This story is not set in the same story as The Fire Within. It sets the stage for Rift's upcoming debut in The Constitutionalist's story, A Newcomer.
Valley of Avalar, 1:35 P.M., 2.5 Years after the Defeat of Malefor...
"Rift, wake up."
"Uuuggghhh."
"Seriously, get up, Now!"
"Just five more hours."
"Alright, you asked for it."
"Karra... why does it feel like something is crawling on my..."
At that, Rift, a teenage, fire dragon opened his eyes to find one of his worst fears sitting on his snout; a large, venomous, spider. He quickly moves his head up to try to knock the foul beast off. He is successful, but is unable to avoid his head hitting the wall of the cave he slept in. He recoiled in pain, saying everything that passed his lips. A few minutes later, the pain subsided, allowing him to turn his attention to the one that had put the spider on him in the first place; his girlfriend, Kara, was literally laughing her ass off. When she regained control, she watched as Rift slowly walked out of the cave, obviously scared out of his mind.
A minute passed and he arrived at a lake. His reflection stands a fairly, well-built form, looking similar to Spyro, muscular, but about two inches shorter than Kara. His shape was accompanied by his orange body color, as well as metallic silver horns, tail spade, and underbelly. He thought about how easily a mere spider, hundreds of times smaller than him, could send him screaming like a mole. "Hmph, some dragon you are. If a tiny spider did that, then what makes you think that you deserve her?"
The her in question, was Kara. She was an all white, wind dragon. They met in a forest after their parents died during Malefor's return. She was the only thing he still had. During recent weeks, he had been hoping for the perfect opportunity to ask her to be his mate, but now, he was doubting that he even deserved her.
"What do I have that other dragons don't? I'm not very outgoing, I don't socialize well, I don't like rain or cold, I can't swim, and spiders send me screaming, so what do I have going for me?"
"You care."
Rift turned his head to see Kara walking up to him. He sighed, and looked back at his reflection.
"Any dragon could do that."
"No, you are wrong, look at me!" By now, Kara was right by his side. When he looked into her eyes, she continued.
"Let me ask you, when the apes tried to sacrifice me to Malefor a few years ago, did anyone else attempt to save me?"
"N-no."
"But you did Rift. Not only that, you literally annihilated thousands of apes with your fury. You were even willing to die to save me. No other dragon would have done that. If that doesn't speak for itself, nothing will."
With that, Kara smiled, and so did Rift. After a hug and kiss, the two set out for food.
A few hours later...
This was it, Rift was going to ask her the question. Earlier he had asked for them to go for a walk, to which she happily agreed. They arrived at a cliff to watch the sunset, and it was now or never. Rift was mentally preparing. He turned to her and took a deep breath.
"Hey Kara?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking alot about something, and I think it's time to ask."
"Ask what?
"I was wondering if you would be my..." (Whack!)
Rift felt something hit the back of his head hard and was knocked unconscious. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was the terrified screams of Kara.
He didn't know when he woke, nor where he was, nor what happened. All he knew was the dark clouds, rain, thunder, and lightning set a depressing feeling. Then it all came back to him. He didn't hesitate to search for Kara. Minutes later, Rift saw a form laying under a tree in front of him. Blood staining the dirt around it. Lightning flashed, showing the forms white scales. Rift's heart sank as he bolted to the form, hoping it wasn't what it looked like. It was; the one thing he lived for; the one thing that held him together. Laying in front of him, was the lifeless body of Kara.
He sat down and held her body, praying, this was just a nightmare. Tears began to fall freely as his heart was completely shattered and emotions set in. He looked at the ground nearby and saw a sword, making it obvious that the apes killed her. With a pained roar, he unleashed all of his emotions into a wall of fire hundreds of feet high.
He didn't know how many days had passed since the event. Possibly four or five. During the first day, he had buried her next to the lake where they would always go to relax. The days following, Rift stayed in the cave, only leaving when hunger forced him too. He then decided that the apes would pay dearly for the death of his girl, even if he died trying, as his heart died with Kara.
The next day, Rift walked to Kara's grave. He sighed as he spoke.
"I'm sorry. You trusted me with your life and I let them take it. I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me most. And I'm sorry for not being the dragon I should have been. I love you."
And with that, Rift took off. His goal; obliterate every ape in Dante's Freezer.
Sorry I've been gone forever, life has been kicking my rear. Currently in my Senior year in High School and applying at the Art Institute of Portland. Another change is that my girlfriend broke up with me, putting me into some depression, as well as wondering how I would continue this story with Zarah being her OC.
So... For the sake of getting the Legend of Rift back up, I have replaced Zarah with my own dragoness, Kara.
