User:StoryoftheUndergrowth

The wind darts past the mountains. The freezing landscape and clouded air house nothing but storms of snow, calmly falling to the ground. A party of ants, binding their strengthened legs to the ground for all they were worth, overcome the treacherous journey up a hill's side and fix their gaze onto the surrounding area. Planting a flag, the group begins to return via the same path. Moments later, the wind intensifies. The flag is shot away, and the snow crumbles into an avalanche, dispatching every member in its path until none remained.

Chapter I - The Barren Islands
"ATTACK!" The words, seemingly emerging out of thin air, could be heard by every ant echoing through the foggy caves. Suddenly, rows of cyan and pink ants who were previously camouflaged could be seen surrounding a giant scorpion. Streams of acid were fired to make quick work of the scorpion's thick outer-layer armour. To finish off the scorpion, deeply rose voloured ants used their slender legs to jump ten beetles into the air straight onto the scorpion. Enslaved by muscular mandibles, the scorpion falls leaving a buffet for the colony, which now has a supply of food once again.

"So, your saying it's already dead? A beast that big would at least withstand a few sprays of acid." The bright, cyan coloured ant was speaking to a hot pink coloured ant who seemed to be leading the offensive.

"Yes. Its stinger could still have venom, which is why I wouldn't want to let an amateur like you biting meat off the back. You did well coming up with that plan though, Imber. Because we brought the scorpion into the giant pit, no ants got eaten." "Oh, come on. Anyone can think of basic traps, you were just too focused on the possibility of it storming the nest you couldn't think." "One could put it that way. Now bite off a chunk, we don't have enough ants to carry the whole carcass back to the nest. It would fall if we tried that, anyway."

Imber accepts his orders and rips off a large chunk of scorpion flesh, and soon joins the deep pink trail back to the nest. The nest was located in a cyan stalactite eight beetles up from the ground. The height gave the ants protection from the creatures of the ground, which were the only source of food available.

The ants walk on deep pink sand, surrounded by red and dark blue rocks. The rest of the terrain was composed of cyan crystal which could be found on the top of the rocks. While the conditions may be lacking, plants, who get light from the intense crystals, have evolved symbiotic relationships with fungi, which break down rock into nutrients. The rock itself is so rich that plants, and thus the animals who eat them, can support so many more abilities and numbers.

The massive amount of plants also translates into a large amount of oxygen, which only gives animals extra energy. Transpiration from the flora makes the atmosphere, which is already warm from depth, very moist and humid. The conditions make life underground here very diverse - enough to support more species than a tropical rainforest. These conditions make competition between groups of life specially critical.

Following the immense sensation of pheromonal secretions as well as the trail itself, the unit of ants which Imber is placed in finds themselves at the foot of the nest. "How on normal feet would I enter that hole precisely?"

"You practiced it in the nest, did you not?" The ant who was responding to Imber was bright magenta, which were rare along the ant kingdoms. "If you fail, you'll be fine. Ants can fall great heights without getting damaged, and your legs can easily fix themselves into a wall if your aim is that bad."

Imber nods with her gaze fixed on the nest entrance, of which most ants have already entered. "II guess it's not that scary then," she replies, poising her legs. "Here we go!" Imber instantly streaks through the air, barely missing the stalactite entrance. "Shoot," she yelled, plunging down.

"Just direct your legs toward the ground and you'll be fine," a different ant advised. "Yes, exactly," the other ant confirmed. Quickly following the directions given and thanks to some previous practice in the nest, Imber is able to follow the instructions, smashing the ground without taking any damage. Back in motion, she once again gets in position, this time closer to the entrance. "I'll do it this time!" Fulfilling her promise, Imber springs upwards, landing exactly on the entrance. Soob the rest of the ants behind follow suit.

"Nice legs for how tiny you are," an ant comments. "Thanks, I guess, but I'll have to go to the managing chamber first," Imber reminded. "Oh, right. Your section is scheduled for territory education today." Imber nods shortly before scurrying up to the main path, which was situated with the chambers above the entrance.

The trail of ants were going the same way, but entered into chambers right above the entrance. These were the food store chambers, which were located in that spot for easy depositing. The queen was just above those chambers, along with the nursery areas. Past that were the communication rooms, including the one Imber was directed to. Soon Imber and the rest of the ants aged 6-8 days were going to learn about the current state of the endless caverns known as the outside.