….. ……. …………
The three of them looked down to see brown ants twice their sizes formed in a circle.
“What’s going on?” Cash asked them. He looked confused and fearless as Red and Ray surveyed their surroundings. Seeing more brown ants scattered about scared them a bit.
“What’s going on?” Red whispered to Cash.
“I am General Creeper, and these are my soldiers of Queen Luscious. What brings you to our grounds?”
“Well… umm—”
“Be quiet,” Cash quickly told Red. “Let me do the talking here. We are on a journey to see new things, and we aren’t here to cause any trouble.”
“What colony are you all soldiers of? How many more of you are there?”
“It’s just us three, there aren’t any others.”
Ray then quickly blurted out, “We aren’t soldiers. We are inside ants of the Fire Lodge Colony.”
“We too are soldiers,” said Cash.
“Well, y’all seem quite small to be soldiers,” said General Creeper. “Come down from that grass shoot and onto the ground.”
“What if we don’t want to come down?” Cash asked. “It’ll feel safer to talk above you all.”
“Then you all will be slaughtered where you stand.”
Red and Ray both looked at Cash to figure out his expression. Cash stared down at the brown ants a split second then looked over at Red and Ray, slightly turning his head towards the way they had been traveling.
“Let’s go!” Cash yelled, as he took off in the direction of the water creek. Red and Ray quickly followed, as brown ants came into view from everywhere! The grass started to shake. Brown ants were closing in, and very quickly.
“Hurry up, you two, we have to make it to the creek before we’re captured!” Cash yelled out.
Many brown soldier ants were crawling up the grass shoots from behind them, as they tried to get away, slipping, dangling, and fighting to recapture their grips on the grass to continue running.
“AWW, HELP, HELP,” a scream from Red sounded off from behind Ray and Cash. They both stopped in their tracks and looked backwards. They saw Red dangling from a grass shoot, with his two hind legs caught in the grip of a brown ant pincher.
“Oh my queen,” Ray said in fear.
“HOLD UP, WE’RE COMING!” Cash yelled.
“What are we going to do?” asked Ray. “There’s too many of them.”
“We’re going to get Red,” said Cash. “I’m not leaving him.” Cash springtailed back towards Red to help him.
“Oh my queen, oh my queen,” Ray thought to himself, as he saw the brown ants coming from all directions. Ray then took off running behind Cash in the direction towards Red. “Wait up, I’m coming!” Ray yelled.
The voice of General Creeper could be heard from afar: “SURRENDER YOURSELVES!”
As Cash made it to Red, he grabbed Red by his front legs. “LET HIM GO, YOU FILTHY ANT!” Cash yelled while pulling on Red’s legs.
Red called out in pain… “Aww, aww, let me go!”
“Hold tight,” said Cash. “I got you.”
Just then Ray made it to them. “What should I do?” Ray asked.
“Bite the seed-headed bugster,” said Cash. “Crawl over to get to him.”
Just as Ray made a move to try and crawl over Cash, he was grabbed by brown soldier ants. “LET ME GO!” Ray yelled out. Brown soldier ants were crawling up grass shoots from everywhere! They were now trapped and enclosed by brown ants. A brown ant grabbed Cash and knocked him to the ground beneath them. “Hold him down, and bring to me the others!” General Creeper yelled.
“NOOO!” Ray and Red yelled. Then they too were knocked down to the ground.
The three of them were held into grips by brown soldier ants, as General Creeper slowly walked towards them. General Creeper then spoke. “I told you all that you would be slaughtered if you didn’t come down. I hate it when an order of mine is disobeyed.”
Red, Cash, and Ray wiggled and grunted.
“Let us go, you have no right to do this to us. My queen will have your whole colony destroyed!” ssaid Cash.
“Your queen will not even know your whereabouts,” General Creeper responded. “When I’m finished with you all, different pieces of your bodies will be scattered about these grounds that you intruded.”
Right at that moment, buzzing sounds were heard from afar, quickly getting louder by the second. It became the main focus of many of the brown soldier ants, who were now looking towards the sky. The light from the sun reflecting on the grounds below them started to fade dark.
“WHOOSH!”
General Creeper was quickly swooped up and slung into the high grass. The brown soldier ants started to panic. Flying soldier ants started dropping in from everywhere. Brown soldier ants were quickly being swooped up and tossed all over the place.
“IT’S THE FLYING SOLDIER ANTS FROM OUR COLONY!” Ray yelled.
“Yes! Yes!” Red screamed out.
Just then General Red-Rum landed in front of Cash, Red, and Ray. He had countless soldiers with him.
“YOU MIGHT WANT TO LET THOSE THREE OUT OF YOU ALL GRIPS,” General Red-Rum stated. At that very instant, they were released. The brown ants who had held them took off running while yelling, “RETREAT! RETREAT!” Red and Ray bowed their heads towards the ground.
Cash looked at General Red-Rum and said, “Thank you for rescuing us, general.” General Red-Rum said nothing, but gave Cash a look that spoke for itself. Cash knew that he was in trouble.
General Red-Rum turned around to examine the battle of his soldiers. They were slaughtering brown soldier ants who stood to fight, though the majority of them were running to save themselves. As the general turned back around, he told some of his flying soldier ants to get these three back to the lodge immediately. They were picked up and carried into the air.
General Red-Rum yelled to the rest of his soldiers, “Move out! Let’s get out of here.”
When Red, Cash and Ray made it back to the lodge, they were taken before the queen. As they were escorted down the tunnel that led to Queen Lovely, it seemed longer than it was. Worker ants stared and bumped into one another, many inside ants also stared at them as they walked.
Red whispered to Cash, “The news must have already spread.”
Cash just wiggled his antennae. “Must have,” Cash whispered back, as he nodded towards all the heads of other ants that were peeking out from the opening of tunnels all around them.
As they came to the doorway of Queen Lovely, they were stopped by those who stood guard. “Let them in,” said the queen. The doorway was then unguarded for their welcoming. At that moment, Ray, Cash, and Red bowed down to the queen, not daring to look up, scared of what she might say to them. “All of you all stand straight up,” said Queen Lovely. “Now, who is going to explain you all’s actions?”
Ray was about to step forward, but Cash stopped him and stepped forward himself. “I will, your honor. This was all my idea. I just wanted to explore the land and see new things.”
The queen responded, “Exploring the land can be deadly, especially if you’re out there alone. And plus, you know the rules of my colony. You are not to step foot off these grounds if you’re not a soldier ant.”
“But that’s the case here, my queen. I wanted to prove to the colony that I too can stand as a soldier.”
“Cash, you have a lot of growing to do. You will never be considered a soldier if you don’t think as a whole. All for one, one for all. And trying to prove these things doesn’t mean to do something reckless. What’s in your heart will always glow. That’s why I am never wrong with who I put in positions.”
“May I ask you something, my queen?”
“Sure.”
“How did you know that we were in trouble?”
“I was informed by a swarm of friends… I got eyes and ears everywhere. I heard of the courage you showed; to help the other two of this family. You are very brave and have been immediately written in my books of warriors. You are a hero, my son. You may one day lead our army. But you have to learn to make wise decisions, and most importantly, self-discipline.”
“My queen, I will surely learn these things,” Cash said. Ray and Red stepped closer to Cash and rubbed heads with one another.
Ray then spoke. “Say, Cash, I’m glad to have you as a friend.”
“Me too,” said Red, as they all started to walk off. “We all are going to make history one day, standing beside the queen at her throne.”
Just as Red finished talking Cash stopped and looked back at Queen Lovely, as she stared at him with an unreadable expression. Cash thought to himself, “It won’t be long before I’m standing beside you.”
