Escape Attempt

The sound of the door being unlocked woke Ethan from his sleep, and he sat up, wondering why his mom was waking him up on a Saturday and why his bed felt like hard floor.

"Momwhyareyoudoingthistome," he muttered, hearing her walk into the room, confused to hear footsteps on his carpet.

"Breakfast," a deep voice said. Definitely not his mom's. The teen's eyes opened with shock, and he hit his head on the wall behind him. Feeling a litte dazed, he sat up and yelped when he saw who had walked into the cell.

A green toad stood on the other side of the bars with a tray of food, a nervous look on his face. His armor was worn, as if he had seen a few battles, and he had a hammer [like Thor or something] hanging on his belt. Immediately realizing that his trip to Amphibia was not a dream, the human quickly stood up, backing as far away from the creature as he could.

"Saw you spilled your dinner," the toad said almost timidly, indicating to the still-overturned bowl on the ground. "You didn't like it?"

"I… I accidentally dropped it," Ethan said, hoping the toad wasn't anything like its leader. "Captain Grime-"

The soldier nodded understandingly. "Yeah, he's not someone you wanna mess with." He slid the tray through a horizontal slat in the bars, which was only big enough for the tray and its contents to fit through. "Kick the bowl to me; I don't wanna be eaten."

"I don't eat toads," the human said, taking the tray, which consisted of another bowl of bug stew and a cup of water. He kicked the bowl and spoon through the slat, and the toad quickly picked it up. "Do… toads eat humans?"

"Is that you are," the creature asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, we haven't seen one of your kind before, so I don't think so. We like bugs."

"I can see that," Ethan noted, picking a beetle out of his bowl. "What's your name?"

The soldier blinked in surprise. "You… wanna know my name?"

"Yeah. That's usually what you do when you meet someone new. My name's Ethan, if you don't wanna go first."

"Oh… My name's Percy." The toad awkwardly stood there for a few moments. "And I'm guardian' the door for now, so don't think you can try to escape," he warned the teen.

"Thanks for the tip," the teen said, sitting on the floor as he steeled himself to eat his breakfast. Percy grunted a little, turning and leaving the room.

After he left, Ethan regretted not asking if he could have his backpack back, but figured he should get something to eat; he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, so he quickly scarfed down the stew. It was just as bad as dinner, but he managed to choke it down, washing the taste out with the water.

After breakfast, he stood up, going over to the window to get a better view of where he was. Mountains were on other side of the landscape, creating a valley of sorts that seemed to go on for miles. Most of the land appeared to be swampy, probably to accommodate the amphibian creatures that lived here. There was a single sun in the sky, and it could have been the same sung he knew, but he was definitely not home right now.

A handful of mud hit him in the face, making him sputter and fall to the ground. A triumphant cry of "GOT 'IM!" came from the courtyard below, along with the sound of several toads laughing. The human wiped the muck off his face, angry, yet unable to do anything about it.

"Okay," he muttered to himself, looking around the room. "I need to figure out a way outta here; what do I have?"

Not much. The chain around his leg was tethered to the wall; it could be useful, but he would have to detach it first. He had an empty bowl, a spoon, a cup and a tray. He had the St. James Middle School Shirt he was still wearing, jeans, tennis shoes, and wristwatch. Not much, but surely he could think of something. He needed to get out, find a way home and -

He froze, realizing that if he was here, Anne, Marcy and maybe Sasha were also here. They were probably trapped somewhere else, alone and not knowing where to go. And while he hated Sasha, and had disliked Anne since his birthday four months ago, he could not just leave them here. So he needed to figure out what to do, and fast; he needed to escape, find out where he was in this world, and start searching for a way home with his fellow classmates.

"If I can get one of these bricks, I can maybe use it to break the chain and the lock on the door," the young teen muttered, walking over to the wall, looking for one that looked loose. None of them did, but he found one that looked slightly askew. Taking the spoon, he started picking at the rock, trying to dislodge it. It reminded him of those old movies of people breaking out of prison with utensils, and he hoped that he could do the same.

It took over an hour, but he finally managed to dislodge the brick, tired but pleased with his efforts. He knelt down by the wall, ready to use it to dislodge the chain when he froze, realizing something. It would take a lot of force to break through the metal chain, and him hammering it would make noise. Percy or some other toad would hear, come in to investigate, and he would be back to square one, or possibly moved to a more secure cell. He could not risk that, and tried to figure out when he could use the brick to escape.

Ethan got his answer two hours later, when he heard loud yelling coming from the courtyard below. Looking through the window, he saw that a majority of the toads were having some sort of competition, pairs of them facing off while others cheered from the side. The clang of metal soon filled the air, followed by yells and jeers from the audience.

Perfect, he thought, taking the stone and immediately trying to break the chain at the point it reached the wall. The noise of the toads fighting and cheering were enough to mask the sound of brick hitting metal. Giving the cheers, he maybe had half an hour, since the sun's position in the sky it was close to lunchtime, but he had to pause every now and then when the crowd went silent as a wounded toad was taken away.

"Yes," the young teen whispered, watching the chain break away from the wall. He quickly gathered it up, measuring it to see that it was about five feet long. It was still attached to his ankle, but if he swung the other end around or wrapped it a toad's neck, he could use it as a weapon. Since the crowd was still occupied, he started on the cell door, managing to get ten minutes into breaking it before the toads went in for lunch. No matter; if they did this again tomorrow, he could break out later that night.

He took out his phone, which was something that the toads had neglected to take from him. Despite there being no service, he pulled up his photo album, opening a photo of him and his family. His mom, older sister, and grandma smiled back at him.

"Don't worry," he muttered. "I'm coming home."

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The next night, well after midnight, Ethan slowly opened the door to his cell, the chain coiled in his hand. Sneaking across the room, he looked out the small window of the door, seeing another toad, not Percy, snoring as he stood by the door. Smirking, he opened the door, to the room creeping past the sleeping guard and down the hallway.

No one had noticed the missing brick or the disconnected chain; Ethan had sat right in front of where they had been, pretending that he could not move. Percy and the other toads that brought him food were not suspicious of anything, and took his old dishes after giving him the new ones. The teen was fortunate that the toad Grime had not showed up, because he seemed sharp enough to tell if something was wrong.

He vaguely recalled being dragged through the tower, and tried to remember where to go. He was not leaving without his backpack, and tried to figured out where it could be. If they had not destroyed it, it might be in a storage room, so he crept down the hallways, hiding form passing guards and looking in the occasional rooms. Some held sleeping toads snoring in their bunks, and he quickly left those, finally finding some kind of armory on the ground floor of the tower. Walls of swords, hammers, bows, and just about every kind of medieval weapon greeting him, along with racks of armor and helmets.

"Cool," Ethan muttered, looking around the room for some sign of his backpack. He could not find it, and started to wonder if it had been destroyed or thrown out. If that was the case, then he needed to get as far from here before someone noticed.

His eye was caught by an ax hanging nearby, blade gleaming in the torchlight. It could be useful if he needed to chop wood or defend himself, so he took it; plus, he could use it to get the extra length of chain off his ankle. Nearby, he saw a few shields and breastplates, and he found one of each that suited him. He also took a dagger, tying a belt with a sheath around his waist. Feeling like one of those fantasy roll players, he started towards the exit when the sound of two toads approaching made him hide behind the door.

"Frogs are continuing to rebel, Sir," one toad was saying. "They attack our carts, refuse to pay taxes, question our authority-"

"Continue to patrol as you're told," the familiar voice of Captain Grime ordered, the two toads passing the armory. Ethan looked through a crack in the door, seeing the leader of the toads talking to the soldier, a familiar backpack in his hand. "Though I wonder what kind of idiots can't control a bunch of simple farm frogs?"

"What a jerk," the teen muttered to himself. How was he supposed to get the backpack back [because now that he knew it was fine, he wanted his stuff] if the most feared and skilled toad had it? He didn't want any of these creatures touching his books, but having the toad who had threatened to cut out his tongue have it seemed to rub salt on the wound.

"Take this to my command room," the teen heard Grime order the soldier, watching the bag exchange hands through the crack in the door. "I'm going to bed, and I swear that if you wake me up with another false alarm, I will string you up by your ankles in the Pain Room! Am I making myself clear?"

"Y-Y-Yes s-sir," the soldier stammered, clearly scared of his superior. Frowning at him, the captain turned and headed for the stairs, the soldier giving a sigh of relief and running down the hallway. The human quickly yet quietly followed him, ax in one hand and shield in the other. Keeping a safe distance, ducking into shadows when necessary, he saw the toad walk into a room, coming back out less than a minute later without the bag. Once he was gone, the teen crept over to the door, opened it, and stepped into the room.

It looked like a war counsel room; a round table in the middle was covered with various maps and messages, and there was a crack in the stone from where someone had slammed a fist in anger on it. A large map hung on the wall, showing an island shaped like a lily pad. A black 'X' marked where they were, and Ethan took a picture of it with his phone, figuring it could be useful as he travelled. One wall had a shelf of various books and scrolls, which he figured were records of some kind.

"There you are," he muttered, spotting his backpack by a wooden desk that was off to the side. He ran over to it, setting his weapon and shield on the table so he could inspect the bag. Everything appeared to be there, including his homework, and nothing was damaged. His copy of Dune was intact, if a little muddy, and he quickly slung the backpack over his shoulder, accidentally knocking his shield off the table in his haste.

The metal and wooden shield clattered on the ground, the sound seeming louder in the echo-y room. Ethan froze, eyes wide with panic as he stared at the door, waiting for a toad soldier to come in to investigate. His heart was thumping in his chest, and a few beads of sweat ran down his forehead as the seconds turned into minutes. Eventually, he relaxed; if anyone had heard him, they would have surely come to investigate by now. Still, he carefully picked up the shield, heading back for the door. However, it opened right as he reached it, and he found himself face-to-face with Captain Grime.

The toad and human stared at one another with shock for a few seconds, frozen in their tracks. However, right as the toad opened his mouth to yell, the teen kicked him in the chest, sending him falling back and into the wall opposite the door. Not wanting to stick around, Ethan ran down the hall, only pausing to quickly chop the excess chain off of his leg.

"PRISONER ESCAPING," Grime yelled, climbing to his feet with his face full of rage. "PRISONER ESCAPING! GET YOUR USELESS BUTTS OUT OF BED AND STOP HIM!"

The teen ran through the tower, the captain's yells echoing through the building. He heard doors slamming open, metal clanging, and toads yelling to one another. A toad soldier appeared in front of him, yelling and swinging his sword, and the human brought up the shield, blocking it. He swung the ax at the creature, who took several steps back, and then the human ran forward, using the shield to knock the toad back. He encountered a few more soldiers along the way, but the majority seemed to be behind him, not in view but getting closer.

Finally, Ethan burst out of the tower, racing across the empty courtyard. An arrow lodged itself in the ground by his foot, and he froze, looking up to see several toad archers aiming at him. Ducking instinctively and holding up the shield, he ran for the main gate, feeling a few arrows bounce off the wood.

"Close the gate," someone yelled, and the human looked ahead to see the wooden gate start to close. He had enough time tor each it, though, and only sped up, racing to make it in time.

Suddenly, an arrow grazed his shoulder, making him yell and cutting the strap of his backpack, which fell off and landed behind him. He stopped, looking at the bag, then back at the rapidly closing door. Making a decision, he ran back to grab the backpack, then raced back for the gate, hoping that days of track and field would serve him well.

The door closed before he could reach it, and without missing a beat, he jumped into the air, grabbing at a horizontal beam that was nailed to the door. He pulled himself up, trying to climb over the gate so he could escape. By now, a bunch of toad soldiers were in the courtyard, yelling and racing after him. Ethan was getting close to the top, and he knew once he was over the gate, he was home free.

Something hit him in the back of the leg by the shin, sending fiery pain racing up his leg and spine. His hand slipped, and he fell off the gate, landing on the ground some eight feet below. The pain in his leg was blinding, and he looked down to see a dagger sticking out of his calf. The hilt looked familiar, and he turned to find its owner pointing a sword at his neck.

"I have to say, I have never had anyone break out as quickly as you," Captain Grime said, grinning evilly. "You must be smarter than I thought." He frowned at him. "I hope that pack of yours was worth dying for."

Fear raced through Ethan, and he rolled backwards, kicking up at the sword and knocking it out of the toad's hand. The teen landed on his feet, crying out at the pain in his leg, and drew his dagger, holding it out in front of him to keep the toad back. Behind Grime, the various toad soldiers were lined up, weapons ready, but none attacking. Instead of being intimidated, however, the captain laughed, straightening up.

"Fancy moves," he said, pulling his cloak off with one hand, freeing up his arms. "But you're outnumbered. Surrender, and I might have mercy on you."

"To go back to a cell for the rest of my life," Ethan retorted, his back against the wooden gate. "You have no right to keep me here! I'm not a criminal, and I'm not a spy!"

"Then where are you in such a hurry to get to," the toad accused.

"HOME! I want to go home, where toads can't talk or use weapons and spiders aren't the size of horses!"

"What's a horse," one of the soldiers whispered to her friend.

"You'll die before you even leave the Valley," Grime told him. "There are a lot of creatures that would love to see what you taste like! And even if you survived, where would you go? How would you get home?"

The human swallowed, trying to stay on his feet and not show how scared he was. If talking toads and giant spiders existed, he could only imagine what other monsters this world had. And he had no food with him, meaning he would have to figure out what was safe and not safe to eat. And, if he managed to survive, how would he get home; he wasn't even sure if this Amphibia was on Earth or in a whole other galaxy. It made him hesitate, which was exactly what the toad wanted.

Captain Grime ran forward, grabbing his sword and running forward with a war cry. Ethan tried to sidestep, forgetting his injured leg, and fell to his side, raising his dagger to block the strike. He managed to do so, the sword blade stopping inches from his face. Screaming [partly from fear and the other from pain], he kicked at the toad, but the toad was quicker this time, stepping back and shooting out his tongue, grabbing the fallen backpack.

"Torch," he yelled, and caught the torch a soldier tossed him, holding the flame underneath the backpack. The human froze, staring at the flame that was dangerously close to his most prized possessions.

"You fight decent enough," the toad said, grinning evilly at him. "Despite having a knife in your leg. Now put down your weapons or else. This stuff is junk, but it obviously means a lot to you if you were willing to twice go back for it." He glared at him. "Drop them!"

Ethan stared at the torch, hoping that it wouldn't touch his backpack. He did not care if the backpack was gone, but everything else in the bag was special to him. And right now, since he would probably be captured again, they were all he had left of home, and loosing them would be devastating. So, knowing he had little choice, he dropped the dagger, shield and ax he had stolen, pushing them out of reach as a few soldiers ran forward to pick them up.

"Good creature," Grime said mockingly, lighting his backpack on fire.

The teen watched the fire blaze, racing up the material to destroy everything it touched. He yelled something incoherent, and without thinking, he pulled the Captain's knife from the back of his leg, ignoring the spurt of blood and crippling pain as he jumped forward. He tackled the toad to the ground, making him drop the torch and burning bag. He saw the surprise and fear in the creature's mismatched eyes, and raised the knife to kill him.

And it was then that something heavy hit him on the side of the head, and he knew no more.

Yeah, a lot of action in that chapter. I wanted to show a bit of Ethan's intelligence and resourcefulness, and preview a bit of his athletic/gymnastic abilities. Also, some drama between him and Captain Grime was interesting to write about; what's gonna happen when Ethan comes to?

Follow/favorite if you haven't already, and feel free to leave a review! Have a great day!

-aggiefrogger