Hi everyone. Sorry this took so long but I've been unbelievably busy!

A big thanks to Lithe for his support, ideas and character 'Flair'. Lets hope I don't screw this all up...

Shattered Future

An occasional hum like a distant heartbeat was all Ember could hear. Her entire body was heavy and felt like it was floating underwater. A wave of dizziness spread over her as her hearing became more fine tuned.

Her delicate eyelids where battling with the invisible force holding them shut until finally they flickered open. After a few seconds of lying completely still, trying to remember where she was, her limbs began to twitch and jerk about, jolting her awake. Her eyes where still adjusting to her environment as her memories slowly sept back to her.

She remembered activating a machine, a time machine. One that she was still wearing on her wrist. It was cold and uncomfortable, but she had to keep it on. No telling what trouble she could get into if she lost it.

"Why?" she wondered to herself. "What was the machine for?"

A mission. A mission that she set herself.

Something that she had to do.

"SPYRO!" she screamed suddenly, twisting her body into a standing position. Well, it would be standing if there was anything to stand on. Her eyes widened and she assumed a worried expression as she looked around.

She was standing in a huge white void. She could not see a single object or shadow anywhere. She was floating nowhere...

She heard a distant rumbling, like the thunder she used to hear back in the realms of the past.

Her brain searched for answers but all she got was a dull ache in the back of her skull. The noise was closer now, so close that she could feel it.

Suddenly the source of the noise became visible. A gigantic wall of golden energy was rumbling towards her. As it travelled it deposited thousands of strange looking objects. These hung in the air behind it, floating like asteroids.

Ember panicked. She swung her arms around madly in an attempt to swim away from it. She gained some momentum but it seemed to be speeding up, like a predator eager to reach its prey.

In almost seconds it was too late.

WHAM!

It slammed into her, almost tearing her wings from her back. It hurt so much but there was nothing she could do. She screamed in pain as it tore through her. It felt as if she was being burnt and ripped to pieces, every molecule of her stung.

And then it stopped. The tingling relief enveloped her. Her sweating scales glistened and her face was still a picture of agony. Her arms clutched her burning chest and with her teeth gritted she turned her head and looked back at it. It moved swiftly away until it vanished into the white. Ember gasped for air and a single tear escaped her closed eyes.

She stayed there sobbing. Her entire world, her entire life had been destroyed and Ember felt that she was not far from death either.

"I've failed," thought Ember miserably, "I've let them all down!" She burst into a fit of tears. She was absolutely hysteric and lost in a world where almost everything seemed hostile.

Something caught her eye as she wiped her cheeks. Floating along from her, amongst some scraps of dark metal, was a gun.

Its barrel was sleek and metallic with an attachment underneath. The trigger was large and near to the end of the barrel.

Ember, even though she wasn't the violent type (unless provoked), grinned. She dove for the gun, flipped around and grabbed it. Its cold, thick handle gave her a comforting feeling of safety. It was of no design that she had ever seen before. She pulled the top back and released it. With a click, the gun was loaded.

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind. Her arms were held back and a muscular, purple scaled arm wrapped round her neck. The gun was knocked out of her hand by a kick that sent it flying.

Ember gritted her teeth and struggled for freedom. She could tell her captor was male due to the muscles that held her. After some frantic manoeuvring, Ember stopped. It was no use, he was strong and had her in such a position that she couldn't fight back.

"Alright bitch, I want some answers!" he demanded.

"What...d'you mean?" gasped Ember, still thinking of a way out.

"Don't play dumb with me, where the fuck am I?"

"I...don't...know! Let go of me!" yelled Ember.

"When I get answers, you get released, kay?" he replied, tightening his grip.

Ember felt his feet against either side of hers, meaning that his most venerable spot was now defenceless.

"No...no it's not...," she replied smartly.

Ember brought her heel up sharply into his groin. Even with the protection of scales, it hurt.

THUMP!

"Bastard,"

The pain of the attack made him let go of her and at that instant she brought her leg up and planted a kick into his chest. This propelled her away from him and towards the discarded weapon. She grabbed it and spun round to face him and gasped.

Her captor was another dragon. Except this dragon had no wings, no tail and no horns or spikes of any kind. He was remarkably similar to Spyro in almost every way.

Ember was lost in her thoughts so much that she didn't notice that he had recovered.

He looked at her and paused, examining her from head to foot, his gaze lingering (typically) on her chest.

Ember snapped back into action and raised the gun at him. She floated there, aiming at him with a determined /confused expression. He raised his eyebrows at her, clearly impressed with the way she handled the situation. He started towards her.

"BACK OFF!" she yelled.

"Drop the gun, im not gonna hurt you, I just want some answers!" he replied.

"I said BACK OFF!"

"Look, grabbing you was probably a mistake, but I thought you might be able to tell me-,"

"Where the hell you are?" finished Ember.

"Yeah, just drop the gun already!"

"Look, I have no idea where I am so I'm not really going to be able to tell you where you are am I? Dumb-ass!"

"I didn't know--"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"DROP THE GODDAM GUN!"

They looked at each other with fierce expressions, daring the other to make a move.

"Just-drop-the gun," he requested.

"Why the hell should I? You grabbed me round the neck and called me a bitch!" she spat.

"Because we can help each other," he stated.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she questioned, still pointing the gun at his head threateningly.

"You don't, that's the problem," he said with a shrug.

She lowered the gun slowly, not taking her eyes of him. She threw it backwards, still glaring at him.

"So, how did you get in here?" she asked him glancing briefly at the gun which was still drifting away, slowly.

"I'm not sure, last thing I remember I was in the cafeteria talking to Cypher, then I blacked out and woke up here. What about you?"

"I built a machine that was supposed to take me to the future. Obviously it failed,"

"I wouldn't say that, you got here didn't you?"

"Yeah but it's not exactly the future is it?"

"That depends on what your past is,"

"I no longer have a past," with this comment, another silent tear escaped her eye.

"I guess you don't wanna talk about it huh?" he asked.

"No, I don't,"

"That's fine, that's fine, telling me probably wouldn't help anyway!" he grinned.

"You gotta name?" asked Ember, raising an eyebrow.

"Flair, what's yours?" he asked.

Ember stared at him for a second before speaking again,

"That's so weird, my son's name was Flair," said Ember, with mystified look.

"Cool...so what's your name?" repeated Flair.

"Ember...," she replied.

"Cute," he chirped.

Ember blushed, "Thanks,"

Flair smiled and began to move. Ember followed, examining her surroundings, but also unable to stop examining Flair. He was so much like Spyro, plus the fact that he was kinda cute, for a freaky hybrid thing. Flair seemed to be watching her just as much. He frequently glanced around at her, smiled, then continued.

"So..er..where are your wings and stuff?" she asked curiously, hoping not to insult him. It embarrassed her just asking him something, let alone a question that could be personal.

"I'm genetically modified. I don't have any of the regular features of a dragon. I'm what they call BiDras," he said.

"Genetically engineered dragons?" Ember repeated to herself.

"Why though? Why were you changed?"

"It's for a military program," he shrugged.

"Military? You mean... like... an army?"

"Exactly," he replied

"Whoa...,"

Flair and Ember spoke for the duration of the journey (where they were going, Ember had no idea) and got to know each other quite well. Ember explained to him that she had come to the future to find the dragon that killed her mate and destroyed her world and life. She never once mentioned Spyro's name in fear that Flair may possibly be an enemy. And there was no real need to tell him anyway. Flair explained that he was from the future Draconic Empire and part of a special ops program. He never mentioned his family though, after all, she didn't need to know...did she?

Well, thus begins Ember's quest. Lithe, thanks for everything, let me know if I got Flair wrong at all. Thanks to everyone for their patience!