The water was cool as it rushed over his scales. The particle cloud created upon his entry slowly dissipated, as smaller fish scattered at his sudden presence.
Spyro's dive only took him down a few feet below the surface, but still at this shallow depth vibrant sea life surrounded him.
He had gotten a blurry glance under the surface as he paddled out to the Life Pod, but now with his Diving Mask he could see the aquatic world clearly.
Spyro spun in slow, gradual circles as he gaped in awe at the world before him. It truly was an incredible sight to behold, each creature and plant had their own unique color of bioluminescence, making the whole ecosystem a beautiful display of bright colors.
One of the smaller fish he'd seen before swam directly in front of him, glancing at him with its large orange eye. The PDA informed Spyro that this fish was called a Peeper, and was one of the best choices for a food source.
Spyro was no stranger to eating fish, in fact his favorite meal, if he had to pick just one, would be fresh Salmon. Following the PDA's advice, he quickly used his wings to lunge forward through the water, snatching the peeper as it tried to dart away.
"Oxygen!" the PDA alerted him quite suddenly. Spyro had been so caught up in this amazing new world he'd forgotten he wasn't a Sea Dragon, he needed air.
He circled back to face the surface and lunged forward again, breaching the surface and taking a few gasps of air. A dragon's lung capacity was far greater then most other races, but still it didn't last forever.
The Peeper flopped around, struggling within Spyro's grasp. He took a second to examine the odd looking creature before stuffing it into his backpack, taking a deep breath, and re-submerging.
The PDA almost immediately spoke up, "Essential materials nearby."
Several white triangles appeared in Spyro's vision, startling him a bit. Once he realized the shapes were on his Mask lenses, he looked closely at them, noticing each of them was pointing out an outcrop in rocks and coral.
He followed instructions, swimming down to one of the outcrops and digging it out. Concealed in the outcrop was a lump of copper, which he grabbed before it could sink too far.
He managed to make it to another outcrop and dig out a piece of lead before he needed to re-surface for a breath.
He repeated this process of material gathering, plucking a few violet colored mushrooms from the reef as well, until the PDA declared he had enough materials.
He then grabbed a few more Peepers, stuffing them into the backpack with everything else he'd gathered, and paddled back to the Life Pod.
Following the PDA's suggestions, Spyro used the Life Pod's fabricator to create a few tools, firstly a Survival Knife, and an O2 Tank, as well as Medical Kits and a Sea Glide.
Lastly, he cooked the Peepers he'd caught, eating one and storing the rest in his backpack.
"Best course of action is to Repair the Communications Relay to receive possible Broadcasts or Messages, or to send out Emergency Broadcast." The PDA spoke up.
Spyro considered this. He only understood about half of what the PDA had said, but he did understand that it was a good idea to have the ability to send or receive Emergency messages.
Maybe there were other people out there that could help him. It was a stretch, but it was a chance worth taking. Anything that could get him even one step closer to getting back to his own world, back to Cynder.
"Ok, how can I fix this thing?" he asked the PDA as he examined the Comms Relay. It had gotten quite a bit of fire damage, but Spyro could tell it had taken a beating before any flames had even touched it.
"The Repair tool is capable of this task." The PDA reported, displaying the materials needed
to craft the device: two deposits of Salt, a piece of Titanium, and a sample of Cave Sulphur.
Spyro studied the list before slipping his Diving Mask back on and climbing back out of the Life Pod. He already had Titanium, he just needed to find Salt deposits and figure out what Cave Sulphur was.
The PDA must have sensed his confusion, as it displayed an image of a red and white plant and a oval shaped fish of similar color schemes on the lens of Spyro's Dive Mask.
"Cave Sulphur is a raw material that collects in Crashfish Plant growths." It explained.
"What's a Crashfish?" Spyro questioned.
"A fauna type with no nutritional needs or value, that functions as a defense mechanism for the Crashfish Plant flora type. It attacks any threats by swimming directly towards them and rapidly bursting."
"So... Basically kamikaze fish?" Spyro joked.
"Precisely." The PDA agreed.
Having the O2 Tank allowed Spyro to explore longer with less breaks for air, and the Sea Glide allowed him to explore much faster, though carrying an Oxygen tank and a backpack full of supplies on his back and trying to swim was difficult.
Soon he found a few Salt Deposits, on the edge of the Kelp Forest. He carefully checked his surroundings, knowing full well what could reside within the Kelp.
Stalkers. Having witnessed Stalkers' behavior before, he hoped he wouldn't have to get too close to one of them. He scooped up one of the salt deposits and tossed it into his backpack, double-checking around him.
One Stalker caught his sight, though it was far away and thrashing a chunk of scrap metal around, not noticing the Purple Dragon.
Spyro took advantage of the calm moment and scooped up a second Salt deposit, tossing it in his backpack as well and swimming backwards, keeping a close eye on the Stalker to make sure it didn't pursue.
Once he was a safe distance away, he continued his search for supplies, finding a small trench. Upon investigating the trench, the PDA located a Crashfish Plant, pointing it out to Spyro.
The Purple Dragon cautiously approached the Plant and, as the PDA described, the Plant opened and a beady, black eye snapped open, a Crashfish growling and emerging from the plant, darting towards Spyro.
He quickly twisted in the water, the Crashfish not able to react as fast and careening past Spyro, exploding a safe distance away. Once the fish was gone, Spyro looked back to the still open plant.
A small pile of orange-red particles lay inside the Plant, which he swam over and retrieved. Having the materials needed, Spyro used the Sea Glide to reach the surface and paddled back to the Life Pod.
Once inside he used the Fabricator to craft the Repair Tool, taking the tool and turning it in his paw. It was a peculiar shaped object upon first glance, but as he examined it the shape started making a little more sense.
The PDA gave him instructions on how to use the gadget, which were quite simple. All the Dragon needed to do was squeeze a small trigger and the repair tool did all the work. This fact was a relief to Spyro.
He soon had the Comms Relay fully repaired. He took a second to think of what to say, realizing that there could be any number of people that would hear what he was about to say, or there could be no one.
Finally he pressed a small red button, as the PDA instructed, and spoke his message, making it all up as he went along.
"Um... h-Hello? Is anyone out there? I'm stranded, just outside the wreckage of Starship Aurora. Anyone out there that could lend me a hand here?"
He released the button, and a few beeps and blips later his message was broadcast. He then lay down, exhausted from all the swimming he'd done.
He wasn't expecting any response to his message, but waited for one anyway. Nearly three hours passed, the sun disappearing into a dark, cool night.
Spyro had almost fallen asleep when the Comms Relay chirped suddenly. He sat up and looked at the device.
"Receiving response message from unknown location." the Relay reported. Spyro listened closely as a soft, terrified female voice came from the device, almost drowned out by static.
"H-hello...? Are you still listening...?" The voice sounded strikingly familiar, in a way that made Spyro's heart skip a beat.
"Please... tell me someone is hearing this! I... I don't know where I am, but I'm stranded as well." the voice continued.
'No... It couldn't be... It-it couldn't be...!' Spyro thought to himself, recognizing the voice.
"Hello...? Are... Are you still there?" it continued.
'Cynder?'