The harsh sunlight was the first thing Spyro noticed when he woke up, his room illuminated by the amount of it shining through the window. He winced, squinting his eyes shut almost as soon as they fluttered open from his slumber, moaning at the pain in his eyes. It didn't take long for Spyro to realise how bright the light outside was, before he quickly flung himself out of bed, rushing to the window to check the sun's position. The purple dragon was slightly relieved to see that he hadn't slept in incredibly late, but Warfang was definitely starting to come alive by this point in the morning, a decent amount of citizens scattering the streets already.
Spyro wasn't usually this frantic in the mornings, but since he needed to chat with the guardians about the situation involving Cynder this morning before they all left to teach their classes, he needed to get a move on. He practically sprinted out of his bedroom, his paws sliding along the ground as he struggled to find his grip, causing him to collide with his bookshelf and knock a few books out of it. Spyro didn't bother to turn back and pick them up, his mind caught up in his sudden rush.
The purple dragon ran into the kitchen, almost tripping over his tail as he turned the corner quicker than he intended to. Spyro quickly pulled out a small slab of steak and a few berries, not even bothering to prepare it properly. He almost choked on the raw meat several times as he wolfed the food down, barely chewing.
Once he finally made it through his rushed meal, he moved as swiftly as he could to the Warfang Temple to meet with the guardians. Upon entering, he almost ran into Volteer, screeching to a halt as quick as he could before he slammed into the electric guardian.
"Ancestors damn it!" Volteer cursed as he staggered sideways, trying to regain his balance after the impact.
"Sorry!" Spyro apologised quickly, grimacing with embarrassment as Volteer gave him a slight glare.
"Next time, exercise and practice adequate levels of caution, young Spyro," the guardian muttered. "You could harm someone exerting that level of carelessness."
"I know, I-I-I'm sorry. I just was worried I'd be late. I didn't want to miss this meeting, and I didn't know when you, Terrador and Cyril were scheduled to go to your classes or other jobs you have to do, considering you are guardians on top of teachers."
Volteer just nodded, his expression firm. "Well, all three of us still have an adequate amount of time before classes commence for today. If you are still requiring our company to converse about the problems involving Cynder, we can commence that conversation now."
"Yes please."
With that, Volteer led Spyro off to the guardians' quarters, being greeted by Terrador and Cyril. The ice guardian appeared to still be half asleep, his eyes low and droopy and his gait slow and irregular. Large bags sat under his eyes, and he was complaining about not getting any sleep last night due to an uncomfortable bed.
"Cyril, quit complaining or you can buy yourself a new bed," Terrador grumbled. "You've been complaining about this for weeks and I, for one, am sick of it. Plus your bed is the same as ours."
"And it's uncomfortable!" Cyril snapped. "It doesn't help that I've been having back problems recently…"
"And whose fault is it that you haven't been to see someone about it?" Terrador butted in.
Cyril spluttered, before giving in with a defeated sigh. He then sat down, rubbing his tired eyes with a paw and letting out a massive yawn. Terrador just rolled his eyes, turning his head to suddenly notice Spyro and Volteer standing in the doorway, Volteer in the middle of a facepalm and Spyro wide-eyed, taking in the sudden argument that he had just witnessed.
"Anyway, we'll sort this issue out later now that we have a guest," Terrador said, giving Cyril a glare as he said the word 'guest', emphasising it slightly. "How are you, Spyro?"
"I'm doing alright, Master Terrador. Rushed out of bed this morning to get here before the school day started, but I'm finally here," the purple dragon stated.
"Oh! That's right, Volteer mentioned you were coming in for a talk. He never mentioned for what though; he ran off into his study soon after and never came out for the whole night."
"There was a lot I desired to examine and study; there wasn't much that helped the situation however," Volteer said, stepping in and sitting down, the purple dragon behind him quickly following.
"Well, what was it that you wanted to talk to us about, Spyro?" Terrador questioned, looking at Spyro with concern. "Volteer told us it was very important."
Spyro took a deep breath, before explaining to the guardians about what was happening with Cynder: her mood swings, uncharacteristic aggressiveness, snapping at him and her friends, and feeling like she 'wasn't herself'. Despite it not being new news for Volteer, he was still shocked and worried for the poor black dragoness, just like the other two guardians were. Cyril looked especially concerned, the wide eyes and nervous expression being a very stark change from the gloomy, tired, sleepy expression he had worn earlier.
"So… you don't know what caused this or where it came from?" Cyril questioned.
"No. I don't. It didn't seem like Cynder did either. She kinda just started feeling that way out of nowhere, and it's gotten worse," Spyro explained.
"Would it be related to stress?" Terrador asked.
"I don't think so," the purple dragon replied. "I asked Cynder the same thing and she said it was more… spiritual. She said she felt like she was changing on the inside, like she was becoming someone else. I'm scared for her. Cynder is so unlike her usual self and because she said it was spiritual, it seems to me like it… like it could be dark magic."
"It can't be!" Cyril denied quickly. "We've been in peace for five years. Dark magic has been pushed away. Surely we can't have another surge of dark magic and war in five years. It seems too soon."
"Yes, but we can't deny the fact that there is a possibility that it could be," Terrador rebutted. "If Cynder said it felt like a spiritual thing, then there is something changing inside of her. Uncharacteristic anger and grumpiness is common among stressed or sleep deprived people, but there's nothing spiritual about that. It's all physical and mental. Something seems wrong to me."
Volteer nodded. "I cannot fathom the possibilities of what this foreshadows and portends, but all I can conclude is that it is far from a positive or favourable outcome," he murmured.
"Yes, thank you Volteer, as if we need more grimness to deal with on top of this new problem that Spyro has raised to our attention," Cyril groaned.
"Cyril's right. After so much peace, the possibility of something new being born out of dark magic is a scary thought," Terrador said in agreement. "On top of that, I don't want Spyro to worry too much about…"
"Terrador, I'm fine. Please, if there is anything wrong with Cynder, I want you to tell me, no matter how scary or grim the thought may be," Spyro muttered.
"You're dealing with enough worry and stress as it is, Spyro. I don't want you to wear yourself out fretting," Terrador replied. "Right now Spyro, I don't think you need to be too actively involved."
"She's my girlfriend, Terrador! Of course I'm going to get involved if it concerns her!" Spyro spat, not even noticing how agitated he was becoming, but Terrador ignored him.
"You've got your apprenticeship on top of all this as well; you still need to be in peak condition for that. I don't think you need to know everything quiet yet."
"Terrador, please!" Spyro cried, standing up quickly, tears threatening to leave his eyes as his chest heaved with heavy breaths. "I need to know! If there's something wrong with Cynder, I need to know. I have to. And please, don't try to use my apprenticeship as something to stop me from worrying. It's important, I know, but for me, people are more important. And this is my girlfriend we're talking about, so please, let me know. I have to know."
The three guardians seemed to flinch at the emotion behind Spyro's words as his voice dwindled down to a whisper near the end. The purple dragon faltered at the uncomfortable silence that now swallowed the room, sitting back down and looking at his paws, which were now shaking.
Spyro could feel the tears start to trickle down his face, and with a sniffle, he quickly swiped his paw over his eyes to get rid of them. He felt so bogged down and overwhelmed by everything going on and all the possibilities that he was starting to break down under the pressure of it all. It was a disgusting feeling.
"Sorry, I just… I'm terrified for her. She's my girlfriend and I care about her. I… I don't care if the news is grim. I need to know so I can keep her safe. Whatever cost it takes, I will make sure she is safe."
Volteer sighed. "Ah, the flames of love and affection. I remember quite adequately how vigorous the need to safeguard your lover was. It's been an extremely lengthy time since I last felt that though..." he murmured, before taking a deep breath and shooting Spyro a kind smile. "Okay, Spyro. If we discover any new and unusual information about Cynder, we'll make sure to notify you."
"Thanks, Volteer."
"Anyway, Spyro, it might be a good idea to check up on Cynder sometime, just to see how she's going and to see if you can make some conclusions for yourself," Terrador suggested. "It might help us come to a conclusion about what may be going on."
"Alright, will do. I'll see if I can talk to Cynder today and organise a date tomorrow or something like that. Something to just spend a lot of time together so I can really pay attention," Spyro said with a shrug of the shoulders.
"I believe that's a smart idea worth acting upon," Cyril said with a yawn, his tiredness still weighing down on him.
"We all have classes to lecture today, but I'll attempt to dedicate extra time to researching what might be happening to Cynder," Volteer said.
"It might do good to look into some of the dark magic related stuff, considering the conclusion we've just come to," Terrador replied.
Volteer just nodded wordlessly, letting out a sad sigh. He noticed Spyro shiver out of the corner of his eye, knowing that this was hurting him deeply. The possibility of Cynder falling to darkness yet again was a terrifying thought, made even worse with the relationship he currently shared with her. He was terrified for her. He wanted her to be safe.
The electric guardian knew very well what it was like. His mate had laid in the infirmary for a good few days, violently sick. He feared for her life. She had passed away but in the end, she felt no pain, and it was peaceful. It tore him inside to see how scared Spyro was for Cynder's wellbeing, and he vowed he would do as much as he could to help them out.
"I will… I will do that," Volteer replied slowly. "And I'll ensure that word gets to Spyro of any discoveries I make."
There was an uncomfortable silence that lingered for about a minute as Spyro and the three guardians sat in the room, the dark, grim mood weighing down on them. Eventually, Terrador stood, stretching out with a groan. "Anyway, we should get to teaching our classes now," he announced.
"Yeah, you go do that," Spyro murmured, standing up too, Volteer and Cyril following his lead. "I'll, uh… I'll try and find Cynder, and maybe talk to my friends. I need to clear my mind a bit before I tackle this situation."
"Fair point," Cyril said. "I wish you good luck, young one, and we'll get in touch with information as soon as we can."
"Thanks," Spyro said, before making his way out of the Warfang Temple.
He stood out in the square where the Warfang Temple was located, watching as the citizens of Warfang go about their day to day life, wide smiles painting their faces. Everyone was oblivious to the problem that was starting to arise, and the possibility of dark magic causing troubles yet again.
Spyro growled in frustration. He wished that the peace could be kept, and that these bad things weren't happening. Everyone looked so happy; why couldn't he and Cynder have that?
Spreading his wings, Spyro took off into the skies, taking a flight to take his mind off things, focusing on the lush green plains beneath him and taking in the brisk, fresh air. It didn't help much, but it was good to be alone, left to his thoughts, and not being suffocated by the amount of people in Warfang. It was quiet and it was peaceful, just what he wanted right now.
Pulling his wings closer to his body, Spyro dived down to the ground, noticing a large, crystal-clear sapphire lake, landing beside it. He bent down to take a drink, the pure, cool water washing down his throat. It tasted amazing. The purple dragon lifted his head with a sigh, feeling hydrated and calm. The water had been good for his throat too; it had been dry all morning after stressing out so much, his little outburst at the guardians, and on top of that, having nothing to drink all day.
Spyro stepped forward, dipping his paws in the crystalline water and splashing it on his face, before he opened his wings again and made his way back to Warfang. He still needed to talk to Cynder. He needed another date with her. Of course he wanted it because he was in a relationship with her and he wanted to spend more time with the one he loved, but at the same time, there was more urgency to this one, to try and figure out what was really going on with her.
Upon entering Warfang, Spyro was quick to run into Cynder, who was currently grabbing some more paints and carrying them behind her in a cart. Inside it was a tin of red paint, followed by two tins of black. Spyro raised a brow; Cynder was known for her bright and colourful imagery, so needing two tins of black paint was pretty out of the ordinary for her. He chose to ignore it for now however, walking up to her to say hello.
"Hey, Cynder," the purple dragon called, putting a smile on his face.
Cynder paused, whipping around with a shocked expression. It quickly turned into a wide smile as she laughed. "Oh hey, Spyro," she greeted back gleefully. "I swear, we see each other more and more out on the streets than we used to."
"Yeah, we do," Spyro chuckled, scratching his head with a claw before getting to business. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd be interested in going out for another date tomorrow night, if you're up to it. I just, you know, wanna spend more time with you, and to provide you some company, regarding…"
"...what's been going on recently with me?" Cynder finished, her smile slowly fading.
Spyro took a deep, nervous breath as his calm smile also disappeared. "Yeah. That," he murmured, suddenly feeling bad for ruining Cynder's mood.
"Ummm… well…" the black dragoness murmured slowly.
She hesitated, her gaze turning away from Spyro as she stared at her paws. The purple dragon winced. "Cynder? Are you alright?" he inquired, but she still didn't respond.
Cynder's throat bobbed as she swallowed, or at least tried to, going off the strained look that crept on her face when she did. Her arms seemed to shake a bit and her eyes were blank. "Cynder?" he said again, speaking louder to try and get her attention. "Do you need to talk?"
"No," Cynder snapped quickly. "No, I-I-I-I'm fine."
"Are you sure? I can talk now if you need to."
"No, it can wait. It's fine."
Spyro wasn't buying it, but he was worried that pushing it would make everything worse, so he didn't press any further, as much as he wanted to talk with Cynder and help her through whatever was going on. "Oh… o-o-okay," he murmured after a few awkward seconds of silence, averting his gaze from Cynder as well.
A few more awkward seconds passed, the two dragons standing in the middle of the street staring at their paws. The purple dragon cleared his throat, before looking back up at Cynder. Her eyes strayed back to him.
"So would the date tomorrow still be alright or… would it not be a good idea at this point?" he asked.
"No, it'll be fine. I'd like a date," Cynder replied. "I'm not really up to going out to be honest, but if you're happy for dinner over at my place I'll be happy to have you."
"Sure thing. Sounds good enough to me."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow evening then?"
"Yes, tomorrow evening. That should be great. Is there anything you want me to bring over to help with dinner?"
"Oh, you don't have to, Spyro. You prepare food all the time, or you buy the food when we go out. I should do something for once," Cynder said with a chuckle, stepping forward and nuzzling him.
"Are you sure?"
"I am absolutely sure. Rest and let me handle dinner for once."
The purple dragon nodded with a chuckle, stepping back from the nuzzle. "Alright. It has been a while since I last had your cooking," he said.
"It's been more than a while. Over the past five months you insisted that you'd prepare lunch or dinner so that I didn't have to," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I appreciate you being a gentleman and all, but it's time I give back."
Spyro rolled his eyes too, looking at Cynder with a wide smile. She was right; he'd done all the work regarding food for their past dates. It was all voluntary of course, but Spyro could see why Cynder wanted to be the one in charge of the food this time around. She wanted to pull her weight in the relationship, and do something to give back to Spyro. The purple dragon believed in respect and being polite, especially to his girlfriend of all people, so any opportunity to be responsible in preparing or paying for food was one he took, so that Cynder didn't have to.
The sound of Cynder's voice brought Spyro back to the conversation at hand. "I do remember you absolutely loving my spicy pork ribs last time I cooked for you," she giggled.
"Oh yeah, those were amazing," the purple dragon sighed.
"You stuffed yourself silly; there was one point I thought you were going to throw up."
He averted his gaze with a groan, shaking his head, a smile on his face. Cynder walked up to him and turned his head back towards her. "Don't do that again; I was worried I'd have to clean up vomit," she chuckled.
"I'll be responsible this time, Cynder. I promise," Spyro replied.
"You'd better, or you can clean up the vomit," Cynder giggled, nuzzling him again, before stepping away and grabbing her cart of paint again. "Anyway, I'd better take these home and continue painting. I'll see you tomorrow night for dinner."
"Alright, bye Cynder!" Spyro farewelled.
With that, Cynder turned and left, taking the cart with her. The purple dragon watched her leave. He'd asked her on a date, and she had said yes. Perfect. He was finally getting somewhere regarding this. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and solve it soon, because after all, he was still planning to propose very soon. Spyro wasn't sure a proposal would satisfy either of them completely while this was going on, so he hoped it was an easy solution.
Unfortunately things like this never are… the purple dragon thought with a sigh, lowering his head dejectedly.
Spyro turned and made his way to the Warfang Pub, his stomach grumbling and demanding a proper meal after his rushed breakfast, on top of a craving for a drink to take his mind off things. He got himself a proper slab of beef steak, cooked, seasoned and prepared to perfection, coated in a delicious barbeque marinade. As for the drink, he'd gotten a large bottle of wine, popping it open and taking large gulps of it.
He'd only taken a couple bites of his lunch by the time he felt a claw tapping him on the shoulder. Spyro jumped, whirling around with a yelp, only to see Blaze and Arcton standing there. "Hey, Spyro," Blaze said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting to see you here as well."
"Good afternoon you two," Spyro said, turning back to his food and taking a small bite, suddenly feeling shy.
There was the sound of shuffling as Blaze and Arcton sat down beside him on either side at the table, concerned expressions on their faces. Spyro sighed; he knew they were probably going to pry into what was wrong, and he wasn't particularly wanting to disclose to them what was going on with Cynder, especially after going over it with the guardians, as well as the dark severity of the matter, considering dark magic was a possibility.
"Are you okay, Spyro?" Blaze questioned.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," the purple dragon replied.
"You sure? You don't look fine," Arcton murmured.
Spyro sighed, grabbing his bottle of wine and taking a swig from it. He lowered the bottle from his lips, hesitating, before putting it down on the table again. "I'm sure," he said, nodding his head. "It's just been a difficult last couple of days for me. I'm just tired, that's all."
"Spyro, you're more than just tired," Blaze insisted firmly. "I can see it in your expression. You won't even look at us."
"I'm fine, okay?" Spyro spat, raising his voice slightly and clenching his paws.
He only now just realised how aggressive he sounded, on top of the wide snarl on his face, lips pulled back to the point where his gums were exposed. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, tightening the clench of his jaws to the point where he could hear his teeth grating against each other.
"You are not fine," Blaze said slowly and firmly, his expression soft and upset. "Please, I just want to help. What's wrong?"
The last thing Spyro wanted to talk about right now was the problem happening with Cynder. He didn't want that information out yet. However, thinking about it, there was another problem that was adding on top of his sudden anger. It was something that he'd griped about internally for a very long time, and it was probably time to let it out. If there was one thing his father told him that always stuck with him, it was that emotions can be dangerous if kept internal for too long.
Spyro cleared his throat, pursing his lips back together and hiding his teeth, before grabbing a firm hold of his bottle of wine and taking a long swig of it, setting it down on the table afterwards with a heavy sigh.
"It's… about the guardians," he murmured quietly, lowering his gaze and taking particular interest in the grooves of the wooden table.
"The guardians? Wh-what happened?" Arcton questioned. "Is it something to do with the apprenticeship?"
"Eh… kind of," Spyro replied, trying to be delicate with how he responded. "Some pretty… heavy… things are going on right now - things I don't really want to share with you right now - and I went to consult the guardians about it earlier this morning. There's still a lot of uncertainties about it so the guardians proposed they do some research but they… they eventually tried to hide it from me, because they 'didn't want me to worry'. I'm scared and worried about it, and it involves me. I need to know. I deserve to know. I think I'd worry more if I didn't know."
There was a small moment of silence as Spyro finished. Arcton moved to speak, but Blaze raised a claw and put it against the ice dragon's lips, telling him to keep quiet, as he could tell by the way Spyro clenched his jaw that he still had more to say. Spyro sat unmoving for a bit longer, before he grabbed his drink and took another swig from it. He lowered the bottle to place it down, hesitating before the bottle touched the table. Instead, he raised it to his lips again, taking another few gulps before finally setting it back down.
"They do this all the time," he finally said. "All the damn time. They're so authoritative and controlling, and think they know what's best for me. I'm not a child anymore; I can take care of myself. I fought in a war as a child for the ancestors' sakes! I didn't know what I was doing; I'd never thought of the concept of death before. I never even knew what it was like to be a dragon. And still the guardians told me 'fight'. 'Kill'.
"After so long doing it, it felt natural to me, and by the time I got back to interacting with people and adapting to a normal life again, my 'natural' just felt so wrong. I didn't realise what I was doing was actually bad because I looked up to the guardians, being the first dragons I saw, and I was an innocent, blind child who just wanted to bring peace and make people happy. So I did what they asked. I fought and killed. And they didn't. They made me do all the work for them, almost as if they're too high and mighty for it all."
"Spyro, they care for you. The guardians aren't like that," Arcton butted in quickly, watching as Spyro took another sip of his wine. "This is the alcohol speaking."
Spyro ignored the ice dragon, clearing his throat. "I feel like I'm their pawn, their weapon, because they're the guardians and they're in charge, and they can just make do with the legendary purple dragon however they damn well want to. I will not be told what I can and can't know about the current situation; if I want to know, then I will. And if they won't tell me anything, I'll bring hell on them."
Blaze sighed sadly, glancing at Arcton quickly, who looked just as concerned for their friend as he did. Their eyes were wide and Arcton's bottom lip was trembling slightly in fear. "Alright Spyro," Blaze replied slowly. "Uh, thanks for telling us. Just know that you can come to us for help, okay? We're your friends. We want to help. We want to be there for you. I just hope that it feels like we are."
The purple dragon just nodded, knowing that Blaze and Arcton's concern for him was genuine. Blaze would probably be the better person to talk to, considering he was a lot better at the deeper, more serious talks, as Arcton was the more happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, slightly cocky type. The ice dragon, however, had surprised Spyro on the occasion with how serious he could get.
Arcton cleared his throat. "So… did you want us to leave, or…?" he started.
"No, you can stay," Spyro answered quickly, stopping Arcton from finishing his question, suddenly a bit guilty that he'd let his anger get the better of him. "I'd like the company."
Blaze nodded, before organising with Arcton what they were going to be eating. Their food arrived just as Spyro finished his, so the purple dragon sat there finishing his wine while the other two ate and drank, deciding to get some beer instead.
"So how's things been going for you two since we last caught up?" Spyro questioned, wanting to change the subject.
"Pretty good actually," Blaze said with a smile. "I got the apprenticeship, so I'm now working as a blacksmith."
"Oh, congratulations!" Spyro exclaimed. "Are you enjoying it so far?"
"Definitely. Frade, my mentor, is great and very encouraging, and he explains things very well. I've really been enjoying the apprenticeship so far. Also I got more good news: I finally asked Zeena out!"
Spyro blinked with surprise, his eyes gleaming. "Wow, Blaze. Congratulations," he said with a wide smile. "I wasn't expecting you to ask her out so soon after our talk; it's only been five days after all."
"Oh I asked her three days ago. But uh, she said yes, and we had the date last night. So I guess we're officially a couple now."
"I followed your advice too, Spyro!" Arcton exclaimed. "I went and talked to Fairen and Cerina, and I think they're both pretty into me by the looks of it."
"Oh really?" Blaze teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I guess I must be doing something right: I've got two girls!" Arcton boasted, smirking slyly.
"Maybe, but are you in a relationship with either one yet?" Spyro questioned.
The ice dragon balked. He adapted a serious look and pointed a sharp talon at Spyro. "Not yet, purple boy, but I'll prove you wrong when I ask them both out," he whispered, his eyes narrowing with determination.
"I'm not sure how well having two partners will work," Blaze chuckled. "I mean, that's two pretty heavy commitments you're working with, and you don't want both your partners getting jealous of each other."
"I mean, if you can make it work and they're all fine with it, go ahead," Spyro said with a shrug. "Prove us wrong."
Arcton smiled, pumping his fist and whispering a quiet 'yes' under his breath, and Spyro just rolled his eyes. He was happy for Arcton though, and if he got two partners out of it, then good for him. For him however, Cynder was enough, and it looked like Blaze was in the same mindset regarding Zeena. They didn't need anyone else.
The ice dragon sat back and started whispering to himself as he ate. Spyro chuckled. Arcton was probably overthinking it, his egotistical attitude and high self-esteem getting the better of him. Spyro only just caught the word 'harem' coming from his friend's mouth. Yup, definitely overthinking it, Spyro thought with a roll of his eyes. I'd be impressed to see him get that many girls, but just wait 'til he sees how much work a relationship takes.
Spyro turned to Blaze, whose face was contorted with humour as he tried to hold in his laughter. The purple dragon just shrugged, Blaze responding back with a shrug of his own.
Not too long after, Blaze and Arcton had both finished their food, and were finishing their beers. By this point Spyro had emptied his bottle of wine, and was tempted to get more but decided against it. The chatter was more generalistic, regarding the apprenticeships Spyro and Blaze had, and the topic eventually switched to what Blaze's date with Zeena was like. Throughout the whole time Spyro was hoping that the topic wouldn't switch to him and Cynder, and luckily it didn't.
Eventually, Spyro decided to call it quits, knowing he needed to take the rest of the day slowly and calmly considering he needed to be very attentive for the date with Cynder tomorrow.
"Hey guys, I'm… I'm going to have to head home. I have a busy day tomorrow and I should probably rest up a bit so I have the energy for the day," Spyro explained, standing up. "Thanks for staying with me and keeping me company."
"Our pleasure," Arcton said with a smile.
"And remember, Spyro, you can always come and talk to us if you want help; that's what friends are for," Blaze added, his eyes gleaming with a genuine kindness.
"I know. Thanks, Blaze. Thanks, Arcton," Spyro said. "I'll see you later, then. Bye."
"See ya, Spyro," the two dragons said together, before Spyro turned and left the pub.
He got home at a very rapid pace, just wanting to get home to relax and cool down after rushing to the meeting with the guardians, as well as the amount he had just drunk. He usually shared a bottle with someone else, so had never had a full one to himself, and on top of that he'd gotten one of the largest bottles of wine. Was it a coping mechanism? Probably, considering the information he'd just discovered earlier that morning. It didn't mean it was a good thing however.
It was especially worrying since he didn't know his alcohol tolerance; he didn't feel drunk, but that was likely his brain playing tricks on him.
Spyro decided to run a hot bath, sitting down in the steaming water with a sigh, lying in it with a satisfied smile on his face, his eyes closed with contentment. The water felt nice, soaking over his scales, the heat warming him up.
He probably laid there for about an hour, almost falling asleep twice, before he got out, drained the bathtub, and dried himself thoroughly, before spending the rest of the day reading. Or… attempting to at least. The words on the page appeared to slur together, creating long strings of letters that he struggled to make individual words out of, forcing him to re-read each line at least three times. Maybe he was somewhat drunk. He ended up finishing the novel he was reading, as he was almost done anyway, but he spent most of the afternoon doing so. The purple dragon went to bed early, knowing he'd likely need the sleep.
It's been a while since the last update but I'm back! Once again this was a bit of a tricky one to complete, but I'm pretty happy with the end result, and I hope you all are too. I hope it was good seeing Blaze and Arcton back again, and I hope you enjoyed the events of this chapter! Another reason why this chapter took so long to do is because of uni. It's been pretty full-on and stressful this semester, so yeah.
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TARDIS1039: Is it 'about bloody time' for this chapter too haha? Also thanks for the words; I'm glad other people think I'm handling the romance sections right lol. It's probably one of my biggest stresses about this story is getting those sections and themes done right. But I'm glad you think they're coming along nicely, so thanks!
AquillaPrime: Thanks for coming to have a look at this story, and I hope you like it! Yes, this story places Spyro in a characterisation that we're probably more comfortable/used to seeing him in, being back to the good-hearted purple dragon we all know and love lol. Also I'm happy you like the idea of Cynder being a painter; that was something I thought would be pretty interesting too so I went y'know what, let's just go with it hehe.
The Silent Insomniac: Great to see you reviewing again, and thanks! Glad you liked my worldbuilding on the magic system here, especially since you do so much worldbuilding with Aimless haha. Hope this chapter was interesting enough for you! XD
Dragon of Mystery: Happy to hear that you like seeing Spyro as a teacher, and yes I do agree, it's a very poetic situation he's got himself in with teaching kids something he was never taught at their age. Down the track as well, if kids are interested, or just people in general, he's also able to enlighten them about other cultures since he lived with a completely different species for the first twelve years of his life. It's a really interesting idea. Also we'll be seeing more of Cynder soon, so look forward to that one.
Derick Lindsey: Also happy to hear you like Spyro as a teacher. And yes, every once in a while we do need Spyro to be the Spyro we all know well, although 'Jackass Spyro' as you call him does provide some interesting concepts, as it's handled slightly differently between all three of those fics you mentioned, and brings about very different events (the events surrounding Spyro at that point also influences what happens tbh).
DiabloPProcento: Great to hear you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you enjoyed this one. I also understand, as people like different things. We'll have to see how it goes over the next few chapters. :) Tension however is important for any story to progress, and depending on what type of tension it is, drama will come out of that too. Regarding tragedy, unlike Demonised which is under the Tragedy category, this story won't be incredibly heavy on it, although there will still be some of it later down the track. Still, hope to hear more from you on the story, and hope you enjoy it!
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Anyway, with all that said, it's back to uni work for me. I'll see you later with another chapter (of either GEM or Demonised, I'm not sure what I wanna work on first lol). Have a good day, and stay safe!