DATE: August 3, 2001 CAST: Basil and Walter Bug City Square It's quite usual for the city to be busy and brilliantly lit at all hours of the day, and in general resemble the epitome of "organized chaos." Its jaded denizens march about at a fast yet determined pace, as if each one has a mission to accomplish--quite a contrast to country life, even for an industrious species. For his part, the small newcomer ant known as Walter stares at the sights with his mouth slightly agape, eyes almost popping out of his skull as he tries to take everything in at once. His first introduction to the city has momentarily rendered him speechless. It's quite usual for the city to be busy and brilliantly lit at all hours of the day, and in general resemble the epitome of "organized chaos." Its jaded denizens march about at a fast yet determined pace, as if each one has a mission to accomplish--quite a contrast to country life, even for an industrious species. For his part, the small newcomer ant known as Walter stares at the sights with his mouth slightly agape, eyes almost popping out of his skull as he tries to take everything in at once. His first introduction to the city has momentarily rendered him speechless. In a likewise manner to his companion, Basil's mind can hardly take in all of the sites and the sounds that permeate the area. Even coming from a colony of tens of thousands of ants could hardly propose preparation for what lies before him. He barely registers a perceptible blink as he views the nameless diverse species of insect before him. Then as a immensely large buss bug makes its way down the street, he suddenly imagines what it would be like to meet the business end of one of those bugs of transportation, causing him to grit his teeth with a great deal of intensity. Walter's gaze lingers on the cardboard buildings skirting the street, decorated by colorful signs illuminated by lights, but remains unenlightened by what they advertise. At length, he shakes his head as if to clear his vision. "Some place," is all he says about the bizarre location, utterly foreign to a 'country bumpkin' like himself. A low growl from his stomach turns his mind to other matters. "I wonder where they keep the food around here..." Basil contemplates the circumstances that brought them there in the first place. He manages a slight perceptible nod in response to Walter's comment. But his full attention is obtained when he hears Walter musing about obtaining food that makes its way to his antennae. Basil was worried it would come to this sooner or later, but it would seem that 'sooner' is the circumstance that beset them now. "That might not be quite as easy as that, assuming everything I've heard about this place is true." Basil turns to take a full look at Walter. "But survival is the first order of business, so I guess we better get looking." "Yeah... I'm sure they don't give stuff out for free. At least nothing that's worth eating." His attention fully switched from sight-seeing to food, Walter begins walking, assuming Basil will follow. However, the city-newbie hasn't quite grasped the concept of dangerous traffic, and bends his footfalls toward the street -- at the exact moment the light turns green. Massive beetles of all sizes barrel forward, heedless of the clueless ant in their path. With a yelp, Walter stands in the traffic for a split-second before darting back to the relative safety of the sidewalk, gasping. "It would seem so," mutters Basil in a less than enthusiastic manner. He watches Walter head in the given direction, with the intent to follow, but with Basil's attention drawn to a rather odd looking image on the side of a building down the street, lags behind, missing the change of traffic. "Wha..." he emits out a sharp exhale as his attention is diverted to the harrowing experience Walter suddenly gets into. Basil's indigo optics grow intensely as Walter manages to escape the traffic and makes his return. "Uh, I'd watch that, that, um. Whatever color changing device that fire fly used too..." His attention is drawn again. "Um, be carefull, okay," he finally states. Walter leans against a cold nail imbedded in the sidewalk that serves as a firefly's post (hence a "light post"), catching his breath. "Yeah, novel idea," he mutters. His face still pale, it's up to guesswork to decide if this was meant as sarcasm or not. "So, um..." he eyes the bugs darting across the sidewalk at a hurried pace. "Well. Guess we gotta do something, without getting squished." In a musing contemplative state, Basil scratches the area behind his right antennae, and gives a thoughtful look. Apparently not interpreting the comment as sarcastic. "I, well... I guess the best thing to do is try to follow the others, as best as we can. I'm sure they know how to navigate across the road, as it were." Basil is simply guessing, but it sounds like relatively sound advice. "Unless we head down to the end of the city, and cross there, but I'm not really up to another hike, so..." Basil intends on trying the shorter route, unless Walter comes up with a better idea. Nodding, Walter withdraws from the nail. "If we can keep up," he says, regarding the larger insects zipping across the sidewalk. "I dunno, either way will be a feat, but here goes." He narrows in on a mosquito going at a more tolerable rate, and begins to trail this insect. Basil quickly follows Walter as he trails the mosquito as well. "I'm with ya!" He calls out, not expecting a response, or hoping his comment won't catch his companion off guard. Basil follows for a good clip, but a rather large beetle not watching where he is going bumps right into Basil, causing him to stumble sideways, and over a container that is intent on holding rubbish. Basil makes a rather firm impact with the ground in an undignified manner, with a some of the refuse emptied onto himself. Basil is a little shaken. Walter doesn't reply, and keeps his concentration focused on following this modsquito around -- who looks a little unsteady, and buzzes his wings spastically. Walter doesn't notice anything amiss, even when Basil takes a flying leap into the local rubbish. He rubs the back of his neck absently, frowning as he tries to see beyond the insect he follows. Basil looks back toward the direction the thoughtless beetle continues on, seemingly oblivious that he ran into anyone at all. The ant passes an irritated glare at the bug, but decides not to get into a fight with an insect that could do him plenty of harm if he made a potentially dangerous comment. "Ugh!" Escapes from his breath as the less than pleasant odor of the rubbish that has settled onto Basil's exterior. Waving a hand infront of his face, he manages to get back on his feet again, but has trouble finding Walter in all of the bug action. "Losing him now would be a really bad deal," he comments in a panicked tone. Only now does it occur to Walter to glance over his shoulder. Even after this precaution, he continues plodding along after the mosquito. Then it dawns on him: Basil isn't there. He does a double-take to ascertain this. Sure enough, the other ant is nowhere in sight. "Criminy," he exclaims, slapping his forehead. He turns and rushes back whence he came, bumping into several larger insects in the process. "Oops! Uh, sorry - ow - coming - agh! - through - oof." Continuing in the same panicked state, Basil makes every attempt to find Walter in all the confusion ahead of him. Finding another ant, in a city that seems completely devoid of such insect species would seem easy, but their diminutive size make visual contact much more of a challenge. Soon Basil can hear some commotion ahead of him, and it would seem that he has finally managed to 'catch up' to Walter as it were. Some of the insects don't take very kindly to an ant running around like a headless chicken. An especially large, unfriendly dragonfly glares at Walter. Apologies, desperation, it makes no difference to him... he rudely picks up the ant and tosses him away, predictably in Basil's direction. "GAH!" Yup, Basil has managed to find Walter, but not in any way he could have imagined. The flash of grayish lavender suddenly makes its way into Basil's line of sight, and before he can make any kind of course correction is painfully slammed into by the same said ant. Finding himself sprawled out again, this time with a rather nasty pain in the back, he feels the other ant land on top of him, feeling more pain radiate throughout his thorax, which he will probably feel for a while. That didn't feel too good. A disoriented Walter picks himself up, probably to the benefit of a flattened Basil, and promptly falls over again... fortunately not on the other said ant. A queasy feeling settles in as he attempts to shake the dizziness away. "Ung." Most of the insects don't pay much attention to the ants sprawled on the ground, but at least they have the decency to walk around (or step over) them. Managing to slowly lift himself up, Basil coughs out rather hoarsely this time, watching Walter come to a stop. He then notices the other bugs show a little respect, or at least a lack of disrespect at leaving them alone for the moment. "I'd heard the city bugs had no respect for ants, but dang!" Is muttered out of frustration. "You gonna be okay?" Inquires Basil concernedly. "It looked like you took quite a spill yourself." Walter stirs faintly, and painfully pushes himself upright. "Yeah... I'll be fine once these funny bright spots clear up." His eyes refocus after a few seconds, and settle on Basil. "The guys who told you about the city... how did *they* survive? Where they that *lucky*?" "It was you step-sister and her friends who managed to get out of this place alive." Basil manages to stand up, finding it necessarily to lean against a building to hold his support. "I wish I could have gotten more details out of Willow, since I only know that they /did/ survive. How, is probably a twist of fortunate fate I'd say," is muttered downheartedly, as he attempts to stand on both feet, feeling pain in his left leg. Walter also finds his feet, and stands limply. Wiping his brow, he grimaces. "Then I'm not about to be outdone. We'll just..." he tosses an arm out toward the general area, a frustrated, almost helpless gesture. "Well just... figure something out," he concludes, for lack of any ideas. He scans the cardboard buildings wearily, noticing that there are spaces between each one, often spreading out a fair distance. He moves toward them, avoiding the commuting bugs as much as possible. "That looks like a quieter part of town... maybe we'll have better luck there. At least to *think*." Basil nods to the affirmative. Not to being outdone, but to finding a quieter place to stop and rest. "Yeah, I do seem to remember hearing about them finding some shelter from the busy commotion in the 'alleyways' I think the were called." He then manages to get to his feet, and gently limps, following Walter a step or two behind. "Maybe we can find some kind of food or temporary shelter there." A pointing hand is made in the direction they travel. "Although I'm a little worried what kind of food or shelter /can/ be found there." A disgusted expression is made. But he now does remember hearing that the refugees found food in alleyways. Barely edible if memory served. Walter's tense posture loosens slightly as the noise and lights fade into a monotone buzz in the background; sure the alley is a little gloomy, but in that regard, it's reminiscent of a tunnel. Only there's no ceiling to speak of, and the walls are cardboard instead of soil. "Yeah, well. At least it's not overrun by a bunch of bugs trying to run you over. Maybe they don't keep slaves here, but they sure don't seem to think of us ants as ranking much higher than a piece of..." here he pauses, and kicks at a little piece of garbage in his path... "debris." A deep, heartfelt sigh escapes Basil as he manages to come to resting place with Walter. It took more effort than expected to get out of harms way. But it /was/ a place to catch a breath. "I know. They can hardly stand to look at you, little alone show you the slightest bit of respect." Suddenly hands are thrown into the air out of frustration. "How does this happen? Where a species seems to be considered much lower than the rest, and how we were so fortunate as to be randomly picked as being such?" The forlorn statement is made, without a reasonable explanation expected. "Well..." Walter heaves a sigh, and plops down on the ground, plucking out a piece of paper that somehow got caught in his antennae. "I don't think it's that random, y'know. Must of those guys we saw out there," and here he waves absently at the direction they came, "they're bigger than we are. They've got wings. And we can't take them on, at least not when it's one on one. They'd flatten us in a jiffy." "Yeah, I guess 'random' is not quite the correct word, is it." Basil then manages to sit down next to Walter with an attempt to feel a minimal amount of pain, which registers on his face quite plainly. "But I can't help but wonder what determined how we wound up here." His expression changes to frustration as he contemplates the last couple of months. "Except from what Holly did to me, that is." Having since given up of feelings of resentment for her, knowing that would do little good. Walter lifts his shoulders up. A shrug. "Eh, why does anything happen. There's not a darned thing we can do about stuff like that." He doesn't smile, but his expression does brighten somewhat. "But hey, at least some things can be helped. We got away, didn't we?" "Yeah, there is that much." Basil attempts to lift his spirits as well, but seems to fail miserably. Not that life in the city is as bad as slavery, hauling berries around. But the desperation of the situation weighs heavily on his mind. Going into a distant glance at nothing in particular, he makes no farther comment at that time. A strange object catches his eye, but makes no mention of its presence at that time. Walter absently crumples up the paper he retrieved from his antennae into a little ball, and tosses it from one hand to another... a mindless gesture to aid thought, maybe. Or maybe it's a poor attempt to have fun. Either way, it's not helping. "The only problem right now is, finding some grub." Again attention isn't diverted but Basil does listen to what is spoken. He then watches Walter toss the crumpled paper with a slight smirk showing at the corner of his face. "I concur. We need to find food, but how and where is the question." The strange object becomes the center of attention, and upon farther contemplation, he weakly gets up, walks over to it, and picks it up for farther investigation. It seems strangely reminiscent, that of some kind of nut, but has a rather strange color and texture to it. Walter continues playing with the makeshift toy, barely observing Basil walk away. At some point he tosses the paper ball high in the air. Then he glances in the other ant's direction curiously, not bothering to catch the sphere... at least not with his hands. It lands between his antennae, and sticks in place. "What is that?" he inquires. "Does it look eatable?" He reaches up, pulling the paper ball from his antennae. "I'm not sure exactly." Response given, the object is large enough to be held by both hands, and Basil turns it over a couple of times, to get a better look at it. Little does the ant know that this is a piece of honey roasted cashew. Hopefully both of them will have enough common sense to discover that it *is* edible, since it most likely will be the best thing they will find to eat. Basil carries it back, giggling at the sight of Walter with the paper ball perched on his head. "What do you think? Seen anything like it?" The question is given precariously as the object in question is offered. At Basil's reaction to the sight of a paper ball stuck in his antennae, Walter pretends to grimace before sending the little thing sailing at the other ant, with a flick of the wrist. Then he turns his attention to the more important issue, namely deciding if the object Basil has discovered is good enough to eat. He looks it over. "I dunno. It doesn't smell bad, or have any little green things growing all over it..." A hand is placed up to divert the ball, but it manages to reflect oddly and catches Basil's right antennae, snapping it back harmlessly, and flinging the ball off to the side. Hands are held akimbo as the object is inspected by Walter. A grimace is made at the comment about 'green things' on it, but the first safe report builds appetite. "Boy, if you feel it's safe enough to eat, I'll give it a nibble." A hand is placed to his belly. " I'm hungry enough to eat a pebble." "Ew. A pebble isn't my idea of good cuisine. But..." Walter feels around the ground, and grasps a small, round object he assumes to be a rock. "Let's give it a shot." Gripping the stone in both hands, he slams it into the cashew, shaving off a few pieces. Upon watching the nut being struck, one of the small pieces lands between Basil's feet, and he reaches down to pick up the fragment. A wince of pain is shown across his face. But manages to keep the pain in check. Basil sniffs the fragment, and places it between his teeth, and takes a bite. "Mmmm. It's a little different, but it tastes really good." Whether that is a normal reaction, or hunger increasing his appetite, it makes little difference as the rest of the nut is quickly consumed. Walter follows suit by reaching over for a piece. Weighing it in his hand, he eyes it curiously, as if doubting its edible factor. Finally shrugs and pops the entire thing in his mouth without any further caution. A few crunches, and it's gone. "Yeah," he agrees. "Better than grain." Basil nods to the affirmative. "Yeah, all we need is a little berry juice, and that idea of 'good cuisine' has a real chance of happening." Basil then sits down and takes up a few more pieces of the nut. "I doubt there are too many more nuts like this one, lying around, but maybe we'll get lucky." A passing glance is made, but nothing else is seen from that viewing distance. "Oh, well. Maybe later. At least we have a good sized piece to work on." A small "Meep!" sounds in the background, in more shadowy parts of the alley the two ants have sought shelter in. Walter reaches for another piece of the cashew, and makes quick work of it, much like the last one. "Must have been left behind by accident. I sure wouldn't leave a perfectly good..." he pauses, trying to think of the right name for this thing. "A perfectly good whatever-it-is just lying around like this." He is about to add more, when his gaze jerks over toward the source of the new sound. A simple nod is followed by more munching on Basil's part. He continues to eat and contemplate what he is being told, that is until the sound that echoes throughout the alley make its way to his antennae as well. They twitch significantly, causing the owner to turn his head toward the sound quickly "Um..." The sound muffled by some fragments of nut in his mouth. "Wha, was thaat?" Is muttered out of mild concern and deeper surprise. Another "Meep!" follows, this time much more audible... and therefore closer. One of the shadows seems to move, then breaks away from the others, darting toward the cashew. The fuzzy thing nabs a sizable piece and begins running off with it. Walter doesn't reply at once. He remains frozen as he listens to the strange sounds, antennae twitching. His eyes widen as he observes one of the shadows approach, takes a fuzzy, eight-legged form, and *then* takes a piece of cashew. This is much more than his poor, overtaxed brain can take. He leaps to his feet. "AGH! Wha, what... IS that?" he exclaims, echoing Basil's question. It's a good thing that Basil has finished eating the nut fragments in his mouth, for they would certainly have been sprayed out all over. His eyes go as wide as boysenberry buds, as the tiny insect grabs the nut fragment, and runs off with it. He then backs up a good distance despite the pain of his injuries, with his mouth forming a rather large 'O' in the process. The image of the 'whatever it is' jumping on him is more than he wants to discover, so he too has managed to his feet at a near record speed. Crunch. Crunch. Munch. The "Thing" seems to be enjoying itself thoroughly, and polishes off the the little snack in no time. "Meep." The tiny critter scurries forward, stopping a short distance away as it eyes the ants with beady little eyes. Walter stands frozen in place as he listens and observes this miniature thief. As his eyes finally make out what it is, he groans and rubs his arm. "Vermin." His mouth manages to close again, and looking down at the mite, a look of confusion is passed over his face. "Vermin?" Is muttered as he manages a glance at Walter. "I'm not exactly sure, what..." Basil rolls his eyes as he now finally seems to recognize the source of the panic attack. "Some kinda mite, isn't it?" He muses, feeling a little silly for acting that way from such a tiny thing. "Meep." The 'vermin' darts forward, aiming to collect another piece of cashew. "Whatever it is..." Here Walter makes a face, clearly having no great fondness for the thing. "It's trying to eat our stuff." He eyes the fuzzy mite suspiciously, and waves his hands at it. "Shoo! Go away, you little hairball," he admonishes, hoping it will have the sense to obey. Basil shows a look of concern as the mite goes after more of their precious nut. "Oh, stop him. He's getting away with out food!" a panic-stricken reply is made. He then shows a little embarrassment at his action and bends down to collect some of the food that could be carried away by the unwelcome guest. "Okay, let me have that, pal. We found it first, so that makes it our possession. Besides, you got some already." Apparently the stress of the most previous events have been more on Basil than expected to cause him to start conversing with the little nut thief. The mite stares up at Basil uncomprehendingly. "Meep. Meep?" It blinks its tiny black eyes as the food is taken away. Undaunted, the critter begins making wide circles around Basil, waiting for him to drop something. "Yeah, so... beat it!" Walter tells the mite, standing with arms akimbo. Of course it has no effect on the thief. He glares down at the creature when it refuses to move, and resorts to the next best thing: stomping at it. Of course he doesn't try to flatten it, since he doesn't relish the prospect of fuzzy slime on the bottom of his foot, nor the idea of getting bit. Yeah, that's exactly the thing Basil is worried about, getting bit. He watches the little beast circle him a few times, and then decides to ask the question that is relentlessly plaguing his mind. "Uh, Walter, um... You, uh, you don't suppose this thing will bite me, do you?" A lump is then swallowed as he awaits the response, either the friendly one from the ant or a less than welcome on from the mite. Though he'd just assume get one from the former of the two. Looks like these ants are going to be stingy. Well! The nerve. The mite crouches on all eight legs thoughtfully, taking in the sight of that delicious nut, and utterly ignoring Walter's little 'dance.' Then it happens: the thing vaults into the air in a seeming instant, aimed straight for the food Basil carries. Walter pauses in his stomping to heave a sigh and fold his arms stiffly, eyeing the little mite with a raised eyeridge. "Oh, um, um..." he trails off. "I guess it won't, since it's only after something to eat, and -- LOOK OUT!" he cries, instinctively drawing back as the fuzzy thing bolts straight for Basil. Okay, under any given instance, one would most likly freak out at this fuzzy little mite lunging at them. So it's of little surprise, really, that the response is followed by a rather loud shriek, with all of the fragments flying everywhere. With Basil falling backward, landing on his abdomen with a rather loud and painful "OOF!" The pieces fly everywhere, one of which bonks its owner on the head. He winces and finds he's more than a little taken back by the whole incident. Whoa. The mite falls with all the nutty shards, landing on top of the biggest piece virtually unharmed. First it stands up on all eights as tall as it can, uttering a triumphant "MEEP!" at its success. Then it begins the process of eating some. Walter involuntarily lifts up his arms to shield himself from the rain of cashew fragments, which does little good. He too is hit by a few smaller bits, which are barely felt as annoying thumps. His arms resume their position at his sides while he glares at the mite. "That does it. This is an act of war!" he announces, pumping his fist in the air. He scans the ground, looking for something to use as a weapon in this 'battle' over a cashew. It's gonna take a minute or so for Basil to join in the fighting. But he does manage to get away from the mite before Walter decides to make his move. "I'm with you, pal!" He fights his way to his feet, but the multiple pains he feels over his form overtake him the first time, and he falls to the ground again, wincing in pain. "I mean I'll be with you in a moment, as soon as I stop hurting like crazy." He mutters through clenched teeth. Maybe with enough adrenaline, he'll get a few whacks yet. The mite eyes Walter, who finally locates the same rock used to crack the nut into fragments, and flings it at the critter. "This is the end for you, you gutter crawling cur!" But the mite proves quicker, who leaps aside--nay, he leaps straight for Walter, landing smack-dab on his head. Inevitably, Walter throws a fit. "AGH!" Basil can hardly contain himself any more, as he watches the mite jump around, and then land on Walter's head. It's a good thing he can't move very quickly, because if he could, it's likely the ant beside him would be unwittingly whacked by whatever item that could be grasped. Basil simply stands there, and begins to laugh fitfully, giving Walter a apologetic expression. Walter now has a very unbecoming toupee of sorts, and is certainly not pleased with the effect. For one thing, it's alive and squirming fitfully. Still freaked out by the whole situation, he utters another panicked yell before reaching up to give the thing a good whacking himself... but by that time, the mite has already hopped away, and he bops himself solidly in the head. "Yowch!" Realizing that his head is free from the clutches of a hairy mite (and a little sore), Walter's gaze whips around, trying in vain to locate the aggressive little vermin. Finally he settles for glaring at Basil. "It's. Not. FUNNY." Basil covers his mouth as Walter fights his way from the little eight legged menace. "I'm sorry." He manages to hold a straight face long enough to speak, and goes into another laughing fit. He then watches the mite as it does what a mite does best, and begins to chase the little pest with not a lot of luck. Basil is still a little too overwhelmed by the humor of the situation. He stops to catch his breath. "I know, this isn't funny. It's stealing our food!" he manages to catch his breath some. The mite claims a piece of cashew before scurrying away in the darkness, satisfied with the chaos it has managed to incite. Walter rubs his head fitfully, shuddering like a wind-blown leaf. That thing could have bit him! It could have been diseased, and who knows what all. And even if it wasn't, it wouldn't have felt nice at all. He screws up his face. "Yeah... darn straight it is! It shouldn't get away with that. Filthy, crawling furball." His gaze darts left and right. "Where'd it go, anyway?" "I think it headed.... Er, um..." Well, it looks like Basil didn't get a good look at which direction it headed either. Just that it got a way with some of their food. "Okay, you're right, it wasn't funny. But at least neither of us were bit..." A final exhale is made by the time Basil is able to catch his breath. "...and that he didn't get more than a few pieces." A groan answers Basil. Soon followed by, "Okay, okay... we'll just let it go." Walter folds his arms tightly, mouth drawn into a tight frown as he attempts to regain his dignity. He leans back against one of the cardboard buildings, and slides down until he is seated on the ground. "But if that little thief comes back, I'll..." pause. "Well, I'll do something," he concludes, grimacing. Basil walks over to the side of the building, and slumps down next to Walter. "Yeah, I'm with you, assuming I have the strength to lift my arms." He places said arms, folded onto his knees and rests his head down onto his forearms. "But I'll feel much better when I get some rest. Fighting half crazed mites really wears a guy out." Basil replies, no longer having the strength to lift his head, so he rolls it to one side to get a glance at the other ant next to him. "Not to mention slaving on a plantation, escaping inside a..." Walter shudders, "A strawberry, get jostled around repeatedly, nearly getting squished, AND, to add insult to injury, being outwitted by vermin." Thus saying, Walter yawns. "Good enough reasons to go to catch some Z's." "Good enough for me." Comes followed by a sizeable yawn. "I guess these accommodations are as good as anything we're gonna find." He then gets up to his feet, and looks down the alleyway, and seems to locate a scrap of wrapping paper to use as a blanket. [END LOG] Next Log: Job Hunt Return to: Muted Identity logs.

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