Once, you were wandering around in nature, rather far from home. You had no particular intent, but were simply enjoying the exploration of a place you'd never been before. You came upon the edge of what appeared to be a forest. You wandered closer, thinking to yourself that you hadn't thought there was a forest here. You looked up at the tall, green trees to see hundreds of peaceful little honeybees buzzing about. From such a distance, the sound was almost comforting.
Once you had almost breached the forest, the buzzing grew louder and more intense. You realized that the bees had surrounded you entirely. You felt vaguely as if they wanted something from you, and decided against fighting and eating them, or trying to force your way through a volley of stinging. You stretched out your arms in good faith, and the bees responded in kind. They swarmed to cloak you, but there was no malice in the action. Indeed, you felt that the understanding of their base desire you had experienced went both ways, and made it known to the bees that you wanted to wear them as a shirt.
The bees, respecting not only your calm and reasonable nature, but also your quick understanding and usage of your shared communicative link, happily complied with your wish. Your shirt of bees felt strange, but not unpleasant. It provided a sense of protection like you had never experienced before. More physically, the efforts of the bees themselves offered a sense of guidance and direction, which you recognized would be invaluable in this deep and unfamiliar forest. As you felt the bees gently urge you to enter the forest, you decided to place the whole of your trust in them and follow where you felt them lead.
You took your first step into the forest. At once you could feel that the bees had much more influence over reality in this place, and you knew that your trust had not been misplaced. You quickly lost any physical perception of the world outside the forest, as if you were in a separate plane of reality somehow. But this feeling was soothing rather than frightening to you.
You could see a path laid out before you. Not with your eyes, of course; the surrounding wilderness seemed entirely untouched by human hands. But the path the bees were taking you on was clearer than anything you could have imagined before that moment. You felt a deep sensation of peace wash over you at the same time as you were being filled with purpose. Your ability to bask in the depths of these newfound experiences was almost as pleasant as the simple experience of overwhelming nature. But as you relied on the bees to guide your way, your sense of wonder found you taken by surprise when a small but deadly-looking panther leapt from the branches above.
You felt fear try to force its way into your thoughts, but the inner strength you had never known before that day kept you from sinking into an instinctual fight-or-flight reaction. Your mind raced, and though your deliberation felt like ages to you, you rather quickly decided to scare the panther so that he would be too afraid to attack you. The bees that permeated the forest sensed your desire, and felt that it was good. The courage to stand your ground balanced with the mercy to avoid violence was worthy and favorable in the eyes of the bees, and so they saw fit to ensure your success.
Thousands of bees gathered behind you, and worked in tandem to give you the appearance of a massive winged monster. The sound was deafening, and the ground was dark, and the panther before you was struck by a deep terror. He fled with great speed and trembling, and showed no signs of slowing by the time he left your sight. Their task accomplished, the bees dispersed back into the forest, though your shirt remained. With the danger passed and your heart rate slowing back down, you resumed your journey.
You followed the path as they nudged you for only a short while longer when you emerged in a spacious clearing. Though still shielded from the sun by a roof of leaves and branches, there was no longer thick underbrush hindering your movement or vision. And at the end of this strange clearing, you saw a golden structure.
As you drew near, the detail of this apparent shrine became clearer. It was in the shape of a massive hexagon on the ground, with pillars taller than any human at each corner. Near the top, the pillars slanted inward, but not so far that they connected with each other. At the edges between the pillars were stairways, rising nearly two meters before flattening into a smaller (though still large) hexagon platform. You ascended the stairs, and saw in the very center of the high platform one final raised hexagon. You approached this altar, and saw in its center a basin filled with honey.
This was the purest, clearest, most delicious looking honey you had ever seen. It almost seemed to shine, and you could feel that it was not only of great significance, but of great power as well. You stood there, pondering what to do next for hours, or perhaps it was only a few seconds. Though you had enjoyed your adventure so far, and did trust the bees, this somehow felt like it was too much. All the doubt and fear and anxiety that you had avoided feeling so far came upon you at once. It was nearly debilitating, and caused the incredible abnormality of your situation to dawn on you. The fear of what would happen if you continued set in, and this time it overcame you. You decided to leave.
As you descended the shrine and began making your way back home, the bees that adorned you left without fighting. They remained, with so many others, at the altar. A profound sense of disappointment swept through all the bees of the forest, and sadness through those who had been with you. Their hope was shattered. The one they had thought would fulfill the prophecy had abandoned them. But the prophecy remained, and the bees were determined that they would see it realized someday. At a later time, by different hands, and perhaps even by a different generation of bees, but it would come true. The False One would be stopped. He had to be.
Once you had almost breached the forest, the buzzing grew louder and more intense. You realized that the bees had surrounded you entirely. You felt vaguely as if they wanted something from you, and decided against fighting and eating them, or trying to force your way through a volley of stinging. You stretched out your arms in good faith, and the bees responded in kind. They swarmed to cloak you, but there was no malice in the action. Indeed, you felt that the understanding of their base desire you had experienced went both ways, and made it known to the bees that you wanted to wear them as a shirt.
The bees, respecting not only your calm and reasonable nature, but also your quick understanding and usage of your shared communicative link, happily complied with your wish. Your shirt of bees felt strange, but not unpleasant. It provided a sense of protection like you had never experienced before. More physically, the efforts of the bees themselves offered a sense of guidance and direction, which you recognized would be invaluable in this deep and unfamiliar forest. As you felt the bees gently urge you to enter the forest, you decided to place the whole of your trust in them and follow where you felt them lead.
You took your first step into the forest. At once you could feel that the bees had much more influence over reality in this place, and you knew that your trust had not been misplaced. You quickly lost any physical perception of the world outside the forest, as if you were in a separate plane of reality somehow. But this feeling was soothing rather than frightening to you.
You could see a path laid out before you. Not with your eyes, of course; the surrounding wilderness seemed entirely untouched by human hands. But the path the bees were taking you on was clearer than anything you could have imagined before that moment. You felt a deep sensation of peace wash over you at the same time as you were being filled with purpose. Your ability to bask in the depths of these newfound experiences was almost as pleasant as the simple experience of overwhelming nature. But as you relied on the bees to guide your way, your sense of wonder found you taken by surprise when a small but deadly-looking panther leapt from the branches above.
You felt fear try to force its way into your thoughts, but the inner strength you had never known before that day kept you from sinking into an instinctual fight-or-flight reaction. Your mind raced, and though your deliberation felt like ages to you, you rather quickly decided to scare the panther so that he would be too afraid to attack you. The bees that permeated the forest sensed your desire, and felt that it was good. The courage to stand your ground balanced with the mercy to avoid violence was worthy and favorable in the eyes of the bees, and so they saw fit to ensure your success.
Thousands of bees gathered behind you, and worked in tandem to give you the appearance of a massive winged monster. The sound was deafening, and the ground was dark, and the panther before you was struck by a deep terror. He fled with great speed and trembling, and showed no signs of slowing by the time he left your sight. Their task accomplished, the bees dispersed back into the forest, though your shirt remained. With the danger passed and your heart rate slowing back down, you resumed your journey.
You followed the path as they nudged you for only a short while longer when you emerged in a spacious clearing. Though still shielded from the sun by a roof of leaves and branches, there was no longer thick underbrush hindering your movement or vision. And at the end of this strange clearing, you saw a golden structure.
As you drew near, the detail of this apparent shrine became clearer. It was in the shape of a massive hexagon on the ground, with pillars taller than any human at each corner. Near the top, the pillars slanted inward, but not so far that they connected with each other. At the edges between the pillars were stairways, rising nearly two meters before flattening into a smaller (though still large) hexagon platform. You ascended the stairs, and saw in the very center of the high platform one final raised hexagon. You approached this altar, and saw in its center a basin filled with honey.
This was the purest, clearest, most delicious looking honey you had ever seen. It almost seemed to shine, and you could feel that it was not only of great significance, but of great power as well. You stood there, pondering what to do next for hours, or perhaps it was only a few seconds. Though you had enjoyed your adventure so far, and did trust the bees, this somehow felt like it was too much. All the doubt and fear and anxiety that you had avoided feeling so far came upon you at once. It was nearly debilitating, and caused the incredible abnormality of your situation to dawn on you. The fear of what would happen if you continued set in, and this time it overcame you. You decided to leave.
As you descended the shrine and began making your way back home, the bees that adorned you left without fighting. They remained, with so many others, at the altar. A profound sense of disappointment swept through all the bees of the forest, and sadness through those who had been with you. Their hope was shattered. The one they had thought would fulfill the prophecy had abandoned them. But the prophecy remained, and the bees were determined that they would see it realized someday. At a later time, by different hands, and perhaps even by a different generation of bees, but it would come true. The False One would be stopped. He had to be.