FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

Even before he truly reached his destination the influence of the continent to which he was heading was spread by the constantly blowing wind as some radiation cloud. The cold, nearly bone freezing and if you're not careful, deadly influence was like the most intimidating of invitations.

Dante's Freezer.

Dragon Realms are truly a majestic world, there is place for everyone here, no matter the differences everyone can find a place here, be it fauna as well as flora. As a scout it was his duty to rely on nature, consider its wishes and listen to its warming, only then it offers the cloak his profession so desperately needs.

Nature is like a dragon, beautiful and deadly at the same time, imposing when need be, but serene most of the time. Loving and scary and always dangerous. And just like dragons he found nature fascinating, to see that its single whim is enough to change the area around completely from lush green to solid ice, changing the surrounding life as a result is worthy of respect.

Only a true fool would ignore that.

When a cold breeze blew from the approaching frozen continent Hunter chuckled when on his provisional raft he crossed the practically still river. Even despite his fur and two coats, one he bought while still in the green area around Warfang, the freezing cold fingers still played on his bones. Making his every limb twist with a cracking sound of bone as if he was hundred years old and his body on the mercy of rheumatism.

Clearly nature, in all its magnificent glory didn't care if you respect its power or not. Living on the land it has to offer means equality. Whether you accept it or not.

There were times when he couldn't accept this simple fact.

Like many other things.

*

"This is stupid!" he exclaimed, kicking with his leg so fiercely that a part of grassy earth got ripped off the soil

Only the sound of teeth biting off a chunk of apple was heard

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" his protests seemed to have no end

"The only thing..." he spun around so fiercely at the sound of the feminine voice that his feet started to burn, wrinkles of fury adorning his young furry face

"...that is stupid around here is you"

His blue eyes burned with youthful rage as he glared at his trainer, taking every inch of her figure into a furious and unfair scolding examination. She didn't seem to mind his specific attention, as if expecting it or already being used to his behavior. Her covered in hide armor body was like an insulting display of her feelings, calm and unmoved, filled with ignorance as her back was leaning against a trunk of a massive tree.

And the annoying sound of her biting on the fruit that made his young sensitive ears flicker in aggravation!

And that wasn't the worst of it.

_ His ears just couldn't stop bouncing to the noise of her moving teeth as she was munching the apple._

"Could you stop doing that!" he blurt out, small razor sharp teeth in full display during the roar, his pointy ears tightly gripped in his hands as he pulled them down

She swallowed just to take quite a considerable bite soon after.

He growled, fur bristled on the back of his neck. "When I'll be chief I won't tolerate such behavior! I'll make you regret everything!"

Both of her ears straightened up together with her brown eyes growing wide as she looked at him. The apple she was chewing on stopped moving inside her mouth, the hand holding the fruit fell limply to her side.

He stared at her, triumphant and snarling at her well-deserved shock caused by the fact that his intimidating protest got inside her tick skull.

And then she burst out laughing.

His head jerked back impulsively and so suddenly that he heard delicate sounds of vertebrae that make up the spinal cord around his neck area snapping. Nothing remained of his aura of dominance and imagined authority. The held down ears shot straight back up, hands rose up defensively, not to mention that his eyes definitely radiated fear instead of confidence.

He was so strongly smitten by shock to which he so badly wanted his trainer to fall prey to that he didn't even mind that pieces of the chewed fruit bounced of his nose and the combination of saliva and apple's juices moistened his whiskers.

"Blessed ones be damned!" she squeaked in between laughs, dropping the apple, she clenched her hand and pressed her gloved fist to her mouth tom muffle the fierce coughs that began tormenting her throat

While still being ravaged by amused coughs her other hand rose up and a forefinger straightened up, the clawed tip of which pointed directly at him.

"I should have made an assassin out of you!" she uttered between dying coughs, before pressing the recently used fist to her breastbone while tasking a deep whizz of air

"Oh boy! Such talent" she giggled, letting out the recently inhaled breath "You almost choked me!"

The significance of this situation finally got to him, the earlier dumbfoundedness was replaced by another, yet this time less cocky, show of anger.

He stomped his foot on the ground.

Not even the grass reacted to the gust of wind his leg created.

"I'm not kidding!"

"Neither am I" she replied, poking the earring on her left ear delicately, the tiny emerald in its socket gleamed with each gentle swing

She folded her arms below her breasts "You do have talent"

Whatever sign of good humor decorating her expression vanished into the morning sky.

There's was hardly time for a chit chat with her, meaningless and friendly dialogs didn't exist between them. Thanks to the uncountable amounts of hours, whether he liked it or not, that they spent with each other taught him to be watchful for certain signs.

Signs that foreshadow business.

And there were lot of them.

Like this one for example.

He learnt that during this periods of tutoring, which usually meant practically the whole day, there is no room for his young spirit to rebel. So harshly and rudely that is, she accepted his disagreement towards certain aspects of his lessons, as any good tutor would, but there was a line that she never did allow him to cross.

It was a fair bargain, when he really thought about it.

And what's most important, it was a sincere trade.

That is why her words, which would seem mocking to many considering the rest of her sentence, filled him with a certain amount of pride instead of pushing his youthful spirit into a chaotic, blabbering rampage.

He crossed his arms on his chest, looking at her with corner of his eyes while rubbing his left elbow shyly.

"I do?"

"Oh yes, it's not the sense of tact however" she removed her arms from her chest, only to point at the middle of her armor where a symbol of a bear claw was sewn into her outfit

"You should think twice when you start spilling out threats, otherwise a lesson you will never forget, or probably never get the chance to repeat will happen"

He frowned "So what? I should always agree with people so I won't make them mad?"

"I didn't say that, provocation is as good weapon as any steel, yet it has to be applied with care, not like you did now" she pointed at him "You're a Falcon" she aimed her thumb at herself "I'm a Bear"

And then suddenly, even before his eyes could properly record what is happening she reached behind her back swiftly, removing the spear that was neatly folded there. With a blurry, quick twists of her hands and wrists the pointy end of the wooden weapon found itself inches from his body.

He only retreated when the sharp tip gently poked his chest.

He stared at his tutor with wide eyes as he rubbed the recently stung spot, a good jump away from the weapon this time.

"From this distance I would pluck your feathers boy and rip you to pieces"

He observed as she practically with the same turns of her hands and wrists withdrew her weapon back, following the same path it used to get here but this time backwards, yet instead of returning to its original spot the weapon was impaled into the ground right next to her.

"Just because you belong to a different clan doesn't mean I couldn't defeat you in melee if our skills would be comparable"

She looked at him curiously, leaning against the tree once more.

"Oh? Have you been sleeping on your history lessons?"

"History has nothing do with it" he sighed seeing her unchanged reaction "Look, relying on symbols and tales of old makes us limited. We learn that we make lousy fighters just because we're Falcons, that's wrong, we can be as good melee combatant as any other warrior out there. We don't need categorizing and symbolism to dictate who we have to be, a single stupid tree for example shouldn't be responsible for telling if our people have a future or not. It's just a tree!"

He turned around, spreading his arms wide as he spun "I don't need also this! I don't have to dig through mud, don't have to eat worms, or roll in the dirt! I will be chief, far above any of this and I will bring change!"

His fiery, blue yes once more landed on his tutor "No more stupid superstitions! Under my rule we will be the masters of our own fate, no symbols or nature will tell us how to live! This-"

"Hush" she raised her hand

He wasn't sure why, but whenever she hushed him he always complied, it wasn't different this time either. The words of protest, or whatever people want to call them, turned into nothing than a whizz of his own breath. The hush rendering them meaningless and worthless.

"This is the culture of our people you are judging here" she continued, eyeing him intently "Whatever your beliefs may be you have no right to discard years of formed customs of our society on a whim. We cheetahs are our own country, our own religion, a colorful oddity in this dragon infested world. Our society thrived on the beliefs we ourselves formed when all the rest was plunged into blind dragon worship, this fact alone should be respected"

"I've spoken with the dragon that visited us recently for very long and learnt many interesting things, like lack of any limitations. They do not worship trees or gods, they pay their respects to their Ancestors, dragons who actually lived, passed and erected a milestone in their lives so to speak. They do not worship them, they live as they always did, not following in anyone's paws but living their own lives. A healthy approach to life"

She snorted "They have no faith, and faith is not a limitation but strength, it pushes you beyond your limits, you do things you would never think you are capable of in the name of it. Those dragons you revere so much don't believe in anything, but their own heroes and leaders. During battle if they fall their morale is hindered, when our leaders fall we press onwards, because we don't believe in people, but in what they represent. Symbolism, faith regarding those symbols, this is what drives us"

She tapped her finger against the bear claw on her armor "This doesn't mean I'm a berserker just like your feather doesn't mean that you are a stalker. This our the symbols of our people, the claw is strength, the feather is cunning. We're like the limbs of the same body"

He looked down, sliding his hand underneath his shirt and yanking it forward, getting a good look on the bird's feather sewn into his clothing.

"If that's the case than the loss of one cripples the rest. Where's the strength in that? As individuals we would never have been slowed down"

"We would never have been strong either" she looked up at the sky through the dancing leaves of trees above and sighed deeply

"Faith Hunter is something beyond explanations of mere cats like you and I. You either have it or you don't, whether it gives you strength or weakens you...let's leave that for life to decide"

"I would rather not. As chief-"

"What if you won't become chief?" she cut him off, aiming her brown eyes at him

He jerked his head back, ears straightening up once more "What?"

"Did you forget already that you have a competitor for the seat? Just a hint, I'm tutoring both of you"

"Prowlus?!" he growled, nose wrinkled by an angry snarl "You think Prowlus is better than me?"

She shook her head "You younglings have a strange habit of putting words in my mouth" she gestured at the wood surrounding them "Why do you think we are here?"

He followed her silent hint and looked around, commenting his surroundings with a shrug.

"It has something to do with symbolism again?" he uttered, words coming out of his mouth with a tired sigh

"Not the way you think at least" she pushed away from the tree, gently moseying across the grassy ground, hands folded behind her back

"Here, in nature's embrace it doesn't matter if you're a god, king or a chief. Here we are all equals"

He eyed her with a smirk "Equals you say? Then how about you tell me your name?"

She stopped, looking at the ground, if her intention was to hide her reaction by playing with her earring she was doing a poor job at it. Even through her moving hand he noticed her smiling.

"You're a Falcon, whether you accept it or not" her brown eyes returned at him, the seriousness he got so used to see returned back to adorn her expression

"I allow you to address me like we are good acquaintances, this is enough for now. Maybe in the future, when your lessons will be over it will change. If you think that it's unfair and I'm being a hypocrite, don't bother, I don't care. We will keep this professional, this was the agreement and I'm not planning to change it"

He nodded "Fine. What were you saying about nature again?"

"You have a talent for listening to nature's wishes, obeying its rules, even if you don't really know it"

"You're referring to that hunt for a rabbit? I've crawled through every possible hole, dirt and mud was filling my ears and even after all this torment it still escaped. If these are the nature's wishes I rather stay far away from them"

"Tell me this Hunter, what will you do if you fail in the race for the throne? Or you decide that it's not worth it?"

"I will never quit!" he protested

"Okay then. What will you do if you fail?"

"I..." another sound of protest died somewhere deep inside his throat, the result of which forced his hand to rub the back of his neck

"I never thought about it. I just know that I can win against Prowlus, I'm better than him"

She folded her arms "I see. So let's call what we did here an alternative, a plan B if you will"

"Isn't this a waste of time? Shouldn't you focus on preparing me for the chief position foremost?"

"Is my hearing going bad or you're teaching me how should I be doing my job?"

Her stern response forced him to look at the ground, his hands started to rub against each other in shame.

"No...of course not"

"Good. Now catch"

His ears bounced on top of his skull even if they were flattened against it, sound similar to that of a flipping coin rang inside his head. Instinctively he threw his hand up, just in time to grab something flying through the air. His pointy ears immediately went up as he dragged the clenched fist in front of his blue eyes and opened his palm, revealing a small, round object within.

It was a coin of sorts, from both sides colored in the same way. Black and white filled the round object, the colors seemed to be in some sort of unity, each of them occupied exactly half of the coin, the only distinctive thing about them was the fact that a white circle was located on the black color, while the similar black orb was on the white hue. The two colors filled the coin in such a way that they resembled a painter's palette.

"What is this?" he asked, eying the object curiously

"That's a yin yang symbol"

He looked up at her, contempt clearly visible in his eyes.

"Another symbol..." he whined

"It's yours now"

"Why? Didn't you hear what I said?"

She once more leaned against the tree with a mysterious smile.

"You're going to need it"

The hand holding the tiny object dropped limply to his side "I don't care about symbols"

She shrugged "Perhaps you don't, but that doesn't mean you can't give it a chance, yes?"

He sighed, deep inside knowing that he was on the losing side of this argument, there was absolutely no possibility he would convince his teacher to see his point of view. All he could do right now was to play along.

"What does it represent?" he asked uninterested

"The symbol was passed through generations I was told, until it founds its way to my clan. It accompanied me through some of my very difficult journeys, journeys necessary for my profession. I don't knows it's true meaning, but when I received it all I heard was one line"

"Hope will always be with you"

"Hope will always be with you?" he repeated "That's it?"

She nodded "Pretty much"

"Not much symbolism there. Why I'm going to need it anyway?"

"You'll going to need a companion on your lonely adventures"

He snickered "I will never be lonely, as chief I will surround myself with many people, probably too many to count"

"If you decide in the future that you no longer need it, simply throw it away"

"That future you speak of will arrive sooner than you think"

She smiled, pulling her spear out of the ground.

"We'll see about that"

*

Hunter gasped when an extremely cold gust of wind brought him back from the memory lane. His whole body shivered fiercely, partially because the wind was really cold, but mostly because he felt like his soul was pulled back into his flesh.

A large shadow grew over his raft, fingers that rubbed the yin yang symbol withdrew from underneath the first coat and impulsively grabbed the wooden frame of the bow on his back.

He raised his gaze and without even knowing it his mouth parted open. The massive fortress surrounding practically the whole island was looming over him like some sort of a golem. He couldn't get his eyes off the structure, he only saw it from a distance before and now it was at hand's reach.

Then suddenly the wooden ground started to shake under him violently, almost toppling him over. The sound of breaking ice rumbled inside his skull. The shaking lasted for a while and then it stopped, with the noise of splintering wood the raft halted its destructive sea floating.

He reached his destination.

Rearranging his equipment Hunter looked up once more, the fortress was intimidating and important, yet it already left its mark on the cards of history. Today was not the time when the history will be re-told, his destination lied past the fort. His destination was the cloud of darkness behind.

He had an unquenchable feeling that whatever he finds there will be the revealed deck of cards of the history they are writing right now. Cards are on the table, after today it will be up to them what hand they are going to play.

Hunter made his first step, his leg crunched the snow below. He continued onwards, feeling uneasy, sensing, but not truly believing, that his small step was a stride in today's history of the Dragon Realms.

*

"He is right in front of us" Cynder said, her eyes never leaving the supernatural creature ahead, creature that seemed to be uninterested in absolutely everything, even in her. That simple hunch wasn't changed even by the fact that he was looking straight at her

Spyro focused, tried in every way possible to see a silhouette or at least some kind of ripples in the air which would betray an invisible creature.

There was no such thing.

"I see only an empty room"

"This confrontation will be difficult" boomed the dragon's voice

"This is so unreal" Spyro continued

"I warned you Sugar"

"Nothing good will come out of it"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

"Is he still there?"

"Are you certain Sugar that you need me?"

"Of course he is, he wouldn't just disappear when you just called him, right?"

"I like-"

"Stop!" Cynder yelled, throwing her paw up, she didn't even notice if both dragons gave her any sort of confused stare. Her paw immediately found its way to her forehead and began to rub it intensely, trying to calm the rumbling echo of both draconic voices bouncing inside her skull

"We'll get nowhere like this. From now on one it is one dragon at a time. Everyone gets their turn to speak" she turned her attention towards Spyro "Please?"

He stared at her, there was no better way to explain this, he was staring. In disbelief, shock, she couldn't find the right word, he looked at her like at some kind of freak. She didn't blame him, after all how many times someone asks you to wait until someone stops talking with himself.

Most likely despite his better judgment he nodded. His consent, as innocent as it was, filled her with joy, worry and a peculiar wonder. Is there anything he wouldn't do for her?

Her gaze fell on the shadowy dragon next.

"Is it ok Creep?"

He did not react, as always, she wasn't sure if he didn't understand the question, agreed with her in his own specific way or simply ignored her words. Whatever the case may be, she took that for a yes.

Spyro cleared his throat, breaking the silence that befell on the room.

"May I ask something?"

She turned towards him, it was clear that this whole situation was uncomfortable for him, his restless eyes shifting from side to side, as if trying to find the right dialogue participant, betrayed him. Yet he fought as best as he could with that discomfort.

It made her smile reassuringly.

"Of course you can"

Yet another uneasy shift of his amethyst orbs.

"Why you can only see it...I mean him?"

"I believe Creep is better suited to answer that question"

Both their attentions focused on the supernatural drake...well as best as Spyro could manage to focus.

The dragon remained silent, his unblinking, fixed brown stare was unnerving, taking nothing into consideration except her.

"Creep?" she asked, sounding surprisingly calm

"Sugar?"

"Didn't you hear what Spyro said?"

The dragon didn't even offer her partner a fleeting glance.

"I am here because you need me. I like you Sugar"

"Fine. Why can I see you while Spyro can't?"

"This projection is for your eyes only"

Cynder sighed.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked concerned

"He might be a supernatural being, but it is so difficult to talk with him. You need to ask the right questions or you get stuck in a stupid circle with only two even stupider answers. Like we did right now"

"What kind of answers"

"This projection is for your eyes only" she poorly mimicked the dragon's low, hollow voice "or more popular..." she cleared her throat "We are one" another pitiful mimicking attempt

The dragon didn't mind from the looks of it.

Spyro cocked his head "We are one? What does that mean? He's a part of you or something?"

"Are you part of me?" she addressed the dark drake

"No"

Cynder shook her head.

"No?" there was surprise in his voice, but also that powerful tone of relief "Then what does it mean?"

"I already asked him those questions, the answer never changes, it's always we are one. You are one too if it makes you feel better"

"Me?"

"Yep. You are not the same, but you are one, like everyone else I think"

"Not the same how?"

Cynder shrugged and once more shifted her attention to the magical dragon.

"Why is Spyro not the same?"

"I don't like him" Creep replied emotionlessly

The answer caught her by surprise, at first she was mad and filled with a more overpowering feeling of distrust towards the dragon. However when seconds flew by everything started to make more sense, she remembered the deal they made first time they talked. The realization made surprise go away, yet the mistrust and alertness remained.

"You're not the same because he..." she made a pause, licking her lips "...doesn't love you"

Cynder noticed his eyes growing wide, it was obvious he didn't know what to say, or perhaps he couldn't decide on one idea of most likely hundreds flying through his head right now, if the steam wafting from his nose was any clue to his hard thinking that is.

"Well... I should have expected it" he stated calmly

His words and the way he said them made her head tilt back.

"I fell in love with a magnificent girl, it's normal you have other suitors, there aren't many who could simply ignore you. Fate wanted an invisible, mind haunting, supernatural creature to be my competitor, guess after Malefor he would be next in line to make my life gg interesting"

He shrugged with a smile "Bad luck seems to be part of my life style"

Each word struck her directly in the heart, the longer she listened to him the more she couldn't believe that they are a couple. It was clear as day that her revelation freaked him out, yet he didn't allow himself to give in to that feeling. Knowing that it would make things only more difficult for both of them.

Instead he turned it all into a joke and he did it all for her.

That was also clear as day.

"Thank you Spyro" Cynder commented with a voice ringing with loving and grateful attention "I'll make it up to you I swear"

He smiled, a honest lighthearted smile, yet a delicate hint of nervousness still found its way through the peace.

"Seems only fair that I look into the eyes of my competitor so I can judge my chances"

"I'm challenging him for a battle of stares, nothing else"

She smiled inwardly, proud of him, he is listening to her advice, he is trying to face this peculiar evil, not waiting for it to act first. The ball is on Creep's side, and a literal creature like him can have problems seeing through the cleverness.

Her attention shifted to the black dragon, she had her mouth opened, prepared to say something, but no words came out. Her hesitation was caused by the stupidest of things that she most likely imagined and even if she didn't, she shouldn't be worried.

And yet, strangely, she was.

She could swear that usually unmoving brown eyes of the dragon moved, she could see the orbs jerking back to their original place the moment she looked at him. Everything would be the same if not for the gentle shaking.

As if he was making the impression of a prey stuck in a web made by a spider that were her eyes. Pretending to be helpless while she watched him, but shaking the web when she wasn't looking to eventually shift the fake roles finally.

"Do you hear what Spyro says?" she asked, narrowing her eyes on the dragon, she trusted her intuition. Creep ignored Spyro this whole time like he couldn't hear him or see him and yet she saw something completely different.

A creature that supposedly didn't lie to her once. A perfect test.

"Yes" the dragon answered

He passed, yet still it didn't make her any calmer.

Why?

Did she wanted him to say no?

"Do you accept his challenge then?" Cynder continued

"No"

"No?" she repeated after the drake, eyeing Spyro curiously "Why?"

"I am here because you need me Sugar. I am here for you only"

"He says he won't do anything, because I'm the one that needs him and he is here for me only"

Spyro bit his lip the moment she related the last word, he stared into the distance thoughtfully.

"Soooo...tell him to show himself to me, tell him that this is what you need"

Cynder nodded impressed, this actually sounded like a very good idea. Kill the dragon with its own sword solution so to speak.

Very clever.

Her emerald orbs moved once again, she could feel a delicate, annoying drilling deep inside her, a protest of her nerves to finally stop moving. The unnerving feeling was gone the moment her gaze landed on the supernatural dragon, a silent gasp escaped her throat.

This time she wasn't imagining things, Creep was definitely looking at Spyro, which despite the fact that he's invisible to her partner, he's still a part of this conversation, actively listening to what Spyro has to say whether he likes it or not.

There was hardly anything to find in the shadowy dragon's expression except a blank, emotionless stare. This time was no different and yet she felt a cold finger of fear creeping along her spine.

When his brown eyes focused on her again the feeling of dread only intensified, his stare was technically normal and creepy as usual, his snout with no trace of expression. However the longer she gazed at him the image of his snout began to shift and soften, as if her eyes were beginning to fall asleep.

Only to be awaken to the sight of her own image appearing ahead, the silhouette carried the features of Creep, however his head was no longer his, but hers.

She was staring into her own, twisted reflection.

And that second Cynder had her brown eyes narrowed on her, her expression wasn't blank and empty as Creep's. The snout ahead was wrinkled by a threatening snarl, wrath mixed with a hint of fear, as if the strange figure ahead was pushed against the wall by her, knowing that it will die, but also warning that if she makes the fatal swing she will regret it.

Whether that threat was real and if it was real, just how much believable it was, didn't matter currently. All she could think of was the snout's moving lips. The second Cynder was speaking a silent monologue, so easily to read from the moving mouth.

Don't you dare.

"Cynder?"

She blinked at the sound of Spyro's voice, her eyes were still aimed at Creep, the old, cold and scary Creep as she knew.

"Can you-"

"This is not what you need" Creep cut her off, his voice seemed to rumble louder than ever

His interruption didn't surprise her as much as she thought it will, instead of shock most of her attention circled around one other sensation.

Suspicion.

"And just how do you know what I need?" she hissed

Spyro looked at her curiously.

"Because we are-"

"No!" she blurt out, the shadow underneath the dragon's paws seemed to cringe slightly

A purple tail next to her side started to slide uneasily from side to side.

"I don't want to hear the same excuse over and over again! I want you to show yourself to Spyro, because...because...I. Like. Him!"

"I cannot do that. This projection is for your eyes only"

"Then show him a different projection!"

Creep visibly retreated, the backward step caused the black tendrils below hiss and snap like angry snakes before evaporating completely. During his withdrawal Cynder noticed his brown eyes giving Spyro another one of those looks that she didn't like so much.

However this time the gaze seemed to be completely different than the last couple of ones she seen, from the outside it looked like always, emotionless and distant, but she sensed there was something else behind it. The almost aggressively swirling shadows from below the dragon's paws only solidified her argument.

"I cannot like him Sugar"

Cynder jerked her head back "What does that mean? Why can't you like Spyro?"

The mentioned dragon licked his lips apprehensively "Is there a problem?"

"I don't know yet"

Creep turned his attention towards her, he seemed bored and frightened.

At least that's what her...intuition? Told her.

"My nature is complex, tied like a knot"

"You told me that already!" she shouted "I just want this conversation that we are having here to be more civil and...and normal! Is this really too much to ask? Just show yourself to Spyro and we'll be done with it"

"I CANNOT!" for the very first time Creep growled, from behind him, on the wall, rose the familiar shadowy silhouettes of the tentacles she observed swallowing the mole the other night

He grunted agonizingly, his features were wrinkled by a painful expression, claws dug into the sterile floor, shadows burst from underneath his paws. The shadowy tentacles on the wall hissed and started to shake violently as if they were on fire.

All she could do was to stare at him in horror.

It didn't escape Spyro's attention who pressed his body protectively to hers, the frantic beat of his heart clearly audible.

"What is happening?" he asked even despite the fact that he knew it was nothing good

"I..."

"KNOT" Creep growled, rising his gaze, his brown eyes were gone, the draconic eyelids were filled completely with dark and otherworldly oval shapes, so pitch black like the darkest of onyx

The sight made her gasp.

"Tied" he uttered with his normal voice once more, eyes shifted back to normal brown, however a stream of blood started to flow from one of the cracks on his legs, like a wound had just reopened

"Unravel it Sugar. Do not force to clasp"

"I'm not doing any such thing!" Cynder protested, voice filled "I only want-"

Creep howled painfully, wound after wound started to gush blood, legs wavered underneath him, but he kept on standing, clearly fighting a battle of sorts, a struggle she did not understand.

The horrific sound of that howl sent a powerful shiver through her whole body.

"What is going on?!" Spyro yelled, ready to pounce at anything that moves

"He's in pain!"

Another howl.

Cynder shook once more.

"Why?!"

"I don't know! It's like I'm forcing him to commit suicide"

"DO NOT CLASP. DO NOT DESTROY" the supernatural dragon's voice boomed like a thunder across the room as some other part of his scaly body burst open with a wet, loud smack

"How are you doing this?"

"I don't know!" she shouted again "I'm not doing anything!"

"THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED. THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU NEED"

"Creep! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"UNRAVEL THE KNOT. UNRAVEL THE KNOT. UNRAVEL THE KNOT"

Every rumbling voice came in between agonizing grunts, the pain was practically palpable. The dragon wavered, desperately fighting with the constantly weakening legs. More and more wounds cracked open, stream after stream of blood gushed through the holes. Shadows began to dance all around his form, as if trying to mend the injuries and keep him aloft as if the floor was an invisible drop into oblivion.

The dark tendrils were unable to control the havoc however.

"How?! What kind of knot?!" she shouted worryingly at the, what seemed like, dying creature

"IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE"

Cynder swallowed, all of these loud words, all so very peculiar.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cynder talk to me!" Spyro jumped in front of her eyes, judging from the glimmer inside his purple eyes he didn't like her reactions even a tiny bity

"Do we need to get out of here?"

"No. Wait" she gently pushed him to the side

She wasn't certain but Creep seemed to be looking a little bit healthier than some minutes ago, the wounds were still there of course, the shadows still busy mending them, but his cracked legs didn't shake so much anymore.

"IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE. IRIS. POWER. CONTROL. CLAW. ROT. MALEFOR. MEMORIES. APES. CHILDHOOD. BE WHOLE"

The longer she listened to the practically shouted words she slowly began to lose track of Creep's hollow voice. The male tone changed to a feminine one, to her own, his lips moved but she heard her own voice reciting the words inside her head. As if deep down that was what she really wanted to know, that is what she really wanted to talk about.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED. This is what you need. THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED. This is what you need"

Spyro jumped off the bed, stopping in a spot where he believed Creep was. His guess was almost accurate, if the dragon didn't move in the first place, Spyro's body would exactly join with the invisible, shadowy one.

"Ok Cynder, I no longer care if he shows up or not. I don't like how his presence is influencing you. You look both scared and worried at the same time, unfocused, not to mention that his complete reluctance to cooperate is suspicious to me. I propose you ask the questions and make him go away. As fast as possible if you can"

The sight of her partner made her forget about Creep completely, he was the only voice of reason in this whole mess.

"You're right, let's get this over with" Cynder looked past him, at the supernatural creature behind

Brown eyes were once again aimed at her alone, orbs belonging to the dragon she remembered, perfectly still and cold like a statue with no trace of blood. It was odd, but she didn't want to dwell on it.

"What is the meaning behind all these words you shouted earlier? Are they related with the fight with iris and the dream I had?"

"Yes"

She noticed Spyro opening his mouth, another question forming on his tongue, but he never uttered a word, instead deciding to listen. Deciding not to prolong this uncomfortable moment.

"Explain. What did you do to me in the training grounds?"

"You needed me Sugar, I protected you, I like you and will never allow to see you hurt. We were very weak Sugar, we were unable to vanquish our oppressor"

"I didn't want to kill her!"

The dragon cringed, together with the shadows dancing from below his paws.

"Required sacrifice. Had to act, had to protect. Death awaited if I did not. You must live Sugar. I like you"

"You took control over my body! This is an intrusion I just can't accept"

"Had to protect. Forced decision. Necessary one for Sugar to live"

"What did you do to her anyway?" she sat up on the bed, pushing one of her legs forward "What happened to my claw?"

"I offer power"

"How? You said you're not my element"

"We are one, this is the way it is"

Cynder sighed, during this exhale of air she thought of another appropriate question on how to proceed with the started topic. Her eyes accidently found Spyro, who simply didn't know what to do with himself. He kept shifting from leg to leg, stretching and folding his wings, eyes mostly focused on her but just as his legs occasionally shifting from side to side.

Not to mention that he scratched himself practically everywhere, as if every part of his body was itching him.

She smiled comfortingly at the sight.

"This will be over soon"

His chin raised up, his mouth opened, even from here she heard the gentle snapping sound of his jaw moving, as if his teeth were remembering how to form words that aren't filled with tones of terror and worry.

Spyro tried to return a smile but failed miserably.

"When this is over...just tell me about everything? In private" " his amethyst orbs scanned the room meaningfully

"REAL private"

She nodded, concentrating on the draconic being.

"Creep, are the dreams I'm having, especially the last one, true? What did you mean by saying childhood?"

"You know the answers to these questions. If confirmation is what you seek, then I can offer it. Those are not dreams, but memories"

"True! How much of it is true?" she asked, excitedly

The dragon stared at her for a second, then two, ten and twenty, all this time remaining silent, having obvious difficulties finding or properly thinking of a good answer.

"Those are not dreams, but memories" he replied eventually

"I've been running through a building filled with apes! Apes! Dragon killers and bloodthirsty mercenaries and none of them attacked me! They treated me like...like...I don't know! They were nice and good, mostly, how is that possible?"

Once again Creep offered her that emotionless and somewhat dumb look, once more he fell silent, but this time the break lasted longer and longer. It was clear that an answer wasn't coming.

"Speak!" Cynder demanded "How is it possible that the apes in my dream were good?"

"I do not understand"

She growled "You mentioned childhood, being whole. Did they were nice because you tricked me like you did in the pond? Made me see what I wanted to see?"

Even if she didn't concentrate on him now, she still heard Spyro swallowing hard.

"Death is far. No forced actions necessary. I never lie to you Sugar. I like you"

She shook her head with a sigh "Ok forget it. if that was my childhood I want to know more. Can you show me more?"

"You need to be made whole"

"With memories?"

"Yes, but not only childhood. Uncontrollable. I have power to lend, the holes fill on their own"

"Fine, whatever. I want to know my past, no matter how ugly it is"

Creep nodded and strangely when his head rose back up for a moment the features of his snout changed. For a brief second she was once again staring into the eyes of the second Cynder who was offering her the same gaze as Creep does. However it was not her eyes that were important but here lips, they were stretched, forming a thin line of a...

...smile?

"I have-" he abruptly stopped talking

The creature straightened up, now more than ever resembling a statue, his eyes aimed themselves at the wall of the room, the shadows from underneath his paws stretched and grew, reaching almost the half of his body where they danced and swayed in every direction. As some tentacles of a blind monster which was locating its prey by the delicate vibrations in the air.

"...failed?" he uttered, for the very first time looking sincerely confused

He turned towards her, both his eyes and tendrils of shadow aimed themselves at her.

"I am here" his voice was different, dazed would be the appropriate word

"I know you are here Creep. I see you" Cynder replied

"Not here. Corridor. Outside. Separate. Knot...where is the knot?" the tendrils slipped back below his paws, eyes once brown turned completely dark

"Sugar" with that last word, strangely ringing with suffering and disappointment, he disappeared in a puff of dark smoke

"Creep!" she shouted after him

He did not appear again.

"Creep!" she looked around the room

"What happened?" Spyro asked alarmed

"He...vanished" she looked at her partner dumbfounded

"That's a good thing, right?"

"I'm not sure...he acted weird. Said something about being here...Spyro, can you check out the corridor?"

"Corridor?" he impulsively looked at the door "Why?"

"He mentioned it, as if he was there"

"Alright I don't get it, but I won't try to understand. Are you sure you want to bother yourself with it?"

She shrugged "I feel it might be important"

"If he's really out there how will I be able to help? I can't see him"

"Just check it out, if there won't be anything out there come back here, whatever troubled him he will have to deal with it himself"

"I'm not leaving you here alone, in case he would come back I would like someone to be by your side. I'll call Amela first ok?"

She smiled gratefully "Thanks"

"And Cynder...that dream you mentioned earlier...I would like to hear about it. I would like to hear about everything"

She dropped on the bed and nodded, all sort of thoughts rumbled within her head.

"Of course"

Spyro approached the door and pressed the handle. He froze.

Cynder looked at him curiously "What's wrong?"

He stared into the hospital's corridor outside.

"Funny, I don't know why, but I'm not certain that I want to cross this doorstep"

"Why?"

"I don't know if I want to awake"

He looked behind his shoulder, on the room, the bed and his partner and perhaps future mate lying on the sheets. Instead of happiness he felt nothing but emptiness, as if the image behind was nothing more than an imaginary picture of a drunken and wishful mind.

He entered the corridor and closed the door behind himself.