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zootopiathingz · 3 years

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Oppression (A Bug’s Life AU)

Description: You know the story. Now get ready to see it again in a whole different light.

On an isolated island lives a kingdom of ant/human people, who struggle to harvest enough food for themselves and their allies, the Grasshoppers. After a young and clumsy inventor causes an incident that puts the kingdom in danger, the Queen's council allow him to search far off the land to make allies with warriors. But after realizing he hired street performers by mistake, he and the newest allies must keep up the act to save the kingdom.

Chapter I: Small Issues

We are not stronger by our number, but rather by our bravery.

Light was only provided by the rising sun on the hot summer morning. Everyone had already begun their daily routines by then, and most of it was cleaning their houses, and of course, gathering food for the offering. Something they dreaded but wouldn't dare express apprehension about. This was something that most had been doing since they were young.

The island wasn't too large, but it was expandable enough to sustain life for the kingdom. Most of it just consisted of the village and the castle. The village was for the harvesters, the teachers, and sadly, the homeless. Most everyone lived in that part, and while doing their best to keep it clean, failed to keep it beautified. It wasn't the worst it could be, though. As without the Grasshoppers' protection, they would be in much worse, more horrid conditions.

The castle was huge, and though very old, was in excellent shape. The marble floors, the golden thrones for the royal family, the large bedrooms, and so on. There was plenty of room for almost everyone in the kingdom, but the only residents were the queen, the two princesses, the council, and servants.

The queen ruler of the island for as long as anyone could remember. She had more power ever since the disappearance of her husband. She was old but very beautiful and surprisingly optimistic and laidback. Despite the conditions her kingdom was in, she didn't focus on the negative aspects of life. She laughed and made jokes, she had a smile that lit up a whole room.

Her daughters were much younger and just as beautiful. Princess Atta was the eldest, soon to be queen herself. She was barely older than a teenager and had the body and the beauty of a goddess. However, she wasn't as positive and calm as her mother. In fact, she was the opposite. She was always worrying about something, never seeing things the way her mother or sister did. Perhaps it was the stress of taking over soon, or the alliance with the clan of grasshopper hybrids. But she was always stressed.

As for the youngest, Princess Dot was not even nine-years-old yet. She was shorter than most kids her age, and despite being royalty, she was always being picked on by classmates. She attended an elementary school in the village, despite her sister's attempts to try to educate her herself. She liked to be positive and carefree like her mother, but it didn't help that everyone was always telling her what she could and could not do.

The offering was a large collection of food, mostly by the harvesters, near the edge of the island. It was piled up and mostly contained fruits and crops, but had some meat and desserts made by the chefs as well. Every year on the summer solstice, the Grasshoppers would arrive at the island to eat the food that had been offered to them, not even interacting with the island's inhabitants, and leave not long after. It was apart of the deal that the clan's leader and the queen made years ago. The ant hybrids offered them food in exchange for protection from outsiders. The history of this exchange was dark, and no one dared to speak of it.

The royal family would often supervise the offering, especially on the day of the Grasshoppers' arrival. They had to make sure it was perfect, or lord only knew what would happen. This was really the only time Princess Atta ever left the castle. Otherwise, she was hidden away in her bedroom or throne room. Her mother and sister would often walk through the village together, and Dot would attend her classes every weekday. But Atta lived a different life, a life she chose to keep to herself.

The sun was rising rapidly it seemed, mainly due to the tension and anxiousness in the air. Everyone felt it, but no one would discuss it. All the harvesters were in line, dropping their food onto the pile before going to collect more in an exhausting cycle. Princess Atta and her mother were standing not too far in front of it, being shaded by their servants while the council was supervising everyone.

Atta watched as the sun was rising higher, getting closer to noon. And she knew exactly what that would mean. She was nervous, despite knowing the process wouldn't involve any interaction with the Grasshoppers at all. She would constantly glance back at the ocean for any signs of boats arriving their way, even though there was already a look-out team at the coast that would blow their horns when signs of the clan were visible.

"Oh dear," She paced back and forth, rubbing her hands, "They'll be here soon.”

"You will be fine, dear." Her mother said calmly, walking over to try to relax her poor daughter. She waved her hand to dismiss the servants from shading them, in which they obeyed immediately. She took Atta's hand and stepped away from the offering, "There is nothing to worry about, honestly. It is the same process year after year. They come, they eat, they leave. We do not even have to greet them. We've been doing this since you were young."

"Yes, I know." The princess sighed, nodding. "I suppose it’s because I will be taking your place soon, and if anything goes awry, it will be all on me. I do not know if I can take such pressure."

The queen sighed, "It's not an easy job, I understand. I was just like you when I was your age. That cautiousness and unwillingness to fail is what makes a good leader. But what also makes a good leader is confidence. You need to trust in yourself that when the time comes, you will know what to do."

Atta nodded again, "I understand, Mother. I shall try." Though, she knew her mother had a point, she knew that self-confidence was something she never had a day in her life. And she wasn't going to obtain it so easily through a pep talk.

The queen smiled as she picked up her beloved dog, Aphie, a chihuahua/aphid hybrid. "If it makes you feel any less worried, my little Aphie here believes you will do a marvelous job. Is that not right, baby?" She asked, holding the dog up with pride. Atta chuckled, knowing her mother had always been fond of Aphie since forever. She wasn't much of a dog person, but whatever made her mom happy made her happy, too.

"Ditch Dot!" A boy yelled to his friend as they sprinted passed the royals, utterly ignoring the workers walking in a line. But surprisingly, they didn't bump into any of them.

"Hey, come back here!" The young princess yelled, quickly trying to chase after them. But she wasn't as fast as they were. She attempted to use her wings to lift her off the ground, but they failed to even raise her for a second, causing her to land on her knees.

"Dot!" The queen exclaimed, somewhat angrily as she and Atta walked over to her.

"Yes, Mother?" Dot asked dreadfully, already knowing she was going to be scolded for her actions.

"What have we said about trying to fly?" The queen asked rhetorically, "You are far too young to even be trying! Your wings have to grow in first."

"But Mother—" She was about to protest as she stood up properly, brushing dirt off of her dress.

Atta sighed, "Dot, you are a young princess and your wings are too little—"

"I was taking to Mother." Dot said to her sister, putting her hands to her hips. "You are not the queen yet, Atta! I do not have to listen to you!"

The queen bent down to pat her youngest's shoulder, "Now, now, Dot, be nice to your sister. She's under a lot of pressure and she does not need that kind of attitude."

"It's not my fault that she's so stressed out!" Dot scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Atta sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I know, I am not the best at handling pressure. I'm always acting like the sky is falling."

"Uhh..your highness?" Spoke Thorny, a prideful member of the council. He was in charge of counting the food to make sure they had the amount that the Grasshoppers' demanded. "We have a small issue."

"How small?" Atta asked warily.

He pointed over to a certain harvester, who was carrying a large amount of grain and fruits in his arms. And everyone immediately knew exactly who it was, and why this wasn't such a good sign.

Oh god no. Atta thought with dread, deciding to see what was going on. She plastered on a fake smile as she walked over to him, Thorny and another council member, Cornelius, not too far behind her.

Atta approached the harvester she recognized, "Flik, that's quite the amount you have there. How did you manage to collect all of this?"

Flik was someone that everyone knew, but nobody liked. He was always the one to make elaborate plans that never worked and make inventions that backfired horribly. He was clumsy and a little naive, but smart when it came to technological advancements that no one wanted. He was young, about the same age as Atta but slightly taller and not as pale.

He smiled brightly, just as he always did upon seeing her. "Oh, Princess Atta! I collected these by using my new invention for harvesting crops. We almost never have any time to collect food for ourselves, since we spend all season gathering for the offering! But this shall speed up production!"

"Another invention..?" Atta asked, failing to keep her fake smile. She didn't want to be rude to him, but even she knew his inventions never worked and were ultimately useless.

"Yes! Oh, and I made something for you, too!" He said proudly, quickly placing the food down to grab something out of the bag on his back. "Since you are going to be queen soon, you may use this to oversee production!" He explained as he pulled out a moderately sized telescope, with a small carving on the side. "It works fairly well, and I made it green since I know it's your favorite color!"

"Uh..that's very kind of you, Flik," Atta said, unsure on how else to respond. But she really needed him to cooperate and collect food the way everyone else was. He could be goofy and clumsy any other day of the year, just not today.

Flik peered through the telescope as he pointed it at her, seeing close-up to her gorgeous face. "Why hello there, Princess! My, aren't you looking lovely this morning!" He said in a playful tone, then put it down as he blushed, "But of course, one would not need a telescope to see that."

Thorny walked over and snatched the telescope from his hands, tossing it aside. "Alright, that's enough from you! The princess does not have time for this nonsense!" He said angrily, having to look up at the young man since he was taller, "You wish to help us get this done?"

Flik nodded, somewhat nervously from the man's tone.

"Then dispose of whatever you made, get back in line, and collect the crops like everybody else!" Thorny exclaimed sternly.

"Like everybody else!" Cornelius repeated, stomping his cane down.

Flik looked over at Atta, who nodded at him to do as told. "I-I'm sorry. I did not mean—" He said, then sighed as they all pointed for him to leave. "I was just trying to help." He murmured as he walked away.

Dot looked down at the telescope that Thorny tossed, then back up at Flik as he left the council. She frowned and picked up the telescope, managing to sneak away from the council as they walked over to the offering.

"New way to harvest." Cornelius scoffed, "Why, we've been harvesting the same way ever since I was an infant!"

#a bug's life #pixar #pixar fanfic #fanfiction #alternate universe #human au #flik a bug’s life #princess atta #princess dot #medieval fantasy #middle ages

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