(A.N. Sorry, I should have mentioned this at the start, but I don't own A Bug's Life or any of its characters, they are all the property of Disney/Pixar. However the character Acorn is my own creation.)

Chapter 3 - Cold, Cruel Night

Wow, this feels…weird…

I'm walking…no, I'm floating on air…

The sight that greeted Flik as he opened his eyes was that of a black, dark sky, with the rain still pouring down fast.

Huh? What am I doing outside in this weather…

Flik went to get up, but felt his legs floating. In shock he realised he was grabbing onto a piece of the branch that he'd fallen onto while trying to rescue Acorn, and he was waist deep in water. At that moment it all returned to his mind.

"Dot! Acorn!" he called out, looking round for his companions. The distinctive shrill tones of the young princess was the response.

"Flik? Flik!"

"Dot! I'm over here! Are you OK?"

Dot was laid down on the top of the branch to the far right of Flik. She carefully crawled over to her friend. Flik could see that she had suffered a slight bruise to her face.

"Oh, Dot…" he soothed.

"It's just a little bruise," replied Dot, "nothing serious…where's Acorn and Gypsy?"

Suddenly a groan went up from the other side of the branch. Immediately Flik and Dot realised it had to be Acorn. Hoisting himself out of the water, Flik climbed onto the branch, then he and Dot made their way over to where the groans were coming from.

"Oh man…"

Sure enough, it was Acorn. Of the three ants, he had clearly come off worse from the fall. He was flat on his back, one of his legs trailing in the water, and his body was quite bruised.

"Oh, poor Acorn," lamented Dot.

Acorn looked up at the duo, giving a cough. "It's no surprise…I'm nothing…but a…walking disaster area…why didn't…I get back…"

"This is not your fault," said Flik firmly, "this is just nature acting up. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The wounded ant gave a deep sigh. "Then…why do I…feel so…guilty, Flik?"

Flik just looked at Acorn, knowing he couldn't answer that question. He just felt helpless, knowing that Acorn needed medical attention.

Suddenly, Dot looked across at the huge flow of water, and noticed a small round shape bobbing above the surface, being pushed down the river by the current. There were two antennae on the shape.

Dot gasped. "Gypsy!"

Flik whirled round and also noticed the moth being forced downstream.

"Oh my gosh! Gypsy! Can you hear me!"

There was no reply. Clearly the fall from above the cliff had knocked Gypsy into unconsciousness.

Out of the blue, Dot suddenly flew over to where Gypsy was, and desperately tried to lift her from out of the water.

"Dot! No!" yelled Flik, "what are you doing?"

The force of the fast-flowing water suddenly wrenched Gypsy from Dot's nimble grasp.

"No!" cried the princess in horror, watching helplessly as Gypsy was tossed and turned by the crashing river, getting swept out of sight.

Flik also watched in complete disbelief. He was rudely interrupted by a loud crash as the branch crashed into the top of a large, partly submerged rock, knocking him flat down on the branch.

"Flik! Acorn!" cried Dot as she flew over to the crashed branch, also dodging raindrops. Flik staggered to his feet with a groan, and surveyed where he had just crashed. To his joy, he found that just above the rock was an accessible ledge of land.

"Looks like we can get back to terra firma," he said to Dot.

"That's a relief…but what about Gypsy? I let her go…" replied the princess, full of remorse.

Flik knelt down beside Dot. "You tried to help her the best you could, Dot. It's not your fault. Besides, Gypsy may get washed ashore downstream…I hope…"

Dot nodded. "Same here…"

A groan came up from Acorn, which jolted Flik and Dot into action. Flik, with some difficulty, hoisted the stricken ant onto his shoulders and gradually climbed from the rock onto the ledge, while Dot flew up onto the ledge to keep everything in check.

"You OK, Acorn?" asked Flik of his friend.

Acorn blinked and groaned. "Never…mind me, I'm…OK…compared…to Mrs. Gypsy…"

A crash of water was heard as the wrecked branch was dislodged from the rock and broken in half. Flik and Dot watched the wreckage float downstream, then disappear under the water.

"Close call," quipped Flik. How he wished that he was safe and warm back at the anthill. How he wished he was in Atta's arms.

"The rains have only come down this bad once before," commented Dot, "and no-one's ever died through floods like this…"

Flik walked over to the princess and put a comforting arm round her shoulders.

"We'll find Gypsy…and we'll get out of this mess…don't worry…"

The torrents of rain continued to lash down as Atta and her mother flew above the soaked terrain, dodging the large drops of rain as they did. Below, puddles of water were forming in some deep areas of the ground, and any cracks in the previously dry terrain were now mini canyons full of water.

"Last I heard, they were at the boat site," explained Atta to her mother.

"And they must've fallen from the cliff edge," acknowledged the ex-queen, "so maybe they're somewhere below…maybe they're fine."

"You don't know how much I want to believe that, Mom," responded Atta.

All of a sudden, the duo spied a silhouette in the distance. As they got closer, they realised that the shadow was that of the boat and its scaffolding, which had been slightly damaged from the rains. Touching down on the ground, Atta walked over to the cliff edge and carefully peered over.

"Oh no…" she uttered, seeing that what was normally a large canyon of dry cracked ground was now a fast-flowing river. Her mother also looked, then looked across at the boat.

"Come on!" she hollered, "we can use this to get down that river!"

"Are you sure?" questioned Atta, "it isn't totally finished…"

"It looks seaworthy to me," replied Atta's mom, "and we haven't got time for any other ideas! Come on!"

Reluctantly, Atta went to the back of the boat, and along with her mom, started to push the boat towards the cliff edge.

"Quick, jump in and hold on tight!" called out Atta's mom, as the boat was about to go over the edge. At once her daughter followed the order, and the pair held tightly onto the boat's edge as they were sent flying from the cliff edge. A few seconds later the boat crashed into the water below on its underside, floating on the surface perfectly.

"These waters are rough," observed Atta, "guess we'd better start paddling…"

At once, the pair picked up the boat's paddles, made from twigs and leaves, and started to row the boat down the rough waters. While they did this, they started to call out for Flik, Dot, Acorn and Gypsy, in the hope that they would hear them calling.

However, as Atta saw the flowing river, her hopes for the group to be safe started to fade.

Why didn't you stay back…

Perched upon a tree branch, with damp leaves drooping around to shelter him from the rain, Manny stared at the black sky, feeling exhausted after searching the area around the cliff. He knew that his wife could be out there somewhere, and at the same time knew the possible alternative.

Rubbing away the tears from his eyes, the magician mantis decided to go and search the flooded canyon. He knew it would be perilous, but if Gypsy was alive out there somewhere, he had to do whatever it would take to rescue her. At the same time he also hoped that Flik, Acorn and the young princess were safe too.

I'll find you…everything will be OK…

Manny flew off into the rain drenched night.

Staring through the branches that covered the safe haven, Flik maintained his sight on the river below, and on the top of the other cliff across the relentless river. However his spirit was far from willing, he was fighting a losing battle to keep his eyes from closing through tiredness.

He glanced over at his two companions, who had both already fallen asleep. A couple of leaves found were keeping them warm.

Just sleep tight… thought Flik to himself, then you'll wake up and everything will be OK…

Suddenly, something caught his eye. A shadowy figure flying across the top of the other side of the river. Maybe they've finally sent help…

"Hello!" called out Flik, "we're over here! Please, help us!"

His cries were in vain. The roar of the flowing river drowned the cries out. Still, Flik wasn't about to give up that easily. Again he cried out for help, but still the silhouetted insect was unable to hear a word said. It was then that Flik squinted and realised who the insect was.

Manny…he must be looking for…Gypsy…

Flik gave a deep sigh, and giving in, sat down, watching Manny's shadow disappear from view. He then went and grabbed a leaf from one of the branches, and crawled under it, his thoughts full of Atta, who would in no doubt be worried sick.

Don't worry Atta…I'll be OK…tomorrow I'll get out of this and get back to you…

Flik slowly drifted off to sleep as the rainfall became less heavy, until it ceased to fall. The clouds parted to reveal the moon, shining a beam of light down on the shelter and illuminating the three sleeping ants.

The wild, flowing river tossed the wooden and leafed boat around in its grasp, the two queen ants struggling to keep control of the craft, while at the same time scanning the surrounding cliffs for signs of life.

"Maybe we should turn back," hollered Atta's mom over the roar of the crashing water, straining with the weight of the oar.

"We have no choice," replied Atta, "I know they're alive out here, and if we don't find them soon…"

"I know," came the response, "but is it worth it if we end up getting ourselves killed?"

"I'm sorry Mom, but now isn't…" Atta was interrupted by a sudden jolt from the choppy waters which forced the boat to lean dangerously over to the left, sending the queen over to the other side of the boat. To make matters worse, she dropped her oar, which was swallowed up by the water.

"Atta! Hold on!" cried her mother, as she attempted to steer the boat through the rough torrent. Atta clung tightly onto the side of the boat, trying to pick herself up.

Suddenly, Atta's mom looked ahead and with horror saw a cluster of rocks. She desperately tried to steer the boat away from them, but with only one oar it was almost impossible. The two ants were knocked to the floor of the boat as it crashed into the rocks. Then the relentless current of water pushed the boat towards the cliff edge, towards another cluster of rocks. With a crash it was dragged onto the top of the rocks, tossing the two ants around like nut shells inside the boat. Then, in less than a second, the boat came to a halt, perched upon the cluster of rocks.

Atta and her mother lay inside the boat, unconscious.