The New Pantala (Installment 1): Three Trees

== Three Trees ==
Three Trees is the first installment of the The New Pantala series and features Belladonna as the main protagonist. It is an alternate universe of Pantala and features characters either redesigned, aged different, or both. It was made and written by ApaturatheSilkWing.
== Blurb ==
Belladonna was always afraid of the HiveWings, ever since her grandmother died. But she learns that not all of them are terrible, and perhaps Queen Sequoia should treat them better. After all, it was only Wasp who wanted the power... right?
On her eighth hatching-day, she is greeted with all she could ever want. But there is still one thing she is waiting for: answers. She is curious about why Wasp wanted power, and what the Book of Clearsight says. Yet any time she asks her questions, she is dismissed with a reply such as "no one knows".
But then, when her mother goes missing, she goes to look for her with a SilkWing and a HiveWing, and learns that some secrets are allowed to be revealed... while some aren't.
== Warning! This contains mild g*re, blood, violence, t*rt*r3, @b*s3, and much more sensitive topics that may trigger some readers. Beware! ==
----
== Prologue #1 ==
It was the dawn of 4043. Everything was peaceful and quiet, and nothing was wrong. I'd caught wind of Queen Cochineal dying, but that wasn't so big a deal. After all, Queen Wasp would be a worthy successor to the HiveWings. Right?
A few days later, something happened that we'd never expected to.
The first group of trees cut down in the Great Forest. Multiple dead LeafWing bodies found in even the Kingdom of Silk. News arrived here that some more LeafWings who'd been living in the area had tried to flee to the Distant Kingdom, but failed and were sought out and killed by Wasp days later.
I only discovered why when I'd heard of the meeting that had gone on between Wasp and Queen Monarch. Queen Wasp wanted control of all of Pantala, because the sacred Book of Clearsight said she should be so. The LeafWings had rejected taking her as a new queen, however, demanding to see the book, whereas Monarch stepped down and let Wasp take her throne without any arguments.
I, personally, didn't think that Wasp had been telling the whole truth, but I couldn't rise up to her now, could I?
Anyways, I was spinning a silk tapestry on one of the new webs the SilkWings lived in. It was a tree on the side of the web; it was quite a large tapestry and I'd managed to pay for green and brown dye to colour it in.
I hadn't known then.
"You!" a voice called from behind me. I turned around and saw a group of HiveWings hovering in the air beside the web I was on. One of them, the one who'd spoken, was dark red with lighter wings.
"Why are you spinning a tree tapestry?" she barked loudly, soaring down to land on the webs. Her soldiers started following her but she made a small gesture with her wing that seemed to mean "stay there", because the HiveWings kept in the air.
"Is that... not allowed?" I asked, confused. Yes, all the trees on Pantala were gone by now, except a few by the mountains and in the Poison Jungle, but surely it wasn't illegal to make art of trees.
"The queen has issued strict orders about no trees in any artwork or sculptures," the HiveWing snapped.
"But... why?"
The HiveWing snarled, flaring her wings. She suddenly looked a lot bigger - well, even bigger than she was before. She was much bigger than me,
"Do you know who you are talking to?" she roared.
I shrank back and bowed my head politely. "I am afraid I don't," I said.
"My name," the HiveWing hissed, "is Lady Cicada."
I looked up in alarm and flicked my wings. Oh! I thought. The lady of Cicada Hive. Come to think of it, I was a little closer to her Hive than I'd have liked; closer to this one than Hornet Hive, my Hive, for sure.
"Oh!" I said. "I'm terribly sorry." I ducked down into a bow, terribly embarrassed. I could feel the gazes of multiple other SilkWings staring at me awkwardly.
"And what might your name be, Worm?" Lady Cicada growled lowly.
"My name is Emperor," I replied, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice.
"Emperor," Cicada muttered. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
"I will have to report this to my sister," Cicada said. "For now, I reckon Misbehaver's Way would be a good place to put you."
"Misbehaver's - what?" I asked, confused.
"My prison," Cicada said, a small smile quirking the corners of her mouth.
Her prison did not sound like a good place to be. She made the same gesture with her wing again and five of her guards came down. One of them slashed his claws across the silk weaving, careful not to break any of the main web beneath it, and I watched in dismay as the other four grabbed a hold of me.
Another one lifted her tail and plunged it down toward my shoulder. I was paralysed - and couldn't move.
Then, suddenly, another HiveWing flapped over from the direction of Wasp Hive, perhaps, every movement she made filled with panic. Unable to blink, I stared into her eyes. They locked with mine and I saw a flicker of sympathy in their depths before it disappeared.
Then she blurted out, "Queen Wasp is dead!"
----
== Prologue #2 ==
=== Contains violence, blood and gore. ===
It was early in the morning, just before the day officially started, when the attack happened.
I was pacing around the Temple of Clearsight for my daily watch over the Book. Sometimes this got lonely and I even wanted someone to talk to, but would I tell anyone that? Of course not. Maybe I should hire a librarian to do this for me. Then again, she'd expose the secrets of the Book to the whole of the Hives, so that probably wasn't a good idea.
As I was thinking this, I saw an odd flash of dark green and brown in the corner. I turned towards it and saw wings.
Two wings.
Two wings, shaped like leaves.
Without even thinking about it I launched myself at the LeafWing and snapped my jaws shut around its ear. It jerked away slightly so only the tip was torn off and I hissed with annoyance.
"Who are you?" I roared.
"You should know," the LeafWing snarled back. "I only saw you two years ago!"
Yes - two years ago. When the Tree Wars ended, and the LeafWings were killed.
Or so I'd thought.
"Sequoia," I hissed, digging my claws into the scales on her back. I sank my teeth into the webbing between the spines on her back and she surged up angrily, roaring in fury. She was large, larger than me, but my nimble figure allowed me to slip beneath her and slash at her underbelly.
Sequoia snarled and raked her claws across my face; one of them hit my eye. I tried to slit her stomach open but her scales were too hard and she stamped down on my tail with a back talon, then leapt off me. I slowly rose to my own talons and turned around to face her, blood trickling from one eye, the other glaring at her furiously.
"What do you want?" I yelled.
"Revenge," Sequoia smirked and suddenly leapt at me, bowling me over. She dug her claws deep into my throat; I screamed in pain. But my screams were abruptly cut off as she ripped out a large chunk of yellow scales, right from my throat.
Blood spilled rapidly from my neck, staining the wooden ground, and I dropped to the floor, dead.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)