Spyro jumps into the hole, gliding to the floor below.
He has gotten everything he was able to in the other worlds within Autumn Plains, and now it's to take it back. As the dragon glides down, he hears Ripto talking. A fairy is in his hand, having her close to Gulp's mouth. Ripto holds her by her wings as she struggles to become free. Spyro lands behind Ripto as his eyebrows furrow.
"What is it, boy?" Ripto asks, then looks down at Zoe. "Ah right, the fairy. Here you go."
After he says that, Spyro flames him in the ass, sending him flying. Zoe flies up to Gulp and sticks her tongue out. Gulp tries to bite her with no success as she flies away from him. Ripto lands onto a platform with a big green and gold throne chair in the middle. He gets up, growling as he looks at his burned up cape.
"You singed my cape!" He exclaims, turning around to face Spyro. "Dragon, you are really starting to get on my nerves! Say goodbye, flame breath! Gulp!"
Gulp turns his head, facing more towards Ripto now unlike before.
"It's lunch time!"
Gulp begins charging off at Spyro, who runs to avoid his attacks. Gulp then roars after hitting the edges of the platform. The dragon runs to the other side of the room. Steel barrels fall from the air. Gulp charges after him again. Cramps start kicking in for Spyro once more like before. He barely dodges in time. He runs to the opposite end again. His breath gets heavier. His body tenses up. There isn't a chance he would let them in the way. Not now where he can get hurt. Spyro pants, awaiting for his next move. Gulp roars again. Ripto laughs.
"What, is he too hard for you, dragon?" He taunts.
Spyro shoots his eyes at him. "Not at all!" He looks at Gulp. "I just hope this doesn't get in the way…" He whispers to himself.
Gulp then starts shooting out electric balls from his back. Spyro dodges left and right. The pattern rinses and repeats until he can finally attack back. After getting hit, Gulp stomps the ground. It makes Spyro go off the ground by a couple feet. He does the same process again, and again, and again, and again. Another electric ball shoots his way. Spyro dodges once more. They drop to the floor from the cramping. When another one comes at him, they roll away. He pants. That came too close for his liking. He makes himself run to get the last rocket he sees. Getting it in his mouth, they shoot it at Gulp.
That final blow causes him to fall down to the ground. He charges at him and manages to make Gulp go flying. The defeat seems to be too much for Ripto as he falls backwards with the throne chair. Spyro smiles as Autumn Plains is free now from Ripto.
"Spyro, you did it!" Elora cheers.
Spyro jumps hearing her voice, turning around. "Whoa Elora, where did you come from?"
"I was just outside the castle in Autumn Plains. The castle is now free again! There's no sign of Ripto." She explains as she puts her hands onto her waist. "And since you're around, the creatures of Avalar are finally starting to get along!"
A couple of fairies carry an umbrella and a beach chair. They carry them closer to Spyro, setting it down close to him.
"Since you've done so much for Avalar, and I know you really miss being on vacation, we wanted to do something nice for you." Elora extends her arm out towards the chair. "It's not much but I hope you like it!"
She puts her arms behind her back. The faun smiles at him.
"Oh wow, this is great! Aren't you going to join me?" Spyro excitedly asks.
"Uhh, no," Elora looks away. "I'd like to, but I have to go check on the Professor in the Winter Tundra. He's still trying to fix the super portal and send you back home."
In the middle of her talking, Spyro sits down onto the beach chair. His arms go onto his stomach.
"That sounds," Spyro yawns, "interesting. I think I'll just stay out here for a while and soak up a few rays."
"Best to rest anyways since, well, your cramps and everything."
She puts her hand on the chair arm. The dragon puts his hand on her arm, close to her wrist, gently with a sleepy smile. Almost in an instant, she yanks her arm away. He only tilts his head and looks at her. The faun looks away as she clears her throat.
"Sorry, it's… An old, forced habit." Elora apologizes.
As Spyro drifts off to sleep, Elora starts running.
She gets outside of the castle and into Winter Tundra.
Her back goes up against the wall surrounding the castle. Elora looks at her left wrist where Spyro touched. She feels so dumb, so foolish, to get that close to him. Her thumb rubs the area on there. Briefly, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She has sworn that, aside from Hunter and the Professor, she will never let anybody get so close to her, both literally at times and figuratively. Elora only hopes that her arms weren't swollen back at Autumn Plains, even more so that he didn't notice.
She doesn't know why she got as close to him as she did. All she knows is she just did. Even if he didn't ask questions, it's better for her to be cautious regardless. She can't let herself get too attached. He's gonna have to leave soon, she'll be okay.
She just has to be distant from him a little longer.
Elora feels a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't look away from her arm. The cheetah beside her kneels down to her level.
"Are you okay?" Hunter asks in a near whisper.
"He touched me."
"What?"
"Spyro." She looks at him. "They touched my arm. And I just… Yanked my arm away."
Elora repeats the motion. Hunter moves his body back to avoid getting hit. Instead, he ends up falling and sitting down as a result. She pulls her legs up to her chest and buries her face into her knees.
"Elora, you can't keep doing this."
"Yes, I can." She lifts her head up. "What, do you want me to not worry?"
"Exactly! He didn't ask about your neck, did he?"
"No."
"Did he ask why you're short for a faun?"
"No. But I might've been the first faun he's ever seen, he might not know this!"
"But if he didn't ask, or even pointed it out, then there shouldn't be a reason to worry!" Hunter says.
Elora scoffs. "It's better not to risk it, though."
"Elora, it's not like they're gonna make fun of you!"
Elora gets up and walks to the other side of the walls. She knows Hunter means well, but he knows why she is how she is better than nearly everyone. She puts her hands on the opposite side's arms.
She only hopes Spyro will be able to beat Ripto and no one gets seriously hurt.
Spyro lands onto the platform surrounded by what seems to be lava.
"Get back here you useless animals!" Ripto yells.
"Hey shorty! Maybe I can help!"
Ripto turns around. His eyes widen as he sees Spyro. "What?! You again?!"
"Yep!" Spyro says confidently. "If you wanna test that power crystal, why don't ya try it on me! I'll stand still, I promise."
"Hmm," Ripto thinks. "I like that idea! Dragon, you've just sealed your fate!"
Zoe appears from seemingly nowhere. She flies still in front of Spyro.
"Spyro, we want to help you fight Ripto!" Zoe says. "Elora is using the orbs you collected to store powerup energy. Hunter will throw the powered up orbs to you as they become ready. Even as we speak, the Professor is experimenting with new forms of powerup energy, so you'll soon have abilities that no one has ever seen before!"
Spyro nods. "Got it!"
Sparx buzzes in affirmation as well. The dragon then starts running to get the orbs that Hunter drops off. Ripto shoots at Spyro, who manages to dodge it just slightly. The shot grazes the end of Spyro's tail. He then picks up one of the orbs. He keeps running around until he gets to the other side. He picks up another orb, this time it's red. Spyro charges at Ripto. He flames him then runs off.
Then, getting to the third orb, he picks the blue one up. With all three picked up, he charges. He hits Ripto. Ripto starts running away from him. Spyro keeps charging at him. He manages to hit him two more times before the powerup wears off. He then runs around to get another three orbs. Ripto shoots fireballs at him once again. They all miss the dragon. Spyro flames him then runs past him. He grabs another orb. Not too far away, there's a green one. He grabs that as well. His spikes turn into an acid green. He then starts spitting at Ripto as he runs away. Spyro lands a few hits on him. He misses a couple of times. He manages to hit him up close.
The powerup fades away and his spikes turn to their original golden color. He runs around again. Ripto shoots and hits Spyro. Sparx turns into an azure blue from the hit. Both start picking up the orbs, with Spyro getting another one first. He charges at Ripto and flames him another time. He runs off as Ripto shoots. Ripto sees the orb Spyro's after. He goes for it himself. Spyro gets it first, though, and charges at him. He hits him for the last three times before Ripto falls down.
Just as he thinks they've won, Ripto stands up and slams the bottom half of his staff. A mechanical beast that resembles Gulp appears right below him.
"Well, shit." Spyro lets out a sigh before the battle continues.
Spyro does the same process once again. This time, it's with the blue powerup as he charges into the creature a few times before it wears off. The second time, he picks up a red orb last. He shoots several fireballs at them. One last fireball comes out of Spyro and it destroys the creature. It sends Ripto flying up into the sky, soon landing onto the platform. He slams his staff once again, but this time a flying mechanical creature comes out from below. They fly up into the air. The platform below starts to crumble and shake, resulting in Spyro to get one of the small yellow orbs then start flying. The floor below sinks into the boiling lava.
He flies parallel to Ripto as they shoot out fireballs at him. Spyro keeps shooting at him as long as he can. Ripto manages to dodge one and changes his direction immediately with a spot smirk on his face. Spyro follows him as Ripto heads for one part of the castle. Spyro sees Elora and Hunter standing there. His eyes widen as he figures out what Ripto's doing. He tries to fly faster in hopes of having them.
Ripto shoots a fireball at the cheetah and faun. Hunter moves quickly and pushes Elora out of the way. In the process, his tail gets hit and it turns ashy. Before he shoots another one at them, Spyro shoots him first causing him to turn another direction. Spyro stops next to his allies for a moment.
"Are you two hurt?" Spyro's voice is laced with concern.
"I'm okay, but my tail had to make a sacrifice." Hunter shows his tail.
"You do realize it's on fire, right?"
Hunter looks at his tail then freaks out. He tries to put the fire at his tail tip out.
"Aside from a few bruises in unspeakable areas, I'll be fine." Elora reassures, completely ignoring Hunter's hot mess next to her. "Go get Ripto, Spyro, we believe in you."
The dragon smiles then flies off after Ripto again. He dodges a few more shots from Ripto before he shoots fireballs at him. The last two fireballs from Spyro bring Ripto down. His mechanical creature falls into the lava first with Ripto coming in second.
They all return to the front of the castle. The Professor gets the portal ready for Spyro. Elora is the first one to come forward.
"I don't think we can ever thank you enough, Spyro!" She puts her hands together. "So I suppose you have to go now?"
"Yeah I'd better, they'll be missing me in the dragon worlds and I've still got a vacation to take. I need it more than ever now."
"Before you go, I think that Moneybags has something he wants to give you." She glares at Moneybags nearby.
The bear scoffs. "I most certainly do not!"
Elora looks at Hunter. "Hunter."
With that, Hunter walks up to Moneybags, proceeding to beat him ten ways to Sunday. Elora and Spyro close their eyes, only peaking every now and then to see if it's over. The end results in Hunter sitting on top of Moneybags with a bag full of gems in his hand.
Elora looks back at Spyro. "Spyro, Moneybags is very sorry that he made you pay so much on your way through Avalar. We want you to keep the gems as a reward for helping us!"
"Wow, thanks!" Spyro says as he turns his attention to Sparx. "Sparx, can you grab them?"
Sparx buzzes his answer as he flies over to the bag. The Professor presses buttons on his control panel for the portal.
"Let me just type in the new coordinates and-"
He looks behind him as the portal opens up, showing Dragon Shores on the other side.
"-There! Spyro, you can now go to Dragon Shores!"
Spyro looks at Elora and Hunter. "Hey, why don't you guys come with me? I bet you could use a holiday!"
"I'm afraid we can't, Spyro," she puts her arms behind her back, "Ripto may be gone but he's caused a lot of damage during his short stay. We'll be cleaning up for weeks! Just remember though that you can always get back to Avalar through Dragon Shores if you want to visit."
"Oh, and one more thing, Spyro!" Hunter says almost right after Elora finishes talking. "We want you to have this, too."
The cheetah takes out a pair of sunglasses and hands them over to Spyro. The dragon takes them and looks at it. Each side that wasn't the lenses have different colors from one another. One side was green while the other was blue. In the middle, the lightest shade was in the middle while the darkest were on both ends like if it was a gradient with one shade between them. Spyro looks up at Elora and Hunter.
"We know how much your old pair meant to you. While we couldn't restore the originals, we thought we could make you brand new ones with a little bit of a touch to them." Elora explains.
Spyro smiles widely while looking ready to cry. He stands up on his hind legs and hugs the two as a 'thank you'. Hunter hugs back while Elora pats him on the head. Spyro lets go and returns to being in all fours. They then look at Sparx.
"Come on, Sparx, we got a lot of vacation to catch up on!"
The two jump through the portal. Elora inaudibly releases a breath seeing he's gone now. Hunter looks at her.
"So how long do you think we can get everything fixed up?" He asks.
"If everyone works together, we should be able to get everything done in a week and a half to two weeks, so not too long really." She replies.
Hunter frowns. "You could've gone with Spyro to take a break with him while we get everything patched up. Why didn't you?"
"You already know why." She starts walking off as she holds her arms.
"Your mother would have wanted you to go take a break and get to know him better with how much you care about him." The Professor says. "She always said not to close yourself off from others."
She stops walking and everything falls silent. Hunter looks at them back and forth. Chills go down his spine and goosebumps pop up on his skin even though the fur covers them. Elora turns around. There isn't a smile nor a frown on her face. Her eyelids drop down to halfway close. The darkness of the Winter Tundra sky doesn't help with the fact her upper face is shadowed. She walks over to the Professor and she bends down to his level. Her eyes seem devoid of feeling and life.
She tilts her head slightly.
"You know, Professor," she leans in. "That's very bold of you to talk about her like she's still alive."
She stands up properly then turns around, walking away from the two. At the entrance she stops dead in her tracks. Tears form in her eyes as she bites her lower lip. Her face heats up a rosey pink color. Elora hangs her head.
"You guys can start without me," she quietly sniffs. "I'll be back in my cabin if you need me."
Elora starts walking again, this time to a portal back to Autumn Plains.
Once she gets back, she sees a flock of birds flying up in the orange sky above her. Looking at her surroundings and sighs of relief seeing the place is deserted. The faun traipses all the way up to the Autumn Plains forest. Before entering, she examines the areas around her once more. After seeing there's no one anywhere, she enters into the forest and the trees engulf her. The red, orange, and golden yellow leaves crumble and break beneath Elora's hooves as she traipses, becoming little pieces. With every few steps, her hair glows in the sunset rays that shine through the leaves.
Tears she has held back finally break free and fall down her reddened face. Each tear sparkles as they leave their tracks as a trail behind the green eyed faun. She gulps, swallowing back everything that might cause her to stop and breakdown. It's not something she desires to do outside, as she doesn't have anything to guide her through the dark when the sun's finally gone into the endless black void. Elora turns a little to the right. The rays start to get dimmer and dimmer with each passing step. It's a sight she's come to be one with over the years. Her hands instinctively go to her arms as the frigid air brushes up against her skin.
Soon enough, the dark wooden cabin enters her view. One of her hands leaves her arm and goes onto the green door handle before turning it. It's then that the door creaks open when she gently pushes forward. It wasn't the biggest place, but it's enough for two people to live in if so desired. She pushes the door close as it growls going back. Elora goes up to a red cabinet near her bed. Her bare hands feel the red paint that's ready to pop and peel off any minute. She sighs; she knows she'll have to redo the old paint job sooner or later. She pulls the doors open, where unlike the outside the inside has little to no paint anywhere. The pieces that are there are yet to be removed. Despite that, it's still good enough to store various fruits inside such as the apple that sits in front of Elora.
The faun grabs the apple before closing the red cabinet. She drags her legs across the dark oaks to reach her perfectly made bed. Her body flops onto the bed. She takes her dagger from the end table next to her bed. Carefully she cuts the apple just off center, making it become two halves of a whole. She lays the dagger back onto the flat surface. She wipes her face even if there's no more tears. Elora eats the apple slices as the sunlight starts to fade away. She taps a magic mushroom above the end table and results in lighting up the room with a blue tint.
As soon as she finishes eating, she throws the core away in a trash bin. She gets herself under the blankets, covering herself entirely aside from her head. Elora turns to face the wall. Her hand goes under the pillow.
Her eyelids droop down.