Chapter Two: Entering The Forest
After being prodded for about 5 minutes, Spyro slowly opened his eyes and was about to ask why Cidoc was prodding him when he saw an annoyed face not a few inches from his. Spyro blinked a few times and started back realizing that he had rolled over onto Cidoc during the night and pinned him, and from the look of Cidoc's face, he was not amused. "Shit! Sorry..." as he flipped over blushing profusely and getting up and beginning to walk off when he heard some chuckling behind him "s'alright Spyro, my tail's asleep is all" Spyro turned around to see that Cidoc's tail looked a bit limp as he got up and stretched.
Looking at the sky, Spyro could still make out the stars to which Cidoc commented "We're a bit early, but we can go after we eat a bit" Spyro nodded at this "I'm starved, I haven't even eaten since breakfast yesterday before I left the temple". Cidoc nodded and disappeared into the tent, coming back with some bread and cheese, and some rationed meats to Spyro's dismay, but Spyro perked up when Cidoc produced some chocolate after the meal. The grayish-blue dragon winked at him "Against regulations, but what they don't know won't hurt'em eh?" Spyro chuckled "Nope, I won't disagree with that" as he snatched it and practically inhaled it. After packing away everything in silence, Spyro said his thanks, and they began on their way
The first couple hundred yards there was little to note, but as they moved further inwards the trees condensed more and more. Through all of the trees and winding dips and bumps, Spyro eventually lost track of where they were, but Cidoc continued on as if he knew every nook and cranny in the area. Eventually they were crawling under logs and roots, it seemed like hours, but Spyro knew it had only been an hour or so, the forest was becoming lighter, but only just it seemed.
"Hey Cidoc-" Cidoc quickly cut him off "Shh!" Spyro stopped then continued walking, annoyed for being cut off, but understanding why. They eventually reached a gully where they rested at the edge of a treeline that opened up into what seemed like a slightly smaller meadow. Spyro's legs ached fiercely from the long trek, and he smelled some kind of musk in the air, but Cidoc seemed perfectly fine, happy even. "I'm going to go up ahead and see if any of my traps were tripped, with any luck it'll be in the area." Spyro commented back "What makes you think that it's in this specific area?" Cidoc simply pointed at the tree nearest them which had some claw marks on it and by the looks of it, gouged out and marked along with several others in the area.
As if he knew what Spyro was thinking, "And he's apparently 'marked' his territory with that pleasant aroma if you'd noticed, to which Spyro cocked his head then suddenly getting stuck his tongue out and reeled "That's disgusting! Why would you do that?". Cidoc shrugged "I've never seen that before now, but anyways stay here and I'll be back in a bit, but most of all don't make a sound." He thought for a second more "Oh, and cover up your scales with some mud so you aren't as easily seen. Spyro just noticed then why Cidoc was so much dirtier than he was, he himself would stick out like a sore thumb in the field. Spyro went to say something but noticed that while he was looking at himself, Cidoc had left, almost silently, he spotted him barely about two-hundred feet away in the field then lost track of him completely "Damn... I know I can't move that quickly".
Spyro proceeded to muddy up his scales while preparing for the fighting that might lie ahead, when he heard a small sound behind him. Turning around he spotted a dark green dragon limping slightly and a wing tucked in at a slightly awkward angle. It had a very athletic look to it, muscles toned but not overly so, but it was quite obvious that the dragon was powerful and fast. Upon it's head several slender spikes jutted back that were an ivory color, and two ice blue eyes that blinked with intelligence, if not a lot of pain. Spyro hunkered down low and watched it carefully as it moved slowly away, blood dripping from a wound on its foreleg. Spyro weighed his options carefully, and deciding on the notion that Cidoc was not going to make it back in time, he went to follow the dragon.