Unrecognizable

~Chapter Nineteen~

Scar's POV-

Scar stared down at Bee, who shifted uncomfortably. "I- You probably have a lot of questions," the bird mumbled, fluffing her feathers. She refused to look at the wizard, instead fixing her gaze on his starry hat.

The Hermit's voice was tight. "You think?" He wasn't sure why he was being so harsh on her. Part of him just felt like she had betrayed his trust somehow. 

This seemed to make the parrot more flustered, and she flapped her wings, speaking quickly. "I'm sorry, okay? But you're the one who refused to listen to me!" She seemed mildly anxious and kept plucking at her feathers with her beak. 

Scar sat back in his chair, still glaring at the bird. "Maybe you should have explained before we left." 

"I tried," Bee exclaimed, her voice cracking. "I tried to tell you and then you got distracted and didn't listen to me! I tried to warn you!" She hopped forward a bit, trembling.

She did, didn't she? She was trying to talk to Scar about Sage. He frowned inwardly. Something about her being connected to him rubbed Scar in the completely wrong way. The wizard couldn't help but feel mistrustful of the bird. He remained silent, a slight scowl forming on his face. 

Bee obviously did not like this. She drew a deep breath, and it was obvious that this was all out of her comfort zone. "Look, Scar, I'm sorry. I-If you want, I can explain what I was trying to say. Anything you want to know." 

That was fair. Scar still wasn't yet sure if he could trust Bee, but maybe she was telling the truth. He could hear her out. "...okay," he agreed at last. 

Bee seemed instantly relieved. She visibly settled, nodding. "Okay. What do you want to know first?"

After just a moment of thought, Scar knew what he would ask first. "Okay, what is your relationship with Sage?" 

"Well," Bee said reluctantly. "That's a pretty broad question. But o-okay." She thought for a second, before launching into a clearly abbreviated explanation. "So awhile back, maybe a week or two before he even emerged, Sage had a grand idea to make a little mole. A spy." She gestured to herself. "That would be me."

Scar didn't realize how tight he was clutching his robe until he let go of it to sit forward a bit. A mole. That's what she was. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and the bird chirped before continuing.

"But, ah, Sage isn't- isn't really that great at coding. He's got some m-memories and all, but those aren't, well it's not like he actually knows things." Bee shifted constantly while talking, hopping back and forth on the table. 

Scar butt in. "Coding?" She couldn't mean...

She did mean. "You know what a cloning machine is, right?" Bee seemed keen to get past this part. Scar grimaced, nodding. He had been correct. 

Before he could say anything, however, Bee continued. "So, yeah. Well, he kinda, well, he screwed me up pretty bad. I can't speak directly with humans, I'm not, y'know, evil-" She faltered on that last word as if she wasn't quite sure whether or not it was true. The hen paused for a moment, regaining her composure, before continuing. 

"But he still liked me. It was like I was a pet. Just a bird created from another bird's being-- oh that one's fine, by the way. He released it-- with little to nothing special about it at all." She seemed almost reminiscent, her voice quieter than before, but not with fear. It was like a part of her missed that. Scar didn't know how to feel about that. She knew he was awful, she knew he was evil. So why would she feel like that? It baffled the Hermit. "He called me Honey, because, well, food. He likes naming things after food, apparently," she continued, yanking Scar from his contemplation.