Disclaimer: I don't own ANY characters of TLOS, the only character I own is Ivor. I also own Ignitia and Blitzen and some other upcoming dragon OCs.

Shadow scales

The early morning hours passed into regular morning hours.

The sun raised higher into the sky, it was bright and warm; streams of sunlight beamed down from above and streaks of light peaked through the tree canopies and foliage which shone through the rich and luscious jungles of the island. The skies were a mix of cerulean blue blended in with pink/orange/ peach due to how early in the morning it was. Puffs of cloudy cumulus began to drift in from the North and appear into being.

The jungles were rich and sweet-smelling, the scent was rather intoxicating.

It was as sweet as coconut milk and as strong as pine and there was a lazy atmosphere drifting along.

Both Ivor and Ignitia ventured through the foliage with their eyes wide with wonder and curiosity; never before had they ventured out on their own —at least not without one of their parents nearby to watch over them— and every single sight and scent was like a breath of fresh air. It felt quite liberating to do something on their own…however, there was also the tiniest hint of cautious fright as well. Without having either pair of parents close by to save them should something go awry made everything that much bigger and that much more intimidating than it probably should have been.

The two kept their guards raised and their gazes watchful as they didn't wish to be ambushed by some beast while exploring these foreign jungles.

Ivor chewed his bottom lip anxiously as he wished that the ground was covered in snow right now as it would provide one hundred percent invisibility for him —he recalled all the times when his uncle Sparx and even his own father had trouble finding him in snowy climates due to how his white scales matched perfectly with the crisp and clean environment. He recalled those memories with mild hilarity but, due to the fact that he was really anxious, all he could care about was the fact that he was very likely going to be spotted.

He had no hope of being able toblend his surroundings here, no hope of beingcamouflaged.

Surely he'd stick out like a sore thumb due to the bright sheen of his white scales.

He felt his heart pounding so hard in his chest that he felt his entire body palpate with every beat, the sound echoed through his own earholes and his body vibrated. He couldn't help but huddle his own wings even closer to him and his tail tucked itself even more underneath him —an indication of anxiety and fear.

"Ivie?"

Ignitia had taken notice of her friend's anxiety and fear being on full display (how could it not be when the little white dragon looked like he was moments away from passing out on the spot due to anxiety overload?) she still took care not to raise her voice so neither of them could be spotted by any creatures that might be lurking within this harsh jungle terrain.

In a bid to provide comfort to her slightly-younger comrade, the little dragoness stretched one wing out to the side and draped it across Ivor's rigid back and put on a huge smile of assurance.

"Heeeeey…don't worry, buddy, we're almost there. I'm gonna keep ya safe, I promised I would!"

Ivor was comforted by his friend's words and felt his muzzle warm up and, for whatever reason, his heart started to pound even harder throughout his body while he even felt a strange twinge of happiness and assurance surge through him like a jolt of electricity shooting through his heart.

However, he also felt something else that made him struggle.

Each step the white dragon took was a struggle since he'd feel this overpowering chilling thud pound throughout his small body and he could feel this extreme cold that chilled him to the bone although his scales were hot to the touch. He might as well have been dumped into the depths of a frozen wasteland only to be plucked from said wasteland and, instead, be dropped in a whirlpool of molten lava and magma. He could hear his own heartbeat pound harshly throughout his body, his own muscles shrieking in increasing agony.

He wasn't sure but the pain he felt could have probably even felled full grown dragons —let alone young whelps.

Ivor couldn't let his weakness show, however.

He needed to be strong.

Ivor and Ignitia continued to traverse through the leafage and foliage, the latter limping along as she was still a tad sore after the crash-landing that she and her friend had endured earlier; they were both mostly silent as they stalked through the wild and vast vegetation which grew around them.

The two dragon whelps didn't make much more conversation as they were rushed by this sense of urgency that grew with each passing second. They were meandering along but froze on the spot as their eyes widened and their expressions brightened when they spotted a familiar item lain on top of a randomly-placed bush:

Ignitia's satchel/saddlebag!

Without delay, the pair cried out in joyous glee and hastened to retrieve the bag and, upon closer examination, the bag didn't look worse for wear despite that had been dropped from a great height.

Ignitia wasted no time in lifting the bag right off of the bush, taking the material of the bag into her mouth while she slid her head and neck through the handle so she allow the bag to slide down her back and stop at her torso. It was only after the bag was properly put on that she gave Ivor the quick instructions to lift the flap of one of the bags and grab hold of the map that the little dragoness had brought along with them for this excursion.

The two little dragons sat down on their haunches as Ivor grabbed the map in both claws, unrolled the map and presented its entirety to his friend.

The map showed an old drawing of the basic landscape of the isle they were currently occupying which showed the jungle area that they were currently in, a crude illustration of some creature that was not far from a small (it was small on the map but was probably much bigger in person) round blue section, indicating a body of water of some sorts. But the main focus of the map was the dotted line that led to a very large and very heavily-focused-on cross.

That was where they would find this treasure they sought out!

To get there, they needed to go bypass some more of the overgrown jungle terrain and then go to some sort of clearing which —according to the map— was made entirely up of sand and dunes and a portion of overgrown grass and leafage.

Ignitia stared long and hard at the map and then she smirked with self-confidence.

"Heh! This should be a piece of cake!" She then glanced down at Ivor who seemed a bit hesitant. "After we get the treasure of this island then the other dragons'll treat ya better with more respect!"

Ivor nodded anxiously while fumbling the claws on his forepaws much like someone twiddling their thumbs, he couldn't help the doubt niggling in the back of his mind. What if this didn't work? What if they were in serious danger all because his friend was doing all this for his sake? What if he put her in great danger all because of his selfishness!?

He should have known it was a bad idea to come here!

He wanted to go home!

He wanted to go home to his mother and father!

"Ivie? Hello? Ivor?"

Ivor blinked, jerked back to reality by the dragoness calling out to him and he saw that she was looking down at him with plain worry etched upon her face, her eyes wide and her muzzle forming a tight frown.

"Oh. Uhh…sorry, Ignitia." He muttered, his muzzle blushing bright red.

Ignitia's concern didn't dissipate in the slightest as she cocked her head at him.

"Are you feeling okay, bud? You seem to keep dozing off a lot."

Ivor tried to shake off the inquiry as he didn't want his friend to worry too much about him. He had caused her enough trouble for today and he couldn't help but fret about adding more stress to that growing pile already! He wanted to help, he wanted to assist…he didn't want to add to the list of burdens!

"Oh…uhhhh…" He had to think of a brush-off and quick! "I'm ok, Tia!"

He chirped, putting on his biggest fake smile.

Ignitia furrowed her brow.

She wasn't fooled in the slightest…but she knew better than to push it so she made a mental note to reproach the topic should this strange behaviour from her friend continue thus, with that resolved (for the time being at least), Ignitia carefully folded the map back up and stuffed it back into her bags but making sure not to rip it or treat it too rough —that piece of parchment was very important for this trip after all!

Now they had a better understanding of where they needed to go!

Neither little dragon wasted any more time and headed off in the direction where they would find the treasure they sought out.

The pair of young dragons peered around as they snuck through the jungle foliage with their little bodies both lowered to the grass-covered ground to the point their tummies were so close to being covered in sand, dirt and mud and their movements filled with caution and trepidation. The two little ones took careful steps to make sure that, whatever was guarding this treasure chest, wouldn't see them so easily so they tried to make themselves as invisible and compact as they possibly could.

The pair shuddered somewhat simultaneously, they would have felt goosebumps pop up if they had skin instead of scales.

The little ones decided to proceed with caution.

They ventured through the foliage for what felt like an eternity but kept traversing through the jungle vines, grass and foliage and, eventually, they came across a large body of water; it appeared to be more of a pool rather than a lake or whatever the map made it out to be.

But…there was something strangely unsettling yet ominous about the pool.

It had this bizarre magnetism, it was like a sirens call for anyone who came across it and it even tried to lure in the two dragon whelps. There was also a strange pulsating underground that felt like a soft rumbling beneath their paw/claw pads…but it also felt like static or electricity. Perhaps it could be called an "Underground electrical static pulse" which only added the slight pressure building up in both the air and underground.

Ivor felt his throat tighten.

He wasn't sure whether or not the cause was nerves but he reached up to loosen the scarf around his neck by pulling one of the tails and did just that, however that didn't do anything. It felt as though a snake or some sort of serpentine creature had coiled around his neck and was silently strangling him from the inside-out.

It was an unnerving sensation.

Grrrrrr….

Ivor froze dead on the spot, eyes wide with dread and heart stopping in his chest.

What was that sound?

No.

He knew exactly what the sound was, he was just too scared for his mind to properly comprehend it.

As if the vibrations underneath him wasn't enough, Ivor felt this strangely intimidatingly magnetic pull come from above him and forced not only his back to arch up but also his wings to unfold themselves from their position huddled against his back and stand straight up.

He grew more and more petrified as the seconds passed by like centuries.

Then he heard more of that hissing groaning from above him and he couldn't fight back that curiosity anymore and looked up.

What he saw made his wings shudder in pure arctic terror:

It was a monster!

It was huge-looking and it glared at the two younglings with its nonexistent eyes while spit dribbled from its mouth like a waterfall and formed a puddle by its nonexistent feet; this was a huge electric leech —probably the biggest electric leech to ever be recorded— and little visible bolts of electricity shot from its long and serpentine-like body and the four horns that sprouted from its facial region.

It's knife-like teeth gnashed towards the small dragon whelps.

"I-I-It's a-a-a-a-an Electric leech!" Ivor stuttered.

Ignitia, just as stunned as Ivor, added "A-And it's the biggest I have ever seen…although it is also the first I've ever seen!"

Ivor's entire little body shuddered and he gulped, unable to take his eyes off of the beast leering over both him and the slightly older pink/red, spotted dragoness beside him. The little white dragon with the scarf wrapped around his neck would have felt better of this creature was a Frogweed or maybe even a Sabertooth but he didn't expect to run into a beast as rare as an Electric Leech…in fact, he might have preferred bumping into an Ape over this.

He couldn't look away no matter how much he wanted to do so, but his mind was abuzz of questions such as:

Now that he and Ignitia were faced with danger, how could they deal with it?

How could they try and outrun this thing?

Heck, could he even try to run?

What else was he supposed to do?

He didn't really have the means of defeating it!

True, he might have had the ability to shadow meld but that would have been useless since there wasn't a lot of shade that could hide him…and he had to keep in mind that Ignitia couldn't hide either and he adamantly refused to let her deal with this all by herself!

Ignitia looked just as fearful as Ivor did but that didn't stop her from trying her best not to show any fright.

"I thought th-they were supposed to live by small pools of water…! G-Guardian Volteer said so yesterday!" She cried.

Ivor whisked his gaze from the monster in front of them to Ignitia and then to the monster again.

Ignitia was probably referring to the long lecture that Volteer had given yesterday; his class session had been really lengthy so it was difficult not to zone out from time-to-time but both he and Ivor paid heed to his long lectures and managed to pick up bits and pieces when it came to enemies that dwelled within the world outside of Warfang and it's protective walls. It was due to pure dumb luck that Volteer had spoken about these aforementioned creatures and knew how their powers worked due to being an electric dragon, and this included how to defeat them.

The dragoness whelp, just as panicked as Ivor, immediately gathered up some sort of courage from within. She closed her eyes tightly and she felt this warmth accumulate into a small ball in her throat and it took seconds from that ball to not only grow in size but also in intensity to how hot it was; the ball turned to magma inside of her mouth and said ball emitted a hissing noise which intermingled with the sounds of Ignitia's own throat emit a lowly vicious hiss.

It took seconds more for the ball to be primed and the dragoness seized the opportunity.

She opened her maw wide, revealing the ball that had gathered in the back of her throat, and spat it right out and up into the creature's open mouth. The pink/red dragoness wanted to let out a shout out of triumphant joy when she saw that her fire ball had shot right out of her mouth and flew into the beast's instead.

It was a direct hit!

It was even more impressive considering that this was the second fireball she managed to conjure up successfully.

When the fireball fired into the creature's open mouth, it shut its pie hole for a split couple of seconds before a muffled "boom" came from within and smoke started to billow out from the tightly-sealed "lips" on the monster's sharp-toothy-mouth. If it had eyes it would have been glaring slitted daggers at the two young dragons cowering below.

Anyways, now that the monster was distracted, they knew that there was only one more thing they could do:

Run.

They sprang to their feet and immediately took off and ran like the wind!

Ignitia and Ivor screamed in terror as they ran from the giant monster pursuing them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

They were so scared that neither of them had the sense to even flap their wings, not that it would do much as they were still very much fledglings and their wings lacked the momentum and the drag and lift that they'd need to actually take off and soar into the air. They ran so fast that their views had began to whirl right passed them and they eventually broke through the jungles and had found themselves running through a place full of silky red/yellow sand.

This was probably a little closer to where that treasure was on the map from earlier!

But that was on the least of their minds right now —fleeing the big monster took priority!

Ivor ran as fast as his little legs could carry him…only for one leg to get caught on one of his scarf tails.

The white-scaled, scarf-wearing dragon whelp cried out in a mix of surprise and pain as he tripped over the fabric and slammed face-first on to the ground and his snout got plastered with sand and dirt as he crashed hard into the ground below. He felt a painful throbbing on the front of his body from where he had collided with the earth beneath him and he couldn't help but wonder if he, himself, got injured from the impact he had just taken. He tried to pick himself up off the ground but his limbs felt like jelly and tingled rather numbly.

"Ivor!"

Ignitia realised she ran ahead of her friend, swerved on the spot so she could do a dramatic u-turn and turned around to retrieve her friend from his helpless position on the ground. She wasted no time in craning her neck and grabbing a bit of the fabric of his scarf and picked him up, throwing her own head back so she could make him swing like a pendulum in an attempt to drag him to his feet. It took a sec but Ivor managed to panickedly do just that as he regained his footing thanks to his friend's help, although his scales got dirtied from the contact he had with the mud when he fell.

Now that the two dragons had rectified their stumble, they resumed running as fast as they could.

The two dragons' eyes sparkled when their gazes fell upon the large wooden chest that sat atop a stone pedestal that looked somewhat like some sort of ancient alter. Crumbling bits of ivory/marble stone and other such debris were strewn about the area and vines and patches of icy grew all over the place despite the sandy dunes surrounding them both.

Ivor curiously hopped up the top of the staircase and stared hard at the lock keeping the treasure contained within the wooden chest.

Ignitia mused.

She sat back on her haunches and raised a claw to touch her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmmm…I can't breathe fire on the chest because it might melt or ruin the treasure inside! And I don't think either of us could charge up the staircase and break the chest with our horns either, that also might break the treasure! We gotta think of something!"

As she grumbled, Ivor took his time staring long and even harder at the lock with an intense gaze.

Then an idea formed in his mind.

His amethyst eyes lit up.

Maybe he if could…use his…on the lock…!?

While the white-scaled, scarf-wearing dragon youngling pieced together aspects of his plan like a puzzle in his mind, he turned around so his tail faced the lock and he then burrowed his scythe-like tail tip into the hole. He immediately jammed the tip of his tail into the lock and began to fumble with it, wriggling and twisting his tail around to try and pick the lock of the treasure chest.

It was by now that the dragoness noticed what he was doing and beamed, impressed.

"I-Ivie!" She exclaimed, bouncing up the stairs and standing beside the younger whelp with a very sincere grin leering upon her muzzle. "You're a genius!"

Ivor felt a smug satisfaction of the praise he was receiving and his heart swelled with pride. He felt like a proud peacock at that moment and wanted to ride the high of this feeling —it wasn't that he never got praised for antics, but this was the very first time a dragon his age had praised him over anything. He continued to twist and turn his tail in the lock and the effort he was making caused the mechanism to make a series of "clicks" and "clackering" sounds.

He kept at it until…

Ker-lick!

And just like that, the lock fell off the chest and the lid of said chest opened automatically.

The two peered in to the chest and found a series of gems and artefacts from long ago —amongst the items were a couple gems, a gold necklace pendant, a solid gold anklet, a pair of platinum rings and a strange book that was written in some strange and foreign runes that looked indecipherable to the dragon children's young awestruck eyes.

Ivor and Ignitia were in a state of awe.

These things looked so beautiful!

Ignitia bent down and grabbed hold of the pendant and let it slip and fall around her own neck while Ivor also bent down and grabbed the strange book and the anklet. The pair of young drakes also grabbed hold of the remaining items left in the chest and put them in Ignitia's bags to make sure that they had everything.

Ignitia smiled at Ivor.

"You won't need to worry 'bout those other mean bullies picking on you now we've got this treasure!"

To make an emphasis, the young female dragon used one claw to gesture expansively to the pendant now hung around her neck.

Ivor nodded in appreciation.

He was so happy that he could lend a helping claw on this adventure and, as the longer this trip went on, he found himself growing a pinch of confidence despite the monsters and dangerous situations. He was now sure that, now that it could be proven to how brave he was, maybe the other dragon younglings would stop picking on not only him but his mother too! And who knows? Maybe more dragons would want to befriend him!

This could be what he needed.

Grrrrr…..

Ivor and Ignitia's eyes widened and both of their heads both ducked inbetween their shoulders and their eyes went as wide as dinner plates when their earholes latched on to the distant sound of a deep-throated yet familiar growl. Their wings stood tall and upright as if ready to fly (although Ivor was too young to take flight properly and Ignitia was still learning the art of taking off) and their legs seemed to lock and immobilised them.

Ignitia and Ivor exchanged nervous glances.

They couldn't stay here.

"U-Um…" Ivor suggested through a series of stutters and stammers, his gaze anxious. "…I th-th-think we better go."

Ignitia didn't need to be told twice and nodded.

"Y-Yeah…"

The two whelps hopped off the staircase from the top step, planting their claws firmly into the sandy ground below. After gaining a bit of momentum, they made a few running starts to restart their effort to run…but quickly found themselves unable to due to the fact that their way was blocked by a few strange figures and the two little dragons, scared, looked up and saw three huge canine-like, rag-clad beings wearing pirate attire who towered over them.

Who were these guys?

They weren't there before…!

But that wasn't who they focused on.

Their attention was focused on the pair of lizard-like birds perched on each of the middle canine/anthropomorphic/creature's shoulders. They looked like some kind of species of parrot but with bat/dragon wings and reptilian tails, small but sharp beaks, and they resembled jellybeans in regards to shape. The two bird/reptilian creatures were complete opposites despite their positions and were even more opposite in regards to their colouration —one was purple and the other was a blend of red and orange. They both wore pirate skull caps with golden feathers attached to them, eye patches covering one eye opposite to one another and stitches on both of their tummies. Both the eyepatches they wore and stitches they bore were positioned in opposite angles.

"Well, lookie what we've got here!" One of the reptilian parrots, the purple-coloured one leered. "Two lil' pipsqueak dragons all by their lonesome!"

The red reptilian parrot nodded in response to the other's remark.

"Indeed. It would seem that not only have we not captured our supposed champion but, instead, we have a pair of little lost souls in our midst."

Ivor and Ignitia both stared up at the creatures and their "pets" who seemed to do all the talking with eyes wide and unsure of what to do. They knew that they couldn't run, they'd get caught in no time. They couldn't outfly them since the two were still learning how to do so and there was no way they could take to the air safely —not with them surrounded like this! And, when they mentioned their "mew Champion", they probably meant that behemoth Electric guard leech from earlier.

"What? Cat got ya tongues? Answer him, fools!" The purple one demanded.

Ignitia glared up at the group with a look of defiance and opened up one of her wings and stretched it out so she could use it to shield the younger white-scaled dragon next to her. She never took her eyes off of them but, that didn't mean that she wasn't frightened too; she was really scared but she was the older of both herself and Ivor so knew that protecting him was her responsibility.

Not to mention that this whole trip was her idea to begin with.

"W-We've been told to never talk to strangers." She replied, trying to sound brave…but she couldn't even muster the effort to bolster the tiniest smidge of valour into her own voice. She was used to fighting back bullies her own age, she wasn't used to dealing with mean adults. "So l-leave us alone!"

Ivor, meanwhile, couldn't muster the courage to speak a word as all the white-scaled dragon whelp could do was cower before the large pirates and their birds, his tail tucked between his hind legs and his body arched as if in a defensive position. His amethyst eyes were huge and fearful and he couldn't keep from whimpering softly as he was immobilised by pure terror.

That was when one of the baddies caught sight of the golden artefact hung around Ignitia's neck.

"Well pluck my feathers and call me a vulture!" One of the reptilian birds exclaimed "Y'all found the long lost treasure of Cap'in Pluck face!"

Both Ivor and Ignitia glanced to one another in confusion.

Captain…Pluck face…?

Long lost treasure?

Found?

They didn't have long to question it before the main canine-like creature stooped down and snatched the pendant from around Ignitia's neck and looked dumbly at the shiny gold object while the bird using both of his shoulders as a perch grinned menacingly at it with an almost evil aura emanating from his whole squishy being.

"Hey! Wait! No! Give that back!" Ignitia cried, her eyes narrowed angrily as she squirmed. "We found that golden thingy fair and square!"

The little dragoness stubbornly leapt up and down like a puppy as she tried to jump after the item that was snatched from her neck and was now held out of reach since the pirate that the two birds' used both of its shoulders as a perch held the golden bracelet up high so neither young dragon had a prayer of a chance of getting to it and getting it back.

"Give it back! Please! We n-need it t-t-t-to make my f-friend treated better in school!"

Despite being scared, the little female dragon refused to give up and kept trying to get her stolen property back.

One of the parrots, the red one, smirked evilly at the little dragonesses struggling.

He spoke to her with a cruel sneer lacing his poetic voice.

"Well we've been looking all over this pathetic island for this treasure so we are certainly indebted to you for doing our work for us…perhaps you could both be our new champions for our fighting arena?"

Ignitia rose to stand on her hind legs and didn't stop hopping up and down. She flapped her wings to try and gain some momentum but, even then she had difficulty successfully reaching the golden artefact that was purposefully being held out of reach.

It took some effort but, somehow, she managed to grab on to the wrist of one of the main canine-like creature whom simultaneously held on to the treasure and acted as the perch for the two parrot-like beasts and she hardly wasted any time in sizing up the limb her claws were hooking in to and then proceeded to open her maw and chomped down as hard as she could.

Ignitia was flailed about in the air while the humanoid-dog-pirate let out cries of shock and pain while he shook his arm in every which way to try and disengage the whelp and her locked jaws from his forearm. He even dropped the artefact but that didn't make Ignitia release her grip just yet…not until he gave his arm one quick snap and Ignitia let go and was sent hurtling backwards deeper into the jungle and ultimately on to the ground.

The parrot duo might have been yelling and scolding the man who acted as their perch but nobody cared to focus on their words.

Ivor, meanwhile, had been watching helplessly and, when he saw his only friend on the ground, he felt something well up inside of him when he saw how his friend refused to give up or give in and he couldn't describe that sensation. It was hot. Blazing hot It was as if something deep within him that was causing his current fearful inaction had snapped like a twig and then, much like an out-of-control inferno, spread from his chest to the tips of his horns and down to his toes.

He narrowed his small purple eyes angrily.

No more would he hide, no more would he quiver and watch from the sidelines while others stood up for him, no more would he let dragons or other creatures bully him!

NO MORE!

Ivor turned to lock eyes with all three pirates, especially the main one. His eyes turned from their amethyst purple hue and into a blood red colour, which somehow seemed to transfer and made the pirate's eyes turn from a harrowing yellow colour into the exact same shade of red that the young white dragon had. He opened his mouth and a few red sonic waves erupted from his mouth and had enraptured the beast in a stunned paralysis.

"LEAVE US ALOOOOOONE!" He shrieked powerfully, his concussive roar being amplified by a tremendous screech.

It almost caused the very earth to quake underneath his claws.

The red-tinted rings of a sonic boom fired at the three monstrous pirates and practically blew them off their feet and knocked them backwards —including the parrot duo. Even the electric leech whom had lurked nearby gave a pathetic whimper followed by a couple whines before it backed off and retreated back to the pool it inhabited as fast as he could, fleeing from the small dragon.

All of a sudden Ivor let out a shudder as he felt this great wave of heat overtake him and his entire body felt hot yet he couldn't stop shivering; it was hot enough to practically cause him to start sweating and, as far as anyone knew, it was impossible for Dragons to sweat.

Nevertheless, he stood with pride as his scarf tails fluttered in the breeze and…his scales were beginning to darken from its pure white to more of a gray/black hue and his eyes were beginning to take on a menacingly look, his red eyes glowing brighter and brighter in a gradual increase. A dark aura started to surround him and he didn't say anything even though he looked really sickened all of a sudden…this wasn't right and Ignitia was becoming to grow concerned.

"I-Ivie…! Ivie! It's me! Ignitia! Don't you recognise me? Ivor! P-Please snap out of it!"

Ivor didn't answer her, he just stood there silent and stoic.

It was as if he couldn't even hear her.

It was like he didn't even know she was there to begin with!

His brilliant white scales had now darkened from gray to black, his irises and pupils vanished and bright lights shone from them instead and black smoke emanated from his being as this darkness seemed to radiate from his being. The small dragon whelp's form was rigid and practically rock solid —not even the sharpest of tugs could get him to move and Ignitia tried as hard as she could.

Ignitia stared, her eyes beginning to enlarge.

Fear started to build up inside of her.

What was going on!?

Despite every instinct pulling at her limbs and screaming at her to run away, the pink and red dragoness hastened to her friend's side and nudged the side of his face with her snout. She gave him a hard shove and tried to get him to budge so he could snap out of…whatever this was. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she tried and tried to get the little one to snap out of this strange state.

"Ivor…Ivor please come back to me." She whispered brokenly.

It took what felt like hours (but was a mere fifty seconds) before the blackness started to fade from Ivor's scales and his eyes returned to normal —albeit, they looked beyond exhausted. He looked confused at first but then the energy drained from his eyes and they rolled into the back of his head as he immediately felt his legs give out from under him.

That was when the young dragon wearing the purple scarf slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Ignitia was quick to act and panickedly tried to revive her now-unconscious little friend.

What had just happened?! He just let out some sort of strange power she had never seen before and just looked sickened and then passed out after looking really evil for a minute or so! She wasn't all too knowledgeable about other dragon abilities but she hadn't seen anything like this before…!

But, then again, maybe she should ask whether Ivor's mother, Cynder, would know?

She heard once how Cynder had commands over certain abilities?

She didn't have anymore time to think before a large shadow from overhead swept overhead and almost knocked her right off of her four feet. She gasped as she whirled her head up to look at the thing that flew over her and was dumbfounded when she caught sight of none other than her very own mother flying over her —the only reason she knew that was because she recognised her mother's silhouette and she could smell the combined scents of honey and gold.

The fully-grown pink dragon must have flown out to scour the isle for both her missing daughter and the son of her good friends Spyro and Cynder.

Ignitia didn't even care about the consequences right now, she just wanted to see her mother!

"Mama!" She cried. "Mama! We're down here!"

Ember had apparently heard her child's calls and proceeded to unfurl her wings in a swift and professional manner as she swooped downwards and crashed to the ground with poise and grace.

Ember was a large pink dragon with a sleek body type with broadened features such as her strong shoulders and her bulky hips. She had a yellow/gold chest plate/underbelly and dark pink wings. The top of her head had darker pink spines running down from the top of her head all the way down to her mid back and almost reached her heart-shaped-tipped tail but not quite. She had yellow curved horns protruding from the top of her head and her muzzle was almost shovel-like but it was round and plump at where her maw and nostrils were instead. Her eyes were of a cerulean blue hue which made them mesmerising.

Upon landing and being shown in the sunlight, it was revealed that the pink drake had taken to not only wearing the collar with the heart-shaped Ruby she wore as a whelp but had also wore an explorer's fedora hat along with two straps that carried a big book and a random pouch which strapped both items to her chest.

She had become a fond explorer as the years went by and had made a name for herself by venturing through the realms and cataloguing them. Of course she decided to settle down after she got married to her mate, Flame, and her daughter's egg had been lain…but adventures call was never too far behind her.

Nevertheless, Ignitia was thrilled to see her mother come to their rescue.

Alas, the delight that the pink/red-scaled dragoness was short lived…

Upon catching sight of her whelp and Ivor, her eyes were wide with momentary surprise but then they narrowed as she stared down at the children, especially her daughter; the large pink dragoness with the heart-shaped Ruby necklace had taken up exploring islands and became familiar with all the landscapes around the lands and their treasures —including this island.

This was no place for dragon whelps!

Subdued anger and fury was written plain across her facial features as she glowered down at the pair with a stern yet motherly scowl. She mostly focused her ire on her own whelp and Ignitia suddenly found herself on the receiving end of her mother's immediate scolding lecture.

"Ignitia Asha Firethroat! You just about scared your father, myself and Ivor's parents out of their wits! Do you not realise that you could have gotten really badly hurt out here? What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? You are in so much trouble, young dragoness!"

Ignitia just looked down at the ground below, ashamed.

She hadn't meant to worry her parents so much…

Ember tried to calm down but she was still evidently cross at her whelp's disobedience and that was when Ember caught sight of the golden necklace around her daughter's neck. She needed to know why Ignitia had come up with this plan in the first place.

"What made you come out here anyway?"

Ignitia couldn't look at her mother, afraid to see the disappointment shining in her mother's eyes.

"I…I wanted to find a way to see if everyone could stop picking on Ivie! Then I remembered that story you and papa told me about the lost treasure on this island…and I g-guess I thought that maybe I c-could get you and papa something while we were at it."

Ember's anger cooled a little at the situation, knowing what her daughter was talking about.

She and Flame were struggling a little bit for financial reasons and had taken to letting it affect them —she hadn't meant for her daughter to become so worried about it that she'd do something as foolish as this! If her baby girl had gotten hurt in the midst of this crazy quest…th-then…she shook her head as she couldn't even contemplate the results without her eyes beginning to prickle with the threat of oncoming tears.

"…Sweetheart…worrying about the family is not your job…it's mine and your father's, leave all the worries to us and we'll do the rest. If…If something had happened to you, we'd never forgive ourselves. You are our most valuable treasure."

She gingerly booped Ignitia's snout with her own and nuzzled her face with as much love as she could muster.

But then she looked at Ivor and was rendered really concerned.

"By the ancestors claw! What happened to Ivor?" She exclaimed, worried and panicked.

Ignitia was more than happy to provide an explanation for this.

"W-We got attacked by some big bullies and Ivor stood up to them and protected me, but then he became dark and scary and now he passed out!"

Ember had a hard time contemplating her child's explanation and her eye ridges furrowed.

So it seemed that Cynder's concerns were not unfounded.

The ex-terror of the skies had told her about how Ivor was beginning to show signs of being a Shadow dragon (despite his scales making this very ironic) and how he kept getting sick as a result even though normal abilities are supposed to show up at opportune moments and give whelps an energy boost…they weren't supposed to make whelps sick!

She exhaled through her nostrils in an attempt to cool the anger that boiled within her and brought both little dragons in for a hug by furling one of her wings around them both and pulling them in towards her own chest plate/plastron —the anger had temporarily subsided and was replaced by relief when she found no scratches or injuries on her child…but she felt concern hit her hard when she saw that Ivor was unconscious as her daughter said.

The large pink dragoness bowed her head towards the ground and then grabbed the unconscious whelp by the fabric of his scarf and carefully deposited him on his back while Ignitia also clambered on to her mother's back and seated herself next to the unconscious Ivor, who just snoozed and shivered away rather fitfully. The grownup dragon winced slightly when she felt how hot Ivor was as his scales touched her own and realised that the poor thing was really beginning to heat up like a hot water bottle!

Thus, she made a mental note to discuss this with Cynder and Spyro later.

As she prepared to take to the skies, she spread her wings and looked back over her shoulder and at the small whelps resting peacefully upon her back and threw her daughter a look of stern anger.

"Come now, dear, let's get him home to his parents." Ember spoke, a definite stern note in her voice which sounded soft at the same time. "After that, we'll go home too and we can discuss your punishment with your father present."

Ignitia gulped and hung her head.

She wasn't looking forwards to that last part.

A/N: Hi! So here's a new chapter for Shadow scales!

I have some things to get out of the way here.

I'll start with answering the question of Plague Doctor 2035:

Here in the UK, you can start having an education at four years old (nursery) and you start school officially at five years of age (Primary school). In my mind, though, dragons tend to grow up a bit quicker than us humans do and I didn't say how old Ivor is officially because I meant for people to sort of make up their own minds about how old our cute little hero is. I am thrilled you like my story, though, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

And to a guest or two:

It wasn't explained what the world was named in the LOS universe so I assumed the entire place was Avalar, I don't think it was ever said WHERE Spyro and the others live and I wanted some continuity. Plus, about what was written in my "Scales" collection, I thought that if the Legend of Spyro series had a city then they had a republic and, besides, we don't know what became of the city AFTER Malefor was defeated.

I thought it would be a good idea for Ember to come to the rescue because we didn't see her do much in "A heroes tail" and I think she could be cooler.

Not to worry, though, we WILL see Spyro and Cynder fight in a later chapter.

We also see the return of Scratch and Sniff, the parrot-things from LOS Eternal night!

Will this be the last time they pop up in this tale?

Have a nice day/evening, everyone!

-Chloemcg