Anne was knocked to the ground as the Tax Toads began to move back to the Plantars.
"Now that she's been dealt with, let talk." Bog said, raising his weapon to the Plantars as the town looked on in horror.
Before he could use his weapon he was tackled by a furry creature that held him to the ground and bit down on his arm.
"AAAAAAAAH!" He screamed in pain, feeling his blood gushing as he looked at the strange beast!
The town looked at the beast, seeing a large Northwestern wolf, with dark brown fur that became lighter near its stomach. The wolf let go of Bog and ran over to put itself between the Plantars and the Toads. It growled and barked at the Toads, it's message loud and clear.
'Leave them alone! GET OUT!'
Bog looked at his blood fall on the ground and then back at the wolf.
"Kill it!" He said.
Fens and Mire looked to each other before rushing at the wolf with their weapons at the ready.
"Grrr!" The wolf growled before charging at the two toads.
They weren't ready for its speed, as it easily managed to avoid their weapon strikes and then jump on Fens. It then jumped off her and onto Mire. The wolf knocked him to the ground and then turned back to Bog. The wolf growled as Bog held his weapon.
"Fine then, I'll deal with you personally." He said.
He charged at the wolf, but the wolf was smarter than that. She knew that she had the advantage. She sprinted at him, and then jumped over him. Bog was confused and turned around, only to get punched and knocked to the ground.
"Stay down." Anne said as lightning flashed behind her, illuminating her eyes, which were still a wolf's eyes, "I promise you won't get the chance to leave if you get back up."
"W-What? But I knocked you out!" Bog says before looking around, not seeing the wolf anymore! "And where did that damn beast get off too?!"
"You're looking at her." Anne said with a small growl.
"I'm a predator, a beast like you've never seen before." Anne said, "I will not hesitate to destroy you if you ever try and mess with my frog family again, and you better hope my pack doesn't find out."
She wasn't going to mention that her pack was still in the Human World, she just needed to get a little fear into him.
"You-"
Anne quickly shifted back into a wolf and growled at him. She wasn't afraid of hurting him, but focusing on him, resulted in Mire slamming a hammer against Anne's front leg. She let out a yelp before she was hit in the side by the hammer. She was knocked to the side and shifted back, unable to hold the form while in pain like this.
"Not so tough now, are you beast?" Bog asked, smirking, "Let's finish this."
Before he could raise his weapon, he was hit by a rock. He turned and saw the towns folk grabbing whatever they could to throw at the toads.
"You get away from her!" Wally said.
"That's our human you're messing with!" Felicia Sundew shouted!
Anne smiled, even after learning her secret they would defend her. Suddenly Sprig came out of the woods.
"Stop everything!" He shouted, getting everyone's attention! "I know what happened to the town's tax money! The original money!"
He brought them to the statue. Fens slammed a hammer against it and statue, breaking it and revealing dozens of coins.
Everyone gasped at the sight of the coins before they glared at the person that had the statue made, Mayor Toadstool!
"You stole our tax money!"
"You we're gonna let them repo your own citizens?!"
"This is low even for a toad!"
"Uh... as Mayor, I pardon myself." Toadstool said, before running off.
A mob formed to chase after him, while the Plantars were checking on Anne.
"Are you okay, Anne?" Hop Pop asked.
"Yeah... my arm hurts though." Anne said.
Hop Pop took a look.
"Good news, it's not broken, bad news, it'll probably be in a cast for a few days, maybe a week." He said, "What about your ribs? You were hit pretty hard there when you were that... thing."
Anne let out a pained breath and lifted the side of her shirt to reveal a large dark purple bruise that took up most of her side.
"Oh, that's pretty bad, but nothing a few days of bed rest and some medicine can't fix." Hop Pop said.
Anne smiled and put her shirt down.
"Now that that's out of the way... WHAT WAS THAT!?" Polly asked, "You became some kind of... creature! It was awesome!"
"She did what?" Sprig asked, not being there for the fight.
"Anne turned into some fury creature with glowing eyes and sharp teeth! She beat the toads easy before they got the drop on her!" Polly said with excitement.
"But I'm just as curious as well, can all humans turn into animals?" Hop Pop asked as he helped Anne stand up.
Anne used her good arm and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Yeah... we have these things called Spirit Animals that we can become." Anne said, "Mine is a wolf, an apex predator. I was trying not to use it here because everyone was pretty nervous around me when I got here, I didn't want to cause any other problems."
"Well, that explains the fur that keeps appearing in the basement." Hop Pop said.
"Yeah, sorry." Anne said sheepishly, "I tend to shed when it gets humid."
"But it's always humi- OH!" Sprig said with his finger out. "But how are you not bald?"
"There's a difference between hair and fur, plus it always grows back when I transform." Anne said as she saw the toads returning everything they repossessed.
"Come on, Anne, let's go get your arm and ribs wrapped up." Hop Pop said, "Kids, you help return the stuff."
"You got it, Hop Pop." Sprig and Polly said.
"I guess I won't be able to shift for a while." Anne said, "Don't know how my body would react to shifting while injured."
"I was thinking the exact same thing." Hop Pop said as he helped Anne back to the house, going slow to not aggravate her side wound.
Hop Pop got Anne inside and had her sit on the couch.
"Now, I'll go get something to wrap your arm and ribs in, just stay here and be careful."
"I will, don't worry." Anne said.
Hop Pop nodded to Anne as he went to get the bandages, leaving Anne to lean back on the couch and breath easily.
"I'm a lone wolf... away from my pack." Anne said, looking out the window at the sky, "How am I meant to find you guys if I can't even handle a few toads with my Spirit Animal?"
A wolf getting beat by toads, it would make Anne laughingstock if her family heard about this. Even if the toads were man sized, a wolf should never lose to an amphibians!
"Anne, I'm back with the... what's wrong?" Hop Pop asked.
"It's nothing." Anne said.
"Anne, I know a lie when I here it, come on, tell your Hop Pop what the problem is."
Anne sighed.
"In my world, Wolves are meant to be pack hunters." Anne said, "I tried fighting on my own and I lost, I'm not a predator that can hunt and fight by themselves, I'm not... A wolf isn't meant to be alone. I couldn't even beat a bunch of stupid toads."
"Anne, I want you to know, it doesn't matter if you're alone or not, all that matters is what you're fighting for." Hop Pop said, "What were you fighting for against the toads?"
"I was fighting for Wartwood, for the people, for this family."
"And that's what matters. It doesn't matter if you fight alone or with someone, as long as you're fighting for others, you will never truly be alone."
Anne smiled at his words, feeling more at ease and comfort. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she thought it was. After she got wrapped up, Anne went to help unload the stuff the Toads took, after that, Hop Pop wants her to rest.
"Now don't push yourself, Anne. Only light lifting." Hop Pop said as he walked with Anne.
"I know, Hop Pop. Don't worry, I know my limits." Anne said to him.
Anne slowly helped return all the items. The toads got into their wagon with the money and began to leave.
"So, do we tell General Grime about what happened?" Fens asked Bog as she drove the cart.
"Of course, we do." He said as he nursed his bandaged arm, the one Anne bit into. "He and the Lieutenant will want to know everything."
They rode to Toad Tower, which was fairly bare, but there was a noise coming from deep in the tower. It was clear there was a duel going on. They walked down and found the fighting ring, seeing several toads on the ground and a large creature on its hind legs. It roared and Grime clapped eagerly.
"Well done, Lieutenant!" Grime said, "Now if only all the toads had abilities like these!"
The creature turned to Grime and walked towards him, revealing to be a large, brown, grizzly bear before it began to change and become a blonde girl in a battle armor.
"I know, right? Most people would kill for a spirit animal like mine but they can't be as lucky." She said while popping her neck.
"Captain Grime." Bog said, "We've come back from the frog town, we found out the mayor was hiding the tax money."
"Ah, typical, I've never liked that Toadstool, I don't trust him." Grime said, "But, as long as he keeps those frogs in line, he can keep playing his little games."
"That's not all, we learned something important... there's a Human there."
"A human?" Grime said in surprise.
"A human?!" Sasha asked in shock, rushing to Bog. "What did she look like?!"
"She looked similar to you but with brown skin and a head of hair like a bush. She actually helped us repo the town before she defended them by turning into some hairy, four legged creature." Bog said before pointing to his injury. "Nearly bit my arm off, too."
"Anne." Sasha said.
Sasha smiled before frowning; she was happy to know Anne was alright but upset that she was siding with the frogs.
"We need to get her." Sasha said.
"In time." Grime said, "Sending an army to a town that had a hostile moment with the tax collectors would only create chaos throughout the valley. We need to wait and then strike, lure them into a false sense of security."
Sasha growled like a bear but she knew he was right, just barging in to town and demanding Anne would only end barely. They may have just been frogs but they were stronger if they banded together and had a good enough reason to fight.
'Don't worry, Anne, we'll be reunited soon.'
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