Kindness of Strangers is a The Legend of Spyro fanfic by Plague Doctor 2035.
It tells the story of a little girl named Meredy who somehow ends up turned into a dragon, under mysterious events, and winds up dumped in the Legend of Spyro universe. Initially alone in the wild, she is lucky enough to be found by and rescued by Cynder. Spyro and Cynder end up unofficially adopting her for the time being. From here, she tries to make sense of her situation and the strange new world she lives in. Being only three, Meredy struggles to fully comprehend her situation, unable to understand why she is here or how she ended up in the dragon realms in the first place.
Things only get more complicated for her from there. She, despite being a hatchling, has the unnatural shadow element, which no dragon has been no to be born with.( as the element does not occur naturally) Additionally, she is found to have a strong yet unknown potential for magic. While Spyro and Cynder adapt to being parents, Meredy's magic starts to draw unwanted attention to Meredy. Soon enough, she finds herself involved in matters she is too young to even comprehend...
The fic is one of the fandom's staples "human into dragon" stories but this one is notable for being one of the few to have the main character be a very young child, as opposed to an older individual.
The story was first posted in September 2022 and can be read here
.Can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54190915/chapters/137217865
Kindness of Strangers contains examples of:
- Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed, as Meredy is implied to still have had happiness in her old life. But she is implied to have lived in either poverty or at in a lower-income household, as it is stated she did not always have enough to eat. Additionally, she seems to have suffered from neglect to an extent, although it is not clear to what degree.
- Mama Bear: Cynder cares very much for Meredy, and is protective of her. Even after she first met Meredy, Cynder defended her from a dire wolf that was trying to eat her.
- Maternally Challenged: A present theme. Both Spyro and Cynder have a hard time taking care of Meredy.
- Non-Action Guy: Meredy is unable to defend herself. Justified, as she is only a young child.
- Parental Neglect: Implied, and later confirmed to be the case with Meredy's birth mother, Lilith. When Lilith appears in the story later, her thoughts imply she did not mean to neglect Meredy but was forced to leave her in the care of others due to her demanding job as a cop, back when she was human. Meredy's malnutrition is apparently the result of Lilth not always having the money to feed Meredy. She is mentioned to have still made an effort to spend time with her daughter.
- Parents as People: Spyro and Cynder are kind-hearted and try their best to care for Meredy, but are woefully unprepared to meet all the needs of a toddler. Meredy's birth mother, Lilith, was struggling to provide for Meredy, even being unable to feed her at times. Additionally, she had to be gone for long periods of time due to her demanding job. Lilith apparently still made an effort to still show Meredy love and affection when she was around, as her daughter recounts the good times they shared. Lilith harbors deep remorse for her failures as a mother and shows signs of depression over being separated from her daughter.
- Potty Failure: This happens to Meredy in one chapter after she was overfed, much to Spyro and Cynder's dismay. Not unexpected, seeing as she is a toddler.
- Proportional Aging: This seems to be the case with the dragons. It is mentioned that not only can they live for hundreds of years, but they age mentally and physically slower than other species and their life cycles last longer. Dragons are considered full adults at the age of twenty-eight, though that may mean the end of young adulthood to them. To give you an idea, Meredy is stated to have just turned three a few weeks before she was turned into a dragon, but is considered to be in her late stages of infancy by the dragons and is even teething in some chapters, seemly on instinct. She seems to be physically younger in dragon standards than her age as a human.
- The Cutie: Meredy in spades. She is very innocent and typically kind, if very shy. Makes sense, seeing as she is only three.
