Cricket

"Yes, they should, but that's what I'm here for. I'll do that for you, Luna. I feel like that's my responsibility, and something I can do. I'll make sure dragons know the truth, and that we record history in our books the way it really was — about Cottonmouth and the Scorching, about the real Book of Clearsight, and about what humans are like now."

— Cricket to Luna about the process of writing history, The Flames of Hope

Cricket is a female HiveWing dragonet and the main protagonist of The Hive Queen. She resides in the LeafSilk Kingdom with her parents, Katydid and Malachite. She is currently in a relationship with Blue and was one of the few HiveWings immune to Queen Wasp's mind control before she was overthrown.

Description

Cricket has buttercup yellow and orange-gold scales, described as similar to the color of the sun, that are speckled with black scales that look like tiny inkblots. She has golden-yellow talons, golden-orange-black wings, warm, dark brown eyes, and a long neck. She is slightly smaller than Blue, with small, sharp claws similar to a leopard's and an open, curious face. She wears octagonal, gold-rimmed spectacles and a bag tied sideways across her chest. Blue noted that she smells like books, apples, and cinnamon. Scarab noted that Cricket looks healthy, and her eyes make Blue think of owls and tree hollows. Her wings are often kept in beautiful, smooth folds.

Personality

Cricket wants the world to fit together and make sense, and she is very fond of nonfiction novels; she is obsessed with books. She is often full of questions, and when she feels simultaneous fear and curiosity, curiosity often wins; Sundew described her as a wide-open encyclopedia. She is hopeful, rebellious, excitable, curious, impulsive, stubborn, thoughtful, intelligent, avid, patient, and clever.

Cricket refuses to harm innocent dragons, and wants to know many things about the world around her, especially when it comes to humans. She sometimes feels awkward and out of step with others, and finds conversation to be difficult, as she understands science more than she understands emotion. She cannot read facial expressions very well, and dislikes socializing, although she cares about others.

She is not a fighter, too easily distracted, and is usually the first dragon to ask questions; additionally, she is often anxious and prefers planning before acting. She is not very organized. Despite Sundew's protests, Cricket was insistent that they help Earwig and several other HiveWings find their way back to Pantala, reasoning that it was Wasp's choice to drag them out to sea, not their own. Additionally, she strongly believes that good HiveWings exist, despite the actions of the tribe as a whole.

She is prone to being enormously open about her feelings, so much to the point where she sometimes overshares and spills her worries and fears in front of dragons she barely knows. She is often frustrated when there are things barring her from learning about what she wants to know. However, she becomes so excited that she practically bounces on her talons whenever she is on the verge of experiencing something new. In addition, she is often discouraged by how difficult it is to learn new things. While she is unselfconscious in some scenarios, she immediately apologized and became quieter when Bullfrog implied she was being noisy. Her talons were gentle as she extricated a violet from the ground, and she was sympathetic towards the flower after moving it.

Biography

The Lost Continent Prophecy

The Lost Continent

Cricket was first introduced when she helped Blue, a young SilkWing, by pulling him into a shed that was hidden from the eyes of the pursuing HiveWings. After being asked by a rather confused and scared Blue, Cricket admitted that, for an unknown reason, she could not be mind-controlled by Queen Wasp like the rest of her tribe was. After escaping through tunnels located under the HiveWing school, Cricket brought Blue to an empty low-level library, where he began to feel dizzy. Cricket speculated that the HiveWings had probably injected him with a barb covered in sleeping toxin within his armband, most likely implemented to make him easier to capture. After Cricket burned off Blue's armband with a strand of flamesilk belonging to one of the library's lamps, he fell into a woozy sleep. He woke up to Cricket's talons shaking him awake and voices echoing nearby. Cricket and Blue hid in the tunnels once again while three mind-controlled HiveWings searched the area; one of them was Cricket's mother, Katydid, and another was an arrogant dragon named Bombardier, who falsely believed that Cricket was madly in love with him. After the HiveWing trio had cleared the library, Cricket and Blue emerged into the light once more, where Cricket pulled a book off of a high shelf. From the book, they learned that if a SilkWing had one flamesilk parent, then they had a fifty percent chance of becoming a flamesilk as well. Leaving the library, Cricket led Blue through the school — she showed him her terrarium, where a little tree was growing in the middle. She explained that she had found its seed on one of her school gathering trips and that she had not known what it was until it started growing. Cricket then told Blue that Professor Earthworm, a teacher at the school, wanted her to uproot it and throw it away. Next, Cricket took Blue into an art room, where she began to paint him with a mixture of dull browns, reds, and dark blues to hide his vibrant and recognizable scales. They bonded a little in a moment where Cricket told Blue about how Principal Lubber scolded her for her chaotic yet beautiful art. "Cricket, why can't you just draw a normal blue blueberry like all the other dragonets?" Blue imitated Principal Lubber, making Cricket laugh, saying: "That's exactly what she sounds like!" Once they were out of the school, Cricket agreed to help rescue Blue's friend Swordtail from Misbehaver's Way. They found him frozen to his pedestal in an angry position, as if he was trying to fight his way out of being paralyzed, but in vain. Cricket held a bubbling, green vial under Swordtail's nose to combat the HiveWing paralysis toxin, but the mixture also turned Swordtail's eyes and silk green, gave him extra strength, and made him a little loopy. After Swordtail smashed one of the rule tablets straight through the Hive's treestuff, Cricket decided it was time to go. Wrapping Blue's shoulders in a few strands of silk, Swordtail grabbed him and lifted off. They flew for most of the night, and by dawn, they were almost at the border of Wasp Hive. Eventually, they stopped and hid in a massive divot in the ground, flying to the bottom and down a tunnel, where they discovered a small pool of cold water. At the other end of the pool, they spotted a small campfire and a tiny, book-reading creature that resembled a monkey, similar to Pyrrhia's scavengers. After the monkey creature was scared away by Cricket's voice, they lost interest, and Swordtail passed out near the fire, leaving Blue to take the first watch while Cricket slept. When night fell again, Swordtail tried to lift Blue but failed because the stimulant had worn off and there was none left. Cricket eventually came up with the idea for Blue to climb up the chasm with Swordtail's silk wrapped around him in case he slipped and fell. Near the top of the divot, Cricket and Blue eventually found a small cave, where they curled up together and Blue got some much-needed rest while Swordtail returned to the bottom of the divot. After the HiveWing parties had stopped searching near the hole, Swordtail flew on ahead while Cricket and Blue crawled through the savanna's tall grass. When they finally crept into Wasp Hive, they hid in one of the queen's greenhouses. Unexpectedly, they were soon captured by three strange dragons, who terrifyingly, turned out to be LeafWings, the supposedly cruel and deadly enemies of the HiveWings. The LeafWings introduced themselves as Sundew, Belladonna, and Hemlock. They explained that if Cricket, Blue, and Swordtail wanted to live, they would steal the Book of Clearsight and return it to them. Cricket's impulse was to leave once the LeafWings had let them go, but Belladonna sent Sundew with them to ensure the job got done. Disguising Sundew as a SilkWing, Hemlock rubbed flower juice on her scales to add more color. Belladonna also tied two makeshift wings made of leaves to Sundew's back, instructing her to keep her real ones folded to make them appear more realistic. While Swordtail stayed with Belladonna and Hemlock, Cricket, Blue, and Sundew went out into the Hive to finish their task. Sundew gave Cricket a large flower, instructing her not to crush any part of it until she was close enough to the guards. Cricket held it under the noses of the two HiveWings guarding the entrance to Wasp Hive, leaving them unconscious but alive. Entering through two heavy wooden doors, they walked down a series of hallways until they were standing at the foot of the Temple. Once inside, Blue and Sundew acted as Cricket's servants until Sundew got close enough to the guards to paralyze them. In the final room, Sundew was confronted by a dark voice, which turned out to be the Librarian's. After she ripped off her dark veil, Cricket realized the HiveWing's eyes were fully white — the unmistakable symbol of the queen's mind control. Sundew attacked the Librarian from her side, and the two fought while Blue picked up the bookcase key the Librarian had dropped and unlocked the container to steal the Book. After Sundew had broken the Librarian's arm, she speculated that enough pain would make the queen desert the HiveWing's mind for a while, because the queen felt everything that a dragon felt when she mind-controlled them. Sundew then directed Cricket to open a jar and shake a pair of bullet ants onto the Librarian's scales. After they bit her, the queen abandoned her control, and the Librarian's mind was her own for the first time in years. However, hundreds of brainwashed HiveWings were now surrounding the Temple with the intent to kill Cricket and Sundew and imprison Blue. The Librarian attempted to help them escape, but Wasp invaded her mind again, causing her to turn against her new companions. Cricket and Sundew were unable to help Blue as he fell into the waiting talons of the HiveWings and fled once Blue had thrown the Book of Clearsight into Cricket's talons. After a few days trapped in the flamesilk factory, Blue felt talons brush him through a hole in the building's wall. These were Cricket's talons, and she appeared, accompanied by Sundew and Swordtail. After grabbing Luna — who had emerged from her cocoon — and trying to convince his father, Admiral, to go with them, Blue attempted to leave. However, Admiral refused to escape and tried to alert the watching HiveWing guards. Fortunately, Danaid, another of the imprisoned flamesilks, helped them by starting an argument that covered the noise of Admiral's warning. Knocking down the loose stones around the hole, Blue and Luna escaped with Cricket and the others down a series of tunnels. These led to another set of tunnels, built by the LeafWings, and took them all the way to the sea. When they emerged and saw the ocean, Cricket was ecstatic and began to express a hope at finding the Distant Kingdoms (the Pantalan name for Pyrrhia). Afterward, she showed the others what was written in the Book of Clearsight, including the fact that the last vision recorded took place over a thousand years before, proving that Queen Wasp lied to everyone. Luna and Swordtail then decided to go for a flight, and Cricket stayed with Blue, discussing his metamorphosis and assuring him that it will be fine. Meanwhile, Luna and Swordtail were discovered by some HiveWing soldiers, and a fight started. As Sundew rushed to help, Cricket was left with Blue, who was about to start his metamorphosis. She guided him to a cave she found to hide in while he changed and stayed with him while he began to spin his cocoon, promising him that she would be right there "the whole time" and would be next to him when he woke up, which she did.

The Hive Queen

Cricket stood in the cave next to Blue in his cocoon, thinking about books and what her life was like before she met Blue. Sundew then entered the cave, dragging Swordtail with her. Cricket recalled Sundew's bravery and ferocity, along with the fact that she had insisted that they rescued Blue and Luna. She wondered if this was a form of kindness Sundew had hidden deep in her soul. Cricket revived Swordtail with a plant Sundew gave her, and Swordtail immediately asked where Luna was. Both Cricket and Sundew had no idea, and they all seemed to wish she was there with them. When Swordtail noticed that Blue was a flamesilk, Sundew noted that Blue would be useful to burn down the Hives. Swordtail seemed to like the idea, but Cricket was firmly against this, and she knew Blue would be as well. Cricket argued that even HiveWings could be on their side, but none of them seemed to agree with this idea. Swordtail then revealed the Chrysalis, a secret organization of SilkWings who fought for freedom. Cricket insisted on finding information before jumping into action, so they flew toward Jewel Hive to find out more about the Chrysalis and Queen Wasp's hive mind. First, however, they visited the Glitterbazaar to disguise themselves, making it easier to get into the Hive. They met up with three members of the Chrysalis, but they did not seem to know much about taking down Queen Wasp quite like Sundew, Cricket, and Swordtail had hoped. But they did learn about how there was said to be a place full of dragons in Tsetse Hive that were immune to Wasp's mind control. However, Cricket met up with her sister, Katydid, who questioned her about her theft of the Book of Clearsight. Katydid did not seem to follow what she was saying, though she did reveal that she was in fact not Cricket's sister, and Scarab later said that her father was a HiveWing named Malachite, who, according to Lady Scarab, was "brilliant, talented, made excellent coffee, full of exciting ideas." Queen Wasp found out that Scarab was fond of him, so she had him "promoted" to work at her Hive, and he was probably forever condemned to her mind control. Scarab explained that she attempts to pretend she does not care so that one day Malachite would be free from the mind control. After Malachite's disappearance, Katydid crept Cricket's egg into the hatchery with a forged identity as Katydid's sister. Cricket then understood why her "mother", Cadelle (who was her grandmother) hated her, and why Katydid was the one who always took care of her. Cricket, Sundew, and Swordtail borrowed one of Lady Scarab's paintbrushes to create posters about Wasp and how she was lying to everyone. A lot of dragons seemed intrigued, and some of them seemed to believe the posters, but in the middle of her attempt, Cricket was caught by HiveWing guards. She was paralyzed, unable to say another word against the queen. The guards put her into a prison cell, where Lady Scarab and Lady Jewel found her. Jewel confirmed the theory that she was immune to Wasp's mind control, but once saw Wasp make other dragons submit to her control. Lady Jewel and Lady Scarab were fighting a lot, but it was revealed that the purpose Lady Jewel had a library was because of Queen Wasp's terrible school curriculum. Cricket heard that Queen Wasp was going into the hatchery that night, and Cricket decided to follow her to find the truth about her mind control. Cricket escaped from the cell by utilizing flamesilk given to her by Scarab and Jewel and burning a hole in the ceiling. Tau and Cinnabar, members of the Chrysalis she met in the library, helped her escape. It was uncovered that Tau has a crush on a HiveWing who is Lady Jewel's treasurer, and by distracting him, Cinnabar helped Cricket escape moments before Queen Wasp arrived. After that, she crept into the hatchery and noticed an orphaned egg she sympathized with, and took it with her as she hid in the rafters. She watched as Queen Wasp entered and proceeded to stab each egg with her tail stinger, marking each egg afterward. When Queen Wasp left, Cricket took the egg with her and rendezvoused with Blue, Swordtail, and Sundew. She camped with them outside Jewel Hive and in the morning, the egg hatched to a female dragonet, who Cricket named Bumblebee. On the shell of the egg was an odorous green substance that Sundew said belonged to a plant in the greenhouse where she and Cricket first met — Queen Wasp's private greenhouse. They decided to go burn the greenhouse down, but as they did, they noticed Bloodworm Hive burning as well. Cricket convinced the others that the HiveWings were too busy with the destruction to worry about the greenhouse, so Blue used his flamesilk to burn it down. Once the greenhouse was burning, Blue, Swordtail, and Cricket left with Sundew to go to the Poison Jungle, home of the LeafWings.

The Poison Jungle

Cricket arrived along with Blue, Swordtail, Bumblebee, and Sundew at the Poison Jungle, where Sundew took them to the PoisonWing village. On the way there, Cricket encountered many of the dangerous plants, and witnessed Sundew's leafspeak as she attempted to stop a fire caused by Blue's flamesilk when he tried to save Swordtail from a dragon-trap. Cricket was said to be the only one who realized what Sundew was doing. She also discovered that Mandrake, son of Wolfsbane and brother of Nettle, was engaged to Sundew, believing him to be Sundew's "one true love." When Cricket arrived at the village, she was defined as Sundew's 'prisoner' as someone with information about Queen Wasp's mind control. Soon, Cricket met Queen Sequoia in the SapWing village and was sent on a mission with Sundew, Willow, Mandrake, Nettle, and Bumblebee to find Hawthorn, the LeafWing that guarded the mind-control plant. After saving Sundew from an actual giant sundew plant they arrived at the Den of Vipers, which was full of eerily still dragonbite vipers. Then the group met Hawthorn, who invited them for tea at his little hut. Then they found out that Hawthorn discovered the "breath of evil" vine and had been experimenting on the snakes. He told them that he had given the vine to Queen Wasp at a peace summit and had slipped it in her food, but he had the cure that could save the HiveWings and Katydid. They tested it out on a HiveWing named Inchworm, and it seemingly worked. She then left the Eye of the jungle to check on Blue. Sundew later found the "antidote" was the breath of evil itself, and Hawthorn, possessed by the plant, tried to use his leafspeak to strangle Cricket to death. Sundew fought him with her leafspeak, and Willow ended up killing him with a giant thorn, freeing Cricket. Cricket was later seen in the throne room, preparing for the journey to Pyrrhia with the free LeafWings and SilkWings.

The Dangerous Gift

Swordtail mentioned Cricket a few times in the prologue, hoping that she and the other dragons who were not near the fire escaped before the breath of evil got them. In the Ice Kingdom, she came over to calm Bumblebee down after Bumblebee started to cry. Cricket saw Snowfall and wondered if Snowfall was made of ice. Cricket was among the dragons flying to Sanctuary along with the other Pantalan tribes. She appeared interested in many features of Pyrrhia, like the scavengers and animus magic. Snowfall found her annoying and nosy. When Snowfall fainted from her vision of Blue, Cricket arrived as one of the dragons watching her when she woke up. Cricket stuttered that Snowfall's expression was weirdly familiar, referring to Blue. She examined Snowfall's jewelry and said that Blue would have loved the interesting magic, until Snowfall boldly told her the events of the vision. Cricket cried and was extremely concerned for Blue's condition, and Lynx stomped on Snowfall's tail to prevent her from hurting Cricket's feelings any more. Cricket responded that it was okay and that she needed to know the truth anyways. Cricket was later shown to be one of the eleven chosen representatives flying to Pantala.

The Flames of Hope

Cricket was first seen with Tsunami, after having tried to contact Blue with a dreamvisitor, but being unable to due to him having a nightmare. When the stealth team were attacked by a group of mind-controlled HiveWings, Cricket, Luna, Sundew, Bullfrog, Lynx, Sky and Wren all stayed hidden with the gift of stealth. After Moonwatcher, Qibli, Tsunami, and Pineapple were all taken back to the Hives, the remaining stealth team decided to create two groups. Sundew and Lynx went off to save their friends while Luna, Cricket, Bullfrog, Sky and Wren waited for them on Pantala. Before they left, Cricket had an argument with Sundew about whether or not they should give the unconscious HiveWings part of the map to return home with. They ultimately decided to make a copy of the map which led back to Pantala with Earwig. While Luna's group waited for Sundew's group to arrive, Luna and Cricket talked about their feelings. Soon after, Wren called the stealth team together to show them a burnt out matchstick she found in the caverns. Later in the cavern, they spotted their first Pantalan human, Axolotl, who was trying to read a dragon book. Cricket was astounded by the sight of the human. When they visited Axolotl in secret for the third time, the gift of stealth had turned them all visible again. Axolotl got scared and tried to flee before they got trapped under Bullfrog's talons. After Wren asked him to let go of them, they are able to have a chat with Wren. Cricket was very eager to know what Axolotl was saying. After four days of waiting, Luna's group decided to go look for the abyss. Cricket and Luna formulated a plan for Sundew and the others to know where to look for them. Axolotl brought Ocelot, another human, as a backup to make sure that Sundew and the others get the message. They all head down into the cavern. On their way to the cavern, Luna and Cricket had a conversation about the dragon book that Axolotl was trying to read. It contained information from all the way to the Scorching. Luna and Cricket had never heard about the Scorching and Bullfrog joined into the conversation to explain what the Scorching was, though quite hesitantly. Luna and Cricket continued to joke around as they headed on their way to the abyss. Suddenly, a LeafWing emerged from the tunnels and pinned Cricket down to the ground. After confirming to the LeafWing that they were on the same side and friends with Sundew, the LeafWing, who turned out to be Pokeweed, offered to lead them towards the SilkWing refugee camp. After they arrived at the SilkWing refugee camp, Cricket greeted and embraced Tau, who was equally as happy to see her and defended her against the hostility of the other SilkWings. She later explained, alongside Luna, the story of what had happened in the Poison Jungle and the Distant Kingdoms to Hemlock, Grayling, Tau, Bryony and Lady Jewel. She, along with Tau, Bryony, Luna, Dusky, Sky and the humans, ventured towards the human colony near the abyss the next day. After a human had suddenly bolted out of a crack in the wall, the team hesitated on whether or not they wanted to follow the human. Cricket suggested that they should at least inspect what was on the other side, before waiting for the rest of the stealth team to arrive. Luna offered to go with her, leaving the others behind. As Luna and Cricket trekked on, they discovered murals on the sides of the wall, which depicted scenes of the Scorching. After Vole had kidnapped Dusky and brought him to the abyss, Luna chased after him where she was captured by Cottonmouth. Cricket and Bryony ran after Luna and tried to call her from the other side of the throne room she was trapped in. Cottonmouth possessed Luna for a second, using her voice to trick Cricket into searching for Sundew and ultimately falling into Cottonmouth's trap. While Luna was still in the Mindspace, Cricket and Bullfrog were seen at Lake Scorpion being dragged down by several mind-controlled LeafWings and HiveWings. Pineapple revealed himself to them and Cricket gasped, realizing that Pineapple had fallen under the control of the othermind. Sundew and the rest of the team suddenly appeared and a fight then ensued between the stealth team and the mind-controlled dragons. During this, Cricket had been injected with the breath of evil and was briefly under the othermind's control. After Luna managed to destroy the othermind and free everyone from its control, Luna had a happy reunion with Cricket. They all then headed to Cicada Hive to greet Swordtail and the rest of Luna's family. There Luna introduced Cricket to Luna's moms, who were initially hesitant on Cricket, before eventually accepting her as a member of their family. In the epilogue, Cricket had gone to live in the LeafSilk Kingdom with her two parents. She discussed plans on writing stories about the Scorching and Freedom's and Cottonmouth's history. Cricket was letting Axolotl stay with her for a while, to help them continue to study Dragon.

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Field Guides

A Guide to the Dragon World

Cricket was featured in the guide at the beginning of the Pantala section where she wrote a letter to Starflight about including material from Pantala in the guide and including Pantalan students at Jade Mountain Academy in the future. In the HiveWing chapter, she wrote about the HiveWing curriculum and provided a list of potential HiveWing abilities to Willow. She later wrote an introductory note to Starflight about the Book of Clearsight. In the LeafWing chapter of the guide, Cricket wrote Surviving in the Poison Jungle using information provided to her by Hazel.

Relationships

Axolotl

Cricket helped Axolotl learn the language of Dragon by looking at their book with them each night, and Luna thought that Cricket might almost be a dragon version of Axolotl. They also stayed with Cricket for a while after the team had defeated the breath of evil in order to continue studying Dragon.

Blue

Even after escaping Cicada Hive and becoming a fugitive with Blue, Cricket knew that she had no regrets about what she had done. She is instinctively protective of him, and trusts him to always do the right thing. She thinks he is beautiful, and is fond of his kindness, sense of humor, thoughtfulness, and empathy. She adores him, and they are quite affectionate towards one another. He is a great source of comfort for her, and does not push her to talk about her problems.

Blue's smile takes up a lot of space in her heart, and while she cares for him romantically, she is unsure if he feels the same, and chastises herself for feeling so affectionate towards him. She likes to laugh and talk with him, and wishes she could tell their society that she thinks he is wonderful, important, interesting, and valuable. He understands Cricket, and wants to go with her wherever she goes. She would choose Blue over the HiveWings and even over her family in a heartbeat, and once stated that he is her favorite dragon in all the world.

Before meeting him, Cricket did not know that dragons like Blue existed, and she had to constantly try not to cry when he was captured by Wasp. She described the feeling of him being gone as having her wings cut off. Despite her emotions, Cricket was determined to keep going and to not let anything else terrible happen to him. Luna speculated that Blue might have found his someone with Cricket, and later realized that Cricket had left behind her entire tribe and risked her biggest secret to help Blue when she had barely known him. They give one another little starry-eyed nudges.

Bombardier

Bombardier believed Cricket had a crush on him, making comments such as "Cricket, I'm sorry but I don't feel the same way." Cricket never had any romantic feelings for him, and she describes him as awful, arrogant, smug, and the opposite of Blue. She also comments that there is not much difference between his normal self and his "brain-dead," mind-controlled self.

Cricket does say that if she had the power to save the HiveWings from Queen Wasp's mind control, she would save Bombardier, but perhaps last, after all the others, demonstrating her hate for him. The first time she saw the HiveWings being mind-controlled, while she wondered why they were acting strange, and she thought maybe it was because she was too young. She soon realized that it could not be that since Bombardier was her age and was being mind-controlled too.

Bullfrog

Bullfrog implied that Cricket was being noisy whilst thinking, to which she apologized and became quieter. When she excitedly asked about his knowledge of the Scorching, he replied "not much," but after he sensed Cricket's disapproval, he explained it further. When she continued to ask him questions, he stated that he was not her walking history book and hurried away from her. He was, however, willing to protect her from Pokeweed.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee hatched from the egg Cricket rescued from Queen Wasp's poisons in the hatchery, so she and Bumblebee have a naturally close relationship. Cricket is almost like an adoptive mother towards Bumblebee. Bumblebee adores Cricket, and it seems like Bumblebee has slightly imprinted on Cricket, as she was the first dragon she had met. Cricket feels responsible for Bumblebee. She currently does not know if Bumblebee is immune to Queen Wasp's mind control but Cricket infers that Bumblebee cannot be controlled by Queen Wasp. She hugged Cricket's leg after the team had defeated the breath of evil, and her wings vibrated happily.

Cadelle

Cadelle is often annoyed with Cricket. When she still lived with Cricket and Katydid, Cadelle would force them to be completely silent until noon, when she was finished working. Cadelle often did not seem to pay much attention or care to where Cricket was or to whether she was safe, and largely ignored her. When Cricket thinks about Cadelle, she feels a familiar twist like thorns around her heart. Cadelle does not want to interact with her, and considers Cricket to be useless and irritating, despite Cricket wanting Cadelle to love and care about her. She once cried herself to sleep, wondering why Cadelle had taken Katydid to dinner and left Cricket behind. Cadelle would often remark that Cricket was 'no daughter of mine,' and according to Scarab, Cadelle wanted to destroy Cricket's egg as soon as she discovered that Katydid had a daughter, but changed her mind once Lady Scarab offered her a bribe and helped forge the records regarding Cricket's parentele. After discovering that Cadelle and her husband were not her true parents, Cricket understood that Cadelle must have only seen danger, crime, disorder, and lies that could ruin her life every time she looked at Cricket - her existence was against Pantalan law and, to her grandmother, she represented Katydid's dangerous lie. Cadelle was surprised when Cricket argued with her, as she was usually compliant and had never tried to push Cadelle away. After seeing Cadelle threaten her with her venomous teeth, Cricket realized that Cadelle was much more dangerous than she thought, and worried her grandmother might attack her like she had once seen her do to one of her servants.

Dusky

Cricket offered one of her talons to Dusky when he was scared, and he touched his nose to it. Cricket told him that it was all right to be scared, and that he could always talk to her or Luna whenever he felt that way.

Jewel

Jewel and Cricket met briefly when Cricket was captured by HiveWings under Wasp's control. Jewel freed Cricket from her prison, in exchange for spying on Wasp. Jewel most likely found out what Wasp was doing with the eggs from Tau and tried to stop Wasp. Scarab also believed that Jewel would protect Cricket and Katydid from Wasp.

Katydid

Katydid is Cricket's mother and they tell each other almost everything, and she is Cricket's primary caregiver. She made sure Cricket was fed and was brought to school on time, and took her to an eye doctor for glasses. She was the only dragon that Cricket loved before she escaped Cicada Hive with Blue. Katydid is kind to her, and Cricket's heart lights up when they see one another. They are very physically affectionate, and Katydid kept Cricket's secret immunity to the Hivemind a secret for four years to keep her safe. She missed her mother desperately after escaping Cicada Hive, and Katydid simultaneously worried about her daughter while she was missing. Katydid is often exasperated with Cricket's curiosity, as she wants Cricket to be safe.

Luna

When Tsunami explained that Cricket had been the first one to use the dreamvisitor, she felt mutinous and thought of Cricket as one of the bad guys. Her tone was sharp when Luna realized that Cricket had talked to Blue via the dreamvisitor; she felt protective over Blue and felt that she should be the one worrying over him. Whilst flying towards Pantala, Cricket seemed as though she wanted to talk to Luna, but she would always find a reason to fly with someone else instead. Later, when Cricket approached Luna, she considered staying quiet so that she would not have to muster the energy to have a conversation with Cricket, and, more specifically, to pretend that she trusted her; she also felt bitter about the fact that Cricket was safe while Blue and Swordtail were in danger. However, after remembering the way Blue looked at her, Luna could not bring herself to hurt Cricket's feelings. She was reluctant to admit that Cricket's emotions about being invisible matched Luna's own, but Cricket then admitted that Luna felt the most real to her. Luna admitted to herself that Cricket's voice was easier to talk to than Cricket's HiveWing face, but it was still not exactly comforting. Cricket laughed at one of Luna's jokes, and they then began to converse more normally. Cricket wants to be on Luna's side, and despite Luna knowing that Cricket never did anything to help the SilkWings before meeting Blue, she admitted to herself that Cricket is only a dragonet, and that perhaps this had been her first chance; Luna speculated that maybe Cricket, like herself, wanted to change things but did not know how. After Cricket told Luna openly about the way she felt about Blue, Luna wanted to erase the conversation so that they could act normal and deny the fact that they were distressed; she felt enormous relief when a noise distracted them from their conversation. Her instinctual reaction upon seeing Cricket is fear and dislike because of her tribe, but Cricket startled her into laughing, and they then bonded over their feelings towards the HiveWings and the breath of evil; Cricket's thoughts were so similar to one of Luna's own that she reaches out and grabbed Cricket's arm. Cricket is concerned for Luna's well-being, and hid a smile after one of Cricket's jokes, admitting to herself that she saw what Blue liked about Cricket after all. After speaking with her, Luna felt her sadness clearing, as though little cracks of sunlit hope were pushing through her brain. She later realized that, somewhere along the way, Cricket had become her own individual dragon in Luna's mind, and not a representation of her entire cruel tribe; Luna had not thought anything angrily towards Cricket in a while. She believes in Cricket fully and trusted her to rescue Luna from the abyss. When they saw one another again after Luna escaped the abyss, Cricket threw her wings around Luna, and Luna hugged her back, smiling. She took Cricket's talon in hers before telling her mothers that Cricket was part of their family now.

Malachite

Malachite patted Cricket's head tentatively, like he was still figuring out the gestures that went with the idea of being a father. They are both authors, and Cricket lit up at the prospect of writing with him.

Scarab

Scarab first comes up in a conversation between Blue and Cricket. She turns out to be deeply woven into Cricket's history. In The Hive Queen, it is revealed that Scarab helped cover for Cricket's egg. Scarab often scolds Cricket, but it is unlikely that she actually has ill will toward her. In The Hive Queen, she tells Cricket useful information, discussing the HiveWing bloodline and reasons why they both were immune to Wasp's mind control.

Sundew

Cricket worries about Sundew when she is in danger, and is fond of her. Sundew did not hesitate to fight several HiveWing guards in order to protect Cricket and her friends, and they often laugh and smile with one another. She liked how Sundew stood up for herself, despite her parents' disapproval, which was something that she had never seen with the other HiveWings. Cricket wished she was more like Sundew, whom she believed was a dragon who already knew the answers to all her questions.

Swordtail

Swordtail makes Cricket slightly nervous, and she believed that he was not very fond of her after meeting him. However, after Swordtail expressed that she was one of the few good HiveWings, she began to believe he did not completely hate her after all. He was relieved to see her after she escaped from Lady Jewel's prison.

Tau

Tau was one of the members of the Jewel Hive Chrysalis, during her meeting with Morpho and Cinnabar, Cricket went on a mission to find the Chrysalis. When they found their meeting spot, Tau tried to hide her face. But when in further interactions, Tau became more friendly to Cricket.

Family tree

Cadelle

Unnamed

Katydid

Malachite

Cricket

Quotes

"Really? Why don't you know your father? Is that normal for SilkWings? Don't you live with your parents? Or, I'm sorry, is that a question I'm not supposed to ask? I ask a lot of questions I'm not supposed to ask, apparently, according to most of my teachers — also my parents — actually, according to pretty much every grown-up HiveWing. Too many questions, Cricket! Don't you know what happens to nosy little HiveWings? They lose those noses! Which is silly; I've never seen a dragonet without a nose and I'm sure I can't be the first one with this many questions. What's your name? Oh, that's another question. Sorry. I'm Cricket."

― to Blue, upon meeting him

---

"Let's think. Flamesilk orders go out all the time because each thread only burns for about one cycle of the smallest moon before it fades. Which means someone has to get the flamesilk from the dragons producing it, to fill the orders. So whose job is it? And someone must keep them fed and taken care of ... And of course, Queen Wasp knows. So there must be a way to trace the flamesilk back to wherever the dragons are. This is a solvable mystery."

― to Blue, about where all the flamesilks are

---

"I usually think of rules as things that get in the way of all the stuff I really want to know. I mean, how can don't ask questions ever be a good rule? Or only borrow one book at a time from the library. That's just ludicrous. No one ever sensibly explains rules like that. But don't hurt other dragons — that's a rule I think everyone believes in, right? So ... I guess I believe in some rules, and I think rules, in general, can be useful, but I also think it's all right to stop and question some of the rules sometimes, if they feel wrong to you."

― to Blue

---

"What if I'm not the only one who's different? Or what about the littlest dragonets? It's been so long since the Tree Wars. So many HiveWings weren't even alive back then. Or what about the ones who refused to fight? There were protestors, I know there were; I read about them. There were HiveWings who tried to say no to Queen Wasp. There were some who wanted to help the LeafWings and save the trees. What about them?"

― to Sundew, about the Tree Wars

---

"I know. But I have to do something. It's no use knowing the truth if everyone else still believes the lies. My tribe needs to know that Queen Wasp is lying to them. Maybe I can't set them free from the mind control yet, but knowing the truth about the book ... I think knowing the truth is the first step towards their freedom. I hope."

― to Sundew and Swordtail

---

"I know. But you can understand what I'm feeling, right? You can imagine how important this is to me and ... and how important you are to me."

― to Blue, after he tells Cricket he doesn't want to leave her

---

"I am a scientist. [...] Sometimes risks are nessesary."

― Cricket, about keeping Bumblebee

---

"Oh my gosh. Oh ― oh my gosh. Do you see that? What is happening? Who is that? Why is she amazing and blue and look at her wings are those webbed talons? Are they for swimming? Is she a water dragon? What is she and where did she come from and OH MY GOSH SHE'S FROM THE DISTANT KINGDOMS ISN'T SHE?"

― to Sundew, upon seeing Tsunami

---

"I mean, can yours read? Or are they more like regular monkeys? The one I saw was holding something that looked just like a book, can you imagine? Monkeys who can read must also be able to write, don't you think? Don't you wonder what they'd write about? Monkey stories! Can you think of anything more fascinating?"

― to Snowfall, about humans

---

"Isn't it weird being invisible for this long? When it's quiet, I have these moments where I suddenly feel all alone, as though everyone else is gone and I'm a ghost floating around with nobody. Sometimes, I close my eyes and try to focus on what I can feel. Like, my claws feel wet sand shifting around them. My wings lift in the wind from the sea. I'm still here, I really exist, I'm in this dragon body in this world. Does that make sense?"

― to Luna

---

"You're right. I mean, I know exactly how you feel, Luna. I didn't think I'd have to do any decision making or fighting while we had Sundew and Tsunami and Moon with us. I wouldn't send me to save the world. We have no idea what we're going to find down there, and it's completely terrifying."

― to Luna

---

"It's all right to be scared, too. Everyone gets scared sometimes. Or sad, or worried. That thing scared me, too, Dusky. You can always talk to one of us about it, whenever you feel that way."

― to Dusky

---

"Yes, they should, but that's what I'm here for. I'll do that for you, Luna. I feel like that's my responsibility, and something I can do. I'll make sure dragons know the truth, and that we record history in our books the way it really was — about Cottonmouth and the Scorching, about the real Book of Clearsight, and about what humans are like now."

― to Luna

Trivia

• Cricket is featured on the Barnes and Noble exclusive version of The Lost Continent.
  • Cricket's depiction on The Hive Queen cover was more accurate than her depiction on the Barnes and Noble The Lost Continent cover, due to Joy Ang having more time to add detail to her.
• According to Blue, Cricket's breath smells of apples.
• Though trees no longer are widespread on Pantala, Cricket somehow managed to grow a small tree in her terrarium in her botany class, having found the seed on a gathering trip, and not having known what it was until it started growing.
• On the cover of The Hive Queen, Cricket's glasses have no earpiece. However, Cricket fiddles with the earpiece of her glasses.
• Cricket is not much use in combat.
• Cricket is one of Tui's favorite dragons.
• Before becoming a fugitive, Cricket dreamed of being a published scientist.
• When she was young, Cricket had recurring nightmares about her teachers growing moss on her brain.
• Cricket's favorite library is the one located in Jewel Hive.
• Out of Blue, Sundew, and Swordtail, Cricket is the fastest writer.
• Tui was originally going to have Cricket to be a reporter or a journalist.
• If Cricket had to choose one place to haunt, it would be a library.
• When Principal Lubber shredded Cricket's painting, Cricket had dreams of birds finding the scraps and putting them in their nests.

Gallery

• 
  Cricket on the cover of The Hive Queen, by Joy Ang
• Error creating thumbnail: File with dimensions greater than 12.5 MP
  Cricket on the full cover of The Hive Queen, by Joy Ang
• 
  Cricket on the Barnes & Noble special edition poster from The Lost Continent, by Joy Ang
• 
  Cricket on the cover of the Official Wings of Fire Stained Glass Art Book, by Brianna C. Walsh
• 
  Cricket fullbody render, edited by Blue the SilkWing
• 
  Cricket from How to Draw, by Brianna C. Walsh (edited by WillowCharlotte1234)
• 
  Reference by Spirit978

References

de:Cricket es:Cricket fr:Criquette pl:Świerszczka ru:Сверчок