Family 1.2

Four Months Ago

Taylor stared blankly at the creature that had appeared out of the smoke unsure of what to think exactly.

Aside from the obvious of what the actual fuck?

Because what did one say when faced with a bright orange frog standing at what she guessed was slightly over 6 feet in height? A frog that was wearing an open black coat with purple markings on its body and a huge knife sheathed at its side.

The fact that wasn't doing anything but staring at her in what looked almost like confusion wasn't at all helpful.

Taylor screwed up her courage and came to the decision it was probably best to open up some dialogue. Something intelligible that would hopefully not irritate the giant frog with the equally giant knife.

Doing her best not to stutter Taylor blurted the first thing that she could think of.

"Excuse me, giant frog? Please don't smoke in my house."

Because yeah, on top of everything else the giant blade-wielding frog with clothes was smoking a slightly oversized cigarette.

That got a reaction.

"FROG!" The creature bellowed.

Taylor would have been more surprised at the fact that it could speak if she wasn't justifiably distracted by how angry it appeared.

"Who the hell are you calling a frog?" The orange creature continued clearly irritated. "And where the hell am I?" He, and it was definitely he based on its voice, demanded, looking around the bedroom it currently occupied.

Faced with the anger of a giant and apparently intelligent blade-wielding amphibian, Taylor felt she could be forgiven for what she said next. Because while not really the smartest response… well, the shock was definitely a factor.

"Is that a Brooklyn accent?"

Taylor winced. Great, two for two on saying something both stupid and possibly suicidal to a giant frog. Not a good day for Taylor Hebert. Not that most were she supposed bitterly.

Thankfully for all potential victims of toad assault involved, the random question seemed to shift the creature from a state of anger to confusion judging by its expression.

"What's a Brooklyn" he responded after a lengthy pause.

Taylor mentally shook herself and did her best to focus. If she wanted to figure out what the hell was going on, and not anger the large and probably dangerous thing in front of her she'd need her wits about her.

Brooklyn accent?

What the hell was she thinking?

Taking a deep breath to center herself, Taylor did her best to make sure her voice remained steady and calm as she spoke to the creature who had spent the time she'd been composing herself analyzing her in return.

"I'm sorry I called you a frog." She was both relieved and thankful to note she'd mostly succeeded in keeping her voice level.

"I was just surprised, you appeared out of nowhere and I've never seen something like you before," she continued.

The orange creature gazed at her levelly. The dark purple markings around its yellow eyes almost made them seem to glow giving his stare a weight she could almost physically feel.

She wasn't sure how long it kept its gaze on her, but she did her best not to react. It did, however, make her supremely aware of her ratty, ill-fitting hoodie and ripped baggy jeans.

Seemingly coming to a conclusion, the creature sighed and took a deep drag of its cigarette.

"First, I am not a frog. I'll forgive you this time since this is your first time summoning one of us, but know that the Toads take great insult at being called a frog."

Taylor stared at the giant creature, toad she supposed, and noted that it definitely had a Brooklyn accent.

She did her best to put that thought out of her mind for now. Distractions were hardly what she needed at the moment.

The way he spoke, it implied there were more than just him. Were they Toads as well? Or were they all animals?

Wait, summoned.

"I summoned you?" Taylor found herself asking.

Was that what she'd done? Ever since she'd woken up at the hospital she'd felt an energy within herself. Her body twitching as it tried to carry out some instinctive action which caused the energy within herself to move for lack of a better word. She'd forced herself to stop though.

Some instinct within warning her that doing whatever it was her body wanted her to do in the middle of a hospital room would be unwise. It wasn't easy, though, as soon as she was distracted she'd find her hands pulling together in front of herself as though magnetized. It was all she could do to hold it off when she'd finally gotten home and mumbled something to her dad about needing to rest.

When she finally got to her room she'd stopped fighting the urge. Her hands, almost of their own volition, flew together and formed odd shapes that chained into one another before stopping. She had known instinctively what to do at that point and placed her hand on the floor.

Her power? Energy? Whatever it was had gathered in her palm after she had completed the hand signs, chambered and ready for release. And when she'd come in contact with the surface of her floor it had unleashed, leaving her body in a rush that had made her dizzy. Black symbols had spiraled out from her palm on her floor before glowing red and erupting with smoke.

The same smoke the Toad had appeared from.

She'd summoned him? Did that make her a cape?

Taylor looked from her hand that she'd been staring at without realizing, back to the toad. It was looking back at her with amusement. It seemed to be enjoying watching her connect the dots. Taylor frowned in irritation despite herself, a flush creeping up the back of her neck.

It suddenly laughed aloud. Taylor found herself startled at how human it sounded.

"You think I wouldn't know my own summoner? What do you take me for, a tadpole?"

Taylor had no response to that, watching as the orange toad continued laughing. Slowly the tension in her body eased and she found herself surprised at how stiff she'd been since the toad had appeared. It made sense though, this was about as far out of the ordinary as you could get.

Bolstered by it's good mood, she felt safe enough to ask another question of the alien creature sharing her bedroom.

"You said Toads. Does that mean there are more of you?"

The Toad raised an eyebrow… no, she supposed it was an eye ridge. There was no hair after all.

"You didn't know you were going to summon me?" It seemed bemused at the idea.

"Generally, when we get a new summoner, it's pretty big news. I thought it was odd that I hadn't heard before you summoned me… Are you saying you didn't sign the contract?"

"Contract?" Taylor echoed in confusion.

Her confusion seemed to in turn make the orange toad even more befuddled.

It scratched the back of its head muttering to itself though she couldn't understand the language. Was that Japanese? Something Eastern sounding at least. She wasn't confident enough to say, but it definitely wasn't English.

Finally, it seemed to reach a conclusion and looked back to her. Was it rude to call the toad an it she wondered? The toad spoke, interrupting her straying thoughts.

"Hey kid, what's your name?"

"Taylor. Taylor Hebert." She did her best to hide how the serious atmosphere the toad exuded made her increasingly nervous.

"Taylor huh? Weird. Anyways, names Gamakichi, nice to meetchya," it said with a small smile.

Gamakichi? And Taylor was weird? Suppressing her indignation she nodded back in acknowledgment.

Taking another drag of his cigarette the toad, Gamakichi she reminded herself, seemed to come to some sort of decision before looking at her and speaking.

"Alright, so you haven't signed the Toad contract. Also, would I be wrong in assuming you're not really sure what's going on?"

Taylor had a feeling he wasn't talking about her recent realization that she was a cape and so nodded in response wanting him to finish his thoughts.

Gamakichi nodded back unsurprised. "Okay," he spoke slowly, "this is a bit above my pay grade. We have to talk to my dad and the elder toads to figure out what's going on. Is that okay?"

His previous confusion at the situation seemed to fade as he decided on a course of action.

More toads? Also, he had a father? She wasn't sure why that shocked her. The toad in front of her was obviously intelligent but whoever heard of someone's cape power having a family?

Still, she wanted answers, and if doing this would help her figure out what was going on with her powers. Then she would speak with these toads.

Firming herself and straightening her shoulders Taylor raised her head and looked the toad in the eyes for the first time since he'd been summoned. She did her best not to project any of the fear or uncertainty she was feeling, only the confidence that she was making the right choice.

Taylor had always been good at lying to herself.

The toad seemed to find it acceptable, however, if the approving grunt was anything to go by.

"You got iron in you kid."

The toad let out a big smile that seemed to be aimed at reassuring her as he placed a large hand on her shoulder. It was surprisingly warm and not at all slimy.

"Alright. Here we go. Be honored, you're one of the only humans to ever set foot in our home you know?"

Wait… what?

They were enveloped in a poof of smoke when it dissipated it revealed an empty bedroom. Neither the girl nor the toad was anywhere to be seen.