 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2024) |
HiveWings are one of the three Pantalan tribes. They used to rule over the SilkWings, having enslaved them,[citation needed] and very nearly caused the extinction of all LeafWings.[citation needed] Prior to the events of The Flames of Hope, HiveWings were ruled by Queen Wasp,[citation needed], but are now ruled by Queen Jewel.[citation needed] All HiveWings are descendants of BeetleWings and Clearsight.[citation needed]
Appearance
HiveWings, as their name may imply, appear bee or wasp-like. They have slim figures and four wings resembling dragonfly wings,[1] which is different from Pyrrhian dragons.
HiveWing scales can be a variety of colours, including red, yellow, orange,[2] black[3] and green.[4] All HiveWings have some black scales, which is inherited from their NightWing ancestor, Clearsight.[2][3] Their eyes can also be any of these colors, with known HiveWings having black,[5] dark red,[6] yellow-gold,[7] green,[8] and dark orange colored eyes.[9] They can additionally be brown[10] and amber.[1] However, when they are being mind controlled, their eyes will turn pure white,[11] and they will become unresponsive.[citation needed]
HiveWings have three horns on their head: two protruding from the back of their head, and one on their forehead, as well as a smaller spike on the tip of their snout.[citation needed] Their tongues are blackish-purple.[citation needed]
Some HiveWings are born with stingers that can extend from their wrists, claws, or tail. The tail stinger is long and needle-sharp, and slides out from the tip of the tail.[12]
Abilities
It's stated that many HiveWings do not have any abilities,[13] however there are some abilities a HiveWing may have:
- Stingers: Sharp and deadly stingers on their wrists or claws, which can be extended from either appendage and are used to stab enemies.[14]
- Nerve toxin: Also known as paralyzing toxin or nerve poison, it is a toxin in the claw or tail stingers which completely immobilizes the target.[2] For those afflicted, it is very painful, described as feeling like "fire burning every nerve in your body." The pain does eventually fade, but the victim will still be paralyzed, usually until an entire day has passed from when they were initially stabbed.[15] Wasp had an elite unit of HiveWing soldiers, recruited specifically for this ability, who apprehended criminals with this nerve poison.[16] These criminals were often relocated to displays on Misbehaver's Way and left paralyzed for entire days as punishment.[14][17]
- Venom: A deadly venom secreted from the teeth, claws, or stingers that is usually fatal after it has breached the victim's skin. The venom is powerful enough to kill large prey, like antelopes and water buffalo; as well as other dragons, including HiveWings.[14]
- Acid: A boiling acid which is sprayed from a HiveWing's tail stinger, capable of burning skin and other organic matter. If this acid makes it to a dragon's bloodstream via the eyes or an open wound, it can be fatal.[14]
- Stench: An ability only a rare few HiveWings have, one can emit a terrible smell at will that is described to smell like "dead rotting things pickled in sulfur."[14][18]
These abilities are hereditary, and can be passed down,[19] but it is possible a dragonet does not inherit any abilities from their parents. While stingers in the tail, wrists, or claws are the most obvious features a HiveWing dragonet can display, the venom in a HiveWing's teeth or stingers isn't dangerous until they are two years old, and thus often isn't discovered until that age.[14]
It is said in some old biology books that HiveWings also used to have antennae, like the SilkWings.[20]
Breath of Evil
The Breath of Evil was a plant that was utilized by Ex-Queen Wasp to "mind control" HiveWings she had injected the Breath of Evil into.[citation needed] Wasp would routinely visit the hives across Pantala twice a year to do a "Nest visit" in the Hive Nests,[21][22][Note 1] which is when she would inject the plant into HiveWing eggs with her tail stinger.[23][24]
When being controlled by Wasp, the eyes of affected HiveWings would go white, and they would move and act in unison,[11][25] taking on an eerie tone to their voice.[citation needed] HiveWings under mind control do remember their actions afterwards, and they are described to feel a very strong urge to do "exactly what everyone else is doing" during mind control. It isn't a struggle, and the experience has been described as "peaceful."[26]
Names
HiveWings are named after insects, which include ants, bees, beetles, crickets, mantids, wasps, weevils, and possibly even spiders.
History
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. |
Notes
- ↑ A Hive Nest is a central location within every hive where all HiveWing eggs are located until they hatch.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Guide to the Dragon World, page 197
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Guide to the Dragons of Pantala, books 10-15
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Lost Continent, chapter 2, paragraph 29. "Every HiveWing had at least a few black scales, inherited from their common ancestor, Clearsight, but this dragon [Hawker] was almost entirely black, [...]"
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 19, paragraph 47. "His [Treehopper] scales were a dark greenish black with pale orange stripes along his wings, tail, and face."
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 1, paragraph 26. "Her [Wasp] [...] eyes were large and completely black, surrounded by an oval of yellow scales."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 14, paragraph 32. "Lady Scarab's eyes were like small dark coals, with flickers of dark red in their depths."
- ↑ The Poison Jungle, chapter 13, paragraph 62. "Patches of black scales circled her [Bumblebee] yellow-gold eyes, [...]"
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 18, paragraph 2. "Thin lines of black scales outlined her [Jewel] iridescent green eyes and dotted her cheekbones; [...]"
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 21, paragraph 65. "[A]bruptly, the eye rolled back and became a normal eye. Dark orange irises and dilated pupils stared up at Sundew."
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 6, paragraph 63. "She [Cricket] had [...] warm, dark brown eyes that made him think of owls and tree hollows."
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Lost Continent, chapter 5, paragraph 88. "They hadn't just stopped talking; every HiveWing in sight was frozen, right in the middle of whatever they'd been doing. [...] And then the HiveWings lifted their heads, all of them at once, and tilted their chins toward the east. [...] All of their eyes had gone pure white."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 20, paragraph 8. "Queen Wasp picked up one of the eggs. Her tail rose behind her and a long, needle-sharp stinger slid out of the tip."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 11, paragraph 40. "I don't have a natural weapon, but neither do a lot of HiveWings."
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 A Guide to the Dragon World, page 205
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 11, paragraph 30. "'Swordtail says getting stabbed feels like fire burning every nerve in your body. Eventually the pain fades, but you're still paralyzed, so all you want to do is run or fly or even blink, but you can't move a single muscle until the toxin wears off'"
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 11, paragraph 25. "Queen Wasp used an elite unit of HiveWing soldiers, all recruited to the job because they had a nerve poison in their claws or tail stinger. Once the criminal — or 'misbehaver' — was stabbed, that dragon wouldn't be able to move for an entire day"
- ↑ A Guide to the Dragon World, page 182
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 13, paragraph 61. "A moment later, the smell rolled over the party. Cricket had heard of dragons with Scarab's power, [...] But this had to be the full-force weaponized version of it, like dead rotting things pickled in sulfur."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 16, paragraph 71. "[B]ut Cadelle blocked her path, baring the venomous teeth that neither her child, nor grandchild, had inherited."
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 8, paragraph 32. "'I found some old biology books that said HiveWings used to have antennae, too,' she [Cricket] said softly."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 18, paragraph 73. "'She [Wasp] visits the Hive Nests twice a year — once in the dry season, one in the rainy season.'"
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 18, paragraph 54. "'[...] I [Jewel] was supposed to have another three days to prepare before her usual Nest visit'"
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 20, paragraph 10. "[T]he queen struck, plunging her tail stinger into the eggshell. A pulse of something bright green seemed to move through the stinger into the egg — into the dragonet inside, [...] and then the queen drew her stinger out and dropped the egg back into place."
- ↑ The Hive Queen, chapter 20, paragraph 12. "This is how she [Wasp] does it. She poisons her dragons before they've even hatched. They come into the world already linked to her by whatever that is she's injecting into the eggs."
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 6, paragraph 7. "'Where is the flamesilk?' Aphid said in spine-chilling unison with the other HiveWings."
- ↑ The Lost Continent, chapter 7, paragraph 18. "'They do remember it,' She [Cricket] said. 'They remember pretty much everything. My sister, Katydid, says it's not a trapped feeling, though ... it's more like suddenly you really want to do exactly what everyone else is doing. There's no struggle. She says it's kind of peaceful, having someone else make all the decisions for you for a bit.'"