Chapter 23...Thank y'all...That's all I really wanna say. I own nothing from Spyro.

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Fuego groaned as his eyes slowly opened. For a moment he was blinded by a harsh light. He shielded his eyes from the intensity of the light; after a little while his eyes adjusted and he saw that he was in the hospital wing of the temple. He wondered what had happened to him? His whole body ached as he sat up. His hands shot to his stomach as he got to his feet. It hurt just to move. Whatever happened to him; it must have been something.

He called out. "Hello?"

Silence answered him back. Slowly, he made his way to the door and walked out of the medical wing. As he stepped out into the hall a throb of pain surged through his head. He listened for the voice that accompanied this headache. But, none came. He opened his eyes and closed them again. When he opened them again; everything appeared dark. The only detail he could make out were some white lines and a single blue line. This confused him for a moment until he opened his eyes again. Everything was back to normal. But, the blue hue of the line remained.

He questioned. "What the?" He began to follow the line.

He followed the line all the way down the hall; it lead him to another hallway and then another. He had no idea where the line was taking him. He just knew he needed to follow it. Eventually, the line lead him to the gardens outside. He stood in the archway wondering why the line lead him here. He took a single step forward. Only to spin around and grab hold of something behind him. He pulled one of his daggers and held it just in front of the unseen force.

He smiled smugly as he said. "Finally, got a kill."

The voice of Old hat spoke. "Impressive."

The world around him started to fade away and soon he was back in that place again. He sat in front of Old hat. Who just stared at him with that smile of his. Fuego smiled back at him. Finally, he got a kill. Only after dying thirty times. The area around them was filling out slowly. He sighed as he relaxed into the chair; he hoped that he would wake up soon. He wanted to see his friends again. Plus, he imagined they were worrying about him.

Old hat spoke. "Do not worry. You will wake soon."

Fuego questioned. "How did?"

Old hat interrupted him. "We always know what you're thinking our child." He chuckled wickedly before he said. "I also know that you are curious about these." He tapped his desk; in a flash of light cards appeared on the table.

Fuego recognized the cards; it was the ones he kept hearing from that whisper. Hope, Suffering, Mask, Knowledge, Endurance, Savage. He always heard these names after spending time with one of his friends. Or after he accomplished something. Was Old hat going to finally tell him about these cards.

Old hat spoke. "Each of these cards represents the connections that you have made." He chuckled a little as he continued. "The more you bond with these connections. The more power you will unlock." He then pointed towards the Savage card. "This card you already know; represents you." Fuego nodded.

The card began to glow brightly before it floated into the air. Fuego watched as it hovered in front of him for a few seconds. The glow got more intense and the card split into two. Now two cards hovered in the air. One was blue and the other was red.

Old Hat spoke to him. "You have two choices." He pointed towards the red card. "You can continue down the path of The Savage." He then pointed to the blue card. "Or, you can start down a new path."

Fuego asked. "What path would that be?

Old Hat chuckled before answering. "The path of The Warrior."

For a moment the two sat in silence; Fuego stared at the cards in between them. Wondering which path he should choose. Should he continue as The Savage or The Warrior. He looked at the red card and shivered in fear. That card he knew; somehow he knew that it was evil. Yet, it held so much power. He averted his eyes and looked at the blue card. It had power similar to the red card. But, he didn't feel afraid of it. And, it seemed to put off a kind aura. He reached for the blue card; only to pull his claw. He began to question himself; to question if he really wanted to give up being The Savage.

Old Hat informed him. "You will wake soon."

Fuego looked up at him; he noticed the room was starting to fade. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate. He took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He then reached for the blue card and gently grasped it. He could heard Old Hat chuckling.

Old Hat spoke as he faded. "A new path and a new power have been granted to you." The room was almost gone as he continued. "Go to the training hall."

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"Split-Second...Live by the code...Arsenal III"

Fuego groaned as his eyes slowly opened. He felt the familiar headache from before. He cursed as his sense came back to him. For a moment his vision was blurry. After a few blinks his sight became more defined. He was in the medical wing of the temple. He groaned as he sat up and looked around. He noticed a mat was next to him. Someone had been by his side but who? He then remembered everything that had happened to him. From the time he was taken from Warfang to the point he was thrown into the hole. He remembered the time spent with Old Hat.

"Go to the training hall."

He slowly got to his feet; he was surprised by how good he felt. He felt like he could take on a Guardian level training dummy. No, two of them. Maybe three. He looked around again; noticing that his daggers were missing. Good, that meant he was actually awake not in a realistic dream. He started to walk to the exit.

He cautiously stepped outside of the medical wing. When his head wasn't cleaved off he knew he was in the clear. He lost count after thirty. He looked around; everything was so quiet. He was tempted to call out for someone. But, he kept his voice to himself and made his way to the training hall. His steps echoed through the hall as he walked. It added an eerie element to the hallways.

He cursed that damned dragon for his unique training. Making him think he had woken up; only to horribly kill him seconds, minutes, hours, days later. Only to make him relieve it all over again. He waited for the attack. He expected it. But, as he got closer to the training hall he became calmer. He could hear the sound of Terrador's voice. But, he couldn't make out what he was saying. He stopped just in front of the door. He took in a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open.

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Terrador spoke. "We now come to the final event of this evening." He heard the cheering of the various students. He smiled proudly as he continued. "This event will have our new Fire Guardian along with members of his choosing facing a foe of strength equal to the last Fire Guardian." He called. "Flame! Please step forward with your team!"

Fuego smiled from the crowd as he watched Flame walk into the arena. To his left stood Sea Gleam. To his right stood Spyro and Cynder. All of them took their places in the ring. Flame smiled up at Terrador as the Earth Guardian took his place. He wanted to enter the ring and fight along side them. But, he stayed hidden in the sea of dragons. He stayed because the shadow dragon was sitting next to him.

He wondered what the dragon was about to help him learn? He didn't have to wait long; for the shadow dragon stood up and started to walk towards the ring. He heard the voice whisper in his ear and he nodded.

He spoke. "Split-second."

Everything went quiet he looked around and noticed everyone had been frozen in place. He stood up and looked around. He could only hear the sound of his footsteps. He looked at the shadow as it walked into the ring and looked back at him. He followed it; as he got close it started moving again. It went right back to the area he just left and sat back down. Fuego rolled his eyes and returned to his spot. The moment he sat back down; everything started moving again.

Flame stood proudly with his friends as they readied themselves for the fight. All four of them waited patiently for Terrador to activate the training dummy. They did not have to wait long for a wooden dummy in the shape of a dragon to appear.

Terrador yelled. "Begin!"

Fuego watched as they scattered and started unleashing a volley of attacks on it. This dummy was stronger than the others. It was meant to push new guardians to their limit. Normally, he was not as eager as everyone else to fight a training dummy. But, he felt an odd sensation to jump right into the scrap. To run right into the ring blades drawn and ready. To fight along side his friends.

Flame shouted. "Spyro, watch out!"

Fuego focused on Spyro; the dummy's tailblade was heading right for him and he had not chance of escape. He could only brace himself for impact. Fuego closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

The moment he exhaled he spoke. "Split-second."

Spyro braced himself for the incoming attack. Then all of a sudden the tailblade was suddenly splintered. Some dust was kicked up; which blinded him for a moment. When the dust cleared he couldn't believe who he saw. Fuego was standing before him; with some kind of sword drawn. He turned and looked back at him and smiled.

Fuego apologized. "Sorry, I'm late."

Spyro asked in disbelief. "Fuego?"

A loud roar from the dummy got their attention back on it. They would have to wait on the reunion. Fuego charged forward; switching from his new weapon-a katanna- to his daggers. He dodged a strike from the dummy's claw and stabbed one of his daggers into it's leg. The dummy tried to shake him off but he held on. He climbed up to it's shoulder and slashed it hard. He narrowly dodged another strike as he jumped to the ground and rolled out of the way.

Spyro used the distraction to land a powerful earth attack on the dummies side. It backed up and unleashed a torrent of flame at him. Spyro countered with his own. Fuego switch his weapon again; now he was using his halberd. He slid underneath the dummy and quickly stood up. He aimed the tip of his weapon at the dummy's side and delivered a hard stab. The stab didn't do much damage; but he was not going for damage.

It roared and turned to face Fuego; it was going to unleash a breath attack on him. But, it was struck in the face by scalding water. Sea Gleam had an opening and took it without hesitation. He smiled before using his Split-Second ability again and suddenly appearing beside Cynder.

Before she could even process that he was there he said. "Cynder, I need a boost!"

He started charging at the dummy; while Cynder focused on her wind element. They had come up with a powerful combo that allowed him to do heavy damage with his halberd. She used her wind attack to help him get high into the air. He would then deliver a hard downward slash onto their target. The moment his feet left the ground; he already had his weapon drawn back. As he reached the height of the improvised jump; he brought his weapon up and over. He fell and his weapon caught the dummies right shoulder. It roared loudly as it fell to its side; it struggled to regain it's footing.

Fuego backed away and switched back to his katanna. He yelled. "Get in there and finish it!"

He, Cynder, Sea Gleam and Spyro charged at the dummy. Each of them delivered a fatal blow to it. But, Flame got the last blow on it. The moment they got out of the way he unleashed a powerful fire fury. It engulfed the dummy and propelled it into the are. As it came crashing back down; it exploded in a hail of fire and splinters. Smoke filled the arena for moment. But once it cleared the surrounding crowd cheered for the groups victory.

Fuego smiled as his weapon vanished. He turned to look at his friends and smiled at them. He commented. "That was awesome." He stopped as he saw all of them staring at him. It confused him for a moment and he asked. "You guys okay?" His answer was silence; all of them continued to stare at him in disbelief. He felt a little uneasy from the silence; he turned to walk away from them only to bump into Volteer's snout. Before he could say anything he was tackled to the ground by his friends.

Each of them nuzzled him and spoke in excited tones; while he cried out in laughter. As much as he missed them; they were also inadvertently tickling him. Cyril and Terrador had the students clear out of the training room. Only Volteer and the group remained. Only after a few minutes had passed Fuego noticed that they were crying. All of them now held onto him tightly; each of them had been worried about him. Even Volteer was crying as he lowered his massive head and gently nuzzled his son.

Fuego himself started to cry as he apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry all of you."

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Finally chapter 23 done.