A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

Chapter 8

●•●

Sinny had a feeling of déjà vu as she fell, watching the ship above her travel steadily upwards. It seemed to be the inevitable result of all of her efforts to take to the air – at least she was going to be cushioned by the forest again. Or maybe her burns were more extensive than she thought, and her body would simply fall apart when she hit the ground.

She waited to find out, when the ground came up to meet her a little too soon, and she was suddenly traveling upwards again. Sinny didn't think this was how dying was supposed to work – that you were literally sent straight up to the Ancestors' anthill in the sky before you left your body – and then she wondered why she was questioning how the afterlife worked; and then she opened her eyes and found she was in Lily's arms.

"Lily! You came to save me how did you know?" Sinny practically screamed into her sister's ear.

"Well, I didn't exactly know you were going to be flung from an airship, but I saw someone falling and figured it was you."

In sheer joy, Sinny hugged her sister tighter, and then squealed in pain as her sores made themselves known again.

"What's wrong?" Lily paused, hovering in midair. "Sinny, your exoskeleton, it's…"

"A little singed," said Sinny, not daring to examine the wounds. "Look, the queen's ship is still intact. She, uh, sabotaged my sabotage, in a sense, so I had to improvise."

"Oh," Lily said, taking another look at the descending airships. "I was wondering if 'burn everything' had been your master plan this whole time."

"It might as well have been," Sinny replied, feeling a little miffed at all her hard work gone to waste. "We need to get back up there and stop that ship."

"Are you sure? You're not exactly in, uh, the best shape here."

"Yes, I'm sure!"

●•●

There was no one on top of the airship when they landed – even the fire-tender and wing-flappers were absent. Sinny stepped down from Lily's arms gingerly, and found her legs still held her. Lily moved to examine the carriage's nearest entrance hole, but looked back when Sinny didn't follow her.

"You were planning this the whole time?" said Sinny. "To meet up with the airships here?"

"Of course," said Lily. "I was always going to help you take them down."

"But, you…" Sinny paused. She'd doubted Lily this entire time; in fact, she'd been sure Lily had been on the queen's side. "You never said anything."

"Did I need to? Besides, I couldn't risk anyone overhearing us, how would that look? It would've spoiled our plans." Lily squinted a little, as though examining Sinny's doubtful thoughts. "You… you weren't sure, were you? If I was really siding with the queen or not?"

"I-" Sinny faltered. "What was I supposed to think? I didn't know why you went to that colony in the first place, or what the queen had promised you, or if you were really willing to mutiny. How was I supposed to know?"

"Maybe because I'm your sister," Lily hissed. "Or is that not good enough? You really think I was going sell out our family?"

"No," Sinny said, feeling her stomach drop. "Of course not, but…"

"I never, not once, doubted you, Sinny." Lily thrust her finger dangerously close to her sister's face; Sinny went a little cross-eyed trying to keep track of it. "Maybe you could pay me the same courtesy for once in your life."

Sinny opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again, deciding to just shut up. Lily shot her a look over her shoulder as she turned back to the entrance hole, the sort of royal glare that made Sinny wilt on the inside. Or maybe she was just going faint from her injuries.

"Are we going to figure out a new plan or what?" Lily said, her voice subdued. Sinny was about to reply when she thought she heard wings fluttering overhead, and paused to listen. "Sinny!" Lily called out, just as Sinny was put into a chokehold from behind.

"I was wondering when the other one would show up," said the queen. "I gave you everything, Lily."

"I never wanted it," Lily said, stepping carefully towards the queen. "Let me have Sinny back, and we'll leave you alone."

"Neither of you are very good liars." The queen began to edge towards the flame again, and Sinny's body panicked at the idea of impending pain, tears streaming down her face involuntarily. Lily looked between the flame and her sister, and seemed to understand.

"Then we'll both go with you," said Lily. "We'll stay confined to the carriage."

The queen laughed. "Princess, you've both proven yourselves enemies, beyond redemption. I'm going to burn your younger sister while you watch, and then you can decide what to do with her body."

"I'm the older sister," Sinny choked out. The queen frowned at her captive.

"What?"

"I was… hatched first," Sinny said with what little air she had left.

The queen sighed, growing more annoyed.

"It doesn't matter which one's older, you're dying either way."

"I hatched too early… that's why…" Sinny couldn't get anymore out as the queen's grip tightened.

"Look, I really don't care about your life story. All right? Just shut up, you puny, insufferable twit."

The queen looked back up in time to see Lily coming at her with a torch made of packing material, left over from Sinny's scattered arrows. She threw sparks in the queen's eyes, and then lit her wings on fire. The queen dropped Sinny, who fell to the floor – Sinny's vision had darkened to pin points, and she couldn't see or hear what was happening at first. When her hearing came back, the queen was screaming, and Sinny turned over in time to watch the smoldering queen lose her balance over the side of the airship and disappear.

It was silent for a moment, as both sisters held their breath, but the queen was gone. Lily helped Sinny to her feet.

"See, I never doubted you," Sinny huffed out, still trying to regulate her breathing.

"Um…" Lily pointed behind Sinny, and she turned to find that several soldiers had poked their heads up out of the carriage. Why they hadn't been summoned earlier was beyond Sinny.

"It was an accident?" Sinny said, shrugging.

The soldiers disappeared, as though to confer, and then they reappeared again, crawling up to the top to join the sisters.

"According to colony policy," said the commanding officer, "whoever overthrows the old queen can establish herself as the new one." The CO looked at both Sinny and Lily in turn, unsure whom she was addressing. "Which one of you is claiming responsibility?"

"Uh…" Sinny looked at Lily, who shrugged.

"We don't even know if she's dead," said Lily. "Isn't this a little hasty?"

"Not during war time," said the CO. "Otherwise, we have no one commanding the siege."

"There is no more siege!" said Sinny, her patience wearing thin. "The mission is aborted; tell the pilot to turn us around."

"Yes, your Highness," the CO said, bowing slightly.

"What, no I didn't…" said Sinny.

A nearby soldier plucked the tiara from Lily's head and set it on Sinny's. Lily looked amused.

"Before you start carrying out orders, her Majesty needs medical attention," said Lily. "Quickly."

●•●

There was a flurry of activity as Sinny was carried back into the ship's carriage. The medic cleansed her burns, which hurt like nothing had before, and then they were wrapped up, which hurt even more. Sinny managed to scream bloody murder the entire time, questioning the medic's ability to treat burns in very colorful language. The soldiers looked impressed at their new queen's vocabulary.

Sinny was thoroughly miserable, her arm, thorax, and half her face wrapped up and stinging like crazy, when Lily approached her again.

"I'm going to die like this," said Sinny. "Half my exoskeleton is peeled away, and it's never coming back."

"The medic says it'll heal eventually, if you don't aggravate it," Lily said. "Do you really think we should turn around? Why not have them drop us off first?"

"Oh… I don't know. I suppose. Do we really want to show them the exact location of Ant Island, though?"

"Well, no, but how am I supposed to get you home like this?" She gestured at Sinny's woeful, bandage-wrapped state. "You're pathetic now, you're going to be worse on the road."

"Maybe they should just drop us off now." Sinny sighed and looked at the tiara, which had been placed by her singed goggles next to the makeshift gurney. "I only got to be queen for a half hour."

"Oh, now you want to be queen. At least you had a good run, and gained some admirers."

Lily looked at the sad assortment of gifts gracing Sinny's vicinity, mostly food offerings and a sword or two, to honor her hasty coronation.

"I don't know, Lily – this colony needs a new start. It needs a complete change in policy, new laws, a new way of doing things. It needs ingenuity to pick itself back up."

"You think it needs you, huh?" Lily shook her head. "If anything, it needs both of us, but our colony can't afford to lose two princesses at once."

Sinny thought for a while, lying back on her gurney and staring at the ceiling.

"It needs…" Sinny sat up again, gesturing to her closest attendant. "Tell the pilot to set us down here, right away."

Sinny's disembarkment came with a flurry of protest – no one wanted the injured queen traveling in the forest. Sinny tried to reassure everyone, but found she was no good at speeches, and instead she beckoned the commanding officer to step forward. The CO gaped and did as she was told.

"What's your name?" Sinny asked.

"Maven," the CO replied.

"Maven?" Sinny repeated, trying not to sound disappointed. "Well, uh, Maven, unfortunately I'm unable to fulfill my duties as queen of your colony, for many reasons. So, I'm crowning you the new queen."

She placed the tiara on Maven's head. The poor CO looked terrified.

"But, your Highness, I'm not a…"

"It doesn't matter. I've seen the way your men respect you, Maven, and I think you have leadership potential. However, as I also happen to be a princess of Ant Island, I propose a coalition between our colonies."

There was confused murmuring from the soldiers.

"Is she allowed to do that?" a nearby soldier said to Lily.

"Provided you turn this airship around, pick up your ship-wrecked comrades, and return home, I will have my colony send an ambassador, or a team of some kind, to help your colony rebuild in the wake of this… uh, incident."

"She means ask our parents to send a team," Lily whispered to the nearby soldier.

There was another murmur, this time of genuine discussion on the matter. The new Queen Maven looked around at her subjects, still agape.

"O-okay," said Maven, shaking Sinny's hand. "If you can help us, I'd be glad to accept your offer, Princess."

●•●

New queen in tow, the airship ascended and turned a clumsy circle, retreating from whence it came, as promised. Lily flew up to the top of a grass blade, watching it go. Satisfied they weren't returning, she rejoined her sister on the ground.

"What if the old queen's still out there?" Sinny said.

"I don't think she can do much harm now," Lily replied.

"What if she tries to reclaim her colony?"

Lily sighed. "You're the old queen now, Sinny. You rightfully gave Maven your title – I think it's up to that colony now to keep its new leadership."

Picking up her sister, Lily flew them the rest of the way to Ant Island. The airship had been more off-course than they thought, and it was late afternoon before they spotted their home up ahead. Lily stopped to rest on the opposite side of the canyon, watching for birds but seeing none.

The tree was nearly bare; it wasn't too long before the rainy season. Even from the opposite side of the Riverbed Canyon, the two sisters could hear the occasional buzz of saws carried across from the workers felling stalks. Life had gone on without them, Sinny realized. She was suddenly apprehensive, and looked at Lily, trying to convey what she felt. Lily smiled reassuringly, and then picked up Sinny again before she could say anything.

They landed on the edge of the clearing and looked around at the workers still going about their business. No one noticed them at first – a moment later someone started yelling their names, yelling that the princesses were back. Work was abandoned, food dropped in place as the workers gathered and approached Lily and Sinny as though they'd never seen anything like them before. Then the masses suddenly went quiet – Sinny heard her mother's voice, no doubt in a confused fury over the workers' sudden abandonment of anything resembling order.

"What is going on here?" Atta yelled at the edge of the crowd. "If there's no immediate danger, get back to your harvesting!"

Sinny pushed through the crowd, dragging her sister with her, and suddenly they were face to face with Atta. They stared at each other for a tense moment – Atta went pale, and Sinny was worried she was going to faint.

"Girls..?" Atta said, quietly.

"Mom." Sinny gave her a little smile. Atta stepped forward, and then stopped, noticing their audience.

"Didn't I say to get back to harvesting?" Atta called at them, and the workers dispersed, taking their time going about their business. Sinny found it hard to breathe for a moment – this wasn't the touching reunion she was expecting.

"What happened?" Atta asked, looking at Sinny's bandages.

"I got burned a little, but it should be fine. Hopefully."

"Mom, we're sorry," Lily said quickly. Atta took a deep breath.

"Do either of you have any idea…" She stopped and looked at Lily for a moment, and then her gaze turned to Sinny. Sinny's blood ran cold. "And you. How could you? Just disappear like that? I hope it was worth what you put your father and I through."

"I know what I did was terrible, and I'm sorry, mom. But, I had to find Lily."

"I wouldn't have made it back without her, mom," Lily said. "You should punish me, not her."

Sinny gave her sister a side-ways glance, wondering if she was just exaggerating for their mother's sake.

"You're both going to be punished, after Sinny's injuries are looked at." Atta seemed about to give in and hug them both, but she hesitated again. Mostly in response to a cry in the distance; a moment later, Flik suddenly burst into the clearing, tossing aside spare harvester parts and tools. He embraced his girls, making Sinny wince in pain; then he paused, looked at them both, and hugged them again.

"Dad, please don't cry," Lily said, looking embarrassed.

"We were so worried," said Flik. He wiped his eyes, not at all discreetly. "Atta, we need to prepare something to welcome them back."

"I don't know, Flik. I think these two are in a lot of trouble."

Lily and Sinny did their best to look pathetic. Flik circled behind them and pushed them closer to Atta.

"They look plenty sorry to me," said Flik, adding his own pathetic look. Atta sighed.

"All right, fine, we'll give them a great big hoopla. And then they're grounded. Forever."

●•●

Incidentally, the circus arrived that night, to everyone's surprise. Or, at least the runaway stars and their tarantula arrived – apparently in their search for Sinny, they came across some downed airships and a great many ant soldiers, who told them an ant matching Sinny's description was headed towards Ant Island.

This came as a shock to Atta and Flik, who'd opted to let their daughters tell their story the next morning. During dinner, Sinny insisted Chili take a place of honor next to her, which made everyone at the hoopla nervous. Sinny managed to eat some of her dinner before she fell asleep face first in it, and when she woke up she was in the med cell being stripped of her bandages. She tried to fight off the nurses at first, and had to be restrained.

"Please, princess, we just need to take a look," said Dr. Flora, who was hanging back at a safe distance during the procedure. Sinny continued to scream in agony as they took the bandages away from her face. Dr. Flora gaped openly at the burns, and then she whispered to one of the nurses.

"I want to see it," Sinny said.

The nurses hesitated, but Sinny insisted, and one of them handed her a reflective surface. The exoskeleton on the left-hand side of her face was eaten away, with dark scabs starting to form. Most of her coloring around the burns was a molted mess of white, blue, and black. The scarring continued down her neck, ending at her elbow.

"We'll heal it up as best we can, dear, you'll see," said Dr. Flora.

Sinny handed the reflective surface back, not sure what to think. Even if it did heal up, her face was still ruined – would she still be treated the same? Sinny was worried, but she tried not to think about it.

The sisters unloaded their story to their parents the next morning, Lily taking the reins as usual, considering the sorry state Sinny was in. Learning that their daughters were held prisoner by a rival colony and then thwarted said colony's plans to take over Ant Island made Flik and Atta change their minds a bit about punishing them – only a bit. Atta was certainly surprised to learn that Sinny had offered a coalition to the other colony, but she agreed plans would be made to send a party to reach out, and maybe even offer trade like they had initially.

The circus bugs only stayed the night, and then had to be off again the next day before P.T. exploded in fury over their absence. Chili went with them, to Sinny's dismay – she'd tried to talk him into staying with the colony, but no one seemed to appreciate the idea, so she hugged his foreleg and cried until Flik pulled her off. And then she had an idea, and returned just in time to give Chili one of her spare backpacks, which he wore proudly as he left the island. Sinny's family tried not to look too stunned at the sight of a tarantula wearing a tiny backpack.

●•●

As everyone else milled around the clearing and chatted, Sinny ran down to the edge of the canyon, watching the circus bugs take to the air, lifting Chili up and over the canyon before setting him down again, not willing to carry him the whole way. Chili looked back one last time, and waved at Sinny, and then he was gone.

The circus bugs soon disappeared beyond the forest, and Sinny sat and watched the canyon for a while. A buzz of wings interrupted her solitude, and Sinny waited for Lily to approach and bend down next to her.

"You scared mom," Lily said. "She thought you'd run off to the circus again."

Sinny chuckled. "No, not just yet. Do you think mom's going to make good on the coalition?"

"I don't see why not," said Lily, taking a seat. "You made a good case – she might even let you go as the ambassador. I overheard her talking to the elders."

"Really?" said Sinny. "Maybe we could both go - I'm not really keen on making the trip on foot again."

"If only you still had one of those airships, I wouldn't have to carry you. It's exhausting after a while."

Sinny didn't respond at first, getting lost in the idea. "An airship? I could make another one, couldn't I?"

"Sinny, no, I was just kidding," said Lily, eyeing her sister wearily. She stood up before the idea could flourish, helping her sister to her feet, careful not to grab hold of her injuries. "We better get back before mom and dad send another search party."

"Yeah, okay." Sinny let Lily lead her away from the canyon, casting one last look over her shoulder at the forest beyond. She nearly stopped to look again – she thought she saw someone, someone ant-sized watching her between the stalks, but then they were gone.

Maybe it was just her imagination.

●•●

Author's note: Even though this feels like a conclusion, I decided to write another chapter as a bit of an afterword. So, no, we're not done, yet. Also, if you're interested, I'll be adding bits of info about ABL2 in my profile now and then, including updates about the sequel I'm currently writing.