A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

Chapter 4

●•●

Sinny talked for the both of them, telling Chili about her travels, about the bugs she'd met, and about her glider. Chili didn't seem to know what to make of her stories, or else he was content to just listen. They flagged down an insect now and then, who looked thoroughly surprised to see an ant riding a tarantula, and some stopped long enough to point them in the direction of P.T.'s circus before running for their lives.

They began to find signage by late afternoon – large, bright, and utterly pompous, with a heavy emphasis on the circus being the brainchild of P.T. Flea. Sinny wasn't too surprised, from what she remembered of the circus bugs – they'd stopped visiting Ant Island several seasons ago, when Sinny was just a kid. She'd never understood why, but maybe now was her chance to find out.

A distinct scent of stale popcorn caught Sinny's attention first as they reached the clearing – a glare bounced off of the shiny yellow surface serving as a tent, blinding Sinny through the leaf stalks. She held up an appendage to block her eyes, and didn't notice the guard beetle at the perimeter.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, fellas," he said, not fazed by the massive tarantula in front of him. "The show's dark today, better come back another time."

Sinny held on tighter as Chili lurched, pausing mid-stride, and backed up.

"Heard you needed some labor bugs, man," Chili said, wriggling his sizable appendages. "I can do that."

The beetle considered this, tapping his chin with a forearm. Chili did look like he could carry off the entire tent in one go.

"Hm. What about her?" The beetle looked up at Sinny. "She your handler?"

"Yes?" Sinny agreed.

The beetle considered them a moment longer. "Alright, try-outs are around the back. Insect Resources should be able to help you out."

They headed into the circus grounds, passing by workers, clowns, an occasional acrobat – the big top itself loomed in front of them, while several boxes serving as buildings were clustered around the back. Snippets of music wafted from the tent now and then.

Sinny stood up on Chili's back to get a better look; the grounds were like a small town unto itself, with market stalls that were currently boarded up, children running past, the adults milling around in clusters on their day off. They were starting to notice Chili, pointing and staring. Sinny jumped down and sent Chili off to Insect Resources by himself, intent on finding the specific insects she knew from childhood. Their visages were advertised throughout the grounds, but the bugs themselves were nowhere in sight.

She passed through the mess hall, where varieties of plants, nectar, and trash were being served, and then she headed to the boxes, examining each one, trying to decide what or whom they housed. When she was caught snooping, she explained who she needed to see, but was laughed at – no one bothered the stars on their day off. Sinny relented by meeting Chili back at Insect Resources.

"No luck, little chica?" Chili asked as Sinny approached the stall manned by a single katydid. She looked busy with some kind of paperwork.

"They apparently can't be disturbed," Sinny said, shrugging. "I'm not sure…"

"You here for the try-outs?" the katydid said. She glanced up from her leaf-pad, giving Sinny a look over.

"Try-outs?" Sinny wondered.

"For the acrobat troupe. Yes or no?"

"Yes," said Sinny, exchanging a look with Chili, who gaped. Sinny made a discreet, reassuring gesture. The katydid scribbled away on her leaf-pad, looking up at Sinny several times as though checking something, and then pointed towards the big top.

"They're just starting inside – you better hurry."

●•●

The katydid's insistence was justified – the entire acrobat troupe was composed of ants. The big top was lined with empty seats, and a small cluster of children played near the entrance; several ants were already standing on one another's shoulders for no discernible reason, while a few were in the rafters, chatting up the fireflies who were lighting the scene. Sinny approached the center group, the only ones still on the ground and not climbing all over each other.

"Hey, who's this?" a tall tan ant said, turning to greet her. "You here to try out?"

"She's a good size," said the blue ant next to him.

"How many seasons are you, kid?" the tall ant asked.

"Sixteen," said Sinny. "Look, I had some questions…"

"Doesn't she look like Ant Island stock?" the blue ant said, nudging the squat ant next to her. The squat ant nodded in agreement.

"Well, yeah, actually I am," said Sinny.

"I knew it," said the blue ant. "Most of us are. I haven't seen anyone from those parts since our last circuit to Ant Island, though. Did you come all this way to run away to the circus?"

"Erm… sort of."

"She's got dedication, Greg," the blue ant told the tall ant. Greg nodded. Sinny waved her hands in protest, frantically trying to delay any actual acrobatics.

"I was wondering if you guys could help me out, actually. My sister's gone missing and I'm trying to find her. I just need to talk to Francis or Rosie, or any of the other circus bugs."

"Oh?" said the blue ant, not looking impressed. "And why would they know some kid who just showed up?"

"Because they…" Sinny hesitated. "Because they know my parents – Flik and Queen Atta."

The blue ant blinked at her, while Greg and the other ants gave her a closer look.

"The queen's daughter?" said Greg, incredulously. "You're saying you're the princess?"

"Princess Sinnia," Sinny replied, hoping a show of confidence would be persuasive. "Lily's been kidnapped." A few of the ants looked concerned, while a couple "puh'd" at her, clearly not impressed. Greg and the blue ant looked indecisive.

"The princess? But, that would mean…" Greg paused to count on his fingers.

"It's been five seasons since we last saw the princesses," said the blue ant. "They would've only been eleven or so. She's the right age."

"But…" Greg paused to consider something else.

"And look at her, she looks just like Flik," the blue ant said, gesturing towards Sinny. "I think she's telling the truth." She turned to address Sinny again. "But, why are you here by yourself?"

"I… I had to come. No one else could." Sinny shook her head, trying to ward away more questions. The blue ant seemed about to say something else, but then she stopped.

"Their trailer's out back," she said, jabbing her thumb to indict the rear of the tent. "Look for the biggest one, next to P.T.'s, you can't miss it." Sinny smiled in appreciation, and then bowed out, jogging towards the wings before anyone else could stop her.

●•●

She cut through a few dressing rooms before finding herself at the tent's back entrance. The occasional stagehand was cleaning up, but no one paid her any mind. Sinny stuck her head out a rip in the tent and looked around for a moment.

"Are you really the princess?" a small voice asked, and Sinny turned to find two kid ants had shadowed her.

"Uh, yeah," Sinny said, shrugging. The girls gasped.

"Mom and dad told me all about the two princesses on the Island." The smaller girl bounced a bit, unable to hold in her excitement. The second girl whispered in the smaller girl's ear. "Are you Sinnia?" the smaller continued. "Because you're the very blue one?" Sinny glanced at her own exoskeleton – she'd didn't think she was very blue.

"Yeah," Sinny said again, "I am." She took a few steps out of the tent, acting preoccupied, to see if the girls were going to continue pursuing her. They did.

"Did you come to see the show?" the second girl asked, sounding a bit more stoic than the smaller. Sinny began her search of the trailers, with the two girls on her heels.

"No – I need to find the circus bugs, actually." She paused mid-step, causing the girls to nearly run into her. Sinny turned and crouched to better address them. "You have to know where their trailer is, right?"

"She means Manny and Gypsy and them," the second girl told the smaller. The smaller nodded.

"Yep!"

"Do you want to be like a princess, and help me find their trailer?" Sinny tried, praying she wasn't pushing it. The two girls practically squealed.

"Do we also get a tea party and dress up like princesses?" said the smaller.

"O… kay," said Sinny, caught a bit off guard. "Yeah, after you guys help me out." The two girls set off running and Sinny hurried to catch up with them.

They led her to what was indeed the largest box serving as a trailer, a ways back from the big top. Sinny crouched behind an over-turned popcorn stall, watching at a distance as a few security beetles loitered by the entrance. She had a feeling going up to them and stating her business wasn't going to cut it. The two girls followed Sinny's moves to a T, crouching behind the stall along side her.

"Can you do something else for me?" Sinny asked. "I need you to be sneaky like a princess."

"Yeah!" the girls replied, and then shushed each other.

"See those guards? Can you distract them, maybe lead them somewhere else?"

The two girls looked pensive for a moment, and then they took off towards the trailer. Sinny watched as they told the guards they were needed in the big top right away, and after some persuasion, the beetles left with the girls back to the tent. It was pretty impressive actually – Sinny didn't think the girls would be quite that sneaky.

She made sure they were out of sight before leaving her hiding place to approach the trailer. Sinny knocked on the door flap, hoping they were inside – after a moment someone called out, and Sinny took it as an invitation.

The interior of the trailer was a bit hazy, from what Sinny vaguely recognized as incense, and was mostly done up in red. Dead bouquets were piled near the entrance, along with discarded food containers; Sinny recognized Slim, Francis, and Manny seated at a table playing cards. They didn't look up when she entered.

"Hey, guys…" Sinny suddenly felt very awkward, walking in on them.

"We're kinda busy here, kid," said Francis. He turned to look at her. "Who's this?"

"I think it's one of the acrobats," Slim said. Manny threw a card in the pile.

"Don't bother us today." Francis turned to face the table again.

"But, I just wanted to…" Sinny floundered for a moment, losing her nerve. She was about to disappear out the door flap when Rosie entered through a partition, which seemed to separate the trailer into different rooms. "Aunt Rosie!" Sinny called to her.

The black widow paused, her expression muddled.

"Who..?" Rosie began, taking a few steps closer to the ant. "Sinny? Is that you?" Sinny ran forward to embrace the spider she knew from childhood, leaving the card players flabbergasted. "You're all grown up," said Rosie. "Let me get a look at you."

"These clowns were going to kick me out," Sinny said, pointing an accusing finger at the literal clowns. Rosie frowned at them.

"My eye-sight's not what it used to be, my dear," Manny said, looking contrite. Francis and Slim were still staring, not sure what to make of the ant.

"Who's Sinny?" Francis whispered to Slim.

"The princess – Flik's daughter, you dolt," Slim replied. Francis gave Sinny another look over.

"Sorry, kid, didn't recognize you." He shrugged and turned back to his card game. Rosie groaned in agitation.

"Don't mind them," she said. "Are your parents here?"

"No," said Sinny. "I'm kinda, uh, here by myself. I'm trying to find my sister." She relayed the story thus far to Rosie and any who cared to listen, pacing the trailer as she did. The card players eventually gave her their full attention as she described her glider and her adventures traveling in the wilderness on her own.

"But, honey, we should really tell your parents," said Rosie. "They'll be worried sick."

"I need to find this other colony," Sinny pleaded, glancing around at the circus bugs, all of them now giving her their full attention. "I need to find Lily. I've already come this far."

"What about that colony near the base of the hills?" said Francis, but Rosie quickly shushed him.

"Sinny, sweetie, you can stay here tonight, and we'll send someone to Ant Island." The spider looked at the card players, hinting at volunteers. "I'd rather let your parents decide what to do from here."

"But, Rosie…" Sinny began. The spider held up an appendage.

"No 'buts,' young lady."

●•●

They let Sinny use an extra bed in the trailer, one hidden away in its own partitioned corner, and she immediately fell asleep on it. When she woke it was early evening, and the trailer had darkened considerably. Sinny ate the grain pastries left next to her bedside before venturing out again; the trailer was now filled with circus bugs, who were all waiting to greet the daughter of their old friend.

Sinny was nearly mowed down by Tuck and Roll, who popped up in front of her and hugged her simultaneously, and they continued trying to entertain her as she chatted up Gypsy, Manny, and Heimlich. Dim stopped by briefly to greet her through a window.

Francis and Slim held back in a corner of the room, discussing something discreetly with Rosie, and Sinny didn't doubt the subject was an impending journey to Ant Island. Before long she was engaged in a card game with five of the eight bugs in the trailer, one similar enough to games she'd played on Ant Island that she picked it up quickly, and she'd soon won the pot several times. She made sure to lose the next round spectacularly and excused herself – Rosie, Slim, and Francis had disappeared. Sinny feigned returning to her bed, and snuck out the back of the trailer.

She wasn't sure what her next move should be. Find Chili and leave altogether? Or strike out on her own? She hadn't anticipated the circus bugs flying back to Ant Island to inform her parents, but now she had some time to set off again before they could return.

Most of the insects employed at the circus were now gathered in the grounds' only cantina, save for a few guards patrolling the grounds and the occasional straggler. Sinny circled the trailers a few times and observed the cantina from a distance, but there was no sign of the tarantula. She even checked the big top again, but found no one.

Dejected, Sinny turned to return to the trailer, when she found her way blocked by Greg and the blue ant from before.

"So, what's the big idea?" said the blue ant.

"What?" said Sinny.

"Sneaky like a princess?" The blue ant took a step forward, closing in on Sinny. "What exactly did you tell our daughters? They also seem to think you promised them a tea party."

"Well?" said Greg. "Are you giving our girls this tea party or not?"

"I… uh. Yeah," said Sinny, her antennae drooping slightly. "Of course. What's a good time, first thing in the morning?"

●•●

True to her word, Sinny spent the next morning in the acrobats' trailer entertaining the girls with a tea party. The fact that Sinny neither looked nor acted like a princess seemed to phase them not at all, although they did insist she wear a tiara, something she'd always refused to do back on Ant Island.

She'd seen the circus bugs before she left – they were prepping for the show that evening, and were amused that she'd already made plans; even more amusing was that she was already in trouble with the acrobats, and she hadn't even been there a full day. At least the circus bugs were all accounted for, meaning her fears had been premature; no one had flown off to Ant Island just yet. Sinny was still suspicious, though - just because they hadn't, didn't mean no one else had.

When the girls lost interest and she was able to slip away, Sinny went back to bed. The excitement of the last several days caught up to her, and she suddenly wasn't feeling too great.

She slept through lunch, and the show was well underway when she woke. Sinny could feel the vibrations of the music and the crowd, and hear the echoing of the announcements for each act. Intrigued, she made her way out of the trailer and sat on a crate just outside, watching what little she could see of the circus. Whatever was happening inside the big top, the audience had hushed in awe, and a reedy instrument played a melancholy tune.

"Hey, chica. You not part of the act tonight?"

Sinny turned to face Chili, who'd snuck up behind her. "Nah, I'm not much of an acrobat."

"Oh," said Chili, and Sinny couldn't quite tell if he was kidding or not. He sat himself down next to the ant, as much as a tarantula could be seated. "So, man, you really are friends with the stars, huh?"

"Yeah – they're friends of the family, actually." Sinny shrugged, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's kind of a long story. What about you; get that job you wanted?"

"Man, they took one look at me and had me hauling all types of junk. They want me to keep on for the season, ya know, and pull some of the train when they pack up."

"And you're okay with that?" Sinny asked, curling herself up against the tarantula's hairy foreleg.

"Sure. It's something to do, ya know?" He shifted himself to get a better look at her. "You okay, chica?"

"What? Yeah." Sinny sat up, rubbing his eyelids. "Just kinda tired." She sighed, watching the big top as the lighting inside changed to a bright orange. The applause was polite this time, rather than enthusiastic. "I'm not sure what to do, Chili. They want to fetch my parents to come get me. But, I can't go now. Not yet."

"Well, I don't know, man. If you got a family out there, maybe you should go back to them."

"I can't go back to Ant Island without my sister." Sinny realized she was preening her antennae in agitation, and stopped. "I don't know if I could live with myself. What if we never find her?" The idea sunk in suddenly, and Sinny hid her face in her hands, pressing her palms into her eyelids, trying to block it out. A hairy foreleg gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"How much longer you have, chica, before they come and get you?" Chili asked.

"I don't know." Sinny shook her head. "I don't even know if they've sent anyone. I need to…" She stopped to think. "There's supposed to be a colony nearby – at the base of the hills. Have you heard of it?"

"I just know most bugs don't dare-" Chili paused. "Oh, no no no; what, you wanna go over there? I don't think so, man, nuh uh."

"But, what other colony should I search? Are there any others?"

"This colony's bad news, seriously. They'd kill you as soon as look at you."

Sinny stood up, feeling a little shaky. "Well, I'll have to go by myself." She turned to leave, but the tarantula blocked her path.

"Come on, man, you can't be serious."

The ant ducked underneath him and continued walking. "I'm sorry, Chili, but I have to. What if she's there?" Sinny was about to slip into the trailer, when the tarantula sighed in resignation.

"Okay… okay! Don't get all mad – find me when you're ready to go, alright?"

"Will you be ready soon?" Sinny called from within the trailer. "I'm good to go now, not taking any chances." She stuffed her few possessions into her pack, and then hesitated. What was she going to tell the circus bugs? The idea of just up and leaving them made her feel ill, but what if they tried to stop her? She grabbed a parchment and quill, and chewed on the end of it for a moment before scrawling a note for them, offering a brief explanation and an apology. She'd come back later, Sinny told herself, and sort this out, beg their forgiveness.

Making sure the coast was clear, Sinny slung her pack over her shoulder and climbed up Chili, taking her usual perch on his back. None of the workers thought much of the tarantula making his way through the trailers, and didn't notice him slip back into the forest.