FSE

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Chapter 4

More Meetings

Morning broke over the horizon, letting the sun spill its' warmth out onto the land. Its' rays cutting through the last of the shadows of the night; creeping, touching as far as it could. Slowly, the light reached two reptiles. Dragons to be precise. Both who were known though out the land, weather good or bad. Then one stirred, waking from her slumber as the rays of the sin hit her face. Her scales were unnaturally black, corrupted by her now deceased master, although glistening in the sun, were covered in bruises, scratches and gashes alike. She has three pairs of horns, all white and glowed along with the sun. Yawning, she stood up and stretched out her aching muscles the best she could. Standing straight, her maroon underbelly and wings stood out. A lethal blade at the end of her tail swung back and forth as she stared at her partner/comrade.

A purple dragon, a very rare dragon, laid there what seemed like, completely out cold. His purple scales along with his yellow underbelly and horns shone in the sun. Alike with the black dragon, he was covered in all sorts of scraps and gashes and more so. His wings, an orangish - redish color, were spread out in odd angles. Last night, he dropped sown do to exhaustion. She smiled, 'He has done so much for me,' she thought, 'I wish I could return the favor.' Looking past her friend was a crystal clear river. Just close enough to get something to drink.

Turning her head to a shady part under the trees, were the sun hasn't yet came to, was a third dragon. His size dwarfed hers and her friend combined. His red scales were dull do to age. Burn marks consumed his body, black splotches doted his scales, making him look like a red Dalmatian. Ever since they found him, he's never woken. His steady breathing is the only indication he was alive. In her heart, she was jumping for joy he was alive, but her gut was cringing the way he looks. Sighing, she walked the best she could to find some food for her friend and herself.

An hour later, the black dragon came back dragging a large leaf carrying an assortment of foods; a rabbit, two mice and some berries she found. Dragging the leaf up to her purple hero, she nuzzled him, trying to wake him up. First couple tries were unsuccessful, but soon she got though to him. "Spyro. Spyro, wake up," she said softly, "I've got food, you need to eat."

Spyro groaned and opened his eyes, "I'm up," he said weakly. He rolled over to lie on his belly, groaning in doing so.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Slightly better, but not much. I'm still weak from the batter with Malefor," Spyro said. The black dragon cringed at the name of her deceased master. "What did you get this time Cynder?"

"I've only been able to get a rabbit, two mice and some berries," replied Cynder.

"Were you able to find any...?"

"No. I haven't seen any crystals ever since we woke up in this place. "*sigh* Well, we'll have to do with what we got."

Cynder gave the rabbit to Spyro, "Here, take the rabbit."

"No, Cynder. I can't-"

"Take it. You need your strength."

"Alright."

They began eating, Spyro got the rabbit, Cynder got the two mice and the berries to share. Spyro looked over to the large dragon. "Has Ignitus awaken yet?"

Cynder shook her head, "No."

"*sigh* I'm just glad he's alive. I thought I lost him back at the Wall of Fire." Suddenly the red dragon gave a heavy sigh. The two of them looked hopeful, but he didn't stir. Downcast, Spyro lay back down and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

'That battle must have drained all of his energy. I've never seen him like this before,' thought Cynder. 'I hate seeing him like this, it just breaks my heart...' blinking away the tears, she sighed and settled down to rest. Soon she was asleep herself.

Hours later, Cynder woke up to rustling in the bushes a couple yards away. Doing her best to stand up, she eyed the bushes, waiting for something to come out. And what did made her blood run cold.

"Apes!" she gasped.

Stunned, all she could do was watch them approach forward. There were at least a dozen of them, a small group. Stopping a few yards away, cinder gained her composure. She had to defend Spyro and Ignitus, no matter what. "W-what do you want?" demanded Cynder.

"Shut it dragon!" the leader yelled. "All dragons will die for what they did to us! Now prepare to d-"

He was cut off short by a low rumbling sound that was getting louder.

Pvt. Tucker has been following flame and Ember for about an hour. They have been following a river, which Flame said 'is the best bet we'll find them'. He took another bit out of his protein bar. Having not eaten breakfast made him a little nauseous. He gave a treat to Max to hold him over as well. Weaving through trees and bushes really kept Tucker on the wheel. He kept the windows down in order to listen to the two fire breathers; plus for Max. Suddenly the jeep hit a root and heard a clang in the back. "What the," looking back. "No way!" he shouted, "I completely forgot about those!" he exclaimed excitedly. He found his M7 SMG along with his favorite, a M90 Shotgun. A grenade belt rested on top. Next to his weapons was a med kit along with other necessities. "That makes me feel better. Who knows what's out here?" Max barked in agreement.

"I think I see them!" yelled Ember.

"You do? Where?" Tucker yelled back.

"Just over the brush, that way," Flame said pointing.

"Uh oh, I think they're in trouble. We need to hurry!" Ember yelled back down.

Tucker reached back and grabbed his M7 SMG. 'I hope I don't have to use this.'

Cynder looked at the direction the noise. Looking up as something caught her eye; two dragons came over the tree line. Then a metal box on wheels came through the brush and stopped a little away from them. The two dragons landed next to Cynder, both she has never seen before. They were both her age. "Are you Cynder?" the pink one asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"My name's Ember and this is Flame, we came here to bring you two back to W-"

"Enough!" yelled the ape leader. "No more delays. You all will die!"

Ember and Flame took a step back while Cynder stayed to protect Spyro. The two fire breathers had no experience in fighting. They only ran away from danger growing up. Through all the commotion, Spyro finally woke up to see a group of apes advancing, but he couldn't move a muscle.

Tucker finally had enough. "Max, you go and protect the dragons." Max whimpered. "No, not this time Max. Now go!" Max barked and opened his side of the door and ran to the dragons. Cynder took a stance, but Ember told her he was a friend. The Tucker came out. The apes froze to see what was happening. Tucker slammed the door and pointed his SMG at the apes. "Drop your weapons and get on your hands and knees!" Tucker demanded.

All for dragons were at awe, yet confused at what he was holding. They were startled to hear the leader laughing. "And what the hell do you think you are? You should know better than to stand on our way."

I say again, drop your weapons and get on your hands and knees!" Tucker said calmly.

"Or what? Beat us up with that stick? AHAHAH." the other apes joined in the laughter.

BANG! CLANG!

A sword went flying and landed a few feet from the one holding it. All laughter stopped and everyone looked at Tucker. His gun gave off visible hot air from the barrel. The dragons were amazed; speechless.

Then Tucker spoke, "That was a warning shot! Don't make me shoot you! Now, drop your weapons!" out of the dozen or so, only two did. "Now on your hands and knees!" the two did as he said.

The ape leader got furious, "get up you damn fools!" The two apes didn't respond. "Fine, I'll deal with you after I deal with this runt. Anyone who kills this bastard will get triple rations for the week!" the remaining apes screeched a battle cries and charged. Tucker grimaced and pulled the trigger.

A spray of bullets pelted the front row of apes, creating small red holes. The dragons watched in horror at what they're seeing. Tucker took out two thirds of the apes when a lucky ape got close enough to lay a fist to his face. Losing his balance, he dropped his SMG. Getting back up, he fought hand to hand. The four dragons looked in awe at Tuckers' flexibility. He dodged an ape's punch and laid some of his own on the ones chest with a kick to the side of the head. The ape went flying, hitting a tree and remained motionless. The others were just as unlucky, although one of them managed to dig its' claws into his left arm. Soon, all the apes were gone except for the leader. He was furious at watching his platoon of apes being wiped away by this one individual. He yelled as he charged with fire in his eyes, nothing but hatred.

Tucker, who thought he had it in the bag, got a little cocky, a simple mistake. He started dodging all the leaders' punches and kicks then side stepped, letting the leader fall do to his momentum. Tucker chuckled but stopped seeing a random kick to his head. Falling over a few feet away, Tucker got on his hands and knees to pick himself up.

"Tucker, look out!" cried Ember.

Looking up at where the dragons were saw their eyes in horror looking at his direction. He realized what they were saying, but was too late. He felt a strong furry arm around his neck, chocking him. "Gotcha now," the leader said laughing. Tucker tilted his head forward and slammed it backward, hitting the leader in the forehead. Losing his grip, he clutched his face in agony.

Tucker grabbed the leaders' shoulder, came behind him and put him into a head lock of his own. "I'll give you one more chance to back down. If you don't I'll kill you right now."

The leader growled, "Never, you son of a b-*snap*" the leader fell to the ground with his head at an odd angle.

Tucker stood erect and looked back to the two apes still on their hands and knees. As he walked over to them, they shivered in fear. "Get up," he commanded. They shot straight up, not wanting to anger him, more. "Tell me, why have you attacked these dragons?" They just stood there, scared stiff. "Answer me!" he yelled, startling them out of their wits.

One of them gained the courage to talk, "W-w-we attacked b-b-be-because the d-d-dragons w-w-were the ones th-that cursed us."

"Well, are you still cursed?"

"N-no," spoke the other ape.

"Then why kill dragons if you're free from the curse?"

"We d-don't know. W-we weren't g-given th-that inform-mation. W-we just d-do," said the first ape. Tucker stared at them for a few minutes. 'They're telling the truth. Hmm, I need to ask the Guardians about this.'

"Please, let us go," begged the second ape.

Tucker nodded, "You're free to go. But, if I catch you again, I won't hesitate." Both apes nodded and scurried away into the brush and out of sight. He heaved a heavy sigh. Clutching his left arm as the adrenaline stopped coursing through his veins. He turned and walked to the group of dragons. He could tell on the looks on their faces of awe and horror. Max came running up to him whining. "I'm okay boy," patting his head with his right hand. He stopped at the group, "Are you two okay?" referring to Spyro and Cynder.

Spyro stopped staring and nodded, "Could be better. But we're fine."

"Not the way I see it. You both look horrible," replied Tucker.

Cynder nodded, "Yeah, we just finished a war."

"So I've heard. Look, I've been sent along with Flame and Ember here, to bring you back to, Warfang right?" both fire breathers nodded.

"You mean you met the-"

"Guardians, yes." Tucker said cutting Spyro off. "But, I'm getting ahead of myself. My name's Tucker, I'm a human, and this is Max, my dog," patting Max's head.

"Human? I've never seen a -*gasp*, your arm, it's bleeding!" exclaimed Cynder, seeing blood dripping off his fingers.

Tucker looked down, "Yeah, so I am. Just a scratch. Max, go get the med kit." Max barked and ran the jeep. "Alright, while he's getting that, let's see those cuts."

"No," Spyro shook his head, "Please go see our friend over there. He needs the most care."

They all turned their heads to look at the large red dragon. Ember's heart froze, "Daddy?" she whispered. She took a step forward. "Daddy!" she ran to him, tears streaming down her face.

"Ember!" Flame ran after her.

"What happened?" asked Tucker.

"He took us through the Wall of Fire on our way to the Mountain of Malefor. Half way through, he throws us to the other side, sacrificing himself. I thought I lost him; I don't know how he survived," explained Spyro.

"Miracle, I'd say." Tucker felt something bumping his leg. Looking down, he saw Max with the med kit. "Thanks Max. Now before I help anyone, I need to patch up this scratch. Don't want to drip blood everywhere." Pulling off his shirt, the two of them saw three deep gashes on the left arm. Tucker grunted in discomfort. "I guess they're more than a little scratch." He picked up a stick and put it into his mouth. Both Spyro and Cynder looked confused. Next Tucker took some ointment and applied some to the gashes. Biting down hard, he grunted in pain. Taking the roll of bandages, he wrapped them around his arm, tying the two ended into a knot. He took the stick out of his mouth and throws it away. "Man that hurt worse than getting it in the first place," talking out loud. "Now, let's take a look at your friend.

Ember was still crying near her father with Flame trying to comfort her. Tucker walked by causing her to look up at him. He looked over the red dragon, analyzing. He was trained in the medical field as all the others with him, in case of emergency. He never thought he would use it, besides himself, till now. He set the med kit sown and took a small flash light. Opening the dragons' eyes and flashed it in, looking for dilation and contraction in the pupils. He got the reaction he wanted and put the flash light away.

Ember spoke up, "Is he going to be okay?"

Tucker nodded, "He's just in a deep comatose."

"A what?" asked Flame. Spyro and Cynder came closer to listen.

"A coma." They still didn't understand. "A deep sleep that you don't wake up from."

"You don't mean..." Ember started.

"No," Tucker shook his head. "As I said before, he's going to be okay. But it might be a long while till he wakes up." She sighed in relief in knowing her father's going to be okay. "Now, about these burns. What was it... what was it..." Tucker thought out loud. He walked around looking down at the plants. The dragons watched in confusion. Glancing at each plant till he found the one. "Here it is!" He exclaimed excitedly, snapping the plant from its roots. Walking over to the red dragon, realizing it's not enough. "Max," he called. Max came over, "I want you to sniff out this plant for me," Max took a couple of whiffs and went searching. "Flame, go with him and grab all the plants he finds and bring them back here." Flame nodded and followed Max.

Tucker started to break the long stems/leaves of the plant. "What are you doing?" asked Spyro, walking up beside Tucker.

Tucker took the gooey liquid from the plant and started to apply it to the dragons' burns. "This is called the Aloe plant. This gooey liquid is to help sooth minor burns, scrapes, scratches, ect. It might not be much, but it'll help." Soon he was out and had to stop. "Well, that's the last of it, for now. We just need to wait till-" he stopped as he heard Max barking and Flames' voice.

"Hey Tucker! We're going to need some help!" he yelled .

Tucker grumbled, "What now *sigh*. Be there in a minute!" he yelled back. He got up and jogged over to where Max and Flame were. When he got there, he stopped. "Whoa." Right in front of him was a bed of Aloe plants. And in the middle was the duo. "This should be plenty. Uh, Flame, what's wrong?" looking at Flame who had a disgusted look.

"I tried to pick them up in my mouth. Not the best idea."

Tucker chuckled, "Yeah, that'll do it. Now, let's get these back to the others." Max barked, "Thanks Max. And you too Flame." who looked left out. They gathered all they could and headed back to the rest of the dragons.

When they arrived back at the spot, Spyro was asleep again and Cynder had a wing draped over Ember to comfort her. They both looked up as the three guys walked past, setting the plants down near the large dragon. "By the way, what's the guy's name?"

"Ignitus," Cynder replied.

"Ignitus..." he thought, "name suits him. Now, let's continue." He began breaking apart the plants and applying the gooey liquid to the burns. "Cynder," Tucker called, getting her attention, "After I'm done with Ignitus, It'll be your turn then Spyros'." Cynder nodded.

A little while later, Tucker covered all the spots he could reach on Ignitus. "There, that should do it. It should help with the healing process." He turned to Cynder. She still had her wing draped over Ember, who must have cried herself to sleep. Flame took Cynders' place as she walked over to Tucker. She stood in front of him as prepared for her. "I'm going to have to get the cuts on your hind legs, just to let you know. So don't be surprised." She nodded. He got more plants and started to apply the gooey liquid. "This might sting a little," he cautioned. Cynder gritted her teeth, but stood firm; allowing the Aloe to sooth her pain. Soon it was all over. "Now, go wake up Spyro. I'll be there in a sec."

Cynder walked over to Spyro. The Aloe helped with the pain somewhat. "Spyro...Spyro, wake up." Spyro groaned and opened his eyes. "Tucker's here to help you with your cuts."

"Okay, I'm up," he said wearily. He rolled over onto his belly.

Tucker came and sat down next to Spyro with more plants. "Like I told Cynder, I'll have to get the cuts on your hind legs." Spyro nodded. Tucker snapped some plants, getting the gooey liquid in his hands. "This might sting a little." Spyro gritted his teeth in pain, but the pain was replaced by a soothing feeling. Maybe a little too soothing. After a few minutes in, Spyro fell back asleep. Tucker had too roll Spyro over onto his side just to get to his underbelly. Cynder watched Spyro with transfixed eyes, looking at how peaceful he looked. When Tucker was done and made a move to get up, She turned away. Tucker saw this, however, kept it quiet. "That should do it. Whew! All this Aloe is making me light headed. I'll go wash up, then we'll get a fire started; it's getting chilly." As he walked over to the river, Cynder lay next to Spyro and rested. Max was getting tired himself and gave out a wide yawn. When Tucker came back, he told everyone that he'll be back after getting fire wood. On the way out, he gave more treats to Max and brought out another bar for his dinner.

Minutes later, Ember woke up from her little nap. She saw Flames wing draped over her and looked up to see him looking back at her with a big grin. She grinned back, but had to look away, in order for him not to see her reddened checks. As she looked around, she spotted Spyro and Cynder lying next to each other. Spyro was out cold again, but Cynder was just looking around. She wanted to ask her about all that happened during the war, but she didn't know how to ask it. She gave it a try, "Cynder," her voice was weak, but Cynder heard it.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to ask...um...how...what happened during the war?"

"The Guardians never told you?"

"They did, but...they never told us what happened to you two when you went to fight Malefor."

Cynder cringed at that name. "Well, what happened was..."

Cynder told the two how they made it through the Wall of Fire, fought their way up and into the mountain, how they confronted and defeated Malefor. After her story, they had some questions. "But what did Malefor mean by his servant?" asked Flame.

Cynder sighed, "That's because in the beginning of the war, Malefor used me as his general for the ape army."

Ember gasped, "What!? You mean, you're THE Cynder?" Cynder nodded, she couldn't look at them. "The Guardians never told us that."

"But your different now," said Flame.

Cynder looked at them, "Yes, but I still feel the regret for all the things I've done. All the lives I've took." She started to cry, tears rolling down her checks.

"One cannot take responsibility from another's actions," came a voice. All of them jumped, but settled down as they say Tucker walking back with a pile of wood in his arms.

"What do you mean?" asked Cynder.

"Well, by the sound of it, you were taken control over right?" She nodded. "So you were not in control over yourself, so it's not your fault. But your old self was to blame."

"Wh-what do you mean?" tears still streaming down.

"I mean, your corrupted self was to blame. "

"But that was me."

"But, as I've heard, Spyro saved you right?" Cynder nodded. "So then, by Spyro defeating your corrupted self, a new self was born, you." Cynders' eyes widened. Tucker nodded, "Your old is gone and your new has come." Cynder busted out crying, both with joy and relief. Tucker put the fire wood down and sat next to Cynder.

She put her head on his chest and cried out, "Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so relieved." Tucker smiled and patted her head. Spyro woke up do to her crying and saw Cynder crying on Tuckers' chest. He was about to say something, when he saw Tucker mouthed 'its okay, she fine'. Spyro smiled.

One the other side, Flame went ahead and pushed the wood into a smaller pile and blows some fire into it. The wood ignited and a warm glow flooded the area. After some time, Cynder calmed down and laid next to Spyro how had gone back to sleep. Cynder and the others were getting tired so she suggested they all got some sleep. They all agreed and got themselves comfortable and fell asleep.

But unknown to them was a pair of glowing eyes watching them. In a swift movement, they were gone.