Hello everyone! So glad to be back with you and thank you so, so much for your patience. I apologized for taking too long, but I got it all sort things out before the end of the month. In mean time, the story takes place where I based off from one of my friend that we discussed before permission. Once again, thank you and enjoy reading!
Amphibia: Adventure in Wartwood
Chapter 3: An Unexpected Visitor
Two days earlier before the event, there in a far away place where a mysterious cave that lives near a valley with big mushrooms that glow. Inside of the cavern, there were salamanders that has various of colors and different clothes. Some were wearing shorts while others were wearing robes or vests.
These salamanders were villagers. They gather some water, harvest some bugs, hunting for fish, and guarding the entrance from intruders. The leader of the tribe is a blind salamander, dressed in native clothing, markings to match his six gills, and light colored eyes.
He may be blind, but he can still hear everything where his people are going on their daily routine. He smiles as the children laughs and some positives noise. The salamanders also have their special gifts where they practice the arcane arts or magic for short.
For over thousands of years, they have conjured up magic under the guidance of leadership. They can only practice arts of magic for self-defense purposes with each elements and light magic. When there's trouble, they conjured the invisibility to camouflage their location or their own home.
Somewhere in the cavern, a small group of salamanders were playing ball with each other. One salamander has the same skin color as their leader who threw too high and missed the catcher as the ball flew onto the incoming traveler.
A traveler that turns out to be a young fire spotted salamander that has brown skin and yellow spots, his jaw has yellow skin with brown spots, his fingers and toes have yellow skin, and his head are yellow webbed gills. He's wearing a red shirt with black pants and a purple neckerchief.
A young salamander is reading book until a ball came up to him. When he heard "Heads up!", he raised his hand and pointed at the ball as his finger started to glow with a bright yellow aura surrounded the ball and then he taps the ball by shooting the ball back at them.
"Hey, want to join us?" asked the Salamander, but the leader cuts in line.
"Forget about him. He doesn't have time for us. All that hybrid freak cares about is being the best wizard, and spiting my father's rules." He chuckled, but then started to sniff. "What's that smell? Is something burning?"
When he looked down at his feet, smoke is coming out from his feet until ember emerges a little as the young leader felt sharp pain under his feet and howls in agony while the other two salamanders fled and left him behind.
Then spotted salamander snapped his fingers, causing the ember to ignite as the young leader jumped off the roaring flames and hobbled away until he clenches his fist by making the fire disappear. The young spotted salamander walks away with annoyance because of how he was treated.
He walked through the village after gathering some food and water for a day. Along the way, he sees some villagers that were either edgy or scared with his presence while other adults shook their heads with disapproval look. There is one important rule under the leadership, "No offense magic".
By then, the boy had entered his cave where he used to live. There in this room with a couch, two fireplaces, an alchemy table, and an enchanting table. When he was about to turn in after a long day of errands until a voice called from above.
"Tint Tormak."
He looked up and sees an elder axolotl salamander who was meditating from above. His skin was grayish brown with a blue spot on his jaw. His left eye is scarred across rendering it blind, but his right eye still active. He wears a blue sock hat on his head and a dark warm green robe.
"Yes, Uncle Cronaxx?" Tint asked just as Cronaxx floats down before grabbing his walking stick as he lands.
"I just received word from Chief Nightoum that you gave Flaps the old hot foot, again." replied Cronaxx, looking annoyed. "What have I told you about using your powers like that?"
"That I should use them for responsibility, not for petty bullying." Tint rolled his eyes before shrugging his shoulders. "Come on Uncle, he called me a hybrid freak that only cares about breaking the rules, again."
"Oh, I did not realize he said mean things. Of course, you had no choice, but to attempt to burn the chief's son's feet. But don't you think that maybe focusing on offensive magic and your hot temper is why the villagers avoid you? They're scared of your lonesome, rebellious attitude. Maybe if you tried to make friends with them, they wouldn't be so afraid." said Cronaxx.
"Who cares? They're scared of doing what I do! What's the point of making friends with salamanders who don't want to fight back against our enemies? Don't they understand how powerful we are?" Tint plops on a couch with his anger look while fist glowing.
Cronaxx sighed disappointment before he sat down next to his nephew. He was worried about him because he loved him ever since Tint is the only family that he has.
"You've still got a lot to learn. It doesn't matter that we're the only amphibians who can wield magic. What matters is what you do with your skills. That's where the responsibility comes in and it could be useful tomorrow when you take watch outside the cave." said Cronaxx.
"Wait, what do you mean take a watch?" Tint asked.
"Since you gave Flaps the old hot foot, the chief has assigned you to take his place watching the cave entrance until he recovers. Which means, you'll have to miss today's magic lesson." replied Cronaxx.
"What?! No! We were supposed to go out and tame wild beasts together!" Tint exclaims.
"Maybe you'll learn that next time not to mess with the chief's son again." said Cronaxx, smirking at him.
Tint groaned in disappointment and walked inside to his cave. Cronaxx sighed when shaking his head. He knows how much his nephew wanted to learn all about magic. He slowly walks to the kitchen while passing a sketch of a staff before he pours himself some tea. His hand lightly shakes as he brings up the mug to his mouth and then puts the mug down.
"(sighs) I'm not giving up on you Tint. Family never gives up." He thought.
The next morning, Tint and Cronaxx has arrive at the entrance of the cave where the captain of the guard is waiting for them along with two of his men. He stands proudly in his gold cloak, with the salamander emblem sewn on the front around the collar.
"I hope you're ready for guard duty, boy." said The captain of the guard.
Tint looked annoyed before he felt a walking stick that's pointing on his back by his uncle before he nodded. He walked over to the spot where the captain was, but suddenly out of nowhere when a groaning was heard. A fish hunter runs out from the bush, screaming.
"MONSTER! MONSTER!" The fish hunter run towards the captain, running out of breath. "(painting) Captain... monster... big... twig limbs... face bump... bushy head... groaning...near the lake."
"Get him inside!" The captain ordered two of his guards to take the hunter into the cave to get well treated.
"That doesn't sound good." Cronaxx muttered.
"If this keeps up, we're not going to have fish for days. Tormak, I have to go tend our hunter and find out what he saw. You stand guard, and don't move. If this monster comes, alert us. And whatever you do, don't use magic! Understand!?" The captain barked as Tint nodded, looking stunned.
Once the captain leaves, not before he and a couple of guards cast an invisibility spell surrounding the cave entrance. Cronaxx placed his hand on Tint's shoulder by nodding his head firmly before he left to catch up with the captain.
Now all alone, Tint held on to the spear that was given. He looked out to where the monster was spotted, gave him some time to think that the monster must be close to the water. But his thoughts were cut off just as he hears the groaning that's getting louder from the water's edge.
Tint looked so eager to learn how to tame a beast and wonders what kind of creature it is. He looked at a spear with intent on finding it, but he looked back to the cave when he remembered what his uncle said to him yesterday. He felt conflicted, but he wants to know more about magic.
He set up a pile of rocks, carefully stacking them up to make sure they don't fall over and builds it quickly to make decoy that looks like him. Then he gives his spear to the decoy and sets out to the water's edge to find the monster.
"If we could get that monster away from the water, we can get more fish again." said Tint as he ventures through the forest until he reaches to the water's edge.
There was a small river, flowed through across the forest with fish swimming just to pop up and swallows the small insects that stood above the water. Tint grew a little hungry and decided to catch fish a bit. So, he grabbed a small fish with his hand and ate it by swallowing down. Then he heard the monster's groan again, but this time it was louder and closer from where he stood. He turns around to the rock behind him and gets ready to jump out.
Instead, he decided to sneak around the rock until what he discovered was a creature covered in mud patches, scratches, two sticks in its head, a large bite mark on its right leg, torn pants, a polo shirt, facing down on the ground. Tint notices that the descriptions what the fish hunter pointed out. A bushy head, twiggy limbs, and a face bump. It was the monster.
"Wow, this mighty beast doesn't look so tough." said Tint, looked amazed that he had never seen a creature like this before.
When steps on the monster's leg, he lets out an agonizing groan. Tint retreated back to the rock and peaked over to see the bite mark on the leg. It looked injured. He couldn't stand to see it.
"What happened to it? It looks like it's sick. I don't think he'll be a problem." said Tint as he prepares to turn away, but he stops in his tracks and looks back at it. He remembers what Cronaxx told him yesterday. Tint looks down at his hands and then glanced back at the creature before he sighed in defeat.
"All creatures deserve a chance to live. Especially a 'monster' like that." He walks over to the creature's leg and takes out a vile of aloe water. "This is going to sting for a bit. Brace yourself."
Tint takes his hands as they started glow a green aura. He pours the water on the leg as disinfectant, causing the creature to hiss. Then, he gently places his hands on the leg of the creature, making it hiss more on the touch.
The magic flowing on Tint's hands went into the bite mark to heal its wound as the blood washed away. The green aura covers the bite mark, then making it disappear. Shortly after that, the bite was gone and the monster felt refreshed to clear of any mud patches.
Tint stared at the creature with no fear as it started to regain its strength when it got on its knees with a steady healthy breathing pace. It turns to see Tint for a moment, but the creature couldn't believe its eyes and screamed.
"AHHH!"
"AHHH!" Tint screams as they jumped behind the rock until he heard something that sounded like a boy.
"Please, don't hurt me! Leave me alone!" It cried.
Tint was shocked. He peaked out from the rock and walk back slowly.
"Woah. Woah, It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." said Tint.
"Did you just-? Y-You can talk?" The boy was shocked.
"Of course I can talk. Why'd you think I healed your leg?" Tint asked.
"What?!" He looks down at his leg, but no bite marks. "Y-You healed me?"
"Of course I did. You had a terrible bite, and you haven't been giving it proper treatment. So, I used a basic healing spell."
The creature was stunned and confused. He didn't believe that a salamander like him could do such thing like magic spells.
"Oh, okay? You expect me to believe that you healed my leg with magic? That's ridiculous." He looked disbelief at first.
"I'll prove it." said Tint took a deep breath and stepped out of hiding.
He stood and waves his arms around like a crab. The creature comes out just to get a better look at the salamander's powers. Then Tint brings his arms closer to his chest to make a small orb of light. The creature was amazed that the salamander boy was telling the truth.
"Believe me now?" Tint asked.
"That was amazing! You healed my bite?!" He looked amazed after forgetting his fear.
"Yeah, I don't know what kind of creature bit you, but I can tell you put up quite a struggle." replied Tint.
"You have no idea. It wasn't like anything I've seen before. Then again, this world is nothing like I've ever seen before." He said.
"What do you mean? Are you saying you're not from here?" Tint asked.
"No I'm not. I come from another world!" The creature announced, then he sits down on a rock.
Tint dropped his jaw. He couldn't believe that he can communicated with a strange creature that was not of his world until he regained his focus
"Okay, creature from another world. Who are you? What are you? And how did you get here?" Tint asked, curiously.
"My name is Dyllan, Dyllan Loyalitat. And I'm a human being. Who and what are you?" Dyllan asked.
"I'm Tint Tormak. I'm a fire salamander." Tint snaps his fingers causing a spark of flames to come from his index finger.
"Okay, Tint. Here's what happened. Two days ago, I was at the playground with my friends when we discussing about the box until one of our old… colleague found us and got into argue until the box was open and then got us all zapped like we've been transported here." Dyllan explained.
"Really" Tint asked.
"Yeah. And so that's my story. I was lost for two days until I was bit by a large monster with a scar on its right eye. It took my backpack and makes me wandered around to find help ever since. Just when my luck was about to run out, you saved my life." replied Dyllan
"Wow. Do you have any idea how you got here?"
"Not exactly. I don't know how to get home. Or if I can go home." Just then, his stomach growled. "Oh man. Tint, have you got anything to eat around here?"
"Sure do." Tint lifted up an looked under the rock when bugs were crawling out, making Dyllan feel queasy.
"I'm the kind of creature that doesn't eats bugs." said Dyllan.
"Hmm, okay. We'll be fishing for a while then." Tint gets up and offers Dyllan his hand. "Come on, I'll take you to the water's edge. Hope you know how to fish."
Dyllan was nervous at first. He didn't know if he could trust Tint, but after living in the wild for nearly two days without food or water, he realized he had no choice. So he slowly followed Tint's steps and walked to the water's edge nearby.
"We'll have to use our hands since I left my spear at the village." said Tint, walking in the water.
Dyllan takes off his shoes, not wanting to soak them and follows Tint in the creek. He watches Tint hunt for fish and then follow his tactics. He didn't catch any small fish for which made him a little frustrated. He goes back onto the land and sits in defeat. Tint returns with a batch of fish in his hand.
"All good things come to those who are patient. That's what my great uncle told me." said Tint as he looks at Dyllan who has a sad look on his face. "What's wrong? You don't eat these kinds of fish?"
"It's not that. It's just that...humans cook fish otherwise they get sick." Dyllan explained.
Tint started to understand what Dyllan was talking about. He didn't want this strange creature to get sick. So he takes one fish just to heat it up in his hands. After a few minutes, he blows on it and gives it to Dyllan as the human sniffed the fish and bit down on the crispy skin. That is when he scarfed down on the fish as Tint cooked another until he fell flat on his back with a satisfied stomach full.
"Wow Tint, I've never felt this satisfied since I got here. Thank you." said Dyllan, smiling at him.
"You're welcome Dyllan. You know, I'm kinda glad I got into trouble." replied Tint.
"What are you talking about?" Dyllan asked.
"I gave the chief's son the old hot foot because he called me a freak. You see, I'm not like the other salamanders. They can perform magic spells as well, but our chief only wants us to use defensive spells. He wants order in our village and limits our powers to what we can perform. But me, I like to perform offensive spells on my own terms." Tint explained
"How come?"
"I don't have many friends because they don't see the wonders of magic like I do. And today, I was supposed to learn how to tame a wild beast with my uncle, but instead I was assigned guard duty at the main entrance."
"I'm sorry you feel that way Tint. If it makes you feel better, I understand what it's like to feel alone amongst a large crowd." Dyllan lowered his eyes as he recall his pain. Just then, a large snoring was heard in the distance as they were startled.
"Okay, I think we should get out of here." Tint prepares to get up and get back to the cave, but Dyllan turns to the sound. "Dyllan, what are you doing?"
"I recognize that sound." said Dyllan as Tint follows with fear on his face.
Once they ventured through the bushes, they looked up ahead to see a giant raccoon sleeping under a tree. The raccoon has giant grayish green fur, a scar on his right eye, and in his paws was a blue backpack.
"(gasps) That's the monster that bit me. It has my backpack." Dyllan whispered before he takes a couple steps, but only for Tint to stop him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Tint exclaims, whispering.
"I got to get my backpack back. I have important stuff in there." Dyllan answered.
"That creature is extremely dangerous. Whatever's in your bag can not be that important." Tint argued.
"It is to me!" Dyllan shouted quietly, but he clamped his mouth shut. The raccoon creature budged a bit, but it didn't wake up.
"Besides, didn't you say you wanted to tame a beast?" Dyllan asked.
"I did, but my uncle warned me not to do this without him."
"Oh come on! Honestly, I was excited to see what you could do with your magic."
Tint was shocked at Dyllan's statement. He never thought that a human like Dyllan could be interested in what he could do. He looked back at the sleeping raccoon and thought for a moment. As long as that thing is asleep, then he can get it for him after Tint sighed in defeat.
"(sighed) Alright, fine. I'll try to get your bag, but you wait here. You'll make less noise." said Tint.
Dyllan nodded as Tint went to sneak up to the raccoon without making a sound. Once he reaches his way up to the creature's paw, he slowly scratches the raccoon's neck when it lifts up the paw and slides Dyllan's backpack out with his foot. Then he slowly lets go of the paw after he stops scratching and slowly walks back.
Dyllan sighs quietly in relief. Just as Tint walked back, but he accidentally stepped on a twig making a loud snap. The raccoon wakes up and stares at Tint with Dyllan's backpack. It growls in anger, making Tint gets scared while trying to smile.
"Uh, hi?" Tint waved, but the raccoon roars in Tint's face and he turns to run. "RUN, DYLLAN, RUN!"
He throws the backpack to Dyllan and quickly puts it on his back before they fled. The two make their way through the marshlands until Tint then jumps on his backpack, believing that Dyllan can run faster than him.
However, the giant raccoon catches up and bites down on his backpack before Tint dodges just in time, but the raccoon launches Dyllan in the air and lands on top of his head. The next thing Dyllan did was ride the beast like a rodeo bull. Tint watched as the raccoon jumped around like wild animals until he realized where they were going.
"Oh no."
Tint races off to ahead of them just in time where the stone decoy started falling apart from the tremors. He takes his spear and goes to warn the village. He rushes down the entrance to warn his people as he yells out loud.
"Danger! Danger! A giant raccoon is coming!" Tint yells as the whole village rushed in panic and went to hide in their shelters.
Before the guards could cast a shield spell, Dyllan and the raccoon came bashing down the entrance. They charged through fields of mushrooms, blocked the streams with toppled rocks, and scared away some bugs from the cave. The raccoon finally throws Dyllan off his back, just as the captain and the guards surround the giant mammal like creature.
"Hold him down!" ordered The captain.
The guards threw the rope and tried to pin down the raccoon, but it was no use as the beast roared and slashed, stomped, and bashed as many salamanders as it could. Tint raced up to Dyllan, checking for any injuries.
"Dyllan, are you alright?" Tint asked as Dyllan slowly got up off his back and looked to his scratches.
"Uh...Yeah. I think so." He looks up to the salamanders fighting back against the raccoon, but realized that he's the one that brought this thing with him in the first place. "I'm so sorry Tint. None of this would've happened if I hadn't insisted on getting my backpack back. But that raccoon's been giving me trouble ever since it found me."
"Why was it after your backpack anyway?" Tint looked at the raccoon and got a curious look on his face.
"I don't know..." Dyllan thought when he looked inside to a familiar smell. It was his lunch that his mother made for him was ham and cheese sandwich with grapes and peanuts. "It all makes sense now. It was after my lunch."
"It was hungry." Tint looked at the lunch and then perked up. "Dyllan, I've got a plan on how to get him out, but I'm gonna need your help."
"What's the plan?" Dyllan asked.
"I can grab the beasts attention for only a few seconds. While I get him out of the cave, you take the food and lure him away into the wild."
Dyllan started feeling uneasy again. He was still nervous around the salamander, especially the fact he wasn't used to new people. Now he got scared as soon as he realized that Tint's planning to use him as live bait for the raccoon. He started to breathe heavily, losing his ability to move a single muscle.
"Dyllan, I get it, you're scared. I'm scared too. But you've got to trust me." said Tint, trying to convinced him.
Dyllan took a deep breath as he saw the salamanders getting hurt, and he didn't want that. As he blinked, his pupils flashed red for a second.
"L-Let's do it."
The raccoon continued fighting back against the salamander guards. With little energy they have left, they decided to corner it under the stalactites, but Tint whistles to get their attention. He passes the guards and slowly approaches to the raccoon with a balled fist in his hand. The raccoon snarled in anger, until Tint opened up his fist revealing a peanut.
The raccoon dropped its anger and sniffed in curiosity, took the peanut with its paw and ate with delight. He places a hand on the raccoon's nose and gave him another peanut as he escorts the raccoon out of the cave, finding Dyllan with his lunch. The raccoon snarls when seeing the sight of the human, but it didn't attack. Instead, it sees Dyllan offering him an open lunch bag as the raccoon smells the lunch with delight, knowing that's what he was after. Dyllan slowly lured him away from the cave entrance and back into the wild.
"G-Go ahead. T-t-take it. I'm not ...hungry anymore." said Dyllan, stuttering as he looked a bit nervous.
The raccoon takes the lunch in its mouth and fled into the bushes. Dyllan and Tint smiled at each other as the young salamander hadn't done to anyone else other than his uncle. The two suddenly sighed out of relief and shared a good laugh.
"Looks like I helped you tame a mighty beast after all." said Dyllan.
"Yeah, I guess you did." replied Tint.
"TINT TORMAK!"
The two turn around to see Cronaxx, the captain, and the guards marching towards them. The both of them were very angry and covered in dirt spots.
"Uh oh." Tint looked nervous.
Back in the village, the salamanders worked tirelessly to clean up the whole mess that the raccoon made. Unfortunately, someone had to be blamed for its surprised visit. The captain had Dyllan and Tint stand before them with Cronaxx was standing next to the captain.
Chief Nightoum approached the two of them. Some of the salamanders were curious and scared of Dyllan's presence like they have never before seeing a human being. Some other salamanders kept to themselves and continued cleaning up.
"Which one of you is responsible for this?" asked Chief Nightoum, sternly.
"It was my fault." Dyllan first spokes up.
"No, it was my fault." Tint added.
"Okay, it was both of us. I wanted to get my backpack and he was eager to tame a wild beast by himself."
"We're very sorry, chief."
"(sighed) I appreciate your apology, but this is by far the most reckless thing you have ever done."
"But if you hadn't assigned Tint on guard duty, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I would still be sick and wounded or worse. He saved my life." Dyllan reminded them as the Chief looked concerned.
"Everything happens for a reason and the way you two worked together to get the raccoon out of the village. I've never seen Tint work so well with someone else other than me. Let alone another salamander." said Cronaxx as the two boys were shocked that the eldest was impressed.
"However in light of what transpired here, I have to enforce the appropriate punishment." said Chief Nightoum as Tint, Dyllan, and Cronaxx stood anxiously and waited.
"Tint, you are suspended from living in the village. Cronaxx, since he is your nephew and still underage, I ask you to accompany him and this creature he found. But you can continue to trade with us as long as Tint or that creature isn't accompanying you." The chief and the captain walk away to help the villagers, leaving only the three of them.
"I really am sorry, uncle." Tint apologized, feeling ashamed. But Cronaxx placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I know you are, but you have to accept the punishment like a real wizard. And for disobeying me, no more magic for a week."
"What about him? He's lost and he needs help. We can't just leave him out in the wild." said Tint as he knew if the human needs a place to stay.
"I'll gladly help you guys with whatever you need. If I learned anything from my family, it's that we must pledge our loyalty to those who help us, no matter what. Tint saved my life, so I have to return the favor." said Dyllan.
"In that case, you can call me Cronaxx." He offers his hand to Dyllan before they shake until he let go of his hand, leaving behind a batch of mucus on Darrell's palm, making him slightly queasy. "And since you clearly come from another world. Let me be the first to welcome you to the world of Amphibia!" Cronaxx announced.
Dyllan gazed at the glowing mushrooms that glows bright in the cave and opened his jaw with amazed.
Later that day, the three have already packed their stuff and went to find a cave on a cliffside not far from the village. The cave was spacious, dry, and out of reach from predators. They all smile and unpack all of their stuff. Dyllan rolls out a bed mat for him to sleep in.
"I hope it's comfortable enough. This is all we can provide." said Cronaxx
"It'll be enough Cronaxx. Thank you." Dyllan thanked him as Cronaxx nodded his head in approval.
"Alright you two, lights out. We've got a new day ahead of us tomorrow." said Cronaxx as he removes his sock hat, blows out his candle and goes to sleep. Tint looked over to Dyllan and grinned slightly.
"You know something? Uncle was always bugging me about making new friends. I just never thought I would meet a strange creature from an uncharted world." He turns around facing the cave wall and goes to sleep. "Night, Dyllan."
Dyllan blinked his eyes once as he reflected. He didn't think that listening to someone else other than his human friends that make him happy. He thought at first it was scary, but now he felt calm and warmth in his heart. He thinks back to the events before he looked in his backpack. He pulls out the photos of him and his human friends.
He smiles at the photo where it shows him stood next to his friends. Three girls and two other boys. Another photo he looked at is just him and his girlfriend, then he third photo was just him and five other boys. He looks out to the sky from the cave entrance and see the night sky with the red moon shining over the valley.
"(sighed) I hope you guys are okay because I know I am. No matter what happens, I will find a way to return home. Until then, just sit tight. Because I'm going to be here for a while." Dyllan takes a small rock and writes on the cave wall that says 'Dyllan was here' in case anyone else finds out he was in Amphibia. He blows out the last candle before he falls asleep.
And that's the story for which you may be know because up next is where "Best Fronds" are! In about 25 days, I'll be attending to Fan Fusion this year with my siblings and this time I'm gonna be prepared for the busiest weekends on Memorial weekend. I'll be sure to work hard to earn my payments so that I could possibly try to have an autograph from any celebrities. Hope you enjoyed reading and I'll be seeing ya, real soon!
Amphibia (c) Disney
Dyllan Loyalitat and the Tormaks (c) admiralDT8
