Disclaimer: I don't own ANY characters of TLOS, the only character I own is Ivor. I also own Ignitia and Blitzen and some other upcoming dragon OCs.
Shadow scales
It was all black.
That was what Ivor first realised as his mind had finally managed to form a semblance of consciousness. He first noticed that his entire world was black but this was probably because his eyes were shut tight and he could vaguely hear….water? What? What was going on?He shouldn't hear water, should he? Why would he?
Unless…h-he was near…
Ivor's thoughts trailed off when he began to find his senses awakening and he noticed almost immediately that his whole body was awash with pain and he felt so cold and wet as though he was soaked all the way to the bone, that very same cold was repeatedly pulsing through his bones like raging waves over and over again.
What happened?
What was going on?
Where was he?
Ivor's entire body throbbed and he couldn't help but whimper as he struggled to move and, not only had he noticed that he was lying on his left side but he was also laying on something hard yet craggily.
Stone perhaps?
Maybe a bunch of pebbles?
The fledgeling whelp's muscles began to come to and he finally mustered the strength to properly open his eyes but that was also when his mind finally registered the injuries which had been inflicted upon him. His body pulsated with pain —from horns to wings to tail tip. Pained hisses squeezed through his tight vocal cords and he gritted his fangs while his amethyst purple eyes slammed shut once more, he was pretty sure that he would have found himself covered in bruises if he were to look down at himself.
That wasn't important right now, though.
He needed to find his feet first before anything else.
He tried to stand up but-
"HRGH!"
Thwump!
The instant he tried, Ivor felt pain explode through all the muscles in his body and he cried out accordingly as his eyes squeezed shut and he slumped back down to the craggy hard rock shore.
Ivor proceeded to look down and actually study his own body, now way less groggy and more aware of the pain he was in thanks to the abrupt fall he had. It turned out that he was right when he guessed that he was covered in bruises and a few cuts as he squinted his eyes while he gingerly raised a foreleg to see a pretty bad cut on his ankle.
That didn't make him feel much better as he then noticed that his poor scarf had been rendered to a soaked rag around his neck and it really didn't help with keeping him warm, unlike usual, but he still smiled a little when the memories of his parents smiles pulled at his mind and his heart. He could see his mother's kindly turquoise pools as well as his father's amethyst purple pools fill his mind when he thought about his scarf and he couldn't help but raise one claw to gently touch the fabric while his mother's words from when she bequeathed the scarf unto him echoed inside his skull:
"…It's a scarf, sweetie. I knitted it myself so that, if you happen to feel lost or upset then you will always have a reminder that your mama will always loves you no matter what…"
Ivor hung his head and tears begin to fill his eyes, he wanted his mama more than anything right now. He wanted her to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. He could feel fear fill his heart and begin to spread throughout his body and his breathing started to quicken as panic took hold of him in a vice-like grip.
He…He didn't know where he was!
Where was Terrador?
He…He had a feeling he wasn't supposed to be out here…wherever this was.
His breathing halted, his eyes hardened determinedly as he blinked the tears away. He had to calm down and he knew full well that panicking would get him nowhere fast except for a one-way ticket to a spiralling emotional whirlpool of fear and loss.
He shook his head briskly to himself since he knew that this wasn't the time to get upset.
He needed to be brave!
And, first things first, he had to get up.
The white dragon glared determinedly as he mustered the courage and energy to try and get up again.
He looked down at his flank to get a view of his hind legs and saw that they had been tucked underneath him in the ensuing tumble he took mere moments ago. He heaved a deep sigh through his nostrils while he mustered the courage and strength he needed to move them, he had to remove them from under him and properly himself on to them. He tried to move them and grimaced when he felt them throb and pulsate in response.
That wasn't going to work.
Maybe, instead, he should focus on his front legs for now…besides, they would probably be very floppy due to not being used for awhile…
Ivor decided to look back at his front legs and merely twitched them but he just got the same response he had with his hind legs and a throbbing pain shot through them but it was more on the scales surrounding his legs instead of just coming from just within so, with luck, it was just some internal bruising and not that he had broken something. He persevered and kept on moving them and pulling his leg muscles until he had managed to successfully make it so his forelegs were stretched out in front of him.
Ivor breathed hard as he recovered from the pain he'd just endured for a few moments.
Now it was time to try and get up.
Ivor heaved a breath of concentration and he pushed himself to his forelegs, trying to ignore the pain that fired through his nerves as he did so. He pushed and pushed and pushed and felt the legiments in both legs pull and stretch with each and every modicum of motion. There was a split second he wanted to stop and give up but he refused steadfastly as he knew that, if he gave up now, he'd never get up and getting up with the first step in not only surviving but it was also the first step in figuring out where he was and what happened to him.
"Come on! Come on, come on, come on….!" He muttered to himself, straining.
His legs were like water but he smiled painfully yet triumphantly when he finally managed to prop himself on his forelegs…at least for about four seconds.
His legs began tremble and quake and threatened to buckle and give out from under him.
His smile dropped.
He had only just enough time to catch himself with one claw by stamping it down on the ground and used that same claw to keep part of his upper body upright, he could feel the nails of that claw hook on some particularly craggy pebbles and he used those same stones to anchor himself and keep that same foot supporting some of his weight; he squeezed his teary eyes shut once more as he regained his focus and raised his collapsed right leg to replant the other claw on the ground to join his right one.
Now that he was on his front legs, he could work on his back ones.
He could feel his forelegs quivering from both the pressure of being forced to work and the muscles straining within them and he ground his fangs tightly and his face bunched up with a mixture of pain and furious determination.
It really hurt but he couldn't give up now!
He repositioned his back legs a little, shifting their position on the ground under him, and proceeded to push his back feet up against the pebble-covered ground. He could feel his calf muscles ripping and pulsating with pain but he didn't care much as he knew that he needed to just rise and stand up on his hind legs and then he would be standing properly.
He was scared, yes, but he was strong too…!
He needed to be strong!
Just like his father!
Ivor gave one final strained yipping noise as he finally, after what felt like a century, managed to find his feet and successfully stand on all fours in spite of the throbbing pain that pulsated through his entire body. The whelp was covered in bruises and cuts and he couldn't help but wince at the sight of them but, despite this, he could feel a sense of pride surge within his own chest plate as he accomplished this feat and with the injuries he sustained too!
However, he knew that he needed to now get a good idea as to where he was.
There could be no better time.
He looked around and saw a rushing river creek flowing right next to the place he'd been laying until moments ago and this made it was easy to surmise that he'd washed up here. There was also a rather large cliff face which, if one were to climb or fly up to, led to a rather large woodland that didn't look dissimilar to the woodland where Terrador had set up camp with the other young dragons.
Ivor figured that if he could fly up there, maybe he could see where he was…?
Alas it only took a look over his shoulders and back to his wings to realise that this was a bad idea with the reason being that his wings looked just as bruised as his body did and, as dragon wings were very fine and brittle parts of a dragons body, it would probably end up breaking the bones (if they weren't broken already) trying to fly with them when they were already strained due to the beating he took whilst unconscious in the river.
It would be wiser to simply wait until he was in a better condition to try flying.
He glared flatly.
That was just great.
Now what was he supposed to do…?
That was when he heard something, something familiar…he couldn't put his claw on it at first but he began to realise it as the noise got louder and louder and more discernible; he recognised that voice so well that he almost couldn't bring himself to believe he was well and truly hearing it. It must have been a trick of the senses, he was probably still a little drowsy and just hallucinating!
There was no way that he could be here!
But, alas, a flying yellow dot darted from the bushes and basically flung itself through the air and launched itself like a rocket right at Ivor's snout.
It took a very long few moments until Ivor realised that it was none other than his Uncle Sparx!
"U-U-Uncle Sparx!?" Ivor was stunned and dumbfounded. "What're you doing here?"
It was a legitimate inquiry. Ivor had been under the assumption that his dear uncle had decided to stay home with his parents, especially as his mother was in a precious condition right about now! There had been no sign of the dragonfly until now and he had no idea as to how he had travelled all the way out here, especially without someone to save his tiny tail section from getting swallowed up whole by Frogweed and other such predators. How had he managed to stowaway and why hadn't he made his presence known until now?
The dragonfly shook his head.
"I decided to come with you guys after your pops asked me to accompany ya on your trip encase you wound up getting yourself into trouble. Besides that, it was either follow you or help out your mother at home and a cranky gravid Cynder ain't a pretty sight —lemme tell ya!"
Ivor blinked as he listened to his uncle's furthering explanation.
"It was only a matter of stowing away in your bag and it's a good thing I came too! I watched you and that girl dragon get swallowed up by that river! After I saw that, I hurried to follow you but I lost sight of you for a minute so I'd spent, like, three hours looking all over for you! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
The fledgeling felt guilt tug at his heart when he heard that as hadn't meant to scare his uncle so much…but he fell into a river? He didn't remember that. He'd remember doing something like that, especially whether or not it was on purpose! However, it would explain why he wound up washed on to a river bank yet it was then he remembered what his uncle had said mere moments ago.
That…girl dragon…?
Wait a second.
He remembered now.
Memories struck like flashes of lightning, filling his mind and eyes at once; he couldn't blink them away nor could he really sense where he was anymore, the only thing he could focus on was the memories that assaulted his mind and left him struggling to breathe. He couldn't even hear his uncle Sparx anymore and he could see his vision begin to blur and his adopted uncle's yellow glowing form faded in front of his eyes as could hear voices, smell scents and envision what happened.
He remembered how he got into this predicament…!
"There it is…" Ignitia whispered while raising a foreclaw to point at the thing that she had wished to reveal to her friend.
It turned out that the thing that Ignitia wished to show Ivor was none other than….a lone sheep.
"Let's go get it!" Ignitia exclaimed, her voice quiet but full of enthusiastic excitement.
Ivor was sceptical whilst rubbing one foreleg against the other, ducking his head in between his shoulders timidly. He had a bad feeling settle in the pit of his stomach and he could see this go badly wrong if one bad move was made, nevertheless, he wanted to see if he could talk the excitable female dragon out of whatever bad decision she could be about to make.
"But…I thought we weren't supposed to hunt animals until we were a lil' bigger." He muttered.
Ignitia smirked but rolled her eyes.
"Aww don't be such a weepy Frogweed!"
Ivor stared at Ignitia in silent bewilderment, too stunned to say anything and it was apparently a look that bemused the young female dragon since she just stared back at Ivor.
"Now! Let's get some sheep meat!" Ignitia declared.
Ivor hesitated but he had to admit that he was hungry.
He felt his belly gnaw with hunger once again, churning and grumbling unhappily, which would undoubtedly make it so his hunger would cloud his better judgement. He huffed through his nostrils while deciding against putting up a fight against what was surely a terrible idea that could get both of them into trouble; he didn't know how it would get them into trouble but, given their track record, it promised not to end well for them.
Besides…cooked mutton did sound pretty appetising right now…
The mere idea of meat on his tongue almost made him salivate a rivers worth of saliva out of his maw.
As anyone could tell you, there was no arguing with a hungry youngster.
Especially not a pair of hungry youngsters…
Ignitia reluctantly followed Ignitia and the two younglings crouched down and stalked their potential prey through the tall green grass.
They tried to recall what they had seen their parents do when it came to hunting.
Their stomachs were inches from touching the ground, their gazes were as sharp as arrowheads, their backs and tails were straight, their wings were folded tight against their backs and their heads were foreheads while they crept through the tall grass; they kept their breathing quiet yet rhythmic to prevent themselves from breathing too hard and possibly scaring off their prey and they tried to make it so their steps didn't make any noise whatsoever. Their steps were slow and careful but it was difficult to maintain their own silence as their youthful anxiety began to get the better of them.
Idly, unaware of the fact it was being watched, the sheep bleated.
"Baaaah…"
Then the two winged reptiles pounced.
Unbeknownst to either one of them, they had pounced at the very same time.
They had lunged straight towards the grazing sheep…but missed.
They went soaring over the sheep and even collided once or twice, neither one of the two had the time to think before they were sent hurtling down the hill.
The two young dragons tumbled downwards as they rolled down the hill like little balls, their bodies bouncing a little each time they'd roll under a small hump or bump. They heard the lush green grass being crushed beneath their bodies and the wind howl in their nonexistent ears as they gained speed with each passing second. They both cried with discomfort simultaneously with each and every bounce and it didn't take long before they were both sailing through the air a final time.
They couldn't help but scream in perfect unison.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH…!"
Then they found themselves falling into what looked like a ravine or river creek or something of the sort.
They heard a loud splash and their bodies were immediately freezing cold and wet.
Ivor gasped, startled.
He…He remembered!
He fell into the river with Ignitia!
Ivor's eyes widened in their sockets and his pupils shrunk into pinpricks of horror, if he wasn't already white-scaled then his complexion would have paled considerably. His trachea knotted in his throat and he suddenly felt like something was sitting on his chest and making it almost impossible to breathe, he very quickly realised that he hadn't seen the pink and red-spotted dragon since he regained consciousness and that brought up all kinds of distressing questions to mind.
Was she okay?
What if she was hurt!?
"I-I-I-I-Ignitia!" He cried, his tone hoarse and his words laced with panic. "I-I-I-Is she o-o-okay!?"
He swung his head in every which way wildly, searching their surroundings as though she would magically appear but she was nowhere to be found but he couldn't find her anywhere and his panic increased tenfold and for good reason. It was well known that a fire dragon was significantly weakened when wet and, as she had been submerged in water as well as taking into account her knack for getting into trouble, she could very well be in massive danger and he could do nothing about it!
What if she was hurt?
What if she needed help?
What if she was fatally wounded?
Those questions made his quick breaths grow even more intense and it wasn't long before his breathing became quick and short and he found himself hyperventilating with eyes wide and growing teary once more. His nostrils flared, his chest plate heaved in and out wildly and his gaze locked on to the scenery ahead of him yet they were also wide and wild with panic. He could feel himself screaming his lost friend's name over and over but he couldn't hear it and he could feel his heart break into a galloping pace inside his chest and was going so fast that it would probably send him into cardiac arrest if not careful!
He began to scatter around where he stood but he almost forgot about two home truths at the same time:
One was that his body still hurt.
The other was that he had yet to take an actual step.
As a result of both of these factors, Ivor took a few running staggers to try and run blindly after her but just wound up hitting the ground yet again like a sack of rocks. But he just stumbled and staggered and even wound up resorted to flapping his wings to try and gain some momentum to fly but quickly found his left wing was throbbing just like his legs were.
His mind was a cyclone of fear and panic.
In his frantic state, he just kept trying to stand and fly but was just falling and hurting himself more.
"Ivor! Ivor! Buddy! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Sparx hovered in front of Ivor's snout and waved his arms around while he frantically tried to calm the white fledgeling whelp down but to no avail. "Kid! Calm down, kid! Please just listen! IVOR!"
Ivor finally stopped, startled by Sparx's tone.
Somehow, the small dragonfly managed to seize both of Ivor's growing facial nubs in both hands and this managed to keep the fledgling still; Sparx glared hard and firmly as he made sure his nephew's big amethyst pools were locked upon him. He didn't know where he got the strength to restrain his much bigger adopted nephew but he didn't care right now and decided to try and get through to the youngster.
"Just calm down and listen! I'm sure she's okay, maybe she washed up not far from you! So don't worry about her! We'll find her! Besides, you can't do anything for her when you're hurt too!"
Ivor's breathing began to slow down and his eyes started to soften as he melted in his insectoid uncle's tiny clasp. He…He had faith in his friend but he was still scared for her well-being. She could be hurt but he couldn't do anything for her while injured and frantic, all he could do was listen to his uncle and calm down…even though this was very uncharacteristic of him since he was normally laid back and carefree and silly. It was jarring to see the dragonfly behave so seriously.
Sparx took a breath himself to cool his temper and then had another look at Ivor and he felt concern brew within him when he no more then touched one of the bruises covering Ivor's cheek and he watched the young fledgeling whelp hiss and flinch with mild discomfort. His eyes softened and his antenna fell.
"Yeesh…you got really beat up, kid…" He muttered. "We gotta get you some help…"
Sparx's eyes lit up when he remembered what Spyro himself had done all those years ago when he got hurt and needed a pick-me-up; Spyro found some red gems, felt the urge to hit them, claimed he felt the power of a thousand suns surging through his body (which Sparx thought was a bunch of sleep-deprived malarkey at the time) and it helped him a lot throughout the years when they had to do battle and needed to lick their wounds…without actually licking them.
"Oh! Red gems!" He exclaimed suddenly.
Ivor looked at the yellow dragonfly in mild confusion and Sparx noticed this so he finally released Ivor's face and began to flitter higher in the air with a rather conversational air gathering around him while he decided to elaborate his realisation to his nephew.
"R-Right! Ol' Ignitus once told me and your dad that those gems were 'a gift from the ancestors' or whatever! We just gotta find some red gems and that should getcha all patched up!"
Ivor remembered the lessons Guardian Cyril had taught about those crystals called "Spirit gems" —about how the ancestors from long ago had gifted them to the dragons. They were said to empower a dragon with spirits of the past and strengthen them with the wisdom of the ages, they could also could heal serious wounds in seconds if one whacked it hard enough to smash it into shards. Red gems healed wounds, green gems infused one with mana, blue gems granted one with experience whispered to them from the past and purple gems filled a dragon with fury.
He blinked, incredulous.
That…That was a great idea!
A tiny smile curled at the corners of his mouth and his eyes glimmered with hope.
He conceded. "Y-Yeah…okay, uncle Sparx."
Ivor, now with a much clearer mind, started to get up again so he slowly clambered to stand on all fours. He planted his claws firmly on the ground and rose up with much more ease then those previous attempts earlier but his muscles were very freaky and his joints stretched and clicked painfully with every movement he made. His wings gingerly folded against his back, albeit slowly so he didn't injure his wings further.
However, when he righted himself and finally stood on all fours again, Ivor felt his muscles becoming tight and then pulling and stretching painfully. The young white dragon wearing the purple scarf somehow found the mental fortitude to make an attempt at actually walking but each and every wobbly step was met with his muscles trying to rip themselves apart and each movement he made almost made him want to cry…but he pressed on.
Nevertheless, he grimaced.
It was official:
He needed to find some red spirit gems immediately.
With slow and tender steps, Ivor started to make his way up the cliffface so he could walk into the brush and woodland so he could either find some Spirit gems or Ignitia or maybe even both preferably. He was worried sick about her, especially as she was most likely wet and weakened, but he needed to heal himself to have so much as a chance at helping her. Yes, he was still petrified beyond all reason…but he needed to be strong right now.
The white dragon plodded and limped along while the much older dragonfly settled upon sitting on the bridge of the dragon's snout and used it as a recliner while he began to banter with his drake nephew.
"Okay…now that we got that outta the way, let's talk about you and your girlfriend you little so-and-so!"
"Uncle Spaaaarx…" Ivor whined and then huffed. "…Shes not my girlfriend…"
"Sure she's not."
A/N: Heres the next chapter of "Shadow scales" where we see Ivor waking up after falling in the river alongside Ignitia…but where is she? What state is she in? And it seems that Sparx has joined this adventure and has become more responsible throughout the years but has not changed much in other aspects.
How will this go down?
What will happen next?
Find out in the next chapter!
-Chloemcg