Chapter 1

The moment the bird had caught sight of Hopper; Flik closed his eyes and ran. His head continued to throb relentlessly from the beating he had received earlier from Hopper; he had to focus all of his strength on reaching the rock nearest to him. He immediately collapsed once reaching the rock, his back to the Bird's nest. He didn't have to turn around to know what had become of Hopper, since a terrible, agonizing scream soon filled the air. He shuddered. Slowly he opened his eyes and forced out a quick sigh of relief at the sight of the princess, who watched him from behind a larger rock. Flik wanted to close his eyes again, he was exhausted and his headache was so severe he couldn't see straight. But he knew that he couldn't stop now, at least not until the princess was safe. Now moving on willpower alone, he quickly reached the rock that Atta was behind. He crouched by her and forced his voice to be heard over the deafening sound of rain.

"Just follow me and stay low…once we're out of view…we can fly back"

Atta nodded. Flik rose and started moving away from the nest, beckoning her to do the same. She could see just how close Flik was to collapsing. His eyes were in a haze, and every step seemed to cause him pain. As if he heard her thoughts Flik swayed dangerously and Atta caught him just before he fell to the ground. Knowing he wouldn't make it much farther, she prepared to fly.

Realizing that Atta was about to take off now, within sight of the bird, Flik tried to stop her. But he had already screamed himself hoarse. The most he could do was to shake his head and mouth "not yet".

Receiving Flik's message, Atta managed to shout "Then what should we do?"

Seeing that Flik had no answer to this, she picked up the shivering ant and flew as fast as she could. She almost dropped Flik when she heard the terrifying screech behind them. The bird had spotted them.

Flik's fears had been confirmed; he glanced around and saw the bird chasing after them. The Princess attempted some maneuvers to try and lose the bird, but to no avail. The bird was too fast. As he watched the distance between them slowly close, he realized there was little left they could do.

As feet turned into inches between them and the bird, Atta began to panic, she started to fly blindly. There was no hope for either of them now. Her eyes had began to water when suddenly a large raindrop engulfed them both, sending the two ants crashing to the ground.

Atta was knocked unconscious. Flik grabbed her arm and some how managed to pull both of them out of the raindrop and into a nearby cave. The bird had lost sight of them when they fell to the ground and had abandoned pursuit. Flik dragged Atta to the driest end of the newly found cave and checked to make sure she was all right. After confirming that she was fine he finally allowed himself to collapse onto the floor, and immediately fell into a cold feverish sleep.

Atta awoke to an unfamiliar scene. She shot strait to an upright sitting position but didn't go any further due to a stab of pain in her side. She slowly leaned back against the wall of the cave and recollected her thoughts. It all came pouring back to her, Hopper, the bird, and…Flik! She looked around the cave and spotted him. He was lying on his side facing away from her shaking violently. She slowly crawled closer to him and saw the wretched state he was in. Then she remembered the raindrop and how it sent them flying towards the ground. He must have broken her fall, since she herself had no major injuries that she was aware of. Moving closer, she noticed in the dim morning light that he was quite pale and covered in bruises. As she came nearer to him her hand came in contact with warm sticky liquid, which on closer investigation was revealed to be fresh blood. Startled by the discovery she immediately looked at Flik and saw a large open wound on his side. She tried her hardest to stifle a gasp of astonishment, but Flik had already jolted awake at the sound.

The quick movement of sitting upright had caused Flik a great deal of pain. He had to screw up his face and clench his teeth to keep from screaming. In the end he let out an agonizing moan.

Seeing how much pain he was in, Atta grabbed Flik's shoulders and slowly lowered him until he was lying down again. The shock had made his laborious breathing quick and unsteady, but he had began to calm down once he opened his eyes and saw Atta sitting next to him.

When Flik saw Atta, and how she remained unhurt, a load of relief came to him. He closed his eyes and waited for his breathing to slow down. He was in a whole new world of pain. His left side hurt the most, and any movement caused him more pain. He was also thirsty, his throat felt like cotton. He wished that the princess was else ware, he didn't want anyone to see him like this, much less her.

Holding back tears, Atta started looking for any other major wounds. She had to compose herself, Flik was always strong for her, so she had to be strong for him.

"Flik, tell me where it hurts most."

He attempted to answer, but no words would come from his dry lips. Instead he started a dry coughing fit. Atta quickly went to the mouth of the cave. She saw what she was looking for, a large bead of dew. She grabbed it and hurriedly returned to Flik. He was still on his side coughing. She set down the drop of water next to him and waited until he was done. When he finally finished, she broke off a smaller bead and held it to his lips.

"Drink."

Flik obediently followed the quiet order and let the cool liquid soothe his dry mouth. As it seeped down his throat the painful dryness left him. He tried to talk again, and this time a hoarse sound, barely more then a whisper met his ears.

"Are you…okay?'

"Yes I'm fine…"

"Then fly back…to the colony."

"What? No! I won't leave you here."

"You…have to…"

"No Flik, I'm not going anywhere without you."

He knew arguing would have no effect, and the small conversation had already brought back the urge to cough. He turned away and tried to muffle another coughing fit.

When he turned away Atta noticed there was fresh blood on his side. She knew she had to stop the bleeding. She quickly flew to the mouth of the cave again and looked for anything she could use. The rain had stopped, which made looking easier. She saw a fallen dandelion stalk which she flew over to. She managed to pull off a few strips from the stalk and noticed a berry plant a little bit further down. It made her realize how hungry she was. So she wouldn't feel selfish she told herself that Flik was probably hungry too, and flew up to pick a few of the riper berries.

As Flik coughed the last of his fit he thought of the situation. He hated the idea of the Princess staying here any longer for him. But it was true that he couldn't fly back with her right now. Maybe he could convince her to leave, to go get help. No, she would probably think that going to get help for one ant would make her look like a screw up. He gave up on the idea and decided to let her do what she felt was right, after all she was the princess of the colony, the decision should be hers. He looked down at the wound on his side. It was still bleeding, if he continued to bleed like this he might just pass out. A sweep of cold came over him and he started to shake. He closed his eyes and waited for Atta to return.