Chapter 13: Butting Heads

The earth dragon shook his head to get rid of the stars he was seeing. He positioned himself back into his fighting stance, his breathing heavy, and looked at his opponent. He always had trouble with dual element dragons, even when he was in the Dragons' Minor League, so he thought this would be good opportunity. After all, how often do you fight someone with four elements?

His body was a dark green, with his chest and underbelly a dark brown. His dark brown horns curved back, similar to a ram's, and his eyes were light blue.

The purple dragon was eying his opponent, calculating not only his next move but the earth dragon's as well.

The earth dragon could not complain at the situation he was in. After all, it was his idea.

The room was filled with many dragons; ranging from staff to sponsors. The gathering was a meet up for rookie Fighters and their sponsors, with the highlight being Cynder and her sponsor headlining the event.

Brawn had stepped away from his sponsor to mingle with the crowd. He exchanged pleasantries with colleagues he knew from the Dragons' Minor League as he walked around the ballroom. Soon enough he found the purple dragon, standing alone and keeping to himself. The earth dragon wondered why the purple dragon was alone.

He walked over to the purple dragon, who saw him in his peripheral and turned to him. Brawn gave a small smile, "Hello," he greeted, offering a paw, "I'm Brawn; a rookie in the Fighters League."

Spyro blinked, but smiled back, taking the offered paw, "Spyro."

"I know who you are," Brawn said, "You are Cynder's fiancé. I was curious as to why you aren't with her."

"This is her and Ember's event," Spyro replied, "I am here for support."

The earth dragon nodded, and smiled, "I also hear you are the dragon that took Cyrus down a peg."

Spyro looked down, bashfully, "It was nothing."

Brawn raised a brow, "If that was nothing, I'm curious what 'something' is to you."

Spyro shrugged, "I'm not a Fighter… just a teacher."

Brawn nodded, "Teaching Dual-Element dragons, right?" He earned a nod. "They might have some difficulties early on, but at this level it's a different story."

Spyro glanced to him, waiting for Brawn to elaborate.

Brawn got the signal, "My record against Dual-Element dragons is pretty poor. I'm not sure what it is."

"Most of it comes from experience," Spyro replied.

Brawn nodded; a silence grew between the two. The earth dragon looked at Spyro, who was now looking at the crowd, perhaps looking for Cynder.

"Experience…" Brawn muttered.

Spyro glance back at him, "Pardon?"

Brawn shook his head, "It's nothing." However, the thought in his head was now not leaving. He glanced back at the purple dragon, whose amethyst eyes remained on him. "Actually… can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you… teach dragons about Dual-Element dragons?"

Spyro raised a brow, "Not really, but I do arrange sparing sessions between the two for practices."

Brawn smiled, "Well… I had an idea… if you are willing to hear me out."

An Exhibition Match as a sparing lesson. Spyro had asked why not a private spar, but Brawn wanted something that was as close to an official match as he could. Spyro respected Brawn's request. While it was a match, to the two dragons; it was a lesson.

Sparks lit up around Spyro's body as his legs turned ridged. He then made a push and, in a blink of an eye, he was in front of his opponent with his claw covered in ice.

The earth dragon was taken aback at the speed, blocking the attack with a stone wall. However, it was broken down by an earth shot, pushing the dragon back, his claws digging into the ground to keep him balanced.

Spyro closed the gap, and the two dragons exchanged physical blows. Each blow was blocked, then followed by another blow; only to be blocked.

Spyro spoke, deflecting a set of claws, "At this level, we are beyond the basics. Use more unorthodox techniques."

Brawn followed the purple dragon's instruction, rotating his body to deliver a horizontal kick. Spyro had a brief moment of surprise, before narrowly dodging the kick. When Brawn's leg touched the ground a short pillar of earth shot up under Spyro. Spyro quickly moved all four of his paws on the stone pillar and pushed himself upward, away from Brawn. Spyro now stood several feet away.

"Much better," Spyro complemented.

As Brawn began the next encounter, Spyro noted that Brawn's attacks were meant to keep him boxed in. To show that this approach would not work on faster opponents, such as electric or wind dragons, Spyro's body surrounded with sparks once more, easily dodging the attacks.

As Brawn tried to keep up, Spyro offered more advice, "No matter the dragon, control their center line."

Once more, Brawn adjusted his attacks, focusing more on Spyro's middle. Spyro was forced to move to one side, where Brawn would catch him. He grabbed one of Spyro's forelegs and attempted to attack with a claw.

Spyro blocked the attack, holding Brawn's paw in place, "Good," he complimented.

The purple dragon pushed the dragon back with an earth shot. Spyro then shot several ice shards at his opponent, however, the dragon jumped into the air, forming a sphere of earth to protect him. Spyro moved out of the sphere's decent as it crashed into the ground below.

The earth dragon broke out of the sphere to catch the dragon off guard, but Spyro was expecting it. Spyro hit the dragon, ice covering his tail, spinning the dragon slightly. The purple dragon took the opening and latched both of his front claws onto the dragon, electricity surging from him into the earth dragon.

Feeling the sudden shocking pain that ripped through his body, the dragon roared in pain. It was only for a few seconds before Spyro ceased the surge and let go, the dragon falling over. Brawn's breathing was uneven and he found it very difficult to move. When he was able to glance at Spyro, the purple dragon's eyes were focused, silently asking if he wanted to continue.

The dragon let out a small smile, "I think that's it for me."

Spyro's stance loosed, offering the dark green dragon a smile.

A familiar booming voice announced, "Brawn has conceded the match. The victor is Spyro!"

The crowd cheered, as Spyro offered a paw to Brawn, "Are you alright?"

The earth dragon smiled, giving a nod, "Yeah," he accepted the offered paw; however, he found his body was still strained. He grunted, "It's hard to move, though."

"That will pass in a few minutes," the purple dragon said, as the pair walked toward the Fighter's prepping area. "That was fun."

"Yeah," Brawn replied, "Thank you for it, I appreciate it."

When they made it to the healers, they had gotten to work on the two dragons. Besides some bruises and scratches, both were fine, with Brawn needing help to loosen his tense body. After a few red gems, the pair were free to make their way to the press room.

They had found Cynder, Flame, Ember, Gale, and an older, light green dragon with them.

"Good match Brawn," he said, his voice deep and friendly.

"Thank you, Tremor," he replied respectfully to his sponsor, "Though, I still lost."

The dragon, however, smiled, "You did well. I hope that you learned what you needed to."

Brawn smiled, "Yeah, I think I did." He looked to the purple dragon, a grateful smile on his lips, "Again, thank you, I needed this."

"No problem," Spyro replied.

"Do you have any more pointers?"

Spyro blinked, it felt as though he was back in the temple. Spyro smiled at the familiar feeling, "You're well versed in the basics of combat, but at the level you are at; you need to think more outside the box." Brawn nodded as Spyro continued, "How common are dual-element dragon in the League?"

"During my time in the Minor League; not many. However, there are more in the Fighters League."

"Then I was right; it is more of an experience thing. Watch their matches, have some spars with them, and don't hesitate to ask questions."

Tremor glanced at Spyro with a smile, "Spoken like a teacher I see."

Spyro looked to the older earth dragon bashfully.

Tremor continued, "While simple," he glanced to his Fighter, "it is those simple lessons that have the largest impact."

"Well," Ember's voice interrupted, "Let's get to the press room." Her voice held a little irritation, mainly at Spyro.

The purple dragon knew why; the pink dragoness was against this challenge from the beginning.

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"Absolutely not!" was her response, that almost echoed around Cynder's suite.

Spyro raised a brow at the pink dragoness, "What's the problem?"

"The problem? The problem is that you are going around doing things without consulting us!"

'You mean consulting you,' Spyro thought, before saying, "I already accepted, so we will have to-"

"Is this a game to you?!" she snapped at him.

The purple dragon's face hardened, as he looks into her bright blue eyes. "I am more than capable of making my own decisions."

"I'm capable of making my own decisions," Ember said back in a mocking tone, "That kind of thinking is what gets you in trouble. If you are not careful, we could have a mess on our paws!"

"What? If I lose?" Spyro asked, not sure what point she was trying to make. "That didn't seem to matter when Cyrus challenged me."

"You know what?" she said back, "fine, play you little game. But if you start spiraling downward, we will not fall with you!" The dragoness stormed off with a huff.

The purple male raised a brow, not sure what she meant. How was accepting Brawn's challenge any different than Cyrus'? The only thing he could think of was that Ember had a voice in getting him to fight. It angered Spyro that the dragoness was calling all of the shots, and telling him what he could and could not do.

"I should… probably calm her down," Flame said, making his way out of the suite.

"That was something," Cynder said, stepping to him, however he didn't seem to pay her much attention. "Don't mind her, she is just used to doing things her way."

"I have no problem with her telling me how things work. But I don't want her trying to run my life.

"And I'm not asking you to. Besides, I have a feeling you are going to win anyway."

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It was a smooth press conference, with both Brawn and Spyro taking questions from the members of the press. The purple dragon was more comfortable, but he was still nervous. He concluded that it would be something that he would grow into, eventually.

After several questions and requests for additional comments, Spyro and Brawn went their separate ways. The purple dragon enjoyed the earth dragon's company, and hoped to see him again in the future. Brawn let out a joke that maybe it would be when Spyro entered the Fighters League.

The comment was stuck in Spyro's head throughout the trip back to Cynder's suite. What if he entered the Fighter's League? His issue was a sponsor, but now, with everything that has been happening; are there sponsors out there that would give him a shot? He always liked the idea of competing, but with no one wanting anything to do with a purple dragon, it was very, very unlikely that he would ever get that chance.

Gale had split from the group for the day to take care of some personal business. Now it was the four dragons, entering Cynder's suite.

"What a day," Flame said in his usual, enthusiastic voice. He glanced over to Spyro, "So who do you think will be the next victim?"

"Huh?" Spyro said, glancing at the red dragon.

Flame smirked, "You know, who are you taking down next?"

The purple dragon lips twitched upward, "Not sure. Who would you suggest?"

"Oh?" Flame began, "Are you going to challenge this time."

Only Cynder noticed Ember's rigid form. The pink dragoness' eyes were narrowed on the purple dragon as he spoke. She was clearly still sore about the initial challenge from Brawn, despite Spyro's victory.

"You?" Spyro asked, the pair chuckling. "Who do you have in mind?"

"No one," came Ember's voice, strict and to the point.

Spyro turned to the dragoness, surprised to see the annoyance and anger in her blue eyes.

She continued, "You are not going to do anything else unless we say otherwise. We don't need you poking your nose into things that doesn't concern you."

There it was again, talk to them first before he made any decision. He was now sick of Ember thinking that he would just bow to her. If she had a few weeks ago he would have, but not anymore.

The purple dragon turned to the dragoness, his eyes glaring at her, "I do believe my life is my concern. I promise that if I need your input I will ask."

"Who do you think you are?!" she shot back. She had been in this business for years and was not about to let some dragon who only arrived weeks ago to talk back to her. "You think you are tough stuff because of two Exhibitions?"

"Guys," Flame said, trying to get their attention, but to no avail.

"Who said anything about being tough. Maybe I am feeling like I am accomplishing something! I don't need some privileged brat telling me what to do!"

"Spyro!" Cynder snapped, trying to stop the argument.

"How dare you! I had to work hard to get where I am today, and I will not sit on my haunches and get lectured like a hatchling! You are just some-"

A dangerous growl interrupted her sentence. If looks could kill, Ember would have dropped. "Don't you dare!" Spyro said, his voice full of anger, "Don't you dare talk to me like you know anything about me."

Cynder and Flame were taken aback by the purple dragon's tone. Even Ember was dumbstruck.

"You are treated the way you are because of you own decisions. I am treated the way I am because of someone else's sins. You have no idea what it's like to live your life in the shadow of what someone else did. To be judged not by your actions, but another's." There was a brief pause, everyone was quite in the suite. Ember opened her mouth to speak again, but she was interrupted by the purple dragon, "Unless the next words out of your mouth is an apology, we're done."

Ember was not one to admit failure, nor admit when she was in the wrong. She let out a huff, turned to the door, and marched out. To add emphasis to her feelings, she made sure to slam the door on her way out.

The atmosphere of the suite grew wary and uncomfortable, and Flame spoke, "I should, uh… I should probably go after her. I'll see you guys later." He scampered off to follow his future mate, leaving Spyro and Cynder to themselves, with the dragoness looking to the purple dragon.

"Spyro, what was a little harsh. She is just doing what she thinks is best."

The purple dragon turned to the dragoness, "Doing what she thinks is best is not controlling my life. Besides, she'll just dump me when the moment presents itself to her."

Cynder was taken aback, "That won't happen. And, she wouldn't do that."

Spyro's amethyst eyes locked onto her emerald ones, "You did."

Those two words hurt. It felt as if a knife was driven into her heart, slowly twisting to add to the pain. No matter how much she wanted to change it, the fact was that she had left him, never looking back. And clearly, he was still hurt by it.

"That's a low blow," she replied, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"It doesn't make it any less true."

Was Spyro… holding a grudge? Cynder never knew of a time that he had. Why now?

Because history tends to repeat, a voice in her head said.

She looked over the dragon who was facing her, however, his eyes not meeting hers anymore.

That's what it was, "You genuinely believe that we are just going to up and abandon you?" Spyro refused to look her in the eyes, her heart aching even more. "Spyro, look at me." The purple dragon obeyed, his amethyst orbs once more gazing into her emerald ones, "I have very few regrets in my life; but one of them is leaving you the way I did. Another is never making the effort to visit." She stepped closer to the purple dragon, "I want you here with us, with me. It's been so great, especially now that everyone is see you the way they should."

Spyro held a breath when he felt the black dragoness press into his chest, her head under his chin. He released it, closing his eyes to enjoy the contact the pair were sharing.

"I'm sorry I said that."

She shook her head under his chin, "Nothing to be sorry for."

"But you might be right. I might have been a little harsh with Ember."

Cynder smiled, "She's stubborn and proud, but she is also a good friend. Don't worry about it too much." To make the mood better, she said, "On a different note, I do have a… little request."

"Yes?"

Cynder pulled back, her face now showing a little embarrassment, "I was wondering if you could show me some of those cooking tips you learned."

Spyro smiled, "I'd be happy to. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, we do need to stock up on meat. I will put in a request for Services to get us some. How about we also spend tomorrow relaxing?"

Spyro raised a brow, "You mean training?"

He was awarded a swat on the shoulder from the dragoness, both laughing.

"I wouldn't mind that either, but I meant just the two of us. I need to make a quick run to the Fighter's League headquarters to check on the official standings. Maybe I'll take you to the place I do my training. Then, we could come back and you show me how a master chef cooks."

Spyro chuckled, "Maybe not a master, but it sounds fun. I would like that."

"Alright then," she said with a bright smile, "it's a date."

A/N: Sorry for the longer absence, life has just been crazy. I managed to get some time to hammer this out. Thank you all for your patience.