Take a Stroll with Me

Warning: Hastily written thousand-word ficlet incoming! Give it a read if you want a bit of context behind the picture and could be bothered.

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Summer sunsets in Dragon Village were a sight to behold. Ember heaved a tired but satisfied sigh as she stopped what she was doing for a moment to admire the view out the window. It was like a gold-orange blanket had been laid over the town, painting the white-stone buildings in a warm glow. Ember smiled and picked up the last toys scattered at her paws.

It had been a long day at the hatchery. The hatchlings had been rowdy—well, rowdier than usual—and there had been a catastrophe with a frightened sheep that had somehow ended up in the nursery and had needed Nanny to herd it back out again. On the bright side, Cynder had found the whole debacle hilarious and had laughed for the first time since Ember could remember. For a dragoness who rarely smiled, that was no small victory.

Ember snapped the lid of the toy-chest shut and turned around to find Nanny waiting by the entrance. She was holding the door of the nursery open and had taken her baby-blue apron off, draping it instead over her shoulder. Her vibrant pink scales—darker than Ember's own—were tinged gold by the sunset light.

"Well done today, Ember," Nanny said as Ember cast one last look around the now tidy nursery and walked over to her. "We haven't had a day that exciting since...well, ever. Goodness."

Ember smiled tiredly. "I think I prefer the less exciting days."

Nanny gave a hearty chuckle that made her plump stomach tremble. "You and Cynder handled it very well, regardless."

They stepped out of the nursery together and Ember spotted Cynder herself already heading down the path into town. She huffed and looked over her shoulder in time to see Nanny shut and lock the door.

"I thought Cynder might have lightened up a bit after today, but she still didn't even say goodbye..." Ember muttered, scuffing her paws on the grass.

"She's certainly a closed-off dragoness," Nanny said, smiling a little sadly. "But she's been much better since you started working here. Keep at it and I'm sure she'll come around. I'm sure all she needs is a friend."

"Right..." Ember looked over her shoulder again. Cynder was almost at the corner and would step out of sight within moments. Ember bit her lip. "I gotta go, Nanny. Thanks for handling the sheep!"

"Have a good weekend, Ember! See you on Monday!" Nanny called after her as she darted off down the path after Cynder.

Ember skidded around the corner where Cynder had just disappeared and caught sight of her again. She was walking slowly, in no apparent rush to get where she was going. Grinning, Ember hurried to catch up. "Cynder! Hey!"

The black dragoness glanced over her shoulder just as Ember reached her. Her aqua eyes searched Ember's face. "What is it? Did I forget something at the nursery?"

"Huh? Oh, no." Ember shook her head, falling into step beside her. "I just thought we could walk home together."

Cynder eyed her blankly for a moment, then shrugged and turned her gaze ahead again. "I see."

Silence fell over them like a blanket and Ember contented herself with admiring the sunset glow on the trees and buildings. She had half a mind to chastise Cynder—playfully, of course—for failing to say goodbye again, but thought better of it.

"I can't believe there was a sheep in the nursery," she said instead, smirking as she watched Cynder's expression from the corner of her eye. To her delight, the corners of Cynder's mouth twitched upwards.

"It was pretty ridiculous," she agreed with a snort.

"Imagine if we'd let the hatchlings herd it out instead," Ember continued, grinning unabashedly. "Lecter sure wanted to."

There was the ghost of a grin hovering on Cynder's muzzle as she replied, "It would have been a disaster."

"We probably wouldn't have had a nursery afterwards."

Cynder snorted and grinned, shaking her head. It wasn't quite the full-blown laughter from before, but Ember swelled with pride all the same. She'd never managed to make Cynder laugh before.

"So," she pressed on, practically skipping at Cynder's side, "are you...doing anything tomorrow?"

She tried not to sound too hopeful, but Cynder still gave her a surprised look. "Not really... I was just going to train at the dojo."

Ember tried not to pout, though her spirits did sink. "Oh." Then she frowned and titled her head. "...We have a dojo?"

Cynder laughed—a short, barking laugh that sounded strange coming from her mouth, yet still suited her in one way or another. Ember grinned again. Twice in one day. She was on a roll.

"I figure you've never been there," Cynder said, turning her head to meet Ember's gaze.

"Nope." Ember pulled a face and added, "Not into all that fighting stuff. Do you often go there?"

"Every weekend."

"Oh." Ember frowned and dragged her paws, stalling while she tried to think of what exactly to say. "It's just that, um... Well, I was hoping maybe we could do something together this weekend. Y'know, hang out."

The look Cynder gave her was caught somewhere between suspicious and surprised. "You want to...'hang out' with me?"

The way she enunciated 'hang out' gave Ember the impression she'd never used such a  term before. Ember smiled widely. "Sure! You're fun and there aren't many other dragonesses I hang out with around here."

"I see..." Cynder eyed her curiously for another moment before turning her gaze forward. "Well, you're welcome to join me at the dojo."

Ember wrinkled her snout at the very thought of it. "Actually, I had another idea, if you're okay with it..."

Cynder cocked an eyebrow at her and said nothing, which Ember took as her cue to continue.

"Have you ever been to Dragonfly Falls?"

"No."

"Well, I was thinking we could go there for a swim," Ember said, fixing Cynder with a hopeful look. "Especially since it's been so hot lately. It'd be much nicer than some sweaty old dojo."

"A swim," Cynder echoed, her brow furrowing. "Aren't there piranhas there?"

Ember rolled her eyes and huffed. "Not in the swimming lake! Someone really needs to squash that silly rumour... I mean, sure, the piranhas escaped into the lake when that evil Red dragon was terrorizing the realms and growing his dark gems everywhere, but that was years ago! They were all corralled back into their usual pools and rivers, and there's precautions to make sure they don't escape again. It's perfectly safe."

"If you say so." Cynder shrugged, as though it was no concern of hers. She said nothing else and Ember hesitated a moment.

"So..." she ventured after a beat of silence, "how about it? Want to come?"

Cynder glanced at her. "Tomorrow, right?"

"Right!"

"...What time?"

Ember grinned so widely her cheeks hurt. "In the morning? Is eight o'clock too early?"

"I think we're both used to getting up early," Cynder said, smirking. "Eight is fine."

"Great!" Ember felt like skipping, but refrained for the sake of not looking like a silly hatchling in front of Cynder. She paused and frowned. "I'll have to ask Mum first, but she never says no. So, um..."

She trailed off, realizing they had been standing at the same intersection in the road for the last few minutes at least. Cynder's small hut, a cylindrical white-stone building with a golden cone perched atop it, stood a little ways up the path, nestled at the base of a shallow hill. Ember smiled sheepishly.

"Should we meet here tomorrow?" she asked.

Cynder glanced at her house over her shoulder, then looked back at Ember again. "Sure. You should get home before it gets dark. See you, Ember."

She smiled and turned down the off-shooting road towards her hut, leaving Ember staring blankly after her. Never had she seen Cynder smile like that before. There were smirks and grins and half smiles, but that...that was the first genuine smile Ember had seen on her face. A warm flare bloomed in her chest.

"Bye, Cynder!" she called after her. "See you tomorrow!"

Cynder raised a wing in farewell and Ember hurried on home, grinning the whole way.

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Hoooooly carp.

Months of terrible art block cured in a day by this strange infatuation I have with Cynder/Ember friendshipping. Bwaaah, I'm so happy with this. A Hero's Tail has the best art of the original Spyro games and no one can convince me otherwise. It's so bright and whimsical. 

Ahem. So... The background is Dragon Village from A Hero's Tail, since that is apparently where Ember lives. And you'll probably notice Cynder doesn't look exactly like the Cynder we all know. That's because this is classic Cynder! Well, my version of her. She's a Peacekeeper and pretty antisocial, mostly caused by her strict hardass of a father (he's big and purple. Wonder what his name is...). I have this idea for a story where she's sent away to Dragon Village for a summer to work at the nursery, in the hopes that it'll straighten her out after a string of bad behaviour. There she meets Ember and eventually they start getting along...

I want to write this. I really do. We'll see. For now, have a pretty Dragon Village at sunset and our two lovely dragonesses taking a stroll.