Chapter 6: Anne and Sasha or Beasts?
Sometime in the night…
"'Ey, Stumpy! Ge' me anotha' cuppa woteva I just had!" Wally finished off his most recently ordered drink, piling the glass next to about fifty others also on the bar. It was far too much. Even his closed eye seemed like it was going to close even further. Another one and he probably wouldn't have been able to walk out of the restaurant, a place called, adequately enough, Stumpy's. The place was small and a bit stuffy, but the food it served was mostly edible, it was open dusk 'till dawn, and the drinks were almost endless, something which Wally was abusing right now. Stumpy sighed and turned to Wally, who was clearly intoxicated enough for the night.
"Wally. There's a limit to 'ow much you can drink. You surpassed it an hour ago. And you're clearly not going to be payin' for them tonight." He brandished his hook hand menacingly. "Pro'ly best to take a hike now; pay me back in the mornin' when yer more…lucid-mind'd." Wally's one eye widened before he gave a nervous grin.
"Of…o' course, Stumpy, my good fellow! I'll make meself scarce." He hurriedly walked to the door and opened it. The smell of the tangy swamp outside filled his nares and breezed through his hat. A few frogs were sitting on the outside tables having something to eat. He decided that it was best to go back home to bed. He waved his hat at them while walking away. "G'night, you frogs! See you in the morrow." The frogs waved back.
"G'night, Wally." He put the hat on his head and tipped it towards them. He accidentally bumped into a barrel as he walked away, focused on the frogs he was saying good night to, eliciting some laughter from them. After getting a little bit away from them, he pulled out his accordion and was about to start singing when he heard a rustle in the bushes. He stopped and froze in place. lace, slowly turning to see what caused the sound, holding the accordion in his shivering arms. "Hello?" He attempts to ignore it and continue walking and playing, but the rustling gets louder and louder. He actively starts to sweat from the anticipation until the rustling grows louder behind him. He turns around, and all he sees is two pairs of eyes staring back at him. He knows of nothing else to do but scream and run.
"Monsters! Monsters in the woods! Run for your lives!"
—
Eventually, the sun came up and people got ready for the day. Stumpy went to his window and replaced the Late, Late, Late Night Drinks sign with a Now Serving Breakfast sign. A few shops started opening and, soon enough, the market was quickly bustling with early-rising frogs. Carts of all kinds passed through. One particular cart was transporting an elderly orange frog, a younger pink frog, and a very, very, very, loud purple tadpole in a bucket.
"I'm hungry! When are we getting something to eat!?" The elderly frog piloting the vehicle sighed and tried to ignore the child, but she kept yelling. "Fooood!" The younger frog also started chiming in.
"I'm also hungry! We need food!" They then started walking in a circle (the tadpole hopped), and chanted.
"We want food! We want food!" The elderly frog would have started shouting at them, but he was a bit too tired for that at the moment. He pulled up the cart next to his favorite place, the seed store, and turned to the two children in the back.
"Alright, kids. I'mma go do a l'il shoppin'; watch the cart while I'm gone, and I'll get you two some food." He stretched his arms and yawns for a moment before hopping off the cart. The pink frog was about to declare his sacrificial defence, but he noticed the older frog's fatigue and a worried look appeared on his face.
"Hey, Hop-Pop. Did you sleep well last night? You've been acting tired all morning." The tadpole nodded.
"Yeah!" We want the deets, old man." The pink frog looked at her, confused.
"Why do you want to know?" The tadpole shrugged.
"I'm bored."
"Well, I was kept up for quite a while by-" He is interrupted by a loud yell in the middle of the market.
"Monsters! Monsters in the woods!" Hop-Pop sighed again.
"That. You're in charge, Polly." He's about to leave before the pink frog stops him.
"Hey! Why is Polly in charge? She's a baby." He motions towards the tadpole, who responds back.
"You're a baby!" Hop-Pop shakes his head and holds up his pinkie finger.
"Sprig, Polly has more responsibility in her little flipper than you do in your entire body." Wally was still yelling his lungs out to anyone who'd hear him. He was running out of breath.
"Monsters! Monsters…in the woods…" The frog family still ignored him and continued with their argument.
"C'mon, Hop-Pop. I promiiiise…" Hop-Pop seemed to mull it over before laughing.
"Nope!" He grabs a bag from his seat and walks over to the shop, opening the door and greeting the owner. "Hello, Mrs. Jonkins, how are you today?" He disappeared into the place, leaving Sprig in a pouty mood, which slowly turned into a thoughtful mood.
"If only I could prove my responsibility somehow…" Luckily, the author of this story heard his trouble and Sprig suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Now, now, Wally, what seems ta be the matta?" He turned and saw a large aquamarine toad in fancy clothes approach the exasperated frog on the floor. Following him was a much smaller toad with big eyes, holding a large metal circle with cloth hanging off in his hands. Wally looked up at the toad, a tired grimace appearing on his face.
"Oh…Mayor…Toadstool. How are…you doin' today? ...Oh my lungs…" Mayor Toadstool looked down on him and put his hands on his hips.
"Oh, jus' fine, Wally. Now, what's this I hear about a monsta?" Wally tried to stand up but promptly fell down again.
"Ha…ha…two…act'lly…one with hair…like burning wheat…the other…with a hollow mace…unlike any I've ever seen!" He attempts standing again. It fails. "Oh my frog…they could be watchin' our town…waitin' for night time before…eatin' us in our sleep!" Mayor Toadstool put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment before bending over and patting Wally's head.
"Don' worry, Wally. We won' let them monsters hurt us." He posed with one foot on Wally, to his great uncomfortableness.
"Why…" The smaller toad took the circle he had and put it behind Toadstool as a dramatic background. The cloth had stars that surrounded Toadstool's head as he pointed a finger forward.
"'Cause Mayor Toadstool is a name you can trust!" Sprig saw all of this unfold and smiled. He had an idea.
"I'm going to get those monsters to show Hop-Pop I'm responsible! Let's do this." He's about to jump away before Polly points at him accusingly.
"Hey, Hop-Pop put me in charge, and told us to stay here. You're not going anywhere." Her face got incredibly intense out of nowhere. She started flexing her flippers. "You know you can't take me!" Sprig simply reached into his pocket and pulled out some sweets.
"Look, Polly, caaaaaandy…Pfft." He dropped them on the floor and Polly was immediately stunned. She excitedly jumped out of her bucket towards them.
"Bribe accepted!" And she started chomping, allowing Sprig to have an easy getaway.
"I'm gonna find those monsters! All I have to do is get through these woods! This'll be easy!"
—
Sprig was immediately lost. A few minutes after he entered the forest, he lost the direction he was going in. It was possibly the fault of a shiny butterfly that he was chasing, but he told himself it wasn't. He sighed.
"This won't be easy." He didn't give up hope quite yet, though. He started walking around, brandishing his slingshot just in case the monsters snuck up on him. He walked forward while spinning around, so that he could have a full view of his surroundings. He eventually got tired of that and started doing some random stuff to occupy the time. He set a rope trap with some nearby vines and immediately forgot about it as he was distracted by a bug on a nearby log. He caught it with his tongue and was about to proudly eat it when slipped on the wet bark and fell backwards into his own trap, his world turning upside-down in an instant. He yelled aloud.
"Help! I'm caught in a trap! That I didn't set myself! Definitely! Is my yelling convincing to anyone nearby!?" The bushes near him started to rustle, and Sprig's skin shivered. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't come undone. Darn his awesome trap setting skills! The rustling got louder until he saw a large creature lunge out at him, a large wooden spear in their hand. He nimbly swung out of the way before swinging back into place. He caught a glimpse of the creature's hair; a bright yellow unlike any he had ever seen before. Like burning wheat…he quickly realized what was happening. "Hair like burning wheat…a beast! A beast! Help, somebody!" The creature stopped stabbing at him and stood upwards, letting Sprig stay stuck suspended in the air. He got a closer look at the creature's features. For one, he could see that they were tall with slightly muscular limbs, which gave a definitive height advantage. She also had a weird face bump and two things sticking out from the sides of her head. She bent down to his face with what he assumed was a grin.
"You can talk? Hm, it'll be weird to eat you. Then again, it's free food." Sprig was surprised that this creature could speak, but it was able to make a spear, so who knew the intelligence they were capable of. He tried to think of a way out.
"Uh…just to warn you, I taste terrible. So, uh, don't." The creature raised a part of its face to look confused.
"How do you know that?" Sprig didn't. He hoped she wouldn't ask, but she was much smarter than he thought. He was about to answer with whatever he could think of, but was interrupted by another rustling in the bushes. Another creature walked out of them and to the creature he was talking to. This one was holding the hollow mace that Wally was talking about. It also had a brown skin tone and an explosion of hair. This one started talking to the wheat haired one.
"Sasha, we're not eating that. He talks. We'd be like that big thing chasing us." 'Sasha' turned to the mace holding creature.
"Well, you know, it's survival of the fittest, isn't it? Bigger things eat smaller hints and those smaller things eat even smaller things." The hollow mace holder gave 'Sasha' a deadpan look.
"That's the food chain." 'Sasha's' face turned red and she looked away.
"Same difference." Sprig looked between the two and gave a nervous smile.
"Well, uh, not to interrupt, but…could either of you get me down? Please?" 'Sasha' looked like she was about to say something before a screech was heard in the distance. Mace Holder turned her head around and spoke with a distressed voice.
"Oh crap, it's coming back around." Sprig raised his head inquisitively.
"What is?" Another screech resounded through the forest, which prompted 'Sasha' to start running away. She shouted back for Mace Holder.
"Anne! Run for your life!" 'Anne' seemed to turn her head between Sprig and 'Sasha', with 'Sasha' gaining more and more distance. A third screech came and sounded much closer than before. Sprig started chewing on his rope, hoping he could get it off before whatever was screeching could reach him. What he didn't expect was for 'Anne' to start untying his leg from the rope. She quickly finished, grabbed him under her shoulder, her mace in the other hand, and ran over to where 'Sasha' had gone, which was a medium sized log a few feet away. 'Anne' quickly ducked inside it, shoving 'Sasha' over to the side as the monster hit a claw against the bark. It stayed outside for a moment as the three held their breaths. One beat. Two beats. Three beats. And it left. The three sighed with relief. Sprig wriggled out of 'Anne's' arm and stood on the other side of the log.
"You're not a monster; you're a hero! An ugly, ugly, ugly hero!" 'Anne' laughed.
"Call me ugly again and maybe I will eat you." Sprig smiled and laughed it off.
"You won't eat me." He turned to 'Sasha'. "You might, though." 'Sasha' seemed like she was going to snap back, but gave a frustrated look to the side.
"Not my fault I haven't eaten for two days…" Sprig looked concerned for a moment before holding his hand out to 'Anne'.
"You got names, strangers?" 'Anne' motioned to herself.
"I'm Anne. Anne Boonchuy." She pointed to 'Sasha'. "This is Sasha Waybright, my be…my friend." Sasha looked at Anne with a raised eyebrow but didn't say anything. Sprig kept his hand stretched out, hoping for a handshake. The two girls noticed this and whispered amongst each other.
(Anne, don't do it)
(Well, it's polite thing to do)
(He's an anthropomorphic frog. I don't think he understands what 'polite' even is)
"I do know what politeness is." Sprig said, interrupting them. Sasha glared over at him.
"Hey, Frogger, stop eavesdropping. We're discussing something." " Sprig crossed his arms.
"My name's Sprig. Not Frogger. Sprig Plantar." Sasha waved him off.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm too hungry to care. Can you get us some food so we don't have to eat you?" Sprig felt a bit offended, but reached upwards in the and took off some of the inner bark. Behind it was a cavalcade of bugs and insects crawling back and forth. Anne and Sasha immediately stuck out their tongues in disgust and Anne raised a finger.
"Something that isn't bugs, please?" Sprig raised an eyebrow.
"Not bugs, eh? We'll have to hunt around a bit. Follow me!" He jumped out of the log quickly, leaving Anne and Sasha sitting in the cramped log. Sasha moved outside and pointed at Sprig.
"Wait! How do we know we can trust you?" Sprig stopped and turned around, making a cutesy face.
"What? Does this look like a face that can deceive you?" Sasha looked at him with a deadpan stare.
"Yes." Sprig's face turned droopy and he continued hopping away.
"Okay. Follow me anyway." He continued hopping away with Anne following him as Sasha reluctantly did the same.
—
Hop-Pop was exiting the store when he saw a gathering of frogs outside, holding pitchforks and torches. Mayor Toadstool was heading it, a torch in his hand as well. He raised his fist up for people to see.
"Alrigh', everybody. When I say 'Kill', you say 'It'. Kill!"
"It!"
"Kill!"
"It!"
"Why, that was a great 'It', Maurice."
"Why, thank you." Hop-Pop shook his head with a smile and sighed.
"Another day, another mob." He walked over to the cart and hopped up. "Alright, kids, I got the things, so let's…" He stopped when he saw Polly lying on the ground lethargically, candy wrappers laying around her like they had been savagely torn apart. She noticed Hop-Pop and lazily pointed at him.
"I don't have a candy problem, you have a candy problem!" Hop-Pop gasped and started worrying immediately.
"Where did Sprig go?" Polly waved her hand around.
"Something, something, woods. Something, something, beast. I didn't really hear. Mostly 'cause I didn't really care." Hop-Pop started panicking. He took a breath before jumping towards the forest.
"I'm comin' for ya, boy!"
—
Sasha was probably having the second worst week in her entire life. For starters, her hair was a complete mess. She picked it clean of twigs every morning that she and Anne were in this swampy hell and every day ended with even more than before. Oh, yeah. She was also in another world! How could she forget that!? She was almost constantly reminded of that with every muddy puddle she accidentally stepped in! She wasn't sure if Anne was as freaked out by this as her, but she wasn't even noticing the sticks in her hair, so who's to say? She was trying to keep all of this frustration inside as she and Anne followed the little pipsqueak through the woods, Anne innocently following him. Poor, poor, Anne; so trusting, so stupid. Sasha did not trust this little frog one bit, and she hoped that she'd see that soon, but she played along for now so she could see when this went badly and have to save Anne from it…again!
They were currently walking through the woods a bit before the pipsqueak (Slig? Spig? Something with an S) started talking again.
"So, where do you come from, strangers? You clearly aren't from around here." Sasha wasn't very willing to tell him, so she stayed quiet. But Anne stopped and started speaking dramatically.
"We come from another world!" She illustrated her point with a hand movement across her face. She then dropped her hand and shrugged. "Or it's a dream. Though, I'm not sure how Sasha would be here, so it's probably an isekai situation." Sprig nodded dumbly.
"I know that creature! But why would a worm from the tundra be involved in this?" Anne shook her head.
"It's a term from my world. It describes these types of situations in TV shows like anime!" Sprig raised the equivalent of his eyebrow.
"What's an 'anime'?" Sasha thought that that should be the end of it and covered Anne's mouth before she could say anything.
"Something you don't need to worry about. What you do need to worry about is finding us some food before we get too hungry and eat you. Got it?" Sprig made a concerned expression before settling on an annoyed one.
"Sheesh, alright. You don't have to be so rude about it." He hopped forward and out of sight behind a tree. Anne turned to Sasha with frustration.
"Dude, what the heck?" She said with a tone to match her face. "He's trying to help us. Stop being so rude." Sasha shook her head.
"How do you know that? Did you become a master at reading others' minds all of a sudden? He's trying to lead us into a trap and I was fine with going along with it because then you'd see the truth." Anne pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You were willing to get us in danger just so you would be proved right. I don't even know why I'm surprised; this is exactly like you." Sasha scoffed at her.
"Oh, you're not surprised, are you? Then why'd you stay with me for so long, huh?" Anne was about to answer, but no words came out of her mouth.
"...Forget about it. Let's find the frog before he changes his mind about helping us." She walked off, leaving Sasha behind with a mix of surprise and a glare on her face. As Anne disappeared into the foliage, she started to worry before grunting her dissent and running after her. Hopefully this wouldn't end with them dying…
—
Literally two minutes later…
Anne was using all of strength to keep the giant mantis' claw (mandible? Long sharp arm thingy?) away from Sprig. This surge of strength seemed to come out of nowhere. She turned to Sprig, who was behind her, and yelled at him.
"Do something!" Sasha was currently on the thing's back, attempting to bash its head with a large rock she found nearby. It was not working.
"What do you want me to do!? I'm trying my best up here!"
"I'm talking to Sprig!" Sprig, who had been frozen in place from shock and the possible sight of something in Anne's eyes, shook it off and went into action.
"Right! Got it!" Sprig grabbed a nearby rope and jumped over the red mantis, passing Sasha as he wrapped it up, allowing Anne to let go, dodge its strike, and help him finish. Sasha unceremoniously fell over on the ground as the mantis did the same on the opposite side. Anne immediately ran to her aid.
"Sasha! Are you okay?" She tried to pick her up, but Sasha waved her away.
"I'm fine." She stood up by herself. Meanwhile, the frog mob, who had appeared about a minute ago to hunt them down, was celebrating.
"Woo-hoo!"
"It's down!"
Anne decided to join the celebration by offering Sprig a high five.
"We did it!" Sprig accepted, launching his tongue out to her hand. Anne reflexively scrunched up her face as she wiped her hand on her skirt. "Oh, boy. That's gross."
The celebration was cut short by Mayor Toadstool, who motioned to Anne and Sasha.
"Well, now that we're done with that fiasco, what the heck ar' we gonna do with these things?" Wally raised a hand.
"We should pro'lly run 'em out jus' in case!" The mob started cheering again and started marching towards the two girls. With Sasha banged up and Anne still tired, it seemed they had no choice. That was until Sprig jumped between the two groups, protecting the two girls from the mob.
"Stop right there! They aren't monsters! Or beasts! Or anything bad! They're just lost and need our help. We should take care of them." Mayor Toadstool, who was holding Toadie like a club, looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Ar' you crazy?" Wally, behind him, joined in.
"Yea'! Wot if dey go nu'ty tomorrow n' start eatin' people?" Sasha stuck out her tongue.
"Ew. Yeah, no thanks, froggo." It seemed like the mob would continue last Sprig, but a familiar old, orange frog walked up next to him along with a yellow, middle aged lady frog with a green dress.
"Don't you worry yourselves. I'll take 'em both. My basement's big enough." Toadstool stood in place, looking between the mob and Hop-Pop before making a decision.
"Awright, Hopediah, have it your way, but I don't like it." He turned to the group of frogs behind him. "Pack it in, boys and girls! Mob's ova." The villagers mumbled their dissent, but walked back home. Sprig stood in front of Hop-Pop with a guilty look on his face.
"Well, I guess I caused more trouble for us, didn't I?" Hop-Pop briefly had a confused expression on his face, but quickly switched it for a smile.
"Trouble? Sprig, standing up to that angry mob to help this creature out was... Some of the bravest and most responsible stuff I've ever seen!" Sprgs face lit up as Polly, who Hop-Pop had carried over, started jumping in her bucket.
"It was cool. Really dumb, but cool." Hop-Pop nodded.
"Yup. Really, really dumb." Sprig's face was the same.
"You think I'm responsible?" Hop-Pop scratched his head with a shrug.
"I mean…this one time, I guess." Sprig jumped in celebration.
"Woo! Big win!" The two girls had been watching this in the side quietly until Saha spoke up.
"Hey, not to interrupt the touching family moment, but if it's okay with you, we'd like to go." Anne nodded along.
"If you could just give us a map or something, we'd be fine to get out of here." Hop-Pop shook his head at that.
"Oh, well, even if I were to give this map," He pulls out a parchment and unrolls it. "It wouldn't be close to enough." He stretches it out for them to see. "This here valley is surrounded by mountains that are impenetrable this time of year. The only way through is currently blocked by an ice sheet." Sprig saw the worried faces of the two girls and tried to offer consolation.
"It'll probably clear up in two or three months." Sasha's eye twitched violently.
"Are you saying we're stuck in this crummy dung hole for two months!?" Sprig raised a finger.
"Two or three months." Sasha turned to him with a glare.
"That's still a long time!" Anne decided to cut in.
"Where are we going to stay for that long?"
—
An hour later…
"All righty. Kitchen's upstairs. Breakfast is at sunrise, sharp. You don't come, you wony get fed. Mostly 'cause the kids'll have finished it by then." He waved them goodbye and went upstairs. Sprig was helping them set up their sleeping bags. They had already retrieved their backpacks from a tree they had hidden it inside, which Sprig told them would not have kept them safe and that it was a miracle they were still there. He had gone upstairs for a surprise before coming back down with a load of plushies.
"You guys can have these to keep you company if you can't sleep well." He threw them on the ground. "I'm too old for these." He then grabbed one." O-oh, except for this one." He grabbed another." Oh, and this one." He kept grabbing them up. "Oops, this one too. Sorry. This one as well." He eventually had all of them in his arms again. He smiled at the two girls. "I'm glad you're livin' with us, monsters." Sasha ignored him and lay down in her sleeping bag. Anne was going to respond, but with Sasha in the room, she didn't want to be made fun of. She simply nodded back. Sprig walked back up the stairs. "Okay. Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." He reached the top of the stairs but bent his head down to see them. "Seriously, they can drain a body in seconds." He then brought his head back upstairs and jogged away. Anne made a disgusted face and lay down on her bag, facing away from Sasha. After a few minutes of silence, Sasha spoke up.
"Is the box working?" Anne hesitated before reaching for her backpack and bringing out the music box from before. She sat up, Sasha following suit, and took a deep breath before pulling the lid open. Nothing happened. Sasha's hopeful expression went back to a grumpy face as she lay down again. "Guess we're stuck here for a while." Anne put the box back on her backpack and zipped it shut. She lay down as well and eventually, the two fell asleep.
—
And that's a wrap! This chapter took longer than I thought. Sorry for the wait. Thanks for being patient, though. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next one finished and out by January. If not, I apologize. Anyways, Happy Holidays and New Year! Thirteen-Seven out. Later.
