Midnight (Me): Hey guys, sorry for not posting a new chapter. It's not easy doing multiple stories since it's possible to mix up story ideas. However, I was mainly in a block for this chapter, but here we are.

Maria: I am upset that I was dropped several times but I know it wasn't on purpose. Besides what happened in the previous chapter?

Blazer X: Aeolus was scared to death in the last chapter.

Aeolus: No I wasn't!

Blazer X: Yes you were! You were screaming like a little girl!

Aeolus: No!

Blazer X: Yes!

Aeolus: No!

Blazer X: Yes!

Aeolus: Yes!

Blazer X: Nice try Aeolus.

Aeolus: DAMMIT! XC

Maria: Well, this chapter is going to be fun. *turns to me*

Me: In some way. Let's get this over with.

Maria: Midnight does not own Spyro characters. Only the OC's of the story who are Blazer X/Blazer, my dumb brother Aeolus...

Aeolus: Hey!

Maria: ...and finally me, Maria.

Blazer X: If you don't like this chapter, feel free to smack Aeolus in the face with a shovel.

Aeolus: Why you...! *accidentally steps on a rake and gets smacked in the face by the handle* Ow. *falls on back*

Blazer X: A rake works fine too. ^w^

Chapter 5

Everything was dark and quiet. Something was different. Maria is barely conscious at the moment though she couldn't see where she was. She felt exhausted for some reason. The fight with the apes may have–wait a minute. Her brothers...and father! She tried to force herself up but couldn't move her body in any way.

"...be...ay?"

"...on...ell...some..."

She heard someone yet she was unable to make out what was being said. It sounded close by, or was it far away? She couldn't tell. Slowly, her conscious was returning but she had to wonder what she would find upon waking up. She was able to hear a little better and tried to listen in on the talk.

"The...gon looks...purple."

"They...at the front...ple."

"I fear...for them."

Maria was disappointed with hearing broken up sentences but she made an assumption that it was about her and her brothers. Perhaps they were safe. She needed to know what happened while she was unconscious. She groaned as she struggled to stand but found that she couldn't. Not only was she mysteriously exhausted but her entire body ached uncontrollably. She groaned again but this time it was out of pain. She heard the nearing thuds of heavy footsteps hitting the floor. Her eyes were still closed but she heard and felt someone breathing beside her ear hole.

"Young gryphon, don't strain yourself. Rest yourself." the voice was a male. Something about his voice sort of reminded Maria of Dairu. She was not quite sure if she really heard her father that time but she mumbled something to the unknown person before her conscious decided to drift away.

0-0-0-0-0

The place felt cold; not winter cold but more like night time cold. Maria groggily woke up and slowly viewed her surroundings. There wasn't much to see. There was a window where the morning sunlight slowly warmed the place, a fireplace, a sleeping dragon and gryphon, and – wait, what? She looked to her left and saw Blazer and Aeolus on their side. To her they were sleeping peacefully but they were really unconscious. She slowly rose to her feet and made her way to the door. She slowly examined it for she has never seen a door. She and her family lived in a cave for a long time and they never seen a door before. She pushed it but it did not move. She knew that pulling it won't help for there was nothing for her to pull. The window would be a great exit but there was just one problem with that idea: Size Difference. There was absolutely no way Maria could possibly fit through a small window. She decided to wait until someone came in or when her brothers wake up. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. Blazer groaned as he began to stir as well as Aeolus. Both groggily stood up with their head in their paw.

"Ow, my head. It feels like I ran into the side of a mountain." Aeolus groaned.

"Yeah, well, it feels like I ran into several of them." Blazer whined.

Maria chuckled at how they were acting. This caused them to look her way and she wasn't expecting what was coming at her. They nearly knocked her down as they rushed her and gave her a tight hug.

"Maria! Thank goodness you're alive!"

"Yes yes now let me go. I can barely breathe here." her brothers let her go. "You guys really missed me?"

"If that the dynamite actually killed you I would be stuck with this knucklehead." Blazer joked, tilting his head towards Aeolus.

"Am not." Aeolus shot back.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are not."

"Am too and you know it."

Blazer and Maria suddenly burst with laughter, not caring who heard them. It took a split second for the green griffin to realise that he was tricked into admitting that he was an idiot.

"I am going to kill you...VERY slowly."

Maria, at this point, suddenly remembers something.

"What happened to those things we fought?"

The question struck Blazer and Aeolus like a brick wall. Their facial quickly changed to a more sadden one. How were they going to explain that their father gave his life for us to escape? If she was to know, there was no doubt that she would blame Blazer and try to kill him. They could lie to her and say that he was captured–no. If they did, they probably wouldn't live long enough to regret it. The only problem was who was going to tell her. Blazer opened his mouth but before he could say a word, the door slid open and behind it revealed an adult male red dragon. The trio took their fighting stances as the dragon walked in.

"There is no need to be alarmed young ones. You are all safe." he said with a calm demeanour. His calming words were enough to make the kids lower their guards. "I am relieved to see you all alive and well. You all were injured, save for the young dragon there." he turned towards Blazer. "You were gravely injured. Had we not found you outside the temple–"

"Temple?" Blazer interrupted.

"We?" Aeolus questioned.

"Who are you?" Maria asked.

The red dragon chuckled slightly. "Slow down, one question at a time. First of all, my name is Ignitus, the fire dragon and..."

"Ignitus? Where are you?" a new voice called out of nowhere. It sounded like a young kid.

"I'm with the three we found. They're awake." Ignitus replied.

Seconds later, there were claws tapping on the floor as a young male dragon suddenly came running beside Ignitus. The dragon had amethyst eyes, a purple body, and his horns, wings, tail spade and underbelly were a golden color. Next to him was a bright small light.

"That good to hear." he said to Ignitus before turning to the trio. "How do you guys feel?"

"Listen to yourself. They're perfectly fine, I mean just look." the light that was floating in front the purple dragon got swatted away by his paw.

"Ignore my annoying brother Sparx. By the way, I'm Spyro."

"I'm Aeolus. Over there is my sister Maria and the dark blue dragon between us is our foster brother Blazer X. Our father named him but we prefer to call him Blazer instead."

The light flew in front of Blazer. It was a dragonfly. "Blazer Instead? What a weird name."

"Hardy Har. Real funny Tinkerbelle." Blazer said. He heard Spyro laughing.

"He got you good with that Sparx – I mean...Tinkerbelle." Spyro said in between his laughs.

A loud *AHEM* from Ignitus caught everyone's attention.

"There will be time for you all to become acquainted but now it is not. First of all, Blazer's wing must be put back into place."

Blazer didn't know what he was talking about until he decided to move his wings a bit. Instantaneously, he felt pain ripping through his left wing joint and course throughout his body. He figured that it became dislocated from a bad landing. How bad it was was beyond him. Blazer was almost nervous about having his wing put back in place but it had to be done or else he'll never fly through the air, let alone glide.

"Let's get this over with then." he suddenly said.

Ignitus was a bit surprised by this. "Are you sure? The pain may be too much for you to handle." he stated.

"Make it quick."

"Alright then. Lay flat on your front." Blazer did as he was instructed. Ignitus told Spyro, Aeolus and Maria to hold him down in case he jumped from excruciating pain. He noticed the young dragon cringed when Maria gently brushed it by accident. If Blazer was moving to the slightest touch, then this was going to hurt him a lot. When that was done, he used his forepaws to firmly grip the damaged wing, causing the dragon to convulse a bit.

"Sparx, you may want to cover your ears just in case." Spyro suggested. Sparx saw his brother saying something to him but he couldn't hear since he had his ears covered.

"Brace yourself." Ignitus reminded. Of course, the dark blue dragon didn't need to be reminded. With one swift motion, he pulled on the wing then quickly pushed it back in place with a loud POP.

Ignitus wasn't joking when he said it would hurt. Blazer practically roared in pain when his wing was popped back into place. It was so painful, he nearly blacked out from it.

As for Maria, she felt sick. Since she was closer to Blazer's wing, she still heard the wing being put back into place over the shrilling scream from her brother.

Everyone moved back so that Blazer could stand. He was a bit shaky but he struggled to stay up.

"S-S-See? N-Not...a...prob...lem." he panted.

"Whatever you say brother." said Aeolus.

0-0-0-0-0

Ignitus had given them some food whilst Spyro and Sparx had to leave. They had to go rescue some dragon in a place called Dante's Freezer. This place was totally new to the three youngsters. Blazer on the other hand didn't care about that. His concern was how was Maria going to handle the truth? Also, he wanted to know what was happening in the world, why the ape creatures wanted him dead, and what was that attack he had used when he and his brother were escaping from the fire that chased them in the cave. Ignitus must have seen his troubled expression for he had suddenly questioned him about what was on his mind. Even Blazer wasn't sure about how to go about what has happened so far.

"Ignitus...can you tell me something?" he asked.

"And whatever might that be young Blazer?"

Blazer sighed. He knew that with Maria around, something was bound to happen...to him.

"We...were attack by these strange creatures that called themselves apes. They wanted me dead for some unknown reason. Before anything else is said," Blazer turned to Maria with a sorrowful look. "Maria? Father...gave his life...so that we can escape."

"What?" The males flinched at the sudden out burst from Maria.

"It's true Maria. I begged father not to do it but he had made up his mind." Aeolus said.

"LIAR! THIS IS ALL BLAZER'S FAULT! NOW WE LOST BOTH MOM AND DAD! EVER SINCE HE HATCHED, LIFE WAS HARSH!" she swung a claw at Blazer but it was easily avoided.

"Calm yourself, Maria!" Blazer shouted as he dodged a few more swipes of her sharp eagle-like claws. After the battle he had against the apes, his speed increased a bit which made dodging easier; just as long as he doesn't make a mistake with his footing. Ignitus and Aeolus tried to stop her by either blocking her path or trying to grab her but she'd always move around them. However, their attempts had somewhat gave him an idea. He just had to wait for someone, preferably Ignitus, to stand between him and his sister. Thankfully, he got just that when was backed into a corner.

Maria was enraged. Her eyes were burning with hatred towards Blazer. It's as if she was possessed by some dark spirit. Not only that, she would become even angrier when Ignitus and Aeolus tried to prevent her from hurting the young dragon or worse. She kept attacking and missing until Blazer was backed into a corner. Maria dash at him but Ignitus was quick to cut her off but she just went around him. As she did, she was tackled by Blazer and was held in a tight hug.

Blazer used his forearms to hold Maria in a tight hug in a way that prevented her from using her claws as well as her biting or pecking at him. She struggled to break out of his grip but he would not let up.

"Maria," he spoke softly. "There was nothing we could do. He wanted us to live a happy life. I may not have met mom but I'm sure she would say the same."

"Shut up Blazer!" she screeched.

"Is this what they wanted to see? Would mom and dad be happy with you killing me?" those words earned a soft gasp from her. He loosened his grip on her a bit. "Please Maria, think about how they would act if they knew of this."

Aeolus and Ignitus watched with confusion as to what Blazer was doing. Shortly, they saw Maria place her head on his shoulder as she cried softly.

Blazer had at this point loosened his grip and was just giving her a comforting hug. He could see the pain that was buried in her. Of course, Blazer had felt the same but when she blamed him for the loss of both parents, well that's like someone ripping your heart out and replacing it with a scorching hot rock. He turned his head to Ignitus and Aeolus and back to Maria.

"Maria, you want us to continue telling what happened in the cave?" he asked.

She lifted her head and nodded.

0-0-0-0-0

The story of what happened continued and this time Maria didn't make any attempts to hurt her brothers. However, there was one part of the story that confused the young group but made Ignitus worried. When Blazer mentioned how he overheard one of the apes conversing, he had heard them say something about not telling Cynder about him but should explain it to another dragon.

"Another dragon works with the Dark Master." Ignitus said out loud.

"Ignitus? What's going on? Who is this Dark Master?" Blazer questioned.

The fire dragon turned his head away from him and replied, "No one you should worry about."

Hearing this sort of made Blazer mad. Though his face didn't show it but was slightly noticeable in his voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"You are nothing a young dragon. The Dark Master, Cynder, and whoever is with them are by far powerful enemies. There is no way you can win against them. Only a purple dragon like Spyro is capable of taking on such an enemy."

"Ignitus," Blazer called, sounding more ticked than he already is. "Our parents are dead, we barely escaped from those apes, and you want us to sit back swishing our tails while Spyro takes on every enemy on his own?"

"He's right Ignitus." Maria stepped forward. "We may not be experienced fighters but we can't just sit back and do nothing."

Ignitus seemed a bit frustrated by the two. For he decided to drop the conversation by telling them at they can't leave. Aeolus had joked about how nice the meeting was and got slapped in the back of the head by Blazer's and Maria's wings. At that point, Ignitus came back in with the same expression when he left.

"Is that ALL that happened in your story?" he questioned.

Somehow, Blazer didn't feel like responding after what had happened but something made him think otherwise.

"Blazer," Aeolus was whispering to him. "Tell him about the big EXIT."

"What?"

"You know, our big EXIT just before...you know."

"No I don't. What are you talking about?"

Aeolus just sighed and reminded his brother about his breath. Of course! Blazer had forgotten about his performance in Crystal Cave with his unknown breath. Maybe Ignitus could help somehow.

"Ignitus, while at Crystal Cave, I did something I never–"

"You breathed your element." the guardian jumped in. "By the way, exactly what is your element?"

"I don't know. I shot a blue beam and a blue ball of some kind."

Ignitus was curious about his element. "Really? Now this you have to show me. Please, come with me."

Midnight (ME): Okay, I think I'll wrap it up around here for now. *hears Blazer, Maria and Aeolus laughing* Hey, what's so funny? *walks in the living room and sees a cartoon* Oh, those two! *chuckles* They're hilarious together.

Blazer X: Very true. How's the chapter by the way?

Me: Great. Especially when it has a slight reference to that cartoon in it.

Aeolus: Really?

Maria: I bet he's the stupid one. *points to Aeolus*

Aeolus: Not me.

Maria: Yes you.

Aeolus: Not me.

Maria: Yes you.

Aeolus: Not me.

Maria: Not you.

Aeolus: YESMESTUPID! ...wait, I...

Blazer & Maria: Too late! * laughs as they run*

Aeolus: #$% *chases after them*

Me: Anyway, readers, just so you know, this story has nothing to do with "The Midnight Dragon" story I have on Deviant Art in any way whatsoever. I say this because I got several emails asking me if it was. Also, he won't be using the elements from that story. The next chapter is in progress and I did not give his breath an element. I will let you all decide the name of the element Blazer X used in the previous chapter. I might put your suggestions in a poll. Anyways, I better stop Aeolus. *set down a rake and hides* You guys can guess what happens here and the next chapter will have Blazer learning about his element that you people named. Oh, here they come. Gotta go!

R & R Please!

Midnight Out!