3. Chapter 3

Captain Grime read over the letter once again. There had to be some sort of mistake; he became the head of the Southern Toad Tower in order to avoid this sort of nonsense. There were no written rules saying that the Southern Tower was exempt from this duty, but whenever this needed doing, it was always done by a different tower. They expected him to whip a young delinquent into shape. Granted, he was actually rather skilled at whipping soldiers into shape, but one had to be a lot more gentle with kids and he… wasn’t very gentle.

It wasn’t like he could refuse, though. The kid in question had been enrolled into one of the toads’ youth military camps so that she could become a future soldier. But after strong arming and manipulating her way into convincing all the other kids to turn on the staff, it was either expulsion or being sent to him. The letter also mentioned that both of her parents worked under him, so it wasn’t like she’d have anyone to go home to if she got expelled. She was also only twelve years old, so she was too young to look out for herself. This really was the only logical option for her!

Grime sighed and put the letter down. He’d probably just have her cleaning the toilets for the next few months, provided she behaved. It wasn’t even an hour later when the supply cart that she was ordered to hitch a ride on arrived. He watched the kid climb out of the cart with a bag in hand and he looked her over. She was a bright pink toad with long blonde hair that was at least tied up in a messy ponytail. She locked eyes with him, giving him a scornful look.

“So I assume you’re Captain Grime?”

“Yes and you’re the delinquent that gave the instructors at the camp such a rough time that they sent you to me, I presume.”

“The name’s Sasha!” It was a weird name for a toad, but Grime didn’t bother questioning it. He was too focused on making sure she didn’t cause any trouble at the tower. Delinquent or not, though, she needed some living quarters.

“Well, ‘Sasha’, you’re coming with me to see your new room before I assign you your daily duties. They’ll be light today, seeing as you just got here, but tomorrow and beyond… well, it’ll be about time to make up for what you’ve done.” Grime explained before turning and walking off, motioning for the girl to follow him. He could practically feel her defiant glare, but chose to ignore it. It’d be wiped off of her soon enough.

It didn’t take long to get her settled in and given her duties. It was just cleaning the stables for the rest of the day, but that was only because Grime hadn’t completely finished writing up her actual daily duties. He wanted them to be as harsh as possible in hopes that they would shape her up. Interspersed with some combat training, of course. Every toad always needed to be ready to fight and having her only do chores would be a waste.

He then took her to the stables and left her there for the usual tarantula caretakers to teach her what to do. A few hours later, he returned to her quarters to find a very upset and filthy young toad laying on the cot. She looked at him without getting up and spoke scornfully.

“Let me guess, that’s my ‘daily list’ of things to do? Well if there’s anything I don’t like on that list, then I’m not doing it. Like how I’m never going back to those stables!” Grime didn’t have the patience to deal with this, but he kept his cool. He couldn’t let it slip that he was losing said patience.

“You’re doing every task on this list or else you’ll be going to the pain room. I even made it more age appropriate and included combat training, so I will not be tolerating any disrespect from the likes of you.”

“Heh, you wouldn’t send a kid to the pain room!”

“Pain doesn’t always mean intense torture, you know. I can make things more age appropriate in there too. And besides, this ‘list’ is more like a schedule which includes meal times. If you refuse to follow the schedule, then you won’t get those meals either.” Upon hearing that, she shot up and glared at him.

“You wouldn’t starve a kid!”

“I’m not going to remove your meals entirely, just restrict them. If I’m willing to send you to the pain room, then I’d be more than willing to restrict your meals for however long you refuse to follow the schedule. And don’t try to do some sort of hunger strike, either. That’ll just land you more time in the pain room where you’ll be force fed just enough to keep you alive. Do you understand?”

Sasha looked at Grime with a look of anger, disgust, and disbelief. She couldn’t believe that she was being treated like a prisoner! Sure, she’d done something that the adults in her life didn’t approve of, but the fact that all the other kids at the camp rose up with her must have said something about how she was actually in the right all along. Still, she knew that angering someone as obviously cruel as Captain Grime would be a bad idea at the moment.

“I understand, Captain Grime” she spat, making her disdain obvious. She knew that she just had to bide her time before she could talk to the other toads in the tower. She’d just repeat history with the adult toads and he’d be forced to see how his cruelty would be his downfall.

“Good. Now because you actually did work in the stables like I told you to, I’ll allow you to eat in the mess hall with the rest of the adults tonight. Provided you don’t cause any disruptions, that is. But bear in mind that I will be watching you. Everyone there has already been debriefed on who you are and why you’re here, so don’t even think about trying to repeat history! Now come on.” he stated and he turned and left, once again motioning for her to follow him.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the mess hall. In reality, Grime didn’t want to give her the satisfaction after being so sassy with him, but he needed two things to happen. First, he needed to see which toads fussed over her the most. Those would be her parents and if anyone could be used against her, it’d be them.

Second, he needed for her to experience what a meal in the mess hall was like so that she could be properly devastated should she decide to refuse work. He wasn’t going to starve her, just give her a prisoner’s rations instead of a soldier’s rations. Everyone knew prisoner’s rations were far worse, after all. That and she’d be locked in her room for the duration, completely isolated. It would only be for a day at a time, so it wasn’t quite that cruel as far as he was concerned.

He didn’t normally watch his soldiers in the mess hall, but he knew the general goings on whenever he wasn’t around. They were all embarrassing idiots who goofed off far too much. Some casual conversation at the table was to be expected, but they always went overboard. At least when he was there they didn’t do it, but he knew that the moment he left they’d start back up again. He’d have to fix that factor over time, though. For now, he had a specific target to watch.

Sasha got her food with a bit of a grumble. There wasn’t much she could do while Captain Grime was watching her, but the moment his back was turned, she’d start getting the adults around her to rebel against him. She could feel how tense the room had gotten the moment everyone else realized that he was there, so there had to be some pent up animosity between him and the rest of them.

She figured that for the time being, though, she could maybe look for the two people that she knew would always have her back no matter what. She scanned the room, looking for them and even walked around a bit until she saw them sitting together! They locked eyes with her and immediately slid apart, revealing a space big enough for her to sit at their table. As soon as she sat down, they started a conversation.

“So we know why you’re here, Sasha. And as much as we’re happy to see you, we both really wish it were under different circumstances.” Her dad said in a soft but sad tone.

“Yeah, well those instructors had it coming. They were just plain mean, kinda like Captain Grime.” she responded under her breath. Her mom shushed her immediately.

“Shh! Sweetie, you can’t say those sorts of things!” she lowered her voice “Especially not when he’s actively watching us!” She looked up to see that he was staring straight at her. She averted her gaze, not wanting his attention. Sasha just grunted and started to eat her dinner.

The rest of the meal went without conversation, but at least Sasha could eat with her parents again. In reality, she missed them a lot and this meal felt like they were finally together again. She’d almost felt abandoned when they dumped her at that military camp and even if she had to deal with Captain Grime, she’d put up with it if it meant that she got to be with her parents again.

As she finished up, her parents showed her where to deposit her plate, bowl, and utensils. She was about to leave with them until she felt a different hand on her shoulder and turned to see Captain Grime standing over her.

“Of course it’s you two, Percy and Braddock. The two most spineless and idiotic soldiers in the tower raised a kid that walks all over them, thus she thinks she can walk all over everybody else too. Why am I not surprised?!” Grime rhetorically asked. Sasha glared at him even harder. How dare he insult her parents like that! Sure, he insults everybody, but he’d just struck a nerve in her. She was about to retort when her dad cut her off.

“S-sorry, Sir. W-we tried our b-best, but sometimes th-things just sort of… d-don’t go the way o-one plans.” She’d never seen her dad so scared before. He gripped her arm in the way that said ‘please just play along’, like they had practiced many years ago. Knowing Captain Grime, he’d send her dad to the pain room if either of them spoke up at this point, so she kept quiet.

“You useless buffoons! Both of you! Because you never put your foot down for her, it’s suddenly become my job. I don’t have time for this and yet here we are!” he turned to Sasha “Now you’re going to return to your room for the night and in the morning you can start on that daily list!” he commanded. Sasha kept quiet as she turned and left.

Captain Grime followed her all the way to her room, where he locked her inside. Upon hearing the loud ka-chunk of the lock, she looked back with disbelief! She was effectively a prisoner at this point! She glared at the door where he was previously standing for a few minutes before taking a few deep breaths and dropping to the floor to do push-ups. One thing Captain Grime wouldn’t count on was the fact that her parents were smart enough to teach her how to redirect her anger into exercise.

She kept going until she stopped feeling too furious at everything. Two hundred and fifty three push ups, a new record! Not necessarily for how many she could do, but for how long it took her to calm down. She sighed and got up, finally taking a look at her new room. It was pretty small, with nothing but a bed, a wall mounted shelf, and a small dresser. Upon closer inspection, she found a door that led to an outhouse sized area with nothing but a toilet and a sink inside. As much as having her own private washroom would have excited her, this only made her feel even more like a prisoner!

She closed the door and looked at the bag she’d brought, opening it up and rifling through her things. The dresser only had three drawers, but that wouldn’t be an issue. She sorted her clothes into the top drawer, her few little trinkets that she liked into the middle drawer, and her medicine into the bottom drawer. She only had about a couple of week’s worth of those nasty little vials left, but she knew that she’d suffer pretty badly if she didn’t take them.

One time when she was little, she tried to refuse taking it until only a few hours later she was doubled over in pain. Her mom had forced her to drink it and explained that she had awful digestive problems that she needed the medicine for. Sasha hadn’t missed a dose since then because of how much it hurt. She was usually pretty tough, but if she had a way to avoid that particular issue, then she’d use it without complaint.

After she was done sorting everything out, she finally took a look at the list that Captain Grime had given her. Wake up, do twenty laps around the perimeter of the tower, breakfast, sweep and mop all the hallways and stairwells in the tower, lunch, combat training, clean the stables, dinner, clean the mess hall, clean all the toilets, miscellaneous task (see Captain Grime), go to bed. Sasha glared and rolled her eyes at the list, there were too many cleaning tasks! She was fine with the exercise and combat training, but not the excess amount of cleaning.

She knew what to do, though. She’d just do the laps, eat breakfast with her parents, and then refuse to do the rest. It was nowhere near time for bed, though, so she just sat down and took out one of her trinkets, which was a tiny wooden dagger made for training purposes and started swinging it around. She even practiced putting it away and drawing it until she felt satisfied with her movements. The rest of the evening went like that until she got tired enough to rest.

Morning came quickly enough after that. She and everyone else in the tower were awoken by the sound of a large bell ringing and after using the washroom, downing a vial of medicine, and getting dressed, she tried the door to find that it was still locked. Oh well, at least Captain Grime couldn’t be mad at her for that one. She sat back down on her bed and waited for someone to let her out. It only took about five minutes for Captain Grime to show up and unlock the door.

“I assume you read the list?” he asked

“Yeah, I read your stupid list. It’s fine, I’ll do it. Let’s just go already.” she deadpanned, getting up and following him out to the courtyard to start her laps. As it turned out, this was a daily task for everyone and Grime led the entire group, running with them. She figured that he had to have his own exercise and training at some point as well, so it made sense.

It was relatively uneventful as she outpaced several of the adults, keeping up with the front of the pack. She hoped the ones behind her weren’t just lagging behind to make her feel better or something. Regardless, she finished up and headed to the mess hall the moment she spotted her parents heading there as well. And for once, Captain Grime didn’t follow her!

Because of the lack of Captain Grime, the mess hall was far more lively and spirited! When she sat down next to her parents this time, they actually talked to her in depth about the events that led up to her getting sent to the tower. They were even able to let their true feelings show with her mom having a classic ‘impressed but angry’ rant. Her face fell when she heard her mom’s last sentence.

“Just don’t go trying to pull something like that here. It’s not going to work ‘cause Captain Grime is just too dang scary.” Sasha rolled her eyes.

“Mom, I know what I’m doing. No matter how scary he is, he’s gotta learn that you can’t just treat people the way he does.” She felt a hand grab her shoulder and looked to see her mom’s gaze meet her own.

“Don’t test those waters, Sweetie! You don’t want to make him angry. He doesn’t bluff with his threats!” Sasha just huffed at that. She knew that, but she also knew how to manipulate her way through the issue. Heck, if he did send her to the pain room, then whoever caused the pain there would be easy enough to break. She knew that the conversation was just going in circles, though, so she decided to change the subject.

“Alright, don’t worry. So did you fix the mailing address for my meds so they come here now or is that still in the works? I’ve got a couple of weeks worth left, but I just figured I’d ask.” Her mom seemed to calm down upon her seemingly dropping the idea of rebellion. This time, her dad responded.

“Actually we got the heads-up that you were coming nearly a week ago and I was able to send a letter to the provider that explained the situation. Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything bad about you!” Sasha smiled. She knew he wouldn’t, but it was still nice to hear that he was being considerate. As everyone was just finishing up their breakfast, Captain Grime barged in and everyone went silent. He didn’t do anything right away except stare at Sasha before walking to the other end of the room and turning to wait for everyone to finish up.

Sasha wedged herself into the middle of the crowd, trying to subtly make Captain Grime lose her. It didn’t work, though. She felt a hand on her shoulder and immediately knew that she was caught.

“And where do you think you’re going?!” The gravelly sound in his voice made it obvious that he was a hair width away from losing his patience. He was getting dangerous, so she decided to play dumb.

“Combat training, like everyone else. Or am I remembering the order of tasks wrong?” She gave him a confused look. His stance didn’t change.

“You are. You’re supposed to sweep and mop all the hallways in the tower until lunch.”

“Hmm… Are you sure? Because that’s not what I remember.” Upon hearing this, he just looked her in the eyes for a moment before directly picking her up by the back of her shirt and carrying her away.

"Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Obviously you didn’t pay enough attention to the list I gave you, so you’re going back to your room so you can study that list thoroughly! I should have expected you to not remember, given how idiotic your parents are! You must have inherited their stupidity!” Sasha gaped at the insult. She didn’t even know how to respond in a way that wouldn’t land her in the pain room!

Before she knew it, she was back in her room with the door locked. She was shaking, so angry that she started to tear up a little bit. At least no one was there to see that, but from there she knew what she had to do. Once again, she dropped to the ground and started doing push ups.

The entire rest of the day went like this, with her getting lunch and then dinner brought to her by the occasional guard. She tried charming them, but they were too scared of what Captain Grime would do to them if they got attached. Sasha knew it would only take a few days for them to calm down, though, so she just decided not to push it. She didn’t realize how badly she had messed up until the next day.

She got ready in the morning and waited for Captain Grime to let her out to try again. But nobody came. She figured he wanted her to stay for twenty-four hours, which she was fine with. Another half hour later, he actually arrived with a breakfast plate and stood in her room with her to watch her eat. As she did so, he started by asking her a question.

“So, have you finished memorizing that list of tasks yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it now. Still confused about the amount of cleaning on there. You’d think someone like you would want everyone at the tower to be in perfect fighting condition, so I’d be having more combat training and physical exercises. Unless you want me to be lazy, that is.” She looked at him with a smirk. She knew that she’d have to hide the fact that she hated the cleaning or else he’d just assign nothing but that.

“You’re a child, Sasha. You can’t keep up with any of the adults here.”

“Oh yeah? Try me! I’m willing to bet I can hold my own against anyone here!”

“Is that a challenge? Fine, then. Come with me!” Grime ordered, turning and leaving. Sasha put her dirty plate on top of her dresser, picking up something else that was right next to it and following him. If this was a chance to gain some respect, then she’d take it. She followed him out to the main courtyard where a good portion of the other toads were training. She looked out among the group, but she didn’t see her parents anywhere.

“Here. You’ll face me right here and now!” He handed her a training sword and grabbed one for himself. These swords had the same make and weight of a regular sword, but they’d never been sharpened, so they couldn’t cut anything. He didn’t intend to hurt her here, so that gave her an idea. Now to see if she would be able to pull it off.

Captain Grime waited for her to make the first move. She knew he’d expect a direct attack, so she did a feint and ducked around his parry, bringing her sword up at his outstretched arm. He expertly dodged out of the way and almost effortlessly parried that attack to throw Sasha off balance. She caught herself more quickly than he expected, though.

She used her smaller size to her advantage and bent her head backwards to avoid the oncoming follow-up hit. He expected her to straighten right back up, so he performed a jab. Instead, she tilted herself to one side and parried, locking his sword into the motion of her own! She just needed to get close enough to him, but he wasn’t letting that happen.

He overwhelmed her with his raw power and knocked the sword right out of her hand. He then held his own up to her face. She was panting and he hadn’t even broken a sweat! Sasha looked down, seemingly defeated until she pulled out the tiny wooden dagger that she had been practicing with and caught Captain Grime by surprise! He still reacted in time to stop her by performing some sort of motion with his arm and hand, disarming her entirely. This time he looked less furious and more… impressed? That couldn’t be right…

It didn’t matter either way, seeing as she still lost. She rarely ever lost to anyone anymore, but if she had to lose to someone, then there were worse people to lose to than the captain of the Southern Toad Tower!

“I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting the dagger. It seems you’re above the average for your age, but that’s still nothing compared to those of us here at the tower. Now you will fall in line and do your tasks as assigned” He got menacingly close to her face “Do I make myself clear?”

“...” Sasha didn’t want to respond, but she realized that she’d been backed into a corner.

“Crystal, sir.”

“Good. Now you’ll follow me to your next task.” He turned again and walked away, expecting her to follow. Sasha looked up to see that pretty much the entire courtyard had stopped to watch the fight. She had just been humiliated in front of everyone! She’d need a few days, maybe even a week or two, to rebuild her image in their minds… not that she really had one to begin with. She had just arrived at the Tower only a couple of days prior, after all.

Several days passed with Sasha actually doing her tasks as assigned, albeit begrudgingly. It was at a point where Grime figured she might not need to be supervised anymore, but he still kept an eye on her. One day he decided to watch her from afar just to see if she could be trusted. As soon as she thought she was alone, she paused and started doing some sort of hand motion. It took him a while to recognize it, but it was the same motion he’d used to disarm her at the end of their challenge. Seeing her try to mimic it gave him an idea.

“You know, your balance with that maneuver is completely off.” He said as he approached, giving away that he was there and mildly startling the girl. It didn’t take her long to recover, though.

“... W-well it’s not like you actually taught it to me.”

“If you’re actually willing to learn a technique like that, then I’ll teach it to you during your combat training later today. Just remember that you won’t be able to attend said training if you don’t actually do all of your tasks leading up to it.”

“You know what? It’s a deal!” Sasha finished with a nod before turning back to her mop. Grime hadn’t intended for it to sound like he was making a deal, but he supposed that if that was how to get through to her, then it’d be best to leave it at that. At least now he could trust her to do her tasks while he trained the adult toads.

A couple of hours later lunch was finishing up for everyone and the troops moved out to the courtyard for training. Grime was secretly hoping that Sasha would remember their deal. He’d been a gladiator before becoming a captain, so he’d learned several tricks that weren’t taught during regular training due to lack of interest. To see that she was actually interested in his techniques showed that she wanted to go above the bare minimum. He finally spotted her approaching him.

“So how about now you teach me how you disarmed me a couple of days ago?” She asked as she walked up to him. Grime had to admit that he appreciated her getting straight to the point.

“First of all, try to attack me like you did a couple of days ago and watch what I do.” He handed her a training dagger and she did exactly as told. She clearly wanted to learn and improve and his job was to make his troops stronger, so each of the two of them finally fit nicely into the role that the other wanted. The two of them trained together with Grime giving objective advice on what she was doing right and what she was doing wrong. They even lost track of time, with Sasha being determined to get the maneuver correct and Grime being secretly kind of excited that someone was finally learning this technique! The next thing they knew, it was dinner time and Sasha’s eyes went wide!

“I didn’t intend to skip out on my stable cleaning duties, sir! It won’t happen again.” Sasha said in a hurry. It seemed as though she was actually worried about that for once. Perhaps she’d actually started to take her duties seriously.

“Seeing as you were with me, this slight will be excused. In fact, should you be interested in more of these techniques, I might just see fit to drop those duties from your schedule to make time for you to learn.” Grime explained. Sasha looked at him like he’d grown a second head before smiling. She knew to not argue when someone offered you something that you wanted.

“Yes, sir!” She said confidently before turning to leave with the rest of the toads for dinner. Grime began to wonder just how far he could push her potential skill. She had the valid excuse of age and subsequent lack of experience, but he could tell that she was pushing past that to the best of her ability. She had infinitely more drive and dedication than any of the other morons he had to train! For once, he had a student that was actually willing to learn.

Everything settled into a new rhythm with Grime showing favouritism for Sasha. During meals, Sasha explained that it was ‘cause she basically asked for extra credit. Nobody really understood what she meant by that, but if she could keep his attention on herself instead of them, then everyone would be happy. Things continued on like that for a couple more weeks until the next supply cart came.

As Captain of the Tower, Grime had to sign off on it and take inventory of the contents himself. It was all going well until he noticed that there was one extra crate that the tower hadn’t paid for. He turned to the delivery driver, a pale blue toad, and asked about it.

“Oh that was put on the cart by a different merchant, this one-armed newt lady. Apparently someone here bought it from her, but had paid in advance. So she didn’t need to be here to collect the money for it and figured it’d be easier to just load it in with the rest of the supplies I was carrying. It’s for a… ‘Percy’, whoever that is.” the driver explained.

Grime rolled his eyes. Even though it was for Percy, he still needed to check the contents in case there was contraband. He looked inside to see nothing but a large stack of glass vials, each containing some bright orange-yellow liquid. He’d need to ask him about this as soon as possible, so he sent one of the toads tasked with unloading the cart to fetch Percy. It didn’t take long for them to return with the idiotic green toad trailing behind.

“C-Captain Grime, s-sir?”

“Percy, what is this? It’s apparently for you, but when I checked the contents, it was just a bunch of vials of… something unidentifiable!”

“Oh! Th-that’s a medicine for Sasha! She has some really bad… d-digestion issues and she really needs that stuff in order to n-not be s-sick…?” As Percy stuttered, Grime could tell there was a lie somewhere in there. He would not tolerate misinformation and lies, especially when he was using his own kid as a scapegoat.

“Are you absolutely sure that’s the truth, Percy?” Grime drawled slowly, narrowing his eyes.

“It-... It’s what Sasha knows to be the truth, sir… a-and speaking about it any f-further while within earshot of others w-would be a v-violation of her privacy, sir!” Percy explained. Grime knew that this meant that he was fully willing to properly explain, just in private. As it happened, all he had left to do was give one more signature and it was done.

Next thing he knew, he was leading Percy away to his private study to discuss this. With how idiotic Percy was, it could really be nothing. Or it could be a much more serious issue with Sasha’s life in danger. He wanted to make sure that his most dedicated recruit wasn’t somehow in peril; she was still a kid after all… Grime sincerely hoped they weren’t feeding her steroids.

They walked by Sasha herself as they went, her eyeing the two of them together with a suspicious look. Grime motioned for her to ignore them and go back to what she was doing. They also passed Braddock along the way, obviously returning from the washrooms. Percy motioned for her to follow and Grime assumed that she knew whatever was going on as well. He only needed one of them, but perhaps Braddock would be less annoying than Percy.

They reached the study before long and Braddock at least had the sense to close the door behind her. Grime sat down at his desk and demanded that the two of them explain and to NOT waste his time with trivial nonsense. Percy was the one to speak up, averting his eyes in order to avoid being intimidated into stuttering too much.

“W-well sir, it’s a bit of a long story. I-it all started when I found a baby abandoned in the woods. It wasn’t a toad, though. It was a creature that I’d never seen b-before. S-some hideous abomination from who knows where! B-but it was still a baby! I was ready to raise it as a single d-dad, but once Braddock here found out, she insisted on being a part of it.

“The issue is that the baby was r-rather large and it would often throw some r-really violent temper tantrums, a-as babies do. I got scared th-that it would grow up into s-some untamable, violent m-monster, though. So I s-started looking for a solution and I… f-found a curse user who h-had a potion that would turn any creature i-into a toad for about thirty-two hours.

“I-I bought one, took it home, tried it on the monster baby, and i-it turned into a cute, little pink tadpole. A-and I’m sure you can guess that that was… S-Sasha… I-I’ve been ordering in more of that p-potion ever since a-and not even Sasha herself knows that she’s not actually a t-toad.” Percy finished his explanation. He tried to make it brief, but he needed Captain Grime to know the whole story if he was going to know any of it.

Grime, for his part, couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He looked for any signs of lying in Percy’s words, but it seemed as though he was telling the truth. Braddock was even backing him up with the occasional nod as he spoke.

“So… you found a monster in the woods, had her turned into a toad, and then entered her into the military without even telling her the truth?! How stupid could you possibly be?! There are so many ways this could have gone wrong! She could have refused to take it, turned back into whatever she was, and then wreaked havoc on everything in her path until someone took her down! Then your kid would be dead!

“On top of that, why in frog’s name didn’t you tell her?! I’d understand if she was only six years old, or something! But she’s TWELVE!! At the very least, she should have been told when she was about nine or ten, given the severity of the situation! But her not even knowing the truth has put everyone in the tower at risk! At least tell me you figured out what she originally was!” Grime waited for a response, but got none.

“I can’t believe this. You couldn’t even do the research necessary to figure out what the creature we have in our midst is! All you did was apply a bandage of a solution with the blind hope that it would hold out on its own without thinking to give it the support it needed to remain stable! You gobbing idiots! You are going to find Sasha right now and tell her the truth!”

“No need!” Everyone heard the voice coming through the door, with it swinging open to reveal a certain pink toad, eyes watering as though she’d been fighting back tears.

“I heard everything.” was all Sasha could say, choking back a sob before she turned and left.

“Sasha!”

“Sweetie, come back!”

Percy and Braddock ran after her, confident that Captain Grime would want them to contain this mess before it got out of hand. Seeing as he didn’t run or even yell after them or anything, they figured that they’d assumed correctly. Eventually they found that she’d ran to her room and was sobbing quietly inside.

“Sweetie, it’s okay. We wanted to tell you sooner, but we just… weren’t able to be there.”

“Sasha, you know you’re still our daughter, no matter what, right?” Percy saw Sasha flinch when he asked that.

“Am I really, though? I thought that maybe I just resembled mom a lot more, seeing we’re both a shade of pink with blonde hair and that I got the brightness from you, but… not only am I not your real daughter, but I’m not even a toad! What even happened to my real parents?!”

“Well, we don’t really know the answer to that. We tried to track them down, but we couldn’t even find any evidence of their existence! But that doesn’t matter now because you’re still our daughter!”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are! We took you in, raised you, fed you, cleaned you, clothed you, cared for you, and we love you!

“No, you hated me. You hated me so much that you had me transformed into something I’m not! I’m a ticking time bomb that just gets reset every morning by some potion!”

“No you’re not, Sasha! We know where your loyalties lie! You’d never hurt anyone here!”

“How can you say for sure?”

“I… I just know, okay?”

“Yeah right. Just leave me alone.”

“Sasha, we-”

“I NEED SOME TIME ALONE, OKAY?!” Sasha finally yelled, turning to look them right in the face! Percy and Braddock both flinched, but decided to respect their daughter’s need for space.

“Okay, sweetie. We’ll be back in a bit, alright?” Braddock finished the conversation before she and Percy left the room, leaving Sasha to her thoughts. They hated to do that, but they knew her. Specifically they knew what she could be like when she needed space and they didn’t give it to her.

Meanwhile Sasha just cried. She didn’t know how else she should feel, knowing that not even her real parents wanted her! She’d been raised by strangers her whole life because she was abandoned! And the people that raised her abandoned her again at that youth military camp. Then in the end, when she thought that she’d won that place over, everyone there abandoned her yet again by sending her to the tower. Sure, she got to reunite with the people that raised her, but it wasn’t enough!

She thought that maybe she could repair what she’d lost, but how could she now?! The only person who stood up for her was Captain Grime and that was only because he was scared of what she might actually be! What even was she originally?! She hadn’t even been allowed to know! It was no wonder she had ‘violent tendencies’; she was a naturally violent monster on the inside!

Her mind swam in circles, making her spiral down into some dark places. She didn’t even realize that time had passed until the people that raised her came back with a lunch tray in their hands. She refused to look at them as they sat down on her bed next to her and the man started talking.

“Sasha, I know that this is a lot to take in. But you have to understand that we took you in because regardless of what you looked like, you were still a baby that needed care! We were fully prepared to raise you in your true form right up until you started throwing things with dangerous levels of accuracy. Never once did either of us regret taking you in!” Sasha only sighed when she heard that. She wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Percy put his hand on Sasha’s back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Braddock did as well while they made sure that she at least ate her lunch. They knew there wasn’t much they could do while Sasha didn’t want to talk. So when she was done, they took the tray and left. But not before Braddock half turned and said one last thing.

“You know, Sasha, the fact that we were never able to find your biological parents suggests that your original species is probably from a vastly different environment. I think… you weren’t abandoned; you were taken.”

“...Taken?”

“Maybe a predatory bird or something grabbed you and took you away only to accidentally drop you so far away from your biological parents that it was impossible to reunite you. That’s my theory, anyways… we’ll see you at dinner, okay sweetie?”

“...”

“Okay.” Braddock finished for her before leaving. She knew the door didn’t need to be locked, so she left it alone. She was dreading having to explain how Sasha was feeling to Captain Grime. He’d probably call her and Percy idiots again, but… at least this time, he’d be right. They were idiots for not telling Sasha sooner.

Meanwhile Sasha laid back down, not knowing what to do with herself. The idea that she wasn’t really abandoned was a nice thought to entertain, but there was no real way to know. Not unless she learned more about her original species, that is. But no one was even able to figure out what she was in the first place. For all she knew, she was one of a kind. The only way to see what she really was would be for her to… miss a dose…

She figured she might as well try it. If things ended badly, then she was sure Captain Grime could handle it. She wanted to know. No, she NEEDED to know! And if she had to resort to desperate measures to find out, then so be it.

She didn’t attend dinner, so it was brought to her just like lunch had been. She refused any conversation like before and she went to bed when everything was done. She slept in the next day, ignoring the wake up bell. She’d never done that before, but she couldn’t care less at that point.

Eventually the people that raised her came in, one of them holding her breakfast and the other holding a large crate that was clearly filled with the ‘medicine’. One spoke up.

“Sweetie, we missed you this morning when everyone was running laps. We know you’re upset, but maybe you’d be willing to talk about it? Even Captain Grime was a little worried about you.”

“He was? That doesn’t sound like him.” Sasha mumbled

“Yeah, so would you be willing to come to combat training later? He’d really like to see you there.”

“... You know what I’d like to see?”

“What, Sweetie?”

“I’d like to see what my true form looks like.” Sasha said as she flashed the woman a look. A look that she knew all too well.

“Sasha, have you actually taken a dose yet today?” Percy asked. Sasha looked away. Both of them knew what this meant! Percy opened the crate and grabbed a vial, holding it out for Sasha.

“Please take it! Sasha, you have no idea how badly this could go if you don’t!” The young toad refused, with them going back and forth. It even got to a point where Braddock tried to force it on Sasha only for her to swat it to the ground, making it shatter and spill everywhere. After that, Captain Grime entered the room. Sasha hadn’t realized that he was standing just around the corner and listening in.

“Sasha! You WILL take a fresh potion right now!”

“Or what? You’ll send me to the pain room?” she retorted sarcastically. Captain Grime narrowed his eyes and drew his actual, sharpened blade then pressed the tip of it to her throat! All three of the others’ eyes went wide before he started to speak.

“Listen here Sasha, if you attack any of my soldiers I will not hesitate to act in their best interests…” Captain Grime’s eyes twitched at this, just a tiny little movement to the side as if he had stopped himself from looking away. It was a small, involuntary movement, yet Sasha knew body language and her captain well enough that it made her take in a quick breath. That was a sign of vulnerability; he had just lied!

“...And I would regret losing such a promising young warrior before she reaches her full potential.” Captain Grime continued with a level tone. He didn’t typically compliment anyone ever, so hearing this from him was extremely rare. If he really believed in her that much, then it really did mean something

“... Yes, Captain.” She said as she reached out towards the guy closest to her and grabbed the fresh vial he had in his hand. She leaned back slightly so that her swallowing the medicine wouldn’t slit her throat on the blade. She took the medicine quickly and looked Captain Grime right in his good eye

“Good. Now come with me and we’ll continue from where we left off the day before yesterday. I was teaching you the way to properly hold a sword by the blade in order to use the hilt as a makeshift bludgeon and I’d like to make sure that lesson sticks.” He turned and walked out of the room. Sasha stared after him for a while before getting up and following him.

For the following several months, Sasha stayed far more loyal to Grime than any of his other soldiers. She even started beating some of the adults in direct combat training shortly after her thirteenth birthday! Grime was actually rather proud of her, but that made what he was required to do even worse. She had been fully reformed as far as he could tell, so he was required to send her back to the youth military camp soon with the vague hope that she’d be reassigned to the Southern Toad Tower after she graduated in a few more years.

He began to try to think of ways to convince the higher ups to let her stay, but unless something major happened, he’d have no choice. Perhaps if he promised her a lieutenant position upon her return, someone higher up would manipulate something in his favour. It was all he could do in the end. That was until the day Braddock came running to him about some sort of ‘problem’.

As it turned out, it was a legitimate concern for once. There were two herons within view of the tower! He immediately gave the order to kill the torches, which Braddock got right on. All the other toads in the tower knew what this meant, so the whole place fell into a hush. That was until Grime heard the gates open with just the loudest creak!

Of course Bog, Fens, and Mire had to have the absolute worst timing in coming back from their tax collection! One of the herons seemed to spot the movement and rushed over, the other following behind its partner. Upon realizing they were practically on his doorstep, Grime sounded the alarm with a horn!

“Close the gates!” He yelled, hoping the wall would buy at least some of his soldiers some time. It didn’t buy them much, though, as the herons stepped over the top of the wall and all hell broke loose. One of the herons grabbed onto the main tower building and started breaking parts of the wall in an attempt to find someone to eat while the other focused on the courtyard, successfully snatching up at least one soldier that Grime saw, effortlessly swallowing them whole!

He wasn’t just going to stand around and watch, though. These soldiers may be weak idiots, but they didn’t deserve to DIE over it! He ran down the flight of stairs and into one of the rooms that the one heron had broken open.

“Augh, this place is falling apart!” He yelled as he looked around at his panicking soldiers. He grabbed a nearby mace, picked one of them up by the back of his shirt, and shoved the mace into his hands.

“Come on, you cowards! Fight back! Do something!” He threw the soldier, hoping it would spur him into action. It didn’t work with him, but he did hear a familiar voice that seemed to be willing to fight.

“Bring it on, bird brain!” He looked over to see Sasha facing up against one of the herons, a small warhammer in her hands. The bird lunged for her only for her to jump above its beak and bring the hammer down on it, dazing it slightly. It whipped its head in a way that knocked the hammer out of her hands. She’d mostly trained with lighter, sharp weapons so she was less experienced with keeping a proper grip on a hammer.

The heron roared at her, about to snatch her up before Grime rushed in and grabbed the two halves of its beak with his bare hands, preventing it from touching her. He wouldn’t let this bird take away his protege!

“Sasha! Fight with me! And together we’ll- aaand she’s gone.” She must have thought to run to the safe room instead. So long as she was able to get some of the others to follow her, he could understand her desire to flee. He didn’t have time to contemplate on it beyond that, though, because the heron snapped its beak closed, throwing him off balance and making him fall to the ground. It loomed over him, its beak starting to open again. Grime put one arm up in a defensive position, knowing that he was caught and likely going to die.

“I’m not afraid of death!” he growled, refusing to allow his last moments to show any sort of weakness. It was a good thing too, because Sasha returned right then!

“Hey ugly!” she yelled at it to get its attention. Grime looked to see her holding a barrel over her head. She threw it with just enough force to have it smash open and spill its contents all over the heron’s face! The contents were a foul smelling bug broth, used for prisoner’s rations, so the heron let out a whine of disgust and removed its head from the opening, leaving them alone for the time being. Grime couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the relief of having actually lived.

“That was good, Sasha. Now grab every toad you can and head to the safe room! Quickly!” He commanded. She didn’t need to be told twice, as she was thinking of doing exactly that anyways! Everything went by in a blur as she encouraged as many of the adults as she could to follow her at Captain Grime’s command. She even found the people that raised her and saved them too!

The next thing she knew, she was in a small, underground, and crowded room surrounded by soldiers that were all bigger than her. They could all feel the herons walking around above them, even banging at the door every now and then. It took three adult toads pushing on the door all at once to prevent their entry. But even they were all knocked to the ground every time! Everyone was on the verge of breaking down before the man that raised her started talking.

“You know what would lighten this atmosphere a little bit? A joooke! How many herons does it take to storm a castle?” He found the tip of Captain Grime’s sword at his throat “too soon?” Captain Grime ignored him before launching into a frustrated rant.

“You lot, are without a doubt, the most USELESS group of toads I have ever seen! MAYBE if any of you had a scrap of courage, we wouldn’t BE in here, cowering like a bunch of-” Sasha cut Captain Grime off with a laugh. No matter how much she’d grown to respect him, she had to admit that he wasn’t perfect. It was something that she was willing to just let slip by right up until now, where everyone’s lives were in danger and these flaws were going to get them all killed.

“Okay, alright, let’s take five. Captain Grime, a word in private please?” she asked, urging him to the side. She hoped he wouldn’t hate her after this, but these things needed to be said. She directed them both behind a nearby curtain and immediately got to the point.

“Okay, if you keep yelling at them like that, they’ll keep being useless, and we’ll all die.”

“What do you suggest? I congratulate them? Give them each an award?” Grime literally spat on the floor at the idea, the acid in his venom boring a hole in the stone at their feet. Sasha looked at it with a slight hint of disgust, but rebutted anyway.

“Not exactly. Just try saying nice things for a change. Get them to love you and they’ll do anything for you.”

“... That actually works?”

“Oh it works, alright. How do you think I got everyone at that youth camp to rebel like I did? Trust me.”

“Ooohh, I don’t know…”

“Here, I’ll give you a head start.” Sasha promised as she pulled away the curtain and raised her voice “Woah! Captain Grime, so you think your guards are all amazing, but you’re afraid to tell them your true feelings?”

“What? What’re you-”

“What’s that? You think my mom is the toughest toad in the tower ‘cause she doesn’t take garbage from anyone?” Grime trusted Sasha to an extent, but he hadn’t expected this. He saw Braddock straighten up as she waited for a response. He figured he should at least try this new technique.

“Uhh… YES! Braddock is tough. Tough as beetle skin!” He saw her blush and a couple of other toads around her started nudging her.

“Ooooh, way to go!”

“Look at you!”

“Oh ho, well I do wash with a steel wool brush. It… really hurts.” Braddock responded to the praise. Sasha continued

“And what were those nice things you said about Gary?” Sasha asked while pointing at another toad. It took Grime a moment to both remember who she was talking about AND come up with something positive.

“Oooh, Gary, Gary, Gary… umm, Gary never missed a day, even when he was sick!” Perhaps that would work? Attendance was something that should be expected without fault, but at least he could say that.

“What can I say? I’m dedicated.” Gary said in turn. Murmurs started to rise up around the crowd. Grime felt like he might be starting to get the hang of this. Sasha wasn’t done yet, though. Next came his biggest challenge so far.

“And my dad?”

“I don’t want to do Percy” Grime immediately whispered back to the girl. She wasn’t budging, though.

“And my dad?” Sasha repeated herself a bit more forcefully this time. She’d somehow successfully backed him into a corner where he’d have to figure out something nice to say about someone so stupid! They may have been going through a rough patch ever since the big reveal, but she evidently still cared about him to some extent. Still, Grime couldn’t shake how he felt about him.

“Percy’s a grobbing idiot!” There were a couple of gasps from the crowd, with several of the toads acting upset. Sasha facepalmed. Grime knew he’d messed that one up very badly! There had to be some way to recover from this!

“Uhh… BUT when he makes a mistake, he owns it. And he doesn’t stop until he makes things right. And because of that, he… has…” It was difficult for Grime to say because of how much a lie it was, but he knew he’d have to say it regardless. Everyone was on the edge of the metaphorical seats waiting for what he was going to say. He eventually forced himself to blurt it out just to get it over with.

“He’s earned my respect!” Everyone gasped at that due to never having heard their captain say something like that before.

“I have?” Percy simply asked in disbelief. Grime still wasn’t sure about all of this, but he was in too deep now.

“Y-y-yes?” He asked in the hopes that that would be the end of that. Percy sniffled a bit before he straightened up and saluted.

“Captain Grime, we’re taking this tower back! Even if we have to fight through twenty herons!” He turned to the others “Now come on, you toads! No one wants to live forever!” All the other toads cheered and ran out of the room, now motivated to fight to their last breaths! Grime exchanged a look with Sasha, who seemed very proud of herself.

The toads all charged onto the battlefield with the herons waiting there, hungry. Everyone stopped when the herons started staring them down until Percy gulped and yelled out a battle cry!

“FOR GRIME!!” They ran at the herons, everyone ready to do battle! Archers fired arrows, melee fighters slashed at their legs, and defenders were doing their best to protect their fellow toads! The herons pecked at the toads who just barely dodged around them in a panic as the two gigantic beasts overwhelmed them! At the very least, they’d lowered their heads enough that Sasha and Captain Grime stood overtop of them on a large pile of rubble.<

“UP HERE, PHEASANTS!!” Grime called to get their attention, with it working perfectly as they looked up to the two toads above them. Each one tackled a different heron’s neck, swords drawn. Relative to their body size, their necks were thin enough to be a valid weak point. Sasha ran up the length of one’s neck and allowed her sword to drag, slicing up the length of it through the feathers! She jumped at the end and landed right on top of its head, pressing it down as she jumped off.

Meanwhile Grime had used his claws to dig into the top part of the bird’s neck and stabbed at it from the back, mostly just hitting protective bone. He jumped off of the back of it and landed right next to Sasha. Their backs facing each other, Sasha flipped her sword around and grabbed the blade, using the hilt to bludgeon the first heron right in the beak, cracking it!

Grime uppercut the second one with his free fist, with Sasha following it up by throwing her sword into the air and using Grime as a springboard of sorts to get above it and grapple the heron’s beak. She used her momentum to slam the beak down while Grime covered her back by whipping around to backhand the cracked beak! Grime caught Sasha’s sword right out of the air as it was falling back down and dual wielded them to ward both of the herons off, spinning as he went. Both Sasha and Grime let out a yell at the herons to let them know that there was more where that came from!

Both herons backed up and turned, flying away while letting out pained cries! They were gone! Sasha and Grime both turned around to look at the other toads who were so amazed by what they had witnessed that they immediately began cheering! Grime was about to say something, but then everyone heard a crash just outside the tower. They all turned and ran out to investigate to find that one of the herons hadn’t made it far.

A short way away from the tower, a defeated heron laid there, a large slit up the length of its neck and its beak partially fallen off, exposing the sensitive tissues underneath. Sasha had injured it so badly that it was actually dying! She grabbed a nearby broadsword and ran over to it. Once it saw her, it tried to get away, but it was too weak from blood loss at that point. Sasha raised the sword up and brought it down in one fell swoop that beheaded the monstrous bird!

The resulting cheer that erupted from the crowd was deafening, with Grime even joining in! He couldn’t be prouder of his prodege, seeing as she’d just outclassed the majority of all toads by actually killing a heron! She rejoined him in front of the crowd, her chest puffed out in sheer pride! Grime knew he had to give her a special reward, but first he needed to dispel the crowd, so he turned to them and spoke loudly and clearly.

“Toads of Toad Tower! Today was a great victory! If it weren’t for your bravery, the fortress would be lost! You’re all heroes!” The crowd was stunned.

“Did Grime…”

“... Just call us…”

“... Heroes?” Three separate toads asked, finishing each other’s sentences. There was a pause as it sank in before the crowd erupted once more. He shared a proud look with Sasha before cutting off the cheers.

“Alright, troops, listen up.” The crowd immediately stopped cheering and every member stood up straight, saluting him and speaking in unison.

“Sir, yes sir!” Grime was caught off guard by how attentive they were and he actually stuttered for a moment in surprise.

“Okay, wow, umm… head down to the mess hall for some food and a round of beetlemead! You’ve earned it.”

“Sir, yes sir!” The crowd responded before turning and leaving in that exact direction. Grime himself was still somewhat in shock of what had happened. He turned to Sasha.

“Unbelievable. This ‘compliment’ stuff is witchcraft!”

“I know, right?! Like I said, how do you think I got everyone at that youth camp to rebel like I did?... But I know I’m going to have to go back there soon. I mean, I’m ‘reformed’ now, aren’t I?” Sasha asked sadly. Grime hadn’t realized that she knew, but he had an idea.

“HA! Given what you just managed to pull off, there’s no way you’re going back there! If anything, they’ll just hold you back. All we have to do is send that thing’s severed head to the council with a letter about your accomplishments and they’ll let you join the fully fledged military alongside the rest of us! Heck, no one here would even complain if I made you second in command!” Grime explained. He could practically see the stars in Sasha’s eyes.

“Y-you don’t mean…?”

“That’s right, Lieutenant Sasha! You’re here to stay! Now go join the others in the mess hall while I write that letter!”

“YES, SIR!!” Sasha saluted and left with the widest grin he’d ever seen on her! As he went, he was informed about Bog, Fens, and Mire returning from their tax collection as though he were unaware. Apparently they had something very interesting to report, so he figured he’d listen to that first.

Three hours later, he’d called Percy into his study to ask some questions. The bright green toad approached him and sat down on the opposite side of his desk, looking mildly nervous. Grime decided to start.

“The first thing I’d like to get out of the way is that you’re NOT in trouble, Percy. I just have some important questions. First, though, you need to hear the report of the Wartwood tax situation. Firstly, the mayor of that town apparently hid the taxes and caused the citizens to have to pay extra in collections. However, those collections were stopped by some sort of monster…”

Grime continued to give Percy as much of a detailed description of it all as he could, putting special emphasis on said monster. When he was done, he asked Percy the most important question.

“Now… what exactly did Sasha look like when you first found her? You never mentioned it.” Percy’s heart skipped a beat; he knew where this was going. The evidence was irrefutable, though.

“I-I’d describe her original appearance as a smaller and chubbier version of that same monster… just with different hair and fewer teeth. Although it seemed like more of those were starting to grow in by the time we got her her first dose of medicine, so the differences might just be due to age.”

“So you think they may be the same species?"

“Oddly enough, yes sir. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of another member of her species being found, but it looks like whoever had that one had the same idea that Braddock and I did, so who knows where more might be at this point?” Percy wondered out loud. Grime had to admit that when it came to Sasha, he was at least able to use SOME reason and logic nowadays. He turned his head to the side and looked down.

“I assume you heard all of that, Sasha?” Grime asked, with said girl standing up from her hiding position behind Grime’s desk.

“Yeah. Kind of unsettling, to be honest.” She mused. Percy was surprised that she was there, but knowing how Grime reacted when he first discovered the truth, he figured it made sense for him to want Sasha to know. He still felt the need to speak up, though.

“Sasha! I didn't know you were there. For the record, I would have told you as soon as I could this time!” Sasha looked at him, not even a single hint of any negative emotion on her face. Instead, Grime spoke.

“This Wartwood monster bested some of our better soldiers with its bare hands and raw strength! It and Sasha’s original form are apparently physically superior beings when compared to us toads. But the striking thing is that this creature apparently went straight for the tax collectors. That makes me wonder if their attention can be actively directed at something specific for maximum effect.”

“Captain Grime, sir?”

“Yes, Sasha?”

“Perhaps it might be beneficial to explore how strong my true form is. Might I propose that I be permitted to take that form in a controlled environment where I would be unable to harm anyone?” Sasha wasn’t expecting this proposal to go anywhere, but it consistently bothered her that she still had no real idea of what her true form was. The room was silent for a moment before Grime spoke again.

“I was beginning to think the same thing, Sasha.” After that, they launched into plans about how they’d do it safely. Percy even weighed in, being the only one in the room that knew what she looked like back then. All they really had to go off of was that and what Bog had recounted.

They ultimately decided to use a prison cell and chain Sasha to the wall so that she would be relatively immobilized. After the transformation, Grime would use whatever beast taming techniques he needed to to get her to behave. If she was deemed untamable, then she would be given her medicine again. If she refused it, then they would simply deprive her of water until she drank it out of desperation. Sasha consented to all of this, knowing that it would likely be necessary. And if she was well behaved in that form, then they’d feed her the meat of that heron so that she would develop a taste for birds that might make her even more useful in the future.

With all of those plans set in motion, all they had to do was wait for the medicine to wear off the next day. Grime dismissed the other two and turned back to his original task of writing a letter to get Sasha to be permitted to stay at the tower. The heron’s severed head had been wrapped up by a couple of volunteers and was waiting to be sent off. It took a couple of drafts, but eventually Grime finished the letter.

‘To whom it may concern, the young delinquent known as Sasha has been fully reformed. However, her physical prowess has also improved so dramatically that she has exceeded the skills of several of the toads who work at this tower full time. Sending her back to the youth military camp would be a waste of her potential, so I propose that she be permitted to fully join our army as a proper member. Given her accomplishments, any other adult toad would gain the rank of lieutenant or even captain and therefore I have promoted her to the position of the former. As for these accomplishments, please take a look at the enclosed package and understand that she is solely responsible for its contents. - Captain Grime of the Southern Toad Tower’

He sealed the letter and sent it off with the heron head, mentally adding ‘and that was WITHOUT the monster strength’ to the end. Afterwards, he went to prepare the cell for Sasha to use the next day. They’d decided to use a soundproof underground cell so that no one unauthorized would be able to see or hear the transformation. The only people who’d be there would be himself, Percy, Braddock, and Bog. The latter just to confirm or deny if she was the same species as this Wartwood creature.

The next day came with time passing all too quickly and before any of them knew it, it was time. The five toads went to the private cell and Sasha handed three vials to Grime just in case one broke or something. She then stood there peacefully as she was chained up. Grime hated seeing her like this, but they’d agreed that this would be the best solution. Braddock had one last thing to say to her before stepping away.

“You know that no matter what, you’re still my daughter, right Sweetie?” Sasha looked her right in the eyes.

“Yeah, mom. I know.” She nodded before Braddock stepped away, about as nervous as could be. Mostly because according to Bog, the transformation that the Wartwood creature went through appeared to be extremely painful. She wasn’t ready to hear her daughter scream in pain, but everyone was in agreement that this needed to happen, whether they liked it or not.

It took about fifteen minutes for the process to start. Sasha started panting, her knees buckling rather quickly. They heard a couple of snaps as her bones started to shift and stretch from within. Her skin dulled into a shade of light beige in a splotchy pattern as she started to yell! Her form elongated and became much thinner, her head taking a more round, defined shape and being propped on a thin neck. Her eyes moved to a more forward facing position with their colours swirling before settling on mostly white with a dark circle in the middle.

As her limbs started to elongate, she started screaming and thrashing around! Grime quickly realized that the chains might not hold her if she put a concentrated effort into getting out of them. But it seemed that this transformation was far too painful for her to think about that, if the screaming was any indication. It was high pitched with strong but crazed vocals behind it, like a banshee on fire!

It had only taken a few moments, but once her new form began to settle, the screams turned into whimpers, which devolved into pants. Percy hadn’t been joking all those months ago when he’d described her as a ‘hideous abomination’! Meanwhile Bog decided to fulfill his role in all this.

“That… is definitely the same species. Maybe a different breed, but certainly the same species that we saw in Wartwood.” He whispered at Grime. So the chance of the two of them being biologically related was extremely small, but they were still the same kind of creature. He watched the creature in front of him for a bit. She wasn’t violently throwing herself in their direction to get them. Instead, her movements seemed uncertain, but purposeful.

Given how vicious the Wartwood creature was, he needed to confirm whether Sasha would be the same when she was like this. He decided to start by seeing if she’d respond to her name.

“Lieutenant Sasha?...” Grime heard the panting stop with a small, but sharp inhale. The creature in front of him looked up and locked eyes with him, the predatory gaze making his skin crawl. But he stood his ground regardless right up until the creature opened its mouth and he heard a familiar voice, speaking in a clear and practiced tone.

“Captain Grime, sir?” Grime let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was just so relieved to see that, even if she were more monster than toad at the moment, she still seemed to be capable of rational thought with at least enough of her memories intact. Still, he needed to prod a bit more.

“How are you feeling?” A simple question that could have a myriad of answers.

“Umm, I think I feel okay… no…” She paused, wrapping the chain that kept her attached to the wall around her hand and giving a firm, focused pull. His earlier assessment had been correct, it seemed, because the chain snapped at the base and the whole thing came flying right off! Sasha started to laugh at this.

“I feel great, actually!” She exclaimed as she stood up to her full height, towering over him on her spindly legs. According to Bog’s report, her kind had better balance than their form would suggest, meaning that if an opponent were to try to take out said legs, they’d have a tough time. He looked up to her face and saw what looked like contemplation before she spoke again.

“You know, something tells me that maybe the one from Wartwood is just a really good actress.” If she was saying this, then that meant that they’d been duped by that creature! It was unforgivable, but they couldn’t go rushing out quite yet. They still had a tower to repair and a lieutenant to reteach how to fight. Preparations needed to be made!

One thing was for certain, though. As he looked over Sasha’s new form, Grime knew that he had a VERY unique and powerful soldier in his army!