Chapter 7: Market Day

The market was as vibrant as ever, especially now as the seasons began to change. The autumn was slowly beginning to come to a close, and people were ready for the upcoming festivals. For Cynder, this wasn't to be a trip for festive decorations or seasonal items. This was to be a trip for her to gather supplies for the journey that she planned to undertake.

Despite everyone being against her in some fashion or another, her decision remained steadfast. Over and over, she reminded her doubters that if they let their idleness get to them, then the visions that she had received would become their reality. Action taken now in advance would change the future that the Chronicler saw. War could be prevented, and for some reason she was really the only one that believed it.

The only one who seemed to agree with her to any extent was Spyro, and would give anything in order to help her in her endeavor. Unfortunately, with the admission that he had another round of unpleasant visions, the black dragoness stuck to her work and politely, but sternly declined. The purple dragon was becoming more and more distraught and restless over the visions, and even though she hated to think of him that way, he would be a weight on her that would slow her down.

So, it was becoming increasingly clear that she would be alone in her effort, with all but one against her decision. Still, she pressed on.

As the black dragoness made her way through the streets, she couldn't help but smile a little bit. It had been three years since her former master, Malefor, laid siege to the city, whose successful defense was in part because of her actions with her boyfriend. It was fascinating to see how fast that the city was able to rebuild after the siege and the subsequent shattering of the world. It was like nothing had ever happened to the city at all.

People of all kinds—dragons, cheetahs, canines, and other reptiles—gathered in the city to buy and sell their goods. Money was exchanged faster than one could keep up with. This was the definition of a bustling economy. Briskly, Cynder walked through the streets to get to the food markets, avoiding the merchants that would seek to entice her with things that she did not need. Occasionally, someone would have the audacity to heckle her of her bracers, which were to the surprise of the dragoness and an appraiser she took them to a while back, were made of an alloy of platinum, an extremely rare and valuable metal.

The food market was just as busy as the other markets. Food was aplenty in the city, with grains and vegetables, fruits, and meats brought in through agriculture.

As Cynder passed by all of the surplus food items and their respective vendors, she could appreciate that there was plenty for everyone and that nobody would have to worry where their next meal came from; there was one issue that she took with it however, and it was how wasteful the system was. Food was brought in faster than it could be consumed, which led to a surplus that no effort was made to preserve. Once the first sign of spoilage was seen, it was thrown into the rubbish bins and taken away to incinerator stations where it was unceremoniously burned.

It seemed to her like nothing more than a big waste of resources to see so much go to waste all because nobody was willing to take the time to actually preserve the food; only those at home who had the willingness to do it were the ones that did. It didn't help either that the method of agriculture that was employed to grow the food, in her eyes, was not sustainable. It was harsh on the environment, and there were better methods of farming that were not so damaging to the ecosystem and more sustainable.

Then again, things wouldn't ever change when things worked just as they always had before.

Cynder shook those thoughts from her head. She was on a mission to get prepared for the journey ahead of her. Focusing in on her objective, she padded along in search of food that would last her for the duration for her mission, which she had roughly estimated to be around two weeks. This already cut out most fruits from the possible foods that she could have picked from. It was a shame, as she was particularly fond of strawberries, which weren't good at all dehydrated.

Among the other choices, there were some meats that she could take with her. Strips of bacon that had been salted, smoked, or made into jerky were all valad choices, as well as all of them being delicious. Though it was all fresh, it could all be prepared that night and in the coming days. She made her way over to a meat vendor, purchased the meat, and happily went on her way.

As she continued to browse along the many vendors, there was one ahead that seemed to stick out. He was a fire dragon, with yellow horns and wings, and it didn't seem like there were many people going to his stall in particular. There was no reason for the black dragoness to go by his stall, yet there was always the potential that he might have something that she was looking for.

Cynder strode over to his stall and took a look at what he had to offer. Almost immediately, it seemed that his mood had brightened a little to have her as a customer. "Hello," Cynder greeted him. "What kind of stuff do you sell here?" On the table, it was clear that he didn't offer any of the foods that everyone else was looking for.

"W-well, ma'am, I'm trying to clear the inventory of granola. My father owns a merchant business and he wasn't able to sell it like he hoped that it would, so we're just trying to get rid of it and move onto some new items." The explanation was nice, and her curiosity was piqued a little. There were little chunks of the food coalesced together into clumps that were easy to grasp with one's claws, or some of them arranged into bars.

With a raised brow, she had to ask. "What is granola exactly? I've heard of it but I never really learned what it's made of."

"Oh, well, it's a food that's a mixture of roasted oats and nuts, mixed with honey and brown sugar," he explained, picking up a cluster of it and passing it to her. "You're welcome to try some—I don't mind."

Cynder took him up on the offer, taking the granola chunk into her claws and popped it into her mouth, chewing it methodically as she took in the taste of it. She hummed in delight. The honey and brown sugar sweetened things up a bit while the roasted oats and nuts provided the substance and texture to it.

"I take it that you like it?"

"I think I do. It's good." How anyone would turn down this product beats her. People didn't know what they were missing. Tastiness aside, there was a question that she had to ask about it. "How long does this usually last for?"

"If stored correctly, it can last for a few weeks. It's good for camping out, which is what my father tried to market them as: camping food. Well, dragons and others usually hunt while they are out, so not a lot of people bought them."

Yep, she thought, that'll be why they didn't. "It's good, I'll give it that. How much?" The fire dragon told her the price, and she bought a good portion of his stock. While it wouldn't be the only thing that she would look for, at least she found something that she didn't have to take time to prepare in order to take it with her for the duration of her journey.

"Thank you very much, Miss Cynder. I appreciate your patronage," the fire dragon spoke with genuine sincerity. As both infamous and famous as she was, Cynder had gotten used to people knowing her without even meeting her before. The same could not be said for this dragon.

As she was ready to leave, she turned back to him and asked, "Oh, by the way, what is your name?"

The fire dragon's face lit up, almost as if that made his day. "My name is Flame," he replied back, waving with a pleased smile on his face.

"It was nice meeting you, Flame. I hope all of those sell well." And with that, she was off again.

…

Having gathered up almost all she needed, Cynder ambled happily through the city towards her final destination. She had gathered enough food that would last her for a while, and other miscellaneous things that would make things a lot easier for the duration of her trip. There was one last thing that she was going to need, and it was one place that she wasn't fond of going to.

There was an apothecary shop in the Old Town, one that was known well for selling good quality medicines. It was owned by a respected water dragoness everyone called Lady Marne. While the two dragonesses knew each other and were somewhat fond of each other, there was a reason why she didn't like going there. Lady Marne had an apprentice that was training to be like her, and that person was a pink dragoness by the name of Ember.

To say that the two were not the best of friends would be an accurate statement. Ever since hers and Spyro's return to Warfang after defeating Malefor, there were their fans and admirers. While Cynder had other guys trying to swoon her, Spyro would have girls regularly flirt with him. Ember was one of these. It had been three years since the world was saved, and yet the pink dragoness persisted while others would have given up and moved along. It was a bit of a nuisance because she showed more bravado when Spyro and Cynder were together.

She gritted her teeth a little thinking about it. That dragoness knew how to strike a nerve with her. Despite that, the need for emergency medicines outweighed her dislike for the obnoxious pink dragoness. Maybe she wasn't there today, and there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

Shaking her head, she padded along to the shop, and breathed in before opening the door. To her dissatisfaction, Ember was, in fact, there, but so was Lady Marne, which was a sigh of relief as Marne had a habit of keeping her apprentice on task. The water dragon would allow the pink dragon to get a jest or two in before she capped it at that. And knowing that, Cynder already knew that it was going to be teasing her about her relationship, and she knew it.

"Hello…" Cynder said, announcing her presence to Lady Marne and Ember. RIght away, the pink dragoness looked up from what she was doing and smirked at the sight of Cynder.

"Oh, good afternoon, Cynder. How's my purple sweetheart doing?" Ember asked right away, eliciting a scoff at the remark. It was Ember's favorite way to get under scales.

"That's none of your business," she retorted back with an aggravated snort. "I just need to get some medicines and be on my way." Staying here any longer than she needed to be was to guarantee that the pink dragoness would get more aggravating remarks out and get under her scales even more.

Thankfully, Lady Marne interjected. "What are you needing medicine for?" she inquired. Depending on what it was that she was needing, there might be some kept in stock in the shop and wouldn't require to be made there and could be handed over the counter.

"Well, I'm going on a journey," Cynder began to explain. "I'm going to carry red gems with me, but I'd like to have some traditional medicines with me just to be safe." She explained the kind of medications she desired: things like healing ointments and topical pain killers in case she got hurt, along with some generalized medicines in case she got sick with anything while in this foreign land.

Marne hummed and went back into the storage room where she kept the pre-made medicines, pilfering through the cabinets to see if there was anything that Cynder needed was already there. While she did that, it left Ember there with Cynder alone. But, surprisingly, the dragoness didn't poke fun or prod at her. Instead, there was some genuine intrigue.

"Where are you going?" Ember asked.

Cynder shifted around, contemplating on how to go about answering that question. Outright saying: "Oh, there is a war that's coming that we are totally unaware and unprepared for. I'm going to go see if I alone can stop it because nobody else will even consider the option," wasn't an option that she was willing to give, and it didn't seem likely that Ember would actually take her seriously.

"I saw visions in my dreams," Cynder answered. "And I keep having these dreams. So, I'm setting off on this journey—I feel as if this is a calling of sorts."

Behind the counter, Ember listed intently. "Oh wow… What do you think will come of this journey?"

Truthfully, it was hard to actually tell. So many things could go right or wrong. It was her hope that the coming war could be prevented by her interventions. Though she remained very optimistic, that question planted some seeds of doubt in her mind. What if she failed? What if their unknown adversary was unwilling to negotiate? What if they…

"I think that it will be good," she blurted out, not lingering on the negative thought for too much longer.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck on your journey." It was a small remark, but it was sincere. While Ember had a way to get under her scales quickly, at least she wasn't a complete ass and total about it.

A small smile grew on Cynder's face. "Thanks, Ember."

By that time, Marne had returned from the back with medicines in paw. Everything requested of her was already made and in stock. The water dragoness laid everything down on the counter, and went over to her register to pull the prices from a record book. "Okay, Cynder, your total today comes out to seventeen silver, three copper."

The black dragoness reached into her money pouch and procured eighteen silver coins, to which Marne refunded her seven copper coins in change. With the transaction completed, the items were stowed away in a paper bag and handed over to Cynder, where she gave a nod, thanking them both for their assistance.

With this in store, all the black dragoness had to do next was to go out and find her a cluster of red and green gems. Contemplating it, she decided that it could wait until tomorrow before she'd go and gather them. Time might be of the essence, but what was the difference of one day going to make? Besides, she still had her lover that needed to be looked after before she left.

The Gems could wait.