I know it's not that impressive, but this is a milestone oneshot for having over 20,000 hits to my story, "The Legend of Star". Now this was mainly made for nostalgia, but it's a welcoming read for anyone. Enjoy!
Fishing with a Snow Leopard
Crystal Glacier. Home of snow, ice, eskimos, shamans, and those strange snowballs with legs. Or it was originally. Today, it had been taken over by these weird icemen with what looked like a blue dress. It least that's what they looked like in Spyro's eyes. There were also snow bunnies with a massive horn on their nose, and the dreaded draclets. According to locals, the green, spider like creatures, would consume almost everything in sight. To make them more hideous, they had three eyes and to top it all off, they could multiply.
The icemen were no match for Spyro, of course. They might have thought it was funny to freeze the eskimos in a solid block of ice with their magical snowballs, but all Spyro saw was something to melt.
At the moment, Spyro was flying through a low tunnel taking care of the draclet problem the shaman's were having. It wasn't that hard of a task. Just flame all the draclets in the tunnel before they could multiply. Simple enough. Although the draclet's swinging from side to side from their web was a little annoying, which only made Spyro even more satisfied when it was flamed out of existence.
The purple dragon flew inches above icy water in the tunnel with only one more draclet left. He also didn't have much flight time either. Now wasn't the time to lose the his fly ability, so he sped up just a tad.
As soon as he made it over solid ground, his flight time ended and the dragon glided down toward the draclet. When he was close enough, he exhaled a wave of flames onto the draclet. The fire quickly cleared and the draclet had vanished from sight. Satisfied, Spyro began to walk the rest of the way back to the shaman in wait near the superfly power-up gate.
It wasn't that long of a walk. The shaman's smile told Spyro that he had finished the task he was given.
When Spyro stopped in front of the shaman, he simply said, "You have saved us all from a grizzily fate. Please, accept this orb as a small token of our thanks."
Spyro quietly accepted the orb he was given. It disappeared into the guidebook Elora had given him as soon as he touch it though. He already seen this enough for him not to be surprised by the strange phenomenon anymore.
The purple dragon wasn't one for talking so he climbed out the tunnel and up to ground level as quick as he could. The bridge he paid Moneybags for was still in it's place, but the bear himself was nowhere to be seen. Pretty typical.
Spyro crossed the bridge along with Sparx. As soon he was on the other side, he found himself looking at what seemed to be bottle or jar shaped homes. They were fairly tall and the colors varied, but Spyro didn't see an entrance to them anywhere. He shrugged it off and flamed a nearby living snowball, melting it instantly. It let out a butterfly, which made Sparx more than happy to have a meal.
Then Spyro turned and saw one of them icemen. For some reason, they had three straight horns sticking out their forehead. But the iceman leaned over, picked up some snow, and began making a snowball. Spyro grinned to himself.
The iceman let the snowball loose toward the dragon. Spyro simply leaped over the snowball and charged to his enemy. The iceman began to panic as he quickly made another snowball, but was too late to throw it before Spyro toasted him to nothing but melted ice. As soon as that was over, a spirit particle was released. They were used to unlock the power-up gates, but Spyro had already done that. He just enjoyed showing these creeps who was in charge around here.
Then Sparx began pointing the best he could behind one of the jar-shaped houses. Spyro knew what this meant. Sometimes the dragonfly could sense gems. When that happened, he would point, and Spyro would follow.
The dragon slowly made his way behind the house to find a giant chasm blocking his way. But there were giant bones creating a bridge across, so he did just that with no problem at all. Just on the other side of the chasm, Spyro spotted a jar with explosives attached to it. He flamed the jar, the fuse for the explosives lit up, and a second later, it detonated. The small explosion launched the jar up a few yards before it finally fell back down to the snow, breaking as it did. There was a yellow gem inside. Spyro quickly snagged it and went on his way.
Spyro then spotted another shaman beside a small hut. Just out of curiosity, the dragon approached him. As soon as the shaman looked at him, Spyro could tell he wanted help. And if he wanted help, then there could be an orb in it for him. So he quietly approached him.
"I lost my pet snow leopard. I was busy fishing and when I turned around, he was gone. I hope George didn't get eaten by the draclets."
Spyro could clearly tell he was worried about his pet. But a snow leopard? This was new. But it still sounded pretty easy. All he had to do was find this snow leopard and bring him back. He was willing to do it forcefully if he had to.
So Spyro and Sparx made their way down the path, picking up any gems on the ground along the way. There wasn't any enemies in sight, maybe they had no business in this part of Crystal Glacier.
It didn't take long for Spyro to come across a hole in the snow. It was pretty small and the only thing that was inside was water. It must have been freezing in there. Spyro guessed that this was where that Shaman was fishing at.
Seeing nothing else of interest, Spyro and Sparx continued down the path, grabbing gems and minding the cliff toward the left. The duo soon came across another fishing hole. A cool breeze blew as they passed by it, not even paying much attention to it.
As they neared the end of the path, Spyro spotted the remains of some large creature half buried in the snow. All he saw was it's bones. He shrugged toward it then continued around it, then spotted what he was looking for. There was a snow leopard, crouched down near another fishing hole, looking inside as he did. Spyro guessed this must have been George. He had gray fur with a few black spots all over him and a white belly. Well this was easy enough. Now all that was left to do was drag him back to his owner and claim his well-earned reward.
Sparx looked at Spyro, giving him a careful look. The purple dragon didn't take the time to notice. He was already approaching George, watching his every move and was ready to pounce just in case the snow leopard tried to make a run for it.
Just as Spyro was a few feet away from him, George looked up and spotted him. Spyro stopped in his tracks as a red fish jumped up out of the water. The dragon looked at it long enough to see it's white belly as George took a swipe at it, but missed as the fish fell back in the water with a small splash.
George crouched back down with his belly in the snow and watched the fishing hole once more. He didn't seem to mind Spyro's presence, even when the dragon stopped on the other side of the hole. Just as he did, another fish jumped out of the water. George reached out with his claw, but was too short in snagging it before it escaped. Spyro looked over at Sparx, who just simply shrugged and flew around in circles around him, motivating the cocky dragon to do the right thing. Spyro thought about it, then switched positions so he could sit beside the snow leopard. Then he sat in wait just like George.
It only took a moment for another fish to jump out. Just as it did, Spyro let loose a wide flame through his nostrils. The flames caught the fish and pushed it out onto the snow on the other side of the whole. It wasn't moving after that.
George took a quick look at the dragon, then walked over to the fish and began his meal. The snow leopard didn't take long to consume it. There wasn't even any bones left. This must have been one hungry kitty.
Spyro looked at the over-sized cat, then watched him as he began walking down the path. The dragon thought he was going back to his owner, so he decided to follow him just in case. George passed the next fishing hole and continued on. Just as he was about to pass the last one, a fish jumped out of it. The snow leopard took notice, then walked over to it and crouched down just like he did before. The purple dragon became a bit disappointed and sighed. He took his place beside George once more and flamed the fish when it jumped out the water. The fish fell in the snow and it didn't take long for George to devour it. Now the dragon could continue on.
But just as George perked his ears up, he heard a splash from the other fishing hole he passed. Despite Spyro trying to get in his way to stop him, he made his way over to it and laid on his belly. The fish jumped out and the snow leopard took a swing, but it was just out of his reach.
The cool breeze blew once more and Spyro finally gave in and took his place beside the pet. It only took a few seconds for the fish to jump out. As soon as it did, Spyro flamed it out of irritation. He really didn't feel like playing games here. Ripto wasn't gonna flame himself out the castle after all.
After George finished his last meal, the snow leopard walked in front of Spyro, stopped, then sat down in the snow. The dragon raised an eye as the snow leopard simply meow'd at him, then began purring.
"Very cute," Spyro simply said, being sarcastic. "Go back to your master. Shoo."
But George stayed put. It even looked like he was smiling at the dragon.
"C'mon," Spyro appealed. "I've got places to be and butts to kick."
The snow leopard just meow'd in response and continued purring.
Spyro looked up at Sparx and silently asked for help. The dragonfly simply flew down the path a little and motioned with his head for Spyro to follow.
The dragon obeyed, not seeing anything else to do. As soon as he began walking, so did George. Spyro turned and stopped, then George stopped and sat down in the snow and continued his purr. Then the dragon smiled. George was following him.
"Perfect," Spyro grinned.
Spyro and Sparx slowly made their way back down the path, making sure that the snow leopard was following them. It didn't take much to befriend this creature, but it was certainly easier than dragging him back by his tail.
Just as he rounded the next corner, he saw George's owner a few yards away. The shaman didn't even take notice of them yet. In fact, it looked like he was still standing in the same spot he was in before.
"Well," Spyro began. "See ya around George."
Then the snow leopard licked Spyro on the cheek. The dragon jumped back in response, surprised by the affection this pet was showing toward him.
"Whoa now!" the purple dragon retorted, surprised at the affection he was given. He quickly wiped his cheek with his paw. "I didn't mean for you to do that!"
George only meow'd in response.
Spyro shook his head. He resumed his walk down the path while Sparx was silently laughing at him. As soon as the shaman took notice of him, George walked to his side and sat down in the snow, still purring just like earlier.
"You've found George!" the shaman exclaimed with relief. "I'm so glad he's safe. I'll be sure to pay more attention to him from now on. All I have with me is this round shiny thing I caught while I was fishing. You can have it if you like."
The shaman tossed a green orb at Spyro, which disappeared as soon as the dragon touched it. The orb was safely stored in the guidebook for Spyro to use later on in his adventures.
Before he left, he looked at George. The snow leopard smiled, meow'd, then continued to purr at his presence. The purple dragon showed a small smile in return, then turned around and continued his adventure.
A/N: This oneshot had been on my mind for a long time actually. It was inspired by a Deviantart picture called "Spyro and George", by Dante_D. Many thanks if you happen to read this.