SORA, ANNE, OR BEAST?
It was night time in the small town filled with frog people, when at a place called "Stumpy's Diner," a one-eyed blue frog with ragged clothes left.
"Goodnight you frogs. See you in the morrow." he said before crashing into something and getting a laugh from the other frogs.
Later the one-eyed frog was walking through the forest while playing an accordion and humming, until he heard loud rustling.
"Hello?" he said nervously.
The wind blew in silence as something ran past his field vision, frightening him.
"W-W-What's that?" he questioned fearfully while backing up.
From behind him two large figures towered over the frog as he turned and saw them at the last second.
"*gasp* no, no, no, no! AAAAAAAAH!" he screamed.
The next morning
The town was called Wartwood and was more lively during the day as we saw more frog people and the environment they live in. A butcher cuts an insect in half causing that half to scurry off and crash through a window while a giant dragonfly snatches a man away from his lover just as they're about to kiss.
In spite of all the dangerous creatures and hazards they have to deal with, the town was pretty much peaceful and quaint, and in this town was a family of three, a brother, a sister, and a grandpa whom we see riding into town on a wagon.
"Ho, ho." the grandpa said as he led a snail with a piece of leaf.
"Alright kids, I'm gonna do a little shopping while you watch the cart." he said
"You got it, Hop Pop. I'll defend this cart with my life!" said the brother while jumping on the cart and drumming his chest like Tarzan.
"Sprig, I was talking to Polly." Hop Pop said, referring to the tadpole in the bucket.
"What?! Polly's a baby." Sprig said.
"You're a baby!" she retorted.
"Polly's got more responsibility in her little flipper than you have in your entire body." Hop Pop said.
"Ridiculous! What makes you think I'm irresponsible?" Sprig asked.
"Oh gee. Let me think." Hop Pop said sarcastically with a hand to his chin.
He then listed off all of Sprig's irresponsible actions such as not watching the pot long enough causing it to explode, getting a wild creature that looks like a cow to crash through the house. and leaving the lights on at night causing giant bugs to crash into the house repeatedly.
"Okay. so yesterday was a bad day." Sprig said.
"Mm hmm." Hop Pop said as he hopped out of the cart.
"Polly, make sure Sprig stays in the cart." he said before walking into the store and greeting the owner.
"*sigh* I wish there was a way to prove I'm not such a goof-up." Sprig said.
Suddenly the two heard screaming from the one-eyed frog from last night as he ran into the town square.
"MONSTERS! Th-There's monsters in the woods! I seen it. I seen it." The frog said as the townsfolk surrounded him.
"Now, simmer down, Wally. Just tell us what you saw." the mayor said.
"Oh it was horrifying! They had huge heads, a weird stubby bump right in the middle of their faces, Spiky hair, and long, spindly legs!" Wally explained as the town gasped in horror.
"Obscene!" one said.
"We better catch these beasts before they hurt somebody. Because for Mayor Toadstool, your safety comes first." the mayor said while doing an Uncle Sam pose with a mayor banner behind him.
"Well it's the responsible thing to do." Wally said, causing everyone to agree.
"Polly, I just had a great idea. I am going to catch these monsters and save the town." Sprig said as he prepared to jump out.
"Stop right there!" Polly said with her flipper up in a stopping motion.
"Hop Pop said that you had to stay in the cart. You know you can't take me!" she said while flexing.
"*grunt* oh, oh, Polly look. Candy!" Sprig said as he brought out candy and dropped them on the ground.
Polly looked at the candy tantalizingly then back at him before saying, "Bribe accepted!" as she chomped onto the candy like Pac-Man.
"Let the monster hunt begin!" Sprig said as he jumped out of the cart.
"Don't die!" Polly echoed.
In the forest
Spring ran down a log and jumped off. He then popped out of a stump with moss and leaves on his head while eating a centipede as he went back in, then miraculously showed up outside the log with his slingshot at the ready. He then gasped when he discovered footprints near an area with a patch of grass he was standing over.
"Hmm, it seems like the beasts roam around these parts. Probably a good place to-AAAH!"
Before Sprig could finish his sentence, he was soon lifted upside down by a rope and was left hanging there. He then heard movements in the bushes, causing him to look back and see two people emerge who were both panting heavily.
These two, as it turns out, were Anne and Sora who had dirt all over their clothes and faces with Sora's jacket now wrapped around his waist and Anne was now missing her left shoe. Anne was holding a spear stick while Sora held his key weapon.
"Caught ya!" Anne said.
"Thought you got the best of us eh? Well you didn't!" Sora said while chuckling maniacally.
"Okay, dial it back a bit spaz." Anne said.
"Sorry, long day." Sora said.
"*gasps* giant heads, spindly limbs, spiky hair, face bumps!" Sprig said as he analyzed the two's features.
"THE BEASTS!" he screamed.
"Stop following us." Anne said, getting close.
"I have bad news for you beasts. I taste terrible!" Sprig said.
"Wait what? We're not gonna eat you." Sora said as he dismissed his weapon.
"Yeah, ew." Anne said as well while putting her spear down.
"You two tried to eat Wally." Sprig said.
"We were trying to ask "Wally" for help." Sora said while doing air quotes on the name.
Flashback to last night
Sora and Anne watched as Wally was looking around the forest nervously for signs of trouble.
"Should we ask him?" Sora said.
"I don't know. He seems a bit twitchy." Anne said.
"We have to at least try." Sora said.
"Alright. Here he comes." Anne said as Wally backed up to the bushes.
The two rose up to greet him just as he turned around and gasped.
"Hi, my name's Sora, can you-"
"AAAAAAHH!" Wally screamed while running away.
"Wait! No, no, no, no, come back! Please!" Sora shouted as he walked out of the bushes with his hand reaching out.
He then dropped his hand and said, "we're gonna die out here."
End
"He ran off screaming like a psychopath the second he saw us." Sora finished.
"That does sound like Wally." Sprig said.
A beastial roar made Sora and Anne horrified as they looked back and saw it knock down the stalks in the area.
"It's coming back." Anne said.
"Let's hope they aren't with him too." Sora said, making Anne tense up a little.
"What is?" Sprig asked.
Anne grabbed her stick and the two ran leaving Sprig behind.
"Where are you two going?" he asked, fearfully.
The roaring got closer as Sprig struggled to get loose. Upon hearing his cries the two stopped and looked back at him trying to undo the rope. They looked back and forth from the exit to Sprig and then each other; They looked to the ground for a moment until Sora nodded his head with Anne doing the same as the two ran back and cut him down.
Sora then grabbed him and the two ran as fast as they could before sliding under a hole in a log for cover. The three then hid from sight with Sora holding Sprig's mouth closed as a giant foot walked past them. The three then looked out and saw a red mantis monster walking away making them all sigh loudly in relief.
"You-you guys saved me. You're not beasts at all. You're heroes! Ugly, ugly, ugly heroes!" Sprig said.
"Hey." Sora said, taking offense to that last part.
"Call us ugly again and maybe we will eat you." Anne said.
"Ha, you guys aren't gonna eat me. Got any names?" Sprig asked.
"My name's Anne. Anne Boonchuy." Anne said.
"And I'm Sora. Sora Hikari." Sora then said.
"I'm Sprig Plantar. Put 'er there." Sprig said while holding his hands out.
"Uh...okay." Sora said awkwardly as the two teens shook his hands, until they pulled away with a green substance attached to them.
"Eww, what the?" Sora questioned while wiping his hand on the log.
"So your hands just barfed on our hands." Anne said while also wiping.
Both their stomachs then growled..
"Sorry," Sora said while holding his stomach.
"Okay, Sprig. Got anything to eat?" Anne asked.
"Sure do!" he said, pulling open a part of a log that had bugs in it, making the two cringe at the sight.
"Maybe things that aren't bugs?" Sora said.
"No bugs eh?" Sprig said while closing the thing back and snatching one that scurried out.
"Mmm. we'll have to hunt around a bit. Come on, follow me!" Sprig said as he exited.
"Wait, how do we know we can trust you?" Sora asked.
"What? Does this look like a face that could deceive you?" Sprig said while making a cute face causing the teens to laugh.
"Yeah I guess not." Anne said.
"Well, then come on. Chow time!" Sprig said as he dragged the two off.
However, the dark creatures, now known as "Heartless," from before started following them.
Later
Sprig emptied a barrel full of mushrooms and other stuff onto the ground in front of the two. Sora grabbed a piece and split it with Anne and the two took a bite out of it.
"Hey, this is pretty good." Sora said.
"Yeah you're right." Anne said.
"Mm-hmm. So, first question: what the heck are you two and where did you come from?!" Sprig asked.
"We're human beings, and we come from.."
"Another world!" the two said with an echo.
"Either that or this is a dream." Anne said.
"I really hope it is." Sora said.
"Wow. Do you guys know how you got here?" Sprig asked.
"Not entirely. One minute we're in our world, the next we're here." Sora said with his hands behind his head.
"And we don't know if we can go home, or...if we even can go home." Anne said as she sat next to Sprig with her legs close.
"But yeah, that's our story pretty much. Now how about you? What were you doing out here in the first place?" Sora asked.
"Proving that I'm responsible." Sprig said.
"Oh yeah, how?" Anne asked, making Sprig realize something.
"Uh…" Sprig said, nervously.
Wally then popped up from the bushes and shouted, "there they are!" as the town surrounds the two.
"What the heck?" Sora questioned as frogs jumped and tied him down.
"Sora! Hey!" Anne shouted as the same happened to her.
"No guys stop! It's not what you think! You got it all wrong." Sprig said while trying to pull them off.
The frogs cheered as they looked over their work on capturing the two humans who were now tied to the ground.
"Ha-ha! You caught the monsters! Sprig I'm impressed." Hop Pop said.
"Dude you set us up?!" Sora exclaimed.
"I thought we were connecting!" Anne shouted.
"No, no, no, no! This wasn't my plan!" Sprig said.
Suddenly, something roared and a giant mantis appeared in front of the townsfolk.
"Hurry, everyone! Mantis formation!" Toadstool said.
The frogs stacked on top of each other making themselves look larger than the beast; The mantis looked them up and down then backed away, seemingly because of them. They cheered over their victory but it was short-lived as a bigger, redder, and stronger one appeared along with the heartless, making them all gape their mouths.
"Nope, they scared it off." Polly said.
"Yeah that makes more sense." Hop Pop said.
[insert song: Shrouding dark cloud kh 1.5]
The mantis sliced the frogs down making them scatter as the heartless chased after them.
"NO!" Sora and Anne shouted until they noticed Sprig untying them.
"Is this another trick?" Sora asked.
"I'll distract that thing. You guys get out of here." Sprig said as he ran off.
Upon seeing his courage the two were faced with the same decision like when they met before, except Sora knew his answer when he saw people running from the heartless.
"I'll go deal with these freaks! You get out of here!" Sora said while standing up.
"What about you?" Anne said.
"I'll be fine, just go." Sora said with a smile as he summoned his weapon and ran off.
Anne looked at him, then Sprig, and then her exit then looked back. As much as she hated to admit it, she was TERRIFIED of those heartless, but she couldn't leave Sprig and Sora alone.
Sprig shot a rock at the mantis getting its attention until he realized his blunder when the beast attempted to slice him, only for his claw to be held back by Anne.
After Sora dealt with the heartless he saw Anne was in trouble and rushed over to help.
"DO SOMETHING!" she shouted with a blue glow in her eyes.
"Sprig, get the rope!" Sora said.
"Oh right. On it, here we go!" Sprig said as he grabbed the rope.
He jumped all around the mantis tying him up while passing it to Sora who in turn did the same thing as he slid under it until Sprig finally landed with him and Sora pulling on the rope to subdue the mantis, but to no avail. Until Anne grabbed the rope in front of her and pulled, completely subduing it as it fell to the ground in defeat.
[end]
The crowd cheered over the mantis's defeat.
"We did it!" Sprig, Sora, and Anne said.
"Up top." Anne said while holding both hands up.
Sora high-fived with his hand while Sprig did it with his tongue, grossing her out.
"Oh boy. That's gross." she said.
"Well, now that that's settled, what the heck are we gonna do with these things?" Toadstool questioned.
"Uh, we're not things sir." Sora said with a frown.
"Doesn't matter, maybe we oughta run 'em out of town just to be safe. Let them be someone else's problem." the mayor said as the mob was ready to chase them.
Sprig however, stood in their path.
"Stop right there! They're not monsters, they're just lost and need our help. We should take care of them." Sprig said, making the two smile.
"Are you crazy?" Toadstool said.
"Yeah, what if they go nutty tomorrow and start eating people?" Wally asked.
"Not gonna happen buddy." Anne said.
"Besides, what if those shadow things come back? I might have the only thing that can protect you from them." Sora said.
"And what is this thing might I ask?" Toadstool said.
Sora held out his hand and in a flash of light he summoned his weapon, shocking them.
"Whoa cool." Sprig said.
"I don't know much about it other than it looks like a giant key, but what I do know is, it's the only thing that can hurt the heartless." Sora explained.
"Heartless?" someone said.
"Those things that attacked us. That's their name." Anne said.
"Yeah and this thing can stop them." Sora said.
This caused the people to think on this, especially after seeing it did indeed destroy the heartless.
"I guess you do have a point, but that still doesn't mean you two are off the hook." Toadstool said.
"Alright now don't worry yourselves silly. I'll keep an eye on 'em, all of 'em." Hop Pop said.
"Hmm. Have it your way, Hopediah Planter, but I don't like it. However, if what the kid says is true about them heart fellers though, then fine." Toadstool said.
"Alright boys, pack it in." he continued
The crowd grumbled as they begrudgingly walked back to town with the mantis in tow. Sprig then looked down on the ground sadly.
"Looks like I'm back to causing trouble for the family again huh?" Sprig said.
"Trouble? Sprig, standing up to that angry mob to help these two creatures out was some of the bravest and most responsible stuff I've ever seen." Hop Pop said.
"That was really cool Sprig. It was also really dumb!" Polly said.
"Yes, really, really, dumb." Hop Pop agreed.
"*gasp* You think I'm responsible?" Sprig said.
"Well, yeah. I mean just this one time." Hop Pop said while Sora and Anne used their phones to check for a signal only to put them away when they got none.
"Yes, whoo-hoo!" Sprig shouted.
"Now don't get carried away." Hop Pop said.
"Big win!" Sprig said.
"Well this was nice." Sora said.
"Yeah, but just give us a map. We gotta find our way outta this kooky place." Anne said.
"Oh a map won't be enough. This here valley is surrounded by mountains that are impenetrable this time of year." Hop Pop said while showing them a map of the valley.
"It should clear up in a couple of months." Sprig said.
"But until then, you two try and cross those mountains-"
"You will die." Polly finished.
"Are you serious?!" Sora exclaimed with wide eyes.
"You're telling me we're stuck in this crazy place for two months? Where are we gonna stay?" Anne said.
Later that night
The Plantar's took Anne and Sora back to their home where Hop Pop took them both down to the basement to show them their sleeping area.
"All righty. Kitchen's upstairs. Breakfast at sunrise sharp." Hop Pop said while exiting.
"Okay. Thanks, Hop Pop." Sora said.
Sora and Anne sat their beddings on the opposite sides of each other just as Sprig popped in.
"Hey! You guys getting comfy?" he asked as he dropped some toys in.
"Brought some toys to keep you guys company. I'm too old for these." he said.
However, he started grabbing one, saying he hasn't outgrown it, then he grabbed another, another, and another making both teens smile.
"I'm glad you monsters are living with us." Sprig said.
"Same here, weird little frog boy." Anne said.
"Okay. good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. Seriously, they can drain a body in seconds," Sprig said as he left.
"Mm mm." Sora said in disapproval.
"Ew." Anne also said.
Anne and Sora sat down then looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Anne then opened her backpack and pulled out something wrapped in cloth; she unwrapped it and revealed that it was the music box that brought them here.
She blew on it to get the dust off then hesitantly put her hand on the box to open it. Despite last time, they thought it might work again.
"Alright. Second time's the charm." Sora said.
"Come on. Come on." Anne said.
Anne opened the box...and once again, nothing happened.
"Dang it!" Sora said.
"*sigh* Looks like we're gonna be here for a while." Anne said with a sad expression.
Sora noticed this and frowned then grabbed her cheeks and pulled them up to make her smile.
"Wha re ooh-"
"No more sad faces, okay?" Sora said as he let go.
"That hurt!" she said while rubbing her cheeks.
"Listen, I know it sucks right now, but we gotta make the best out of a bad situation if we want to get home. Besides who knows, we might like it here. The town's interesting and the people are quirky, even if they don't trust us yet." he said.
"*sigh* I guess you're right. Let's do our best." Anne said.
"Right." Sora said.
Elsewhere, in a castle
[Insert song: scent of silence]
Two girls were sitting in a bedroom as if they were waiting for someone. The first girl was Kairi who was sitting on the bed deep in thought as she wrote in a journal while the other was Marcy who was standing and marveling at the place they were in.
"Do you think Sora and the others are okay?" Kairi asked
"Hopefully, but can you believe it? We're in another world!" Marcy said with her arms outstretched.
"That is pretty exciting. I just wish we could share that excitement with the others." Kairi said.
"We'll find them...somehow," Marcy said.
"I know we will, we have to." Kairi said.
Marcy then took notice of Kairi writing in the journal, making her curious.
"Whatcha writing there?" she asked while sitting down next to her
"Well I figured I might as well write down what happens while we're here. Y'know for future reference or whatever." Kairi said.
"Cool. Can I see?" Marcy asked.
"No! I-I mean, I'm writing something personal and I don't want you to see it yet." Kairi said with a small blush.
Marcy took notice of the blush and she put two and two together causing her to smirk.
"What?" Kairi asked.
"Nothing, nothing at all. But when you're writing about Sora, don't make it so obvious." Marcy said, causing Kairi to blush more.
"Oh shush you!" Kairi said while lightly smacking her arm
A door then opened revealing a newt in hooded robes.
"Kairi and Marcy?" he asked.
"Yes?" Kairi said.
"The king will see you now," he said.
Kairi and Marcy stood up from the bed and the two walked past him as he closed the door behind them.
BEST FRONDS
Anne was moving around in her sleep as she thought back to her birthday when her friend Sasha had her steal a music box from a thrift store causing her, Sora, and their friends to be transported here. This made her rise from bed with a scream.
"Guys, guys, guys! I just had the craziest dream." Anne said.
"We were trapped in a world with frog people?" Sora said with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, exact- Oh."
She turned to his voice and saw that it was not a dream as Sora (on his bed) and the Plantars looked at her.
"Not a dream." Sora said.
"Right." Anne said while curling up her legs.
"Hey guys. Sleep good?" Sprig asked.
"Careful boy! They could be hungry." Hop Pop said while pushing him away.
"For your guts!" Polly said with a rolling pin.
"For the last time, we're not gonna eat anybody." Sora said.
"Especially if they clearly don't bathe." Anne said, gesturing to Hop Pop who had flies flying around him, which he snatched with his tongue.
"Fair point." he said.
"See? Told you they were harmless." Sprig said.
"Hmph. For now." Hop Pop said while Polly jumped out of her bucket.
"Just give me an excuse to use old Doris here." Polly said while narrowing her eyes and tapping the pin on her hand threateningly until she left.
"I think the little one wants to kill us." Anne said.
"She reminds me of my sister." Sora said as he thought about what a demon Katie was most of the time, imagining her with horns on her head while cackling maniacally which sent shivers down his spine.
"Yup. So, you two must be so excited to be trapped in another world. Very jealous." Sprig said as fell on Anne's bed.
"Well it's not all that." Sora said.
"Mostly, we miss our home, our stuff, and especially…" she trailed off as she looked at the picture from the birthday card that she taped to a pipe which Sora took notice of.
She removed the picture and held it up.
"Our friends." Anne finished while giving Sprig the picture.
"You opened the card?" Sora asked while smiling.
"Yeah...it meant a lot to me. Thank you." Anne said while smiling also.
"You're welcome." Sora said.
"I felt kinda lost without them y'know? But with Sora here with me, it kinda made things better." she said.
"Same here. I still feel lost though, not just because of my friends, but also because of the heartless, my weapon, and yet I don't know what any of it means." Sora explained.
"I guess we both need to figure that out huh?" Anne said.
"Yeah." Sora said.
Sprig looked sad upon hearing them talk then looked between Sora and Anne then made a decision…
"Well then, why don't I be your friend in the meantime?" Sprig said.
"You?" Sora and Anne questioned.
"Me!" Sprig said.
"You?" they questioned.
"Come on. It'll be fun! What'd you guys do together?" Sprig said.
"Basically everything. Marathon dumb tv shows," Sora started
"Drink boba till we vomited." Anne continued while making a vomiting gesture.
"Hung out at the beach." Sora finished.
"Oh we've got a lake. Would going there with me make you guys feel less homesick?" Sprig asked.
Sora and Anne looked between the photo and Sprig as he did poses every time they put it down making them laugh.
"I like your spirit." Sora said.
"Same here frog child. Let's do it!" Anne said.
Later
Sora and Anne brushed their teeth then got dressed (separately) in their beach clothes with Anne wearing a black shirt with purple shorts and sandals, and Sora wearing red trunks and water shoes.
"You guys ready to go?" Sprig asked the two.
"Yeah-ah!" Anne said.
"Yessir!" Sora said.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" the three chanted whilst heading for the door.
"And where do you three think you're going?" Hop Pop said as he got in front of the door.
"We're going to the lake." Sprig said as he pulled on his shorts and let go, accidentally hurting himself.
"Why? Want in Hop Pop?" Sora asked.
"You wanna come?" Anne said.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Hop Pop shouted at them.
"Now look, Anne, Sora. You're both a new, unsettling, strange, bizarre, gangly, HORRIFYING-
"Got it! Thank you Hop Pop." Sora said.
"The point is, the frogs in this town can be pretty small-minded." he said while looking out the window.
"And paranoid." he muttered.
"We just need to give them time to get used to you two. That's why, I think it's best you stay put." Hop Pop said while bringing out a key and locking the door.
"But-"
"NO BUTS! Now I'm gonna go into my study to get a little reading done." Hop Pop said as he walked away.
"Ugh, Hop Pop," Sprig groaned.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Hop Pop said while closing his study doors.
"Ugh! Adults are all the same. Curfews. Rules. Old." Anne said.
"I guess we just weren't meant to go swimming." Sora said.
"Yeah, looks like we're stuck here. Ooh! I know what'll be fun, let's try some of Hop Pop's pain peppers." Sprig said as he grabbed a barrel and opened the lid.
"Pain peppers?" Sora questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"They're so hot they'll make you wish you were dead." Sprig said, making Sora gulp.
Sprig licked one and he immediately went into a frenzy on account of the...everything. Sora hesitantly grabbed one and ate the thing whole, surprising Anne.
"Huh, not bad actually. It's kind of like a little tingle." Sora said as he chewed.
His stomach then gurgled and his face turned red as he started breathing heavily.
"O-Oh wow. Ha...D-Did it get hotter in here?" Sora said while holding his stomach.
"You good dude?" Anne asked.
"Y-Y-Yeah...This-This is n-nothing. I-It's just uh...uh..." Sora struggled to say while holding onto the wall.
"I'm sorry, just what?" Anne said with her hand to her ear in a mocking manner while smirking.
"It's...mmh...It's delicious." Sora painfully whispered.
"Oh really?" Anne said, causing him to nod sporadically.
"Then here. Maybe you'd like to try another one." Anne said as she grabbed one and held it in front of him, making him widen and twitch his eyes.
Let's just say, at that point, Sora finally broke and screamed with flames coming out of his mouth.
"MY MOUTH! IS! ON! FIREEEEE!" he screamed while running away as Anne laughed.
"Just like back home." she said.
Sora ran all over the place trying to quench the flames in his mouth like Sprig did, he poured water into his mouth, tried licking the ground to get a different taste, but to avail as he started spasming on the ground.
"Seriously please, somebody come in here and KILL ME! Ughh." he shouted until he passed out.
He then sat up, surprisingly like nothing had happened.
"hat a ush!" Sora said with his burnt tongue out, now causing him to mispronounce his words.
"Your turn." Sprig said, offering one to Anne.
"No thanks. I'd rather go to the lake." Anne said.
"Uh?" Sora said.
"But Hop Pop said-"
"Sprig, you wanna know the best thing about friendship? When you have your friend by your side, anything is possible." Anne said.
"Hat's ue." Sora said
"And whatever you want, a real friend will help you get it. And do you know what I want?" Anne said.
"The lake!" Sprig answered.
"Yup. Now let's go rob an old man!" Anne said.
"EAH! Ait hat?" Sora questioned with his fist in the air.
"Ew." Sprig said in disgust.
"Yeah, that didn't sound as cool as I wanted it to." Anne said.
In the study
Hop Pop was reading a book about failing as an actor while the three watched from outside his door as they looked at the golden key in his jacket pocket.
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Sora asked.
"I've got it! What if we use a fishing line to lower me from the ceiling? Then I grab the key right out of Hop Pop's pocket." Sprig said while climbing on the door.
"This is not a movie Sprig." Sora said.
"I'll move like a shadow." Sprig said while doing a karate chop, accidentally knocking over a vase that Anne caught making them suck in a breath.
"Shadows knock things over sometimes." Sprig said until he was shushed.
"Do you hear that?" Anne said.
The three heard snoring from where Hop Pop was.
"No. Way." Sora said while trying not to laugh.
They walked up to him and saw he was sleeping with his eyes open. Sora waved his hands in front of him then snapped his fingers, but the old frog didn't move at all.
"This might be the creepiest thing I've ever seen." Anne said.
"Totally." Sora said.
"Happens all the time. He makes a great scarecrow." Sprig said.
Anne went for the key in his pocket but at that moment something flashed in Sora's mind again, making him stop Anne from grabbing the key.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I wanna try something else." he said, making the two give questioning looks.
They went back to the living room and were standing in front of the door that was still locked.
"Dude we could've been gone by now." Anne said, a little agitated.
"Yeah I know. Look, while we were in the study, I saw a vision and it made me realize something about this thing." Sora said while summoning his weapon.
"Which is?" Sprig asked.
"Since it's a key, doesn't that mean it can unlock the door?" Sora questioned, making Anne facepalm.
"Why didn't you think of that earlier?" Anne questioned.
"I forgot!" Sora said.
"How do you forget you have a giant key for a weapon?!" Anne questioned.
"I, y'know are you constantly aware you have regular keys in your pockets?! Mostly yes, but other times no!" Sora said.
"I don't think it matters that it's a key, it won't fit the lock. It's too small." Sprig said.
"*sigh* That's why I brought you guys in here when I said I wanted to try something." Sora said.
Sora stood in front of the door and pointed his weapon at the lock. As Anne and Sprig watched, they saw a white beam come from the weapon and hit the lock; once the beam dissipated, the lock came undone and fell to the floor, making the two shocked.
"How did you do that?!" Anne exclaimed.
"Like I said, it came to me in the study, so I went with it." Sora said.
"So cool!" Sprig said with stars in his eyes.
"And this way, Hop Pop won't know his key went missing if he wakes up. Smart right?" Sora said.
"Yeah. the first time you've had a smart idea." Anne said.
"Hey, I have smart ideas." Sora said, offended.
"Tell that to the others." she said while walking out with the two in tow.
The three then closed the door behind them as they sniffed the air.
"Know what this smells like, boys?" Anne said.
"A giant key being summoned out of thin air?" Sprig said.
"No Sprig, freedom." Sora said.
"Freedom!" Anne shouted.
"That was my next guess!" Sprig shouted.
Later
The trio were walking through the forest, taking in all it's luxuriousness as they made their way to the lake.
"*sigh* This is great. Three pals beatin' the odds to have some fun." Anne said.
"Here, smile guys!" Anne said as she pulled out her phone and took a selfie with Sora and Sprig.
"That turned out amazing." Sora said as he looked over the photo.
"I don't know what's crazier, that you two just stole my soul in this tiny box or that we look so incredible." Sprig said.
"Remind me to talk to him about how phones work." Sora whispered to Anne who nodded in approval.
"I gotta say, this friend business is amazing!" Sprig said.
"Didn't you have friends before we showed up?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, Sprig, didn't you?" Sora also asked.
"Uh...let's just say I don't have the best social skills. Kids around here, don't really get me." Sprig said.
This made the two young teens sad, but then they smiled at the fact that they were his first friends.
"Well hey, they are missin' out." Anne said.
"Yeah, cause you got two awesome friends right here beside you." Sora said with his arm around Sprig's shoulder.
"Come on guys." Anne said as they continued walking.
"So is punching part of friendship?" Sprig asked.
"Absolutely/Most definitely." Sora and Anne said.
At the lake
The trio finally managed to make their way to their destination, and it did not disappoint.
"We made it." Sprig said.
"Whoa." Anne said in amazement.
"Yeah, it's beautiful." Sora said.
"You ready dudes?" Anne asked.
"YEAH!" Sora and Sprig shouted.
They started running to jump in but stopped once they saw a "DON'T SWIM" sign in front of the lake.
"Oh come on." Sora groaned.
"This was not here last week." Sprig said.
"Probably because last week, there wasn't anything in there. Bummer." Sora said while crossing his arms.
Meanwhile, Anne was looking at the lake and saw an imaginary rainbow over it, telling her in her mind that it was safe, despite the warnings.
"Hmm. I know exactly what's going on here." Anne said.
"You do?" Sora questioned.
"Mmhmm. Some jerk wants this beautiful lake all to themselves. Well forget that." Anne said as she prepared to go in.
"Mmm. I don't know Anne, the sign clearly says, "Don't Swim." That means they probably don't want this for themselves, more so they want to keep people away for some reason." Sora said.
"And whoever wrote this wrote it in a hurry, like they were scared to be here." Sprig said.
"Or maybe they just had bad handwriting." Anne said.
"Bad handwriting?" Sora questioned.
"Oh come on, don't be buzzkills." Anne said as she dipped her toe in the water
"Oh that's nice." she said before Sprig latched his tongue on her arm.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Anne asked.
"Anne, can't you see there's something wrong here? This place is screaming the definition of sus now." Sora said
"Sora's right, let's just go back." Sprig said.
"Ugh, I thought you were trying to be our friend." Anne said.
"Anne he is." Sora said.
"I am." Sprig also said.
"Well this is what friends do. Remember? They help each other get the things they want." Anne said while removing his tongue.
"Huh?" Sprig said, confusingly.
"Look if a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them. If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if a friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store, even if you really don't want to, you do it okay? Because if you don't, they might not want to be your friend anymore." Anne explained while crossing her arms.
This made Sora realize she was talking about Sasha and how Anne, himself, and the others always had to give her stuff and do what she said, so that way they could all stay friends. In realization of this, Sora saw the way Anne was talking about her as toxic and he wanted to tell her that.
"Anne?" Sora said
"Yeah?" Anne said.
Yet, he couldn't. And he didn't know why.
"Nothing." Sora said while looking down.
Sprig looked between the two then the sign and said, "fine." before walking away.
"Fine." Anne said.
"Anne..." Sora was about to say.
Suddenly, they heard him running back without his jacket as he jumped into the lake.
"Aww yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Anne shouted as she ran to the lake.
"CANNONBALL!" she shouted as she jumped in, splashing Sora in the process.
"Come dude, jump in!" Anne said.
"Yeah come on, Sora!" Sprig said.
Sora was apprehensive at first, but saw there was nothing wrong.
"Screw it, we're at the point of no return. CANNONBALL!" Sora shouted while jumping, splashing them this time.
[insert song: Destiny Islands theme 1.5]
The three laughed as they decided to continue their fun
The trio swam backwards with their hands behind their head, had a splash fight with each other (which Sora cheated at by smacking his weapon into the water), stayed in the shade to get a tan, pretended to have a tea party underwater, rode a Water Skipper, hit each other with the large reeds while laughing, until finally, Sprig posed for a photo.
When Sora and Anne checked it their eyes widened.
[record scratch]
"Uh..." Anne said, cautiously.
"Sprig..." Sora said, equally cautious.
"I was blinking wasn't I?" Sprig questioned, not knowing of the serpent behind him.
The serpent rose from the waters and towered over them, making each gape their mouths while Anne dropped her phone in the water.
[Insert new song: Tension rising 2.5]
"AAAAAAAH!" they all screamed as the serpent roared.
The kids ran as fast as they could to escape mortal peril from the sea serpent; however, Sora and Anne started lagging behind Sprig on account of not being amphibian.
"Come body go faster!" Sora shouted.
"Stupid non-webbed human hands!" Anne said.
The serpent managed to catch up in time to attack as Sprig looked behind him.
"Anne! Sora!" he shouted as he dove in to save them from the snake.
While underwater he maneuvered quickly to avoid it attacking them until they all landed on a lily pad to catch their breath.
"Ah. that explains the sign." Sprig said.
"I told you this place was sus! But no one listens to Sora!" Sora shouted angrily.
[music pause]
"Guys. I'm just slowing you down. Get outta here." Anne said.
"Anne, no! We're not leaving you." Sora said.
"You have to. This was my fault anyway, I should've listened to you guys." Anne said.
"Friend punch!" Sprig shouted as he punched her.
"Ow! Hey." Anne said
"Never! I'm not about to let my first real friends get eaten. We're in this together." Sprig said as the serpent surrounded them.
[Insert song: Vim and Vigor 2.5]
"Any ideas Sprig?" Sora asked while brandishing his weapon just in case.
Sprig jumped on top of Anne's head.
"Ah! What are you doing?" Anne asked.
"I have a plan, stand up!" Sprig ordered, which Anne did.
"When I count to three, duck!" he said.
"Are you crazy?" Sora questioned
"Just trust me." Sprig said.
The two nodded their heads.
"Alright. One, two…" Sprig counted as the reptile came in to attack.
"THREE!" he shouted as he jumped in the serpent's mouth, horrifying the two.
"NOOO!" Sora shouted.
"SPRIG!" Anne shouted.
"VENGEANCE!" They both shouted.
The two climbed onto the serpent and started hitting him as it moved around to shake them off, which it eventually did. They were gonna go back until the serpent started spitting fire. Eventually it spat out Sprig with flames in its mouth.
"Sprig! You're okay!" Sora said with glee.
"You're alive!" Anne said with equal glee.
[music ends]
The beast continued spewing flames and moving uncontrollably as the trio looked on. Upon seeing this, it made Sora remember going through the exact same thing with something so vile that it will probably keep him from ever eating peppers again.
"What did you do?" Anne asked.
"Pimienta dolor." Sora said with a Spanish accent.
"What?" Anne said.
"The PAIN PEPPER." Sora said while narrowing his eyes at the fallen serpent as a spanish guitar riff played in the background.
"So hot they'll make you wish you were dead." Sprig said whilst pulling out a pepper.
"You little genius you. Also when'd you learn Spanish?" Anne said to Sora.
"I don't know actually. It just seemed appropriate." Sora said.
"Eh whatever. That was smart Sprig." Anne said
"And it looks like he couldn't take the heat." Sprig said.
"Yep." Sora said.
The trio then laughed until they heard it roaring again causing them to swim away.
"Run!" Anne shouted.
"Death Approaches!" Sprig shouted.
"No one is safe!" Sora shouted.
Back at the Plantar home
Hop Pop finally awoke from his nap.
"I'm up! I'm awake!" he said.
He checked his jacket pocket for the key and saw it was still there.
"Good. Hmm." Hop Pop said, still suspicious.
"Key is still here, but something doesn't feel right. If they didn't use my key, they used- *GASP* Sora's key thing!" he said in realization.
"Oh no. Did they get out? Is the town rioting? Are they dead?! Have Sora and Anne eaten the kids, THE WHOLE TOWN?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
He went to go out but found the lock was still on the door.
"What's this now? It's still locked." Hop Pop said.
He checked in the basement and found Sora, Anne, and Sprig playing a board game.
"Come on. Mama needs a new pair of shoes." Anne said while shaking the dice.
"That's obvious." Sora snickered, causing him to get slugged on the shoulder.
"Seriously though, I need a new pair of shoes." Anne said.
"You guys been here all day, huh?" Hop Pop asked.
"Well duh." Sora said.
"Yeah dude. I'm on a winning streak." Anne said.
"I owe her my first born child." Sprig said.
"And I owe her a new game system." Sora said.
"You, uh, haven't been using that there key thing of yours have ya?" Hop Pop asked Sora.
"Of course not. I only use it for emergencies or when the heartless show up." Sora said.
"Huh. Must've been overreacting then, the lock is pretty small. Night kids." Hop Pop said as he left the basement
"Good night Hop Pop." they said back.
Just as he left, Polly jumped in shouting, "AHA!" with the rolling pin she dubbed, "Doris."
"Sup Polly?" Anne said.
"You two aren't gonna eat us are you?" she asked,
"Nope." Sora said with a pop on the last syllable.
"You're not even gonna try. Dis...appointing." Polly said as she left the basement.
Once everyone was gone they closed the door and let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, sorry I almost got us killed today guys." Anne said while rubbing her arm.
"Are you kidding? That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me! My heart was beating faster than a dragonfly on a sugar rush." Sprig said.
"I'll take that as, you had fun. I'll admit I did too, even though we almost died." Sora said.
"In fact, I'm feeling...a...little...sleepy." Sprig tiredly said as he fell asleep in Sora's arms.
Sora put him on a spare bed in the basement then sat down next to Anne as they watched him sleep. Anne pulled out the picture again and they looked at it then Sprig and they both smiled.
"*sigh* Sasha, Marcy…" Anne started.
"Kairi, Riku…" Sora continued.
"We hope you guys are okay, because we are." Anne finished.
After that she decided to ask Sora something.
"Hey, back at the lake, what were you going to tell me when I started talking about Sasha?"
"Oh, well...uh…" Sora struggled to say.
He saw she was looking at the photo again and it made him unsure how to say it.
"I was gonna say...I miss her too. And I hope we find her soon." Sora lied.
"Thanks." Anne said before giving him a small hug which he reciprocated.
Once she removed herself and went to her bed, she neglected to see the guilt on Sora's face.
In a tower in the south
[insert song: Villains of a sort 1.5]
It was raining heavily as the thunder roared while inside the leader of the castle was interrogating two of his new prisoners in the dungeon.
"Sasha, Riku, take a look at this please." the leader said as he held up Anne's missing shoe.
"It was found far from here in the South Forest, being carried by one of those shadow monsters that have been appearing." he continued.
"Now we know you two have been lying to us. Now we know that there are more of you." he said.
The lightning then flashed which brought light into the cell showing Sasha and Riku glaring at the leader with Sasha's legs close to her and Riku against the wall with one leg out and one leg in while both had their ankles chained.
"Hmph." was all Riku had to say.
Next chapter: Cane crazy/Flood, Sweat, and Fears
An: so before we get into the other stuff, it's time I explained the Unchained state.
So a few days ago I watched a youtube video which talked about the significance of nightmares in the overall KH verse and how they could affect the next phase of Kingdom Hearts. I can't explain all of what he said in the video so go check it out, his name's Sonny Novus.
But basically in the video he says that being unchained means not being bound to the limitations of the realms of light, sleep, and darkness allowing a person to surpass all of time and space, but at the cost of not being present without some sort of connection to let people know they still exist. It is connected to dreams/sleep and residents within the Unchained Realm can communicate via dreams, which brings the recipient closer to being Unchained, and even if they're awake, one must be tied to sleep/death to talk to them. That also means that time can stop for a recipient when talking to the person; that's what happened to Sora back at the graveyard when he spoke to Ephemer and that's why AU Sora can talk to OG Sora.
Anyways, the first episode is now done and I can't wait for the next one. I'm gonna make the relationship between Riku and Sasha as she's the reason he wants to get stronger and that's why he fell in love with her; by season two it comes full circle as Sasha starts to fall for Riku during their plans to take over Newtopia. Also, as you could tell by the last scene in the first part, Kairi and Marcy are gonna be seen more before their introduction in season two. One chapter will be dedicated to the two of them and that's where Kairi gets her eye glow moment.
To answer one of your questions, I'm keeping to myself about where Kairi and Riku are from. The answer will come by the time we get to part 3.
But that's all for now, I will continue the next chapter soon. Bye!