Note: I'd like to thank everyone for leaving behind comments. Full appreciation to all of ya'll! Life's been a bit hectic, so chapter updates might be a little sporadic.

BTW, my apologies for the numerous edits to the previous story arc, especially the last part. I struggled multiple times to come up with a satisfactory plot while checking for plot-holes before I threw my hands up and decided 'screw it – that's good enough'. That's what I get for getting hasty with my chapters.

"NOPE! NOPE! SO MANY LEVELS OF NOPE!"

As these panicked shouts echoed against the canyon walls, a golden yellow blur alternated between darting from cliffside to cliffside and midair-rolling whenever necessary in frantic attempts to dodge a barrage of weapons. And ceramics. And kitchen utensils. And papier-mâché sculptures. Since when do Gnorcs practice papier-mâché anyway?

CRUNCH went a pot that smashed on the rocky wall just short of their head!

"EEK! Right, stay alive! STAY ALIVE!"

Seriously, where did all these jerks even come from?! There weren't anywhere near this many when she and Todor scouted earlier!

THUNK!

Whoa! Whatever! She could afford time to puzzle stuff out once her brain no longer lay in danger of being bludgeoned! Easier said than done on account of the ridiculous aim on these guys!

A space in between attacks allowed the blur time to cling to a canyon wall for a quick respite. In turn, the panting figure revealed itself as a short and sleek leopard gecko-like dragoness decked in dark brown aviator garb – a bomber jacket with golden buttons, fingerless gloves, cap, and leg wrappings – her beige underbelly a sharp contrast against the red claws gripping the canyon walls and crimson underarm wings.

If one familiar with the Artisans were present, a close observation would reveal similarities between this dragon and a certain painter in not only color palette but horns too (save for the tiny horn on her nose and sets of three on each side of her neck).

Eyelids barely managed to close over catlike pupils in relief before her strong ears caught the sound of several somethings whizzing her way. The Artisan Keeper launched off the wall immediately, dodging the javelins that riddled where she'd just been, and took back to the air.

Ugh, seriously! All I did was zip overhead and BOOM! Instant target practice!

Then again, sticking her tongue out at them as she left may have had something to do with how the situation started as well. Grandpa Ivor was going to give her such a lecture about minding her tongue once she got home. Assuming she ever survives to see home that is.

Good news: judging by the landmarks (mainly that weird-shaped cactus down below) camp should be coming up soon!

Bad news: not only were her wings starting to tire from the nonstop flying, but the projectiles were increasing in frequency, which meant more close (closer even) calls. At one point, a lucky shot a la tomato managed to clip her right wing, throwing her flight into disarray for a critical second that left her vulnerable. Indeed, when the sound of more incoming projectiles came at that moment, she braced herself for impact.

Until she realized that their trajectory did not include her but rather her pursuers. Sharp eyesight allowed her to catch sight of an arrow whizzing by and a bright cheesy grin broke out on her face.

Good ol' Todor!

With newfound confidence, the dragoness let out a burst of speed, careful to give the arrows a decent berth (not that she'd need fear getting hit anyway – she trusted her good buddy's skill). Before long, she reached the end of the canyon and performed a successful somersault off a nearby branch to clear a chasm running through the canyon.

As usual, she executed a perfect landing on the other side – face first. Welp, at least nobody she cared about was around to see that.

"Need help, Kazue?"

…Never mind.

Kazue winced at the familiar voice and risked lifting her head from the dirt. A familiar blue archer with antlers was reaching down a hand to help her up, a friendly smile greeting her. The bomber sighed in defeat as she accepted the hand and allowed her friend to pull her upright again. Once on her feet the golden dragon dusted herself off. "Appreciate the save back there, Toady. You wouldn't believe the crap they were slingin' at me!"

As if her companion never saw so with his own two eyes. Todor shrugged with a dry smirk. "I bet otherwise since I had to duck from a few roasted vultures myself."

Kazue scoffed as she put a hand on her chest in faux outrage. "Ugh, such a waste!"

Todor chuckled at the lady dragon's theatrics. Not that he disagreed of course; meals deserved better treatment than that. The archer thumbed over his shoulder. "Since we're on the topic of food, Maximos managed to snag a few cactus pears on patrol. He should be done making the drinks by the time we get back."

Perfect! Kazue arched an eye-ridge playfully, hips cocked. "You know what that means." She pumped a fist skyward. "Celebratory drunkenness ahoy!"

Her archer friend shook his head in amusement as he put back his bow and arrows. Never a dull moment with this woman.

"By the way, you do realize you could have flown over that chasm, right?" Todor pointed out. At least with the chase the yellow reptile's lack of using them made sense; she didn't want to run the risk of winding up like Marco (the dragon, not the balloonist from Artisans). But then all that open space presented itself and she decided to clear it the hard way.

True to form, Kazue tossed a toothy smirk in response. "Cuz my way's more fun!"

Of course, Todor mused as he rolled his yellow catlike eyes and proceeded down the path back to camp, Kazue trotting close behind. "Speaking of fun," she placed her right hand atop her left shoulder and rolled the left arm mid-sentence, "I'm lookin' forward to the nerds droppin' by in the next few days. Feels a little early, though, don't it?"

"Titan insisted on it. He didn't want to give the impression that dragonkind's cowed by what happened back in Artisans."

And from what he heard based on the letter around the last strategy meeting, the Ecologist leader shared that sentiment. Plus as messy as that incident had turned out, no one wound up seriously injured. Hard to excuse fear in that case. Still, the devil lays in the what-ifs so Todor could not blame Titan for tightening patrols and other measures. Speaking of which, that reminded the archer of something he'd been meaning to bring up.

"Is it just me or have the enemies we're seeing been slipping away too easily as of late?"

Kazue pursed her lips in thought. Not that he mentioned the fact, it was a difficult phenomenon to ignore. "I guess so. What gets me more is that this is the first time in the past week any of us have seen any action. Things have been way too quiet."

Considering the Peace Keepers region lay the closest to Gnorc Gnexus, dealing with the green oafs on a near-daily basis invoked as much similarity as breakfast. Were the Gnorcs up to something?

This thought led Todor to lower his head, humming, until a gentle elbow to the ribs broke his reverie.

"Eh, it's probably nothin' to worry over. Those guys probably just need a break from gettin' their hindquarters handed to them day in an' day out."

As much as the quip incited a snort from Todor, the antlered reptile still couldn't shake the possibility of something off in the wings...at least until a sinewy arm draped across his shoulders. And just like that, Todor smiled as he felt his worries slip off like snow from his shoulders. Kazue always had a way of dispelling his worries without effort.

"Maybe you're right," he admitted amidst a chuckle, "I'm probably just worrying more than necessary."

"Ah, c'mon, Toady! That's part of your natural charm!" Kazue gently poked him in the stomach. "Besides, somebody's gotta be the worrywart in our act!"

"You realize you just admitted to being carefree and reckless, right?"

Kazue schooled a face that said, 'yeah what's your point?' Todor rolled his eyes and elected not to respond, though nothing could hide his amused smirk.

"Since we're on the subject of carefree," the aviator reptile continued, "how ya think that spotty guy who showed up with Spyro today is doin'?"

The question elicited a quirked brow from Todor. "Hunter, right? Now that you mention him, I wonder how he and Spyro are holding up myself."

The little purple dragon and his friend from Avalar had showed up per Nestor's permission and under strict supervision of the veteran Peace Keepers to help out with patrols. So far, the two had not seen much action outside of pesky vultures due to Titan putting them on guard duty alongside Conan. Hopefully, the old soldier's mawkish ramblings of love and duty hadn't driven the boys to madness yet.

And Todor knew Kazue would want to return in time to see the looks of lost sanity on the boys' faces so she could commit them to memory.

"Ah, I'm sure they're perfectly stir-crazy right about now. Speaking o' crazy," the bomber adopted a cooing tone of voice while cupping the hand not around Todor to her face in dramatic fashino, "I hope my babies are doing okay without their momma."

No force in the universe could prevent Todor's eye-roll. "If by babies, you mean the gnashing voracious terrors dwelling in your house then yes."

"Oh don't act like you don't love 'em too, Toto. Munch and Crunch are like our kids!"

Todor bit his bottom lip at that response. He couldn't deny that Kazue had him there. While he did not possess the adamant love the Artisan Keeper showered on the twin carnivores, the archer would be remiss to say he hadn't grown fond of them over time. In fact, that fondness had turned out mutual, a shock to outsiders since the Sand Gators displayed abhorrent tempers to (almost) anyone else besides their owner. Every time Todor would drop by Kazue's home, Munch and Crunch would pounce him like big scaly dogs, lapping tongues and all.

Still, hearing Kazue call them 'our kids' made the archer blush on account of the implications. Fortunately for Todor, he found the perfect distraction once his eyes fell upon the campfire that came into view as he and Kazue came around the canyon and into a sizable clearing.

"On the topic of kids, I think Spyro and Hunter may have discovered the joys of roasted vulture." He pointed an index finger to prove his case.

Kazue's eyes followed and her face could not have switched emotions faster. "Wh – HEY! SAVE SOME FOR ME, YOU LITTLE PIGLETS!"

And like lightning, the enraged dragoness bolted at dreaded speeds for the young pair caught red-handed. Todor sighed and smiled at the ensuing antics. Just another day for the Peace Keepers.

Back in the canyon far behind them all and out of view, something flickered.

For reference pictures of my OCs:

Artisans - ~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs

Peace Keepers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs

Magic Crafters - ~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs

Ecologists - ~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs

Beast Makers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs

Dream Weavers - ~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs