*huggles ratties* Me neither. But I'm happy you understand. *huggles you too!*
Bogden- Your welcome!
Now, for the moment you all probably weren't waiting for
, here's the next chappy!!
-~-
It seemed like a frozen eternity when all time appeared to stop. Mai, Razo, and the Guards stared, antennae pricked as the sound of low buzzing got louder. But there was nothing. Where were the hornets? Mai released Razo and huddled against his side fearfully.
"You see anything?" She asked him. After all, a Drone's eyes were much larger and more sensitive than that of other castes. If any bee can see anything, it was a male. Razo, not moving from his spot, looked all around for a moment, but lowered his antennae.
"No...I don't." He told her. Mai gulped and gathered the courage to hesitantly crawl to the end of the ledge, ignoring soft whispered warnings from the others. Her curiousity was getting the better of her as she reached the end and peered down cautiously. Suddenly, a huge insect shot up into view and Mai jumped back with a yelp, looking up as the bug hovered above the ledge. The four honeybees screamed in terror as more hornets joined the first in a horrible army. The obvious leader of the armada flew forward and landed before the smaller bugs. He smiled.
"Greetings little insects." He growled. Mai was frozen with panic even when Razo gave her his typical nudge towards the entrance.
"Run, Mai! RUN!!!" He yelled. The Nurse felt a split second of surprise. Razo knew her name...? Drones never bothered to learn a worker's name before. Snapping out of her daze, she turned and scurried as fast as she could back to the hive, Razo hot on her tail. She heard the hornet leader laugh and the Guards hurried her along before bravely facing the much larger bug.
As Razo looked back at the entrance, Mai set off the alarm, "Giant hornets! A whole lot of them! We're under attack!" This news got the hive in a buzzing chaos as each bee passed the information to the next. Mai turned back to Razo, who was watching the Guards with a traumatized look on his face. His younger sister looked too and gasped. That single hornet leader was tearing both Guard bees apart as easily as if they were wet paper. Other hornets landed on the ledge and explored as one of them took the Guards' remains and threw them overboard. The bodies were still twitching with shock as this happened.
"That ain't right..." Razo muttered and Mai knew that the both of them will probably be scarred for life...Though, how long would that life be? Some of the other bees rushed outside and the battle began. Though 'battle' soon became the wrong word to use. 'Slaughter' was more like it, and Mai felt Razo turn to press against her in an attempt to push her deeper into the hive. But the smaller bee isn't going to give up so easily.
"No! We have to help!" She exclaimed desperately, trying to scurry outside. But Razo wouldn't let her. What has gotten into him?
"We have to hide! Those things are gonna kill us out there!" He said, prodding Mai further from the entrance. She didn't make it easy, trying to climb over him.
"But they'll destroy the colony!" She screamed in distress.
"If we can get the Queen out of here, we can start a new colony." He told her. "But if we stay, there'll be nothing left."
Mai didn't like his reasoning, as the colony has worked very hard to get as far as they did. Were they really going to give that all up? But, somehow, she thought of something else that worried her even more.
"But what about Sashi?! She's out there somewhere! I can't leave her!" She continued, ready to sting her own brother to get pass. But Razo sensed this and was quick to restrain her. He roughly grabbed the base of her wings in his front claws and pinned her to the floor. Mai struggled helplessly, wincing as the Drone's claws dug into her shell to leave two small gashes around each wing base. Through her pain, panic, and angst, she heard Razo speak softly.
"Mai, don't go all mindless worker on me, okay? Try to think this out. We can save the colony by having the colony retreat. If we give the hornets what they want without a fight, this will all be over. They'll be happy, we'll be alive...everybody wins."
The Nurse bee stopped resisting and went limp. "But Sashi..." She muttered with lowered antennae. Razo sighed.
"She wouldn't want you to get hurt. She would want you to live, alright?" He said gently. Mai paused, taking in everything around her, before nodding slightly. Razo released her and she listlessly got to her claws, ignoring the jolt of pain given by her wings. She supposed he was right and she was surprised by the Drone's change of character. Is this really her rude, self-centered brother who really couldn't care less about the colony?
She saw Razo turn around and head deeper into the hive and she followed him closely, keeping her antennas in contact so she won't lose him in the panicked crowd. She just hoped he knew what he was doing. They found the Queen at the very back of the hive, as far as possible from the entrance, and they forced their way past her Guards. The large bee looked amazingly calm and regarded the two as if it was any other day. It was absurd in Mai's opinion.
"Your Highness...Mom..." Razo began. "We have to get out of here as fast as we can, as soon as we can...while we still can." Mai just gave a mute nod, looking back as the hornets began to swarm inside. The Queen nodded back.
"Yes, I have gone through all our options and I too think escape is our best tactic. Unfortunately, our only exit is the entrance and I'm afraid the hornets have it blocked. So we might have to compromise with them." She said gently. Mai, Razo, and even the Guards jolted in shock.
"What?!" They exclaimed simultaneously.
"We're trapped here until the hornets leave their blockade on our escape."
"Can't we just make another way out?" Razo asked. A Guard shook her head half-heartedly.
"It'll take too long."
"IT'S NOT WORKING!!!!" came a sudden cry and they snapped their attention to it. There was a heating-ball in progress, but the hornet target wasn't being affected! In fact, deep laughter could be heard from within the ball and in a panic, the bees dispersed to free the large insect.
"Impossible..." The Queen muttered, looking worried for the first time. Her worry turned to anger and she took a deep breath. "ENOUGH OF THIS!!!"
Her powerful voice echoed inside the hive and every living insect froze what they were doing. There was near silence with only the occasional whimper from a frightened pupa. The adult bees began to slowly retreat towards their Queen and the hornets only looked at the largest bee in amazed surprise. This obviously wasn't a frequent occurrence to them. The Queen sighed and stood on her hind legs to further survey everyone. When she next spoke, her calmness returned.
"Which one of you hornets is leading this assault?"
The larger bugs glanced at each other in amusement and a particularly large one stepped forward with a grin. "I am. Is that of any importance to you?"
The Queen bee looked over at the hornet and nodded as she returned to all six. "Hai. Now if you please, let us talk." The hornet chuckled and gave a mocking bow.
"Whatever you wish, your Royal Highness." The majority of the other hornets snickered and the bees held back the urge to retaliate against this insult. The lead bugger walked over, giving a 'follow me' gesture to a female soldier with eye designs that made it look as though she was crying. She made no hesitation following orders.
Mai pressed closer to Razo, fighting back her panic as the hornet duo got closer, the bees parting reluctantly to make way. She and her brother stayed close to their mother's side. The hornet leader, much bigger than the Queen, paused before her and allowed her antennae to lightly tap his own. Mai was confused by this gesture. Her mother only did this to confirm the identification of somebody she's seen before. Odd... After a second of antenna activity, the Queen nodded respectfully.
"Shon." She acknowledged. Her children grew restless in surprise. She knew him?! "If I recall correctly, you saved my life once."
Shon chuckled menacingly. "Unintentionally. That mantis that tried to kill you was the real food I wanted to eat. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, is all."
"You seemed quite friendly last I saw you." The Queen pointed out. Shon made no hesitation in responding, his voice calm and steady.
"You had no colony back then. It would've been a waste to have killed you." He bent down and took a sip from a nearby honey cell. He paused for a second, tasting the sugary treat before grinning. "And it seems I made the right choice."
The bees buzzed in agitation. That honey was theirs! The Queen calmly lifted a foreleg and her children forced themselves to settle down. Shon just chuckled in amusement.
"Get used to it. We'll end up having this whole hive." He menaced. "And there's nothing you can do about it."
One bee couldn't help herself. "How are you surviving our defenses?!"
Shon grinned at her. "One of your little friends was nice enough to tell us all about your tactics, after careful persuasion from Namida, of course." He nodded at the female soldier. "We just added a little something to protect ourselves with."
"And what did you do?" The worker asked with the vague hope of using the answer as an advantage. However, the hornet just tilted his head with a mocking look on his face.
"Why would I tell you?"
The Queen decided to interrupt with a more important question. "Are we not able to negotiate this matter and perhaps reach a peaceful compromise?"
Shon glanced at Namida and his grin broaden. "Well, this is a first. But you have my attention. Tell me what it is that you want."
"I want you to leave." At this, the bees buzzed in agreement and the hornets muttered amongst themselves in amusement. Shon just stood there in mirthful thought before he responded.
"And what do we get if we were to indeed retreat?"
"We'll give you and your colony a fair share of our honey whenever it is asked of us." She told him. Although the majority of the bees were obviously upset with this decision, they did nothing to protest. Shon began grooming his antennae in consideration and finally shook his head. "Sorry, but you'll have to do better than that." The other hornets nodded and the Queen paused to think.
"Alright. You can have all the honey. Just allow us to gather our young ones and leave." She tried again. Mai nodded to herself. In her opinion, her little siblings were more important than all the honey in the world. So she was horrified when Shon disagreed with a comment that made her sick.
"It's a tempting offer, but not good enough. We need your children, for our own young ones need their protein."
Every worker bee yelled out their anger and Mai stepped up to the hornet before she could stop herself. "You leave my little sisters and brothers alone!"
Shon looked at her and, although he didn't seem aggressive, Mai backed away in fright towards her original spot. The hornet leader didn't falter his intense stare and Mai lowered her antennae uneasily. She was nervous of his unwavered attention and it was made worse when he pointed his antennae right at her. Why her? She wasn't the only one to protest against him. The other bees quieted down and Mai took notice of Namida and the other hornets. They also seemed confused by their leader's distraction and they looked over at her as well, antennae perked. Razo stayed by her and she leaned harder against him as the number of watchful eyes increased.
The Queen made another effort, trying to draw attention away from her young worker. "How about we leave you with half our pupae and all our honey?"
The Giant hornet slowly pried his eyes off of Mai and looked back at the Queen. But before Mai could risk a sigh of relief, he quickly returned his gaze in her direction as he gave his answer. "You don't seem to get it. We're not here just for your resources."
Mai gulped as she mustered the strength to speak through her anxiousness. "What else is there?" She immediately regretted asking as the hornet took on a more menacing look. He growled deeply with his response.
"There's revenge."
With that, he charged straight at Mai, jaws wide open. The Nurse screamed...
END OF CHAPTER 4
