A/N:
Okay, I meant to release this chapter on Valentines Day, but I couldn't complete it on time so happy, late V Day ':D
Shoutout to 1-800-NORTHWIND for inspiring me!

Holly's POV

Holly and Mandrake stepped outside while the others were busy convincing Hawthorn to come with them. Holly could tell it would take a while, and she needed some fresh air anyway.

Mandrake shifted.
"I made this for you while you were sleeping", he said a little quickly.

He handed her a small object.
It was made of metal, but still felt warm from being in Mandrake's pouch for so long.
It was a silver hoop earring with a tiny leaf that kept a teardrop emerald in place.

"Wow, thanks, Drake!", Holly said, putting it into her right ear.

"I know you probably don't remember this", Mandrake said, stammering "but when we were younger, we would make each other presents. And I guess none of that ever happened, so, I thought we'd start over."

"Start over?", Holly asked with a grin.
"À. Eíeth nîn Holly. Mà gúvannan. Manî  Eíneth nîn?"

"I'd respond in Dragonís Foláis, but that's not the same language", he smiled.

"What is that anyways?", Holly asked.

"It was a language used by the Leafwings during the Tree Wars to get commands and mesages across without Wasp and the Hive wings overhearing", Mandrake said. "It's been used by Leafwings ever since on missions. It's a well kept secret, so don't tell anyone or let any other Leafwings know that you're unfamiliar with it."

He smiled a little sheepishly.

"Sorry I couldn't make two earrings. I didn't have enough supplies."

"I like it better as one actually", Holly said, touching it lightly.
"Maybe I'll wear it the next time  my grandmother invites me to one of her balls."

"Who?"

"Every holiday, my grandmother hosts these balls. She's old fashioned, so everyone has to wear fancy clothes. And as her granddaughter, I have no choice but to go", Holly said, rolling her eyes.

"And I have to wear a DRESS, Mandrake! But, you want to hear the worst part of it? Ever since me and my sisters turned four-teen, we've been paired up with dance partners. The past few years, I've been able to sneak out of it, but since the Thanksgiving before last, she's had me dance with this bloke named Richard!"

"Isn't he interested in you?", Mandrake asked.

Was that a hint of jealousy in his voice?

"Oh is he!", Holly said with distaste. "The way he looks at me is so CREEPY! It's even worse on Valentines Day. On the bright side, that's probably the best thing about being here", Holly said.
"The day I left, was the day before the ball."

"Do you-". Mandrake began, but he was interupted by Nettle.

"Hey, lazytail, come over here and help me with this chest of Salvation-what-you-call-it!"

He hurried inside, with Holly right behind him.
"You take this end", Nettle ordered, pointing to the right side.
Mandrake shrugged with a small sigh, and walked towards the chest.

Holly stepped up to help them, but Sundew stopped her.
"Oh no you don't!", she said, waving a claw in her face.
"Don't even think about it, Sis!"

"Come on, Sundew!", Holly protested. "I'm fine!"
She stood up, shoulders high, head held upright and legs and knees perfectly straight.
It might have worked . . . . . if her knees hadn't imediately buckled beneath her.

"Nope", Sundew said firmly.
"You are in no state to lift something this heavy and carry it all the way to the village.

"Fiiiiiiiiine", Holly finally said.
Wait, did she just call me sis?

"What about my snakes?", Hawthorn asked as the walked out the door.

"Um, what about your snakes?", Mandrake asked.
They started across the clearing, back into the jungle.

"Should I bring them?", Hawthorn asked.
"To a village filled with dragonets?", Willow asked. "Um, no?"

"They might be useful", Hawthorn said.
"We are going to war, after all."

"Please don't!", Cricket begged.
"We won't need them; we have the antidote."

"If it even works", he said sadly.
"And we still need to figure out how to give it to them. Oh, maybe snakes?"

"Sounds like a good backup plan to me!", Nettle said. "No harm in having an extra weopon, right?"

"Exactly!", Hawthorn said.
He stared at the trees.
"I'll just have a few of them follow us."

Needless to say, Holly wasn't too happy about that.

Sundew jerked her head, beconing Holly to walk beside her at the front of the group.

"Nice earring."

"Thanks", she said. "Mandrake gave it to me."

"You like him, don't you?", Sundew asked abruptly.

"What?"
Holly ducked under a tangle of vines.
"No, me and Mandrake are just friends."

"Who said I was talking about Mandrake?", Sundew asked with a triumphant smirk.
"You DO like him!"

"WHAT?!", Holly stammered. "I-I-NO! WHAT?! We are NOT-GHAH!Get over here, you littlle bi-"

"Whatever you're about to call my girlfriend, don't do it!", Willow warned.

"MANDRAKE!", Nettle cried.

"Nettle, for the last time, I don't care", Mandrake said firmly.

The look on her face was priceless.

"Yeah!", Holly cheered. "Don't let that bi-"

"Language!", Willow called.

"Keep up, Sis!", Sundew said over her shoulder.

"Stop calling me Sis!", Holly said.
"Not happening", Sundew told her.
"All right, you little bi-"

"Don't say it!"

Their trip back seemed to be faster than their trip into the jungle, partly because they were able to move quicker, and also because nothing caught them.
They reached Sequoia's treehouse right after nightfall.

Hawthorn went quiet as they entered the village.
He kept looking at the trees, like they were strangers he couldn't recognize.

Holly wondered how many snakes he'd brought with him. The only ones she could see at the moment, were the two following him at his feet, incuding the one that had nearly bitten her.

They flew up to the throne room, where Hazel was pacing around a sleeping Tsunami . . . if you could even call it sleeping.
She was lying down, her eyes closed, talons clasped together. Her brow was furrowed and her tail lashed.

They landed as quietly as they could, which really wasn't much in Holly's case. She'd never been one for grace, at least in the human world.

"She said she could communicate with the Distant Kindoms somehow", Hazel said. "I have no idea what she's doing."

"Magic!",Cricket whispered.

Or, maybe she's dreaming?

"Where's Sequoia?", Sundew asked.

 "She left with Belladonna, Wolfsbane and the Silkwings. I haven't heard from her since. You?"

"We found Hawthorn", Holly said. "He has the antidote, but we need to test it on a zombi-Hivewing."

"If we need a Hivewing", Hazel said sharply, "we'll get one."
She rang a a small gong and three gaurds entered the throne room.

"Go to the Snarrling River", Hazel ordered. "Find the queen and find out if Wasp's army of already there. If so, capture a lone Hivewing. Bring them to the hemock grove by the Gullet River. Do it quickly."

"I'm coming too!", Nettle said. "I want to help fight a Hivewing!"

"Very well", Hazel said.
"Explain to the queen what we're doing , while you're at it."

The guards flew off, Nettle following eagerly behind them.

The princess untied the vines around the chest and opened it.
"This is it?", she asked.
"Is this enough?"

"It depends on how we give it to them", Hawthorn said.
"Ideally, we'd give them a peice about this big."
He made a space with his claws.
"But, since we're in  rush, it might wprk if we dump it into their water supply."

"We may not have time", Holly said. "We need to give it to them all at once, without Wasp realizing what we're doing."

"Hey, what if we burn it and they breath in the smoke?", Cricket said.
"Maybe", Hawthorn said.

"I'd need more for that though", Hazel said.
"Maybe we should have our leafspeakers grow more of it."

"The stuff is hard to uproot", Hawthorn said. "You should probably wait until we know for sure it works."

Suddenly, Tsunami snorted.
"Arrgh, FINE, but I'm still head of school. Yeah, yeah, tell him huges to him to and that, no, cows are not bigger here. BYE."

She opened her eyes and sat up.
"I am never getting used to that."

"What was that?", Cricket asked.

"It's . . . I . . . "
Holly saw Tsunami slip something into a pouch behind her right leg.
"I was . . . um, talking to some of my friends on the other continent."

"Oh my goddness, how?", Cricket asked.
"Distant Kingdoms magic?"

"Yep", Tsunami said. "Hard to explain.  None of them have any ideas but Moon thinks there's a way to get you over there. Something about a-"

"A prophecy?! What's going to happen?", the Hivewing yelped.

"Nope", Tsunami said.
"Prophecies are annoying and unhelpful. And this one's a pile of seaweed, becuase there's no way for you to get there!"

"Clearsight did", Holly spoke up. "She wasn't a Seawing."

"That is true", Tsunami admited. "But I still have no idea how."

"Maybe there's something in the Book", Willow said.
"Can we look at it?"

"I read all of it, but, I didn't see anything like that", Sundew said, taking out the Book.
It had a faded purple cover  and looked less impressive than Holly'd remembered it looking when Sundew had shown it to Cobralilly. There were small holes in the leather, probably from all of the bugs the Posion Jungle and some of the pages were slightly bent or even torn.

"You can look at it, but, it doesn't matter if you can't find anything. Whatever happens, I'm staying here on this continent and fighting for our place!"

"The antidote will work", Cricket said confidently. "I know it."

Holly felt uneasy.
She thought there was something they were missing, but, she couldn't quite put her fingure on it.

Hazel looked at the window.
"We should probably head to the Gullet River now. Hopefully, they'll return soon.
Tsunami, you stay here and study the Book. Holly, Sundew, Willow, Hawthorn and Mandrake, you come with me."
She took two peices of the Salvation root and away they went.

No one was at the hemlock grove when they got there.

Hawthorn lay down on the grass, holding his wooden egg as his snake slithered up to coil around his neck.

"I was just wondering something", Crcket said.
"The Legend of the Hive says that the plant worked on everthing. So how come Wasp can only control the Hivewings?"

"That is a good question", Hawthorn said.

"Thank you", Cricket said, smiling.

"The plant was almost gone by the time I found it", he said.
"It was cut off from sunlight, wasting away. I nursed it back to full health and I trained it, altered it so that it would only work on Hivewings. It was only one branch of it, but, it worked well enough."

"Oh. I guess that is impressive", Cricket said sadly.

"It is", Hawthorn asured her, not even noticing her expression.

He looked so pleased with himself that Holly wanted a jelly-tart to throw in his face.
It was only just that moment that she realized that they still hadn't told Hazel the whole story. There wasn't any time, though. She could hear muffled yelling and fighting coming their way.

Nettle and the other Leafwings came out from behind a tree, carrying a wiggling Hivewing, wrapped in a cacoon of vines.
Nettle threw him at Hazel's feet with a triumpant expression on her face.
"I loved that! I need more missions like that!"

Hazel looked grim.
"I guess this means Wasp is already there."

"Oh, yes we are", the Hivewing spat.
His fangs shone in the moonlight like daggers.
Holly shivered at the extra layer in his voice.

"We are here, leafwing, here to finish what we started. You are all dead!"
He twisted and turned, trying to rip off the blindfold.

Nettle put her claw in his ears and ignored his flailing.

"There were thousands of them. They're all standing on the other side of the river like they're waiting for something", she said in a low voice.

"Maybe they're waiting for the rest", Cricket said.
"It would take longer for everyone from Mantis Hive and Cicada Hive to get here", Cricket said.

"Did you see Sequoia?", Hazel whispered.

"Is Blue with her?", Cricket chimed in.

"Yes", Nettle said. "And the other massively annoying Silkwing. They're-"

Holly stopped her by covering her mouth with one talon and pointed to the Hivewing.
"We can't risk him overhearing", she whispered.

Nettle looked outraged, but didn't say anything.

"I'll try to do this quickly", Holly said.
Hazel took a peice of the Salvation root, cut of a small bit as instructed by Hawthorn, and handed it to Holly.

Nettle pried open the Hivewing's mouth. He tried to bit her, but Nettle didn't flinch.

Holly barely kept herself from shaking as she shoved the plant into his mouth.
Nettle held his jaws shut until he was forced to swallow.
She stepped back.

"That little worm Cricket's here, itsn't she?", the Hivewing taunted.
"Cricket, guess what. I figured it out. I know who your father is"
Cricket gasped and backed up.
"He's all mine. I could kill him if I wanted to. Or you could meet him. Wouldn't you like that? Wouldn't you like to come to Wasp Hive one last time so that I . . . can . . ."

The Hivewing stopped and went limp, his head lolling onto the grass.

Holly looked at Hawthorn.
"Does that mean it worked?"

"I think so", he said.

The Hivewing flopped, jerking around like a fish on land.
He gasped several times.

"What happened?", he asked finally.
"Where am I?'

Cricket montioned to the others to stand back as she took off his blindfold.

"What's your name?", she asked.
"Inchworm", he answered.
"I'm Cricket. How do you feel?"
"Weird. Empty? Why am I tied up?"

"Do you know why you're here?", Cricket asked.

"No!", he blurted.
"I don't even know where here is!"

"Look back", she said.
"What were you doing before the queen took over your mind?"

"I was helping Glowworm get ready for- Glowworm!"
He tried to get out of his bounds, but they were too tight.

"Is that your dragonet?", Cricket asked.
"It's okay, We'll make sure she's safe."

"We were all mind controled! She doesn't know how to fight! I have to find her!"
He twisted again.

"We're not going to fight", she said. "We have a plan. If I untie you, will you help us?"

"Who's us?", he asked.

Please don't tell him, please don't tell him, please don't tell him!, Holly prayed inwardly.

"Me, my friends, and the Leafwings", Cricket said.
"I need you to promise you won't hurt any Leafwings."

"I promise!", he said.
"I don't want to fight! I just want to find my dragonet and go home!"

"That's what we want too", Cricket said.

Holly felt a jolt of unease.
She wasn't sure why, but she felt like the world was spining, like she was trying to recall something she couldn't remember; like part of her former self, her human-self, was tearing at her soul, beconing her, tempting her.

"Holly?", Mandrake asked anxiously.
She shook herself back to reality.

"I think it worked!", Cricket said to hazel.
"He's free! Wasp is gone! Hawthorn, you did it!"

"Unless he's faking it", Nettle growled.

"Could he?", Holly asked.
"How do we really know?"

"No, I don't think he would be able to", Willow said.

"And if Wasp was still inside him, she wouldn't miss a chance to scare me ", Cricket pointed out. "Can we untie him?"

"Let's get the antidote on it's way first", Hazel said.
"Nettle, I take it you want to head back to the front lines?"

"Yes!"

"I'm going too", Sundew said.
"I want to see for myself what we're up against."

"So do I", Holly said.

"I can go with you", Mandrake offered shyly.
"To, you know . . . help you if I can."

Holly smiled to herself.

"Can I come too? I want to check on Blue", Cricket said."

"Very well", Hazel said.
"Willow and Hawthorn, you can help me figure out how to get this Hivewing to his dragonet. The rest of you, get the antidote to Queen Sequoia. Be as fast as you can."

"Be careful", Willow said to Sundew. "Please don't die."

They let go of each other and Sundew, Holly, Cricket, Nettle, and Mandrake lifted into the air.

"And Holly?", Hazel said.
Holly turned around.

"May the Force be in you."

A/N: Anyways, I hope you liked this late, late, late, Valentines Day chapter!
Remember to add a vote, comment, and share!

Wordcount: 2678

Renx out!