Connected Through The Force: An Amphibia Star Wars Tale - Fanatasyzoo500, dat_physics_boi (2024)

Chapter 1: Arrival

Chapter by Fanatasyzoo500

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter I: Arrival

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Darkness. That was all Anne Boonchuy could see at first as she slowly regained consciousness. Eventually, she could make out silhouettes in the moonlight of a dark swamp. As the 13-year-old girl slowly lifted herself from the mud, she could hear the calls of unfamiliar wildlife crying out in the foliage around her.

Wha-What’s going on? Where am I?! were the first thoughts that came to mind as Anne took in her surroundings. She certainly wasn’t in that old park in Los Angeles where she had opened that kooky music box with Sasha and Marcy. It then dawned on Anne that she was alone. “Sasha! Marcy! Where are you guys?!” Anne cried out. The sounds of the forest were the only response she received. As Anne looked into the night sky, she let out a sudden gasp.

There was not one, but two moons. One was about the same size and color as Earth’s moon. The other moon, however, was much larger and red. Not only that, but two large, winged beasts that looked like a cross between a bat and a pterosaur glided through the night air while emitting a piercing shriek unlike anything she had ever heard. I don’t think I’m on Earth anymore, Anne thought as panic began to sink in. Anne started hyperventilating and she could feel her heart racing as a million thoughts raced through her mind: What am I going to do?! Where are Sasha and Marcy?! Are they back home? Or did they end up here too?! What if something terrible happened to them?! How did I even end up here?

It was then that she remembered what had happened before she woke up in this strange world. Anne remembered going to a thrift shop in a sketchy part town with Sasha and Marcy to steal some music box for her “birthday present”. She remembered sneaking past the sleeping store owner and reluctantly slipping the box into her backpack, with Sasha and Marcy watching and encouraging her in the store window. The three girls then took her pilfered present to a park and opened it. There was a blinding light, a swirling vortex of colors, and then...darkness. The next thing she knew, she was in this swampy forest in some strange alien world.

“The box!” Anne exclaimed. Reaching behind her, she could feel her backpack was still on her back. She quickly took off the bag and unzipped it, frantically digging around in its contents. Relief washed over her as she drew out the music box. Did this thing zap me into this world? Anne wondered as she examined the box. It was a silver, metallic box covered with strange lines. Some of these lines ended in leaves or flowers, while one particular line ended in the silhouette of a flame. On the bottom of the box were illustrations of a mountain range bordering an ocean. Out of the sea rose a large stump which was ensnared by vines. On this stump stood some weird frog dressed in a robe and a cloak. One of the frog’s hands was carrying a magic wand or sword or something like that, while the other was outstretched. In the top left corner of the box, there were three empty divuts next to a small dial covered with indiscernible markings. “Well, if this box did transport me here, maybe it can get me back home”, the Thai girl figured. Anne closed her eyes and opened the box, expecting another blinding portal that would hopefully return her to Earth and her friends. What she got was…nothing.

“What?!” Anne exclaimed as she started to panic once more. Her eyes welled up with tears as she desperately opened and closed the lid over and over, but still nothing happened. “Nononono! Why isn’t it working?! What’s wrong with this stupid thing?! I can’t be stuck here! I just wanna go home!”, Anne cried. Her whole body started trembling as she started to hyperventilate again. Alright, calm down, Anne, the young girl thought as she took some deep breaths. After a few minutes, she had succeeded in returning her breathing to normal and was calm enough to think more clearly. At that moment, she could see some dark clouds gathering in the distance, signaling an approaching storm. This whole thing is probably just some crazy nightmare. I’ll just have to play along with it until I wake up. In the meantime, I should probably look for some shelter, Anne reasoned to herself. Slowly rising to her feet, Anne slung the backpack on her back and made her way into the swamp.

As she walked through the woods, the howls and shrieks of hidden creatures filled the air. The teenage girl could see the glowing eyes of some hungry beasts staring at her from the trees and bushes. In fact, Anne could have sworn that some of them had at least three eyes! Alright, Anne, there’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re just taking a nice little walk through the woods. Full of alien monsters that look hungry, Anne thought as she tried to remain calm, but to no avail. She struggled to walk through the thick underbrush, and her feet kept sinking into the soft, moist soil. In a little bit, you’ll wake up in your safe and warm bed back in LA with Domino on your chest, and you’ll realize that this whole affair was just a bad dream, Anne concluded as she reached for a stick to beat through the vegetation, only to grab something that felt cold and scaly. It was at that moment that she came face to face with some snake-like creature that hissed at her. It opened its jaws to reveal not only sharp fangs, but what appeared to be a tongue that consisted of a second head!

Anne screamed as she dropped the snake and fled in terror. A tentacle of some hidden beast attempted to grab her leg as she passed by, just barely missing. Anne then tripped over a root, landing face first into a bog. Anne peeled herself from the muck, spitting out mud and wiping the filth from her face with her arm.

Suddenly, the sky was filled with a bright flash of lightning, followed by the boom of rolling thunder. It’s going to rain soon. If I don’t find some shelter, I’m going to get more soaked than I’m already am. That is, if I don’t get eaten first, the girl mused as she shivered from both the cold and the idea of being consumed by some extraterrestrial beast.

It was that moment when Anne was overcome by some strange sensation. It flowed through her veins, her nerves, and her mind as she was overwhelmed by the presence of something, or someone. It was more than just the vague feeling of being watched; rather, it was as if she could sense their very presence, even if she couldn’t see them. “H-Hello? Is s-someone there?” Anne called out into the darkness, but the only response was silence. However, that sensation was not only still present, but was getting stronger with every passing moment, as though its source was getting closer to her. Not only that, but she could hear voices whispering to each other. People! Maybe they can help me! Anne thought as she began to feel hopeful for the first time since she woke up on this planet.

“Please. I’m lost and I’m not from this world. Do you know if there’s any town close by or something?” she cried out. Then, the mysterious aurora suddenly doubled in intensity, but she also experienced a shiver down her spine and a surge in adrenaline. It was almost as if the aurora was warning her that the approaching figures were hostile. At that moment, a voice barked some command or demand to her in a language she couldn’t understand. “What did you say? I can’t understand you”, said Anne as she slowly shuffled towards the voice. As her eyes finally began adjusting to the darkness, she was able to see the strangers more clearly, only to be shocked by what she saw.

The creature in front of her resembled a giant toad that was about half her size. It had greyish green that was covered with warts and lighter colored underbelly. Its mouth was large and wide with sharp, yellow teeth. One of its eyes was glowing yellow, while the other appeared to be nonfunctional, since it was pale and was marked with a large, pink scar. The toad warrior was wearing brown armor with a dark brown cape and was carrying a weapon that resembled a gun with the barrel aimed directly at her!

The muscles in Anne’s body began to tense as she stared at the alien in front of her. Another flash of lightning brightened the forest around them, revealing the presence of two or three more toad soldiers. The toad spoke to her again in a menacing tone while curling their finger around the trigger. “Look, I don’t want any trouble! I just wanna go home!” Anne pleaded, but to no avail. The toad appeared to be unable to understand the girl. Now would be a good time to wake up! Anne thought as the toad captain turned to their soldiers to give them some command while pointing their finger at Anne. The captain then fired their weapon, emitting a beam of light that headed straight towards Anne!

Before the beam could hit its target, however, Anne leapt out of the way into a nearby bush! She heard an explosion where the beam hit, and as she stared out of the bush, Anne could see the charred ground where she had been standing moments before. What the-? thought Anne as stared incredulously at the black circle. Where did she get such lighting quick reflexes? She was drawn from her thoughts by the toad captain shouting at the other toads, prompting her to quickly retreat into the woods.

As Anne fled in terror, she could hear the pings of the lasers around her. She did not dare look back, however, as she pushed herself to keep moving. The wind was starting to increase in speed and the lightning and thunder were becoming more frequent, signaling that the storm was close. This is all just a bad dream. This is all just a bad dream. This is all just a bad…a sharp jolt of pain in her arm interrupted Anne’s thoughts. Anne looked down at her arm and noticed that she had cut her arm on a nearby branch, and that the wound was starting to bleed. As she started at the wound, Anne was struck with a horrifying thought: If this were a dream, this would have woken me up. That means… She didn’t give herself time to finish as she jumped out of the way of another laser bolt. She fled deeper into the swamp, moving twice as fast after the realization of how dire her situation truly was. Suddenly, Anne’s foot became stuck in a mud puddle. Anne struggled to free her foot from the muck, becoming increasingly desperate as she heard the toads’ voices getting closer. With one final struggle, she pulled with every muscle in her arms, finally freeing the foot just as another laser hit a tree nearby. Anne quickly darted into the trees, not noticing that one of her shoes was lying in the mud. A clawed hand grabbed the abandoned footwear and brought it close to the sole functional eye of its owner, who gazed into the bog and sneered.

xxxxxxxx

“Captain Grime, sir!”. The commander of the South Toad base was drawn from his thoughts by the mention of his name. He brought a small, circular disk out of his pocket and pressed a button on the side. A holographic image of the toad who had contacted him, Percital or “Percy”, appeared along with a female soldier named Braddock. They were restraining the arms of what appeared to be an unconscious human girl. This girl, however, was unlike any human he had ever seen, albeit he hadn’t seen very many humans over the course of his life. She appeared to be a teenager with a light skin tone and blond hair that was tied with an elastic band to form an orbak tail. She was wearing a light grey shirt with a pink collar and some strange emblem on it, a dark blue jacket, a short pink skirt, white socks, and black shoes with a small strap and short heels. I don’t know of any world where people dress like THAT, mused Grime as he examined the captive girl. Still, if he recalled correctly, the other girl that they were pursuing moments earlier was dressed in a similar fashion. Could they be from the same planet?

“We found this girl as we were scouting the area for those mysterious lights. She was speaking in some strange language, but it was in a threatening tone. She tried to attack us with a stick, but we stunned her with our blaster to subdue her”, said Percy, motioning to the girl in question. At that moment, another one of his soldiers approached him and saluted. “Captain Grime. We have lost visual contact with the girl. We tried to relocate her with our scanners, but they have not picked up anything”, reported the toad, to which Grime responded by squinting at the bright yellow shoe in his other hand.

“Don’t you think all this is a bit unnecessary?” asked Braddock, with Percy adding, “Yeah. I mean, sure they’re offworlders and not Amphibians, but they’re still only kids.” Grime growled and glared at the hologram, causing both toads to shrink under his stare. “You know, you’re right. All of this is a bit silly. I mean, it’s not like those three strange lights flying through the sky that disrupted our communications for a few minutes before crashing in three different locations are an indication of a threat. I’m also sure that two human girls who are dressed in strange clothes and who don’t speak Basic just showing up out of the blue is just a pure coincidence. And I suppose we needn’t be concerned about the fact that we still don’t know where the source of that third light is”, Grime sneered in a sarcastic tone. However, the sarcasm seemed to be lost in translation for Percy, who said, “Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing. So, once this kid wakes up maybe she can tell us where she’s from…”.

Grime interrupted him by throwing the hologram to the ground with a load roar. “You idiots!!”, he boomed, making the two toads in the hologram quiver with fear. “That’s the kind of weak talk that gets planets conquered! If there’s one thing I learned from this galaxy, it is that you must be strong willed, or you will be destroyed! Until we have all three intruders detained and learn more about them, they are threats and are to be treated as such. Percy, Braddock, bring that girl to the base for further questioning”, he said to Percy and Braddock, who both nodded fearfully. He then turned to the rest of his soldiers and continued, “And as for the other two, I want all units on high alert and on the lookout for strange human children. Send out probe droids if you must! We will bring this shoe back to base to obtain some DNA samples. In the meantime, I want you to find that other child! Is that clear?!”

“Sir, yes sir!” responded the toads, both the ones present and, in the hologram, with a salute. Percy and Braddock ended the transmission to do as he commanded while the other toads began programming probe droids to hunt down the other intruders. Grime watched them through glowering eyes. He would see to it that his subordinates would not fail. After all, he knew what the consequences of failure were….

xxxxxx

Anne ran for what seemed to be an eternity until she was convinced that she had lost those creeps. By then, however, the rain had started, and it wasn’t long before she was soaked to the bone. Anne shivered as she stumbled through the hostile swamp, desperate to find some kind of shelter. Eventually, she came across a cave that had been carved into a raised mound of earth under the roots of a large tree. Anne quickly made her way through the cave’s entrance and examined her surroundings.

It was a small cave, with patches of moss growing on the rocks and bioluminescent fungi clinging to the walls. Water dripped from the ceiling onto Anne’s head, startling her a little. Still, even if it was a bit damp, at least it was drier than outside and would offer some protection from predators. Anne took off her backpack and sat against a rock, placing her pack in front of her. Figuring the first thing to do was to tend to her wound, she unzipped her bag and grabbed a small package of antiseptic and some small adhesive bandages. It took several bandages to cover her wound, since they were too small, but it was better than leaving the cut exposed and risking infection. She could only hope she had enough bandages to last until her wound had healed sufficiently. Once she had finished bandaging her arm, her stomach began to growl loudly.

Anne returned the bandages to her bag and looked for the lunch that her mother had packed. As she brought the small brown bag out of her backpack, it occurred to her that she should try to conserve what little food she had for as long as possible. After all, who knows what is even safe to eat in this nightmare world, Anne thought, as she drew a sandwich from the lunch bag. With that in mind, she tore the sandwich in half, saving the other half for later.

As she ate her meager dinner, she remembered how her mom had packed a khao niew bing in her lunch as an extra special treat for thirteenth birthday. Her parents had been very excited about this special occasion, even spending months planning a big party. Sure, it was one of those dorky ones with clowns and stuff like that for little kids, but still, they had spent a lot of time planning and spent a lot of money to celebrate their little girl’s big day!

But now, she was celebrating her birthday by being stranded on some planet far from home, cold, wet, hungry, injured, and all alone. At this point, the poor girl began to sob uncontrollably. She wondered if her mom and dad were angry at her for missing the party, or were they worried that something had happened to her? Were they searching desperately for the daughter, only to find that she had disappeared without a trace? Oh, why did she let Sasha talk her into skipping class to “celebrate” her birthday by committing crimes and causing mischief?! Then, instead of heading home to the party when she was supposed to, she had let Sasha and Marcy force her into stealing that stupid music box.

She then thought of her friends. Were they back home, looking for her too? Were they transported to this unforgiving world as well? If so, where were they? Were they even alive at this point? Would she ever see her parents, Sasha, Marcy, or any of her family and friends again?

Anne sat there crying with her head on her knees for what felt like hours, saying “Why was I so stupid? I just want to go home”, repeatedly. Eventually, her long period of crying coupled with having spent so much energy running through the swamp had left Anne exhausted. She stumbled over to a patch of moss that was more towards the back of the cave. She leaned her backpack against a rock, fluffing it to form a somewhat decent pillow. She then curled up into a fetal position and settled in for the night. One thought came to mind before she drifted off into a fitful and restless slumber: What am I going to do now?

Chapter 2: The Stranger

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter II: The Stranger

There was nothing extraordinary about Amphibia, as far as the Galaxy was concerned. It was just another backwater planet in one of the most remote regions of the Outer Rim. The fact that travel to this world was out of the way and difficult for most space travelers did not help matters, either. For much of the planet’s history, there was only one hyperlane to the Amphibia system until about 50 years before the onset of the Clone Wars, when it was destroyed by a hyperspace anomaly. Now, a starcruiser with a class 2 hyperdrive was the only ship that could reach the system in a feasible amount of time, and even then, it often took at least a month from the nearest hyperlane. Thus, apart from trade ships that would bring supplies to settlements, Amphibia received very few otherworldly visitors.

There was, however, one advantage to being so isolated from the Galaxy at large: protection, for the most part, from wars that had plagued and fragmented it. For not long after Amphibia was effectively cut off from the other star systems, the Clone Wars raged across the stars. Then there was the war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, which was in turn followed by the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance. Even after a few years since the First Order fell, the Galaxy was still reeling from decades of war and facing an uncertain future. Thanks to its isolation though, Amphibia had been largely spared from the terrors that had convulsed the other worlds for so many years. While the planet was rich in natural resources, there was no tactical advantage of any army invading since it was so far away from the more inhabited star systems and therefore it would be essentially cut off from any aid.

Nevertheless, the violence that swept across many of the systems left the inhabitants of Amphibia wary of any offworlders, lest they turn out to be a threat to their world. Of course, there were immigrants of various species from other planets, as was true of almost any world in the galaxy, but they were primarily centered in large cities like the planet’s capital, Noutopia. In the smaller towns and villages, however, offworlders, or just outsiders in general, were often regarded with side-eyed glances, especially in the most rural and secluded provinces.

This was particularly true in the small farming village of Warwoo, whose motto of “Slow to Accept, Even Slower to Respect” had served as the town’s creed since the day it was founded. Sure, trading ships were tolerated, but that was mostly out of necessity, since they needed to barter their surplus crops for necessities that were either difficult or impossible to obtain on Amphibia. Besides that, the inhabitants of this town, which consisted primarily of frogs, preferred to keep to themselves as much as possible. Not that they had very many visitors, anyways, since the town was tucked away in the middle of a vast, treacherous swamp in a large valley. Other settlements in this marshland were few and far between and were governed by sometimes brutal military toad regimes.

But aside from attacks from the local wildlife and the occasional toad warrior, life in Warwoo was relatively peaceful and easy-going. The farmers would spend all day in the fields tending to or harvesting their crops with the help of various types of droids. Meanwhile, in the town, people and droids bustled about the thatched roof buildings that were accented with antennae towers as they frequented the shops of the various merchants or conversed with one another. In the center of the town was a fountain with a statue of some frog whose name was unknown to the inhabitants, where one could find children playing or someone leaning against the fountain as they enjoyed an afternoon nap. Not far from the center of town was the farmer’s market, which was marked with stands where farmers could sell their produce and goods.

On one seemingly uneventful day, a giant reptavian with a shell on its back was pulling a repulsorlift cart between the aisles of the market. A small family of frogs was riding the cart along with carts of vegetables that they intended to sell at their family stand. Holding the reins was Hopidi Plantark, an orange frog with a pale orange underbelly and two tufts of white hair. He was wearing a worn green robe with a yellow tunic underneath and brown pants. As they drew near their stand, he began to gently tug at the reins to slow them down. “Woah, Besi. That’s it, old girl”, he said as the purple beast eventually brought the cart to a halt, shaking the dust of her feathers once they arrived. “Alright, kids! Help me unload the crates. These guynap gourds ain’t gonna sell themselves, ya know”, called out Hopidi to his two grandchildren. A pink frog with pale pink underbelly, a green pilot’s cap, a green jacket, and black pants named Sprik hopped out of the cart.

“Ugh, come on, Grandpa. I’m the one who’s going to be doing all the work! Pollia can’t even lift these crates”, Sprik complained as a small purple tadpole with yellow polka dotted bow jumped onto his head. “Says who? I could take you on anytime, anywhere”, his little sister retorted as she flexed the muscles in her tiny arms. “Quit goofin’ off, you two. The market is going to open soon”, said Hopidi as he and Sprik began to unload the gourds. “Grandpa, have you ever thought about getting a droid? It would make farming and heavy lifting so much easier. Plus, it would be less wear and tear on your back”, said Sprik as Hopidi snapped his back into place after placing down the crate. “Now see here, boy”, said the old man, pointing a finger in the air as turned to face his grandson. “I’ll have ya know that I’m fit enough to pull the ears off a gundark! Besides, we ain’t got enough credits for a droid right now. But I heard that there’s a high demand for guynap gourds this season. So, maybe we’ll make enough money to get one. In the meantime, help me get the stand ready”, said Hopidi as he arranged said gourds in the display baskets. “Alright, Grandpa”, sighed Sprik as he grabbed another crate.

“Cheer up, Sprik”, said Pollia as she hopped off her older brother’s head. “We won’t need to buy a droid once I finish the one I’m working on”, she added as she grabbed a gourd from a crate. Pollia had a fascination with droids and wanted to be a droid smith when she grew up. Or maybe a bounty hunter. She still hadn’t made up her mind yet. “Ya mean the one that nearly blew up the house”, replied Hopidi, folding his arms across his chest. “So I may have cross wired the thermal exhaust vents with the central processing circuits. It didn’t cause THAT much damage”, said Pollia as she tried to defend herself. Hopidi, on the other hand, merely shot her an unimpressed stare. “Yeah, I think if were gettin’ a droid, it’s goin’ to be from a professional droid smith who knows what they’re doin’. Now, if you two are finished, let’s get this stand ready before our customers start comin’”, said Hopidi, as his two grandchildren sighed and did as he asked.

They had just finished setting up when an elderly purple frog woman with a cataract in one eye made her way to the stand with her pet spider. “Well, if it isn’t young Hopidi!” she said as she waved to the family. “Well, how do ya do, Mrs. Croka! I’ve got a bumper crop of guynap gourds to sell today”, greeted Hop Pop as he held up one of the pink gourds for her to inspect. Mrs. Croka squinted as she examined the gourd, then said, “Why, these are some mighty fine-looking gourds, Hopidi! These will go nicely in my mouse cricket stew”.

Sprik started to tune out of the conversation as he grew bored and restless. Just then, he heard someone whisper: “Hey, Sprik! Over here!”. Sprik turned his attention to the speaker, who was in front of one of the neighboring stands. It was Ivia Sundu, a yellow frog girl around Sprik’s age. Sprik glanced over to make sure Hopidi wasn’t looking, and then snuck off with her to hide behind a stack of crates. “Boy, am I glad to see you Ivia! I felt like I was going to die of boredom back there…”, said Sprik before he was interrupted by Ivia giving him a friendly punch on the arm. “Alright, soldier! Enough chatter! I have brought you here to debrief you on a top-secret mission”, she said, whispering the last part. At this, Sprik snapped to attention and then saluted with a “Sir, yes sir!”.

Ivia drew closer to Sprik, who in turn leaned over to hear her more clearly. “Well, there’s been rumors floating around about some shifty life form that has been sneaking around the alleys after dark, digging through the trash. Wallap was the first to notice them last week while walking home from Stumpy’s Cantina. He couldn’t get a good look at them, since they ran off as soon as they noticed him, but from what he could tell, the being was no Amphibian; rather, they appeared to be some human or humanoid”, she explained. “Um, with all due respect, Admiral, you do realize that this is Wallap we’re talking about, right? The one who thinks that there are some creatures made of moss that roam aimlessly through the wilderness?”, interrupted Sprik, earning good natured jab in the arm from Ivia. “Don’t interrupt me, soldier! Other people have seen this interloper too, and the descriptions they gave matched Wallap’s”, said the “Admiral” with an air of faux superiority, and then added, “Anyways, I think that maybe they’re a secret agent working for the First Order”.

“Pfft! Yeah, right! And Luke Skywalker was my uncle! Why would a First Order agent be digging through the garbage in a place like this?”, laughed Sprik. “Hey, I bet they asked why the Empire would bother with two droids on Tatooine. Anyways, there’s only one way to find out. I say tonight we set up a stakeout in town. We’ll catch the spy, and then interrogate them to find out who they are and what they’re doing here”, said Ivia as she pounded her fist into the palm of her other hand. “Count me in!”, said Sprik with another salute. “Sprik! Where are ya, boy?!” Sprik peered from behind the crates and called out to his grandfather: “Coming, Grandpa!”. He then turned to Ivia, saying: “I’ve got to go. Meet me in front of the supply store after sunset?” “Sounds like a plan, soldier,” said Ivia as she stood at attention and saluted. Sprik saluted back and then ran off to rejoin his family at their stand.

xxxxxx

Later that evening, the sounds of music and laughter poured out of Stumpy’s Cantina. Two frogs were outside, enjoying a round of beetle grog when the doors swung open to reveal a one-eyed blue frog dressed in shabby clothing. “Good night, you frogs! See you in the ‘morrow!”, said Wallap as he exited the cantina. However, he stumbled into a nearby R2 unit, facilitating laughter from the two other frogs and angry beeping from the droid. “I meant to do that!”, said the vagrant as he walked in the opposite direction. He pulled out his accordio and played a little ditty as he walked down the dimly lit streets of Warwoo. As he approached the supply store, however, Wallap thought he saw some movement. Deciding to investigate, he peeked over a couple of boxes and saw two young frog children.

“Sprik? Ivia? What are you doin’ here?”, inquired the older frog, only for Sprik and Ivia to respond by shushing him. “Wallap, you’re going to blow our cover! We’re on a stakeout”, said Sprik as he pulled the man next to them so as not to give away their position. “Ah, are you trying to catch that ne’er-do-well that has been raidin’ the rubbish bins? The nerve of that sleemo! Especially since they take all the good stuff and leave nothin’ for me!”, cried Wallap indignantly and then added: “Anyho, to my knowledge, the thief tends to steal rubbish on the outskirts of town, perhaps to avoid attractin’ attention to themselves and getting’ caught”.

“Well, then. I say we fan out! Search every alley on the outskirts of town but try to remain inconspicuous. Here are comlinks in case you find anything”, said Ivia, handing comlinks to Sprik and Wallap. “Don’t you worry, luv! Inconspicuous in my middle nam-”, before Wallap could finish that sentence he walked right into a parked cart. “I’m alright”, he said weakly as he slowly sat up and brushed himself off. The two children sighed and shook their heads as they headed off in different directions.

Sprik moved swiftly and silently throughout the village, climbing along walls, hopping from one shadow to the next, using his tongue to swing from one light post to the next. Suddenly, he heard something scuffling in an alley next to Felicia’s tea shop. Sprik erected his energy slingshot, which he wore around his wrist, and prepared an energy pellet as he slowly crept towards the alley. At that moment, a small mouse cricket leapt into view, which in turn was being pursued by a tooka cat. The frog boy deactivated his slingshot, but deciding a little snack wouldn’t hurt, snatched the mouse cricket with his tongue. The tooka cat hissed angrily at having its prey stolen, then scampered off to find another meal. He was about to move on to the next alley when all of a sudden, he heard the sound of glass breaking. He readied his slingshot again and walked slowly into the alley.

Through the dim light he could make out a figure digging through a dumpster. As he slowly crept closer to the dumpster diver, he could hear them muttering something that he couldn’t quite make out. He couldn’t really see exactly what this mysterious being was. However, based solely on the silhouette, the entity appeared to be some form of humanoid. Hiding behind a box, Sprik was able to get close enough to finally see the interloper. Why, the creature appeared to be a young human girl, and based his limited knowledge of humans, not much older than he was. Huh. There certainly aren’t many humans around here. I wonder where she came from. And why is she digging through garbage, pondered Sprik. Before he could examine the creature any further, however, the girl suddenly stopped digging. The human then slowly lifted her head and noticed the frog. She then gasped and ran past Sprik into the streets of Warwoo.

“Hey wait, come back!”, cried Sprik as he sprinted after her, not wanting to lose her. He activated his comlink as he was running, all the while not taking his eyes off the human. “Ivia, Wallap. Come in. I found our culprit. It’s a human girl. I’m in pursuit. We just left the alley near your mom’s tea shop”, he said as he began using his tongue to swing from light posts and wires to keep up with the girl. “You didn’t wake my mom, did you Sprik? She’ll kill me if she finds out!”, said Ivia over the comlink. “I don’t know! I’ve been focusing on not losing our spy! It’s almost as if she knew I was there before she even saw me!”, Sprik responded as he swung onto a roof and began hopping from roof to roof. “Hold on, Sprik! We’re comin’, lad!”, cried Wallap as he and Ivia began heading toward where Sprik was on the trail of the stranger.

At that moment, Sprik noticed the girl was running from the village and heading into the forest! “Guys, she’s heading into the woods! I’m going in”, said Sprik as he followed her into the wilderness. “Sprik, wait! You know you shouldn’t be in the forest after dark!”, pleaded Ivia, but Sprik wasn’t listening. Instead, he continued his chase as he made his way deeper and deeper into the forest.

Eventually, he lost the girl, so he stopped in a clearing to catch his breath. Sprik pulled a small glowrod from his pocket and searched the area to see if he could find the trail again. He illuminated the ground with the light and saw some footprints. He began to follow them, but he was so engrossed in tracking that he failed to realize that he was heading into the deepest and most dangerous part of the swamp. Not only that, but someone, or something, was following him….

After walking for a couple of hours, Sprik realized that not only had he lost the footprints, but he also had no idea where he was. He had never been this deep into the swamp at night, and everything looked so different in the dark. Ok. So maybe running into the forest on my own wasn’t one of my better ideas, thought Sprik. That’s ok, though. I’m sure Ivia and Wallap are probably looking for me right now. Maybe even Grandpa. Although, I’m sure he’ll give me an earful if he does find me. Still, I suppose it’s better than being eaten, right? As if on cue, Sprik’s thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched shriek that pierced the silence of the forest and caused the boy to freeze in his tracks. Oh no! thought Sprik. Just then, he could see a large shadow slowly rising in front of him. He cautiously turned around to see what was behind him, only for him to wish that he hadn’t.

There was a giant green beast that had six legs, with the front two drawn up and held close the body. It had a tough exoskeleton, a head with giant mandibles and six eyes, and sharp claws on the joints of each of its legs. It had a huge pointed crested on its head and large antennae. Worst of all though, was the mouth full of razor-sharp teeth!

Sprik let out a small scream as he leapt out of the way of a claw. He quickly activated his slingshot and sent a volley of electric pellets towards the monster. It seemed to have no effect on the predator, however, other than making it angry. It let out a shriek and swiped at Sprik with its leg, which flung him through the air toward a tree. He collided with the tree forcefully and landed on the ground with a thud.

His vision suddenly became blurry and there was a sharp ringing in his ears. As he slowly began to lose consciousness, he could barely make out the creature rushing towards him, until something grabbed him and started running off with him. After that, though, Sprik slipped into darkness.

Chapter 3: A Friend

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter III: A Friend

Anne didn’t exactly know why she kept returning to that village. At first, she concluded that she was being driven by starvation and desperation. Despite her best attempts to ration what little food she had, Anne could only make her food supply last for a few days. After that, she was forced to forage and hunt in the forest for anything that could possibly be edible. The problem with that was that she had absolutely no idea what was even safe to eat. Most of the plants here looked nothing like the ones back on Earth, so she had no way of telling if any of them were toxic. She attempted to set some very crude traps for wildlife with whatever she could find. However, they were seldom successful, since it was hard to hunt animals when she didn’t know anything about them. She ended up living on roots, bark, insects, and any other animals that she could catch or that she found dead.

This wasn’t enough, though, and Anne could feel herself growing weaker and weaker with hunger. To make matters worse, she would occasionally spot these strange, floating robots that emitted these strange, threatening noises. She didn’t know if they were sent by those toads or not, but she sure as heck didn’t want to find out! She would also occasionally come across a unit of toad soldiers doing their rounds, or a ravenous beast. Fortunately, that strange aura that she felt the first night she had arrived on this planet helped her avoid the robots, the toads and any dangerous animals. On the other hand, all these factors further complicated her hunting and gathering expeditions.

Thus, she had to travel farther and farther every day to find food. It was after a particularly long day of foraging that she stumbled across a small village. At first, the rational part of Anne’s brain advised her to avoid this town. After all, it would be futile to try to seek aid from the natives since she could not speak their language. Furthermore, if her first night in this world was any indication of what the people here were like, they might turn her in to the toad soldiers if they didn’t attack her themselves. She also dared not steal any food from them, since that would raise their suspicions and make it more likely for her to get caught.

And yet, the very next day, Anne found herself outside the same village, figuring that she could sneak into town after dark and see if there was anything good to eat in the garbage. And so, Anne started sleeping during the day and rummaging through the garbage cans and dumpsters of the town at night. For the first few nights, Anne’s nocturnal scavenging expeditions didn’t seem to attract any attention. Until one night, when she sensed someone approaching her and then heard them shouting something at her. Though it was dark, Anne could make out a small blue hobo frog who appeared to be missing an eye. She didn’t give them a chance to do anything, however, as she quickly escaped and fled back into the forest.

After that, Anne resolved to never return to that town and to continue trying to find food in the woods instead. She would even take a different path every day that she knew would take her away from the village. Hunger made her lose her resolve, however, and she was compelled to once again search for food in the town. The problem with that was that several other people began noticing her every time she went into town, thus increasing her chances of getting caught.

Then, one night, she was discovered by a small pink frog. She attempted to flee, but the frog followed her in pursuit. Anne tried to lose them as they ran through the streets, but the frog was quick and agile, so they managed to keep up with her. Eventually, the girl was able to lose them in the woods. Just as she was about to head back to her cave, however, she felt a sudden urge to turn back. Halting her run, Anne perked up, listening for the source of her urge to stop. Just the sounds of this alien forest. She'd gotten used to those by now. No footsteps, she'd truly lost that frog. But then, she heard an ear-piercing shriek that echoed through the dark swamp and sent a shiver down her spine. The Earthling then heard another scream, but this one sounded like it was coming from a child. Anne turned on her heel and bolted through the wilderness, following the shrieks of the beast to where the battle was ensuing. She peered through the bushes and gasped at what she saw.

There was a large, hideous creature that, to Anne, resembled a mantis from back home. But that wasn’t the only thing that alarmed the Thai girl. There was another, much smaller creature lying still next to a tree, one that looked exactly like that little pink frog. Not only that, but that giant mantis thing was charging straight towards them!

The next thing Anne knew, she had leapt through the air and landed near the frog with a roll. She quickly scooped the child into her arms just before the mantis could grab them and made a beeline for the vegetation. The girl could hear trees falling behind her as she ran, indicating that the enormous beast was in hot pursuit. She pushed herself to run faster, not daring to look back. She moved swiftly through the forest, dodging trees, jumping over roots and sinkholes, and even swinging from vines, all while not slowing down or dropping the pink frog. Even so, the mantis still managed to keep up, and it was getting closer.

Eventually, Anne saw a cave in the distance. And not just any cave, it was her cave! Just as the giant mantis was a few steps from catching up to them and grabbing them, Anne slid into the cave entrance and pressed her back against the farthest wall of the cave. The creature attempted to reach them with its claws, but they were just out of its reach. After a few moments that felt like an eternity to Anne, the mantis let out one final shriek in frustration, and then stomped off into the night.

Anne let out a sigh of relief as she sank to the cave floor. She then turned her attention to the frog in her arms. They were still breathing but were clearly unconscious. The teenage girl carefully laid the frog on the cave floor, gently placing her backpack under their head. As she began to examine them for any injuries, she noticed that her arms were covered in blood. She then saw that there was a gash across the alien's chest. She quickly tore a bit of her school uniform to use as a makeshift bandage. It was at this moment that Anne realized that she should have paid more attention during first aid classes. She knew the kid needed medical attention, but she didn’t know what to do to get help. She figured she could bring them back to the town to try to find some medical center, but what if she was blamed for injuring them? She could just leave them outside a medical center or something, but shouldn’t she make sure that they were being taken care of? She couldn’t take care of them herself either, without the knowledge or the resources to do so.

As Anne watched the frog lying in front of her and listened to their breaths that were just barely audible, the Thai girl sighed as she made her decision. Alien from a hostile planet or not, she had to help this creature. She would get help for the frog, even if she had to risk getting captured or worse. Anne was about ready to pick them up when she heard a small groan.

Anne noticed that the frog child was starting to stir. Their big frog eyes flickered a little as they rubbed their head and moaned. As they took in their surroundings, the human could hear the child saying something in the strange language that was spoken around here:

The older girl panicked a little as the frog started to regain consciousness. She wanted to run and hide but was paralyzed by fear and could do nothing but stand motionless in one spot. Her eyes widened as the creature noticed her and their own eyes met hers. Time seemed to freeze for Anne as she waited with bated breath for their reaction. Will they start threatening me? Will they pull out some crazy sci-fi weapon and start attacking me? Will they turn me over to the toads? thought a panicked Anne. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the frog spoke:

Although Anne couldn’t understand what they were saying, the little frog’s tone appeared to be grateful, albeit weak. As the girl’s fear subsided a little, her patient stared at her for several minutes as she continued to tend to their wound. However, the little extraterrestrial noticed the injury and started to panic a little. “Woah, woah, hey, calm down!”, said the Earthling as she tried to keep the younger child calm. It was no use, since they couldn’t understand what she was saying. Luckily, an idea came to the teenage girl, and she lifted the young amphibian into her arms. They immediately relaxed a little, feeling secure in the human’s warm embrace.

Now that they were relatively calm, Anne reexamined the amphibian child’s injury. While it wasn’t the best example of dressing a wound, it would hopefully do until she could get them somewhere where they could receive better medical care. Suddenly, the pink one stuck their tongue out at Anne, to which she responded by sticking her tongue out at him. The teenager couldn’t help but giggle at this. Ya know, I’m kinda growing to like this dude, she thought as she smiled at her new friend. In fact, for the first time since she arrived on this scary planet, she felt safe and comforted, similar to how the frog felt as they were cradled in her arms. As the 13-year-old grabbed her bag and began to make her way to the cave entrance, the frog pointed to themselves and said:

Anne shot a bemused stare at the little frog in response. Apparently, the little dude didn’t realize that she couldn’t speak their language. Perhaps they were trying to introduce themselves? she wondered. However, she could have sworn she heard something like “Sprig” and “Plantar”. Maybe that was the frog’s name? The girl decided to confirm this by pointing to him and asking: “Sprig Plantar?”. Now it was the frog’s turn to look confused, perhaps finally realizing that she spoke a completely different language, before shrugging and saying:

Smiling, Anne then pointed to herself and said, “Anne Boonchuy”. “Sprig” was silent for a few moments as they were registering what she was saying, and then pointed to her and asked: “A-nne B-oon-chuy?”, to which the girl nodded her head in confirmation. Sprig extended their hand towards her, which she took in her own hand and shook, only to recoil in disgust as she found her hand covered in mucus. “Ok, so, your hand just barfed on my hand”, Anne said, even though she was fully aware that the frog couldn’t understand her.

At that moment, the rays of the early morning sun peeked through the branches of the trees as they left the cave behind and began their journey through the forest. Meanwhile, Sprig was enjoying the heat emanating from Anne’s body. A small smile graced her lips in response to their affection and she held them closer. Although the Earth girl was still apprehensive about returning to civilization, there was one thing that gave her the courage to do so: the desire to help the only friend she had in this world.

Xxxxxxx

The sky was ablaze with bright colors as the sun started to peek over the mountains surrounding the vast wetlands of Anuri Valley. The songs of birds began to pierce the stillness of the forest, which were joined by the calls of the citizens of Warwoo as they searched for the lost grandson of Hopidi Plantark. “Sprik! Sprik! Can ya hear me, boy?!”, the old man cried out. Pollia hopped on top of her grandfather’s head and shouted: “Sprik! Where are you, you big moof milker?!” The other villagers also called out to Sprik as they moved through the swamp. Even Mayor Toakstoo, Warwoo’s sleazy toad mayor, took the lead of the search for the lost frog youngling (after all, he had to keep a good image since it was an election year). Despite having spent half the night searching however, there was no sign of Sprik.

“Oh, dank farrik! That boy knows better than to go gallivantin’ into the woods during the middle of the night!”, exclaimed Hopidi before turning to Wallap. “And you! What in the galaxy were ya thinkin’ encouragin’ Sprik and Ivia in their foolish little escapade and lettin’ them go off on their own after some strange life form?! Why, these woods are full of mantarks and other nasty beasts! And even if he isn’t devoured by some wild animal, who's to say that human won’t try to harm him?!”, the old frog scolded. The younger blue frog removed his hat in shame, and he stared at the ground. “Gee, Hopidi. I am sorry. I didn’t mean for anything to happen to the lad. Why, I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to the boy”, said Wallap as tears began to well in his eyes.

Hopidi’s stern expression softened a little at this as tears began to gather in his own eyes. “You ain’t the only one. Sprik and Pollia are all I have in this world, and if anything were to happen to them…”, the frog farmer couldn’t bring himself to finish as big tears began to roll down his cheeks. Mrs. Croka placed a reassuring hand on Hopidi’s shoulder and smiled. “Don’t fret, young un’. Why, we won’t rest until we find Sprik. Besides, you Plantarks are a hardy bunch! I’m sure he’s just fine”, said the old woman, and then continued: “Now, let’s quit moanin’ and groanin’ and find that boy!”. Hopidi gave her a small, grateful smile and then continued calling out for Sprik.

Meanwhile, not too far off from the search party, Sprik was safe and secure in the arms of his new friend, “Anne”. As the two made their way back to town, Sprik couldn’t help but wonder about the strange human girl who was his savior. For one thing, it was now quite clear she couldn’t speak Basic. This was very unusual since as far as he knew, most humans spoke Basic. There was also the fact that, judging from her first reaction to him, she seemed a little skittish around other life forms, as if she had never seen another sentient being in her whole life. And while he wasn’t an expert in the fashion industries of other worlds, her torn and dirty clothes were unlike those of any planet he knew. Either way, it didn’t matter. He may not know much about Anne or understand what she was saying, but he could tell that she was all alone, afraid and most likely lost. Maybe she was the survivor of a shipwreck? Maybe she got separated from her family somehow? Does she even HAVE a family? the pink frog wondered. Regardless, she clearly needed help, and he was going to see to it that she was taken care of. After all, it was the least he could do since she had risked her life to save him from the mantark.

Sprik was drawn from his musings by Anne fiddling with his wristband. She pressed a button which activated his energy slingshot, which startled the girl. She stared at the small weapon, as if she had never seen anything like it before. He decided to show her how it worked by firing an electric pellet at fruit dangling in a nearby tree. The small bundle of energy sliced through the stem securing the fruit to the branch, which caused it to fall right into Sprik’s hands. The boy took a bite out of the fruit as the girl stared wide eyed in amazement.

Sprik then saw something sticking out of Anne’s skirt pocket. The human noticed this and grabbed the item so that the frog could get a better look. It appeared to be a small, rectangular device with a black screen. When he turned it over to the other side, he could see that there was some illustration of what appeared to be the face of some feline with the outline of its ears projecting from the top of the device. He flipped the device back over, and he noticed that there was a small button below the screen. When he pressed the button, the screen came to life, revealing an image of the girl and two other humans on either side of her, all making silly faces. From what he could tell, they both appeared to females, with the one on the left having a lighter skin tone than Anne’s, blond hair, and blue eyes while the one on the right had brown eyes and a skin tone that was somewhere between Anne’s and the other one. They were all dressed in the same type of strange clothes that Anne was wearing right now. The young frog suddenly noticed that she was gazing at the image with a forlorn expression and placed her hand on the screen.

I wonder who those people are? Are they family or friends of hers? Are they from the same planet that she’s from? he wondered. He then observed tears forming in the girl’s eyes. Whoever they were, she seemed to miss them a lot. The boy placed his hand in Anne’s much larger hands to comfort her, to which she responded with a gentle squeeze. “I know you can’t understand me, but I promise to help you in any way I can. Once we find Grandpa, I’m sure he’ll want to help too. I just hope he won’t kill me first”, reassured Sprik as he smiled at his new friend.

Suddenly, Anne stopped and looked around the woods, almost as if she had seen or heard something. “What is it, Anne?”, inquired Sprik, trying to get a glimpse of any movements and keeping his ears open for any sounds but not finding anything. He tried to remember: did humans have better vision and hearing than frogs or not? He knew for certain that they had a poor sense of smell. Speaking of smell, at that moment he caught the scent of something close by and very familiar….

“Grandpa! Pollia!”, exclaimed the frog as he attempted to jump from Anne’s arms. She of course didn’t allow it, so he had to settle with pointing excitedly in the direction of the scent. Sure enough, he started to hear his family and the other villagers calling out for him. “C’mon, Anne! My family is that way!”, cried Sprik. However, he noticed that she was nervous and starting to back away. “Whoa whoa Anne, what’s wrong? It’s ok, they won’t hurt you. They can help you!”, said Sprik while stroking her hand to reassure her. Anne hesitated at first, but when she looked at Sprik’s wound, she reluctantly began to follow the calls of the search party. As they walked, Sprik wondered if Anne was afraid of them, or did she sense something else as well…

Xxxxxxx

“Sprik!” “Sprik!” cried the townspeople as they continued their search, but there was still no sign of him. Hopidi was growing increasingly more worried, feeling that they should have found him by now. They had already been searching for half of the night, and now the sun had made its way above the treetops. “Ugh, we’ve been walkin’ all night, and my feet are killin’ me! Whaddya say we take a break?”, asked Mayor Toakstoo, plopping down in the shade of a nearby tree. The old man, however, became indignant at the very suggestion, exclaiming: “Break? BREAK!? How can you think of rest in a time like this!? My grandson could be wounded, or maybe being feasted on by wild animals as we speak!”

Toakstoo, on the other hand, merely snapped his fingers to summon his small frog assistant, Todi, who began fanning him. “Now simmer down there, Hopidi. I’m sure the boy is fine. Havin’ a conniption ain’t gonna help him. We’ll start lookin’ for him again once we’ve had a breather”, said the plump toad as he took a drink from a tray offered by Todi. Hopidi grew red in the face and emitted an angry croak. Before he could retort though, Besi, who was pulling their cart, began chirping frantically and tugging at her reins. The elderly frog ran to her and stroked her beak to soothe her. “Easy, old girl. What’s wrong?” her master asked as he started to search the forest in concern.

Suddenly, he could see something move in the bushes. The others did too, and they all began to grab blasters from the cart. They aimed their weapons at the trees, bracing themselves for whatever ferocious creature was lurking in the woods. At that moment, the group could make out a hissing sound, which was followed by the silhouette of a large animal slowly rising from the bushes. Hopidi recognized the outline as belonging to none other than that of a…

“MANTARK!!!!”, he screamed just as the animal burst through the brush and began shrieking at them. The other townsfolk immediately began firing their blasters at the monster, while Toakstoo let out a high-pitched yelp and hid behind the cart (and Todi) for protection. All of a sudden, the mantark stopped in its tracks and then slowly backed into the forest. Thinking that they had managed to drive off the beast, the townspeople cheered in victory. Hopidi, on the other hand, did not share their confidence. Wait a second. That mantark was green. If I recall correctly, that means it was a male. And female mantarks are larger and more aggressive and have been known to eat males outside of matin’ season. If that’s the case, then maybe it wasn’t our blasters that scared it off…, as if in response to his thoughts, a red mantark at least as three times as large as the previous one came tearing through the trees.

The crowd was silent at first, until Pollia broke the silence by uttering: “Oh, bantha poodo”. The predator then let loose an ear-piercing, earth-shattering shriek as the townsfolk opened fire. Unfortunately, the bolts could not penetrate its tough exoskeleton and the beast began to swipe its claws at the amphibians. At this point, the frogs could do nothing but jump out of the way of the claws and run for their lives.

Meanwhile, as Anne and Sprik were getting close to the group, they heard the screams of both the mantark and of the villagers. “Oh no, Grandpa, Pollia! I’ve gotta go help them. You wait here!”, said Sprik as he motioned for Anne to hide in a bush. He activated his slingshot and went charging into battle. When he arrived, he saw that the monster had cornered his grandfather and Pollia. “You wanna piece of me?! Come on, let’s dance!”, shouted the tiny polliwog, making boxing motions with her tiny flippers. Unphased by Pollia’s threats, the mantark prepared to strike a deadly blow at the two frogs. Before it could do so, a small ball of energy hit it on the back of the head. The creature turned its head to face its attacker.

Sprik prepared another energy pellet but had to jump out of the way of the claws of an angry mantark. He landed with a roll and was about to activate his slingshot again when he noticed that it had been damaged! “Uh oh”, muttered Sprik as the now defenseless frog looked up to see a mantark scythe claw about to come down on top of him. The boy let out a scream and braced himself to be sliced in half. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes to see that Anne had caught the claw and was holding back with all her strength. That wasn’t what shocked him, however. The shocking part was when the mantark was about to attack with another claw, Anne lifted her hand, and the beast went flying back!

Anne looked at her hand in amazement, almost as if she were also shocked by what had just happened. She quickly recovered, though, when she saw that the mantark was charging straight at them again. Seeing some rope in the cart, Anne grabbed it and then leapt high into the air, higher than any human should be capable of jumping (or even any frog for that matter). She landed on the back of the animal and began using the rope to restrain it. Realizing what she was doing, Sprik grabbed more rope and ran around the beast’s legs to wrap them. Eventually, the beast was completely tied up and toppled to the ground with one last scream. Hopidi took this opportunity to blast the creature’s head, silencing it for good.

“It’s down!”, cried Toakstoo as the Warwooians cheered. Anne immediately ran over to Sprik to make sure that he was okay. The boy was not only unharmed but was also practically gushing over her newfound abilities. “Whoa, that was awesome!! I don’t think I’ve seen anyone jump that high before! And you just lifting your hand and pushing that mantark back?! How did you DO that?!”, shouted Sprik as he waved his arms excitedly in the air. Anne simply stared at her hands, like she couldn’t believe that she was capable of such amazing feats either. Just then, a loud “SPRIK PLANTARK!” made the frog in question jump. “Oh, poodoo. Grandpa’s gonna kill me”, groaned Sprik as Hopidi made a beeline towards him with his little sister perched on his head.

The orange frog wrapped his arm around his grandson in a tight embrace. “Oh, Sprik! I thought I lost you!”, he said as tears started pouring down his face. However, his countenance quickly turned to a stern expression, and he began to scold Sprik: “What in galaxy’s name were ya thinkin’ boy?! Ya know better than to go runnin’ off like that! I was worried sick that somethin’ happened to ya! And not only that, but the entire town has also been scouring the woods all night looking for ya and we nearly got killed by that mantark!”. He gestured to the dead monster at that last remark.

Ashamed, Sprik looked at the ground and kicked the dirt with his foot. “I’m really sorry, Grandpa”, he said, “what I did last night was really dumb.” “You bet it was!” “Yes, really, really dumb” said Pollia and Hopidi respectively. The boy walked over to Anne’s side and grabbed her hand, saying: “But before you get too mad at me, we need to help this girl! Her name is Anne Boonchuy. She doesn’t speak Basic, but I think she’s lost and all alone and needs help! And besides, she saved me when I was knocked unconscious by a mantark! We should take care of-”. “Good gracious, boy! You’re hurt!, exclaimed the old man, pointing to the crude bandage on his chest. “I’ll be fine, Grandpa. But Anne needs help too!,” insisted Sprik, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

The older frog examined the human girl in front of him while scratching his face. Based on what he knew about humans, she appeared to be in her early teens. She had tan colored skin, thick, curly hair with sticks and leaves tangled in it, and brown eyes. Her clothes, which were dirty and tattered, were unlike any he had ever seen before. She was wearing a light gray shirt with a purple color and some sort of symbol, a short purple skirt and pink backpack. The girl had a bright yellow shoe on one foot that appeared to be fastened with strings. The other foot was missing its shoe, however, with only a dirty sock covering it. She was also skinny, filthy and covered in scrapes and bruises. He noticed that there was a cut on her right arm that was poorly bandaged and starting to become infected. One thing was for sure, this child was one of the sorriest sights he had ever seen.

“Ok, um, Anne, can ya understand us?”, asked Hopidi after a long period of silence. The girl merely stared at him, fear and confusion in her eyes. A human who don’t speak Basic? That’s like a Hutt who don’t speak Huttese, mused Hopidi. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to help Anne if they couldn’t communicate with her. On the other hand, he couldn’t just leave a child to fend for herself in the wilderness. The fact that she was rummaging through the garbage probably indicated that she was starving. She needed someone to look after her at least until they could find out where she came from and where her family was.

Eventually, after thinking it over, Hopidi said: “Alright, until we can find a way to talk to Anne and find out what planet she’s from, I’ll look after her. In the meantime, I propose that we send out search parties to see if we can find any wrecked starcruisers. Who knows, maybe she belongs to a group of shipwreck survivors and got separated from ‘em. If that’s the case, they may need help too. But for now, let’s go home and get some rest. I think we all had enough excitement for one day”.

The townsfolk grumbled amongst themselves about “having another mouth to feed”, especially one that was an offworlder and another species. Still, amphibian or not, she was still a kid, and they couldn’t just turn her away, so they had to accept her whether they liked it or not. So, they just sighed and began dragging away the mantark’s body. After all, they may be vicious beasts, but they were delicious when cooked.

Hopidi turned to his grandson, who was staring at the ground again. “I’m sorry, Grandpa. I didn’t mean to put myself and everyone in danger. I guess I’m pretty irresponsible, huh?”, said Sprik with a heavy sigh. “Well, running off like that and putting yourself at risk was irresponsible. But you were willing to help a stranger from another world and species who don’t even speak the same language as you. That was pretty noble of ya. We’ll talk more later, but right now, I’m happy you’re safe”, said Hopidi, gently patting Sprik on the head. “Now, let’s get home so we can look at your injuries, as well as getting Anne cleaned up and getting some food in her”, he continued and began making his way to Besi and the cart.

Sprik grabbed the hand of his new friend and began to gently guide her to follow his family. When they reached the cart, Anne stared at it in confusion, as if she had never seen anything like it before. She walked over to the vehicle and waved her hand underneath like she was looking for whatever was holding it up. Hopidi shook his head and wondered where in the galaxy this strange human was from. Besi chirping then drew Anne’s attention and she walked over to her. “That’s Besi! She’s our snirda! You can pet her if you want. She’s very gentle”, said Sprik as he stroked their steed’s head feathers. The girl reluctantly reached out and stroked her neck. The beast then licked her, to which she responded by laughing. She pointed to Besi and asked: “Bessie the snird?” “Wow, she can actually talk! Although, not very well, apparently”, said Pollia. “POLLIA! Be polite!” scolded Sprik. “What?! It’s not like she can understand us”, retorted the little tadpole with a shrug.

“Polly?”, asked Anne as she pointed to Sprik’s little sister. “Not even close!”, cried the polliwog as raised her flippers in exasperation. “Now Pollia, we have to be patient with Anne. Learning a language ain’t easy, ya know”, chided Hopidi. The girl in question turned her attention to the older man. Realizing that she probably wanted to learn his name, the elder pointed to himself and said slowly: “Hopidi”. After thinking for a moment, Anne asked: “Hop Pop?”. “HOP POP?!” exclaimed the frog, while Sprik and Pollia couldn’t help but laugh. “You know, I actually kind of like that! Hop Pop!”, said Sprik as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Hmph! Very funny!”, said Hopidi as he put his hands on his hips. He then continued: “Alright, now that we’ve had our fun, let’s head on home. We can worry about teaching Anne Basic later”.

The frog family began to board the cart, with Anne climbing in after a moment’s hesitation. With a snap of Besi’s reigns, they were off as they made their way through the woods to their farm. Along the way, Sprik explained to his grandfather exactly what had happened and how he had found Anne. Hopidi was a bit surprised when his grandson said that the human seemed to sense his presence before she saw him. After Sprik had told him everything, he thought about how agile she had been when fighting the mantark and how she had been able to push it back by lifting up her hand. She couldn’t be one of THEM, could she? They’re so rare, especially these days. Still, I wonder… Hopidi turned to look at the kid and saw that Sprik was sitting in Anne’s lap while Pollia was perched on top of her head, excited at the chance to see what human hair felt like. One thing is certain, he thought as he returned his gaze to the road, she’s certainly not like any human I’ve seen before.

Chapter 4: The Homestead

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter IV: The Homestead

Anne was silent as the weird floating cart thing crawled along the dusty paths that meandered through the woods and fields of crops (or at least, that’s what she thought they were, anyways). Not that she had anything to say, for even if she did want to have a conversation with this alien frog family, the notable language barrier between them created a verbal wall that none of them were able to climb over for now. So, the only thing that the adolescent could do was sit quietly and watch, the rural scenery of this fantastical world rolling past her. This meant that most of the trip was spent in a sleepy silence, save for the soft whirring of the engines of the cart and the footsteps of the purple dinosaur bird at the reins.

A slight stirring in her arms summoned Anne from her thoughts. She directed her attention to Sprig sleeping in her arms, who was curled up against her chest and bundled in the old frog’s cloak. She supposed that it was best to let the little guy sleep. They were still wounded, after all, and therefore needed to rest. The teen could also feel Sprig’s younger sibling, “Polly”, rustling in her hair. The tadpole had made a little nest in there, and was also sound asleep. Normally, the very thought of touching frogs would have made the brunette squeamish, let alone letting one crawl all over her or lie in her arms. And yet, while the slimy sensation of their mucus coats against her own skin did take some getting used to, the human had to admit that she overall didn’t mind it that much. In fact, it was strangely comforting, almost like snuggling close to her parents and her cat on the couch back home. At any rate, at least they weren’t trying to shoot her.

Deciding that maybe they had the right idea, Anne leaned back carefully so as to not to disturb the two sleeping frog children. She was about ready to doze off herself when the cart suddenly jerked to a halt, which stirred Sprig and Polly. , shouted “Hop Pop”. Annoyed at the abrupt disturbance, the teenager jumped out of the cart to see why they had stopped. As the dust that had been kicked up from her landing settled, she could make out the outline of a building. It appeared to be a house of some sort that was very old, so much so that Anne was amazed that it was even still standing.

It was a largely wooden structure that appeared to have been carved from the stump of a very large tree. It was about three stories high with a large red wooden roof covering the first two stories and a little thatched roof covering the third. There was some kind of antenna that projected off the building, which looked like it was literally held together by this world’s equivalent of duct tape. A small chimney poked through the thatch on the third floor and near the door hung a sign that Anne assumed bore the Plantars’ family emblem. A window was located on each story, with the one on the uppermost level open to allow a beat-up electric telescope to jut through. The back of the house faced a small lake where there was a small dock that served as the back porch. The entire building was covered with moss and vines, further betraying its age.

THIS is their house? Well, it beats living in a cave, I guess , thought Anne as she observed the ramshackle home. She watched as the old frog led the snird, “Bessie”, to a small, thatched hut that she guessed was the barn where they kept both the beast and their cart. Glancing down at Sprig, who was still in her arms, the Thai girl decided to get them inside the house. She walked over to the house with Polly bouncing behind her. As they approached, Anne noticed that there was a battered metal door that was a faded yellow, having lost its brilliancy with the passage of time. To the left was a small light, and to the right there was a small control panel with a large red button. Concluding that it was the button to open the door, the brunette pressed it, only for nothing to happen. “Ugh, what’s wrong with this stupid thing?!”, groaned the frustrated girl as she pounded the door with her fist. It was then that she felt something wet and slimy tap her on the shoulder. She shuddered a little from the mucus soaking through her shirt onto her skin, and then turned to face the owner of the little pink finger that had drawn her attention. , said Sprig, who then proceeded to kick the control panel, which resulted in the door opening. “How technical”, quipped Anne as the children entered the house.

The interior consisted of a large living room populated with sparse furnishings, including a ratty old couch. There was another room attached to the living room and if the rusty machinery passing as appliances were any indication, it was the kitchen. Near the entry was a room that served as a bedroom and an office, which Anne guessed belonged to Hop Pop. However, the rooms, while shabby in appearance, were very clean and well organized. A large cylindrical structure was attached to the floor on the far side of the room. It had metal grating with very thin slices open, revealing an orange glow. Anne noted that all the appliances from the kitchen were plugged into the machine in a long bundle of combined wires running between both rooms. However, it was also emitting a heat that made the room feel warm and inviting. The girl concluded that this was some kind of furnace and generator combined into one. Overall, the home had the strange vibe of being both dilapidated and homey at the same time.

Just then, Anne felt another wet finger tap her gently on the leg, which was followed by another shudder (she still had to get used to slimy frog skin). She looked down to see Hop Pop, who had finished putting Bessie away. They motioned for her to follow them, to which she complied as they began making their way about a flight of stairs located straight across from them. The stairs creaked and groaned under their weight as they ascended, to the point where the teenager wondered if the steps would give out from underneath her, seeing as they just seemed to barely support the weight of the frogs.

Once they reached the top, the group made their way down a hallway. They passed by a room littered with robot parts, various alien weapons, and tools. There was a small container filled with water in the center of the room, which led Anne to deduce that this room belonged to Polly. WHY there was water amid all these electronics was a mystery to the girl (although perhaps of greater concern was why a small child had so many weapons).

They continued to the room next door, which was yet another bedroom. There were various extraterrestrial plants hanging in pots and jars from the ceiling, in addition to some model spaceships suspended among (painted) stars. There were toys and clothes scattered all over the place. The walls were plastered with posters, including one with some blonde-haired dude with a prosthetic arm and a blue light rod that was either a magic wand or some kind of weapon. Figuring that this must be Sprig’s room, Anne entered and placed the frog in a hammock which was hung between two posts, tucking them in snuggly. Once she was satisfied that they had been settled in comfortably, she turned to face Hop Pop, who was standing in the doorway.

The orange frog gave the Thai girl a grateful nod, and then said to Polly:
The little pollywog hopped towards the human and then motioned for her to follow them down the hall. The older child followed the purple ball bouncing down the hallway, all the while being careful so as to not accidentally step on the small frog. When they stopped in front of another room, Polly pointed their flipper and nodded towards the room in question. ,
the young frog said, before hopping off.

Anne pressed a red button on a small console to the side of the door, which slid open with a whoosh to reveal a room that somewhat resembled a bathroom back on Earth. There was a rusty pole with ledges protruding from it at different angles, including one that resembled a shower head. A shower! Sure, it looked like it had seen better days, but still, for someone who hadn’t bathed for a couple of weeks, it was certainly a sight for sore eyes (provided it had warm water). Anne didn’t really have any clothes to change into, but at least she could stop smelling like a zombie had just puked on her. The teen also noticed a rectangular structure which was attached to the wall. It contained a large hole, which led her to believe that this was supposed to be a toilet. While it most certainly was not the cleanest toilet she had ever seen, it was at the very least better than digging a hole in the middle of the woods whenever she had to answer the call of nature. Speaking of which…

Xxxxxx

“You were lucky, boy”, lectured Hopidi as he finished wrapping the bacta-soaked bandage around his grandson’s waist. “This wound could have been a lot worse. But after a couple of weeks rest, you should be fit enough to pull of the ears off a gundark”, proclaimed the old frog, pulling the blanket back over Sprik. “Seriously?! I’m stuck in bed for a couple of weeks?!” complained the boy, only for his grandfather to put a finger over his snout. “Now, I don’t wanna hear it, young frog! If Anne weren’t there to save yer skin, you would have been mantark meat. Besides, with you in bedrest, maybe you’ll stay out of trouble. Now, get some sleep”, said the elderly amphibian while gathering up his medical supplies. “Can Anne at least come say good night? Pleeaasseee?”, pleaded Sprik, pulling off the most pathetic begging face in the entire history of the galaxy with eyes that could inspire pity out of Emperor Palpatine himself. Rolling his eyes, his grandfather relented: “Alright, Sprik. I’ll go see if she’s done and send her over to ya. She outta be done by now. Girl’s been in the ‘fresher for over an hour…”.

He grabbed the medical supplies and walked over to the refresher. When he had arrived, Hopidi knocked on the metal door to see if Anne was almost done.

“¤¶§¥ €⅏ ⅎↈ↊ ∩ↆ ╖ ╗┼ⱤⱵⱷꜩꜯ”, came the teenaged human’s reply from the other side. Um, ok. Hopefully that means she’s almost done . Just how does it take for humans to clean themselves anyways? the frog wondered as he observed steam coming from under the door. He was about to knock again when the door opened, releasing the steam that had been pent up in the refresher. Taking this as a sign that the girl was at least decent, Hopidi entered the room.

As the mist cleared, he could see Anne had donned the ragged clothes she had been wearing earlier. He concluded that she probably didn’t have anything good to change into (he would have to see about getting her some clothes later). She was at least somewhat clean, albeit there were still several leaves and sticks tangled in her hair. She was currently trying to comb them out with a brush, but thanks to the humidity of this planet, her poofy mane might as well be a magnet for any loose debris.

“ↈ∆⸙ ⸶⸿꜠ ⸛⸋ ⸎ ₴₸⁂ ꜯⱵ∆₴ ꜩ┼₴∆ ↈꜩ┼ ⱷⱤ ⸿ꜯ Ꜣⱷ₸⸙⸘”cried the frustrated youngling as her comb became entangled in her thick curls. She was eventually able to free the comb with a yank, but she hit her left arm on the sink in the process. Not only that, but it was in the area where her infected cut was, further aggravating it.

Anne grimaced in pain as she clutched her arm close to her chest. As Hopidi observed the wound, he noticed that the angry swelling had transformed a decent area of the brown skin on her arm to be as red as the lava flows of Mustafar. Hopidi decided that he should probably tend to her injury before he put the medical supplies away. The elder cleared his throat to get Anne’s attention, which made the girl jump. Sheesh. Take it easy there, kiddo , he thought, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good to tell her directly. He then gently grabbed her hand and led her over to sit on the shower base.

Hopidi grabbed a bacta-soaked bandage from the bag. Anne stared at the medicated cloth and then sniffed it, almost as if the scent of the bacta was unfamiliar to her. Sufferin’ satellites. This girl’s ain’t never seen bacta before? the frog mused, noting the bemused and slightly concerned look on Anne’s face. Scratching the skin under his mouth, he dug through the bag and retrieved a small jar filled with blue liquid. Hopidi pointed at the jar and said slowly: “This is called bacta. Bac-ta ”. The teen was silent for a moment, but then she also pointed to the jar and repeated: “ Bac-ta ”. He took a bandage and soaked it in the liquid, pulling out slowly to let it drip any remaining loose bacta into the jar. He then held the now saturated bandage and pointed to her arm, hoping the human would register what he gestured.

Anne, however, pressed her arm protectively against her chest, clearly not comfortable with the idea of some unknown fluid touching her skin. “Oh, dank farrik girl! This will help yer arm heal! We need to treat yer cut before the infection gets worse!”, exclaimed a frustrated Hopidi as he tugged at what little hair he had left. When he saw the girl flinch, he paused for a few minutes and took a couple of deep breaths to compose himself. Perhaps we need to try a different approach , Hopidi mused. He grabbed Anne’s hand and gently guided her back to Sprik’s room.

Sprik immediately perked up when he saw Anne walk into his bedroom. The girl in turn seemed to relax a little upon seeing that his wounds had been treated and that it seemed like he would be alright. Taking note of this, Hopidi held up the bandage from earlier and then pointed to the ones wrapped around his grandson’s waist. When the pink frog co*cked his head in confusion at this, the older frog explained: “Apparently, Anne has no idea what bacta is. I’m tryin’ to show her that this stuff will fix her arm up in the same way that it’s helpin’ you”. Nodding in understanding, Sprik scooped a handful of bacta from the jar and rubbed over his chest, releasing a relieved sigh. “See? Bacta stop hurt”, the boy said. “Alright, boy. No need to oversell it. Besides, that stuff is expensive”, said Hopidi, yanking the jar away and placing it back in the bag.

“Bacta…stop hurt?”, inquired Anne while pointing to her wound after a moment’s hesitation. The frogs nodded in confirmation. Another pause, and then the human girl exclaimed:

“⸶⸙₸ⱷ ꜢⱤ ⸎⸛⁂₴ ꜯ₸꜠⸛ ⸿ↈ∆Ⱶꜩ ⸋ⱷ┼₸ꜯ”

“Ehhh..” “Whaaaa?”, said Hopidi and Pollia respectively, both clearly bewildered as to the meaning of Anne’s outburst. “I think we convinced her, Grandpa”, said Sprik. The brunette grabbed a stool next to Hopidi, eagerly extending her arm towards the old frog.

After leaning back in order to avoid being knocked down by her arm, the head of the Plantark family wrapped the bandage around her arm. Anne’s face scrunched up in pain from the cloth rubbing against the inflamed area of her arm. Once he had finished wrapping up her arm, though, her face relaxed, her countenance now calm and tranquil. She stared at the bandage on her arm as if she were surprised at how soothing the bacta was.

“See Anne, bacta….stop…huuuurrt”, Sprik said, before exhaustion finally claimed him. The little frog was now alternating between snoring and croaking. Anne smiled a little, then she walked over to the hammock and gently tucked the boy in. Hopidi watched the tender scene in front of him and displayed his gratitude with a smile of his own. However, the touching moment was interrupted by a loud growling noise.

“What was that?! Did a wanlok sneak in here?”, cried Pollia, although not so loud as to wake up her older brother. The two awake frogs turned their attention to the source of the noise, which turned out to be the growling stomach of a blushing human teenaged child. “Looks like someone is hungry. Can’t say I’m surprised though. Why, it’s probably been ages since ya had a decent meal. Let’s get ya downstairs and find something for ya to eat”, said Hopidi, grabbing Anne’s hand to guide her to the kitchen.

As they entered the kitchen, it occurred to Hopidi that he had no idea what humans liked to eat. He knew that they were omnivores, but that was the extent of his knowledge of the human diet. Looks like I’m gonna havta investigate human nutrition. Come to think of it, if I’m gonna look after Anne for a while, I reckon I might want to do some research on humans in general. Maybe then I could find some clues on her possible home world , the old man pondered as he scanned the cupboards to see if there was anything that might appeal to his new ward. For now, though, he would just have to make do with what he had.

“Oh, how about slug beetle gloomroot pancakes? It’s the one thing you can make that is mostly edible”, inquired Pollia, who was sitting on top of Anne’s head. This remark earned a glare from her grandfather, to which she responded with a shrug. “Hey, I just call it like it is. Your cooking is the reason we keep ending up in last place and why we have to spend the night in the Shame Cage every year at the village potluck”, the tadpole retorted. While Hopidi was rather annoyed at his granddaughter’s brutal comment about his cooking, he did admit that her suggestion might be something that Anne could stomach, so he decided to go with it.

Not wanting to let her have the last word, though, Hopidi responded with his own comeback as he started gathering ingredients: “Ya know, yer one to talk, considerin’ how yer ‘droids’ are more like thermal detonators”. “Very funny, Grandpa”, grumbled Pollia as she crossed her little flippers. “You know, I could build us a protocol droid so we can communicate with Anne”, said the little frog. “That won’t be necessary. However, if you wanna make yerself useful, you can set up a bed for Anne in the basem*nt while I’m cookin’”, the older frog responded, mixing the batter for the pancakes. The polliwog groaned, but went downstairs to do as she was told.

Once the batter was ready, Hopidi poured it into a skillet on the stove. While he was baking the pancake, he looked over his shoulder to see how Anne was doing. The girl had a small, crude device in her hands and was holding it up, moving it slightly to and fro. Just then, Pollia rolled her way over to the kitchen, having just finished setting up Anne’s “room” in the basem*nt. Upon seeing the older girl’s device, she jumped back onto her head and tried to grab it from the human’s hands.

“Oh, what is that? Can I see it? Is something wrong with it? I can fix it!”, cried the little polliwog as she vainly attempted to grab the device. Realizing that this wasn’t going to get her anywhere, Pollia decided to resort to drastic measures. She hopped onto the table and looked up at Anne with the biggest, saddest face she could muster. The larger girl finally sighed and turned the device so that it was facing the tadpole.

It appeared to be a small, primitive computer. On the screen there were small squares with different icons, which were superimposed over a picture of a black and white feline-like creature. When Pollia swiped the screen with her flipper, she could make different icons appear. Ok. So, we have a touch screen. Is this some kind of handheld computer? she wondered. Pollia then noticed that there were some icons on the bottom of the screen that, unlike the others, remained stationary. She pressed on one that had what looked like a small speech bubble. Several speech bubbles came into view, each containing some kind of text. Unfortunately, she couldn’t decipher the words, since they were written in a strange language. One thing was for sure, though, this indicated that this tiny computer also served as a communication device of sorts.

Hmm, if it can be used for communication, then maybe that’s why she’s waving it around. She’s trying to connect it to some communication network. Maybe even contact her family or her home world! Pollia deduced. In order to confirm her theory, she grabbed a comlink that was sitting on one end of the table. She then rolled back over to Anne and pointed at the small, metallic cylinder, saying slowly: “Comlink. Talk with this”. To demonstrate, she turned on the device and placed the speaker in front of her mouth. “Talk to Grandpa”, Pollia spoke into the microphone. However, since her comlink was in close range with Hopidi’s, all that came out of the second communicator were loud, screeching feedback noises that nearly shattered the ears of the group.

“Sweet moons of Gozgo! What are ya doing, girl?! Are ya trying to make us all deaf?”, cried Hopidi as he nearly dropped his comlink in the process of turning it off. “Sorry, Grandpa. I’m trying to show Anne how a comlink is used to communicate and see if that little contraption she has is also a communicator”, the little tadpole sheepishly confessed, her skin changing color from purple to a dark red. “I think she’s trying to find a way to contact her home”, the girl continued, to which Hopidi responded by nodding his head in understanding. After flipping over the pancake so it would not burn, the old frog walked into the living room. After a few minutes, the old timer’s voice echoed through his granddaughter’s comlink: “Talk to Pollia”.

Anne stared in silence for a few minutes before pointing at the comlinks and saying: “Walkie talkie?”. Hopidi and Pollia stared at each other in confusion, but after a short period of silence they nodded tentatively. The tadpole then pointed at Anne’s device and asked: “Talk with this?”. The human looked at the comlink, then at her device. Putting two and two together, Anne nodded and held up the small machine, saying: “Phone. Talk with this”. Pollia then grabbed Hopidi’s comlink and while holding them close together, said: “Connect?”. Anne waved her communicator in the air some air, and then after releasing a discouraged sigh, said: “No connect”.

Pollia scratched her head with her flippers, deep in thought. Having an idea, she grabbed Anne’s “phone” and brought it close to the comlinks. “Connect?” she asked Anne, hoping she would understand what she meant. Another pause, and the girl shook her head and put her phone back in her pocket. “Ah c’mon! Why won’t anyone give me a chance?!” cried the mech wannabe, indignantly crossing her flippers. “I don’t know, but that contraption clearly means somethin’ to her, and she may not trust ya with it. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t be messin’ with strange technology, especially when the stuff ya tinker with tends to go ‘ka-boom’ on ya”, said Hopidi. “Uh huh, your pancake’s burning”, Pollia snickered. Right on cue, smoke wafted in from the kitchen, setting off the smoke sensors. “Dank ferrik!” he cursed as he dashed into the kitchen to save the pancake, resulting in laughter from both girls.

A few minutes later, Hopidi returned to the table with a slightly burned, yet still mostly edible pancake on a plate. He placed the dish in front of Anne. The human girl stared at the pancake with a scrunched-up face, picking at the beetles with her fork. “What’s the matter? Did I burn it too much?”, Hopidi asked when the girl pushed back her plate. “I think it’s because she doesn’t like bugs. That, and it’s your cooking”, Pollia replied. “What, is my food not good enough for the princess?”, said the scorned cook sarcastically, even though he knew Anne couldn’t understand him. If she could though, the older frog had a feeling that she would most certainly have responded with a sassy comeback. This girl ain’t even been here for one rotation and she’s already startin’ to get on my nerves! he fumed, his chest bulging as he let loose a furious croak.

He pointed his index finger in the air, about ready to scold Anne when suddenly the teenager’s stomach grumbled loudly again. The girl looked down at the pancakes, sighed, and put on a brave face as she cut up a piece and lifted it up to her mouth. As the girl chewed the crunchy beetles, she tried her best not to vomit. Eventually, she mustered enough strength to swallow, shuddering afterwards. “There, ya see, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” said Hopidi as Anne prepared herself mentally and physically to take another bite. Just then, a buzzing noise came echoing from the living room. “Oh, now what?” groaned the Plantark patriarch as he walked over to the door. “Hmmph, I’ll show him. I'll show them all!” mumbled Pollia. Having an idea, she hopped off the table and bounced her way towards the stairs.

Hopidi pressed the button on the side control panel and the door slid open to reveal Lopiba Loggle, the old Gungan droidsmith. The taller amphibian had turquoise skin, a flat bill with white whiskers, blue eyes resting on short eyestalks, and two long fin-like ears, or haillus. He was wearing a pale-yellow shirt, long black pants, and a brown, greased, patched up apron. A red bandana was wrapped around his neck, and a pair of green goggles were perched on top of his head. “Heyo, Hopidi! Howsen doen Sprik?” greeted Loggle.

“Loggle! Sprik’s doin’ fine. He’s a little sore, but with rest, he should recover just fine. What brings ya here?”, said the frog to the Gungan. “Oh, what’n moi relief! Anyho, meesa known’ Anne no spek Basic. So, I brougtn’ protocol droid!” said Loggle, motioning to a blue droid that was roughly humanoid in form. “Really?! Loggle, yer a lifesaver”, the frog happily exclaimed. “Greetings, sir! I am FZ-77, human-cyborg relations”, said the droid in a female voice. “So, I take it yer an interpreter?”, inquired Hopidi as he walked around the automaton to inspect her. “Why, yes sir. I am fluent in over 8 million forms of communication. I am also well-versed in many customs-”, said the droid before being interrupted by Hopidi: “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure ya are. But I’m more interested in the interpreten’ part”. “Spaken of which, howsen doen Anne? Shesa adjusten’ okey-dokey?”, asked Loggle as the other amphibian led them both inside.

“About as well as she can, I’d say. She’s in the kitchen right now choking down some slug beetle glumroot pancakes. I think that the fact that she’s starvin’ is the only reason why she’s eatin’ ‘em in the first place”, sighed Hopidi. Sure enough, they arrived at the kitchen in time to see Anne gagging and moaning after having swallowed the last bite of her pancake. She then looked over at the group, her expression a mixture of shocked and slightly apprehensive when she saw Loggle. “Whatsen matter?”, asked Loggle as he noticed the girl staring at him. “Oh, she tends to be a lil’ skittish around other species. I’m thinkin’ that whatever planet she’s from, they don’t get a lotta off-world visitors. In fact, imma thinkin’ that this world must be really underdeveloped. Girl’s ain’t never seen things like repulsorlifts before and she didn’t even know what bacta was ” , explained Hopidi.

“Mesa sees. Thatsen could bean da reason why shesa no spek Basic”, mused Loggle, stroking his whiskers thoughtfully. “Speaking of, let's see if that droid of yours can communicate with her”, said Hopidi. He and the droid walked over to the kitchen table where Anne was sitting. Pointing at FZ, he spoke slowly: “This is a droid”. “Robot?”, asked Anne. “No. Dr-oi-d”, corrected Hopidi. The girl tilted her head quizzically, then said: “Dr-oi-d?”. The old frog nodded his head affirmatively, and then stepped aside so FZ could approach her. “ Ha kuwa ton Huttese? ” said FZ. No response. “ Acuwa kok Rodian? ”, inquired FZ, only to be met with silence.

This cycle was repeated over and over again, with the same results every time. After about an hour, Hopidi and Loggle were snoring on the couch and Anne was slumped over in her chair, her eyes rolled clear into the back of her head. Finally, the girl stood up and shouted in an exasperated voice that stirred the two elderly amphibians:

₴ↈ⁂Ɽ, ⱷ꜠∆Ꜣ⸛⸎ⱷ₸ ꜯ⸋Ⱶ⸿⸙ꜩↈⱵ”.

A long period of silence followed. Finally, FZ turned to the two amphibians and said: “I am sorry sir. But it appears that her language is not in my database”. “ARE YOU KRIFFING ME?!?! It took you ONE HOUR for you to figure that out?!” blurted Hopidi, whose skin turned from orange to bright red. The furious frog facepalmed his forehead, then turned to Loggle and pleaded: “ Please tell me ya have ‘nother protocol droid?” Loggle pointed a finger in the air, saying: “Asen a mader of fact, mesa doooo..”. However, he then dropped his finger and finished his sentence: “…ooooon’t. Mesa don’t.”.

Loggle was notorious for a vocal tic that he suffered after a terrible accident. This made him a bit of an outcast among his native people on Naboo. It didn’t help that his skin color was abnormal for Gungans. It was for these reasons, along with trying to escape the iron grip of the Galactic Empire, that Loggle had immigrated to Amphibia and settled in Warwoo. Even though he was an off-worlder, the villagers eventually accepted the Gungan since he was an amphibian himself. His skills as a droidsmith were also a highly valued asset for the maintenance of droids crucial for farmwork and other necessary functions. Thus, his vocal tic was tolerated for the most part, although it could be annoying in certain circ*mstances such as this.

The exasperated frog heaved a heavy sigh. “Well, that leaves us with only one option: we’ll havta teach Anne Basic”, said Hopidi while wearily rubbing his temples. “No need, Grandpa!” came Pollia’s voice from the stairs. She hopped to the bottom step and pointed a flipper to herself. “Yours truly has built her own protocol droid. I downloaded one of the most up to date and comprehensive language data banks in the galaxy. I bet one of those languages is Anne’s native language”, said the tadpole, her face aglow with prideful satisfaction.

Hopidi and Loggle looked at each other, gasped, and bolted up the stairs towards Pollia’s room. They had just opened the doors when they were thrown back against the hallway wall by an explosion. Droid parts and pieces flew every which way, with an arm landing in Loggle’s mouth. Just then, the door to Sprik’s room opened, revealing the small pink frog sticking out his head. “Let me guess, one of Pollia’s ‘droids’?” asked Sprik nonchalantly.

Just then, Anne came running up the stairs with Pollia in her arms to investigate the explosion, her jaw dropping when she saw the aftermath. Hopidi shot a glare at the polliwog, who grinned sheepishly. “Whoops, looks like I crossed the wrong wires again”, said the tadpole as beads of mucus formed on her head. “Sorry ‘bout that Loggle. Are ya alright?” said Hopidi, as he helped Loggle get the droid arm out of his mouth. “Meesa okey-dokey. That non first time droid blowsen in meesa face. No last time eider”, said the blue amphibian, albeit after nearly gagging from the taste of metal in his mouth.

At that moment, FZ had made her way up the stairs to join the group. “Is everyone alright? I heard an explosion from downstairs and- OH MY!” she cried upon seeing the remains of Pollia’s droid scattered all over the hallway. “That poor droid never got the chance to live”, the protocol droid lamented, picking up the droid arm that had been in Loggle’s mouth. “POLLIA PLANTARK!! What have I told you about your droids?!” scolded Hopidi. “Sorry, Grandpa. I was only trying to help”, said the little tadpole, drooping in shame.

Hopidi pinched his snout and sighed. “Look, I don’t have the time or energy to deal with this. Just clean up this mess”, he said. “Yes, Grandpa”, his granddaughter said defeatedly, hopping downstairs to grab a broom. The two adult amphibians, Anne, and FZ also made their way down the stairs. “Well, that was a bust”, moaned Hopidi as he escorted Loggle and FZ to the door. “Looks like until we find out where Anne’s from, she’s stuck with us for a while”, he added.

“Noen need ta worry, Hopidi. Da surch parties willsen move out next cycle. Ifsen wesa finda crashed starships, wesa leten yousa know”, reassured Loggle. “Thanks, Loggle. Oh, here’s a credit for yer lettin’ us rent FZ”, said Hopidi, handing a credit to the Gungan. “I apologize for not being able to be of much service. I do hope I can better serve you again in the future,” lamented FZ. “Noen worrysen, Zeef. Yousa doen bess yousa could. Mightsa see if meesa can upsen your language databanks when wesa get home. See ifsen thatsa helps”, said Loggle. “Thanks again, Loggle”, said the old frog as he waved at the old Gungan. “See yousa, Hopidi, take goodsen caren Anne!” shouted the taller amphibian as he and FZ walked off.

Hopidi closed the door, only to find Anne sprawled out on the sofa, just barely awake. “Heh. Looks now that yer belly is full, yer all tuckered out. Well, Pollia’s fixed up a nice, cozy place for ya to sleep in the basem*nt. Let’s get ya to bed”, he said. He pressed a button on the wall to open a hatch in the living room floor, then grabbed her hand and led her down the stairs into the cellar.

The room was illuminated by a flickering light. The stone walls were accented with pipes and circuit control panels, while wires draped from the ceiling. A rickety old water heater sat in the far-right corner, which creaked and groaned every time it turned on. In front of the heater at a safe distance was a ratty old bedroll. Pollia had placed a patched-up pillow and a worn, thin blanket on the bed, and her backpack sitting right next to it.

“I know it ain’t the fanciest room in the house, but I reckon it’s better than that cave Sprik said you were sleeping in”, said Hopidi. Of course, the human didn’t respond. Hopidi didn’t know if Anne would naturally object to her new living quarters, but he assumed that at this point she was too tired to care. The girl was about ready to settle in when a voice came from the top of the stairs.

“Hold up a sec! I have something for you, Anne!”, cried Sprik from the top of the stairs. “Boy, what are ya doin’ out of bed?” chided Hopidi. “I just want to give Anne something real quick, Grandpa”, said the pink frog as he hopped down the stairs and ran up to Anne. He was carrying something in his arms behind his back. Looking up to Anne, he placed the object in her arms. It was a small black and white Tooka doll, worn from many years of playtime and snuggling. It looked like it had been sown back together several times. One of the button eyes was dangling, about ready to fall out at any given moment.

“I thought you might get lonely down here, so I brought you my old Tooka doll to keep you company. I’m too old for it anyways”, he said, with a bit of hesitation for the last sentence. Anne was silent for a few minutes as she examined the doll.

“You hate it, don’t ya?”, said Sprik.

No response.

“It’s too ugly, isn’t it?” asked Sprik, wringing his hands nervously.

Still no response.

“You know what? Just give it back to me-” said Sprik as he was about to grab the plush. However, Anne suddenly wrapped her arms around the toy in a tight embrace, which squeaked in response. “Domino”, she whispered softly as she rubbed the tooka doll against her face, her eyes wide and full of tears. She then picked up Sprik and pressed him against her chest in a big hug. “You’re welcome, Anne. I’m glad you like it, but um, it’s getting a little hard to breathe”, said Sprik in a strained voice. The girl realized that she was smothering the poor frog and put him down. “I have no idea what that was about, but I think she likes it”, said Sprik after gasping for breath.

Finally, Anne let out a big yawn, unable to stay awake any longer. She staggered over to the cot and practically fell onto it. The exhausted girl tucked herself and the tooka doll in and snuggled into the pillow. It wasn’t even a minute before the girl was snoring softly, drool streaming down her cheek from her mouth like a small creek. “Aw, she went right to sleep”, said Sprik, whispering so as to not disturb the human. Turning off the lights, Hopidi responded in a whisper of his own: “Yep. Girl’s clearly tuckered out and needs some shut eye. Speaking of which, you need to rest yerself, so let’s get you back to bed”.

The two frogs tip-toed up the stairs, then Hopidi shut the hatch to the basem*nt. They then went upstairs to the second floor just as Pollia was finishing cleaning up the mess from the droid explosion. She joined the male frogs as they went into Sprik’s room. As Sprik was getting settled in bed, he asked his grandfather: “Sooo, I take it that protocol droid didn’t have luck with Anne?”. “Afraid not. Until Anne learns Basic and we can find out her home planet, she’ll be staying with us. Her poor family must be worried sick about her”, said Hopidi, as he discreetly wiped away a tear from his eyes.

“But Grandpa, what if she doesn’t have a family? What if she’s an orphan? Oh! Could we adopt her then?! I could be her little brother, and Pollia could be her little sister!” said Sprik, excited at the prospect of having an older sibling. His little sister, however, did not share his enthusiasm: “OH NO YA DON’T!! I already have one overlord! I don’t need another”. Hopidi raised his hands to silence his grandchildren and said: “Now, let’s wind down our engines a bit, kids. Let’s focus on trying to teach Anne Basic first, at least enough so that she can tell how she got here and how we can help her. Then we’ll go from there. In the meantime, we also have to fix ya up, Sprik. So why don’t ya get some rest fer now?”.

“Ok, Grandpa”, said Sprik, snuggling into his hammock. Hopidi grabbed Pollia, turned off the light, and left the room so that Sprik could sleep. It was also Pollia’s naptime, so he took the protesting tadpole to her room and placed her in her bucket to sleep. He hoped that she would fall asleep and not attempt to build another droid that would literally blow up in her face.

Now that the house was quiet with the kids asleep, Hopidi decided to take this opportunity to do a little research on humans in his study. Hopefully, he would not only be able to better take care of his new charge, but maybe reading up on human cultures could give some clues on what her home world was. When he reached his study, he grabbed all the holobooks on human related subjects that he could find.

As he grabbed one of the books off the shelf, another book fell onto the floor, accidentally activating it. A holographic image of beings of various species dressed in brown robes came to life before him. They were all holding out their hands, with rocks levitating in the air as if in response to these gestures. I might wanna read this one too , decided Hopidi as he turned off the book and added it to his pile. He then settled into his chair and started reading. Meanwhile, the young girl sleeping below him was dreaming of some far-off world, those she had left behind there, and those whom she was still searching for…

Chapter 5: Spranne Against The Galaxy

Chapter by Fanatasyzoo500

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter V: Spranne Against The Galaxy

It had been two weeks since Anne had settled with the Plantarks. During this time, the frog family devoted themselves to teaching the human Basic as often as they could. It was admittedly a very slow process at first. They started out with objects in the room and body parts, in an endless cycle of pointing and slowly saying the word. Then, waiting for Anne to ‘connect the dots’ as it were. Followed by practicing the pronunciation until she had it down, and then rinse and repeat. This took place over a few days, during which Anne also learned colors, greetings, body parts, in general the words someone would teach a tadpole when they are first learning how to speak. Unfortunately, knowing the word for any piece of technology isn’t really helpful when you don’t know what it does in the first place, so there were some setbacks there.

The verbs were much funnier. The silly pantomimes of activities and looks of puzzlement on Anne’s face before she finally understood what the verb meant, those were something the Plantarks would treasure for weeks. Although, whenever they took her into town for some errands or to help her become acquainted with the village and its denizens, they looked rather ridiculous whenever they ‘acted out’ an action for Anne. “Why, I do declare, Todi. Hopidi Plantark has finally cracked,” said Mayor Toakstoo one day upon noticing one of these ‘Basic lessons’ being taught by Hopidi. “Very funny, Toakstoo. Maybe all this wouldn’t be necessary if some of those taxes you keep squeezin’ from us would go to rebuildin’ the school that burnt down last year,” the old frog retorted, crossing his arms. Pollia added a “Oh oh ohhhh!!!” just so that comment would sting even more.Todi just barely contained his snickers as he and a grumbling toad mayor walked off.

After a couple of weeks, Anne was starting to have a rudimentary grasp on Basic. Regardless, she still had a long way to go, especially struggling with verbs and adjectives that weren’t so easily demonstrated. Still, there had definitely been decent progress. Which was a good thing, since the search parties could not find any wrecked starships or any group of castaways that Anne belonged to. Which meant that the only way to help the girl was to teach her Basic.

One day, Anne was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at her ‘phone’ with a wistful expression on her face. Sprik noticed this as he was passing by, so he walked over and grabbed a chair next to her. “Hey, Anne,” he said slowly. The human girl turned to face the frog boy, and said: “Hey, Sprig.”Right. She keeps calling me that, the frog mused. Not that he minded, although it slightly annoyed his grandfather and very much bothered his sister whenever she called them “Hop Pop” and “Polly” respectively.

Pointing at the phone, he asked: “Look?”. Anne was silent for a moment as her brain registered what he was saying, then brought her phone closer to her so that they could both look at it. On the screen were several small images. “Photos,” said Anne. She touched one of them, which increased in size and clarity. Ah. So they appeared to be the primitive counterparts to holograms. The image that Anne selected was that of a small mammalian creature that was feline in appearance. It almost reminded him of a Tooka, except it was smaller with larger eyes and smaller ears, mouth, and paws. “Tooka?”, asked Sprik, pointing to the photo. “No. Cat,” the human explained, pointing to the animal in the ‘photo’.

Oooook, thought Sprik, scratching his head in confusion. Maybe it was some mutated version of a Tooka? Deciding to just go along with it, he pointed at the image and asked: "Cat pet?” Anne nodded. “Name?” inquired Sprik, as the human swiped the screen to show another image of her cat playing with a small rodent shaped toy. “Name?” repeated Anne with a confused expression. Sprik paused for a minute. He then pointed to himself, saying: “Name. Sprik.” He then pointed at her and said: “Name. Anne.”

Anne nodded in understanding, then pointed at the ‘cat’, saying: “Name. Domino.”Domino. Why does that sound familiar?Sprik wondered. Suddenly, it occurred to him that when he had given her his tooka doll, she had called it “Domino.” Looking at the picture again, he realized that the creature sorta resembled the plush.Well that explains why Anne is so attached to my old tooka doll. It reminds her of her pet, he realized.

Sprik decided looking at Anne’s photos was a good way to learn more about her and her life back home, which could be beneficial in finding out what planet she was from. He also loved learning about other worlds and cultures, especially ones that were vastly different from Amphibia. In fact, his dream was to become a pilot someday and explore worlds across the galaxy. So, he swiped the screen to see some other photos.

The next one that appeared was that of Anne with a human couple. Judging by the fact that they shared similar features to her, Sprik concluded that these were her parents. Sprik left for a moment, and then came back with a small disk. After pressing a button on the side, a holographic image of two frogs and their two tadpoles flickered in front of them. Anne stared at the image in awe, like she had never seen a hologram before. Noting this, Sprik turned the device off and on again, then said: “Hologram.” “Ho-lo-gram,” Anne repeated, grabbing the disc and examining the projection. “Mom and Dad,” said Sprik, pointing to the frog couple in the image. Making the connection, the human pointed to the adult humans in the picture on her phone and said: “Mom and Dad.”

“Where, your, Mom and Dad?” asked Anne, struggling with the words. Sprik was silent, struggling to hold back his tears. They both stared forlornly at the image of his parents for a while, Anne holding one of Sprik’s hands in her own. Even with the language barrier, the girl knew the context of the boy’s somber silence. She also stared at the image of her own parents, tears of her own welling up in her eyes. After a few minutes, the frog child took a deep breath, turned off the hologram, and swiped to the next image on Anne's phone, hoping to lighten the mood a little and cheer them both up.

‘Domino’ appeared on the screen once again. This time, there was a small circle in the middle surrounding a sideways triangle, which Anne tapped. The image came to life with the feline licking herself clean and making mewing sounds that sounded suspiciously like a tooka.This must be a recording, Sprik decided as he watched the admittedly adorable antics of Anne’s pet.

The two spent almost an hour looking at Anne’s photos and recordings (orvideos, as she called them). They looked at photos of her house, her family, her parent’s ‘Thai’ restaurant (Sprik had no idea what ‘Thai’ was) and her hometown (which was called ‘Laws Anjuhless’ or something like that). As they browsed through her visual library, Sprik got a glimpse of Anne’s life back home, her family, and what her home planet was like.

“Whatch doin’, kids?” asked Hopidi as he entered the kitchen. “We’re looking at some pictures on Anne’s phone,” explained Sprik. The older frog pulled up a chair next to the two children and glanced over to look at the pictures. “Ya know, if Anne’s alright with it, I might see if I can find a way to get some copies of these pictures. I can then cross reference them to see if I can pinpoint what planet she’s from,” said Hopidi.

“You know, Grandpa, I’ve been thinking. Maybe instead of spending all day doing boring research, we could go to someone like Soggy Jho or Mat Brali who has actually been to different worlds and ask them,” suggested Sprik. “Now Sprik, I turn to peer reviewed materials that were created by serious explorers with years of expertise. Not some random space travelers who exaggerate at least 50% of the time. Besides, who's to say they would know what planet she’s from?” lectured Hopidi with an air of superiority. “At least they make these worlds actually sound interesting and exciting, not like those stuffy old holobooks that make them sound boring,” retorted Sprik. “Well, Mat ain’t gonna be coming here for awhile now, and Jho lives at the bottom of a treacherous lake and hardly comes to the surface. So, it looks like we’ll have to stick to our 'boring' research,” said Hopidi, closing the subject.

Sprik moaned in defeat and folded his arms across his chest. Just then, Anne started to panic a little, her breath increasing in speed and her hands trembling. “Anne, you ok?” the frog inquired, his voice laced with concern. Anne turned her phone over and pointed to something in the top right corner, where there was a small bar that resembled a battery. A smaller red bar was within the left half of the larger one. To the left of the battery bar were some numbers that looked surprisingly like Aurebesh ones, which read “5%”. “Grandpa, I think the battery on Anne’s phone is dying,” Sprik said to his grandfather. “Why does she havta make a big fuss about it?” asked Hopidi as Pollia hopped over. “Because that phone contains her memories, Grandpa! The pictures and other stuff on there remind of her home,” replied Sprik, placing a hand on her arm in order to console her.

Anne suddenly rushed down to her room in the basem*nt, with the frogs in tow. When they reached the cellar, they noticed her digging through backpack, muttering in her native tongue under her breath. She finally pulled out a white cord of some sort. She then ran around the house, searching the walls frantically for something. “What’s in galaxy’s name is she doin’?” Hopidi wondered as they followed in her feverish quest. Pollia scratched her head with her flipper, then said: “Oh, I know! I think that it is a charging cable for her phone! She’s looking for some place to plug it in!”. “Can’t she just plug it into the fusion furnace like we do with all of our appliances?” asked Sprik, pointing to the generator in question. Anne paused for a moment and directed her gaze in the direction of Sprik’s index finger. She walked over to the machine and inspected it, glancing back and forth at it and at her cord.

Pollia hopped over to Anne and examined the white cord. From the looks of it, there was no way the basic electric charging cord would be able to fit in the ports of the fusion furnace. However, perhaps she could whip a convertor to convert fusion energy to electrical energy for her phone. “Grandpa, could I make a convertor for Anne’s phone? Pwetty please?” the little tadpole implored, putting on her most earnest begging face for good measure. “Well, I suppose this might be one project of yours that won’t blow up on ya. But ya should be asking Anne. It’s her phone, afterall,” responded Hopidi, pushing her towards the human as he said the last sentence.

The pollywog cleared her throat. She pointed at herself, then Anne’s phone, then the fusion furnace. Upon realizing what she meant, Anne looked at Pollia, then at her phone, her face wrinkled with concern. After thinking for a few minutes, Pollia grabbed the cord and said: “Work with this. No touch phone until it’s safe.” She also pointed to her grandfather and added: “Hop Pop will make sure phone is safe.” The older girl hesitated some more, but after looking at the battery percentage of her phone, she sighed and handed it over to the tadpole.

Pollia’s face lit up with glee, giddy at the opportunity to finally prove herself. Hopidi, however, grabbed the phone from her flippers with his tongue and said: “Why don’t I hold onto that until ya got the converter ready and we’ve tested it to make sure it’s not gonna destroy Anne’s phone.” Pollia groaned disappointedly, but ultimately decided that maybe it was for the best. After all, it was probably wise to start small with a project that would be less likely to explode and earn Anne’s trust before tackling the phone itself. And so, having reclaimed her resolve, the baby frog hopped up the stairs to get some tools.

“Hey Grandpa. While you two are working on Anne’s phone, can we go outside? Pleeeeaaase? I haven’t been out since the mantark attack,” begged Sprik, folding his hands and looking up at his grandfather with pleading eyes. “Well…” said Hopidi, scratching his chin. “I could use this as an opportunity to teach Anne the words for things found in nature,” the boy added. After mulling it over for a few more minutes, the older frog relented, saying: “Alright. I suppose you’ve recovered enough to go outside for a bit. Some fresh air might do ya some good. But don’t go too far, and don’t stay out after dark. I don’t want you two to run into another mantark, or worse.” “Yoohoo! Thanks, Grandpa!” exclaimed Sprik, grabbing Anne’s hand and leading her out the door. “Don’t do anything stupid!” Hopidi called out after them. Whether they heard him or not, that remained to be seen…

Xxxxxx

The sun had reached its apex in the sky as the human and the frog made their way through the swampy jungle, flooding the woods with golden light. Various birds were serenading to each other in the trees, and various critters were scampering along the forest floor or scrambling among the branches in the canopy. Anne had to admit, while she still wasn’t a fan of the excessive humidity, this alien world was starting to grow on her. Their hike through the swamp was rather enjoyable, so long as nothing nasty popped out the bushes to devour them alive. She also grew to like the frog farmer family that had taken her in, especially as she was now communicating with them more thanks to her ‘Basic’ lessons.

She was particularly drawn to Sprig, whose hyper and adventurous spirit was rather amusing to the girl. Not to mention, he was the first living thing on this crazy planet that didn’t try to kill her. In fact, if she had not run into him, she would probably be dead by now. Sure, his extremely energetic personality took some getting used to, but he also tried the hardest of all the Plantars to make her feel at home. While she still missed Sasha and Marcy and hoped to find them, she enjoyed spending time with the weird little frog boy.

Right now, he was teaching her the words for flora, fauna, landscapes and other objects found in nature: the words for trees, mountains, sky, clouds, birds (including the species name for each type of bird), etc. The process of learning this language had been a strange combination of awkward, tedious, and yet fun at the same time. She especially enjoyed the Plantars using charades to teach her verbs, which kind of reminded her of playing charades with her dad back home. It was certainly more amusing than those boring Thai classes that her mom made her take when she was younger.

She remembered the same lecture she received from her mother whenever she would complain about being forced to learn another language: about how “it was a way of staying connected with your roots” and how “knowing more than one language is a sign of a well rounded individual” and so on and so forth. Of course, she never paid much attention during those classes anyways, figuring that there was no real benefit to knowing another language. But now, learning another language was the only way to survive this world as well as find her friends and a way home. This made Anne wonder how her mother felt when she and her father immigrated to the US from Bangkok. Was it hard for them to learn English? What was it like, being in a foreign country and not being able to speak the same language as everyone else? Did it make them feel like an outsider? Anne had to admit, she could really sympathize with her mother right now, having to adapt to life in a strange land, complete with a different language and culture, and being looked down upon as an inferior outsider. One thing was sure, if she ever found her way home, she would definitely apologize to her mother for not taking her Thai classes seriously.

As her mind wandered in between Sprig introducing words, she began to wonder where they were heading. After devoting a few minutes to search her brain for the correct words to use, Anne tapped Sprig’s shoulder. “Where, we, going?” she asked slowly, pointing to herself and the frog on the “we” and making walking motions with her fingers on the “going”. The boy paused for a moment, looking like he was racking his brain to try and come up with an answer that could be easily translated for Anne. Eventually, he grabbed a stick and started drawing something in the dirt.

The human girl glanced over his shoulder so as to see what he was drawing. It was an image of a burly frog. Sprig pointed at it and said something that sounded like...Joe? To verify this, she pointed at the picture and asked: “Frog named Joe?”. She wasn’t quite sure if it was spelled J-o-e or if it was spelled differently in Basic. Either way, Sprig nodded and then drew another picture on the ground.

It was a large circle with small wavy lines within its borders. It almost looked like a large body of water. “Lake,” said Sprig, pointing at the drawing. “L-a-k-e,” repeated Anne slowly, her face scrunched up in concentration as she felt the sound of every letter on her tongue. Another nod, followed by the amphibian drawing a line that connected Joe and the lake. “Go lake, see Joe,” said Sprig, pointing to his artwork. It was Anne’s turn to nod in understanding.Ah, so we’re going to see this ‘Joe’ person, who must have a house next to that lake. That’ll be nice, the girl concluded.

The duo continued their journey to the lake, with Sprig every once and awhile pausing to teach Anne a new word whenever the opportunity presented itself. After having walked for about an hour, they eventually arrived at a large lake. The waters were a deep blue that sparkled as the light reflected off the surface. Lotuses large enough to support a human were floating on the waters or towered above the lake like green, leafy umbrellas. A flock of birds flew over the lake in a V shaped formation similar to migrating geese back on Earth. It all looked so peaceful, so serene, so inviting. Who wouldn’t want to live there?

However, as Anne scanned the area, she could find any houses, cottages, or any other signs of habitation. Confused, she turned to Sprig and asked: “Where Joe’s house?”. Sprig ran to the edge of the lake and pointed downwards towards the water. “Joe’s housein lake,” he explained. Making breaststroke motions with arms, he said: “Swim to Joe’s house.” Wait, they were goingunderwater?!

Suddenly, Sprig tossed an object to Anne. Upon catching it, the girl noticed it was a tiny V-shaped device. The boy lifted his hands to mouth like he was placing an invisible object to it, then pointed to the contraption in Anne’s hands. Was he telling her that she was supposed to put it in her mouth? Upon closer inspection, the device appeared to have a tiny mouthpiece and the projections on the sides looked like they stored air. The human girl concluded that this would help her breath underwater. She looked up to see that Sprig had stepped into the water, and was waving for her to follow.

After a moment's hesitation, Anne lifted the device to her lips. Immediately, the device began supplying her with oxygen. As the teenager then began to slowly enter the water, the cold water triggered a shivering response as a chill swept over skin. Her wet, clammy clothes clung to her skin, and she noticed tiny goosebumps starting to appear on her arm. Taking note of this, Sprig decided to wait a few minutes to let her adjust to the temperature of the water, before he dove beneath the surface of the lake. The human took a deep breath, then proceeded to dive into the unknown abyss below the surface.

After submersion, the girl was completely surrounded by an endless expanse of water, with light beams piercing through the surface and providing illumination from above. Sprig motioned for her to follow as he began to swim forward. After a few moments' pause, Anne mustered up enough courage to follow the frog into the depths of the lake.

While Anne was a decent swimmer, she was certainly not as good at swimming as Sprig, since she lacked webbed hands and feet. She struggled to keep up with the frog, who was already at least 9 meters ahead of her. She was also concerned that she would deplete the oxygen reserves of her breathing device. Upon realizing that his new friend was far behind him, Sprig slowed down a little so that Anne could catch up to him. When they had found a pace that was manageable for both of them, the Thai girl began to observe the underwater scenery around her.

Tall aquatic plants towered over them, with some of them being the same height as small trees. Large schools of fish flickered past them like they were flocks of birds flying through the air. These fish were vastly different from any Earth fish, and some of them were just as large or larger than Anne. As they descended deeper and deeper into the lake, the light grew dimmer. The progressing darkness of their surroundings made Anne increasingly wary, putting all of her senses on edge. Not only that, but she had the feeling that something was watching them. It grew stronger, and stronger, and stronger, until…

She quickly pushed Sprig to the side, just barely avoiding being swallowed by a large creature. As soon as he regained his bearings and saw the snake, Sprig screamed, with some bubbles escaping his mouth in the process. The creature tried to strike again, however, and it was Sprig’s turn to notice and pull Anne out of its reach.What is that thing?!Anne thought as she frantically searched for their attacker. She looked up to see something charging at them from above.

It was a large snake with two pairs of eyes that was about 15 meters long! It was a grayish brown color with a blue colored underbelly. It also had dark brown spots with darker brown outlines. A series of pale and translucent spine-like scales ran along its back with its tail ending in a fin. The human observed that it had a flickering blue bioluminescent glow on its sides, which was both eerie and mesmerizing.

For some unexplained reason, Anne could not take her eyes off the flashing snake, even as it was charging right towards her. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The more she stared at it, the more she became lost in its vibrating light. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her trance by Sprig dragging her away just in time before the serpent could devour her. As she regained her senses, Anne remembered that they were in danger and started swimming as fast as she could.

However, she could not swim fast enough to get away from the serpent. Thankfully, Sprig grabbed onto her and propelled the two of them through the water, just narrowly avoiding their serpentine foe’s jaws.I’m just slowing him down. I’m gonna get us BOTH killed, a panicked Anne thought as she debated on whether to free herself from the boy’s grip so he could swim to safety.

At that moment, the girl noticed that they were approaching a cave with an entrance that was too small for the beast. She tapped Sprig and frantically pointed toward the cave. He turned to look in the direction in which Anne was pointing, then immediately turned and dashed straight for the crevice with the snake in hot pursuit.

The distance between the serpent and its prey decreased with every gain they made towards their sanctuary. The duo did not look back, keeping their gaze fixed on the cave as their hearts pounded in their ears, urging them to keep going. Finally, they entered the cave just as the snake snapped its jaws at the entrance and hissed. It blocked the mouth of the cave, and its forked tongue flicked just a few feet from them. The children huddled at the back of the cave, trembling with fear.

Then, a strange thing happened. A loud whistling sound pierced through the water. What was truly bizarre, however, is that Anne could have sworn that she felt the snakerelax as a response. Not only that, but her heart rate and adrenaline levels seemed to mysteriously decrease in turn. Anne and Sprik remained motionless as they waited with baited breath to see if the snake would return.

Xxxxxx

Is it gone? Sprik wondered, working up enough courage to peek outside to see if the coast was clear. Just as he poked his head out, however, something large popped into his vision, booming: “You alright, kids?!”. The boy let out a yelp as he shot back, nearly hitting Anne in the process. The source of the outburst was soon revealed as a large blue tattooed frog with a beard, in which the bones of several animals were entangled. “Soggy Jho! Boy, are we glad to see you! A giant Erag snake tried to eat us and… Look out! It’s behind you!” cried Sprik, noticing the snake had returned.

Rather than being alarmed, the older frog merely waved his hand nonchalantly and said: “What, you mean Mr. Slithers? Why, he’s my guard snake!”. “Wait wait wait. Hold on a sec. You’re telling me that thing is your PET?!” cried Sprik. “Why of course! He patrols the area and keeps it safe. Though sometimes he gets a bit carried away,” explained Jho. He then turned to face the snake and wagged his finger at the beast, scolding it as if it were a misbehaving child caught in the act: “Now, Mr. Slithers, is that any way to treat our guests?”. In response to the reproach, the giant reptile hung its head in shame, which was ironically comical, to say the least.

All Sprik could do was stare dumbfounded with his mouth agape. Meanwhile, Anne swam next to him, staring apprehensively at Mr. Slithers. After recovering from the shock of discovering that thatthing was Jho’s pet, Sprik decided that he should explain the situation to Anne. He pointed at the serpent and said: “Snake.” He then added: “Name. Mr. Slithers.” Pointing to Mr. Slithers and Jho respectively, the pink frog said: “Mr. Slithers Jho’s pet.” This last statement solicited a rather flummoxed expression on Anne’s face, but not because what he said didn’t register with her. Rather, it was because she was shocked that the monster snake belonged to Jho!

Upon noticing Anne, Jho exclaimed: “Ah, you must be Anne! I’ve heard all about you! Has there been any luck on findin’ out her homeworld and where her family is?”. Sprik shook his head and said: “Not yet. That’s part of the reason why we’ve been teaching her Basic. Actually, the main reason we came to see you is since you and your family have been to so many worlds across the galaxy, maybe you could help us find out what planet Anne is from.”

The larger frog stroked his beard in thought for a few moments, then said: “Well, I don’t know how much I could help, but how about you two come over for some tea and I’ll see what I can do, eh? After all, it’s the least I can do to make up for Mr. Slithers nearly eatin’ you two.” Jho then led the way to his house with Mr. Slithers right behind him. Sprik grabbed Anne’s hand to guide her as they followed the man and his snake to the deepest, darkest part of the lake.

“Hey Jho, why do you have a giant guard snake anyways?” inquired Sprik as they began to dive to the bottom of the lake. “Well, you can’t be too careful when ya live in the profundal zone. All sorts of nasty creatures live down here in the deep. We've also bonded, Mr. Slithers and I. I found his egg all alone with no one to care for it, so I took it home with me. It was only a couple of weeks later that I had a cute little baby snake slithering around,” explained Jho, looking fondly at his pet snake as he reminisced. Deciding to continue his investigation into the blue frog’s livelihood, the pink frog asked: “Well, why don’t you live in Warwoo like the other frogs?”. “You mean live on land?! Why Sprik, we’re amphibians! We were practically made for the water! This…” he said as he motioned to the watery world around them before continuing: “is where we truly belong.” The boy merely shrugged his shoulders at this and continued to lead Anne to the deep.

Xxxxxxx

As they were descending into the murky depths, Anne became more and more used to Mr. Slithers, but at the same time, more and more worried about the tiny breathing device in her mouth. Yes, sure, she could breathe, but ever since about two meters ago, inflating her chest felt as though someone was squeezing her. Also, it felt like someone was pressing their palms into her eye-sockets. And her ears started to ring a little as well. In comparison to those problems, and the continued darkening of her surroundings, the breather seemed more and more like a paper straw to her, rather than the high-tech device it was. She couldn’t take it anymore, so she tapped on Sprig’s shoulder.

Xxxxxxx

“You ok, Anne?” asked Sprik in concern, noticing that Anne was clearly in distress. Jho and Mr. Slithers also turned to face the girl with worried expressions on their faces. Anne wrapped the snake’s tail around her and gently did a squeezing motion. “Squeeze?” inquired a befuddled Sprik. Anne nodded. Bewildered, the young frog co*cked his head. Mr. Slithers wasn’t trying to attack them anymore. Why did she feel like she was being crushed? Suddenly, Jho’s face lit up in comprehension. “Oh! Sprik, I think we dove a little too quickly for Anne and she feels like the pressure is crushing her. Human bodies aren’t built to withstand rapid pressure changes. Give her some time. She should be fine after a few minutes,” said Jho. Nodding, the boy held her hand to comfort her and waited for her to adjust.

Xxxxxxxx

After a series of closed-mouth yawns and swallowing a few times to equalize the pressure, Anne felt ready to continue. As the group resumed their descent, the fading light from above made way for a warm orange glow from below. She opened her eyes wide in awe, which she immediately regretted, as that netted her a pounding headache.Right, pressure, you’ve just been over this, Anne, she chided herself mentally.

But the huge orange bubble, held by an intricately and beautifully designed frame of metal was a good reason to forget about that. Actually, there were multiple smaller bubbles attached to the big one, each encased in the same, rippling waves of translucent orange …stuff. Energy maybe? Anne didn’t know. At any rate, the ripples gently carried across the surface of the bubble, swirling in places, and flowing with purpose in others. It was mesmerizing.

So much so, that Anne almost forgot the pain in her lungs and on her eyeballs. Still, when Joe turned around, and waved Anne and Sprig forward instead of further down, Anne released a few bubbles in relief. Her vision had started to become a bit painful, so she was glad they had arrived at the right depth. They swam toward a circular opening on the underside of the metal frame, and to Anne’s surprise, Joe swam up through it and surfaced inside the bubble. Sprig and Anne followed him, the latter greedily gasping in the air as she surfaced.

Xxxxxx

Anne continued to pant heavily as she detached the breather from her mouth. She was sopping wet, water dripping from her saturated hair and clothes. She was also shivering violently like a leaf in the wind, her teeth chattering loudly. “Anne, you ok?” asked Sprik as he rubbed her leg, which was now as moist and cool as his own and peppered with tiny bumps. However, while the increased moisture felt refreshing to the boy, he could tell that it was not nearly as pleasant for the human. “Yeah, we should probably get her dried and warmed up. Right, this way then,” said Jho, motioning for the children to follow him.

The home had a rather minimalist feel to it, with sparse furnishings that looked like they were hewn from wood with Jho’s own two hands. There were a couple of fur-lined chairs, one of which was large enough for Anne, in front of a fusion furnace. The head of a dugar dugar deer was mounted over the furnace, its glass eyes watching over the room like a silent sentinel. They almost seemed to be staring right into Sprik’s soul, resulting in the frog shuddering a little. At that moment, Jho came back with a towel and threw it at Anne, which she gratefully accepted. The girl began drying herself as Sprik took a seat in a smaller chair. After a few minutes, the human child had removed most of the loose moisture from her hair and clothes. Her shivering had reduced drastically and she no longer looked like a drowned womp rat.

Meanwhile, the grizzled frog returned with a blanket and a tray with three mugs of tea. The teenager eagerly traded her wet towel for the warm blanket. She wrapped the blanket and settled in her chair, emitting a content sigh as she sunk into the soft and furry upholstery. Jho offered the kids tea, which they accepted before he sat in a chair across from them.

“I keep forgettin’ about things like pressure whenever I have non amphibian guests over. Of course, doesn’t help that I haven’t hadany visitors in who knows how long…” said Jho, as he tapped his head while recollecting the last time someone came to see him.Gee, I wonder why. It certainly couldn’t be because he has a killer guard snake, could it? Sprik thought.

Both frogs were suddenly startled by a small sneeze. They turned to the source of the sneeze, whose cheeks turned pink. “Don’t worry, luv. That tea should warm ya up and give your systems a nice jumpstart. I should know, I brewed it myself,” said Jho proudly, jerking his thumb at himself. The tea did indeed warm them up; however, it also stung their tongues and noses. Their eyes started to water, and soon they both were possessed by a coughing fit. Meanwhile, Jho was serenely sipping his tea, blissfully unaware of the children’s reaction to his home brewed tea. “Humans certainly aren’t built for the water, aren’t they Jho?” wheezed Sprik, as he discreetly set his tea to the side.

“Not really. See, humans are more built for climbin’ trees, runnin’ long distances, maybe even scavenging in coastal areas. Underwater? Eh, not so much,” said Jho with a shrug. “Wow. You know so much about all sorts of creatures, including humans,” said Sprik, his eyes bright with awe and wonder. “Human?” Anne asked, speaking for the first time since she had entered the lake. Jho turned to face her with a slightly surprised look on her face, having not heard her speak before.

Sprik, on the other hand, pointed to her and said: “Anne. Human.” Anne was silent for a moment, then said: “Humans in Warwoo?”. The pink frog shook his head sadly, which resulted in Anne’s face falling. Another moment of silence followed, which was followed by the girl asking insistently: “Where are humans?”. Sprik paused for a minute as pondered on the best way to answer this question.

However, Jho decided to take this one. He grabbed a holoprojector and activated it, revealing an image of a large city. He pointed to the city in the hologram and said: “City.” “City?” Anne repeated. He nodded, then pointed to the projection again and explained: “City named Noutopia.” He then grabbed another holoprojector, which summoned a flickering depiction of a creature that very closely resembled the girl. Finally making the connection, Anne gestured excitedly to the hologram and exclaimed: “Human?!”. After affirming this with a smile and a nod, he said: “Humans in Noutopia,” gesturing to the human and city projections respectively.

Sprik stared at the human in the hologram. They had a lighter skin tone than Anne, long brown hair that was tied in a braid, and blue eyes. Garbed in a long blue robe with a black sash and black robe, they leapt through the air so high and so gracefully that it could put any frog to shame. Not only that, but when they stretched out their hand, a rock levitated in the air like it was being carried by an invisible repulsorlift. It reminded the boy of how agile Anne was when she fought the mantark, and how she had pushed it back by merely outstretching her hand. “Who is that human?” inquired Sprik, motioning to the image.

“Why that’s Molka! Me dad encountered her during one of his travels across the galaxy. She saved his life, she did,” Jho explained as he took his place in his chair. “Really?!” cried Sprik, clenching his fists enthusiastically and leaning forward expectantly in his chair. “Yep. In fact, now that I think about it, how she saved me dad was reminiscent of how Anne saved the whole town from the mantark, from what I heard,” pondered the rugged frog as he stroked his chin in reflection. “Oh, can you tell us the story? Please, please, please, pleeeaaase?” the boy pleaded, jumping up and down in his chair. Anne, for her part, was not sure what exactly was going on, but the little pink frog’s energy was so contagious that she couldn’t help but get excited as well.

“Alright, alright,” conceded Jho, motioning for them to sit down so he could begin his tale. The two children swiftly settled down and made themselves comfortable in their chairs, resulting in a silence that was interrupted only by the humming of the fusion furnace and the water swirling outside around the bubble. “Well,” he began, his voice hushed for dramatic emphasis, “it all happened during the reign of the Empire, before either of you were born. Me dad was exploring one of the outer rim planets. Now, which one was it? Ah yes, Habius Prime!”

He then pressed a button on the holoprojector, which switched from Molka to a large planet encircled by rings. Anne pointed to the hologram and said: “Habius Prime?”. “Yes. Habius Prime planet,” Sprik replied. “Planet?” inquired Anne. Jho grabbed another holoprojector, which contained a projection of another planet. The frog child pointed to it and said: “Planet.” He then pointed to Habius Prime and said: “Planet name Habius Prime.”

“Alright, now that we’ve explained what a planet is to Anne, let’s get back to the story, shall we?” said Jho, which prompted the younglings to reestablish themselves in their seats. “Right then, where were we? Ah, yes! Habius Prime. Back then, me father was an explorer. He wanted to see the rest of the galaxy, travel to other worlds, have all sorts of outlandish adventures. He actually was a lot like you, Sprik,” said the older frog, smiling at the younger frog after this last sentence. “Well, this particular planet was very different from Amphibia in every respect: dry, arid, unforgiving deserts as far as the eye can see, as well as two blazing suns and scorching winds that can dehydrate a frog within minutes. Heck, its rotations are twice as long as Amphibia’s! And you know what me dad thought of this planet? ‘Why, this is the perfect location for me holiday!’”. Jho had a good laugh at this, then continued after wiping a mirthful tear from his eyes: “At any rate, there was one nice thing that could be said about that Habius Prime: Not one Imperial in sight at the time. So, that meant dad could explore without having to worry about any run-ins with stormtroopers.”

“Does anyone live on that planet, Jho?” inquired Sprik, hoping that he wasn’t irritating the storyteller with all these interruptions. Jho, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind and was perfectly willing to answer any questions of the inquisitive child: “Well, not many people, save for some nomadic tribes known as the Willaboks.” At this, Jho changed images once more to those of said creatures. They were very small, especially when Molka was added for scale: they only reached up to her ankle. The creatures had round, purple bodies, tiny beaks, feathery protrusions on their head, and short tails. They were wielding little spears and had lines painted all over their bodies. The miniscule beings were performing some kind of dance around the fire, spinning around in a circle with their spears. Some of them dancing in pairs while holding onto a spear together. All the while, the Willaboks were ‘singing’ in some language that sounded like musical pipes.

“Aw, they’re kinda cute. And they’re good dancers,” observed Sprik, as he watched them dance. “Dance?” Anne asked, imitating the Willaboks’ tribal dance in the hologram. The boy laughed and danced with her, saying: “Dance.” Jho laughed at their antics, then said: “Don’t let their appearances fool you. The Willaboks can be fiercely territorial and will not hesitate to attack beings far larger than them.” This was illustrated in the hologram, in which the creatures charged at his father’s ankles with high pitched whoops and shrieks. They then proceeded to overwhelm him and topple him over, binding him with ropes and staking him to the ground.

“They were planning to cook him for some ceremonial feast. Apparently, Willaboks think frogs are delicious if cooked right. However, just when they were about ready to roast him alive, some strange human appeared on the rocky overhang above them and jumped higher than any frog he had ever seen!” said Jho. The hologram showcased the human leaping high into the air, in an arc that traversed clear over the astonished Willaboks heads. “Jump?” repeated Anne. “Yep. Jump,” affirmed Sprik, demonstrating with a jump of his own.

“Anyways, the Willaboks charged at the human, but then they outstretched their hand. Suddenly, several of the rocks surrounding her started to float in the air! This caused the warriors to stop right in their tracks. The human then grabbed a blissl and started to play some notes. The Willaboks responded with a few of their own. It was then that me father realized that the human was communicating with them through music. To his surprise, the tribe went over to him and cut him loose. After making sure he was okay, the human introduced herself as Molka. Apparently, she had learned how to communicate with the Willaboks via music and how to win over their favor.”

“As they were enjoying a splendid feast that evening, Molka told her story around the fire. She was once a Jedi Padawan, who fought alongside her master during the Clone Wars along with all the other Jedi and their clone troopers. That is until that fateful day, at the end of the War, when their own troopers, the very ones who had served them loyally for all those years, betrayed them and started to fire at them. Molka’s master was able to save her, but she herself wasn’t so lucky. She ended up sacrificing herself to save her Padawan.”

The group fell into a somber silence after that last sentence. Sprik shuddered a little at this, remembering his grandfather telling him about the horrors of the Clone Wars, especially the slaughter of many Jedi during Order 66. Anne, for her part, didn’t exactly understand the meaning behind the stillness, but she seemed to sense that some tragic event had clearly upset the two frogs. After a few minutes, Jho was able to continue: “Well, now Molka found herself all alone and being hunted like an animal in a cruel, unforgiving galaxy. After months of being on the run, living hand to mouth and evading Imperials, she crash landed on Habius Prime. There, she lived in the wilderness, where she discovered how to survive by learning the language of the natives thanks to the blissl pipes that were a gift from her master.”

“So, did Molka leave with your dad?” asked Sprik. The old frog shook his head and said: “No. She figured it was safer for her on Habius Prime, where there was less of a chance that the Empire could find her. That’s why me dad promised that he would keep her whereabouts a secret. Heck, he didn’t even tellme this story until a few months before he died. That’s one reason why this tale means so much to me. It brings back so many fond memories of him,” he sighed, staring wistfully at his dad in the hologram.

“Yeah he sounded like he was a really cool guy. I would love to explore the galaxy one day. I want to see different cultures, have adventures! Farm life in Warwoo is sooo boring and predictable sometimes. Every day is the same as the last one. But Grandpa seems to be perfectly content with being a farmer..,” said Sprik, before realizing what time it was: “Oh my gosh, we need to get home! It’s getting late and Grandpa will be getting worried.” “You’re right, Sprik. It is getting a little late. I do tend to lose track of the time when I’m tellin’ stories. We better get goin’ before it gets dark. The lake is teeming with all sorts of vicious beasties after sundown. Mr. Slithers and I will escort you kids to the surface,” said Jho.

As the group made their way to the access portal of the energy bubble, Anne took the breather out of her skirt pocket and pressed it against her face. When they arrived, Jho leapt into the air and tucked in his legs as he plummeted into the abyss. The girl, on the other hand, stared apprehensively into the aquatic void underneath their feet. Sprik grabbed her hand to reassure her, then gently led her as they dove into the dark waters below.

The moment Mr. Slithers saw Anne, Sprik, and Jho suspended in the water below the house, he started slithering through the water to greet them. This time, the frogs swam slower so that Anne wouldn’t struggle as much with the pressure changes. To the human girl’s surprise, however, she found herself on Mr. Slithers’ back. She appeared to be a bit nervous about it at first, but then after a bit, clung to the beast and started stroking his back. “Well, I’ll be a Kowakian Monkey Lizard’s Uncle! Looks like Mr. Slithers has taken a liking to you, Anne. He wants to give you a ride to the surface,” observed Jho. “Oh! Can I get a ride too?” asked Sprik enthusiastically. Just when he was about to grab onto the snake, though, the creature snapped at him and hissed loudly. In response, the frog turned about face with his finger pointing upwards, saying: “On second thought, maybe not,” before starting to make a beeline toward the surface. Anne and Jho looked at each and laughed before following him.

The ascent to the surface was uneventful, with thankfully nothing attacking them. Every once in a while, they would stop so Anne could acclimate to the differences in pressure, but aside from that, they had no trouble reaching the surface. Incredibly, Mr. Slithers appeared to know when Anne was struggling to adapt, as he stopped at the precise moment that her distress became apparent. This was a definite contrast to the creature snapping at Sprik anytime he got too close.

As the waters surrounding them became clearer and brighter, Anne started to relax a little. “Almost there, Anne,” reassured Sprik, albeit from a safe distance from the snake. Soon, the group could see the evening sky through the rippling caustics of the surface. A few seconds later, they broke through the surface and water splayed all around them like a fountain. The sky was painted with a brilliant blue, yellow, orange, and purple as the sun began to sink into the horizon. The cool evening air on moist skin was a refreshing feeling for a hydrophilic amphibian, but not so much for a human. The girl started to shiver again, wrapping her arms around herself, mucus dripping from her nose.

Noting this, Jho swam over to a lily pad and summoned his snake with a whistle. When the reptile arrived at his side, the adult frog helped Anne onto it, then dove under the water. He reemerged at another lily pad that was growing above the surface. He took a knife out of his pocket and began to cut through the stem. Once he had cut it loose, he grabbed onto the ends and used it as a parachute to glide down. He landed on Anne’s pad with a splash, then used the other giant leaf to start drying her off.

Once he had finished, Anne wrapped the lily pad around her like a blanket. Jho then jumped back into the water and cut the one she was sitting on loose as well. As soon as it was free, he and Sprik started pushing the leafy vessel to shore. Anne sat in the middle with her legs curled up to her chest and her ‘blanket’ draped over her shoulders. Mr. Slithers was swimming just under their feet, his enormous body visible as a twisting silhouette lurking below the water. Before long, the group had made it to shore and the teenage girl disembarked onto the sandy ground. Her amphibian companions climbed out of the water while Mr. Slithers’ head poked out of the water, dwarfing them all.

“Thanks for everything, Jho. We had a great time,” said Sprik. Anne nodded in agreement and then said: “Th-ank y-ou.” Jho grinned and responded: “You’re very welcome. Don’t be strangers. You two are welcome to come back anytime.” Just then, Mr. Slithers leaned over to Anne, tickling the teenage girl with his forked tongue and prompting some giggles from her. Sprik laughed and said: “Of course! Anne and I had a great time! We would love to come and-” His sentence was interrupted by another snap and hiss from Mr. Slithers, against whom he had unintentionally leaned. “-visit again,” the boy said with a gulp and a croak. “Whelp, we should get going,” he blurted, grabbing his friend’s hand and heading straight for the woods.

Jho let loose a hearty laugh and waved at the children as they disappeared into the forest. “Take care, kids!” was the last thing that Anne and Sprik heard from him as they made their way towards home.Well, after all that we still aren’t any closer to finding out what planet Anne’s from. Still, that was a good story. Plus, I think Anne learned a little more Basic. That makes this trip totally worth it in my book, the frog decided as the two hurried to make their way home while the sun was still in the sky. After all, if their encounters with mantarks taught them anything, it would be that the woods were no place to be in after dark.

Xxxxxxx

The sun had disappeared from the sky and the first stars had begun to appear when Anne and Sprig had arrived home. The girl noticed that Hop Pop was standing in the doorway waiting for them with a rather irked expression. The little pink frog at her side ran over to him, and the two entered into a conversation. The teen girl couldn’t understand what they were saying, but she justknew from that tone of voice that the old man was demanding to know where they had been for so long and was probably about ready to go looking for them. Luckily,Anne had been able to dry herself off by the time they had arrived home. From what she could tell, Sprig must have come up with a convincing story because Hop Pop seemed to let off albeit with a suspicious stare at them.Sprig, my respect for you has grown, the human thought as she smiled at the little dude.

Just then, she felt a tiny tap on her foot. Anne looked down to find Polly looking up at her and pointing to the generator/heater in the living room. Her attention was directed specifically to a small, white rectangular converter that looked like it was cobbled together with various odds and ends of metal and tech. She then noticed that there were a few outlets on the sides, with a power cord plugged into one of them. She recognized it as her phone charging cord. Sure enough, attached at the other end was her phone propped against the wall. Anne picked it up and saw that not only was her phone still in one piece, it was also fully charged!

The tadpole pointed to the converter and then to her phone, saying: “Made converter for phone with help from Grandpa.” Suddenly, Polly was enveloped in a big hug from the older girl. “Thank you,” she said as she rubbed the little polliwog against her cheek, not even minding the fact that froggy slime was being slathered against her chin. “You’re welcome, Anne,” the tadpole responded. She then set the little one down, who hopped off to her older brother and grandfather. Anne couldn’t quite make out what she was saying to them; however, she was no doubt rubbing in the fact that she was able to successfully tinker without blowing something up. The two male frogs rolled their eyes and sighed in response. Anne couldn’t help but chuckle a little at this. Clearly, they were not going to hear the end of it.

Dinner that evening was uneventful, although Hop Pop’s cooking was still one thing that Anne had not gotten used to, and it was not even due to the fact that it had bugs in it! After dinner was over and the dishes were put away, Anne and Sprig went outside to the old stone wall to stargaze. Sprig had brought out a holobook that had several known stars and the planets in their systems. He was using it to teach Anne the name of the stars and planets that could be identified in the skies. The names of all these planets and stars were unfamiliar to her. Sure, they were names given by an alien language, but still, the fact that remained was that they looked nothing like any planet she knew. All this seemed to further emphasize just how far away from home she was.

Sprig seemed to notice Anne’s forlorn expression. He scrolled through several planets before coming upon one in particular. Similar to Earth, the vast majority of its surface was covered in water, with the exception of one large continent. The frog pointed to the image and said: “Amphibia.”Amphibia. I believe that’s the name of the planet we’re on, the girl mused. Sprig pointed to the flickering hologram of the planet, then at the farmhouse, and then continued: “Amphibia my home.” He then pointed to her and asked: “What...planet…is…your…home?”.

Anne was silent for a moment as she processed that question.Is..Is he trying to ask me what planet I came from?, she wondered. Having an idea, she grabbed her phone and began scrolling through her saved images. She had downloaded an image of Earth for whatever reason, probably as a low effort way to contribute to some group science project back home. When she finally found it, she showed the picture to Sprig. He stared at the image for several minutes, and then pointed to it and asked: “Home?”. The human nodded, then she also pointed to it and said: “Planet…name…Earth.”

“Earth. Earth,” the frog parroted back, and then spent several minutes searching the book. Anne had no idea for sure what he was doing, but it looked like he was searching the book to see if Earth was listed. After about 5 to 10 minutes, the middle schooler pointed to the book with a hopeful expression and asked: “Earth in holo..book?”. After a few more minutes of searching in silence, he shook his head sadly. Anne’s face also fell, and she heaved a heavy, disappointed sigh. Sprig grabbed her hand to comfort her and said: “Don’t..be..sad. We help you find home.” Anne smiled, and the two wrapped their arms around each other in a gentle embrace. She pointed at the two of them, then at the night sky and said: “Spranne against the galaxy?”. The boy laughed and nodded, saying: “Spranne against the galaxy.” The two kids then high fived each other and did a special handshake, forever sealing their bond.

The duo spent more time outside, with Sprig continuing to point to stars in the sky and reading their names from the book. After a while, however, the little frog started to get a little sleepy. The next thing Anne knew, he had snuggled against her, having fallen asleep. The human couldn’t help but smile a little at this, and she leaned back against the stone wall to stare at the stars in the sky. Here she was, so far away from home, perhaps farther than anyone on Earth has ever traveled. And yet, while she still missed home and all her family and friends, being with Sprig and the Plantars seemed to take the edge off of her homesickness. It was comforting to know that at least she was not alone, and she was moved by the fact that this frog family was willing to do whatever it would take to help a complete stranger find her way home. She wrapped her arm around the sleeping Sprig and turned down the lantern that was next to them. “Sasha, Marcy? I hope you guys are okay. Because I am,” she said, staring into the cosmic void of this alien galaxy that was strangely starting to feel more and more like home….

Xxxxxxx

Elsewhere, someone was feeling the opposite of ‘at home’. Stewing in frustration and indignation, Sasha contemplated her situation as she sat on the floor of her cell. She hated being tied up in some weird glowing manacles. She hated the ugly, toadlike creatures that came to her cell and barked incomprehensible sentences at her. She hated the cell itself, that glowing red ripple in the front that she couldn’t pass, the hard concrete slab that passed as a ‘bed’, and the metal walls around her that were all the same. Even those rectangular grey bars that counted as food around here peeved her to no end. Sure, they didn’t taste too bad, and they did fill her, but having to eat them for a couple of weeks now pissed her off.

Speaking of, there it was, another meal box came in via that slot in the wall. Sasha frowned. It was gonna be another grey bar, wasn’t it? She tried reassuring herself that at least it wasn’t like the first few days, where they served her bugs, until they got the memo that she wouldn’t eat those. But it did little to make her feel any better. Glaring across the cell, she focused her attention and frustration on the meal box sitting on the other side of the room, just out of reach, unless she got up. Deciding that she couldn’t exactly just starve herself if she ever wanted to get out and find her friends, she grumpily reached out for the box with her hand. With a scraping noise, the box slid across the cell floor and toward her open palm. The girl’s eyes shot wide open!

Oh. Oh that changed things. A determined grin began to form on her face. She might be able to work with this after all.

Chapter 6: To Catch A Thief

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter VI: To Catch A Thief

For Sprik, Anne moving in was the best thing that had ever happened to him. For most of his life, he struggled to make friends with the children of Warwoo. The only child who could relate to him was Ivia, who was perhaps his only friend in the whole village. But aside from her, none of the children found it amusing whenever he pretended to be eaten by a giant snake skeleton, and they never included him in any games. So, he often spent time playing by himself or with Pollia or Ivia. Heck, sometimes he was so desperate for companionship that he dragged a dead fish named Carsk around to keep him company while he was working. Consequently, in addition to being dull and monotonous, life in Warwoo was rather lonely for Sprik.

With Anne, however, he had finally found someone else who could truly understand and relate to him, even with the language barrier that stood between them. Even then, she was at a point where they could start having conversations. As time went on, Sprik started to think of her not only as his best friend, but also as the older sibling he had always wanted. She may not have been with them for that long, but to him at least, she was just as much an integral member of the Plantark family as he, his grandfather, and his little sister were. With her around, life seemed more complete, more satisfying. Yep, now that Anne was a part of his life, everything was perfect. Well, except for one little thing…

“WHO ARE YA CALLIN’ OLD?! I’LL HAVE YA KNOW, IMMA CRISP 68!!”

“DID NOT SAY THAT!!”

Well, that. Sprik sighed as the outbursts from Anne and his grandfather reverberated throughout their home. As he and Pollia were doing dishes, he found himself tuning into their argument from the living room. Apparently, Anne had attempted to turn down the heating unit and open the windows, leading to Hopidi complaining about how cold it was. Hoping to ease some of the tension, he walked over to them and said: “Grandpa, I think Anne was asking ‘why are you so cold?’ She might think that it’s a little warm in here.” The teen girl nodded in confirmation, then said while rolling her eyes: “It too hot.” “Well, that’s easy fer a warm-blooded mammal to say! What about the rest of us cold-blooded amphibians?! It’s about cold enough in here to induce hibernation!” the old frog countered, shooting the human a glare. “What I get overheated!?” Anne sassed back, with a scowl of her own. “Oh please! There are humans living on planets with temperatures warmer than this! Maybe ya need to build up yer heat tolerance,” Hopidi retorted with a croak.

Sprik walked away shaking his head as the two of them continued to argue. It seemed that the more Anne learned Basic and how to communicate with them, the more she and his grandfather got under each other’s skin and butted heads with each other. Unfortunately, their quarrels seemed to get more and more frequent as time went on.

The next day, as they were doing chores, Anne was struggling with a particularly heavy crate of vegetables. “Hop Pop, too heavy,” she huffed as she strained under the weight. Hopidi responded with a dramatic gasp before shouting: “WHO ARE YA CALLIN’ HEAVY?!” which startled the girl and caused her to drop the crate. “Did. Not. Say. That! Crate too heavy!” she growled as she rubbed her knee. “Well, maybe ya wouldn’t struggle as much if ya stopped wasting yer breath complaining. And fer the last time, quit callin’ me Hop Pop!’' the frog snapped as they entered into yet another grimace showdown.

A mere few hours later, yet another squabble erupted when Hopidi complained about Anne taking too long in the refresher. The sound of blasters could be heard as the old man was attempting to blast his way into the room, and Sprik and Pollia could hear their yelling from the living room below them: “WILL YOU QUIT BLASTING DOOR?!” “YA’VE BEEN IN THERE FOR TWO HOURS!!” “YOU NEED ANOTHER BATHROOM IN CRUMMY HOUSE!!” “THIS HOUSE IS LIKE FAMILY! YOU APOLOGIZE!” “TO HOUSE?!”

Pollia seemed to pay no heed to their arguing, preferring to focus on her tinkering instead. Sprik, on the other hand, having had enough of Anne and Hopidi’s constant bickering, tugged on his hat and yelled: “I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!” “They’re just getting used to each other. It’s not a big deal,” his little sister responded, not looking up from her droid arm. “NOT A BIG DEAL?! I overhead Grandpa saying that he’s about ready to kick Anne out! I don’t want to lose her!” cried Sprik. Pollia merely rolled her eyes in response and said: “Come on, Sprik. You know Grandpa says stuff like that when he’s mad, but doesn’t really mean it. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Oh yeah? Remember the Hendel’s next door? They used to argue all the time, and look what happened to them,” said Sprik, pointing out the window to a dilapidated house that appeared to have been uninhabited for quite some time now. The fate of the aforementioned family was further illustrated with Wallap emerging from the home with an arm full of old dishes. “Nothin’ like scavengin’ the remains of a broken family,” the frog remarked as he carried his quarry to a small repulsorlift cart.

“If we don’t do something now, it won’t be long before their bickering will tear this family apart!” cried Sprik, pacing back and forth nervously across the floor. Pollia just shook her head and replied: “I still think we should just give them time. Not like we have a lot of options. You can’t force people to get along.” Just then, Sprik’s eyes widened, as if her comment had just given him an idea. He started to back away slowly, saying: “Of course not, Pollia.” He then stopped at the end of the hallway and repeated: “Of course not.” The tadpole shook her head again as her older sibling disappeared around the corner, only to poke his head out. “Of course-”, he began, but his sister cut him off: “JUST GO ALREADY!!”

Pollia sighed as that idiot of an older brother finally left. She just knew that he had come up with some ridiculous plan that was doomed to failure. As much as people complained about her droids blowing up, Sprik’s dumb ol’ ideas were just as destructive, if not more so. And the little tadpole had a sneaking suspicion that this plan involved Anne and Grandpa…

Xxxxxx

The next morning, the family set out to the fields in the repulsorlift cart to check up on their crops. It had rained heavily last night and Hopidi wanted to make sure that the fields weren’t flooded, especially the one where their most valuable crop, nysillin, grew. Of course, he and Anne were arguing the whole way over every single little thing. However, when they reached the nysillin field, he brought the cart to an abrupt halt. Hopidi’s jaw dropped to the floor in shock and horror at what he saw. Half of the small field was bare, stripped of its nysillin, save for the remnants of stems. The old frog hopped out of the cart and rushed over to the remains of the pilfered harvest. “Not my ‘sillin crops!' ' he cried, poking the stubs with his toes.

“What big deal? Just flowers,” Anne remarked, examining one of the remaining plants. “They ain’t ‘just flowers’, Anne. They’re a very important medicinal plant and one of the most valuable crops in the galaxy. Over half of our income comes from ‘sillin alone. Some one musta snuck into the fields under the cover of night and stolen half of our crops!” Hopidi responded, anxiously pacing back and forth.

Suddenly, Sprik ran over to his grandfather’s side and declared dramatically: “The injustice! The outrage! We’ve gotta catch this thief!” “Agreed! And it’s nice to see you so passionate ‘bout our livelihood, Sprik,” said Hopidi. “Yes. Very odd,” Pollia observed, squinting suspiciously at her older brother. Meanwhile, the pink frog climbed onto Besi’s head and said: “If the thief stole once, it’ll steal again. The only way to catch this monster is a stakeout.” After the group all expressed their agreement, the boy continued: “And the only ones who can do it are…Anne and Grandpa!” “Huh?!” “What?!” exclaimed Hopidi and Anne respectively.

Sprik shrugged and explained: “Well, I obviously can’t because I have the attention span of a…” Just then, a butterfly fluttered into view, distracting the frog momentarily. “Oh, look at that,” said Sprik, completely forgetting about what he was just talking about. “Hop Pop and Polly?” Anne suggested, pointing to the elderly frog and the tadpole respectively. “Pollia’s a baby, Anne,” Hopidi pointed out, shaking his head at the very suggestion. “Just asking, Hop Pop,” the teenager replied with a huff.

Seeing no way out of it, Hopidi sighed and said: “Very well. Let’s be honest, though. Anne’ll probably fall asleep and it’ll just be me.” “Why I fall asleep first? You 100 years old,” rebutted Anne as she and Hopidi walked back to the cart, to which the old frog responded: “I told ya! Imma crisp 68!” While Pollia would normally be peeved at not being considered for the job because she was a ‘baby’, she was more preoccupied with her suspicions as to who the thief was. “You stole the ‘sillin, didn’t you?” she asked Sprik, glaring at him. Nodding, her older brother replied: “Oh, absolutely. But now those two have to spend the whole night together and bond!”

“Sprik, have you lost your mind?! You can’t manipulate people like this!” rebuked Pollia. “I can, and I did. And it’s going to save this family!” said Sprik. His younger sister shook her head at his questionable family therapy techniques. As it was, the only reason why she wasn’t telling on him was because she wanted to see his stupid plan backfire on him. The polliwog also wanted to join Anne and her grandfather when they smacked some sense into him. She sighed as she joined the rest of her family in the cart. I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Pollia thought as Hopidi snapped Besi’s reins. They then made their way home so that they could prepare for their stakeout that evening.

Xxxxxxx

Later that night, Anne and Hopidi stationed themselves behind a stone wall that was located next to the nysillin field. Unbeknownst to them, Sprik and Pollia had snuck out to observe them, hidden behind a bush a few meters from the wall. Sprik popped his head out of the bush and pulled out a pair of electrobinoculars. He watched his grandfather and Anne as they set down their bags and settled into position on the other side of the wall, chuckling to himself.

“Just look at ‘em. And now to watch the flowers of friendship bloom,” he said with an air of smug satisfaction. Sure, maybe he had stolen his grandfather’s crops and tricked him and Anne into staying out in the fields all night, but it was for a good cause! He just knew that once those two spent a little time together talking, they would find out they had more in common than they realized and would connect. Pollia, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and groaned. She was still skeptical of both the effectiveness and the morality of her brother’s idiotic plan.

Meanwhile, Hopidi was peering over the wall, watching the fields for any sign of their thief. Anne, on the other hand, was reading one of those paper booklets, or ‘magazines’, by the light of a small lantern. “For galaxy’s sake, Anne, put that lamp out! We’re tryin’ to catch the thief, not scare it away. ‘Sides, we’re supposed to be keepin’ an eye out,' ' he whispered. The human teen rolled her eyes, but ultimately complied. A few more minutes passed in silence before being interrupted by a big yawn from Anne.

With a wink and a soft chuckle, Hopidi said: “Had a feelin’ ya wouldn’t last.” “I fine. Just need boost,” Anne retorted, as she pulled something out of her backpack. It was a pink plastic bottle with spikes around the rim filled with a red liquid. “Blam Berry Blitz. It punches you face and no stop,” she said. “Ha! That silly drink won’t keep ya up!” replied Hopidi, who rummaged through his own backpack and brought out a small thermos. He opened the lid, releasing steam that had been trapped inside. A scent that was vaguely familiar to that of coffee from Earth hit Anne’s nostrils.

“Now this will keep ya up! Mama’s old Yorra caf recipe! Made from special caf beans grown right here on the farm. Definitely much more potent than some sugary drink,” said the old frog, taking in the scent of the caffeinated beverage. “Ha! No way it stronger than Berry Blitz,” Anne retorted. The human and the frog squinted at each other, then made a grab for each other’s drinks.

Hopidi unscrewed the cap of Anne’s Berry Blitz and poured the drink into his mouth. Meanwhile, the girl chugged the Yorra caf, burning her tongue and throat in the process and letting out a yelp of pain. It also tasted sour, like a poorly brewed Earth coffee. As the caf squelched along her throat and settled uncomfortably in her stomach, Anne turned pale and scrunched up her face in such a way that she resembled an Ugnaught. For his part, Hopidi groaned as he gained a few extra wrinkles on his face and bags formed under his eyes.

The frog and the human were soon on their hands and knees, coughing and gagging. Once they recovered, however, the two of them started laughing hysterically. As soon as she could speak again, Anne turned to Hopidi and said: “You see look your face? You dying!” “Well, what about you? I never knew humans could even turn that color! What, ya got chameleon bird in your blood?” was the old frog’s reply.

As Anne sat up, she looked up into the night sky, leaning back against the stone wall. Both of Amphibia’s moons were keeping a silent sentry of the vast kingdom of stars and constellations, none of which were familiar to the girl. Noticing her wistful expression, Hopidi inquired: “Ya miss home, don’t ya?” The teen sighed and nodded. The orange frog joined her in leaning against the wall, saying: “It must be difficult for ya. Having to learn ‘nother language, ‘nother culture. I bet it ain’t easy adaptin’ to life in a strange world and being the only human ‘round. To be honest, I feel the same way sometimes. I feel like things that we did back in my day are considered to be ‘outdated’ and ‘obsolete’ nowadays. Ya know, old. I might as well be from ‘nother culture sometimes.” “Guess both us no fit in, huh?” the human asked. “Ya, I guess we got a lot more in common than we thought, don’t we? Just a coupla of misfits tryin’ to make sense of the galaxy,” said Hopidi. The two exchanged a smile and silently watched the stars together.

“It’s working! They’re…connecting!” said Sprik in a barely contained whisper as he watched the two through his electrobinoculars. However, Pollia rolled her eyes, thinking to herself: They start squabbling again in 3…2…1.

Right on cue, Anne turned to Hopidi and said: “I have it worse, though.” The old frog’s face soured into a frown and he retorted: “Always gotta make it about you, don’t ya? ‘ I’m Anne, and my life is worse than everyone else’s!’ ” The girl put her hands on her hips and rebutted: “Oh, yeah?! Well, my head not pot!” Wait, what? Anne thought, rubbing her eyes, for Hopidi’s head had suddenly transformed into a coffee pot.

“Oh, yeah?! Well, at least I ain’t floating in the air!” Hopidi rebuffed as he poured coffee out of his spout. He then noticed that Anne indeed was levitating a few feet off the ground. “What…?!” Anne exclaimed. For at that moment, bubbles started to spew from the ground and the colors of their environment were transformed into ethereal, fluorescent hues.

“What’s happenin’ to us?!” the farmer cried, as he frantically examined his new head. “How I know..”, Anne started, but when she saw her Berry Blitz bottle and Hopidi’s thermos floating in front of her face, the realization hit her like a ton of bricks: “THE DRINKS!!” Of course! Our body chemistry must be so different that we’re having crazy reactions to each other’s extreme beverage! Hopidi mused. Of course, he never would have imagined a human having such a negative reaction to caf. Not that it mattered at that moment anyways, not when his head was a giant caf pot!

“This is terrible!” yelled Hopidi, whistling as steam was released from his spout. “I never shoulda let ya trick me into tryin’ something new!' ' he continued angrily, pointing an accusing finger at her. Anne grabbed the thermos out of the air and snapped back: “Oh, yeah?! Well, look your Mama’s gross space coffee did me!” Hopidi released an overly dramatic gasp at this slight hurled at his family’s time-honored traditions.

Meanwhile, while he was too far away to hear them, Sprik could tell by their gestures and facial expressions that Anne and his grandfather were involved in yet another argument. “No, no! This can’t be! They’re fighting again!” the pink frog cried as he started to panic again. “Oh no. What a surprise,” the purple tadpole responded sarcastically, just barely resisting the temptation to tell him: “I told you so.” Honestly, what did he expect? She could see this coming from a parsec away. If he had any common sense, her brother would fess up to what he did before any more damage could be inflicted. Since this was Sprik, however, he did the exact opposite.

Pacing back and forth, he muttered to himself: “Ok, ok. No problem. We’ll just have to take matters into our own hands.” Realizing what he was planning, Pollia gasped and said: “Wait. You don’t mean-” Sprik dug into the bag he had brought, took out a long brown cloak and threw it on. “Oh, that’s right, Pollia! I’m going to steal more ‘sillin right under their noses! They’ll have to do this again tomorrow, and the next night, and the next night, until they’re the bestest friends who were ever friends, and then the family will be saved!” shouted Sprik, with a maniacal chuckle that demonstrated his descent into insanity. “You’re mad!” declared the polliwog, but before she could do anything, her older sibling leaped out of the bush and made his way toward the nysillin field. “Just try and stop me!” Sprik’s reply echoed back to her. “Oh, boy,” she moaned as she watched him hop towards the field. She decided to follow in order to stop him from doing anything rash…

Neither the frog nor the human were aware that they were being watched, for even if they weren’t under the influence, they were too busy arguing to take notice of anything. However, a rustling noise drew them out of their dispute. As the duo glanced out over the nysillin field, they observed the silhouette of a figure poking around the crops. That could only be one thing…. “The ‘sillin thief!” exclaimed both Anne and Hopidi. Suddenly, the pot frog fusion hybrid accidently spouted steam in Anne’s face. “Watch it!” the teen said, coughing. “Sorry,” he apologized. The two of them then dashed towards the field to catch their ‘thief’.

In the fields, Sprik was about ready to uproot some nysillin when his little sister pounced on him. “STOP THIS MADNESS!!” yelled Pollia as she started smacking his head and tugging his eyelids. “Let go!” cried Sprik as he struggled to get her off. The tadpole wouldn’t budge, however, and she shouted: “You’ve lost your mind!” “A small price to pay for saving this family!” was the boy’s response as he tried to crawl forward. Their struggle was interrupted when they were confronted by Anne and Hopidi.

Xxxxx

“Stop you…you…thief? Huh?” said Anne as she and Hopidi rubbed their eyes. The silhouette appeared to be morphing right in front of them. The creature's bones cracked as it changed shape and grew to three times Anne’s height. “Whoa…” was all the duo could mutter as they watched the gruesome transformation unfold. The creature revealed itself to be a terrifying monster that consisted of a long, slender body that vaguely resembled a scarecrow, spindly limbs, and long, slender fingers. It had a face with a long beak that resembled a nysillin flower and a smaller, similarly shaped head as an outgrowth. Its hollow eyes glowed with an unnatural green light that pierced into their souls. The creature roared and cackled in a deep and crackly voice as green flames spewed from its nostrils.

A horrified Anne and Hopidi screamed loudly as steam whistled from the frog pot’s spout. The abomination inhaled deeply and belched forth green flames that circled the human and the frog, who clung to each other tightly and screamed. “THE ‘SILLIN THIEF!!! AND IT’S THE SCARIEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!!!" exclaimed Hopidi, who was on the verge of a heart attack right then and there. “Finally, we agree!” said Anne, who felt like she was going to need a change of clothes if they survived.

The Plantark patriarch turned to Anne and slammed his fist into his palm, saying: “We’ve got to take this thing down! Are ya with me?” The girl’s face switched from petrified with fear to determined and resolute as she nodded, but then she paused: Wait a sec, why am I getting the feeling that that monster isn’t actually… “Then let’s do this!” declared Hopidi, interrupting Anne's train of thought, as another river of fire rained down upon them.

Both of them lept out of the way, however, and Anne grabbed a glowing blue sword and severed the left arm of the nysillin monster. Unfortunately, this attack proved to be futile, for a new arm grew in its place. Hopidi aimed with his spout at the monster and shot a beam, which slammed into the nysillin thief with a deafening technicolor explosion.

When the smoke had cleared, however, the nysillin thief was revealed to be standing before them unscathed. “Our attacks no hurt it!” said Anne as the creature laughed tauntingly at its opponents’ fruitless attacks. “But we can’t give up so easily!” Hopidi responded. “Right!” said Anne, as the two of them geared up for another assault…

Xxxxx

Sprik and Pollia had been knocked backwards with a roll when Anne struck them with a pole. As the boy rubbed his sore arm, his grandfather stood before them with his arms outstretched, making weird and random noises. What has gotten into them? wondered Sprik. “Whelp, they're broken,” said Pollia as she hopped back up onto her place on her brother’s head. Now Anne and Hopidi were flailing their arms and imitating blasters firing.

“It must be immune to lasers!” the old frog cried. “Quick, grab power-ups!” said Anne in response. “Power ups?” Sprik asked, baffled at his grandfather and adoptive sister’s abnormal behavior. Just then, Anne and Hopidi grabbed a scythe and a pitchfork, respectively, and came charging at them with a battlecry.

“RUN, RUN, RUN!!!” exclaimed Pollia as her brother screamed and fled from their pursuers. The sound of Anne and Hopid’s shouting followed the two as Sprik ran for both of their lives through the fields. “This is all your fault, Sprik! If we live through this, I’m gonna kill you!” the polliwog screamed. “I’m sorry, Pollia! I never meant for any of this to happen! I just wanted Anne and Grandpa to like each other,” the older frog cried as the hunters started to gain on them, eliciting more screams from the two frog children.

Xxxxx

As they were chasing the nysillin thief, Anne heard Sprik and Pollia screaming. She looked up to see the younger children struggling in the beast’s grasp. “Hop Pop! It have Sprig and Polly!” the teen cried as she pushed herself to run faster and catch up with them. Hopidi couldn’t really see them, but then again, she was way ahead of him, so maybe she was at a better vantage point to see them. Regardless, he could still hear his grandchildren scream, so he picked up the pace, shouting: “Hang in there, kids! Grandpa’s a comin’!”

Xxxxx

Upon noticing that Anne and Hopidi were gaining speed, Sprik’s heart rate doubled, whipping him forward. He was so focused on trying to escape that he failed to notice the stone in his path. Consequently, he tripped over it, spending him and his little sister tumbling into a roll. Sprik landed in a heap while Pollia was thrown off to the side. The boy slowly sat up and regained his bearings, only to be treated with the sight of a deranged human pouncing on him like a scorlax lion.

The next thing he knew, he was struggling to escape Anne’s iron grip and trying to stop her from decapitating him with her scythe. “What you do with Sprig and Polly?!” she yelled, getting dangerously close to ripping off his limbs. At that moment, Hopidi arrived and started egging her on: “That’s it! Get ‘em, Anne! Nobody messes with my family and gets away with it!” As the girl lifted up her scythe and was about to rip him open, Sprik pleaded for his life with tears streaming down his face: “Anne, Grandpa, it’s me!”

Suddenly, Anne’s swing paused in mid arc. The human co*cked her head and squinted as she stared at her prey. The nysillin beast folded its hands together and said: “I’ve learned my lesson, I promise! “I’ll never manipulate people again!” If Anne didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that that voice sounded familiar…. “Sprig?” she asked, loosening her grip on the boy.

As Hopidi examined the monster more closely, he also noticed that it sounded suspiciously like his grandson. “Boy?” he asked, lowering his pitchfork. Sure enough, the nysillin thief morphed into Sprik, who was sobbing hysterically and begging: “DON’T KILL ME, PLEASE!!” Soon, Hopidi’s head reverted to its proper form, and their surroundings returned to normal. Anne dropped Sprik and rubbed her eyes.

Upon feeling his head and discovering it was no longer a pot, Hopidi exclaimed: “None of that was real?! But it was so terrifying! I thought we were goners.” “Me too! And you…defended me,” Anne realized. “And you…you were willin’ to risk yer life to save Sprik and Pollia, like a true hero!” replied Hopidi, flashing her a grateful smile. Anne wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close, saying: “You done so much. It least I do, Hop Pop..Hopidi.” The old timer placed a hand on her shoulder and said: “Ya know what? I’ve kinda grown attached to Hop Pop. Why don’t ya call me that?” They both chuckled, but then, they promptly collapsed, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Meanwhile, Pollia didn’t know what was more shocking: Anne and her grandfather’s inexplicable behavior, or that they were now friends thanks to Sprik’s ridiculous plans. “Wow, Sprik. I owe you an apology. You’re dumb ol’ plan actually kinda worked!” she said. Sprik, on the other hand, who was still frozen in fear, replied in a shaky voice: “Thanks, Pollia, but maybe next time, we do it your way.” He then passed out, leaving Pollia as the only conscious one left.

Pollia sighed and said: “Whelp, looks like we’re spending the night out here. Might as well get comfortable.” She hopped over to Anne and snuggled against her warm body. Before she could settle in for the night, however, the tadpole realized that she was thirsty. She then noticed a pink bottle of some red liquid sitting on the wall near them. She hopped over to it, grabbed the bottle, and guzzled it down. When the bottle had been sucked dry, she spiked it. She then turned to a neighboring boulder and said: “All right, Boulder-tron, you ready to roll?” The boulder emerged from the ground and grew arms and legs. “Always, my queen,” it responded in a gravelly voice. “Good man, Boulder-tron. Good man,” said Pollia. And with that, the two of them marched into battle, ready to take on the galaxy together.

Chapter 7: The Tooka And The Scorlax

Chapter Text

Book I

Chapter VII: The Tooka And The Scorlax

It was a quiet, peaceful morning. The sun had not yet risen, but the orange and yellow band that contrasted with the purplish blue sky heralded that its arrival was imminent. Amphibia’s duo moons and a few bright stars were finishing their night shift before allowing the sun to take control of the heavens. The nocturnal symphony of insect chirps and lower amphibian croaks mingled with the songs of awakening birds greeting the day. Dew glistened on the grass blades in the moonlight, which created small globes of red and white and emitted a pleasant aroma. Misty clouds were suspended over the fields, shrouding everything in mystery. There was a crispness in the air that contrasted with Amphibia’s typically humid and muggy climate. This created an atmosphere that could provoke a desire for adventure, a desire to greet the day and anticipation for what it would have to offer. That is, if you were awake to even notice it.

This was not the case for Anne Boonchuy, who was sprawled out on her cot in the basem*nt, dead to the galaxy. Her limbs were stretched out every which way, with one lying across her eyes, and her blanket was tangled between her legs for some inexplicable reason. Her pillow was soaked from a combination of sweat and drool, and the plush that Sprig had given her was lying across her chest. The Thai girl was snoring softly, which was interrupted with the occasional snort.

She was completely oblivious to Sprig opening the door to the basem*nt, who tiptoed down the stairs and tried to keep the creaking down to a minimum to avoid waking her. Once he made it to the bottom, the pink frog crept over to the crates in the corner of the room. He slowly bent over and carefully picked a crate of vegetables up, nearly falling over backwards from the weight of the crate. Fortunately, he was able to correct himself, but not before a gourd escaped the crate and rolled over to Anne’s bed. It lightly bounced off Anne, just enough to wake her up.

The human girl’s eyelids slowly peeled open as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes adjusted just in time to see Sprig leave the basem*nt with his crate and close the door behind him. As her brain came online, she wondered what the Plantars were doing this early in the morning that would require a crate of vegetables. The fact that they had arisen before dawn was not in of itself unexpected; they were farmers, after all. However, Hop Pop would have woken her up by now so they could get a head start on the chores for that day (Anne still wasn’t used to their schedule). So, they clearly did not need her for whatever they were doing.

Anne was tempted to go back to sleep, but a part of her wanted to know what the Plantars were up to. So, she rose from her bed and went upstairs to see if they were in the living room. When she didn’t find them in there, she was about ready to search the house when she caught a glimpse of them outside through the window. She stepped outside to see them loading their floating cart with supplies for what appeared to be a long trip. Wait, were they going somewhere, without her?

Anne cleared her throat to get the Plantars’ attention. The frog family paused what they were doing and noticed the human standing there. “Hey Anne! Did I wake you up? Sorry about that,” said Sprig, as he shoved his crate onto the cart. “It ok,” Anne replied with a shrug, then asked hesitantly: “Where you going?” “The three of us are going on our annual hunting trip! Every year we go camping in the wild and go hunting so we have extra food for the winter! Nothing like roughing it outdoors, getting filthy, and connecting with nature!” explained Sprig, leaping into the cart where his younger sister and his grandfather were seated.

“Without me?” inquired Anne. “Well, you’re new to this planet, Anne, and we know you probably didn’t have the best experience in the woods. Plus, we get the feeling you aren’t a big fan of nature. We’d figured that you would rather stay here,” said Sprig. “Yeah, there are mantarks, scorlax lions, leech snakes, insects that can suck you dry in seconds, the list goes on,” added Polly. “Yep. Since yer not a Plantark, you don’t have to worry about any of that. You can stay at home where it’s nice and safe,” Hop Pop piped in.

Crestfallen at this remark, Anne’s shoulders slumped and she sighed softly. Honestly, though, she had no idea why she was so disappointed at the prospect of not being included in their trip. After all, she hated the very idea of camping. It invoked memories of being dragged on her father’s camping trips back home: sleeping outside in a tent in the pouring cold rain, no internet, bug bites, skunk sprays. It was enough to make her shudder. Not only that, but after struggling to survive in the forest for several weeks, the idea of spending several days deep in the woods certainly didn’t appeal to her either. She should be glad that she would have the farm all to herself.

Then why did the thought of the Plantars leaving her alone depress her so much? Why did she not relish the idea of an empty house? Why did she find herself longing to join them? And perhaps the most bizarre of all, why was she finding herself being drawn towards the forest?

Against her better judgment, Anne worked up enough courage to say: “I want go too. Take me. Please, please, please?” “Are ya sure, Anne? It can get a bit rough on these trips,” said Hop Pop. “I handle it!” the human insisted, despite her brain screaming out: What the heck are you doing, Boonchuy?! “Well, I don’t know,” the old frog responded hesitantly, rubbing the skin under his mouth. “Aw, come on, guys! If Anne says she can handle it, she can handle it,” insisted Sprig, with the girl in question nodding her head affirmatively.

“Weeelll, all right, kid. Grab yer backpack and hop on,” Hop Pop decided, motioning for her to join them. With a cheer, Anne ran into the house and grabbed her things. She then hopped into the cart and climbed next to Sprig. As they started moving, Sprig taped Anne’s shoulder and whispered: “Psst. Hey, since you’re coming with us, we gotta spray you with this stuff. Only way to keep the flesh eating ticks away!” He then produced an aerosol can and started spraying the girl with noxious smelling droplets that made her eyes water and burned her nose and lungs. Boonchuy, what have you done? Anne chided herself as she coughed, already regretting her decision.

Xxxxxx

It was late afternoon by the time the group had arrived at their destination. The shrieks, cries, and calls of hidden wildlife echoed through the forest, announcing their presence to the travelers. The closer they got to their camping spot, the more Sprig and Polly’s excitement increased. This trip was one of the highlights of the year for them and they had been counting down the rotations. Anne, on the other hand, had curled up in the back of the cart after lunch to nap and had spent the rest of the trip snoring. As they had arrived, Hop Pop lightly tugged on Bessie’s reins to bring the cart to a halt, which put an abrupt end to Anne’s siesta.

Now awake, the girl slowly sat up and took in her surroundings. The group was in a small clearing surrounded by dense, tangled vegetation. The thick canopy blocked all sunlight save a few stray beams, which darkened the forest around them. Glowing eyes peeked at them from the foliage, and howls and screams were the greetings of the wild beasts to their guests. The air reeked with the odor of pungent swamp gases that smelled like rotten eggs.We’re not staying HERE, are we? This place looks about as welcoming as a horror movie! Anne thought as she nervously surveyed the wilderness around them. Sprig and Polly, however, eagerly jumped out of the cart and rushed towards the spot with their gear.

“We’re finally here! I can’t wait to tell scary stories. I’ve got some really good ones this year. I hope you all brought extra clothes, because you’re gonna need them,” said Sprig, wrapping a blanket he was carrying around him like a cloak with a maniacal laugh. “I’m just happy to get off the farm. So much fresh air, and it’s all mine," said Polly, inhaling so much air that she inflated like a tiny balloon. Hop Pop sighed contently and said: “I personally love the peace and quiet. A frog can really hear themselves think out here.” He then closed his eyes and tuned in to his thoughts: Did ya leave the stove on? The front door unlocked? WILL YOU DIE ALONE?!? Disturbed by his anxious thoughts, the old frog remarked: “Well, that was a mistake.”

Anne hesitantly stepped down from the cart, right into a mud puddle. At least, she hoped it was a mud puddle, and not a steaming pile of… Before Anne could finish that thought, a swarm of insects surrounded her head, buzzing in ears and biting her face. “Oh, hang on Anne! I’m coming!” cried Sprig as he rushed over with another aerosol can and sprayed the human with it. Once again, the girl was coughing and tearing up from the irritating chemicals in the spray.

Noticing her discomfort, Hop Pop walked over to Anne and asked her: “Are ya sure you’ll be alright, Anne? Ya don’t havta stay if ya don’t wanna.” The teen looked at him with bloodshot eyes, flashing a weak smile and giving him a thumbs up. While the look on his face betrayed a lack of confidence in her response, the old man eventually shrugged his shoulders and went back to setting up camp.

Meanwhile, Anne hated herself for having agreed to go on this trip. She so desperately wanted to say that she changed her mind and wanted to go back to the farm. And yet, she felt a pull towards this place, like there was a tiny voice whispering in her mind to stay. She sighed, threw up her hands in the air as a sign of both disgust and surrender, and grabbed her backpack. She then joined the Plantars as they started to make camp.

Xxxxxx

As the early morning light slowly crept into the forest, the first rays of sunlight beamed into a sleeping Anne’s face. The Thai girl moaned and placed an arm over her face to shade her eyes from the sunshine. Her first night on this trip had been nothing short of a nightmare. Her attempts at tent building had ended in disaster, with the tent not only collapsing, but also catching on fire. And there weren’t even any flames around when it happened! Then, when they were fishing for dinner, Anne had caught a huge monster fish that had tried to eat her. To make matters worse, there were the bugs and ticks that seemed to be attracted to the teenager, leaving her covered with itchy bumps and even small wounds. To top it all off, she hardly got any sleep that night, having spent most of the night lying awake. After all, it was hard to sleep with the eerie calls of unknown beasts and monsters keeping her up and the roots and rocks underneath her poking her back.

Upon realizing that she was probably not going to fall back asleep, Anne reluctantly opened her eyes. It was then that she noticed some animal sitting on her. The girl held her breath and tried not to make any sudden movements, lest she provoke the creature to attack her. However, it merely blinked and stared at her, emitting a cry that reminded Anne of the meows of her pet cat, Domino. Come to think of it…. The 13 year old quickly grabbed her phone and scrolled through the photos until she found one that contained her cat. She placed it next to the animal on her chest for a comparison. It looked vaguely like some kind of goblin cat, with large pointy ears, a flat face, beady eyes, talon-like paws, and a big mouth. However, it also black and white fur, just like Domino. When she looked at the two side by side, they looked remarkably similar…

A scream from Anne’s tent woke up the Plantars and sent them rushing to see what was the matter. “WHAT’S WRONG?!” “IS SOMEONE DEAD?!” “WHY ARE WE YELLING?!?” cried Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly respectively. Much to their relief, however, the human girl appeared to be uninjured. Sprig then noticed that she was staring intently with wide, teary eyes at a tooka cat. “Aw, look, it’s a tooka!” he said. “Ugh, tookas. Nasty lil’ varmints,” groaned Hop Pop, casting a critical eye on the feline. Anne turned her phone to the Plantars and showed them a picture of some feline-like creature that looked almost exactly like the tooka she was holding.

Sprig then remembered Anne showing him a picture of her pet ‘cat’ earlier, and realized why she was freaking out: “Oh! Grandpa, that tooka looks just like her pet cat, Domino, from her home planet!” The girl nodded and rubbed her face against the purring tooka. “Domino 2,” she whispered, gently hugging the newly dubbed creature.

“I think Anne wants to keep her as a pet! Can we Grandpa, please please pleaaase? We all will take care of her,” pleaded Sprig earnestly. “Oh, you mean like that spider, Chari Big Bottom? Sure, you and Pollia were there for all the cuddlin’ and the snugglin’, but who got stuck doin’ all the work?! Good ol’ Grandpa, that’s who! Not to mention, that little varmint was a menace, always gettin’ into trouble! I have enough of that with the three of ya already!” exclaimed Hop Pop. “But Hop Pop,” Anne began, only to be interrupted by the old frog: “No 'but’s' about it! Tookas ain’t nothing but trouble!” He then began to shoo away ‘Domino 2’: “Go on, get going, ya little pest!” The feline hissed at him, then scampered out of the tent and into the woods.

Anne bolted out of the tent and ran after Domino 2, but was too late to stop her from retreating into the forest. All the girl could do was just stand there looking forlornly after the tooka. Sprig sighed and walked over to her side to try to cheer her up. Grabbing her hand, he said: “Sorry about that, Anne. But to be fair, feral tooka cats can be pretty hard to train to be housebroken. Maybe she’s happier in the woods.” “Yeah,” Anne replied dejectedly, sniffling a little.

After thinking for a moment, Sprig had an idea: “Hey, I know what will cheer you up! How about after breakfast, you and I go hunting together? I can teach you how we Plantarks hunt!” Anne seemed to perk up a little at this offer, giving him a small smile and nodding. Sprig turned to Hop Pop and asked: “Can we, Grandpa? Please? With a larger predatory species like a human around, I bet our hunts will be twice as successful.” “Hmm, ok, but you two need to be careful. There could be dangerous predators lurking about. I’ve heard there are scorlax lions 'round these parts. They’ve got venomous fangs, claws, and spines. I’ve even heard rumors that they’re psychic!” the old frog warned, waving his arms around dramatically on that last sentence. “Ah, we’ll be fine, won’t we Anne?” his grandson said.

The girl nodded nervously, Hop Pop’s description of ‘scorlax lions’ giving her second thoughts about going hunting with Sprig. Then again, maybe she would get to learn how to use those laser gun thingies. She had to admit, hunting with those weapons sounded pretty awesome. Not to mention, surely no scorlax lion would want to mess with them if they were armed with laser guns. Heck, maybe she could even find Domino 2 again! As the Plantars started to make breakfast, Anne indulged in crazy sci-fi-esque fantasies where she used high tech weapons to take down large alien monsters. Oh yeah. I’m so pumped! This is gonna be awesome, the teenager thought, getting all hyped for her hunting lesson with Sprig. This trip just might be worth it after all….

Xxxxxx

A few hours later, Anne found herself face down in a mud pit with Sprig, who was currently stuffing his face with mud. Well, this sucks, Anne decided, wiping the muck off her face. This was certainly not her idea of hunting. For one thing, the frog boy did not want to take any weapons with them, claiming that they were ‘a last resort for defense’. What was the point of having weapons if they were not going to use them?! Instead, they were wallowing in the mud and LITERALLY eating dirt!

“Why we eating mud? How this gonna get animals?” Anne demanded. “Anne, hunting is more than just catching animals. Hunting is about becoming one with nature,” the pink frog explained. “But why eating mud?” the girl responded, as the boy grabbed a small wad of mud and began rolling it into a ball. “To track our prey, of course! That’s the first step of hunting the Plantark way. The soil is a buffet of clues,” said Sprig, throwing the mud ball into his mouth. He chewed it slowly, his face scrunched up in concentration as he savored the various flavors that the soil sample possessed. He then perked up, having recognized a particular flavor of interest. “Oh, oh! I think I’m getting something! This way!” said Sprig as he sprinted into the brush, apparently hot on the trail of something.

As Sprig hopped through the woods, he ate various leaves, mushrooms, anything that was edible and had any evidence of his prey. Anne, meanwhile, shuffled slowly behind him, clearly not impressed. Finally, they arrived at a small bush. It was rustling, indicating the presence of some animal. Out of the bush popped a brightly colored slug-like creature that had tiny legs and white spikes down its back. It flopped down and landed on its back, waving its little feet in the air and making small squeaking sounds. Sprig picked up the creature and said: “See, Anne? Nature provides. We found some grobas. They’re supposed to be delicious. And now for step two: use your surroundings.”

The alien frog examined his environs before handing Anne his groba. He dug a large hole in front of the bush, then tore some bark from a tree and placed it in front of the bush to create a makeshift ramp. “Perfect! And now it’s time for the final and most important step…the dance!” declared Sprig. “Dance? What you mean..?” Anne began, only to stop once she saw Sprig shuffle to the side and then get down on all fours, thus initiating the dance. “This dance has been in our family for generations. Watch me closely. It’s designed to both entice and disorient,” the hunter said as he swayed side to side.

As far as the Earth teen was concerned, however, this so-called ‘dance’ wasn’t so much as a dance as it was some bizarre ritual consisting of convulsive thrashing and bobbing. She covered her eyes and cringed as Sprig slapped his knees, tapped his puffed out cheeks, and flopped on the ground like a fish out of water. To cap it all off, he started slamming his head on the ground repeatedly and so intensely that he was bruising himself. Oddly enough, the grobas appeared to be mesmerized by his spasmodic movements and were drawn right into Sprig’s trap. Then again, they didn’t seem to be very intelligent to begin with, seeing as how they couldn’t figure out how to right themselves whenever they fell onto their backs.

After they had caught a dozen or so grobas, Anne decided to stop Sprig before he embarrassed himself further (or gave himself a concussion). “Ok, that enough. I think I hunt without funny little dance. These guys seem to easy catch anyways without dance. I no think they have brains,” she said, simply picking up one of the little critters to prove her point. “There’s nothing funny about the sacred Plantark hunting dance, Anne," Sprig replied, crossing his arms in indignation. “Besides,” he continued: “not every prey will be as easy to catch as grobas. But that’s not the point. Like I said earlier, hunting is about connecting to the harmony of nature. Can you hear the drums, Anne? Can you hear them playing the beat of the hunt?!”

“No,” replied a thoroughly unamused Anne. Honestly, this was the dumbest thing she had ever done. Hunting was supposed to be epic and thrilling: chasing prey over long distances through the forest, feeling the adrenaline rush, and then finally subduing your quarry and reaping in the spoils. Instead, they were eating mud and doing weird ‘dances’ in order to catch some slugs that were dumber than rocks.

Anne sighed in exasperation as Sprig started putting the captured grobas in a large sack. Honestly, the hunting lesson was the one thing that could have saved this trip from being a total disaster, but even this turned out to be a dumpster fire. Honestly, Anne was sorely tempted right then and there to tell the Plantars that she wanted to go back to the homestead and ignore that pesky, nagging feeling that had somehow persuaded her to come here in the first place. Once Sprig had finished gathering their quarry and started to lead the way back to camp, the girl decided that she was going to do just that when they returned. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse, Anne mentally grumbled as she followed the pink frog.

Meanwhile, in the distance, another predator was about to begin a hunt of its own, for some large animal had just caught the scent of new creatures in its territory. Growling, the beast stared with its infrared vision in the direction of the scent and, licking its chops while salivating, went bounding through the forest in search of this new prey….

Xxxxxx

It was a slow trek back to the campsite. The sun was already starting to set in the sky as Anne and Sprig made their way through the wilderness. The boy seemed to be in a hurry to get back, no doubt wanting to return to camp before the forest was shrouded in darkness and predators began their patrols. Anne just wanted to get back to camp so she could take Bessie and get out of dodge. Just then, she heard something rustling in the bushes, followed by a familiar meow. “Domino 2?” the Thai girl said, rushing toward the bush in the hopes of finding the feline. Domino 2 popped out of the bush on the other side and ran towards the trees.

“Hey wait, come back!” cried Anne, as she chased the alien cat, not wanting to lose her again. She was so absorbed in her search that she failed to realize she was straying both from the beaten path and from Sprig. “Domino 2?! Where are you, my baby precious?!” rang Anne’s echoes as she scoured the woods for her beloved space cat. Suddenly, the human heard a crying sound echoing faintly through the trees. Thinking it to be Domino 2’s cries, she bolted towards the source of the sound. As she got closer, however, Anne realized the cries sounded less like a tooka’s cries… and more like the cries of the Plantars.

“Wha..guys!” Anne exclaimed, following the sounds of the frog family back to their campsite. When she arrived, she discovered that the camp was in total disarray. The tents had been knocked over and torn by something with sharp claws, and items were scattered every which way. The girl also noticed that there were tracks in the mud. Upon closer inspection, the tracks revealed themselves to be that of some large feline-esque creature, much larger than any big cat on Earth.

Oh no, Anne thought, staring in horror at the enormous paw print. She frantically searched the clearing for her foster froggy family, crying out: “Sprig, Hop Pop, Polly?!” Suddenly, she heard the screams of the Plantars again, along with a cacophony of snarls, hisses, and roars. It sounded like there was a struggle between two different animals. Anne followed the commotion to the cart where Bessie had been hitched.

What she found was a fierce battle between the snirda and some large, ferocious creature. It tried to leap onto Bessie’s back, but it was unable to penetrate the shell that protected her spine and vital organs. The steed responded by swinging her powerful tail and smacking it off. The predator roared at her, while she in turn responded by hissing and clicking with her beak. It was then that Anne was able to better examine the wild beast.

It was a large, muscular feline, twice the size of an Earth tiger. It had dark gray fur and a mane consisting of lighter colored quills. Its face was marked by two pairs of yellow eyes with slit orange pupils that glowed like raging infernos. It also possessed a wide maw containing several rows of sharp teeth, with some liquid dripping off them like water drips from cave stalactites. This liquid also seeped from its claws when they were unsheathed from its massive paws. Finally, it had a long tail that appeared to be prehensile, for it was coiled around three smaller creatures. To Anne’s horror, those creatures revealed themselves to be the Plantars, who were struggling to free themselves from the bonds of their wild captor.

“Anne! Ya gotta git out of here! It’s the scorlax lion!” “It came out of nowhere!” “I’m too cute to die!” cried Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly respectively. “Guys!” Anne cried to them, attracting the attention of the scorlax lion. Oh cruuuud, she thought as the monster coiled up and then leapt forward in a massive arc. However, Anne was able to jump out of the way just before it pounced on top of her. Meanwhile, Bessie, who had been chewing on her reins with the scorlax distracted, snapped free of her restraints, snatched the girl, and threw her onto her back as she retreated into the forest.

Anne clung to Bessie’s neck as the alien dino bird sprinted through the woods. Turns out, she was not only extremely swift, but also very agile, able to dodge trees, jump over logs and rivers, and avoid other obstacles with ease. The teenager looked back to see if they were being followed, and she instantly regretted it. For the scorlax was not only pursuing them, but it was starting to catch up with them. Poor Anne was starting to have flashbacks to her first night in Amphibia when she was chased by those toad soldiers, an event all too similar to this one. Not only that, she could hear the Plantars’ screams behind her. Why did I come on this trip? I’ll never get home now. The Plantars will die because of me, she thought as tears started streaming down her face.

Just then, Bessie took a sharp turn to the right and doubled her speed. Unfortunately, the scorlax was able to turn just as quickly and was still on their tail. Soon, Anne was able to see blue in between the spaces of the trees, which revealed itself as a large lake. The snirda must have smelled it, because she was running straight towards it. Perhaps that was how her species escaped predators, by heading towards a large body of water where it could not be followed. She could only hope that the scorlax couldn’t swim.

Confirming her theory, Bessie sprung into the water and began swimming to the middle of the lake, taking care that Anne remained above the surface. Perhaps that was another survival instinct for her species: carrying their young on their backs when they were fleeing predators. Fortunately, and much to Anne’s relief, the scorlax lion could apparently follow them no further. It roared in frustration and then decided to make do with the prey it had caught, turning heel and setting course for its lair. As it was doing so, Anne caught a glimpse of the Plantars, who gazed at her with pleading eyes before disappearing with the animal into the forest.

Anne and Bessie solemnly watched them depart into the swamp before the snirda swam to shore once she felt it was safe to do so. As soon the beast of burden stepped out of the water and onto the sandy banks, Anne jumped off her back. Bessie shook the water out of her feathers, and then rubbed her beak against the human girl. “I’m ok. Thank you for saving me,” said Anne, embracing the animal’s neck. The snirda responded by licking her.

“The others are still in danger, though! We have to save them! If only I knew which way that thing went,” said Anne, trying to find pawprints or some indication as to what direction the scorlax took. Just then, Domino 2 jumped on top of her head. “Domino 2?” said the girl, as the tooka sprung off her head. Anne followed her to a trail of broken branches and debris, no doubt the aftermath of some large animal rampaging.

“A trail! Good work, Domino 2! Come on, we’ve got a space bumpkin frog family to save!” Anne declared as she mounted Bessie. Domino 2 led the way as the snirda bounded down the pathway, determined to save her master and his family. They followed the trail for several miles, until the marks of destruction became less and less noticeable. By the time they had reached a fork in the road, there were no longer any signs that indicated that the scorlax had passed through, making it impossible to track it. “The trail’s gone completely cold. Now what are we going to do?” Anne lamented with a sigh.

Suddenly, Domino 2 began pawing at the dirt. “What are you doing?” Anne asked, dismounting Bessie and walking over to the tooka. The extraterrestrial feline then rubbed her face in the dirt and licked it with her tongue. Remembering the first step of the Plantar family hunting ritual and realizing what Domino 2 was insinuating, the human girl gagged and said: “Seriously? Not you too!” The cat stared at her, almost as if to say: “Do you want to save your family or not?” “Alright, alright! I’ll do it!” Anne conceded, getting down on all fours and sniffing the dirt. She then scooped a handful of dirt, but scrunched her face at the thought of what she had to do next.

“Do I really have to do this?” Anne moaned. Domino 2 swatted her with her paw in response. “Okay, okay! I’m tasting, I’m tasting!” she exclaimed, placing a bit of dirt into her mouth. She gagged again and said: “What is the point of this?! I don’t see how-. Wait a minute.” At that moment, Anne started to pick up a taste that stood out from the earthy flavors of the soil. She shoved her mouth full of dirt and fully examined its flavors, saying with her mouth full: “I think I’m getting something. I’m getting…”

As she swallowed the dirt, she was able to distinguish what taste she was examining: “Polly’s biscuits!” Of course! The food hoarding tadpole always kept a hidden stash of the confection around wherever she went. She must have been eating a biscuit and dropped it when she was snatched by the alien lion. Anne looked up to see which trail the soil she had sampled belonged to. Once she had determined the right path, she jumped back onto Bessie and rode in that direction with Domino 2 in tow.

The path took them into the deepest, thickest, and darkest part of the forest. The vegetation was so thick that it was getting more and more difficult to see which way they were going. Eventually, they lost the path altogether yet again. Anne desperately scanned the dark forest, searching for any clues as to where the scorlax went, but to no avail. Overcome with despair, she slid off of Bessie and sat under a nearby tree, tucking in her knees and placing her head on her kneecaps. “It’s no use. We’re lost! We’ll never find our way out of here! And even if we do, the scorlax will no doubt have devoured the Plantars by then, if it hasn’t already! Oh, this is all my fault. I never should have wandered away from Sprig. Then maybe I could have prevented all this! Maybe if I had paid more attention when he was trying to teach me the Plantar hunting rituals, I would have found them by now! And now, I’ll never see Sprig, Hop Pop, or Polly again,” the human teen cried. She then buried her head in her lap and began to sob.

Domino 2 and Bessie exchanged sorrowful glances before walking over to Anne. The snirda rubbed her head against the girl, while the tooka rubbed against her. Eyes watering with tears, Anne picked up Domino 2 and rubbed her against her face. She could feel the vibrations of the cat purring. Also, if she listened closely, she could faintly hear the tooka’s heart beats.

Wait a second, Anne was not only hearing Domino 2’s heartbeat, she was feeling it as well. It was similar to feeling someone’s pulse by pressing their fingers on the wrist or neck. As she slowly calmed down and quieted her mind, she soon discovered she could feel Bessie’s heart as well. She could also feel their breathing and the blood flowing through their veins and arteries. Why, if she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn she could hear their thoughts! Remember what Sprik said, Anne thought she heard Domino 2 say. Listen to nature. Let it flow through you. Let it take a hold of you, she heard Bessie say.

Anne shook her head and slapped herself to try to come back to her senses. It’s official. I’ve finally snapped! I’m in the middle of the woods on a wild goose chase, being led by some space gremlin cat, and now I’m imagining talking to her and Bessie using telepathy, who are telling me to “listen” to a bunch of trees and wild animals?! How is THIS going to save the Plantars?! the girl scolded herself. Domino 2 glowered at her and snarled as the hair bristled on the back of her neck. “Alright! Alright! Fine! I’ll do it! Sheesh!” Anne said. It’s not like I have any better ideas anyways, she mentally added.

Anne sat still and slowed her breathing. She closed her eyes and quieted her mind, letting the sounds of the forest overshadow her. She could hear the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees and her breathing along with that with Domino 2 and Bessie. Then, she could hear the trees creaking and groaning, almost as if they were trying to talk to her. Anne heard the trees’ sap idly flowing through them. As she surrendered more and more to the forest, she found she could feel the heartbeats and breathing of animals all around her of every shape and size. She heard the neurons buzz with electrical activity, the blood flowing through circulatory systems, the air moving through lungs, hearts beating. She listened as water trickled in a stream a good distance from her, and fish and other aquatic creatures glided effortlessly through it. She could feel fear and hesitation as prey animals carefully scanned for predators, tenderness as mothers cared for their young, love as mates embraced each other, anger and hunger as predatory beasts hunted for their subsistence, sorrow and despair as fallen animals surrendered their last breaths.

And under it all, she could hear it. The faint beat of the drums. The rhythm.

Anne soon discovered the emotions of every living thing in this wilderness melted together to form a symphony of life: a musical composition filled with joy, sorrow, fear, anger, hope, despair, love, and struggles to survive. As she listened to it, she felt herself connecting with the forest, emphasizing with all its creatures, rejoicing with them, grieving with them, feeling their anger, mourning for them, fearing for them. It was then that something caught her attention. She could feel elevated heart rates and heightened cortisol levels, indicating fear and stress. Come to think of it, as she homed in on the source, it felt familiar. The only time she had this feeling was when she was in the presence of…

“The Plantars! They’re still alive! And I know where they are!” Anne cried out, her eyes flying open. She quickly stood up and jumped onto Bessie’s back. “They’re that way!” she said, pointing in the direction they needed to go. Domino 2 quickly climbed onto the Plantar beast of burden as she galloped in the direction Anne’s finger indicated. After all, time was of the essence if they wanted to save her family…

Xxxxxx

The roars and growls echoing through the woods signaled that they were close to the scorlax’s hideout. Bessie slowed down and crept softly to avoid alerting the beast to their presence. The group began to see the bones of the lion’s prey dangling from vines and strewn all about them. Anne could even make out the bones of frogs, no doubt unfortunate victims of the space carnivore’s appetite, which caused the girl to shudder a little. When they came upon some tall grass, Anne dismounted Bessie and tiptoed over. She slowly parted the grass, revealing a large, hollowed out cavern underneath a large tree, which was littered with bones.

Suddenly, the scorlax leapt into view, still carrying the Plantars with its tail. It dropped the frogs onto the ground, but pinned them with one of its paws to keep them from escaping, playing with its food like cats on Earth do with mice. The family could nothing but tremble in fear as they awaited their gruesome fate of being devoured by the giant feline. All it had to do was pierce their skins with its venomous claws, and it was over.

Ok, we don’t have much time. Think. What was step 2? Anne wondered, trying to recall what Sprig had taught her. She then noticed Domino 2 pawing at some leaves nearby. A lightbulb went off in her head as she remembered the second step: “Use your environment!” She quickly started to dig a giant hole. Just then, she could hear the scorlax roaring and her family screaming nearby.

“We’re running out of time!” she cried as she flung dirt frantically over her shoulder. Bessie joined her, using her powerful legs and tail to dig, which doubled both the digging speed and the depth of the hole. Even Domino 2 pitched in, throwing as much dirt as she could with her hand like paws. Once Anne was convinced that the hole was at a satisfactory depth, the three of them grabbed as many large leaves as they could and covered the pit with them.

“There, done. And now for the last step: the dance,” said Anne, moaning at the last part of the sentence. She then noticed the scorlax licking Polly with its forked tongue. With a heavy sigh, she relented: “Ok, but just this once, because I like the Plantars, a lot.”

Having had enough of toying with its prey, the scorlax unsheathed its claws and lifted its paw to strike the deadly blow. The Plantars screamed as the paw came down. A sharp whistle, however, made the paw pause in midair, as both the animal and the Plantars turned their attention to whatever made that sound. “Anne!” the frogs cried out simultaneously, exceedingly grateful to see the human. The scorlax, on the other hand, growled at the intruder that dared to interrupt its meal. Anne took a deep breath, then started to shuffle in place. Unfortunately, it didn’t phase the scorlax, who just turned to focus on its prey again.

“Uh, it not working!” Anne cried out. “That’s because you don’t believe, Anne! You have to feel the music!” Sprig replied from under the scorlax’s paw. “But there no music!” the girl retorted in her panic. Just then, the scorlax decided to not bother with venom and having to wait for it to take effect. It decided to just eat them right then and there instead, lifting them up with its paw and towards its mouth.

The music, what music, I have to find the… Anne thought, but then it hit her. She had heard the music before. The drums! The rhythm of nature. She took another deep breath, and listened. There. She could hear them again.

She began bobbing her head to the rhythm, letting it take her. Anne shuffled her foot to one side and then crouched on the ground. She wasn’t thinking, just following the flow. Again, she could feel the heartbeat of life around her: her froggy family, Domino 2, Bessie, even the scorlax lion.

She barely noticed her body moving, completely immersed in the flow of emotions around her. The fear of her family, the falling anger and rising curiosity of the scorlax, the whirlpools of conflict and confusion. It was such a chaotic mess. A river should flow smoothly, so she directed it to the beat of the drums. She felt it washing over her with newfound purpose. Where there was turbulence before, she felt the foam and spray give way to smooth, laminar flow. She could feel the force of it, flowing through her, with her, and through everyone else around her.

And then, she felt herself becoming part of the flow. She herself flowed like water, through the mind of the scorlax. She opened her eyes, unaware that she had closed them. The scorlax sat on its hind legs, looking at her entranced, and had loosened its grip on the Plantars significantly. They looked at her, with eyes as big as saucers, purring softly. Her thoughts flowed undisturbed, however, and she raised her hand as she kept flowing along the stream.

In response, the scorlax lion calmed, then let go of his prey entirely, its thoughts following the current as well. Calmly, it stood up, and let itself be directed toward the pit trap. One paw in front of the other it set. And only when it stepped on air, could Anne feel its confusion disturbing the stream. It turned back into spray and foam, and she was no longer a part of it, but it didn’t matter. As Anne returned back to reality, her outstretched palm sank beside her, and the lion thrashed around in the pit, having lost its footing and fallen in.

Quickly taking stock of the situation, Anne ran toward the speechless Plantars, Bessie following right along. “You alright?” she asked, visually examining the frogs for any injuries. They merely stared at her with their jaws dropped for a few seconds, before Sprig was finally able to find the words he had been grasping for: “That was…THE BEST HUNTER’S DANCE I HAVE EVER SEEN!! You totally owned that scorlax! And even after you stopped dancing, you were still able to get it to go into that pit! How did you do that?!” “Yes, how did ya do that?” Hop Pop repeated, stroking the skin under his mouth thoughtfully. He felt that there had been another factor at work besides the Plantark family hunting dance. Like Anne had tapped into something else when she was dancing, something larger. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was…

“I not know. I guess, I just listened to forest and to it. It like you said, Sprig. I listened to music of nature and let it flow,” Anne replied, turning to the pink frog and smiling at him. “Well, however ya did it, we sure are grateful for you saving our skins,” said Hop Pop, nodding to confirm his gratitude. “I no do it alone. Bessie and Domino 2 help,” the girl responded. The snirda chirped happily and licked each of the frogs, relieved that her beloved family was unharmed. “Good girl, Besi,” said Hop Pop, stroking her chin as she purred contently. The tooka jumped onto Sprig’s head and rubbed against him.

“Thanks to you too, Domino 2,” said Sprig, looking up at the feline. “Um, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” cried Polly, hopping onto Hop Pop’s head. “Pollia’s right. That pit ain’t gonna hold that scorlax for long. We should probably blast on out of here,” Hop Pop concurred. There was certainly no arguing from the rest of the group on that one.

The family hopped onto Bessie’s back, with Domino 2 perched on top of the snirda’s head. “Come on, girl. Let’s get out of here,” said Sprig. The reptavian chirped and sprinted through the woods. As Anne took one last look back towards the scorlax, she saw it climbing out of the pit. Strangely enough, it didn’t pursue them. Instead, it simply watched them leave, and if the human didn’t know any better, it was almost as if it was looking at her with a begrudging respect. Either way, Anne nodded respectfully at it in return before returning her gaze to the Plantars, overcome with relief that they were safe and uninjured as they made their way back to the campsite.

Xxxxxx

Later, after the family had recovered from their ordeal, they settled around a warm, cozy fire to roast some of the grobas they had captured earlier. To Anne’s pleasant surprise, she had found a package of marshmallows in her backpack. She decided to teach the Plantars how to cook them over a fire. It was difficult at first, with the frogs either burning them or dropping them in the fire. However, after some trial and error, they were able to cook them just until they were a light golden brown, the hallmark of a perfect marshmallow.

“These ‘marshmallows’ are some of the best things I’ve ever tasted!” declared Polly with her mouth full of the sticky stuff. “I gotta say, they are pretty tasty. A bit sticky, though,” said Hop Pop, trying to clean off the goop from his fingers. “We’ll have to see if we can find some chocolate and crackers so you can show us how to make those ‘s’mores’ you were telling us about. They sound so good!” added Sprig, happily munching his marshmallow.

Anne smiled as she watched her family enjoy their treat. Domino 2 was lying on her lap, purring happily as she rubbed her belly. “I think Domino 2 want be Plantar. Can she, Hop Pop? Please?” Anne begged. “Well…,” said Hop Pop hesitantly, scratching the back of his head as he thought it over. “Come on, Grandpa. Domino 2 helped save us,” implored Sprig. “I don’t know,” the old man responded, still mulling it over.

The tooka’s purring reminded Anne of the heartbeat from before. Scritching the feline further, Anne directed her attention onto Hop Pop. She could see him contemplating, but felt as if he was conflicted. She felt the waves of his indecision, and decided to do something about it.

“We keep Domino 2,” Anne stated, moving her hand as if combing through hair. She felt the surface of the stream settle in response, her hand combing out the spray and foam, leaving only calm flow behind.

“We keep Domino 2,” Hop Pop echoed, eliciting sounds of celebration from the kids. “Alright, fine,” he conceded further, mumbling under his breath: “I just hope I ain’t gonna have ‘ta pick up the slack again like with Chari Big Bottom…” As if she could sense his reservation, Anne walked over to him and said: “Home I take care Domino. Here I take care Domino 2. I promise.” The tooka then jumped into Hop Pop’s arms and licked his face. “Ya know, Chari Big Bottom used to lick me like that. Especially when I was scoldin’ him, as a way of making me go easy on him,” said Hop Pop. Suddenly, his eyes welled up with tears and he started sniffling. “I MISS CHARI BIG BOTTOM WITH ALL MY HEART N’ SOUL!!' ' he sobbed, before completely breaking down and crying into Anne’s shirt. The confused girl patted him on the back while turning to Sprig for an explanation, who simply offered a shrug in response.

With Domino 2 as an official member of the family, the Plantars put out the fire and settled in for the night. As Anne snuggled into her sleeping bag and laid her head on her backpack, Domino 2 jumped onto her chest and curled up into a ball, just like her cat would do back home. It reminded the human that she was far away from home, soliciting a few tears sliding down her cheeks. As she stroked the sleeping cat, however, her new pet purring under the palm of her hand consoled her. She closed her eyes and listened to the calls, screeches and howls of the forest’s denizens. She could even hear the roars of the scorlax lion faintly in the distance. This time, though, they didn’t frighten her. Rather, they soothed her, made her safe and secure, like a lullaby. The soft grass underneath her formed a comfortable mattress, and she could feel her backpack cradling her head like a soft, downy pillow. Even the sulfuric aromas of the swamp no longer bothered Anne, for she had grown to like the smell. The girl sighed happily, slipping into a peaceful and contented slumber as the stars tinkled silently in the tranquil night sky above the living, breathing, forest.