Chapter 8 - A Night Out?

After Ripto and the others began settling into the castle in Autumn Plains, things had been quite tense and quiet. Ripto focused only on making sure Crush was healing, and on planning how to eliminate Spyro. However, one problem still stood in the way of his plan: Esther; he made sure to keep his plan a secret from her, for he sensed that she was friends with the purple dragon.

But he would still ultimately lose her if he succeeded in killing her friend, and that was the last thing he needed. No, he must time this perfectly, or else it would all have been for nothing. First, he would gain Esther's complete trust, and then deal with Spyro.

It was late at night and Ripto needed help with comforting Crush again, so he headed to Esther's room to wake her up. The door was closed as usual, so he politely knocked. After receiving nothing but silence, he knocked a few more time. But there was still no answer.

"You better not have run away again," Ripto warned with a whisper, as he opened the door and stepped into the dark room. He squinted to adjust his eyes to the darkness, and used his scepter as a light source when he saw a lump in the blankets.

He approached the bed and poked the lump, "Esther, wake up. I need your help."

He expected her to respond with a groan or a yawn, but instead she seemed to tense and a loud sniffle emitted from her. This concerned Ripto. Had she been awake the whole time? And was she—crying?

"Esther," Ripto spoke firmly.

"I-I…I'm awake," Esther piped up meekly, but her voice was dry and hoarse. Ripto instantly noticed this.

"You don't sound too good."

"No, I'm fine, really. I just…I-I'll be down in a minute." Esther sat up as she spoke, but she was turned away and stayed hidden under the blankets. Ripto refused to leave without finding out what was wrong, so he ran to the other side of the bed and brought the glowing end of his scepter up.

Ripto's eyes widened when his theory was confirmed. Tears stained her cheeks, as they spilled from her bloodshot eyes; her lip quivered and she sniffled uncontrollably when she was caught.

"I'm sorry!" she whimpered and buried her face in the blanket.

"Why are you crying?" Ripto demanded.

"Please…just leave me alone."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Y-You don't…want to know."

"Yes, I do. Now, tell me before I lose my patience."

Ripto didn't mean to sound as harsh as he did, but it was enough to make Esther break out into more violent sobs. He quickly felt guilty, and rushed to figure out how to fix this.

"Look, Esther, I want to know so that I can help you. I—I hate to see you like this."

Esther could tell he struggled with his words, especially the last part. She tried her best to stop her tears, and opened one eye to look at him.

"You do?" she asked softly.

"Yes. Can you please tell me why you're crying, so that I can fix it."

Esther sniffled and nodded, "I…I had a nightmare…about Spyro."

Ripto's face softened, "Your purple friend?"

"Yeah…you two were…fighting, and then you…" Esther paused and once again hid in the blankets with another sob.

"What did I do?"

"You killed him!"

Esther's voice was muffled from the blanket, but her shout was loud and clear to Ripto. If he wasn't careful, there was no way he would get away with destroying Spyro without losing Esther forever. He still may be new to this friendship thing, but he was sure this was considered a step backwards.

"I'm sorry, Esther. I didn't know you thought of me that way." The hurt in Ripto's tone was painfully obvious, and Esther pulled the blanket off of her head to find that he had turned his back to her.

"N-No, I didn't mean it like that!" Esther exclaimed as she grabbed his arm with her paws, forcing him to turn back around and look her in the eye, "The Ripto in my dream wasn't real. You're nothing like him."

"How can you be so sure?" Ripto questioned in disbelief.

"Because the Ripto I know isn't a monster. He's my friend."

Ripto's eyes widened once more in utter shock. He couldn't recall the last time anyone had ever called him a genuine friend, and to hear it from Esther made his heart flutter. If it wasn't for the darkness, Esther would have noticed the blush that crept across Ripto's face.

"So…you're not scared of me?"

"Well, I…"

Ripto knew he shouldn't have been surprised. The fact that Esther couldn't say no said it all. Ripto took a breath in and walked around the bed, obviously attempting to leave the room.

"Ripto, I'm sorry," Esther tried to apologize.

"No, no. It's fine. I know I'm not the kindest person, and I've come to terms with it," Ripto protested firmly.

"I-I panicked. I didn't know what to say."

"You told the truth. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But it's not—entirely true."

Ripto stopped in the doorway and glanced back, "What do you mean?"

"I-I mean—I would be willing to get to know the real you. Show me that you're not evil."

"And how would I do that?"

Esther was silenced at that. She wanted to have an idea as to how to help Ripto show her who he is, but she couldn't think of anything.

"That's what I thought," Ripto sighed and was about to leave the room again, but an idea popped in his head. It may be a long shot, but it might be his only option, "Actually, I think there's something I can do."

"There is?" Esther inquired curiously.

"I think so. Why don't we go out tonight?"

Esther's face darkened with a blush, "Y-You mean—like a date?"

It was Ripto's turn to blush, "U-Um, well...it doesn't have to be a date….just a fun night out, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's ok. What will we do?"

"That's a surprise. Just be sure your chores are done before sunset, and then meet me back here when you're ready."

Esther smiled with excitement, "Sounds like a plan to me."

Sorry that this is so short, I just wanted to post this before I had to leave for work.

Also, good news: I've got a DeviantArt account! If you'd like to check out my art, you can find the link to my gallery on my FFN profile.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!