Disclaimer - I do not own "The Legend of Spyro" game series or any of its characters.

Chapter 2: "Earning" Trust

I woke up in what seemed to be one of the straw huts I had seen before getting knocked out by what I assumed to be a cheetah. There was a large post in the middle that seemed to be supporting the whole structure and smaller ones around the room that didn't seem to be for anything more than decoration. I was sitting, leaning against one of the "decorative" posts opposite of the entrance. My ears began to ring followed by a massive headache and the taste of blood in my mouth. I tried to move my hands to cradle my head but they were tied behind the post I was leaning on. The pain slowly began to subside and I spit the remaining bit of blood out of my mouth. "Great I've been here for what couldn't have been more than a few hours and I've already gotten myself into trouble" I mumbled to myself. It was at that point I noticed that I was missing my backpack that had all my stuff inside it.

I looked around the room for anything that could help me escape. I spotted a table over to my right. It was dark in the room so it took me a moment to make out what was on it, but as I looked closer a slight smile came over my face. My bag was sitting there leaned up against the wall. Great now I just have to figure out how to get the hell out of here, get my stuff, and find out how to get home… piece a cake. I continued to look around the room for ways to escape until I noticed a small circular shaped window directly above the table that had my bag on it. While it didn't look large enough for me to squeeze through, it did give me some idea of what time it was. By the amount of light that was getting through I figured it had to be either sunrise or sunset. This meant I had been out for only a few hours, or overnight, and after remembering how hard I had been hit, I went with overnight. I kept looking around for anything to help me get free, but besides what I had already seen there really wasn't anything around the room at all. I figured it was some kind of holding place for prisoners, as that would explain the other posts around the room and why there was almost nothing here. That's just perfect, I didn't do anything why the hell did they throw me in this place.

I continued to look for another way out of the room but found no other exits besides the main entrance. I didn't much like the idea of just 'waltzing out the front door' but it seemed to be my only option. Now all I had to do was get these damned bindings off. I tried to contort my wrists to fit my hands through the rope that was holding them together, but it was to no avail. The rope was tied far too tight for me to even begin to get my hand through. I also tried breaking it by pulling my hands apart but, not to my surprise, it was too strong. I had to admit whoever tied me up did a pretty good job, I couldn't even get my hands in front of me to see the binding because of the post that was between me and them. It was obvious that the only way I was getting out of these was by cutting them, and there wasn't anything even relatively sharp nearby.

I had just stopped my attempt at getting my hands free when I heard footsteps coming towards the entrance. I quickly relaxed, closed my eyes, and pretended to still be unconscious, and then I just listened. I got a little nervous as the footsteps got closer and closer, I could now tell that it was definitely more than one person. I continued to listen as they entered the room and stop only a few feet away from me. Then I started to hear them whisper "What do you think it is?" said a deep male voice. "I don't know" said a lighter voice. "It looks like an ape, why did we even let it live?" the deeper voice said. "Because it might have information" said a higher pitch voice than either of the others, okay that one was definitely female. At this point the curiosity and the frustration of being called an ape was too much. I slowly raised my head and opened my eyes to see three cheetahs staring at me. Just like I had thought there were two males and a female, they stood only a few feet away examining me. Like before they all wore armor, but theirs was different from the ones I'd seen last time. They had steel armor like the others but theirs seemed even more like knights armor. The ones before had leather like armor with a few metal plates on their arms, legs, and chest. The female one had the most ornate armor; intricately designs were etched into it. It had different symbols that I didn't understand but right in the middle was a roman numeral "XV". It was embroidered with gold, and she wore a red piece of material on her right shoulder that was attached with some sort of paw shaped pendant and went down her back to about her waist. Like last time I went with the idea of coolest looking armor must be the leader.

The three cheetahs where still staring at me while I examined them, eventually I decided it was time to speak up "I have a name, just saying". The three cheetahs looked surprised and interested at my statement, almost like they didn't expect me to be capable of speech. There was a brief moment of silence before anyone said anything. The first to talk was the female one, who took a few steps forward before asking "And what is it that you call yourself ape thing?" I was quick to reply with "My name is Donovan and I'm not some ape". There was a moment of silence "You two go tell my father the prisoner has awoken" the female cheetah commanded to the other two, "Yes ma'am" they said before exiting the hut "As for you, I have a few questions". I could tell this was going to be interesting to say the least. "Before we begin may I at least know the name of my interrogator?" I asked sarcastically not really expecting a reply, "Autumn Prowlus" she replied with pride. Damn, I wasn't really expecting a reply her name must mean something here. "Okay Autumn, can you please explain to me… why the hell am I tied to a post!?" my frustration coming out in my voice. "Because you look like an ape, and apes mean nothing but trouble" she replied. Okay I've about had it with this ape thing "I am not an ape!" I declared almost yelling, "Then what are you!?" Autumn demanded. "I'm a human" I said in a much calmer tone before, then while letting out a sigh I leaned back against the post behind me.

"Okay, I've never heard of a human before, so where did you come from, and how did you get here?" Autumn seemed more intrigued by me than anything else, so I decided she was probably my best bet at getting out of here. "I come from a place called America, as to how I got here… I have no idea. The last thing I remember before waking up in this valley is walking under some strange archway in the woods and blacking out". For the next couple of minutes the only sound in the room was Autumn's paws as she paced back and forth, at least she seemed to be considering what I said I hope. As the silence dragged on a question kept nagging at me in the back of my mind, and it was dying to come out. "You said you captured me because I look like an ape?" "Yes why?" Autumn replied seeming interested in what I was getting at. "Well I've been wondering, what did the apes here do that was so bad anyway?" Autumn seemed shocked at what I had just said, as if it was the greatest crime in the world to not know what I had just asked. Her look of shock quickly faded to sorrow, and anger.

"What did they do? The correct question is what didn't they do. They sided with Malefor in the Great War! They took thousands of innocent lives all in the name of destruction, with the ultimate goal of destroying the world! If it weren't for Spyro and Cynder this entire world would be gone!" I sat in shock for a moment while Autumn looked exhausted from her rant. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't know" I couldn't help but feel bad for putting her through that. "Yeah well, now you do" she replied calmer than before. As much as I didn't want to say anything else this only raised more questions. "Look I'm nothing like them…" I was cut off by Autumn "How do I know for sure? How do I know you're not just some runt the apes sent as a spy?" she said drawing her sword and walking towards me. I immediately stood up and tried as hard as I could to squeeze my hands out of my bindings but with the same result as last time. She put the tip of her blade only a few inches from my neck "Why shouldn't I just kill you where you stand?" I desperately searched for a way out when I noticed that the other posts around the room didn't go up to the sealing, and after a quick glance upward neither did mine.

At this point I knew what I had to do… if I could stand the pain. I began to push my arms upwards until I couldn't go any further. Then with a quick jerk I threw my left shoulder out of place while screaming out in pain. Autumn looked shocked and took a step back. I just continued what I was doing and popped my other shoulder out of place followed by another scream of pain. I was breathing hard but I knew it was almost over. I let my arms fall down over the post and down in front of me. I then relocated my shoulders as I fell to my knees exhausted as single tear rolled down my face. Autumn just stood there so shocked her arms had gone slack and she dropped her sword. She quickly realized what had just happened though, and picked up her blade and began to charge me. I jumped up to my feet and moved back. She swung but I had predicted where her strike would go and had used her blade to cut the rope binding my hands together. Finally I was free but now I had an angry cheetah that I needed to fight. I didn't want to hurt her too bad because that would only make them think I was with the apes even more.

We stood only a few feet away as we began to circle each other. I took a defensive stance with my left foot forward in case I need to strike so I could step into the punch. My right leg was a little behind me and pointed to the right supporting most of my weight. She moved first swinging her blade strait down at me, I quickly dodged it by stepping to the left, then I grabbed her arm with my right hand and pulled her forwards. She went right passed me, I took the opportunity and grabbed arm with my right hand and put her in a choke hold with my left. "I don't want to hurt you Autumn" I said trying to stop the fight before it got worse. "Don't worry you won't hurt me, but I can't say the same about you" she replied rage filling her voice. Oh great, fighting a raging cheetah is definitely not how I planned my day to go. She bit my arm making me release her from the hold, but not before I twisted her arm around making her drop her sword out of pain. We continued to circle each other for a few seconds before she tried to strike again, this time swinging her left claw at my head. I blocked it by pushing her arm to the right with my hand. She quickly came back with another claw swipe, this time from the left. As soon as I noticed her paw it was too late and she scratched three deep gashes in my left arm, "Ah damn that hurt!" I yelled. That was the first and last hit she was going to get on me. After another circle around I ran towards Autumn, but right before I got within striking distance I dropped to the ground. I slid right underneath her and popped up behind her. She was already starting to turn around when I leapt from behind her tackling her to the ground. The blunt force of hitting the ground knocked the wind out of her, as she laid on the ground gasping for air. Before she could catch her breath I ran over to where the sword was laying, picked it up, and put it too her throat. She just looked up at me shocked that I had just defeated her "I knew you were just some ape spy" she declared.

I just looked at her for a moment before tossing the sword down over to the side and extending my arm to help her up, "No, like I said I'm nothing like them". Autumn just laid there on her back speechless for a moment before she grabbed my hand and stood up still shaking slightly from having the wind knocked out of her. "I guess… I was wrong… I'm sorry Donovan", "It's no big deal, no one got hurt to bad" I said as while slowly grasping my injured arm. "We should probably get that cleaned up" Autumn said with a guilty and slightly worried look on her face. "It'll probably be fine" I replied trying to ease Autumn's worries. "Don't be stubborn, that's a deep gash and you don't want it to get infected. Come on we'll just stop by the healing wing, it's on the way to the building where my father is. We need to tell him of how you got here anyway, he may be able to help you find your way back home" she said insistently. "Okay, but first can I get my things?" I asked while gesturing over to the table under the window, "Sure" she replied. I walked over to the table and got my backpack. I went through my backpack to make sure all my books and other miscellaneous objects that might come in handy later where still there. "Okay, let's go" I said anxiously throwing my backpack over my shoulders as I began to walk towards the door. "Woe, woe, woe" Autumn stopped me "I think I should probably go first, stay close so everyone knows you're not a threat, okay?" "Okay" I replied eager to leave. We both began to walk towards the doorway, as we stepped outside I had to cover my eyes to keep from being blinded by the sun. My eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and I began to take in my surroundings as we walked through the village.

I was amazed at what I saw, there where cheetahs of all different colors walking around. The next thing I took in was the actual layout of the village, which was a lot smaller than I had originally thought. The city was backed up to a stone cliff face that made a strait stone wall in the back. While the wooden wall I had seen earlier came out of the stone and curved around making the city walls into sort of a (D) shape. Along the stone walled side there where what looked like market stalls, selling all sorts of odds and ends. One of the ones that grabbed my attention was called "Volcanic Forge", true to the name it looked like a medieval blacksmith forge manned by a couple of silt covered cheetahs. I looked at all the different types of weapons and armor they were selling as we passed by it. They had weapons of all different types from the basic wooden club to intricate steel swords and staffs. I figured I would probably be stopping by there to better equip myself before leaving, that is if I could get some money or whatever the currency was around here.

Autumn noticed me staring at the blacksmith shop "Never seen a forge before?" she asked sarcastically. "No" I replied "I actually haven't, from where I come from most metal things are made in factories". Autumn looked at me slightly confused before asking "What are fact-or-ies?" You have got to be kidding me; did I get transported back in time or something? "Factories are buildings where machines make things much faster than people can" I replied trying to explain to her what it was without using too many terms that she might not know. She nodded in understanding and we continued walking. I kept looking at the different buildings and noticed a trend; the shops were all towards the back against the rock side, while straw huts that looked like houses where more in the middle of village. While we walked Autumn explained to me that the village had been rebuilt since an attacked by the forces of Malefor, who I learned was also known as The Dark Master. "So these things called grublins attacked the village and destroyed almost all of the huts?" I asked making sure I heard her right. "Well not just grublins" she replied "There were also Wyverns. If it weren't for Spyro and Cynder the whole village might have burned along with everyone in it". Now there was something I needed to know, who exactly where Spyro and Cynder. I know she had said that without them the entire world would be destroyed but what made them so great? "Who are those people?" I asked "Spyro and Cynder I mean. You mentioned them before but I don't know who they are".

Autumn stopped dead in her tracks, jaw dropped, so shocked it was almost like she couldn't move at all. "Um Autumn, are you okay?" I asked in a slightly worrisome tone. It took a moment for her to reply "Yeah… just, you have never heard of Spyro and Cynder?" she asked in disbelief, "No… why should I have?" Autumn stood there for another moment "Are you sure?" she asked again "The legendary purple dragon, or Cynder the terror of the skies? The ones who defeated Malefor and kept the world from breaking apart". I stood there for a moment going over what Autumn had just said to make sure I heard her right, did she say dragon? "Yeah I'm sure I've never heard of them" I replied again "Wait, wait, wait… hold on a second. Did you just say the legendary purple DRAGON!? As in flies in the sky, breaths fire, and has claws type of dragon?" "Well not all dragons just breath fire, you should know, there are four different light elements and four dark elements" she replied as if it was nothing new. "Dragons!? Are you serious?" I asked again "From where I come from dragons are just a myth, a legendary creature that never really existed!" Autumn paused for a moment as she took in what I had just said "Your world is strange. Well dragons may not have existed there but they sure do here, so better learn fast or you going to look like an idiot if you try to talk to someone" she said giggling a little bit at the last part.

"What else doesn't exist in your world?" Autumn asked as we began walking again. "Well from what you've mentioned so far: grublins, dragons, wyverns, apes that walk around talk and try to kill people, and cheetahs that walk, talk, and have traits like humans" I replied laughing a bit at the part where I mentioned cheetahs. She didn't seem too surprised by what I had said this time, I guess she had, by this time, also grasped that I was from Nowhere near around here. "Well, you said dragons were a myth where you came from right?" I shook my head yes before she continued, "Well are any of these other things myths there too?" she asked curiously. I thought for a second about all the fantasy novels I had read and the mythology I studied on my free time before answering, "Yeah actually, most of them are in books or games in my world". "Well we will talk about them after we get done with getting you patched up and talking to my father" she replied as we got to what looked like the center of the village. It was a large stone circle on the ground with a huge stone paw in the middle. On each of the four corners of the intersection of roads there was a huge pole with a giant red banner hanging of it. The banners I had seen throughout the city and didn't give it much attention as we turned right and continued walking down a dirt path.

We walked for no more than a minute before Autumn stopped in front of a medium sized building with a red square painted on it. The square had a white plus sign on the middle of it, much like the emblem for a first aid kit or hospital; I assumed this to be the healing wing she had mentioned earlier. "Okay here is the healing wing" Autumn said as If to confirm my thoughts, "We'll be in and out real quick. All they are going to do is clean the wounds and bandage them up". I nodded in understanding of what she said before continuing onward into the building. We walked through the large double doors of the building and turned right. I read a sign on the wall as we walked that said 'Minor Injury Wing'. We continued down the hall until we came to what looked like a waiting room you would find at any doctor's office or hospital. Autumn walked up to a desk to the left of the entryway to the room and began to talk to what looked like a nurse. I patiently waited behind her as they spoke. "Hey can you patch up my friend here, he got hurt in a um… sparing match" she said to the nurse trying to avoid going into detail about my injuries. The nurse came out from around the desk and took a look at the scratches and bite mark that where on my lower left arm. "Must have been some match" the nurse said while examining my wounds. "But I'm sure you'll be fine, we'll get you fixed up real nice" she said before returning to behind the counter and grabbing some bandages and a glass bottle of some sort of silvery paste. She applied the paste first, of which I guessed to be an antiseptic of some sort. It stung a little, not as much from the actual substance but more from the contact with the wound. The paste also seemed to have a sort of cooling affect as she applied it, the pain in my arm numbed a little. After finishing with the paste she took some white cloth bandages that she used to wrap up my wound tightly, but gently. When the nurse had finally finished Autumn took out a small bag from a pouch in her leather armor. She pulled out a couple of what looked like gold pieces and began to hand them to the nurse, but the nurse turned them down saying "I'm not going to charge a Prowlus for something as minor as a few scrapes from sparring". But Autumn insisted she take them "Well then consider it a gift for your great work" she said, before the nurse eventually gave in and took the coins.

We exited the building and continued down the path we were originally on. "What was that silvery stuff she put on my arm?" I asked Autumn while we walked down the road towards the wall. "It's silver mixed with the paste of a plant that is known to help with infections and numb pain" she replied. So it was an antiseptic, their way of medicine must be more like alchemy than actual science. We neared the entrance to a large half circular hut attached to the outside wall, which I now believed to be the main building of the village. Autumn stopped me before we got too close to the building "When we get to the entrance I'll explain to the guards that you are of no threat" she said motioning towards two of the heavily armored cheetahs before continuing "You will wait with them while I go and tell the guards inside, and my father that you're not going to hurt anyone". I nodded in agreement before we continued the last few feet to the entrance. Autumn went up to both of the guards; they both saluted her as she walked up to them. "Both of you stay with my friend here" she said to them. They both looked nervously at me then back at Autumn before she spoke again "Don't worry he is on our side, I just need to tell the others in the council chamber before we enter so there is no confusion". The two guards relaxed a little "Yes ma'am" they said before Autumn went through the door and into the hut. I just walked up and leaned against the side of the building next to one of the guards, of whom looked over me before returning to his original statue like stance.

It only took about a minute for Autumn to come back out of the doorway and motioned for me to come in. I pushed myself off the wall I had been leaning against and proceeded to walk into the building, but I was stopped by the arm of one of the guards. "Look I've never seen you around here so I'll give you some friendly advice. Chief Prowlus has a rather short temper, and he doesn't like outsiders, so try to choose your words wisely" he said before putting his arm back to his side. "Thanks…" awesome, Autumn's father has a short temper and doesn't like outsiders; if there was ever a time that I needed to keep my mouth shut it was now. I took a breath to try and calm my nerves before entering the council chamber as Autumn had called it. I walked through the doorway and my eyes widened at what I saw. The first thing to catch my attention was the large entry way that was lined with torches and banners. I had seen the same banners throughout the village but this was the first time I really paid attention to what was on them. They were made of a red silk like material and had a golden paw print inside of a circle in the middle of them. Come to think of it, it looked a lot like the material Autumn wore on her shoulder.

I continued down the entry way staying close behind Autumn while the guards stared at me hands on their weapons, ready to strike if I did anything even remotely suspicious. Eventually we reached the center chamber which was a large round room with a curved sealing. In the middle of the room was a large rectangular table that could easily fit twenty or so people. At the opposite side of the room from the entrance was a cheetah wearing red robes with gold colored trim. He also had the same pendant that Autumn's 'half cape', as I had come to call it, was attached by. He sat on a Throne like chair and looked much older than Autumn, this had to be her father, Chief Prowlus. I stayed right next to Autumn as we approached the cheetah; we stopped no more than a foot away.

"Father, this is the one that we took prisoner believing him to be an ape. From what he has told me I believe our original assumptions to be wrong, and that he is of no threat to us" Autumn said to her father. Chief Prowlus seemed to think about what Autumn had said for a moment. He then rose from his throne before slowly circling, and examining me. He stopped directly in front of me and looked me strait in my eyes "If you're not an ape then what are you?" "I'm a human, I come from a place called America" I replied trying to be as strait forward as possible. "Okay if you are this human, why have I never heard of you?" Hadn't I just explained all of this to Autumn, why do I have to go through my story again? "Like I told Autumn, I don't know how I got here. The last thing I remember before waking up here is going underneath an arch in the woods and blacking out" I tried my best to disguise my annoyance of being asked the same questions over again. I knew this was probably my only chance at explaining myself to Chief Prowlus.

He looked over me one last time before walking over to Autumn, and they began to whisper back and forth. I couldn't hear much of what they said, but I could make out bits and pieces. "How… Trustworthy…" "… Long story" "What if… spy…" "Trust… Ever been wrong…". After a few more mumbles that I couldn't make out at all they stopped whispering. Chief Prowlus walked back up to his throne, while Autumn stood only a few inches away directly to my left. We both stood still as Prowlus sat in his throne and began to speak "You should head to the city of Warfang and ask the guardians for help. They may be able to help you find out how you got here. I will allow one of my soldiers Star Guard to accompany you…" He was cut off by Autumn. "Why Star, why can't I go?" she asked aggravation showing in her voice "You can't just baby me forever I have to leave the village sometime to complete my training!" Chief Prowlus looked at her, seeming to consider what she said. "As much as I don't like the idea, I will allow it. At least this mission isn't too dangerous, and if you trust this creature then I will ease my prejudice" he replied still calm. Autumn seemed surprised she had gotten permission so easily "Thank you father" she replied much calmer than before. Autumn bowed and I did the same trying not to screw the whole thing up, we then turned and began to walk away. As we walked we were stopped by the voice of Chief Prowlus "One condition" he said in a loud voice so we would hear "You must train and equip him so he can defend himself in case of a fight along the way". I looked over to Autumn who had a smirk on her face "Yes father, I'll see to it personally" she replied menacingly. Oh fun, I can only imagine what she'll do to me as payback for earlier. We continued walking towards the door of the council chamber as the thoughts about how to avoid Autumn's 'training' ran through my mind.

We exited the building and walked a little ways before Autumn began to talk "We should head to the Volcanic Forge to get you a weapon before your training" she said smirking towards the end. "Um, yeah I was thinking maybe we could skip the training… I can fight perfectly fine and I've never been a fan of set fighting styles" I replied trying to avoid having to fight Autumn again. The first time was enough to make me realize just how sharp a cheetah's claws could be. "No, no, you heard my father; it's his only condition" replied while giggling. "Oh come on Autumn, please I really would prefer avoiding another trip to the healing wing" I begged, "Nope, besides we don't want you to not know how to fight the creatures of this world". She made a good point, even if I didn't like it; it is bound to help me in the long run. "Fine" I said finally giving in "Just not as rough as last time", she only giggled a little bit a kept walking down the path.

Eventually we got back to central area of the village and took a left to go back towards the forge we had passed earlier. "Is the Volcanic Forge the only one in the village" I asked out of curiosity. "No" Autumn replied "But it's the best one around… well around this village anyway, I'm sure there's better in Warfang". Now what makes Warfang so great, I mean this place seems pretty good and decently large, I wonder how big Warfang is? My thoughts about what this mysterious city might be like wonder off to the point that I lost track of time. The smell of burning charcoal and the sound of metal hitting metal snapped me back to reality. Great we're at the forge already… I was hoping that trip would take longer. "Oh, great we're here" I said sarcastically, "Yeah, now let's go pick you out a weapon, what are you best with?" Autumn asked. "Um, I'm not really sure; I've never really owned anything more than a knife" I replied completely unsure of what I would be good with. "Well then, how about a simple dagger?" she asked while walking up to one of the shelves with all sorts of weapons on it. I followed her over to it and we began to look at all the different knives that lined the shelf. Now I may not have owned much anything more than a knife but I had always been fascinated by blades. I actually knew a surprising amount of information about them that I thought I would never actually use, until now. I picked up one of the smaller daggers first and began to inspect it. The blade was sharpened on both sides and was only around four inches long; it started with a fine point that tapered down to about half an inch in width. The grip felt pretty good, it was wrapped with leather and had a nice palm swell and fit the hand well. It didn't have a quillion or pommel but was still balanced rather well, more towards the handle, for perfect control. "What, are you a pup, put that thing down and pick up something that will keep you alive" Autumn said with an amused look on her face. "While it does matter who's got the biggest stick, it matters a hell of a lot more who's swinging it" I replied with a smirk on my face.

I put the small knife down and moved on to some larger ones. One in particular caught my eye, an intricately decorated large dagger that was sharp only on one side. I walked over to it and picked it up. It had a much larger blade than the last one, about 11 inches, and it curved back slightly. It had jagged spikes that flowed beautifully down the spine and lead into the quillion. The front quillion curved down slightly while the rear one curved upwards. I got a good feel of the handle, this one was also wrapped in leather but it was dyed black, but the palm swell was rather large and felt slightly awkward in my hand. When I gave it a couple practice swings I noted that it was weighted towards the blade, making for less controllable swings but more power in each blow. "Now that's a blade" Autumn said while watching me give the large knife a few swings, "Eh, not my style" I replied before placing the blade back down on the shelf. I went through a few more daggers and other types of knives before I found another that really caught my attention. It was a good size, about 8 inches in length. It was a strait sleek blade with about a 30 degree angled tanto styled tip. On the base of the spine there were some small indentions to put your thumb on for increased grip and control of the blade. The blade led down into a small strait quillion only on the front, just enough to keep my fingers from sliding up onto the edge. The handle was wrapped in leather like the others and dyed black; it didn't have much if any palm swell but it didn't really feel like it needed one, it seemed to fit perfectly in my hand. I placed it on one finger and found the balance point to be right about where the blade met the handle. "You found something you like?" Autumn asked from behind me, "Yeah" I replied "I think this one should do". "Alright, well you'll need a sword to" she said while looking around the shop. "Over there" she pointed to a rack of swords on the opposite side of the shop, "Go get it and I'll take care of payment". She walked over to where a cheetah was standing behind a counter and began to talk with him about what I assumed to be buying the sword and knife.

I walked over to the rack that she had pointed out and found the sword that matched the style of the knife. Its blade was around 36 inches long, and just like the knife it had a tanto styled tip and it was perfectly strait. I picked it up out of the weapon rack and placed it on one finger, the balance point was in the same spot as the knife, just about where the blade met the cross guard. Unlike the knife though this sword had a cross guard on both sides but it was just enough to keep an enemy from slicing off your fingers. The handle was wrapped in the same black dyed leather, and just like the knife it felt nice in my hand. The pommel was in the shape of a triangle with the point facing toward the blade; it looked like it was made of a different metal than the rest of the sword. After I finished making sure I liked the sword as much as the knife I took both of them and walked over to Autumn, of whom was handing the cheetah behind the counter some more of those gold coins. "Are we good to go?" I asked as I walked up to her, "Yeah just once second he's got to give us the scabbards". The cheetah she had been talking to walked over to a shelf behind him and began looking through all the different scabbards. I watched as he picked out two, one for the sword and one for the knife, and walked back over to the counter. "Have a good day" he said as he handed Autumn the scabbards "You too" she replied while taking them and handing them to me. I took the scabbards and slid my new dagger into one of them and attached it to the right side of my belt. I then put the sword in the other one and fastened it to my belt on the left. "Okay, let's go" I said now anxious to try out my new gear. I was surprisingly excited to try out this gear. I may not look like the type to be into swordplay but I always found this type of stuff interesting, this world was starting to seem like too much fun. "Well someone changed their mind about training, did you forget who you're fighting?" Autumn asked while a menacing grin spread across her face. "You know Autumn I have the strangest feeling you're not going easy on me" I said sarcastically, "Oh you don't even have a chance" She replied while walking passed me. I take that back this may not be as fun as I originally thought.

I followed Autumn back down the dirt path all the way to one of the training arenas that we had walked by earlier. The whole time we walked I just kept thinking of how bad my trip to the healing wing was going to be this time. Before we went into one of the arenas Autumn took my into a building next door to the training area that seemed to be a barracks. "Alright Donovan, before we begin let's get you some armor, that was the healing wing won't need to do too much work on you… " she said while walking through the door of the building. "Why didn't we get some from one of the shops?" I asked while following close behind her. "Because the custom swords from that shop of some of the best in the land, consider it a gift or a token of trust from me to you. Armor on the other hand we don't have much of around here and unless you want basic leather the shops won't help you out much. This armor though, is for the guard and shipped from the city so there is a much better selection." "Alright makes sense". We walked into the barrack and I saw rows and rows of shelves, each one holding armors of all different shapes, sizes, and types. "Just choose one that fits you, and not just physically but that fits how you fight. Do you want movement and articulation, or heavy protection at the cost of being slowed down and bulky?" Autumn said to me as I browsed the different styles of armor. I eventually came across a piece made for the torso, it was made of a single solid plat of the chest in sort of a very wide (V) shape, below that where you would need less armor to be able to bend or move It had (V) shaped strips of metal that were about 2 or 3 inches apart from each other and about 2 inches tall. I tried it on and it fit well, but then Autumn came up behind me and laughed. "You fit into girls armor?" she said giggling. I blushed slightly but I quickly got over it and replied with "Eh if it fits it fits, who cares." I looked around and found scaled shoulder pieces, plate bracers and shin pieces, and put them on too. "Alright I think that should do it" I said to Autumn while standing there in my new armor. "So… you're the agile type" I heard her say under her breath, "Okay then let's go Donovan" she said with a menacing grin as she walked out the door gesturing for me to follow her. We only a few more yards to the training area, "Okay we're here" Autumn said while walking over onto one of the arenas, which was basically just a circle marked with small white stones. Autumn walked over to the side opposite of me, "Take your position Donovan" She called out. I walked into the arena, drew my sword and prepared to fight, Autumn did the same and we began to circle each other just like last time. I looked her directly in the eye as we slowly closed the gap between us. A grin came over her face and I could see her shift positions slightly, I could tell she was about to attack. I could tell she planned on getting me back for earlier, I didn't plan on letting that happen.