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// Prelude: The Big Day 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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It was a beautiful day for the Artisans homeworld, as there were birds sitting in the trees, chirping and singing to each other like usual, flowers were on their way to blooming, and the sun was shining through their blue sky that always had a bit of pink on the horizon, regardless of what time it was. Artisans, as the land was more commonly called among the Dragon Clans, was a lush green land that had a number of meadows, with healthy green grass for the wandering groups of sheep to eat, had a great deal of trees for birds and other animals to live in, and gentle waterfalls that either fed a number of small pools or returned to the beaches that surrounded them. In addition to all that there were a number of intricate statues that dotted the landscape, showing the talent of the dragons that called Artisans home, as well as a fair number of stone arches that served as portals to the other parts of their home, allowing for fast travel from one part of Artisans to another. There were even marble hallways that were built into the hills, so dragons could go right through a hill and not have to bother going around them, while the houses that each of them lived in were a little different from each other, as a few lived in small castle like buildings, a few took up residence in large stone buildings, and a few chose to live in intricate stone towers.

This was the reason that the land they lived on was called Artisans, because each dragon that lived there was peaceful and tranquil, preferring to use their talents in the creation of songs, sculptures, poetry, and other things, hence why their home was so intricate. Visitors that came to their homeworld, mostly reporters for the lands that the Dragon Clans didn't call home, often commented on the various talents of the peaceful dragons, the Artisan dragons as they were commonly called these days, though one of the things that some visitors focused on was the fact that their land was called a 'homeworld'. The truth of the matter was that each land the Dragon Clans called home, these 'homeworlds' as visitors called them, were part of a larger continent, hence the reason behind the various portals that connected all of them to a central location, or a 'hub' as visitors called them. The Artisan dragons found it amusing that visitors referred to the other locations they called home as 'realms', since they use portals to go between the various points of their home, but since their efforts to correct them never seemed to work they stopped trying to correct them and let them use their terms whenever they visited their land.

Nestor, Leader of the Artisans dragons, stood in the meeting chamber that he and the other four Leaders gathered in whenever they needed to talk about something in private, and today he and his fellow Leaders had a special reason as to why they were gathering. He, like all of the older dragons that had lived for quite a long time, had a bipedal stance, which allowed him to stand like a yeti or the balloonists that visited their lands, while younger dragons, of which there were none at the moment, would have a quadruped stance, meaning that they would run on all fours and would be like that until they were much older. Nestor himself had slightly dark green colored scales, with his chest scales being lighter than the rest of his body, and a pair of strong wings that would let him fly whenever he wanted to, though at the same time he wore an open vest, which was dark green colored, that had a golden necklace that linked the two halves together. Since he was also a carpenter, despite being the Leader of the Artisans, he also carried a tool satchel around his waist, where he usually kept his hammer when he wasn't working on something, though right now it rested on a pedestal by the wall that was behind him, while he stood at part of the stone table that the Leaders held their meetings at.

The meetings held a rule where the Leaders would place their weapons or work tools either against the wall itself or on a pedestal, agreeing to the fact that this was a peaceful meeting and not one of war, but Nestor pushed that memory to the side as he waited for the other Leaders to arrive.

The first Leader that arrived in the meeting chamber was none other than Titan, the orange scaled Leader of the Peace Keepers, dragons that enforced order throughout their lands and were the strongest of the five Dragon Clans, and they knew a lot about battling their enemies. Titan always wore a kusazuri, basically a skirt of armored plates that were attached to a belt and protected the area around his waist, and was accompanied by a red scarf that was wrapped around his neck at all times, like it was one of his most prized treasures or something. Despite the fact that he had a purple mohawk, along with a short similar colored beard and some tail tuft sporting the same color, Titan had the air of an accomplished soldier, which was confirmed by his epaulettes, or his ornamental shoulder pieces, the trio of metals that he wore on his chest scales, and a small scar on the right side of his abdomen. Titan nodded his head towards Nestor as he walked into the chamber, where he turned towards one of the walls and set his large battle axe, his weapon of choice when he went into battle, against the wall, showing that he respected Nestor's nature as an Artisan dragon and the fact that violence wasn't allowed in the chamber they were meeting in, before standing at his section of the table.

A few minutes later the next Leader entered the chamber, where Nestor and Titan watched as Cosmos, the Leader of the Magic Crafters, dragons that spent their time crafting the various magical artifacts that all dragons used, walked into the area that they were in, though while most of his Clan were shy, and preferred to live in their various homes, he didn't have that mindset. Cosmos, like Nestor, had dark green colored scales, which were darker than Nestor's were, though at the same time he wore golden plates, mixed with a purple colored interior, on his shoulders that were held together by a golden strap, and he had some black metal spirals on his horns. Cosmos also carried a weapon with him at all times, never leaving his side for more than a few moments at a time, though where Titan's was an actual weapon, one designed for combat, Cosmos carried a magical staff, one with spirals that mimicked what he wore on his horns, though as he walked into the chamber he carefully set his magical staff against another wall, just like Titan did. With that done Cosmos turned and took his spot at the table, the one reserved for the Leader of the Magic Crafters, just like Titan took the area for the Leader of the Peace Keepers and Nestor took the spot for the Leader of the Artisans.

Fortunately the Leader of the Beast Makers, Bruno, walked into the chamber almost immediately after Cosmos did, where they discovered that the large blue scaled dragon was happy to see them, so much so that he set his wooden staff aside, in the spot behind where he would stand, and took his place without delay. The only odd articles that he had on at the moment were the tooth necklace that was wrapped around his neck and the brown hat, which was either made from an actual piece of fruit or just carved to look that way, that rested on his head, both of which he treasured as much as his personal weapon. The Beast Makers were responsible for tending to all sorts of creatures that lived in their lands, even bringing them into the world at times, and as such they found that living in a swamp environment, with houses made out of wood or even in hollowed out trees, best for them, especially since some of the materials needed for their duties could be found in the swamp. Bruno, of course, didn't smell like the swamp at all, and that was due to some enchantments that prevented the smell from following those that both lived there and visited the land of the Beast Keepers, though they still had to bathe like everyone else, something that they didn't complain about.

After that the final Leader entered the chamber, to which Nestor and the others watched as Lateef, Leader of the Dream Weavers, joined them, where he walked around to his section of the table and turned towards the wall that was waiting for him, to which he held up a small bronze pot that had some pink rocks in it and set it down on the pedestal in front of him. Lateef's scales were a few shades of blue that were deeper than Bruno's own scales, though at the same time he was also slightly different from most of the dragons, as he actually had ears, which were pierced with a single golden ring, feathered wings that almost looked like the night sky, and balanced on his tale instead of standing, as was his custom whenever he talked to someone, though Nestor and the others preferred that he not talk in riddles, something else he liked to do from time to time. Lateef wore two pieces of some kind of red cloth around his neck and waist, both of which were trimmed with gold, along with a golden necklace, that had the shape of circular bells, with tassels attached to each of the bells, and a rope belt that kept the cloth around his waist in place. As a Dream Weaver dragon it was his responsibility to make sure that no nightmares bothered any of the dragons that lived throughout their world, though as Leader he made sure that the other Dream Weavers ensured that everyone slept peacefully, as well as assist anyone that might have trouble while they were sleeping.

To many they were the strongest and the smartest dragons in all five lands that their kind ruled, and for a time they had been right, but today was going to bring about a change to that belief, hence the reason the five of them had gathered together in the meeting chamber, one that overlooked a peaceful courtyard.

"Welcome, my fellow Leaders." Nestor said, because now that all of them had gathered here, like they had been planning for a few days now, it was time for them to discuss the reason behind why they had left their lands and had come to this location, "I trust that all of you had a safe journey?"

"It was uneventful," Titan stated, as recently there hadn't been anything that demanded the attention of the Peace Keepers, meaning that all he and the others could do was keep training in preparation for whatever the future held, before he smiled, "though it would have been interesting to see someone try and attack four of the Leaders while they were on their way to a meeting."

"I much prefer the peace that we have been enjoying." Bruno replied, to which both Cosmos and Lateef nodded their heads in agreement, a sign that they were in agreement with the Leader of the Beast Makers on this subject, before he turned his attention to something else, "Besides, we came here to discuss something of great importance to the lands that we call home, if the letters you sent were any indication, so it's for the best that we weren't stopped by something or someone on the way here."

"Indeed." Nestor said, as he was happy to hear that his fellow Leaders had been able to get here safely, despite the fact that the lands they had come from wouldn't have any enemies for them to worry about, not when the only threat was contained in a faraway land, before he glanced outside to the courtyard, where a single dragon egg rested, "Today is the Year of the Dragon Festival, as I'm sure you all know by now, and the fairies have told me that there will only be one egg hatching today, the purple dragon egg that we have been watching for the last year. Now, I'm sure I don't need to tell you what else is so special about the egg that's resting in the courtyard at the moment."

"It contains one of the legendary purple dragons" Cosmos stated, as he knew exactly what Nestor was talking about, since he had been thinking about this for a long time, since the moment they found the purple dragon egg that they were now watching over with great interest, "one that could be a stalwart champion for all of dragon kind. I have seen nothing that would prevent what we have been waiting for from happening, and Lateef has made sure that nothing will trouble Spyro before he hatches."

"Spyro? Is that the hatchling's name?" Nestor asked, because while Cosmos' habit of peering into the future from time to time wasn't totally reliable, since it hadn't shown him the day the fairies would bring them the purple dragon egg that they were watching over, there were times that it was right, so if Cosmos said that the dragon's name would be Spyro, and was sure of that fact like he appeared to be, then he had to accept what the dragon's name would be.

"It is." Lateef replied, though at the same time it appeared that he had been lost in thought about something since he and the others had arrived, which worried Nestor since they were so close to the egg hatching, before he stared at his fellow Leaders for a moment, "I just feel that there is something we're not seeing..."

Nestor was curious as to what else the Leader would have said, though he could only brace himself as an explosion sounded from the courtyard, one that seemed to be magical in nature considering the fact that both Cosmos and Lateef shook the instant they heard the noise. That worried him more than anything else, especially when he considered that the purple dragon egg housed a hatchling that would become one of the strongest dragons in the entire world, so the instant the two Leaders indicated that it was okay to move Nestor rushed out of the meeting chamber and headed for the area that the explosion came from. He wasn't the only one, as Titan grabbed his axe and readied himself, in case this was an attack from an unknown enemy, before following after him, though Nestor purposely left his hammer behind, as he wanted to see what was going on in the courtyard before grabbing the only thing that would pass as a weapon for him, while the other Leaders followed behind them. It didn't take the five of them long to reach the courtyard, not when it was so close to where their meeting chamber was located, and found that the smoke from the explosion was already dying down, without ruining anything around the area that the purple egg was in... though at the same time Nestor discovered that the egg had hatched during the explosion, based on the shell fragments that were in front of them.

None of them had to worry about the young hatchling being killed or something like that, as there just so happened to be a baby dragon resting nearby, one with purple scales over most of it's body, with the chest scales baring a golden yellow color, that also had a small pair of horns on his head and a small pair of wings on his back, which were common for dragons of this age, and even had some fin shaped spines between his two horns, which were also small and would grow as he did. What none of them were expecting, however, was for there to be two more baby dragons resting near the one they had been expecting, as there had only been one in the egg and both Cosmos and Lateef were surprised and confused as to what they were seeing. Part of their confusion was because of the fact that one of the two mystery dragons had purple scales like Spyro, though his chest scales were a light spring green color, his wings were the same size as Spyro's, and he had no visible horns on his head, rather he just had some small sized fins that ran down his entire spine. The second dragon was a blue dragon, as her main scale color was a brilliant blue while her underbelly was turquoise colored, though she did possess a pair of horns, ones that looked like they would curve towards the front of her head when she got older, and she had blue fins on her head that were almost like Spyro's, save for the gap between each one. The other thing Nestor noticed was that all three of the hatchlings appeared to be asleep at the moment, meaning the sounds of the explosion didn't wake them from their slumber, and their bodies showed no signs of damage, which told him that none of them were hurt by what just happened.

It was rare for there to be even a single purple dragon, as they generally only appeared some time before something major happened for the world, but two of them, being the same age and size, meant that big things would happen to them and the lands they ruled over, and even if she wasn't a purple dragon Nestor knew that there was something special about the blue dragon that rested with them.

"Now this is unexpected." Nestor commented, as he didn't know what to make of the scene that was in front of them, because they had been expecting there to be one purple dragon that they could train for whatever was heading their way, not two purple dragons and a blue dragon, before he turned towards his fellow Leaders, "Cosmos, Lateef, can you tell us anything about these two dragons?"

"You mean like answer 'who are they' and 'where did they come from'?" Lateef inquired, though he didn't need his magical skills to figure out what sort of questions Nestor wanted them to answer, as they knew their friend well enough and could determine what was on his mind rather easily, but he was happy to see Nestor nod his head, confirming that the two questions he mentioned were part of what he wanted answered, "Come Cosmos, let us see if we can't learn anything from the hatchlings or the eggshell fragments that are resting around them."

Cosmos, as Nestor expected, had sat down near the three hatchlings and had his eyes closed at the moment, though the eggshells in his hands meant that he was attempting to see if the fragments might reveal something about the two mysterious hatchlings that had suddenly appeared. At the same time he had placed his staff across his legs, no doubt using it to focus his power towards his task, while at the same time Lateef sat across from him and set his pot of magical rocks down near him, allowing him to access his own abilities as he closed his eyes. That left Bruno and Titan to go to where they kept their supplies, or at least the area that Nestor kept the food they would have eaten during their lunch break, as Nestor had the feeling that the three hatchlings were going to wake up soon, because sometimes hatchlings took a quick nap after hatching and would be making noise soon enough. He wanted to be prepared for when that happened, hence the reason that Bruno and Titan were gathering the milk that had recently been gathered for this event and the strips of meat that they had prepared ahead of time, that way the moment the trio started crying they could tend to them and ensure the trio knew they were safe. He really only saw that happening for the purple dragons, since they were so different from the other types of dragons in the world, as the hatchlings of the other types usually hatched from their eggs and did crazy things as their first action, like dancing a little, before falling back asleep, but it was best to be prepared and get this over with quickly.

As Bruno and Titan returned with the supplies, however, the three hatchlings decided to wake up at that moment and, just as Nestor expected, started crying, causing Bruno to step forward and start tending to them, which Titan was fine with since Beast Makers dragons were also the most qualified to tend to whatever number of hatchlings each group of eggs provided them with. As such Bruno made sure that each of the hatchlings had their fair share of the milk that they had gathered, which was a few bottles since they had no idea how much a purple dragon actually needed, but he was relieved to see that the five bottles they had prepared was all they needed, even if the last two were split between the trio. After that he waited for a minute or two, allowing the hatchlings to process what he had given them, before tearing small bits of the meat that they had brought out to the courtyard, letting them nibble on the bits for a few seconds before they snatched what he was offering them, which only made him smile as he offered them some bits that were bigger than what he first gave them, as this meant that they had hatched without any problems. While Bruno was doing that, and was keeping the hatchlings happy, Nestor turned towards Cosmos and Lateef, because he knew that neither of them had been given enough time to really do anything and was hoping that they learned something about the two arrivals they weren't expecting to find.

"Cosmos, Lateef, did you learn anything about them?" Nestor asked, though he had the feeling he knew what the answer would be, that they had learned nothing about the two hatchlings that were with Spyro and that they would be guessing both their names and how they had come to one of the realms that was connected to the Artisans homeworld, and he knew that Titan would be annoyed by that fact.

"I learned almost nothing from the eggshells," Cosmos admitted, which was unusual for him to say, as he was used to finding out things with his powers and the tools that he carried with him at all times, but this was one of those times where even he was stumped, "All I was able to determine was that a powerful magical charge was behind the two hatchlings appearing in this courtyard, at the same time that Spyro was supposed to hatch, but other than that I've got no leads on where the charge came from or who cast the spell... this is the first time I'm in the dark about such things."

"I, too, only learned one thing, and that is their names." Lateef added, showing his fellow Leaders that he managed to learn something useful, because without this information they would have had to resort to coming up with their own names for the two hatchlings, but this made things that much easier as Lateef faced Bruno and the hatchlings, "From what I was able to learn the second purple dragon's name is Spike, while the blue dragon's name is Ember, though in order to learn more I'll have to wait for them to go back to sleep, and even then I'm not sure I'll be able to learn anything else about the two of them."

"That's fine, we can work with this." Nestor replied, though after what he had learned so far he had to admit that finding out what the names of the hatchlings were was the best thing he could have asked for, even though it appeared that whatever had brought them here must have happened when they were hatched, "It appears that Spyro will have a brother and a sister to grow up with, which means that we'll need to find two more dragonflies for them, since I doubt young Sparx will be able to cover for all three of them."

"That won't be a problem," Bruno commented, causing the other Leaders to turn towards him for a moment, where they found that Spyro was staring at Spike and Ember, who were staring at him, before the three of them smiled and ran around the area they were in, though he let them do that since exercise was best for newly born hatchlings, "I know of a few dragonflies that should be able to bond with young Spike and Ember, the same way we determined that Sparx could bond with Spyro, and I can have them here either this afternoon or early tomorrow morning."

Nestor nodded his head in understanding, as he knew that Bruno knew which dragonflies might be the best fit for the two new hatchlings that they hadn't been expecting to find when Spyro hatched, so he determined that it would be best to leave this task up to his fellow Leader... though at the same time he was interested in seeing what the future held for the trio, as he was sure that their lives were going to be anything but ordinary.