Unfortunately the vendor wasn't much more help to him after that, so he at least thanked the man for giving him the information that he did and went on his way. On the bright side, he had finally gotten some answers, sort of.

He still didn't know how or why this had happened to him, but at least he knew he wasn't the only one. And if there were others, then surely at least someone would have to know something, right?

The real question was what was he supposed to do now? The sun was beginning to set, and he doubted that the townsfolk there were hospitable enough to give him a place to stay, most of them would hardly even speak to him.

So not really knowing what else to do, he trekked back into the woods and found a small cave to sleep in. As he curled up on the ground and tried to go to sleep he thought about Hop Pop and Polly. Were they wondering where he was? Did they even know what had happened to him? He knew that Hop Pop was probably worried about him right now, and that he'd probably get an earful when he got back home...if he ever did get home, that is.

That's right, he was in another dimension, so how was he supposed to get home? He would need some kind of portal, and where in this world was he supposed to find one of those?!

But then again, if there was a portal that had brought him here from Amphibia, then surely there was one that could send him back. The question was how to find it…

Sprig awoke the next morning after getting at least a few hours of sleep. Honestly he was just thankful he was able to sleep at all given that he was in an entirely new place and form. The very first thing he realized, though, upon waking up was that he was really hungry.

Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before, so of course he was hungry!

Therefore, his first mission of the day was finding something to eat. Sure when it came to catching food he was at a bit of a disadvantage now given that he could no longer use his tongue, but he still knew how to hunt without it, and he could still do the Plantar family hunting dance. After all, Anne herself had proven that humans could do the dance and it was still just as effective.

The biggest problem was trying to figure out what was and was not edible. Most of the creatures he happened to come across in the forest he didn't even know what they were. Some of them kind of looked like bugs, but he wasn't entirely sure if they were and besides, what if they were poisonous? How could he even tell they were poisonous if he didn't know anything about them?

Nevertheless, he kept searching, hoping to find something that looked at least decently familiar to him, enough so that he would at least know it was safe to eat. As he walked he couldn't help but be captivated by his surroundings. It was a beautiful forest really, filled with colorful and unique looking trees and plants, and some rather bizarre wildlife. After a while though, he was starting to get an eerie feeling, like someone, or something was watching him.

It put him a little on edge, once again reminded that as beautiful as it was, he was in a strange and otherworldly forest with no idea what predators could be lurking about. But no matter how many times he scanned his surroundings he never saw anything suspicious. Just trees and plants and small critters flying or scampering around.

Maybe it was nothing, maybe he was just being paranoid, but it still made him a little more alert every time he heard a twig snap or rustling in the leaves.

He walked on a bit further, until he heard his stomach growl. He stopped for a moment, leaning on a tree with one hand while placing the other over his belly. Ugh, hope I can find something to eat soon. I'm starving! He thought, when suddenly he heard another low growl...one that was not coming from his stomach.

He froze, and the next thing he knew the tree that he'd been leaning on uprooted itself and moved away from his hand, causing him to nearly fall over. When he turned to look and see what was going on, he almost wished he hadn't, for he found himself face to face with some sort of giant leafy tree beast.

The creature that loomed over him was big and mostly made out of wood and bark. It had branch-like antlers atop its head and sap dripping from its short wooden maw. A large leafy mane adorned its neck and chest, flaring out as its green predatory eyes locked on him while it let out another low, menacing growl.

In an instant it reared back, ready to strike, and as soon as it did Sprig immediately tried to leap out of the way, realizing too late that he'd just made a really dumb and possibly fatal mistake. His "leap" could barely even count as a hop, as he ended up landing face first on the ground only about a couple feet away from where he'd been standing.

Next thing he knew, he felt large wooden claws wrapping around his torso in a vice grip before he was lifted off the ground and up to the monster's face. It stared at him for a moment before opening its large mouth to reveal a row of sharp, wooden teeth with especially long, pointy canines.

It roared ferociously in his face, and at that point all he could do was scream. As much as he tried to struggle out of the creature's grasp he couldn't break free, its grip was just too tight. When the beast opened its mouth again he braced himself, knowing what was going to come next.

"Hey, brussel sprout!"

Both boy and beast turned their heads in the direction the voice had come from and saw a blue skinned, teenage frog girl standing in front of some bushes several feet away from them, staring directly at the tree monster and the boy in its clutches.

For a moment, Sprig almost forgot that he was about to be eaten and gasped in shock. He hadn't expected to see another frog here, especially after what that guy selling rocks had told him, but this girl definitely looked like one of his own kind.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyes flickering around before they landed on a rock laying on the ground next to her. She picked it up and threw it at the creature, hitting it square in the face.

It was a relatively small rock, and the monster's face was made of wood, so it didn't really do any damage, but it still seemed to enrage the creature as it let out a horrible screech. It then dropped Sprig, much to his astonishment and relief, and charged at the girl as she quickly turned and ran back into the undergrowth and further into the forest.

Sprig watched the arboreal beast give chase and disappear into the dense foliage of the forest as he slowly sat up. He could hardly believe what just happened. There was another frog! Here! And she had just saved his life!

Questions without answers started running rampant through his mind. Who is she? How did she get here? What was she doing out in the woods? And if she really is from Amphibia, does that mean she knows how to get back home?!

Well, one thing was for sure, he had to go after her! He wasn't about to let the only connection to home he'd found so far slip away from him. Besides, that creature was after her and she might need help. She'd saved his life, the least he could do was return the favor.

So with newfound resolve he got up and ran off in the direction he'd seen them disappear in. Tracking them down was easy, thankfully the monster had left large footprints. He'd followed said footprints for a short while then stopped and crouched down behind some bushes when he finally saw the beast in question.

Unfortunately it had cornered the blue frog up against the base of a couple of high cliffs. When he looked closer he saw that she was holding up a thick purple stick covered with green thorns, perhaps in a last ditch effort to defend herself.

When the creature took one more step towards her she let out a short yell and ran at it, then proceeded to swing at one of its front legs as hard as she could. The monster didn't even flinch as the stick collided with it, it just stood there and stared down at her with narrowed eyes.

Her own eyes widened when she realized her attack had no effect and she looked up at the beast's face while muttering "Oh crud." The creature snapped its jaws down at her as she stumbled backwards, getting out of the way just in time, but barely.

Sprig knew he had to do something and fast, but what? Then he remembered something. He reached inside his jacket, into his other pocket opposite of the one his phone was in, and pulled out his slingshot.

Thank frog he still had it with him! He figured that if he could distract that thing long enough, maybe she could slip away. So he scooped up a ball of mud and shot it at the creature's head.

It splattered all over the side of the creature's face, covering one of its eyes in mud. Sprig immediately scooped up another mud ball and shot it at the creature's other eye, rendering it unable to see. The blinded monster immediately started to panic and paw at its eyes, and while the girl seemed genuinely surprised to see him, after a few moments she realized that this was her opportunity to make her escape. So she tried to quietly sneak past the tree monster while It was distracted.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for the creature to rub the mud off of its eyes and as soon as it could see properly again it quickly spun around and snapped at the frog girl who was currently sneaking past it. Startled, she jumped back mere seconds before it would've grabbed her. She ended up falling on the ground instead of landing on her feet, though, but quickly picked herself back up and dodged another lunge before running back in Sprig's direction.

"Well, don't just stand there, let's move!" She yelled as she ran past him. He wasted no time and quickly heeded her words, especially since the creature was already running towards him.

They both ran side by side as the beast charged after them, weaving through trees and obstacles along the way. He couldn't help but notice that the long strides of his human legs were maybe just a little bit faster than those of the shorter amphibian running alongside him, but she was definitely still able to keep up.

Still, he knew they were going to have to shake this thing somehow, and it seemed like the teen frog was thinking along the same lines. She glanced around for a bit as they ran, before her eyes landed on what looked like a hole in the ground.

"Over there!" She yelled, pointing at it.

It was a big enough hole that they would both fit in it, but the angry beast definitely wouldn't. Admittedly Sprig wasn't too sure how he felt about jumping into a strange hole in the ground with a complete stranger, but given the situation they were in he decided to trust her, and as soon as she jumped in he was right behind her.

He let out a short yell of surprise as he ended up sliding down a slope of mud and dirt before coming to a stop in at least several inches of water covering the hard rocky ground below. Once he stopped sliding, he sat up and looked around to see that they appeared to be in a small cave with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and an opening to the forest outside only several feet away from him.

Along with the stalactites there were also holes in the ceiling letting in shafts of light that seemed to glisten off the water and the almost crystalline stalagmites that were protruding from the ground. But now was not the time to be captivated by natural beauty. He paused for a moment to listen for any sounds that would indicate that the creature was still nearby, but didn't hear anything.

"...Do you think we lost-" He had started to whisper, but was cut off by the frog urgently shushing him, and the moment she did, he heard it. Its four massive footsteps tromping through the undergrowth, and they were getting closer. Both human and frog pressed themselves up against opposite walls of the cave as they caught sight of one large, wooden, three toed foot outside of the cave entrance.

They didn't dare move or make a sound, especially when the creature decided to try and take a peak inside the cave, one of its green eyes appearing in the entranceway. Though his heart was racing, Sprig knew better than to panic. After all, he'd been in a situation like this many times before, to the point that you could almost say he was an expert by now.

After a moment the beast lifted its head away and stood there for a moment longer before beginning to walk off. It must not have noticed them! Still, they both waited until it was completely out of earshot before each breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"You...you saved my life." Sprig said.

"Yeah...and you saved mine, so thanks." The girl replied, giving him a small smile as she did so.

Now that they weren't being attacked by a vicious arboreal beast, he was finally able to get a good look at her up close. He could see that she had vibrant blue skin, with a light blue underbelly and a purplish spot on each of her cheeks. She also had curly, brown, bushy hair that was covered in leaves and even had a twig or two sticking out of it.

Her eyes were brown as well, though the whites of her eyes had a slightly yellowish tint and her pupils were horizontal slits. When he looked at her hands he could see the round adhesive pads on the tips of her fingers, indicating that she was most likely a tree frog, like himself...or, well, like he used to be.

The clothes she was wearing included a white t-shirt with pink sleeves and an orange lotus emblem on the front, as well as a pair of jean shorts and a yellow hoodie tied around her waist. She was also wearing a pair of white socks, though curiously enough only one yellow and white sneaker on her left foot.

She definitely looked like she was from Amphibia, although he had to admit her outfit was a bit unusual... and yet there was something almost...familiar about it...

He was broken out of his thoughts, though, when the girl in question spoke up again. "You know, I have to admit, that was pretty brave of you to go after that creature and try to distract it so I could get away. I kinda just figured you would run off after it tried to eat you."

"Are you kidding, you saved me, so it's the least I could do! Besides, you're the one who's brave! You fearlessly stood up to it and got it to go after you instead!...By the way, how did you know I was even out there?" Sprig asked.

"I heard you scream." She replied.

"Oh,...riiight." he said, a bit sheepish. The teen frog waved it off though.

"Eh, It's okay, If I were you, I probably would've screamed too...actually I did the first time it attacked me." She said, muttering the last bit, but it was still loud enough for him to hear.

"Wait, you've been attacked by that thing before? How long have you been out here?" He asked.

"Since yesterday, it attacked me a little while after I...arrived here. I managed to get away, but it wasn't easy." She replied. "I gotta be honest though, I definitely wasn't expecting to see someone else out here...wherever 'here' is."

"I know right, I never would've dreamed I'd actually see another frog out here!" Sprig exclaimed.

At these words, the girl froze and looked at him. "Another frog?"

Sprig paused for a moment, realizing his little slip up. Still, he'd already knew that he was probably going to have to tell her what happened to him if he wanted any shot at getting home, so he might as well get it over with.

"Yeah well, you see the truth is... I... I used to be a frog...before I was sucked into this weird portal and then this happened to me." He explained, gesturing to his body with both hands as he said that last part.

He hoped he didn't sound too crazy as he waited for her to respond. The expression on her face was clearly one of shock, but it wasn't long before she spoke. "Wait, hold on, you used to be a frog?!"

"Yep."

"...And your saying that you were turned human when a mysterious portal just showed up out of nowhere and sucked you inside?" She asked.

"Yep, pretty much." Sprig replied. He was a little surprised she knew what a human was, but if she was from his world then it wasn't too far a stretch. Many people by now had heard of the legendary calamity trio, the tales of their exploits becoming something of both local and global legend.

The blue frog didn't ask anything more after that, but rather looked like she was contemplating something.

"What about you? How did you get here?" He asked after a few more seconds passed by.

"Oh...well uh...actually it's kinda crazy, but...the exact same thing happened to me." She replied as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Wait, seriously?! A portal appeared and trapped you here too?!" Sprig exclaimed.

"Yeah I know, pretty crazy right?" She said.

"...Okay, but if that's true then why was I turned into a human and you weren't?" He asked.

"Well, you see...that's just it, I...was human. Whatever did this to me, well...turned me into a frog."

Sprig was silent as he stared at her wide eyed for a moment. He once again found the words of the rock stand vendor flashing through his mind. He had said that everyone there had been transported from their home worlds to this place, and that they had all been changed into different species. If that were true then why should he have expected this girl to be any different from himself or anyone else.

Perhaps seeing another frog here and the potential prospect of getting back home had caused him to overlook such a possibility. Still, the fact that the frog standing before him was actually a human was a pretty staggering thought, though to be fair she probably felt the same way about him.

"Wow...Okay so, let me get this straight, I'm a frog who was turned into a human, and your a human who was turned into a frog? Talk about a major coincidence!"

The girl turned frog in question giggled a little and let out the breath she'd apparently been holding. "Totally. But I'm still not sure how this happened to me or why...I'm not even sure where we are. You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"

"Unfortunately, not really. I was actually hoping you could give me some answers." He replied.

"Darn." She said, sounding disappointed. "I was really hoping you could at least tell me something, but I get, your in the exact same boat too."

"Yeah...Well hey, at least we ran into each other, and saved each other from a terrifying tree monster. And who knows, maybe if we stick together we'll finally get some answers." He said, hoping to cheer her up a little.

"...Yeah, you know what, your right. I like the way you think human frog boy." She said, giving him a smile.

Sprig beamed at the compliment. "Thanks! By the way I don't think we ever introduced ourselves. My name's Sprig Plantar! And ya know it's kinda funny, but my best friend's actually a human too! Here, I'll show you a picture of her."

He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through all of his pictures of Anne, trying to find the best one. He stopped at a place in the photo stream where they had taken a bunch of selfie's together and started looking through them, one at a time.

"Sprig?"

The voice that spoke was barely above a whisper, but he heard it. He looked up from one of the selfie's of him and Anne to look at the human turned frog standing before him. She was staring at him with the expression of someone who had just seen the ghost of a dead relative come to life before their very eyes. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed.

He glanced down at the picture of Anne, and then back at the frog girl. He repeated this a couple more times as he began to notice the similarities...

...That hair...that outfit...

...that voice...

...no

...it couldn't be

His eyes widened as the realization hit him faster than a speeding snail, and despite hardly being able to believe it, his eyes began to prickle with tears.

"...A-Anne?!"

The girl's eyes filled with tears as well as she slowly placed a hand up to her mouth. "Sprig?!"

"Anne!"

"Sprig!"

The two practically leaped into each other's arms and hugged each other tightly, their eyes overflowing with tears.

"I-I can't believe it's really you! I...I missed you so much." Sprig said, his voice shaking a little.

"I missed you too, dude." Anne replied, sniffling a bit as her voice began to crack. "A-After I left, I-I was worried I might never see you again."

They stayed like that for a moment longer, embracing one another as tears rolled down their cheeks. They were so overjoyed to see each other that in that moment nothing else mattered, not the fact that they were nearly just eaten by a giant tree creature, or the fact that they were trapped in another dimension. Not even the fact that they were the complete opposite species than what they were the last time they saw each other.

No, the only thing that mattered in that moment was that they were finally together again.

Once they finally broke apart Anne stepped back and wiped her tears, though their sliminess caused them to stick to her hand. She tried to flick them off a few times before she resigned to just rubbing her hand on her shirt, then looked back up at Sprig to notice that despite the tears streaming down his own face he looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Hey, give me a break, I'm still not used to being a frog, you know." She said, folding her arms and rolling her eyes while giving him a playful smirk.

"Well, at least that makes two of us!" He replied with a bit of a laugh. "I'm definitely not used to being a human."

"Yeah, I'm definitely not used to that either." Anne said, looking her friend over. For starters, she definitely wasn't used to him being taller than her. "I gotta say though, you don't look half bad as a human."

"Thanks, you're not a half bad looking frog yourself." Sprig said as the two of them dissolved into laughter.

"Oh man, this whole thing is absolutely insane!" Anne said as their laughter began to die down a little.

"I know right!" Sprig replied. "I still don't understand how this happened to us or why,...and why us?"

"I don't know, all I know is that I was taking out the trash last night when all of a sudden this portal appeared out of nowhere and sucked me inside, and when I woke up, I was here in this bizarre forest and had been inexplicably turned into a frog." She said. "I'm guessing the exact same thing happened to you, right?"

"Pretty much, except I was out in the field pulling weeds when it happened." He replied.

"Let me guess, chore day?" She asked.

"Yeeeup." Sprig replied.

Anne giggled a little. "Okay, so I've gotta know...what's been going on since I left, anything exciting?" She asked eagerly.

"Well, I don't know about exciting, things have been kinda boring for the most part, but there are a few things that happened." Sprig said.

"Tell. Me. Everything!"

The two talked for what could have been hours, catching up on everything that had happened in each other's lives over the past year. They eventually moved out of the cave and were both sitting under a tree, as they regaled each other with stories of their own little adventures and exploits, and even reminisced over some of their old ones.

It helped too that they both had their phones on them and therefore a bunch of pictures to show each other as well. Sprig had been slightly confused when Anne had first mentioned her own phone, given the fact that she had gave him her phone all that time ago. His answer, however, came in the form of a phone that looked a lot like his, only it was in a green case with a frog face on the back of it, its two, cute, beady black eyes popping up on top of it, that she pulled out of her pocket.

She explained that on her fourteenth birthday, which was not long after she had returned home, her parents had gotten her a new phone and this case to go with it, since they both claimed that it "suited her." Which they weren't wrong, especially now.

"Oh, and here's a picture of Polly." Sprig said, holding his phone out in front of Anne so she could see.

"That's Polly?!" She exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she stared at a photo of a young purple froglet with short and slightly unruly orange hair, wearing a pair of short overalls and her signature yellow bow.

"Yep, she sure has grown a lot in a year." Sprig said.

"No kidding. Wow, it feels like I've missed a lot." Anne said, a slight melancholy to her voice which he recognized right away.

"Well, like I said, aside from Polly's sudden growth spurt and Hop Pop making a profit on avocado farming, you really haven't missed much."

"Yeah, but still, I've missed you, and Polly, and Hop Pop, and the farm, and Wartwood, and just...everything! I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been enjoying my life back on Earth and all, it's just..."

"Don't worry, believe me, I get it. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss having you there with me. But you're here now, granted we're trapped in another dimension with no idea how to get home or return to normal, but at least we're together!" Sprig replied.

There was silence between the two of them for several seconds as Anne seemed to be deep in thought, until she finally spoke her mind. "How...how do we get home? I mean, there's no music box this time. We don't even know where those portals came from or what made them, or why any of this is happening!"

"Yeah, the only thing I know about them is what the guy selling rocks told me." Sprig replied casually.

Anne paused for a moment before giving him a confused look. "Guy selling rocks?"

"Well, you see, yesterday when I went to into the town there was this guy selling rocks and he told me that everyone there had been sucked out of their home worlds by those portals, and wound up here and turned into completely different species than what they were before." He explained.

"Whoa, hold on, back up, there's a town?!" Anne exclaimed.

"Yeah, wait, did I not tell you about that?" Sprig asked.

"Uhh, no. But this guy that you talked to, what else did he say?" She asked.

"Well...he started going on about how appearances can be deceiving and some other stuff yada yada, then he said "Welcome to Paradox." whatever that means." He said.

Anne paused for a moment to think it over. "Hmm...maybe we're in some sort of paradox?"

"Or maybe "Paradox" is the name of the town? I...actually never found out what the town was called." Sprig said.

"...Maybe...or maybe we should just find this guy and ask him." Anne said.

"Huh?"

"Think about it Sprig, if he told you all of that then don't you think he might know more? He might even know where those portals came from, or what's behind all of this!" She explained.

"I don't know...it didn't sound like he knew anything about that stuff, I think he even said that he didn't know." Sprig replied, doubt lacing his voice.

"Still, this might be the closest thing we have to a lead right now, unless you think anyone else in that town might know something?" She asked.

"Even if they did, I doubt you'd get much out of them. The people there don't seem too friendly. In fact, that rock vendor was pretty much the only person who would even speak to me for more than a few seconds." He replied.

"Well, in that case I think we need to go to this town, find that guy, and see if we can get some more answers." Anne said.

"Sounds good to me." Sprig agreed as they both stood up.

"Great! Lead the way, Sprig!" And with that, the two reunited best friends headed in the direction of town.