Apologies yet again for the super long wait and super short length of this chapter, but I PROMISE the next one will come much sooner and be much better than this one. Just wanted to give you guys a little something to let you know I haven't forgotten you or this story. ;)
Flik clung to the crown of Dim's head as air whizzed by and water crashed to the earth on either side of him. After Atta left him with the queen, the two had watched everything unfold in slow motion: Hopper emerging from behind a blade of grass. Dot's triumphant moment of flight after being thrown by the gang member. The sweet embrace between the royal sisters before a huge raindrop fell from the heavens and cut their reunion short, imprisoning one and knocking the breath from the other.
Within seconds of this unexpected twist Flik had immediately summoned the help of his beetle friend, who hurried to his side after depositing the remaining Blueberries safely into the anthill. The queen had wanted to go with them, but Flik convinced her to stay with Manny and Gypsy. The colony would be in shambles if something happened to all three members of the monarchy in one night.
Even with Dim flying faster than any ant or grasshopper combined, Hopper still got to Dot first. Flik could hear her screaming his name over Dim's roar, the sound growing fainter and fainter as the distance between them grew. It splintered his heart.
"Don't you hurt her!" Dim snarled after Hopper as he came to a halt. The gentle giant had a particularly soft spot in his heart for Dot, and Flik could almost feel the red-hot rage boiling beneath his blue shell. It was the same anger Flik himself had felt the first time Hopper bullied the princess, when the courage he needed to step out of line was awoken by his friend's frightened whimpers. The three words that rolled off his tongue were leave her alone, but what he had really wanted to say was something more like pick on someone your own size, you scumbag.
"What are we waiting for, Flik?"
Flik knew Dim would charge after Hopper as soon as he gave the word, but he also knew that another ant needed him just as much as Dot did. His eyes landed where Atta lay only a leaf's length away from them, her eyes shut tight and her chest heaving updown, updown, updown. She didn't so much as flinch when a fat raindrop splattered centimeters from her head.
"Hang on, big guy!" Flik shouted, grabbing one of Dim's massive antennae and lowering himself to the ground with it. "First Atta, then Dot. I promise you Hopper won't do anything until he sees me. I'm the one he's after."
His feet touched dirt and then he was running towards Atta, thunder rumbling in rhythm with his steps. Along the way he found himself hurdling over what looked like soggy, crumpled up leaves, and it wasn't until he was by the princess's side that his mind registered what they were.
Feathers. Real ones.
This meant one of two things: either they had blown here from the other side of the island, or the bird herself was somewhere nearby. Flik's eyes flitted to the pathetic mass of leaves and twigs that had been the colony's attempt at recreating the beast. Imitation was a form of flattery, but somehow he didn't think she would see it that way. Was that a screech in the distance or just the wind whistling through bare branches? Could Hopper sense her presence too, or was his fear dulled by his fury?
And if the real bird was out there somewhere, how long would it be before she found them?