Crash and Spyro, A Friendship Across Lifetimes

Chapter 3: Adopted Family

COCO meant everything to Crash. Her friendship made his life bearable. When she first found Crash on the outskirts of her village, she offered him shelter and food. Crash hadn't eaten in a while, and even though he had been conditioned to flee from any human's presence, he didn't turn down the offer. She was different from the others. She reminded him of Tawna.

"So, what's your name?" she asked as he was eating what she had called a wampa fruit.

"Crash" he said slowly, trying not to butcher the pronunciation but did anyway.

"Interesting name" she responded. "So, you don't speak Budakan, right? It's my tribe's native language. With the way you speak, I don't think you could manage. Fortunately, I was taught English, too. Anyway, why were you alone at the beach? You wouldn't happen to be one of Cortex's minions? Because you don't seem nearly as intimidating as the other's that have 'visited' our Native Fortress." Crash attempted to answer the question using his own voice. Tawna had encouraged him to practice speaking more, but no amount ever helped. He gave up and switched to the SAD device on his neck.

"Yes, I am a creation of Cortex's. I've... defected, though."

"Whoa, how did you just talk with your mouth closed? The sound came from that 'thing' strapped on your neck. That's so cool, although it does sound creepy. I've been amazed at some of the technology Cortex has shown my village. Too bad he's a jerk. You should have heard the way he spoke to my father. He's a chief, dammit! He deserves respect." Crash didn't belong here. If this was the Chief's daughter, than this could very well be his house. Crash was certain Cortex had instructed this village to find and return Crash to him if they had spotted him. It's the best explanation as to why whenever one of the tribesmen spots him, they holler and try to capture him.

"I should go" Crash slowly spoke in his normal abrasive voice in an attempt not to creep out Coco.

"Well wait a minute. You can't just go out into the wilderness alone. It's cold and raining outside, you could get sick. Or do you have someone you need to get to?"

Crash thought long and hard about the question. "No" he said using his SAD. Even though it felt as if he just lied to Coco, he wasn't.

"Man, both of your voices are creepy. No wonder you don't talk often. Well, I'm afraid I just can't let you leave alone. Come on, stay the night. If you're worried about one of the other villagers spotting you here, don't. My dad is over on Cortex's island. I think he needed to go there in order to talk about a power... something. He won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. But you'll know when he gets back, because that chariot that Cortex used to get here is awfully loud and makes a lot of wind." Crash sat there and finally decided to stay. He didn't want to go back to his home anyway... he couldn't.

Suddenly, the front door was opened and a young boy entered from the outside, drenched in rain. <Hey Coco, I'm back! Whoever said you catch more fish when it's raining is a liar!> Crash prepared to bolt, while the young boy finally noticed the orange creature sitting in his home.

<Whoa!> the young boy whelped. <What the hell is that! Wait, that's the orange thing Cortex is searching for.> The young boy reached for a spear that was actually lying on the ground inside the hut. At this moment Crash vaulted out of the chair he was sitting on and made his way to the back of the house.

<Whoa, whoa, whoa! Niko, calm down! What the hell do you think you're doing? Sheesh, you only eleven years old and you're already as much of a muscle head as the rest of the men in this place. That orange creature is a guest, and unless you've suddenly became a fan of Cortex, you are not going to harm him. Understood?> Coco must have been speaking Budakan, because Crash didn't understand a word she was saying. The boy just stood there after being yelled at, and then put down the spear.

<Okay, okay Coco. But why exactly is a creature of Cortex's doing in our house? And why is it not wearing any clothes?> Crash original uniform he escaped Cortex's palace with wore out and had detreated, so he just took it off. Clothing was a necessity for humans, one of the many thing Crash would learn about the tribesmen on N Sanity Island.

<Umm, good point Niko. Hey, our tribe still has those clothes left over from when that group of outsiders came and observed our village all those years ago, right? Go see if you can find our guest some clothes.>

<But Coco, I just came in from the rain, and now you want me go across the village and search for clothes that might fit him?>

<Hey, unless you want to stare at his junk for the rest of the night, then feel free not to go.>

<Alright, alright, fine. I'm going.>

The young man left the house in a hurry. "Sorry about that. That was my younger brother, Niko. If anything, he is a cocky and arrogant young little man, but I still love him. I just sent him to get you some clothes which you can keep. No one in our tribe ever planned to wear those clothes, anyway." Several hundred thousand years in the past, Crash was reminded of Niko after he met a young little Dragon. Once Niko returned, Coco instructed him to put the jeans he had retrieved next to the fire to dry. In the meantime, all three of them sat near the fire and talked. Crash tried once more to talk in his normal voice but gave up after coughing midway through his first sentence because his throat was so itchy. Niko laughed at him, but quit once Coco slapped him in the back of the head.

<What was that for?> Niko complained while rubbing his head.

<You know why. Since when do you laugh at guests?> She turned and apologized for Niko. "Sorry about my brother, despite what you thinking, he isn't always like this, although most of the time he is."

<What did you just tell him, you know I don't know that stupid language!> Niko complained.

Once the jeans dried, Crash put on what appeared to be a white undergarment covered in red dots. Both Niko and Crash giggled as he put them on. He later learned that the underwear he was wearing was covered in hearts, and was probably langeree intended for females. He then put on some socks, blue jeans, and a pair of black Converse. This would become Crash's outfit; he wore this same attire until the day he died. Crash then asked for some more wampa fruit using the SAD. Niko looked at him funny and Coco nodded. He was starting to like this fruit.