DATE: August 19, 2001 CAST: Basil Chales, Muffin, Terry and Walter Trailer - Kitchen Floor Your feet now rest on a linoleum floor, whose slick surface reflects the bright light shed by a strange fixture on the very, *very* high ceiling. To impede your path are crumbs, sticky puddles, and even strands of black hair from some sort of furry animal--something small compared to a human, but dangerous to a bug. You can still see the lower cabinet whence you came; it's open just a crack, convenient for any small insect. You might also be able to climb the tall, skinny broom leaning haphazardly against the counter. Across the wide-open space, you can see a huge doorway leading to another room distinguished by a shaggy carpet of the most hideous shade of green. Terry steps out of the darkness slowly and cautiously, dark eyes scanning the much brighter and, incidentally, *much* larger room thoroughly. Her left hand tightens its grip on the handle of her thin cloth container, betraying her own -- apprehension, is it? Who can say for sure. Finally deciding that it is safe to proceed, she hops to the slick, mostly white floor, gesturing for the two ants to follow. Clambering down to the floor beneath him, Basil is immediately drawn to its strange surface, a smoother surface than he can recall seeing before. Then as he sees the light's reflection, he looks up, and as his eyes make contact with the bright light high above, he nearly topples over. "This..." he mutters in astonishment, as his hands go out from his sides to take in the entire view. "This is *incredible*!" He calls out in a rather loud expression. Not accustomed to so many flat, and geometric shapes, the ant named Basil is totally taken back, but manages to gain enough composure to follow Terry farther into this place beyond his description. And not far behind is Walter. As Terry signals to them, he emerges from the dark space and joins Basil in clambering down to the shiny white surface below them. At the last second, he loses his grip and tumbles to meet the floor head-on, but fortunately he wasn't so high up for that little landing to hurt... much. "Ow." He peels himself off the ground and absently dusts himself off, but his eyes are soon caught by the sheer size and indescribable brightness of the area surrounding them. Like Basil, he is visibly overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sights, somehow more strange and fascinating than those found in the city itself. The ants' marveling at the sights which are now so familiar to Terry do not go unnoticed. The grasshopper whirls about, pressing an index finger to her lips in a gesture that demands silence. She shakes her head disapprovingly, a look of warning given, before she carries on. The grasshopper takes great pains to remain as silent as possible, her eyes flitting in many directions--both to locate things of value and to be watchful for danger. Basil does accordingly and continues to follow, taking an occasional glance backwards at Walter, first as he 'becomes acquainted' with his surroundings, then as they progress farther into the trailer itself. The note in his hand becomes a thing of interest, and upon glancing at the items thereon, makes an additional stride to Terry, and in a hushed voice asks. "So what are we looking for first?" Not quite sure what the item he's read about can be, exactly. Walter hardly notices the reprimand, so taken is he by the sight of everything, things he isn't quite able to comprehend. Those big squared-off hills, for instance, what are they? Or that enormous, unnaturally straight twig with the pine needles on one end leaning against one of the bigger-than-life outcroppings, where is the strange tree it fell off of? But all of these questions and dozens more go unvoiced as he follows the two ahead of him. Terry glances down at the ant that joins her, her expression kept strictly neutral. "Food items, mostly," she replies, in an equally hushed tone. "Meat, cookie crumbs, and the like... strawberries, oddly enough." As she mouthes the word 'strawberries,' the grasshopper's brow furrows in what might be an expression of confusion, whilst shaking her head. "There's never been any call for those until now." Nodding to the affirmative to each item that is read off, Basil takes a metal note. Then as that last one, strawberries, is mentioned, his eyes go back a bit. A reminder of how he and Walter escaped as slaves recently. "Huh, popular, that's, that's interesting. A large demand for them?" Knowing full well that the plantation sells the berries in the city, the possibility of anyone from there looking for escaped ants might filter into the city. It is decided at that point to not mention a single word of their last residency to Terry, or anyone else for that matter. Urk. Walter can barely stop himself from gagging as Terry mentions the dreaded word, as memories from riding inside one of those cursed things floods his mind. The fact that this is also a dangerous subject also adds to the sudden whooziness, making it a difficult task indeed to keep up. Deciding he has no desire to listen to this conversation, Walter hangs back some distance, close enough to be safe, but far enough so that their voices can be more readily ignored. Terry doesn't seem to notice the effect this topic is having on the poor ant trailing behing them. So she replies most readily, "Until now, they weren't popular if they came from us. Most of the businesses in the city obtained them from a more plentiful source -- a place that grows them, perhaps." The grasshopper pauses as she notices something interesting on the ground, but realizes it's just an extra thick clump of cat hair. Not exactly on her list of 'things to get.' So she moves on. "If something like that is on the list, that must mean businesses aren't getting them. Something probably happened to the prime source." Having been in a situation that has involved productivity, namely the recreation of tunnels, Basil listens to Terry intently. First the mention of a source, one that fits the bill to the plantation, but as she mentions that the source has depleted, he can only guess why. But before he has the chance to venture in that line of thinking, he notices the tuft of hair on the floor, some strange black fibers that look like very thin roots clumped together. Then pointing to the said clump, he inquires "what is that? A bundle of black roots? I noticed that they caught your attention." The hair hasn't escaped Walter's notice either. The ant pauses at some point to regard a long strand of hair, a stark, gleaming black against the white of the ground. It's at least as tall as him, if not more, and doesn't resemble any root that HE'S seen. Blinking uneasily, Walter quickens his pace in order to catch up with Terry and Basil. "Roots?" Terry chuckles faintly, but the flintiness of her eyes lingers, and studies the area with more attention, and caution. "It's said to grow from roots, but not the kind you're thinking of." She resumes her pace. "It's called hair. Humans have hair on their heads, but these came from the cat. Hair covers a cat's entire body." The grasshopper stops, eyes resting on a sizable crumb of sorts. She stoops to retrieve it, gives it a once-over, and pops it into her satchel. How big *is* this cat, anyway? An incredulous question is made as he watches Terry examine and pick up the crumb. He then scans the area to get a better lay of the situation. "I'm also interested in what these /humans/ are." Basil once again looks up to the dizzying heights of the ceiling, and a slight tremble is made as he can just imagine how large they are. "Are they really as big as all of this?" Arms then are held outward, with palms up as if to take in the entire immense open area. Much larger then he could have comprehended. This time, it is Walter who answers the question. He ambles up beside the pair, lugging a crumb which he also found lying on the ground. It takes all his strength to keep a tight grip on it, and all his willpower not to eat it. "If what I heard is true," Walter says, "They're big enough to kick down an anthill with ease and crush hundreds of us at a time with one foot." Terry kneels down every so often, plucking a crumb off the ground, and at least once comes across a big, shiny, disc-shaped object with a hole in the middle, not too big to pick up, which she handles with care. In the the container it goes. Then the grasshopper nods at Walter's words. "Yeah. They're big. They're much taller than those things, even." She nods her head at the countertops. Then, her eyes fall on a pair of old grimy shoes at some distance. She points a significant gaze at them. "See those things over there?" she asks Basil. "Those are called shoes. Humans put them on their feet." Basil eyes go wider and wider with each glance given him to aid in his perception of the sheer size of a human. A significant dizziness comes upon him, and along with wide eyes, a noticeable increase in paleness overtakes his visage. "Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Is moaned out weakly as the poor ant's life is on the verge of passing before him. "Uh, how, how long have you been doing this line of work?" Is squeaked out weakly, as he comes across the next crumb, attempting to get a hold of it, and keeping his racing mind in check. This would be the worst place to have a panic attack. Walter isn't feeling so great himself. But somehow, the idea of a human doesn't effect him in quite the same manner as a strawberry does. He tightens his grip on the crumb and darts his gaze all about, 'huddling into himself' in a sense, but the nauseating feeling isn't quite there. Just a tight, shaking terror. "I wish I still believed they *were* a myth..." "A few years," the grasshopper replies shortly. She again stoops down to pick up yet another crumb, but her eyes remain focused on the distance, alert for any danger. In fact, her efforts aren't in vain. She freezes as she observes what appears to be a dark shadow slinking across the carpet of green in the distance, past the linoleum floor. Slowly, carefully, she eases toward the counters, pressing into the small openings beneath so as to remain inconspicuous. "Listen up," she tells the ants in a whisper. "Don't panic. Come over here and /don't move/." A brisk nod is given as Terry informs Basil of her time of work. He is about to ask how she's managed to survive all of that time, when he too manages to see something off in the distance. But the lack of experience can in no way tell him of any potential harm. But that feeling, a sudden, and yet unexplainable feeling of danger does seem to instill into him a more defensive posture, handling the crumb a little better, he listens and quitely follows the suggestion made, making every effort to keep his panic under control. Danger? Danger? Agh! Walter's eyes widen at Terry's advice, and immediately he's on the alert, though in a sort of panicked way. Gaze whips left, right, and then forward. He begins to follow the grasshopper's instructions as well, albeit with more haste, but it doesn't get him there any faster. For, not watching where he's going results in the ant stepping in something gooey, halting his progress. "Ulp..." He attempts to pry his foot loose, but to no avail. Terry would no doubt be miffed if she saw the situation Walter has just gotten himself into, but her eyes refuse to stray from where she saw the glimmer of motion, the faintest of movements in the dark. She presses even closer to the narrow space beneath the counter as a piece of the shadow breaks off from the rest and glides across the white floor at a leisurely pace. The shadow proves to be a substantial being, many times larger than a bug, possessing four legs and eerie, luminous eyes. Amazingly enough, despite his racing mind, the moving shadows before him, and the rising panic, Basil manges to hear Walter's voice. A passing glance is given to the immobile ant, and a seemingly stopping of breath, and a panic much worse sets in. At first, he is unable to think clearly, but that same sympathetic nature that manages to get him into trouble takes over. Basil runs over to Walter, and in a trembling voice calls out, "Give me your hand!" in a trembling whisper, and both hands are offered in assisting the other ants escape. Walter rapidly succumbs to panic as he tries with all his might to yank his foot loose from the puddle of goo, but all in vain. Terrified beyond words, the ant rips his gaze from this mammoth of a beast coming /right this way/ to Basil, and immediately he obeys. Hopefully their combined efforts will get them both out of this literally sticky situation before that living shadow takes note of them. Too late. The quick, darting movement executed by Basil grabs the creature's attention instantly. The little silver thing dangling from the collar it wears tinkles ominously as its owner slinks to the ground, yellow orbs watching the ants intently. MUFFIN    Velvety blackness enfolds the swaggering, graceful form of this deadly creature. It pads lightly on four legs, which end in soft feet tipped with sharp white claws that could slice a helpless bug to ribbons. Encircling its neck is an outline of white, adorned by a tinkling silver bell. Yellow orbs peer lazily from the depths of furry blackness, belying its alert nature.    This is none other than a cat--a thing to be feared. The feline isn't the only one who notices. Terry sharply glances toward the beige ant as he rushes over to help his companion, and her own eyes widen. Another glance is aimed for the cat known as Muffin, who is creeping closer and closer in obvious stalk-mode. Her mind debates the situation for a few seconds... even if Basil manages to free Walter, they still have to rush back into hiding. In their condition, they might not survive. Teeth clench, but it doesn't prevent a growl of frustration from making itself known. The grasshopper finally makes a decision. Her wings whir into motion, snapping her forward. She flies straight for the two ants, reaching out to yank them off the ground and take them into the air with her. Pulling as hard as he can, little progress is made as Basil makes every effort to free Walter of his entrapment. A sudden sound is heard behind him, and with a noticeable twitch of an antennae, and jerk of his head, he sees in a much clearer view the menace making its way toward them, not noticing Terry's actions. A loud uncontrollable gasp is made as a almost inaudible utterance is made. "Walter, it's been a pleasure knowing you." Then he feels a hand grasp him and finds himself quickly hovering above the floor. An antlion flies out of the upper part of the cabinet door, hovering in the air in front of it. CHALES This is an adult antlion. It is about 2 inches long, and has a long, thick rear appendege sticking out from its main body, much like a dragonfly's. The rear appendege is striped yellow and brown. The main body resembles that of a very large ant, except with unusually long legs and wings. It has two large, black eyes, and thick pericing mandibles that are used to consume ants. Well, Walter never imagined his life would end like this... being stuck in goo, with his existence threatened by a black beast. Finally his eyes snap shut, just waiting for it all to end, when suddenly... wham! A grasshopper's arm slams into him at full force and snatches him up. Now his foot is free, but now his mind is swimming, and... he's flying? "...what..." is all he can manage to gasp out at the moment. The sight of a little rust-colored streak flapping before her eyes sets Muffin off just like that. There is an excited widening of eyes as the feline darts forward like quicksilver, a paw lashing out at the flying grasshopper only a split-second too late. Yellow eyes roam around in confusion, trying to locate the insect again, when suddenly Muffin notices the antlion hovering in front of the cabinet door. Ah. New prey? With an ant in either arm, Terry arcs further up into the air as is insectly possible for a grasshopper carrying these burdens. For now, the antlion goes unnoticed, as more... critical things have occupied her attention for the moment. Like escaping from a certain furball with her life. The grasshopper swoops up toward the table, lands with a hard thud, and abruptly releases her hold on Basil and Walter. The antlion looks around curiously at first, then in puzzlement as he sees the grasshopper flying while carrying ants. It takes a few seconds for the presence of the cat to register, and his eyes widen in disgust and fear, then shorten again in hatred. The antlion darts higher up in the air, just beyond what it hopes is the cat's ability to get him at. Meow! That's what the kitty has to say about all this. A soft, cute sound to human ears no doubt, but something less pleasant to insects' antennae. As the antlion darts up, Muffin races forward, skidding across the linoleum floor as the feline fairly bounces into the air, arms flapping at the winged insect as she attempts to snag him in her clawed paws. Fortunately the antlion has judged the distance correctly, and the cat misses. Dizziness, lightheadedness, and a near blacking out, is what happens in rapid succession as the images blurr past Basil's wide blue eyes. Finally things begin to gain a little perspective as he feels the motion slow down, and the table seems to hover below them. Looking up Basil views Terry, with wings flapping briskly, causing his antennae to reverberate from the motion and the gusts of air they produce. It's only a matter of a few moments, but such an event can seemingly last an eternity. He then feels the foreign texture of the table, and prepares to be released. For his part, Walter tumbles and slams into the table's surface, unprepared for this sudden release. "Gnguh..." For a moment the ant doesn't move. His head is still in a tizzy, ringing in pain, and if that wasn't enough, everything is still spinning before his eyes. Oh, somebody make it stop...! He clutches his head and shuts his eyes, attempting to regain his senses. The antlion flies even higher into the air. He may be an antlion, but he's not stupid, and only a stupid bug messes or takes risks with a monster as horrible as a cat. He flies in the general direction that he saw the Grasshopper fly in. Panting slightly, Terry peers over the edge of the old wooden table intently, blinking at the sight of Muffin taking a leap at another insect. Her eyes narrow in on the antlion, an eyeridge lowering as she watches him fly in their direction. Her face registers no recognition... this is no scrounger she has worked with before. Instinctively she steps back, in front of the ants, watching and waiting. Upon making contact with the table, Basil lands higher and harder than he plans, but manages to keep his balance. His left foot registers mild discomfort but it isn't more than unpleasant. He then looks over at Walter, who other than making that rather painful impact to the table, seems to have survived the event. A look of relief, is almost instantaneously exchanged for horror once more as recognition of the other bug, registers in his mind. "Antlion!" gasps Basil and a feeling of extreme dizziness returns, a sudden jerking motion follows as he stumbles his way behind Terry, trembling uncontrollably. Huh? What did he say? Antlion? Walter finally takes a more coherent view of his surroundings, rubbing his head in complete stupification as he regards the antlion Basil... was it Basil? Well, whoever pointed him out. Although he hasn't seen one personally until now, he's heard stories... this, combined with his (mostly negative) experience with larger bugs in general, causes him to join Basil in seeking refuge behind the grasshopper. "Meow? Mrow." Muffin is clearly disappointed that her little 'friends' just flew off like that. Don't they want to play? The cat slinks across the white linoleum floor, eyeing the table intently. The antlion spies the cat, its hideous eyes looking at the table. The antlion passes over the table, and passes to the other side, the side opposite the cat. It opens up its mouth and flies downwards, hovering in the air so its mouth is just level with the table. It's terribly obvious it is doing this, and it just hangs its mouth open as if it's expecting the ants to march right into it. It doesn't seem like a very old mature antlion, and its wings glisten slightly. It probably just came out of its pupae stage a few hours ago. Terry eyes the antlion with a quizzical frown, an eyeridge raised. Is that bug opening his maw like that because...? She brushes the thought aside. If spiders can learn to live with different insects without eating them and ladybugs can stop themselves from breaking into pet shops and eating the aphids within, then she will just as well assume this antlion is also granted with the restraints of civilization--until he proves her wrong, anyway. Therefore she takes her gaze away and eyes other parts of the massive room. "We need to go up higher... the cat can jump this easy..." It's hard for Basil to regain any form of serenity. First the cat, and now this antlion, that he's seen first hand do what he knows to be the natural thing, but that doesn't help the ant any. Fortunately he didn't know anyone who has encountered that species of bug. Slowly he manages his way out, keeping a weary glance at the floating bug the entire time. Unfortunately, it's not well known the actions the age of this specimen, but with the protection of the hopper, which the irony actually causes Basil to giggle a little, makes his way in front of her, to be carried to a higher level. He makes no comment at this time. Just a weary breath. "*Higher*?" Walter squeaks, his voice conveying utter disbelief and volumes of fear. "That thing can jump up this high?!" Without waiting for an answer, the ant skitters around the grasshoper so as to position himself within easy grasping range. This is probably the first time he's actually eager to have a bigger insect, particularly a *grasshopper*, transport him. The antlion scratches his head, then pokes the table, looking puzzled, as if he's trying to figure out why the two ants didn't run over and hop in his mouth. He pokes his head over the table slightly, peering at the ants and the grasshoper. Nope. He can't figure it out. Why won't they march into his mouth? He goes back to waiting. Oh yeah, you better believe it, ant. This feline can and will cover the distance needed to leap on this table. Tilting her head up, Muffin shifts her back feet slightly in preparation, and then -- whump! The bell around the cat's neck sounds off with an audible chime as a flash of black and yellow appears, landing on the table, shaking it. It doesn't take much to whisk the grasshopper into action. Even before the cat leaps up, she reaching down to grab the ants once again, her wings jetting into motion. The sudden tremor in response would have normally knocked her over, but with the assistance of wings, she's able to stay her ground. The sudden sensation of being grabbed and then whisked into the air takes both Basil and his stomach at a surprise. It's a good thing for once he /hasn't/ eaten much, because with it combined with the stress would most likely cause him to lose it. The forces seem to calm down, and the sensation of flight can actually be enjoyed for a moment. Basil then looks back down, and sees the cat and the antlion at the table, feeling relief to be away from both of them. Then a strange thing happens, genuine concern for the other bug is felt. As much as he fears antlions, he wouldn't want to see actual harm come to it. Compassionate ant, isn't he? Perhaps to a fault, as the recent events have shown. As for Walter, his only concern is to get away from that cat -- and getting some distance from the other bug who still seems to be adapting to his new form is a plus as well. But then his stomach lurches as he finds himself airborne once again. Really, the ant has never been in flight mode before this day, and for him it's proving an almost sickening sensation. But fortunately, he's able to keep the nausea under control. The antlion's gaze follows the two ants and the grasshopper as they fly away to saftey. The antlion looks at the cat, sitting on the other side of the table, with his tail hanging at the edge....Possibilities quickly go through its inexperienced mind. It isn't sure if it's quick enough to fly out of the cat's reach now that the cat is higher then it is. And while it could fly horizontily...it isn't sure. So the antlion decides upon a course of action. It's never seen a kitty before, although it's heard of them. It's also never heard of an antlion whose gotten a biteful of kitty tail before. So the young and foolish antlion dashes under the table, mandibles gasping wide, as it heads for the (hopefully) unsuspecting cat tail, planning to get a biteful, then dash back off. Oh, oh, oh! There's so many bugs up here, it's so hard to choose which one to play with first! Ears pivoting every which way, Muffin darts her paws in almost as many directions as she tries to snag one of those winged bugs. But as the grasshopper flies off to safety, she feels something on her tail. Frankly, there's just too much fur in the way to allow her to feel any pain from the antlion's bite, but it's sure enough to get the feline's attention. "Mrrow?" Around the cat whirls about in order to face the thing that just tweaked her tail, the latter of which swishes about like a whip, regardless if the young antlion remains attached or not. Terry simply continues her course, laden with two ants and one satchel (yes, it too managed to survive this whole adventure). She pays no mind to the commotion behind her -- she can only do so many things at once. At length she finally lands on the slick white floor, skidding slightly, before releasing the two newbie scroungers. "Get back in that cabinet," she commands, pointing at the place whence they came which is now roughly a hop, skip and a jump away. That said, she begins to lift off the ground again, shading her eyes from the glaring light above as she tries to see what is going on betwixt the cat and antlion. It only takes a second of ground contact for Basil to follow the orders made by the grasshopper. In fact the sudden impact with the floor, the repeated pain in the same foot he felt before, and a near slipping and tumbling doesn't seem to dissuade the beige ant from making it of quick pace to get into the shelter of the cabinet. However, a sudden looking back at the table, the cat, and the rest of the room takes a momentary attention, and then he's off an out of there! Walter isn't slow about obeying either, and more than gladly rushes after his companion. Although his right foot has obtained a slight stickiness, it doesn't slow him down much. Before long, he too has retreated into the relative safety of the cabinet. [END LOG] Next log: First Night: Part III Return to: Muted Identity logs.

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