Chapter #4A Day in the Valley by: Unknown Spyro started climbing up the giant stone pillar close to the valley river. Cynder was right behind him. Gaining on him, actually. Spyro clenched his teeth and clawed his way up. Finally, he got to the top, panting, but not from climbing the pillar. Spyro and Cynder had spent the whole day training, using the old wooden dummies and fake weapons the Cheetah tribes had lying around. After beating the dummies senseless (and accidentally destroying a few), the two dragons decided to test the limits of their physical strength with a series of brutal exercises, the last of which being the rock climb. While the rock wasn't very tall, the climb was slow and painful. After a whole day of swimming, flying, climbing, and a great deal of other things, both Spyro and Cynder were near-fatally exhausted.
"Haah...haah...haah..." Spyro panted. He could feel the sweat dripping down off of his face and onto the grass. There was a lot of it, too. Not too long after Spyro had reached the top, Cynder appeared. As she clambered up the last few feet of rock, she dug her claws into the soil atop the pillar and pulled herself up and over the ledge. She only took a few steps before flopping down next to Spyro, panting heavily.
"So..." Spyro began, "Looks like we're done."
Cynder took a minute to get her breath back before responding. "Yeah...haah...guess we did it," she said, faintly smiling. Spyro had managed to stay on his feet, but he had immediately let his head fall down into the grass upon reaching the top of the monolith. Now that he had recovered somewhat, Spyro pulled his head up and looked out over the valley. When he moved, Cynder looked up at him. Spyro's body had definitely matured over the last few years. His scales were slightly thicker, his horns were a little longer, and his body...damn. Spyro's physical condition was unbelievable for a dragon his age. His muscles were wiry yet solid, and his body looked very strong. It was strong. Cynder of all people knew that. As she looked up at him, the sun began to set, casting a red-orange ray of light on Spyro. Cynder just stared. The purple dragon was covered in sweat, his muscles rippling with tension, and the light from the setting sun made Spyro's countenance appear god-like. At least, that's what Cynder saw. She is in love with him, after all.
And that's not all he has to offer, either...
"Hey. Cynder." Spyro's voice managed to break her out of her own trance.
"Wha? Oh. What is it, Spyro?" she asked, half-dazed.
"You were staring at me again." Cynder blushed and looked away. She knew that. Why'd he have to go and point it out like that?
"I can't help it," she said as she got to her feet. "Looking out over the valley...into the sunset...makes you look...very stoic," she said, grinning.
"Stoic, huh? Guess I'm getting closer to adulthood if I'm already stoic." Both of them laughed at that. "Heck, I might as well marry you right now!" Spyro's blood rushed to his face the second the words left his mouth. Why in blazes did I say that? Cynder might just up and take me up on that offer if I'm not careful! His eyes widened as he waited for Cynder's response.
But Cynder just laughed. "Yeah, right. No dice, cowboy!" Spyro sighed with relief. For a second there, he was almost certain he was a goner. Cynder couldn't help but be tantalized at the thought of marrying Spyro, though. But, as they weren't exactly going to have any children any time soon...
"Well," Spyro said, "looks like we're just about done here. Wanna head back to the village? It is our last night before we head back to Dragon City." Cynder shook herself out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, might as well." The two dragons walked over to the edge of the monolith, facing the Cheetah village. Looking down, Spyro began to wonder if his wings would even carry him far enough to land without breaking anything. He needed some red crystals. Luckily, there were quite a few jutting out from the grass near the river. Still, they had to make it down there, first. There was no easy way to do it. The stepping stones that had once leaned up against the mighty stone were now gone, as the village has used them for some of the repairs. The only way to get down now was to jump.
"Well, ladies first," Spyro said jokingly. Cynder laughed her sparkly yet dark little laugh that Spyro adored.
"You better be ready to catch me!" she chuckled, "I don't think my wings can carry me out far enough to make a good landing."
"Look, if you fell, I would catch you," Spyro said, glancing at her. "There's no doubt about that. But don't try anything yet. I would use my earth abilities if I could, but..."
"You're out of mana, I take it?" Cynder smiled.
"Yeah, I am."
"Well, I'm not." Spyro jumped. It wasn't too much of a surprise. She did have more mana than him, after all. But still, what was she saying, exactly? That was when Cynder used her shadow element to disappear into the monolith. "Wait, Cynder, what are you-"
Before he could finish, Cynder leaped out of her pool of shadows and into the air. She really made her way up there before she started to fall back down. "Catch me, flyboy!" she exclaimed with a mocking glint in her eyes. Spyro didn't waste any time. He immediately jumped off the edge and flapped his wings. He winced. It hurt, but he wasn't going to let her get hurt. Cynder continued to fall. Spyro gathered up as much strength as he could before he took off, catching her just before she hit the ground. After that, his wings gave out and the two tumbled through the tall grass, laughing as they did. They eventually stopped rolling, but not before they smashed into a red crystal. The crimson gem shattered when the dragons crashed into the side of it, and while it hurt, the fragments began to heal them at the same time.
"Ow," Spyro said, wincing, "talk about bad medicine."
"Wow, that was terrible," Cynder said, laughing. "You're right, though. How can something hurt you and heal you at the same time?"
"Well, I'm sure tumbling into a red crystal can do that. After all, we are pretty beat up. Which reminds me," he said, glaring at her, "what in blazes were you thinking, jumping off the edge like that?"
"I just wanted to see if you had the strength to catch me," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. But her expression softened as she looked into his amethyst eyes. "I'm glad you caught me, though."
"So am I." The sun managed to disappear behind the mountain ridge as the two leaned into each other. After a long kiss, the two started to make their way to village. Seeing all was well, the two young dragons took to their 'lair' and turned in for the night.
As he slept, Spyro had another dream. As he opened his eyes...he saw...something. What was it?
(If you would, I'd like to use the second option. Don't worry, the 3rd option will appear again later on. I just want to write in a fight scene! Please don't steal option 2.)  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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