Love of My Life

by TARDIS1039

5 years after defeating Malefor, Spyro and Cynder have been living a quiet life full of love and peace. However when that turns upside down, they must reunite with loved ones and gain new allies to stop a threat not known to any realm in existence. (Full-length sequel to Crazy Little Thing Called Love) AU

3. I'm Going Slightly Mad

Hello and welcome to another chapter of Love of My Life! Yes, I decided to take a break for the holidays and to sort out some story kinks to this story as well as my other story Convergence (i.e actually work out what I'm going to do for Chapter 4). So last time we had a slice-of-life chapter with Spyro and Cynder going about their peaceful lives in the Artisan Valley, with Spyro going off to see Ignitus and Cynder working at a sandwich shop, which may or may not be a reference to Subway.

So what's going to happen next, I wonder? Let's find out shall we? Enjoy!

(Chapter 3: I'm Going Slightly Mad)

The night after the Autumn Fair…

(SPYRO's POV)

I was back… back in a place I thought I'd never visit again.

The sound of thunder almost shattered my eardrums as I frantically looked around to where I could be. The small amount of hail raining down on me forced my eyes into a squint.

Even though my vision was limited, I figured that I was in a slightly different location to where I was last time. No matter how hard I looked, there was no sign of the dark tower in the distance. Did something happen to it? Was I just imagining it the whole time?

Blocking most of the sharp icy hail from my face with my wing, I cautiously moved forward. I had to get out of this storm, knowing I would freeze to death if I kept standing there!

I called out to Cynder, to Sparx, to Ignitus and the other Guardians as well… but no answer. It was just hopeless; the wind was too strong and wild to pick up any sound. I couldn't even hear myself think!

Eventually I came across a large cave, the dark abyss inside visible through the snow, hail and rain. Shelter… thank the ancestors.

As I edged further towards the cave, other shapes became visible in the whiteness. An assortment of pale green, black and brown was scattered around the cave, pieces of gold or bronze material attached to the shapes. The snow around them was stained with a light red, surrounding them in a pool-like fashion.

Oh my ancestors… they were bodies. Bodies of the dead…

Apes, gnorcs and grublins were scattered everywhere, their corpses engulfed in snow making it hard to tell how long they'd been dead for. There must've been a big battle here… I couldn't have killed them, could I?

Trying my best not to disturb the bodies in case they weren't truly dead, I made it into the cave. As I emerged from the snowstorm, my vision instantly became clearer and my eyes widened at what was in the cave.

The cave was the size of a circular large room, a red light illuminating the interior as flames danced around the fireplace in the middle, sending warmth throughout the cave. Carcasses of deer and other creatures I couldn't recognise were chucked into a corner; strangely it didn't smell or have any flies buzzing around it.

However what piqued my interest most of all was the walls. Hundreds and hundreds of tally marks were etched into the rock, a diagonal etch on each one to indicate each separate group of five. It was as if they were counting the days. I wasn't sure how many tally marks were in here… it had to be several years' worth, surely.

I turned to the other end of the cave and saw a cloaked figure staring at the wall. It was the same cloaked figure from my last dream, as I noticed hints of icy blue scales through the cloak.

Was this where she lived? If so… then what happened to make her live like this?

I didn't even move an inch when the cloaked dragoness slightly turned her head to face me. I stopped dead in my tracks, nervous about her next move. Would she attack me? I wasn't quite sure…

"Prepare for the worst… the time soon approaches," the cloaked dragoness murmured.

Before I could ask what she meant, the cloaked dragoness moved aside slightly and I got a good glimpse at what she was looking at.

It was a drawing of a dragon egg. A purple egg…

Wait a minute… purple!?

(-)

My eyes shot open instantly and I rose from my bed with a startled gasp. I frantically darted my head around as I almost forgot where I was for a few seconds.

I was back in my bedroom… safe and sound in the comfort of my blankets.

The sun had slightly risen over the sky as bright sunlight crept through the window of the bedroom, lighting the room as clear as day. I looked over to my alarm clock and looked at the time. It was ten o'clock? Must've overslept…

I sat there quietly as everything in my dream transpired in my head. That was the second time I had dreamt about that snowy place now. I knew that recurring dreams were a thing but I didn't think I would have any disorders that connected to the dreams.

Who was that cloaked dragoness? Why had I dreamt about her twice now? More importantly, why did she have a drawing of me as a purple egg? Was it me? Was it… Malefor?

No… no, that's impossible. He's not coming back, I saw him crumble to dust… no way anyone could come back from that!

"Hey, Cynder…" I whispered as I quickly turned to the other side of my bed, only to find it empty. Cynder was nowhere to be seen; her side of the bed had been neatly made up and her braces and choker weren't on the drawer. Okay… no need to panic, Spyro, she probably went to work already. I thought, trying to calm myself down. So why do I smell something in the kitchen?

Getting up and putting on my red bandana around my neck, I quietly headed out of the bedroom and silently made my way to the kitchen. The sounds of a pan sizzling and the clatter of plates and cutlery rattled my ears, which I found odd… Cynder was at work, or supposed to be at work anyway, so who was cooking in the kitchen? Sparx? Ha, no.

As I got closer to the kitchen, I could hear someone humming faintly. I popped my head around the doorframe and my eyes widened with surprise.

Cynder was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Part of me felt relieved that it wasn't some crazed wacko cooking in my kitchen but part of me was also confused and surprised. Why was Cynder still at home? She should've been at work, or at least getting ready to leave.

"Cynder?" I spoke up in a surprised tone.

My girlfriend turned her head towards me and merely beamed, as if what she was doing was a normal thing. "Oh, morning sweetie!" she greeted.

"What's all this?" I wondered, looking around the kitchen.

"Breakfast… duh," Cynder answered matter-of-factly as she went to the pan on the stovetop.

I slightly tilted my head in confusion. "Don't you need to go to work soon?" I queried.

Cynder stopped as I revealed that little detail, like she had just remembered something. "Oh yeah, I swapped shifts with someone else early this morning so I have today off…" she explained, realising that I wouldn't have known why she was still at home. "I figured you could use the company after what happened last night."

Last night? Oh… yeah, last night.

I spent every last minute before I went to bed last night asking myself what happened that night. For eighteen years, my real parents have never really been on my mind. I figured that they either died or, like Cynder said last night, they had to go to hiding. But seeing Bronte and his mother reuniting with each other just… hit differently. I wasn't sure why; I was still confused even now.

"You didn't have to do that, Cyn… I'm fine, really," I assured.

"I know… but I want to," Cynder said with a smile. I smiled back; who was I to refuse to spend more time with my girlfriend?

I approached the stove where Cynder was cooking from, sitting on my haunches and peering over her shoulder to see what she was making. "Ooh bacon and eggs, neat!" I exclaimed.

Cynder smirked. "I figured you would like it."

"I like all of your cooking," I said. "Well… except for your gnocchi."

Cynder merely scoffed. "Oi, that wasn't on me! The particular brand we got just didn't work with me!"

"Yeah, yeah…" I joked, rolling my eyes mischievously.

"Be quiet, you!" Cynder chuckled, elbowing me in the chest. "I'd like to see you cook something!"

"Excuse me, I can cook!" I responded, pretending to be offended.

Cynder gave me a cheeky look. "If it's microwavable then yes, you can." I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came out, she got me there. She was always good at comebacks.

"So anyway," Cynder then changed the subject, seeing that she won our little banter. "Since we've got the day to ourselves, what do you want to do today?"

I didn't answer her straight away. I stroked my chin in thought as many ideas popped into my head, but I couldn't make a decision. Everything I thought of was something we'd done before; the Artisan Valley may be stuffed with many things to do but they tend to get old when you've lived there most of your life.

While I did think of going to another realm, I immediately dismissed it since it was more of an idea that should be planned a couple days beforehand. I might save that idea for something else though…

Then as I slightly scratched my wing while I was thinking, the perfect idea eventually hit me.

"You know, we haven't been flying for a long time…" I suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Cynder exclaimed. "I don't think I've flown for ages… probably since we rescued Cyril at Molten Crater."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Surely you must've flown sometime after that!"

Cynder looked up slightly towards the wall behind me in thought. "Hmm, no. Don't think so…" she murmured, a smirk pulling at her lips. "Might as well call me a komodo dragon now."

I chuckled at Cynder's joke. "That settles it then, we'll go flying then to the park for a nice picnic maybe?"

Cynder merely smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "Sounds good to me…"

She then dished out a serving of bacon and eggs on a tiny plate. "Could you give this to Sparx please?" Cynder asked as she then began to plate up breakfast for the two of us.

"Sure, no problem," I said as I grabbed the plate by the handle with my maw. I then made my way to the lounge, approaching Sparx's windowsill where, unsurprisingly, he was still snoozing in the sunlight. How could someone ever sleep with that amount of heat shining directly onto them?

I placed the plate next to Sparx's hammock and softly rocked the hammock back and forth. "Morning, Sparx… breakfast's ready," I murmured.

Sparx started to shuffle around in his hammock as his crusty, old eyes opened and squinted at the bacon and eggs that were in front of him. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me curiously. "Did you make this?"

I shook my head. "No, Cynder did. It's not poisoned by the way, just in case you were going to ask."

Sparx merely blinked in confusion. "Doesn't our resident mistress of darkness start work around this time?" he questioned. "Or has the week flown by already?"

"No, Cynder had today's shift swapped with someone else… she wanted to spend more time with me," I explained.

"Doesn't she spend more time with you than she does working?" Sparx wondered. "Why's today any special?"

I wasn't going to tell Sparx about the incident at the Autumn Fair, simply because he wouldn't understand it. Before he was assigned to me, he was raised by his parents down by the Silver River. It was a realm on its own that mostly consisted of swampy marshes and bogs. I never visited it myself but from what Ignitus told me, it was the realm where the dragonflies lived and thrived. So he knew what it was like to have parents, unlike Cynder and myself, so I wasn't sure how Sparx would grasp the situation I was in.

"It doesn't matter…" I replied. "But Cynder and I are going out for the day, so you have the flat to yourself."

Sparx's eyes widened at the news. "Hold up, Spyro, are you going to… you know?"

I raised an eyebrow, hopefully not saying what I think he was saying. "Going to what?"

"You know? Do the thing?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sparx gave me a look that read 'are you serious bro?' and spoke up. "Propose, Spyro! Are you going to propose today?" he exclaimed loudly. Okay, definitely not the thing I was thinking…

My eyes still widened however, as what he actually said finally registered in my brain. "What? No! I'm not ready for that yet!" I whispered so that Cynder couldn't hear me. "I still need time to plan what I'm doing. I need to get the ring for ancestors' sake!"

"So you're telling me you haven't planned anything at all?"

"Well, I want to take her to Summer Forest and propose there… it's the place where we first met, so it's special to both me and her."

"You mean it's the place where she tried to kill you?" the old dragonfly deadpanned.

I frowned. "Yes, that's the place." Why does he bring that up everytime I mention Summer Forest?

"Good, so you got a plan. You just need a ring and you're ready to go!" Sparx buzzed as he ripped off a piece of bacon on the plate.

"It's not that simple, Sparx!" I argued. "There's much more than just asking Cynder…"

"Ask me what?"

Before I could list all the factors into proposing to someone, I immediately went silent when I heard Cynder call out from the kitchen. I cautiously turned around to see a curious Cynder poking her head out of the doorframe. My eyes were as wide as they could be, my heart beating at a frantic pace as I tried to think of many excuses to cover up what I was really talking about. I sure hope she didn't hear anything I said.

"Uh… um… asking you… what kind of food we should get for our picnic," I answered. Phew, nailed it.

Cynder frowned, unsure whether to believe me or not. She then responded with her two claws flicking back and forth between her eyes and mine as she slowly slinked back into the kitchen. After Cynder had disappeared from view, I sighed with relief and turned back to Sparx.

"That was a close one…" I whispered.

"You're lucky that she didn't intimidate you on the spot…" Sparx murmured.

I shuddered at that thought, mainly because Cynder was always so effective when it came to making me spill the truth. I wasn't sure if it was because she lived with an intimidating dark master most of her life or just that I was worried about hiding something from her… or maybe I was too submissive, who knows?

Maybe I should keep the discussions about proposing quiet for now… I don't want to spoil the surprise.

(-)

Cynder and I left the flat at around eleven-fifteen, walking closely together with my wing slung around her back. There was a cool breeze in the air as orange leaves flew past us in a circular motion as the wind took them away to who knows where. Autumn was always a bit of a mixed bag for me; I liked the colours of the leaves and cooler temperatures but it always made me miss summer. Cynder didn't mind it either, especially if her black scales didn't absorb the summer heat.

Since our flat was covered by shrubbery and other buildings, we decided to walk a bit until we found a good place to start our flight. As I briefly stared at Cynder, I couldn't help but feel curious. There was something about her that was… off, like she was worried or anxious about something. Her emerald-green eyes danced around all over the place, but it appeared that Cynder was trying to keep it to a minimum so that I wouldn't notice. Something was definitely up…

"Hey, you okay?" I wondered.

"Yeah, why? Do I not look okay?" Cynder answered.

"No, no, you look fine," I replied. "It's just that you seem kinda… worried about something."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it…"

Okay, now I definitely knew that something was bothering her. Now the question was what had gotten her worried all of a sudden? Surely it wasn't me, was it? I couldn't remember if I had said or done anything wrong… besides if she was mad at me, then I definitely would know.

However, so that I didn't antagonise Cynder any more, I decided to brush it off for now as we eventually reached a nearby courtyard. It was a small one that had a fountain in the middle, which was sculpted to resemble one of the dragons of old, and had clean crystal clear water flowing out from its mouth.

"Here looks like a good spot to take off from…" I said, stopping near the fountain and looking around at my surroundings before gazing at my girlfriend. "You ready, Cynder?"

Cynder stared at the sky for a moment before looking at me, her nervous expression still plastered on her face. "I don't know… maybe we should just go to the park."

"What? Why?" I wondered, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said that flying was a good idea…"

Cynder didn't answer and merely looked down at the ground, sadness in her eyes. I gently placed my paw on top of hers, giving her a concerned look.

"Cyn, what's wrong? Please tell me…"

After a brief pause of staring at the ground, Cynder stared into my eyes sorrowfully. "I'm just… anxious about flying, that's all. I haven't done it in so long, I'm worried that something will happen… remember how I broke my leg at Molten Crater?"

"That wasn't your fault, it was mine," I tried to explain, "thanks to my ice element coming in at the last second…"

"I know, and I don't blame you for that… I just don't want it to happen again."

Now I know why she looked nervous. She was scared. I don't think I'd ever seen her scared like this before; normally she was the toughest out of the two of us so seeing her this fearful was kind of strange.

When Cynder looked back at the ground again, I softly lifted her head back up with the gentle touch of my other claw. "Hey… don't worry about it, nothing's going to happen to you. I'll be there to catch you if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really," I repeated softly with a nod. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you fall?"

Cynder smiled and nuzzled me tenderly. "I love you…"

"I love you too," I muttered as I nuzzled her back. "Now just hold on tight…"

I grabbed both of her paws and extended my wings out, flapping them slowly enough to get airborne. Cynder saw what I was doing and repeated the motion, the both of us gaining altitude in no time. The ground started to get smaller and smaller as Cynder and I flew higher and higher. Cynder's nerves started to pick up again as she darted her head from side-to-side, the valley quickly becoming miniscule below us, but she seemed to slightly calm down when I gave her a reassuring smile.

"See? It's not so bad, is it?" I acknowledged.

"No, it's not…" Cynder responded, looking around in awe. "It's beautiful... I've forgotten what it feels like to be in the air."

She chuckled and broke out of my grasp, allowing herself to free roam in the air. I stared at her as she circled around me, her flying as gracious as a bird gliding about in the distance. She was like an angel… actually she was more than that. Her beauty sparkled in the autumn sunlight as all the reasons why I fell in love with her flowed through my mind.

She was my Cynder… and I wouldn't change a thing.

"Well, purple boy… are you going to fly or stare at me all day?" Cynder exclaimed.

A blush spread across my cheeks. "I wasn't staring!" I quickly denied, sounding unconvincing whatsoever.

"Sure sweetie, I believe you…" Cynder teased, a cheeky smirk running across her maw.

"I was just… admiring your flying skills!" I protested, eyes widened. It wasn't technically a lie, she was doing very well considering she hadn't flown since she was thirteen.

Cynder laughed. "Relax, Spyro! I was only teasing!"

I stayed quiet as a mischievous smile swept across my face when Cynder wasn't looking. Oh, she's going to get it now.

Flapping my wings more frantically, I suddenly shot myself like a spear directly towards Cynder in hopes that I would clutch her in my paws. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I got close to Cynder, she immediately disappeared in a cloud of black smoke then rematerialised behind me with a cheeky smirk on her face. Shit, I forgot she had the shadow element!

"Nice try, dragon boy. You're going to have to do better than that!" she remarked.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a determined look. "You're toast when I catch you!"

A chase ensued between us. We flew across the pristine blue sky, darting across clouds or sometimes even going through them to gain the advantage. Cynder was pretty agile when it came to flying; she would slink past me every time I got past her, or she would cheat and use her wind element to gain speed. No doubt that it was one of the skills Malefor taught her when she was younger.

As I continued to give chase, I tried to think of many ways to catch Cynder. My elements perhaps? No, my elements give more an offensive advantage rather than a defensive one. My Comet Dash could potentially help me but I've never done it in the air before, plus I could potentially hurt Cynder… and I don't want to do that, especially since I was partially responsible for breaking her leg back in Molten Crater.

Then when I zoomed past a cloud, a devilish idea hit me. I slowed down and reversed back inside the cloud, keeping myself hidden from Cynder. Inside of the cloud, all I could see was white and a tiny view from outside so I could see if Cynder was nearby. Being inside the cloud wasn't as pleasant as I thought it would be, it was cold and felt slightly damp. However I could live with the cold for now… time to catch Cynder off-guard.

"Spyro?" I heard Cynder's voice call out. "Spyro? Where did you go?"

I kept my maw firmly shut as I tried not to crack up laughing. Everything seemed to be going to plan. Any minute now, she'd try to guilt trip me into coming out.

"Ohh Spyro, you left me all alone here. Clearly somebody can't keep their promises!" Cynder shouted out, acting all distraught and upset.

Right on cue. Well, not this time, Cyn. Not this time!

I was ready to make my move when Cynder's dark shape came into view close to the cloud. I smirked as I knew I had her this time. I got ready to playfully tackle her and, after mentally counting to three, blasted out of the cloud.

"Gotcha!" I exclaimed as I grabbed Cynder light-heartedly.

"Oh no, you got me!" Cynder squealed through fits of laughter.

With Cynder still in my grasp, I twirled around the air a few times, adding a couple of loop-de-loops just to show off, before gently easing up and ending the 'attack' in a sweet embrace with the one that I held dear.

"Well, Spyro… you certainly know how to keep a girl on her paws," Cynder gushed as she tried to gain her breath.

"If that girl is you then I certainly do…" I smirked, trying my best to be flirtatious. Even though I was already in a committed relationship, my flirting skills still needed some work.

Cynder smiled and glided a claw on the side of my face. "So how about we land and get some stuff for our picnic?"

"Sounds good," I said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before releasing her from my grasp. "Race ya!"

I quickly bolted away from Cynder and dived straight back down to the valley below. Cynder was slow to react, but eventually I could hear her laugh and the sound of her activating her wind element.

"Oh, you're on!" Cynder called out, ready for a challenge.

(-)

Heading down towards the Town Square, the race between us was neck and neck, and remained that way for a good long while. Any minute it felt like she would use her wind element again and completely leave me in the clouds, but she strangely didn't. Maybe she wanted to make it fair for once… or perhaps she was waiting until we got closer to the ground and then suddenly propel back into the lead.

I kept an discreet eye on Cynder as the valley below became clearer in the sky. I stared at Cynder smugly as I flapped my wings quicker, moving past her inch by inch. This was it, I was going to win!

Of course I had celebrated too soon as Cynder whizzed past by me, spinning in a tornado-like fashion and engulfed in a tunnel of wind. Urgh, should've known… I really wish I had the wind element. I mean if Malefor had it, why didn't I?

I had lost completely; I landed a couple of seconds after Cynder had her paws firmly on the ground. But, despite how close we were, that didn't stop Cynder from bragging about it .

"What took you so long, slowpoke?" she smirked as I landed.

"Yeah, yeah…" I muttered as I rolled my eyes. "I would've won if you didn't use your wind element."

"Sure you would've, babe," Cynder chuckled, not sounding convinced. "Come on, we should get something to eat."

As Cynder turned around and headed towards the market stalls, I trailed behind her with a sly devilish grin on my maw as the sore loser part of my brain took over everything. I opened my mouth slightly and a tiny bolt of electricity shot out, directly hitting the top of Cynder's thigh. Cynder let out a surprised yelp and immediately turned to me, a deathly stare planted on her face.

As soon as her eyes glared into mine, I looked behind me so it looked like it was someone else that zapped Cynder.

"Wasn't me," I shrugged, trying so hard not to crack a smile.

Cynder, however, wasn't falling for it. "Spyro, did you zap me just now?" she demanded.

"Nooo…" I lied.

Cynder then sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do this but you left me with no choice…" she murmured solemnly.

My eyes widened. Uh oh. Not good, not good...

Looking back at me, Cynder gazed into my eyes with the coldest stare I'd ever seen. Her eyes were daggers, waiting to stab into me when I least expected it. A chilling shiver ran down my spine. Whenever she gave this look, it meant she was up to something mischievous. Either that… or I was in deep, deep trouble.

"Oh no please, not the look…" I whimpered.

"What's wrong, Spyro? Don't you like this look?" Cynder wondered in a scarily calm tone, slightly tilting her head like a masked serial killer.

"You know I don't like the look… It always makes you so scary."

As Cynder kept her evil gaze directly at me, she started to approach me like a predator slowly closing in on their prey. Since we were in a public place, I tried to act brave by sitting firmly on my haunches, only to fail miserably when Cynder got real close to my face.

I closed my eyes and gulped as I fearfully waited for Cynder's next move. Well, that was my reputation for being a brave purple dragon being thrown out the window… but if you have a girlfriend who could give you a dark look like Cynder, then you'll see what I mean.

Instead a series of giggles softly came out of Cynder's mouth. I opened my eyes and merely snorted in annoyance. Why did I always fall for that?

"Gotcha…" she muttered, smirking at me.

I blushed in embarrassment as a couple passerbys snickered to themselves. "You can be really cruel, you know that?" I mumbled to Cynder.

Cynder gave me an innocent smile. "Yup… but I know you still love me." She then gave me a small peck on the lips. "Now let's go get some food."

I nodded and followed Cynder to the market stalls. The market was almost empty, barely six or seven villagers present. It was only the morning after all, it would get busier at lunchtime.

"So what do you fancy?" I queried as Cynder and I roamed around the market. "I see that Devlin has got some nice looking slices in his stall."

"I fancy some sausage rolls; does Alvar make those?" Cynder replied, looking around for the fire dragon.

"Hmm… I'm not sure actually," I said, scratching my head. I then saw Alvar unloading some boxes by Devlin's stall. "Oh, there he is… let's go ask him."

Cynder and I made our way towards Devlin's stall, who was in the middle of baking something. Devlin was known as a pastry chef who was well known across the realms for his cakes, slices and other delicious goods. Sometimes he would be tending to his stall and other days he'd be off delivering his baking to other worlds near and far.

His stall reminded me of a bakery that you would see on television. It was painted with a hue of cyan-blue with the logo that read 'Boulangerie du Dragon' in a classical looking font on top of the stall. An awning was slung over the edge of the stall, decorated in a pattern of dark green and white. In the centre of the store was a glass panel that showed off the variety of Devlin's baked goods. An assortment of breads were placed neatly in the back of the stall.

"Hey Alvar!" I greeted as Alvar lifted a box from a cart.

The red dragon turned as he heard me call him, and beamed at the sight of me and Cynder. "Spyro! Cynder! Hello, young dragons!" he exclaimed. "How are you two?"

I nodded. "Good. We're good… and yourself?"

"I'm well, thank you," Alvar answered. "Business is booming as usual apart from a few ruffians stealing my stock every now and then."

Cynder frowned. "Stealing your stock? Again? That's terrible…"

"You want us to take care of it? I can give them the old one-two and sort them out," I offered, recalling something I said to Alvar back when I was thirteen.

"No, that's quite alright Spyro… I can take care of it myself," Alvar chuckled. "So what brings you two here this morning?"

"Oh, just about to have a picnic in the park," Cynder replied, wrapping a wing around me.

"Cynder here wanted to know if you or Devlin were selling sausage rolls…" I said.

Alvar clapped his paws in excitement. "Well, as a matter of fact, I was just dropping off some meat for Devlin to make a new batch. They've been quite popular lately, isn't that right Devlin?" Gee, what a coincidence.

"That's right," Delvin nodded. "Would you like some? They're fresh out of the oven…"

Cynder's eyes lit up with happiness, like a hatchling looking at a piece of candy for the first time. "Yes please!" She turned to me. "We can get some right?"

I chuckled at Cynder's enthusiasm. "Of course we can," I said before turning to Devlin and handing him a dozen gems from my satchel. "We'll take a few… and a couple of slices as well."

Devlin grabbed the gems and nodded. "Coming right up," he muttered as he went to grab my order from the cabinet.

As we waited for Devlin to box up our food, Avlar walked up to me and Cynder, clearing his throat, making us dart our heads towards him.

"Spyro, may I have a word for you in private for a moment?" he asked.

"Uh, sure…" I murmured hesitantly. I turned to Cynder, who was just as curious as I was. "I won't be long…"

"I'll wait here," Cynder said. "But don't take too long, okay?"

I nodded and headed off with Alvar, who led me to the back of Devlin's stall. I wondered what he wanted to discuss with me in private. Hopefully he wasn't in any kind of danger. Or was it about Cynder? I didn't know what advice he had for me that I haven't already received…

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I wondered as we disappeared from Cynder and Devlin's view.

"I just wanted to ask if today is the day…" Alvar replied, his voice a whisper so that no one would overhear.

I looked at him in confusion. "The day?"

"The day! Are you going to propose to Cynder today?" Alvar pressed, his whisper much harsher and urgent.

I mentally face-palmed. Why was everyone asking me if I was going to propose to Cynder? First Lindar, then Sparx, and now Alvar; what was with everyone? Why were they being nosy about my romantic life? If I wanted to propose then it wouldn't be at the park, it would be someplace romantic and special to both me and Cynder. Besides, even if I were to propose, no one would know about it except for me and me alone.

It was so frustrating that everyone was pressuring me to do something that I wasn't ready to do yet. I'll propose to Cynder when I feel like it's time, not when they feel like it!

"No! Of course not, what makes you think that?" I hissed.

Alvar stared at me, looking puzzled. "Oh… I thought you were."

"No I'm not… well, not now anyway," I mumbled. "How do you know that I was thinking of proposing?"

"Lindar was telling me that you and him were talking about it," Alvar responded. "He showed you a ring, right?"

"Yes but I said I didn't want it because I didn't feel like I was ready!" I exclaimed quietly.

"Well…" Alvar muttered as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "He didn't mention that bit to me. Sorry about that, Spyro... I assumed you had bought the ring…"

I sighed. "It's fine and now you know… just don't let anyone else know, okay? I don't want Cynder to find out from someone else accidentally."

Alvar nodded in agreement. "My lips are sealed."

Saying goodbye to Alvar, I emerged from behind Devlin's stall and returned to Cynder's side. She sat patiently on her haunches, a small smile forming over her face as she saw that I had returned.

"Everything okay?" she wondered.

"Yeah, all good. Nothing important…" I quickly brushed it off so that Cynder wouldn't get suspicious. "Did you get the food?"

"Yup, it's in my satchel…" Cynder replied, patting her satchel with her tail. "Ready for our picnic?"

I smiled. "Sure am…" I muttered as I wrapped a wing around Cynder and led her away from the town square to finally head to the park.

(-)

Cynder and I reached the park just before lunchtime. It was a good thing we decided to get our food earlier, who knew how long we would've waited 'til we got something to eat?

Since it was autumn, the park was packed full of reds, oranges and yellows. Leaves fell from the trees one by one, the slight breeze taking them away to join their friends on the ground or into the skies above. It was peaceful and relaxing, and the perfect environment for our picnic.

A few families and couples were scattered around the park, leading their own lives. Some dragons had their wing wrapped around their dragonesses, some laid on the grass nearby. Children played in the leaves, their parents watching in amusement on a park bench.

Seeing these children with their parents made me happy that they were living their life without any fear of being attacked by the Dark Master. I was the one that made that possible for them after all. However it made me sad at the same time. I was alone… I felt alone for most of my childhood, with no sense of purpose and no biological family to associate with. Sometimes it just wasn't fair. They didn't have this burden of responsibility of being a purple dragon or being an outcast.

And secondly, they didn't have to live with those odd dreams I was having, which confused me the more I think about them.

Why was this happening to me? Why had I been having these crazy dreams and visions? What could possibly connect me to a cloaked dragoness exiled in the land of rain and snow?

Eighteen years of nothing until these visions started happening. Why now? Why not before?

Should I tell Cynder about all this? She'd been through enough already… she didn't deserve to have all my struggles being pressured on to her. On the other hand, she might have an idea on what's going on…

No… no, this is just for me to handle at the moment… I told myself, taking a deep breath. I'll tell her when it gets too much for me.

"Spyro, are you okay?" Cynder asked, sounding worried for me.

I turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Cyn…"

"You sure? We can go home if you want…"

I shook my head and clutched onto Cynder's paws. "No, no… I don't want to ruin your day. I'm okay, really."

Cynder gave me an unconvinced look. "Okay… but if you start feeling odd again, we're going home alright?"

"Deal."

With the disappearing hatchlings still fresh in my mind, Cynder and I continued down through the park. All was quiet as we headed towards the small lake in the centre, where all the couples usually go during the summer. Typical… I had just killed the mood with my life problems. Just my luck.

We found a spot that was a great distance from everyone else. No one around, no distractions... just me and Cynder.

"This place is beautiful…" Cynder murmured as she and I both sat on our haunches. "Thank you for today, Spyro… I really needed this."

I chuckled as I reached for Cynder's satchel and grabbed the box of Devlin's baked goods from it. "I should be the one thanking you… for, you know, cheering me up and stuff."

"Well I didn't want you to mope around the house all day; I know how that topic doesn't really bode well for the both of us…" Cynder replied.

I fished out a sausage roll and offered it to Cynder. "Sausage roll?"

"Yes please," Cynder said with a smile as she grabbed the sausage roll from my paw with her mouth. After she swallowed, she spoke up again. "Do you often think about what happened to your parents?"

I slightly hesitated, memories of last night flowing freely through my mind. But I simply shook them off, giving Cynder a confused look. "No… not really. I had the Guardians looking after me for most of my life; they were my four dads in a way," I answered. "I've seen so many parents and their kids in this valley and they've never bothered me before. So why did that kid reuniting with his mother affect me so much? I just don't get it, Cyn, I just don't…"

Cynder shrugged, putting her paw on top of mine. "Maybe it's just repressed emotions, you were never given any true answers. After eighteen years, you just couldn't take it anymore…"

I looked at my girlfriend with my eyes full of sorrow, almost to the point of welling up. "I just want to know who my parents were… and I've got a feeling that someone's trying to hide it from me."

Cynder leaned her head against my shoulder to comfort me, slowly wrapping her tail around mine. "I know, honey… me too."

I rested my head on top of Cynder's and closed my eyes, battling all my emotions and trying so hard not to let a tear drop. Be brave, Spyro… be brave for her.

For eighteen years, the question of where or who my parents were hardly ever came into mind. I tried searching for any evidence of them when Cynder was looking for her real family, but like her I found nothing. Surely they must have some certificate or newspaper report laying around somewhere saying that a purple egg had been hatched. Maybe they were all in Warfang, left to rot and to collect dust after Malefor laid siege to it.

I wondered if my dreams had something to do with this? Could that cloaked dragoness have been telling me where my parents are? Was that what she meant by 'the time is approaching'? Urgh, this was so confusing.

But whatever happened, whether my parents would emerge or not, I still had Cynder by my side. To me, she was my family… my entire world, as well as Sparx and the Guardians. They have always been for me. I wouldn't be the dragon I am if it wasn't for them.

Fate had brought me to Cynder… and I didn't plan on letting her go anytime soon.

Suddenly, as Cynder and I sat quietly by the lake, I could hear voices in the distance disrupt the peace that everyone was trying to maintain. With every passing second, they kept getting closer… I couldn't make out what they were saying but they sounded like they were arguing. What they were arguing about was something I didn't really care about at that moment.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head away from Cynder's embrace and looked around to see who was disturbing the peace. I immediately cursed under my breath when I saw who it was.

Skylanders. It had to be the Skylanders, didn't it?!

"Spyro, what's the matter?" Cynder wondered, hearing me curse under my breath.

"Them."

Cynder turned to where I was looking and uttered a groan of annoyance. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know. Come on, let's go…" I suggested, starting to head away from the lake.

But it was too late.

"Spyro! Cynder! Hello!" the irritating voice of Eruptor called out. At least he didn't call me 'Lame-o' this time, because that got old real quick.

Both Cynder and I stopped in our tracks, exchanging annoyed looks with each other, and turned around to face the Skylanders. Eruptor was in front of them, looking confident and cocky as always, while the rest of them stood behind him. The others didn't share Eruptor's expression, appearing more cautious and displeased than anything.

"Eruptor," I growled. Somehow, despite all that he did for the past few years, he was still in the Skylanders. Seemed like Master Eon was thinking about his beard when Ignitus went to talk to him about Eruptor's behaviour.

"What are you doing here?" Eruptor questioned, trying to sound as nice as possible.

My eyes narrowed. What was his game here? "That's none of your business… now if you'll excuse us, we ought to be going now," I answered.

"Woah, woah… what's the rush, Spyro? I'm trying to have a conversation with you here!" Eruptor exclaimed.

"There was no rush until you came around," I retorted. "Why are you here anyway?"

Stealth Elf stepped forward before Eruptor could answer. "We were just doing one of our last patrols before our graduation…"

I scoffed. "Oh? So you could torment me one last time!? Wow…"

"Yeah, that's kind of messed up guys…" Cynder added.

"That's not why we came here…" Stealth Elf muttered.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you there then?" Cynder questioned, sounding pissed off.

"Like I said, we were just doing our patrols… but then Eruptor insisted…" Stealth Elf tried to explain but I wasn't having any of it.

"So whatever Eruptor says, you do?" I barked. "I guess Pop Fizz hitting him in the back of the head meant nothing then!"

"For your information, they're just here to see if I can behave myself," Eruptor then snapped. "If you just shut up and stop snapping at everything we said, maybe you would know that!"

What?

What?!

I was furious at this point. It was something about Eruptor and the rest of the Skylanders that always chapped my scales. It seemed like they couldn't quite grasp the truth yet.

"Excuse me?! I wouldn't be snapping if you just left me alone!" I fumed. "But no! You had to torment me every single second of your life to satisfy that, what I call, ego of yours. All of this is on you, Eruptor!"

Eruptor merely rolled his eyes, unfazed by my anger. "Oh please…"

"Spyro's got a point," Cynder murmured. "We're all grown up and mature now, yet you still try to bully him. Just grow up already, this isn't funny anymore…"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Malefor's little freak…"

At this point, I was incredibly pissed off. An anger started to build up within me, an anger I hadn't felt in a long time. "Don't you dare talk to her like that!" I snarled.

Eruptor raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

Before I could do something unforgivable, Stealth Elf teleported in between Eruptor and myself and put her arms out so that we couldn't get any closer. "That's enough, you two!" she shouted. "You are both better than this!"

Now that's some bullshit if I ever heard it.

"Stay out of this, this is just between Lame-o and I..." Eruptor muttered, glaring at me.

I replied with a death stare, my eyes turning to slits as purple lightning started to spark around me. I saw that my bright purple scales were going darker and my golden underbelly was now a rusty brown. I hadn't felt this powerful in a long time… kind of felt nice. Time to show Eruptor the true power of the purple dragon.

"Spyro… you need to calm down." I heard Cynder softly try to comfort me. Normally I would listen, but not this time. Eruptor needed to be taught a lesson.

Suddenly I started to feel very strange, like the power within me had become too much to bear. All my limbs had become very stiff and I found myself unable to move them. What was happening to me?

The entire world around me started spinning and everything started to go dark; the only sound I could hear was my own breath, which had become short and erratic. From what limited eyesight I had, I could see everyone looking confused or concerned. Cynder, meanwhile, looked worried and it looked like she was trying to call out my name. It was hard to tell as the world went blurry, and I could barely make out her form.

I don't-

Wh-? What's happening?

Cynder? Are you there?

Cynder?!

Oh ancestors… something's wrong.

Then everything went black as I felt myself collapse to the ground, an echo of Cynder's voice being the last thing I heard.

Oooh… shit has certainly gone down hasn't it? You have to wait a while to see what has happened to our purple dragon…

Next month, I'll be moving on to the next chapter of Convergence. Only two chapters to go on that story then afterwards I'll be doing another project alongside this story! So that's something to look forward to…

This is TARDIS1039, signing off… Allons-y!