Oppression {A Bug's Life AU}

Chapter IX: Warriors' Arrival

A/N: I decided to name the chapters cuz,, I can

A hazardous journey through the dark seas took most of the nightly hours. The ten people slept in shifts, taking turns steering the boat through the waves. But of course, Flik stayed up almost the entire night. Not only because he had to direct the warriors to his kingdom, but he was filled with too much exhilaration. It was almost unreal how he was able to find the perfect group of kind but fierce people to fight for his home. It was just too good to be true.

Flik had only caught at least an hour of rest. By the time the sun was barely rising, he was still wide awake, observing the pill bug twins steering the boat. He knew they didn't speak English, he wasn't even sure what their dialect was. But he was still too thrilled to keep quiet, so he went on to explain things to them about why he was searching for warriors in the first place. They stood at the steering wheel as he paced back and forth, rambling on about the tale.

"So as you see, 'tis my fault that the Grasshoppers are returning. I thought it would be terrible, especially since they are requesting more food from us. But then, our lovely Princess Atta," He sighed suddenly, a lovestruck smile spreading on his face, "My, she is one in a million..."

Both Tuck and Roll smirked curiously at his comment, but allowed him to continue.

Flik shook his head to snap out of his thoughts, "Uh, she is the one who sent me off to find you. And after seeing you all fearlessly battle those flies, well..the Grasshoppers are in for a big surprise!" He laughed.

The pill bug twins laughed awkwardly with him, but it was obvious they had no idea what he meant and were just going along with what he said.

—

Food was scarce on the island. The bakers were short of ingredients, and the poor harvesters were already dehydrated and weak from the immense heat. It was barely noon and they were expected to work all day in this condition, but with how many of them were passing out, it didn't seem like they could. The line to the offering table was slow, everyone walked sluggishly and with low heads.

Princess Atta flew over upon seeing a man collapse to the ground, dropping what he collected. "Dr. Flora!" She called out, kneeling next to the poor peasant man. Thankfully, he was still conscious, but barely.

The castle's nurse ran over with a chalice of water, sighing wearily. "Oh dear, not another." She frowned, handing the chalice to Atta. The princess held it up to the man for him to drink, hoping to give him enough energy to walk to the infirmary.

Thorny and Cornelius joined the scene, since they weren't too far, anyway. "This is insanity." Thorny shook his head, while the princess carefully helped the man back up to his feet. "There is just not enough food on the island, we were barely able to make what we did last time! There is no way we can make double quarter before Lord Hopper returns!"

Atta sighed, allowing the peasant to rest his arm around her, since he clearly couldn't stand on his own. "We must try, Thorny." She said in a low, dreary tone, "We do not have a choice."

She and Dr. Flora proceeded to walk the man towards the infirmary—which was just right outside one of the castle's entrances. Thorny sighed and turned to the older council member, "I know..."

Princess Dot swung her legs back and forth as she peered through the telescope, fixating her focus to the open seas surrounding the island. She spent the entire morning sitting atop a tree branch in the forest, keeping an eye out for her friend's possible return. While her sister had advised against it, seeing as how it would just be a waste of time, she was still eager and curious to see.

But what she wasn't aware of was the fact that Stone and Grub noticed her and decided to once again have some one-sided banter. "Well, look who it is." Stone spoke up as they walked under the tree, "Little speck!"