A/N: so I want to clarify that they're not necessarily a circus, since the first circus didn't happen until the 1780s and this story is long before that time period..anyway, just to clear up any confusion or whatever
Flik had been on the waters for at least 24 hours, and was surprisingly not to least bit sleepy or exhausted. He just kept rowing his boat across the waves, always looking ahead and never glancing back. He knew he wasn't lost, since he was using the compass he was given as a child, and it had never once failed him in his life. He knew that Cathrach would take a while to find. His island was meant to be closed-off and isolated from other countries like Cathrach.
By the next sunset, he finally spotted the body of land in view, and thankfully it wasn't too far. He smiled victoriously, regaining any energy he may have lost to row forward, determined to find the warriors that would save him and his home. The waves made his boat uneven a few times, but he simply ignored it, since it seemed nothing could bring him down from his good mood.
Eventually he reached the shore, where there were a few other boats as well, and quite an amount of ships docked not too far off. They weren't as large as the Grasshoppers' ship, but still an overwhelming sight for someone like Flik to see. He carefully stepped out of his boat and onto the sand, staring ahead at the land of Cathrach.
He grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before walking forward. He occasionally glanced down at his feet, seeing his boots being attacked by the grains of sand on the shore. But he didn't really mind it, since his boots were already dirty to begin with. All of his shoes were, anyway. He was just a villager, so washing any article of clothing or footwear was an aggravating process. That was something he had taken notice to once reaching the streets of the town, almost everyone had clean and proper clothes. He felt quite underdressed around them.
Flik also noticed that he was the only ant person in the town. There were many variations of hybrids, such as flies, mosquitos, arachnids, bees, butterflies, cockroaches, etcetera. He was definitely one of the shortest that couldn't fly. But he wasn't at all intimidated or anxious about it. In fact, he didn't seem to care less. He was just excited to be there at all.
It was quite a busy street to be on, much busier than the village back on the island. There were people everywhere coming in and out of shops and bars, riding carriages, running from officers, or just walking normally to where they needed to go. There were so many people and so many places, Flik didn't even know where to start looking. But with the amount of options, he was sure to find warriors that would be willing to help.
But standing in the middle of a road too long surely wouldn't help. He was too busy admiring the scenery to notice he was in the way, which caused a large group and a carriage to pass by him before he realized. He immediately made a run for a sidewalk before he could get trampled or worse. But even on the sidewalk, he was still being pushed by random bypassers, some even telling him to get out of the way. Especially a snail hybrid he'd been shoved into. "Mind where you're going!"
Flik gave him an apologetic look as he stepped away awkwardly. "D-do forgive me, I didn't—" He spoke, but then stopped when he felt he was about to trip.
He gasped and looked down, seeing a ragged cricket hybrid sitting slumped against a wall. "Oh, I-I'm terribly sorry, I— it was an a-an accident.." He said, then trailed off when he felt a presence behind him. At first, he'd thought it was the snail hybrid again. But when he turned around, he saw it was just another person who'd been mocking his every move, but then stopped and acted innocent when being caught.
Flik gave him a look before his attention was elsewhere. He looked over across the street after hearing a large shout from a groggily voice. He gasped when seeing a bartender throwing a person out. "And stay out, tough one!"
"Tough bugs!" Flik grinned, immediately dashing over to the bar. He'd never actually been to one before, so he had no idea what to expect.
He stepped inside, smiling when seeing tables of people sitting and talking amongst each other, most of them drunk and speaking nonsense. But did Flik even notice? Certainly not. He was focused on one thing and one thing only. He set his bag down by the door, then approached the nearest person he could find. "Pardon me, sir, but would you happen to know of any warriors? See, I represent a kingdom of ants, and we're in desperate need for tough bugs."
But he was ultimately ignored. And this happened with every person he spoke to in the room. It wasn't like any of them weren't listening, it was that they did not care one bit or they were too focused on themselves to notice what he was talking about. Even the bartenders told him to get lost and that they couldn't help him. Flik wasn't ready to give up, however. If he couldn't find warriors here, he'd just keep looking throughout Cathrach. And he wouldn't rest until he found the perfect people to fight for his kingdom.
It seemed that his prayers would be answered soon. Just as he was speaking to one of the last groups of people, he was interrupted when he and everyone else turned around to see the table in the back. And there were sitting a group of nine different hybrids, one in particular standing on the table, speaking against three fly hybrids.
"Stand back yee flies!" He exclaimed. "We are the greatest warriors in all Cathrach!" He declared proudly, putting a fist to his chest.
Flik gasped in awe, "Warriors!"
The one speaking so proudly was a short but stacked ladybug hybrid, with slicked black hair and bright red eyes. Standing beside him was an obese caterpillar hybrid and a thin, incredibly tall stick bug hybrid. They weren't quite what Flik pictured when he heard the word 'warriors', but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover.
Everyone in the bar grew intrigued by the scene and began crowding around to witness it. Flik hadn't acted soon enough to stand in a good spot, so everyone that was in front of him was too tall for him to get a good view. He tried to move around and excuse himself through, but no one noticed him, so he had a rather difficult time doing so. Perhaps it was the intoxicated brains in the bar, or it was just how people in Cathrach acted, but Flik was beginning to think he was being ignored on purpose. He didn't let his frustration get the better of him, though. He wasn't about to lose his chance at bringing home the toughest bugs in town.
He heard some commotion going on, but he couldn't see any of it, even when he jumped to catch a glimpse over a shoulder, he merely just saw the flies' backs. He did notice the other people from the table standing as well, so he could only assume they'd possibly joined the fight. Things seemed to escalate rather quickly. Sounds of glass shattering and wood crashing could be heard, as well as gasps and exclaims from everyone in the room. But unexpectedly, the nine warriors pushed their way out of the crowd and dashed out the door.
Flik watched them leave, confused and shocked. He stepped over when he could finally see what had happened. The three men were scattered across floor of the corner, their heads wet—presumably from a full glass shattered—and their expressions angry. But Flik didn't bother with them. He grabbed his bag and quickly ran outside, seeking the nine strangers who had defended themselves against a group of tough flies.
He saw one of their figures run around a corner and didn't hesitate to dart toward them. He wasn't used to running, especially in an unfamiliar environment, but he managed. He ducked passed everyone in the streets and ran around the corner. The warriors had made their way into a narrow alleyway of some sort, and were already so far ahead of him, it would be hard to keep up. He wasn't even sure where the hell they were going, but he had to catch them and somehow convince them to help his kingdom.
With deep and heavy breaths, Flik followed the fighters all the way back to the sandy shores. The sun had set and the moon above was full, providing enough light to see without a candle. The nine strangers had stopped running and were now sitting on a few rocks that were close to the town entrance, catching their breaths.
Flik carefully made his way into their view, allowing them a moment before he fell to his knees. "You are perfect!" He exclaimed, raising his arms.
They all looked over at him, confused and somewhat startled, as they were unaware of his presence until now.
"I have been scouting for people with your exact talents!" He spoke, and suddenly his choice of words better caught their attention, "My kingdom is in trouble! A clan of grasshoppers is coming, we have been forced to prepare all this food!" He scooted closer to them, folding his hands together, giving them a pleading look, "Please, will you help us?!"
They all exchanged a glance, some shrugging quietly. The short, ladybug hybrid looked at him suspiciously, "What is in it for us?"
"We will give you anything in return, we swear on it." Flik nodded.
"Including a meal?" The caterpillar man spoke, revealing to have a thick foreign accent.
"Yes, all the food you want." He nodded, "Within reason, of course."
"We're in." They nodded.
Flik's antennas perked up, a surprised smile spreading across his face. "Oh, thank you! Thank you all!" He stood up, brushing the sand off of his pants, "I am Flik, it is an honor to meet you all." He bowed.
"Pleasure to meet you as well." The mantis hybrid spoke up, all of them walking over to him. "I am Sir Manfred Preyamus II, but you may call me Manny. And this," He gestured for a younger, beautiful moth hybrid to approach him, "is my wife, Gypsy."
"I'm Slim," The tallest—the stick bug—nodded, then pointed at the ladybug and caterpillar, "And you have met Francis and Heimlich."
Francis gave a pathetic wave, while Heimlich grinned widely.
"I'm Rosie," A black widow woman said, with three figures standing with her. "This is Dim," She pointed at a large, dung beetle hybrid, then down to two pill bugs, who appeared to be identical twins, "And these fools are Tuck and Roll."
Flik smiled at all of them. "That whole scene back there with those flies was quite impressive." He spoke as he and the rest began to walk away from the town.
"That? That was not even planned." Francis chuckled. "Wait until you see what we do when we have practice."
"Practice? Wow, you must have dedicated your lives to this work!" Flik said in awe.
"It is what it is." Manny sighed.
As they got closer to the shore, Flik came to the realization of how small his boat was. "Oh um, I'm not sure my boat has enough room for all of us." He said awkwardly, gesturing over to his handmade project that was half wet from the waves.
"Oh, not to worry. Our boat can carry your boat." Slim chuckled.
Flik tilted his head curiously, following them closely. His eyes went wide in awe in a matter of seconds when he saw the boat they were walking towards. It was well put-together with all the right woods, clearly crafted by an expert, unlike himself. It wasn't too overwhelming in size, but they were right about it being able to carry his own.
"So, where are we going?" Rosie asked him as they all began to board the boat while Dim and Francis walked over to drag Flik's.
Flik pulled out his compass and stepped over at the edge. His eyes observed the stars as well, just to make sure he was correct about his directions. And thanks to his lucky star, he was. He knew exactly where to go. "North."