(^ ^) zZZ

Groggily rubbing my eyes, I catch a glimpse of a scorpion claw. Thinking back to the camel I ate, I nervously chuckle.

[Scorpion is edible right? There has got to be something useful.]

Rolling over, I push myself up. It's funny how everything seems so relaxed even though I'm in the middle of nowhere surrounded by monstrosities. Trudging over to the pincers, I nudge it gently with my foot. Definitely dead. No random living parasite here. Testing the claw with my finger, I quickly recoil. It's blazing hot! Staring blankly for a moment, I get behind it and start pushing it with my boots. Slowly I make it back into the shade. Picking up a stone, I smash the pedipalp. Once. Twice. Countless more times before the entirety is covered in fractures and faults.

Gingerly prying shards of chitin off of the sinuous flesh beneath, I toss them aside. Testing the flesh, I tear a bit out. Inspecting the almost fibrous and dry piece of delicacy, I swallow my saliva. Meat, for the most part, is muscle just processed. Muscle is also mostly water, so this has to have water right? Closing my eyes, I pop the chunk into my mouth and chew. Chewing a few more times, I stare at the rest as I swallow. Dry. A bit stingy, but uniform in texture. Just a bit like fishy jerky. Really good, but fishy jerky.

Ripping out and slowly chewing the chunks of over cooked scorpion, I observe my surroundings. The sun is just about to set. Nothing around me has changed from before, but something feels off. As I finish off the seemingly last morsel of scorpion, I hear something snort above me. Slowly looking upwards, I find myself face to face with some kind of deer. It could be an antelope, but it also could be neither. Standing several meters above me, it cranes its neck to observe me. Massive golden eyes filled with curiosity stare back at mine. I notice two things in particular. One, it has a wicked set of horns that even the beast from before would have to be wary of. Two, it has molars. Not a carnivore! Snorting, it turns its head away and disappears behind the rocky ledge above.

Feeling gentle vibrations rock the ground, I realise that I was probably feeling its movements. Watching the shards of chitin tremble on the drought ravaged ground, I notice that the vibrations happen too often and overlap at times as well. It's not alone. Getting up, I scramble out of the overhang and up the slope. Grasping a small desert brush, I haul myself up onto the ledge. Breathing hard, I find a herd of the same animals easily traversing through the mountain range. Pulling out my compass, I find them going northwest. Glancing towards the front, I find the bulk of the larger beasts leading the rest. Glancing the other way, I suddenly feel a chill run through my spine.

This isn’t too different from any other herd. There are weak and easy prey near the middle and back, only followed by another group of exceptionally large adults. It's like a protective formation. Hurriedly descending the slope for an easier terrain, I check the mountains behind the herd and sure enough, there they are. Predators. Staying is not an option anymore. Small groups of canines leisurely while isolated lizards and snakes follow close behind. Even farther behind, I could see the scavengers. Scorpions, disturbingly large mice-like creatures and even a spider. The only thing missing is a super predator like a lion in the grasslands or tiger in the jungle.

The regular predators might ignore me, but the scavengers definitely won’t. Quickly making my way around a bend, I keep track of the herd's direction. The only caveat is that a herd of this size and number has to head for water. There has to be a water source nearby. Pushing my exhausted body, I approach the foot of another mountain. As slow as the herd is moving, the terrain they use makes it much harder to follow. If only I could ride one like a camel. Without noticing, I had already arrived in the immediate proximity of the herd, just meters away from the closest colossal beast.

Noticing smaller creatures walking amongst the giants and even latching onto some, I relax. Slowly migrating my way towards the center, I stop near one of the bigger beasts. Approaching some of the other creatures, I watch as some jump onto its hooves and climb their way up onto its back. Sighing, I wait for my chance. Watching a few more creatures make it, I ignore the few that got trampled. Suddenly seeing the perfect chance I run. Jumping onto the slippery surface of its wide hoof, I jump higher, grabbing onto its fur. Hauling myself higher one tuft of fur at a time, a shadow suddenly covers me. Looking over my shoulder, I find a baby deer beast watching me. Praying to whoever I may have offended, I ignore it and climb higher. Just a few meters up and several to go, I hold the tufts of fur in a deathgrip. It isn’t easy climbing up a leg when it keeps moving.

Suddenly feeling something nudge me, I struggle to keep hanging. Again, something shoves me. Something soft. Looking over my shoulder, I see the baby deer probing me with its tongue. Seeing it coming back for another lick, I panic.

[Aye! Shoo! No! No! Go away Bambi!]

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Watching it recoil from the sudden burst of shouting, I suddenly feel something fall onto my back. Seeing a tiny head pop in front of mine, I left go. Jumping off my head, a small rat deftly climbs back up the leg. Watching the leg get further and further away, I realise I’m falling. Something moist breaks my short fall before launching me away again. Hitting something firm, I groan. Slightly sticky, I lethargically try pushing myself up. Balancing on whatever I landed on, I position myself more comfortably before looking up. It's a camel. Much larger, but still a camel. Staring back at me, it licks its sharp canines and I do the only thing I could think of.

[No!]

I slap its dopey looking face. Shaking its head, It opens its maw and snaps at me. Dodging, I lean even further back to dodge the next attack when something bludgeons both of us into the protective plating. Delirious from all of the impacts, I lift my head up slowly as the pressure lessens. Staring at the foreign object above me, I curse. It's pink, long and fleshy. It’s a tongue! Thinking back to what I felt before I landed on the camel, I give its owner an appreciative look. If anything, I can depend on my eyes to convey my meaning. Turning my attention back to the dazed camel, I watch it snort before turning its head forward and continuing to walk.

Taking a few seconds to determine my position in the herd, I conclude that I should be in the upper middle region and fairly safe. As long as this braindead camel doesn’t trip, I should be fine. Taking a moment to adjust how I’m straddling the camel, I rest my head on its hump. Thankful for the durability of my clothes, I take a short nap. In Bambi I shall trust.

(^ ^) zZZ

Waking up, I slowly push myself off the camel hump. Lifting myself barely off of the camel, I groan in discomfort. Why does riding a camel chaffe so badly? Looking around, I spot Bambie just behind us. The adult seems to have migrated a bit farther away while I was napping. Stretching my arms to the starry sky, I admire the different colors painting the night sky.

[Its like that painter Van Gogh’s painting, but with more color. Like if you gave him cocaine.]

Chuckling as I imagine an old man strung high on cocaine, my camel suddenly stumbles. Hastily grabbing onto its hump, I watch as it descends into what should be the biggest cave I’ve ever seen. Watching even the biggest adult deer entering the cave, I sigh. For one, it’s pitch black from the entrance onward. There is no way that is a good sign. Second, why is the whole herd entering a dark cave? Will we fit? Will I get trampled in the dark? Is there something in there? There’re just too many ways that this can go wrong, but not going in is already a death sentence. Checking behind me, I couldn’t see what’s behind the herd through all of the bodies, but I’m sure the predators are just waiting for an easy meal.

Sighing, I clutch the camel’s hump tighter as it falters down the slope. Turning around to glance at me, I glare back at it. Why? It can’t even steadily go down the slope while it was watching. Why turn around? Seeming to get my concerns, it goes back to watching it’s footing. Seconds of clutching the camel tightly turn into minutes as the cave gets bigger and bigger. My question is just how big is the mountain to have a cave this big? Minutes turn to hours as we finally arrive at the mouth of the cave.

Just as my camel starts to enter, it stops. Glancing upwards, it observes the ceiling before following the others. Following its concerned gaze, I spot something moving. Several things are moving. Unknowingly, I had ignored a cacophony of soft and harsh clicks. Concentrating on the edge of the cave entrance's roof as we enter, I catch a glimpse of one of the offenders. Shiny carapace, large mandibles, six legs, spiked exoskeleton, and a three segmented body. A very darkly colored ant. In this case, a very darkly colored colony of ants. All scurrying around, unseen, throughout the cave.

At this point I may as well call it a tunnel. Why else would the whole herd enter and still be able to keep going forward. This is a tunnel through the mountain. Maybe even a tunnel under the mountain range. Seeing a lightsource ahead, I lean forward to get a better look. Predominantly illuminating the walls, the light source hangs high above the adult deers that pass under it. Noticing how stiffly the adult deers were continuing, I realise that there is no sound being made by the herd. Not a single snort, huff or squeak. Only the deafening racket made by the ants could be heard.

As we get closer and closer to the light source I notice two things. One, there are more light sources ahead. Two, the light sources all seem to be fluctuating. As the camel trots under the first light source I find several glowing ants ripping at a baby deer's carcass. It's not that I didn't see them moving, but that they're so bright that small changes in position barely register from a distance.

For the first time since I came to this blasted world, I know what I'm walking into. Any sound out of the ordinary and a cascade of ants descends to feast. Pinching myself, I start to tremble as I realize that my life was in my camel's hands. Hooves.

Absent mindedly, I stare at the endless amounts of lightsources up ahead, I start counting how many I pass in my head. One, two, three… fourth four, fourth five, fourth six… four hundred and ten, four hundred and eleven, is that an opening?

Another nine victims away, the tunnel ended in a soft yellow light. Much brighter than the ants. Glancing around, I pray for all the comrades I lost. Stumbling makes which leads to death. Snorting makes a sound which leads to death. Whining and groaning leads to death. Crying out in pain when you neighbor steps on your limb leads to death. Only bambi and the camel are in my immediate proximity now. The only thing i learnt through all of their deaths is that the ants light up when ripping victims apart. Fascinating, but very useless.

Staring forward, I stiffly look upward at bambi as we enter the opening. Almost oblivious to any tension, Bambi continues what it has been doing previously, lacking the ant. The ants in term completely ignore Bambi. Maybe that's why I'm still on my camel, I'm underneath Bambi.

Stepping out into the opening, I stare in horror at the newest light source. A massive glowing yellow ant. An ant queen or the like no doubt. Barely audible over the deafening sound of the smaller ants I could hear the wails and pleas from an adult deer creature being torn apart by the monstrous ant monarch. Glancing up at Bambi, I find it still as oblivious as ever. We just walked into an ant colony and my most trustworthy companion seems to be an idiot.

Just as we pass by the colossus my fear comes true. The adult stops struggling and is tossed onto a pile of bodies and the monarch reaches for us. Just as his manibles pass Bambi, Bambi's tongue slaps the monarchs eye. He recoils, pausing, to watch as Bambi starts glowing as well. Red veins start to bulge out and tribal tattoo lines pop originating from its nose. I can’t tell if its a mating display or an act of intimidation, but there is only one thing I can do right now.

In Bambi we shall trust.