As Cynder ran away from the wall surrounding Warfang she franticly looked for something to hide in, or something to provide cover. With every minute that passed Cynder feared that the search parties would turn around and see them. After miles and miles of constant running she found a forest. When she reached the forest, she didn't dare slowdown in case they were being followed.

Cynder continued to run as her mind slowly went numb. She didn't know how long she been running for. She could have been running for hours upon hours now and she wouldn't have known. She even had troubles remembering who or what she was running from, or why. All she knew for sure at the moment was that Spyro was unconscious on her back, she was in a forest, and that she had to keep on running. All around her she heard noises such as twigs braking, bushes shaking, and the pitter patter of little feet. With every noise heard made Cynder panic and believe that there were guards hot on her trail, when in reality the noises came from woodland creatures.

"I have to keep moving." This single thought danced in Cynder's mind. Her whole body felt numb from head to toe. She had been running for so long that she was beyond the point of exhaustion. The pain from her aching legs, dry mouth, and burning throat were long forgotten as she panted heavily while running past tree after tree. Behind her there was a long trail mark from her tail as she dragged it across the ground.

She continued to cry until she could no longer produce anymore tears, and soon after left her eyes dry and blood shot. The scales under them were also slightly stained as well. From time to time Cynder would look to see if Spyro was still on her back, and thanked the ancestors that he still was every time she looked.

Her running was cut short however as one of her back legs got caught on a root that stuck out of the ground. She fell to the ground with a grunt, and Spyro landed not too far ahead of her. She tried to stand back up but her body would not respond to what her mind told it, as all the adrenaline pumping through her veins disappeared. Suddenly her eyes grew heavy, and she had a hard time keeping them open. Ever so slowly did they begin to close.

She looked at Spyro one last time before saying "I'm sorry." She lost consciousness.

A while after Cynder fell asleep a figure found the two dragons laying on the ground. He checked to see if they still had a heart beat was relieved to find both of them. Inspecting them he saw that Cynder had some cuts and bruises but nothing that wouldn't heal over time. Spyro on the other hand was in terrible shape. He was also covered in cuts and bruises but he also had several broken bones. His wing was all twisted, and his tail was also bent out of shape. He could also tell that part of Spyro's spine was damaged but not broken. Even one of his horns was cracked.

The figure carefully picked up the purple dragon as well as Cynder and took them to a nearby cave. The figure then left in search of stuff it could use to help fix Spyro's broken bones. He came back and patched him up before leaving once more in search of food.

Several hours later

Spyro groaned as he began to wake up. He started to open his eyes but he closed them shut from the light that poured onto him. It took him a short while but he when he managed to adjust to the light, he tried to stand only to feel immense pain from his back, tail, and head.

Looking at his back he noticed that it was vines and leaves that were used as a make shift bandages. Inspecting the rest of his body he saw that his remaining wing and part of his tail was also covered in similar looking bandages.

He tried to stand up once more keeping in mind to be careful when he moved as to not further irritate his wounds. This time he looked at his surroundings. He noticed that he was near the back of a cave, and near him laid Cynder. He slowly walked over to her and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still breathing.

Something about Cynder's sleeping form just made Spyro smile. Suddenly she began to toss and turn in her sleep and her breath quickened. "She must be having a bad dream." thought Spyro. He sat down, and placed one of his paw on Cynder's back. He then started to shake her, in hopes to wake her up.

His first few attempts failed, so he then leaned forwards and whispered to her "wake up Cynder, it's time to wake up." He said while still lightly shaking her.

All of a sudden her eyes shot open and quickly stood up. Spyro managed to move his head out of the way before she hit him with her horns. Panicking Cynder started to look all around her new environment, until her eyes lay upon Spyro.

"Thank the ancestors you're alive!" shouted Cynder as she threw her paws around Spyro's neck and hugged him. Spyro grunted in pain when she did, causing her to stop what she was doing and backed away from him. "Sorry Spyro I didn't mean to do that."

"Its fine Cynder I know you didn't. It seemed like you were having a bad dream. What was it about?"

"It was about you when you fell. I dreamt that you died and I could hear you voice echoing all around me blaming me that it's my entire fault that you fell." Cynder said, on the verge of tears.

Spyro draped his wing over her and hugged her, and she carefully hugged him back. Suddenly Spyro felt Cynder slap him upside the head with the flat side of her tail blade

"Ow, what was that for?" asked Spyro backing away from her slightly.

"That was for making me worry about you, you big idiot. Don't you ever do something so reckless ever again!"

Spyro started to chuckle to himself as something popped into his mind. "Hey it's not funny!" said Cynder "I'm serious, you could have died back there."

"I know what I did was stupid, but you don't have to worry about that ever again, and do you know why?"

"Because if you were to do something like that again, and if you survive, I would have to kill you myself?"

"Well there is that, but that is not what I was talking about. What I was talking about, was that we did it. We got away!" said a very excited Spyro

A large smile crept upon Cynder's face. She knew that it was foolish to think such a thing but at the moment she decided it would be best not to tell him. "Yeah I guess we did." Cynder let out a yawn as her eyes started to sag a little.

"Still tired?"

Cynder lied back down and said "yeah I guess I am, but can you blame me? I carried you for a long time. You know even though you're very thin your still kind of heavy."

Chuckling once more Spyro "Well then you get some rest." Spyro was just about to leave Cynder when he yawned as well. He began to blush as a question formed in him mind "Cynder if you don't mind, would you mind if I sleep next to you?" Spyro asked. To Cynder's amazement, Spyro didn't look nervous when he asked this. He was blushing, but he seemed more awkward asking that than he did nervous.

Cynder blushed as well and said "sure go right ahead."

Spyro then lay down next to her still blushing, before rolling over onto his side. Cynder did the same and then felt Spyro drape his wing over her again and pull her closer to him. She closed her eyes and smile before falling asleep once more.

A few more hours passed when Spyro woke up to the sound of two stone clicking together. He ignored it and tried to fall back asleep, when he heard the sound of crackling wood and the sudden warm of a fire. This time Spyro opened his eye and saw Hunter leaning over the he just created.

"Hunter your alive!" said Spyro as he carefully stood up and walked over to the cheetah. As he approached him he noticed that he was also covered in bandages. "How did you get away, and how did you find us?"

"I'm not so sure myself, all I can say is that it was a miracle. What happened was that shortly after you and Cynder left, your mother grabbed me with her tail and tossed me aside. They tried to follow you, but I managed to drive their attention back to me. After that much was a blur. The only thing that I can really remember was there was a lot of pain. Just when I thought I was going to die, believe it or not but King Flame himself followed by several other guards, came up to me and helped me up. Then he told one of the guards to take me to the infirmary. As I was taken away saw King Flame talk to your parents. After that I blacked out.

After I wake up I ran out the door in search of you two. As for how I found you, well my name is hunter for a reason. When I found you and Cynder unconscious on the ground I took you two to this cave, then left in search of some food. I was just about to cook some of this deer I killed before you woke up."

The room went silent after Hunter finished his story. Spyro started to worry about his parents.

Deciding to change the topic Hunter said "So I see that you and Cynder told each other how you feel about one another."

"How did you find out?" said Spyro as he blushed and looked away from the cheetah.

"I'd say the way the two of you slept together a few moments ago was a big give away. It would have come as a great surprise to me if the two of you didn't love one another anyway. I could tell from the way you look at Cynder sometimes that you liked her, and the same could be said about Cynder." Hunter explained.

Spyro and Hunter then hear Cynder starting to wake up. When she woke up, she noticed that Spyro was no longer next to her. Confused she stood up and noticed Hunter sitting next to Spyro.

"I'm so glad that you are alive Hunter, but how did you find us and how did you slip away from Spyro's parents?" asked Cynder.

Hunter then told Cynder the same story he told Spyro.

"Oh I almost forgot." said Hunter. "While I was searching for some food and firewood, I ran into another cheetah with a green hood on. I don't remember his name but he told me to give you a message Cynder."

"What was the massage?"

"He told me to tell you that you will be seeing him soon. He then said something about your medicine, though I didn't understand what he was talking about. Is there something I should worry about?" said Hunter with a worried look on his face.

Cynder smiled and said "No everything is going to be fine. I guess you could say that he is an old friend of mine."

Hunter nodded before saying "well that is enough talk, let's just cook this food, and eat already."

By the time the deer was fully cooked and then consumed by the three of them the sun had already set. Much to Spyro's and Cynder's surprise they were once again quite tired. They laid down near the fire and slept next to one another, while Hunter slept against the wall of the cave. Just before Spyro fell asleep he smiled and put his wing over Cynder.

Inside Spyro's dream

Spyro found himself once again in the familiar white room. Knowing that he was going to meet his dark half, he began to search for him. After a bit of searching he heard a voice behind him say "What do you think you are doing? I thought I told you to say away from that succubus?"

Spyro turned around and face Dark Spyro. "Your wrong, Cynder is nothing like that. She truly cares for me. Besides it doesn't matter what you say. I know that all you are is the fear inside me, and I'm never going to let you hurt anyone ever again."

Dark Spyro chuckled to himself before saying "And what if I am only just fear? It makes no difference. At some point in your life, you will be terrified, and that is when I will take control and when that happens I will make sure myself that Cynder is no more."

"No I won't that ever happen. I will kill you if I have to!" Spyro shouted at the top of his lungs.

"You, kill me? Don't make me laugh. What makes you think that you will be able to kill me anyways? Remember you and I are one and the same; whatever happens to me will happen to you. For example," said Dark Spyro as he in betted his claws into his other paw and sliced part of his paw and arm. Spyro cringed in paw and looked at his paw to see the same cut mark that Dark Spyro gave himself

Dark Spyro then said, "If you were to kill me then that means you would kill yourself as well."

Spyro thought to himself. He had to admit that he was scared by the fact that if he let Dark Spyro take control then he would kill Cynder and it would be his entire fault.

Suddenly Dark Spyro began to fade away, and his voice started to echo as he said "Just remember Spyro, no matter what you do or how you are with I will always be there waiting." And with that he disappeared.

Back in reality

Shortly after Dark Spyro disappeared Spyro woke up. Both Cynder were sound asleep and the fire diminished. He thought about what his alternate ego said to him. He then thought about what the best thing to do. Should he leave Cynder to make sure he never harmed her, or should he stay with her and risk killing her?

His head started to hurt as several more thought ran around in his mind. "I need some fresh air." thought Spyro. Carefully he stood up and walked over to the entrance of the cave. Once there he gazed up at the stars above. The last time he did this was the last night he spent with his parents before he was thrown out and he had to admit, he missed doing this. Now that he would out of the city he could see the stars more clearly since there were no street lamps around to brighten the skies.

He continued his thinking about what to do. He finally came to the conclusion that it would be best if he left. Just as he was about to take another step he heard someone behind him say "What are you doing out here?" Turning around he saw Cynder with her eyes half open. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just thinking to myself."

"Anything I should be worried about?" asked Cynder as she sat down next to him.

Spyro looked away and thought if he should tell Cynder about his dream. He stayed quiet for a while as he continued to ponder about whether or not he should tell her, before he felt Cynder coil her tail around his. Looking back at her, he saw worry in her eyes. He smiled as he found his answer. Over the next few minutes he told her about his dream along with what he was thinking he should do.

After he finished Cynder stayed quiet as she also thought about it. After a short while she then said "Spyro I can't make that decision for you, only you can do that. I won't stop you if you decide to leave. I know that you would never let him take control over you, but if something were to happen and he does end up killing me, do know that I wouldn't blame you. You and him are nothing alike."

Spyro felt like his head was about to explode. This truly was the hardest decision he had to make in his entire life.

"Spyro I just want you to know that no matter what happens to me or you I will always love you."

Then the answer came to him. He stood up, faced Cynder, and kissed her. When their lips parted Cynder saw tears running down Spyro's face. Her heart sank as she thought that this was goodbye.

"Cynder I love you with all my heart and I don't ever want to see you get hurt but I also don't want to ever leave your side. I will stay, but only if you promise to me that no matter what you will never leave me." Spyro begged.

Cynder smiled and started to let a few tears run down her muzzle as well before saying, "I promise Spyro. For better or for worst, in sickness or in health I will always stay by your side. I love you Spyro, just like you love me. And for the rest of my life, I will stay with you."

They kissed one last time before heading back inside the cave and fell asleep in one another's paws.