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Okay, so I'm a liar. Here's Chapter 5. I was expecting to get sleep today but I've just been writing up a storm, and as a result, Chapter 11 is done but my body is getting back at me for not resting off this bug.

Anyway, enjoy! And please, if you're under the age of 18, either time-warp yourself so you actually are 18 and therefore (relatively) safe, or bar the doors and hope no one finds you.

Chapter 5 -- The First Portal

Solar sighed and wiped tears from his eyes, his left paw clenched on the ground as he felt that anger well up again. Cynder was trying not to cry, and Spyro felt a surge of sympathetic anger well up in him. He'd help Solar find Flare, he swore that to himself.

"That's my story," Solar said, using his militarily-trained emotional skills to stem his feelings, though it sent sharp pain through him.

"Wow..." Spyro said, unable to say anything else.

"Yeah...sad, isn't it?" Solar asked, trying to sound nonchalant but failing.

"How long ago was she transported?" Spyro asked, suddenly remembering something.

"Three days...why?"

Spyro's eyes widened, and Cynder looked at him curiously. He turned to her. "THAT's what I felt...remember, that night I had growing pains and something took hold of me?"

"Yeah..." Solar and Cynder's eyes widened in realization, and Spyro voiced their thoughts

"Somehow, I felt that violent transportation..."

"Makes sense," Solar said, and they looked at him. He was thinking back. "Our electronic records had accounts of dragons who felt the inter-realm transactions...that is, before the power grid failed and we lost half our databases."

Spyro and Cynder didn't quite understand what he was talking about, but they got the general gist of what he was saying.

"Solar..." Spyro said, and the white dragon looked at him. "If I can, I'll help you look for Flare...I mean, she's gotta be somewhere here, doesn't she?"

Solar's face didn't change. "If she survived the rough transportation, yes, she'd be here, but she'd be lucky to be conscious."

"Why?" Cynder asked.

"'Unguided' transportation is dangerous, and it's what she was submitted to--she didn't have a device on her, she was simply hurled through the inter-realm division. If she wasn't instantly vaporized, she's most likely in a state of shock, probably badly injured, somewhere out there."

Cynder and Spyro both mouthed "Ooohhh..." and looked at each other a bit fearfully. Solar looked back up at the sky, another tear forming in his eye. "Oh Flare...I'm so sorry..." He slowly stood up, his head drooping on his long neck.

"Where are you going?" Spyro asked.

"I dunno," Solar replied listlessly, and shambled off into the forest. They watched him disappear.

"I swear, if I can do anything to help him locate her, I will do it," Spyro said, pounding the ground. Cynder looked at him

"Y'know, that's what I like about you, Spyro," she said, and he turned his surprised face to her.

"Huh?"

"You can't resist helping those in need..."

"Oh..." He started slightly when he felt her head rest against his shoulder. Half of him was confused, but the other half---what was this feeling? Whatever it was, it told him to enjoy the moment, and he did after a bit, resting his head against hers. She sighed happily, but growled mentally to herself...she wanted to tell him something really badly, but part of her screamed NO! every time the idea came up. The same thing was happening to Spyro, but the feeling wasn't new, it was just stronger than it had been in past days.

Solar returned to find them both asleep, and he shook his head with a half-smile.

"Well, the circle goes round again...they just need to find out on their own time..." he said to himself, and looked at the fire. He came back a short while later with more wood, and he carefully added it to the fire, jumping back as it flared back up around the dry wood.

* * * *

Cynder yawned and stretched as she woke up the next morning. A slight drizzle was falling, and there was a smell of wet ashes from behind her. She stood up and stretched her legs and wings, and saw, again, a small cluster of berries nearby with her name scratched into the ground.

"Spyro..." she huffed, shaking her head in wonder and amusement. After she'd eaten the meal she stayed still and let the cool falling mist wash over her in the gentle breeze. She heard Spyro's and Solar's voices through the trees, and the two returned.

"The enemy is approaching fast," Solar said as Spyro walked next to Cynder. "We must find the portal, and soon." He followed them up into the air, scanning the ground below as they flew. He kept expecting mortars to fly at them, but all he saw were huge mushrooms whiz by as they shot southward, the sun slowly coming out from behind the clouds and giving everything more vivid color. Spyro slowed as Cynder showed signs of stress, and after a while Solar breathed deeply. They both looked at him.

"Sorry...I was just admiring all this scenery...I've only ever seen pictures of it..."

"Scenery?" they asked, looking at each other.

Solar rolled his eyes in exasperation. "How can you not see the beauty around you?! If I didn't know I'm not dead after that rift, I'd think I was in the afterlife paradise!"

"Really?" Cynder asked, looking around.

"Cynder...where he comes from, there isn't any of this..." Spyro reminded her, and she looked up sharply.

"Oh that's right! I'm so sorry...I completely forgot..." she said, looking back at Solar.

"Not your fault," he said dismissively. "I guess if you've seen this all your life it becomes ordinary..." He looked around, just marvelling at everything around him now that he wasn't so filled with anger and revenge.

In the afternoon they landed by the river and took a good long, cooling drink. Solar had never seen a real river before--all the water back in his realm had to be either melted from snow or pumped up from wells in the ground. He looked upstream and downstream where he stood, just taking the sight in.

"You gonna drink?" Spyro asked, and Solar started.

"Huh? Oh, sorry...I've never seen a river before..."

They just stared at him, but he ignored them and took a long draw at the cool water. Surprisingly, there were no food sources around, so, ignoring their empty stomachs, they took off again.

"Cyril said two days off to the south..." Spyro said to himself, but Cynder and Solar overheard him.

"Two days to what?" Solar asked.

"From the Temple to the portal," Spyro replied, scanning the ground ahead. He caught sight of a gold glint, and turned and headed for that. They were in completely unfamiliar territory, and finally landed at a large gilded archway. Much of the gold had been weathered away, exposing a steel frame. Within the archway ran a hideous green field of energy. Solar looked at it and snorted.

"I should've figured...they've harnessed our technology after all..."

"Solar?"

"This portal leads back to a military base back in Paralos," he explained, running a paw lightly over the metal arch. "No doubt they've captured and harnessed the energy core inside..."

"Energy core?"

"Powerful crystals that, once charged with light, are self-sustaining, giving off light forever until their light power is drained sharply enough. I have a feeling they've harnessed the crystals in the old bases to give off darkness." He breathed deeply, then turned to them.

"Shall we?" he asked, and stepped into the field, instantly disappearing as he walked through. Spyro looked at Cynder, and she smiled at him as he walked through the portal, with her close behind.

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Comments, suggestions, complaints? Keeps, throws, dos/donts? I like feedback, even if it's just a "keep it up" or a simple "good". Lets me know I'm on the right path. If anything seems a little out of place or doesn't seem right, feel free to question it.