Chapter 7
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Ignitus said.
"I said I'm a girl dad." Flame reiterated. Ignitus looked at her confused.
"What's wrong with that young one?" Ignitus asked
"W-well we've been kind of…hiding it." Spyro added. Ignitus glared at them confused.
"But why?" He asked. Both sighed.
"Because we didn't want you to think less of me because I'm a girl alright?" Flame blurted out.
"Why would you being a girl make me think less of my own daughter?" Ignitus asked. "You two are my children and nothing can change that." Both young dragons looked up to their father.
"Thanks, dad." Spyro replied. Ignitus smiled before an all too familiar voice made its way into the room.
"So this was the 'coveted' secrete you two were hiding?" Sparx asked. "So does this mean you two are lovy duvy?" Flame and Spyro looked at him in surprise.
"What!?" They both exclaimed.
"I knew it!" Sparx said mockingly. "So long have you two been a thing?"
"Sparx please!" Flame begged.
"Begging won't help you, I want to know the juicy details." The quipy dragonfly said. Flame put her head towards the ground shameand then began walking away.
"Wait where are you going?" Spyro asked. Flame sighed.
"F-for a walk…" She said with a small tear falling from her eye. She didn't like it when people would make fun of her like that…Spyro didn't either, but to her it was more traumatic in a way. The last thing Flame heard before fully leaving the room was Spyro shouting at Sparx for his comment with Ignitus joining in a little.
Unknown to the youn fire dragoness, two shadows were watching and observing her. One who was level and felt a tiny ping of sadness for her and the other with a more surprised tone. Neither shadow knew the other was there but they both watched as she walked away. The black dragon that were the former shadow sighed and went the other way while the electric dragon that heard the incident followed behind at a distance to make sure Flame was ok.
"Why can't I just be accepted by people for being a girl and not seen as something else? Is that really too much to ask?" Flame mumbled as she walked to the empty balcony that over looked the swamp forest. The setting sun glistened off the tops of the trees as she let out a sigh and sat there alone. A few tears fell from her face as she thought about it all; her deception, her lies, and even her mockery. It sickened her to a degree when she finally summed up the last 10 years of her life. Like someone was slowly turning her stomach into a knot and waiting for her to scream in sadness and pain. Before her electric dragon stalker could stand next to her however, he was surprised to see a black dragon appear from her shadow.
"This spot taken?" A male voice behind Flame said. Flame jumped to see the black dragon she assaulted with stones and soap before behind her.
"I-Er…um…" She started.
"I guess that's a no…" Amica said sitting 2 feet to her left. Flame tried not to look at the scared, black dragon next to her because every time she did, she would become flustered and embarased. Amica however didn't seem to even notice her and just looked over the jungle. The two were silent for a good 30 minutes before Amica broke it. "I heard what happened in the Library…the things the dragonfly said. Honestly I feel that the pixie-stick shouldn't have said that, but I guess we can't control was other people say."
"That's a…blunt…way to put it." Flame said before sighing.
"I find it better to take a problem head on than beat around the bush." Amica said matter-of-factly. Silence fell over the two for another few minutes. A small breeze began picking up, blowing away the old, dead leaves off the balcony and sides of the Temple. "My advice is to just ignore him." He said breaking the silence again. She looked at him to find him still sitting a little proudly at the edge by the railing.
"You don't understand…I've been his friend for at least 10 years and he just suddenly starts that while I feel completely exposed?" Flame stated with a huff.
"I actually do…but it's too personal for me to say right now." Amica replied. "And you're not that exposed. I mean that you still told your old man about your secrete…which by the way I'm still not happy about the bath incident so expect laps for it."
"I-I'm sorry about my reaction." Flame said looking down. Amica turned to see her and nodded. Flame looked up to see his nod before blushing a little at his final noticing of her with his crimson eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" Amica asked her.
"How-how did you get your scars?" She inquired. Amica looked away and sighed.
"War…" Amica replied.
"That's the best I'll get I guess…" Flame said trailing off.
"At least until I trust you both more." He replied. Flame sighed.
"You know you're not the best at this right?" Flame told him. Amica raised an eyebrow.
"At what?" He asked.
"Cheering me up." Flame said.
"I-I wasn't really…I was just being honest." Amica stated.
"Oh…" Flame looked away. "Can I ask why you don't trust me?"
"It's the same reason I don't trust a lot of people…because I have no idea of their intentions. I still feel I over stepped my barriers by following you here." He answered. Flame perked up a little and looked at the black dragon in surprise.
"That means you must trust me somewhat…" She said.
"I think it is because you remind me of my sister."
"What about me?" Cynder said behind them making only Flame jump.
"Nothing…I was just going." Amica said flatly before walking away. Cynder sighed and watched her older brother walk away.
"Where is he going?" Flame asked.
"Probably to find the training area of the temple, he isn't the best for small talk." Cynder replied still looking down the hall.
"He-he said I reminded him of you…what does he mean by that?" Flame asked. Cynder looked to the fire dragoness and sighed a little.
"He was probably referring to before he trained me…before he started killing." Cynder replied. Flame looked at her in surprise. 'A time before he killed?' she thought. 'What was he like then?' "I can see the gears turning…and no I don't know what he was like before he became what he is now. I was too young to remember that version of my brother. He's never even told me why he doesn't even smile at all…like it's something that I'd be ashamed to hear or something."
"He even keeps things from you?" Flame asked.
"Just what life was like at my father's house before he saved me from a dark fate." Cynder replied. "The one thing he's super tight lipped about is mom and what happened to her."
"I'm sorry to hear that…" Flame said looking up at the extremely dark purple dragoness.
"It's fine. Not like it matters too much now." Cynder replied.
"Oh." Flame defeatedly said. The two then just stared out into the hall as they heard a door bang closed. Behind that door was a black dragon, whose scales were glowing with purple spirals glowing from the top of them as he huffed in anger.
"I'm such an idiot." Amica said as he fell further into his anger. "Why and I opening up like that?" He then punched the ground and it actually cracked and formed a small crater under his paw. "I-I don't need anyone…Not that purple dragon, not the guardians, no body…" He then punched the ground again and this time there was a green stain on the floor as his paw began bleeding an unnatural black color. He then took a few deep breaths and composed himself into a calm state. The black dragon then looked at the mini-craters and sighed. 'Why now? Why does my caring side have to flare up now of all times? It should've stayed dead where it wasn't a distraction.' He thought as he activated the arena to make dummies spawn for him. They fell effortlessly to Amica's shadow fire before the next wave spawned. As the black dragon killed that wave with his bear claws, having a few grunts tossed here and there, Spyro stepped inside looking mad as ever. He looked up and saw Amica inside the room killing the dummies left and right without a single shred of remorse.
"What's eating you?" Spyro asked. Amica shot a glare at the young drake before plowing his claws into another dummy's head.
"Nothing." He replied coldly, finishing the last one off in the process.
"Suuuurrrrreee…and Mr. Heartstopper wasn't talking to my sister for no reason." Spyro remarked. Amica snapped his head to face Spyro.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked flatly as he climbed off the dummy's corpse.
"You tell me. She seemed to be 'invested' in what you had to say." Spyro said defensively of his sister.
"Oh is that what this is about? You think I care about her?" Amica then broke down in a dark laughing fit and walked over to Spyro. "Tell me…what makes you think I care about what you whelps think?" Spyro looked at the black drake in anger.
"I know you care about her in some way." Spyro replied smugly, hoping to earn a reaction from Amica, but nothing was given.
"I just told her the truth that's it. Then she asked me questions and I answered. Simple as that." Amica said flatly. "So maybe you should just keep your fucking head out of the proverbial gutter and learn to accept things as they are."
"Geez man what's your deal?" Spyro asked him.
"I don't have one. I just don't trust you." Amica replied. He then brushed past Spyro with his shoulder, causing Spyro to slide a foot or two over to the side as he was bumped. Spyro grunted as he watched the black dragon close the door only for Flame and Cynder to walk in.
"What did you say to him?" Flame asked Spyro.
"Nothing at all…I just came in and he was angry." Spyro replied.
"That's odd…he's never just been mad like that before. What did he say before he left?" Cynder asked.
"He just said he didn't trust me and walked off…"Spyro replied. Cynder looked into his purple eyes and saw how they didn't falter from her gaze, indicating he was being truthful. Cynder sighed and looked to the room that was littered with dummies.
"I'll go talk to him." Cynder said before turning around to walk away.
"W-wait…" Flame said causing Cynder to stop.
"Why?" Cynder inquired.
"I-I'll go, after all he did leave to follow me after all. I might as well return the favor to him." Flame replied.
"Ok…just let me know if he gets worse." Cynder told Flame. Flame nods and leaves Spyro and Cynder alone in the room.
"Soooooo…..what do you want to do?" Spyro asked. Cynder shrugged.
"I guess we can start up the training program again and work on your form?" Cynder suggested and Spyro nodded. Cynder then activate the dummies and they sprang back to life. The two young dragons took up defensive postures and began fighting the dummies. Spyro used his fire breath to attack, while Cynder decided to use her claws to shred them to pieces. Bits of burnt straw and wooden appendages flew from the dummies as they attacked.
As they fought the horde, Spyro and Cynder became more and more in sync with each other's movements working off of each other. As Spyro would blast one, Cynder would slice another that was going to attack him, before Spyro turned to attack one attacking Cynder. The purple drake slashed it apart, but failed to realize that his claws had an electric current to them. His movements became faster and faster until he released electricity from his maw instead of fire. Cynder didn't really care and kept attacking but Spyro freaked out. "I CAN USE MORE THAN ONE!?" he exclaimed in surprise. Just then he was conked by a club from a dummy he didn't see and fell on the ground due to the force. Cynder the saw Spyro fall to the ground before attacking the ape dummy.
Spyro watched her jump over his body and attack the ape, who fell in seconds. Cynder then turned to Spyro and extended her paw towards him. Spyro grabbed it and was pulled to his feet by her. The two stared at each other, faces inches apart for a few seconds before Cynder's cheeks became slightly red. Before anything else could happen, the final dummy charged at Cynder before quickly being zapped by Spyro. The young purple dragon smirked a little before Cynder coughed in his direction to catch his attention. Spyro snapped to her before looking away sheepishly. "I know you just unlocked your second element purple boy, but you don't need to show it off." Cynder said causing Spyro to blush a little from embarrassment. Cynder giggle to herself a little. "Let's run it again, and this time only use 1 element." Spyro quickly shook off his blush and nodded. Cynder started up the program again and the two dragons began training again.