They ran.
Well.... Mira ran with purpose. Brill ran; his body filled with panic.
For several straight turns, the two of them had sprinted deeper into the tunnels. Their legs thumped rhythmically against the stone, Brill's sniffly cries echoing with each pace. Time felt like it stretched as they zig-zagged blindly through passage after passage, until…
Mira blinked.
Wait... where's the screaming? Shouldn't there be indiscriminate screaming?
Other than Brill's constant stream of wails and "I WANT MY BEAR" chants, there was only silence.
She looked back, and her heart dropped into her abdomen. There was no one behind them. Not even the spider.
Just Brill's pathetic, tearful face chasing after her.
"STOP!!!" she shrieked, skidding to a halt.
The sudden scrape of her legs echoed through the stone corridor like a warning siren. But Brill didn't hear it. His sobbing louder than thought, his momentum faster than sense.
"WaaaAAGHH—!"
Whump!
He slammed right into her, and in an instant the two became a tangled blur of limbs and panicked shouts, spinning down the tunnel like a living ant-wheel.
Mira groaned as the world tilted sideways.
And then.
She opened her eyes.
Just ahead… the tunnel dropped. Steep. Almost vertical.
She gasped, trying to brace herself, voice sharp:
"Brill! Don't you dare move!"
Brill squeaked a terrified,
"Huh?!"
But that single nervous twitch was all it took.
Off the ledge they tumbled.
Still clinging to each other in their chaotic tumble of limbs, they spiraled downward in a dizzy descent, bumping off walls, catching air, spinning end-over-end—
—until at last, they crashed into a thick patch of mushrooms.
Plop. Crunch. Squish.
Fungi burst beneath them, cushioning their fall in a messy landing that finally came to a descent.
There was silence.
Then Mira's voice rang out, furious and exasperated from atop Brill's flattened form:
"WHY didn't you stop!?"
Brill whimpered, still catching his breath.
"Because… you scared me…" he sniffled between sobs, antennae twitching pitifully.
Mira opened her mandibles to yell again, only to pause, bewildered.
She stared.
"…Brill?"
"Y-yeah?"
"…You're glowing."
Brill blinked. "Huh?"
Then he noticed too. Mira's exoskeleton shimmered with a faint lavender-purple hue. So did his. It danced faintly along their shells, like drifting stardust.
They looked around.
The entire cavern was glowing.
Faint violet to soft magenta mushrooms lined every wall, every floor, even the ceiling above clustered like gentle, glowing petals. Some released puffs of light spores that floated lazily in the air like drifting snowflakes. It was quiet here. Magical. Like something from a dream neither of them had ever imagined.
Mira gasped softly.
It was breathtaking. A sight to behold.
And for a rare, fleeting moment, she was… speechless.
They stood in silence, taking it in.
The soft glow. The gentle breeze. The stillness.
Then.
"Ummmmm… can you get off me now?" Brill muttered from beneath her, voice muffled.
She sighed. Long and dramatic.
"Hmph!"
She shifted off him with a grunt and dusted herself off. A few glowing spores clung to her sides.
Brill sat up, blinking, his eyes still wide from fear, but now tinted with wonder.
Mira looked around again and said, this time with command:
"Start collecting mushrooms. Gently."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you rolled us down here!"
Brill didn't argue. Not much, anyway. The outcome would've been the same regardless.
He waddled over to the nearest fungus and gently bit the base, holding it carefully. The glow dimmed slightly, but it kept its shape. He looked back at Mira, unsure.
"Like this?"
"Perfect," she said, already picking her own.
As they worked, Brill glanced at her and whispered,
"Do… do you think he'll like these?"
Mira gave a little hum of thought, then a small smile.
"Of course. He'll love them." Uncertain, but optimistic.
And for a few peaceful moments, they forgot the chaos that brought them here.
They just gathered mushrooms, glowing softly in the underground twilight, their teddy bears safely waiting back in the colony, and a surprise waiting to unfold.
The tunnel was dark, cool, and damp the distant glow of the purple mushrooms behind them now reduced to a faint shimmer across the jagged stone walls. Mira led the way with firm, determined steps, her antennae twitching as she tried to trace the path they had come from. Every now and then, she paused to squint at the ridges and grooves, searching for the slightest familiar marker. It wasn't easy.
Behind her, Brill trudged along at a much slower pace. A tight bundle of glowing mushrooms hung from his mandibles, drooping to one side.
"Are we there yet?" Brill asked, his voice muffled but all too clear.
Mira exhaled sharply through her mandibles. "No."
Silence.
Five seconds passed.
"Are we there yet?" Brill asked again, a little louder this time, his feet dragging louder too.
Mira ground her teeth.
Another few seconds later.
"Are—"
"BRILL!" Mira spun around, voice rising like a thunderclap in the tiny tunnel. Her antennae twitched wildly with frustration. "Say that one more time, and I will personally stick those mushrooms up your—"
Brill shrank back, eyes wide and legs trembling. "They're heavy…" he mumbled, sounding pitiful.
Mira sighed, rubbed her head with one foreleg, and pulled more than half the bundle onto her own back, adjusting it with a grunt.
"There. No more excuses."
Brill blinked, nodding slowly with the weight suddenly halved. "Yup." He smiled like nothing had happened and trudged forward again.
The two continued deeper into the tunnel, Mira muttering to herself under her breath. Until...
"Are we there yet?"
Mira was fuming with the rage of a thousand warrior ants. She was about to relay the entire tsunami of unforeseen insults at him. But fortunately for Brill.
"Hey! Guys!" a familiar voice echoed up from the tunnel ahead.
Mira's eyes snapped up, relief flickering through her.
Zell came into view from the dim, flickering shadows, waving an antenna. Behind him, Norkk and Skitt followed close, both a little dusty, but otherwise unharmed.
"We finally found you!" Zell called.
Mira blinked. "How?"
"Through the power of friendship," Norkk said casually.
but he was met with cold stares and silence.
"....."
"We just wandered aimlessly to be honest." He confessed.
Zell grinned. "We went through like… a dozen tunnels till now."
"You guessed?" Mira asked, stunned.
"Lucky guess!" Zell beamed proudly.
"...I can't believe that worked."
Zell quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, We BEAT THE SPIDER!"
"Wait—WHAT?" Mira's antennae jerked upright. "You beat it?"
Skitt nodded once. "Didn't even get scratched."
Brill's eyes went wide. "You're lying."
"I'm not!" Zell said proudly. "Norkk ran into it with his barrier! Like bam! And then I bit it! Then Skitt jumped and stabbed it in the gut! It was awesome."
Brill blinked. "You guys are so cool."
Zell leaned closer and whispered, "We're thinking of calling ourselves the 'Triple Stinger Squad.'"
Skitt side-eyed him. "We are not calling ourselves that."
Mira crossed her arms, trying not to look too impressed. "Well… thanks for coming to get us."
"Don't mention it," Norkk said. "Now let's get back. The Giant's still sleeping, right?"
"Let's hope so," Mira said, looking toward the dim glow in the distance. "I can't wait to surprise him."
The five ants regrouped, a strange sense of pride swelling in their small forms. Together, they made their way out of the narrow tunnel, retracing their earlier path. As they passed by the shallow, moonlit drinking pool, the colony's entrance finally came into view, warm and familiar, like returning from a battle to the hearth.
Back inside, Mira took charge instantly.
Back inside, the change in air was immediate. Warmer. Safer. Buzzing with low vibrations of workers and burrowers tending to their duties.
Mira turned to the group. "Alright, we have what we need. Let's gather the others."
"Right now?" Brill asked.
"Now," she said firmly, her voice carrying the same resolve she'd had back when they trained to protect the colony.
Zell perked up. "I'll get the harvesters!"
"I'll take the burrowers," Norkk added, already darting into a side tunnel.
Skitt turned to Brill. "You and I will handle the scouts."
Brill nodded, already trotting toward the incubation wing.
Mira looked toward the main chamber where the Ant King still rested, likely unaware of the adventure that had unfolded beneath his feet.
But not for long.
They all saluted in perfect sync... a bit clumsily, but with spirit.
Within minutes, the colony's main chamber was buzzing with activity. All eleven ants had gathered in a circle, curious, excited. The purple-pink mushrooms had been set neatly at the center of the chamber, glowing like stars on a forest floor. Their delicate scent tickled the air, floral, earthy, faintly sweet.
Behind them, the five teddy bears, including Skitt's slightly lopsided one, sat on a smooth ledge, like royal spectators.
The five little ants stood side by side, their expressions serious and proud. They had faced danger, gotten lost, maybe panicked a little… but they had pulled it off.
Tonight, they would surprise the Giant.
And though none of them were quite sure how this "celebration" would go. Whether the Giant would laugh, cry, or scold. They knew one thing:
They had done it together. And it was awesome.