Disclaimer: I don't own ANY characters of TLOS, the only character I own is Ivor. I also own Ignitia and Blitzen and some other upcoming dragon OCs.
Shadow scales
A fresh yet delicious aroma wafted and permeated through the inside of the small stone cottage.
Cynder had busied herself with cooking as she stood in front of the small humble stove while the scrumptious aroma of cooking fish (trout to be more specific) floated through the quaint little house, the dragoness using her scythe-like tail to cut it like a knife as it sat upon the counter while a sweet-smelling brew bubbled and sizzled away on the stove next to it.
She never told anyone (except for Spyro or Ivor) that one of her favourite hobbies was cooking.
She didn't fancy herself a professional connoisseur by any means but she really liked making art with food —she'd always work feverishly on her dishes like a dragon possessed and she'd always make a masterpiece on a plate without fail! Heck, she even discovered that she had even become a bit of a perfectionist as far as her culinary works of art were concerned as she refused to create anything less than scrumptious for her mate and whelp…and not even Sparx could deny that her food was amazing.
A soft yet self-proud smile plastered itself upon the black dragon's muzzle.
Once she finished slicing up the fish on the chopping board, the ex terror of the skies picked up the board and tipped the cut up slices of trout into the bubbling broth which sat on the stove. The instant the chopped bits of fish meat, the brew let out several "hiss" sounds which followed by a cloud of steam billowing out from the pot itself and raising up into the air towards the ceiling before dissipating into nothingness.
As she continued cooking, the black dragoness pondered on the current situation.
Spyro had left on a mission which the Guardians had sent him on and Ivor was training at school —It had only been a couple weeks since he had started going and, ever since, he had remained his cheery little self despite him showing no signs of his shadow powers aside from the odd ailment that came along and swept him off his tiny feet.
There were no signs of aggression whatsoever.
Yet.
Creeeeeeeeak…
Cynder's head perked when she heard the front door open and close again.
Slam!
The ebony-scaled dragonesses heart lifted a bit as she heard the sound of her son's bag sliding off and hitting the ground that was followed by the sound of light steps hitting the floor —She recognised those footsteps as coming from her young son.
"Ivor, baby, is that you?" She called aloud, still not turning away from her cooking. "I'm in the kitchen."
She heard a low mumble of acknowledgment followed by the steps which sounded louder and clearer the closer the source (Ivor) got. She instantly felt a measure of concern, something was up, she knew that much from the low enthusiasm coming from the small white dragon whelp. He sounded really gloomy and somber from what she could hear and it only served to make sure that her concern would spike. She made the decision that this couldn't wait and she needed to investigate what the problem was and she temporarily abandoned her cooking and turned around…
What she saw made her heart drop to the floor and her eyes widened in shock and horror:
Ivor was covered in purple welts, cuts and bruises —it looked as though someone had scratched him and then charged at him and headbutted him repeatedly. His right eye was even purple and swollen to the point where not only was it slammed shut but it also appeared to be throbbing painfully. He tried not to show how much discomfort he was in as to not worry his mother but that failed miserably and, to be honest, why would it fail to not concern his mother more? He looked as though the Dark master had took him into his diabolical mouth and spat him out again.
"By the ancestors claw!" She gasped "What happened!?"
Ivor didn't answer her question and just kept his one seeing amethyst eye averted from her teal ones.
Cynder didn't know what was going on but her motherly instincts commanded her to do something.
She needed to do something!
Her legs moved before her mind could command them to do so and she approached her son hastily.
"Awww, my poor baby! Here let me-"
Cynder was about to lean forwards in order to examine her child for more severe injuries (such as broken bones) rather than the cuts and bruises but was immediately stopped from doing just that when Ivor took a couple steps back whilst sharply turning away from her as much as he possibly could, it was somewhat shocking that the force wasn't enough to cause whiplash.
"No!" He cried "Don't touch me!"
Cynder was stunned.
Why didn't her son want to be touched?
Was he hiding something from her?
He must have been if he didn't wish to tell her of all creatures.
But what could he have been hiding?
His bruises and cuts were as plain as daylight!
It was also crystal clear that he was being tormented and she understood that the offender was a young dragon in the city…but she, nor Spyro, had any idea on how to remedy this. They couldn't openly confront the little fire dragon, apparently named Blitzen, since they knew better than this…and they did try and speak to his parents about it but the father was one of those skeptical dragons whom didn't really like Cynder and, while they were both decent to Spyro, the parents did wind up punishing their little bully but the dad made his despise for the ebony-scaled dragoness very well known while the mother just nodded in agreement.
Of course, she had a few good ideas as to why her son was being bullied and none of them were his fault in the first place.
Cynder sighed.
She needed to clean those scratches and cuts before they got infected, she'd work out the messy details later.
"Ivor, honey…" She called over.
Ivor didn't move an inch.
"Look at me."
He still didn't budge…not until curiosity got the better of him and he briefly glanced to the black dragoness and saw that she'd lowered herself on the ground, laying down flat on her magenta/red underbelly as she did so, and then used a claw to pat a small spot in front of her. She did this without missing a beat or even looking away from the small whelp (she didn't even blink) —she was clearly nonverbally asking her son to settle down in that spot in front of her.
Ivor took a couple seconds to ponder on his next move…until he decided it was best to not defy his mother and he reluctantly did as silently asked and sat in the spot his mother gestured to so she could start tending to his injuries, settling to sit on his haunches while he firmly pressed the side of his body against his mother's side.
The dragoness slowly licked the bloodstains off of her son's wounds as gently as she could. The wounds all appeared to have been clean-cuts that should heal fast, the bruises should take a couple days to fade and the black eye would probably linger for a month at most before the swelling went down completely. But that didn't stop her from fretting over the fact that some of those scars might be stuck on her son's body for life.
"While I'm doing this, would you mind telling me what happened and who did this to you and why?" She asked.
Ivor noted the calm and collected tone in her voice with a hint of rage peppering it.
He wasn't stupid.
He knew that she wanted to go and explode on those who hurt him but he couldn't allow that to happen.
He didn't want his situation to worsen.
But…he couldn't ignore his mother's imploring "puppy" eyes.
He had never lied to his mum, he loved her too much; not to mention the fact that she could always tell when he was fibbing and would always call him out and punished him for it so, while he understood that lying to her wouldn't prove great for his favour, he was very reluctant to tell her what happened at all. He opened and then shut his maw as he contemplated on telling her anything.
But then his eyes began to well up with tears.
He didn't blink due to not wanting to let them roll down his muzzle and he felt a huge lump form in his throat.
He couldn't even try and hold anything in anymore after that.
"I…I got ambushed by Blitzen. He said some awful things and…and…and…"
The white dragon whelp trailed off.
He glanced down at his claws as though he were a monster, flexing his toes in a finger-like-manner as he unsheathed his claws. He felt his eyes begin to water and his lower lip started to protrude and tremble as he tried to fight back the urge to cry. His injuries stung but his inner-wounds stung even worse than that and the pain was enough to penetrate through his "tough guy" exterior via his voice as it wobbled pitifully.
It all hurt so much!
"Why…Why am I so different, mama? I'm a dragon like you and dad. So why do they pick on me?"
Cynder felt her heart constrict in her chest as hurt filled her eyes.
She knew full well how that whelp Blitzen tended to bully her son and, whenever she'd see the hurt inflicted, she would feel rage and wrath twisting and twining in her gut and the urge to go over there and lunge at his parents' necks became that much more unbearable. She remembered the last time she and Spyro had encountered this brat's parents and the father merely spat excuses and outright insults while the mother passively stood by.
A low growl rumbled from her throat as she inwardly sneered st those dragons.
If they wished to hate her, then they could be her guest but if they hurt her son then they would have to deal with her.
Ivor's eyelids closed over his teary eyeballs.
"Is…..Is there something wrong with me?" He asked, panic rooting his voice. "Am I going to become a monster?!"
Cynder's heart shattered into pieces the second she heard that question.
Her eyes widened and then softened.
She had wanted her whelp, her precious baby whelp, to never feel this way! She remembered how it felt to be persecuted (and how it still feels) and she didn't want him to feel any different to any regular dragon but, she supposed, that his white scales made that difficult because of how unique they were. She hadn't forgotten the prospect of her own son being a shadow dragon like she was, either, and she fretted that if his emotions got too negative then those shadow abilities would feed on it like a hungry leech or an insect.
She didn't want Ivor to feel like a monster, he was too young and too innocent for it!
The dragoness became determined to speak to Spyro about this the instant he returned home.
But for now she needed to comfort her son.
"No!" She cried "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!".
The ebony-scaled dragoness proceeded to crane her neck and nuzzle her precious whelp with her snout in hopes it would soothe him as he bawled where he sat, the tears freely cascading down his muzzle and dripping on to the polished marble flooring below. She furled one wing around the white-scaled dragon whelp and moved it up and down in order to stroke his back in a soothing motion.
"Ivor, sweetheart, open your eyes."
Ivor couldn't bring himself to do so as his eyeballs stung due to the oncoming waterfalls of tears, especially his black eye. Not to mention he felt a nodule of doubt curl inside his heart. He knew most dragons didn't have shadow powers like he and his mother did and he heard all about how his mother used to do bad things because of how poisonous the Dark master's influence was. He didn't want to wind up like that, he was afraid that would happen if he used his abilities.
He didn't want to be bad.
He really didn't!
Then he heard his mother speak again, her words becoming a gentle and soothing whisper.
"Open your eyes and look at me." She ordered again in a gentle manner.
Ivor reluctantly did so and looked his mother in the eye.
His young heart melted at what he saw:
Cynder was staring at him with that very same expression which was full of love that Ivor had known and grown familiar with ever since he had first hatched, her teal green eyes were overflowing with compassion and she wore the gentlest of smiles as she stared at him with the utmost sincerity and adoration that he had ever seen any creature look at another with.
The former terror of the skies pulled her precious child close to her as she snuggled with him, finally earning the smallest of smiles from his small muzzle. She reclined back whilst she sat on her haunches and she cradled her precious whelp in her forearms while she cuddled him while his head rested against her crimson/magenta underbelly so he could listen to her heart gently beating.
"Nothing is wrong with you, Ivor." She assured. "You are the furthest thing from a monster in the entire world!"
Ivor doubted that and made a move to protest.
"But-!"
He was cut off.
Cynder kept speaking, Ivor now hanging on her every word.
"Listen to me very carefully. Your father and I love you more than anything in this entire realm and, no matter what you end up becoming when you're older, we'll never stop loving you. As long as you are loved then I doubt you have anything to worry about —that's the difference between you and me, you have creatures who love you…I didn't."
Ivor looked down sadly for a moment as he felt shock jab him in the heart like an arrow.
His mother didn't have anyone to love her? Really? She must have felt so sad to live life like that, he couldn't believe that his own mother was strong enough to overcome that anyway and become who she was to this day. He couldn't deny that he admired that and hoped that he'd be sort of like her when he was grown up, but he wanted to be like his father too.
He closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek further against his mother's chest, hoping for her heartbeat to envelope him.
Cynder's smile widened a tad and her eyes softened even more somehow as she cradled her precious babe.
Her heart shuddered a little when she focused on the injuries covering her son's body but she ignored it for now, she'd bandage him up later…for now she just wanted to hold him and make him feel safe in her embrace like he used to when he was a tiny hatchling.
She recalled those early days fondly.
"Mama…?" Ivor asked, breaking the silence that had brewed between him and his mother.
"Yes?" Cynder answered.
Ivor didn't look up at his mother this time, he just kept his face buried against her chest where her heart beat.
He curled into the smallest ball he could for now.
"….Do you think….y-you could sing for me? Like you did when I was little?"
Cynder didn't expect that inquiry to arise at all; it had been some time since Ivor had made such a request, usually refusing as he saw himself as too old and mature for such treatment. This just went to prove just how fragile and vulnerable her son was feeling right now and, if her singing a song would soothe his aching heart, then she would be thrilled to oblige with his wishes. She remembered those hard nights when he would awaken and cry until his tiny voice became as rough as sandpaper and rendered to a rasp hoarse and she remembered the one lullaby that carried herself and Spyro through those tough nights with their only son.
The dragoness fought back the tears of nostalgia threatening to make their presence known and bent her head down to give Ivor a tender and affectionate lick on the cheek where one of his cuts were.
"I'd be happy to." She answered softly.
She inhaled whilst she reared back in self-preparation, raising her head up high (but not high enough where her horns could penetrate the ceiling) and she cleared her throat. It had been so long since she last sung that familiar lullaby and she felt her heart soar at the thought of singing that song to her sad boy once again, it made her reminisce of when Ivor was still tiny and frail.
She even forgot about the food she was making.
Keeping Ivor cradled safely in her forelegs, Cynder started to sing.
"Oh holy land, come ancient spirit…"
A/N: Heres a new chapter for "Shadow scales".
Sorry that this took awhile to update, I've been busy.
So we get some motherly love in this chapter and, btw, the song Cynder sings is the beginning part of "This broken soul".
Anyways, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one but I hope you will like the direction in which this fanfic is going.
You guys are awesome!
-Chloemcg
