Chapter 6:

Blue Eyes

Deep inside of the forest, far from Wartwood, dangerous creatures can be found wandering around the area, each of them seeking out a particular objective. Some want to be left alone and to live in peace. Others are searching for food. And some wish to occupy territories, and will wrestle control of them against opposing species for the sake of it. What drives them to do so is their survival instinct, such is nature.

And if a regular person, who sees no action for most of their life, finds themself in the middle of it all? They either get torn to shreds by the wild creatures, become food for them, both, or worse. All part of their survival instinct.

Needless to say, the Wartwood townsfolk tend to steer clear away from wildlife territory. The few people daring enough to enter such a deathtrap are hunters trying to obtain exotic food, people who have profound knowledge of the area to traverse past places where danger might lurk…

… And of course, people seeking out adventurous thrills. A certain, pink frog belonging to a family of farmers is one such example of an adventure-seeking rascal.

The pink frog leaped out of the bushes before landing in the middle of a wide area deep within the forest. He looked around himself to see if he could find a rare fruit that was said to only appear once every decade, near the end of the current season. It was the sole reason why he was travelling deep inside of the forest, far away from the town, in spite of the danger. If he could find that fruit and bring it back to his family, they might benefit from it by somehow growing it and selling the produce to the public for a handsome sum of money.

Although, if he was honest with himself, he was using that as an excuse to venture into the wild, as he himself believed that the rare fruit was only a myth, a fact that his grandfather told him a few times over the course of the year. He could always find a random fruit that he deems to be uncommon and bring it back to his family at the end of his adventure, not caring if it's worth a copper or two.

As he paced himself around the wide area, his stomach started to growl.

"Oof." Sprig said as he placed his hands on his belly. "Guess I should have packed up some lunch first."

He debated on whether or not he should continue forward or stop and forage for some food, when his eyes rested on the sight of bushes full of green and red berries growing from them.

"Oooh!" The young boy licked his lips as he hopped over to the berry-grown bushes. Before he could satiate his hunger by picking them one by one, he recalled one of Hop Pop's warnings about the berries.

"What was it that Hop Pop said again…?" Sprig asked himself, trying to remember what it was that his grandfather told him. "Green and red, be well fed. Blue and red, instantly dead… Or is it the other way around? Or is it green and purple, spleen goes… garble? Or… Ah, whatever!"

He proceeded to pick each and every berry and toss them in his mouth, happily munching and savouring each of them before swallowing down the hatch. He planned to keep on doing it until either the bushes are rid of any berries or his belly becomes full of them.

As he continued to pick the berries, he came across one that was harder to pull out compared to the others. He increased the strength of his pull bit by bit while trying not to pull too hard to the point where he ends up popping the berry in the process.

"Ngh…! Come on, you stupid berry…! Come… to… papa!"

After a few tries, Sprig managed to pull out the stubborn berry, though not without him falling to the ground on his back due to the amount of force that he had to exert to accomplish the task. "Haha!" he cheered as he sat up before enjoying his reward by taking the berry in his mouth.

That is, until he noticed that the berry was still somehow connected to the branch of the bush.

And the branch somehow got extended from the bush to where Sprig was sitting.

And the branch was strangely moving.

"… That doesn't look good."

His concerns were proven correct when the branch lifted itself up to the sky, and the bushes were shaking until something emerged out of them. Looking up, he was met with the sight of a large, tree-like monstrosity walking on four pairs of root-like legs, two large branches that serve as arms with multiple, smaller branches protruding across, all holding berries, and a terrifying face that stared down at its prey who did not know any better.

"Oh boy, that really doesn't look good."

The tree monster roared in Sprig's small face before it swung its arm down on him. The pink frog yelped as he put his arms up in an attempt to protect himself from the monster's attack.

"YAAAHH!"

POW!

Before its arm could reach the boy, an unexpected person came swinging towards it on a vine and delivered a hard kick on its face, causing it stumble back away from Sprig.

Realizing that the monster's attack never came, Sprig moved his arms down just in time for his mysterious saviour to land in front of him. He gasped when he instantly recognized who it was. Who would ever forget a small, yellow frog in a patched-up beanie that mostly covered her orange hair, wearing a seafoam green shirt with dark-grey overall skirt.

"Ivy!" he happily shouted out the name of his childhood friend.

"You okay there, Sprig?" Ivy asked as she lent him a helping hand, which he was too eager to take it to pull himself up from the ground.

"Yeah!" he nodded. "Boy, am I really glad to see you, Ivy!"

"Same here." she said.

The tree monster recovered from the kick to the face and let out a ferocious roar towards the sky, alerting the two young frogs and reminding them that they're not out of the woods yet.

"No time to talk, Sprig!" Ivy exclaimed as she pulled out an axe and tossed it to Sprig.

"Right!" he said as he caught the axe in his hands. "Huh. Where did you pull the axe from?"

"I said no time to talk!" Ivy armed herself with a second axe that she also pulled from out of nowhere. "It's time for a comeback!"

"Oh right!" Sprig heeded her words and readied himself for combat with axe in hand.

The tree monster roared out one more time before it charged itself at the two young frogs. Sprig and Ivy yelled out in retaliation, as both of them ran at the monster with their axes raised above their heads.

What resulted was basically a one-sided fight where the monster was gradually getting bits and pieces of its limbs chopped off by the young couple, unable to get a hit on them due to their smaller size and speed.

Sprig and Ivy relentlessly attacked their opponent with no sign of stopping, until they eventually managed to cut off a few of its legs and even one of its arms, not to mention the numerous cuts that it received which exposed its vulnerable flesh hidden beneath its bark exterior.

The monster realized that it was fighting a losing battle, and with a distressed roar, it immediately retreated from the two frogs, fearing for its life.

Sprig and Ivy both let out a loud cheer, dropping their axes and pumped their fists up to the sky, before giving each other a high-five.

"That was incredible!" Ivy shouted. "Definitely one of the most satisfying fights that I ever had!"

"Yeah!" Sprig agreed. "Did you see that tree abomination running away like a wimp?! I didn't think I've ever seen monsters like that acting like a big loser!"

"Yeah! It was pretty funny! And sad in a way!"

"Haha! It really was!"

The two young frogs both laughed with each other as another form of them celebrating their victory, as well as the fact that they were enjoying each other's company. Once they had exhausted their laughter, Ivy turned herself around and began to march towards one direction chosen randomly, presumably to search for more adventurous thrills.

"Come on, Sprig! The Sun's still up and we have a lot more exploring to do in this dense forest filled with exciting danger!" she said

"You got it!" Sprig said as he began to follow his childhood friend, as they traversed deep inside of the forest.

Ever since she showed up to his rescue, Sprig could not stop himself from looking fondly at Ivy. How strong she looked when she effortless chopped away the monster's limbs, how excited she was when they celebrated their win, how cute she presented herself when she laughed alongside him…

He loved everything about her. Her strength, her enthusiasm, her tendency to spring into action, everything. He also loved the fact that both of them shared a lot in common with one another. He could not believe that it took him until the failed, arranged courtship to realize that he has feelings for Ivy Sundew. And he was certain that she shared the same feeling.

When he thought about the possibility of sharing a lifetime with her, he was surprised at how a hundred percent certain he was about that future. Does that mean that it was time for them to enter in a relationship with one another? He knew that he wanted to. And if he knew his childhood friend well, then she would share the same mindset as him.

There was no reason for him to fear rejection, when that possibility does not exist. All he had to do was speak his mind to Ivy.

"Ivy," Sprig spoke to her, causing the two frogs to stop where they were. "I'm really glad that you and I met each other when we were tadpoles. I feel like I got to know a lot about you, and I'm pretty sure that it's the same for you. The time that we spent together, the playful fights that we had, the adventures that we've gone through side by side… It made me realize just how much I want you in my life."

The yellow frog did not turn around to face him. But he was sure that she was listening, at least.

"You might think that I'm going way to fast with it, but to tell you the truth, I've never been that sure about it in my whole life, so…"

Sprig took a deep breath, as he was about to speak out his declaration of love to his childhood friend.

"Ivy… I love you." he said. "Would you go out on a date with me?"

"…Sprig."

That was it. The point of no return. The point where Sprig and Ivy's lives were about to change drastically. Numerous thoughts came in the young boy's mind. How would they celebrate their hook-up? How would they inform their families about it? How long would they spend time with each other until they feel ready to move on to the next level? When would they start a family of their own? How many children should they have?

Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself with those thoughts. But one thing is for certain, the idea of him and Ivy being a couple was a sure thing. Everyone was expecting it. Even he was expecting it. That was how sure he was that they would become a thing no problem. From that point forward, Sprig and Ivy are now a-.

"Sorry… But no."

"… Huh?"

Just a few words from her caused everything to crumble in his mind and soul. A simple 'no' was enough to blow up every expectations that he had about his future with her. A simple rejection betrayed everything that he ever knew about her and their bond with one another.

"N… No?" he repeated, in state of disbelief. "I-is that what you just said?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Sprig." she apologized, her back still facing the shocked boy.

"B-but why?!" he asked, his heart feeling like it was sinking down into his stomach. "W-we went through a lot together ever since we were really young! We've known each other like the back of our hand! I… I don't get it!"

The pink frog fell on his knees, his legs feeling like they could not handle the invisible weight that they were forcefully chained to by the yellow frog's words. He struggled with all of his might to not burst out crying. He wanted to know why she rejected him so easily like that. He had to know.

"Ivy, tell me! What did I do wrong?!"

"Isn't it obvious, Sprig?" Ivy said, finally turning herself around to look at the distraught boy with a look of disgust in her eyes.

"… I don't date ugly humans."

"W… what? What are you…?"

He was confused by the answer that he got from her. It was not until he looked down at himself that he noticed that something was different about him. Namely, his entire body had changed.

His hands had an extra finger each, and were not webbed. The colour of his skin was changed from pink to beige. His feet had five toes instead of two. His body felt taller than usual. And, upon examining his face with his hands, it was structurally different and had a face bump in the middle.

The reality of her words became apparent to him. He was no longer a frog, but a human being.

"W-what? B-but how did I…?" Sprig struggled to comprehend exactly when was it that he turned into a human being.

Before he could organize his thoughts, jumbled by that revelation, he saw that Ivy had turned her back on him once more and began to walk away from him.

"Looks like you don't know me as much as you think." Ivy said. "Otherwise, you'd have known that we're never a good fit for each other."

"W-wait! Ivy, please!" Sprig cried out to her as he got up on his feet with all of his might and ran after her, seeking to find a way around their species-related issue.

Despite her simply walking, while he was running, the distance between them became larger and larger by the second. Not only that, but the forest that they were in slowly disappeared into darkness, leaving only the human boy and the frog girl visible in the dark void. Everything went unnoticed by the despairing boy, as he focused entirely on her.

"Goodbye, Sprig." Ivy said, as she became far away enough from him to essentially disappearing from his sight. "I don't ever want to see you again."

"No! Don't go, Ivy!" he cried, tears freely falling from his eyes. "I can fix this! I can fix all of this! Just give me a chance, Ivy! Please! Ivy!"

His focus on Ivy got interrupted, when his next step forward nearly caused him to slip over the edge.

"Aah!"

He barely saved himself from falling when he leaned back and fell on his butt, with his legs dangling on the edge of a cliff. One glimpse past the edge was enough for him to know that what awaited down below was a bottomless void.

"Ivy?!" He looked up to where he last saw the yellow frog, and to his dismay, his childhood friend had disappeared. Instead, all that he saw in front of him were a few, small islands floating aimlessly in the night sky, surrounded by stars.

"… Wait… What?"

Sprig realized that something was different. Looking around him, he saw the scenery had changed. He was no longer in the forest located far away from Wartwood. He was instead sitting on the edge of one of the floating islands in the middle of nowhere in the sky. When he looked up, all he saw were a few more islands floating far above him, as well as the many stars glimmering endlessly in the night.

A moment had passed, and four stars suddenly appeared among the many stars, every one of them moving in one direction across the night sky, each leaving a trail of a different colour.

Blue. Green. Red. And Yellow.

Everything about it seemed familiar to him, somehow…

As he watched the four shooting stars moving through the sky, one of the shooting stars that was leaving a yellow trail suddenly changed course. It was instead moving towards the young boy, its appearance growing larger and larger the more closer it was to where he was.

Sprig thought that the shooting star was about to hit him. But instead, it flew past him. He let his eyes follow the star just in time for it to turn into shiny, yellow dust, dispersing itself around the island that he was at, especially the house.

The house that looked suspiciously like the Plantars' house.

"Wait… This house…" he whispered to himself, as he stood up from the ground. "I… I think I saw it before…"

Everything about what he saw seemed very familiar to him. As in, he had a very similar dream like that before. Is it even possible to have the same dream twice?

He set his gaze on the house that looked like the Plantars' house. Before he even realized it, he found himself walking towards the house, specifically towards the front door. Approaching the house never crossed his mind even once, and never once did his curiosity lingered on it. Yet, there he was, moving step-by-step towards the house.

He could not explain it, but something about the place was pulling him in. Like it was calling to him.

He was certain that it was not the first time that it happened.

As soon as he found himself standing in front of the door, he looked down at the doorknob and, before his mind began to process his next course of action, his hand was already grasping on it. He figured that there was no point in trying to stop himself, since somehow, his body was moving on its own. Might as well find out what's inside.

He slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the front door open, as the light from the inside engulfed the young boy.

He had his other hand up to shield his eyes from the blinding light. As soon as the light began to fade, he slowly moved his hand down and was presented with what was behind the front door.

It was a large, empty room. Empty, as in there was not even a single item that could tell him what kind of room it was or that could give the room a sense of identity.

No furniture. No curtains. No carpet. No lamps, despite there being some form of lighting in the room. No nothing.

It was simply a large, empty room with stoned walls with two windows, one on each side walls, a wooden floor and a triangular roof. It was completely empty.

… Except for a single person, sitting in the middle of the room. A person wearing a short cloak with a hood, and a tunic.

Sprig was unsure what to do next. It did not seem like that person was alerted of his presence, despite the front door being opened. He was basically barging in on someone's propriety without knowing. He felt that the smart thing to do was to leave quietly before the person in the room even realized that someone invaded their home.

Yet… An unknown force was beckoning him to make his presence known.

"Um… Hello?"

The owner of the house got startled by the sound of his voice. They turned their head around to have their gaze crossed with his, and it was there that he got a good look of their face.

It seemed to be a pink, female frog with short, orange hair that stopped at the length of her neck. On top of wearing the cloak and tunic, she also had a brooch shaped like a leaf keeping the cloak together.

She… looked like Sprig when he was a frog.

"Sorry. I, uh, didn't really mean to startle you, miss." Sprig apologized. "Uh… I sorta got lost trying to chase a friend, and I, uh… I was wondering if you could help me." He took a step forward.

Suddenly, the hooded frog quickly stood up from the floor, becoming alarmed as she took a step away from the boy.

"Whoa! I-it's okay, miss!" Sprig tried to reassure her, as he raised his hands up. "I'm not going to-"

He trailed off when he saw that the young girl did something strange. She had her eyes closed for one second, and for the next second, she opened them up again. Somehow, her eyes changed to what he could only describe as…

"Glowing, blue eyes…?"

For a split second, the female frog suddenly appeared right in front of him. Sprig barely had time to look down and saw the look of fear in the young girl's eyes, before she forcefully shoved the boy back with unnatural strength.

He screamed as he was being sent flying back through the door, unable to comprehend what happened a second ago.

Sprig woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up from his bed.

He was panting and clutching his chest with one hand in an attempt to calm his fast-beating heart. He looked around himself and saw that he was inside of his room, now relatively clean after he cleaned up all of his torn clothes and had all the fallen objects hanged from the ceiling again. And since his hammock bed was still out of commission, he was resting on a simple mattress.

He let out a relieved sigh, once he managed to calm his heart down. "Whoa… That was one, crazy dream." he said.

He tried to recall what happened in his dream. He was in a forest, searching for a fruit, and came across a monster. Then Ivy came along and she and Sprig fought the monster together until it ran away, crying for mommy. Then Sprig confessed his love for Ivy, but she rejected him because he was a human being, which he suddenly turned into. Which led to Ivy walking away from him, and he attempted to reach out to her, begging her to come back. And then…

And then…

"… Wait. What happened after that…?"

He knew that something else occurred in his dream, but the scenes following him chasing after Ivy became a blur. He could not recall what happened afterwards no matter how hard he worked his brain to remember. The most that he could make out of was one, small notable image.

Glowing, blue eyes…

"Argh… What am I doing? I shouldn't be invested in that dream." he said to himself, as he used his left hand to wipe the sweat off of his face. "I should be glad that it's over…"

When he moved his hand down, his gaze fell on it, as he noted the extra finger and how it was not webbed. He frowned, as it was a reminder that he was still a transformed human being.

Shifting his gaze from the left hand to the right, he realized that his right hand was clutching something in its hold.

"My hat…"

His green hat and goggles were the only things still intact since he became human. It was gift given to him by his parents when he was a tadpole, and he had been wearing it ever since. It was difficult for anyone to imagine him without it. You could even say that it became his iconic hat.

He smiled as he had his thumb brushing on the lens of his goggles. Seeing his hat perfectly fine, it was like a part of his true, frog self can still be found on him, in spite of his human transformation.

"Hey, Sprig!" His baby sister made her presence known by swinging the door to his bedroom open before entering with a hop. "You awake yet?"

"Morning, Polly." Sprig greeted her, as he put down his hat next to him. "Yeah, I just got up."

"Okay, good. Hop Pop just got done making breakfast for us. You coming or not?"

"Yeah, in a sec, Polly."

Polly nodded before she hopped out of his room through the door.

His reminiscing over his hat, and his sister's sudden intrusion helped him stop worrying about him not being able to remember all of his dream. A good thing too, since he was not in the mood to have the scene where Ivy coldly rejected him replay on loop in his head.

He got up from his temporary bed and left his bedroom to join the rest of his family downstairs to eat breakfast, closing the door behind him in the process.

… A small spark of electricity ran itself across Sprig's goggles before dissipating.

End of Chapter

Hey, everybody. HiddenKurogawa here with Chapter 6 of the story.

With that, the introductory chapters are done, and we can finally move forward with the reimagining of Season 2 and beyond with Human Sprig and see how different the adventure is going to be.

To be perfectly honest with you, I underestimated just how long each chapter is. Chapter 4, 5 and 6 were supposed to be a single chapter that introduces the basis of the plot of the story. It wasn't until after writing Chapter 4 that I realized just how big this supposedly single chapter is going to be. Since I'm still trying to get back into the groove of writing stories, as well as the fact that I tend to be an impatiently excited person who wants to show you guys what I've done as soon as possible, I ended up splitting it into 3 separate chapters.

As the result, I feel like each chapter, despite being at a relatively reasonable length, doesn't have a lot happening in terms of plot, making it a chore to read through. I wonder if it's because I tend to write more words than necessary to make myself smarter than I actually am...? Wouldn't be the first time, honestly.

Anyways, thank you for sticking up with me at this point of the story. Feel free to comment, follow and/or fave this story, though I would appreciate these very much. And don't hesitate to criticize me, as I feel like I have a lot to learn in terms of writing. Until next time.