Disclaimer: I don't own the Spyro series, etc. etc. It's currently owned by whomever.

Chapter 3

The Dreaded Date

Spyro headed for the temple gates. He sighed as he remembered how he had asked Cynder out for a "picnic" shortly before she disappeared. He paused and unconsciously touched the scar on his throat with his front paw.

He wished he could get out of this stupid date. He didn't even like Tara, let alone love her. He knew that he felt something for Cynder that was a little more then just friendship.

The purple dragon took several steps backward and turned halfway around. He turned back around and continued toward the gate. "It's just one date, Spyro. I'm going to get Sparx for this!"

A jet of flame caused the door to spin open and Spyro walked out into the jungle. Tara was standing there. She was dressed in a pink cloak with a golden collar around her neck. The gold really didn't stand out much against Tara's yellow scales, not like Cynder's silver collar had against her red and black ones.

Spyro suppressed another sigh and greeted Tara. "Hey…"

"Hello, Spyro," Tara replied. "Come on; let's get away from this old place."

She leapt into the air and opened her wings. Spyro hesitated for a moment and flapped his wings, soaring after her.

Tara led him away from the temple and deeper into the jungle. Once, they had flown for several minutes, they descended toward a canyon.

Landing on the edge of the canyon, Spyro looked around. The forest stretched out before them, the river could be seen snaking across the landscape.

"What do you think?" Tara asked, sliding up alongside him.

"It's peaceful," Spyro replied. "Cynder and I used to come here sometimes."

Spyro felt Tara's wings drop at that.

"Come on," Tara said. "Let's go someplace else."

Spyro was about to lay down, but he stopped midway as Tara started walking off in a huffy manner. He stood up fully and reluctantly followed her into the jungle.

Tara didn't stay huffy for long and soon cheered up and asked Spyro in a sweet tone. "So you're doing pretty well with your combat training, right?"

Spyro looked away momentarily and rolled his eyes. "I'm doing okay. There are still other dragons there with more experience then me."

"Oh, well, they got a head start," Tara shrugged. "And if you had all of your elemental powers you would be at the top of the class."

"Yeah, I guess," Spyro said. He was actually somewhat glad that he hadn't recovered all of his elemental abilities. He had combat training and training in fire and thunder manipulation. If he had to study ice and earth on top of that, he would probably have little free time and he would be exhausted.

Tara stopped and turned to face him. Spyro noticed that they had stopped in the middle of a field of giant mushrooms. "You know, Spyro, I like a lot of things about you. You're so strong, but you're not too muscular, you've got some sleekness to you and I just love the color of your eyes."

Someone kill me, Spyro silently begged. I mean it. Just comet dash my head in.

"Is there anything you like about my personality though?" Spyro asked, sounding a bit snappy.

"Well… uh…," Tara glanced away.

--

Cynder glanced around. She had wandered into some dark unfamiliar forest. The trees around her grew like thorns and they formed a canopy above her that would prevent her from flying away. The ground was bare of any plant life and hurt her paws.

She glanced around and slowly walked forward, not sure which way would take her out of the forest.

The farther she went the more the strange trees pressed in around her until she was standing in a tunnel formed by them.

Cynder glanced back down the tunnel. She was surprised to see light at that end and normal green trees and grass-covered ground. And then something else stepped into view. Cynder's heart leapt at the sight of the purple and gold figure.

"Spyro!" she yelled, turning and running toward the end of the tunnel. Spyro looked up at her, his face expressionless. Cynder was almost to the end of the tunnel when something slammed into her and sent her tumbling back.

She looked up to see that she had collided with a dragon, several other dragons stood around it.

"Let me through!" Cynder growled, ramming her head against the larger dragon's chest.

"No, go back to the darkness where you belong!" the dragon growled, batting her back into the thorn tunnel.

"Spyro, help me!" Cynder said, running at the dragons, but they just pushed her back. Spyro hadn't moved and his expression was unchanged. "Spyro!"

A young electric dragon appeared and walked up next to Spyro. She snuggled up against Spyro's side and wrapped her wings around him.

"Forget it. Spyro's mine!" Tara laughed. "Go back to the darkness!"

The other dragons echoed her cry and shoved Cynder farther back. She felt the thorns wrap around her and pull her away. She tried to dig her claws into the ground, but they couldn't penetrate the hard earth. A familiar voice laughed into her ear.

Cynder awoke with a scream. She glanced around the curtain sheltered part of the hut that served as her room. She was covered in sweat and panting heavily. She could still hear the laughter ringing in her ears.

"Are you okay?" Kadie asked, fluttering down from above her.

"I'm fine," Cynder said even as her mind registered the scratches from the thorns. The nightmares were still hurting her physically.

She jumped as Jirin pushed the curtain open and set a bowl in front of her. "Eat this, it will help."

The bowl was filled with a brown sauce, bits of mushroom and herbs floated in it. Cynder leaned down and sniffed it. The soup smelled pungent, but not noxious. She licked up a bit of it and instantly felt better. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jirin said, closing the curtain.

Cynder took several more gulps of the soup, aware that Kadie was watching her closely. "You're afraid that I'll lose control of myself?"

Kadie shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind."

"I thought it would get better," Cynder sighed.

"Jirin says you'll need to get more of the Dark Master's soul out of yourself first," Kadie said. "Now, that he knows you can get rid of him, he's going to try harder to break you."

"Great," Cynder sighed, laying her head on her paws.