Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy had been living in the cave for a few days now. They had split up the tasks for survival between the three of them. Marcy knew the steps to check for poison or toxins to humans in plants so they were tasked with gathering safe plants to eat. Sasha could fight- she learned to do so from cheerleading believe or not- so she was tasked with protecting Marcy as they found and tested different plants. Anne was tasked with gathering meat. She may like the easy way of doing things, but they needed a balanced diet. Sasha was- of course- in charge of their little camp. She was the one they always listened to after all. She knew best. Anne heard what sounded like an accordion playing. She pushed her way through the brush and saw- what looked like- a frog but it had human legs and arms, it had one injured, closed eye (the other eye was fine from what she could tell), and looked like it had just seen a ghost. Anne tried asking him for help-

“Hey! C-can you help us?!” Anne got closer. Maybe this weird frog… thing… spoke english. That was quickly proved wrong when he started yelling in some other language and run off screaming. “Well that was a bust… Maybe we really are in another world?” Anne left to set up traps for some of those giant bugs, maybe they had meat she could eat- “Eww…”

Anne gagged at the thought, but bug meat was better than no meat so she’ll live with it. It’s not like she’d seen anything other wildlife besides that frog creature, but he seemed as intelligent as a human and she found frogs way more replusing than bugs, so she’ll stick with giant mantis meat thank you very much.

When Wally came running in, screaming about some beast, Sprig knew something was going down. The way the monster was described seemed un-frogly. He decided to go after the monster and prove once and for all he wasn’t a screw up. He would catch the beast and free his town from its terror! All he had to do was bribe his little sister with candy to get past her.

“Don’t die!” He heard his sister call out.

He wouldn’t die, or well- he wasn’t planning on it at least. Who knows how dangerous this creature was… Maybe he would need some help. So he enlisted the help of two other frogs his age; Maddie, a creepy girl who practiced the dark arts, and Ivy, his childhood best friend. Ivy was always up for adventure and Maddie said she’d love a chance to add a new cryptid to her book of mysterious creatures. The three frogs were walking around the area. Ivy was hopping from tree to tree, then  she suddenly yelled out-

“STOP!” The other two frogs froze.

“What is it, Ivy?!” Sprig called out, not moving from his frozen position.

“There are rope traps tied to all these trees. Best we move around up here!”

“Good idea, Ivy!” Sprig and Maddie hopped up onto the branch next to the yellow frog and- with the view- could see all the hidden rope traps. One was only a few steps away from where Sprig was prevously. “Woah, that was close.”

“Yeah, I wonder who set these traps?” Ivy muttered.

“Was it the creature that Wally mentioned?” Maddie asked. “It must be so smart!”

“I doubt it,” Sprig shrugged. “Probably made by some of the townsfolk to trap this beast. We should watch out for them. Maybe staying in the trees is best.”

“You’re probably right, Sprig,” Ivy smiled and Maddie shrugged in agreement.

“Let’s find this beast!”

Sprig and his friends hopped from branch to branch, looking for the creature Wally had said in his panic muttering. It was hard to catch the description with him constantly yelling about how ‘the monster wanted to eat him’ and ‘it’s gonna kill us all’. But they got the basic description. Long, thin limbs, tall, scruffs of fur on top of its large head with a face bump in the center of its face. Can’t be too hard to spot… right?

“Sprig! Ivy! Over here!” Maddie whispered-yelled to get their attention. Ivy and Sprig hopped over to the blue frog’s branch and saw the creature near the outside of a cave. “That must be it's den!”

“Woah,” Ivy and Sprig were also keeping their voices down.

“It’s so tall!” Ivy whispered.

“And ugly…” Sprig fake gagged.

“But oddly cute,” Maddie commented and the others nodded.

“How old do you think it is?” Ivy asked Maddie.

“Considering the size of most of Amphibia’s wildlife and the theoretical size of most cryptids, I’d say its young, maybe a baby or young child at the oldest.”

“If that’s how small the baby is…” Sprig was having second thoughts about hunting this beast.

“Where are its parents?” Maddie asked. “Most babies aren’t left alone for long. Amphibia is just too dangerous for that!”

“Look!” Maddie pointed at the cave. “Two more!”

“They must be siblings!” Ivy coo-ed. “So cute! I wonder if their parents are dead?”

“What do you mean?” Sprig looked at his friend confused. Maddie did the same.

“Think about it,” Ivy said. “Maddie, you mentioned how babies aren’t left alone in Amphibia for very long. Just how long have we been searching for these creatures? And how much longer has it been since Wally first saw the creature looking for food? And on that note! Baby animals don’t look for food, it's the parents’ job to do that, right?”

“Yeah,” Maddie nodded. “These poor creatures have been left alone to fend for themselves! That’s sad. We should help them.”

“How?” Sprig asked. “And didn’t we come to catch them? To be the town heroes.”

“Sprig!” Ivy huffed. “What do you think the town will do to those creatures if we bring them back there?”

“I- fairpoint…”

“I think we should study these creatures,” Maddie suggested. “Get rid of those traps. Find out what they eat and give them food. This will be very good for my book of cryptids!”

“Fine,” Sprig sighed.

“I’m in!” Ivy smiled.

“Great!” Maddie quietly cheered. “Let’s find out more about these creatures… And what to call them.”

Chapter Text

Sprig, Maddie, and Ivy, have been studying the three creatures for a few weeks now. They decided to call the creatures' species: Amazone. They were fun to watch and Maddie had gathered a lot of info on them. Sprig was shocked at how much she had in the few short weeks they’d been watching and protecting the Amazones.

“So Maddie…” Sprig looked over the blue frog’s shoulder at her book. “What have you written down about them?”

“Well,” Maddie smirked, flipping the pages of her book of cryptids to read what she’d taken note of. “They seem to be omnivores. Eating certain plants and different bugs. They must live in small packs, either that or their pack has been killed, but from what I’ve seen of their behavior they seem to work fine in a pack of three. Which likely points to a small pack being more likely. Anyway, if we wanna give them something to eat, we'll need to leave out plants for them to gather. Since they seem to hunt live meat. If that is for the thrill of the hunt- or because they prefer to work for their meal- I’m not sure. They seem to cover themselves with clothes they found, most likely because they don’t have fur on their bodies to keep them warm. They must have evolved to find clothes or covering to keep warm by instinct, considering how young they are.”

“They- uh- don’t eat frogs… Do they?” Sprig gulped, nervously.

“Not from what I’ve seen, they seem to avoid any village or frog that comes around their territory. I think Wally just saw a new undiscovered creature and freaked out for no good reason.”

“That sounds like Wally alright…” Ivy huffed. “You got a list of the plants they eat, right Maddie?”

“Yup! Right here!” Maddie pulled out a copied list of the plants the Amazones eat.

“Cool!” Ivy grabbed the list and smiled. “I’ll gather up these plants, and Maddie you’ll double check to make sure they’re the right plants, then Sprig you’ll lay the plants in easy-to-find areas for the Amazones to find and eat.”

“Ok!” Sprig smiled, as Ivy hopped away on the treetops. “Hey Maddie, any idea if the Amazones can survive on their own until adulthood?”

“Two of them seem to be able to fight, but they’re still no match for most of the animals here, and most certainly no match for the townsfolk with their traps and weapons.”

“Do you think they could maybe be domesticated?”

“Sprig, they’re wild animals.”

“I know, but if you raise them to be tamed… isn’t that how we tamed spiders?”

“That IS what we learned in school…” Maddie muttered. “But it’s not that simple Sprig, these aren’t spiders. They’re a completely undiscovered species that no one has seen nor heard from before. They most likely survived by avoiding Amphibians! Which means they might be aggressive toward our kind.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sprig sighed, watching as the raven-furred one walked around looking at different plants with stars in their eyes.

Anne didn’t know how, but over the past few weeks, it seemed like plant-based foods were becoming easier to find. Maybe she was just getting better at this, but really it seemed too easy. Even for HER. And she was all about doing things the easy way. But she’d learned she had to work to survive here in this weird world, with weird creatures, and only her friends to comfort her. Sasha seemed well adjusted and Marcy was just happy to learn more about this new world and what adventures they could have together. But Anne wanted to see her parents again. To pet her cat even if it was just for one last time. To sleep in her bed and not on a bed made of sticks and grass to keep from freezing on the cold ground at night. She wanted to go home.

They had become quite good at creating fires to cook food and roast plants to make the meat safe and the plants more eatable. There was a river not too far from their cave, in which they had made beds that kinda resembled three rectangle shaped birds’ nests. They had done pretty well for themselves, but something- or someone- kept getting rid of her traps, which meant her and Sasha had to beat the giant bugs head-on. And while they worked well together, with Sasha’s lead and Anne’s own strength and stealth, it was becoming draining, to the point that the food they ate wasn’t enough to regain the energy they lost getting the food. Seriously, if it weren’t for the plants she keeps finding, they would probably starve or be too exhausted to find any more food or water.

It felt like some god was looking out for them. Anne had hoped she wouldn’t have to constantly keep fighting giant monsters for their meat forever. This was her new worst fear, being trapped in some alternate reality with talking bipedal frogs, eating bugs, never to see her pet or parents ever again. She didn’t even know that was something she should have considered to be a REAL fear. She sighed, as they ate some cooked mantis and roasted leaves of some plant Marcy determined was safe to eat. Anne looked at her friends. The only way this could be worse was if her friends were gone too, either she was alone here or they were also lost in this world, all alone and- likely for Marcy- injured or killed by these weird creatures. They needed to survive, to get home, to find their families, and to never come back to this horrible place. She just hoped- as she closed her eyes, laying on her bed- that they would all be safe for as long as they needed.

Sprig didn’t know why he asked Maddie if they could take in the Amazones. Maybe he felt a bit of pity for them. He lost his mom and dad not long after Polly was born. He knew what that was like. Now, these creatures probably couldn’t comprehend such a loss, he learned in biology class at school that most creatures in Amphibia don’t feel emotion. He also felt bad they had to grow up alone in this unforgiving world. He smiled as he watched the brown skinned one fall asleep. He should probably get home soon. He wouldn’t want Hop Pop to worry too much.

Chapter Text

When Sprig got home, it was late. That wasn’t new. He’d been coming home later and later over the past few weeks, while taking care of and protecting the Amazones with his friends. But he’d never been THIS late before. Hopefully, he could just sneak into the house and get upstairs before- The light flicked on as soon as he opened the door.

“Just where have you been, boy?” Hop Pop asked with a stern tone.

“I- uh-” Sprig was sweating. He didn’t want Hop Pop to freak out about the Amazones. “I was… out with Ivy and Maddie?”

“Really?” Hop Pop raised a brow. “Because I was just at the Sundews and Ivy has been home for three hours…”

“She left us that long ago?” Sprig muttered, shocked that he and Maddie had lost so much time.

“So, where were you?” Sprig wasn’t sure if Hop Pop heard his muttering, so he spoke up-

“I really WAS out with Maddie and Ivy! Ivy left sooner than Maddie and I did!”

“Left where?”

“Oh boy…” Sprig sighed. “Promise not to freak out, Hop Pop…”

“Oh no…” Hop Pop sighed, standing up from his seat on the couch. “What happened? Where were you, kids?”

“Out in the forest…”

“You weren’t hunting for that monster that Wally saw, were you?!” Hop Pop spoke, suddenly very scared for Sprig's safety.

“NO! We weren’t hunting them!” Hop Pop took a breath.

“So, what WERE you doing, Sprig?”

“We were… taking care of them…”

“WHA-!?”

“BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT-” Sprig calmed down his grandfather. “Maddie said they were babies and their parents likely died! They avoid the towns from what we’ve seen! They’re just scared and their diet consists of bugs and plants! Like us!”

“I- what?”

“Listen, Hop Pop! Wally was wrong about them. They’re harmless! I swear! But you can’t tell the town, the town keeps setting traps for them and they’ll get hurt!”

“Traps? The townsfolk calmed down two weeks ago?” Hop Pop was confused. “You know these frogs hardly ever hold onto things that long.”

“Wait… Then, who was setting those traps in the forest?”

Anne growled, as yet again, her traps from the night before were gone. At least she found some plants. Sasha didn’t seem worried, and Marcy kept trying to contact the frog people- which Anne had prevented them from doing so. It was too dangerous for them to try and communicate. If the reaction from that one-eyed frog was anything to go by… They were monsters in the eyes of these frogs and if they act anything like humans are towards things they view as monsters… Anne shuttered to think of what they might do to them if they caught wind there were three of them in the forest. That would not be good. Anne sat in the cave. It was her night to keep watch, she and Sasha had been taking turns watching each night for predators for their safety. They didn’t really trust Marcy to watch. After all, knowing them they might wander off and get themselves hurt. Anne cared about Marcy, so did Sasha, they didn’t want them to get hurt. Back home Marcy would always need protection. Sasha always told the two of them what to do. And Anne was just along for the ride. Now things were different. Marcy had to pay attention more or they’d get eaten, Sasha had to rely more on Marcy and Anne, and Anne had to actually put work into surviving this crazy world.

Sprig sighed, as he watched the three Amazones gather food. Hop Pop had been shocked at the explanation of where he, Maddie, and Ivy, had all been. Both Ivy and Maddie confirmed Sprig's story the day after he got caught sneaking into his house late at night. Hop Pop was standing next to him, watching the three creatures. They were surprisingly calm and gentle creatures. If they really were siblings and babies at that, he was worried about what the size of their mother was. But in the past few days Hop Pop had been with the three frog children, none of them had seen the parents. In Amphibia, that likely means they’re dead. Hop Pop felt bad for the Amazones. Sprig could tell he felt that way, because Sprig felt the same. It was heartbreaking to see orphaned creatures, especially ones that were harmless to frogs. Hop Pop had originally banned Sprig from seeing these creatures and was gonna tell Ivy’s and Maddie’s parents about how they’d been doing something so dangerous. But Sprig had convinced his grandfather to come see the creatures, and to not tell the girls’ parents just yet. At least until Hop Pop knew for sure they either were or were not a danger to the young frogs. Hop Pop had even helped leave plants for the Amazones to find.

They had also finally figured out who was setting the traps. It was the tan-skinned Amazone. She had apparently been setting traps. Sprig would have felt guilty for getting rid of her traps, but he was more excited to learn they were smart enough to use things like traps. Maddie said some cryptids and wild animals developed the ability to use tools and items to help gather food or build nests or dens. Birds used tools to get small bugs out of tree crevices. It was impressive and rare, but not unheard of. The four frogs had agreed to keep the Amazones a secret. For their own protection, as they were likely an endangered species. Considering the fact they hadn’t seen any more creatures like them.

Anne was confused, but happy. Happy because her traps stopped randomly disappearing, confused because her traps stopped randomly disappearing. Her traps were clearly being taken down by someone- or something- but now that person or thing had stopped taking them down. Anne didn’t think about it too much. She didn’t even bother bringing it up to Sasha and Marcy. She was just happy that her traps were left alone and she was finally gathering meat for them the easy way.

Chapter Text

Toadstool was suspicious of those three little frogs and Hopidiah Plantar. They’d been disappearing for hours at a time, often leaving that little Pollywog to guard the stand halfway until closing time. He tried asking Mr. Flour or Ms. Sundew what had been going on and they said that their kids weren’t doing anything, just playing, and Hopidiah offered to watch them for their own safety. Toadstool wasn’t buying it. Hopidiah was annoyingly kind and caring, yes, but he wasn’t fond of being vague when it came to the safety of the young frogs of Wartwood.

“Toady!”

“Yes, sir?” The frog hopped up next to him.

“Follow Hopidiah and those kids. Don’t let them see you. Find out what they’re up to. I have votes to win.”

“On it, sir!” Toady hopped away, as Toadstool walked out on stage to give his speech.

“They’re so cute!” Toady heard a voice. It was from that Sprig Plantar kid.

“I know, and to think Wally thought they were gonna eat him?!” THAT caught Toady’s attention. “We should head home now, it’s getting late.”

Toady heard footsteps and quickly hid in a small log out of sight. When the coast was clear, Toady snuck out of the log, and looked around. He noticed a cave. And when he entered it, albeit VERY cautiously, he froze. Barely able to hold back his scream of fear. Big heads, long dangly limbs, and- one of the sleeping beasts twisted in its slumber to face the small frog- a weird face bump! Toady ran out of that cave and back into town quickly. He took many breaths to stay calm, not wanting to ruin whatever the mayor had planned, he ran into the mayor’s office and took time to take a break. He didn’t know how long he sat in Toadstool’s office for. Could have been minutes, could have been hours, all he knows is that Toadstool entered the room and started asking questions-

“Well?” The mayor started, crossing his arms. “Where were they? What were they doing?”

“I- monsters- cave-” Toady muttered, still in a bit of shock.

“What’s goin’ on, Toady?“

“WALLY WAS RIGHT!!!”

Toadstool smirked. At first when Wally came screaming about a beast, the mayor just wanted to chase it away. But then he remembered the toads at Toad Tower and how they had beasts tamed and put them to work. Scary Spider privileges and all that. If he could have captured this beast and made it his pet, no one would ever call him weak again. He wouldn’t have to buy anyone’s love, lose all that precious money, if he could just offer protection from his own tamed creature in return for votes. But finding out there were THREE creatures, all likely young enough to fully tame? This was the best thing possible. Once he has his pets, he should thank those frogs for keeping them well fed. Of course, only Toady knew about this plan. The people would do anything to prevent someone having the power of Amphibia’s most dangerous beasts in the hands of one frog, toad, or newt.

“Toady!” Toadstool knew he was no match for three beasts that tower over him, so he called in a professional. A knock was heard on his door about a week after he sent the letter. Toadstool opened the door-

“The name’s Lucille Tracer,” The newt smirked. Lucille was a green newt with brown hair. She wore a camouflaged outfit, brown combat boots, and fingerless black gloves. Her body was covered in all kinds of tracking and hunting equipment. “The best animal trapper in Amphibia. What can I do for you?”

“Well, you see, Ms. Tracer,” Toadstool faked a sad expression. “My three pets got loose here. I was hoping you could track them down and bring them to be, unharmed would be preferable, but they can be aggressive. However, ALIVE is the only way you’ll be getting paid, understand?”

“Mhm,” The newt nodded. “Just tell me what exactly I’m looking for.”

Anne, Marcy, and Sasha were gathering water at a creek near their cave. They had run out of their previous supply quickly, since Marcy pointed out they had an endless supply of water and trying to save it was a bad idea even if they had a limited supply, since all that would do would lead to dehydration quicker. That’s when Anne heard something like a whistle.

“What’s- ARGG!!!” Anne let out a pained growl, as something hit her shoulder. Marcy and Sasha quickly turned to her, as the world went dark and she collapsed to the ground.

Anne grumbled as she awoke, her bedding in the cave wasn’t soft, but she swore it wasn't THIS bad. She sat up, only to hit her head on something hard. She let out a short pained scream, as Sasha and Marcy awoke too, also hitting their heads. The three teens looked around, noticing they were in some kind of office. Anne noticed Sasha and Marcy had collars around their necks. After checking her own neck, she realized she had one on too. This couldn’t be good. She noticed a group of weird amphibian-like creatures talking at the door. Anne was about to try speaking, but she remembered that blue frog creature she met previously. They didn’t speak the same language, it would be pointless. That didn’t stop Sasha from demanding to be let go or Marcy from excitedly asking all sorts of questions. Anne sighed, as she tried to look for a weak spot in the bars or see if she could break the lock. She huffed in annoyance, she would not be able to break out of this cage without some level of superhuman strength. She rested her back on the bars, facing her friends.

“Thank you, kindly, Ms. Tracer!” Toadstool smirked, handing the newt her payment.

“Good day, Mayor!” With that the newt left.

“So, what do we do with these creatures, sir?” Toady spoke, nervously.

“We train them to be proper guard spiders.”

Chapter Text

Mayor Toadstool smirked. He had these creatures all to himself. After training them, he would be the most powerful Toad in the valley- no- he’d be the most powerful Amphibian in Amphibia! He grabbed a leash and decided to get started-

“Come here, girl, come on!” The tanned skin beast backed up against the wall of the crate, refusing to come anywhere near him. He huffed. He didn’t have the time nor patience to deal with these beasts’ defiance. “Toady, call the animal trainer.”

“But isn’t she super expensive, sir?”

“I’ll make that money back with these beasts in no time,” Toadstool waved off Toady’s concern. “I have a campaign to win!”

“Understood, sir,” Toady wrote the letter and sent it to a frog named- Machoni. He was an animal tamer, who was well known across Amphibia. He often worked for Zoos and exotic pet owners. Toady put the letter in the mailbox. “Letter is sent, sir!”

“Good, keep an eye on my pets and make sure they’re fed and taken care of.”

“Yes sir!” Toady got the beasts’ water bowls and food bowls and filled them up with spider food.

Anne gagged at what appeared to be canned dog food. She noticed Marcy examining the food, probably making sure it was safe to eat. Sasha had an expression that Anne knew Mirrored her own. These weird frog-like creatures kept them in cages and fed them dog food! Or well, whatever kind of creature’s food it was. She doesn’t really know what they consider pets in this world. And she really didn’t WANT to know either. She just wanted to go home.

“Anne!” Sasha got the girl’s attention.

“What is it, Sash?” Anne raised a brow. Her friend must have some kind of plan.

“Marcy thinks they know how to get the key. So, listen up,” Anne nodded, as Marcy continued where Sasha left off-

“Ok, it looked like he wanted to put you on a leash, Anne!”

“So?”

“So, if one of us plays along, we might be able to sneakily get the keys. But it can’t be you given he already tried with you and it might be suspicious if you all of a sudden started obeying him. Then again, they clearly think we’re some rare species of animal. If that’s the case, being unpredictable might be LESS suspicious. But do we want to risk that not working or is it more of a risk to NOT act like animals…”

“MARCY!!!” Anne hissed, hoping to get her friend back on track.

“Right, right, sorry!” Marcy looked a bit embarrassed. “Sasha, do you want to be the one to get the key or should I?”

“I’ll do it. You two stay put.”

“Ok!” Marcy smiled and Anne nodded along.

Sasha knew what she was doing. This was Marcy’s plan. Marcy was smart and Sasha was a natural born leader. Anne was just along for the ride, just like back home. But she had learned a bit while she was here. She wanted to actually DO something to help. Anne didn’t want to sit back and do nothing, it felt rewarding to actually pitch in and help her friends for once. But she’ll play along, for now.

Sprig arrived the next day to see the food they placed was still where they left it. He glanced at it curiously. Had the beasts not seen it? Sprig walked over to the cave, knowing it was risky getting so close when they were likely awake, but he had a bad feeling about the food not being picked up. Had one of the Amazones gotten injured or sick? Sprig glanced in the cave, cautiously. His eyes widened as it was empty. Sprig shook it off. They were probably out hunting or gathering water. Yeah, everything’s fine. He’ll just put down the planets in a more obvious spot this time and hide out and wait for them to return. So he waited… And waited. And waited. But the Amazons didn’t return. He quickly hopped back to town and asked Maddie for help, but she was unconcerned-

“Their parents probably found them and took them to a new nest, Sprig,” Maddie shrugged.

“But what if they didn’t! We haven’t seen their parents in the whole time we’ve been there helping them! What if they got hurt and couldn’t find their way back to their nest! What if-”

“SPRIG! They’re wild animals. I’m sure they’re fine. Maybe they’re moving to a warmer environment due to the upcoming Hiber Day.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good point,” Sprig sighed.

“Hey, I’m sure wherever they are, they’re perfectly happy and healthy.”

“It’s not that,” Sprig huffed, looking out towards the forest solemnly.

“What is it then?” Maddie questioned, glancing at Sprig with a sympathetic look.

“It’s just…” Sprig paused. “I guess... I just got attached to them. I mean, I know they’re wild animals and we would have eventually left them on their own, but I guess I didn’t realize that’d be so soon. Well, I better talk to Ivy and Hop Pop, let them know the Amazons have moved on.”

“Yeah, good luck with that!” Maddie went back to practicing her potions, she was only a level 2 witch, she needed to level up fast.

“Hop Pop!” Sprig called out, as he arrived home. Hop Pop came out of the Kitchen-

“You finished giving the creatures their food?”

“The Amazones left, Hop Pop. Maddie thinks they moved on to another home.”

“Ok,” Hop Pop walked back into the kitchen. Sprig had already told Ivy about this and she hadn’t seemed worried either, but that bad feeling hadn’t gone away. He ate silently.

“What’s eatin’ ya boy?”

“Oh!” Sprig looked up. “I’m just worried about the Amazones.”

“It’s normal to get attached to a creature you’ve been takin’ care of, Sprig,” Hop Pop smiled, gently. “But they’re wild animals in their natural environment. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Heh, Maddie said the same thing. But you’re probably right,” But if they were right, why didn’t that bad feeling go away?

Chapter Text

Toadstool smiled, as Machoni arrived. The animal tamer entered the mayor’s home with a smile. His cart was out back, hidden from view. The mayor had come up with the excuse that the cart might block anyone from entering city hall, but truth be told he didn’t want anyone stepping in before he had his pets trained.

“You are Mayor Toadstool, correct?” The frog asked, with a raised brow.

“Indeed I am, Machoni, ” The mayor laughed. “Toady will assist you.”

“Actually,” Machoni said, catching Toadstool’s attention. “It’s best if the animal’s owner is present. It helps teach them to obey the right person.”

“If you say so,” Toadstool shrugged. He had thought the point of paying this frog was so he didn’t have to do it himself. “Let’s get on with it.”

Machoni walked over to the crates. He took a glance at the beasts, his eyes widened. He had never seen such creatures. They must have cost a fortune. He absentmindedly wondered if they had been bought on the black market or at the Bazaar Bazaar, but he didn’t question his clients. If he didn’t know anything, he couldn’t get in trouble after all.

“Interesting creatures,” Machoni muttered, then turned to face the mayor and his assistant. “But it shouldn’t be a problem for me.” Machoni grabbed his spray bottle and a bag of treats. “Do you know if any ingredients are toxic to them?”

“No, we got them recently,” Toadstool smirked. He was definitely hiding something, but it wasn’t Machoni’s business. His job was to train these creatures and he’d do it.

“Very well, I shall use the normal treats then,” He picked out a smaller bag out of the first bag. “If they show any negative effects I have something to make them feel better. You said they were all females?”

“Indeed,”

He walked over and opened the crate, the large blonde creature was eyeing him suspiciously. He waved the treat in front of the crate. Animals were always drawn to food-

“Come on girl, come on. Come get the treat.”

Sasha sighed, time to see if Marcy’s plan would work or not. She exited the crate and followed the treat. Trying to watch the frog in case he tried something. He said something in his language and pointed down, assuming he sat ‘sit’, she did so. She had to get close to get the keys to their crates. He gave her the small treat and she took it in her hands, sniffing it. Marcy said most toxins can be detected by a human’s sense of smell. It didn’t smell off, and it seemed to be made of meat. Likely bug meat, but at least it likely wouldn’t kill her. She took a bite and it actually tasted pretty good. The taste was like a sugar cookie. She heard a ‘clicking’ sound and turned to see he had a leash attached to her collar. She huffed, she had to deal with this to save her girls. She glanced around quickly trying to see who had the keys. She noticed the keys to the crates- and likely to the collars around their necks- was on the belt of this new frog.

She didn’t quite know who he was or why he was here. But the old toad and tiny frog seemed oddly friendly with him. So, either he was a friend or some kind of co-worker. No one is THAT friendly without a reason after all. She followed along behind him waiting for the perfect moment to grab the keys. She got the perfect moment the tiny frog and toad were talking while turned away, the frog that had her on the leash gave her that sugar cookie and pointed downwards while saying that same word from before. As she sat down, she quickly snagged the keys and hid them behind herself. He seemed pleased, so he clearly hadn’t noticed her grab the keys. Sasha was leashed to the back wall of them room. She smirked-

‘Go Time,’ She unlocked her collar, taking it off and snuck around while the frog dealt with Anne who was the distraction. She slipped the keys to Marcy. She called out to the frog. “HEY FUCKER!!! OVER HERE!”

The frog turned around looking confused for a second, before his eyes went wide. He screamed out some kind of command, but Sasha was already on her way out the door. The plan was actually pretty simple. Sasha gets the keys, Anne distracts the Amphibian-like humanoids while Sasha gives the keys to Marcy. Sasha gets the monster’s attention and leads them away. Marcy frees themself and Anne. Honestly, they hadn’t expected it to work so quickly. After all, they had no idea what order they’d be taken out of the crates. It was just pure luck that frog had done it in the exact order they needed.

Anne smirked, as Marcy opened their crate and then Anne’s. The toad and tiny frog had quickly followed after Sasha and the other frog. So, the duo quickly left down another hallway. They needed to find safety. Sasha could handle herself, so they needed to find their way out of this place. They ran and ran until they found a door that led to the exit. The two smiled, as they ran through the pitch black night. They could barely see anything, but they saw what looked like a giant stump. The bugs and plants here were so big!

“In there!” Marcy called out.

Anne and Marcy entered the stump through what felt like a door. But that was stupid, it was a tree not a house. In the darkness they couldn’t see a thing, so they felt around and Anne fell down an opening. She tried to get her eyes to adjust, when Marcy tripped down the stairs and landed on a purple mushroom that glowed. They realized they were in some kind of basement.

“What the heck?” Anne questioned, looking around like a deer in headlights. “Where are we?” They heard footsteps. “SOMEONE’S COMING! Marcy hide!”

Chapter Text

Sasha ran, she had to buy enough time for Marcy and Anne to get out and get to safety. They hadn’t really planned for what to do after this point. They didn’t think they’d get this far to be honest. Sasha ran through the halls, not really caring if she was seen, they already knew she escaped. Her job was to cause enough chaos to cover the others escape anyway, so the more people that saw her the better. The blonde managed to find a door that led to the exit. She threw open the doors, running blindly into town. It was the middle of the day, had she been running through that building for HOURS!? Well, it WAS pretty big. Everyone of these frog beasts started screaming when they saw her. She ran, barely keeping ahead of her pursuers. A mob had gathered to hunt her down by now. Sasha absent-mindedly wondered how they grouped up a hunting party so quickly, but shook her head. She paused when she reached the edge of town, the mob was just around the corner, she panted, out of breath. She didn’t have anywhere to go. Going into the woods without shelter or her friends with those giant bugs out there was a death sentence, but she didn’t know what the villagers had planned for her, it might even be worse. Sasha noticed a yellow frog calling out to her in its own language. The frog looked oddly familiar. Then, she remembered. She’d seen that frog lay out some plants on a rock near their cave… Wait hadn’t Anne said she found some plants on that same rock? This frog possibly saved their lives… But it could be a trap. She heard yelling from around the houses. If this was a mistake, it would likely be her last. She entered the home where the yellow frog had the door open and had been calling out to her.

“Thanks,” Sasha muttered. Even though, he knew the frog couldn’t understand him. Sasha fell to her knees, tired and out of breath. She tried to stand up. He had to find his friends, but he collapsed from exhaustion. The frog mumbled something in a kind tone, but Sasha was too out of it to listen or care. Sasha passed out.

When Ivy heard a mob outside chasing a monster of some kind she hadn’t thought much of it, until she looked out her window and saw one of the Amazones. Sprig had told her the three creatures were gone. Had they accidentally stumbled into town? Where were the other two?! Ivy- hoping to keep the creature safe- called out to her-

“Over here! Quickly!”

The beast looked between her, the forest, and the direction of the voices, clearly conflicted. Ivy hoped she wouldn’t run off into the woods. If she did, she might get hunted down either by predators or by the townsfolk. The creatures made up their mind quickly and ran to her. She wasn’t sure if the beast understood her or just decided to trust her, but Ivy closed the door and watched from the window as the mob stopped, obviously thinking the beast ran into the woods. Ivy heard the beast mutter… something… but then it passed out. From what her and her friends had observed, the blonde one- the one currently passed out on her family’s couch- was the alpha. She seemed to have barked orders at the other two and they listened. So, it was safe to say that Ivy would have a LOT to explain to her mother when she returned home from the tea shop tonight.

“Ivy! I’m hom-” Her mother froze seeing the sleeping beast and Ivy gently petting its head. “IVY!? What is that… thing!?”

“Shhh! Mom,” Ivy whispered. “You’re gonna wake her up!”

“Ivy…” Her mother said, hesitantly and quietly. “Get away from that thing! It could hurt you!”

“Mom, I have something to tell you…” Ivy explained how she, Maddie, and Sprig had found the animals and how Mr. Plantar had made sure they weren’t a threat. She explained that she and her friends had named them ‘Amazones’ and that they didn’t eat frogs and mostly stayed away from them. Her mother brought up Wally, but Ivy pointed out that it wasn’t uncommon for Wally to start things over nonsense. “Mom, come meet her. We named this one Blaze.”

“Blaze?” Her mother questioned.

“She’s the alpha and she has a bit of a commanding present when she’s awake. Like a fire.”

“What did you name the other ones?”

Hop Pop had heard a noise the night before and told Sprig and Polly to stay in Sprig’s room while he investigated this morning, but they weren’t gonna miss this, so they agreed to stay behind Hop Pop, while he checked the house. They had searched all the downstairs and then noticed the basement door was open. They froze. They all knew for SURE that none of them had left it open. There was someone- or something- down there. Polly and Sprig stayed put this time near the door to Hop Pop’s office, as the older frog slowly entered the basement.

“Sprig! You might wanna come see this,” Sprig hopped down the stairs with Polly in his arms. He couldn’t believe it. It was two of the three Amazones!

“Hey! It’s Fluffy and Doc!”

“Who?” Polly questioned. Sprig sighed, neither he nor Hop Pop told her about the Amazones so she wouldn’t go running off telling the town about them.

“Fluffy is the tanned skin one. And Doc is the one with raven colored hair. There a undocumented species that Maddie, Ivy, and I, found. They’re harmless.”

“What in the name of frog are they doing here?!” Hop Pop said, shocked at their unannounced present. The two were holding onto each other, looking at the frogs with fear. Something happened to them.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think anything good happened,” Sprig muttered. “They never go near Amphibians. Someone must have brought them into town. I’ll ask Maddie and Ivy about this, but first. Let’s make sure these two are ok.”

Chapter Text

Anne and Marcy froze as they heard someone coming down the stairs. Anne hugged her friend close, as Marcy started crying. Whatever happens they won’t be caged again. Anne held onto Marcy as an orange frog stepped down, looking at them with a strange look. Anne noticed he wasn’t smirking or angry, just curious or maybe… confused? Marcy perked up when the frog called something up the steps. Then, a younger frog and a tadpole followed after the frog. Anne guessed the first frog had called them by name, not that she could understand what he was saying to begin with, but Marcy looked at the Amphibians with fear. Anne understood and knew her face mirrored her friend’s. Anne knew speaking would be pointless and Marcy was shaking in fear, so they wouldn’t be speaking at all. Anne needed to somehow get the message that they didn’t want these frogs near either of them. Anne thought of something, it would be rude and she was just sure her mom would ground her for it if she did something like that at home or to another person, but these weren’t people, they were beasts. Anne took a breath and growled. The frogs flinched and backed away slowly. Marcy looked at her with a shocked expression, but Anne pushed Marcy behind her protectively. She had to protect her friend.

Sprig was shocked at the growl that Fluffy let out. In all the time they’d been caring for the Amazones, never once had he heard any of them growl at someone. Sure, they growled if they tripped or dropped something on their paws, but mostly they made sounds that almost were like they were talking to each other, but Maddie had repeatedly told him it was probably no different than a bird chirping to another bird. Sprig noticed something, at first they had assumed the Amazones were siblings, I mean they found them in the same cave. But what if they weren’t. The way Fluffy was protecting Doc was almost like a dominant mate protecting its pack. He knew Blaze was the alpha, so were the three unrelated? I mean, they looked nothing alike, so it wasn’t that far a leap to assume that they weren't related-

“Hop Pop, I don’t think they’re siblings.”

“Then, what are they, boy?”

“I think they’re mates. Maybe Blaze is too. Maybe they’re not a monogamous species.”

“It would explain they’re different appearances and why they were in the same den. What should we do with them?”

“Guys!” It took Sprig a minute to realize that Polly was no longer on his head where he had put her just a moment ago. “There’s a mob outside!”

“I’ll handle them,” Hop Pop spoke up. “Sprig, keep the Amazones hidden until I get back. I don’t want any trouble with the townsfolk.”

“Ok, Hop Pop!”

“Polly, don’t say anything.”

“Ugh fine,” Polly huffed.

Sprig knew she liked joining in with the mobs that happened almost weekly in this town. Sprig keep a safe distance, as Fluffy clearly didn’t want anyone near her mate. Maybe he could try to comfort her?

“What’s goin’ on here?” Hopidiah huffed, croaking in annoyance. He had closed the basement door just to be safe. “It’s the crack of dawn and you’re at my front door yellin’ and chantin’!”

“Sorry Hopidiah, but I had captured some dangerous beasts!” The mayor spoke up. “And they escaped into the town before I could put them down.”

“So? What’s that got to do with me?”

“We’re worried they might have entered someone’s home near the edge of town.”

“Well, what do they look like?” Hopidiah tried to avoid looking nervous, but the mayor eyed him suspiciously.

“They all look different, a pale skinned blonde one with red eyes we chased it off into the woods. But we’re still looking for a tanned skinned one with brown hair and blue eyes and a one with skin that is lighter than tan but darker than pale with black hair with green eyes. They ran this way.”

“Well, I ain’t seen nothing like those things. So, get off my law until tax season comes around. Those torches could ruin my crops!”

“Very well, Hopidiah Plantar,” Toadstool said, with a skeptical expression before he schooled it and left with the- now calmed down- townsfolk. Hopidiah closed the door before letting out a sigh in relief. That was too close.

Sprig waited until he heard the mob calm down and the footsteps to fade before walking cautiously towards the Amazones. Fluffy growled again. Sprig noticed the growl wasn’t very fierce despite her eyes showing she was serious. He paused, noticing her eyes faintly glow a bright blue hue. He had never been this close to the Amazones before so he never saw their eye color-

“Polly get me my notebook from upstairs!”

“Get it yourself!”

“Now!”

“Fiiiiine!” Polly hopped upstairs, opening the door and coming back a minute later. Sprig opened the notebook. He saw Polly glance over his notes. “You’ve been taking notes on these beasts?”

“Well yeah!” Fluffy tinted her head in confusion. Sprig glanced up, noticing her blue eyes were no longer glowing. “Hey there, Fluffy! Can I touch you?” Sprig reached up to pet her, but she smacked his hand away.

Anne wasn’t sure what the frog boy told the pink tadpole, but when the tadpole left Anne almost made a run for it, but one glance at Marcy said they weren’t moving and she was NOT going to abandon her friend. Her hesitation was enough time for the tadpole to return with a notebook and pen of some kind. The frog boy wrote something down, then said something before reaching up like he was gonna pet her. She smacked his hand away, and growled again. She didn’t know what this frog family wanted, but she didn’t want to stick around to find out, but they were blocking the only exit route, and she didn’t want to know what would happen if she and Marcy tried to run. She backed up, but stayed in front of Marcy as the older frog came downstairs. Whatever he wanted couldn’t be good.

“They’re gone now. But what do we do with these critters?” Sprig sighed, if they let them out the town would just hunt them down, but it’s not like he could just keep them.

“Let’s make them our pets, Hop Pop!” Polly shouted suddenly.

Or maybe they can?

Chapter Text

Sasha groaned as she woke up, her neck was killing her. Where was she? What happened? He blinked a few times trying to get rid of the morning grogginess and clear up her vision. Sasha looked around for a minute. She was in some kind of tea shop, only the chairs were much smaller. She saw a door that probably led outside and a staircase that led up to a second floor. She finally remembered what happened a few hours ago. He was chased. He glanced out the window across the room, remembering the tiny yellow frog that saved his life. Sasha hummed, seeing it was around mid-afternoon going off of the sun’s current position.

“Where am I?” Sasha mumbled, as she stood up.

She walked around. She couldn’t just stay there, but going outside was likely a death sentence, given how these frog beasts acted last time. She walked up the stairs hoping to find a weapon of some kind. She noticed a door to a room was cracked open. She quietly pushed open the door. She saw it was a kid’s room, so she walked over to the bed where the little frog child was sleeping. Sasha loomed over the frog with a firm look. The yellow from yawned and slowly opened her eyes, then there was a scream.

“No way!” Hop Pop croaked.

“Aww, why not, Hop Pop?” Polly whined. Sprig was quiet as he listened to the conversation, while keeping an eye on Fluffy and Doc.

“Because 1, those things are wild animals. And 2, everytime we get a pet I end up being the one walkin’ and takin’ care of it!”

“Come on, Hop Pop!” Sprig pitched in with baby spider eyes. “If we let them out they’ll just be hunted.”

“We’re still missing one Sprig. Where’s Blaze? Isn’t she the alpha?”

“Yeah? What’s the problem?”

“Sprig, if Blaze really is the alpha and their mate, the last thing we need is Blaze coming here looking for them, then getting territorial about some people being near her mates!”

“But the townsfolk said they already chased Blaze into the forest!” Sprig pointed out, hoping his Hop Pop would let them keep them. “And we promise to take good care of them!”

“I don’t know, kids,” Hop Pop muttered, taking a glance at Fluffy and Doc. Sprig wished he could tell what the older frog was thinking. “Even if we did keep them, they won’t be able to go outside anytime soon. Or the townsfolk might see them and come after us for lyin’ about having them.”

“We can make them indoor pets!” Polly suggested.

“That’s not a good idea, Polly,” Hop Pop huffed. “Do you know how hard it is to train an animal that’s been outside its whole life to live indoors!?”

“We can do it, Hop Pop!” Sprig smiled. “Besides, just look how cute they are!” Fluffy and Doc flinched as Sprig gestured to them. Both looked scared, as if they expected to be hurt. Hop Pop looked between his grandkids and the two beasts. He thought it over for a minute longer, then sighed.

“Fine, but they need to stay inside. Don’t let them out, ok?”

“Yes sir!” Sprig and Polly said, excitedly. Sprig turned to face the beasts- “You girls are gonna love it here!”

The first thing Ivy saw when she awoke was a shadowy figure standing over her. She screamed then turned on her bedside mushroom. Her eyes widened as she recognized the beast from last night-

“Oh! Hello, Blaze!” She smiled. “I must have left my door open. What are you doing up here?” Blaze quirked an eyebrow, before schooling her expression. She walked around and started rummaging through her things. “Hey! No! bad girl!” Ivy ran over trying to stop the creature from tearing up her room. The beasts ignored her, even if she was doing little more than annoying the beast, seeing as she was too small to actually pull against the beast’s own strength.

“Ivy, are you ok!?” Her mom rushed into her daughter’s room, seeing the beast throw things around. “Hey! Stop that!” With her mother’s help, Ivy managed to pull the beast away from her closet. The beast gave them an annoyed look, but stood still. “Sit down.”

The beast glared at her, its eyebrow’s narrowing, as if challenging Ivy’s mother to make her do it. Her mom seemed to get the message. And tried giving the command again, once again the beast glared, but this time got in the Sundews’ personal space. Almost as if for intimidation. Her eyes glowed a bright red, almost a dark shade of pink. Ivy got an idea and quickly ran downstairs, and returned with a bun-

“Hey! Blaze! Want a treat?”

Sasha had recognized the word and the way the older frog pointed to the ground as a ‘sit’ command from when that animal tamer had tried to do the same thing. She had no reason to follow it. However, the frog tried again and Sasha- annoyed with being treated like an animal- got into the two frog’s personal space. Actually, saying anything would be useless, they couldn’t understand her words. But they COULD understand her actions. He leaned down, bent at the waist, to be eye-to-eye with the older frog. The younger one left and Sasha heard her say a word she’d used multiple times now in reference to Sasha herself. Wait… was she saying Sasha’s name in her weird language? But the frog couldn’t even understand her. Maybe it was a nickname of some kind? Maybe it meant ‘human’ or ‘Ape’? Whatever, Sasha saw she had some kind of baked good. And Sasha’s stomach growled, realizing she clearly hadn’t eaten in a while. She looked up at the piece of food and walked up to hand, reaching out her hand, demanding the snack. But the frog shook her head, said something, then walked down the steps. Sasha sighed. Fine, she’ll play along, but only because she really needed something to eat right now. She just hoped Marcy and Anne were ok.

Chapter Text

Marcy looked around. Both Anne and them didn’t know what to do. They had heard yelling outside. Even if they couldn’t understand what was being said, they knew an angry mob when they heard one. For some reason, the mob left after the older frog- they really needed names to go with these beasts- talked to them. Was the mob after them? Why did they stop when Old Frog talked to them? Did he mention them? Marcy’s head was spinning with questions that neither them nor their friend could really answer. They had tried going up the stairs, but Pink Frog stopped them. He spoke in a gentle voice. They guessed it wasn’t safe for them, but they had to find Sasha. She would know what to do. She always did.

“Anne, do you think Sasha’s ok?”

“What?” Anne laughed. “Of course she’s ok! She’s Sasha. I bet she outran that mob with ease.”

“YOU THINK THE MOB WAS AFTER HER!?” Marcy shouted, with a worried expression.

“Woah, easy Marmar!” Anne sat up, looking slightly panicked. “No! I don't! And, I mean, even if they were, they clearly lost her.”

“How do you know that?”

“My guess is they were going house by house looking for her. I mean, why else would the mob just leave if one of these frog-beasts… things… Just talked to them. He must have been covering for us by saying he hadn’t seen a creature like us.”

“Or they hunted down Sasha and now are looking for us!”

“Or, Sasha escaped and they didn’t even know we got out of those cages because they were too distracted to notice.”

“I guess that’s possible…”

Marcy was still worried, but a little more calm now. Sure, there’s a CHANCE the mob hunted down Sasha, but Sasha was strong and fast. She probably could outrun creatures that were only half her size. It makes some sense, she might have more stamina and she could easily take larger steps than these creatures, making it easy for her to outrun them. Marcy noticed Anne was eyeing the door to the basement, that they were currently in, with caution. They understood why. Pink Frog hadn’t let them leave. While that might be for their own safety, it could also be because he was a threat, even if he was just a child. Marcy sighed. They were the one to bring that box to their friends’ attention, all because they wanted to have fun in a fantasy world and not move away from them. But that wasn’t happening. She hadn’t even considered the idea that the creatures of this world might not speak American English. If their own planet had so many different languages, they didn’t know why they thought it would have even been a possibility that they speak the same language! They sighed, they agreed to take turns sleeping and keeping watch and Anne volunteered to take the first watch.

Sprig smiled, as they rode Bessie to the pet shop. He was so excited to have two new pets. He hopped off Bessie-

“Come on, Hop Pop, Polly!” Sprig pulled out his copy of the list of things they needed to buy. “They need collars, leashes, bed beds, and toys!”

“Go easy on the toys, kids,” Hop Pop interrupted. “I’m not sure the Amazones would want to play like common house pets like small birds or spiders would.”

“We have to get them something!” Sprig whined.

“You each pick out a toy and a collar,” Sprig and Polly hopped ahead of their grandfather. “One of each for the two of them.”

“Yeah! I’m gonna pick out a collar with lots of spikes!”

“Don’t do that!” Sprig frowned, as he followed Polly. They quickly ran into the store.

“Look at all these cool collars!” Polly smirked. Sprig huffed-

“No! Those are mean, they’re both gentle creatures. The last thing we need is someone thinking they’re mean!” Polly looked at a black collar with a pattern of white skull and crossbones covering it. “No!”

“Fine! You pick them out!” Sprig stomped his foot-

“Maybe I will! Go pick out the toys, Polly.”

“Yes!” Polly hopped away. At least none of the animal toys would make them look like evil monsters. “Hmm.” Sprig looked around, seeing a blue collar and a green collar. “Hey! Those match their eyes!”

Sprig grabbed the collars and met up with Hop Pop and Polly. Polly had picked out a plushy of a mantis and one that looked like a heron. Sprig smiled, as he showed off the two collars to his Hop Pop-

“They look wonderful, Sprig,” Hop Pop smiled. “I’m sure Fluffy and Doc will love them.” It was then that Sprig saw the two muzzles and the giant crate.

“Hop Pop! What are those?!”

“It’s in case they misbehave.”

“And the muzzle?” Sprig said, annoyed.

“In case they bite!”

“Doc and Fluffy don’t bite!”

“Maybe Doc doesn’t, but didn’t you see how Fluffy was when you got too close.”

“It’s mean!”

“No, it will just show them who’s in charge,” Sprig looked down sadly. “It won’t be on them all the time, Sprig, and- if they’re trained right- it won’t be on them at all. But if they misbehave, they go in the crate, ok?”

“Yes, Hop Pop.”

Polly gave Sprig a sad look, she knew what he was thinking. That it wasn’t right to do that to them. Polly put her flipper on Sprig’s leg. He gave her a nice smile. It was rare that Polly showed genuine kindness, so Sprig tended to reward her when she did by showing her the same kindness. It was a nice moment, but it was ruined by the reason it was happening. Which was true pretty much anytime Polly felt the need to be kind towards anyone. But that wasn’t important. They arrived home and Hop Pop started setting up the crate in the living room, while Sprig went downstairs to see Doc asleep and Fluffy guarding her mate. It was a sweet moment, especially since Fluffy gently awoke Doc when she saw him.

“Hey girls! I have something to show you!”

Chapter Text

Sprig bounced up and down, excitedly. Doc and Fluffy looked at him. Fluffy’s gaze was full of caution and suspicion, while Doc had a more optimistic look. Fluffy gently pushed Doc behind her a little more and made a sound that Doc seemed to understand-

“You girls are gonna love it here!” Sprig pulled out the two plushies handing one to each beast. Fluffy grabbed it and looked a little less guarded, while Doc took hers and hugged the soft heron closely. “Glad to see you like it! Look at this!” Sprig smiled, as he pulled out the two collars. He had edged their names and their address into the medallions that each collar had on the way home earlier. His smile dropped as he noticed Fluffy’s mood shift to shock and then anger…

Anne didn’t know why Pink frog got her a kids toy, but she assumed it was some kind of peace offering. She didn’t expect what this kid pulled out next. At first, she assumed it was some kind of friendship bracelet. Then, her heart sank as she realized they were collars.

“What’s wrong?” Marcy must have noticed her shift in demeanor. “I can't see what Pink frog is holding?!”

“This little brat got us co-!” Anne stopped speaking when she felt something click around her neck. She whipped around to see the Pink frog trying to walk around and put the green collar- she quickly realized she had the blue one around her own neck- on Marcy. “HEY!!! LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!”

The Pink frog didn’t listen and Anne kicked herself as she remembered they spoke a different language. She let out a frustrated growl and Pink frog stopped in his tracks. Hun, maybe that could work. Anne switched methods from yelling at him to growling at him, as she unclipped her own collar and threw it on the ground. She stood up, towering over Pink frog, he gulped nervously, slowly walked away and back up the stairs. Anne smirked as she turned to face marcy.

“Uh- Anne- You might wanna turn around…” Marcy muttered, pointing behind Anne. Anne turned and saw Old frog staring firmly at her, while Pink Frog looked like he was begging him not to do something. Anne turned to face the frogs and her eyes narrowed. Just what did he want now?

“Hop Pop, please don’t crate her!” Sprig begged. He knew that Fluffy was just protecting her mate. She didn’t want to harm him.

“Sprig, boy, she needs to learn she can’t threaten you like that.”

“I got too close to her mate! She’s scared! That’s all!”

“She needs proper discipline, boy,” Hop Pop said firmly. “She’ll only be in the crate for fifthteen minutes.”

“Ok,” Sprig relented, giving Fluffy a sad look. “Come on girl, Hop Pop says you can’t do that.”

Anne didn't know what these monsters said, but both were getting too close for comfort. Anne tried growling again. But all they did was pull out that collar… and a leash. Oh no! Nuh uh! Anne stood up and back away, trying to use her height to scare them off again, but She just ended up cornered. They kept saying the same sentence, she assumed it meant something along the lines of ‘Come here’ or ‘Easy there’. She gulped as they tackled her. Anne pushed Pink frog off but ended up with Old frog on top of her. She growled at him, but suddenly she heard a familiar ‘clicking’ noise, before she had time to unclick it she heard a second click. She pushed Old Frog off of her and felt a tiny lightweight padlock on the back of the collar. She grumbled in frustration. But the leash was clicked onto her collar with a similar padlock to keep her from unclipping it.

Marcy watched, as Anne was led up the stairs. They gasped and ran up the stairs, following them. They glanced out of the basement and saw them put Anne in a cage. Marcy whimpered and ran back down the stairs. Why did they put Anne in a crate? Was it for refusing to wear the collar? Was it because she growled at them? Whatever the reason, Marcy did not want the same fate. Pink Frog came downstairs and talked to her in a gentle voice, holding up the collar. Marcy just sat there as he put on their collar. They were happy to see it wasn’t a shock collar. They hadn’t pointed it out to the others, but the collars that the three wore with that big toad, tiny frog, and animal trainer, had been shock collars. They hadn't wanted to scare their friends so they didn't mention it. So, it was good that these collars weren’t shock collars. Marcy heard Anne yelling and cursing at the frogs from upstairs. They sighed, as they counted how long it was until Anne was let out. they counted 14 minutes, 25 seconds, before Anne was brought back downstairs. She ran over to them and hugged them-

“They didn’t hurt you, right Marbles?”

“I’m fine, Annabanana!” Marcy laughed. “All Pink frog did was put on the collar.”

“We have to get out of here! I was locked in that cage for like an hour!”

“It was under 15 minutes, Anne. Besides, they don’t seem to want to harm us. I think they might be worried about us.”

“THEY PUT ME IN A CAGE!!! HOW CAN THEY BE WORRIED ABOUT US!?”

“We were captured as soon as those frogs and toad found us. That mob went after Sasha. What if they’re scared that if we’re out there a mob might hunt us down. Besides, I think as long as we do what they say, they won’t put us in those crates.”

“Do what they say…?” Anne’s eye twitched. “MARCY! WE CAN’T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING!?”

“Maybe, but we can infer from their body language and tone of voice. If they point a direction, we follow it. If they talk firmly, then they’re either giving a command or we did something wrong. They think we’re animals, Anne.”

“How are we gonna show them we’re self aware creatures then?”

“Maybe we could write them something.”