The girl was pulled down in a wave of honey. The sticky substance clung to every part of her body, from her hair to her feet, and dragged her to the ground. Her knees hit the waxy surface of the hive first but her muscles were weak and refused to tighten. There was nothing she could do as she surged forward and then landed face-first into the yielding surface that caught her.
Her lungs burned. She tried to gulp in air but only thick, sweet honey flooded down her throat when she opened her mouth. She was suffocating, her breath cut off by the same honey that had cradled her for as long as she remembered.
Then there was someone kneeling next to her. She got a flash of naked breasts and pale skin before strong hands slid underneath her throat and levered her away from the pool of honey that threatened to asphyxiate her.
The girl managed to plant one hand underneath her, her arm shaking until she locked her joint to keep her in place.
“Just hold on,” whispered the stranger. She pulled her sticky hand away from the girl's throat and used her fingers to scrape the honey away from her face. The movements felt painfully slow, but it was only moments before the girl's nose and mouth were clear of the thick honey.
The girl looked down to see that the woman was missing her left arm. Only twisted flesh was left at the shoulder, a long-healed wound. Claw marks covered otherwise pristine flesh along her side and clear down to her hip.
Looking up, she stared into the stranger's warm eye; the other was only scar tissue like the side of her face.
The stranger slipped two fingers into the girl's mouth, prying them open before pulling the young woman forward and jamming her knee into the girl's stomach.
The girl's lungs heaved and a gout of honey poured out from her lips.
“There you go, little Honningbie. Get that out of your lungs,” the stranger's voice was soft and soothing, familiar though the girl had never heard a voice before.
Not that she could say anything. She coughed up more honey, forcing it out of burning lungs. When she inhaled, it was warm, moist air that flooded into her and she felt an intense wave of bliss.
“Good girl. Come on, sit up. It will be easier if you sit up.”
With help, the girl managed to get herself into a sitting position. Her arms and legs were weak, unable to do anything. She felt something tugging on her back but couldn't find the energy to figure out what.
The woman knelt down and the girl got a look at her rescuer. She was naked, covered in only streaks of honey. Her pale skin was almost white but had a yellow tinge to it. Two breasts stood up proudly, each one the size of… the girl couldn't think of a reference point other than thinking they looked as large as her own head.
Reflexively she looked down at her own chest. She had breasts too, but they were not nearly as large but just as perky. The soft mounds glistened with the honey still clinging to them, the uplifted nipples moving with every ragged breath as she continued to draw in fresh air into her lungs.
“Don't worry,” said the stranger. “You are only a few minutes old. You'll be full grown as me by the end of the week.” She hefted her large breast for a moment and grinned.
The girl looked up confused.
“Can you think of a name for yourself?”
With a frown, the girl stared at the woman with confusion.
“My name is Saroia,” said the stranger. She smiled and pushed a strand of her hair from her face. It was sticky with honey but the same amber brown color as the sticky substance that coated both of their naked bodies. Her one good eye sparkled as she smiled.
The girl opened her mouth. She didn't know if she could talk. A soft hum came out. She knew there were words welling up, familiar despite the fact she had never spoken in her life.
“There you go, just try. Come up with a name, little bee. You can do it.” Saroia reached over and pushed the girl's own hair from her face. Like the older woman, the girl's hair was a honey blonde. It was also thick and clung to her neck and head as Saroia hooked it over her ear. “You are a pretty one.”
“Er… Erl… Erlea?”
Saroia's smile faded the girl's confusion. “That is a beautiful name, Erlea. We don't have one of those in the hive.”
“I… I didn't. It was just… the first thing I thought of.” Talking got easier as she did it. Erlea didn't remember learning how to speak, it just happened and then it felt like she had always known how to do it.
“That's how this works.”
“W-What happened?” Erlea looked at the pool of honey that she sat in. She tried to move her leg again, this time it shifted and slid through the sticky liquid. Her thigh was pale as the rest of her but she saw the flex of muscles on her shin and the yellow tinge that shimmered along the edges. Curious, she trailed her eyes up her leg and leaned forward to peer over her breasts down her taunt belly and the junction where her legs joined. There was a seam that connected them, a tight light of two puffy lips pressed tight against each other. They were bare and hairless.
Trembling, she reached down to explore but Saroia stopped her by grabbing her wrist.
“Oh, don't need to play with that. Here, just leave your hands here…” Saroia brought Erlea's hands up and to the girl's breasts.
Reflexively, Erlea cupped herself, marveling how her nipples were two firm points that caressed her palms as she clutched her body. She dug her fingers into the soft mounds and felt little hints of pleasure dancing along her senses as she rubbed them.
“Good girl.”
Erlea smiled but didn't stop massaging her breasts. She pressed her thighs together as the heat from her fingertips seemed to flicker along her entire body.
“You'll need about an hour to dry out. Can you stay here? You'll be safe.”
“Y-Yes.”
Saroia stood up, stepping away from Erlea. “Good. When you can, get up on your knees or stand. It will help with the unfurling.”
When she turned, Erlea saw three translucent wings fold down along the curve of her buttocks; a fourth one hung limply, the translucent material cracked and torn. The remaining three wings were long, starting at the woman's shoulder blades and reaching down to her ankles. After fluttering once, they settled into place.
Erlea watched the older woman head down a tunnel lined with large hexagonal panels, each one filled with honey and a dark shape. There was light either on the inside or beyond them and Erlea could tell there was a girl like herself floating in each chamber, the slender bodies curled up in a fetal position with fluttering wings as they dreamed of honey.