~ Chapter 2 ~

It was extremely boring at school today and Honeycomb felt like her brain was ready to explode. Why was it that in every class, there was a different teacher, why were all of them teaching about Clearsight and Leopard? Why did everyone seem on edge? Honeycomb couldn't think of that right now. She had one thing she needed to do and one thing only. She had to go to the library.

It was a very busy afternoon and there were lots of dragons everywhere, on the streets talking, in shops buying items or just flying from level to level.

After a series of turns and levels, Honeycomb finally made it to the Library. This was where she felt safe, where she could be herself and no one could judge her. The Jewel Hive library was bigger than any other hive's. It even exceeds Mantis Hive, which is known to be home to the smartest dragons. The Library of Jewel Hive covered an entire level, and the books went up to the ceiling. Honeycomb knew this place like the back of her talon. She stood in the library entrance for a second, letting the warm smell of paper sink in. All her tense muscles loosened as the stress of life slipped away. Honeycomb made her way through the bookshelves, making a beeline towards the book check-out at the very back of the library. Swallowtail wasn't there. He must be on a break, this happened sometimes when she got out of school. If he wasn't here, she knew exactly where he would be; The Queen Bee Café. It seemed that the entire floor was empty. She was about to turn back to the entrance when she heard a cold, piercing voice.

"Well look at what we have here." the voice mocked. The level had been so quiet until then that Honeycomb nearly jumped out of her scales.

"Our favorite little bookworm." a second voice taunted. The yellow and blue SilkWing froze. She knew these voices. She knew them all too well. She looked over her shoulder and was face to face with Hornet and Scorpion.

"What do you want?" She tried to make her voice sound exasperated and annoyed, but it came out a bit too high-pitched and not enough emphasis on you.

"Aw look at her," Scorpion teased. "Walking around all the levels of the hive because she doesn't have her poor wittle wings yet." Honeycomb let out a soft growl in her throat.

"I won't be wingless in two days." She mumbled.

"Oooooh what should we do to her cocoon while she's busy snoozing away?" Hornet jeered. "Hm, maybe we'll pour honey all over it. Or maybe we'll write I-D-I-O-T all over it in ink! You do know what that spells right butterfly-brain? I hope you do, but I wouldn't be too surprised if you don't, given the fact that you're a half-blood." The bullies snickered and advanced towards her. Scorpion raised his paralyzing tail stinger menacingly.

"But I'm not a hybrid! I'm just an odd-looking SilkWing! I know both of my parents (more or less) and neither of them are HiveWings." I mean sure I have some dark spots on my back but… surely it's just a deep navy or something right? It can't possibly be black. I am all SilkWing and I always have been. She was on the verge of tears when another dragon came in.

"Hey!" the newcomer shouted commandingly. "You're at a library, stop picking on your intellectual superiors, and go read a book." Honeycomb whipped her head around sharply. The dragon had black scales and her legs were orange and faded down to white. Her wings were a dark beige color and her claws were disturbingly bright red with thin stripes of orange that ran down her neck. A HiveWing with white scales? Now I've seen everything. The most shocking part of her was probably her eyes. HiveWings only ever had red, orange, yellow, or brown eyes, but this one had blue eyes brighter than a cloudless summer day.

Honeycomb had never seen a dragon brave enough to stand up to the siblings. How was she not afraid of the Scorpion and his sister Hornet?

"Who do you think you are to boss us around?" Scorpion challenged, stepping towards the odd HiveWing. She tilted her head at the stranger to see how they would respond.

"I suggest you tone down that attitude of yours if you want to keep your wings intact, HiveWing." She snarled, glaring at them. As the dragon spun around to look at her, she caught a glimpse of a blood-red tail stinger. She made her way past the bullies and stopped in front of her. Honeycomb had managed to sneak her way halfway across the library through all the chaos, but now all the attention was on her.

"My name is Leopard," she said in a much kinder voice than she thought the stranger was capable of. "Who are you?"

"She's a stupid nobody," Hornet said in the quietest voice she'd ever heard her use, but not quiet enough. Leopard shot her a sharp glare before turning back to her. Honeycomb crouched lower to the floor, trying to look as small and harmless as possible.

"I-I-I'm Honeycomb, but my friends call me H-Honey." She stuttered. Her throat felt as if it was stuffed with bees, and the slightest noise she made would trigger them all to sting.

"Thank you Leopard." She managed to say past the imaginary bees in her throat.

"Alright now, get outta here before you get yourself in any more trouble," Leopard said to her and Honeycomb wondered if she'd imagined the faint ghost of a smile cross her face.

The café was extra crowded tonight. The dim, flamesilk lighting always made her feel claustrophobic. She didn't understand how Swallowtail could stand this place. Dark, narrow rooms were not her style, but as long as Swallowtail was happy, she was too.

On the walls of the restaurant were missing signs with two dragons on them. A SilkWing with purples, blues, and a little bit of green in him, and a HiveWing with orange-yellow scales, black ink-blot spots, and pretty spectacles. Below the sketches of the two dragons were their names; Blue and Cricket. These dragons had gone missing when Honeycomb was in her egg. It was also these same dragons that caused all the rumors. The rumors about her.