Inner Flames (Pantala AU)

This fanfic is a work in progress.
In a world where the heroes of Pantala never existed... Hope rests in the talons of six different dragons. 
This fanfiction is dedicated to Eco the LeafWing-HiveWing (Who Grasshopper would not exist without!), Plactro, Ignis the SkyWing, Aiglos der Eisflugler, RandomWeirdoDragon, Nightseeker463, Moonwatcher663, Wolfcaller, Enlightener, Umbrellathegayfella, Crystaleyes, Lightbringer, Daggadash, and anyone I've roleplayed with or who fought by my side in Light In The Dark.
An Important Note: The Othermind does not exist in this reality. 
Junonia - A lower class SilkWing lacking the usual saturated hues and vibrant colors of her tribe. She's been an outcast her whole life... and she's dangerous. For reasons she doesn't fully understand, Wasp wants her dead- and she's going to have to fight for her life. 
Grasshopper - According to Queen Wasp, Grasshopper's very existence is illegal. He's a hybrid- and he's hidden in plain sight his whole life. He wants to be safe, to live a life where he isn't hunted and hated. Will he risk his secret being revealed to pave the way for safety?
Firefly - Firefly's life has been comfortable. Her servants do everything for her. Her mother is the captain of the elite HiveWings whose paralysis toxin helps keep the Hives free of criminals. When she meets a young SilkWing who paints the picture of what life is like for those who serve her, her world is flipped upside down... 
Centipede - The lowest of the low in HiveWing society, Centipede takes his anger out on the SilkWings around him. He takes comfort from the fact that these are the only dragons who are lower than him. When he meets a feisty, hyper SilkWing who is nothing like the passive dragons he's beaten up before, he listens. And he learns. He's got a chance to topple the system that kept him at the bottom- but can he face his family?
Aspen - Aspen is a SapWing. But she doesn't want to sit around waiting for Wasp to die, because every year they spend in the Poison Jungle is another year more dragons are eaten or poisoned. She wants to make it happen. She wants to kill Wasp. When she meets a renegade PoisonWing, she knows this is the dragon who can help her do it.
Waterwheel - Waterwheel is a PoisonWing. But she knows that there is more to life than killing HiveWings and taking back the continent. She thinks that SilkWings could be allies... but no one else seems to. When she gets the chance to kill Wasp, she is going to take it... no matter the risk.
Six different dragonets... six different walks of life. They are the only hope for Pantala... if they don't kill each other first.
Chapter One: Junonia
Junonia stretched as the sun shone through the translucent web filaments. She dipped her snout into the dew collector, washing her antennae and horns. She then rubbed away the crusty residue in the corners of her eyes that her mother called "sleepdust." Her mother was already gone for the day, she was a hive drone, catering to the needs of upper-class HiveWings. She was often gone before sunrise and only got back to their cell after dark. Junonia sometimes wished things were different, though. That Queen Wasp had assigned her mother a different job, or not sent her father away before she hatched. That she was allowed to say everything in her head. Wasp may be a tyrant, but anyone who values their life keeps their head down. Her father would have said that some thing were worth standing up for, according to her mom. He'd been sent away before she was hatched. She didn't know the exact details, but it was something about learning he being assigned back to Wasp Hive, and arguing with Lady Vinegaroon, saying he wanted to be with his family. He'd vanished after.
 Junonia walked out of the cell and along the webs into Vinegaroon Hive. She passed a section where a detail of SilkWings was reinforcing the bridge and replacing the singed strands. Three months ago, lightning had struck the webs during a thunderstorm. Three SilkWings had died, two in the strike, and one of her burns afterward. She entered the Hive before sitting down in the checkpoint line. She moved through the line before showing her wristband. "Hrm. Your Metamorphosis is in two days, correct?" the guard said. "Go on." Junonia strolled down the walkways, tore through the marketplace, then slowed to a walk, heading down the wide causeway that spiraled around the outer edge of the Hive. As she passed a phalanx of guards, she slowed down even more, tucking her chin to her chest and casting her eyes downwards. 
Her ears pricked as she heard a male voice shout "I told you, I don't have any scales!" A small crowd, HiveWings and SilkWings alike, was forming around one of the spots where another street met the main causeway. She elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. A SilkWing pressed up against the wall. Junonia gasped. She knew this SilkWing! His name was Azure, and he was in her math class, although she sat two desks behind him, so she didn't think he ever actually saw her. He was a pale icy blue with cobalt and navy speckles on his snout, spine, and buds. He was fidgety and nervous, and he rarely talked in class. A red and black HiveWing was glaring at him. "Give me the scales. NOW." Junonia winced. She knew this HiveWing, too, though only by reputation. If he was who she thought he was, his name was Centipede, and he was NASTY. Centipede swiped at Azure, and Azure pressed his talons to the long scratches on the side of his neck. The SilkWing passers-by turned their heads away, making strained conversation. The HiveWings jeered Azure, before also turning away. Junonia felt her anger rising. Someone should care. Someone should stop this. I'm sick of watching SilkWings complain about how they are treated, then put on a happy face for the HiveWings. I'm tired of bowing my head and kowtowing to anything with black scales. Tired of all of it. Not knowing what had possessed her, she walked up to Centipede and positioned herself between him and Azure. "HEY! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT US?? DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE DRAGONS TREAT YOU LIKE SCUM BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU CAN'T HELP?!?" 
Centipede stepped back, shock registering on his face. He whispered "All the time." Numerous dragons turned to look at her. She had mouthed off to a HiveWing! Two guards rushed down the causeway, and some HiveWing civilians also moved in. Uh-oh. Junonia turned and raced up the causeway, hearing the shouts of HiveWings giving pursuit. She dashed through the marketplace, dodging passers-by, pushcarts, and stalls. She overturned a pushcart laden with fresh produce, and she heard the sounds of dragons stumbling on cabbages and tripping over oranges. She raced along the outer wall, passing a pet shop. She broke the aquarium glass on the storefront, and a couple of snakes and lizards were set loose, causing more dragons to panic. The HiveWing guards were lost in the shuffle, and she turned down an alley, found a trash bin, and jumped in it, closing the lid. 
Junonia lay curled in the trash bin. The smell was awful. She seriously considered puking. Mom must be so worried about me. She heard the sound of some guards passing by. They were talking. "It can't be that hard to catch one SilkWing brat." "Careful. They may be weak and flightless, but they're clever." "Why doesn't Wasp catch that wingless worm herself then?" There was a very uncomfortable pause. "Don't say that. Someone might think the wrong thing." the second guard said. 
Junonia's internal clock kept ticking. It was now sunset, and she felt that the search had moved on. She was about to come out when she heard footsteps in the alley, followed by the clunk of someone laying a talon on the trash bin. 
Chapter Two: Firefly
Firefly sat on her bed and sighed. She always hated it when things like this happened and her mother wasn't home to help her with homework or take her to the rooms in the palace used by the Izula Guard for training with their paralysis venom. Instead, her mother was out chasing criminals through the Hives, with no guarantee that she'd come back alive. True, she had paralysis venom in her tail stinger. She was also the most terrifying dragon Firefly had met aside from the queen and Lady Vinegaroon. My venom-tail-spikes can be fired from a distance. I'm worth more than the whole Guard put together. She remembered the day when she was four years old and her mother took her to the queen. After a demonstration of her power, the queen said that Firefly could easily become the commander of the entire Guard, in every Hive! She felt happy just thinking about it. No one had ever seen paralysis toxin that could be used from a distance. Her father had tail-spikes, but his contained ordinary venom that only caused pain. She was on track to become the third most powerful dragon on the whole continent. So, she should really be allowed to help in an emergency. There was always an excuse about why she couldn't. "You're too young." "You're too impulsive." "You can't take orders." She could, thank you very much. It was just that, usually, the orders came from someone of lower rank then her. So, she didn't really need to follow them. Maybe Mom will finally see my worth if I capture this criminal myself.
Firefly slipped to the chest where she kept her armor set. It was a mirror image of that used by the Izula Guard, a shiny black breastplate, helmet, wrist- and ankle-guards, with pronged barbs and spurs set on the shoulders, forehead, and the wrists and ankles, held in place by reinforced black leather straps. She meticulously put it on, before running down the stairs, ignoring a servant who shouted, "Mistress! Wait!" Firefly raced through the door, slamming it in the purple SilkWing's face. She checked the marketplace, where some soldiers were examining the wreckage of the market and interviewing witnesses. One was saying "...came running through here like a headless gazelle, overturned my cart of yams, and raced down that-away." The dusky yellow SilkWing was saying, pointing down a side street. "You may go now." Firefly said with a dismissive wave. The rust-orange HiveWing turned to her. "Who gave you the right to dismiss my witness?!" "Do not talk to me in that tone, or I'll have you demoted." Firefly warned. "I'm taking command here." "Wh-" the soldier said, before recognizing the significance of her armor. "Of course. Right this way, Ma'am." the captain said. "Do you have any leads on where the little rebel went?" Firefly asked. "We do know she's still in the Hive." "Why is she such a big deal? What in Clearsight's name did she do?" Firefly asked. The captain looked at her seriously. "You can't tell anyone." he said. Firefly whistled. "That bad, huh?" the captain growled. "Please take this seriously!" "'Kay." Firefly said, trying to keep a straight face. "The actual crime wasn't that bad, the fact that she's running is more disturbing." the captain said. "That dragonet is the last surviving descendant of Queen Monarch, and Her Majesty is worried she will try to reclaim her throne." 
Chapter Three: Aspen
 Aspen lay curled in her vine hammock, staring out the window of her family's tree hut, watching as the sun went down and the blue-green light of jungle fireflies and mushrooms started outshining that of the setting sun. She heard her parents arrive in a swirl of wings and scales, landing on the balcony outside before entering. "Did you have a good day, sweet berry?" Magnolia asked, her chocolate brown face wrinkling in her smile. "Yeah." Aspen replied, rolling over in her hammock to face her parents. "Good." her other mom, Wisteria, said, coming over to snuggle Aspen. "Did you learn anything new in school today?" Magnolia asked her, while pulling some berries and fruit out of the food net, before placing them on the knee-high table that was against the back wall of the house. "We learned about the PoisonWings." Aspen said, sliding out of her hammock and heading over to the table for dinner. She sensed both her moms stiffen. "Oh. Did it scare you, sweetie?" Wisteria queried, looking concerned. "Not really. I mean, I get why they didn't want to hide in the jungle with us. We should be doing something to help the SilkWings and kill Wasp instead of lazing around." "Don't say things like that, Aspen dear." Magnolia said sternly, looking up from the food. "As long as the HiveWings can't find us, we're safe. Sooner or later the PoisonWings are going to do something stupid, get the attention of the whole continent, and sooner or later the'll realize the only place where we can be is the jungle and then the'll come after us, burn all our trees, and kill us all." Aspen blinked. "Maybe you're right." She said, picking at her food. And maybe I think you're exaggerating. "Don't scare her so much, Maggie." Wisteria chided. "We're safe from the HiveWings here, there's no need to give her nightmares." "I'm just letting her know that it's a dangerous world out there." Magnolia defended. "She could just as easily get eaten by a dragon-trap or a sundew if she's too reckless and goes gallivanting off seeking danger. Like I always say, when you go looking for trouble, you usually find it." "I have leafspeak." Aspen interjected, feeling hurt. "I can hold my own against dangerous plants." "I agree with Magnolia on this, actually." Wisteria said. "Even the strongest leafspeaks can struggle to convince a carnivorous plant to free them without offering it something else to eat." Aspen threw a strawberry into her mouth and chewed aggressively. Her moms went back to their food, and the rest of the meal was eaten in tense silence. 
Later that night, as she was staring through the window at the trees, and Wisteria's snores pervaded the house, Aspen began to plan. I could totally sneak into Wasp Hive, pretend to be a servant, and poison her food. She's been queen for so long and is used to easy wins. Then another little voice snuck in. You don't have antennae, or a second pair of wings. The HiveWings will arrest you as soon as you step over the threshold. Even if you could get farther than that, Wasp probably has a SilkWing taste-tester. 
I need help, Aspen realized. I need a PoisonWing. 
Chapter Four: Centipede
Centipede wandered the streets of Vinegaroon Hive, his wings twitching across his back like an agitated insect's. He couldn't get those words out of his head. "DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE TREATED LIKE SCUM FOR SOMETHING YOU CAN'T HELP!" Centipede bowed his head, ashamed. Yes. I do. Every day, upper class HiveWings jeered him, his mother was a lowly farmer, and his father was a construction worker, assigned to instruct groups of SilkWings. Centipede had desperately hoped to be a soldier, but with no venomous stingers or claws or teeth, no noxious odors, no acid blasts, he knew his chances were slim. When the order came that he would be assigned to farm in a greenhouse, just like his mother, he locked himself in his small room and cried. He never asked Clearsight to not give him stingers, or to have him be born into a lowly family. He knew that what he did, out of boredom and annoyance, was bad, he knew he needed to stop, and those words from that SilkWing had stunned him into himself. 
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)