Chapter 7 - One Down

Esther had not expected to be taken through a portal, especially since they were just going for a short walk. But she was soon amazed by the sight of the new world they were in; they were in a courtyard surrounding a castle similar to the one in Summer Forest, but the leaves of the trees were now beautiful hues of fall colors; the entire environment was decorated with red, brown and yellow colors, and it was all complimented with a serene purple sky in the midst of a sunset.

"Wow," Esther breathed in utter awe.

"I know, right?" Ripto chuckled at her reaction, and smiled while taking in the beautiful scenery.

"It's all so pretty." Esther paused and glanced at Ripto in curiosity. "Is Fall your favorite season?"

"Yup. Always has been."

"That's—interesting."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, the colors are amazing and all, but the leaves on the trees are slowly dying. I just think it's a little sad."

"Well, the old leaves fall to make way for a new generation of even more beautiful leaves. That's how I always thought of it."

As Ripto basked in his analogy, Esther gawked at him in bewilderment. She never thought a misunderstood and vengeful creature like him could think so purely, let alone appreciate such small things in life.

"That was beautiful, Ripto," she pointed out softly.

"Really? I thought it always sounded too cheesy," Ripto chuckled nervously, as a light blush crept across his face.

"Maybe you're a poet, and you just don't know it."

Ripto scoffed at Esther's joke, "Don't get cute. C'mon, I wanna show you something."

Esther followed Ripto like he asked, as he led her into the castle. They walked up a few flights of stairs, and it wasn't long until they stopped on a balcony that overlooked the entire front frontal courtyard; it was perfectly cascaded with the light of the sunset, and Esther was once again speechless.

"I've been coming here recently whenever I needed to get away from anything that bothered me. I like to nap in the trees sometimes. They're actually pretty comfortable," Ripto explained with a sigh.

"Really?" Esther questioned in curiosity.

"Of course, that's just my opinion. You'd have to see for yourself."

"Ok. Show me."

"You sure?"

"Positive!"

"If you say so."

With a shrug, Ripto lifted his scepter and brought it back down with a thud, engulfing them both in a bright flash. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves up in a big and old tree. But Esther wasn't prepared for the suddenly loss of ground, so her back feet fell and she was holding on with her front claws.

"You could've given me a warning," Esther joked with a grunt, as she tried to pull herself up.

"I asked if you were sure," Ripto simply protested while wearing a grin, and offered a helping hand. Esther was quick to take it, and he effortlessly pulled her to safety; although, the resulting pull also caused them to be pressed up against each other like when they were dancing.

Esther blushed and giggled, "Thanks."

Ripto bashfully scratched the back of his head, "Don't mention it."

They both then glanced out at the sunset again, and remained quiet for a moment. But the peace was interrupted when Ripto suddenly let out a pained groan, and once again shut his eyes tight and grabbed his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Esther gasped.

"It's just-ow…a little headache," Ripto grunted in denial while taking a seat on the branch.

"Is it the same headache from when the ram hit you?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"That's not good. It shouldn't have lasted this long. Lean back."

Ripto opened an eye in confusion, but Esther didn't explain herself and instead pushed gently on his shoulders until he leaned against the tree trunk. Just like before, Esther brought a paw to Ripto's head and placed it on his skin gently; soon, a light green aura once again emitted from her claws and flowed slowly into Ripto's skull.

It took a few more minutes than last time, but Ripto eventually let out a sigh of relief as Esther worked her magic. His face softened and his breathing slowed, almost as if he was about to fall asleep.

"Feel better?" Esther inquired softly.

"Much," Ripto replied flatly, and then took a deep breath in, "Thank you."

Esther was surprised to hear Ripto give a genuine thank you, but decided to stay quiet about it for now.

She smiled and then took her paw away, "You're very welcome. Let me know if it starts hurting again."

"I mean it, Esther," Ripto began firmly and opened his eyes, "No one's showed me such kindness like you have—in a very long time."

"Why's that? I-If you don't mind me asking?"

"Let's just say—I've done some things in my past that I deeply regret. I wish I could take them back, but I can't."

"Well, it's like you said. It's in the past. Sometimes, you need to stop looking back, so that you can move forward."

"It's not that easy. Believe me, I've tried."

Esther was quiet after that. She wanted to help, even if she didn't know exactly what to do. So, she eventually came up with the only solution she could use. She approached Ripto and placed a small kiss on his forehead, which almost made the said wizard jump out of his skin in shock.

"W-What was th-that for?!" Ripto exclaimed with an obvious stutter, as his eyes popped wide, and his face lit up as red as a tomato.

"When I was little, my mom would always give me a little kiss whenever I was sad or hurt. It always helped me, so I thought it might make you feel better, too," Esther gently explained, but then looked down in shame, "But I guess it was pretty rude of me to do that without asking."

Ripto wanted to say something, but he just couldn't find the right words. Luckily, he was rescued from nearly overheating when a loud roar echoed throughout the yard, which shook the trees and caused more leaves to fall.

"What was that?" Esther whimpered.

"I know that roar," Ripto muttered before climbing out of the tree. As soon as he got down to the ground, Gulp came galloping up to him at full force, coming to a skidding halt.

Gulp instantly let out a collection of distressed roars and grunts, to which Ripto held out his hands to get his attention.

"Whoa! Easy, Boy! I can't understand you when you talk like that!" Ripto shouted over Gulp's panicking noises, and the latter soon took deep breaths in and out to calm down. After calming down enough to communicate a bit more coherently, he started growling an explanation.

Esther soon climbed out of the tree as well, and was worried when she saw how frantic Gulp looked, "What's wrong with him?"

"Something's wrong," Ripto stated in realization, and then turned towards Esther, "Stay here. I need to take care of something."

Before Esther could say anything else, Ripto climbed onto Gulp's head and they headed to a portal that led back to Summer Forest. She wanted to go with them to see if she could help, but she also worried that she might make things worse if she did. So, she reluctantly stayed behind and waited.

Meanwhile, Gulp was soon at a full gallop again, as he took his master into the dungeon underneath the castle of Summer Forest. Ripto didn't want to believe what Gulp had told him, but he wanted to see for himself just to be sure.

Unfortunately, Ripto's fears were realized when they finally reached the dim dungeon, where a large pile of shattered stones waited in the middle of the chamber.

"No…" Ripto muttered in disbelief, as he jumped off of Gulp and sprinted up to the pile. He tried desperately to move the rocks himself, but they were far too heavy. So, in a blind panic, Ripto fired a beam from his scepter and knocked a majority of the rocks away.

When the dust cleared, Crush could be scene lying limp within the pile of debris. Ripto shook his head and ran up to his club-wielding crony, and shook his arm in an attempt to wake him up.

"No…Crush, no! Stay with me!" Ripto begged while placing his head against Crush's chest. He soon heard breathing, but it was shallow and weak.

Ripto then turned to Gulp, "We need to get him out of here. Help me get him on your back."

Gulp did as he was told, and began digging his horns underneath his fellow partner in crime while Ripto used some magic to levitate him up onto Gulp's back.

Ripto and Gulp hurried back to Autumn Plains as fast as they could, but had to keep a slow enough pace, as to not cause Crush anymore pain. Once they reached Autumn Plains, they brought Crush into the castle and carefully placed him in a cushy guest room.

"I swear, Crush! You'd better stay awake, or so help me…" Ripto began threateningly, but then realized the severity of Crush's injuries when the latter started coughing rapidly. Ripto had known Crush for many years, and the thought of losing him truly terrified him.

"Oh, no!" Esther exclaimed when she entered the room, and panicked when she saw Crush's injuries, "What happened to him?"

"Don't worry about that. Can you heal him?" Ripto quickly asked.

"No, I'm sorry. My magic isn't strong enough for internal wounds," Esther apologized in shame.

Ripto mentally panicked again, but shook his head and growled, "Then, go make yourself useful and make some herbal tea."

"But-."

"Now!"

Esther stepped back in surprise, and was consumed with an overwhelmed feeling of guilt. She really wished she could do more to help, and also wished she had studied more in Magic Crafters. Esther didn't know what to say, and merely exited to room quickly to do as Ripto asked. Once she left, Ripto turned back toward his ailing henchman.

"Who did this?" Ripto whispered to Crush, as he stared him straight in his hazy eyes, "Was it that purple dragon?"

Crush was merely able to let out a guttural noise of confirmation before his eyes rolled back into his skull, and his head sulked as he went unconscious. It wasn't much evidence, but it was enough to convince Ripto that Spyro was the one responsible for this.

"Don't worry, Crush. I'll make sure he pays for this."

I wonder what Ripto did that was so bad. Any ideas?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!