FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 39

"Haste you fool! I'm losing my patience!" Ignus snarled aggressively, his sharp teeth projecting their anger at the dragon who had two big bags smacking against his sides

"Sorry Sir" the young drake whined "I don't want to ruin anything, you said it's all so important"

The red drake stopped harshly, his paw shot quickly forward, snatching the young dragon, the size of his new guests, by the throat, claws dug into the scale, drawing blood.

"I will ruin you if you don't hurry" he growled into the drake's face

The boy recoiled back, his face wrinkling from the wave of aggression mixed with the characteristic smell of stale wine that smashed across his draconic face.

"What's the matter boy? Is there something you don't like about my breath? Perhaps you think that I'm beginning to have an alcohol problem and that's why you believe my demands are worth shit, maybe you are even spreading the rumors yourself huh? Is that it? Am I right?" the claws sank deeper into the scales

"No! I swear!" the drake whined, throwing his head back, yet the claws on his neck made sure that he stayed in place "I will speed up Sir! I swear I will!"

"Don't make too many promises or you might find yourself unable to keep them. Losing grip of your fate can be quite disastrous boy"

"Yes! Yes! Okay!" the young drake flapped his eyelids in acknowledgment, the only way he could nod without ripping his throat out

Ignus let go off the vulnerable neck, flicking away the drops of blood from his claws with a disgusted grunt.

"When all this work will finally end" he sighed deeply, throwing his head back, the red ceiling above of this damn, life sucking city was as bloody as ever. Was a bit of sunlight really so much to ask for?

They have traveled through the royal alleys without any issues, just as he expected. Skyward had many flaws, one of them was it's inhabitants predictability, no matter the level of the city, the lousy souls here followed patterns, patterns that only a worthy few truly managed to break them, most naively believe they belong to the group while the rest is nothing more than ants following commands.

This is why no one bothered to even look his way when he moved through the city, having a mule was a popular whim of the royals after all. Of course he wasn't stupid to believe that all of it was a spoil of his ingenious planning. The word has reached the inner circles of Skyward, everyone knew already about the appearance of the purple dragon, yet he was the only one sane enough to actually take advantage of the situation until his sister and her lackeys would gut the kid.

And he would rather spice things up than be stuck in the same place for many more years to come.

And most importantly before anyone else could get the same idea.

His sister might be in charge, but it was him that actually held the better hand right now, now it was only a matter of properly dealing it in his favor, something that will be impossible to do if this fool won't get that tail in motion!

He could feel eyes following him, this was the thing that he absolutely hated about the Upper City, everyone is so suspicious of everyone that there is no room to catch a breath from all of this incessant struggle. Wine helped somehow with that, it eased the mind, but the disgusting thing was nothing more than an easy way out, he wasn't stupid enough to allow himself to get drunk regularly, it would impact his thinking, but the occasional sip was not harming at all, better this than the annoying headache from all this pressure.

It's not like he will ever become a drunk, control was too important of a privilege to lose, lose by your own choice no less.

Failing was not an option.

This annoying charade has to continue, showing weakness in this pit of ambition was same as offering your paw to the Moonborne, both actions serving as a reason to tear you to shreds, luckily he had enough determination to hold against it.

You sister keep pushing while I do all the dirty work, pretty star like you deserve all the spoils while I remain unnoticed.

Who in the right mind would refuse such a perfect deal?

Ignus grunted, his snarl warding off the stalwart stares of his invisible stalkers, sending clear signals that he is aware of their presence.

"Inside!" he ordered, opening the door to his manor, pushing the kid in and quickly slamming the door behind him, he observed the frame intently expecting something to smash against them soon, the pressure in his head was reaching unbearable limits to the point he felt his eyes pulsing, ready to pop like overcooked eggs.

The door remained as still as always.

This city will devour his soul one day.

"Put it here and get out"

The aggressive tone of his command was muffled by the sound of splashing water and cute noise of a young, feminine laughter.

The boy's neck craned up in attention, tail bucking upwards, looking like an antennae of a snail probing the ground curiously.

"Are you deaf kid?" Ignus snarled, with difficulty containing his fury at the display of insubordination, he had enough troublesome youth here already, last thing he needed right now was more problems on his head

But the boy didn't seem to hear him, he was enchanted by the cheery giggles and splashes coming from the next room. His eyes grew distant and dreamy, the world seemed to stop mattering to the boy, he was completely under the laughing spell of the siren next door he will never have the chance to meet.

Ignus rolled his eyes in irritation. He wanted to scold the kid, even bruise him a little, but there was another side of him that held him back, after all it would be a little masochistic considering the fact that this young dragon remained him when he was still a small boy.

Skyward was a difficult place to grow up in, while the restrictions weren't as harsh as they are now, he also knew the troubles of the youth and ironically it didn't matter if you were highborn or not, in fact he believed that the lower castes had it better. Strict rules were implemented in both places, but there weren't that many observers and judges in the lower levels sometimes a soul sprouted there that learnt the aspects of rebellious childhood life, normal life where you got to learn to love and fool around.

That part of life was as unreadable in his mind as an dusty manuscript of an ancient tome. That part of life felt like a story you read your children to bed.

This is perhaps folks despised Cellsa so much, she was one of the fervent souls that broke the shackles and lived her life the way she wanted, or at least as much as Skyward allowed her. It was still much more than most of the citizens get.

Sometimes he envied her.

Yet he always pitied the boy here.

It was difficult growing up in the echelons of the Upper City, as an upstart your position in the society didn't matter much, you might have been a son of the most powerful dragon in all of Skyward or even the world, it didn't matter, world where war reigns supreme doesn't tolerate meekness and naivety.

It was all about work.

You lingered, you were pushed back, you hesitated, you were pushed back, you didn't swallow your pride, you were pushed back, everything that made you reconsider your actions meant that someone else took the lead in the rat race for prestige. There was no life for the young in the Upper City, it was a constant struggle for attention and favor, there was no room for childhood fantasies, no room for first crush and friendship, no room for growing up.

Nothing was there but the desperate pressure to crawl your way to the top where most is getting pushed back down by the falling boulders from the peak.

He really hoped that this kid will make it he really did.

"You must go boy" Ignus' voice was as soft as a breeze, he reached for the bags and tenderly removed them from the dragon's back

This unexpected move woke up the young drake from his trance, his eyes, already wide, grew even bigger, in the pupils still twirled sparkles of enchantment like that of a child tasting its first sweet cookie. He was staring back at him with eyes full of disbelief, whether it was because of the fact that the dragon just found out that the rumors of harboring fugitives were true, or that he finally can enjoy the good side of life, or even because he showed him some unexpected civility, it didn't really matter.

The boy got a taste of the potential future and perhaps it will be enough for him to power through the difficult times.

"I'll take it from here, but you really must go now. I appreciate the help"

"Really?"

"Yes and now scram" he waved the boy off

The young drake nodded respectfully and immediately sprinted to the door, he opened them and swiftly slipped through the crack.

Another laughter reached his earholes.

He stopped, his head reaching through the doorstep, eyes becoming longing again.

"Good luck kid" Ignus stepped in the dragon's sight, his surprisingly friendly smile was far more interesting for the boy than any feminine laughter

The head disappeared behind closed door with the speed of light, whether it was because of genuine fear or pleased shock the red dragon would never find out.

Ignus rubbed his forehead, wincing through the ordeal, each poke of his claws against the wrinkled scales felt as if a masochistic blacksmith would use his head as a forge where he dips all his melted steel.

His passionate heart will get him in trouble one day. His parents always told him to keep his fiery temper in check, because paired with his blazing element it might lead to a mixture that when it finally boils, it will be impossible to clean up after it would sizzle through the floor.

They always said to beware irreversible damage.

He shook his head, parents, they were always too careful, to the point that they became unaware of his discipline of gripping his own fate by the neck and Athron's almost devilishly sickening determination, too late to see their children's ambition outgrowing theirs. Perhaps then they wouldn't be in this stressful mess.

Would it mean a better life though?

He wasn't sure, it would be probably more peaceful, but then again what would be the odds of meeting a purple dragon if he stayed under his parents wings? Let alone having one on his side? Not to mention that the their theories about purple children being walking demons didn't quite add up.

Spyro wasn't the force of destruction that he was supposed to be, quite the contrary in fact, he seemed genuinely nice and the group following him seemed to stick around due to true loyalty and not fear.

And ironically that was more dangerous here than anything. He knew how to deal with dread, but true, honest care?

He forgot how it felt like a long time ago.

Soft giggling echoed around the hall, a mixture both of male and feminine laughter, honest as the aura of companionship among the group. There were naturally some rough edges to polish, but it still was something to behold, whatever rivalry there was in Spyro's group it was nothing compared to the hissing stones of Skyward.

And he wished this would be a metaphor referring to a lava trying to break through the unnatural barricade raised in front of it. The hissing stones were no joke sadly.

Skyward was filled with spies inconspicuously watching life going on in the city through their slippery cracks. Existence here was similar to a life on a stage, with the difference being in the little detail that there were no curtains you could hide behind and no stairs to leave. An unending dance for privileges and survival.

And Athron wondered why sometimes he just wanted to end it all. Skyward required an earthquake to change its way, they cannot rot away dealing with plots and suspicions, they had a war to win and instead they were wasting their strength on some political struggle that after seeing the purple boy only confirmed that the fear of end of the world he was supposed to bring was far fetched bullshit.

Spyro however was still purple and he had the power to crumble the intrigues of this forsaken city, and Skyward really needed to have its priorities shifted.

The sound of splashing water was so loud that he could feel his own pool slapping him across the cheeks. Ignus groaned, pulling at his first horn, the left one as he used to call it, as if he would be trying to pluck his own brains out like a roasted dinner from over a fireplace. It felt extremely fragile in his grip for some reason, it was a habit of reminding himself just how narrow the path is to loosing one's dignity and purpose.

They were really enjoying themselves out there.

And no matter who they were, they were still below his majestic position in society, being nice and welcoming to those he never noticed for long than a couple of seconds normally was so damn annoying.

The desire to stop this royal dance was as strong as seeing the sun shining from the sky when he leaves his house and he really wanted to have both before holes will crack the membranes of his wings.

With an angry snort he strode towards the pool, pushing the door open with a determined shove, the shrill click of his claws against the wet marble floor hooted in the large room like a pack of owls.

They were having fun in his house, something he didn't have for many years. They were so naïve, so alien, so...so disconnected from the events that it was pissing him off. Nothing angered him more than blindness, especially when he was the one doing all the work!

For fuck's fake! He had royal blood flowing in his veins, they were the ones who should sweat in worry to appease him, not the other way around!

He was the one supposed to laugh!

Just for a tiny moment feel completely carefree!

Was this really so much to ask for?!

He felt the threads of Fate burning into the paws of his soul that gripped them so tightly, he wished for nothing else right now but to let them go. In moments like those he felt like all this scheming, all this planning, that all of this will eventually make him go mad. That there will be a day in his life where he will ruin everything he ever cared for without him even realizing it, all the time believing that this is how it was supposed to be.

Maybe it was worth a try?

Just look at them Ignus, they seem to be doing alright.

Motherfuckers, the lot of them.

His eyes washed over Cellsa first, the dirty lowlife filled herself with luxury to the brim, she was barely visible in the water, always taking dives and jumping up like a restless fish, flapping her mouth all the time. It was clear that she was responsible for all the giggling. Behaving like she owns the place with no respect for her stature as a guest, forced one no less. A burden.

If she liked the pool so much he would give it all to her as an honorable host, grab her by that filthy mane and shove her nose in the water and held her there until her restless limbs would finally go numb and blue.

And that glowing, flying little thing, what the hell is that thing in the first place? He was dashing all across the pool, switching between one dragon and the other, never plunging into the water, always keeping above it, bothering all around and never giving up. Precisely like a shit eating fly hovering above piles of stinking crap.

What about the two in the corner? Both were floating lazily in the water, on their backs with wings spread wide, almost right next to each other. A perfect match in his eyes, one was purple, a breathing force of destruction all this damn war is about and instead of having some awe inspiring traits he was pitiful and boring like any prisoner.

The black one was no different. She had scales as black as coal, never seen before or heard about, there wasn't even a story about dragons like that, he no longer wondered why. Her scales fit her perfectly, dark and hard to see, just like her, she fits nicely with the shadows, becoming invisible and easy to ignore as she should be.

Both of them as useless as sun protection in this fucking city.

And then finally the last dragoness in this group, she-

His mouth dropped with a creak when his eyes landed on the stretched out girl on the highest podium, bathing in the reddish, shadowy light of the stones. The wrinkles of irritation faded from his snout, paw rose to rearrange his quills and soften the frowns even further without him even realizing that it tried to make him look his best for her.

The blazing tail tip became only a shy flicker of a candle light, desperately trying to make itself invisible.

Water danced on her chiseled by an ingenious artist flesh, it flowed on her body like natural waves touching a shore where everything was designed in breathtaking perfection where even the blue scales and wings seemed to work with perfect unison with the gentle ripples as if both were made for each other.

A wonder.

She was lying on the stones, fully relaxed, as if the world itself was under her command. Masked face on top of the folded together front paws, wings neatly folded on the back with the end of the tail and the most voluptuous thigh he had ever seen lazily hanging from the edge od the podium, gently swaying back and forth, locked unconsciously in a flirty dance that was inviting attention with more fervor than a discovered, long buried treasure.

She was so perfect that for a moment he wondered if he wasn't seeing things, thinking that perhaps she was plucked from his wishful imagination.

He suspected that he wasn't alone with ideas like that.

She was a dream come true, too perfect to be real.

And in this ideal proportions he couldn't see his sister, Athron was a beauty, yes, but there was something about Iris that when it came to looks alone make her stand out like a goddess. And he couldn't believe his own thoughts, but he suspected that the magical ingredient lied in her blood being half wind induced.

Athron would go wild if she heard that.

Damn youthful beauty.

He couldn't get his eyes off of her, his heart increased its beat with each sway of her wondrous thigh, as much as he tried to pry his eyes off from her leg, convincing himself that after all this is his niece, one of his pupils kept following the swaying thigh despite his internal, meager protests.

Something deep down kept pounding at his soul that his staring is unacceptable, Iris is family. But then again, she's from the future so technically speaking she's a stranger like the rest of them, family ties don't reach across universes, that's stupid.

There was nothing wrong with admiring a beautiful female.

If that was the case then why did he feel like there would be some device vacuuming his soul?

Iris as if feeling his gaze raised her head, the hypnotic thigh was held in place by the tail. She turned her eyes on him, her diamond, piercing stare made him gasp, he could feel her eyes burning his soul.

He felt impossibly naked and vulnerable.

And guilty.

Their eyes met and she didn't seem to be offended that he was staring, in fact she acted like she expected it to happen. Even without aggression he was losing this battle, her piercing glare was crushing his heart, he felt his blood boiling. The look reminded him of an empty, hellish glare of an reanimated corpse he heard stories about.

A corpse that knew all of your secrets.

And her pale stare seemed to ask only one question that for some reason made him want to rip his own throat out in shame.

What did you do?

"Oh hey dude!" Sparx exclaimed when he finally spotted the fire dragon standing at the edge of the pool

Every swimmer stopped what they were doing, floating above the water they respectfully turned their attention to their host.

"For such a big guy you sure walk quietly, got some slippers on your paws or something?"

"Get out, dry off and get dressed, clothes are in the main hall, come there and don't keep me waiting" Ignus barked, turning around with such difficulty that he felt bones snapping in his spine, the eyes that simply couldn't let go off Iris serving as a counter to his demands

He managed to walk away eventually, his steps thudding heavily against the floor, putting all their effort to make sure that the ground remains steady.

"Sheesh. And here I thought we were becoming friends. For royals, you sure don't know proper manners princess. Any idea what's gotten in your uncle Glamour Girl?"

Iris scraped herself from the warm stones, seemingly bored out of her mind. She spread her bluish wings, her feathers, now clean and groomed puffed out majestically. She glided to the other side of the pool without a word, following her uncle to the hall.

"Yup. They're family alright" Sparx grumbled

"Highborn don't need to answer you dude!" Cellsa blurted out a stream of water happily "They spit on filth like us, to them we are nothing more than bugs. Nothing wrong with that though! I mean this shitty city is one big caste system anyway so you gotta get used to it. After a while their bathing water doesn't taste that bad and you kinda get used to the crumbs of old scale between your teeth, I always pretend they are peanuts, it makes the taste a little better!"

The three heads that remained in the pool with the electric dragoness turned their heads towards her in horror.

"You..." Cynder gulped, she had to squeeze her throat several times to force the bulge down "...you drink this water?"

"Not this silly"

The group let out sighs od relief.

"It gets filtered somewhere when it flows down so it's not precisely the same, but it doesn't work quite well if you ask me"

The dread returned to the trio, despite having their bodies clean they felt unnaturally dirty all of a sudden.

"You're joking" Cynder whined pitifully, praying with all her strength that Cellsa was making fun of them

The electric dragoness shook her head fiercely, her wet hair stretching out and whipping tongues of water to the sides.

"Na-uh. It's a cave, not an ocean, there are only a couple of places we can get water from and it's only normal for the highborn to get the fresh batch. It flows from the source from the grate above us and flows down through the gate below, gets, hehe, filtered and lands in the tanks for the bugs"

"That's horrible!" all three of them exclaimed in shock

Cellsa laughed.

"I know! And I made sure it becomes even worse! I scraped myself RRRRREEEEAAAAAALLLLL good, I just hope my parents or Orbis will bite into it, oh boy, I can already see their faces when they realize they bit into my shit!" she exploded with a triumphant laughter

"I'm out!" Spyro blurted out, springing out from the water as if it was lava

"Don't leave me here!" Cynder followed him quickly behind

"Hey!" Cellsa threw her paws up in honest shock "Why you guys sprint like a snake would bite you in the ass?"

"Damn girl!" Sparx clenched his fists "Why didn't you tell us earlier that our filth is there to spice up the soup you drink!"

She shrugged in total disbelief, as if she would be talking with someone crazy.

"It's common knowledge"

"Hello?! We're not from around here, remember?"

A cloud of enlightenment dawned upon the girl's snout, pretty, bright eyes sparkling with realization.

"Oh right" she slapped her forehead "Silly me!"

"Yup. Silly you"

"What's the big deal anyway?"

"Are you serious?" Sparx pointed at the depths of the pool "Folks down there will drink the water we just contaminated!"

"It's getting filtered, that's one, the effectiveness of it is questionable, but that doesn't change the fact that it's there. And second, what does this information change? We were given an order to clean ourselves up, even if you ignored the order then what? Would you stink for the rest of your life because of some shitty principles?"

The group looked at each other nervously.

"We would think of something" Spyro mumbled uncertainty, there had to be an alternative better than this

"Bullshit" the electric dragoness snapped "It's a food chain, we're at the top of it right now, the rest has to deal with what is left behind. There is no way around it, this is how things work around here, sorry that it hurts your feelings"

"Come on guys, there's no point. Let's just go and not think about it" Cynder took the lead, an involuntary quiver ravaged her body, she felt as if a whole colony of ants would sprint across her spine

"When we'll get back I swear I'll work all my off time in Warfang's sewer systems, I'll scrub everything there sparkling clean"

"I wonder if they'll like how I taste?" Sparx tapped his chin thoughtfully "There was a really nasty scab under my armpit that was leaking pus. Some infection I guess"

"Ancestors!" Cynder blew a thin line of poison at the dragonfly which he dodged with a laughter "Sparx! Shut up!" the shivers were so strong that her paws tapped against the chaotically, claws sending rhythmic clicks into the air

She ran away from the room.

Both brothers chuckled, needing a little innocent laughter right now.

"Why did you throw it away?"

"I don't remember! Who cares about some thrash anyway?!" Ignus blared out, pacing around frantically, the full of blame question of his niece stabbed him right in the heart, demanding an answer

"I asked you a question"

Ignus growled, glaring back at the beautiful girl, her eyes were cold and soul wrenching, he saw his sister's dominant strength in them. Tongue made a quick round around the red lips, lips that suddenly became very dry.

He really wanted to have a drink right now.

"Look, I told you that-" the red dragon snapped his mouth shut when he noticed Cynder bursting into the room, dashing forward so swiftly as if ghosts would be chasing her

He cleared his throat, he kept his eyes away from his niece.

Niece.

How stupid that sounds.

"I've given you clear instructions" his voice took on a more stern tone "Put that drawer from where you took it from and prepare yourselves, we will be having...guests" the word came out of his mouth with a hateful hiss like it would burn his tongue "You must look the part. Take that thing away"

"Me?" Cynder asked surprised "But I didn't even-"

"Now" he ordered, pointing at the drawer and glaring at Iris "The two of you"

The cold, diamond stare was a challenge to withstand, but right now he was the head of this house and no matter of insolence, or whatever else that sparked his interest in her, won't stand in his way. Iris seemed to understand that, but it wasn't this what surprised him the most, it was the fact that she obeyed his command without any snide remark.

Something she was definitely capable of if she took anything from her mother. And he was sure she did, even though the color of the pupils didn't match Athron's ocean ones, that rebellious soul was there.

And it wasn't alone, there was something else in those eyes and just thinking about it made his scales crawl. Whatever it was, he heard his heart screaming to not look for it otherwise he would regret it greatly.

He licked his lips again, they were dry as sand. The urge to indulge into another drink, only a sip to wet his mouth, squeezed him by the throat again.

Iris approached the drawer, but she declared no intention of lifting it.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Cynder lifted her torso onto the drawer, looking for a proper grip, after this unfairness is dealt with she will make sure that Spyro will never forget how happy she was by fixing his mistakes

"Get to work and stop wasting our time" Iris hissed

"Oh yeah? And just what you will be doing while I'll do all the heavy lifting?"

"I will tell you where to put it and watch your clumsy paws to make sure that at least you do one thing good in your worthless, miserable life"

Cynder snorted.

"You hit your head against the stones in the pool or something? I'm not doing it alone"

"I'm not asking"

Green eyes flashed menacingly as they narrowed on the blue dragoness.

"The way I see it your highness is that you're screwed. Ignus told me to get rid of this thing so this is what I'm going to do. You don't want to help me, fine, then I'll break it and be done with it this way, it's your toy anyway so I don't care"

Iris slammed her front legs on top of the drawer with a vicious snarl, leaning so close to Cynder that their noses practically touched.

Poison and Ice mixed themselves together, neither looking like it wanted to back down.

"You lay your filthy claw on it and I'll break you whore" particles of frost poked the black snout

"Bring it on. Bitch" tongues of poison danced around the blue nose

"Ladies!" Ignus exclaimed, startled he jumped between the two girls and pushed them away from each other

Both snarled viciously at each other as they were separated, the more pressure he applied the more fangs appeared from the mouths.

"Gods! I'll take it myself before you two kill each other!" Ignus snatched the drawer into his mouth, lifting it easily "Clothes are in the right bag, play the dressing game like good girls. No blood you hear me? It doesn't matter who you are, if you cause trouble you'll have the whole city on your head and that's more than anyone could handle so don't anger me, please" he disappeared with the drawer down the stairs, speeding down so quick as if his own tail would be chasing him

Both Iris and Cynder snorted, their eyes meeting in deep frowns, despite Ignus' orders neither of them moved for the bags as I'd expecting the other to attack the moment the first gets distracted.

"Uh-oh" Sparx intoned as he flew into the room

"We left you alone for two minutes and you're already at each other's throat?!" Spyro exclaimed in disbelief, with ease spotting the standing in attention tails like fur of a battling cheetah

"She started it" Cynder growled

"Like hell I did" Iris retorted back

"Are you kidding me?" Ignus ran back up the stairs, his snout contracting in an ugly snarl "If you hate each other so much how on everything that's holy you managed to not rip yourselves to shreds in the cell that was supposed to provoke you to do just that?!"

His eyes immediately landed on the two boys that entered the room.

"Get them in line, i don't care how, but this chaos has to END!" he stomped his paw, tail burst with vicious flames

The fire spread wildly, the aggressive, blazing tongues touching everyone in the room, making everyone yelp in pain when their bodies hissing under the violent graze of the flames.

Among the startled eyes he spotted the hurt, hateful glint of Iris' eyes, the disrespectful look pounding at his heart for some reason like the biggest of hammers. Flames died down on his tail immediately while he himself felt becoming smaller.

He rubbed his forehead, soft pain began its march across the nerves there, drumming ever so faintly.

"There's not much time, just do what I ask of you, there are clothes in the bags pick whatever you find fancy, all of them are of high quality. I want you to look royal"

The dragons politely went for the bags.

Sparx remained hovering in the air, twirling his thumbs impatiently.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have anything that would fit your kind" the fire drake noticed the visible discomfort "but I believe you don't need clothes to look spectacular. Your aura is already eye catching, even more so after the bath. Could you perhaps tune it a little further if anyone looks your way? I assure you, you will quite impress everyone that glances your way"

Without even concentrating the light around his body grew brighter, the praise seemed honest and he couldn't deny that it rubbed his ego the right way. He got used to being the sidekick, it was just the way it is, he was small and people all around the world didn't really pay much attention to him.

This guy was different though.

He could see sincere fascination in his red eyes, almost childlike, whatever was going on around here it was clear that it was slightly overwhelming for the young fire dragon. Not like he could blame it for him, Skyward seemed like a stressful place and now not only he has to deal with time travelers and a sparkly dragoness who doesn't shut up but also with his niece that clearly influenced him already.

He really felt bad for the dragon, he risked his position, of course for his own intentions and not out of the goodness of his heart, but still, he tried to behave like a civilized being nonetheless. He was a far cry from the grumpy version of himself from the future.

Not to mention that his admiring eyes also gave him some points.

"Listen" Sparx approached the drake, ruby eyes didn't let go off of him even for a second "We're a good bunch, but we all kinda need to adapt to this new situation you know? So don't get all too frustrated dude, it's the young spirit boiling"

"I thought you were as young as them, I would never take you for the preaching type"

"Preaching, ha!" Sparx tapped at his eyeballs "Observant my scaly friend, observant. I'm giving out pointers and since we somewhat owe you let me give you a few bits here" he embraced the dragon by the horn, leaning in closer to his earhole

"First of all, Cynder can be a stubborn pain in the ass, but she's a nice girl, just don't hurt any of us and you're good. She's very protective of her friends and she wields powers that can be really nasty, you never seen anything like it, let me tell you"

"I can imagine" Ignus huffed, he didn't expect this sort of cooperation, or any show of gratitude to be precise, it was practically nonexistent it this city so it was a welcoming change of pace

No matter how honest or accurate it might be, at least it was interesting.

"Cellsa..." Sparx sighed "Well you probably know more about her than we do so I'll just skip her to not ruin the mood too much" he cleared his throat, eyes darting swiftly towards the masked blue dragoness

"Iris" another sigh escaped his mouth

He felt the dragon shiver slightly through the horn.

"She's a puzzle, a really fangy one at that" Sparx rubbed his mouth "Don't let her smell weakness, if you give in she'll torment you until she gets what she wants and then a little more just for the sake of it. There's something odd about her though so maybe that's the part of your sister speaking through her"

Ignus drilled his eyes into the shapely dragoness.

"That first part sounds like my sister" he said, there was no disappointment in his voice though, it sounded more like a predatory growl

"Wonderful" Sparx rolled his eyes "So we better not listen to that other voice cause we might not like what it says. Got it, thanks for the tip" he gave the red dragon a sarcastic pat

"And finally there's Spyro, a big, goofy heart on four legs. He'll be friends with anyone, if you give him a chance you'll be best buddies before you know it. Pluck evil from whatever story you heard about purple dragons and there is an almost hundred percent chance that all the rest is true. Spyro can do a lot, nobody knows how much, not even him, but when it finally pops, oh boy, you better stay close when you're a friend"

Sparx grinned, leaning just a little bit closer to the red head.

"Or dig a very deep hole to hide in if you're an enemy"

The subtle threat worked, he saw the dragon's quills standing on end.

The dragonfly puffed out his chest, he liked when diplomacy worked in their favor. And nothing worked better than a little confirmation to the obvious bias the dragons here must have towards the purple dragons, exactly like the Moonborne told them.

It's worth having a little insurance if Ignus decides to screw them over, no matter how bad he felt for the guy right now it was better to prepare him that messing with them was far worse than what he was dealing with currently.

"And you?" Ignus asked cautiously, his ruby eye shifting towards the dragonfly "What can you do?"

"Me?" Sparx took a deep breath, taking the whole, wild group in the embrace of his sight. They were a band of misfits, each their own jester painting the world in individual colors. There were times when he was thinking of just leaving this all behind, force Spyro and Cynder to finally settle together in peace so he won't have to drag their assess out of trouble all the time.

But then came moments like those, where all the experience their gathered toughened them up and made those that even considered making a move against them tremble in hesitation. A useful perk in times where there was always some idiot trying to drug himself on power.

He would miss it.

To know that you are needed, that you mean something and your actions make an impact on the world, it was perhaps better than rotting away in peace somewhere where each day is basically the same, only spinning in a repetitive motion. Trading the unknown of each day for a predictable future, of course their lifespan in the first case is most likely very limited if they keep pushing instead of settling down, but is repeating basically the same day truly living?

The only time he tasted the second was in his childhood yet that was way too small of a sample to come up to conclusions.

Right now he wouldn't trade this life for any other.

Spyro, Cynder, Flare, Hunter, heck even Iris and Cellsa, each of them brought another variable to the already spinning mess of chaos, making things even more impossible to predict than they already were.

It was those wild things that led him to meeting Coriza.

No, no he wouldn't change this lifestyle for any amount of peace, not now. He will make sure that the rest of the guys stay on the same track, after all it was not his first day when he tried to keep the group as far away from trouble as possible.

"My friend, I'm a conductor" Sparx intoned proudly, his body getting enveloped by more brighter light, in a dark tunnel he would really look like a headlight of an approaching cart "I'm keeping this train from derailing and believe me it's a lot of work"

Ignus nodded in silent acknowledgment, his ruby eyes burrowed into the group of dragons ahead, where only the black and purple seemed to skim in the bags, pulling out clothes carefully. The eyes of the girl shone brightly as she examined the luxurious apparel, clearly never having anything as valuable in her paws before while the boy tried to keep his excitement in check, he too was amazed by the state of the clothes he brought.

Iris was keeping her distance, either because of indifference or she simply didn't want to be close to the girl she almost clashed claws with.

His red head kept nodding involuntary, he agreed with everything Sparx said, didn't matter if any of it's true, besides their scales he could feel the group being unique. They acted without any etiquette, grabbing life by what it is, seemingly important figures never tasting the highest spoils of society.

Neither being beggars.

For him such an outcome is already fascinating, stories and theories about skills aside, this fact alone is worth mentioning. He was raised in a society where rules were of upmost importance, where you knew that struggle awaits you and if you managed to reach the top you will never look down upon the things you left, things you never believed to be for you in the first place.

This war torn land simply ripped a part of life from you and now when he can get it all, he doesn't have any of that excitement left in him anymore.

This was a group of friends, mostly, even though they had their differences, they at least were companions in common plight.

He didn't even get that, he raced through life even against his own sister.

A craving started to chomp at his soul, a craving so strong that it demanded him to be a part of their group, to feel like a companion, even if it would be fake, worthless in the end and a total waste of time. But it was there and he couldn't help it, let Skyward be dammed, at least for a little while, he really wanted to feel alive just for a little bit.

Fuck politics and ambition.

He let go off the strands of Fate, they were so surprised by his move that they remained hanging in place, gently trying to slip back into his touch, just like him knowing nothing else in their lives.

His paws remained clenched though.

And as he approached the group he felt free and the charming smile that spread his lips was the first smile in a very long while that came straight from his heart.

"Is there anything you like in particular?" the red dragon asked politely, looming over the sitting black dragoness who seemed to be more lost than a sailor shipwrecking on a foreign land

"I like everything" Cynder let out a depressive whimper

Ignus chuckled, giving the dragoness a proper look over, the good part about being a dragon was the fact that you didn't have to look for clothes that emphasize your figure, natural scales do that more perfectly than any material, so when it came to draconic apparel it was all about marking your essence, to make the shades your body is made of more prominent.

Besides, her scales were black, no matter what she would wear she would still draw attention, since she is the only known dragoness to have coloration like that. Still there was nothing wrong with adding a little touch of perfection.

"I suggest that we don't hide your scales, they are one of a kind and need to be exposed, nature really reached its creative limits when she developed you. Bloody red with black really stir that ominous feeling when looking at you and your markings together with the bracelets and choker perfectly tie the image of a mysterious femme fatal together. I would propose adding to that, to make it stand out more, you are a creature of darkness my lady and in my opinion dark colors will only benefit you, yet we will add a small touch of something bright to confuse anyone looking at you and leave the dilemma of deciding whether you are a monster or a caretaker to them"

He reached down the bag, sorting through it carefully, paws clearly knowing what they were searching for.

"How about a little violet?"

He removed a dark cape with tipped in violet feathers, straps od the same color were tied around it and in the middle was socket with a gleaming, also violet gem with a carved, glowing white spiral on top of it, that pulsed slightly like a bored heart.

Cynder's eyes went wide at the sight of the perfect craftsmanship, her mouth dropped open when she reminded herself that it was all for her.

"I would propose this cape, it has a neckline deep enough to not cover your choker, it would compensate your instinctive choice of jewelry nicely"

Her eyes glowed when she took the cape and Spyro couldn't help but smile seeing her obvious fascination.

"Let's pair that with a rather thick circlet of the same color which together with your backwards sprouting horns will make you look as if you would be wearing a crown. The circlet has golden braiding so lookers will easily make the straightforward comparison"

"To complete the look I would also add this here leather pads to all your paws, they will fit nicely against your back and front legs while also work really well with the cape due to their combination of black and violet, also they are too made of feathers"

Cynder looked as if she was about to faint when the dragon kept stuffing more and more clothing into her welcoming paws.

"A little light as I promised" Ignus reached into one of the side pockets and withdrew a crown of a big, silver flower "It is fake unfortunately, there's no big choice when it comes to flowers in a cave as you probably can imagine. Still it reminds me of a moon casting its light on the grass with the slight touch of green the decoration has to its natural colors. Here, take it"

"And lastly, since I so praised your markings you might be surprised to realize that I offered you pads that cover them"

Cynder wasn't surprised, it was doubtful that her mind was even in this world right now.

"Here" he put a small, rounded box on top of the pile of clothes already in the dragoness paws "It is a paste that makes your scales shine, apply it only on top of your markings, with it you will reflect the light like a moon from those white glyphs. I almost envy you"

Ignus skimmed through the bag one last time while throwing the stunned dragoness a quick look now and then. After a while he nodded in satisfaction.

"I believe this will do the trick, do you like it or you want to change something?"

Spyro chuckled, seeing his friend's almost drooling uncontrollably.

"Cynder is not with us right now, but I'm sure she's thrilled"

"If you say so" red eyes turned towards Spyro, examining him with great interest

The purple drake rubbed his foreleg nervously, feeling the dragon's eyes peeling him scale by scale.

"Your shade makes you royal enough, you will draw attention the way you are, yet then again, nothing stands in our way to make you more spectacular. You will truly look like not of this world"

Ignus dived into the bags, just like before sorting through the things with precision of miner striking a vein of valuable minerals. He then removed a thin tunic, almost transparent, dotted with some symbols that were hard to discern from its crunched state.

"This will be enough I suspect, I know it doesn't look as much but I guarantee it will boggle your mind the moment you put it on. This is a magical tunic, it stretches to fit the wearer and..." his voiced trailed off, he offered the outfit to the purple dragon "It's better if you just put it on right now, it's difficult to explain in words"

Spyro reached out eagerly, he wasn't the biggest fan when it came to fashion, but the little thing is magical according to Ignus and following his inner craving for everything that's magical, being the purple dragon that he is, it was hard to resist to hear another tone of the song the world has to play.

He put on the tunic, the first thing he noticed was that the cloth felt like a soft leaf gently grazed by water, it was a really refreshing feeling all in all. The other thing that he quickly acknowledged was Ignus words, the dragon didn't lie, the tunic really formed itself according to his body. Even opening up to let his fins stand out.

The stretch forced his wings to open.

And the wondrous gasps he heard from Cynder and Sparx were all the evidence needed that supported Ignus' claim that it was hard to explain the properties of the tunic by words alone.

"Dude..." Sparx exhaled in utter shock

Spyro looked himself over and when his eyes landed on his stretched out wings he too let out a gasp of shock.

His membranes were covered by a deep purple shade touched with a hint of a dark blue like that of a night sky. Many glowing, white dots appeared on the deep colored canvas, glowing and shifting like restless stars. Among them were slowly spinning circles, forming random patterns that at one point reminded him of draconic faces, sometimes of hourglasses and sometimes of something completely unfamiliar.

Some of those spirals sprouted thin branches at the end of which blossomed purple leaves, with a color as deep as the thickest of wines. The same pattern shyly adorned the top of his back, in the other places of his body the tunic remained natural, a barely visible transparent layer where it allowed his natural purple and gold to shine through. There were only two more places where the cloth decided to display its potential.

The tip of his tail took on the same colors and full of glowing stars pattern like the wings, yet the tip did not remain the same shape. It stretched out considerably, thickening and widening, replacing the sharp tip with a precise, round curve, turning the tail tip into an overgrown painter's brush. Whenever he swung his tail, the brush drew a purple dash across the air that sparkled with the thin layer of dark blue and white.

The second thing that the tunic adjusted was the front of the chest, growing a scarf surrounded with a collar of flowers, royal purple and ominous dark blue, here and there a leaf of the same color was tucked between the petals. Every now and then and wave of faint white passed over the scarf, showing what seemed to be tiny letters, the flash was so quick and the writing so tiny that it would even avoid the intense stare od someone who would set the idea of deciphering the text as his life goal.

Cynder's heart raced, the wonderful outfit she was holding lost its charm, becoming for a moment as valuable as dirty laundry.

Spyro had become beautiful as whatever deity or idol one's imagination could ever come up with. To her this was no coincidence, to her his look was more than just the touch of a special tunic. To her it wrapped itself not only against his body, but his very soul, his very golden heart and put it out in the open for everyone to see.

He looked absolutely divine.

She felt herself melting in his presence, unworthy of his attention and at the same time lusting so much to bury her nose in his collar of flowers. At the same time feeling scared of being a total contradiction to what he represents to the point where her heart bled with the thoughts of never being a proper match for someone as glorious as him.

If there was ever a way of showing the aura that Spyro carries around him, the aura that makes strangers around him mellow when touched by that charming energy, this is how she imagined it to look like.

She so desperately needed to thrust her claws into him, to keep him here with her, childishly afraid that he will disappear into the stars from which he descended upon this land. All of this felt so unnatural, like a dream.

Ancestors I beg you, let me live it for just a little while longer.

Iris stared at Spyro with a numb glare, her mouth moving slightly, the only thing that still mattered in the world surrounding the purple dragon.

"Purple Savior, Purple Master, weave my life away from disaster" lips intoned a silent prayer, each word making the blue legs shake as if the bones inside were about to snap.

Ignus shared his niece's, even though he was the one familiar with the properties of the outfit he offered he too seemed awestruck by the shape of it on Spyro's body.

"This has never happened before" he whispered so quietly as if he was afraid the cloth would hear him

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked surprised, with ease plucking the words from the veil of whispers "Didn't you say the tunic adjusts itself to the wearer?"

"Yes...but never like this. More often then not it was just some glimmer here and there, others had some pieces of armor manifest, all of it was pretty and basic really, fit for an official ceremony but that's it. You though..." his voice trailed off again, big eyes giving the dragon another look over, still having troubles to believe that this is not some sort of a trick "You are truly not of this world, or any other for that matter if I might be so bold"

Sparx twirled his thumbs uneasily, watching his brother with a pained, lost look. Spyro had never fit anywhere, every place was too small for him, from the very beginning, even the basket their parents used to bring him back to the house when he was still just an egg.

A silly joke of pretending to be a fat dragonfly turned out to be more than just a childish way of having fun.

It all escalated from there, beating evil Cynder, then her boss and eventually ending with a touch of putting the entire world back together, it was not even worth mentioning the stuff that piled on top of it all from the past several months.

Spyro was growing, all the time, and he feared that the time will come where Spyro will outgrow the world. His brother's words about feeling that they are being pawns in some sort of a game no longer seemed so stupid.

The question remained if he will have enough strength to guide him through his unavoidable destiny, whatever it might be.

"This tunic has a legend attached to it" Ignus looked around the hall as if making sure that nobody is listening "The rumor is that this cloth's adaptability is no coincidence, that it reveals the potential of the soul of the one wearing it. The story goes that the dragons before us elected their leaders and generals by putting it on those they deemed worthy, supposedly even our parents were elected that way. It did not work for me or my sister though...I always thought that the stories were made up"

His eyes traveled over Spyro again, blinking again and again, trying to disperse something that must clearly be an illusion.

But nothing happened.

The purple dragon and the world on his wings he had control over were still there.

"Who are you Spyro?" he gasped in honest awe, his knees shaking, only with last strands of arrogant will he held his instinct back, instinct that demanded him to bow and pay respects

The purple dragon looked himself over, looking for any hint that could somehow pinpoint at least an idea how he could answer this question. But there was nothing he could find, eventually his eyes traveled over his companions in search of answers, but a single glance was enough to tell that neither Cynder nor Iris had anything to offer. The eyes of the girls were locked on him in silent astonishment.

Which, despite the situation, brushed his male ego the right way, the covetous stares involuntary bringing him back to the memory of a dream he had where the three of them enjoyed each other's company way too much.

The sweet delusion however quickly faded away the moment his eyes located his brother who in contrary to the girls didn't share their reverent poise. Sparx looked genuinely scared and worried and this sight was more heartbreaking than any other, his glowing brother is not known for projecting his feelings so openly.

Spyro gulped, looking back at Ignus eventually, his dazzled with childish confusion eyes were all the answer he could offer back to their host.

The red dragon didn't seem to be surprised by this lack of cooperation, his muscles relaxed in fact as if grateful, to some degree, for this stunned response.

Purple leafs gently swayed in the air all around the Spyro when he turned his head, vanishing into thin air the moment they touched the ground.

Ignus had a hard time pulling his eyes off from the brilliant aspect of what seemed to be the breathing core of the world itself standing in front of him. Suddenly politics, wars and all the other mundane, daily problems became unimportant. Only with great difficulty he reminded himself that there was still one more dragoness he has to deal with.

"As for you Iris" he said, needing to clear his throat several times to get the confidence of his voice back "I apologize but you cannot put on anything royal. Your feathery wings betray you as a wind dragon and due to that you cannot stand side by side with us. I will give you a simple scarf to cover up that wound around the neck and a servant's robe to hide some of those blue scales. I suspect there should be no issues when your natural color will be spotted, you have enough of white stripes to pretend to be of feathery origin, nobody should ask too many questions when seeing your scales, wind dragons are known for bright coloration. Your blue tone will be a perfect excuse for why I found you interesting, it would explain why I chose you instead of all the other wind rabble that found their way to our dungeons" he swallowed nervously "Is that alright for you?"

He expected Iris to go into a tantrum, but to his utter surprise she merely nodded weakly, her eyes never leaving the otherworldly looking Spyro.

A spark of hate for the purple drake stabbed his heart. He didn't even realize when his tail made an irritated swing, the tip flaring up, scorching his own leg.

"Do not tell anyone that you're Athron's daughter and keep that mask on no matter what. If you betray your identity, whether our guests will believe it or not doesn't matter, things will become that much more disastrous, do we un-"

"Clothies!" Cellsa burst into the hall with a flash of electricity, she immediately dived into the bags, ruffling through them fervently, flinging the outfits to all sides in search of the most perfect one

Both bags became empty in the span of several seconds.

"What about this?" she swiftly sprung up to the nearest pile of clothes, digging through the material, tail and hips swishing from side to side in an excited, rhythmical motion

"Stop" Ignus growled

"It has to be somewhere over there!" she sprang to the other pile, mumbling something excitedly under her nose

"STOP!" Ignus roared

Cellsa froze.

"Get away from there girl, nothing of it is for you"

She turned around, giddy with excitement, her colorful eyes blazing.

"You got anything special for just meeee?"

"There is nothing for you here, the only way I brought you here is because I didn't want to offend my new guests. You are worthless and there is absolutely no way I will shame myself by letting the Upper City know that I harbor a bottom caste female, with a troublesome reputation at that. No. You will stay locked in one of the guests room until this is over and consider yourself fortunate since in my opinion you belong in the sewer gutters"

He strode towards the dragoness, his frame towering over her, she looked at him with hurt eyes, all the electricity that cracked around her body sunk to a barely noticeable spark. She became smaller and smaller under the fierce assault of his dominant presence.

"And if your small reckless brain gets an idea to make a fuss and draw attention to yourself. I will impale you to the walls of Skyward and make the carrion beards feast on you, plucking away your life bit after bit"

Spyro rubbed the back of his head uneasily, looking at Cellsa, who from a joyous girl turned into a depressed victim of abuse stabbed him right in the heart. He wanted to speak up, but he was afraid that it would give Cellsa ammunition to rebel against Ignus' wishes, especially now considering his special attire.

He hated it but right now was the moment to apply one of Terrador's lessons, to keep those around you alive instead of happy.

And he had a feeling that Ignus wasn't joking, even in this younger version there was this grumpy side they got familiar with, a side that didn't accept protests.

"Do you understand me?" Ignus growled into the girl's snout and his breath vibrated with the touch of flames

"That's not fair, it's not my fault I was hatched in the lower caste" Cellsa mumbled quietly, averting her gaze

"Do you understand me?" he repeated more aggressively, strips of flames wrapped themselves around her throat, burning the scale

"Yes" she mumbled, defeated, cringing under his shadow

"Good" he pulled back "Now clean up the mess you made and flush the pool. Go kill the thirst of your equals" with a vicious grin he turned to the rest of the dragons and a dragonfly, clapping his paws together

"Now my friends, dress up and prepare, we have a game to play"

His ruby eyes ran over the group, admiration reaching its top limit when the pupils eventually found their way to Spyro. An embodiment of the universe.

"And I suspect it to be a very fun one indeed"