Chapter 1 Ambush:
It was a cool and quiet night in Frog Valley as a figure trudged through the murky swamp,ignoring the squishing noises their boots made as they sunk deep into the mud. The figure was wearing a black zippered vest, a dark green long sleeve shirt underneath, a chainmail shirt underneath that, a black cloak with a green carnation flower clasp keeping the cloak around their shoulders, a brown belt that went over their left shoulder and across their chest holding some potions, a quiver around their waist holding arrows, black jeans with green tape wrapped around their knees and brown combat boots. 16 year old Marcy Wu huffed as she leaned back against a tree, her back resting on the bark. She looked at the starry sky.
"Something troubling you,Wit?" a voice in her head asked.
'Surprised to see you up at this hour, Core. Doesn't a thousand year old entity need sleep?' Marcy said smugly.
"Watch it, Wit! I can still take you out even in your mind!" The Core growled.
Marcy chuckled, unphased by the threat and knowing they didn't mean it. In fact, living alone with an eldritch being has made Marcy unaffected by the core's threats which soon became playful banter over the time. The black haired girl sighed as she closed her eyes.
*WOOSH!*
Marcy's eyes flew open as she jumped out of the way to avoid a potion being thrown at her.
"What in the?" she mumbled.
"Behind you!" the core shouted.
Marcy ninja rolled out of the way to avoid the potions. As she landed on her feet, Marcy pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground before hiding behind a tree. Once the smoke cleared, Marcy grabbed her bow and arrow and walked out from behind the tree to see…a small teal frog? She blinked as she lowered her weapon.
"Maddie?!" Marcy exclaimed.
The frog girl gave her a sheepish smile.
"Surprise?" she said.
The older girl sighed as she placed her bow in her quiver.
"Maddie, this is the fifth time this week," she said.
Maddie shrugged her shoulders.
"Sorry,Marcy but we couldn't help it," Maddie said.
Marcy raised an eyebrow.
"We?" she asked.
A leaf fell on her hand and Marcy looked up.
"AMBUSH!" two other voices cried out.
Marcy grunted as a blur of pink and yellow tackled her to the ground. Sprig and Ivy laughed while Maddie was trying not to. Marcy shook her head as the two frogs jumped off her.
"Very funny you three," she grumbled.
She stood up and dusted herself off.
"How did you guys even manage to sneak up on me? Sprig isn't exactly the quietest," Marcy said.
The pink frog boy pouted slightly.
"Maddie made some stealth potion which is really helpful," Ivy explained.
Marcy nodded.
"That's cool. Now come on, it's time for you three to head back to Wartwood," Marcy said.
"AWWWW!" Sprig whined.
"Do we have to?" Ivy asked.
Marcy nodded.
"We don't want everyone else to think you got taken by Andrias," Marcy said.
Maddie looked up at the older girl.
"Are you coming with us?" she asked.
Marcy tensed at the question and gave Maddie a look.
"You three know I can't go back…Not after what I've done" Marcy said.
She turned and started walking.
"It's been four years, Marcy," Sprig said.
Marcy stopped walking.
"Marcy, everyone's worried about you, especially Anne and Sasha. They miss you. We miss you," Maddie said
Marcy turned to the three frog kids who had sad looks on their faces. She sighed and knelt on the ground, opening her arms. The three kids ran into her embrace with no hesitation. Marcy hugged them tightly.
"I miss you guys too but it's too late to fix my mistakes," she whispered.
They broke the hug.
"Okay, let's get you three home," Marcy said.
And with that, Marcy and the three kids walked back to Wartwod. They spent most of the walk talking about what they've been up to over the years. Once Wartwood came into view, Marcy pulled her hood over her head. She took the three frogs to the entrance of the rundown town.
"See ya Marcy!" Ivy called as she ran.
Sprig gave Marcy one last hug before going after Ivy. The black haired girl ruffled Maddie's hair and walked away.
"Marcy," Maddie called.
Marcy stopped walking but didn't turn around.
"Nobody blames you for what happened. Just wanted to let you know," she said.
Marcy sighed.
"Good night, Maddie," she said, softly.
She walked away. Marcy walked through the woods until she arrived at an abandoned cabin. She found it after running away from Wartwood. It was in somewhat good condition. Marcy walked inside her cabin. She was exhausted. Marcy changed out of her clothes so she was in a white tank top and a pair of blue sweatpants. She fell back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
"She's right you know," the core said.
Marcy placed her hand on her face.
"We are not talking about this right now," she grumbled.
"The blue frog is right and you know it. You just don't want to believe it," the core said.
The black haired girl gritted her teeth before responding.
"I'm not going back. Those things I did may have been when I was 13 but it's something that can't be fixed, not after everything I've done," she said.
"And what about Strength and Heart? I'm sure they're worried about you," the core said.
Marcy snorted.
"I honestly doubt they'd want to see me after I ran away. Look, I'm not going back, so please, drop it," Marcy said.
With that, she cut off the mental link with the Core before turning over and falling asleep.
At Wartwood:
A 17 year old Sasha Waybrght sat outside of the Plantars' farm looking at the sky. Four years. It's been four years since they came to Amphibia, four years since they failed to overthrow Andrias who is still at large and four years since Marcy ran off.
'Marcy,'
Sasha knew what happened to Marcy was tough on her but she didn't know that the younger girl would run off. Though she didn't want to, Sasha went back to that day Marcy ran off.
Flashback to three years ago:
Sasha was in her room, laying in bed as she stared at the ceiling lost in her thoughts. A few weeks have passed since they've saved Marcy. It was a bittersweet(and awkward) reunion between the three girls, especially Marcy and Anne which is surprising since those two knew each other longer than she did. In fact, it seems when the two younger girls were in the same room, there was always some kind of tension between them to the point where they didn't even talk to each other. She understood that Anne was still upset with Marcy. Hell, she was too but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about the youngest member of their trio. Speaking of which, she should probably go check on said girl. Sasha moved out of bed and stretched her arms, loosening her tensed up muscles before walking to Marcy's room. If Marcy wasn't there, she'd probably be outside 's where she goes most of the time when she wants to be left alone but this time Marcy was in her room. The black haired girl sat on her bed, head resting on her knees as she sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall. Upon hearing the door open, Marcy lifted her head, looking at Sasha. The blonde haired girl felt her stomach tighten as she looked at her friend. Marcy's once shiny black hair was messy, her bangs falling over her eyes due to how long it's gotten, she had bags under her eyes indicating that she didn't sleep at all, her olive skin was pale and her bright brown eyes once filled with joy and happiness were a grayish green color that only had sadness,exhaustion and fear. But it didn't stop Marcy from giving her a kind smile. Sasha walked towards the bed and sat down beside her. The two girls sat in silence, the only sounds being heard were the crickets and the movement from outside the door as the other members of the rebellion walked past. After a few minutes, Sasha leaned her head against Marcy's shoulder. The black haired girl wrapped her hand around hers. Sasha could feel that Marcy's hand was cold since she always got cold easily.
"Sash," Marcy whispered.
"Hmm?" Sasha asked.
She lifted her head from Marcy's shoulder to look at her. Marcy had an unreadable expression on her face but she can see the sadness in her eyes. That made Sasha slightly worried.
"Marcy, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I need you to promise me something," she said.
Sasha blinked.
"What is it?" she asked.
Marcy swallowed before speaking.
"Promise me that if I ever lose control or if the Core takes over, you'll take me out before I can hurt anyone," Marcy said.
Sasha sat there with wide eyes.
'She…She wants me to kill her?!' Sasha thought to herself.
Sasha shook her head.
"Marcy, you wouldn't! I can't kill you! I'm not going to!" Sasha exclaimed.
Marcy grabbed her shoulders and gave her a pleading look.
"Sash, please. Promise me you'll do it," she said.
Sasha looked at her, eyes searching for some kind of confirmation that this is a joke. She saw none. Tears filled her eyes as she nodded.
"Okay, I promise," she said.
Marcy gave her a grateful smile.
"Thanks," she said.
Sasha pulled her into a hug, making Marcy's head land on her shoulder. She felt thin arms wrap around her, returning the hug. The older girl buried her face into Marcy's hair as she tried not to cry.
A few minutes later:
Sasha and Anne were in the meeting room going over some patrol plans with the Plantars,Grime,Yunnan and Olivia when Sprig and Ivy ran into the room with scared and sad looks on their faces. Everyone turned to them.
"What's wrong?" Anne asked.
Sprig swallowed.
"M-Marcy's gone," he said.
That got a reaction out of the two human girls and the two newts.
"What do you mean she's gone? She's not in her room?" Anne asked.
The two kids shook their heads.
"No. We checked everywhere in the base but she's not here," Ivy said.
"But we did find this letter," Sprig said.
He handed it to Anne and Sasha. They read over it. Anne put her hand to her mouth while Sasha's eyes widened.
"She ran away…" the brown haired girl whispered.
Sasha crumpled the paper and moved to the door.
"I'm going to find her," She said.
Yunnan grabbed her shoulder.
"I think it's best if we leave her alone," she said.
Anne and Sasha looked at her with surprised looks.
"What?!" they exclaimed.
"Marcy's scared and confused. It's best to let her figure this out herself. I know you both care about her but I'm pretty sure this is something she wants to do on her own," Yunnan said.
Anne and Sasha looked at each other before turning to Yunnan and nodded. They went back to work. Sasha clenched the paper in her hand.
'Marcy, you better be safe,' she thought to herself.
End of Flashback:
"Sasha?" a voice asked.
Sasha turned to see Anne standing behind her.
"Hey," Sasha said.
Anne smiled and sat down beside her.
"You couldn't sleep either?" the brown haired girl asked.
Sasha nodded her head.
"Still thinking about her?"
Another head nod. Anne sighed as leaned back on her hands.
"Same here. Do you think she's safe?" she asked.
Sasha shrugged.
"I don't know but I hope so," she responded.
Anne nodded and stood up.
"I'm going to at least get some sleep. Are you coming?" she asked.
Sasha nodded and they walked inside the basement and to their sleeping quarters. The two girls went to bed with the same thought on their minds.
'Marcy, stay safe'