Chapter 3 - Attempting Friendship

Crush and Gulp had awoken the next morning to the sound of their stomachs rumbling, so they didn't hesitate to head to the kitchen and satiate their hunger. But upon entering the kitchen, they were greeted with an—interesting sight; instead of the lizard chef that they had enslaved, Ripto was standing atop a stool to reach into a cabinet full of plates. And when he finally grabbed and plate and noticed his cronies, he merely gave them a sideways glance before setting the plate on the countertop.

"What? I can't just let her starve," Ripto calmly protested with a shrug, as he grabbed a couple pieces of bread, placed some pieces of ham on one piece, and slathered some mayonnaise on the other.

Gulp opened his mouth to grunt something in response, but Ripto was way ahead of him, "Yes, I know I could ask the chef or some other servant to bring this to her, but I need to keep a close eye on her. It'll only help me find out everything I can about her."

The two lackeys shared confused looks, and Ripto once again sensed this, "No, I'm not using this as an excuse to get all buddy-buddy with her. Don't be so naïve—although, I suppose being more hospitable will only help make her surrender all the more quick."

As if by a miracle, Ripto began rambling again just before Crush was about to speak, "I've got it! I should give her more friendly living quarters! What an excellent idea, glad I thought of it!"

Crush and Gulp rolled their eyes as their master left the kitchen and headed towards the dungeon entrance, all while holding his head high and walking with a subtle pep in his step. He wasn't surprised to be greeted with the sight of Esther being curled up in a pile of straw in the corner while taking a peek through the bars; he then unlocked the door, causing Esther to wake with a start and squint her eyes at the bright light piercing the dark cell.

"I hope you like mayo," Ripto began jokingly, only for Esther to back further into her cell, "Oh, come on! Don't be such a burden! I made this for you, after all. It's only polite that you at least try it."

With that, Ripto twirled his scepter to pull on the magic bounds on Esther's wings, dragging her out of the cell and shutting the cell door behind her.

"W-Where are you taking m-me now? A c-colder, darker cell?" Esther shivered.

"Ha-ha. You're quite the comedian," Ripto mumbled sarcastically, and began forcing her to walk alongside him, "Don't be a Smart Alec, especially since I'm offering to give you a much nicer room."

"W-Why would you let o-one of your servants live s-s-somewhere nicer?"

"You don't see anyone else down here, do you? I only locked you up last night because I had flown off the handle a bit. I thought I'd try to make amends."

"W-Why are you suddenly b-being so n-nice to me?"

"I know better than anyone not to take your blessings for granted, and a maid working for free is definitely a blessing in my book. Now, will you please stop complaining about my hospitality? A simple 'thank you' would suffice."

Esther remained speechless for the rest of their walk, and they eventually stopped outside of a room in a tower. Ripto opened the door for her, revealing a cozy room with a grand bed, a large wardrobe, and a window with a great view of the south side of the castle courtyard.

"Well?" Ripto urged.

"It's…um…" was all Esther could say.

Ripto waved his hand dismissively after placing the plate on a nightstand, "It's trying too hard, I know. But know that this is all just to earn your undivided loyalty, nothing else. And furthermore-."

"Why?"

That one word was enough to stop Ripto dead in his sentence, mostly because of her rude interruption.

"Why, what?"

"I-I just don't get it. I'm one of the things you hate most. I mean, I understand trying to keep your servants alive for your benefit, but why me? I am still a dragon," Esther explained in great confusion.

"Well, you answered your own question. Yes, I do despise dragons, but I try to avoid any messy encounters with them or anyone, for that matter. And either way, a live servant is always better than a dead one. Wouldn't you agree?"

Esther didn't know what to say, so she merely nodded.

"Good. Don't bring it up again. And I want you to wash the dishes, mop the dining room and kitchen floors, and set the table for dinner when you're done eating."

Ripto left without another word, rolling his eyes as he closed the door behind him. Esther was still terribly confused confused; she couldn't wrap her head around why her captor and enemy was suddenly being a descent host. But she supposed that whatever the reason for his odd behavior, she knew it was safe to play along for the time being.

And as Ripto slowly walked down the empty hallway, he grabbed his necklace and gazed down at it, mentally praying to it, Please, let her be enough.

Spyro couldn't forgive himself. After everything Esther did to try and protect him, he failed to save her in return; and now, she was trapped in Ripto's clutches, and there was no telling what he would do to her. That was the worst part. But Spyro knew he needed help, and he needed it now; it didn't help that he was still trapped in Avalar.

He had already gone through the ice world full of Colossus and competed in some tough hockey games, and he would do it all again if it meant getting enough talismans to travel back to the Dragon Realms to get help. But more than anything, he needed to tell Esther's older brother and father what had happened.

"Please, tell me there's some kind of shortcut to getting this portal to work again," Spyro begged the Professor.

"I'm sorry, Spyro. Ripto damaged it beyond repair. The only way to get it to work now would be to collect enough talismans, and use their power to jumpstart a new one," the Professor reluctantly explained, as he salvaged what he could from the portal's wreckage in Glimmer.

"So, what you're basically saying is that we have to build another one from scratch as well as find all the talismans if we're going to get it to work in the first place," Spyro rambled matter-of-factly.

The Professor nodded, "Precisely."

Spyro sighed and shook his head, "I was afraid of that."

"How about this? While Elora and Hunter keep their eyes on Ripto, so that they can report to us where he's going to be next, you can follow him and keep him in one place long enough. Then, I might be able to get the portal working for a short amount of time to allow you to send him through to an unknown world where he can't bother us again. And then, we can focus on rescuing Esther and getting you home."

"That…that's a brilliant idea, Professor!" Spyro exclaimed with high hopes.

"Yes, well. They don't call me 'The Professor' for no reason," the said old mole chuckled boastfully.

"I've gotta hurry and gather more talismans! See you later, Professor!"

With that, Spyro sprinted off to search for the nearest portal to a new land that would hopefully allow him access to another talisman. If the Professor's plan was going to work, which it had to, he needed all the power he could get.

Esther stood on her hind legs while putting most of her strength in moving the mop around the clean the floor in the dining room; she had just finished washing the dishes, and she planned on finishing what few chores she was given in order to appeal to Ripto's better nature.

And speak of the devil…

"Your cleaning skills could use work—but I suppose they're better than Crush's attempts," Ripto commented dryly, as he examined his smeared reflection on the shiny floor.

"Well, to be fair, the Dragon Worlds don't really have a lot of stone floors to mop," Esther protested with a shrug.

"Be that as it may, you need to mop in small sections, not the whole floor all at once," the horned wizard instructed firmly.

Esther quirked a brow in confusion, "Um, ok—how do you know a mopping technique?"

Ripto's eyes narrowed, "That's none of your concern, Dragon."

"Do you even know my name?"

"No, and I don't care. Now, finish up here, so that you can start setting the table."

Just as Ripto tried to pass Esther and be on his way, the mop slipped in the excess soapy water when Esther began cleaning again. But she lost her balance and her feet slipped as well, causing her to fall back into Ripto; luckily for her, he managed to catch her just in time, but the dip she was now in left their faces awkwardly close together as their eyes locked.

A confused grunt grabbed their attention, and they looked up to find that both Crush and Gulp had snuck into the dining room unnoticed; the two cronies stood in silent bewilderment when they saw their master holding a dragon in his arms.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Ripto roared and immediately dropped Esther, causing her to land like a rag doll on her back.

"Ow…" Esther muttered in pain.

Crush raised a claw and opened his mouth to speak, but Ripto quickly spoke first, "Don't say a word!"

"U-um…Ripto?" Esther reluctantly spoke up after getting back up on her feet.

"What?!" Ripto snapped while whipping his head back around.

"You dropped your scepter." As soon as Esther finished her sentence, she carefully picked up Ripto's scepter, for he unknowingly dropped it after catching her. She carefully made her way across the wet floor, and successfully approached Ripto without slipping; the said wizard was speechless when the dragoness handed him the one thing that kept her grounded and even destroy her.

"Did you hit your head when I dropped you?" Ripto eventually asked.

"What? Why would you ask that?"

"I-It doesn't matter! Just finish your chores, and then go back to your room until further notice! Now!"

Esther jumped back while quickly mopping in the opposite direction, and Ripto's gaze eventually fell on Crush and Gulp, who were still utterly surprised.

"One more word, and I'm locking you simpletons in the dungeon instead," Ripto hissed warningly while stomping out of the room. Crush and Gulp did remain quiet, but the wheels in their heads started turning as they watched Esther frantically finish cleaning the floors. Ripto obviously wasn't going to be making any real progress on his own, so he was going to need a push.

Well, I guess you can't expect someone like Ripto to be good at friendship right off the bat, right?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!