8. Chapter 8(1)

Anne was really shocked when she found out that she’d been voted Frog of the Year! Sure, she helped out with hiber-day and the salt water floods, not to mention how much better she was at farming when she had tools her size, but she wasn’t actually a frog! Did she really even qualify? She figured that if she was in her frog form, then it’d work, but still. At the very least, this proved that the townsfolk had pretty much accepted her despite the fact they still got startled whenever they saw her in her true form. Was it just ‘cause she was useful when they needed her to be in that form?

After all, when the salt water had started to naturally drain from the town, they actually sent Anne back in to clear blockages from within the water. They reused the rope harness they’d made for her on the first day so that she wouldn’t get swept away, but that was mostly just because she was needed in more than one place. They had her helping out with so much cleanup that she was probably essential for it, but chances are it was also because she was the convenient option.

Heck, she didn’t even work on everybody’s places. As it turned out, Chuck was surprisingly good at dealing with salt. Apparently tulips like salty soil, so he had far more experience with the stuff and how to stay safe than anyone else in the town. This just led to him doing the overall same job as Anne, but starting from the opposite end of town. His experience and her immunity made the town cleanup go way faster than it would have otherwise.

Beyond that, though, her true form just seemed to cause general public unrest. Especially when word got around that she actually liked eating salt in that form! At the very least, Chuck and Hop Pop were able to swing a deal where the former would give them some contained salt whenever they wanted to restock Anne’s personal supply. But all of this only seemed to make her true form seem even scarier to them, so were they just utilizing what they could only to bury it again?

It was her main question right up until she saw Loggle’s statue that he always carved for the respective Frog of the Year. It had two figures on it instead of the normal one, with the one on the right being much bigger than the one on the left! As the planning phase kept going, the statue started taking shape until she realized that it was supposed to depict both of her forms together!

They recognized that both of her forms were really a part of her! And on top of that, the depiction of her true form didn’t seem to have her more terrifying features exaggerated! If anything, it made her look friendly ‘cause her true form was gently holding her frog form much like how she’d held Sprig sometimes when he unexpectedly jumped on her. She smiled at it, feeling a sense of pride at how she’d still been able to worm her way back into everyone’s hearts after her initial terrifying display with the tax collectors!

She turned back to the rest of the planning group and started giving out advice. Due to how many Frog of the Year parties she’d attended up to that point, she knew very well what everyone expected and how to make sure everyone had a good time! There was only one thing that she needed to ask Hop Pop about. It looked like he was working on his jokes, so she decided to just get right to the point.

“Hey Hop Pop?”

“Hmm? What is it, Anne?”

“Just wondering, ‘cause you’re way better at math, around when should my medicine wear off?”

“Oh, hmm… I’d say this evenin’. Right in the middle of the party, in fact. You’d best either take a dose before or make sure ta have a bottle in yer pocket.”

“... You know…”

“Anne, I know what yer thinkin’. Don’t.”

“Aww, come on Hop Pop! Everyone’s okay with me now regardless of what form I’m in and even the statue that Loggle made shows both of my forms!”

“Anne-”

“And I promise to keep a bottle on me at all times just in case. Plus, I think they’re kinda expecting it ‘cause Stumpy actually said he was going to bring in a lot of extra fruits and veggies, sooo…” there was a bit of silence between them until Hop Pop finally sighed.

“Fine. But don’t you go doin’ anythin’ scary, ya hear?”

“Don’t worry, Hop Pop! I’ll let it happen out of sight so that no one can see the in-between. Sprig told me that that’s the part that’s actually the most horrifying and honestly? I can only imagine!”

“Well, ta be fair, he’s right when he says that. The first time ya transformed in front a the whole town, you were screamin’ in agony an everythin’. Hearin’ ya in that much pain was the first thing that scared everyone. Now ya don’t even notice it happenin’ most times ‘cause ya got used ta it.”

“So if I show off that part, then that’ll make things better, right? They haven’t actually seen me transform in months, even though they know I do it regularly now! Showing off that it’s not painful anymore would be a good thing!”

“Well… alright fine. Just promise me that you’ll keep a bottle on ya, okay?”

“Of course, Hop Pop. You know I always keep one on me whenever I’m not in frog form.” Anne reassured her grandpa. She was glad that she was able to get through to him so quickly. She felt like any resistance he put up to her being in her true form was token at this point anyways. He just needed to know that she had a good reason and he’d be okay with it.

“Alright, I need to get back to other parts of the planning, so I’m gonna go. You’re doing great so far, though!”

“Heh, thanks Anne.” Hop Pop said, turning back to his joke cards. Anne smiled and kept up with the plans, even stopping by the clothing store to make sure her suit would stretch properly to fit her true form. Her regular clothes always did, but these were new clothes and she just had to make sure. Her last stop was the hairdresser, with the hopes that their attempts at taming the bush on top of her head would stick when she transformed.

Mere minutes before the party, everything was looking perfect. Nothing too overdramatic or overdone. Just a nice, simple party like all the years before… aside from the statue Loggle made, which he really outdid himself on. Heck, he even had enough time to paint it in order to showcase the colour differences between her forms! When she examined it, she saw what her true form supposedly looked like from an outside perspective and a shiver went up her spine. No wonder everyone was scared at first!

She then looked herself over, making sure she was perfectly cleaned up with her hair slicked back, fancier than it’d ever looked before! A perfectly stark white suit (she opted for a suit rather than a dress ‘cause it looked slicker and it’d show off her true form’s body dimensions a bit better) with a purple sash and black bowtie! She really wanted to see if her true form could actually look nice if she was all cleaned up the way she was at the moment.

She took a deep breath, nervous about how the night would play out. When she found out that the bottle of medicine she promised to keep on her created a noticeable bulge in her suit pocket, she’d made the executive decision to let Sprig hold onto it. The only thing she made the extra effort to look perfect was herself so that she could present her true form in as much grace as possible! Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Hop Pop right behind her.

“Ya know, you can take yer medicine now if yer not ready to show off that form in this kinda light yet.” Hop Pop told her. It almost seemed like he was trying to pressure her into staying in frog form the whole night. But as she looked around, she saw that everyone who knew about her plans were ready for it.

“No. Everyone’s expecting it. Loggle’s statue, Stumpy’s emphasis on fruits and veggies, and even my outfit were all tailored to letting this happen. It’s time, Hop Pop.” The old frog sighed.

“... Alright, kiddo. I was just givin’ ya an out in case ya wanted it. But you do what ya need ta do.” And with that, he walked away to his little stage where he’d perform all his jokes for the night. Next thing she knew, the rest of the townsfolk started pouring in. Anne steeled herself, puffed up her chest, and opened her mouth.

“Welcome, my friends, to the best Frog of the Year party ever!” She announced, like every host did every year! There were three main sections. First was a live band composed of mostly string instruments all playing a soft, but lively tune over a dance floor. Next to that, there were a bunch of seats set up in front of a stage where Hop Pop was waiting for an audience. And finally there were a whole bunch of picnic tables set up with Stumpy and Felicia catering the event.

That wasn’t even mentioning the beautiful lighting that Sprig had set up. He somehow managed to catch a frankly ridiculous amount of fireflies without hurting them and trap them inside of bubbles that were floating around. Anne had to admit that her little brother had an eye for making things pretty when he really wanted to! As the party fell into the swing of things, she noticed the occasional firefly getting eaten and yet the place remained lit.

Anne found out that Sprig had collected way more fireflies than were needed to light the place up ‘cause he figured this would happen. She even got to see how he trapped them in the bubbles! He’d pop one into his mouth, move his slime coat overtop of it, and blow a bubble while spitting the firefly out into said bubble. A little gross, but effective. She just had to make sure that no one who ate one figured out how they were made.

As the night went on, Anne made sure to focus on how she felt so that she’d catch the moment where she’d transform. Thanks to a little help from the folks who made her suit, she had a plan on what to do! Around the time it was supposed to happen, she made her way to the dance floor and just made it look like she was simply having some fun. Once she felt it starting, she took off her sash and unfolded it to reveal that it was actually big enough to cover her entire true form.

She had people already looking at her curiously as she twirled with it, wrapping herself in it in order to hide the in-between. Because she was actually focusing on it for once, she felt herself get taller and her limbs get longer as she changed shape. It didn’t hurt anymore, though. If anything, it just felt like she was stretching out an old ache. It felt good, actually.

When she’d finished, she twirled the other way to unwrap herself and reveal her true form. She only hoped she’d stayed as cleaned up as she was in her frog form. When she finally saw the crowd’s faces, her heart sank. They were all staring at her in shock! But then she saw a couple of them shake their heads and start laughing and muttering to themselves.

“Wasn’t expecting that.”

“She had to have planned it.”

“That explains the extra fruits in the dining area.”

“At least she stayed all cleaned up.” Upon overhearing that, she realized that they weren’t actually afraid of her, just surprised. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face and the giggle that escaped her! There she was, in her true form, dancing and having fun with her community like nothing was wrong. It was perfect!

She even sat and ate dinner with a bunch of frogs that she’d never really gotten to know before! It seemed almost everyone wanted a chance to at least talk to her, with several others even asking to dance with her. Granted, it was a little awkward to dance with people who were so much shorter than her, but she wouldn’t trade the overall experience for the world!

It all seemed to come crashing down, though, when there was some commotion not far from the dance floor and suddenly she had a huge mass of frogs tackling her to the ground and frogpiling on top of her! She was so confused, wondering if maybe they had suddenly thought she was a threat again and wanted to take her down! She struggled against them, trying not to hurt anyone right up until she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from beyond the crowd.

“Oh, did we interrupt something?” it was a deep, masculine voice that she’d never heard before. The music also stopped in response to his presence. Heck, she even heard silence coming from Hop Pop’s stage area! Something was wrong. Then she heard Mayor Toadstool’s voice respond to them.

“N-no, C-captain Grime, sir. These frogs were just so startled by you and your toads showing up during our annual Frog of the Year party that a bunch of them tripped over themselves and they just haven’t recovered yet.” Oh. That explained a lot. They frogpiled on top of her because they were trying to hide her from the soldiers of Toad Tower and the Mayor was covering for her! She vaguely remembered Hop Pop saying that the Mayor had lied and told Toad Tower that she’d been run out of town never to be seen again. If they found out that she was still around, that’d spell trouble for everybody!

She tried her best to make sure she stayed buried, catching a glimpse of Loggle’s statue with a gigantic tarp over it. Everyone was covering for her! Despite that, all she could do was wait until Sprig got to her with her bottle of medicine. In the meantime, she kept as silent as possible and just listened for whatever Captain Grime had to say. She felt the bodies of the frogs that were on top of her shift so that they were looking at the town square statue, where he had apparently hopped on top of.

“Frogs of Wartwood! We toads have come here to…” she could FEEL the fear around her, coming off of everyone! Had she been found out?! Was it too late to stop them from hurting everyone? Maybe she could get the townsfolk out of trouble by surrendering to the toads.

“... Invite you to a banquet!” Everyone stopped. This wasn’t like the infamous ‘Captain Grime’. He was supposed to be the cruelest toad soldier of all time! There had to be some sort of trick!

“An informant has made me aware that that odd creature that appeared in this town had returned after it was run out. I know that you all managed to tame that hideous beast and have begun utilizing its unique traits. Frankly, I’m impressed. A beast so violent and driven by malice was eventually tamed by a small community like this one!

“I also know that you’re all trying to hide her underneath that frogpile, but you needn’t worry. We’re not here to harm anyone, not even her. So let’s see this creature!” The frogs around her shifted nervously as she felt their weight move off of her. Once her face was uncovered, she looked straight at Captain Grime and a shiver went up her spine. The two made eye contact for a moment and Anne saw his eyes widen just the slightest, almost like he was expecting what he saw. She sat up as he continued.

“I read over the reports and analyzed what this creature might be only to realize that we’ve had another of the same species at the tower for the last few months!” a gasp flew over the crowd as Anne’s mind came to a screeching halt. Another one? She knew about the Newtopian Book Beast, but this was so far from Newtopia that it seemed unlikely that it was the same individual. The idea that there was another one so close by made Anne begin to wonder what it was like.

Was it intelligent like her? What was its temperament like? How old was it and what was its gender? Could it do the same things she could? What was it better at and what was it worse at? What kind of upbringing did it have?… Could it be a biological relative of hers? These questions hit her all at once, but she couldn’t seem to find her voice. In fact, she was in such shock that all she could do was shift her eyes a little bit.

She ended up making eye contact with a blonde, pink toad that was standing right next to Captain Grime. She looked at her with wide eyes while Anne noticed that she appeared to be a little young for a soldier, but she figured there was a good reason for it. Either way, nothing in the young toad’s expression betrayed the idea that Captain Grime was lying, so the girl turned her attention back to the Captain.

“The creature that we have is also relatively tame, but they’re about as lonely as this one is. So the moment we heard about your creature returning, we rushed over to bring yours back to the tower with those she’s quite clearly attached to and hold a celebration as the two of them hopefully befriend each other. I understand that this community has come to care for this creature, so I figured you would all want to be there for this joyous occasion.”

Captain Grime’s speech made everyone just a little less nervous, but while everyone was touched by his attention to sentiment, a bit of confusion still lingered. This was Captain Grime, after all! He was extremely well known for his cruelty, so something didn’t quite add up. Hop Pop was the one to actually speak up.

“Really?...”

“Yes. Despite my rough exterior, I really am just an ‘old softie’.” The young toad next to him quietly cleared her throat and when he looked at her, she flashed a small, quick smile with her fingers at the sides of her mouth. He then turned back to the crowd and gave the creepiest smile that spread way too far and showed off far too many teeth. Anne silently wondered to herself why anyone was ever scared of her teeth when she was reminded that a toad’s teeth looked like that! A baby even cried a little off in the distance, so the young toad next to him gently pushed him out of the way and took over.

“Uhh, so what do ya say, Wartwood? You ready to party back at the tower?” There was silence for a good few beats. Eventually Mrs. Croaker’s voice rang up above the rest of the crowd.

“What do you think, Anne?” All eyes were on her now. She hadn’t intended to speak in front of the toads, but if she was being prompted to, then that meant that the frogs would defend her. She looked back at the crowd as she stood up to her full height, then turned to look at Captain Grime and the young toad. She knew that honesty was the best policy, though, so she took a deep breath and began to speak.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least curious about seeing another member of my species! And while I am nervous about this, I think that maybe we can help them with this other one?” She didn’t get any farther than that before the young toad cut in and shouted.

“WOO!! All aboard the party barge!” The toads parted to reveal a huge wooden carriage attached to the biggest tarantula any of them had ever seen. A toad on top was even playing music! The crowd all gave a collective shrug and started slowly piling onto it. They sped up, though, when Wally excitedly yelled.

“Two parties in one night?! Woo-hoo!” To be fair, he had a point. The Plantars took up the back of the group, planning on being the last ones to get on despite the fact that this was all mostly for Anne. They stopped when they heard Captain Grime clearing his throat right behind them. When they turned to look at him, they noticed that he had the young toad from earlier with him.

“As the guest of honour and her family, I’ve decided to assign you lot a personal escort. Meet Lieutenant Sasha. She may be young, but she’s proven herself stronger than the average soldier in more ways than one.” Sasha extended a hand out to Anne.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Wartwood Creature.” Anne politely shook her hand in turn. She noticed how Sasha seemed to be extremely eager to get closer to her, but ultimately kept going anyways.

“Uhh, just call me Anne.”

“Right, of course. Now, because of how special you are, you’re going to be riding with me.” She gestured over to a smaller carriage, still large enough to fit them, but not quite as large as the shared barge that everyone else was on. Still, it had a proper enclosed roof and everything. Anne was still a tad nervous about all of this, though, so she decided to try getting a little bit more security.

“Cool! Hey, uhh… mind if my family comes along?” She gestured to the rest of the Plantars. Sasha looked unimpressed for a moment before wiping the look off her face and replacing it with a smile.

“Of course I don’t mind! The more the merrier.” Sprig threw his hands up in the air and yelled alongside Hop Pop and Polly with the three of them clambering into the carriage all at once. Anne giggled, seeing her family excited put her mind at ease as she followed them with Sasha bringing up the rear.

Before long, they were on the road and headed to Toad Tower. Anne noticed that the carriage carrying them was actually leading the party barge, but before she could really think about that, Sasha caught her attention.

“So, you ready to meet another of your species?”

“You bet! I have no idea what it’ll be like, but I at least hope they’re friendly.” Anne decided to keep quiet about the Newtopian Book Beast. If things turned out well, then she’d mention them later. Or maybe it really was the same individual? They did say that this one had only been there for a few months, while the shut-in story was evidently at least a few years old. Who said her species couldn't be more nomadic?

“Heh, well maybe I should tell you something kinda important.” She had the whole family’s attention at that point. What did she know about the one at the Tower? Sasha continued.

“We’re all well aware of your little thing with your… potions. Changing form and all that, you know. Honestly, I find it hilarious ‘cause… you guys aren’t the only ones who thought of that!” The family was confused about what Sasha meant until she reached into her pocket and pulled out a bright yellow bottle of glowing liquid.

Silence filled the cart as the Plantars all processed what they were seeing. A bottle of medicine? When and how did Sasha get one of those? Without taking her eyes off of it, Anne turned her head in Sprig’s direction and asked him,

“H-hey Sprig, d-do you still have that b-bottle I handed you?”

“Y-yeah.” The young frog answered, pulling out the bottle and handing it to Anne. She looked between the one in her hands and the one in Sasha’s before putting them next to each other. She noticed that Sasha’s had just the slightest darker tint than hers, indicating that it was indeed slightly different inside. It wasn’t one of her own. She looked up at Sasha, making eye contact with the pink toad. Anne could barely form a single word, but when she did, it was a whisper.

“Y-you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I-I…”

“You wanna see what I actually look like, don’t you?”

“YES!!” Anne covered her mouth with her hands at her own outburst. She couldn’t believe it! Not only was the other one of her kind right in front of her, but she was also another that took more than one form! Just like the Newtopian Book Beast, from what they understood. Sasha smiled and reached to her hip, bringing a small satchel up to eye level and opening it. Inside, there were a bunch of little purple berries with vertical blue stripes.

“Alright, so do you know what these are?”

“... No?”

“They’re a very rare type of berry that cancels any and all non-curse magical effects of those who eat one. And yes, that includes this.” She gestured to the bottle before immediately popping one of the berries into her mouth, giving it a single bite, and swallowing it. The Plantars all watched with bated breath. There’s no way a solution so convenient could exist, right? It’d be just a little too easy! And yet, the pink toad in front of them began to change shape anyways.

Similarly to Anne, she didn’t scream or even seem perturbed by her transformation at all. Bright pink skin gave way to a very pale shade of brown in a splotchy pattern. The form in front of them grew taller and thinner with her limbs stretching out unevenly. Her toad claws shortened and reshaped themselves as crescents that were further embedded into her fingers. Anne watched with a horrified expression as she finally witnessed the disgusting sight that she’d spared the Wartwood frogs from earlier that evening and that her family had seen so many times.

She watched as Sasha’s neck grew thinner and thinner, creating a distinct separation between her head and her body that hadn’t been there before. The discolouration of her skin completely faded away as the face reshaped itself to give her the same predatory look that Anne’s own face had. The blonde creature opened her eyes to look directly into Anne’s own, deep blue meeting shining brown. There she was.

Silence once again filled the carriage as the two beasts stared each other down. The frogs, while intimidated, looked at Sasha with a morbid curiosity. Neither of the girls seemed to want to make the first move, but eventually they just couldn’t hold back their expressions for long. Sasha’s face cracked into a shaky smile while Anne let out a stuttered breath.

Without exchanging a single word, the two slowly extended a hand in each other’s direction and, noticing that the other had done the same, they took each other’s hands in their own. The difference in the shades of brown between their skin indicated that they were definitely of different breeds, but certainly the same species. The first of their kind that the other had ever actually seen! It was difficult to believe, impossible even, if it weren’t for the fact that they could actually touch each other to confirm that they were indeed real.

Anne slowly extended her free hand up to Sasha’s face, examining it closer and noticing the small dark spot underneath the outer corner of her left eye. Did she have the same marking? She’d have to ask someone later. She removed her hand, but then felt Sasha’s own on her shoulder. That finally made her get over her shock enough to return Sasha’s smile and let out a small giggle, which the blonde returned.

The two burst into laughter, which led them into excited squeals as they took in the sight of each other and then pulled the other in close for a hug. In reality, they’d just met and didn’t know each other at all, but seeing someone so similar to them after being treated as an outsider for so long made them feel like they’d known the other for their entire lives! It was admittedly weird, embracing a stranger like this, but the warmth that radiated off of them made both girls feel like this embrace was just RIGHT! They stayed like that until they felt the carriage jerk to a halt.

“Whu-?”

“Oh, I guess we’re here now.” Sasha awkwardly said.

“Wait, if you look like that-”

“Oh, don’t worry, Grime knows about this and he’s covering for us.”

“Wow, I didn’t think someone with a reputation like his would be that understanding.”

“Ah, he’s not so bad once you get used to him.” Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the carriage door. Sasha took Anne’s hand, holding it like they’d been friends forever and opened the door to reveal the menacing toad standing there. The girls stepped out together smiling, with the Plantar frogs following closely behind them.

“I take it things went well?” Grime asked.

“Yes sir, I’ll be giving Anne a quick tour. Her family insisted on riding with her, which is reasonable, but they should be escorted to the banquet hall now.” Sasha explained to the Captain. Sprig and Polly respectively protested.

“Hey, I wanna go on the tour too.”

“Oh, me three!” Hop Pop was quick to intervene, though.

“Come on, kids. Anne and Sasha clearly hit it off and aren’t gonna hurt each other. I think we should give ‘em some space.” Anne smiled at her grandpa. He’d learned to trust her so much and it made her ridiculously happy to see that! Grime seemed to be in agreement, calling over one of his soldiers.

“Percy!”

“Yes, Captain?” A bright green toad walked over and saluted, seemingly unperturbed by Sasha’s true form. Anne wondered how many of the toads in the tower knew about her. Grime quickly and casually gave him his order.

“Escort these frogs to the banquet hall. Your daughter and her new friend would like some time alone.” Grime gestured to the frogs and then the two girls. Ah, that explained it. Percy’s eyes shone with pride as he smiled at the girls, giving a big goofy grin. If someone like him raised her, then she had to be a wonderful person, right? Anne gave Sasha another smile, which was returned. She then turned to her family.

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch up with you guys later. Go have fun in there!” She encouraged them. Sprig groaned, but still reluctantly followed the toad with his grandpa and little sister. At the very least they were being led by someone else who knew and loved one of Anne’s species. That right there proved that they weren’t the only ones who considered one of them family!

Meanwhile Sasha proceeded to lead Anne around the place by the hand. She was nervous for Sasha’s own sake of being seen, but every time they encountered a toad, she explained that they knew about her. From what she could gather, Sasha was raised to believe that the potion was medicine as well, but she rarely took it anymore because her true form was just plain stronger. After a while, all the toads in the tower had found out about her, but in the time between, some of them had started referring to her as ‘The Monster of the Tower’ before they realized. Now it was more of an inside joke.

Apparently Sasha only took her medicine when she needed to do some actual combat training ‘cause that would bring her down to the same level as the other toads. Despite that, she still had a sword that was sized properly for her true form. When Anne saw it, she was amazed! It was a beautiful pink with a bird shape on the hilt, which Sasha claimed was a reference to the time she beheaded a heron! Knowing how herons had devastated her own family, that just made her want to stick by Sasha’s side even more ‘cause she’d be able to prevent history from repeating itself!

The tour ended with Sasha’s own personal bedroom, which was one of the most luxurious rooms Anne had ever seen! On one side of the room was a massive bed that one of them could stretch out on and still not reach the edge with a large dresser on one side and a door on the wall next to it. The door was open, so Anne was able to see that it contained a private washroom! A large, plush rug covered the middle of the room and on the other end was almost a whole living room setup!

There was a couch that was covered in cushions (one of them almost looked kinda like Captain Grime’s face) with a coffee table in front of it. On said table was a bowl of candy and a goblet with some sort of drink in it. To one side of the couch was an ornate candle holder and a plant pot with some sort of viney plant growing out of it. To the other side there were a whole bunch of stuffed animals, some almost as big as they were!

Beyond that there was a large standing coathook that had cloaks and such of two different sizes on them. It seemed some of her clothes didn’t stretch and/or shift with her transformations. Anne began wondering why her daily outfit always did, but she couldn’t figure out a logical reason for it, so she just figured she could tackle that issue later. In the meantime, she noticed that Sasha even had her own dinner table and chair that were perfectly sized for them. It looked like she sometimes used it as a desk, but still!

She had her own private suite where everything was sized and tailored to her true form! She didn’t have to force anything to fit her or squeeze into things that were too small and if Anne were honest, she was a little jealous. She’d only taken a couple of steps into the room before she heard Sasha call out to someone.

“Hey Brenton!” A blue toad appeared just outside the room, wearing a chef’s hat and apron.

“Oui, commander?”

“Bring us the usual.” Hearing that made Anne a little concerned, but the idea that Sasha took her true form often enough to have a ‘usual’ meal set up made Anne wonder about her. Back when Anne had scared off the tax collectors, it seemed like they’d never seen one of their kind before. If that were the case, then that had to mean Sasha’s true form was a very recent addition to the tower. Then again, she did say that not everyone knew at first, so maybe Anne just had some lucky timing with that?

As they waited, Anne looked a little closer at Sasha and tried to remember the details of the Newtopian Book Beast. According to the story, they had black hair, olive-brown skin, brown eyes, and they had transformed from something green. Most likely a newt, if the story were to be believed! Comparing this to Sasha’s blonde hair, almost white skin, blue eyes, and alternate pink toad form made Anne quickly come to the conclusion that they were different individuals. Which meant that, including herself, there were at least three of them that she knew of.

She thought about telling Sasha, but Brenton came back with the food already ready, carrying it on a standard food cart before she could. On it was a platter with one of those big, fancy covers on it that prevented Anne from seeing what was actually being served at first. Still, Sasha took Anne’s shoulders and led her to the big table and chair setup, sitting her down with the plate in front of her. Anne figured she could tell Sasha about the Newtopian Book Beast later.

When the lid was pulled off of the platter, Anne saw four identical portions of one of the most delicious looking things she’d ever seen! It appeared to be a mixture of different fruits, veggies, and even some leaves all cut to bite-sized pieces with small bits of bug meat sprinkled throughout. There was even some sort of tomato based sauce that was glazed over it. The most interesting part was that it appeared to be wrapped in some sort of tough but thin bread, which made it easy to pick up with her bare hands.

She looked back and forth between them and Sasha before picking one up and biting into it. Her eyes widened. It was like heaven on her tongue with all the flavours hitting at once. The tomato, specifically, felt like it was binding all the other flavours together into a perfect harmony. Anne briefly contemplated if maybe they were natural predators of the tomato plant, given that they’re stronger than one would expect with quick reflexes while still mostly eating plants. There’d be no way to prove that unless they actually found one to fight, though.

Mentally filing that thought away for later, Anne saw Sasha grab one of the portions for herself and start eating while leaning against the table next to her. The blonde girl didn’t have anywhere to sit with her, but she didn’t seem bothered by that at all. Still, that made Anne come to the realization that Sasha was pampering her! She started to wonder if there was maybe some sort of special reason behind that, but then she figured that if Sasha were in her home, then she’d probably do the same for her.

Just as the two were finishing up their second portions, the chef came back with something else. It was a collection of a bunch of different snack sized appetizers that appeared to mostly be made of fruits and veggies, but with a few meat based ones thrown in for variety. Each and every one of them looked different, so Anne just grabbed a couple and tried them out. In the end, some tasted amazing and others… less so. But that was okay, it just proved that even within their same species, Anne and Sasha had slightly different tastes.

After all that, Sasha invited Anne to sit on her couch with her. The chef had provided for them a hot chocopede drink to relax with before he left for good. As the two girls sat together, they started chatting about what they knew and theorized about their species. Anne started by telling Sasha about their salt immunity while Sasha told Anne about how she figured their minds were supposed to work.

“... Yeah, Grime said that we’re clearly a communal species, given how both of us can function well in a group and work as a team.” Sasha added.

“Oh my frog, yes! But we don’t strictly have to rely on others all the time. I was the only one awake on hiber-day and I was still able to protect everyone!” Anne decided to leave out the parts that made her sound irresponsible, like thawing Sprig out early. She still wanted to impress Sasha, after all.

“Still, it’s always a good idea to stick in groups and maybe that means we’re pack animals.”

“You’re probably completely right about that. I do feel really attached to my family!”

“But wouldn’t it be nice to be part of a pack that you know can defend you? It seems like you’re always the one defending and protecting them.”

“W-well… every member pulls a different type of weight. That’s what specialization is, right? Everyone in the tower pulls the same type of weight with little to no variation, but the townsfolk of Wartwood really branch out a lot more.”

“Hmm… I see your point, but it must get exhausting to constantly have to do all the heavy lifting!”

“Well…”

“I’ll bet you’ve just never known a life where you could rely on others to defend you. How about you stay here for a while. Maybe a week or so? You’ll be able to get a feel for what it’s like to truly rely on others.” It seemed like Sasha had been waiting for an opportunity to make her offer and as much as Anne wanted to spend more time with another of her species, she REALLY didn’t want to spend said time at Toad Tower, of all places. Plus she didn’t want to cancel or postpone their trip to Newtopia!

“I don’t know…”

“Oh, I get it. You don’t wanna be a soldier like me. That’s fine, it’s not for everybody. I mean, you were raised as a frog and I was raised as a toad! It makes perfect sense! But don’t worry, you’d just be chilling around the place once this is all over.” While the offer was tempting, seeing as it wouldn’t be a permanent thing, the last bit that Sasha said really caught Anne’s attention.

“Once… what’s over?” Sasha made eye contact with Anne and, with the sweetest and most casual voice, answered the question.

“Oh, the rebellion.” Anne gave a confused laugh and pressed again. Something was wrong here.

“The what now?”

“You don’t know about the rebellion? Look, I’ll explain. Just… promise not to freak out or anything.”

“O-okay?...”

“As you know, the toads in this Valley have one job: to rule over the frogs, especially at this time of year ‘cause of the mountain passes being closed and cutting us off from the rest of the world. Lately, though, a bunch of those frogs have been stepping out of line. It’s actually an overall danger to society as a whole. Frogs rebelling leads to taxes not being paid, which leads to public and emergency services not getting the funding they need in order to keep going.

“Turns out these ‘rebels’ have been inspired by a certain frog. You might just know him. He stood up to some tax collectors and even ran for mayor against the local toad. At this point, he’s a dangerous criminal and is the root of all the societal danger that we’re in.” Sasha picked up a scroll and let it unroll to reveal an artist’s depiction of Hop Pop coloured in red and blue, split vertically right down the middle and surrounded by the words ‘Freedom Frog’! Anne spat out her drink and immediately argued!

“WHAT?! Hop Pop’s not a revolutionary!” Sasha slapped a few newspapers onto the table in front of her, each with a headline that was treating him like he was!

“Doesn’t matter. Word has travelled like wildfire and we’ve GOT to douse it at its source or else our whole society will burn! The worst part is that he needs to be made an example of, so we figured that the best option would be something quick.” Sasha walked over to the window and gestured for Anne to look outside. She wordlessly followed, dreading what she would see.

“So, we’re just gonna feed him to that thing.” Anne’s heart sank as she looked down at the monstrous plant that was thrashing about and screaming! All she could do was gasp at the thought of her grandpa getting eaten by it! Sasha immediately pulled her away, realizing how horrified Anne was.

“Look, I know it’s a huge shock to find out that someone in your family is a criminal, but this is for the greater good. That thing does in its prey extremely quickly too, so he won’t even feel a thing. And on top of that, we’ve already got a foster home set up for the frog kids and you can just stay here with me so that I can protect you from ever getting involved with criminals again. I know it’s gotta be hard, but this is for the best and we should really stick together, ya know?”

Anne couldn’t respond. She felt sick and conflicted. She’d wanted to believe that Sasha was a good person because they were the same species, but her intentions said otherwise. Then again, Sasha probably thought she was doing the right thing overall ‘cause of where and how she was raised. Anne wanted to cry, knowing that she’d have to make a choice between the only other member of her species that she’d ever met or her family. As if it were actually a contest.

“I- I need some air.” She was able to choke out before making for the door. Sasha stayed where she was, evidently respecting the need for some space. Maybe she’d done something like this before? It made Anne even sicker, thinking that one of her species could be capable of such cruelty! When she got out of the room, she nearly broke down right then and there, but something in her made her stop. All of her emotional turmoil took a back seat as her mind raced with thoughts all centering around one single goal: saving her family!

Anne ducked into a different, nearby room. It had a bunch of painful looking torture devices in it, but thankfully it didn’t have any toads inside. She looked around, but didn’t find anything of value that she could reliably carry. As she contemplated what to do, she heard the door to Sasha’s room open in the distance. Anne slowly crept into a darker part of the room, hoping it was enough to hide her with their lack of night vision.

Thankfully, Sasha didn’t even enter the room. Instead, she just went right past. Once she was a decent distance away, Anne crept out and back into Sasha’s room. If she got caught, then she could just say that she was originally going the other way and they’d just missed each other. In the meantime, though, an idea hatched in Anne’s mind. If all the toads in the tower knew about Sasha, then she might be able to trick them. She just hoped that she could actually do it due to their unfamiliarity with her.

Anne made her way over to the dresser, but noticed that there was a pile of clothes sitting next to it, having been hidden by the bed earlier. One glance was all it took for Anne to realize that they were from her bigger set, meant to fit her true form. Perfect! All she had to do was find an outfit that mimicked what Sasha had been wearing when they first met! It didn’t take her long, though. Toads didn’t exactly care too much about varying up their fashion choices.

Next thing she knew, she was dressed perfectly like Sasha. If it weren’t for the face, hair, and shade of skin, then she’d look exactly like her! Thankfully Anne remembered seeing a long, hooded cloak on her standing coat hanger. She turned to see that it was still there, so she put it on, hiding her hair and face while hoping that the dimmer lighting would hide the skin difference.

All she needed at that point was a sword to complete the look. Someone like Sasha HAD to have a spare sword lying around, right? When she eventually found one, she noticed that there was a small satchel next to it. Upon opening it, Anne realized that they were filled with those little purple and blue berries from earlier! She didn’t want to steal something quite that important, but it would complete the look. She figured that if she was already taking a sword, then she might as well.

And with that, the disguise was perfect. Thanks to the tour from earlier, Anne knew the exact path that she needed to take in order to get to the mess hall, where her family would be! On her way, she tightened her throat. One of the things that Hop Pop had had her experiment with was imitating the sounds of other species. She was surprisingly good at it, so imitating one of her own wouldn’t be too hard, right? She only hoped that whatever came out of her mouth sounded enough like Sasha’s voice to fool the toads.

As she approached the door, she heard a lot of ruckus coming from inside the room. There were the squelching sounds of food being thrown and the crashing sounds of plates being broken! There was a full on brawl going on inside! Then she overheard one soldier near the door losing his patience.

“Alright, that does it!” Anne didn’t have time to explain her plan to any of the townsfolk! She just hoped they’d forgive her for scaring them. She burst into the room, yelling in her imitation of Sasha’s voice.

“ENOUGH!! Guards, leave us. I’ll get these frogs to fall in line.” She drew the sword at her hip, noticing how all the frogs’ eyes widened and they started backing away. Even Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly looked shocked for a moment, although Sprig’s eyes narrowed. The guards, however, seemed to be fooled well enough as they turned back to the townsfolk and taunted them.

“You lot have made a huuuuge mistake.”

“Enjoy your time with Lieutenant Sasha.” The toads left, cackling as they closed the overly thick door behind them. The frogs made nervous croaks, not only realizing that Sasha was the other member of their species, but she was also respected and well known for violence. She even saw a couple of them tearing up, so as soon as she was sure the guards couldn’t hear them, she pulled down her hood and revealed herself with a friendly:

“Hey guys!” There was a gasp before Sprig jumped over the entire crowd, yelling for his big sister.

“ANNE!!” He landed on her upper body, grabbing onto her shoulders and securing his feet against her chest. Upon realizing that this really was Anne, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. They had no idea how different and similar Anne and Sasha looked like, but they seemed to trust Sprig’s judgement of who she was! He was quick to jump to the point, though.

“Boy are we glad to see you! We’ve got a situation. We’re not guests, we’re-”

“Prisoners, I know. Sasha told me as much and, for anyone who doesn’t know, Lieutenant Sasha is actually the other member of my species. She was raised as a toad exactly like how I was raised as a frog! All the toads here know about her and that’s how I was able to trick them just now. Either way, that’s not the worst part! They’re planning to execute Hop Pop!” Everyone gasped and looked at the old frog, who’d been stuffing his face with the most expensive foods while carrying Polly on his head. He dropped all of it immediately and spat out what was in his mouth upon the realization!

“Say whaaaat?! But why?!” Anne held out one of the posters with Hop Pop on it in order to prove her point and help her explain.

“Turns out, Hop Pop’s been inspiring rebellions all across the Valley. Blah blah, it’s some political nonsense.” Hop Pop took the poster from his granddaughter’s hands to get a closer look. He tried to remain calm for the sake of everyone.

“Well, it’s a good lookin’ poster, though…” his calm didn’t last long “... I’M GONNA DIE!!” At hearing him freak out, Mrs. Croaker approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, youngster. We won’t let ‘em getcha.” Everyone seemed to be on the same page, with Felicia bringing up the next concern.

“So what do we do?!” Her tone betrayed her growing panic and Anne could tell that she wasn’t the only one. She spread her arms out, with Sprig jumping off and back onto the ground.

“Nobody panic! I’m busting us out of here… somehow. Anyone got any ideas?” Loggle’s voice rang over the crowd.

“I doooooon’t. I don’t.”

“OH COME ON!!” nearly everyone shouted all at once, including Anne.

“Jeez, Loggle!” Sprig added. Loggle messing around with his vocal tick was NOT what they needed at that point. Anne felt the cloak she was wearing move a little as Wally poked his head out from behind her.

“I’ve got one. What say we plant these boom shrooms around the joint, blow the place sky high!” Wally opened his jacket to reveal that it was absolutely filled with said boom shrooms! Anne saw the problem with that plan immediately and deadpanned.

“With us still inside? Yeah, we’re not doing that.”

“Right, we’re NOT doing it.” Wally said with the kind of tone that came from someone who was totally going to do it anyways.

“Seriously, no boom shrooms.”

“Loud and clear.” It obviously wasn’t, but they didn’t have any more time to waste.

“Okay, gotta figure a way out.” Anne brought a hand up to her face and started thinking. She still didn’t know if Sasha and her ran on borrowed intelligence that came from being raised as amphibians, but she was grateful for said intelligence nonetheless.

“Hmm… there’s only one door and the toads are outside it. There has to be some other wa-” a disgusting smell hit her face bump, cutting her off. Though she recognized this scent! Looking down, she saw a grate that was fastened to the floor. She gasped.

“That’s it!” She knelt down and grabbed at the grate. With a grunt, she pulled on it until it finally gave way, unblocking the large pipe! Heck, it was large enough for even her to fit inside!

“The sewer!”

“Oh yuck, really?” Felicia asked, disgusted by the idea. This earned her a Polly on the head, though.

“Deal with it, lady! It’s time to get dirty!” the tadpole shouted while jumping down. The townsfolk begrudgingly followed suit, trusting Anne to hold the grate while they all piled in. Once everybody was inside, Anne herself swung around while repositioning her hands to keep the grate open. She felt the cold, slimy hands of the frogs below her guiding her and helping her down while she kept her focus on making sure the grate was placed perfectly back on top.

Once it was in place, she looked back down towards the frogs around her. She could see a flight of stairs leading down, but after that there was some ankle deep water that had who knows what in it. They’d have to walk through it, but everyone looked a little nervous.

“Alright, I’ll go first ‘cause my skin is tougher. I’ll let you guys know if I feel something weird, okay?” This seemed to ease their worries a bit. Stepping in the water was enough to disturb it and make its odor even worse, but beyond that nothing quite felt amiss. Maybe it was a little thicker than regular water? But she tried to not think about why that would be the case. There was just one problem, though.

“Uhh, is this a bad time to admit that I can’t see in the dark in this form?” She looked back at the frogs who were still standing underneath the light from the grate and even saw a few of them facepalm.Yeah, she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to do this if she couldn’t see where they were going. That was until she heard Sprig’s voice from the darkness.

“Incoming!” Suddenly Anne felt a weight on her shoulders, grabbing onto her. Sprig had jumped onto her!

“I’ll just tell you where to go and if you’re about to run into something or not. Now let’s go!” Ah, that made sense. He even lightly grabbed onto her hair, as if he were trying to steer her like a snail. She ignored that implication, though, ‘cause she really needed his help here. After a quick bit of orientation, they were off!

As they went, she could hear the frogs following behind and occasionally fending off random creatures that lived down there. None of them seemed to be targeting her, according to Sprig, so she just kept on going. He’d let her know if she needed to turn around and help someone, right? Thankfully it seemed the frogs were able to handle themselves, seeing as she didn’t actually need to turn and help anyone before coming across a spotlight. She gasped and ran over to it.

“Finally! I think we made it!” There was a different grate above them with a ladder on the wall leading up to it. Sprig jumped off of her shoulders and back down onto the ground. Anne climbed up the ladder to the top and pushed on the grate from below, dislodging it even more easily than she had the indoor one! Maybe this one was meant to be opened for maintenance? Regardless, Anne took a deep breath as soon as she was out.

“Ahh! Fresh air!” Next thing she knew, there were a whole bunch of varying sharp weapons pointed right at her face! Sprig came up right behind her without knowing about them.

“Boy, those toads really stink!” It didn’t take him long to realize what was going on, though, as more toads marched in and surrounded them.

“Did I say ‘stink’? I meant ‘are very handsome’.” None of the toads in question bought it, but a couple did move to the side. Next thing they knew, Sasha was there in front of them in her true form and everything! She sighed.

“Oh Anne, I was really hoping I could get you to understand. I’m very disappointed in you right now. Now let’s move. Grime’s waiting for us.” She walked away while the toads forced Anne and the frogs out of the sewer. Some of them even went down to get the few who tried to run back and hide. Eventually they had everybody above ground and huddled together in one big group!

When the rest of the townsfolk saw Sasha, they all realized why Sprig had such an easy time telling the two girls apart. However, they also noticed how Sasha actively utilized the intimidation that her species naturally had over them. A type of intimidation that Anne had been slowly breaking down in all of them, but Sasha had firmly replanted.

Still, they all knew that Anne was safe at least, so they all just crowded around her for protection ‘cause if anyone could take out one of their species, it would be another one of their own. Sasha obviously knew this and preemptively took her sword back, even though she missed the satchel of berries. Meanwhile the toads forced them all back into the tower and up a flight of stairs. At one point, Ivy decided to try to escape by using her cling pads to walk on the walls, but that was stopped pretty quickly by a toad guard flipping his weapon around and jabbing Anne in the back with the blunt end!

“OW!!”

“That little frog on the wall better fall in line or else I’ll do that again, but with the other end this time!” The toad flipped their weapon around to show off the perfectly sharpened spear tip as a warning.

“... Ivy…”

“Sorry.” It was all the young frog had to say before she dropped back down and into the crowd. Sasha looked back at them with narrowed eyes for a few moments before she sighed and reached over all their heads to grab Anne’s arm just above her elbow. It was just enough to hold her close without her being able to fight back. In other words, Anne was trapped!

The rest of the trip to the top of the tower was uneventful while Anne wracked her brain for ways to get everyone out of this situation while also holding back tears. At one point, she looked back to the frogs and her breath hitched. Everyone looked terrified, but when they looked at her, they noticed how she was just as scared. The adults that saw her tried to give her a smile ‘cause they knew that she was just a kid, but she could easily see the fear behind their smiles.

When they reached the top of the tower, they all saw Captain Grime looking over the ledge at the monstrous plant below with a devious grin. Despite that, Sasha was the first to speak up.

“Caught these prisoners trying to escape, Grime.”

“Very impressive, Sasha. Always playing flipwart when everyone else is playing bogjump.”

“Aww, thanks Grime. What can I say? It’s just how I am.” Sasha casually said, letting go of Anne and sauntering over to Grime. She was nearly double his height, but she still made it obvious that he was the boss. Anne was at the end of her rope, her brain going into full on panic mode! She’d been trying to sneak her way out of the whole situation up until that point, but her panic made her try something drastic.

“Sasha, PLEASE!! There has to be another way!” Her attempts at begging were cut off by two soldiers crossing their spears over her chest and holding her back. For the first time, Captain Grime spoke directly to Anne.

“There IS no other way, Wartwood Creature. Our very way of life is at stake. I don’t expect someone who was raised by frogs to understand.” He turned to address his soldiers “SEIZE THE TRAITOR: HOPEDIAH PLANTAR!!” Immediately two other soldiers walked up to Hop Pop and grabbed him, holding him up off of the ground.

“No! Get yer hands off me!” Hop Pop yelled, while Sprig and Polly punched at the toads to try to get them to stop. They just violently smacked the two kids aside, though, as if they were nothing! Hop Pop cried out to them, more concerned about them than himself and Anne couldn’t take it anymore!

“NO!!” She ducked down into a squat position and used her overly long arms to push the toad soldiers holding her back out of the way. She then ran past the one that was closer to Hop Pop and grabbed his spare sword right out of his sheath! All he gave was a verbal protest as the girl ran past him and over to her grandpa. She used the sword to swat away the toads that were holding him, then stood protectively in front of him.

“STAY BACK!!” She stood her ground with the frogs behind her all squaring up to fight back against the approaching soldiers. Anne overheard one of the soldiers muse to another.

“In retrospect, we really shoulda tied them up.” So even this army was starting to get intimidated by the brawl that looked like it was about to start! However, the fight was cut off right before it began by Sasha yelling!

“ENOUGH!!” the soldiers parted, allowing the blonde creature to start walking up to the brunette one. She spoke softly, as if trying one last time to convince her.

“Anne, what are you doing? Are you really gonna risk your life for a criminal? Do you really want to be responsible for society as a whole collapsing in on itself? Do you have any idea how many lives will be lost in the long run if you keep this up? And then what about wanting to stick together ‘cause we’re the only ones like us?”

“I-I get it, bu-”

“Then put that sword down now. End. Of. Discussion.” Anne’s arms shook. She’d never felt so intimidated by anyone before. She wanted to cry, but she continued to hold it back. Anne wondered if they were some sort of species that was designed to follow a specific leader. If so, then Sasha was forcing that instinct to make her fall in line. Either that or all the fear and stress was just building up on her. The arm holding the sword slowly started to fall.

“There we go, that’s my girl.” Sasha spoke to Anne like she was some kind of new pet. Maybe that was a bit closer to how she saw her? She’d brought her in and pampered her, trying to win her over. She treated Anne like she was some sort of animal that could just be rehomed like nothing was wrong! And the worst part was that they knew so little about their species, that that just might be exactly how their kind was supposed to work!

“There, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” SPLAT!! “WHAT THE HECK?!” Sasha yelled in an accusatory tone with mud all over her face and finally looked down at Sprig, acknowledging his existence. Everyone, frogs and toads both, all gasped and turned to look as well. The small frog, for his part, stood his ground without even flinching!

“For someone who's supposed to be the same species as Anne, you sure don’t act like it! Unlike you, she’s brave, smart, selfless, gentle but strong, and most of all, she’s not a pet or a plaything to be pushed around and abused by people like you!” He readied a second mud ball into his slingshot, as if to challenge Sasha! The blonde wiped the mud away and drew her sword, finally having lost her patience.

“Ugh, I think I’ve had enough of you, squeaky toy.” She swung right at Sprig with the full intent to kill, but her sword never made contact with the young frog as a metal clang rang out. Anne had stepped in and blocked the attack with her own sword! The two struggled against each other’s strength.

“Anne, what are you doing?” Sasha grunted out, clearly frustrated.

“Something that someone should’ve done a long time ago. Standing up to you!” Anne pushed Sasha back, making her stumble. It all finally made sense to Anne! Sasha had always been given everything she ever wanted. Heck, she was already the Lieutenant of Toad Tower at only thirteen. That had to be a world record or something!

Nobody had ever told her ‘no’. All they’d ever told her was how amazing she supposedly was! Sasha’s ego needed to be taken down a peg or two and if Anne was the only one who could give her a reality check, then that was exactly what she’d do! She had just one thing to do first. She looked back down at Sprig and saw his amazed expression. She smiled at him.

“Thanks for believing in me, Sprig.” The frog smiled back and nodded.

“Spranne against the world.” He encouragingly said. Meanwhile, Grime let out a bit of a chuckle. Sasha immediately whipped her head in his direction.

“What are YOU laughing at?!” Ignoring her tone, Grime decided to simply explain.

“Looks like you’ve got a fighter over there. You’ve given me plenty of advice, now let me give you some. Stamp this out. Make her yield like the alpha you are. Fail, and you’ll lose any chance of ever having one of your own at your disposal.” Sasha turned back towards Anne, but continued to speak to Grime.

“Not gonna happen.”

“This should be fun. MY FRIENDS!! Instead of a messy free-for-all, I have a splendid idea. How about we settle this the toad fashioned way!” He jumped up onto a pillar mid-speech and snapped his fingers. Suddenly a circle of toads surrounded the two creatures, shields out towards them. They all crouched down, anchoring their shields into the stone below.

“TRIAL BY COMBAT!! If your champion wins, you all go home, no harm no foul. But if our champion wins, weeeell…” the monster plant below roared while Grime chuckled “baby’s hungry.” Everyone had to low-key admit that this really was the best option. Still, asking a child to fight like this was just plain wrong.

“Anne, you don’t have to do this.” Hop Pop calmly told her. Truthfully, there was a small part of him that wanted to see what it was like for two of their species to fight, but this was his granddaughter! He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she got hurt trying to protect him. Anne glanced back at him with her predatory gaze, though it was filled with nothing but concern.

“Yes I do.” Was all the girl said before she turned away from him and walked towards Sasha. She needed to do this not only for Hop Pop, not only for her family, not only for herself and the rest of Wartwood, but also for Sasha; the only other member of her species that she’d ever met. She needed to win this fight.

The two monsters circled each other, keeping their predatory gazes locked onto the other’s eyes. The frogs all shuddered, remembering just how scary Anne could be when she wanted to. They’d never seen her with such a focused, steady glare before! The majority of them would be lying if they said that they weren’t excited to see what happened when they clashed, though! Even the children and tadpoles jumped up on top of some taller frogs’ heads. Heck, a few of them even jumped on top of the surrounding toads’ heads, getting no reaction from them!

When the two of them had circled each other so that everyone could view the fight from the sides, they stopped and positioned themselves! At the very least, they were able to wait for the cue to start. They narrowed their eyes at each other, neither one backing down as they did so. Suddenly Grime’s voice rang out across the ring of toads!

“BEGIN!!” Sasha immediately went on the offensive, jabbing at Anne with her sword multiple times over with Anne blocking and parrying every hit! That was until Sasha wound up and swung her sword right at Anne’s head! The brunette dodged out of the way by bending backwards and righting herself to catch Sasha’s sword by the hilt on her own. The odd bird-like shape of said hilt made it easier to accomplish.

The two of them pushed and struggled against each other! The strength of a farmer versus the strength of a soldier! Sasha may have more actual combat training, but Anne was no stranger to tool use either. Her family had even made her a bunch of farm tools that were actually sized to her true form, so she had gotten used to swinging things around in that form! Something about how Sasha swung her sword around, though, was a little… off.

Sasha, for her part, had been trying to combine the strategies that she’d known between her two forms. In knowing that her true form could easily overpower any toad, she’d only practiced her combat skills while in toad form so that it would be a more even match. The closest she’d gotten to practicing combat in her true form was going after a couple of training dummies. She’d never been able to get just the right niche filled to fight against someone like Anne.

This was the main reason why Anne was able to push Sasha’s sword down so that it got partially stuck in the stones beneath their feet. The brunette then pulled back a little bit and whacked Sasha’s sword with her own, ripping it from her grip and sending it flying across the circle! A gasp came from the watching frogs as they realized that their own creature was actually starting to win!

Sasha hadn’t thought she’d need the dagger that Grime offered to her, but she was glad she took it anyways! She used it to smack Anne’s sword away when she tried to gloat.

“Aww, come on, a dagger?!” The Wartwood Creature blurted out while The Monster of the Tower ran for her sword, picking it up and putting her dagger back. The two ran at each other with Anne finally taking a swing on the offensive! It didn’t take long for Sasha to start playing dirty, though! She grabbed her cloak right off of her shoulders and threw it at Anne, effectively blinding her. From there, she knelt down and used one of her overly long legs to literally sweep Anne off of her feet!

Anne hit the floor HARD, only just barely able to keep her grip on her sword. She tore the blinding cape off of her face only to be met with the tip of Sasha’s own sword! The blonde proceeded to draw her dagger in an attempt to intimidate Anne into finally giving up. She didn’t want to actually hurt her, just make her follow her! Grime had told her before that what appeared to be the instinct for seeking out strength would get The Wartwood Creature to fold to her!

Given how Sasha had actually turned out to be a great leader despite her age, they’d assumed there was some sort of inborn social cache and Sasha was meant to be some sort of alpha! Their informant had told them about how Anne would follow the orders she was given, so she had to be something lower. If that were the case, then why was she fighting back so much?! Were they somehow wrong about how their species worked? No, Sasha just had to make Anne realize her place.

“They’re just frogs, they’re not strong enough to defend you. They’d just hide behind you if there was a threat! Heck, they’d probably just leave you to fight alone if something was after you! With them, you’ll always be alone the moment you get into trouble! It’s just a matter of time before they end up leaving you for dead.

“I’d never do that to you, though. We may be fighting right now, but when you join me, I’ll fight FOR you! The two of us NEED to stick together ‘cause at this point, we’re the only ones who are guaranteed to always have each other’s backs. Those frogs will only drag you down, but me? You need me.” Hearing that, Anne realized what was really going on with Sasha.

She was desperate for Anne to be with her. So desperate, that she was willing to cut Anne off from everything she’d ever known so that her life would solely revolve around Sasha! Anne remembered seeing Sasha’s toad dad earlier and began to wonder what might have driven enough of a wedge between them that Sasha was acting like this. Anne, for her part, was perfectly happy where she was beyond her desire to just know more about her kind… but that was it.

“They’re not just frogs…” she tightened her grip on her sword “they’re my FAMILY!!” Anne violently swung her sword upwards, completely disarming the stunned monster who had been looming over her! Sasha stumbled back a bit, but kept her footing as both of her weapons landed in front of her. This time, though, Anne didn’t gloat. She just pointed her sword straight at Sasha while all the frogs cheered for her.

“I don’t know what’s torn you away from your own family, but whatever it is, you need to stop it. I get it now, you’re desperate for and jealous of what I have, so you’re trying to get me to join you in hopes of getting exactly that! The issue is that you already have a family of your own here and you’re just not acknowledging it! You need to wake up and take a look around you, Sasha. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for if you just open your eyes!”

Sasha was furious. How dare someone like Anne actually try to stand up to her! Someone who, at the very least, had been raised as a frog and therefore had always bent to toads until now. Even though Sasha wasn’t really a toad, their similar upbringings should have meant that she still held power over Anne! It just didn’t make sense!

And what did Anne even know about her family anyways?! She had probably never gotten dumped at some camp while her parents went off to work! According to the report, her frog form was blue while she was raised by orange and pink frogs, so she had to have known that she was adopted from an early age! Meanwhile the toads who raised Sasha had kept that from her, refusing to trust her even with that! No, Sasha had no real family, but ever since finding out about Anne, she’d told herself that that was fine ‘cause she would finally have had another of her own kind!

Except that now, after all of this, there was no chance of her ever having even that! Her only choice at this point would be to actually try to bring out the rage mode that Anne had initially used against the tax collectors! It clearly had some sort of monster instincts tied to it, so maybe it’d actually make the difference. She dipped her head and started breathing heavily, trying to bring it out. She actually saw Anne take a step back and when they locked eyes, she looked scared.

Sasha let out a deep, low growl. She’d taught herself how to do it when she finally came to terms with her true form, assuming that because she really was a monster, it’d be a normal thing for her. While it was a little hard for her to do so, she’d just assumed that that was because she was out of practice when she started. Either way, she knew it achieved its proper effect of scaring those around her ‘cause Anne actually backed up another step.

She hadn’t found her rage mode yet, but she knew that this was the perfect moment to strike! She used Anne’s confusion to her advantage by lunging foreward, but pulling back almost immediately as a way to bait an attack. It worked perfectly, so while Anne was pulling her sword back, Sasha was able to duck underneath it and grab Anne’s arm so that she was immobilized! There wasn’t anything Sasha could do from this angle, though, so the two just looked each other in the eyes! Deep blue met shining brown once more, but there was more to it this time.

Anger, sadness, desperation, and jealousy all filled the deep blue while the shining brown held nothing but pity with a hint of sadness. Anne closed her eyes, reared her head back like she was about to cry, but then whipped it forewards, headbutting Sasha right on her forehead and sending her toppling to the ground. On her way down, Anne tried to move her sword out of the way, but still nicked the blonde’s face, giving her a cut along her cheek!

When she finally hit the ground, Sasha could barely understand what had just happened. Why didn’t her rage mode activate? How was she just taken down like that?! She stared up at Anne, who was looking at her with that same level of pity, but with her sword pointed straight at her face this time.

“It’s over, Sasha. I’m not gonna join you just to be treated like your little pet while you tear my family apart. I don’t know which one of us is closer to the default of our species, but I at least know who I am beyond that.” She turned to Grime “So how ‘bout it, big guy? We’re free, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” The toad responded, suddenly launching his tongue straight at Hop Pop, the tip wrapping around the old frog and pulling him closer to Grime! He grabbed him by the ascot and held him over the edge of the tower, threatening to drop him. Once it all registered in Hop Pop’s mind, he grabbed onto Grime’s arm as it was the only thing keeping him from falling to his death!

“This ends now!” Suddenly there was a sound that came from below, like an explosion. Everyone was caught off guard, even Grime! The whole tower was shaking like crazy and pure unbridled terror filled everyone. Frogs, toads, and creatures alike were all caught off guard, but once the explosions reached above ground, Anne and the frogs all had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Anne looked back at the frog who suggested the boom shrooms earlier.

“Wally, what did you do?!”

“What, I thought we agreed! Wait, could not tell I was winking? Oh, curse you one-eye!” The blue frog answered back, not even trying to hide the fact that he was responsible for the tower’s sudden collapse. The toads that were surrounding the two girls started panicking, breaking formation, and some of them even started trying to climb down the sides despite having claws instead of cling pads!

“ALL RANKS!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING, YOU COWAAAAARRRRR-” Grime yelled after them as the pillar he was standing on collapsed and Hop Pop finally got enough purchase thanks to Grime’s grip loosening for him to jump back to safety.

“Eh, never liked that guy.” Hop Pop casually mused before he looked at the whole situation. Sprig came running up to him, wondering what to do. The answer was obvious, though! He ran up to the trap door that they’d all used to get up there in the first place and opened it with Sprig’s help.

“EVERYONE!! Come on, get off the roof! Quick!” The Plantar frogs helped to evacuate everyone they could, even some of the toads who didn’t trust their luck with the outside of the falling building. Hop Pop let them do so after the frogs. They were just doing their jobs this whole time, after all. If they were just following orders, then they didn’t deserve to die over it!

Meanwhile, Sasha could feel the bricks underneath her crumble and start to give way. She looked up at the people around her. Grime had already fallen, the people who raised her weren’t even on top of the tower to begin with, and most of the toads were already gone with the remaining few following the frogs who were evacuating. The only person left near her was…

“ANNE!!” She screamed as the bricks finally gave way and she started to fall. Thankfully, her plea for help was heard as she felt a warm, five-fingered hand catch her own just in time. All she could do at this point was dangle helplessly as the person she’d been fighting not a minute beforehand held her life in her hand!

“Gotcha! It’ll be okay, I’ve got you.” Anne said in an attempt to comfort the terrified blonde. Sasha didn’t know why Anne had actually answered her call, but she wasn’t about to take it for granted! Though it was clear that Anne was struggling to pull Sasha up, given the fact that she was laying on her stomach. Then the struggle increased when one of the bricks Anne was leaning on fell off and the girl started to slide.

She caught herself on one of the bricks that was jutting out, but only just by her toes. Sasha looked down and for once, an instinctual wave of fear hit her. If she dropped from this distance, she would die. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she did and it filled her with dread. Anne yelled at how much it hurt to keep holding on until she started to slip again! Just as she lost all grip, though, a young pink frog grabbed her by the ankles!

“Don’t worry, I got yooouuu!” He yelled, slipping right at the very end and ending up barely dangling over the edge as Hopediah caught him just in time! The tadpole that had been riding around on his head even jumped down and started pulling at them!

“Hold on, Kiddo!” Hopediah yelled. Would they actually be able to pull the two monsters up? If so, then she’d owe the old frog an apology. Still, that was only wishful thinking! Her thoughts were cut off by Anne trying to talk to her.

“Hey hey, look at me, look at me. Everything’s going to be okay, alright? I think you just need a second chance! The ability to start fresh, ya know? How about you just come with me and my family? We’ll help you start over, okay? We can still be together like a family, just hang on!” Before Sasha could properly register what Anne was saying, Hopediah shouted.

“We got you, Anne! No matter what!” A crack appeared right behind them that started to snake its way down the ledge they were all hanging off of.

“Uhh, guys? I think we have a situation!” the tadpole yelled as she realized what was going on. The whole thing shifted and Sasha’s heart sunk. Her mind was torn between what Anne had said and what was going on in front of her! To start, Anne really did want to be in the same pack as Sasha, but she was refusing to let go of her own. Now that Sasha’s was literally crumbling down around her, she’d have nothing left.

It was an ideal solution, but Anne was just so… nice! After everything that Sasha had done to her, she was still willing to give her a second chance? She’d expected the brunette to just pull her up and then let them go their separate ways, not to make an offer like that! But then came the biggest issue: they couldn’t pull her up.

No matter how hard they tried, they wouldn’t be able to pull her up. They wouldn’t be able to support her. They wouldn’t be able to handle her. All they could do was just hold her out here in limbo while their own foundations cracked under the pressure. They could try all they wanted, but it’d just… never work. She’d end up bringing them down with her ‘cause she was simply too much. And if she was going down, then there was no need to bring someone so kind down with her.

“No Anne. I… I think you’re better off without me.” And with that, she let go. For the first time in years, tears fell from her eyes as the world faded away from all the stress and fear. At the very least, one of the two of them would survive and maybe Anne would be able to one day find out where they came from. Sasha was sad that she wouldn’t be able to see that day, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness, where she wouldn’t feel the pain of hitting the ground.

“NO!!” Anne yelled after Sasha! With the other’s weight gone, she could feel herself being pulled up, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the blonde as she fell. Next thing she knew, though, Captain Grime had jumped out of wherever he’d been and grabbed Sasha right out of the air! Her thin but tall frame curling around his as he held her and brought out a sword. When he collided with the wall, he stabbed the sword into it in order to slow his descent!

Below, the doors burst open to reveal a mixture of both frogs and toads all running for their lives! It was mostly toads at first, but that was likely just because not every toad was on the roof of the tower when it started collapsing. Anne even noticed that Mayor Toadstool was grabbing a few of the slower moving frogs and carrying them. She’d have to follow up on why he was suddenly acting like that later.

In the meantime, she felt her family finally pull her to safety just as the tower started to stabilize again! She had to take her eyes off of the action in order to find proper purchase on her surroundings, but it seemed they were all just lucky enough to be on that one remaining pillar that was still standing! After panting for a bit, Anne turned around to see if she could spot anyone. Particularly Sasha, if possible.