Quick turnaround on this one, right? I was super-inspired and hammered it all out in one session! Gonna take a break, though… I don't wanna get burnt out.

Chapter 4

Ivy and Sasha

If there was anything that Ivy Sundew hated, it was being still.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. There were times she enjoyed it. For example, when you were lying in the swamp grass, gazing up at the fireflies, with just the right frog next to you. That, Ivy didn't hate.

But when that one particular frog wasn't there, when he hadn't been for two weeks now, doing nothing kinda sucked.

Two weeks it had been since That Particular Frog, Sprig Plantar, had departed for Newtopia aboard a giant sparrow with his family, three girls from another dimension, and an ex-toad tyrant. It was supposed to be a one-way trip for Anne and her two friends, but the Plantars, at least, should have been back by now.

But then, that was before the town had watched as multiple somethings had been launched skyward. After that, ominous rumors had begun to trickle down to Wartwood; isolated as it was, news still reached the tiny swamp hamlet. The rumors said that King Andrais had gone mad; that Newtopia Castle had torn itself out of the ground and launched itself skyward; that the Northern Toad Tower had been blasted into nothingness. Shortly after such rumors made their way to Wartwood, they were followed by an official statement from the Southern Toad Tower that everything was fine and you should continue to go about your business and there was no need for any unnecessary questions, so one would best refrain from asking them if one knew what was good for one. It was very likely the notice had come from Emissary Jacinda, as Captain Bog would've settled for a simple "Keep your traps shut."

When Sprig and his family had left, Ivy'd gathered up the coppers she'd earned from tips at the tea shop and made the purchase of a spyglass from Loggle (the axolotl had recently taken up glass-blowing as a side-hobby to woodworking) so she could be the first to see the Plantar's returning (and, of course, prepare a suitable ambush for Sprig). Now, she spent whatever time she wasn't at the tea shop sitting on its roof, watching the approaches to Wartwood and hoping that today would be the day he'd finally come back.

This bites, she thought to herself for about the thousandth time that fortnight. Part of her wanted to go out on the road herself and look for them, but unfortunately her mother had passed on a shred of common sense to her. Sure, Sprig had made the journey, but he'd had an adult, a snail, a surprisingly dangerous baby, and a giant from another world to help him; Ivy had none of the above. A road trip would be suicide for her. And so, here she was. Watching. Waiting. Hoping. And being disappointed again and again.

But not today. Today, there was something in the distance.

She watched it for a while, just to make sure it wasn't just a speck that had settled on her spyglass lens. No… this was definitely a vehicle of some sort.

Perhaps the rumors had been false. Perhaps everything had gone as planned. Perhaps even now, Anne and her friends were safely back in their world, and perhaps the Plantars were on the approaching vehicle. Perhaps she'd be tackling Sprig mere hours from now.

"Mom!" She said, hopping down from the roof. "Mom, mom, mom!"

Felicia Sundew, who had been worried about her daughter's growing melancholia in recent days, perked up at her sudden energy. "Why, Ivy, aren't you suddenly in good spirits! What's got you all hopped up now?"

"I saw something coming. I think they're back!" They, of course, meant the Plantars. Their absence had been felt strongly over the recent weeks; while their presence usually meant mayhem for the town (especially since the arrival of the newest, tallest, most mammalian Plantar), there was a void when they weren't around. It was almost as if they were side characters in someone else's story, aimless without the central focus.

"Well, now, that is good news. I'll let the Mayor and the others know so we can all prepare a proper welcome!" Felicia replied, swiftly hopping off.

"And I'm gonna find myself the perfect hiding spot," Ivy said to no one, eagerly anticipating the upcoming reunion.

Far, far up the road approaching Wartwood, a beetle-pulled wagon trundled along. Its inhabitants were not a certain frog family; we all know where they are right now.

Aboard the wagon were two passengers; one, a grizzled, battle-scarred old toad warrior, currently steering; the other, a young teenage human girl (though not without scars of her own, both physical and mental), trying to sleep.

The toad briefly slowed the wagon to a stop. "Sasha," he prompted, "are you awake?"

"…no, Cricket," the girl mumbled in her sleep, "…stop dancing in the bean barrel…"

He prodded the girl awake. "Sasha, we're almost to Wartwood. I need you alert,"

Sasha groggily shook her head, trying to reconcile herself with reality. "Wartwood… right, right, we were on our way…"

"The café dream again?" Grime asked.

"Uh huh."

"I don't get it. Why would you employ a cricket in such an establishment? They can't make bugaccinos, and they're terrible at customer service…"

"No, he's not a cricket, his name is- ah, never mind…" She shook herself awake one more time. "Okay, so, we know what we're going to say? These guys aren't exactly our biggest fans…"

"Rest assured that I have taken that into account."

"All right, then, leave the talking to me," the two said simultaneously.

"Grime, I thought we agreed that I was going to be taking the lead on this." Sasha insisted.

"Yes, well, I've been thinking, and an idea occurred to me that I believe will get the good townsfolk of Wartwood firmly in our corner. Now, I will need you to follow my lead on this one. Trust that I know what I'm doing."

"All right," Sasha replied skeptically. "You've had my back so far. So I'll let you take point this time. But… word of advice. Maaaaaybe leave the Warhammer in the wagon. We want to look friendly. Remember?"

"I suppose that would be a good bit of advice. Very well, Sasha… I will go in unarmed." Grime replied. "But I'd better not regret this."

Me neither, Sasha thought.

In a hollowed-out stump by the side of the road near the entrance of Wartwood, Ivy waited, watching the vehicle's approach through her spyglass out the stump's knothole. Perfect, she thought. He'll never see me coming. Just like… what had Anne called those warriors from her world? A ninja. Just like a ninja.

Her anticipation grew as the wagon slowed to a stop. Any minute now – wait. That wasn't Hop-Pop driving. It looked more like… Grime.

She was further confused when the wagon door opened and only one person exited… not any of the Plantars, but that blonde human friend of Anne's. Shouldn't she have gone home with the other two? And where were the Plantars? Several options occurred to her, none of them good. Chief among them was that the two had turned on the Plantars, then come back to finish off the town.

Not on my watch, she resolved as she followed the two.

By the time the two arrived in town, pretty much the entire population had gathered, a hastily-written banner reading WELCOME PLANTEARS unfurled.

The gasps of disappointment upon realizing that the newcomers were not the Plantars, followed by the angry murmurs when it was clear that they were, in fact, two individuals who had previously imprisoned the entire town's population and attempted to execute one of its citizens… one of whom was one of the people missing at this very moment. The conclusions seemed obvious.

Sasha had never really bothered to learn the townies' names during her very brief time in Wartwood; it had seemed of little relevance, since she had no intention of seeing them ever again. She did recognize some of them on sight, but had associated them with dismissive mental descriptions instead of actual names. Foghorn Leghorn mayor. Prissy lady frog. Creepy little girl. Etcetera.

"Now, simmer down ev'one," the Mayor advised as he sauntered out before the crowd. "Perhaps Ex-Captain Grime and Miss Waybright have a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"I got a reasonable explanation for you lot; they done away with 'em an' came back for us!" Weird Gross Hobo shouted.

"YEAH!" "DON'T LET 'EM GET AWAY!" "STRING 'EM UP!" "BOIL 'EM IN OIL!" echoed the angry townsfolk.

"Hey!" Sasha protested. "We're not here to hurt you!"

"And why should we believe a hooligan like you?" Old Biddy retorted, waving a cane angrily.

"Friends…" Grime interrupted, "Sasha is correct. We mean Wartwood no harm. In fact… we are here to protect this town from what is to come.

"A likely story," Pringles Guy with Antlers remarked.

"Aye, I trust these two no further than I can throw them," added Dumpy Spatula Hands.

"I grow tulips," added a tiny frog with a hat pulled over his eyes. It didn't seem relevant but he said it in a very suspicious tone.

"I understand you are skeptical. I admit I haven't exactly shown the best of intentions toward you in the past. But understand that I am sincere when I say that Frog, Toad, and Newt alike must unite in the face of what is to come! For the threat out there is greater than anything you can imagine."

Hushed whispers spread through the crowd now. Sasha had to give it to Grime; he'd found a way to command the town's attention.

"Perhaps you've heard the rumors," he continued. "They say the king's gone mad. They say he turned Newtopia into a floating death fortress. They say he even destroyed the North Toad Tower, killing Toad Lord Aldo." He lowered his head. "I can confirm that the rumors are true. For I have witnessed his madness first hand."

"What?"

"How is this possible?"

"Where are the Plantars?"

"I… I regret to inform you that the Plantars were the first victims of his rampage."

"…what." Sasha stated flatly.

"Cleaved, one by one, at the hands of his sword. Even the town's protector, Anne Boonchuy. I was there when his blade struck the head from her shoulders."

That was enough. "Grime, can I talk to you for a moment?" she whispered through clenched teeth. "We need to discuss strategy."

She pulled Grime away from the crowd. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked exasperatedly. "You know that's not what happened!"

"Who's to say what did and didn't happen?" Grime mused. "The fact is, at the moment, Anne and the Plantars are beyond both Andrais's reach and our own. But they can still be of value to us… as martyrs to the cause."

"Sure," muttered Sasha to herself sarcastically. "I've been using people for years, what's one more time." She turned back to the crowd. "I can't keep doing this, Grime. If they're going to get involved with us, these people deserve to know the truth." She started back. "I intend to give it to them."

All during this, Ivy was watching, prepared to do her best to take the two down if they tried anything.

Her heart froze when Grime informed them that the King had killed the Plantars… but just for a moment. Something about Grimes' delivery, and Sasha's reaction, told her there was more to the story.

So, she waited patiently as Sasha returned to address the crowd.

"People of Wartwood," she began…

"Down with Andrais!" shouted Mr. Flour, waving his rolling pin.

"You have my sword!" Duckweed added. "Actually, it's a pen, but it's mightier than a sword!"

"AND MY AXE!" Loggle added in an unusually loud, deep voice. "Sorry," he added in his normal one. "Sore throat."

"People! Please! Before you agree to anything, you have to know the truth! Grime LIED!"

The crowd grew silent.

"Okay, so… Andrais really has gone insane. He really does have a flying castle. And he really did blow up that tower. All that is true. But… Anne and the Plantars are alive."

Ivy felt the cold grip on her heart loosen.

"But the king did try to kill them," she added "He probably would have if Marcy Wu hadn't managed to send them away. They're in my world now. Safe." She lowered her head. "Unfortunately, Marcy herself wasn't so lucky."

There were gasps from the crowd. Though she hadn't been nearly as popular as Anne, Marcy had managed to make a few friends during her short time here. Maddie, in particular, had grown close to the clumsy-but-brilliant human.

"There's something else that you should know," the girl added. "When Grime and I went to Newtopia, it wasn't just so that we could go home. We were actually launching a toad coup of the city."

"SASHA," Grime warned angrily.

"They deserve the truth, Grime. All of it. Most of all, they deserve to know why the two of us can't lead the resistance against Andrais. We're not worthy of leadership. We will serve it to the best of our abilities, but someone else'll have to take the lead." With that, she took off her cape and cast it aside. "So that's the truth. It's up to you now to decide whether to accept it. We won't force you to." With her final words, she walked back into the forest.

Ivy had seen enough now. It was time to have words with the human face-to-face.

Well, Anne, Sasha thought. I was actually honest. What do you think of that?

She was still a little surprised at herself. Telling everyone about what happened to the Plantars was one thing, but her part in the attempted coup? There had been no real reason to share that. She had literally nothing to gain.

Nothing, perhaps, except the possibility of, maybe, one day being worthy of Anne's friendship again. And Marcy's memory.

"Hope you guys are okay," she said. "Wherever you-"

"AMBUSH!" a high-pitched voice squealed, tackling her from behind. Combat instincts took over and Sasha instantly flipped the assailant, and within moments found herself with her sword at the throat-sac of a little yellow frog girl.

"Whoa!" the girl squeaked. "You got some good reflexes!"

Oh, yeah, you've reeeeeally changed, Sasha scolded herself. Almost murdered a kid.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Instinct."

"Eh. My bad," the frog girl apologized in return. "Probably should've just talked to you."

"Yeah, not generally a good idea to attack people randomly. Especially when they're packing swords."

"I'll know for next time," she said.

Sasha smiled in spite of herself. "So… got a name, little frog girl?"

"Ivy. Ivy Sundew. So… is all that true? Are the Plantars really in Anne's world?"

"Well… it's my world, too, but yeah."

"Then they're really safe?"

"As long as they stay away from 8th grade science labs and French restaurants."

"Are… there a lot of those?"

"I guess, but they should be easy to avoid. At least the first one was for me," she chuckled. "I'm sure they're fine, though," she added. "Anne's with them and she'll never let anything happen to them."

Ivy nodded. "True dat."

"She's a good friend," Sasha replied. "Not like me."

Ivy shrugged. "Maybe you can be if you start from scratch."

"Oh, really?" Sasha asked incredulously. "Who'd even want to get involved with this mess?"

"Welllll" Ivy said, twirling one of the little tufts of red hair that stuck out from under her stocking cap. "I might know someone."

"Oh. No way. You do not wanna be my friend."

"That sounds like a challenge," Ivy replied with a smirk. "And I never back down from a challenge."

"…you got spunk, little frog girl," admitted Sasha. "But I kinda doubt we'll be sticking around here. After that performance, there's no way they want us anywhere near th-"

"SASHA!" bellowed Grime, hurrying towards them.

"Well, here it comes," Sasha sighed. "Nice knowing you, Ivy."

"Sasha!" repeated Grime. Sasha suddenly noticed he was actually smiling.

"Uh oh… what did you do…?" she asked nervously.

"Nothing. Actually… the citizens of Wartwood have agreed to join the resistance.

"…they have?" Sasha asked.

"Honesty," mused Grime. "Who knew it would prove to be the greatest tactic of them all?"

"I don't believe it." Sasha replied, astonished.

"On one condition, though," Grime continued. "They would like you to stay on to be the coordinator."

"Me?" Sasha replied in shock. "I just got done telling them why I shouldn't be in charge!"

"Frogs can be terribly contrary," Grime noted.

"It's true," agreed Ivy.

"They said your honesty sealed the deal. Besides… I can hardly think of anyone here more qualified."

"…dude, I'm literally thirteen."

"And yet you rose to the rank of second-in-command of a Toad Tower, bested a renowned general of the Newtopian Army in combat, and even nearly helped conquer Newtopia itself."

"…huh. When you put it like that, it kinda does make me sound super badass."

"Indeed, your rear end has proved QUITE atrocious!" echoed Grime.

"…I'll just take the compliment," Sasha replied.

"Well, looks like you're gonna be stuck with me, big human girl." Ivy remarked, hopping up and giving her an elbow jab in the side. "Better stay on your toes, because I can strike when you least expect it."

"…maybe we can just start with a sleepover," Sasha suggested. "Know any hot goss?"

"DO I? Did you know Soggy Joe actually puts fresh bones in his beard every morning?"

"Ew, why?"

"It's an image thing, I guess. Anyway, I found out from Squeaky down at the Grub n' go, he said he saw him collecting bones in the forest…"

"…yeah, there's kind of a lot of piles of bones around, aren't there…"

"What, they don't have those where you're from?"

"Not… really," Sasha said, a bit squicked.

"Huh. Weird. Anyway…"

Sasha found herself smiling as the little yellow frog girl rambled. Maybe she's right, she thought. Maybe I really do need to try building a friendship from the ground up before I can rebuild one with Anne.

And even if that one can't be rebuilt, well… at least this'll be worth something on its-

"AMBUSH!"

Well, in the tradition of "Wally and Anne" and "Maddie and Marcy", it's Sasha's turn to bond with a citizen of Wartwood. This was originally going to be "Chuck and Sasha," but I ran out of tulip jokes.

Jose: Glad you enjoyed it!

Next: Anne prepares to introduce her newest friend to her best friend… which may not be the best idea. See you next time!