Burning the Midnight Oil
It was after midnight in Amphibia. Countless stars twinkled in jet-black sky, the red moon fixing the landscape with its unblinking gaze. At this time of night, most of the world's inhabitants would be fast asleep, letting their bodies and minds recharge for whatever challenges tomorrow may bring.
In particular, the toads of the North Tower needed rest now more than ever, as the summit from the day before had been a whirlwind of activity. The disgraced Captain Grime and his human lieutenant had laid forth their plans for usurping King Andrias and securing the toads' rightful place as the true rulers of Amphibia. And while toad superiority was indeed a view held by many, none were willing to throw their weight behind a rebellion led by a wanted fugitive and a bizarre visitor from another world.
Until Grime stunned everyone by presenting the fabled warhammer of Barrel the Brave, the greatest toad warrior history had ever known. That sealed the deal for everyone; the three Tower Lords had pledged their support for Grime's rebellion, and the rest of the toads followed suit. Tomorrow was when the real work would begin: taking stock of their assets, planning their attacks, and training their troops. The coming days were extremely important, and everyone needed their rest. And so the residents and guests of the North Tower were all fast asleep.
All that is, except for one.
In the tower's training grounds in the rear left corner of the structure, the sound of rhythmic impacts echoed through the spacious chamber. The only light came from a single oil lamp burning on a table on the south wall, illuminating the section where heavy straw bales wrapped in canvas hung from the ceiling.
Sasha Waybright, first lieutenant to Captain Grime and one of three humans in Amphibia, stood at one of the heavy bags with her fists raised, body in a fighting stance. She still wore her armor, her cloak draped over a nearby chair and tape wrapped around her knuckles. Sweat beaded on Sasha's brow as she punched the heavy bag, her breathing calm and measured.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
The rational part of Sasha's brain knew she should be sleeping, getting some rest for the days ahead. And she had tried to sleep, but she really did. But all she'd done was lie awake in bed for hours, thoughts swarming in her brain like angry hornets.
Thoughts of Anne. Marcy.
The words of Captain Beatrix echoed in her ears: "Just because King Andrias is working with a couple of hummuses doesn't mean us toads won't go for it."
After all this time, after so many nights wondering how Anne was getting on after their last encounter at Toad Tower. So many nights wondering if Marcy was even still alive in this crazy world the three of them had been transported to. So many nights of wondering, and now Sasha finally had her answer.
Anne and Marcy were together again. Without her. And working with Kind Andrias. Against her.
Sasha's nostrils flared as she exhaled sharply, focusing all of her attention on keeping her stance proper, keeping her arms correctly positioned as her fists lashed out.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
Her thoughts drifted again, this time to Percy and Braddock. Two of Captain Grime's most loyal soldiers, the ones who had stood by him after the fall of Toad Tower. Percy with his jolly nature and penchant for bad jokes. Braddock with her sweet demeanor and love of gardening.
The pain and betrayal on both of their faces when they confronted Sasha after the mission to get Barrel's warhammer.
"Sasha, we almost died back there," Percy had said.
Then, Braddock: "We trusted you, and you didn't care one bit about what happened to us as long as you got what you wanted."
Finally, Percy spelling it out plain as day: "Me and Braddock are done with this. With all of it."
And with that, they had left. Everything they had all worked for, everything they'd fought and struggled for, and Percy and Braddock had just walked away from it. Walked away from her.
Sasha's eyes narrowed. Sparks raced up her arms with each blow as her knuckles collided with the bag.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
Her thoughts drifted once more, farther this time. Back to the night she and Anne finally reunited for the first time since coming to Amphibia. In that moment on the bridge leading into Wartwood, when Sasha had seen Anne with her own eyes, heard her voice with her own ears, in that single moment Sasha felt hope for the first time in weeks. Hope that everything was finally going to be okay.
All Sasha had to do first was help Grime stamp out a tiny little uprising. Nothing big. After all, they were only frogs. Then Sasha and Anne could find Marcy and work on getting the three of them back home where everything could go back to normal.
And then.
The sound of clanging swords. Anne's furious stare.
"Anne, what are you doing?!"
"Something I should've done a long time ago: standing up to you!"
Sasha ground her teeth together. Her fists flew. Faster. Faster.
Right, left, right, left, right, left...
On top of Toad Tower, Anne and Sasha exchanged blows. Sparks flew as metal clashed.
"They're just slimy little frogs, Anne! They don't matter!"
"They're not just frogs! They're my friends!"
The scar on Sasha's cheek burned as she remembered Anne's blade biting into her skin.
"It's over Sash. You're not gonna push me around anymore."
- left right left right left right -
Why?
Why did Anne have to turn her back on Sasha?
Why did Anne have to choose a bunch of slimy, disgusting frogs over her best friend?
Why did Anne and Marcy have to help a kingdom that doesn't care about them?
Why did Percy and Braddock have to walk away when they were so close to victory?
Why couldn't any of them see that Sasha was doing all of this for them?
- leftrightleftrightleft -
Before Sasha could even register what was happening, her legs had turned to jelly and she'd grabbed onto the heavy bag for support. Her muscles burned, her lungs screamed, her breathing was frantic. Rivers of sweat ran down her skin, and her eyes burned as sweat dripped from her forehead into her eyes.
And that's all it was. Just sweat.
Sasha stood like for a few minutes, taking in deep gulps of oxygen with her arms wrapped around the bale. When she felt the numbness in her legs subside she let go and stumbled over to the table that held her lantern, collapsing into the chair holding her cloak. Next to the lantern was a pitcher of water Sasha had the foresight to fetch from the kitchen before her impromptu workout. She didn't bother with the cup she'd also grabbed, opting instead to lift the whole pitcher to her lips and take several huge gulps, the cool liquid soothing her parched throat.
Setting the pitcher back down, Sasha leaned back in her chair and focused on her breathing. By now her pulse was starting to slow back to normal. Every inch of her body ached, her muscles screaming at her for pushing them all so hard. She peeled the tape back from her knuckles, wincing at how red and raw the skin beneath was.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was just how tired Sasha felt. Her eyelids felt like they were made of lead. Her vision blurred, the room fading in and out of focus.
Most importantly though, a dense fog had settled over Sasha's brain, finally silencing those damned memories.
With a grunt of effort Sasha forced herself to her feet, grabbing her lantern as she shuffled out of the training room. Now that she was well and truly tired, she could finally get some rest. Despite her exhaustion, Sasha found herself filled with a new sense of determination as she lumbered back to her room.
She'd get some sleep. Then in the morning, she and Grime would finally set their rebellion into motion. And once they stood victorious over the conquered Newtopia…
Then everything would be all right. Percy and Braddock, Anne and Marcy, they'd all come to their senses and see that Sasha had been right all along.
Just like she always was.
Author's Note: Been a while, huh? Sorry for not posting for so long; between work, some personal issues and trying to write my own original fiction, I haven't had a whole lot of time for fanfiction. But I have been keeping up with Amphibia, and was inspired to write this after I saw "Barrel's Warhammer." And all I have to say is... Oof. With the way Sasha keeps leaning into her negative traits and refusing to see herself as being in the wrong, things are probably gonna get a lot worse for her before they get better.
And now, shameless self-promotion time! I mentioned earlier I've been working on original fiction, mostly short stories I've been posting to Reddit. If you like my writing and wanna see more of it, you can find my stories on Reddit collected at my personal subreddit, r/TheHughJarchive. Hope to see you there!