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Chapter Text

“Help!! Somebody help me!”

Desperate cries cut through the warm afternoon breeze. On top of a large apple tree sat a helpless young prince, clinging onto the branches for dear life. “Whatever shall I do!?”

Sinister cackles from below silenced the boy. “I’ve finally caught you, no one can help you now!” The threatening words came from a ghastly monster covered from head to toe in shimmering blue scales. A most wicked creature from the depths of the sea! “I, the vicious sea monster, will now devour you whole!”

“Helppp!” The prince cried and plead, but to no avail. Just as the monster was about to crawl up the tree and snatch the prince with its maw, a foreign voice made its head turn.

“Halt! No one is being eaten on my watch!” Rejoice! It was the courageous knight, riding on top his trusty steed! With a heroic leap he promptly landed in front of the beast and drew his mighty blade. “Your days of feasting on royalty will soon be history!”

With a hiss and a battle cry the opposing forces stormed into battle. The prince held his breath whilst observing from the top of the tree, rigid with fear. A slash to the left! A jump backwards! an attempted scratch! It was an intense fight, one worthy of being sung and written about!
It went on for what felt like hours until finally – Thrust! The gallant warrior pierced though the monster’s cold heart with his blade, forcing an agonizing roar out of its lungs as it slowly sank to the ground.

With heavy breaths and shaking legs the knight approached the tree where the prince awaited him with relief and gratitude. The boy effortlessly jumped down to shake his savior’s hand. “Thank you! Thank you so much, you saved my life!”

“No need to thank me, it’s my humble duty and hon-”

The knight’s words were stuck in his throat and his eyes widened with shock. The prince gasped in horror when he spotted the tip of the sword pointing out of his savior’s chest, stopping right before it could cut through his own. They looked into each other’s eyes hopelessly before the warrior descended to the ground and took his final breath.

The prince fell to his knees while the revitalized monster dropped the blood-soaked blade and arose to tower over its victims with a satisfied grin. Short, panicked whimpers left the boy as he softly placed his hands onto the motionless knight.
He was dead.

“Nooooo!!!”

Silence.

The scene was frozen, like a still image, before they all burst into gleeful laughter.

“You guys were amazing!” The young prince, who now spoke in a far less dramatic tone, grinned from ear to ear.

“Your screams of help actually had me worried for a moment, Five!” The sea monster, who was just an ordinary girl, stepped into the group. “It was kinda funny to play a monster too!”

“That was a great idea, Echo!” Blades, the knight who pulled the wooden sword from his elbow and stood back up, was talking to his friends whilst removing the armor made of cardboard and cooking pots and throwing it next to his broom horse. “But I don’t think you could ever be a real monster.” A teasing smile towards the girl, who was also taking off her costume of scales.

“Oh really?” The girl furrowed her brows and became suspiciously serious. “Then what about this? Rawr!” With roars and hisses she threw herself onto the boy’s shoulders who in return giggled and spun around to throw her off. High Five grabbed his stomach from laughter and his freckled cheeks turned red before they all playfully tackled each other and fell onto the ticklish plot of grass.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with more games between the friends High Five, Blades and Echo. They used the entirety of the former’s castle garden as their personal playground, re-enacting more wild scenarios and using the many trees and plants as props. The day was extraordinary!

It wasn’t until an adult voice called for the kids that the carefree meetup came to an end. They all stared at each other with expected disappointment.

“That’s my mom.” Echo lowered her typically loud voice and her head sunk. “I have to go.”

The two boys were equally bummed out and hugged their playmate before she solemnly trotted into the castle where her parents, aunt, uncle and younger cousin awaited her.

Not long after a deeper, raspier voice called for Blades as well. “Oh, I gotta go too! See you Five!”

Unlike Echo, the boy was very quick to leave and hurried to the castle in a well-behaved manner.

The young prince was left alone in the garden. His mood was down, he still had so many ideas! Yet he knew better than trying to convince their parents to extend their playtime. They were important people, they had business to attend to.
He sluggishly rolled one of the apples on the grass with the palm of his hand and wondered what he could do now, all on his own.

“Now what’s that glum face for?”

High Five looked up to see his father - the king, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere smiling down on him. “Dad!” His face lit up.

“I may not be as young and full of energy as you kids, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun.” Before Five knew it, there was a flash in front of his eyes and the apple underneath his hand was gone as his father took a generous bite out of it.

“Hey, that’s mine!” The prince protested.

“Oh really?” The king spoke through his munching. He held the apple up and turned it around. “I don’t see your name on it.”

Five’s sour expression was sweetened by poorly suppressed giggling before he attempted to jump onto the tall man to retrieve the fruit. When that failed, he angrily stomped on the ground and turned around. He then spotted more apples near the large tree and used the opportunity while his father was eating to get to them.
Whenever he got close to an apple, the king would use his lightning speed to snatch it from right under his nose. And again. And again. With each stolen fruit Five let out a frustrated growl followed by some restrained laughter.

Finally, only a few feet away, there was only one apple left. Five knew that he would lose that one too, unless…

Zoom

The prince focused on getting the fruit as quickly as possible with such intensity and willpower that he finally unlocked his very own ultra-speed powers which ran through the entire Dragonfly bloodline.

“I…” The boy stared at the apple in his hand in disbelief. He had no recollection of ever picking it up. As soon as he thought of it, it happened. “I did it!”

He turned around to see his awestruck father drop all the previous apples and his mouth form the biggest smile he’d ever seen. “You did it!”

Overjoyed, Five ran towards the proud king who picked him up with a euphoric embrace. “I knew you would get it in no time, I just knew it!” The father’s glee was contagious and Five couldn’t stop himself from smiling and laughing, allowing his set of recently grown fangs to shine in the sunlight. “Now you have something that you can always brag about to your brothers because you’re the youngest one to learn it!”

High Five couldn’t believe his ears. He’s the youngest of five, so the odds were stacked against him. “Really!?”

“Yeah!” The boy’s smile grew even wider, which seemed impossible at that point, and his ruby red eyes sparkled with pride. “Come on, we gotta show your mom!”

The king put his son down on the ground to sprint back to the castle while he followed closely. It was an extraordinary day indeed.

The three good friends regularly hang out together. With their parents all being closely connected in their departments they required to meet up frequently and getting the kids familiar witch each other was in everyone’s favor. Those meetings were almost always hosted by High Five’s parents at the Dragonfly Castle, which was amazing for the trio since it had seemingly endless gardens and halls to explore.

One day, after going back and forth numerous times, the friends made their way to the attic. Unlike the usual attic, this one was relatively clean and not fit for any kind of scary monsters to hide in. Though dark, It was basically just a regular room. Must be a royalty thing. However, it did possess many rare treasures the likes of which the kids have never seen before.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to be up here?” Blades was a bit nervous, at his home dozens of rooms were off limits. No one there would even dream of entering those. Though that makes sense considering it’s an academy for knights, who knows what kind of weaponry was behind those doors.

High Five was curiously digging through a pile of cloths. He didn’t know what exactly he was looking for, but he continued anyways. “Don’t worry, you guys just arrived! We have at least an hour until the grown ups come looking for us.” The prince interrupted his search to hold up a green dress which was just the right size for them to wear. Must be one of his mother’s when she was their age. He shrugged and tossed it away.

Meanwhile Echo’s attention was pulled towards a large shelf standing against the back wall of the attic. A shimmering light at the very top was particularly intriguing. “Hey Five, do you know what that is?” The girl pointed up at the mysterious object.

High Five took a short glance at the item in question before moving on to the highly anticipated pile of old toys. “No idea. Must be some gift my parents gave each other I guess.”

Echo hummed. Blades joined her side and they both stared at the object like it was the most precious thing in the world. “Can you help me get it?”

“How should I do that?” Simply climbing it like a ladder was out of the question - the lower shelves were filled to the brim with all kinds of odds and ends. They had to get straight to the top.

“Don’t you have some special training or something? You should be able to get up such high places.” Echo only knew so much about the knightly duties, but she assumed that he was better fit to reach it than an aristocratic bore like herself.

“I can try, but…” The young knight was hesitant. He was a guest at a royal family’s home and he’s snooping around their personal belongings. Things like that carry severe punishment.

“Don’t be a chicken!” Unlike him, Echo was completely shameless. This wasn’t her home either, but it wouldn’t be the first time that she had broken something and only apologized reluctantly after a scolding from her parents. “We’ll put it right back after. Don’t you want to know what it is?”

Blades had to admit that he did. It was glowing despite no light being close to it. It looked so out of place up there, almost like it wasn’t from this world. Curiosity got the best of him, and the boy pondered on how to best approach the situation.
After short thought he went into a crouch and leaped up. When he got high enough, he held onto the top and placed his feet two shelves lower. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any of the items up there and nearly sent some flying down with his arms sliding across the dusty surface.

Once he caught himself, the object of desire was right in front of him. His eyes sparkled as they were staring at a radiant snow-white fruit. It looked like an apple, yet it was so round and smooth that it might be an orange. Or maybe a tomato? He wasn’t sure, but before further admiring it he let go of the shelf with one hand to grab it.

“Do you have it?” Echo looked up eagerly when she saw her friend turn around with something in his hand.

“Yeah, I’ll throw it down. You catch it.” Blades instructed the girl who nodded and held out her hands.

He carefully dropped the fruit. She caught it, for a second. Then it slipped through her fingers, fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces.
The two gasped and High Five’s head shot out of the pile of junk it was in to see what has happened. Blades jumped down from the shelf, landing next to Echo and they stared at the broken white pieces in horror.

“I told you to catch it!” Filled with worry, Blades put the blame on Echo.

“I did, but it slipped!” Echo was angry rather than worried.

“It wasn’t that slippery, I held it with one hand!” The knight wasn’t sure who to blame here, but the consequences would be far worse for him than for Echo, so it should be her.

“Well, you dropped it too hard!” Echo tore her eyes away from the mess and glared at Blades. “You broke it!”

Blades returned a furious look. “No, you did!”

“No, I didn’t!” With the last word Echo became loud. So loud in fact that she unleashed a siren scream, forcing Blades to cover his ears in pain. For the first time, the girl had a look of regret on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She covered her mouth and took a few remorseful steps back. “My mom told me to keep my voice down.”

“Guys, stop!” Five rushed in between the two after observing the argument. “No one broke it, it was an accident.” His eyes darted from one friend to the other while their heads hung in shame.

Suddenly, all their expressions became petrified with fear. They heard footsteps and voices underneath them. Five held a finger on his mouth to tell the others to be quiet. They slowly took one step after the other together to follow the voices and make out what they were saying, but they couldn’t even recognize who they belonged to.
When he noticed the passersby moving further away, Five grabbed his friends by the hands and in a flash they were all standing in the hallway leading up to the attic.

The queen - High Five’s mother, and Echo’s mother were about to leave that very hallway until they noticed the kids and turned around. “Where did you come from?” The queen was perplexed.

“We were just… testing out my abilities!” High Five lied, something that rarely works with his mother. “We were in the garden just a second ago!”

The queen looked at him skeptically. She knew when he was lying. His cheeks gain an ever so faint hint of red when he did and only she ever seems to notice it. Fortunately, she wasn’t in the mood to further question them. “Fine, just be careful please. And don’t bother the servants unless it’s an emergency!”

“Of course!” Five and his friends nodded nonchalantly.

Echo’s mother smiled at her daughter who returned a fake one to ease her mind. The women finally left and the trio sighed in relief.

“That was close.” Echo rubbed her arm, still feeling guilty for what happened.

“Too close.” Blades added. He paused for a moment before turning toward Echo. “I’m sorry for blaming you.”

“And I’m sorry for yelling like that, I really didn’t mean to.” The girl bashfully brushed her long cyan hair out of her face. They gave each other gentle smiles and Five was glad to see no hard feelings.

“We should get rid of the evidence. My parents only go to the attic like once a year, they won’t notice.” The prince reassured his friends even though none of them knew what the broken item was. He just hoped it was nothing important.
“Last one there is a snoring chompy!” With those words the boy immediately zoomed off, leaving the other two flabbergasted.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Echo yelled after him. Her and Blades briefly exchanged ambitious looks before beginning a competition to sprint back to the attic.

The years went by, and the friends became inseparable. Fantastical tales, mysterious expeditions, breathtaking battles. With some imagination they could turn dull afternoons into the most exciting adventures!
However, as they got older their meet ups also became less frequent. None of them knew why. They didn’t really know why their parents had to gather anyway. Despite that, they always made the most out of their days together and enjoyed them thoroughly. Blades would showcase the latest combat moves he had learned, and Echo would play her new favorite songs on the shellphones her parents finally bought her. Meanwhile High Five would talk about the amazing racing tournaments his brothers participated in, as those were an old tradition of the Dragonflies. Even though he wasn’t allowed to participate due to his age, he always described the races as if he had been in them himself.

After a long gap between their last meetings, the trio agreed to find something which could be used as an excuse to come visit Five whenever they wanted. The prince already had a perfect idea.

“We can plant them here!” The three kids were in Five’s room standing in front of the large window. On the outer side, there was a long pot filled with earth hanging from it. “They will have enough sunshine and I will make sure to water them when there’s no rain.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to know what we’re planting though?” Echo was unsure as she looked at the seeds in her hand. “What if these are melon seeds?”

“They’re all flowers, my mom knows what she gave us.” As a royal family of the Life Element, it was natural for them to know their way around plants. “So, who’s going first?”

Blades and Echo looked at each other uncertain for some seconds until Five rolled his eyes and went ahead. He scattered his seeds right in the middle of the pot. Echo followed and buried hers on the left side and finally Blades finished on the right side.

“There we go! Now we just have to wait.” They proudly gazed at the promising pot filled with dirt and dreams. The friends were quiet for a moment during which Five looked out his window and into the enormous garden. “Whoever’s outside first gets the best apples!” And with that he zoomed away, as usual.

“Not this again!” Echo groaned and already started to run ahead to beat Blades to it.

Once they were all in the garden and about to play another game it only took a few minutes until a voice summoned Echo back inside. After futile protests and downhearted goodbyes, the girl left the group. That sucked. The kids still had so many ideas and plans they wanted to realize, but those were hard when it’s just the two of them.

Blades was fiddling his wooden sword while Five finished eating the apple he started earlier all while suggesting what they could do on their own, but to no avail. It was only a matter of time until Blades would have to go as well, and they never knew when they would see each other again.
Though thinking about that, the prince remembered overhearing his parents discussing something along the lines of assigning a knight to him. Having guards around the castle was nothing unusual, but a personal one? Five was certain that that knight had to be Blades. He did live in an academy for knights and his father was one of the leaders after all, so Blades was practically born to become one. And if it’s him then they could always be together! After that thought process, another idea popped into his head. “Hey Blades, we should do something before you go!”

Blades’ eyes widened expectantly. “What?”

Five sat on his knees and turned to face his friend. Blades mirrored that position and stared at him patiently. “Let’s make a promise. No, an oath! Like a knight’s oath! You should know that.”

“An oath?” Blades wasn’t sure where the boy was going with this. “What for?”

“Hmm…” Oaths usually have another word attached. What could this one be for? “I know! We will make an oath of friendship!” Like a bolt of lightning, another idea hit Five. “And my dad once told me that when you want to make sure the promise holds no matter what, you should make a pinky promise! Or pinky oath in this case.”

“Huh?” The more Five said, the more confused Blades was.

“I’ll show you! Just do what I say.” Five cleared his throat and took on a formal posture.

“The Dragonfly Prince High Five and his trusted knight Blades hereby swear an oath to stay friends forever. To seal the deal, say ‘I promise’!” Additionally, the prince also stretched out his pinky finger towards Blades. With an excited look, he repeated:

“I promise!”

Blades hesitated for a moment. He was quick to catch on and hold out his pinky finger as well before they would wrap them around each other. He repeated:

“I promise.”

Chapter Text

“I promise.”

Blades remembered it like it was yesterday. He remembered the smell of grass which would linger on his clothes all the way back home. The taste of the sweet, juicy apples of the Dragonfly Garden. The warm sunshine of childhood memories. Most of all he remembered High Five’s shimmering red eyes in that moment, meeting his own with such hopeful enthusiasm.

That was nearly ten years ago.

They kept their promise, at least for a while. It’s been about three years since they’ve last seen each other. Things happened.
Blades is now 19 and headed towards a brand-new life. The life of a Skylander.

Well, he wasn’t a Skylander just yet.

He was currently standing at the edge of a small airship flying through the ever-blue skies, his trusty armor shimmering in the sunlight. He reached for his backpack and pulled out an envelope which had already been opened before.
The paper inside was an invitation to the Skylanders Academy - the most well-known establishment for the most legendary heroes in all of Skylands! Though you couldn’t really expect anything less when your namesake is the very world you’re living in. And he received that letter from none other than Master Eon himself, the renowned founder of the Academy and one of the greatest Portal Masters who has ever lived!

And Blades didn’t simply receive the letter either. Master Eon visited and handed it to him in person! It was two days ago when the young knight was nothing short of exhilarated to see the ancient sorcerer show up at his knight academy and ask for him. Even thinking back to it now made Blades all giddy. Reason for that visit was a rather unconventional act of heroism which the knight performed one week prior.

For an entire century the terrifying Golden Fear Serpent had slumbered within the great dungeon of his home, Scalos Castle. It’s a creature that feasts on fear, which is why no one ever had the guts to confront it.
On that one faithful evening the beast awoke, shaking the entire castle with a deafening roar. Despite there being many honorable knights who had faced the most fearsome monsters Skylands had to offer, no one dared to enter the dungeon. Blades had never seen any of them in such a state. These mighty fearless heroes he’s been looking up to his entire life acted like helpless sheep, avoiding the danger at all costs.
The knight took it upon himself to descend into the dungeon and rid them of the serpent once and for all. With each step he noticed himself becoming more nervous, more terrified. What if he failed? What if he lets everyone down? What if everyone is doomed because of him? Fears which plagued Blades regularly all rose up at once and he couldn’t count the times he considered turning around to run for the hills. Yet he persisted.
He made it to the darkest of chambers in which the monster resided. The knight felt a haunting presence and faintly discerned the large reptile as it was slowly slithering through the shadows. Suddenly, he was met with a sinister grin. To his surprise, the serpent made him a deal. In exchange for the kingdom’s safety, Blades would have to remain in the dungeon for all eternity. He would never see the light of day again. He would never see his friends and family again. He would never be free again. Knowing what was at stake and Blades being who he is, he agreed. Once he did, the foe vanished. Turns out the only way to defeat it was to confront your fears.
After the evil had been banished, Blades was celebrated, and word of his deed soon reached Master Eon who decided to recruit him as a Skylander personally.

And here he is – on an airship steering straight towards Skylanders Academy. It’s a big step, but admittedly, he didn’t have to think about it too long. He loves his home and he will be forever grateful to the people who helped him become who he is today, but he wanted more.

Scalos Castle is the name of a kingdom built primarily by and for knights. Blades never quite understood why it’s considered a kingdom when there wasn’t a proper ruler to begin with, but that’s beside the point. A selected few of them would watch over the dungeon holding the Golden Fear Serpent, which was no longer necessary, but most would get hired by royalty or nobility all across Skylands to either guard their kingdoms or serve as personal bodyguards on excursions. They are basically knights for hire, though no one wants to call it that.

As a Skylander, the possibilities are endless! He could see the world, meet all kinds of new people and push himself beyond his limits! That’s what Blades always truly dreamed of.

“So, ye’ gonna pay me or do I have to extend the flight to Cloudcracker Prison?” The raspy voice of the pilot tore Blades out of his daydream. He swung his head around to see that they’ve already arrived at the Academy!

“Right, forgive me.” Swallowing his embarrassment, Blades stepped into the cockpit and pulled out his small leather sack to hand the short yet hefty pilot three golden coins.

The man whose entire head was covered with accessories such as goggles, scarves and a hat closely inspected the payment before looking back at Blades. “Good luck kid.”

With a nod and a nervous smile, the knight stepped off the ship before the pilot set out for his next destination and vanished within a thick cloud.

After Blades had adjusted his backpack and strapped it to his back, he finally got the opportunity to soak up the glorious sight of the Skylanders Academy. It exceeded all his expectations. Tall brick towers decorated with golden rims and indigo rooftops reached up to the skies and pierced the clouds.
The knight took one step after the other across the grey stone pavement and admired every little detail. From the glinting fences to the lush greenery and the grand entrance leading into the main hall upfront. It felt like he had entered a fairytale setting.

Along the way, Blades was greeted by what must have been other cadets and even full-fledged Skylanders! He’s never seen such a colorful palette of people gathered in one place before. This is so exciting! Soon he would be working side by side with them and become a legendary hero as well!

Blades felt as if the excitement could make his heart burst out of his chest! The further he went inside the building, the more he could tell how intense that feeling was. Not only was he excited, but nervous too. Blades swallowed his own spit in an attempt to remove the knot that had formed within his throat, without success.

The knight keenly observed each door he could spot, hoping to find the one which belonged to the most important person’s office. He soon came across some chairs standing against the wall across from a large wooden door. That must be it.

While some cadets and Skylanders quietly passed by with nothing but quick glances, Blades stood in front of the door and hesitantly raised his hand to knock. That’s how you enter a headmaster’s office, right? He wouldn’t know since his academy barely had any doors. Or offices for that matter.

“I am glad to see you at the Academy, Blades.” A calm voice suddenly appeared next to the tense knight who turned his head to see Master Eon politely standing there with a gentle smile underneath his snow-white beard. “So, you’ve decided to accept my offer?”

“Master Eon!” It was really him, the great Eon. This isn’t the first time they meet but seeing him here in his domain instead of the familiar dark halls of Scalos Castle had an entirely different effect.
“Yes, of course! I mean, I had to think about it for a while. Not too much though! I…” He was stumbling over his words. Pull yourself together, Blades! “I would be honored to join the ranks of the Skylanders.” A rather clumsy first impression which Blades tried to smooth out with a flashing smile. “Words cannot express how grateful I am that you’ve decided to recruit me personally. I know that’s not a matter of course.”

The wise old man chuckled. “Though it may not seem like it, your deed was an extraordinary one. I felt it was appropriate to seek you out myself.” The new arrival gleamed with pride as the tall sorcerer eyed him for a few moments. “I assure you there’s nothing to be nervous about. But let’s discuss the formalities inside my office. Shall we?””

Blades nodded and felt a wave of relief wash over him. Something about Master Eon’s presence was so comforting. Like a warm hug letting you know that everything’s alright.

The headmaster pushed the heavy door open and welcomed the newest recruit inside to sit at the office desk.

Unbeknown to both, they were being watched by a figure on the shadowy wooden beams above them.

The talk went smooth and casual. To be fair, Master Eon did already explain a lot during his visit, so Blades only had to answer a few procedural questions and sign some papers.
Afterwards, he took his few belongings to his assigned dorm room, which was surprisingly not being shared with anyone, and headed back out after a short rest. He was eager to see everything this new chapter in his life had to offer.

The Academy was famous throughout the entire Skylands, but only the luckiest get to see it up close, not to mention join it. Many aspects reminded the knight of his home, Scalos Castle. They both have a medieval flare, both have or are an academy, both forged some of the most skilled warriors.
However one thing he noticed right off the bat was the atmosphere. It was so bright and warm here. It almost felt like a beautiful painting come to life. A comfortable amount of sunshine, artistically shaped clouds and in the midst of it this academy of dreams.

Hold on. This wasn’t a dream, right?

Well, by now he should have woken up, so no.

Scalos Castle on the other hand was dark. Not depressingly dark, but it’s so high up in the sky that there’s always a thick blanket of clouds over it. That may seem like a living nightmare to some, and it was for quite a few colleagues back home, but Blades made the most of it. He always had some connection to the winds and skies and the vast cloud walls offered a great method to harness and visualize those powers.
Alongside his knightly training, he also practiced the mastery of air. He was no elemental guru by any means, but it soon became clear that he belonged to the Air Element, which Master Eon recognized as well.

There he was drifting off again. Focus Blades! He didn’t even notice that he’s almost reached the other end of the Academy, or what he’d passed on the way here!

Only… huh. Seems like his trip down memory lane also served as a trip to the training grounds, because that’s where he was. He did plan to get some training in today, just to test the waters.

The entrance was open, yet no one was there. Blades stepped onto the large circular field and observed his surroundings. A pretty standard training ground - nothing special, but efficient. And even here everything seemed so much…  brighter than back home. Perhaps this was just the phenomenon of entering a new environment for the first time. Better get used to it, this will be his go-to place for training from now on.

Training, right! He’s never been this unfocused before.

As is the custom for Scalos Knights, he was wearing his armor as long as he wasn’t asleep. Master Eon mentioned something about forging a new, custom-made one if he desired, he hasn’t agreed to it yet. Blades wasn’t someone who became sentimental over clothes or objects, but he was comfortable in his current armor. It was like a second skin.

Once he’d reached the storage room, he couldn’t find any training devices without having to bother someone to show him, so he settled for the training dummies which were lined up against a wall. It was his first day after all and he didn’t want to make first impressions by asking favors.
It took Blades a few minutes to set the dummies up in a formation which would allow him to effectively practice his skills. One over here, two more on the right, another there… yes, that should do it!

Holding a basic training sword, Blades took a deep breath and readied himself. He then exhaled sharply, tightened the grip around his sword and began to run.

As swift as the wind, the cadet swung his sword and smoothly cut the first puppet in half! Turning his body around with one foot, he spotted the next target and went for it.

Fwoosh!

One horizontal strike to decapitate both dummies that were next to each other!

Blades squatted down just to push himself off the ground and leap over the headless foes. An impressive flip mid-air gave him enough momentum to effortlessly split the next dummy in two!

There was only one enemy left.

He spotted it from the corner of his eye. The knight caught his breath for a second before suddenly turning around and sprinting towards it! He pulled his sword back as he was preparing a powerful thrust to finish it off! He put his foot down to halt right in front of the enemy as his weapon rushed towards the chest to-

“Hey there!”

Blades’ finishing thrust was abruptly stopped. Instead of the target, he was staring at a stranger crouching on top of the blade whilst looking at him through bright yellow goggles.
How were they doing that? How could he still hold his sword up?

Before Blades could even begin to comprehend the split second of a situation and gravity could do its thing, the person was suddenly standing next to the targeted dummy with crossed arms and a mischievous grin. The knight remained in the thrusting position, still processing what just happened. He slowly lowered his sword while keeping his astonished eyes intently on the chuckling stranger.

“Never thought I’d see you here!” The stranger observed the confused knight, almost as if he was looking for something. “Then again, you probably never thought you’d see me here either, huh?”

With every word that left the person’s mouth Blades’ confusion grew. He’s met many people throughout his life, but only few ever remembered him. Something about him seemed familiar though, he couldn’t put his finger on it. “I’m sorry, have we met before?”

The stranger’s smile immediately faded and he became quiet. His mouth alone conveyed an emotion which Blades could only describe as shockingly devastated.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long until the person released an ‘Ohhh’ of realization before bringing the lighthearted smile back. “Yeah right, the hair, the clothes. I get it!” Another chuckle to ease the tension of the moment.

Meanwhile Blades remained silent and analyzed the stranger curiously.

He’s short, not too short but shorter than him. He has a very casual style - regular clothes, no armor. Definitely on the more flexible side.
Doesn’t look like royalty, that narrows it down by a lot.
Freckles on his cheeks and rather short blonde hair with red ends which was held back by a headband with a bold number five on it. And he couldn’t forget the big round goggles covering his eyes.

Blades felt like he knew him, but the look didn’t match.

Wait, the number.

Could it be?

The stranger proceeded to grab his goggles and slide them down to the red bandana tied around his neck.
That’s when it finally hit Blades. Those burning red eyes. It was him!

“High Five?” He whispered. It really was Five. No, High Five, he couldn’t just use his nickname after all this time.

And he’s royalty! You can’t just stand there!

Automatically, Blades kneeled down and closed his eyes, much to Five’s surprise. “I apologize for my unprofessional behavior and ignorance, your highness! I hereby vow to never repeat such actions and act accordingly in your presence!”

“Please forgive me.”

High Five could only blink in disbelief. When the remorseful knight wouldn’t stand back up and silence filled the air, he crouched down to be at his eye level. “You’re joking, right?”

Blades’ eyes shot open and he lifted his head to face the cadet who seemed to be waiting for a confirmation. “Uh… yeah! Haha, totally!” The cadet promptly stood up and both of them laughed in a forced manner. “You know, I’m a knight and you’re a prince… so this is common courtesy.”

“Oh, I’m no prince here don’t worry about that.” High Five waved his hand dismissively.

Way to make a first impression, Blades. Or was it a second impression? A second first impression? Either way it was embarrassing, so he just let High Five do the talking.

“And sorry for ambushing you like that, of course you couldn’t recognize me. Heck, my own mother didn’t recognize me when I first showed up like this!” He lightly snorted while thinking back to that day.

“No need to be sorry.” How was he being so casual? He was talking as if they’ve been friends since childhood. Well, technically they have. They were friends in their childhood, but it’s been years since they last saw each other. “So, you’ve joined the Skylanders too?”

“Yup, didn’t see that one coming! No one did, really.” Even after all this time, High Five was just how Blades remembered him. Each movement and gesture was full of enthusiasm and this kind of smooth confidence accentuated with an ever so bright smile, only challenged by the sun above them. The knight has always found it contagious and that hasn’t changed either, he was smiling alongside him as he was telling his story.
“There were these really nasty trolls that tried to sabotage our annual racing tournament and as it turns out I’m pretty good at beating up bad guys! And on top of that, I finally got to participate and even win the race! Not to brag or anything.”

Blades chuckled. “That sounds amazing!” The cadet could finally loosen up a little and lead a somewhat normal conversation. “I didn’t exactly plan on coming here either but after finally getting rid of the Golden Fear Serpent at Scalos Castle, Master Eon decided to invite me personally. Saying no wasn’t really an option there.”

“You got rid of the serpent!? No way!” Blades nodded to confirm. “You know, I always had a feeling that you would be the one to finally get the job done. Congrats!”

Blades scratched the back of his head, or rather helmet, and turned his head away when he caught himself blush from the flattery. They always encouraged each other as kids. It was nice to have that back, he just has to get used to it.

“It’s good to see you again, High Five.”

“Five is enough.” The old friend replied. “Good to see you too, Blades.”

Despite being out of touch for some time and the royal cadet having undergone such a transformation, Blades could feel their bright, carefree friendship blossom once more. For years he thought it’s been lost to circumstances, but it’s merely been out of reach. Ironically it seems like circumstances also brought them back together. However, he thought it would be best to treat it like a fresh start rather than a rekindling.

Suddenly, Five’s mouth opened and he gasped excitedly. “Since we’re on the topic of reuniting, there’s someone else you have to see!”

Huh? Blades had to think for a moment. Reuniting with someone else… that could only be… “No, she’s here too!?”

“Those were my exact thoughts when I saw her!” Five grinned from ear to ear, and Blades couldn’t help but mirror it. He didn’t say her name, but the knight was certain that he was talking about Echo.

Ancients, Echo.

Blades lost count of how many times she’s been told to keep her voice down during their playtimes as kids. He still remembers the ringing in his ears whenever she was right next to him. That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy her company, she was a free spirit and came up with the most creative and fun ideas for new games. Later she would even bring a radio along to provide background music.
One thing’s for sure – when Echo was around it never got boring.
He's always been closer to Five, there’s no denying that, but they weren’t a friend group without her.

“Come on, she has to be in her room!” Five took the lead as they left the training grounds and headed for the dormitory. On their way, Blades’ eyes eventually locked onto his old friend again. He looked like a stranger, yet he has never been more himself.
Energetic, spunky, funny - all traits which he already possessed as a kid. Once the grownups would leave them alone and they had the entire garden of the Dragonfly Castle to themselves, the quiet and well-behaved prince would glow up and start dashing around with the entire day’s worth of built-up energy.

Through the years, that cheerful and sometimes reckless attitude gradually faded away. He had to keep up appearances and became more involved in their parents’ discussions. There wasn’t much time for fun and games anymore.
Blades knew good and well what kind of responsibilities such members of royalty must carry, since his responsibility was to keep them safe. In the public eye, every mistake, every misstep, hell every wrong breath can be held against them. He never said it out loud, but Blades knew that High Five wasn’t the happiest in his position. The prince enjoyed every free second and as his friend, Blades made sure to make the most out of each one.

Now they were here, all grown up and strolling the paths of the Skylanders Academy. Five walked at a quick pace, commenting nearly everything that he laid his eyes on while Blades silently followed. Besides the story he’s just been told, he didn’t know what exactly happened that lead to his decision to join the Skylanders. Perhaps he really left the past behind.

Blades lowered his head a little.

He surely hoped he did.

“We’re almost there!” The two walked along the red carpet which was rolled out across the hard stone floor and passed countless dorm rooms, including Blades’. Soon they could hear some music becoming louder and louder with each step. “Oh yeah, we’re close.” High Five nodded reassured.

Finally, they stopped in front of the door where the sound was coming from. At this point the music was so loud that saying anything would be pointless. Five didn’t even bother to knock and just opened it.

Peeking into the room felt like entering a basement party! The walls were a deep blue color with posters of bands and singers plastered all over it. Looking down, Blades spotted every kind of instrument and musical equipment he could and couldn’t think of. Keyboards, guitars, mix boards, stereo boxes, microphones, headphones.
What looked like a mess to them was a perfectly organized collection for the owner of the room who was currently sitting on a chair with her back turned towards the visitors, lightly banging her head to the rock music filling the entire space.

So, this was Echo… huh. Blades thought Five changed a lot, but she was nearly unrecognizable. Not in a bad way though.
She was the spitting image of a heavy metal star - a cyan mohawk with black streaks cutting through it, shell-shaped headphones, also known as shellphones, resting on her neck, a leather jacket with spiked shoulders, ripped jeans and combat boots. To be completely honest, Blades did expect her to look something like this once she got older. She was just the type.

“Echo!” High Five shouted, but his voice was no match for the intense waves of sound coming from the several speakers. He groaned and instead of continuing to yell the speedster disappeared for a moment before reappearing in the next. When he did, the music was shut down surprising both Blades and Echo and causing the latter to angrily turn around and face them.

“Five, you know I hate it when you use your powers to do-” The music enjoyer quit her ranting as soon as she laid eyes on Blades. “A visitor?”

“Not just any visitor!” Five anticipated her reaction with bated breath as his head swayed between Blades and Echo. His movement eventually slowed down and he frowned when she continued to stare at their childhood friend like a complete stranger.

The musician finally stood up and got closer. “Is he a new cadet? I haven’t heard about any applications recently.” She tilted her head obliviously while Blades returned a sheepish smile.

“Echo, are you serious?” High Five was caught in disbelief. “Do you not recognize him!?”

“Should I?” Echo grew irritated as her eyes darted from one visitor to the other.

Five sighed. “Take your helmet off.”

Right! Blades completely forgot. He’s been wearing his helmet this whole time, obviously she couldn’t recognize him! It’s pretty strange that Five could.
The knight grabbed his sturdy silver helmet and removed it from his head, revealing his raven black hair which was just long enough to be tied into a small ponytail in the lower back, but left messy otherwise.

Finally, Echo’s eyes widened with realization and Five’s eager grin returned. “Blades!?” Her mouth was left open and the musician couldn’t say another word for five solid seconds. “You’re here too!?”

“Yeah, guess I am! Haha…” It was a bit awkward- no it was very awkward to be treated like some celebrity by the people you used to know, but he couldn’t blame them. The new cadet was just as surprised to see them here, only he wasn’t as… expressive about it.

“Well color me stoked, what are the odds of the three of us reuniting here?” Echo was still beside herself and laughed delightedly.

“Extremely low since the Skylands are endless.” High Five responded, which was true, but Blades wouldn’t put it in such drastic scale.

Echo insisted they stay in her room for a while, which, to Blades’ surprise, smelled like expensive perfumes.

And in the room they stayed, for the rest of the day in fact.

The ice broke quickly and the trio was talking, joking and laughing as if they never stopped being friends, which was true in some regard - they never formally ended their friendship, they just lost touch. Although that probably was the most common way to end friendships, wasn’t it?
As it turns out though, Echo and High Five met up quite often during their adolescence. Royalty and nobility have all sorts of excuses to meet each other is what the two of them said. From diplomacy to gossip, there was a wide collection to choose from. And it was Echo who gave Five his makeover and ultimately motivated him to leave his home and find something for himself. She beat him to joining the Skylanders by two weeks, but they both had the same idea in mind.
Blades also shared his story, which visibly impressed the eccentric musician. Yet whenever he tried to bring up something from their shared past, she always managed to change the topic, and Five remained uncharacteristically silent. Of course he didn’t want to dwell on it either, but someone had to bring it up, right?

Regardless of that, they had a wonderful time catching up. They’ve all grown quite a lot, not just physically but mentally as well. And still, sitting here without a care in the world made Blades feel like they were kids again.

Like they have always been best friends.

Like nothing bad ever happened.

He finally turned his sight to the window and noticed that the sun was already setting. “Oh Ancients, it’s getting dark!” Blades interrupted a fit of laughter from the other two who became just as shocked once they looked outside. “I have to go guys, there’s so much for me to do tomorrow. And I still need to settle into my room!”

The reconciled friends said their goodbyes before Blades grabbed his helmet, left Echo’s room, and headed towards his own.

“Hey Blades!”

The knight stopped and turned around to see Five standing in the hallway.

“See you again tomorrow?” He chummily pointed a finger at him.

“Sure thing! See you tomorrow!” Blades responded and continued walking.

High Five smilingly waved him off. “Alright. - Don’t be a stranger!”

“… Please.” He added silently with a fading smile.

Chapter Text

It was the last day of the school year – graduation day!

Applause filled the mild afternoon air as the graduates eagerly stood next to the stage positioned at the center of the Academy, waiting to accept their certificates.
One after the other was called to step onto the wooden platform before shaking Master Eon’s hand and receiving that life changing piece of paper.

After what seemed like hours of observing everyone else having their moment of glory, Master Eon finally said his name: “Blades!”

The graduate didn’t waste another second and immediately leapt onto the stage. Each step he took towards Eon felt like skipping over impossibly high mountains which have been unreachable until now.

Even though he’s only been at the Academy for a year and he’s experienced several graduations back home, this was one of the most significant moments of his life. He won’t just be another nameless, expendable knight quietly standing next to even more nameless, expendable knights, no, he was about to become a member of the Skylanders – the heroes of legend who have saved the entire world time and time again, vanquished the most despicable villains and accomplished more than entire armies.

At last, he stood before Master Eon. His ever so gentle eyes looked upon him with the pride of a father. “Congratulations, Skylander.” With a kind voice and an even softer smile, the headmaster handed Blades his diploma. It was a small gesture and few words, but they meant the world to the young Skylander.

Blades carefully held the rolled paper and stared at it like it was the most valuable treasure in all of Skylands. This simple document carried an unimaginable weight, it wasn’t just some confirmation in black and white - it was a key. A path forward. A future.

His future as a Skylander!

And it doesn’t end there! During his training at the Academy, Blades took part in the Legendary Tournament and passed with flying colors, earning him the title of a Legendary Skylander which is indicated with a golden seal on the diploma. Only Spyro himself managed to win the tournament during his training, only he was a year older at the time, therefore making Blades the youngest Skylander to ever receive the legendary status.

With an intense sense of accomplishment and pride, he faced the crowd and elatedly raised his certificate into the air. The cheering was overwhelming, but also exhilarating. In that one moment, everyone was looking up to him. They celebrated him, only him. Comrades, cadets, teachers, even Master Eon himself.

They all believed in him.

Then he just couldn’t help himself. “That’s right, I am the youngest Skylander to gain the legendary status and the first and only knight of Scalos Castle to join your ranks!” The first thing Blades proclaimed to his allies as a Skylander was probably the most egocentric statement they’ve heard today. “Don’t be shy, you can get an autograph if you want!”

The crowd responded with baffled faces and lowering their applause. Boasting isn’t anything new among the Skylanders, but this soon?

After some more seconds of revelling in the now less enthusiastic cheering, Eon put a hand on Blades’ shoulder to politely lead him off the stage for the next graduate.
With his self-esteem still being as high as the Academy towers, the knight hopped down and began strolling around the main plaza to let everyone knows what he’s accomplished.

Shaking hands, pats on the back and even some pictures where he made sure to look his best in his new shimmering, custom-made armor.

The feeling was invigorating.

All his life he was humble, praises kept to a minimum. He was raised to be a competent, selfless warrior whose only purpose was to do his job.
That he was, no one can say otherwise, but the Skylanders were a name cherished throughout the entire world. Fame and glory were inevitable.

And Blades took in every ounce of it.

The walk home which usually takes about eight minutes turned into nearly an hour. He excused himself from a group of cadets and teachers discussing the highly successful graduations this year and finally reached his dorm house.

It was not so long ago when the trio of Blades, High Five and Echo were offered to move into a small building near the Academy and didn’t hesitate to accept.
They each have their own bedroom and bathroom, however the living space and kitchen are being shared, which doesn’t bother them since they’ve become such good friends again that there are almost no arguments regarding their living habits. Not to mention the fact that they already hung out at each other’s dorm rooms all the time.

Blades entered through the front door and headed straight to the kitchen.

“Catch!”

Without even thinking Blades reacted in a split second and pulled out his sword for a quick strike in front of him to stop an incoming object. After hearing two thumps on the floor, he looked down to see an apple which he just cut in half.

“Damn, didn’t think you’d get that one!” High Five was sitting on the counter and in a flash, he was holding both apple halves before taking a generous bite out of one of them. “Next time make sure to catch with your hands though, who knows what I’ll find to throw.”

“Next time you should think twice before throwing anything in the first place.” Despite Blades’ opposition, he actually encouraged him to do this. This was a common tactic at the knight academy to sharpen their reflexes and he wanted to carry it over.
Even though he’s had quite a few objects fly in his face, he knew Five would never throw anything painful.

… At least not too painful.

The friends smiled at each other as Blades walked up to Five to grab the other half of the apple.

Blades started eating the fruit while being curious about his friend’s absence today. “I missed you at the graduation, I thought we’d celebrate together.”

“Eh, I’m not really into all that ceremonial stuff with all eyes on me. I’ve had more than enough of that back home. I’ll pick up my certificate later.” He took another bite, even bigger than the last, as he reminded the knight of his upbringing.
“And besides, I figured you’d like to have the crowd all to yourself to gloat over what an amazing new addition you are to the Skylanders!” High Five teasingly leaned against Blades.

“Oh don’t be like that, we should acknowledge our accomplishments! Tell the world who we are and what we can do, that’s what makes a Skylander!” Blades was well aware of his pompous behavior at recent times, but he didn’t see any harm in it. Skylanders are supposed to be confident in their abilities, right?

“Yeah, but you don’t have to act like you single-handedly defeated the Darkness, dude.” Five tied in a brief snicker to which Blades responded with a lighthearted eye roll.

As the conversation went on, Echo entered the kitchen wearing her shellphones at full volume as usual. She walked past the guys without sparing them a glance before grabbing some cereal to pour inside a bowl. Adding some cold milk and her lunch was served.

“Huh, she sure got over it quickly.” Blades observed the punk rock enthusiast until she eventually turned around to interact with them.

“Want some?” She shook the cereal box as she was munching a spoonful of it. Both declined whilst Echo placed her shellphones onto her shoulders and joined them at the counter.
“Pretty big day, huh?”

“For some more than others.” Five’s ruby red eyes wandered over to Blades who returned an expression telling him that he took the hint.
“I really thought today would be more… exciting, I guess?” The former prince lazily rested his head on his hand. “I feel exactly the same as I did before we became all-mighty Skylanders.”

“Same.” Echo gulped down another portion of her cereal. “But it’s always like that, you await this life changing experience just for it to end up feeling like any other day.” She recalled all those seemingly special events in her life and how she was always left disappointed afterwards. “Any day can be life changing if you want it to be.”

Blades nodded thoughtfully; he knew too well what she meant. For him, the most random and unexpected days ended up being the ones seriously changing his life.
His gaze then locked onto High Five as Echo proceeded to philosophize. Thinking back, it seemed those days always involved him as well. Yet after everything he was still here, sitting right next to him.

Blades’ mind was roaming.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if someday they made action figures of us?” Five’s strange idea made him and Echo both snort with laughter.

“Then I will make sure to send some to your mom and brothers.” Echo giggled and was soon joined by Blades while Five could only gasp in shock. “Don’t you dare!”

The laughter of the trio was interrupted by a buzzing sound. Blades promptly pulled out his new communication device and when the buzzing continued elsewhere, Echo grabbed hers as well. Five’s head swung from left to right, impatiently waiting for his friends to share some information.

“There’s a distress signal somewhere near the Academy.” The knight’s device displayed a map of their entire school with a striking red dot nearby.

“Infiltration of Warehouse No. 6. Enemies: Trolls. Approach the location immediately!” Echo read the identical notification word for word.

The recipients looked up from their devices and at each other. In the meantime, Five took his device as well but couldn’t find anything resembling their notification. “Hey, why didn’t I get that!?”

“This is a mission for me and Echo. They told us about this scenario in some classes.” The musician took a second to process the situation while Blades instantaneously grabbed his sword and helmet and hurried out the door. Echo quickly finished her cereal and tossed the bowl into the sink before following him. “See ya’ Fives!”

High Five quietly raised his hand to wave them off and remained on the counter. “I won’t take that personally.” He said to himself, but directed it at whoever sent the message.

A mission with Echo. That should be… fun?

Blades glanced over to his companion who was listening to music through her shellphones, not having said a word since they left. It was uncomfortable to say the least. In moments like these even the simple act of walking felt embarrassing.
Echo wasn’t self-conscious, at least in no negative way. She kept going straight ahead in a relaxed and composed manner wearing the clothes she wanted, acting the way she wanted and listening to the music she wanted, all without looking at him once. Blades had this feeling for a while now and he hated to be having it, but he felt like Echo didn’t like him very much.

They used to be such good friends as kids - an inseparable trio. While they both always considered Five to be their best friend, they still used every opportunity to spend time as a group.
Now it felt… off. Echo’s still very close with Five, more so than before, and that may be the only reason she’s still hanging out with Blades.

He’s merely the friend of a friend.

“You think we’ll face some strong enemies at the warehouse?” The knight spoke through the dimmed sound of Echo’s music. He knew that she could hear him. “Are you properly prepared?”

“They’re trolls, how strong can they be? They rely on tech and gadgets, my soundwaves will take them down in no time.” Echo was confident, but she had a different kind of confidence than Blades. She was aware of her abilities, but she didn’t brag. Her weapon was her voice, something she always had access to, unless of course she spent the last night screeching to another heavy metal song. From a purely objective point of view, she was superior to Blades. She was more reliable. That’s the kind of person he respected more than anyone, yet also who he was most intimidated by.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, the two Skylanders finally arrived at the warehouse. They stood in front of the entrance and exchanged determined looks and nods.
While Echo turned up the volume on her shellphones, Blades drew his sword and slowly approached the large double-winged door. He counts to three in his head before kicking it open and leaping inside, closely followed by his ally.

To their surprise, no one was there.

Were they too late? The goods appeared to be in order and there was no sign of damage or an entry in the first place. “What the hell?” The knight wondered if they were at the wrong warehouse, but there was no other building far and wide. It was completely secluded.

Perhaps it was an ambush! Blades reminded himself of the most important rules which he had to learn by heart during his training. “Always carefully check your surroundings.” - and that’s what he did.
No enemies above, no enemies in between the crates and shelves. Huh, maybe they really had already left. The puzzled knight looked over to Echo who shook her head to confirm that there was nothing on her side either.

After some final glimpses into every last steel corner, the duo stood next to each other and cluelessly stared at the entrance. “Could this be a graduation prank?” In spite of Echo putting the possibility of a joke on the table, she was anything but amused right now.

“No idea.” Blades shrugged. “We should probably go-”

Slam!

The Skylanders flinched when the door was suddenly shut without warning and mischievous nasal snorts and laughter echoed throughout the entire building. The startled allies stood back to back swinging their heads around in search of the foes, but they couldn’t see a single one.

Crash!

Glass shattered as the teasing cackling continued. Blades felt his teammate’s hand grab him by the shoulder and turn him around to spot a smoke bomb right in front of them. The knight swiftly channeled his air powers into a sword thrust to launch the bomb right back through the broken window.

Echo coughed and waved her hand to rid herself of the remaining smoke before one window after the other exploded into countless shards. Through the openings, a dozen trolls with guns and jetpacks at their disposal stormed inside.

This was it. Blades could achieve his first victory as a Skylander the very same day he became one!

He tightened the grip around his sword, let out a self-assured chuckle and began running across the steel floor plates. The nimble knight dodged every incoming projectile and flew from one enemy to the other thanks to his impressive aerial skills.
Despite the heat of the fight, he was mindful to only strike the enemies’ tech, not their bodies. Stabbed jetpacks, guns whipped out of their hands and rocket launchers cut in two. Blades collected hit after hit.

Meanwhile Echo used the power of her siren voice to handle the opponents. She screamed at such an intensity that it would create soundwaves strong enough to slam the trolls against walls and ruin their equipment.
Additionally, she could also blow bubbles. As silly as that may sound, they were a force to be reckoned with. Upon contact, the bubbles, which moved to the rhythm of whatever music Echo was listening to, would burst and knock you out. In the trolls’ case, it made their gadgets explode, which often ended up knocking them out as well.

Blades was considerably faster at taking down the enemies compared to Echo. While the musician’s attacks were more powerful, she had a harder time hitting the fast-flying trolls.
There was one in particular that was robbing her last nerve. “Get down here you coward!” She interrupted her siren scream to yell at the foe who responded by giggling like a child.

“I got it!” After Blades finished off another troll, he jumped over Echo to go for the nuisance.

“No, you don’t-” The Air Skylander didn’t even listen and simply struck the troll’s jetpack and sent him flying out a window with a panicked shriek.
Blades landed beside Echo and already set his sights on the next target. “You can thank me later.”

Echo raised her eyebrows with disbelief. “Hey, you can’t just-”

Off he was.

This time Echo wouldn’t stay put. She attempted to take the enemies down before Blades could. He viewed that as a competition. The ambitious knight observed onto which troll she would direct her scream and leapt towards that position to strike him ahead of her.

And again.

And again.

Echo exhaled with a frustrated groan and could only watch as Blades did all the work by himself.

She then spotted one of the trolls struggling to lift a crate as he sneakily tried to escape with the goods. Upon closer inspection the Water Skylander’s pupils shrunk and she immediately created a bubble which she slowly led towards the rising box.
As soon as Blades was done with the rest of the enemies, he also noticed the thief who had almost reached an exit. “Oh no, you won’t!”

He prepared one final surge into the air which Echo stared at with horror as her bubble was seconds away from surrounding the crate. “Blades, no!”
It was too late, the sound of cutting steel filled the now silent warehouse and the troll let go of the crate as his damaged jetpack launched him outside.

“Watch out!” Echo howled, causing Blades to look down and see the crate fall mercilessly to the ground. Only now did he pay attention to the writing on top of it.

“Explosive”

With a rock in his stomach and barely any time to react, the Skylander pushed himself off the nearest wall in an attempt to get away from his disastrous mistake as quickly as possible. Echo summoned another bubble as a shield for herself before the wooden box finally hit the floor.

BOOM!

Everything withing the deafening explosion’s radius was blasted away. Blades and Echo were flung towards the entrance wall where she was protected by her bubble while the knight felt a brief but heavy pain crawl through his back before dropping to the cold steel floor.

When the bubble popped and Blades pushed himself up, the duo stared at the scene in utter shock. Almost the entire back wall of the warehouse was ripped open and what was left of it was set in flames. Not to mention all the goods which were either destroyed or currently descending into the depths of Skylands. Catastrophe didn’t even begin to describe it.

Blades was taking hasty breaths as his head slowly rotated to face Echo. “Great job, superhero.” The music enthusiast was now visibly upset, and he didn’t blame her. He was reckless, he didn’t think before acting. He got distracted.

“No feelings, no pride, no distractions!”

That sentence echoed through his head and repeated itself over and over again. He heard the voice of one of his former superiors as if they were standing right before him. Those were the core principles of knighthood. Never lose sight of your objective.

Never.

Suddenly the allies heard the entrance door open. They turned around to see Hugo, Master Eon’s most loyal assistant, greet them.

“Skylanders! You… uh… did it!” He hesitated to finish his sentence after taking a peek at the burning mess in the back.

The Skylanders got back on their feet being baffled by the short and roundish man’s statement. “We… did?” Echo questioned.

“Yes, allow me to reveal the true nature of this mission to you.” Hugo adjusted his circular glasses and talked with an ever-nervous smile. “This was actually a test! Well, mostly. The trolls did infiltrate this warehouse, but don’t worry, it’s not a real one. Neither are the goods, they’re just empty crates! Except for the explosive ones that is.” He laughed anxiously after that last part.

The graduates looked at each other perplexed while the assistant explained further. “We built this as a kind of trap for them. It’s far away from the Academy and thus appears like easy loot to our enemies, but it was really just there to test your skills.” Hugo’s smile wasn’t exactly reassuring, but it was certainly better than a disappointed or angry frown. “Please don’t worry about… that.” He shortly pointed at the spreading fire and gestured for them to move away from the warehouse.

Echo was confused and annoyed while Blades found himself becoming more nervous, scared even. “So, you just wanted to test if we’re capable of being Skylanders?” The musician couldn’t hide the irritation in her voice.

“Yes! Well, no. You are capable of course, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, but this test takes place so we can evaluate your performance in certain situations and what kind of missions are most suitable for you. Every graduate goes through this, but don’t tell the others.” He finished with a weak breathy laugh. “So first, Echo. Your performance was quite satisfactory…”

While Echo was being lectured about her strengths and weaknesses, Blades could feel his stomach turn.
A test? Wasn’t he good enough? Were all the tests he took as a cadet and all the training not enough? His breathing sped up. The warehouse was ruined because he didn’t pay attention! Surely that’s enough to have a Skylander expelled? His mind was racing from one thought to the other, each worse than the last. He could feel an unbearable heat build up underneath his armor, like it was about to burn him alive!

“As for you Blades.” The knight turned his head to look at Hugo, but his mind kept on spiraling. “You displayed an impressive set of skills during the fight as well, agility and precision are your strong suits! However, there was a lack of attentiveness to the surroundings and behavior of enemies. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but that explosion could have gone terribly wrong.”
The sudden and not so seamless shift from the pros to the cons only fueled Blades’ chaotic train of thought. People could have died! Someone could be dead now because of him! It would be his fault!

It is his fault.

“Blades? Did you understand everything?” Hugo pulled the young swordsman out of the abyss he was plummeting into, and he could momentarily get back to reality.
“Yes, of course.” He didn’t understand. Was he still a Skylander? Did he fail? So many questions were flooding his mind, but he bit his tongue and didn’t dare to open his mouth again.

 “Great, then you can go back to whatever it was you were doing, and we will see each other at the next, real mission!” The assistant nodded awkwardly before leaving the duo be.

“What a joke.” Echo complained. “We spend an entire year training and graduate successfully just for them to test us now!? I mean seriously, that’s just-” She stopped talking when she noticed her companion standing next to her as still as a statue. “Uh, Blades?”

It’s his fault, he let it happen! He wasn’t careful enough, not fast enough, not strong enough! Now it happened again, he was right back where he started. He should just go back to Scalos Castle and spend the rest of his days as a cleaning boy there. He should-

“Blades?” The Skylander became louder, and more concerned. “Are you okay?”

The knight’s thoughts were silenced again. “Uh, yeah! Just… very confused.”
He was trying to act as normal as somewhat possible, but Echo could tell there was something wrong. “Are you sure?” A humming nod in response. She stared at him for a few moments and then placed her hand on his shoulder. “You can talk to me. I’m your friend, Blades.” And in that moment, he truly felt that she was.

He expected their friendship to blow up just like that crate judging by her previous reaction, but all of that seemed to be forgotten. Her shellphones were off and she looked at him with a sincere glow in her golden eyes.

“I know, but it’s fine. Really.” Blades assured her.

“Alright.” Echo broke the eye contact and was back to her relaxed self. “Guess we should head back, I’m starved.”

“Didn’t you eat right before we left?” Though the dark thoughts still lingered at the back of his mind, Blades could push them away for a while.

“Uh, do you have any idea how hungry screaming at the top of your lungs makes?” The knight chuckled upon that answer and carefully listened as his friend explained the system behind her impressive powers. He felt a little better, but he didn’t forget what happened.

He never could.

Back at the dorm house, High Five was comfortably sitting on the couch with a nearly empty bowl of popcorn on his lap. He tossed another piece into his mouth whilst keeping his eyes keenly on the tv. His attention was pulled towards the door when he heard it being opened and he briskly turned his head to see Echo and Blades finally return.

“Echo, quick! They’re about to announce the winner!” The Water Skylander stopped in her tracks before rushing into the living room.

“And the winner is… Songbird!”

“Ugh, of course it’s her!” Echo threw up her hands in anger. “The third year in a row that some boring ballad singer wins this show! It’s so predictable!” The passionate rock and electro fan has been following a popular talent show for many years now, mostly in hopes of seeing someone from her genre win for once.

“She wasn’t bad though.” Five swallowed another piece of popcorn. “But yeah, it kinda does get old when that’s always the winner.”

Blades smirked at the lively discussion between his two friends while he took off his helmet and ruffled his hair. He held his sword for a few moments and took a deep breath. Without a word, the knight disappeared inside his room.

Echo and Five quit talking and looked directly at Blades’ door following the sound of it closing. “Is he alright? Gosh, I didn’t even ask you how it went!” The speedster covered his mouth in shame.

“I’m not sure actually.” Echo wore a thoughtful look. “There was… an accident. Turns out it wasn’t even a real mission but a test, so it didn’t really matter.” Five hummed in an enlightened tone.
“It seems to have done a number on Blades though, he was completely beside himself when we received the results.” On the way back she reassured the discouraged Skylander that she wasn’t mad, he should’ve just allowed her to help him. Blades kindly smiled and nodded, but she could tell that that wasn’t what bothered him.

“I’ll go check on him.” Without further ado, High Five did a smooth backward somersault over the back of the couch before walking towards the closed door.

Behind it, Blades was sitting on his bed and taking off his armor which seemed three times heavier than usual.

“No feelings. No pride. No distractions.”

The curtains prevented any of the day’s last rays of sunlight from entering, it felt cold. The dark atmosphere only magnified the thoughts which have been plaguing him ever since that damned test. He failed! He disappointed everyone!

“No feelings. No pride. No distractions.”

Blades began mouthing those words.

“No feelings. No pride. No distractions.”

His superior repeated those simple rules countless times, yet he still didn’t learn. When it mattered the most, he didn’t follow them. It’s all his fault! All his fault!

“No feelings. No pride. No dist-”

A knock on the door followed by two more rapid ones - Blades knew that pattern. Echo only knocks once and usually enters without waiting for an answer. A habit she picked up at home she claims. This was Five.

“Yeah?” He tried to ignore the thoughts poisoning his mind, but he could practically feel them clawing at the inside of his head as if it was filled with violent rats.

The door slowly opened and a chunk of blonde and red hair peeked through the gap before High Five’s entire head emerged. “Can I come in?”

Blades nodded weakly which made his friend open the door, step inside, and close it behind him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Blades forced a smile onto his face. He couldn’t disappoint him too.

Five crept towards the bed to stiffly sit down next to his friend and ponder in the silence for a few seconds. The air felt thick despite the window having been open previously, probably a mix between the tension and woe the knight dragged in.
“I heard about the mission, well test, I guess.” The Life Skylander patted Blades’ mattress covered in indigo sheets and stared at the armor plates which he just removed. “Wanna talk about it?”

Blades took off his left arm guard, leaving his upper body with nothing but a blue garment. It felt tighter than usual, almost suffocating. “There’s really nothing to talk about.” He tried to sound convincing. He didn’t want his friend to worry because of him, he really didn’t. “It wasn’t perfect but we’re still Skylanders!” He attempted an optimistic tone which only ended up sounding more cynical.

High Five was quiet and his eyes were set on the floor. “Echo said there was an accident.”

Crap.

“More like me being an idiot.” Blades could feel his friend’s eyes on him, those bright red eyes. It always felt like they could burn through any wall he built. “Echo has every right to be upset. I failed.”

“She’s not upset.” Five shook his head softly. “And whatever happened, you didn’t fail. You made a mistake but that’s completely-”

“I can’t make mistakes!” Blades finally dared to face Five who was frozen in place after he’d raised his voice. He promptly turned away. “Sorry, I didn’t…”

The regretful Skylander felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. “It’s okay Blades.” He turned his head back towards his friend to receive the warmest and most understanding smile he had ever seen.

The knight exhaled and gradually eased the tension in his body. “You know, when I came here, I really thought I could start over. I thought I could become a new person.” Five listened patiently. “At Scalos Castle one of the core rules was to have no feelings, no pride and most importantly, no distractions.”

High Five knew that the knightly training was tough. When they were kids, Blades already had most of the rules memorized. He had no idea it was like this though.
His friend continued. “They trained us to be elite knights, capable of protecting the most prestigious members of royalty against any threat. You couldn’t allow yourself to make mistakes, not once!”

With every word Blades debated how far he’d go. How many of his burdens he would place onto his friend. “When I arrived at the Academy, I noticed that it’s completely different. The most powerful and respected heroes here are like celebrities, they brag about their abilities and let everyone know how great they are. Their trust in themselves equals the trust others have in them.”

It was humiliating. Being like a mirror, only reflecting what those better than you do in hopes of coming close to that kind of greatness. He never wanted to have fame or attention, he just wants to be someone you can rely on.

“Is that why you became so prideful and arrogant?” Blades’ sight hurried to Five who was processing the information considerately.
The knight sighed. “Yeah.” He leaned forward and put his arms on his knees. “I just wanted to fit in. Be the amazing Legendary Skylander you could count on.”

He stopped talking there. Did he reveal too much? Would Five hate him for acting like a jerk? Could he still trust him? Him who doesn’t even know who he is, who only adapts and still fails.

After what felt like an hour of anxious uncertainty, Blades heard his friend slide across the bed before his head appeared right next to his knee. “Well, I think you’re pretty amazing.”

Five was lying on his back and let his head hang over the edge of the bed to look Blades in the eye again. The knight couldn’t keep a quiet chuckle from escaping his lips which made the speedster grin in relief. “And I think the knights of Scalos Castle are totally overrated.”

“Really?” Blades raised his brows spying the smug smile on High Five’s face. “Really.” He nodded to solidify his statement. “But there’s someone I know who’s unlike any of them.”

“Aha, and who might that be?” Blades played along seeing how the conversation significantly lightened the mood.

“He’s probably the coolest guy I know. He has been wielding a sword ever since he could walk! And when he trained to become a full-fledged knight, he was at the top of his class without any effort, naturally.”

The flattery forced a shy smile onto the Air Skylander’s face. For a moment, he couldn’t believe Five was talking about him.

“And legends say that he even defeated the gruesome Golden Fear Serpent, all on his own! While the other cowardly knights were brought to their knees by fear, he confronted it head-on!”

Blades remembered. That was one of those life changing days he would never forget. How he swallowed his fear with each step down into that dungeon. Fear of failing, fear of letting everyone down, only to finally realize that all it took to rid his home of the monster was to overcome those doubts.

“And instead of becoming the rightful new leader of the knights, which he would’ve totally rocked by the way, he joined the Skylanders. That way, he could use his bravery and insane skills to protect all of Skylands!”

He was currently far away from that point, but hearing those words of encouragement actually made him believe it. He could protect all of Skylands! Five sounded so convincing, so sure of it that it seemed impossible to think anything else.

He believed in him.

“But most importantly, he always puts others before himself. He makes you feel like no evil in the world could lay a finger on you as long as you’re with him. He makes you feel… safe.”

Suddenly Blades’ smile sunk and he felt his cheeks heat up.

“He’s the absolute best friend anyone could ask for.”

Now he was stuck. He was blushing like crazy, and he was stuck inside Five’s admiring eyes. He downright gazed at him in a way he never has before and for the first time, Blades didn’t know what to say to him.
It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, frankly he didn’t know what to feel after his friend just described him like the greatest person in the world. All he knew was that it felt… nice.

Blades snapped out of it and swiftly turned his head away. At this rate he had to pour a bucket of ice water over himself to cool his head off. When he finally managed to calm down and turn back around, Five was sitting next to him again. “So, what do you think of that guy?”

Blades smirked. “He sounds pretty awesome.”

There it was again - that eye contact which made his head heat up as if someone held a torch right to his face.

“You two should meet sometime, I think he could give you some great advice.” High Five gave the knight a friendly nudge as both of them laughed.

“Thanks Five, I really needed that.” Blades returned the kind look he’d received during the last few minutes to make sure that his friend knew how much he meant to him as well.

“Anytime, man.” Five patted Blades’ shoulder before lifting himself off the bed and heading for the door. After he had opened it and stepped outside, he abruptly stopped and turned back around. “And remember, you’re amazing.” With a wink, the motivator left the room and closed the door.

Blades stayed on the bed, still processing what just happened. This might have been another life changing day because he felt like a brand-new person. Worries and doubts that have been building up over years and years were simply washed away.

On top of all that, he saw a side of Five which he’s never seen before. He made him feel like he’s never felt before.
The Skylander tried to sort out his thoughts, but concludingly he decided to just focus on the most important part.

“I’m amazing.” Blades repeated what his friend has been telling him and smiled.

Chapter Text

Blades breathed in and out. Both feet stood steadily on the ground as he held his sword tightly. His resolute eyes focused on his opponent, attentively observing her every move.

Slash!

He dodged. The opposing knight wielded a larger, mightier blade, one which could easily render his own useless. She may be stronger, but he was faster.

Clash!

Blades raised his sword to block a vertical strike aiming for his head. He decided to take the offensive and charged forward to land a hit. The adversary anticipated that and precisely swung her weapon around herself to parry each one of his continuous attacks. With the momentum gained through a spin, she managed to whack the knight from the front and make him lose his balance.
The opponent seized the opening and ran towards him, gripping her claymore with both hands for the final blow. Blades only saw one way out – he crouched down, jumped up, spun around mid-air, and placed the tip of his sword right against the knight’s back as he landed behind her, causing her to stop in her tracks.

Blades was out of breath. Despite the opportunity to finish his adversary off, the knight didn’t move a muscle. Neither did she.

A loud series of claps echoed throughout the spacious hall, followed by an equally loud voice. “Not bad, not bad!” The duelists viewed that as a signal to leave their knife-edge positions and face each other.

“Damn it! I should have known that was too risky!” Blades’ opponent took her helmet off and ruffled her short ginger hair. “Gotta hand it to you, your aerial stunts always catch me off guard.”

“They’re really not that difficult to counter, you just have to keep your head up!” A sarcastic smirk formed on Blades’ lips which cost him a light punch to the arm.

“You both did great, and you know that!” The large, muscular man who’s been observing the knights during their training stood between the two and put his scar-covered hands on their shoulders. “What’s important is that you know your strengths and weaknesses. Knives, your best way to success is letting the enemy come to you. By moving towards them too quickly-”

“I can’t capitalize on my abilities. Yeah, I know, dad.” The redhead rolled her eyes at her father, whose mouth was stuck at the last syllable of his interrupted sentence. “But I can’t just be a sitting duck until the enemy lets their guard down! I’ve been working on being more agile with this thing!” She demonstratively lifted her heavy weapon with one hand. “I follow all your advice like shifting my weight and how to hold the sword…”

“Alright, alright! No need to give me that tone!” The man laughed. He had a boisterous, hearty laugh, the kind which filled an entire room and put a smile onto anyone within the vicinity. His daughter, of course, was immune to that, but she still smirked to assure him that she appreciated his guidance. “If I had known your fighting style when you were born, I would have named you Claymore instead of Knives, but we all make mistakes.” He earned himself a chuckle from Blades.

“And you, my boy!” The man left Knives’ side to throw his arm around the shoulders of his youngest. Blades was already shorter than his older sister, but next to his father he appeared like a child, despite being 16 years old. “You get better with each session - quick, precise and as light as a bird.”

The knight became bashful and looked away. “Oh, it’s nothing. I have been practicing for years after all.”

“That’s not nothing! There’re some geezers in here who can barely jump over a low bench!” The father enthusiastically tapped his son’s back before heading for the door leading outside the training room. “You two will surprise us all someday, I’m telling ya! And have I ever lied to you?”

“No, dad.” The siblings answered in unison.

With a wide smile on his face, the captain of the knights made his way down the stony corridor and into the armory where the co-captain awaited him. “You took your time, Gladius.”

“Oh come on Curtana, you’re acting like this is an official meeting or something.” Gladius spared the woman an indifferent glance before grabbing the largest shield in the room for an inspection.

“It might as well be considering the state of the academy! We are currently facing the lowest number of clients in decades, that’s a problem.” The stern knight was holding one of her long twin blades and meticulously checked it for any damage. As always, it was without a scratch. “I’ve noticed that the Dragonflies have been requesting our services less frequently. You are close with them, do you suspect-”

“Out of the question. They’re not just clients, they’re friends. Blades and their youngest are as thick as thieves, they wouldn’t leave us hanging like that.” Gladius’ expression turned serious, giving his fellow captain a clear statement. “I assume they just haven’t been travelling much lately and with how their kingdom is flourishing they have more pressing concerns than security. They possess some impressive powers of their own after all.”

“Must I remind you that it was my idea for Blades to accompany you on business meetings so we can build up trust? Childhood friendships often forge the strongest partnerships. If we couldn’t reach an accord, their own child can persuade them.”

“Those are kids, Curtana, not some tools or contracts!” He turned his sight away from the shield in his hands to look the woman in the eye. “I agreed to your idea because I wanted Blades to get out of Scalos and meet someone his age. Knives gets around a lot, she’s a hotshot, but him…”

“Fine, I will take your word for it.” Curtana finally sheathed her sword and stepped towards the exit. “But I’m going to the next meeting with the Dragonflies, I want to make my own picture of the situation. No feelings involved.” She left through the door and closed it behind her.

Gladius could only sigh and pick up the next biggest weapon which happened to be an axe. He inspected that one too, though his thoughts were somewhere else.

“I’m telling you, I rushed back into the burning house and risked my life to save those impossibly valuable paintings!” In the busy midst of the Skylanders Academy, High Five was leisurely strolling backwards to face his friends while portraying his heroic mission. “They even offered me an honorary title for my good deeds, but I humbly declined. It’s enough when one of us lets the fame and glory go to his head.” His eyes landed on Blades with a teasing grin.

“Hey, I haven’t been bragging for weeks now!” It’s true that ever since their graduation Blades’ temporary conceitedness has slowly but surely been replaced by a more characteristic modesty. “And if you had accepted that supposed title, we may actually believe this story of yours.”

“Excuse me!?” Five was about to run into a distracted cadet, but even when walking in reverse his senses were as keen as ever and he lithely avoided a collision before rambling on. “There were witnesses! There’s a report I can show you right now!”

“Save it Fives, I’m sure those people and paintings are very grateful and you did an amazing job.” Echo nonchalantly diffused the playful bickering between her teammates without looking up from her communication device.

“Thank you! I knew I could count on one of my friends.” He proudly looked at the skeptic who just shook his head with an amused expression.

Looking ahead, Blades could spot some familiar faces. “Spotlight, Blackout!” High Five turned around so they could all properly greet the commonly paired Light and Dark Skylanders. “You’ve finally returned!”

“We have, and it’s good to be back.” Spotlight answered with a calm tone as her pristine white hair and golden adornments shimmered under the sun. “I am happy to report that our expedition went quite well!”

“We’ve gathered some valuable information over the last few weeks.” Blackout’s deep voice continued. Always covered in the darkest of colors, his striking green eyes seemed to be the only thing which would make him visible at night, though it’s a sight no evildoer wishes to see. “We sensed a connection to our own elements as well. The anomaly appeared like a gateway leading to realms outside of our world. If exposed to enough energy, who knows what it could do to us.” Surely that won’t be a problem in the future.

The contrast between the Skylanders was conspicuous. Spotlight’s radiant aura against the gloomy presence of Blackout perfectly represented how polarizing those two elements were, yet despite that they were good colleagues and friends.

“What exactly was it that you went to investigate? None of us really caught on to that.” High Five inquired.

“Oh you know, just some tears in the very fabric of our universe which could potentially end all life as we know it.” Spotlight stated mundanely.

“Ah, so the usual.” Echo added, equally unconcerned. This was, in fact, nothing unordinary for any of them.

Blackout cut the conversation short. “We should get going now.”

“We’ll catch up another time.” Spotlight cordially smiled into the group, eventually focusing on its shortest member. “By the way High Five, there’s someone in the main hall who was asking for you.”

“Really?” The Life Skylander looked at her in surprise. “I sure hope it’s no one from home, that could only mean bad news.”

“He did not look like someone from the Life Element. You go and see.” Spotlight declared before the duo went their way.

Once the friend group reached the main hall, they saw a stranger with his back turned to them seemingly looking for something or someone. High Five gradually slowed his pace and stared at the visitor until his eyes lit up with familiarity. “Saber?”

The stranger responded by turning around and instantly recognizing the speedster. “Prince Dragonfly!”

Blades didn’t fail to notice a moment of hesitation before addressing the former prince by title. He and Echo paused while Five practically skipped towards the person.

“What are you doing here!? Wait, don’t tell me you’re also joining the Skylanders!” Blades has seen many of Five’s smiles, but this one was extraordinarily cheery. Who in Skylands was that guy?

“Oh no, I’m not that desperate yet.” A strange comment to be said under scoffing laughter. “Am I right to assume that you’re a Skylander then?”

“Yup, graduated two months ago!” High Five was the type to get along with almost anyone, but this was very obviously a relationship that goes back. “Let me introduce you!”

The Skylander turned back to his friends who had been silently exchanging clueless looks for the last minute. “Guys, this is Saber. He used to work for the family as my personal bodyguard!”

That explains it.

A reciprocation of introductions was in order. “And this is Blades, who’s also worked as a professional knight before coming here. We’ve also known each other for like, over a decade, but who’s counting?” High Five’s attempt to break the ice backfired when he was the only one laughing before awkwardly stopping.

“So, you’re Blades, huh?” Saber extended a hand which Blades shook after some initial perplexity - did he know him?
“I’ve heard about you. I’m a Dunewind Warrior in case you haven’t noticed.” Blades did recognize the signature golden color of that clan, one of many in Skylands which qualify knights to work for royalty, nobility and all those who can afford them. Though he can’t say he’s ever personally met one of them until now. “When you conquered the Golden Fear Serpent it was the talk of the town for days. Congratulations on that!”

“Thanks.” Blades didn’t expect his feat to reach that far. After all, in their profession such monsters are slain on a daily basis, but considering the notoriety of the serpent it was plausible that he’d get word of it. “Nice to make your acquaintance.”

High Five waited a few seconds to make sure they had nothing else to say until he moved on to his musical friend. “And this here is Echo! Insanely talented musician hailing from the Pearl Sanctuary. She’s pretty much responsible for my new style and me leaving my old life behind.” They exchanged knowing smiles.

“Ah, I’ve heard that the Skylanders recruit… anyone nowadays. Looks like that wasn’t too far off.” Blades raised his eyebrows in disbelief while Five had an uncomfortably forced grin on his face as Saber dared to offer his hand after that contemptuous remark.

In return Echo simply stared at him with the most deadpan look her friends had ever seen. “Charmed.” She spat sarcastically before placing her shellphones onto her head and turning up the volume. “I’d love to continue this chat, but I really gotta get my report done, otherwise Hugo might just demote me back to a cadet. I’ll see you later.” The friends waved the Water Skylander off who left without sparing the guest another glance.

After yet another uncomfortable moment of silence, during which Saber didn’t lose his smug expression once, Five stood beside Blades and kept leading the conversation. “So, what brings you here? Is there something we can help you with?”

“There actually is.” As the knight pulled out his communication device to remove a few notifications, Blades noted how it appeared much more advanced than theirs, but that may just be his mind playing tricks on him now. “This is a bit embarrassing to be honest, but recently our transportation partner jumped ship, quite literally, so now we’re left with old unreliable airships which have made it difficult to reach places and caused some unpleasant delays.”

While Blades’ compassion remained limited, High Five displayed genuine sympathy. “Man, that must suck!” Despite never mentioning that Saber before, he seemed to mean at least something to him. Just what kind of bond did these two share?

“It does, it does.” Blades had to admit that, even though his words were drenched in an arrogant undertone, he was somewhat charismatic. He couldn’t accuse him of any blatant rudeness. “After some back and forth the boss decided she wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best and I was sent here because we know you have that.”

“You mean the Sky Baron Airships?” Being a Skylander of the Air Element, Blades was more knowledgeable about their aerial transport than most, and the airships from the Sky Fortress were of the highest quality.

“Exactly!” Saber was determined. “We know that the Sky Fortress only supplies the top of the list, and I don’t want to brag, but we are exceptionally well received by our clientele.”

He clearly wanted to brag.

“We’ve already attempted to strike a deal, but they denied it for reasons they didn’t wish to elaborate on. When I found out that a Dragonfly had become a Skylander, I figured I’d ask for the favor of arranging a proper meeting with the barons.”

“I’m not so sure.” Blades replied pessimistically. “That doesn’t really fall under our scope of responsibilities. We mainly just save people and fight bad guys, perhaps if you went to Hugo you might-”

High Five cut his teammate off via a spirited backslap. “Oh nonsense, Blades! We’re Skylanders! We have the authority to ask for something as trivial as a business proposal.”

Saber was visibly pleased with that statement.

“Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to catch up and for you guys to get to know each other!” The Life Skylander moved in between the knights to pull them closer during his prospect of a highly unlikely friendship. “It’ll be fun!”

“If you say so.” Blades was less than thrilled but seeing how excited his friend was about all this he reluctantly agreed to it.

“Sounds good to me! When do we depart, Dragonfly?” Was that Saber’s nickname for him?
He matched Five’s enthusiasm while Blades couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something underneath all that eagerness.

“Right away! If we go now, we can still make it back before sunset!” With that, High Five immediately headed towards the Academy docks where they could take an airship straight to the fortress. “I never thought I’d get to go on a trip with my two favorite ex-guards!”

Saber was his favorite?

“I had no idea you have lightning powers!” High Five and Saber spent almost every second of the flight catching up and talking about things they never got to before, such as the knight’s ability to harness electricity. “So, what element does that make you? Lightning is usually associated with Air, then you’d be elemental buddies with Blades! Tech uses electricity too, but that’s more tied to machines and whatnot. Though there’s also Light…”

“Don’t waste your time guessing, I don’t really do elements like that.” Saber chuckled with this conceited tone which prompted Blades to roll his eyes as he steered the ship. “We Dunewind Warriors don’t want to limit ourselves, we prefer to tap into our powers without the pressure of categorical thinking.”

While Five gave him a thoughtful look, Blades could only sneer at how profound that interloper considered himself to be.

“I must say, Dragonfly, your skin has improved a lot since I last saw you.” Something which only longtime friends of High Five knew, in this case both of them, was that the former prince suffered from acne in his adolescence.

“Why, thank you.” Five was flattered by the unexpected compliment. “Some of the flowers my mom grew really did wonders, but she wouldn’t let me use them until I changed my eating habits. In the end, it was a win-win situation.”

Hearing about a phase of Five’s life which Blades wasn’t part of suddenly made his heart feel heavy. For a moment he forgot about his aversion towards Saber, which rebounded as soon as he opened his mouth again.

After a rather short flight with lively conversations between two of the three members, they arrived at the Sky Fortress - a frequently visited destination of the Skylanders which Blades was quite familiar with. The pungent smell of gasoline, the imposing eaglelike structures and the ever-diligent Sky Baron robots fulfilling their duties.

At least that’s what you’d normally see.

Upon arrival, the knight immediately noticed a stillness lingering in the air. No ships traversing the skies or any of the typical industrial noise. He became suspicious.

“So, this is the Sky Fortress, our reliable partner in all things air travel!” High Five kept the spirits up showing Saber around while Blades was quietly observing the multiple empty platforms in the area. “Usually this place is bustling with work, but it looks like the barons are currently on break.”

Even robots needed time off, that was nothing out of the ordinary, but with the sheer number of them there was never a quiet moment in the fortress. Something wasn’t right.

“Sounds like the perfect time to ask for a partnership then.” Saber was strolling behind Five and kept his eyes on him which in turn drew Blades’ gaze towards him. He couldn’t decide where to direct his attention.

“Jet-Vac is in the office taking care of stuff like that, but since we need more manpower at the Academy there’s an assistant in his stead.” Despite being so apprehensive currently, Blades couldn’t help but appreciate how much Five knew about the fortress. As far as he’s aware, the speedster had never been here himself, so all his knowledge came from Blades talking about his various visits. Realizing that he actually listened and remembered such easily dismissible things put a slight smile on the knight’s face. “Blades, you know this place. Where’s the main office?”

The Air Skylander confidently stepped in front of Saber and next to his friend. “It’s right up ahead. We just have to-”

He abruptly stopped after seeing a group of Sky Baron robots in the distance. Before High Five could raise his hand to greet them, Blades pulled it back down. “Wait, something’s wrong.”

Instead of the regular bright yellow, their eyes glowed in a violent red color. Someone unfamiliar with them wouldn’t think twice, but Blades knew better. The trio stood still and right when the knight gave a signal to retreat, the robots spotted them. One of them unleashed an ear-piercing shriek before they summoned various weapons and charged towards the visitors.

“What’s going on!?” Five was stuck in bewilderment while his teammate drew his sword. “Why does it look like they’re attacking us!?”

“The fortress has been infiltrated! The barons were reprogrammed to-” Before Blades could finish his sentence, one of the mechanical birds carrying a rocket launcher aimed at him and shot. The knight was about to repel the missile but was instead protected by something else, causing the rocket to fly to the side and leave a thick cloud of smoke behind.

Blades swiftly cast a wind gust to clear the air before Saber flashed past him with a trail of lightning. The Skylanders watched as their companion used his dual blades paired with electric powers to take the enemies out one after the other. While High Five observed the scene in awe, Blades’ irritation grew watching the other knight strike the robots down without breaking a sweat. His own ego trip back on graduation day came to mind, now he completely understood Echo’s frustration.

More upsetting than his own reaction was that of Five. His eyes were practically about to pop out of his head with how intently he was staring at the display of skill, Blades even saw him mouthing an astonished ‘Wow’ at one point. It’s like he was looking at the greatest knight in all of Skylands - or at least one that’s better than him.

Once all the barons were out of commission, Saber reattached his scimitars onto his back and joined the Skylanders again. High Five received him with high praise. “Saber that was awesome! First I find out you have powers and now I get to see them in action!”

“There was never any need to use them while working for you, Dragonfly.” The Dunewind Warrior stretched his arms and casually engaged in conversation as if he didn’t just disable a dozen robots. “To be honest, they weren’t really necessary now either, it just sped up the process. Good warm-up though.”

Blades had to hold back a snappy comment, the last thing they needed now was competitive drama. “Something bad is happening, I assume the vultures are behind this. If it’s anything like the last invasion, we’ll need backup.” Blades pulled out his communication device while reminding the others of the urgency of the situation.

Saber turned to Five. “Is this something that happens regularly here?”

“The barons and vultures are sworn enemies and despite us kicking their asses multiple times they keep coming back for more.” The Life Skylander kept a long and difficult history short.

“What’s with this thing?” Blades was tapping the screen and pressed every button when his device refused to turn on. “It’s been charging all night! Why is it shut off now!”

“Hold on, lemme get mine.” Five reached into his pocket and grabbed his own communication device just to encounter the same issue as his ally. “Huh. Mine’s not working either.”

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, the Skylanders had to give up. Blades growled at the empty black screen. “Just great! I bet those birds did something which rendered our devices useless, they know their way around disturbance signals.”

“I’d love to help, but I’m afraid my zaps would only make it worse.” Saber snickered, receiving a cold glare from the knight in return.

“Should we return to the Academy? It’s not that far away.” High Five was weighing their options regarding this predicament.

“That’s not a good idea. Who knows how long the vultures have been here and how much damage they’ve caused already.” Blades pushed his device back into the pocket inside his armor and continued his speculations. “By the time we get to the Academy and back, they could prepare an armada of battleships or blow the entire fortress up, depending on their mood. We must take care of this ourselves.”

High Five nodded slowly before his eyes suddenly shot open, a classic indicator for one of his supposedly great ideas. “And Saber can help us!”

They turned towards the Dunewind Warrior who seemed to be surprised for the first time today but quickly regained his laid-back attitude. “Sure thing! I’m always up for a new challenge.”

Blades has had enough. “This is a Skylander matter, we will handle it on our own.”

The sharp tone wiped Saber’s self-assured smile off his face. Yet Five was the one who insisted. “Come on Blades, you said yourself that we needed backup, and this is all we can get right now. Besides, you saw how he took down those robots, he’s the perfect teammate!”

“I don’t mean to interfere with your hero business or anything, but Dragonfly’s right. You should take all the help you can get.” Blades couldn’t find the words to argue against that, probably because there weren’t any which wouldn’t reveal his resentment. “After all, it’s my duty to help those in need of support.”

Another remark that pulled on Blades’ nerves like a slingshot. Before he could say anything in response, an airship stacked with hostile barons as well as some vultures, confirming his suspicion, emerged from behind a platform. The trio readied themselves for battle which commenced with the roar of a large Squawk & Awe.

The Skylanders and their temporary companion charged headfirst into the crowd. High Five used his speed and agility to disarm their robotic opponents followed by Saber electrifying them out of order.
In the meantime, Blades was facing the odd team composed of a beastly buzzard and its puny rider. The larger bird swung its enormous claws at the knight who evaded each slash. The Air Skylander used his wind powers combined with blade shards against the foe, only for them to brush the attack off as if they were mere feathers in a gentle breeze. Caught off guard by the vulture’s durability, Blades got hit by the back of its heavy hand and flew across the platform. In the process of regaining his balance he ended up on the very edge of the dock. There was no railing to catch him, and the attempt to put his swaying foot on the ground failed before he began to fall.

“Gotcha!”

Instead of plummeting into the endless skies, Blades felt a grasp around his hand and lifted his head to see High Five holding him with a relieved expression. “You know, there’s slightly less dangerous ways to practice a trust fall.”

Even while dangling over the island’s edge with only one hand away from dropping down, Blades could still chuckle. Once Five pulled him back to safety and the knight caught himself, he shot back. “Well, someone has to keep you on your toes. Simply dashing from one enemy to another is way too easy for a Skylander.”

The friends laughed heartily while Saber defeated the last few vultures and spotted another wave of Sky Baron robots approaching. “As delightful as it is to see you two find opportunities to crack jokes in the midst of battle, you should keep your heads in the game.” He nodded his head towards the horde which prompted the Skylanders to act seriously again as they returned to fending them off.

From here on out the three didn’t have any more difficulties keeping the remaining enemies at bay.

“Looks like we’re done for now.” High Five lowered his fists and shook his limbs to get rid of the excess energy.

“If we don’t want to demolish the entire crew of barons, we have to find the cause of this as quickly as possible.” Blades sheathed his sword and gazed up at the highest building which served as the fortress’ headquarters. “The control panel is up there. The machine building all the robots is in there as well, though I don’t know where exactly. They must have tampered with one or both to manipulate the barons.”

“Alright, let’s not waste any more time then!” Saber clapped his hands together and headed for the building. “Come on Dragonfly, you go ahead and-”

“I’m in charge of this mission. You’ll follow my lead.” Blades gave Saber an assertive look before getting in front of him to assume his position.

“After you, boss.” Saber complied with a taunting undertone and followed the knight alongside Five.

Inside the building the trio was greeted by a stairwell in an ominously dark atmosphere. The only source of light were the dim red emergency lamps, which, fittingly enough, were turned on, accompanied by the distant sound of the corrupted Sky Baron robots’ synchronized march. There didn’t seem to be many of them, but they had to be careful nevertheless.

“I suggest we-”

“We should split up.” Saber interrupted Blades with the same idea, making them stare at each other in silence before he gestured for the Skylander to continue.

“There’s an upper section and a basement. I don’t know where the robot machine is located but the basement is relatively large, so two of us should go down, one up. There’s an elevator which can take us there.” Blades pointed at the elevator door with his sword. “Everything clear?”

“Yes, captain!” Saber saluted the self-proclaimed leader with a teasing grin. Blades didn’t even blink in response. “Guess I’m going up then. I assume that’s where most of the enemies are.”

Blades sighed as the Dunewind Warrior entered the elevator and pushed the button for the highest floor while Five waved him off. Of course he would rise to the top, that’s just his style.

“So it’s you and me, huh?” High Five nudged his friend and finally eased some of Blades’ rising tension. “Dunno about you, but I think this mission could get us some pretty juicy credits.”

“Aha, look who’s thinking about fame and glory now.” Blades lightheartedly criticized his teammate’s mentality, incidentally gaining a point in their strangely encouraging bickering competition. “But you’re right, an out-of-the-blue mission involving one of our business partners is bound to be rewarding.”

Once the elevator returned the Skylanders stepped inside to reach the basement.

Upon arriving at the lowest level, the duo quickly got a good, albeit dark, picture of the area - steel corridors in a maze-like layout covered with pipes and vents at each of the numerous turns. The hazy red lights didn’t exactly make it easier to discern details. High Five had an advantage with his bright yellow goggles, though not by much.

The allies walked next to each other quietly, attentive to their surroundings. Seeing how there were no enemies in sight, and they weren’t in the presence of Five’s new old best buddy, Blades took the opportunity to have a word with his friend. “So, you and Saber seem pretty close.”

“Yeah, we got along quite swell back when he was my guard. He’s cool once you get to know him.” Blades didn’t know what he expected, but he certainly wasn’t pleased to hear more about Five’s admiration. “And I know that he can be a bit… insensitive at times, but you shouldn’t pay too much mind to that. It’s mostly just projection anyway.”

Blades figured as much. He was no stranger to acting a certain way out of insecurity either. “Some of his comments were a bit… provocative.” The Air Skylander wasn’t one to stir shit up. He was typically straightforward and avoided that kind of conflict, but somehow that knight managed to make him forget about his principles. “How come you never mentioned him before? He was your guard for a while from what I’ve gathered.”

“Eh, I just didn’t want to make it awkward for you, y’know, with you also being a former guard of mine as well as my best friend.” Blades understood that sentiment, but at that moment his mind was more focused on Five calling him his best friend. It’s not like he’s hearing it for the first time, but every time he did, it made him feel a bit warmer inside.
For the longest time he didn’t believe it could ever get to this point again.
“What’s important now is that we solve this problem and maybe even fulfil his request, then we can move on.”

“Looking forward to that.” Blades’ words came out sourer than intended.

“Hey, don’t get too worked up now.” High Five used his favorite display of support, which was to cordially place his arm around the knight’s shoulder. “He just doesn’t know how great you are, that’s all.”

The Skylander looked his friend in the eye and was, as so often, infected by his genuine smile, which led to both of them smirking along their path.

Blades’ joyful expression dropped the second he heard heavy footsteps approaching. The startled knight grabbed his friend’s arm and swiftly moved to the side. He spotted a gap in the nearby wall where he hurriedly crammed the two of them into.
Before High Five could ask any questions, Blades raised a finger to his mouth to shush him. That worked like a charm on the speedster who became as quiet as a mouse and somewhat awestruck staring into his ally’s stern brown eyes. Their bodies were tightly pressed against each other, making it easier for them to remain still. It wasn’t comfortable, but neither of them were uncomfortable with being close to each other, so it was bearable. Five firmly kept his sight on Blades while the knight looked over his shoulder to see some barons marching across the path which they were on mere seconds ago. Once they all passed and the footsteps faded into the distance, the Skylanders could finally exit the small gap.

“Damn, good reaction time man!” High Five complimented his friend, visibly still flustered by that intense moment. “Usually I’m the quick one! Guess we’re even after I saved you up at the docks.”

Blades smiled nonchalantly. “Let’s move, before your buddy has to come looking for us too.”

The Life Skylander winked with a quick two-finger salute and picked up the pace.

After what felt like hours scanning through the basement while avoiding the occasional robot patrols, the Skylanders concluded that the machine wasn’t there. On their way back to the elevator, the red emergency lights suddenly changed to a neutral white color, which could only mean that Saber had been successful. As soon as they reached the highest floor, they were greeted by some Sky Baron robots, now acting how they were supposed to. At the end of the hall, they entered the control room where Saber was standing in front of a wall of monitors and panels with unconscious vultures scattered around.

“There you are! I think I fixed the problem.” The duo walked up to the screens where Blades was able to enter and inspect the system thanks to his authorization. “After zapping through the crowd all I had to do was press the big red emergency button over there and everything went back to normal.”

“Great, crisis averted!” High Five clapped his hands and finally pulled down his goggles to make the world look a little less yellow again. “But I guess we can’t help Saber now, right?”

“That’ll have to wait until another time, we must get back to the Academy and inform the others. Even if the invasion is halted for now, the vultures are still lurking somewhere.” Blades sheathed his sword, certain that there’s no danger left whilst intently checking the screen for any remaining errors. Eventually his eyes fell on Saber and for once he didn’t feel the need to avoid or oppose him. “Sorry that you got dragged into this.”

“No worries, I’m glad I could help.” Not a hint of arrogance. Perhaps Five was right and it just took some time for him to warm up. “I should get going as well, this has already taken way longer than expected. I’ll just try to convince the boss to come here personally next time.”

“We’ll put in a good word for you, bud. It really shouldn’t be that big of a deal if you explain your situation.” High Five reassured Saber who responded with a grateful nod.

The trio made their way back to the airship and set off for Saber’s home before they’d return to the Academy.

It would take a while to reach the island where the Dunewind Warriors were located, so while High Five remained on the airship’s surface to keep an eye on the autopilot and enjoy the scenery, Blades took the time to sharpen his sword under deck. The Skylander took his helmet off and ran a hand through his hair before tending to the weapon.

“Mind if I join?” Saber appeared in front of him with his scimitars in hand.

Blades responded by wordlessly nodding towards the spot next to him. The knights sat in silence, immersed in cleaning and sharpening their blades. They both sensed the tension in the air, but neither one felt the need to address it. Then, out of sheer boredom it would seem, Saber began to talk. “You’ve known Dragonfly for a while, haven’t you?”

“We met when we were kids and we’ve been close ever since.” Blades answered drily.

“Not close enough to be his guard a few years ago?” Just when he thought it would be a somewhat normal conversation, Saber proves him wrong again. “It’s none of my business, but if you’ve been friends since childhood, one would more or less expect you to be his guard for life.”

Blades wasn’t in the mood to discuss these topics with someone he’d known for a few hours and frankly couldn’t stand. “Things happened.”

“I see.” Saber kept his eyes on his weapons, as did Blades, but the Air Skylander could tell that the next aggravating sentence was already coming up. “To be honest, this was the last place where I expected to see our royal friend. At the Academy, that is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Blades had to pull himself together to hide the swelling repulsion when Saber implied that they shared Five as a friend.

The knights finally made eye contact. One spite-laced glance was enough for Saber to read Blades’ emotional state and react to it. “Listen Blades, I’m on your side here.”

He doubted that.

“I can tell that you’re not too fond of me, and I admit that some of the things I said were a bit snide.”

Understatement.

“But you and I, we’re the same.”

Now that was unexpected.

“These missions and the duty you have as a Skylander is what we’ve been raised and trained for. We know what it means to fight to survive, I don’t have to tell you that.”

For once, Blades had to agree, but he wasn’t sure where this was going.

“For people like him, this is nothing more than a game. Something to spice things up, set them apart from their dull blue-blooded kin.” Saber pointed upwards where High Five was basking in the sunlight while they were in the cold dark interior underneath. An unfortunately timed scene which only emphasized his point. “If things go south, he can just run back to his mommy and hide behind castle walls while we have to risk our lives to make sure everyone is safe.”

Five wasn’t like that. He chose to become a Skylander fully aware of the responsibilities and consequences that come with it. Saber was clearly just on some kind of rant here.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t envy them. Of course it would be nice to have a castle and servants you can return to whenever you want, but at the end of the day everybody knows that that kind of lifestyle and safety is only possible thanks to us.”

Blades felt his shoulders stiffen as he silently listened. He understood everything Saber was saying, though he didn’t agree with most of it. There’s always been bad people in those positions - those who would abuse their power and status, but Five wasn’t one of them. They were a team. They could trust and rely on each other and not once did he put himself above someone because of his lineage, quite the opposite.

“We should head up, we may be close to your destination.” Blades has had enough of the one-sided conversation. The knight grabbed his sword and stood up calmly without letting Saber see any of the simmering anger.

“He never talked about you.” Blades froze when Saber uttered that. “As I said, you’d expect a childhood friend to be by your side for many years, but you didn’t seem to have any contact at all for quite some time.”

Blades bit his tongue. Everything inside him was urging him to just ignore it and leave, but he didn’t.

“After the tragedy in the Dragonfly family, they began to replace guards regularly. One usually wouldn’t stay for more than a month.” Saber keenly observed Blades to catch any type of movement. “The queen grew so distrustful that even the tiniest of mistakes would suffice for her to fire a guard, especially when it came to her youngest son.”

Blades tightened the grip on his sword.

Saber placed his scimitars in each of his hands. “Naturally, they kept me around the longest, about half a year. In that time the prince practically swooned over his previous guards, all except you.” There was a pause. “Wait, that’s a lie, he did bring you up once. But that mention was so brief and insignificant, I would have never guessed that you were friends for, what, a decade? Talk about keeping a long story short!”

This is a provocation, don’t give him what he wants.

“Besides that, he was extremely clingy, seriously! I don’t know how he was with you or the others, but he would constantly invite me into his room to keep him company.” Saber recalled with heartfelt scoffs. “Listen, I know it’s my job to always be nearby, but that doesn’t mean I have to befriend my employer. The way he talked to me like we’re best buddies on a playdate or something?” After a derisive headshake he focused on Blades again, predicting what would happen next. “It was pathetic.”

In that moment Blades forgot everything he learned during his knightly training – his principles, discipline, restraint, all of it.

Except how to wield a sword.

He spun around without hesitation and forcefully swung his weapon at Saber, who had already anticipated the attack and parried it with his scimitars. “Looks like I hit a nerve.” The Dunewind Warrior pushed himself up by repelling his adversary.

With rage infusing his every slash and thrust, Blades fought Saber as if he was his sworn enemy. His opponent wore a conniving grin on his face as he smoothly countered each strike and used his dual blades to his advantage. Despite currently being more rational than the Skylander, he couldn’t land a meaningful blow either. “Not bad! I guess Scalos doesn’t produce completely useless fighters after all.”

Blades groaned before pulling his sword backwards and channeling his wind powers into the next thrust which sent Saber flying against a wall. That finally knocked the irritating smile off his face. “Not a fair player, huh? Two can play that game.” Saber’s emerald green eyes sparked up when he summoned electricity around his weapons and aimed for the knight.

Blades used his powers for increased agility and dodged each lightning strike until he cast a razor-sharp gust towards Saber. The opposing knight promptly cut through the attack before lowering his electrified scimitars to charge them up further. “You know, when there’s a storm brewing, nobody’s really afraid of the wind.” With lightning crackling between his blades and the steel floor, Saber smirked confidently before charging at Blades.

The Skylander mirrored his action and they both ended up with their weapons crossing and closely pushing against one another. The force of each knight fluctuated. One short moment of weakness could result in a fatal injury.
Lightning flickered across swords and armor. Blades felt the tingling on his skin, but he wouldn’t yield. His furious glare and gritted teeth challenged the cunning expression of his enemy.

They eventually broke the clash and backed away. After a quick breather the adversaries began to rush towards each other again. This time Blades raised his sword for a powerful blow while Saber crossed his arms with a trail of electricity following him. They were about to strike before-

CLANG CLANG!

The fight ended abruptly when their weapons disappeared from their hands and hit the ground. The rivals’ confusion only lasted until they noticed High Five next to them, shock etched on his face. “Are you out of your minds!?” His eyes shot from one knight to the other.

The opponents quickly figured that the Life Skylander used his speed to disarm them. Confronted by the baffled companion, they did their best to suppress the rushing adrenaline and seething hatred which just dominated the area. It took only a few moments for Blades’ regret to drown his hostile instincts. “Five, I can explain-”

“He started it.” Saber proclaimed, akin to a bratty child who just fought over a toy.

Blades wanted to pick his sword back up and stab that insolent mouth right then and there, but Five’s piercing look was enough to keep his hands steady. “We got into an argument.”

“He couldn’t handle the truth.” Saber turned his head away, either out of shame but more likely pure disinterest.

Blades inhaled sharply before clenching his fists. “You little-”

“Hey!” High Five shouted once more, snapping the knight back into place. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but whatever it was doesn’t justify trying to kill each other!”

Blades has never seen his friend get this angry or serious before, but he could tell that it was directed more towards Saber than him. Regardless, what he did was wrong and he wanted to own up to his mistake. “You’re right, Five. I shouldn’t have reacted like this, no matter what he said.” He looked over to Saber. “I’m sorry.”

The Dunewind Warrior only sneered in return.

“We’ll sort this out later, I need you to see something. We seem to have another situation.” High Five didn’t waste another second before returning to the upper deck, closely followed by the estranged knights.

On the surface, the speedster went to the very back of the ship and held onto the railing while looking straight ahead. “I’m not the paranoid type, but I’ve been observing that ship ever since we left and I’m starting to think it’s following us.” Five pointed at said airship which was just within sight. Oddly enough it looked almost identical to their own ship, which originated from the Sky Fortress.

“That’s one of the Sky Baron’s ships. Why would it follow us?” Blades’ speculations once again led him to assume the worst. “Did the vultures take over again already?”
After a short thought process the Air Skylander remembered something. “Hold on, I know how we can find out!”

Blades left the group and hurried towards the cockpit. He noticed Saber being uncharacteristically silent, which caused a shift in his suspicions. At the steering wheel, the knight tapped the bright blue screen above it. “All of the Sky Fortress airships are connected through a digital network. We can communicate with that ship nearby and see if someone’s on board and where they’re headed.”

High Five was impressed by the quick thinking of his friend. However, as Blades was pressing and swiping away, he noticed some sparks appearing around Saber’s hands. Without thinking twice, the Skylander dashed to grab a rope from the corner of the cockpit and tie it around his once trusted guard. “I think you’ve caused enough trouble for today.”

Blades turned around cluelessly to see an immobilized Saber processing the situation he was in. “Wha- Huh!? I didn’t even do anything!”

“I know you a bit better than that, o loyal guard.” Five finally quit playing nice with the scheming knight and Blades couldn’t keep a satisfied smirk from flashing across his face.

After a few more swipes across the screen, they received the data of the pursuing ship. To the Skylanders’ surprise, it revealed that there were about ten more of them following the exact same route on autopilot. Blades immediately checked the destination, and that’s when everything became clear. “Destination: Dunewind Warriors headquarters…”

Blades and High Five simultaneously turned towards Saber who saw no point in further denial. “Ugh, fine! You caught me.”

The Skylanders were at a loss for words. Though when they recalled today’s events with this knowledge, things added up. Saber appearing at the Academy out of nowhere, their communication devices dying, which was no doubt his doing, him going up to the control room on his own. This was his plan all along. “So, you… knew about the invasion and used that to steal the ships?” High Five wanted to discern the full picture.

“No, I actually caused the invasion.”

Once again, he left the duo speechless. That seemed to be a talent of his, if one could call it that.

“We tried to come to an agreement with countless compromises, but those barons simply refused to cooperate.” Saber’s tone lacked the previous charm, making his frustrations and intentions far more evident. “So, this morning I decided to take matters into my own hands. It was supposed to be a simple hack into the system, but those robot birds spotted me. I didn’t plan to corrupt them, but it was the best solution at that moment.” The knight disclosed his sly methods as if they were a list of daily chores.

“Then why come to us?” Five still didn’t entirely understand the logic behind this endeavor.

“Access to the ships remained restricted, no matter how many times I shocked the panel. It required authorization which only the barons and Skylanders possessed. I knew Dragonfly was one of them, so I thought I’d pay my old liege a visit.” High Five sighed as he came to realize just how insincere this person he once considered a friend truly was.
“While you two were scouting the basement, I prepared everything so that it would only require unlocking the system to set the delivery in motion. So, in the end I must thank Blades for that.” Saber frowned when he finally reached the conclusion of his elaborate explanation. “I just didn’t expect the first ship to follow us this closely, otherwise I would be on my way to become the new hero of our clan.”

All pieces have fallen into place, but Blades had one question left. “Why are you telling us all this?”

The knight put on his smug signature smile. “I couldn’t let the vultures take credit for my ingenious plan.”

Blades could only roll his eyes at that laughable answer. “Of course.”

After a few more moments of digesting all that information, High Five was ready to discuss the aftermath. “So, what now?”

“I’m sending all the ships back and I will notify someone to check on them and the fortress.” When Blades returned to the screen that was no sooner said than done. He eventually looked at Saber with an indifferent expression. “And our friend here is coming with us. Your actions have made you an enemy to the Skylanders and therefore we will decide-”

“No.” Blades turned towards Five after his unexpected interruption. “We will take him to the Dunewind Warriors. One of the few things he didn’t lie about while working for us was how strict and unforgiving his boss is. I witnessed it firsthand when she contacted my mother after his dismissal. I think we should let her decide what happens with him now.”

An almost malicious spark flickered in the speedster’s eyes which positively surprised Blades. He didn’t raise any objections to his suggestion.
Meanwhile Saber couldn’t hide a sudden spike of anxiety. “No, no, Blades is right! I’ve committed a crime against the Skylanders, I should absolutely come with you! My boss doesn’t have to get involved, she’s so busy she won’t even notice I’m gone!”

With how desperately Saber was begging them to not take him to his superior, one could almost feel sorry for him.

Emphasis on almost.

The Skylanders soon escorted the intruder back to his home. It was a fascinating desert island which they both would’ve loved to see more of, but they couldn’t afford to waste any more time and went directly to the leader of the Dunewind Warriors. They summarized what had happened and caught a glimpse of what awaited the troublemaker before their departure.

Once they returned to the airship and finally headed to the Academy, Blades and Five burst into laughter. “Did you see the look on his face? I’ve never seen him that embarrassed!”

Blades nodded. “You weren’t kidding about his boss! If looks could kill he would’ve dropped dead at least five times!” They had to catch their breath before going on. “It’s actually quite generous of her to not kick him out altogether, but reassigning him to exclusively internal work might even be a worse punishment for him.”

The friends reveled in Saber’s self-inflicted misfortune for a bit until they calmed down and quietly enjoyed the cloudy view for the remainder of the trip. Despite exposing the knight as a manipulative liar, there was something Blades couldn’t get out of his head.

Did Five really not talk about him after they lost contact? Did he try to forget him?

Blades knew how much Five valued him as a friend now, but what about those years they were apart? He couldn’t just ask him. He couldn’t risk opening old wounds. The knight gazed at his friend thoughtfully.

What if he brings it up?

The setting sun finally signaled the end of another long and busy day. High Five retreated to his room and decided to video call his mother. They haven’t heard from each other in a while and today’s escapade would be the perfect story to share.

“Unbelievable!” The queen of the Dragonfly Kingdom was stunned after finding out about Saber’s attempted heist. “And to think that he was once your personal bodyguard! I did the right thing by throwing him out!”

Five couldn’t resist a chuckle seeing his mother’s outraged expression on his communication device. “You threw everyone out, mom. Nobody was good enough for you.”

“Obviously! You’d think those knight academies forgot how to impart proper chivalry! Luckily, we have our own guards now, so that’s no longer a concern.” The former prince remembered the hassle of having to completely readjust every few weeks. Trusting a complete stranger with your life again and again. Especially because they’d always had the perfect candidate for that.

“Yeah. I didn’t expect him to go to such lengths. I’m not sure I would have figured him out if it weren’t for Blades though.” Five bit his tongue a second too late.

“Blades?” The woman’s mood turned icy cold. “So you still have to go on missions with him? Despite everything?”

The Skylander knew where this conversation was going now. “Mom, he’s my friend, he always has been. We talked about this.”

“Friend!? After what he did you still consider him your friend?” The Dragonfly Queen needed a moment to compose herself. “High Five, I want you to live your own life and make your own choices, truthfully, but this is simply preposterous!”

Five felt his own anger rising. “He’s my friend and that’s not going to change!”

“Your father is dead because of him!”

Silence filled the air.

“That’s not true.” High Five’s voice sank. “It wasn’t his fault.”

The queen sighed. “I believe neither of us wants to have this conversation now. Listen, I understand-”

“Bye mom.” Five hung up.

The Skylander lowered the device onto his lap and just sat there. His mind was being flooded by memories. Memories he tried to forget.

But he could never forget that day - the day he lost everything.