Damn, my longest chapter yet. Almost 4500 words. Coming from a 1300-word chapter straight into another 4000-word chapter, so enjoy, I guess. Lots more long ones will be coming at you soon. Two chapters until the first major action sequence, by the way, and after reading this chapter, you might be able to figure out what's going to happen.
To 'Fredrik the astral dragon', the reason why I'm talking about Chapter 54 and stuff (I wasn't in the mood to start Chapter 55 so this chapter's a freebie for you all) is because I've written a whole crap-ton of stuff in advance; I've been writing this fanfic since March last year (almost been working on this for a year now, jeez…) so that explains why I'm about 31 chapters ahead. More like 51, if you count the extra 20 chapters I've written for the other fanfic I've been writing since May or June last year. Damn, I just realised how much work I've done on these. Glad to be able to do something with them now.
Anyway, onto the dragons. 'LoNeWoLf' guessed correctly at who the attacker-dragon was, and we'll see him return this chapter to dob Aaron in to Spyro.
"Spyro! Spyro! I believe you now!" Shocker cried as he landed in front of Spyro's apartment, knocking rapidly on the door.
A groggy purple dragon opened the door, groaning and growling. "Shocker, it's night and I'm trying to sleep. Cynder probably is as well." Spyro said, gesturing up at Cynder's apartment at her mention.
"But Spyro, I believe you now!" Shocker panted.
"Of course you do, you're my friend, aren't you?" Spyro asked, a grin on his face.
But it was then that Spyro noticed the shocked, panicked look on Shocker's face. His face fell and his eyes narrowed, his mouth thinning into a small line. "Are you okay, Shocker? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Spyro asked.
"Not a ghost, but the ape you were talking about. I found it in the forest." Shocker explained, and Spyro's expression hardened. "I saw it with my own eyes, and I managed to cause some damage on it. I believe you now! I really do! I'm sorry for criticising what you said about the ape, but that was because I wasn't sure that it really existed! I do, now!"
"Well at least you did something to hinder it." Spyro muttered.
"But it gets worse!" Shocker cried.
"'Worse'? What do you mean, 'worse', Shocker?" Spyro asked, scrunching up his face in confusion, not wanting to hear the answer.
"I saw a second one!" Shocker blurted out.
"Hold on a minute… did you just say… you saw… a second ape?!" Spyro exclaimed, his eyes widening and his body beginning to tremble.
Shocker only nodded. Spyro's features went from surprise to absolute terror. I knew it. I knew this would happen. The ape is bringing its kind back. It's saving them from their curse! Spyro thought, his head aching as the shock got to him. Soon enough, the apes will be back on our tails, ready to start another war and kill us all! But it's only been two years! We've barely recovered! Nobody can afford any more of this!
"But it gets worse yet again!" Shocker said, interrupting Spyro's thoughts as more terror seemed to pile onto the purple dragon's expression.
"What do you mean?" Spyro asked, his voice nothing but a shuddering whisper. "How can anything get worse than that?!"
Spyro noticed that Shocker's eyes were watering, a small tear forming around his bottom left eyelid. "Hunter… a-a-and the cheetahs… th-th-they're on the ape's s-s-s-side." Shocker stammered, before breaking down into tears.
"H… What?!" Spyro whispered. "They wouldn't! They're on our side! They helped us get rid of the apes! The cheetahs wouldn't just turn on us and join the ape just like that!"
But Shocker had more to add, and the fourteen-year-old electric dragon was now a sobbing mess, overcome by the sheer reality of the fear that was dawning over him. "And the second ape… mentioned Cynder and Volteer." Shocker sobbed fearfully.
"Cynder and Volt…" Spyro started before shaking his head, beginning to snap at his friend at the sheer madness of the fact. "They wouldn't! Cynder and I… we've been through dark times together! She wouldn't just turn her back on me now! And Volteer is a guardian, by the ancestors' names! He's even less likely to go on the ape's side!"
"It's true! The first ape said something about being the target of a dragon race, and the second replied saying that they both were a target since a dragon that wasn't Cynder or Volteer, me, had seen them, and then the first ape got all mad at the second." Shocker cried. "That heavily implies that Cynder and Volteer have had some strange activity with the apes, much like the cheetahs."
Spyro felt his blood boil. His breath came in heavy gasps as he looked back to the staircase that went up to Cynder's apartment. Snarling, Spyro turned and entered Cynder's apartment, waking her up with an angry yell.
"Explain!" Spyro shouted. "Now!"
"Wh-wh-wh-what did I do, Spyro?!" Cynder stammered, jolting backwards at the shock of being woken up very rudely by Spyro.
"Shocker has seen the ape, who mentioned you and Volteer. What the ape said heavy implied that you were on its side." Spyro explained darkly.
Cynder was taken aghast by the statement. She and Volteer had been found out. And so had Aaron. She tried to protest, but Spyro kept talking. "The cheetahs were also mentioned, and Shocker also saw a second ape!" Spyro shouted. "You know something, Cynder! You're up to something! And I want to know what that something is!"
Cynder said the only thing she could think of. "The ape's lying. They've been known to do that." Cynder blurted out.
What Spyro said next petrified and mortified her. "So have you, Terror of the Skies." Spyro spat. "You already have."
"Spyro! What in the ancestors' names?! Why would you ever call me that name?! I'm different now, you know that! You said that! To everyone in Warfang! You made them calm down and accept me! Why would you turn back on your word?!" Cynder protested.
"Because after what Shocker said happened when he found the apes and chased after them says against what I originally said, and I frankly don't trust you anymore!" Spyro roared. "You can have time to think up what you will say overnight. I will get the guardians and the elders together tomorrow and we'll see what to do. Goodnight."
And Spyro left without another word. Cynder did everything she could to refrain from bursting into tears. But she did anyway. Her lie had been found out. What scared her was that Volteer would be caught off guard by the fact that she and Volteer had been found out, and the cheetahs were now brought into the situation. Aaron had been seen out in the wild, and, even worse, the passive, gentle apes of Arriax had been found as well. So much had gone wrong within one night. Now the elders were also being brought in, and they were strict, stern, yet wise. But having past experience with the apes, they too, would not approve of Aaron and the apes from Arriax. Cynder, Volteer, Aaron, the cheetahs and apes were in a gravely bad spot.
And Cynder knew it would just get worse from here…
"Alright, so everyone's here, Spyro. What did you want to tell us about?" Terrador asked, rubbing his bandaged shoulder.
"Some… disturbing… mentions came up last night when Shocker found the ape in the forest." Spyro said, and for a moment he swore he saw the blood drain from Volteer's face.
"I'm… I'm sure that us guardians unaccompanied may as well have managed this, Spyro. The elders are even now recuperating from the overwhelming and devastating trauma of the war and having to go into asylum, and they're still endeavouring hard as they might to get used to the city after being absent from it for ten or so years." Volteer said nervously. "There was by no means any necessity and requirement to get them involved into whatever predicament you may bring to us."
"Volteer." the old voice of Statirn, the electric elder, scolded. "Let the young purple dragon speak."
"Sorry, Elder Statirn, but I can't contemplate any reason that there was any need to bring you elders into a problematic and nerve-wracking circumstance that us guardians have had to deal with since you brought us into the uppermost authority." Volteer argued.
"But now we're back, and we're in the 'uppermost authority' as you call it, Volteer." said Blazrak, the fire elder, his voice filled with sarcasm when he repeated the words Volteer had spoken.
"Blazrak is right. Now that we're back, the purple dragon has every right to call on us if needed." Subzero, the ice elder, said, his voice filled with pride.
Cynder groaned, rolling her eyes as she brought a forepaw to her forehead. Must all ice dragons be so boastful and full of themselves? First there's Cyril, and now I've got Icebreath and Subzero to deal with. Cynder thought.
"Alright, alright!" Cyril groaned. "We should let Spyro speak. If something troubles him so much as to bring the elders to a meeting, then we should let him voice his opinions, however I do say that I agree with Volteer and Elder Subzero equally."
"Agreeing with Volteer is a first, Cyril. You sure you're okay from that earth missile I shot at you a few days ago?" Terrador asked coldly, his eyes gleaming nastily.
"Shut up." Blazrak snapped. "My patience is running thin. Young purple dragon, speak."
"My information is a little vague, thanks to Shocker's endless fearful rambling, but from what I can gather, he's found the ape that we've dealt with recently in the forest. It was random and Shocker was unprepared. After chasing down the ape, they both stumbled across a second ape, which concerns me because the apes were thought to have gone extinct after the war ended, but now there are two back. Who knows, there could even be more. As the apes fled, they had a bit of an angry conversation, and more disturbing points were thrown into the mix." Spyro explained.
"Elaborate on this, please." Volteer coaxed, his heart speeding up with fear, knowing where this could be going.
"Shocker said that he heard the first ape say something about being the target of the dragon race, which he very well has been since making his 'grand appearance' in Warfang four days ago. Five if you include the day when Terrador found it in a fire dragoness' cave." Spyro continued. "Then the second ape said that they both were a target of the dragon race, since 'a dragon that wasn't Cynder or Volteer' had seen them. The first ape got all angry as if someone's cover had been blown or something, but it really concerns me that Cynder and Volteer's names were brought up."
Cynder received an accusing look from Spyro, and Volteer received confused, distressed looks from Terrador and Cyril. Volteer shrugged innocently, shaking his head, but he couldn't fool the other guardians, whom he had been friends with for so long that they knew if Volteer was trying to get out of trouble.
Spyro continued speaking, "The fashion in which Shocker said they spoke their names heavily implied that Cynder and Volteer were being two-faced about the whole ape situation. Are… being two-faced about the situation. What's worse is when Shocker said he could have eliminated the first ape, the second got away, six cheetahs got into the fight, shot Shocker down and ran off with the ape. The worst bit is that Shocker said that the ape, too, carried a bow and quiver, which is weird since apes aren't good archers, but nevertheless, the ape managed to land three successful hits on Shocker."
"This is very… puzzling and… distressing." Subzero muttered.
Terrain, the earth elder, began to make several grunting noises. Subzero looked at Terrain and smirked. "What have you figured out, Terrain? Whenever you do that you always figure out something useful." Subzero said.
"That's very true. You see, while Spyro was telling his story, I actually studied the reactions of Volteer and the dark purple dragoness – Cynder, I think you said her name was – as they seemed to be reacting and fidgeting the most out of everyone. I saw Volteer's face pale and Cynder never looked up from her paws. Those signs I have seen a lot in my lifetime, and normally they are associated with guilt or shame." Terrain explained. "I can pretty much confirm that they are playing this very two-faced, in Spyro's words, and there is a possibility that most of this other information wasn't new to them. They probably already know that the cheetahs have sided with the ape, and that there is more than one of them. Perhaps, they have even sided with the ape, too."
"Volteer, you've always been the odd one out of all four of us guardians, but this is despicable!" Cyril scolded as Volteer tightened his jaws and looked down, his bright yellow eyes not looking at Cyril once as the bandaged ice guardian spoke. "Siding with apes?! This is childish behaviour, and very unlike how a guardian should act!"
"You're damn right it's juvenile behaviour! I'm the youngest of the guardians! Seven years younger than the next, which is you, Cyril!" Volteer spat, looking up at Cyril angrily. "You've continuously expected me to be mature and developed and to learn when to seal my large, 'chubby' mouth when necessary, which you deem is all the damned time, you necessitating and obligating frauds, but I will not stand for the criticism and disapproval anymore!"
"Calm yourself, Volteer." Terrador threatened, his voice getting dangerously low.
"No, I will not!" Volteer shouted.
"This is why we tell you to shut the hell up!" Cyril spat, standing up and slamming a paw down on the ground angrily. "Because you get yourself into situations you can't get out of and we have to do the cleaning up for you!"
"You liar! Your solitary purpose of saying that is because you're sick of my voice!" Volteer retorted, standing up and glaring angrily at Cyril.
"This sort of fighting is inappropriate for dragons of your age and those with authority such as you!" Statirn said as loud as he could.
"Tell that to Terrador! He's gotten himself into a bout twice within forty-eight hours just two days ago!" Volteer blamed.
"You don't think we haven't heard what happened, Volteer?!" Blazrak roared, standing up, his short temper getting dangerously close to bursting.
"I could make that three within three days if I wanted to, Volteer!" Terrador shouted, following suit.
"Calm down, this is extremely unnecessary!" Cynder cried, standing up and walking towards the bickering leaders, but was stopped by Spyro.
"Don't get into their argument. Let's just leave!" Spyro muttered.
"But if we don't do something one of them is sure to snap and break into violence! And that won't be good for someone as frail as the elders are!" Cynder added.
As much as Spyro hated the idea of breaking up the fight (which was odd, but Spyro didn't question the strange feeling that was coming over him), he had to admit that Cynder was right. Spyro was loyal to the guardians, and even more so, the elders, now that they had come back into authority. "Guys, stop! There's no need for this!" Spyro shouted.
"It'll just end badly, trust me!" Cynder cried, remembering the battle between Terrador and General Icebreath.
"No! Trust me!" Terrador shouted as he whirled around to glare at them, before he turned back to the argument, his scales flushing bright red.
"Stop this insolence!" Blazrak yelled.
"I can do and say what I want, thank you very much!" Cyril scowled.
"This is very childish behaviour, shut it and sit down!" Subzero shouted.
"I'm sorry I'm the youngest! I'm the youngest in everything! My family, my friends, the guardians! What in the ancestors' names next?!" Volteer apologised sarcastically, his voice bitter.
"Enough!" Cynder shrieked.
"No, Cynder! We will not stop! I will not stop!" Terrador scowled, walking out of the silenced group of once bickering dragons and towards Cynder, his voice carrying a very dangerous tone. "I won't listen to you, especially since you betrayed us!"
"Betrayed you?! What in the ancestors' names are you talking about?!" Cynder asked.
"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT THE HELL I'M TALKING ABOUT, TERROR OF THE SKIES!" Terrador roared.
"You take that back!" Volteer yelled.
"And why would you be so protective of her, huh?!" Spyro shouted, flaring his wings protectively. "You're too old for her!"
"BECAUSE I'M ON HER SIDE!" Volteer roared, his voice rising in a way it never had before. "DO YOU REALLY THINK I'M ENDEAVOURING TO GET HER ROMANTICALLY, YOU PURPLE LIZARD?!"
"SO YOU ACCEPT THAT YOU AND CYNDER ARE ON THE APE'S SIDE?!" Terrador shouted, rounding on Volteer.
"HE'S A HUMAN!" Cynder screeched.
"IMPOSSIBLE! NO BEING HAS EVER EXISTED!" Spyro shouted, turning on her.
"IT'S VERY POSSIBLE! HE'S THE FIRST TO WALK IN THE DRAGON REALMS!" Cynder spat.
"How do we know that's not a lie, Terror?!" Terrador asked with a low voice that contained such bitterness it made Cynder shiver.
"Why are you calling me Terror?! That's five years gone!" Cynder whimpered.
Terrador opened his large mouth to spit an answer back at Cynder, but Terrain interrupted him. "Cynder's right, Terrador. There's no reason to call her by her old title anymore; she's a changed dragoness, and you know well enough of that. This is not how a guardian should behave." Terrain scolded.
"If I remember correctly that while I was a child, when you were the guardians, you fought a lot as well!" Terrador scowled.
"Not in full-on assaults like you have been recently, Terrador!" Blazrak shouted. "You're at about the age where we stopped arguing with each other and getting along! Volteer and Cyril have had problems since you became guardians at around a hundred years old, but that doesn't explain this!"
Unable to spit a retort back at the elders, he rounded on Cynder again. "I suggest you speak the truth, Cynder. Are you, or are you not on the ape's side of this?" Terrador said darkly, his voice a rumbling, gravelly whisper and filled with malice and bitterness.
All eyes turned on Cynder, and no one saw Volteer's head shaking side to side frantically as if to say 'don't do it, say no'. Cynder opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, and she stood there, mouthing in silent stutters. Then she spoke, "Yes."
Cynder hung her head low and closed her eyes as she heard Spyro, Terrador and Blazrak gasp in shock. There was a quiet, low groan that came from Volteer. Cynder didn't want to admit to her lie any more than she wanted to get on Spyro's bad side, but she had walked into it and she couldn't get herself out of it now. There was no point in keeping the lie going. "Yes, I am. And I-I-I-I'm sorry f-f-for l-lying, and… and… a-a-a-and I know I messed up and I b-betrayed your trust and hurt you, a-a-a-and I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Cynder babbled, tears forcing themselves out of Cynder's eyes in painful rivers.
Cynder suddenly fell backwards as searing pain flared up in her left cheek. She opened her eyes and put her paw to her cheek and when she brought it back, she saw blood on them. She looked up at her attacker with utter disbelief and shrunk back on herself, breathing heavily and her lips moving in unreadable shapes. Spyro had a vicious snarl on his face and smoke bellowed from his nostrils. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Cynder. Not this time." Spyro said softly before raising his voice and making Cynder jump. "I trusted you, Cynder! You've lied to us countless times since the ape appeared, and you continued to do so for four straight days! You lied to the elders, to the guardians, and to me! I'm angry… and worried… because I can't trust you anymore!"
Spyro paused for a moment and swallowed. Cynder could have sworn that she saw tears welling up in Spyro's fierce eyes. "You're back with the apes, Cynder. That worries me more than anything!" Spyro continued, his voice a hoarse whisper now. "I'm scared you're turning back to your old ways, and you're pulling Volteer with you!" As he spoke the last four words, spittle flew from his lips, spraying all over Cynder's chest.
Standing up slowly and painfully, as Cynder had landed on her shoulders hard, Cynder looked Spyro in the eyes, and she saw the fear in them. But there was no mistake that plenty of rage was also evident in those violet eyes, no matter how hard Spyro tried to hide it. Taking in a sharp, shaky breath, Cynder spoke. "Volteer came with me upon his own will. I didn't do anything to make him change. I'm still myself. I didn't go to the apes because I wanted to go turn back towards my old ways. I went because I saw that they had changed, and that they needed a chance to show everyone that they had!" Cynder explained.
"Apes don't just change, Cynder." Spyro snarled. "You remember what they were like! Oh, what am I saying? Of course you do! You were their army general! And I know that you know very well that the apes are incapable of changing!"
"If only you knew!" Cynder cried.
"Cynder is speaking with complete and honest accuracy. The apes are unlike what we recognise them to be. The only reason I swapped sides is for the reason that I observed and witnessed how genuine they were about desiring to change!" Volteer piped up before shaking his head and growling, "Ancestors, what am I saying?! We're talking about this like it's warfare, for the ancestors' sakes! Talking about 'sides' and all!"
"That's because if the apes are back, this could very well turn into a war." Statirn said.
"How can you be so blind?! The apes aren't here to start another war! They've almost forgotten what it is to fight! They all get along so well in Arriax!" Cynder cried.
"You foolish dragon!" Blazrak shouted. "You may have had first-hand experience with apes, but when it comes to making decisions you are absolutely horrible at it! The only thing apes know how to do is to fight, maim and kill!"
"Wait, 'Arriax'?! There's a place full of apes? A village? A town? A city?!" Spyro growled, whirling around and glaring at Cynder.
"Cynder!" Volteer scowled through gritted, and Cynder immediately registered what she had said as more tears began to form in her eyes.
"Ah! So it is true!" Spyro concluded, turning his head to look at Volteer.
"I didn't say…!" Volteer shouted before snarling in frustration.
"If there's a city full of apes, then who knows what they could be planning? We need to find a way to find the city and annihilate it!" Terrador announced.
"NO!" Cynder shrieked, lunging forward.
Cynder was slammed down to the ground once again by Spyro. She landed with a loud thud as her dark purple scales bruised black. Leaping into the air, Spyro landed on top of Cynder, pinning her to the ground. He raised his paw and slashed it across Cynder's face twice, then across her shoulder. Cynder hissed air through her gritted fangs as she took in the pain of Spyro's attack. "You must understand that you must return to our ways or you will pay the consequences!" Spyro scowled.
Cynder couldn't believe this. Spyro was actually threatening her to give up being friends with and protecting Aaron and the apes. But that would mean betraying the cheetahs, who had been the dragons' allies and friends for five years. Cynder groaned inwardly. Everything had become so complex within the past four days that nothing made sense anymore.
She felt Spyro get off her. But Cynder wouldn't get back up. She was too shocked and confused about everything that was going on. "Well I'm leaving." Spyro said. "I think that's enough drama for one day."
"I agree. Wise choice, young Spyro." Terrain agreed. "My old bones and voice need a bit of a rest after today. And we all need time to think about what to do next. Especially Cynder and Volteer."
Muttering in agreement, all the dragons left the meeting room of the Warfang Temple, except for Cynder and Volteer. Closing her eyes and curling up in a ball, Cynder let out a few shuddering sobs before she jumped at Volteer's voice which brought her back into reality. "Cynder. Are you alright?" Volteer asked.
Cynder opened her eyes and looked up at Volteer. Genuine concern was evident on his face. Standing up, but not looking Volteer in the eyes, Cynder replied, "Yes, I'm fine. But what do we do now? They know. They know too much. I'm scared."
"There's no necessity to be frightened, Cynder. This is life. Disagreements transpire." Volteer said softly.
"That wasn't just a disagreement. That was a lot more than that." Cynder sobbed. "There's clearly two sides now after what's just been explained, much like there would in a fight or war."
Volteer didn't know how to answer. He sighed and looked at the door that everyone had walked through as they left. Cynder sat on the ground, staring at her paws as she cried, the sound of her sobs putting doubt in Volteer's mind. About what, he didn't know. Volteer jumped as he heard Cynder speak again, "Please don't change back. I need you. They need you. Aaron and the apes need some way to prove that they're not what all the other dragons think they are." Cynder muttered, standing up slowly and walking, hobbling, towards the door.
Volteer could only stare at Cynder as she left. "They're good people, and they don't deserve this. The apes need a second chance. Aaron never got a chance. He was attacked as soon as he got here." Cynder continued.
Still unsure how to answer, Volteer muttered only two words. "I know."
Cynder exploded into a pained sprint, her paws touching the ground nimbly as she ran off, trying to hide her tears. Volteer stared as the dark purple dragoness left the Warfang Temple in tears, and frowned. Spyro and Cynder… I can't believe this is happening to them. They've been friends… even more than that… for so long now, but… now...
Volteer couldn't finish the thought. It hurt too much, even for him. He enjoyed seeing the bright side of things. He was optimistic. But now everything was falling apart. The relationship between Spyro and Cynder was breaking dramatically. Even the brotherhood between him, Terrador and Cyril had broken. All the dragons he knew were changing in drastic measures, and he couldn't keep up. Then he had a very horrible thought. He thought of the possibility of his own friends, his 'brothers', turning against him in an attack. He'd already seen it happen with Terrador and Cyril. Volteer didn't want it to happen again. For the first time in two hundred years, Volteer felt his eyes fill up with moisture. He brought a claw to his eye and wiped it, seeing the liquid collected on his claw. Is this… what it feels like… to cry? the normally joyful, optimistic dragon thought, the tears dripping down his face.
Things are going slightly out of whack, aren't they? I really liked this chapter, and we finally get to see the elders. I've always loved the idea that lots of people have, which I think is kind of adapted from the Classic Spyro games, of the elders, which are the only rank higher than 'guardian', so I decided to do it too. It hasn't been overdone too much, so hopefully I did it well enough for your liking. And a little bit of breakdown between the guardians seemed interesting, so yay, things are getting real.
Next chapter's the last filler before the big action scene starts. Get excited for that, because I am! See you all later!