Under The Wings Of Change

Chapter 16

Bee's POV:

I glanced back to see that the shadow belonged to the kymari man that had followed me. He approached slowly, ready to strike, no doubt in my mind.

I desperately tried to flap my wings. I stumbled to get up and away from the danger, but the tree wax covering me had already hardened, making it even more difficult to move my wounded and aching body.

I started to hyperventilate as I got trapped between a tree and a cautiously approaching kymari.

Looking at him again, I flinched.

Instead of the green alien, a scientist in a white lab coat and protective gear stood towering over me. A cold white light replaced the warm sun shining through the leaves. Instead of feeling the rough tree bark against my scales, I was trapped in a corner of harsh concrete walls.

I whimpered at the sight.

The cruel scientist hesitated, and for a moment in a brief flash, I saw the tall alien again.

My wide eyes were stuck on the human. I felt pathetic, whimpering and curling up in a corner like a scared little nestling unable to fend for herself.

"It's okay."

My vision was flashing between seeing the alien and a human, unable to tell which one was the reality. I tried to let out a hiss, but it quickly turned into a terrified wail.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

My whole body was trembling. I was exhausted, scared, in pain, and confused. Not the nicest combination.

"It's okay. You're going to be alright."

I let out a loud startled screech when in the blink of an eye, my head was covered in a soft cloth, making me unable to see anything. I tried to get out from under it, but it seemed like my head was stuck under something.

I realized his hand was covering my head.

For a moment, I panicked, thinking I really might have been back in the lab, and did everything in my power to make him let go of me. My body's movement was already very restricted, but then he held my shoulders down with his right hand, making me unable to scratch the alien, human?

"Easy there! Easy."

I tried my luck with biting, which only resulted in the cloth getting stuck between my teeth. I was not about to let go, at least biting something, even if it was useless, gave me something else to focus on.

Once I calmed down a little, my teeth still buried in the cloth with my heart beating out a samba, he let go of my shoulders and I felt a slight tug at my back.

I felt another tug at my right wing and noticed the... kymari (?) softly talking.

"There you go. Let's get that off of you."

To my utter and complete surprise, I realized that the kymari was carefully peeling off the dried wax.

For a few minutes, he was quietly cleaning the dried layer on my scales while I was as limp as a ragdoll, but alert and extremely aware of his every movement.

"What's this then? What have you gotten yourself into?" The kymari man eventually muttered right before I felt a gentle prod near the reopened wound at my side.

The wax had covered it and stopped the bleeding, but I was almost certain the wax was mixed with dirt and other stuff that does not belong on top of a wound you want to be healed correctly.

"That doesn't look good." He sighed with another prod near my wound.

And that didn't sound good. I thought.

We sat there in silence for another minute, though I could almost hear the rusty gears in his alien brain turning.

The kymari muttered something to himself that I couldn't quite hear.

He moved the cloth off of my head with one hand, the other keeping my head as still as possible without actually hurting me.

Even though his gentle handling surprised me, I refused to release the cloth from my locked-down jaws.

It was more so that I wouldn't accidentally bite him and possibly doom my whole species, the way I had earlier almost done when I had been panicking, but it was also a little bit for my comfort. It helped to know that although I was pretty much powerless in the situation I had found myself in, there was that teeny tiny little thing that I still could control - my bite.

He must not have been very worried about getting bit, seeing as I was stubbornly holding the piece of cloth hostage when he slowly pulled it further away from my face. I found myself tangling from the cloth before he hurriedly wrapped it around my body like a lizard burrito.

He stood up and held me tight to his body. I was just a second too late in my attempt to threaten him with my fangs seeing as he quickly covered my head with his hand and pinned it against his chest.

"Shhhh, it's alright. It's going to be okay, little creature."

All I could do to show my displeasure was to hiss with all my worth.

I wasn't sure if my wounds weren't painfully torturing me right at that moment because of the adrenaline, or because the alien seemed to avoid hurting me. Maybe it was a bit of both.

"Urghh, please don't bite me." I heard him whisper as he walked with me.

That didn't seem like something a kymari would say. Though I hadn't had that much experience with their kind and to be fair, he didn't exactly look like a typical kymari would... I think.

I had quieted down but tensed up as soon as I heard us approaching the streets. He was moving towards the city, away from the protection of the park.

What is he doing? My heart sped up. The fear of imprisonment entrapping me once more.

Where is he taking me?!

I wiggled and growled, anything to make him let go of me. I wasn't about to go down easy. My squirming quickly ceased when my wounds demanded attention with a sharp jolt.

The kymari man tried to calm me with soft words, his thumb gently running up and down my neck. I would have liked to say that I stilled because I was simply planning my escape and biding my time, but that would have been a lie. For a reason unknown to me, the alien's attempts to soothe me worked. Mostly. It also helped his cause that I was exhausted and the pain was starting to take over from the relief of the adrenaline.

I realized he didn't go closer to the city noises, more like walked at the edge of it. I didn't even notice when I succumbed to the mercy of peaceful, dreamless sleep. I blame exhaustion, the cloth's softness, the warmth of the alien, and the gentle sway as he walked.