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Chapter Text

Before she was stolen away from her home, Sundew had always wanted to fly.

When she was five, she imagined dragons of the forest, with great leaf-shaped wings and golden green scales. She called them the LeafWings. They are always her favourite.

She imagined the dragons of the savannahs, HiveWings, with towering Hives and golden black scales, and their distant relatives SilkWings, gentle and beautiful with every colour under the sun.

Sundew believed in dragons.

Before she had been stolen away from her home, her world was in shades of green. Emerald, jade, beryl.

Sundew's favourite had always been jade. It was elegant and beautiful, and whether emerald was the colour of leaves on a hot summer day or not, jade green was the only green she had ever cared for.

But time passed whether she liked it or not, and on her sixth birthday, celebrated by only her and her two friends Mandrake and Cobra Lily, disaster struck.

Sundew and Mandrake had convinced Cobra Lily to help them strap massive leaves to their arms, clambering up the trees like monkeys. While the elegant and graceful Cobra Lily watched from below, Sundew and Mandrake called upon their leafspeak to form a soft ground to land.

But before they could even leap, Belladonna's furious roar rang the forest. Sundew and Mandrake shared one look and scrambled down the tree.

Belladonna and Hemlock stormed through the trees a moment later.

“SUNDEW!” Belladonna roared.

Sundew stared up at her mother with wide eyes. “What?” she complained, sounding every bit like a six-year-old she was.

“We're leaving the forest,” Hemlock said. “Get ready.”

Sundew felt her heart crack and break. They were leaving the forest? Leaving the million shades of green and the vines and trees and leaves?

“Why?” she asked, pulling at Belladonna's arm, who pulled it away quickly. “Why are we leaving?”

Mandrake and Cobra Lily stared.

“Queen Sequoia has demanded we serve the army,” Belladonna spat, distaste in every word. “Forty-four years ago, that cowardly, foolish queen declared war on Queen Wasp. Now, as her army's numbers dwindle, she has come to us.”

“Just us?” Sundew asked. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of the war.

“Everyone,” Belladonna said coldly. She turned to Mandrake and Cobra Lily. “You too,” she barked. “The entire village is leaving by tomorrow morning.”

And so the million shades of green faded away, replaced by fire and gold and night and black.

And so Sundew lived out eleven more years in the army, far more time than she ever spent in the forest village. Eleven years under the shadow of the palace that did nothing to protect her.

Half the village had been slaughtered long ago.

Cobra Lily's sister was dead, and during happier times, Sundew would remember how Cobra Lily murdered her sister's murderer without regret.

Those happy times were rare now.

Belladonna climbed up and up in the rankings, and dragged Sundew up with her. Mandrake, his sister Nettle, and father Wolfsbane. She hadn't seen them in a long time.

Sundew was stained in blood when she returned from the siege on Bloodworm City. It wouldn't be easy to forget the tower of flames and smoke spiralling into the sky.

“SUNDEW!” Belladonna barked. Yelling had been her norm ever since they were forced into the army. Sundew had become used to it the year she was officially ready to fight.

“What?”

Belladonna stomped far too close into her personal space. She shoved her away.

Belladonna leaned close, her eyes alight with ambition. “Queen Sequoia has asked me to choose my most talented soldier to guard noble Lady Willow, whose previous guard has been killed.”

Sundew felt her heart flare, and she stomped it down. But. Belladonna finally admitted it. Sundew was the best. She was the most talented out of all her mother's soldiers and her work had finally paid off like she had always hoped it would. TAKE THAT, NETTLE.

“You're sending me to the jade palace,” she said coolly, hoping no hints of her excitement were showing through.

“Yes,” Belladonna hissed. “I'd rather it be someone older and perhaps more experienced, but you'll have to do. You will stay in the palace until Lady Willow chooses a more suitable guard.”

Was Belladonna jealous?

Not that she should be. She would hate Lady Willow's very presence. From what Sundew had heard, Lady Willow was one of the most laid-back nobles there were, hiding behind poisoned walls and the army's protection.

But Sundew didn't want to protect Lady Willow to make her mother mad. Well, maybe a little. But that wasn't the point. If Sundew had access to one of the nobles' minds, she would be able to put things right and end the fifty-year long war.

“Alright. I'll do it.”

The jade palace was massive when Sundew was at its gates. When she stood by the army, it was a small point in the horizon that stood for all that would hurt Sundew. But by its gates, it was calm, bustling, and elegant, and every towering tree was a cold reminder of Queen Sequoia.

A palace guard pointed a sharp spear at her. “State your name and business.”

“Sundew,” she said airily. “I'm Lady Willow's new personal guard.”

To her annoyance, the message seemed to have to have been passed around several times before anyone did anything about it.

Three moons, are they passing this up to Queen Sequoia?

Finally, a finely dressed man with a crown of emerald and jade leaves bustled down from the palace. “This way, Sundew.”

Sundew followed him in steaming silence as they passed through the halls, admiring the soft green lights that gave the entire palace an eerie, magical aura. They went up and down long staircases with more grandeur and riches Sundew had ever seen in her life. When they finally stopped, she made sure to put on her fiercest scowl at the tall jade doors as the man left.

Letting her face soften for first impressions, Sundew reached out and rapped on the door. The sound echoed through the empty hall.

On her third knock, the door swung open to reveal Lady Willow.

Wow.

Lady Willow was dressed in a pale green gown dappled with dark green shapes, with long, paler sleeves, but she looked as if she belonged in it, unlike the man. No crown of leaves perched themselves on her head. Her face burst into a smile when she met Sundew's eyes that crinkled her face in a full-face beam like starlight. She was definitely almost the same age as Sundew, maybe a little older.

And her eyes.

They were a soft deer brown that sparkled along with her smile. They were river-deep and ever kind. They twinkled in her starlight as she smiled, and she would get lost in them if she could, but THAT WASN'T THE POINT, SUNDEW.

“Hello!” Lady Willow said cheerfully. “I'm Willow. Well, Lady Willow really, but Willow will do. I've never seen you in the palace before. Who are you?”

It was so unfair how her voice was just as sweet and pretty as her face. How exactly was Sundew meant to hate her now?

Sundew blinked, once, twice, three times before finally regaining her senses. “I'm Sundew, daughter of Captain Belladonna of the Leaf Kingdom's army. I've been sent to be your guard.”

“How can you be?” Willow asked, more to herself than to Sundew. “You look the same as me.” She tilted her head, studying Sundew, and her face broke into a brighter smile. “Maybe a bit prettier. Maybe a lot.”

She doesn't care about the war. She is wrong about your entire life and the entire war and what we stand for.

It didn't help.

“Do you want to come inside?” Willow asked, taking Sundew's hand. The small touch sent little fireworks bursting all under her skin. “We could talk.”

Sundew didn't pull away as Willow pulled her inside with childlike joy, but she didn't openly accept the invitation either. Progress. She would hate Willow soon enough, and she would be able to use the lazy royal family to end the war her way.

Willow pointed to a chair. “Sit.” She herself splayed out on her bed, resting her face in her hands in an adorable smushy way.

What are you doing SUNDEW STOP.

Sundew sat.

“I wonder why they sent you,” Willow was saying. “I don't need a guard. The army and the palace protects me well enough. Hazel makes sure of it.”

“There is a war out there,” Sundew pointed out. She was beginning to think the rumours were true. “Queen Wasp is unpredictable, and our army could be attacked at any moment and she would get into the palace. Queen Sequoia and Princess Hazel can't protect you then.”

Willow blinked. “The war?” she echoed. “It's been fifty years and we're still alive. As long as this palace stands, Queen Wasp can't win. Right?”

Sundew felt her heart drop and shatter. “No,” she said. “She's killing us all. Queen Sequoia just claims more people from more villages for her army in a vicious cycle. I was stolen away when I was six !” She raised her hand, and finally noticed she had clenched it into a fist.

Willow reached for her hand, gently pulling her fingers apart. “Shhhh. But you're here now. You're safe. I can make sure you're safe and under Queen Sequoia's protection.”

The rumours are true.

“The shadow of the palace can't protect anyone,” Sundew argued. Her blood was beginning to boil. “My friends and family are out there, and their friends and family. They're going to die.”

“We can protect them too,” Willow said smoothly. “No one else has to die and the war will be over.”

“But they are dying!” Sundew cried. “The longer we sit here doing nothing, the longer the war goes on. Fifty years , Willow. Are we just going to let it go on forever until the Leaf Kingdom becomes a wasteland?”

Something struck her.

“Do you believe in dragons?”

Willow stared. “No,” she said at last. “They're just some old story, aren't they? A fairytale meant to scare us about the Tree Wars and the Poison Jungle. Nothing more.”

“They're real,” Sundew insisted. “And we're repeating their story.”

“If you say so.”

That sent Sundew over the edge.

“For all your talk of ending the war, you do remarkably little about it,” Sundew spat. “Your people are dying by the hundreds every day, and you sit and watch her slaughter us. Whether you like it or not, we have been at war for fifty years, and it's time for us to get out there and end it with our own hands.”

Willow stared. She was silent.

For one, terrifying moment, Sundew wondered if she would be reported to Queen Sequoia and executed. Belladonna would be so disappointed.

And then Willow nodded.

Sundew bowed. “I'm sorry I lost my temper, Lady Willow. I promise I will try to not do it again.”

She felt like a small child crying before Belladonna, except her mother would not allow such behaviour.

Willow opened her mouth and closed it again a few times, and Sundew's mind was too preoccupied to think about how adorable she was speechless.

“Just please, Lady Willow, consider my words. I think I would not be the only one to enjoy being in the forests with a million shades of green.”

Chapter Text

Willow quickly learned that Sundew was like no one she had ever met before.

She kind of loved it.

Willow met Sundew's temper for the first time in their first meeting, and compared to the regal and plain palace, it was a contrast to enjoy.

In the two weeks Sundew had been at the palace, that temper had come close to surfacing no less than ten times, but Willow could tell the other had forced it down and put on a calm face for her.

Just for her.

Second thing she learned: Sundew was a force of nature who bowed to no one.

No one except Willow.

Willow had spent most of her life living in nobility and honour, watching people bow their heads and call her Lady Willow. They treated her with almost the same amount of respect as Sequoia and Hazel, and most of the time, Willow didn't mind. It meant she and her family were safe.

But Sundew… Sundew was different. She bowed to Willow rarely and only out of respect or teasing.

Willow didn't think a girl with such a pretty face should bow to anyone anyway.

Sundew's eyes were like sunlight. Her jade eyes sparkled when she smiled or yelled or did anything, and the gold flecks in her eyes stood out like sunlight. Curled around her neck was a flowering vine of morning glories that was attached to a small leaf pouch. Her face was always full of expression and emotion around Willow, and her heart never failed to ache when she realised that Sundew only set her face into a near-emotionless mask because she had been trained to do it her whole life.

In a few short days, Sundew had changed ninety-nine percent of Willow's life, and when it came time to replace Sundew, Willow would go up to Sequoia and tell her she had chosen that fiery girl, whether anyone liked it or not.

It's time to get out there and end it with our own hands.

Sundew's words echoed in her head, again and again and again.

She was right, wasn't she? For all of her life Willow had been careless about the war, while the army fought and died for the palace's sake, and she had believed all along the war wouldn't hurt anybody.

Sundew had her childhood stolen away and was forced to join the army, forced to throw everything she called home away just because they were losing the war.

“Lady Willow.”

Willow finally got up.

They had been at a pond bursting with colourful flowers when a messenger burst through the trees.

“Queen Sequoia wishes to meet your new guard, Lady Willow,” the messenger was saying. Willow nodded. “Thank you.”

“Queen Sequoia?” Sundew echoed. Willow laughed at her expression. “It'll be fine, I promise,” she told Sundew. “Sequoia's a good Queen. She's not going to kill you.”

Sundew's expression believed otherwise.

She followed Willow warily through the halls, her footsteps nearly silent. Willow marvelled.

“We're here,” Willow said at last, arriving before a set of doors much grander and larger than her own.

Sundew's abject nervousness was palpable now. When Willow looked, she was fidgeting with her hands and her small leaf pouch.

Willow reached out and still Sundew's hands. “Breathe,” she whispered. “Just be here. Just breathe.” Sundew made a small smirk at her. “I am breathing, thank you. I practise every day.”

If Willow dissolved into a fit of giggles outside the queen's hall, it was not to be mentioned. Sundew hit her lightly. “Come on.” It worked anyway.

She knocked on the jade door. “Come in!”

When Willow pushed open the door, a young girl only a year older than her skidded across the floor towards them, and then snapped herself into an elegant position in less than a second. When she looked at Sundew, the other girl's face was masked emotionlessly again.

“This is Hazel,” Willow said. “Apparently right now being queen-face Hazel.”

“Princess Hazel,” Hazel corrected in an impression of a queenly voice. “You must be Sundew. Delighted you could join us.”

Willow rolled her eyes.

“Hazel, enough chatter and get over here.”

In the corner of her eye, she saw Sundew freeze. “Come on,” she whispered, pulling her forward.

Queen Sequoia had ruled for nearly sixty years and lived for eighty. Over the seventeen years that Willow existed, Sequoia had held herself stronger and taller and bolder as the Leaf Kingdom persevered under Queen Wasp's relentless attacks.

“Sundew of Poison Village.”

Sundew noticeably bristled. Willow laid a hand on her arm.

“Don't call it Poison Village,” Sundew growled.

Sequoia tipped her head. “Very well. You know why you are here.” “You called for me,” Sundew answered. Willow flinched at the anger in her voice, trying to resist the urge to pull away. “At the palace,” Sequoia corrected. “Belladonna believes she has chosen you. But that is not so. I watch the armies, and I know every soldier, and I have chosen you as Lady Willow's companion.”

“Me?” she echoed. “Why?”

“Because, despite what Belladonna says, the war will not destroy us quite yet. But I like your spirit, and I believe, here at the palace, you will make a difference. You can end this war.”

Willow's heart ached at the expression of horror in Sundew's eyes. “I can't. I can't end this war myself.”

“But you are the only who is willing to try.” Sequoia sighed. “In the savannahs where the Hive Kingdom's cities lie, there is a group called the Chrysalis who protect those still willing to fight for the fallen Silk Kingdom. Start your journey there.”

“I– Sundew cut herself off, bowing her head before snapping it back up again. “I'll try, Queen Sequoia.”

“And you will succeed.”

Sundew was nowhere to be found.

When Willow woke the day after the meeting with Sequoia, Sundew was not outside her doors, waiting for her with a soft smile and a snarky comment. Instead, a firmer guard she didn't care for greeted her.

Without Sundew, the morning felt… empty. She decided to go find the other girl as soon as she had eaten.

Three moons, I'm hungry.

As soon as her hunger was satisfied, Willow fled the dining hall, hurrying outside. She couldn't help the feeling that Sundew was waiting for her by the pond. She knew it was her favourite place in all the palace, because it reminded her of home in the forest.

Sure enough, Sundew was there.

She knelt by the poolside, her long brown hair tied up. Her pouch was loose by her side, and even the flowers around her neck seemed dry and dead. Before Willow even reached her, a spring of flowers burst out of the ground. Leafspeak.

“What are you doing?” she asked softly. Sundew didn't look at her. Willow took her hand gently; it had become a symbol of comfort between the two friends.

“Watching,” Sundew said quietly, and Willow felt her heart clench with worry. Sundew was never quiet. “For what?”

Sundew cracked a smile. “A frog. It stole one of my flowers this morning.”

Willow felt a smile forming. Of course. She was waiting for a frog. “Are you going to kill it?”

Sundew pretended to look thoughtful. “In your honour, it can stay alive,” she conceded. Willow held a hand to her chest dramatically. “And I was hoping I could sit here and wait with you,” she gasped. Sundew shrugged. “I've always liked frogs anyway.”

Willow mentally stored that away for later use.

A little frog bounced up from the pool, splashing them both with water. Sundew laughed, and it was a sound Willow never wanted to forger. She cupped the frog in her hands. “Maybe I like this frog after all.”

She's so gentle with the frog. Sundew, ultimate warrior of the army, daughter of Belladonna?

“ The Sundew showing mercy?” Willow said dramatically. “I would never have guessed.” Sundew swatted her lightly. “I didn't murder anyone yet.”

Right.

No matter how much both of them tried to forget about it, Sundew came from the army. She had fought in countless battles for at least five years. 

Willow wondered how much of that Sundew had nightmares about. She had never asked. Never wanted to know.

Still.

“I can't believe I have to go stop a war,” Sundew said. Her eyes sparkled, but Willow didn't to ask to guess most of it wasn't from excitement. “Fifty years of battles stopped by a little child like me.”

“You'll be great at it,” Willow promised, clasping Sundew's hands in hers. “And if you ever want company, I'm right here. Don't forget me ever, okay?”

Sundew laughed. “Of course.” Her laugh lit up her face like sunlight, and Willow couldn't look away.

“You're my frog now,” she declared. “I'm going to keep you and you can live in the palace with me and get used to everything forever and ever.”

Sundew's face fell. A thousand emotions lit up her face, and she had no idea what they were.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I can't.”

Willow felt tears well up in her eyes, and she had to look away.

“But we'll see each other again,” Sundew promised quickly. “If you want to… you could come with me. We could save the world together. Wouldn't that be the most heroic thing?”

Fireworks exploded all under Willow's skin and she had to smother a stupid grin as she laughed, twining their fingers together. “The most heroic thing ever. Just please promise me you'll never die?”

“Yes,” Sundew said softly, leaning against Willow. “I promise.”

Willow felt Sundew's heart slow to match her own. She reached out and lifted the frog from where Sundew had dropped it. “Here.”

Sundew slipped it back into the pond. “As I said, it can live in your honour.”

Willow laughed again. “That's very magnanimous of you.” Sundew beamed. “That's me, ever so magnanimous.”

It was a side of Sundew no one else saw. It was gentle and kind and a joy to be around, and it was a shame Sundew had to lock it away from anyone except Willow when it could flourish in the open. Willow would have to change that. She wanted Sundew to be happy, to smile and laugh without bounds, to live a life away from blood and death.

Willow didn't want to know how many people Sundew had seen die.

The next morning, when Willow saw Sundew again, she slipped a small jade frog into the other's deft hands.

She didn't have to meet Sundew's eyes to see her smile.

Chapter Text

“You know, maybe I won't destroy the palace after all.”

Willow turned her wide deer brown eyes towards Sundew. “What?”

Sundew laughed. “When I first saw the palace, I planned on crushing it into rubble,” she told Willow. “It stood for everything I hated.”

“What about now?” Willow asked, smirking.

Sundew shrugged, shoving Willow lightly. “With your attitude, maybe I still will.”

Willow pushed Sundew back. “I’m Lady Willow, and don’t you forget it.” The small touch and smile sent butterflies fluttering all over inside Sundew in a burst of sparkly sparkles. That was Willow anyway. Sparkly sparkles.

Three moons.

Wow, why does she call me pretty?

Stop it SUNDEW. FOCUS.

She definitely couldn’t be falling in love with Willow. Lady Willow. She was a noble of the jade palace, and Sundew shouldn’t ever forget that. She couldn’t be any more than friends with Willow, or Belladonna would be furious and her entire life purpose would be ruined. The people of the jade palace practically helped Wasp slaughter their army.

Then again, maybe Sundew wouldn’t mind making Belladonna furious. She could be friends with Willow and nothing would go wrong. Just Willow.

“Sundew, stop scowling,” Willow called, throwing a small pillow at her. It thumped against the pouch that held the jade frog. Said frog lay alone within the pouch, tucked next to her heart. “You need to learn to go soft.”

“If I listen to you, I’ll be soft as a SapWing.”

Sundew froze.

Three moons, she had not just said that aloud, had she?

“SapWing?”

Nope. Nope, she had, and Willow had heard, and she had made such an embarrassment of herself, Belladonna would be FURIOUS with her, SUNDEW WHAT HAVE YOU DONE.

“SapWing?” Willow repeated, pressing closer. Her eyes were alight with interest. “What’s that?”

“Dragon,” Sundew blurted, her brain utterly failing her. “SapWings are dragons.”

Willow tilted her head curiously. “Dragons don’t exist, silly.”

Sundew drew in a deep breath. “They do exist.” Willow rolled her eyes. “What are SapWings anyway?”

“A branch of LeafWings who follow the queen,” she explained, trying her best to sound deadpan.

Do NOT laugh.

It was hard not to. Willow was making that scrunchy-face expression again, burying her face in her hands. “That gave me a grand total of zero answers.”

“It was what I called the people in this palace when I was seven,” Sundew finally admitted, feeling her cheeks going red.

“You called us SapWings? I don’t stick and drip to anything!” Willow cried in mock outrage.

Sundew doubled over in laughter. “You’re the drippy sticky half of the Leaf Kingdom.”

“You’ll be the PoisonWings,” Willow decided. Sundew stopped laughing, her face set in a mock scoff of annoyance. “That’s what Sequoia called your village, so your vicious warrior village can be the PoisonWings.”

“What have I done?” Sundew cried. Willow laughed. “It’s just like the Book of Clearsight dictated,” she said in a mock queenly voice reminiscent of Hazel’s. “When the tribe of LeafWing not-dragons split, the vicious warrior half will be named the PoisonWings, and-”

“-and the drippy sticky half will be called the SapWings,” Sundew finished. She grinned at Willow. “We should tell this to Queen Sequoia and Princess Hazel, my dear Lady Willow.”

Willow dissolved into another adorable fit of giggles.

A crash burst through the palace, and silence.

Sundew launched herself at Willow. “Stay hidden,” she hissed. “Don’t get caught. Under the desk, NOW.”

As soon as Willow was protected by the safety of the heavy object, she blocked up all the windows and the doors as quickly as she could.

“What about you?” Willow whispered, barely louder than the pounding in her chest. “I'll be fine,” Sundew whispered back. “STAY THERE.”

Willow shifted. “There's space.”

Sundew turned so her back was to Willow and she was staring around at the room, poised to attack. “I'm your guard,” she reminded Willow. “It's my job to keep you safe, and if I don't, both Queen Sequoia and Princess Hazel will kill me. Literally. Maybe not Princess Hazel, but definitely Queen Sequoia. Three moons, if I fail at this, Belladonna will execute me before anyone else will-”

“Sundew,” Willow said firmly, the gentle hand on her wrist snapping her back to reality. You will not fail. You're the most talented soldier in the army, and that is why you're here.”

Sundew hoped Willow didn't see her shoulders hunch ever so slightly.

Queen Sequoia and Belladonna didn't pick me because I'm strong or talented or for my leafspeak. They picked me because I can be their pawn and end the war.

How does Willow not see that?

“Do you mind if I mess up your room a little bit?” she asked quietly.

Willow seemed to smile behind her. “Go ahead.”

Sundew reached out to the tree flowering outside Willow's window, its branches pressed against the window. Curled around said branches was a vine like the one curled around her own neck, except this one bloomed with white jasmine flowers. Sundew peeked outside the window, searching for any hint of gold and black armour before slipping it open.

Hello, she whispered to the vine with a shimmer of leafspeak. Can you do something for me?

Light, the vine murmured. Pretty bright ooo I want.

Sundew couldn't help but smile. Come in. Grow and protect, and you'll have lots of light. She sent a vision of the vine curling across Willow's room, bathing in sunlight.

Ooooo okay, the vine whispered back. With a little more coaxing, it began to push in through the window, curling across the top of Willow's room, not quite touching the ceiling, like a strand of lights, except these lights were white jasmine flowers. The tree leaned in a little to accommodate. Spread your branches, Sundew told it. Let me see. It did slowly, its leaf-leafed branches clearing so she could have a clear view of the forest and the savannah.

There was a column of smoke rising on the horizon.

Sundew felt her mind shut down all rational thought as dread crept up inside her. She watched the vine slither back out and snapped the window shut. She slid down with her back to the wall.

No no no no no. This can't be happening. This is a dream. Nothing's burning. It can't be burning.

The world was collapsing in on itself.

The smoke had been rising far too close to her old forest home.

“Sundew, are you okay?”

Sundew couldn't hear Willow's concerned words. It was like the rational, calm, snarky warrior was gone, replaced by a six-year-old lost and orphaned and far from home that was breaking apart.

“Sundew!”

Willow had scrambled out from under the desk, and now her hands were firmly set on Sundew's shoulders, effortlessly grounding her to reality. “Are you okay?” she murmured softly, her gentle hands wiping the tears she didn't know had fallen away. “Is something wrong? You can tell me. You don't have to hide from me, Sundew.”

“It's burning,” Sundew choked. “They're burning the forest.”

Pathetic. What kind of guard are you?

The words echoed over and over again in Sundew's head, all in Belladonna's cold, unforgiving voice. She blocked them out, focusing on Willow's clasp on her shoulders and Willow's pleasant tree-like smell.

“Oh,” Willow said quietly. “I'm so sorry. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose your home.”

“Queen Wasp is burning my home,” Sundew said coldly. “Call it whatever, Poison Village, LeafWing Village, Forest Town-” That last one hit hard. “But it was my home, and all my family’s home, and Queen Sequoia let Wasp destroy it.”

Willow wrapped her arms around Sundew, and it was warm, warm, warm. “You’re right. It was a terrible thing to let it burn. But I believe in you, Sundew. You’ll rebuild it again, and it won’t be the same, but it will be stronger and better.”

“Maybe,” Sundew said softly. “Maybe.”

She let Willow wipe the tears away. “Thank you. Is it safe?”

Willow's face fell. “I hope so. Should we go to find-” She cut herself off, staring out the window with obvious fear. “Wasp.”

Sundew's heart filled with dread. “We need to find Queen Sequoia,” she said immediately, pulling herself up and dragging Willow out of the room. She yelped. “Sequoia? Why?”

“You shouldn't be able to see the Hive soldiers from here,” Sundew explained hurriedly. “Besides, under Queen Sequoia and Princess Hazel's guards, you'll be safe.”

“You're not saying you're going out there, are you?” Willow demanded, skidding to a stop “It's a suicide mission. You can't face the army alone.”

Sundew kept moving. “Not alone. Besides, my captain-” mother “-is out there, and she would like my help. I can't abandon them the moment Wasp arrives. I said I would end this war, Willow. And I can't do it if the kingdom falls first.”

“But we can do it without fighting,” Willow pressed.

Sundew didn't believe that. She had to crush Wasp under her feet before the war would be over. True peace was never an option as long as the Hive queen was alive.

“I won't allow you to go,” Willow was saying.

“I can pick my own battles,” she snapped, exhaling slowly through her nose. “If you trust me, you'll follow me and let me do this. I've been fighting for five years. A small skirmish with Wasp and her soldiers against the entire Leaf army won't kill me.”

Willow met her eyes. “Even a Wasp who shook this entire palace?”

“Yes. I have the strongest leafspeak in all the kingdom,” Sundew said coldly, curling her palm into a fist. “It's why they took me away. I've learnt too much from the army, Willow, and it's saved my life countless times. Stopping war or not, I have to make sure everyone I care about is safe first.”

Mandrake. Cobra Lily. Belladonna.

You.

Willow caught her other hand. “But that's why you can't go out there!” she pleaded. “If Wasp kills the strongest leafspeak in the kingdom, what chance do we stand?”

None at all, Sundew thought bitterly. Mandrake's leafspeak was… far weaker, at best. Still, I have to try.

“They only want me to show off,” she snarled. Willow jumped back, surprised. “I would be no use to them if I fail to save one person. Life as a normal soldier in the army is the life ahead of me, and unless someone can un-burn the forest, I plan to keep it that way.”

She stormed off towards the throne room, Willow's footsteps slowly following behind.

But before Sundew even reached the set of grand doors, a loud, echoing voice rang through the palace. It was snake and honey, slithering, sickly sweet, unnatural. It was a thousand voices in an eerie unison, every single one with the unmistakable undertone of Queen Wasp.

They spoke. “So this is the jade palace.”

Sundew’s head snapped up. She flung open the door instantly, only to reveal Queen Sequoia and Princess Hazel, both frozen with their heads tilted, listening.

“Shame it’s time for it to burn down. I will crush it in my hands.” Sundew could practically see Wasp's cold grin.

“Queen Wasp,” she hissed as the sound of perfect marching began. “That vermin.” She turned, fury flowing through her blood. “Queen Sequoia, may I join the army in this battle?”

Queen Sequoia focused her gaze on Sundew. It flitted between Willow and Sundew for a few moments, but she finally nodded. “You may.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Willow demanded, tugging on Sundew’s arm before she could leave. “You can’t go out there.”

There was the sound of smashing glass, and Sundew whipped around.

One of the queen’s stained glass windows had been shattered. Queen Wasp alighted on the floor beside the shattered glass, seemingly having flown in inexplicably. An evil smile twisted her features.

“Wasp,” Queen Sequoia spat, heaving through her nose. “What are you doing here?”

Queen Wasp lifted a single artefact thrumming with immense power. Behind her flickered ghostly, dragon-like wings, and Sundew knew instantly the dragons of the past must have made the artefact. Those wings were black and orange, eerily similar to the spread wings of the HiveWings, which Sundew knew of as a corrupt tribe ruled by an all-powerful leader.

The artefact itself couldn’t have been much more than a simple relic of the ancient past, enchanted with far too much magic for Sundew to register. It was a book of sorts, carefully made and threaded with gold, but Queen Wasp held onto it so tightly it could have sustained the life force of the world.

“This,” Wasp declared triumphantly.

Princess Hazel’s eyes were wide. “That couldn’t be-”

“It has to be,” Queen Sequoia murmured gravely. “The Book of Clearsight.”

Chapter Text

“The Book of Clearsight?”

Willow stared at Sequoia, Sundew doing the same with her wide orbs of jade that sparkled like pearls. She slowly blinked.

The Book of Clearsight.

Wasp has the Book of Clearsight.

We're all dead.

“Clearsight,” Hazel murmured. “The last prophet who could see the future. That's the book of her warnings, and Wasp has it.” She let out a loud sigh. “We're all dead.”

A cold smile spread over Wasp's face, and Willow noticed she didn't have a physical form, but was instead made of many tiny magic particles.

Sundew didn't seem to notice, and as she lunged for Wasp's throat, the hive queen dissolved in a burst of inexplicable smoke and fire. Sundew caught herself right before flying out the window.

“ Wasp ,” Sequoia snarled. “I will rip her throat out.”

Sundew tossed her head, her eyes catching the sunlight. She swept over to Willow with an elegance that would have been unfair if it was anyone else. Draped over her wiry frame and shoulders was a long, dark green top robe with flecks of soft gold that matched her eyes. Beneath the loose robe were the simple, practical clothes Sundew had brought with her in the dark green and leaf green of the army.

Willow shook her head lightly. Now is not the time, Willow.

Sundew tilted her head in Sequoia's direction. “Your Majesty, I'm in.”

“Remind me exactly why you thought this was a good idea?”

Sundew laughed, flicking her hair at Willow’s face. “I will not hesitate in telling the queen you decided coming to the Poison Jungle, as per the queen’s orders, was a bad idea.” She batted her eyelashes innocently at Willow.

Willow held a hand to her chest. “How could I have forgotten? Oh! It must be the fact I am a noble of the palace, permitted to question the queen’s decision. Besides, Hazel likes me, and she wouldn’t let Sequoia remove me from the palace.”

“Sequoia likes me ,” Sundew pointed out.

“Not as much as she likes me,” she answered serenely. The other girl rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”

They pushed through another thicket of thorny leaves. “Are you sure this is safe?” Willow pressed.

“As sure as you are that you are, in your own words, a noble of the palace. I grew up in this place. I know it like the back of my hand.”

“So is it true, then? Poisonous plants that line every tree? Traps under every lake and every leaf waiting to kill you?”

Sundew shrugged. “Where I used to live, yes, until Belladonna decided to build a wall around it.”

“How did you not die?” Willow wondered, stopping completely.

“It’s easier when you grow up knowing what to avoid,” Sundew said. “Nowadays the jungle is mostly safe, except for a few corners, like beyond the Den of Vipers. Now move your feet, we don’t have all day.”

“Do we have to go to the place with certain death?” Willow asked.

“Yes, because it’s- was- my home,” Sundew said. “And it’s the only place you’ll be safe.”

“We don’t have to be safe,” Willow pointed out.

“Wasp is after us,” Sundew told her. “Probably after me specifically. You wanted to come, and I need you to be safe. We’re going through the Poison Jungle.” She shot Willow a look . “If you complain, I’m sending you straight back to Queen Sequoia right this instant.”

Her mouth clacked shut.

Sundew smirked at her. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

The Poison Jungle clearly held traces of where poisonous and carnivorous plants had thrived and been uprooted. Sundew brushed past them with relative ease, seemingly avoiding certain patches with pure instinct. Willow followed, albeit more carefully.

“Didn't you say they were burning the forest?” she asked at last.

Sundew stilled in front of her for one moment. “They are,” she admitted at last. “Carnivorous plants aren't the only thing locked away in the corners of the Poison Jungle. There was a forest taller than dragons too, by the Gullet River, where my home used to be. The Forest Town. It's gone now.”

“Where did it used to be?”

“You know where the Gullet River goes past the edge of the Leaf Kingdom, straight into the sea? There, southeast of the kingdom.”

Willow knew where she meant. Although the Leaf Kingdom was large, technically spanning the entire Poison Jungle, the palace's power did not even reach all sides of it, or even two. Where Sundew's village had ought to be blocked off from the rest of the jungle by the palace, it had still been connected by a thin stretch of jungle along the Gullet River.

But Sundew's voice was bitter and sharp, and Willow knew to change the subject.

“Where are we heading now?” she asked, and was met with an annoyed smile. “You never stop, do you? We're heading for the Snarling River, the boundary between the Poison Jungle and the Hive Kingdom.”

The Snarling River…

“Where the Silk Kingdom used to be,” Willow realised aloud. The other nodded. “Yeah. Until a certain Queen Wasp usurped Queen Monarch's throne, the Silk Kingdom was the border between the Leaf and Hive Kingdoms.”

“I thought we were going to Wasp Hive, where Wasp is.”

Sundew rolled her eyes. “I thought you would stop asking so many questions. But no, we're not going to Wasp Hive directly. We're headed for Cicada Hive where Queen Sequoia told me to meet some Chrysalis members, then to Wasp Hive to steal the Book of Clearsight, then back down to the savannah while we figure out what to do next.”

Willow blinked. “Okay.”

She enjoyed the sound of Sundew's laughter.

They made their way further into the jungle, closer and closer to the sound of rushing water.

Willow stopped by a roaring river. Its waters were milky instead of crystal clear, traces of plant matter rushing past them in the water. She knew better than to drink from it, no matter how thirsty she would be. The Gullet River was known to poison anyone who drank from it.

The Gullet River sliced most of the way through the kingdom, with the occasional bridge spanning its waters. They made their way further away from the sea, and towards the Snarling River.

At one point, Sundew froze, head cocked. She held a hand in front of Willow to stop her. “I hear something,” she whispered.

Willow listened too. For a long moment, nothing seemed to be wrong. Then, she realised it. The jungle has gone utterly silent. The birds had stopped singing, the trees had stopped rustling, the river had stopped bubbling. It was like the whole jungle was holding its breath, waiting, watching, ready to run, ready to pounce. After the long silence, a quiet noise pierced the air.

The hiss of a dragonbite viper.

She didn't believe in dragons, but she believed in snakes, and the dragonbite viper was a formidable one at that, the venom in its fangs easily bringing down any living creature, as sharp and as deadly as the dragons of the old stories.

They had found their way to the Den of Vipers.

“Thrice-cursed moons,” Sundew swore. “The Den of Vipers? We've gone too far north.”

“Can we make our way out?”

Sundew froze, her jade eyes fixed on something by Willow's feet. “Don't move. Ominous paralysed viper or something.”

She startled, turning around, and sure enough, she spotted the long, green-scaled coil of a dragonbite viper. Its head was raised into the air, and its yellow eyes staring blankly at them. But it didn't move.

Willow's heart raced. “See if we can sidle away,” she whispered. “We need to get out of here.”

Sundew snorted softly, pointing at the growth around them. The jungle was dripping with snakes, beady yellow eyes frozen onto them and scales wrapping around every branch.

“Use your leafspeak,” Willow told her. “Can you get something to cover us? I have an idea.”

Moments later, a chokecherry tree burst from the ground. Its branches splayed across the trees, and she could hear the loud, angered hissing of the snakes as they slithered towards them, their tongues flicking in and out.

She grabbed Sundew's hand. “Run!” she hissed. “We have to get across the Gullet River.”

“There's no bridge,” Sundew panted, slightly behind her as they ran. “There's no way- Willow, no!”

Too little too late.

Willow skidded to a stop by the Gullet River, but before she could even come to a halt, something lunged at them from behind. Sundew yelled, and she slammed into Willow's back.

She fell into the roaring Gullet River, her last breath above water short and shallow. She fought to hold her breath in the milky water as she was tossed and dragged up and down and left and right in the water. The sounds of Sundew fighting became more and more muffled, clouded by the roaring in her eyes. Black spots crowded in her vision, and she couldn't blink them away.

The river spat Willow out onto a small outcrop slick with mud.

Just Willow.

She coughed and spat out the water she had swallowed, trying her best to make sure only a few drops got into her system. After that, she chose to look around.

She was alone.

“Sundew?” she called. “Sundew!”

Nothing.

The trees stood tall all around her. They were thick and packed densely, but at least they were empty of vengeful snakes.

But they were also empty of Sundew.

Willow had never been this far from home before.

She had been lifted from the water at a point where she guessed the Gullet River and the Snarling River clashed. She had been thrown to the edge of the jungle, far away from home and from the Den of Vipers, where she had left Sundew.

What do I do now? Do I wait for her?

I have to. I have no idea where to find the Chrysalis.

But what if she's hurt? What if I wait and wait and no one comes?

A chill ran down her spine.

What if I never see her again?

A voice snapped her back into reality.

A girl only a few years older than her, dressed similarly, but not quite, to Sundew, was the owned of that voice. She stared down at Willow with cold judgement. By her side, a boy her age sprang up, and vines wrapped themselves around her chest. He sent her an apologetic glance.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?”

Chapter Text

“Willow!” Sundew roared, flinging aside yet another dragonbite viper with one of her ropes in her pouches.

If only Willow had listened ! She had a perfectly fine plan that would lead to them escaping over a bridge not far away.

Instead, the older girl had fallen straight into the Gullet River, and the last she had seen of Willow was wide eyes and a face in the middle of a scream.

Queen Sequoia will kill me and then revive me and murder me again.

A new viper had raised its head in her moment of distraction, poised to sink its fangs into her neck.

She had no choice but to run.

Sundew fled along the Gullet River, panting and waiting and watching for a certain rope bridge to emerge, one she could cut and save herself.

There!

She sped up, running faster than she suspected she had before, her feet thumping against the ground. When she reached the bridge, she didn't care for its dilapidated state. It could get her across the river alive.

As she ran, she pulled out a small knife she kept in her pouch. The moment her feet left the bridge, she sliced off the rope connecting it to her side of the river, and watched with cold satisfaction as the bridge collapsed into the water under the snakes.

But Sundew wasn't done yet. She wouldn't allow the snakes to rush away into the water, poised to kill Willow while Sundew was far away.

She commanded three vines hanging over the river to snatch up the vipers, and slowly made her way over to them, stabbing her knife through their scaly skin.

Good.

How do I find Willow now?

Sundew searched and listened through the trees, asking them over and over again. But said trees only murmured nothings and unhelpful advice that made her really want to rip some leaves out. But she wouldn't and she didn't and she resolved to run down towards the Snarling River. Willow had to be there. The clash between the two rivers was not something most objects, alive or not, could not withstand being in.

She knew she was getting closer when the plants grew closer together, and their voices became stronger, yet more agitated as they struggled to cross the Snarling River.

Willow's close. She had to be.

Sundew heard the sound of loud voices on the other side of the river. Her heart leaped to her throat, but she still had to backtrack to make her way across the bridge.

She made her way to a rocky outcrop, where a soaked figure sat, bound by two taller ones. She recognised one of them instantly.

“Willow!” she yelled. Willow's face lit up, and she turned her face to smile at Sundew.

“Sundew?”

She knew that voice too.

“Mandrake?”

The timid, small boy she had made friends with when she was young had grown in the years they had drifted apart to be the same height as Sundew.

By his side stood his much less likeable sister, Nettle. Nettle was one of the more… shouty soldiers. She had risen to Sundew's level too quickly, likely shooting for the position of her father Wolfsbane.

Sundew poked at the vines, trying to pull them away with her leafspeak, but she realised that some other leafspeak was holding it there. Of course Nettle would exploit Mandrake's power for this purpose.

“Three moons , Sundew, you know this wreck?” Nettle demanded, pointing at Willow. “Have you gone soft?”

Sundew smirked at Nettle. “That's Lady Willow of the jade palace, and I am her personal guard. Let her go, Nettle, or I'll report this to Queen Sequoia.” Nettle steamed in fury for a moment before flicking her hand at Mandrake. Instantly, the vines withdrew, and she shooed them away back into the forest.

“We'll get you dry clothes later,” she said to Willow. She then tilted her head at Mandrake. “Nice to see you again, Mandrake. A hunting expedition so far out? Really?” Mandrake shrugged helplessly, gesturing towards Nettle.

“What are you doing here?” Nettle snapped. “Last time I checked, being a noble's personal guard doesn't include taking said noble so far out towards the edge of the Poison Jungle.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or are you looking to run away to the Hive Kingdom?”

“Queen Sequoia has ordered this journey,” Willow interjected sharply. “Leave Sundew alone.”

Nettle opened her mouth and closed it again a few times.

Sundew lent her hand to Willow, who promptly used it to pull herself up. 

Sundew waved cheerfully at Nettle and Mandrake. “Mandrake, good luck dealing with her. We'll see you soon, Nettle!”

After around ten minutes of trudging away from them and along the Snarling River, Sundew finally found a place where the river waters were clean, shallow, and calm.

“You'll have to change,” she told Willow. “I have some army clothes. They might not be-”

“They'll be fine,” Willow promised.

Sundew turned away as Willow began to change, cleaning herself in the river instead. When she turned back around, Willow was dressed in clothes almost exactly like her own, except they were slightly more clean and the robes Sundew had been given at the palace were missing. She took the robes off, draping them around Willow's shivering shoulders. The other refused them, slipping them back onto Sundew.

“Who were they?” Willow asked as Sundew shook out her wet clothes.

“Mandrake was my friend from the Forest Town,” Sundew explained. It hurt to think of the memories they had shared with Cobra Lily. “And that was his sister Nettle.”

Willow mouthed a silent oh .

“We should get moving,” Sundew went on. “I can feel a storm coming. We'll need to find a Hive to stay for the night, preferably one with a healthy Chrysalis.”

And if we stay, we'll be blown back to the beginning like leaves in a storm.

Willow tilted her head towards the sky, her brown eyes sparking with sunlight. “How much longer do we have until twilight?”

“We can make it all the way to Cicada Hive if we get into Yellowjacket Hive soon and travel along the bridges,” Sundew decided. At Willow's confused glance, she elaborated. “I've been told to head straight to Cicada Hive. But if you can't make it…”

Willow flopped on the ground. “Isn't there anywhere closer? Like the Hive palace.”

Sundew snorted. “Let's go to Jewel Hive,” she conceded. “It's close enough, and from what I've heard, the leader Lady Jewel and her mother Lady Scarab might be the only people in the Hive Kingdom who don't follow Wasp blindly.”

“Jewel Hive it is!” Willow said cheerfully, as if the thought of whatever the sparkly Glitterbazaar was didn't drive her away from the place. “We'll blend in in the… marketplace thing? Glitter-something?”

“Glitterbazaar,” Sundew corrected. “And you can go in yourself. I don't do sparkles.”

“It'll be night and we'll be gone by morning,” Willow sighed. “Just come in with me? Please?” She twined her fingers with Sundew's, and she couldn't resist. “Fine. But let's move .”

And of course, the storm chose to fall on their heads the moment they left the safety of the Poison Jungle.

The wind whipped around them, fierce and unrelenting. Tiny needles of rain struck Sundew's face in a never-ending battle as the two of them struggled through the rain, towards Jewel Hive.

The sky filled with lightning, and the crash of thunder followed not a second later.

Sundew swore. “We have to run ! We can't be in the open the storm fully reaches Pantala.” Pantala wasn't exactly hard to miss, consisting of of massive Hive Kingdom and the smaller Leaf Kingdom. But according to her predictions, the storm was right behind them. Chasing them.

Yellowjacket Hive couldn't be more than ten minutes away. If they made it there, they would be able to run to Jewel Hive along the bridges. It would be risky. They would have to run through Wasp Hive if that plan had any chance of working before twilight, but it was a risk she was willing to take. There was no other way.

Now all she could hope for was that they made it to Yellowjacket Hive before the storm did.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast Sundew was, the winds and the storm were faster. They howled louder and louder every second, and she knew they wouldn't make it before it arrived.

The wind picked up, and all of Pantala seemed to tremble. A torrent of water cascaded from the dark grey sky, pouring down on them and slamming into the ground.

She saw a small arm fling open a door and let them in. She shoved Willow in first, slamming the door behind her.

“Children from the Leaf Kingdom?” a woman said skeptically. Sundew's heart froze. Judging by her clothes, she was undoubtedly a noble of the Hive Kingdom.

What if she reports us to Queen Wasp?

“We're looking for Lady Scarab,” Sundew explained shakily, drying out her hair. It would do them no good to mention Lady Jewel in Yellowjacket Hive.

The woman spread her arms. “Congratulations. You found her.”

Chapter Text

“You're Lady Scarab?”

Willow couldn't contain her confusion. From what she understood from Sundew, Scarab was the mother of Jewel, meaning she likely stayed in Jewel Hive. What was she doing here in Yellowjacket Hive?

Sundew appeared equally confused. “You live in Cicada Hive, don't you? What are you doing here?”

Scarab sniffed. “Cicada Hive is in a bit of a mess right now. Would do me no good to stay there while Wasp uses her mind control. I did also get a tip that there would be a message to the Chrysalis from Yellowjacket Hive, so here I am.”

Sundew's eyes noticeably brightened, which was warmly welcomed by Willow compared to the dark defeat in them a few days earlier. “You know the Chrysalis?”

“Mostly everyone except for Wasp does,” Scarab said. “I take it you're looking for them?”

“The one in Cicada Hive,” Sundew said, completely taking over while Willow stared in confusion. “We've been sent by Queen Sequoia.”

“Ah.” Scarab's eyes glinted. “So it is you. You've come to the right person, leaf. I know exactly where you need to go.”

“So you can take us to Cicada Hive?” Willow burst out, her shoulders slumping in relief.

“I could,” Scarab agreed. “Once the storm clears up and the mass control is over in Cicada Hive. Bet you all my honey drops that that little bug you're looking for is exactly who caused it.”

“Who are we looking for?” Willow asked.

“A certain group in the Chrysalis that would certainly be of much help for you, if your planning to stop Wasp.”

Sundew dipped her head. “Thank you, Lady Scarab.”

“Shouldn't we be heading to Jewel Hive?” Willow asked.

Scarab scoffed. “If you want to spend the night in the mess my airhead daughter leads, then yes. If you want to be safe, then you stick with me.”

“In Yellowjacket Hive?” Willow asked nervously.

Scarab rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I have some friends in higher positions who are willing to take us to Cicada Hive.”

Sundew blinked, looking adorably confused. “Cicada Hive is across the kingdom.”

Scarab laughed. “Just come with me, leaf. I know what I'm doing.”

They followed Scarab for what must have been more than an hour. They travelled on open-air rope bridges that Willow became more increasingly uncomfortable walking on, and occasionally passed through a bustling Hive.

After long last, Scarab finally stopped.

“Here yet?” Willow asked, collapsing on the ground with soaking clothes.

Scarab smirked. “Welcome to Cicada Hive. Now quickly, into my place. Wasp’s soldiers must still be swarming everywhere. We need a place we can hide.”

But at that moment, a deep, shadowed voice rang through the Hive. “I hear a new presence. Find them.”

Sundew swore quietly. “Where is it?” she hissed at Scarab. “We need to go, now .”

They ran through the Hive as quietly as they could, taking the empty marketplace and silence backstreets. They ran further and further up the levels of the Hive, to a level Willow assumed just below Lady Cicada’s home, which, seeing as they were in a level open to the sky, must have been tucked away on a platform somewhere.

Willow ducked into the door just in time. Scarab slammed it closed just as Wasp’s cold, overlaying voice echoed out again, this time far too close to them. “They are gone now,” it hissed. “Find those little insects who must have fled.”

Willow peered out of the window, watching Hive citizens march across the street. They were in perfect unison, but something still seemed wrong. Even the smallest children, at least those able to walk, marched along with the elderly. No complaints. No cries. Just… silence. But behind their cold masks of faces, she saw their eyes. They were blank white. Like curtains had been pulled over them, they stared out into nothing, yet ever marching on.

She shuddered. “What’s that?”

“The full Hive summons,” Scarab growled. “Don’t go out there. Wasp controls them all at once, and they won’t complain, won’t even fight her. She’ll just sniff you out and kill you.”

Willow shivered, a chill running down her spine. She didn’t realise she had held her hand out towards Sundew until she took it reassuringly.

“It'll be fine,” Sundew said softly. “We've survived worse.”

They both pretend that she doesn't really mean I've survived worse . It's yet another painful reminder that Willow did nothing for the kingdom who bowed before her.

“Have you ever seen it?” she asked. “Seen… this?”

Sundew flicked her hair aimlessly. “The mind control? Not exactly. All the soldiers I've fought never had white eyes. But who knows?” Willow noticed Sundew's fists had clenched. “Maybe Wasp was always in charge after all. They moved as one, fought as one, won and lost as one.”

“That sounds… creepy. What was it like?”

Sunder shrugged. “I don’t really remember. It’s been a long time. Wasp hasn’t bothered to use it in the last two years on something like the Leaf army.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Didn’t know it was you who led the Hive army. Never would have guessed.

Willow laughed, but when Scarab sent a look at her warning her to keep quiet, it softened. “YOu shouldn’t have to go through that alone.”

“I had Mandrake and Cobra Lily and Mother and Father. I was never really alone.”

Sundew turned away. Willow didn’t press any more. She could tell the other was done receiving pity for her past.

“How much longer will this last?” Sundew asked Scarab, who was in the middle of pulling out a rather horrific painting of a wasp. Scarab shrugged. “How much longer do you think children of your age with the power of fire could last?”

“No more than a day.”

“That’s your answer.”

“Children our age?” Willow echoed. “What?”

Scarab rolled her eyes, slashing a crimson swash of paint over the canvas. “Yes. Four children. A sister and brother who both inherited the power of fire, a fugitive and an escaped slave respectively. The sister’s prisoner boyfriend, and a little Hive student who’s immune to the mind control. You can see why my dear niece Wasp decided to hunt them all down.”

“Children our age.”

“She’s going to hunt you down too once she finds out about you,” Scarab offered. “If it makes you feel any better.”

It didn’t.

The power of fire… Those two alone could burn the entirety of Pantala. No wonder Wasp wants  them gone.

That wasn’t a good thought.

“What do you mean by the power of fire?” Sundew said warily. “You mean if they help us, they could burn the entire Hive Kingdom?”

Scarab scowled. “Do you want that?”

Before anyone could answer, there was a flash of white in Willow’s eyes. She fell to the ground, a muffled scream ripping from her throat.

When her vision went back to normal again, the first thing she noticed was the shaking door.

“Scarab,” came the voice? voices? outside. “I know you have that little girl Cricket, don’t you?”

Hide , Scarab mouthed at Willow and Sundew. Willow grabbed Sundew’s arm and the two of them fled upstairs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Scarab was saying crossly. “You and I both know full well if she escaped you already she would already be in Jewel Hive, or across the sea.”

“There’s someone new here,” Wasp insisted suspiciously. “Someone… immune to mind control.”

“Maybe that was one of your Silk slaves.” “You have no slaves, Scarab. Do not lie to me. I always have Malachite.”

There was a moment of tense silence.

Scarab seemed to have clicked her fingers, and a sharp, pungent smell filled the house, worse than anything Willow had ever smelt before. The soldiers below hacked and coughed, Wasp’s undertone slowly dying away. After long last, after all the soldiers had fled, Scarab snapped her fingers and yelled up at them to come down.

Willow shivered. “What was that?”

“She must have tried to mind control you,” Scarab growled. “It wouldn’t have worked, of course- you’re not from the Hive, haven’t been born under her poisoning. But she can’t tell that. She must have tried to control one of you, figured out you were at my place, and guessed that immune little Cricket was here.”

“So she can just track her by trying to control her? She's never going to escape.”

“More importantly,” Sundew butted in. “Can she do that with us ? Find us whenever she wants to?”

“I don't think so. To be physically forced out of someone's mind is one of the most painful experiences in the world. I'm surprised Wasp uses it to find the girl. Anyway, she'll remember your mind if she feels it again, and won't try. She'll probably assume you're one of the Silk friends I sometimes have over.”

Sundew narrowed her eyes, turning towards Willow. “Are we staying here for the night?”

Scarab rolled her eyes. “Unless you plan to be frozen on Misbehaver’s Way tonight.” She tossed them a box, which read The Sugar Dream on top.

Willow caught it. “What's this?”

“Honey drops,” Scarab called. “That's your food tonight. I'm going upstairs. Stay wherever you want; just don't bother me until morning.”

Sundew pried the box open. Inside lay two crystallised honey drops, small and golden. Willow pried one off the sugar paper and popped it into her mouth. It melted into a viscous, incredibly sweet honey.

From her pouch, Sundew produced a handful of berries, their scent wavering tantalisingly over to her. She tossed her one. It wasn’t quite as sweet as the honey and tasted like nothing, but it was food nonetheless, and she ate it eagerly.

“I’m starving,” she admitted to Sundew. “I don’t think I’ve eaten since yesterday night.”

Sundew tilted her head towards the twilight. “Well, now you can eat.”

“But can I sleep?”

“Don’t bother asking me. You’re the noble and I’m the soldier, as you’ve enjoyed telling me so much.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t asking you for permission. I was just wondering if it would be safe…”

“It will,” Sundew finished. “I won’t let Wasp get to you. I promise.”

Willow smiled.

“Thank you, Sundew.”

Chapter Text

Sundew stared out the window, resting her head on the cold glass.

Willow had fallen asleep what must have been hours ago, splaying out on the ground like how a small child would, her face pillowed on her hands.

A soft, silver moonlight glistened through the glass, a beautiful globe of light among many small stars. The night was free of clouds that night, inky black. The stars danced in the sky in an elegant cloud of light.

Midnight must have come and gone, but sleep did not.

Sundew gazed out at the empty street. Curtains were drawn and there was only darkness behind them.

Both of the Leaf Kingdom’s worlds were never silent or dark at night. In the army, captains, including Belladonna, marched and patrolled all night with lanterns of fire. In the palace, quiet messengers and a certain princess travelled the halls under the soft glow of bioluminescent flowers.

In the distance, Sundew could see faint golden lights. Scarab’s house was on one of the highest levels of the Hive, with a view of the open sky. Below them, she could see unwary travellers, likely Silk slaves, running to and fro on the bridges.

The darkest hour is just before the dawn.

Cobra Lily’s words echoed through Sundew’s head. She wanted to believe her, but she hadn’t seen Cobra Lily in… a long time.

Her darkest hour- day, really- was the day she had found the frog.

There had been no light to the constant shadow over her heart. Not yet.

The truth would never stop hurting. Reality would never stop hurting. Loss would never stop hurting. But Sundew would move on. She would push forward until death met her.

Willow had somehow curled up by Sundew’s feet. They would have touched, but she pulled herself away before they could. She would let Willow keep the respect a noble deserved, whether she thought they deserved it or not.

They don’t. They didn’t fight for our kingdom. Who said royal blood is respect?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving.

She snapped her head towards the window, eyes fixed on the Hive outside. Her gaze slowly travelled all across the Hive, seeking out even a single person who might have seen them. Seen her, a child from the Leaf Kingdom, sitting awake and alert at Lady Scarab’s window.

Something flickered in the Hive.

This time, she definitely caught them. It wasn’t hard. They were wearing bright blue drapes like morpho wings. Undoubtedly a servant of the Hive. They didn’t seem to have noticed Sundew, especially since they were so far away.

She exhaled slowly.

The sun was barely beginning to extend its golden light into the sky when Lady Scarab came downstairs.

“Plans have been changed,” she announced loudly. On the floor, Willow let out an adorable sleepy murmur, stretching her arms and blinking at the Hive noble. “What?” Sundew snapped. “We're finding that group in the Chrysalis you mentioned. Thank you for your hospitality, but we can't let this war go longer than necessary.”

“You'll wait until tonight before you make your move,” Lady Scarab told her irritably. “The Chrysalis only meets at night. You would have no way of finding them before other than asking around and getting yourself caught.”

Sundew wanted to yell, to scream, to shout and blame and curse at Lady Scarab for not disclosing this vital piece of information earlier. But the Hive was still waking, and any loud noises from the house would certainly attract prying eyes from all across the street.

She did the next best thing, curling her hands into tight fists and glaring at Lady Scarab's golden-orange eyes as hard as she could. “Fine,” she snapped. “But I'm not hiding in here and pretending to be a servant. I want to get out there.”

Lady Scarab snorted. “What are you going to do? Dress up as a poor Silk girl?”

“I'm not dressing up,” Sundew snapped. Lady Scarab sniffed. “Less leaflike clothes will have to do. I have a dark green cloak from Jewel Hive. You will have to be from the Silk Kingdom, perhaps down on the savannah.”

Willow blinked sleepily up at them. “Where are you going?”

Sundew pulled the sleeves up. “I'm going out into the Hive. We're not wandering off following the stars and moon tonight if I have anything to do about it.” She snatched the cloak that had come flying down from upstairs out of the air and fastened it around her neck.

“I'll be back by twilight at the latest,” she called to Willow.

As she was leaving, Willow's face appeared at the door. She reached out and caught Sundew's hand. “Be safe,” she whispered. “Don't get caught.”

Sundew imagined her hand closing around the throat of a Hive guard that tried to capture her. It gave her a sick kind of pleasure. “I won't. I'll be safe.” She pulled her hand away.

“Wait,” Willow said softly. She stepped ever so slightly outside, her gentle hands reaching up to Sundew's hair. “What are you doing?”

“Making you look prettier,” Willow answered. She untied Sundew's long brown hair, letting it spill down her shoulders again. “Come inside.” She weaved three long vines bursting with flowers into Sundew's hair in a neat braid. “There. That's better.”

Sundew blinked. “Okay.”

The upper streets of the Hive were still deserted by the time she made her way our onto the main road. But Sundew didn't care for the upper streets. The higher up she was, the more likely the citizens of the Hive around would recognise her as not a Silk weaver and report her to Lady Cicada. Silk children had their hair bright but short and tight as a tradition,  and during the transition called the Metamorphosis at sixteen, let their hair loose and free. Sundew was seventeen. Perfect.

She reached the lower half of the Hive.

Compared to the strict and clean streets above, the market of Cicada Hive was wild and loose. Golden and orange lanterns hung from the ceiling on long silver wire, crisscrossing all across the Hive. Below the lanterns, a vast maze of small hexagonal cells lined the walls, filled with small shops and stalls, bridges and stairs connecting the levels. In the centre of the labyrinth a hundred stalls clustered together, and even in the early morning, loud chatter filled the air.

Sundew made her way down to the middle, where she saw two of the bridges connecting Cicada Hive to its two neighbouring cities, Mantis Hive and Hornet Hive. She saw long threads of strong silk helping weave around the wood, guessing they acted as some sort of binding agent.

“And who might you be?”

She whipped around. A true Silk girl who couldn't be much older surveyed her warily. Her hair was long and dyed a dark but vibrant purple and blue. She stared.

“I'm from Jewel Hive,” she hedged.

The girl snorted. “Sure. Who are you really ?”

Sundew didn't let a mistake trip her up. “That's none of your business, unless you're looking to report me to Queen Wasp.”

The girl draped a pearl and jade necklace over Sundew's neck. “At least now you can hold up the lie,” she muttered, stepping back. “You can't possibly be a disguised Hive girl, so I'm going to ask again. Who are you?”

“Who are you ?” Sundew demanded.

The girl studied her, then held out her hand. “My name is Io. I'm part of the Cicada Hive Chrysalis. Nice to meet you.”

“Sundew,” she finally admitted. “I'm from the Leaf Kingdom.” It didn't feel right to admit it all, but she didn't exactly have another choice.

Io's eyes widened. “What?”

“Queen Sequoia sent me and someone else to stop Queen Wasp,” she explained quietly. “And if you're part of the Chrysalis, you can help us do it. You wouldn't happen to know any children with the power of fire, would you?”

Io smirked. “As a matter of fact, I do. If you do come from the Leaf Kingdom, you better come with me.” She pulled Sundew's hand and they made their way higher into the Hive, all the way to another open-air area. This one seemed more like a garden, with bubbling fountains and mosaics that shimmered in the sunlight.

“Welcome to Mosaic Garden,” Io said proudly. “Tonight, if you really want to find the Chrysalis, you'll bring you and your friend here at midnight, to the fountain of stars and moonlight. I'll be there.”

Sundew wanted to question her, to decode the strange fountain of stars and moonlight thing, but Io was already gone, disappearing amongst the crowd.

I've just found another lead.

Take that, Lady Scarab.

She backtracked down to the market, then up the stairs she had gone down from Lady Scarab's street. Along the way, she found a dark stone passageway, with the end of it open to sunlight. Two guards stood on that side, and she guessed two were meant to be in front of the gate she now stood at.

“Misbehaver’s Way,” Sundew breathed. “This is it.”

The gate was unlocked, and she slipped inside without a trace.

She had heard stories of Misbehaver’s Way from the war. It was the Cicada Hive prison for both Silk and Hive children, but she had been told since her first undercover mission if she was caught and needed to be interrogated, this was probably where they would put her.

Statues lined the walls, terrified faces, outstretched arms, as cold and unmoving as stone. But they weren’t stone. They were the troublemakers of Cicada Hive, frozen in place by a strange toxin running through their blood.

Sundew imagined her own body frozen like a statue in full consciousness, trapped in a passage filled with those like her. She imagined pain and fury speeding through her, but not even able to lift a finger to do anything about it.

She didn't stay long in Misbehaver's Way.

“I know where we're going.”

Willow noticeably perked up, turning to Sundew, who was unfastening her cloak. “You did?”

“I met a member of the Chrysalis when I was out,” Sundew admitted. “Her name was Io, and she told me to bring you and head to Mosaic Garden, by, and I quote 'the fountain of stars and moonlight'. Any help with that?”

Willow tipped her head. “Could it be the one in front of the Salvation mosaic?”

Sundew turned and stared. “You know the Mosaic Garden?”

“Never been,” Willow said, shrugging lightly. “But I studied architecture of the Hives a while back, and Cicada Hive's Salvation mosaic and its fountain in the Mosaic Garden was one of the prettiest places in all the Hives.”

Sundew blinked. “Okay.”

Several hours had passed since she had met Io. After leaving Misbehaver's Way, she wandered around the Hive for an hour, somehow reaching what the Silk workers called the Cocoon.

She had formed the plan in her mind.

“We'll leave at midnight,” she murmured. “And we'll go to that Salvation mosaic. Io should be there, and she might lead us to the rest of the Chrysalis.”

“So our plan for stopping Wasp is find the Chrysalis and hope they can help us in overthrowing her and stealing the Book of Clearsight?” Willow shrugged elegantly. “Good idea. Let's do it.”

As night fell, Sundew was still wide awake, despite her lack of sleep the night before.

I can survive without sleep for a few days. This is for the good of the Leaf Kingdom. I can't let them down.

“We're leaving,” she called to Lady Scarab. “I don't know when we'll be back.”

Lady Scarab slithered down the steps. “Don't get yourself caught out there.”

Sundew flung the cloak over Willow's shoulders when she shivered in the night cold. “We'll be fine,” she promised, more in response to Willow's trembling hands than to Lady Scarab. “No one will catch us. I promise.”

Willow nodded. “Let's go.”

The Hive was silent this high up. Sundew could faintly hear movement in the lower levels of the Hive, but she knew no lower-class worker would dare try and come up to the upper streets and disturb the higher-class nobles, and especially not up to the dark Mosaic Garden.

Up at the top of the Hive, moonlight and starlight shone upon the silent Mosaic Garden. The blades of grass rustled gently in the wind.

What must have been the Salvation mosaic caught her eye. It sparkled like tiny stars, each colour vibrant even in the dark. Sundew couldn't make out what it was depicting, but perhaps that was for the better. She had heard many stories of what the Hive army- not the Hive army, HiveWings , the Salvation was one of those stories of dragons from long ago- had called the Salvation where they slaughtered most of the LeafWings thousands of years ago.

Willow settled by the fountain like a dragon with its tail around its talons.

They waited for what seemed like hours, until two of the three moons had already sunk past the horizon and the sky was beginning to fill with a glow from the east.

Finally, a shape in the shadows moved.

Io.

Chapter Text

The girl slid out of the shadows.

“You came,” she said, sounding slightly impressed. “Come out of the darkness, Sundew's friend. I want to see you.”

Sundew nudged Willow gently. “Do it,” she whispered. “She wants to know if you're from the Leaf Kingdom, like me.”

Willow emerged from the shadows. “So you must be Io. I'm Willow.”

Io nodded. “I suppose she told you everything?”

Willow shrugged. “Not quite. I would like to hear it from you anyway.”

“I am Io of the Chrysalis,” Io began. “The Chrysalis is a rebellion of the Silk Kingdom, I suppose, spanning across all the Hives. In Cicada Hive, we have recruited quite a few members.” Io's eyes gleamed. “Our mission is to rebuild the Silk Kingdom and overthrow the Hives and Queen Wasp and her mind control.”

Willow felt a chill run down her spine. She did not want to think about the mind control ever again. Nope.

Sundew reached out and squeezed her hand gently, the warmth seeping from her hand to Willow's. She sank into the touch.

“That's where you come in,” Io continued. “If you want the help of the Chrysalis, you'll have to do something for us first.”

Sundew's hand grew tight in Willow's. She held her head a little higher. “What favour is this?” Willow asked for her.

“As you might know, Cicada Hive has been quite the mess since yesterday, when a girl came out of her Metamorphosis with the power of fire. This means her brother has the power of fire too, and Queen Wasp tried to capture them, but only succeeded in capturing their defendant, my brother Swordtail in Misbehaver's Way.” Io held her head a little higher. “I want you to go with Cricket and Blue and free Swordtail.”

Sundew stiffened and pulled her hand away from Willow. “She's from the Hive ,” she hissed. “Cricket could betray you all right now.”

“She's immune to mind control, and that's why she's here,” Io said smoothly. “I'll take you to meet them and Luna. You'll only be accompanying Cricket and Blue to make sure Swordtail doesn't run himself into a guard or something.”

Sundew bristled again, but as Willow clasped her hand again, she relaxed. “Fine.”

They followed Io for what seemed like hours, weaving their way through dark tunnels under buildings, some filtering through the brightening sunlight. Their footsteps echoed.

After long last, they found their way into a cave.

“Blue, Cricket, Luna,” Io called. “These were the girls from the Leaf Kingdom I was talking about.”

The one who must have been Cricket shout up. She had amber eyes hidden behind glasses and black and yellow-orange hair. “Are you really from the Leaf Kingdom? What's it like there? Is this your first time in the Hives?”

Willow blinked.

“Cricket,” Io said warningly.

“Oh, sorry,” Cricket said. “I've been told I ask too many questions.”

“It's alright,” Willow said gently. “The Leaf Kingdom… it's busy, I suppose. The jade palace is a marvel, but royal life and common life differ quite a lot. It's different to the Hives, that's for sure. I'm a… noble in the Hive, but call me Willow. This is Sundew.”

Sundew didn't move, her beautiful jade eyes still fixed on Cricket, a scowl marring her face.

“You have a necklace,” Cricket noted. “Looks Hive-made. Where did you get it from?”

Willow finally noticed. A pearl and jade necklace was strung around Sundew's neck. It matched her eyes quite well.

“I gave it to her,” Io interrupted. “She needed to fit in, and besides, I need to recognise her.”

Two Silk children, those who must have had the power of fire, were huddled in a corner. One had plain brown and short hair with deep blue and purple ties, the other with pale green rippling locks. The girl was slumped on the ground, watching them with glazed eyes, and the boy was trying to get her to eat.

“Luna, please, you should eat something,” the boy begged.

“What's wrong with her?” Willow asked, heart aching.

“Luna went through a… rough Metamorphosis, I suppose,” Io said. “She was burned and watched Swordtail get taken away. It's not easy to have fire. She's been ill since yesterday, and Blue goes into Metamorphosis today. That's why we need you today.”

The boy- Blue- turned towards them. His eyes grew distant and wondrous. “You're really from the Leaf Kingdom.”

“Yes,” Sundew said curtly, settling at the opposite wall with as much grace and elegance existed in the world. “And we're here to end this war.”

Blue stared in amazed silence. “You're helping… free us from Queen Wasp?”

Sundew snorted. “Not exactly.” She tore up a blade of grass growing amongst the rock. “The Silk Kingdom won't be the only kingdom destroyed under Wasp's foot if this goes on.”

“I know.”

Io jerked her head in Cricket's direction. “You should go save my silly little brother now.”

Cricket jumped to her feet. “Right!” She pulled Blue up, who cast one sad glance back at Luna before following Sundew, who had stormed back down the tunnel they came from.

Willow marvelled at the way Sundew weaved through the tunnels instinctively, guiding them left and right without hesitation. When she finally stopped, the lack of movement or noise above them made it clear they had arrived, wherever and whatever Misbehaver's Way was. Sundew made her way up and began walking down the path.

“What is Misbehaver's Way?” she whispered to Blue. “It's a prison of Cicada Hive,” he whispered back. “It's… go see for yourself.”

The prisoners were frozen in time, trapped in positions she didn't understand. Why couldn't they move? Their eyes darted around and stared at the intruders,  but they didn't move or speak.

“What happened to them?” she asked.

“The Hive army soldiers have all been chosen. because of their weapons,” Cricket told her. “The guards all have this thing they stab into somebody and the toxin freezes them for hours. And then they put them here. Misbehaver's Way.”

Willow shuddered.

“Which one's Swordtail?” Sundew hissed from up ahead, craning her neck to stare at them. Cricket shrugged, gesturing towards Blue.

“This one,” Blue had stopped near the entrance to Misbehaver's Way, where Willow supposed the new, less permanent arrivals were kept. She wondered what it would feel like to be unable to move for the rest of her life.

Swordtail looked a lot like his sister Io. His hair was a dark blue with faint hints of orange and a small pattern of white. He had been left on a pedestal like all the others. His face was frozen in a snarl of both determination and desperation, but his dark blue eyes followed their movement and shone with hope.

Blue sighed. “Hey Swordtail,” he whispered. “I know Luna isn’t here right now, but we’re going to free you and then we can go find her and she’ll sing to you and all those other sappy couple things.”

Willow smiled.

“Cricket?” Blue continued. “You have the antidote?”

Cricket pulled out a small vial filled with emerald liquid that shimmered like raindrops. “What is that?” Willow asked. “You found a way to administer the antidote to the toxin?”

“Yeah,” Cricket confirmed, slightly sheepishly. “Took lots of trial and error, but that’s fine, Swordtail’s in here a lot. Blue, the flamesilk please.”

The power of fire. This is it.

Willow had always known the old people of the Silk Kingdom were exceptional at producing silk in strange ways. Just as the people of the Leaf Kingdom had leafspeak, the people of the Silk Kingdom had the ability to simply spin silk from their hands like silkworms, the skill taught to those who had undergone Metamorphosis.

When she learned of those with the power of fire, she had expected bursts of flame from their hands.

Blue took out a small jar, and when Willow peered inside, she saw a single coil of silk, glowing hot and amber.

“Flamesilk,” Blue explained, handing the jar to Cricket. “Luna made it. I have no idea how it works.”

Cricket laughed. She plucked the flamesilk out with tweezers, then proceeded to take off the lid of the vial, which she had set by Swordtail’s feet. Blue helped wrap a cloth around her mouth, and then gestured for the rest of them to move back, almost all the way to the gate. “You don’t want to inhale the antidote,” he warned them. “It can be… dangerous without any toxin or poison to fight.”

Cricket dropped the flamesilk into the vial, set it by Swordtail’s feet, and hurried back towards them.

The liquid began to bubble, and all of a sudden, puff after puff of green smoke escaped from the vial. Without any wind, it drifted straight up to Swordtail’s nose, who breathed it in easily. Slowly but surely, he shook his arms out, knelt down, and covered the vial.

“Safe now,” Cricket whispered.

“I’ll never get used to that,” Swordtail said, far too loudly for the echoing passage they were in. “Thanks Blue.” He narrowed his eyes at Cricket. “Thanks Cricket, too, I guess.” There was clearly some divide between the both of them, likely over the fact Cricket, no matter if she was immune to mind control or not, was still part of the Hive Kingdom. Swordtail turned to Willow. “Who are you?” he demanded.

“I’m Willow of the Leaf Kingdom,” she told him, head held high by pure instinct. “This is Sundew.” Sundew scowled at Swordtail.

“Let’s go,” Blue told them, and they hurried back down the tunnels, this time with Swordtail leading the way.

Io jumped up when she saw them. “Swordtail!” she cried.

“Io!” Swordtail yelled back, equally loudly. He turned to Sundew. “This is Io! My sister!”

Sundew rolled her eyes. “We know.”

“They helped save you,” Io told him.

By the wall, Luna raised her head sleepily. “Swordtail? You didn’t get yourself imprisoned again, did you?”

“LUNA!” Swordtail cried. He ran towards her. “Are you okay?”

“Just my Metamorphosis,” Luna said, but her words were slurred. She turned towards Blue sluggishly. “Blue? Don’t you have your Metamorphosis soon?”

Blue nodded quickly. Now Willow had stopped being terrified for her life, she noticed Blue’s palms were glowing amber.

“We need to take him to the Cocoon,” Luna said sharply, sounding more awake than Willow had heard so far. “They can care for him. They don’t know he’s a escaped slave yet.” She stumbled to her feet. Willow noticed her concealed wince when she put her weight on a leg that seemed to be broken.

“Why?” Willow asked.

“Metamorphosis isn’t fully mental,” Swordtail explained. “There are physical parts of it too. Training. Lessons. A Silk child learns to weave and gets to dye their hair and everything. You have to have a Metamorphosis to become a true part of the Silk Kingdom, even if it is dead now.”

“I could have it here,” Blue said to Luna. “Swordtail could teach me. Right?”

“ No ,” Luna said firmly. “I will not have my little brother have some half Metamorphosis. You will have a proper Metamorphosis in the Chrysalis. And we will wait for you.”

Blue hugged Luna. “Thank you. I love you, Luna.”

Luna smiled at him. “Love you too, little brother. Now, go on, or you’ll be late.”

Blue hugged Luna again, and then he disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Sundew was bored of waiting.

They had waited for five days for Blue to return. Both Luna and Cricket refused to move on without him. Sundew had considered just leaving to Wasp Hive, but once Willow put her foot down and swore they had to stay, she didn't exactly see another choice.

It didn't mean it wasn't boring , though.

Then again, she should appreciate it. Staying five days in a safe, closed-off cave was better than hiding for five days in Lady Scarab’s house.

Finally, finally , after days of waiting, the sound of footsteps came down the tunnel.

Swordtail leapt to his feet in front of Luna, who was recovering, but deep in sleep. Sundew did the same.

To their relief, Blue stepped into the cave.

Except… it wasn't Blue.

He had the same kind eyes and smile, but his hair was a bright, vibrant blue, and he held himself taller. Stronger. Threads of flaming silk were still stuck in his hair, but it didn't seem to burn him.

“Blue!” Cricket cried.

Sundew rolled her eyes.

Blue smiled at Cricket. “Hey Cricket.” His gaze landed on Luna, and his smile faded. “How is she?”

“Recovering,” Willow said gently. “She'll be fine. I wouldn't worry about it.” Blue gave her a grateful smile.

“Now that you're back,” Sundew interrupted. “Can we finally continue with our plans?”

Io had left a few hours ago, claiming to be called away to another part of the Chrysalis. Sundew doubted she would be back anytime soon.

“And what are these plans?” Cricket asked sceptically.

“We're going to steal the Book of Clearsight.”

Swordtail leaped to his feet again from where he had prodded Luna awake. “YES. LET'S DO THAT.”

Sundew waved him away with her hand. “I wasn't talking about you. I'm going to steal the Book of Clearsight. I'm certainly not going to let a loudmouth like you tag along. Maybe her,” she said, jerking her head towards Cricket, “but only because she's from the Hive. Understood?”

Cricket jumped. “Really? You’ll let me steal the Book of Clearsight with you and help end the war?”

Sundew rolled her eyes again. Three moons, she was regretting it already. “Yes, fine. You can come. NO QUESTIONS.”

Cricket nodded, eyes shining. “I’ve always wanted to see the Book of Clearsight.”

“And I’ll come too,” Willow said, gliding up to Sundew’s side and clasping her hand. It was warm, warm, warm.

“NO ONE ELSE,” Sundew said firmly. “Or I will shove your face into a fire ant hill.”

Swordtail still somehow looked like he wanted to protest.

“Can Blue come?” Cricket asked, slightly timidly, but completely ignoring Sundew’s last statement. “Please?” Sundew whipped around and stormed down the tunnel. “NO!” she yelled back at Cricket. Willow followed her quickly, along with Cricket’s startled voice. “Wait, wait! Shouldn’t we have a plan first? That’s a good idea. Sundew, come back so we can make a plan!”

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Sundew kept moving forward. Willow hurried to catch up. “Cricket’s right, you know.”

“I don’t need any of this right now,” Sundew snapped, a little harsher than she meant to. “We’re finally doing something , and we could have used all that time waiting to plan. Now, we’re going in without one because we don’t have one.”

“You need to stop rushing all the time,” Willow said, rolling her eyes.

“The Temple of Clearsight is in Wasp Hive ,” Sundew shot back. “It’ll take an hour for a one-way trip. If you want to be back alive by nightfall, you better hurry up.”

“Okay, okay!” Cricket yelped, dashing forwards.

Sundew rolled her eyes with a long sigh.

The Temple of Clearsight was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Trees that had once covered the entire land of Pantala made up the entire library. Every wall, every door, every shelf was made of the wood now locked away in the Leaf Kingdoms. Shelves towered over them, filled to the brim with books with crisp pages and carefully-bound covers.

Willow’s mouth fell open adorably. “Hazel would love this place. The books are so well-made.”

Sundew snorted.

Cricket was far more subdued in her excitement, but Sundew often caught the Hive girl staring in awe around at the vast library, only to realise she had fallen behind and hurry to catch up.

“Hey,” she whispered to Sundew and Willow. “Let me go ahead. There are guards up ahead, and if they realise you’re leading me, we’ll all get caught.”

Sundew’s blood boiled at the thought of bowing her head to someone from the Hive Kingdom and becoming their servant, but she supposed she had no other choice. Willow pulled her gently behind. “It’ll be over soon.” she promised.”

Sundew didn’t look at the guards. She knew how the no-backbone Silk servants behaved, and it certainly wasn’t like a brave, honourable warrior from the Leaf Kingdom.

“We’re here,” Cricket whispered, gesturing to the pedestal that held the Book of Clearsight. She hesitated. “Are you sure about this?”

“It’s fine,” Willow told her gently. “You don’t have to help us if you feel like it’s too much.” But Cricket shook her head. “I want to help. We need to defeat Queen Wasp and end the war, and we can’t do it if she has the Book of Clearsight. I want- I want back Katydid and all the others.”

Sundew handed her a small tube made of leaves and a pouch full of darts. “Blow it at any guard that comes close,” she told Cricket. “It’ll paralyse them. We can handle the rest.”

A voice with the undeniable undertone of Wasp cut through the air. “Hello, little children. I’ve been expecting you.”

Sundew whipped around.

“The Librarian!” Cricket hissed. “She guards the Book at all times. The Book has a lock and only she has the key.

“Come to steal the Book?” the Librarian-and-Wasp sneered. “You’re too late. I saw you coming all along.”

“Wasp controls the Librarian,” Cricket realised, her voice shaking. “Ever since the ceremony.”

Sundew launched herself at the Librarian, flinging out a small knife she had on her at all times. The Librarian let out a roar of fury, flinging out her own spear from one of the walls. But Sundew was quicker. She darted around the Librarian’s heavy-handed attacks.

“Wait, Sundew!” Willow cried. “Don’t hurt her. She’s not herself.” As she spoke, Sundew slowly slid out a jar from one of her pouches.

“She’s given herself up to Wasp,” Sundew snapped. “And if we want the Book, we’ll have to take her down first.”

“Your friend is right, little leaf,” the Librarian said coldly. “Give up.”

“I will get a bullet ant to bite you,” Sundew threated. The Librarian only laugh. “Such futile threats do not scare me. I can handle far more pain than any bite.”

Sundew couldn’t help but smirk. “Then you’ve never been bitten on a bullet ant before.”

Sundew shook out the jar on the Librarian’s leg and jumped backwards. Almost instantly, the two bullet ants flicked over skin and one sank its jaws into her leg.

The Librarian let out a deafening scream. Sundew picked up the ants carefully, watching the white eyes roll up and back to become normal Hive eyes.

Sundew watched with mild satisfaction as the Librarian writhed on the floor for a moment, until her normal Hive eyes rolled back into unconsciousness. She pulled a small golden key from the Librarian's bag. She made her way over to the Book of Clearsight, slotting the key into the lock and prying the Book out from the pedestal.

The Book was both nothing like Sundew expected and everything that she had.

She knew Wasp's appearance in the jade palace was an illusion, but she hadn't realised how much of an illusion. The Book was simple and plain, maybe even less decorated than all the other books in the vast library.

But really, wasn't it on the inside that counted? Sundew pulled a branch from her pouch, and Cricket started. “Don't burn it in here,” she pleaded. “Go back to the cave and do it.”

“Wait,” Willow whispered. “Can't we give her something for pain relief?”

“And leave Wasp stuck in her head? I get you want to free her, but pain relief will just bring Wasp back. We need to get out of here, and spending a moment longer will get us all caught and executed. Cricket, the blow darts.”

Cricket handed her the little tube and darts. Sundew raised it to her mouth and blew six times, each time aiming for a different guard blocking them and their way out.

“Come on,” Sundew whispered. “We need to run now.”

They hurried quietly through the temple, passing frozen guards and silent readers along the way.

They had the Book of Clearsight.

It was going to burn.

Now all Sundew wanted to do was go home.

Chapter Text

Even days after burning the Book and leaving their new friends behind, Willow still saw those flaming ashes of one of the most important relics in the world. She saw the tiny curl of sun silk Luna had produced and had drowned minutes later, smaller than her finger, but with enough heat and fire to burn down an entire Hive.

Such a tiny little thing with such a big impact.

Willow wondered if she could ever be the same.

“Lady Willow?”

Willow didn't hide the little face she made at the title. Even though she knew Sundew had little other choice didn't mean it didn't sting a little when she heard her friend address her so politely again.

“Sundew.”

The girl in question tipped her head, eyes sparkling like starlight. “I'm due to give Queen Sequoia and Captain Belladonna a report on what happened. Want to come?”

Willow wrinkled her nose. “No thank you.”

Sundew's face shifted to another expression, one similar to a put, that fitted her face far more than emotionlessness. “You'd rather spend time away from your very favourite person in the world just because Captain Belladonna will make her Sundew, really? face at us?”

“You're not my very favourite person in the world,” Willow objected, even if she knew she was lying to herself.

Sundew laughed. “I am, and you know it.”

Well.

Sundew could read her too well.

Could she read Willow’s face as little fireworks exploded under her skin every time their hands connected?

Willow really hoped not.

“Come on,” Sundew pleaded, making a small pout.

Willow smirked. “I didn’t think the famous daughter of Belladonna begged .”

“She normally doesn’t,” Sundew agreed. “But you and I both know perfectly well it’s Belladonna we’re talking about. How am I supposed to deal with her alone?”

“Fine,” Willow relented.

Ten minutes later, both of them were standing by Sequoia's throne, waiting for Belladonna. The war captain barged through the doors not long after they arrived, her cold gaze fixed on Sundew.

Sequoia clapped her hands together. “Belladonna. You're here.” She angled her gaze towards Sundew. “You may begin your report.”

“We contacted the Chrysalis in Cicada Hive,” Sundew began, as well as a Hive noble named Lady Scarab. Queen Wasp appears to have some sort of mind control over anyone from the Hive Kingdom, with the exception of Lady Scarab and a member of the Chrysalis. We arrived at Wasp Hive and stole the Book of Clearsight, which, when we discovered the Librarian was controlled by Queen Wasp, we had no choice but to burn.”

“What is this Chrysalis?” Belladonna snapped.

“A rebellion of the fallen Silk Kingdom,” Willow interrupted. “And their mission is to overthrow Wasp and regain their kingdom. I believe they could be quite useful allies.”

“Mind control,” Sequoia said darkly. “And do you know anything of this?”

Willow was about to shake her head, but someone behind the queen interrupted.

“Queen Sequoia, if I may. I believe I could help with this matter.”

Willow turned, surprised. She recognised the speaker as another noble of the palace, Hawthorn, in charge of anything related to the Hive Kingdom.

“Lord Hawthorn, you may.”

Hawthorn tilted his head, almost condescendingly. Willow didn’t fail to notice Sundew barely force down a scowl beside her.

“There is a plant called the breath of evil that flourishes in a corner of the Poison Jungle, which I believe Queen Wasp uses to control her subjects. I do not understand how this plant works, but if we relinquish her control on it, she will no longer be able to strike as quickly, and it will lead to us gaining the advantage in this war.”

“And where does this breath of evil grow?” Sequoia asked.

“It once grew in an abyss under Lake Scorpion, where it was first found and spread from,” Hawthorn said.

“Yes, yes,” Sequoia snapped. “But where does it grow now ?”

“By a small village named Poison Village, named after the very danger this plant has become.”

Willow heard Sundew’s breath hitch, and her heart ached for her friend.

“Poison Village was burned to the ground,” Belladonna snapped. There was no regret or sadness Willow had seen in Sundew’s eyes in her mother’s. “We are safe from it.”

Sequoia angled her gaze towards the captain. “Ah yes, Captain Belladonna. You are of this Poison Village.  With Captain Hemlock. Bring him here at once. I wish to speak to both of you. We must understand more about this plant if we are to win this war, even with the Book of Clearsight burnt.”

Willow and Sundew were hurried out of the room.

“Sundew,” Willow said softly, taking her friend’s hand. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Sundew’s reply was stilted and painfully emotionless.

“It was your village. It was your home.”

“It was.”

We took it away from her. We stole her away from her home just so she could fight this stupid war because we were too afraid.

“Does it hurt?”

Sundew’s eyes flickered to her. “Knowing my home was nothing more than a place for Wasp to fight this war? There’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t believe I didn’t notice the breath of evil sooner.”

Willow wanted so badly to hug her, to let her know things would be okay.

Sundew bowed her head. “Let’s go, Lady Willow. I don’t believe we’re needed here anymore.”

Lady Willow.

Willow knew how easy it was for Sundew to slip into formalities, to the endless respect and bows she had been raised to practise her entire life.

The walk back to Willow’s room was silent.

“Let’s not be here,” Willow said, just as Sundew was about to open the door for her. “I would like to see your room. I’ve never seen it before. It would be nice to see what the legendary Sundew keeps in her room.”

Sundew cracked a tiny smile. “Come on, then.”

Sundew had been given a room a few levels down from Willow’s. “How do you manage to get to my room every morning?” Sundew shrugged.

Her room was plain and empty, save for a few pictures she somehow had found. Willow traced one with her finger. Sundew was so much younger, probably younger than six, hanging from a vine in the middle of two other children. She was smiling wider than Willow had ever seen before.

“That’s Cobra Lily,” Sundew said, coming up to her and pointing at the girl, who had her head tilted elegantly. “And that’s Mandrake. You know him. Nettle’s brother.” Mandrake. Right. The one with leafspeak who had accompanied the shouty one.

“That was your village. Forest Town.”

Sundew smiled sadly. “Yeah. It was.”

They stood in silence for a long moment.

“Can I hug you?” Willow asked tentatively. “You seem like you need a hug right now.”

Sundew blinked. “I mean, I’m not against that.”

“Good.”

Sundew was far warmer than Willow expected. Her hair brushed against Willow’s face. It smelled like leaves and the forest. Sundew smelled like leaves in the forest.

“You smell nice,” Willow said appreciatively.

Something crashed upstairs, followed by a loud yell.

Willow blinked. “What’s that?”

Sundew sighed, a sure sign she wanted some comfort. Willow took her hand. “My mother.”

Belladonna, indeed, was raging upstairs, Sequoia watching her, unimpressed. She clapped when she noticed Sundew and Willow slipping in, pointing to Sundew. “You. Can you get her under control?”

“SUNDEW!” Belladonna bellowed. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Sundew rolled her eyes. “Did what Queen Sequoia asked me to, Mother.”

“You burnt the Book,” Belladonna growled. “We could have used that.”

“ I wouldn’t,” Sundew retorted. “If you wanted it so bad, you should’ve gone and got it yourself.”

“HEMLOCK,” Belladonna seethed. “We will do something about this.”

“Belladonna, no,” Sequoia warned. “I will not let you do this.”

Belladonna sniffed. “You were never my queen. We’re setting Operation Bloodworm into action.”

Chapter Text

Sundew felt sick to her stomach.

“Mother, no,” she cried.

Operation Bloodworm. After years of plotting, researching, working, it had always been a last resort. Belladonna could not put it into action now . Not after Sundew had worked so hard to try and end the war.

“Operation Bloodworm?” Queen Sequoia echoed as Belladonna and Hemlock left the room.

Everyone turned towards Sundew. “They’re burning Bloodworm Hive,” she said softly.

One of the queen’s guards- from the army- Sundew recalled, stepped forward. She didn’t know him all that well, but she knew his name was Pokeweed, and he came from Forest Town, like her.

“Belladonna’s daughter,” he said coldly, eyes fixed on her. He sprinted forward, and before she knew it, his hand had closed around her wrist. “You’re coming with us.”

Sundew fought back. “No!” she yelled. “I’m not going to let you burn Bloodworm Hive!”

“You don’t have a choice,” Belladonna snapped, appearing by the doors. “Pokeweed, Bryony, take her with us at once.”

Sundew twisted in their grasp. Bryony wasn’t all bad, but she was dedicated to their cause, and she knew there was no stopping a group of vengeful soldiers dragging their strongest leafspeak to burn a Hive with them.

She saw Willow running after them, calling her name frantically.

“Let me go!” she yelled, writhing in their grasp. Pokeweed held on grimly.

“Use it,” Belladonna ordered, and Sundew felt a bolt of fear strike her heart. It was a toxin found in a flower growing in the savannah, strong enough to knock her out for hours.

Sundew tried to escape, but she felt a small needle prick her skin.

“Willow…” she slurred tiredly, feeling all the muscles in her body go limp.

She went out like a light.

When she finally came to, the first thing she noticed was that she was in a cave.

Willow was not with her.

“Good, you’re up,” Bryony said sharply, casting her an almost sympathetic gaze, but that was impossible. “Belladonna wants you.”

Sundew groaned, storming towards where Bryony had pointed. “WHAT, Mother?”

Belladonna stared at her scornfully, and if she had been a dragon, fire would have been snorting out of her nose. That is, if she had fire. Sundew had assumed dragons did.

“You’re going to help us burn Bloodworm Hive,” Belladonna said smugly. She held a stone jar in her hands, and Sundew knew that her mother had somehow gotten her hands of flamesilk.

Belladonna noticed her look. “Oh, this? This is what that little Silk girl called flamesilk. Blaze silk, to be exact. It’ll help us burn every single Hive down.”

“I’m not going to help you,” Sundew snapped.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “Being a guard for that spineless noble make you go soft? You know better, Sundew. You have no choice in this. We will bring justice to the Leaf Kingdom.”

“Use your own leafspeak,” Sundew snapped. “Surely the oh-so-great Belladonna would have suitable leafspeak for this.”

“The plan involves flaming ivy growing up the walls,” Belladonna said.

Sundew rolled her eyes. “I’m sure your own leafspeak will work perfectly fine.”

Belladonna narrowed her eyes. “We call this the Poison War. And you know what? There is a very member of our rebellion standing right outside your beloved noble’s door.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Sundew said, trying to act confident. She failed.

“Oh, I would. We have long been banished from our village and our kingdom. So…”

She dropped her head.

“You help us burn down the Hives, or she dies.”

Bloodworm Hive was massive.

It towered above them in a mass of brown matter, packed closely together.

Easy to burn.

Sundew had to get away.

But as she gazed upon the massive structure and the vast expanse of savannah, it seemed an impossible feat to achieve.

Nothing is impossible for SUNDEW. I AM SUNDEW.

You’ll do it, whispered a voice a lot like Willow’s. You’ll find your way back.

All she had to do was grow the plant while the rest of the pod slept, tying it around their ankles and wrists.

She would come back for them later.

They scouted the Hive for the rest of the day, then finally retreated to the edge of the Poison Jungle for the night,

At the dead of night, which she had long gotten used to creeping about in, she summoned a thin but strong vine from a tree next to the one the rest of the pod was sleeping under.. She first looped it around Belladonna, then Hemlock, then Pokeweed. Bryony was on watch a way away. She wouldn’t be able to cut the vine open anyway. Sundew had made sure she had stolen every last weapon they had and chucked it far into the jungle, to be taken back by the plants.

Do not let go, she thought at the plant. Even if they use leafspeak on you. Very important. Okay?

Frlllllrppp, the vine responded.

Good enough.

Sundew crept through the tall grasses to try and spot Bryony, but what was left in her spot was only a coil of moon-coloured silk. She didn’t have time to puzzle over it, though. She needed to get back to the Leaf Kingdom.

The Poison Jungle was a thousand times more bone-chilling at night.

It became more when she smelled the smoke.

When she heard her name.

She fled faster through the trees. Even if the brave Sundew didn’t flee, her mother’s wrath was not something to be toyed with.

She needed to warn them all. She needed to make sure Willow would stay safe. Not only for her job anymore. For something more Sundew didn't have time to scratch away at and admit.

Behind her, Bloodworm Hive burned to ashes.

But something felt wrong. Not the jungle behind her, but herself.

Sundew reached for the jade frog she kept by her heart, just to feel it and feel Willow .

Her hand closed on nothing.

She began to panic.

Where is it?

BELLADONNA. She must have dropped it.

I need to find it. Now.

She sent out her leafspeak, searching every tree in the jungle. After long last, a fern softly echoed something back.

Sundew didn’t waste any time running that way.

Chapter Text

“We have to go get her back!”

Willow couldn't get the image of Sundew out of her head. She was lying limply between her captors, still and unmoving. Belladonna had dragged her out roughly, far away at speeds Willow couldn't hope to match or follow.

“She has leafspeak,” Willow pressed. “If Belladonna uses some sort of plant on her to make her obey, it'll make burning Bloodworm Hive easier. Burning all the Hives. We can't let them do that. It's an act of war.”

“We are at war, Lady Willow,” Sequoia reminded her, her head held elegantly but breathing loudly through her nose in an attempt to calm herself.

“They can't burn Bloodworm Hive!” Willow cried. “We have to stop them!”

“Sundew's capable,” Hazel reminded her. When had she appeared? “She'll be okay.”

Willow couldn't stand doing nothing any longer. All her life she had sat by and did nothing. Now was the time to end the war, and she wasn't letting Sundew do it alone.

“Willow!” Hazel called as she ran out of the room. She ignored her.

Willow didn’t know all too many friends of Sundew. She had seen Mandrake and his sister Nettle once, and that was about it.

Still.

Help was help, and Willow was willing to get it.

“Excuse me,” she gasped to a captain, who immediately bowed to her. “Do you know where I could find Mandrake? Part of the army?”

The captain shrugged. “Should be- There he is! Oi, Mandrake! Get over here!”

Mandrake appeared around the corner with a faintly surprised expression, making his way over to them and a polite nod to Willow. “Lady Willow. Captain.”

The captain jerked her head towards Willow. “Here he is.”

Mandrake blinked at her. “Did you need me?”

“What do you know about Operation Bloodworm?” Willow demanded sharply. She would have preferred to go slower, but when Sundew and flaming vines and burning Hives were involved, she didn’t have time to slow down.

“Oh.” Mandrake’s face fell. “They have Sundew.”

“They do,” Willow agreed. “And you know her. I need you to help me get her back.”

Mandrake shrugged nervously. “I don’t know… I mean my leafspeak isn’t nearly as strong, but I’m pretty sure Belladonna wants me to help her anyway.”

“She’s going to lead the entire army into war,” Willow pressed. “Do you want that?”

Mandrake stared at her.

“Abandon the army,” she urged. “Come with me. We’ll find her.”

“Abandon the army,” Mandrake echoed with a strange light in his eyes. “Really?”

“I’ll make sure you won’t be punished,” Willow promised.

“Deal,” Mandrake said quickly. “Where is she?”

“I was hoping you knew.”

“Right.” Mandrake blinked. “They would have taken her to the savannah. I think. Maybe on the edge of the Poison Jungle.”

Willow snapped her fingers. “Right. The Poison Jungle. Let’s go. It’s already getting dark. Do you know what they used on Sundew?”

“A tranquiliser,” Mandrake responded. “Comes from a few frogs you do not want to touch. She’ll be waking soon.”

“And she’ll want to escape,” Willow finished. “We need to go.”

She prayed Sundew would be alright when they found her.

Willow stumbled through the trees for the millionth time.

Even though she had traversed the Poison Jungle before, at twilight, it was so much darker. She stumbled on roots, fallen branches, basically anything.

Mandrake slowed ahead of her.

“How do you do it?” she had asked an hour ago as she watched him weave through the trees easily.

“Practise,” he had responded. “I spent a lot of time in the trees before I joined the army.”

“You should rest,” he said this time. “Sundew will murder both of us if you collapse trying to find her.”

“Right,” Willow panted. She slowed to a halt.

“Here’s a pool,” Mandrake said. “It’s safe. No waterwheels, at least. You should drink.”

Willow had leant down to sip from the water when something caught her eye. She turned to see what it was, but it faded into the greenery.

She brushed aside a fern, and she saw it, lying askew on the rock.

A small jade frog.

Sundew.

Willow gasped, and Mandrake turned to her. “What is it?” he asked. “Did you find something?”

“Sundew was here,” Willow said. “Or at least, the pod was. They left this.” She held up the jade frog.

“We wait here then,” Mandrake said confidently. “I know Sundew. She’ll get here as soon as she can to get it back.”

Willow settled on that rock, unease rippling under her skin. She wished she had leafspeak, just to reach out in the chaos of the jungle and just find Sundew.

Mandrake perked up hours later, when two of three moons had already settled beyond the horizon. “She’s coming!”

A dark shadow emerged from the trees and became the only person Willow had ever looked forward to seeing.

“Sundew!”

Willow couldn’t stop herself. Sundew let her hug her.

“Ack,” Sundew gasped. “You’re choking me.”

Willow loosened her grip slightly. “What happened to you?” she cried. “I’ve been so worried. Let’s never do that again.”

Sundew exhaled slowly. “I agree with you on that one.”

“Sundew, are you okay?”

Willow could see Sundew’s eyes widen, even in the dark. “Mandrake? Is that you?”

“Oh, you’re okay,” Mandrake breathed, relief swamping his voice. “Lady Willow asked me to find you.”

“You knew about Operation Bloodworm,” Sundew said, sounding confused. “You would have abandoned the army if you came to find me. Abandoned the plan.”

“Well, I did,” Mandrake said. “Me and Cobra Lily have had enough for a while now anyway.”

“We saved you,” Willow informed her. “Isn’t that the most romantic thing ever?”

She felt Sundew laugh and roll her eyes, and she wondered if the other had the same ache in her chest as she did when Sundew was captured. “The most romantic thing ever, but I would have been fine.”

“Don’t ruin my moment,” Willow chided. “If you didn’t come here when you did, we would have burst through Belladonna’s defences and free you from their clutches.” She clapped a hand to her chest and almost fell over into Sundew dramatically.

Sundew smiled in the darkness.

WIllow caught her eyes. Sundew’s beautiful jade eyes, usually sparkling and filled with life, looked… dull. As if she couldn’t quite focus on what she was doing.

“Sundew?” she said sharply. “Are you okay?”

Sundew winced, reaching up to rub at a long cut dangerously close to her throat. “It's shallow,” she promised. “Just a scratch.”

“Come on,” Willow said gently. “I'll look at it.”

Sundew murmured agreeably, resting her head on Willow's shoulders in a way she definitely wouldn't have done with everyone else, especially if she wasn't fighting off the effects of some tranquiliser.

Willow felt her heart burst into flames.

Chapter Text

There was something nice about being next to Willow, feeling her gentle hands slowly wrap some sort of thing on the cut.

Willow had always been a little different to everyone else she had met. Kinder. Softer. Sundew liked that about her. She wasn't like anyone in the army, or like anyone in the old village she missed so much.

Mandrake had let them be, slipping away into the jungle.

So.

Just the two of them.

“This is nice, isn't it?” Willow hummed, long past covering the cut and now braiding Sundew's hair, her gentle, long fingers running through and unknotting it as she wove them through each other with surprising skill, muttering a tired apology every time she pulled even slightly too hard. Sundew made a small noise of affirmation. “Yeah.”

The sun was rising up the sky when Willow set the finished braid against Sundew's back, even higher when she woke and realised, with growing annoyance at herself, she had somehow managed to fall asleep against Willow, who was still curled up against a tree, her chest rising and falling with every breath.

Sundew sat up, scanning the circle of plants around them, first with her own eyes, then with her leafspeak.

Something was crashing through the trees.

Something big.

“Willow,” she hissed, shaking her… friend? She didn't really know anymore. They could be something more, but not when they were about to die. “Willow, wake up.”

Willow murmured sleepily. One side of her face was pink from where she had put her hand between her and the tree. “What?”

“Someone's coming our way,” Sundew whispered. “Come on. We have to hide.”

“I know you’re there,” snarled voices from close by. “Don’t hide. Come out and face me.”

Sundew’s heart sank down to her feet as she knelt down, the bushes slowly twisting to cover the both of them.

Queen Wasp had found them.

But something else seemed familiar about that voice… the voice that wasn’t Wasp’s.

It was her mother’s.

“Is that Belladonna?” Willow whispered. Sundew didn’t- couldn’t - answer, so she just shushed Willow instead.

“I hear you,” the voices hissed. “And I will find you. Come out now, and your death might be less painful.”

She heard her father too, Hemlock, and Mandrake’s father Wolfsbane, and another soldier on Operation Bloodworm, Odallam, and rule-following Byblis, who must have broken the rules for once and followed Belladonna to her doom of independence. All of them had been taken over by Wasp as easily as snapping her fingers.

The voices stilled as they stopped dangerously close to the plant Sundew and Willow were hiding in.

“Little girl,” they sneered. “Sundew, wasn’t it? Girl with leafspeak. Come out. Bring yourself to me.”

Willow didn’t have to feel Sundew tense to grab her arm. She shook her head ever so slightly at Sundew, as if forbidding her to even move a muscle. Not that Sundew was planning to anyway.

A single vine began to creep around them. Sundew tried to push it back, shoving the opposite way and trying her best not to shudder at the trickle of ice that ran down her veins when she reached out to it. It was like something was trying to probe her mind, searching it for answers she couldn’t provide, not to a strange menace like that .

“I know you’re there,” came the voice. “And so is your pretty little friend. I could take her right now. A vine around her neck. A thorn through her side. You’re so fragile, little children. I could kill her in one blow. I could kill you both right now.”

DON’T TOUCH HER, Sundew both prayed and snarled in her mind. She wasn’t one to jump out in self-sacrifice mode, but it certainly was something she wouldn’t hesitate to do if they dared get close to Willow.

Willow closed her hand around Sundew’s wrist, and she ignored how it felt a fiery warmth was spreading from where their skin had touched.

Not for me, Willow mouthed. Don’t go.

I’ll kill them all if they try to hurt you, Sundew thought, catching sight of Willow’s terrified deer-brown eyes as deep as the ocean. She couldn’t imagine them dulled with pain. She just couldn’t.

Is this how I’m supposed to feel with Mandrake? It was no secret that Belladonna had plans of arranging a marriage with Mandrake, one of the only others her age with leafspeak to create generations of powerful leafspeak that could take over all of Pantala. That was what her parents had done. Belladonna and Hemlock had never loved each other from the beginning, but Sundew was what the Leaf Kingdom had been trying to create for so many years, it was impossible to give up.

Sundew was meant to love Mandrake, and Mandrake was meant to love her back.

But they were friends.

Just friends.

Nothing more.

Sundew never felt those little starbursts of joy when their hands brushed, never felt her face warm when he smiled at her, never felt her heart speed up when he was in danger.

But with Willow… everything was different. 

Sundew wasn’t meant to love Willow, and Willow wasn’t meant to love her back. But she did. Sundew loved her. She thought. It was hard to tell. It was all Belladonna’s fault she had never known about it anyway.

Willow was a noble of the jade palace, high-ranking enough to know Princess Hazel well. Sundew was merely a soldier assigned to guard her, dragged upwards in the rankings by her mother. She didn’t even belong to the army. She belonged to some secluded corner of the jungle. It should have been an impossible love.

Did Willow even love her back?

It is, she thought vaguely. But I don’t love Mandrake. I love Willow.

Willow was the one with river-deep eyes and a shining smile. Willow was the one Sundew loved.

Willow was the one she would never let get hurt.

Sundew was jolted out of her thoughts when Willow nudged her gently. “They’re gone,” she whispered. “They’re going towards the jade palace. We have to warn Sequoia.”

“ Queen Sequoia,” Sundew corrected automatically.

Willow laughed quietly. “Yeah, yeah. We have to warn her either way. She could be in danger. What if they mind control her too?”

The queen of the LeafWings- Leaf Kingdom SHUT UP STUPID BRAIN, Sundew thought. That could lead to a disaster.

“How would we get past Belladonna?” Willow mused.

Sundew flinched involuntarily. She didn’t see Willow’s face melt into pity. She didn’t want to.

“You’re sad now,” Willow noted quietly. “Don’t be. We’ll get them back. I promise.”

Sundew managed a laugh. “Has anyone ever told you you’re amazing?”

Willow beamed and her face lit up like the sun. “Glad to know you love me. You’re amazing too.”

If Sundew was a dragon, smoke would be rising from her scales. She didn’t think her face had felt so hot in her life.

She twined her fingers with Willow’s.

“Let’s go end a war.”

Chapter Text

“BELLADONNA WHAT ?”

Willow cautiously tugged Sundew back as Sequoia calmed herself down. She still looked murderous.

“So you're so saying the best captain in my army- I will admit that- and her entire pod has now been taken over by the breath of evil,” Sequoia growled. “This is a disaster.”

Sundew stepped back with her mouth slightly open in an adorable kind of way.

“No no, don't apologise,” Sequoia said. “Even if she ran off into the jungle without permission. This war will be over soon, one way or another. Get with whoever can keep you safe. We're evacuating the palace.”

“To where?” Willow asked.

“Anywhere. The Distant Kingdoms if necessary. I will keep the Leaf Kingdom safe at all costs.”

“Wait,” Sundew interrupted. Her face was hardened with determination. “I have an idea. We might not need to evacuate the Leaf Kingdom yet.” She tilted her head to meet Sequoia's eyes with a both frightening and admirable fire in her.

“Lord Hawthorn said the breath of evil comes from an abyss under Lake Scorpion, didn't he?” Sundew said. Willow nodded.

“So if we can get to that abyss, and destroy the source, we can destroy Wasp's hold on the plant.”

Sequoia shook her head. “It would be impossible. Wasp will be coming after it this very instant.”

“Then we kill her then,” Sundew said. “If she tries to kill us, the abyss can have her.”

“Wait!” Willow cried. “Can't there be a path with no killing?”

Sequoia ignored her. “They're going to come after you,” she told Sundew. “You have the strongest leafspeak in all of Pantala. It would greatly benefit Wasp and her plan if she can use you.”

“I won't let her,” Willow blurted. Sundew tilted her head at her, confused. “We'll go together.”

“The abyss?” Sundew said. “No no no . It's too dangerous.”

“I won't let you go alone.”

Please see I'm  trying to keep you safe, Willow prayed. I can't let you get hurt. What if you die there because I wasn't there to protect you?

No. She's not going to die.

Sundew dropped her gaze first. “Fine.”

“You have two days,” Sequoia interrupted. “Two days, and if you're not back, the kingdom will leave without you.”

Willow pretended her heart didn't drop to her feet. Leave without us.

She has to consider the entire kingdom, Willow reminded herself. The lives of everyone in the jungle are more important than two little girls.

Sequoia levelled a glare at them. “One last thing,” she said almost hesitatingly. “If at any point the breath of evil comes close to catching you…”

“I know,” Sundew said.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

Willow couldn't shake the feeling this was too much like a final goodbye. Well wishes from someone who knew they might never see them again.

They might never come home.

“Are you scared?”

Sundew didn't look at her. “What?”

“Are you scared?” Willow repeated.

“I don't know.”

“It's okay to be scared,” she pressed. “ I'm scared.”

Sundew still wouldn't look at her. “I guess.”

Willow took a deep breath. She won't want to be pressed. We can talk about this later. Like before we leave.

“Can I show you something?”

Sundew finally looked at her. “What?”

“Let me show you something,” Willow said, tugging Sundew closer to the window, closer  to her. “I think you might like to see this.”

She swept aside the curtain in front of the open window, revealing a small plant bathing in the sunlight.

“This is… this is a sundew.”

Sundew stared at it, and Willow saw her eyes dart across those little droplets on the plant. “Why do you have this?”

“To catch tsetse flies,” Willow admitted, feeling her heart ache when Sundew laughed. “That's what's it's meant to do. But I really got it because it reminded me of you.”

Sundew blinked slowly at her. “Me?”

“Yeah.”

“It's- why?”

Say it Willow. SAY IT NOW.

You might never have the chance again.

“Because I think I love you.”

The pressure lifted, and Willow finally thought she could breathe. Even if Sundew didn't love her back, even if she broke her heart, Willow had to tell her.

But the way Sundew's eyes sparkled with light, she wondered if the other felt the same.

She sank into Sundew.

Willow didn't know if it was her heart speeding up or Sundew's slowing down, but at some point, they had met each other. Two heartbeats finding each other.

“I… I don't…”

“You don't have to say it,” Willow said. She pretended her heart didn't sink. Pretended Sundew didn't crush half her heart. It might not be a denial. She might just be shocked. She didn't believe it. Not really. “Just promise you'll be safe.”

“I promise.”

But like all good things, their moment ended far too soon.

Sundew stiffened, the look in her eyes suddenly alert and ready, so unlike the gentle softness in them Willow had managed to unearth. “What is it?”

“Wasp's coming,” Sundew said in a strangled voice. “We have to leave. Now.”

Willow had no idea how they made it to Lake Scorpion alive.

Even with the plants moving them along quickly and the grass hiding them, the savannah was painfully exposed to anyone looking from the Hives above. They spent hours travelling the savannah, skirting past sinkholes and Hives, only to end up at the scorpion-shaped lake in the south of Pantala.

“We're here.”

Willow's heart thrummed in her ear, loud and terrified.

“How do we get into the abyss?”

Sundew swept aside a cluttering of ferns, revealing a deep tunnel that stretched far underground.

“This way.”

Chapter Text

Sundew was an idiot.

An absolute idiot.

She had no idea why she hadn't told Willow exactly how she felt right after Willow had spilled her heart out to her, and now she was dealing with the consequences.

Said consequences being the awkward silence between them and the utter disappointment and sadness on Willow's face.

Promise you'll be safe.

Sundew knew it was a promise she wouldn't be able to make. The darkness before then was deeper than just Wasp, like fate had always made this path for them.

But she had promised anyway, if only to reassure Willow.

Maybe I do love her more than I realise.

Of COURSE you do, YOU MASSIVE IDIOT. You just missed your chance to tell her.

What if I never get to tell her?

“Relax,” Willow whispered. She gripped Sundew's hand and gently pulled her fingers away from each other.

“I love you too,” Sundew blurted, watching Willow's face light up like the stars had descended on them. “I knew it,” she said, although her voice wavered.

“Promise me you'll never die?”

“Can't promise that,” Sundew admitted truthfully. “But I'll try my best.”

We are being SO SAPPY right now. Belladonna would KILL me if she found out. She would tell me go Mandrake again. I'm not even old enough. MOM.

Belladonna can go jump off a cliff. Willow's the only person I ever want to marry.

Willow is my always.

“You have a sappy love-struck face on,” Willow noted. “Is it because I'm so amazing?”

“No,” Sundew protested. “Well yes, you are so amazing, but no , I do NOT have a sappy love-struck face on. I don't even have one. What's a sappy love-struck face anyway?” She nudged Willow. “Besides, you're the drippy sticky one.”

Willow smirked. “I'll drag you down with me.”

“No!” Sundew cried. “I would never want to be a SapWing. Blech. See, you've been running away a lot. Breaking all the rules. That's how a true LeafWing should live.” Sundew's voice faltered as she stared down, down, down, into the deep black tunnel. “I guess we have to go now.”

Willow exhaled. “I really thought it would be more hidden, you know?”

Sundew picked up a rock from a pile close by and rolled it in her hands. “Maybe this covered it,” she suggested. “And those earthquakes a few months back moved it. Or…” She hesitated.

“Or Wasp got here before us,” Willow finished. “Yeah. I know. We should hurry.”

The dry heat of the savannah was soon replaced by the chill of the tunnel, and Sundew didn't like it any more.

The tunnel seemed to stretch forever, even long after the steady drip-drip of the lake water leaking in had long faded.

“I can't believe we're under Lake Scorpion right now,” Willow whispered. “I never knew this abyss was here.”

“Maybe only Lord Hawthorn and Wasp know about it,” Sundew said. “Maybe he's working for Wasp.”

Willow snorted. “Don't be silly. Hawthorn's loyal to Sequoia, through and through.”

“Sure.”

Sundew had reached out to search for plants ahead a while before, only to jerk back when she realised the plants seemed to be watching her in their plant kind of way. Like they were waiting for her.

Sundew watched with growing dread as long, flowerless vines began to creep up the walls, clawing into the rock. As they walked further down, the vines became more common, and it seemed the further down they walked, the more flowers bloomed on them with delicate but deadly petals and a crimson seed like thousands of eyes were watching.

Willow took her hand. “Do you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Sundew whispered.

“Like they're watching us.” Willow waved her hand at the flowers around them, careful to touch nothing but Sundew.

“Yeah.” Sundew had to physically stop herself from shuddering.

“I'm scared,” Willow whispered a while later. “How far does this go down? Does it spiral? Are we still under Lake Scorpion or are we somewhere else? Are we still in Pantala?”

“You sound like Cricket,” Sundew teased. “The end is still a while away, I think. The walls will be fully covered by the breath of evil, and it's not there yet. As for if we're in Pantala… I really don't know.”

“If we die down here, no one's going to find us except Wasp.”

“Then let's just not die.”

You're pretending to be confident.

I know.

Sundew sighed.

What if we do die?

Or worse, what if Wasp catches us?

I can't let her have my power.

I have to tell her.

“Willow,” Sundew said after a moment's hesitation. Willow stopped. “Hmm?”

Sundew normally would have fingered whatever flowers she would be wearing, but Belladonna had taken them away. The only thing she had left was the jade necklace Io had given her and the small jade frog Willow had given her at the start of their friendship. A last reminder of who she had to save. The Silk and Leaf Kingdoms, and Willow.

“If Wasp comes close to catching me… if you think she's going to mind control me…”

Realisation dawned on Willow's expression, closely followed by horror. She clutched Sundew's hand tighter. “Sundew, no. You can't ask me to kill you. You promised me.”

Sundew shrugged, trying not to let her fear show through. “It's a possibility. We need to keep the kingdom safe. That's more important than me.”

“I won't let her,” Willow said passionately. “I would never kill you.”

“That's a big risk,” Sundew protested.

“It's a risk I'm willing to take.”

Willow stepped closer.

“I would do anything to keep those I love safe. Maybe even kill someone trying to hurt them. But I would never hurt you.”

“But-”

“No,” Willow interrupted. “Just no.”

Sundew smiled. “Okay.”

Willow smiled back. “Okay.”

And then she kissed her.

Sundew had not expected that AT ALL. She hadn't expected Willow's gentle lips brush again her own, hadn't expected the rush of warmth that bloomed from her chest and filled all of her.

She stepped back, head spinning.

Willow smiled at her, her cheeks red in the darkness.

Wow.

The snaking vines of the breath of evil clawed apart the tunnel the further they went into nearly double its original width.

Willow stumbled. Sundew caught her.

“Look.”

The tunnel had finally opened up into a massive cave overlooking the abyss, a deep hole that stretched infinitely downwards into darkness. The breath of evil consumed every wall, even crept down into the pit. Various skeletons lined the walls, their skulls all staring at the pit.

“We're here.”

Chapter Text

Five seconds, and Willow already hated it.

She didn't hate many things. She didn't hate the Hive Kingdom, she didn't hate the past, she didn't hate her bad luck.

But there were two things she hated most.

She had thought there was only one. She had hated Queen Wasp with all her soul from the very moment she started caring about the war. She hated the power-hungry queen and the merciless wrath she inflicted upon the kingdoms, she hated the war she had brought to the Leaf Kingdom and the lives she had ripped apart with it.

And then she learned about the breath of evil, and she hated it even more. It was all-consuming, uncaring, swallowing everything without a care for its past or future. Wasp had used it to take over her kingdom, but here it was, still commanding from the shadows, crawling out of a pit to nowhere.

The only thing that made it better was Sundew.

Sundew, who was refreshingly angry at almost everything except Willow. Sundew, who had opened her eyes to the horrors of war. Sundew, who had loyalty running through her blood.

Sundew, who Willow was in love with.

And Willow had just kissed her.

Her face still felt incredibly hot, and she was thankful the cave was dark, because without the shadows, she would have looked like an idiot grinning uncontrollably with her face pink with blush.

“How do we get rid of this?” she asked.

Sundew lifted a small jar from one of her pouches. “I got Blue to give me this before we left,” she said proudly. “I guess Belladonna didn't see it.”

Willow peered inside. The coil of flamesilk burned as bright and hot as the sun, so strong she was surprised the jar could keep it contained, let alone be so close to Sundew.

“This is called sun silk,” Sundew said. “Luna gave me the jar. A normal jar could never hold it.”

“You keep it so close to you,” Willow said, trying not to sound terrified.

Sundew shrugged. “It's safe. I promise.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

Sundew pulled out a small sprout. “I'm going to grow something to protect us, and grow this down the walls of the pit and burn it.”

“The smoke could control us,” Willow argued. It was almost like Sundew was trying to force a situation where she was going to die.

Sundew hesitated. “It might,” she agreed. “But if we don't make it out, I've gotten some plants to smother the exit and the top of the pit until the smoke's all absorbed into the walls.”

“No,” Willow pleaded. “Don't do it. We can kill Wasp instead.” She couldn't let her.

“This is so much bigger than Wasp,” Sundew argued.

“It'll die with her,” Willow promised. “We can block of its access to the air, so it'll die. It'll work. Trust me, Sundew.”

Sundew looked hesitant, but she nodded. “Now all we need-”

“Is me.”

Willow whipped around.

“Queen Wasp.”

Wasp towered over her, a crown of twisted thorns and silver perched on her head. Her dark eyes scanned Willow coldly. She stepped closer, her long queen's gown of black sliding across the rock. And from behind her, a long sword shaped like a thorn slipped dangerously close to Willow's neck.

Wasp is going to kill me.

“Don't hurt her!” Sundew yelled.

“Or what?” A second figure stepped out from behind Wasp and Willow had to stop a gasp so the sword wouldn't tear a gash in her throat.

Hawthorn.

“What did you do to him?” Sundew snapped.

“He tried to poison me,” Wasp said smoothly. “So he gets the Hive Kingdom punishment.” She snapped her fingers. “Besides, it was time to show your Leaf Kingdom how strong I am, over you as well.”

She narrowed her eyes at them. “One of you is the one with leafspeak. If you tell me now, this one will get to live.”

“It’s me,” Sundew said instantly, trying to push the sword aside.

“Sundew!”

“Sundew,” Hawthorn echoed. His eyes had turned pure white. He reached out, but Sundew jerked back. “He’s a leafspeak,” Sundew whispered to Willow. Willow didn't need her to tell her. She saw the vines of the breath of evil curling towards her across the sword of thorns.

“Capture her,” Wasp ordered, pointing to Sundew. Hawthorn dropped the sword from Willow's throat and made his way towards Sundew. Vines curled around their feet, and despite Sundew's obvious attempts to push them away, they curled around her feet and left her stuck in place, Hawthorn approaching her with the sword.

No.

“Wouldn't it be so useful to have both of Pantala's best leafspeaks?” Wasp purred.

Hawthorn stepped even closer to Sundew, the glistening flower of the breath of evil in one hand and the thorned sword in the other. His eyes stared blankly at her, as white as moonlit pearls in the sea.

Willow didn't even think.

She threw herself forward between Sundew and the sword. The tip of the blade slashed across her wrist, and she had to stop herself from hissing at the pain. She used Hawthorn's moment of distraction and wrestled the hilt of the sword from his hands.

They tried to hurt Sundew.

It echoed over and over again in her head, and suddenly Hawthorn was splayed on the ground, Willow's foot on his chest, and his own sword pointed at his throat.

Wasp stepped back, away from them, choosing to speak through Hawthorn in his final moments.

“Do you really think you can defeat me?” she sneered. “Do you think Hawthorn was just my pawn? Ha. I have uses for you, and not everyone will ever be as innocent as they seem.”

“Enough,” Willow snarled. The cut along her wrist started to throb, but it was shallow and she could deal with it later.

She had never felt such pure fury before.

She dug the sword in a little deeper.

“How will you kill him?” Wasp sneered. “Do you really think you're that strong?”

“Like this.”

Willow moved her foot back and plunged the thorned sword straight into Hawthorn's chest.

Wasp- the real Wasp- and Hawthorn both screamed. Hawthorn's milky white eyes rolled up in his head, turning back to normal again. Wasp stumbled back.

“You will pay for this,” Wasp gasped. She produced a smaller dagger with a similar design, just as twisted and just as sharp.

“I won't let you hurt anyone I love again,” Willow spat. Blood roared in her ears, and she nearly lashed out when she felt Sundew's hand on her shoulder.

“Do you want to do it?” Willow asked, ignoring Wasp, who had been pressed into the corner by a cage of vines. “She hurt you the most. I think it's fair.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Sundew thrust her hand out, and Willow watched as Wasp's own vines, bare of the breath of evil, twisted around her arms and legs. Slowly, they shifted, carrying Wasp over the pit of darkness.

“What are you doing?” Wasp snarled. “Leaving me to be killed by a drop? Dishonourable cowards, that's what you are.”

Sundew shrugged. “If it works, it works, and we'll come out of it alive.

Wasp's face split into a wicked grin. “Are you sure about that?”

“Drop the knife,” she said immediately. “Drop it now.”

I have to stop her. She can't hurt Sundew. I won't let her.

Wasp threw back her head and laughed, even in the pitiful situation she was in. Her laugh echoed through the tunnel and the cave, like a thousand ghostly copies of her laughed with her. When she lowered her head again, her eyes were as cold and dark as night.

“I don't think so.”

She tossed the knife up with a flick of her bound wrist. It soared up and sliced downwards, slashing through one of the vines that kept her above the pit. Wasp caught it by its hilt with her now-free hand.

It had only taken a moment, but the world seemed to move in slow motion.

Wasp lifted her hand and threw the knife…

straight into Sundew's heart.

Chapter Text

Sundew registered Willow's scream before she registered her own.

And then it was copper.

Copper and crimson.

It washed over her mouth, became all she could taste. It dripped from the wound, from her mouth, from her hands. It was everywhere.

When she looked down, all she could see was blood.

A deep, viscous liquid pooled at her feet. It clung to the shadows of the rock, clung to her like a sort of death that wouldn’t let go.

Huh.

Sundew was sure the blade wouldn’t miss her heart.

The blood spilled from the wound. Too much. Too fast.

She didn’t mind. Her job had been to end the war.

No.

Her job had been to protect Willow.

And to do that, she had to kill Wasp first.

Right.

It didn’t matter how much it hurt. Not yet. Not until it was just the two of them. Not until the Leaf Kingdom was safe from the HiveWing- Hive- Queen’s tyranny.

One more thing to do.

Sundew let her mind relax. She met Wasp’s pitch black eyes.

She smiled.

The vines holding the Hive Queen in place pulled away at once, and Wasp barely had time to glare at Sundew before the darkness of the abyss claimed her.

Sundew had learned to fight.

She had learned about every false HiveWing or soldier’s poisonous stinger, venom, toxin, in her dreams of dragons and in her realities of war.

She had learned to bottle up her fury and unleash it on the Hive armies that came after her.

She had learned the cruelty of Queen Wasp, and she had dreamed of watching it fall.

But she never learned that she had the power in her hands to destroy Queen Wasp herself.

Is Mother proud of me now?

Somehow, Sundew didn’t think that was very likely.

Eh. Belladonna didn’t matter anyway.

There was only one soul in the entire universe that mattered to her.

“SUNDEW! Sundew!”

Willow was warm. Warmer than Sundew had ever been in her life. A fire against the silent frost.

Sundew bled. She hoped it wouldn’t stain Willow’s clothes. The clothes Sundew had given her. She would hate to ruin Willow’s last memory of her. Maybe she should have given Willow more, instead of taking and taking and never giving back.

“Hold on for me,” Willow pleaded, but her voice was so far away. “I- You have to have something in your pouches. We could stop the bleeding. Sundew, where is it?”

Sundew didn’t have the energy to tell Willow there wasn’t one.

No one in all of Pantala and whatever lay beyond its borders had a cure to death. Sundew certainly wouldn’t be the first.

She was so tired.

She wanted to sleep.

“No!” Willow sounded more panicked now. From what Sundew could make of her, crystal, perfect tears trickled down her cheek and splattered in the pools of viscous blood. She didn’t like it.

“Don’t cry,” she managed. She tried to reach up. Tried to brush away Willow’s tear. Willow only let out a desperate sob and did it herself.

“You self-sacrificial idiot ,” she cried. “Don’t die. Not now. Don’t let Wasp kill you. You promised me. You promised .”

I promised her.

I shouldn’t have to break her heart.

What have I done?

“Don’t be sad,” Willow whispered, leaning in to wipe away the tears that Sundew couldn’t stop. Not anymore. “You did what you were meant to do. You saved me.”

She’s safe, Sundew realised, with the first wave of real emotion she had since Wasp’s death. She’s alive.

I saved her.

And she would do it a million times again. She would take every attempt on her life. If only Willow was safe. Safe and alive and happy, like she was always meant to be.

“I can’t be happy without you,” Willow said, her voice strangled and wrought with pain. Had Sundew said that aloud? “Live, please. Live for me. Sundew!”

Sundew wanted to live.

She really did.

Just for Willow.

The light of her life.

She’d stay alive just for her.

Are you scared?

Was Sundew scared?

She was no stranger to death. When her village was abandoned of adults and children, the elders that remained passed away soon after. When she had fought in numerous battles for the crown, she had seen her fellow soldiers fall.

But she had never thought about what it felt like to die. What it felt like to lose the one closest to your heart.

She supposed she had thought she could protect everyone she loved.

She did it, in the end.

It claimed her in its embrace, letting her sink and fall and step one step further away from the world and family she had sworn to protect. It dragged her down, refusing to let her surface, refusing to let her do more than believe and dream.

Dragons.

Sundew could see them now.

In green and blue and black and orange and colours she had never imagined before. With four wings, with wings like leaves, with two wings, in spirals of harmony and joy. They flew higher than she had ever conceived of being, with powers stronger than she had ever thought of having.

They soared above crystal seas and jade forests, through snow white clouds into clear blue skies.

They were dragons.

And Sundew could be one of them.

“Sundew? Sundew!”

She was being shaken.

“Sundew, open your eyes. Please. Please .”

Sundew tried to respond, but what came out of her throat was only a small hum. The pain flared up, biting every part of her skin with merciless viciousness.

“Hurts,” she managed.

Through her narrow slits of vision, she could see Willow’s expression crumble and fall. Sundew tried to comfort her. She reached out and tried to wrap her fingers around Willow’s warm, warm warm hand.

“Sundew…”

She closed her eyes again.

Willow brushed stray hairs aside.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “You can sleep now.”

Sundew didn’t feel the tear that fell onto her skin.

“M’sorry,” she breathed.

“Don’t be.”

They stayed in silence for a long moment.

If she just sank into death’s cold but comforting embrace, she could become everything she had ever dreamed of.

“Do you believe in dragons?”

Her voice was soft. She wondered if Willow could hear.

Willow only laughed tearfully, without any joy at all. “You always had to have the last laugh, don’t you?” She leaned closer to Sundew, her warm breath tickling Sundew’s skin. “I don't know yet. But I know I love you.

“I know it sounds sappy,” she conceded. “But I do love you. Every part of you. Even the parts which are hopelessly sad.”

A gentle warmth met Sundew's lips, and she was warmer than she could ever be.

And then those dragons of night took her in their starry-speckled wings and she let herself fall into the stars.

Chapter Text

It had taken five years to meet Sundew.

It had taken five days to love her.

And it had taken five minutes to lose her forever.

Willow felt dead.

She would have preferred to be dead.

For all she cared, all she wanted to do was be with Sundew.

She couldn’t even have that.

What had they done wrong?

What had Sundew done wrong?

Sundew had deserved to live, after all the injustice and pain she had been served. But instead, fate wasn’t so kind. It killed her right in front of Willow’s eyes.

Sundew’s eyes closed, and Willow’s heart split in two.

Why couldn’t it have been me? Willow asked as she held Sundew’s still cooling body. Why did it have to be her?

The air around her remained stoic, silent. Wasp was long dead, her corpse broken and battered on the ground below. It was what she deserved. Willow would make sure Sundew’s efforts had not been for nothing.

But Sundew herself… Willow refused to accept there was no way to save her.

Right?

There had to be a way. If Willow could turn back time, if she could… she could…

Dread settled down on her like a brick. Maybe there really was no way to save Sundew.

The only person Willow loved most in all her life.

Sundew, wake up. Wake up.

Please.

Willow wanted Sundew to open her eyes.

It would hurt, she scolded herself. I can’t let her feel that pain.

She settled back in front of Sundew’s body, trying not to cry.

Her hands were stained with blood. Sundew’s blood. Wet and sticky and crimson.

She didn’t dare look more than once at the body. If she looked at the too-pale skin, the lifeless eyes, the matted blood- it would make it more real. And for now, she had to pretend it wasn’t real. It was the only way she would get out alive and not throw herself down in the pit with Wasp.

I’m sorry, Sundew.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.

The days passed in a blur.

Willow remembered rain. So fierce and intense, it had drowned out the kingdom for days after Sundew’s funeral, like it was mourning the loss of the brightest light in Pantala too.

They had called her Lady Sundew, the noblest of soldiers, the strongest of heart.

All Willow had thought about was how Sundew would have hated the formalities.

Sundew was buried with her hands clasped over her heart. Her flower necklaces and pouches had been removed, but before anyone could stop her, Willow had hung the small jade frog, now made into a necklace, around her neck, and watched the light of her life fall into the ground.

Forever.

Willow had insisted on many things.

Sundew was buried next to the little pond Willow had given her the frog. Several trees she hadn’t noticed before had sprung up around the pond, cloaking her in the shade of its leaves and branches.

It had started to rain the moment she had turned away.

It had been one of the hardest things she had ever done.

One by one, their friends had come up to her and offered their condolences, little gifts that she had to take alone.

Blue, Cricket, Swordtail, Luna, each of them coming up from their rebuilding kingdom to help her grieve.

“She saved us,” Blue had said. “Even when she didn’t have to.”

Cricket had pressed closer to him. “She saved the HiveWings too.”

And if Willow had any joy left, she would have laughed through her tears.

Look, Sundew. Who do they think is the sappy one now?

She had pretended she couldn’t imagine Sundew whispering back.

A week.

Willow had been called to the throne room.

The rain still hadn’t let up, still had been hammering on the windows and casting the entire sky a mournful grey.

“Princess Hazel asked for you,” the messenger had told her.

“And Queen Sequoia?” Willow had asked, pretending she hadn’t been crying minutes earlier.

The messenger had hesitated, and nodded. “Her Majesty as well.”

“Thank you.”

Willow had hated those beautiful hallways, inlaid with jade and treasures for days afterwards. The walls of the palace could have paid for an army, could have paid for a small village. Instead, it did nothing, while the people of the kingdom struggled with what they had.

Belladonna had been furious, cursing Sundew for dying.

Like Sundew could have helped it.

“Your Majesty,” she had said tonelessly. She had refused to meet either Sequoia or Hazel’s eyes.

“Lady Willow.”

“Are you okay?” Hazel had burst out before Willow could even react.

Willow never got angry. She wasn’t about to start. She had silenced the bubbling anger within him and just dipped her head. “As fine as I can be.”

“We’re sorry we couldn’t save her,” Sequoia had said.

Willow got angry.

“It was your fault,” she had said, nearly in a whisper. “You sent her on that mission. You killed her.”

She had turned and left the room without another word.

Neither Hazel nor Sequoia had called her back.

A month.

A month had all it had taken before Sundew’s name began to be forgotten.

If Willow had it her way, it would have been told to the future generations as the hero who had saved them all from certain destruction.

The way she saw it, it had been the truth.

Unfortunately, things rarely went her way.

And so, Sundew’s name had been forgotten.

Willow couldn’t deny that her pain had sometimes been too much to bear, that she hadn’t considered going off on some grand quest like Sundew and ending up with her at the very end.

She had decided not to.

She was reasonable.

Sundew would have never wanted it, and she knew it.

And so, she had done nothing.

Would you have wanted me to do something about it?

Willow hadn’t known.

All she had known was that Sundew was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.

Six months.

Willow still wasn’t over Sundew’s death.

Sundew had been more than a friend. Why couldn’t everyone around her see that? Why had they always been telling her to move on?

Some deaths were impossible to move on from.

Sundew’s was one of them.

Willow knew what Sundew would say.

It’s okay. You can forget me. Move on.

Willow hadn’t wanted to move on.

In her dreams, she had dreamed of Sundew, alive and older in a life she would never get.

That only ever made the pain worse.

Because she was alive.

And Sundew was not.

A year passed since Sundew’s death. A long, hard, painful year.

But Willow was still here. And she was alive.

In all honesty, she didn't know how she had survived.

Nothing had made sense in those first few weeks. To feel such pain for one she had known for such little time– too little time– Willow had never had a word for it before.

She still didn’t have a word for it. It was too painful to return to those memories, to dredge up what should be left forgotten.

Willow would never forget Sundew. But she had to forget her darkest days. It was the only way to move on.

Sundew would have wanted her to move on.

Now she was kneeling by the very same pool she cherished and loved, where Sundew must be no more than bones now.

“You idiot,” she murmured. “You had to take that knife.”

It felt good. To be able to speak to Sundew like she was alive again, but not have to cry her eyes out every time she spoke her name.

Willow wasn’t entirely sure when her hurt turned to healing.

But it had, and that was what mattered.

“Hey Sundew,” she said aloud. “It’s me, Willow. You better still remember me.”

Silence.

Willow laughed quietly. “I wonder if you’re still here, waiting for me as a ghost. Or maybe you can’t hear me at all, and I look like I’m crazy.”

You are crazy, she imagined Sundew would say.

“Yeah, I am. Talking to a pond, that’s me.”

She hesitated.

“I think I should have told you earlier. I loved you. I still love you. I don’t know why it took so long for me to tell you.

“Well then. I love you, Sundew. If you forget that, I will make sure to make your afterlife as hard as possible the moment I get to you.”

Willow angled her head, listening to the whisper of trees.

A question that had long gone unanswered.

“I do, now,” she said hesitatingly. “Believe in dragons, I mean. And not just because of you. I read some books, and the more I know about the stories, the more real they seem.”

She was silent for a moment.

“I hope you finally got to see them.”

Willow leaned against a tree, closing her eyes and listening to the quiet ripple of the waters.

“I love you.”

For the rest of her life, she would swear she heard a whisper on the breeze carry back to her.

I love you too.