After a nice, long sleep, the buccaneers woke up the next morning to find themselves on the shore near Big Bug Valley, where they hoped to find and gather the honey needed for Hook's medicinal tea. After a quick yet satisfying breakfast of yogurt with fresh fruit and granola (and topped with toasted coconut, courtesy of Cubby), they disembarked Bucky and started walking in the direction of the valley, according to Cubby's map. Jake could not help but notice that the closer they got to the valley, the larger things seemed to be getting, making it appear as if they were shrinking with each step. Finally, after a 30 minute walk, they entered the valley. It still never ceased to amaze the pirates how large everything was in this place, not the least of which were the insects that called it home.
"OK, Cubby. Where do we go from here?" Jake asked as he turned to his matey.
"According to my map, the beehive where we'll find the honey will be in the very center of the valley," Cubby answered. "All we need to do is keep following this path in order to reach it."
"Shiver me timbers," Izzy said as she looked all around. "I wonder what insects we'll get to see while we're here."
"Hopefully the only ones we'll ever see will be the giant honeybees," Cubby muttered as he gave a slight shiver.
"You know, Cubby, I don't see how you could still be terrified of this place," Skully wondered. "I mean, you seemed to like it after the last time we were here."
"The last time?" Bones asked. "Was that when we was all here lookin' for that giant...?"
Suddenly, Bones was interrupted by a gust of wind and a large shadow that blocked out the sun and practically covered the entire group. As they all looked up to try to find the shadow's source, they all had to shield their eyes, as whatever it was seemed to be causing the sun's rays, blocked as they were, to shoot out in every direction away from the large object at ten times their usual brightness. Yet even with their hands (and wing, in Skully's case) over their eyes, the pirates could all make out that the object eclipsing the sun was, in fact, a giant insect, it's beating wings causing the gusts of wind that was blowing around them. As the insect seemed to grow larger and larger, it became evident the thing was coming down to the ground. Bones, Sharky, Skully and the seapups all yelled and scattered in every direction to get out of the way. Finally, a loud THUMP! and a cease in the winds signaled the bug's landing.
The pirates went back to the area they ran from in a slow manner, not only because all but Cubby were curious to see what it was that had touched down, but also because whatever it was, it was blocking the path to the beehive. As they got closer, they could not believe what it was they were seeing. It was a huge creature about the length and width of Bucky, with wings, an exoskeleton, and antennae that glistened and shone like the sunlight that was reflecting off of it.
It was only after it started squeaking and squealing excitedly, especially at Cubby in particular, did they all realize: they knew this critter.
"Hey!" Cubby cried out happily, his whole mood changing in an instant. "It's our friend! The Golden Butterfly!"
Before anyone could stop or caution him, Cubby ran towards the butterfly, coming to a halt once he got up close.
"I wonder if he remembers me," Cubby said and, moving slowly and gingerly so as not to startle the insect, he extended his arm and laid one of his hands on its head, gently rubbing it up and down on the bug's head in exactly the same way he did when he first met it, back when it was a caterpillar. In response the butterfly, eyes closed and still smiling, contently snuggled its head against Cubby's hand. If the others didn't know better, they could have sworn they could hear it purring.
"Looks like he still does, Cubby," Jake said as he and the rest of the pirates approached the two friends. All took turns petting the butterfly, including Bones, who was just as happy to see the insect as Cubby was. Jake was a little torn, though. As much as he was excited to see the Golden Butterfly and wished they could stay and get re-acquainted, they did need to get going if they wanted to get to the beehive and collect the honey. Just as he was about to say something, Cubby, who must've been thinking the same thing, started pulling out his map.
"Guys, let me try something," Cubby said. To the butterfly, he asked, "Hey, do you think you could help us with something?"
The butterfly squeaked rapidly, almost like it was talking. Taking that to mean yes, Cubby showed the map to the insect and pointed to a spot on it. It was a picture of the honeybee hive.
"We're trying to get to this giant hive that's in the middle of Big Bug Valley," Cubby explained. "Do you think you can help us?"
To everyone's surprise and delight, the butterfly nodded yes and, turning a bit sideways, lowered its wings to the ground so that they almost looked like loading ramps. He looked at the pirates expectedly.
"Crackers! It looks like he's not just going to help us,"Skully interpreted. "He wants to give us a ride there."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bones happily asked as he first helped Cubby climb on the butterfly, then seated himself behind the boy. Sharky and Jake helped Izzy up next before they climbed and sat behind her. Skully landed on the butterfly's head, intending to give his wings a rest and experience what was sure to be a fantastic flight. Once they were comfortably settled, before anyone could ask if the butterfly even had the strength to carry all six of them, the giant wings started beating and the bug launched itself into the air and went in the direction the beehive was located. With the wind whipping through their hair and the magnificent view below, the ride was nothing less than exhilarating.
It did not take long for the pirates to see how far their destination really was, and that were it not for the butterfly's arrival, it would have taken them all day to even get there. Instead, within an hour Skully, Cubby, and Bones were the first to spot the extremely tall tree, as tall as London's Big Ben, from which the giant hive was hanging from one of its long branches.
"Bones!" Jake called. "How much longer do you think it will be before we reach the hive?"
"Oh, I say bout another 10 minutes," Bones guessed. "Why do you ask?'
"Because we need to figure out how we're going to get honey from the hive," Izzy answered instead. "I can't imagine we can just go in and collect it."
"Well, why not?" Sharky asked. "Bones an' me, we've done it before whenever the Cap'n ordered us to find and take stuff."
"I don't suppose that you and Bones ever had to try to sneak into a giant hive with hundreds of giant bees, each with a giant stinger," Jake said.
"Well, uh..no," Sharky had to admit. "No, we never did that."
"Don't worry, Sharky," Izzy reassured him. "We have time to come up with something."
Or they would have had time.
Fate, at that moment, decided to intervene once again.
Author's Note: Short and somewhat sweet, I know, but I did promise an update before another year was up, so here we are. I am working on the rest of the Big Bug Valley adventure, so hang in there guys. Thank you allvery much for nice compliments. I'm glad you are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing this. Don't worry, the story will not end once the pirates leave the valley. Don't forget, they still have their mysterious stalker to deal with.
PS: The teeny tiny easter egg I mentioned last chapter was Cubby saying the path to the milkweeds was the second from the right, like a certain star. All cue the collective moan.