A/N: Hello again! Last chapter halfway in for some reason I changed Maple to Mable, it has been fixed and changed back to Maple! Thanks so much for making me aware of this, JaguartheRavenClawRainwing! Here's the replies for the reviews:
Fantasy0930: Thanks! Here's more ;)
JaguartheRavenClawRainwing: I'm super glad you like the aspects of it! Also again, thank you for letting me know I'd somehow changed Maple to Mable :)
Maple's POV
Maple's eyelids fluttered open, and she immediately jolted upwards, baring her teeth and hissed at the SilkWings who surrounded the small room she'd slept in the past night. Immediately they backed up, their eyes wide with fear but still glowing with curiosity. She could easily imagine their pathetic thoughts-
Oh my Clearsight! Are you guys seeing this? An actual LIVE LeafWing? Unbelievable! Report her in immediately! Oh look, she actually looks threatening…. They really are dangerous! Especially to us lowly, serving pathetic selves!
She quite enjoyed that mental image of their maybe mental thoughts. It reflected their demeanor quite nicely. Slowly she closed her mouth, shaking her wings out, yet still fixing a glare that shot fire at the audience.
"What are you guys looking at?" she hissed. After a long pause, one of the SilkWings stepped up.
"Our elder told us that…. That you mean to free us, give us…. Our own home again, away from the HiveWings," he said hesitantly.
"I don't mean to free you, I mean to give you useless silk dragons the courage you so desperately lack to think for yourselves and take back what was yours before these tyrants said that you needed to bow down to their idiotic Queen or she'd kill you all. And you guys didn't try to put up a fight! If I wasn't under orders, I'd happily leave you to rot and get beaten and shoved around like brainless worms for the rest of your equally pathetic lives," Maple replied in a harsh tone. She didn't even feel bad when they ducked their heads in shame. They deserved every bit of it for giving up their homes and not fighting for what was theirs.
"But…. None of us know how to fight. We'd get slaughtered," a different SilkWing piped up.
"So? Just because you've never been trained as a warrior doesn't mean you can't use those fine claws of yours! Bite them, claw and stab them. It's not hard once you get over your fears. Besides, you'll have me hacking my way through those dirt eaters. And you know what? You might have an advantage with your silk. Use it to your advantage! String them in a cocoon or whatever, blind them from far away. I'm not sure, get creative," Maple grumbled.
That was when she saw something spark in their dim eyes- a look she remembered a long time ago. It was when Willow had been found. The same spark that had lighted up Belladonna's and Hemlock's eyes when they thought maybe, maybe they had hope with the lost Princess there. That maybe there were more LeafWings there.
Fluttering her leaf shaped wings, taking a step towards them and raising her head bravely.
"Don't any of your care for what you had? The LeafWings and SilkWings used to have the entire continent, we used to live in harmony! Here's what's going to happen. Any of you, whether or not it's hundreds or three, at sundown today when the HiveWings are asleep, we're going to slaughter every single guard, but any who choose to follow us- to accept you worms as actual dragons as opposed to servants, we'll spare. Let them take over their oh so precious Hives as long as they leave you alone. And those who choose to follow your 'perfect' life…. Let me know when you regret having done nothing after one hundred years of servitude," Maple added. The final bait to lure them in. She could only hope it would work.
"Spread word to everyone else. Don't be late, and meet me here. I'm going to go do some scouting," Maple ordered before parting her way through the bewildered SilkWings. Grumbling under her breath about useless silk weavers, she stalked over to where the guards were checking the wristbands of a long line of SilkWings wishing to enter the Hive.
Staying close to the shadows, she slithered over to the nearest guard. Pulling a small ball of different special herbs, Maple rolled it under the guards feet. Frowning, he picked it up to examine. Just then, he collapsed to the ground, snoring quietly. Maple snickered at his obliviousness. Here's a lesson from a trained LeafWing might as well be an Assassin, never pick up odd herbs or flowers that randomly appear at your feet.
The other guards rushed towards him, yelling something about incompetence which Maple agreed with. Except you change it to all of them being incompetent. Which they were, right as Maple slipped through the chaos unnoticed.
A long corridor spread out in front of her, branching off at multiple intervals. She chose the one at the very end which had a wooden door covered with beautifully weaved silk on it. Maple knew this trick- cover special 'don't enter' doors with silk so you'll know if someone breaks in.
For a few minutes she stood at the end of the hallway in front of the door, poking around her pouches to look for a special plant grown in the middle of the mountains northwest of here. Finally, she found it and she pulled it out and set it on the ground.
It was a rare hallucination plant, so if anyone besides a LeafWing came in this general area, they would start hallucinating like mad which would a) spread beautiful chaos and b) cover her traces.
Slashing her claws through the silk, Maple tried to open the door. It was locked, obviously. Growling under her breath, she stuck a claw in the lock and twisted it a few times. She admitted most dragons would never be able to pick a lock with their claws, but Maple knew exactly how to do it. Part of her training was learning to break into things.
With a satisfying click, the door swung open. Inside was a spiraling staircase with the walls inlaid with small jewels. She had guessed the right door. Maple carefully walked up the stairs as to not stub a claw, which believe her- it hurt. A lot. Up and up she climbed until finally the ground leveled out again.
Maple guessed she was at the top of the Hive. One way glass was laid into the walls, providing a breathtaking view of the savannah below. To her right were a few more doors, and a very faint noise from within one of them.
Slowly and quietly, Maple walked over to the door with the noise behind. Pressing her ear against the solid wood, she listened intently.
"I told you, I've sent out every HiveWing we can spare! What if we get an attack? Then we won't be able to defend ourselves!" the voice exclaimed, with a hint of rage hidden beneath. Maple realized this was probably Lady Tsetse, the ruler of Tsetse Hive. A second voice started talking, in the same voice although it definitely seemed to be someone else talking.
"Who's going to attack? A rogue LeafWing? Guess what, Tsetse, they're dead. We slaughtered them long ago! You have your orders, do it or I will strip you of your free will, as well!" the same voice screamed. A hurried mumble of acceptance.
Maple guessed the second part was the Queen talking through her sister's voice. The freaky mind control powers. Talons thumped across the wood on the other side of the door, forcing Maple to swiftly grab something from one of her pouches.
As the door swung open, Maple flung a bright red, massive centipede at the HiveWing. It bit the dragon as soon as it made contact, causing temporary paralysis, a handy fast tool in desperate situations. Maple swiftly picked it up, dropping it back in the jar and tucking it safely in the pouch.
The dragon collapsed on the ground in an awkward position. Maple smirked and crouched down to eye level with the probably terrified HiveWing.
"Bet you're awful surprised to be attacked by a LeafWing, who successfully infiltrated this filthy, rotten Hive without any of your precious guards noticing, eh?" Maple asked. If she could, the dragon probably would've nodded.
"Well, guess what, your guards are all uselessly oblivious. I'm going to unparalyze you, and if you so much as threaten me or twitch any of those poisonous claws in my direction, I will run you through. Understand? You are to follow me quietly and obediently, just like your slaves," Maple ordered, flashing her claws for extra effect.
She picked a flower out of a pouch and crushed it under Lady Tsetse's nose. Flicking the flower away, Maple waited for the HiveWing to regain movement.
Tsetse lurched upwards, and immediately Maple clutched her neck, allowing her sharp claws to dig in a bit.
"Understood?" she repeated.
"Y- yes! Understood! Completely. Just don't kill me, please, and I'll do whatever you want!" Tsetse exclaimed hurriedly. Maple snarled at the dragon's obvious patheticness. Releasing her neck, she prodded the HiveWing forwards.
They made it back to the Web without anyone noticing them, proving the guards incompetence. Maple snorted at how useless they were. A single LeafWing able to infiltrate the Hive, spark a rebellion, kidnap the Lady Tsetse? Surely something had been noticed.
She shoved the HiveWing onto the silk floor of her temporary sleeping area. The HiveWing scrambled back, eyes fixed on Maple, brimming with fear.
"Stay there, don't move, don't speak. Same punishment as prior will follow," Maple ordered. A quick nod.
Suddenly, Tsetse launched herself forwards, claws stretched to slice Maple's neck open. However, she'd anticipated the move, rolling under the massive dragon's arm, sticking a claw out to slice her wings. A shrill scream escaped the HiveWing's mouth. Maple snarled ferociously at her stupidity of not gagging the dragon before.
Teeth snapped at her ear, but maple tilted and jerked her head to rip her horn's through whatever area of the face she could. It was a rare move, barely ever used. Which was why Maple adored it.
Her horns stabbed Tsetse's eye, earning another yowling screech. Next try, though, she got lucky. A tail bashed into Maple, knocking her back a few steps and making her dizzy. Luckily there was no poisonous barb on the end.
Shaking her head to regain her bearings, Maple barely managed to dodge and counter another attack of the poisonous talons. The attack should've ripped her throat open, however only managed to nick her neck. Still, Maple hissed from the pain of the venom. She was lucky it hadn't been deep enough to get into her bloodstream. Her counter ripped through the other wing, then she finished the fight by rolling under the roaring dragoness and launching onto her back.
Before Tsetse could shake her off, Maple scrambled forwards, digging in her claws for extra purchase. Wrapping her front talons around Lady Tsetse's horns, she jerked them- hard- to the right, with a satisfying crack!
Rolling off to avoid being crushed, Maple righted herself in time to see Tsetse collapse to the silk floor, dead.
A/N: Hey guys! I hope that was okay! If you like it so far, please favorite and review, and if you wish to see more but don't want to miss it, don't forget to follow!
