Solstice

There's parts of me I cannot hide...
I've tried and tried a million times...
La-di-da-di-da, la-di-da-di-da, la-di-da-da-di-da
Cross my heart and hope to die-
-welcome to my DARK SIDE.
--lyrics by neoni
== Backstory ==
The HiveWing myth goes that Solstice was born to Hyacinth, a RainWing, and Griffin, and exiled SkyWing living in the Rainforest Kingdom. He never fit in with other dragonets, due to his inability to change his scales. However, one young dragonet named Sunset would always make sure he was okay, and became his only friend in the land of the RainWings. She was a hybrid as well (RainWing and NightWing) and also unable to scale-shift. The two of them were happy- different, and left out, but happy.
Things changed, though, when Queen Heliconia rose to power. She hated hybrids with a passion, and sent out the Differs, a patrol of NightWings (also under her control, as the NightWing and RainWings tribes were conjoined). The job of the Differs was to eradicate hybrids. The only chance was to run.
So Sunset and Solstice ran away, going to the Sky Kingdom to seek out Griffin's sister, and Solstice's aunt, Delphinium.
They at last found Delphinium (known as Delphi), living on the outskirts of a the Sky Kingdom. For all her quirks, and her admittedly odd and distant-minded nature, Delphi was a kind dragon who was hospitable to Solstice and Sunset.
But the Differs were unwavering, and soon enough they found Sunset and Solstice and immediatly attacked. Delphi was killed, but stalled long enough for Solstice and Sunset to escape. 
Surviving alone (or just with one other dragon) proved very different in the Sky Kingdom than in the Rainforest Kingdom. Here, Solstice and Sunset had to both navigate dry, cold, rocky areas, but also catch the fast, fierce birds of prey to eat, and stay away from hostile neighbours- SkyWings proved themselves much less "sharing-is-caring"-oriented than RainWings. It was far from easy, and Solstice and Sunset were terrible at it. They were on the brink
of death when they were found by a SkyWing guard and taken to Queen Arnica, the SkyWing queen. Gentle and kind, Queen Arnica allowed them to stay in the palace, working for her- Solstice helped the daily dragonet visitors from the orphanage find scrolls in the Royal Library, and Sunset worked part-time in the SkyWing Wingery and part-time in the kitchens. It was hard work, but nothing like what they'd already been through, and they made a living in the palace.
Solstice, though, was greedy, and wanted more. One night, sleepless and a little mad, he made a break for the queen's room, killing three of her guards. When his sense returned, he realized his mistake and, using his knowledge of the Hidden Treasury from the scrolls in the Royal Library, found the rings of disguise- four diamond claw-rings that would turn the wearer into a different dragon. Taking three of the rings, he put them on the guards' bodies, turning one into a HiveWing, one into a LeafWing, and one into a SilkWing.
When Queen Arnica woke, Solstice explained that the three had broken in (he named the LeafWing Sap, the HiveWing Elytri, and the SilkWing Lacefly) and were attempting to steal from the Hidden Treasury. Sap and Elytri had killed three SkyWing guards (to make up for the disappearance of the guards Solstice had killed, the ones disguised as Pantalans), while Lacefly stole three diamond rings from the Treasury. Playing innocent, Solstice said that his priorty upon finding them had been to save more innocent dragons, not the rings, and unfortunately they'd been destroyed when he blasted fire at one of the Pantalans. Despite her suspicions, Queen Arnica thanked Solstice profusely, buying into his lie. She agreed to promote him to Royal Guard after his excellent display of fighting ability in the battle with the Pantalans. And so Solstice was promoted.
Queen Arnica warned the other queens of the Pantalan threat, and the SeaWing queen, Queen Narwhal, demanded war before they caused any further harm. Queen Jackalope of the SandWings backed her up, and so Queen Arnica, Queen Narwhal, and Queen Jackalope riled their forces and crossed the Treeweave Bridge (the newly built bridge between the continents) to attack the Pantalans.
A long, bloody war was fought, with Solstice leading the SkyWing troops. And in the heat of the battle, Solstice did something unthinkable.
He killed Queen Arnica.
With no children of hers, and Solstice being the highly respected Head Guard, Solstice crowned himself king.
Solstice led ruthlessly, resulting in the total destructions of the SilkWings and LeafWings, other than their queens Queen BirdWing and Queen Antiaris. Most HiveWings died but for twenty or so in hiding, and Queen Acro. The three Pantalan queens were taken captive.
Sunset, her support wavering for Solstice but still present, stood by his every decision. But Solstice sensed her indecision, and with the animus (named Glacial) he’d hired, had her locked in her room. She was kept alive and perfectly well, but unable to leave her room. This left him with no threats.
But the hiding HiveWings were less than thrilled, and over the following thirty years, rose in power. Finally, with an army of a hundred dragons, they set out and invaded the Sky Palace. In the invasion, they completely destroyed the doors to Sunset’s room and she was freed, charging instantly into the battle- on the side of the HiveWings. While the Pantalans fought bravely, she made it to Solstice’s chambers where she pinned him down and slit his throat.
As blood bubbled from his mouth and his oxygen flow was cut, Sunset whispered to him, “I loved you, Solstice. So why did you prove me wrong?”
In response to this came Solstice’s famous last words: “A true soulmate will always be with you, for better… or for worse. Remember that, my love.” And with those ominous words, he died.
Despite being of no SkyWing descent, Sunset was crowned queen for her heroism. Queen Sunset rules for many long, years before her death. Long years, yes, but happy? Maybe not. She complained that the statue in the throne room was hunting her, but with no proof, the priceless relic could not be removed. Upon closer inspection of her body, chips of stone were found in her mauled chest. It took a few more dead queens with stone in their scales to realize that the statue really was hunting queens- Solstice’s last command to Glacial had been to enchant the statue do he could stay alive forever in the stone, hunting every SkyWing ruler. The statue was smashed to bits and cast into the Bay of a Thousand Scales, never to be seen again.
Solstice’s tale was one of tragedy- happy ending were not found for Solstice, Sunset, the SilkWings or the LeafWings. 
== Fact Or Fiction ==
This HiveWing myth is rightfully named, as many of this is not true (in-universe true, of course, not real-world true). The extinction of SilkWings and LeafWings (thousands of years after canon, in my headcanon) was driven by the Continental War, where Phyrria and Pantala fought. Few details are known anymore, as this story has been passed down, changed and broken enough times that we know, essentially, nothing about the events of the Continental War. However, the Legend of Solstice is still one of the most common myths on Pantala.
== Personality ==
Solstice started his life a fair, kind, resourceful dragon, with everything to gain and nothing to lose. He was considerate and thoughtful. However, overtime he grew selfish, greedy and manipulative, ready to kill to get what he wanted, threatening and hurting those he claimed to love.
== Relationships ==
=== Hyacinth and Griffin ===
Very little known about these two or there relationship to their son, but there is an idea that Solstice was just sort of indifferent to Hyacinth (though he did truly love her in his dragonethood) but actively hated Griffin for the pain of being a hybrid. In his early years he despised his SkyWing half, though as he lived with Delphi he started to appreciate it more, and by the end of his life was indifferent to both Hyacinth and Griffin. He did become aware at one time about the death of Griffin, and the fact that Hyacinth remaired- falling this time for a SeaWing, and having a dragonet with him, naming the daughter Waterlily (she went by Lily). Lily never knew that the feared King Solstice was her half-brother, and Solstice didn’t care.
=== Lily ===
Little can be said here, as she never met him. His feelings towards her were general indifference, as towards most of his family. He pitied her briefly for living in his dark shadow, but upon learning that she had no idea of her relation to him, he dropped this. He found some comfort, though, in the fact that Lily brought Hyacinth the happiness the hardworking, ever-pained mother RainWing deserved.
=== Splash ===
Seeing as he had little to no feelings for his father, Solstice felt nothing out of the ordinary towards Splash, the SeaWing that Hyacinth married after Griffin’s death. If anything, he felt some amount of contentment at the thought of Splash- after all, Hyacinth had been through so much, and Solstice still had at least a little affection for his mother. After Hyacinth had lived through being shamed by Queen Heliconia for marrying out of the tribe, watching as Griffin died, and witnessing Solstice’s transformation from model son to globally feared tyrant, Solstice just liked that Splash, like Lily, was able to make Hyacinth truly happy. 
=== Queen Arnica ===
There was little between these two, but for gratitude, respect, and decent liking. Up until, of course, Solstice killed Arnica- thought she didn’t see it coming so there was no time for her opinion to change of him, and she died thinking he was on her side.
=== Glacial ===
Solstice treated Glacial poorly, and Glacial served him out of fear. He felt genuinely terrible for all the dragons he hurt because of Solstice.
=== Delphi ===
Solstice loved Delphi dearly, as he knew her before he became corrupt. He was deeply thankful for her kindness and hospitality, and blamed himself harshly for her death. Had Delphi not passed, there is a chance that Solstice could have stayed in the light.
=== Queen Heliconia ===
She felt disdain towards him, but eventually entirely forgot his existance. Solstice later killed her, but not much more happened here.
=== Sunset ===
Sunset was both the grandest joy and the worst agony of Solstice’s tragic life. She loved him and he loved her, yet his cruel actions towards her- and he genuinely and truly thought he was just doing what was best for her- drove her away. She lived in guilt of the fact that she had to kill him, and he certainly had some doubt about the measures he took to keep her out of conflict, such as the imprisonment in her room, but always somehow managed to convince himself that all was right and good with what he put her through. His shock and horror at her betrayal was there, but some tiny part of him knew he deserved it. It was only when he was killed by his lover, bleeding out and suffocating, that Solstice realized how his actions affected those around him so negatively- and finally, on the edge of death, he knew that his actions would bounce back. His bad deeds would always catch up.
Category:Characters
Category:SkyWings
Category:RainWings
Category:Hybrids
Category:Males
Category:Deceased