"ARE WE THERE YET?" Chihiro moaned as she stared at the clouds that passed by. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she had revealed her presence to the group, and yet they still had yet to reach their target island, the… Sky-something docks? That's what she thought Hugo called it, but it was no matter of concern—what concerned her more was how slow this trip was taking! Maybe she should've brought a game or something before she stowed away...

"Chihiro, you've asked that ten times now, and the answer is still no," Spyro replied as he pressed a paw against his face. "Go count the clouds or something until we get there."

"Fine!" Chihiro glared at Spyro for mere moments before she looked back down at the passing skies. "One, two, three, four, five, ten, seventeen, twenty-eight, forty-one—HOLY CRAP SPYRO LOOK AT THIS!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?! DID THE DROW ATTACK?!"

Spyro dashed over to Chihiro's side… And grimaced as she excitedly pointed at a cloud that slightly resembled a sitting rabbit.

"That cloud kinda looks like a bunny!" Chihiro exclaimed as she fixed her eyes on Spyro.

Spyro furrowed his brow and frowned deeply before he looked over the side of the basket and chuckled. "It actually kinda does." Spyro noticed another cloud and pointed to it. "That one looks like a cat!"

Chihiro followed his gaze and her eyes sparkled.

"You're right! It looks like a cute little kitty cat!" She pointed to another cloud, "and that one looks like ice cream!"

"You're right! And I see a dog, and a flower..."

"And a bee, ew, I don't like bees, ooh, ooh and there's a monkey!"

The two of them giggled, then their giggles burst into laughter as they fell to the basket of the balloon. Chihiro gently wrapped her arms around Spyro and pulled him into a warm hug, and in response Spyro's eyes widened for a bit before he pushed Chihiro away and rolled around on his side.

"So, are we there yet?" Chihiro asked as she sat up and paid attention to Flynn for a change.

"Not yet, Cheerio, but we should be there any moment now!" Flynn said as his eyes glazed over the map taped against the balloon to his side. "At least, if the map Cali gave me is correct…"

Chihiro peered over at the map as well, but with all of its crossed lines and Skylandian writing, she had absolutely no idea what it was saying.

"Yeah, forget that. I'm just gonna go back to pestering Spyro," Chihiro flopped back on the floor of the basket. "Hey. Hey. Hey,"—Chihiro poked Spyro's back once more—"Dragon Boy. You gonna acknowledge me or what?"

"What?" Spyro asked as he rolled over to meet her view.

"Wanna thumb wrestle?"

Chihiro held up a curled hand with an outstretched thumb, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Spyro cocked his head. "What now?"

"Thumb wrestling! You just go like this," Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and gently locked it around her hand, "and then you do this!"—And with that, Chihiro pushed down Spyro's toe with her thumb and giggled—"that means I win!"

"Hey, I wasn't ready yet!" Spyro ripped his paw out of Chihiro's hand, "I demand a rematch!"

"Unfortunately, your thumb battles will have to take a break for halftime, because we're here!" Flynn announced as he parked his balloon next to a small island. "All thanks to your quite dashing and talented pilot!"

This island consisted of dull gray stone covered in barrels that were filled with pointed spears and other weapons, and an exit locked away by a tall wooden gate. From down below, one could easily spot the other islands, which were much larger and filled with strange, pale green-skinned humanoids with blank eyes. Each one was covered in armor and brandished sharp weapons—and judging by the cross looks on their faces, that armor and those weapons definitely weren’t for show.

Spyro, Gill Grunt and Chihiro quickly jumped off the balloon and situated themselves on the island before they all looked back at Flynn.

"I'm gonna go on ahead to the end of the islands! Meet you there!" Flynn shouted as he saluted the group. And with that said, Flynn's balloon floated off, its basket drifted gently in the crisp autumn breeze.

"Race you there, Flynn!" Chihiro shouted as she frantically waved to him.

She then turned around and looked the wooden gate before she hit it straight in its metaphorical face. As she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, Chihiro racked her brain while her eyes fixed themselves on the door.

I could magic it open—but I don't know any magic spells, Chihiro thought as her expression zoned out, I could break it down until there's no gate left!—Chihiro looked over the gate one more time and shook her head—nah, that gate looks pretty tough on second thought. Maybe if Spyro and Gill helped—

The sound of loud ruckus pulled Chihiro out of her thoughts as she turned around. There, she caught Spyro and Gill Grunt rummage through the various barrels of weaponry and other assorted objects stored on the island with their eyes fixed on everything around as they urgently search.

"CAN YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN?! I'M TRYING TO THINK HERE!" Chihiro shook a fist at them and huffed.

No response—they just kept digging.

Chihiro muttered some certain expletives she definitely shouldn't have been saying under her breath, then looked back at the gate, balled her hands into fist and clenched her teeth. "I HATE YOU!" Chihiro side-kicked the gate and promptly reeled back in pain.

"A-ha!" Spyro exclaimed as he fished a golden key out from under a wooden barrel. "Found the key, now let's get this—"—Spyro turned around to face the gate, then took notice of Chihiro and dropped the key as he raced to her side—"HOLY—ARE YOU OKAY CHIHIRO!?"

"Side-kicking a wooden gate was not one of my best ideas," Chihiro moaned as she staggered up, noticed the key under Spyro's feet, then grabbed it and raced to the gate.

With a smile, she jammed the key into the lock and tried her darnedest to turn the key, but it was stuck! She tried to push it in further, turned it in fifty different directions, jiggled it, and more, but none of the solutions that came to her mind worked. After what seemed like a good two minutes of struggling, Chihiro went back to Spyro's side and pushed him in front of the key with her facial expression darkened in frustration.

"It's your problem now, Spy."

As he rolled his eyes, Spyro investigated the key for a solid minute when a wave of understanding washed over him.

"I see what the problem is. You just jammed the key in all haphazardly." Spyro pulled out the key and carefully placed the key back in the lock.

After he was sure it was in, he gently turned the key. The lock unlocked and fell to the floor with a clatter while the gate's door flung open as if by pure magic—though really it was just the result of a weight lifted from its shoulders.

"I totally knew that, I was testing you to make sure you knew how to open gates properly," Chihiro said as she patted Spyro on the back with maybe a little more force than necessary. "Now, let's go find this propeller-thingie before it gets too dark!"

Both Spyro and Gill Grunt looked at each other with knowing glances and rolled their eyes.

"GOLDEN PROPELLER, GOLDEN PROPELLER! SAY IT WITH ME!" Chihiro hooted as she darted off with wide strides and fists pumped to the skies.

"Chihiro, stop! You'll attract the guards!" Spyro took to the skies and flew after her in hot pursuit.

"And I'd better go follow them so they don't get themselves hurt," Gill Grunt whispered as he smiled to himself and started up his jetpack. "Kids."

And with that, all three of them darted across the bridge—one was in pursuit of their objective, while the other two were in pursuit of the one…