I am so sorry for the unsatisfying length of this chapter, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to update what with upcoming Christmas shenanigans and I wanted to give you guys a little something to hold you over 'til the next one. Please continue to leave your thoughts, theories, (constructive) criticisms, etc. - they really are what keep me going! Love you bugaboos and hope you all have safe and happy holidays :)

-fbw

The storm was intensifying by the second, making it harder and harder for Hopper to navigate the raindrops hurtling to earth all around them. In his lower arms he clutched the princess, one hand pressing her to his thorax and the other cupped over her head to shield her from the elements. Surprisingly, she hadn't yet made any effort to get him to let go. Her tiny body was rigid except for an occasional tremor that he credited to the late summer wind whistling around them.

Hopper ducked his head to see Dot curled up like a purple pill bug in his hand, tiny fingers splayed against his stomach, and he felt a stab of pity. She may have been a brat, but he never intended to drag a child into this dung heap. Sure, he had threatened to feed her to Thumper a couple of times, but in his heart of hearts Hopper would never let actual harm come to the kid. Those moments had merely been for show: nothing more than an intimidation tactic, a reminder to the colony of their utter cowardice as they witnessed the mistreatment of their own royalty without a word of protest.

Except there had been a word of protest. Three, to be exact, spoken twice by the same damn ant.

Leave her alone.

Hopper's eyes narrowed at the thought of the troublemaker who had made what should have been a routine trip to Ant Island a messy and complicated ordeal. Atta and her little sister had spunk, but spunk could easily be crushed underfoot with the right amount of pressure. Flik had ideas, and ideas were much harder to kill once they'd been planted. The queen's life may have been spared thanks to the scheming ant and his horde of circus friends, but Hopper knew now that he would have to snuff out the rebellion at its root.

Princess Dot, once again, was just a pawn.

They were entering the thick tangle of tree branches now, which provided a small amount of shelter from the rain. Hopper slowed his wings and allowed himself to hover for a moment, scanning the empty air beneath his feet for any sign of Flik or Atta. He had no doubt they would come for Dot once the latter recovered the breath that had been struck from her body by that convenient drop of rain, but he had to give them a fair chance to catch up. Then the real game would begin.

"We're not picking any more food for you, you know."

Hopper blinked down at his young hostage, bewildered by her sudden ferocity. She glared back at him, her arms crossed and her lower lip jutting defiantly. There was only the faintest of quivers in her voice when she spoke again. "No matter what happens, we won't pick food for you grasshoppers anymore. We know better. Flik taught us that."

Flik taught us that. Hopper's eyes narrowed into slits as a familiar sense of rage swelled in his chest and pounded in his temple. Dot was only a child, yes, but that meant her mind was still malleable. He thought of all the other ants her age that had come streaming out of the fake bird's beak after it crashed, at least a dozen more minds that Flik had tainted with his speech about the colony's strength in size and unity. The older ants who had grown up under the grasshoppers' rule could probably be bullied back into submission once Flik was gone, but the younger ones would be much harder to mend now that they had been exposed to the radical thought of freedom. And this ant would one day be their queen.

Hopper lifted the hand holding Dot and squeezed just enough to make her squirm with discomfort as he gazed coolly into her eyes, noticing for the first time they were the same color as Flik's. "What did you say, Princess?" he asked, his voice close to a whisper.

At that moment a raindrop exploded against the branch that arched above his head, showering both of them with freezing bits of water. A flash of lightning illuminated the fear Dot had hidden behind her brave words, scrawled across her face like the freckles on her nose. Hopper chuckled darkly. She wasn't scared of him, she was petrified.

"That's what I thought."