Hawthorn

Template:QuoteBox Template:Charbox Hawthorn was an adult male LeafWing who was introduced in The Poison Jungle who had very powerful leafspeak abilities. 50 years before the events of The Poison Jungle, he was banished from the SapWing Village by Queen Sequoia for trying to mind-control Queen Wasp through the Breath of Evil, but failing and letting her control her subjects. He eventually settled in the Den of Vipers, where he began studying an antidote for dragons affected by the Breath of Evil. During this time, however, he was gradually infected by the Othermind. In The Poison Jungle, he was killed by Willow after threatening to infect the entirety of Pantala.

Appearance

Hawthorn is gigantic, with giant talons. He has long green wings and green eyes. He usually had a dragonbite viper wrapped around his neck. Although he was later revealed to be the host of The Othermind, his eyes weren't described to be white like the ones of the HiveWings when they were mind-controlled. 

Personality

During The Poison Jungle, Hawthorn seems to be a friendly dragon. In the book he is very excited to see other dragons, this behavior is most likely due to the fact that for several years of his life Hawthorn was stuck in an area of the Poison Jungle that was not inhabited by dragons known as the Den of Vipers. When Sundew and other dragons arrived he became very chatty and even a little forceful when Nettle, Willow, Mandrake, Cricket, and Sundew all told him that they were in a hurry. Based on how Hawthorn acts around other dragons it seems safe to say that Hawthorn has forgotten how to act in polite dragon society. Hawthorn also shows he is somewhat of a prideful dragon when he brags of his use of the Breath of Evil. When Sundew talks about bringing Hawthorn back, he becomes very anxious.

Biography

Pre-series

When Queen Wasp started to threaten the LeafWings, Hawthorn begins to become desperate in search of a way to stop her. That is when he remembered The Legend of the Hive and went searching for the Breath of Evil. When Hawthorn discovered the Breath of Evil, he unwisely grew it so it would only work on HiveWings. During a diplomatic event between Queen Wasp and Queen Sequoia, Hawthorn put it in Queen Wasp's food. When Hawthorn and Queen Sequoia realize that they unintentionally gave Queen Wasp mind-control powers, Queen Sequoia banished him to solitude to find a cure. While alone, the grasp of The Othermind became a strong influence on Hawthorn. 

The Poison Jungle

Hawthorn was taken over by The Othermind through consumption of Breath of Evil, which he discovered in the Eye of the Jungle. He tested the Breath of Evil on himself, and upon discovering that he could control vipers with it, continued using Breath of Evil. He eventually succumbed to The Othermind because The Othermind kept suggesting things that Hawthorn felt compelled to obey, and eventually, Hawthorn's mental state began to decay, becoming The Othermind's physical form. Hawthorn then began protecting The Othermind by holding the seed it came from, saying it was a prized carving of his. He was eventually killed by Willow upon discovery that he had been strongly taken over by The Othermind.

Relationships

The Othermind

Hawthorn seems very fond of the Othermind, although this, of course, is most likely a trick the Othermind set up to control Hawthorn easier. Hawthorn was very protective of his “favorite carving”, which in reality, was the seed of the Othermind. He also seemed to follow the Othermind’s orders without a struggle.

Queen Sequoia

Hawthorn was very loyal towards Sequoia, and it was obvious that he missed her. He had plenty of carvings dedicated to her.

Cricket

Upon meeting Cricket, along with the others traveling with her, Hawthorn originally thought that peace had been achieved between the tribes. However, Nettle explained why Cricket was with them, and Hawthorn felt sympathy for her condition, relating to her because they had both been cast out of their tribes for what they both felt was unreasonable things. He also appreciates Cricket's interest in scientific affairs, and how she wants to help all three Pantalan tribes achieve peace. However, he still shrinks away from her as his first instinct is to stay away from a HiveWing.

Quotes

"I'm Hawthorn, and those were my vipers. Who wants tea?" Hawthorn to several others ^{The Poison Jungle, page 200}

"Lots of time on my talons, you know. No one else to talk to, so I thought I'd make some friends for myself. This one's my favorite. They're better company than you'd think. Thank goodness I have you, right?" - Hawthorn to several dragons about his carvings 

"That is certainly true, isn't it? I mean, that was her intention, sending me here. Quite a long time it's been, for me to be here studying it, all alone. I really should be an expert by now." - Hawthorn to Sundew

"If it works... I'm glad to know this wasn't all for nothing. And don't get me wrong. I know I deserved this. I told the queen I understood, and I meant it. This was the right punishment for me, the only punishment." - Hawthorn to Cricket 

"Didn't she tell you why I'm here? Because I'm the one who found the breath of evil, after everyone thought it had been wiped out centuries ago. And I'm the one who gave it to Queen Wasp." - Hawthorn to Sundew 

"Yes. Well. Let's see. Queen Wasp was dangerous from the moment she inherited her crown. Her mother, Queen Cochineal, was deceitful and power-hungry, but at least she respected the separate tribe monarchies. Wasp, though... she looked at SilkWings and LeafWings and only saw more dragons to crush under her talons. She wanted everyone to bow to her. That became clear very early on. But that wasn't the worst of it. She thought our power came from the trees, and she thought that if she cut them down, we'd become weak. She did it stealthily at first. Stretches of forest cleared in faraway corners where we might not notice. 'Accidental' forest fires that wiped out hundreds of trees. Another hundred cut down to build her first Hive, and a dramatic performance art piece when we tried to object: 'Oh, are LeafWings the only ones allowed to use Pantalan resources now? Why shouldn't I build my tribe a city to live in?' And so on. By the time we figured out what she was doing, it was too late for countless trees. We tried to stop her in all the diplomatic ways, but she would lie to our faces, promise to stop, and then turn around and keep doing it. Or she'd have her guards throw us out-- the queen of the LeafWings, tossed out of Wasp Hive like a spider that crawled in the wrong window! Can you imagine?! And then she became even worse. She announced that according to the Book of Clearsight, the time had come for us to consolidate the three tribes under one queen: her. She sent Queen Monarch and Queen Sequoia instructions for formally stepping down and handing their subjects over for her to control." - Hawthorn to several dragons

"First we tried to talk her down. And second... we tried something else. I thought we could stop her. I thought we could save everyone. It wasn't supposed to make her powerful. I thought, if I found the plant and we used it on her... that we'd be able to control her." - Hawthorn to Cricket and Sundew ^{The Poison Jungle, pages 212-213}

"She threatened our trees, HiveWing. The trees we loved, our homes and souls. We saw the war that was coming. We knew how dangerous she was, and we knew we couldn't give her the LeafWings. So we held a peace summit and I... I put it in her food that night." - Hawthorn to Cricket ^{The Poison Jungle, page 214}

"I told her what I wanted to do. She didn't stop me. But I can't say she exactly told me to do it. She could have stopped me, though. I was so loyal. I always listened to her. If she had told me not to do it, I wouldn't have. She never said no! [...] Of course it was my fault. I found the plant; I slipped it into Wasp's food. That was me. Even if I did it with the noblest of intentions. At first, it seemed like nothing happened. It clearly didn't work. Wasp behaved exactly the same, both that night at dinner and the following morning during negotiations. We tried to steer her onto a peaceful path. We tried subtle suggestions, and when those didn't work, we tried to order her to back down. She hissed at us and promised war, just as she always did. So we thought we had failed. No harm done... a long shot attempt at salvation that didn't work. It wasn't until later, when I saw her mind control, that I realized we must have caused it. I didn't know how she figured out what do do, or where she got the plant." - Hawthorn to several dragons ^{The Poison Jungle, page 215}

"Those are mysteries I solved with science! Experimentation! Research! Investigation! All the careful procedures I wish I'd had time for back then. It's amazing what you can discover when you're alone for fifty years with nothing else to do." - Hawthorn to Cricket ^{The Poison Jungle, page 216}

"When I found the plant, it was barely hanging on. There was so little left, cut off from sunlight and slowly wasting away. I brought it into the sun. I nursed it back to health. And while I did, I used my leafspeak on it. I trained it, essentially. I altered it so that it would only work on HiveWings... those would be the minds it was drawn to. I wasn't sure how well I'd succeeded, but it seems I did well enough." -Hawthorn about the Breath of Evil

Trivia

• Hawthorns, or Hawberry, is a genus of several hundred species of shrubs native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America.
• Hawthorn is the first known dragon to die in the third arc.

Gallery

• 
  A typical LeafWing, by Joy Ang
• 
  LeafWing Sigil by Platypus the SeaWing
• Hawthorn and Willow by TRUNSWICKED
  Hawthorn and Willow by TRUNSWICKED
• 
  Reference by Trunswicked
• Othermind By Lamp-P0st
  Othermind By Lamp-P0st
• Hawthorn by Daroganheart_
  Hawthorn by Daroganheart_
• Hawthorn by FroyoTheRainwing
  Hawthorn by FroyoTheRainwing
• Hawthorn by AnimeLionessMika
  Hawthorn by AnimeLionessMika
• Hawthorn by Snakiez
  Hawthorn by Snakiez

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