Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 30: Moments Together

IT had been about two weeks since Spyro and Crash saved the Dragon Realms from Gnasty Gnork, and his life certainly changed afterwards. He had earned the respect and admiration of all of Artisans. And Spyro thought it was bad being the only purple Dragon. He had even been interviewed a couple of times. He became tired of explaining what happened over and over, lying about what happened to protect Crash's privacy. Flame's annoying personality had been replaced by one of admiration and jealousy, not a good combination. Ember truly had a reason to love him now. Though now her flirting had changed somehow. It was at this point that Spyro new she truly loved him, and it started to become harder and harder to push her away. The constant rejection was wearing on her. He was breaking her heart, but what was he supposed to do?

Spyro's only reprieve from the attention was his secluded spot where Crash was currently living. Spyro had become a little worried about him now that he found out about his suicide problems. "Don't die Spyro... for me" Crash had said to him. Tawna's death and Crash's reaction to it made Spyro think long and hard about his life, too. Love... it was a hard subject for Spyro to think about. There was his father Ignitus, who most likely sacrificed his life for him; Thomas, who Spyro had just found out was his grandfather and had only spent about ten minutes with so far; Sparx, who was his inseparable friend who never talked; Ember, who loved him so intensely; and Cynder... Crash had once suggested that Spyro had courage for being honest and open with her, and subtly implied that Spyro had feelings for her. Was he right? They had only really "interacted" with each other for a little over four and a half months, which coincidently was around the same amount of time that Crash and Tawna had loved each other. But it was very hard to get a read on Cynder's feelings. She wasn't very transparent, though she acted so straightforward and had a purpose for everything she did, a juxtaposition that only further compounded the mystery of her true feelings. She had once asked if they were friends, and Spyro answered the question to the best of his abilities. "Maybe I do love her" Spyro thought to himself. Only time would tell if it ever materialized. For now, the time Spyro, Cynder, Sparx and Crash spent on their beach was a great time, and he was grateful for it.

Crash had said that he wanted to prepare a meal for both he and Cynder today. Apparently Crash was a competent chef. Who knew? He was adjusting to life in Artisans fairly quickly. He had already begun building himself a small shack to live in, and was amassing a steady supply of food. He didn't eat meat, which at first shocked Spyro. What did he eat besides that strange fruit he obsesses about? Thought this "wampa" fruit was starting to grow on Spyro. It probably was an acquired taste.

"Here you go, Spyro" Crash said with his SAD. "There's two things I learned from Niko, how to fight and how to fish. The recipe, I can thank Coco for that. She had to feed her brother and father, and she was defiantly good at it." Crash laid a platter of fish and what appeared to be leaves which was topped with little flakes of brown and black specs.

"Ugh... Am I supposed to eat the green stuff?" Spyro asked as he studied the food given to him. Cynder meanwhile, took the first bite out of her dish and savored the taste. Dragons weren't known for their patience or use of utensils, thought that didn't stop Cynder from enjoying the hell out of her first taste of fish.

"Oh my, this is amazing Crash!" Cynder said as Crash placed a bowl of a yellow liquid in front of her. Dragons were apex predators, and didn't need to drink water, which they rarely did. Crash told Cynder that it was for the taste, primarily. She lathered the liquid with her tongue, as Spyro took a timid bite out of his food and once again was shown just how limited his diet was and how it could be expanded. The fish tasted wonderful, and wasn't scorched like the sheep meat he had eaten most of his life.

"Once again you've surprised me Crash, this is delicious." Crash also gave Spyro a bowl of that yellow liquid, and Spyro this time drank it right away. It was that wampa fruit again, but this time it had a serious kick to it. It surprised Spyro just how brisk it was, but tasted wonderful anyways, even in liquid form.

Crash had placed several candles on the beach and asked Spyro to carefully light them. Spyro wasn't particular good at small controlled flames; large conflagrations were his specialty. He and Cynder lit them, and they began to give off a wonderful aroma.

"Wow, what is that smell?" Cynder asked as the waves gently crashed onto the shore. It was around sunset, and Crash had told Spyro that he tried to watch the sunset every day; it was a tradition that started with Tawna the first day they escaped from Cortex. Crash had grabbed something from near his shed and returned to the beach to sit down near Spyro and Cynder.

"The sent comes from the slow burning of wampa leaves, another use of that plant" Crash said as he began to fidget with the strange object in his hands.

"And what is that?" Spyro asked. Instead of Crash responding, he began to play the instrument that was in his hands; Crash started to play one of his favorite songs. His fingers moved quickly, and Spyro and Cynder could only listen to the strange yet pleasing sounds coming from Crash's ucalaly. Spyro and Cynder both sat down near Crash and watched the sunset with him. After about four minutes, Crash stopped playing his song and smiled.

"Kawabata taught me how to play this thing. I was supposed to play it after his and Coco's wedding."

"Wedding?" Cynder asked intriguingly.

"Yeah, a special day for two people who love each other, where there family, friends, and community gather to celebrate their love and life they will have together. It's too bad I never got to play that song." Crash's SAD hid the disappointment he felt, but Cynder and Spyro could see it in his face.

Spyro looked at Crash concernedly again. He had told the story of Coco's brother, Niko. How he had thought he died in the fire that was caused by his creator, only to find out that his creator had saved his life and turned him against his family. Some dark magic that must have taken. The story reminded Spyro of Ignitus and Malefor.

"Crash," Cynder asked suddenly, "In the Budakan village, do parents... mothers and fathers... raise their children?"

The question surprised Spyro, while Crash responded casually at first (though the SAD allowed him to cheat).

"It's the one thing parents look most forward to doing. Raising their child to adulthood, being there as they grow up..." That sadden look for Crash returned, the drooped ears and lowered head. "Holding your newborn child for the first time, promising you'll never let anything bad ever happen to them." Crash let a tear shed. He must have been thinking about Tawna and their unborn child.

"Crash, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"It's okay Cynder" Crash said as he wiped his face with his gloves. Crash sat still for a moment, before his ears began to pivot, and he turned around to better locate a sound he could barely hear. Spyro and Cynder looked at him, wondering what he was doing. "There are two Dragons in the woods watching us" Crash whispered using his SAD; the device was quieter than normal. Nighttime was quickly approaching, as the sun had almost fully set over the horizon.

"There are?" Spyro said somewhat worriedly. Who were they and what would they say upon spotting Crash? Before Spyro could do anything else though, Cynder got up angrily and shouted into the woods.

"Flame, Ember, get over here, now!"

Spyro worries left him. He should have known Flamed would be curious as to where Spyro was going during the evenings he left Artisans. And Ember was probably convinced to come along to see what Cynder and Spyro were up to. But what would they say about Crash? They've never met him and didn't know that he help Spyro save their lives.

"Told you she would yell at us" Flame said as he appeared from the tree line. Ember walked slowly behind, embarrassed and ashamed that they had been caught.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Cynder asked angrily.

"Spyro," Flame instead responded, "aren't you going to introduce us to your orange pet over there. First Sparx, and now this thing, which I recall is the same creature that was seen fleeing from Senate Building during their last meeting. I forgot to ask you about him, since you and Cynder where spying on that meeting, but being crystallized has a way of messing with your memory."

"Spyro," Ember said timidly, "why didn't you tell Flame or I about him? Do you not trust me?"

"Ember, I trust you, but..." Spyro stuttered as Crash walked toward the pink and red guests.

"Hello" Crash said without his SAD to the best of his ability. He switched to the SAD and continued. "I like your necklace, Ember, did you carve it yourself?"

"Thanks..." Ember replied cautiously. It was a little creepy seeing someone talk like that without their mouth moving. And she didn't know this creature. But she proceeded to answer his question. "I did carve this necklace myself. It's for someone... special. I like your necklace, too."

"You two hungry?" Crash then asked with his SAD.

"Are you kidding me," Flame answered flamboyantly, "I've been drooling for minutes smelling those tantalizing meals that Cynder and Spyro so thoroughly enjoyed."

"Great, if you two aren't buys, Spyro was just going to tell how he defeated Gnasty Gnork, if you're interested."

"I was" Spyro said. What was Crash doing, did he want me to tell the truth or come up with something? Spyro looked at Sparx, who gave him an indecisive look.

"Listen, Flame, Ember, you can't tell anyone else about 'Crash' here" Cynder interjected. "He's a refugee, and doesn't have anywhere else to live. And don't repeat anything you're about to hear from Spyro, either."

"I guess I'm going with the truth" Spyro thought. Crash assembled a fire pit which Spyro promptly lit to keep the group out of the dark, while Crash then prepared his new guest some fish.

It took about fifteen minutes, but Spyro finished his story and Flame and Ember had eaten.

"Wow," Ember said once Spyro had finished. "Is it true, Crash; did you really save Spyro's life after he defeated Gnasty Gnork?"

"So you actually didn't save the Dragon Realms own your own" Flame interrupted Crash before he could respond. "Why is that not surprising?"

"Shut up Flame!" Spyro said somewhat annoyed.

"So you're from the future?" Ember then asked, not caring about Flame and Spyro's squabble.

"Yes."

"Can you tell Flame and I about it?"

"Sure. Being gathered around a fire at night, I can't think better to do."

Crash sipped from his wampa drink and proceeded to tell the tale of best and worst moments that had happened to him on this island a hundred thousand years from now.