Chapter 02: Sentinels | October 24, 12:12 PM

"Man, we hit the gold mine, look at all these gems!" Flame said, happily scooping their newly acquired money into a sack they had also just newly purchased. The Forger's weapon they sold went for a VERY pretty penny, garnering many gems and pieces of gold and silver.

"With this, we could eat for a year!" Spyro said excitedly as well, walking with Flame from the vendor where they dropped off the Forger's weapon. Sparx buzzed by happily as well, smiling at the sight of the gems before buzzing away. Flame fastened the pack to his side with the help of Spyro, safely tucking their newly acquired wealth away.

"What're we going to do with all these gems?" Flame asked.

"Well for one, let's get it out of here. Let's get it somewhere safe and figure out what we're going to spend it on." Spyro suggested.

"Oh come on man, we're here in a market! Let's see what they have to sell!"

"I don't know… it's a little risky walking around with this." Spyro said, tilting his head.

Flame pouted, looking around. They were inside the flooded city's market area. It was much different from the inner city's market. Small tents and huts were set up along the old roads between the buildings, all vying to sell their different items. The ground here was uneven, and because of the nature of the flooded city wooden bridges connected the various islands that still remained above the waterline. Whatever happened to this city, half of it collapsed in on itself and the vast ocean flooded it all. There were many patches where it hadn't given way, and they had all been interconnected and became the flooded city. There were also many areas where enough of the city was near the surface where people could live within the buildings that poked above the water.

Spyro walked by one of the vendors, many pieces of scrap metal laying on his shack. The sign on his vendor claimed these were once used by the Forgers as magical cleaning devices. Spyro had seen these things in old books. They used to be parts to those metal chassis scattered across the surface cities. One of them was a… muffler or something like that. Spyro didn't think they were used at all to clean something…

"Hey Spyro, check these out." Flame said, calling Spyro's attention to another vendor nearby. Spyro turned, looking at the vendor. The sign claimed "dragon armor." Dragon armor?

Spyro trotted over, seeing several pieces of armor laid out on the table, each being made from metal or a durable plastic. Many were for older dragons but there were some that were for their size.

"What do you think Spyro, should we?"

"I don't know Flame… look at the prices." Spyro pointed out, the sign asking for 50 gemstones for a set of armor.

"Ah but see, this armor is laced with the finest Forger's materials. Look, the paddings are made from their warriors armor! It is of the finest material!" The salesman, an overweight pig bi-pedal, tapped at the pieces of armor. The padding did look pretty nice, Spyro had to admit. It looked to have been taken from existing armor, cut down to size and refitted to be placed on a dragon's chest, legs and back. It was multi-layered, and when Spyro tapped his talon onto the padding itself, he could feel how dense it was.

"I am asking for but just a mere 50 gems! You might be paying 100, or even 200 in the inner city markets. Keep that in mind…" The salesman smirked at Spyro, who frowned. As good as the armor was, that was nearly half of what they had been paid for the weapon. It would be stupid to squander all their money on one suit of armor.

"Thanks, but we'll pass." Spyro said, smiling. The pig shrugged.

"You'll regret it, I hear the Sentinels are on the move. You'll WANT this protection." He tapped the armor again before turning to another customer who stopped by. Spyro ushered Flame away, who sighed at the decision.

"Come on man, it was so cool!"

"Yeah but dude, that's half our money. We should really keep a hold of some in case we run into trouble. Don't forget food."

"I guess so…" Flame said in defeat, the two of them walking slowly through the crowd of shoppers as they made their way through the market. It was so crowded here, so many people coming and going. Each of them had various items having from their clothing, bottles of water, pouches full of junk, you name it. There were also various weapons that Spyro could see within the crowd. Many were rifles or guns of some kind but they were all crude in design and make. No weapons were of the same design, all very different, very unique.

"So, what now then if we can't get that kick-ass armor?" Flame asked.

"Let's take this back to our hideout, put it in a safe place." Spyro said, motioning towards the sack of gems they had.

"Why not get some food? Am sure we could do better than canned food for tonight. Plus I could go for some lunch right about now." Flame commented. He did have a good point…

"Tell ya what, we see a restaurant around here and we'll pop in for some lunch, then take some to go. We'll eat fancy today." Spyro said, smiling.

"Now you're talking my language! I hope we find a place that makes some nice deer, it's so tasty…"

Spyro chuckled slightly at his comment, putting his paw to his muzzle.

"What?" Flame asked, seeing Spyro do this. He looked up, seeing a nearby deer bi-pedal give him a glare. Flame grunted, blushing before walking away faster.

"Smooth Flame, real smooth." Spyro said with a chuckle.

"Oh he knows I'm talking about feral deer. Sheesh people, get a grip." Flame said, shaking his head. Spyro smiled before turning, seeing another vendor nearby. There were several trinkets on his table, including a stack of circular discs. Oh hey…

Spyro trotted over, placing his talon against the discs. They were musical discs, made by the Forgers. Spyro leaned over, opening his sack that he had against his own side, pulling out a small device. Emblazoned on the side of the device were words that read "CD Player". It was an old Forger's device that could play these old discs. Spyro had looked for one of these things forever, but none had been modified so Spyro could actually grab them. They were made for people with thumbs… which Spyro lacked. This CD player had a small piece attached to it with divots where his talons could sink in and get grip onto the device. Now, Spyro could actually hold it.

He picked up a disc, making sure his talon went through the empty center, moving his paw so gravity held it in place. The CD wasn't labeled, how disappointing…

"I can assure you that disc has at least 100 of the Forger's finest works. Guaranteed." The vendor leaned in from his chair, pointing at the disc.

"We'll see…" Spyro said, fishing out a gem and setting it on the table.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Enjoy the music." The shop keeper took the gem with his dirty hands, placing It in his coat pocket before leaning back in his chair. Spyro smiled, taking the disc and placing it inside his player before letting it fall into his sack. He fished out an old pair of headphones that had been modified as well to sit on his neck, allowing for Spyro to even use them as well. Stuff like this was tricky to find for dragons. For everyone else with thumbs and… ears… this was of no consequence. For dragons, it was an inhabitance.

The disc had a few… eh songs but there were a few as well that caught Spyro's attention. He closed his eyes softly, listening to the lyrics of the Forgers, their anthems resounding within his mind as the songs played. One thing was for sure, there certainly wasn't 100 songs on this disc. Oh well, a gem's a gem.

"Hey, how come you get to buy stuff and I can't?" Flame asked, looking annoyed.

"Because the stuff I want only costs a few gems." Spyro said with a smirk. Flame scowled at that. Spyro shook his head, turning to see a small yellow dot flying at them.

Sparx flew back after having been gone for a few minutes, chewing on something in his mouth.

"Sparx, where'd you get food from?" Spyro asked. Sparx stopped chewing and looked around, as if trying to come up with an excuse.

"Oh hey, what the?! Who bit my food?!" Spyro turned, hearing someone yell that from a nearby shop.

"Sparx!" Spyro said with a bit of a laugh. Sparx shot him a 'what?' look before continuing to chew.

"Alright, well let's go. We gotta find a place to eat because it'll take us forever to get back to our inner city hideout."

"I heard that, come on let's go." Spyro said while trotting off through the crowd.

"Hey, look over there it's an eatery! Let's see what they're serving!" Flame said, running off to a shop built into the bottom floor of a damaged skyscraper. Spyro followed, the smells and aromas coming from the shop enough to make him feel as excited as Flame for food. They walked up to the shop, several tables set up outside where various people were enjoying the food prepared inside the shop.

The shop was elevated from the markets, thanks to the collapsing ground and various elevations that were seen throughout the flooded city. They were maybe… what, 20, 30 feet above the markets they were just at? All the flooded city was like this, just broken islands jutting out from the waters that slowly ate away at the city. It was definitely more interesting than the bland inner city or surface city. Though, there was a certain calm about the surface city that Spyro enjoyed, something lacking in both the inner and flooded cities.

"Man I wonder what they have… fresh deer… cooked cow… oh man I can taste it now!" Flame said, placing his paws along the railing that bordered the tables.

"Long as it isn't canned, I'll take it." Spyro said.

"Come on man, you gotta dream big." Flame said with a smirk. Sparx just shook his head, buzzing around them. Spyro smiled but suddenly turned when he heard screams coming from the lower markets. Flame turned too, stepping down from the railing and trotting over towards the edge of their 'island' to peer down.

There was a scene gathering around one of the vendors down there, and it was growing fast. Three figures stood over the vendor, reaching inside and apparently grabbing the owner. People had crowded around, blocking traffic in the marketplace as they stood a good number of feet away from the figures, and were even backing up in fear. Who were the figures…

"Sentinels…?" Flame asked, leaning in low as he identified them before Spyro.

"Them? Again? These guys seem to be everywhere now…" Spyro said, squinting and indeed seeing they were Sentinels.

"What're they saying? I can't hear them that well." Flame said, trying to lean in more but they were well over a dozen yards from the scene.

"Where did you get this weapon? Tell me!" The Sentinel yelled from below. Well, they definitely heard that. They could barely make out the owner's voice, the Sentinel's booming voice overpowering anything the owner said.

"Who sold you the weapon? Who were they?!" The Sentinel reached in more before spinning fast, throwing the owner from his vendor and right into the middle of the street. The crowd screamed, starting to scatter as the other Sentinels backed up a bit, one leaning down to grab the owner by the head, pulling him up.

"Who were they?!" The Sentinel asked. The owner looked scared, grabbing at the hand that grasped his head, looking around desperately before looking up to where Spyro and Flame were. The owner locked eyes with Spyro for a moment before raising his arm up, pointing right at them.

"Them! Them they sold me the gun!" The owner yelled. The Sentinels turned, looking right at them.

"Shit, shit!" Flame backed up, Spyro doing the same as they both darted from their spots, knocking passed several people who had gathered at the edge to look at the scene as well. The Sentinels dropped the owner, his body hitting the floor hard as they leapt up onto the vendors, leaping from shack to shack, climbing up towards their island.

"Crap, I knew that gun was bad news!" Flame yelled as they both sprinted through the crowd, pushing back several angry market-goers.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here before they catch up!" Spyro yelled to him.

"Where do we go?!" Flame asked.

"Come on!" Spyro yelled, darting down another road, skidding to a halt to make a quick left turn down another road. Flame followed, with Sparx who buzzed around the corner. They were heading towards one of the bigger islands, but they had to get to the connecting bridge.

"There, there up ahead!" Spyro yelled, seeing the bridge connecting their island to another one. This one was lower than theirs, the bridge connecting to one of the buildings that rested on that island. They darted through into the building, Flame having to leap to the side to avoid a patron who was trying to cross the bridge as well. They got several angry yells from locals who were using this building to traverse to the island they were just on.

"They still following us?!" Flame asked, darting through the hollowed out floor of the building. Spyro turned, seeing the Sentinels off in the distance, now just getting to the crossover bridge. They knew where they were, and they weren't missing a beat.

"Damn it, they're still on us! Come on!" Spyro leaped out from the window, opening his wings and flapping them hard to get air.

"Damn! Damn!" Flame yelled, leaping out to do the same. Sparx buzzed right behind, letting out a fearful squeal as the Sentinels fired their weapons nearby, blowing a chunk out of the nearby wall.

"Fire on them! Bring them down but leave one alive!" The Sentinel ordered. The Sentinels unleashed their weapons, the loud CLACKs resounding off the walls of the dead city. Rounds exploded all around them, blasting holes the size of their clenched fist into the cracked concrete. Spyro flapped his wings harder, trying to get higher and over one of the skyscrapers.

"I got them." One of the Sentinels said, the dragon in the group. His wings slowly came out, almost being twice as large as himself. He crawled out of the window and leapt out, his massive wings immediately catching air and sending him up and after the dragons. He placed his weapon on his back, flying right at them.

"They're still on us Spyro!" Flame yelled from behind, seeing the dragon now sail over the building to give pursuit.

"Come on! We can't stop!" Spyro yelled back. Spyro landed on the roof of the building, sprinting for a few seconds before kicking off and using his wings to catch the air again. He swooped down low, opting to hug the surface rather than stay above. He swooped only a few yards above the street itself, taking care to avoid poles or spires from below. Flame was right behind, but so was the dragon. Spheres of black fire landed all around as the dragon came in from above. People screamed down below as their tents caught fire or they themselves were hit with the devastating attacks.

Spyro turned right, left, right then left again as he turned at every opportunity he could in an attempt to lose their pursuer. He saw a building nearby, with one of its windows already blown out. He grunted, aiming right for it.

"What're you crazy Spyro?!" He heard Flame say before Spyro flew right through, threading the needle. He flew into the room, nearly missing a wall but hitting a dresser and flipping around onto the floor. He slowly got up, rubbing his head just in time to see Flame leap in, yelling at the top of his lungs before he plunged right into a pile of old decaying Forger's clothing.

"Blech! That's gross!" Flame said as he sat up.

"Quiet!" Spyro said lowly as Sparx zipped in right behind Flame. Flame grunted, nodding slowly as he got up and trotted away from the window and into the hall with Spyro. They dashed down the hall in the hopes they could elude the dragon.

The dragon blew the window open with an attack, landing upright and inspecting the room. Taking a quick whiff of the air, he smiled and slowly moved down the hallway, flexing his claws.

"I love a good chase, but why don't you surrender. I might just let you live if you tell me what I want…" The dragon said lowly, placing his massive claws on the doorways as he passed. Spyro and Flame grunted, hiding in the kitchen to what they only guessed was an apartment. All the windows were boarded up, or blocked. They had to find one they could escape from… or else it'd be a matter of time.

Spyro opened a door slowly, looking into the next room. It was a closet… damn it! Wait, there was a hole there! There, at the base of the wall was a hole, leading into another apartment. He could see light coming from the other side, perhaps it was an open window. The hole was only big enough for one of them to go through.

"Flame I'll go first, stay here…" Spyro said lowly as he flattened his body to allow him access. Moving slowly he passed through the hole. It was agonizingly slow however, as he had to take care not to make noise.

"Hurry Spyro I think he's down the hall…" Flame whispered, pressing his body into the wall. Sparx hovered nearby, a look of fear on his own face before he zipped through the hole with Spyro.

"W-wait don't leave me…" Flame said in great fear, seeing Spyro's tail slip through. Flame took in a sharp breath, leaning down to go through now. He poked his head through, moving inch by inch through the hole. He could see Spyro on the other side, peering out a window as he used his paws to quickly usher Flame through. Letting out a relieved pant, Flame crawled a little faster through the hole, fear still flowing through his body. He finally got his body through, slowly moving his legs now. It was then that he felt a massive hand grip his tail, pulling him back through.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo!" Flame yelled, trying to grip the floor as he was dragged back through the hole.

"Flame! No!" Spyro yelled running back to the hole.

"I have you now…" The Sentinel said, throwing Flame against the kitchen wall as he pulled him all the way through. Flame yelled in pain as he slammed against the wall, falling to the floor. The dragon walked over, standing right on top of Flame before grabbing his head and pulling him up. The dragon's right hand wasn't natural, it was metal, artificial. Gears clicked as his hand gripped Flame's head with such power, the cold metal pressing deep into his scales. He breathed deeply in and out, clenching his eyes shut.

"Now, make this easy on yourself… where did you get that weapon…" The dragon asked.

"I… I… we just found it!" Flame said, a tear dripping down his face.

"Oh so you just found it did you…?" The dragon smirked, clenching his claws harder before flinging him into a table, the table breaking in half as Flame collided with it. Flame let out a grunt of pain, slowly moving as his whole body was rocked with pain. The dragon stepped over Flame again, placing his foot right on his back, keeping him down.

"Now… where did you find it? Answer correctly and you might just live…" He moved his right hand, the claws reforming into a single spike capable of piercing through Flame's scales and skin. Flame began to breathe faster again, panicking.

"Flame! Stay down!" Spyro yelled as he fully crawled through the hole, opening his muzzle and blowing fire onto the Sentinel. The Sentinel raised his hand, blocking the flames before letting his foot off of Flame, allowing him to move again.

"Oh how cute… you've come to his rescue…" The Sentinel leaped forward, smacking Spyro with his arm and sending him into the wall. Spyro hit hard, falling back down to the floor. He got up quickly, however, unleashing another wave of fire before leaping to the side to avoid another strike from the Sentinel. His armor absorbed Spyro's fire, the dragon charging again. He swiped at Spyro again, nailing a hit. Spyro skid against the floor, the Sentinel grabbing him by the head and slamming him right down onto the kitchen counter. His head hit hard, sending a spike through his head. He kept his head there, clenching hard with his artificial right hand.

"Now, now this is interesting. What do we have here?" The Sentinel inspected Spyro more thoroughly now, picking him off of the counter and dropping him onto the floor.

"A purple dragon…? Why, that is curious indeed…" The dragon kicked Spyro in the stomach, eliciting a yelp from the smaller dragon. The Sentinel rolled Spyro over, inspecting him more again.

"Now, the commander is going to be interested in you. Even more so than this little hunt…" The Sentinel turned, looking at Flame who was trying to crawl away.

"I just have to finish up here…" He walked over to Flame, pressing his foot against him again. His hand formed into the spike once more, he leaning in to grab Flame and press him against the wall again, the spike now against his back.

"Say goodnight little one…" The Sentinel said. Flame whined in fear, breathing faster and faster as his eye clenched.

"F-flame… Flame!" Spyro yelled, rolled over, seeing what the Sentinel was up to. "Noooooooooooooo!" He yelled, standing up and opening his muzzle. A blast of energy escaped from his muzzle, the force coming out in the form of earth energy as the blast knocked the Sentinel against the wall. The force made the Sentinel release Flame, who slid down the wall and onto the floor. The Sentinel groaned in pain, the back plates of his armor having been blown off with Spyro's earth attack.

"Why… you little bastard…" The dragon muttered as he turned around, facing Spyro. Spyro panted, growling at the Sentinel.

"You… you leave Flame alone!" Spyro yelled.

"Gladly!" The dragon responded, leaping at Spyro. Spyro clenched his eyes again before another blast escape, blowing the Sentinel through the kitchen wall and into the wall.

The Sentinel grunted, getting up slowly as Spyro walked closer, anger in his eyes. The Sentinel growled, raising his arms to strike again. Sparx zipped by, flying in his face. The dragon roared, flailing his arms to swat at the dragonfly as he flew around his face.

"You blasted creature! I'll kill you!" He yelled. Spyro took his chance, lowering his horns and giving a charge. His horns connected with the Sentinel's stomach, shoving the creature through the second wall, pushing through the building's side. The Sentinel yelled as he was pushed through, the wall giving way to the sunny sky beyond. He tumbled out, his body spinning out as he left the building's envelope. Spyro panted, standing at the edge of building. He watched as the Sentinel tumbled helplessly down below, giving out a defiant yell the whole way down. The dragon hit the ground hard, a soft thud accompanying his impact into the ground. Dust shot up from the impact, slowly fading away, as did the echoes of his impact across the walls of the nearby buildings. Finally, the dust settled over the dragon, who lay on the ground unmoving.

He was dead.

Spyro… had killed him.

Taking deep breaths, Spyro slowly backed away from the wall. He almost stumbled over his own feet, forcing him to press himself against a wall for support. He slowly slid down the wall until he hit the floor, still panting from the experience.

"S-spyro… you did it…" Flame managed to say as he laid nearby, having watched the entire scene. Flame's body was bruised and beaten, but he didn't look serious. Thank the ancestors, they had survived.

"You alright Flame?" Spyro asked, wanting to make sure he was fine.

"My whole body hurts… but I think I'll live…" He said, slowly getting up. He groaned at the pain but stood up nonetheless. Spyro let out a sigh before standing up himself, trying to shake off the deep pain that rocked his head. That dragon did a number on him…

"I… I didn't know you could use Earth." Flame said, having seen Spyro use the element.

"I uh… I didn't know either…" Spyro said, looking at the floor then at Flame. It was true, he was a fire dragon, wasn't he? He knew he was never the correct hue to be a fire dragon but… that's the way things were. You breathed one element, no more. Spyro had just breathed two elements… that was…

It was unheard of.

"Come on Flame… we have to move before those other Sentinels catch up…" Spyro said, trying to regain his stature. Flame grunted, looking exhausted already. Sparx flew by with a worried look on his face before his eyes went wide, hiding behind Spyro.

"What? What'd you see buddy?" Spyro asked. He didn't have to wait long, as two figures landed on a rooftop nearby. The two Sentinels had caught up to them.

"Down Flame! Down!" Spyro yelled as he saw them raise their weapons. Loud CRACKS resonated through the city section as bullets blew through the apartment. Bits of plaster, wood and concrete flew through the air as the bullets blasted their way through the wall. Spyro crawled his way back into the kitchen from the exposed hallway, covering his head as the bullets continued to rain in from the outside.

"Shit! Shit!" Flame yelled, covering his own head as he pressed himself against the kitchen wall.

Finally after almost a minute of bombardment, the bullets stopped, a soft layer of dust settling over the two dragons who lay inside the room. Spyro was first to move, slowly removing his claws from his head and peering up. Light filtered in from the holes that now covered the kitchen's walls. Whatever those two were packing, it was serious. Flame moved next, along with Sparx who had to shake himself to get the dust off of his wings. Flame grunted a bit as he moved a piece of plaster that had come to rest on his side, slowly shoving it aside. Spyro moved towards the wall, looking to see where the Sentinels were.

Outside he saw nothing, the Sentinels had moved. Shit… where had they gone? They had to move before…

At once, the wall where Spyro was resting against gave out, one of the Sentinels on the other side. A cold hand grabbed Spyro by the neck and threw him against the kitchen wall. Flame reacted fast, getting up and attempting to help but he was knocked into the wall by the second Sentinel who walked in. The first Sentinel walked over to Spyro and grabbed him again, pinning him against a wall.

"Well it seems these little whelps were kind enough to kill our partner…" The Sentinel, a large bi-pedal bear said as it gripped Spyro. The bear no longer resembled a bear, now just a hulking bi-pedal with some fur on his purple skin. Spyro wasn't even sure what the hell he was anymore. The second Sentinel, what Spyro would guess to be a raptor moved over Flame, pressing his foot against him just as the dragon had before.

"Yes… I think we should gut them, right here and now." The raptor said, sniffing Flame and licking his lips.

"You can eat that one. This one comes with us, I think the commander would very much like to see him."

"Oh, come on, not even a bite?"

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't rough him up first…" The bear said before slamming Spyro into the wall, causing him to groan in pain. Sparx flew around the anthros, trying to distract them. The bear merely swatting Sparx to the floor, giving him an annoyed huff.

"Crush that bug, will you?"

"With pleasure." The raptor said, walking towards it.

"Sparx no! Get away!" Spyro yelled, the dragonfly still dazed from the hit and unable to move. The raptor smiled before raising his foot above it, preparing to step on his friend.

"Noooooo!" Spyro yelled, clenching his eyes shut.

There was a soft squishing sound, and a gag. Spyro opened his eyes, only to see the raptor having moved, an arrow lodged in his neck. The raptor was gagging as he grabbed at the arrow, his eyes wide.

"What the…?!" The bear released Spyro, letting him fall to the floor. The raptor backed up, gripping the arrow tightly before another flew in, nailing him right in the back of the head. The raptor let out a death gag before falling over on his face, barely missing Sparx who had gotten up by now and buzzed away.

"What is this?! How many of you are there?!" The bear asked, raising his weapon to fire out the doorway and into the hole where Spyro had shoved the dragon through. "Show yourself!" The bear yelled.

The bear received an answer, in the form of another arrow. This one punctured his eye and elicited a howl of pain from the bear as he spun over onto the wall. He dropped his weapon, now using both hands to grip the arrow. Another arrow flew in, nailing him in the neck, much like what had happened with the raptor. The bear let out a disgusting gargling sound before looking at Spyro and falling over onto his face. His eyes stared out, forever locked with Spyro who had backed up into the wall by now, panting as he watched the blood pool from their wounds onto the floor.

Flame was unconscious by now, laying nearby as the bear's arm now lay on his back. Spyro panted as he could barely make out a figure moving towards him from the hallway, but his vision was blurred now. He could barely see… barely make out anything as he saw something towering above him. Fear and anguish both gripped him as he started to fade away, the figure reaching down to him. He swore he felt some fur before he completely blacked out.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

Spyro slowly stirred, his whole body aching with pain as he slowly tried to move. His head was throbbing… and he could hear his heartbeat slowly thumping throughout his body. What had happened…? Whatever it was, he got knocked the hell out.

He could see a dim light, just off to his side. The room where he rested in was dimly lit, and he could see the walls were slowly cracking from the ceiling. As he moved his head across the room, he saw Flame resting on a bed beside his own. Wait, a bed? Where was he? What the hell happened?!

Oh right! The fight! The Sentinels! Had he been captured?! Was Flame alright, what had happened?!

"Looks like you've woken up. You were knocked out pretty hard there."

Spyro snapped to the new voice, seeing a bi-pedal cheetah standing in the doorway to the room. A cape came down from his back, and covered his chest. It ended in a hood that hid his eyes, Spyro only able to see the glimmers of his pupils looking at him from the shadows. Armor rested on his chest, strapped on from what looked like Forger's armor. The armor looked like it had been put together from various sets, and the paint on his chest plate had long faded, though some remained. Spyro could barely make out the word "RANGERS" stenciled onto the armor itself, showing up just subtly in the dim light. He could also see a bow and set of arrows resting on his back.

"Who… who are you? Were you the one who saved us?" Spyro asked, sitting up on his bed.

"Indeed. I've been tracking those Sentinels for a few days now before I saw them stumble onto you. I was going to let them pass until I saw them take a great interest in you. Those Sentinels were looking for something, and I was trying to find out what it was. I was hoping you two could help me out, now that my cover might be blown."

"We… they were looking for a Forger's weapon, that we had recovered from some warehouses."

"Forger's weapon? Curious. Now why would they expend that much effort to find a single weapon... Was it quite powerful?"

"I… I don't know. It looked like a little gun to us. Wait, I do remember the Sentinels asking us if we had seen any Forgers around- Humans."

"Humans? They're looking for Humans? Here? It strikes me that they're even looking at all."

"Yeah, I thought they were all extinct."

"Yes, it seems curious that they would be looking here for such a thing. The Dark Master's probably got them jumping at ghosts again. It wouldn't be the first time. Also, it seems that they had taken a big interest in you young one, outside of that other inquiry."

"I guess so… They mentioned I was purple, other than that I don't know what they'd want with me. I haven't done anything to anyone."

"Well… it does strike me odd that you are purple at all. I've never seen a purple dragon before, and didn't think that color occurred amongst your species." The cheetah said, rubbing his chin before kicking off the wall and moving into the room.

"Me either… So… what's your interest in them anyway? You hunting Sentinels?"

"You… could say that. Where are my manners, my name's Hunter. I'm part of the Order of Avalar, a small group of fighters who are actively trying to undermine the Dark Master's efforts to annex the eastern coasts. I came to this city to investigate the Dark Master's interests here. He's deployed a sizable scouting group and from what you've told me, it sounds like they're just jumping at ghosts. I highly doubt they'll find what they're after here. On the other hand, their interest in you is quite fascinating. I wonder what they see in you that constitutes a threat…"

"I wish I knew, really. My name's Spyro by the way."

"Nice to meet you Spyro."

Spyro smiled, rubbed his head, looking at the ground. He turned, seeing Flame still resting on the bed.

"Seems your friend there took a hard beating during the fight."

"Will he be ok?"

"Oh yes, he just needs some rest before he'll be back up and running. Both of you took some nasty hits but luckily it doesn't look like they did too much damage." As Hunter finished his sentence, a yellow dragonfly entered the room, smiling and giving a cheerful look as he saw his friend up and about.

"Sparx! There you are!" Spyro said with a smile of his own. The dragonfly zipped towards his friend, buzzing in a circle of excitement. Hunter chuckled softly.

"I'm going to head off in the morning, report back what I've found here. I would suggest you two hide yourselves in the meantime, these Sentinels won't show mercy the next time they find you."

Spyro looked at the floor softly again, frowning.

"What else can we do? I don't even know why they are interested in me other than… my color." Spyro looked at his paws now, observing his purple hue in the dim light.

"Me either, but it would do you good to rest and lay low. At least until these Sentinels move on. They won't likely find anything here besides you, don't give them that opportunity."

Spyro nodded slowly, yawning a bit as he looked back down at his bed, adjusting himself.

"Thanks again… Hunter…" Spyro said, smiling up at him. The cheetah smiled back, nodding.

"Just remember young dragon, you're not alone out here, you have allies." Hunter turned, walking to another room in the dimly lit house. Spyro moved himself, laying back down onto the bed. He used his paw to slowly draw the covers over his body again, resting his wings down onto the soft fabric. He rested his head against his paws and closed his eyes softly, letting sleep once again take him away from these strange, strange series of events.

End of Chapter 02