After watching Titan and Trondo show off a few moves that the three of them would be learning when they were older, so they could fight like all the other dragons did when they were younger, Spyro, Spike, and Ember wondered if they would be continuing their exploration of the Peace Keepers homeworld and realms. Part of the reason was because Trondo's realm was interesting and they were curious what the others looked like, especially since there was an area called the Ice Cavern, where the Peace Keepers got their water and some of the items that they traded with the other types of dragons. The instant the practice session was over Trondo offered Titan one of his spare towels and they both wiped themselves down, showing the trio that staying in the stance that a young dragon had, as in running on all fours like that, caused the pair to sweat a little, before Trondo moved again. What he was doing was walking towards the bridges that would take them right up to where the exit whirlwind was, indicating that they were heading back to the main area of the land he called home, and while he was doing that Titan picked up both his axe and Trondo's dagger, which he threw through the air. Ember and her brothers were amazed as the warrior in front of them turned his body and avoided the weapon, before snatching it out of the air and slipped it into one of the pouches that his straps had, so he knew where it would be and could draw it if he actually needed it.
Titan, upon seeing that his friend's weapon was delivered to it's owner, opened his wings and flew over to where the trio and Nestor were standing, since they had paused when he hurled Trondo's dagger through the air, though the instant he landed he closed his wings and walked with the group as they started moving again.
"You know you could have just flown up here and handed him the dagger." Nestor commented, though his attention was on Titan at the moment, as there were times where he was sure the Leader of the Peace Keepers liked to freak him out with some of the stunts he pulled, but so far all he was succeeding in doing was making Ember interested in what else he and the others could show her, not that he was surprised at this point.
"We're Peace Keepers, remember? We're supposed to live dangerously and risk our lives to make sure all of our kind are kept safe from whatever dangers are lurking in the shadows." Titan stated, where his tone indicated that he and Trondo had done this sort of thing in the past and had perfected the motions so neither of them got hurt, something that they had to learn when they first started their training, though he also knew that it was a lesson that he would have to teach the three young dragons when it was time for them to start their own training, "Not that there are any threats for us to worry about at the moment, but it never hurts to be ready in case Gnasty Gnorc decides to try something, or sends whatever forces he has to attack us."
"Of which there are none at the moment." Trondo added, as he knew that there were a few Peace Keepers dragons that kept their eyes on the Junk Yard, the home of the being that Titan had mentioned, and none of the scouts had seen any military movement from their defeated foe, but it never hurt to keep an eye on things.
"True, but it never hurts to make sure he's contained in the Junk Yard." Titan replied, though once he said that he knew that it was time for them to stop talking about Gnasty Gnorc, since there was no reason for them to worry Spyro, Spike, and Ember about a foe they knew nothing about, even if Spike might have found a reference or two about him in the Dark Hollow library.
Spyro tilted his head for a moment, as this was the first time he was learning about this sort of thing, before turning to look at Spike, who shrugged and indicated that it wasn't all that important at the moment, showing that he knew a little about the area and would likely be researching it in the near future, just like everything else he had discovered today. At the same time he could tell that Ember wasn't too interested in the Junk Yard, no doubt because she was still focused on what Titan and Trondo had shown them earlier, causing Spyro so mentally sigh as they followed the three older dragons through the desert and headed back to where they had left Marco. As the group walked back to the dock the trio found that Magnus and Gunnar, who they had seen earlier, before traveling to Trondo's training grounds, had gone somewhere else and there was no one in the main area they were walking through, which meant that they wouldn't be stopped by one of the other Peace Keepers dragons. What interested the trio was the fact that, when they reached the dock, they found that Marco was standing in front of his hot air balloon, as they assumed he would have left the area the moment Titan lead them into the chamber that was connected to the dock, and, at the same time, they noticed that there were a few boxes resting nearby and appeared to be tied to the bottom of the balloon.
The trio glanced at each other for a moment, as they were surprised that the Peace Keepers dragons actually had some items to trade with the Artisans dragons, or were sending them something they had asked for in the past, and found that Nestor wasn't all that surprised to see the boxes, meaning that he must have made the arrangement at some point before they came here, so they decided not to worry about it and started to climb back into the basket.
"I know the visit was short, but Nestor didn't want to overwhelm you during your first visit to our homeworld," Titan said, where he and Trondo stood near the basket and watched as Marco and Nestor assisted the trio in climbing into the area they would be sitting in for the next hour, something that he knew the three young dragons wouldn't need any assistance with when they were older.
"Well, you know how excited they can get when they discover something new." Nestor replied, as he had seen how excited the trio had been when he showed them how to glide for the first time, which had been replicated the first time he showed them the maze and when they visited Dragon Shores, so he knew that it was for the best, otherwise one of them would try to start learning how to fight before they were ready.
"We had fun, seeing what the Peace Keepers homeworld looked like," Ember added, because she knew that Titan would appreciate hearing something from her and her siblings, while at the same time she considered what they had seen since arriving some time ago, though it wasn't hard to focus on something specific, "and I enjoyed seeing you and Trondo show us a sample of what we'll be learning in the future."
"It was nice learning about someplace else for a change." Spike said, though as he said that he thought about the tar pits they had seen during their visit, along with the fact that the Peace Keepers didn't actually live in the central area of their homeworld, rather they lived in the various realms that their portals lead to, but since it appeared that they were fine with this arrangement he decided it wasn't worth asking the question, especially since he could research it when they got back to their own homeworld.
"And it was neat seeing other dragons as well, even if we only got to meet one of them." Spyro stated, as he knew that the Peace Keepers had been waiting for the day they would come and visit, based on how Trondo acted when they arrived at his training grounds, which made him curious as to how the other types of dragons would react when he and his siblings came by for a visit in the future.
"It was nice meeting the three of you as well." Trondo replied, as he was happy to hear the the trio enjoyed their brief visit to both the Peace Keepers homeworld and his own personal training grounds, before he smiled as he thought about what the future held for them, especially since he could tell how excited one of the young dragons was right now, "I'm looking forward to seeing you guys in the future, when you're older, so we can start your combat training and teach you how to defend yourselves and defeat your opponents."
Nestor knew that it was only a matter of time until they came back to this homeworld and the trio started learning how to fight, it was only a matter of time, but instead of saying anything Marco turned on the fire and the hot air balloon lifted into the air, where he bid farewell to both Titan and Trondo before taking to the air as well. He suspected that the trio would have questions for him, where Spyro and Ember would likely ask him about something they had seen while Spike might consult the library of Dark Hollow for answers, but what surprised him was the fact that all three of them were starting to doze off. He guessed that the flight from one homeworld to the next was only exciting the first time around, since it was so different from anything they had seen so far, and suspected that the trio was going to rest up before they got back to the island they called home, though due to them leaving early he knew that there would be some time before lunch, so they wouldn't be hungry when they returned. Out of the three of them he suspected that Ember might try and replicate what she had seen earlier, when the two Peace Keepers dragons had shown off a few moves to her and her siblings, but for right now his only task was to make sure that Marco and the balloon returned to the Artisans homeworld with the trio inside the basket and the boxes that were hanging below it, since they contained a few items he had asked Titan for, items that had nothing to do with training.
The items inside the boxes were for the other Artisans dragons, specific items that some of them worked with and just so happened to be running low on before this visit, so he was able to get what his fellow Artisans needed and let the trio see another homeworld at the same time, before he shook his head and focused on his flying, even though he was sure nothing was going to happen during this flight.
It took them around an hour to reach the Artisans homeworld, the same amount of time it took them to reach Titan's island earlier that morning, and the sound of Nestor landing on the dock, along with the sound of the boxes touching down a few seconds later, was more than enough to cause Spyro, Spike, and Ember to wake back up. As soon as the basket moved to the side, so it wasn't on top of the boxes, Nestor made sure to help the trio out of the basket and watched as they moved out of the way, by heading up to the chamber that was in front of them, which was perfect timing as Nils, Thor, and a few other Artisans dragons walked down the dock and approached him. This gave the trio a chance to see what was inside the boxes, which just so happened to be chunks of stone, slabs of clay, and a few other items that they used in their professions, though there were a few crystals inside one of the boxes, not like the gemstones they had seen in the past, which Nestor covered up for now, so they could be transported to their destination without delay. Delbin, who was among the dragons at the dock, offered to help Nestor and picked up the box, which was half the size of the others, before heading towards the chamber the trio was standing in, where he nodded to them as he walked by and headed out into the open area, though what interested the trio was that he took to the air a few seconds later and headed over the large wooden gate, meaning it was a delivery to a realm they hadn't been to before.
Nestor could see that the trio was interested in what was going on, and that they were slightly confused by something they had seen, so as Marco took off, after all the boxes were untied from his basket, he let the other Artisans dragons take what they had asked for as he walked over to where the trio was standing.
"What's with all the crystal?" Spike asked, as he was curious about the contents of the box of crystal that Delbin had taken off with, because that was the first time he and his siblings had seen that sort of thing in this homeworld and were wondering why Titan would have given Nestor that sort of thing.
"Cosmos is interested in acquiring a few more crystal balls and polished stones," Nestor replied, causing the trio to turn and look at him for a second, though as he continued walking towards the area Stone Hill's portal was in he could hear the trio following after him, as they were interested in learning what else he had to tell them, "so he asked Titan if the Peace Keepers had acquired any crystals that met the size requirements he had, after being molded anyway, and learned that they did have a few crystals they could trade with the Magic Crafters. Of course the crystals needed to be brought to us first, so we could mold the various crystals into what Cosmos asked for, which is why Delbin is transporting them to the dragons that can work with them and transform them into what my friend asked for, though when they're complete I'll be taking them to the Magic Crafters homeworld and hand them over to Cosmos."
"So does that mean we'll be doing with you when you make the delivery?" Spyro inquired, because it appeared that he and his siblings were going to end up visiting the other homeworlds at some point in the future and he was curious as to whether or not they would be with Nestor when he made that trip.
"No, these items will be done in a few days, and I don't want to overwhelm you by visiting so many new locations in such a short period of time." Nestor answered, though at the same time he smiled as they reached their destination, as that was when he turned and looked at the trio for a few seconds, who stopped and looked at him in return, causing him to gesture to the area that was in front of the dragon head that contained the portal to Nevin's castle, "Why don't the three of you go play and relax for an hour or two? I'll come get you when it's time to eat and then, once you've had a chance to eat, I'll tell you what sort of lesson we'll be starting next."
Nestor knew that lessons were what seemed to interest the trio more than anything, at least in regards to Spyro and Ember since Spike's main interest was the library, but the three young dragons understood what he wanted them to do and headed off to the area that he had specified, allowing him to focus on moving everything Marco had brought with them, before doing anything else.
"So, what should we do while we wait?" Spike asked, as he knew that there were a few games he and his siblings could play while they waited for Nestor to finish what he was doing with the other older dragons, or they could sit down and just relax by reading a book, since he had some in mind for Spyro and Ember, but he was curious as to what his brother and sister wanted to do with their free time.
"Do you think we can try the moves that Titan and Trondo were showing off?" Ember replied in kind, her tone showing her brothers that she was still excited about the practice match the two dragons had been in, where they fought like they were young dragons again, and she was eager to see if she and her siblings could charge and dodge like they could, as it would be a great way to show Nestor and the others that the three of them were ready for their combat lessons, "Spyro, do you think you can try to do what they were doing?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure we can pull that off just yet," Spyro answered, as they were only a little over a year old and had just gotten used to walking, running, and jumping, movements that had helped them so far, but everything they had seen in the Peace Keepers world seemed like things that they weren't ready for, though he knew that Ember would keep asking him about this and sighed, "but, since you seem so interested in trying, I guess we can take a few moments to see if we can pull off what they were showing us. Spike, you interested in joining us?"
"Not really, since Nestor told Titan that we would be ready for this when we're older." Spike stated, but since he could tell that his siblings were going to do this anyway, regardless of whether or not he actually tried to assist them, he walked away from where they standing and sat on the ground, though as he removed his satchel he heard some sheep munching on some grass and realized that a few sheep were scattered around the dragon head they were near, including a very odd sheep that was standing by itself.
Ember said nothing as she and Spyro moved into the more open part of the area they were in, away from Spike and the sheep that were there, before they stared at each other as their dragonflies buzzed near their heads, as if they were trying to get them to stop what they were about to do, only to realize that the pair weren't going to change their minds and prepared for whatever was going to happen. As Sparx and Cinder prepared themselves Ember lowered her head a little, indicating that she wanted to try the charging attack she had seen, to which Spyro nodded for a second as he readied himself, because if his sister wanted to attack first then he knew that his only option was to dodge, something he barely knew about and would have to rely on what they had seen earlier to avoid getting hurt. A few seconds later Ember rushed forward and charged at her brother, who stood his ground as Spike observed what was going on, but as she drew near him Spyro decided it was time to move and attempted to roll out of the way, by rolling to his left so he could get out of the way. Of course, since he had no idea how he was supposed to correctly use this technique, Spyro really didn't do much and had moved just a tiny bit from the point he had been standing on, and Ember, seeing that her brother's attempt at dodging didn't work, shifted herself so she could avoid hitting him.
Spike watched as the edge of Ember's right horn made contact with the right side of Spyro's body, though where he expected his brother to get hurt in the process, even if the two only connected for a second or two, something unexpected happened, and that was the fact that Sprax got knocked out of the air... and, at the same time, his yellow coloration changed to blue for a moment, which confused the trio the instant they noticed what had happened.
"SPARX?!" Spyro exclaimed, as this was the first time he and his siblings had seen something like this happen to one of their dragonfly friends, especially since none of them had done anything like this in the past, before he rushed over to where his friend was resting, who was shaking his head as he regained himself, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Are you guys okay?" a voice asked, where the trio glanced at the opening of the area and found Nestor standing near them, though Spike noticed that he seemed a little concerned, meaning that he knew the importance of the dragonflies, before he noticed what was in front of him and seemed to calm down a little, "Okay, what happened?"
"Please don't be mad, but Ember was eager to see if she could replicate what we saw earlier." Spike spoke up, as he knew that if Spyro or Ember answered they might try to wave this off as nothing happened and that Spyro had overreacted due to something natural happening to Sparx, but the look on Nestor's face indicated that he knew what was going on and he felt that it was okay to tell him the truth, "The edge of her right horn clipped Spyro for a moment, but instead of him taking the hit, since he was the one that got hurt, Sparx was suddenly knocked out of the air and hit the ground, which is why Spyro was so worried the instant it happened."
"I should have known one of you would have tried something like this, especially after our brief visit to the Peace Keepers homeworld," Nestor said, because he had known that Ember was excited by the fact that they had seen a small sample of what they would be learning in the future, when they were older, and now the trio could see why he had told them and Titan why he wanted to wait a few years, before he sighed as he decided that today's lesson would be different from what he was thinking about a few minutes ago, "Okay, I had something else planned for today, but, since all three of you are concerned for Sparx's well-being, I think we'll change topics and focus on your dragonflies once more, and this time teach you why they're so important for a young dragon to have near them until they mature."
He could see that, despite the fact that Sparx was hurt, Spike was interested in hearing what he had to say, based on the items that he pulled out of his satchel, and that both Spyro and Ember were sitting near him, as they were curious as to what he had to tell them, before he held his hand out and Sparx flew up until he was above his palm.
"The bond between a dragonfly and a young dragon is incredibly important, as you learned from your first visit to the maze and the challenge I asked you to complete." Nestor stated, reminding the trio about the first day he brought them to the island that the maze was located on, where Lindar was keeping track of their times, without telling them so they would continue to improve their times and their bodies, and he could see that Spyro, Spike, and Ember remembered the day that he was talking about, "Forming that bond is essential for all young dragons, because your dragonflies will protect you from harm until you mature into adults and you just got a demonstration of that fact, as the bond allowed Sparx to take the hit that Spyro would have taken from Ember's attempt to replicate what you saw earlier this morning. Now, all dragonflies can take three hits before they're knocked out, which will expose all three of you to real damage if any of your partners are knocked out, so if Cinder was hit three times, and was knocked out, Ember would be susceptible to damage, or if Talon was hit three times Spike's defenses would be wide open. I know one of you might be wondering how Sparx, Talon, or Cinder are supposed to recover from this, so they can return to their normal coloration and health, and the answer is quite simple, all you have to do is find a 'fodder' creature and either flame them or charge them."
"What do you mean by 'fodder'?" Spike asked, as this was the first time he had heard the term was confused as to why they would ever address a creature like that, but even then he knew that there had to be a reason behind the term and suspected that Nestor and the other Leaders knew what the meaning was.
"Titan likes to refer to small animals as fodder from time to time, like the sheep of our homeworld or the rabbits that you might see in his homeworld," Nestor replied, though his tone suggested that it wasn't a term that he liked to use all that much, telling the trio that they might as well call the animals by what they were and not the term that Titan used, before he glanced at the white sheep that was standing near them, "Here, let me show you what I mean."
Spyro, Spike, and Ember watched as Nestor turned towards the sheep that was near him and opened his mouth, where he loosed a short burst of fire that covered the sheep for a few seconds, though when he stopped they found that the sheep's wool was gone and that it collapsed before their eyes, but before any of them said anything a yellow butterfly appeared above it, something that caught Sparx's eye as he burst into the air and chased it for a few seconds, before biting into it and caused it to disappear, which caused his coloration to return to normal.
"When a dragonfly is hurt, like Sparx was, doing something like this will release a butterfly for them to eat," Nestor said, though he raised his hand for a moment and the trio watched as Sparx landed on one of his fingers, showing the three young dragons that the dragonfly had recovered his health from what had just happened, while at the same time he could tell that Talon and Cinder were interested in what they had seen, "at the same time it leaves behind the meat, which I'll take to Alvar once we're done here, since he told me that he wanted to add some sheep meat to today's lunch, so this works to his advantage."
"So, we can take three hits before being knocked out?" Spyro inquired, though at the same time he was happy to see that Sparx was alright and that the damage was easy to fix, even though he now understood why Nestor had told Titan they would start their training in a few years.
"Your dragonflies can take three, leaving you with one hit before something knocks you out," Nestor replied, where he could see Spike making note of what they were learning, which was good since he seemed to be the smartest one and hoped that his siblings would ask him about anything they forgot, before he turned his attention back to the lesson that they were having, "The bond between a dragonfly and a young dragon is something that you can see all the time, by just observing the pair in question and seeing how they interact with each other, but it's also magical in nature, hence the reason why Sparx, who I'm guessing wasn't anywhere near Ember's horn, took the blow and went flying. The magic of the bond allows the dragonflies to take any damage that would befall you, leaving you three safe despite them losing a bit of their health in the process, and eating the butterflies allows them to recover any health that they lost, so they can continue to be at your side and help you get through whatever you're trying to get through. In addition to keeping the three of you safe from harm, there is another ability that dragonflies possess, and that's the power to sense where gems are located and point you in the direction they're in, which comes in handy if one of you were given the task to, say, find ten gems and bring them back to a specific point."
"I had no idea Cinder and the others could do all that." Ember commented, and that was the truth, as she and her siblings had never learned what Nestor had just told them, especially Spike for that matter, who was the scholar and had read a fair number of books, as he was surprised by all of this and was making notes for the future.
"Well, I was going to tell you about all of this a few weeks from now, but circumstances forced my hand." Nestor said, though his tone revealed that he wasn't annoyed or upset with the trio, as he expected something like this after visiting Titan's homeworld and seeing a demonstration of what they would be doing in the future, before he turned a little and picked up the sheep he had lightly roasted, "Are there any other questions before we head to Town Square?"
"I do, but it's not about our dragonflies." Spike spoke up, as there was something that had been bothering him since he first spotted it and he felt that now was the best time to ask the question, to which he glanced towards the sheep for a moment and focused on the one he had spotted earlier, "What's so special about that sheep?"
The sheep in question didn't have white wool like the others near it did, rather it had grey wool, it had red colored eyes while it sclera was yellow, and the bell that was around it's neck seemed to be made out of iron, instead of the bronze that went into the bells the other sheep were wearing, and Spike was sure that it had glared at him and his siblings for a few seconds before going back to eating grass.
"Oh, that's Toasty. Argus and the others insisted that we keep him around because he's the only grey sheep that they have seen in a long time," Nestor replied, informing the trio that the sheep in question, Toasty, was a rare specimen and the scholars were either studying him or they were making sure none of the predators from the homeworld he came from could eat him, before he shrugged for a moment, "oh, and if you see him frowning, that's common. We're not sure what he's upset with, since he's got a place to rest, all the food and company he could ask for, and a large area to run around in, but since sheep can't talk we can't figure out what he is unhappy about... maybe the three of you can spend some time with him in the future and see if you can't figure out what he's annoyed about."
Spike wasn't sure if he or his siblings would be able to figure out why Toasty was so unhappy, even though he had the feeling that it might be the name he was given, but for now he put his book and quill back in his satchel before following Nestor and his siblings back to Town Square, knowing that they would learn more about the Dragon Realms in the future and that all three of them were excited to see what the other Leaders had for them to discover.