TLoS: Challenge of Hearts (Chapter 7)
Chapter 7: First for Everything
Spyro clicked his way down the many corridors towards his quarters, passing few along his way. But the small group that he did pass seemed to take almost no notice of him. As if the group of female dragons had finally accepted his challenges against them and their attempts to try and become his mate. But Spyro could really care less, he already had chosen a mate, they just didn't know it yet.
It took several minutes, but eventually the purple dragon reached his room, but to his surprise Cynder wasn't standing outside waiting for him. It was a quick thought, but he shook it off nonetheless. After all, it would look pretty strange if Cynder was just standing outside his room for no reason. Spyro clicked open his door and stepped inside, examining the mess that was his room.
His bed was a mess, the sheets were bunched up at one end of the bed, the floor was covered in several small items, most notably several pieces of the torn curtain that covered the majority of his smallish home.
"I really need to clean this up..." Spyro said to himself quietly, but quickly remembered why he came back up to his quarters in the first place. "But where is Cynder?" Spyro immediately turned out of his room and continued on his way down the long corridor towards Cynder's quarters. "I really wish that she picked a closer room..." The long journey down the hallway towards Cynder's room was long to say the least. But Spyro really couldn't blame Cynder for choosing such an 'out the way' location.
Upon reaching Cynder's room, Spyro quietly tapped on the outside of the door. "Cyn? Are you in there?" He asked, hoping for the black dragoness to respond.
There was a slight cluttering sound that emerged from inside the room before a reply came. "Y-yes Spyro. I'll be out in a minute..." Her voice seemed slightly off pitch from usual.
"May I come in?" Spyro quickly responded as the strange sounds continued to escape from inside.
"No, I'll be out in a minute..." The black dragoness's voice was quick to reply, forcing Spyro into a corner with options on the situation, in a way.
"If you don't want to come with me when I tell the guardians then it's ok..."
"It's not that..." Cynder said quickly.
"What are you doing in there anyway?" Spyro paused for a moment, getting no answer in reply. "Cyn?"
"Why are you calling me that?" The question struck a cord inside Spyro's mind. He had never said it before, or at least he couldn't recall that anyway. But either way, the question worked for Cynder in buying the time she wanted. Appearing moments later, Cynder promptly shut the door behind her, revealing nothing of her room to the purple male standing before her. "Well? Since when have you called me 'Cyn'?"
"I don't know, I guess only just then... Why? Don't you like it?"
"No... It's... Nice." Cynder wrapped her tail around Spyro's. "Come on, don't you want to tell the guardians about us?" The black dragoness motioned with her head to move down the seemingly endless hallway, trying her best to keep Spyro's mind off what she was doing. Although she was only placing her things in a small place, on the off chance that Spyro wanted her to join him that night.
"Yes, I do... But we have to think about this for a moment, I think that the others will notice if you have your tail around mine." The purple dragon quickly glanced back at his, and her, hind sections. They both seemed to be glued against each other for some reason.
"Sorry," The black dragoness immediately released Spyro's tail, allowing air once again between the two. "I think that I could be able to permanently walk around like that though." She said with a slight giggle.
Spyro joined Cynder in the short laugh, knowing on the inside that he would love to live like that too but, somehow, in time he knew that it would eventually get that way. "Come on, we don't have all day to do this. I know that there will be more than a few comments brought up about this when we arrive, so I want some free time by the end of the day." Spyro said as another half joke.
"Spyro, all we have nowadays is free time, how much more could you want?" Cynder asked, bounding along to catch up to Spyro.
"I could always have more time alone with you..." He said with his head turned back to face hers.
Spyro's sudden move took Cynder by surprise, but as their last encounter at being that close ended with their lips locked together, Cynder was wary about the situation, not wanting to bring attention to them at such a time. The black dragoness quickly glanced around, and after she believed the area was clear, she gave Spyro a quick peck on the cheek.
"We have to get going..." She said quickly, noticing that Spyro's facial colour visibly deepened. But her face would've deepened too if it wasn't for her black colour. Her embarrassment was strong at the moment, but thankfully the only way to tell was through her body language and voice volume.
The purple dragon looked straight down the corridor, using all of his willpower to remain calm and in control of his emotions. There was nothing more he wanted than to call Cynder his own in that moment, but he knew that there would be problems that arose if that were ever to be the case anytime soon. Sure, Spyro was overjoyed to have Cynder at his side, so was Cynder to have him. But to take it that step further would mean everything to him. But they had only been together for a couple of hours at most, but that wouldn't change Spyro's actions if given the opportunity.
"Your right..." Spyro quickly forced himself to say. "We should get going now."
Cynder laughed softly at Spyro's quickly spoken words. The purple dragon's almost shaking voice only made his embarrassment all the more amusing, but Cynder couldn't be one to point and laugh, as she was almost at the same level he was.
The two walked close by, but left enough space to prove that nothing was going on if others were to look. The group of female dragons Spyro had spotted on his way up had moved, much to his delight, and so they continued without interruption deeper into the temple, heading to the staircase up towards the pool of visions. As that was where the guardians spent most of their time. For if they weren't lecturing the younger dragons on abilities or to break up a fight that would emerge throughout the ranks.
It took several minutes for both dragons to reach the pool, and luckily to them the halls were deserted. So with every clear passageway, Cynder would inch closer to Spyro, until they reached the pool itself. Which, to Spyro's luck, was where the three remaining guardians were found.
"Ah, Spyro. So good it is to see you again." Cyril was the first to speak up, for being named the head guardian after Ignitus had passed. The two remaining guardians turned around as Cyril spoke up too.
"So good it is to see you again." Volteer quickly added. "Why, Cynder. I haven't seen you since the day you arrived. What brings you both here?"
"Actually, we both came for the same reason really..." Spyro said first, sitting on his haunches beside Cynder. "It's actually something important."
"Well, don't hold it from us Spyro. What news do you have?" The ice guardian spoke up, moving forward in line with the other two.
Cynder inched closer to Spyro once more, she barely knew the guardians, so she would leave the talking to Spyro.
"Umm, well... You see..." Spyro stammered, feeling Cynder's tail wrap around his out of view from the guardians.
"Out with it Spyro, how bad could it be?" Terrador finally spoke up, causing Cynder to inch closer to Spyro once more. "Are you two cold or something?"
"I think that's the reason why he came..." Volteer said once more, noticing Cynder starting to press against Spyro. "It is exactly how the pool showed us."
The purple dragon stood up quickly, inadvertently sending Cynder away from him. "What are you talking about?"
"Spyro, it is nothing to be worried about. In fact, I knew the reason why you came the moment I saw Cynder beside you." The electric guardian spoke again.
"So you know about-"
"Yes Spyro, we do... And we all couldn't be happier for you and Cynder. Although I'm not sure as to what the others will make of this." Cyril said again, allowing Spyro to breathe easier.
"So far only Flame and Ember are the only others who know about us." Spyro replied quickly as Cynder stepped to his side again. "But at the moment Flame is tending to Ember out in the forest."
'"We saw the fight you two had this morning-"
"You did? Then why didn't you stop it?" Cynder spoke up, interrupting the ice guardian.
"That, Cynder, is a result of what Spyro wanted for us to do." Cyril said with what almost seemed to be regret. "But because we owe our lives to him, we agreed to leave everything about it alone. Although it has left many injured just from the process."
"Spyro? What did you do?" Cynder asked, wondering why he would rule out the guardians from breaking up fights within the temple.
"I didn't want the guardians to waste their time on trying to stop the others from fighting over me." He said, almost embarrassed that he was referring to himself over the argument. "I knew that it was going to happen, and I was right. So, I almost forbid the guardians to step in and break up a fight when it was over me." Spyro paused for a moment, as Cynder understood exactly why Spyro put the rule into place. The entire female dragon population, as small as it may've been, had been at each other's throats for as long as she could remember. "You've seen them haven't you? Every single one of them has come form of wound brought on by themselves over something as stupid as who their mate will be! Do you know how hard it is to be the one that everyone wants a piece of?" The purple dragon turned around to face Cynder as his voice almost reached shouting level.
"No, I don't! But maybe I would like that kind of attention sometime!" Cynder shouted back at Spyro.
"It's terrible! Everyone's watching you, everyone knows where you are or what you're doing! Have you lived a moment with a constant shadow of other dragons behind you?"
"I haven't ok!" Cynder turned away from Spyro. "But that doesn't mean that I would like to experience something like that. The feeling of being wanted, sought after, to have others wish that you existed..."
"Cynder, don't say that." Spyro walked back to the black dragoness' side, almost immediately changing from anger to sorrow in less than an instant.
"What difference does it make? Maybe I should just go, the others deserve you more than I do..." Cynder started walking towards the exit as Spyro quickly jumped over her and landed before the exit.
"But that's it, they don't... The others constantly fought day and night just to be at my side, like you are now. And that is why I chose you over them."
"Why? Because I wasn't one of the ones that knew it was never going to happen..." Cynder said with her face pointing at the floor.
"No, you were the only one that wasn't fighting. You were the only one that seemed to detest the whole idea. That's why I chose you over the others. I don't care if you can win a fight... I love you for how you are." Spyro paused for a moment to walk forwards to Cynder's side. "But you should know that by now." Spyro rubbed the side of his head against hers.
"Do you remember the last time you saw something like that?" Both Spyro and Cynder overheard Terrador behind them.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Cyril was first to reply.
Spyro pulled himself away from Cynder for a moment, stepping towards the guardians. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't say anything..."
"Spyro, this is nothing to be worried about. It happens all the time between dragon couples." Volteer said quickly. "But sometimes arguments are all that you need. Although you might have missed it, but you said it yourself, the exact reason why you want to be with Cynder, ask her yourself. Something came up that she needed to hear."
"What?" Spyro turned around only to nudge his head against Cynder's.
"You said it yourself Spyro."
"What did I say?"
"Only what was exactly right." Cynder whispered into his ear and rubbed against Spyro's side once more and linked the end of her tail with his.
"Alright, now that that's settled, Spyro, do you have anymore news for us?" Cyril spoke once more. The purple dragon was clearly distracted, missing everything that the ice guardian had said. "Spyro!"
"Y-yes Cyril?" He quickly stammered.
A loud sigh emanated from the ice guardian. "You can go now." The two smaller dragons almost immediately turned around and bounded out the door together.
"Those two have a long future ahead of them. If only they knew..."
"Knew what Volteer?" Terrador said, almost knowing the answer that was sure to follow.
"If only they knew what lay ahead of them, there is much in both of their futures... But they get to enjoy themselves for a while... At least."