Later, as they walked around town, they were stopped by Loggle who randomly measured Anne.
"Uh... what's going on?" Anne asked.
"It's a surprise." Loggle said.
"Okay…..but can you stop? It's a little creepy." Anne said to him.
"Sorry, just a bit more and….done." Loggle said before he went back to his store. "Carry on."
"Does anyone know what that's about?" Anne asked.
"Nope." Polly and Sprig said.
"Not really." Ivy said.
"Loggle is a bit strange to me." Maddie said, causing everyone to look at her. "Yeah, I said it. I'm not ashamed."
"I mean, can't deny that." Sprig said, "You remember that muscular wooden statue he made of himself?"
"I try to forget about it." Anne said.
"Oh yeah, definitely." Ivy said with a nod.
"I was haunted by that." Maddie said as they continued to walk through town. "So, Anne, think you can give us an up-close view of how you hunt?"
"Wow... uh... that depends." Anne said, "I would need something that isn't too dangerous, a wolf is a pack hunter, so it would have to be something not much bigger than I am."
"What about a grub hog?"
"A grub hog? Like the one from Grubhog day?" Anne asked.
"Yep. It's the most harmless creature around these parts, should be the easiest prey a predatory could hunt alone." Ivy said to her.
"I guess that would work." Anne said, "Come on, let's get to the woods."
The amphibian kids nodded in excitement as they went into the woods with Anne, who shifted into her wolf form and began stalking around.
"Fascinating." Maddie said as she pulled out a notebook, writing down what Anne was doing.
She began sniffing the air and got low to the ground slowly approaching. She hoped that the grubhog wouldn't notice her, since wolves were ambush predators, if she gets spotted then her hunt is ruined. She came upon a bush and got ready to attack when the bush hissed. Anne suddenly had a bad feeling about this, even more when something came out from the bush... it was a giant red mantis.
'Oh, that's not good.' Anne thought.
"ROOOOOH!" It roared as it swung, making Anne jumped back to dodge as she growled at it.
"A mantis?!" Sprig said in shock.
Anne put herself between the group and the mantis. Looks like the hunt for a prey just turned into a battle between predators! Anne let out a bark, directed at Sprig, indicating that he needed to get the others out of here.
The mantis roared again as it charged, making Anne charge as well! The red mantis slashed but Anne dodged between its legs, biting and ripping one off! The mantis retaliates with another strike, this time hitting Anne and knocking her to the ground. Anne whined in pain but powered through it and moved from under the mantis to jump and bite one of its arms! It began to shake its arm, trying to get Anne off. As this happened, Sprig, Polly, Ivy, and Maddie returned with some of the adults. The Mantis slammed Anne against a tree. In exhaustion, Anne shifted back to her normal form. The mantis turned its attention to the group of adults and began moving towards it. Anne saw this and picked herself up, grabbing an old farming hoe that was on the ground nearby. She ran at it and jumped, slamming the hoe blade through its chest.
"ROOOOOH!" It roared in pain as it tried to shake Anne off, but the human girl wasn't letting go before using her strength to force it to the ground!
She pulled the hoe out and then swung at it's head, cutting it off. Anne fell to her knees and looked around.
"Is... is everyone okay?" Anne asked.
Anne was immediately swarmed by the townsfolk, all trying to make sure she was okay.
"Us?! You take on a red mantis and you're worried about us?!" Felicia Sundew asked.
"Kid, you've got guts but not a lot of brains!" Ms. Croaker said as she tapped Anne's head with her cane.
"Well, I couldn't let the mantis hurt anyone, especially Sprig, Polly, and the rest of the kids." Anne said.
Hearing their names, the group of kids rushed to Anne and hugged her. The adults thought this was adorable, but also saw Anne was bleeding and went over and helped her.
"Come on, let's go get that covered." Felicia said, "I have a kit at the tea shop. Ivy, come with us, you can help."
"Okay, mom." Ivy said as she and the other helped Anne stand up and guided her back into town.
All that recovering and Anne was back to being patched up. At least this time it was just some small cuts, nothing major.
The Sundews and the Plantars were now inside the tea shop as Felicia and Ivy were patching up Anne, seeing her cuts shut while bandaging any bruises.
"I told you to take it easy and the next thing I know, you fight a red mantis." Hop Pop said.
"We didn't expect to run into one, Maddie just wanted to see how I hunted. I was looking for a grub hog." Anne said to him, "And there was one nearby, I had its scent."
"Anne, just try and take it slow, we don't want you to get hurt for the ceremony this afternoon." Felicia said.
"Ceremony?" Anne asked, "What Ceremony?"
"It's a surprise."
"If you want to attend it, you'll have to SIT AND HEAL!" Hop Pop shouted at Anne as they finished bandaging her up.
"Relax, Hop Pop, I'll be fine, it's just a few scrapes and cuts." Anne said, "They'll be fine in just a few days."
"They will, because I will be accompanying you everywhere you go until then." Hop Pop said.
"What? Ugh!" Anne said with a groan.
"Don't groan me! It's for your own good!" Hop Pop said to her.
"I have to agree, I don't want to have to fix you up each day." Felicia said.
"Maybe I could make a magical solution?" Maddie asked, feeling a bit responsible for this. "Just a small potion to help you heal faster."
"Actually that's-" Anne said.
"No magic! The lesson only sinks in when you heal naturally!" Hop Pop said.
"I feel like Anne needs to learn that." Hop Pop said.
Anne's eyes changed to wolf eyes and she growled at Hop Pop.
"O-o-on second thought... maybe Maddie has a point. hehe." Hop Pop said.
Anne didn't want to do it at first but she felt that she needed to reinforce that she was a predator and could do as she pleased if she wanted too. Anne's eyes returned to normal and she nodded.
"Maddie, could you go do... whatever it is you do." Anne said, not really understanding magic.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." Maddie said as she rushed back home.
"So... is there a ceremony frequently?" Anne asked.
"Nope, this is a special event, so you're pretty lucky to see it." Felicia said, wrapping Anne's elbow in a bandage, "There, try not to do something dangerous like that again. Come back and see me if you need something."
Anne nodded to her as she got up, exiting the tea shop with the Plantar Family with her. They arrived back at the farm and went inside.
"Alright, kids, you all need to get ready, the ceremony is in two hours." Hop Pop said.
"So soon? Must be a big deal." Anne asked.
"Bigger than you could imagine." Hop Pop said to her.
"Alright, we'll get ready." Anne said, "... Well... Sprig will, I only have my uniform and Polly's a baby."
Later, the entire town was present at town center.
"Wow, everyone's here." Anne said.
Maddie walked up to them and handed Anne a bottled potion.
"Here, this should help with your cuts." Maddie said.
"Thanks, but do I drink it or pore it on my wounds?" Anne asked, looking at the potion.
"Drink it but I like that questioning." Maddie said with a smile and a nod.
Maddie walked back to her family, as the mayor, who was still not well liked after the... stunt earlier this week, walked on stage. He was covered in injuries wrapped in bandages, and had a broken right leg and left arm. Yet, he was still here to for the ceremony.
'It can't be another thing for himself after the last blunder.' Anne thought.
"Welcome, wonderful people of Wartwood, I am proud to present the new statue for out town." Toadstool grabbed the tarp covering it, "Behold, the town protector."
The tarp was removed, revealing a statue of Anne, with a wolf behind her. Anne gasped at the sight of it, seeing both versions of herself in dramatic poses. Herself as a human was standing, a sword in hand while her wolf form was growling with her mouth open.
"Woah."
"I hope you like it, Anne. It was a bit of a rush job, but I think it turned out wonderful." Loggle said as he walked up to Anne and the Plantars.
"It's... amazing." Anne said, "You didn't have to do that for me."
"After all you did for us, despite how we treated you before, you're the most deserving of a tribute like this. Especially since Toadstool is such a snake." Wally said to Anne.
Anne smiled; she was a protector.
'I'm going to make sure this town is safe.' Anne thought, 'Starting tonight.'
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