Chapter Text
“Sasha.”
“...”
“Sasha!”
The guttural growl of her name stirred her awake. Her limbs ached, her cheek stung, and her vision was still blurry. Squinting through the bright lights of the torches around her she saw… the rough and warped face of the ugliest toad she had ever seen.
“Grime?” His name felt dry in her mouth. Her throat felt ragged, like the time she screamed her heart out at karaoke with the girls; or maybe it was from screaming while plummeting to her death.
She heard a small roar of cheers around her but it was muffled by the ringing in her ears. The grip on her arms tightened, the sharp claws of Grime digging into her slightly before relaxing. “You gave us quite a scare, Sasha. It’s a good thing I was there to catch you.” The deep gruff voice soothed her as she felt it rumble against his chest.
Wait.
Sasha, finally snapping into reality, jerked herself out of Grime’s grasp much to everyone’s surprise. Unable to find any remaining strength in her limbs, she toppled down to the cold rough dirt. The glowing eyes of Commander Grime stared down at her now. There was a flash of worry on his face before it twisted into annoyance.
“You’re hurt Sasha,” he pointed out. “Cease your squirming and let us help you.” Sasha barely managed to open her eyes again. “Leave me alone, I don’t want your help,” she hissed. Grime gave an exhausted glance around his toad army before attempting to scoop Sasha back into his arms again. This only resulted in Sasha using the rest of her strength to kick him away in protest.
“Leave! Me! Alone!” Sasha yelled in between kicks. She felt tears prick her eyes and her throat clench up. “We don’t have time for this, Sasha!” Grime yelled back, getting more frustrated in his tone of voice. “You can wallow and rot all you want when we set up camp! It’s in your best interest not to be such a-” Sasha’s boot landed right in the middle of Grime’s face, eliciting many of the toads to wince.
Grime grasped the leg of Sasha, his grip almost tight enough to bend the metal the boot was made of. “So be it. I don’t want to deal with this temper tantrum of your’s, Lieutenant. ” He turned towards the rest of the army. “Let’s go,” Grime growled.
Giving a tug on Sasha’s leg to test, Grime began pulling her along. Sasha groaned the entire time she was being dragged through the scraggly grass, loudly protesting and calling Grime every slimy insult she could think of as they all disappeared deeper into the woods.
The camp they were staying at was a downgrade from the fortress. It was… outdoorsy. A couple of tents were being set up from whatever the toads could scavenge from the wreckage. A large fire pit brought many of the soldiers together, warming themselves in a nice group and trying to make light of the situation.
Sasha was placed (or rather, thrown by Grime) onto a nearby log. She slumped over it. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything anymore. Anne won, she lost, and now nothing was going to be the same again. Sasha fought the urge to sob to her heart’s content but… She just couldn’t do it. She felt numb. All she could do was stare up at the night sky looking for some kind of solace that never came.
Grime hovered over her, blocking her view of the stars. Sasha furrowed her brows. “Go away.” She mumbled. Grime stared down at her for a few moments before shaking his head with a grumble. “This is pathetic, Sasha.” “You’re pathetic,” she shot back.
With a sigh, Grime stepped back. He rummaged through one of his pouches underneath his cape before producing a small package of beetle jerky. He dropped it in Sasha’s lap, to which she grimaced at. “That’s your dinner. Me and the toads will go scavenging for food. I don’t want to deal with your sensitive innards disagreeing with your picky taste,” Grime scoffed.
Sasha stared down at the bag. She made no move to touch it. Grime shook his head once again. “Stay here and don’t run off. I have to figure out a speech.” He stared at the toads scattered around the camp, hesitating to continue. “It’s not going to be pretty. I could really use your help. You and your… word skills.” Sasha glanced back up at him. She responded by turning her body the other way and staying silent.
“Fine,” Grime growled. He ignored Sasha’s pettiness and made his way over to the center of camp. He grabbed a nearby crate and placed it down so he could hop on top. Grime cleared his throat. No one seemed to be paying attention. Grime cleared his throat just a little bit louder. No change in reaction. “TOADS OF TOAD TOWER,” he yelled with his booming voice. All of the toads halted in their activities.
Slowly, the soldiers began to gather around Grime, whispering amongst each other. With a sigh, Grime adjusted his posture so that he was standing straight with professionalism. “Tonight, we have lost the tower. This tragedy has forced us from our home. All because… because those idiot frogs!” Grime unsheathed his sword, pointing towards the wreckage of what was once the fortress. “But we will not let this stop us! For we are toads! And we take back what is rightfully ours!’
Slowly, a hand raised from the crowd. Grime sighed. “Yes?” “Are we going to get in trouble with Newtopia if they found out we lost the tower?” One of the soldiers asked. Grime gritted his teeth. He debated whether or not he should sugar coat this. The toads could take bad news couldn’t they? After their valiant fight with the herons and listening to his orders? It was probably okay to answer honestly.
“Yes. Probably.” He paused. “Best case scenario they send one of their guards to clean up the mess. Worst case is that we are a part of the mess.” The crowd of toads immediately went into a frenzy of panic after Grime delivered his answer. “Oh my Frog we’re going to die!!!” Someone shrieked.
Grime panicked as well, holding his hands up to try and calm his army down. “No we are not going to die! If they so much as lay a claw on us we will simply strike back!” More toads began to freak out. “We’re going against the most dangerous army in the world?!” “NO!!”
Okay this was a horrible idea, he should have just lied.
It took awhile for the toads to calm down, much longer since Grime was barking out orders to remain calm (that helped nobody). Sasha lifted her head up from her depressive slump but did nothing to help. At least she started eating the beetle jerky.
“What if we just left?” “Yeah that’s a good idea!” “I’m going back home to my wife and kids!” The soldiers talked to each other in hushed whispers, slowly dispersing into small groups to evacuate the area. The camp was getting smaller and smaller, and Grime was stuck in the middle of it, alone.
He stood there, stunned. His entire garrison abandoned him over a worst case scenario. Now all that remained was a few toads packing up the rest of their stuff and a useless second-in-command.
Sasha slowly clapped for him, a slow pitiful clap.
“What are you going to do now, Captain?”