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// Peace: Dream Weavers 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The first thing that Spyro, Spike, and Ember did the moment they returned to the Artisans homeworld, after seeing what Bruno and Sadiki wanted them to see in the swamp the Beast Makers called home, was take a much needed bath so they could get rid of the smell of the swamp. Marco, of course, had to take his hot air balloon to the area where he and the other Balloonists gathered when they weren't needed and would be making sure the smell was gone from his own clothing and the hot air balloon he used to get from homeworld to homeworld. Nestor was used to having to do this when he returned from the land of the Beast Makers, as his clothing was removed rather quickly when they reached the bath area, which was located in Town Square, and was treated with the remedy that would remove the stink, indicating that leaving his attire in that condition wasn't the best thing in the world. That also meant that Spyro, who was used to wearing his scarf whenever they visited one of the other homeworlds, had to take his scarf off and let it be washed as well, along with Spike handing over his satchel and Ember her bracers, since they were in the same condition as Nestor's attire and Spyro's scarf, though they were happy that such a thing was easily taken care of.

Despite the reason they were taking a bath in the first place, to get rid of the smell of the swamp, the trio played around in the water and splashed each other every now and then, causing Nestor to smile as he watched them for a few seconds, before returning to making sure their clothing no longer had the swamp smell on them.

Once the trio was done with their bath they claimed out of the water and used some of the nearby towels to clean themselves off, allowing them to watch as Nestor finished what he was doing and dried off his clothing and their items at the same time, before indicating that it would be some time before their stuff was dry. Fortunately Spike's writing materials were spared from what was going on, but since his satchel was being cleaned Nestor helped him carry his stuff out into the area around Town Square's main fountain, where he and his siblings could relax for some time before returning to their various activities. While that happened Alvar met up with them and revealed that he was delivering a platter of food for the trio to eat, since they were having a late lunch this time around, and Nestor joined them for a few minutes, as he was also hungry, and all of them enjoyed the meal that Alvar had prepared. The instant they were done with the food platter Nestor picked it up and headed to where the older dragon worked, so the platter could be returned and he could tell Alvar how good it was, leaving the trio to their own devices for a few minutes as they waited for their stuff to be dried off.

It wasn't long before their stuff was returned to them, now no longer baring the smell of the swamp, and both Spyro and Ember were happy to have their items back, as they put them back on rather quickly, while Spike smiled as he put on his satchel and returned his writing materials to it, so carrying all of it would be much easier.

"You know, visiting the Beast Makers was very interesting," Spyro commented, as he and his siblings, once they got their stuff back, started to walk towards the portal that would allow them to return to the main area of their homeworld, so they could rest and do whatever they wanted before their next lesson started.

"I could do without the smell and the number of baths we'll have to take in the future," Ember replied, because while it was nice to see how Bruno and his fellow Beast Makers lived, in the same manner as the other types of dragons they had encountered so far, the one thing she disliked was the fact that the smell would follow them and that they needed to take a bath after their visits.

"Yeah, I can see your point." Spyro said, where he sighed for a moment, as while the visit had been interesting he wasn't too keen on having to take a bath every time they visited Bruno's homeworld, though at the very least Bruno made sure to clean himself whenever he visited one of the other lands, before he considered something, "Hey Spike, what did you think about our trip to the Beast Makers homeworld?"

"Like you said, it's an interesting place," Spike answered, as he recalled everything he had seen during their visit and was tempted to bring out his notes, but for now he was going to rely on what he remembered, before having to resort to turning to the notes he had made, even though he was impressed that his writing materials hadn't been touched by the smell of the swamp, making him wonder if they were enchanted to negate that smell, "however, I was caught off guard by the fact that Sadiki was tending to a phoenix before our arrival, who must have returned to their island as we were just starting to land near Bruno. The reason I was caught off guard was because of the fact that I found a few mentions of them in several of the books that I researched, but none of them revealed whether or not the phoenixes were still around or where they were living, though now I see that the reason behind the lack of information is because they wanted to keep themselves hidden and safe from any enemies that might seek to do them harm, even if there aren't any enemies around at the moment."

"Well, there are always creatures out there that want to hurt the phoenixes for some reason," a voice said, where the trio stopped and found Argus near them, though what he had said told Spike that he knew more about the supposedly mythical race than he originally thought he did, but Argus shrugged for a moment as he joined them as they continued towards the exit portal for Town Square, "Don't worry about them, as Bruno and the other Beast Makers will ensure that the location of their island is well hidden and that no one will bother any of them, and if one of them does get hurt Sadiki and the other experts will tend to them in no time."

Spike was curious as to whether or not Bruno would be willing to share this information with him at some point, or if he had sworn to not share what he knew with someone else, but that gave him something to figure out in the future as he and his siblings returned to the main area of their homeworld. He knew that Spyro and Ember weren't as excited as he was, about the fact that they discovered that phoenixes existed, even though they didn't see one during their trip to the land of the Beast Makers, but at least they were happy to have learned something about Bruno, the dragons that he lead, and what they did for a living. He also knew that his siblings were more interested in returning to their lessons and mastering what Nestor wanted them to master, gliding and working with their dragonflies, and that they were waiting for the day they finally started the training that Titan had in mind for them, or at least Ember was excited for the day when they started learning how to fight. Spyro, on the other hand, would focus on trying to make his pranks work on whoever his latest target was, that much Spike knew from what he had seen in the last year, and he was interested in seeing what happened next, when his brother got around to trying to prank someone.

He was also interested in seeing what Argus and the other scholars had for him when he returned to the Dark Hollow library, especially since he knew that one of them knew about the phoenixes and that they might share the existence of some of the other mythical creatures with him, if they existed anyway, which made him look forward to what the future held for him and his siblings.





Spyro, Spike, and Ember spent the next two months trying to master the art of gliding, working with their dragonflies to run the maze even quicker than before, even though they had given up on Lindar telling them who was the fastest out of them, and tending to their personal interests from time to time. That, of course, lead to Spike continuing his research into the various topics that interested him, where some of them he was putting off until later, when he was older, while the rest he was working on at the moment, something that pleased the other scholars, as they were always more than happy to help him study whatever topic he was on. Spyro continued his attempts to prank some of the older dragons that lived in the Artisans homeworld, again with limited success, though what he discovered was that Toasty was a prime target for some of the lesser pranks that didn't leave a mess, meaning he could pull one off and not have to clean something up when his prank failed. The only one that wasn't pleased by this turn of events was Toasty, as he disliked all of Spyro's pranks and tried to flee whenever Spyro was in the mood to prank someone, hence why whenever he wanted to mess with the sheep a little he waited until Toasty was asleep, only to wake up baaing in annoyance all over again, once he discovered what Spyro had done to him. Ember, on the other hand, continued to work hard during their lessons and spent her free time assisting the other dragons of the Artisans homeworld, something that all of them appreciated, even though they knew she was waiting for the day they started learning how to fight.

When those two months were up the trio found themselves getting up early once again, where Nestor had told them had he had arranged for them to visit the final homeworld, the land of the Dream Weavers, and they were excited to see what sort of land the last type of dragons called home.

"I didn't think we would be seeing the land of the Dream Weavers so soon," Spyro commented, though he yawned as he walked, as Nestor had told them to get up early today and that meant that the trip had to be at least two hours long, just like their trip to the Beast Makers homeworld, but that also meant that Nestor was going to have some of Gavin's coffee for them to drink before they arrived at their destination, "especially since we only visited the land of the Beast Makers two months ago. I wonder why Nestor would schedule the trip so close to the last one."

"Maybe he wants to get it out of the way so we can start our training earlier," Ember replied, as her hope was that, once this visit was over, that she and her siblings would head to Titan's homeworld and start learning how to fight in their current forms, because when they matured into their adult forms they could learn to fight like Titan and the other Peace Keepers, something that she was incredibly eager for.

"Well, we won't know until he arrives." Spike said, because he knew that Nestor would tell them what his reasoning behind his decision was the moment he neared them and beckoned for them to join him in walking to the dock, so they could climb into Marco's hot air balloon again and start the journey towards the Dream Weaver homeworld, before a new thought came to mind, "Though I am interested in seeing what Lateef's land looks like and learning what he and the other Dream Weavers do for a living, just like we did with the other three Leaders and the other lands that we have visited so far, before we even consider learning how to fight."

"And Lateef is eager to show you his homeworld and what the Dream Weavers do for a living," Nestor said, where he walked out of the tunnel that lead to the area the portal to Town Square was located in, once more with a container that held five cups in it, and once he reached the trio they readied themselves so they could head down to the dock and see what the last homeworld had to offer them, "Normally we would do something that's similar to the homeworld you last visited, like how after we visited Cosmos' homeworld we returned there and had your very first lesson on magic, as in the types of magic and whether or not you have the spark necessary to wield that power, but today we're doing things slightly different. This is where I'd take you somewhere in the Beast Makers homeworld and have you learn how to tend to a small creature, like a sheep or a rabbit, but Bruno came by a few days ago and told me that we'll have to change the order of your visits, as it appears that he and the other members of his land will be busy tending to the more difficult creatures that they take care of, creatures that are beyond what you would be learning about. So, since he didn't want to waste our time, he suggested that we move to the next place you three would be visiting, which is Lateef's homeworld, who has clearly set aside time for us to visit him and see what the Dream Weavers do all day."

"So, how long will this trip take?" Spyro asked, because based on what he and his siblings had heard, from Nestor and Marco, the last trip had been two hours long, hence the reason they had gotten up early, and since they had gotten up early today they were curious as to how much time they would be spending inside the basket this time.

"Two hours, same as the visit to the Beast Makers homeworld." a voice said, where the trio turned their heads as they emerged from the tunnel Nestor had lead them into and discovered Marco standing in front of his hot air balloon, once more looking like it was ready to depart at any moment, before he noticed the looks of confusion on their faces, "The land of the Dream Weavers is some distance away from where Bruno's land is located, but instead of passing by the other two homeworlds, like we would if we were visiting Bruno, we need to shift our course slightly and take a different route than what we were doing before. Plus there is the fact that Lateef's domain is in the sky, instead of near the water like the rest of the lands that you have visited so far, so getting up there is another reason the time to travel from this homeworld to the place the Dream Weavers call home is two hours."

"The land of the Dream Weavers... is in the sky?" Ember inquired, though at the same time she followed her siblings into the basket, with Marco's help once more, she wondered if that information was correct, as all four of the homeworlds they had visited so far had been on islands, even if all of them had been different from the ones that came before it.

"You say that like it's the weirdest thing we've seen or learned," Spike said, as he had all his information on what they had learned from Titan, Cosmos, and Bruno in his journal and his opinion on the matter was entirely different, especially since the Magic Crafters seemed to be at the top of the list, before another thought came to mind, "even though we found out that phoenixes are real two months ago, when we were visiting Bruno and the Beast Makers, despite the fact that we didn't see one while we were there. A homeworld in the sky isn't that weird, especially when you think about all the magic that had to go into making the land stay up in the sky, without falling I might add, though I'm sure Lateef will be able to tell us about his land when we get there, and the reason behind why it's up in the sky."

Nestor said nothing to that, as Spike was willing to accept the fact that one of the homeworlds was in the sky, after seeing one that was built into several mountains, and Spyro didn't seem bothered by the information either, since he was sure that Lateef wouldn't let them fall off his land, before Ember sighed and decided that Spike was right. The moment the three of them were ready to go, and had their stuff out so they could ignore the majority of the flight, Marco ignited the fire and lifted his hot air balloon into the air, this time setting course for the land of the Dream Weavers, and while he took a sip of his coffee, while making sure the trio had their cups, Nestor opened his wings and flew up to them. He knew that flying to the other homeworlds could be boring at times, a reason why he had spaced out their visits as he had, but he was happy to see that all three of them were excited to see the land that they were heading to, even if their levels of excitement were different from what their siblings were feeling. He already knew why Ember was excited, because it meant that she and her brothers might be starting their combat training soon, while Spike was eager to learn about the final homeworld and the dragons that called it home, and Spyro seemed happy that they wouldn't be spending another day going over the same lessons that he was trying to teach them, but soon that would change as well and he was sure the trio would be happy when that day arrived.

Since the trio had some items to keep them busy during the journey, to take their minds off of the fact that there wasn't much around the hot air balloon, they didn't notice that the two hours went by rather quickly, and when they drew near their destination Marco shifted their attention to what was in front of them.

The homeworld of the Dream Weavers, as the trio quickly discovered, really did rest in the sky, as the first thing they noticed was the number of floating islands that were grouped near each other, no doubt connected to each other by some sort of magic, but that was just the beginning of what they saw. What they discovered was that Lateef and the others had built elaborate stone temples and castles, which were nothing like the buildings they had seen in the other lands they had visited, and the roofs of the buildings had different colored tiles, as the structure they assumed was a castle had bluish-green tiles and the smaller one, a temple they guessed, had orange tiles. There were also a number of crystallized structures scattered throughout the area, or at least the area they could see, and a few of them had to be the portals to the other islands that the Dream Weavers called home, making them wonder what the other structures had to be used for, something that Lateef would tell them if they asked. One confusing thing they noticed was that the water that happened to be up here, as there were a few small rivers, didn't flow down to the ground like they expected, rather they seemed to flow up into the air and swirled around an area that seemed to be a collection area, where the Dream Weavers no doubt gathered their water from. The sky itself was a plethora of colors, constantly changing as the clouds passed by, and there were a few sparkling areas that seemed to be some form of transportation, like the bridges from the Magic Crafters land and the logs from the Beast Makers homeworld, between the islands.

A few moments later Marco brought them down to an elogant stone bridge that fit in with the rest of the land, one that seemed to have green gemstones in the side of the structure, and standing near where they were going to land was a familiar dragon who smiled as they descended down to the bridge.

"Lateef, it's good to see you again." Nestor said, where he landed on the bridge and waited for the hot air balloon to come to a stop, which was when he helped Spyro, Spike, and Ember climb out of the basket so they could walk up to where the Leader of the Dream Weavers was standing.

"It is good to see you again as well, Nestor, as well as young Spyro, Spike, and Ember." Lateef replied, though as he said that he beckoned to the land behind him, something that he knew the trio was interested in, thanks to the looks on their faces, and he was eager to show them what his homeworld was like, especially after everything they had seen in the other homeworlds, "Allow me to welcome you to the land of the Dream Weavers, where we act as the peacekeepers of the night and fully believe that it's possible for dreams to become real, something that you'll see in the themes of the realms that are connected to this homeworld."

"This is a nice place you guys have." Spike commented, as that was the truth, because the land of the Dream Weavers seemed like someone had dreamed about this place at some point in the past and had made that dream real, though he could tell that his comment made Lateef happy, before another thought came to mind, "So, what do you guys do for a living? I only ask because the Artisans are artists, the Peace Keepers are soldiers, the Magic Crafters are wizards, and the Beast Makers tend to all the creatures of the Dragon Realms, so I'm curious as to what the Dream Weavers do with their time and what sort of profession you guys focus on."

"We're the peacekeepers of the night," Lateef stated, though at the same time he started moving towards the castle that he knew the group had been looking at before their arrival, because that was the first thing most of the visitors that came to this homeworld focused on, and it wasn't long before his guests were following him, "which means that we usually sleep during the day, when all of the other dragons are busy expressing themselves, training with their various weapons, practicing with their magic, or tending to the various beasts of the Dragon Realms, but when they go to sleep we wake up and begin our duties. We use our magic to shift through the dragons of every creature in all five homeworlds and the various realms that each of them are connected to, making sure that no nightmares spring up to cause havoc on anyone, be they dragon, sheep, Fools, or blue robed figures that like to run fast."

"So you guys guard our dreams? That's so cool!" Spyro exclaimed, because while he knew that Spike and Ember had been excited about something the other Leaders had told them, like how Cosmos showed off his magic and Titan had taken some time to show them how a young dragon fought their foes, he was interested in the fact that the Dream Weavers made sure no one had nightmares, before he thought about something, "Wait, what do you mean by 'Fools'?"

"Fools are magical beings that inhabit this land as well," Lateef answered, where he paused for a moment and pointed at the open space between the island they were on and the one that the temple rested on, which was when the trio spotted a short creature that walked on two legs, wore a green shirt, red pants, and a jester's hat, though what was really interesting was that the being in question seemed to be jumping on the air between the islands, "that is what we call a Clock Fool, as when someone flames them or charges into them they crash into the ground and a clock forms near them, as well as a small bell appearing where their hat is located, though each Fool is connected to something, like a pillar or a platform. From what we can tell one of the dragons that came before my generation dreamed of this being and the others that inhabit this land, where the Fools were brought to life before her eyes, though we also discovered that they cannot be harmed at all, merely stunned when they act up, but right now it seems that the Fools are playing with each other and are leaving our land alone."

As Lateef started to walk again he also explained that the Clock Fools weren't the only type of Fool that called this land home as well, as there were Fools that had carrot colored hair, Fools that liked to slap each other or some of the other Fools, and there were Fools that liked to carry around lamps, but of the four types of Fools only the Clock Fools and the Lamp Fools couldn't be harmed, though the Carrot Fools and the Slap Fools would reappear after some time if someone happened to hurt them. He then revealed that the realms that were connected to his land lead to Dark Passage, a place were tunnels, caverns, and caves were carved out of some floating mountains, Lofty Castle, which was a large castle that was built on some floating islands, even if what dragons saw was the top part of the area, Haunted Towers, which was another area that contained a large castle on some floating islands, and finally the realm of Revilo and Unika, two of the greatest Dream Weavers that Lateef had the pleasure of working with. That, in turn, caught the trio by surprised, as they weren't expecting to discover that one of the homeworlds had a realm that was shared between two dragons, as the Peace Keepers had a place for Trondo and the Magic Crafters had a temple for Altair, but they had to assume that both of the dragons had to be quite powerful in their own ways to justify them sharing a realm like they were.

Something the trio found to be interesting was that to get from one island to another they had to use some special platforms that had the same whirlwind that the towers in their homeworld had, something that Nestor let them use in their gliding lessons, and they instantly knew what they needed to do. It was a simple matter to climb up onto the platform and stand in the center, as not even a few seconds later the whirlwind picked them up and they glided over to the island that Lateef and flown to, showing that they had learned what Nestor wanted them to learn and that they were ready for whatever came next. From there all they had to do was jump over a small gap or two and then climb up some steps, which brought them to the portal that would take them to where the greatest Dream Weavers lived, something that Spyro, Spike, and Ember were excited for, especially after meeting the other great dragons of the other homeworlds. Nestor was happy to see that all three of them were eager for what was going to happen next, especially after meeting the other great dragons over the last couple of years, and he was in the same boat, as it had been some time since he had last seen Revilo or Unika, so he expected this to be quite interesting for all of them. When they reached the top of the steps, however, he noticed something that was going to annoy one or two of the young dragons, as a pair of older dragons just happened to be sleeping in front of the portal, one of them blocking the way and the other sitting off to the side.

Nestor recognized them instantly, just like he was sure Lateef did, as the one in front of the portal, with a body that was similar to Magnus' body in terms of size and had orange scales while having a light blue chest, was Unika, and he knew that due to the harp that was resting in front of his hands. The other dragon, on the other hand, was using his own tail like a rocking chair, which must have been what caused him to fall asleep in the first place, though he was covered in green yarn, like he was knitting himself a full body sweater or something, and a ball of yarn rested above his head, but he knew that this was Revilo.

"I told them they would be up just a little bit longer than normal, to meet you guys, and they go and fall asleep before you had the chance to arrive," Lateef said, revealing that they must have been hard at work last night, making sure no one had any nightmares, before he sighed and shook his head as he turned around and headed back down the steps, "Oh well, I'm sure you'll have another chance to meet them in the future, when they aren't sleeping anyway."

"Why aren't you asleep like everyone else?" Ember asked, because if all of the Dream Weavers slept during the day and worked during the night, the reverse of what everyone else did, she was curious as to why Lateef didn't seem like he was anywhere near falling asleep, though she was also slightly annoyed at the two dragons that were sleeping, as she was interested in meeting them and this wasn't the best first impression they could have made.

"Well, as the Leader of the Dream Weavers I need to be up so I can communicate with the other Leaders and see if we need to work on anything," Lateef replied, though he couldn't fault Ember for asking the question, as he was sure that Spike would have asked something similar before they left for their own homeworld, and this meant he could let them know why he was still up, even though the rest of the Dream Weavers were asleep, "think of it this way, I sleep like a normal dragon and spend an hour with the others to make sure they know what they're supposed to be doing during the night, before I drift off to sleep as well. I also make sure the Fools aren't doing anything they aren't supposed to be doing and tend to some of the creatures that call this land home, making sure they have whatever they need, in addition to the rest of my duties as the Leader of this homeworld."

Spike, despite not getting to meet the greatest of the Dream Weavers dragons, was happy to see that Lateef was more than willing to share information with them and explain why something was the way it was, and both Spyro and Ember were also excited by what they were discovering, but even then he knew that they were both looking forward to seeing what the future held for them, and he found himself agreeing with them as Lateef continued the tour.