Lex awoke as they were approaching Earth's atmosphere and was a little surprised to find Spyro asleep in the pilot seat. She tried to rouse her but the girl was so drowsy that Lex carried her back to her sleeping chamber and put her back to bed. Spyro mumbled and fussed in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Now Lex sat in the pilot's seat, watching the planet get slowly larger on the viewscreen and thinking. "What was she doing out of bed?" She thought "I hope she's not getting into the habit of going roaming around at night, like her father."
Nevertheless, as the veil of clouds parted to reveal the warm blue of its oceans, she felt the relief she always felt at seeing Earth again. Even though she knew it was a dangerous place for her, it was still reassuring to know it was there: a fixed point in a vast, unknown universe.
"Welcome home Lex." She told herself.
Engaging the Dragonfly's scanners to navigate the surface of the planet, she scoured countless miles of deserts, jungles, cities and seemingly endless seas. Searching for something...
Finally, they were scudding low over frozen forests, a rolling blanket of silvered black that rippled in the down-draft of the shuttle's engines. Even using the Dragonfly's scanners, it took her a while to find a clearing big enough to land in. The forest seemed to go on forever, trees standing like dark spears pushing up through the crystalline whiteness. The shuttle crunched down, stanchions crushing the winter blanket.
She opened the door to Spyro's sleeping pod. Her daughter was lost in a deep, untroubled sleep. Lex lowered herself lightly onto the edge of the bed, trying not to wake her. She wanted to sit and be close to her beloved child, because the only time Spyro rested peacefully with her was when she was asleep. After a moment, she reached out with gentle fingers to smooth her daughter's small face. The girl's skin radiated heat, her thick, curved lashes resting on cheeks that were flushed underneath her leopard-like markings. She was such a restless spirit… in fact, It was strange that she hadn't woken up already. It didn't usually take more than the lightest touch to wake her. Lex frowned, but then she shrugged. The girl was probably tired after all her roamings and explorations of the past few weeks. Now she was trapped on board the Dragonfly and forced to stay in one place, this was probably her body's way of catching up.
Isaac was glad he'd primed the Chameleon's sensors to give him early warning of Scar's return from the hunt. The moment he approached the shuttle Isaac saw the alert light up on the console and hastily shut down all comms. Isaac really didn't want to get caught. "If he loses it at just the mention of Mom, I don't want to know what he'll do if he finds I've been trying to reach her."
He was sitting in what he hoped was a relaxed pose by the time Scar stepped through the inner lock. He knew there was no point in trying to bolt for the sleeping pod. Scar would know he had been in the pilot's seat - his senses were too sharp to fool. Isaac filled his lungs with air, trying to stay calm. "Lucky I had time to delete the past hour of the Chameleon's operations log, I just hope that's enough to cover my tracks!" He turned to see the hunter in the cockpit doorway, his huge frame outlined in the shuttle's red, nocturnal lighting.
"Tinkering with the ship as... usual, Mei'Seika?" He purred "You should rest…, recover... from the poison."
Isaac tried not to look guilty "Couldn't sleep." He mumbled, and got up to leave. He was praying he'd be able to escape without having to do any more talking. He was almost out the door when behind him, he heard the deep voice say "Stop."
Isaac halted in his tracks, silently cursing, and turned.
Scar continued to lean against the door frame, unhurriedly assessing him "You are disturbed." He said, finally.
Isaac stayed silent, not trusting himself to speak.
"This is… because I… defeated you?"
Still Isaac made no answer, he really wanted this conversation to be over.
"You think me... unfair?"
He should have been relieved. At least Scar wasn't asking about what he was doing in the cockpit - but he also felt a stab of anger as he remembered the confrontation earlier "Let the bully ask questions," He thought "I'm not going to speak to him."
"What? You think I should be… kinder to you?" The hunter said, the human word becoming a profanity in his mouth.
Again Isaac felt a surge of anger. His fists clenched as the impulse to violence swept through him. The idea flashed into the boy's mind for a split second, but he quickly realised how stupid it was. "He beat me easily before," He thought. "He beat me without hurting me and he wasn't even trying. Next time he might not hold back..."
Scar was looking at him with an odd expression that Isaac could not decipher "Once," He said "I knew ...a boy like you."
Isaac still didn't speak but his scowl intensified.
"He... did not listen," The hunter continued "Thought he... knew best."
Isaac looked up to meet those yellow eyes, but Scar was staring at nothing, his voice coming from far away.
"He was a fool," Scar said finally, "Forever defying his clan. Forever fighting against… the inevitable."
Isaac's curiosity got the better of him "What happened to him?" He asked.
"He was punished," Scar scrutinised his second son "As all transgressors are… in time."
Isaac flinched, right now he wanted to be anywhere but here "I'm tired," He muttered. He squirmed internally as Scar continued to watch him, eyes glowing like sulphurous flames. Then he walked past Isaac and sank down in the pilot seat, his back to the boy.
"It is late." The hunter said "You can go."