fic: Pan's Labyrinth trial

[twinfangs]

There was a faerie who gave Hawke her task, an odd looking blue sprite with thin, leather wings that tugged at her hair and led her deep into the woods. As loathe as she was to leave the familiar sections of the town, her curiosity was not to be denied, and she followed it to a large oak tree that stood out among all of the others. There was a loud buzzing from one of the limbs, hidden among the leaves, and she peered up quizzically.

A piece of honeycomb is what you seek. The only clue given to her, buzzed in her ear before the faerie saw fit to depart, leaving her to wonder if she'd truly seen it. Her eyes went back to the mess of leaves atop the tree and only then did she see the enlarged hive. It was as big as she was, practically a part of the tree, and the humming she could hear from inside spoke of the population of insects it held.

"Not so hard," she murmured, beginning to climb. As a girl, she'd caught some honey for her mother before. Her father had taught her his method of smoking them out; when she was older, a man in Lothering showed her a slightly different method, one for those without magic. She didn't have the tools with her to do such an efficient job of it. She did, however, have one of her miasmic flasks, and she hoped that would work well enough. Her blade was curved, giving her a way inside of the hive if she cut as carefully as she could. She wasn't stung as she opened the hive, nor was she attacked by anything as she slipped inside.

...And slipped was the most apt word for it. The comb coating the sides of the opening gave way and she fell inside, landing with practiced grace at the bottom. But the fall was greater than she anticipated, the hive covering the entirety of the inner tree itself. And inside were ferociously large, mulling insects, all of them huddled and buzzing, the cacophony enough to make her dizzy with the sound. Their bodies were fuzzy and sharp; Hawke moved to keep them at bay so she could slog her way around, the little light given allowing her to see where she needed to go. The comb was at the back, guarded by a mass of bees. Inside of the throng was something else, something she couldn't quite distinguish, though it was even larger than the insects she'd seen so far.

As she drew closer, her hand going into her belt for the flask, she heard it. There was a voice, distorted, calling to her from within the writhing colony of bodies. The hand on her blade only tightened, and it was only then that the bodies moved so she could see the large head and body that could only have belonged to the queen. And unless Hawke had fallen a little harder than she'd imagined, it was talking to her.

"Leave. There is nothing here for you." She stared at it. The buzzing only continued, louder now, enough to make her wince from the sound as it grated. "LEAVE." The others buzzed with her, the sound deafening, and Hawke even considered turning around and running.

But that wasn't how she worked.

Hawke took a breath and tossed the flask right at the queen, and when it exploded, the mist flitted about the hive. Her eyes watered even as she ducked forward, blade drawn, and plunged it past a furry body and into the comb. All she needed was one piece, just enough to fill a satchel. She grabbed a fistful and ripped it free, stumbling back into the mist that was trapped in the hive. She grinned at her prize.

In Kirkwall, the flask could keep enemies stunned for at least half a minute. But even that wasn't allotted to her; the queen's buzzing turned into something akin to a shriek and the other bees stirred, all of them setting their sights on the trespasser within the hive. She leaped for the opening she'd carved into the hive and pulled herself out through it, the comb in her hands shoved into a pouch at her belt. The wax crumbled in her grip and fell back into the bottom of the hive, honey and wax sticking to her armor, her arms, and anywhere else it could. She tried again and managed to grip the edges of the opening, the momentum allowing her to vault herself up. But that didn't keep her protected when a clump of buzzing bodies collided with her back, and it didn't keep her from being stung even as she climbed out of the hive and fell the several feet down, out of the tree and onto the ground.

They didn't let her get far, swarming down on her, and she drew her second blade to engage them. She cut them down, one by one, through the first seven that tried to attach themselves onto her. But then more climbed out of the hive and she gave up the fight, slicing through another and then making a break for it through the trees. They chased her into the woods, following the scent of the honey encrusted on her armor. Every now and then, she turned, engaging them again; every time, she received another sting for her troubles, urging her to keep running.

Here!

Hawke caught sight at last of the blue faerie that had originally followed her, darting between the trees. She followed it, weaving her way through the brush. Here, here! The buzzing wasn't far behind. She pushed herself to keep running in the hopes that she'd be led to safety... And she found it when the faerie stopped and she couldn't stop in time, feet skidding as she suddenly pitched over the edge of the overhang and fell into the lake below.