Growling

Sal's POV

"YOU!" With a barrage of screeches, the ants furiously crawled towards them, their razor-like mandibles extended, rushing towards Rosa and Sal.

Rosa's eyes glowed eerily in the dark, her body poised for attack.

"WAIT!" Sal exclaimed, the leaves seemed to shudder, "Wait, everyone, stop it! I understand, both sides are angry at the other, but let's talk this out!"

"Talk what out?" The spoke-ant scoffed, "I'm not afraid of that nasty-colored frog."

"If you really want to make fun of my appearance, get creative with it," Rosa remarked, not backing down at all.

"Hey, let's not trash talk, okay?" Sal begged, his brain bugging out.

-I have to find a way for them to stop.-

-Think Sal, think!-

-...-

-Ugh, I can't think of anything!-

-Just why did these crawly ants have to come up and interrupt our conversation, it was going so well.-

-Wait, why are these ants even up here?-

-I've never seen these insects, which means they don't belong on this layer of the rainforest. Why would they even be in the canopy, theses creatures look more suited for the forest floor.-

"Enough with you wasting our time, we Army Ants don't back down!" With shrill scream, the ants crawled towards them, closing the distance. Their long thin legs clamored over branches, their sheer number seemed to dig and scratch the bark with their friezened rush.

"Wait!" Sal screamed, but his voice drowned out in the crowd of screams.

Even Rosa couldn't hear him as she launched herself towards them, her eyes were more than red.

Blood rushed up into Sal's brain.

-Nothing is working.-

-They won't listen to me!-

Anger bubbled up, the blazing heat roared inside of him, cooking him alive, making Sal feel unbearable.

With an explosion of emotion, Sal raised his head up to the air, and released all of the burning fire tearing at his body.

Like the rumble of a massive thunderstorm about the approach, a sound that seemed to vibrate the air ominously in the dark and growing louder and louder, every animal stopped in their tracks.

A growl, like bubbling lava, like the drooling of a starved predator, like the sound of a demon snickering, escaped from Sal's voice and echoed into the night.

All the pent-up frustration and desperation fueled his growl, stopping the even more wide-eyed Rosa in her tracks and the Army Ants in shock.

Who could've thought such a sound could escape from such a timid sloth!

…

There was pure silence.

Even the rowdiest Army Ants stood there in silence.

Sal realized the unsettling silence in the air when he stopped growling.

He nervously smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere, even though internally he was freaking out.

"So…can I ask you Army Ants? Why are you out so late in the trees this high? You guys don't seem the type of animals to climb around."

"Well…" With an awkward cough, the spoke-ant cleared his throat, "The thing is…you're right Mr. Sloth, we don't live in trees, much less hunt."

The spoke-ant turned his head and readjusted his posture, using his front legs to brush himself a little.

-Is this ant, bashful?-

"Ahem, you see, since we Army Ants are relatively new here, while we were chasing after prey for the nest, we got a little carried away, and before we realized it…"

"We realized we were, for lack of a better term, maybe lost?"

"..."

"..."

"But us Army Ants do not fret. We may have gotten really carried away, but we'll make our way back."

"Our only worry here is once we get back to the rest of the ants, they'll repraim us a lot. To avoid an earful, we were planning to hunt a lot so we can go back to the rest of them with our hard labor, but to the looks of it…Even I doubt we'll be making a feast."

"You know," Rosa said, her voice quite tense, "That you should avoid bad-mouthing other animals when you just meet them. If we don't stand up for ourselves, we are targets after all."

"Ahaha, that's our Army Ants speciality!"

"Is that so…" Rosa grimaced, "If only you could have said all this earlier."

"I can't believe you guys are just lost!" Sal laughed, his body relaxed.

"Are you making fun of us?!" The Army Ants questioned.

"No, no!" Sal hurriedly explained.

"Good, we Army Ants aren't pushovers!"

With a couple more drops of sweat and sighs, the Army Ants finally marched back down the tree back to wherever they came from.

"I really don't hope I see them again," Sal remarked, a tired yet cheerful smile plastered over his face.

"Hey, Rosa?"

"Yes, Sal?"

"Honestly, I didn't realize how aggressive you were just then. I thought you would've asked them some questions because of how Army Ants are rarely seen!"

"You are right Sal, I was really aggressive just then. I do hope I did not startle you.'

"No-no, you're just fine! I just kinda wanted to know: why?"

"Sal, in the rainforest, if you are simply a pushover, no one will respect you. Animals obey power because it makes them afraid, perhaps even in admiration, but weakness, especially around animals with malicious intent, will tear the weak apart. It's simply how the rainforest works."

"..."

"If the Army Ants really wanted to see blood, then I can't back down, I have to fight. Though, whether I lashed out instinctively or out of anger, truly, I was too rash. So, thank you Sal. Thank you for standing up, that was such a brilliant display of bravery. It truly was impressive."

"Awh, Rosa, you're making me feel kinda embarrassed," Sal crinkled his eyes while scratching the back of his head.

"I truly mean it."

"You were really cool too. Thanks for standing up for me!"

"No no, that was simple because…"

As the two animals started to compliment each other, it soon became a full on show of compliments as Sal and Rosa showed their kindness to each other. Neither of them backed down, for them to realize, the night was over, and another day was done.