Chapter 6: Training as a Lombax Should
Talwyn stood there, hands over her mouth, stunned to the point of silence. The man she loved, and who loved her, had just proposed. Tears welled up in her eyes, tears of happiness. Ratchet could see that she was stunned.
"Yes, of course it's yes" She said finally. Ratchet sighed with relieve, stood up, and slipped the ring on her left ring finger.
"We should tell the others." Talwyn suggested, still overjoyed, like a school girl who just got kissed by the hottest boy in the class for the first time.
"It's a bit of a walk." Clank said. The two forgot he was there, and Ratchet grabbed his by his arm and strapped him to his back.
"A walk is the perfect thing we need right now." Ratchet said. He and Talwyn started back to the city, both happy that their union had been made permanent.
Meanwhile…
Spyro was pacing back and forth. His mind was filled with thoughts too jumbled to sort through. New arrivals, another attack, Cynder almost ready to give birth, a friendship with a creature he doesn't even know about.
"Some future king I'll be" Spyro grunted to himself. He needed Cynder; she always had the cooler head and knew the right things to say. Spyro smiled when he thought about his mate. He started walking back to the heart of the city. He saw Aphelion flying unusually fast towards the city.
Aphelion slowed and landed a few feet in front of Spyro, and her hatch opened up. Spyro saw Cynder, growling and rolling in pain.
"What happened?" Spyro roared, trying to get Cynder out of Aphelion. Spyro then heard Ratchet's recording being played.
"Cynder has gone into labor." It said simply. Spyro thought for a moment.
"Aphelion, follow me to the infirmary." Spyro took off at full speed, Aphelion using her afterburners to keep up. Spyro roared as soon as the infirmary was in sight, his roar echoing across the city. Luckily, some of the nurses were on their break and heard the roar. They saw Spyro and Aphelion, guessing something was up. They quickly rushed into the infirmary, then came out less than a minute later, pushing a bed that already had an I.V. hooked up to it. Spyro landed moments before Aphelion did. Aphelion quickly opened her hatch, revealing Cynder, writhing in pain. Three of the nurses carefully grabbed hold of Cynder.
"Cynder" Spyro said, catching her attention. She looked up at him with fearful eyes. "They're going to lift you into a bed now." Cynder nodded her head, then shut her eyes and clenched her jaw in pain.
"On three" the first nurse said, and the other two nodded. "One, two, three." The three nurses lifted Cynder out of the seat and onto the bed. Cynder almost cried with relief when her body was laid flat and not compacted into a cockpit. They quickly rushed her to the delivery room that was built specifically for dragons. As they ran in, several different rooms could be seen, each with a different symbol on the door. The symbol told the nurses and doctors what the element was for the dragons in that particular room.
"You're doing fine Cynder." Spyro said, and then he was escorted out of the room, but still watched through the window.
"Just breathe" a nurse told Cynder, putting on a special pair of gloves on her hands. Dragon eggs could have rough spines on the shell, and she didn't want to drop one accidentally. The gloves were made of a tough fabric that was hard to penetrate and got an excellent grip on objects. "Now, push." The nurse told Cynder. Cynder clenched her teeth and pushed. The first egg came out, and was a flame pattern, colored beautifully with reds, oranges and yellows. "Fire" said the nurse simply, handing it to another who took it to the fire room. Cynder pushed again, this one coming out black and blue. "Shadow" the nurse said, and another nurse took the egg. Cynder pushed again, and a pure white egg came. "Wind" the nurse called. After that one, an emerald green one, "Earth" the nurse said. Cynder was in much less pain, but could still feel the remaining eggs. A lighter, almost toxic green was pushed out "Poison" said the nurse. Cynder pushed again, and a deep scarlet egg came out. "Fear" said the nurse, hoping that was the last one. Cynder pushed again, and a yellow egg with a lightning bolt came. "Electricity" said the nurse. Cynder inhaled a few times, and then pushed for the final time. A light blue egg came. "Ice" the nurse said, and then sighed with relief when she realized that Cynder no longer had any more eggs.
Spyro couldn't wait anymore and pushed his way through the room and to Cynder's side.
"You did great" Spyro told her. She looked up at him, smiled weakly, nodded her head, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep. Spyro followed the nurses as they took her to another room. After they set up the room and left, Spyro curled up at the foot of the bed and fell into a light sleep.
2 hours later…
Ratchet had finally arrived back at the city smiling. As he and his fiancée walked in, a Lombax dressed in Army fatigues walked forward.
"Halt" he said in a gruff, authoritative voice. Ratchet stopped, frowning with uncertainty. "It has come to my attention that you have not been trained the way the rest of us have. It is my job to change that. Follow me to the training area." He started walking away, and Ratchet looked at Talwyn, who only shrugged in response. Ratchet inhaled nervously, and then began to follow the Lombax.
About five minutes later, Ratchet saw a massive dome-shaped building. Before he could walk in, the Army Lombax stopped him. "Remove all weaponry except your wrench." He told him. Ratchet carefully removed all his weaponry and placed in a box. He was given a key, but he handed it to Talwyn. She slipped the key into her pocket. She pulled him in for a hug, kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Good luck." She then broke the embrace and set off to find her friends and a president.
Ratchet followed the Army Lombax deeper into the building, and was lead into an arena. Grass floor, 12 foot tall bars around in the form of a circle. A set of bars had been raised to let Ratchet in. He walked through warily, and the bars shut behind him with a crash. Across from him, another set of bars were raised, and another Lombax came through. Ratchet gulped nervously.
The Lomax's fur was white with dashes of scarlet. He wore a pair of black pants that looked like jeans. He didn't wear a shirt, revealing his highly developed muscles. He did wear a leather vest that held his Omni wrench across his back. The leather stretched and let out a groan as he inhaled. The Lombax was easily twice Ratchet's height, and Ratchet thought he wouldn't last ten seconds.
As the massive Lombax reached around to pull out his Omni wrench, Ratchet pulled his out and held it in a ready position. Ratchet may not have had the strength of his opponent, but he did have sharp eyes. Because of the size of the Lombax, the Omni wrench was extra-large. Because of this, it was held by versa fuses instead of screws. Ratchet smiled, and then used the illegal kinetic tether that he had built into his Omni wrench and latched on to the first versa fuse. He pulled it free and then rolled between the massive Lombax's legs. He jumped onto his back and held on to the vest with one hand. Ratchet raised his wrench high over his head and bonked it on his opponent's head. The Lombax waved side to side dangerously, and then fell down unconscious.
Ratchet calmly stepped off and stood there in the center of the arena. The Army Lombax came up and looked into Ratchet's eyes.
"Yep" he said. "You are Kaden's son; he was one of the best Lombaxs that could use his wrench either as weapon to destroy or a tool to build. I am proud to say that he was my brother, and that you, Ratchet, are my nephew." For what seemed like the hundredth time that week, Ratchet's world seemed to cave in and reveal something better.