Palace – Throne room, early morning
It has been 5 days since Flame sent the city's guards on a search for the purple dragon, and now he regrets doing so. From sun up to sun down Flame has been bombarded with questions and complaints from the towns people asking him if he knows were the purple dragons is, or what does he plan to do if they can't find him. He sat on his throne, and bathed in the peace and quiet knowing full well that he will be busy asking question all day again. It is not that he didn't like to hear his people's problems; it was just that it was the same question coming from hundreds of dragons, and sometimes the occasional mole or cheetah. To his dismay the sound of a door opening and closing was heard as his adviser walked towards the king.
"Sire, there's another group at the front door. What would you want me to do with them?"
Flame let out a frustrated sigh as he wanted to replace every one of his guards who told one of the townsfolk about the purple dragon. "Can't we just ignore them?"
"As much as I would like that, unfortunately that would not be a wise thing to do sire." said his adviser chuckling a bit.
Flame let out another sigh "All right… bring them in."
As Flame saw the first pair of dragon's enter the throne room, he felt his heart sink a little. As much as he hated being asked the same question over and over, talking to these two had to be one of the hardest things he had to do over the past couple days.
"It is good to see you again Flambian, Zara."
Flambian was a fire dragon, with dark red scales, and a golden underbelly and wing membrane. His two horns curved behind his head and down his neck, while his tail blade was shaped like an ax. Zara was an electric dragoness, with yellow scales and a light blue underbelly and wing membrane. She had six horns four of which sat on the back of her head, while the other two ran down across her muzzle. Her tail blade was shaped like a thunderbolt.
"It is nice to see you as well my king." said Flambian, as Zara and himself kneeled before Flame.
When the two of them rose back up Zara asked "we do apologize for asking this again, but have you found the dragon that killed your son yet?"
"There is no need for apologies; I would do the same thing if I were in your situation. If anything I should be apologizing. It pains me to say it but, no we have not found him yet, but as soon as we find him, you two will be the first to know about it."
"Thank you my king." said Zara. Flambian and Zara both bowed once more and left the throne room.
Once they left his sight Flame sunk into his throne. He knew that today was going to be a long day. "alright, bring in the next ones."
Hunters home
Things weren't much better at Hunter's home either. Over the past 5 nights Spyro would talk to Dark Spyro and every night he would start to listen to him more and more. As a result of this Spyro has become more distant each passing day, especially towards Cynder. Hunter noticed this and it worried him, however it down right terrified Cynder as she thought she did something to anger him. Every day Cynder would ask Spyro what was wrong with him, but unknown to Cynder this only made Spyro become more distant as well as irritated him
Once again Cynder would woke up and look around the room to see if Spyro was still there or not and as just like the previous day she found him eating breakfast in the far right corner.
"Good morning Spyro, did you sleep well?"
Spyro ignored her and continued to eat his food.
"Oh come on Spyro the least you can do is say hello."
"Cynder if you wouldn't mind, could you please let me eat in peace" asked Spyro in a quiet tone.
Not liking her answer Cynder picked up her breakfast that Hunter placed not too far from her bed and sat down next to him. He has been acting differently for a while now and she was going to get to the bottom of it, whether he likes it or not.
"Would you mind eating some were else?"
"Actually yes I do. Today I'm going to eat with you regardless to what you say."
Spyro let out a small sigh before picking up his plate and moved to the other corner of the room. Just as he was about to sit back down he noticed that Cynder was next to him once more. Irritated now, Spyro moved over to another corner hoping Cynder would leave him alone this time. Like last time Cynder was by his side in a matter of seconds.
"You know what, I'm not hungry anymore." said an irritated Spyro to no one in particular. He set his plate down and walked back to his bed when he felt Cynder grab his tail. "What is it now Cynder?"
"Come on Spyro just spending one day eating breakfast with me won't kill you, so take a seat and enjoy yourself."
"I do appreciate the offer by I will have to refuse." said Spyro as he pulled his tail back.
"Ok Spyro what is the matter? Ever since Hunter let us stay here you have started acting differently." said Cynder very worried about her friend. "Did something happen?"
"Yeah I guess you could say that."
"Well what is it? I'm your friend Spyro, you can tell me."
"You're not my friend!" Spyro said bitterly.
"W-what, why would you saying something like that?" said Cynder with a hurt expression.
"Because Cynder I finally opened my eyes, and I can see through your lies. You never saw me as a friend, but only as a vessel that you could leech off of."
"Spyro what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you, and your selfish greed for affection. You're nothing but a monster. To think I actually cared for you!" Spyro could tell by the look in Cynder's eyes that what he said broke her heart.
"Spyro… I don't know where you even got that idea, but… I would never do anything like that… you have to believe me." said Cynder as her eyes began to water.
"And what should I believe in? That deep down you're a nice person!? That you're actually a kind hearted being!? Don't make me laugh!"
Cynder dug her claws into the stone ground as each word felt like daggers as they pierced her heart. "You know what Spyro… maybe I shouldn't if saved you that day. If I knew that this is how you would show gratitude, then I should have let you drown!"
"What gratitude? All you did was bring me back to a world where I'm hated. In fact, if you didn't save me, Blast would still be alive."
"And you think that it's my fault that he is dead? You were the one who killed him; his blood is on your paws Spyro. If anyone is the monster here it's you!"
"Why don't you do every one in this forsaken world a favor and just disappear Cynder!"
Cynder didn't say a single word. She let a few tears run down her scales as she walked towards the stairs. She was about to open the door, when she turned around and said "you know what Spyro… I do hope that you're happy with your life. If you want to go sulk in the corner for the rest of your life, then fine. I tried to do everything I could to make you feel better about yourself, but if this is the way you treat those around you then I wish you the best of luck."
Spyro just stared back at Cynder not saying a word.
"And to think that I…" Cynder never finished her sentence and instead decided to leave. A few seconds after he saw the door close behind her, Spyro heard the front door slam shut.
A few moments later Spyro heard the door open once more, and down came Hunter.
"Were did Cynder go?" asked Hunter
"She left." Spyro replied in a dull tone.
"Well were did she go?"
"I don't know."
"Why did she leave?" When Spyro didn't respond, Hunter figured out what happened. "Ok I'm going to go look for her, but when we get back the two of you are going to apologize to one another."
Soon Spyro heard the front door close, and he was left alone in the house. Spyro walked over to his bed and laid down in it. Not a single sound was made around the house, and he quite enjoyed the still silence, for it gave him peace. He didn't have to worry about the city guards finding him, and he especially loved not having to worry about Cynder. He was glad that she was gone, but he felt a little heartbroken as well. Spyro felt so confused. On one paw Cynder used him for her own personal gain, but on the other paw there was no proof that Cynder was doing this. Other than what his dark half told him. Not only that but why would he care if he was being used? He finally had someone who didn't treat him like filth, even if it was all a lie.
This thought frustrated Spyro to no end. He hated Cynder, but at the same time he cared for her. "Ugh, why can't things be as easy as they used to be?" thought Spyro.
His thoughts were interrupted though when he heard the wooden floor above him creaked as something or someone entered the house. Spyro held his breath, fearing that someone knew he was there. He heard the intruder walk into the living room. Spyro quietly hid under the stairs. Once hidden he listen to the intruder move around some more. The flooring under the intruder continued to make a small creaking noise from each of his footsteps; however, when the intruder walked over the hidden trapdoor a louder, a hollowed sounding creaking was made. Noticing the change in sound the intruder moved the rug that hid the door.
Spyro heard the door slowly open above him. He watched as the intruder made his way down the stairs. From what Spyro could tell the intruder was a gray cheetah who wore a green cloak. When the cheetah reached the middle of the room he, looked around before mumbling to himself "damn it, where are you?"
Seeing his chance Spyro slowly crept out from where he was hiding and walked up behind the cheetah. Just as the cheetah was about to turn around Spyro leaped up and tackled the cheetah to the ground and placed his tail blade against the back of the cheetah's throat.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"Now why would I tell you"? Spyro pushed his tail blade slightly into cheetah's skin causing a slight amount of blood to be soaked up by his fur. "Point taken, I will tell you who I am and why I'm here if you get off of me."
"Not a chance, you are going to tell me now, or else I will kill you here and now." Now this was just a bluff, Spyro would never purposely kill the cheetah, but he hoped that he could scare the cheetah that way.
"Oh you're no fun; you know Malefor would have gotten off of me. Though since you don't know me, I can see why you're doing this."
"Will you just answer my question already?"
"You see, that is what makes you and Malefor so different. If he had no idea who I was I would already be dead. Man, do I miss that old bastard."
"Stop avoiding the question and tell me what I want to know already!"
"Oh right, right. I'm sorry I tend to get a little sidetracked some times. I have several names, however you my call me the Hermit, and you don't have to worry, I'm not looking for you."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Well you can't, I'm just a strange cheetah how broke into someone's home in search of someone. Speaking of that, would you happen to know where Cynder went?"
"What do you want with Cynder?"
"If I don't do so soon, then she will meet the same fate as her mother, and die."