Buk's Scribbles

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Clouds that was scary

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I've been like the only reason this thread isn't just Matty and Buk

 

[-Shade-]

I've been like the only reason this thread isn't just Matty and Buk

I intend to read all of this now when I have time, so it won't be just them any longer

 

[Bakbuk]

Spoiler

Arnica breathed a heavy sigh and slumped into a heap.

She was hungry.

She'd poked her snout in every nook and cranny of the room, but it was built well and the heavy doors were firmly shut.

For a long time after having been locked in there, she'd been completely distraught. Not able to think, and with no desire to eat, the dragonet alternatively sobbed for hours or wrestled with fitful sleep. The hours seemed to drag and doubtless it had at least been a couple of days.
But it felt like eternity.

She'd given up trying to think or feel anything. Her mind was too foggy and her empty stomach too grumpy for that.

Why couldn't they have put some munchies in this stupid room?

Her dismal train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of clanging doors, hasty footsteps, and irritated shouting. The young Leafwing's ears shot forward as her head snapped up, in curiosity but also abject terror.

She heard the sound of yelling grow louder as a muffled voice seemed to approach the door. "You just LEFT her in there?? For two and a half DAYS?!?" The voice did not sound pleased. "Why I've a mind to take and--"

Scraping and clicking sounds near the door handle quickly ensued before the sentence could end.

The door swung open to reveal two Hivewings; both very strongly built, but one taller than the other.

The tall one stepped into the room and looked down at the trembling dragonet. "Why the pathetic little thing." She said with a tone of voice surprisingly not far from sympathy.
"Did you get food from anybody?" The Hivewing asked, addressing Arnica directly.

Not quite able to find her voice, the youngster simply shook her head.

"No?" Hornet shot a dark look at Sandfly, who shivered. "Well then you must be famished."

The dragonet nodded weakly.

"Well now this just won't do." She snapped, irritated. "Come 'long little grub, let's fill you up." Said the Hivewing as she abruptly turned to leave the room.

Arnica hesitated.

"Well? Coming?" Hornet asked as she swung her head back in the dragonet's direction.

The Leafwing tentatively toddled a few steps towards the big dragon. No, she didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. Everything about this situation sent off alarm bells in her little brain.

But she was really, really hungry. And she'd do just about anything to leave that room.

She wished she had mommy.

As the rather odd trio walked down the hall, Sandfly hissed, "Ummm..... commander?" He looked down at the dragonet confusedly.

"If you want to question one of my orders that leaves me free to question whether you're more useful to me alive or dead." Hornet snapped. "Watch your mouth boy, 'cause next time... it'll be me holding that spear."

The guard shrank back and gulped, not offering to say anything else.

"Well, I suppose this might seem rather... odd of me." She said eventually.

The Hivewing looked down at the dragonet and smiled ominously.

"Ohhhh, but trust me.

I've got plans for this one.

I've got plans."

 

[Blue Raptor]

Spoiler

Arnica breathed a heavy sigh and slumped into a heap.

She was hungry.

She'd poked her snout in every nook and cranny of the room, but it was built well and the heavy doors were firmly shut.

For a long time after having been locked in there, she'd been completely distraught. Not able to think, and with no desire to eat, the dragonet alternatively sobbed for hours or wrestled with fitful sleep. The hours seemed to drag and doubtless it had at least been a couple of days.
But it felt like eternity.

She'd given up trying to think or feel anything. Her mind was too foggy and her empty stomach too grumpy for that.

Why couldn't they have put some munchies in this stupid room?

Her dismal train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of clanging doors, hasty footsteps, and irritated shouting. The young Leafwing's ears shot forward as her head snapped up, in curiosity but also abject terror.

She heard the sound of yelling grow louder as a muffled voice seemed to approach the door. "You just LEFT her in there?? For two and a half DAYS?!?" The voice did not sound pleased. "Why I've a mind to take and--"

Scraping and clicking sounds near the door handle quickly ensued before the sentence could end.

The door swung open to reveal two Hivewings; both very strongly built, but one taller than the other.

The tall one stepped into the room and looked down at the trembling dragonet. "Why the pathetic little thing." She said with a tone of voice surprisingly not far from sympathy.
"Did you get food from anybody?" The Hivewing asked, addressing Arnica directly.

Not quite able to find her voice, the youngster simply shook her head.

"No?" Hornet shot a dark look at Sandfly, who shivered. "Well then you must be famished."

The dragonet nodded weakly.

"Well now this just won't do." She snapped, irritated. "Come 'long little grub, let's fill you up." Said the Hivewing as she abruptly turned to leave the room.

Arnica hesitated.

"Well? Coming?" Hornet asked as she swung her head back in the dragonet's direction.

The Leafwing tentatively toddled a few steps towards the big dragon. No, she didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. Everything about this situation sent off alarm bells in her little brain.

But she was really, really hungry. And she'd do just about anything to leave that room.

She wished she had mommy.

As the rather odd trio walked down the hall, Sandfly hissed, "Ummm..... commander?" He looked down at the dragonet confusedly.

"If you want to question one of my orders that leaves me free to question whether you're more useful to me alive or dead." Hornet snapped. "Watch your mouth boy, 'cause next time, it'll be me holding that spear."

The guard shrank back and gulped, not offering to say anything else.

"Well, I suppose this might seem rather... odd of me." She said eventually.

The Hivewing looked down at the dragonet and smiled ominously.

"Ohhhh, but trust me.

I've got plans for this one.

I've got plans."

*ominous music and fade to black*

 

[Bakbuk]

*ominous music and fade to black*

Yeees

 

[Bakbuk]

Spoiler: Sorry, SUPER long one this time

"Up with ya, you lazy bag of bones!"

The Leafwing rolled over and grumbled sleepily.

"Git up I said!" He felt a solid kick hit his ribs with surprising force. "It's past your sleepin' time."

"Ow! Okay okay old man, I'm up." Cyprus jerked awake, rising to his feet with a good long stretch.

"That's more like it." Ironwood said, walking away. "Breakfast. Take it or leave it. But if you're smart you'll take it. Big day for ya."

Cyprus hopped up with a grin and started to trot after the big dragon.
"I don't remember the last time you cared that it was my hatching-day.", he quipped, unable to suppress his oddly cheery mood.

"Welp, you're ten this year, so I figure I kin kick you out now." The old Leafwing grunted. "Shoulda done that a long time ago."

Cyprus snorted. "Psshht. You're still keepin me around cause you know that I'm the only one besides you in the whole continent who gives a hill of cacao beans about that old forge of yours anymore."

"Not true." He fired back, looking slightly offended. "Metalmark."

"That scale-brained Silkwing?" the younger dragon laughed. Sure, I suppose he's helpful, but if you try to talk to the guy-- SnOOOOZEFEST! I mean, come on."

In reality, Metalmark was a young Silkwing apprentice to Ironwood who took a knack to his metalworking business and was starting to become quite proficient in it himself. Close to Cyprus' age, he was a quiet fellow who usually had something good to say, though he often kept to himself. Always had a smile on his face and a disposition to work hard and follow directions, so Ironwood liked having him around.

"Well, enough about him." The old dragon said. "You're gonna start today's forest run right after you're done eatin."

"Wait, actually?" Cyprus asked. "Kinda early, no?"

"You're gonna need the time. All the way to Redthorn village and back, by sunset tonight. Better get started." He grinned.

The young dragon nearly choked on his food. "WHAT?!"

Ironwood laughed.

Not bothering to finish, Cyprus shot over towards his nest in one of the enormous trees, hastily loaded his satchel with all the essentials, and took off through the jungle at dizzying speed. Glancing upwards to the faint beams of sun reaching down through the canopy, he altered his course towards the west, skipping lightly just over a patch of dragontraps before hitting a solid tree branch that he used in combination with his momentum to launch himself into the canopy.

The forest run was an old tradition the two Leafwings had, in which Ironwood issued a challenge, and if Cyprus completed it, he would usually get some form of reward or prize. The younger dragon viewed it as a game and a fun challenge, but honestly didn't think much of it beyond that. But Ironwood knew that this was a valuable training experience for Cyprus that would help him to become a mature, competent, wise Leafwing in the future.

But for now, all he knew was that he was sprinting. The cool, damp morning air felt good on his scales, his wings and legs were working like a well-coordinated team, and adrenaline was surging through his veins. It was a good day to be alive.
Nah. It was a great day.
He was fast. He was strong. And the forest was his! Cyprus nodded to himself confidently. He was going to win this challenge for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mid-Afternoon.

After touching base at the end of the village and stopping by the market to buy a few items he'd been needing for a while (Not without a few rather awkward interactions with other dragons), Cyprus caught his breath and started his trip back. He grinned to himself. That was the fastest he'd ever covered said distance, and that accomplishment felt pretty good.

Leaping into the forest, the Leafwing decided to follow a little stream for a ways. The tree highway was a little thicker here, providing better leg support so he could rest his wings a bit. Passing a small lake, he turned back towards the east.

The jungle sped by faster and faster as he locked into his tree-hopping rhythm. Suddenly however, without warning, the forest opened up slightly. Surprised, Cyprus quickly caught himself by snapping open his wings. Carried by speed, he found himself hurtling straight towards an opening in an otherwise overgrown strangler-fig tree.

Crashing through the hole, the dragon felt himself slammed against a solid piece of the tree on the far side of the hollow.

"Oof." he huffed.

"Welp. That was weird."

Getting up to leave, he took a quick look around-
and stopped dead in his tracks.

This wasn't just a random hollow tree.

This was... a... room??

He looked around carefully. This place looked like it'd been inhabited at one point, but it was pretty clear to him that nobody was here now.
Exploring, he found several levels of rooms. An eating room, a sleeping room, a living room; even a nest room at the top.

"This is a house." He muttered to himself. "Or- was anyway. Super weird. Just a random giant house in the middle of the Jungle."

"I'll have to explore you more later." The Leafwing smiled.
"But for now, I've got a sunset to beat."

As he was about to jump out the window, something shiny in the corner caught his attention.

Curious, he went over to it and picked it up. "Huh. What's this?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ironwood stirred the coals in the forge and tossed another log in. He and Metalmark were about done for the day, as it was starting to get dark. The old dragon wondered where Cyprus was.
He snorted to himself amusedly. "Probably won't make it in till midnight." he muttered to himself. "Maybe I was a little tough on him with this one."

"I 'spose that's what he needs though, huh." Ironwood commented to Metalmark, who simply smiled and said, "He's a tenacious one. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right."

A few minutes later, the two heard a rather conspicuous crashing come through the understory, and then smooth out into relative quiet again.

Slighty surprised, Ironwood remarked, "What did I tell that boy about his forest layer crossings? He coulda done that without all the racket." he grumped, shaking his head.

In short succession to this, the aforementioned "boy" made his appearance. "Yo Ironwood!" He shouted, bounding the last few yards before screeching to a stop.

"Made it." He gasped breathlessly, lungs heaving.

The old Leafwing frowned. "After sunset." He rumbled.

"Is.. is not!" Cyprus protested, still panting.

"It's dark."

"Not in the emergent layer. You can still see half the sun! It technically hasn't set yet."

"Oh fine, fine." Ironwood conceded reluctantly. "I guess I'll let you in under the wire this time."

"Hey. C'mere. I got somethin for ya."

Cyprus' eyebrows raised in surprise as he followed along behind.

They stopped at the cooling rack by the forge.

The old Leafwing lightly picked up a dagger that was laying on top. "Check it out." He said, handing it to his companion. "Tell me what you think."

The knife was beautiful. The metal of the blade was simple yet strong, and polished so perfectly to the point that it was a functional mirror. It gleamed as Cyprus turned it, catching the light of the moons brilliantly. He was about to test the sharpness of the blade on one of his scales, but Ironwood interrupted, saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Cyprus plucked a smallish leaf off an elephant ear plant. The stem was very thick and woody, so he ran the blade along that.

It cut straight through in a single slice.

"Woaaaahhhh." He murmured. "That's unreal."

Ironwood grinned proudly. He'd really outdone himself this time. "Check out the handle."

Cyprus gasped. In the wood was very finely and elaborately carved a scene with a group of Leafwings gathered together to share a feast.

"Flip it over."

On the other side was a scene with a group of silkwings coming together to create a silk-weaved map of Pantala.

The young dragon looked up at Ironwood, down at the dagger, and back up again. "This..."

"This is incredible."

"Thank you."

He smiled. "Happy hatching-day. You earned it kid."

Cyprus nodded gratefully and turned to go.
"Oh hey, wait." He said, coming back.

"Found this while I was out today. Anything you can tell me about it?"
He handed Ironwood a small amulet.
It was a huge wasp sealed in a polyhedral block of amber, encased all around with gold plating.

"Wow." Ironwood said, taking it. "Could prob'ly sell this for quite a bit." He flipped it over. "Looks like Hivewing orig--"
Seeing the bottom, he caught his breath. Eyes widening, he barely dared to believe what he was seeing. He gazed at it intently, looking closer.

The old Leafwing looked up, eyes flashing, but face unreadable.

"Cyprus."

The dragon snapped to attention.

"Answer me carefully."

"Where did you get this."

 

[Bakbuk]

All hail guest writer @Blue Raptor.

 

[Blue Raptor]

Spoiler: Sorry, SUPER long one this time

"Up with ya, you lazy bag of bones!"

The Leafwing rolled over and grumbled sleepily.

"Git up I said!" He felt a solid kick hit his ribs with surprising force. "It's past your sleepin' time."

"Ow! Okay okay old man, I'm up." Cyprus jerked awake, rising to his feet with a good long stretch.

"That's more like it." Ironwood said, walking away. "Breakfast. Take it or leave it. But if you're smart you'll take it. Big day for ya."

Cyprus hopped up with a grin and started to trot after the big dragon.
"I don't remember the last time you cared that it was my hatching-day.", he quipped, unable to suppress his oddly cheery mood.

"Welp, you're ten this year, so I figure I kin kick you out now." The old Leafwing grunted. "Shoulda done that a long time ago."

Cyprus snorted. "Psshht. You're still keepin me around cause you know that I'm the only one besides you in the whole continent who gives a hill of cacao beans about that old forge of yours anymore."

"Not true." He fired back, looking slightly offended. "Metalmark."

"That scale-brained Silkwing?" the younger dragon laughed. Sure, I suppose he's helpful, but if you try to talk to the guy-- SnOOOOZEFEST! I mean, come on."

In reality, Metalmark was a young Silkwing apprentice to Ironwood who took a knack to his metalworking business and was starting to become quite proficient in it himself. Close to Cyprus' age, he was a quiet fellow who usually had something good to say, though he often kept to himself. Always had a smile on his face and a disposition to work hard and follow directions, so Ironwood liked having him around.

"Well, enough about him." The old dragon said. "You're gonna start today's forest run right after you're done eatin."

"Wait, actually?" Cyprus asked. "Kinda early, no?"

"You're gonna need the time. All the way to Redthorn village and back, by sunset tonight. Better get started." He grinned.

The young dragon nearly choked on his food. "WHAT?!"

Ironwood laughed.

Not bothering to finish, Cyprus shot over towards his nest in one of the enormous trees, hastily loaded his satchel with all the essentials, and took off through the jungle at dizzying speed. Glancing upwards to the faint beams of sun reaching down through the canopy, he altered his course towards the west, skipping lightly just over a patch of dragontraps before hitting a solid tree branch that he used in combination with his momentum to launch himself into the canopy.

The forest run was an old tradition the two Leafwings had, in which Ironwood issued a challenge, and if Cyprus completed it, he would usually get some form of reward or prize. The younger dragon viewed it as a game and a fun challenge, but honestly didn't think much of it beyond that. But Ironwood knew that this was a valuable training experience for Cyprus that would help him to become a mature, competent, wise Leafwing in the future.

But for now, all he knew was that he was sprinting. The cool, damp morning air felt good on his scales, his wings and legs were working like a well-coordinated team, and adrenaline was surging through his veins. It was a good day to be alive.
Nah. It was a great day.
He was fast. He was strong. And the forest was his! Cyprus nodded to himself confidently. He was going to win this challenge for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mid-Afternoon.

After touching base at the end of the village and stopping by the market to buy a few items he'd been needing for a while (Not without a few rather awkward interactions with other dragons), Cyprus caught his breath and started his trip back. He grinned to himself. That was the fastest he'd ever covered said distance, and that accomplishment felt pretty good.

Leaping into the forest, the Leafwing decided to follow a little stream for a ways. The tree highway was a little thicker here, providing better leg support so he could rest his wings a bit. Passing a small lake, he turned back towards the east.

The jungle sped by faster and faster as he locked into his tree-hopping rhythm. Suddenly however, without warning, the forest opened up slightly. Surprised, Cyprus quickly caught himself by snapping open his wings. Carried by speed, he found himself hurtling straight towards an opening in an otherwise overgrown strangler-fig tree.

Crashing through the hole, the dragon felt himself slammed against a solid piece of the tree on the far side of wherever he was.

"Oof." he huffed.

"Welp. That was weird."

Getting up to leave, he took a quick look around-
and stopped dead in his tracks.

This wasn't just a random hollow tree.

This was... a... room??

He looked around carefully. This place looked like it'd been inhabited at one point, but it was pretty clear to him that nobody was here now.
Exploring, he found several levels of rooms. An eating room, a sleeping room, a living room; even a nest room at the top.

"This is a house." He muttered to himself. "Or- was anyway. Super weird. Just a random giant house in the middle of the Jungle."

"I'll have to explore you more later." The Leafwing smiled.
"But for now, I've got a sunset to beat."

As he was about to jump out the window, something shiny in the corner caught his attention.

Curious, he went over to it and picked it up. "Huh. What's this?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ironwood stirred the coals in the forge and tossed another log in. He and Metalmark were about done for the day, as it was starting to get dark. The old dragon wondered where Cyprus was.
He snorted to himself amusedly. "Probably won't make it in till midnight." he muttered to himself. "Maybe I was a little tough on him with this one."

"I 'spose that's what he needs though, huh." Ironwood commented to Metalmark, who simply smiled and said, "He's a tenacious one. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right."

A few minutes later, the two heard a rather conspicuous crashing come through the understory, and then smooth out into relative quiet again.

Slighty surprised, Ironwood remarked, "What did I tell that boy about his forest layer crossings? He coulda done that without all the racket." he grumped, shaking his head.

In short succession to this, the aforementioned "boy" made his appearance. "Yo Ironwood!" He shouted, bounding the last few yards before screeching to a stop.

"Made it." He gasped breathlessly, lungs heaving.

The old Leafwing frowned. "After sunset." He rumbled.

"Is.. is not!" Cyprus protested, still panting.

"It's dark."

"Not in the emergent layer. You can still see half the sun! It technically hasn't set yet."

"Oh fine, fine." Ironwood conceded reluctantly. "I guess I'll let you in under the wire this time."

"Hey. C'mere. I got somethin for ya."

Cyprus' eyebrows raised in surprise as he followed along behind.

They stopped at the cooling rack by the forge.

The old Leafwing lightly picked up a dagger that was laying on top. "Check it out." He said, handing it to his companion. "Tell me what you think."

The knife was beautiful. The metal of the blade was simple yet strong, and polished so perfectly to the point that it was a functional mirror. It gleamed as Cyprus turned it, catching the light of the moons brilliantly. He was about to test the sharpness of the blade on one of his scales, but Ironwood interrupted, saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Cyprus plucked a smallish leaf off an elephant ear plant. The stem was very thick and woody, so he ran the blade along that.

It cut straight through in a single slice.

"Woaaaahhhh." He murmured. "That's unreal."

Ironwood grinned proudly. He'd really outdone himself this time. "Check out the handle."

Cyprus gasped. In the wood was very finely and elaborately carved a scene with a group of Leafwings gathered together to share a feast.

"Flip it over."

On the other side was a scene with a group of silkwings coming together to create a silk-weaved map of Pantala.

The young dragon looked up Ironwood, back down at the dagger, and back up again. "This..."

"This is incredible."

"Thank you."

He smiled. "Happy hatching-day. You earned it kid."

Cyprus nodded gratefully and turned to go.
"Oh hey, wait." He said, coming back.

"Found this while I was out today. Anything you can tell me about it?"
He handed Ironwood a small amulet.
It was a huge wasp sealed in a polyhedral block of amber, encased all around with gold plating.

"Wow." Ironwood said, taking it. "Could prob'ly sell this for quite a bit." He flipped it over. "Looks like Hivewing orig--"
Seeing the bottom, he caught his breath. Eyes widening, he barely dared to believe what he was seeing. He gazed at it intently, looking closer.

The old Leafwing looked up, eyes flashing, but face unreadable.

"Cyprus."

The dragon snapped to attention.

"Answer me carefully."

"Where did you get this."

Spoiler: Cicada Intro! :D

Cicada had her muzzle deep in a book titled “LeafWing Culture & Traditions.” She sat leaned back in a circular open window sill with cushions propped up behind her and her tail wrapped comfortably around her hind talons.
Since newer books had started coming in about the jungle-dwelling dragons, (apparently there was a LeafWing author beginning to grow in popularity for his books about his tribe and life in the Poison Jungle) the young HiveWing had gotten her interest piqued.

But that wasn’t why she was reading the same book she’d read three times by now.
She closed it and sighed, wondering if everything she had been consuming was enough to help her survive in the deadly jungle.
“Maybe I should just wing it.” She muttered.
She’d gotten a habit of talking to herself, even when she was around other dragons. After all; her mother was the queen of the tribe, and awfully busy all the time. Which gave Cicada virtually no one to talk to. The dragonets at school had ostracized her into a category of her own: princess.. heir.. royalty.. that one dragonet with no friends.. always had her muzzle in a book..

“Why not make friends with the other dragonets at school?” Her mother had asked without looking up from her desk, filing through several letters sent by the ladies of the other hives.
Cicada had sighed and rolled her eyes. “They don’t want to hang out with me mom. Just ‘cause I’m a princess doesn’t make me one of the “cool dragonets” at school.”
Her mother had made a noise that sounded like a disappointed “hm,” but the young HiveWing couldn’t tell if she was reacting to her complaints, or the letter from Lady Honeycell of Jewel Hive. She’d been so.. distracted.
Cicada wished things were back to the way they were before her grandmother died. Clearly her mother wasn’t ready to become queen yet anyway. She was always so stressed.

“After all, it can’t be that bad.” Cicada reasoned with herself. “Most of the horror stories come from not-LeafWings.”
She’d read plenty of those scare-story books. Almost all were written by HiveWing authors. She’d read a few from Pyrrhian authors, but the descriptions were always much more vague and dramatic.
Boa constrictors three times the size of a dragon?
Bloodred leaves from a tree that poisoned the air you breathed?
Yeah right.
But they’d all described the Poison Jungle as “the deadliest territory across the two continents,” and then proceeded to describe poor wayward or unfortunate dragons who’d been slowly eaten alive by a sundew or fallen victim to a pitcher plant. She was familiar with all of the gruesome ways to die and was confident it wasn’t that hard to avoid them.

She placed the book down beside her in the window ledge she sat in, and turned to look out across the trees down below. They’d grown closer and closer since they were allowed to spread across the savanna, and last Cicada had seen, they were nearly at Vinegaroon Hive.
Still, they weren’t nearly as dense as the plants in the Poison Jungle, and tree-cutters were always thinning the trees around the hives, as well as tearing them down for the use of paper and treestuff repairs, among other things.
Silk was still used to reinforce the already-existing bridges between the hives—mainly just for a sense of direction. Many HiveWings had complained about that ages ago (Cicada had read) after the silk began to deteriorate. Obviously they couldn’t force the SilkWings to fix them any more, but now they were just hired to repair it. Cicada knew that the HiveWings had bolts of silk in the storage rooms of every hive just in case one of the bridges tore.

She shook her head, catching herself distracted.
“Focus on the plan.” She muttered. “What else do I have to do around here other than daydream and read books I’ve already read a thousand times?”
It began tomorrow. That was the day she told herself a few weeks ago was her deadline, and she’d given herself that time to read all the books about the Poison Jungle she could find, so she didn’t end up dying to a venus dragon-trap or a poisonous viper.

Queen Acacia was a sweet older dragon. Cicada had loved her visits as a young dragonet, and she was sure now that the LeafWing would welcome Cicada into her kingdom, especially if she learned that the HiveWing had bravely flown through the Poison Jungle all by herself.
She knew there were LeafWing navigators who’d memorized the safest paths through the Jungle, but who needed an escort anyway? If they could do it, so could she.

After all, she was horribly bored and just needed something to do.. someone to give her attention.

 

[Bakbuk]

Spoiler: Cicada Intro! :D

Cicada had her muzzle deep in a book titled “LeafWing Culture & Traditions.” She sat leaned back in a circular open window sill with cushions propped up behind her and her tail wrapped comfortably around her hind talons.
Since newer books had started coming in about the jungle-dwelling dragons, (apparently there was a LeafWing author beginning to grow in popularity for his books about his tribe and life in the Poison Jungle) the young HiveWing had gotten her interest piqued.

But that wasn’t why she was reading the same book she’d read three times by now.
She closed it and sighed, wondering if everything she had been consuming was enough to help her survive in the deadly jungle.
“Maybe I should just wing it.” She muttered.
She’d gotten a habit of talking to herself, even when she was around other dragons. After all; her mother was the queen of the tribe, and awfully busy all the time. Which gave Cicada virtually no one to talk to. The dragonets at school had ostracized her into a category of her own: princess.. heir.. royalty.. that one dragonet with no friends.. always had her muzzle in a book..

“Why not make friends with the other dragonets at school?” Her mother had asked without looking up from her desk, filing through several letters sent by the ladies of the other hives.
Cicada had sighed and rolled her eyes. “They don’t want to hang out with me mom. Just ‘cause I’m a princess doesn’t make me one of the “cool dragonets” at school.”
Her mother had made a noise that sounded like a disappointed “hm,” but the young HiveWing couldn’t tell if she was reacting to her complaints, or the letter from Lady Honeycell of Jewel Hive. She’d been so.. distracted.
Cicada wished things were back to the way they were before her grandmother died. Clearly her mother wasn’t ready to become queen yet anyway. She was always so stressed.

“After all, it can’t be that bad.” Cicada reasoned with herself. “Most of the horror stories come from not-LeafWings.”
She’d read plenty of those scare-story books. Almost all were written by HiveWing authors. She’d read a few from Pyrrhian authors, but the descriptions were always much more vague and dramatic.
Boa constrictors three times the size of a dragon?
Bloodred leaves from a tree that poisoned the air you breathed?
Yeah right.
But they’d all described the Poison Jungle as “the deadliest territory across the two continents,” and then proceeded to describe poor wayward or unfortunate dragons who’d been slowly eaten alive by a sundew or fallen victim to a pitcher plant. She was familiar with all of the gruesome ways to die and was confident it wasn’t that hard to avoid them.

She placed the book down beside her in the window ledge she sat in, and turned to look out across the trees down below. They’d grown closer and closer since they were allowed to spread across the savanna, and last Cicada had seen, they were nearly at Vinegaroon Hive.
Still, they weren’t nearly as dense as the plants in the Poison Jungle, and tree-cutters were always thinning the trees around the hives, as well as tearing them down for the use of paper and treestuff repairs, among other things.
Silk was still used to reinforce the already-existing bridges between the hives—mainly just for a sense of direction. Many HiveWings had complained about that ages ago (Cicada had read) after the silk began to deteriorate. Obviously they couldn’t force the SilkWings to fix them any more, but now they were just hired to repair it. Cicada knew that the HiveWings had bolts of silk in the storage rooms of every hive just in case one of the bridges tore.

She shook her head, catching herself distracted.
“Focus on the plan.” She muttered. “What else do I have to do around here other than daydream and read books I’ve already read a thousand times?”
It began tomorrow. That was the day she told herself a few weeks ago was her deadline, and she’d given herself that time to read all the books about the Poison Jungle she could find, so she didn’t end up dying to a venus dragon-trap or a poisonous viper.

Queen Acacia was a sweet older dragon. Cicada had loved her visits as a young dragonet, and she was sure now that the LeafWing would welcome Cicada into her kingdom, especially if she learned that the HiveWing had bravely flown through the Poison Jungle all by herself.
She knew there were LeafWing navigators who’d memorized the safest paths through the Jungle, but who needed an escort anyway? If they could do it, so could she.

After all, she was horribly bored and just needed something to do.. someone to give her attention.

I love this!!