Disclaimer: I don't own The Ant Bully or any of its characters.
Wasps aren't above scavenging. he thought to himself as he flew over his fellows, who were feasting on a large dead beetle. After the Exterminator incident, the ground was practically covered in carcasses. Some, if not most, were other wasps. They had sacrificed themselves to protect the nests and food sources that the human had threatened. It was this bug's job to scour the lawn for wasp survivors.
If there are any survivors. he continued his negative thoughts, his large green eyes narrowing. Practically half their colony has been wiped out...including his best friends and all but one of his brothers.
His antennae lowered in what could've been sadness and he gave a depressed sigh.
Movement caught his attention and he stopped in a hover, scanning the ground. No wasp in sight. Currently, he's too high to see smaller insects. It shouldn't matter then. He was only to be looking for his own kind. Yet, he did have some curiosity. Diving down to the ground, he leveled off and alighted, not even waiting until his long orange wings folded before rushing forwards to a tall clump of grass.
He was sure the movement came from here. Shoving the vegetation away, he moved pass and paused, head tilted inquistively.
There was an ant lying on the ground. A female, he judged by her antennae. A forager, perhaps. No doubt she paid a part in stopping the Exterminator, as she still clutched that silk-shooter. What interested him was although the Death Cloud had obviously passed this way, this little insect was still alive!
At first he thought it was the wind, but there was no wind. Her blue-tipped antennae were twitching. Hearing her shallow breathing, he looked around. He wasn't sure what to do. He was instructed to bring back WASP survivors, yet the Boss might be interested in this ant...this ant that survived the Death Clouds.
That decided it. He picked up the unconscious insect in his forelegs and backed away from the grass, so he'll have room to take off. Beating his wings, stirring a cloud of dirt, he pushed off the ground and into the air. He paused into a hover, as if having second thoughts.
Would it be acceptable for him to bring back this ant? Would it be acceptable for him to disobey very precise orders? But what about the ant? He wouldn't care much for her if it wasn't for the fact that she survived something nobody else did.
The Boss will be interested. His mind reassured him. If not, then you can ditch the bug and go on with your job.
Flying towards the nests, he headed to where his leader was most likely to be. With so much food available, he'll probably be in the Central Nest, eating. That's where he should look first.
His hunch proved correct as he approached the leader's nest. Landing by the rim of the entrance hole, he crawled inside to see his superior feeding on a cricket. Judging by how the smaller insect twitched and whimpered, the Boss didn't scavenge and hunted instead. It wasn't uncommon for wasps to eat their prey alive, although it was easier and often quieter to kill quickly...
"Um...Valdar, sir?" he started, addressing his leader. Now that he was here, he felt nervous. Will he get into trouble? Valdar didn't turn to him and continued his lunch, twitching his wings and antennae as a sign for his fellow to continue. It was too late to turn back now.
"I found this and I'm not sure what to do with it." he stated vaguely. He's been planning his speech, but had forgotten it at the moment. His leader glanced at him and the ant, then back at the cricket, who was weakly trying to crawl away in vain.
"Eat her if you want." Valdar stated in a bored tone as he reached out with a foreleg and dragged his unfortunate victim back to its original spot.
"Sir?" the subordinate wasp questioned, momentarily confused. Eat the ant? The smaller insects may have been their enemies, but they were their allies against the Exterminator. How could they eat their allies?
Valdar looked back at him, still holding the cricket in place, his vertical beak-like jaws covered in blood. "Frei, forget what happened between us and the ants. Our past alliance with them was only a matter of convenience. We needed to defeat a threat, the ants knew how to do it. Our truce was only temporary at most."
Frei fluttered his wings anxiously. He wanted to state something, but was hesitant to do so. Only when he plucked up his courage did he say it. "But sir...some of us were saved by the ants."
His last surviving brother was one of them. It was the mini human and his ant friend that rescued his sibling from the clouds.
"True enough." Valdar said, nodding in agreement. "And for that, we are very grateful. But a friendship with the ants is dangerous and our past and future hostility to them was and never will be personal."
Frei knew that well enough, for the wasps were an immigrant species. This particular colony came from a desert, though more of their kind can be found in forested areas as well. In fact, anywhere their prey, the tarantulas and trap-door spiders, were found, the wasps were never far off. They needed the large spiders as hosts for their young ones and, as a result, was very dependant on them.
However, long ago, Frei's entire colony was accidentally dugged up from their underground nests and imported here by the humans. They wound up in the Cactus Gardens, which they found to be very much like their old home. They took over these paper nests from the local wasps, who were smaller and had black and yellow colorings.
Frei's colony had a home and plenty of game for the adults. However, one vital thing was missing: their spider hosts.
The pioneer wasps tried to find a replacement spider species, but those they found were either too small to be practical or built webs, which made things dangerous, as there was a risk of getting caught...a high risk that wasn't worth it. They heard from the ichneumon wasps (who now migrated elsewhere) that caterpillars made wonderful hosts. The butterfly larvae were soft and ate voraciously. However, the wild caterpillars weren't big enough to be used by Frei's kind, so there was a problem with that method.
It was then that they noticed the ant colony nearby. It wasn't the ants themselves that caught their attention, it was the numerous caterpillars they raised. Unlike the wild ones, these were large and fat, obviously well cared for. So it was these that they chose for the hosts. Of course, the ants were much less than cooperative. They fought to defend their livestock and the wasps fought to take them away.
They've been enemies since, working together for the first time not too long ago.
Making peace with the ants meant forsaking the caterpillars and the wasps could not afford such a thing. The very survival of their pupas depended on it.
Frei shook his head and quickly went on. "This ant was caught in the Death Clouds and-"
Valdar interrupted him with a reassuring comment. "The poison doesn't last long in the bodies. She's perfectly safe to eat."
The other wasp said nothing. Normally he wasn't so against eating ants. With so many raids, most, if not all, wasps had come to enjoy the taste of the smaller insects. Frei was one of them, but a discovery like this was too important to eat.
Valdar sensed his fellow's hesitation and assumed he must be a type of conscientious objector. He reassured him once more. "I'm sure her colony won't miss a dead ant."
The wasp leader turned back to his cricket, who by then had passed on. Frei hesitated once more before finally saying what he came here to say.
"That's the thing, sir. She's still alive."
Valdar paused.
--
"These poor, poor bugs..." Mesha, the nurse ant, muttered as she walked along the bodies of fallen insects. It was unbelievable how many had died. It was also surprising to her that so many lived here. She never noticed...Many of the bodies were wasps, she noted. Some had ants nearby and she didn't need to get closer to see that they were as lifeless as the corpses around them.
Occasionally, she'll come across predatory bugs, like mantises and beetles, indulging themselves on this endless buffet and the nurse ant was careful to give each a safe distance, staying hidden if she can.
It saddened her every time she saw a fellow ant lying motionless on the ground. Seeing one in particular, he antennae lowered and her eyes got big and shiny in the ant sad face. As she approached, she felt a clench in the center of her abdomen, where her heart was.
She recognized this ant.
He was her boyfriend, a brave warrior, often spending his time guarding the ant hill. He'd gone to fight the Cloud Beather and when she begged him not to, he promised he'll return as soon as it was all over and have dinner with her, with honeydew and sweetrocks. And now...
The young female ant crouched down and placed a hand on his. There she stayed, eyes closed, motionless for a few moments.
It was the sound of coughing that snapped her out of it. Her antennae perked up at the sound and her eyes snapped open. She shot her gaze to the side and saw a wasp lying on the ground. There was a skid mark between him and the ant before her. No doubt this was the wasp her boyfriend teamed up with.
The larger insect's wings twitched and one of his front legs shifted weakly.
Looking at her boyfriend, she stroked his antennae gently with her hand before standing up. Cautiously she approached the wasp, though her wariness was probably unnecessary, seeing the other bug's weakness. She paused at his side before lightly touching his thorax right below the wings. Almost instantly, the wasp's head jerked to face her and he roared threateningly, as if she were one of those scavengers that might eat him.
Mesha jumped back with a startled cry. The wasp fell silent, looking at her, and seemed to realize that she meant him no harm. The ant took a step closer.
"It's alright. I'm going to help you." she reassured. The wasp just stared for a moment, mouth vibrating in thought. Finally, he gave a weak nod and his head crashed back on the ground.
He's unconscious.she thought before walking closer. Carefully, she pushed the wasp onto his side, then his back. With a grunt, she lifted him clear off the ground. Although ants could lift many times their own weight, Mesha was unuse to doing such a thing. After a bit of unbalanced swaying, Mesha stabilized herself and began walking for the ant hill. Climbing the slope was a burden and one of guards stopped her.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, staring up at the comatosed wasp.
"He's hurt. I can't leave him outside." she told him. He shook his head.
"But you can't bring him in here either. It's too dangerous." he said.
"If I leave him out here, he'll be eaten or something. He'll be safer in the colony. After helping us with the Cloud Breather, it's the least we could do." Mesha negotiated. The guard sighed and gazed off to the side in thought. Mesha saw her chance and pushed on. "I'll watch him and make sure he won't cause trouble. I promise." She lowered her antennae. "Please. He needs help and...he's the only one I have left."
Looking at her, wondering what she meant, he noted the beseeching face. For her sake, maybe he should take the chance. He sighed, giving in.
"Get him down there before I change my mind." he muttered. Nodding, Mesha rushed through the entrance and worked her way into the private chamber that served as her room. Carrying the wasp has earned her rather curious looks, though some were heavy in disapproval.
She ignored all of them and entered the privacy of her room. Gently, she placed the wasp down onto the soft soil. The larger insect gave a subconscious grunt and he shifted slightly before going quiet.
Mesha sat nearby and waited patiently for him to wake up again...
A story I've been wanting to do all week. As you can tell, I LOVE the wasps. And I can't be the only one! Someone out there must like them too and I hope that someone reviews!