Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 10: Swamp Shire

Drake walked past the bouncer who was staring at him. Right before he could enter the bouncer stopped him at the door. "No pets allowed." he said.

Drake looked back and noticed the bouncer was referring to Nyx. He leaned down. "Stay here. I'll be right back for you." Drake said. Nyx ran away toward a bunch of other pets sitting outside.

The bouncer, seeing Drake was going by himself, allowed him to pass but still kept his eye on him. Drake ignored the bouncer's eyes. He walked in through the front door, the patrons all stopped and looked in his direction. This was an awkward situation to be in. He kept held onto his hood with one hand as he walked to the bartender and sat down.

"Can I help you?" the bartender asked.

Drake placed one copper coin on the table. "Uh... just some water please." Drake said trying to sound normal and polite to avoid drawing attention to himself.

"Pfft, weak." someone said. Drake did his best to ignore that comment. The other patrons were going back to whatever they were doing which Drake greatly appreciated.

"You don't want anything stronger? Like ale? Beer? Wine?" the bartender asked.

Drake shook his head. He knew what the bartender was suggesting, and he wanted nothing to do with it. "Sorry, no. I need a clear head right now." Drake generally disdained alcohol. There were a lot of bad memories associated with it. His late father's stories about dealing with drunken brawls didn't help either.

The bartender turned around, pouring a cup of ice water for Drake. As soon as he delivered it to Drake, he started to down it. He didn't realize just how thirsty he was. Now he wished he had looted a canteen from those hunters. The bartender decided to speak first. "You look like you've traveled quite a distance."

"Oh, you have no idea. I'm actually looking for a few... people." Drake wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell the bartender.

"You should at least look me in the eye. Take off that hood of yours." the bartender replied.

"Sorry. I'm feeling... a little shy and I... never been to a bar before. I don't really want to take off this hood right now." every word he said was true. Drake was used to his friends doing the talking for him. Especially in public situations like this with strangers. He wasn't brave in social situations like Anne or Sasha was.

"Well alright, so who are these people you're looking for?" the bartender asked.

Drake hesitated for a moment; he wasn't sure if he was about to make a big mistake. Then he swallowed his fear and pulled out a polaroid of himself and his friends. "Do you know where I can find these people?"

The bartender observed the photo. "Those are some strange monsters... nope! Never seen anything like it."

Drake didn't appreciate his friends being called monsters. Though he made sure to hide any reaction as best he could. He took the polaroid back. "I heard one of them is somewhere around here... but I am unfamiliar with the area. Do you have a map I could look at?"

The bartender placed a map on the table and unfurled it in front of Drake. According to the map, there were four major towns with labels and several unlabeled smaller settlements spread out across a valley nearly surrounded by mountains with a large sea to the south. "You are here in Swamp Shire. The main road should connect with the other towns."

With so many places to search, finding Anne is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. "What about that?" Drake pointed at a tower on the map. It reminded him of that mysterious tower he was looking for.

"That is the Southern Toad Tower. All roads in the valley lead to it." the bartender answered.

This was quite a bit to take in. He would need to reevaluate again. "So heard any rumors?" Drake asked hoping to get more information about the valley.