Sakura Tree

~CHAPTER THIRTEEN~

Grasshopper wrapped his wings around Sakura. He remembered how Sakura used to be the one to wrap her wings around him. Sakura had her wings bound, and two metal bracelets attached to each other with a chain wrapped around her front talons. Grasshopper wasn't sure about the cause of the bracelets, but they did slow Sakura down while walking.

Despite the fact that Grasshopper and Sakura could be in a more open relationship, there were still so many problems. Namely that Chinch was now king. Grasshopper couldn't tell if Rainbow was on their side or Chinch's. She had accepted the role of queen, but did some things that made Grasshopper wonder if she was truly loyal to Chinch. Because Chinch was ruler, he had let loose a few of the prisoners. Namely Fraxinus and GhostGum. He had tried to release Manchineel, but she had apparently hissed at him. He said he would just try to let her go when she was less confused.

Because Mezereon and Rainbow were the two 'closest to Chinch', and Grasshopper was Mezereon's son, and Chinch constantly compared Grasshopper to himself, Grasshopper was a sort of pet to Chinch. He got some sort of supposedly special treatment, but whenever Chinch placed Grasshopper next to the throne he made sure to silently glare at Chinch. Whether Chinch noticed or not was currently unknown to Grasshopper.

Speaking of which, Grasshopper was still on the edge about whether CHinch could see or not. He had never outright asked, but whenever Chinch stared at somebody it was just so... unnerving. Sakura was suddenly pulled away and Grasshopper once more remembered the clamp around her mouth. Grasshopper saw Fraxinus creepily smiling at him. The Forestwing always made Grasshopper shiver. That weird toothy grin, the practically always slitted eyes, the unexplainable feeling that Grasshopper always got when around the dragon could be victims of the creepy chill that ran across Grasshopper's spine and wings.

Fraxinus whipped his tail to signal that Chinch wanted to see Grasshopper. He reluctantly walked towards the throne room. He caught a few flickers of what Fraxinus was saying to Sakura. He flinched. They were practically prisoners. Sakura was pretty much a slave. They would be better off as Silkwings. And yet, if they were lucky, they would live this life forever. If not, it would get worse.

Grasshopper wanted to turn and run; he wanted to grab Sakura and run away from everything. But that would never work. His talons wanted to stop and freeze, but he forced himself to step into the throne room. Chinch sat, slumped and bored, on the largest throne at the other end of the room. Next to him sat Rainbow, looking uncomfortable as usual. On the other side of Chinch Mezereon sat. Chinch had molded another throne just for Mezereon, but it was much smaller than either his or Rainbow's. Rainbow fumbled with the crown on her head. It looked way to big on her, and yet Chinch wore his crown perfectly.

Chinch smiled and sat up when he 'saw' Grasshopper. "Grasshopper, come here," Chinch beckoned Grasshopper over with his talon. Grasshopper dragged his talons forward, towards Chinch.

"Now, Grasshopper, come here. I would like you to- or more, Rainbow and Mezereon would like to do something for you. Oh, and I have a gift for you," Chinch flicked his talon and a box appeared on his palm.

Chinch extended his talon and Grasshopper grabbed the box slowly, eyeing Chinch suspiciously. He opened the box, and inside of it lay a small crown. Grasshopper stared at it. It was small and looked like it would fit Grasshopper's head perfectly, and it looked like Grasshopper would have to slide the curled tips through his horns to put it on, but the curling looked like it would perfectly curl around his horns.

Rainbow coughed to get Chinch's attention. "Chinch. Our request?" Rainbow shuffled the crown on her head again.

"Ah, yes. How could I have forgotten?" Chinch spun a long strand of silk. He mumbled something under his breath once more, and the strand of silk flickered into a necklace. Grasshopper eyed the necklace warily as Chinch spread out his talon, the string of the necklace hanging one of Chinch's claws. The string of the necklace looked almost the same as a strand of Chinch's flamesilk, but a large leaf pendant hung from it.

"Grasshopper. Why are you not accepting it?" Chinch slightly snarled.

Grasshopper stared at the necklace, transfixed. "Is it... enchanted?" he asked boldly. He glanced up and saw Rainbow slitting her eyes at him. Okay. So if she was on their side, this was possibly a part of a plan. If not, this could be a mistake.

"Why don't you put it on and see," Chinch was holding back a growl, as per usual when anybody angered him. For the good of Clearsight, Grasshopper realized how much he truly hated Chinch.

Grasshopper grabbed the necklace as quickly as possible from Chinch's claw without snatching it. He threw the necklace over his head. The string was warm against his cool scales and the pendant was surprisingly heavy. He felt the same, and still had the same emotions towards everybody. He still hated Chinch and felt no loyalty towards him, and was still confused about Rainbow. He still disliked Mezereon and got creepy feelings when he thought of Fraxinus.

So maybe the necklace wasn't enchanted, and just some sort of strange gift that Rainbow and Mezereon requested. So then why did Grasshopper feel like it wawa so important? He lifted the pendant from his chest with his tallon and stared at it. Something was off about the little painted leaf-shaped pendant.

Chinch waved his talon, as if shooing Grasshopper away. "Yes, you may go," Chinch yawned. Rainbow practically leaped up before Grasshopper could turn to go with a nod.

"Wait!" She yelped. "Grasshopper. I need to see you later. Tomorrow see me at the library. Or else," Rainbow slitted her eyes, but with a false authority as if she was trying to be queenly but miserably failing. She still looked as if she thought of Grasshopper as a friend but wanted to make Chinch think that she was with him. Gosh, why did everything have to be so confusing!?

Grasshopper turned to leave the room and walked out of the arch doorway. Now he had to decide how he had to act in the library. He needed to figure out Rainbow's intentions as soon as possible.

Grasshopper rushed around the castle. He needed to talk to some dragons. He had to see a few sides and get tips for figuring out a dragon's side. The only way he could think of that? Ask dragons who knew.

Grasshopper pulled a necklace from around his neck that had some keys. It was an exact copy of Sakura's necklace, except she didn't have hers anymore. He hated how he was treated like an actual blood prince. He hated Mezereon.

Grasshopper heard his talonsteps echo emptily and sadly throughout the tunnel that led to the prisons. When he slipped out of the trapdoor, he flew reluctantly up to the top levels. There was one door swung open, and one of the doors was unlocked. Manchineel's door was unlocked. Grasshopper landed in front of that cell door.

"Whoever it is, I'm not coming out. I'm not bowing down to Chinch, whose reign probably won't even last long if those dragonets who killed him the first time have anything to do with it." Grasshopper widened his eyes. He hadn't really thought he could stop Chinch, if he even thought about it.

"Manchineel? I'm not coming to take you out. The door is unlocked, though. I just need to ask you something," Grasshopper yelped as Manchineel thrust her head from the shadows. "I need to know if you can tell a dragon's true intentions or not," Grasshopper asked hopefully.

Manchineel pulled her head back and she melted back into her silhouette. "I'm not the best at it; most Forestwing's are good, and that's all I've ever seen. Even Sigillia was a good dragon, I just wanted some sort of rivalry in my life. But if I'm the only dragon you can ask, I'll say the most I can. Find out their true backstory. See possible motives for them being criminals. Ask yourself the obvious: would they betray you?"

Well that information was useless. Rainbow could easily be team Chinch or want Redwood back as queen.

The true question was, though... Did Rainbow enjoy being queen?

A/N

Posted a little later than it was finished wEeE

also yes another choppy ending ew