[flailing like an inflatable wavy tube man] DEAR GOD IS IT SATURDAY ALREADY?! BWAH, UPDATES.
You found a disclaimer!
Spyro the Dragon, both the game and all related characters (c) Insomniac. They own the Spyro that's in this story, so nyeh.
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage / Gateway to Glimmer, as well as all related characters (c) blah-blah, same copyright.
CHAPTER TEN: Gems and Talismans
And so, the adventure begins anew.
Surprisingly, this new land wasn't so different from the Dragon Realms they had left behind. These sparkling gold mines were littered with dragon treasure, filling the caverns with colorful glows that would've driven any gnorc mad with gem-fever. The pleasant sunshine was reminiscent of the Artisans (when they weren't covered by stormclouds), and a light breeze blew the dewy grass from one side to the other.
However, like the Dragon Realms, it was also filled with unfriendly creatures. In this area, they were giggling blue lizards with pick-axes tossed over their shoulders. Spyro found two or three of them harassing a mouse in a hard-hat, then scared them off with a puff of flame and a threatening head-butt.
"Wow, thanks for the help!" the little mouse (who later introduced himself as Pogo) whistled, hopping over to his hero. "You must be that dragon the Professor grabbed from the other part of the world!"
"That'd be me. You...mind telling me where I got grabbed to? I didn't get to talk to your, uh...Professor."
"Oh, right! This is Glimmer!" Pogo looked around, nervously adjusting his hat. "I, uh...wish it looked a little nicer for ya, dragon, but Ripto's got these lizards messing everything up and stealing all of our treasure!"
Spyro frowned a bit. He remembered how much of a mess Gnasty caused by getting his hands on piles of treasures, and he was...well, a gnorc. The little sorcerer already seemed much smarter than Gnasty, which meant he could cause a lot more chaos with a chunk of gems.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of those lizards for ya!" Spyro smirked, unable to turn down a challenge. (Even though he was supposed to be on a mission already...where was he supposed to meet that goat-girl? Something Forest?)
Pogo looked ecstatic. "Oh, thanks, Spyro! You'd really be doing us a favor!"
oo00oo00oo
Yes, this new land of...Ah-vah-lar? was strange and filled with exotic creatures. But it still held plenty of comforts from home, one of which nearly buzzed into Spyro as he moved to enter the inner part of the Glimmer gem mines. "Oh, hey, Spyro!"
She was a fairy - the one that picked a fight with Ripto earlier, if the Artisan's eyes weren't mistaken. Her rainbow wings sprinkled golden fairy dust down as she floated, and her little yellow dress and bouncing red ponytail sparkled even in the dim light of the Glimmer caves.
Spyro paused before answering. Most fairies looked similar, and he didn't want to offend this one by not knowing her name. "Uhm...hi, there...?"
The fairy giggled and spared him the confusion. "Sorry, we haven't met yet. My name's Zoe; I'm friends with Elora and Hunter, those people you met when you came in through the portal."
"So...how do you know my name?"
Zoe scoffed. "Duh! You're the hero of the Dragon Realms, right? The one who roasted Gnasty Gnorc? I have family that lives in Lofty Castle, so I heard all about you when you got rid of the gnorcs that were trying to lock them up."
"Wait, wait, wait," the purple dragon said, falling back on his haunches to wave a paw. "Lofty Castle? You mean you're from the Dragon Realms?"
"Kind of. I moved to Avalar when I was just a sprite. Little too crazy in the Dream Weavers world, y'know?"
"Oh, don't worry, I don't blame you. But wait, this place and the Dragon Realms are connected? How come I've never heard of this place?"
"The world's a lot bigger than just the Dragon Realms, Spyro," Zoe giggled. "Avalar's just another part of it - one that doesn't house any dragons. They do their thing and we do ours, y'know?"
To be fair, Spyro wasn't aware of anything outside the Artisans and the Peacekeepers before Gnasty's attack. Nothing like an evil warlock trying to take over the world to broaden your horizons. "Anyway, I heard you're helping out the Gemcutters, so I should go find Elora and make sure everything's alright," Zoe said. "It was really nice to meet you, Spyro! Thanks again for helping us!"
She gave him a playful zap of fairy magic ("For good luck!"), then disappeared in a golden sparkle.
Maybe Avalar wasn't so strange after all.
oo00oo00oo
Moneybags gave a low chuckle under his breath, double-checking his adjustments to the Gemcutter bridge. Of course, Avalar was as much his home as anyone else's, and he was horrified at the idea of Ripto taking it over and destroying it. (Especially after all of the money he had put into renovating the trifecta castles...)
But then he heard Elora's wild plans to fight Ripto. A DRAGON, and it was going to be right here in Glimmer! Moneybags may not have been as well-read or thoughtful as the Professor, but he was a businessman, one with plenty of years of schooling that happened to include a few classes in otherworld lore during his years at Metropolis University.
So he knew that where there were dragons, the magical dragon treasure was sure to follow.
It was the bear's lifelong dream to have a sack of dragon treasure, which was easily considered one of the most priceless materials in the whole world. This was his chance! So Ripto or no Ripto, he planned to take it.
Indeed, as soon as Moneybags put the finishing touches on his bridge, he heard the quick pitter-patter of dragon paws charging down the stairs. Time to put his years as a theater minor to work.
The purple Artisan rounded the corner, only to find a plump bear in a posh suit sitting by the steps to...the shallow chasm down below. Huh, odd place to put stairs.
"Oh, if it isn't our glorious hero of Avalar!" the bear fawned. "My name's Moneybags, and I hear you are Spyro, the dragon sent to save us from that horrid wretch, Ripto!"
"Yeah, something like that," Spyro said with a suspicious tilt of his head. "Nice to meet you. Mind letting me get through? The Gemcutters have a lizard problem I need to take care of."
"Oh, Spyro," Moneybags tsked. "I'd LOVE to let you pass, but..." He motioned to the 'stairs' at the edge of the chasm, as well as a matching set on the other side. "Well, as you can see, the Gemcutter Bridge is out. Those dastardly lizards must have knocked it out! Will Ripto's terror never cease? I feel so terrible. See, I could put the bridge back...but it's expensive, rebuilding bridges and all, and I'm not a rich bear! I could put it back for you if you loaned me...say, a hundred gems?"
Instead of an immediate response, Spyro hopped onto the steps, eyeing the short distance between the chasms. "Y'know, I'd love to help ya out, but...I think I can handle this."
"...Excuse me?"
The dragon took a few steps back, then charged up the steps, kicking off the ledge as hard as his powerful legs could manage. Once in the air, he pumped his wings with all his might, stirring up just enough wind to carry him to the other side. He may not have been a flyer yet, but the speedways worked wonders on his undertrained wings. His gliding was better than ever!
Once solidly on the other side, Spyro waved at the bear. "Sorry, but I've got work to do! Good luck with getting those gems!"
And he was gone. Just like that.
Moneybags scoffed, flipping the switch to restore the bridge. Getting to the dragon treasure was going to be more difficult than he thought.
oo00oo00oo
"Oh, Spyro, thanks so much for taking care of those lizards!" Twitchy sighed, escorting the dragon hero inside of the Glimmer gem storage.
"No problem - just another day in the life of a hero."
They came up to a portal, which seemed to lead back to sunny fields and lush, green forests. "Well, we heard all about you from Elora and the Professor. This portal will take you back to Summer Forest; they'll take it from there and help you through the rest of your trip in Avalar."
"Thanks." Spyro turned to jump through the portal, ready to flame the bad guy and get back to Dragon Shores.
"Whoa, wait, wait!" Or not. Spyro turned to find his guide, who was now holding a sparkling golden pick-axe. "This is the Glimmer talisman," he explained. "We want you to have it as a sign of our gratitude! Hopefully, it'll help you out on your journey!"
"Okay..." Not sure what to do with the trinket, Sparx picked it up and stowed it in the magic hold-all guidebook that the goat-girl gave them before disappearing.
Magic golden pick-axe? Guess it matched the little green orbs they picked up. Alright, so maybe Avalar wasn't just like the Dragon Realms, and maybe there was going to be more to world-saving than jumping after the dino and torching him to the Junk Yards.
There were a lot of questions left to answer. The only place to get those answers was in Summer Forest.
oo00oo00oo
Elora watched with a sigh as the turquoise flags of Summer Castle were yanked from their masts, only to be replaced by sneering portraits of Ripto. "Oh, no..."
The faun's ears perked when the portal behind her rippled, and turned to find their dragon savior flying through it. "Hey, you made it!"
"Yeah, duh," Spyro smirked. "Now, uh...you mind explaining the story a little bit? Like...why I'm here and not napping on the beach at Dragon Shores?"
"Right," Elora answered sheepishly. She was fine with the idea of kidnapping a dragon from the other side of the world, but realizing that they had ruined its vacation was a bit unsettling. (Especially if they were as temperamental and vicious as the Professor's books promised.) "Sorry I didn't have time to explain things earlier."
"Well, you look like you have time now."
She sighed, kicking her hooves. "Gosh, where do I start?"
"Do you have a name?"
"Huh?" The faun blushed when she realized they hadn't even gotten that far into introductions. "Oh, right! Sorry. My name's Elora."
"There you go, that's a start," Spyro laughed. "I'm Spyro, and this is Sparx," he introduced, nodding towards the golden dragonfly at his horns. The young Artisan paused when he noticed Elora shooting him strange looks again. "...Seriously, do you guys have dragon problems here or what?"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Elora apologized, immediately looking away. "It's just...we don't have dragons in Avalar, and-"
"Well, we don't have other creatures in the Dragon Realms, but I'm not staring at you guys." As if to prove his point, Spyro started circling his hostess, playfully trying to make her as uncomfortable as they were making him. "What are you supposed to BE, anyway? Some kind of goat?"
Elora resisted the urge to kick the young dragon in the face. "I'm a FAUN, you dork," she grumbled instead.
"See? Now we're getting to know each other."
The faun sighed, eyes falling back on the portal Spyro had just exited. "Did you talk to the Gemcutters in Glimmer?"
"Yeah, yeah," Spyro answered. "Cleaned out the lizards, talked to your fairy friend, lit their lamps, got some magic golden pick axe-"
"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Elora interrupted. "Back up. Magic pick?"
"Yeah. They called it, uhm...a talisman, or something like that."
"They GAVE you their talisman?"
"Yeah...I dunno, I just put it in that guidebook you gave me. What, was that bad?"
"No, Spyro, that's great! See, there are fourteen magical talismans here in Avalar; each of the major worlds has one. If you can go to each of the worlds and get enough of them, they should help you in your fight against Ripto."
Deciding to ignore the talismans for now, Spyro changed the subject. "Alright, so mind telling me what's the deal with Mr. Not so tall, dark, nor scary?"
Elora opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by another ripple of the portal; this one revealing the cheetah that accompanied her earlier. "Hunter!" she scolded instead. "Where have you been? I lost you in Glimmer and thought Ripto might've gotten you!"
"Ripto didn't get me!" Hunter argued before quickly shying off. "I just...y'know, got a...little lost, that's all."
"That happen a lot, pussycat?" Spyro teased. Hunter reacted a lot like the dragonlets in the Artisans: way too easy to rattle, but it was too much fun to do.
The cheetah tried to maintain a tough face in the presence of the big, scary dragon. "Hey, what's the dragon still doing here?"
"Hunter, be nice," Elora ordered. "This is Spyro, and he's going to help us collect the talismans!"
Hunter and Spyro flashed each other looks of confusion before both turning to Elora. "I am?" "He is?"
Elora sighed. "Spyro, I'm sorry we dragged you into this. I know you want to get back to your vacation, but you can't get to Dragon Shores right now!"
She nodded the dragon over so he could catch a glimpse of Ripto's flags on Summer Castle. "That sorcerer you saw earlier? That was Ripto. He and his monsters broke into Avalar, and now they've taken over all of Summer Forest! We brought you in because we thought a dragon would be our best bet in getting rid of him."
Spyro stood up a bit straighter, feeling his ego inflate under him. "Well, luckily for you guys, I'm one of the top world-savers in the Dragon Realms."
Elora seemed ecstatic to have the dragon's help, but Hunter still seemed sour. "Hey, hey, why's he have to go get all of the talismans? If we need to go get 'em, I could do it! Why don't we just send the dragon into Summer Castle and torch Ripto out?"
"Hunter, you can't even keep track of your running shoes," Elora tsked. "How can we trust you with the fourteen talismans?"
The cheetah paused for a moment, but unable to retort, snapped his fingers and pounced off. "Don't worry, Spyro, he's just pouting," Elora apologized. "Hunter's so used to thinking he's the big hero, but he's such a bumbler. He won't give you any trouble."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Spyro laughed. If anything, he was going to be the one giving Hunter trouble.
"You'll need any help you can get to catch Ripto and get back to Dragon Shores," Elora continued, "so just keep an eye out for the talismans. Oh! And if you find any green and gold balls lying around, those are orbs - pick those up, too. You can stow all of it in your guidebook that I gave you."
"Alright. How hard could it be? Find some talismans, give Ripto the ol' hot-foot, and I'll be in Dragon Shores by lunchtime!"
The good ol' days, am I right, guys? XD Ah, memories. (PS, if you didn't know, it's actually possible to clear out Glimmer without paying Moneybags at the bridge! Or learning how to climb, for that matter. :) Look it up on YouTube if you haven't seen it before.)
Anyway, thanks for reading, guys! Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!
§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §