Chapter 5:
Exposed
"Oohhh~! The town of Wartwood, such a sight! With its colourful characters, dim and bright! They're all singing and dancing, day and night! 'Til a giant fly take them off for a flight!"
The air surrounding the main plaza was filled to the brim by Wartwood's local loon who sang and played his accordion to his heart's content. The cyan frog in tattered clothes with a dark grey hat holding a cattail was leaping and dancing around the fountain for all passing eyes to see, seemingly in a trance. Some people were amused by his antics. Others were annoyed. And there were some that looked on with indifference. Regardless, he could not care less of what people think of him, so long as he was doing what he loved.
"If darkness looms over to make us gloomy, one chap shall come to bring light with hilarity! A jester? A kook? Of course not, silly! It's none other than the old One-Eyed Wally!"
Just as he was about to begin the next verse of his improvised song with another leap forward, he instead slammed himself face first into a tall individual. "Oof!" The old bum fell back on his behind as he was snapped out of his trance, opening his right eye to look up at the person that he suddenly bumped into.
"Oh sorry, Wally! Didn't mean to bump into you like this!" apologized the brown-haired human, as she bent down and lent a helping hand to the bard. "You okay there?"
"Oh! Well, if it isn't Anne!" One-Eyed Wally cheerfully exclaimed, as he enthusiastically took Anne's hand and got back up on his feet with her help. "Fancy meeting you here, love! How have you been?"
"I'm doing good, thanks." Anne smiled. "Looks like you're up to your usual antics around here."
"Ha! Right you are!" Wally replied as he played a rising note from his accordion as evidence of his activity. "This is how I like to spend my day, every day! If I ain't singing, dancing and playing with my accordion, I'm telling extraordinary stories to the townsfolk here! If not, then I'm fooling around the village in many ways imaginable! It depends on my mood, really!"
"Yep. And I definitely have first-hand experience of your quirky ways, dude." Anne nodded.
"Say, weren't you suppose to be helping out at the Plantars' vegetable stand right now?"
"Oh, well, I actually had something important to take care of first, so that's why I'm not with Hop Pop and the others right now." Anne replied, as she took a quick glance at the person next to her.
"Oh really?"
Wally was wondering about the important thing that Anne was talking about, but upon seeing her glancing to the side for a brief moment, he allowed his right eye to follow what she was looking at and noticed that she was not alone.
Next to her, there was another tall fellow whose appearance was mostly obscured by the large cloak that they were wearing. Even their face was entirely hidden under the shade of the hood. The only features that were visible were their bare feet.
"Oi, Anne. Who's this strange fellow here?" Wally asked.
The cloaked individual seemed to get startled when the bard took notice of them. Anne sensed their alarm and recognized the urgent matter that they were dealing with.
"Oh, him? He's, uh… One of the villagers who needed my help with the important stuff that I just told you about."
"One of the villagers?" Wally raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure, love? I don't recall ever seeing this bloke before in Wartwood, and I tend to remember every single face who ever live here."
"Oh, uh… That's because…" Realizing how faulty her initial description of the person was, Anne searched her mind to find a better explanation to her acquaintance's presence in Wartwood. "Uh… It's because he just moved here! Yeah! We just got finished talking with the mayor about his moving here, and now, I'm helping him out with the actual move and stuff!"
"Oh! That makes sense!" Wally said, satisfied with the answer that he was given. "In that case, welcome to Wartwood, my good man! The name's Wally! But everyone calls me One-Eyed Wally because I have one good eye!" He extended his hand out to the cloaked person with the intent of shaking the latter's own hand. "A pleasure to meet you!"
The individual simply looked at the cyan frog's hand and did nothing else, not even attempting to take the friendly hand that was offered to him. "Uh… L-likewise, Wally."
"Ah, not the touchy-kind of person, are you?" Wally reasoned the cloaked person's inaction and retracted his hand back. "Fine with me! I wouldn't grab the hand of a stranger either, if I don't know where it came from. Then again, we're talking about me, so I wouldn't care in the slightest! Haha!"
The hooded newcomer let out a nervous chuckle before he turned his head towards Anne and nudged her on the arm. "Anne, can we please go? Like, right now?" he whispered to her.
"Yeah, sure, buddy." Anne nodded, realizing that they have been standing in one place for too long. She turned her attention back towards the old bum to excuse themselves. "Sorry, Wally. But this guy and I should really be going and start doing the moving stuff already. See you around, okay?"
"Oh alright then. Until we meet again!"
The cloaked figure let out a sigh of relief, as it seemed like their conversation with the local loon was over. He and Anne were about to walk past Wally to be on their way.
… But the cyan frog suddenly stepped in front of them, blocking their path. "Oh, but first, just one thing! I make it my personal business to remember every single face here in Wartwood. Since you're new here, I would like to see what you look like so I can remember. So let's start by taking your hood off, lad."
"No!" The individual suddenly shouted, as he took a step back while holding his hood securely in place, frightened by Wally's suggestion.
"Huh. That's oddly sudden." Wally said, confused by the newcomer's startled reaction.
Realizing that his reaction might be suspect, the cloaked person urgently turned to Anne for help.
The Thai-American human recognized it and attempted to explain to the bard. "Sorry about this, Wally. This guy here is, um… Really sensitive about his looks. It's kinda why he's wearing the cloak in the first place, because he's too scared to show himself off to people."
"Ohh! I see!" Wally exclaimed, as he came to understand the newcomer's peculiar problem. "Don't worry, mate! Even this loon here knows not to overstep any boundaries! But let me tell you that there's no shame in looking like an odd fella in this village full of fun characters, if you just let us know your own character! I would have chosen myself as an example, but we have a better one right here!"
Wally motioned his hands towards Anne. "When Anne first appeared here, we all considered her to be a horrendous monster because of how she looks. No offence, love. But then, she helped the lot of us with our problems, showed us compassion and even saved us from brutes eager to rain on our parade. Heck, because of all that, she was chosen as Frog of the Year!"
Wally jumped up and wrapped an arm around Anne's shoulders before landing back down, causing the brown-haired girl to bend down to accommodate their difference in height. "Hey, easy there, dude!" she chuckled.
"Long story short, she's one of us now! From then on, we feel at ease knowing that her kind is not as terrible as we imagined." Wally continued. "… Uh, at least it's true for Anne. There was one other person who is similar to her. A lass named Sasha. She was every bit as terrible as we imagined. The other night, she took the lot of us hostage and almost killed one of our own."
Anne turned her head away and frowned at the mention of the blond girl and her terrible deeds. The hooded figure was quick to notice her somber reaction.
"But that's neither here nor there!" Wally removed his arm from Anne's shoulders, as he approached the cloaked person. "Trust this old bum when I say that there's no shame in looking even a bit odd, as long we get to know each other!"
He looked over the newcomer's appearance, from head to toe. "Why, even now, I don't mind that you're as tall as Anne here. Even your bare feet, with their five toes, aren't enough to turn this eccentric bard away from getting to know you!"
For a moment, the cyan frog was looking proud after stating that he had no problem with the mysterious person's outward appearance at first glance.
Then he blinked with his right eye when he realized the last thing that he said. "Wait a tick…" He looked down at the mysterious individual's feet and squinted his eye, just to see if he wasn't imagining things. True enough, he saw fives toes on each foot, meaning there was no discrepancies between what he said and what he saw.
"Five toes on each foot…? But the only people who have those are from the same kind as Anne and that Sasha girl…"
As soon as he said that, Wally slowly widened his eye, realization slowly dawning on him. He looked up at the newcomer's hidden face. "Are you…?"
The hooded figure visibly panicked, as it seemed like his identity was about to be exposed. "Anne, we gotta go! Now!" Not wanting to stay there for one more second, he quickly rushed forward, pushing the local bard out of the way in the process.
"Wait, dude! Look out in front of you!" Anne shouted out to the fleeing person.
He did not have enough time to heed her warnings before he suddenly collided with a large object in front of him, causing him to fall backwards on his back. "Oof!"
"Hey! Watch where you're going, idiot!" A frog riding a large snail yelled at the mysterious individual, after the latter crashed himself into the shell of his snail without looking. "You almost broke my poor Delilah's shell!"
"Ngh…!" The newcomer groaned as he sat up on the ground, rubbing the part of his head that took the most damage from the collision. "Sorry… My bad…"
"Dude!" He heard Anne shouting out to him in alarm. "Your hood!"
It was then that the orange-haired boy realized that his hood was down, and thus, his entire head was exposed. In his moment of panic, he quickly lifted the hood back on, but by then, it was already too late, because one person was able to get a good eye on his exposed face for a brief moment.
"Holy smokes!" Wally shouted as he pointed at the cloaked boy. "This fella here is a human!"
The surrounding people passing by all turned their heads towards the hooded person, surely alarmed from hearing the word 'human' coming from the mouth of the old bard. They then slowly approached him, as the boy looked at his surroundings with panic in his eyes.
They started to chat amongst themselves, each person expressing their own feelings and opinions about the suspected human boy, but all of them shared the same overall feeling: Fear.
"Did I hear him right? Did he say 'human'?"
"I hear it too. Is he referring to this person right here?"
"Isn't that just One-Eyed Wally saying it? Just another one of his crazy, made-up stories as always."
"But look at the boy. Doesn't he look similar to Anne?"
"You're right. Comparing the two, they look somewhat the same."
"Is he a friend of hers?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he's friends with that other human with the blond hair. What's her name again? Sasha?"
"Mommy, I'm scared!"
"Shouldn't we contact the authorities? There's another human on the loose in Wartwood!"
"Where's the sheriff?! Get him over here already! I don't wanna go through the same nightmare again!"
The human Sprig could feel the fear radiating in everybody's eyes. The more he looked at the approaching, fearful crowd, the more his own fears of being exposed as a human was about to be realized. He could hardly blame them for being very wary of another human who is not Anne, especially after the whole ordeal with Sasha. He'd shared the same feeling too if he were in their shoes. He just wished that he wasn't the human that they are afraid of, and that his identity wasn't exposed on his first day as a transformed human.
The crowd was about to close in on the frightened boy, when Anne quickly stepped in to shield him from the townsfolk. "Ok, guys! Just calm down and let me explain!"
"Anne, what's going on?" Wally asked. "This lad here is a human like you, right? How did he get here?"
"It's a long story, Wally, and I promise that whatever I have to say to you guys will clear up all the misunderstanding that we might be having right now!"
"What misunderstanding?!" shouted the frog riding his snail, Delilah. "I think it's pretty clear that this guy is human! Anybody can plainly see that!"
"I-is he working with that other, terrible human girl?" asked one of the fearful frogs among the crowd. "D-does that mean that he's here to wreck havoc on our poor little town, under her orders?"
"No, no, you're wrong!" Anne said. "This guy's a really good friend! Promise!"
"You said the same thing about that Sasha gal." Another frog from the crowd reminded her. "You know, before she turned out to be a psychopath like those Toad soldiers."
"Listen! He's not as terrible as…"
Anne stopped herself short before the name of her blond best friend escape her lips. She was forced to think back to the night at the Toad Tower, specifically when Sasha revealed her true plans to her involving Hop Pop and their ensuing fight. She frowned once again at the memory.
The people of Wartwood were right to claim that Sasha had done them wrong. But Anne felt that if she admit that fact herself, she would betray their friendship in a way, no matter how toxic it turned out to be. Her mind then drifted towards the nightmare that she had last night.
She tried to shake away her thoughts and feelings to focus entirely on convincing everyone that her transformed friend meant no harm.
"Look," she continued. "You guys must have heard what Wally said about getting to know someone new, right? If you just give him a chance, then maybe you'll see that he really is a good friend just as I said, and that he'll never do anything that's even remotely suspicious-"
"He's running away from us." A frog pointed out.
"Wait, what?"
Anne quickly turned around just in time to see that Sprig was fleeing from the crowd as they speak.
"Seriously?! Sprig! Wait!"
Sprig ignored his best friend's shout, as he let his fears of being exposed choose his actions for him, the first one being to run as far away from the public crowd as possible, not daring to look back to see if they start chasing after him.
He ran towards a small alleyway located between two tall buildings, in hopes that he could somehow lose the crowd along the way. As soon as he reached the narrow passageway, he took advantage of his thin form to squeeze through, knowing that most of the people in Wartwood would not be able to pass through like he could.
Once he got through the alleyway, he turned to the right to continue his run. However, he immediately screeched to a halt upon seeing that there were quite a few people standing in his way, at the corner of one of the buildings. The villagers there became alarmed at the sight of the human boy.
He turned to the opposite direction and, to his dismay, there were another group of people standing on the other end, all looking at him with confusion and fear.
"Hey!" A voice belonging to a nearby villager was heard, grabbing the attention of everyone involved. "Someone catch this guy! I think he's up to no good!"
The villager's message was understood by the two groups from each end of the passageway, and they began to approach the orange-haired boy with caution.
Alarmed by the approaching villagers, Sprig looked around himself to see if there was a way for him to escape from there. His sight rested on the wall of the tall building next to him, and he decided that his only option was to jump up to the roof.
Sprig bended his knees down and sprung himself up towards the roof.
Only for his jump to fall short when he barely reached the middle height of the building.
"Huh?" The orange-haired boy looked down on himself in disbelief after he landed back down on the ground. He then tried to jump up the roof once more, following the same motions as before. However, just like last time, the highest that he could reach was around the middle point.
He once again looked down at himself incredulously. He was certain that he was able to jump at the height of the building before. So how come he could only reach halfway?
Glancing at both sides, the approaching villagers were getting too close to his liking. He decided that the next best thing to reach the roof was to climb up the wall of the building. He leaped up and dug his hands and feet against the wall mid-jump and proceeded to climb.
Sprig noticed that he was having a harder time climbing up the wall than usual, as his hands and feet weren't glued to the wall as well as they should. At one point, one of his feet even slipped up and he barely managed to hang on to dear life. Did it have anything to do with him being a human instead of a frog?
After much difficulty, he managed to get up to the roof. He stood up and allowed himself to catch his breath, noting that his climb took a lot out of him. "Hah…! That… That kinda sucks…!"
Just when he thought that he was safe up there for the time being, a couple of frogs managed to jump up to the roof with relative ease. The young boy looked at the newly-arrived frogs with shock. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Stay where you are, buddy!" said one of the frogs, as he cautiously approached the boy. "We're taking you in!"
The Plantar boy shook his head and ran forward until he reached the edge of the roof. He looked around to see if there was another place that he could escape to, and his eyes came across a flagpole located at some distance from where he was.
Choosing that as his escape point, he launched his tongue out to grab the faraway flagpole.
But then, he noticed that nothing was flying towards the flagpole. He looked down and saw that his tongue was still near his mouth, sticking out to nothing in particular.
"What the frog?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. He tried to launch his tongue out again, only to find that it still remained at the same place as before. He felt that his tongue was fully extended, even though it was not going at a long distance as usual.
Feeling that the two frogs behind him were within arms' reach, Sprig had no time to think about his next move before he proceeded to leap forward off the roof.
Normally, the furthest that he could do in a single leap forward was about the length of a large centipede. In that case, however, he only managed to get as far as the length of a cow-a-pillar before gravity started to pull him down towards the ground.
"AAAHH!" Sprig screamed as he fell from a great height. Thankfully, he was spared from a great amount of pain when he crashed into a cart full of hay that cushioned his fall. The take-back was that, due to his human-like weight and how fast he fell, he ended up destroying the hay cart in the process, with the wheels popping out and the wooden structure making up the cart collapsing to the ground.
It took about a moment before the young boy emerged out of the haystack, spitting out some of the hay that went in his mouth. He groaned as he massaged his chest that took most of the impact from the fall. As soon he raised his head up, he realized that there was a huge crowd surrounding him all around, staring at him with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, fear and wonder in their faces.
"Dude! Are you okay?!" He heard the voice of his best friend crying out to him. Looking at the direction of the voice, he saw that Anne was at the far back of the crowd, trying to squeeze herself through to reach him, but to no avail. "Urgh! Come on, guys! Let me through already!"
Just when Sprig thought that it could not get any worse, a couple of people stepped forward from the crowd to confront him personally. One of them was a large toad wearing a fancy uniform adorned with a cravat, especially in comparison to everyone else wearing simple garments fitting of their agricultural status.
"Now what in the blazes is going on here?" asked Mayor Frodrick Toadstool, annoyed that he had to stop his money-counting activity and leave his estate to find out what was causing the commotion in the first place.
He looked down at the obvious culprit covered in hay, as two pairs of eyes crossed paths with one another.
"… Toadie?" The mayor spoke to his small frog assistant with neatly-combed hair standing next to him. "Is this what I think it is?"
"I think so, sir." Toadie nodded. "This boy here might be a human being."
"Oh terrific… So we're dealing with yet another human problem, huh?"
"It looks to be the case, sir." The assistant replied. "Your orders?"
"Well, after what happened with the last human who came here, there's only one thing to do."
The mayor shifted his attention to the huge, surrounding crowd. "Well, folks! Pick up your torches and pitchforks! It's time we chase out that human boy before he can do any harm to this peaceful, little town!"
"Yeah!" The villagers all shouted out before they each pulled out a torch and a pitchfork from seemingly out of nowhere. They then proceeded to march towards the human Sprig, who watched them helplessly as they were about to chase him out of Wartwood.
"Guys! Wait just a minute!" Anne shouted, trying to defuse the entire situation with no apparent success. "Aren't you going way overboard with this?! Just calm down and listen!"
With no sign of the menacing mob stopping, Sprig could only put up his cloak in a useless attempt to hide and protect himself. Just as the mob was about to reach him…
"YAAAAAHH!"
A familiar, purple tadpole with a yellow bow on her head suddenly hopped in between the boy and the mob, swinging her flail around to scare away the armed villagers. "Back off, you paranoid maniacs! Don't even lay a finger on him!"
"Polly!" Sprig shouted.
"Little Polly Plantar?!" Mayor Toadstool exclaimed, shocked that the youngest of the Plantar siblings showed up to defend the boy. "Wait, if you're here, then that means…"
"Just what in the name of Heaven is all the commotion over there?!"
Everyone all turned themselves towards the direction of the voice belonging to an elderly man. The villagers then spread themselves apart to create a path for a certain, orange frog standing next to the brown-haired human.
"Hop Pop!" Sprig cried out in relief from seeing his grandfather coming to his rescue.
"Urgh… Should have known that you're somehow involved in this mess, Hopadiah Plantar." said the annoyed mayor. "You better have a good explanation for all of this!"
"In a minute, mayor." said Hop Pop, as he walked through the path provided by the crowd alongside Anne. As soon as he reached the fallen boy, he kneeled down and brushed off some of the hay that was on Sprig's shoulders, while he gave the boy a concerned look. "Are you hurt, boy?"
Sprig shook his head. "Just a bit, but I'm okay, Hop Pop. Thanks."
Hop Pop smiled. "As long as you're safe and sound." He held his hand out to his grandson who gladly took it, as he helped him stand up from the ground.
"Hop Pop, Polly, I'm really sorry about all of this." Anne apologized. "We really tried to get this whole thing under control."
"Ah, you don't have to apologize for anything, Anne." Hop Pop reassured. "It's a good thing Polly warned me about the townsfolk forming a mob right around here moments ago, or otherwise, this situation would get even more messy."
Polly nodded. "It looked kinda fun, especially when they start pulling out the torches and pitchforks, so I wanted to join in on whatever they were doing. Then when I found out what's actually going on here, well, we had to do something."
The impatient mayor stomped his foot on the ground, attracting the attention of the Plantar family. "Alright! If you're done whispering secrets with each other, it's high time that you start talking, Hopadiah!" Mayor Toadstool exclaimed. He then pointed his finger at the orange-haired boy. "Mind telling us why there's another human here?"
"Well, mayor," Hop Pop started. "If you're that eager to know, I'm taking care of this poor, lost boy and giving him shelter at our farm. Just like with Anne when she first came here months ago."
"Have you finally lost your marbles, old frog?" The mayor asked with exasperation. "In case that you've forgotten, you almost got killed by the Toad Army led by Captain Grime and the last human girl who came here!"
"Oh, I still remember that awful night." Hop Pop replied. "And I appreciate if you don't constantly remind me of it."
"The point is that you're setting yourself up for yet another deathtrap, Hopadiah! And you're putting all of us in danger too! Why should we trust a human that we know nothing about after what happened in Toad Tower?!"
Most of the townsfolk agreed with what the mayor said, someone of them even voicing their own apprehension to the matter at hand.
It was clear to the elderly frog that he had to put on an even bigger effort to dissuade the villagers from chasing out his transformed grandson. After taking a deep breath and recollecting his thoughts, he began to state his argument on it. "I understand what you're saying, but I'm willing to trust this boy because-"
"Because he's my best friend."
Hop Pop turned his head towards Anne who cut him off to voice her own argument. Everyone else all shifted their attention to her.
The Thai-American girl looked at the crowd with a sincere and sympathetic expression on her face. "I know that this isn't much of a good reason to keep him around, but believe me when I say that he's really a great guy. I know that I said the same thing about Sasha, before, well…"
She trailed off from what she was about to say about her blond best friend's true nature, unwilling to dwell upon it.
"But this guy right here," She turned her head towards the orange-haired boy, as she continued her explanation. "He's not like Sasha at all. He's kind, brave, considerate and, well… What else can I say about him?" The brown-haired girl gave the young boy a wide smile of gratitude. "He's the first friend who made me recognize the good parts of myself. And I'm grateful for him."
Hearing her expressing her gratitude towards him, the human Sprig returned her cherished smile with his own.
Anne's speech seemed to be enough for most, if not all of the villagers to have second thoughts about their original intent on what to do with the human boy, as they all started to speak amongst themselves.
Even Mayor Toadstool seemed to be convinced, though not fully. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes and lowered his head down as he began to think through the ups and downs of keeping the human boy around, all while he grunted.
"Hold up, everyone!" Polly shouted, garnering the attention of everyone around her. "Before you make up your minds, let me show you my reason for keeping this guy around."
CRASH!
The purple tadpole then slammed her flail on the ground, creating a small, but noticeable crater from the impact.
"… That's it. You guys can figure out the rest." Polly said with a smile that feigned innocence.
Her threat was more than enough to make most of the villagers side with the Plantars. After all, fear is a terrifying weapon that wins arguments.
"Grr… Fine!" Mayor Toadstool reluctantly decided. "I don't like this one bit, but I'll allow this kid to stay here in Wartwood, as long as you keep him in your close watch, Hopadiah."
"I appreciate it, mayor." Hop Pop replied.
"But if he does any funny business, we'll kick him out on the spot. Understand?"
"You got it, dude." Anne nodded.
The mayor grunted. Then he glared at the orange-haired boy standing behind the Plantars. "You got all of this, kid? What's your name, anyway?"
"M-my name?" Sprig asked.
"Yeah, your name. I need it so I can write it down as a reminder on what to do if you start going on a murder spree, for example." The mayor explained.
Sprig was not expecting anyone to ask his name. Obviously, if he gives out his actual name, then everyone would figure out that the pink, adorable frog that everyone knew about got turned into an ugly human. That was the last thing that he wanted to happen.
He quickly searched his mind to find a suitable, convincing name for himself, but he came up short. And the mayor looked like he was not willing to wait any longer for his response and might change his mind.
"It's, uh… Um…"
"Twig!" Anne suddenly answered for him.
"… Twig?" The mayor repeated, looking at the brown-haired girl with a raised, unconvinced eyebrow.
"Yeah! That's his name!" Anne replied. "It's Twig… Uh… Lantern! Twig Lantern! That's it!"
"Twig Lantern, eh?" Mayor Toadstool seemed to be satisfied with Anne's answer for the orange-haired boy. He then looked back at the human boy named 'Twig'. "Okay, Twig. You're lucky that the Plantars vouched for you, the baby girl especially. Otherwise you'd be gone from here five minutes ago. You better not do anything suspicious that'll make us regret keeping you here."
"Uh… Got it, sir." said 'Twig'.
The mayor massaged his forehead with the palm of his hand to nurse the headache that he had to deal with since the start of the commotion surrounding the orange-haired human. "I swear, you Plantars always find a way to cause trouble in this poor, little town. Whether it's Hopadiah handing out IOUs that are no good, the baby girl's penchant for mayhem, and even the little boy's mischief in certain days…"
At his own mention of the little Plantar boy, Mayor Toadstool realized, upon looking over the family, that they seemed to be one person short. "Wait a minute. Where is your grandson, Hopadiah? I don't see the little kid anywhere."
"Oh, don't you worry about Sprig, mayor." Hop Pop replied while throwing a brief glance at the orange-haired boy to reassure him that he got it under control. "He's feeling a bit under the weather this morning, so he's staying inside for today."
"Is that so? Hm. Alright then." The mayor nodded, satisfied with the answer. "One last warning, Plantars! This human boy is your responsibility! Keep a close eye on him, or else!"
"You have my word." Hop Pop said.
"Got it." Anne said.
"You're not the boss of me!" Polly said.
Once everything was said and done, Mayor Toadstool turned away from the Plantar family and began to walk away from them, just as the crowd started to disperse once the situation was resolved. "Urgh, my day has definitely gone south. I'm not even in the mood to continue counting my money…"
"Want me to give you a back massage, sir?" Toadie asked as he walked alongside the mayor.
"Ooh, sounds lovely, Toadie. And bring me those scented candles while you're at it."
As he watched the crowd diminishing itself little by little, Sprig let out a sigh of relief. His family managed to get him out of a very sticky situation, and while his human identity was revealed to the world, his true identity remained hidden. He took solace in knowing that fact.
The crowd was reduced into a small group of people standing far apart from one another. Just when Sprig was about to avert his gaze from them, he caught a glimpse of someone rather familiar in a distance.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw that a yellow frog with a patched-up beanie was standing among the disappearing crowd, staring at him with an unfamiliar expression on her face.
Sprig and Ivy crossed gaze with one another, never moving from their spot. The boy's heart ache when he remembered the end of their first date, where Ivy told him that they were better off as friends instead of romantic partners. It was no wonder why he kept staring at her, thinking about numerous, hypothetical scenarios that would lead to them making their romance work. He started to wonder if the reason why Ivy was looking at him for a long time was because she might have recognized who he is under his human form.
Their crossing gazes got interrupted when Ivy's mother, Felicia, came to her side. "Come along, Ivy." The floral crown-wearing woman said, taking her daughter's hand with her own as they started to walk away from the area. "We need to get back to your training."
"Okay, mom…" Ivy replied, taking one last look at the orange-haired human before she accompanied her mother back to their house.
Sprig found himself watching his supposed soulmate disappear from his sights, his lingering feelings for her still remained.
"Really, Anne? 'Twig Lantern'? That's the best that you could come up with?" Polly confronted the brown-haired girl about latter's questionable choice of names for her brother.
"Hey, don't give me flak about it, dude. It's either that or Weed." Anne defended herself. "Try and come up with a name under a huge amount of pressure, then get back to me on that."
"Well, I'm just glad that we managed to avoid the worst possible scenario." Hop Pop said. He then turned towards his grandson and patted off any remaining dirt and hay that was still on him. "Are you sure that you're okay, boy?"
Sprig snapped out of his staring at his supposed beloved who already disappeared inside of her house seconds ago, as he looked at his grandfather. "Y-yeah, Hop Pop. I'm okay." he replied. "Hop Pop, Polly, Anne… I'm really sorry for all of this. When Wally was about to find out what I am under my disguise, I didn't know what to do to handle it, and I ended up revealing myself to everybody…"
"Well, you running away before I get the chance to explain to everyone didn't exactly help us one bit." Anne remarked. "But that's fine, dude. At least we managed to get out of it safely."
"And now, everyone thinks that you're a different person named Twig, for better or worse." Polly said, still criticizing Anne's choice of names in a subdued matter. "That means you don't have to hide yourself anymore with your real identity still a complete mystery that no one actually realizes."
"Yeah… You're right, Polly." Sprig said, as he discarded the cloak that hid most of his body. Once the reality of his situation started to set in, he allowed himself to sit down on the haystack, letting out a tired sigh. "Man, what a day… I can't believe everything happened during my first day as a human…"
"You've certainly gone through a lot today, boy." Hop Pop said. "You should go back home and get some rest. Meanwhile, Polly and I will go back to the vegetable stand and continue our usual business there."
"Good idea, Hop Pop."
Anne sat down next to her best friend on the haystack and placed a comforting hand on his back. "You mind if I stick around until we get back inside, Sprig? Just wanna make sure that nobody else is going to attack you on my watch."
"That'll be great, Anne. Thanks."
"Well, it looks like everything is settled between us." Hop Pop said as he was about to leave his grandson and adopted granddaughter to return to attending the stand alongside the bow-wearing tadpole. "We'll see you back in the farm, boy! Stay out of any more trouble!"
"See ya, Hop Pop!" Both Sprig and Anne waved the elderly frog and the purple tadpole goodbye, as they walked back towards the stand.
Once they disappeared from their sights, Sprig decided to take the time to look up at the green sky, letting himself relax for a bit after having gone through a strenuous ordeal. Anne followed suit.
There was a moment of silence between the two best friends as they watched the clouds move slowly across the sky. Then, Sprig's stomach started to rumble, as the boy was starting to get hungry.
While he was wondering what he could eat once they get back home, a small fly made itself apparent to the human boy, flying and buzzing around his head. Sprig licked his lips, as he considered the fly to be his snack. He launched his tongue towards the fly. And then, just like last time, he realized that his tongue barely left his mouth.
He then watched as the small fly flew away from him. He groaned in frustration, as he put his face down on the palm of his hands.
"Hey, what's the matter, buddy?" Anne asked, concerned for her frustrated friend.
"Urgh… I feel like I'm out of my element." Sprig replied, turning his head towards her. "When I was running away from the townsfolk, I noticed that I couldn't do what I could normally do. I couldn't jump very high or far, I have a hard time climbing up walls, and my tongue just doesn't go as far as I wanted it to anymore."
"Well, yeah, because that's as far as humans can do." she said. "Believe it or not, for us human beings, that's pretty normal."
"Urgh… I hate this…" he groaned. "It almost feels like I'd get killed the second I come across something dangerous, like a wild creature or a boobytrap or something. It's a miracle that you managed to survive this long with a weak, human body like yours, Anne. No offence."
"I wouldn't say that it's a miracle. After all, I had you guys to guide me through all the usual schtick that you normally do."
"I guess so. Still, I… Urgh!" He let out another frustrated groan, as he allowed his face to fall back down on his palms, still unable to process the limitations of a human body compared to a frog.
Anne averted her gaze from the boy, as she could not find a subject that might improve his mood. A brief moment of silent was setting in between the two, as they were left to their own thoughts.
Then, the Thai-American girl thought of an idea. A rather flimsy idea, but an idea nonetheless.
"Hey, Sprig? What do you think of me teaching you what being a human is all about?"
"Hm?" Sprig turned his head back towards his friend. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, sure, if we compare the two, we humans don't really have much going on that trumps over frogs practically. Except us being warmblooded and being able to survive through the cold, that is. But if nothing else… I could teach you how things work back in my world."
"Um… How would that help me out exactly?" he asked.
"Honestly, not a lot." Anne admitted.
"Then why bother teaching me if there's nothing special about humans compared to frogs?"
"Well… Remember how out of my element I was during my first few months here in Amphibia? You, Hop Pop and Polly helped me out by guiding me through your usual activities and having me learn the ropes on how to survive through this crazy world." Anne explained. "I thought that maybe I could return the favour by teaching you a thing or two about my world. Sure, who knows when I'll be able to go back home to Earth, but if you guys somehow come along with me for the ride…"
After hearing what Anne had to say about her offering to teach him, Sprig took a bit of time to process her exact words.
It was true that there was no practical advantage that a human being had over frogs. But in terms of human knowledge, culture and technology, among other things, there was a lot to learn from them. If he himself somehow got transported to Anne's world, he would be better off because he would already learn stuff about her kind thanks to her teachings. Also, he would be lying if he told himself that he was not the least bit interested in her kind.
Sprig made up his mind about Anne's offer. "You know what, Anne? That sounds like a good idea."
"Really?" Anne asked, surprised to hear his response.
"Yeah." he replied. "I thought a lot about you said, and I think you teaching me would help me out a bit."
"Whoa, sounds like you're actually serious." she said. "I always thought that my idea is a bit of a stretch, so even I don't know if it'll help much."
"Believe me. I don't know if it'll help either. But honestly, even though I'm still gonna be sad over the fact that I can't do stuff as a frog anymore, and also the fact that I'm an ugly hu-"
Sprig stopped himself short when he noticed that Anne was giving him a death glare. He got the hint and refrained from speaking anymore about a human's basic appearance. At least, only when he is around her.
"Anyways, Anne, you're giving me the opportunity to learn more about you and your kind. I'd be stupid not to take up on your offer. And who knows? Maybe somewhere along the way, I might find something that a human has an advantage over frogs that you might not even thought about before. So… What do you say, Anne?"
Seeing that her best friend was feeling a bit more enthusiastic about her idea, in spite of how flimsy it turned out to be, Anne found herself smiling at him. "Okay, dude. But let me tell you. I might do a terrible job as your human teacher."
"That's fine. I wouldn't have it any other way."
The brown-haired girl stood up from the haystack, as she lended a hand to her orange-haired best friend. "Then let's do this! Spranne against the world?"
"Spranne against the world!" Sprig exclaimed as he took her hand with his own and stood up from the haystack himself with her help. The two humans smiled at each other.
"Well, before we get started, let's go back home already, dude." Anne said. "Pretty sure that you're gonna crash if you stay up more than you should."
"Haha! You're right, Anne." Sprig chuckled. "I'll lead the way. Come on."
Anne and Sprig then began to walk towards the direction of the Plantar farm, the latter having gone through quite the experience for the past several hours or so.
While his human woes would not go away any time soon, at least he had something to look forward to together with Anne in the meanwhile. So far, it was the first positive thing that he had experienced all day.
"By the way, Anne, can I ask you about a thing?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Can you tell me how I'm supposed to use that horn organ?"
"Horn organ?"
"Yeah. You know, the part of the body that's found between your legs? And attached to it is a pair of-"
"Nope! You're on your own with this one!"
"Huh?! How come?!"
"Here's your first lesson about what being a human is all about: They care about their private parts much more than frogs do. And that's all that I'm gonna say about it."
"Oh… This thing is gonna bother me all week…"
End of Chapter