Robin's hope continued to grow with each passing day. Lychee came nearly every night to give her updates about him being transferred to the queens hive, he also told her about what the hives knew so far about her existence.
So far, the hives had caught wind about a unknown dragon within the queen's hive, a dragon who didn't belong on Pantala. Lychee told her that no one really knew what she looked like, all that they knew was that she could breath fire and had scales as orange as the sun coated in soot and ash. A slender dragon with wings nearly twice their size, webbed wings with fingers and joints unlike the stiff ones that SilkWing and HiveWing tribes both share.
In all honesty, she sounded cool, like some mythical being to be worshiped. Robin couldn't help but gloat a little about how cool the hives made her sound.
Robin was sitting quietly within her cell, her tail wrapped around her limbs aside from her broke wrist, which had been healing. It was slow and her arm felt sore from being unable to move for nearly two weeks from how long she'd been within the hive. Win Lychee's help, she'd been able to count the days once more instead of them becoming a blur of time.
She's most likely be able to use it once a month or two had passed, though, only for small tasks. Nothing heavy duty and she wouldn't be able to walk on it until the six month mark, but even then it would feel sore and hurt. Lychee had told her a wrist could take a year or two before all stiffness and soreness disappears, but she was just happy she'd hopefully be able to start using it again.
It's going to feel sore once I start using it, she thought to herself with a huff. But at least I'll be able to use it.
The hybrid dragonet was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the strange tree-stuff built door within the small room that lead out to the rest of the hive.
The door opened, revealing several soldiers each in glistening golden armour with scarlet red lining and painted markings. The soldier in the front was the one Robin had started to grow used to seeing. It was the female HiveWing with the long golden hoop earring.
Hanging within her talons was a golden chain that sparkled in the sunlight. It instantly caught Robin's eyes.
The HiveWing stepped closer and Robin didn't even try to hide that she didn't like the looks of those golden chains. She let out a warning hiss, her teeth bared, ears pinned back and smoke rising from her flared nostrils.
"Don't worry," the HiveWing soldier came closer, making Robin increase the volume of her snarl, backing herself up as close as she could against the wall. "I'm just going to attach this here..."
Within seconds, there was a click that pulled Robin from her snarling daze. The golden chain was now attached to the bottom side of her golden head harness that kept her snout shut.
"Let's hurry before the Queen starts to grow impatient." Grumbled one of the older soldiers.
"She's got a broken wrist, so we need to move slow. Or else we'll ruin the Queens prized possession."
Prized possession? She thought to herself as she was pulled up onto her talons with a light tug of the golden chain. Robin couldn't do much to fight back Luther than annoying flap her large wings to whack any of the nearby HiveWing soldiers. Though it just merely bothers them rather than caused them any harm because of their armour and she wasn't flapping them all to hard.
The HiveWing soldier with the golden hoop earring was the one holding gently, yet firmly, onto the golden leash like chain attached to her golden metal head harness, pulling her along and out of her small room, leading her down the hall.
Where are they taking me? Her mind raced with questions as she was forced to follow along behind the much taller soldiers. Would she grow up to be as tall as them? She was only six and she already reached their shoulders in height, though she believed that was because of her SkyWing blood. She was told often back on Pyrrhia that she did have more of her mother's genetics rather than her fathers.
The soldiers surrounded her on all sides as the HiveWing with the golden hoop earring confined to lead her down the hallway. The group was walking slowly from what Robin had noticed, almost as though they were worried about possibly making her trip as she hobbled after them on her three good limbs, her tail and wings helping her to keep her balance for when ever she felt unsteady.
Soon enough, they made it into a large room, one that was very airy and felt open. Large windows that let in golden rays of sunlight. Tall pillars of tree-stuff reached up as though they were holding up the roof above them, webs of silk wrapped around them, the sunlight making them seemingly sparkly.
Embedded within the sparkling silk and strong tree-stuff looked to be strings of gold, seemingly woven within the other materials and sparkling along side the silk. Some jewels even looked to be embedded along side the gold.
On the other side of the airy room was a throne, one with a pattern similar to that of a honeycomb. The throne was made of gold and tree-stuff, the back of it stretching outwards like branches within a much canopy, though the leaf's were made of gold.
Beside the throne was something that made Robin's stomach twist in a fit at the sight. She could already guess what it was for.
Beside the unoccupied throne was what looked to be a small tree made of tree-stuff, a few fake golden leaf's scattered across it, almost as though the tree-stuff tree were going through a shed of it's leaf's much like some of the tree's in the Sky Kingdom when the weather started to get colder.
Attached to one of the tree-stuff branches was a golden band wrapped tightly around one of the bare branches, a golden hoop attached to it.
The HiveWing with the golden hoop earring lead her over to the fake tree, having to pull Robin with a light tug whenever the dragonet would try and dig her talons into the floor. Soon, she was being gently nudged up into the tree, being positioned as though she were resting within it and not being forced to look like nothing more than an art piece.
"I know this must not be the funnest thing in the world," the HiveWing soldier with the golden hoop started to say, her voice soft as though she were trying to make it to where only she and Robin would hear. "But just stay still and don't act up, and I'll see if I can get you something special as a reward."
A reward? For what? Behaving like some pet? She wanted to snap at the HiveWing soldier, but she pushed that down in order to speak normally, but quietly.
"Why do I need to be here?" Might as well see if I can get anything out of this, maybe anything to help Lychee. Robin told herself as she watched the HiveWing. I'll be like some kind of spy for him! Yeah!
"The Queen wants to show you off, so just, act pretty and you'll be fine."
"But I'm a dragon!" Robin hissed with a lash of her tail before it coiled around a branch. "Why should I be treated like a pet? I'm no scavenger to be put in a cage and observed!"
The HiveWing frowned as she looked at Robin, a sympathetic look within her solid black eyes.
"The Queen sees you as something new, and she likes new things but she doesn't like the hive as a whole to really like new things."
I like new things, she thought as she remembered how she would always go searching for new things around her village. Any shells that would've washed in from the ocean, filtering into the river just outside of the edge of town. Searching for new and shiny rocks to show her grandfather so he could tell her what they are and where they could've came from.
Like those seeds I found by pop-pop's cave, Robin still had those seeds, they were still kept within her shoulder pouch. There weren't as many as there were when she first had gathered them. When she first left Pyrrhia, she had nearly a talon full, but now she only had six of the small seeds. Robin still didn't truly know what they were, since she never got the chance to show them to her grandmother Orchid. She knew a lot about plants and their seeds, she couldn't been able to tell her what kind they were within a matter of seconds.
She didn't expect the same plants to be here on Pantala, so she didn't think any of the dragons here could tell her what kind of plant it wa-
WAIT! SNOWFLAKE!
Realization dawned upon Robin like a tidal wave. Snowflake could know what kind of plant it is! But it might be a while before I see her again, she remembered sadly.
She shook her head to clear those thoughts about the unknown seeds away, focusing on the HiveWing in front of her and the clicking of the golden chain attaching her to the tree like a glorified art piece.
"Just, sit tight and ignore the dragons that come to see you, okay?"
Robin hesitated a few moments, unsure if she should answer the HiveWing with the golden hoop earring. She was the only other dragon Robin had really spoken to lately aside from Lychee who could only come to talk with her in the middle of the night when it was safe for him to get close to the hive without being spotted by any HiveWing soldiers that could've been patrolling.
"And don't worry, me and Lychee will keep an eye on you."
Robin's head shot up at the mention of her friends name. She knew Lychee? How did she know him? Before Robin could ask the HiveWing any questions, the doors opened revealing a dragon Robin didn't want to see.
Queen Hornet.
The HiveWing queen stood tall amongst her soldiers and followers. One of the soldiers that followed behind the Queen was Lychee, the odd green shaded HiveWing covered in shimmering golden armour with one of those long spears with IceWing talon like hooks on the end.
The hybrid dragonet watched as Lychee and the HiveWing with the golden hoop earring came together not to far away from Robin's post, exchanging a few hushed words before quickly making their way over to Robin and positioning themselves to be seated on either side of the fake tree-stuff and gold tree.
Lychee and Robin both met each other's gazes. The green splotchy HiveWing gave her a small smile of reassurance before he seemed to focus on looking like a soldier on duty, his chest puffed and back straightened.
Just relax and sit still, she told herself with a huff from her nostrils as she rested her head upon her good talons, letting one of her hind legs dangle down much like a cats, or like that of how she would sometimes see RainWing's do within the rainforest whenever Robin was able to visit her grandparents.
From that moment on, the day seemed to pass by in a blur. HiveWings coming in to speak with the queen and some HiveWing's who looked rich came in to just see Robin. It gave the dragonet a strange feeling as she could feel their black and curious gazes burning into her scales like how rays of sunlight within the desert, trying to burn through her scales.
By the time the sun was starting to set and the Queen had taken her last few minutes to just simply watch Robin do nothing interesting other than laying there, Robin could feel herself starting to relax. She'd get to go back to her room, away from all these prying eyes that came to look at her as some strange creature or object, not a dragon in their eyes. Aside from Lychee and possibly the HiveWing soldier with the golden hoop earring.
Robin was pulled from her trance by a soft tug of her chains. When her eyes followed along the golden metal and up the arm of the dragon hold it, her gaze met with Lychee's.
"Come on," he whispered softly. "We're bringing you back to your room."
And with that, the trio was off, walking silently through one of the Hive's hallways, heading back towards where Robin's room, or rather cell, was. The only sound within the air was the jingling of her golden chains as Robin walked, thought that was soon masked over by Lychee.
"I'm guessing neither of you really had the chance to introduce yourselves?" Lychee spoke as he looked back over his shoulder towards Robin and the HiveWing with the golden hoop earring who was walking along side the hybrid dragonet.
"Not really, I've just seen her a lot." Robin admitted with a huff.
"I should've mentioned her sooner." the green splotchy HiveWing said softly as the trio continued down the hall. "Robin," The hybrid dragon perked up and met Lychee's gaze as they walked. "Meet Sunflower."
Robin turned her gaze towards the other HiveWing who gave her a friendly nod with a soft smile.
"She's going to help me get you out of here tonight."
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Once again, I planned for this chapter to be a little longer, but it started getting a little to long so I had to cut it again.
Here's the credit of the chapter that you all probably are expecting by now, thank you Dragonbite15 for letting me use your adorable green boi for this book.
I don't really have anything else to say for this chapter, so I hope you've enjoyed reading it!
- MindlessTyper