14. Chapter 14

It was strange, a Wartwood without the Plantars. For as long as Saddie could remember, the Plantar family had been here and she was easily one of the oldest residents of the small village. She could tell everybody was at least somewhat thrown off by their absence, though. Especially on market day! Several times, she had found herself amused to see someone approach the new stand while looking through their wallet, only to realize it was empty and awkwardly turn back around. I mean, it’s not like she herself hadn’t fallen into that exact mishap, sorely disappointed she wouldn’t be getting a gourd from her favorite farm that day.

At least it wasn’t because they were dead. Well, she hoped they weren’t. With them being outside the valley, they probably would never know if something had happened to them. They could have been eaten within their first week of traveling and the rest of Wartwood wouldn’t know! They would get the hint after several more months, though. For now, it was just a lee of uncertainty. A ‘Schrödinger’s caterpillar’, if you will. That was until, as she was walking Archie just outside town, she heard the sound of a violin and a young boy’s voice echo over the fields.

“Wartwood. Oh, mighty Wartwood. I sing to thee our noble history.”

“Hey, I know that irritating voice!” She mused out loud as she looked out over the road. The wagon with blue accents, drawn by a large purple snail, was already making its way up the hill before her. Quickly, Saddie turned to the warning bell hanging over the gate, using her tongue to give it one firm ring for a non-emergency.

“The Plantars are back!” She yelled out as loud as she could for everyone to hear “Get out here, everyone! They’ve returned!” Despite the family usually being a bit of a nuisance and a magnet for trouble, it was clear they had been dearly missed. Every head instantly turned as the announcement rang out, repeated around again and again until everybody had heard.

“Did you hear that? They’re back!”

“They’re coming!”

“Who?”

“The Plantars of course! Who else, ya dingus?”

“The Plantars have returned!” An assortment of different voices rang out. The fwagon hadn’t even properly arrived when its path was suddenly blocked by a large mob of excited frogs! Seeing as they wouldn’t be getting back to their house right away, Hopediah simply jumped off his seat to greet the crowd, closely followed by his grandson.

“Heya folks-!” If he wanted to say more, it was cut off by a yellow frog slightly taller than him leaping forward and taking him into her arms.

“Hoppy!” She cood at him excitedly.

“Sylvia!” Hopediah sounded delighted to see her, his own face growing a shade darker as he returned the embrace. Clearly taking more after her grandmother, Ivy jumped to tackle Sprig from her ambush the second he asked where she was. As they sat on the ground in a little cuddle, it drew a few laughs and coo’s from the crowd. Soon after, the door to the fwagon opened and the crowd grew quiet.

There were two more members of the family that had yet to show their faces and though people were happy to get to see the baby again, it was the oldest grandchild they were most curious about. First to touch the ground was a little pink pollywog, hopping down the step and letting out a loud

“Helloooooo, Wartwood!” As she stretched out her little flippers. But what followed after her was a large, tanned foot with five toes tipped with short, crescent-shaped claws! Anne was standing up to her full height, nearly three times as tall as the average frog! Her forward facing eyes were bright and alert, her hair wild and tangled as usual, and her smile was bearing just the slightest hint of those large, powerful teeth.

In a normal frog, the sight would have induced a stumble backwards with those who were smart running straight for the nearest hole to hide in. But from Wartwood, it drew a collective sigh of relief instead. Ever since meeting another of her kind, Anne had become subdued, listless even. Only ever changing into her true form when absolutely necessary. Some hadn't even seen her like this at all since the Toad Tower Incident!

The fact that they now had to look up at her was proof that she was happier again. More comfortable in her own skin. And some took a guess as to why that might be. Loggle was the first to voice it, though.

"So Anne, any luck finding that Newtopian Book Beast you heard about?" At the words, the girl smiled even wider. This time a few frogs did shudder. Harmless as The Wartwood Creature was, some frogs had to get used to those predatory features again. None of them were truly scared though, just shaking off a stressed-out instinct.

“We did! She’s really smart! She can be a bit shy at times, but she’s really nice. She was disguised as a newt, just like Monthy said and she said she’d be coming to visit Wartwood one of these days, so I'll formally introduce you to her then!”

There were a few mumbles at this. Some were nervous, seeing as they remembered Sasha perfectly well. Particularly how she used her inherent frightening frame to intimidate and how she had seemed okay with just killing two members of Anne’s own family. Others argued that especially with how Sasha had been, Anne wouldn’t just allow another of her kind into Wartwood if she suspected them to be another threat.

There were even a few that seemed excited that Anne liked this other creature enough to look open and happy about the idea of her visiting. In the end, there was a silent agreement that they’d just watch and judge for themselves when the time came.

“Now now, simmer down everyone!'' Came the voice of the local toad, his lackey following closely at his heels “Market’s still on and business still needs to be conducted. We can all officially welcome the Plantars back home after working hours.” Stumpy seemed to perk up a bit as he got an idea.

“Oh, how about we all meet outside my restaurant tonight? Make it a town ‘welcome back’ party? You guys could even bring all those gifts you got us from our wishlist if we’re all gonna be there! You… did remember to bring the stuff we asked for right?” The large frog narrowed his eyes slightly at the older one, prompting everyone to turn their expectant gazes on him as well. Hop Pop let out a nervous laugh at all the scrutiny, but quickly moved to reassure them.

“Of course we did! I put the list next ta Anne’s salt, so every time she wanted it, she reminded me it was there. It was actually kinda annoyin’ at times, but I needed the reminders.” This seemed to calm everyone down almost instantly, with excited chatter starting up instead.

“Well then, we better get goin’. We have a house to greet and presents to pack! Plus, Polly needs a nap."

"SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" All of Wartwood chuckled at the tadpole's protest as her grandfather picked her up and carried her back into the fwagon. They had missed that strange little family. And thus went the afternoon, with a village preparing a feast, a small family packing presents, and a tadpole trying to escape nap time until she eventually fell asleep in her hiding spot.

It was only just starting to get dark when the Plantars arrived at Stumpy's, dishes made and decorations already put up. The presents were being carried in their old brown cart that was once again being pulled by their loyal snail. It was almost nostalgic to the frogs that greeted them, like they were just gonna set up their stand and sell their produce to some hungry customers. What some people found kind of disappointing though, was the fact that it wasn't a beast, but a young blue frog that jumped off the cart.

Stumpy had dug up an old recipe with a bunch of roasted veggies just for her! Not to mention that most of the dishes contained at least some kind of edible plant. Heck, Chuck had even been brave enough to try seasoning a separate portion with a pinch of salt. Everyone was avoiding the tulip-patterned bowl like the plague! And of course everyone was excited to see her try on her new… oh well, that didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't be transforming at all that night, seeing as everyone already knew about the berries.

Maybe they could convince her once she was a little more at ease among the crowd again. When they finally settled down, Hop Pop told everyone to get their presents whenever they felt like it. They put up the list so people could find what they asked for again and mark off what they got. That way, they would know to bring any remaining souvenirs to their rightful receivers!

All in all, the evening was looking to be a success. People were enjoying the buffet/potluck that Stumpy, Felicia, Mrs. Croaker, and several other volunteers had so generously provided. There was some chatter, laughter, (along with some dramatic one-man theater about their adventures provided by Hop Pop himself) and wide eyes with delighted smiles all 'round as frogs finally received the objects they had been looking forward to for months! Anne had to fight back a little squeal as Sprig got a peck on the cheek from Ivy when she unwrapped her red sunshell.

But the village had a little surprise planned for the small family as well. Once the cart was mostly empty, each of the Plantars were found and gently nudged to stand together in the middle of the crowd.

"Well then," Toadstool started, taking the role of master of ceremonies as the town mayor "Since you’ve brought all these lovely gifts for us, we just wanted to give you several little sumethin's as a token of our appreciation and a little welcome back to you. How about we start with the youngest?"

Polly's eyes went wide and sparkly at those words, though she looked a little uncertain when it was Loggle who stepped forward holding a wooden toolbox. Her excitement returned though, as he set it down in front of her and opened it up to reveal metal polish, the rags to apply it, whetstones, a leather strop, and several other tools.

"A weapons care kit!?" The pollywog squealed.

"It iiiiiiisss! I'm kinda impressed you recognized it. It's a relic from when I still used to be a metal worker. I can't give you a weapon, plus I diiiiiiiid not… didn't know if your grandfather would be okay with me giving you one. So I made sure everything in there still works and you can patch up any spoils of battles you can sneak behind Hop Pop's back." He said the last bit in a hushed voice while giving a wink.

"Thank you!" The girl cried out excitedly, already pulling a dagger out of seemingly nowhere. The axolotl wasn't even sure if she'd know how to use it, but at least she'd feel intimidating as she polished any weapon while menacingly staring at people! Next up was Ivy, who approached Sprig with another wooden case. Only this one was revealed to contain a nice-looking bug net when he opened it. The pink boy gasped as he took it out and assembled it, watching the polished wood shine in the lantern light.

"Oh my frog, this looks amazing Ivy!" He gasped.

"It's also a promise." The girl clarified with a slight blush "To go glitter-bug hunting. They should be emerging any of these days now, so we could make it like, a little date or something, ya know?" Sprig startled a little at the word 'date', freezing up with his eyes wide and shining.

"I-I-I-I… I'd love that, Ivy." People decided to ignore the suspiciously teakettle-like noise that came from Anne's direction, in favour of giving their own little ‘aww's at the childrens' antics. Meanwhile the family was a little surprised when it was Sylvia who stepped forward next, approaching Hop Pop and seeming to skip Anne for the moment. She was holding a sizable crate, which she handed to him with a light peck on the cheek.

"Here you go, Hoppy." The frog froze at the action, but once he noticed his crush was still looking at him, he quickly moved to loosen the latch on the lid. Once its contents were revealed, Anne was confused. She recognized folding bones, clamps, cords, wax, leather, something that looked like a square press, and some tools. But she had no idea what all those should be used for. Hop Pop apparently did though, as he delicately traced his fingers along the leather.

“Bookbinding materials?”

“Why of course!” The family was thrown for another loop as it was the mayor who spoke up “I heard you have some knowledge on how to use these. And once you were done with all that research on Anne and have it written down, we would just love to read it all! Why I think it would be just lovely if you could bind your original manuscript and add it to the Archives. But even beyond that, you now also have a brand new set of quality materials that Ms. Sundew provided for you. And you can do as you like with those.”

Hop Pop took hold of the handle over one of the awls, made from beautiful, polished wood. Maybe the gift was a tiny bit spoiled by the fact that the mayor saw it as a way to profit from it, but the materials inside really were nice. Plus, this was their way of making the publication of his research possible! They wanted to read it, to see what he created and learn more about his granddaughter. And he would be lying if he said he wouldn’t love to collect his research in a beautiful, high-quality book for others to enjoy.

“And last but not least.” Came Felicia’s voice. Anne turned to see both her and Wally walk up to her, the taller of the two holding a thick parcel packed in brown paper with a ribbon around it. She held it out to her, a gentle smile on her face. Anne accepted with another smile and a ‘thanks’, ripping into the paper with gusto. When she unfolded its contents and held it in front of her, she saw it was a midnight blue, double-tiered hooded cloak!

It was a beautiful thing, the fabric shining like silk, and yet it felt thick and wooly soft under her fingers. It reminded her a little bit of the blankets on the beds in Ribbitvale. In the front, there was a large wooden button where the cloak could be fastened around her neck, and she noticed with a smile that ‘Anne Plantar’ was carved into it in elegant letters. She quickly threw it around her shoulders to try it on! It was a little heavy, but not by too much. It still flared out a bit as she gave a little twirl, making her giggle. Felicia smiled at her enthusiasm.

“I designed and sewed it myself. Wally was the one who carved the button and got his hands on the fabric though… somehow."

“Yeah, it was really weird!” The turquoise frog piped up “It was just lying there in the middle of the road while I was out on a walk. Had to fight off like fifty bandits for it! I originally wanted to make a blanket for myself out of it, but then I thought: 'Why not be a good godfather and apologize for the time I sent a mob after my godchild without hearing her out?' And when I heard what Felicia was planning, I thought that that would be just perfect."

A few eye rolls and some mockery buzzed through the crowd, either at the 'finding' claim, the ‘bandit’ claim, or the ‘godfather’ claim. But in the noise, it was lost to most people how the eyes of the two blue frogs met, the older one giving the child an exaggerated blink… or it might have been a wink, it was hard to tell with the one-eye. He got a smile back for it nonetheless.

Anne's eyes were drawn to Felicia again as she walked closer, straightening imaginary creases and brushing off imaginary dust from the cloak. “We just thought it might be handy to have in the future. Ya know, in case you had to disguise yourself for just a moment, or even if you just want to walk around in your true form outside Wartwood without scaring anyone. If you hide your face and general physique, you could pass for a tall, tailless newt.”

“Or alternatively,” Wally added, “If you weren’t planning on hiding you could still use it to spare people the transformation. Ya know, tuck it around you until the change is done. And on top of that, it can keep you warm on the next hiber-day!” Anne looked down at the cloak, only shy of brushing the ground next to her large, froggy feet.

“I… don’t think this would be long enough to hide me completely.” Felicia gave a sneaky grin at this, taking one edge of the cloak and holding it open for her to see.

“Ah, but you of all people should know that looks can be deceiving. See the buttons here?” Anne looked inside as well, seeing that there were indeed buttons along the width of the coat at shoulder height. Felicia unbuttoned one of them, making the fabric fall down. Doing so made the coat single tiered, but it also tripled it in length! Anne did the rest herself, a little curious where this was going. As she got to the last button on the right side, it also revealed something else.

Previously hidden by the fold of fabric, there were what looked like four pockets. Three slim ones a little further in and a larger one on the outermost part with a drawstring at the top. As Anne looked inside, she saw each was reinforced with wicker, but she could also feel something stronger than the reed tucked in between it and the fabric.

"Sprig, did Ivy ask you to bring anything for me?" Anne looked up to the yellow frog next to her, who was holding her hand out to the pink boy. He seemed a bit confused at first, but then he reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out Anne’s berries along with a single bottle of medicine. She took both items from him and in one fluid motion, she slipped the bottle into one of the slimmer pockets. It was a snug fit, making her smile in triumph. Then she simply took the remaining berries and poured them into the largest pocket, pulling the strings to close it with a sense of finality.

"And there! All your transformation related needs in one article of clothing. The pockets should be strong enough to protect your stuff from being damaged." Anne could only stare, astonished by the amount of detail and thought that had gone into this gift for her. It was comfortable AND practical. She could actually feel some tears starting to prickle the edges of her eyelids from how moved she was by it.

"Now why don't you transform and give it a try, dear?" Felicia spoke up again. "I don't know exactly how tall you are in that form and I'd really like to see if I guessed right." Wally quickly joined in as well.

"Oh absolutely! I bet it'll look just as amazing on your true form." And before Anne knew it, several other voices were joining in.

"I bet it'll look majestic when she's all tall like that."

"Oh now I'm actually curious to see that."

"DIBS ON CRAWLING UNDER THAT CLOAK TO FEEL HOW WARM IT GETS!"

"DIBS ON- Hey, I wanted to say that, Polly!"

"Yeah, go ahead kid! Also, if you do, do you wanna try some of this new dish I made?"

"I brought the tulip bowl." Anne was stunned into silence for a while. So many supportive voices, so many people that wanted to see her all scary and predatory. All because they trusted her. Because they wanted to see her happy and comfortable. It was such a change from the fear and avoidance she’d been faced with way back when. She hadn't realized how much had changed, even after the incident at the Tower! And all for the better.

This time she actually was moved to tears, as she reached a hand into the new berry pocket and popped one of the small fruits into her mouth. Remembering Wally's words from earlier, she flipped her hood up and over her face, pulling the edges of the cloak tight around herself. Within seconds she could feel her limbs starting to stretch.

To the frogs watching, it was like seeing the cloak start to float upwards as it hid the gruesome transformation underneath. Some noted that it also seemed to go a bit quicker, like the transformation was getting easier as it happened more often. Although they could just be imagining it. Either way, it was a sight to behold!

Once Anne felt her body settle in that familiar position, she loosened her grip and threw her hood back again, lightly shaking her hair loose. Several 'ooh's and 'ah's ran through the crowd, marveling at how the cloak moved around her body. As much as Sasha had scared them back then, it looked like their species was practically made for flowy clothing. The way the fabric folded and flared around their tall frames just seemed to add something intimidating, yet elegant to their movements.

As if to prove their point, Anne gave them another twirl, making the fabric fold wide open and drift through the air. It felt less heavy to her now, yet she could already feel the space underneath starting to warm up. Maybe it wouldn't be the best summer cloak, but it was definitely comfortable and elegant. She loved it already.

She turned to the two frogs that collaborated on it for her and promptly drew them in for a hug. Both froze for a moment, the movement of her arms threw the sides of the cloak wide open and momentarily reminded them of the wings of a certain tall predator that also had long, spindly legs. But once they were tucked under it and felt the gentle mammalian heat seeping into their bodies, they were able to remind themselves that they were perfectly safe. They then returned the embrace.

"Thank you, you guys! It's perfect!" She whispered to them softly.

“Awww, 'twas no problem love.”

“If it’s for you, it’s a pleasure to do, dear.” Anne held the two closer at their words, pulling them in close enough to her face that she could nuzzle their cheeks with her own. She kinda regretted it afterward, discreetly trying to wipe their slime off of her face with the edge of the hood as she let them go. She got back up with a wide smile, looking around at the endeared crowd.

“Ya folks,” Hop Pop spoke up now that she seemed done giving her own thanks “Thank you all so much for these wonderful gifts. I’m sure all of us will find much pleasure in-”

“Heeeeeelp! Someone, please!” The crowd’s attention was immediately drawn away from the family of the hour and to a panicked Mrs. Readt instead. The crowd quickly parted to let her through and then closed back in around her, multiple voices asking if she was hurt, what happened, and what she needed. She was pale with fear, tears streaming down her face.

“Please! I-i-it-H-he! M-m-m-m-my-” The poor woman couldn’t even form any words, sobbing and stumbling as she couldn’t seem to get her thoughts straight. Her husband quickly rushed forewards, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady her.

“Sweetie, calm down! We can’t help if we don’t know what’s wrong. What happened? Wait… where’s-?” She cut his words off with a desperate wail.

“THAT TOAD TOOK MY LITTLE TEDDY!” Meanwhile, A few streets over, said toad was making a mad dash for the forest.

It was supposed to be an easy job: sneak in, snatch a tadpole, get out. These frogs were used to losing members of their community regularly anyway, they would get over it. At least this kid would be lucky enough that it wasn’t killed.

Frogs were hard workers, everyone knew that. Laborers, builders, farmers, craftsmen, these guys were practically made to serve toads. And considering they seemed to have some leisurely activities like parties seemingly every few weeks, it proved they could do even more if they were dedicated. So the kid probably wouldn’t even mind! It would be cared for and protected, and in return, it’d do anything they asked of it. ‘S not like they’d know any better anyway, that was the point of taking one so young.

The frogs in small villages like these were always so trusting. Parents had no trouble leaving their kids to sleep at home as they went out for the night. With the door unlocked, no less! So they had waited for the next celebration of sorts to have as little activity in the houses as possible.

The opportunity came rather unexpectedly. From what he understood, there was this family that came to town and even that in and of itself was cause for celebration? Must be an important family or some really well liked merchants. He had stayed only long enough to see the odd one out of some girl in the family unpack some dark blue clothing of sorts. (probably a dress) Which led him to determine that everyone was too enraptured to notice something was amiss. 

So he had gone a bit deeper into town, broken into a house he knew had a young tadpole, and snatched it. He had been about to get out again, when suddenly there was a woman in the door. The mother was still at home for some reason. She only had time to scream before he shoved past her and ran off, as her child cried and wiggled in his grasp.

He turned to run for the forest, where he could easily lose any followers. She hesitated, looking back and forth, before deciding to run for help.

The frog tadpole was still shrieking in his claws. It was annoying, but at least he had what he came for. Frog leaps were faster than a toad running, but they wouldn't have the stamina to keep that up for long. Granted, he didn't either, but he had the advantage of the head start. There was no way those frogs would catch up to him before he reached the treeline!

And that's when he felt it. That tingle along his spine. That prickle in his back, like his instincts were whipping him to go faster. The feeling of forward-facing eyes burning into the back of his head, like they were reading his mind to know his every move, focusing on a skull to crush.

The feeling of being hunted.

He chanced a glance over his shoulder just to make sure and he immediately wished he hadn't. The thing following him was big! Not ‘heron’ or even ‘mantis’ big, but it certainly had some height on him. It was kinda hard to figure out its exact size, though. It just seemed to keep changing, unnaturally thin, wide, slim again. Wait, were those maybe wings?! What was even going on? It was mesmerizing and overwhelming to watch all at once.

Once he was able to focus on its head, he would identify the foreward facing eyes that had been focussing on him, large and mostly white, but with brown rings that had black centers, reminiscent of a dartboard with the beetleseye trained directly onto him. Their focus on him was so intense that it made his skin crawl and his chest tighten. Around its head it seemed to have a large, rich mane, a clear sign of its health and strength. Other than that, he could only make out a pair of long legs. Nimble, streamlined, and built for speed… and it was gaining on him.

He quickly turned forward again, trying to get his own short legs to move just a tiny bit faster. How was he gonna escape that?! Would the forest even do him any good? It could probably track him down and tear him to shreds after he ran out of steam. If it didn’t already catch him before then. He had to think, distract it somehow. Make it lose interest. Anything!

The tadpole in his hands didn’t seem to have the same sense as he did, trying to reach back and wriggling harder.

“Am!” It screeched out, flailing its tiny arms in the monster’s direction “Aaaaahahaaam!” The toad snarled back at it sharply.

“Kid! I know you don’t wanna be near me, but that sure as heck ain’t yo mam!”

Then again, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. At this point, the kid was only a liability. Not only were its struggles slowing him down, but the crying would also make him easier to find. Plus the pollywog was slow and helpless, the easier prey. If he lost the kid, he’d have a chance to get away. He could snatch another kid some other time!

With that thought, he set his admittedly simple plan into motion. He threw the kid to the side as hard and as far as he could. The kid went flying, crying as it bounced to the ground. It seemed to work, the monster veering off its path to move towards the easy snack instead, two long arms with thin fingers reaching out from the mass of its body.

With that, he turned and continued. There, that should buy him enough time. Now all he had to do was get to the forest and… dang he still hadn’t decided if he should hide or get as far away as he could. Was this thing a tracker? If only he knew more about-.

He could feel it again before he saw or even heard it. The eyes on his back, the trembles through the ground, a breath of burning air on the back of his head. And then something collided with his back! The toad went sprawling forward, landing in the dirt with a grunt. He let out a yell of pain as something collided with his back again, though.

Something thin jammed into his lower spine with such force, he was sure it would leave a bruise. It was immediately followed by a flatter thing to the back of his neck. It took the thing tightening for him to realize that it was a hand. What felt like broad, sharp claws of sorts were digging into his skin, just shy of drawing blood! The action was precise, digging down at each side of his spine and making him freeze up out of instinct. He could feel even more power in those hands than it was currently using though, as if with a short twist it could snap or at least damage his neck.

The thing was heavy. He couldn’t even really move to try and fight back! But with his slightly more sideways facing eyes, he did manage to catch a glimpse of it. Although he almost wished he hadn’t, as the sight would haunt his nightmares for many years to come.

It was thin, but it seemed to have two large blue leathery wings of sorts that fanned around its body and even draped around him. He had nowhere to look at but it, while the enclosed space made the monster look and feel all the more overwhelming. His eyes were quickly drawn up to its face with a sharp snarl. The crescent moon didn’t offer that much light, but he could see the details of its face, like that ugly bump in the middle it was taking deep breaths through. Or the large outer ears angled forward towards him. And whereas the face was mostly cast in shadows, what little light the red moon gave off stuck to that giant mane like streaks of blood.

The sharp eyes were focused solely on him, bright and shining with the vigor of a beast seconds from going in for the kill. And on top of that, it looked furious. It was bearing its large teeth, too. Maybe at first sight they didn’t look quite as impressive as those of most predators, but he wasn’t fooled. He saw those short, thick, sturdy canines and the large stone-like molars in the back. Those jaws were made to hold and crush. As he was focussing on them, a low snarl came out. It started as a mouthy sound, but after a second the noise seemed to travel down the beast’s throat to end in a deep, grunting rumble in its chest.

Whatever he had done to piss it off so personally, he was regretting it already. He then got his answer with a tiny sob. His eyes were drawn back to the slim body itself, somewhere near its chest area. Because of the darkness, he hadn’t even really noticed before that the thing was holding something. Clutched close to its torso, there was something small, round, and whimpering. The tadpole!?

It was still crying, and as his eyes were adjusting, he noticed it had a few scratches and a darkening bruise. Whilst the hand on his neck was putting down so much force he thought his spine might snap, the other one was cradling the tiny pollywog oh so gently against its extended chest. And in return, the baby was clinging to it, hiding its face as it sobbed softly.

“Am.” He didn’t know how or why, but something told him throwing that kid had been a huge mistake!

“There they are!”

“She caught him!”

“Get ‘em!” The toad felt a little pang of relief as torch fires came into view. Even though frogs weren’t exactly warriors, a large enough crowd could scare off some of the most frightening predators. A whole town of frogs should scare off something twice as large as themselves, right? As much as he didn’t want to face the embarrassment of being caught and detained by frogs, it was better than being ripped apart by- wait why weren’t the frogs doing anything?

They were practically ignoring the beast above him, their eyes on the struggling toad as they tapped fists and various weapons into their palms. They looked furious, not scared at all. What!?

“Well well, what do we have here? Trying to kidnap someone, are we?” He was a bit relieved to see a fellow toad step forward into the group. He was fat and far better dressed than him, probably a mayor or something. Surely he would see some reason and-

“TEDDY!” The would-be kidnapper flinched at the sudden scream. He could turn his head just far enough to see the woman that caught him at the house earlier run straight at the monster on top of him, her arms outstretched, followed by presumably her husband. The beast’s eyes only flickered up briefly before focusing back on him. The arm holding the tadpole slowly unfurled and stretched out to hold the kid in her direction, without prompting.

She didn't even hesitate a moment to show some apprehension! When the baby noticed her, it quickly moved its attention to reach for the frog instead, blubbering loudly. "M-mama!" Wait, if THAT was mama, then-?

"It's okay, Anne! We got 'em, we got 'em!" The toad was once again thrown for another loop as several frogs with ropes in hand fearlessly crawled under the monster's giant… he was starting to suspect that thing was a cloak! That thing was wearing clothes!

His mind kept being jerked around repeatedly so quickly that he didn't even react when the creature's now free hand wrenched one of his arms behind his back to help the frogs in the process of grubhogtying him. Once he was perfectly restrained and anchored to the ground, they all stepped back with laughs of victory. The crushing weight finally moved off of him, waking him from his stupor.

“You caught him! Good job, Anne!”

“Good thing you’re so fast. There’s no way we could have caught up in time on foot!”

“HA! Guys, look at his face. He looks like he’s gonna croak.”

He started struggling against his restraints. “Wha- What is that thing?! Let me go this instant!”

“Let you go?!” He flinched at the new voice, feminine yet sounding heavier than the average voice. His eyes were drawn to its source, the monster, bearing its fangs as it opened its maw again. He realized, with the millionth shock for that night, that it was the one speaking.

“You took a kid! You tried to kidnap one of us! And you think we would just let you go? Without consequences?!” As it spoke it closed in again, lowering its head with each sentence as it literally stood over him on those long stilts. At its last few words, it bent forward, grabbing and dragging him up by the rope over his chest, and got right in his face. Its breath smelled sickly sweet, and now that he was this close, he could also smell and even sense traces of some sort of diluted poison in the air.

For the first time, these frogs actually seemed to show some sign of common sense and backed out of the creature’s line of sight. They still weren’t running though, as they should when a predator was wearing a look which alone could kill. He was forced to look into the dark centers of those eyes and if he looked really hard and let his mind drift into hysteria, he could almost swear he saw the icy light of the blue moon shine, deep down in that dark abyss. Nevertheless, he mastered his fear and spoke.

“T-there are others out there. I-i-if I don’t return, they’ll come looking for me. They’ll attack anyone they can find and burn what’s even remotely flammable. A-and you have no idea how many there are! There’s no way of knowing when you’ll be safe and you can’t protect everyone at once!”

Even though that seemed to enrage it just a tad bit more, fear and worry were also starting to flood in. And as nervous whispers started from the frogs around them, the creature finally broke eye contact to look around in a protective concern. Even though he knew he wasn’t safe yet, not being forced to meet that forward gaze was a relief in and of itself.

“Should we just…let him go?"

“He could be bluffing.”

“But what if he isn’t?!”

“Anne can protect us!”

“You heard him, she can’t guard us all at once!”

“She did on hiber-day.”

“That was different! We were immobile and there was only one threat. And I am NOT puttin’ that much responsibility on my granddaughter again unless she can handle it!” Granddaughter?! The word drew the toad’s attention to an elderly orange frog that had positioned himself right next to the beast. They were family?! What kind of twisted-?

Then his attention was drawn to two other figures, standing under the dark cloak like it was a place of comfort. The pollywog of the two was giving him a wide grin, bloodlust clear and vivid for a frog that age. Heck, he’d never even seen that much savageness in toad tadpoles before! And on top of that, she was using a whetstone to loudly sharpen a knife. Correctly if he may add!

The other frog was a pink fella, kinda half-pulling the cloak to his side with an unblinking gaze. He couldn’t immediately see anything too wrong with him, but judging the two other things he was clearly close to, that kid must be messed up somehow. He focused on the talking again, not wanting to deal with these maniac children more than he had to.

“Maybe we can just…give him a good shake-up. Make him swear they’ll never return.”

“Who says he’ll even keep his word? They might just burn everything down anyway and then they’ll be one member stronger!”

“We gotta draw them out. Set a trap. Make sure we got every single one of ‘em and make them leave forever.”

“But how?” At this, a rough little chuckle rang out among the crowd, effectively stopping all conversation. All eyes were drawn to a young, light blue frog with part of her hair covering one of her eyes and the widest, creepiest grin on her face. The pollywog underneath the monster’s cloak chuckled alongside them.

"Ohohoho, this is gonna be good."

"What do you have in mind, Maddie?" The pink frog asked, interest shining in his eyes. 'Maddie' swung her head in the direction of the monster with what sounded like a crack. If he thought the grin was wide before, now he was wondering if her face was broken.

"Remember that one time where you tried to croak and freaked everyone out? I sure do." There was far too much glee in her voice.

"Uhm, yeah?" Dang, even this monster seemed slightly unsettled by this tiny frog. What even?

"As if I could forget. It was creepy, but awesome." The pink one weighed in, crawling up to the beast's shoulder. Okay, maybe the toad was getting an idea of what this kid's malfunction might be. She beckoned the two, and surprisingly also the mayor, closer. She talked too low for the outsider to hear, no matter how hard he tried. But he could see the eyes of the listeners light up with understanding, and then just a hint of mischief.

"Oooh, I think I see what you're getting at." The other toad drawled out, scratching his second chin in thought "That does seem like something that might draw them out."

"You okay with doing something like that, Anne?" The pink frog asked, lightly patting a hand along the side of the creature's mane. It hesitated for a moment.

"I guess… I've been trying to not scare people for so long, but maybe just letting loose could be fun. And I mean as long as they're actual bad guys."

"Well I think that settles it." The mayor drew attention back to him, turning to the blue frog from before "Say, creepy girl, could you maybe think on that a bit more? Maybe make us a plan of action?" Her smile seemed almost…normal for the first time.

"Sure thing, I have ideas. Speaking of, he's gonna have to stop moving." She pointed at the kidnapper. He panicked, looking up at the mayor. Surely he wouldn't-?

"Okay, fair enough, take care of that. Now then, Anne." He put a hand on the creature's lower back and started leading it a little bit away. As he tried to see where they went, a slipper came into view. His eyes followed the leg up to see an old, dulling purple frog with one foggy eye and a cane. She grabbed it by the thinnest part of it and lifted it over her head, like a club. Suddenly the beast didn't seem like the most dangerous thing around here anymore. The last thing he heard before she swung down made him fear for the others.

"How would you like to learn how to call for 'help' in toad?"

…

A few minutes away in the forest, there sat the kidnapper’s companions. There weren’t as many as he’d have liked the frogs to believe, though. Only three other toads were waiting for him around a small fire in the dense woods.

“We shouldn’t have sent him out alone.” One of the guys mumbled, clearly starting to grow impatient. The only female in the group shrugged.

“It was the best option, Rick. We would have drawn too much attention if we went as a group. And if he fails we just regroup, get out of here, and try to get a frog from somewhere else.” She didn’t even look up from the shoulder pad she was polishing as she said that.

“Oh! I wonder, will they be old enough to know their name, or do we get to pick one?” Between the four of them, Brandon might be in a denial of some kind. The guy was acting like they were adopting a jumping spider instead of kidnapping a tadpole. Oh well, he could do most of the ‘caring’ stuff if he wanted to. At least that would be off the others’ hands, then.

Rick decided to just ignore the question, staying quiet for a few more minutes and tapping his foot impatiently. It seemed to finally get on Ria’s nerves, as she threw the rag at his face and stood up.

“Dude, seriously! Arlan is a tough guy, he’s gonna be fine! But you won’t be if you keep-!”

¨H̵̞͐e̸͎̓l̷̖͊p̶̥͋ ̷̛ͅm̴̕ͅe̷̡͗!̵̝̋¨

Each of the toads looked up, startled by the sudden loud, high pitched croak piercing through the night. In an instant, the sounds of the forest fell away, completely silencing the chirping and chittering that had been going on before. For a moment, the toads could do little more than breathe, with the dead quiet surrounding them.

“What was that?” Brandon’s voice was jarring in the quiet, making his two companions flinch.

“It… sounded like a toad in distress?” It sure seemed like it, but there was still uncertainty in Ria’s voice. They waited a moment longer to see if it would return and sure enough,

¨H̴͚͖̍̅ȩ̸͈͘ľ̶̼̹̕p̷͇͝ ̸̖̱̕͠m̴̻͇̕ȇ̷͎͝!̶̖́̂¨

It sounded so desperate, so incredibly hopeless, so… wrong. Something about it sounded off and yet it was hard to listen to that note of horror and pain it carried. Although Brandon was the only one who actually showed signs of being distressed by it.

“Maybe we should go and help them?” The other two turned to him, bewilderment in their eyes.

“Are you insane? Who knows what’s going on over there? I mean, I sure as heck don’t recognize that voice!” Brandon flinched at Rick’s retort, but answered nonetheless.

“But-but, what if it’s Arlan? I mean I’ve never heard him call for help before. What if he got hurt and he can’t call for help properly? What if he needs us?” The toads turned back to those deep dark woods again, peering into the darkness that even for their toad eyes was hard to pierce. He had a point, there. And they weren’t about to abandon their comrade! Ever since they’d been banished, the four of them had gone everywhere together. They’d gotten through thick and thin together! They needed Arlan and his stealth that was oh so rare to find in toads and if he really was in trouble, they could not leave him behind.

¨H̷͇́e̴͚̚l̷̢̀p̶̛̪ ̶͍͒ḿ̵̬è̶̖!̶̱̕¨

“Okay… just… let's go. We’re just gonna make sure that pebbles-for-brains is okay. And if it isn’t him… we’ll see.” The three quickly piled up their belongings, hiding them near the base of one of the trees, and kicked out their fire so that no one would stumble upon it. All they decided to carry was some minimal armor that they could quickly slip into and some light weapons. Right now, they needed to try their best hand at stealth. It would do them no good to join the voice calling for help in the dark.

The cry for help would ring out through the darkness periodically, it being the only sound heard. It was as if everything in the forest decided not to draw attention to itself, for the sake of not drawing the ire of whatever was causing a toad to make those shrill croaks. It was uncanny, though. The voice sounded organic, yet it was repetitive, sounding almost exactly the same each time. And yet somehow, it kept that frightened, pained tone! If it was someone being attacked, shouldn’t they hear more of a… scuffle or something? Shouldn’t the sound just… stop at some point?

Maybe some knuckle head had tumbled down a ridge and broken their leg or something. If it wasn’t Arlan, maybe they could rob the guy of some valuables. And if they felt like it, they could leave them a little bit closer to civilization. The thought should have put them at ease, made them feel a bit more eager to see who the sound was coming from. And yet…

It was just too quiet. The lingering chill that still managed to creep in at night from the passing cold season wasn't really helping, either. It slowed them, making them more sluggish. If they were ambushed by something that wasn’t bothered by such shortcomings, they would be at a serious disadvantage. Luckily such creatures were fairly rare.

The red sickle moon wasn’t giving them as high of visibility as they would have liked throughout the dense foliage. Even the bushes themselves were far denser and more lush than the thorned vegetation they had been used to. But at least the voice sounded like it was getting closer now.

With it came a scent, though. It was barely noticeable at first, but it grew stronger as the shrill croaks did. It was strangely sweet, yet meaty and even a little coppery. Someone seemed to have been hurt after all, but they sounded very much alive, at least. They could even see a bit of light up ahead, looking to come through a thick line of bushes! Rick pushed through them with a grunt, giving them all a good view of a clearing that was being lit by the red moon above, and a small lantern that lay tipped over on the ground.

The three toads instantly regretted every decision they had ever made in their lives that had brought them to this place. In the clearing, there sat three figures. More accurately, two of them were laying on the ground while one was crouched over the smallest of those two. They recognized the form furthest away from them instantly.

That swamp green skin, that repurposed uniform armor, the missing smallest finger, who else could it be but Arlan? He lay crumpled into an awkward heap, the toads could see his form was smeared in a dark, glistening liquid. Without the brush in their way, that meaty-metalic scent hit them full force. He wasn’t moving.

The lantern lay forgotten between him and the crouching figure, making it hard to make out any details. But what they could make out was chilling, to say the least. The form sat hunched over with its back towards them, towering over the smaller thing in the grass. It seemed to have a large, furry head, but its back looked to be smoother and even shiny, like some carapace of sorts. Yet it also seemed flexible, as they could see its back and shoulders flex through it.

They looked on as a long, thin arm came out from underneath it and reached out like a dead tree branch moving in the wind. The skin on it looked to be naked and dull, a slightly brownish color that made for decent camouflage against the mud and bark in the darkness. At the end of it, a flat hand with four, no, five thin fingers reached out for the smaller form on the ground, the long appendages bent and twitching eagerly. It seemed to plunge down into the tiny form and grasp, twisting and jerking as it ripped something forth from the mass.

Liquid and chunks of… something fell from between the fingers as the thing brought it up to its face. They could see its mouth open, drooling and glistening and giving them a glint of what might be teeth, then it shoved the contents of its fist inside, splattering more dark matter onto itself and the forest floor.

The hand pulled back, coated in a scarlet liquid, and its jaw started to move. Horrible squelching and crunching came from the beast sitting there, as it chewed the contents of its maw slowly. They could only sit and watch, the cold resting heavy in their stomachs, until the thing finally swallowed. Its maw opened again, breath hissing out as a cloud of what looked like smoke trailed from its jaw and into the air. Slowly it lifted its head, sucking in a deep, raspy breath, before releasing it in a horrified, anguished shriek.

¨H̵̭̽̈́e̶̢̳͒l̶͙̓͛p̵̧̃͒͘ ̸̗́͊͝m̶̖̘͔͊̽e̴̡̮̍!̴͙̬̉̃¨

The toads froze, the realization of what they were seeing dawning upon them. Yet they couldn’t move. They couldn’t form any comprehensive thoughts as to how to get out of there and luckily for them, they couldn’t even manage to make a sound. There was, however, a sound in that clearing other than the monster.

Finally their eyes were drawn to the final, tiny pink form laying in the grass. A frog. A small, young frog, whose body was coated in splashes of red, his breath rattling in his little, liquid flooded lungs as he desperately tried to draw in air. His eyes were far off, staring into the distance, yet they were pointed in their direction. His frail body jerked and twitched as the hand came down again and ripped forth another handful of squishy innards. And yet he still moved, one of his arms desperately clawing in their direction. He was barely able to lift it, hopelessly reaching out as tears glistened in his eyes.

“P-p-please, help… it… it’s eating me… aliiiiive.” The hoarse whisper died out near the end as his hand twitched. Slowly his eyes started rolling, until finally all the life drained from his broken body and he went limp.

The toads could only stare as he lay still, horrified to have actually seen the life leave a child's body. How long had he been here? How long did he have to suffer, while this beast leisurely gorged itself on-?

It was quiet… too quiet. No wildlife, no ripping, no chewing or squelching, no next cry for help as this thing finished up its next bite. At first the toads didn't want to look up, didn't want to face what they knew they would see. But they knew it was inevitable, and they needed to know if they had to do something. Slowly, as one, they all looked up.

Blue. The coldest, most unworldly, solid blue glowing eyes, set against deep black rings. It just sat there, staring at them, a fistful of red mush forgotten in its grasp. No one moved for the longest time. The toads hoped, prayed to frog, that this thing somehow didn't notice them. Let it be blind and attracted to smells, let it be sensitive to light, or movement. Anything, please!

They were granted no such mercy as each of them felt when the eyes focused on them in turn, despite there being no visible pupils to indicate a movement. Then it rose up. Long thin legs were revealed to go with those spindly arms, slowly and effortlessly pushing its form up and up, until it was towering over them. For another moment longer, all they could do was stare, meeting that soulless gaze. And then, it screeched.

¨H̶̡͓̻̔̀̅̉͜͝e̶͓̜͖̩̊̉͗̾̒͜l̴͙̥͕͇̩̂̀͐̄p̴̲̒̕ ̴͖̙̅͋̎̂̕m̵̳̖͍̘̂̀͘e̵̠̜̬̻̳̋̓̆̍͠e̴̡͙͓̱̖̍e̷̱͕͙̮̔̀̉͐̔͜ĕ̶̡̙̌̓!̸̡̲̻̳͝¨

The three amphibians answered in kind. No actual words had to be spoken as they simultaneously turned and ran. Within seconds they could feel the monster giving chase, heavy footfalls trembling through the earth behind them. Even though the beast hadn’t looked that heavy, Rick still swore he felt his knees want to buckle from the tremors. He only chanced a glance to his sides to make sure his friends were keeping up. He did not look back, though. His hearing told him enough.

It was fast, flitting through the green. They could hear it from the left, from the right, and coming closer! So they adjusted their path to make sure it wouldn’t be able to ram into them from the side! Its breaths were raspy and snarly and now and then it let out another distorted cry for help. Yet it did not seem to tire at all. Meanwhile he knew that he and his companions were losing their limited stamina fast!

His hearing was focused on the beast as he tried to figure out what it would do next and where it would strike, but it was overwhelming him. Every little sound, every bang and scrape, even if they came from different directions, could be the beast. Gone was the previous stillness of the night, turning into a cacophony of noise that made it hard to concentrate on his surroundings! Blindy, the three lept into another clearing. And just like that, the world was snatched from underneath their feet and turned upside down.

Rick panicked! He could feel his body being restrained by multiple thin lines crossing over each other, forcing him and his friends to be pressed together. He opened his eyes in the hopes of figuring out what just happened to see that they were being squished together by a net, suspended from a cluster of branches in the forest canopy.

“There they are!” It was jarring to hear an intelligent voice. And even more so as frogs started leaping from the bushes all around them, torches and pitchforks in hand as they approached the trapped toads.

“HA! It’s over, you sickos!”

“So kidnapping children, eh? You’ll pay for that!” Ria managed to gather her thoughts first. Were they insane? They had to let them go, they all had to run right now !

“You have to listen to us! We have to get out of here!” The frogs simply glared at them, the business ends of pitchforks and scythes pointed at their dangling bodies like they were the most imminent threat here.

“What are you talking about? Where’s the boy you took?!”

“Where are the other guys that were with you?!”

Brandon quickly spoke up at that, tears streaming down his face.

“P-please, we o-only had one other friend! He was eaten! I-I-I think your k-kid-!” His breath caught in his throat, unable to describe what he saw “You h-have to believe us! We have to g-get-get out of h-here! IT’S COMING!” Finally, the frogs seemed to realize something here was amiss, lowering their weapons, throwing worried glances at each other.

“What is-?” Realization came too late though.

A tall, lanky form burst forth from the brush, glowing eyes outshining even the torchlights and another scream ripping from its vocal cords. At this point it was so raw, so high pitched, the sound couldn’t even be recognized as a croak. The frogs echoed back with their own screams!

The toads in the net flinched, closing their eyes and bracing themselves for pain. In a still rational part of their brain, they wondered how many of the frogs it would be able to get to before the rest escaped? Before it noticed them? They wondered how it would kill them, and how long their pain would be drawn out?

They even wondered if maybe as it attacked one, it would damage the net enough for at least one of them to escape? Rick would later deny that when Brandon wrapped his arms around him, he hugged the soft bonehead right back. Each of them was trembling, tightly pressed together as they listened for the loud, shrill sounds of… laughter?

Eyes shot open to the realization that, yes, these frogs were laughing! They took in their surroundings, seeing frogs either pointing at them mockingly or straight-up rolling on the ground. Some of them were obviously still recovering from the shock, but even they wore relieved smiles. In the middle of them all, stood the beast. It was doubled over with its hands on its knees, tears of mirth smearing the dark circles around its eyes, howling right along with the frogs.

One of the nearby startled frogs even had the guts to reach out a hand and lean against the beast’s leg! He was taking deep breaths before he was finally able to wheeze out

“Good gravy, sometimes you kinda forget she can actually get that scary.” A few agreeing mumbles came from the crowd, yet none of them seemed to think that was a point of concern. NOT ONE of them seemed to be worried at all about the bloodied amphibivore standing right in front of them.

Then a pink arm burst forth from the beast’s enormous mane. Following it, the very same pink frog the toads had seen die pulled himself free from the curls, still covered in red and having trouble breathing. Though this time, it obviously wasn’t from torn lungs. Once he was able to get in a big enough breath, he simply proceeded to cackle on, not even stopping as he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. With the way the beast had been bent over, the drop didn’t seem too bad as it did not stop his wheezing. It did make the creature tilt its head to look at him upside down though, lightly poking him. Meeting the monster’s eyes, he managed to finally say something.

“That. Wahahahahas. AWESOME!” Several other frogs were starting to walk into the clearing, laughing as well as they held pots and pans and other items that could make a lot of noise. Had they been herded here? Chased into a trap by these frogs to make them easier to pick off one by one?

The toads could only sit and watch, confused and horrified about this village of frogs that somehow seemed to be in cahoots with this thing. Did… did they help this creature hunt or something? Help it catch more outsiders in exchange for it sparing their own lives? They were missing some information and it was making them very uncertain about their chances of survival.

“Alright everyone, simmer down now. I think that was enough fun.” It was another toad that stepped forward this time. He had a calm smile on his face, but at least he wasn’t laughing like the others. He walked closer to the net, studying the toads inside closely as he scratched his chin. Rick took the opportunity to study him right back, hoping to figure out what his position was here.

He had multiple rings on each of his hands, his claws slightly duller than his own. He wore some rather fancy garments as well, expertly sewn and embroidered with golden thread. He was also round and fat, a sign the man had performed next to no form of labor of any kind in the past few years. And to top it all off, he was leaning on a golden cane that was clearly just for show instead of an actual walking aid. So either this man had been born into money, was such a successful merchant his servants did all the work for him, or judging by the fact he was the only toad present, he was the mayor. He could even be any combination of those, who would know? His voice was low and calm as he spoke in a relaxed drawl.

“So then, trying to kidnap one of our kids? Sounds like a serious offense to me.” The crowd behind him riled up again quickly, yelling punishments that seemed appropriate to them.

“Throw them down the cliffs!”

“Find the deepest darkest pit, dig it deeper, and put them in it!”

“Rip out their claws and turn them into a necklace!”

“Cook ‘em up and feed ‘em to the beasts!” The criminals looked at their fellow toad with horrified disbelief in their eyes, while he just looked like he was an overworked father in the grocery store listening to his kids scream for candy. He tapped his cane on a rock a few times, making a hollow metallic sound ring out from it. The frogs started quieting down.

“Now, you did fail in your intent. Your accomplice was found out and the kid in question is safe where he belongs.” The toads’ eyes flickered back to the pink frog again, which had been able to get back up and had climbed to cling onto the creature’s shoulder. The beast in question was staring at them again. Just endlessly staring with those ethereal, eerie, unblinking eyes. Meanwhile, the pink frog was gently patting one of his hands over that wild mane, like he was keeping it calm somehow.

“And because you were such good sports, giving us a fun night of entertainment and walking so neatly into our trap, we’ll let you off with a warning this time.” The green toad finished up, snapping his fingers. A few disappointed groans and protests echoed among the crowd. Suddenly the ropes keeping the net raised snapped, causing the toads to come tumbling down into a disoriented heap.

Ria looked up to see a pollywog tuck a dagger away into her ribbon, a disappointed pout on her little face. Her attention was drawn back to the ground as the crowd parted way, a few frogs pulling the bushes aside. Through it walked a group of five frogs, pulling a tied form behind them. They knew who it was in an instant!

“Arlan!” Brandon blurted out, though he had at least enough common sense not to make a run for him. The frogs ended up rolling their comrade until he was right in front of them. He had a huge purple lump on his head and a swollen eye. He was also still stained with red, but now that they were closer and in the light, they could see him breathing and the only actual injury they noticed was a split brow.

“So now take your friend with you and run. Run as far away as you can…” The toad delicately placed both of his hands over the handle of his cane, straightening his back and lifting his head, throat sack slightly puffed to make him look bigger. He took on a whole new demeanor. Gone was the easy-going, almost jovial fat toad. Now he actually looked more professional, menacing, he even seemed to command a little bit of an air that a sophisticated Toad Tower captain might have.

“And if you ever return here, we will not step in to interrupt the hunt.” The outsiders turned their eyes to the monster that still stood there. As soon as the creature saw it had their attention, it smiled. The corners of its mouth pulled apart and curled upward like the edges of a leaf dying under the autumn sky, revealing a row of large, blocky teeth. They could see bits and pieces of some hard fragments stuck between them here and there, which were quickly joined by saliva dripping past them and down its chin. It smeared the red around its mouth until it slid down, where they could not see clearly if it fell to the forest floor or joined the rest in that huge, streaked mess of dark crimson that soaked its chest!

The toads backed up a step. Despite the torches, this part of the forest suddenly looked to be so much darker than literally anywhere else. The frogs around them suddenly didn’t seem as small and harmless anymore, and the tall beast that stood in their midst appeared to lengthen along with the shadows. They heeded their warning. Brandon and Ria picked up their unconscious friend between them and they all started running! The frogs waited until they were at least out of range to be heard clearly before they burst out laughing again.

“Ho frog! Did you see their faces? That was even better than the one guy!”

“HAH, serves them right! I hope they have nightmares for years after that, maybe even their entire lives.”

“Meh, I just hope they stay away for good.”

“Entertainment wise, both as a comedy and a horror, that was a definite four stars, maybe even four and a half.”

“Now that that’s settled though,” Miss Croaker turned to the monster among them “How was that pie, dear?” Anne wiped a finger along her stained cheek, licking up the red goop. 

“Hm, beetles and cherries, I like it. The beetle bits are maybe a little crunchy and accidentally swallowing them whole hurts, but it gives some nice texture.” She felt a tongue lightly colliding with her other cheek, drawing her attention to her younger brother as he contemplated the taste as well.

“It’s definitely a good pie. Of course I don’t see the need for the cherries, but I can definitely see Anne liking it.” He felt a hand be placed over his back and he was pulled closer to his sister’s grotesque face, more jam being smeared along both his chest and her face as she nuzzled into his stomach.

“You okay bro? I had fun, but it did get a little… unsettling for a little bit at first.” Sprig hugged her face back. Yeah, he could tell just letting go and playing with her naturally intimidating posture when everyone knew they were safe had seemed fun for Anne. But he had also noticed the nervous looks and little flinches when Maddie explained what to do and when he had called for the toads to help him. But even as her claws had lightly grazed his skin when she reached for the pie tin hidden under his jacket, the thought she might hurt him never felt plausible to him. He gently patted his hands along Anne’s hair again in the way he knew she liked.

“Yeah, gotta admit, living out your worst fear from several months ago without actually getting hurt is kinda surreal. But more than that, I had fun too! It was amusing! Hilarious! Exhilarating! ” Anne felt a bit of relief sweep through her chest. At least she hadn’t traumatized her brother or something. Then again, this was Sprig they were talking about. The kid who would pretend to be eaten by predator skeletons in an attempt to make other kids laugh. Of course he would think putting up a horror act with his big sister was a fun afternoon activity.

“Yeah, I’ll be the first to admit, it’s surreal that we can safely approach a creature that looks like… well… I mean… just look at her right now!” Toadie walked up to her, wildly gesturing at the girl’s disheveled and frankly nightmarish appearance.

“I mean, no offense Anne, but you do indeed look like you belong in a Shut-In story. It’s almost like you bit into a giant, gorged tick and it exploded all over your face and clothes.” He moved his torch a bit closer to get a better look at her face, making her flinch away and squint her eyes at the bright light. So he quickly moved it back again as she started rubbing at her eyes. When she was able to open one of them again, she quickly scanned the crowd for a certain young curse-user.

“Hey, Maddie, how long is this curse supposed to last? It helps me see in the dark a tiny bit better, but it makes bright light hurt even worse.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing right now. The effects should wear off when the ash around your eyes gets rubbed or washed off.” She simply explained, seeming to be satisfied with the helpful chaos she had caused. When Anne finally removed her hand from her other eye and blinked it open, Sprig could indeed tell the glow had slightly faded and the outlines of her iris and pupil were becoming visible again. A tired sigh drew their attention down to see Hop Pop standing beside his granddaughter.

“Speakin’ of the Shut-In, why do I have the feelin’ that between the ‘Book Beast’ story, the Sunes, those guys, and… whatever Sasha’s been up ta, yer species is gonna be a popular story topic?” Ah yeah, right, that. Anne inhaled through her teeth, making a little hissing sound that momentarily startled the frogs around, only to notice the look of embarrassment and discomfort on her face.

“Yeah, let’s just hope the Sunes can kinda… balance it out.” A little weight dropped into her hair.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about. Gurl, you’re gonna be loved AND feared! I would KILL to get that kinda reputation!” Polly was maybe pulling a little hard at her curls in her enthusiasm, but Anne could handle it. Still, she didn’t exactly want to be feared.

“Okay, what’s going through your mind, Mayor Toadstool?” Duckweed’s voice quickly drew the attention back to said toad. He was staring off into the distance, in the direction the more foul members of his kind had run off to.

“Ya know, I’m just a little surprised. It’s frankly astonishing that you let those guys just run without exacting some consequences to their actions, yourselves.” The crowd grew silent at his words, turning them over in their minds and realizing ‘Hey yeah!’ Several weapons were once again silently drawn and picked up. The toad smiled at the sight. There were the frogs he’d known and governed for years.

Anne felt a light tap against her hand, looking down to see Toadie still there, now holding up an extra unlit torch. He smiled, standing on his tippie-toes and trying to hand it to her.

“Here you go, ma’am. I noticed you didn’t really bring anything of your own, so I thought you might want this.” His words made Anne look up at the crowd again, seeing that everyone was giving her an expectant look. The Mob was waiting for her. Deranged as it might sound, The Mob was a staple of Wartwood culture.

In the summer, when more outsiders had access to the village, three mobbings was considered a slow week. Whether it was bandits, highbrows, trouble makers, or heck even Toad Tower deputes stepping out of line, if you were being bothered, you could count on the community to have your back in the most enthusiastic way imaginable! Sometimes they might even slightly more gently mob on their own people as an intervention or when people felt like something wasn’t quite right.

There was an unwritten rule that you weren’t truly considered a part of the populace until either you had ran with The Mob, or The Mob ran for your sake. It had almost taken a year before Loggle had gotten his first pitchfork pressed into his hands and dragged along. Hop Pop probably still had Anne's baby portrait of her first time joining The Mob! Wielding her little hand rake and being a little scuffed up after she had actually been used as a projectile against a particularly scummy scolar newt. After all, tadpoles tended to be resilient enough for that kind of stuff.

And here they were, once again offering her to join them, but while she was in her true form! It was their way of saying she was really one of them! Frog, monster, it didn’t matter! Even if most people feared her, these guys would always love her. So it wasn’t really all that strange for her to be weeping with joy over a violent mass itching to chase some toads.

She took a moment to compose herself, a deep instinctive breath in causing the weird slime that was forming from her face bump to rattle. One more wipe at her teary eyes smeared away some more of the ashes and revealed those dark brown eyes they had come to love and trust. Finally, she took the offered torch and lit it with the fire of her grandfather’s. She lifted it high above her head, making the crowd tense like a drawn slingshot, as she roared to the sky.

“Alright guys, let’s go and show these ugly louts why ya don’t mess with Wartwoooooood!” And with that, all of Wartwood did their darnest best to roar along with their Creature as they rushed to end those toads’ night in a way they would not recover from for a long time…