Chapter 2

TWEET!

Atta shrieked as the bird closed in on her and Flik, the princess doing all that she could in order to evade its open beak. She kept her eyes focused on the target right directly in front of her: the anthill. Only a few feet left! They were almost there. All she had to do was fly straight just a tiny bit more and... Suddenly, the minimal light that the stormy night provided began to grow dimmer and dimmer as Atta suddenly realized she was being lured into a tunnel. Despite her best effort to get out of the tunnel, she couldn't fly fast enough and the tongue of the large bird thrushed forward and flung her and Flik backwards. The last thing Atta saw before she spiraled down into complete blackness was the sight of the tiny tunnel's mouth closing with a loud crash.

Atta's eyes snapped open. Bright light blinded her and she held up her hand to shield the source of the light away while her watering eyes tried to adjust to her new environment. Looking around, she took notice of her small purple desk lamp on the nightstand beside her bed. She noticed her large desk on the opposite end of the room, litered with notes, sketches and reminders of her consistent colony routines. But most importantly, she saw her mother, the Queen, sitting by her bedside, a relieved and loving glow in her eyes.

"Atta!" the Queen cried as she noticed her eldest daughter suddenly awaken. She quickly rushed over and embraced her daughter in a tight hug, showering her with all of her love and comfort. Atta was bewildered. She had no idea why she was suddenly in her bedroom and why her mother was so relieved to see her, but she welcomed it fully. She attempted to raise her arms in order to hug her mother back only to be met by a sharp pain in both of her arms, causing her to recoil. Recognizing her daughter's efforts, the Queen pulled back. "Oh, honey, take it easy. You had some nasty injuries and you shouldn't use your arms for a few days." Looking down, Atta noticed two large grass blade casts encased her arms so that she was barely able to move them. Even with the encasings, the pain was still very vivid; she felt as if her arms were continuously being poked with needles.

"Wha- What happened?" Atta groaned. Her voice was much more hoarse than she had anticipated and her throat felt like somebody had rubbed it with sandpaper.

"Goodness, honey, don't talk, you sound awful!" the Queen exclaimed, quickly running over to the foot of the bed and grabbing something. Leaning upward slightly, Atta noticed it was Dr. Flora's medical flower that contained her beads of dew. The Queen quickly pulled out two beads and rushed back over to Atta, offering them out. "Drink these," she stated. Atta quickly grabbed the first bead and sucked it up. Immediatly, the moisture softened the inside of her mouth and soothed her thoat. Unfortunatly, the changing sensation from complete dryness to sudden mosture combined with the quick speed she engulfed the bead caused Atta to cough violently.

"ATTA!" the Queen cried again, quickly the dew bead onto the floor, causing it to splatter, and rushing over to her daughter. She gripped her daughter's shoulders tightly as she gazed into Atta's eyes. "Slow down, breath! You are ok!" the Queen instructed, tighly squeezing Atta's shoulders. After a few seconds, the coughing stopped and Atta managed to regain control her breathing. Her throat felt like it was on fire although she no longer felt the stinging sensation that had ocurred with the bead of dew making contact with her dry throat.

After a few more second, the Queen locked eyes with her daughter. "Are you ok? Do you wanna try another?" The princess simply nodded. Her mother went back over to the flower, got another bead of dew, and returned to her daughter. Wordlessly, she offered the bead out. Atta took it and sucked it up more slowly. The second bead felt much more soothing than the first, allowing her to breath more calmly and no longer feel the stinging itchness of her dry throat.

"Thank you," Atta whispered, nervous to try speaking so loudly.

"Of course, my dear," the Queen replied, before turning around and dragging the chair she had been sitting in earlier closer to Atta's bedside. "You've been out for close to a day now. I suspected you'd propably be thirsty after that." The Queen chuckled lightly, earning a weak smile from Atta in response.

"What happened?" Atta said softly. Feeling no pain from talking, she sighed in relief before continuing, "The last thing I remember is falling asleep in some tree when it was still raining. Someone... was there but I wasn't sure who it was, but I just wanted to make sure Flik was safe, so I decided to rest for a little bit after..."

Suddenly, reality came crashing down upon the princess. Eyes widening, she took note of her surroundings and noticed something was missing. Or... someone.

"Mother?" Atta breathed in panic. "Where is Flik?"

"Honey..." the Queen began, but Atta interrupted her.

"No, please don't tell me that you guys just left him there! He has been through way too much tonight for him to just be tossed aside like a bad piece of grain. He needs to be taken care of! Where is he now?"

"Atta, listen to me!" the Queen demanded, raising her voice at her daughter. Atta immediatly stopped, glancing up at her mother anxiously. She stood there for a few moments, glancing at her daughter when an unreadable expression. The Queen rarely raised her voice, espcially at her offspring, so this sudden outburst caught Atta entirely off guard. I surely hope they did not leave Flik out there all alone. Atta thought to herself as she awaited her mother's response. But crossing Mother, especially right now... What was I thinking?

Taking a deep breath, the Queen composed herself and spoke in a soft, but clear voice. "I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, honey. You know how much I don't like to do that. But you have to understand that I am your mother and the queen and you cannot show disrepect to me by interrupting me and throwing a tantrum. Do you understand?" The Queen paused and gave her daughter a stern but reassuring gaze.

Atta nodded. "I understand, and I am sorry, Mother."

The Queen smiled at her eldest daughter, nodding in approval. "It's ok. I honestly wish I had half as much insistency and spunk as you do when I was your age." The two shared a chuckle before the Queen continued, "Flik is ok. You two were both rescused last night by the warrior turned circus bugs who claimed they found you in the large thorn tree by the river bed completly exhausted. The large beetle, the black widow... Dim and Rosie, I believe... as well as those two strange accented pill bugs brought the two of you back a few hours after all of us had evacuated into the anthill. Flik was brought into the medical ward and was immediatly treated by Dr. Flora as he was barely breathing." Atta caught her breath as the Queen mentioned this, a horrifying feeling settling into her stomach.

"Is he..." Atta breathed, but her mother held up her hand and silenced her daughter.

"As far as I have been told, he hasn't awoken since he has been brought back, but he is still alive and well." Atta felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She breathed a larged sigh of relief before giving her mother a thankful smile. The Queen gave her a brief smug glance in return, causing Atta to title her head in confusion. Opening her mouth to say something, the Queen merely laughed aloud and held up her hand to silence her daughter again. "Dear, as much as I know you are happy that Flik has returned safely, I need you to be made aware of one thing."

Before the Queen could explain further, there was a knock on the door. Only the royal family were allowed to have doors on their personal chambers. The rest of the chambers in the anthill-the medical ward included-were sectioned off by leaf curtains instead. This helped to ensure the royal family's privacy and was one of several ways to differentiate them from the other ants. Groaning, the Queen walked over to the door. "Who in heaven's name would be interrupting us?" she grumbled as she pulled the door open a crack.

"Your Majesty!" came four voices at once. Atta immediatly recognized them as Dr. Flora, Mr. Soil, Thorny, and Cornelius, the four members of the Ant Council. "How is Princess Atta? Is she awake and well yet?" All four of them spoke over each other, spitting demand after demand about colony activity. From what Atta could make out of the jumbled mess of words, the colony was terrified about Atta's current state-although Atta personally suspected it was just the council themselves who were more nervous than anything else-and were wondering when she would be coming back.

"Council members, please, my daughter is trying to rest. She doesn't need to be bombarded with anything colony related right now," the Queen said a surprisingly frustrated voice.

"But, your Majesty, you have to understand..." Mr. Soil desperatly interjected.

"ENOUGH!" the Queen shouted, causing Atta to jump. "The colony and yourselves can surely survive for five minutes without me or my daughter watching over you! Tell them that she is not in any state to perform her duties right now and that I will be watching over her until she is. Also, please do not interrupt us again unless it is an emergency! No exceptions! Understand?" Without waiting for a response, the Queen slammed the door in the councils' faces and turned back to her daughter with a sigh.

Atta stared wide eyed at her mother, unable to formulate any reactions to what she had just done. Personally, she felt amused that the council had been put in their place and relieved that she may not have to deal with them for a little while. At the same time, she didn't know if she should be nervous if the council or colony would hold any ill will towards her, proud at her mother for being so defensive, or simply have no reaction to the matter at all. At the current moment, she could only reply to the situation with a stunned expression as if her mother had just threatened to execute the council.

Seeing her daughter's stunned expression, the Queen softened the scowl on her face into a sympathetic smirk. "I'm sorry you had to see all that, but I am getting really fed up with their insistence. This is the fourth time today they have attempted to barge in here and 'check up' on you." The Queen put the phrase "check up" in air quotes, causing her daughter to giggle. Her smile growing slightly, the Queen continued, "But I don't want them to smother us with their 'rains destroying this' and their 'the colony is upset about that' nonsense while you are here resting. It's the last thing you and I need and quite for the record I don't understand how they can't get that through their heads."

Finding her voice, Atta said, "But mother, won't the council and colony get upset at you for being so dismissive?"

In response, the Queen laughed louder than Atta had ever heard her laugh in a long time, causing the princess to jump again. "My dear, it doesn't matter what they think; I am the Queen. They can make suggestions and give good advice on important decisions for the colony, but the end decision is mine. And very soon, dear, that will be the same for you. I don't care how much power and influence the council thinks they have. At the end of the day, we make the choices the colony follows. The council doesn't rule the colony, we do!"

Atta contemplated what her mother had just said to her. She's right, Atta thought. And all this time I thought I needed their consent with every decision I made. From the organization of the offering to the plan with the bird, every single decision had been made with the council at her side, giving their approval or lack of. Although Atta was the fifth and final member of the council (taking over her mother's position), she often seemed to take a back seat role when debating decisions about the colony as she believed that they saw her as inferior compared to her mother. This fear spread throughout the entire colony as well-as far as Atta knew-often leading Atta to feel very self-conscious about herself. I know the colony believes that I am too nerve-wrecked, dull, and inexperienced to become queen. But maybe that doesn't have to be the case, Atta thought. I'm done taking other people's judgements to heart. My mom clearly doesn't, why should I? Why, even the simplistic decision of sending Flik out to find the warrior bugs was...

Suddenly, two new thoughts invaded Atta's head at once: the thought that she needed to see the circus bugs at once to commend them for saving her life, and... Atta gulped. Sooner or later she was going to have to tell Flik the truth; he wasn't the only screw up in the colony, and she knew it. The original decision to send Flik to the city to look for tough bugs to defend the colony wasn't the original reason why Atta and the council had approved his suggestion to go. Atta had originally let slip that he would remain on his search for a long time should he actually go, to which the council had pulled her aside and commended her on the idea. Confused, they explained to her that letting Flik leave the colony was for the best so he wouldn't cause anymore issues with Hopper's offering, and like an idiot she had agreed to the idea. Laying in her bed now recollecting the event, she cringed. She couldn't believe she could be so irresponsible to disregard the fate of one of her own colony members simply because he was a nuisance and would be better off gone. Yes, the gamble coincidentally ended up paying off, but to what risk? Flik could have actually been lost from the colony for a long time, or even worse: killed by thirst, other bugs, or heaven forbid, even Hopper himself! How could I have been so selfish? Atta thought in horror. At that moment, a determined scowl pressed itself on her face as a new idea formed in her head. I will make it up to Flik by any means necessary.

"Honey?" the Queen asked, noiticing the range of expressions ocurring on her daughter's face. "What's going on? Is everything alright?"

Snapped out of her trance, Atta glanced up at her mother. A stab of guilt rushed through her. She hadn't told her mother anything about the decision either, and she doubted the council would be willing to do so. Realizing she couldn't hide away the truth from the Queen any longer, Atta took a deep breath. "Mother, there is something I have to tell you."

"Atta!" the Queen exclaimed as her daughter finished her confession. "Are you seriously telling me that you really disregarded Flik that much that you approved a suicide mission for him? How could you do such a thing?"

Atta glanced downward, feeling smaller than a speck of dust. She sniffled as she fought back tears. "Be...because I thought that was what would be best for the colony. Plus, the council..."

"I don't want to hear anything about the council!" the Queen interrupted. "Atta, what did I just say?"

"That the council doesn't rule the colony. You do," Atta replied in a small voice.

"No, Atta, that is not what I just said. We rule the colony, not just me. You do too. You have just as much power as I do, and as queen, it is your job to represent every single ant within this colony, no matter how many mistakes they makes or how much you may dislike their actions. Flik had his moments, I know, and I admit even I mistook his choices as selfish when that dispicable flea came to the colony, but I admit my wrongdoings and realize that Flik is noble and pure and everything he ever did was for the good of the colony. Atta, what you did was wrong, and I know you know that. But now is the time for you to make things right."

"I know," Atta said, still feeling slightly glum. "I need to tell Flik about my mistake and..."

"Not just Flik," the Queen corrected. "You need to own up to your mistake to everyone in the entire colony, convince them that it was an honest mistake, and that you will always hold everyone's best interest at heart from this moment forward. A good leader is honest, selfless, and diligent, willing to admit their mistakes and correct them. Are you willing to do that, my daughter?"

"Absolutly," Atta said, nodding without hesistation, a determined look on her face once again.

The Queen smiled, a small gleam in her eye as she beemed as her eldest daughter. Walking towards her, the Queen threw her arms around Atta, giving her a large hug. Despite being unable to return the embrace, Atta leaned forward and lifted her head up and down, patting her mother with her chin. The Queen pulled back, still smiling. "Good," she simply stated.

"And I'm going to start right now," Atta confidently responded. The Queen tilted her head in confusion, raising an eyebrow. "Mother, can you send for the circus bugs that rescued Flik and I last night? I want to thank them personally."

"Atta, I appreciate that you want to be commemerable to everyone, but I do not want you to have any other visitors besides myself for the entire day," the Queen said, shaking her head. "You have been through a lot and need to rest. You can thank the circus bugs tomorrow, I will send them over first thing."

Atta gaped at her mother in shock, but nodded respectfully. "I understand."

Just then, another knock came at the door. The Queen rolled her eyes and groaned before walking over to the door and thrusting it open. "Yes?" she demanded. However, she was immediatly toppled to the floor when Atta's younger sister, Dot, came bursting into the room, flying faster than either Atta or the Queen had ever seen before!

"Atta!" the younger princess cried, flying over to her older sister and embracing her tightly. Atta was taken aback. Not only was she caught off guard by her sister's prescence but her sister was flying! Actually flying! Tears once again formed in the elder princess's eyes as she merely responded with a light, elated chuckle at the mesmerizing sight.

"Dot!" the Queen yelled, causing both of her daughters to jump and Dot to immediatly release Atta, flying backwards in shock. Seeing her younger daughter flying, the Queen's gaze immediatly softened and tears also formed in her eyes as she smiled and ran towards Dot, throwing her arms around her. "Oh my goodness, Dot! You're flying!" the Queen laughed, spinning her younger daughter around in circles. Dot giggled. Atta also laughed at the charming sight, still taking in the new discovery. Our little Dot is growing up, she happily thought.

Putting her daughter back on the ground, the Queen turned to Dot. "Dot, what are you doing in here? I don't want any visitors in your sister's room while she is resting."

'Not even me?" Dot whimpered, looking up at her mother with big, round eyes. Putting on a pouty face, she made her lip quiver as she forced tears to form in her eyes, giving off the illusion she was about to cry.

The Queen stared for a few moments at her daughter's foolproof face before finally gritting her teeth and sighing. "Ok, Dot, you can stay in here for a few minutes, but not any longer."

"YAY!" Dot shouted as she flew back to her sister and landed on the edge of the bed. "How you doing, Atta? I couldn't wait to see you!"

Atta chuckled, elated at her sister's happiness. "I'm doing alright, Dot. How long have you been able to fly?"

Glancing at her wings, the young princess grinned. "Since yesterday. I was trying to escape the mean grasshopper and he chased me to the edge of the cliff and I fell off. I began moving my wings with all my might and the next thing I knew..." She jumped off the bed and began hovering in midair.

"That's amazing, Dot!" the elder princess praised, giving her younger sister a warm smile. "I always knew that you could do it if you put your mind to it."

Dot giggled again and the Queen smiled. "Oh, Atta, I almost forgot! I wanted to tell you something!"

"What is it, Dot?" Atta asked.

"I just came out of Flik's room!" the younger princess responded. "He's awake!"