The wasps flew back to their home: an old oak tree that had survived for generations. They didn't have a queen: they had a general, and he wasn't a wasp. He was a mantis. General Mist didn't look very pleased when he saw his troops return empty-handed.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
One of the wasps stepped up. "She disappeared into the long grass. We've been looking for her all day. None of our aerial troops found her. We believe she was injured when she fell."
Mist grabbed the wasp by the throat with one of his big claws. "SHE FELL?!" he shrieked. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE FELL?! I NEED THAT BUTTERFLY BACK ALIVE!"
The wasp wheezed, "Sir, I...I'll get her back, I promise!"
The mantis kept the wasp in a headlock for a few more seconds before letting go. "Useless, all of you..." he snarled. "Why do I have to do everything myself?!"
A katydid crawled up nervously. "General, sir?"
"WHAT?!"
The insect froze under Mist's glare. Then he meekly answered, "The machine's almost ready. It should be done by tomorrow morning..."
Mist slowly smiled. "Perfect," he said. "I want to have a look at it when it is, Willow. Is that clear?"
Willow nodded. "Sir yes sir!" he replied.
The mantis waved away the katydid as he turned back to his troops. "Pay attention, you mites. Find the butterfly by tomorrow morning, and we will have the humans fleeing in all directions before us. Fail me, and you will find that I'm not always a merciful leader. I could always replace the lot of you if I so chose. Perhaps those lousy yellow jacket neighbors of yours can get the job done?"
"Sir no sir!" the wasps chorused.
"I thought not," Mist chuckled.
**********
After struggling to climb the incline for over an hour, poor Daisy had worn herself out. The spider hadn't made any appearances since his retreat into his den, but his eyes shone from within the darkness, boring into her with a steely gaze.
Even though Daisy hadn't had any run-ins with spiders in the past, she had a fairly good idea on what they did for a living. And it was far from pretty. It was downright horrifying. After he was finished sucking the guts out of the scorpion, he was gonna come for her. She couldn't wait around for that to happen.
But with a broken wing and a near vertical hill to climb, Daisy was running out of options and time. She was able to somewhat sustain herself from the water droplets sprinkled throughout the spider's web. And if by some miracle she survived the night and made it out of the burrow, she would have to go try to climb some flower stalks to reach the much needed nectar inside. While looking out for those wasps at the same time.
It was too much for Daisy to handle. She felt scared, upset, confused. So after falling down the hill for the 100th time, she hunched over and started crying. It was no use. She was too weak and tired to make it out. She was going to die in here.
"Hey, be quiet over there..." a growly voice chimed.
Daisy gasped, pressing her body against the hill. Adrenaline shot through her like a live wire. "Hello? Did you speak? Who are you?" she quivered.
The spider's forelegs came into view. "Keep your voice down..." he muttered raspily. "You're scaring away all the bugs with all your flapping and crying."
"I'm sorry," Daisy said quietly. "What's your name? How are you doing?"
There was some silence before the spider replied, "Name's Fang. And before you and that scorpion unceremoniously crashed through the roof of my den, I was doing pretty great. On the bright side of things, that scorpion will probably keep my stomach all nice and full for a few days at least. But now I'm gonna have to go up there and fix the entrance of my hideout."
Daisy sighed, "I'm so sorry-"
"Keep your lousy apologies," Fang snapped. "Saying sorry isn't gonna fix anything anyway."
The butterfly took a deep breath. "So...you're not gonna eat me?"
After a moment's hesitation, the spider replied, "I don't think so."
Daisy couldn't believe she was about to do this, but she had to try. "Fang...I need your help. My wing's broken, and nobody else in this field can fix it."
Fang growled a little, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. The action made Daisy recoil, but she couldn't give up. "Please, Fang..." she sniffled. "I'm gonna die..."
"We're all gonna die someday," Fang retorted darkly. "None of us know when it's our time. Today's just your day. Besides, I can barely help myself. I've been catching little to no prey in the past week, and I'm getting rather impatient. I was gonna move farther out into the country after winter to see if there's more food for me there. And if you don't stay out of my way, you're gonna wish you did."
Daisy collapsed onto her face. "I'll do anything, Fang..." she pleaded. "I'm dead anyway if you don't help me. Please, please..." Suddenly the web vibrated and she shot to her feet. Fang came out in the open, towering over the shaking butterfly. "Oh for the love of Pete!" he snarled. "If it'll make you shut up any quicker, then fine! I'll see what I can do to fix your stupid wing, but that's it! You're finding your own food, your own shelter, your own bed! Got it?"
The butterfly stammered, "Y-yes, of course! Thank you, Fang. Thank you so-" Her words died in her throat when she saw the spider reaching for her. She took a few steps back. "What...what are you doing?"
Fang said, "I'm taking a look at your wing. Maybe I can find something to fix it, but I have to see just how badly hurt you are in order to do so. Now, are you gonna let me examine it? Or am I gonna have to tear the rest of it off?"
Daisy shuddered. He was really scaring her, but she didn't have much of a choice. Trembling violently, she approached the spider. "Please...be careful..." she whispered.
"Why are you still talking?" Fang hissed. Daisy closed her eyes and spread out her injured wing. Tears squeezing out of her eyes, she expected the spider's touch to be rough and brutal.
Instead, to her surprise, she barely felt the spider as he ran one paw along the tear in her wing. She opened one eye. Fang was holding her wing with one leg, and carefully caressing it with the other. He seemed deep in thought.
After a minute or so, he gently released her wing, putting it down as though it were a sacred object. "I can fix it," he said. "I'll need to find the right materials, but I can fix it using some of my web. However, you're gonna have to do a little something for me in return."
Daisy felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Like what?" she whispered, scared. What did she get herself into?
Fang gave a shadow of a smile. "You'll have to find food for me."
The butterfly collapsed again. "Food like...like other bugs?" she asked, unbelieving. The spider chuckled, "Yeah. That is, if you ever want to fly again. If it's any consolation, I won't eat any friends of yours, but only on your say-so. Deal?"
Daisy thought about it. Would he actually listen to her if she told him not to eat someone? She didn't have a choice: no choice at all. At the cost of a stranger's life, and at the risk of being bait, she would be given the chance many other butterflies in her situation could never have.
"Deal," she finally said. "But I'll need help getting some nectar sometimes."
Fang nodded. "Alright, fine. Whatever. We should probably get some sleep. I've got a long day tomorrow getting you out of this pit and fixing my damn front door. Sweet dreams and all that jazz."
With that, the spider backed away into the shadows. Daisy sighed, curling up by the incline again. She hoped things would be better the following morning.