Wraith POV
When he finished, there was a moment of silence. Then Flame said, "This plan is either crazy brave, or just plain crazy."
Wraith grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment since I am totally insane."
"It will be dangerous," Hunter warned. "You will be in grave danger."
Wraith shrugged. "You just defined my general lifestyle. So, are we all in?"
Cynder looked at the others and then back at Wraith. "It's crazy, but I'll do it. I'm in."
Spyro nodded. "Me too. Let's go show Terrador and Cyril that we are not going to let them kill our friend." Hunter and Flame both nodded in agreement.
"Alright then," Wraith slapped his hands together. "Let's do this." Everyone nodded and trudged off downstairs while Wraith waited on the balcony. He waited five minutes before he walked out of Cynder's room and headed downstairs toward the main hall. As he expected, Terrador and Cyril were still there, arguing with Volteer. Several cheetahs milled around as well. He grinned. Perfect. A door opened, and Spyro walked out as planned.
"So, did you have any luck finding the creature?" he asked Cyril.
Spyro POV
Cyril shook his head. "No," he said. "The creature disappeared. I thought it was done for, but the creature's body is nowhere to be found." Then he glared at Terrador. "We should have listened to what the creature had to say. Didn't you notice how it just knelt there as if it had nothing to lose? Then you had to go and shoot a boulder at it."
Terrador scoffed. "It was probably a servant of Malefor. Warfang is well rid of the menace."
Spyro glanced in Wraith's direction and saw him turn invisible as he slid against the wall that led to the Pool of Visions. Just before he disappeared, Wraith gave him the thumbs up. Spyro nodded and said to Terrador, "Actually, I don't think we are rid of the menace."
"And why is that?" Volteer asked.
"Because its right over there!" Spyro shouted as he pointed across the room. Right on cue, Wraith appeared.
Terrador's eyes widened. "It's the creature! Get it!" He and Cyril charged after Wraith as he took off toward the Pool of Visions. Flame and Hunter walked in.
"What's going—" Hunter began, but Cyril cut him off, shouting, "It's the creature! Come on!" He resumed chasing after Wraith. Flame and Hunter followed.
Volteer looked like he was about to chase after him when Spyro put a wing in front of him. "Wait."
Volteer glared at him. "Give me one good reason why I should."
Spyro took a deep breath and said, "Wraith can take care of himself."
Volteer's eyes widened. "How do you—"
"I'll explain, Volteer." Cynder had arrived. She started telling him about Wraith's plan while Spyro raced to catch up to the others.
As he raced down the hall, Spyro thought, Wow. Wraith really knows what he's doing. So far, everything has gone exactly the way he wanted it to.
Wraith POV
Wraith shot down hallway after hallway until he arrived at the Pool of Visions. He slammed the door behind him and ran to the pool, knowing he only had a few seconds. He placed his hands on the pool and concentrated on his memories. As soon as he found the ones he wanted, he mentally pushed them toward the pool. He heard the doors slam open, and he made himself invisible. He was dimly aware of everyone thundering around, searching for him. He walked away toward the wall while maintaining his connection to the pool. He watched as Terrador, Cyril, Flame, Hunter, and eventually Spyro ran inside. He watched as each of them reported no sign of him.
Then Flame pointed out that something was happening with the Pool of Visions. Everyone immediately crowded around. They watched as Wraith's memories flew through the pool. They watched as he talked with the Chronicler. He could hear startled exclamations as the Chronicler revealed himself to be Ignitus. He watched as Spyro knelt on the ground, tears of joy running down his face.
Wraith walked over until he was on the opposite side of the pool. Then he resumed watching. He watched himself checking out his new gear and then going off to help Cynder. He watched himself arrive at Warfang, and then he turned his attention back toward the guardians. I wonder? He started pushing the memories that were playing toward the others in the room. He could hear startled exclamations as each them felt everything he had been feeling while running from the guardians and defending himself.
Several minutes later, after he was sure that they got the message, he released them from the memories and watched as each of them turned back to normal. Spyro, Flame and Hunter stared off into space while Cyril and Terrador looked down at their claws, ashamed. "Do you get it now?" Wraith asked. Everyone jumped and stared at him. "Do you get that I only defended myself and that I didn't mean any harm?" If it were possible for Spyro to look more ashamed, he did. As did Terrador.
"Wraith," Terrador said slowly. "I apologize for assaulting you. And I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all sorry."
Wraith nodded and waved a hand dismissively. "It's all right. No harm done or anything like that." Everyone stared at him.
"How are you so calm about this?" Cyril asked incredulously. "I shot you with an icicle, Spyro tried to blowtorch you twice, Terrador tried to kill you with a boulder multiple times, and Hunter tried to shoot you with arrows. How can you act like it was all nothing?"
Wraith shrugged. "Living on the streets taught me a few things, one of those being that sometimes you need to let go of anger. Trying to live with anger is like living with boiling oil dripping down your neck every time you take a step. It's better to just let go. Trust me. Not many people can, and they end up not living their lives to the fullest. And that's what I try to do, so I learned to let go of anger and forgive."
He noticed that Flame's jaw was open. "Hey, Flame," he advised. "If you don't want a bug to fly in your mouth, you should probably shut it." Flame nodded and closed his mouth.
"Wraith..." This time it was Cyril who spoke up. "In all my time as a guardian I have never heard anyone say anything like that."
Wraith shrugged. "Thanks." Then he glanced around at everyone and noticed how tired they all were. "You guys look ready to drop," he commented.
Hunter shook his head. "Sorry, we were all caught up in the day's events, so I guess we all forgot to get some sleep." The others nodded in agreement.
Wraith stretched. "Well if you guys don't mind, I should probably tell Cynder and Volteer that everything worked out for the better." With that, he walked out the door.
He was about to walk down the hall when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw that it was Terrador. "I should probably tell them that you are no longer a threat." Wraith nodded his thanks and stood by the wall while Terrador spoke to the cheetahs, telling them that everything was all right and to spread the word that the creature was harmless. He watched as the cheetahs all left. Then he saw Cynder run up to Terrador with Volteer in tow and ask where Wraith was.
Wraith stepped forward and waved. "Over here!"
Cynder and Volteer ran over. "Wraith," Cynder growled. "That was probably the dumbest thing I've seen you do yet." She punched him in the arm.
"Hey," he protested, but then she hugged him.
"I'm just glad you're alright." She stepped back and smiled at him. "You incredibly huge idiot."
Wraith grinned, then glanced up at Volteer. "So, how is everything on your end?" he asked.
Volteer shrugged. "So far so good. I'll admit, I was impressed when Cynder told me your plan. Brilliant, excellent, extrav—"
Terrador clapped a paw over his mouth. "And that is enough for one day." He nodded toward Cynder and Wraith. "I will see you in the morning once I deal with this chatterbox." He dragged Volteer down a corridor with Volteer complaining the whole way.
"So...." Wraith and Cynder faced each other awkwardly.
"Where are you going to stay?" Cynder asked.
Wraith shrugged. "I don't know. But what I do know, is that I'm going to go and get my stuff. I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon." He turned and headed toward the door. Just before he stepped through the door, he heard Cynder call his name. He turned. "Yes?"
Cynder seemed to be trying to say something. She finally settled with, "Don't do anything stupid."
Wraith grinned. "No promises." Then he turned and walked out into the night. Now where did I hide my backpack?