Happy Saturday, dragonlets! Ready to continue our adventure through the world of dragons? So am I! So let's get on with the show! :D
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.
Any Spyro character not rightfully owned by Insomniac doesn't belong to me; in this instance, the right goes to Eurocom.
WARNING: This chapter contains creative liberties. Read at your own risk.
CHAPTER 6: Wonderland
All of the worlds seem to have their own opinions of the other parts of the Dragon Realms. Each dragon clan has its own notions of the others, some positive, some negative. As Spyro was beginning to learn through his journey, nobody was perfectly right. Everyone had pieces that were right and pieces that were wrong, like nobody had the full story until you put them all together.
Then there were the Dream Weavers.
Every single world was in rare unison when it came to their assumptions of the Dream Weavers dragons. They were CRAZY. Talk of a city in the clouds, run entirely by rainbows and fairy magic, where jesters run wild and mushrooms come to life, where dreams become nightmares and nightmares become reality.
Spyro was skeptical. Until he hopped off of Cray's balloon and landed in front of a pair of towering fairy-gnorcs, which waved their arms and went "booga-booga-booga!" at him until they were shrunk by a laser that fell from the sky.
"Sparx?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it just me, or do the Artisans seem a lot nicer all of a sudden?"
oo00oo00oo
Chief Elder Lateef only had passing advice: expect the unexpected and be prepared for what is not there.
As Spyro was quick to discover, the Dream Weavers world was one giant riddle. Things were not challenges, things that could be dealt with by hitting them. (He understood why the Peacekeepers in particular seemed so sour on the Dream Weavers and thanked the ancestors for his Artisan patience in the face of puzzles.) Instead, everything had a trick - some clever device that was so obviously in front of your face, you had no choice but to overlook it.
So Spyro's gears had to turn hard when he stared down the conundrum of the Dark Passage.
The very first cavern was blocked off by a dog. A small puppy, no bigger than Spyro, with big yellow eyes that seemed to beg for your friendship. Spyro moved into this cavern too quickly, not expecting trouble.
Who-whoo! Three steps in, and he was confronted with a giant demon, one that made sure to dig all three rows of its teeth into Spyro's tail. With a pained yelp, the Artisan made a hasty retreat back to the light at the start of the tunnel. As Spyro and his electric-blue companion ran to restrategize, they turned and saw the dog in its place once again.
"You definitely saw the demon-dog, right?"
"Yep, definitely saw it."
"So where did it go?"
Who-whoo! It was the same excited yip Spyro heard around every corner of the Dream Weavers world - almost as annoying as the egg thieves, but not quite. With a rustle of bells, Spyro found the culprit: it was a small jester, complete with neon clothes and a bright red hat, running around with a small lantern in its hand.
These "fools" were the great mystery of the Dream Weavers world. Nobody knew what they were or where they came from, only that they had incredible powers. And absolutely no way of using them.
Mazi had warned that although they were invincible, that didn't mean you shouldn't attack them. Kasiya mentioned that even though the enemies of Dark Passage could be frightening, he'd be wise to keep an eye on the fools.
Spyro gave a snort. Why couldn't he just run in and FLAME the fool?
...
Wait. Duh.
Trying to give the dog as much room as he could, Spyro snuck into the cavern and approached the fool. The jester saw Spyro coming, and with a panicked who-whoo!, put out his light. When darkness filled the cave, the dog gave a twitch, then exploded into the bright-red demon that had caught Spyro off-guard.
"Talk about a trick of the light," Spyro joked, giving the fool a quick torch. The fool gave a yelp, then...transformed into a giant lantern?
Regardless of the weird fool-physics, the lights returned, and the demon turned back into a harmless puppy before it could reach Spyro, making it an easy victim to Spyro's horns.
Maybe he was over-thinking the Dream Weavers. They weren't so difficult. When in doubt, hit things until the answer comes up. It was the Peacekeeper way of doing things, and it would continue to serve him here.
...At least, that's what Spyro thought until the lantern collapsed, turning back into a prancing fool with another "who-whoo!" That's when the darkness returned and he found himself face-to-face with a giant, firebreathing metal turtle.
oo00oo00oo
"Alright, really, who came up with this?"
Spyro found himself in an awkward game of keep-away. There was a whirlwind leading to trapped dragons, magic gnorcs, and loads of dragon treasure just steps away. The thing holding him back? A ten-foot-tall suit of metal armor that had been brought to life by said wizard-gnorcs.
The two combatants stayed level. Whenever Spyro moved, the suit of armor followed. The dragon was too small to knock it down with his horns, and the metal was just as flame-proof as everything else metallic in the Dragon Realms. There was no way around it, and no way through it.
"EEEEK! SOMEONE HELP!"
So, when in doubt, go do something else heroic instead.
Hearing the call of distress, Spyro rushed back into the castle, ducking through the wooden doors until he found one of Gnasty's minions, waving a grenade in the face of a trapped fairy, as if taunting her capture.
Like most of the low-level gnorcs, he didn't stand a chance against Spyro's horns.
"Hey, miss, are you alright?"
The fairy, who had a head of long red hair and a tight purple dress, gave a sultry giggle as she lowered down to Spyro's level. "Oh, I'm just fine now. Thanks so much for your help. Spyro, right?"
"Yeah, that's-" CLANG! Fairy, dragon, and dragonfly alike all cringed when the quivers of those suits of armors echoed from outside.
"Oh, no, are those wizards causing trouble again?" she tsked.
"Yeah, those suits of armor are EVERYWHERE," Spyro groaned.
The fairy vixen pulled Spyro in close. "Oh, I'm sure a big, tough dragon like you could handle a few hunks of scrap metal, right?"
"Well...uh..."
The fairy gave Spyro a gentle kiss on the head. "You can do it, Spyro. Do it for me?"
Spyro's face felt hot as his scales blushed to an uncomfortable shade of red. "Uh...Uhm, y-yeah! Yeah, consider it done!"
"Spyro, what are you doing?!" Sparx buzzed, rushing after his dragon as he went to confront the magical knight. "You can't do anything about those things!"
Spyro slid in front of the beast, which was still intent on keeping Spyro back at any costs. The newly-motivated Artisan leaned back, taking in as much breath as his lungs would allow, then unleashed a storm of white-hot flame onto the armor, which crumpled under its incredible heat.
The dragon looked back at his dragonfly with a cocky sneer. "You were sayin'?"
Sparx gave a frustrated buzz as Spyro ran ahead to storm the castle. "I was saying that this world doesn't make any sense!"
But this was one of the few things that DID make sense. All dragons know that there's magic in a fairy's kiss.
oo00oo00oo
Aim high in life, but watch out for flying boxes.
Spyro had swallowed his pride and asked Revilo for advice on conquering the super-gnorc Gnasty put in charge of causing chaos in...well, the world of chaos. And what did he get? "Aim high in life, but watch out for flying boxes."
So Spyro shoved the cryptic advice from his mind and rushed into the lava-filled arena. It was an intense battlefield, the air hot and smokey from the bubbling lava, with the rocky platforms shaking and crumbling, ready to drop and collapse at any moment.
And in the center of the plateau sat Gnasty's final line of defense, the monster in charge of destroying the Dream Weavers' world.
"I'm fighting a Jack-in-the-Box? Seriously?" Spyro did a double-take, making sure his eyes weren't mistaken. No, the foe was, indeed, a large mask on a spring, wearing a silly hat that was covered in jester bells.
It took him so long to process that the so-called Jacques had plenty of time to pull out a gift-wrapped box and wail it straight at Spyro's head, striking the Artisan between the horns. Watch out for flying boxes. NOW it made sense.
"Alright, so that's the game we're going to play, is it?" Spyro snorted, digging in his claws and chasing after the bouncing mask. "Alright, game on!"
Jacques continued his playful bounce up the mountain, pausing occasionally to turn around and chuck presents at Spyro, who could dodge much more effectively now that he knew they were coming. He never allowed the dragon to get close enough to attack, even turning the floating chunks of rock into a continued pathway when he ran out of mountain plateau.
The chase continued, up higher and higher, the rocks becoming smaller and smaller, the danger increasing more and more...
Ha-ha! POOF! When Spyro finally caught up, he barely had time to unleash his flame before Jacques self-imploded into a pile of twenty-five-gem pieces.
The hot-headed Artisan could only stare at the pile of precious treasure. All of the hype that the Dream Weavers were chaotic and dangerous, all of the concern that facing off against Jacques would be his most difficult battle yet...
"Sparx?"
"Yeah, Spyro?"
"We are NEVER coming back to the Dream Weavers after this."
"Agreed."
oo00oo00oo
Lateef and Zikomo saw Spyro off to Amos' balloon. "The time is upon you, young Artisan," Lateef warned. "You'll be on your way to the Dragon Junk Yards after this. With all of the chaos happening in the other worlds, his defenses should be low. That being said, he'll still be expecting you. Be careful."
"I think if anybody could stop Gnasty Gnorc, it's you!" Zikomo added. "Good luck, young dragon."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Spyro laughed, crouching his legs to hop into the balloon. As kooky as this world was, it was nice to hear that the Dream Weaver dragons were on his side.
Before he could make the jump, though, a timid voice broke out from behind the elder dragons. "U-Uhm...Mister Spyro?"
The purple hero turned to look. A small pink dragonlet had come forward, the first he had seen since Gnasty's attack back in the Artisans. (The Artisan dragonlets were hiding with Astor in the Elder Caves. Assumedly, the rest of the dragon lands were doing the same.) She was a few years below him, as all of the dragonlets were; a pastel shade of pink with purple frill and big blue eyes, and a golden necklace with a red heart charm around her neck.
Nervously, she handed Spyro a rough bouquet of brightly-colored flowers that continually changed their petals - like most things in the Dream Weavers world, they didn't seem satisfied being one type of flower for longer than thirty seconds. "U-Uhm...M-My name's Ember, 'n...I-I jus' wanted ta say thank you fer savin' the Dream Weavers world, Mister Spyro."
Spyro fought the urge to roll his eyes. Dealing with the dragonlets was never a skill of his, but the quicker he could play nice with this girl, the sooner he could leave and head for Gnorc Gnexus. "Uh...no problem, Ember. It's just what heroes do."
"Uhm..." A sharp red blush overtook her light-pink cheeks. "D-Do you think you could come back ta visit sometime? After yer done savin' the Dragon Realms? So we can play?"
"Sure...I'll definitely see what I can do." (Spyro had never told a bigger lie in his life. He had no intention of coming back to the Dream Weavers world, not after the chaos it had just put him through.)
Still, it made the girl happy enough to run off with a squeal, not even noticing that Spyro didn't take her flowers. The purple Artisan sighed, hopping into the basket.
"Aw, look, you got a girlfriend!" Amos giggled.
"Oh, shut up and pilot the balloon!" Spyro snapped. He was always touchy about people trying to hook him up. REAL dragon warriors didn't fall in love. Blegh.
Besides, he had bigger things to worry about than dealing with dragonlet girls.
He was finally on his way to the Dragon Junk Yards.
Yeah, I'm making Ember be a little more important than a throwaway joke in Hero's Tail. Sue me; my story, my canon. Anyway, I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter; I ADORE the Dream Weavers world, so I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. :) Anyway, see you guys next time when Spyro finally goes to conquer the infamous Gnorc Gnexus!
§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §