Things have moved on since that day on the forest. Also, some of them have changed.
For one, Spyro was now on an even closer watch by his bodyguards/babysitters, as they wanted to make sure that the purple dragon would not slip out of their sight and get himself nearly killed again. They were sure determined as not to fail on their duty, for they knew they would face Gaul's wrath if they did.
The second was that Spyro kept his distance from Zeggor. Every illusion that he had about the ape being cool shattered when he knew just how much of a jerk that ape truly was. The guy was willing to risk Spyro's life and let him be mauled only so he could get a crystal to impress a girl! What an idiot! From that day on, Spyro looked at the ape with a lot more suspicion, as he now doubted many of the stories about the things that Zeggor claimed to have done. And he no longer had any desire to get involved with him.
However, the most meaningful that had happened since that day, was that Spyro made a new friend.
Aeria had been in there for around a week now, and during this time, she and Spyro had gotten closer and closer. Maybe it was because both of them were dragons, so they had a lot more of common grounds to talk, especially when they saw that their subjects of interest overlapped.
Spyro shared many of his books with her, and she was particularly interested in the stories that she'd read. She could not read as fast as Spyro, but she was an avid reader as well, finishing her book on just two days, and she also finished the second one. Aeria really liked the story of Crash Bandicoot, as she found it to be something amazingly interesting. She would soon be talking about the story with Spyro, and the purple dragon was more than happy to discuss it with her, as he really wanted to hear her opinions on the book and the story, as well as discussing the mentality of the characters.
Also, the dragoness herself had some information to share with Spyro, as the young purple dragon had rarely been out of the village, even in company. Spyro knew about the world through his books, but he had never truly saw the many things and people that they talked about, and he was truly curious about the outside. Now, Aeria could not give him many kinds of answers, but she could give him enough that the purple dragon could have at least part of his curiosity sated.
These two really had a lot to talk about, and they surely spent a great deal of time together in the past week. Spyro was truly happy for he finally had someone his own age to hang out and to have a conversation, and that it was someone of his own species. Spyro really felt that he had some kind of connection with Aeria, for they quickly became great friends.
"Yeah, guess saving someone's life can truly make you fast friends." Sparx said about how close these two got so fast. Spyro knew that he somehow could agree with it, as he wondered just how much of this friendship was actually born from the fact that Aeria saved him from being maul by a very angry owlbear.
Of course, while Spyro himself was happy for having made a new friend, there were some around that didn't quite liked having another dragon around.
The villagers have always been suspicious of Spyro, even though he had been there virtually for his entire life. It was almost possible to understand why they were even more suspicious of a dragoness that had just arrived and that they didn't knew.
They gave suspicious looks at Aeria, and some even glared at her. All of them kept their distance, though, for they have heard some stories of how that grey dragoness had, all by herself, pushed back an owlbear with the power of her dragon element. This seemed to be enough for them to think that it was better not to get in trouble with her, especially because she seemed to have become fast friends with Spyro.
Speaking of which...
"Amazing how these two got along so fast."
"What did you expected? They are both dragons!"
"They stay together in there, talking while they ignore everyone else."
"What do they talk about so much?"
"Think they might be plotting something?"
"I was passing near them once, and I hear them talking about some book."
"I bet she is teaching him how dragons act!"
"Seeing these two together really makes me nervous."
"What if the dragoness stays in here forever?"
"If she does, then I'm picking up my chimps and leaving this village for good!"
Phrases like that could be picked up around the village, and they would eventually make it to the earholes of the purple dragon. It made Spyro mad that they would say such things about Aeria.
Of course, Spyro was used to this kind of talk about himself, and he learned to ignore it. However, the fact that these kind of commentaries now were focus not only on himself, but also on his new friend, he was finding them even more unnerving, as they managed to make him want to snarl at the ones who were making them.
Luckily, only being around Aeria proved to be enough to help him get distracted from the commentaries that went around, as Spyro found out that he truly enjoyed being around her. Not only that, but she also had no problems in hanging around Sparx, unlike these apes who tried to use him.
Spyro now had two great friends with whom he could talk and that truly appreciated him.
Screw Zeggor and his apes, Spyro had his own gang now and, to the purple dragon, they were truly the coolest gang in the village.
"And when Crash invaded the laboratory and found out that he had a sister? That was so amazing!" Aeria said to him, and Spyro nodded.
"Yeah, Coco's appearance in the story was truly a surprise, and it really added depth to everything." Spyro said to her, as both the dragons were now on Spyro's rut, as there was an armed ape along with them, while the rest guarded the rut from the entrances.
It took a day or two, but Aeria got used to the constant presence of the apes that were always with Spyro at all times of the day.
She found it rather strange that the apes would follow Spyro everywhere, but while they talked and did things together, they found themselves ignoring the presence of the apes nearly completely, as it was easy to focus solely on each other.
"I really don't get why these books were forbidden." Spyro said to her, "I mean; they are such an inspiring story. They teach you to fight for what is right and to stand up to what you believe to be wrong."
"Yeah... Maybe that is the reason." Aeria said, and Spyro looked at her with a raised eyebrow. However, the dragoness seemed to shake this off, and she was now looking at the purple dragon with a smile.
"Well, I can say that I truly like this story." The gray dragoness said, as she looked at Spyro with a smile. "I'm really glad I got the chance to read these books. I never did back at home."
"Well, I am really glad that you liked them." Spyro said, as he couldn't help but get a funny feeling on his stomach as he looked at the way that the grey dragoness smiled.
Could I be getting sick or something?
"Young Spyro." Said a voice, and the two dragons turned to look at the ape who was talking to them. "Sparx is outside and he wants to speak to you."
"Oh, right!" Spyro said, and soon, he and Aeria were going outside, and they met Sparx just floating outside from side to side, and he looked a bit grumpy.
"You left me waiting!" The dragonfly said when he was asked what was the problem. "I was waiting in the edge of the swamp for nearly an hour!"
"Oh... Oh!" Spyro said, as he suddenly remembered that they were supposed to meet up with Sparx. They'd been so caught up on their conversation about the series of books that they liked that they completely forgot about that. Now both dragons were feeling a bit ashamed for having forgotten about their dragonfly friend like that.
"Sorry, buddy. We lost track of time." Spyro said, and Aeria too was apologizing, saying that she was to blame for having started a conversation that caught Spyro's attention so much that he completely forgot about Sparx.
The dragonfly looked at both of them, and he sighed.
"Well, guess it really can't be helped. You guys have gotten a lot closer these days." The dragonfly said, "So, are we going to go now?"
"Huh? Go where?"
Sparx looked at the purple dragon. "Seriously, dude?" He asked, and the purple dragon only looked at him. "You have seriously forgotten what day it is, after how anxious you have been for it?"
Spyro blinked as he looked at the dragonfly, and then it clicked:
It was the Harvest Day!
The day of the year when the heart cashews reached their full ripeness and were ready for harvesting.
It was a tradition of these lands, and it was something that many looked forward, including the younger ones, like Spyro.
He had completely forgot!
"That's right!" Spyro said suddenly, "They are harvesting the heart cashews today!"
"Yeah, what means, hundreds of these delicious things will be soon ready to be eaten and they will be bursting with flavor and with that delicious juice that they have inside of them!" Sparx said, sounding dreamy as he spoke that.
"That is right! I forgot! Why didn't you guys remembered me?" Spyro said, looking at the apes that were his bodyguards. Meanwhile, Aeria looked at the purple dragon, a bit lost in the talk.
"I'm sorry, 'heart cashews'?" The grey dragoness asked, and Spyro looked at her. Suddenly, he realized that he never told to her about them.
"Oh, they are the most delicious fruit that we have around here." Spyro said to her. "They are sweet, they can be used to make juice, and they have seeds that can be toasted and salted to become a delicious savory snack."
"Oh..." Aeria said, looking at the purple dragon.
"What, you never had one?"
"No really." Aeria said, "We don't have these heart cashews back on my homeland. Actually, had never even heard about them before today."
"Well, you gotta taste them." Spyro said, and he soon was moving. "Come with us, we might be in there just in time to see the harvesting!"
Soon, the group was moving. Spyro and Sparx were both on the lead, and they looked like they were on a true rush to get in there. Aeria was coming right behind, and she was amazed at how fast these two were, so much that she almost felt that she should start flying to be able to keep up with them. Right behind them, came the apes, who had to struggle to keep up with the dragons and the dragonfly.
After a while of running, the big trees that gave the heart cashews were coming in sight, and they looked quite impressive. They always looked impressive to Spyro, who had already saw them a lot of times while growing up in that village and seeing the Harvest Day many times. Imagine how impressive they should look to Aeria, who was seeing these magnificent trees for the very first time in her life.
As they approached, it was already possible to feel the sweet smell of all the nearly overripe fruits.
"Wow, this smell delicious." Aeria said, as she was able to catch up with Spyro and Sparx, who were both still going at full speed.
"Yeah, they sure do." Spyro said, "And they taste even better."
The three continued to dash, being follow by Spyro's guard, whom were far behind for they could not move at the same speed as the younger ones.
Soon, the group was arriving at the spot on the base of the many large trees.
As the two dragons and the dragonfly arrived, they noticed that there was already a group of apes in there. Part of the apes were adults, who were with equipment that they would be using to harvest, and they looked like they were getting ready. However, the rest of the crowd was form by young apes, most of them teenagers nearing adulthood or even some chimps.
"They are all here for the heart cashews." Spyro explained to Aeria as they all approached. As they did, many apes noticed their presence, and moved away. Meanwhile, the six ape bodyguards were soon arriving, quite winded for having to run that much to keep up with the younger ones, still, they were soon recovering and placing themselves around Spyro and his two friends.
The whole crowd watched as the apes who were going to harvest got ready, by carrying big baskets, placing harnesses on themselves, and carrying some big machetes on their waists, along with some other objects.
"Why are they using so much equipment?" Aeria asked, as she saw the apes, who nearly seemed like they were getting ready to battle. "Isn't it just go up there and pick the fruit?"
"Not with the heart cashews." One of the guards said, "You can ask Spyro about that."
The purple dragon blushed as the grey dragoness looked at him with a questioning gaze.
"Well... The heart cashews grow in these big trees. They are a lot taller than the other trees around, and so they need some equipment to be able to climb in safety."
"But I always heard that all apes were great climbers, because they spent all day climbing trees and swinging on the vines." Aeria said.
"That is a stereotype." Another guard said, this caused Aeria to look at him, and then Spyro continued.
"Anyway, the fact that the tree is so tall makes it dangerous to be up there, once you could fall. That is made harder because the bark of the three is very smooth and harder to grab if you don't have equipment or sharp claws." The purple dragon explained. "Not to mention the vines."
"What about the vines?"
"They lash at you if you get too close." The purple dragon explained. "It is a type of defense mechanism that the three has to fend off attackers. The vines move as if they are tentacles, and they can detect motion around them. If they detect motion on the branches, they will start moving and they will lash out and even tangle on whatever comes near. Many apes had their arms and legs broken by the grip of the vines, or got some nasty scars from the violent lashing."
"Some have actually died." A guard said, and this really surprised Aeria.
"Some actually die from trying to get fruit!?" She exclaimed rather loudly, granting a few of the apes nearby to look in her direction. "That is crazy! Why do they try to go after it, then!?"
"Because it is a tradition." Another guard said, as he looked at the dragoness. "It is something that was done for a long time, beside, the heart cashews are greatly appreciated, as they not only make something important on our culture, but they also can be sold to other tribes and people, making them something that actually helps our economy."
The grey dragoness looked at him, and she actually nodded at this explanation. However, the look in the face of the dragoness let others know that she still found it crazy that others would die to get some fruit.
"B-but still... If going up there to catch them is so dangerous, shouldn't they just wait for it to drop from the tree by themselves?" Aeria asked.
"If they did, then the heart cashews would already be rotten and there would be nothing to enjoy out of them."
"Not to mention that if they hit the ground they bruise and lose flavor." Spyro said, and this granted Aeria to look at him.
"I think they still taste great." The dragonfly said, and Aeria only looked around as they all spoke of these fruits as if they were something extremely important to their world.
"Look, they are starting already." One of the guards said, looking at the apes who were all geared up and had already started to climb on the three.
These apes had harnesses that included spikes tied to their wrists and ankles, which pierced the bark and allowed them to have a much better grip so they could better climb. They were making some progress, and they were showing that, despite what the guard said about all apes being good climbers being a stereotype, these apes really were good climbers.
They were making it to the top at amazing speed, and they showed that they were skilled in what they did. In minutes, they were on the levels of the branches, and they were each going into a branch.
As they did, the vines tangles on the branches started to move, as they were soon detecting the presence of something on the branches that could be a threat.
As they did, each ape pulled out a long and thin spear, and they approached carefully, before swiftly spiking the vines with the tip of the spear. This caused the vines to lash out violently, but only for a few seconds, before they eventually fell back and now seemed to be almost limp. It was almost as if they had been drug out.
"These spears are covered in the poison from a wyrm that feeds on the heart cashews." Spyro explained, as the grey dragoness by his side looked at the events developing up there. "This wyrm can spray out some poison that affects the vines, causing them to go limp so it can perch on the branches and feed on the fruit without being bothered. They managed to harvest the poison and use it to coat the spears, so they will be able to approach without being attacked."
"How do they harvest poison from these wyrms?" Aeria asked, and Spyro looked at her.
He had made the same question to someone years ago, and it developed into a lengthy explanation of the processes that were used to attract the wyrms and get the poison.
At the end of it, the purple dragon had deeply regretted having asked.
Spyro shuddered a bit as he remembered the process that was explain to him on "milking" the poison out of the wyrms.
"Believe me." The dragon said, disgust on his face, "You don't want to know."
Meanwhile, the apes up there continued to move across the branches, poking the vines with their spears to cause them to go limp after flailing a bit. Of course, some of the vines were feistier than the rest, and they showed that they could actually be dangerous if they approached, even with the poison numbing them.
That was why they had their machetes.
The apes would pull out their great blades and swing them at the vines, hitting with sure blows that were enough to wound or even cut off the vines completely. As the vines fell down, still twitching even though they were sever, their stubs leaked a thick, crimson sap that almost looked like some short of blood.
"Sometimes they have to cut off the vines because they might not answer to the poison." The purple dragon said, as they looked at the apes doing their work up there, and they also saw the vines sever and falling down from the branches and lashing around as they still tried to hit or even grab something.
"Yeah, it sounds like it works." Aeria said, looking at the flailing vines. "But, wouldn't it be better just to use the blades to cut the vines off for good? Like, so there would be no chance of them striking again."
"The idea is not causing too much damage to the tree, otherwise it will produce less fruit on the next season." Spyro explained to her, "They use the poison because it will not truly cause damage, and the vines will fully recover after a few hours. Cutting the vines causes the tree to get upset, so next time the amount of heart cashews will be less."
"So, the apes want to be nice to this tree even though it tries to kill them?" Aeria said, and Spyro shrugged.
"They got used to living from the tree, and it is something really important." The purple dragon said simply. "Also, have you tasted the fruits? They are the best thing ever, totally worth getting a lash or two."
The grey dragoness looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Sparx said:
"Yeah, even though you get them right on your purple butt."
"Oh, shut it, Sparx!" Spyro said, and he then started to blush. Aeria only continued to look at them, as it seemed that she was taking in everything that they were saying, and it seemed that she still seemed not to fully understand how someone could be so keen on some fruit.
She choose to say nothing, as she continued to look up at the branches, and at the apes who moved across them.
She saw as the apes reached out for the fruit that was on the branch, once the vines had all been control and were no longer a danger. Some of the vines still twitched, but they were not problem to the apes, who simply moved their limbs out of the way and continued diligently with their work.
They were very careful when removing the cashews, as they knew that the wrong movement could cause the vines to star acting up again, and so, they were slowly making advancements into the branches, as they picked the fruit and placed it in the baskets that they were carrying with themselves.
The process was effective, and some of the ones who were looking were truly expecting something to happen.
"They are all hoping that they will be able to catch one as soon as they come down." The guard said to Aeria, and the grey dragoness continued to look up.
She saw how good they were on doing that, and how efficiently they could pick up all of the fruit. However, she thought that it was taking a bit too long.
"Does it always takes so long?" The grey dragoness asked, looking at them.
"Well, it is a slow process." Spyro admitted to her. "It takes some time for them to be able to catch everything, but they do manage to get everything."
"It would be easier if they could fly." Aeria said, "Like us."
Spyro looked at her.
Yeah, he never truly told to Aeria that he could not fly. It was something that just didn't came up at any given moment.
He stood there in silence, and after a while, Aeria simply stepped forward, and flapped her wings.
In no time, the grey dragoness was flying up to the branches, causing a lot of surprise to everyone who was looking.
"What is she doing?" was the thought on the minds of many of the ones who were seeing it.
The grey dragoness simply flew to the branch, and soon, she was hoovering right by the side of the ape, who raised his eyes in surprise, and nearly lost his balance when he saw the dragoness flapping her wings just a few feet away from himself, looking at him with a smile.
"Hey there!" She said, and the ape only stated back at her, unsure of how to react.
"Could you toss me one of these baskets, by any chance?" Aeria asked, and the ape continued to look at her, unsure of what to do. "Just so I can help you guys with this harvest thing. Please?"
The ape blinked, and eventually, he decided that there could be no harm in letting the dragoness help. He reached out for an extra basket that he was holding and tossed it to the grey dragoness, who grasped it in the air. He looked at her as she held it in her front paws, and he checked on the sharpness of his machete.
Just to be sure.
Once she had the basket firmly held on her paws, Aeria turned her attention to the branch. It was full of these moving vines, but the dragoness was not going to let that intimidate her.
With movements of her wings, all of sudden the wind around her started to move faster, and the ape that was close noticed it. It was like a very strong upward draft that almost made him lose his balance, forcing him to hold on to the branch to avoid falling. The ape, as well as everyone who was looking from down, was asking themselves the same question:
What was she doing?
The answer soon came, as the dragoness flew closer to the branch, with the vines being blow upwards by the ascending gust of wind, causing it harder for them to lash at the dragoness. Aeria used this on her favor, as she suddenly made a fast movement, as if a tailslap.
Her spear-shaped tailblade hit the exact point where the cashew was connect to the branch, and the fruit was blow upwards by the draft.
Aeria repeated this movement a few more times, hitting a few more cashews, precisely severing their connection to the branch, and caused them to be all blow upwards by the ascending gust.
They remained in the air for a while, and then, with a movement of her wing, the wind stopped.
The cashews started falling, and the dragoness was very swift as she moved in the air, catching all of the cashews very safely on the basket. All of that under the amazed eyes of everyone who was looking.
"Did you saw that?" Someone said, and everyone soon was talking about what she had just done.
"That was an element?"
"I think it was wind."
"So this is the kind of things that dragons can actually do?"
"That's so scary!"
"I thought dragons could only breathe out their element."
"Wow, that chick has some tricks, doesn't she?" Sparx asked, nudging Spyro's neck with his elbow. The purple dragon mumbled an answer, as he continued to look at what Aeria was doing, along with everyone else. He too was amaze by what he was seeing, and it was obvious that the dragoness was not done yet.
The gray dragoness continued to repeat this across the rest of the branch, using upwards wind to blow the vines out of her way, and using her tail to slice the cashews clear off the branch and keeping them on the air. Then, she just cancelled the wind and gathered the cashews on her basket.
She finished her branch far before any of the other apes.
And she was not done yet.
She continued to move over the other branches, and each time, she used her flying and her wind abilities to gather the cashews before everyone else.
At some point, she would dash across the tree fast as a breeze, picking the cashews before any of the vines had time to lash at her. One another, she would create a small whirlwind that would pluck the cashews out of the branch and carry them safely to her basket.
The gray dragoness was giving a true show of what a wind dragon was capable off, and it was impressing everyone who was looking at it.
The ones who were picking were impressed, but not very much amused. The feeling they had was that the dragoness was making it seem easy on purpose, almost as if she was mocking them and showing off.
The ones down there had a similar feeling, as they saw what the dragoness was doing and they were knowing just what she was capable off. This helped in nothing for the feelings that they had that she was dangerous, as they were all wondering if she could use these powers of hers' against the rest of the village.
Sparx was among the few who looked at the scene with genuine and pure amazement. He knew what dragons could do from the stories, but seeing it first hand was even cooler. The dragonfly almost looked transfixed by the show that the gray dragoness was giving. The same could be said about Spyro.
The purple dragon looked at the dragoness that was doing that, and he could not help but feel amazed by all that he was witnessing. From the shows of elemental mastery so famous to the dragons, as for the amazing flying skills that the dragoness displayed.
So... this is like when you are able to fly and to use an element like the other dragons... Spyro thought to himself as he watched the scene developing up there, and as he did looked at the dragoness, he couldn't help but feel a small spark of envy as he saw all that she was capable of.
In minutes, the dragoness had her basket full, before any of the other apes, and it was so full that she had to balance and be careful while flying as not to drop any. So, while the rest of the apes continued their way up there, the dragoness was carrying her overfilled basket down, aiming to unload it and then going back up to continue.
In this, Spyro rushed to her, aiming to talk to the dragoness now that she was down.
"Aeria, that was so cool!" The dragon said, and she looked back at him, smiling.
"What, that? This is just basic wind element." She said to him. "Well, maybe not all of it is basic, but it is no big deal, really. Anyone who trained enough would be able to do the same. I bet that you could do even better if you practiced enough. I can even give you some hints if you want." She said to him, and this caused the purple dragon to look away for a moment.
"Yeah, maybe..."
The dragoness looked at the purple dragon, and she wondered, for a moment, if she had said something wrong.
Soon, however, this was forgotten, as the dragoness was moving up again, with a basket now empty, as all of the fruit in it was left on the ground, as she went up to get more. She soon was repeating the show that she gave.
By the time they were done with that tree, she had gathered four whole baskets of fruit, while the ape gatherers only got one basket each.
As they all went down, they measured their progress. Of course, the apes were more numerous than the dragoness, so they had more, but the dragoness still got four whole baskets all by herself, while each pone of them only got one.
"Well, this was productive." Aeria said, looking at the many fruits. "So, shall we move to the next one?"
"Actually." One of the gatherers said, looking at her. "We prefer to do it ourselves."
"Huh?"
"This requires a delicate touch and experience that I'm afraid that you don't have." The gatherer said, and Aeria looked at him. "You should probably leave this all to us."
"But I was just..."
"You are a guest in this village." The ape cut her again. "And it would not be nice to make a guest do work."
He was trying to be polite with her; however, another ape came forward.
"Give me this." He said as he snatched the basket from the dragoness paws rather roughly. Aeria blinked, surprised.
Spyro had been close, hearing and seeing this, and he couldn't help but feel deeply indignant by this. However, he knew that he could actually do nothing about that, at least nothing that he actually wanted to do, once it would get himself in problem, as well as Aeria.
However, there were two things that Spyro could actually do at that moment.
The first was to remember the faces of these apes, so he could point them out for his father once he came back. Gaul was not the kind who accepted this kind of behavior, and he surely would want to have a word with them.
The second...
The purple dragon walked unceremoniously between the grey dragoness and the apes. He had his eyes on the apes at all the time as he walked among them and into the pile of fruit, his bodyguards following behind, as per Spyro's instructions. Then, they started to pick up some fruit on their arms.
He still looked at the gatherers as he passed with two of his bodyguards carrying a meaningful amount of heart cashews on their arms. He looked like a prince passing among the peasants with his entourage.
"Let's go, Aeria. They clearly are busy." Spyro said simply, under the surprised looks of the grey dragoness, as well as that of the apes. Aeria herself was surprised, but after a few moments, she was walking around with Spyro, as they moved away from the group.
"Smooth, dude." Sparx said to Spyro as he approached with the cashews. "Very classy."
"That was... something." Aeria said; impressed with how the purple dragon handed the situation.
"Yeah, I had to do something." The purple dragon said. "I usually don't like to take advantage that dad is the king, but sometimes I have to do something."
That much was truth. As the adopted son of the king, Spyro did had privileges, when he actually wanted to use them. This included having his bodyguards/nannies do things for him, and being able to do stuff and get away with it. However, Spyro didn't liked doing this kind of thing often, for his father always told him that he should respect the others, which included not using his position to make himself have advantage over others.
Also, there was the fact that Spyro himself didn't liked having to do stuff like that, for it only made others avoid him even more. Not that they wouldn't normally avoid him anyway.
"Why did they acted like that?" Aeria asked, "I was just helping."
"It is nothing personal... I think." The purple dragon said. "Is just that... they really are a bit mistrustful of dragons around here. You know, because of the war and everything."
Aeria nodded, as it was clear that she could understand that.
"Anyway, I think you did amazing." The purple dragon said, wanting to shift the subject so they would not have to focus on it. "The way you flew around and did all of these things in the air. It was so cool. I wish I could do stuff like that."
"Yeah, well, I am a wind dragoness." She said to him with a smile. "Flying is kind of what we do, but anyone can learn to fly like that if they make some effort. I can give you some hints to your flying."
There was a silence, as Spyro looked at her.
"I... can't fly."
"Oh?" Aeria said, looking at him with some surprise. Spyro sighed.
"I never really learned how to fly." The purple dragon admitted, "Dad even tried to teach me. He brought many books about flying mechanics and other things, and we did our best so I could learn, but I never got the gist of it. I can't count the times I jumped from the top of a rock trying to flap my wings only to land with my face on the dirt."
"Oh..." Aeria said, and there was silence for a while after this. No one really said a word, not even the bodyguards, who shared looks among themselves.
Then, Aeria broke the silence be saying:
"Would you like me to teach you?"
The way she asked it was so casual that it really surprised Spyro. As well as the ones who were around.
"What?" Spyro asked, and the gray dragoness continued to look at him for a while, before she repeated.
"Would you like me to teach you how to fly?"
He blinked, as if he was really surprise by what she said.
"I mean, usually dragons learn how to fly from other dragons, at least as far as I can tell." She said to him, and she seemed to have become a little awkward due to his reaction. "Now, I know that you and your... dad tried a lot, but if you would like to attempt learning flying from a dragon..."
Spyro was unsure of how to answer, and he just looked at her for a while with a surprised expression. She shied away a bit, and she was a bit nervous. She was about to apologize for saying that, when Spyro suddenly said:
"It would be great!"
It was a bit of an outburst, and it surprised the dragoness, who looked back at him. Spyro recomposed himself, and tried again:
"I mean... I would love to learn how to fly with you. I mean... it wouldn't hurt to try learning to fly from another dragon."
They looked at each other for a few moments, before both of them looked away.
"Okay then." Aeria said simply, and Spyro and her walked side by side. The apes all looked at them, one or two of them with raised eyebrows. Sparx looked a bit confused by the way that they were acting. Meanwhile, Spyro was asking himself why his cheeks were heating all of sudden...
After a while of walking, Spyro suggested them to stop to eat the cashews, and soon, the group was stopping.
Sparx had an entire pile all for himself, and the bodyguards had only one or two cashews each. Meanwhile, the rest of the cashews were left for the two dragons, who were eating them from a certain distance of the group, as they were sitting on the edge of a small cliff as they ate the crimson fruit.
"These are delicious!" Aeria said, as she was already eating the second one.
"Told you." Spyro said, as he ate some himself.
"I think I have a new favorite fruit now." Aeria said as she continued to eat. "How come I never heard of such a good thing before?"
"That is because they only grow around here." The purple dragon said to her. "Only those of the land and of the neighborhood know about them. And we don't exactly import them to the Dragon Lands."
"Yeah, I imagine." The gray dragoness said, and the two dragons continued to eat the delicious fruit. They enjoyed the flavor of the juice and sweet pulp and left only the heart-shaped seeds of the fruit behind.
As they ate, the pile they had was becoming smaller and smaller. At a moment, the two dragons reached out for the pile, and they touched each other's paws as they both reached.
Startled, they looked at each other, and at their touching paws, before quickly removing them.
"Sorry!" They both said at the same time. Once more, Spyro felt his face flushing, and he hoped that is purple scales helped cover it up.
Just why was he so blushy today?
They both looked at each other for a few moments, before they turned their look at the pile... or better saying, to what once was a pile of fruit, and they saw that all that was left was a single hear cashew surrounded by the seeds of the ones that they ate before.
They looked at each other.
"Do you... do you want this?" Aeria asked.
"Y-you can have it." Spyro said.
"B-but don't you want it?"
"Well, I had many already."
"Yeah, but this is your village. And they came from your trees."
"Yeah, but you are the guest."
They were at it for around a minute, before Aeria took a decision. She picked the fruit, removed the seed, threw the fruit in the air and, with a swift and precise movement of her tail, she sliced through the cashew, cutting it perfectly in half.
She picked both halves in her paws, and Spyro looked at her. She then offered one of the halves to Spyro.
"Here. We share it."
Spyro blinked, and looked at it in surprise, before looking up at her with what seemed shock.
Meanwhile, the apes, who had been watching the two dragons from a distance, and saw what the dragoness did, stopped for a moment to look at it.
"Is she... going to share it with him?"
"Oh, my..."
"Ahhh... I-I... Huhh..." Spyro said, as if he was unable to form coherent words. Aeria looked at him confused, and now she was wondering if she had done something wrong.
"W-what?" She said, "Is... is it not polite to offer to share one?"
"W-what?" Spyro said, as if he was suddenly recovering. "N-no! I mean... I-it is not that." He said, as if he was quickly apologizing himself with the dragoness. She looked at her, seeming to be a bit confuse by her behavior and, thinking about it, Spyro could not really blame her. "Is just that... a-among apes there is a certain superstition around sharing a heart cashew."
Aeria looked back at him, blinking.
"Oh... Does it brings bad luck?"
"No." Spyro said, "Quite the opposite. I mean..."
The dragon was about to get all flumpy as he looked for the ways to explain. But he was able to recompose himself just in time and to start explaining.
"It is an old legend." The purple dragon explained. "It says that, if you share a heart cashew with someone, then both your hearts become connected." He said, and she looked at him as he did. "Among couples, it is said that sharing a heart cashew means that you two are going to be together and in love forever, and will always be part of each other's lives."
There was a silence following these words, as Aeria took in what Spyro just said, and the purple dragon looked as if he was nervous about saying anything else. After nearly a minute, Aeria finally broke the silence:
"So, it is like a promise of eternal love?"
Spyro looked away, praying that the gray dragoness would not be able to notice his blush. Why was he feeling like that all of sudden?
"So, you actually believe in that?" Aeria asked, prompting Spyro to look at her. She was looking at him with curiosity, as if wondering what his answer would be.
"W-what? Me?" Spyro was a bit surprised, but he was able to start to form an answer for this, after a moment of almost tripping over his own words.
"N-no. I mean... N-not really. Is just that... I-it something that everyone comments about. But I don't really believe it... I guess."
"Then what it is the problem?" Aeria asked, and Spyro looked at her confused. "If you don't believe it, then you should have no problem sharing this with me, right? Besides, you said that it happens when a couple shares one of these fruits. We are not a couple, are we?"
Her arguments made sense, and Spyro had to admit.
He was a bit hesitant, but he reached for the piece that she was offering to him, and picked it up.
As soon as he picked it up, she took her half to her mouth and took a bite of it. Spyro looked at the dragoness, who had a lot of etiquette as she took small bites of the fruit and took her time chewing. After a few more moments, Spyro looked at his own half, and took it to his mouth, taking a solid bite and eating half of it at once.
"Oh my..." One of the apes said, as they still looked from a distance. "They are actually sharing one..."
"Does the dragoness knows what this means?" Another ape asked, to which even another one answered:
"Well, Spyro surely does."
"Could it be that he thinks she is someone to share a heart cashew with?" The first ape added. There was a silence following these words, as all of them were imagining if this could actually mean something.
"I don't get what there is about this." Sparx said, suddenly flying among the apes, as he took looked at this. "I mean, I shared these cashews with all of you guys."
The apes all stared at the dragonfly.
"I mean, I ate the halves that you guys didn't ate. Does this count as sharing?"
"No." The apes said as one as they looked at the dragonfly.
Meanwhile, the two dragons had actually finished the cashew that they were sharing, and they now were looking at the sky as they talked about a few subjects. They talked about the books that they read and that they enjoyed. Talked about how nice it was that summer day. Talked about their favorite things.
It was like most talks that the two had, and they truly liked to talk to each other.
Spyro, however, was noticing something different about this talk.
It was not that the subjects were different, or that they were more or less interesting than before. Is just that... now he actually paid attention to Aeria when she talked.
Not that he didn't paid attention to her before, but now he was paying a lot of attention at the gray dragoness.
As she talked, he paid attention to how her mouth moved. As she spoke of the things that she was the more passionate about, he noticed how her eyes changed, shining when she spoke something that made her happy and becoming a bit duller when she spoke of things that made her sad. As she laid in there, under the summer sun, he noticed how her horns and scales glowed under the sunlight, as well as the jeweled necklace that she constantly wore around her neck.
All of the things that he had casually noticed at one moment or another, but at that moment was something that it seemed that he was noticing for the very first time. And every single one of them seemed very interesting for the teenage purple dragon.
What was going on?
Why was he feeling like that?
Why was he blushy and nervous and bashful all of sudden?
Could it be the heart cashews? Could it be that they had gone bad? Would he start feeling stomach problems at any moment? Would Aeria feel them too? That would be super awkward.
But, looking at her, it seemed that the gray dragoness was not feeling anything.
Could it be just Spyro? Was one of the ones that he ate?
Could it be that... the superstition of the heart cashews was true?
That question hit him square in the head as he thought about that. He never truly believed that, and he never truly gave it a lot of thought. Mainly because he was sure he would never share a heart cashew with anyone, once he knew that this meant he would need to have a girlfriend to share with, and there was no chance of a dragon finding a girlfriend in an ape village.
However, that was before a female dragoness came along.
Spyro felt himself suddenly receiving a hard blow in the head again, as he realized what this was about:
During the last days, he had known Aeria better, as she would quickly become his friend. Not surprising, once she did saved his life. However, as of that day, something seemed to have suddenly shifted within Spyro's view.
Now Aeria was no longer just another member of his own species who became his friend. She was a dragoness of whom he had now become close of, and that was someone who he actually enjoyed a lot spending his time.
For the first time since they met, Spyro was actually seeing Aeria as a female.
A rather attractive one, at that.
Not that he knew many other female dragons to compare...
Still, the realization even hit him even harder than before, as his face was heating up so much that he thought that the purple of his scales could change to a vivid red. He barely even noticed Aeria speaking to him, until she called his name a bit loudly.
"W-what?" Spyro said, kind of looking like a fool as he looked at her.
"We are going to go back to the village now?" Aeria asked again, looking at the purple dragon.
"Oh... oh! Yes! Right! Back to the village!" He said as he got up a bit quickly, and prompting the gray dragoness to look at him with a raised eyebrow. This only added to Spyro's bashfulness, but he was able to recompose himself, and soon, the two dragons, the dragonfly, and the six apes of Spyro's guard were walking back to the village.
As they walked inside of the village, the group attracted the eyes of many of the apes that were in there, and of course, they would make comments about them as they walked.
Spyro was more than used to this kind of thing, once that was how he lived during most of his life among the apes. This kind of mistrust and fear was not anything new to him. However, it still bothered him that they would say things about his new friend Aeria.
"I still can't believe he actually invited another dragon to live in here."
"I just want to know what Gaul will think of this when he comes back."
"Maybe he will finally realize that raising that dragon was a mistake."
"What if he starts bringing more dragons in here?"
"If that happens, I'll take my wife and our chimps and will leave this village, I swear."
Spyro had to bite back all of the retorts and snarls that he wanted to make at the apes around him. However, some of the comments that they were making actually made their way into the purple dragon.
"You guys realize that she is a female, right?"
"Yeah, maybe that is why he invited her to come. He wanted a girlfriend."
"Do you think he will ask her to marry him?"
"What if they have children?"
"I don't even wanna think about it."
Spyro found himself blushing even more at these commentaries that the apes around them were making. In part because they remounted to something that Spyro himself had just realized not too long ago.
However, Spyro was able to ignore it long enough to allow him to be able to reach his hut in time, and in there, he was able to relax, along with the rest of his group. His guard stood in place in their usual spots, Sparx went to a pillow to lay and take a nap. While Spyro and Aerea were both left to do as they wanted.
"Well, maybe we could use this time to read a bit more. What do you think?" Spyro asked her, and the gray dragoness didn't immediately looked at him.
"Yeah... sounds nice." She said, but she was a bit vague. Spyro looked at her.
"Aeria?" He asked, causing her to look at him, "Is something wrong?"
The gray dragoness blinked as she looked at the purple dragon, and she tried to say that everything was fine. However, Spyro was not buying this, and he insisted, for it was obvious to him that there was something bothering the gray dragoness.
"The way that they talk..." Aeria finally said, after a long time of silence and of trying to dodge Spyro's questions and changing subject, she finally started to talk.
"All of the things that they say about you..." She said as she looked at the purple dragon. Spyro shrugged.
"They do that a lot."
"As much as now?" Aeria said, looking at the purple dragon. "They already gave you a hard time like that before I arrived?"
Spyro didn't answered to this, as he looked back at the gray dragoness, as none of them said a word after a few moments. There was silence in the room (save for Sparx's snoring) as the two dragons looked at each other, and the two ape guards traded a look among themselves.
"I feel like things got harder for you after I arrived." The gray dragoness said after a moment of silence. "I feel like me being here is bringing you trouble. You are so nice to me... like few others have been before."
The dragoness looked at Spyro. "I hate to think that I'm bringing you any problem..."
"You are not." The purple dragon said, prompting Aeria to look at him.
"These guys have been giving me a hard time ever since forever. They are just like that." The purple dragon said to the dragoness, as they both looked at each other. "You don't have to blame yourself for them being a bunch of jerks."
"But..." Aerea tried to say something, but Spyro cut her off."
"I'm glad you came." Spyro said, "You saved me from becoming owlbear food, you have been willing to read my books and talk to me about them. I have to say, it is really nice to meet someone who wants to talk to me about stuff and who is on my side."
They looked at each other for a while, and Aeria then looked away.
"I'm really not bringing you trouble?" She asked, rather timidly, Spyro noticed, to which the purple dragon was quick to answer:
"Of course not!" He said, and she looked up at him. "If anything, my life became a bit more interesting ever since you came. I mean, you are nice to have a conversation with, you offered to teach me how to fly, and you are a good person."
Aeria looked at him, as if she was really surprise for hearing that.
"I-I am?"
"Of course!" The purple dragon said once more. "You are funny. You are strong and determined. You are very supportive of me. Not to mention how straightforward you are with everything. Seriously, few times I've met someone as sincere as you. I really think you are a great person, and I'm sure that my dad would think the same if he had the chance of knowing you.
Spyro looked at the gray dragoness, hoping that this was going to cheer her up, even if just a little bit. However, he saw as a strange emotion crossed her eyes, and the gray dragoness looked at the ground. Spyro could even swear that she was shrinking very slightly.
Oh, man... Spyro thought as he saw the dragoness' reaction. Did I said something stupid?
Spyro was about to aske her if he said something wrong, and he was even ready to apologize to her. However, his thoughts were interrupted when a sound could be heard.
It sounded somewhat like a bell.
This caused both of the dragons to perk their heads, and even Sparx, who was sleeping, stirred from his slumber.
"Whu- wad's dis?" The dragonfly asked, as he looked up confused. The sound of the bell continued to resound.
"W-what is this?" Aeria asked, to which one of the apes answered.
"It is one of the alarm bells."
"Alarm bells?" Aeria said, looking around, as the sound got louder, and she could hear some voices on the outside, as it seemed that the apes of the village were reacting to the sound. "I-is it some kind of danger? There is someone attacking?" She said, looking very scared.
"No." Another ape said, as they both stood. "It is not that kind of bell."
"T-then what?" The dragoness asked, and this time it was Spyro who answered.
"He is here!" He said, sounding very happy.
"Dad is back!"