Okay, second chapter here we go!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything in the Spyro universe; the only thing I own are my OCs.
Chapter 2: Heroes Awaken
His amethyst eyes opened like a shock, as if someone had dumped a bucket of freezing water on his head. Only his training with the guardians and his experience at keeping calm kept Spyro from shouting and waking up the still sleeping dragoness beside him.
The nightmare had seemed all too real; he had seen death and destruction during the war against the Dark Master's armies, but never on that big a scale. The strangest part of it was that there were apes or something resembling them fighting alongside dragons who were fighting another army of the ape-like beings. His mind still torpid from sleep, he shook the nightmare from his mind and instead turned his attention to the dragoness beside him.
No matter how many times Spyro looked at her during the day or night, he still couldn't believe that Cynder was his mate. After defeating Malefor and trying to pull the world back together, he had heard her whisper softly, "I love you."
It was those words that gave him the resolve to use what little power he had left and create a passage out of the core; using his earth element to create a stone shield to protect her and himself from the lava, he had made a tunnel all the way to the surface and once there, he had carried her on his back for two days until finally they had made it back to Warfang. Then he had spent another three days in the city's makeshift hospital until she finally awoke and the first thing he did was kiss her (much to the surprise of the other dragons in the room and to the disappointment of a certain pink female dragon) and then softly whisper so that only she could hear, "I love you too."
After word spread(mainly through Sparx) that Cynder had been the one to help Spyro defeat Malefor, and that she had assisted so many during the Warfang siege, the people had become more welcoming of her and one year after the war's end they were officially mated. Even in the dim glow of the early morning, Spyro could see clearly the outline of Cynder's stomach as the pregnancy was now almost nine months along. He had thought that one or two kids would be enough, but here he was a father of three and a fourth only weeks away.
His oldest son, Ignitus, was turning eighteen in three weeks, then his two daughters Zephr, and Gia, were fifteen and ten. Ignitus was already an expert magic and flame user, in fact, the new fire guardian, Helios, had called him a prodigy; Terrador on the other claw, had said since he was given the name of a hero, the ancestors had given him the power of the previous Ignitus. Spyro often didn't know what to think, was his son's power really from Ignitus, or was it just that he was the son of the purple dragon and the "Guardian of the Skies" as Cynder was known as nowadays.
No matter what the reason, the only thing Spyro wished for his son was that he would lose that shyness as he got older. The only true friend Ignitus had was Flame and Ember's son Ash, but when it came to others he clammed up as quickly as Volteer does whenever Cyril freezes his mouth shut. However, the more Spyro thought about it, the more the nightmare bothered him.
Then a voice broke him out of his worry.
"Awake already Spyro, usually it's me, Sparx, or Zephr that gets you up this early."
"Morning Cynder, feeling alright?"
"Just fine, except a little nauseous, but that's normal at this point."
Spyro nodded, "Yeah, hard to believe that in a few more weeks the egg will be here."
"Just do me a favor, don't run into the room like you did last time when I was in trance."
"How could I forget, you nearly took my head off."
"If not for Flame pulling your tail back out of the room I probably would have."
"No you wouldn't have."
"Well….just don't barge in next time. Anyway so what got you up early this morning?"
"Uh you know , just wanted to get an early start to the day."
Cynder stared at him for a while and then, "You're lying. Spyro we've been mates eighteen years, I can read you like a book."
"Female intuition?"
"No, you're just that obvious, and besides we fought Malefor together remember? Whatever it was you can tell me." Spyro sighed, he was too obvious. He then told Cynder everything he saw in the dream, even the weird apes that fought alongside dragons instead of against them. When he had said this, however, Cynder's jaw dropped, he would have laughed had the dream not been so horrifyingly real.
"Spyro, we must inform the guardians about this. This may not be a dream but a vision."
"Well, Cyril and Volteer did seem to think that I would soon be able to use the pool of visions. Maybe that dream was just a way of letting me know it's time."
"Then it would be best if you went to see them now, before academy lessons start today."
"Alright, I'll be back later on today."
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As Spyro walked down the central avenue of Warfang, dragons, moles, cheetahs, and even the wolf people and atlawa there bowed their heads. Spyro in response nodded back to them, knowing that they were only showing respect. Personally, he didn't want them to treat him like a hero; he just wanted to live with his mate in anonymity, but with him being the purple dragon, to do so was impossible. He reached the steps to the new Warfang temple one hour later, and upon entering found Volteer and Terrador, both of whom turned when he entered.
"Good morning young one," Terrador stated," by your presence here I have to ask is Cynder alright?"
"Yes, she is; it's just that she is getting close to term."
"Ahsothatisthereasonforthesuddenrapidexpedientrushedvisit yourmateisactingasadragoness ofherage."
"Oh, please Volteer, do slow down that incessant rambling and let us here why Spyro has come."
"OfcourseCyrilwemustassertain dicovertheorize…mmph!" Spyro looked up to see Cyril had frozen Volteer's mouth shut again.
"Cyril, must you keep doing that? You know he runs out of steam eventually." Spyro turned to see a new dragon enter the temple, the fire guardian Helios.
"Good day Helios; here to get the classes started this morning?"
"Indeed, today I will be teaching the young ones how to control their fire and use it not only for offense, but defense, and other roles. I still have some time though so I thought I'd come see what all the fuss was about."
"The…fuss, is a dream or rather a vision I saw."
Terrador nodded slowly and understandingly.
"Ignitus knew that you were one of the dragons who could use the pool of visions. Come and let us see the vision and try to make sense of it."
A few moments later all five dragons were at the pool of visions; the clear yet silvery liquid made Spyro stop and gaze in remembrance; remembering his old mentor and father-figure Ignitus, remembering the old temple, his adventure to stop Cynder and freeing her, the Night of Eternal Darkness, and then the war against Malefor. He stopped, took a deep breath, and then focused.
The vision he had seen began to appear on the water when-
"Hey Spyro, buddy! There you are, you know it's getting difficult to find you anymore because there are so many dragons here in Warfang nowadays." Sparx shouted at the top of his lungs; Spyro's concentration flagged and the water returned to its clear state.
"Sparx, could you tone it down I was trying to recall a vision."
The dragonfly stopped where he was hovering and stared.
"Since when have you been able to see visions purple-boy?"
"Since apparently last night and now I'm trying to recall the vision if you don't mind."
Helios turned to the dragonfly, "Also you know generally when someone is looking into the pool of visions it is generally regarded as respectful to keep ones big mouth shut."
"Okay, okay I get it; quiet, peace, tranquility. I'll just be over here silent, don't mind me I'm just a fly on the wall. Well, actually I'm a dragonfly on the wall but hey who cares and as for a big mouth, wait a sec, here I thought Helios was incapable of insulting someone; he's always so polite."
"I swear," Cyril sighed, "whatever that annoying mosquito lacks in Volteer's speed, he makes up for it with volume."
Spyro began to focus again, however, unlike the vision while he was asleep, this one he could sense was happening right now. Through the waters he made out the shapes of several of the ape-figures and he heard the guardians gasp. As the image became more clear, he could channel their voices through the pool.
"My lord," started one, "are you sure you are alright? I mean dreams occur do they not?" Spyro jerked inwardly, had this ape also seen the vision?
"Bertram I told you, the nightmares ceased when I married Lysa nineteen years ago, why would they start reappearing now? Especially when the world is at peace?"
"I do not know my lord, but I can say this, your nightmares must have resurfaced for a reason."
"And what reason is that? That I should open those three books and review the blueprints within? Or maybe that I should destroy them?"
"It could very well be that reason sir."
"I really hope that for once you are wrong, at least about the Grimoire. I never want to write anything in that book again. I truly wish I could destroy that accursed book. The devices in that tome have too much potential to be used for evil, and that is something I cannot allow."
"Sir, perhaps some music from the autoplayer to soothe your nerves?"
"Yes, that would be best I think; how about 'Hearts of Oak'?"
"Yes, sir at once. Oh! Before I forget, there are two of the First Lords here to see you."
"Which branches?"
"First Sea Lord William Greagor, and First Sky Lord Voltaris."
"Send them in."
A few moments later another ape man emerged from the door his clothes were brightly colored, he had a swirling cape behind him, and had a look of confidence. The two apes shook their hands, and then much to the shock of everyone, a dragon came through afterwards; he easily stood fourteen feet at the shoulders and had to duck his head to get into the library. Then adding to the shock, both ape men bowed slightly which no one could mistake as a sign of respect.
The dragon smiled and nodded to both of them.
"James, it is good to see you; how is Lysa and Thera doing?"
The ape man 'James' smiled back and guided the other ape man and the dragon to the open area in the middle of the library. The dragon rested on a thick blue mat, the other brightly colored ape sat in a tall red chair, and the James ape sat in an identical chair.
"Now before we get down to business, would either of you like refreshments?"
"Yes I would indeed." Spoke the "Sea Lord"
"If you have it I would like a decanter of that Northumbrian whiskey I've heard about. Would you like anything Lord Voltaris?"
"No thank you, I had a meal before coming here." The James ape nodded rang a small bell and told the steward, Bertram, what the group had decided upon.
A few moments later, after the refreshments had been served, the Sea Lord looked up from his glass.
"Now then Professor as you are no doubt aware, the Royal Navy and the Dracocorps have been trying to create a co-op branch for many years, however we have always drawn a blank; until however, you came up with that interesting idea for a new type of ship."
Voltaris nodded sharply, "Yes I've only heard parts of it but I'm intrigued. Do you have the blueprints here in the library?"
"Yes, I have them right here," the James ape said as he reached over to a small desk and produced a rolled up piece of blue paper and tacked it to the board; the drawing on the paper was unlike any kind of ship Spyro had ever seen. The numbers for the length and beam and height was 1150ft, 278ft, and 95ft. The weird thing was that the ship had no masts, sails or rigging.
"Lord Voltaris, Lord Greagor, I present to you the Arkibus; I took an old merchant ship and modernized her; steel reinforcement, steam elevators and heating, and the lower deck has room enough for twenty dragons, and the deck has enough space for seven to take off or land at the same time. As for the ship class, she is over fifteen thousand tons so she is not covered in the Sanijo Naval Treatise, so a new class is required, that's another reason I needed you here Lord Greagor, new ship classes are a political matter especially of this size, however I am confident that the uses and possibilities far outstrip the risks."
The Sea Lord scratched his chin thoughtfully and analyzed the blueprint.
"Let's see, a ship that is longer than the standard which is the RNV Dreadnaught at one-thousand feet even, heavier at the same standard which is twelve thousand tons, due to its purpose, the only word that comes to mind is "Carrier", and sometimes it may need more of a description to get the plans off the drawing board. I assume the prototype, this, "Arkibus" has been proven sea worthy?"
James nodded and indicated politely.
"Yes, sir; sea trials completed last week and Shimmer's wing volunteered to test the deck, which held the stress of seven full grown dragons landing at the same time. The ship has a cruising speed of fifteen knots, and a top speed of twenty if you push the engines. She has been fitted with side turrets to house a full complement of twelve five inch naval guns and has installments for various other small arms such as ten millimeter and twenty millimeter auto cannons, and forty-five and sixty-five caliber machineguns, her armor thickness is six inches hull and four inches deck. Minimum crew required roughly two hundred sixty, full crew four hundred ten. According to the numbers, she will keep pace with the Dreadnaught and any other capital ship, and her firepower is comparable to a standard cruiser."
"That is good news for several reasons, one is the obvious, we need a ship that can keep up with the fleet and provide air cover and have enough firepower to act independently or take on the role of flagship, and the other is of a more worrying nature."
Upon this statement, Volaris brought his attention to the Sea Lord and watched as he produced a folder from his briefcase and laid it on the table. Inside were pictures of machines that could have no form or function, and also there were maps and other lists that Spyro and the guardians could not decipher. James took one look at the papers and pictures and went pale as a sheet.
"Is this intel reliable?"
Greagor nodded solemnly, "The intel is one hundred percent accurate, the Federation is rearming and it is possible that they are being supplied with Syllian made weapons. This constitutes treason on the highest level and the kicker is that only one quarter of the report contains data on the Federation. Other nations listed are the Anoziran Republic, Navora Principality, and the Praetorian Empire. You of all people know what this means."
"That some of the most advanced weapons of the Syllian military have been reproduced by nations that dislike us."
"Correct, this is a political and military shit storm, the civilian council and military council are at each other's throats trying to decide what to do and by giving us this blueprint now, you have given us a huge advantage at sea and in the air."
"Sir, any idea who is behind this?"
"No, just suspicions and that list is nearly one mile long. People are slinging shit everywhere and hoping it lands on the guilty party and not fly back at their faces. The only reason you are not under investigation is because of your loyalty to the nation and because we know that you would never hurt anyone intentionally."
"Thank you for that vote of confidence milord. On a further note, now that this has come to light, I will send word to the factories at Sanijo, Leviathos, and Porthos to focus solely on the Arkibus project, at the current rate, should you give the okay, we can build four ships every three months, there is no shortage of mothballed ships that can be repurposed to serve."
"Four per three, I like the sound of that, what is the cost per ship?"
"Roughly that of a Scimitar cruiser, about forty thousand per ship." Bertram's eyes lit up at the sum, then he smiled,
"That's a kick in the head for those politicians, they were saying that the new ship would cost three times that."
"I always try to give my nation the most bang for their gold."
"Good, then in two days time the Arkibus will be given her military trial," the Sea Lord said.
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As they went on talking, Spyro began to feel his strength wane and let the pool return to normal, leaving him panting lightly at the toll. He turned to face the guardians and was greeted by several other faces including that of his son.
"Spyro, was that the vision you saw?"
"No that wasn't it; the vision was at a battlefield, although that James character was there. I think that there is a meaning as to what we just saw."
"What do your instincts tell you?" asked Terrador.
"They tell me that this James can be trusted and that he is not like the apes that we know of."
"Indeed and it is decided. Spyro, we want you to make contact with this ape man and try to forge a peace with him, once you are there try to get a feel for the nation and its people; like you we have a feeling that we need to establish friendly relations with them; if that vision of yours includes this Kingdom of Syllia, then it is all the more important to meet with them. Will you do this?"
Spyro looked at his family, Cynder having arrived just before the vision slipped, was looking at him with a worried expression, for the first time in a long time they would be apart for who knew how long, and to top it off, he was going to make contact with some unknown tribe of apes. However, if this was to assure peace for his children, it was necessary.
"If it is the will of the Ancestors, I will do it."
The guardians knew what they were asking him to do nodded slowly. Even though nineteen years had passed, the dragon race and the other races of the realms were still recovering from the war; if there was a chance mainly to reestablish contact with another dragon civilization and if this culture had managed to get apes to ally with them, then it was all the more reason to do so. Already the scouts had brought back reports about a new army massing in the outer realms, and this time they may not be as fortunate as they were before.
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Sorry for the long update, writer's block.
Well that's two down, and just for those who are wondering about the tech talk between James, Greagor, and Voltaris, the carrier is going to play an important part later on as is the rest of the Syllian Navy.
While I'm on the subject did you know that the first aircraft carrier actually was a repurposed merchant vessel in service for England's Royal Navy? The vessel wasn't overhauled but they simply built a wooden deck over the superstructures on the primary deck. The carrier, although I forgot the name, was successful in most of its missions until it was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in WWI.
Also the song 'Hearts of Oak' is a real song dedicated to the British Royal Navy's old wooden ships-of-the-line.
Afterward, the U.S and Japan shot ahead in the race for the aircraft carrier, the Lexington class for the states and the Akagi and Kaga for the Japanese. Also the Dreadnaught was in real life the first ship to be called a battleship, built in 1908 for the British Royal Navy, it's construction turned every other navy in the world on its ear in particular the German Navy which had just finished ramping up its navy to match Britain's.
In you want to know I am a living textbook regarding history during the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly the early 20th. Plus I am a huge Navy fan, even though I come from a family that has served in all branches.
Until next time for now I leave you with a quote that I thought was hilarious: "See how the wind makes my moustache tremble!" ~ A general from Fire Emblem: Awakening. (If you haven't played it, do so it is easily the best one yet, and it in 3D!" 0..0 Please review! :D