He'd done it. Gnasty Gnorc was gone, the dragons were freed, and peace was restored to the Dragon Realms. (If he was being honest, it wasn't that hard of a fight) He was a hero.
The other Artisan dragons, wanting to celebrate with him, each pulled him aside to see if he might feel a calling to one of their crafts. Nestor's stonework didn't call to him, his attempts at cooking with Alvar only succeeded in accidentally burning the elderly dragon and the food they had been preparing, and while he enjoyed playing music with Tomas and acting with Darius, they simply didn't call to him.
Thor was the next dragon to approach him, bringing the young dragon to his ceramics workshop. There, he guided Spyro through the simplest of ceramic creations: a plate. Spyro had wanted to make something more interesting, like a vase, but Thor insisted it would be better to start with the basics.
The plate was certainly simple. A lopsided gray circle. Spyro huffed. Clearly, this wasn't his calling either. He rose to his feet and began to leave Thor's workshop, when the elderly dragon called out to him.
"Please do come back. You've not finished your plate yet." Spyro turned back to see Thor cautiously walking towards him, carrying a set of paints and brushes.
"Painting your ceramics is just as important as making them, Spyro." Thor handed the paints and brushes to Spyro, then gave him a wooden palette - which he said was for mixing the paints into different colors. He felt just the faintest of sparks when he held the brushes, though it felt as though it were far away and muted. Perhaps something to do with paints was his calling? He looked up at Thor.
"How do I know what to paint?" The elderly dragon smiled.
"Pick up the brush, close your eyes, and just let yourself create without thinking about it. Your spirit," he gently pressed a claw to Spyro's chest, "knows what you want before your mind does." Spyro sat and thought for a moment, pondering Thor's words. Then, he tentatively closed his eyes - only to open one of them a moment later to ask another question.
"Uh.. How do I know where the paints are?" Thor laughed, a quiet rumbling laugh.
"Your spirit knows the way. Trust yourself, Spyro." He patted Spyro's back.
"Follow your heart, Spyro. It will never fail you." Something about those words stirred something within Spyro. He closed his eye once more and reached the brush into where he knew the paints were. He could feel the brush dip into the paint. Even though he hadn't
the faintest idea which color he'd chosen, he allowed his claws to move without thinking about it. Colors were mixed, and then he felt himself painting the plate. He continued for several minutes, until he felt that he was done.
"Hmm, interesting. Who might that be? Friend of yours?" Curious, Spyro opened his eyes.
There, staring up at him from the plate, was the face of a dragon. A black dragon, with four horns on her head and pink scales on her neck, her sharp teeth curled into a frown.
"I- I don't know. She looks familiar, but-" He picked the plate up to bring it closer to his face, to study the details he'd added. As he brought the plate to eye level, a sudden feeling made him jump, dropping the plate to the ground. He heard it shatter, but his mind was
in another time, another place. A lush green meadow, a rushing blue river, mountains surrounding the meadow - a valley. A feeling of sadness washed over him, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
"Oh dear, the plate's broken." Spyro felt Thor gently place a hand on his shoulder. "Not to worry Spyro, I can fix it for you. Better luck next time, yes?" He could hear the hopeful tone to Thor's voice. All Spyro could do was stare down at the broken plate, a sense of
sorrow and guilt and longing filling his mind.
"Are you alright, Spyro? I know you're disappointed that it broke, but it's not beyond fixing." Spyro hesitated before answering.
"Yeah, I'm.. I'm okay. I don't think this is my calling either, though." He paused. "Can I still keep the plate, after you fix it?"
"Of course, of course! You made it, it's yours. Even if this isn't your calling, it's something you made." Thor smiled at Spyro. "I'll bring it to you once it's all fixed up."
Spyro thanked Thor and left his workshop, eventually running into Nils.