Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 39: Trade Deal

With careful steps, the bumblebee approached the honeybee queen.

She watched him keenly, with a promise of violence held in her posture. When he was within three of her body lengths—needle-like stinger included—he stopped. They weighed each other from afar, and as the moment stretched on, the bumblebee vibrated his wings in what he knew to mean friendship.

He hoped she understood, hoped she didn’t misunderstand the message. Her wings shook, quivering with the same frequency, and as one, their body language relaxed. They met each other in the middle of his hive. He stopped, but she stepped in, her antennae feeling his face all over. He was taken aback for a second, but then recalled that there was a delay in the knowledge pouring in. Even now, he was receiving more information from an unknown source. She had been awakened, what, five minutes ago? It was natural for her to still act as a regular bee would.

Her head twisted to the side in an obvious question: why aren’t you greeting me back?

Feeling social pressure—a rather unpleasant side effect of his ascension—he caressed her face with his antennae. Surprisingly, he found it natural—calming. He got a greater understanding of the queen before him, and as he did, his wings buzzed in delight. Because of his timely intervention, and more than a little luck, she had survived. Because of his actions—and, by extension, the actions of the human that had gifted him food, an entire hive would live on.

As if she too had the same thought, the queen turned. She gazed at the entrance, then shot a questioning look his way.

Yes, he buzzed with his wings. He led the way out into the morning sun, ensuring the path to her hive was free of enemies.

***

Before they left his hive, the bumblebee’s thoughts were consumed with gratitude. Entering the honeybee’s hive, however, had been a sobering experience. Before they even took a step inside, they were greeted by the bodies of the departed defenders. The surviving workers had wasted no time in expelling the dead from the hole the hornets had made; a pile of insects lay at the trunk’s base, honeybee and hornet both.

Workers had greeted them at the entrance, and after examining the queen and deciding that she was theirs, they turned their attention to him. They approached with clear hostility, but the queen vibrated her wings—they immediately recognized him as a friend. A worker escorted them back to the queen’s chamber, and each time they met another worker, it greeted them by relaying the same sequence of vibrations the queen had that told them he was a friend. Now that he was no longer in a fight to the death, he gazed around the chamber they entered.

Walls of golden honeycomb climbed to the roof of the hollow, stunning the bumblebee with the hive’s wealth. He had never imagined a single place of so much honey existed. The honeybees had been industrious in their endeavors; the fruit of their labor was well and truly on display. Even now, having expanded his awareness and base instincts, the bumblebee felt the need to dive headfirst into one of the combs and drink his fill.

As he stared at a comb that was only half-filled and hadn’t yet been sealed, he felt a nudge on his abdomen. When he turned, the queen pointed at him, the comb, then buzzed her wings in approval. He didn’t need to consider the offer; he took a small flight, then plunged his proboscis into the golden liquid. It was entirely different to his royal jelly, yet neither better nor worse.

Okay, that was a lie—it was objectively worse, but it also had some redeeming qualities.

The honey, despite being viscous and rich, had an almost… refreshing quality to it. The flavor was less concentrated and much thinner than the jelly he had made. It easily entered his stomach and left him feeling light and energized. He returned his attention to the queen, who he found was wasting no time in tending to the hive. She checked on pupa, who were likely the successors to the male drones that had been annihilated.

He left her to it, heading toward the usual entrance to the hive. His worker-bee guide followed him, dashing forward to let every other honeybee they came across know that he was one of them. With each wall of honeycomb they passed, the bumblebee grew increasingly astounded. The queen’s chamber alone was more honey than he could comprehend, yet it was only a fraction of the hive’s wealth. After the tenth ceiling-high comb, he gave up counting and focused on where they were going.

As he caught sight of the entrance, his wings let out a low buzz of their own accord. Scores of honeybees were there, piled to either side of the filled-in hole. Their mandibles all had one thing in common: they were covered in the goo the hornets had used to plug up the hive. He felt one of the bees with his antennae and it twitched in response. Another was stirring, slowly getting to its feet.

Good, his wings buzzed—they were only temporarily paralyzed by the toxins.

He ambled up to the horrible-smelling gunk, and after only a moment’s hesitation, bit down into it. The flavor was even worse than the smell. The hornet venom suffusing the sticky substance was acidic and immediately made his mouth go numb. As with the honeybees, it clung to him, and he removed as much as he could by scraping himself against the hive’s walls. It was painstaking work, but he didn’t stop until enough was cleared away for the passage to once more be open.

He dashed off to gather loads of dirt, covering what slivers of hornet gunk remained. As he finished his last trip, the honeybee workers were getting to their feet. Others of the hive carried the recovering deeper inside, no doubt taking them to combs they could drain the honey from. With nothing else to be done, the bumblebee returned to the queen.

She was sequestered in a corner and surrounded by workers. He wondered at her actions, but then he noticed her abdomen undulate and expel a tiny white egg. He let out a shocked buzz and spun, averting his eyes. Unsure if he should be witnessing such a private moment, he had his back to her when the hive shook with a booming voice.

“What the frack?”

***

I had been unable to contain my excitement when I woke, and in the predawn light, I set off for the hive.

I’d only put the sugar water in there yesterday, but the prospect of the bees getting lured into it and making me some delicious honey filled me with anticipation. Before I could make it around the back of the tree, the pile of what had to be hundreds of honeybees brought me up short.

“What the frack?” I yelled, my stealth forgotten as I bent down.

They were unmoving, clearly dead.

“Where did they come from...?”

I looked up at the tree and spotted it immediately. Something had bored a hole into the back of the hive. The opening was large, and I leaned in closer, my stomach dropping.

***

The bumblebee flew toward the hornet-made entrance as fast as he could. The rent was too close to the queen’s chamber, and a random human poking around inside could spell the end of the hive if they accidentally damaged the queen. He dashed into view of the hole, buzzing his wings in threat and ready to attack if need be. When he saw the giant eye peering into the hive, he recognized it immediately; it belonged to the benevolent human that had shown him kindness before the bumblebee awakened.

The eye came even closer, and he froze, feeling naked beneath the weight of a cultivator’s gaze.

“Yooo! Is that you, Bumblebro?”

The bumblebee raised an arm, paused, then waved.

***

The sight of the bumblebee appearing to wave made my head dip backward, and despite the dire situation, I let out a chuckle.

“That almost looked like a wave.”

Yes, he buzzed.

“Right? It totally—wait, what?”

I blinked, and Bumblebro nodded.

“You can’t be serious...”

I leaned back and rubbed my head in frustration, letting out a groan.

“Did you drink that sugar water I put in the hive next door?”

Yes, he buzzed. The noise had an affirmative sound to it, and given the fact he’d waved and nodded, I knew it wasn’t just my imagination.

“Mate...”

I leaned down, going eye to compound eye with the insect. With how close I was, I noticed the changes to his body that I’d somehow missed—he was definitely bigger than when I’d held him between my fingers yesterday. His mandibles appeared deadly and they could have easily torn through the rear of the hive.

“I realize you’ve probably got a crazy amount of strength for a bee now, but just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you can go breaking into innocent honeybee hives and murdering the denizens. That’s super messed up, man.”

I rubbed my eyes.

“This is exactly what I was afraid of... I can’t believe using regular sugar made you awaken…”

The bumblebee made no move, merely sitting in the entrance and watching me intently.

No, he buzzed all of a sudden, then took flight.

I prepared myself, ready to bat away the little deviant if it tried to attack me, but it flew down to the ground.

No, he buzzed again.

He went to the pile of bodies below and started moving honeybees aside. He did it with a tremendous amount of care, seeming to show respect for the departed.

No, he kept buzzing. No. No. No.

One last bee was lifted and set aside with reverence, revealing something violently orange. He grabbed it in his mandibles and hauled out the headless body of a gigantic hornet. He pointed at it, gestured up at the hive, and let out a low drone with his wings that was laden with anger.

“Oh! The hornets did it?”

Yes.

“And you were just looting the honey after...” I winced, imagining the queen likely didn’t survive.

No, he buzzed.

“No...?”

He let out a ponderous vibration with his wings that I understood to mean: wait.

My eyebrows furrowed as I watched him go, disappearing back inside the hive.

***

As Bumblebro went to fetch the queen, his mind roiled.

The cultivator’s kind nature had been one thing, but learning that he had been the cause of the bumblebee’s awakening... it defied logic. The torrent of information pouring into his brain had slowed to a trickle, and of the myriad things he now knew to be true, a cultivator causing the ascension of other beings was not one of them.

When he reached the queen, he let out a thankful buzz that she was no longer laying eggs. She looked up at him, likely sensing the urgency held in the vibrations of his wings. Her wings made a questioning tone.

Friend, he buzzed, pointing to the path leading outside.

Friend?

Yes, he responded, his wings’ frequency holding a hint of urgency. Come.

Together, they flew out of the chamber.

***

When Bumblebro returned, I cocked my head to the side.

“What’s up, man? What did you want to show...”

I trailed off as the head of another insect peeked out. Bumblebro flew outside, and the queen joined him. They hovered before me, and after a moment’s hesitation, she waved.

A smile slowly spread over my face and a laugh tore from my throat. I tried to explain myself to the clearly confused insects, but each time I tried to speak, the laughter interrupted me.

“S-sorry,” I eventually got out. “I’m just so happy—this is amazing.”

They cocked their heads and both made the same questioning tone with their wings.

“All right.” I clapped my hands together. “I have so many questions to ask you two, and I’m sure you have some questions for me...”

Yes, they both agreed.

“Well, we can get to that, but more importantly, I have a trade deal to propose.”

I steepled my fingers, referencing a meme that went right over the insects’ fuzzy little heads, but that didn’t matter—I was still enjoying myself.

“Me and a bunch of the gang—well, it’s actually the whole gang, I suppose...” I shook my head and waved the tangent away. “Sorry, that’s not important—I’m just really excited right now.”

I smiled at the queen and got right to the point.

“How do you feel about trading some of your delicious honey to me?”

She made an unsure buzz.

“You can still say no, but after you get a taste of what I’m offering, I doubt you’ll be able to refuse.”

Both insects vibrated with curiosity, and my smile turned predatory.