In the Dragon Worlds...

Spyro

I sat off in one corner, blindfolded. I heard the beating of wings— probably Sparx while he's big— and the grumbling of an older voice as its owner kept getting flustered. Despite the fact he's good at creating things, portals obviously are not one of them.

"You sure you still want to go through with this? I mean, You look like you could use someone else to help with that portal..." Sparx spoke to my dad, Sadiki.

"I'm just fine. Now let me finish this up!" Sadiki grumbled, working on the gate for the portal.

I sighed. In case you're not familiar with dragon culture (and to the humans reading this, how would you be?), Dad's trying to whip up a portal into a new set of Dragon Worlds. I've just turned sixteen, which may sound pretty big for a human— unfortunately for me, I'm just starting to grow. Puberty doesn't tend to hit dragons quite as early.

Anyway, Dad's noticing these things, and is trying to help me out a bit— namely, by matchmaking. I tried to talk him out of it earlier, going with the basic "I don't need you to choose my match" speech, but all he said was:

"Who's choosing for you? I don't know about what you exactly look for in a match, but I can tell you right off that whatever you're looking for you won't find in the worlds you know. You're going to LOVE this place I'm taking you to— once we get there, you can decide anything you want about this whole 'matchmaking' bit."

I knew I wasn't about to win against him, so I just conceded and waited for him to get whatever he had planned done. He made me put on the dumb blindfold so I couldn't see what he was trying to do— I'm not supposed to be making portals yet. Too dangerous.

"Spyro!" Dad barked. "You ready? I've got this portal up now!"

"Sure... Uh, Dad? Are you sure this portal's safe?" I jumped up and turned to him, still blindfolded.

"Of course... big dragons don't mess up. Now, hold on... You're going to be in for quite a birthday surprise..."

Before I knew what was happening, I felt myself being swept up in one arm, Sparx bumping up next to me. A quick bounce from Dad, and I soon felt the small tingle of energy one gets from entering portals.

I tried to relax, stretching my wings out in the high umbra of whatever new realm we were entering. Right about then, I realized something: Dad's wings were flapping. Normally, I wouldn't have been worried, except high umbra is supposed to be easy perpetual gliding. He shouldn't need to have been flapping...

Where were we going, and WHY was I having a real bad feeling about this?

In the Shadow Lands...

Reena

I ran through the rain, trying hard not to get messed up by it. I had my cloak on, just in case, but It wasn't the water I was worrying about: It was the number of big mud puddles that spread over the area. I didn't want my fur to get messed up.

I saw the dojo in the distance, and ran under the awning. "Spyro better know what the hell he's doing... If his father finds out, I'll be lucky to glide!" I muttered to myself.

I looked over to the door, to see Spyro glancing out at me, using his staff to help him stand right— he's still too used to crawling around on all fours to have any muscle in his legs (If only he'd learn how to supercharge, he could help himself out), and his normal trainee's outfit on. "You came just in time. Sensai Sadiki's asleep. "

I cocked one eye at him. "We really need to figure out a better method than this... too much risk."

"Reena, living is a risk. So quit achi—" Spyro would have kept lecturing, but by then something new had gotten our attention.

I looked up, to see a dragon flying in through the high umbra. It looked like Sadiki... but not quite. The horns were off, and still in good condition. Sadiki had lost a good bit of his horns. Spyro looked up as well, gaping.

We watched as it landed in the courtyard. It certainly looked like Sadiki, but the dragon in his arms... Spyro? Another one?

"Tahla, give me courage..." I mumbled. I walked over to the new dragons. I felt a small lump form in my throat. "Who... who are you?" I looked back a moment to see Spyro talking with Sparx. I looked again, and this time, Sensai Sadiki came out of the dojo, looking at me as I approached the newcomer.

The newcomer didn't answer me at first. What he did do was slam one foot on the brick pathway. "DRAT! Portal flux... we've come into the wrong world!"

"I asked you if the portal was safe..." The new Spyro grumbled, as the big dragon let go of them. He stood up on his own (obviously much stronger than the one here) and removed a cloth blindfold from his eyes. He blinked at me. "You look... odd. With the furry mane..."

"That's not the only thing." I smirked, as I let my cloak slip off. I didn't exactly have anything else underneath... I tend to not want to wear any more than I have to.

"REENA!" Spyro jumped, and I blushed a moment as I turned around. "Put some clothes on!"

"He's not wearing any!" I hissed, pointing at him. "If he can get away with it, so can I!" I turned back to the new Spyro, who was just staring intently at me.

"I've never seen a dragon with a furry mane before. You're also a bit curvier than a dragon should be..."

"Of corse I am, silly," I smirked at him. "You're a strong he-dragon, and I'm a little girl!"

"What's a girl?"

My face fell. I saw Spyro in the corner of my eye, snickering. I tried to not look like I was dissappointed. "You know... female? Opposite Sex? Clutch Carrier?" I looked at the new Spyro again, and as she eyes buged when I began to speak.

Spyro walked over to us, Sparx hovering over his shoulder. "Well, travellers... it's obvious you've gone quite astray. Perhaps you would like to stay around? Tour the Shadowlands?" He glanced at the new Spyro, while trying not to lean on his staff too much so he didn't look weak.

The big dragon spoke. "That would be a good idea. It will be some time before I get enough energy again to construct a new portal... you wouldn't happen to know where some good swampland is, would you?"

"DAD!" The new Spyro moaned, jumping up.

Sensai Sadiki smiled. "Not off-claw, but I may be able to find you some. Just follow me..." And with that, they left, leaving the three of us and the two Sparxes back in the courtyard.

Spyro deicded to make himself scarce. " I've got some practice to do. Reena, why don't you show them around..."

I walked over to him. "Are you nuts? You're trusting me to some you from another realm? If he's anything like you, he'll be all over me within three minutes!"

"Any guy that doesn't know what a female is is not about to figure out what to do with one. besides... for all we know, he's gay. If you think he's trying to hurt you, you know where to get me." Spyro answered coolly. I nodded tenatively, still unsure.

I walked back over to the two, still a bit scared. "Well... where would you like to go,...er, what's your name?"