The sea wind blows through his immaculate blonde hair. Saltwater fills his froggy nostrils and coats his throat with the taste of freedom, or what he assumes freedom to taste like. He slowly stuns the wall from side to side to keep his ship stabilized on the wild ocean waves.
He was the captain of his own ship, sailing the high seas with a crew of about forty men. Their business amongst the waves was an unofficial matter, direct from the kingdom of Newtopia. They were privateers, employed by the empire to hunt down pirates targeting their vessels and ships from rival nations alike.
Most of the men onboard were only there for riches or notoriety, but Sprig liked to fancy himself a hero among his people. Out on the open waves, fighting for a better cause and a better nation, like his father and grandfather before him. The method by which he managed to attain that status may have been less honorable than his family might have liked but it was the quickest way he could think to break out into the field and jump-start his career. That and he had been searching for someone.
His family always advised against seeking her out. That their falling out with the girl was in no way his fault. He couldn't accept their comforts as truth sadly. If it wasn't for him and his lies, she would have still been with them. They would have still been a family.
Instead, she was so enraged with him, that the girl had started carving a warpath in her search for a way back home. She was relentless in her methods and absolutely brutal in her ideology. She had been the highest bounty marked by the empire due to her actions. The highest they had in centuries. Combined with her two friends also out there running amuck, the seas have never been more dangerous.
Looking for her also had to do with the assessment they were currently on as well. They had been cruising the queen's highway for weeks now. Their job was one no other sailor dared to accept. There were all kinds of rumors floating around about the treasure they were sent to retrieve. From an immortal blood curse that lies upon its retrieval to it housing the heart of an ancient pirate that upon opening it would certainly seal their doom.
The item was a bronze box, hidden away in an old fortress on a deserted jungle island a long time ago. The only reason he knew where it had been located was because his great-grandmother was the one to hide it away all those years ago. Now Newtopia wanted it back.
Besides a few rusted-over trips of the mountain fortress it was housed in, the item had been nothing special. Just a plain old box with three gems missing from the empty engravings. It was nothing like the illustrations his grandma had drawn up. He secretly hoped for something mystical, yet alas. No there had been nothing mystic about the old box.
The young captain doesn't know what she was hoping it would do, but that didn't matter. Now that he has it, she wouldn't be too far behind. They always liked to play cat and mouse back home. She wouldn't skip the chance to chase him down.
He had taken a big gamble by accepting this assignment. His men had already distrusted him due to his age. He was the youngest ship captain in the Royal Navy to date across Newtopioa's long history. They felt his age meant a lack of experience. He didn't care what they thought of him. He trusted in his own abilities and as long as they knew who was in charge, there wouldn't be a problem.
Besides, it's not like his position would matter for much longer. Now that he'd acquired the box it wouldn't be long before she was hot on his trail. Maybe a little faster than he was prepared for at that.
"Captain!" A man screams getting the young captain's attention.
"Ye- yeah!?"
"Look!" He shouts, pointing off the starboard bow and to the distance. Sprig turns his head to the horizon and his eyes fall upon the sight of blue sails, fully opened as the waves carry the large toad 'o war toward them. The Revenge had found them.
"Damn." He hisses, spinning the wheel and turning his ship to its starboard. "Ready the cannons!" He barks at the mass of men. The young captain keeps a cool head for his crew but in all honesty, he was subtly trembling in his boots. "Give her a warning!" He shouts as a single cannon fires.
His intention was to graze her ship with a warning shot. He was hoping she'd slow her row and take a breath so that the two could possibly parley and prevent any unneeded bloodshed. Unfortunately, she continues at full speed. Making peace was the furthest thing from her mind.
"Captain. What now?" The young captain's first mate questioned his intentions. Sprig couldn't delay any longer. There was no other choice but to fight.
"Okay." He whispers to himself. He'd have to make a proper move on her or maneuver around her. He couldn't die before he got the chance to at least speak with her. He raises his hand "Fire at her sails! Take out her legs."
The cannons of his frigate let loose, the cannon balls swiftly ripping through the blue sails. Though it hardly slows her down. "Fire!" He orders again with about as much the same results as the first go around. He was still going easy on her and he knew she knew it and was planning to exploit that weakness. "Brace!" He wails, kneeling down and preparing for the impact of the other's ship.
She'd rammed into him, nearly cleaving his ship in two with the power of her toad ' o war. He had nearly been sent to the ground during the hit. The wood on his deck splinters and chips as his ship sits entangled with the other. The Revenge was fast, faster than any toad 'o war should have been. She must have done something with the hulking visual to get it like that.
The young captain's brief reflection is interrupted as her crew starts to board his ship in droves.
He looks out past the pirates and blue sails and over to the toad 'o war. He couldn't make her out from the smoke of gunfire and clashing of swords, but he was sure she was there, stalking about somewhere.
He races to his feet and unsheathes his sword. He could think about what he wanted to say later. Right now, he just needed to live to be able to say it. He hopes over the railing of the quarterdeck and down to the spar as pirates begin to flood his ship.
The young captain was never afraid to jump right into the fray alongside his men. His swordsmanship was never a subject of debate. His grandfather had fought in the great war and his father was a foot solder during the sand wars.
They taught him everything he ever needed to know about combat and in turn, he would show a few measly scoundrels that he was made of sterner stuff. His age didn't matter and his species less so.
The young captain would use his size to his advantage in any given altercation, something no newt or toad would ever expect. A frog that small striking with both speed and power had earned him his own reputation on the high seas. He was sure she was aware of that as well.
He slashes deep into a toad's chest, moving quickly to impale another newt with his cutlass. He never stayed still for too long. It was a part of his carefully tuned style. Pirates were known for being cheats and tricksters in everything they did, but the young captain could be just as tricky.
He plunges his sword into the head of another toad when he notices the crowd start to spread out. He had no idea what the reason for the sudden reluctance was. He looks around and sees that most of his crew has either been captured or killed. Sprig wonders what it was they were waiting for. until the realization violently strikes him.
She steps forward, her torn blue dress revealing high-heeled leather boots. The corset around her waist was adorned with swords and pistols of many different types. She had a few new scars on her face and an eyepatch to accommodate her recently missing eye. Even so, he still saw her as the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. The sight of her missing eye does pain him to a degree.
"Sprig!" She exclaimed in her excitement. He couldn't tell if it was for him or the box he was carrying. "Oh, it's been too long wouldn't say?" She draws two swords from her corset and prepares herself.
"Aye." He extends his sword to her. "Maybe a little too long." The two exchange looks, baring down on each other with heavy gazes. He waits for her to move and she does the same. Eventually, she gets tired of the waiting and lounges at him instead.
She thrust both swords at him which he sidesteps, though she would bring the weapons back around quickly with a swift twirl, nearly taking his head off had he been just a bit slower. They used to practice a lot back on the farm together. She had certainly gotten faster and much better than she used to be these past few years.
The young captain goes at her and their swords clash with a sharp cling. "Not bad huh Sprig?" She smiled bringing one of her swords back to try and stab at him. She was a tricky sort now, more devious than she ever used to be.
"Sure." He reposts one of the swords from her hand leaving the girl with only one. "For a pirate that is." He says as their swords connect again. She didn't seem to take too kindly to his comment when he saw the smile fall from her face.
She pushes him back and lounges at him again. He prepares himself and smacks at her sword with his. They go back and forth, their blades bouncing off one another as small sparks flash and crackle off with each hit.
"That's real big coming from you, lair." She spat, parrying one of his hits and backing up to the stairs leading to the quarterdeck deck. He follows, slashing at the girl with a frown of his own.
"That's not true." He growls and continues his slashing and thrusting. "You don't know what you're talking about."
She chuckles at his dismissive words. "I don't?" She growls rushing at him again with wild swings from her cutlass. "Your family lied to me about knowing where the box was, about Sasha and Marcy. You lied to me." She said, tears obscuring her vision though she would fight on relentlessly. "I thought you cared about me."
"We just wanted to keep you safe. You have to understand that we were just worried about you. My family always told me that the box was dangerous. I was worried about you." He explains, taking the opportunity to slash at her again. "I never meant to hurt you." Each hit he gave was carried out with restraint. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her again.
When he spoke, she'd stopped in her tracks. The fight had come to a pause as her eyes steered away from the young captain in thought. The tears that flowed down her face vanished as the pondering look on her face was replaced with full-on rage.
"Well, it's too late." She lounged at him with everything she had. She swings and slashes and stabs and even begins to shoot when the sword doesn't seem to work out so well.
The young captain ducks and dodges, parring her thrust and swiping away her pistols as she pulls them, but she keeps coming at him, more and more angry. He was starting to get fed up with her and decided he needed to end the fight now.
He waits for her to strike again, jumping over her when she rushes him with one of her extra swords. He shoots his tongue out, wrapping it around her hand and whipping it upward to knock the pirate off her feet and onto the deck.
She was dazed for a bit. She goes to get up, but Sprig stops her, standing over the scared girl with his sword drawn. "Did you really think you could beat me?" He said. She wore a defeated expression on her face that soon turned into a malicious grin.
"Nope." She pops a smoke bomb down on the floor of the deck. He hadn't been expecting it and by the time he regained his barring's, she was already back on her ship with the rest of her crew and a bronze box in hand.
"I'll let you live this time Sprig! But if we ever cross paths in the future, I will demolish your sorry ass!" She shouts as she begins to sail away in the Revenge. What the rumors say was true. Her dreadnought was as amazing as it was horrifying.
The young captain looks around his own ship. The sails were gone along with most of his crew and anything of value, he's sure. She had played him, kited him away from the rest of the ship while her crew ransacked for everything it was worth.
He was dead in the water. He had fallen for her dirty skullduggery and played right into her hands. Like he always did... and maybe like he always would. Even then, the time he spent fighting her was the best he'd felt in a long time.
The young captain watches the girl sail away in her toad 'o war, over large waves and past the horizon. Then suddenly a flash of red, green, and blue would send him reeling into the darkness.
Sprig slowly opens his eyes. His body lay twisted up in the sheets of his messy bed. He groans, his body feels like it had been put through a grinder, shuffled like a deck of cards, and churned like butter by the town minstrels.
He felt like crap and the dream that sat fresh in his mind wasn't helping him. The dreams were usually warmer than the last one. Sweeter in a way. This time around it was cold. He couldn't explain the feeling exactly, but he knows it makes him feel awful.
He reaches under his pillow while still lying twisted up in his bed sheets. He grabs onto the phone after struggling, and worrying, to find it and brings it out. It flashes to life, stinging his eyes with a bright image of him and her, together and happy.
Sprig looks at it, tears brought on by the light touching eyes rolling down the sides of his face. Could things have been different? He wonders. He couldn't help but feel that her leaving was his fault and his alone. Whenever he thought back to the times they spent, all that ever came to mind were his faults and the little things he did that got on her nerves.
"No wonder she was trying to get away from you." He mutters and moves the device out of sight, holding it close to his chest. What could he have done differently? Sprig makes a million suppositions of the things he could have changed, but not one of his internal suggestions seemed like enough. Not for her. Not for him either.
He would skip breakfast that morning, skipped talking to anyone around the house too. He left before anyone could notice he was even up. The young teen wanted to be alone then. That was the only thing that made any kind of sense to him.
He walks down the dirt path leading from his home, running his fingers along the run-down wooden fence that would come to a stop at the end of his family's property. His walks into town by himself usually fill him with a sense of comfort and peace of mind. Though that morning all he could feel was loathing for himself and that heavy feeling that's been bugging him for weeks now.
Only it was no longer confined to his chest. The feeling had spread throughout his body. His arms, legs, eyes, and mind were all afflicted with the weight of the world. Most of the time he doesn't even feel alive, merely just dragging the body around from place to place.
Eventually, he finds himself in town, standing in the shadow of its savior with her sword constantly at the ready. Sometimes he wishes she would just bring it down on him already and bring an end to both their suffering.
"Hey..." He mumbles at the depiction of his hero. His voice comes out low, raspy, and exhausted. "I hope you're not still mad at me. I know I said some pretty nasty things the last time we met, but I never meant any of it." He peers away from her image as his eyes glaze over as the lids shut around them. "I keep thinking of ways to make it up to you, but every time I come up with something... it only leads to more bad things. I'm sorry I was so annoying, sorry I made life so hard when you were..." He shook his head. He felt speaking was pointless. trying to fix anything was. "Why'd you have to leave...?" He looks at her. Her stone smile doesn't betray the slightest hint of an answer, though he waits for it all the same.
"Sprig." The sound of a soft voice intervenes in the anticipation of an answer he would never receive. He turns slowly to the voice that came from behind and sees Ivy. She looked just as tired as he did then. Maybe less so he thought.
"Oh... Hey Ivy." She flinches. His response was quick and cold like daggers pointed at her flesh. He didn't even look her way when he spoke.
"I see you come around her a lot. Usually, you're just talking to the statue..." She chuckles before trailing off. The lack of sound she was emitting gets Sprig to finally look at her if only to check if she was still there. "Are we okay...? You know lately, I feel like you've been avoiding me and whenever I do see you, it's always at this statue." Her eyes widened, pleading for the boy to speak up and reassure her that everything was okay between them. That everything was going to be from here on out. "Are we?"
"W-what?" Sprig stutters. "Ivy come on... of course we are." He put on the best smile he could dig up for her, though he wasn't sure if it would actually work. She's been around him long enough to tell when he was lying. "I've just been so busy at home and taking care of things there, and-"
"Maddie told me what you asked her..." His face goes blank as Ivy's eyes fall away from him. "Did... you love her Sprig?"
"What?" He asked. "Of course, I did, she was like-"
"You know what I meant..." She mutters. He did know, he thought he could step around the question, avoid it like he'd been doing everything lately. But Ivy had been around him long enough to tell. "Did you love her?"
Sprig begins to open his mouth. He wanted to say something, tell Ivy that, of course, he didn't love her like that and that she was overthinking things. Telling lies would have been better than saying nothing at all, but he couldn't pull himself to even do that.
"Okay..." She softly says, walking past him quickly as he just barely catches the slight glimmer of her teary eyes.
He doesn't turn to go after her, doesn't look at her, he doesn't even bother to think about what had just happened between him and her. The young teen was too tired, his body was numb. All he wanted to do was sleep or daydream. Anything that didn't involve being present in reality.
His body starts moving. It was on autopilot. He doesn't know where it's taking him but anywhere that wasn't in front of that statue was good enough for the boy.
His mind was vacant of any thought that wasn't of her. There was no Ivy or Maddie, no Hop Pop or Sylvia, no Polly or Wally, no Grime or Olivia. Just him and her until the end of time. He wouldn't be able to take much more of this.
That heavy feeling in his body only gets more and more cumbersome as time passes. He thinks he knows what it is now. The moments without her. Every moment the girl wasn't in his life was a moment not worth living for.
At some point his body had taken a seat, his chin resting in his palms. He didn't have a clue where he was, but he didn't try to find out. Not until a familiar voice spurs the teen out of his chaotic tempest of a thought process.
"Sprig?" The young teen brings his head up and around to the concerned-sounding frog.
"Mayor Toadie?" Sprig says, narrowing his eyes at the small teal frog mayor. "What are you doing here?"
The mayor snickers at him. "Well, this is town hall and I do tactically live here most days." Sprig jolts a bit. His eyes scan the area around him and the mayor.
"Oh..." He makes his disarray known. He had no idea what was going on. Why would he come here? Why would his body bring him to the mayor of all people? Maybe it was just as directionless as he had been. Or maybe he'd gotten tired and needed a place to take a break.
"Are you okay? You look a little... what's the word now..." He hums, tapping a finger to his chin. "Sad." Toadies' words bring Sprig right back out of his train of thought.
The young teen looks up to the little frog again. "Sad...? Yeah... Sad..." Sprig mutters to himself. He was feeling sad. The heavy feeling that strangles his heart and bludgeons his mind, the feeling that's been suffocating him. If he had a word for it, he would call it sadness, though maybe with a little extra something tacked on.
"So..." Toadie spoke up.
"Hum?" Sprig is brought back to the town hall once again.
"What's got you so down in the dumps, Sprig?" Toadie reminds the boy of the question he'd proposed.
"Oh... right." Sprig shakes his head. He didn't know why he kept spacing out for sure, though he had a good enough guess. "It's just me and Ivy." He turns his body to the small mayor. "I think I may have messed up." The young teen chuckles but his eyes are less than pleased.
"Ah..." Toadie nods with closed eyes. He motions the boy to scoot over on the stoop of the hall, taking a seat once Sprig is out of the way. "Love can be hard. Especially young love once you get down to it."
"What." Sprig giggles. "What do you know about young love?" He teases at the mayor.
"What do you mean? I'm only 34." He laughs along with Sprig, taking the boy's jokes in stride. "But seriously." The laughter begins to die down. "I may not have much experience in the field, but I can assure you that it's no easy task. Literally, anything else would be easier."
"Like running a town?" Sprig gives his mayor a sideways smirk.
"Exactly. But love takes stronger stuff to get through and you were already a pretty tough kid Sprig. Much braver than you ever needed to be." The mayor tells him with genuine care. The young teen thinks that couldn't be further from the truth, however.
"Nah not me. Not until..." He stops, closing his fatigued eyes and opening them again. "What if the one you were really in love with wasn't with you anymore? What if they just up and leave? What are you supposed to do with the one that got away, Toadie?"
"Oh..." Toadie spoke, their conversation falling on a sickening silence. "It's about her?" Sprig bows a single nod to the smaller man. His problem wasn't just with Ivy. Every single one of his issues stems from one thing, one person and she was tearing him apart from the inside out. "Well, you know what they say." Toadie peers up at him, the little frog's eyes speaking loudly and comforting the teen's soul in a warm, cozy blanket. "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."
Sprig looks at the mayor. his eyes were unmoving and his emotions unwavering. "Yeah..." He silently breathes out the word. It's all he has left to really say.
"Oh, I wish I had better advice for you Sprig." Toadie touches a gentile hand to Sprig's arm. "Just hang in there. What you're feeling won't last forever. It can't as long as you stay strong." The mayor said. Sprig looks at him again and quietly nods. "Look I have to go but stop by later. I'd love to talk."
Toadie leaves him on the stoop. More thoughts flood his mind, this time of the mayor's words. They ring out loudly and repeat endlessly in his mind. It was better to have loved and lost.
Sprig scoffs. He would rather have not loved at all.