//------------------------------//
// Expedition: New Discoveries 
// Story: Spyro: The Dragon Trio of Avalar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The first thing Spyro, Spike, and Ember did, after the airship departed from the land of the Machinists, was head out and check out the rest of the vessel that would be taking them to the continent they had seen on the globe, mostly so they could become familiar with everything the Professor, the Machinists, and the Breezebuilders put into the ship, since it would take two weeks to reach their destination. There was the bridge of the ship, or the command center to be more exact, which was where Fury took up his post as he made sure all of the components and systems of the airship were working, while keeping them on track, as the continent was their destination and he made sure they were pointed at the landmass in question, so they knew he would correct their course if they suddenly shifted off course. Another thing they discovered were the rooms that would serve as their quarters for the duration of their flight, which was good since all three of them didn't like the idea of sleeping on the deck of the ship while it was flying, and there were other rooms that definitely belonged to Sol, Elora, Hunter, Bianca, Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9, not to mention the rest of their group and even the crew members, which meant a lot of thought had been put into making this ship a reality. Spike did nod his head a few times as they walked through the corridors of the airship, finding that everything seemed to be in order as he made note of what he and his siblings were seeing, as this was the first time they had been inside a working airship, before they reached their chambers and found a bed, a desk, and some other basic necessities that they didn't need, though Spike did leave Akilesh in his room, since he didn't want to walk around with it all the time.

Once they figured out where their rooms were located, and had some time to look around, the siblings returned to the deck and made their way to the command center, where Nestor and the other Leaders were waiting, along with the rest of their group, which was fine since the structure in question was large enough for all of them and then some, which meant they could look out over the area they were flying over and take in the new sights, even if it was going to be water for a portion of their journey.

"The Professor did a good job helping the Machinists and Breezebuilders in putting this ship together," Elora said, as she and the others had taken the time to see what the siblings had seen, so they knew where their rooms were located as well, but they had left after discovering that piece of information and left the three of them to look at their quarters for a few minutes, though she was happy to be taking part of a new adventure, "I can't wait to see what sort of lands we might find as we travel to the continent the globe showed us."

"You know, I have to ask this: what are the chances we'll find the land that Ripto came from?" Hunter asked, though this was more due to the fact that he was partly responsible for bringing the villain to Avalar, even though they were able to banish him back to his home land due to the siblings knocking him down so they could send him back into the Super Portal the Professor had been working on, and he was a little curious if they might find the land Ripto had come from, the same one he wasn't interested in returning to, based on what he remembered.

"I mean, its possible that such a thing might happen," Spike admitted, as he recalled what was on the map and knew that there were a number of islands near the area that Warfang was resting in, though those were likely the same as what their homeworlds were like and were likely connected to the continent in some manner, but he also knew that there were a number of other landmasses scattered around the sea and knew that one of them had to be Ripto's home, though he had no idea which hemisphere his home rested in, "but there's no real way to know, not until we pass by an island with his people resting on it, though after we beat him he would likely spot us and ignore us entirely."

"Not to mention the fact that if we were to be attacked we can defend ourselves," Elora added, referring to the fact that they had three powerful magic users, a number of warriors, and everyone else that was traveling with them, not to mention the fact that she had her armor she could use as well, though she was wearing her normal attire and could easily switch it out for the bodysuit if she needed to, "not that I'm expecting such a thing to happen... would be a shame if this ship were to be damaged in such a way, after all the work that went into it."

"Still, we'll be discovering things that no one has seen for a long time, or at all," Bianca said, as while she was sure that the islands and landmasses that were between the Dragon Realms and the mystery continent had been discovered by Malefor and the scholars of his generation, since they were on the globe that rested in the Arcanaeum, there was a slim chance that they only discovered them and didn't explore them like Spike and his siblings would, so they might uncover something entirely new, which was why she was so excited about this adventure, "there's no telling what we'll find during our flight to the continent Malefor supposedly went to."

The siblings nodded their heads for a moment, as there was no telling what they might find during this adventure and who they might encounter, even though Ember was of the opinion that they wouldn't be seeing Malefor at all, not unless he was an immortal dragon or something, though their gesture showed the rest of the group that they were interested in what they might discover and were looking forward to seeing what they might pass by during their flight.

"I know the Professor will ask this once we arrive, but I'm interested in whatever technology the continent has, if it has any that its residents use," Agent 9 added, once more catching the others off guard for a moment, as it was still odd to see a much calmer version of him, instead of the rather insane one that liked to shoot Rhynocs, but from what the siblings could tell the insanity had been due to the Sorceress' forces and taking them down had allowed him to calm down, even though they knew that once a fight began he'd likely form a bridge between his calm side and his insane side, which was, according to Elora, what he used to be in the past, "Maybe we could bring something back for the Machinists and the Breezebuilders that worked together to make this ship, with the Professor lending them some help... or we could bring them the gift of technology, if they have nothing."

"We'll have to wait and see," Ember stated, even though she was of the opinion that such a thing might not happen when they reached the continent and figured out what they had access to, though her focus was on something else as she thought back to the couple of scrolls she had looked at, back when they were in the Arcanaeum, "I'm interested in seeing how they fight, since there's no telling if they use the same techniques that the Peace Keepers use or if they changed up their style over the years."

That got a chuckle out of the others, mostly because they knew Ember was a warrior and she liked learning all of the different combat styles that the Peace Keepers had access to, despite the fact that she was restricted in what she could actually use at the moment, for another two years anyway, though she was just fine with them doing that as she stared out at the sky that was around the airship.

"So, how's the last year treated you guys?" Spyro asked, though this time he was looking over at Sheila and the others from Avilion, mostly because he and his siblings knew Bianca had spent most of her time training under Spike's wing and assisted Nora in moving the airship to the land the Machinists called home, but they had no idea what the rest of their friends had been up to and he was hoping that this would give them the time to talk, since they had two weeks before they reached their destination, "I would have thought that you guys would have been too busy to do something like this... not that I'm complaining, as it was nice spending time with all of you when we were taking down the Sorceress' forces and saving the realms from her rule."

"Honestly, I didn't think we would be able to set aside some time for this trip when Bianca first told us that everyone was working on it," Sheila admitted, not that the siblings were surprised by the fact that they were the only ones that didn't know about the airship until today, since it appeared that the Professor and the others swore everyone to keep it a secret until they were ready to deliver it to the Dragon Realms, "but, despite everything, we managed to clean up the majority of everything the Sorceress had built, even though it will take time for us to heal all of the wounds she has inflicted upon our realms, and both Prince Azrael and Princess Ami insisted that we take some time off and join you in this quest, as they ensured us that they would hold the fort until we got back. I also thought that it would take some time to convince these three to join us, since I figured Sgt. Byrd would be busy training our defense forces, Bentley would have been busy keeping his brother out of danger or trouble, and Agent 9 could have been busy practicing his skills, but all I had to do was mention that you would be uncovering the greatest secret known to dragons and they jumped at the chance to help out, even if it means being away from home for two to four weeks."

"Still, its nice that you guys came along, regardless of what we find or discover," Spike said, as it was nice to have all of their friends present, or at least the vast majority of them, and he was sure the residents of Avilion would be just fine since they had Prince Azrael and Princess Ami watching over all of them, and that included Sol, as he knew that the Phoenix had been sad when he was left out during their last adventure and was likely going to try and make up for it this time around, even though they had no idea what was waiting for them.

"Oh this is so exciting! I can't want to see what we'll find!" Sol commented, speaking for the first time since they left the Machinists homeworld, showing the group that his excitement must have rendered him speechless for a time and he was only now speaking his mind, proving Spike's thoughts to be correct, though no one could blame him for being excited, as this was going to be an adventure that wasn't like the other three the siblings had been on, as there was no villain for them to take down, not yet anyway, there was nothing for them to collect, and there were no gems for them to pick up, so all they could do was wait and see what the future held for them.

With the conversation done the group split up and found something to fill the days that they were going to spend on the airship, as all of them needed something to do that wasn't just sitting in one spot for hours on end or sleeping until Fury informed them that they reached their destination, though it was pretty clear what some of them were going to do as soon as they split up. Spike moved over to an area of the deck, which was behind the command center, and used that area as a makeshift training area so he could continue the lessons he had been giving Bianca, with Cosmos joining them while others watched them work from afar, but he did make sure they were careful whenever they practiced, as some of the more powerful spells could ruin parts of the ship and the wind spells needed to be kept at a minimum so they didn't affect the propellers that were keeping them in the air. It wasn't what Bianca was used to, given that the areas she used for her practice sessions happened to be flat ground and didn't move like the airship did, but she gave it her best and continued to take in everything that Spike was willing to teach her, even if some of the spells seemed rather difficult, despite the fact that such a thing was due to how far behind she was in her lessons, something which impressed all three of the other magic users that were around her, since Nora was sticking around to help them make a portal back to the Dragon Realms, if they were allowed to do so anyway. While they did that Ember, Titan, and the rest of the fighters gathered in another part of the upper deck and continued their own training, though that was when Titan, who had been preparing for this trip for a long time, gave them wooden versions of the weapons they were currently training with, as he didn't want to damage part of the ship either, something that his students acknowledged and started using as he instructed them on how to fight with his personal weapon, the battleaxe.

Sol, for the most part, switched between the two groups, mostly because he liked to see magic in action and knew just how skilled Spike was, so it was like a show for him and the magic users weren't bothered by his presence, giving him the chance to watch as they manipulated the elements on a lesser level than what they were used to, to ensure that the ship was just fine and that nothing would be ruined if a spell got out of hand. Of course whenever he wasn't watching them do that he was training with Ember and the others, mostly in the sense of figuring out how Ember was able to fight while she ran on all fours and did his best to mimic what she was doing, even though Titan did separate him from the group a few times so he could give him some pointers on what the correct method should be, since he knew mimicking Ember wasn't the best idea in the world, not when she was so focused on her own training. Sheila and the others from Avilion either remained inside the command center, likely going over things that they needed to address when they got back home or just catching up with each other, or joined the others outside, mostly in the sense of watching Spike's teachings or seeing what Ember and the others were up to, even though Bentley did try the Peace Keeper training out, mostly to gain greater control of his powerful swings, despite the fact that everyone felt he really didn't need that, but that didn't stop them from letting him join in the lessons. Spyro, on the other claw, divided his time between watching the others, meditating so he could have a greater command over his own powers, walking around the deck of the airship so he could see what was all around them, or just sitting near Spike, as in behind the command center, so he could read one of the action stories his brother had found, since those were the types of stories he liked the most.

Since Nestor and the others came prepared the group discovered that there was one other dragon aboard that hadn't revealed himself when they boarded the ship and had been waiting for lunchtime to come around, and that was Alvar, the head chef dragon from Town Square, though this gave him a chance to cook for all sorts of creatures as he made dishes that resembled what the siblings were used to, in addition to ones that he recently came up with. It was like a cherry on top for them, as Alvar's food was possibly the best in the entirety of the Dragon Realms, and that wasn't to say the rest of the chefs couldn't compete with him, its just that the siblings felt his food was far better than what everyone else made and their friends, even though experiencing his cooking for the first time, had to agree with their assessment. Alvar was happy that they liked his food, especially some of the new dishes he had prepared, as there some new fish dishes that had been made from some fish Bianca and the others delivered, some pasta dishes that tasted amazing, some vegetarian dishes for those that couldn't stomach eating meat, and so on, showcasing his skills to everyone that was with them, as even the Captain was impressed with his skills. Of course there was another reason behind him joining them, as the first was because Nestor and the others had asked him to join them, where the siblings discovered that he was hoping to find new ingredients to test out and maybe even add some new dishes to what he was capable of making, which wasn't that much of a surprise and the group determined that they would be able to help him out in some way. Alvar also made sure to go easy on the supplies, as Fury didn't want him to go through everything they had before they found the continent or anywhere else to restock, showing that he understood what the commanding officer wanted and was sticking to it, while no doubt planning out the next couple of meals well in advance.

Eventually the day gave way for the night to arrive, though before that happened Fury made sure to set the airship down in the water so it could be converted back into a ship while the night crew made sure they stayed on course, mostly because he didn't want to run the propellers all the time and run the risk of one blowing up, even though he was sure that Lord Capulet had made sure such a thing wouldn't happen and showed that he wasn't taking any chances. The siblings and the others watched as the airship stopped and descended into the water, where once they were back in the water the ship became a normal ship as the propellers were hidden once more, allowing the night crew to take over as they headed back to their rooms for a good night's sleep, and that would be a thing since Lateef would make a quick run through all of their dreams to be sure no nightmares came to bother them, before getting some sleep himself. It was during the night that Spyro discovered something odd, during his dream there was a dark purple scaled dragon, or at least that was what he was assuming the coloration was, that he spotted off in the distance and she, which was something he learned as he focused on her, seemed to smile for a moment before eventually disappearing after some time, leaving him to his dreams as he shifted in his bed a little. He really wasn't sure who the female dragon was, save for the fact she was someone he didn't know, though there wasn't much he could learn about her since she seemed to phase into his dreams for a moment or two and then disappeared shortly after he spotted her, so all he could do was fall asleep and hope this was a one time thing during their journey.

That, as he soon discovered, wasn't the first time he had the dream, as every night following that he had the same odd dream whenever he went to sleep, he would see the female dragon for a few moments and then she would disappear as quickly as she appeared, and there were a few instances where the dream that followed seemed to be the two of them engaging enemies, ones that he and his siblings had taken out during their adventures. After having the same dream occur for a third time he approached Lateef and asked him what might be happening to him, where the Leader of the Dream Weavers listened as he explained the situation, and both Spike and Ember listened in since this was the first time they had heard of this happening and were interested in discovering if there was anything they could do to help him out, or if this was something he was going to have to deal with himself. It didn't take Lateef all that long to determine what was going on, as someone was manipulating Spyro's dreams to show him the dragon he was seeing, which would mean that one of the Dream Weavers had to be doing it, but since this was starting as they ventured into new territory he was ruling that out for the other, more favorable, explanation, someone in Warfang, or some other part of the continent they were heading to, might be warning Spyro, potentially of a danger. Spike also mentioned that there might be a chance that the dreams might be telling him about an ally they could look out for when they reached their destination, instead of her being an enemy for all of them to worry about, to which Lateef nodded his head and amended his statement to include what Spike had said, something that only confused Spyro since he wasn't sure what to make of his dreams.

In the end, however, Spyro eventually came to the decision that there wasn't much he could do about the situation he was in and determined that he would try to figure out their meaning before they reached the continent, leaving the others to whatever they were doing as they waited for the airship to get near their destination so they could begin their search for the individual the third Aether icon had been pinpointing.

When the fifth day of their flight came around Spike spotted an island off in the distance, by looking down at the water to see what was in front of them, and Fury had the airship head down so they could dock near the island, which was about the size of one of the realms back home, but from what they could tell there weren't any inhabitants for them to worry about, rather all they could see was wild animals. The siblings and their friends climbed off the ship and explored the rest of the island, finding that it was mostly just trees, grass, and a few rocky areas, but there were no structures that would tell them about any ancient residents and there were no large mountains that surrounded the island, so they were free to explore to their hearts content, though Alvar did join them as he sought out items to collect so they could restock their supplies and maybe pick some new stuff up. As such Titan and Bruno joined him, because Titan could use his weapon to handle the more aggressive creatures while Bruno calmed the others down with his skills, though both of them were ready to help Alvar gather whatever he needed to restock the kitchen, leaving the others to see if they could find anything else to add to their ship, though for the most part all they could locate were a number of fruits and vegetables that Alvar needed, which was interesting since they weren't expecting to see things they were familiar with. For the most part the group found that this island was rather peaceful and that it was unlikely that anyone had settled here in the past, as Spike didn't fell any magic in the air, so all they did was keep gathering supplies that were on the island and eventually regrouped an hour or two later, finding that Titan, Bruno, and Alvar to return with their spoils.

From there they made sure to transfer all of the supplies they had gathered onto the airship and put them in the area Alvar wanted them in, so he could sort them later when Fury had them take off again, and once everyone was back aboard the airship he reactivated the propellers so they could take off and continue their flight to the continent that happened to be their destination.





For the majority of their journey the siblings and their friends found that they did the same thing every couple of days, as in Fury would have them stop whenever they found an island and had a group explore it for anything they could use to restock their supplies, just like they did on the fifth day of their journey, but other than that Spike was surprised to see that none of the islands they spotted had anyone living on them. It was odd since he was expecting to discover clues as to what was waiting for them on the continent they were heading towards, but for the most part he found nothing and it was a tiny bit worrying, especially as they drew closer and closer to their true destination, though it did give them a chance to study a couple of new realm-like islands, so they could add them to their knowledge back home. Nestor and the others, despite their initial thoughts on the journey, had to agree with Spike and were surprised by the lack of anything that would reveal clues as to who or what they would discover when they reached the continent, though at the same time Nestor was the only one worried that they might be sailing towards a trap, one meant for the siblings, since there was no telling who else knew that Spyro, Spike, and Ember could tap into the Aether, showing that he was worried about whoever the third icon represented. Spike had to admit that Nestor's thoughts on the matter did make sense, but he, his siblings, and all of their friends were hoping that this wasn't a trap and that they were about to discover some ancient and lost secrets about the dragons as a whole, which would be great if such a thing happened, though they continued what they did while the airship traveled towards the continent, just so they didn't get rusty.

Spyro found that his dreams, following his conversation with Lateef and his siblings, were roughly the same and all he was able to see of the female dragon was what he had seen the first time, where he had the same feelings he had the first night, but from what he could tell it was hard to really make out any of her identifying features or even figure out what her name might be, even though part of him was convinced she was happy about something. It was interesting that he was the only one, out of everyone on the ship, that was experiencing weird dreams like this, among the dragons anyway since he was sure whoever was manipulating his dreams wasn't messing with the Breezebuilders and everyone else that was traveling with them, and that was confirmed by Elora, Hunter, Bianca, and the others revealing that they had nothing odd happen while each of them slept. Lateef tried to help him several times over the course of their journey and observed the dream that he was having, where even he had a hard time determining the features of the female dragon Spyro was being shown, meaning that he couldn't do much to help Spyro out, much to his annoyance since this was his area of expertise and he couldn't do anything to help him out, so all they could do was wait and see if the dreams shifted and revealed more details about the female dragon he was seeing. Spike felt that whoever was messing with Spyro's dreams wouldn't reveal anything else until they got closer to their destination, or this might be all they were getting and would have to live with it, but the only way to know that would be to see what the future held for them, so they focused on what they were doing and less on the dream, purely waiting to see if Spyro discovered something new.

Spike kept an eye on their surroundings as they traveled towards the continent that they had spotted on the globe, as in he was looking for anything that might be close to their destination so they could know if the airship was getting close to the landmass they were all eager to visit, though for the most part the only thing the group were able to discover were islands that resembled the first one they stopped at, basically allowing them to restock their supplies and not much else, which was fine with Alvar. Other than that he made sure to keep up Bianca's lessons and let Cosmos join in whenever he wanted to, while Ember and the rest of the group either relaxed or trained with Titan, giving them something to do when he wasn't writing down everything they discovered on the various islands, as despite each of the islands not having any clues as to whether or not they had been home to some creatures, like dragons and whatnot, but there were plants and animals for them to discover, and for him to write down in his new journal. For the most part the animals of the islands were ones everyone had seen in the past, like warthogs, boars, oddly enough some cows, a number of birds of prey, and a few other common animals, meaning Alvar could restock his supplies with things they were used to having, but so far the group hadn't found anything totally unique that would interest him, but that didn't stop them from looking. There was one other thing the Professor had installed in the airship and that was a device which allowed him to create a globe that was basically the globe from the Arcanaeum, only this one couldn't give them the positioning of the third Aether icon, rather it allowed them to see how far away they were from the continent and let Fury plan their course a little easier.

It was on the thirteenth day of their journey that Fury noticed something off in the distance that seemed interesting, at least in his eye it was that way, and called for the others to come and take a look, though that was when Spyro, Spike, and Ember, not to mention their friends and the rest of their group, noticed what appeared to be a flying set of islands that had a rather large number of trees scattered around each patch of land, meaning it had been a massive rainforest at one point in time, and the rather interesting part was the ruins they could see.

"Interesting, this is the first time we've seen any signs of a previous civilization during this journey," Bianca said, as she found the ruins, from what they could see anyway, to be rather interesting and it was amazing that this rainforest could even thrive up here, even though they weren't too far away from the ground and the water, though she also noticed the rivers that seemed to be flowing through the patches of land they were currently staring at, "I don't know if they belong to an ancient clan of dragons, or if they belong to a tribe of people that are like the residents from the various realms we've been watching over, though something tells me we can find out if we explore the island for a while... unless you guys would rather continue towards the continent and leave this for a return trip."

"Hm, I'm not entirely sure." Spyro stated, as he could see that some of the group was interested in heading out to see what the islands had to offer, not that he could blame them since Spike was among them, and the others were eager to move on and continue towards the continent so they could figure out what the Aether icon had been showing them, but he could tell that the decision was his and he needed to think about it, "It would be nice to stretch our legs for a couple of minutes and explore a new area, since Spike it making notes on everything we come across, but based on the map we're so close to the continent that if we continue for another two to three hours we'll reach it, meaning we can get started on our main quest and figure out who that icon was telling us about... honestly, both are good options at the moment and I'm not sure which one we should pick."

Spike started to open his mouth, so he could say something, but before he could say anything he felt someone else use magic, as he was positive that it wasn't Cosmos, Bianca, or even Nora, which was why he turned his gaze towards the furthest island that they had discovered, where he and the others, since they were interested in what had stopped him from speaking, watched as a beam of blue energy, what could have been Ice Magic if he was correct, go off, meaning that someone was in the middle of fighting something.

"Well, I think that solves our problem," Ember remarked, because if there was a fight going on, like what they had seen during their visits to the realms in Avalar and Avilion, than it was worth docking the airship near the edge of the islands so they could head out and investigate whatever was going on, especially if they discovered a new villain and found out what sinister plan they might be in the middle of, since that would make them seem like heroes to the residents of the continent they were heading towards, "What do you say, Spyro? Should we dock and see what's going on?"

"Given how close we are to the continent, yeah, we should stop and check things out... wouldn't want a villain to be setting up shop near the land Malefor went to." Spyro said, though this was either rather good timing on their part or they were just lucky that this was happening at the same time they talked about stopping or moving forward, but even as he said that Fury started to maneuver the airship so whoever would be exploring the area would be able to disembark and board the ship whenever they wanted, to which he turned towards the others, "So, whose up for a little exploration... and possibly fighting a villain's commander, if we're right about things?"

"As much as we would like to join you, I do believe that Sheila, Bentley, Agent 9, and I should stay back and help your Leaders make sure the airship is properly defended, in case we fall under attack," Sgt. Byrd stated, showing that, while he and the others did want to head out with them, they also knew how important the airship was and didn't want any harm to come to it, and the reason the siblings knew that was because their friends from Avilion nodded their heads to show that they agreed with what Sgt. Byrd was saying.

"Though I'm totally up for exploring a new area," Sol added, not that anyone was surprised by this, as he was the only one out of the entire group that hadn't actually worked with the siblings to save the day, so he was long overdue for such a thing and he was eager to head out and see what was going on, while at the same time Hunter gathered his bow and all of the arrow types he had, Elora slipped into her armor, and Bianca let lightning dance around her fingers as she nodded, meaning that they were ready to go as well.

As such Spyro, Spike, and Ember didn't argue with their friends as the seven of them headed outside to wait for Fury to dock the airship near the islands, because once the ship was in position they were going to head out and truly start the next great adventure of their lives, taking in the unknown and unraveling the mystery behind the Aether icon, all while helping whoever was in need of assistance, starting with whoever was in the middle of the fight they had just been made aware of a couple of monster ago.