Chapter 170 - The Butterfly And The Bees

"I have a plan, but you all need to stay put."

"What? We're coming with you, Miss Nabi!"

"No, I said stay put, I would rather do this myself than put you guys to risk."

"But we're your people, Miss Nabi, we're here to help you."

"No, I am the only and most capable one of doing this trick with the humans so stay put, I doubt they would kill a butterfly as beautiful as me," Miss Nabi said and smiled at her people who looked at her with somber eyes.

"How about Petunia? What should we do with her?" Hodgewart asked while looking at Petunia as if he was pitiful of her.

How could he not though? When she had been trying to run away from the village several times without even knowing where to go or what to do. She would even forget her name sometimes and panic whenever she sees her own tail and whiskers.

"Just woo her like a baby and try to deal with her calmly, even brainless animals would respond calmly to a calm approach.. Just don't try to explain everything to her in one go or she will freak out again."

"Okay Miss Nabi, have a safe trip out there," Hodgewart said and bowed to her with all of his respect.

He had never seen anyone else as benevolent as Miss Nabi before, especially to strangers she had just met and knew nothing of.

Just like him when she first found him crying alone in the woods for being abandoned, Miss Nabi didn't ask him anything and just let him in on the village and became her trusty follower ever since.

Although his interest in being with Heize still didn't change, Miss Nabi sure did leave an impression to him that he would always have a place to go even if the world turns its back on him.

And he hoped Petunia could feel the same, even if she ended up forgetting everything about herself and her past life, he hoped she could still be the same goal-driven and stubborn Petunia that he just met a few days ago.

But there was one thing that kept bothering Hodgewart's mind ever since he got to talk to Petunia about Heize. It was the fact that Heize was Petunia's master and she was her student, and that could only mean one thing.

Heize could actually know something about Petunia and even help her get her memory back!

"I know what you're thinking Hodgewart, don't try anything stupid. I'll be back before you even know it," Miss Nabi said and gave Hodgewart a kiss in the nose and everyone else in the village before departing.

"Okay, I should trust Miss Nabi and her plan first. If her plan didn't get any information about Petunia, then I'll have no choice but to go to Heize and ask her about it instead," Hodgewart muttered to himself and turned around, only to saw Petunia listening to what he was saying and looking at him like she was interested in it as well.

***

"Okay, first I need to find a human. Second, I need to stay out of insectivore zones, and third, I need to head back before sunset. But where is the closest human village from this forest though? I have been staying out here for so long that I can't remember a single human village anymore from around here," Miss Nabi muttered to herself while flying at a very low altitude so she could at least hide in the snow if ever an insectivore comes and threatens her life.

"Oh, a bee! Hey! Bee! Yoohoo! It's me! Captain Nabi!" Miss Nabi shouted after seeing a beehive three trees away from her.

But just as she was about to knock on the beehive's door, a hummingbird suddenly dived right in on her, almost destroying her wings if only the bees decided to open their doors a little too late for her.

"Phew! That was close!" 

"Miss Nabi!" The bees greeted her with a warm hug after seeing her from inside their house, but when they noticed Miss Nabi panting, they immediately figured out that there was something wrong.

"What's wrong? Did someone chase you outside?" one of the workers asked.

"More like it's still waiting for her outside," another one of the workers said while peeking from one of the still open honeycombs.

"Do you need our help, Miss Nabi? Just say the word and we will gladly sting that bird for you."

"And risk your life? No thanks little missy, I am just here to ask a few questions about humans... and hide from that bird for a few minutes," Miss Nabi said shyly.

"Humans? What about them?" a honey-like voice suddenly came from the ceiling of the hive which Miss Nabi immediately recognized as their queen.

She was even being carried by her servants down to pay respects to this majestic green butterfly friend.

"Midayna!" Miss Nabi greeted her with all her might and even hugged her which the bees love seeing so much because of her shiny black and green wings being wrapped around their queen and leaving some glitters of it on her furry skin. 

"Oh, just a little info about them, you see I need to look for one right now but living in the woods for too long made me forget where I can find one."

"And you think we know where they are?" Midayna laughed as she thought it was a joke, but when she saw Miss Nabi's modest smile, she immediately fixed her posture and tone, and said, "well, we do know of some humans wandering around this place at times to steal our honey. I think he came from the southern part of this place, not far from the end of the forest where the checkpoint border is at. You'll see a lot of people out there in lines just like my cute little workers," she whispered the last sentence and laughed.

And since Midayna said so, it must be real that there are a lot of people just outside of the forest, considering the fact that her workers need to collect pollen from as far as they could just to survive.

"Wow, that's such helpful information Queen Midayna! I'm glad I came here to ask for help, thank you very much!" Miss Nabi said and immediately opened her wings to fly off, but the worker bees quickly blocked the door.

"What about that hummingbird outside?"

"Should we scare it away for you? I heard that bird is scared of bees."

"You should do that," Midayna suggested and stood beside Miss Nabi while her workers flew out of the honeycomb at the same time.

"Thank you for your help, Queen Midayna, I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Captain Nabi. Your village has helped our colony multiple times already, when will we get the time to pay back your kindness if not now?" Midayna said and smiled at her like the humble and kind Queen that she is.