The tortoise wasn't the only thing that found the oasis. It was not alone. That is something it discovered the hard way.

The day started normally enough. Midnight struck as the moon began to drift away. Cold temperatures kept most life forms at bay. Not this one, an army moved swiftly under the dying light. Performing reconnaissance around the oasis, scouting for enemies. Their mission was to search and destroy any and all threats. They were many but one at the same time.

Upon finding the tortoise, they didn't immediately begin their assault but chose to send out signals for reinforcements. Within moments, they began to gather at the smell. Their target was stationary and vulnerable. What were these well-organized creatures? Insects.

To be more specific, ants. Individual will was weak and they were guided by a hivemind. Smell and hormones were their way of communicating. They were comparable to a modern army in organization, discipline, and communications. Even better, they did not sleep and could perform operations 24/7.

The tortoise held the disadvantage. With its shell, it was a moving fortress. One with no defenses and tonight it had no night shift. Ants weren't known for diplomacy so the assault started silently. One second, the tortoise was peacefully sleeping, the next, it felt something crawling on its leg.

It didn't immediately wake up but its body reacted. A shift in the leg's position did nothing to avert this cheeky invader. Not until the ant took a bite of the tortoise's leg flesh did it awaken to the sight of a swarm in front of it. No fear arose in its mind, just curiosity with a dash of annoyance. As the ant on its leg refused to leg go, it bit the ant and tore it off.

The body of the ant was torn off but the head remained on the leg, still biting down, refusing to let go even as it slowly died. Without a way to remove the head, the tortoise started to move away from the ant swarm and swallowed the ant's body. Being an omnivore, it could consume these pesky insects. However, too much meat would create defects in its growth which is why it was primarily herbivorous.

Ants could outrun a tortoise and part of the swarm followed it. They crawled up its legs and explored the body, looking for a weak point. The tortoise would bite any of them that came close to its head or tried to climb its front legs. Meanwhile, its shell was covered in ants scurrying about and trying to bite through the shell and failing miserably. The only ones doing something worthwhile were on its back legs, biting it and interfering with its movements.

Its skin was tough, but the jaws and stingers of the ants were tougher and contained venom. Pain flooded its system and its limbs began to swell in an adverse reaction to the venom. Every second in this situation put the tortoise in a worse position. The only defense it had was more of a liability in this situation even though it stopped some of the ants. With the weight of the shell, it couldn't reach its back legs or escape the swarm.

The swarm itself followed the fleeing tortoise calmly, not in any rush. To them, it was a sure kill and a feast for many days. They weren't being careless nor were they being cruel; they were simply thinking ahead. A trap was laid ahead, not on purpose but by chance. The colony these ants hailed from was just ahead. If they lead the tortoise there, they would spend much less effort transporting the meat back home.

Until, a lucky strike happened for both the ants and the tortoise. Weary from the stinging pain, the tortoise started to slow down and stopped snapping at the ants in front of it. One ant took the opportunity to crawl onto the tortoise's face and stung it right above the eye. The pain jerked the tortoise back to reality and it thrashed about, the swelling made it impossible to see its right side and it veered in that direction.

Water splashed up against the tortoise's legs and washed away some of the ants. Feeling the water, the tortoise realized where it was and wanted to turn back. However, the ant swarm lined the nearby shores and prevented it from going back. The only option was to go out farther to get the rest of the ants of its back.

Murky and cool water surrounded the bite and sting wounds, relieving the pain somewhat while the microscopic side was no good. Getting sick was still better than dying to a swarm of ants. Unfortunately, the tortoise could only go out into the water a little bit and couldn't get the ants off its shell. It acted somewhat like a boat, except it was alive and non-buoyant.

If the tortoise went far enough into the lake to sweep away the ants, it would drown. The difference between tortoises and turtles that swim is that it can't hold its breath for long periods of time and its shell doesn't float. Tortoises literally sink in the water and drown.

All in all, it became a waiting game. The ants on its shell ran back and forth looking for a way out but they were surrounded by water on all sides. Meanwhile, the swarm still sat on the shore, leaving behind scent messages that there was prey nearby that couldn't be reached. Ants came over to check things out before going back to the nest or resuming their normal activities.

Ants could swim perfectly fine, more or less, with a doggy paddle like style. None of the swarm were willing to go out and attack the tortoise while the ones already on its back were unwilling to swim back to shore. The water sapped all the warmth from the Tortoise's bones while the sun, now risen to its highest point, directed its fury towards its shell.

The sun kept its shell warm enough to counter the cold water. And as a lucky side effect, its shell virtually became a grill thanks to its dark color and the ants on it slowly cooked to death. Even when nighttime rolled over, the tortoise remained in the water. The cold was no longer an issue as the water was warm. Water changes temperature slowly and tends to ironically be cold during the day and warm at night.