Silver was the first to waken.

The sky was growing light above his head, night fading. His surroundings were quiet. He broke away from the huddled that his troops had created to pass the cold night. They had survived the tunnel, though not without loss.

The journey wasn’t as safe as the merchants had proclaimed. The slime insulated against the cold, but it had its limitations. Moreover, the tunnel had collapsed down the line, at a point where it made more sense to move forward than back. A large rock was wedged right in the middle, blocking their path. They had to go around it, digging through wet dirt, wasting time, slime, and energy. It delayed them when a delay was the last thing they could have hoped for.

The last hundred ant lengths was a fight against time, with the sun setting outside and the tunnel growing cold beyond measures. It was a miracle that most of them made across, most of them. The number he had lost didn’t matter. What mattered was the loss itself because it could have been avoided.

Silver searched for Black in the huddle and found his head sticking out on the other side. His mandibles were clenched and legs tightly wrapped around the body of a worker he had picked up during the frantic attempt through the last stretch. Both were safe. He wasn’t the only one that had done it. They —him and his captains— had raised the example which the soldiers had followed with zeal. Not everyone could be saved, but not all was lost either.

It was another mark he would bear for the rest of them and learn to live with.

Silver rubbed some heat into Black’s body. The giant soldier instantly showed reaction by releasing the worker. His mandibles unclenched and antennae uncoiled. Silver stepped aside to let Black shrug the forced hibernation from his body, and started stretching himself. Stretching was more important for an ant than eating. And cleaning was even more important, but Silver was already clean. Finishing stretching, he started vibrating his antennae both to tune them and smell the surroundings.

Vigilance was equally important. They were in the open; there was no knowing what and who might be hiding nearby, waiting for one of them to wander way alone. He found no scents in the air of the sort a predator would emit, but he did found a few preys not far away. A quick glance told him his crew was far from ready to hunt. Half hadn’t even been stirred yet. He would have to do it then.

The prey he had smelled was a worm, squiggling away in the mud fifty or so heads further from their huddle. The thing tasted mostly of dirt, but it would do for now. The other would find something better when they were warm and fed.

Silver waited for it to worm its way out of the mud and onto dry land before pouncing at it. He was not inconspicuous but was ignored by the worm for better or worse. He was an ant, with mandible that would barely be able to wound around its waist. The worm probably didn’t consider him worth much; that is until he wedged his mandibles between the fold of its velvety soft outer skin and took a piercing tight hold.

The worm felt the pain, it had to. Silvers mandibles might not measure against one of an army soldier, but they had boundless strength behind them. The worm shriveled and started thrashing, waving the affected part of his body and rolling around in the dirt. Tried as it might, Silver kept a tight grip on the worm’s waist, refusing to let go despite its struggle.

The worm kept at it for some time before getting tired and coiling to protect itself from further harm. At that point Silver started pulling it toward the dry patch where his troops awaited, performing the morning routine. They noticed him pulling the worm and came forward to help.

You didn’t have to do that, leader. Black complained and urged his slaved soldiers to pick the worm from his claws. Silver released the worm, exhausted, legs trembling; whereas the soldiers pounced on it, hungry and eager. They bit into its succulent flesh that melted in their mouths. The worm died to poison and multiple puncture wounds that its thin skin couldn’t bear. The soldiers then lifted it up to take it back to the camp where the rest were also waking up. It was a practiced maneuver that was beaten into them by their leader in the name of training.

Silver had wanted to do it alone, but some things are impossible no matter how one struggle’s to prove otherwise. It was alright to give up. After all, he had a whole battalion to help him. NO! Silver got up and lifted the worms head against Black’s incessant complaints, and led the troops back to their camp. Black actually wanted to help but someone needed to keep the soldiers in check. It was his job as a captain.

Green brought more soldiers to help carry the worm after Yellow told her about their leader doing menial work. Silver refused the help, but Green moved behind him anyways. The soldiers also occupied free space under the worm, and everyone shouldered the burden, together.

In an hour's time, the whole battalion was up and full of warm meat —except the merchants, who remained huddled together despite countless efforts to wake them. Once the soldiers had eaten the captains ate their fill and at last, Silver ate. He alone gorged down a piece of the meat five times his size.

He could sense the disbelief rising from his soldiers. Those newly joined didn’t know, while the others were betting on the amount he would be eating. Most had gotten used to his appetite, but there were still others like Black who couldn’t quite believe he was doing it.

So what’s the plan? His captains started discussing without him, but that was their job. He usually let them lead, but there were times when he took the command in his hands. This was not that time yet. He did everything on his own then they would only learn to follow and not to think for themselves. That was the army’s way. And he was not one of them.

They were in a foreign land, but that didn’t mean they were lost.

It was still a forest, with its shade and cover, leaf foliage, and scents. He and his troops had been through enough to know how to approach the situation.

Red decided to send a squad of fifteen of their quickest soldiers into the thicket under Green’s lead. They would separate into smaller groups of three each every fifty heads and head into different directions for fifty heads and look for signs of anything dangerous, be it a wasp, termites, or a passing group of ants.

The group returned an hour later having mapped 250 heads ahead and around. There were natives they admitted: signs of ants 160 heads north-east, a dead frog 200 heads straight, signs of a lizard in the south-east and crabs 50 heads south-east. They hadn’t found anything of immediate danger. While Green had found them a place to stay 450 heads straight and 70 heads in the… well, she knew where it was and that’s what mattered.

Black moved to slap her head but ended up rubbing it instead. He was learning to live with her. Though she was usually mean to him and liked to tease and make fun of him, irk him and get on his nerves —alright, maybe she needed a slap or two, make it a thorough beating instead, but there was no denying that she was an excellent scout: a wind runner. There was no doubting her ability.

Red got Silvers's permission to leave and ordered the tunnel to be sealed. He asked a few soldiers to carry the merchants that had rounded their bodies and had become ball-shaped and got the battalion moving. Green lead form the front and Silver walked right beside her.

She led them straight into the forest that glowed with scents familiar and new.

Be careful of the web spinner on your left; that plant over there might smell sweet and inviting, but it is a trap. You can still hear the fly buzzing inside the bucket. Oh— Green almost fell into a dark pit that was right there in the middle of the way. Thankfully, Silver was right behind her. I forgot about this one. Thanks, leader for saving my life.

Pay attention.

Okay. And she was back to explaining the various tidbits she had found about this patch of land. The third separating point had a scent trail that led to a caterpillar. They decided to hunt it, too.

They found the caterpillar atop of a bloomed plant with violet flowers the shape of a funnel. It was quietly munching on the leaves when the slaved descended upon it. It was easily a mammoth in front of the squad, but they approached it in a relaxed and practiced manner.

Its large body only made it an easier target. The ants punished it until it jumped off the leaf to save its life. Unfortunately, there were even more ants on the ground, and it succumbed to them. This time Silver simply watched from the sidelines as the point of contact alone ensured him that the slaved didn’t need him.

The merchants woke up by the time they were finished setting up their camp in the abandoned squirrel hole that Green had found. It was a maple tree with a lingering sweet odor to it. Silver was impressed by the find for that reason, and Yellow liked how high up they were. He took perch outside, lying flat at the edge of a broken branch that gave him a direct line of sight to the north and east directions.

The merchants raised their heads at the same time, scaring the soldier guarding them. Black came running to see what was wrong and Silver followed right behind him.

It’s good to see that you aren’t dead. Silver commented upon seeing them getting up after sleeping for a whole day.

And that you haven’t abandoned us somewhere and runway.

I can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind. Silver kept the reply short and precise. The way to talk with merchants was to keep them in the loop. Well, eat up.

The merchants were astonished to see the roof over their heads.

No bivouac? One asked.

We are not the army. Silver replied.

But you are still going to rob the farm for them. Another commented with much the same tone and preciseness of chemicals.

They spooked him and there was nothing he could do about it; at least not for the time being.

We’ll see about that. Silver said. However, I would like to know more about this farm since you have already raised the issue.

He half expected them to nitpick, but they surprised him instead. How about we take you there?

Silver agreed before the merchants could add or subtract from the offer. It was a miracle.