Buk's Scribbles
- Thread starter Bakbuk
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Bakbuk
Howdy!
- Oct 20, 2021
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Cyprus slunk through the tall grass, painfully aware of just how much he stood out in this environment.
As one of the very few times he'd left the Poison Jungle in his entire life, this was all bizzarre to him. There was dry, brown grass everywhere, hardly any trees, and so. Much. FREAKING. SUN. It looked brighter than a trillion fireflies out here. The dragon was certain that his pupils were contracted to the max.
But apparently, for the mission's sake, he needed to talk to other dragons. Ugh.
Hivewings, at that. Double ugh.
He wondered how civilized they really were. I mean, sure, the hives were kind of impressive and all that, but like- the Leafwing shook his head. He'd heard stories. Way too many stories.
There was Yellowjacket Hive now. Or so he figured anyway. Memorizing names wasn't exactly his strong suit.
"Welp, I guess we go in blind." He muttered to himself.
The young dragon really didn't have any idea what to expect.
Cyprus approached one of the openings to the hive. He was starting to see dragons bustling around inside, walking and flying around, taking care of business, talking to each other.
"It's just... open? No guards or protocols or anything?"
He studied the entrance for a second before shrugging to himself. Everything seemed ok. Wondering if they would give any reaction to a random Leafwing just casually waltzing in, he cautiously walked inside the hive.
Cyprus looked up and around. Whoah. This was NUTS.
Cicada had been stressing all morning about her plan.
Today was the day.
She’s spent the better part of her morning jumping at every odd sound, as well as packing and re-packing a satchel she’d taken to use for her journey. It had a couple small books in it—borrowed from the library—as well as food, snacks, and a bandage she’d “borrowed” from the medical den in the hive. Aside from the essentials, the HiveWing couldn’t help looking at random household items and wondering if they would be of use in the jungle.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine!” She told herself, flying down toward the base of the hive as working dragons flew around her, filling the place with a familiar buzzing hum of activity.
She landed near the hive’s storage rooms. They were loosely guarded, but Cicada hoped she wouldn’t be spotted and questioned. It wasn’t quite easy to “blend in” with scales as dark brown as hers.
She cautiously peered around a treestuff pillar; meticulously carved with grooves as to resemble the trunk of a tree. A yellow-and-black scaled guard stood several tail-lengths away, his expression that of boredom. “I’d be too,” Cicada whispered with an eyebrow raised, thankful she didn’t have to do that useless job.
She waited until the guard turned in the opposite direction before stealing into the unlocked room, absently leaving the door partially open. Was there anything in here she needed? She poked through the barrels and containers as she moved to the back of the dark, quiet room, wondering if this was what a mouse felt like when hunting for cheese.
The Leafwing took a few more steps forward, acquainting himself visually with his surroundings. Nobody bothered him or stopped to question what he was doing, or anything like that. In fact, it didn't seem like anybody noticed or cared that he was there at all.
Normally this situation would've delighted Cyprus. But of course, this was the one time he actually had to TALK to other dragons. He dragged a talon down his face wearily and sighed as he looked down at the amulet in his talons; weird wasp, shiny gold, strange symbols and all. Who could tell him anything about this? This was a stupid idea.
He shook his head. "Nope, this is dumb, this is a dumb idea, I don't know what I'm doing, nobody here looks helpful-- you know what, I'm just gonna leave."
Just as he was about to whirl around and walk out, his facial expression suddenly changed.
Well this was embarrassing.
He hesitantly approached a lone Hivewing who held a spear in his talons and probably the most bored expression on planet Earth on his face. He appeared to be supervising something or other, the Leafwing couldn't exactly tell what.
Cyprus cleared his throat. "Uhm, 'scuse me... could you tell me where the bathroom is?" He asked sheepishly.
*UGH. Stupid stupid stupid. You're supposed to be CONFIDENT around these dragons.*
The Hivewing looked up disinterestedly but his expression lightened in a somewhat friendly manner. "Oh hey. Sure. That'll be the third hallway around rightwise, 6th door on your left."
"Uh—ok thanks." The Leafwing said hastily. He almost turned around to ask about the amulet, but decided against it. Man, he hated talking to strangers.
*Okay, so that was... third hallway? Right? Yeah. Seven doors? Or did he say six? Aw heck, let's go with six.*
Cyprus confidently strolled up to the sixth door and opened the one on the right.
Slipping inside, his eyes adjusted to the slightly dimmer interior.
Hold up. This wasn't the bathroom.
It was kind of an interesting room though.
"Huh, wonder what's in all these boxes." He mumbled to himself.
Prying one open, it revealed several rolls of the smoothest, whitest Silkwing silk he'd ever seen. "Ooooh, fancy." He muttered, absentmindedly slipping a roll into his satchel. What could he say, silk was handy stuff.
Cicada heard talonsteps approach the room and quickly crouched behind a tall stack of crates to hide.
Please pass, please pass, please pass.. she thought in a rush, but the dragon stopped in front of the door and pushed their way through the door.
Great.
She cautiously peeked around the crate, but was surprised to see it wasn’t the HiveWing guard. Instead, it was a LeafWing.
He bore a confused expression on his face as he peered around the room; obviously lost.
Curious, Cicada took a step away from the crates, studying the green dragon as he opened a container, muttering to himself. His scales were a more muted, but nevertheless vibrant green that blended into the perfect camouflage with some darker green and brown stripes. Brown scales were scattered down his sides, and he too had a leather satchel slung around his neck.
The LeafWing picked up one of the smaller rolls of white silk and tucked it smoothly into the bag.
Cicada raised her eyebrows. Was he stealing? Or was he allowed to take the silk? It wasn’t the thicker kind they used on the bridges, but it was valuable nonetheless.
Ever so quietly, she crept up behind the green dragon and cocked her head into his peripheral view.
“What are you doing?”
Cyprus jumped at the sound of her voice, whirling around and instinctively unsheathing his dagger.
He stood there for a moment, too shell-shocked to say anything.
"I- uh—nothing." He spluttered, trying to calm his racing heart rate down. "Um- What are YOU doing here?" he fired back, trying to take a little more control of the situation but not really making a whole lot of sense.
Cicada’s eyes gleamed at his fright, and she glanced down in surprise at his hastily unsheathed blade.
Yikes.
Maybe no more scaring LeafWings.
“What am I doing here?” She asked with an incredulous expression on her face. “I LIVE here.”
Starting to regain his cool, Cyprus took a deep breath and put away his knife. No immediate threat here. Probably.
"In this room full 'a boxes." he said in a skeptical tone and raised an eyebrow. He knew full well what she meant but couldn't help from making the joke anyway.
“How do you know I’m not just an inspector or something?”
"By the fact that you had to phrase that question the way you did." He said, keeping as straight a face as possible, narrowing his eyes coldly to hide the fact that they were twinkling.
Cicada rolled her eyes. “Okay, so what? You have less of a reason to be in here than me.”
"Well, I-"
A hundred lies passed through the Leafwing's mind.
He sighed. "I was wondering if anybody around here... knew anything about this."
He pulled the wasp amulet out of his satchel and held it out to the Hivewing.
After all this was why he was here, and he figured he might as well spill it to this dragon as he was already stuck talking to her.
“In here?” Cicada asked with a snort.
"Well—this was kinda an accident." Cyprus retorted.
Still, she squinted at the thing. The wasp in the amber was bigger than the normal ones she’d seen, but still unsettled her how similar it looked to a HiveWing.
Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as she stared at the amulet.
“Oh my gosh!” She exclaimed, eyes darting to look at the LeafWing with shock.
The Leafwing tensed and almost jumped again. "What?" He hissed.
The dark-scaled HiveWing paused for a moment, staring into his eyes.
“I have no idea what that is.”
She burst out into laughter.
"Phsht—b-but—I-" He stammered helplessly, stunned yet again.
"WHAT is WRONG WITH YOU??" The dragon snapped, completely caught off-guard and just a little angry at the fact that the humor of this situation was well-nigh impossible to ignore.
Cicada giggled at his reaction, then clapped a talon over her mouth and waved the other in the LeafWing’s face.
“Shhh, we’re gonna get caught,” she warned with a grin, glancing towards the doorway.
Cyprus snorted, but took care to do it a little more quietly. "Well you're just a barrel of laughs, aren't ya." He scowled, trying his hardest not to laugh in response (which he was pretty close to doing).
The Leafwing huffed a frustrated sigh. "Know anybody who would be helpful about this?" He asked, still attempting to salvage his dignity.
Cicada, still grinning, shrugged. “I don’t know, a jeweler? Why, is like your long-lost grandmother’s necklace?”
Despite his best efforts, a very small smile cracked the Leafwing's composure. This dragon was definitely weird, but he had to admit it, she was kinda funny. Definitely no Metalmark, that was for sure.
*Hmm. Maybe some Hivewings do have personalities and souls.
Probably not the majority though.* His face settled back down into its smooth, calm "mask" setting.
"Probably not." He grunted. "Or at least-" Ironwood's significantly disturbed face flashed through his mind. "I hope not."
"Jeweler huh? Where could I find one of those?"
“Uhhh..” Cicada let her eyes drift away from the green dragon and rubbed the back of her neck as she thought for a moment.
“I ThInK there one here?” Uncertainty wrote itself on her face.
“There’s definitely one in Jewel Hive at the Glitterbazar.”
The Leafwing sighed again and internally shook his head. This was a waste of time. This random Hivewing obviously didn't know enough to be helpful in any practical way.
"Ok cool." He replied, moving to leave. "I'll... go check that out I guess."
“Sure thing.”
Time’s a-wasting!
She took a step back to let him leave first. “Good luck finding out about your grandma’s necklace.” She smirked.
Cyprus rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He muttered.
Slipping out the door he came in to, The Leafwing closed it soundlessly behind him.
As one of the very few times he'd left the Poison Jungle in his entire life, this was all bizzarre to him. There was dry, brown grass everywhere, hardly any trees, and so. Much. FREAKING. SUN. It looked brighter than a trillion fireflies out here. The dragon was certain that his pupils were contracted to the max.
But apparently, for the mission's sake, he needed to talk to other dragons. Ugh.
Hivewings, at that. Double ugh.
He wondered how civilized they really were. I mean, sure, the hives were kind of impressive and all that, but like- the Leafwing shook his head. He'd heard stories. Way too many stories.
There was Yellowjacket Hive now. Or so he figured anyway. Memorizing names wasn't exactly his strong suit.
"Welp, I guess we go in blind." He muttered to himself.
The young dragon really didn't have any idea what to expect.
Cyprus approached one of the openings to the hive. He was starting to see dragons bustling around inside, walking and flying around, taking care of business, talking to each other.
"It's just... open? No guards or protocols or anything?"
He studied the entrance for a second before shrugging to himself. Everything seemed ok. Wondering if they would give any reaction to a random Leafwing just casually waltzing in, he cautiously walked inside the hive.
Cyprus looked up and around. Whoah. This was NUTS.
Cicada had been stressing all morning about her plan.
Today was the day.
She’s spent the better part of her morning jumping at every odd sound, as well as packing and re-packing a satchel she’d taken to use for her journey. It had a couple small books in it—borrowed from the library—as well as food, snacks, and a bandage she’d “borrowed” from the medical den in the hive. Aside from the essentials, the HiveWing couldn’t help looking at random household items and wondering if they would be of use in the jungle.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine!” She told herself, flying down toward the base of the hive as working dragons flew around her, filling the place with a familiar buzzing hum of activity.
She landed near the hive’s storage rooms. They were loosely guarded, but Cicada hoped she wouldn’t be spotted and questioned. It wasn’t quite easy to “blend in” with scales as dark brown as hers.
She cautiously peered around a treestuff pillar; meticulously carved with grooves as to resemble the trunk of a tree. A yellow-and-black scaled guard stood several tail-lengths away, his expression that of boredom. “I’d be too,” Cicada whispered with an eyebrow raised, thankful she didn’t have to do that useless job.
She waited until the guard turned in the opposite direction before stealing into the unlocked room, absently leaving the door partially open. Was there anything in here she needed? She poked through the barrels and containers as she moved to the back of the dark, quiet room, wondering if this was what a mouse felt like when hunting for cheese.
The Leafwing took a few more steps forward, acquainting himself visually with his surroundings. Nobody bothered him or stopped to question what he was doing, or anything like that. In fact, it didn't seem like anybody noticed or cared that he was there at all.
Normally this situation would've delighted Cyprus. But of course, this was the one time he actually had to TALK to other dragons. He dragged a talon down his face wearily and sighed as he looked down at the amulet in his talons; weird wasp, shiny gold, strange symbols and all. Who could tell him anything about this? This was a stupid idea.
He shook his head. "Nope, this is dumb, this is a dumb idea, I don't know what I'm doing, nobody here looks helpful-- you know what, I'm just gonna leave."
Just as he was about to whirl around and walk out, his facial expression suddenly changed.
Well this was embarrassing.
He hesitantly approached a lone Hivewing who held a spear in his talons and probably the most bored expression on planet Earth on his face. He appeared to be supervising something or other, the Leafwing couldn't exactly tell what.
Cyprus cleared his throat. "Uhm, 'scuse me... could you tell me where the bathroom is?" He asked sheepishly.
*UGH. Stupid stupid stupid. You're supposed to be CONFIDENT around these dragons.*
The Hivewing looked up disinterestedly but his expression lightened in a somewhat friendly manner. "Oh hey. Sure. That'll be the third hallway around rightwise, 6th door on your left."
"Uh—ok thanks." The Leafwing said hastily. He almost turned around to ask about the amulet, but decided against it. Man, he hated talking to strangers.
*Okay, so that was... third hallway? Right? Yeah. Seven doors? Or did he say six? Aw heck, let's go with six.*
Cyprus confidently strolled up to the sixth door and opened the one on the right.
Slipping inside, his eyes adjusted to the slightly dimmer interior.
Hold up. This wasn't the bathroom.
It was kind of an interesting room though.
"Huh, wonder what's in all these boxes." He mumbled to himself.
Prying one open, it revealed several rolls of the smoothest, whitest Silkwing silk he'd ever seen. "Ooooh, fancy." He muttered, absentmindedly slipping a roll into his satchel. What could he say, silk was handy stuff.
Cicada heard talonsteps approach the room and quickly crouched behind a tall stack of crates to hide.
Please pass, please pass, please pass.. she thought in a rush, but the dragon stopped in front of the door and pushed their way through the door.
Great.
She cautiously peeked around the crate, but was surprised to see it wasn’t the HiveWing guard. Instead, it was a LeafWing.
He bore a confused expression on his face as he peered around the room; obviously lost.
Curious, Cicada took a step away from the crates, studying the green dragon as he opened a container, muttering to himself. His scales were a more muted, but nevertheless vibrant green that blended into the perfect camouflage with some darker green and brown stripes. Brown scales were scattered down his sides, and he too had a leather satchel slung around his neck.
The LeafWing picked up one of the smaller rolls of white silk and tucked it smoothly into the bag.
Cicada raised her eyebrows. Was he stealing? Or was he allowed to take the silk? It wasn’t the thicker kind they used on the bridges, but it was valuable nonetheless.
Ever so quietly, she crept up behind the green dragon and cocked her head into his peripheral view.
“What are you doing?”
Cyprus jumped at the sound of her voice, whirling around and instinctively unsheathing his dagger.
He stood there for a moment, too shell-shocked to say anything.
"I- uh—nothing." He spluttered, trying to calm his racing heart rate down. "Um- What are YOU doing here?" he fired back, trying to take a little more control of the situation but not really making a whole lot of sense.
Cicada’s eyes gleamed at his fright, and she glanced down in surprise at his hastily unsheathed blade.
Yikes.
Maybe no more scaring LeafWings.
“What am I doing here?” She asked with an incredulous expression on her face. “I LIVE here.”
Starting to regain his cool, Cyprus took a deep breath and put away his knife. No immediate threat here. Probably.
"In this room full 'a boxes." he said in a skeptical tone and raised an eyebrow. He knew full well what she meant but couldn't help from making the joke anyway.
“How do you know I’m not just an inspector or something?”
"By the fact that you had to phrase that question the way you did." He said, keeping as straight a face as possible, narrowing his eyes coldly to hide the fact that they were twinkling.
Cicada rolled her eyes. “Okay, so what? You have less of a reason to be in here than me.”
"Well, I-"
A hundred lies passed through the Leafwing's mind.
He sighed. "I was wondering if anybody around here... knew anything about this."
He pulled the wasp amulet out of his satchel and held it out to the Hivewing.
After all this was why he was here, and he figured he might as well spill it to this dragon as he was already stuck talking to her.
“In here?” Cicada asked with a snort.
"Well—this was kinda an accident." Cyprus retorted.
Still, she squinted at the thing. The wasp in the amber was bigger than the normal ones she’d seen, but still unsettled her how similar it looked to a HiveWing.
Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as she stared at the amulet.
“Oh my gosh!” She exclaimed, eyes darting to look at the LeafWing with shock.
The Leafwing tensed and almost jumped again. "What?" He hissed.
The dark-scaled HiveWing paused for a moment, staring into his eyes.
“I have no idea what that is.”
She burst out into laughter.
"Phsht—b-but—I-" He stammered helplessly, stunned yet again.
"WHAT is WRONG WITH YOU??" The dragon snapped, completely caught off-guard and just a little angry at the fact that the humor of this situation was well-nigh impossible to ignore.
Cicada giggled at his reaction, then clapped a talon over her mouth and waved the other in the LeafWing’s face.
“Shhh, we’re gonna get caught,” she warned with a grin, glancing towards the doorway.
Cyprus snorted, but took care to do it a little more quietly. "Well you're just a barrel of laughs, aren't ya." He scowled, trying his hardest not to laugh in response (which he was pretty close to doing).
The Leafwing huffed a frustrated sigh. "Know anybody who would be helpful about this?" He asked, still attempting to salvage his dignity.
Cicada, still grinning, shrugged. “I don’t know, a jeweler? Why, is like your long-lost grandmother’s necklace?”
Despite his best efforts, a very small smile cracked the Leafwing's composure. This dragon was definitely weird, but he had to admit it, she was kinda funny. Definitely no Metalmark, that was for sure.
*Hmm. Maybe some Hivewings do have personalities and souls.
Probably not the majority though.* His face settled back down into its smooth, calm "mask" setting.
"Probably not." He grunted. "Or at least-" Ironwood's significantly disturbed face flashed through his mind. "I hope not."
"Jeweler huh? Where could I find one of those?"
“Uhhh..” Cicada let her eyes drift away from the green dragon and rubbed the back of her neck as she thought for a moment.
“I ThInK there one here?” Uncertainty wrote itself on her face.
“There’s definitely one in Jewel Hive at the Glitterbazar.”
The Leafwing sighed again and internally shook his head. This was a waste of time. This random Hivewing obviously didn't know enough to be helpful in any practical way.
"Ok cool." He replied, moving to leave. "I'll... go check that out I guess."
“Sure thing.”
Time’s a-wasting!
She took a step back to let him leave first. “Good luck finding out about your grandma’s necklace.” She smirked.
Cyprus rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He muttered.
Slipping out the door he came in to, The Leafwing closed it soundlessly behind him.
- Thread starter
- #44
Bakbuk
Howdy!
- Oct 20, 2021
- 5,456
- 47,511
- 986
Cyprus stepped out into the center of the hive and sighed to himself.
What the heck was this even all about?
He wished that Ironwood woulda told him something, ANYTHING concerning the cause of his reaction. But, frustratingly, the old dragon had clammed up, not giving the slightest hint.
All Cyprus knew was that when he'd told him to go to the hives and see if anybody knew anything about this strange amulet (particularly the symbol engraved on the bottom)-
A deep-rooted fear had burned in his eyes.
The young Leafwing clenched and relaxed his fists. He needed to know why. And he was going to find out.
Cyprus approached the same guard he'd spoken to before.
"Hey." He said, catching the guard's attention. "Directions to the jeweler?"
The Hivewing raised a curious eyebrow but said nothing of what he might have been thinking. "Third story, middle shop on the west side." He grunted. "Won't do you any good though, they're closed today."
Somewhat surprised, Cyprus stopped to consider.
*Closed? Seriously?*
Looking up, he nodded to the guard as he stepped away. "Thanks anyhow."
Leaping into the air, the Leafwing flapped up towards the third story, gliding around towards the right. His eyes scanned the stalls and counters. Chancing to spot the jeweler's shop from his airborne position, he flew over towards it and landed.
"Welp, here we are." He mumbled to himself.
Inside the store, the lights were dimmed but there were voices coming from inside, so Cyprus stopped to check it out. Who knew, maybe there'd be somebody actually useful in here.
He rapped on the door, and poked his head in. "Hey, um-"
The shop owner looked up from where she and her assistant were working and quickly interrupted. "No, no, we're closed today for cleaning. Didn't you see the sign? Your shopping can wait till tomorrow, at least here." She huffed, like she'd had to deal with impatient customers enough today.
"Oh- I'm not here to buy anything." Cyprus said, taken aback slightly.
"Well what are you here for?" The Hivewing asked shortly.
"I wanna ask you a question." He said, reaching into his satchel and pulling out the amulet. "What can you tell me about this?" He asked, holding it out to her.
The shop owner took it out of his hand abruptly, her eyes scanning the piece carefully. She turned it every which way, occasionally mumbling some remark to herself or running a talon across it.
After a few seconds, she said, "Well, that's pure, genuine gold, I'll say that. Amber's a bit more questionable, but honestly that doesn't really matter. Wasp's well-preserved. Definitely made with some care to it."
She paused. Her assistant, a young male Hivewing, casually walked over to look over her shoulder at the amulet.
"Hm. Pretty valuable, looks like." She said finally.
"If you'd like me to buy it off ya, you could come back tomo-"
It was Cyprus' turn to interrupt. "No, I'm not trying to sell it. I just wanted to know if you could tell me anything about who made it or where it came from."
The shop owner stared at it a little harder than she had before, eyes running across the talisman.
"Anything about the symbol on the bottom, particularly."
She flipped it over, staring blankly at it. "Never seen it before."
The Hivewing handed the amber wasp back to Cyprus. "We finished here?" She asked, glancing back uneasily at the cleaning job she'd been pulled away from.
The Leafwing sighed, frustrated. "I guess so."
As he turned to leave, the shopkeeper's assistant (who had been staring at him rather curiously for some time now) stopped him.
"Hey wait." He said.
Cyprus turned back around. "What."
The assistant covered up a look of suspicion with a tense, forced smile.
"Where, ah... where did you say you got this... exactly?"
Eyes narrowing slightly, he stated,
"Cause... I'm pretty sure I know who this belongs to.
And it's not you."
What the heck was this even all about?
He wished that Ironwood woulda told him something, ANYTHING concerning the cause of his reaction. But, frustratingly, the old dragon had clammed up, not giving the slightest hint.
All Cyprus knew was that when he'd told him to go to the hives and see if anybody knew anything about this strange amulet (particularly the symbol engraved on the bottom)-
A deep-rooted fear had burned in his eyes.
The young Leafwing clenched and relaxed his fists. He needed to know why. And he was going to find out.
Cyprus approached the same guard he'd spoken to before.
"Hey." He said, catching the guard's attention. "Directions to the jeweler?"
The Hivewing raised a curious eyebrow but said nothing of what he might have been thinking. "Third story, middle shop on the west side." He grunted. "Won't do you any good though, they're closed today."
Somewhat surprised, Cyprus stopped to consider.
*Closed? Seriously?*
Looking up, he nodded to the guard as he stepped away. "Thanks anyhow."
Leaping into the air, the Leafwing flapped up towards the third story, gliding around towards the right. His eyes scanned the stalls and counters. Chancing to spot the jeweler's shop from his airborne position, he flew over towards it and landed.
"Welp, here we are." He mumbled to himself.
Inside the store, the lights were dimmed but there were voices coming from inside, so Cyprus stopped to check it out. Who knew, maybe there'd be somebody actually useful in here.
He rapped on the door, and poked his head in. "Hey, um-"
The shop owner looked up from where she and her assistant were working and quickly interrupted. "No, no, we're closed today for cleaning. Didn't you see the sign? Your shopping can wait till tomorrow, at least here." She huffed, like she'd had to deal with impatient customers enough today.
"Oh- I'm not here to buy anything." Cyprus said, taken aback slightly.
"Well what are you here for?" The Hivewing asked shortly.
"I wanna ask you a question." He said, reaching into his satchel and pulling out the amulet. "What can you tell me about this?" He asked, holding it out to her.
The shop owner took it out of his hand abruptly, her eyes scanning the piece carefully. She turned it every which way, occasionally mumbling some remark to herself or running a talon across it.
After a few seconds, she said, "Well, that's pure, genuine gold, I'll say that. Amber's a bit more questionable, but honestly that doesn't really matter. Wasp's well-preserved. Definitely made with some care to it."
She paused. Her assistant, a young male Hivewing, casually walked over to look over her shoulder at the amulet.
"Hm. Pretty valuable, looks like." She said finally.
"If you'd like me to buy it off ya, you could come back tomo-"
It was Cyprus' turn to interrupt. "No, I'm not trying to sell it. I just wanted to know if you could tell me anything about who made it or where it came from."
The shop owner stared at it a little harder than she had before, eyes running across the talisman.
"Anything about the symbol on the bottom, particularly."
She flipped it over, staring blankly at it. "Never seen it before."
The Hivewing handed the amber wasp back to Cyprus. "We finished here?" She asked, glancing back uneasily at the cleaning job she'd been pulled away from.
The Leafwing sighed, frustrated. "I guess so."
As he turned to leave, the shopkeeper's assistant (who had been staring at him rather curiously for some time now) stopped him.
"Hey wait." He said.
Cyprus turned back around. "What."
The assistant covered up a look of suspicion with a tense, forced smile.
"Where, ah... where did you say you got this... exactly?"
Eyes narrowing slightly, he stated,
"Cause... I'm pretty sure I know who this belongs to.
And it's not you."
Blue Raptor
Ad Astra Per Aspera
- Thread starter
- #46
Bakbuk
Howdy!
- Oct 20, 2021
- 5,456
- 47,511
- 986
"You did what."
"Well y'know, I figured I could take him..." The black-and-yellow Hivewing offered lamely.
"Yeah, well, you DIDN'T, now did y-"
Hornet glared. "Enough, Arnica."
The Leafwing instantly snapped her muzzle shut.
Turning back to the young Hivewing, Hornet growled, irritated. "So Ratel, you're telling me that not only did you attempt to bring in a dragon larger than you, BY YOURSELF (and adding to that the fact that you failed entirely), but also that he SOMEHOW has his talons on a replica of my ROYAL SIGNET?!
Ratel gulped. "Um... yes?" He mumbled.
Hornet took a deep breath, attempting desperately to fend off a volcano of explosive fury that was threatening to express itself.
A few moments of tense silence filled the throne room.
She drug a talon down her forehead. "Get him out of my sight."
"B-but commander, p-please-"
"OUT!!"
Arnica winced as the guards moved to drag Ratel to the Gallery. Again. *Welp, add that to the list of things I'm not planning on doing anytime soon.* She smirked. It was hard to imagine her screwing anything up that badly.
"Clear the room." Hornet snapped.
The guards immediately all stepped out, clanging doors behind them.
The orange Hivewing hissed quietly to herself.
Arnica opened her mouth to say something, but a single glance at Hornet's facial expression was sufficient to squelch any comment she might've considered making.
After a moment of silence, Hornet turned to Arnica. "My royal signet? In the talons of some unknown Leafwing?" She scowled. "I can't really make sense of this... but I definitely don't like it."
"In any case, we need him secured. NOW. I can't risk my seal being casually tossed around all of Pantala, especially by a rogue Leafwing, of all dragons."
"Seems like you might have to call in an agent who actually knows how to get the job done... and who also just might be an expert in Leafwing behavior." Arnica hinted, grinning maniacally.
A gleam shone in the Hivewing's eyes. "Well well... wish I knew someone with the level of skill required for such a mission."
The Leafwing dragoness raised her eyebrows.
Hornet flipped her one of her personal, fine-tip daggers. "I'd prefer him alive."
"I won't fail you." Arnica said, grinning and nodding deeply as she turned to leave.
"You'd better not."
"Well y'know, I figured I could take him..." The black-and-yellow Hivewing offered lamely.
"Yeah, well, you DIDN'T, now did y-"
Hornet glared. "Enough, Arnica."
The Leafwing instantly snapped her muzzle shut.
Turning back to the young Hivewing, Hornet growled, irritated. "So Ratel, you're telling me that not only did you attempt to bring in a dragon larger than you, BY YOURSELF (and adding to that the fact that you failed entirely), but also that he SOMEHOW has his talons on a replica of my ROYAL SIGNET?!
Ratel gulped. "Um... yes?" He mumbled.
Hornet took a deep breath, attempting desperately to fend off a volcano of explosive fury that was threatening to express itself.
A few moments of tense silence filled the throne room.
She drug a talon down her forehead. "Get him out of my sight."
"B-but commander, p-please-"
"OUT!!"
Arnica winced as the guards moved to drag Ratel to the Gallery. Again. *Welp, add that to the list of things I'm not planning on doing anytime soon.* She smirked. It was hard to imagine her screwing anything up that badly.
"Clear the room." Hornet snapped.
The guards immediately all stepped out, clanging doors behind them.
The orange Hivewing hissed quietly to herself.
Arnica opened her mouth to say something, but a single glance at Hornet's facial expression was sufficient to squelch any comment she might've considered making.
After a moment of silence, Hornet turned to Arnica. "My royal signet? In the talons of some unknown Leafwing?" She scowled. "I can't really make sense of this... but I definitely don't like it."
"In any case, we need him secured. NOW. I can't risk my seal being casually tossed around all of Pantala, especially by a rogue Leafwing, of all dragons."
"Seems like you might have to call in an agent who actually knows how to get the job done... and who also just might be an expert in Leafwing behavior." Arnica hinted, grinning maniacally.
A gleam shone in the Hivewing's eyes. "Well well... wish I knew someone with the level of skill required for such a mission."
The Leafwing dragoness raised her eyebrows.
Hornet flipped her one of her personal, fine-tip daggers. "I'd prefer him alive."
"I won't fail you." Arnica said, grinning and nodding deeply as she turned to leave.
"You'd better not."
Last edited:
Blue Raptor
Ad Astra Per Aspera
Blue Raptor
Ad Astra Per Aspera
Warning: a bit long! 
Cicada sat grinning at the door shut behind the LeafWing, desperately trying not to laugh.
Well that encounter was a bit strange.
As she calmed down, her curiosity rose. What was a LeafWing doing in a random storage room? Whey had he taken silk? Why was he asking about a necklace of all things?
By the Hive, I didn’t even get his name! She stamped a talon down lightly in mild annoyance.
Well.. he didn’t get mine! So there.
She sniffed, turned in the opposite direction of the doorway, and walked deeper into the storage room. The cluttered and dark space brightened slightly as a light from under another door at the back of the room shone a golden light on the boxes piled up next to the exit.
Cicada unlocked the door and let herself out into the sunny savanna, squinting at the brightness.
“Too bad I can’t lock it from the outside..” she muttered, shutting the door. “It’ll be fine! It’s not like a wildebeest or a.. uh.. a zebra are gonna get in!”
The black and gold-scaled dragon tilted her head to gaze up Yellowjacket Hive’s sloped exterior. HiveWings buzzed busily around the treestuff walls, moving to and from hives, most of which were traveling South. It made sense though, since the hive the queen resided in, Wasp Hive, was just a short flight in that direction.
My mom. Cicada thought, pausing.
She could see the hive from here, though trees obstructed her view. It stood grandly above the foliage, reminding her what she was leaving behind on her journey.
“It’ll be fine,” she told herself abruptly, shaking her head and turning her gaze east. The Poison Jungle lay in wait, dark and exciting.
There’s so much nothing here, and so much to see out there! She imagined the brilliant flowers and animals she’d seen illustrated in the books at the library and excited herself enough to take flight and head out over the savanna without looking back.
The trees grew denser as the dark-scaled HiveWing flew on.
They also seemed to.. change. And here she was thinking most trees held the same size and shape, but as the tall plants around her started to cluster together and make it harder for her to fly, they appeared to change entirely.
Long, trailing vines forced her to dodge through the air, and leaves of all all different sizes and shapes obstructed her view of the sky and the ground below, making her feel like she was suffocating beneath the greenery all around her.
Strange howls and rustles had her looking all around, though she couldn’t see anything that seemed to be making the noises.
The plants got bigger and bigger, and she was beginning to see some that were almost ten times the size of ones she’d learned about in her botany class.
Eventually, Cicada was forced to land. The vines and trees had grown too thick, and landing created a whole new perspective; the plants she had previously been looking down on now towered over her head, and new, smaller ones appeared underneath, growing up around her talons.
The young HiveWing stared at the new world around her in wonder.
Everything was SO. GREEN.
Excitedly, she began poking her nose at colorful flowers and strange-looking plants. Although now that wind and adrenaline weren’t rushing through her ears from the flight, she was beginning to notice just how loud it was here. The bird calls, the croaks, the squeals, the bugs.. and a whole lot of other things she couldn’t name.
“Now that you mention it..” she muttered, wiping at the scales on her shoulder as if that could rid herself of the humidity that hung in the air like thick honey. This was awful, no—torturous. “How do they STAND this?” She asked herself aloud, looking around her. She spotted a clearing up ahead and eagerly moved toward it, looking up at the huge plants above her head.
The jungle seemed.. scared to grow around these specific plants. It was weird, Cicada thought, until she realized what they were.
After all, it was hard to tell what a venus dragontrap looked like from underneath.
These were SO dangerous, she’d read. Getting caught in one was basically imprisoning yourself in a cage and throwing away the key.
Except this prison slowly digested you over the course of a week, leaving only scales and bones.
And then it was only after it dropped your remains to the jungle floor would everyone realize you’d been eaten alive by a *plant* of all things.
Cicada shuddered and continued walking, hoping that the dragontraps would lean down and try to pluck her off the ground.
Fortunately, she got through the clearing safely.
The ground here seemed so damp all the time. It was so much different than the dry savanna, and the HiveWing was beginning to miss seeing further than a tail-length in front of her face at one time.
Eventually her view of plants, plants, and more plants irritated her enough to climb her way into a tree.
This one was squat, but almost wider than she was in length. Its thick branches wound lazily upwards, and Cicada was able to comfortably claw her way onto a branch and take stock of her surroundings.
In the near distance, she was able to make out a length of clear trees and realized that a small river stretched in front of her.
“Oh nice!” She exclaimed, remembering this landmark on the map she’d studied before. This meant she was almost halfway to the Leaf Kingdom.
The black and gold dragon was about to step down out of the tree when something caught on her left front talon.
Turning her head, she saw a green vine wrapped partially around her wrist, small red tendrils with a clear honey-like substance at the tips covered the length of the vine and were slowly creeping up her arm.
Cicada’s eyes fluttered in surprise.
“Oh, what?” She exclaimed, instinctively using her free talon to try and pull the vine off. “What is this?” She asked curiously. The vine didn’t move when pulled, and she tugged harder to no avail.
When she tried to pull her second talon away, she just barely managed to get away from the to the plant, and the clear goo stuck between her claws.
“How do I—?” The plant pulled at her talon and she attempted to scrabble backwards, alarm bells ringing in her head as she finally recognized the plant.
A sundew.
“No. No, no, no..” she told it as she was drug to the edge of the branch. She could see the rest of the huge sundew below now, its tendrils reaching hungrily for her as she pulled away.
Suddenly her talons slipped off of the edge of the round branch and with a yelp, the HiveWing braced herself to land on the ground.
Opening her eyes slowly, Cicada found herself less than a tail-length from the ground and gasped, stirring suddenly and finding that her left talon was now pulled under her, and both of her right wings were strung up in the sticky plant.
“Talons and teeth!” Cicada shouted as the sundew reached for her other limbs eagerly. It seemed excited by her struggles, and the HiveWing growled angrily.
She struggled for a moment, then remembered her stingers. Unsheathing the one on her left talon, she stabbed at one of the vines and tried to slice it, and the sundew recoiled away from the venom and avoided her talon.
“Auugh!” She yelled. “Get back. In the reach. Of my talon!” She clawed at the plant frantically. The sundew seemed too set on its meal though, and caught the waving limb with a sticky tendril, holding it awkwardly in the air.
Cicada paused for a moment, out of breath. She was upside-down and the blood in her body had rushed to her head, making her thoughts feel blurry.
She struggled for a bit more, her movements growing slower as the sundew secured its hold on her and she realized that fighting was futile.
“Why me?!” She yelled. Her head was beginning to throb.
This was a terrible idea, she thought, closing her eyes and letting her body go limp as she gave up hope of escape.
Well that encounter was a bit strange.
As she calmed down, her curiosity rose. What was a LeafWing doing in a random storage room? Whey had he taken silk? Why was he asking about a necklace of all things?
By the Hive, I didn’t even get his name! She stamped a talon down lightly in mild annoyance.
Well.. he didn’t get mine! So there.
She sniffed, turned in the opposite direction of the doorway, and walked deeper into the storage room. The cluttered and dark space brightened slightly as a light from under another door at the back of the room shone a golden light on the boxes piled up next to the exit.
Cicada unlocked the door and let herself out into the sunny savanna, squinting at the brightness.
“Too bad I can’t lock it from the outside..” she muttered, shutting the door. “It’ll be fine! It’s not like a wildebeest or a.. uh.. a zebra are gonna get in!”
The black and gold-scaled dragon tilted her head to gaze up Yellowjacket Hive’s sloped exterior. HiveWings buzzed busily around the treestuff walls, moving to and from hives, most of which were traveling South. It made sense though, since the hive the queen resided in, Wasp Hive, was just a short flight in that direction.
My mom. Cicada thought, pausing.
She could see the hive from here, though trees obstructed her view. It stood grandly above the foliage, reminding her what she was leaving behind on her journey.
“It’ll be fine,” she told herself abruptly, shaking her head and turning her gaze east. The Poison Jungle lay in wait, dark and exciting.
There’s so much nothing here, and so much to see out there! She imagined the brilliant flowers and animals she’d seen illustrated in the books at the library and excited herself enough to take flight and head out over the savanna without looking back.
The trees grew denser as the dark-scaled HiveWing flew on.
They also seemed to.. change. And here she was thinking most trees held the same size and shape, but as the tall plants around her started to cluster together and make it harder for her to fly, they appeared to change entirely.
Long, trailing vines forced her to dodge through the air, and leaves of all all different sizes and shapes obstructed her view of the sky and the ground below, making her feel like she was suffocating beneath the greenery all around her.
Strange howls and rustles had her looking all around, though she couldn’t see anything that seemed to be making the noises.
The plants got bigger and bigger, and she was beginning to see some that were almost ten times the size of ones she’d learned about in her botany class.
Eventually, Cicada was forced to land. The vines and trees had grown too thick, and landing created a whole new perspective; the plants she had previously been looking down on now towered over her head, and new, smaller ones appeared underneath, growing up around her talons.
The young HiveWing stared at the new world around her in wonder.
Everything was SO. GREEN.
Excitedly, she began poking her nose at colorful flowers and strange-looking plants. Although now that wind and adrenaline weren’t rushing through her ears from the flight, she was beginning to notice just how loud it was here. The bird calls, the croaks, the squeals, the bugs.. and a whole lot of other things she couldn’t name.
“Now that you mention it..” she muttered, wiping at the scales on her shoulder as if that could rid herself of the humidity that hung in the air like thick honey. This was awful, no—torturous. “How do they STAND this?” She asked herself aloud, looking around her. She spotted a clearing up ahead and eagerly moved toward it, looking up at the huge plants above her head.
The jungle seemed.. scared to grow around these specific plants. It was weird, Cicada thought, until she realized what they were.
After all, it was hard to tell what a venus dragontrap looked like from underneath.
These were SO dangerous, she’d read. Getting caught in one was basically imprisoning yourself in a cage and throwing away the key.
Except this prison slowly digested you over the course of a week, leaving only scales and bones.
And then it was only after it dropped your remains to the jungle floor would everyone realize you’d been eaten alive by a *plant* of all things.
Cicada shuddered and continued walking, hoping that the dragontraps would lean down and try to pluck her off the ground.
Fortunately, she got through the clearing safely.
The ground here seemed so damp all the time. It was so much different than the dry savanna, and the HiveWing was beginning to miss seeing further than a tail-length in front of her face at one time.
Eventually her view of plants, plants, and more plants irritated her enough to climb her way into a tree.
This one was squat, but almost wider than she was in length. Its thick branches wound lazily upwards, and Cicada was able to comfortably claw her way onto a branch and take stock of her surroundings.
In the near distance, she was able to make out a length of clear trees and realized that a small river stretched in front of her.
“Oh nice!” She exclaimed, remembering this landmark on the map she’d studied before. This meant she was almost halfway to the Leaf Kingdom.
The black and gold dragon was about to step down out of the tree when something caught on her left front talon.
Turning her head, she saw a green vine wrapped partially around her wrist, small red tendrils with a clear honey-like substance at the tips covered the length of the vine and were slowly creeping up her arm.
Cicada’s eyes fluttered in surprise.
“Oh, what?” She exclaimed, instinctively using her free talon to try and pull the vine off. “What is this?” She asked curiously. The vine didn’t move when pulled, and she tugged harder to no avail.
When she tried to pull her second talon away, she just barely managed to get away from the to the plant, and the clear goo stuck between her claws.
“How do I—?” The plant pulled at her talon and she attempted to scrabble backwards, alarm bells ringing in her head as she finally recognized the plant.
A sundew.
“No. No, no, no..” she told it as she was drug to the edge of the branch. She could see the rest of the huge sundew below now, its tendrils reaching hungrily for her as she pulled away.
Suddenly her talons slipped off of the edge of the round branch and with a yelp, the HiveWing braced herself to land on the ground.
Opening her eyes slowly, Cicada found herself less than a tail-length from the ground and gasped, stirring suddenly and finding that her left talon was now pulled under her, and both of her right wings were strung up in the sticky plant.
“Talons and teeth!” Cicada shouted as the sundew reached for her other limbs eagerly. It seemed excited by her struggles, and the HiveWing growled angrily.
She struggled for a moment, then remembered her stingers. Unsheathing the one on her left talon, she stabbed at one of the vines and tried to slice it, and the sundew recoiled away from the venom and avoided her talon.
“Auugh!” She yelled. “Get back. In the reach. Of my talon!” She clawed at the plant frantically. The sundew seemed too set on its meal though, and caught the waving limb with a sticky tendril, holding it awkwardly in the air.
Cicada paused for a moment, out of breath. She was upside-down and the blood in her body had rushed to her head, making her thoughts feel blurry.
She struggled for a bit more, her movements growing slower as the sundew secured its hold on her and she realized that fighting was futile.
“Why me?!” She yelled. Her head was beginning to throb.
This was a terrible idea, she thought, closing her eyes and letting her body go limp as she gave up hope of escape.
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