Prologue

In the walls of the dragon city Warfang lived people of all races in the realms. Cheetahs, moles, dragons, even some apes and grublins lived in peace, or what you could call peace during wartime. Everyone in the city knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and how it should be done. In every society however, some people slip through the cracks and find a way to forge their own destiny. One such person was a purple dragon named Spyro. Being a purple dragon in the outer-city, he was seen as a whelp, a freak, and someone to belittle at every turn. Some people took pity on the young drake, but most were cruel and unforgiving.

Today had been his day for shopping and he was carrying a bag full of food and other items around his neck. Spyro sighed as we walked through the streets, making sure that the bag with his items stayed secured to his neck. He had been walking for hours and was desperate to get to his "home" before he had to go to work. The young dragon ignored the evil stares that the other citizens of the outer-city gave him as he continued trudging along the stone path. 'Why does everyone hate me?' The young drake pondered. 'I did nothing to even make them feel this way about me.'

Soon the young drake reached his "home." It wasn't much at all really, he lived in an alleyway of the city, but to him and his brothers it was home. "I'm homeeeeee…!" Spyro called out to see if anyone was there. He looked around the alleyway for any signs of his brothers before he heard a rustling sound in a trash pile. The purple drake focused on the pile and a yellow light flew out from it. Spyro rolled his eyes and walked over to the flying nightlight. "You alright there Sparx?" The purple drake asked his dragonfly brother.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I just had a run in with another insect that was trying to move in. Nothing this dragonfly couldn't handle." Sparx said as he flexed his arms.

"Another one? We really don't have any room do we?" Spyro gave a sigh. This…he didn't really like. To turn away other creatures but he knew that he had to focus more on himself and his family. "Seen Flame anywhere?"

"Well he came by earlier, but he said that he needed to work later than normal. I wonder what 'special package' he is delivering this time." Sparx replied.

"Another one? Looks like they trust him to deliver some pretty important stuff, huh?" Spyro replied. Then his eyes widened in realization. "Hey Sparx, what time is it?!"

"Can't you look up for yourself?" Sparx asked. The dragonfly then looks to the sky and notices it is almost a bright red color. "I'd say around close to dusk."

"Oh nononononono…! I'm going to be late! Sparx, hold down the fort while I'm gone!" Spyro then quickly took off his backpack, running quickly to his job to try to make it in time, he couldn't afford to be late.

"Bye I guess…" Sparx called out to the purple dragon as he ran off. Spyro tried waving back, but he tripped over his own paws, landing on his face with a grunt before getting up and running again, his paws fighting for any extra grip on the stone path.

The purple dragon burst from the alleyway and began making his way towards Warfang's weapons plant. Warfang's weapons plant had to be one of the biggest in the realms. It was packed with various forge stations, recycling pits, and collection bays. Some would call this building the source of Warfang's war effort. Spyro dodged and weaved through crowds of people, fighting for every ounce of speed he could muster. He remarkably avoided hitting anyone. He didn't take note of his reaction time however as he continued running. By the time he got to the plant, he was running so fast that he had to skid to a stop. Spyro then started looking for his boss to apologize for being late, even though he wasn't that late.

Spyro found his boss talking to the recycling chief and waited patiently for his boss to be done talking. Once the boss was done, he saw Spyro and sighed. "Spyro, I've told you about being late. I'm going to have to dock your pay this week." The earth dragon said to the youngling.

"W-wait, I'm sorry I'm late…! I'll do anything, I will even work overtime and into the morning! P-please don't dock my pay, I need it to pay for food and other stuff…!" The purple dragon pleaded.

"I'm very sorry Spyro, I truly am, but if I keep cutting you slack like this, the other workers will feel I am favoriting you over them." The earth dragon replied sighing.

"I-I'm sorry sir…it won't happen again, it's just I don't have a clock or anything…" His eyes looked at the sky, signifying he could only rely on the sky to tell him the time…maybe if he had a watch or something, he could keep better track of the time.

"Just please don't let it happen again Spyro. Now there's a pile of scrap I need you to take to the forgers in the other room." Spyro's boss said before walking away to check on another part of the plant.

Spyro watched his boss walk away before giving a heavy sigh, drooping his head some. He was glad he got away with it but he really had to stop cutting it close. With a grunt of annoyance, he went to the pile of scrap he was instructed to get and slowly, he started taking the pile to the forgers. Along the way, many of the other workers gave Spyro death glares, but he brushed them off.

Spyro soon reached the door to the forger's room and opened it. Inside, there were a few massive tables where various species were pounding away at metal that they were converting into armor and weapons for the front lines. "E-excuse me, I brought this pile of scrap for you guys. What do I do now?" Spyro asked the room full of forgers hoping for an answer.

"Just set it down to yer' left." A mole called out. Spyro set the pile down obediently, stretching some as he came over to the forger, deciding to help out some. He didn't want a half blind mole to do all the work himself afterall. "Could ye' get me th' hamm'r over there?" the mole said pointing to a table a few feet to his right.

"Gotcha!" Spyro said. He quickly made his way to the table where the hammer was. Spyro grabbed it with his tail and moved it to his paws before giving it to the mole. "Here you go."

"Thank you." The mole said before he began pounding away at the metal that was at his station. As the mole was working, Spyro's curiosity took over and he watched the mole labor away at the metal.

"So what…what is it going to be?" Spyro asked the mole.

"Just s'me armour for th' front." The mole replied. "Could ya' light the fire pit? I need to heat this."

"Alright." Spyro said as he squared himself away with the coals of the fire pit. Spyro prepared to shoot fire out of his maw, but only a tiny bit escaped from it. Spyro fell forward from the amount of effort that he exhorted trying to shoot fire. Luckily that small amount was enough. Spyro was breathing hard, his cheeks reddened from embarrassment. He knew a fire dragon should be able to use a much stronger fire than the spirt he just pulled off, but as far as he remembered, his fire had always been weak. It was very embarrassing to be a dragon who couldn't even properly breathe fire. The mole forger paid no mind to Spyro's reaction to his flame and set the metal in the fire pit to be heated.

"Do you need me for anything else?" Spyro asked the mole, sighing in relief because the mole failed to see Spyro's pathetic flames.

"HEY HELPER!" A booming voice rang out in reference to him. "GET YOUR SORRY ASS DOWN HERE AND HELP LOAD UP THESE WEAPONS!"

Spyro let out a yelp in surprise before shouting in response. "COMING!" Spyro then looked back at the forger. "Sorry, I got to go now, good luck!" He said before running out of the room towards the source of the voice. He found a few dragons and cheetahs standing around a pile of boxes.

"Grab those boxes over there and take them to the loading dock." And ice dragon told the youngling.

"G-Got it!" Spyro replied and he set to work. Spyro would lift as much as his body could handle with the best strength he could muster. Tirelessly he walked back and forth until eventually he reached the last few boxes. Spyro grabbed them and began walking towards the loading dock; however he tripped over his own feet and fell forward on his face. A few of the workers laughed at the purple dragon's blunder and he was kicked in the gut a few times by passing workers.

"Useless whelp." A fire dragon worker said as she walked past him.

"…" Spyro said nothing as he fought his body's will to stay on the ground. He continued to work as if nothing happened, but to say the experience didn't affect him would be a lie. His stomach region was aching and it felt like he had just been stabbed in the heart yet he took no act in retaliation as he worked. Spyro pushed back the tears that would rush to his eyes and quickly shook his head.

He soon finished moving the boxes to the loading dock and a few dragons left the plant with the weapons, bringing them to the front lines. Spyro walked around the factory and continued to work various odd jobs that they would have him perform. He would be punched a few times in the face and kicked a few more times all the while trying to get that fire dragon's hateful statement out of his head. He hated that he had been told things like that and worse his entire life, but it still had a way of affecting him emotionally. Why would someone who he didn't even know call him that? Well…he knew why…but he shook his head, trying to snap out of it before his shift ended.

"Alright everyone pack up." The earth dragon boss called out to the entire factory.

"Phew…" Spyro said in relief. Spyro stretched himself out and shook his head as he started to pack up his current job so he could go back home. He decided it would be best to stop and thank the earth dragon for not firing him before.

"Yes Spyro?" The plant boss asked him.

"I um, wanted…t-to thank you for earlier…for not getting super angry…and not firing me…" Spyro said while fidgeting. He looked to the ground and just prayed to the ancestors that the dragon wasn't made with him for being late.

"Spyro like I said before, just try not to be late again. You're a good kid and I don't like having to dock your pay." The plant boss said to the young drake. Spyro winced and gave the boss a nod and a sigh.

"I understand sir…sorry." Spyro said. He started to back away, not sure what else to say at this point. He exited the plant and began limping back to the alleyway he called his home. Along the way home, he heard a female voice shouting followed by a black object flying off into the moonlight. His eyes traced the object, eyes widening in surprise as it flew away…could it have been a dragon? No… he hadn't seen any black dragons before…he had HEARD about them but he never actually seen one. He kept walking anyways, looking for the source of the shouting that he heard earlier. He then noticed a cheetah woman standing in front of her shop with her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

"Damned thief." She said before walking inside.

"…" Well that answered what happened. Whatever it was, that woman had just been robbed…with how fast that thing flew past, it was no wonder it got away. Spyro didn't have much to worry about as he continued walking. His family owned nothing so why would he be robbed in the first place, after walking for a little bit, he arrived back in the alleyway. "Home at last."

The purple dragon looked into the alleyway and noticed a fire dragon lying next to a wall. Sparx was sleeping on a trashcan lid like usual and the dragon seemed to be sleeping as well. Despite being a disturbing scene to others, the scene made Spyro smile as he came over to them and sat next to the fire dragon, lying with him and taking a sigh as he tried to let himself fall asleep, hopefully tomorrow would be easier.

Somewhere in a different part of city, there was an abandoned warehouse that no one dared go near. No one knew when it might fall apart or collapse…worse yet, it was rumored that a strange dragon had made the warehouse its home. A black spec started approaching the warehouse and soon landed in front of the building. The figure was an all black dragon which had scars on every bit of his body. His eyes were a deep crimson color and he appeared to be around the age of 17. The dragon had a satchel around his neck, filled with all the good he just stole from that store earlier in the night. "Damned shopkeeper." The black dragon groaned. "Almost caught me in the act." The dragon then walked inside and flew up to a catwalk.

Once on the catwalk, the dragon emptied his bag's contents on the grate floor below him. Some fruits rolled out and a few assorted items clanged against the metal floor of the catwalk. The dragon ate the fruit and examined the non-edible items he stole. They were and assortment of gems, spoons, and a picture frame. The spoons would get some money in the side-market, while the picture frame had a picture in it that would not mean anything to anyone the black dragon who try and sell it to. The frame itself did hold some value as if he was going to hunt down one of his wanted posters and put it inside the frame. The dragon chuckled at the thought and then looked in to the starry night through one of the various holes in the roof. The dragon sighs again and flies down to the stone floor below the catwalk and goes to sleep.