Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch19: The Hive

Six closed her eyes, and braced herself for the impact as she fell. The fall was terrifying as she didn't know when she would hit the ground. But suddenly, her fall was cushioned by a soft, sticky substance. She opened her eyes, and was greeted with a golden area all around her, covered in the same substance she landed in. She got up, just in time to witness Mono hitting the ground. At least he landed safely this time, Six thought. Suddenly, a giant burst of black energy hit the ground. Soon after, the knight walked out of it. Six held her fear inside, walked over to help Mono out of the sticky, golden liquid he fell in.

"Why did you jump after me?" She asked as she helped him up.

"I didn't want you to be all alone," Mono replied. "I know how it feels to fall down a deep hole with no one to help you. I don't want anyone else to feel that."

His words made Six feel uncomfortable. They were nice words to say, but they reminded her of what she did to him. That was something she wanted to forget.

Once Mono was out, Six looked around again. "Where are we?" She asked.

The knight walked up to her, and showed her a section of its map labeled, "The Hive". It then proceeded to show her and Mono all of the bugs that resided here in the hunter's journal.

"If any of you are going to get hungry, I'd say do it now," Mono said.

"Why?" Six asked.

"Because there's honey everywhere!" He said happily. "Have you never had honey Six?"

Six shook her head.

"Well try some!"

The knight grabbed her hand, and shook its head. Six looked at it, confused. The knight stuck its nail into the wall, and carved the word "WAX" into it.

"Oh, sorry," Mono said.

Six shrugged. She wasn't too ecstatic about trying it. The knight took the lead, and Six followed behind, holding Mono's hand. As they walked along the stick floors of the hive, Six realized the place smelled... sweet. It was certainly a nice change from the disgusting smell of the Maw. And the place looked fairly nice compared to the Maw's metal walls and dark rooms. She kinda liked this place.

"Are you gonna ditch them?" Her shadow said out of nowhere.

Oh come on! Six thought.

"Wow, that's a nice welcome. First you ignore me for a great long time, and once I come back you treat me like this?" Her shadow asked. "Do you really hate yourself that much?"

Six said nothing.

"Ignoring me again huh? Like that's gonna do anything," shadow Six said. "But hey, at least you've got two friends to help you."

Two? Who's the other? Six thought.

"Ah, so you still don't trust the little knight. Good to see you haven't changed," shadow Six said. "Even though it protected you, helped you, and fought for you, you still don't trust it."

I can't. Six thought.

"Can you?" Her shadow asked. "Seems to me like you're already started to trust it."

Six did nothing.

"Oh, don't tell me you already forgot about what you did in the kitchen? How you saved the knight and fought alongside it?" Her shadow teased. "You're well on your way to getting a new friend to drop."

"SHUT UP!" Six yelled.

Suddenly, she realized she said that out loud.

"I know, that buzzing is really annoying," Mono replied.

Six sighed in relief. He didn't know about her shadow. Speaking of which, her shadow seemed to have left. Good. Six hated how her shadow reminded her of everything she wanted to forget. And most of all, she hated when her shadow was right. She thought about what she had said about the knight. She didn't want to trust it, but at the same time, she kind of wanted to. The knight could be a powerful enemy, and if it was protecting her, then maybe she could feel safe. Yes, that was the reason. She didn't trust the knight, she just didn't want to get on it's bad side. Yes, that was it, nothing else.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a loud buzzing from right behind her. She turned around and saw a giant bee screaming at them. Its stinger burst out of its body with several spikes around it, moving like it was a jaw. Six yelped, alerting Mono and the knight. The bee dove towards them with its stinger, and everyone scattered to avoid it. The bee's stinger drilled into the wall, and the knight rushed in to strike it.

Six took a few deep breaths, but then noticed other bees were coming down from above. She drew her shovel and managed to fight off some of the smaller bees. Another big bee revealed its stinger, and swooped down towards her. The stinger drilled into the wall, and suddenly got stuck it a large blob of honey. Six stood up, but suddenly hunched over.

Her stomach growled. She clenched her body in pain, looking around for something to eat. Her eyes looked at Mono, the knight, the bees, and then to the big bee stuck in the wall. Her mouth started drooling as she smelled the sweet, golden honey covering the bee. She limped towards it, her stomach growled even more. The bee looked at her, and started panicking, trying to get its stinger free. Six inched closer, and saw the bee panic even more.

She smiled.

She enjoyed seeing it in fear.

She reached out her arms, and grabbed the head of the bee.

It desperately struggles in her grasp, making her smile more.

Six opened her jaws.

The bee looked right into her careless and emotionless eyes.

Her stomach growled even louder.

She hunched back,

And sunk her teeth into the terrified bee's face, ripping it apart and eating it up.

Delicious.

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Did you feel bad for the bee? So did I.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Except for the end. Poor bee.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye!