Episode 2 – Best Fronds Ever
"ROAR!" snarled the huge Black Toad, waving the fist as his evil henchmen lunged forward.
"Brisingha!" shouted Sasha moving between them, her fiery red chain mail and armor protecting her from enemy blows, her flaming sword opening a gap in the enemy's flank "Atreides! Morgana!"
"Back off!" snarled Anne in turn, clad in bronze-colored armor, rushing to her friend's side by striking the enemies with a mace "We will not allow you to harm the innocent!"
"Ah!" growled the Black Toad in a mocking tone "You can do nothing to stop me! I am the Black Toad, the devourer of innocents. Many villages are waiting to be devoured!"
A violent blow and a violent clash of the Black Toad's jaw heralded Jacob's arrival. He too was in armor, light blue in color, and wielding a heavy combat war-hammer.
"They'll do without it," he said, with a grin.
"Nyayo!" another female voice, and quick flicks of the blade broke the offensive rush of the henchmen "On my honor and on my sword, you shall not pass!" It was Amelia, in yellow samurai dress, her obsidian katana firmly in her hands.
"Pyrum Combacta Eclatus!" resounded the majestic voice of James (dressed in wizard's garb), and a new bolt of fire struck the henchmen, crushing their last hopes. Struck in the face by Sasha and Anne, overwhelmed by Jacob, disoriented and demoralized by Amelia's actions and James's magic, in no time their morale collapsed and they made a haphazard escape, abandoning all purpose of conquest. The Black Toad, seeing the retreat of his people, also attempted to flee.
But he did not go far.
"You!" growled the Black Toad, seeing the black-haired girl blocking his escape, "Who in the name of the frog are you?"
"I am Marcythe Ranger!" she said before hitting him with a violent kick, causing him to lose his balance "And we, are the Fellowship of Amphibia!" and she unleashed a violent stab at the toad's snout, causing him to spit out several teeth.
"Bravo Mar-Mar!" said Sasha running to his side as soon as the confrontation was over.
"Excellent as always, O leader!" Amelia bowed her head.
"Long live the Company of Amphibia!" thundered Jacob "Long live Marcy the Ranger, our esteemed leader."
The other humans surrounded Marcy and lifted her with their arms, while the frogs of the village they had protected began to cheer her on.
"MARCY! MARCY! MARCY!"
"Marcy!" Sasha yelled once more "Time to wake up!"
Marcy quickly awakened from her beautiful fantasy-clad dream, and came to see Anne and Sasha's faces just over hers.
"Aww... sorry girl. I was having the best dream of my life: we were in a world of talking frogs and…"
"Uh, Mar-Mar?" came Jacob's voice.
Marcy sat down and she saw Jacob and James sitting on their own mattress…as well as Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly looking at them.
Instantly, Marcy's face twisted into a huge grin "Oh, my! It wasn't a dream?!" she said in a happy tope, her hands moving to her cheeks.
"Nope" Sasha coldly replied. She too believed it was all a dream when she woke up, but the truth was around them.
"Hello, Anne Marcy and Sasha." Sprig saluted them "Sleep well?"
"V-"
"Careful, boy!" Hop Pop exclaimed while blocking his grandson with his arm and looking warily at the human girls "They can still be hungry!"
"For your guts!" Polly added, jumping forward, holding a rolling pin.
"Seriously, guys?" James glared at them "You still think we would have any interest into eating something like you?"
"Yeah" Sasha quickly joined him "Have we not given you enough reasons to have confidence in us? Including the fact that we could never eat you?"
"Oh yeah?" Hop Pop said, "Prove it!"
"Point One" Sasha continued, unamused "For starters, no human from where we came from would eat a frog" she said, carefully forgetting to mention about French … or foreign cuisine lovers.
"Point Two" this one was Marcy "You are actually hosting us while we are trapped in here; eating the ones who give you food and shelter would be…EXTERMELY rude, don't you think?"
"Plus, Point Three" Anne raised her hands "We are absolutely NOT going to eat something that clearly doesn't even bathe."
THAT was an understandment, as clearly Hop Pop was not very clean: dirt and whatever frogs used to sweat covering both his skins and clothes, an unpleasant smell generating from him, and several flies flying all over him.
"Fair point" he admitted.
"See? I told you: they are harmless."
"Hmph. For now."
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Jacob protested.
"Don't pretend to not remember" Hop Pop scolded him "I was there when you fought Toadstool's mob." he looked over Sasha, Jacob and Marcy "You may look harmless now, but I remember you kicking our town-fellow asses. I was in there too."
"We were trying to save our friend, and we thought YOU were attacking US."
"Still, until I'll be sure I can trust you, I'll keep you under my watch." he said, moving upside.
"And I will too!" Polly jumped back down, glaring at them "Just give me an excuse to use old Doris here." she said, before going too.
"Ok, so now I am certain that the little one wants to kill us." Sasha said.
"Who, Polly?" Sprig replied, "She's harmless. Unless you her wake up, or take her desert, or rip her bow, or..."
"You want to join our guard watch, Sash?" Jacob looked at her "I and James did a little bit too: It may be frustrating, but sure as heck it guarantees we can sleep safe."
"What's going on with Amelia?" Marcy asked, pointing at her. She was still laying on her mattress, sleeping.
"She insisted to stay awake for as much as she could" Jacob replied "I'm going to let her sleep for a few minutes still, before waking her up."
"Just saying, give her time: she'll warm up to you, eventually. Soooo," Sprig now turned to Anne "you all must be quite excited to be trapped in another world. Very jealous. Oh?!"
"I know, this is AMAZING!" Marcy squeed excitedly, "So many new creatures; whole new path of natural selection and evolution to analyze and witness; different sentient species, each of them with their own culture, physical characteristics and society! This world is a wonder: I wish I'd have the chance to explore it far and wide!" Marcy opened her sketchbook and showed Sprig her notes "It's barely a week that we are here, and I was able to see soo much!"
"Wow, you surely look like a very curious one…"
"That's Marcy for you" Anne smiled. Only Marcy could be so much excited about being trapped in another world.
She looked aside, and sighed.
"Anne, everything ok?" Sprig said, noticing her momentary sadness.
"Yes, kind off" she replied "Don't misunderstand me: I'm glad that we are all together, and not dispersed who knows where. However, I still miss my home, my parents… and the life I have on Earth."
"I mostly miss my bathroom, as well the chance of a proper manicure" Sasha intervened "this place is cold, dirty, slimy and infested by giant bugs!"
"Well, yes" Sprig admitted "That is something very difficult to adapt to, unless you aren't born into it… however, that does not mean this place is so bad. We can do something together, something you like! usually, what do you do in your world to have fun?"
"It depends on who you ask" Jacob replied "I used to listen to music at very-high volume and play games with online friends, but as far I can see, in this world such things are quite far from being invented yet."
"I did not understand anything of what you nominated, but I guess that does proves your point" Sprig admitted "What about you, girls? What did you do together?"
"Oh, we did a lot of things together" Sasha smiled, remembering the happy times they had "Marathon-dumb on TV shows in the evening, drink boba till we vomited, hung out at the beach in our swimwear…"
"Hey!" Sprig exclaimed as he was suddenly galvanized "There is a lake nearby. Would going there with me make you feel less homesick?"
Sasha, Marcy and Anne exchanged glances "You think so?"
"Yes, it will be great!"
"Well, I do like your moxie, frog boy; and, I could use a nice wash" Sasha thought about it "Still better than stinking."
"And I really want to see with my own eyes what this lake looks like!" Marcy jerked up, enthusiastically as ever "I do wonder what kind of aquatic vegetation grows in there…"
"Then, let's break out the swimsuits, girls!" Anne smiled again "Jacob, James, can you…?"
"No need for that" James said, moving to the staircase "For me I plan to stick myself with local books; as long as I can read them, I'm fine."
"And I'll think I pass for this time" Jacob said "I have to wait until Amelia wakes up, and I do not feel like doing a bath right now. Moreover, I did not have my swim trunks with me now."
"Still" Sasha glared at him "Turn your head around, and do not move it unless we say we are done. You too, frog boy!"
"Huh, what is that supposed to mean?" Sprig asked him.
"Sorry, little one" Jacob laughed "But from where we can from, females do not like to…show off more skin than necessary."
"I heard that!" Sasha reprimanded.
Jacob giggles, but he still looked away (and make sure Sprig did not look out of curiosity) while the three girls changed behind of him.
"Here we go!" Marcy said, as the three girls exited, ready for the lake. All three of them were wearing identical swimming trunks, black swimwear with colored stripes (light blue for Anne, pink for Sasha and deep green for Marcy) and had flip-flops on their feet. Marcy even had water googles "Ready to roll!"
"Can you satisfy my curiosity before you go?" Jacob asked curiously, "Where did you pull swimsuits, flip-flops and beach towels from?"
"We already had them with us when we... ended up here."
"Do you guys take your swimsuits with you all the time?
"Opportunity must always be seized," Sasha replied, "So froggy, are you ready?"
"I was born ready. And you?"
"Yeah-ah! Let's go to the beach!" Marcy exulted again.
"Jacob, are you sure you don't want to come?" asked Anne turning toward him.
"Nah, I already told you I don't want to and I can't. Besides," she turned a glance toward Amelia, who was stretching and opening her eyes, "it looks like our sleeping beauty has woken up."
"Sasha, Anne...it was all a dream, wasn't it?"
"Nope, Amelia," replied Sasha promptly, "Yes, we really are in a world populated by talking frogs."
"Damn."
"Hey, hey, hey! Beach here we come!"
"And where do you two think you're going?" Hop Pop yelled, suddenly putting himself between the girls and the door.
"We're going to the lake. Ooh. Ow!"
"Wanna join us, HP?" Sasha said, smirking.
"First, don't call me HP!" he replied "And second: absolutely not! Look, girls, I do not want to do something I'm not proud of, but you all are not exactly the kind of frogs who can just walk outside whenever they want: you're some new, unsettling, strange, bizarre, gangly, horrifying-"
"Get to the point, please." Sasha grimaced.
"Point is, the frogs in this town can be pretty small-minded." he said, looking outside. While the townsfolk were still quite friendly with him and the children, there were still some frogs who kept looking at their farm from afar, knowing about the strange creatures who lived inside now "And paranoid. We just need to give 'em time to get used to ya. I think it's best you stay put."
"Stay put?" Mercy asked.
"That means: you stay inside, at least for now."
"Wha-" Sasha almost yelled "You can't do this! We are not prisoners!"
"No, but for the wellbeing of everyone, it is better than you stay inside until I say so."
"You can't stay in front of the door forever" Sasha smirked.
Hop Pop returned the smile "True, I can't. But…I can do this." he replies, locking the door.
"But-" Anne started to protest.
"No buts." he repeated, slipping the key into his pocket "Now I'm going to go into my study to get a little reading done. And before you try to look out, I can tell you that is the only key for that door."
"Uh, Hop Pop."
"Don't do anything stupid!" he said, before closing the door to his study.
"Ugh! Adults…"
"No matter what universe you are, they are all the same! Curfews; rules; old!"
"Come on, girls" Marcy tried to cheer her friends up "I'm quite sure we can find something fun to do even if we have to stay inside!"
"Yeah, what do you think about try some of Hop Pop's pain peppers? It is so hot, they'll make you wish you were dead!"
"For real?" Sasha teased him, as the young frog grabbed a barrel and opened it, revealing various peppers in a strange, stingy red liquid.
"Let us see…" Sprig took one of the peppers, and touched it with his long tongue.
Bad move.
"Aaah! Aaagh!" he screamed, running to the faucet and pouring water on his mouth "Someone just kill me, please!" he run around, before dropping on the floor, apparently dead… and getting back on his feet a few seconds later "Now you?"
Sasha laughed "Come on, froggy: I tasted spicy food from the best outlet of Los Angeles" she moved to the barrel and took another pepper "How bad it can be?" she bit it.
For almost a second, nothing happened, then, both Anne and Marcy saw her eyes widening, smoke pouring out of her ears, screaming as a column of fire erupted from her mouth.
"WATER! WATER!"
Anne rushed to help while Marcy and Sprig grabbed more water and poured it on her troath.
"It did nothing: more, more!"
The girls rushed to help her, and yet, it took quite some time before Sasha managed to get back on her feet and spoke.
"What the heck did Hop Pop put in these peppers? Pure napalm?"
"What is napalm?" Sprig asked
"Huh…something from our world. Don't bother to ask." Anne intervened "Still, to do this to a girl who managed to tame all the spicy food she faced in our home, these must be some peppers."
"Wanna try too?"
"Thank you but no; I prefer to keep my tongue intact"
"Hey, you beautiful girls" the trio turned to see Jacob and Amelia arriving in the room. Both of them looked dressed ready for a long walk, and Amelia had a large backpack on her shoulders "Have fun at the lake!"
"Thank you but I'm afraid we won't be able to go."
"What?" asked Jacob with shock "Why? You were so determined just now."
"Hop Pop has decided that because he thinks we are weird and scary, we must all stay locked in the house until further notice."
"That doesn't apply to us, does it?"
"Yes, unfortunately: he also locked the door."
"Hey, he can't do that!" Jacob said shaking his fist, "Amelia and I have to go out."
"Didn't you say you didn't feel like going to the lake?"
"Indeed: but Amelia and I discussed and...We thought that, maybe, it would be a good idea to get a small food supply, of things we can eat without any problems. We wanted to go back to the woods, where there are those strange but edible plants and fruits, and collect as many as we could, just in case something should happen…"
"A constant food supply in reserve is never a wasted idea," Amelia added, in an Eastern warrior tone.
"It wasn't such a bad idea," Marcy intervened, thinking about it, "Unfortunately, Hop Pop took the key away, and there are no others."
"Is that true?" asked Jacob, looking at Sprig.
"Affirmative," he replied, "It's to make sure no one can open the door...without his knowledge."
Jacob smiled "Until now."
"What do you mean?"
Nevertheless, Jacob did not answer, walked over to the door, and knelt in front of it, looking through the keyhole. Then, he took a small piece of metal, and began to feel the inside of it
"Yes!" he said with a grin, "It's not a complicated lock: I think I can open it without too much trouble."
"Open it?" asked Anne in amazement "Say, where did you learn to pick locks?"
"More out of necessity than usefulness: I mean, it's easier to open the door on your own than having to steal the key from your folks every time."
"Jacob!" Amelia said angrily, "That's how you got out every time: your mom thought you had a copy of the hidden key!"
"Why, when you can learn to open every lock with your own hands?"
"Just a moment! But Hop Pop said..."
"Sprig" Sasha looked at him "You wanna know the best thing about friendship?"
"When you got your friends by your side, anything is possible." Marcy continued
"Whatever you want, a real friend will help you get." Anne concluded it "And you know what we want right now?"
"The lake!"
"Yup; now, Jacob, open that door."
"Just one moment" he said, "Before I start, maybe someone should check Hop Pop will not come back and catch us in the act…"
Sasha nodded, so she and Marcy quickly moved to the door leading to Hop Pop's study, and looked inside. At first, nothing looked out of the ordinary; but then, they realized that he was snoring…while till sitting, the book on his hands, his eyes wide open.
"What the-"
"Uh, everything ok?" Amelia asked.
"He…he is sleeping! He is sleeping with his eyes open!"
"What?" Anne asked, moving to see it herself "Ok, This might be the creepiest thing I've ever seen."
"Seconded."
"Nah, it happens all the time." Sprig replied, "He makes a great scarecrow."
Sasha quietly nodded, before closing the door "Ok, Jacob, do your thing!"
He smiled, quickly picking on the lock. A few pressure here and here, a little movement there, and the door opened, just as they had used the key.
"Freedom!" Sprig jumped.
"Jacob, by the way, I usually would not approve any of this, but considering that we it made our choice easier and considering where we are, I'll let it slide…for now."
"So, you're going in the forest for a walk and gather fruits, root and mushrooms?"
"Yup. You stick with the lake?"
"Yes."
"Remember that we should not risk Hop Pop waking up and finding all of us gone." Marcy said "Thus, we should we all be back for then: Sprig, usually how long does Hop Pop sleeps?"
"It depends" he replied "For at least three hours from now, we should be safe."
"Then, let's us meet back here in three hours" Sasha said, resuming her leader-role "Be sure to not waste time on the road."
"Here" Marcy passed her notebook to Amelia "There I annotate the position of all the food sources we found so far, as well how to recognize them: be careful to not pick something poisonous."
"We won't" Jacob replied, before turning and starting to walk toward the forest "Have a nice bath, girlies!"
"Zattenayo!" Amelia said, following him "Forward, my Samsara!"
"Samsara is not even the name of a person, you dimwit!"
The walk to the lake was considerable longer than the girls had hoped, but for the first time since they had arrived here, it did not matter: Marcy was too busy ogling to the wild vegetation and smaller creatures around them, a part of her still wishing she had her notebook to do some sketch and descriptions of them; Sasha enjoyed the luxury of being able to move in the open without having to worry about a large carnivorous bug appearing and starting to chase them; and Anne, she simply breathed the fresh air and enjoyed the moment.
"This is great" she said, taking another breath "Three long-time girl friends and our new local friend, beatin' the odds to have some fun together."
"Surely, the nature around here is amazing!" Marcy squeed "I wish I could have a camera to take images of them without my scrapbook… wait, I have my phone!" she gleamed again, taking off her phone and starting to snap photos around.
"Huh, what the heck is that thing?" Sprig asked with wonder, looking at Marcy doing photos.
"That is a camera" Sasha smiled, grabbing her own phone by response "Which does remind me…SELFIE TIME! Smile!"
Sasha and Anne smiled, Marcy photo-bombed from behind and Sprig, taken by surprise, barely had the time to smile before a powerful artificial light temporarily blinded him.
"How did it come? Let me see, let me see!" said Marcy excitedly.
Sasha opened the picture, and saw that it came out well in spite of everything "Very well, I would say."
"Hey, that turned out great!" announced Anne.
"Our first selfie photo together on Amphibia. Woo-hoo!" intervened Marcy.
"I don't know what's crazier" Spri looked at the photo, amazed that such thing could be done "that you three just stole my soul in a tiny box … or that we look so incredible!"
"We didn't stole your soul" Anne corrected him "The camera in the phone allow us to make photos of whatever we want."
"Photos?"
"Imagine a way to create an image of something visible, and that allows you to see that exact scene whenever you want…"
"Huh?"
"Is like doing a painting" Marcy rushed to help Anne "But instead of taking several days, it is done in a few seconds."
"Wow! Do such things exist in your world?"
"Yep; every phone has one, and everyone has their own phone" Sasha grinned.
"I would have never imagined something like this would exist, let alone be such common" Sprig admitted "I gotta say, this friend business is amazing!"
"Why?" Anne looked at him "Didn't you have friends before we even showed up here?"
"Well…"
Two young frogs were playing some small game among them.
"Your turn."
"Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys!" Sprig announced, jumping out of the bushes "Check this out!"
"Aaah!" the two screamed in fear as Sprig pulled out the dried bones of some larger, carnivorous creature.
"Aaah! Help! It's eating me alive!"
"Aaah!"
"Ha-ha! I'm just kidding, guys."
Beat.
"Aaah!"
"Aaah!"
"Let's just say that kids around here … don't really get me."
"Well, hey, they are missin' out." Anne reassured him, giving him a friendly nudge "Come on, let's go!"
"Just to ask" Sprig looked at Sasha "are friendship always this physicals?"
"Yup" Sasha replied "That was a nudge: basically, is a friendly slap you can use only with friends, to encourage them or try to keep them thinking positive. Or to shut them off should they may risk reveal something embarrassing about you."
"Consider it something you can do ONLY with friends." Anne added.
"Well, that does sound …hey, we have arrived; it's just over these bushes!"
The girls followed Sprig, and came out to see an amazing view that left them awestruck: quiet, glistering water so clear that you could see to the bottom; green trees that surrounded its beach; gigantic water lilies (almost as big as trees), with flowers of various shapes and of the most amazing chromes.
"We made it."
"Wow: it's…it's so beautiful!" Anne said, her mouth agape.
"Look at this place!" Marcy smiled as her eyes filled with sparkles.
"Ok Amphibia, one point in your favor." Sasha murmured, looking above as she smirked, before turning to her friends "Now, you ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Whoo-hoo!"
"Everyone in the water!"
However, their enthusiasm was cut short as the girls came face-to-face with a large sign, with a short but concise message "DON'T SWIM"
"Huh, this was not here last week…" Sprig started to apologize.
"I wonder why they put this sign here," Marcy asked. From the way the last letter was wrote, it looked like whoever did this was in a hurry, or was carried away BEFORE finishing the work.
"Isn't that clear?" Sasha replied to her, a gaze of hostility in her glare "Some jerk just wants to take this beautiful lake all to themselves, without sharing it with others!"
"Well, forget that!" Anne added with emphasis, doing another step forward.
"What?" Sprig asked dumbfolded.
"Come on, look at it: what could even be wrong into swimming here? The water's too clean to be polluted, and since so far I saw Amphibia still has a lot of time before experiencing any Industrial revolution, is clear that something stink!"
"How can it stink if you just noted how clear it is?"
"Sprig!" Sasha turned at him "What Anne is trying to say, is that we can go without worry."
"Wait!" he panicked "I don't know, girls: whoever wrote this, wrote it in a hurry, like they were scared to be here."
"More probably, they just had bad handwriting. Come on. Don't be a buzzkill!"
The girls moved, only for Sprig to jump ahead of them and try to push them away from the water.
"Girls, stop!" he said, a noticeable worry in his voice "Something's not right here. I feel like…there is a good reason why the beach is closed. Let's just go back."
"Ugh, get off frog boy" Sasha pulled him aside, but then he used his long, long tongue to grab her arm "Hey, what are you doing?!"
"I can't …let you…do that."
"Sprig, why are you acting like that?" Anne rushed between them, with Marcy on her side "I thought you were trying to be our friend."
"I am" he replied, unsure why she was saying that.
"But you're not behaving like one."
As that sentence made a critical hit, Sprig's tongue let off go Sasha's hand, and the blod rudden on it, while Anne and Marcy went on between her and Sprig.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Sprig" Anne continued, "this is what friends do for each other. Remember? They help each other get the things they want."
"She's right" Marcy nodded "If a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them; if they want to see a show you already have the ticket for, you help them join."
"Huh…"
"If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. If they're sad because you have a new hat, you share it with her."
Sasha said nothing, simply looked amused as Anne and Marcy explained what friendship was. Sure, from an outside point of view, their words might have looked a little spoiled, even bratty, but for herself, she was quite proud about her friends explaining to the newcomer what a real friendship stood for.
"And if a friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store…"
Suddenly, both Sasha and Marcy grasped as Anne was pushed by her own words, and signaled her to stop; but it was too late.
"…YOU DO IT, even if you don't really want to, okay? Because if you do not, they might not want to be your friend anymore!"
For a few seconds, no one said anything, and the three humans girls quickly exchanged a glance: Anne, who had realized she may had just said a thrift too much for their own liking, expected them to reprimand her, or to get angry, but Sasha simply said nothing, with an unintelligible expression, and Marcy looked aside, not to face them.
That is, until Sprig sighed
"Fine" he simply said, before running afar.
"Fine" Anne repeat, clearly hurt.
"Sorry for that, Anna-Banana"
"Little guy surely…"
"WHOO-HOO!" came Sprig's yell, and he thunder-dip-jumped on the lake.
The girls, from hurt and sad that were, quickly regained their happiness and enthusiasm.
"I knew you were one of us, froggy!" Sasha yelled "Cowabunga!"
"Ah, yeah!" Anne yelled in happiness too "That's what I'm talkin' about! Cannonball!"
"The last one to get wet is a pink elephant! Wooo-hoo!"
"Forty-two, forty-three and forty-four. Is that enough or should I drop more?"
"I'd say it's enough, that's more than we can use in the immediate...cousin."
Far away from the splashing water and happy laughter of Sprig, Sasha, Marcy and Anne, Jacob and Amelia were stocking up on edible ingredients (strictly non-insects) to sustain themselves and their fellow misadventurers.
"It's like the supermarket; however, our people don't force you to climb trees or dig to get what you need." Jacob said as he climbed down the tree, being careful not to break his ankle.
"It does have one no small advantage, though: there's no checkout here."
"True, but I'd gladly pay what's in my pocket for a candy bar or a prepackaged sandwich. Tell me out of curiosity: where do we stand?"
"For salty and sweet roots, I'd say we've filled up," Amelia said, checking the various parts of the backpack filled with so-called edibles "And your Apple-Tomatoes, too, we have enough. We have a few more spaces left, and then we're done."
"In that case, I'd say let's have a last look around before we head back-I don't want to risk old Hop Pop waking up earlier than expected and finding out we're gone. At least, if the girls aren't back yet but we are, we can try to distract him or make him think we haven't left until they come back."
"In any case, I must offer my congratulations to Marcy," Amelia said, holding in her hands the book full of the girl's notes, barely begun in its length but already full, in its own way, of invaluable information in her opinion "She may seem strange at times, but her way of summarizing information is exemplary."
"I know, she always got good grades in school. Although, sometimes she has a tendency to focus so much on something that she loses sight of everything else going on around her..."
"Look, the corolla is opening: now the bees will be able to make contact with the pistil and stamen..."
"Marcy, hand me the mosquito repellent, now please!" shouted Jacob trying to defend himself (futilely) with his bare hands from the flock of tiger mosquitoes assaulting him.
"Huh, what a cute puppy. Of a little nice bear, do you have parents who take care of you?"
"Mar-Mar," Jacob said as he and Sasha took one more step back to distance the angry bear, "if you turn around you'll soon find out the answer..."
"These insects are really beautiful!"
"Marcy! Turn off the gas tap!" Sasha screamed in horror as Jacob desperately tried to prevent the cylinder from exploding...
"The worst Fourth of July of my life."
"Then why did you agree to come when Sasha and Marcy invited you?"
"Anne was sick at home, she had the mumps; and I didn't know that I, too, would have to spend a week in bed on my return to recover."
"Well, I point out that you've been up to some pretty good things yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?" replied Jacob pricly, "When have I ever done anything that my friends didn't laugh about?"
"Well..."
"Miss Pehsen!"
"Mr. Principal!"
"Will you explain to me why your underwear and my panties are hanging on the flagpole?"
"Well let me explain, Mr. Principal..."
Amid the general embarrassment and dismay, no one noticed a ten-year-old Jacob hiding his laughter...
"Thank you for your time together, girls" the 12-years old Jacob said, jumping on his feet and walking toward the door "See ya!"
"Wait!" Anne glanced at him "And the drink you bought?"
"I'm a little bumped, take care of it, please" he walked outside without even hesitating, sacking her with the bill…
Jacob was walking on the school's corridor when he saw Sasha, Anne, Marcy and Amelia looking at him like they were going to give him the scolding of a lifetime.
"Jacob, we need to talk" Sasha icily said "now."
"HEY, THESE GIRLS GIVE FREE IPHONES!" he immediately yelled, causing every other student to rush on them while he escaped.
"No, wait!" Sasha said with horror "NOOOOO!"
"Ok, I had a mean and petty streak" Jacob admitted "But I'm getting better."
"Uh-uh" Amelia glared at him "Once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker, Jacob. And the fact that we ended up here is the proof of that. Take the backpack."
"What? Why you brought the backpack when it was empty, and now that is almost completely full, I have to take it back?"
"Because I'm the younger ones" she teased him "And you always like remembering me how much strong you are in comparison to me; didn't you?"
Jacob glared at her, but nonetheless, he took the (now much heavier) backpack on him.
"I hate you"
"I know. And I…wow, what is that?" she asked, gleaming over something on the distance. Jacob himself turned, and saw what it looked like some golden banana/pear fruit, hanging all alone in the middle of a tree.
"It looks like a fruit" he said, "What name did Marcy give it?"
"I do not know: apparently, Marcy did not noted it."
"She did not note it?" now Jacob was nervous "That means either that she did not saw it…or that it was not there when we were here the first time…"
"Now I'm curious!" Amelia said, forgetting all the prudence and caution and quickly running to the tree, jumping on some rocks to reach the fruit's branch.
"It could be a new species altogether… a fruit that grow and maturates in just one night…"
Her fingers "almost" touches the fruits…and immediately, the fruit moved back as two large red eyes focused on her, a large bloated figure appearing in their sight.
"…or it could be a biological bait developed by a massive beetle monster."
"RUN!" Amelia screamed, running toward Jacob and safety, as the large Beetle rushed behind them.
"Why the heck I did not went with the girls at the lake!" Amelia yelled "I could be working on my tan right now!"
Meanwhile, on the bright water of the lake, the girls (and Sprig) were fully focusing on enjoying their time together, as best as they could. That is, playing in the water, splashing each other, swimming, making small challenges on who was able to keep their breath for longer and such.
However, after a while, Marcy's focus shifted once again on the amazing nature around them, and with permission by her two old-time friends, she moved on the giant lilies, taking mentally notes to later write up in her note-book.
Meanwhile, Sasha and Anne were busy introducing Sprig to their best favorite game that helped both to strengthen their friendship and prove his bravery. That is, game of dares.
"Ok Sprig!" Sasha said, pointing his finger toward him "I dare you to…swim up to those rocks and return here as fast as you can!"
"Hah, easier to do than to say!" he smirked, immediately rushing toward the rocks and reaching them in less time the humans would have needed, even to just arrives halfway "Done and done!"
"You're great Sprig!" Anne complimented him, quickly grabbing her phone again and snapping a photo to remember his victory. But as soon as her eyes focused on the photo, her happiness disappeared once more as she noticed something else was in the picture.
"Huh, Sprig?" Sasha said, her eyes full of terror and dawning realization, as she figured out WHY this beach was closed and there was a sign telling them "don't swim."
"I was blinking, wasn't I?" the frog said, unaware of the giant snake just behind him. But not for long.
The snake stood motionless for a few more second, and then it raised his upper body part, towering all over him and the girls like a kaiju of those movies Amelia liked so much, and roared.
"WAAH!" the 2 girls and 1 frog screamed in terror, and even Marcy turned around, and saw the snake and pure horror spread all over her face.
"SASH! MAR-MAR! RUN!" she yelled, and all the four started to swim as fast as they could, to avoid the giant, monstrous snake. However, the humans were quick to realize that, since human being were land creatures and not aquatic ones, they were slower than Sprig on swimming. And so the snake, was faster than them."
"WHY IS IT GETTING CLOSER?!" Sasha yelled, full of fear.
"IT IS MORE ADAPTED TO THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT!" Marcy replied, she too terrorized to the bones "WE ARE NOT FAST ENOUGH TO DISTANCE HIM!"
"STUPID NON-WEBBED HUMAN HANDS…." Anne looked behind, and saw that the snake was getting too much close for her comfort. A few more minutes, and it would be just above them.
"WHY DIDN'T WE GO WITH JACOB AND AMELIA TO PICK MUSHROOMS?!"
"HI-YAA!" shouted Amelia, striking the giant beetle again with her katana "Go away!"
Fleeing from the monstrous insect, she and Jacob had taken refuge on a large boulder, which had put them momentarily out of reach of their enemy's jaws, but had not prevented it from attacking them by making use of its antennae and horn, with the two boys engaged in a fight to the last breath to make it desist and leave.
"Take this ugly cockroach face!" Growled Jacob, throwing another rock toward the beetle's eye. This time, the blow was luckier than the previous ones, and instead of ineffectively hitting its massive natural armor, it went and clashed against the large right eye in the animal, injuring it and causing it to moan in pain, before scurrying away.
"We did it! We did it!" Shrieked Amelia full of joy, hugging her cousin. But even their joy was short-lived, when Jacob heard a noise like creaking, and he had the impression that he saw the trees and the ground around them move.
"Amelia..." he said, drawing her attention.
"Jacob, why is the stone moving by itself?"
"I guess the behemoth's blows have destabilized its balance. In short...HOLD ON TO ME!"
The two boys shouted when, with a final crunch, the giant rock broke away from the ground in which it was embedded earlier, melting at great speed down the slope with two screaming humans and a backpack full of fruits, mushrooms and roots...
"IT'S NO USE!" Marcy cried, looking back again at the huge snake "IT'S GETTING CLOSER!"
"OMG, WE ARE GOING TO DIEEE!" Sasha yelled, trying to swim as fast as she could, but still too slow to make a difference.
"GIRLS!" Sprig jumped on them from the side, and they landed on one of the lilies "Welp, I guess we now know why the lake was closed…"
"SPRIG!" Anne grabbed him "We are just slowing you down, little buddy. Get out of here. I should have listened to you: This was my fault anyway…"
"Friend punch!" Sprig punch Anne
"Sprig! What are you-"
"Friend punch! Friend punch!" he yelled again, punching Sasha and Marcy too "Never! I'm not about to let my first real friends get eaten. We're in this together!"
It was then that the large snake emerged, encircling all around them.
"Uh, any ideas?" Sasha asked, genuinely terrified.
"Eeeeeeeeh!"
"Yes; I'll use Hop Pop pepper to…" he checked his pocked, before realizing something he wished not to be: he had left them home.
"Eeeeeeeeh!"
"Oh, this is the end!" Anne cried.
"Eeeeeeeeh!"
"It has been an honor to be your friend!" Marcy hugged Sasha, Anne and Sprig, her eyes covered in tears, as she waited for the snake to strike.
"Eeeeeeeeh!" Jacob and Amelie yelled as the huge rock they were on-board ran above the lily where Sprig and the girl were, colliding right…on the giant snake-full face. The rock disintegrated, the snake was knocked down and simply sank, while Amelia and Jacob felt into the lake's water.
"Jacob, Amelia!" Anne cried, as she recognized them, jumping to reach them and bringing them with the others on the lily.
"Ugh…" Jacob managed to say, too shocked to notice what happened around them "I invented a new sport: stone downhill skiing"
"Kami-kaze…" Amelia simply groaned.
"Wow" Anne said, realizing that Jacob and Amelia had somehow, while involuntarily, saved all their lives "You guys really know how to knock some senses on the big guys…"
The girls laughed, and so did Sprig, before hearing the thunderous roar of the snake again and realizing that the snake wasn't knocked out, just knocked away…for now.
"Run!"
"Reach for the beach!"
"Death approaches!"
"I'm up!" Hop Pop gasped, stopping sleeping "I'm awake! I'm fully aware of what is happening around me. And the key…" he checked "Wait! It's gone! Oh, no: did they get out? Is the town rioting? Are they dead? Have they eaten the kids, THE WHOLE TOWN?"
Her rushed to check the door's lock "What's this now? It's still locked." And then, he heard some dices rolling, and moved back to the basement.
Sitting all around a board game, Sprig, Anne, Marcy and Sasha were playing together, while Amelia was relaxing lying down on her bed, Jacob was playing with some handmade instrument and James was reading a book.
"Come on, come on!" Anne said, looking eagerly at the board "Mama needs a new pair of shoes. Seriously though, I do need new shoes…" she added, remembering her lost shoe.
"You guys been here all day, huh?" Hop Pop questioned them.
"Yep, dude." Anne proudly said "I'm on a true winning streak!"
"Believe her" Sasha nodded "She's plucking us."
"I even own her my first-born child" Sprig added.
"B-but the key!" Hop Pop said "When I woke up, it had disappeared and…" and just in that moment, as to reply to his own words, the key itself felt from his clothes.
"You mean that key, huh?" Jacob pointed, looking up amused "Evidently, it went into a pocket hole and was trapped inside the clothes without you seeing it…"
"Dang shallow pockets" Hop Pop said, putting the key back on them "Well, you get what you pay for…"
"Wait, Mr. Plantar?" Marcy raised her hand "Before you go, can I tell you that I had the time to read some of the books in the house, and I must say, I'm quite honored we are being host by a member of the farming community. Judging from what I was able to learn of Amphibia history so far, farm culture is super underappreciated in my opinion: You're the backbone of society and do not get enough credit for it!"
"Hub, bub, bub, bub. Hub, bub, bub, bub..." he gasped, clutching his heart as long-waited recognition befall on him "Thank you, thank you! Now, if you excuse me, I have some long-repressed happiness to express…"
He walked back out, and a few moments ago, a familiar tadpole jumped on-view.
"Aha!" Polly said, Doris the rolling pj on her hands.
"'Sup, Polly?"
"Hello Polly!"
"How are you?"
"Wanna join us?"
"You're not going to eat us, are you?" she lowered the pin, her expression turning in disappointment "You're not making any attempts: you're not even going to try. Disappointing!"
"Hey, Polly" Marcy asked her "What if instead of have a fight, we tell you something else that you would like better?"
"Oh yeah?" she asked "And what you offer?"
"For example, how about knowing when you will get your legs?"
Polly's eyes filled with enthusiasm "Wait, for real?!" she asked, her eyes filling with hopeful light.
"Sure" Marcy stood up and walked to her, moving her so to be able to see and examines the inside of her body using the light of the boil-luminous mushrooms, and then grabbing a magnifying glass to focus on Polly's developing legs "Hmm. I would say that those legs should be coming in in about...five months by now, at most."
Polly gasped, "Can I get that in writing?"
"Oh, yeah, absolutely." Marcy said, writing down a note and giving it to her. Polly saw it had written "LEGS IN 5 MONTHS – MARCY" on it.
"Yeah!" the pollywog said, jumping outside "Hop Pop, look out what I have?"
"Sooo, Sprig" Anne said, once they were safe once again "I'm sorry that we almost got all of us killed today."
"Well, I guess next time I'll think better before ignoring another sign" Sasha admitted.
"And I'll make plan to bring something useful for any menace whenever we go out." Marcy added.
"Are you kidding?" the little frog said, "That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me! My heart was beating faster than a dragonfly on a sugar rush. In fact, I'm feeling a little... sleepy…" he said, before dropping down, as fatigue got the best of him.
"By the way, James" Marcy looked at him "Thank you for telling me about the books you read today: I'd have missed them if it weren't for you…"
"Happy to be of your service."
"And I'm happy that you two arrived just on time to save us" Anne looked at Jacob and Amelia "Even if you probably had not the intention too."
"Well, it was quite an exhausting day, but we got out of it alive and still together. Plus, we grabbed some useful food reserves, should we ever need it" Jacob blinked at the hidden bundle, inside one of the previously empty barrels "And we have to admit your notebook was quite useful for it: one would almost say you were actually prepared to be trapped in another world…"
Marcy laughed nervously "Well, yes, almost: I guess my knowledge of Vagabondia Chronicles paid off…Anna-Banana, can I check the music box? The one which brought us here?"
"Sure, but why you want to check it again?" Anne asked, taking it out of its hiding place.
"Yep, it's broken: otherwise, we would have left this place already" Sasha said
"Hum…" Marcy thought, checking the box and the now-six gems all over it "It is not like when we found it: have you seen this? The gems are no more colorful; they're grey and dull."
"So?" Sasha questioned.
"Maybe I'm thinking too much, but…what if they're, like, some batteries or something similar? This would explain why it does not work anymore: we need to recharge it!"
Suddenly, the other five human's heads jerked up and focused on her. Had Marcy just found out how to return home?
"Are you sure about it?" Sasha asked.
"Not exactly, but that would be logical: the power of the box drained after bringing us here. This would explain why it does not work anymore…"
"But then, in order to return home" Jacob said "We just need to find out how to recharge it, and load it back!"
"Amazing!" Amelia hugged him "We already know the path for home!"
"Our first quest!" Marcy punched into the air "This is so awesome!"
"And Mr. plantar has so much books of this place" James snapped his finger, as his own brain light up with an idea "We could find info on what we have to do in order to recharge it!"
"Then, I guess we must give priority to our book-reading activities..." Marcy grinned, already tasting the intelligence challenge in front of them.
"Still" Jacob intervened "we should try and keep this a secret from Hop Pop, or Polly, or Sprig" he glanced over at their sleeping companion "or anyone else. The Plantars hosted us, but I'm not sure we can trust them with such an important revelation."
"I agree" Sasha nodded.
"I guess we can avoid telling them, at least for now" Anne accepted it.
"I, however, still have a question pending" Amelia asked, looking thoughtful "What if we are not the only humans trapped in there by that thing? I mean, what if there are other humans who ended up here…"
"I guess we probably will never know…"
Far away from the Flog Valley and Wartwood, in a large city towered by a beautiful and ancient castle, who no one even remembered when it was built or by who, a giant newt of bluish skin and with a lighter underbelly, wearing a crown on his head, entered on a dark corridor right behind a statue, and walked until he reached the lowest floor.
There, he put his crown and the ground, and kneeled.
"My lord" he said, "I finally have the proof that, after so much time spend in our relentless waiting, the box has returned on Amphibia, and brought new creatures with it as well."
With a sinister, mechanical sound, giant glowing red eyes opened in front of him, so his right hand moved to the side, and he grabbed a small item one of his scout brought to him earlier that same day.
Anne's missing shoe.
The red eyes focused on it, while a dark voice spoke with no sound.
"The time for the prophecy has begun; soon our plans will once again get in motion. And we…will have our revenge…"
Both the newt and the unknown entity did not noticed, however, that the area had been wired, and a magical listening device was bringing images and sound to someone else, even more far away from the city.
"So, once again, the passage has opened" the cloaked figure spoke, carefully listening to the conversation and making thinking of his own "Just the fact that the box is here again it means an opportunity to speed up my plans. Nevertheless, if the box brought someone else with him as well…" he stood silently, the mechanical ticking of gears and wheels surrounding him "…then I guess I have the duty to meet my fellow companions from Earth…"
And the lone human laughed, with an hate so large it could drown the oceans…