Bug Catching event - Amaroo

Amaroo had seen an awful lot of villagers running around outside recently. Everyone was carrying bug-catching nets, which was all but ordinary. She asked a few passersby why they had nets, and their answers were all the same; they all explained that there’s a Bug Catching event going on.

Amaroo set off for the Town Hall, where everyone was getting their nets. The Town Hall was decorated with advertising for the Bug Catching event. Aside from the decorations that weren’t there last time she passed the Town Hall, Amaroo found someone she had never seen around town before, a Rainbow Macaw.
The Macaw noticed Amaroo and motioned at her to come over. So, she walks up and asks about the Bug Catching event.

“My name’s Kei, and welcome to the totally rad Bug Off event! If you don’t have a net already, you can use one of our provided nets to go catch yourself a bug friend!” Kei, the Macaw, explains joyously. “Here’s a net, brah!”

Kei holds out a net for Amaroo to use, and just before Amaroo grabs it, a somewhat large lantern fly flies right over Kei’s head and lands on Amaroo’s face, spreading it’s wings protectively over her eyes.

“Whoa! What are you, a bug magnet?” Kei jokes around, slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of the lantern fly.

Amaroo jumps back in surprise and nearly stumbles, as she’s blinded by the lantern fly. This lantern fly has been following her around for quite some time, actually.

“How many times do I have t’ tell you, you weird li’l bug--I’m not a tree! Get off of my face, hop-a-long!!” Amaroo paws at the lantern fly. The bug then flies off, seemingly annoyed. Amaroo watches it go off, then sighs, “I know you like me and all, but seriously...”

She thanks Kei for the net after a moment, taking it, and starts heading further into town.

“She’s a natural,” Kei chuckles to himself once she’s gone. Another villager is approaching him, asking about the event.

After some time of searching for a bug to catch, Amaroo finds a little white butterfly, resting atop a yellow tulip flower. Brightening up at the adorable find, she readies her net.
Suddenly, however, the lantern fly that had blinded her earlier flew back over to Amaroo and lands, once again, on her face. That gave the little butterfly a chance to escape, and quickly, the butterfly flees. Meanwhile, Amaroo had dropped her net by accident. Now irritated, Amaroo shakes her head and scares the lantern fly off of her face. It starts flying away, then turns back around and lands on her shoulder.

“...Why do you keep followin’ me, hop-a-long?” Amaroo sighs, staring wryly at the lantern fly, which closed it’s wings and happily gazed back at her.

Well, he was going to come back and pester her if she kept shooing him away. Amaroo just decides to let the little guy accompany her for now.

Picking up her net, she continues her search.

For quite some time, Amaroo is unable to find any catchable insects. Probably due to the fact that her hitchhiking friend is scaring all of them away with his eye-like wing patterns.
Finally, after quite a bit of searching, Amaroo comes across a tiger butterfly, resting on the ground. However, it is not alone...
Amaroo’s lantern fly companion flies off unexpectedly at the sight of the tiger butterfly’s company; a large, all-black tarantula. The insect and the arachnid both turn and stare up at Amaroo, making her feel like she was interrupting something between them.
The tarantula angrily hisses as Amaroo, giving her a little start. Instantly, the lantern fly returns, angry at the tarantula, and starts flying around the arachnid.
Amaroo, not knowing what just happened or how to react, simply walks away awkwardly.

Amaroo eventually finds herself searching for something to catch near the river on the way back towards her house. The lantern fly hadn’t accompanied her for quite some time since the butterfly/tarantula incident.
Coming across a patch of flowers, Amaroo notices a somewhat small butterfly with unusual red and blue wings. It was an Agrias butterfly! She hadn’t seen one before, and wanted to catch it. So, she readies her net and approaches the little butterfly...
One...
Two..!
*Thwap!*
Amaroo forces her net down over the flowers that the Agrias butterfly was on. She had caught it!
Feeling rather proud of herself, Amaroo lifts her net and notices...the butterfly isn’t there! Instead, it’s hovering right in front of her face.
Shocked, Amaroo tries to catch it again. Easily, the Agrias dodges her net. Then, it flies away.
Amaroo starts to give chase, but out of the blue, the lantern fly lands on her face and blinds her again, once again letting her catch get away. Amaroo stumbles over her net and falls over. The lantern fly was obviously enjoying this.
Getting a little upset by now, Amaroo shakes her head and swats at the cicada.

“Alright, you’re just gettin’ annoying, hop-a-long.” Amaroo glares at the bug, which had taken flight and landed on a tree in front of her. It obviously wasn’t afraid of her. That sparked a quick rise in temper in the little kangaroo. Amaroo, frustrated that the lantern fly had scared off all of her catches, rears up on her tail and launches herself forwards, kicking the tree with both legs. That shook the lantern fly off. However, something else was also shaken off...

The lantern fly flees. A large insect nest falls right out of the tree; a wasp nest, which brakes apart the moment it hits the ground.
Shocked, Amaroo freezes just long enough to see a huge swarm of yellow and black winged insects rise up out of their destroyed home. Then, without a second thought, she grabs her net and launches herself into the fastest sprint she can manage, quickly getting up to thirteen miles per hour.
The wasps angrily give chase.

~

“The totally rad Bug Off event is where villagers can catch any bug they come across using either their own rad net or one of ours!” Kei enthusiastically explains the event to one of the newcomers to town, “But, I’d suggest not going after any bees or wasps; they can be--”

“Gyaaaaahhh!!”

Amaroo practically flew past Kei, still fleeing from the wasps she had angered. Her net skids to a stop in front of the bird.
Looking in the direction she had come from, Kei sees...nothing. Just the empty, peaceful scenery. What on earth was she running from? Kei looks to where Amaroo was headed, but the kangaroo is long gone.
“Dude...what is she running from..?” Kei scratches the back of his head confusedly, muttering to himself. He shrugs it off and continues cheerily explaining the event.

~

Amaroo finally stops running once she reaches the beach. Completely exhausted, she nearly collapses. Breathing hard for a moment, she rests until she gets enough oxygen back into her system to see straight. Then, she sighs. The wasps had given up chase some time ago, she’s sure.

“Well,” Amaroo mumbles to herself, “today was a bug-catchin’ failure...”

Quietly, the lantern fly that had been following Amaroo around and pestering her the whole day flutters up to her and lands on her shoulder. Amaroo looks at the bug, and can’t help but smile at the little pest.

“Well, it wasn’t a failure for you, at least, huh, hop-a-long? You ‘caught’ me many times today.” she said. Then, she realized something.
She didn’t need to catch any bug; this lantern fly kept ‘catching’ her!

“...Hey,” Amaroo says after a moment, sitting herself down. “I know I’ve called you my pet before, but I never meant it. Now, I actually do mean it. If you’d like, you can be mine!”

The lantern fly flutters it’s wings and cries out a shrill screech. It then takes flight and excitedly whirls around Amaroo before landing on her face. After a moment, it flies off, turns around, and lands back on her shoulder.

“Too bad I don’t know what t’ call you, though, hop-a-long...” Amaroo thought for a moment, to no avail. “...Guess I’ll just have t’ ask my friends what to name you, huh?”

With that, Amaroo gets up and starts heading back home. It’s getting pretty late by this time, so she decides to call it a day. The lantern fly happily flies off, and Amaroo knows he’ll be back to greet her tomorrow.

“I guess...today wasn’t a complete failure, in the end.”