There were times when Sprig wondered If his best friend Anne was actually made to live in Ampihiba.
"SPRIG RUN." shouted the tall girl terrified.
He thought this as they ran away from the Screeching mass of black feathers, he wondered this because there were at times when despite the screaming and terror she seemed to have been built to survive in this world.
"I'M RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN," Which was a lie, he was actually hopping.
Her legs, for example, were longer than a lot of which meant they could carry her further than others and her arms here longer so she could potentially grab things further off. Not as good as hopping but good enough.
"IT'S STILL AFTER US, WHY IS IT AFTER US," Screamed the Teenage in terror.
It was perfect for days like today when Sprig in an attempt to apologize to Maddie for the whole ending of their engagement promised to get her some Corpsus Maggots pheromones.
Corpus maggots were possibly the most disgusting creatures in Amphibia. They were Maggots in name only, they never turn into flies mostly because flies would then have some worth. They were large they were disgusting and quite frankly they were avoided by almost everything in Amphibia
Except for Murder crows
Murder crows were some of the most dangerous monsters in Amphibia, on one hand, they were scavengers on the other hand they weren't that picky. Their favorite food just so happened to be Corpus maggots. And it just so happened that Murder crows can smell the pheromones from five miles away. The end result was Anne and Sprig being chased by a murder of murder crows,
As they ran Sprig continued to wonder just how awesome Anne was. Oh she was screaming because being chased by murder crows was a horrifying experience, but she was still brave (Or stupid) enough to come with him, even when she smelt the things she still helped, after all she had caused and ended this engagement. He remembered how when they got up close to the thing, they played Rock Paper Scissors to see who would reach into the fold in the Maggots skin to gather some pheromones, He won so Anne stuck her hand in, he laughed a little at how grossed out she had been however when Anne pulled out the vial she had been using to scoop up the pheromones, a large gush of slime and pus came flowing out covering them both. it wasn't long after that the first Murder crows started chasing them.
That's when he saw it. The lake.
"Anne, The Lake"
"Sprig really? There might be more monsters in there?"
Sprig turned to her "Do you really think this would have been any worse than what's chasing us"
Anne turned back to look at the murder crows. They were large, Black as the night, the only other color was the reds of their crimson tongues, it was amazing how they could be as fast on the ground as they were on the air.
"Okay, Sure let's go with your plan" she muttered.
They reached the lake and jumped, Sprig dived in gracefully. Anne chose the classic Cannonball.
When they were underwater Sprig swam over to Anne, While she was a great swimmer the Amphibian was built for this. He motioned her to some reeds down the lake. She followed him and eventually he motioned upwards.
Surfacing slowly they saw that the Murder crows were circling the part of the lake they had dived into.
"The scent's been washed off, We'll swim further down and get out."
Anne nodded.
…
Five minutes later the two were out of the river and walking to the path to town, The water had washed off the pheromones and the slime, currently, the Pheromones they collected were in a watertight Vial They had gotten from Maddie
"Well, That was horrifying."
"Yeah. As scary as mud cannibals?"
"Eh I'd say scarier, but Honestly, the Mud Cannibals are pretty low on the list."
"What? The cannibals that live in the woods and they're half-naked. Their terrifying,"
"Compared to those Bullfrogs they're nothing."
Sprig thought about it for a second, "I mean I guess but they were nice."
Anne laughed "Sprig it doesn't matter how nice they were, they were going to eat us."
"True... But think about it, If you're going to be eaten what would you prefer, Being eaten in the cold wood, or being eaten while sleeping in a nice bed after being well-fed?"
Anne looked at him, "I'd prefer neither but I kind of see your point."
"Ha, I win."
"Yeah, Yeah, " Anne said laughing. "So what does Maddie need these for?"
"Some sort of ritual."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Though she did tell me that Corpus Maggot Pheromones could be used to perfume."
"Hello," said Anne instantly interested.
"You want perfume?"
"Uh Yes, I'm a girl, I mean not all girls love Perfume but I love it. "
"Really, What do you need it for?"
Anne looked at Sprig, "Well mostly to smell good."
"Oh, I mean it's not going to change... Well, you know."
"What?"
"The fact that you're ugly."
Anne gave Sprig a withering look.
"What do you mean I'm ugly?" She asked glaring at him.
"I mean your ugly, unattractive, hideous, You know Unbeautiful."
Anne scoffed "Oh really what's so ugly about me then?"
"You've got that bump thing on your face."
"You mean my nose, Yeah I can see that can be a problem for you, It reminds me how bad you smell. Maybe we should get some perfume for you."
Sprig feigned offense.
"Yeah, Well My smell is better than sleep farts."
Anne gasped "I do not fart in my sleep."
"Really so you have an orchestra in the basement with you then."
Anne laughed "Okay Ceasefire, We're both ugly."
"Eh, I think you're uglier... But I love you anyway."
"Ha, Nice save Sprig, I love you too."
The two eventually entered Wartwood.
Things were different now, The town no longer thought she was a monster, They saw her as Anne Boonchuy.
Spending time with them, Standing up for them. That changed how they saw her. She thought back to the time she tried being Anne Planter. When she had wanted to hide who she was because it was easy. The real way to winning over the town seemed simple now (Not easy, she still remembered how long it took for her arm to heal after fighting Bog.)
Two months ago she thought that maybe trying to be someone she wasn't. But now she realized that she was better off being herself.
She smiled Frogs started waving to her now, Ms. Croaker gave her a friendly nod, Stumpy called out for her, asking if she could do a shift tomorrow. Children no longer ran from her they came up to ask her if she could scare the monsters underneath their beds. (She always said she'd deal with them that night.)
Anne found herself fondly of Wartwood. She missed Earth and her home, but... this place was starting to feel just as good.
Eventually, they made their way to the Flour bakery, Anne turned to Sprig, "You want to see her, or do you want me to do it?"
"Eh, I'll stay here you go drop this off with Maddie."
Anne laughed "Still kind of terrified of her right?"
"Yeah, And I'm not afraid to admit it."
Anne nodded and entered the house. Leaving Sprig alone
Sprig stood there waiting, he was happy that Anne was now accepted in town, he had seen her go from town monster to town hero. He smiled at his best friend's success.
It still felt weird to admit that Anne was his best friend. His first friend period. There was Ivy but that was more of a crush now and then there was Maddie who he now considered a friend but well was extremely stalkerish, She seemed to have dialed back the creepy since then. (She herself admitted that maybe she went over the line when she showed him the wedding dress made out of spider silk.)
But Anne, Anne made him feel something he didn't feel before. Since she had saved his life in the forest, he knew that she was amazing, he had expected a monster but the more he talked to her he discovered she seemed normal. However, this was a weird type of normal. She liked spending time with him, she laughed at his jokes. She thought he was weird but never saw that as a negative. She didn't think his family was weird in fact she threw her lot in with them time and time again. The Plantars had come from the town embarrassment to decent members of the community. And it wasn't just because of Anne, It was because Anne inspired them to be greater. She had made him greater. Even if she put him in danger a lot of the time.
Sprig was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a voice.
"Ello Sprig, How's things."
Sprig turned to see One-eyed Wally walking up.
"Hi Wally Cool, just been chased by a murder of murder crows"
"Sounds fun, Anne around?"
"Yeah just dropping something off for Maddie."
"Nice, I'm glad I was wrong about you two."
Sprig looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?"
Wally looked at him with one eye "You remember a couple of months ago when I said your friendship was disgusting."
Sprig nodded "Oh Yeah."
"Yeah, Well I was wrong, her coming to this world was the best thing ever."
"It really is."
"Shame when she has to go back."
Sprig felt a little Awakard now, "Well Yeah, but She'll come back."
Wally laughed "What? you mean cross dimensions, Yeah that sounds possible I mean look at all of the humans crawling around the place."
Sprig thought about that for a second "Yeah, Well... Maybe Anne can be the first to come back."
"Wally laughed again "What really You think that we'll be able to go back and forth between dimensions, That's just... " Wally then noticed the look on Sprig's face. a somewhat panicked look.
"Oh, Sorry Sprig. I'm just a crazy person ignore what I think." Said Wally walking away. He was blunt but he really didn't mean to hurt the kid
Sprig stood there, Wally was an idiot he had no idea what he was talking about. But the more he thought about it...
Anne exited the shop "Okay that's one debt called off."
Sprig shook his head Anne was here now, get back to normal. "Was she unhappy that I didn't go and see her?" he asked.
"Eh, She was in the middle getting rid of the wedding dress. I think she was embarrassed to be doing it."
"Oh, So back to the farm."
"Yeah Pretty much, Did I miss anything while I was in there?"
"Oh no, nothing. Nothing at all." lied Sprig
…
They didn't the fact that they were being watched, a figure in a cloak watched as they departed from the bakery, It had been two months since the Beast had scared him off, and he was ready. He was going to make her suffer, All he needed was to get the frog alone, and then vengeance would be his.
"Excuse me, partner"
The Cloaked figure turned around to see an older frog wearing a sheriff badge and a brown hat. It was sheriff Buck Leatherleaf.
"I hate to be rude but we don't allow cloaked figures to stand around town.
"What judging me by how I dress, That's pretty disgusting."
"Sorry but it's town rules."
The cloaked figure sighed and walked off.
"Pretty prejudiced you know."
"Hey If it stops evil cults it works."
...
Sprig didn't sleep that night.
It hadn't left his mind the entire night. One day Anne might be gone. The best thing to happen in his life would be gone.
He sighed. the more he thought of it he kind of realized just how kind of empty his life had been. She had turned his life around for the better. she made him a hero. she had said that to him.
He was scared that something might change that. Hell, it didn't even need to be her going home. What happened if she met her friends? What happened if she met Sasha and Marcy again? She always talked about them positively, Would she have been better off with them instead of him? They wouldn't have gotten her chased by the murder crows. got her trapped in the archives. They would have probably had some human tricks to keep her safe.
Sprig tried to forget it. But the more he thought about it the more she started to worry. How would he cope without her?
That's when he thought of something. Something that was risky but might work.
He smiled. He would remind Anne Boonchuy of what would make this town perfect.
After that she'd never want to leave.