Disclaimer: I do not own Spyro, Sparx, Cynder, or Ignitus. They all belong to ActiVision. The only ones I own are the humans and village names.

Chapter I:

A Binding Meet

A small sized purple dragon stopped in his walk down the meadowy path and breathed in the luscious winds that blew past his scales and spikes. It just felt so good to walk instead of flying on days like this. He smiled as he looked up towards the sky and canopy of the nearby trees, hardly a cloud in sight; the sky shining a beautiful baby blue in the late morning sky, and the yellow gem that served as their sun was calm and peaceful on it's trek across the world. The purple dragon sighed out in content happiness, his features cracking a smile as he lowered his head. Yes, nothing could break this wonderful, this beautiful and comforting day.

A few moments gathered before he decided to move into his calm paced walk again, but he stopped short just before stepping; an unfamiliar scent tickled his nozzle within the wind's blow. It wasn't showing signs of hostility, but he knew what race it was, and within that race was an automatic danger: Human.

Spyro tensed up with a low growl emitting his vocals. He didn't want to start a fight on this luscious day, but he didn't want to be disturbed either. He prayed to his ancestors that the growl was warning enough for the daring human to venture back where it came from, waiting calmly in his tensed state as he cautiously eyed the tall hill before him.

However, his ancestors found his uneasiness to be an amusement today: instead of answering his prayers of the human to leave him be, they performed the opposite and allowed the human to accept their curious nature and show themselves on top the hill and stare down at him.

His eyes widened in a double take at seeing a young human girl. A young woman from the proper looks of her, and smell to add. His mind was reeling with so many questions that he drew a blank at what to think, say, and do within less than a second. The only proper question that he could pull out of his thoughts and to the forefront of his mind was when the young girl was cautiously approaching him: Why doesn't she show signs of fear…?

Another question had appeared into his blank state of mind as the young woman, whom he had now seen was holding a basket of carefully placed herbs on her hip, approached him closer: Why is she gleaming with…with…Is that admiration she's showing me!

It was true. No matter how many times Spyro, the small purple dragon had blinked or shaken his head, the young woman held a small smile upon her lips, but two eyefuls of pure admiration and a possible hint of fascination within her sea-green eyes. He had never seen a human, even the ones that were grateful for his help, look upon a dragon in such a state. It was…surreal. To say the least.

Now, although it is said that he is the smallest dragon in recorded history, Spyro had indeed done some growing in his past years. Enough to where he could finally look down at humans instead of up. He didn't mind the eye-level height he was at a few years ago, but to him, this "taller than thou" height was better. It just felt right to him. However, with the way this woman was looking up at him at the moment, he wished he was as small as an insect, smaller than Sparx even, just so that he could hide away. The intensity in her look was just so…intimidating.

To hold that much feeling in one stare glance at another being, at any other object, was just beyond his comprehension. Even with his time with Cynder, he had never seen that much intensity. It almost scared him, in a way.

By now, the young human woman was within fifty feet of meeting him, and his tensity increased once his thoughts came back to reality at realizing this. His head lowered to his knees as his nozzle formed a dangerous scowl, giving the human a final warning to not approach him. She may have been beautiful, in human terms, and flattering, but caution is something a dragon can never forget.

The human woman stopped at this, her expression changing to that of worry; yet he still did not witness any fear crossing her features. If it had crossed her, he had missed it, somehow. But he doubted it. Which made this human more foolish than the others he had ever met in his life span. Just because she showed him flattery and odd bravery didn't mean he wouldn't harm her, if given the reason to.

But she hasn't given you a reason to. His thoughts echoed to him. His conscience sometimes annoyed him to where he wished he could slash at it; but that would be endorsing harm upon himself. Instead, he growled his retort: Yet.

With his back slightly arched in the position that he had drawn himself in, Spyro watched the human woman with a never ending stare. He could stay like this for hours, with a stiff back to end it of course, but he knew that the human would give up, sooner or later. He had almost drawn a triumphant grin when he saw her shift from her confused look, her possibly thinking of a solution, knowing human expressions, but had faltered at seeing what she had ended up with her decision.

After she had gently set the basket of herbs down next to her feet, the human woman plopped herself down in a comfortable sitting position right where she was standing just moments before. Flabbergasted wasn't the closest word he could describe on how he felt at seeing this be done. From a human, no less.

It was the second time that day that his mind had drawn a blank from over thinking. And it wasn't even past noon, yet, nor from another reason. It was still this same, blasted human before him! What will it take to get rid of her from his gorgeous, relaxing day!

"You know," He blinked, the human had decided to speak to him. Usually he would take that in a way that they were challenging him, but having saved humans for a living as part of his life, he decided to listen to her. As she spoke, he slowly brought his head back up, and straightened his back a bit more, but his unimpressed features didn't die down. Even though he was far from impressed with this woman.

"If you wanted me to leave" the woman continued, placing a hand on her knee and relaxing her chin upon it, "all you had to do was just say so."

He really tried to hold back the sarcastic congratulations towards her; she now drew his mind to a questionable blank three times in less than an hour. A record breaking time, if he had to think on it. Instead, he shook his head from this on going confusion and straightened himself up with a more prideful manner, clearing his throat some in the process.

"Why is it that you find yourself comfortable around me?" His brows lifted up in curious wonder, but more out of skepticism wonder than he could name. Surely this human wasn't finding herself to be his equal so soon; not when they haven't properly met at least.

He had seen that a small grin was placed on the young woman's lips, although her eyes seemed to have been studying him. He didn't recoil, but the intensity in her looks, yet again, made him wished that he had a shell to hide in. Maybe I should have been born a crab…Nah, then I wouldn't be able to fly…But still… The young woman brought him out of his thoughts, yet again, by her clear voice; how odd, he found it, that it really didn't suit her soft features.

"Well, for one thing, I admire your kind, more than I care for my own people." She chuckled at his flabbergasted look; did he just hear her right? She cared for dragons over her human species?

"Well, people do find me odd like that," She continued with a warm smile. Her voice seemed to have suited her more at this point. It must had been the smile, he decided. I could grow to like that, I suppose…He shook his head at his final thought, and decided to place his hind quarters in a sitting position, wanting to hear the reasoning of this young woman's behavior.

"Okay…You have my attention," he looked at her with a disbelieving stare. In all his years of working with humans, and even saving them, never had he known one to out right say they cared for him and his kind over their own lives and kin. "Why is it that you feel that way…?" It took him a while to bring his question into words, but he knew the answer would have been worth it.

"Well, naturally I would love the creatures that have no problem in defying gravity and look majestic whilst doing so, now would I?" Even though her voice was border line sarcasm, he knew she was telling the truth, with a hint of that admiration that he picked up from her earlier. Very soon after, the young woman before him landed on her back and sides in a fit of laughter; was his confusion really that hilarious?

This human was starting to become the weirdest creature he had ever met.

For a few moments, he just watched the woman roll in the grass with merriment. Apparently she had something in common with his ancestors when it came to odd humor. He looked up at the heavens with a disdainful glance: Were they really that bored enough to have him meet someone that was their personification in another species? Really?

He looked back down at the young woman, whom was still a good sum of fifty feet before him, and saw that she was beginning to calm down. As he looked at her, he realized that her laughter reminded him of those bell chimes that humans always kept outside their house holds. The smaller ones he liked; they always sounded like melodic flutes whispering in the wind. That was the sound that her merriment made, and it caused him to produce the tiniest of smiles.

I think I could get used to this…

"What's your name?"

He was shocked to find out that those words had come from his vocals. Rarely did he not think before talking, especially around other species. Usually he was more prudent. So why did he slip up, and with a personal question, no doubt?

However, through his worry filled musings in his mind, Spyro had seen that the young woman was not crossed by his question in the least bit. A bit taken a back, perhaps, but she wasn't showing any signs of having been disrespected. Yet.

"My name is Eryn Sutherland." She lowered her head in a respectful bow, seeing as she was still seated upon the ground, it was the best she could do. He wasn't expecting one, to say the truth, but it did reassure him to know that she held his honor and respect in her thoughts.

"And might I ask, what would yours be? Unless you would like to be referred to as 'Handsome Dragon' the next time we meet." She chuckled lightly as she teased him, but her smile was genuine. He didn't know if he should be flattered by her words, or disdained in the thought that she had already planned their next meeting. He decided to be indifferent as he answered his part of her question.

"My name is Spyro," He pulled a face at the last bit that ran through his mind, but he decided to keep that knowledge away from her. If she didn't know who he was by now, then she had most indeed lived a sheltered life. He'd keep his heroic life from her, unless she had asked. That was always best.

The young woman, now known as Eryn to him, tilted her head to the side some. He had to keep from chuckling, for it reminded him of himself when he got confused. He prayed that her expression wasn't recognition, but indeed confusion. Although, he was never pleased with that emotion either, but it would be more relieving then any recognition in these years. Privacy was something he had begun to relish over the peaceful years, and he wasn't ready to let them go. Not yet.

"How odd," He grunted slightly at her words. Spyro was indeed a handsome name in the dragon language. Did she not know the meaning of names in this world?

"Don't dragons have last names?" She concluded her musings to him, her head still tilted with the confusion plastid on her features.

…Oh… He couldn't help but feel silly that he was thinking that she was bashing his name. She already showed that she held his respect in a high regard, why would he doubt her?

Because humans always give a reasonable doubt. That's why.

"We have no need for them. We are recognized by our clans, scents, and name. No one dragon shares the same name in a life time." It was more information than he would usually share to a stranger, but she seemed rather interested in learning these specifics. Her sea-green eyes seemed to have gleamed brighter with every bit of information he had shared with her. How odd.

"That's a rather fascinating way of recognizing the other!" Her excitement was nothing short of amusing towards him, even though he was still confused at her behavior. His smile grew at how bright her eyes seemed to have gleamed as she began to think on his words. If this was how she was when she learned about a small fact, he couldn't help but wonder how she would react to his kin's history…or even their language?

He shook his head at his musing thoughts, yet again. He couldn't start to think like that, especially with just meeting this odd human. Sharing that much information would be vital to not only him, but all other dragons in the world. Even if this woman were to become a friend of his, he had to be careful what to tell her and what to keep from her, unless she asked.

Well, from what I've seen so far, that would be harder said then done…

"What would your scent be, Spyro?"

He had to blink a double take at her words, having been truly lost in his mind he wasn't sure if he heard her correctly. Did she just ask me…? He starred at her a moment, trying to bring himself to believe if what he heard was indeed her question. Since he couldn't come up with a straight answer on his own, he decided to ask her. What better way to correct himself then by asking the source?

"Did…did you just ask me what my scent was…?" If his voice wasn't showing how flabbergasted he was, he was sure that his features would give it away.

Chuckling some at his reactions from her words, again, she straightened up in her sitting position and nodded in confirmation. "Indeed I did, Spyro," Her look quickly became that of worry and disdain. She quickly added "Was I not supposed to? If it's an invasion of your privacy, I'm rather sorry." Eryn looked down in shame, her cheeks lighting up in what Spyro could only guess was embarrassment. He was about to agree with her, but seeing her sad features changed his mind at the last minute.

"No, it's quite fine. You were curious, and curiosity sometimes calls out towards private matters." He smiled warmly down at her, the first sign of compassion he had shown her in the past couple of hours.

Even though her smile was small, Eryn's eyes gleamed with happiness to the point of unshed tears. This must had been the best day in all of her years. Well, to any human it would be, he imagined, but he wasn't about to voice that.

"Jasmine and chamomile." He had said suddenly, and this time he meant to say something random. For as long as he could remember, he hated seeing anyone cry. Even if it was out of happiness, he didn't want to see Eryn shed tears, so it was time to change the subject; what better way than to answer her question?

"The answer to your question: What would my scent be? I've been recognized with the mix of Chamomile and Jasmine." He repeated himself, something he greatly disdains, from seeing her confused expression.

And it worked. His plan to suddenly change the subject in her mind brought on a lovely smile on the woman's face. He couldn't help but smile in return; even though the names he stated were flowers, feminine at that, he was rather proud of his scent. After all, he wouldn't be a dragon if he wasn't.

"That is a lovely combination, Spryo. And it makes a fine tea in the evening, as well." She chuckled gently before tapping her chin, her curiosity growing on the subject.

"If you don't mind me asking, Spyro, would you happen to know what my scent would be?" He had the feeling of what her question was, and he had already come with the answer. It hit him the moment he had noticed another creature was approaching him, and it was the reason how he knew that she wasn't dangerous.

"Yours would also be a mix, although they both cover up your birth scent; Wolfsbane and Bay Laurel. Do they mean anything to you?" He had to ask, especially if her natural scent was covered up. It had to do with what she does on a daily basis. If he had to tell her the truth, her scent covered nearly all the culinary and medical herbs known to man and dragon kind alike. But for some reason, those two that he named were the strongest.

"Well, I do collect herbs for both cooking and healing processes." She motioned towards the basket she had been caring moments ago with her hand; indeed it was filled to the brim with roots, grass, and plants: All kinds of herbs that would be needed in the profession that she had taken upon herself.

Could she be the herbalist in her town? With that thought in his mind, he had taken a closer look at the young woman. If she were an herbalist, she looked far too young. Perhaps an assistant, but not a master.

But he had to know. Guessing was something he was never gifted in.

"Healing processes? Are you studying to become a Herbalist within your town?" He lifted a rather impressive brow.

Human women that he knew, or shortly met rather, were either into staying at home with the children or becoming exotic trinkets for their husbands-to-be. He has met women Herbalists and Professional Healers before, but they were ancient and well beyond their years in wisdom. Eryn was young; with smooth, slightly tanned skin and learning eyes. If it weren't for her scarred, bared feet that showed she walked the forest every day, he would have thought she was a wealthy Merchant's daughter, especially with her fine fabric clothing. And Nothing but.

He blinked slowly at the expression she shared with him at that moment. He couldn't quite place the exactness of it, for it was cross between many: Her eyes had shown a mix of sadness and grief, while her cheeks and smile showed contented happiness, almost to a proud state. These emotions spoke to him clearly. She was proud of her work, something that she was content with, possibly even what she wanted to study. But, for some reason that he can't begin to ponder on, she is heavily grieved by it.

"Well, I wouldn't quite say that I am 'studying' at this point," she mused, with a dark chuckle sounding in the back of her throat, almost echoing her words. It caused Spyro's brows to arch in a worried curiosity. "Sad enough to say, I am the only Herbalist within one hundred miles." Spyro's eyes widened in shock, as hers dimmed to a dark green with an unspoken burden.

"Before you ask, yes I did have a teacher. A rather fine, and passionate one, at that. But she was old enough to be my great-grandmother," Her eyes downcast as she glanced towards the herbs she had gathered not too long ago. Spyro noticed that her fists were clenched, turning her knuckles white, and the toes of her feet buried themselves within the soil of the grass.

"She died barely within the past year." Her voice was barely a whisper, but even Spyro could sense the pain within those words. She was still hurt by the loss.

Spryo, for the first time in a while, well excluding that day, was speechless. He didn't know how to cheer her up, or get her mind off of it. As he thought before, he has always hated seeing others cry. As he tried to figure out how to cheer her up, he could smell the tears building behind the lids of her eyes. She was one movement away from breaking down before him, and that was something he wasn't ready to handle, quite yet.

If only Sparx was here…He would know what to do in a situation like this…

A spark of light lit up within his mind at the thought, and before he thought other wise on it, he began work on the item he hoped would cheer up Eryn.

Keeping his scaled lips closed in an 'o' formation, a smoke of ice flew out forcefully from his lungs as he began concentrating on moving it in certain patterns. Through his peripheral vision he could tell that Eryn was taking an interest in what he was doing. Holding in a grin, he continued on his work, agonizingly slow, but it was becoming effective like he wanted. Within an hour's time the ice smoke began to solidify into a bowl formation. Once it was finished, he immediately brought out thin, yet strong roots from the ground with a single tug from his claws and skillfully wrapped them around the bowl in a unique design that will keep the ice intact. Once he placed it back upon the surface of the earth, he began work on a smaller object with the ice smoke, but an object that Eryn immediately recognized. She gasped once she figured out what he was making for her.

Once he was done with the ice sculpted pestle wrapped in the same thin, strong roots, he placed it in the mortar and gently set the carefully made set before Eryn. Although the effect it made wasn't what he was hopping, but at least she was smiling.

He gazed upon the girl sitting before him upon her knees, her hands clasped before her mouth as she sniffed her cries away. He waited patiently for her words, knowing that this must had been a deep surprise for her, and from him.

Well, it had better be…He thought solemnly to himself, It's not everyday that you hear a dragon giving a gift to a human these days, let alone on their first meeting…And as he thought that, he couldn't help but wonder what had made him do that act in the first place. He wasn't one for creating gifts for strangers, let alone ones he was suspicious about. Was he going soft?

"Oh, Spyro…" The girl's sniffled words brought the medium sized purple dragon out of his thoughts and back to her. A small smile crept to his features at seeing her handle the mortar set with delicate hands.

"This is, by far….the nicest and most wonderful gift anyone had ever made or given to me…" She looked up at him with bright, crystal eyes from crocodile tears. Hugging her new Mortar set close to her bosom, she gave him the most brilliant smile he had ever seen placed upon any human he had ever met. "Thank you, Spyro."

To say he was speechless was a complete understatement. Not to mention a shocker, for it was the fourth time that day, and with this human no less. She was becoming most interesting to him, and also playing interesting tricks upon his feelings and curiosities that he hadn't felt since his young days with Sparx and Cynder.

Shaking his head as solemn thoughts began to produce, he cleared his throat and nodded towards her with a warm smile, and a whisper of his welcome to her. As he watched this young, curious woman ogle with beauty upon his creation to her, he couldn't help but wonder if his ancestors had sent this strange human being to him on purpose. He couldn't pin point it, but something felt different, something that he had never felt before or in a long time, but he knew that it was a natural feeling. Yet, for all that he was worth, he couldn't place a claw on what was different.

"Would you mind if we met again, Eryn?"

He shocked himself from the words flowing out of his mouth without him thinking about it. He seemed to have been doing a lot of that today, but they all seemed to have had a good effect. Maybe this question shall, as well?

Eryn was also shocked at hearing such a question come from him, she was possibly thinking the same thing but didn't want to voice it. Probably thinking it was lack of respect or privacy for the purple dragon, which it would have been. But once she let the question sink in, her bright smile came across her features again and she nodded slowly, but with ecstatic eyes.

"Yes, Spyro. I would like that very much…"

00oo00oo00oo00

As Ignitus gazed at the last picture on the page, he couldn't help but smile. Spyro was watching the young woman walk back the way she had come, a basket of herbs in one hand and her new ice and wood mortar set curled up in the other arm like a baby. As Spyro began to walk back himself, the Chronicler could see a hint of a smile upon the young dragon's features.

"My, my," chuckled the old dragon, "To see your curiosity peek in such a way Spyro, I can see why you stayed by this remarkable human's side…" His words were cut off from the memory of seeing the picture of Spyro cry by the said woman's bed. Ignitus' features immediately became dark.

"But what caused her to become so gravely ill, I wonder…?"

With his own curiosity peeked upon this question, the new Chronicler turned the page to the next chapter of Spyro's missing years.

A/N: -whew- Wow. Talk about a long time between updates. BUT! I have a good excuse: In the middle of coming to the end of this chapter, I started my new job. So I was out of it every time I came home; so I called my friend that helped me start this out and we came up with a solution for this chapter. Thus! Here is Chapter one! Hopefully the second one doesn't take as long -knocks on wood-

Please R&R, or even Critique if you like. I'm always open for new ideas/help on how to write my stories ;]
Love you, my readers!

-Mytho_G