IJUSTGOTAGFHOLYFUCKOKAYSORRY
The gang had just walked into the grub and go,
"Oh! Pill bugs are on sale." Hop pop said pushing the cart.
"Ooh! That reminds me. I'm gonna go grab some of that beetle jerky I like." Anne said, then paused, "can't believe I just said that..."
"Okay kiddo! See ya outside."
While anne left to grab some of her jerky, yn was casually exploring the frog foods and produce.
"So many new flavors, and possibilities!" She said star struck while grabbing a couple items. As she walked past a small pollywog, an item seemed to slip from her grasp onto the poor babies head.
The child started blaring it's annoying cry.
"Oh my- Cleveland! Stay away from my baby you monster!" The mother yelled accusing at yn.
"But I didn't mean-"
Suddenly others were drawn to the noise of a crying child, and they started whispering.
"Why won't these creatures just go back to where they came from!"
"Monster!"
"She touched a baby! She can't be trusted!"
Yn hung her head low in embarrassment and darted out of the store, meeting hop pop, sprig, and polly outside.
Anne strolled through the aisles,
"Hmm, where is that... aha! Score. And I got the last one!" She said reaching out to grab the jerky, then some jerk decided to grab it with his tongue first.
"Hey! That was totally mine wally."
"Ya snooze, ya loose, scarecrow!" He said laughing and hopping away.
"Hey! Don't call me scarecrow! Oof!" She was hit in the ankles with a shopping cart.
"Hey! Move your big behind, scarecrow. Croaker needs her cookies."
Anne shuffled away and mumbled to herself,
"My behinds not big. I'm big. Technically, it's to scale. Woah!" She suddenly slipped on the wet floor.
"Hey! Didn't you see the sign, scarecrow!"
"Classic, clumsy scarecrow!"
The townsfolk began laughing and pointing.
Anne sighed and hurried away, and saw that yn, hop pop, sprig, and polly were already waiting.
"So, did you get the beetle jerky you- hey, what's wrong?" Sprig asked.
Anne sighed, "well, it's just.. I've been here for over a month now, and the townspeople still treat me crummy. I just wish they were a little nicer!"
"Tell me about it!" Yn groaned, "yeah lady, i bonked your baby on the head, calm down, the most he'll get is a bruise."
"Oh kids," hop pop sighed, "that's just the way these frogs are. Slow to accept, and even slower to respect. It's actually our town motto. You'll find a way to get their respect, in your own weird human ways. Now, who wants pill bug pancakes?"
"Ooh, my favorite!" Anne said excitedly, "I've been here too long." She said in a deep, gruffer voice.
As they started riding Bessie back to the farm, they passed a statue.
"Well, that statues new." Hop pop commented.
"And tasteless, woof." Sprig said.
Suddenly, Bessie stopped and started freaking out in her snail language.
"Woah, woah, girl. Easy. What's wrong?" Anne said getting in front of her, she followed her eyes to see some terrifying toads riding a giganto spider.
The toads parked their vehicle in the middle of town, one sighed, "ahh, nothing like cracking your neck after a long drive. Ain't that right?"
Just as he finished talking the major popped out of his large house, "oh good, you're here. Toadie, give 'em the list."
The small frog handed the toad the list as he slowly looked over it.
"Who are those guys?" Anne asked.
"Toads from toad tower. They rule over the entire valley." Hop pop explained.
"Toad what?" Yn asked.
"It's a big, scary tower deep in the swamp." Sprig said pulling out a map, "and the toads that live there are the valleys fiercest warriors."
"Woah cool!" Anne and yn said, almost at the same time.
"Cool, yes. But they can be a rough sort. It's probably for the best that we stay clear of- oh! Oh dang it, there they go." He said watching sprig, yn, and Anne walk over to the toads.
Yn vigorously wrote in her journal, making sure to get every detail about this frog-toad hierarchy.
"Hey guys, so you are from toad tower?" Sprig asked.
"Sure are, runt." One of the toads said.
Sprig laughed, "ha, ha! My names sprig, actually."
"Uh-huh, yeah. Sure. Woah!" He said turning around to face the kids. "What are those?!?" He asked.
"It's some kind of gangly new critters I've never seen before." One of the other toads said while they approached the kids.
"I wonder what they taste like." The girl toad said.
"Woah, woah, hey. They are not for eating!"
Sprig said defensively talking out his slingshot.
"Don't come any closer!" Anne said taking out her tennis racket.
They waited for yn to comment, but all she did was continue writing. 'Toads- may or may not be interested in tasting humans. Beware!'
"Is that a challenge?" One of the roads asked, pulling out her weapon. She laughed and started charging towards the kids.
Anne dodged the attack- and managed to shove yn out of the way of getting smashed, then she smacked the toad in the face with the tennis racket. Which left painful marks.
One of the toads chuckled,
"Woah, that was awesome!"
"Well met, creature. I dunno what you are, but you've got fire." They said, walking away.
Anne smiled to herself, while sprig grumbled, and yn remained the same.
"Okay kids, that's enough flirting with death. Let's head home." Hop pop said pulling the snail next to them.
"Bleach, finally, come on, girls." Sprig said.
"I was thinking we could hang out with these guys a little longer. They seem cool." Anne said.
"Cool? More like smelly. Not to mention, creepy."
"Wait a second, are you jealous we think they're cool?" Yn said looking up from her notebook for just a second.
"No. Ha! If you wanna hang out with some grody toads, be my guest. No skin off my skin."
He said hopping onto bessie.
"Okay kids, but don't dally too long." Hop pop said driving away.
"I'm eating your pancakes!" Polly yelled.
"Not jealous!"
"Oh, he jelly." Anne said.
"Definitely." Yn agreed. The two girls then walked back over to the toads.
"Hey, we didn't get a chance to ask your-" yn was interrupted by one of the toads shoving a basked full of weapons into her hands.
"Names bog. The silent one there is Mire. And Fend here, you already met."
"I'm anne, this is yn. What are you guys doing in Wartwood?"
"Every year, this gown sends taxes to the tower. Well, this year, they came up short. So, the mayor gave us the list of frogs who didn't pay and we're just here to collect. Say, we could use someone like you." Bog said, pointing at anne.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you've got inside knowledge of this town. It'll make the whole job go a lot smoother." He said pulling out a badge and handing it to her.
"Oh... um... I dunno. Im not sure any of this is my business."
"You know, the best part of wearing this badge, is now everyone in this town will have to treat you with respect."
"Gimme that ding-dang thing!"
"What about me? Can I have a badge? I would love to see the whole town respect me for once!" Yn added.
"Uh.. sure kid. Be careful," he said throwing her a badge.
Back at the farm, hop pop and sprig were playing a game of flipwart.
"Whoo! You lose. Oh yeah!" Hop pop taunted while polly was watching. The door opened and Anne and yn walked through. Mn
"Guess who became a Toad Tower deputy!"
"Us two! That's who!!!" Yn said excitedly.
"What??!" All the frogs gasped.
"Also, check out this cool sword Bog gave me." Anne said showing off her cool sword.
"He made me in charge of finding the houses!" Yn said, no cool item to show off.
"Girls, when I said earn the towns respect, I didn't mean join a gang!"
Anne scoffed, "I don't believe this. They're not a gang. They're just here to do a job. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have some respect to enjoy."
Anne walked out with yn quickly behind her.
Sprig jumped on the couch to open the window.
"Uh, boy, what are you doing?"
"I have a bad feeling about this. So, I'm gonna go follow anne and watch over her." He said with his eyes narrowed.
"That's all well and good, but can you at least use the front door?"
"..no."
He then crawled out the window like a spider.
"All right, first name on the list.." yn read as they pulled up to the house.
Anne and the three roads walked over to the house, Anne wanted yn to stay behind so she'd be safe.
"So how does this work? Do we remind Wally how much he owes or-"
Bog kicked down the door. They walked in on wally taking a disturbing bath.
"Ahh! Jumping June bugs! What's all this about?"
Bog chuckled, and Anne stuttered,
"I- uhhh, guess you own the town money..?"
"Rubbish! I may live in a squalor, but I always pay my taxes." Wally said while some chickens clicked around him.
"The mayors list says otherwise. And since you haven't paid, we'll be taking your stuff."
As the toads smashed the cabinets, raiding for his food, the others grabbed anything in sight. Bog threw anne the beetle jerky she had wanted earlier today.
"Here ya go anne, something a little extra."
"Oof! Bog, this seems a little extreme.."
"It's just the way we do things here. Plus, it's not like we enjoy it."
"Now who wants to race to the next house!?" He said a second later sounding like he very much enjoys it.
After the toads had run out of the house, anne stayed behind for just a moment with Wally.
"Here, take this back." She whispered, handing him back his beetle jerky.
"Come on anne!"
"Comin!"
As they next raided Felicia's house, they took all her cups and teas and pastry's.
"Oh, how Horid!"
A cup that said #mom fell to the floor, slipping from pogs grasp.
"Here take this," Anne quickly said while the toads were preoccupied.
At loggles they robbed his favorite item, his wood carving of himself.
"Not the statue no!"
Anne shimmied over next to him.
"Psst" she held the staff out to him from behind her.
"Oh! Yes, oh!" He started sobbing.
As they robbed mrs croaker she tried to get her pet spider to defend her.
"Archie! Sic em!"
The spider only barked, and the toad easily scared him away. Anne grabbed Archie's bed out of the toads grasp and replaced it with a pot. Gave the bed back to Mrs croaker and left with the toads.
"I dunno guys. This whole thing feels... wrong."
"The laws the law, anne. It can be tough, but this kind of work needs to get done. Yeah, needs to get done. Stuff. Gotta get it done." One of the other toads said while stuffing one of the frogs snacks in her face.
"I... guess that makes sense, who's next on the list?"
Yn gasped,
"No. No, no, this has to be wrong."
"Who's next on the list human." One of the toads ordered.
"..hopediah planter," she looked to Anne, "that's a typo, right? Gotta be a typo."
"Bog, that list has to be wrong. I know that frog. He's totally honest."
"Anne, the tower didn't get any taxes, okay? And if we don't get the money, then where is it?"
As yn was forced to guide them to the farm, hop pop was prepared.
"Like I said, I already paid my dang taxes. You can't come in here, and that's final."
"I don't like your tone, frog. Or did you forget who you're talking to?"
"Bog! I am telling you, he paid his taxes. He.. he made me watch." Anne said shuddering.
"Anne, they all say they've paid, I don't care what you think you saw. The list don't lie. Now, what should we start with?"
"Well, how bout that thing?" One of the toads pointed to Bessie.
"You stay away from her!" Hop pop showed off his nonexistent frog muscles.
"I'll bite your face off!" Polly yelled from on top of his head.
"Good choice, that snail should cover everything."
"Mire, Fens, Anne, move out."
The two toads began moving out when yn hopped from the wagon and blocked their way.
"No! I'm not letting you do this. It's wron- Ahh!" The two toads easily shoved her to the ground and walked around her.
"You monsters!" Hop pop yelled,
"Stop!" Anne yelled.
"You keep your claws off yn, and that snail. Better yet.. get off our property!" She said, joining hop pops side.
"Care to repeat that?"
"I said get lost. Now!" Anne growled.
The townspeople had somehow heard the ruckus, and decided to come watch.
"All we wanted was this towns respect," yn joined Anne's side, covered in mud. "But just because these people treated us crummy doesn't mean were gonna do the same to them. Were done with this. We don't care if they've broken the law. You can't treat people like this!" She said throwing her badge down into the mud, anne quickly followed, it had begun to rain and their clothes became sopping and their hair frizzy and drooping.
The toad snapped his fingers and one of them, somehow got behind the two girls and shoved them to the ground, face first. The toad had a his foot on their backs so they couldn't stand.
"Anne! Yn!" Hop pop shouted as he pulled out his pitchfork and Polly pulled out her other farmers tool. They tried charging, but the other toad grabbed them by their shirt.
"Hey! Let me go."
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"How disappointing. Do you know what we do to traitors in the tower, anne, yn?" He said pulling out a huge hammer.
The toad on top of them cackled, "you're about to be a pill bug pancake, you little brats."
"Your foots about to be a pancake." Anne moved out of the way so the hammer hit her foot. Yn quickly slipped from under her grasp and rolled out of view.
Anne pulled out her sword, and her tennis racket of course.
"Yn, get hop pop and polly. And please don't get hurt."
"You got it." She said, grabbing a pitchfork and working her way to the frogs.
Anne only lasted a couple of seconds before her weapons were knocked out of her hands.
"No!" She was literally getting beat in front of the townspeople as they sat and watched. And yn was preoccupied, still getting the planters.
"Sorry creature, it's just business." He said holding up his hammer again, about to smash her. When a splash of mud hit his eye.
"What the-"
"You leave her alone!" Sprig said, coming to the rescue.
"Yeah, you leave our Anne alone."
"She's one of us!"
"If you got a problem with her, you got a problem with all of us!"
The townspeople pulled out their tools and pitchforks. The toads dropped their weapons, as long as hop pop and polly.
"Anne!" Sprig ran over and hugged her.
Yn seemed to finally notice what was going on.
"Anne, omigosh, I'm so so sorry! I didn't even notice and when I'm preoccupied I tend to zone out I'm so so sorry I didn't help earlier-"
"Hey, it's fine!" Anne smiled.
"I'm sorry too, I got tied up."
Just then mayor toadstool hopped into view.
"Oh boy, gotta cut back on them cricket nuggets. Whoo!" He panted.
"Arrest that toad!" Sprig yelled, "he stole the towns money and was keeping it all for himself."
The townspeople gasped, and it seemed they needed proof so, sprig led them to the big statue in town and bog smashed it opened, and there it was. All the money, all the taxes.
The townspeople and toads surrounded the mayor,
"People, I needed the extra money for my campaign. Do you have any idea how much it costs to buy your love?"
The townsfolk remained unimpressed and one even threw a lemon a little too close to his head.
"Uh... and as mayor, I hereby pardon myself of any wrong doing. Thank you good day!" He said running out of the frame.
The next morning rolled by and all the planters were handing back the towns stuff.
"If it was respect you were looking for, you sure lost mine... you've got a lot of nerve. I'll give you that..." one of the toads laughed, "well be back, anne, and we won't be alone." He said placing the taxes into his wagon and hopping into the drivers seat.
"She don't need your respect!"
"Yeah! She's got ours!"
The town cheered the roads away.
"So.. we gonna tell the captain about the creature we found?"
"Oh, we're gonna tell the captain everything."
"Three cheers for Anne, and her trusty companion yn. Defender of Wartwood!"
"Hip, hip, hooray!"
"Hip, hip, hooray!"
"Hip, hip, hooray!"
"Awwe, thanks guys." Anne wiped her tears, "now who wants to sign my cast?" She said, referring to the sudden cast on her arm.
"Me, me, me, I'm her best friend."
"Me! Out of the way, you plebes."
"Oi! I can't write!"