Hello and welcome back to another chapter of My Days With You! Once again, this is one of those times where I was writing for another story but got disinterested in it and now I'm back to updating this story again. Which is fine, considering I like writing this story. I've come a long way since my pre-Spyro stories. Trust me, there's a big difference…
Anyway, to recap, Cynder has a traumatic nightmare dealing with her past as the Terror of the Skies, going into a dream-like state and attacking Spyro in her sleep. When Spyro takes her to see Volteer, he suggests that Cynder take a therapy session. When one of the local therapists agrees to see Cynder, they start things out slowly since it's only the first session.
Later that night, Cynder finds herself in another nightmare and comes face-to-face with her evil counterpart. The two fight, with Cynder winning and forging a new path to a life without the burdens of her past.
With Cynder going through a healing process, what will happen as she moves on? Let's see, shall we? Enjoy!
(-)
(Chapter 6: Simple Life)
Spyro wasn't sure how much longer he could manage.
He had faced many dangers in the past—apes, grublins, swamp creatures and vicious gladiators to name a few—and he'd barely just managed to survive. But this time, it might be his toughest mission yet; he'll need to bring all his wits, both physically and mentally, to survive this ordeal.
"And now, let's discuss the history of the first recorded case of a dragon's first use of an elemental breath," Cyril muttered, sitting on his haunches as he started to jot some writing on the blackboard behind him.
Spyro groaned under his breath, not eager for another lecture from Cyril. The last thirty minutes of the Ice Guardian rambling about the formation of the dragon world was already enough for the purple dragon, and now he had to listen to this? It's not that he didn't care about history, in fact he liked learning about the world he missed out on for many years, it's just that Cyril makes it really, really boring.
It had been a week since the Warfang Academy had been officially reopened for all the young aspiring students that had returned to the dragon city after the war had ended. It was a magnificent building made with white marble, which glistened in the morning sunlight, but seemed lackluster compared to the rest of Warfang's architecture. The building itself was one of the main priorities during the city's reconstruction, a way to keep the young dragons occupied while the rest of the city continued to repair itself.
That included Spyro and Cynder, who had enrolled themselves before construction had finished. Even though the two dragons had been taught about their elemental abilities from the Guardians, there were still a lot of gaps in their knowledge when it came to the rest of dragon culture. Subjects like combat and war strategy they could excel at, but stuff like maths, literature or the arts? They were just as clueless as a couple of hatchlings. It's what drew them to the Warfang Academy in the first place; they wanted to learn about the world they saved together.
But if the purple dragon knew what he was getting into, with boring lectures and every other dragon trying to get a glimpse at their saviour, then maybe Spyro wouldn't have agreed in the first place. He just wasn't used to this life; attending school wasn't part of his life growing up in the Swamps, especially with so many dragons surrounding him. Part of him wanted to go back to the way things used to be: him and Cynder, exploring the city and never getting tired of discovering new wonders with each other.
However, despite his lingering doubts, he knew that he would get used to it as the school year continued. If he had to adapt from being a big purple dragonfly to a small purple dragon in a couple of days, then attending a school wouldn't be as difficult as it sounds.
That's ifhe could even stay awake.
With every second that Cyril kept on talking about the early history of dragonkind, Spyro found himself losing interest instantly and his thoughts changed into nothingness. His eyes soon became droopy, and he felt his head getting heavier as he slowly slumped onto his desk.
Before Spyro could fully fall asleep, he felt a sharp prick on the side of his foreleg seemingly out of nowhere. The slight hint of pain was enough to wake the tired purple dragon out of his sleepy state, his eyes darting around to see what was poking him all of a sudden.
He then turned to his left and saw that Cynder, fully focused on the class, was trying to get his attention. Spyro shot a confused glance towards the black dragoness who, while trying not to burst into laughter, only answered with a brief flick of her eyes towards where Cyril was standing. When Spyro peered around to the front of the classroom, he was met with an almost frustrated stare from Cyril.
"Spyro, would you mind answering the question?" Cyril asked.
Spyro blinked, his mind racing. What did he mean by that? How much did he miss? It's not like he had been asleep all this time, he had merely started to doze off when Cynder interrupted him.
In the distance, he could hear the other students snicker to themselves, which didn't make the situation any better. Just knowing that he made a fool out of himself, Spyro's cheeks started to burn in embarrassment, which was luckily concealed by his purple scales.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat the question again?" Spyro murmured.
The purple dragon saw the Ice Guardian's eye twitch slightly, and then was met with a disappointing sigh. "I asked you if you could name the dragon that first mastered the fire element," Cyril replied. "If you were listening, I expect you to answer the question correctly."
Spyro gulped, his nerves increasing drastically as a hundred pairs of eyes instantly directed to him. His mind went blank and his paws started to moisten; he didn't have a clue and he would have to be really quick if he was going to save him from being humiliated.
He gazed at the blackboard behind Cyril, examining the notes that the ice dragon had scribbled down during the lesson. The notes offered very little information, which was the complete opposite to what Cyril was like, but luckily for Spyro, there was enough to come up with a reasonable answer.
"Um… Ishlandur?" Spyro said, trying his best to not sound unsure.
Cyril narrowed his eyes for a moment, attempting to see through the purple dragon, until a satisfied smirk spread out across his face. "Hmm… that is correct, young dragon," he said. "Ishlandur was one of the first dragons to master fire, and, in fact, he was one of the first Guardians as well. He brought a sense of duty and justice to Warfang when all hope seemed lost, which he took to his grave as he took one final stand against—"
A loud booming chime then interrupted Cyril and proceeded to echo across the room, making most of the students jump in sudden fright. At the sound of the bell, Cyril frowned in irritation. Spyro knew, from the time that he knew him, that the Ice Guardian hated being interrupted, from loud noises and Volteer's squabbling to name a few. Spyro was relieved however; the class was over and he saved himself from utter embarrassment.
"Right, well, that brings us to the end of this class for today," Cyril muttered as the bell died down. "Next week we'll be talking about the civil war between electricity and ice dragons, so remember to study and prepare yourselves for the next lesson… Dismissed!"
As soon as Cyril finished talking, all the students collected their books and other items and began to leave the classroom in an orderly fashion. Spyro and Cynder were among the last ones to leave, where Sparx had emerged from underneath the front cover of Spyro's book. He yawned and scratched his back, obviously having just woken up from a nap.
"Man, that lesson was dreadful," Sparx grunted, stretching his limbs as the trio traversed down the corridor. "I'm surprised you guys managed to survive that long…"
"Well, I was fine," Cynder said before she stared amusingly at Spyro. "The same couldn't be said for Spyro however…"
Sparx raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what happened?"
"It's nothing, Sparx, I wouldn't—" Spyro said as he tried to avoid the conversation, which only made the dragonfly even more interested.
"Oh, come on! I gotta know now!" Sparx exclaimed, suddenly bursting with excitement. "What happened? Come on, Cynder, tell me!"
Cynder's smile grew wider. "Let's just say that the two of you are more similar than you think," she said cryptically.
It didn't take Sparx to figure out what Cynder had meant. When he realised, he couldn't help but grin. "Hold up… you're telling me that my brother, the so-called legendary purple dragon, fell asleep during class?" Sparx chuckled. "That might be the best thing I've heard in my life."
"That's not even the funniest thing," Cynder said. "You should've seen the look on his face when Cyril called him out, it was like this…" The black dragoness then pulled a face that mimicked Spyro's reaction to waking up; all wide-eyed like a dragon lost in the clouds.
To Spyro's surprise, he saw his brother and his girlfriend, who had a previous history of not getting along, burst into a fit of laughter simultaneously. While Spyro was annoyed that the laughter was directed at him specifically, he was somewhat happy that Sparx wasn't calling Cynder a 'she-demon' or a 'killer queen' this time round.
Spyro rolled his eyes, not finding it as funny as Sparx and Cynder did. "Are you two finished?"
"Sorry, sorry! Let me catch my breath," Cynder said through her laughter. She then took a few deep breaths to regain her composure. "Okay, now I'm done…"
Sparx wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, I am so going to tell everyone at the next Warfang Ball!"
"Please don't," Spyro said with a frown.
Cynder bumped him on the shoulder in a playful manner. "Oh come on, Spyro, we were just teasing you," she said.
"I know," Spyro muttered, still feeling slightly annoyed. "It's just so unlike me to lose focus like that, especially when it comes to Cyril's lessons."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Cynder assured him with a shrug. "I'm sure everyone has fallen asleep in class at some point."
The trio walked by a nearby sundial in the centre of the corridor, placed on a small pillar overlooking the sun that was shining brightly above them. Cynder's eyes glazed over to the device and saw that the shadow was about to pass over the symbol that indicates the number twelve.
"And speaking of class, I'm almost late for my next one…" Cynder said, quickly giving Spyro a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Definitely," Spyro said with a smile.
Cynder smirked back to the purple dragon as she headed further down the corridor at a quick and steady pace. Spyro noticed that her tail swished from side-to-side in a cheerful manner, a mood that the black dragoness was not well known for, and his smile grew wider. He enjoyed seeing his girlfriend being happy for once, a significant change from the dragoness with a haunted past.
Sparx, however, was a bit weirded out by Cynder's change in mood. "Is it just me or does Cynder seem happier than usual?" he asked his brother curiously as he and Spyro continued to walk down the corridor.
"You expect her not to be?" Spyro said, his eyebrow raised.
"Well, no, of course not," Sparx replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I'm used to her being… you know."
Sparx didn't dare say anything else, but Spyro knew what he meant. When Sparx and Cynder first met, they were never on the same page. Sparx never trusted her, due to her actions as the Terror of the Skies, and was insistent that the young dragoness was still evil and could betray them at any moment. Spyro never believed that, knowing that Cynder and the evil dragon they had fought were completely different to each other, but a part of him couldn't blame Sparx for thinking that way.
It was only when the two teenagers were chained to each other that Sparx started to show a little more trust towards Cynder. To this day, they still bickered and Sparx still resorted to calling her names but there was a hint of mutual respect from fighting in the war together. Spyro often hoped that one day Cynder and Sparx would eventually learn to get along, but he was glad to have them both in his life at the moment.
"Must be those sessions that she's been going to… I'm happy for her, you know," Sparx then murmured awkwardly. His eyes widened when he realised what he had said and quickly cleared his throat. "Um, I mean, it's good that I'll eventually be calling her 'The Sweetheart of the Skies' soon enough."
Spyro chuckled, half-amused. "I don't think Cynder would like that."
"Too bad," Sparx beamed, returning his usual humorous self. "I'm gonna make it happen; tell everyone, get a rumour going around the city, and wait to see the look on Cynder's face—"
"And what's going to happen when Cynder finds out what you're doing?" Spyro interjected.
All the colour drained from the dragonfly's face. "Oh, please don't say anything. She'll eat me alive, literally…" Sparx said, now slightly nervous.
"Oh yeah, she will," Spyro said with a smirk. He knew that Sparx wasn't being serious, but it was funny to see his reaction nonetheless.
Sparx managed to shake off his fears of getting eaten and hovered closer to his brother. "But all joking aside, and I can't believe I'm asking this but, how are you and Cynder doing?" he wondered. "You know, with all that couple stuff…"
Spyro gave the dragonfly a curious look. Ever since Spyro and Cynder got together, Sparx had never been interested in their relationship. In fact, he was rather disgusted by it. He would either make a comment, pretend to vomit, or leave the room entirely. Spyro wasn't sure if Sparx wasn't coping with the relationship stuff in general, or because his brother's girlfriend was the former Terror of the Skies herself.
"We're doing fine," Spyro answered. He wondered if Sparx genuinely wanted to know or if he was trying to change the subject. "We've been both busy, however, so we haven't had much time for anything romantic lately…"
Spyro didn't like to admit it, but he missed the days where he and Cynder could do anything at any point of the day. After all the two had been through, with endless hours of fighting and trying to stay alive, it felt nice to just breathe and take in the natural beauty of the world. It also was nice to spend time with Cynder, getting to know what she was like without a war to worry about.
But now, the two were living like real dragons in a normal society. They had to go to school, interact with dragons their age, and just have a simple life. A simple life was all that Spyro ever wanted; it's all that he ever fought for. Now that he had that chance, something was different about it… something strange. Maybe it was because he lived in a swamp for many years or maybe it was because most of his life revolved around the fight, with no time to grow up like a normal dragon would.
When one was the purple dragon, a normal life was unlikely. However, if Cynder, thanks to her therapy sessions, was starting to adjust, then maybe he could too… someday.
"Well, I may not be the best at relationship advice," Sparx said. "But why don't you just take her out on a date?"
Spyro frowned. "Wow, I wish I had thought of that," he muttered sarcastically.
"You're welcome," Sparx beamed, not catching Spyro's sarcasm.
"I wish it were that simple, Sparx," Spyro said. "I would love to just take Cynder out for a nice flight or out to dinner. But these days, with so many dragons back in the city, we have to be a bit careful about where we go."
Sparx looked blankly at his brother. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Spyro didn't respond as realisation dawned on the dragonfly. "Wait… does no one else know about you two?"
"Only you and Mum."
"Not even the old guys?"
Spyro shook his head. "No, not yet," he replied. "When both of us are ready, we will tell them."
"So… why are you keeping your relationship a secret again?" Sparx then asked, scratching the back of his head.
The purple dragon sighed. "We just want to live normally, Sparx. If word got out, then I know that Cynder will get ridiculed even more," Spyro answered. "People will claim that she's manipulating me or I'm under the Dark Master's influence, or any rubbish like that. I don't want to have her go through that."
"No… I'm not sure the world could handle another evil dragon attack again," Sparx muttered.
Spyro wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but he rolled his eyes nevertheless. As much as he wanted to scold the dragonfly for calling his girlfriend an 'evil dragon', but he knew that would be pointless, no matter what he said, Sparx was never going to listen.
"We should get to our next class," Spyro then suggested as he quickened his pace. "Do you know what we've got now?"
"How should I know?" Sparx said. "I don't officially go here."
Spyro gave his brother a frustrated glare. If falling asleep in class didn't falter his reputation, then being late for the next class would certainly do the job.
He suddenly wished that he was a wind dragon, or at least able to wield it like Malefor once did, then he could take the same classes as Cynder. He loved to be in the same classes as her; they would learn together, discuss topics with each other and share an occasional laugh when one would whisper a small joke into the other's ear.
But Spyro knew that the two of them couldn't be around each other all the time, there had to be moments where they would go their separate ways. They needed to grow on their own and interact with the world in their own way. It didn't stop Spyro from missing the black dragoness' company, however; she was, so far, the only true friend that he'd ever made.
Maybe, after today, he would find new friends. Ones that see him the way Cynder does: more than just the legendary purple dragon that saved the world.
(-)
Cynder wasn't eager for her next class.
Even though it was a class dedicated to the wind element, one of the four elements that she gained through Malefor's corruption, Cynder felt so out of place when she went to the first class earlier in the week. Besides from the teacher, no one else dared to say a single word to her. Not even a snarky comment about her past, which Cynder fully expected as she came in.
Cynder didn't know whether they hated her so much that they ignored her, or they simply were too afraid to speak of her. It could've been both, for all Cynder knew.
Because of this, Cynder didn't quite make the best first impression. In fact, she didn't make much of an impression at all. She just sat in an empty row of seats and stayed quiet for the rest of the lesson, jotting down any notes that would be useful to her.
She had hoped to make a new friend, or at least someone that she could tolerate. But when it came to the concept of socialisation, Cynder didn't have a clue what to do. Making friends wasn't exactly a priority back in her days as the Terror of the Skies, and it wasn't something Cynder was keen on doing when she returned to her natural form. Spyro was an exception however, considering that the two shared a bond unlike any other.
The black dragoness could only wonder what today would be like… and if she could muster enough courage to actually make a friend.
Soon enough, Cynder reached her next class. She entered the classroom and was met with a dozen curious eyes. The amount of eyes staring at her made the black dragoness more anxious than she already was. Dragons of all shapes and sizes, all coated in either white or light grey scales, sat in horizontal rows in front of an average sized blackboard. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, which made Cynder's arrival stand out more.
Much like a black sheep, she found herself being the odd one out of the bunch. Her scales were different and her life was different compared to herself. She wasn't like everyone else.
Cynder made her way to the back of the classroom and found a seat on an empty row; the rest of the classroom went back to their usual business as soon as she sat down. As she got out everything she needed for class, an adult male dragon with grey scales, who Cynder assumed was the teacher, entered the classroom and placed his satchel on his desk.
"Good afternoon class," the teacher said with a cheesy grin. "Are we all sitting comfortably?"
The teacher then started to ramble at a quickened pace, talking about tips and tricks of the wind element as well as adding other words like 'correctamundo' whenever someone answered a question or saying random stuff like 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey'. Cynder rolled her eyes in irritation when he said that; she would never hear stuff like that uttered out of the Guardians' mouths… not even Volteer.
All she wanted to do was learn and get this class over and done with.
Before the teacher could say anything else, a wind dragoness, looking exhausted and out of breath, suddenly burst into the classroom. Like most wind dragons, the dragoness had bright white scales and her underbelly and wing membranes had a matching tone of light grey. Cynder noticed that her horns were similar to her own, except she lacked the smaller horns that sprouted on each side of her face.
"Hi, sorry!" the wind dragoness exclaimed. "Is this the class for the wind element?"
"Yes, we're just getting started," the teacher answered, giving the dragoness a disappointed look. "Have a seat."
The dragoness nodded and cautiously made her way to the back of the classroom as the teacher continued his lecture. On the way, she peered at all the other rows to see if any seats were available and she was met with many dismissive glances.
When she reached Cynder's row, her face slightly lit up when she saw many empty seats. However her face grew anxious as soon as she saw Cynder on the far end of the row.
"Excuse me…" the wind dragoness muttered quietly. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Cynder shook her head. As much as she wanted to sit alone, there was no reason to shoo the dragoness away. "No, not at all," she said.
The dragoness sighed with relief and sat in the seat next to Cynder. As the dragoness was getting her stuff out, she briefly glanced at Cynder and a hint of recognition wiped out her formerly anxious frown.
"Hey, wait a minute… aren't you Cynder?" the dragoness wondered.
Cynder gripped her quill tightly as her own name escaped the wind dragoness' lips. Whenever she got recognised, things would take a terrible turn. No matter who it was or where she was sighted, everyone would call her out as the Terror of the Skies. Any words after that were either hurtful, harsh or traumatising, sometimes all at once. While her therapy sessions had taught her that these words shouldn't matter, it still affected her nonetheless.
"I am," Cynder simply answered.
The wind dragoness' eyes widened. "Wow! Really?" she exclaimed quietly. "You're smaller than I expected. From what I've heard, I would've thought you'd be…"
"Monstrous?" Cynder said. She hated that word; everytime it was uttered, it just felt like poison seeping into her tongue.
The dragoness shook her head. "Goodness, no! I was going to say taller," she backtracked. "I just thought you were older, that's all."
Cynder looked at her classmate with surprise. She had thought that all the stories told about her mentioned that she had regressed into her natural age after her battle with Spyro on Convexity, and that her adult self was simply nothing more than a form of dark magic. But, in the wind dragoness' case, it seemed that it wasn't the case.
Maybe that's why she could walk the streets of Warfang freely, perhaps no one really knew who she was unless they got a proper look at her. That would explain why she hadn't been swarmed by the citizens of Warfang and imprisoned or forced into some kind of exile yet.
The dragoness' face drooped slightly, as if Cynder's sudden silence was a sign of her being offended. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"No, it's fine," Cynder assured her. "It's actually nice that someone doesn't recognise me as you-know-who for once."
"Does that happen often?" the dragoness wondered, her eyebrow raised.
"More than you think," Cynder said grimly.
The dragoness noticed the sensitive subject and cleared her throat, hoping to move on. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself… I'm Aella," she said, extending her paw towards her. "It's nice to meet you."
Cynder stared at Aella's paw for a brief second, before shaking it in response. "Likewise," she said. She hadn't met anyone this friendly before; she was wondering if she should be glad or concerned.
"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?"
Cynder then went blank, surprised by the sudden question. She'd never thought that far ahead, even when she planned dates with Spyro. It was simply because of her time during the war, she never thought she would even have a future to look forward to. She may have once been a loyal servant to Malefor, but even the Terror of the Skies knew deep down that she wouldn't survive for long once the Dark Master returned.
The black dragoness shook her head discreetly, shaking any thoughts of her former self from her head. Marilyn had told her many times not to dwell on her past, that she should only focus on the life she was building right now.
"Um… I'm not sure, why do you ask?" Cynder answered.
"Well, my friends and I are planning to go to the annual Warfang Carnival," Aella said. "You're welcome to come along if you'd like… you know, if you're not too busy."
Cynder raised an eyebrow, being the first time she's heard of the Warfang Carnival or even carnivals in general. But what interested Cynder more was the fact that this dragoness, who she had found out her name mere moments ago, was inviting her to a social occasion.
"Really? But we've only just met…" Cynder muttered.
Aella simply shrugged, a small smirk appearing across her lips. "True… but I figured it's a nice thing to ask," the smirk soon disappeared from Aella's face. "I'm not sure if you had anyone here that… you know."
Cynder knew immediately what she meant; it wasn't exactly hard to miss. It was the same thing that her inner demons keep echoing in her head, and the same thoughts she'd been working hard to overcome.
In spite of everything you've done for them, they'll never stop hating you.
But this dragoness was different, she was actually giving her a chance. A one in a million opportunity that may never come again in her lifetime, it was an offer that Cynder couldn't refuse.
"Yeah, I'd like to come," Cynder said. She immediately was uncertain about going on a social occasion all by herself, which prompted the black dragoness to ask. "But would it be okay if I brought Spyro along as well?"
At the mention of Spyro, Aella's eyes lit up. "Yeah, of course! That would be great!" she exclaimed a bit too loudly. The two dragonesses soon found themselves staring wide-eyed as most of the students gazed back at them.
Cynder went red in embarrassment and tucked herself slightly in her wings. As if her social anxiety wasn't bad enough already…
The teacher simply frowned at Cynder and Aella. "You two paying attention back there?" he asked.
"Sorry, sir… won't happen again," Aella apologised softly, returning to her parchment and etching down the notes on the blackboard.
Cynder saw the teacher giving a brief look of uncertainty towards her and Aella before returning to his lecture. She sighed with relief as she returned to her own parchment, a new feeling swirling through her mind, the type of feeling she couldn't experience back in her days being surrounded by the Guardians.
As she and Aella exchanged a mischievous glance, Cynder realised that part of her enjoyed that feeling.
(-)
Time passed and it soon became lunchtime. After saying goodbye to Aella, Cynder soon made her way to her locker several corridors away from where her previous class was held. Unlike most lunchtimes, the corridor was quiet and strangely empty. Cynder could only assume that the other classes were just finishing or everyone decided to enjoy the pleasant sunshine outside.
Cynder couldn't care less about the empty corridor, her thoughts mainly focused on the purple dragon. She and Spyro always spend lunchtime together, which usually consisted of the two of them talking about their classes beforehand.
While she vaguely recounted what she had learned, Spyro was the more talkative out of the two of them; his constant enthusiasm about his elemental abilities, as opposed to only mentioning them during training sessions, was something Cynder liked to listen to. She was glad that he was happy and wasn't burdened with his responsibilities, the former being an aspect of the purple dragon that she rarely got to see.
Cynder had only just reached her locker and opened it up when she caught sight of Spyro. However, the purple dragon wasn't exactly alone. He was walking alongside four other dragons, three males and one female and, judging by their red scales, looked like they were all fire dragons. From where Cynder was standing, Spyro was simply chatting away with the dragons around him. But since they were a reasonable distance away from her, Cynder couldn't tell what they were talking about.
While she didn't get a direct answer, Cynder could sense that something wasn't quite right. As soon as Spyro saw Cynder nearby, he said his farewells to the group of dragons and immediately his body language changed; his wings drooped slightly and his brow furrowed, an expression he continued to wear as he approached his locker next to Cynder's.
Cynder peered behind the purple dragon, seeing the group of dragons turning into another corridor in the far distance. "Looks like you made some new friends," she said to him.
Spyro frowned. "Oh, them? I only met them today…" His words were brief, Cynder had distinguished, like he wanted to move on with the rest of his day.
"I see," Cynder said. She then noticed that a certain golden dragonfly wasn't flying around Spyro, nor did she hear someone, what she thought, with a bad sense of humour. "What happened to Sparx?" she wondered.
"He went back to the Temple," Spyro replied. "He was starting to get bored."
Again, his words were brief and simple. Cynder knew her boyfriend too well to know that there was something more through his words, especially when he slammed his locker shut. Spyro was usually more calm and collected, but there were times, particularly during the war, where frustration or irritation got the better of him.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Cynder asked softly.
"It's nothing…" Spyro said, his annoyed tone indicating otherwise.
Cynder wasn't convinced. "No, something's clearly bothering you," she muttered as she gently held onto his paw. "What's up?"
Spyro looked into his girlfriend's emerald eyes and saw concern radiate through them. He then gripped Cynder's paw tightly. "Oh, it's just those dragons I was with before…" he said.
"And? What about them?" Cynder asked, curiously. "They seemed friendly towards you."
"Well, they wanted me to sit with them in class and so I did," Spyro started to explain, feeling more frustration build inside him. "But whenever we got a chance to speak, they would just bombard me with questions. Questions like: What's it like being a purple dragon? How did you manage to defeat the Dark Master? Is it true that I was raised in a swamp?"
"Oh, I'm sorry honey…"
"And what's worse is that, when I tried to answer those questions, they moved onto another topic. It's like they didn't even care!" Spyro then exclaimed, almost raising his voice.
The purple dragon then stopped himself from rambling away, and instead looked away and snorted in annoyance. Spyro hated that this was bothering him so much, since he hadn't really thought about adjusting to normal society before.
Back before he knew that he was a purple dragon, Spyro didn't have much trouble with other people. In fact, the other dragonflies that he had come across didn't seem to mind him roaming around the swamp. They never judged him for what he was or questioned any single aspect of himself; they simply thought that he called the swamp home just as they did.
"Why is it so hard for us to fit in?" Spyro murmured. "What does it matter if we were different from everyone else?"
"I don't know, Spyro," Cynder said. "But the right people will show up, trust me. You are always meeting new people, what about those people that you meet on your travels?"
Spyro raised an eyebrow. "Who? Kane? Mole-Yair?" he said. "They were more allies than anything. Besides, I haven't seen them in years… I'm not sure if they're even still alive."
That was something that Spyro didn't want to find out right now, especially if he found out that their journey in this world had come to an end during his three year absence. Kane and Mole-Yair were good people and their hearts remained in the right place during desperate times; Spyro wanted nothing more than to see them live the rest of their life in a new world of peace.
Not wanting to be burdened with guilt, Spyro shook his thoughts and decided to move on. "Anyway, how did your class go?" he asked.
"It went fine," Cynder replied with a slight smile. "I actually met someone today."
"Really?" Spyro queried. "Who?"
"Her name is Aella," Cynder said. "She seems nice… so far. She actually invited me to go with her friends to the Warfang Carnival this weekend."
Spyro smiled proudly, glad that his girlfriend is meeting new people. "Oh, wow, that's great to hear," he muttered. He was surprised, however, how quick Cynder's new friend was to invite her to a social event.
"Hey, did you want to come as well?" Cynder then wondered.
"Um…" Spyro said in a conflicted tone, rubbing the back of his head in uncertainty. "I mean, if it's not any trouble…"
As much as he wanted to come along, he wondered if he perhaps shouldn't. This was Cynder's new friend that invited her after all, he didn't want to seem like the awkward stowaway that sours the mood instantly.
"Of course, it isn't. Aella said that she or her friends wouldn't mind." Cynder assured him. Her face soon turned into a nervous glance. She hoped that Spyro would come along since she wasn't sure if she could manage to hang out with other dragons on her own.
Cynder could manage formal events and she was fine with small talk, but most of the time it was dragons that were far older than her. This was different; these were dragons around her age. The last time she spoke with other dragons her age was the night of the Warfang Ball, and that went as well as trying to attack Gaul with no elemental abilities whatsoever.
Spyro took notice of Cynder's facial behaviour and simply gave her a warm smile, knowing what was troubling the black dragoness. He knew her all too well. With that anxious glance, Spyro had already made up his mind.
"Alright, I'm in," Spyro said, sounding more certain.
Cynder's eyes lit up, her nervousness suddenly disappearing. "Really?"
Spyro shrugged. "Yeah, the Carnival actually sounds like fun," he said. "Besides, it'll be nice to spend some time with you. Lots of things have been keeping us busy lately…"
Cynder gave him a nuzzle. "I know, but Warfang is still rebuilding itself. We have to help when we can," she said. "No matter what, we'll always have time for each other."
"I love you," Spyro said.
"I love you too," Cynder said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Come on, we should have some lunch."
Spyro nodded in agreement and the two dragons closed their lockers before walking down the corridor together. As they headed towards the courtyard to have their lunch, Spyro couldn't stop thinking about the carnival this coming weekend.
He couldn't help but wonder how Cynder's new friends would react to him. He didn't think that they would be negative towards him; no one in Warfang really was, to his knowledge. But the fact that he wasn't officially invited still made him conflicted.
He wanted to be there for Cynder, he couldn't bear to see her on her own if something terrible were to happen. But at the same time, this was all part of Cynder's journey to having a normal life free from the influence of the Terror of the Skies. Maybe this part of the journey was a part that Cynder had to do alone, whether Spyro wanted to be there or not.
Spyro would just have to wait until this weekend to see how this journey goes.
(-)
The rest of the week passed very slowly. To Spyro, the classes weren't as interesting as he hoped. A lot of his elemental classes featured stuff that he already knew about, and the history behind them was just as dull. Spyro wanted to learn, his whole reputation as the purple dragon depended on it, but there was only so much that one singular dragon could withstand.
Cynder had similar feelings; she too was learning stuff that was already taught to her during the war. She was more annoyed by the fact that there were no classes about the elements of poison, fear and shadow. According to the Guardians, there weren't many dragons that possessed those abilities and, even if there were, it's unlikely that any adult dragon would've survived the war.
But, it wasn't all bad for the black dragoness. She had Aella in her wind element class and the two would talk with each other whenever they got the opportunity. Cynder wasn't much of a conversationalist and only chipped in with little snippets about anything that didn't involve either her life as the Terror of the Skies or her allegiance to Malefor. Aella was her first friend from beyond the days of the war, so Cynder didn't want to burden her with memories of a traumatic time.
Soon enough, the weekend came and the Warfang Carnival had come into town. The day before, dragons had been setting up the various attractions and rides so that they would be ready for the next couple of days. Spyro and Cynder would've gone to see what they were going to expect if they weren't so busy with schoolwork.
Aella had organised with Cynder and Spyro to arrive at the main entrance of the carnival when the sun had gone down, assuming the event would be extremely busy in the daytime. When night had fallen, Spyro and Cynder left the Temple and took off in the cool dusk air and set off towards the carnival grounds.
When they got there, they were met with blinding colourful lights of whites, blues, oranges and purples. The lights managed to illuminate most of Warfang from a certain distance while cheerful music and sounds of civilians enjoying themselves drowned out the natural sounds that the two teenage dragons were used to.
As Spyro and Cynder landed near the entrance, they were both taken completely by surprise as crowds of dragons, moles and cheetahs wandered in and out of the grounds. Even though they lived in a big city, they didn't expect so many people to show up to this event. It was like their fears and concerns for a post-war world had been put aside for one night only.
Spyro found himself getting more excited, infected by the enthusiastic energy that the carnival seemed to emit. "This place is extraordinary!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah," Cynder didn't share the same enthusiasm. "It's… a lot to take in."
Spyro could see that Cynder was slightly uncomfortable with her surroundings; her eyes darted from side-to-side and she frantically kept backing away from people that walked close by. As much as she wanted to go to the carnival, she wasn't prepared for how noisy and busy it would get. Spyro knew that Cynder preferred to be in an area that was nicer and quieter, hence why Spyro was probably brought along in the first place.
He wrapped a wing around the black dragoness, assuring her that she was safe and protected. "So where did Aella say to meet up?" Spyro asked, trying to distract Cynder from the environment around her.
"She said somewhere near the main entrance but I don't see any—" Cynder slightly spun around to see if she could find her friend nearby. She eventually stopped towards the right of the entrance and smiled. "Oh, there she is!"
Spyro darted to see where Cynder was looking. In the distance, he saw a white dragoness flapping one of their wings to get their attention. Spyro could also see two other dragons next to her; one with mustard yellow scales while the other had bright green scales. The latter made the purple dragon's eyebrow raise. He'd never seen a dragon with those kind of scales before, almost like something about them wasn't as they seemed.
With Aella in their sights, Spyro and Cynder wandered over and approached the trio of dragons and were met with an excited smile from the wind dragoness.
"Cynder! So glad you can make it!" Aella exclaimed. Her attention then turned to Spyro. "And you must be Spyro, so lovely to meet you in person!"
"Yeah, you too," Spyro said.
"Holy ancestors, Aella!" the electric dragon sputtered out, edging closer to Spyro until he was at an uncomfortable distance. "You didn't tell me that your new friend knows the purple dragon!"
The dragon immediately reminded Spyro of Volteer, mostly due to them being both electric dragons. His scales were yellow, which was a darker tone than Volteer's scales, and a blue underbelly. But this dragon, unlike Volteer, had more jagged horns and lacked the lightning bolt-shaped stripes over his body.
Spyro moved back slightly, not liking how close this dragon was to him. Despite his status as a hero that managed to save the world, there weren't many dragons that approached him as if he was put on display for everyone to gawk at. It was something that Spyro wasn't particularly looking forward to when he returned to Warfang; he never did what he did as a way for people to see him as a celebrity, it was his sworn duty to stop Malefor.
"Umm… hi," Spyro muttered.
Aella spread out one of her wings and slightly pushed the electric dragon away. "Sorry about him," she said. "This is Barak, he gets a little excitable sometimes."
"I wouldn't say excitable," Barak disagreed. "More like jumpy, or skittish perhaps…"
The way Barak spoke made Spyro chuckle under his breath, once again being reminded of Volteer. It seemed, from first impressions at least, that Volteer's intelligent vocabulary wasn't just unique to him.
Cynder exchanged a humorous smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you Barak," she said. The black dragoness then noticed Aella's other friend, the bright green dragon, staring at her quietly. His eyes lit up at the sight of her, which Cynder noticed was similar to the way that Spyro normally looked at her. "And you are?" she then kindly asked the other dragon.
The green dragon, seeing that Cynder was directly talking to him, went red in the face, his eyes instantly wide-eyed. "Um… Visham," he squeaked. "My name's Visham."
"It's nice to meet you," Cynder said.
Visham didn't reply, his eyes darting back and forth. He simply backed away slowly and moved closer to the carnival entrance. Cynder gazed at the green dragon, confused by the awkward interaction and gave Aella a questioning glance.
"Was it something I said?" Cynder wondered. Part of her worried that Visham's reaction to her had something to do with her past life as the Terror of the Skies. She wouldn't be surprised, given how Visham reacted to her.
Aella, however, had another explanation. "Don't mind him, he's usually like that… especially around strangers," she replied. "He's been homeschooled most of his life. He finds it hard to adjust to events like this."
"I know how he feels," Spyro muttered.
While he wasn't exactly going through the same thing that Visham was, he could see some similarities between him and himself. Back when he grew up in the swamp, he always felt very distant from the other dragonflies.
Since Spyro wasn't a dragonfly, despite believing that he was, the others just didn't want to go near him. Even amongst other dragons, Spyro still felt the same alienation from his kind. In spite of everything he had done for the world, he knew that he'd never fit in with them.
"Will he be okay?" Cynder then asked.
"Just give him time," Aella assured her. "He'll warm up to you once we walk around the carnival for a bit."
Barak leapt towards Visham and darted past him. "But not before I beat him in the ring toss!"
Visham suddenly sprung into life and chased after his friend. "Yeah, like that's going to happen!"
"Guys, wait!" Aella tried to call after them, but to no success. She then turned to Spyro and Cynder. "I'm sorry, guys…"
"It's fine, Aella. You should go and see what they're up to," Cynder insisted. "Spyro and I want to get our bearings anyway."
Aella nodded. "Alright then," she said. "We'll be near the dunk tank later, yeah?"
"Works for us."
Aella then took off in search of her friends, leaving Spyro and Cynder alone by the entrance. Spyro simply gave a smile to the black dragoness and extended his wing towards her.
"Shall we?" he said.
Cynder smiled back and wrapped herself in Spyro's extended wing. "We shall…"
The two teenage dragons made their way through the carnival entrance and were met with many dazzling wonders. Colourful lights illuminated various stalls filled with food or activities that attracted many crowds. Spyro could faintly hear musical tunes in the distance, filling him with joy and making him briefly forget the responsibilities he had beyond the carnival.
"Come and challenge yourselves! Hit all the pins and win a prize!" a dragon exclaimed joyfully in one of the stalls that Spyro and Cynder walked by.
This caught Cynder's interest. "Hey, Spyro, check this out!"
Spyro followed Cynder and they had a closer look at the stall. Six tables were set out, covered with a tablecloth that looked like it had been used more than once, and eight wooden blocks were stacked on top of each other in a nice and tidy manner. Around the tables were various stuffed animals and plastic trinkets that looked cheap but Spyro nonetheless was keen to get one of them.
"This looks fun," Spyro said. "How do we play?"
"You hit all the pins," the dragon patron replied. "Elemental breaths are allowed… but nothing too destructive, okay? Last guy blew up my stall trying to get a fluffy unicorn for his daughter."
Spyro paid the patron a couple gems and the patron stepped aside to allow Spyro to play.
"Do you think you can hit them all?" Cynder wondered.
"Definitely," Spyro said, confidently. "Can you?"
Cynder raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like a challenge"
"Maybe it is," Spyro said, a smirk emerging from the corner of his mouth.
Cynder chuckled, handing the patron a few of her own gems. "Oh you're going down, purple boy."
Both Spyro and Cynder took their positions in front of two of the tables. Spyro readied himself, took a deep breath and spat out a small burst of fire towards the wooden blocks. The now charred and burnt blocks scattered onto the ground, leaving no trace of them on the table.
While Spyro gave his girlfriend a smug look, Cynder half-amusingly rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright… that's pretty good. But not as good as this—"
Cynder instantly breathed out a quick gust of wind to her wooden blocks, pushing them off the table and onto the ground. But unlike Spyro's attempt, only one block remained on the table. It was on the edge of the table, moved by Cynder's wind element, but it was firmly still and wasn't going to move anytime soon.
When she caught sight of the lone wooden block, Cynder's face twisted into a confused frown. Spyro, meanwhile, was on the verge of bursting into laughter.
"This game is rigged," Cynder murmured grumpily.
Spyro smirked. "Sure it was."
The purple dragon grabbed his prize from the patron; a pair of plastic neon green glasses that weren't very useful in a practical sense. Instead of lenses, the glasses had horizontal slats that covered the frame of the glasses.
Spyro put the glasses on, a huge childish grin spreading across his face as he showed it off to Cynder. "Well, how do I look?" he asked.
The black dragoness stared amusingly at her boyfriend. "Like a dork," Cynder answered, rolling her eyes. She quickly turned to see if anyone was looking at them before she leant in and kissed Spyro's cheek. "But my kind of dork."
Spyro would've loved to respond with another kiss or simply gaze into her eyes, but a noise in the distance caught his attention. It sounded like someone was in distress nearby, followed by sounds of laughing and mockery.
"Hey, cut it out!" a voice exclaimed. Both Spyro and Cynder knew that voice instantly.
"That sounds like Aella," Cynder muttered, sounding concerned.
"Come on, she could be in trouble!"
Spyro and Cynder left the stall and darted through the crowd towards the direction of the commotion. They eventually reached a spot near the dunk tank that was reasonably empty and saw what was happening.
Aella, Visham and Barak were confronted by a group of fire dragons, three males and one female. Spyro recognised them immediately as the same group of dragons that he talked to earlier in the week. From the interactions he had with them, Spyro wouldn't have guessed that they would've been the troublemaking type. Then again, they might've been acting nice because he was the purple dragon and they didn't want to test his patience.
"Give it back, Cyrus, that prize doesn't belong to you!" Aella said. The prize in question was a small stuffed bear, which one of the dragons held in their paw.
"Well too bad, it's mine now," Cyrus, presumably the ringleader of the group, said snarkily. "Finders keepers."
Barak scoffed. "You didn't find it, you snatched it out of her paw!"
"A-Aella won that fair and square!" Visham stammered.
"Precisely, I found it in her paw so logically I can keep it…" Cyrus remarked, turning to his pals. "Am I right, guys?"
The other dragons all nodded their heads and muttered in agreement. Cyrus then smirked and intimidatingly leant forward towards Aella.
"So tell me, who does this belong to?"
"Hey! What's going on here?"
Before Aella could say anything, both Spyro and Cynder rushed in and moved themselves in between Aella and the other dragons. When they saw Spyro, all the other dragons immediately switched to a friendly facade.
"Oh, hey Spyro!" Cyrus greeted as if nothing had happened. "Good timing, can you tell these bozos what I've been telling them?"
Spyro wasn't fooled in the slightest. "That stuffed bear doesn't belong to you," he said calmly.
Cyrus frowned. "Come on, Spyro, you couldn't possibly believe those guys right?" he said, playing the innocent party. "I mean, they stole from me."
"They stole from you?" Cynder murmured, not believing a single word.
"That's not true!" Barak exclaimed. "We were just waiting for you two when they came around and stole Aella's prize."
Cyrus said nothing as he struggled to come up with another lie that would make him seem like he was the one being tormented. Spyro sat on his haunches, his stature a mixture of authoritative and heroic.
"As I said, that stuffed bear doesn't belong to you," Spyro said. "Would you kindly give it back to my friend?"
There was silence. Cyrus intensely stared daggers towards the purple dragon, nostrils puffing out a small amount of smoke. Cynder was getting ready to jump in, just in case the other dragons tried anything, but she stood down when Cyrus tossed the stuffed bear onto the ground near Spyro's paws.
"Fine," Cyrus muttered, a hint of anger in his voice. "We're just joking around anyway."
Spyro picked up the bear and handed it back to Aella. "Thank you," he said before turning to the others. "We should go before—"
All of a sudden, something flew into the side of Spyro's face. It looked like a hot dog, still encased in a bun and covered with ketchup and mustard. Now it was all over Spyro's face, the hot dog sliding down his cheek as the yellow and red condiments dripped down onto the ground.
Cynder was shocked. No one had ever thrown anything at Spyro in sheer anger before. In fact no one had ever thrown anything at her before, and she had more of a reason to be covered in food than Spyro did.
At the sight of the now humiliated purple dragon, the group of fire dragons instantly burst into loud laughter.
"Nice shot!" the female dragon said to the ringleader.
Cyrus, however, wasn't convinced. "You think? I should've added more ketchup, then he could be a real fire dragon like the rest of us."
Spyro wanted to be angry, to growl at them or even show them who they were messing with, but he couldn't. He stood there in disbelief, the same moment playing over and over and making his head ache.
Many had tried to harm him, many had tried to kill him multiple times. But this? Being laughed at by the population he nearly risked his own life to protect? That hurt him the most.
As the group of fire dragons continued to laugh and mock Spyro, Cynder stood in front of him with her teeth bared and her wings fully spread out. "Hey! Don't you dare talk to him like that!" she shouted.
Cyrus was unfazed by the black dragoness and simply scoffed at her. "Of course you of all dragons would defend him, Terror of the Skies," he said. "A monster like you and a freak like him… I'm honestly not surprised."
Cynder stared menacingly at the fire dragon, stunned and lost for words, and only answered with a small growl. Being called a monster was something she was now accustomed to, but calling Spyro a freak? She couldn't believe it, and all because he stood up for Aella. There was simply no reason for it. This whole conflict was pointless. What the hell did Spyro do to get slandered like this?
"Do not call Spyro a freak…" Cynder then muttered in a threatening tone.
Cyrus smirked and faced down the black dragoness. "Or what?" he said. "You'll burn our colony to the ground? You've already tried that a few years ago."
Despite all her therapy sessions telling her to not let the past get to her, Cynder wanted to lunge at the fire dragon. She was on the verge of going for it when something shot past her and near Cyrus' paws. She blinked and saw it was a glob of a greenish acidic goop, very much like her poison element.
The poison, when it made contact with the ground, splashed onto Cyrus' forelegs and caused him to back away quickly, hissing with pain as the substance burnt the surface of his scales.
"Ah! What the—!" Cyrus cried out, cursing under his breath. As he rubbed his forelegs, the other fire dragons stared in shock at the sudden attack. They were gobsmacked, as if they had never seen what the poison element was capable of.
Cynder was surprised too, as she knew for certain that she wasn't the one that spat that glob of poison. She turned to Spyro, who looked just as confused as she was, with a glance of uncertainty. When Spyro didn't answer, she turned to Aella and Barak and they too didn't know what had happened.
Then her eyes fell to Visham, and her eyes widened.
Visham looked furious, the once shy green dragon had his teeth bared and his mouth dripping with the poison element. His eyes were firmly focused on Cyrus and his gang of troublemakers, ready to strike again if they made any sudden move.
The sole female dragon of the group looked the most frightened out of them all, getting Cyrus back onto his feet. "Come on, Cyrus, let's get out of here," she said.
Cyrus and the other fire dragons bounded away and into the depths of a nearby crowd, out of sight and out of mind. Cynder rushed to Spyro's side once they started to leave, an angry but hurtful scowl still plastered on his face.
"Are you okay?" Cynder asked. She saw the amount of food product that was splattered onto the purple dragon and her face fell. "They shouldn't have—"
"I'm fine, Cynder," Spyro interjected, placing his paw on top of hers in reassurance. He wasn't actually fine, but it wasn't anything they could talk about later. His head then turned to where Visham was standing. "It's not me we should worry about right now…" Spyro then said, his voice in a cautious tone.
When the coast was clear, Visham's angry demeanour slowly shifted back into his shy and introverted exterior. He blinked, now fully aware what he had just done and gazed nervously at everyone else.
The green dragon's eyes widened. "Oh n-no…" Visham murmured, tucking himself in his wings. "No, no, no, this w-wasn't—"
"Visham, it's okay…" Aella tried to calm him down but to no success.
"No, no!" Visham vigorously shook his head. "I wasn't supposed to do that! Mother told me not to otherwise—" he stopped himself before he could finish the rest of his sentence, further concealing himself in the depths of his wings.
Aella slowly crept closer to him, all but concerned for her friend. "Visham… how come you didn't say anything?" she wondered.
"You didn't know?" Cynder said.
Barak shook his head. "Neither of us did…"
"I've never met a poison dragon before," Spyro said. Cynder raised an eyebrow in his direction, and Spyro immediately corrected himself. "I mean, a dragon that only uses the poison element."
"It's not something I wanted to keep secret," Visham muttered, looking down at the ground shamefully. "My mother was shunned for being one most of her life, like any dragon with the unnatural elements, and during the war, our kind had to hide in order to survive."
Cynder's heart sank, wondering if she was the reason why Visham and his family had to hide. While her mission primarily was to find and capture the Guardians, it didn't mean that she couldn't kill anyone else that crossed her path. Cynder had not given much thought to how the Terror of the Skies' influence spread out across the land; she just knew that whether that monster went… death and destruction was sure to follow.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Visham," Cynder said. "It must've been hard for you to live like that."
"I know," was all that Visham could say. He had already said too much, he wasn't sure how his mother was going to react when she found out that he revealed his elemental breath to his peers. Whether or not the consequences would be bad or good, Visham felt a slight burden lift from his shoulders. He hated hiding a part of himself from his friends.
Before anyone could ask Visham anything more about his life as a poison dragon, Barak suddenly inserted himself in the middle of everyone. "Hey, the line for the ferris wheel is getting longer. If we want to ride it, we should go now."
Aella nodded. "I dunno, is everyone else up for it?"
Spyro didn't answer, he was only focused on the direction where the bullies had run off. Just from his eyes alone, he seemed confused and slightly haunted. Visham only gave a nod to indicate that, despite the earlier incident, he was still interested in seeing some of the fair's attractions.
"I don't mind," Cynder shrugged. "We'll meet you there, save us a spot. I've got to get Spyro cleaned up first."
The other three dragons shared a concerned glance before they nodded and started to head towards the ferris wheel.
Before he could leave, Spyro approached Visham. "Hey, thank you for stepping in there before," he said.
Visham's conflicted gaze turned into a small smile. "You're welcome," he muttered before joining up with the others.
Once the other dragons were some distance away, there was silence between Spyro and Cynder. Even though Spyro said he was fine earlier, Cynder knew that he wasn't deep down. It was very similar to how he was feeling in the academy the other day, that same silence and bewilderment. She knew what it felt like to keep her emotions contained; it wasn't a good feeling to have.
The black dragoness saw Spyro looking down at his paws, particularly at his scales, and immediately she knew what was bothering him.
"You're not a freak, Spyro," Cynder said to him. "Don't let what they said get to you…"
"I…" Spyro wasn't sure what to say. "I… didn't know anyone thought of me like that."
He honestly felt betrayed; those were the same dragons that he met during class. Even though they only cared about his status as the purple dragon, they were still nice to him. How can anyone just hate someone in an instant? All Spyro did was try to help someone, as he always did. Was that so wrong in their own eyes?
He thought about just flying away for a brief second, away from any prying eyes while he found a place to think over everything. But he knew he couldn't do that, he didn't want to leave Cynder behind without some type of explanation.
Spyro's mind began to wonder. If those bullies thought he was some freak, then what did everyone else in Warfang think of him? Malefor was supposedly just like him when he was younger, until he was twisted with a corruption of the darker elements. Was he ridiculed too? Was that why he easily fell into the darkness?
"Do you think they said that to… you know?" Spyro didn't even want to say the Dark Master's name. "Were people so scared of him that—?"
"Don't," Cynder immediately interjected. "Don't think that way, Spyro."
The black dragoness lifted a paw and gently grasped onto Spyro's chin, moving his head slightly so that he was gazing into her emerald eyes. Cynder could see so much conflict in her boyfriend's face. As if one incident was enough for Spyro to rethink his entire life.
"Listen to me, Spyro," Cynder said. "You are not him, you'll never be him. One person's opinion isn't going to change who you are, you can't let it affect you. You taught me that, you know? Everything I am now has been because of you and your kind heart."
"I know but—"
"Honey, those guys were jerks," Cynder said before Spyro could counter-argue. "Their opinion is nothing more than complete slander, it doesn't matter what they think. As you said to me once, they don't know you like I do."
Spyro's gaze remained at Cynder's eyes, entranced by both them and her words. He knew that the black dragoness was right, her words similar to his own whenever she was called out for her past life as Malefor's servant.
Despite this, the purple dragon still felt hurt that there were citizens that truly believed that he was some freak of nature, but it was something Spyro had to live with for now. He now knew what it was like to be in Cynder's paws, and he fully understood why, in their early days of living in Warfang, she reacted the way she did.
Cynder then stroked Spyro's cheek. "Come on, we should get you cleaned up…"
"Good idea." Spyro smiled.
His smile then disappeared as the two started to move towards a nearby fountain, a sudden silence between the teenage dragons. "How are you feeling by the way?" Spyro asked. "That dragon mentioned that you-know-who burned his colony down."
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm fine…" Cynder answered. "When you get reminded constantly of a life you're not proud of, it's never a pleasant feeling."
Spyro gave Cynder a sympathetic glance. "I'm sorry…"
"I know," Cynder said with a slight smile. "But you know what's interesting? I think that was the first time someone besides you or the Guardians actually stood up for me. It felt… nice."
"Yeah… yeah it was," Spyro said. "They're some group, aren't they?"
As the two dragons approached the fountain, and Spyro had leant over and dunked his head into the shallow water, Cynder took a minute to stare out towards the line for the ferris wheel nearby. She saw that Aella, Barak and Visham were waiting in line to get into the ride, chatting amongst themselves.
As the other two were chatting, Cynder noticed Aella glancing back at her. The wind dragoness simply beamed and waved at her, which signalled the two to wave at her as well.
Cynder merely chuckled. "Yeah, I guess they are."
(-)
Yes, I'm finally done with this chapter! Many months later than I originally intended…
I'm sorry for the massive delay, there was so much going on that I couldn't find time to write and, even when I did, nothing creative sparked. I can't promise the next update will be sooner, since I have no idea what's going to happen between now and then.
My next story update might be for one of my other stories I need to update, maybe my Marvel/Spyro crossover I drastically need to get back to. Or perhaps a story from another fandom? Or maybe I'll update this again, I'm not entirely sure yet.
Until the next update, this is TARDIS1039… signing off, Allons-y!