Chapter 4: A Fun Bout
"You want to what now?"
"Spar," Cynder repeated to the purple dragon, "You and me."
The next day Cynder stopped by the temple to see Spyro again. The pair were talking in Spyro's room for some privacy as the black dragoness talked to him.
"Why?" Spyro asked.
"Because it would be fun to spar with someone who is not a part of the Fighter's League. And it's been years since you and I have." Cynder wondered why Spyro was fighting her on this. Surely his confidence wasn't that low, "Don't you still train with the Guardians?"
"Well… yes, but-"
"Then let's do it. It will be fun," She pleaded.
"Your definition of fun is much different than mine," he replied back.
He did not have a problem with sparing, he did so consistently with the Guardians and some of his own students. It was that Cynder, one of the most talented Fighters in the Dragoness Fighter's League, would be his opponent. She would probably beat him with ease.
He also was hesitant to be too competitive when it came to sparing because he was afraid of the power of the purple dragon. Whatever power Malefor used to destroy lives might be lingering deep inside Spyro, and he had no plans to try and unleash it.
On the other side, Cynder was trying to figure how could she get the purple dragon to Spar with her? And why he was not budging. She wrote it off as a confidence issue that she planned to change.
But on the topic at paw; how can she get him to accept her challenge? Promise a favor? No, Spyro was not that kind of dragon. She could promise a kiss if he won. The last thought surprised her and nearly got a giggle out of her when she thought of what Spyro's reaction would be. Besides, again, Spyro was not the kind of dragon to take advantage of someone. Though, a thought popped in her head, and she was sure it would work. After all, it played off of who Spyro was.
"It would be good for the dual element students," she said.
There was a pause, as the pair stared at each other. However, Cynder could easily see the gears turning in Spyro's head as he thought it over.
"You really think so?" he finally asked.
Got you, Cynder smirked internally, yet her heart also fluttered. Just leave it to Spyro to think about how anything he did would help others. "Sure, how often do you see two dual element dragons spar, let alone," her question ran off before she finished, "quad element dragons?"
Spyro's snickers turned into chuckles, "A what element dragon?"
"What?" Cynder playfully pouted, fighting a smile.
"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head.
"So, are we going to do this or what?" the dragoness asked impatiently.
Spyro shifted slightly, "I mean… it could be good for the all the students. But you are a top tier Fighter's League competitor, and I'm-"
"An amazing dragon who can hold his own against the Guardians." She smirked at Spyro shocked face, she continued, "Besides, I'm sure everyone likes to see what you can do."
That last statement took the dragon by surprise, "You really think so?"
Cynder was saddened, feeling a pang of hurt in her heart, Oh Spyro, why do you do this to yourself? Why do you always put yourself down? You are a wonderful dragon, and I hope that after this, you'll see it too. "Absolutely."
Spyro sighed and said, "Okay, I'll do it." He felt Cynder hug him, making his face heat up.
"Great! Let's get everything together. To the arena?"
Spyro noticed the look she was giving him, a competitive look saying that she was looking forward to this. He smiled, "To the arena."
Word quickly spread though the temple like a wildfire. All the students only knew that there was going to be a sparring match in the temple's arena, but who the participants were was a mystery. The near rainbow of dragons flooded into the large stone structure that sat behind the temple. Usually it was used for competitions, examinations, and sparing sessions. The stands completely surrounded an area below; which looked like a piece of a valley, with large boulders, a difference in elevation, small creek in the middle, and trees scattered around. It was kept up to be as natural as possible.
In one of the entries into the arena fighting ground, Cynder was feeling excited and was looking forward to the upcoming match.
Gale took notice, "You seem happy."
Cynder nodded, "Yeah, it's been so long since I've seen Spyro fight. I wonder how much he's improved."
Gale held some doubts that the mentioned dragon could match up to Cynder, whose career was fighting. But she reminded herself that he was the purple dragon, and with eight Guardians, who were some of the most gifted dragons in the realms, he must have learned many things. Perhaps he had a few tricks.
She responded, "Five years is a long time, who knows what his fighting style is like."
The black dragoness giggled, "Back then, he was unorthodox. I guess crude is the right word to describe it. But he made it work."
"And at the end of your time at the temple?" the wind dragoness asked, genuinely curious.
"Much more refined. I'm looking forward to this."
On the other side of the arena, the felling was the opposite. Spyro was pacing, cursing himself for even considering this, "Why did I agree to this? The result is obvious."
Ignitus stood by, watching the younger dragon pace with amusement on his face, "Is that so, young dragon?"
Spyro paused his pacing, facing his favorite teacher, "I've only ever sparred with you and the other Guardians, and a few students for lessons."
Ignitus smiled, "And I can guarantee that she has not sparred with another Guardian recently." The last statement made Spyro think, as the Fire Guardian continued, "Just remember everything we taught you, and all that you taught your own students. You will do just fine, Spyro."
Spyro let out a breath, turning his back to the Guardian, and calming his nerves, "Okay, I've learned more from the Guardians than she has."
Ignitus nodded, "Just be mindful. She will combine her elements like you do, and how those dual elements dragons you teach do. She has seen much more battles than you have, just be aware."
The purple dragon let out another breath, "Alright, what do we do now Ignitus?" There was an awkward pause. Spyro turned around, "Igni…" the Guardian of Fire was gone.
The voice of Terrador boomed though out the arena, "Alright everyone let us begin the match! Our first contestant will be, Cynder!"
The crowd cheered in excitement. Soon, the dragoness materialized in a shadow on the ground of the arena, and wind whipped around. She enjoyed being able to show off a little before a match, to show everyone what to expect.
The crowd was enthusiastic, but they all felt bad for whoever was unlucky enough to be paired up against her.
Terrador's voice boomed again, "And against her will be, Spyro!"
The purple dragon walked out into the arena, and was surprised to meet some applause. As he looked around the crowd, he noticed that some of the cheers came from the students he taught.
"Go Spyro!" a familiar voice cheered in the crowed.
Spyro looked into the direction of the voice and found Blake with some of his friends. Seeing the younger dragons cheer for him brought out an unfamiliar feeling of pride.
In the stands one of Blake's friends, an ice and earth dual dragon, asked, "Do you think he can win?"
"I don't know," was Blake's honest reply, "maybe?"
"You really sound sure of yourself," another friend, a fire dragoness, said sarcastically.
"This is Cynder we are talking about," Blake replied, looking down at Spyro, wondering if his favorite tutor had what it took to match the famous black dragoness.
When Spyro stopped his walk, he was several yards from his opponent, who said, "It seems you do have a few fans of your own."
Spyro smiled, "It looks that way. Only a fraction of what you have."
Cynder shook her head, "Always so negative."
"But I'll take what I can get," Spyro replied.
"Much better," the dragoness smiled.
Terrador spoke again, "The rules of this match will reflect those of the Dragon Fighter's League; the match is over when one of the participants gives up or is unable to continue. Any and all techniques are allowed with the exception on any fatal ones."
Cynder lowered her body, getting into her fighting stance, a smirk on her face. Unlike her more offensive stance, Spyro opted for a more defensive one, his body low, but his legs ready to parry or jump away from an attack.
"Begin!" Terrador bellowed, shooting an earth shot from his maw, earning a cheer from the crowd.
Cynder's smirk widened as she was soon consumed by shadows and vanished.
The purple dragon's eyes widened, then narrowed as he looked for the dragoness. He turned to see if she was trying to get behind him, only to see no form of the dragoness.
Spyro saw stars, as a blow hit under his jaw. Cynder had materialized from within Spyro's shadow and delivered the hit with her paw. She then turned herself and released a tunnel of wind, blowing the drake away.
Spyro angled himself to grip the ground and dug his claws to stop himself.
When Cynder stopped her wind tunnel she taunted, "Come on Spyro, get serious!"
The dragon frowned, She gets the first hit and she thinks she's already won? He smirked to himself, Two and play this game. He lifted a claw, gesturing her to a come at him.
Cynder, not one to back down from a challenge, shot another wind tunnel at Spyro. The dragon stepped forward and a stone wall burst from the ground, blocking the wind.
When the wind died down, Spyro lowered the wall into the ground, seeing the dragoness gone. Spyro paused for a moment, then let out a breath. He quickly dodged back, right as his opponent reappeared and grabbed her outstretched foreleg. Cynder held a look of surprise as Spyro pulled her up, let go, and whipped his body to deliver a powerful kick, sending the dragoness back to the ground.
Cynder tumbled slightly, but got back on all four paws, looking at Spyro, who had a small smile, "You'll have to do a little better than using the same trick twice."
Seeing Spyro's smile, brought out one of her own, happy to see some confidence in Spyro's words and posture.
With a powerful beat of her wings, and with the aid of her wind abilities, Cynder launched herself to the purple dragon. Poison covered her claws and she sped to the dragon before her.
Spyro's body surged with electrical sparks, and when Cynder went for the strike, the purple dragon dodged in an instant. The dragoness would follow up with a volley of attacks, but Spyro's near instantaneous speed would make this impossible.
Cynder prepared another breath attack, which Spyro placed another earth wall between them.
Cynder smirked.
She let out a powerful Siren Scream, shattering the wall, the pieces pelting Spyro and the fear attack pushing the dragon back.
When Spyro situated himself, Cynder said, "What was that about doing the same trick twice?"
Spyro shook his head, the get rid of the stars he was seeing, "Me and my big mouth," Spyro said to himself, earning a smile from the dragoness.
The black dragoness approached again, deciding to save her elemental powers and try to take Spyro down with claw-to-claw combat. Spyro seemed to have the same idea, as he readied himself for her attacks. When she took a swipe at him, the dragon dodged, leading her to try again with her other claw, only for him to block her. Spyro retaliated with an attack of his own, but Cynder was able to barely evade the attack.
The pair continued on, and Cynder began to notice that Spyro was not trying to beat her, nor going easy. He was simply matching her intensity. Whenever she would strike harder or move faster, he would match her, same if she went slower. After Spyro parried another attack, Cynder could see the look in his eyes, he was having a good time. She had to admit, this spar was turning out to be much more fun than nearly all of her matches in the Dragoness Fighter's League.
Cynder used her tail to pull one of Spyro's legs from underneath him, however, he kicked out a leg to do the same to her. The world slowed, as Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, Spyro was smiling, like her, having the time of his life.
That's the dragon I remember, Cynder thought to herself, catching herself before she hit the ground.
As amazing as ever, Cynder, Spyro thought, allowing himself to roll on the ground to get back on his feet.
Cynder glanced up toward the sky, and launched a large glop of poison, confusing Spyro. The dragoness then shot a scream of fear, scattering the large glop into a rain of poison. Being able to use the element of poison, Cynder would be unaffected.
Spyro's eyes widened at the impending burns he was sure to get. The purple dragon rolled forward, and called forth his earth element. Pieces of the ground began to stick to his body as he rolled, giving him earth armor. He then went on the offensive, surprising Cynder. She expected him to be slow, since Spyro was carrying extra weight, and while it was the case, Spyro's speed wasn't as handicapped as she thought. Spyro was definitely keeping up with his training.
Cynder used her natural speed and agility to her advantage, dodging any attacks Spyro tried. Spyro hissed as the poison droplets burned his wings, but he pushed on. Cynder tried to remove the earth by using a Siren Scream. Spyro shielded his face with his right paw, the scream breaking off pieces of earth from his right foreleg. He retaliated by rotating his body and bring down his left rear leg. Cynder only just managed to dodge, Spyro's attack breaking additional pieces of earth off of his leg.
The exposed scales met the poison droplets, causing another hiss from the purple dragon. Thinking quickly, Spyro formed ice around the scales on his exposed front right and rear left leg, and continued with his attacks. The weight distribution around his body was now completely off, his attacks sloppier.
When the poison rain ceased, Spyro allowed the armor to drop, relieving himself of the weight, briefly heating his legs to melt the remaining ice. When Spyro went for the attacks again, both he and Cynder noticed that he was not quite as coordinated as before; having earth armor, then ice replacing the pieces of earth, and then nothing at all in a very quick duration.
And Cynder intended to capitalize on it.
When she parried another attack, she pushed Spyro back, putting him off balance. She combined her wind and fear elements together into one large and powerful blast.
The attack sent Spyro into one of the trees in the arena, completely breaking the trunk. The purple dragon skit a ways away before coming to a painful stop.
Cynder composed herself, panting from exhaustion, her face was then filled with worry as she looked at the dragon, who wasn't moving.
As dread was seeping into her heart, her expression turned to surprise, as the purple drake slowly stood up. He was shaky, and was having trouble to stay standing. He turned himself to Cynder, as if ready to continue, further shocking Cynder.
However, Spyro knew that the fight was over, sitting on his haunches, "I'm done," he said, slowly shaking his head, all the while with a smile.
Terrador then declared, "The winner of this match is Cynder!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, many chanting Cynder's name.
The black dragoness made her way to Spyro, concerned for his well-being, "Are you okay?" She took notice the bruises and scratches he had received.
Spyro nodded, "I'm fine. I lost, not surprising."
"Spyro, I do this all the time, and let me say that you were amazing. That was the most fun I've had in a long time," the dragoness said, genuinely.
"Spyro!" a voice called from behind the purple dragon. Spyro turned to the stands and saw Blake and a few of his friends in the first row, "That was awesome!"
An earth dragoness added, "You have to teach me how to make earth armor!"
Cynder walked toward the stands to greet the students, "Looks like you have some fans of your own."
Spyro walked at her side, "It seems that way."
Cynder and Spyro were showered with questions on how they did some of the things they did. Cynder was used to it, and was comfortable interacting with the students. Spyro, despite being unfamiliar with the feeling of positive attention, was having a good time talking with the dragons, promising some to teach him some of his techniques.
Cynder stole a glance at the purple dragon, who was talking with Blake and his group of friends. The younger dragons were excited that Spyro promised to teach them. Spyro had a smile on his face, his posture confident. The black dragoness smiled; she could leave Warfang, knowing that her best friend was going to be just fine.