Time for that explanation, plus an additional scene that's been in anticipation, Cal actually inviting his friends into his house! Believe me, for a loner, that isn't easy. What is going to happen? Read on and find out!


Ch17: Fruit of the Search

Cynder stepped outside the Spargus gate leaving everyone else behind. She took a quick survey of the area in front of her, where she took a good first look of the vast landscape of the wasteland. No one or thing was in sight, however, something else suddenly came to her mind, that perhaps whom she was looking for hadn't left at all. She turned left toward the direction they originally came, and sure enough there stood Calidan, leaning against the wall of Spargus a few feet away from the gate. To Cynder, at least he wasn't a liar, after all he said he would stick with them to end the Dark Maker threat, but that didn't remove the shady characteristics that were apparent at the moment. She snorted and walked toward him until she was right next to him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Waiting for you guys, what else?" answered Calidan without hesitation.

"Being part of a team includes being in the loop, and you being absent from any meeting leaves holes in our communication," explained Cynder.

"I heard everything, you don't have to worry about that," said Calidan.

"That's not the point," argued Cynder shaking her head, "being present during discussion helps keep everyone on the same page, otherwise your just sneaking behind each others backs."

"I thought we made it clear earlier that wasn't my intention," stated Calidan.

"Then why stay out here? Actions speak louder than words, and yours right now are showing that our pact of trust is on real shaky ground," Cynder asked.

"Hey! I trust you guys completely, understood?" declared Calidan, "It's them I'm skeptical about." He knew he was referring to the people of Spargus, although Cynder didn't know that.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cynder feeling a little confused, "I thought this was where you came from, that these were your people."

"The wasteland is where I'm from," explained Calidan, "not Spargus, my home isn't here, it's out there." He finished pointing out toward the direction of the temple, where his hideout was. Cynder's eyes went perplexed for a moment, until she finally fit the pieces together.

"So, you live out there?" she said sadly gesturing to the desert, "all by yourself with no one around but this cat you keep talking about?"

"Is there a problem with that?" he strongly asked.

"It just seems so…" she began, "lonely…Are you really that alone? No friends or family?"

"Not everyone wants or is fortunate enough to have what you guys have Cynder," explained Calidan, "Those that I did trust before you are long gone, I haven't had any real contact in years. Yes, it is lonely at times, but at least I have my freedom, which is more than what I can say for the people here in this city. Living under someone's iron hand is no way for anyone to live in my opinion, I'd rather be alone and free then part of some group subjected to a hard-headed king."

Now Cynder was feeling pity for Cal's predicament, the only one she was familiar with living in such isolation was the hermit she and Spyro encountered long ago, and it was pretty clear what that kind of life did to him. It drove him mad, now she was afraid Calidan might end up the same, but after hearing his explanation, he seemed to have a better grip on his sanity then she thought. She had already seen him in action, and he did have his interests, in his mechanical work as far as she knew. Still, no matter how grounded some people may seem living on their own, they eventually break down without support, she knew this for a fact. She had to make Calidan realize that there were other people he could learn to trust, outside of Jak, Spyro and her.

"You make a convincing argument Calidan, I won't argue about that," said Cynder, "but it's still selfish and narrow-minded." Calidan glared at her remark, a gesture she gladly returned without backing down.

"Living your life believing there's no one you can trust is no life at all, I've said before if you don't learn to live outside your comfort zone, you will never really grow. So work on abandoning, if not right now the train of thought that prohibits you from moving on. You might be surprised what you can find when you let people in," she finished. Calidan looked at her skeptically for a moment, then off to the side attempting to take her words in. Seeing that he was once again paying attention, Cynder decided to get back to the matter at hand.

"Come on, let's go in," she said turning back toward the gate, "don't worry, I'm sure they won't bite." She finished with a mocking grin.

Calidan scoffed, "Hmph, I thought the fly and the rat were supposed to be the comic relief in this group."

"You pick up a few things from being around other people, some good and bad," she explained still smirking. They both started walking toward the gate again, and once they rounded the corner to see inside again, they caught everyones attention. They looked on momentarily to see Cynder and the new recruit walk through the gate.

"Where were you exactly?" Jak asked with a glare, arms crossed.

"Figured it was best to listen from a distance," Calidan explained.

"Well its not," Jak continued, "We collaborate together in the same room or not at all, understood?"

"Aye Aye fearless," he replied, causing Jak to scowl, he may have begun to trust this guy, but his attitude was clearly something that still needed to be addressed. Sig finally spoke having seen the whole thing.

"Well your definitely a wastelander, and not just because of your attire that's for sure," said Sig.

"Thank you," said Calidan.

"Though I'm curious where you have been hiding, I don't think I've seen you around Spargus before," Sig commented.

"That's because I don't live here, my home is out there," Calidan said pointing behind himself with his thumb. Sig one eye went wide, he immediately became suspicious.

"Out there?" he stammered, "You wouldn't be associated with the Marauders would you?" Calidan scoffed with a look of disgust at his declaration.

"Ugh, don't insult me by associating me with those brainless brutes, I might as well let myself be eaten by metalpedes if I were to ever associate with any of them," he declared.

"Relax Sig," said Jak turning to him, "He may not be one of Spargus, but he is not one of the Marauders either, I can promise you that."

"A nomad huh?" said Sig, "Didn't think any of you guys still existed outside the walls."

"Well I'm living proof that there is, but as much as I would like to get acquainted around here, I believe we have a mission to undertake?" Calidan said hoping to get back on track.

"Right," said Jak. "Calidan, hop aboard the Dune Hopper here, Sig, can you give a ride to Spyro and Cynder aboard the Gila Stomper?"

"To the temple?" asked Sig, "Jak you and I both know that tank can't reach the temple."

"It doesn't have to," he said, "Just to the mounds so they can dismount and follow us across to it."

"You know Jak, we could fly ourselves," said Spyro, "that way you wouldn't have to waste using two vehicles."

"Not a good idea," said Calidan behind him, "traversing the wasteland without proper transport is not wise, there are hazards that can't be overlooked out there, and you guys are not experienced enough to traverse it safely, even in flight. You would be better off riding with us, so the risk of getting separated is minimized."

Spyro nodded with a gruff, he did not enjoy riding in the vehicles of this world, they were too cumbersome and rough. He relished the feeling of flight every moment he could on this world. Though after hearing Calidan's explanation, he realized he and Cynder were going to have to learn and learn fast if they were going to make it out in this desolate area of the planet.

"Newbie speaks the truth Spyro," said Sig, "Don't worry, riding on the Gila Stomper will be much easier then the Dune Hopper."

"I'll have to take more then just your word to believe that," he said dismally.

"Okay, mount up everyone, we have a temple to reach," said Jak.

"Hold it!" Everyone immediately froze and turned toward Calidan who caught their attention, "before we go back to the temple, we have to make a quick stop first."


The two Spargus vehicles rumbled across the wasteland dunes, kicking up sand with every rotation. The Dune Hopper was in the lead with Jak and Daxter in the driver's seat and Calidan sitting by in the passenger seat. Two car lengths behind them, the Gila Stomper followed them with Sig at the wheel and the dragons and Sparx riding atop the gun platform, keeping their bodies and wings low to avoid catching any drafts. They had passed through the Spargus mountain break and were driving over the large east expanse of the desert. Soon, they had passed a cave that was carved out in the volcano mountain on their right, and were approaching the top of another hill. Upon reaching the top of it, the view of desecrated structures lay in a small crater in front of them, where leaper lizards were known to dwell as Jak remembered from his previous mission here. But now they were stopping here for a new purpose according to Calidan.

"Where is this entrance you were talking about?" Jak asked him.

"Over at the far most corner," he explained, "my shooting range is enclosed in one of these ruined buildings, as well as the backdoor to my home. But drive into the structure maze itself to conceal the vehicles, the less visible they are, the better."

Jak nodded and turned down an alley in the ruins on the far side. He turned around to make sure Sig was right behind him, and he kept moving ahead per Calidan's instructions. They were ruins on both sides of them, and what appeared to be a dead end a few car lengths in front of them. He figured they had taken a wrong turn, until Calidan spoke, "There! Stop here!"

Jak applied the brakes, bringing the Hopper to a stop, and Sig followed his lead right behind him. They were at the end of an alley, with another wall in front of them. Pretty much everyone was skeptical about where the entrance to Cal's home could be in all of this, but they trusted him enough to know he knew where his own home was. Calidan jumped out of the Hopper and onto the dunes, looking up at the top of the ruined building closest to him.

"You can climb out now, we're here," he said. Everyone climbed out of their respective vehicles and approached Calidan near the building.

"This is where you live?" asked Sparx skeptically looking at the building, "Man this place makes Haven currently look like a paradise."

"This is where the back entrance to my home is," Calidan explained, "not my home itself, weren't you paying any attention when I said so before?"

"Sparx? Paying attention?" commented Cynder with a grin, "that will be the day." Everyone chuckled at her comment except of course the dragonfly himself. Jak took a look around the base and saw nothing that looked like an entrance.

"Exactly how did you get to it from here? I'm not seeing a door?"

"Door? Huff, right, then I pretty much would be inviting intruders to come in," Calidan said as he reached into his bag again, pulling out his rope and grapple. "I also can't exactly have a ladder out here either, otherwise well, see previous explanation." Everyone nodded getting his point. He stepped away from them and started swinging the grapple like a lasso, and after 30 seconds, he released it upward toward the top of the structure and watched as it fell and gripped onto the edge of the wall. He tugged it a little to make sure it was stable and put his feet to start climbing.

"You know," said Cynder, "Spyro and I could have just flown you and Jak up and over the wall so you wouldn't have had to use that."

"I know and appreciate the thought," said Calidan as he kept climbing, "but you guys were the ones who asked me how I got in this way by myself all this time, so I figured I'd show you, now are you guys coming or what?"

"Alright then, Sig," Jak said turning to him, "stay out here and guard the vehicles, just to keep them safe."

"You want me to guard them by myself against whatever might be out here?" he asked before grinning, "nice to know you haven't lost confidence in me."

"Not a chance bucko!" replied Daxter smiling rather comically. The dragons started to take flight, and once they had, they moved over to Jak, and grabbed his shoulders and started lifting him up. They all reached the top the same time as Calidan did. Calidan retrieved his grapple and threw it down into the shooting range below. He in turn jumped down into it, with the dragons and Jak close behind. They all made touchdown and took a quick look at the innards of the building. Calidan's shooting range was definitely makeshift and simple, there were metal panels painted with targets at the one end of the structure, and numerous shot shells littered the floor, and there was even a workhorse off to the side.

"Hmm, its very…very…" Jak began.

"What? Drool? Primitive? Ramshackle?" Calidan commented back with a somewhat offended tone.

"Yeah, that's pretty much all the words I could think of," said Jak with a smirk.

"Hmph, well sorry, I don't exactly have the resources, time or space for a state of the art gun course," replied Calidan.

"We understand," said Cynder consolely before turning to glare at Jak, "Right?"

Jak caught her stare with a bit of shock, which Spyro, Sparx and even Daxter snickered at. Collecting himself quickly he replied, "right."

"Besides," Cal said walking toward the center of the range, "what we are really here for, is right here." He bent down and picked up what appeared to be a chain hidden in the sand. He yanked it lightly, and a click could be heard. He then pulled up on the chain, and a hatch was opening up, revealing to the audience the back entrance to his hideout. All of them were a bit stunned, or even impressed as Daxter said, "Sweet, you gotta love these hidden entrances."

"There wouldn't happen to be any booby traps down here we outta know about?" Jak asked walking up to Cal as he descended down the ladder to the tunnel.

"Nope, the hidden locks are security enough for me, now are you all going to come down, or twiddle your thumbs and claws up here?" he soon disappeared into the hole, hopefully leading everyone else down. Spyro jumped into the hole first, and made his way down carefully on the ladder with Sparx clinging to his horn. Cynder followed next, leaving Jak and Daxter bringing up the rear as they closed the hatch behind them. Calidan had activated the light on his goggles and was leading them down the tunnel, along with Sparx who acted as a natural light for the others at the back. The tunnel was fortunately wide enough for the dragons to still fit through despite their growth, though they innerly hoped they wouldn't have to use this tunnel again in the near future when they did outgrow it. Eventually they came to the other end of the tunnel, where another latch with a mechanical switch was fastened into the wall.

"I guess we are here right?" Spyro asked Calidan from behind him. Calidan just went up to the latch and flicked the mechanical switch, opening the hatch. "Ah, home sweet home."

He opened the door and crawled into his hideout, setting his feet down on the familiar sand. He immediately walked over to his workbench next to him. Spyro poked his head out of the hatch, and looked around before exiting. Cynder followed his lead, and then Jak, who took a full survey of the hideout before exiting the hatch. The hideout looked like an underground hut to him, shaped similarly to Samos's old hut, he even saw what appeared to be a lookout tower in the ceiling of the place. There was a series of steps aligning the walls on the far side, apparently leading to other rooms built into the rock. He looked ahead and saw in the center, Calidan's own personal vehicle, the Dune Striker, which immediately became the apple of his eye in the house. The dragons took view of the place themselves, before turning toward Calidan at his workbench in front of them, who appeared to be unloading his bags contents and the guns he had kept on his back.

"Well, for a guy who said he knows how to work with what he's got, you definitely weren't lying, this place is amazing, like a miniature Spargus," said Spyro.

"Thanks, it pretty much makes me the king of the whole place," replied Calidan.

"Nice wheels you got there," Jak told him, causing him to turn around to face him. He knew Jak was talking about the vehicle, he figured that would be the one thing that would catch people's attention if he had ever invited them in.

"Looks similar to the Sand Shark from Spargus," he commented, "You wouldn't have happened to have borrowed one from Spargus would you?" he rose an eye to him like an interrogator.

"Please," said Cal, "I'm not stupid, I may not be symbiotic with Damas's kingdom, but I know better then to make enemies with them. What you're looking at is my pride and joy, the Dune Striker, built from a chassis I scavenged from a Marauder camp years ago, I've made every modification on it since then. Though for the record, yes it looks similar to your Sand Shark, but that's because I've seen it driven around the desert a couple times, you pick up a few design ideas from observation."

"I see," said Jak.

"Judging from your 'pride and joy' and your workbench here," said Cynder observing the unknown project that was set across the whole bench, the one unknowingly to them Calidan had been working on before meeting up with them. "You're as much as a mechanic as you've let on apparently, you and Keira would get along real well."

"Keira? You mean Jak's girl Keira?" asked Cal with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, she is quite mechanically inclined herself," added Spyro.

"Heh, so both your girls are technically inclined?" Calidan chuckled turning toward Jak and Daxter, "You two are more fortunate then anyone might realize."

"Yup, we're reminded every day," Daxter said gleefully, looking off into the distance remembering his sweetie Tess back in Haven.

"HmmHmm," Jak nodded, "Just don't get any funny ideas if they do decide to collaborate with you," he warned with a glare. The dragons looked at him shockingly, knowing where Jak was going with what he said. They turned toward Cal who wore the same look, though only for a moment when he laughed shaking his head.

"Hehehe, please," he began, "I won't lie, your girls are pretty and all and I'm sure everyone would agree with me, but like I said, I'm not stupid." Jak raised an eye momentarily, but nodded feeling that he could trust the guy's integrity. Though during this irregular discussion, a certain set of eyes were peeking out from underneath the bed of the Dune Striker, and they had eyes on his prey. A furry orange ottsel perched atop a strangers shoulder in his master's house was more than enough to kick his predatory instincts in. He poked his head out from underneath the vehicle slightly and silently hissed. Daxter caught something out of the corner of his eye snapping him out of his romantic train of thought about Tess. He could have sworn something was moving down near the vehicle. He was slightly panicking, having plenty of experience of hostile creatures sneaking up on him, it was almost like a sixth sense that always set him into a panic. Right now, it was going off, and immediately turned toward Jak to warn him, however…

Mrrowwrrr!

"Yaaahhh!"

Everyone turned to see a black and white wildcat the size of a leaper lizard leap out from underneath the vehicle and leap toward Daxter. Jak immediately ducked and rolled out of the way in instinct and the wildcat flew over him, crashing into the closed hatch behind him. Jak immediately backed away in defense, with Daxter panicking with wide eyes behind Jak's back away from the vicious feline. The dragons and Sparx were shocked as well, and went into a defensive stance around Jak. The feline picked himself up after shaking the daze out of his head, and hissed once again toward the group, apparently not intimidated by numbers. The standoff only lasted less of a minute before…

"ROBIN!"

Everyone turned around to see Calidan with a stern glare on his face, they were all still shocked at the sudden attack, and now even more so that Calidan was calling down this apparent wild animal. He walked right by them and up to the cat, not intimidated in the slightest, though the cat seemed to calm down slightly upon the sight of him.

"At ease you crazy nut!" he said holding out his hand, "These are guests welcome by me, and you do not attack those that are welcome, understand?!" He pointed down toward his nose with his finger, still not showing any slack of authority. The cat then started sniffing his nose before reaching his head toward his hand. Cal then smirked and started petting his buddy to the point where he started purring. "There, that's better right buddy?"

Everyone was looking at him still shocked, until Jak breathed a sigh of relief, now realizing this was the wildcat Cal had been talking about. The dragons stood at ease themselves following his lead, while the sidekicks just peeked their eyes out at the scene still scared stiff. Cal started rubbing under Robin's chin to give him some assurance that everything was cool, before turning toward the group behind him.

"Sorry about that guys, Rob has never come across any friendly strangers except me, though I'm pretty sure the sight of your furry little friend there tipped off his predatory instincts," he explained with his hand still on Robin's head.

"No kidding!" yelled Daxter.

"So this is your wildcat buddy you kept talking about," said Jak.

"Yup, this is Robin everyone," Cal said before turning toward the feline, "Robin, these are my new friends, Jak, Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, and Daxter." He pointed toward each of them respectively, though at his direction of Daxter, Robin began hissing at him again. Daxter immediately ducked behind Jak again out of sight.

Noticing this, Cal retaliated sternly, "Hey! What did I just say? No attacking friends! No matter how appetizing they might seem, got it?!" He gripped the cats head and shook it lightly to make sure the wildcat got the message. The cat and the human traded looks as everyone else watched. They all heard Robin groan and drop his head slightly, causing Cal to release him.

"That's what I thought," he said, "go off in the corner somewhere for your punishment, I'll feed you a proper meal in a moment." He pointed off behind the Dune Striker, and Robin apparently complied and drudged off away from the group. Calidan stood up as everyone relaxed.

"Heh, well, not exactly the first impression I was hoping he would make," he said.

"You shouldn't be surprised," said Jak, "Yours wasn't very grand itself."

"Touche, though I guess I should have expected this, Rob's social skills pretty much mirror my own."

"Like master, like pet, right?" Cynder commented.

"Funny"

"Well, now that we've all been formally introduced to him," said Spyro, "shouldn't we get back to why we are here in the first place?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth Spyro," said Jak, "He's right, we need to get to the temple now."

"I know I know, but remember we came here for two reasons, one to restock my Omega Fire since I emptied it," said Cal.

"And the second?" asked Jak.

"To feed Robin of course!" he stated, "poor guy's been without food and water for a whole day, and out here, keeping replenished is everything." His explanations complete, he walked over toward his pets dishes to feed him. Everyone else watched him walk off feeling completely befuddled. Sparx was the first to say something after letting go of Spyro's horn.

"Uh is it just me, or is this guy's priorities seriously mixed up?"

"He lives in an underground hole," began Daxter peeking out from behind Jak again, "in a desolate wasteland with no one for company other than a freaky mangy deathcat! What do you think?!" Sparx sneered at him but didn't say anything, though Jak, Spyro, and Cynder all wore apprehensive looks, feeling there was a bit of truth behind the sidekicks words.


After five more minutes of taking care of everything at Calidan's hideout, the group made their way back out through the exit tunnel they came and over the wall again. They met up with Sig and said he could return to Spargus while they went on ahead to the temple. Since it was just over the hill, it was no problem for the dragons and Sparx to fly alongside Jak and Calidan in the Dune Hopper. After a quick farewell, both vehicles went in separate directions, with the aliens following the latter. The Dune Hopper made its way to the temple mounds and upon reaching the edge, Jak hit the jump booster and propelled the Hopper into the air across the water to the next mound. Unlike Spyro, Calidan actually enjoyed the thrill of free flight in the vehicle, having never had the privilege to ride in any of Spargus's vehicles before.

"That was awesome! Do it again man!" cheered Calidan.

"You want more?" Jak smirked toward him as they approached the next one, "you got it!" He hit the booster again propelling them once more.

"WOOHOO!"

His cheers startled the dragons and Sparx flying a little further behind them, who were really flabbergasted by his apparent ridiculous behavior. Though they knew from previous experience that people on this planet really enjoyed the thrill of vehicle racing, that it was akin to their own enjoyment of flight. Although the people here seemed to take their enthusiasm more extreme, even Sparx wasn't nearly as outrageous as some of the people here.

"These people and their machines," remarked Spyro, "at times they almost act like newborn hatchlings around them."

"Tell me about it bro," replied Sparx.

"Maybe that's just how they act with anything they are passionate about, it's probably just a male trait," remarked Cynder. Spyro and Sparx shrugged upon hearing her, though it took a split moment for them to listen and realize what she said.

"Excuse me? What do you mean 'just a male trait'?" Spyro asked sternly.

"Yeah doomgirl! What?!" added Sparx angrily.

"Just that males almost seem overly ecstatic about their passions," Cynder chuckled, "and that it takes a female's maturity to level them out, hehe, you should know purple boy, you act very much the same way with your interests, and I'm sure Keira and Tess would agree with me."

"Really?" argued Spyro, "how so?" Cynder then turned toward him with a seductive smile, catching him off guard. Suddenly she flipped gracefully in flight and ended up in front of him flying backward with an alluring smile toward him. Spyro started feeling his heart thumping rapidly, realizing where this was going. He was feeling real hot right then and there, and not just because of the wasteland heat.

"You never seem to hold a straight face when you're around me all alone," she said in a very alluring tone, "you act like a cute drooling goof at first, before becoming very romantic…"

Spyro felt like he could fly without flapping, she was truly an angel in the sky, her graceful figure combined with the seductive tone she was talking to him in was enough to make him melt, while staring lovingly into her eyes, he spoke smiling, "what can I say, you have me spell bound Cynder, and I know for a fact that there are no dark powers in existence that could tell me otherwise."

Sparx stuck his tongue out away from their sight in disgust. He hated it when they did this around him, and immediately flew ahead so he couldn't see them. The dragons paid him no mind however and continued their little moment, Cynder replied with a giggle, "the feelings mutual you purple stud, I'm just glad I found you first, otherwise you might have been swarmed by immature fangirls long ago."

"Please," replied Spyro, "you're the only one for me beautiful, always and forever."

"And I you," she finished, finally reaching her head toward him causing the other to be enveloped in a passionate kiss. They had just reached the temple mount and the Dune Hopper had driven out of sight up the mountain so they were actually quite alone in a sense. After a minute, they let the kiss go and Cynder finished with a lick on the cheek and giggle as she flew ahead again brushing her tail on his other cheek as she did. Spyro could do nothing but grin as she flew ahead, taking the moment in. It felt like forever since they last did something like that, and he hoped more such moments would come.

"Attention Spyro," declared a comical voice with an authorative tone, shocking Spyro out of his dream state. "We interrupt this moment to ask you politely…get your head out of the clouds and come back down to the world while we still have one!" Spyro irritantly turned to see Sparx with a hand over his mouth, trying to imitate a landing operator or something, and nearly getting in his face as he completed his rant.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked his brother.

"Considering where you two were going," began Sparx, "Yes! Seriously why do you guys do this stuff at the worst possible time?"

"Well as you've said Sparx," began Spyro, "There never is a good time, especially in war, so you have to take each moment as they come, and never take it for granted."

"So you and Cynder just use each moment to go all lovey dovey on each other? Yeessh! I will never understand you two," said Sparx.

"Maybe because you've never had it yourself?" Spyro asked him grinning, immediately causing Sparx to go wide-eyed. In an instant he turned around to ask, "Excuse me?"

"Come on Sparx," said Spyro still grinning, "Don't you ever wish at all you could have what Cynder and I have? Or even Jak and Keira? No one would blame you if you did, I certainly wouldn't."

"Oh come on the jealousy card again?!" stated Sparx irritantly, "Please! The day I'm jealous of you and Cynder is the day you travel to another dimension!" With that he buzzed away, leaving Spyro behind, you after hearing his retorts, could only say one thing, "Oh Sparx, Mom always told us that there was someone for everyone, and you are no exception. I just hope someday you do find her, and then maybe you'll understand."

Up at the top of the mountain, near the temple entrance, the Dune Hopper finally reached the gate. Jak braked and did a three point move to reposition the Hopper in front of the gate so it could be driven directly down the mountain when they exited. He shut off the engines, and unbuckled his seat belt prior to dismounting, and Calidan followed his lead. The familiar sight of the temple gate stood in front of them, though they both wondered what would occur this time, as did Daxter.

"Seems like only yesterday we were here," said Daxter.

"That's because it was," said Jak.

"Oh, right, well I just figured I break the silence," replied Daxter.

"Yeah well in your case Daxter," said Calidan, "Silence is golden as far as I'm concerned." The ottsel sneered at him, feeling quite angry with him both for his throwback and the fact that his pet wildcat nearly tried to eat him earlier, as he once threatened him.

"Hello boys!" Cynder's voice caught their attention, and they turned to see her land right behind them, with Spyro in tow.

"Almost thought I lost you guys back there," said Jak, "what kept you?"

"We were just…" began Spyro trying to disguise his awkwardness at concealing his and Cynder's moment, "having a personal conversation." Cynder snickered at his explanation, making Jak suspicious and Calidan confused.

"Personal?" asked Calidan, "as opposed to what?"

"Trust me dude," said Sparx flying in his face, and saying slightly nauseated, "you don't want to know." He flew away with that toward the temple, leaving Calidan even more confused. Jak and Daxter on the other hand, already knowing of Spyro and Cynder's relationship, slyly grinned at them. "Personal huh?"

"Shut it Daxter," snorted Cynder.

"Right," he dryly replied.

"Okay," said Calidan feeling irritated now, "Is there something going on I don't know about? I thought you said its best for everyone in the team to be kept in the loop!"

Jak could only chuckle lightly at his denseness and told him simply, "You're a grown man, you'll figure it out." He then turned toward the temple entrance to follow Sparx, and the dragons followed his lead. Which left Calidan standing by the Dune Hopper for a minute dumbfounded by what he heard, and all he could say was, "what the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

He could only shake his head at this dysfunctional family he had become a part of, before finally running after them to catch up. They had all eventually entered the temple atrium once again, taking in the familiar expanse for just a moment, before Jak led them toward the stairwell that took them down further into the temple. Calidan observed the atrium and was relieved to see that the monolith that had collapsed under his weight had been cleaned up. He silently hoped there wouldn't be future reprecussions for that, but he never dared to bring it up again. As they walked down the stairs, Cynder and Sparx took their time in looking at the temple more thoroughly since they didn't have as much a chance as before. Soon they reached the bottom and came upon the main chamber, where the center pedestal stood in front of them, the dark precursor idol was in back as it always was, and the Mar gate on the right side of the wall they had entered into before.

"Okay, where is everyone?" Calidan had to ask, "Sig said we were specifically called out here for a reason and no one is here to even greet us?"

"I find it odd myself," said Spyro.

"Maybe they are still busy with what they called us in here for," said Cynder, "Perhaps they are all at the portal arch."

"It's possible," said Jak, turning around toward them "though with the monks and their mysterious ways they have always had a habit of…" He wanted to continue, but the looks on Cal's, Spyro's, and Cynder's faces caused him to stop, for they seemed to be staring at something right behind him. He groaned, knowing instantly what, or who it was, "…sneaking up on us." He turned and saw of course, to his irritation Seem, who was staring at him as blank as ever.

'How does she do that?' he thought to himself.

"I am relieved you got my message and came quickly," said Seem.

"Yeah, we can see that," stated Jak.

"You said you have new information regarding the portal," said Spyro as he walked up in front of her with Cynder and Sparx at his side, "what have you found out?"

"Truthfully purple dragon," Seem began, "it is not something I can just tell, but something I must show you, come." With that, she turned toward the Mar gate to lead them back toward the arch. Before the dragons could follow however, Daxter had to retort quietly, "Let the cryptic behavior continue."

"I heard that!" declared Seem, shocking Daxter, and causing everyone else to look at him smugly, including Sparx.

"Oooh, someones in trouble," he mocked, causing Daxter to swipe at him, with a miss.

They soon followed Seem through the door and down the temple halls. Lit torches were fastened upon the walls every 10 yards or so, though the halls themselves were surprisingly clean. The monks not only appeared to dedicate themselves to their research, but also to preserving this wondrous temple very well. Of course some places were better kept then others, as Calidan found out unfortunately. After a 10 minute walk, they found themselves at the door to the statue room. It opened upon Seem's approach, and the party followed her through. They made their way around the eco well in the center of the small hollow before entering into the statue room, where the three precursor statues were planted eternally.

"Talk about coming full circle," Calidan said to himself.

"This way," Seem told them as she directed them to a walkway along the wall. It was very narrow, so it was clear not to misstep it or one would be lost in the abyss below. This was a minor matter to Jak's group as well as Seem, and merely followed her as the walkway led up to the chamber they were here for. They all stepped into the chamber which housed the arch that originally brought them all together here. They all took a good look at it, including Calidan, who had never seen it before.

"So," he said, "This structure is brought you dragons out here in the first place?"

"That's it," said Spyro.

"Honestly, I was expecting something a little more modern you know?" His comment drew everyones attention, in a belligerent way, as he unfortunately saw from the scowls on their faces.

"What?" he asked.

"Does everything have to be high tech to you?" asked Jak.

"Sorry, but what do you expect me to say? the science of mechanics and engineering have always come naturally to me, magic on the other hand, is outside my league," explained Calidan.

"A wise man once said that magic and science are always intertwined," said Seem, "one truly cannot understand one without the other, and you would do well to remember that young one!"

"Yes maam," groaned Cal.

"That aside," Cynder cut in, "what can you tell us about it now?"

"Only a little from what I have deciphered so far on its runes," Seem explained before reaching into her side pocket, "and from I've been able to interpret in this."

She caught everyones attention with what she had pulled out of her pocket, a golden book, complete with the symbol that was of a strange medley of the Seal of Mar and a dragon. They went wide-eyed for a moment before they all moved closer to examine it, it truly was unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. If the mystifying effect of the symbol didn't dazzle them, the shine of its golden hue did.

"Wow, now that's shiny," commented Daxter in a daze.

"I've heard of books being written gold," said Spyro, "but this is taking it too literally." Seem actually seemed to smile a little at his small joke.

"Where have you had this all this time?" asked Jak.

"It was hidden long ago by our predecessors apparently," said Seem, "it is unknown when right now, though I hypothesize it has been here as long as the temple itself." That theory definitely drew a shock from the group, considering the temple was thousands of years old according to the monks.

"Though the age of the book is not the greatest mystery, for like all books, it is what we found inside that is truly astonishing," she said opening the book to the page her monks had found. Once again, the group was shocked upon what they saw, a pictograph of the arch itself.

"The arch? No way," gasped Spyro.

"Could it possibly be a pictograph of the Armageddon Arch on our world?" asked Cynder.

"I am not familiar with the one you describe by name," said Seem. "But I am certain this picture represents this one, for unlike the first one you dragons may have come across, this one is not powered by the energy of a purple dragon, but by the power of eco." She then turned the page once again to reveal the four artifact pictures. "These artifacts as I've been able to interpret are the keys to controlling it."

"Well well, for once those Precursors actually made a manual for one of their pieces of junk!" exclaimed Daxter.

"How can there be another set of arches between our worlds in the first place?" asked Jak, recounting what he and the dragons had learned from Onin long ago. "When we first learned about this planetary link we were never told about another set of portals."

"As much as we wish we could find the answer to all lifes mysteries dark one, we are still only mortal, and can only do so much," Seem stated softly, "though I don't believe this mystery can't be solved, I have yet to interpret all the runes we transcribed from the arch body right now, I have however, deciphered its name, the Alliance Arch."

"Alliance?" the whole group said out loud.

"Yeesh, and I thought Armageddon was lame," droned Sparx.

"What about these artifacts shown here?" asked Calidan, "What are they called? Are they even here?"

"Still asking many questions," Seem stated, "at least this time it's with reason." Her remark only made Calidan put on an unimpressed look. Seem however continued with her explanation.

"From the text I have found that two artifacts have been split between the two halves of the portal these arches create, and they are identified as follows, HoloCube, Quantum Reflector, Beta-Sphere, and Omniprism," she said pointing to each of them respectively. "We just discovered the Quantum Reflector in our archives prior to your arrival."

"That's great!" said Cynder, lifting everyones spirits.

"However, we have been unable to locate any others," Seem said sadly.

"That sucks," said Sparx, dousing everyones spirits.

"My so called Head of Research was to have reported to me by now," Seem said rather steaming, "and he has not yet returned since I sent him down there, so I will go there myself and..."

"Wait!" a voice cried out from around the corner, catching all of their attention. A monk wearing a peculiar looking headpiece suddenly came into the room followed by two other monks. Though they had never met him, the group seemed to realize this was Seem's Head Research Monk. "No need to retrieve me sister, I have returned."

"A much delayed arrival you realize," she hissed at him.

"I know," the Head Research Monk said rather calmly, "but I did my extensive view of the archives like you said, with unfortunately no success, and then suddenly I had an epiphany, much like you would have Sister Seem whenever you seem to discover new Precursor mysteries while…"

"Get to the point!" she shouted, stunning everyone, including Jak's group. This monk clearly was not one you wanted to have on her bad side. The Head collected himself to speak clearly again, as much as he could, "what if the artifact were not in our archives, but still buried somewhere out in the lands? Even better, what if it was one we picked up recently without knowing what it truly was as we've done many times before? So I left the archives to examine the piles of our recent finds in the wasteland, and this is the fruit of my search, as well as all of ours."

He stepped aside to see a third monk walking up the wallpath toward them. Everyone saw he was carrying something, but it wasn't until he reached the end of the walkway that they could clearly make it out. They truly were speechless, for in the monk's arms lay the second artifact they needed to power their end of the gate, the Holocube.


They have reached the halfway point of fully activating the portal! Hope you enjoyed the bit of Spyro/Cynder romance I threw in, hehe, as well as the laughter pops of meeting Cal's pet. Coming up is a moment we've all been waiting for, Jak and Daxter finally set foot on Spyro's world!