The ground started to shake, and the sound of an explosion echoed in the cave Terrador and Spyro were in, making the two pull apart from the sudden noise.
"What was that?" Spyro asked confused by what made the noise.
Wanting to know himself, Terrador walked out towards the entrance of the cave, with Spyro following right behind him. Terrador noticed that some dark clouds where quickly drawing in, probably a storm, he figured. The storm clouds nearly hid the rising tower of smoke, which rose from over the other side of the mountain.
"What do you think caused that?" Spyro had to ask, a little worried about who, or what, could have made those noises.
Terrador watched the smoke a little longer, as if trying to figure it out himself. "Well" he said after a brief pause. "It could be a couple of things. Judging by the clouds up ahead, it could have been just some thunder." Spyro was pretty skeptical about that.
"But the ground shook dad, and that didn't sound like thunder."
"The shaking ground could have been lightning, but your probably right… in that case it could have been someone with black powder. It can be used to make explosions, to help clear rubble and other debris… but as far as I can tell this part of the mountain is pretty solid, and I can't recall any path being blocked… So for what purpose they need black powder for, I wouldn't know."
"Should we do go check it out?"
Terrador shook his head. "We are not going to do anything. There is a storm coming, and it's unwise to travel around this elevation with a storm afoot. On top of that, you're a wanted dragon Spyro. If that was caused by someone, there is a good chance they've seen the wanted poster with your face on it."
This news took Spyro by surprise. "Wait, when were there wanted posters of me? I thought King Flame only sent small search parties for me?"
Terrador merely shrugged. "I don't know when he sent them out, but I saw one recently. For whatever reason he's put your face all over Avalar, and people are searching for you…" Spyro slowly began to worry and even panic. It was bad enough that some people were looking for him, but he wasn't sure if he could handle all of Avalar.
Noticing this worry in his facial features, Terrador continued. "If it makes you feel any better, the posters say that he wants you alive…. So that should count for something I guess."
Spyro walked back into the cave, feeling safer inside then out in the open, now more than ever. Terrador groaned. He figured this would have been easier, being an actual responsible parent that is. He felt a drop of rain hit his noise and he looked up towards the clouds again, the scent of fresh rain filled the air. He walked back inside shortly after, listening to the gentle rain drops as it began to rain.
While the rain started to poor down even harder, Terrador lit a small campfire for the two of them. They didn't speak much, though Terrador figured he'd said enough already. It was best to just let Spyro handle this news on his own until he is willing to speak again. Spyro, surprisingly was taking it rather well. Though the news of Flame putting a bounty on his head was very surprising, he figured that he had already survived this long, so what difference would it make if more people started looking.
'Well…. I did have Cynder and Hunter to help me…' Spyro thought, regretting his decision to leave them in the first place. 'I shouldn't have left. I should have just talked about it with Cynder…' He thought, feeling his body ache as his depression grew.
"You just can't seem to make the right decisions can you?" came Dark Spyro voice, echoing in his head once more.
"Not now, I'm not in the mood." Spyro rolled his eyes and groaned. Dark Spyro was the last person he wanted to listen to at the moment.
"Oh come on, that's no way to treat me, now is it? I'm the only one who hasn't fully given up on you." Somehow that didn't make Spyro feel any better.
"Be grateful Spyro." Came the unknown voice again in his head. Whoever it was he sounded bitter. "You don't deserve a lot of things that life has given you. Be thankful that he has any faith in you at all."
"HEY!" shouted Dark Spyro. "Now you don't have to go and tell him that." The other voice didn't reply.
"Who are you?" Spyro butted in, hoping to get some reply from this voice as well. The new voice was silent, to which Dark Spyro began to chuckle.
"And what is so funny?" Spyro asked.
"Oh nothing. Nothing that you really need to know. All I'll say is that he really hates you."
"Wouldn't that in turn mean he hates you? You are a part of me aren't you?"
"Maybe" Dark Spyro said with a shrugged. "But at the very least he talks to me. So that has to count for something right?"
Spyro began to grumble. "Everything alright?" Terrador looked down at Spyro, hearing him mumble something. Spyro looked away. "No, I'm fine." Terrador gave him a skeptical expression. Thankfully he didn't press any further, and went back to whatever it is he was done.
Spyro adjusted himself on the floor before continuing the conversation. "Hey since your willing to talk now, can you at least tell me something about this other voice?"
"What is there to say? He's a great guy, not very talkative, at least not with you. Me and him have talked a bit while you were asleep, you probably don't remember what we've said though…. He's not very happy with you, which is the main reason why I like him."
He grunted, frustrated with Dark Spyro. "But who is he? Why does he hate me? What have I done to make him hate me?" Spyro only heard his counterpart chuckle for a while before speaking.
"Now what fun would it be in telling you? Who he is, I'll keep as a secret. You'll learn one day, when he is willing to confront you. Or if you do something really stupid. Either way, I'll tell you this. Not only has he been with us since you made me, but he also hates you more than I do, which really says a lot when you think about it." Spyro laid silent for some time. How long has this voice been there, why has he only started talking now. Who was he? The sound of his dark half yawning, echoed in his ear. "I think I'll go take a nap now."
"Wait!" Spyro shouted in his mind. "Please answer me!"
He heard Dark Spyro sigh, leaving Spyro wondering if his alternate ego really needed sleep. "What can I tell you Spyro. It's your mind. Figure it out yourself." Spyro fell silent, unsure what to even say. Spyro questioned if it really was his mind. He already shared it with his dark half. He wasn't sure if he capable of dealing with a third entity inside of him.
Spyro's clenched is paws together, as he mentally added yet another thing onto the list of things he can't do. He was growing worried by how fast this list was growing. Before he could mentally torment himself any further, Terrador stood up and looked towards the entrance.
From beyond the mouth of the cave, there was a voice that could be heard. It was small, but there was definitely a voice coming outside, though the sound of the heavy rain didn't make it easy to hear. All Terrador could tell was that they were coming closer, since the voice was growing louder and louder. He was shouting, Terrador figured, but to whom, he had no idea. There were no other voices out there, or at least, none that he could hear.
"Oh thank the ancestors!" came the voice. "A cave." The voice made a loud grunting sound, as if he was pulling on something. "Come on you two, move it, or else I'm leaving you both out here!"
Terrador looked over to Spyro and silently motioned his son to move to the far back of the cave, where the light from the fire didn't reach. Spyro obeyed and ran to the other side of the room, and hid behind some of the stalagmites. Not long after he hid, a Cheetah walked in, dripping wet from the rain. He stopped when he noticed Terrador standing beside the camp fire.
"Oh hey, there." The cheetah waved a paw at the dragon. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow some room in the cave till it stops raining out there." The feline said politely. Whoever he was, he at least had some manners. Spyro peeked his head over the side to try to get a better look at what this guy looked like. The guy was a cheetah, that was obvious by his yellow fur and black spots that covered his body. He was wearing a strange outfit though, or at least strange to him. Nothing like the ones he had seen Hunter wear. His pants were tattered slightly, mostly around his knees. His long black pants that hung past his ankles was only held up by the large brown belt, which made Spyro wonder why he was wearing something too large for him.
But what he found even odder, was his lack of a shirt. The cheetah looked a little muscular, but it was hard to tell from all of his matted, wet, and dirt covered fur. However, it was the large sword and black spheres that hung from his belt that made Spyro worried. He wasn't sure what those black objects were, but he knew they couldn't be anything good.
Terrado thought for a moment about the stranger's request. Spyro was safe in the back for all he knew, and if something did go wrong, he could always fight. The cheetah didn't look that strong in his eyes. Terrador looked up and down the cheetah's body, searching for any other weapons he could be hiding. The explosives would definitely be a problem, however, Terrador was riding on the thought that the cheetah wouldn't use them in such a small space if they ever did get into a fight. "Sure, I suppose you can stay. Please, come join me by the fire."
The cheetah seemed pleased to hear him say this. The cheetah pulled on a rope behind him, which Spyro didn't notice till now. He watched as this man pulled in both Hunter and Cynder, both tied up around their mouths, arms, legs, and Cynder's tail and wings. The moment Cynder saw Terrador, she began to freeze, her mind drifting back to the last time they met. She remembered that she hurt his wife. Cynder could only pry that he forgot about her.
"Cynder!" Spyro gasped, his voice echoing much further then he meant it to. Immediately, the Cheetah looked towards the direction the voice came from and squinted his eyes, trying to pick out who said that. Cynder and Hunter both picked up the voice as well, though they couldn't tell where it came from.
Terrador did his best to draw his attention back. "My apologies," he said quickly. The cheetah looked back over to Terrador who was now looking down at Cynder, looking at her with discuss, which made Cynder back away as far as the rope would let her. The cheetah was quick to pick up what was going on, thinking that it was Terrador's voice he heard.
"You know this dragon?"
Terrador nodded. "Yes, I know her, I know her well. This harlot tried to kill my mate just so that that bastard purple dragon could escape." Spyro grew worried. He wasn't sure if this was just an act or if he really did feel those things. Terrador dug his claws into the ground, and he began to snarl at her. He looked like he was going to attack her at any moment, when the cheetah stepped in front of her.
"As much as I would love to see you rip her apart, I'm afraid that I can't let you do that."
"And why not?" Terrador directed his anger towards the feline.
The cheetah placed his paw on the hilt of his sword. "Because my captain asked me to bring her to him. We are going to use her to find someone. I don't need to explain any further. Once we are done, I will personally bring her back and hand her over to you." Slowly the pirate moved his paw away from his weapon and offered it to Terrador. "So I ask you. If you spare her for now, I'll bring her back here when we are done with her."
Terrador's anger dwindled slowly and he sat down on his haunches. "Fine, we have a deal." This made the cheetah smile.
"Splendid, I'm glad to hear that." The cheetah walked back over to the other side of the campfire and sat down as well. Hunter and Cynder sat down as well. They both were worried about what was going to happen to them, and what this pirate wanted from them. Cynder couldn't help but stare at Terrador, who would continually look down at her and silently snarl at her before turning back to the fire.
Spyro sat there watching them, growing increasingly nervous by the moment. He tried to think up a plan to save his friends and the thought of rushing the cheetah crossed his mind. The cheetah didn't know he was there, and he would catch him off guard. Maybe even Terrador will help him take this guy down. It would just be like all those time Hunter tried to teach him hunting. A plan in mind, Spyro took one step forwards, only to freeze.
'I can't do this, I'm just going to get Cynder and Hunter killed if I go out there. The moment that guy sees me, he'll kill all of us' He tried shaking his head. 'No! I can do this. Hunter and Cynder must have weakened him a little. There is no way they could have been caught so easily. They were probably out looking for me when they came across him and got caught.' He body began to slump. 'They got caught because I was too weak, because I ran away.' Spyro hit his head against the stalagmites. 'It's my fault, it's all my fault.' His body began to shake, and his head started to pound.
"I'm weak," He started to mumble. "I'm stupid." He laid down on all fours, still hidden completely. "I'm a complete and utter failure."
Sorry guys that this one took so long to post. In case you guys didn't know, working retail in December is not a lot of fun, believe it or not. So yeah, I do promise not to take so long next time to post the next chapter.