~*~
Beneath the earth she lay waiting
Blood boiling with the rage of her fathers
Her wings in the sky are the turning of the tide
Now rise again, oh Daughter of Tigers
~*~
Queen Malefa, also known as the Daughter of Tigers, was the ruler of the kingdom of Vivvar. A kingdom housing both moths and butterflies in a secluded area deep within thorny shrubbery. She was the descendant of a long line of swallowtail warriors and rulers who established the kingdom and zealously devoted themselves to protecting their home and people. Just like them she had the heart of a warrior and was trained since early age, mastering the use of the family heirloom, the Wind Blade. A sword which, despite its size, was nonetheless light-weight due to the peculiar metal it was made of, making it a very graceful and agile weapon. Just like with her predecessors, her strength and will were an inspiration to her people, leading them to believe their fierce queen could protect them against anything.

Unfortunately though tragedy would strike after all, taking advantage of her still young age and inexperience with more serious confrontation. One day the kingdom was run over by a colony of flightless roaches that have dug their way in from under the shrubbery, having had their sight on the kingdom for a while. Chaos and battle ensued everywhere, even though the citizens outnumbered the invaders by far, they were still caught off guard and so the battle was rather evenly matched. Meanwhile queen Malefa went to confront he leader of the invasion, chasing after him throughout the city, not realizing he was leading her away from the eyes of her people and straight into a trap. She was ambushed by several roaches, and even though she managed to take down a good number of them, she was still overwhelmed in the end. To her surprise though, the leader didn't kill her, instead he just tore a fistful of fluff from her collar and ordered for her to be taken away and hidden. Then he went around town, parading her fur as "proof" that he had killed the queen, using the news of her supposed demise to shatter the morale of her people. His plan worked and the lepidoptera soon lost the fight in them, surrendering to the new tyranny.

For the next two decades, Malefa had been kept in a secret dungeon underneath her own palace, with no contact to the outside world besides the roaches who only came to feed and mock her. The only ways out being a locked door and a window, way too high for her chained form to ever reach, there only for air and to taunt her. Despite her isolation, she was still very aware of her people's suffering, as the roaches loved to inform her on what was going on, taunting her and hoping to break her spirit by letting her know how much she failed her people. Yet all that did was fuel her anger, anger and determination that never once faltered in all those years. Despite everything she was still plotting, still trying to figure out a way to break free and end this tyranny, she refused to give in to any despair while her people needed her, because to give up was to doom them all.

The turning point finally came when one night someone called to her from that unreachable window. And to her even greater surprise, it was neither a roach, moth or butterfly, but instead a wasp, a mud dauber to be precise. He asked who she was, and the answer lifted his mood considerably. He then revealed his name to be Sirocco, and that he was an assassin currently working with the rebellion her people were building. That gave her another kick of motivation and she gladly gave him all the information he needed, the two of them quickly coming to an understanding and making plans. From then on Sirocco would sneak back to her cell when he could, passing messages between her and the rebellion leaders. The news of her still being alive gave hope back to her people and within months they had a solid plan set.

When the time finally came, everyone played their part. Sirocco eliminated a few key figures, and helped the citizens break out their queen. Once free she rose into the sky, flying for the first time in decades, and rallied her people to the fight. Despite their crushed state after all those years of tyranny, seeing their beloved queen, the one they believed dead, fly once more, quickly rekindled the will to fight in them. Years of anger and pain finally boiling over into one final fight. This time it was the roaches who were caught off guard, and the overwhelming force of the lepidoptera finally brought them to their knees. The battle was no less hard, but in the end the citizens stood victorious and the invaders, who weren't outright killed, were driven off into the wild and away from their homeland for good.

The years that followed were dedicated to rebuilding all that was lost, not just the half of the city that burned down during the fight, but the spirits and hearts of its people. It was a time of healing, and a time of new beginnings, with everyone, including the queen, having their own emotional ordeals to pass through now that they were finally free again. But they were determined now, all the more, to make a safe future for themselves and their kin, so that such a tragedy never befalls them again. And as for the enigmatic mud dauber who helped make all this possible, he vanished shortly after that night of the rebellion and no one had seen or heard of him again.

~~~

Eyyyy new character just dropped literally yesterday. Went ahead and made a simple ref for her so I don't lose grip on the design, though honestly not sure how often or even if I'm gonna draw her again. Partially since her story is mostly complete already and also because phuck me her wings are a pain. X'D

But at least I got this for her done and established a bit of where she's at in my stories. The kingdom of Vivvar itself plays a bigger part in one of my characters' backstories, tho not sure if I will reveal that just yet. But who knows, maybe someone figures it out of context clues, tho granted there aren't that many. And for the record, that story takes place some 100-odd years before the establishment of Hallownest, give or take. Not sure the kingdom still exists in the present. Though it's also not on Hallownest territory so any interaction between the two would have been unlikely to begin with.

It's interesting how this character plays such a massive key role in what happened in Vivvar and yet I didn't even know about her until literally a day ago. Some things you just cannot force and you gotta wait for em to come with you, and when they do it's usually with a bang lol.


Malefa © me
Hollow Knight © Team Cherry