Short Secluded Stories

The Bees - Stripes of Honor

(Dedicated to a friend for their incredible work and immense gratitude)

With great power comes great responsibility. Words tried and true amongst those fortunate enough to wield such an enamored ability for themselves.

One's will to keep the balance in tact for others - admirable and righteous. It is those who also make these difficult decisions that allow such an environment to thrive and prosper.

For if any part of the system becomes unchained, the consequences placed on everyone will be devastating, with only the efforts of those unfit to rule over, leading to innate compromise amongst the plane.

Patrols and security for the hive are at an all-time high as of late. With only those with thoroughly examined cards being allowed in or out.

Among those who are dedicated travelers to and from the hive floats a rather auspicious and hardworking bee that is doing what they can every day and more outside their routine schedule.

They not only work for themselves but also for the Queen in between excursions outside the usual checks.

And every time with the patrols, they'd have to hear their name being shouted and given a good minute while they turned the pages of names till it landed on his - Opal.

To which afterward he was able to go on and do his work and much more if he so pleased. And it worked out for him for the foreseeable future... least that was supposed to be the case.

The day started out like any other: Getting dressed, both comb and oil wings for prolonged use, eat a meal that'll last at least half the day... the same way most others had to before flying out the complex he thought.

Sometimes, Opal would see his friend Forest fighting to get himself worked up from his slumber. Most of the time, it's Rocky and his self-imposed strictness that keeps any sense of himself from showing even outside of work hours. And every now and then, there's a glimpse of Xena as she takes herself the time to properly be ready for the tasks ahead.

For the most part, however, there was only so much time that could be allocated outside work hours to allow catching any of them at an appropriate hour. Regardless, Opal still cherished their companionship.

Whether or not a friend of his approaches or not, the next stop was getting to the outside, which requires his card, something that is essentially needed at all times even outside of these excursion checks.

Once they checked the books, he was free to fly around and pillage the flowers for any and all nectar needed to produce the ever growing honey stockpile.

This took a while. It actually makes up the grand majority of the day doing such a task. To have any downtime during this is exceptionally rare. But, on the bright side, he can have as many breaks needed so as to conserve energy.

And so long as his task is complete, who would mind the extra bit of rest? He has some difficulties getting some as is, so a few short naps wouldn't hurt anyone.

Opal relished these small moments. And it's no surprise that being exhausted is inevitable with a strenuous job as this. With the sun basking down on your body and the leaf cooling you off too, it's no wonder he likes taking these when he can.