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“Get back here!” Willow cried out at the sneaky frog that had stolen her sugar sprinkled grasshopper. The dragonet had been saving it for later when she had noticed it disappear from right under her nose!
Willow spotted an opening under the lush leaves of the jungle and pounced at her prey. Unfortunately, the pale-green Leafwing missed her mark, crashing headfirst into a couple of Crowbloom flowers which snapped and writhed at her movement. The threat made Willow recover swiftly to scramble away.
With a huff, Willow took a moment to look around. Trees swayed, silent and waiting. Insects buzzed around, climbing up branches or getting caught in the small plant traps. The soil at her claws felt soft and damp, causing her to look around. Behind a particularly thorny bush, she found a small pond, which Willow suspects the frog jumped into.
Willow stared at the silent water as if willing the thieving amphibian to jump right out along with her well-earned snack. Just as she was considering plunging her talons into the murky pond, a loud voice broke out somewhere behind her.
“What are you doing here, Sapwing?”
The voice, harsh but young, still frightened Willow to the point she nearly toppled over into the water. The spooked Leafwing righted herself and spun around to gawp at her intruder. A dragonet just like her, though one she’d never seen before, stood defensively, bright emerald wings spread out in an attempt to look larger than she actually was. What really drew Willow in were the speckles of gold that lined her entire body.
Willow wasn’t unfamiliar with the term Sapwing, used by the Poisonwings to describe her tribe. She overheard her mother talking with one a couple of moons ago. Poisonwings were known to be vicious and their desire to restart the Treewars was what split them from the rest of the Leafwing tribe.
“Uh, hi?” Willow stammered out, the sudden fear still holding close, now included with wariness. However, Willow still felt the need to maintain politeness. “I’m Willow. What’s your name?”
The pine-coloured Poisonwing paused, threatening stance turning bewildered as if she wasn’t expecting that response to her menacing figure. She squinted at Willow, trying to make something out of her. The stranger dragonet then huffed, “Well, my name is Sundew! And I will be the one the destroy the Hivewings with my Leafspeak!”
Willow’s eyes widened, “You have Leafspeak? Can I see?” Her excitement grew and fears went away at the prospect of witnessing Leafspeak in action. She leaned closer to stare at Sundew with increasing eagerness.
Sundew stared at her in silent contemplation, once again not expecting that type of response when she speaks about her Leafspeak. It’s not the typical scorn or envy from the others in her village. The energy from Willow seemed to calm her.
“Fine. Just this once.” Sundew leaned down into the muddy grass for a small plant. She found a budding thorn-petal and her Leafspeak reached to it. Sundew poured her focus onto the bud, faintly aware of Willow staring right at her. Sundew reached out to the thorn-petal.
Small plant, want to grow? Grow big and strong.
The bud wiggled a bit, responding to her Leafspeak. Grow? Grow! Grow big! It unfurled ever so slightly, bright orange petals faintly seen.
Above her, Willow gasped in wonder, “That was amazing! It moved!” She peeked her snout down to look more closely at the barely blooming thorn-petal. “Yours worked so fast!”
“Of course my Leafspeak did,” Sundew said smugly, “I have the best Leafspeak in my village.” Her head turned to stare in the direction of her village solemnly.
Willow, noticing the sadness, immediately came to ask, “What’s wrong, Sundew?”
Sundew’s lime-green eyes snapped back to hers, then she abruptly sat down on the somewhat muddy soil in a huff. “My mother wants me to marry Mandrake when we get older.” Sundew seethed, “Mandrake has the second-best Leafspeak in the village, for both of us to marry would mean there would be even stronger Leafspeak for the tribe.”
The Leafwing dragonet felt upset at Sundew’s behalf.
Sundew got up from her position on the jungle floor, giving Willow another look over. “Since there isn’t any real danger, I’m going to go back to the village.”
That shot surprise through Willow, “Wait?! You’re leaving already?”
Sundew raised a brow, “Of course, my mother should be expecting me back. And it’s not like we could both stay here without being spotted.”
“Well, what if we met up again? Like in secret?” Willow didn’t really want Sundew to leave, she just met the dragonet!
The Poisonwing paused as if entertaining the thought. “Hmm, maybe I can try to sneak back here tomorrow after my mother leaves me alone.”
That made Willow smile brightly, making Sundew face away quickly. “Awesome! Let’s meet here tomorrow night.”
Sundew nodded then left without a word, scales of dark green already blending her in with the jungle.
Willow turned to watch the murky old pond, she glanced at the spot Sundew was sitting at just then.
She didn’t get her sugar sprinkled grasshopper, but at least she made a friend!