Getting back home was a tremendous relief. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy wandering around and seeing new things, and I loved hanging around Brio and Aeris, but there was just something especially comforting about being in a familiar territory, where everything from the creek and stones was familiar and I knew where everything was in relation to anything else.
Aeris had gone off on her own, stating that she needed to get ready for her date. Further questions were playfully ignored, and at last, Brio and I let her go without further objection. No doubt by the time her date was over, she would be more than happy to spill all the details to us, barring that it didn't go disastrously.
I reclined against one of the trees, taking a deep breath. Brio sat down across from me, his eyes studying me in much the same way I've seen him staring at one of his books. I thought nothing of it at first, but after a while, the staring started to bother me a bit.
"Hey, Brio? Staring at me makes the silence awkward, so please say what's on your mind before I hit you," I said, my tails flicking. Brio's ear twitched and he considered me in continued silence. I sighed and made a playful fist with one paw.
"I'm just thinking of something," Brio said quickly, casting my paw a wary glance. I chuckled and slowly extended the paw towards him. Brio didn't flinch, but he shifted his center of gravity nearer to the ground, giving him the subtle appearance of ducking or preparing to dodge.
"I've been thinking, too, but I haven't felt obligated to stare at you yet. That could be coming in a few minutes, so stay tuned," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I want to go to the local Beedrill nest."
The Glaceon's jaw dropped. "What? Why?"
"Sure, Aeris stole that tablet from them, but maybe they can give us a hint what it is, or where they got it before Aeris found it," I explained, raising a claw when Brio prepared to object. "We don't have to admit our friend stole it, okay? And what if that Servine followed Aeris to the library, because the Beedrill told her to get it back for them?"
Brio pulled a face. "I don't think that's likely."
"Well, we may as well give it a shot anyway. Nothing better to do and I've already fulfilled my quota of not doing anything this morning, so let's go."
Although I give the ice Eon credit for actually coming with me, he spent the first five minutes explaining to me in minute detail exactly what was likely to result from entering hostile territory in order to question the inhabitants about a sensitive subject and reminding them that Aeris taunted them earlier this morning. Interestingly, half his scenarios ended with us getting horribly stung, and the best case scenarios were dubbed 'anti-climaxes'. I really hope someone tells him the difference between fiction and reality soon, because the line seems to have been blurred over the years.
The Beedrill territory wasn't remotely difficult to find; all one had to do was follow the buzzing in the background. The louder the buzzing, the closer one was to the hive. Brio had fallen silent when he first caught the sound of the bees, which I appreciated, considering how discouraging his comments had become, to say nothing of how they distracted me from working out a plan of how to attack this subject.
It was only a matter of moments before the trees branched out and the buzzing was all around us. Brio and I gazed apprehensively at the trees and bushes, and I was just wondering whether there'd be some sort of ambush when a pair of yellow and black striped insects with deadly stingers on their forelegs darted into our path, buzzing impolitely near our ears, their wings a blur of motion.
"Who are you?" the Beedrill on the left demanded, the third stinger beneath its abdomen pointed towards us aggressively. The second Beedrill was watching us far more passively, yet with an evident no-nonsense attitude.
"I'm Syren." I jerked my paw towards Brio, "He's Brio. Your turn." Okay, so I wasn't expecting them to answer, but it seemed like a good way to respond. The two Beedrill exchanged glances and the second one moved forward a little.
"How may we help you two?" it asked, with a disturbing amount of tenderness to its voice. You haven't seen weird until a Beedrill of all things speaks to you like a mother to a lost child.
"Just walking around," I answered, my tails twitching slightly. "Nothing wrong with that, I hope."
"Depends on your intentions, Twin Tails," the first Beedrill interjected, the words layered with suspicion. 'Twin Tails'? That hardly seemed like an inventive name to call a Buizel. Maybe it just wasn't trying with that one. The corners of my mouth twitched. This was almost too good to pass up.
"Fun fact: my right tail is actually a tenth of an inch shorter."
"Left tail." I turned towards the Glaceon, eyebrow raised.
"Beg your pardon?"
"Your left tail is shorter," Brio repeated clearly, making a circular gesture with his paw. I looked at him blankly for a few seconds.
"You're not like...studying my tails...right?" I ventured hesitantly. I'm not usually self-conscious, but the nonchalant way he corrected me gave me the impression he had known this detail long before I brought up, and quite honestly, that was just weird. Was he just really bored whenever he didn't have a book under his nose?
Brio gave a sort of half-shrug. "I've been reading about body language, and your tails are more expressive and obvious than your facial expressions." That explained so much and yet so little.
"Ahem," one Beedrill interrupted, its eyes glaring at us. "Why are you here?"
"Just passing through, for the most part," I answered with a casual shrug. "Although, now that I think of it, I was wondering if you could answer me a question or two." It may just have been my imagination, but both Beedrill seemed to tense abruptly. I took a half-pace backwards, nearly tripping over my tails, and raised my arms slightly. "Just wondering..."
"What do you want?" the previously kinder Beedrill asked, the gentleness evaporating from its voice with every word, so that the word 'want' was practically spat.
I hesitated. My plans for initiating the sensitive topic had relied on them not turning hostile before I even asked the question. Not asking would probably aggravate them more, and improvising a different question was more trouble than it could possibly be worth, unless we really were about to get stung to death.
"I'm looking for something, um...some sort of tablet-" I ducked as one of the Beedrill jabbed a stinger at me. Holy hell, I didn't expect that reaction. Brio let out a cry of surprise and I backpedaled hastily, holding up my arms again in a desperate attempt to soothe the aggression. The Beedrill hadn't made a second strike, but the aggressive buzzing around us had seemed to get kicked up a notch. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked, my courage starting to fail me.
"You're in league with her, aren't you?" the aggressive Beedrill demanded. My heart sank, my mind searching for an answer, an excuse, but anything I could come up with would only confirm that I knew who Aeris was, and that couldn't end well for me.
"Who?" Brio asked, hastily pushing me out of the spotlight before I could answer. A wave of relief washed over me. That was the best thing to respond with: ignorance. If we didn't admit we knew who they were talking about, they couldn't confirm we were friends with the Gligar that mocked and robbed them.
"Don't play dumb," the Beedrill snapped. "She wanted our Plate and tore our hive apart looking for it! And I swear that if you're with her, I will brand your body with the stings of vengeance for all my kin that she harmed!"
I shuddered. Aeris never mentioned anything like that, and I couldn't believe she had harmed anyone unnecessarily. Even in self-defense, she rarely resorted to more than a few blows. She was adamant about claiming treasures, but to cause a lot of damage wasn't her style.
"Take it easy," the second Beedrill urged its partner. "We told her what she wanted to know about the Gligar, so this could all be a giant coincidence-"
"Gligar?" I repeated. Wait, so there was someone else involved, not Aeris? That would explain a lot, and make this a communication breakdown, rather than Aeris being uncharacteristically violent.
The Beedrill frowned at me. "Some cocky Gligar girl from this morning stole something from us. Then she came."
"Who's this she that you keep mentioning?" I asked, mimicking the insect's emphasis. This earned me a glare from all present. Evidently I wasn't helping.
"Some psychotic Servine."
"And...what is this 'Plate' that she wanted?" I asked. It was an answer I already knew (kind of), but after the communication error regarding Aeris' actions, I wanted to verify I was on the right track. Besides, it could give us some information or clue about the stolen treasure's value or origin.
The Beedrill scowled. "It was an heirloom of our hive, owned by our first queen. It had incredible sentimental value, yet that Gligar stole it and that insane Servine wanted it and was willing to cut us all down until we caved. It was all we could do to convince her it had been taken already."
That explained a great deal. The Servine hadn't been an ally of the Beedrill as I originally thought. Instead, she was another individual who wanted the tablet Aeris had taken. It may have been pure coincidence that Aeris had taken it the same day the Servine arrived, but for all I knew there were other factors or reasons there had been an incident here.
"Okay, uh...thanks for your time," I said, feeling increasingly awkward. How does one move away from a Beedrill hive without running for their lives? For that matter, I was still in shock that we had managed to get this far into a conversation.
"Hold on," the more aggressive Beedrill said and I felt a shiver run along the back of my neck for some reason I couldn't explain. "Why these questions and this interest, if you're not in league with her?"
I rolled my eyes. "If we were in league with her, why would we be looking for something she already has?"
There was a noticeable silence, absolute to the point where one could hear a pin drop. Even the buzzing of Beedrill wings had vanished, which was quite the achievement, considering the wings hadn't stopped moving. Both insects stared at me ominously and I fidgeted.
"I said something stupid, didn't I?"
"You just let slip we know Huntress has their Plate," Brio agreed, scratching his neck sheepishly. In an instant, the Beedrill pair forgot I existed and focused intently upon the ice Eon. His vaguely amused smile rapidly shifted to a look of confusion, and then finally settled on horrified realization.
"Gotta go," I said, turning on my heel, just to find a Beedrill hovering before me, foreleg pointed at my chest. "Or...not?" I ventured, cringing from the poisonous stinger.
The Beedrill almost smirked. "Not yet. It's our turn for questions now..."
That doesn't sound good.