Panther Cap was the youngest of a small group of toadlets. He was the shortest, wore an adorable leaf hat with a bark visor on the back, and had lavender pants that matched it. His siblings were the only other people he knew. Any others he could possibly remember were with him back when he was a tadpole in a pond known as the "Deep Wet."

Panther Cap had very few memories of his mother. He only knew that she had pretty, yellow skin. He couldn't remember anything about his father, except that his oldest sibling looked up to that brave man.

He didn't know where any other toadlets in the forest were, and neither did his siblings (7 in count). All he knew was that he knew where his own siblings were and he looked up to the 7 older siblings as if they were heroes. He loved them all very dearly. But at the same time, he never wanted to be the victim of anything. As the youngest, weakest, and shortest, he was in the most danger all of the time for just being in the forest, even when he was at the small little haven (a temporary or permanent home for toads) known as Goop Haven.

The haven was in a cave with a crevasse in the ground, reaching many feet below the surface. Upon entering the cave, the crevasse would be to the right side where red rocks made up the floor. Everyone stayed away from that crevasse. Everyone wanted to find rocks to cover the crevasse with, but the kids were simply not strong enough to find any rocks big enough. The toadlets barely reached an inch high, and the crevasse spanned at least two and a half. And the ground there was a bit unstable, so there was no guarantee the large rocks would hold.

The toadlets did not waver, however. They were safe there, and it was a good place for defense against predators. The roof of the cave had a hole in it that was covered by a thorny bush, or "prickle-bush" in toad speech. As toads were still quite primitive, they had to use two words to describe one thing constantly.

The bush had a defense made of many, many thorns. The beasts of the whole forest would have a hard time getting in there. However, the toads still took shelter during an attack, because anyone who wiggled the bush would send little broken pieces of the thorn bush falling into the room. It was also a little open. If it rained, the toads would have to take shelter in holes in the cave, covering their holes with leaves.

Forest life was a rough life, but they managed. All eight of the toads lived happy days and nights. However, things were different one morning when an unexpected change turned their lives around: Panther Cap spoke of strange things that seemed unsettling, yet reassuring, to the toads.

He noticed what was going on with the rest of the toadlets once he got back to the haven. Before that, he was helping his siblings by giving them a detailed map of the only forest are he could walk in without supervision. He was mapping out a spot on the forest that was safe for him. He went from one place to another for the toadlets to remember where they were. As soon as he got back, he noticed something on the bark he drew on.

"Aw, man!: said Panther Cap. "I missed that spot again! Can I ever get a path-find right?" Panther Cap put the map he held on the ground, and pulled out a new, soft, piece of bark from the leaf hat he wore on his head. "Hmm, do you guys think I should try looking at both the last path-find and the ground and see what I did wrong? I think I keep missing the red-berry tree." Path-find means "map" in toad speech.

"OK, guys," said Fur Foot. He was the oldest one. He had a short, red mane on his head, and he wore fur pants that even covered his feet. His nose was a little short. He kept them up with a vine-strap across his shoulder so that the pants didn't fall due to stepping on them, since they had little boots. "How many did we get?"

"I got four." said Beauty Stem. Beauty Stem was the second oldest. She was a pretty one. She wore a long, green shirt and had a purple floral ribbon tied to the matching hair covering her head. All of the girls wore their hair like flowers.

"Here's twelve." said Puff Ball. Puff Ball was the fourth youngest. Despite that, he was the strongest. He was a bit heavy-set, but had a lot of endurance. Unfortunately, his heavy physique did not give him a lot of confidence. He also had a large nose.

"Here's six." said Elf Cup. She dropped the sticks into the center of a stump where the rest of the sticks were. Elf Cup had a lavender flower hairstyle with a large bald spot that looked like the yellow netcar center of a flower, and a magenta gown.

Fur Foot sighed. "OK, plus mine, that's around thirty sticks. That should be enough to cover the storage."

"How many leaves do we have again?" asked Elp Cup.

"Hey, guys!" shouted one toadlet. He carried a long vine slung across his shoulder and a large leaf-bag. "I'm back!" His name was Shaggy Mane. He was named that for his yellow messy hair. His nose pointed more upward than the rest. "I've brought a lot of flies! Hey, Panther Cap."

"Great! That looks like it could hold all of us for the next three days!" said Fur Foot. "Go ahead and put that in the shed."

"How many leaves do have have?" said Elf Cup a little more loudly. "We need to cover it up with more than sticks."

"Um, I think we have two." said Fur Foot.

"Why not cover up the sides?" said Beauty Stem.

"Uh, sure. Let's get some more leaves. Shaggy Mane, can we use that vine to tie it down?"

"But I need that vine!" shouted Shaggy Mane. "I can't reach things without it." It wasn't like Shaggy Mane to shout like that.

"OK..." said Fur Foot quietly. "Go ahead and look for another one."

"OK." said Shaggy Mane as he ran off.

"I'm gonna try and draw that area again." said Panther Cap. "By the way, how did the twins do?"

"Stop calling us twins!" shouted one toadlet in the back. His name was Slippery Jack. He wore a toy pair of glasses he found on the ground one day. It perfectly fit him. "Oyster didn't do so well, but I did great."

"Your's looks all sloppy." said Oyster. Oyster was the third youngest, and Slippery Jack was the second. The two often played with each other, and their size and appearance made them "twins." Oyster tied her red hair like flower. The two had a job of mapping out areas of their own.

"It's not!" said Slippery Jack. He stood up, crossed his arms and said with dignity in his voice, "I'm the best path-find maker here!"

"Guys, please don't fight." said Fur Foot, softly. "I'm not in the mood for that." Fur Foot then slowly started walking toward the entrance.

"Where are you going?" said Elf Cup.

"I'm gonna get some more flies."

As soon as he was out of sight, Puff Ball fell on his back onto his leaf-bed and said, "Well, today's gonna be a weird day."

Fur Foot was about seven feet from the haven before he noticed Beauty Stem behind him. "Hey Fur Foot!" shouted Beauty Stem before she caught up. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." whispered Fur Foot.

"Come on," said Beauty Stem. "You can tell me anything. You're not acting like yourself lately."

"I'm fine. I just don't feel like talking about it. Are the twins safe?"

"Puff Ball's watching them."

"OK." Fur Foot grabbed a stick to hunt for more flies.

"Be sure to bring a leaf-bag!" Beauty Stem walked away to look for leaves. She didn't know what happened. He was the bravest. He was the smartest. He was the leader. Or at least, he had a good combination of all of them, if he wasn't the greatest of any one category. But he was unnaturally sad today. He felt as though he was under a pressure he wanted to avoid, and he had no idea what to do.

Panther Cap was walking down that same trail he walked down to make the map, or path-find. Just hoping for a shot of light, he kept looking up at the sky. It wasn't very dark out, but the trees were so numerous that they blocked out rays of light. He wasn't allowed to go too far out. But he did not know that the future would hold many surprises. Toads would have more mysteries for the world to discover, and this story tells of the little boy who would determine the future for them.

Panther Cap was comparing the path-find he was making to the last one. He was close to finding out what he did wrong. As he looked up, he saw the berry tree.

"That's it!" Panther Cap loudly whispered. "That's my problem! I forgot that little mud-hill!" As he was mapping out the mud-hill, he noticed something. It was something he never noticed before. Looking up, he tried to find where that problem was.

"I can't leave." said Panther Cap to the problem. "My brother would need to know." …...

"Well, I'm able to go out a little more out there, but I cant leave my home."

…...

"What do you mean we must go?"

And thus begins the story of the Toad Patrol.