*Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.*
So... this is not nearly as bad as I was expecting, Spyro easily went through the orientation process over the course of half an hour and only glanced at me once so far to make sure I am paying attention.
... It totally wasn't because I almost fainted and froze like a statue when I came in, no, it must be something else right?
A bunch of the others In orientation are actually younger than me, Sunset and if you don't count the thousand year difference, Tempest.
Speaking of the Griffon, I glance at her and see that she is practically absorbing the words my other half is saying, she doesn't look away from Spyro and I admit silently that it's a little disturbing, I focus on the purple dragon addressing us all as he speaks. "... And so, as future Skylanders you will have the responsibilities of not only protecting the Skylands from threats large and small, you will also be keeping the peace and setting an example for future generations to learn from, now, the path to becoming a Skylander is a long one and is no easy feat to achieve, but in the end it is worth the hard work." Spyro explained, his voice was natural which told me that either he was speaking from the heart or he rehearsed the crap out of this speech.
"That's all for the orientation, the first class of the day for you all is about to begin." Spyro announced, almost instantly most of the students went to leave, as did I along with Sunset and Tempest.
"Dark Spyro, I need to talk to you." The purple dragon said formally in front of the class.
I nod to Sunset and Tempest that I'm alright and that I'll see them soon, they both nod and leave the room albeit with some reluctance and worry on their faces, I close the door and look at Spyro, I walk towards him and speak. "So, what do you want to talk about?" I ask.
"First and foremost, I feel we need to clear the air a little, for instance, I don't like you, and i don't think I'll be able to get past that, just because of what you made me do... and I know you don't like me." Spyro stated bluntly.
I feel sudden awkwardness in the air and I open my mouth to speak but quickly close it as I think on his words for a moment before answering him. "Well, I don't hate you?" I offer quietly.
Spyro grunted. "You're right." I breathe a sigh of relief. "It's worse than that, you fear me." He states and I feel my muscles tense up, I look into his eyes and I can't help but replay the memory of my defeat at his hands and the possibility that I could have died then and there.
I must have been obvious as to my discomfort because Spyro continued talking which broke me out of my trance. "So instead, I want us to be on at the very least neutral grounds, if you agree to not antagonize me I'll do the same... agreed?" He asked, holding his claw out.
I blink and raise an eyebrow at the choice of words, they felt forced and I had a good idea who was behind this. "Elf?" I ask curiously.
Spyro chuckles and lowers his claw. "Elf." He replied with an eye roll. "She's afraid we'll get into another fight like last time." He said with a slightly mocking tone hidden deep. "If we did end up fighting again, I would totally win again though." He said confidently.
I sigh at his words, and while I had similar feelings to Elf, I felt my dragons pride surfacing. "I don't know about that, I've been training hard ever since Jade." I counter.
Spyro and I share an intense glare for several seconds before we both grin. "Looks like we share more than just a handsome face." He states.
"What do you say? when we are both full strength, rematch?" I challenge him even though I'm scared to all hell.
Spyro's grin widens. "You're on Dark, but if you think that I haven't been training hard you are wrong, and to make it fair, I won't even use that memory spell to spy on you." He states.
I shiver a little at the though of my other half being able to spy on me whenever he wishes. "That's unnerving that you can do that." I mutter to myself in a level of voice that only my other half can hear.
Spyro nods in agreement. "Not to mention potentially awkward, I'd hate to see something... private." He shudders and I quickly walk to the door to leave. "Dark." Spyro said, making me stop and face him.
Spyro's eyes had changed from neutral to serious as we looked at each other. "Dont betray Cynder's trust, she's putting a lot of faith in you as are your friends, even Elf and Eon are giving you a chance, I'm not saying that you won't crack or break down along the way, but if you hurt any of them by betraying us, I won't hesitate to take you down... am I clear?" He stated with seriousness.
I knew instantly that he meant every single word, and even though he said something similar before, I felt even more pressure this time, I nod slowly out of understanding. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I say. "If I do go nuts again, I don't trust anyone else to do that... but I won't hurt anyone, if that means anything." I state before leaving the room.
Once outside the Orientation room I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding, I hold a claw up and see that it is shaking, I took a few deep breaths to try and calm down and I get moving towards where my first class is.
The trip to the first class wasn't a long one, but as I entered the class I see that the teacher is Jet-Vac, I see Sunset and Cynder sitting on one end of the room but there are no open seats near them, I spot an open seat near the entrance but I recognize Marx, Chen and Tinker and they have an open seat near them, I walk over to them and sit down wordlessly. "Glad you could join us Dark Spyro." Jet-Vac noted before continuing the lesson as though nothing changed.
Jet-Vac is teaching us about Chompy's, and while I already know about the topic, I decide to pay closer attention than I once did years ago, about five more minutes into the lesson, I hear Marx speak up. "What's the point of knowing all of this?" He questioned. "Chompy's are just pests, I can handle them easily so why do I need to know all of this?" He pressed.
A quiet murmur spread among the students I don't know and I hear Tinker sigh. "Not this again." She whispered.
Jet-Vac also looked at Marx with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "Chompy's are more dangerous than you give them credit for Marx, they may be small and not much of a threat alone, but they can easily pillage a town or defeat any Skylander in numbers, their teeth eats through almost anything without a problem and should you be unlucky enough to run into the Green Chompy's cousin the Purple Chompy... you had best beware, they are resistant to magic and fly into a rage when you try to use magic on them." He explained in a scolding tone that seemed to shut Marx up.
With that, Jet-Vac returned to the lesson and this time no one dared to interrupt him, he shifted the lesson away from Chompy's to the methods of taking care of Chompy's, detailing the effectiveness of both intimidation tactics and attacks that hit multiple enemies very clearly, and it was this way of teaching that made me realize that Jet-Vac was actually a good teacher, he might assign a lot of homework but I know for a fact it's only because he wants us to succeed.
The class goes on for another five minutes before Jet-Vac ended it, he assigned us our homework which was to detail at least five different ways to deal with a Chompy or a Chompy swarm, after that we all left the classroom and I felt loads better by the end of it.
'Alright, all I have to do is get through today and then it should get easier... hopefully.'
*Later that day.*
I groan from the pain my limbs are putting me in as I maneuver myself through Cynder's house and plop down on the couch, In this exact moment I regretted ever coming back to the Skylands and almost wished that they would throw me in prison just so I could sleep all day and no one would care.
I hear a grunt followed by tired breathing. "Why did they decide on a death trap of an obstacle course today?" Sunset asked.
I hear a rather offending chuckle coming from Cynder and I raise my head, I look at the dragoness and see her with a smug grin on her face. "You'll have to get use to it, it's an important part of training that you need to pass." She said with a tone I think Spyro once used on her.
"I am aware, but my aching limbs make it easy to not care right now." I state with a flat tone of voice before resting my head again.
The door opens and closes and Tempest walks in. "Hey everyone... what's up?" The Griffon asks as she takes in the sight of an unmoving Sunset, an almost cackling Cynder and me trying to sleep.
"Cynder is mocking our performance on the obstacle course." Sunset answered tiredly.
I watch as Tempest raises an eyebrow. "Why? how did you do?" She asked with a curious and innocent tone.
"Let's just say that Sunset REALLY needs to get in shape and Dark here needs to sleep so that he doesn't fall asleep in the middle of class again." Cynder said as she headed off to the kitchen, her voice filled with mirth as she restrained herself from laughing again.
Tempest walks over to me and kneels down. "Do you need anything?" She asks softly.
I smile at her offer, feeling a sense of warmth at the thought. "No, maybe Sunset does though, thanks Tempest." I reply with an honest tone of voice.
Tempest nods slowly and stands up, she walked over to Sunset and talks to the unicorn for a few seconds before walking to the kitchen.
I do nothing more than close my eyes, desiring absolutely nothing more than to sleep, I could feel the alluring effect about to take effect when I heard the most offending sound I ever heard.
*Growl*
"And we have a hungry dragon to feed, great." Sunset groaned.
I sigh loudly and sit up, I push sleep away again for what I felt must be the millionth time already and make my way to the kitchen where. I heard voices, once I enter the kitchen I enter just in time to see Cynder set her phone down on the counter. "What's going on?" I ask tiredly.
"Ordered pizza for dinner, I don't know what Sunset or Tempest like to eat so I just got a regular cheese and a pepperoni pizza, you good with that?" Cynder asked.
I nod. "That's fine by me, is it being delivered or are we picking it up?" I ask.
"Delivered, I was thinking that we could move Tempest's bed up to the attic before our food gets here, then we can eat?" The dragoness suggests with a wondering tone.
I nod in agreement. "Sure, I'll go get started." I say before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs to get started.
I am quickly joined by Sunset, Tempest and Cynder, and together the three of us easily move the entire bed upstairs and make a lot of progress setting it up for Tempest to live in by moving an old table and a small crate into a corner, thankfully Cynder didn't have much in the attic aside from a box or two and some old furniture that she didn't use.
I find myself idly pondering ways to improve the attic a little bit for my friend when we heard a knock on the front door, Cynder immediately headed downstairs to pay for the food, I follow soon after and I hear Sunset and Tempest talking quietly behind me, clearly the Unicorn was using a spell to make their conversation even quieter so I couldn't hear and I mentally debate on what they could possibly be talking about that I wasn't supposed to know.
I eventually settle on the idea of the two of them planning a way to repay Cynder's generosity and leave It alone. 'This is their business, not mine, I'll just leave them be.' I tell myself.
The rest of the day passed by pleasantly, the pizza was delicious and filling, and we had a nice night just catching Tempest up to modern times and as to what a phone was and why it was so popular, that night however I didn't sleep very much, I awoke the next morning with a sore wing yet I felt better than I did yesterday.
I also woke up without Tempest in the same bed as me which I took as a good sign that she was getting more confident, though I felt a little sad at the though of it never happening again.
'She's a grown Griffon though, if she can handle it so can I.' I tell myself, though it makes little difference in my mind.