Cynder didn't want to believe it at first, but the evidence was right there, clear as day. Her chest constricted with a fear of the likes she hadn't experienced in years, a hard lump quickly forming in her throat, making it difficult to breathe. Her whole body began to tremble at the very thought of what might be growing underneath those scales, and for the longest time she was left frozen to the spot, absolutely terrified out of her mind.
"It... It can't be!" Cynder eventually stammered in disbelief, her voice barely a whisper, as she once again reaffirmed her initial observations by poking and prodding at her stomach with a paw, albeit more gently this time. However, no matter how carefully she examined herself, or what kind of desperate mental somersaults she made trying to find another explanation for what she had found, she came up with nothing.
The doctors said it might be this, and you didn't listen! A voice in her head jeered. You didn't think it was possible, did you? You just laughed at them!
"N...no! They're wrong!" Cynder asserted sharply in reply to herself, though her voice wavered, as for a brief and horrifying moment, she thought back to that night of fiery passion she had shared with Spyro all those weeks ago, her subconscious mind working frantically to either prove or disprove this theory in any way that it could.
Admittedly at the time, now that she thought about it, that whole encounter had felt different, somehow. It was only now, seeing the slight swelling of her stomach however, that she was starting to realise why that was. Her cheeks flushed madly with embarrassment at this thought, and she shook her head in disbelief one last time, trying desperately to cling onto any tiny shred of denial left to her, that something like this couldn't really be happening.
"I... I can't be..." Cynder whined uneasily, trying her very hardest to remain composed. However it soon became obvious that this was a loosing battle, her emotions gradually starting to get the better of her. A rising sense of panic started to blossom in her chest as she slowly began to rationalise that there wasn't any other way to explain this, her eyes rapidly filling with tears in the process.
Oh ancestors, what have I done...?
"Stop it! Get a grip!" She hissed at herself sharply once more in disbelief, trying to shake herself back to a more rational state of mind. "They're not eggs, there's no way! I can't be gr... grav...-"
That word. It caught in her throat before she could say it out loud, but it lingered in her mind regardless, echoing almost tauntingly. The implications absolutely terrified her, because deep down, despite her reluctance to admit it to herself, she just somehow knew that it had to be true. She could almost feel it in her bones.
Gravid. Oh ancestors, I'm gravid...
Seen from this new perspective, recent events admittedly did seem to make a whole lot more sense to her now, and for a brief moment, Cynder even felt a little relieved that she hadn't actually been suffering from a more serious condition, as she had long since feared.
However, this new-found understanding of her situation did very little to make this news any easier to accept, though. If anything it made her feel even worse, and in a mad panic she leapt to her feet, desperately scrambling to get out of the bath as fast as she could. Her breathing was coming in short sharp pants, her heart thundering away with such a speed that it almost felt as if it were about to jump out of her chest at any moment. Her thoughts were all over the place, but the main thing she felt right now was fear; a fear that neither of them were prepared enough to deal with such immense responsibility!
It wasn't supposed to happen this way! It's... it's too soon! We didn't plan for this!
"What do I do? What do I do?" Cynder despaired, fresh tears starting to roll down her cheeks. A great conflict of emotion stirred within her very soul as the full gravity of the situation finally hit home at this point, threatening at any moment to utterly destroy whatever small bit of composure she had left, a mixture of both joy and utter dread colliding inside her heart. She really didn't know whether to laugh or cry; it was all a bit too much for her to deal with right now.
"Eggs..." Cynder breathed at last, choking back a particularly powerful sob. She swayed on the spot unsteadily, her legs feeling weak and barely capable of holding her weight. Everything else but her newly discovered problem quickly became irrelevant and unimportant, and as a result, she barely even noticed how the water pouring off her body was totally soaking the floor and ruining the towels that Spyro had laid out for her, or how her tail had knocked over several of the other grooming items on the shelving nearby, too.
I... I don't know what to do! I can't do this alone, I... I can't!
Cynder's emotions eventually began to overpower any rational thought she might have had, and all of her worries, doubts and fears about what would happen next soon became far too much for her to bear.
It started slowly at first with just a few light sobs, but soon escalated fairly rapidly into her eventually wailing and bawling without restraint, all of these feelings being let out at once. She fell to her haunches and gripped her head tightly in her paws, but soon found this wasn't sufficient and collapsed to the ground instead, curling up tightly, just wishing that she would wake up from this nightmare; that she wouldn't have to deal with this anymore, that everything would be back to normal again.
Only in her heart, she knew it never would be. Nothing would ever be the same from this point forwards, for either of them. The worst part was that she hadn't the slightest idea on how Spyro might react to this kind of news, or how she might even go about telling him in the first place. All kind of scenarios popped into her mind, and not one of them was comforting in the slightest.
Would he be mad? Would he even want this? Ancestors, I... I just don't know...
Cynder must have laid there trembling on the floor for several minutes at least, totally lost to the wider world. She felt very much alone, her cries and self-pitying sobs echoing loudly throughout the bathroom and presumably as well, the rest of the house. It was perhaps inevitable that Spyro would come and investigate, but when his soft and concerned sounding voice spoke through the door scarcely a few moments later, it still made her jump in alarm and scramble away into the far corner like a frightened animal.
No, I can't face him yet, I'm not ready!
"Cynder?" His voice asked quizzically, "Is everything alright in there?"
She tried to speak, to get him to leave, but nothing came out aside from a dry croak as her voice gave out unexpectedly. Her mouth felt dry, her throat sore and painful from all of this crying, and it was impossible for her to do anything but simply curl up tighter and hope that he went away by himself, that her silence would be all the answers that he needed. Spyro was usually good enough to pick up on such hints, but apparently this time, he wasn't.
"I'm coming in, okay?"
Cynder's trembling only grew worse as the door squeaked open a second later. Through the steamy air she could just about make out Spyro's outline on the far side of the room, his head looking left and right curiously as he obviously struggled to spot her dark scales in the relative darkness of the far corner. His paw-steps were light and hesitant at first as he walked in the direction of the bath, but it only took him a moment or two to spot where she was sitting, a look of relief quickly forming on his expression.
Their eyes met for only a second, but Cynder daredn't look at him for longer than that, an inescapable feeling of terror forcing her to avert her gaze and curl up tighter, to make herself appear smaller in his presence. Just having him this close was enough to make her entire body tense up involuntarily, something which forced him to hesitate mid-stride for a moment or two.
There was an awkward silence then, only broken by Cynder's occasional ragged breathing as she attempted, but failed, to regain some form of decency in front of her mate. She just wanted to be strong, to face this with dignity, but there was precious little that she could do to hide the fact that tears were still streaming freely down her face; her chest heaving pathetically with every breath.
"Spyro, I..." She stammered, unable to find the words to even begin to explain what she was feeling right now. He looked worried beyond belief at seeing her like this, and he leaned a little closer, as if to encourage her to continue. She couldn't find the strength to do it though, and so she just ended up staring into those big round purple eyes in silence, a growing sense of anxiety churning in her gut that only got worse with every passing second. It was like she was staring over an endless abyss; a point of no return. She couldn't take it anymore!
"Hey, it's okay..." Spyro hummed softly, smiling sympathetically as he seemed to sense the need to intervene at this point. "Shh... I'm here..."
When he moved to envelop her under one of those huge orange wings a second or two later, his all too familiar scent washed over her like a blanket, comforting her in a way that nothing else really could. She soon abandoned all attempts to put on a brave face and simply collapsed against his form, burrowing her head into his shoulder as another wave of sobs wracked her body. He simply held her tightly in return, whispering words of reassurance in her ear that she so desperately needed to hear.
"It's okay... whatever it is, it's okay..." He hummed, squeezing her paw affectionately, "Hush now, I'm right here..."
As the minutes went by, Cynder found herself inevitably falling quieter, the trembling and sobbing gradually calming down as a sense of utter exhaustion, both physically and mentally, suddenly hit her like a brick wall. This was as far as her endurance could take her, and her two emerald green eyes started to close almost on their own accord. A great big tired yawn escaped her mouth as well, and for a brief moment, she actually somehow managed to forget what she was so worried about in the first place. The alluring warmth of Spyro's scales in this tight embrace made it far too easy for her to start drifting away without thinking, and she very nearly found herself falling asleep right there and then.
"Hey come on, you can't sleep here..." The purple dragon chuckled softly, giving her a gentle shake with a paw. She could feel his warm breath tickling the back of her neck as he leaned closer, and he gave her a little nudge with the end of his snout as well, in an attempt to get her to stand up. When she made no attempt to move however, he tried a different approach.
"Look, am I really going to have to carry you?" He mused playfully, nuzzling into her neck. "Trust me, I will if I have to..."
Cynder weakly groaned in protest at this suggestion, but the unfortunate truth of the matter was that she was simply too tired to do anything about it, even if she wanted to. Inevitably, she soon found herself being half-dragged back into the lounge, using what little strength she had left to hobble along by his side, step by step. She stumbled several times in the process, but with his help, they somehow managed it.
By the time Spyro had eventually laid her down onto one of the huge cushions in front of the fireplace, she was just so totally and utterly done with everything, that she just collapsed right there on the spot. Her limbs were tangled in a confusing sprawl, but she was far beyond caring about such trivial issues right now. The warmth of the fire was just perfect, and this feeling of cosiness only got better when she felt Spyro's forearms wrapping around her waist, tugging her into a possessive embrace from behind. She couldn't help but purr happily in reply.
"Sweet dreams, Cynder..." Spyro whispered softly, leaning closer to plant a quick kiss on her forehead. A faint smile tugged at her lips, and from that moment onwards, she actually began to feel rather at peace. Her worries seemed a long way away right now, and she took great comfort in just knowing that Spyro cared so much for her, that he would do whatever it took to make her happy...
As Cynder's consciousness finally began to fade, one peculiar feeling started to manifest in her heart, one that she didn't expect to be experiencing at all considering the circumstances. It took her a while to realise what it was, but when she did, her smile grew even wider.
Maybe... She pondered thoughtfully, Maybe this isn't going to be so bad...
When morning dawned the next day, Cynder found herself being woken up quite unexpectedly by the rather affectionate but unwanted attentions of a certain purple dragon. Despite how she groaned tiredly in response to his actions and tried to shove him away in her half-awake state, she felt him start to kiss at her neck and face anyway, obviously in an attempt to get her to wake up. In short, rather annoyingly, it was working.
A slight smile of bemusement started to tug at Cynder's lips as she eventually realised the futility of resisting at last, her eyes fluttering open to fix him with a glare of minor irritance for waking her up so early. It was a major effort just to keep her eyes open for more than a few short seconds at a time, and a great big tired yawn escaped her maw before she could stop it.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Spyro stated somewhat playfully at that point, chuckling merrily to himself. "Wow, someone sure looks beautiful today..."
Cynder couldn't help but let out a brief snort of amusement and she pawed at his face tiredly, something which made him laugh. She felt him leaning forwards to kiss her cheek a second later, just like he always did. His two strong forearms pulled her closer against his chest too, and she found herself reclining against his larger form almost instinctively, sighing happily to herself.
There were certainly worse ways to start a day, that was for sure...
For a while Cynder was simply content to enjoy the moment, her smile growing wider still as she felt his tail entwine with hers. It was just so warm and so comfortable being wrapped up like this, that for a while she thought of nothing but how wonderfully attractive his scent was in this tight embrace, how gentle and lovingly that he was holding her. It was the best feeling in the world, and she wouldn't have traded it for anything. In the sort of blissful oblivion she found her mind wandering into as a result, nothing else besides their love for one another really seemed to matter anymore. It was, to put it simply, perfect.
"So how are we feeling today?" Spyro mused softly a short while later, giving her a little squeeze in his arms. "Better, I hope?"
Cynder was initially puzzled by this odd question, her mind struggling to make sense of it for quite some time. Inevitably however, the events of the previous night eventually caught up with her. At once her smile began to fade, the cosiness of the moment evaporating instantly as she was once again reminded about her recently discovered condition, and all of the issues and concerns that accompanied it.
This is real, isn't it? She found herself despairing. Oh ancestors, guide me...
Her mouth opened and closed a few times in an attempt to reply to him, to say something, anything at all, but she simply couldn't do it; the words wouldn't come. Her throat felt dry and almost painful, and now that she remembered why, it didn't make her feel any better in the slightest.
Eggs! Oh ancestors, I'm gravid...
Cynder's paws at this point gravitated towards the slight swelling in her abdomen almost without conscious thought, and she held them there for a long time, not willing to move another muscle. The only sound she could hear was the rapid and almost panicked fluttering of her heart as she struggled to remain composed, a sensation of utter dread rapidly filling her entire body, causing her to start trembling involuntarily once again. All kinds of thoughts and worries were racing through her mind, she really didn't know what to do.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry Cynder..." Spyro cooed softly then, quickly noticing her distress. In his arms he rocked her gently back and forth, humming in understanding. She felt him nuzzle into her neck and he ended up resting his head on her shoulder, his warm breath tickling her cheek. "Forget I said anything, okay?"
Pull it together! A voice in her head yelled, You're stronger than this, stop being so dramatic! Deal with it now, or it's only going to get worse!
In line with such thoughts, the black scaled dragoness simply found herself nodding in acceptance to Spyro's advice, taking in several deep and calming breaths, simply drawing strength from his presence. She tried to focus on the positives, and for a while at least, it seemed to be working.
Eventually therefore, when she felt strong enough, Cynder slowly started to pull herself away from his embrace. Spyro hesitated at first, eyeing her with worry, but he soon released his grip reluctantly, allowing her to turn and face him. Summoning what little courage she had, Cynder opened her mouth to speak. He smiled warmly in encouragement as she did this, squeezing her shoulders in his paws.
"Spyro, I... I need to tell you something..."
Before she could finish though, an odd rumbling sound suddenly filled the air, causing both of them to falter in alarm. The two dragons looked at each other in utter bewilderment for a few seconds, but then it happened again, even louder this time. Spyro just looked as baffled as she did, but soon enough, Cynder recognised what it was. Apparently it seemed, her empty stomach had something it wanted to say as well.
Spyro started to grin like an idiot as he came to this realisation too, and even Cynder, after a brief period of embarrassment, soon saw the funny side of it. They both ended up laughing heartily, the tension in the room breaking almost immediately. For a brief while, her anxieties faded. She actually began to feel a little more relaxed, a weak smile starting to tug at her lips as he nuzzled against her cheek affectionately.
See? Cynder told herself, This isn't so bad...
"Hungry, huh?" The purple dragon eventually mused with a chuckle, getting to his feet at that point. "Come on, let's find you something to eat. You must be starving!"
He extended his wing in invitation, and after a moment's hesitation she took it, following his lead as he trotted towards the dining room. The faint scent of leftover food hung heavily in the air, and almost immediately her stomach growled once more with renewed hunger. It took all of her self-restraint to not dive right in as soon she sat down at the table.
The second that Spyro was settled though, she held nothing back. Grabbing as much as she could in her paws, Cynder ate as if she hadn't so much as seen food for several days. Her body demanded it- and who was she to refuse? After all, she wasn't exactly doing it for just herself anymore.
For some reason, this thought greatly amused her. A strange warm fuzzy feeling blossomed in her heart, and she found herself smiling in a strange sense of disbelief and wonder, her tail flicking around quite happily.
I'm going to have eggs, little hatchlings! I... I can't believe it!
It didn't take long at all though, rather regrettably, for the food to eventually run out. Settling back to her haunches feeling partially sated now at least, Cynder waited patiently for Spyro to finish his own meal, something that he had quickly grabbed from the kitchen in the meantime. He tried several times to engage her in some small talk whilst he ate at a more leisurely pace, but Cynder honestly didn't feel particularly inclined to join in with much enthusiasm. Her thoughts were rather more focused on the issue at hand, so what little she did offer him in response only amounted to the occasional hum or nod of agreement to whatever it was he was saying.
Is this something that we're ready to deal with, though? Cynder found herself wondering more seriously now. It's just, well... we really don't know anything about this, do we? We'd have to get some help, I think...
"So Cynder, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Spyro suddenly asked out of the blue whilst tidying the table, abruptly startling her back to reality once more. As their eyes met the purple dragon tried to smile reassuringly in her direction, but it was quite obviously a forced motion, his tail flicking back and forth rather uneasily. He was tense, a lot more tense than she had seen him in a long time, and it made her start to feel distinctly uncomfortable.
"Oh, it's uh... um..." Cynder stammered in reply, gulping nervously. She had been caught totally off guard by this question, and in her flustered state, failed entirely to think of anything coherent to say. Her courage failed her in the heat of the moment, and so she simply ended up looking away from him and sighing. "It's uh... It's nothing, really! Forget I said anything!"
Spyro unfortunately seemed to disagree with this, because he suddenly leaned forwards and exhaled slowly, his brow narrowing deeply with concern. He tilted his head slightly and put the few plates he was holding in his paws back to the table, examining her reaction carefully as he continued to speak.
"Something's changed whilst I've been gone, hasn't it?" He asked quietly, but it was said in such a way that it sounded more like a statement of fact than a question. There was a brief pause, and then he added with a little more confidence, "That's what's bothering you, right?"
Surprised with the accuracy of this line of questioning, Cynder just blinked a few times in response, her mouth falling wide open in shock. Her heart skipped a few beats before suddenly starting to race like mad, pounding away heavily in her chest. A powerful onrush of anxiety flooded through her veins, and it completely paralysed her to the spot with indecision. It was totally irrational to feel this way, she knew, but panic threatened to totally overwhelm her thoughts regardless. She dug her claws tightly into the carpet, a horrible sinking feeling manifesting in her stomach as a rather paranoid but admittedly terrifying thought crossed her mind.
Oh ancestors, does he... does he know already?
Spyro, on seeing this alarmed reaction to his words however, promptly reached out with a paw to rest on top of hers, giving her a little squeeze of reassurance. He was smiling sympathetically, but it didn't really help much though, because she soon found herself getting locked into his intense gaze, unable to look away. She felt like the proverbial rabbit caught in the lamplight, totally transfixed and frozen to the spot in terror.
"Look," The purple dragon sighed at last, his expression softening immeasurably in sympathy. "Whatever it is that's bothering you Cynder, it's really starting to scare me. You've not been acting like yourself recently, and after what happened last night, I don't think this is something we can keep ignoring anymore. If there's something going on that's getting you this worked up, I think I need to know about it."
She didn't have the slightest idea on how to respond though, so Cynder just remained silent instead, wishing very much that she was somewhere else right now. Her heart twisted painfully seeing him looking so worried, a feeling that only got worse when he apparently realised she wasn't going to respond to him. He sighed, dipping his head slightly.
"Please Cynder, just talk to me..." Spyro eventually said, those two big round purple eyes widening imploringly. "You shouldn't have to deal with anything like this all by yourself. I'm here for you now, and you know that I always will be. You don't have to be scared about anything, I just want to understand how I can help you get through this. I promise Cynder, whatever it is, we can figure it out together..."
A long and awkward silence fell then, during which Cynder's throat had tightened so much that she probably couldn't have spoken anyway, even if she wanted to. She tried to look away, but there really was no getting away from this anymore and she knew it. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no matter how hard she tried to find the courage to tell him the truth; she just couldn't quite bring herself to do it.
Why the heck is this so hard? She despaired. All I have to do is just say it, that's all!
"I... I want to tell you, but I... I can't..." Cynder eventually admitted in defeat after a few moments of consideration, sniffing loudly as fresh tears started to well in her eyes with the frustration of the situation. She could feel herself starting to tremble again, and it only got worse when Spyro moved to sit by her side. As usual he promptly extended his wing and pulled her against his shoulder, whispering words of comfort in her ear. This time though, it didn't help much at all. She just stared at the ground, too lost in her own thoughts to pay much attention to what he was saying.
He needs to know, they're his eggs too! Cynder internally scolded herself, I can't keep this a secret, it wouldn't be fair. Just tell him already, for ancestors sake!
"Is this something to do with those medicines you've been taking?" Spyro whispered quietly a second or two later, humming deeply in his throat as she moved closer to nuzzle underneath his chin. "I didn't want to ask before, but is there something more seriously wrong with you, Cynder? Are you sick or... or ill? Sparx told me yesterday that you haven't been feeling well since I've been away, and I-"
"-No, I'm not sick, I'm... I... " Cynder quickly stammered in an attempt to cut him off, but soon found herself falling silent again as a sudden revelation popped into her mind now that Spyro had mentioned the word 'medicine'. At once she felt some previously dormant protective instinct flaring up inside of her, and without pausing to think, she abruptly leapt to her feet, desperately tearing herself away from Spyro's embrace as fast as she could.
Ancestors, I've been taking all of those medicines the doctors gave me, haven't I? Cynder mentally despaired. What if... what if I've been doing it wrong this whole time? What if I've done something to hurt the eggs without realising? Oh ancestors, I need to know if they're okay! I have to find someone who can help me!
Standing there shaking, Cynder began to pant heavily as she struggled to remain calm in the face of this new uncertainty. Her mate just hovered a few paces away, seemingly unsure of what to do. Eventually though, he took a few steps closer to her. The second that his outstretched paw touched hers though, she suddenly flinched violently and leapt away from him, gasping loudly.
"Hey, it's okay!" He tried to say, "Whatever it is, we can...-"
"We have to go to the temple, right now!" Cynder abruptly asserted, pawing nervously at the carpet several times. His brow narrowed deeply in confusion to this statement, but there was really no time to explain. The longer they delayed, the worse things could be!
"Let's go, come on!" She whined, turning to move towards the front door with such an urgency that it actually surprised her. The second that she did this however, Spyro dashed forwards with surprising speed and stood on her tail, making her stop at once. It didn't hurt all that much, but it did make her growl in frustration and turn to face him with a determined scowl, something that only seemed to make him look even more worried than before.
"Cynder, what the heck is going on?" Spyro suddenly snapped, raising his voice slightly. "Just calm down for a minute and talk to me, please! This is exactly why I'm worried, you're not behaving like yourself! I want to help you, but you're not making it easy!"
"You can help us both by doing as I say, Spyro!" She retorted sharply, snatching her tail back from his grasp quite easily. The hurt look on his expression as she did this made her gut twist uncomfortably though, and so she took a deep and steadying breath to try and calm herself. He was only trying to help her, after all.
Trotting to his side then, she leaned forwards to meet his snout in a brief nuzzle, an act which he reciprocated quite willingly. He was shaking slightly too, and it made her feel more just than a little guilty to realise that he was getting worked up as well. Making him feel like this was the last thing that she wanted.
"Please, this is more important than you know..." Cynder begged more softly, clutching one of his forepaws tightly. His eyes widened imploringly and she simply let out a long sigh. "I promise I'll tell you everything soon, but we really need to find someone who can help me first, okay? We can't just sit here Spyro, we really don't have the time. So please, let's just go..."
The purple dragon drew his head back slightly at this point, and the two of them simply stared at each other for a few short moments. He must have seen the panic and fear in her eyes, because his expression fairly quickly fell to one of understanding and sympathy. Humming softly in reassurance, he nuzzled against her cheek once more, an act for which she was most grateful.
"You.. you trust me, right? I... I'm sorry if I'm not making any sense..." Cynder mumbled rather croakily, rubbing her eyes clear with a paw. He simply reached forwards and kissed her on the forehead, smiling weakly in return.
"Of course I trust you, you know that." He replied tenderly, squeezing her paw affectionately. "If you want to go to the temple, then that's where we'll go..."
The journey across the bustling cityscape was a short one, but even still, Cynder didn't dare slow the reckless pace she was setting for even a second. The two of them had ran almost the entire way there, and despite her stomach churning uncomfortably with that all too familiar nausea, she forced herself onwards anyway, determined to find someone who could help her. Their paws drummed at the cobblestones underneath with such urgency that many of the other dragons headed in the same direction only just barely managed to step out of the way in time, many of them yelling out in alarm in the process.
"Watch it!" An elderly fire dragon scowled, having to nearly leap into the air to avoid them.
"You'll take someone's eye out running like that!" Came another yelp of indignant protest from another dragon, fixing both of them with a harsh stare as they thundered past.
To put it simply though, Cynder didn't really care about anyone else right now. Her only concern was for the wellbeing of her eggs, nothing else really mattered. She had to make sure that they were seen by a specialist as soon as possible, and that meant going to the hatchery- there really was nowhere else to go. She only hoped that someone would be available to see her at this sort of early hour, because if not, she wouldn't have the faintest idea on where else to turn to.
So far Spyro had been following closely behind without complaint on this little excursion, thankfully, but when they finally started to meet the morning rush of all of the other creatures in the main atrium once inside, their progress rather frustratingly started to slow. She heard him groaning in irritance from nearby.
"Is it always this busy? Ancestors, how are we supposed to get anywhere like this?" He frowned, tapping her flank with an outstretched wing to get her to stop for a second. She regarded him with an impatient scowl. "Can we get to where we're going any other way, Cynder?" He asked. "We'll be stuck here for hours in all this mess..."
"No, we can't. This is the fastest way." She hissed curtly in reply. "Just follow my lead, we'll be fine!"
With that, Cynder set off again, darting gracefully through the narrow gaps between the surging crowds of dragons, moles and cheetahs, almost as if they weren't even there to begin with. Her mind was racing at the same speed as her body, a million thoughts and worries churning around, spurring her to go faster. She took risks she wouldn't normally have done, occasionally resorting to diving into the shadows to avoid colliding with someone at the very last second. Every beat of her heart came with a ferocity she had never experienced before, her breaths coming in short, sharp pants.
Oh ancestors, please let the eggs be okay, please...
"Cynder! Slow down for a second!" Spyro pleaded in exasperation eventually though, causing her to falter as soon as she realised he had been left behind. Snapping her head around abruptly, it quickly became apparent that Spyro was struggling to gain much headway with his larger bulk and comparatively slower movements. He didn't have the same advantage of being able to phase into the shadows, something that in her mad panic, she had completely overlooked.
"Hurry up!" She out yelled in frustration nevertheless, tapping her tail on the ground impatiently as he tried to catch up.
Spyro's mistake, Cynder soon realised after a few seconds of staring, was that he was being a little too courteous, not simply forcing his way forwards like everyone else was doing. She tried to hide her aggravation but it was a difficult thing to do considering urgency of what they were trying to do. As soon as he finally reached her side a few short moments later, Cynder promptly wrapped her tail around one of his forepaws and started forcefully dragging him forwards from then on, something which he apparently found most amusing.
"Hey, what's the hurry?" He chuckled light heartedly, trying to inject a little humour into the situation. "You still haven't told me what we're doing, you know!"
Cynder only sighed in reply and tugged harder, head-butting a few other dragons out of the way when they stubbornly refused to make way. She could hear Spyro gasping in alarm at these actions, but she didn't really care about that, either. At any other time perhaps she might have been more patient, but right now, there really was no time to waste. Her eggs needed her, perhaps now more than they ever would, and nothing was going to get in her way!
Thankfully though, as soon as they had passed the few elementally sealed doors and other security measures separating the main temple from the underground inner sanctum, the going started to get a whole lot easier. From all of her time spent volunteering down here, Cynder knew almost without thinking which way was the fastest, and she led Spyro through the confusing labyrinth of tunnels and connecting chambers with practiced ease. They were moving so fast that everything was a blur, and aside from nearly bumping into several surprised looking temple workers in the process, they met no further obstacles in their path.
It therefore took no time at all for them to arrive in the main chamber at last, where several of the more important offices and side-chambers essential to running the hatchery could be found. Even though both of them were still panting heavily with exertion, Cynder forced herself to peek inside each separate room as they walked by with wide and pleading eyes anyway, desperate to find someone who might be able to help them. She almost managed to do a full circle of the place before suddenly spotting something curious on the far wall that made her stop and stare. It looked like the doors on Aryia's office were slightly ajar, and at once, Cynder quickly found herself coming to a decision.
Ariya! Yes, she can help me! She asserted on the spot. She'll know what I'm supposed to do!
As Cynder urgently rushed forwards to look through the huge set of double oak doors though, it unfortunately became quickly apparent that the office was disappointingly vacant, and probably had been for quite some time, by the looks of things. There were papers fluttering around untidily all over the place as if someone had been looking for something in a hurry, but apart from that, everything was still and silent. Even the fire that was normally flickering away in the far corner had burned itself out, making it difficult to see anything in great detail. Her gut twisted with renewed concern and worry, and she pranced on the spot nervously, whining with unease.
Oh no, what do I do now? Cynder despaired. Where the heck could she be?
"Cynder, what are we looking for?" Spyro asked curiously at this point, peeking around her shoulder to look inside for himself. "Or... who?" He added with a frown, looking utterly bewildered. "I don't understand..."
In response to his questioning, Cynder simply kicked at the ground and scowled, flicking her tail back and forth with fresh agitation. She didn't understand either. Ariya was supposed to be here unless something urgent demanded her attention. As far as she knew, everything was fine when she had left the hatchery yesterday afternoon, it didn't make any sense!
"Hey, Cyndie!" A rather high pitched and excited sounding voice suddenly called out without warning, making both of them jump in surprise. By snapping her head around quickly, it quickly became obvious who it was, though. Several paces away and off to their left side, a familiar pink scaled dragoness was smiling happily in their direction. Her tail was wagging away quite joyfully behind her, as it always did.
"Ember!" Cynder gasped, holding a paw to her chest for a second as the brief lived shock of the moment wore off. "Ancestors, you scared me..."
Giggling with glee, Ember hopped forwards playfully as if to greet her with one of those usual wing embraces she loved to use, but then paused rather abruptly as she happened to spot Spyro standing there too. A look of alarm formed on her expression, but it was rapidly replaced with one of pleasant surprise a second or two later.
"Hey, is it 'bring your drake to work day', or something? How come nobody told me?" Ember grinned cheekily, looking between the two of them with those bright blue eyes, twinkling in amusement. In her peripheral vision Cynder saw Spyro smirking at their friend's antics, though he had the sense to stay quiet, thankfully.
"So anyway, what brings you guys here at this sort of time?" Ember asked curiously, tilting her head a little. "You need any help with anything, or...?"
"Oh! Yeah, actually, yes..." Cynder quickly managed to stutter in reply. "Have you seen Ariya, by any chance? We need to talk to her about something important, but we don't know where she is. Is she out somewhere else today, or something?"
"Nah, she's here, don't worry!" Ember happily responded, clearly oblivious to the way both she and Spyro were still struggling to catch their breath. "She's still over in the nesting chambers, I think. Some guys just turned up like maybe five minutes ago to take home a clutch that's due to hatch soon. You remember the eggs that nobody knew who they belonged to, right? Well it turns out they were Tornas' and Gale's eggs all along, just like I said they were!"
When Cynder didn't respond at first, Ember continued, getting rather excited, "You must have seen the two of them wandering around yesterday actually, they were right here when you were working, and-"
"-Ah! Got it, nesting chambers, thanks!" Cynder deftly cut in at that point, smiling apologetically to silence her friend before she went off on a random tangent, as she often did. "Sorry, but we've really got to be going, we don't have a lot of time. We'll talk to you later though, okay?"
Grabbing Spyro's forepaw in her tail once more, Cynder gave him a little tug and started walking away before Ember could say anything further. She heard Spyro uttering a quiet apology as they passed, but Cynder didn't hear the exact words, focused as she was on reaching her new destination. The powerful emotional cocktail of fear and worry continued to churn away in her gut relentlessly, forcing her onwards with renewed determination.
Faster, faster! She told herself, Move it!
"What was that about?" Spyro asked once they were out of earshot and around the next bend in the corridor. She simply huffed in reply and started walking even quicker.
"What was what?" She mumbled angrily.
"That!" He said in a sterner tone. "She was only trying to be nice, Cynder! I know you said what we're doing is important, but why is it important? You're really starting to worry me with all these secrets, I'm not even sure what we're doing here. Can't you just tell me what's going on already?"
Cynder must have sighed for the hundredth time since they left the house, rolling her eyes again in response to him. This wasn't a conversation she was planning to have with him until she knew the eggs were safe and unharmed. Anything else that they did in the meantime was just wasting time. Even if he did take the news well, it would only delay them from getting where they needed to go, something which she wasn't prepared to risk.
It's for the eggs, for our children...
At least anyway, that's what Cynder kept trying to tell herself; that it was for the greater good, somehow. It didn't make hiding the truth any easier though. Everything he was saying made perfect sense, and her gut sank heavily with a sensation of rapidly growing guilt and shame that mingled with all of her other anxieties in no time at all. The only way in which she could cope was to basically ignore him, as horrible as this thought was, and try and keep her mind busy on the task at hand.
Thankfully, after passing several more elementally sealed doors, the passageway started to grow so tight that they had to walk in single file, effectively cutting off all conversation anyway. The sound of voices talking nearby could soon be heard however, echoing enticingly from deeper inside the hatchery, drawing them ever closer. Cynder licked her lips in anticipation and swallowed nervously as she led Spyro towards where the noises were coming from. One of the voices down there was definitely Ariya's, and it seemed like it was coming from one of the few side chambers that were currently being used. The door itself was slightly ajar, and inside, she could see the faint flicker of blue scales reflecting in the firelight. Her heart skipped several beats, and she rushed forwards eagerly.
Almost there! Don't stop now!
By the time Cynder reached the doorway though, the sapphire scaled dragoness was apparently already on her way out. They very nearly bumped into each other as a result, but Cynder managed to jump out of the way in the nick of time, both of them gasping loudly in surprise.
"Goodness Cynder, you scared me half to death!" Ariya quickly sighed in relief, holding a paw to her chest. A faint smirk of amusement tugged at her lips. "You should be more careful, dear!"
Dipping her head in apology, Cynder tried to smile in return, but it was a very hard thing to do, considering the circumstances. Her anxiety was reaching a peak of sorts, and her whole body was shaking terribly as a result. Still though, Cynder wasn't exactly the type of dragoness to easily give into such emotions. In fact, in a perverse kind of way, these feelings actually made her even more determined to just hurry up and get this over with.
"Ah, and of course Spyro, a pleasure to see you too, as always!" The elder dragoness also said warmly in greeting, her smile widening further still. Those two deep blue intelligent eyes looked between them both, seemingly uncertain of who to address when neither of them offered anything in immediate reply. The atmosphere of the moment started to feel slightly strained fairly quickly, and Cynder gulped nervously. Besides her, Spyro looked like he was trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.
"Is there perhaps something I can do for you?" Ariya asked, coughing to clear her throat in order to break the awkward silence. "I take it you're not here to work, dear...?"
"No, I... I'm not..." Cynder admitted rather hesitantly, pawing at the ground a few times. "I really do need your help though, Ariya. Do you have a minute to talk? It's urgent, it... it can't wait..."
The sapphire scaled dragoness hesitated for a brief moment before nodding slowly in acceptance, though she seemed to realise that something was amiss fairly quickly.
"Of course Cynder, you know that my door is always open to the both of you." She eventually replied, her brow narrowing deeply with concern. "But dear, is there something wrong? Is everything alright? You look dreadful..."
Spyro looked at her rather questioningly at this point too, and Cynder simply sighed loudly, avoiding their gazes quite on purpose. She didn't quite know how to respond at first, but after taking a second or two to gather herself, looked back towards the older dragoness with fresh resolve.
The eggs, remember the eggs! She told herself. This is for them!
"I... I really don't know." Cyder explained succinctly, sighing again. "That's why I needed to talk to you. Could we go somewhere more private, though? If... if that's alright?"
If Ariya was surprised by this request, she didn't show it. Instead, the older dragoness simply smiled reassuringly and motioned with a paw towards the direction of her office, stepping off in silence. As soon as she did this, Spyro extended one of his wings in invitation as they fell into step behind her. Without even hesitating, Cynder quickly moved to lean against his side, gratefully nuzzling into his neck for support. He purred happily from the back of his throat in response to her actions, giving her a little squeeze of reassurance in the process.
"Hey, it's going to be alright..." He whispered softly in her ear. "Don't worry so much, okay? I'm sure everything is going to work out just fine, you'll see."
"I...I hope so..." Cynder mumbled quietly in return, though if she were being honest, she wasn't entirely certain. She really didn't have a clue what she would do if Ariya told her that something was wrong with the eggs, or that she had been doing something improperly. Just the very thought that she might have already failed at being a parent made her stomach twist painfully once again, and she started feeling almost physically sick with worry.
Ancestors, please let them be okay...
Fortunately the journey back to the office didn't take long at all, and Cynder was unsurprisingly left with very little time to dwell on such thoughts. It was a mixed blessing though, because as soon as Ariya pushed open the doors and looked inside, she gasped loudly in surprise at what she saw. Pulling her head back sharply, the sapphire scaled dragoness quickly then turned to look at them with an embarrassed sort of smile on her face, her tail flicking two and fro rather uneasily.
"Goodness, I do apologise for this!" She chuckled a little nervously, "Last night was rather hectic to say the least, and I'm afraid I've left this place in somewhat of a mess! Just give me a moment and then we can get started, it shan't take long..."
Spyro smiled in apparent understanding to this reasoning and quietly said something in acknowledgement, though he shot Cynder a worried glance the second that Ariya's back was turned. All Cynder did was simply sigh in exasperation and start pacing impatiently on the spot, trying her very hardest to ignore the still ever present surges of powerful emotion racing through her body. She was feeling everything from fear and anxiety, to anger and despair, often all at the same time. It was getting nearly impossible to keep a straight face anymore, no matter what she did.
Why the heck is this so hard? Cynder internally pondered, falling to her haunches in a moody silence, a fierce scowl on her expression. Why am I so afraid? This is nothing, we've been through far worse situations than this!
Her gaze happened to fall to Spyro at this point, purely by coincidence. He offered her a sympathetic smile of understanding, but it was the calming look in his eyes that most affected her. She found herself staring blankly at him in return, getting herself lost in those wide lavender tinted eyes all too easily, almost as if she were seeing right into his very soul, laid wide open in front of her.
In that moment, she felt something change. It was like she now suddenly understood something that had previously been eluding her all this time, somehow. At once, she felt a strange sort of nervous courage building up inside of her, and before it disappeared entirely she sized the moment and leapt back to her feet, trotting quickly to Spyro's side. He looked a little surprised at first, but as soon as she nuzzled against his cheek, he returned her affections all too willingly, purring from the back of his throat in contentment.
"Spyro, this might sound a little weird, but I... I want to ask you something..." She rather shyly whispered in his ear, a warm sort of fuzzy glow fluttering in her chest, temporarily dampening her fears. She drew herself closer to him, gripping his paw tightly. Soon enough, the purple dragon nodded in response, if a little belatedly. He looked incredibly curious, most of the tension rapidly disappearing from his expression.
"Sure. What is it?"
Taking a deep breath, Cynder fought back the hard lump growing in her throat and swallowed bravely. Squeezing his paw even tighter, she opened her mouth to speak, the words coming surprisingly easily, almost as if she had been reciting them for hours. In a perverse sort of way, she felt quite proud of herself.
"Do you remember what you told me yesterday, when you came to the temple?" She asked him quietly, nuzzling into his neck before leaning back to study his face intently, looking for any hint of recognition to her words. His expression twisted in confusion, though.
"I was in the playroom with all those hatchlings, remember?"
Spyro had to pause in thought for a few moments, but then simply nodded again in recognition several seconds later. A sly sort of smile tugged at his lips, and he raised an eyebrow curiously. Clearly, this wasn't something he had been expecting to talk about in the slightest. His head tilted, and he tapped his claws a few times on the ground, his interest most certainly piqued by this point.
"That looking after all of those hatchlings suited you, right?" The purple dragon queried. His eyes roamed questioningly all over her face, as if to search for further clarification.
"Yes, that's right..." Cynder purred, leaning her head against his shoulder. He chuckled in response and she felt his tail entwine with hers, as it often did with with this sort of close proximity. Letting out a long and pleased sigh, Cynder looked down at his paw and squeezed it again, her heart thrumming away fiercely in her chest. "Did you mean it though, Spyro? I... I need to know..."
"Of course I did." He replied calmly, promptly wrapping a wing around her body, a great big smile on his face now. "Why wouldn't I have meant it? I was really impressed with what I saw back there, and so was Ariya. All those kids looked to be having a great time, and so did you, actually! I was really proud to see it, you were doing a great job."
Cynder slightly drew herself away to look at him in the eye rather sceptically. She tried to put on her most serious and pleading expression, but it was difficult to stop herself from grinning happily like an idiot at such praise. It really did encourage her to keep going, and the warm feeling in her heart started growing at a tremendous rate, quickly eclipsing her earlier concerns and worries in no time at all.
"R... really?" She stammered a little. "You... you mean that?"
"Yes!" He laughed, "But why are you asking about that now? What brought this on?"
Suddenly however, his eyes widened in unexpected realisation, and he looked at her with his mouth slightly agape. For a brief moment, Cynder's heart was in her throat. She waited with baited breath for him to speak.
"Wait..." Spyro pondered out loud, tapping his claws on the ground. "Ariya's right, isn't she? Did all this working in the hatchery make you think about having our own-"
"-Eggs?" Cynder quickly butted in, her breathing now more desperate and frantic than it had been nearly all day. Her mate, clearly surprised with this turn of conversation, simply nodded meekly. Both of them laughed a little awkwardly, but now, with her cheeks burning, Cynder leaned closer to his ear, utterly committed. A few choice important words were floating around in her mind; words that she now realised she should have shared with him a long, long time ago. Hearing him offer such support gave her the confidence to do what needed to be done, at last.
"Well, Spyro..." She continued with finality, drawing herself up slightly. Her voice was shaking with anticipation, but she forced herself to continue, "Let's just say that it might be happening a little sooner than we thought it would..."
AN: Finally! Oh gosh I am so sorry for making everyone wait this long! You have no idea how much I agonised over this chapter. Every word was a struggle and nothing really seemed like it sounded right after reading it back. I must have written the start and ending to this one at least 5 or 6 times before I was happy with it. Even now though, I'm still a bit sceptical as to how this chapter might be received. I guess I will probably just always hate my own writing no matter what I do, lol...
Honestly, I've no idea when the next one will be out. Like I did with the last chapter I will add authors notes to the bottom of this one and on my profile to keep everyone apprised of how the next one is coming along, so feel free to check in now and again if you are curious!
And yes, I know, I am a bad person for taking so long. I hate myself too. Next chapter as you might guess will contain some serious stuff, and we can FINALLY get back to some more cool plot things again! Horray! We might even get a few hints as to what's really going on out there in the realms and why the guardians are being so secretive, who knows...? :)
Anyway, special thanks to my beta reader 7Sky for being so patient with my incoherent night time ramblings and actually convincing me that this chapter isn't as bad as I thought it was!
See you next time and thanks for reading, whoever you are! Any feedback in review/PM is as always welcome, because I'd be the first to admit that I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to writing stories!
Update 14th November: Wow, a whole month flew by and I totally forgot to write something here. Sorry...
Ill be honest, I've been getting stuck again and frustrated time and time again, and instead of writing, I've been animating Spyro instead of writing. I'm still working on this story though, trust me!
Update 7th December: Nearly 5k words now, yay! And only a tiny bit more to do :D
Update 22nd December: Done! Just with the beta reader now. Finally... Will post as soon as it gets the green light :D