The Break Up

Spyro stood in the Historium, looking at the tapestry depicting his triumph over the Dark Master.  'It had been three years since then', Spyro thought dully.  He had been dividing the last fifteen minutes in the large cylindrical room – no, most of the last two years of his life – between unsettled fidgeting, hopeless sighing, bored groaning, and frustrated grumbling.  Presently, he began stomping up and down the room.  "Where is she?" He muttered impatiently.  Spyro was feeling melancholy as usual, as he had been for most of his existence.  

      When Spyro was born, he stuck close to his accepting, loving, and understanding adopted family of dragonflies.  This had been a happy time for the Purple Dragon of Legend; he was sheltered, protected, accepted and cared for by the older dragonflies, Flash and Nina, and enjoyed active play with his 'brother' Sparx (who was away visiting his parents at the time).  

      But once he left the household, and met the other dragonflies in the community, he had an unfortunate encounter with the cruel vanity of some people.  Poor Spyro was forced to grow up in a society of small, flighty bugs who feared and mocked him for his size and looks.  The other dragonfly parents kept their young from him, and so he was shunned by all but his brother Sparx.  Though he enjoyed his family, Spyro lived a lonely and excluded childhood, making him quiet, often timid and withdrawn.  Once he learned of the cause of his strangeness and being outcasted, even the bond he shared with his insectoid family suffered, and he set out to find his home.  
      
      Much to his surprise, this unlikely hero learned of his destiny, and to make a long story short, the next few years were spent in get-wrenching battle, which tested his strength and courage in ways he never thought possible.  Much more surprising to Spyro, was that he overcame everything from a possessed beast to hoards of monsters to the ultimate evil himself.  Despite the boost to his self confidence, Spyro maintained a very serious, weighted, no-fun, even gloomy demeanor from the constant loom of darkness and evil.  At one point, Spyro felt better about his predicament given the companionship he got from Cynder, a female he saved from the Dark Master's rule.  She and Spyro connected on a deep level once they got to know each other (or so he thought), so much so that Spyro willingly sought her out while also threatened by Gaul the Ape King.  He found her imprisoned by the ape in the Well of Souls and they, along with Sparx, spent the next three years unconscious when the mountain collapsed.  Upon their awakening, the two were bound to each other and fought side by side, till the end game confrontation with Malefor himself.  After repairing the planet and a proclamation of love, Spyro was on top of the world he rebuilt.  The next year was spent enjoying his youth for the very first time, with the girl he thought he loved.  
      
      But as it was with the joy in Spyro's life, this was not to last.  Spyro was never in love; in reality he and Cynder were just confused, having been without any other young dragon's their age, or any guidance as to what real love is.  After some deliberation, Spyro decided that this deceptive feeling of love was really just confusion, brought on by curiosity and hormones gone wild from the presence of only one female.  As for Cynder, Spyro thought she was suffering from 'damsel in distress mentality'.  Though Cynder did exhibit strength, Spyro felt sure that what she thought to be love was really just a level of kindness she had never thought possible, given her abusive past.  The flame of love died after one glorious year, and the past twenty eight months had dragged by, weighed down by the leaden ashes of a heart gone cold.  
      
         'But no more!' Spyro thought with cast iron resolve.  Cynder seemed to have healed by now and it was time he stopped fearing that he would hurt her irreversibly.  'She's a strong woman' he thought. 'She'll get over it, and she needs this as much as I do, whether she'll accept it or not.'  
      
      Spyro threw himself down next to the statue of the past fire guardian and current Chronicler Ignitus, huffing in exasperation.  "This has to end!" He moaned.  "I can't take the boredom, the irritability!  I've been gnashing my teeth for nights now; they're all chipped and crooked.  I'm not motivated, I'm snappy…" Spyro roughly thrust a paw towards his face and rubbed his eyes for no reason, then slammed his paw on the stone base of the statue and exploded "WHERE IS SHE?!"  A small bird evacuated the upper portion of the domed roof at his outburst.  He wanted to get this over with.  

The sound reverberated down the stone halls, bouncing off the walls and floor till the invisible waved came to the black dragoness and agitated her eardrum.  She knew from the voice that it was her boyfriend Spyro.  Realizing the impatience and even fury in his tone, she hastened to meet him.  The dark, sleek dragoness raced down the hall with panther-like stealth and grace.  Carefully entering the chamber of dragon history, Cynder scanned the floor for the purple dragon.  She saw him and approached with caution and concern.  "Spyro, what's wrong?  Why did you yell; you made me jump."  

Spyro raised himself into a hunched sitting position, and lifted his head to look at the girl who forever possessed many years of his life.  Cynder shrank back from him, fearing his dark, glowering stare.  "Spyro…"  She said uneasily.

"We-Need-To-Talk."  

Cynder trembled at his low growling tone, and nervously sat down.  "Spyro what's wrong?  I've never seen you like this, except of course when…" She trailed of, not wanting to drag up foul memories from their war ridden past.  

Softening his demeanor to soften the blow, Spyro began. "Cynder, we've been together for a long time now, and we'll always be friends, I know it.  But I hope you'll agree when I say this has gone on long enough.  I've been thinking about us a lot lately, and I think we should see other people."

Cynder drew a trembling breath, but Spyro persisted.  "You see, you and I were the only kids either of us knew of for a really long time, and when we matured and so did our hormones there was only one female I could turn my attention to, but that's not the case now."  Cynder's eyes widened at this and she drew back from him covering her chest.  Spyro closed his eyes and grimaced, realizing his moronic, bumbling choice of words.  "Sorry!  I didn't mean it like that; I'm not a shallow pig dumping you over looks.  I was just giving an example of the changes that I've gone through over the years.  See, it's just that I was confused at the time and I didn't know what else to call those odd feelings.  I didn't mean that I was attracted to other dragonesses, I meant that I'm no longer confused."  The two dragons calmed a little, but their blushes stayed; Cynder was stressed, knowing what was to come, and Spyro was humiliated.  Gaining his composure, Spyro continued.  "You ARE my friend Cynder, and it'll always be that way, you and I were forced together by the evil set before us; we all were, we had to stay together to survive."  Spyro halted again, realizing he was heading for a major blunder, and gingerly took Cynder's dainty paw.  "Make no mistake though, I'm blessed to have you as my friend; I wouldn't have it any other way."

      "Oh, Spyro!" Cynder threw her arms around his neck in a hug, but he pushed her off, fearing his nerves would fail him.  

"I couldn't have been luckier than to have you as a battle partner; goodness knows you saved my life plenty of times, and the months following Malefor's defeat were the happiest time of my life, but…"  

      Cynder took his paw and held it to her chest, leaning towards him.  "But what?" She whispered.  Spyro looked into her shimmering green eyes and at her shining black scales, a face he couldn't bare to see in pain.  Snapping his gaze downwards, Spyro answered.
      
      "But… Thing's have gotten stale."
      
      'Stale?' Cynder repeated the word in her head; this was not what she expected at all.  "What'd you mean stale?  You're bored of me now, is that it?  Now that the war is over and we don't need to fight there's nothing we can do with each other huh?"
      
      "No no!  It's like I said, we've only known each other, and we need to get to know other people.  There was an influx of young dragons from the distant regions of the world, and I'd like to get to know some of the other females."
      
      "So get to know them!"  
      
      "Oh face it Cynder," Spyro retorted with a toss of his head. "You're a jealous girl.  Whenever I try to interact with any other girls for more than a minute you go nuts."
      
      "I do not!" Cynder cried with indignance.
      
      "Really?  What about Erian?"  
      
      Cynder remembered the bulky earth dragoness.  Spyro had befriended her shortly after the temple was rebuilt and new students arrived from elsewhere.  The two met in class and bonded rapidly; they spent days at each other's sides, until Cynder split them up.  "She…could have been anyone."
      
      Spyro tilted his dead and lowered his brow in a patronizingly questioning expression.  "She was a thirteen year old dragoness with no training at all.  She raised two brothers while her parents fought to keep them alive."  
      
      Cynder lowered her head and looked away from Spyro.  "I was trying to protect you, that's all."
      
      "Cynder, I can look out for myself, I've been at war for years now!"  Sighing, Spyro lifted Cynder's face with his tail to look at him.  "You'll see, this'll be good for the both of us."
      
      Cynder brushed his tail away with her own and scowled at her former boyfriend, causing Spyro to step back at this unexpected reaction.  "'Good for the both of us'?"  She repeated.  "Who are you to say what's good for me?  I'm not a child who needs to be told what to do.  This isn't all about you ya know! I need reliability, I need someone I can depend on, I need you!"
      
      Scowling back and stepping forth to regain his ground, Spyro retorted with a fiery exclamation of "Well you can't have me!  Go smother someone else for a change!"
      
      "Smother?!" Cynder shouted furiously.  
      
      "Yeah, smother, as in crowd constantly, and force into alienation with your suffocating jealously."  Spyro shot back.
      
      Cynder raised her voice to a shrill and furious volume. "Fine I will!  And why don't YOU find someone else to mope around with and snap at when she tries to have a conversation!"
      
      "Well MAYBE I wouldn't be so mopey if I could get out once in a while.  Say meet some colorful people, do something FUN for a change?"
      
      "Maybe I wouldn't be trying so damn hard to get your attention and liven you up if YOU'D give me the time of day!"
      
      Spyro grumbled and stalked past Cynder.  "I didn't want to say this, but it looks like I have to get my point across.  When I look at you Cynder, I'm reminded of my past.  Everything I fear everything that makes me miserable, everything I can't live being constantly reminded of!"
      
      Cynder stopped suddenly, her anger evaporating from her very pores.  "That's it?"  She whispered, her lip and voice trembling.  "The sight of me makes you so miserable?  Oh, Spyro!"  Cynder's voice became high strangled with tears.  "I'm so sorry…"
      
      "Don't be." Spyro spoke softly, turning to face Cynder.  "It's not your fault."  
      
      Tears flowed freely like the waters of the oceans down Cynder's face.  "I didn't mean to be such a bother."  Her voice was so quiet Spyro could barely hear her.  "It's just that I owe you so much, I wanted to make it up to you so badly."
      
      "I know Cynder, but that's exactly the point.  You should want to be with someone out of love; because you make each other happy and whole, not because you're grateful or because you owe them."  
      
      Cynder nodded wiping her eyes.  "Okay, you're right."  She smiled and forced a laugh.  "Looks like we both have to grow up and learn a lot, don't we?"
      
      "Yeah…" Spyro chuckled.  "Too bad we don't have a guardian of love here…"
      
      "That's so cheesy."  
      
      The two young dragons laughed a little, but honestly this time, and sat in silence.  Spyro was the first to speak.
      
      "Hey, cheer up.  I'm sure we'll both mature in due time, then we canbe even better friends."
      
      "Yeah, we both need to do some self discovery.
      
       "And find someone who makes us happy."
      
      "Especially you."  The two dragons spoke in unison then, and looked at each other in surprise.  Spyro smiled gently and said "I'll see you Cynder."
      
      A broad Smile spread out over Cynder's tear stained face and she replied "Bye Spyro."  With that, Spyro turned and left, leaving Cynder alone with all the mementos of the past.  It was impossible for either to tell what would become of their relationship exactly, but they both knew that they would always share a special bond…of friendship.