Note: Spyro the Dragon belongs to Activision. The rest of this note signifies no importance whatsoever and is only meant to waste the reader's time. Ha, you fell for it!

Chapter 3: Cynder's Decision.

And that was the night Cynder realized she wasn't a Dragonfly,

But a stranger from a land torn by war and greed,

This was the night she made her decision to leave the swamp,

And to search for this land and find her home,

And find out who and what she was in the process...

"...So right as I'm about to break out and kick that guy's booty, Cyndy let out some serious flame!" Sparx explained, "No joke. Flames. From the mouth! You shoulda seen it!" Flash and Nina only stared. "Oh, right... Cynder!" Sparx prompted. Cynder walked closer to Flash and Nina. "It's true! I got really mad, opened my mouth, and whoosh! Flame city came to be! It was insane!"

Flash and Nina still just stared. Cynder lowered her head. "You don't believe me, do you?" she asked. "No no. We believe you, it's just that we knew this day would come..." Flash answered.

"What day?"

"The day we would have to tell you the truth..."

Cynder listened closely. "You are not a Dragonfly, but an exile from the outside world," Flash explained, "Your mother and I found your egg in the river and raised you as our own..." Cynder bit her lip. "So... I'm not your daughter?" she asked. "No, you are our daughter. You just came from somewhere else," Nina assured, "A place where wars rage on and on and the innocent always pay the price..."

Cynder's green eyes examined the area, as the winged reptile processed this information. Finally, her teary eyes focused on the two Dragonflies in front of her. "Then... I have to find out the truth... Who I am..." she sobbed, slowly turning away. Sparx flew in front of her. "So that's it? You're leaving and not taking me with you?" he asked.

"Sparx, I'm not leaving you behind. I'm just...leaving you where you belong," Cynder answered sadly, before adding, "Besides, it's nice and safe here. And I know you don't handle danger very well." She mentally kicked herself for that. "Hmph, fine! See if I care!" Sparx yelled, flying off. Cynder shook her head. "Oh, don't mind him Cynder. You know how hot-headed he can be," Flash started, noticing Cynder lower her head, "Come now, keep your head up, your nose clean, and use that fire of yours wisely. Remember, all gifts come at a price."

"Just be yourself Cynder. It's all any of us can do," Nina started, "And don't let anyone discourage you with anything. Your father and I know your heart. You are strong, we know this." Cynder nodded. "I'll leave tomorrow." she whispered.

THE NEXT DAY...

Cynder walked through the swamp, her head low and her eyes drooped -not from fatigue, but from sadness. She had left the only home she knew in search of another, how could she not be sad?

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Cynder froze in her tracks at the sounds of figures jumping over the path she walked in. She looked around, but could not see them. She then heard the maniacal laughing the creatures from yesterday had and immediately bolted forward, praying they didn't see her.

After a couple minutes, Cynder stopped running and gazed upon her surroundings, seeing nothing. The sound of fluttering wings caught her attention and she turned to see an all-too-familiar yellow glow...

"Sparx?" Cynder inquired. "Hey Cyndy! Well, me and the old man were talking about 'belonging', and we decided that best buddies belong together!" Sparx replied. 'We're best buddies?' thought Cynder, 'I hadn't noticed.' Cynder smiled innocently at him and continued walking, Sparx following.

Cynder walked up a hill and noticed a large mushroom start moving. She stopped and backed away, as the mushroom-like spider got out of its nest. Cynder decided this was probably a good time to use her 'gift'. Apparently Sparx thought so too, as he could beheard shouting, "Flame on!" Cynder took a deep breath and exhaled the swirling torrent of flames, consuming the spider. Cynder grimaced at its screams of agony as it twitched every now and then.

Her flames abruptly stopped and the spider took a swing at her with one of its legs, sending her tumbling back. Cynder recovered and jumped at the spider, sinking her claws into its head. The spider gave a pained groan and fell to the ground in defeat. It then promptly exploded into red, green, and blue gems, which immediately shot towards Cynder, sinking into her skin. Cynder found this odd, but noticed it had healed the wound inflicted by the spider, the fiery energy intensified, and she felt her spirit perk up.

"Okay, that's creepy." Sparx grimaced. Cynder ignored him and walked up the hill. She came across a steep gap with a rocky tower between it and the other side. Cynder jumped over to the tower, flapping her wings once to make it there. Once safely on the tower, she glided to the small cave opening, where she was greeted by a frogweed, which she promptly burned to a crisp.

Running down the corridor, she came across two more mushroom spiders. Cynder began burning one, and watching the other warily. In a few seconds, it jumped at her and knocked her down. The blackened one recovered and sank its fangs in her back. Cynder cringed, feeling her blood grow cold and her vision growing blurry. In a scream of agony, a bluish purple beam shot out of her mouth and consumed the spiders.

Cynder's vision cleared and the numbness faded as the gems sank into her. She noticed the spiders gone and shards of stone. "Sparx, are you there?" Cynder asked. "I'm up here..." the Dragonfly whimpered, flying out of a mushroom he had been hiding in, "What the heck was that beam?"

"What beam?"

"The one you turned the spiders to stone and demolished them with!"

"I don't recall that."

Sparx was frustrated and terrified, but he shrugged it off. Cynder continued to walk into a 'hallway' of trees and mushrooms until she came across a ledge with a fairly short fall. She heard the clanging of metal and could see some more of the creatures from yesterday. They were blocking her way. And she had a feeling that she knew why.

Cynder dove from the ledge and lowered her horns, ramming into one of the smaller soldiers. He recovered and threw quick punches at her, knocking her in the jaw, head, and throat. Cynder fell on her side and sliced at the creature with her tail-blade, cutting his throat. He fell and the gems healed her. Cynder scrambled to her feet and shot out her fire at three more creatures, watching them run around helplessly.

The one Cynder had been concentrating on burst into gems and she pounced on the weakest one, sinking her claws into him and knocking back a stick of dynamite from the leader with her tail.

BOOM!

Apparently the leader wasn't too happy about his explosive blowing up on him, and he immediately struck Cynder with his sword, knocking her off his underling. Cynder got back to her feet and released the torrent of flames, finishing off the two remaining small soldiers and injuring the leader. Cynder jumped at him and clawed at him repeatedly. He fell and the danger was over.

At least, Cynder and Sparx would've liked to think that.

Loud thumping noises could be heard behind the overgrowth that was preventing the winged reptile and her companion from continuing. Cynder backed away cautiously as the tree roots, vines, and other things were destroyed and trolls walked in. They noticed Cynder and attacked her.

Cynder shot out the torrent of flames at one, but this proved rather useless as it raised its large hand and slammed her with it, crushing her into the ground. Cynder got up rather dazed and was struck with another troll's shockwave. Once she recovered, Cynder ignored the pain shooting through her body and immediately ran from the trolls and through the opening they had created. They didn't follow her, she was too fast.

Once she had run a safe distance, Cynder laid down and panted. It had only been two hours since she left, but it felt like an eternity. "So that's it, you're gonna let trolls defeat you?" Sparx sneered. Cynder blew the tiniest flame at him. Sparx screamed in horror and fell to the ground, trying to put the fire on his wings out. Cynder helped by stomping on him repeatedly with her right front paw. Once she figured her annoying brother was out for the count, Cynder closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Later...

A black creature flew overhead, scaring Sparx awake. He was unable to see what it was, so he closed his eyes. Then, a creature like Cynder -only larger and, uh, oranger- walked out of the trees to examine the young ones that had crossed his path. He opened his mouth in surprise and quietly muttered, "My word!" Other then that, he remained quiet. He noticed the numerous injuries inflicted on Cynder and wandered off.

Cynder awoke to the odd sensation of the gems entering her body and noticed a large winged reptile with a red crystal that he was breaking in his mouth. "Agh!" Cynder cried, jumping upright. The creature seemed unaffected by the reaction. He squeezed the crystal once more and it exploded completely, some gems entering him while the majority entered Cynder. Cynder and Sparx got a good look at him.

He had bright orange scales with dark brown spots here and there, and a tan underbelly. Red, fiery looking crests went down from the top of his head and ending near his fire-like tail-tip, which was various shades of yellow and red. Fiery red frills were on his shoulders and on the sides of his head. He had two sets of golden horns, two large ones in a tornado-like fashion and two small straight ones. His wings were dark red and the membranes were a burnt yellow.

"Whoa, and here I thought you were a big one!" Sparx squealed to Cynder, who glared at him venomously. Cynder then looked back at old creature. He lowered his head and said in a relieved voice, "You're alive..." He looked away, "But it doesn't matter anymore... It's too late... Too late..." He looked like he expected tears to come from his eyes, but they didn't come.

Cynder, on the other hand, was filled with questions. "Who are you? What are you? What am I?" she blurted out. The creature looked back at her in shock. "You don't know what you are?" he questioned. "Does she look like she knows?" Sparx growled. Processing this information, the creature looked at Cynder and said, "Why, you're a Dragon, like me. When you were just an egg, it was my job to protect you... It was my job to protect all of you..."

"Wait? There's others?" Cynder asked. "Oh yes, there were," the old Dragon replied, "There were four of us, Guardians, that is. It was our job to protect the grotto, and ensure all the eggs were hatched..." He paused for a minute, "Our very survival depended on those eggs... But then they came to the Temple..."

"Temple? What temple? Who are they?" Cynder asked. The Dragon looked around warily, then said, "The Dark Armies. They came for...someone dear..."

"Who's this person?"

Seeing this conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon, the Dragon casually laid down on his stomach. "We were awaiting the birth of the Purple Dragon, born only once every ten generations. They came to destroy the egg, for this Dragon held the key to their destruction." he explained. "Wait wait wait! Are you saying Cynder's a once in a purple thing?" Sparx blurted out, then he started chuckling, "Oh that's rich! I've seen a lot of weird things in my day, but that takes the cake!" The Dragon looked at Cynder.

"Cynder is it?" the Dragon inquired. Cynder nodded. He shook his head. "You are not the Purple Dragon the prophecies spoke of," he said bluntly, looking at her further, "But...I sense great power within you... This is peculiar..." He then looked upward.

'This can't be... Not now...'

Note: There ya go! Chapter 3! Love it? Hate it? Not sure? Tell me! Also, with regards to Cynder's personality, I'm trying to combine her 'in-game' one and Spyro's. I figured if she was raised by Flash and Nina, her personality would be different.