Chapter 14

Whiteoak Cemetery

Torch heard a knock on the door. He yawned and carefully got out of bed so he wouldn't disturb Micha. He didn't bother to see what time it was. He made his way out the room, through the living room and to the kitchen.

He looked at the window as he entered the kitchen. He took the time to board it up before it got completely dark last night so he wouldn't have to worry about burglars.

Torch rubbed his eyes as he opened the door, having the early sun beam down on his face. When Torch's eyes adjusted to the light, a brown scaled dragon came into view.

"Can I help you?",Torch asked.

The brown dragon silently handed over a sheet of paper, bowed, and made his leave.

Torch closed the door, "Jeez talk my ear off why don't you",he sarcastically mumbled.

Torch looked at the paper. He first noticed it was sent by Cosmo, then he read on to learn the time and place where Kaida's funeral would be held. Torch sighed at the thought. He didn't like funerals and had only been to only one in his lifetime.

He walked into the living room, taking notice of the clock on the wall. It read eight o'five. Torch looked into the bedroom to see Micha sleeping in a cute sort of way. He smiled and left her be as he walked back into the kitchen, set the paper on the corner of the shelf, and began cooking a meal.

Later on, Micha was awoken by the smell of something cooking, or maybe burning. Micha rubbed her eyes and removed the covers off of her as she sat up. She looked around a quick moment then walked into the living room. She looked around again for a brief second, then turned right into the kitchen where Torch seemed to be running back and forth.

Micha immediately noticed that there was something on the shelf that was actually burning, in flames even.

"Torch?"

"Micha!",Torch yelped. "I, uh, fire, gotta put it out!"

"You tried cooking again didn't you?",Micha asked with a smirk.

Torch said nothing as he grabbed a bucket and ran outside. Moments later he came back with it filled with water. He reared the bucket back and let the water loose, dousing the flames in an instant.

"Phew",Torch set the bucket down beside him with Micha staring at the blackened, wet, whatever it was supposed to be, on the shelf. "Breakfast is served?"

Micha walked over to the item on the shelf. It looked like steak from the looks of it. She picked it up and squeezed it. It was basically a rock now.

"Well, I guess we could use this as a weapon",Micha smirked.

"Hey!",Torch exclaimed as he grabbed the rock steak and suddenly tried to bite into it. His powerful jaws somehow managed to get a bite off of the steak, but Micha could already see a tear in Torch's eye. Torch swallowed, "Delicious."

"Oh really? Then I guess those are tears of joy?"

Torch rubbed his eyes, "Yes." He looked at the steak with a frown then said, "In fact, I'm going to save some of it for later." Then he set it on the shelf with Micha just a grinning.

Two hours later

Cosmo disappeared from the sight of Spyro and Cynder. One minute he was on the couch in their home, the next he was gone. Cynder worried about him often, considering someone was out to get him. Spyro did too but he never showed it. Cynder could tell though, every time she brought up the matter to him Spyro always said that he was going to alright by himself.

She sat on her bed, staring in the closet at the black egg that had yet to hatch. She always wondered how this dragon was going to be so different. But patience would only answer that question.

Then Spyro entered the room.

"Knock knock",said Spyro.

"Hey",Cynder replied. Spyro stopped beside her and eyed what she was looking at. He walked over to the closet, slowly picked up the egg, then set it on the bed.

"Wonder when it's going to hatch",Spyro said as he dazed at the egg.

"I wondered that myself",Cynder replied.

"What's going to hatch?",Cosmo asked as he suddenly appeared. He noticed the black egg on the bed.

"Cosmo, where did you come from?",Spyro asked as he grabbed the egg.

"Don't worry you two, I won't tell",Cosmo assured.

Spyro and Cynder exchanged soleful glances.

"I just want to take a look at it",Cosmo said as he walked closer toward the two.

Spyro was motionless for a moment, then he set the egg on the bed for Cosmo to see.

"Before you get any ideas, we found the egg",Cynder blushed.

"Found it?",Cosmo frowned.

"Aye, well",Spyro began. "It, fell."

"Fell?"

"It fell from the sky",Spyro finished.

Cosmo sat for a moment before answering, "Ah, that . . . that makes, sense."

Spyro shook his head, "No, it doesn't." Spyro looked around a piece of paper on top the dresser. He went and retrieved it and handed it over to Cosmo.

Cosmo looked at it then read, "Spyro is sweet, smart, and sexy. I'm glad that I am-"

"What the?",Cynder barked as she grabbed the paper. "That's something you're not supposed to see!"

Cosmo flinched, "Well I assumed I was supposed to read it."

Cynder walked over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers, threw the paper she had and retrieved another one. She closed the drawer and handed the paper to Cosmo.

"Sorry Cynder",Spyro apologized.

"Just watch what you pick up next time",Cynder sighed.

Cosmo silently read the paper as Spyro smirked, "So you think I'm sexy?"

"Not with that stupid look on your face."

"Oh",Spyro stood in a heroic looking pose. "How about now?"

"Now you just look stupid",Cynder inquired.

When Cosmo finished the letter he gave it back to Spyro and looked at the egg that still sat on the bed.

"May I?",Cosmo asked as he reached for the egg.

"May you what?",Spyro asked then noticed Cosmo was holding the egg. He turned it looking at the whole thing then slowly set it back down on the bed where it was.

Cynder said nothing as Spyro said, "Well, at least we know you can hold the egg."

"Of course I can",Cosmo indicated. "Hey, there was something I've been wanting to ask you."

"Go ahead then",Spyro solemnly said.

"I was wondering, before Kaida died, she told me something about a war that happened recently. I was wondering if you could tell me about it."

Spyro's eyes narrowed, "Well, I can explain most of it I guess."

Cosmo sat down on the floor while Cynder shifted positions.

Spyro began, "I'll make things short. It all started when a dragon named Malefor had a thirst for power. While me and Cynder made our way to his lair, a battle was happening right here, in the city of Warfang. Me and Cynder eventually made it to Malefor, where we were able to defeat him. When he was defeated, his army vanished and things were peaceful."

Spyro sighed then continued, "Until another army showed up, we didn't know where they came from, but they did more damage to the city than Malefor's army. This new army, called themselves humans. We were able to drive them off and they haven't been seen since."

Spyro stopped for a moment then continued, "There were also four guardians of the elements, fire, electricity, ice, and earth. During this battle, three guardians fell and only one remains in the city."

Cosmo suddenly spotted a sign of anger in Spyro. He wondered if he should have stopped him from continuing but Spyro continued, "The fire guardian, Ignitus, was the closest thing I had to a father. And those animals killed him along with his brothers. I swore if I had ever seen another human again, I would kill him without mercy for what they had done to me."

Cosmo swallowed hard at the thought, "Alright Spyro, you can stop I've heard enough."

Spyro stammered, "I'm sorry if I seemed-"

"It's alright Spyro",Cosmo interrupted. "If anything, I should apologize for making you tell such a story."

"You didn't make me",Spyro assured.

Cosmo left the room saying no more, a little frightened actually. Spyro didn't know on what Cosmo actually was. If Spyro learned of Cosmo's identity, there wasn't any telling of what Spyro would have done. So Cosmo left the house.

Cosmo roamed the streets as he waited for three o'clock to come. As he did many dragons seemed to stare at him making him feel uncomfortable. He knew he was attracting attention because of what that blue female did to his cheek.

Cosmo passed by a few interesting looking sites. He passed by a market, avoiding eye contact from the shopkeepers. The market was crowded with other dragons so it was pretty easy for him to slip by. Cosmo stopped for a short moment to watch the shopkeepers do business though and learned how they could make a sale for something like jewelry. It was pretty typical though. The shopkeeper would show the dragon a collection of jewelry and when the dragon tried it on the shopkeeper was always encourage the dragon that it looked good on her. Most of the time it worked but the more intelligent dragons were the ones that realized the ruse and walked away.

Cosmo continued onward on the street. The crowds began to thin up as he progressed but Cosmo didn't think much about it. Before he knew it the crowds were coming back as he neared some other attraction that still stood. He found himself entering a large square with a working fountain in the middle of it with flowers planted all around it, grass circled the fountain. There were benches all around the fountain and also at the edge of the square every few yards or so. The square wasn't as crowded as the market but there was still a good number of dragons surrounding Cosmo.

Cosmo continued his walk and headed west from the square to a large clock tower in the distance. He had already seen it before but he wanted to get a look up close to it. When he was close enough, he read the time. It read twelve thirty eight.

Time was certainly moving by fast so Cosmo hurried on to his last destination before heading to the Whiteoak Cemetery. Wherever that was, he didn't really know.

When he arrived at the clock tower, to realize that the clock tower was being repaired. But the clock itself still worked but the outside structure received some damages. So Cosmo quickly left to leave the construction workers their room.

He turned back the way he came and headed back to the square. When he arrived, he began asking dragons in it where he could find Whiteoak Cemetery.

"Not from around here are you?",a dark green dragon laughed when Cosmo asked.

"Not exactly",Cosmo replied.

The dragon couldn't help but notice the scratch marks on Cosmo's cheek but answered, "It's about an hour walk, but you could make it in fifteen minutes if you fly, depending on wind direction of course. If you head north northeast, you'll eventually come up upon a group of trees in the city with a street surrounding the trees."

"And that is Whiteoak Cemetery?",Cosmo finished.

"Yea",the dragon shuddered to a sudden cold breeze.

"Thank you",Cosmo smiled as he made his leave.

Cosmo flew this time to avoid any crowds and because it was obviously quicker. Cosmo was beginning to like the flying, he didn't at first but now, just feeling the cool breeze on his face in the skies above the world made him feel happy in some way. The wind wasn't blowing against him, but it wasn't blowing with him either. He was sort of being blown from his side making it a bit tougher for Cosmo to fly, considering he wasn't used to it quite yet.

Flying by tall buildings and a flock of sparrows, Cosmo arrived at his destination early. Too early in fact for no one was in the cemetery. An irrie feeling crept through Cosmo has he walked through the cemetery. He didn't like them all that much.

The reason he was there so early was because he wanted to be the first one to pay his respects to his parted friend. So he curled up under a tree for shade, then he fell asleep to the sound of birds and the gentle rustling of the trees as the wind blew.

A Little Later

He felt it, a presence somewhere nearby. Torch stood up off the couch and looked behind him. He thought it was going to be the black dragon he saw before, but it was nothing.

"What is it Torch?",Micha asked as she appeared in the room from her bedroom.

"Thought I heard something",Torch replied as he sat back down.

"Maybe you're being a little too paranoid about this ghost thing."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just forget about our house, being haunted by someone who not only used to live here but scared you through a window",Torch said with clear sarcasm.

"He was trying to show me something for one",Micha replied. "Now come on, we have a funeral to attend."

Torch quickly stood to his feet, "Gah, I forgot about that!"

"How? You read the paper only hours ago and, you know what nevermind."

"Oh well",Torch looked at the clock. "It's only one thirty do we really have to leave so early?"

"Yes",Micha slightly nodded.

"Alright fine",Torch gave in. "But can I have something to eat before we go?"

"How about that steak you cooked this morning?",Micha quipped as she entered the kitchen.

"You know what, I can wait."

Meanwhile

A figure was walking in the Whiteoak Cemetery. The character noticed a yellow dragon sleeping under a tree but ignored him as he continued walking down the path, his footsteps ever so silent.

Then he reached a little setup, chairs were neatly placed in a line, the path was now cleared of any debris and leaves, and a casket was resting beside a dug out hole. The figure noticed the headstone in front of the hole. He only read the name "Kaida" before looking back at the casket. He placed his hand on the casket and mumbled some words before turning around. To his astonishment, a yellow dragon stood in his way, the same yellow dragon he caught sleeping under the tree.

"Who are you?",Cosmo asked as he looked at the figure from up to down.

He was tall, whoever he was, and he was wearing a black cloak around him to conceal his identity. There was something on his back but the cloak protected it.

The character stayed silent but turned back around to face the casket. Cosmo slowly approached him from behind and stopped a few feet away, unsure if this was another trick, or just a strange character.

"Well?",Cosmo began. "Who are you?"

"Someone who saved your life",the character responded. His voice was a little on the deep side. He was still looking at the casket. "I'm not here to cause trouble, only here to respect the dead."

Cosmo was relieved to hear those words. He walked beside the tall cloaked character to the casket. He looked at the headstone and noticed this was Kaida's casket.

"It's hard to lose a friend",Cosmo said.

"Indeed, you're right there."

Cosmo was silent, trying to study the one of whom he was conversing with. He didn't see much, the cloak covered too much.

"What if this guy is a criminal and he is trying to hide his identity?",Cosmo thought. But his thoughts quickly returned to what the character said earlier.

"Question",Cosmo asked. The figure stayed silent so Cosmo went ahead, "Were you the one who saved me in the alley?"

The character stayed silent though, not hardly even moving.

"At least tell me your name",Cosmo sighed.

The character looked at Cosmo, all Cosmo could see was his eyes. Some sort of cloth was covering the rest of his face. "I have to get going."

Cosmo frowned as the character walked by him and down the path. "Well, bye?"

The character stopped for a moment then said, "You may call me, Frederick."

Frederick began walking away and Cosmo noticed something, Frederick wasn't a dragon. The way he was walking, how much taller he was. Cosmo felt stupid for not thinking of it before. He was taller because he was standing on two legs. He should have known immediately when he saw Frederick's hand on Kaida's casket, he had five fingers. Frederick must have had a sword on his back from what Cosmo could tell. Frederick, was a human.

When Cosmo was by himself, he turned to Kaida's casket. He put a paw on the casket and closed his eyes.

"Well, Kaida when I first met you, it was in the forest. At first, I was frightened, but you comforted me during that time."

Cosmo chuckled, "You even seemed a bit funny which made me feel even better during that time. When I needed a place to stay, you provided. You understood my problems and helped me progress through them in every way you could. You helped me learn to fly, you showed me around the city and told me about it in the process."

Cosmo sighed, "But I didn't know the little time we had. I know it sounds weird but you were like a sister to me."

Cosmo wiped his eye clean of a coming tear, "If I could go back to where we met in the forest, I would and relive them all over again. I'm sure you already know this but, I'm glad that I met you in the forest. If it were someone else I'm sure my dragon life would have been more confusing and less interesting. I just want to say that, I'm sorry that this happened to you Kaida. You didn't deserve such a fate."

Cosmo sat for a few silent moments before he stood up and wiped his eyes of tears. Cosmo turned around and walked back down the path before the dragons in charge of the funeral came back. So he took his spot back from under the tree, and laid there in wait.

Later

When the funeral finally began Cosmo sat on the front seat with Spyro and Cynder. Torch and Micha were on the other side of the path and a group of dragons were behind, paying their respects.

When the time came to say some things on Kaida's behalf, Cosmo was the first one up. He mostly repeated the same things he said earlier, leaving out some of the parts he didn't want them to know. When Cosmo finished, Spyro came up to say some things.

"The way me and Cynder met Cosmo and Kaida was a bit of a strange encounter, but it was a great friendship. Kaida was one of the nicest, most generous dragons I ever known and I feel bad for not truly getting to know her." Spyro continued his speech as all the other dragons politely listened.

The funeral continued, Torch wanted to say something when Spyro finished his short speech but he didn't know much about Kaida, so he stayed silent.

When it came to finally bury Kaida, Cosmo couldn't watch. He shuddered at the thought as he was dried of tears.

Later

Cosmo stood in front of Kaida's grave for a moment before leaning over and placing a pot of fresh flowers in front of her headstone. Cosmo stayed silent for a moment, wondering if Kaida was proud of him. Cosmo did his best so he felt that she was indeed proud of him. He could feel it inside him.

Everyone else was already gone, so he stayed a bit longer knowing that no one was waiting to pay respects. While he was by himself, he planted one goldenrod flower in front of Kaida's headstone. Cosmo was sure that it would have made Kaida happy, for he happened to remember that she told him it was her favorite while Cosmo was learning to fly in the meadow.

When Cosmo decided it was time to leave before the sun began to fall, he began walking down the path to leave the cemetery. When he was about to leave the cemetery, he felt something, or someone was stalking him.

He looked all around him, spotting nothing in the process. He frowned and continued. Then he heard a crack, like a stick breaking. Cosmo turned around, again, there was nothing.

Cosmo quickly paced himself onto the street and opened his wings. He was about to leap, until something collided against the back of his head, making him slump to the concrete.

A thick stick was thrown away by a tree as a dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere, over Cosmo's unconscious body.

"I'm sorry Cosmo",a blue dragoness said.