Honeysuckle
by KC
Disclaimer: I don't own these two at all. Disturb not the mouse.
Warnings: none
Summary: (ficlet) Stealing honey from the bees is dangerous. It's even more nervewracking with all of Pixie Hollow watching.
The buzz of the bee hive was so loud that Vidia felt it deep in her bones. She crouched behind a branch across from the swirling cloud of bees and waited. her pouch dangled at her hip.
Dulcie had wanted fresh honey from the hive for years, but this hive wasn't just the busiest in the Hollow. Fly too close and you'd be chased away if not stung to death by an angry swarm. The few bits that dripped to the grass below were the sweetest and most succulent to be found, and Dulcie craved enough to bake with, but no one could streak past the bees fast enough to grab even a handful.
At least no one but Vidia. She snuck honey from here all the time, although she didn't let anyone know. Otherwise she knew Dulcie would beg Queen Clarion, who would add honey gathering to Vidia's duties. If the other fairies thought she wasn't fast enough to dodge the bees, she didn't let them think otherwise. But in a moment of weakness while defending Vidia's honor in front of disparaging fairies, Prilla had let the secret slip.
The moment it left her mouth, Prilla had clapped her hands over her lips, but too late. Tinkerbell, Rani and the rest crowded Vidia, demanding why she had kept that a secret, why wouldn't she share, she probably couldn't do it anyway and she shouldn't be allowed to tell lies to an innocent fairy like Prilla.
Only that last comment kept Vidia from flying off in a huff. They'd banned her from going near Mother Dove. They'd nearly sent her away from Pixie Hollow entirely. Could they ban her from seeing Prilla? Say that her relationship with the newest arrival was wrong on so many levels and gently push Prilla away, telling her that proper fairies don't befriend the misfit who didn't even live in the Hollow.
"Proper fairies," Vidia muttered. As if there was anything proper about Prilla. She'd always been queer--saying 'sorry' instead of 'fly backwards if I could' and 'hello' instead of 'fly with you', and still the only one of her talent. Prilla had confided that she knew she was different, that too much of the clumsy child had gone with the baby's first laugh into Prilla. She was as singular as Vidia who stole, lied and raced hawks for fun. Both of them had been alone from the other fairies for too long.
You'd think they'd be happy the queer ones found each other, but nooo... Vidia glowered darkly and examined the pattern of the bees' flight, looking for an opening.
A whisper at her shoulder startled her.
"Don't do it," Prilla said in a tiny voice.
Cutting off her insult, Vidia snapped around, glaring at the fairies sitting in the trees around them. All the fairies in Pixie Hollow hid behind broad leaves and rocks and the tall grass, eager to watch her try. Vidia fumed. They'd said they would keep Prilla safely with them. All of them kept well away, too scared to brave coming even this close to the hive.
"It's dangerous," Prilla said softly, creeping close. Her acorn hat hid her bright hair and her pink dress looked like a pile of fallen petals. No bee would think she was a thieving fairy. "Please? They don't think you can do it anyway."
Vidia nodded. "That's why I have to."
"Huh?" Prilla tilted her head. "I don't get it."
Usually such innocence and naive belief made Vidia roll her eyes. Prilla, though... All the other fairies wanted to protect her, but Vidia knew better. That kind of innocence would burn away, and Prilla needed someone who knew what that felt like.
"I'll explain why later," Vidia said. "For now, keep quiet and don't get any closer."
She flitted off before Prilla could protest, knowing the younger fairy wouldn't risk flying through the swarm.
The beehive proper hung off of a large branch, but the tree was half hollow and the bees had made it into one big honeycomb. The leaves trembled with the humming, and little of the bark could be seen between the bees. Even so, Vidia heard the fairies gasp as she slowed down, curled up and joined the pattern.
The secret, she knew, was not to zip in, snatch the honey and zip out. That was impossible. The true secret was to watch the swarm for the individuals within it, to camouflage her flight as if she was an oddly colored bee and join the pattern of curlicue paths. After a few minutes of watching, it was easy to discern their corkscrew trails in the air and slip in.
Fast flight, she had once told Prilla, wasn't just about flying fast. It was about precision, darting through the forest so fast that one mistake would be fatal, and the bees were nothing if not precise.
Soon she was right against the honey comb. Shaking her wings as if shaking off pollen, she gathered honey into her pouch and into her cupped hands, and made her way out of the hive, out of the swarm.
Prilla lay still as she watched her come out, quickly sitting up as Vidia landed. The forest was silent. Even the bees seemed to have grown quiet. Vidia couldn't help but smile triumphantly at the fairies who stared and seethed. Vidia had proven she wasn't a liar, not this time. And she'd proven that Prilla would take the risk of braving further than any of the other fairies, cleverly moving like a falling petal or creeping caterpillar. Tinkerbell clenched her hands into fists and stomped once, but neither she nor anyone else would fly any closer.
The bees swirled overhead and all around them, creating a pocket of stillness as Vidia knelt. Without a word, Vidia held out her hands, and Prilla didn't hesitate, crawling on her hands and knees across the open ground. Tinkerbell and the others froze, eyes wide. Prilla looked less like a fairy and more like some strange wild creature as she stopped in front of Vidia, leaning forward and lapping the honey directly from her fingers.
end