Work Text:
“Enough of my ranting. Here you are, dearie. Your second Spirit Petal.”
Spirit Bear takes my hand, letting the Spirit Petal fall onto my hand. The feeling of the petal in my hand is incomparable to anything else.
“Now, you have… a Spirit Wand, no? Here’s a little secret, my beekeeper.”
She leans down, like this is top-secret information.
“If you donate a Spirit Petal to the Wind Shrine, he’ll finally consider you worthy. From then on, if you donate Cloud Vials; nothing else; maybe you’ll finally be able to tame him.”
She straightens, smiling down at me.
“See, I know people who tried for ages. Believe me;”
She looks up at the sky, presumably at him.
“But he never wanted to join them. Maybe because he would miss me too much.”
She laughs, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. She looks back down at me.
“Now, I understand why. They only cared about honey. You, my beekeeper, you are unique. You have a fire unlike any I’ve seen in others. You work all day and night, working to improve yourself as a beekeeper and a person. You have a great chance to tame him, even if you decide to get a Spirit Belt instead.”
She smiles warmly at me, realization striking her. A thick plume of smoke starts billowing out her chimney, and she seems to smell it in the air.
“Oh, excuse me dearie. I have a pie in the oven. I hope you’ll find out what to do with your Spirit Petal.”
She waves her paw, returning inside. I huff.
*As nice as she is, talking to her takes up so much of my time. So much in fact, that all my bees returned to the hive. Great.*
My eyes flutter down to the Spirit Petal in hand. It would probably be a smarter idea to get a Spirit Belt. My thoughts drift back to her words.
*How could I, of all people, tame the great Windy Bee? The idea of doing so sounds thrilling. To tame the one and only ethereal bee…*
I make my decision, stowing the petal away in my bag. I slowly hike up to the Wind Shrine, traveling through the Pepper Patch. I emerge through the last of the flowers, to the Wind Shrine. The place itself is excluded, and gives a spectacular view of the mountain. The setting sun shines brightly in my eyes, as I turn to the Wind Shrine, knowing what to do. I take off my gear, setting it off to the side outside of the circle. I take the Spirit Petal in my hands, walking to the center of the circle. I place it in front of me, falling to my knees. I interlock my hands, letting my head fall. I close my eyes.
“O, great Windy Bee. Please accept this Spirit Petal, as an offering to you.”
I chant, keeping silence. I open my eyes, looking up.
The Spirit Petal floats gently up to the sky. The chimes ring. Clouds obscure the sky. The air stands still. I feel as if someone is watching…
I look around, to nothing. Suddenly, a strong wind disturbs me, unlike any other, forcing me to keep myself to the ground. When I look up, in front of me are several goodies. I smile, knowing that the ritual worked. I take my rewards, stuffing them in my bag. I pick up my stuff, hiking back down the mountain and to my hive.