Hello, everyone! It's been a half of a month and I am deeply sorry for taking too long because I have other things to do and I also have to be ready for my next trip this weekend. Right now, this chapter was all like too short, but not too long and it will be the same plot from one of my friend as long as I give credits to him. Thank you for your patience and enjoy reading!

Amphibia: Living In A Frog World

Chapter 8: The Salamander's Apprentice

One morning at the island, the sun was shining upon the land with the crickets chirping. The night guards from the village switched their places when the morning guards take turns. In the cave, the Tormaks were resting soundly in their cave along with Dyllan, but little does he know that today is anything, but an ordinary day for him.

When the sun shined on Dyllan's face, he yawns but still sleepy from yesterday's events. He felt very strange comfortable from his own bed roll as he rubbed his eyes until he realized something strange was happening. He was actually floating in midair. To his surprised, his eyes snapped and instantly falls to the ground. The small impact barely hurt, but he wasn't focused on the pain. Luckily his bedroll cushioned his fall.

"What was that?' Is Tint playing a trick on me?" He thought

He looks over to see Tint who is still fast asleep, facing away from the sun. He thought that he wasn't behind his trick, so he decided to shrug it off and climbs down from the cave just to get himself cleaned up for the day.

He finds a hidden area near the creek to wash up privately while carrying an empty bucket. He set the bucket down and removes his cloak and shirt. Just as he was about to fill the bucket with water, the bucket was already full. Dyllan dart his eyes around, wondering if anyone was stalking him.

"This isn't funny. Whoever's messing with me, stop it." said Dyllan, before he resume his washing.

After he was done washing, he put on his cloak and shirt, then returns to the cave where he finds Tint and Cronaxx were already awake and making their own breakfast breakfast.

"Good morning, Dyllan. How are you doing today?" Cronaxx asked.

"I'm feeling more refreshed than before. started using a bucket for my shower. I find this experience unique." Dyllan replied

"All things are unique if only done less frequently. We're about to have springtail omelets today. Please join us." Cronaxx offered as Dyllan sits down.

"Ooh, I love omelets. But, what's springtail?" Dyllan asked.

"Springtails are small insects. Very common, and very nutritious." Tint answered as Dyllan's eyes were suddenly shocked when his stomach started to quiver.

Now he knew that it was his first time eating bugs. If he couldn't dissecting frogs back in science class, what good is a batch of springtails going to do to him? As he watched Cronaxx flipping the eggs with the little bugs flipping around, he started breathing heavily. Once Cronaxx handed the dish to Dyllan, he looked to see that the springtails were smaller than he thought.

"Hmm, it looks crispy." said Dyllan.

"That's what makes the omelets taste so good," said Tint as he takes a bite, stuffing his mouth full of omelet.

Dyllan watched him with a little disgust. He was still unsure about eating his omelet as he took a piece up to his face. Tint saw this expression and thought of a trick he had learned.

"Hey, Dyllan. I've got an interesting fact for you. Much of the sensation of taste actually comes from smell. So if you breathe through your mouth instead of your nostrils, you can eat something really disgusting." said Tint.

"I just don't understand. The recipes I make are okay for me and a few other villagers." Cronaxx smiles.

"That's the problem, Uncle. It's because the other villagers are almost as old as you. Times are changing, which means recipes are changing." replied Tint as Cronaxx just shrugged it off and served his omelets to his nephew and the human.

"It's okay. They're not even alive. These omelets are the only thing I can tolerate." Tint assured to him.

Dyllan looks back to his springtail omelet before closes his eyes, then takes a deep breath, and then he bites down into his insect filled breakfast as he crunched down on his own food he had a familiar sensation from his mouth. One that felt soothing and calm like back home.

"Mmm, it tastes like bacon." He muttered before he swallows his piece and goes for another. The Tormaks smiled and continued eating their breakfast until their dishes are empty.

After they ate breakfast, Cronaxx packed up his satchel when he had to leave for the village to trade for more supplies. Before he's about to leave, he turned his head at Dyllan to tell him about the chores.

"Dyllan, could you help us out by cleaning up the cave please? And Tint, could you go get some berries for my alchemy table?" Cronaxx asked, making Dyllan stunned.

"Okay, Cronaxx." replied Dyllan in a monotone voice.

"Sure thing, Uncle." said Tint in a positive voice.

"I'll be back before sundown." said Cronaxx as he takes his satchel and left the cave entrance.

"I'll be back in a few." said Tint when he grabs a small pouch and runs off to go get some patch of bushes where the berries grow.

That leaves Dyllan to stay behind in the cave, looking over the floors were covered with mud tracks. Fresh cobwebs are dangling from the ceiling. Even the cauldron used for potions and cooking was rusty. He didn't like the look of this mess, not to mentioned of cleaning other people's property.

"Most of this place isn't even as mine." Dyllan groaned.

He takes out the Tormak's broom, a mop, a small bucket, a rag, and a feather duster as he looks across the cave once again. He starts to mop the floors only to realize he's now spreading the mud all over the floor.

"Ugh! I have to sweep up the dirt first?!" He shouts as he placed his fists on the cave wall with a frustrating attitude. "I never thought I'd have to clean up in this world! Especially a cave of all places. This is going to take all day."

As he pushed his head against the wall, Lerrad's Staff started to glow when the broom falls down on its own. Dyllan groans before slowly gets back up to reach for it, but out of nowhere when the broom handle just jumped into his hand.

"Woah, how did that happen?" Dyllan looked stunned as he looks to his hands, seeing a small glowing red aura coming from them. He could not believe his own eyes. "Am.. am I doing this?"

He looks to the potions rack for something small with empty vial. He points to the rack and the magic aura knocks the vials over by causing them to roll to the floor. Dyllan catches them as he raises a palm out when the vials stopped in midair. Dyllan lowered his hand, making the vials to shattered on the ground. He looks to his hands before he started to smile with glee.

"Wow, I can do magic?!" said Dyllan while his back was turned when the Staff of Lerrad glowed brighter. He looks over to the mop and bucket, then suddenly gets an idea. "Hmm, maybe this could help me out with cleaning up the cave. Yeah, just like the Sorcerer's Apprentice."

He points to the cleaning supplies, with the red aura to appear out of his hands.

"Here it goes."

The mop struggles to maintain proper balance, so Dyllan waved his finger like a musical conductor. The mop swings to the beat and kicks the bucket with its toes. The bucket comes to life in response and follows the mop outside to gather some water.

"Oh man! My friends are never going to believe this!" Dyllan cheered with excitement.

He makes a dramatic spin and points to the broom by waking up and start sweeping up the dirt across the cave. Dyllan makes another dramatic spin and points to the feather duster, causing it to float to the ceiling and brush off the cobwebs.

With more flicks of his wrists, he got all the cleaning supplies to work on cleaning the cave. With a feeling of relief, Dyllan took his time to go outside for a bit when he left with his backpack on. But with the staff started glowing again, the more cleaning supplies to move much faster.

Meanwhile, Tint was picking out the last patch of the berries for his uncle and he made his way back to the cave. But then he saw something hopping across the bushes. It looked like a stick, which didn't sit well with him. He thought someone was about to play a trick on him until he jumped out, surprising the stick and wrestled it down to the ground.

"Ha! Got…you?" Tint paused when he realize that he was actually wrestling his cave's mop. Then the bucket arrives with filled water. It splashes on Tint to make him let go of the mop and he gets back up and brushes off the water.

"What is going on here?" Tint looked shocked.

The mop and bucket just march past him and make their way back to the cave. Tint followed them shortly after until he found Dyllan sitting under a tree, napping after sketching in his black book he packed. Tint found it strange that Dyllan would be outside.

"Hey Dyllan, wake up!" Tint shakes the human boy until he partially awake when he yawned.

"Oh, hey Tint. Did you get the berries?" Dyllan stretched his limbs out as he yawned.

"Dyllan, what's going on? I just saw our mop and bucket just walking around on their own." said Tint just as Dyllan when snapped wide awake, knowing that his magic trick somehow got his attention.

"Uh, um… yeah that is weird." Dyllan looked nervous when he rubs his arm out of fear and starts to sweat like crazy. Tint squinted his eyes and stared at the human that he's lying.

"Dyllan, look me in the eye. Do you know something I don't? Because I know I'm not doing this." Tint kept his look stern and focused. Dyllan tried to look into his eyes, but every time he did when his eyes would quickly look away and tried to keep his lying grin hidden, but unfortunately he couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, I know! I cast a spell on the cleaning supplies in hopes of cleaning the cave for me!" Dyllan confessed.

"( gasps) You cast a spell!? How long ago was that?!" Tint looked shock.

"I don't know, maybe an hour or two?" replied Dyllan, but then they heard a plate cracking up the cave.

They rushed inside, they could see the cleaning tools still cleaning the cave. But the results in them making a much bigger mess than before. Dyllan looked scared and confused as he reached out at the tools at work.

"I command you to stop!" Dyllan command as the tools stop to look at him, but the rag jumps on to his face. The tools resume their assigned duties as he got the rag off of his face.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no! Cronaxx isn't going to like this!" Dyllan panicked and looked completely overwhelmed with the power he only discovered a few moments ago. Tint get up to Dyllan's face, looking more anxious.

"Not only that. If Cronaxx finds out about this, he's going to think I performed magic! He's going to ground me for even more moons than I could count!" Tint cried with Dyllan growing anxious again, causing the brooms and mops to perform faster. Tint tries his best to calm him down. "Hey, look at me. We're going to fix this."

Dyllan glances at Tint and shakes his head in panic.

"What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" Dyllan panicked, but Tint grabs him by his collar of the shirt and gets into his face.

"First thing you gotta do is calm down," he said. He takes a deep breath, with Dyllan following his instructions shortly after. As Dyllan calmed down, so did the brooms and mops.

"Now, tell me how this started." Dyllan shows his hands with a glowing faint red. At the same time, the staff glowed, but due to all the cleaning tools running around when they didn't notice. "I saw my hands glowing and I pointed at the mop to start cleaning."

"Okay, I may know a spell on how to stop this," said Tint as he gets in his magic performing stance. He brushes the floor with his feet, then his fingertips glow bright yellow and points to the air, and then spins them around like a clock. "Pickeery clockieery!"

And with that when time was reversed, but it wasn't enough.

"Drat! It wasn't long enough." said Tint.

"Did you just rewind time?" Dyllan asked.

"Only for a few seconds." said Tint when he brings out one of Cronaxx's books on time spells to flip pages and explains how to stop time altogether, but it comes with a catch. "This should come in handy.

He gets back into position and positions his hands in opposite directions.

"DialsSay TimesGay!"

Then out of nowhere, everything was frozen in time except for Tint. He started hopping on one leg hence the catch written in the spell book. He took the time hopping around, gathering all the cleaning tools and pulling them outside the cave. Once he slid down, his other leg touched the ground, and the spell was over.

The cleaning tools were determined to go back up to the cave. They pulled Tint back up, but he wasn't going to let them back in so easily. He pulled and pulled with all his might, hopping gave him a cramp on his charley horse.

The cleaning tools were about to return into the cave for which led Dyllan to make a drastic measure. He finds the salamanders' woodcutter's ax for the firewood, and prepares for the tools to come in. The mop, the broom, the dish rag, the feather duster, were all met with swinging and chopping into pieces until there was nothing, but splinters, fibers, and feathers.

Dyllan sighed with relief with Tint looked over to him. Then they suddenly started laughing at what they had just witnessed. Never before have they witnessed something they never thought would be possible. At least nothing ever happened unlike the cartoon short.

"That was so awesome!" said Tint, smiling.

"I know, right?! That felt really good. I jabbed from my left. Then I swung from the right. Then I-" Dyllan's word was quickly interrupted.

"No, not that. You! In general! You were performing magic! How did you do that?!"

As the two began to wonder, but the splinters, fibers, and feathers were slowly rising. And every splinter turned into a fresh new broom, mop, and feather duster. Every piece of fabric turned into a washcloth, and towel rag. Their copies loomed over them, casting shadows, blocking the cave. They looked behind them slowly, realizing what Dyllan had done.

"I kicked the hornet's nest." said Dyllan.

All of the mops, brooms, rags, towels, and feather dusters were all over the place making more mess than before. As the brooms swept, furniture was knocked all over. The mops were making the floor so slippery that Tint and Dyllan couldn't stand up properly. The feather dusters were dusting the ceiling so much when dusts came pouring down on them. And the rags and towels were wiping dishes so hard, they started cracking.

With the dust in their eyes, they couldn't see or fight back against the enchanted items. It got so bad they could only ride the brooms and mops as they tossed them back and forth across the cave. Dyllan knew this would happen. He knew something would ever happened Everything that happened was his fault and decided to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Tint. I should've done my chores properly. I know life isn't a movie, then I got you into this mess, and it's all my fault." said Dyllan, shamefully.

"It's okay, Dyllan. As a matter of fact, this is wizard lesson 101: Don't start something you can't finish." replied Tint, but then they both heard a stern voice.

"You got that right."

Both Dyllan and Tint were shocked to see that the voice from the entrance that turned out to be Cronaxx. He returned from the village with the supplies and got in his magic stance. He waved his hands in the air, causing the cleaning tools to suddenly stop. He waved his hands again, causing them to return to normal and then reverting the cave back to the way it was before he left. He glances down at them in disappointment.

"What were you thinking?!" Cronaxx cried.

"Cronaxx, I can explain-" Dyllan tried to step up, but Cronaxx held his hand to silence him.

"Tint, of all the rogue spells you did, while my back was turned, this is the worst!" Cronaxx scolded directly towards at Tint.

"But Cronaxx-"

"Dyllan, please. I understand that you're loyal to him and I understand that. But actions must have consequences!" Cronaxx turned his head towards his nephew. "Tint Tormak, for using magic behind my back, you are beyond-"

"I DID THIS!"

Cronaxx stopped in his tracks when Dyllan shouted. They have never seen Dyllan yelled so loud and the boy wasn't going to let Tint take all the blame because of him.

"This is my fault. I used magic to bring the brooms and mops to life." Dyllan confessed, as the eldest newt looked a bit surprised that it wasn't his nephew's fault.

"How did you do that?" Cronaxx asked.

"I don't know." Dyllan replied.

Then Cronaxx looks behind Dyllan to see Lerrad's Staff glowing. Both Dyllan and Tint turned around to see what Cronaxx is staring. He reached out to the staff with an red aura appears in his hand and magically brings the staff to him, making Dyllan shocked. As they connected, a small gust of wind blew in the cave signifying the Staff's calling to its master.

"I don't believe it. The Staff of Lerrad has given you magic abilities." Cronaxx was surprised.

"I have never seen anything like this. A strange creature from another world can actually performing magic." Tint added.

"This is truly remarkable." said Cronaxx, but out of nowhere when a beam of magic shot out of the staff and took down a stalactite. This made the trio jump and Dyllan drop the staff from his hand and hide in his bed roll.

"This can't be happening. "This can't be happening. I can't believe this! I don't want to believe this! Wake me up! Wake me up!" Dyllan panicked.

"Dyllan, it's okay. Any other creature would give anything to have powers like that." said Tint.

"But these powers are too strong!" cried Dyllan crossing his legs, and started rocking back and forth out of fear. "They almost got us killed by living brooms! I can't control them! I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"And you won't. Because we're going to help you." said Cronaxx when Dyllan stopped and looked shock.

"As a human with no magical abilities, you have just possessed a very powerful artifact that could cause catastrophe if not handled properly. But with the proper training, and the right skills, you could have what it takes to be a great wizard. And if we're lucky, that staff could be the key to help you get back home." Cronaxx consoled him.

Dyllan couldn't believe his ears. He could easily have the power to magically transport himself back home and it would take is a wave of Lerrad's Staff. But after what just happened, he realized that Cronaxx was right. He needed to learn all the basics steps to become a powerful wizard. It all starts with the surprising offer of becoming a wizard's apprentice. He climbs out of his bed roll and picks up the staff in his hand.

"Are you ready, my second student?" Cronaxx asked.

Who would've thought that he could be under the influence of something so powerful, he was willing to use it to sort things out. Back home, he always felt like he was hiding away from the realities of life. But now he has a chance to make himself something more. The one who could be loyal and proud. The one who could be the best Loyalitat the world has ever seen. He turns to Cronaxx and smiles with slight determination.

"Alright. Let's do it." said Dyllan.

"Good. Now, for your first order of business. You are to clean up this entire cave properly. From top to bottom, and without using magic." Cronaxx instructed Dyllan when he grabbed the mop with the old fashioned way and saluted to his new teacher.

"Yes, sir!" Dyllan replied and makes his way to the creek just as the sun was about to set.

"Well, Tint. Looks like I owe you an apology." said Cronaxx.

"It's okay. I didn't believe it as much myself." replied Tint.

"Guess you've got a new classmate by your side."

"Perhaps. Or, I may have gotten a new friend. He looked as ambitious as I was when I started my training. And besides, showing him what I know about magic made me feel like I may have what it takes to be a teacher someday."

"Someday, just not right away. Until then, leave the teaching to me, Mr. Know-It-All." Cronaxx smiled as he chuckled with the sun was halfway setting over the horizon.

Shortly afterwords, Dyllan climbs back up to the cave. He turns around to look at the sunset with new found hope. Because he knew that as of today, his life was changing. It may not be like from the movie or fantasy novel, but a true story was about to begin.

"Look out Amphibia. There's a new wizard coming to town." said Dyllan as he goes back into the cave and begins mopping up his mess. Tomorrow, he will be ready.

That's all folks. In about next month, I will and for which I mean I WILL get myself back into shape and publish more chapters when its time. Wish me luck on my vacation trip to California and I'll be seeing ya, real soon!

Amphibia (c) Disney

Dyllan Loyalitat and the Tormaks (c) AdmiralDT8