Oppression {A Bug's Life AU}

Chapter III: Chaos Arises

Chaos spread throughout the kingdom. Fear overtook the workers, causing them to run around in a panic rather than to continue walking in line to place their foods onto the pile on the table. Those who were already finished with their work immediately hid away in their homes. Princess Dot fled from her friend in a panic, calling out for her mother as she ran over toward the offering.

Flik ran inside, grabbing every last bit of food he'd collected into a basket. But it was taking considerably longer since his movements were frantic due to the rising anxiousness. Granted, he could have stayed in the safety of his home, since there was quite enough on the offering table already. But it was his duty as a subject to offer his share of his harvest.

He stuffed the fruits into the basket and hurried out the door, but was stopped when he tripped on his way out, sending him and his collection to the ground.

Dot made her way throughout the panic of her kingdom, finally seeing her mother who'd been calling out for her. "Mother!" She exclaimed, hurrying over to quickly embrace her mother.

"Thank heavens!" The queen said with relief, keeping her youngest close to her. "Do not run off like that again without supervision!" She turned out to the rest of her subjects, quite annoyed by their panicked reactions to the horns. But she could understand why, since even she was dreading this visit. And seeing that Atta couldn't get them to calm down, she decided to take that matter into her own hands.

She called out to everyone, causing them to stop where they were and to face her. "Alright everyone! Single file line, food to the offering then back to your homes!" She ordered firmly.

Everyone instantly obeyed, managing to quickly form a line and drop the rest of their offerings onto the table. The queen, Dot, and the council hurried back toward the bridge that led to the palace. Atta stayed to keep an eye on everything. She couldn't help but glance over at the ocean every few seconds, seeing the boats getting closer with each passing moment.

Soon enough, the last of the villagers had placed their offerings and went back to their houses. Atta nodded, taking a look around before deciding that everything was in place. Her wings lifted her off the ground and carried her over toward the palace entrance. Now all that was left of her to do was to wait in the throne room.

If she'd waited just a minute longer, she would've seen Flik running towards the offering, desperately trying to hurry. He had to pick up his harvester invention on the way, since he'd left it out of the fields and there was quite a bit of grain left in it that he could leave. He didn't want to risk being seen by any of the Grasshoppers, however, so he practically dropped the food and harvester onto the table and ran away without a second glance.

But then he heard an unsettling crash behind him. He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, his eyes growing wide when seeing the table had fallen over, most likely due to the imbalance caused by the harvester. But then his fear increased, as the entire table fell over, as well as the food that was placed upon it. This wouldn't have had been such an ordeal if the food hadn't fallen off the edge.

"No!" He yelled, running over to try and save any bits of the food he could. But it was beyond his control at this point. All of it had fallen into the waters, and any that was spared was small and would definitely not satisfy the lords coming to feast.

Flik stared down at the water, in shock at what he'd just done. Perhaps he should've just stayed at home, or not invent the harvester in the first place. The overwhelming feelings of guilt, regrets, and terror coursed through him. He looked up, seeing the boats approaching the shore at the bottom of the island.

"Oh no..." He murmured, his antennas twitching in fear. What was he to do next? He couldn't just cower away in his house, knowing that he'd caused such trouble for his kingdom. He had to warn the princess—and fast.

"Princess Atta!" He yelled, immediately darting over across the bridge, praying that the guards would let him in.

(Sorry this was so short but the next one'll be longer)