The Pet Protector's Pet

She had relocated her newfound friends, the bees, to a quiet spot in the corner of the garden on her family's estate. Having a lot of flowers came in handy as it provided the bees with lots of pollen to make more of their 'super' honey. She was planning to use the majority of the honey to make new types of medicines for both humans and animals as she had gathered that this country's medical practices weren't exactly up to date... As for the rest of the honey, she planned to use that for cooking purposes. If being a veterinarian didn't work out, maybe she could become a chef? That wouldn't be so bad~ she thought to herself. After all, you get to try the food before anyone else does!

When her father had heard of her ambition to manufacture medicines using the honey gathered from the bees, he gave her the unused shed on their estate to use as a workshop. However, her excitement was short lived as she noticed some of her equipment began to go missing after a few days. They suspected that the culprit was probably one of the staff employed by her family but they couldn't be quite sure yet. They made sure to keep an eye on the workshop as an extra precaution.

One day she was tending to her bee friends as usual, checking that everything was in order and that they weren't overworking themselves. That was when an enormous brown bear suddenly appeared with the beehive in its sights.

"Oh no, it must be after the honey!"

One of the conditions she agreed upon while making the contract with the bees was that she would do her best to protect their hive. There was no way she was breaking that promise! She proceeded to stand in front of the beehive with her arms stretched out.

"Hey, you bear! Stop right there! You can't have this honey!"

"Silly human, talking to me as if you can understand me."

"I can understand you!" She made sure to emphasize the word 'can.'

"Oh, a human who can understand animals, ey? I've only heard about your kind in stories. I guess it was about time for another one of you holy pioneers to be born."

A holy... what? No Chinessa, now's not the time to think about that! You need to focus on the situation! Alright, I'll just try asking him to leave!

"Ehem, that's very nice and all, but I have to ask you to leave now as you're scaring my bee friends." With every passing minute, she found herself becoming more and more like that rude grasshopper she met last time. She kind of understood how it felt now. Unwanted visitors were kind of annoying...

"My, you're quite brazen. You do know that I could eat you up right now."

She gulped what she thought would be her last breath. Surely the pet protector wouldn't let some bear eat her up...right? Think Chinessa, think!

"...Why would you eat me up when I can be of service to you?"

"Hmm, how so?"

"You want the honey, right? If you make a partnership with me, I'll give you some honey in exchange for being a security guard."

After her equipment getting stolen, having a security guard around to guard the workshop wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, who would mess with a bear!?

"I find it amusing that you're suddenly backtracking on your previous decision. Have you finally come to your senses?"

"W-well, I just needed some more time to think it through!" She couldn't say that it was because she was a coward...

He laughed. She didn't know animals could laugh...

"If you give me 3 pots of honey a week, I may consider it."

No way! If she gave him that much she wouldn't have any left to make medicine!

After much negotiation, they finally agreed on a salary of 1 pot of honey a week and 2 naps a day. All that was left now was to forge the partnership.

In her subsequent days of schooling, she learnt that human-animal partnersh.i.p.s, like the one she created with the bees, don't last forever. Much like mobile phone plans, you could only maintain a partnership for a maximum of 6-12 months. The length depended on how much trust the animal had in you to begin with. Of course, these partnersh.i.p.s could be renewed if the animal still felt loyal to you after the partnership period had expired. However, both parties can choose to dissolve the relationship should things not work out. Partnersh.i.p.s could also be cut short if the human mistreats the animal or the animal disobeys its human. Human-animal partnersh.i.p.s were more of a business relationship than a human-pet relationship. Both parties were in it to benefit and no one was more important than the other.

The bear lowered its head towards her signalling the start of the contracting process. She had learnt earlier while making a partnership with her bee friends, that the processes to make a contract with an animal went as follows:

1. Establish a friendly meeting with the d.e.s.i.r.ed animal of your choice (well, in this case, it was a little too late for that...)

2. Try and negotiate with the animal by outlining what you wish to gain from the partnership as well as what you'll offer in return for their help.

3. If the animal shows acceptance by bowing its head to you, proceed to solidify the bond by making physical contact with it and pledging your alliance.

4. Give it a name and you're done! (Now that sounded like a recipe!)

She extended her hand and place it on top of the bear's head.

"I Chinessa, promise to honour my offer as outlined in my proposition and in exchange you will act as a guard to my workshop. So it be."

"What will you name me?"

"Wilbur."

She had stolen that name from her past-life uncle who would give really good bear hugs. She felt like this was an appropriate way to honour him. After all, Wilbur's soft brown fur reminded her of his hair...

While she was happy to gain a new ally she was disappointed to be losing some of her precious honey. It looks like she'll have to put her dreams of being a chef on hold for now...

Now all that was left was to explain this situation to her parents!