Spyro Bridge Across Worlds Remake
by
Bolt Greywing
The Burrow
"Urf can't breath… Water too strong… Got to get out… Got to rescue Cynder…" Spyro squeaked as he struggled to get to the surface knowing that his air was going to be running out soon. He couldn't even see anything or even know where the current was taking him. His body was grasping to live, but it was being beaten back by the strong currents. It wasn't long before he felt the presence of someone or something splashing around in the water with him.
"Is... someone… there? Help… Please… Drowning… Urf… can't… breath… Help… Me…" Spyro squeaked again hoping that he could be heard even though he had no way of knowing how deep in the water he was.
As he was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen something reached out to Spyro and grabbed his paw softly as though reassuring the dragon not to be afraid. The weight of the water steadily began to decrease as he got closer to the surface. It wasn't long before he finally collapsed with a plop on dry land, the creature who had helped him he sensed was nearby though he couldn't see anyone.
Spyro wanted to thank the creature that gave him back his life and ask it so many questions as to where he was. As he tried to stand up on the solid ground beneath his feet, they wobbled severely and threatened to collapse at any instant. He felt the creature hold on to one of his legs as if trying to help him stabilize it but even then the other three were highly unstable.
"Please dragon sit down your straining your body too much. Your limbs are highly unstable from the current and the depth of the water you were in. Your body is in shock and needs rest. Please for your own good listen to me." The creature warned.
"I can't I have to rescue Cynder, she needs me. She is in terrible danger, I need to go to her right away." Spyro replied as he tried to open his eyes but was having great difficulty.
"You can't even think about rescuing anyone, let alone in the state you are in." The creature replied then noticed the dragon trying to open his eyes. "Please for the good of your body please don't open your eyes. It will strain your body too much."
"I need to see, I need to see where I am. I can't rest here, there is far too much at stake." Spyro replied.
As Spyro finally managed to open his eyes his vision began to waver as though he had been conked on the head by an ape and felt incredibly dizzy.
The badger quickly got out of the way as the dragon toppled over on its side. The badger shook his head in disappointment as yet another one failed to listen to him. This must have been at least the tenth dragon that he rescued this week.
Why do they never listen to me? If he had just listened to me then he would be in much better shape. How will I clean up this mess? The badger asked himself. The badger tried to lift the dragon and found him to be a bit heavy.
This is going to be one long day. The badger sighed.
He started to carry him back to his burrow yet it looked like he wouldn't reach it till way late at night. A group of bypassing animals saw the badger struggling on his way back with the heavy creature and decided to help him. Each one took a leg and hoisted the dragon above their shoulders, within only an hour they had arrived at the badger's home. Upon reaching his home the badger instructed the others to gently set the dragon down outside his home as he checked out the size of his burrow.
The burrow appeared to be too small to support the dragon as they had only been designed for the badger's size. He set off quickly to work making the entrance a bit bigger to accommodate the dragon's large size. When that one was finished he set off making a bed chamber for the dragon out of one of the other tunnels, as to the others they would have to wait. After he inspected his own handiwork he instructed the others as to how to place the dragon within the bedroom. He made certain that once he wound up inside his burrow that he was positioned appropriately. With all things quickly settled he then thanked the others for their help.
"I'd like to thank you all for helping me to carry this large dragon in. At the rate I was going I would surely have not gotten him in before nightfall." the badger explained.
"We were happy to help you matie, as it is always a pleasure to see you. You have done great work for us in the past and we felt that we could give you a hand. By the way how did this dragon come to our shores?" the group asked.
"I found him struggling in the river, good thing I had gone swimming in the current at the time or I would never have found him. He was a bit of mess when I encountered him, took him to the beach and out of shock he collapsed on the ground." the badger replied.
"Oh the poor thing, he must be utterly confused as to his whereabouts. He is still pretty drenched from the looks of things. He is quite lucky to have survived." the group replied.
"Ai yet there is no more time for idle discussion. We must get back to our burrows or surely the others will suspect something is amiss. If they find us out here in one block it will be our necks. Go home quickly all of you, I will see to the dragon and will make my report to you all when he awakes." the badger warned.
"You are right the place has taken a dreary end now that you know who is in charge. He is not a pleasant master and is always thinking that everyone here is against him. We will tarry no longer. Farewell." the group replied and then headed off.
The badger watched as his friends readily began to disappear into the shadows. When he was the last one alone he went to the dragon's room and took one last look at the dragon before heading off to bed. As he was just about to leave the room he stopped turned his head around and said.
"Goodnight young dragon. Rest well for you have a long journey ahead of you."
Each day and night the badger looked after the young dragon who had washed up on his shore. Yet the dragon remained motionless no matter when he came back to check on him. Still he continued to watch over him, sometimes he would go about brushing the dragon's scales with his own nails and a little bit of oil to make certain it gets a good shine. He wanted the dragon to look its best when it came to. It was not until four weeks of time had past that the dragon finally came to. It blinked its eyes once, then twice then thrice as it adjusted itself to the small room that it was in. Its body was slowly recovering from the long shock of the water and its lack of use for the time being was as stiff as a board. Several questions came to the dragon's inquisitive nature, what was he doing here? How did he come to this strange place? How come the ceiling was so low to the ground? These and so many popped into the dragon's wandering mind.
He sluggishly got to his feet as he began to wander around the small room, the room was furnished very small so he assumed whatever must have lived here must be quite small. Yet he was not going to let whatever that lived here get the better of him if it was still there. How he had survived the water for so long he had no idea yet he vaguely remembered someone helping him out but didn't for the life of him know who it was. As he traveled into the entrance in front of him he discovered a few more burrows most of which were way too small for him. He tried to go forward but the burrow was too small and he got caught on it.
After attempting a couple of times to go further in he settled back into his small room letting out a sigh. He had thought that he could escape the burrow before the owner got back but now it seemed like an impossibility. Spyro had never really learned how to dig or burrow otherwise this would have been easy for him. He would then have been able to take the owner by surprise easier if he could have gotten further. Settling in a bit he decided to try out his powers while he still had time. He tried to summon fire but still he couldn't even get a small flame.
The badger finally returned back to his home carrying a net of fish with him and a wooden bowl he had just carved for the dragon. Stashed to his side was a jar of oil made from the finest olives. When he entered in he quickly deposited the fish and oil to the floor and went to check up on the dragon. He smiled a bit smugly as he approached the burrow where the dragon was in. "Seems like someone finally decided to wake up."
The dragon just growled at him.
"Hey no need to be snarky with me I am the one who just saved your life." The badger continued.
"Yeah so. Why should I even trust you?" The dragon replied.
"Well your just going to have to unless you want to be cooped in that burrow all day." The badger laughed.
The dragon just growled.
"Well suit yourself." The badger replied as he walked off.
Spyro was not too sure about this badger fellow as he kind of reminded him of the apes. Yet he didn't have much choice and would have to trust this strange fellow. While he was making up his mind a couple of fish landed near him in the burrow. He jumped back just slightly as though he was under attack but his scent didn't pick up any danger just fish. He sniffed at the strange fish and turned his nose up in disgust at the smell.
"Bleh. Do I really have to eat this stuff?" Spyro asked.
"Only if you want to live." The badger smirked. "Besides someone like you needs your strength for the journey ahead."
This dragon is certainly a strange fellow. Perhaps he never learned how to fish before. The badger thought to himself. After some amount of time the dragon slowly began to consume the fish before him. The badger chuckled a bit here and there as he saw the funny faces the dragon was making. "Just like a child to not like fish."
The dragon continued to plow through fish after fish that was tossed in, figuring he might as well just get it over with, but boy did it taste disgusting. He felt like he had just eaten a slimy slug with not much added on to it.
After about an hour or two Spyro finally lowered himself to the ground meekly and covered his nose. The badger watching chuckled and wagged a leftover fish right in front of him. "Looks like someone is ready for seconds."
"Oh please no more, I can't take any more of that awful fish." Spyro replied nearly crying.
"Alright laddie, however you will have to listen to me and follow my every word." The badger replied.
"No I won't I am a dragon, I will not be led around by a smaller animal." The dragon replied with a huff.
"In that case I will just have to leave in there more and feed you more fish." The badger replied.
The dragon swallowed his pride knowing the fish was probably the worst thing the badger could do to him. "Alright I will do what you ask, but if I do so will help me to find Cynder?"
"I will help you find this Cynder fellow of yours, whoever it is. However I need to get you in shape first and show you around the land. There is much that you must learn." The badger replied and began to dig a tunnel for the dragon to come out.
The dragon watched with amazement as the tunnel began to get bigger and bigger. "How are you able to do that?"
"It comes with many years of practice I am certain you could learn it." The badger replied.
"Nah I prefer fighting too much then hiding like a coward." The dragon replied.
The badger cocked his head. "Just because one can burrow does not mean he his a coward. I have been through many battles of my own, fighting is not usually the answer young dragon."
"It usually seems like the only way when the apes are involved." The dragon replied.
"The apes you say. I don't support their ideas or agenda for that matter but I do agree with them on some points of the dragons starting the whole mess." The badger replied.
"What… We didn't start the whole mess the apes did." The dragon began.
"Did they now but then who stepped on their territory while they lived in peace prior to your kind?" The badger replied.
"Well er… um..." The dragon replied a bit confused.
"My point exactly, your kind is known for taking territory that doesn't belong to them. Its in the nature of the dragon to do so." The badger replied.
The dragon looked defeated for what the badger said definitely made sense.
"Cheer up laddie it ain't all that bad." The badger spoke trying to cheer up the dragon.
"Yeah I guess so." The dragon replied still not convinced. "By the way how did I wind up in your burrow? Last thing I remembered was fighting the current and then blacking out."
"I and my friends moved you into the burrow while you were asleep after I brought you to shore. You weren't that much of a pleasant experience to deal with. Lucky for you it was I that found you rather then someone else." The badger replied.
"I don't remember that at all but I owe you my thanks as well as my life. By the way who runs this place?" The dragon asked.
"That my friend I can not tell you not without putting you in terrible danger, but I can tell you this he is a very cruel master. Any body that washes up to his shore he takes as his personal slave and whips them severely if they don't do what he says. I was once one of those unfortunate creatures." The badger replied showing his back to the dragon. "These scars are representations of his cruelty and even if you did the right thing he would still whip you. I was lucky enough to escape others were not so fortunate."
"Those things look really nasty and maybe I can rid this place of him to make it better for others." The dragon replied.
"No dragon that would bring nothing but pain and misery. Its not your time or place to do so. Plus you still need the time to gather your strength. Stay in the shadows." The badger replied.
"I am not just your ordinary dragon here. I am Spyro the dragon, and I fight on for those who can't fight back." Spyro replied.
"I know who you are, it was foretold in the book." The badger replied. "I am Brian by the way and I live in the outskirts of the city Mordale. I heal many sick creatures who have washed up to the shore same like you."
Spyro squeezed himself through the burrow that the badger had made and came up to the badger and hugged him. "They are lucky to have someone like you around. Once I get my strength back I am going to find Cynder and stop this guy from causing others more pain."
"You can't truly be serious about that. The place here is not all that bad. Besides forget about your former life all it will cause you is more pain." Brian replied.
"I have to Cynder is a black dragoness who is my friend and she was captured by the apes. It is in my duty to help her. I know her past was very dark due to Malefor's influence but she deserves much more than what her childhood had to offer for her." Spyro replied.
"Even if what you say is true there is no way to go back. If there was I would have returned back a long time ago and been with my Cindy. Oh how I do miss her." Brian replied being reminded of how like Spyro he used have someone of his own. Yet the time he had spent here had made him forget almost all about her till Spyro came along.
"Then you truly know what it is like to have someone like that. That is why I must go because I need to be with Cynder." Spyro replied.
"I know laddie but Spyro there is something I been holding back from telling you." Brian replied and turned his back on him.
"Okay what is it?" Spyro asked.
"Well Spyro you were at sea for about 6 weeks or more when I finally found you. There is really no pleasant way to put it to Spyro." Brian replied.
"What?! I was out that long?" Spyro asked confused.
"Yes but there is more. Spyro it pains me to say this but your just a soul now." The badger stated with a sigh.
(Author's notes: So guys what do you think of this nail biting turn of events? Will Spyro ever return home? Well you will just have to wait and see. Tell me what have you though of this story so far. It has been a long while since I posted another chapter but this one was long overdue. With coding projects taking up most of my time I haven't had much creativity lately for stories but now that I have a bit of a break I plan on writing many more. However I am a bit rusty for the time being so you may have to excuse the mess.
This is Bolt Greywing signing off.)