Meet the Parents

Every one woke up really early the next morning due to excitement or in Cynder's case, anxiety. Spyro stretched and yawned. He was surprised to bump into Cynder who had been sleeping next to him. She looked at Spyro, her green eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Thanks for the wake up call," she teased.

"Sorry Cynder, I didn't really expect you to be there though," admitted Spyro.

"I was going to leave you alone but you seemed pretty cold so…"

Sparx hovered in between them cutting Cynder off.

"Hey come on you two, no time for chatting. Let's go."

Spyro looked at Cynder apologetically who just rolled her eyes and gave Spyro a here-we-go-again look. Slowly; Spyro stood up and shook the dust from his scales.

"Cynder and I have to eat first Sparx."

Spyro had frozen the leftovers of the calf last night in preparation for a hasty leaving. (Not sure if that sounds right but.) The meat was still quite fresh due to the intense cold it had been kept under. It had already defrosted so Spyro and Cynder ate immediately. Spyro noticed how little Cynder ate, just as they were about to depart Spyro pulled her to one side.

"Are you nervous Cynder?"

She looked at him and nodded. A lump the size of an apple had formed in her throat rendering her incapable of speech.

"Don't be my parents will love you and they're... Very understanding; that is if you want to tell them about you're past. It not necessary but I suggest that you do because I think it would get out somehow. Mainly via Sparx's mouth and I think its better you tell them but what do I know?"

"Don't worry Spyro I'll tell them however I think you should introduce them to me first." Cynder whispered hoarsely.

"Consider it done," said Spyro "And if any dragonflies tease you or shun you if this gets out. It shouldn't but if it does then come to me first and I'll deal with it. OK.

Cynder smiled weakly which perked up Spyro's spirits and made his heart flutter as an unexpected feeling flitted through him like a bird on the wing. Heat suffused Spyro's face and he fervently hoped that it wasn't showing through his scales. If Cynder had noticed it she wasn't showing it; Spyro turned to Sparx.

"Now we can go."

"Wahoo right behind you buddy."

Spyro spread his brown wings marvelling at how large and powerful they had become. Cynder spread her delicate pink wings uneasily. A comforting look from Spyro gave the black dragoness the courage to take off alongside the other two.

Spyro and Sparx were so excited that Cynder 'who was the more accomplished flier' had difficulty keeping up. Eagerness was the wind underneath Spyro's wings and he was still as fresh as he had been at the start whereas Cynder was panting, her wing muscles were burning and rivers of sweat flowed down her brow. Spyro and Sparx were chattering excitedly about meeting their parents for the first time in three years but with all that had occurred since it seemed like an eternity had passed. On the other claw Cynder was getting increasingly nervous with each flap of her pink wings. Trying to calm herself, she watched the changing scenery below. The landscape was a soothing blur of colour: emerald green grass was dotted with pink and purple wildflowers and the Silver River wound its way past mighty trees and rugged grey rocks. As they flew over a patch of dead grey land dark memories flashed behind Cynder's eyes. Warm ruby blood spattered across her black scales as she slit the throat of a white female dragon. The hard white scales were ruptured as easily as paper beneath Cynder's terrifying tail blade. Cynder laughed maliciously as the dragoness' life drained from her body even as the blood seeped from her veins… Cynder advanced menacingly on the dragon hatchling cowering before her, terror etched in its huge golden eyes. Cynder looked behind her and saw a huge emerald male dragon standing in the mouth of the cave. He roared and charged at her. Cynder leapt to one side and lashed at him with all her might. Pain laced up her tail; from the force of the blow that had severed the dragon's head from his shoulders. Red blood covered the black hatchling from head to toe and he started to cry. Cynder decided that it wasn't worth the effort to kill the wretched hatchling so she stalked out of the cave kicking the decapitated dragon as she went. The black hatchling spoke one word as he padded over to his father.

"Cynder,"

Cynder snapped back to reality when she heard her name being called.

"Earth to Cynder, hello anyone in there? Come on snap out of it."

"Huh what the heck happened?"

"I don't know you just went blank, probably in your own little world. I've shouted you five times already."

"Sorry… I was thinking about something."

He nodded "Well it's time to land. We're here."

Spyro shortened his wingspan slightly as he angled towards the ground. Shivers of excitement rattled his purple scales as the swamp came into view. What Spyro saw made him gasp in amazement. Instead of being brown and murky like it had when he had left three years ago, the swamp had acquired a gemlike appearance. The familiar brown muddy water now looked like a sheet of polished silver and everything reflected in it was fuller and purer than the real thing. The mud that usually swirled under his feet and around his toes had been replaced by a very hard marble like rock. The marble was a rich sea blue colour and seemed to shine from within. The ankle deep water was so thin and pure it could slip in between the invisible gaps between the dragons' scales. The small thin sickly trees had transfigured into huge mighty oaks that looked at least one million years old and were so strong that no dragon not even Malefor could hope to knock them down. The elevated areas of the swamp were now made of the same blue rock that Spyro and Cynder were standing on. Beautiful rainbow coloured wildflowers sprouted from the eerie crystal lending familiarity to the alien crystallised landscape. Astonished Spyro and Sparx looked at each other with wide eyes and open mouths. Cynder remembered how she had loved the wildness of this place when she had been evil; it had been an escape from the dull uniform Concurrent Skies. The only problem was that the apes had come back from this place stinking twice as much as they normally did. The new crystallised appearance was really pretty and looked wonderful but it reminded the troubled dragoness of Concurrent Skies a bit too much for her liking. Cynder pushed away that thought before it darkened her mind.

"Come on let's go and find Mum and Dad," cried Sparx impatiently.

It was clear to see that he hadn't taken in any of the fascinating scenery.

"OK let's go maybe they'll know what is going on," said Spyro as he purposefully walked away from where they had landed.

Sparx and Cynder hurried to catch up with Spyro.

"Hey evil she dragon why are you hurrying I didn't think you wanted to come," chuckled Sparx sarcastically.

Anxiety had been draining Cynder's strength since they had landed so much so that she was too weak to snap back at Sparx. Her feet dragged when she walked and her head drooped; her eyes were lustreless and her wings and tail trailed across the smooth ground. Spyro spotted two very familiar dragonflies in the distance.

"MUM! DAD!" he and Sparx yelled in unison.

"SPYRO, SPARX!" shouted Flash.

Nina just rushed forward and pulled Sparx into a huge embrace that turned the yellow dragonfly blue. Nina turned to Spyro and looked at him in astonishment. When she had last seen him he had had all of his baby fat and his wings had been small and stubby. Now his bay fat had been stripped away leaving hard toned muscles. His wings were huge sail like and made for flying, his scales shone in the sunlight and his violet eyes were so deep she could not see the bottom. And to think she thought I used to be able to read him like a book.

"My you've grown," was all she said.

"Yup you make your Dad proud son and you too Sparx you've grown into quite a dragonfly."

"Well Dad I was taught by the best," chuckled Sparx.

Spyro thought about the first thing he had wanted to tell them as soon as he got here but to do so he would have to breach a topic that was very difficult for him to talk about. Then he decided that he would have to tell them sometime so it might as well be now.

"Hey guess what," whispered Spyro "I found out what I am from someone who was the same as me."

Both Flash and Nina were surprised at Spyro's sudden sadness. "Well?" asked Flash.

"I'm a dragon."

"And why is that something to be sad about?" asked Nina gently.

Spyro said nothing and instead lowered his head and fought back tears as he thought about his fallen mentor.

He was really distressed so Nina changed the subject when she noticed someone watching them.

"Who's that, Spyro?" she asked pointing at Cynder.

Cynder had been hiding in the shadow of a large tree, her black scales blending in perfectly with her surroundings. Shame and dread had held her back when Spyro and Sparx had ran forward. Also Cynder was naturally shy unless she knew you exceptionally well. Spyro and Ignitus had been the only dragons that she had trusted enough to talk to openly. She stiffened involuntarily when the foursome approached her.

"Mum Dad this is my friend Cynder. She's a dragon like me and she's helped me out a lot in my adventures."

"And I'll be happy to tell you all about it." said Sparx proudly.

Spyro put a hand over his brother's mouth. Spyro looked at Cynder who nodded.

"Cynder… Has something to tell you. Please hear her out before you judge her OK."

They nodded. Spyro breathed a sigh of relief "Go on Cynder." He encouraged her.

"Hello, as Spyro said my name is Cynder and it is very nice to meet you. I've known Spyro for a while and like he said I helped him out a bit." The dragonflies had to strain their ears to hear her because she was speaking in a whisper. "However before that I was totally evil and almost killed Spyro and doomed the entire world. I'm not trying to defend what I done but I swear I didn't mean to…" She trailed off and Spyro picked up the thread of the narrative.

"She was captured as an egg and was corrupted by the most evil dragon this world has ever seen. Malefor, she didn't have a choice and she also helped me defeat Malefor a week ago along with helping me to put the world back together."

Flash and Nina looked at Cynder and pity for the young forlorn dragoness welled up inside of them. Flash broke the awkward silence.

"Any friend of Spyro's is fine with me. Everyone deserves a second chance and I'm sure that you're a good young dragoness. Is that right? Anyway I'm glad Spyro finally found a friend and I hope that you'll both share you're respective stories with us.

"Thank you and yes I tell you everything thing you want to know but please don't ask me to relate my past atrocities."

Spyro was surprised and glad at just how quickly Cynder had warmed to his parents and vice versa.

"Now Spyro I hate to ask because of how you reacted earlier but who was the dragon who told you about who you were I'd like to meet him?" Asked Nina

"His name was Ignitus but he is no more."

Spyro choked as he tried to retain his composure. Flash and Nina were silent. Nina floated up and patted Spyro on the back."

Tell us what happened please. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. Cynder started first so Spyro would have time to pull himself together.

"I'll go first." She announced then began her tale…

Well that's chapter 8 hope you all like it. If it was too boring for you all then sorry but I had to write it to make the rest of the story work. Please review and tell me if you liked this or not. Also if you have any advice for this story then please review as well. If I don't get more than 5 reviews for this chap then I am seriously considering stopping this fic so it's so simple a 3 year old could work it out. If you want me to continue then review. Noonetoworryabout did I put you off or something with chapter 6 coz you just stopped reviewing. Sorry none of my business. Anyway if you do review then can everyone ratec this chap out of ten. A very pissed of Slasher.