Taking Chances: Prologue

The summer seemed to have gone by too fast. The leaves were already turning to burnt orange and crisp yellow. The sun was sinking quicker than in the earlier months. A certain bumblebee was noticing these small changes as he buzzed by the long grass which was starting to turn brown. He sighed and landed on the ground, stretching his aching wings. He leaned against one of the stalks as he thought to himself, ‘That’s what I get for flying to the very brim of the border.’ He chuckled at the thought. 'Sister Dear would be having caterpillars if she knew about that.’

He scratched one of his antennas, smiling to himself. It has been ages since the young bee smiled. It felt great too. It was like greeting a long lost friend. He sighed as he took some fruit out of the pack he had slung over his shoulder. “I better enjoy my freedom for as long as I can.” He was about to take a bite of his fruit when he heard something not too far away. It sounded like angry voices. He frowned slightly; black eyes narrowed and hand on his sword handle. He stalked toward the noise, preparing for anything.

He peeked over a stalk to see a stag beetle standing in front of a battered looking ant who was being held back by a praying mantis and a mosquito. The bee grasped his handle tighter as he watched. The beetle chuckled at the ant’s feeble attempt to break away from its captures. He upper cut it in the chest, causing it to gasp out in pain. “You got a lot of nerve to come here without any of our payment.” Blood was slowly trickling from its mouth as it glared at him. “I—don’t need to p-pay any of y-you scum bags anything,” it said in a feminine voice. The beetle laughed, grabbing her by her bent antenna. She yelped in pain when he twisted it.

“You have a lot of spunk, I’ll give you that. But that ain’t gonna help ya. If you play your cards right, I might let ya pay me in some other way.” With an evil smile he licked her antenna, making her retch. The mantis glared at her, twisting her arm. “I don’t think she’s being very appreciative Boss.”

“You should just let me suck the blood out of her Boss! It’s been awhile since I had some,” sneered the mosquito. The beetle glared at his two subordinates. “You’ll do what I tell ya to do Mac!” He then grabbed the ant’s neck, choking her. The bee felt rage boiling him from the inside out by the scene.

With much speed, he flew right into the beetle. The impact made him let go of the ant. As they fell down to the ground, the mantis and Mac let go of her. “Boss!” Before they could come to his aid the bumblebee was already on top of him, sword tip poking the beetle’s neck. “Three against one is an extremely unfair fight, don’t you think; and against a lady no less.” The beetle raised his four arms, nervous expression on his face. “H-Hey easy there b-boy. W-We just wanted o-our p-,” he was cut off when the bee applied more pressure to his neck.

“I am no mere BOY, peasant. I am Chance, Prince of the Eastern Hive! And what ‘payment’ are you speaking of? Can you not see there is plenty of food out in the forest? Why would three able bodied bugs need a wounded ant to fetch it for them?” He glared at the beetle’s companions as the praying mantis spoke up. “W-We stuck a deal with her and some bozo. They were supposed to give us some food and only the ant showed up, claiming she didn’t know about it!” Chance rolled his eyes. “If that be the case, then you should have gone after the ‘bozo’ and handled the situation like civilized insects instead of beating up this poor woman!” He slowly got off of his prey and stood over the ant, who was lying ever so still on the dirt. He turned to the other insects. “Get out of my sight. If I ever see any of you here again, my sword will be the last thing you see!” With that the gang fled, tripping over themselves like newborns.

He let out an annoyed sigh as he sheathed his blade. The bee then brought his attention to the female barely hanging onto life. He knelt down and gently lifted her upper half with his arm. She let out a gasp of pain as he did so. He flinched slightly. “Sorry, sorry. Are you still with me?” She turned her head in his direction, panting heavily. “W-Why?” He blinked at her, feeling confused. “Why what?”

“Why d-did you help me?” He shrugged softly, trying to fish out a clay bottle from his pack. “I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Now save your strength. Those goons sure did a number on you.” When he finally got it out, the bee gingerly set the bottle against her lips. She greedily drank it, almost causing him to spill it. “Whoa! Slow down! You’re going to-.” He stopped when he noticed something off about her. Chance couldn’t help but gap at her lower half.

The ant only had two legs.

“What? You never have seen a mutated ant before?” He blushed in embarrassment as he pulled his eyes away. “I’m sorry. I just—wait did you say mutated?” She let out a small chuckle as she rested her hands on her stomach. “Ya deaf? I was born like this. We weren’t all brought into this world perfect, your majesty.” Chance was slightly taken aback by her harshness but he didn’t let it him bother him much. When he put his bottle away he gently took her in his arms and stood up. She hissed as he moved. “Flipping heck! Ya trying to kill me?!”

“If I was, I would have done it by now. Do you have a colony?” He couldn’t help but noticed how hard her eyes turned as she answered the prince. “…Ya can say that.” The bee turned his eyes to the sky as he asked, “Do you remember where it is?” She nodded, feebly pointing to her left. “Straight that way.” He nodded, unfurling his wings. “Prepare yourself. I’m about to take off.” He felt her tense up as he said that. With a leap they were air born. He then flew in the direction the ant gave him. They were both silent for a while until the female spoke up.

“So what’s a prince like you doing outside his hive? Were you out and about to grace your bugs with your presence?” Chance chuckled, shaking his head no. “I’m not much of a huge crowd kind of bee. I was just out for a flight…But why were you out of your colony and what business did you have with those thugs?” She glared at her chest, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t have to tell ya anything, your royal assness.” His eyes widened in shock by her vulgarity. ‘What made her so upset? I just asked her a simple question.’ They didn’t say much after that.

“…Thanks though, for saving me…” a small voice said a few moments later. Chance grinned at her warmly. “You’re welcome.” She only nodded, eyes scanning the ground. As she did she started to squirm, pointing down urgently. “Stop! You’re going to fly right over it!” Startled, the bee complied with her demand, slowly lowering down to the ground. Once they landed he started to walk to the giant dirt mound looming nearby. “Wow.” The ant noticed his awed expression, grinning smugly at him. “Pretty big, ain’t it?” He nodded, trying very hard not to trip over anything as he walked more.

A few stalks of grass began to shake, causing Chance to draw his sword and protectively hold the ant closer. Four muscular ants which looked distinctly different than the female came charging through, all holding javelins. The soldiers furrowed their eyebrows in confusion when they saw him, but their expression quickly turned to anger when they noticed the ant in his arms. “What did you do to her,” one of them barked. He blinked and quickly put his blade away. “I-I didn’t do this! I was-,”

“Save it! Is the Hive so desperate for slaves they try to steal our own ants?!” The prince tried to explain himself, feeling very flustered. The ant in his arms sighed and gave the one who spoke an annoyed look. “Calm down Travis. This guy actually saved my butt so lay off him.” All the soldiers stared at her in shock. Then they turned their attention back to the bee. Travis walked over to him, eyeing him closely. “…Is what she’s saying true?” He swallowed, nodding rapidly. “Y-Yes. She was ambushed by some thugs earlier. She’s in critical condition so I brought her back home as fast as I could.”

The male ant glared at the bee, then turned his gaze to the female ant. He sighed and pinched the ridge between his eyes. “You can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” The other ant just rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. He then took the ant out of Chance’s arms. “We’ll take over from here. Thank you very much. We could have lost a valued member of our colony.” The prince just grinned bashfully. “You’re welcome.”

“Is there anything we can do to repay you?”

“Oh well—no. Just make sure she gets the proper treatment. That will be enough of a reward for me.”

Travis nodded to him then started to walk off, muttering to the ant in his arms. The soldiers followed suit, leaving the bee to himself. He scratched his mandible while he thought to himself, ‘That was interesting…You know, I never got the ant’s name…I wonder if I’ll ever see her again. She’s definitely not like anyone I met before!” Chance then noticed how dark the sky was. 'Oh no! It’s almost night time! I better get back before she knows I’m gone!’ He soon was air born, flying faster than a rocket back to his hive.