The sun blazed high up in the sky as I woke up from my perch in the eucalyptus tree. The shade from the many leaves adorning the tree thankfully had kept me cool throughout the early hours of the morning. I may have been "cold-blooded" and as a result, preferred hotter temperatures, but from the refraction of heat I could see in the distance, I could easily overheat myself badly if I wasn't careful.

If a dragon could sweat, I'd have drowned already.

I ruffled out my wings and stretched my limbs, letting out a small yawn as I did so. Luckily, I didn't feel hungry, so I knew that I'd have enough energy to fly towards the interior region of the Tall Plains. Squinting my eyes, the sun's placement in the sky told me it was already approaching midday. Still, plenty of brightness left.

Giving my joints a few more pops and cracks, I jumped down onto the heat-singed grass, the dried up dust sprayed up into the air. It would probably be the best idea to drink up before my flight out in the sun, so I took off to the river I had seen before in the west.

Arriving at the wide and yet shallow river a short while later, I was the only one in that specific area outside of a few grazing bulls. Thankfully, they paid me no attention, and so I was free to savor the surprisingly clear water, lapping it up quickly. Wasting one's energy in the hot sun could be a death spell to anyone out here.

It felt strange to act in such a feral manner, after being so used to modern amenities. Dragons usually were very proud of following tradition, but even they could not pass up some of the more modern societal practices. Sure, there was nothing wrong with what I was doing, but many had shifted somewhat recently look down on people who lived "off the grid", as some called it. Then again, with how long everyone had been in a war, one living outside of a few major hubs could be mistaken for spies, etcetera.

Frankly, I didn't see the whole deal on it. They simply referred to follow their instincts compared to modern society. Then again, I was doing just that, so there was some definite bias on my take.

Continuing to drink up my fill from the river for a few minutes, I pulled my maw away, water dripping off my scales. I took a short dip to clean myself from the dirt and blood that had caked me from last night, then took off into the clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight.

It wasn't until the sun had started to set behind the horizon that I finally reached the tropical rainforest of the Tall Plains, my first official stop in my journey southward. The wind had picked up a little a short while after midday, allowing me to glide most of the distance towards the rainforest. It had also gotten significantly more humid, notifying me that I indeed was approaching the ocean.

The landscape had gone from gentle plains to more hilly, and it wasn't long before many cliffs and plateaus dotted the area. Ironic for a place wholly referred to as "Tall Plains". Climbing higher into the sky as the cloud cover thickened, I finally did reach the massive expanse that was the heart of this tropical rainforest.

Now, to actually locate the tribe of Atlawas. As I had mentioned before, I knew I'd be welcome to stay with them after my previous dabble with the apes in the area. There was no way I could stay out in the open all night trying to find them, considering the Dreadwings that I recalled populating this area. At least I had mastered my ice element this time around. That would make taking down the flying beasts if I ever had to encounter one, a lot easier than relying on fire all the time.

I wondered how Kane was doing?

Hopefully, the Atlawas had kept the Stone Sentinel satisfied in my time gone. I failed to see any peculiar weather for the summer anywhere, so my hunch that they had seemed correct. He really was a pain to defeat my first time around, although I figured it wouldn't be as difficult as before if for some reason I had to challenge him again.

At least, I think he's a guy.

After another hour of flying and gliding with the updrafts, the sun had now completely set, any hint of light being hidden by the thick tree cover. The earthy scent of the area rather helped me calm my nerves as well. I had a general idea of where I was exactly heading, based on my memories from the last time here, but wasn't exactly sure.

Luckily, before I had to start considering finding a place to sleep by myself for the night, I was able to faintly make out some fires in the distance. Surely that had to be them unless there were some other species that I wasn't aware of living in the area.

Tucking in my wings, I gently swooped down under the tree cover, making sure not to snag myself on one of the thick vines that hung from many of the trees. Not that they would be much trouble anyways, I could easily slash my way out of them.

Coming to stop on the surprisingly dry forest floor near the outskirts of where the fires had come, I could tell that this indeed was an Atlawa community. Even for how late it was, many were still bustling around in the clearing that the main village hub was situated in. I couldn't tell if any of them were Kane specifically, due to how similar they all looked.

Would they even recognize me? I sure did look a lot different from when they had last seen me. When before I was barely at their waist in terms height, I now would actually have to look down on them, if only slightly.

Strolling in closer to the village, they all failed to notice me. To be fair, I was still heavily concealed in the shadows. My best guess was they didn't have as good of eyesight as most dragons did, which was to be expected.

"HALT DRAGON!" a voice yelled out from behind me. Whirling around and snapping my wings over me by instinct, I could see a group of Atlawas, seven of them at most, all pointing spears at me.

"Whoa there, I'm here to cause no harm. I simply wish to see Kane, your leader...correct?"

The Atlawas grumbled, still eyeing me carefully

"What business do you have seeing our chief? It is most unusual for a dragon to come visiting out here ", the apparent leader of the group asked.

Another one continued, "Yes, these places are dangerous, even after the defeat of The Wicked One and his Terror of The Skies. The Atlawas may be a peaceful tribe, but we don't take kindly to the ones who threaten to disturb us." A small wince crossed my features as he said that, I still felt bad for Cynder's reputation she had to endure.

The leader of the group continued from where his comrade had finished, "Yes, in fact, no dragon has visited us since the supposed legendary purple one...his name, I fail to recall…" he said, bringing up a hand to his chin to think. It actually slightly amused me, to see them fail to realize that the so-called legendary dragon was standing right in front of them. I guess I really was correct when I had said they didn't have the best eyesight although, in reality, it was probably the fact that was still standing within the shadows. There was barely any light coming from the village to reveal the color of my scales.

Well, I might as well reveal myself fully now.

Stepping out of the shadows, I broke the silence; "You sure you aren't' talking about me?" I said with a smug grin. Surprisingly, the shocked reactions I expected from them did not appear, only mild raises of their brow from some of them.

"Ah, Spyro, wasn't it!" said another one of them. "It has been so long, it's good to see you again! My, have you grown" he chuckled.

The leader of the group turned around to him, "So this is the dragon, Spyro, you're always reminiscing about Gwatcyn? I expected him to look a bit more...fierce…"

"Hey!" I shot back in mock feign.

"Ah yes, he is nowhere near the same size at Cyril when he was in possession of The Terror of The Skies, but I can assure you it is the dragon who took down The Wicked One."

"You mean The Dark Master, Malefor?" I asked.

"Yes yes yes, if that is what you call him" the Atlawa who had been identified as Gwatcyn, replied. Taking a closer look at him, he did appear to seem a bit older than the rest of the group. It also seemed that he was the only one who personally recognized me, he must've been one of the Atlawas who thanked me when I had calmed the Stone Sentinel.

"He is a great friend of Chief Kane, put down your weapons comrades. Come Spyro, we shall bring you to him. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you, even with all the stresses in his life right now". The rest of the group followed his command, bringing their spears back to their side.

'Whatever you say" I responded, following the group out into the village. So far, so good.

Kane had a more surprised reaction compared to his fellow Atlawans, but as Gwatcyn had stated before, he was more than happy to see me. He certainly had aged a bit, although nothing too bad, and his gruff voice that I had remembered had softened. The traditional garments that he had worn in our first encounter, were replaced with much more elegant ones that were different from the rest of the tribe. I assumed this had to do with his position of power.

I had never had much time to pay attention to the houses the Atlawans lived inside, but now that I was Kane's house, I could see that it was filled with ancient artifacts, traditional art pieces, and other colorful trinkets that complimented the aged, wooden hut feel of the place. It was a far cry from the clay and rock houses of Warfang, and the simplistic huts in the Valley of Avalar.

What had surprised me the most, however, was the fact that Kane had a family of his own. Even with the amount of care that he had for his tribe, I had never been able to imagine him playing a kind father figure. His mate, Gwyn, was slightly younger and had a surprisingly similar build to Kane. In fact, it appeared the difference between males and females for their species was hardly different, similar to the Cheetahs, and not to dragons, whose females were usually much slimmer than the males. I'd know, I'd had enough eyefuls of Cynder over the years.

I snapped myself out the thought quickly, this was no time to reminisce of the people I had left for a reason.

Kane had two daughters and one son; Regan, Lavena, and Albion respectively. I wasn't very familiar on the lifespan of the Atlawa, but they didn't seem mature enough to be adolescents. They certainly were awed by me too, being the first dragon they had ever seen, and bombarding me with a multitude of questions before their parents shooed them to bed.

Even as the moons in the sky had risen higher and higher, and most of the village had gone to sleep within their respective households, Kane, Gwyn, and I had all stayed up talking, with me mostly explaining everything that had gone on from me leaving with Cyril, until now. It took me hours to finish up my story, with all the questions the fascinated Gwyn had. Kane was more attentive and decided to listen to my tales in a less interrupting fashion.

"So, uh, Kane? Why does this place seem way bigger than before anyways? It seemed like a lot of your people didn't recognize me, even if their reactions were rather subdued…" I asked once we had moved away from the topic of the defeat of Malefor.

"Ah yes, I figure you'd ask that" he responded, Gwyn scooting up a bit closer to him on the traditional carpet they sat on. "You see after you left with Cyril and managed to calm down the Stone Sentinel, a dragon named Ignitus came to us personally, warning us of what the Terror of The Skies was planning to do with The Wicked One.."

"Cynder, you mean."

"Yes, Cynder, I apologize. Once we discovered what Cynder was planning to do, many of the Atlawan tribes decided to band together, In case a larger attack came down on us. Naturally, we had to expand to accommodate everyone, and while difficult at times, it helped the Atlawans immensely in terms of farming and trade with other nations, even if ours is still rather small.

"And of course, that wouldn't have been possible without you, Spyro, we are eternally grateful for the opportunities you ended up pursuing" stated Gwyn with a smile.

"That we are, I still feel bad about the way I treated you when your first came to help" continued Kane.

"It's no problem," I said, "It seems you've mellowed out a lot since then."

He chuckled in response, "Fatherhood does that to you" and we all laughed at that.

After discussing the village and Kane's new roles since many Atlawans moved in, they eventually asked the question I was waiting for...I think.

"So, Spyro, what brings you here anyway? Just checking in to see how we are doing?" Kane asked, putting more kindling into the fireplace as he spoke.

"I wish Kane, but it's a lot more...complicated than that," I said with a grimace, the smile on Kane and Gwen's face immediately faltering as I said that.

"Oh goodness," said Gwyn, "I hope nothing world-threatening his happening again!"

"No no no!" I said frantically, trying to calm down her panicked self while waving my paws, "Everything is fine. It's a more personal reason, actually." This helped calm Gwyn more, but now they both had an even more concerned look on their faces. I continued before Kane could ask another question.

"You see, I only explained everything that happened until we drafted Malefor and returned to Warfang. It turns out, Cynder and I discovered that we...loved each other" I said, sighing and lowering my head.

"Even with all the terror she caused, I'm willing to forgive her from what you've explained, her being under the influence of him and everything" Kane responded, even though you could physically see the distrust he had for her while saying her name. "Why isn't she with you then?"

"Well, that's the result of the issue at hand", from there, I explained everything about my peacekeeping duties in Warfang, the mental hardships I faced, the cracks that formed in Cynder and I's relationship, all the way to the fateful moment two nights ago that drove me to abandon everyone and listen to my adventure-seeking soul.

Kane pondered the information that I had told him, before finally responding.

"Well, Spyro, I certainly can't say that I'd...agree, with your actions. That's a very dangerous game your playing, especially with how close the guardians and your mate were to you, even if you don't feel like that anymore. However, I do believe you're old enough to have to judge those decisions yourself, and thus, I wouldn't stop you" Kane finished, a slightly disapproving look on his face.

"I understand Kane, I'm not particularly proud of how I left, but it was just a gut feeling. I left a letter for them saying I would most likely come back, even if I didn't give an exact timeframe."

"Well Spyro," said Gwyn, "I'm going to be very honest with you. Abandoning the ones you love like that is probably one of the worst things you can do, and for that, I'm not very proud. We all know that even with the issues you faced, you could've handled that a lot better."

"I understand," I said with a slump of my head. I wasn't surprised, to be honest, that they would react like that.

"However" she continued, "Kane is right, we can't decide what you should and shouldn't do. That is up to you to figure out."

I could feel the shame of what I had done come down on me, and yet, still had the feeling that it was the right thing to do. Why I couldn't explain. I put it up on my still fragile and recovering mental health.

"So, where do you plan to go from here then?" said Kane. "Do you want to stay in the village for a while?"

"Honestly, I'd love to lay low here for a while, but with how much ground some could cover looking for me, I say I'm still not safe. My goal was to go where no dragon has gone before, and just to discover new places. The maps in Warfang only cover a certain distance, and I'm certain there's more to see than what's already been revealed to me."

"I see, I see…" replied Kane, bringing a hand to his chin. He pondered on the subject for a while, myself fidgeting with the corner of the carpet in the long silence.

"Well, if you're looking for a place that most haven't heard of before, you should definitely keep heading south, towards the equator."

"The equator?" I asked.

"Yes, just a fancy word for the midpoint distance between the north and south pole, if that makes sense. If you head south from here, it should be less than a day traveling time to reach the coast of our land. From there, I'm not exactly sure what lies ahead, but the weather is quite calm this time of year, and many islands dot the ocean apparently from what I've heard from others. Whether that is credible or not, I cannot guarantee. All I can say is, I do believe there are societies we have yet to meet."

"You wouldn't supposed you'd know why no one has gone out to explore further south from this area?"

"Unfortunately, no. With a dragon of your capability though, I'm sure you'd be able to fly far enough if you didn't see enough land for a while."

It sure did seem tantalizing, going completely out into the unknown. That was what I had wanted when I had left, right?

"You know, it's the least I can do as thanks for what you did with the Stone Sentinel. Stay with us for a day or two, and we'll look in our archives for any hints of what lies further beyond. It wouldn't be healthy for you to travel that far, on top of the two days of flight you've already had" said Kane. "For now, we should rest, it is rather late, an I have quite a few things to take care of tomorrow."

He had a point, we had been talking for hours.

Gwyn was kind enough to guide me to the guest room before puffing out the candle lights that lined the walls. The bed was insanely comfortable, and it wasn't until I lay down on it that I realized how tired I was.

The past 48 hours had been a whirlwind, but I was glad that I was at least enjoying myself again. The sense of discovery was beginning to return, and I was more than glad to let it reignite.

'The adventure continues' I thought, before dozing off to the sound of crickets, the faint echo of a waterfall in the distance.

Woo! Unofficially, my final day of normal high school, and last day of classes! I got a good direction of where this story is going to go now, so that's a plus. Again, any recommendations or errors I have in my story, comment on that to let me know! I respond to all reviewers of my stories! Again, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and have a good day.