Peace Keeper, or Peace Breaker

The balloon landed on the dock in the Peace Keepers world and Spyro jumped off, followed by Fuchsia. Their dragonflies, which never left their sides, weren't far behind. Once their feet touched the ground the balloon rose up into the air and floated back towards the Artisans World and its owner, Marco. Spyro cared little that their transportation had just flown away because if they needed to leave he could just ask Gosnold the balloonist. But for now, they needed to find someone and get some information.

Walking forward, they entered a stone building and found another dragon statue. Sighing, Spyro walked over to it and placed one foot on the platform halfheartedly. Just as he expected nothing happened, so he moved on. Fuchsia was fascinated by the architecture, as she was fascinated with just about everything. They soon exited the building and saw some cannons, which brought back memories of when Spyro had been here in the past. But unlike then, there wasn't a single Gnorc yelling at his approach and running to the cannons, firing at him. In fact, the Peace Keepers world was barren of all life except the occasional jackrabbit bouncing around. A slight breeze stirred up wisps of sand, but no noticeable sound could be heard.

"Is it normally this quiet?" Fuchsia asked, shattering the silence like glass.

"Well, I haven't really been here since I fought Gnasty Gnorc, and then it was loud because gnorcs were running around firing cannons and yelling," Spyro replied.

"Strange. The last time I was here was right after you'd beaten Gnasty, and even then it was a lot louder than this. It's almost as if the desert were holding its breath for something."

A jackrabbit hopped by and they both watched it in silence.

"Well, the sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner things will be back to normal," Spyro said, and he continued wandering aimlessly in search of some intelligent life.

Finally, he spotted Gosnold and decided to ask him if he had some news. He walked over to the dock and sat down in front of the balloonist, who was sleeping fitfully. Fuchsia stood just behind and to his left.

"No! Not again! We must save them!" Gosnold yelled in his sleep.

He was obviously having a bad dream. Rolling his eyes, Spyro reached out and shook Gosnold's shoulder. Gosnold snorted and woke up, looking around surprised.

"Spyro! Fuchsia! It's so good to see you. I'm so confused and afraid for the Dragon Realms," he said frantically.

"Calm down, Gosnold," Spyro said reassuringly. "It's all right. I'm here to figure things out, but I can't say much for knowing what's up myself. I was wondering if you knew anything."

Gosnold shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry Spyro. I'm afraid I don't, but I'm sure there's got to be someone here who does."

Spyro stood up and looked around the barren desert that was the Peace Keepers Home world.

"I'm not so sure about that. Fuchsia and I have been wandering for a while now and haven't found anyone but you."

Now Gosnold patted Spyro's shoulder.

"Well, at least you found me. If I'm here, then there's bound to be someone else. Go on and keep searching for a bit. If you don't find anyone, I'll give you a lift in my balloon to wherever it is you want to go."

Spyro nodded, feeling grateful.

"Thanks. We'll do that."

Turning all the way around, Spyro started off towards the little Peace Keepers canyon and the small cave that held the portal to Night Flight, followed by his friends. He walked up to the edge of the purple tar river and jumped across to the other bank. Fuchsia jumped across as well and looked down into the canyon. The drop was several feet, and at the very bottom was a river of deadly hot tar. Then, just as Spyro was jumping up to the island in the center of the canyon, something quite large and red hit him and knocked him off balance. He missed his landing and slipped off the edge of the island. His claws scrapped at the stone as he tried to dig them into it, but the rock was much too smooth and brittle from erosion, and with a loud yell he lost his grip and fell.

Fuchsia looked up suddenly when he was clawing at the stone, and she let out a loud gasp and lunged forward in an attempt to catch Spyro before he fell. Unfortunately, she missed. Sparx flew after him, but there was little the small dragonfly could do to help his friend. Spyro slid down towards the river of hot tar, talons scratching the stone in a feeble attempt. Fortunately, he was a quick thinker and began beating his wings as hard as he could. At first, it seemed futile, but slowly he rose up until finally he grasped the edge of the island and heaved himself up onto it, collapsing in a heap. His work in learning to fly had paid off, but now he was exhausted. Fuchsia quickly jumped across the chasm and stood next to him. Panting slightly from lack of breath, Spyro looked up to see what had knocked him down.

There in front of him was another dragon, looking to be about Spyro's age. It was red in color with the brown spots that were a trait of all Peace Keepers. A small spike rested on the top of his nose. His horns, wing veins, spine ridges, and the tip of its tail were brown, while his belly and wings were a tannish color. The strange dragon stared back at Spyro with dark red eyes. After a few seconds, the dragon burst out laughing and fell over on its back. A green dragonfly, which had previously been hidden from view, landed next to the dragon, also laughing. Fuchsia just stared at the strangers in disbelief. Spyro looked astonished at first, then realizing they were laughing at him, growled deep in his throat.

"HEY! What's the big idea? First, you try and kill me, and then you laugh at me? Just who do you think you are?"

Spyro glared, feeling his blood starting to get hot and a little trill of smoke drifted from his nostril. The red dragon gasped for breath and rolled over. Finally, his laughter died down. Spyro continued to glare, and his tail twitched back and forth in annoyance.

"I…didn't…try to…kill you. I knew you'd save yourself, because you are, after all, Spyro, aren't you?" the red dragon asked.

Spyro's angry expression faltered but then he remembered anyone should be able to recognize him and he resumed glaring.

"Yes, I am Spyro, but that still isn't very funny what you did."

The red dragon almost started laughing again but stopped himself.

"Sure it was. You just have to look at it from my point of view. You were wandering around looking all serious and I pop out and surprise you. You should have seen to look on your faces," he said, half laughing.

Spyro and Fuchsia glared at him.

"Geese. If you're so offensive about it, I guess I should apologize. I'm sorry for scaring you."

Spyro began to relax but eyed the stranger oddly at the mention of scaring him.

"You didn't scare me, you just knocked me off balance," he replied.

Fuchsia glanced at Spyro and raised an eye ridge, then rolled her eyes, deciding not to pursue the subject. Then the red dragon changed it.

"Well, anyway, my name is Cinder. I already know your name, so I thought you'd like to know mine," Cinder said. "But I don't think I know your name," he continued, looking at Fuchsia.

Spyro tilted his head to the side slightly and smiled for the first time since his encounter with Cinder.

"It's nice to meet you, Cinder. This is Fuchsia. Do you by any chance know anything about why the other dragons have been turned to crystal again?"

Cinder looked thoughtful, and then returned his attention to Spyro.

"Not really. I was just about to go to Night Flight when I heard something whiz right past the cave entrance. I turned around and jumped out onto this island in time to see a beam of light hit one of the adult dragons. Then another one came straight for me and I jumped back into the cave. The beam hit the tar down below and disappeared. Since then I've been staying in the cave until you showed up," he explained.

Spyro nodded, contemplating the story. He looked up just as Cinder asked,

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, we want to find out what happened and who's behind this so I can stop them. Or else the Dragon Realms could be in danger," Spyro replied

"OOH! So you're looking to save the world again, huh?"

Spyro looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, I guess so. Someone has to."

"WOW! This is so cool! Since I didn't get turned to stone, can I come with you guys and help?"

Spyro stared at him, almost hesitating. Should he let this troublemaker come along? He could turn out to be helpful, but then again, he could end up being more trouble than he was worth.

"Weeeeelllllllll… Oh, I suppose you can come. But you have to promise to control that strange sense of humor you have."

"YEEESS!" Cinder exclaimed, leaping in the air. "This is going to be fun. Going on an adventure with Spyro, the greatest hero of all time!"

Spyro rolled his eyes, being used to this kind of attention.

"Well, if you're going to come, we'd better get moving. I don't think we're going to find anything here. Come on."

He started off towards Gosnold, and stopped to look back. Fuchsia ran into him, not expecting him to halt so suddenly. Cinder, still surprised he was actually going to travel with Spyro, stood dazed for a few seconds, then hurried after them.

"Oh. By the way, this is Scorch, my dragonfly. You don't have to introduce yours. Sparx is almost as famous as you are."

Spyro laughed slightly.

"Nice to meet you, Scorch."

"Oh, and what's your dragonfly's name?" Cinder asked Fuchsia.

She looked from Cinder to the light orange dragonfly hovering near her shoulder, and back to Cinder.

"Her name is Luna," Fuchsia replied.

Just then, they reached the dock were Gosnold stood.

"Hey, Spyro. I see you did find someone after all. Oh, hello Cinder," Gosnold said, surprised at seeing that Cinder hadn't been turned to crystal.

"Hi Gosnold," Cinder responded.

Spyro ignored the two's exchange of greeting and interrupted.

"Gosnold, can you take us to Magic Crafter's?"

Gosnold looked over the three young dragons. Then he gazed around at his balloon.

"I'm not sure you'll all fit."

Now was Fuchsia's turn to look everyone over. Out of the three of them, she was the smallest in height and weight. Cinder was both the largest, and heaviest, dwarfing herself and Spyro. Being a Peace Keeper, he was naturally well built in the muscle department.

"Gosnold? Do you have an extra basket and some rope?" she suddenly asked.

"Well actually, I believe I do. Hold on."

The short balloonist walked over beside the dock to a small trunk and opened it. He pulled something out that resembled a wadded-up haystack, along with some rope, and returned with them.

"Here you are," he said, holding them out.

Taking the 'haystack' in her mouth, Fuchsia walked over to the balloon, leaned back on her hind legs, took the item from her mouth, and shook it open with her front paws to reveal a small basket.

"Could you bring me the rope Spyro?" she asked.

He took it from Gosnold and walked over to meet her.

"Thank you," Fuchsia said.

Grasping one end of the rope, she looped it through the basket two times and then tied the ends to the larger basket of the hot air balloon. Tying the last not, she pulled it tight to make it secure and finally turned to look at the others. All three males stood watching her silently, as if dumbfounded.

"There. I'll ride in the side basket while you two ride in the balloon," she said happily.

"You never stop coming up with good ideas Fuchsia. You're a genius," Spyro complimented her. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go."

The three dragons jumped into their assigned places, followed by their dragonflies. Cinder was quite a bit larger in size than Spyro, and with the two of them on one balloon it was a bit crowded, but they managed. The smaller basket was small but just large enough for Fuchsia to fit. Once everyone was situated, Gosnold let the ropes lose and the balloon slowly rose.

"Good luck you three! Oh, and you can borrow my balloon for a while in case you acquire any more friends!" Gosnold yelled and waved.

Together, all three dragons yelled back, "THANKS!" and the balloon disappeared, carrying the trio away...

Author Notes:

For those of you that are veteran readers of this fic (as in you read it back when I first posted it), you probably already know this. But for you new readers, my character, Cinder, was created LONG before the "Legend of Spyro" games were released.

When they did become published and I found out there is a female character with the same name that I used, the thought did cross my mind to change my character's name. But then I decided, you know what, no. I'm not going to because of three reasons.

1. I named him first

2. This is not the same universe as those games, so the LOS version doesn't exist

3. The LOS's version is spelled slightly differently anyway (Cynder)