FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 9

Thick wooden wall surrounded the village, a massive wooden gate with more darker wood covering its middle and with two feathers carved on it was tightly shut, sending a clear signal that the village wasn't expecting guests. A couple of cheetahs were lazily walking back and forth on the wall bored to death, while some others kept vigil in their tall watchtowers just beside the front game . This village had simple defenses and would fall easily when some well trained army decided to attack it, but still there was quite a handful of guards here on the watch as for such simple village. Safety comes first even in times of peace it seems.

Both dragons landed quite a distance away from the gate hiding behind some trees, they wanted to take it slow, giving the guards some time to react, showing them that they come with good intentions. Both dragons decided to approach the village politely by stepping out in the open so they could be easily spotted. They could just land in the middle of the settlement but the cheetahs might take that as an insult, even if it seemed normal for airborne creatures like themselves, the felines might think that they barged in. That was the last thing they wanted, after all their last visit here was far from pleasant.

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see us" Cynder's sarcastic tone of voice resounded in the air the moment their snouts left their hiding place

"It can't be that bad" Spyro assured her with a small smile.

The guards stopped in their tracks when they spotted two draconic figures heading their way, some felines disappeared from their guard posts and some distant shouts could be heard. They've made their way towards the sturdy looking gate, surprisingly it didn't open. The guards seemed nervous, they have been staring at them intently clenching tightly the weapons in their hands. Most of them at least acted like that, some looked at them with indifferent eyes while some others had indictment plastered on their faces.

The cheetahs living in the Valley tried to remain neutral in the war against Malefor after he broke out from his prison in the Night of Eternal Darkness, it was Spyro who released him in the first place, much to his surprise and displeasure, a dragon who set free the plague he was meant to stop, they didn't care that he was tricked, lured into the Well of Souls by the Ape King Gaul. They have captured Cynder and for Spyro that was the only thing that mattered at that time and The Dark Master knew that. The cheetahs shared much blood for the Realms back when Malefor roamed free all those years ago, and took another share of death when corrupted Cynder soared the skies. it didn't matter for them that it was an unintentional turn of events, a dragon made a mess by releasing The Dark Master a dragon has to clean it up. Nevertheless the cheetahs eventually joined forces with the dragons when Warfang was under siege and helped them later to stop The Destroyer in its path. The cheetahs warriors followed orders even if reluctantly, their leaders eventually managed to see reason even if for the last time. There were of course warriors that didn't share the same views as the other soldiers, they helped the dragons with much pleasure, realizing what's at stake and letting bygones be bygones, but that was only a tiny portion of the army, most of them distrusted their draconic allies with some of their leaders included. If it's fair that was not for the two young dragons to decide, it is what it is and only time will tell if it will have any consequences in the future.

What mattered right here and now was the creaking sound of the massive wooden doors opening in front of the two dragons. A cheetah accompanied from two sides by bodyguards was heading their way, the feline was their leader with who both dragons have already met and it wasn't a friendly acquaintance.

Chief Prawlus was the one in the middle, it was his village in which both dragons found themselves after they have been captured by the cheetahs, not the best way for a first meeting to say the least. He was a strong, strict and fair leader but also leery of practically anything outside the village, he was especially distrustful of Dragons. The Chief sauntered towards both dragons, orange fur with black ringlets covered the top of his head, arms, legs, back and tail mixed with a bit of black on the top of his ears, around his yellow eyes and on the top of the feline's tail while his chest, hands and paws were completely covered with white fur. He was wearing a leather armor with a amaranthine cape with a falcon feather sewn into it, the cape was pinned to the armor with a gold round symbol with a spear in it, the same symbol but bigger was on the back of his coat. He wore a thick leather belt around his waist with a large emblem in its middle, it looked like the ones on his coat. A leather sheath was strapped to one side of the belt, the hilt of the sword was the only thing that protruded from it. Two brown leather bracers with many rivets covered his forearms.

"You two? What are you doing here in my village?" Prawlus asked with his usual strict and angry voice

"We have been traveling for a while and we just wanted to-" Spyro tried to start a conversation but was interrupted by the Chiefs firm tone

" You are in no position to ask for anything, didn't I make myself clear previously that Dragons aren't welcome here?"

"Oh you mean the moment when your men knocked us out and chained to a well? Yeah, that was a very polite way to make your point, we just came here to show you how a proper talk between allies should look like" At the sound of Cynder voice the two bodyguards snorted quietly and the Chiefs eyes flared up for a brief moment

"Cynder" Spyro hissed her name through clenched teeth

" Keep that poisonous tongue of yours in your mouth because the people here still remember you Shadow and if you keep this attitude even despite your so called good deeds we make sure that this time you won't forget us" The Chief patted the hilt of his sword , sending a clear signal that he is not joking

" You have to forgive her, she doesn't have really good social skills" Spyro smiled apologetically

Cynder didn't pay any attention to his words, she was entirely focused on the three cheetahs ahead " We came here with good intentions but if you put it this way I will have to..."

" WE WILL HAVE TO!..." Spyro shouted at Cynder gaining her attention instantly, the moment her eyes met his he gave her a meaningful look and turned his head towards the cheetahs "we will have to ask you If you would be so kind to let us use the Forbidden Tunnel to Warfang one more time?"

" As I said Dragon, you are in no position to ask for anything" the Chief stated firmly

"But-"

"But what?!" Prawlus yelled irritated interrupting Spyro " Just because some call you a hero you expect everyone to bend their knees and fulfill your every request?"

" No, I ask for your help as an ally"

" An ally?" The Chief chuckled " We are no allies Dragon"

"What?" Spyro mumbled

" What did you expect? You thought that every cheetah will follow you whenever you desire? Think again"

" What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cynder burst out angrily " Did you already forget that we fought together? Did you forget the siege of Warfang? Did you forget who tried to stop The Destroyer? Did you forget who fought with The Dark Army? WE DID! Cheetahs and Dragons were on those battlefields fighting alongside each other, dying like a single specie and you still don't consider us as allies? What bond is more important than that of blood?

Prawlus looked at her with burning eyes " You are the last one who should be lecturing me, we followed you into battle only because you helped us previously, a favor for a favor. That is called honor something I don't expect you to understand"

Some small green flames shot out from Cynder's nose " I can't believe what I'm hearing, how is it possible that this mean nothing to you?! You ignorant mother-"

" WE UNDERSTAND!" Spyro yelled at the top of lungs gaining everyone's attention, he sighed and calmed himself before continuing " Bottom line Chief, you won't help us am I right?

Prawlus scratched his nose "Well you thought we were allies so I'll give you a little advice before you leave" he pointed at Spyro's wings with one of his claws "Use them, you will reach your destination eventually."

Spyro frowned " Thank you for your cooperation, we will be leaving now" both dragons turned around ready to continue on their way

" And where do you think you are going?" before they could make a step a familiar friendly voice came from behind them, when they turned around they recognized its owner immediately.

Meadow approached the group, when Spyro and Cynder found themselves in this village chained to a well for the first time there was no sign of Meadow, he was missing. Prawlus didn't start an immediate search for him, since the missing cheetah liked to take his time collecting herbs outside the village. When he wasn't returning for quite a while both dragons volunteered to go and find him trying to convince the Chief of their good intentions. Injured Meadow was rescued from an ambush of Grublins in a cave behind the nearby waterfall.

That was the past, now he was slowly heading towards them with a strict expression on his face. He was wearing a simple green shirt and a yellow robe with brown stripes on its sides and a falcon feather sewn into it. He has a similar colored fur like Prawlus but a bit darker. Even despite the fact that Meadow was just a simple warrior he had the respect of the cheetahs, many considered him as Prawlus' right hand or a very close friend because even the Chief himself valued his opinion.

"Why didn't you invite them in Prawlus? It's not kind to welcome our heroes and saviors in this way" Meadow placed his hand on the Chief's shoulder

The feline leader snorted " Heroes? I don't see any heroes here besides those that are already in the village"

He released his shoulder " Of course everyone deserves our respect, their sacrifice wasn't in vain but we can't forget who delivered the final blow"

The Chiefs eyes flared up once more " How can you be so blind? They are no heroes, what I see here is a traitor" he pointed at Cynder" she change sides just like we change our clothes, a loyal servant of The Dark Master who enjoyed to follow his every whim, a servant who stabbed him in the back when she realized that there was no chance he could win. Now she travels with this one, she is always around him , ready to follow his orders, even protect him if necessary, acting like a caring friend. But her natural personality follows him just like a shadow, ready to strike when he will be no longer useful..."

Spyro saw as Cynder lowered her head, she blamed herself for everything she had done even if she was corrupted back then and couldn't control herself. The Chiefs words must have rekindled that guilt which filled her heart, Spyro stared at her with concerned eyes " Don't listen to him Cynder, it wasn't your fault"

"...and he " Prawlus at Spyro " A dragon who caused all of this, a dragon who was supposed to bring peace to the Realms, instead of that he gave us Malefor and it doesn't matter that he defeated him, damage was already done. He is no savior, he isn't a protector, he is a harbinger of destruction, wherever he goes Death follows in his wake and this time will be no different, mark my words. He will make a mistake one day and we cheetahs will pay for it with our blood once again."

Meadow stared at him with a cold gaze for a while " I think that you have more pressing matters Chief than to worry about those two, I assure you they won't be a problem" he said with a firm voice, the words leaving his mouth slowly so that Prawlus could understand their resonance

Both warriors kept staring at each other until Prawlus shot both dragons a quick distrustful glance, with an audible snort he looked at Meadow once more and made his way towards the gate accompanied by his bodyguards. Meadow's eyes followed the Chief until he could no longer see him before finally concentrating on the two dragons.

Meadow smiled kindly and apologetically at the same time "I'm sorry, I just hope he didn't cause too much trouble"

" Don't worry we kinda expected that" Cynder spoke with a comforting smile on her snout

Meadow shook his head " He is a very strict and just leader, he values every life that is placed under his command, whenever a soldier dies it leaves a mark on him, that's why the soldiers treat him with such respect because they know that he always has their backs" the warrior sighed " Unfortunately he is also a fool, he lets the past to control him, he fails to see that things have changed, that there are dragons out there that can be trusted. Luckily he has me to remind him constantly of that" a smug smile formed itself on his face

"Thank you Meadow" Spyro bowed his head gratefully "We came here seeking your help, we need to get to Warfang and we thought that you could allow us to use the Forbidden Tunnel"

"Ahh the Tunnel yes, but how about you come in and enjoy this fine afternoon with us? I'm sure you have quite a story to tell, we can talk about business later"

"I thought you never ask" Spyro smiled cheerfully

Meadow chuckled " Ha! It's always important to be in good spirits even despite unhappy circumstances" He stepped aside and extended his arm towards the gate " Please, come in"

The village itself was nothing special at first glance, there were plenty more guards walking on the wooden wall that they couldn't see from where they previously stood. A familiar well was placed in the middle of the settlement, with some female cheetahs and a couple of children running with buckets, every now and then splashing some water on themselves that triggered a loud merry laughter. Houses dotted the village, there were plenty of them ,some were smaller others a little larger but surprisingly most of the houses had their windows tightly shut, only a couple of them allowed the sunlight to illuminate their interior giving a good sight for every inquisitive neighbor who wanted to know what the family next door was doing.

Dirt roads run through the village, the main broad pathway split into many smaller ones, some of them lead to the houses, some of them to the gates, and even other to the workshops. As both dragons walked down the main road they could see that many of those workshops were closed, only a single fletcher was working. Well working was an overstatement, the cheetah was lazily picking a piece of wood, he then started to carve it with some sort of a knife, seconds later he puffed on it sending some shavings into the air. Whatever he was making didn't resemble a bow at all, it took him only a moment to finish his work of art, the moment he placed it on the ground they could see that he carved two circles that were most likely eyes, a nose and a broad smile on the piece of wood. With a grin he looked at it and leaned it against a wall directing its happy expression towards the road before picking another piece of wood, smaller this time.

Near the well was a building with an amaranthine canvas with a big gold round spear symbol hanging down from its roof, that dangled just above the entrance so every pedestrian could see it. Two burly looking cheetahs stood at both sides of the doors, completely motionless with their long spears leaned against their shoulders. All of the building windows were barred with sturdy iron bars, preventing any unwanted visitor from barging in. This was either the Chiefs house or a building where many decisions regarding the village were made or are going to be made. Whatever the case may be the building is an important structure for the village.

Some distance away from the was a huge building that seemed to be anchored to the wooden wall. Black smoke was slowly escaping through the chimney. Windows dotted the walls, there were plenty of them almost one just beside the other allowing as much light as possible so the sun could illuminate its vast interior. For such a big building there was only a handful of cheetahs walking inside, the felines were slowly cleaning the building. They were very accurate, not allowing even the smallest spot to be left alone, it looked like they were preparing the room for something important.

The village was very quiet ,the silence was occasionally broken by a happy laughter, but even the loudest laugh was consumed by the quietness of this place in seconds, allowing silence take the lead once more. That was not how both dragons remembered the village, back then when they were captured and brought here the village was bursting with chatter and all kind of activity. Cheetahs kept running in every direction, they had always something to do, wherever they looked there was always a cheetah going on about his business. Now as they walked there was practically no living soul on their way, there was no sound only complete silence, there was no activity only complete stillness. The once loud and thriving village was now only a shadow of its former self, it was lifeless and looked like it was deserted.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, tell me, how life's been treating you Spyro?" Meadow looked at the purple dragon while they kept moseying down the road

" It really put my strength to the test, both mental and physical, the death and destruction I had seen really left a mark on me, I won't forget the past few months for my entire life I suppose" Spyro replied wincing as the fresh memories ran through his mind

"War" the cheetah huffed thoughtfully " It pushes us to our limits, and unfortunately not everyone is able to keep up with its fast pace"

" Good thing that Malefor was not a very talented runner" Cynder joined the discussion with her typical sarcastic and witty behavior

"Ah Cynder" Meadow smiled " It's always good to have a personality like yours around, pushing down all these bad feelings while replacing them with some good news served with a dose of sarcasm to help a burdened heart forget about its problems even for a brief moment. A very useful skill indeed"

"Whoa" she exclaimed " I had no idea I have a skill like that, are you sure you are not taking me for someone else?"

Meadow's smile grew even wider " My point exactly" he coughed " But humor aside, was it difficult to see your former Master when you no longer felt his touch shrouding your mind?"

Cynder gasped faintly as an image of that unavoidable meeting flashed before her eyes " To be entirely honest I was terrified"

"Why?"

She furrowed a brow "Why?, It was Malefor, the leader of The Dark Army, the dragon that controlled..." she turned her head to a side "... I mean he was the most dangerous opponent that used his serva... I mean m... because he was a powerful dragon"

The cheetah watched her intently " A battle with a dangerous foe always fills every warrior heart with fear, but to be terrified? I mean you have to understand my surprise, you have experienced your share of battle and yet you were there almost paralyzed with fear. He was undoubtedly a better warrior than your previous opponents but to be terrified about someone's fighting skills when you are a talented warrior is new to me"

" His fighting skills weren't the reason" she stopped walking and stared at the ground " As you said he was my Master, a Master that I hated and despised, but..." Cynder sighed "...but there was a part of me that adored him, a part that couldn't wait to be reunited with him once more. I was afraid that this whole time I've been fooling myself that I've been free of his influence but in truth it was still in me. Or it had nothing to do with influence, I wondered if that was just me, maybe when Spyro defeated me all those years ago he brought me in some sort of amnesia blocking that dark side of mine that was awakening in Malefor's lair."

" In the end it turned out that you were in fact corrupted and nothing that happened when you were soaring the skies as a Malefor's general was your fault"

Cynder stared at ground in silence for a while " Yeah" she muttered " tell that to all the people I've slaughtered"

Meadow narrowed his pupils " Why I hear guilt in your voice?"

"Because It was all my fault!" she exclaimed and looked at the cheetah with teary eyes " I killed every single one of them and I didn't want to stop it because I liked it, I loved the sight of their eyes while I took their life"

" It seems that dark magic intensifies the vile feelings in us, but now you know that, and you still feel responsible?"

She looked directly into his eyes " I do"

"No!" Spyro shouted "You are not responsible for anything! That wasn't you that was Malefor!" he looked at the cheetah with anger in his eyes " What's the point of this Meadow? She has nothing to do with it!"

The warrior raised his hands" Of course, but Spyro listen to me-"

"No!" his eyes flared up "You will listen to me! Malefor wasn't her Master, a master allows his servants to have some free will and she had none. She was a slave who was never given the chance to chose whether she wants to follow him or not, hell she didn't even know what good means since Malefor forced her to commit all those evil things from the very beginning!"

The cheetah opened his mouth but Spyro cut him off" You will stop your subtle accusations, she can't be held accountable for things that she couldn't control!" he looked at her and the anger vanished instantly. Concern, pity taking its place with a slight commanding tone in his voice " And you will stop blaming yourself for everything that has happened, I can only imagine how you feel Cynder but trust me on this one, it wasn't your fault"

She stared at him with grateful and watery eyes, Spyro was the only one who understood her, he was the only one who never mentioned her dark past while talking with her, just like it never existed. He was the only one who did everything he could to lift her from her despair, he was the only one who cared. She couldn't wish for a better friend. Meadow observed them in complete silence, his eyes jumping between both dragons and he just couldn't stop feeling content. The silence lingered here for far too long, it was time to break it.

" Forgive me Cynder" the cheetah bowed his head apologetically

She blinked several times before looking at him " No harm done"

" Let's just forget about it, ok?" Spyro asked determined to end this unpleasant moment

All of them exchanged looks and nodded in agreement before they continued their walk down the road. As Meadow observed the two dragon tails swaying in front of him in a rhythmic motion with their bodies the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile.

" So Cynder, how it feels to be a hero?" The cheetah started another conversation while they moseyed down the path

She scoffed "A hero? Me? I'm no hero Meadow, I didn't do anything special, I've just fought and everybody could do that, but I suppose nobody was stupid enough to go on a suicide mission" Cynder looked at the azure sky above her and sighed " But I'm glad that it paid off and it feels great just to think that it's finally over"

" I understand, there is nothing that could beat the feeling of a victory when everything seemed was lost"

Cynder looked at the wagging purple tail in front of her and huffed " Oh, I can think of a thing or two"

He followed her gaze and just when he looked at the purple dragon ahead of him he noticed some cuts on his back that were slowly healing themselves " It looks like you had quite a difficult journey here"

Spyro jerked back slightly when he heard those words, he knew instantly what Meadow meant by that and since those were Cynder's claws marks he would rather not remind her of that, yet impulsively he touched his back with his wing and winced when a stinging pain ran through his body" Your right, we had some adventures before getting here after the battle, well not to mention the fight with Malefor it was pretty-"

" Oh no, no, no" Meadow interrupted him quickly " Spyro don't say anything about the fight with Malefor because I'm not the only one who likes to hear it"

He turned his head and gave the cheetah a puzzled glance " As you wish, anyway after the battle we resurfaced here in the Valley, we played for a while just to end on a tall slope with all those trees and bushes. Then a rain came just out of nowhere and it was pretty intense so we decided to find some shelter and since the weather brought with it a powerful wind and complete darkness it was impossible to fly so we had to walk and trust me it was no simple thing"

" It looks like your life has to be filled with some kind of adventure all the time Spyro"

" Yeah it never gets boring around him, he is jinxed I tell you" Cynder added with a quizzical smile

"I've never heard you complaining" Spyro remarked her

"Loudly you mean" she snickered" Somebody has to keep an eye on you otherwise you will end up drowning in a puddle of water"

He looked at her just to see her wink, Spyro smiled and shook his head " Anyway we kept walking until we reached a very steep terrain from which we both slid, eventually Cynder reached a ramp that threw her off the cliff while I crashed with that huge ancient tree. Luckily-"

Meadow clapped his hands startling both dragons " A huge tree! Was it arched from an edge of that hill? Did it had thick, long roots and an extremely big crown?"

" That's the one, why?"

The cheetah laughed merrily " We for sure now know that you are not jinxed, look" Meadow turned around and pointed at something. They followed his hint and squinted to , there was a barely noticeable form of a tree ahead that was arched from an end of a tall slope. A tree they both were very familiar with.

" That was no coincidence that you found yourself there. Every cheetah village is built with one thing in mind- to be able to spot the tree from the settlement. Because you see, the tree is important for us cheetahs. It's a symbol of protection, hope and good fortune, we call it..." Meadow clapped his hands once more " I have a better idea! We trade stories, you will tell us about your fight with Malefor and I will tell you all about that tree when we get there"

Spyro cocked his head " Get where? You never said where we are going"

Meadow chuckled " Patience Spyro, patience we are almost there"

Spyro shrugged " Ok then" he looked around the village and every time his head moved his natural curiosity was getting the upper hand " There is one thing that bothers me though, where are all the people? This place looks deserted"

" That's because almost all of our warriors, crafters and many other cheetahs are staying in Warfang helping in rebuilding the city"

" Really? I'm surprised that the Chief agreed to that"

Meadow sneered and scratched his nose " In fact he didn't"

Spyro jerked back in surprise "How so?" he smirked " You tricked him, didn't you?"

" I would never do such a thing" they stared at each other for a while and chuckled simultaneously moments later " We are allies whether he likes it or not so when he was not looking I told our warriors to stay in Warfang and help the dragons since we owe you that much." Meadow's smile grew wider " When Prawlus found out about it we had a little talk but I won't quote what he said because I have some good manners, let's just say he didn't agree with me"

Spyro couldn't stop smiling, it wasn't nice but he was actually happy that someone cut The Chief down to size. With a shake of his head he threw away all that glee and focused anew" How is Warfang doing?"

"I don't know, I had no news from the city for a while"

Spyro looked around the walls, seeing many cheetahs walking back and forth on them " There is quite a big number of guards here"

Meadow sighed resigned "Prawlus' idea, his distrustful nature made him to place every free warrior on the wall"

"Have you been attacked lately?"

" We didn't, that's the whole point, I'm sure we would hear from Warfang if the Dark Army decided to advance"

"Better safe than sorry they say" Spyro quipped

"Ha! I agree, but we should have some common sense, we are-"

"Cynder" the sound of someone calling her name rang in her skull blocking every sound. She stopped just to see Meadow and Spyro walking down the road like they never heard anything. From what she could say they were still talking but she couldn't make out any words, it's not like she cared anyway, the sound of her name coming from one of the side roads was far more interesting.

With the last glance ahead she decided to leave them to their conversation, she'll catch up with them later. Determined, Cynder scuttled down one of the side roads, the sound of her name still pounding in her head. Rows of buildings stood at both sides of the road, most of them closed, she kept walking through some sort of a living district if you can say that a village has one in the first place. One thing was sure though, the cheetahs here kept together, the houses were close to one another and neighbors just could peer through a window just standing safely in his own four walls. The houses were so close that one could say that the cheetahs lived here like a one big family, everyone knowing everything about everyone yet not spreading any false rumors around, respecting each other's privacy and private life.

"Why always me?!" a high indignant female voice reached Cynder, it bounced from wall to wall down the road leaving a barely hearable echo behind it. The sound instantly got her attention, she started to walk towards it without even a moment to think about it. She turned and walked down another side road that ran between the houses just to round a corner and find herself on another path, even when there was no sound reaching her now Cynder had a hunch that she is going in the right direction, her instinct the only guide she ever needed.

" Those are the rules!" another noise reached her, this time however it was a high male voice that seemed to admonish the female one. Cynder sped up, the sound only confirmed that her instinct was right once again and from the looks of it she wasn't very far from the source of this noise. She rounded a corner, and dashed down a path just to turn on an another corner, it was then when she finally found the source of this noise.

Cynder stopped next to a buildings with her eyes fixed on the image ahead. She found a small green patch of land between the houses, what really interested her was the sight of a small group standing on it. There were three children talking with each other, one of them was a petite female dragon hatchling. She had very bright azure scales, two tiny fawn horns protruding from her temples forming a lateral spiral, two small azure wings with fawn membranes, a tail with tiny aquamarine spines on its end and a tip of the same color that looked like the triangular tip of a sword.

Two cheetah cubs accompanied her, their fur was mostly still white since in this age it lacked the typical sharp orange color. One of them wore a green shirt, light brown pants and shoes of the same color, while the other had a dark grey with specks of brown shirt, green pants and brown shoes. Their garment was pretty common but those were kids they couldn't care less what they were wearing. The cheetahs differed in some other ways also, the cub with the green shirt had a quite a big black spot in the middle of his forehead, there were many others spots around but none of them was so conspicuous as that single one. The other cub however had an extremely black fur around his eyes that looked like a pair of ink stains against the white background of his fur.

Many branches were scattered all around them, some were bigger than the others but all of them were quite thick without any sharp edges. Three cloaks laid on the grass, a yellow and a purple one were quite small yet they would fit perfectly on kids just like those two cheetah cubs here. The third cloak however was completely black and a bit larger than the previous two. Some leather bracelets littered the ground, not far from she could see two small leather helmets with some holes in them. The children were prepared for whatever they were doing pretty nicely.

"That's not fair!" the blue petite dragoness exclaimed irritated

" It is!" shouted the cub in green shirt

She snorted " Nu-uh! You cheat!"

The cheetah with mottled grey shirt burst out laughing "Hahahaha! You are stupid Az! Stupid, stupid, stupid! We don't cheat!"

" You are stupid! You cheat because you would loose hahahaha!"

The cheetah with the big spot on his forehead pointed his finger at her " Az is going to cry, Az is going to cry!" the cub kept repeating mockingly the same words

" Shut up Dot!" the dragoness shouted even more loudly " You should be dead , I killed you with my poison breath!"

" No, you didn't, Sparx healed me!"

"He can't do that!"

"Yes I can!" the second cub yelled "That was one of my secret powers!"

The azure dragoness burst out laughing" Since when you have secret powers Black eye?"

"I had them in this fight!"

" Then you should be dead because I used my super shadow breath!"

The cub named Dot frowned " You can't use your super powers cheater!"

The dragoness hissed angrily "Why?"

"Because you get super powers after four wins, those are the rules!"

"You never told me about that rule before!"

Black eye laughed" You are stupid Az, we told you about them but you never listen"

"Those rules are stupid! I don't want them anymore!"

"Az is going to cry! Az is going to cry!" Dot mocked the dragoness once more

The petite hatchling roared" Dot, shut up! You wouldn't defeat me without your super powers!"

Both cubs laughed hysterically "Yeah right"

Cynder observed the arguing children with a broad smile, three friends shouting at each other practically for no reason, yet for them it was a matter of honor. She wished she had their problems, everything would be simple then, even if they looked angry they seemed happy and innocent, enjoying each other's company and the time they spent on playing, after all that was all that mattered during childhood.

Childhood this word rang in her head and Cynder's smiled vanished completely when realization struck her that she was stripped of her childhood. She didn't knew what argument means since from the very beginning she was taught that the decision of her Master is unquestionable, she didn't knew what playing means since she never touched a toy in her hatchling years. She didn't knew what friend means since she never had any, she didn't knew what innocence means since she killed from the moment when her eyes opened. Cynder felt as a void filled her guts, she felt empty just like something was stolen from her that should never been moved in the first place, something that can't be returned. Only emptiness remained in that place, an emptiness that can never be filled even if she really wanted to.

"Fine!" the hatchling exclaimed indignantly "I've lost, but this time I want to be someone else and I will have super powers too hahaha!"

The cub with the big spot on his forehead frowned "You can't be someone else! Those are the rules!"

"No! Those rules suck, I don't want to be Cynder! the dragoness stomped her paw on the ground in protest

Cynder cocked her head at the sound of her name, she was completely surprised that she was a topic in a kids argument but nevertheless curiosity roused in her. Even if the children were only playing she still wanted to know what role she had in their little game, yet she didn't want to intrude . There was a battle going on inside Cynder's head between her carefulness and eagerness,and it was a fierce one. Sometimes her caution got the upper hand and she decided to leave the children alone, maybe she doesn't want to know anything about it in the first place.

She took a few steps back slowly hiding behind the wall of a house, it was then when her curiosity counter-attacked making her stop. Cynder scratched the ground nervously with her paw as her emotions battled in her head in a last final confrontation. "Screw it" Cynder muttered and felt as her curiosity struck a decisive blow making its enemy vanish completely, she retraced her steps and just when she was about to round the corner she craned her neck just to make sure the children were still there, they were. Driven by her eagerness she rounded the corner and made few steps closer towards the kids so she could hear everything.

" You have no choice Stupid!" the cub with mottled grey shirt shouted irritably

" I don't want to be Cynder!" the dragoness shouted back at the top of her small lungs

" Then who do you want to be?"

" I want to be Spyro!"

Both cheetah cubs burst out laughing making the dragoness turn red from anger " You can't be Spyro!" yelled Dot when he managed to catch some breath

"Why?!"

" Because I'm Spyro! The rules say that only the winner can change Spyro for someone else if he wants to"

The hatchling hissed angrily "Ok so I will be Sparx!"

Black eye laughed again " You can't be Sparx because the rules say that when you save someone you can't leave this character"

No! I don't want to be evil Cynder again!"

" Those are the rules Az!"

She roared " Those rules are stupid!. I know! I'm going to change them!" the dragoness exclaimed happily

"You can't change the rules of the game!" Dot admonished her

"Why not?!"

"Because..." the cubs looked at each other in confusion, they gawked at their faces before turning towards the dragoness "...because they are the rules of the game and they are unchen.. unachen.. they can't be changed! You must be the ugly Cynder!"

"No! I don't want to be her" the hatchling stomped her paw on the ground once again

"Az you want to play with us or not?" Black eye said, clearly tired of this argument

There was a moment of silence as the dragoness was fighting with her thoughts "Fine!" she finally exclaimed " I'll play this stupid game, I'll follow this stupid rules and I will be this stupid Cynder! Just don't cheat!"

Those were the words all of them were waiting for even if not everything was as one of them thought will be. The cubs threw the cloaks on them pinning the capes to their shirts, the petite dragoness uncomfortably threw the black cloak onto her and tied it under her neck so it won't fall down. Black eye wore the yellow cloak while Dot had a purple one, he also wore a leather helmet with two branches protruding from it. Az put the seconds leather helmet on her head and wrapped two leather bracelets on her two front paws. Afterwards she stuck a branch into one of the helmet holes, it was a perfect fit. She kept putting branches into it until there was five of them protruding from her helmet. With everything on its right place she looked meaningfully at the cubs.

Black eye frowned " How many times I told you that Cynder had four horns"

"She had five!" the dragoness exclaimed

"Nu-uh!"

"She had five that way she looked more ugly and scary"

" I tell you she had four!"

" Nu-uh!"

" Uh huh, four!"

"Nu-uh, five!"

They kept arguing until they heard the sound of a female voice" Actually...." Cynder made her way towards the hatchling"... she had six" with that she picked one of the branches and stuck it into the helmet

The azure dragoness ran her claw across her six wooden horns and grinned "I've told you she had six!"

"Liar!" Black eye exclaimed " You said she had five!"

"And you said she had four! I was closer to the truth, who is stupid now?!"

"Whatever, they don't do anything anyway"

Az laughed wryly "Do nothing?! With my new horn I'm even more scary than before, now I don't need any super powers to win!"

" I don't know, you still look the same to me" Dot stated unconvincingly

"Yeah right, if a real Cynder was here you would run away, crying"

The cub frowned " I wouldn't run away!"

The dragoness smirked " You would"

"Yeah? And what about you? You would run away I'm sure of it!"

Az snorted " Me? Never. I know how fear power works and with this new horn I will never lose!" she looked at Cynder grinning proudly" Thank you"

She giggled" No need to thank me I'm just happy to-"

"CYNDER!" the sound of a familiar male voice calling her name caught her attention

"I'm coming!" she yelled loudly before returning to look at the kids again. All of them stared at her with huge eyes and their mouths dropped open. Cynder smiled at them kindly and prepared to ask them a question, however the moment she opened her mouth and exhaled some air the kids screamed at the top of their lungs and scattered in every direction squeaking as they did so. Cynder surprised eyes followed one of the cheetah cubs, she saw as he ran as fast as he could until he reached a female leg, Hiding behind it he started tugging the skirt mumbling something quickly and gesticulating towards her, when Cynder's eyes met with the female cheetah the feline gave her a scornful look, the look of an insulted mother. When she saw that look Cynder's eyes went wide as she suddenly felt guilty, bending on her paws and with her tail between her legs she turned around quickly and dashed towards the male shout just like a child who did something wrong and wanted to ran away just to avoid punishment.

"Where have you been?" Spyro asked with a palpable surprise in his voice when she emerged from a side road"

"What?" Cynder blurt out ironically " A girl can't have some privacy?"

He smiled shyly " I was worried, with everything that was happening lately I thought...you know"

" I'm fine, but I appreciate the concern" she smiled charmingly

They stared at each other before continuing their walk. They found themselves in the centre of the village, a familiar well only confirmed their assumptions. Both dragons kept walking ahead until they noticed Meadow standing near the doors to a big building with many windows and a black smoke rising from the chimney, he waved for them to come closer. When they did, Meadow opened the doors and invited them in with a nod of his head and a friendly smile.