Spyro: Dawn of Light

Part 2, Chapter 2

Shimmer sighed and stretched out in the warm sun, spreading her wings to catch more sunlight. The grass around her whispered softly in the gentle breeze brushing over the small valley. "Artisan Plains...also known as Stone Hill..." she murmured, staring at the sky. "Hope Neves is okay," she said with a giggle. Gnorcs dressed as shepherds had been running loose here, along with rams created from gems by the same magic the gnorcs were generated from. Neves had gotten cocky earlier and as a result had taken a rather resounding sock to the head from a shepherd's hook. Off to her left was a dwelling "castle" set in a small bowl in the ground, connected to another bowl off to her right, where Neves was currently hassling the gnorcs. Shimmer turned her head and gazed at the castle turrets. Most of the dwelling space was underground but had been sealed off by the earth dragons, and some strange ward kept the two young dragons from exploring the castle any higher than the ground floor. "Wish we could live here, it's nice and quiet and clean..."

Neves knocked down another gnorc-shepherd and sighed, glancing up at the sky. "They're too easy out here, yet there's so many." Another ram came up at him from behind but was sent flying again, this time from a sudden ice blast from the dragon's wings. Up from the ground sprang at least thirty more gnorcs and rams, ready to replace the ones Neves had taken out. "Ah great, more stasis work." A staff came whipping at him only to be cut clean in half as Neves' wing flew past it, the long deadly blade from his thumb gleaming in the sunlight. Neves spotted a group of shepherds behind him in the reflections from his glasses; they seemed to be strategizing an attack. All at once they surrounded the ice dragon and swung at him with their hooks, only to find themselves at the mercy of Neves' spinning attack as he sliced through the staves and used their loss of balance to bring them falling right into his attack range. "This gets annoying after the third round," he grumbled, spotting more preparing to do the same thing. A bright, cold flash suddenly lit the area, dying off to reveal his surroundings covered in about six inches of ice, including the huge group of enemies. In a few seconds they all shook and exploded in showers of sparks and smoke, gems popping up all over the small pasture area. Neves glanced at the field oddly. "Shimmer?" He waited for a few seconds but received no response. "Shimmer? You there?" Again, no response. He tapped the ice on the ground nearby. "That's weird, I can freeze stuff but never this thick, where'd the water come from?"

"You're still not getting it," came a familiar voice behind him. He froze and slowly turned around.

"Mom?"

Rivyera smirked at him, lounging atop an archway built against the wall. "Don't question yourself out loud before you've explored with your other senses. I'm sitting upwind of you and you failed to use your nose."

Neves groaned. "Why're you here?"

"Just watching you," she replied, but her tone implied more.

"Can't I be alone with Shimmer just once?"

Rivyera shook her head. "It's not about that, Seven. Can't a mother just watch her son in action without being suspected of ulterior motives?"

"If you're just here to observe me, why'd you help me?"

"I was bored."

Something pinched his tail and he yelped and spun around, stopping nose-to-nose with Shimmer. She giggled and nuzzled him. "Poor lil Neves, picked on by two water dragons..."

Rivyera gracefully jumped down from the archway and approached the two. "Actually, Neves, I do have an ulterior motive behind my visitation. Terrador suspected an enemy intrusion during the distraction of the gnorcs here, and I'm here for backup in case things become hazardous. Do you two know of the cave on the beach behind the dwelling castle?"

Neves nodded. "We found a locked chest in there, Shimmer found the key and unlocked it."

"That cave actually harbors a secret vertical transportation; Terrador and Volteer have been studying recent enemy movements and have concluded, through evidence, that something has most likely taken up residence in the strongholds below."

"Never easy..." Neves groaned. "*sigh* Oh well, might as well go take a look."

"You'll need to finish locating the scattered gems; we need their combined energy to unlock the transporter. Somehow the enemy must have hacked it, unless they carry enough gem power on themselves..."

Shimmer studied Neves' face, seeing surprise and realization quickly flash across his eyes. "Well then, let's get going."

"You have an idea?" Rivyera asked.

"A hunch at best. Shimmer, you still have that anti-earth armor?"

Her scales flashed and two sets of armor fell to the ground. "Yep." Rivyera tried hard not to giggle while Neves helped Shimmer get her armor on.

He's so sweet around her... she thought to herself, watching him carefully tighten the armor straps. Shimmer then helped him get his armor on, having to align the gaps in the backplate with the spikes running along his spine.

"What's your idea?" she asked, clasping the backplate straps under his belly.

"Let's just go check it out first, I'm not too sure myself."

After some more searching along the landscape surrounding the pasture and dwelling castle, they headed into the tiny cave. The gem power from their collection resonated in the chamber and the rock reformed into a smooth-walled elevator system, carrying them below the deepest basements of the dwelling castle. In the close quarters of the elevator platform, Shimmer shifted herself and ended up pressing against Rivyera's side. Rivyera groaned so softly they could just barely hear it. "Something wrong?" Shimmer asked.

Rivyera shook her head with a slight grin. "No, I'm just claustrophobic, I can't stand tight areas like this."

Shimmer and Neves cast each other wary glances; that faint noise hadn't just been unease. There had been a hint of pain in it too. They didn't have long to dwell on it, however; the elevator slowed and stopped, part of the wall sliding apart to reveal an underground tunnel. Shimmer shivered. "Neves, something's nearby...I can feel the earth moving."

"Let's get going then."

They quietly walked through the stony hallway, passing by empty rooms until at length they saw light on the walls of an upcoming turn. Neves and Shimmer combined their elements to create a reflective mirror at an angle, so they could see what was around the bend. To their surprise, sitting on a stone table in the middle of the chamber at the end of the hallway was another elemental orb! "I don't see or feel anyone nearby..." Shimmer whispered, "let's go snatch it while we can."

"I don't trust this, it's too empty down here after our activity up above," Neves grumbled.

"You're right, Neves, this is too easy," Rivyera replied. "However, if it's Gnasty or someone like Toasty, we're pretty much in the clear since they're not exactly the brightest of enemies." She grinned to herself at the spark in his eyes; he was strategizing. Just like his father... she thought to herself.

"Well, if my hunch is correct, we should go then. Shimmer?"

She nodded and slipped past him, her body barely moving as her legs silently carried her down the hallway. All her "fluidity" training had paid off; not only was she flexible and very fluid and graceful in her motions, she had also developed heightened control over almost all her muscles, allowing her to hold perfectly still or to slink behind complex edges like a snake. Neves couldn't take his eyes off her, he was so enraptured by her movements. Shimmer smirked to herself, knowing full well that Neves was staring at her as she quickly crept up to the chamber and curled herself inside a shadow on the wall. Not hearing a thing except her own hushed breath she slithered to the table, popped up quickly, and snatched the orb, grinning as it faded at her touch. She went to hide again, but something else on the table caught her eye and she paused to look it over. Several maps had been pieced together with transparent sticky leaves of some foreign plant, but the areas outlined n the parchment fragments weren't familiar to her. On the other end of the table, a copy of the map was being drawn out, with a bright clear gem set on a corner as a paperweight. "Ah crap..." she groaned, catching Gnasty Gnorc's scent on the jewel. "Neves knew it, that's why he wanted earth armor." There was also a big glass of water sitting on the forged map; feeling a little mischievous she gently breathed towards the glass, creating condensation on the outside until it was heavy enough to slide down and stain the map. She grinned as the water's spread through the fibers disrupted the inks. "Sorry guys, hehe!" she giggled to herself, slinking back into the hallway with her finds. Halfway down to the bend Rivyera and Neves were hiding behind, heavy footsteps echoed behind her and she froze completely in fear. There was a loud yelp and the footsteps quickened and deepened.

"NO!"

"Ohcrap!" Shimmer sprinted down the hallway, rounding the corner and running past Neves and Rivyera.

"Run!" Rivyera hissed urgently, shoving Neves behind herself as the heavy plated footsteps came dashing down the hallway. The two young dragons fled as quickly as they could until Rivyera picked them both up at once by their tails and bolted.

"GET BACK HERE STUPID DRAGONS!" Gnasty roared. The air rippled and Rivyera restrained a frightened yelp as a green beam shot past her and bounced off the stone wall. Neves and Shimmer had to curl up on themselves painfully; they were too big for Rivyera to be carrying them, their heads were almost hitting the floor as she ran. Rivyera suddenly yelped and stumbled, dropping them rather hard on the floor.

"Mom?"

"GO! Get it out of here, I'll be..." She clutched her belly with a loud moan.

"You were sick this morning too, Dad's gonna be angry..." Neves jumped over his mother and glared at the oncoming gnorc lord.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"SHUT UP YOU THIEF!" Neves shouted back. Gnasty roared again and swung his staff; Neves hurriedly roared too, expelling a vicious blast of ice breath. The beams flying from Gnasty's hammer bounced back, deflected by a thick sheet of ice. Gnasty tripped and fell trying to avoid his own ricocheted magic beams. Neves took the chance and breathed hard, a flurry of sharp ice spears flying through the air straight at the giant green monster. Gnasty hurriedly turned himself, using his thick armor to deflect the projectiles yet also rendering himself unable to move, lest he get skewered. Neves heard Rivyera and Shimmer canter away back to the elevator, and spat ice on the floor as an extra precaution. Sharp spikes shot up from the growing patch of slippery ice, a dangerous bed of oversized nails. With that he fled as well, looking over his shoulder and spitting more ice spears. "I got lucky..." he groaned to himself. "Had I not reflected his own magic he probably would have overtaken us!"

"Neves, hurry!" Shimmer shouted from the elevator, "we can only hold this open so long!"

Neves flung himself forward and took flight, beating his wings hurriedly. He made it to the elevator, skidding along the floor and coming to a hard stop against his mother's shoulder. Shimmer dragged him in and the stone wall slid shut around them, quiet finally falling over them as they lay panting on the rising platform. Neves readjusted his glasses and looked at his mom. "What was that about back there?" he asked.

"I've just...been feeling sick lately. I didn't think I'd get sick twice in a day though..."

Shimmer and Neves glanced at each other; two plus two were not making four here. Something else was wrong. They didn't question it further though; the water elder's sickness swiftly passed, leading to a quiet flight from the seaside cave to the portal leading back to the temple.

-

While this was going on, Spyro, Caelos and Plazyma were exploring the temple island after a very rigorous training session. The expansive mushroom forest was actually rather beautiful in its own way; no two mushrooms were exactly the same color, both skin colors and luminescence.

"Kinda hard to believe a war tore all this down years ago," Spyro mused, watching some large dragonfly-like insects dart between bushes and moss curtains.

"It's kinda nice out here," Plazyma said under her breath, not realizing the boys could hear her. They sideglanced at each other and exchanged humored expressions.

"This looks like a good spot," Spyro said, stopping and looking around. "We should eat lunch here before going further, I smell swamp water ahead."

Plazyma looked over at Caelos. "Wanna stop?" He sat back on his haunches and signed a few times. "Alright fine, I'm not hungry though." He smirked at her and made a few more motions. "...Fine...you can have my apples, dunno why you like them so much." She sat down and held out her paws, three green apples appearing. She set them on a nearby rock, then circled around the small clearing while Spyro and Caelos had lunch. She watched them out of the corner of her covered eye, Spyro especially. The two boys waited until she wandered into the forest before talking. Caelos laughed to himself and started signing quickly. Spyro snorted, trying not to laugh.

"I know, she thinks I don't know she's watching me. I don't get it though. Yeah, girls are weird..."

Caelos bit into one of the apples slowly. He sighed and the air around him shimmered slightly. ~Spyro, I'm worried about her. And myself.~

"Why exactly?"

~With the missions we've already had to go on, Plazyma and I are encountering more and more situations that mandate physical contact, either for teamwork moves or trying to save each other. This curse is severely limiting my abilities with wind too; I'm getting stronger but can still only use so much power. I don't want her, or any of you, getting hurt because I can't contribute fully.~

Spyro stared at the ground, thinking hard. "Seems we have to find some way to break your curse...but what can we do? It's a Nonsleeper curse, there isn't really any known cure."

~I know, that's what aggravates me the most. I already talked to Plazyma about this...or well, tried to at least.~

"Yeah...might as well talk to a wall."

~You might as well, but she listens to me...just, doesn't always really talk or respond.~ Caelos' eyelid suddenly twitched violently and he flinched, a tear welling up in his afflicted eye.

"You okay?" Spyro asked, standing up and ready to run for help. Caelos nodded and started signing again.

::I'm fine, that was a warning though...I can't talk or use wind power anymore for today.::

"Ah great." Spyro closed his eyes and his body raced with electricity. A few seconds afterwards something crackled nearby and Plazyma appeared in a bright flash. "Caelos needs to get back to the temple A.S.A.P., we should start heading back."

Caelos got their attention with his wings and made a few motions. ::Not until she eats, though.::

Plazyma groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll eat something." She quickly grabbed one of the remaining apples with her claws and bit into it harshly.

"You don't need to be so dramatic," Spyro said, watching her. "You're trying to make a point, we get it already."

"Shut up," she growled. She quickly finished it and zapped the core, Spyro and Caelos jumping in surprise when it exploded. "Now c'mon, let's get going already." She led the way, but presently Spyro ended up in the lead, leaving Plazyma and Caelos together.

"Something doesn't feel right...you guys keep going, I'm gonna look around here." With that the purple dragon mimicked Plazyma's lightning-jump and sped away. Plazyma lay down with a frustrated snort and swirled her falling crest-scales with her paw.

"I'm not going until he gets his ass back here." Something tapped her and she craned her neck back, seeing Caelos poking her with a branch held in his mouth. "What is it?" she growled.

:: Do you think it's a good idea for me to find someone to break this curse?::

She shrugged. "'S'whatcha get for playing the hero, not my problem." She turned away and continued playing with her crests, growing more and more frustrated; she knew Caelos was staring at her. Finally she growled loudly and sat up. "Okay, okay, stop it already." He laughed to himself and she snorted at him. "Go ahead and find someone, what should I care? Cursed or uncursed, you're still annoying as hell."

::You know you don't mean that, drama queen::, he signed with a teasing grin. Deep down she wanted to drop the act and laugh, but she couldn't let herself.

"I'm not a drama queen. ... No I'm not! ... You're such a baby at times. ... Why do I still hang around you, hmm, lemme think about that," she growled with sarcasm, "I'm basically stuck in this guardianship position, and you guys are around me all day, kinda hard not to hang around you all the time. ... Well, true, but- ... OH SHUT UP!" She zapped him but he kept chuckling under his breath. "Sitting in a room brooding all day is NOT in my character, you ass!" She lay down again, facing away from him. "Go find someone to break that damn curse, I don't know which is worse, your signing or your voice."

He rolled his eyes with another smirk, eyeing her. Well, I got you to answer anyway.

Plazyma stared into the forest, fuming. My gosh, he's like an annoying older brother all the time, geez... she grumbled in her head. After a few minutes of silence she sighed roughly. "Caelos, what do you see yourself as in relation to us?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

Caelos thought for a bit. ::Guess an older brother,:: he signed, shrugging.

Plazyma rolled her eyes again, but deep down she realized it was fairly true, at least over the past year and a half. Even though he couldn't contribute much to the team due to his restrictions, he was quick on uptakes and usually served as a role model in combat. He also took it on himself to watch over them when they were goofing off in the dojo or the garden, one time taking responsibility for an accidental breaking of a statue in the garden's maze even though it was Flame's fault. Plazyma had to fight herself not to laugh when she realized he was also rather protective of Neves and Shimmer, usually getting anxious if they were gone longer than they had said they'd be out.

Spyro's footsteps nearby brought her out of her reflections. "I told you guys to keep going! C'mon, the guardians are calling for us!" They hurriedly followed him back to the temple, taking flight and heading straight to the balcony where Cyril was waiting for them.

"Finally. Dear ancestors but you young ones do dally. Spyro, Plazyma, you are needed immediately, Flame requires assistance yet again." They both groaned and raced inside. Cyril turned to Caelos. "Well young chap, I do believe you are rendered rather useless for the rest of the day, in regards to training or discussion? Ignitus and Volteer could use some help reorganizing documents in the guardian chambers. I would help but I must head out to Boyzitbig presently, duty calls and whatnot. A mission only a dragon of my stature could..." he trailed off when he realized Caelos was already heading inside. He shook his head with a slight grin. "Youth...I do prattle on, no surprise he's moved. No patience." With that he took off into the sky.

On the other side of the portal in the dojo, Spyro and Plazyma were rendered a bit useless themselves; all around them, gigantic gems, some nearly four times the size of an adult dragon, lay glittering in a massive mining cave. Colors cascaded over the walls and danced in rainbow patterns in the flickering torchlight. Veins glittered and sparkled madly as the light played across their haphazard surfaces. Needless to say, the two young dragons were awestruck at the sight. Plazyma came to her senses first and snorted.

"No wonder Flame needs help, that dolt probably keeps blanking and staring at this stuff."

"Huhwha?" Spyro asked, a bit startled out of his daze.

"Exactly. Get moving, we gotta find him." Spyro stared after her in confusion, not wanting to move from this advantageous viewing spot.

"So these are the caves of Glimmer..." he mused, following her slowly. Plazyma herself couldn't refrain from staring at the gems and minerals as they walked through the rather quiet passages, listening for Flame. The quiet was unsettling. "Either he's dead or passed out, or the battle is outside the caves..." she grumbled. "Either way, his ass is toast this time."

Finally they reached a tiled walkway which lead into a small house-like structure, more like a temple entrance of some sort guarding the mouth of the cave. There was a tiny valley outside, in the middle of which sat a gigantic blue gem perched atop a small cylindrical building. Several other cavern entrances dotted the walls nearby. Spyro wrenched his eyes off the enormous glittering crystals and took a deep breath. "FLLLAAAAAAMMMMME!" he shouted, hearing his voice echo several times over.

"So you wanna attract whatever's kicking his tail?"

"Well if we find him, we'd have to fight it off anyway most likely."

"...Point."

A frightened yelp faintly echoed from their left. "FLAME!" Spyro shouted again, trying to amplify his voice. "Gah, I still need to work on my wind power, it's too weak..."

"HELP! GET IT OFF ME!"

Plazyma facepawed and bolted into the cavern. Spyro decided to stay outside in case whatever it was decided to come out; Plazyma would weaken it by retreating and he'd finish it off and cover their escape. Sure enough he heard her aggravated roaring and several thundering blasts. "GET BACK!" she shouted, following up with another lightning blast. She bolted out of the cavern with Flame draped over her back, her horns glittering with electricity. "Spyro, blast its damn head or something, this thing's awful!" She ran back into the main cavern, leaving Spyro bristling. He growled as a shadow crept forward but remained just out of sight in the cave mouth; whatever it was, it was huge and long. His gut started aching; was this thing related to what had attacked him at Tall Plains?

"Show yourself, you coward!" he barked, his scales coursing with ice energy. The creature simply grunted and...vanished. The shadow on the wall faded slowly. Confused, Spyro rushed forward and looked inside. No trace, no footprints in the dust and gravel other than Shimmer's and Flame's...no residual scent...nothing. "What the hell is going on here?" he grumbled. Shaking his head he zapped himself to Plazyma's electric signature and they escaped, Spyro carrying Flame since Plazyma's lighter body frame couldn't carry him while flying. They landed in the dojo in time to find Neves, Shimmer and Rivyera walking in from the balcony. Neves and Shimmer dashed up to Flame and took him into the bedroom to treat his injuries, Plazyma following to observe and to reprimand Flame when he could take it. Spyro lay down on the moss lining the dojo floor, letting his senses wander. Something caught his ears and he listened intently; soft yet heavy footsteps running up the hallway outside. Nightshade, probably.

"You okay?" came that strange, deep voice of the dark dragon.

"Yeah, I just...I felt sick right in the middle of running. I can't go back out...Nightshade, I think it's happening again."

To Spyro's surprise he heard a very faint rumbling sound; Nightshade was purring? Rivyera started purring too... Spyro rolled his eyes and stretched, trying to listen in elsewhere. Neves and Shimmer were rapidly discussing various herbal remedies and combinations...where was Caelos? Was he even up here or was he in the basement areas? Deciding to train his air abilities, Spyro strained himself a bit and felt his sense of hearing seem to glide over the air. Something caught his attention...was that Ignitus talking or was it someone else?

"Are you sure, Caelos? There must be some other alternative. ... No, no I don't that's a good idea. ... I know, he deals with the Nons, or he used to last we heard of him, but I don't fully trust your rationalization. ... All right, all right, but only as a last resort if you absolutely cannot find anyone else. ... The Chronicler? Why do you kids keep asking about him?"

Spyro's eyebrows furrowed...why did Ignitus get tense when the Chronicler was brought up? Was the Chronicler an enemy or something? Was he a deep secret that should have never been known? "Gaaah...too much...too much to think about..." Spyro groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Ouch, claws...*sigh* It used to be quiet a month ago, now there's a lot happening all at once. Something's up." He rolled onto his back and stared at the giant dragon statue looming over him in the center of the dojo. "This thing creeps me out," he grumbled, staring at the statue's blank eyes. "Its eyes glow and pulsate at night, that's just not right. Not right at all. I can understand the pedestal decorations but...why the eyes too?" He thought back to Cynder's question when they first set foot in here that fateful day over three years ago. "Who is this statue supposed to be?" He slowly fell asleep, his mind still churning.

-

Afternoon crawled by slowly; Spyro felt like he'd slept for hours but it had barely been a whole hour. The statue had been moved into the floor for the night as usual, and Neves and Shimmer were busy preparing the meal for the night with Flame's help. Neves glanced up and spotted Spyro rubbing his eyes.

"Yo, Spyro, Ignitus wanted to see you when you woke up. Over by the Pool. He's probably in the chamber though."

Spyro stretched and yawned, then headed over to the Pool of Visions. Pausing briefly to look in, he saw mist moving around and creating vague moving figures below the liquid's surface. "Neves can use this to search, but all I can get are random visions..." Spyro muttered to himself, standing more properly at the edge of the pool. The chamber door rolled open and Ignitus stepped into the room, stopping by Spyro and sitting down.

"Do you see anything?"

"Nothing definite, just a lot of fog."

"Do you know why I called you here?"

The purple dragon sighed. "It's about Cynder, isn't it?"

"Yes. Cynder has been found. Or, so we believe anyway."

"..Is she okay?" Spyro asked cautiously. Ignitus' eyes flickered away briefly. Spyro sighed again, but with a little more determination. "Alright...what must I do?"

"Nothing yet, except to be at the very top of your abilities. Train yourself as if the world were to end in a week."

"Will it?"

"I don't know, Spyro...I don't think it will. However, you are beginning to surpass what training we guardians can offer. It's time for you, and soon the others, to begin independent training. We will no longer be giving you training assignments, we can merely watch and advise now."

Spyro looked back into the pool. "Wish there was a faster way...I feel like something horrible is about to happen soon. No. Not one something." He saw, in the Pool, a myriad of cruel hammers at work in dark forges, held by foggy creatures. "Many hammers will fall, and swiftly. That's what I feel like."

Ignitus sighed heavily, laying down. After a few minutes he spoke up in a hushed voice. "There is another way. Faster, but far more perilous. One wrong action and you could permanently lose your elemental skills. But I don't know if it will be allowed."

"What will, Ignitus?"

"Nevermind. For now, stick to your training." Spyro's eyes narrowed; there it was again, that tension. "I will let you know if it's possible. Do you see anything else in the Pool?"

Spyro stared, emptying his mind and focusing solely on the Pool. "I see...fire. Darkness. It's the same as last time."

"Ahh..."

"But..."

"'But'? Something wrong?"

Spyro looked closer. "There's...a face. An evil laughing dragon face. Yellow eyes. Big horn atop his head and one behind either cheek. It looks disturbing."

The fire dragon's eyes dilated, but Spyro was still watching the pool. "It's growing dark again...there's a white tree glowing...green beams of magic flying everywhere...green statues of emerald shaped like dragons...and...Cynder!" he shouted, bolting up. The vision dissipated and Spyro growled at the interruption, ignoring the fact it was cut off by his own loss of attention. Ignitus huffed and stood up shakily.

"Spyro, what you've seen tonight...forget it for now, focus on your training."

"But-" Spyro protested, shutting up immediately when Ignitus glanced down at him with a strangely angry, urgent look.

"The time will come, young dragon, but I order you not to think about these things you've seen until then. Now come, I believe dinner is ready." Spyro wanted to protest, but he knew Ignitus was right. The two paused briefly to collect themselves and not seem like anything was wrong before coming out into the dojo with the others. Neves and Shimmer, though, knew something was wrong.

"They fought again," Shimmer whispered, noticing the rigidity of the fire elder's tail as he walked.

"Don't worry about it, you should know that by now," Neves whispered back, making her giggle when he nipped her nose playfully. By the time everyone had been gathered for the meal, Cyril had returned too and was more than ready for rest and food.

As they quietly ate their dinners, Neves occssionally teasing Shimmer by snatching something off her plate with his wingblade, Caelos noticed Nightshade and Rivyera giving each other strange, playful glances. He wanted to say something, but couldn't because of all the talking he'd done already that day. Finally though, Rivyera cleared her throat, garnering everyone's attention. "Well, now that we're all gathered and have eaten and rested, Nightshade and I have...some important news."

Neves looked up sharply at his parents, his glasses slipping down his muzzle slightly from the sudden motion. "News?"

Nightshade chuckled. "No, it's nothing about our enemies. You can relax about that."

Shimmer smirked. "I don't think that's putting him any more at ease."

"What's this important news?" Terrador asked. This had Neves even more confused, the other guardians didn't know?

Rivyera blushed a tiny bit. "Well...now that it comes down to it it's kind of hard, but...well, let's just say that if things go well, Neves won't be an only child."

A stunned silence fell on the room and everyone's stares kept going back and forth between Neves and his parents. Neves, however, was a bit clueless. "...Um, what?" he asked a bit stupidly.

Nightshade laughed a bit at his son's reaction. "You're overthinking things again I see. Neves, you have new brothers or sisters coming along in a few months."

Shimmer shrieked in surprise when her boyfriend simply flopped to the side in a dead faint.