The sky outside the hive had fallen dim with the sudden appearance of great violet clouds.  Her soldiers were concerned, fearing that if the winds rose up, they would not be able to properly defend the palace.  Weather was rarely the Empress’ concern; Crushing the lives of those who would not bow to her was the predominant thought" and she had at least three such lives to deal with: Snowy and those two strangers. 

It was foolish to have mistaken them for mercenaries.  They were weak willed tourists with no knowledge of where they had found themselves.  However, better to interrogate a corpse than to battle a hero.  The bird had flown during the rude entrance of Snowy into the throne room.  The blue being, Beet, had been easily captured and enslaved along with all the other Pimi-Mele in the pit.  Having lost the bird Cyrn, she wished to know how well the other was suffering.  Perhaps that would balance the loss. 

"Guards!  Get news of our latest worker." barked the Empress. 

With a bow to their greatest Empress, the two hymenopterans flew off toward the pit.  Mere moments later, a regional guard flew wearily into the throne room.  She bore an ill message concerning the strangers and Snowy.  Beet had somehow engineered the escape of the slaves in his pit.  They had retreated into a cave.  When a guard tried to enter the cave a small being, similar to a Pimi-Mele but with a cyan shell, attacked her.  After that initial attack, the guards withdrew a small distance to assess the capabilities of those in the cave. 

"How could mere slaves thwart your staves?!" exclaimed her Highness. 

Near to cowering, the guard bespoke that the creature Snowy barred the entrance to the passage.  It held a strange purple cane with which it had summoned the current storm.  The guards were afraid to near it lest lightening strike them down. 

The mention of the cane seemed to purge the Empress of all other thoughts.  She pondered a moment, glancing at the guard sharply to keep her alert.  The storm outside intensified.  Sharp winds began to batter the organic hull of the hive.  Mauve tinted rain began to fall.  The Empress Jennybee glanced idly at the impending storm. 

"A little cane, you said?"