Today had started out so simple.
The Plantar family was on their way back from yet another tedious, but necessary trip to the Archives - for Anne's sake - when Sprig suggested that, hey, why not have a little picnic out here in the plains? It was a beautiful day outside, they packed a decent selection of food with them, and as far as Sprig was aware, nobody had anything planned for the day, so why not, right? And he was right, because Anne, Polly, and even Hop Pop agreed almost immediately. They settled down on a good spot, let Bessie loose nearby to wander and graze, unfurled the picnic rug, unloaded the picnic food, and proceeded to do pretty much everything you'd do in a picnic. Eating, chatting, joking, a lot of laughing, a little bit of crying - but that was mostly because of Hop Pop's killer peppers - and all in all, having a good time. Things winded down once the food was finished, but nobody was in any hurry to pack up and leave. So not-in-a-hurry, in fact, that Hop Pop and Polly curled up next to each other and fell into a nap. That left him and Anne to their own devices.
That was when the day turned from simple to not-so-simple.
They had nothing weird or grand or outlandish in mind, at first. They were content to lay on their backs, watching fluffy white clouds roll and roil against the clear blue sky, enjoying each other's silent company. However, it was during this time that Sprig noticed a peculiar silhouette darting among the blue and white, before making landfall in a nearby forest. It was definitely a bird of some kind, and quite a large one, but not a bird that Sprig instantly recognized. His interest piqued, Sprig suggested they go take a closer look because, hey, what if it was a rare bird that had never been seen before? They could be famous throughout all of Amphibia! Anne shrugged, and decided to tag along, because she liked birds well enough, so this should be fun.
It wasn't fun, because that bird was a heron. And it was extremely violent and extremely hungry.
Sprig narrowly missed death only by Anne pulling him by the scruff of the neck out of the way of the heron's descending beak. It took a beat for the realization of what he led them towards to fully settle in, and by the time he regained his bearings, he found himself clutched against Anne's chest as she ran and screamed like there was no tomorrow. Which, right now, was a very real possibility for both of them.
The heron screeched, quickly giving chase. Its long legs gave it a massive advantage over them - even over Anne - allowing it to always be a second behind no matter how fast they ran. Its massive size meant the trees posed no problem for the bird, easily knocking and cutting them down as it hunted its prey. Even if they got smart and darted around the denser trees, any distance they gained could be covered by the heron in a heartbeat. The falling trees also provided another life-threatening hazard. Sprig joined Anne's screaming when one came within inches of crushing them both.
By some miracle, they broke the heron's line of sight and stumbled upon a hollow root within moments of each other. Anne scrambled inside, bringing Sprig with her, and both of them held their breaths. This place won't be safe for long, but a temporary shelter was better than no shelter.
"What the heck is that thing?!" Anne hissed through clenched teeth. She was freaking out, which was a perfectly valid reaction to meeting a heron for the first time. Or, really, any other time you meet a heron.
It also reminded Sprig of just how new she was to this world, to its wonders and dangers. "That's a heron." He was careful to keep his voice low. Don't want to make it easier for the beast to find them. "Weird, they don't usually wander this close to Wartwood. Something must've driven it here."
"Well, screw whatever that something is." Anne spat. "What else do you know about herons?"
He knew quite a bit. Herons were one of the first things that a young frog was taught growing up. "They are extremely territorial, they have a tendency to swallow its prey whole, and they have an insatiable hunger for flesh."
"None of that is helping!" Anne snapped.
"Oh, you want the helpful bits?" Sprig blinked.
Anne rolled her eyes. "Yes."
Sprig tapped his chin, thinking hard. "I remember reading somewhere that when you encounter a heron, you should..."
"Yeah?" Anne leaned forward.
"Be as quiet as possible, curl into a fetal position, and pray that it doesn't find you."
Anne collapsed against the wall of the confined space, planting a palm against her forehead. "God, what is wrong with this world?
"Do you want that chronologically or alphabetically?"
Any retort Anne might have had was silenced when the heron's foot stomped down hard next to their hiding spot. Its beak jabbed at the roots, chipping away and pulling out bits of the only thing protecting Sprig and Anne from the heron. They both screamed, scurrying outside, narrowly missing the space collapsing behind them as the heron ripped out a large chunk of wood from the root. They went back to running for their lives, and the heron wasted no time give chase once again. The distance between them grew smaller and smaller by the second. Outrunning a heron on foot was almost impossible - one more thing Sprig had learned about herons. What was not-so-impossible, however, was outrunning a heron on a snail.
Sprig scanned the area the best he could, and spotted where the forest ended in the distance. "I think Hop Pop's that-a-way!" He pointed towards the break in the treeline. "It'd be way easier to get away from a heron on Bessie!"
"We can't lead this thing back to Hop Pop and Polly!" Anne barked back. "We gotta lose it first. Somehow."
Sprig was about to share what an impossible task that would be, when he heard a loud crack coming from behind him. After that, silence, the rhythmic thumps of the heron's feet chasing after them nowhere to be heard. Sprig looked over his shoulder, and saw no herons in sight. He almost laughed, barely believing their luck. Apparently, that bird was not as hungry as he thought. Or, it spotted a better prey somewhere. Either way, it was out of their hair, and that's all that mattered.
Sprig breathed a sigh of relief. So much for 'almost impossible'. "Well, that was-"
His words died at the sound of another crack, this time from his front. Sprig spun his head around, just in time to hop face-first into something rough, sturdy, and definitely wasn't there before. He fell on his back, his face sore and his vision swimming with stars. He blinked the stars away, got a clear look of what he ran into, and blanched. It was the heron's talon, who had broken through the treetops to land in front of him, and now had its eyes trained upon him. He realized with a start that it has also cut himself off from Anne - he could see her struggling to her feet on the other side through the heron's legs. It all clicked. The heron didn't leave; it was separating its prey, and picked the weaker one that was easier to catch.
That was actually quite clever of it, and quite bad for Sprig.
The heron dove in. Sprig leapt out of the way of its beak, before hopping away screaming in the opposite direction.
"Sprig! No!" he heard Anne yell, and he's not sure what to do with that. Did she expect her to stop running? Because, no thanks, he'd like to stay alive.
No, he kept hopping. Which direction he was headed didn't matter, as long as he kept hopping, as long as he put everything he had towards putting as much distance between him and the heron as possible. Turning left, then right, then right again, then left again, then straight ahead - all he did blindly, completely at random. After a point, he lost track of where Anne was. Heck, he lost track of where he was. But he couldn't afford to worry about that, not when the heron had closed enough distance to rain down fast jabs of its razor sharp beak, and its aim was getting better with each try.
After two quick left turns and a slide under a tangle of vines, Sprig broke into a small clearing and immediately skidded to a halt. Standing tall in front of him was a massive cliff face, too sheer to climb and too wide to run around. He quickly spun around, but it was already too late. The heron burst out of the trees, hungry and frustrated.
Maybe falling into a blind panic wasn't the best idea after all.
The heron screeched, advancing. Sprig backed away until he couldn't anymore. He was cornered, his options rapidly dwindling into zero. The heron seemed to lick its beak, almost like it was enjoying this, enjoying the panic and fear in Sprig's face. It reared back, bared its teeth, and dove in. Sprig curled into a ball, clenched his eyes shut, and prayed it would be quick and painless.
However, after a beat, the moment never came. Or, the moment really was that quick and painless. Curiosity got the better of Sprig, and he cracked an eye open to look. What he saw was something eerily familiar.
Anne was suddenly there, somehow holding back the heron's beak with both hands. The fear that gripped Sprig's heart a moment ago was instantly replaced by joy, relief, and awe. A flurry of words nearly flooded out of his mouth, but all words failed him when Anne whipped her head around to look over her shoulder.
Her pupils were glowing bright blue.
"Sprig, are you okay?!" she cried. Worry was written clear across her features, Sprig noticed, once he managed to look at any part of Anne's face that wasn't her eyes.
Sprig blinked, realizing that Anne had asked him a question. He gave her a thumbs up, forcing himself to speak. "Traumatized, but alive!"
Her worries melted away into relief. "Story of our life." A small, wry smile briefly graced her lips, and only briefly.
Her features darkened into a furious glare, and she directed that glare at the massive beast she held back with her bare hands. Sprig was certain he was the first frog alive to hear a heron squawk in surprise.
"Listen, you overgrown parrot!" she roared. "My bumpkin frog family! Isn't! Food!"
Call him crazy, but he was pretty sure the heron was now trying to pull its beak away from Anne.
Anne twisted her footing to one side, her sock-covered foot digging deep into the mud, and pulled. Try as it might, the heron couldn't break free from Anne's grip in time. She drove its beak into the cliff face, just to Sprig's left - Sprig yelped and scooted away. Anne stepped back, leaving the heron stuck, its talons scrambling to try and pry its beak free of the cliff face. She balled her hand into a fist, and dove back in to deliver a fast jab to the heron's eye. The heron squawked in pain, muffled thanks to its beak stuck in a cliff, and stumbled, almost losing its footing. Not satisfied, Anne leapt into the air and, with a scream, dropped her elbow on the base of the heron's head. The heron crashed onto the ground on its side with another squawk, dazed, but still very much alive.
Sprig thought that was that, and they would use the chance to escape, but one look of Anne's face made it clear that she wasn't done, not yet. She wrapped her arms around its long neck, and with a heave, lifted the heron off the ground and pulled. Its beak was torn out from the cliff, the section it left behind collapsing. The heron, still stunned and in pain, did not offer Anne any meaningful resistance. Sprig could barely believe his eyes when Anne began to spin in place, dragging the heron with her by the neck, its body trailing behind smashing against trees and cliffs alike. Anne rapidly gained speed, spinning once, twice, thrice, before-
"Yeet!"
With that fearsome battle cry, Anne launched the beast skyward. The beast sailed over the treetops, far, far over the horizon, until it disappeared from sight. Anne panted, standing tall, glaring at the horizon, wiping away a speck of dirt on her cheek with the back of her hand. Sprig could only stare in awe, wonder, and maybe a little bit of fear. He flinched when Anne's head whipped towards him, eyes still glowing bright blue. He shrank when she suddenly stomped her way over to him.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Anne asked, her voice gentle. Her glowing eyes dimmed until they returned to its natural color.
Sprig remembered, this was Anne. His friend. His best friend. Still, Sprig could only muster a nod.
"Good, because we gotta scram." Anne shot a wary glance over her shoulder. "Before that thing shows up again."
Sprig nodded again. This time, he found his voice. "Good idea. Herons usually wander in pairs."
"Hmm! Don't like that!"
Sprig trailed after Anne as they ran - and hopped - as fast as their legs could carry them through the forest. The scene he had just witnessed played again in his head, and again, and again, and again. Over and over, his sense of amazement climbing higher and higher each time. He stared at the back of his friend as she led the way. His best friend. His super, super strong, human best friend.
Humans are cool!
They emerged from the forest without further incident. They could see Hop Pop and Polly in the distance, still napping in peace, and Bessie still grazing nearby without a care in the world. They shared a look, shared a short laugh, before immediately collapsing to the soft grass.
"Anne, that was amazing!" Sprig shot up to a sitting position. He was still pumped too full of adrenaline to lie down for long.
Anne breathed out a sigh, craning her head to look at him. "That was pretty cool, huh?"
"Pretty cool? Pretty cool?" Sprig was baffled. Talk about understatement of the year. "Anne, that was legendary! That was like the stuff the old heroes get up to in bedtime stories and folk tales!"
Sprig rose to his feet. He's got way too much energy still. "You- You stopped the heron's beak with your bare hands! You punched it, twice! And then you chucked it into the sky like it was nothing!" He clutched his head in his hands. Even the memory of it was mind blowing. "How did you even manage to do that?!"
"I'm... not sure?" Anne raised her hands to her line of sight, her eyes narrowing on them. She turned them over a few times, as if a better answer would be hidden in her palms. "I guess birds have, like, hollow bones or something, right? That's why I was able to pull that off?"
"I have exactly zero knowledge on avian anatomy," Sprig replied. Stuff like that wasn't included back when he was learning about herons.
Anne closed her palms into fists, and let them both fall to her sides. She stared at the open sky, her eyes heavy with an emotion that Sprig couldn't quite place. "Yeah. Yeah, that must've been it."
Oh! And how could he have forgotten? "And that amazing battle cry at the end!" Sprig had never heard of one like it before. Must be a human one. He'd definitely use it the first chance he got. "It was so cool!"
For some reason, Anne snorted. "Uh. Yeah. Sure." She looked away, trying to hide a smile. "Battle cry."
"Oh man, wait til Hop Pop hears about this!" Sprig gasped in realization. "Wait until Polly hears about this!"
Anne propped herself up with her elbows halfway to a sitting position. "You sure about that? Telling him that we ran into a heron when he wasn't looking? I feel like that's the heart attack that'll definitely get him to, y'know, keel over."
Sprig deflated. That's a good point. "But what you did was so cool..."
"And it'll always be cool, and you can always go off about how cool it was." Anne smiled, looking very pleased with herself for a moment. "Just, maybe we should embellish some things before this gets to Hop Pop."
"Alright. Deal."
Sprig extended a hand, and they shook on it. With a grunt, Anne pushed herself to her feet. They cleaned themselves up the best they could before making the short walk back to their picnic spot. They should wrangle Bessie over and wake Hop Pop and Polly up now if they wanted to make it back to the farm before it gets dark out.
Wait! There was one more thing Sprig forgot to mention!
"Oh! And the glowing eyes are a nice touch."
It took a him a few seconds to realize that Anne had stopped walking a few paces behind him.
"The glowing what?"
If Anne dabs, then she absolutely would also yeet.
Hey, remember in the last chapter, I said that we've only got one more to go? Just kidding! There's actually another chapter after this. The ending of this one was too juicy to be left alone. Think of it as an epilogue, of sorts. Plus, it'll be a lot fun to see how Anne reacts to her powers this time around.
It'll be a while before that happens, though. I have a couple different projects I wanna work on first. Hope y'all won't mind.