A/N I don't own A Bug's Life or its characters; they are owned by Disney and Pixar. What I DO own are my OC, Kimberly, and any other characters that weren't in the movie.
The Queen of Water: Yeah, she is. Thanks :)
hellgirl-fan1: Glad you love it :)
Wolfe Animation: Well, I hope this chapter was worth waiting for :D I may/may not put in a legit snake attack, and if I do, it'll be much later in the story; probably after the movie's done. I don't know. I'm trying to space out the plot points I have.
A few days afterwards, Phyllis told Kimberly that Dot would be spending the day with her and Atta, so the yellowish grasshopper had the day off to do whatever she wanted. "You can stay in the anthill, or you could help with the gathering," She said. "Or you could just walk around the island, if you wish. Keep an eye out for snakes though. I didn't want to frighten Dot, but you were right in fearing a snake could be nearby when you found a snakeskin."
"I understand." Kimberly nodded. "I'll be careful."
"Good. Have a nice day." Phyllis smiled.
Kimberly decided she would explore the island by herself. Since she couldn't fly, she couldn't get a bird's eye view. But she was able to jump onto plants. Being a grasshopper, she had very long legs, and though she could no longer fly, she was a good jumper.
She was currently jumping on the clovers in the clover forest, looking out for any signs that Flik was returning. It had only been a few days, so he probably only just got to the city. But Kimberly didn't know how far away the city was, so it was only an estimate.
As she leapt onto a tall rock, something, or rather someone, grabbed her from behind, gripping both of her hands behind her back, and held a hand over her mouth before she could scream. "Shhh." A voice hissed from behind.
Her eyes widened. Hopper?! Here?! What is he doing here?!
"I'm here on peaceful business." He whispered, tracing a free finger down one of her antennae. She twitched it away, though he didn't seem to notice. "I wanted to speak to you in private before I officially leave. No one knows we're here but us. Now, then, if you promise not to scream and alert your ant friends, I'll let you go. Agreed?" He spat out the word "friends" as if it were poison.
Kimberly scowled under the male grasshopper's hand. She managed to look over her shoulder and glare at him. Indeed her hazel eyes met his brown one. The blind eye was clouded over and dark, but still seemed to function normally, aside from being unable to see.
"I assure you I will not harm you or the ants…today." He said in a slight warning tone. "I just want to talk, grasshopper to grasshopper. Don't scream, and I won't harm anyone. Blink twice so I know you understand."
Her scowl not faltering, Kimberly reluctantly blinked twice. "Good girl." He said huskily, finally letting her go.
She whipped around so she could see Hopper. "Quite jumpy, are we?" He asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.
"More like distrusting." She answered, not smiling at all.
"Why, you don't trust me?" He asked in a mock-shocked tone, laying a hand on his chest.
"No. I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you. And that's not far, seeing as I'm not very strong. What are you doing here? What do you want? The ants haven't gathered enough food, if you're curious."
"I know. I don't quite expect them to gather enough food in merely a few days when I said we would be back in autumn." He said. "No, I came here to talk to you."
"Me? Why me?"
"I've never met a female grasshopper quite like you, Kimberly. Not just because you live with ants. It's your attitude. I can tell you're quite the feisty female." He began to slowly circle around her as he spoke. "And as I said before, I like a feisty female. You have a certain feminine charm that I like as well." He traced a claw along her jaw line and down to her chin, making her shudder. "Not to mention you're a very attractive, beautiful young grasshopper."
"You probably spew that dung out to all the females." Kimberly drawled.
"Not usually. As I said, you're unlike any female I've ever met." Hopper said, finally stopping in front of her.
"Well, I'm flattered." She said in a sarcastic tone. "You're such a charmer. But that still doesn't answer why you're here, or what you want."
"All right, I'll cut to the chase. You don't need to be with these ants, Kimberly. You deserve to be with other grasshoppers."
"And by others, you mean you?" She could feel nervous butterflies in her stomach again.
"You're smart. Another thing I like about you." He grinned. "Join me, Kimberly. Become a part of my gang. Not only will you be with other grasshoppers, but if you play your cards right, you could have both luxury and power. Being on the arm of one of the most powerful insects will do you good in life." He cupped her cheek in a top hand, and sandwiched one of her hands between his lower ones. "What say you, my dear?"
"What do I say? I say you can take all that dung you just said and shove it up where the sun doesn't shine!" Kimberly spat, jumping back with a scowl. "How dare you! After that display you gave when I first met you? Forget it! I don't care if you're the most powerful insect in the whole world! I will never be affiliated with you! Ever! Do you hear me?!"
"Yes, I hear you." Hopper scowled. "If you yelled any louder, those ants will come running. But that doesn't matter at the moment."
"Like hell it doesn't! You just take your offer and get out of here before I kick you clear off of this island." She snarled in a lower voice, not wanting the ants to come and get the wrong idea. She was already on thin ice with them by just being a grasshopper. "Even if you make the same offer to me when you come this autumn, the answer will be the same: no, I will never join you. Ever."
"We'll see, Ms. Kimberly. We'll see. Again, I'll see you this autumn." He took one of her top hands and kissed the back of it, much to her dismay. He only watched with a slight smirk as she pulled her hand and shook it like she was shaking water off. "Think long and hard about my offer, and consider this: those ants will never accept you. They'll always be wary and hateful of grasshoppers, no matter how friendly you may seem to them. Not even the queen will accept you." With a farewell nod, Hopper took off to the skies and soon disappeared into the distance.
"Screw you, One-Eye!" She snapped, though she knew he couldn't hear her. She shuddered, remembering his hand on her cheek and his lips on her hand. She spit in two other hands and wiped off her cheek and hand, shuddering again. "I hate that grasshopper." She muttered. "I don't care that he was charming, or that he's handsome, I hate him so much! I dread the day he returns in the autumn!"
Kimberly had gone back to the anthill in a huff. She had snapped that nothing was wrong when Phyllis asked if something was wrong, though she apologized later after she cooled down. "I think I was just having a bad day." She explained, not wanting to tell her Hopper had asked her to join his gang.
"We all have them, dear. Sometimes, we just need to be alone for a while to cool down." Phyllis had said understandingly.
During the days that followed, Kimberly was able to push Hopper to the back of her mind as she helped gather food—the ants still gave her wary and angry glares, though she learned to ignore them—and played with Dot. The young princess continued to try and fly, despite her mother and sister telling her she was too young. "I'll never fly!" She yelled, throwing a random rock.
"Sure, you will." Kimberly said. "It'll just take some time."
"Easy for you to say. You've been flying longer than me, and you don't even have wings anymore." Dot slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, Kimmy! I didn't mean it!"
"I know." She nodded, only feeling a little hurt. "You're frustrated, I get it. I was that way when I was a nymph."
"What's a nymph?"
"A baby grasshopper. Thusly, I was anxious to fly when I was your age. But you'll get there in no time. By the time you're flying, you'll forget what it's like to not be able to fly."
"What's it like? To fly, I mean."
"Well, it's…you know, I have an idea on how to show you."
"Show me? How? Y-you don't have wings." She said in a small voice.
Kimberly twitched her wing stumps. They had healed the day before the grasshoppers first came, and looked like short, leafless twigs. They were completely hidden under her hardened wings, but if she spread all four pairs, it was painfully obvious that she didn't have the membrane wings needed to fly. "I know, but just trust me." She said, crouching down. She picked up the small ant around the middle, and sat her on her shoulders. "Hang on, but please don't pull my antennae." She stood up and began walking around. "Since I'm so tall, it feels like you're flying, huh?"
"Yeah!" Dot nodded, grinning widely. "Go faster!"
Kimberly began trotting, making sure to hold onto Dot's legs with her top hands in case she let go of her exoskeleton. The young royal ant laughed with glee, kicking her legs. "Faster! Start jumping!"
Kimberly bit her lip nervously, but finally said, "Hang on tight!" She crouched down and jumped up high, landing far from her starting point.
Dot exclaimed slightly in surprise, but laughed as Kimberly sailed through the air and landed on her feet, and jumped again. She squealed and cheered happily, still clinging to the grasshopper's exoskeleton. Still holding Dot's legs, Kimberly moved so her lower hands and feet were on the ground when she landed before a jump.
Finally, Kimberly stopped and stood up straight. "All right, I think that's enough mock-flying for today." She said, lifting Dot down to the ground.
"That was fun!" She giggled. "Now I can't wait to fly!"
"Just be patient, young grasshopper."
"I'm not a grasshopper."
"It's just an expression." Kimberly shook her head. "It usually refers to someone who's barely schooled, or hasn't accomplished a skill. It doesn't matter whether they're a grasshopper or not."
A/N I've been distracted by my Epic fanfic, but I managed to write out the next chapter for this story. It's becoming more popular than I thought, seeing as A Bug's Life doesn't have many fanfics (don't let the number of fanfics fool you; even though it says there are 78, there are only 73, including mine. I don't know why the number's screwed up)
An anonymous reviewer by the name of Wolfe Animation gave me the idea for Hopper briefly returning to the island to try and convince Kimberly to join his gang. I thought that was an awesome idea, and used it in this chapter. He's not too subtle that he's in love with her, if you can call it "love." But despite the fact that Kimberly thinks he's attractive and charming, she's still got a grudge for his attitude when he and his gang visited days earlier.
I'm out of ideas for what happens between when Flik leaves and returns, but I managed to squeeze in a little bonding time between Kimberly and Dot, as well as describe what the former's wings look like now.
Next chapter, it'll time-jump to when Flik returns, and the movie will start again. The next non-canon ideas will be when the bird's being built, seeing as that took a while; the leaves turning color were the clock, since the seasons were transitioning from summer to fall.
