Two days had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, and yet, the world had carried on as if it hadn't just witnessed pure chaos.
During this period, the bees slowly settled into a new, somewhat terrifyingly organized rhythm within their hive, thanks to a certain someone who caused them to question whether they were really bees or flying hyenas.
"Sister, please take this piece of meat away. If you do, I will treat you as my life savior!"
Boohoo!
'We can't eat anymore! We dare not eat anymore — bleurgh!'
While the bees are taking a shift of diet and facing the most traumatic period of their existence, as for the red bear... well, he was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened to him.
When he first opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a damp, cold cellar deep within the cavern. His limbs were bound—tossed aside as if he were a ragdoll by the very creatures that had taken his pride, his dignity, and perhaps even his sanity to say the least.
The seeping ray of sunlight barely touched the jagged stone walls, and the only thing he could focus on was the anger boiling inside him.
The very idea of what had transpired—of being handled by a tiny, vengeful insect with a dumb crown—nearly sent him into a frenzy.
"Just you wait! Once I get out of here, I'm gonna tear that bee apart and make it regret ever licking me on the face!" the bear roared, his body stiff with fury.
With a casual flex, he snapped the twigs that had bound his wrists as if they were nothing.
His mind immediately flashed to that moment—the horror of realizing that the Queen Bee had hijacked his body, controlling it like a puppet, while he could do nothing but watch, helpless, as she used his face, his lips—his precious lips—to… well, to do whatever it was she had done and feed him its saliva.
"F*CK!"
The sheer indignity of it all was too much!
He could still feel the burn of her tongue in his mouth, a feeling that sent a sick, disgusted shudder through him. His pride—gone. Reduced to nothing. His body, once a mighty force in the wilds, had been utterly violated in the most intimate of ways.
How could he ever face his future mate with his virtue already tarnished? If this matter were to arise, would a female still accept him?
"Gwaargh!"
Furious and frustrated, he growled again, the rage simmering beneath his chest, desperate to rip through the walls of the cave and find the Queen Bee.
But as he tried to rise, something felt... off. His body didn't obey the way it once did. A sudden, sharp confusion gripped him. It was only then that he realized that something was amiss.
"What the— What happened to my fur?!" he barked in disbelief, frantically touching his back, searching for the thick crimson pelt that had been his pride.
Did he— don't tell him he turned bald?!
He flinched.
No! Anything but going bald and unappealing!
The mere thought of losing hair was enough to drain the blood on his face. The red bear felt like he had lost ten years of his life. In place of his precious hide, his fingers found smooth, unfamiliar skin instead.
Not only that—but as he glanced down at his limbs, panic surged through him.
"My paw! My claws! They're—they're gone!" He froze, heart pounding, unable to grasp what was happening.
His once massive paws had turned into... hands?
And, these hands—his hands—it was the first time he had seen such changes but one thing is for sure, compared to his sharp furry claws, these were so fragile-looking. He winced in contempt and took a rugged deep breath.
So, what he saw before losing consciousness wasn't a dream?
"That insect bastard fed me something and… and now—" He wasn't the towering, hulking beast he had been moments ago.
Now he was... this puny existence?
His voice, deep and rough, had also changed. It was akin to human, but something about it felt wrong.
So damn wrong—
"Wait… a second..." he muttered, blinking in disbelief. He instinctively touched his face, trying to confirm that he wasn't losing his mind. His heart raced, and without a second thought, he scrambled to his feet, wobbling slightly before staggering toward a puddle of water on the cave floor.
The reflection that greeted him was almost too much to bear.
"Is this... really me?" he muttered, eyes wide in stunned confusion.
Gone was the matted fur, replaced by smooth, pale skin. He recoiled at the sensation of it—the touch of something so... soft, so vulnerable. But as he went on, it didn't look bad at all.
For a moment, he felt a pang of horror, but unlike before, his stomach wasn't churning in disgust. Anxious butterflies, frantically swarming in anticipation were now swirling inside his stomach.
The growl that escaped him was a rasp, but this time, there was no power behind it. Instead, it was a sound born of a strange mix of astonishment and... was that hope?
That's right. His heart was pounding so hard and beating expectantly.
Was this some kind of twisted evolution? A miraculous shift?
His mind raced, struggling to comprehend what had suddenly transpired. Still, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he would never dare to miss or deny now that he had reckoned what it was about.
The bear solemnly closed his eyes, focusing on the center of his abdomen, where his primal energy should reside.
A burst of energy surged through him, sharp and raw, taking root deep inside. And there it was.
A tiny core.
A small, pulsing seed of power, no larger than a bean, nestled within his body. His heart leaped as he examined it. And then he saw it—a single unassuming dot etched on his wrist.
The bear brushed it off as it wasn't a part of his concern at this moment.
Pak!
"Ow! Damn, that hurts." He groaned and rubbed the large red handprint on his face. That is to say, he didn't really hold back in that strike but even with his swollen and throbbing cheek, the glee in him didn't fade.
If it hurts this badly, then it definitely isn't a dream!