an air of authority, like she was controlling an animal. He stopped, puzzled by Syra. He moved to place her in the water, but she only said, "No." this time more slowly. He still moved her towards the water. Surprisingly, she reached out and smacked him across the nose with her forepaw. The sudden smack caused Ignitus to jump slightly. "Down." She said with the same firmness as the first time. Slowly, Ignitus placed her back on the ground. "Good big red scaly!" She said as she reared up on her hind legs to pat Ignitus' chin; it was all she could reach, even on her tip-toes.

Once more, Ignitus wondered how this hatchling could do the things she can. Usually, hatchlings can't balance on their hind paws for more than a few seconds at best, whereas the older dragons have the balance to stay on their hind legs for minutes at a time, and even a take a few steps in one direction. Yet here she was, balancing perfectly on her hind paws and patting his chin. What made it even more impressive is that Syra had to hop to pat him, and she landed perfectly without any indication that she was losing her balance. The Grace of Wind, the Mystery of Shadow, and the Spirit of Fire. He thought to himself. The rest of the saying came to him, and he found himself thinking about Dimitri. The Nobility of Ice, the Strength of Earth, and the Cleverness of Electricity. Ignitus was brought out of his reverie when Syra started to walk away. "Get back here!" He said as he took a few steps towards the defiant hatchling. She let out a squeal and ran off. He sighed as he walked briskly after the hatchling.

≤Ω≥

What Connor saw led him to believe the wrong thing. Syra ran through the tunnels with a frantic look on her face, Ignitus following behind with an annoyed look on his face. Syra jumps behind Connor's legs and says, "Hide me!" Connor stood up, grabbed his crossbow and jet loose a bolt hit the rocky roof directly above Ignitus head. The large red dragon stopped, with wide eyes, shocked at how close that bolt came to his head. Thanks to the bulb at the side of Connor's crossbow, he was able to reload it quickly and take aim at Ignitus again.

"Take one more step and this bolt goes through your eye." Connor said calmly, adjusting his aim so that when the bolt is fired, it will go through Ignitus' eye and most likely kill him. Ignitus recoils his head. Calmly, Ignitus, began to speak.

"Wolf, this is not what it looks like." He spoke as to not accidently set off the wolf.

"What I saw was the pup running here and you following, that doesn't look good at all." Connor said steadily, not moving his aim at all.

"This is just a misunderstanding, I swear that I did no harm to her, nor do I intend any harm." Ignitus said. He know only a little about wolfish culture; Terrador was the one who was trying to sway them to join their side. Ignitus knew that wolves don't lie, and that any swear, promise, or vow cannot be broken. "I just want to give her a bath." When he saw the wolf lower his crossbow, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Why was she running then?" Connor asked.

"She is not the most stubborn hatchling that I have ever met, but she defiantly is one of them." Ignitus said. "Where did Syra go?" Ignitus asked, looking around. He couldn't see the hatchling anywhere. Connor to look behind his legs, and didn't see the hatchling. Connor looked back to the cave entrance. Syra was trying to sneak out, using the commotion between Ignitus and Connor as cover. She let out a small and innocent smile. Connor walked over to her, picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She squealed and thrashed, but Connor's firm grip kept her in place.

"Let go you big meany!" Syra said as she lightly pounded on his back. Connor ignored the hatchling's pleas and walked to Ignitus.

"Where is this so called bath?" Connor asked the large fire dragon. Ignitus said, 'This way.' and led Connor down the tunnels to the spring.

"She won't go in." Ignitus said as they walked into the spring.

"I won't be asking her." Was all Connor said as he stepped up to the and tossed Syra in. She twisted around in the air and squealed. In the little time she was in the air, she twisted around and let loose a blast of shadow fire. Right beneath her. Ignitus' eyes widened as he shouted, "NO!" The shadow fire would blind and burn her, and cause her to drown. He reached out be to out to grab her, but then she did something she shouldn't be able to. She shifted through her shadow fire and popped out in the tunnel that led back to the cave. Syra looked between Connor and Ignitus, both were staring back with amazement in their eyes. She turned and ran off.

"Get back here pup!" Connor said as he ran after the hatchling. Ignitus shook his head and grabbed the cleaning supplies before trotting after the both of them, his wound preventing anything faster than a trot. But his trot was as fast as the wolf's running. They chased Syra until they were out of the cave. Ignitus tossed the cleaning supplies to Connor and flew off. Connor had removed his harness and coat earlier, and was now in his traveling pants and plain shirt. Ignitus took off into the sky, easily catching up with Syra and picking her up. Connor ran along beneath the red dragon. Ignitus landed at the banks of the Silver River. When Connor arrived, he removed his shirt and dive straight into the river. Ignitus tossed Syra into the river, Connor leaping up and grabbing the hatchling. Syra squalled and twisted in his grip, but Connor didn't let go.

He sat down in the water, reaching out and grabbing the block of soap and rubbing it up and down her head, neck, sides and back. Syra squirmed even more as he grabbed the sponge and started to scrub the dirt and mud away from her scales.

"The water's cold!" Syra yelled at Connor as he used the water basin to dump a large amount of water on her head. He had one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder as he grabbed the sponge again and rubbed the suds all over her scales.

"I'm the one with fur." He said as he grabbed the scented oil and dumped it on Syra's head.

"Argh! It's in my eyes!" She yelled. Connor's only reply was to splash water in her face. "Well, that helped." Syra said, not happy at all. When he had gotten rid of all the mud, and gained a lot of scratches, he tossed Syra onto land. Ignitus caught her in the drying rag and started to rub her vigorously. She squealed again as she was dried, complaining loudly. When he was done, Ignitus began to apply the polish to her scales. It was then Connor and Ignitus noticed a dragonfly that was watching them. The dragonfly had a basket with many different colored ribbons in it. Connor smiled.

"Can I have a few of those?"

≤Ω≥

When Dimitri and Sparx got back, they almost burst out laughing at what they saw. Syra was sitting in the cave, her shoulders hunched and her head held low. All the mud, dirt, and blood were gone. Her obsidian scales shown through now, the streaks of red and orange standing in contrast the black and shining as well. Her underbelly, horns, tail blade, and wings looked like they were made of actual gold. She two pink bows on, one tied around her neck and one tied to one of her horns. She looked at Dimitri and said, "I. Hate. Ignitus." Dimitri just chuckled a little, but Sparx burst out laughing.

"Aww… Who's the cute little baby girl? You're so adorable!" He said condescendingly. Syra snarled and snapped at him. Sparx yelped and flew behind Dimitri's horn. Once more, Dimitri chuckled.

"Don't listen to him," Dimitri said as he stepped up. "You really do look cute. You should try to a ten-year old, not an elder." He said with a kind smile. Syra just had to smile back, and she did. "There's that smile!" Dimitri said as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Now you act like a twelve year-old and play tag with me!" Syra said as she batted his arm and ran away. Dimitri smiled and trotted after her. So this is what it is like o have a friend. Is what they both thought.

A/N: Sorry for the late update! I had a busy schedule. Here you go!