Happy Halloween everybody! I know I've been pretty busy lately. I got a new job, I've reduced the prices on my subscriptions, and I've reduced the amount of Commissions I can do monthly. And I know I'm way behind in my illustrations and animations of my Amphibia story. So I'm going to do my best to keep up the written portions of my story. So without further delay, may I present to you; Curiosity Killed the Cat-erpillar!
Chapter 15 - Curiosity Killed the Cat-erpillar
In the strange world of Amphibia, the sun rises to start a new day. Outside the city of Wartwood, the face of the Plantar farmhouse touches the wakening sun. In the beginning, the Plantar farm was as quiet as a mouse, as long as the lights were off. But now with the recent strange occurrences, the Plantar's house has just gotten more interesting.
The inhabitants slowly start waking up. Inside Sprig's room, he yawns himself awake. He turns to see Tint still sleeping, then to his closed window. He smiles knowing his new roommate is okay with the humidity. He quietly hops out of his room, trying not to wake him up.
Cronaxx feels the heat of the sun's rays shine on his eyelids. He covers his face with his hand and climbs off the couch, feeling well rested. He hears the sound of hopping coming from the steps and saw Sprig enter the living room.
"Good morning Hop pop," said Sprig. Then, he takes a good look at the salamander and realizes his mistake. "Oh, uh sorry, sir. I thought you were Hop pop there for a moment."
"It's alright young frog," said Cronaxx. "It's the start of a new day. And this is one of those days you didn't plan on."
"Anyway, are you ready for some breakfast?" asked Sprig.
"Indeed I am," replied Cronaxx. "But perhaps we should wait until everyone else is awake."
"Sounds like a plan," said Sprig. He hops into the kitchen with a smile on his face.
"I think you're really excited about us being here," said Cronaxx.
"Are you kidding me?!" asked Sprig. "We get to be the first frog family in generations to have salamanders live with us on our farm. Funny thing is that I read that the salamanders disappeared hundreds of years ago. Who knows what happened to them."
Cronaxx continues hearing Sprig's ambitions of salamanders until he hears footsteps coming down the stairs. They see Tint, Polly, and Hop Pop yawning themselves awake and getting ready for supper.
"Morning kids," yawned Hop Pop. "Ready for breakfast?"
"Sure," replied Tint. He stretches his arms, adjusting his body for the day. Polly hops to the table waiting for breakfast.
"Hope you salamanders are hungry," she said. "Because my appetite is bigger than you think."
"Nice try shrimp," said Tint with a sly grin on his face. "Your stomach is smaller than you think." Polly's responds with her face turning red and her polka dotted bow steaming with rage.
Downstairs in the basement, Dyllan is sleeping soundly on his bedroll facing the wall. He turns on his back, and slowly wakes up to the sound of a rooster and the smell of breakfast cooking from above. He yawns a bit louder than the others and stretches his arms out in the air. He turns his head to see his surroundings.
At first, he was upset to see he was stuck in a new world. But this time is different, because he is seen smiling. He looks over to see Anne sleeping on the other side of the room. He remembers the events from last night. He reached the town of Wartwood, he found his best friend, and he and the Tormaks have a place to live until they can travel again.
"It wasn't a dream!" he cried. He jumps out of bed and races outside to greet Amphibia. "Good morning Amphibia!"
"Keep it down!" a voice cried from a distance. "It's still early!"
Dyllan covers his mouth and walks back inside the house. "Guess I'm still a little excited about yesterday," he said.
"Good morning Dyllan," said Tint.
"Good morning Tint," said Dyllan. "And a good morning to you all; Cronaxx, Hop pop, Sprig, and Polly."
"Good morning Dyllan," said Sprig. Hop pop stops Sprig before he could offer him a handshake.
"Careful boy," said Hop pop. "He's probably hungry."
Polly comes up with a fork and knife and cries, "Hungry for us all! Come on let's eat him! You're frog chow, beasty!"
Dyllan holds his hands up, freaking out by his new hosts. "Woah, I am hungry," he said. "But I'm not a cannibal. I don't eat frogs."
Hop pop glares at the boy, then takes a deep breath, "Then I hope your hungry for grasshopper sticks and eggs," he said.
"Come on let's eat," sad Polly. She hops back in her bucket next to the table. "Get in my belly, Hopper!" She gobbles down her meal like a wild animal. Soon, Anne wakes up and joins the gang for breakfast. Dyllan waves good morning, and she waves back.
After breakfast, Dyllan whistles for Clipper and he jumps out of the forest. He is seen with a large leg inside his mouth. Dyllan smiles and scratches his riding friend's head. Clipper responds with tapping his back leg like a dog.
"I guess we're both having a good morning, buddy," said Dyllan.
He turns to see Cronaxx carrying a satchel of spices and herbs. "Dyllan," he said. "Hop pop wants you to clean out the tool shed. He's having trouble doing that himself, and he's got his hands full today."
"Oh, uh, okay," said Dyllan. He rolls his eyes, "My first day living on a farm and I get cleaning duty."
"Do not think of it as cleaning," said Cronaxx. "Think of it like organizing. Like a puzzle."
"A puzzle?" Dyllan perked up. "I've done a few puzzles back home. I guess I could give it a shot."
"Excellent," said Cronaxx. "I'm gonna try to brew a few potions with Hop pop's spices." Cronaxx enters the barn, then the Plantar's snail, Bessie, comes out of the door as he started brewing on his alchemy table.
Outside the tool shed, Dyllan stares at the clutter of tools poking out of the door. He slowly opens the door, only for a batch of garden tools to pour out like a gush of water. Dyllan groans at the mess, then looksthrough the batch of tools.
He organizes the tools from tallest to shortest. Sometimes, he takes the tallest tools and stacks them like lacrosse sticks. He takes the smallest tools and sorts them on the shelves inside the shed. Then, he takes the medium sized tools and places them under the shelves holding the small tools. And finally, he takes the large tools and places them against the walls that don't have shelves.
It takes a total of one and a half hours to clean out the tool shed. And thanks to his organizing, and his interest in puzzles, he turns the shed into an inventory rack.
"That should do it," said Dyllan.
Just then, Sprig and Anne arrive at the shed. "Hey Dyllan," said Anne. "Sprig and I are gonna play out in the forest. Wanna come?"
"Sure," replied Dyllan.
"That's great," said Sprig. He walks over to the tool shed. "Let me just get our- Woah!" As Sprig opens the tool shed, he is happy with the organization. "Dyllan, did you just clean out the shed?"
"It wasn't too hard," replied Dyllan. "All I did was treat the shed like one big puzzle, then it was just a matter of placing items where they should belong."
Anne walks in with ease and takes out a large scythe, with a green mantis claw as the blade. "That was too easy," she said. "Now let's get a watermelon and we'll be on our way."
Sprig goes into the garden and picks out a couple fresh watermelons right for the picking. Dyllan nods in approval as he grabs the Staff of Lerrad. And with that, the three friends were on their way to the forest. But not before they hear an explosion coming from the barn.
"What was that?" Sprig asked.
Cronaxx comes up behind them. "If I had to guess, I'd say Tint just mixed up the wrong ingredients," he replied.
"Typical Tint," said Dyllan. "Anyway, we'll be back soon Cronaxx. Me and Anne got some catching up to do." Sprig hops up next to him with a smile on his face. "And Sprig is gonna join us."
"Alright, but be back soon," said Cronaxx. "Hop pop won't like it if we don't help him around here."
"We know," said Sprig. And with that, Sprig, Anne, and Dyllan leave outside the property. And Tint comes out of the barn with smoke and ash venting out behind him.
"Sorry, Uncle," said Tint.
"And that's why we have safety measures," replied Cronaxx. "Now that you've failed your potion, you're going to have to clean that barn from top to bottom."
Tint groans, grabs a broom, and sweeps up the ashes and debris all over the barn. Bessie comes back and cowers in her shell, but not before she chirps with frustration and sadness. Cronaxx shakes his head, knowing how disappointing that potion foul up is.
Out in the forest, Sprig rolls a watermelon on a small bump in the ground. Anne prepares herself to slice the fruit in half like a baseball player. And Dyllan kneels behind her like a catcher on the mound.
"Swing, batta batta batta batta!" Anne called.
"With the game up by one point, at the bottom of the ninth," announced Dyllan. "It's Anne Boonchuy up to bat, with Sprig Plantar on the mound. The Humongous Humans have one runner on base with two outs. A home run here would give the humans a triumphant victory over the Plantar Plants!"
Sprig climbs up the bump, the watermelon proves to be a bit heavy for the small frog. But he musters the strength to pick it up, throw it to the humans, and fall flat on his face. Anne and Dyllan see the watermelon coming up towards them.
"Come on now," Dyllan said in a baseball tone. "Put it over the ol' plate. This batter's a pushover. Come on now! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" He kneels down with a fierce look as Anne prepares to swing.
As Anne swings, she loses her grip of the scythe and the watermelon flies past her and right towards Dyllan. The impact hits his hands, and knocks the boy off his feet. Dyllan's hands imbed into the watermelon, causing the juice inside to spill on Dyllan's face and shirt.
Anne turns, seeing Dyllan hurt on the ground. "Dyllan! Are you okay?!" she cried.
Before he can answer her, Dyllan sees the scythe flying towards Sprig. "Sprig! Watch Out!" he cried.
Sprig gets back up, seeing the scythe coming towards him. He yelps with his hat in the air, and he ducks back down. The scythe slices his hat in two and disappears into the trees. The three friends look to where the scythe went and Sprig's hat opens up, revealing a small tuff of orange hair on his head.
Sprig is lucky that he didn't get hurt, and turns to the humans asking them, "Wanna do that again?"
"Yea-yah!" Anne cried. Then she takes notice to Sprig's head, "Since when did you have hair?"
"Since always," replied Sprig.
"Tint doesn't have hair," groaned Dyllan, cupping his sore hands.
"Dyllan, are you okay?" Anne asked.
"I'll be fine," replied Dyllan. "It's not like I've gotten hit before." He takes a breath, and brushes off as much watermelon juice as possible. "Now let's get that scythe back."
The three push against the bushes, looking around for the scythe. "I'm sorry about your hat, Sprig," said Anne. She pushes another bush and finds the scythe imbedded on a tree. "Hey, there it is!" She walks over to pull it off.
While Anne was pulling the scythe off the tree, Dyllan's ears perk up to a strange, yet familiar sound.
'Meow!'
Sprig comes in and finds the humans with the scythe. "Hey, you two found-"
"Sprig, shhh," hushed Dyllan. "I hear something."
"What did you hear?" Anne asked.
Then, Anne and Sprig hear the sound too, 'Meow!'
"It sounds like a cat!" said Dyllan. He takes his staff and leads them to the source. "Come on!"
Dyllan leads the two out of the thickets and find a small black and white creature trapped in the mud. While three giant wasps were surrounding the creature, trying to stab it with their stingers. The small creature wiggles hopeless and frightened.
"Oh My Gosh!" Anne cried. "We've got to save her!" She rushes in towards the creature. Dyllan runs behind her, preparing to give her cover from the wasps. Sprig remains behind, pulling out his trusty slingshot.
"I'm right behind ya both!" he exclaimed.
Anne swoops in and slides next to the creature. With all her might she pulls it out the mud and grabs it as it broke free. "I got her!" she cried.
After she got her free, the wasps fly in and attack her with their stingers. Dyllan runs in and shouts his light spell, "Licht!" the sound of his voice musters enough power to blind the wasps and miss Anne, surrounding her with their stingers.
"On your feet, Anne," said Dyllan. "We are leaving!" Dyllan grabs the creature and the two make a fast getaway as the wasps lift themselves in the air. As they regain their sight, they are hit by a couple of rocks, shot by Sprig Plantar's slingshot.
"Take that, buzz brains!" he cried. "Sting someone else for a change!"
"Sprig! Less talking, more running!" Dyllan cried. The two humans retreat into the bushes. Sprig jumps backwards, following them from behind.
"Sprig out! Peace!"
Back at the tree where they left the scythe, Dyllan takes a moment to catch his breath. "Woah... that...was close," he panted.
Anne follows closely behind him. "You okay dude?" she asked.
"Yeah," replied Dyllan, panting. "I completely forgot...how much... I hate wasps."
"He hates wasps?" Sprig asked.
"He had a little incident with some when he was ten," said Anne. "I've never seen him so upset after getting stung like that."
"At least this little guy didn't get hurt," said Dyllan carrying the creature. He shows it to Anne, and she responds with a gleeful high pitch scream. Dyllan wasn't sure what he was showing her, making him confused.
Sprig hears the high pitched scream, and worries about her. "Anne, what's wrong? Are you stung?!" He takes the scythe off the tree and prepares to swing it again. "We'll have to amputate!"
Dyllan grabs the blade, stopping the pink frog. "Woah, woah, woah! Slow down there, Hopster," he said. "Anne, are you okay?"
"Guys, check this out!" cried Anne. "This caterpillar looks exactly like my cat, Domino, from back home!" She pulls out her phone with a photo of her black cat with white spots and shows it to the two boys.
Dyllan looks down at the caterpillar and sees the resemblance. The caterpillar is seen covered with black fur and white stripes on its back, six stubby furry legs, a patch of white fur on its chest, and yellow eyes. The caterpillar meows again, confirming Anne's comparison.
"No way," gasped Dyllan. "It does look like her!" His eyes glisten, seeing how cute the caterpillar looks. "It's so precious!" He takes a finger and scratches its little face.
"I love my cat more than anything in the world," said Anne pulling back her phone. "She was irreplaceable. But now I found a replacement. What do you say we take her home with us?"
Dyllan is happy about the idea. Sprig on the other hand, is a little skeptical. "I don't know you guys," he said. "That's a wild animal."
"Aw, come on Sprig," said Dyllan, giving him puppy eyes. "I'll bet this caterpillar is no different from Domino. She used to be a stray until Anne adopted her. After a few days, Domino became a great house cat. All it takes is love, patience, and respect."
"Please, Sprig?" Anne asked. "Look at her cute wittle face." She brings the caterpillar up to Sprig's face, and it licks his cheek. "Pweaze?"
Knowing how cute the caterpillar is, Sprig gives in. "Sold!" he declared.
"Alright!" shouted Dyllan. "She's all yours Anne."
"It's official," said Anne. She takes the scythe and knights the creature under a ray of sunlight. "I hereby dub thee: Domino 2." She turns to the farm, with Dyllan and Sprig following her. "Come on girl, let's go home!"
They took only a few steps to realize that Domino 2 wasn't moving at all. Instead it falls on its side with its tongue sticking out.
"Uh, is it broken?" asked Sprig.
"Caterpillars don't do much," said Dyllan. Then, a thought pops in his head. "I got an idea. Anne, can I see your bag?"
"Sure," replied Anne. She gives him her backpack, and Dyllan opens it and scrounges around to find a small toy mouse with a little bell on its nose.
"Domino couldn't resist this little toy," said Dyllan. "So maybe..." He shakes the little toy mouse, and Domino 2 feels mesmerized by the jingling sound. It gets back up and starts following the humans and frog.
"It's working," said Anne. "That's it. You can do it, girl."
And not only does it work on Domino 2, Sprig feels hypnotized by the toy as well. "I want it," he said in a bland tone. "Give it to me."
Back at the farm, The three friends find the barn all fixed and cleaned up. Tint comes out of the barn, wiping his brow with a rag and his hands wrapped in rags.
"Hey Dyllan!" he called out. "Where have you been?"
"We found something in the forest," said Dyllan. "Show him, Anne."
Anne picks up Domino 2 and shows it to Tint. "Ooh, you found a caterpillar for study?" he asked.
"Actually," said Anne. "This caterpillar looks exactly like my pet cat, Domino."
"Oh, no wonder it looks so familiar," said Tint. "Dyllan showed me an illustration of this Domino cat on his little contraption he calls a 'phone'."
"We are gonna ask Hop Pop if we can keep this fuzzy critter with us," said Dyllan.
Tint pauses with concern. "Uh, are you sure about that?" he asked. "We don't know anything about this creature."
"Oh come on," said Dyllan. "It's a caterpillar. They crawl, they eat, they sleep. What more could you know about them?"
"I read that there are different kinds of caterpillars Dyllan," replied Tint. "It all depends on what they look like, and what they eat. They could even eat flesh."
"Like this thing could actually eat flesh," laughed Dyllan. "Maybe you should stop worrying about what you read and just let me and Anne have this happy moment."
"Dyllan, I'm telling you," warned Tint. "You and Anne may not know what your getting yourselves into. So until Uncle Cronaxx comes back with more potion ingredients, I'm gonna find out what we're dealing with!" Then he storms back into the barn.
"Psh, what's his deal?" Anne asked.
"Don't be so hard on him," said Dyllan. "He's always all work and no play."
"Guess that makes Tint a dull salamander," said Sprig. The three giggle at Sprig's remark.
Just then, Clipper comes out of the forest clipping his mouth with joy. Dyllan gets close and pets his head. "Hey buddy," he said. "We just came back with a new friend." He shows Clipper the caterpillar. "Say hello to Domino-" But before he could finish, Clipper jumps in the air and hides back in the forest. "...2."
"Wow," said Anne. "It's like everyone is nervous around her. Like what's so scary about this little critter?"
"Maybe the guys need some time to get used to this critter," said Sprig. "Come on. Let's get back to the house."
Inside the kitchen, Hop pop is chopping up slices of a long mealworm for food. Anne and Dyllan peek out from the living room to see him busy at prepping.
"Okay Dyllan," whispered Anne. "We can't let him know we already have Domino 2 with us. So we got to convince him to be on board with getting a pet in the house."
"Gotcha," replied Dyllan.
Anne enters the kitchen in plain sight, acting like nothing new is going on. "Hey, Hop pop! Old buddy, old pal!"
Uninterested, and not turning away from his task, Hop pop blandly asks her, "What do you want, Anne?"
"Well, me and Dyllan have been thinking," said Anne with Dyllan coming into view. "Doesn't this house feel empty to you?"
Hop pop turns to see all the dirty dishes in the kitchen, filling up the whole room. "Not especially," he replied.
"Well Hop pop," said Dyllan. "Ever had the pleasure of having a fuzzy critter living in the house?"
"Like, a pet!?" Hop pop cried. His reaction causes him to raise his cleaver high in the air and he holds that position as Anne speaks.
"Exactly Hop Pop," said Anne. "Sounds like a great-"
Hop pop points his cleaver at the two humans and glares down at them with a serious face. "No pets!" he declared. "Every time we adopt one, Sprig and Polly swear they're going to take care of it. There was one pet we had. A spider named Charlie Big-Bottom. Sprig and Polly were there for all the cuddling and the snuggling. But I got stuck doing all the work! All the cleaning and the feeding! Good ol' Hop Pop, the true pet caretaker!"
Hop pop gets so angry thinking back to his pet days, he slams his cleaver on the table chopping up more worm slices as he rants, "I swear to frog, if any one of you kids bring in a fuzzy critter in this house. You'll be on dung duty for a month!"
As scary as the old frog is, the two humans back up out of the house as Hop Pop continues his pet rant. "Okay that got me rattled," said Dyllan. "Time for a new plan."
"Agreed," said Anne. "We're gonna sneak Domino 2 inside."
"Hey guys."
The two humans look down to see Domino 2 nibbling and licking on Sprig's left leg. "Should we be concerned about this?" he asked.
"That doesn't look too bad," said Dyllan. "Cats tend to nibble and chew on mostly anything."
"Dyllan's right," said Anne. "She's just play biting."
"It kinda looks like it's tasting me," said Sprig.
"She's just getting to know you," said Anne. "Believe me, I know cats."
"Look, Tint may be onto something," said Sprig. "I think we should go talk to him about learning more of what Domino 2 really is."
"Look, if you're worried about all this, we're not going to stop you," said Dyllan. "But right now, you're just as involved in this as Tint is."
"So how do we get her inside?" asked Anne.
Sprig slowly opens the door and hears Hop Pop in the kitchen, still ranting about their days with their pet spider. "How many times have I told Charlie Big-Bottom not to climb the chimney!? He looked at me with his big green beady eyes, like he understood me..."
Sprig signals the humans to come in. Anne enters the basement first, followed by Dyllan with Domino 2 hiding inside his cape. And just as he was about to climb down the stairs, the little caterpillar sneezes inside. Dyllan darted his attention in the kitchen, wondering if Hop Pop heard that sneeze. And Hop Pop turns to the door.
"What was that?" he asked. He sees Dyllan walking down to the basement.
"That was me, Hop pop," replied Dyllan. "Sorry." He closed the door above him and slid Domino 2 out of his hiding place.
"Whew," sighed Anne. "That was close."
"I'll say," said Dyllan. "He was not letting up about his pet spider."
He gives Anne Domino 2 and she starts snuggling her close to her face.
"Thanks for helping me get Domino 2 in the house, Dyllan," she said. "You're a good friend."
"I'd do anything for you girls," said Dyllan. He sits next to her and scratches Domino 2's stomach. "I've been by your side the moment we met, and will continue to do so."
"How does Sasha get to have someone as faithful as you?" teased Anne. "She's lucky you said yes when she asked you to go out with her."
"I guess it was my loyalty that got me where I am with her," replied Dyllan. He takes out a photo of him and his friends and sighed sadly. "I hope she's okay."
Anne pats him on his shoulder "Hey," she said. "We'll find her. We're in this together, remember?"
Dyllan smiles, remembering his vow. "Yeah. You're right. We'll find her," he said. The two remain side by side as Domino 2 gets comfortable in her new surroundings. "Who's a good girl? You are Domino 2. Oh yes, you are."
The next morning, Sprig sneaks down into the basement to check on Dyllan and Anne. He spots Tint coming out of Hop pop's study with a book on wild animals in his hands.
"Hey Tint," said Sprig. "Whatcha reading about?"
Tint hushes him and leads him outside of the house. He turns his head from side to side, wondering if anyone else is listening to them. "I'm doing some research on this critter you guys brought in," he whispered.
He opens the book, showing a few illustrations of small creatures that almost look like Domino 2. "There are only a few of these creatures that are black with white spots. But I need a few more details on its behavior. I need to follow its tracks, what it does, and how they respond to us."
"Well I was just about to check up on Anne and Dyllan," said Sprig. "Maybe you can find more answers while it's down in the basement."
Tint shuddered hearing that the critter was in the basement. 'Only Lerrad knows what horrible things may happen to them,' he thought.
The two enter the basement, but the lights were off making it hard to see. "Anne? Dyllan, you awake?" Sprig whispered. He touches a mushroom, causing the algae from it to glow brighter and light up the basement. The two find the place filled with fresh cobwebs all over the basement. Sprig jumps surprisingly at the mess. And Tint grows anxious, wondering what kind of creature does this.
Tint and Sprig scatter around the basement looking for their human companions. "Anne? Anne? Anne!" Sprig cried. Tint looks around the room very carefully, then spots a large sack moving around on Dyllan's bed mat. He goes over to investigate, and his hands stick onto the sack like it's wrapped in cobwebs.
Tint heats off the silk and finds Dyllan covered with the stuff. "Dyllan!" He cried.
Dyllan groans, "Ugh…not now Mom. Five more minutes." He turns over to the other side and reveals a couple bite marks on his cheek. Tint cringes at the sight of the marks. His fears of the mysterious creature continues to grow and nudges him awake.
"Wake up!" He shouted.
Dyllan opens his eyes, and struggles to get loose from the silky wraps around his body. "Huh? W-Wha?… What's happening?" He asked.
"Hold on," said Tint. His hands glow a bright orange aura, then he touches the silk, slowly burning them off without harming Dyllan.
Sprig opens the sheets revealing Anne and Domino 2 fast asleep. "Anne!" He jumps onto her pillow and shakes her hair. "Get up! Get up!"
Anne slowly opens her eyes. She sees Sprig and Tint, worried out of their minds. All she does is smile and says, "Morning guys."
"What's going on around here?" Tint asked. "What happened to the basement."
"It's Domino 2," groaned Dyllan, rubbing his cheek. "She had a hard time being in the basement."
"But everything is fine," yawned Anne. She turns over to see fresh red scratch marks on the left side of her face. Her school shirt is also scratched up. Sprig and Tint cringe from the sight, then look around the basement.
"Hop pop is definitely going to notice this," said Sprig.
"You think?!" Tint snapped. "Who knows what this caterpillar is capable of?"
"It's okay," yawned Dyllan. He takes a stretch and gets up out of bed. "Domino was like this when she was adopted. I've seen so many scratch marks on the Boonchuys, that they asked my family for more disinfectant wipes."
"Yeah," said Anne. "She's just adjusting. So we have to keep an eye on her until she's comfortable." She takes out the little toy mouse from under her pillow and shakes it in front of the cuddly caterpillar. "Wouldn't you agree with us Domino 2?"
Domino 2 purrs and meows in response. Then, she looks to the two amphibians with its pupils dilating at them. A small patch of drool came down from its mouth, and out of nowhere, she shoots a patch of web onto Sprig's face. Tint responds by leaving the basement in an instant.
"I don't remember caterpillars doing that," said Dyllan.
"That's just her way of saying she loves you," replied Anne. "Kind of like how Domino coughs up fur balls." she pecks the caterpillar while Dyllan takes a broom and cleans off most of the cobwebs.
Later in the day, Dyllan paints a sign with 'Domino 2' on it. Then Anne hammers it on a cat stand. Domino 2 pops out of a couple holes until it sneaks past the humans and into the living room.
In the kitchen, Hop pop was preparing a sandwich for himself. While he wasn't looking, Domino 2 came in and eats the sandwich in whole. Sprig snatches the caterpillar back to the humans while he leaped into Hop Pop's plate to scare him.
Anne comes down to her room and finds a bug carcass on her bed. Domino 2 looks up at the human with her bug eyes and meows with pure innocence. Anne was disgusted by the gift, but couldn't stand to resist how cute her caterpillar is.
In the living room, Polly is reading her book on the couch. Unaware that Domino 2 is lowering herself down from a web to eat her from above. Luckily, Anne grabs Domino 2 before she could get the chance to eat her. Polly looks up to see what is going on, only to find nothing out of the ordinary.
Dyllan comes back down the basement after an afternoon of field work. He finds a batch of bug carcasses on Anne's bed. The caterpillar meows and stares at him with her bug eyes. Dyllan responds with a shocking expression on his face. Then he turns green, and races out to throw up.
Inside the study, Cronaxx is organizing the bookshelves while Tint is looking for more books on wild animals. While Cronaxx stands on a small stool reaching for another book, Domino 2 comes crawling in, craving for the taste of salamander. As she comes close to the unsuspecting elder salamander, Tint darts in and gets the caterpillar back into the basement.
"What was that, Tint?" Cronaxx asked.
"Nothing, Uncle," replied Tint.
As much of a handful Domino 2 really is, Anne is still happy to have a substitute pet in place of Domino. Despite the caterpillar's gross habits, Dyllan is happy to see Anne happy. He even shares a moment with Domino 2 by giving her a bug's head to the caterpillar, and she nibbles it on his hand, making him smile.
But through all their hard work on their day at the farm, and keeping Domino 2 away from Cronaxx and the others, Anne, Dyllan, and Sprig are worn out with smiles on their faces. "I sure hope that we don't have a Domino 3," said Sprig.
"I think one Domino is enough," sighed Dyllan.
Domino 2 is toying with another bug carcass until she eats it up. Then, she wraps herself up in silk wrap she spews out of her mouth. Sprig, Anne, and Dyllan sigh seeing Domino sound asleep.
"It's all worth it when you get to see your cutie patootie sleep like an angel," said Anne. Dyllan nods in agreement.
"I gotta admit," said Sprig. "She is pretty darn cute."
Anne places her arm around Sprig. Dyllan places his hands on his shoulders. "Congratulations," said Dyllan. "You're a part of the Church of Cuteness."
"Is this some kind of cult group?" Sprig asked.
"Not exactly," replied Dyllan. "It kinda sounds a little strong."
Just then, his stomach starts growling. "Guess my stomach's taking a shot at purring," he said. "Anyone else hungry?"
"I am!" cried Sprig. "Let's chow down."
The three exit the basement. But not before Anne turns around to wish Domino 2 sweet dreams. "Nightly night my precious little angel." After she leaves the basement, Domino 2 instantly wraps her head around with more sticky silk.
Inside the study, Cronaxx is dusting more books. He instantly sneezes after a batch of dust flies in his nose. "Achoo!" He sneezes in his sleeve, making sure his germs doesn't get all over Hop Pop's books. Then, Tint comes in to place some books back on the shelves.
"Hello there Tint," he said. "What kind of books were you reading today?"
Trying to cover for Dyllan and Anne, but anxious to find out what the creature is that they brought in, Tint decides to ask him for help. "I'm actually curious to learn more about some strange creatures I found in the forest. And I thought that one of Hop Pop's books might have some interesting facts on them."
"What kind of creatures do you want to read about?" asked Cronaxx.
"Just one strange little creature," replied Tint. "It's small, surprisingly cute, has big yellow eyes, black fur with white spots, and-"
"Wait a minute," said Cronaxx. "Black fur with white spots?" He takes out a book hidden on the top shelf. "I think I know what creature you're talking about." He opens the book and Tint stands behind his shoulder to look at the creature he pointed at. This makes Tint look terrified, now realizing that his friend might be in danger.
"Oh, salamander," he said.
In the kitchen, Dyllan, Sprig, and Anne were chowing down on all the food they could eat. Anne is nomming on a sandwich, Sprig is gobbling down vegetables, and Dyllan is nibbling on corn row by row. Hop Pop walks in to see them gouging down on food.
"Woah, easy there kids," he said. "How are y'all that hungry?"
"We've been very busy all day and we're starving," replied Sprig.
"Busy doing what?" asked Hop Pop.
Dyllan, being a terrible liar, darts his eyes back and forth trying not to make contact with Hop Pop. Anne and Sprig were able to reply with either, "Oh nothing," and "Who could say, really?"
That's when Tint came in with a terrified look on his face, and the book in his hand. "Guys!" He cried. "We've got to get out of here now!"
Hop pop turns with a worried look on his face. "Woah there, spud," said Hop Pop. "What's gotten you all riled up?"
Then out of nowhere, a large thump was heard and the house shook violently. The kids were all terrified except for Polly who wasn't around. Cronaxx came in with a curious look on his face. "What was that bang?" Cronaxx asked.
Anne tries to come up with an excuse to keep her pet caterpillar hidden. And all she could come up with was, "Basement ghost?"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Hop Pop. "Basement ghosts don't sound anything like that."
"Wait, you guys have ghosts here?" Dyllan asked.
"Of course we do," replied Cronaxx. "But we'll get to that later."
The group enter the basement to find the whole room covered in darkness. A rotten stench came from Anne's bed, coming from what looks like an opened chrysalis. Dyllan is a bit disgusted seeing the open cocoon.
"What the heck is that?" Anne asked.
"Looks like an alien egg that recently hatched," replied Dyllan.
Anne looks around to see that Domino 2 is nowhere around. "Domino 2? Where are you!? Baby Precious!"
"Wait a minute," said Hop Pop. "Baby Precious? That's a pet name, for a pet!" He glares down at Sprig and Dyllan. "You sneak a pet in here?"
Dyllan tries his best to look away, while keeping a straight face. Sprig tries his best to hide it as best as he could as well. But the jig is up, and it's hopeless to lie in front of Hop Pop. He stares down at the two boys with a 'Don't lie to me, boys,' look. Before Sprig could say anything, Dyllan cracks and falls to his knees.
"Yes! Yes, yes, we did!" He cried.
Hop pop is very upset knowing the truth is out. "What did I tell you about no pets in the house?!" He cried.
"To not bring them in," replied Dyllan.
"We're really sorry," said Sprig. "It's just that the caterpillar looked just like Anne's cat from back home."
"And that's why we all have to get out of here now," said Tint. He opens the book, revealing an illustration of the caterpillar. "Hop Pop, it's a black caterpillar with white spots. It can shoot silk webs from its mouth and has a taste for amphibians."
Hop Pop realizes what they're dealing with. "Oh no. This is bad," he said.
"Now I have a feeling that something is wrong," said Sprig.
"Darn tootin' boy," said Hop Pop. "We're dealing with a costal kill-a-pillar! A very dangerous amphibivore! And they only get white spots before they're about to change."
Then, the group hears a small buzz coming from the ceiling. Dyllan looks up with a frightful look on his face, and staff in hand. "C-ch-change into what?" He keeps a sharp eye out for the seemingly well hidden kill-a-pillar. Until he feels a lick on his cheek coming from a barbed green tongue.
Dyllan turns around and backs away from the hidden monster. "Litch!" The staff conjures a light orb, revealing the kill-a-pillar. But it is now a kill-a-moth. The moth has white fur, with a dark thorax, red eyes, and a set of brownish-red wings. The creature screeches at the group, scaring everyone.
"Is that Domino 2?" Anne asked. But Hop Pop shushes her.
"These monsters respond to sound," whispered Cronaxx. "We need to back up out of here, slowly and quietly." The team listen to the wizard and back away from the giant monster. With every careful step they take, they get closer to the door. They never take their sights off of Domino 2.
And just as they reach the ladder to the basement, Polly opens it, greeting the group. "Hey Family! What's going on in here!?"
Domino 2 screeches at the pollywog, making her scream. "Run for it kids!" Hop Pop cried. The giant moth flaps her wings causing gusts of winds to flow inside the house, knocking down boxes and barrels all over the place. Hop Pop and the others escape the basement, except for Anne and Dyllan.
"Anne! Come on!" cried Dyllan. "We gotta go!" He climbs up the ladder, but sees Anne looking at Domino 2 head on. "Anne! What are you doing!?"
"I'm gonna try to get through Domino 2," she replied. She slowly walks up with her hand reaching out to her 'pet' "Domino 2? It's me, Anne." The teen's soft voice brought Domino 2's flapping to a halt, and she lands on her hind paws. "We bonded. I gave you treats. You gave us dead bugs. Please, remember us. Remember me?"
The insect calmly allows her to let Anne touch her face, making Dyllan's jaw drop with shock. But then, Domino 2 screeches again, knocking Anne off her feet and Dyllan falling off the ladder. The giant moth exits the basement and goes after the Plantars and Tormaks.
Dyllan comes out of the basement first and watches Domino 2 toss the amphibians in the air. "NO!" He cried. He takes his staff and smacks Domino 2 upside her head. "Bad kitty! Leave them alone!"
Domino 2 responds with a long hiss and turns her attention to the human. "Oh darn," said Dyllan. Domnio 2 bashes Dyllan through the Plantar's wall, knocking him down in the garden. Domino charges at him, preparing to attack again. But Dyllan gets up to cast a light spell to blind the giant moth.
The spell gets into the moth's eyes, but she grabs Dyllan regardless, and starts flying in the air. Dyllan screams for his life, like he's riding a very dangerous rollercoaster.
Anne watches in horror as her best friend was dangling for his life. "This is bad!" She cried. "He's gonna get hurt being toyed around like that!"
Dyllan bites down on Domino 2's paw, and the giant moth lets him go, making him fall in the Plantar's vegetable garden. Then, Domino 2 regains her eyesight and flies in the air, spotting Dyllan below her. She spits out a giant blob of sulked webs, pinning him down. Then, she swoops down and prepares to dive in and attack the hopeless human.
But just as she is about to deliver a powerful blow, a large clacking noise is heard above clouds and Clipper dives in to tackle Domino 2. The two insects drag across the fields and leap back in the air, trying to push them back with their wings. The two take the fight to the skies, and the Tormaks quickly free Dyllan by burning off the silk.
"Are you alright, Dyllan?" Tint asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "It's Clipper I'm worried about." The trio see Clipper still fighting against Domino 2. Dyllan looks carefully at Clipper's bruised wing. "If he keeps fighting Domino 2 like this, he's gonna hurt his wing even more."
"That's not the only thing you have to worry about," said Tint. He takes out the book and reads out loud. "Kill-a-Moths are great defenders against their greatest foes: the Dragonfly. First, they take away their ability to fly. Then, they drop them from great heights and leave them to bleed out." Tint closes the book and says, "Clipper is fighting a losing battle."
"And not only that," said Hop pop. "They'll destroy the farm too!"
"We've got to break up that fight," said Sprig. "But how?"
While the group is thinking, Clipper and Domino 2 take the fight to the skies. Clipper uses his speed to his advantage and darts into Domino 2. Clipper's slash attacks scratch Domino 2's side. Domino 2 twitches in pain, but maintains her ability to stay in the air.
Before Clipper makes a direct attack, Domino 2 uses her wings to slow him down, and reduce the power of the attack. She grabs Clipper with her legs and pulls him down to the ground. The impact on the ground creates a crater in the Plantar's crops of vegetables.
The two slowly get back up and Clipper flaps his wings and gets back in the air. Domino 2 follows the dragonfly and gets in the air as well. She follows Clipper into the forests and then instantly loses the large dragonfly.
Clipper is seen hiding behind a tree, blending with the environment. He waits for Domino 2 to slow down and look for him. Domino 2 flaps her wings using the wind currents to shake the trees and search for the hidden dragonfly. The resulting tactic caused a hurricane of destruction. Sticks and branches fly through the air, breaking off of trees.
Clipper holds on as tight as possible, but a branch comes in and cuts in his injured wing. Clipper screeches in pain and jumps out of the tree and tackles Domino 2. Clipper's pain gives him the advantage to keep Domino 2 down and bite her in various places.
Dyllan and Anne race through the forests, hoping to find the two large insects. "I sure hope this works," said Dyllan.
"It has to work," said Anne.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Dyllan.
"It's the only way to save them both," she replied. She comes in
The two find unnatural damages to the forest, then they hear screeches of agony. They follow the sound, and the sight of the damages, to see their animal friends fighting to the death. And Clipper is winning.
"Good luck Anne," said Dyllan. He takes his staff and dives into the fight. He sees Clipper's wing scarred and the tip is broken off. The dragonfly is still biting the flesh on Domino 2, and not letting up. With his staff in hand, Dyllan takes a stance. "Clipper stop!" he cried.
But Clipper finishes wounding the giant moth and goes for the finishing blow. The dragonfly screeches with pain and domination. Domino 2 just squeals in fear.
Dyllan's staff glows a bright red again as Dyllan keeps a firm grip on it. The aura surrounds Dyllan's hands and his hair starts flowing in the wind.
"Clipper! NOOO!" he shouted.
Clipper suddenly stops, and sees the bright red aura coming from Dyllan's staff. Then, Clipper slowly gets off of Domino 2 and Dyllan gets in between the large insects.
"It's okay Clipper," said Dyllan. "It's over. I'm safe. And you won."
Now, Domino 2 gets up and hisses at the human. She sticks out her barbed tongue and gets in a pouncing stance. Dyllan braces for the attack, then they hear a small jingling sound. It was Anne shaking her cat toy to distract Domino 2.
"Hey Domino 2! Over here!" cried Anne.
Domino 2 gets mesmerized by the little cat toy. Even though she's changed her form, that doesn't mean she's still attached to the toy. She turns her attention to Anne, and away from Dyllan and Clipper. Anne runs for her life, making sure Domino 2 is out of their sight.
After Anne and Domino 2 disappear in the thick forests, Dyllan turns his attention to the dragonfly. He takes the staff in his hand and chants, "Heilen, heilen, heilen." A glowing green aura surrounds the large dragonfly and the cuts and scars Clipper sustained fade away.
"Go back to the Plantar farm and protect the others. I'll make sure Anne makes it back," said Dyllan. Clipper purrs and takes off back to the farm. Dyllan chases after Anne and Domino 2. 'Please be okay Anne. Please be okay. I just got you back!' he thought.
Anne continues running away from the flying giant moth until she reaches the ledge. Domino 2 lands in front of Anne, blocking her escape. Anne finds herself in a tough spot, and looks to Domino 2 with a sad expression.
"I'm so sorry Domino 2," she said. "I thought that if you spent time with me, I could change you. But I was wrong, you're always going to be a giant monster with the intention of eating my friends." Domino 2 purrs, looking at the human.
"I just wish it could've worked," said Anne.
Dyllan reaches the end of the thick forests and finds Domino 2 blocking Anne, and pinning her against the ledge. Dyllan gets scared at the sight of his best friend's predicament. But before he could shout, Anne looks back at her cat toy one more time.
"It's time to let you go," she said.
And just as she throws her cat toy over the edge of the cliff, she remembers all the good times she spent with Domino 2 when she was a cute fuzzy black caterpillar. All the dancing they've done, all the cuddles Anne gave her, and all the food Domino 2 ate in her care.
Domino 2 leaps in the air and chases after the mouse toy. Leaving Anne, Dyllan, and the amphibians alone for good. With only a few battle scars, a couple of broken limbs, and a chipped wing flap, the giant moth bears no trouble of flying away. Dyllan rushes over to Anne's side, after Domino 2 leaves their line of sight.
"Anne!" he cried. Anne turns to Dyllan with a soft smile on her face.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I will be," replied Anne. "Is Clipper okay?"
"He'll be fine," said Dyllan. "He's back at the Plantar farm defending our friends in case she comes back. I had to heal him with my staff to give him the extra energy." He shows her his staff as the glowing red aura disappears. "Don't ever do that to me again. I lost you once, I don't want to lose you a second time."
Anne frowns and falls to her knees. "I know," she said. "I'm so sorry I put you through all of this. If I hadn't insisted we take Domino 2 in, none of this would've happened."
Dyllan frowns too and kneels down with her. "Hey," he said. "It's not all your fault. I supported your decision to bring her back. I was just so focused on your happiness and mine, I lost sight of the kind of dangers we were putting us and our friends in."
"I just miss Domino so much," sobbed Anne. Dyllan feels sad seeing his friend cry, it made him drop a few tears of his own.
"I miss her too," replied Dyllan. "But you're not alone, Anne. We can miss her together."
The two hug it out, then the two look back at the valley where the wounded Domino 2 disappeared. Anne and Dyllan take a knee and say goodbye to her giant insect pet.
"Sayonara, Domino 2," said Anne.
"Verabschiedung (goodbye) Domino 2," said Dyllan.
Back at the Plantar farm, Clipper stood on the roof of the house waiting for Domino 2 to return. Cronaxx and Tint were helping Hop Pop cleaning silk webs off of Sprig, Polly, and the house. Cronaxx uses his hydrokinesis to wash the webs off the walls. Tint uses his pyrokinesis to singe the webs off of Polly and Sprig.
"And look who's cleaning up after the pet," said Hop Pop. "Me! That's who."
"It's not just you Hopediah," said Cronaxx. "We're all pitching in."
"I should've stopped them the moment they brought that thing in the house," said Tint.
Just then, Anne and Dyllan enter the hole in the house that used to be the front door.
"Hey guys," said Dyllan in a soft tone.
The Plantars and the Tormaks feel a sense of relief that their human companions returned with their limbs still in tact.
"You guys are alive!" Sprig cried.
"Is that creature gone?" Polly asked. "Please tell me it's not coming back!"
"Yeah," replied Dyllan. "It's not coming back." He looks up to Clipper, still guarding the house. "It's okay Clipper. You can relax, she's gone." Clipper climbs back down and settles back in the forest.
Anne still feels gloomy over saying goodbye to her replacement pet. But Dyllan stays by her side and nods to her. "I'm so sorry you guys. I had no right to put you all in harms way. No matter how much I miss my pet cat. I hope you all can understand."
"I can understand a thing or two about missing the old days," said Cronaxx. "I may not be able remember my old friends, or my family, but I do miss remembering the times I used to smile."
"Meh," sighed Tint. "I have nothing to miss in my life."
Dyllan shrugs his shoulders to Tint's response. "What about you, Plantars? Do you understand what she's going through?"
"I'll tell you one thing," said Hop Pop. He gets tough, he stands firm with his head pointing up to the ceiling. Then he shows the group his sad eyes looking like he's ready to cry. "I miss Charlie Big-Bottom with every fiber of my being!" He then balls his eyes out, crying over missing his family's pet spider.
Dyllan kneels down and gives the old frog a hug. "Come here you," he said. Hop pop accepts it.
"Okay," said Polly. "Now can we focus on fixing the GIANT HOLE IN OUR HOUSE!?"
"I got this," replied Cronaxx. He waves his arms and uses his magic to repair the damages to the house. Every piece of foundation gets put back in place, and the damages inside and outside the farm disappear like nothing happened.
The very next day, Anne is sweeping the floors in the basement, getting rid of the last of the cobwebs left behind by Domino 2. Dyllan comes down smiling, with his hands behind his back.
"You doing okay Anne?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," she replied. "I guess Tint and Sprig were right. You can't take any creature you find in the wilderness, keep them in the basement and expect everything to go your way."
"I don't know about that," said Dyllan. "There are a couple of good examples that worked out in the end."
"Really?" Anne asked. Then she turns to her bed and remembers that she and Dyllan are strange creatures from another world. "You're talking about us, right?"
"I sure am," replied Dyllan. "It only works if a creature is highly intelligent enough to know the difference between right and wrong. Anyway, I want to give you something." In his freshly bandaged hands, he shows her a stuffed animal that almost looks like Domino 2 as a caterpillar.
"I've been up all night trying to put this together," said Dyllan. "Sprig and Tint helped me out by collecting the old hairballs that Domino 2 coughed up."
He gives her the stuffed animal, hoping it would cheer her up. At first, Anne doesn't know what to think of the stuffed toy. Which makes Dyllan second guess his actions.
"Look, Anne," said Dyllan. "It's okay if you hate it. I mean it took me all night to try and find a way to cheer you up. And if it's too ugly to remember what happened last night, I can-"
Out of nowhere, Anne instantly gives Dyllan a hug, squishing her stuffed toy in between the humans. "Thank you so much Dyllan," she cried. "I love this with all my heart! You truly are a great friend!"
"Don't forget," Dyllan groaned being crushed in Anne's hug. "Sprig and Tint helped out. She likes it guys, come on down." Sprig and Tint come down smiling at the two humans.
"Thank you guys," said Anne. "You're the best."
"It's the least we could do," said Tint.
"You deserve to be happy," said Sprig.
Sprig gets into the hug, while Tint folds his arms and smiles at his human friend and his best friend being happy. Dyllan feels very happy knowing that Anne is happy again after everything the group went through the last couple of days. And they all know that there's no chance of bringing in another pet in the Plantar's house - ever again.
Wow, hope this chapter is a better adjustment from my first draft of the story. Here, things are unsurprisingly as canny as the original episode. Dyllan helps Anne sneak Dominio 2 in, Tint took the time to study facts on the kill-a-pillar, and Clipper had his first fight with another large insect. Can't wait to write new adjustments in the next chapter. But for the time being, I think I'm going to illustrate more images from my earlier chapters before I continue the story. Until then, be sure to like and subscribe to my and deviantart channel for early access to artwork. Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween!
-AdmiralDT8