ACT I: Inheritance
It was the end of the world as they knew it.
They all saw the massive golem finish it's trek across the earth, an all-consuming ring of fire following in its wake, the sky red and black as the earth trembled and cracked beneath. Screams and cries of despair were barely audible over the ensuing destruction of the earth. Panic ensued as the denizens of Thorp struggled to survive.
The dragon's of Thorp struggled to get the message across to the scared and confused victims. Dragons of every color imaginable piled into the caves in and around the village; it was safer in caves than out there in the open. Earth dragons used up every bit of their power to ensure the caves would not collapse, fortifying the walls and keeping falling debris at bay.
When the flow of dragons coming into the caves ceased, a yell deeper into the caves made the entrance to the cave close up; swallowing the dragons in darkness and muffled destruction. Muffled whimpers and questions could be heard as they waited out the destruction, if that was even happening.
"Do you think the rest made it in time, Chief?" one dragon, asked the other who gave the order to close the cave off. They looked at them with apprehension, before looking back to the sealed entrance.
"We can only hope…" the other dragon, a larger fire dragon, said longingly, the earth shaking beneath them, making him focus on other concerns.
Outside, two dragons were struggling to survive, trying their best to keep in the air as the rabid winds threatened to rip them from the sky and toss them into the cracks in the earth below. The first dragon, a red and yellow fire dragon was having an easier time than their partner, a pink and cream dragon with a heart shaped necklace. Both of them panting and gasping to say aloft, but both of them losing air fast.
"C'mon, Ember, we're almost there…" the other dragon said, looking at the cave and other dragons flooding in. But a yelp from behind made him stop and turn, the winds had overtaken Ember and made her plummet to the ground. He looked back to the cave, the flow of dragons into the cave was slowing down, in time they would be closed, just like the rest of the caves in the surrounding area. There would be nowhere else to hide.
Without a second thought, the dragon turned in the air and dived down to catch Ember, flapping vigorously as he tried to catch up to her. He could see Ember trying to reach out and grab his outstretched paw.
"Flame?!" Ember screamed, mixing between trying to adjust herself in the air and reach out to grab Flame. With one final flap oh her wings, she gave herself enough lift to grab Flame's paw. She was yanked up with a yelp and kept close to his chest as Flame attempted to glide to a mostly stable chunk of earth.
"Hang on!" Flame said, trying his best to keep the two dragons stable as he landed. A sudden downdraft made his mostly gentle descent into a slam into the earth, making the two dragons tumble into the hard ground.
"Flame, get up!" Ember was the first one up, letting Flame lean into her so he could stand easier. They looked around, looking for somewhere, anywhere to go now. Then they saw it, a small cave that no one else had found; it could barely fit the both of them "This way!" Ember said, helping Flame move across the shaky ground to the cave, it was better in there than outside.
Once they were finally inside, they collapsed half way into the cave, panting and gasping for air and relief as they looked outside. The end of the world raged on outside, oblivious to the fact that it nearly killed two young dragons.
"So that's it then...hah," Flame spoke first, still panting for air "The Dark Master wins, and we're all dead. We coulda thrown him a party: 'Congratulations on killing us all!'" Flame said, laughing weakly at his own joke.
Ember was laughing softly too, keeping close to Flame, of course it didn't make her feel safer, but at least she felt something "The world is literally falling apart...and you're still making jokes?" Ember asked. Flame raised an eyebrow and grinned, a look that never failed to make her feel smile. She sighed, looking back outside "Maybe he knew no one was gonna show up unless we were dead and enthralled to him...he can make zombies, right?" Ember asked.
"I don't know, it's the Dark Master, if he can rip the world in two like paper, I think he can make zombies." Flame laughed a laugh that neither had heard in awhile, and Ember was already laughing hard in return. Genuine laughter, at the end of the world, they would.
The shaking of the ground beneath them silenced them. The weight of the situation came back upon them and Flame stood up "Well, if we're done joking, there is something I wanna say…" he looked at Ember softly and smiled a weak, kind of dopey smile.
Ember realized what he was doing right away and shook her head with goofy smile on her face "No...no no no you're not doing this now." she let out a half chuckle as tears were beginning to form at the bottom of her eyes. Flame tried his hardest to keep his serious expression, his eyes were growing wet too.
"Yes, I am doing this now. I'm not getting another chance to do this, after all." Flame smirked and placed a paw on Ember's cheek, it was refreshing to feel her rest her head on it, tears beginning to stream down as she nodded. He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued "You've been at my side since we were kids, keeping me safe, keeping me happy, listening to me, talking to me, even laughing at my bad jokes," Flame said with a cracking voice, making Ember nod as her crying became a little stronger "You know I never knew my real family, but you and your dad were the closest…" he swallowed hard "...the best I could've ever asked for. You're more than a sister, you're more than a mother, you're even more than a best friend...you're everything to me," Flame said, hot tears finally streaking down his face as he tried to keep his smile up, for the both of them "I love you."
Ember laughed in response as she moved closer and embraced him, their bodies close together as the wept together "Flame...that's the best you can do?" Ember said, partly wanting to keep the light mood present, partly wanting to hear more from him.
Flame laughed, he knew Ember was kidding "I didn't really have a lot of time to think. You know I don't do good under pressure," he said, hugging her tighter.
"Flame…" Ember inhaled before continuing "Calling you my best friend doesn't do all the things you've done for me justice. You've made me laugh, cry, smile. You've been with me for as long as I can remember. Ancestor's sake you saved my life…" as she said that, the world outside continued to erupt with destruction "...for however much longer that's going to be…" a half hearted-chuckle came out of her " If...if this is really the end...I'm glad I could be with you now. I love you too, Flame," she said leaning into Flame and nuzzling into his muzzle. Flame froze, closed his eyes and returned the gesture, the two huddled close together as the outside world continued to tear itself apart.
The two dragons tensed as the earth beneath them began to split, the roof of the cave shaking and making stones fall down. The two of them huddled close to one wall of the cave as the floor beneath them split.
"Ember…-!" Flame began to speak, but a sizeable rock from the ceiling came down upon Flame's head, knocking him out cold. He fell limply into Ember.
"Flame? Flame! No!" Ember said, trying to rouse Flame back to conscious. Her paw brushed where the rock had hit Flame and she could feel a sizeable bump, thankfully it didn't break the scales. Looking closely, he was still breathing too. She looked back outside, Flame may have been alive, but now she was all alone for the end of it all "Flame…" she said longingly, burying her head in his chest and beginning to cry.
Then suddenly, everything stopped, the roaring winds, the cracking earth and the booming thunder all ceased in their cacophonous maelstrom. Ember shot her head up to the sudden silence and looked outside, everything remained still with a purple tint enveloping it all. She blinked in disbelief, holding Flame tighter and closer now, fear and despair replaced with confusion and disbelief.
"What?" Ember mouthed silently as she looked around, the ground shaking once again with a new vigor, but instead of the world continuing to fall apart, the pieces of earth were beginning to move back together, Ember watched the crack in the middle of the cave mend itself, alongside every other crack that riddled the ground. The black clouds parted and the red that once tainted the sky was replaced with a bright blue. The earth beneath her sprung to life with plant life, grass, weeds and flowers all coming back as sun shone down upon the world now
"...What?!" she now audibly shouted as she sat in a completely normal cave now. The destruction of the world seemingly stopping in its tracks and reverting to before all hell broke loose.
'Did...did he change his mind or…-?" Ember's mind raced with explanations as to what happened, but amongst the cheering she could hear from the emerging dragons, one name rang the loudest.
Spyro
The other purple dragon that they had all heard about. The young dragon who traveled across Avalar, liberating place after place from the the grip of the Dark Master. Alongside Cynder, the reformed Terror of the Skies who joined the fight against her master. They did it. They actually did it. The world was saved.
"Spread out! Look for survivors! The rest head back to the village!" she could hear the voice of the chief dragon that ruled over Thorp say as he, alongside many other dragons, took to the sky to
Ember tentatively took a step outside of the cave, as if the world outside was a trap for her to fall into the cracks of the earth that littered the ground moments ago. As she saw the dragons fly over head, she picked up her pace "Down here!" she managed to yell with a new energy, the reality of the situation beginning to strike her.
The chief and a few dragons turned down to look at her and dived down as the rest flew out to continue searching. The chief fire dragon landed in front of Ember and embraced her as quickly as he approached as the other dragons looked into the cave and saw Flame's motionless form and rush in to get it.
"Is he…-?" the Chief asked Ember, fear and concern painfully evident in his voice as he looked at Flame, then back to Ember.
Ember shook her head, looking back at Flame "No dad, just unconscious." the sigh of relief from the Chief was shared as the other dragons hoisted Flame onto one of the other's dragon's back and took off.
"Go with him, back to Thorp," the Chief said as he took off, Ember nodded and lifted herself up off the ground with a flap of her wings. She looked between the earth below, the horizon, and the dragon that carried Flame. Her mind raced to try and register everything around her. A fixed world, and Flame, getting carried to a place where he'll be better.
The first surprise for Flame was that he opened his eyes at all, last he checked, the world was in the middle of ending. The second surprise was where he was, instead of a cave that was bursting open to a sky of hellfire, he was in what looked like a library; books shelved and stacked as far as his eyes could see. His ears rang from the sudden shift from loud to silence that he experienced. He looked around and saw no sign of Ember too. He rolled on to his feet and looked around, trying to make sense of where he was.
'Is this the afterlife?' Flame thought as he continued to look around, finding books, books and even more books 'I mean they are dead...guess there isn't much else you can do..."
"Now...where might you be, Spyro?"
Flame instantly tensed to the new voice "Looks like I'm not alone…" he muttered as he followed the sound of the voice and the sounds of pages turning. He poked his head from around a corner and blinked to the sight of a dragon, their nose stuck in a book as they looked through the pages.
'Spyro? The other purple dragon? Does he have something to do with this?', Flame thought to himself as he poked his head out a little more, getting a better look at the reading dragon. The dragon was quite large when compared to Flame, his scales were a dull blue, and the rest of his features were varying shades of a dull blue. He was cloaked in a brown robe with scrolls lining the pockets on either side. Flame thought he could make out the chain of a necklace around his neck, but he couldn't quite see it. He leaned out a little more to try and see, but went too far and fell to the floor.
Flame inhaled sharply as he was exposed in the middle of the floor, prone, and in a room with a dragon he had never met before. As he sat there, expecting the dragon to turn around and see him, the dragon continued to read, like nothing happened. Flame exhaled in relief and stood, keeping his eyes on the reading dragon as he tried to get back to cover. He then walked headlong into a pile of books which fell over with a thud.
"Hmm?" the blue dragon brought his head up and closed the book.
"Of course," Flame said flatly. There was no use trying to jump back and hide again. So he stood there by the fallen books with uncomfortable smile on his face as the other dragon turned around to face him "Heh… Hey there. How are ya?"
The other dragon seemed oblivious to the fact that Flame spoke. The blue dragon's eyes were wide in disbelief as it looked Flame up and down, his breath was shallow as the two continued to stand there, looking at each other. Flame waited for him to say something, anything, but nothing happened.
"...Flame?" the blue dragon finally spoke, taking a few steps towards the red dragon.
"Uh...yeah, that's me...not sure how you know my name but hey…-?!" Flame muttered the last part as the blue dragon continued his approach, stopping when they were only a few meters apart. The other dragon beginning to smile warmly.
"Flame." a new voice spoke to him, this one sounding ethereal. A warm feeling passed over him as he heard this voice; it sounded so familiar.
"Uhh…" was all Flame could manage.
"Flame?" the ethereal voice spoke once again.
"You're alive…" the blue dragon seemed lost in his own world, not listening to Flame or the other voice.
"What are you talking about? How do you know my name?" Flame asked, the silence between him and the blue dragon and the continuing ethereal voice beginning to get to him.
"Flame?" the ethereal voice spoke again, sounding a little louder.
The blue dragon's mouth began to move, but nothing came out.
"Flame?"
And then he was awake.
Flame's eyes shot open as he took in his surrounding once again. He wasn't in a cave dying, he wasn't in a library getting stared down, he was on a mat in a tent. The familiar glow and warmth of red gems above him as he lay there. He tried to get up, but his muscles screamed in protest and he was forced back down again.
"Oh, thank the ancestors," the familiar voice of Ember spoke, sitting diligently beside Flame as she smiled warmly. Flame returned the smile and adjusted himself so that he was laying down on his belly.
"Hey Ember...so is this the afterlife? Or do I get to go through one more?" Flame asked with a chuckle, making Ember laugh too, albeit in a confused tone.
"No, better. I've been hearing that Spyro put the world back together. He stopped Malefor." Ember smiled and moved closer to Flame "We're alive."
"What?" Flame tried to stand up again, only for his body to refuse and make him fall back down on to the mat "Can you uh…-?" but Ember was already helping him up and letting him lean on her side as the slowly walked outside of the tent.
Ember was not kidding, what had once been an apocalypse was now a peaceful image. The reds and blacks of death replaced with the greens and blues of life. Around them were other dragons, walking in and out of tents, tending to the wounded and ensuring everyone was alive and well.
"Whoa…" was all Flame could manage as the two of them looked out over the scene "So what's next?" he asked.
"Well, we expected we had to rebuild the village, but whatever Spyro did to fix the earth fixed our village too! Once everyone's feeling better, we were all going to head back together. Ember smiled an infectious smile that spread to Flame in seconds. The two continued to walk out amongst the refugees, everyone, even the wounded, looking quite happy to not be dead. Flame kept walking with Ember, smiling at the sight, and the feeling of being right next to Ember.
And then he remembered what happened in the cave.
"Oh," Flame said, stopping to think about it. Ember continued walking though, unaware that Flame stopped and that he fell over without her support.
"Oh!" Ember stopped and gasped as she heard the thud of Flame falling to the ground. She quickly ran up to her and helped him up again "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong...just…" Flame said, looking to Ember "All the stuff we said in the cave..."
"...Oh." Ember said, looking down at the ground in thought, silence coming over them.
"Look, if you just wanna blame it on the heat of the moment and pretend it never happened. That's fine with me." Flame said, accepting of the fact that she might say that, but also praying to the ancestors above that she'll say no.
Ember looked back to Flame and smiled, shaking her head "No…-?"
"Oh thank the ancestors," Flame said, making the two break into a laughing fit.
"But yeah, no. I meant what I said. I think you did too," she winked and nosed Flame as she turned her gaze outwards.
"Absolutely," Flame said, grinning. Flame followed Ember's gaze to the horizon, the sun was beginning to set.
"Tomorrow is going to be the first day of our new lives…" she turned to Flame smiling "I couldn't think of anybody else to spend it with…" Ember said softly, leaning in once more and planting a soft kiss on Flame's muzzle, which Flame slowly returned. After a few moments they pulled away, and continued to look out over the horizon, side by side with each other.