Here is another chapter, sorry fo rthe long delay, I'll try to update more frequently from now on. O promise to continue to do my best for my readers, and hope you all have a good time Reading this story.

Please, give me reviews, I thank for any constructive critcizes, but no flames, please.

Spyro was laying on his bed, snoring softly, having a peaceful, dreamless sleep. He had trouble actually getting to sleep that night, because he was far to anxious about Yuri actually teaching him the Gentle Fist.

Would it be hard? Would he actually be able to learn it? He was going to have problems? What if he just couldn't make it right?

Those worries prevented Spyro from sleeping for some time, before the purple dragon finally was able to surrender to sleep, and now, he was snoring softly in his bed.

Something nudged him, and a gentle voice called him "Spyro."

Spyro groaned in his sleep and turned on his bed. The nudge come back, a little stronger "Spyro, wake up."

Spyro opened groggily his eyes, and looked at his side, to meet Yuri's eyes. "Spyro, it is morning, you have to eat. We start your training today, remember?"

Spyro looked at him for a moment, and then nodded. He came out of the bed and stretched his body, flexing his muscles and stirring them awake. The purple dragon yawned wide and rubbed his mouth with his tongue to get rid of the taste that stayed in his sleep.

Yuri looked at him as he did so "So, nervous?"

"A little…" Spyro recognized, as he looked at Yuri "You really think I can learn the Gentle Fist?"

"I don't think." Said Yuri "I'm completely sure." He finished with a smile. Spyro smiled too "Now, lets get down and eat." Said Yuri "You will need your belly full for we will have a long morning."

They went downstairs, and Spyro was greet with eggs, bacon and a piece of Dragon Fruit. He ate it till the last bite, thought it was a bit difficult due to the nervousness. But he forced himself to swallow with big gulps of water.

After that, Cynder put herself to wash the dishes, and Yuri conducted Spyro to the center of the Living room. For a bit Spyro was confused, but Yuri soon revealed what seemed to be a secret trapdoor into the floor, that had a staircase in it.

Spyro was surprised, and hesitated for a moment, but followed Yuri as he went down. They walked for a few into the stairs, into a dark underground beneath the house.

"This place is dark." Said Spyro, and Yuri said "It will be better in just a moment."

Soon after Yuri said it, he switched what seemed to be a button, and them, the room started getting illuminated for what seemed to be lights opening into the ceiling.

Spyro had to protect his eyes from the luminosity "What is it?"

"Sun crystals." Said Yuri "They emit a glow, and can be used as illumination. Never wondered what were the night lights in Warfang?"

Spyro had always wondered, to tell the truth. He took a few moments before his eyes finally adjusted to the luminosity, and he was able to open them without them getting bothered. And his jaw dropped when he saw just how big was the "basement".

The place was huge!

The ceiling was at least two floors above, and the place was wide enough to fit at least twenty adults dragon without any problem. The place seemed to have been sculpted into solid rock. There was many boxes in it, and they had been pilled to the sides of the room, leaving a big open space in the middle, with some things let close, like a few books, and what seemed to be a training dummy with several black dots all over it.

Yuri could chuckle a bit at Spyro's surprised expression, and said "It was already on the place when I bought it. Seemed that it was suppose to be a place to store food and other thigns, you know, like supplies for the war."

Spyro looked at him, and Yuri smiled "Well, it was a good place to store old things, and now, it will be a good place for training. Ready to start?"

Spyro nodded, he was more than ready, and then Yuri said "The Gentle fist is complicated, and very difficult. I can teach you to fight using it, but before, I have to teach you about the theory, about how it works. Okay?"

Spyro once again nodded. And Yuri said "Okay, now, where did I put that thing?" he said more to himself, as he searched into the book he let out, until he found a green colored one. "Yeah, here it is."

Spyro approached until he was right by his side, and Yuri opened the book. It smelled like old paper and dust, and made Spyro sneeze. Yuri then proceeded to explain to him "Now, Spyro, as I told you before, the Gentle Fist is based on Acupression. Are you following me?"

Spyro nodded at him, and Yuri continued.

"Acupression involves pressing with your fingers or claws certain points in the body. Those are the nerves and the chi points." Yuri said, pointing to one figure at the book, which showed the image of a wolf with several dots over it, interconnected by black lines very thin. "Those are points were the energy focus and the chi flows, and once hit, they can cause a variety of effects, got it?"

Once again Spyro nodded, he was paying very much attention.

"There are hundreds of those points spreaded all over the body, and each one of them has a different effect in the subject." Yuri kept explaining "There are points for the mind, for movement, for control of the body, for special abilities, and so on." Yuri kept explaining, and Spyro was mentally repeating every word to himself.

"If they are hit into a certain order, they can generate different effects. Even the same points, if hit in a different order or even with different strength can cause several different effects." He explained as Spyro nodded.

"Before you can effectively fight using the Gentle Fist, you have to know those points and the different effects they can cause, as well as the different combinations to each one of them."

Spyro was taken back by this "I have to learn all of this?" he asked, and Yuri said "It is the basic for the Gentle Fist. You have to know where to hit before you can know how to fight."

Spyro now was really worried "B-b-but, what if I can't learn!?"

Yuri looked at him "Spyro, we barely started and you already want to give up?"

"No!" said Spyro "I-it's just… What if I'm not smart enough to learn all of this?"

Yuri stared at him "Spyro, if you keep second-guessing yourself then that's when you will truly never learn anything."

This made Spyro look at the ground, but Yuri used his hand to raise his chin and make the young dragon look at him "Spyro, I guess it is normal being scared like this. But you can't let the fear win you."

Spyro looked in his warm eyes "But what if I can't?" asked the purple dragon "What if they are all right? What if I'm really a great failure? What if I'm a loser?"

"Spyro." Yuri said serious "A loser, is someone how is so afraid of failing and of falling down, that doesn't even try." Spyro looked at him in the eyes "Anyone can reach greatness. The first step is to believe you can."

Spyro looked at his eyes. He saw that the wolf really seemed to believe that he was able to. And this, in turn, made him feel even more confident. He smiled at the wolf and said "Okay. I'll try."

Yuri smiled back at him "Great, let's start your first class then."

And the wolf flipped the pages of the book, and stopped in a diagram of a bipedal creature, with eight big dark circles in certain parts of the body "Okay, now, first of all, I must teach you about the chakras. You know what they are?"

Spyro shook his head "no", and Yuri said "The chakras are like the chi points, but those are the biggest and most important of all. They are eight points in key-points of the body, where the chi focus and were it originates from. The first of them is the Mind Chakra, located in the forehead."

Spyro nodded as Yuri explained more "The second one is the Breath Chakra, located in the throat, and then comes the Air chakra, located in the right lung. After it comes the Power Chakra, located in the stomach."

Spyro nodded and repeated every word which Yuri said "Mind Chakra in the forehead, Breath Chakra in the throat, Air Chakra in the lung and Power Chakra in the stomach."

Yuri nodded and proceeded "After it comes the Earthly Chakra, located in the waist, and soon below it, there is the Flower Chakra, located in the crotch. This last Chakra is directly related with the pleasure and deals with the physical attachment to the world."

Spyro nodded, and Yuri proceeded "And for the last two, the most important of all. The Universe Chakra, located in the top of the head, they say it deals with the own flux of energy of the universe. And the Life Chakra, located in the heart, which is responsible for the flowing of the life of an individual."

"Those chakras are the most important centers of chi of the body, and all the other chi points originate from them, that is why you need to know them before we can move on. Because by knowing each of those chakras and knowing what they control, them you will be able to find the other chi points and will know how to hit them to generate any desired effect. Are you following my lead?"

Spyro nodded, and Yuri said "Okay, now, for the first part of your training, I'll teach you the points and where to find them, and you will try to remember where those points are and stay. Once you have memorized them, you will be able to hit them at any given time."

Spyro nodded, but them, he asked the wolf "Yuri? But, you will teach me the points for wolfs or the points of dragons? Aren't they different?"

"Actually not." Said Yuri "Even if some creatures are different physically, they share the same chi points over the body." He explained to Spyro "I guess that we all have more in common then we think. Knowing the location of the points in a being, you can make out the location of them in any toher kind of creature. The chi is universal between all living creatures, and so are the Chakras and the chi points."

Spyro nodded at the wolf. Actually, it made a lot of sense, and Yuri seemed to be the kind of guy that really understood of those thing. Spyro had no reason to think that the wolf would lie to him in the training.

Yuri them proceeded to teach Spyro the basic about the chi points. He explained that the lines of chi spread from the Chakras and formed points over the while body.

He explained that the points were spread over the body into differed ways, and that each of them, hit in the right order, with the right strength, could generate several different effects.

He explained that the mind Chakra had points that deal with the senses and perceptions, as well as the consciousness and the sensations, like pain. The Breath Chakra deal with most voluntary actions, like the act of breathing and the movements of the limbs.

He also explained that the points that originated form the Air Chakra were related with the automatic things of the body, like the reflex and the movements of the internal organs. The Power Chakra, had points that deal with the strength and with special abilities, like the magic and the breath powers of the dragons. This last part really called Spyro's attention.

Yuri also Explained that the Earth and Flower Chakras were responsible for the automatic answers and sensations, mainly the fear and the pleasure, and deal with the emotional answer.

Finally, the Universe and Life Chakras were the two most important of all. The Universe had points that deal directly with the perception of the world and the way the whole body answered. And the Heart, had the points that deal directly with life and the rest of the body, and that allowed the body to control the life and to keep working.

Spyro paid very much attention to each word and engraved them into his mind, making an effort to memorize everything the wolf was saying to him. Yuri than said "If you use the Gentle Fist, it may even be possible to kill someone." And the wolf looked at Spyro dead in the eye "But I don't want you to do it."

Spyro looked back in his eyes, as Yuri said "Spyro, if I'm going to teach you the Gentle Fist, you have to promise you will not misuse it." The wolf say "I want you to promise me you will only use it for the right reasons, and never for personal gains or to revenge."

Spyro looked in Yuri's eyes, and nodded as he said "Y-yes… I promise."

This answer seemed to be enough to Yuri, as he gave Spyro an smile and continued with his explanation.

He unfolded a long scroll in front of Spyro, and showed him the points that flowed for all the body starting from the Chakras. Yuri explained that there was 364 chi points in the whole body, and that number was constant to every creature, from wolfs to apes and dragons.

Wow! 364!? Spyro was surely having a hard time memorizing all of them, not to mention their combinations.

Yuri explained to Spyro the points that flowed from the Mind Chakra, start with a few that were close to the head. And son after that, he closed the scroll and brought a dummy in front of Spyro, and he said "Now, Spyro, I want you to point in the dummy at least three chi points that originate from the Mind Chakra."

Spyro was taken back, he didn't expected the sudden inquisition. He thought they were only going to do the theory today. He didn't expected to be asked to see the points into a dummy.

Yuri seemed to notice his surprise and said "You will have little time to think when the moment comes, you will need to think fast to defend yourself."

Spyro looked at him, and then back at the dummy. He knew that the Mind Chakra was in the forehead, and he had seen a brief glimpse of the lines coming from it and the points, but with the sudden need to point them out, his mind seemed to have blanked.

"Can't I look the scroll again?" Spyro asked, but Yuri said "You won't have a scroll or time to think if you're facing an opponent. You need to be able to know the points instinctively, and to hit them as fast as you can if you want to get out alive."

Spyro knew by the look in Yuri face that he was not going to help him with these. Spyro looking at the Dummy, now trying desperately remember of the right points. Spyro slowly walked in his direction, and stood in front of it.

Spyro was able to quick point out a few points, in the chin, in the chest and in the right shoulder. Yuri looked to the points Spyro had touched, and looked at the purple dragon "Are you sure?" he asked, and Spyro was unable to answer.

As answer, Yuri picked the scroll and unfolded it again, revealing that Spyro had missed the points completely. Spyro's look went to the ground, Yuri notice he was sad, and said "Actually, zero out of three is not bad for a first time."

Spyro looked at him; the wolf was smiling "I really didn't think you were being able to pinpoint the right points after a first time. It takes time to do it. Now, what mistakes you think you did?"

Spyro reflected about it "I… did paid enough attention?" he tried, and Yuri said "You were paying good attention to what I said, your mistakes were two, actually: first, you lost your calm, and by this way, you lost your focus, what made difficult to remember and to think" Yuri explained very patiently at the dragon.

"And second, you tried to hurry to do something, instead of stopping for a while and calming down. This made you try to do things I a rush and made the mistakes, when you would probably had made it right if you had concentrated."

Spyro nodded at these words, he was still looking down, and Yuri punched gently his shoulder, making the dragon look at him "Don't worry, this is just your first day, no one gets good at something in the first day. You still have a long way ahead of you before you can take someone in a fight."

This made Spyro smile at little "Well, if you say…" Yuri was happy to see Spyro smiling, for him seemed to be more confident and feeling better "Okay, now let's try again." He said as he let Spyro look into the scroll again.

Soon, Yuri requested the same thing with the dummy again. Spyro looked at the dummy, and this time, he tried to calm down and focus into it. Spyro walked forward, he was still having problems to remember, but he was more confident, he slowly pointed a few points, in the neck, in the left shoulder and in the left side of the face.

Yuri looked at him, and then he said "This time you pointed one right. It is a good progress." The wolf says smiling, and Spyro noticed that this time he didn't needed to open the scroll to see. Spyro instantly knew that Yuri was the creator of this art, and of course he didn't needed a scroll to know if Spyro had done right.

"This time I noticed you were more confident." He said "But you have to remember that in a battle you will have little time to think and the opponents will not wait for you to focus. You need to learn to think and act fast to be able to pick up with someone into a fight."

Spyro nodded at him. All this information was very valuable, and Spyro soon knew he was not getting good at this overnight. He was ready to learn, and he was willing to make an effort. And it was surely being a long time of learning.

Yuri kept teaching to Spyro parts of the Chakras and the points that were flowing form them. Yuri made Spyro point out as many points as he could in each Chakra, making sure he did it quick and yet focusing. It was hard, and Spyro only pointed out one right chi point at each, in one he had actually pointed two, what was surprising even to him. After one hour that Spyro barely noticed passing, Yuri finished it.

"Well, guess it is enough of this part for now. You are improving." He said to the young dragon "You still need some training to really apply it in combat, but you're definitely into the right path."

Spyro smiled when he heard that "So, this ends our training for today?" he asked, and Yuri said "We can training a bit more later if you want, but for now, I guess your mind needs a little rest. Anyway, this is just a part of the training of the Gentle Fist."

"Really?" asked Spyro

"Hitting your opponent is only part of a fight." Yuri said "The other part is avoid your opponent to hit." He said smiling, and Spyro looked at him "Being able to hang on against another opponent into the fight is fundamental if you want to win. Is the basic of the fighting mentality."

Spyro nodded "So, I must get strong so I can hang on when they hit me?"

"Not necessarily." Said Yuri, and Spyro looked strange at the wolf, who chuckled and went to pick a few things, he brought back a blade, a line of nylon, a piece of wood and a leaf.

Spyro looked puzzled as the wolf kneel next to him and tied the blade to his tail with the piece of nylon, and once it was secure he said "Spyro, you can cut this piece of the wood with this blade?" He showed the piece of wood he had in his hands "The blade is sharp and you just need to swing it strong enough to hit the wood."

He said, as he placed the wood in the ground next to Spyro. The young purple dragon was a bit confused by this, but he decided to go with the flow. Looking at the piece of wood in the ground, Spyro raised his tail, made a good aim, and with a quick move, he hit the wood.

He had cut it in half, but almost lost his balance and fell to the ground. He slowly got up and saw the good work he had done. For a moment, Spyro could feel proud of himself.

Yuri then said "Very good." And he showed the leaf "Now, try to do the same thing with this leaf." Yuri placed the leaf in the ground, and Spyro looked at it.

Spyro made an aim, like he did with the wood, and raised his tail and the blade in it. Then, he brought it down right into the leaf, but, to his surprise, the leaf flew to out of his way, and was now flying in the air.

Spyro looked a bit surprised at it. But he soon recovered and tried to hit the leaf again as it was in the air. But the leaf floated around the blade as he tried to hit it. Spyro tried another four times, but missed every time, as if the leaf would not allow itself to be hit.

Spyro breathed a little as the leaf slowly floated to the ground, and laid in it gently. Spyro looked at the wolf, who was still having an assuring smile into his face "The leaf is weaker than the wood, and still, it is harder to cut it than a wood. Do you know why?"

Spyro took a few moments, and slowly said "Because… the leaf floats out of the way while the wood… remains in place?"

Yuri seemed satisfied with this answer "The leaf floats around and avoids the attacks. The wood is stronger, and yet, it cannot avoid to be hit, and, with enough strong, it can be damaged." Yuri picked up the leaf form the ground "The leaf, whoever, despite being weaker, it is able to float and bend, and can dodge the damage. Instead of taking it, it follows the flow, and float with the wind, so, it avoids damage. If you're never hit, you will never break."

Spyro heard each one of his words, and Yuri continued "I'm thinner than most guys, and surely I'm smaller than an adult dragon. If I took direct hits, like when I fought that Blast and his friends, I would have been beaten."

He smiled, as he looked at Spyro "Instead, I try to use my agility. I avoid the hist the best way I can, and try not to be hit. If you can't be hit, then it is harder for your enemy to defeat you. If you're never hit, you will hardly break." He finished, winking at the purple dragon.

Spyro looked at him, and he said "But… I always heard that only cowards dodge." He said, remembering some words that Blast once told him, and also the words of his fa- of Terrador."

Yuri chuckled as answer "Yeah. Some say it is cowardice, but we do what we can." He smiled at Spyro "It is not cowardice to fight the best way you can, and to do your best. No one has to do in a certain way because everyone said it. We fight on the way we can." Yuri said, winking at the purple dragon.

Spyro smiled at him. It was assuring that the wolf had this philosophy, and Spyro liked it also. The wolf seemed to be quite an understanding person… Different form Terrador and Nova.

Remembering every time they punished him for the silliest mistake, and they constant insults and mistreating, as if he was a thing instead of their child, it made Spyro's heart hurt inside.

Yuri noticed that Spyro's expression suddenly became heavier, and he asked "Spyro?" the purple dragon turned to the wolf's concerned face, as he asked "What is the matter?"

Spyro looked away "Nothing." He said quickly "Just… thinking…"

"About what?" asked Yuri, and Spyro quickly tried to change the subject "Nothing important."

Yuri looked at him, and then said "Are you thinking about your parents?"

"If you can call them that." Said Spyro in a half snarl. Yuri knew Spyro was still hurt and upset with all they put him through. And Spyro said "They never truly cared for me. They treated me as if I was a thing for them. They never were truly parents, not for me, at least."

Yuri looked at Spyro, and knelt in front of him "You have all right to feel angry and betrayed. More than any other person." Yuri said, making Spyro look at him "I felt the same way when my parents kicked me out home when they discovered I was… what I am."

Spyro looked at him, his face softened. Yuri knew how he felt, the wolf understood what was like to be betrayed and discharged as trash by the ones that were suppose to care about you. The wolf could be the only one that understood him.

Spyro leaned forward, and rested his head in Yuri's shoulder. This surprised the wolf, but soon Yuri put an arm around Spyro, putting him in a hug, and Spyro said "Why they do this?" his face seemed distant "Why do they act like this with who is different from them?"

Yuri instantly knew what Spyro's meant. He was talking not only about himself, but also of Cynder and him. Yuri could only sigh as he said "I don't know, Spyro." Yuri sounded the most sincere as he said that "I think they are afraid of the different, of what they can't understand. They are afraid… but yet…" he also said "When I think about what Terrador and his wife did to you… I just can't… how can someone want to hurt their own child?"

This was an answer Yuri couldn't have, not matter how much he tried. Someone hurting their own child, parents disowning it, just because the child was different, was something that was beyond his comprehension. It didn't mattered how much the parents were scared, for doing what Spyro's parents did, they could only have some kind of problem.

For a long moment, Yuri and Spyro remained together, searching for comfort and support on each other's touch. They discovered that it made both of them feel better. Spyro felt safe around Yuri, and being close to him made the purple dragon feel strong. And Yuri felt stronger near the purple dragon, his company making him feel comfortable and pleasing.

They remained like that for a few minutes, both in silence, only letting each strengthen the other, before Spyro finally spoke "And to think I used to think they cared about me." His voice was bitter, and this worried Yuri "I even made all those stupid drawings." Spyro remarked "I thought they were going to like."

Yuri let him broke the hug, and after a moments of silence, he said "The paintings are beautiful."

"They are just useless scraps." Said Spyro "I don'1t get it why you wanted to keep them."

Yuri put a hand in Spyro's chin, and made the purple dragon look at him "I wanted to keep them because they are art. Beautiful art. They show you have talent."

"It is just pain over some surface." Said Spyro "Just scraps that have no utility."

"I don't think." Said Yuri, smiling at the purple dragon "Those paintings show that you have real talent."

Spyro looked at the wolf "Yuri, I feel better already" he said "You don't need to say those things only for making me feel better."

"I know." Yuri said "And I'm not." He looked at Spyro with a smile "Those drawings are really amazing. Few times in my life I saw such skill in something. You are a great artist, Spyro, and I think you should know this." Yuri looked at Spyro, with a smile still in his face "Only someone very talented would do those paintings."

Spyro felt a blush on his face, as he looked away "Y-you really think?" he asked unsure, and Yuri said "I'm completely sure." And with that, he started getting up "You should do more of those paintings."

"I don't think I want to paint Terrador and Nova ever again." Said Spyro in a bitter tone, and Yuri said "Then don't. Paint other things! Paint the sun, landscapes, paint things you like or that you think are important. After all, art is a way of expression, of letting out how we feel and who we are."

Spyro looked at the wolf, as he said "A talent like the one you have shall not go wasted like that." His tone and face were the most sincere possible, and this made Spyros smile. It warmed his heart that Yuri thought such good things of him.

Spyro than said "If you say so." He smiles "I guess I'll continue painting."

Yuri smiled at him, and said "Good thing", and Spyro than said "You think is art, just like your music?"

"Of course it is!" said the wolf "Art is art, be it music or painting, is a way of telling the world how you feel. Is a way of turning your feelings into something."

Spyro smiled more at this "Then I'll keep painting." He said, and Yuri petted his head "Now lets go upstairs. I'll have lunch started." And with that, they both went upstairs.