Chapter One

The gillman groaned as he dropped to his knees in the grass, defeated. Two large golden coin shooting hand-guns were pointed directly at his face, shining in the glaring sunlight of the bright, cloudless day. The gillman tilted his gaze to stare down the gun barrels and into the wild eyes of a gremlin.

The gremlin had a huge grin on his face, showing his sharp canines and the rest of his bright white teeth, and his long tongue lolled out of his mouth in a humorous fashion. His small, round body quivered with adrenaline, and a slight breeze made his orange fur ripple and his long, pointed ears wave slightly.

The gillman shut his eyes, ready for the gunshot to come.

But the gremlin just laughed and lowered the guns, holding out his three-fingered hand and grinning wider. "I win again," he said simply.

The gillman smiled and took the gremlin's hand, who helped him to his feet. "Good match, Trigger Happy."

Trigger Happy, more commonly known as Trigg by his Skylander friends, shook hands with the gillman. "You weren't even trying, were you Gill Grunt?" Trigger Happy asked the gillman. The two best friends had been sparring out in a distant area where they wouldn't be distracting the other Skylanders from their duties.

Gill Grunt, like all gillmen, possessed a strictly fish-like appearance. He was covered in blue-green scales, with three frills on his head. His hands and feet were webbed, and he had two long, sharp fangs that protruded from his bottom jaw. He wore a black suit that covered only his waist and torso. His yellowy eyes were big and round. The weapon he commonly used was a harpoon shooting gun that he found quite effective.

Gill Grunt sighed. "No, not really," he admitted. "There's just been something on my mind, that's all."

Trigger Happy gazed up at his friend, now in a wondering fashion. "What's up?"

They started walking back to the main headquarters for the Skylanders in the Skylands, the Core of Light. Gill Grunt sighed again. "I had a little argument with Spyro."

"Ah," Trigger Happy said as he walked beside Gill Grunt through the tall grasses of the Skylands. "What about?"

Gill Grunt chuckled. "It's actually kind of stupid. You know how headstrong he can be sometimes, right? Well, recently Master Eon asked him to run an errand. It was pretty simple, just to go and scout around Perilous Pastures and take care of a little problem with trolls blowing stuff up. I asked him if he wanted some help, and he said no, and that he could take care of things himself."

Trigger Happy nodded. "And then what?"

"Well, one thing followed another, and we got yelling at each other. It finally ended with him calling me a dumb fish, and me calling him a headstrong gecko."

Trigger Happy stared at Gill Grunt for a moment. The gillman winced slightly, wondering what Trigger Happy would say.

Suddenly, the little orange-furred gremlin burst into hysterics. He laughed so hard that he dropped his guns on the ground.

Gill Grunt felt his cheeks get warm. "W-what's so funny?" he demanded, embarrassed.

Trigger Happy continued laughing. At last he stopped, taking huge gulps of air to try and catch his breath. He picked up his guns from the grass and grinned, resuming his walk. "That's what you're worried about?"

Gill Grunt's brow dipped in frustration as he caught up with Trigger Happy. "Yes, that's what I'm worried about! I've never yelled at Spyro before."

Trigger Happy shrugged. "You guys are best friends. You'll work it out."

An hour later, they arrived at the Core of Light. The Core, a large contraption that was the soul source of light throughout the Skylands, had been destroyed by Kaos at an earlier time, but the Skylanders had rebuilt it, repelling the forces of darkness once again.

As Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy arrived, someone approached them. A figure that resembled a shark, with huge biceps and a very muscular build, with rough, grey skin. Terrafin, one of the Skylanders.

He paced himself beside Trigger Happy. "So there you two are!" he laughed. "Off on another sparring match?"

Gill Grunt nodded. "We thought we'd give it another go."

"And who won?" Terrafin inquired.

Trigger Happy put on his goofy grin, which was his trademark, and raised his hand.

Terrafin cocked an eyebrow. "Again?" He shot a look to Gill Grunt. "You haven't been on top of your game lately, have you Gill?"

Gill Grunt cringed in embarrassment. "No...I've had my mind on other things."

"Like what?" asked Terrafin.

"He had a little fight with Spyro," Trigger Happy answered for him.

Terrafin nodded knowingly. "I thought something must have happened. That explains why Spyro stormed past me without saying hello earlier."

Gill Grunt cringed even further. "He did?"

"Yes, he just kind of shoved past me, muttering something about stupid fish."

The gillman sighed. "Great."

Trigger Happy shrugged. "I told him not to worry about it, but he won't listen."

Terrafin shrugged in turn. "Don't worry, Gill. It's not like Spyro holds a grudge. He'll probably be cooled down when he gets back." Someone called Terrafin's name. "I'll catch you guys later," he said, abruptly changing direction to go and meet with another Skylander.

It wasn't until that night that Spyro returned. All the other Skylanders had retired for the night, and had either gone to bed or gone to play cards, or something else to entertain themselves. Gill Grunt watched from the Core of Light as the purple dragon flew in and landed on the grass. Spyro's purple scales and yellow-golden underbelly and horns gleamed in the moonlight. Spyro shuddered a little bit, most likely because of chill, and started walking in Gill Grunt's direction. Gill Grunt knew Spyro hadn't seen him, but he was coming towards him, and he knew it was the time to address Spyro and straighten things out.

As Spyro walked by, still not noticing Gill Grunt in the dark of the night, the gillman made his move. "Er...hey there, Spyro," he ventured.

Spyro nearly jumped out of his skin. "Oh, uh...hi Gill," was all Spyro said.

There was a long, awkward moment of silence. "So..." Gill Grunt broke the silence. "How'd it go?"

Spyro didn't make any eye contact. "It went alright."

More silence.

"I'm sorry," Gill Grunt finally said, only to have Spyro say it at the same time. They shared a surprised look, then both went "I mean..." Immediately they both burst into laughter. The two friends laughed and laughed, happy to be laughing together after their argument.

Spyro wiped a tear from his eye as they started to settle down. "heh, thanks Gill. I needed that laugh."

Gill Grunt put a webbed hand on Spyro's shoulder. "You and me both, pal." All of the sudden, Gill Grunt began to feel very light headed. He ceased laughing and blinked a few times to try and clear his vision, which was rapidly becoming blurry. He felt dizzy, and he gripped Spyro's shoulder for support.

Spyro wasn't sure what was happening to his friend. "Are you alright, Gill?"

Gill Grunt sat down in the grass and shook his head, making his fins sway. "I'm alright...I think." The gillman suddenly felt sick to his stomach. His insides suddenly felt like they were churning, and he doubled over with a croak of pain.

"Gill!" Spyro cried. He stood overtop of his best friend and looked down at him frantically.

Gill Grunt wasn't moving.

Spyro's eyes widened. "Hey!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Anyone! Trigger Happy! Help!" He was close to tears. What was wrong with his friend? Why wasn't he moving? "Gill!" he shouted again.

Suddenly he felt dizzy. His vision started to get blurry, and he felt sick.

He growled in frustration and cried out for help again.

In the distance, Trigger Happy's voice met Spyro's ears. "Spyro?"

"Trigg!" Spyro was barely able to call. He started to feel his consciousness slip away from him. Darkness was closing in on him. "We're...over...h..."

With that, he slumped to the ground beside Gill Grunt.

Neither one of them moved again.