I look up and think about a lot of things. Where I'll go, what's going to happen. But I think of you too.

I think of how it might end, but I also remember how it all began. And it seems the same.

Meeting you began it all for me, when I began in a place of endings…

.

A pencil hovered and tapped down on nearly bare pages held by a boy sitting hunched before his desk. The weak light from the lamp watched silently as he made little scratches to the side and in between at every odd moment. The shadow of his hand blocked it, but his dull blue pupils saw the tip move down and wandered after a moment to every other corner and beyond the frame of his small workspace.

"Nothing today either…"

The room he sat in could be called as some symmetrical cavern, though even rock walls had more appeal. Lit by cloudy morning light, the white walls were an empty grid dotted with a few pages of half-drawn fantastical creatures. His bed sat perfectly straight in its coordinated space despite its unset covers, while his closet had a perfect row of unworn clothes. The clock on the walls ticking away the hours were the only hint of life, clanging away the constant silence.

He sighed out the air filling his thin features and lay his thoughts to rest, shutting the book. The title 'Cody's Journal' was etched on the front in colorful letters, hidden away when placed on the small shelf. The red-headed namesake walked to his bed and laid down, eyelids drooping.

"Maybe tomorrow…"

The sounds of chirping stirred Cody towards the unusually straight branch near his window. He pulled his sleeve, shut his eyes, and turned away to let it drown out into silence. But as the sound went up the line to screeches, he scratched his head in defeat and towed himself to his window.

Shivering slightly at the cold that came after cracking it open, he spied a nest occupied with the source, a rare sight in winter of a red robin. The bird tilted its head and hopped closer towards the boy who expected the opposite the moment he flipped the latch. He had wondered how soon birds would return with the arrival of March and spring closing in and dared to open more while looking to his pocket.

"Here you go… You're prob'ly hungry…" He sluggishly reached down and poured birdseed on the windowsill. It was the last from a bag that had spent a few years in a kitchen cupboard.

The bird tilted its head a few times while he reached to place seed on the branch's edge. It startled back with the approach of his hand, then hopped bit by bit towards the seed. The boy stared as the small creature pecked at the offering, backing away as it came to the windowsill for its full share.

"You're lucky…" he turned away. "You can fly wherever you want, not me… Maybe that's better."

He found himself locking eyes with the bird, almost listening. His thin fingers twitched and raised slightly, though it flew away before anything else. He sighed watching the bird flying straight ahead. Probably someplace where it could be alone now that it had gotten charity from him.

The town he lived in was full of similar lines, every block made of perfect little squares with the snow folded and tucked away right by the sidewalks. Old brick townhomes almost melded together with archaic lampposts at the crosswalks, like photos from a history book. Like every other day he watched from his second-story, cars drove by at patient speeds and students headed to school in uniform and single file. He'd let his focus stray with the lines to some random aspect every day, and some aspect of that aspect before shutting the curtains and forgetting about it completely. All just blank space to him.

His own line of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Cody?"

He said nothing, and the door opened.

A young woman stepped in with curly red hair and a purple sweater almost blinding his eyes with color. She came forward with a smile like early spring and twinkling eyes past her glasses. "Hello, Cody. How are you doing today?"

"…Hi, Ms. Phillips." He said with no expression whatsoever.

He turned away when her smile disappeared, but swore he saw her physically try to pull it up again. That just warded him away more. "You seem tired as usual. Getting ready for our lessons today, I'm sure."

Cody returned to his desk without a word, walls up with the lock of his hands.

"Your dad sent me a message earlier, said he was going to be late at the office again. A police chief's work is never done, I suppose."

"…Mm-hm…"

She paused and reached out for the textbooks she had in her pink purse, trying to make eye contact with him as she went for the chair next to him. He only turned and hid again as snow beneath the shade avoiding the sun. He tried to pass it off as reaching for his papers from the desk, though huddled when he'd caught the sloppy handwriting and incomplete doodles scattered all across the surface.

"Well, why don't we go over the first few problems?" She pushed her glasses up and read. "It's okay if you had any kind of problems. Fractions can be a little difficult for most students."

"…Mm-hm…"

"Good, we'll start with this one: Greg had a pan of brownies. He gave a third to his friend Daniel and a sixth to his other friend Susan. How many brownies did Greg give away?"

"…Three."

"Very good. How about the next one?" She turned the page. "A school wants to build a new playground. They decide to use a fourth of the ground…" His tutor's voice was drowned out by more of that white noise in his head. It happened at times during their get togethers, though he didn't want to admit that he was just wasting her time with it. "…Cody?"

He flinched. "…Um… the answer…"

She gave a small grin that he grimaced at. "A fourth for a baseball field and three eights for a jungle gym. How much is left for the nature walk they also want to build?"

"…Three eights."

"Very good, Cody. I'm impressed." She clapped. "How did you figure them all out so easily?"

He bowed down letting her praise bounce off his walls, hand shuffling papers. "I drew a little…"

"… Can I see?"

Cody kept his hand on the paper but made no resistance when Ms. Phillips took them from him. There were colors and shapes in different patterns strewn all over, but no numbers or any manner of discernible tie to an actual math problem. If he had glanced at it himself it would have made no more sense than it seemed to ultimately make to her, as she stared at the silent artist across from her.

"Like… the first one." He muttered. "Blue squares are his, so red and yellow go to others. Fractions are bigger if they have smaller bottom numbers so…"

Ms. Phillips smiled again. "That's very clever, Cody. Using your drawings to help you through the math problem. You must be very talented in drawing too."

Cody looked to the wall drawings again. Most of them couldn't be considered any better than the scribbles he had made on his notes, only straight lines trying to form something. He couldn't say he was skilled or intelligent in terms of anything, especially not drawing. Hunching down spoke of that denial enough to his teacher, who frowned and tried to smile again.

"Well, let's go ahead and move on to today's lesson. Sound good?"

"…Mmm…" Both took their own textbooks and skimmed to the same page.

"Now last week's lesson was about adding and subtracting fractions, which requires a common denominator. This week we're covering multiplying and dividing fractions, which doesn't need that. The proper way is to… Cody?"

The boy in question had returned to the same sagged position as earlier. The desk and pencil he let lay abandoned faded into a lifeless sketch of lines posing as the world in front of his empty gaze. His teacher had noticed and silently closed her book, kneeling by his side with a hand to the shoulder that was little more than flowing air.

"You're doing it again..." She noted.

"…Sorry…"

"…I planned to save this until after we were done, but I think you'd be interested in this." Ms. Phillips reached for her purse and pulled out a white tablet. Tapping on it, she showed an ad adorned to the brim with stars and big letters. "A meteor shower, tonight! The sky will be clearing up after 5:30 so you'll be able to see it. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"Eh…"

"You know, they say rare events like this are good fortune, that they mean the start of something special…" She set her tablet down and walked over to an old photo on the wall, showing a forgotten time with a line of vibrant smiles sported by him and the young couple surrounding him. "It's been five years. It's… not much of a way for you to rejoin the world, but it beats staring at your desk all day."

Good events and good itself were rare with all that passed time down to the recent days they spent together. He'd stretched and maintained the barrier between himself and everything else, and though that was the cost, he'd lived with it. The boy that sat alone in his room followed a straight line much like every other in this archaic town. To disturb something that worked in his opinion was, for lack of a better term, pointless.

He turned to the bed considering an early sleep as the preferable option, but the light would no doubt keep him awake. His scribbles were good clue that any drawing period wouldn't last long enough. Looking to his teacher who had spared such time to come to his home and tutor him, he didn't want to disappoint her either.

The words were still dragged from his mouth. "…I'll think about it."

Thoughts would be lost for the colossal stone stadium in the sky, completely unbound by walls, easily spanning the length of the town so far below all that was seeable beneath was endless blue. Under rows of multicolored banners, the stands were filled with every manner of creature that could or had graced the imagination, shouting caucuses of praise. There was no uniform control amongst them: every person and the cheers they cried out across the field were a singularity in themselves.

"All right, folks! Let's see some love for your home teams, not to mention for the handsome devil in the announcer's seat," came the masculine voice of a mammalian creature atop the stands. "It's a beautiful day for Skyball, wouldn't ya say?"

The crowd, half composed of similar creatures to him, roared back.

"This is Flynn here, your favorite multitalented Mabu taking a break from flying the friendly skies of Skylands to bring you up to the minute action. In this corner we have us the visiting team! You know 'em, you love 'em, you look just like 'em! Give it up for the Mabu Marauders!"

From the left entrance came a group of furry creatures looking the same as the other 'Mabus' and Flynn. The only differences were in fur color, green sports outfits, and the occasional alternation of spots. They leaped and posed together with gymnastic sequence that left their kind roaring their support.

"And in this corner, we got us the home team!" With that announcement came the cries of the other half of the crowd that had more notable variety. "These guys got skill, these guys got guts! In fact the only thing they don't have is a more creative name! But let's bring 'em out here folks, what do you say!?" The crowd cheered again.

From the other entrance they surged in with all the elements at their side. A fish-man on a surge of water, a blue turtle with a spiny shell riding a whirlwind that also carried a wind-up toy with sharp pincers on sparkling burners, and a muscular man-shark from a plume of earth and dirt. They all posed and wave to encouraging shouts from their fellow random creatures. "Yeah, I bet I could take these guys before you'd even get to three." Flynn bragged.

"Ey!" The shark shouted turning to the stands. "You wanna come down 'n put yo money where yo' mouth is, Mabu Man!?"

"Can't hear you! Moving on!" Flynn rose. "We got us our teams, so let's get to… wait. We, uh, missing one? Don't suppose he called in sick or-"

Flynn was cut off by the crowd's sudden awe at the flash of flames above their heads beaming down. A small purple blur charged with bold power and graceful aerial maneuvers of twists, turns, and loops vanquishing a perilous inferno of its own design. In its wake was a cape of smoke growing ever longer in the wake of an outstretched claw breaking through the burning lines. The blur came in close spinning and wrapping itself in ribbons of flame before shedding them off with a mighty burst, with the message 'Spyro is awesome!' behind him in white cloudy letters.

"Yo, yo, yo! What is UP, everybody?" Came a voice from the glow matching a second sun.

The blur came down with a crash and beat away the ensuing dust with a single flap, revealing a purple-scaled dragon standing tall with a stance that exuded spirit. His orange spines and horns glistened in the clear light, appearing as some heroic aura that made the fans go wild. He raised his head high towards the Mabus with the lines of screaming fans traced along the edges of his outstretched wings.

That line was stopped beyond his knowledge at a pair in the stands, a green skinned girl and a red rock creature with limbs. Their faces went fully monotone at the dragon and his entrance.

"He's doing it again," said the rock creature.

"Chill, Eruptor. We've put up with it this long." The elf looked to him, or at least appeared to with her glowing pupils.

"And four more years of it are on the way, Stealth Elf! I'm gonna go volcanic!"

"Nice o' you to join us, Mr. Stuntman!" Terrafin the man-shark chided the dragon, who was buffing his claws at the annoyance of the others. "You done with the halftime show?"

"Ease up, T-Man. Just givin' the folks what they wanna see." Spyro bragged. "Heroes gotta nail the entrance if they're gonna make headlines, am I right?"

"Fool, I don't care 'bout your headlines! You gonna get'cha head in the game or-"

"What you need, my mouthy friend, is a healthy dose of sportsmanship. Sides, the halftime show was just a pre-show." The dragon turned to the opposing team. "Here's where the real entertainment starts... Although speaking of, do you think I could've added a little sizzle if I did some burst shots, maybe a few more Figure 8's-"

"Well, there you have it folks, spelling out 'ego' in big, bold letters, it's Spyro!" Flynn cut in. "They are your SKYLANDERS!"

All players took their positions, each staring down their opponents one by one. Spyro, however, stood tall against the Mabu opposite from him, smirking at the clear beads of sweat. Letting his attention wander from the game he winked at a group of females watching and sent them into faints. He then bared down and clenched the ground in his claws, casting the lines of action in his mind past the immobile players that placed the field under his complete dominion. His wings traced the motions, his mind accounting for every scenario to the goal, and he would be rendered untouchable.

The referee whistled and forward came a ball with glowing symbols, past all his mental lines. In less than a heartbeat he had slapped it into the air by the spine on his own tail. He bounced it on his head and let it roll down his back as he flipped in the air and swatted it into a goal.

"Goal!" Cried the Mabu in the stands.

"Lucky shot…" One of the Mabu players muttered.

The Mabu team had caught the ball and were rushing towards the opposing goal but were intercepted by a rushing harpoon shot and a sudden whirlwind that sucked in the gust. Warnado the turtle appeared spinning and swirling the ball up for fish-man Gill Grunt to spike down in a team play. But a purple swirl appeared within the wind and from above suddenly came Spyro, who stole the moment and zipped down to catch the ball and bounce it by his wing's membrane.

"Hey! We're on your team, remember?" Gill Grunt cried.

"And a bit of advice from your teammate, work on that reaction time!"

Spyro blasted forward and flip kicked the ball upward and twirled himself to launch it inverted. All any could follow in the breakneck zigzag that ensued was the burning trail of the ball gone aflame, unknown if by speed or actual dragonfire. It near launched a hole through the goal on the Mabu's side once again.

The mechanized Wind-Up had been attempting to wrangle the ball from a Mabu with focused footplay that ended in the ball going airborne. Just as the toy Skylander sprang up to reach it, a set of claws beside his own snatched it away.

"Hey, no hands!" One of the Mabu cried.

"Four-legger!" Spyro smirked. "Want the rule book or anatomy book for that one?" Spyro laughed and sprang around himself with just the bones in his wings or the tip of his tail, earning wild cries with each bounce. The buzzer sounded again with another hard launch into the goal.

For some time the game continued like this, lines darting and clashing as the two teams entered close combat for the small orb. The Skylanders continued to ravage the field with a small array of natural disasters, leaving the Mabus to dodge tidal waves, tornadoes, and earthquakes by their hairs and steal the ball away. The ball followed no straight course while its symbols were set aglow in the chaos, intercepted by players on both sides who nearly came face to face with slaughter from the other side.

"Whoo-hoo!"

Then the dragon would fly in sporting a grin to his troubled teammates and some new display and the line would only be between him and the goal. Upon upturned earth he would strut in to swipe the ball, each movement frivolous yet firmly flawless seeping in between the defense like firelight. Every complex trick shot he had devised on the spot struck goal after goal despite the Mabu's best efforts.

"Hey, hotshot!" Terrafin shouted to the dragon bopping the ball in the air. "In case your brain's been getting' mixed up pullin' off those fancy moves, we're still here!"

"T, come on. I've been rocking it all game and 'fancy's' the best you can do? How 'bout 'incredible,' 'extreme,' or just go with 'unbelievable!'

"Oh, somethin's unbelievable, alright!"

"There ya go! Come on, keep 'em coming!"

"You been winking all game, so I know you got somethin' in yo eye! We ain't yo cheerleaders!" The others nodded in agreement.

The dragon spared them a sideways glance. "Well, hate to say it, but I'm kinda relieved. You don't have the best material and I would really flip seeing you in a skirt!" He laughed and flew off, leaving Terrafin to growl.

The countdown was running and for Spyro it was another easy run to the buzzer. Every line he ran to victory fated so far, he took his time to breeze over with the ball spun on his wing tip. But for once the line was halted as the entire Mabu team swarmed him, no doubt rightfully seeing him as the true threat. Spyro swerved hard and passed the ball between his wings but kept his focus on the Mabus at the same time. Their flustered faces made the whole situation a game of keep away for him.

"Yo, Spyro!"

"I'm open! I'm open!"

"Fool, don't just look! Pass the dang ball!"

Each of his abandoned teammates waved and shouted as much as they could from all around. The dragon just passed it off as more of the white noise that the cheers had become. He raised his head and shut his eyes, opening them at the ends of all the paths he had perceived.

"What's he doing!?" Eruptor cried.

"Spyro! Pass the ball!" Stealth Elf cheered.

Like ropes they appeared but with the loss of outside shouts to the wind, Spyro saw them all vanish. As the mental net above broke down everything else faded into blurs of color. His eyes burst open and he whiplashed the ball into the air, then pinballed around each Mabu sending them into a spin. Just as the ball reached the highest point of its ascent, he had won the race with gravity and caught it in his own claws. Everything faded, and he was free at last.

There it was, the sky, endless and unfettered, blocked to him during the entire game but now the clouds almost parted as an open road to him. His heartbeat pounded looking into some straight road throughout and into infinity. He wondered if it did with a wonderous smile and a gleam in his eye, not even noticing his wings following his thoughts and flying further and further into it.

But he blinked, and reality reared in. The fans' screams and Flynn's recital of the final countdown for dramatic effect reached after him pulling him down.

"5! 4!"

The dragon dive-bombed towards the field, the ball held close. At the right distance, he released it and launched it with his tail again.

"3! 2!"

Everyone watched the sphere come down with meteoric force. Some bit their nails while others near suffocated.

"1!"

At the sound of the buzzer, the ball had crossed past the poles. It slammed into the net and drove right through the web, smashing into the wall behind it. The fans gasped and observed the small crater formed while the ball dropped to the ground.

Every voice in that stadium unified into an explosive roar on all sides, near shaking the stadium in their cacophony. Large metal cannons shot out glowing and sparkling orbs that burst into dazzling fireworks. The star shooter slammed down, returned to his tall stance and confident grin as the spectators cried out his name over and over.

"Skylanders win! Skylanders win!" Flynn screamed, though he quickly regained his own composure. "Uh, yeah… give 'em the trophy."

A massive golden cup was brought out before the Skylanders, polished and adorned with a wreath of flowers at the top. The dragon flew and landed inside the cup. "Alright. Some game, some hustle! Am I right, guys?"

The others hardly carried the sentiment of the fans, either displeased or outright furious in Terrafin's case. "The heck was up with that?"

"What?"

"Don't you 'what' me, fool! You spazzin' out up there! We could'a lost the game 'cuz o' you!"

"T,T,T, where' that sportsmanship?" Spyro shook his head. "Game's about more than the final score, it's all about the fun. And upping the cool factor with a last second game-winning shot from halfway to space, F-U-N, fun!"

"Cool factor!?" The shark creature fumed.

"Something to think about. Being a Skylander means you're a one-hero show, especially once school's out for good and you go active. Gotta prove you got the skills to give baddies the chills."

"Not all Skylanders go solo, Skylander Solo." Terrafin leaned in close. "An' you better check past that long snout o' yours and see you got a team backin' you up or you won't for much longer."

Spyro shot back into the air. "Hey, I know I got a team. I mean, who else was gonna help me get the trophy home? I know you've been working out, T. So, who wants first touch?

The embittered group trudged away with bitter mumblings and completely faded from behind the dragon basking in the spotlight. He shot back into the air with another round of daredevil tricks and his own rounds of fireworks. But basking in the ring of victory, surrounded by praise turned routine, there was still only one thing that had kept his attention.

.

Sometime after the audience's throats had started to go sore, Spyro returned by himself to the stadium entrance. He'd kept an eye on the trophy as he'd explained to Terrafin who'd returned, yet the man-shark only scowled and hoisted it across his shoulder before heading back. Leaning against the stone wall with blinding daylight at both sides, he polished his scales and gave a sigh to the face reflected. A possible trick of the light, he'd sworn the grin on his own face wasn't there on the one staring back.

"Ah, Spyro. There you are."

He'd pulled himself away from the sight of himself to catch the voice appearing from the small slit of shadows somehow there. An old man with a silvery beard, wise and powerful, in flowing robes came before him with his arms folded behind. The air he gave matched his gaze in terms of authority, or beyond emotion, an actual force came radiating from him, the dragon always noticed.

"Hey, Master Eon!" Spyro called and flew over. "Yeah, I was just thinking of heading out for some flying practice. Didn't see you for most of the game there. I mean, I just noticed when I didn't hear some voices cheering on their favorite dragon!"

"Apologies, my boy. I had matters to attend to at the Academy." The old man warmly chuckled. "Though I was able to arrive near the end. Noticed your last shot."

"Right, the big Spyro Sizzler. The Game-Saver. Trying to come up with a killer name for it."

"Quite. Thought what I was perplexed with was the extended pause that led up to it. While I applaud the technique, and can say after training so many Skylanders that I do enjoy a bit of dramatization, I would be remiss if I did not say I had my share of concerns."

"You and Terrafin both." The dragon rolled his eyes.

"Terrafin can be brash but I would be willing to leave it as just that were this an isolated incident." He eyed the young dragon and came forward, who dropped to the floor with his wings gone limp. "It wasn't one of your… urges again, was it?"

"Whaaaat? Pssh, no!" Spyro chuckled. "Just a… beautiful day today, like it always is.

Eon gave a glance at Spyro, who tried to look away but had returned to a direct glance in a second. His gaze returned to the sky just behind the sage man, calling him again into that radiant blue with no lines or boundaries at all. His wings were pulled up again almost by invisible strings, both had noticed, and beat slightly faster in raising him from the ground. His pupils were magnetized pulling him back and forth between Eon and the outside, though the grin maintained.

The old man leaned back to still stance once more. "Very well then… You'll be pleased to know the weather tomorrow for your field trip will be just as pleasant. Though given it will be in the Falling Forest, I doubt you'll have time to enjoy it."

"We're seriously going to the Falling Forest?" The dragon gasped. "Awesome! I am all fired up!"

"Don't be too complacent, Spyro. The Forest is home to many vile creatures and mysteries. Be prepared for anything."

"Hey, you might as well save your warnings for the forest, 'cause there's a new hero in town." Spyro darted out, his voice echoing as he went farther out of sight. "The bold, the majestic, the ever-humble Spyro the Skylander!"

The old man followed him to the edge of the stadium entrance. The young dragon looked as giddy as he could for the duties of a hero. But he saw this optimism and gave a heavy glance.

"You're not a Skylander yet…"

Hello to the Skylanders community here on Fanfiction!

I hope you enjoyed this piece, the first chapter always seems to be the hardest, but I think this one turned out okay for the most part. A lot of this chapter was experimentation in terms of a lot of writing techniques and ideas for what I want to happen in the story. If there are some questions you have, feel free to PM me or ask in the review section and I'll try and answer them by next chapter.

Anyway for the main concern this is more or less based in the Skylanders Academy universe, with some elements of the games sprinkled in. More or less, the Netflix series was my main entry into Skylanders while I've just noticed the games from afar. Another thing of note is that this takes place while Spyro and the others are still students, because I was honestly sure that was how the show was going to be – instead, it starts with Spyro, Elf, and Eruptor as graduates getting ready to take on the Skylands. I'm going to try and do everything here justice.

Again, I hope everyone enjoys this work. The next chapter will be coming soon; I am trying to get a routine for writing all hammered out. Until then, review, favorite, follow!