A Hidden Power |WOF fanfic| Book One

Chapter 2

A/N: ENJOY THIS TOOK FOREVER AND ITS SHORTER THAN IT SHOULDVE BEEN AND I HAVENT FULLY EDITED BUT I HAD A FEVER WHATEVER. Enjoy. Have fun with the new ship.

I wake up, my dreams already fading from my brain. I glance towards the web wall, and I can tell that the sun is fairly high in the sky. Oh no- I'm going to be-

"You're awake!" My mother interrupts. I remember now. I fell asleep after I got back from the hives, where Wasp had searched the library and Clover had been hugging me. Blech. "Happy Weekend!" My father chimes in as he pulls himself out of his nightly cocoon. "Morning dad. Morning Mom." I mutter, pulling my achy body into the other room of our cluster,where my mom tosses me an apple. I sit on the floor, my tail curling around my talons after I toss the apple into my mouth. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

"Soooo. Doesn't Clover have his chrysalis today?" Mom says, trying to break the silence. "Yeah. He wants me to come." I say grumpily, playing along with the icebreaker. "Doesn't he want you to be his mate?" Dad asks. "He does." I mumble. "I always thought you would have a female mate." Mom says. "And supposedly the dragons who make the match know who to pair you with, so he almost certainly won't be your mate." Dad comforts me, putting his wings around me. I lean into his wings and my mom puts her wings around us both. We share a family hug, but eventually start cleaning our cluster, like we do every weekend.

My mother eventually shoos me out, insisting I should enjoy my last two weeks before I get my wings. I decided to hang out with my school friends, since Bluebell has her chrysalis in three days. We were in the middle of ordering honeydrops together, when the merchant's eyes rolled back, and he became eerily still.

"Not you,.. Not you,.. Not you,.. AHAH!" Wasp shouts triumphantly, swinging her neck around to look at a spot on the wall of the hive. SIlence, and then- "Take him away. *pause* Hah. I don't care about your family. Watch the silk! Good. Start flying," She mutters. "NO! You IMBECILE! ANOTHER DEAD?!" Wasp screams out in fury. Suddenly, she leaves the merchant's body. "I-I'm so sorry. You were getting honeydrops? That's a total of 10 scales. Discount because of the-ah-incident. Have a nice day." The hivewing waves us off.

"What..." Chrysanthemum murmurs. "I think-I think that there was a flamesilk in Jewel Hive." Strawberry whispers to her, twining their tails. It's no secret that Strawberry and Chrysanthemum like each other, and all we can do is hope they get paired. A/N: Chrysanberry anyone? "Probably. Wait-" I start saying, before I have a horrible thought. "What if-" I swallow, barely able to choke it out. "What if that was Clover?" I finally say. I don't like him but- it still hurts to have someone you know die. "Well, we don't know that. Not yet. We can check in with his parents to find out." Bluebell states in her "no nonsense" tone. "Yeah. Let's do that." I say. What could have happened to him? I hate that jerk but- I never wished him dead. Why is this so confusing! My brain hyperventilates. Everything is a blur, Bluebell and Chrysanthemum and Strawberry all taking me to his parents' cluster, right by my own. They take me in, and I don't hear anything until-

"No. He's not a flamesilk." his parents mutter, and I nearly collapse with joy. I'm so happy Clover isn't dead! But- that poor other dragon. They just wanted to grow their wings. And the stupid hivewings killed them! "Well, at least Clover isn't dead.." Bluebell tells me, trying to cheer me up a bit. "Yeah. Let's enjoy your last three days, okay?" I tell Bluebell, storing this information in the part of my mind labeled "Deal with later". We go to the shrine to Clearsight, our mutual favorite spot in the hive. None of us like the salvation statue, but the shrine is so peaceful. Eventually, after a few hours of quiet fun, Bluebell bids us goodbye.

"Well, I promised my parents that we would hang out with my grandmother, so I have to go. Bye!" she calls as she walks away. Her mother didn't move far away from her grandmother, and because of that the whole family is still close. "I should be going too. I'll leave you to lovebirds alone." I say with a wink at my friends.

I pace through the levels of the hive, occasionally stopping for a hivewing. I shouldn't have to stop for you! One day I swear by the book, I will get out of this stupid hive and help the silkwings. I angrily think, pausing as I see a hivewing yelling at her green and white servant. I speed through the level blocking me from my family, hearing the hivewing shouting behind me. Just get to the webs, away from those horrible dragons. Just get to the webs. Just get to the webs. I start chanting in my brain. Get to the webs, where you can be away from these horrible dragons. For a day, at least. A day of plotting and scheming and anger, but never relaxation. Silkwings can't relax. Always slaving away for those horrible dragons, and in pain from overworking, and the sadness of knowing that this is your life. That you will never escape this life, unless you overwork yourself when you have time off to find a way to fix this life, and then all you can do is get punished when others find out. I snap out of my morbid thoughts as I see my cluster, speeding up for the last few feet of my journey.

(time skip)

I feel someone start shaking me, and I roll away from their talons. "I don't want to wake up.." I mumble to the dragon who smells like fruit. "Come on Gem, you have to wake up!" the dragon says quietly. I groan and open my eyes, realizing the sun isn't up yet. "Why are you waking me up so early?" I grumble to my father, walking in a circle and stretching my limbs. "Quiet! We can't be too loud. I need you to come with me somewhere, okay?" He asks, worry lines creasing his face. "Okay?" I whisper to him. He gestures for me to follow him out of the cluster, and I do. We reach the entrance to the hive, and he looks even more afraid. "We need to go someplace, we'll be back in the morning. Your mother worked a late shift, so she's safe. Don't worry." Cyan whispers to me, sneaking into the hive. To my surprise, he makes his way down. I follow him, copying where he places his talons exactly until we reach the Glitterbazaar. "What are we doing here?" I hiss at him. "Just- get in this stall." He says, pausing at Amberwing's stall. "Okay?" I tell him, climbing in and looking at the other dragons there in confusion. I look over at a pale pink dragon holding his orange mate as she silently cries. My father climbs in, pulling the tarp down behind himself. He scooches closer to me, and pulls me under his wing. "Why is she crying?" I ask him in a low voice. "She-" he paused. "Her dragonet was the flamesilk a day ago." He finished. "Oh..". I watch her grieve, and then avert my eyes. She shouldn't have to be seen weeping. Not because of her dragonet dying, or anything else. She shouldn't have to be sad. No one should.