//------------------------------// // Episode 3: Round Two // Story: The Hive Life // by Thorax //------------------------------// Cocoon and Chrysalis watched from the Changeling Castles as the Royal Guard gathered in the courtyard below. Word had spread through the Hive quite quickly that some horrid creature had taken control of the Hive's main exit. "Do you think any of them are aware it's a squirrel?" Chrysalis asked as she adjusted her spyglass to get a better look. The squad of roughly twenty-four of the Hives best-trained soldiers had taken the rumors to heart and had volunteered to take on this menace. "It's not just a squirrel." The Changeling Princess answered as she went over the events of the previous day. That small fuzzy critter had prepared a militia during its ten years of waiting. Once she had put the orb away, that's when the real war began. First it was more squirrels, but it quickly escalated to swarms of birds circling above. Finally, the snakes began their attack, attempting to cut them off from their escape. "Cocoon," came a faint voice, "Cocoon!" Chrysalis repeated as she tapped the Changeling Princess, snapping her out of her traumatized state. "What do you mean, it wasn't just a squirrel?" "You'll see." Cocoon answered flatly as she jumped from the balcony and slowly made her decent towards the gathered Changelings below. "Thorax, you need to calm down." Spoke one of the three robed Changelings that stood at the front of the crowd. "You don't understand! We need to strike now, before Mr.Chippers can return with the rest of his unholy brethren!" Shouted the Changeling as he tried to rally the others for support. "Ah, yes." The first of the three robed Changelings began as she took a step forward. "We've examined all the evidence of this 'Mr.Chippers'," the Councilor added in some air quotes, "and the council has decided that there isn't sufficient evidence to send our soldiers into uncharted land on such wild accusations." "Uncharted land?!" Hissed Mandible. "They're already at our front door. How can you deny the evidence? Even the Princess has seen the threat Mr.Chippers poses." "The council has taken the Princess's testimony into consideration. However, we believe that she wasn't fully aware of the events that occurred yesterday. With all the stress you two put on her, I'm sure what was a simple encounter with the wildlife was twisted into something far from the truth." "Ahem." Cocoon cleared her throat as she landed next to the three Councilors. "Are you questioning the mental health of your Princess?" The Changeling asked, a smug look on her face. "N-no, No I was just telling these foo-" "That's good, Councilor. I wouldn't enjoy reassigning you because of a communication error." "Ooh, she's good." Chrysalis muttered proudly to herself as she continued to watch from the balcony above. Back on the ground below the Councilors had quickly made their retreat for fear that they'd be reassigned. Thanks to the scene created by the arrival of Cocoon several more Changelings had gathered in the courtyard. Many of them had just been passing by at the moment, a select few having been members of the surface scouts. "My loyal Changelings," Cocoon began only noticing how many Changelings had gather as she prepared her speech. "Uh..." It was only at this moment did the poor Princess remember she wasn't good with crowds. "Wh- What Thorax and Mandible says is true. Outside of the Hive waits a threat, the likes of which the Hive has never known." "Is it the squirrel again?" Asked one of the scouts, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. "If by squirrel, you mean 'Mr.Chippers, blood god of the forest', then yes." Thorax answered flatly. At that sudden piece of news several of the scouts began to awkwardly poke at the ground, many of them slowly beginning to make their way towards the courtyard exit. "I just remembered, I've got other things to do.... at the Hydra pit." The lead scout spoke as he rapidly shifted his gaze back and forth. "Very important stuff, really!" He blurted as he bolted out of the courtyard, leaving the remaining guards and other Changelings feeling more nervous than ever. "Now, I know you might feel nervous," Cocoon began as she tried to reassure the crowd, "but you are the Hive's mightiest warriors! With all of you at our side, I'm sure we can defeat this evil. Now who's willing to stand with us?" -Three Minutes Later- "So, it's Thorax, Mandible, new recruit Carapace, General Scarab and myself." Cocoon finished listing as she turned back to her Queen. "Excuse me, my Queen?" Asked the latest recruit. "Yes?" Chrysalis answered. "I'm not actually a new recruit. I was making my way towards a meeting for Changeling artists and Thorax conscripted me into the army." "Is this true?" Chrysalis asked as she turned to face the now nonchalantly whistling changeling "I would never, my Queen." Thorax answered as innocently as possible "Cara is just nervous about this whole thing. She's secretly wanted to join the Changeling Army since the day she hatched. I think she's just a little nervous." "Well, if that's the case, I wish you all good luck." Chrysalis stated proudly as she took off back towards the castle. "No! Save me, my Queen!" Shouted the poor Changeling as she was left to her fate. "Welcome to the team!" Thorax stated happily. "I hate you." Carapace stated, glaring at her fellow Changeling and only slightly contemplating murder. "I hate you so much right now, it's not even funny." "I love you too." The oblivious Changeling stated as Cara did her best to keep her hooves from strangling Thorax. "Attention, everyone!" Cocoon stated loudly as she looked at her army of five. She knew it wasn't much in the way of an army. But in the end, deep down inside she knew Mr.Chippers was just another squirrel, a squirrel with tiny acorn trebuchet and the tactical genius of a military General. "I know you're all itching to get this over with. However, we need to have a plan of attack." There was an awkward pause as Mandible raised his hoof. "Yes, Mandible?" "Can we bring the Hydra?" "No, no, we can't bring the Hydra. It might be evil, but it's still just a squirrel." Mandible let out a sad sigh as his dreams of gloriously riding a Hydra into battle were quickly crushed. "Any other questions?" This time it was Carapace's turn to awkwardly raise a hoof. "Yes, recruit?" "Can I go home?" "No, we need every Changeling possible.' Cara let out a sad sigh as she realized there was no way out of what Thorax had signed her up for. She'd release a few Chaurus into his nest when she got back. It would be great. -Twenty Minutes Later- The five Changelings once again stood at the top of the massive spiral staircase, though it had taken longer than expected. Both Mandible and Thorax had apparently 'tripped' several times on their way up. Strangely enough, both Cocoon and Carapace had a rapidly growing friendship. Finally, the last member of the group, General Scarab had been voluntold by Queen Chrysalis to join this little expedition. The two of them had a secret bet going whether Cocoon's servants would make it back or not. "Are you ready to go?" Groaned the Changeling Princess as she looked back at the group. "We've rested for the past five minutes and we haven't even gone outside. If you took any longer, we'd have to sleep up here." "What do you mean? We're moving as fast as we can!" Hissed Thorax as he rubbed the bump on his head. "To put it in perspective," Carapace began as she made her way to the large door, "if our life was a story, this would be the chapter where the author rambles on about things that don't matter because they don't know what they're doing." "I couldn't have said it better myself!" Cocoon stated happily. "Now, let's get this over with." And with that, she signaled for the scouts to open the entrance and the group slowly made their way back outside. After several seconds of paranoid blindness as the group waited for their eyes to adjust, they found their surroundings unnervingly peaceful. The path they had seen the day before remained, however their original takers were gone. There were no other sounds but their own breathing. From what Cocoon could tell, this was roughly the same time as their last expedition and yet it seemed like a completely different world. "I don't like this, Cocoon." Mandible nervously muttered as he picked up a rather large stick with his magic. "Where are they? There were so man-" "Shhh!" hissed Thorax as he placed his ear to a tree. "They're beyond that bush." The Changeling stated as he pointed towards a large row of shrubs, their height obscuring what could possibly rest behind them. "Thorax, you're being stupid. How does placing your ear to a tree tell you where a squirrel army is hiding?" Scarab asked skeptically. "I've trained soldiers for over two hundred years and I've yet to see something as ridiculous as this." "Shhhh!" Thorax hissed once again. "We have the element of surprise and we can't waste it." The Changeling continued as he donned his helmet. "If we strike now, we can take down Mr.Chippers before he even knows we're here." "Hold on just a minute." Cocoon stated flatly. "I'm in charge of this missio-" "Carapace, I want you get into the tree tops and make your way towards the other group. Once above them, I want you to wait for my signal." "I'm not doing this." The poor Changeling found her protests unheard as Thorax continued explaining his plan. "Mandible and Scarab, you're with me. Once they've spotted us, they'll start firing immediately and if any of us fall, the others must continue." Scarab let out a sigh and face-hoofed. "Thorax, it's just a squirrel, it's not some demoni-" "Attack!" Shouted the idiotic Changeling as he blindly charged through the bush. The four remaining Changelings silently waited and listened for the inevitable end to their friends foolish assault. After several seconds there was a loud scream and the sounds of twigs and branches snapping. Finally, the curses of one rather angry Changeling began to echo about the forest. "Do we have to save him?" Cara asked reluctantly. "I'm sure the Queen wouldn't mind one missing Changeling." The Changeling Princess gave a sigh. "Sadly, you're my responsibility, meaning I've got to go save him whether I want the squirrel to eat him or not." "Well, then." Mandible began as he retrieved his own helmet, "what's the plan?" -Several Minutes Later- The four Changelings carefully peered through the bush at their enemy. Several creatures had gathered beneath their captured comrade. From what Cocoon could remember from her studies, all of the creatures that had gathered ate plants, not meat. Meaning, there was no reason for their previous hostilities. "Carapace, I need you to trust me." Cocoon whispered. "Why do I know I'm going to regret getting up this morning?" "II need you to walk out there and try to make contact. I don't think they're hostile, I think Thorax is just an idiot." Carapace gave a sigh. "You know what, why not? It's the best idea I've heard all day." Carapace finished with another sigh as she slowly climbed to her hooves and made her way out of the bush. "I swear, if they eat me, I'll strangle all of you when I get back." She muttered quietly to herself. At first, Carapace's approach seemed to go unnoticed by the creatures gathered around Thorax. They seemed more interested in the helmet that had fallen off his head than the Changeling himself. However, as she drew closer, the creatures one by one became more aware of her presence. She found herself relaxing as the creatures seemed to regard her with curiosity instead of fear or malice. However, with the arrival of one specific squirrel all of that changed. "Oh, by the gods!" Carapace cried as the fluffy critters followed their leaders' commands and engulfed her in a torrent of fuzzy death. "Hmm, apparently they're hostile." Cocoon whispered to her two remaining soldiers. "Well, then it's time for a full on frontal assault. We rush in, grab Thorax and Carapace and we get out of there. We'll have to send in a squad to capture Mr.Chippers. Let's do this!" Cocoon finished as she stood up and prepared to charge. -23.2 Seconds Later- "I hate all of you." Cara and Cocoon spoke in unison as all the Changelings dangled from the large oak tree. "I'll get you someday, Mr.Chippers." Thorax hissed as he stared down at the squirrel. His only response was a quick chatter and an acorn to the face. "Hey, Scarab?" Mandible groaned as he once again tried to escape the rope that hung him from the tree. "Yeah?" Answered the tired General. "When we get out of here, you want to go get a drink? Possibly a lot of drinks?" "You know it." The General answered flatly as he waited for someone else to escape. "Mr.Chippers, I don't know what you want, or what you're planning, but I'll stop you." Thorax hissed once again as he continued to struggle. Once again, Mr.Chippers prepared an acorn. However, nature is a cruel, cruel mistress. Mr.Chippers learned this the hard way, in the form of a hawk. "My gods, it ate him." Cocoon muttered a hint of disgust in her voice. "I win." Thorax stated bluntly as he watched the hawk devour his ultimate enemy. Nature was truly a fascinating thing. After a few minutes of hawkward silence Carapace was the first to speak. "So, anyone know how we get down from here?"