A Bug's Life: The Ant Queen

Chapter 5

Swallowed Up

Sitting beside the soft daisy bed with the Queen's body on it, shrouded in grass blades and leaves, was Atta. Her reddened eyes were downcast, staring at the riven chunks of her mother's crown in her hands, after it'd been torn asunder by Thistle; all the tears had swallowed up her eyes puffy, and her cheeks dry and swollen.

Every ant she held dear had been taken from her; it was almost as if the world was punishing her for the all faults and blunders she committed in the past, especially with how she treated Flik, whenever his inventions went wrong.

"Haven't you learned that the heaviest burden all leaders must carry is responsibility?", "First rule of leadership, everything is your fault!", the unfortunate truth of being a leader had been perfectly put in these two statements; Atta felt responsible for everything that transpired, along with her mother being killed, the majority of her colony and even her baby sister abducted, and the one ant that inspired the colony with his bravery and courage, driven away by their past rejections, and her dismissal of him, his brilliant ideas and inventive mind.

Her heart grew heavier with feelings of loss, sorrow and repent, the more she pondered these thoughts. She wanted to fix all of this somehow, but how could she? Never had she felt so broken, lost and alone; the only one that would be there to offer her with a path should she take, was no longer with her.

Atta felt a mild nudge against her leg, and was met with a pair of puppy-dog eyes from Aphie. "Oh Aphie, what am I going to do?" Atta sighed softly, making Aphie pipe up, as he rushed towards the chamber's opening, and beckoned for her to follow him.

Puzzled, Atta put down the ripped crown pieces onto the daisy bed and began following him throughout the tunnels; with Aphie going much faster as he ran, whilst glancing back and forth with a look telling her to hurry on, Atta picked up her pace. "Wait! Aphie! Where are you taking me?!" Atta called out to Aphie, to which he responded with excited barks.

Once they've reached an opening to another chamber, placing hands on her knees, Atta took the time for a quick breather. "What on earth are you on about, Aphie? What is it that you want to tell me?" in response, Aphie gestured to the chamber's entrance with his head. When Atta went to peek inside, what she beheld had her eyes sparkled with awe, marvelling at the many rough sketches pinned on the walls and even some gadgets, including Flik's harvester, lying everywhere. "This is Flik's chamber! But... Why bring me here, Aphie?" asked Atta, still befuddled by why she was here in Flik's private room of all places.

Aphie ran up to where Flik's backpack was hanging on the wall, and started barking at it in suggestion; it consisted of a rolled-up leaf bag, grass blade straps, and dangling nuts. "That's Flik's backpack. W-w-what about it?" Aphie shot past her and towards the opening, where he stood panting.

This made Atta look forth and back at Flik's backpack and the entrance. "Aphie, I don't understand what you're-" Atta stopped mid sentence, as she stared off into space, internally trying to connect the dots of what Aphie was on about; it then suddenly clicked with her.

"Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me... That I should go out there... And try bringing them back here?" she would receive her answer, when Aphie started hopping and yapping excitedly, indicating that that was indeed what he was trying to tell her all along. "Why didn't I think of that? Oh! Because that's crazy thinking!" argued Atta, "Like, this is Thistle we're talking about here! She has an army for crying out loud! I can't stand up to them! That's insanity!" Grabbing a leaf blade chair and slumping herself down against it, Atta's hands were placed under her chin and elbows rested on her knees, as she groaned deeply, frustrated.

Sensing her despair and frustration, Aphie walked up towards her and let out a soft whine, whilst giving Atta a little frown and the begging eyes, as if pleading that she needed to do something. "I know I have to fix this, you're right," Atta sighed solemnly, knowing that deep down he was right; she didn't know how, but Atta knew she would have to at least try in making things right. Pointing at the hanging backpack in question, she said, "I'm still quite unsure about wearing his backpack though. How am I going to fly with that on me?"

Aphie let out a series of excited chirps, as he sprung himself up onto a stone table with a huge leaf covering it, littered with various tools; this was Flik's worktable, where he would either be brainstorming and drawing up ideas for his inventions, or making the inventions themselves, based on those said ideas. "His desk..? What about it?" Atta said in puzzlement, as Aphie leaped off the worktable, and soon came back with a couple of small leaf blades in his mouth. With an eyebrow raised, Atta took the leaves from Aphie's mouth, and stared at them in wonderment; she then spotted a tiny splinter with a long thin string lying there on the ground, most likely used to sow things together.

Just like a blooming flower, an idea had blossomed inside her fractured mind. "You're a smart little aphid, aren't you?" Atta chuckled warmly, when Aphie had his tongue out, as he panted and wagged his tiny tails happily, "Alright, let's get to work."

Wasting no time, Atta had begun working on something that would help her prepare for the journey to bring all the captured ants back home to Ant Island, and then hopefully figure out a plan on how to fight back against the hornets. Using a sharp thin stone, she cut a straight line between the leaf's base and tip, removed its stem, and then used the splinter with a streak of string to sow the two leaves together into what looked like a satchel, with a single grass blade serving as its strap.

Meanwhile, Aphie had curled himself up into a ball, tucked all his legs in, and fell asleep soundly on top of the stone worktable, keeping Atta company as she worked.

A passage of time had gone by, when Atta had finally finished her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. "Hey, it looks pretty good on me!" Atta complimented herself, doing a little twirl around, proud of her new shoulder bag. "Well, I better get packing," in spite of the shoulder bag being quite small, Atta still managed to sneak in some grains, just so she'd have something to eat along the way, as the journey ahead was going to be a long one.

Before leaving for the room's opening, Atta gave Aphie an affectionate pat on the head, expressing her thanks to him for giving her the clues to the next course of action she should take; Atta smiled warmly to herself, couldn't help but feel that it was through Aphie, her mother's spirit was guiding her the entire time.

She soon made her way back to the Queen's royal chamber, and sat beside her mother's leaf-bandaged body, placing a hand on it, "I'm going to fix this, mum. I promise." At her eye's corner, Atta noticed a red bell-shaped flower hat sitting atop of a rock table, beside the daisy bed; this induced Atta to remove her leaf tiara off of her head.

Her eyes were focused on the tiara in deep contemplation; Atta realised that not only was she about to embark on a long journey, but a risky and perhaps even a reckless one, as she was about to leave the only place she had ever known, undertake a very dangerous mission: rescue the captured ants, and bring them home safe and sound. This meant venturing out into a world much bigger than herself, and Atta understood this. However, she also knew that she had to try, for the sake of Dot, Flik, and the rest of her colony; it was what her mother would've wanted, she felt.

Atta had planted a gentle kiss on her mother's forehead for one last time, before whispering, "Goodbye, mum." After bidding her tearful farewell, Atta was off to begin her adventure, with the bellflower hat put on, and her tiara gently placed on the bedside; from this point forward, not anymore was she that worrisome princess she was before, she was now an adventurer, determined and ready to face her most difficult challenge yet. She was now just Atta.

Hearing a voice shout out to her, which sounded gruff and cranky, "Just where do you think you're going, your highness?!", halted Atta dead in her tracks. Stifling an annoyed groan, Atta recognised that voice belonging to Cornelius, an elderly ant; despite her back facing him, she knew that if he was there, then the other councillors, such as Thorny, Mr. Soil and Dr. Flora, were there too.

"I'm going to make things right," Atta replied grudgingly, feeling that now was not the time to be confronted about the hardest decision she'd ever had to make in her whole life; she could only imagine the disapproved looks on their faces. "Please don't tell us you're actually going after those stinging beasts! It's suicide!" worried Mr. Soil, which made Atta whirl around with a glare. "They have Dot, Mr. Soil! My sister! The majority of our colony, and Flik too! So, what? Am I supposed to just sit here and do nothing?!" Atta raised her voice angrily at them. "No, your highness! That's not what we meant!" Dr. Flora chimed in, holding out her hands, in an attempt to wave off Atta's query as a mere assumption in defence, but Atta wasn't having it.

"Well, Dr. Flora, it sure sounds like it! Everybody's in danger because of me, so it's my calling to try and help them!" argued Atta, understanding that as next in line to the throne, she had the ultimate responsibility of looking after her colony. "But your highness, do you not understand? If you leave and something terrible happens to you, this colony will have no queen to rule, and thus will fall into chaos!" Thorny had insisted in his desperate attempt to talk Atta out of her mission, fearful of the consequences of the colony losing its next queen. "The colony's already in shambles, Thorny!" Atta countered, "Those ants were taken, so I feel that it's my duty, as the next queen, to save them!" "And how would you go about rescuing them exactly?" Mr. Soil inquired, trying to make sense of her motives.

The councillors jumped with surprise, when Atta blurted out in exasperation, "I DON'T KNOW!" "I-I-I don't know," Atta murmured, "But I have to fix this. I have to do this!" "But what about the other ants here? Who's going to tend to them while you're gone?" Dr. Flora asked, concerned for the remaining workers, as they'd be unsure of what to do in Atta's absence.

"That's where you all come in; you're all to look after them until I return," explained Atta, but this didn't wipe the looks of disapproval off of the councillors' faces. "This is a fool's errand, your highness!" groaned Thorny, believing that Atta was way over her head, thinking that she could possibly succeed in her mission. "Yes! A fool's errand!" Cornelius agreed with him without thought, as he would every time Thorny would raise a point.

This infuriated Atta even further, "Oh really? I'm the fool here? Just as how I was foolish enough to go along with your petty plan of sending Flik on that search for help? Hoping that he'd die out there, just so that he wouldn't bother you anymore, when all he wanted was to make a difference?! That was my biggest mistake: never realising that one ant's greatness till now, all because I listened to a bunch of doubters, who'd never see it to begin with!"

The councillors were left agape; never had they seen Atta so embittered and furious, let alone have her lash out against them before. Just seeing them all gawking at her, slack-jawed and speechless by what she had let out, was enough to cross a small smirk through Atta's face, feeling smug that she'd reminded them of their place. With her back turned on them, she could finally begin her long adventure, without having to listen to any more pestering.

Irritated, whilst walking away in the opposite direction of Atta, Cornelius mumbled to himself, "Agh! She can get eaten by a frog for all I care! Her arrogance will be her end!" As he was being followed by the other councillors, however, only Dr. Flora remained behind. "Oh Princess Atta... Poor dear..." Dr. Flora sighed inwardly, holding her pink flower close, as she gazed into the direction Atta went with pity, feeling she had let her emotions cloud her judgement, and would later prove to be her doom.

As the bright setting sun was painting the blue sky orange, Atta was already flying over some meadows and fields, carpeted with greenery and lush grasses, dancing with colourful flowers, as the breeze softly brushed through them; she had to hold her satchel with her hand while she was airborne, to keep the food inside from falling out. Atta was alone, with only her shoulder bag, and her determination to accompany her on her adventure. Her head, however, had grown heavy, as many thoughts had come flooding in with questions; she knew what her objective was, but how would she go about it exactly?

Not only does she not know of the Hornet's Nest's whereabouts, she hadn't been outside of Ant Island her whole life, as the outside world was a dangerous place for an ant princess such as herself. Not only were there birds, snakes and other massive creatures out and about, there were also larger bugs on the prowl, snuffing out smaller insects to devour for survival; it was a bug-eat-bug world out there after all, as previously stated by Hopper about the outside world. Remembering that, Atta knew she had to be extremely cautious and beware her surroundings. Besides, she could always ask any wandering bug she'd happen to come across for directions.

After a while of being in the air, Atta started feeling tired, so she settled down amongst some cattails and reeds, beside a large pond with some giant circular leaves afloat, for a quick break. For a brief moment, Atta had found herself frozen in place, wide-eyed after hearing a loud crash behind her.

When she slowly turned to see what it was, she was met with a gargantuan bullfrog, towering before her very tiny self; its slimy skin was of brownish green, and its bulging eyes striking gold with black oval pupils. It blew up its throat like a balloon, and croaked loudly, rumbling the gravelly ground. Screaming out in terror, Atta made a break for her life, helplessly trying to buzz her wings to flee the humongous beast.

Despite how fast she fled, Atta could feel the ground crashing every time the bullfrog had landed with its hops. "Come on, wings! Fly!" Atta thought aloud to herself, feeling like how Dot was when she was trying to fly her little wings, before they even had the chance to grow in.

However, once her wings had managed to take her off, something had suddenly grabbed Atta's abdomen; her eyes popped out, feeling as if her heart had plummeted to the bottom of her stomach. As she was being pulled into the bullfrog's mouth by its elongated and stretchy tongue, Atta reached out her hand, hoping in vain that someone would come save her; she was then swallowed up, perhaps never to be seen again. Was this how it all ends? Was she doomed to be digested, or would she find a way to make it out alive, and finish the mission she started? One may only hope, and one would find out soon enough...

To be continued...

Quick Author's Note

FireAntKing2311 here. Chapter 5 is finally here, so I hope you enjoy it, because this is where I think things will get even more interesting, as the story goes on.

Natescool05, in response to your question about whether or not I'm bringing Flik back, yes I do plan on bringing him back. Just because this isn't really his story anymore, it doesn't mean that he's not important; he's still pretty much integral to this story, and to Atta's story, just like how she was to his story in the original film. Hope that answered your question.

I won't spoil too much, but in the next two chapters, expect to meet more new characters; I'm really excited to introduce them to you all, so stay tuned.

FireAntKing2311, out.