FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 19

The shape of the pair of Celestial Moon's circling around the Dragon Realms was reflecting from a river down below, swaying slowly on their ripples. It was fully dark in the woods, the moons the only thing giving any sort of light, Zella and Adrano basking the world in a ghoulish green and bloody red light.

After the events of Eternal Night the nights were never the same again, the eerie atmosphere of the evening became thicker, it took the populace many years to adapt to the new sensation of feeling threat poking at your nerves from every corner.

Most of it was psychical trauma after having the experience of meeting Shadow Apes and other monstrosities brought by the Dark Master from the Dark Realms. For those experienced with Nature, this choking atmosphere of the night that many seem to struggle with was nothing new, all this stress came from the fact that now with the artificial rulers of the night gone from the Dragon Realms, true natural night wildlife came in their place.

As it should be.

Something that many people due to war seemed to forget already.

A yellowish splotch lightened up under the surface of the river, making some of the fishes used to the darkness scuttle away from the invasive illuminance.

Hunter pushed from underneath the water with a deep gasp, sending droplets flying all around him. As an experienced scout and a cheetah used to the wild he was one of the examples in the Realms who was never bothered by the change in the environment of the night.

He swam to the bank, a trail of yellow light following him as if he would be leaking fluids like a prototype of some mechanical mole invention. He pressed his hands against the grassy earth and pulled himself up, dragging his naked body out of the river, with one twist of the body dropping his wet silhouette onto the grass.

The chilly water twirled the strands of his fur, their cold wetness touching his skin, making him shiver, he did not mind however, he needed the exertion of the swim and the cold touch of the water to calm his raving nerves after everything that happened.

After several long pants and quite a bit of trembles his eyes gazed upon the sky at the pair of moons above. The green one smaller than the red, seemingly different but so much the same. Basically locked in a relationship that neither of the two knows how its going to play out in the end, a shaky joining that not even the moons themselves know when they joining can happen.

This is perhaps that nobody to this day documented the exact time frame of the lunar eclipse that causes the Night of Eternal Darkness.

Zella's and Adrano's bond was truly magical, so fitting for the world where dragons play the major role.

He extended his arm into the air, reaching out towards the Celestial Moons, gold light shone onto the underneath of his stretched out arm, he pointed a claw to the heavens from the tip of which twinkled a yellow, magical orb.

Magic.

Aether magic.

The moon's otherworldly relationship reminded him so much of his with Hope, the difference being that the two of them still had to find out if the culmination of their union can be as destructive as that of the Celestial Moons.

"Gosh that was so hot, do it again"

The sight of the moons was briefly clouded by a faint image of Hope stretching out on the grass, both hands sensually tugging up and down the straps of her top along her slender arms.

Hunter sighed tiredly, dropping his hand onto his chest which besides a hollow thud against the bone created also a tingling ring of something metallic. The yellow illumination disappeared when his hand covered the infused by Hope's essence yin yang symbol.

"Oh come on, you guys eye girls all the time, it's only fair that I also get a glance of a dripping wet guy once in a while. Girls gotta have fun too you know?" despite the clear disappointment in her voice Hope's face still flashed before his eyes with a lustful grin

"How much of me can you see?" Hunter asked, his eyes remaining locked on the two moons above

"This needs thorough investigation" she giggled seductively "Take a look down your legs and I tell you exactly just how much of you I can see. Don't keep me waiting I already started to work on my twins"

He uncovered the medallion, the yellow light surrounded him again.

There was a short gasp of excitement resounding in his head, that quickly turned into a chuckle.

"You tricked me, and here I thought you were gonna do it, darn so close"

"It was only normal, if anything can be called like that in our union that is to begin with, that you can perceive the world through the medallion"

"Points for you smartass" she purred thoughtfully "Still...I can see two, big, round orbs that are so close that they can be balls. I can work with that"

Hunter shook his head with a faint smile, through his briefly shut eyes he saw a more vivid image of Hope, with both hands pretending to work on the button of her shorts.

"I expect it will take me some time to get used to your flirtatious provocations"

"Hey, you said it yourself, I'm a passion girl remember? Bubble or not I can't sit here twiddling my thumbs all day, I kinda enjoy teasing guys, gets all those necessary sparkles running through my body. Too bad for you, you're exactly my type"

He saw Hope's eyes winking at him.

"It's been some time now and I still didn't find an answer" he folded his arms behind his head, enjoying the breeze of the wind on his wet fur, which only intensified the much needed chill after all this excitement "How come you only see the direction where my chest is pointing and I get to see flashes where you are presented to me fully?"

"Fully? Damn it" Hope grumbled "That means the days of rolling naked with the animals are gone"

"Lack of clothing never bothered you before"

"Remember what I told you about getting used to things? If you keep seeing me bare everyday I will loose my leverage. Not to mention I want you to live and would hate to see you bite the dust because you got distracted by my stiff nip one day. You need to bite into it first and we're still working on that part"

"I'm am serious Hope"

"Of course you are" she giggled "I don't know the Answer Hunter, I've never done it before, might be because the medallion you wear is essentially me so that's why you get flashes of me every now and then. Same things applies to me I guess, since the symbol is little Hope I can see only what little Hope sees. I have a form, the essence I filled the medallion with doesn't so I guess that is what makes it all weird"

"I'm on the losing side here, when you're feeling down you can always steal a glance at my sexy ass to boost morale up while I get to work with my imagination mostly. No problem though, when you finally get laid I will at least evaluate your performance from up close. I'll be in the thick of things so to speak"

Hunter's ears flattened when thinking about the perspective of never having privacy again, something he didn't think about when all this meeting with Hope escalated.

"I can feel your heartbeat slowing down Hunter" her voice sounded ashamed "I'm only joking, you know that right? I won't be stalking you, I'm not a creep. I'll switch off when you will want to be alone"

"Can you really do that?" he scratched the symbol thoughtfully, instinctively looking for a lever or other switch of sorts

"Mmmmmmaybe?"

He sighed deeply, cursing himself, he couldn't believe what he just gotten himself into.

"Hey we'll figure it out! Don't let such stupid things stop us. You finally got someone to talk to during your lonely travels while I got to hear your voice with my own ears. It's a win, win scenario. Just think Hunter, you've been carrying me around for years, I was a mute all this time, true, but if this isn't a sign for us to be together than I don't know what is!"

Hope was right to some point, cheetahs always believed in symbolism, something he discarded but still held onto the yin yang nevertheless. Without it he would never meet the Ancestor of his race after all.

Still such unique turn of events was still falling bleak in comparison that his life basically stopped being his own, something that would probably twist his brain so much that he would start to drool if not for thought of Cynder who was suffering the same plight as he did.

With the creature housed within her she had to have dilemmas about privacy, he didn't know exactly how her relationship with Creep works, it is probably much different than his with Hope and she probably has the ability as a dragon to silence her element completely, sentient or not. Still it was something to look forward to and the only thing most likely preventing him from going insane in the nearby future.

"Boy, ease on the excitement, we don't want to see you thrashing the forest" the flickering image of Hope rolling her eyes flashed before him, the picture putting more stern emphasis on the palpable sarcasm in her voice

"I apologize, I'm very secretive in betraying emotions, all this burden on my shoulders didn't help change that either"

"Magic is no burden, it's awesome and freeing. I will teach you how to grin. Come on now, point that claw into the air again"

Despite the turmoil in his head, muscles showed no restraint, following the directions of his new companion without a second thought. The youthful fascination with dragons and magic was simply too strong to be conquered into submission by mature worry. The chances of that happening were even smaller after seeing the very first twinkle of magic at the tip of his fingers after his meeting with Hope.

A ray of yellow light, like lava from an erupting volcano shot towards the pair of moons, crashing against the sky that from his perspective almost looked like that the magic would touch the canvas of the stars. The tendril of magic twisted and curled on the dark sky, stretching and rounding upwards, glowing brightly, dispersing the touch of Nature's shadow out of its way.

Hunter's eyes glimmered in amusement when he noticed that the magical painting on the sky above was not some random display of otherworldly prowess, but a simple smile that children draw. A beginning of a drawing of a smiling face that already had two eyes prepared in the form of the round moons.

"Your turn" Hope cooed

"This is so immature"

"So?"

Hunter smiled, moving his claw around the moons, drawing a circle with the yellowish aura shooting from the tip of his claw. This moment was indescribable in its simplicity, he would call everyone crazy if someone would tell him several months ago that there will be a day when he will lie naked on the grass drawing childish faces in the sky.

Now when this moment of craziness turned out to be reality he couldn't stop his heart from increasing its pace. He could feel the magical energy tingling across his nerves, twirling the strands of his fur in every direction and the sensation of having your own finger painting on the sky felt so breathtakingly natural just like he would slide his finger across butter.

He finished the picture of the face by locking the shape of the head, adding a dot representing a nose and several whiskers to make sure that the head belonged to a feline.

With one eye bigger than the other as if locked in an eternal state of shock and bewilderment the face might as well be a caricature of his own.

His mouth stretched into a wide smile.

"You're smiling!" Hope exclaimed triumphantly, he could see her batting her legs excitedly at the ground "I know that you're smiling!"

"I am" he acknowledged, the sensation of joy welcoming as the sun after a cold night, for a moment calming his heart and leaving the worried behind the door to his soul "Thank you for that"

"Hey we're partners now. You kept me safe for so many years when I was a husk, it's only fair to pay you back. See? I'm just a freak for honor like you are and to top it all I know how to be grateful"

The sight of Hope again flickered before his eyes when she sensually purred the last words, he saw her tugging at the cleavage of her top, pushing out the shape of her round, tightly squeezed breasts under the touch of Nature itself.

"I must ask however" Hunter blinked to disperse the image away and turning his focus away from the arousing figure of his partner that so desperately tried to cloud his senses "Aren't you worried that someone might see it out work? Seems a bit careless to paint over the night's sky when you tried to stay invisible for so long"

"Nah. Folks see it, yeah, but from their perspective it's nothing more than some strange lines, even if they follow the source of the light they will loose their way soon after. This thing won't hold against the natural force of the night if we won't keep it lit all the time. Just look, it's already stopping to smile"

Hope was correct, the smile that she drew was already falling victim to darkness, it dispersed it for a moment, but it was quite clear who was the ruling force in this hour. Hope's magic was being devoured like she did in her stories by a dark force she released from the Void.

The light magic among all this darkness felt unnatural, not because it was a part of the domain that was its counterpart, but because it still existed in the first place.

"How come you still wield Light when you unleashed undoubtedly a force of Darkness from the Dark Realms to mix with your essence?"

His question remained hanging in the air, it brought him back to the times where he spoke to his medallion, never expecting an answer in return and back then it was perfectly normal like singing a lullaby to a child.

It was surprising just how quickly habits change, now his tail began to tap restlessly at the ground when he was left alone in total silence, she had grown on him rather fast.

"Hope?"

"I'm here" her voice sounded withdrawn, callous

"Did you hear me?"

"Yeah. I don't know, shit happens I guess, even for Void stuff too I guess" she spurt out the answer quickly, her voice rigid, clearly pointing the end of the conversation

In the flickering light of his medallion he could feel her distress.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring back bad memories"

He saw Hope heaving in a prolonged sigh.

"Look. I get it that you're interested, sorry for being cold about it, but it still leaves a sour taste you know? The spirit you carried ripped holes in me that will never heal, I remember every moment of the passing time as I developed into the empty shell that Avalar is right now and it still makes my skin crawl even though I'm not really the one that went through it all. But shit, the perspective of having everything around you ripped apart to pieces one by one until you are left alone in silent oblivion, shit, this is worse than death. At least your spirit goes somewhere when you die, gems, stars, Ancestors whatever, you get recycled in one way or the other, but me? I got turned into nothingness and there is nothing more scarier than never-ending emptiness"

He watched the fading image above, rubbing his uncovered arms, he started to feel cold as he watched the darkness eating away at the last strands of the picture they created, it ate away at the last thing left, the whiskers.

It ripped them apart piece by piece until nothing remained but a black void between the moons.

He pulled himself up to a sitting position, diving his head between his knees as he shook from the cold. He was no stranger to solitude, but even he had company of the animals in his travels, the perceptive of being left alone, surrounded by your own echo for the rest of your time was mind numbing.

"Hey, chill down there Hunter, don't listen to my self pity, it's over. You asked a question so here's an answer, focus on that okay?" the medallion burst with more intense light, embracing him in a warm, magical blanket

"Maybe it wasn't strong enough to take over completely? I mean we wielded magic before it so if that thing was what you call Dark, than we had to wield Light at the start, would explain why I do what I do. Truth is I don't know and it's just a guess, but as I already told you we shouldn't jump to conclusions yes? We might find otherwise that the lore we built on theories doesn't really match reality"

If he had a similar conversation with someone else a few days ago he would argue that you can't simply cast away knowledge gathered throughout the ages like it would be some dust on a drawer. Whether the theories you create sound valid or not, they had to match some certain norms that were developed throughout known history.

But back then he would ignore the information that it is the victors that write history.

Hope effectively shattered his entire understanding of the surrounding world and its lore, turning it upside down. He still didn't know if he should tell anyone about The Destroyer, a creature that's supposed to end the world entirely and yet having sympathies of its own to leave some trapped in their prison for old time's sake.

That only made things worse for them because whatever Hope let into the world was intelligent enough to tell what needs killing and what not. Rendering basic instinct unimportant.

It this thing was still here, and he had no doubt that it was judging from Hope's desire to remain invisible to the world, they were in a lot of trouble.

His chest heaved with a deep, contemplative inhale.

"Do you think about anything else than work?" Hope asked, almost bored "You should really stop scrunching like that, it must be unhealthy. Take from the world as long as it lasts! Use whatever you can! Wanna see my tits for some cheering up time?"

"You told me that everything we believe in is a lie. It is not something one can discard easily, it feels like casting away every lesson your parents tried to pass onto you"

"It's not like grunting about it will change anything. Just go out there, let's enjoy some life!"

Hunter lifted himself up, beginning to put his clothes on.

"It is not so trivial, you too aren't helping in this matter. You are not the image of an Ancestor I imagined either"

"I can't decide if you're trying to offend me right now or not"

"I always believed that divine creatures would be more...regal"

Hope snorted.

"Stiff and boring you mean, nah, come on, we were normal cats like you, why you idealize us so much I have no idea, but we weren't smart as you already know after listening to my sad story. I bet you too will become an Ancestor for future generations, there aren't many cheetahs serving dragons after all. Just don't let your hopes up, the title means nothing, serving perhaps as a taunting image only for clueless folks, mistaking spit for rain. Leave the past where it belongs and seize the day of the present"

Image of Hope getting up and pulling up her breasts flashed before his eyes.

"With me as your wingmen you're in a lot of fun"

"Romantic involvement is not my priority"

The girl laughed melodically.

"My friend, whatever priorities you had were thrown into the dump the moment you started sparkling with magic. It's a new dawn for you Hunter, let's make it interesting"

Hope once more appeared before his eyes, this time standing proudly with her arms locked behind her back, her blue eyes together with the gems of her tiara were cracking with magical energy, tendrils of azure electricity twisting near the corners of the eyeballs and crystals. From behind her back stretched out six otherworldly, gleaming with yellow essence blades, three for each side.

Her raven mane was flopping across her forehead, blown by an invisible gust of wind, strands of hair dancing over one of her eyes, obscuring and revealing it in steady rhythm, each bump of black locks making the eye underneath burst with more intense light.

Hunter gasped faintly in awe, seeing Hope for the very first time dropping her pretenses of sexuality and allure, showing herself in her intimidating form to him. There was no denying that she wasn't a creature from this world, seeing her wrapped in this magical aura made his heart race with nervous fascination.

She was truly an Ancestor, one of his kind no less.

And yet he couldn't shake off the feeling that she wasn't showing everything.

The wink she gave him was practically a confirmation of his worries, as if she sensed his bewilderment.

It remains to be seen if she was toying with him, nevertheless if she was hiding things or not it did not matter for their nearby future.

Their future will still be interesting regardless.

*

Hunter returned to Warfang, finding himself in the marketplace where he traded the pieces of his symbol that barely held on to his scorched flesh for a peach. What many would consider junk, moles always see as treasure, exactly like the rodent jeweler he just bartered with who without hesitation pawed the pieces of his cracked medallion. He had no idea what one can possible make out of it, but he decided not to think about it too much, he had a lot on his head already, moles have a nose for inventions and it was better to leave it at that for everyone's sanity.

Besides his mind was too preoccupied as it is already.

He leaned over a nearby draconic statue, fangs sank into the fruity body, brain projecting its contemplative nature towards the mouth, making the teeth slide slow into the peach.

One of his hands scratched the chest, claws nibbling at the charred flesh near the medallion that kept itching without mercy. He had no problems reaching the irritating spots, he cut a small hole in his coat on his way to the city, allowing Hope to observe the world, yet holding on to enough material to obscure the glow to the point that nobody will see it if he doesn't pay attention.

He observed the people and the sight of them began to sting his heart, there were so few of them now and he was the one responsible for it. No amount of baths could wash the smell of their blood from his hands, he would tear off his fur if that would help, but the stench of responsibility was coming from the skin itself, the only way to free himself from the scent of this guilt was to amputate his arms.

He bit onto the fruit, ripping out a piece, its juicy structure making him feel as if he would crush a small heart between his fangs.

If his stomach wasn't used to eating all sorts of strange and uncooked stuff found in the wilderness he was sure he would throw up by now.

He swore to himself that he will do everything to correct that sin and yet here he was, unable to decide if he should go up to the City Hall and present his findings to the Guardians. Duty and honor demanded that he should do so, the fate of the world was more important than the security of one cheetah after all, perhaps he would be able to convince the Guardians to leave Hope be as she wished.

But that would mean looking Cyril in the eyes, just thinking about the ice dragon and what he forced him to do by putting that blade in his hand made his fur stand on end. He wasn't certain what he would do if he spent any more time in the presence of that dragon that made him murder his own people.

He was aware that it was his hand that made the swings and if he wanted to he could just let the mob beat him to death. Yet that didn't change the fact that there was a difference between having a choice in an instinctive battle for survival and having none at all.

Cyril stripped him of that opportunity.

Nevertheless his grief wasn't the only thing holding him back, it was unimportant compared to the fact that he would betray the presence of an Ancestor in their world, an Ancestor that wished to remain hidden.

That looked like him.

What are the chances that he would stomach another betrayal of his own people?

And then there was Volteer, the purest and most noble of the Guardians, friendly to everyone, working very hard to shape all the knowledge he had about the world to help the citizens of the Dragon Realms.

And all this time he was basing his experiments on the wrong information.

The Electric Guardian was wasting his time, and that thought alone made him feel horrible, especially if he had the necessary information to turn the dragon's scientific attention in the right direction, maybe even towards some unknown now breakthrough. Preventing Volteer from bashing his now limited years of life into a wall he had no certainty that the Guardian will notice.

He simply owed that to such a selfless creature.

He wasn't naïve however to believe that Volteer would keep this knowledge to himself, not because he would not want to, but because sharing progress with other scientific minds was the only way to speed things up. Even a long-lived creature as a dragon doesn't have an eternity to advance science on his own.

Not to mention that now he also wielded magic, something unnatural for this world, something he also was unsure if he would reveal. A cheetah wielding Aether would surely draw attention and questions. Many questions.

This however was the simplest of dilemmas, the Guardians already know of his special powers, he was the one after all that sent the blast that freed the people from their mind shackles. He would be able to make something up to make it all believable, leaving Hope out of the picture.

As helpful as it may sound it didn't change the source of his problem.

He still didn't know what was the right decision here.

"They do nothing else but always investigating" Hunter's sensitive ears perked up at the sudden spurt of anger from an alley behind him

"Keep your voice down or someone will hear you" a more muffled voice echoed this time, cheetahs however had very sensitive hearing, scouts like him even more so especially when his ears already picked up the scent so to speak, only a distraction would make them lose their prey now

"I don't fucking care! It's about time people around did something, the Guardians up there are fucking brainwashed, they are no longer on the people's side!"

"Stop saying such nonsense!"

"Exactly what I'm talking about. People act exactly like you, they know something is wrong but don't do anything because respect and trust"

Hunter's ears flinched at the sound of a saliva being spat on the ground, the contempt in the note was so vile that he imagined the spit hissing on the street like a bile of acid.

"What you're saying is treason! Nobody will support such an act!"

"And yet here you are, still standing. You know that I'm right and you know just as well that this treason argument is bullshit. We wouldn't be going against the Guardians, maybe the old fools would open up their eyes when things got to blows, call me naïve or a fucking hypocrite but I still believe they would change their minds if they saw the true problem here and forget about loyalties and pretense"

"We shouldn't be talking in public about this, someone might hear some-"

Hunter's ears flopped up and down, readjusting their natural tracking sensors when the voice of the second talker died down, following his own advice of avoiding drawing attention.

"Good, let them hear, it's about time people heard their hearts speak"

The pointy ears stretched out again, pulling at the scout's scalp fiercely as they were dragged towards the sound.

"Every single time we are getting fucked by Darkness and do nothing about it! Do we really must to wait for another Dark Master to rise to lead an army of freaks against us instead of acting sooner and stopping this shit before it crosses the line? I don't know how about you but for me that damn crystal was enough of a clue that we are again running out of time"

"Not everyone believes that things are so simple, they would try to stop us"

"Fuck them! Nobody wants a bloodbath here, they would switch sides the moment they judge the numbers, not even the Guardians can handle a full blown revolt. We wouldn't be going for the throne, we would be going for justice!"

There was a loud smack, determined fist had slapped against a hand.

"It's about time we tore the head of that black bitch and free ourselves of the trouble, the longer we wait the more she spreads her taint. We already have her burning tail licker stalking our moves, that dude doesn't even pretend to have a mind of his own, ready for every call from his mistress, not to mention that big, black fuck that appeared out of nowhere. Do you really not see a pattern here? More Darkness worshippers appear by the day, seemingly innocent and on our side and yet worse and worse crap keeps happening. It was not Malefor who's bad here, it's the fucking Taint that runs in the blood of the black dragons and their lackeys!"

"If this theory is true then Spyro is also a lackey and I can't believe-"

"Spyro is pussy blinded! That guy was drooling over that black whore from the start so if she has any sense, and I'm sure she does as an icon of Darkness, she manipulates the poor bastard however she wants by shaking her hips the right way. Who knows, maybe she even lifted her tail for the fool by now to only tighten the collar around his neck, reaching for the lowest of low is the style of every evil bastard"

"But, but Brill forbade us from taking any actions"

"Brill was fighting with Corruption, it had to be it whispering to him to hold back! Look where it led him to! He's a senile wreck now!"

"Don't say things like that!"

"What? Maybe I'm wrong you want to tell me?"

"If he's senile as you say than why I personally talked with him and never got the impression that he's insane? I admit his mind might not be what it used to be and he has moments where he is completely delirious but it might be the pain or the after effects of him dealing with evil for so long that cause this. I spoke with people and witnessed it myself that Brill sometimes speaks clearly and he never, ever said anything about taking revenge or putting blame on breathing things, always saying that it is the Taint and you know just like me it is not so easy to simply connect Darkness with the color of a scale"

"Brill can be wrong too! He's too trusty thinking that people can wipe the Taint by being good and nice! It has to be purged! We need to fight fire with fire!"

One of Hunter's ears flickered at the unexpected change of tone of the first talker who until now was serious and determined in wrapping his theories. The mentioning of Brill's rationality by the second talker put a dent into his confidence.

"Tell me friend, wouldn't murder in cold blood be exactly the thing Taint would do? Wouldn't we breed more evil that way? Exactly as Brill said? There's your answer, people don't act because they believe in the Seeker's words that only a stalwart defense, where you block out Darkness works out the best. Taint will become infuriated when it will no longer have any room to wiggle and then will be the time to strike, with it having no place to escape to"

"I can't believe that the best option is to wait, can't we learn anything?"

"We did, just as Brill did. Remember the first sermons when he called out to open arms? Even Brill himself changed that tone later on, because I believe it was the Corruption speaking through him back then, something Brill had to realize as well. If this isn't the sign that blind violence is not the answer than I don't know what is"

Hunter's ears stretched and twirled, unable to catch any other sound, it was like the pair stopped talking at all or lowered their voices to barely a whisper.

"We will pay dearly for all this hesitation"

His ears perked up for the final time, gathering up what seemed to be clearly the last words spoken by the two citizens since moments later the sound of their footsteps followed, hastening them away from him.

His ears, after so many minutes of hard work had enough and collapsed with a smack against the skull.

It seemed like he wasn't the only one having dilemmas here, and from the looks of it he was the more stable one with all his problems. If this opinion is shared by the majority of the populace than Warfang is balancing on a very thin line between total revolt and stability.

"People haven't changed throughout the ages" Hope giggled, he could see her pulling at her ears in desperation "Always blaming those that stand higher, desiring only to latch onto their feet and drag them down. I'm pretty sure you know what a wild mob means Hunter"

His fists clenched tightly, claws poking at the skin, threatening to break it.

"I will never kill my own people again"

The medallion glowed faintly, its magical essence traversing into his palm, lightening it up.

"Creatures like us Hunter? They are individuals, there is no more our people"

"No, we are cheetahs, creatures of the Dragon Realms" he opened up his hand with a hiss, a yellow ball of lightning cracked in his palm "We belong to a society, we are part of it"

Hope flashed before his eyes again, sad, yet arrogant smile stretched her lips, its mighty effect empowered by the cracking of blue energy from the corners of her eyes.

"Then show everyone your power, open up your hands Hunter and see for yourself just how many of those people are your friends. It doesn't matter that you don't know what you're capable of, a sign that you're different is enough for many to form an opinion and it won't be pretty in the long run"

He observed his hand which started trembling, his soul battling with the desire to throw it all away, after all he never asked about fulfilling his magical fascination and especially not at the cost of honor and loyalty, he simply cannot stomach another battle between him and the inhabitants of the Realms.

The cost was simply too high.

There was a second that he was certain that he will speak up, he will tell everyone about Hope and his personal, new potential, share every bit of knowledge with everyone possible. This way he will remain as a part of the society he so cherishes.

But then the echo of the conversation he listened to rumbled in his head, as unfair it was towards Cynder he could still understand the hate of some, wounds of the heart don't heal easily after all. These people however dragged also Spyro into it, where he served as a prop, an argument to counter a theory.

An idol.

To be judged and looked upon.

Something he wished to stay away from.

He locked his hand, the clench of the fist dispersing the magical orb into several tendrils of flickering light.

"Wise choice. Keep your powers a secret" Hope nodded, her tail flicking up, his eyes catching its shimmer in the flash crossing his eyes.

He looked up, noticing a couple of children staring his way, mistrust glimmering in their eyes, something that before he would take for youthful carefulness, now seemed like a deep rooted disdain as if they knew what happened to him, who he was exactly.

And didn't like it in the slightest.

The symbol on his chest touched him with its warmth, flexing before the judgmental eyes of the children.

"When history repeats itself you will need all the advantage you can get"