I woke up in the early morning. It was a little chilly here, but that's not bothering me as much as my mind is right now.

I attacked someone, I know it was to protect a friend, but it was still wrong…. I can't let it happen again….. At least I still think that way, my mother would be disappointed in me if I turned out like Malefor. Heck, I would be disappointed in me….

That's enough for this morning, I can't let my entire day be negative. If I do, I'll never be happy again. So I'll do something that makes me happy! Time to find something new to add to my garden!

I recently heard from Spyro that the temple here used to have a special vine that grew on it. Apparently it's known as moon vine, because apparently during the night the flowers on the vines glow like moonlight. So the first order of business is to find that temple…. but where is it….. I'm not one for geography so just getting here was by chance. Maybe I'll see it from the air.

I take off from the ground and get a good distance above the canopy of mushrooms. Now I'm looking for a singular building, that's meant to blend in, in an ocean of mushrooms. Maybe if I look for the big sky opening/access thing, I'll be able to find it easier rather than looking for the whole building.

In the meantime I'll enjoy the flight. I like this too, it's quite therapeutic…. maybe I should have just gone for a flight rather than leaving…. no, I made the right choice. I can't let myself be comforted by them. I don't want to ever think I can get away with something like that again.

Quite some time passes, but I do eventually find the temple. It's afternoon now too, but I'm gonna try and get some sleep now. If I want to find those vines easily I need to look at night. So I head into the temple and take a nap.

Spyro and Cynder

"Where do you think he went Spyro?"

"I don't know Cynder…., I don't know."

They were sitting on the edge of one of Warfang's walls, looking out into the distance for any sign of where Sam might have went.

"I know it's not the time Cyn, but doesn't the tuff of forest over there look kinda funny."

She gave Spyro and an annoyed glance, but looked anyway, "your right, it's not the time, but… I think you may have found something." She looked back to Spyro, "was that tuff there the last time we were up here?"

Spyro took a moment to contemplate what she had said, then it hit him and without another second of hesitation he jumped off the wall and into the air. He dove straight at the spot they were looking at with Cynder hot on his tail.

They both landed with a thud and looked around for any sign of Sam.

"Well he's not here, but I think he was. The greenery here is all so fresh and healthy compared to the surrounding area."

Cynder dug her claws into the ground, "that and there is a fresh layer of soot too, he mostly likely expended a burst of power here and regrew it all out of guilt and to keep us from following him"

"I can understand that he would regrow something if he destroyed it, but why did he destroy it?"

"Probably to keep Treevus off his tail."

"That's true, Treevus can track down an individual by their energy. So he must also have cut himself off from the tree too since it's a direct link to himself."

Cynder had a horrified look on her face "Oh no…."

This concerned Spyro, "what do you mean oh no?"

"I overheard Treevus the other day talking with Sam. Apparently when he used a piece of his soul to create the tree, he had grabbed a sizable part of his elemental spark. Which means…. if he runs out of magic, that's it, no more, not until he reconnects with the tree anyway."

"Ok, I don't see how that's a bad thing, as soon as he realizes he's too low he'll reconnect or fly back and do it"

"The problem is, it was probably his goal to drain himself, which means he plans on staying powerless for a whole week."

"And out here, that's dangerous."

"We need to find him…., soon."

They begin to actively search the area for anything that might be easier to spot in order to better follow Sam's trail.

"Hay Cyn. Was there a Gem patch here before?

Cynder came over from where she was looking to the center of the clearing, "now that you mentioned it, I don't remember a gem patch being here on the map of located groves. Maybe it's new?"

"Or maybe Sam made it."

"That's impossible!... right?" She looked at Spyro with a furrowed brow, "unless…."

"That's what I was thinking, Treevus had mentioned that Nature dragons are capable of generating gem flowers on some of their anchors."

"So maybe because Sam is more powerful than a typical nature dragons he can create them?"

"You read my mind. The only problem… now we need to find another spot to make sure our theory is correct."

They both nod to each other and laugh into the air and look around for any other piece of changed geography.

"Spyro! Look over there!" She was pointing to another odd raised tuff of forest further from Warfang.

They both rushed toward it at top speeds and when they got there, they found their answer…. Sam was leaving a trail of spirit gem patches! They found a way to follow him! They both had a sense of excitement and terror from this. Excited they can find their friend, but terrified that he may have used up his energy by now…..

Sam

I woke up at about sunset, perfect timing really, so I enjoyed the sunset and set out at dark to find my moon vines. I scoured the entire outside of the temple looking for any sign of these vines…. nothing.

I was a little upset that I couldn't find them, but maybe they're just not in season right now. I'll search the temple library in the morning, but for now, I'm gonna enjoy a moonlight flight and burn off the last bit of my reserve energy. I'll make myself a fire first, but then that's the last of my magic for the week. I need to experience what it's like to be powerless again…. no matter how much it reminds me of the last time I was powerless to help……

6 years prior, back when Sam was human.

"Jessie don't do it! You have so much to live for!"

"You don't get it Sam… I'm tired, I'm tired of fighting back against all of the negativity In the world. I just want to be set free from it."

"Then don't do it like this! Think about how I'll feel! Or how your family feels! Or your friends!"

"You know how my family treats me Sam and I don't have any real friends. You're the only one that has really been there for me, but… it's just not enough for me to hold on anymore…."

That was the last time I had seen Jessie, she had been bullied to death. I'm not gonna beat around the bush…. she killed herself…. it broke me… I barely survived myself. She was everything to me… and I couldn't save her. I couldn't protect her….

I wasn't strong enough….. emotionally, let alone physically, to help her…..

Present time

I awoke in a cold sweat. I had relived a memory I had tried to suppress for a long time now. I was shaking from the emotions I was feeling. I still haven't healed from it and I don't think I ever will.

It's the early morning so I decided to get up early. I go for a quick scavenge through the nearby forest and find whatever I can have for breakfast.

It was a relatively small meal, but I wasn't hungry… I just need to get started with the day.

I make a couple of laps around the temple in the air and on the ground then I go inside. I may be punishing myself, but I'm not gonna just stop doing anything active. For now though I do want to go through the temple's library and if I remember correctly. The temple library is a sealed room that is meant to store a backup of Warfang's vital information and it's updated every year of the dragon. So my hope is that there is a bit of information on the temple and surrounding vegetation to help survivors of whatever contingent that may have gone down, to survive. The only problem is finding the room itself. So I begin the search of the temple for anything that may lead or give me a clue as to where the sealed library is.

I spent most of the time wandering instead of actually searching. I had a lot on my mind and I just couldn't seem to shake it. I ended up wasting the whole day away. So I took one more look outside to see if I could spot the vines myself. No luck. I guess I'll just try and get some sleep.

The night was cold… and quite. There wasn't a sound inside the temple. It was completely baron. I wanted to make a fire for myself, but I had made sure to drain all my energy to make sure I stuck to my self imposed powerlessness. My only solace was the night sky. It was vibrant with colors and the twin moons were both full. It brought me peace.

'I'm glad you find peace in the world around you rather than seeing the darkness."

"Who's to say that darkness can't be part of the peace in the world Ignitus? Without the darkness of night how would anyone be able to sleep."

'That's not entirely what I meant young one. I was enjoying the fact that you can so easily set aside your power, most can't.'

"I know what it feels like to be powerless and I know what it's like to hold power. Neither is different, both have problems."

'You seem to have it figured out… so why not return now?'

"To be completely honest, it feels more like I'm running from my problems at this point. I try to make things better, but then I turn around and make them worse again…."

'So what are you gonna do to fix it?'

"I don't know…"

'Are you just going to let things stay bad?'

"Of course not."

'So you're going to try and make things better even if you might make it worse?'

"I...don't want to make it worse…."

'So what are you going to do?'

"I'll keep trying I guess."

'You guess?'

"No…. I WILL keep trying until like make it better!"

'There ya go. Now you should probably get back to your friends. They're worried about you'

"Nah, i came all the way out here, might as well not go home empty handed. Say, do you know where I might be able to find those moon vines?"

'You never change much do you? Well… the last time I saw them there was some in Spyro's old village near here, but they're going extinct, so don't be too disappointed when you don't find any.'

"Ok… *yaaawwwn* I'll go look for them first, thing…. in the mor...zzzz"

'Heh, goodnight Sam, sweet dreams.'

That night, Sam went to sleep with a smile on his face and had dreams that weren't plagued with his worries. With some help, he was able to figure it out and now he was ready to face his friends again. He just needs to find what he's looking for a and apologize to his friends for leaving and it would be settled.

However, in the middle of the night, two silhouettes loomed over him. Their intentions unclear.