Hey, dragonlets! So, uh, real quick, thanks for all the support on the last chapter! Much appreciated! With that out of the way, who's ready to head to Dragon Shores? :D Then let's get on with the show!

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 TWENTY-EIGHT: Dragon Shores

Spyro stretched with a yawn, lazily rolling over and allowing the warm sunshine of the Shores to shine on his belly. Dragon Shores - after what felt like an eternity (which Spyro learned was only a few weeks), the dynamic duo had finally made it to the greatest amusement park of the Dragon Realms.

Gniles welcomed him to the park with open arms, inviting their draconic hero to take in as many rides and games as he'd like. But instead, the new hero of Avalar was napping on the beach. Saving the world was no easy feat, especially after a fight like he had with Ripto. He'd be scraping charcoal off of his scales for months. After a quick fodder break, Spyro and Sparx headed straight for the beach for a well-deserved rest.

Still, it was the perfect ending. Ripto was gone, Avalar was saved, and Spyro's itch for adventure had finally quelled, allowing the antsy Artisan's mind to be at rest. At least for a little while. Until a sudden shadow ruined the dragon's blanketing sunshine, effectively ruining his nap. "Spyro, get up."

The purple dragon gave a tired groan, rolling onto his stomach once more and knocking his sunglasses loose as he burrowed his nose between his arms. "Sparx, answer the door," the half-asleep Artisan said, nudging the dragonfly off of him.

Sparx, who was also enjoying an afternoon of basking in the sun, buzzed half-heartedly as he was forced awake. "Aw, come on, Spyro, I spend all that time baby-sitting you in Avalar, and you can't even thank me with a-" The dragonfly stopped, going into a frantic tailspin with a panicked buzz as he flew up to the obstruction and found a stern-faced Delbin staring them down. "Uh, Spyro? It's for you."

With a grumble, Spyro sat up, readjusting his shades. "Alright, alright, fine, be a dragoncry," he yawned, stretching his paws and wings. "Come on, what's the worst it could-" Suddenly, the young hero froze, biting his tongue as he saw his guardian standing over him. "Uh...h-hey, Delbin!" he laughed nervously, slowly putting his sunglasses aside. "Uhm...nice day for a vacation, isn't it?"

"Spyro, where in the WORLD have you been?" Delbin huffed. "You've been missing for weeks now! Do you have any idea how worried the dragon elders were? How worried I was?!"

"Yeah, I...kind of figured that," Spyro shyly shrugged. "Sorry?"

"Where have you been? We've had the gnorcs here keeping an eye out for you and scouts all over the Dragon Realms since you went missing!"

"I was, uh...Would you believe I was saving the world?" Still upset, Delbin allowed his pup to explain, so Spyro retold the story of being sucked into Avalar, asked to collect the talismans to fight back an evil sorcerer, saving the world after facing off in a fiery arena and barely escaping with his life...

And yet, Delbin didn't seem as enthralled by the newest legend of his young pup. "And you didn't once think to come back to the Dragon Realms and ask for help?"

"Well, see-"

"Spyro, when will you learn to be more careful? You have to stop rushing head-first into every adventure you find!"

"Well, I didn't-"

"I told you not to let Gnasty Gnorc get to your head, Spyro. I know you think you're ready for these things, but you're just not! You're still barely older than a dragonlet, haven't started your dragon training-"

"HEY!" Delbin had no choice to stop his rants when Spyro interrupted so loudly. Spyro stood as tall as a quadraped could, taking a swipe at the sand with a tensed paw. "Delbin, you mind giving me a minute to explain what happened? I COULDN'T get back to the Dragon Realms - the only reason I'm here is because we JUST got the super-portal running when I left! And even if I COULD get back home, I didn't NEED to! I handled myself just fine! That's TWICE now that I've managed to stop a bad guy BY MY-SELF. How about instead of attacking me for it, you just give me a simple 'hey, good job!'?"

The Artisan ran off, ducking around his guardian before Delbin could catch him. "Maybe I'll just go back to Avalar - at least THEY see me as more than some dumb dragonlet!"

"Spyro, wait!" The red full-grown gave a frustrated sigh. Out of all of the orphans he could've had, why did he get placed with the stubborn one with an attitude?

Delbin moved to enter the park and hunt down his pup, but paused as his delicate ears picked up some shaky whispering hiding just behind the corner.

"I'm not asking a big ol' dragon for anything! Come on, Elora, do you really want to get eaten?"

"Hunter, we're not going to get EATEN. Just go ask him where Spyro is!"

"No! You go!"

"Why should I go? You're the one who always wants to be the hero!"

"Yeah, but not against-"

"Excuse me." Delbin finally turned to the entranceway, finding a cheetah and a faun look up startled from their hushed conversation. "You two don't seem like locals; may I help you with something?"

After a few back-and-forth kicks and glares between the two, the faun stepped forward. "Uhm...yeah, actually, you could!" she said with a (slightly-forced) smile. "Uh, we're looking for a dragon named Spyro. He's about yea big, purple, gold wings, has a little dragonfly with him named Sparx. Have you seen him around?"

"I may have," Delbin answered cautiously. "Let me follow with a question of my own; who are you two?"

"Oh!" The faun motioned to herself. "Well, my name's Elora..." She then turned to the cheetah trying to hide behind her. "And this is Hunter. We're friends of Spyro's."

"The creatures from Avalar, right?" Delbin continued, recalling the story he had just heard from his pup. "The ones that kidnapped Spyro and almost had him killed by a sorcerer?"

"See? I told you the dragons were going to be mad about that!" Hunter hissed, earning him a hoof in the gut.

"I'm sorry that's what you heard, Mr. Dragon," Elora smiled, trying to brush over their mistake as pleasantly as she could. "But to be fair, Spyro didn't almost get himself killed." (That was her story and she was sticking to it.) "If anything, he told us there was nothing to worry about!"

"And you believed the story of a fourteen-year-old dragonlet?"

"Not initially," Hunter answered, earning him another kick. "Ow! Stop doing that!"

"What Hunter MEANS," Elora jumped in, "is that yeah, we didn't know if Spyro could really do it, but he proved us wrong. The stuff he did while he was in Avalar was amazing!"

"Yes, Spyro's quite talented for his age. However, with that kind of fame comes an ego, and Spyro's gets overinflated from time to time. I appreciate that you didn't get him KILLED, but you should do better than hunting down heroes and giving them things to do."

Elora tilted her head. "What are you talking about? That's not what happened at all! We didn't know what dragon we were going to get; we went with the first one we found! Our home was being taken over by an evil sorcerer, and nobody in all of Avalar had the power to stop him! Spyro wasn't in it for any kind of prize or ego boost, he did it because we needed help!"

Unable to bite back her temper, the faun stepped up to the dragon (...and had to fight the urge to step back when she realized Delbin was twice her size). "Look, Mr. Dragon, I don't know who you are or what you've heard about Spyro, but they didn't do a very good job of explaining him. Spyro is one of the sweetest creatures I've met - he's selfless and giving and just wants to help out people who are in a jam. Okay, sure, maybe he's a little reckless sometimes, but he's not STUPID. He knows what he's doing and is doing it for all of the right reasons, and he's REALLY good at it! So until you get to know him for yourself, don't just judge and say mean things like that, okay?"

Rather than bite back in a rage, as the shaken Hunter clearly thought he was going to do, Delbin stepped back, soaking in what Elora had said. Realizing his new need to talk with Spyro, he gave them a graceful Artisan bow. "Very well, then." Once straightened up, he continued, "I believe that rascal pup of mine is hiding out in the amusement park; if I had to take a guess, the roller coasters. I'll gladly send him out to meet you, but only after I've had a chance to speak with him in private."

Delbin entered the park, and Hunter and Elora shot each other nervous looks. "Dude, you just got up in the face of Spyro's dad!"

"I didn't mean to! Oh, gosh, I hope I didn't say something dumb and get Spyro into a bunch of trouble."

oo00oo00oo

Delbin was half-right in gauging Spyro's hiding spots; he was in the park, but instead at the shooting range, taking out a fair bit of aggression on some target-lizards. (Or at least trying to; his frustration was messing with his accuracy quite a bit.) "Spyro, aim higher than your target actually is."

Spyro didn't turn to look, so Delbin sat on the step to the gallery, nudging Spyro's head upwards to make his point. "You always point your nose down when you fire at a target; you have to look a little bit higher to counter-balance that."

The purple dragon spat his final shot, trying to ignore as it perfectly struck the target thanks to Delbin's coaching. "Delbin, what do you want?" he snapped. "Or did you just come in here in case I hurt myself at the shooting range?"

"Spyro, control your temper," Delbin instructed sternly. "Being upset is no excuse to snap at an elder." Spyro clearly had no intention of calming down, so the full-grown continued regardless. "...Spyro, you have to remember that adopted or not, you're still my pup. That means you're my responsibility, and I have to watch out for you and protect you."

The red Artisan ran a claw down Spyro's back. "That...also means that I may be a bit TOO protective at times. You're growing up fast, Spyro, much faster than I expected. It's an adjustment to make, realizing that there's a dragonlet running around that's just as capable as the dragons in their training ages. Sometimes I forget how much you can do.

"I also forget how mature you are. Watching you grow up, I've gotten used to your reckless behavior; rushing into situations without thinking, looking for thrills in all the wrong places, putting yourself and others into danger because you think it's fun or because you want to be the hero. I'm still not convinced that you always think things through, but...well, I should stop being so assuming that you still act like such a child. You're becoming wise beyond your years, learning to pick your battles and only using your strengths to help others instead of just indulging your need for adrenaline. And for all of that, I'm sorry. My outburst earlier was uncalled for; I should be proud of you and all that you did for the Avalari, and I most certainly am."

Spyro's pout eventually broke into a smile. "Wow. Thanks, Delbin. It...means a lot to hear you say that. But, uh...why the sudden change of heart?"

Delbin smiled back. "Because I thought I knew you better than anyone else. I've been raising you for twelve years...but I'm starting to think that I don't know you at all. Especially since there's a duo that seems to know you better than I do after only a few weeks." Spyro's ears perked at Delbin's hint. "I ran into a pair of Avalari at the gate of the Shores, a young faun and a cheetah. They were looking for you, and I think you'd be an incredibly rude host not to greet them."

"Hunter and Elora are here?!" Spyro jumped. "Are you serious?!"

Delbin nodded. "Go have fun with your friends, Spyro. It sounds like you've earned it after such a long adventure."

"Oh, we will!" Spyro took off charging towards the gate, but quickly screeched to a halt and turned around. He ran back to Delbin and gave him a nuzzle.

"Thanks, Delbin. Adopted or not, you're the best dad ever."

oo00oo00oo

And so, life slowly returned to normal for the Avalari. Some of them cleared out Ripto's mayhem, others learned to live with the new additions to their families. The Fracture Hills seemed to enjoy their new hillmates in particular, especially after the Earthshapers changed their tunes about bagpipe music and joined Kristen's dance troupe. And the bonebuilders seemed particularly thankful for the Lava Lizards when Moneybags tried to charge them triple for his lackluster burgers. Needless to say, the bear quickly returned to real estate.

There were still metal sharks in Aquaria Towers, though. As Hunter quickly found out when he returned to his dream of being a manta ray racing champion.

To protect Avalar in the future, the worlds were coming together for the first time in centuries, all working together to strengthen the worlds and protect it from future invasions. Heading up the effort? Agent Zero, alongside his new recruits, Handel and Greta. Apparently, they had a much easier time of reaching the secret clubhouse than Spyro did.

Avalar was becoming one happy realm. If the breezebuilders and the landblubbers could lay down their arms, anything was possible. With the help of the monks, the icebuilders got front-row seats to the Colossus hockey finals, where the Tanking 'Tocs took down the Blazing Blues in a 8-2 blowout. Spyro later heard that Oggy and Iggy even got to take to the ice! Even the Master Chef was invited to the post-Ripto festivities - he got to host his own hot tub party at the Sunny Castle. (No turtles were harmed in the making of his snacks, though.)

Oh, and if anyone's wondering, Sparx DID get that box of butterflies Spyro promised. He just had to fight through a few black sheep to get them.

As for Spyro and Elora? Well...

Spyro and Elora's laughs bounced off of the inside of the tunnel as it rounded the bend. After a long day of dunking yetis, rocketing around on coaster cars, and taking in a few movies at the theater, the trio's perfect day at Dragon Shores had finally drawn to a dusky close. Before taking to the beach for a dragon-powered bonfire, though, Elora had managed to wrestle Spyro away from his budding bromance with Hunter long enough for a ride on the Tunnel of Love. Not quite Spyro's thing, but the dragon made an exception, considering how little one-on-one time he and Elora had.

Finally, the two could talk about other things - talk about Dragon Shores, talk about games, tell jokes, share secrets, anything that didn't involve Ripto or orbs or talismans. And if you asked Spyro? Getting a laugh out of Elora was worth the lame boat ride.

"We should do this more often," Elora said, admiring the albeit-cheesy decorations of metallic stars and clunky Cupids around them.

"What, ride a boat going negative miles per hour in a circle?" Spyro teased. "You've gotta do other stuff for fun, 'Lora, come on."

"Not what I meant, Spyro!" Elora snapped with a laugh, playfully shoving him.

"Well, then what did you mean?"

"Well...y'know, just...hanging out?"

"...You mean just the two of us?"

"...Yeah? I-I mean, not to say I mind Hunter or Sparx or anything, but...It's nice for you and I to get away from the noise, y'know?"

The faun scooted towards the center of the boat, so Spyro felt obliged to do the same. "Okay, so I know I wasn't the nicest host while you were in Avalar, and I'm sorry. I was just so frazzled with...everything, and it was really hard for me to forget about that and talk, especially since you're just...way too cool to be hanging out with a brainiac like me," she ended with a laugh.

"Usually, it's the brainiacs who think they're too cool for me," Spyro laughed. "Besides, don't worry about it. Point is, Avalar's safe, and now you and I can hang out whenever we want."

"You mean it?"

"Of course." The dragon sat up, leaning towards the center of the boat, so Elora felt obliged to do the same. "After all, it's only fair. You gave me the grand tour of Avalar. Maybe I could give you the grand tour of the Dragon Realms?"

"...I'd like that."

"Cool, it's a date."

Elora thanked the gods for the darkness of the tunnel as her face flushed. Her heart fluttered like she was back in primary school, drooling over the satyr boy that was just out of her league. It just wasn't a satyr boy - it was a dragon, a selfless hero that could swoop in and save the day at a moment's notice, and did it with a smile and a laugh every time.

The faun took a shaky breath to steady her nerves as the boat pulled closer and closer to the dock. This was her moment, her one chance to make a move before the day was out and she and Spyro would go their separate ways. Come on, Elora, it's not going to be that hard. Just do it quick. What's the worst that could happen? ...Okay, don't think about that, actually. Okay, here goes. Oh my gods, am I really going to do this? Okay, yes, you are - one, two, three.

Elora leaned in, ready to catch Spyro in a kiss as the ride came to its end. But when her lips met air, she saw that her riding partner was nowhere to be found. (Until she heard him yelling something about not crashing the coasters into the electrolls to Sparx and Hunter across the park.) With a frustrated sigh, she fixed her hair and stepped off the boat.

Oh, well. She still had that tour of the Dragon Realms to look forward to, right?

So close, Elora. So close. XD Anyway, thanks for reading, guys! I hope you enjoyed! Make sure you tune in next week, 'cause the Year of the Dragon's upon us! See you next time!

§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §