TLoS: Challenge of Hearts (Chapter 18)
Chapter 18: The Morning After
Daylight broke as the sun filtered through the curtain onto the dragon couple that had spent the entire night against each other, but that didn't mean that everything was perfect for them, Spyro's last thoughts from the previous day still fresh in his mind, but the decision was final. Cynder would say when she was ready to have a hatchling.
Cynder had her forelegs linked firmly around Spyro's chest as she had fallen asleep behind the purple saviour. It was a different feeling for Spyro, to have the one he loved above all else held tightly against his back. It was a pleasant thought and a moment that he didn't want to forget. After several moments of laying in peace, Spyro felt the black dragoness behind him stir slightly, and tighten her embrace around his muscular gold chest, which only brightened as the sun's rays reflected off of them.
The black dragoness took a deep breath, signalling to the male that she was awake, and pulled Spyro closer to her once more. "Good morning my love," Cynder whispered softly. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?" She hadn't forgotten Spyro's saddened state from last night.
Spyro sighed, he didn't want to tell Cynder, and the fact that she had brought up the subject that early in the morning didn't give his mind a chance to come up with an excuse. Yet all of those points aside, Cynder had Spyro in a vice-like grip, which only lowered his chances of getting away without saying anything. The purple male moved his body so that all four of his legs were against the floor, but as he shifted against Cynder's bed, she too followed, now lying on-top of Spyro, Cynder pressed her hind legs against Spyro's back, maintaining enough balance to not fall off.
"Spyro, I'm not letting go until you tell me what is wrong. I know that you're not like this." Cynder pressed her wings down against Spyro's. "Spyro please... What's wrong?"
Another loud sigh emanated from the purple dragon. Cynder had given him no choice. Spyro rolled back onto his side, feeling Cynder return to her position as she was asleep. Spyro paused for a few moments, wishing that there was another way. "It's Flame... And Ember..."
Cynder immediately released Spyro from her grip. "What? Why would you be-" Cynder stopped, then the memory of Cyril leaving in a hurry came to mind. "Oh no, are they still fighting?"
Spyro turned around to face Cynder. "No, it's not that..." He paused for a moment as Cynder's expression changed completely, for a brief moment there was a hint of worry over the fact that Ember would once more be coming after Spyro, which was one of Cynder's worst nightmares.
After another few moments of silence Cynder leaned in towards Spyro. "Please, tell me."
"They were," Spyro paused for a moment after taking a deep breath. "Mating."
Cynder pulled her head back after hearing Spyro's words, her immediate thoughts were that they were finally together, but the problems that came to her mind was that they had the possibility to become parents. Cynder then thought about herself and Spyro, how she had thought over their situation and why she was holding out on wanting to have a hatchling of her own. Spyro had said not to.
Unbeknownst to either dragon, they had both summed up their situations, and both secretly wanted to become parents. But both dragons held their tongues, as the other had said that it would be better to wait, rather than push the other into a decision. Spyro knew that the moment he said that he wanted a hatchling Cynder would feel pressured to comply with his request. Likewise were Cynder's thoughts, believing that if she told Spyro, then he would only do it because she asked him to, not out of free will.
There was an awkward silence between the couple as they both ran through their thoughts of wanting to have a hatchling to call their own, believing that it was possible for Ember and Flame to become parents in their own rights. Spyro got up from his laying position, helping Cynder to her feet with his forearm, and headed out the door without a word.
The morning itself had just begun, so most of the temple would either be asleep, or away from their quarters in some sort of early morning exercise which one small group of males had started and quickly became routine.
Spyro and Cynder casually walked through the corridor, not in any rush to go anywhere, but it was when they found Cyril lying directly opposite Ember's door that gave the two a worry. At first it had looked like the ice guardian had been attacked, but as Spyro took a faster step to see what had happened, Cyril's head popped up, quickly followed by the rest of his form to greet the young couple.
"Good morning Cynder, Spyro," He started in a strangely cheery tone of voice. Cynder gave Spyro a nudge with her form as if to show off that Cyril said her name first. "What brings you up this early? Dawn has but just broken, do you have plans for the day?"
"Uh, no... Not really..." Cynder quickly replied.
"Why were you lying in the corridor?" Spyro asked immediately after Cynder had finished. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing that you already know." Cyril replied after a half chuckle towards Spyro. "But I assure you, nothing will be as it was yesterday after I get through to everyone." The ice guardians ever-so-serious tone returning.
"Umm, Cyril... She knows." Spyro muttered quietly as Cynder had shot him a glance from Cyril's last comment.
"I assumed that this would've happened." Cyril stepped towards the young black dragoness who was pressed against Spyro like they had been for days. "Cynder, you must keep this quiet. Not even Volteer or Terrador must know of this. Keep it between you, me and Spyro. Ember and Flame don't know that we know, and I would prefer to keep it that way." Cyril kept his composure and straight-forward attitude, knowing that Flame had told him what had happened. But, it would be kept quiet as long as the ice dragon remembered who knew what. It was a big issue, but Cyril was convinced that Flame wasn't going to act with Ember in such a way for a while.
"Why mustn't the other guardians know?" Cynder asked quickly.
Cyril stepped back to a reasonable distance again, sighing in the process. "I asked myself the same question last night. But, how I put it, Volteer would only want to know more about them, some sort of test no doubt. And Terrador wouldn't allow the two to be anywhere near each other unless being watched by someone else. So, I decided that they aren't to know anything about this. Hence the reason I want you two to keep it quiet."
Spyro glanced towards Cynder, understanding Cyril's argument completely, while Cynder, only having been within the DragonTemple for several months, didn't know too much about the remaining guardian's character. But the point was made, everyone wouldn't speak a word of it.
"Then what are you going to do about it?" Spyro spoke up once more.
"I am going to do what anyone else in my position would." The Ice guardian turned around and headed to the end of the corridor. "Correct what was my error in the beginning. But, for the moment, I'll let everyone sleep in for a while... Ancestors knows I need it."
Both Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, then turned around and headed in the opposite direction of the head guardian. There were some parts of his semi-speech that didn't make sense, but from what the two young dragons could gather, he had been up all night making sure nothing would go wrong as a last-ditch effort to try and correct what problems he had created.
* * *
Flame awoke late in the morning, finding himself flat on his back, with Ember lying atop of him. After Flame had spoken with Cyril that morning, the young dragon returned to his bed, and fell asleep beside the one he would spend the rest of his life with. I guess that Ember woke up last night too. The male dragon thought to himself. He stretched his neck around, figuring out where his limbs were in accordance to Ember's. Eventually, the fire dragon rolled to his side, and eased Ember onto the bed beside him. Flame pulled one of his paws away from Ember and lightly brushed the back of a talon along the pink dragoness' forehead and along the edge of her horns.
He couldn't believe it, the dragon he had been chasing for longer than he had been alive for, was finally lying in his room, on his bed, in his arms. And one word described them. They were mates. Weeks ago Flame would've only dreamt of a situation like this, yet, now that it was happening, something didn't feel right. Granted they had spent their first night together as a couple giving the single most important thing to each other. Again, to Flame it was a dream come true, but reality quickly caught up with the young dragon, and that brought on what could inevitably be the consequences of their actions. Of course, Flame had no plans on becoming a father at all in the near future, but it had been on his mind once or twice over the past few weeks. All dragons in the temple had the thought of bearing a hatchling and bringing life into the world. But what that duty would've entailed is why the young fire dragon was concerned.
Flame slowly lowered his hand from his mate's head and returned it to just below her foreleg once more, causing the pink dragoness to sigh heavily and pull him closer to her. Although it wasn't on the most idea of terms, Flame could've cared less. He had Ember, and that was all he could've hoped for.
The fire dragon closed his eyes and joined his mate in sleep, knowing fully well that Cyril would know how to control the situation and keep his secret. So everything would go back to normal.
* * *
"I have called you all here to address a problem that has made itself known over the past few days." Cyril stood before every other dragon living in the temple, besides Flame and Ember who, after repeated attempts, wouldn't 'wake up' in Cyril's words. So, for every other dragon gathered, they figured that Ember, or Flame, were either finally together, or, being held at the other's whim. The only three that knew exactly what was going on were Spyro, Cynder, and Cyril. Terrador and Volteer had inquired as to the whereabouts of Flame and Ember, but received nothing on the subject in response. If nothing was said here, then the remaining two guardians would figure out what was going on through other means.
"I know that what I said the other day was understanding and lenient. But certain... Actions, have been brought to my attention. You all know that both Flame and Ember aren't here, and it is nothing to be alarmed about. I am dealing with them like I would anyone else before me. But they are none of your concern. I know that before I said that if you wanted to live in the same room as your partner you would consult us and negotiate from there, but that is no longer an option. Each night there will be a seal put on every single door that won't unlock until morning. Any dragon caught in another's room at any time during the day, without a valid reason, will find some incredibly humiliating punishment." Volteer and Terrador glanced between each other, then towards the younger occupants of the temple, who were doing the same thing. No-one could believe what they were hearing.
"I am not saying this to drive you apart, but there are some rules and guidelines that aren't practical enough to suit your lifestyle at this moment. I am willing to return everything the way it was, if, you all can show me that there is some self control amongst you. You all know exactly what I'm trying to prevent, and you will thank me in the future for it. Because if nothing is done to prevent you from making your own mistakes, there wouldn't be enough of you left to carry out what must be done in the future," The Ice guardian glanced towards Spyro. "We can't just leave it up to one dragon again."
Cyril turned around and headed off through one of the many corridors that lead to, and away from, the main foyer, making his way up a set of stairs and around a corner. Only to have Terrador and Volteer take off moments behind him. All the remaining dragons just sat still in the foyer, not sure about what was going on, other than the fact that they wouldn't be able to do anything at night, unless it was by themself.
"What are you doing Cyril? Are we trying to empty the temple?" Volteer almost shouted chasing after the lead guardian. "If you keep making up rules like that they would all head off to Warfang before next season!"
"And who says that's such a bad thing Volteer?" Cyril countered back. "Yes, I have a duty to help them reach their full potential in more way than one. But we are all that's left of our kind, and the further out we spread, the better it is in the long run."
"But they're only hatchlings! You can't expect them to be able to fend for themselves on a daily basis!"
"They are old enough to know what is right and what is wrong. Warfang isn't the worst place a young dragon could be living in. And sometimes it is better for them to find their own feet. We can't always be there for them. When a battle is lost there won't always be one of us to help them."
"The only one who is strong enough to live on his own is Spyro, and that's because Cynder would always be behind him!" Volteer continued. "They won't always be able to live in a pack."
"I know that, but that's the idea. They know what is right now, and they are all stronger together. Sure, they will have their weaknesses, but there isn't anything out there hunting us anymore. We have allies all throughout the land and surely us ridding the world of evil is enough for them to consider welcoming our kind amongst them."
Terrador stepped forward between the other two guardians. "I agree with Cyril on this Volteer. All the dragons down there know their strengths and weaknesses. And they all know exactly what they're capable of. If some want to leave and live in a group on their own. Let them be. We aren't going to be able to control them forever." Volteer looked out a window as they continued to walk. "But if they do make the wrong choice while they're here, at least we would be able to guide them accordingly."
"They know enough to survive Terrador. We can't teach them life."
* * *
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Yes..... indeed.......
next chapter is, as I've been told, funny.....
I could use other words.... but.... well..... you just find out for yourself.....