TLoS: Draconic Visage Chapter 1
#1 of TLoS: Draconic Visage
<Author's Note>
Just something I wrote up off the top of my head months back- Don't know if i'll continue it, given that my Shifters series is ongoing and at a much later stage- if I get enough people who want to read more then I may consider it. (Also my first time writing about The Legond of Spyro, so go easy on me :P)
TLoS: Draconic Visage Chapter 1
It was that bright sunny day that had changed his life forever, he reflected, leaning back in his chair, fresh paper piled on his desk, his pen lying where he had put it down moments ago- completely stumped for ideas. He had decided that he had best write down everything on paper, so as to better come to terms with the extraordinary set of events that had only recently occurred. But how do I start? he wondered. How can I get my story onto paper and make enough sense so that others reading my story years from now can understand? It was probably best just to write now and worry about that later, just to get something down. Who knows? Maybe his story would unfold more easily on paper than it had in real life. He doubted it though. With a sigh he hunched over and began to write, taking him back to that day, the day it had all started.
"Matt Summers!" a voice boomed loudly from across the classroom and Matt's head jerked up, snapping out of his daydream with a jolt. "Could you please answer the question on the board" Mr Donahue's crinkled old face showed something akin to amusement for a moment as he looked upon the squirming teenager.
Matt gave a small, embarrassed smile back at his favourite teacher "I'm sorry Mr Donahue, my mind slipped for a moment there" The rest of the class laughed and Mr Donahue gave a small sigh. Somehow Matt managed to get away with little-to-no work in class, but aced his tests and exams; he was almost as notorious around the school for his intelligence as he was for his miniscule attention span, constantly daydreaming, he aspired to one day become a graphics designer for a video game company.
Still, Mr Donahue, as well as most of the other teachers, had a soft spot for him, and he could get away with very little work during class, something he often exploited with enthusiasm.
(I suppose now is as good as any a place to describe Matt. He is reasonably tall, at around 6 foot, fifteen years of age and has shaggy brown hair that comes down to his eyes, which are bright green)
Mr Donahue turned back to the board and Matt turned his own gaze back to the window. He just could not concentrate on ANYTHING today. His father, who worked in the gaming industry himself, would be bringing over that new game today. He was quite high up in the company, and often allowed his son to beta-test some of the best new games on the market, and this one was something special.
A highly secretive new Spyro game.
It was, apparently a continuation on the series, taking place after the defeat of Malefor, and was being kept very low key for now, not many people knew about it at all; only those who had worked on it and others high enough in the company. And this afternoon Matt was to be the first to play it in preparation for the release.
The day went by at a snails pace, the hours dragged on for ever, until at last the final-bell rang for the end of the day. Matt rushed out of class and hurried to his locker. Dumping all of his books into his bag in a couple of seconds, he closed it again, turned around and went to leave by the front entrance of the school. Looking up ahead as he walked along the path he groaned.
Damien and his gang sat outside the school on the front steps watching him, perpetual sneers on their faces, waiting for him. A tremble of fear ran through his body. The last time he had wound up on the wrong side of Damien he had been lucky to leave without broken bones from the beating that he had received. Damien himself wasn't the issue- he had no doubt that he could take that piggy-eyed bully himself, but he had a large following at the school, and it didn't do well to get into a fight with fifteen other boys. He couldn't go out another way though; he would miss his bus if he didn't leave now.
He sighed, and walked slowly towards the front of the school, eyes planted firmly on the ground as the jeering began.
"Hey lookee her boys, it's the little loser" started Damien, striding forward, his chins wobbling in the slight breeze. "loser-boy's going home to his little loser family" he continued (by now having used up the extent of his imagination finding names to call his victim), stopping in front of Matt, blocking his way "Has the little baby had enough from last time or do we have to pummel you some more?"
Matt kept his eyes on the ground; aware that by now a large number of his fellow students would be looking over to see what was going on. He felt like shrivelling up into a ball and rolling home as he hurried past the group of boys, their jeering comments still hurting him as he boarded his bus. The bus driver looked at him sympathetically as he stepped on board, unknowingly worsening the pain that Matt was in. What did it take for a sixty year old, balding bus driver with lung cancer to look at you with sympathy?
It was a long bus ride home before Matt stepped off at last, practically onto his doorstep with a slightly improved mood as he contemplated the new game that he would be testing that evening.
He hurried into his house, depositing his bag in his room and changing out of his school uniform before going into the kitchen and grabbing a bite to eat. Checking the clock, he rummaged in the pantry for some food.
His father got home at around five each day, so he still had around an hour to set up for the event. He had invited his best friend Mikey over that afternoon to test the new game with him, so he fetched a packet of chips and fresh popcorn and was just sitting down again when Mikey arrived. Mikey has been Matt's best friend since they were both five. Mikey is enormous, 6''4' with strawberry blonde hair and a scowl that made him look threatening to those who don't know him well. Maybe if Mikey was around at school then I wouldn't have problems with Damien thought Matt. It was really too bad that Mikey had gone off to a completely different high school, even though they lived basically next door.
"Hey man" said Matt, acting cool and distant for his friend's benefit. "Dad should be home any minute" It was at that precise moment that the doorbell rang, signifying his father's arrival, and the two boys hurried to the door where Matt's father was hanging up his jacket, a large parcel in his hands.
"Is that it?" asked Matt excitedly.
"Sure is" replied his father "but you'll need to plug in the new console first"
"New console?" Matt asked, confused now. "What new console?"
"Well", said his father "part of the reason that this new game is being kept so quiet is because a new console is being released as well, that will revolutionise everything" he paused, looking around for dramatic effect. "This new console is completely different to all others" he went on, beaming like a child receiving a present for Christmas now, "because this console takes the form of..." his voice rose as Matt and Mikey looked at each other totally perplexed, what could possibly be so big, so momentous an advance in gaming?
"The new console is... this!" Matt's father exclaimed, ripping open the parcel and pulling out... a bodysuit?
"The console takes the form of a full bodysuit" Matt's father began to explain. "When the player puts the suit on, a fully artificial environment is created as the suit broadcasts information into the player's brain that is picked up and converted into the 5 senses. All senses can be artificially created; sight, smell, touch etcetera"
By now the boys were looking at the suit hungrily, realising just what it could mean.
"So... effectively it would be like stepping into the videogame itself and actually feeling like being there?" Mikey asked.
"Exactly" Matt's father stated, smiling widely.
"But... if all of the senses can be replicated by this suit then could pain not also be replicated?" asked Matt, concerned now.
"The developers of the suit have been quite thorough in that regard" his father explained impatiently" If your character is injured in the game then the suit replicates a small burst of low heat at the spot that you are hit; that is the only non-realistic factor" He smiled now as he added "and of course you won't really die if you lose a life in the game"
"I can't wait to try it out" admitted Matt.
"Me neither" said Mikey.
"Well, we can get started whenever you like" said Matt's father "However there is only a one player game as yet, so even though there are two suits Mikey, I'm afraid that you'll have to wait your turn after Matt"
"awwwww" sighed Mikey "I guess..."
The three rushed into the living room, where Matt began to put the bodysuit on over his clothes.
"Ummm..." his father said awkwardly "the bodysuit has to be in contact with your entire body for the game to work I'm afraid. One of the minor drawbacks"
"Are you serious?" Asked Matt, "I'm glad that there's a separate suit for me and Mikey then"
Matt went into his room to change out of his clothes and into the bodysuit. It felt silky, soft to touch and was incredibly light for such advanced technology. The only drawback was the colour, which was a rather unimaginative grey.
Stepping back into the living room with the suit on up until his neck he grinned at his friend and Dad before taking his place in the middle of the room and covering his head and face with the suit.
"Okay Matt, can you hear me?" asked his father, to which he nodded. "Alright, I'm uploading the game data wirelessly in five seconds" Another nod.
"Five"
"Four"
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
Agony and a flash of blinding purple light. Pain blossomed over his entire body as he stood rigid, stuck to the spot and unable to move, unable to communicate with his father or his friend, who stood there smiling, oblivious to the pain he was in. Images raced through his head, frightening images, no doubt from the game he was meant to be enjoying instead of this pain. So intense it blocked out all thought as he screamed in his head. Purple mist descended over his vision and he fell to the floor unconscious.
At that point in time Spyro and Cynder were flying back from Malefor's Lair. Having only recently woken up after the defeat of Malefor, the two were in low spirits as they made their way back to Warfang. They had successfully managed to defeat the most powerful evil that the land had ever seen, but the death of the Fire Guardian Ignitus- a close friend to both Spyro and Cynder marred their victory.
The two flew in silence, the heavy, monotonous beats of their wings the only sound that wrought the air for hours on end, until with great relief the pair spotted the walls of Warfang and Spyro drifted slowly over to fly next to Cynder.
"We're back" he said, his voice a little croaky as he spoke "Looks like repairs have already begun".
And indeed they had. Legions of moles and Cheetahs were dashing about piles of gathered wreckage- remnants of the war that had gripped the nation, erecting the framework for new buildings and knocking down structures damaged beyond repair.
As Spyro and Cynder watched, a pair of Cheetahs erected the framework for the door of what was to be a new storehouse and swooping down lower, Spyro caught a glimpse of one's face through the dust.
"Hunter!" he exclaimed, pulling into a quick dive and catching Cynder off guard. Smiling slightly, she followed in his wake and landed next to the two friends as they greeted each other.
"Spyro, Cynder, I can see that the two of you were successful" said Hunter with an easy smile "But where's Ignitus? Is he with you?" His smile drooped when he saw the look on Spyro's face when he mentioned the Guardian's name. "What happened?"
"Ignitus is dead" said Spyro with finality. "He fell in battle before we reached Malefor". He looked Hunter straight in the eye as he spoke those foul words, his face a mask of grief as he accounted for his friend's death.
"I'm sorry to hear that" said Hunter, lowering his head. "He was a great Dragon and an excellent Guardian".
"And a great friend" finished Spyro.
The three stood for a while, thinking of the dragon who had given his life to see that Spyro and Cynder achieved their goal and effectively saved the land, before Hunter turned away. "I'm still needed to help rebuild" he explained as he began to walk away "I'm sure that the guardians will want to see the two of you as soon as possible though. They should be told about Ignitus".
Volteer took it the worst out of the Guardians. The usually talkative, over-obnoxious dragon did not say a single word during Spyro's explanation of his friend's death, and as Terrador questioned Spyro about the fight with Malefor, he left the room quietly. Worried about the old dragon, Cynder followed him outside to the gardens, where she saw him lay his head on the base of a huge stone plinth featuring a younger Ignitus, a gift that he himself had bestowed upon the younger Fire Guardian.
Walking quietly around the scene from a distance, Cynder saw the tears on the old dragon's face and made to leave. She had barely made two steps back towards the building however, when Volteer spoke.
"He was the best friend and wing-mate I ever had" he said, not moving from where he stood, looking up at the statue of Ignitus and remembering back to those days of friendship and adventure that he had shared with the fire dragon.
Cynder stood frozen to the spot in terror about being caught spying. Volteer turned his head towards her and smiled a little through the tears that streaked across his face. "There's no doubt that he'll become the next Chronicler" he said, chuckling a little now. "A dragon like Ignitus wouldn't pass up the opportunity in a millennia, he liked his books".
Cynder turned and headed back inside; entering the chamber she saw Spyro and Terrador sitting, waiting for her to join them. As she walked over, Terrador began talking, continuing a conversation he had been having with Spyro.
"The two of you will be accommodated here of course" the Guardian said, looking from Cynder to Spyro, "You can sleep separately or together in the same room" he added with a chuckle, looking slyly at the pair to see what the response would be.
Both dragons blushed profusely at the proposal, Cynder looking up quickly at Spyro. She still wasn't sure if Spyro had heard the words that she had spoken in that last moment before they both lapsed into unconsciousness, those three words "I love you". It felt like she had spoken them a year ago, instead of only a few days, and now would be the time to find out just how much Spyro remembered, and if he felt the same way about her.
Spyro looked back at her with much the same thought in his own mind. He had not heard what she had said in those final moments, but felt the same way about her as she did about him. The pair looked at each other, gauging the other's emotions, until with a twin pair of smiles that gleamed in the half-light of the chamber they looked back at Terrador and replied in unison.
"I think we'll share the one room".
The daylight faded quickly, and soon Spyro and Cynder retreated to their sleeping quarters, eager to get some sleep on proper beds for once. The room was simple with a pair of beds and a small desk between the two. Since neither Spyro nor Cynder had anything material on their person, they hardly needed any more, but the room was spacious enough and the two quickly settled down to sleep, blowing out the candles and crawling into their respective beds, exhausted.
It was at this moment that, in another world, a boy around the same age as Spyro was testing out a brand new, revolutionary gaming console when a freak series of events caused the collision of two different societies, vastly different both in size and structure.
5
Spyro lay awake; a sudden burst of energy that wouldn't allow him sleep was surging through his body. He grumbled in annoyance as he realised that he probably wasn't going to sleep well that night.
4
Cynder fell into slumber the moment her head touched the pillow and Spyro looked across the room, longing for the same to happen to him, but he just could not sleep.
3
He shifted, trying to get comfortable, as he became aware of an annoyance; a noise? Or was it a feeling? Whatever it was, it was keeping him awake.
2
What was it? It became more pronounced with every passing moment. It was definitely a noise now, and it was growing, a buzzing in the back of his skull that made his head hurt. He rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head, willing sleep to come.
1
It was painful now, like a migraine, and Spyro stood, getting out of bed. Maybe he would visit the infirmary-
0
A flash of intense purple light enveloped the whole room, sending a sleeping Cynder sprawling as her bed and the desk went flying across the room. Crawling out from behind the wreckage and shielding her eyes with one claw, she gasped as she made out the outline of Spyro standing in the centre of the room, mouth open and a look of intense pain on his face. She watched as the outline of his body wavered in the blinding purple light, rippling like the waves on a lake after a pebble has been dropped, disturbing the water.
The Guardians rushed into the room, covering their faces as they entered and saw Spyro standing there in the centre of this light, frozen, until with a cry, he sagged to the floor as the light disappeared. Cynder hurried forward when she saw him collapse, but stopped as Volteer stepped into her path.
"Get him to the infirmary" he said to Terrador as the Earth Guardian picked Spyro gently up off the floor and took him out of the door. "I want to know exactly what just happened" he snapped at Cynder, who was still trying to make sense of her surroundings after her rude awakening.
"I don't know, I was asleep" she said, rubbing her eyes, still in shock over what had just happened. "I woke up when things started flying around the room and he was just standing there with that weird light around him".
Volteer shook his head worriedly. "So you have no idea what may have caused whatever it was?"
"None" replied Cynder, looking out through the door and down the corridor after Terrador and Spyro. "I want to go and see if he's alright".
The two dragons hurried down the seemingly endless corridors to the infirmary in silence, both equally concerned about the welfare of the purple dragon. Stopping at the door, they looked at each other grimly before entering.
The infirmary was a small section of the overall building, with beds set up along both sides with a spacious walkway running down the middle. At present it was deserted but for Terrador, the great brown dragon was bending over a bed at the far end of the room. Turning around as they approached he beckoned them closer.
"By the ancestors..." breathed Volteer as the figure on the bed came into view
"What in the world..." Cynder started.
Lying on the bed pale, gaunt sporting nothing more than a patch of thick, brown hair on the top of what be it's head, was a creature that none of the onlooking dragons could identify, a creature that did not belong to their world. Lying on the bed was a human.
"What is it?" asked Cynder. "It looks a bit like an ape".
"I don't think so" answered Terrador. "The apes have hair all over and are generally uglier. I think that this is something different".
The creature stirred, waking from its deep sleep. Terrador looked quickly over at the other two "What should we do?"
"Just be ready in case it chooses to attack" Volteer answered slowly. "We don't want to harm it if it's peaceful. What happened to Spyro?"
"Disappeared in a flash" Terrador answered grimly. "Few seconds later, this thing shows up in his place, still asleep".
"Then maybe it can tell us what happened to Spyro" Cynder interjected. "If it knows what happened to him, then maybe it can help us find him".
Their attention snapped back to the strange creature as it gave a slight groan. As they tensed in preparation for a possible attack, the creature stretched it's limbs high above it's head and yawned, before opening it's eyes, purple eyes.
What's everyone doing standing around me for?" he asked. "And what am I doing in the infirmary?"
"It can't be" gasped Cynder.
"Spyro?"