Of course, you make sure that Tara is properly equipped before heading out of the base together. Your backup suit doesn't fit her very well, but tightening a few straps here and there makes it a lot better than nothing. You blush as you pat her down to double check, and she doesn't help by wriggling and giggling.
"This is so exciting!" she laughs. "So, where are we going to go for a walk?"
You turn her to face you, giving a thumbs-up that she's ready. "Maybe just a quick walk around the area, so you can see the big plants, maybe a trek to your old tent location so you can witness what effect you had-"
"I wanna see the ant hill."
"The ant hill?"
Tara moves her face closer to yours. "You said you haven't had a close look at it, and selfish old giant me annexed that location for the past week. Now there's two of us, we get a better chance to scope it out! We can watch each other's backs!"
You have a dozen reasons why this would be a bad idea, but in the face of her enthusiasm, and your own long-held desire to see ant society up close, you give in. "Okay. But the first sign of trouble, we're getting out, got it?"
She nods and grins.
***
A few minutes' hike brings you to the outskirts of ant territory. The hill itself is a distant objective, like Mount Doom looming over the terrain. The odd scavenging scout ant crosses your path, and Tara cannot resist walking right up to them to examine them, delighting in seeing them so large.
Later you come across a stream of a dozen or so workers, carrying leaves and other detritus back to their base. Tara again wants to run up to examine them, but you hold her back.
"Once they're set on a task, they don't take well to distractions. More likely to be a soldier or two overseeing this operation as well."
"Good thing I've got a burly protector like yourself to look after little ol' me," she smiles.
Your reply is cut off by a thunderous impact, and you wrench your head around to see what has suddenly caused the ants to scatter.
Snatching one of the workers in its grip to feed into its maw, the seemingly hundred-feet-tall chipmunk rears like a t-rex, looking at the many delicious options before it. It's been days since you last saw the monster, no doubt scared off by the larger form of Tara. Now that she has left, and her scent no longer permeates the area, it feels bold enough to return to its feeding ground in the clearing that is your world.
You remember well barely escaping it with your life before, and now you have someone else's life in your hands as well. As its gargantuan eyes sweep the zone before it, you know you have mere moments before it spots the two of you.
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