Amphibia Fanfiction: Dimension Strangers Together | Anne Boonchuy X Male Reader

Chapter 7 | Walking The Plank Over A Walking Stick

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Heartbeat: Hello! Sorry this chapter took so long. At least it's out now, so that's pretty cool. And yeah, I know it's probably as long as, if not longer than the last one. Yeah, I guess you could say I got a little carried away. Heh.

The Storyteller: But hey, that means more content to read for you guys! So that's always a plus!

Heartbeat: Yeah, yeah! Also, before we start, I have a couple of things to say.

Now, first of all, I'm sure you've noticed the new changes I've made as of the time I've uploaded this chapter. The one most noticeable might be... A New Cover! Yeah, that's right. This book just got a visual glow up and this new cover is part them! While I was away, I've made it, as well as a little something else for my profile... he he he. Anyway, I'm super proud of it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You can find all of the tools that I've used to make it in the description of the story. However, I'm saying this here because I feel like the most important source I need to credit is the Amphibia font by Mynja Lynghelm.

https://twitter.com/MynjaL/status/1555875574035496962

They're a super talented Amphibia fan and without their Amphibia font, this wouldn't be possible.

These are their socials: [Twitter] https://twitter.com/MynjaL [Tumblr] https://mynjal.tumblr.com [Instagram] https://www.instagram.com/mynjalyn [Sketchfab] https://sketchfab.com/mynjal

Please, check them out. I could not thank them enough for what they've just made.

Now, onto the rest. Part of the glow up includes actual title cards for each chapter. It's true! Just look up and you can see for yourself. Every chapter (except for the prologue) will now include a title card just like the show. Just thought I'd go the extra mile to add some flavor to the story.

Also, some new stuff from me is also coming out as soon as I get far enough for me to be able to release them. More fandoms, more girls for you to be with, and more fun fanfics from yours truly! So, if you're interested, stay tuned.

Now, for the last thing. If you'd like to, go check out my profile banner. I made it alongside the Cover because I felt like it could use some touching up and needs to display something other than a photo of Agent 3 and 8 from Splatoon hanging out in a field, and I am super proud of it! So, go check it out if you want.

Welp, anyway. That's it for me. I'm not gonna hold you guys up any longer. Time to show you what you're really here for! *ahem* NathanInkling presents... Chapter SEVEN!

The Storyteller: *party favor noises* Let's do this! *ahem*

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Another day trapped inside of Amphibia, but you know what? You were ready to live through it again, because now you've got two new friends by your side to weather anything this new world has to throw at you. Although, you wish you could say the same thing about your sleep.

Your eyes slowly opened and when you woke up, you felt uncomfortable all over and you didn't feel like you had a very satisfying rest. But hey, at least you slept, right? You stretched your arms into the air with a yawn before you looked ahead and saw Anne with Sprig. A pile of miscellaneous objects in between the two of them as the pink frog looked at all of them like a young child would when looking at a cool toy.

"Wow, Anne. Look at all of your cool stuff," He said before he noticed you standing there. "Oh, hey, (Y/N)."

Anne was the next one to face your direction while Sprig was waving to you.

"Oh, you're up," She said. "Morning, dude."

"Morning, guys," You said. "What's going on over here?"

"Anne was showing me all her super awesome stuff that she brought here from earth," Sprig said as reached into the pile and picked up a nail clipper. "Like this... um... thing. Hey, Anne, what's this?"

He observed the object closely and repeatedly squeezed the two back parts together, causing the clipping ends to open and close.

"Oh, I get it, a torture device."

Anne chuckled. "It's a toenail clipper."

"Ah, ok, sure. Oh! How about this?"

What he picked up next was a red and slightly purple bike pump. He placed it on the ground and, after inspecting it closely, put the hose attached to it into his mouth.

"Um, wait, Sprig. I don't think that's a good-" You tried to warn him.

But he didn't listen. Instead, he pushed the lever down many times and pumped the air inside it inside of his mouth, causing his pink little cheeks to puff up... a little bit too much.

"It's painful," He was just barely able to say before he spit out the hose, as well as the air that he filled himself with.

He then noticed a pen on top of a notebook and he picked that up next and looked at it confused.

"Oh, and this?"

He looked at the happy face on the top of it and he thought to push it with his thumb, which he did. He constantly pushed the button that made the tip go in and out and the object made a clicking noise every time he did so. All the while, he was looking at it and growing more fascinated as time went on.

"Oh, I love this."

He continued to click the pen.

"This is amazing."

"So you don't even have pens here?" You asked

"Hm... so that's what it is?" He asked.

"Yeah," Anne said before she thought for a little bit. "Hey, you know what? You can keep it."

"Really?" He said as he continued to click it.

"Yup. Knock yourself out, dude."

You smiled watching all of this unfold, but unfortunately, this small moment of bonding time had to be cut short due to it being interrupted by the clanging of a bell coming from upstairs.

"Kids! Chow time!" Hop pop shouted from above.

"Aw, looks like we're gonna have to come back to this later," Sprig said. "Oh, well. See you at the dinner table."

He then got to his feet and ran upstairs. Now the two of you just needed to come up. Before you did, however, you took one last look at all of the things that were strewn across the floor.

"Hey, Anne?" You asked.

She stopped right next to you and turned her head in your direction, yet you were still looking at the pile of stuff.

"Yeah, dude?"

"How were you able to fit so much stuff in that thing? Including the flipping bike pump of all things!?"

"...That is on a need to know basis, and you do not need to know."

She booped your nose.

"Now, come on. Let's go eat!"

She walked back up the staircase and left the basement. Welp, since that was your answer, you might as well follow her.

* * * * *

And when the breakfast was presented to you, you immediately wished you didn't.

Both you and Anne couldn't believe what you were seeing at that moment. Served to you in wooden bowls was a strange yellow-ish, green-ish...? Whatever it was liquid that had several dead bugs... and even a single spider that was alive! It crawled out of the bowl and ran off, only to get eaten by Sprig.

Needless to say, you weren't very pleased by what you saw on your plate in front of you. Anne reeled her head back and looked at the "soup" with disgust as she pushed it away while you simply had a grimace as your eyes were locked onto it.

"Ugh... you know what? I think I'll pass," Anne said.

"What? Oh, come on, Anne," Hop Pop said. "Don't act like you were out in the woods scavenging for scraps when we found ya'."

"I know... but does it really have to be, well... this...?"

"Hmph. Well, at least (Y/N) has some respect for what I do for you around here."

Anne grew a little confused, but then she looked into your direction. You held a wooden spoon in your hand with that exact same gross liquid inside of it. When you caught sight of her, you turned her way with an awkward smile.

"H- Hey... maybe we're judging too soon," You said. "And... he did have a point with that while 'scavenging for scraps' thing..."

You then looked at the bug stew again.

"Maybe... it's not that bad?"

When you looked back at Anne, however, she was slowly shaking her head with a worried face. You looked back at your food, and then at Hop Pop.

"Well, go on, boy. Eat up," He said.

Yet, you still saw Anne shaking her head out of the corner of your eye. You even heard her whisper "No...".

Still, you thought that you were privileged enough to even be in this position, so you gulped and decided to take a risk. Hopefully, the appearances didn't mean everything for this.

Welp... down the hatch.

The food entered your mouth, and eventually... down your throat...

...

...

...

Now... YOUR EXPECTATIONS WERE LOW, BUT HOLY-

"Dude, are you ok?" Anne asked as you were barely able to contain your vomit.

You swallowed it and slowly held up a shaky thumbs up and gave a forced smile.

"Never... better..." You respond.

However, Hop Pop just stared at you blankly.

"So, you don't think what I whipped up with my own two hands and my blood sweat and tears ain't to your liking is that it?"

"Wha- What?! N- No! What made you think that? I'm... I'm very grateful for-"

"Boy, don't think you can lie to me, I know dang well that face you're makin' is in no way genuine."

...

...

"Yeah, you right."

You instantly turned away and threw up everything you just ingested with Anne holding you by the shoulders and Sprig looked at you with concern.

"Hah! I knew it. Turns my food's not good enough for the princess and her little prince," Hop Pop said in a mocking tone.

"Are you kidding me?!" Anne told him. "Just look at what your food did to the poor guy. No way in hell I'm eating that, cause if I'm we're prince and princess, then you're the king of bad cooking."

Both Sprig and the purple tadpole recoil in their seat in amazement after hearing that line.

"Ooooh!" Sprig said.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Commented the tadpole.

"You know, that was actually a pretty good one," You said wiping the remaining vomit off your mouth.

"Oh yeah?" Hop Pop said. "Well, you... I..."

He stammered for a while, struggling to say anything back.

"Aww, what's the matter, Hop Pop?" Anne continued. "Frog in your throat?"

The young pink frog and the tadpole recoiled again.

"Ohhhh!" Polly called.

"Oh, she got you again!" Sprig said.

At this point, Hop Pop had had enough. He quickly stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Oh, dang it!" He exclaimed. "You know what? I'm gonna take a nap."

He then turned around and headed for the stairs that led to the floor that supposedly housed his room. As he was walking, he continued to rant.

"I don't believe this," He said. "I feed you, I house you, AFTER MY FAMILY FOUND YOU IN THE WILD, NO LESS, and THIS is how you repay me? I swear, if you don't shape up soon, Anne, I'm throwing you out!"

He then left the dining area and left the room, before he was gone from sight entirely, meanwhile, all of you simply just watched him walk off with a neutral expression.

"Yeesh, what's his problem?" Anne said.

"Yeah, I know, right?" You said. "I'll be honest, I'm glad he was nice enough to take us in but come on, did he really have to be that snappy?"

"My point exactly, but I guess that's pretty much how a lot of old guys are nowadays."

She shrugged before she was surprised to notice his cane lying against the couch. Once she went up to it and picked it up, she got an idea.

"Hey, guys." She called out to You, Sprig, and the tadpole and you looked over at her to see that she was holding it up. The next thing she did was fix up her hair so that the sides of it would look like Hop Pop's. Then, she hunched over, hand on her back and altered her voice so that it would sound more like one of an old man.

"Grrr. I'm Hop Pop, and I cook bad and have a temper problem!" She mocked.

You, Sprig, and even the little tadpole seemed very amused by what she was doing. You all lightly laughed at her performance as she continued to do it.

"Yeah, that's so Hop Pop." Sprig commented.

"Eat your aphids, don't play with them. Elbows off the table!"

You continued to laugh, but then you were surprised to find out that Anne had tossed the cane your way. You reached out and just barely managed to catch it after fumbling it around in your hands.

"Why don't you give it a try, dude?" She asked.

You looked at the cane in confusion and back at her. "Me?"

She nodded, and Sprig gave a thumbs up.

"Oh, go on, (Y/N)," Sprig said. "I'm sure you'd make a great impression."

"Oh, yeah. This should be good," Polly said.

"Alrighty, then."

You assumed the same position that Anne was in before you cleared your throat and took a deep breath.

"Waa! I'm Hop Pop! I like to give my guests food poisoning with old rotten cicadas, flies, mantises and god knows what else I found out there in the wild. Oh, but you say it's MY fault? Nah! You probably only threw up because you've only eaten from five star restaurants your entire life! You're a spoiled prince who has no idea for the little guy's cooking, no matter how bad it is! Ahh, look at me, I'm old! Waaaah!"

As everyone was looking at you try your impersonation with Hop Pop, snickers could be heard from them, followed by laughing.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Anne said. "It's like he can't just admit he's a bad cook? Nah, instead he can't make a bad meal, surely. We're just spoiled brats!"

"Oh, and then there's also." You cleared your throat again before you continued.

"Bedtime at 10 PM sharp! Not a second before, not a second later. I don't care if you don't feel tired. That is an order."

"Ugh. You've nailed it perfectly on that one," The tadpole said. "I always hated when he told us that."

"Oh, also, can you give me back the cane? I wanna try some new lines."

Without hesitation, you handed her the cane, and so she got back into old man mode after receiving it.

"Sprig, you're grounded!" She mimicked. "Why? I dunno! I'm an old man! I can't remember squat!"

The laughter continued, and in this moment, you all managed to share it without a single care in the world. You all kept laughing as she continued to imitate Hop Pop as she clearly enjoyed it herself.

...until...

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother putting up with you at all!"

However... as you were all having a good time together, laughing at the old frog's arrogance. Anne was waving around the cane with seemingly no kind of caution whatsoever. In turn, her hand ended up being flung towards the table, and once the cane hit it, it broke in two. At that moment, the laughter from the two young amphibians stopped.

However, you still kept laughing because you found it just that darn funny, and since that was the case, well... it got awkward... real fast. Both of them looked your way with unreadable expressions as you were, but thankfully, it died down, though and when you stopped, you were able to see what just happened.

"Woah. Oopsies. Guess I don't know my own strength. Right, guys?"

They didn't respond. Instead, they just stood there, eyes wide and their mouths all the way open.

"Uh, guys?"

Still, no response. They only continued to stare at her in shock.

"You guys ok? Guys, come on. What's the big deal, it's just one cane."

"Y- Yeah, guys. Come on, we can just go and buy a new one. It's ok... um... right-"

"No!" Sprig exclaimed. "No, it's not okay. That wasn't just "one cane". It was Hop Pop's special cane!"

"Wait, it was? And... and you mean, like, "special" special?"

"Yeah, "special" special. Passed down from his father, Hop Poppity Pop, all the way from his father, Hop-and-Lock Drop Soppity Pop!"

"Wow, those are some crazy names," You commented before you suppressed a chuckle. "What's next? Hop-Drop-Roll-and-Stop Cop Poppity Slop Hop Tickety-Rickety-Tock Pop?"

Sprig looked at you with a blank expression and he pointed behind you, where you discovered yet another portrait. It was of a very, very old frog posing with the cane. There was also a golden plate underneath it with that exact same name printed on it.

"Oh..." You said before turning to Sprig. "So... that thing... must mean a lot to him... huh?"

"You bet'cha,'' said the tadpole. "REALLY special. There was this one time where I was playing around with it in the living room, then he caught me and grounded me for three weeks! THREE. WEEKS!...

...and your little friend over there just broke it."

As soon as she heard that, her usual nonchalant sense was quickly replaced with fear and dread. She looked in between you and the cane as it all started to set it... before it all hit her at once.

"Oh no..." She said.

"Oh NO! You guys gotta help me. He's gonna kick me out the second he finds he finds out about this!... I canNOT go back to living in a cave."

She winced, and in that moment, so did you. The suffering that both of you shared that night had never left your head. Fighting off several monstrous bugs trying to nibble away at you just to get a single hour of sleep? Could you imagine if you had to live there full time?! She sure as hell couldn't stand to, and neither could you.

You weren't going to let her be subjected to such a fate, so you walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"And you're not going to," You said. "I'll make sure of it."

"Yeah!" Sprig said. "Don't worry, Anne. We'll do whatever it takes to help you."

"Eh, count me out," Said the tadpole.

"Polly!" Sprig sternly said to her.

"What? I hardly know her. Either she or her friend are on their own for all I'm concerned."

"What? Come on," You said. "I know we haven't really been the best of friends, but we'll need all the help we can-"

""No" means "no", buddy!" She barked back at you. "Get that through your stupid little head."

"There has to be something we can do to get you on your side..."

"Hmph. Like what?"

Anne thought for a moment, and then she pulled a small bar of chocolate out of her pocket and showed it to her.

"Like one of these?"

She unwrapped its foil casing and left the treat exposed to her eyes. Upon seeing it, her eyes widened instantly and she gained a big and excited smile.

"Hmm, you seem to like this a lot don't you? Well, help me fix the cane, and this is all yours."

The tadpole gasped. "Candy from another world?! Lady, you've got yourself a deal!"

She jumped up, took the bar and ravenously devoured it without a second thought.

"Glad to hear it," Anne said. "Now let's go save my skin!"

You all pumped one fist into the air while cheering, "YEAH!"

After the unanimous agreement was made, the race was on to fix what was broken. The first effort that came to your mind was the most useful go-to method for when you wanted to mend something, the almighty multi-use tool, glue.

"Yo, Anne," You said. "Try searching that backpack of yours for any glue."

"Oh, of course!" She exclaimed "Why didn't I think of that sooner? Good thinking, dude.)

She then took off her portable sack and searched around for the item in question.

"Come on... come on..."

Then, her face suddenly brightened up with enthusiasm while she pulled her hand out and held up one of the very things she was prompted to search for.

"Ta-da! One half-filled tube of glue ready to go!"

"Great work, (Y/N)," Sprig said. "Now, let's get to work!"

Get to work, you did. First, Anne applied the glue to the insides of the two broken halves of the cane before she stuck both of them together as "Polly" wrapped them up together using one of her bows.

Then, there you were, sitting on the couch, waiting for the glue to dry and see if it can work yet again. After a while of waiting, you figured that it was enough time and then decided to pick it up and use it for a little test.

All of you really hoped this worked...

Anne picked up the cane and for the most part... it seemed like everything was going quite well. It seemed pretty stable, and the two broken halves didn't seem to be falling off or anything. It was then that the girl had an idea. She took a deep breath, and then assumed her 'old man position' yet again.

The cane hit the ground, supporting her weight and... it didn't seem to break.

"Guys... I... I think we did it..." You said.

They all continued to observe it closely, and it still seemed to be perfectly fine.

"I think so to..." Anne said, a smile of relief coming across her face.

"So... Anne's safe?" You continued to look at the cane. "Anne's safe!"

"We did it!" Anne exclaimed.

It was then that you all jumped into the air and pumped your fists up in victory. It truly was such a wonderful feeling knowing that Anne wasn't going to get kicked out again now that the cane that just recently broke apart again can now serve it's full purpose once more!

...

...

...

Pffff- AHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right. This chapter isn't ending so easily, bucko.

You looked at the cane that she was carrying in her hands and, go figure, you jumped back at what you saw.

"Ummm... guys?" You said.

"What? What's wrong, dude?" Anne said... then looked at the cane. "Oh... oh... you are kidding me."

Both Sprig and Polly were both a little confused about what the concern was, then they saw the cause of the issue. It seems like your plans to fix the cane didn't go exactly as well as you once thought it did... Obviously, that'd kinda make you pretty shocked and upset.

"What?!" Sprig exclaimed. "Come on! I thought that'd do it..."

"I did, too!" You said. "Judging from my experiences with glue, I can confidently tell you it fixes everything at least, ninety-percent of the time!"

"Welp, looks like that cane over there's the last ten-percent." She said.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed in disappointment. "You have got to be kidding me..."

Meanwhile, Anne was just staring at the two pieces of the broken cane.

"O...kay, new plan," She said. "So we might not be able to fix it, but maybe someone else can? Maybe... someone good with... wood?"

Sprig gasped as if Anne just made a brand new discovery of a lifetime that would revolutionize a society. Then, she jumped onto her and shoved his face right into hers.

"Anne, you're a genius!" He said, then hopped off. "We'll just take it to Leopold Loggle, the woodsmith. He LOVES wood... a little too much."

"Great! Then, let's go."

You nodded firmly, and then followed everybody else to the front door...

...which all the killer toads were behind.

You sighed, you didn't want to go out there and see them again, but it was to save Anne from having to live in a cave again... so... sometimes, you just have to do what you need to do...

You continued to keep walking behind everybody, yet still lagging behind due to your hesitation. Once she noticed such activity, Anne stopped and looked back towards you to see your troubled expression.

"Hey, you ok, (Y/N)?" Anne asked you.

"Oh, wh- what?! Of- of course I am... why'd you think I wouldn't be? Heh Heh... heh..."

Anne just stared at you uncertainly before Polly jumped up in front of her.

"Well, for starters," She said. "You're lagging behind the rest of us and you look like you're about to go see your ex-girlfriend a week after you just broke up with her."

"Oh I do? Uhh... heh. Um."

"What's wrong, (Y/N)?" Sprig asked.

"It's... it's nothing. Don't worry, just let me get something from the basement."

You then shuffled to the side away from the rest of the group, then you went into the basement for a little while. Meanwhile, all of you were watching them and when you came back, you had an awkward smile as you had both hands behind your back.

"Alright, let's go."

Everybody looked at each other with uncertainty, and then they looked back at you, waiting for them to lead the way.

"Alright, spill it," Polly said sternly. "What's behind your back?"

"Well... ok, look. Please don't judge me, ok?"

You took a deep breath before you slowly pulled out the axe you got from your first visit to wartwood. Sprig and Anne were both only slightly shocked. Their eyes slightly widened and they took a step back.

"An axe?"

You nodded.

"Wait, dude, what do you need that... for... Wait. I think I know."

You nodded.

"Yep, it's-"

"Wait a minute," Sprig interjected. "Where's polly?"

You looked down at where she used to be and as it turns out, she actually was gone. All three of you were rather confused about where she could have possibly gone, especially you, but then you suddenly heard a battle cry behind you.

Once you turned around, you saw Polly in the air, holding her rolling pin above her head. You made a deep gasp and quickly jumped back and fell on your butt as her pin hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Aha! I knew it!" She shouted. "From the very first second, I. Knew it! You really are here to chop us up into little tiny pieces and probably stuff us in your gross little mouth like the DISGUSTING monster you are!"

"Wait, no, Polly, I-"

"Save your excuses, beast!"

She screamed before she started to jump again, only to be stopped when Sprig grabbed her by her tail, causing her to look behind herself with a glare.

"Wait, Polly! Just calm down for a little bit. Now, before you go bashing (Y/N)'s brains in, we should probably just calm down and hear him out a little bit. I'm sure he's got a good explanation for why he has that."

You sighed out of relief before you stood up again and you cleared your throat. "Thank you, Sprig... Alright..." You stood up. "Now, Anne, remember when I told you about all those frogs trying to kill me."

"Yeah. Is that what it is?"

You nodded your head. "Look, I'm just bringing this along just in case anything goes sour, you know?"

Anne then sighed before she put a hand on your back. "So, you're still on that frog attack, huh?"

You nodded. "Very..."

"Mhm... mhm, yeah, I figured as much... Honestly, I get it. Really, I get it, but look. I know you're still super shaken up about all that..."

"And for good reason, too."

"...Mhm, but one thing, wouldn't bringing that thing give them even more of a reason to attack you again?"

You stayed silent for quite a little bit, for she did have a point. Bringing a weapon out in the open without being one-hundred percent sure wouldn't really help your chances of a repeat of 'last time' happening. Yet again, did you really want to go out there defenseless and scared while walking to Loggle's shop...

"Plus, I wouldn't worry about it that much. Even if those guys tried it again, we've still got your back...

Well, most of us anyway."

She turned her eyes to Polly, who was looking at you with an indifferent expression before she shrugged smugly.

"Eh, I'd be the most entertaining thing to happen in town since forever," She said. "And I'm talkin' like, any which way."

"Well, regardless. There's nothing to be afraid of, cause we'll be right there with you."

Sprig then jumped up. "Yeah, plus I'm one of 'em, so if anything happens, I can vouch for you guys. Also, everyone pretty much loves me, so It's almost impossible for this to not work. I mean, come on! Who couldn't love this adorable little face?"

He then puffed up his cheeks and pupils while he wore an adorable smile and he poked both sides of his face. Upon looking at this, you both couldn't help but become infatuated with such a sight and you 'awwww'ed in admiration.

"Well, I can see why," Anne said. "See? I told you, as long as we're with you nothing bad's gonna happen to you. So why don't you just put down that Axe and follow us to that Loggle guy's place already."

You looked in between the both of them as they both gave a thumbs up paired with a reassuring smile. You then let out a sigh of relief before you put down your weapon, leaving it lying against the side of the couch. Once you were able to relax yourself a bit, you then showed a small smile.

"Alright, alright. If you say so, then I trust you. So, where's this woodsmith's place?"

"Follow us!" Sprig said. "We'll lead the way."

* * * * *

After you stepped outside of your front door, you all looked on and smiled as you stepped into the village. Well, most of you anyway. Your eyes were cautiously wondering from left to right as you walked through and Sprig scouted out the area to find the shop.

"Loggle's should be right up ahead," He said, motioning everybody to follow him, and so, everybody did.

As you continued to walk down the path, you continued to look around the area surrounding yourself and watched as a few of the residential frogs left their houses and stepped outside. However, so far... a single one of them has yet to even look at you funny.

As you continued to walk along, you looked around again, and still, no eyes were on you. The tension that you felt inside of you eased up by a little bit as you continued to observe everybody else going about their daily lives while you were just going about yours. Maybe... just maybe, your concerns might have been misplaced just at least a little bit.

Your stifled smile then grew a little wider as you continued to get no awkward stares. Maybe things might be going your way after all...

However... just when you started to think everything will be ok... Out of the corner of your eye, you started to notice something. One of the frogs walking around, a middle aged frog man helping a frog woman carry a basket of crops somewhere, stopped in his tracks as soon as his eyes fell on you.

As soon as you felt his gaze lock onto you, you felt like its oppressive presence weighed down on you and never let up. You slowed down a bit, but then you tried to pick your pace back up to try and brush off the situation and continue on as normal. However, you continued to pick up the pace to brush it all off and continue with the task at hand.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't do well for you either, because you still felt his stare fixed on you, as well as another one. You looked behind yourself and saw the other frog giving you that exact same look. You looked away and still continued to ignore it. All you could do is press on.

Except, just when you did that, you noticed something. Is... another one staring at you?

You looked over to where you saw it out of the corner of your eye again, and you noticed a frog quickly look away before he kept walking. Behind it, you could see another one following him and she gave you a glare, which obviously didn't help your confidence with being out here.

Still, you tried to calm yourself down and convince yourself that this was no big deal. Unfortunately, another glare caught your eye, and another, and another. People were starting to stare at you, and second to none of the looks were pleasant.

Anne's eyes wandered around the town and when she looked behind herself to look back at the frogs she passed, she saw that you were slowing down.

"Come on, dude," She said. "We gotta pick up the pace. This cane ain't gonna fix itself."

After a short second of silence, she then noticed something else about you. You had a nervous expression as you looked around yourself, yet that still didn't stop you from listening to her.

"O- oh!" You said. "Coming, Anne!"

You sprint walked up to the rest of the group while trying to keep a calm face and hide your tension, yet it was still showing despite your best efforts.

"Um, is something wrong?" She asked you.

"Well..." You hesitantly said before you looked around yourself again. "...I kinda do feel like an issue's starting to come up..."

"Like, what?"

She wouldn't have to wonder for much longer if she took a moment to look at the area around you to see all of the looks that you were getting. Once she did, he got a slight idea as to what was going on. The stares you were receiving from the small crowd were just beginning to get to you, and some even seemed to be piercing through your very soul.

You nervously looked around and still tried to walk along with the rest of the group as they got more and more unable to ignore. That was when Anne came up to you and put a hand on your shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry about them, dude," She said. "Let's just get to loggle's."

"Well, ok," You replied, your voice turning into a whisper right after. "Still, have you seen the way these guys are looking at us? It feels like they're, like, one second away from completely taking our heads off!"

"Just try to ignore them. If we do that long enough, maybe they'll go away?..."

"O- Okay..."

So, you did what she asked, and you sped up. Yet, you were never able to escape the glares thrown your way. They've even been starting to feel a little bit heavier on you as you were walking, but you still did your best not to pay them any sort of mind.

Still, you couldn't just shake the feeling those eyes were giving off. Something about them, even when you tried to keep your gaze straight ahead, you still felt theirs weighing down on you. You were able to not let it get to you, though, until...

"Hey," You heard a voice say from in front of you, startling you a little bit and also causing you to let out a small fearful yelp... only to realize it was just Sprig.

"Yeah, ok something's definitely wrong," He continued. "What's the matter?"

"Oh... oh!" You replied. "Well, it's... I'm sorry, it's just. Well-"

"What?!" Polly explained. "Dude, just spit it out already."

"Alright, alright! It's that I don't exactly feel... the safest walking down here."

"Yeah, I think I know why," Anne said as she looked around herself and observed the frogs quickly looking away from her and you as soon as her eyes landed on them. "Yeah... turns out the guys here still might not be as "used to us" as we thought; And I mean they're looking at us all weird and stuff."

"Wait, really? They are?"

"Yep, and by the looks of it, it's making (Y/N) really uncomfortable."

"Y- Yeah... sorry about this," You said. "...but... just LOOK at these guys! They look like they're always THIS close to flat out jumping me! I mean, does anyone else see it in their faces? Is it just me?"

Sprig, Anne, and Polly all took a look around themselves and they all got a view of the frogs giving you and Anne a rather nasty side eye. While it took Sprig a moment to realize that, Polly got it almost right away.

It was then that the other frogs spoke up.

"Well, sorry!" One said in a very snide and sarcastic tone. "It's not our fault there's a pair of uncanny and disgusting creatures currently walking down our streets,"

"Yeah!" Another one said. "And also, I don't see Hopidiah anywhere with ya'. Wasn't he supposed to be "keeping an eye on the beasts"?"

"Hmm... now that I think about it, that DOES seem strange," Another one said. "Where is he, huh?"

"Oh, well you see-"

"Yeah, and where the heck could you ugly, grotesque, crooked toothed monsters possibly be going with his kids without him to look over you? Hmmm?" You heard what you assumed to be a female frog from behind you with a somewhat thick accent. "Sorry, it just seems a little suspicious."

You felt a little offended at her comment as you shook your head at her.

"I'm just saying, you have a LOT of explaining to do. As a matter of fact, why don't I go get Hopidiah, if you really insist on being so innocent."

"Wait no!" Anne suddenly blurted out, only to then wince and lean back upon realizing just how saying that must have made her and her friends look right now.

"No?" A random frog said.

"Hmm, really now? Well, that's interesting."

She facepalmed, extremely disappointed in herself for making such an incriminating comment.

"Well, why don't you want me to go get him? It's not like you beasts have anything to hide... do you?"

The air around you got thicker and thicker and thicker with uncomfortable tension, and the two of you could only become even more nervous as you noticed the frog crowd was growing closer to you with each second. Meanwhile, the other two were watching it happen.

Sprig was growing more upset at the display, but Polly was moderately entertained. She sat on top of Sprig's head with a smile on her face, excited to see what was about to happen next.

"Oh yeah... Things are really picking up now," She said.

They were closing in even further as their expressions were getting even more intense. Some of them were even clenching her fists and the rest were narrowing their eyes. You were starting to feel even more uncomfortable, and the feeling of uneasiness was getting even worse and worse.

"Uhhh, Polly," Sprig asked. "...do you think we should?"

"Nah!" The tadpole responded. "Let's leave it to them."

"I don't know. They look pretty aggressive."

"I know, right? Now I'm starting to see why (Y/N) wanted to bring that Ax-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sprig covered her mouth to keep it from all spilling out. However, just when he did, it was already too late... The other frogs heard that, and they all looked their way.

"What was that?" One of them asked.

"Uhhh, nothing. Nothing." Sprig responded while laughing awkwardly. "Oh, you know here. Always saying random stuff... haha!"

"Oh, really? Well, I thought I heard her say one of them wanted to bring an Axe to the village."

You tensed up even more as you tugged on the collar of your shirt as a few beads of sweat dripped down the sides of your head.

You then heard one of them gasp and then say, "The axe it took from me when it showed up the first time!"

You winced and leaned back a little bit as you looked around the crowd, now noticeably even more upset with you and getting even more hostile at this point. Their fists clenched and you even saw a few of them raising some of their tools, such as scythes, shovels, and trowels.

A gulp went down your throat and you were considering turning around and walking the other way, but you still had a duty to fulfill, and the only way to do that is keep going and-

...oh... well, it looks like going through them wasn't an option either.

Unfortunately, apparently it seemed like they were surrounding you now. As they were interrogating you, they've been forming a circle around the area, effectively sealing you in and leaving you with absolutely no choice but to deal with them.

So, there you were, locked in a huge circle of angry frogs all approaching you. Soon enough, before you knew it, you realized that both of you were back to back as they were closing in.

"Hah! Just as we suspected!" One of them said. "You were probably planning on using that to try to take as many heads as possible, aren't you? AREN'T YOU?!"

You then put your hands up with a panicked expression. "Woah! Woah! Guys, calm down! Please! Look, I know, I know... That does seem suspicious but I promise, I don't even have it on me! Don't believe me? Just look!"

You kept your hands in the air and even turned round and round, and continued to allow them all to look at you in order to prove that you didn't have the weapon in question at all. You even turned your pockets inside out to show it in full.

With so much hope that they'd see that you were telling the truth and that you really didn't mean any of them any harm anymore. The gaze of the entire crowd stayed on your being as you waited for their answer, but you can still see it in their faces.

A nervous twinge came across your face as you realized that their expressions were still very... very scrutinizing. They still weren't letting up, much to your displeasure and fear. You couldn't even imagine what they could be planning to do to you at that very moment.

"Ummm... guys?"

"And just why shouldn't we believe that you're hiding it somewhere else, huh?" One of them said.

"Such as your beast friend's sack, huh?"

"But... I didn't even bring it with me." Anne said.

"Oh... I wasn't talking about that. Nah, I was thinking something like a secret pouch hidden inside your skin where you store things! Hmmm?"

"They DO make a good point." You heard another frog in the crowd said.

"Okay, that is very wrong!" She continued to explain.

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!" You shouted, taking everybody else by surprise. "For the last time! We just want to head over to Loggle to try and get him to do some wood working for us! We never wanted to give you any harm but we HONESTLY swear, if you really keep getting in our way, I'm afraid-"

And then you jumped from the shock when you saw them all point the tools that they were carrying at you. Some even pulled torches out. Where you got them, you didn't know why. Still, it's not like it changed your current predicament, so...

"Oh, you're afraid you'll what? Huh?!" The same frog called out to you with an angry expression. "I thought you said you "Honestly swear" you didn't wanna hurt us, huh? What happened to that?"

"Oh.... we knew... we knew you were trouble the moment we saw you! "We don't mean any harm to you." PAH! What an excuse! Time we finally got rid of this problematic plague on our village... something we should have done the very first minute we saw your kind prowling around. Aint that right, everyone!?"

The frog that made such a statement then turned around and received a gratifying response in the form of cheering, clapping and the raising of their weapons into the air, creating the most tense facial expressions on your parts and you immediately expected the worst out of everything. Rightfully so, as well.

Anne then glared at you out of the corner of her eye, and you saw the gesture out of yours. Obviously, you couldn't blame her as to why. Maybe you shouldn't gone that far yet, if at all, really.

They then proceeded to march forward, glaring daggers and holding their pitchforks up into the air. As they closed in, you both tried desperately to find at least a single way out of this situation. Unfortunately, there was no such luck. The crowd surrounding you was way too thick and the sheer amount of them felt way too overwhelming.

They gained in on you, closer and closer, and with each step they took, they it felt like hope was dwindling. Then...

"GUYS! STOP!" Sprig said, suddenly jumping up in front of both of you, causing the cries advocating for your deaths to suddenly stop.

"Out of the way, kid," One of the frogs said. "Trust me, this is for your own good. You don't know what these beasts have planned."

"No, you're wrong! Trust me. They weren't going to hurt any of you... well, not unprovoked, at least. I know how it may look for these guys right now, but I can explain everything.

"Even the Axe?"

"Even the axe. That's because of that "warm welcome" you guys gave (Y/N) when he first got here. Thanks to that, he's been on edge ever since, so much to the point where he felt like he couldn't trust if he should be out here with you guys without anything to defend himself."

You nodded. "And frankly, I've been getting kinda tired of your constant judgement because of me just... existing!"

"Well, can you blame us? You're absolutely hideous!" A frog said.

"Hmph. Speak for yourselves," Anne muttered.

"But that doesn't mean that he's dangerous. Like I said back in that forest, he's just lost, and if we're going to keep him and Anne here, then we should stop antagonizing them so much and just let them do our thing."

"Hm... okay, then what the heck do we do if it starts going crazy and eating us all."

"Oh my goodness..." You muttered under your breath.

"Guys, for the last time..." Sprig resumed. "They are NOT going to do that. I've been living with us for so long and they haven't done anything to hurt me. It's even so far as to say they've even to say that they've been behaving well without Hop Pop's supervision."

"Really? Nah, that can't possibly be true."

"Why the heck would I lie to you guys about that? In fact, he even sent them to look after Polly and I on the way to loggle's. Anne, the cane."

After a little bit of eye flickering, she then handed the Sprig the two pieces of the split cane.

"See, the old man broke it by accident and now he's sending us to him to see if he could fix it or buy us a new one. Right now, he's sitting up in his house napping. Now, of course, he's not going to be able to get that done if we're being held up by a bunch of judgemental and overly-hostile villagers, is he?"

At that, everybody in the crowd suddenly became silent. Some of their eyes shifted from left to right and vice versa. One of them even lowered their weapon and their eyes faced the ground in order to think.

"Well?..."

"Now, hang in there, boy," A frog said. "How can you be so sure you know a lot more about these things than us?"

"Maybe it's because we've been living with him for so long." You said.

"Yeah, exactly what he said," Sprig continued. "Come on, guys... Can you please just get out of our way and let us go to Loggle's already?"

All the frogs only stared at him, their eyes fixated upon him as they stood in place, completely unable to say anything in response.

"I know, I know. You're all trying to protect me, but I promise. These guys are totally safe provided you don't provoke them."

He put his left hand on his chest and his right hand in the air.

"Frog boy's honor. Okay?"

They all continued to stand there, silently. Still, remaining without an answer. Knowing that he's spent all of his other ways to try and convince them to come down from their pillar of anti-human sentiment, he's only had one option left. He took a deep breath, and then went to work his magic.

His magic, of course, was giving everyone a big smile while his eyes puffed up and he poked his cheeks. Very familiar to the sight you've seen while he was showing you and Anne around the forest.

"Pleeease, guys?" He then said in a high and soft voice that didn't pronounce its 'l's at all. "We just wanna get this cane back together for Hop Pop, can't you just let us do that?"

They all stared at him and the cute face that he was trying to pull, and still, they didn't know what to do. They looked at each other, but then you could see a few individuals ease their bodies before they lowered their weapons. The others looked their way with both confused and skeptical expressions.

However, soon the number of people who would share that kind of emotion. They began to grow unsure of themselves, and soon some of them even lowered their weapons themselves, much to the displeasure of the rest.

Still, though... that wasn't where it stopped either, and this even began to surprise you. Meanwhile, Sprig continued to make his cute face, and even decided to spice it up with his hands put together as if he was pleading.

A good long look was taken at him by everyone here, and soon enough, the effect was catching on. The last of the bunch then dropped their tools and everybody looked awkwardly towards the ground. Some even shuffled their feet around.

"Well, if you really insist that's the case, then... I guess we'll just let you on your way," One of the frogs said. "Sorry for all the trouble, I just thought you were all in danger."

"I appreciate the concern," Sprig replied. "But honestly, that's completely unneeded."

"Well, ok if you say so. But still, I recommend you stay safe, okay?"

Sprig sighed as the crowd walked away, and as they all got further and further away from the two of you. It made you sigh out of relief. No doubt, your fellow human did as well.

"Well, there's that taken care of. Now we should be free to keep on walking," He said, putting his hands on his hips with a proud expression. Meanwhile, the both of you stood there, staring at him in absolute wonder.

"Sprig, you... you did it," You said. "You actually managed to get those lunatics off our back!"

"Come on, (Y/N). Don't call them 'lunatics', it's just like Hop Pop said. They haven't seen you before and... well, you do kinda look like the type to eat anything that moves."

"...You may have a fair point. Still, I canNOT thank you enough for that. If you haven't jumped in back there, I'm, like, ninety-nine percent sure we'd be dead meat."

"Heh, yeah," Anne said. "Great work, dude."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Sprig replied.

Suddenly, Polly jumped right up from behind Sprig and landed on his head with her arms crossed.

"And consider yourselves lucky I didn't get involved," She added to her frog sibling's statement. "I had half a mind to signal something to the villagers that'd make them attack you, but I wanted to see where it'd lead."

"Wait, SERIOUSLY?!" You shouted at her.

"Polly..."

Upon hearing Sprig's scolding voice, she looked up and saw two disappointed eyes gazing back down on her.

"What? I was bored!" She said defensively. "Ya can't blame a girl for wantin' a little entertainment around here. Frankly, I think you could have taken them all on, too,"

You simply stared angrily at her while crossing your arms and shaking your head.

"You really are calling into question whether or not I should eat you today," You replied.

"Oh yeah?! I'd like to see you try! Remember, bud. I still have Ol' Dorris with me in case anything goes bad."

You stood there for a quick second before you sighed in defeat and backed away rubbing your arm.

"Alright, fine. Well, Sprig, before we keep going I just wanna say thanks. You really had our backs there."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Sprig said before holding up the two fragments of your guardian's special walking stick before suddenly gaining a glare of determination. "Now, what are we waiting for? Come, friends! Onward!"

You and Anne looked at each other before your gaze returned to your chipper froggy friend and you wore the exact same thing he did while you nodded.

"Aye-aye, sir!" You both replied before you turned around and immeiately sprinted off further into the town to go see your destination.

Soon, you actually ended up making it to an old tree stump that had two windows above a blue door below a wooden arch covering covered in moss. Upon looking at it a little closer, you even noticed a piece of wood hanging below the entrance's roof that vaguely resembled buck teeth.

If anything, you could say that the design of the building made it look like it was actually a face with an eyepatch judging by the one open hatch on one of the windows. To your right, there was a smaller and shorter stump with an axe lodged in it to your, and to your left, a pile of logs paired with a stone statue of a frog's mouth wide open holding a saw was there.

As if all of this wasn't enough to immediately tip you off that this was the place, you then saw a series of signs hanging from one of the large stump's branches. The one at the top read 'Leopold Loggle's'.

Just as Anne was about to reach for the door, it then swung open before a blue axolotl wearing green-lensed goggles wearing a red bandana around his neck, brown work apron with a stick and a few small stains on it, and a beige shirt underneath.

"Hey, I heard a huge commotion out there," He said. "What's going on-"

Seeing two pairs of long legs at both of Sprig's sides, his gaze slowly turned up to the two of you looking back down, you both smiled and Anne even made a small wave at him, but all he did was just stare at you.

"...out... here?"

"Oh boy..." You quietly said, exasperated while closing your eyes.

"Look, I know how you feel about us right now," Anne said. "...but trust me. We're not going to hurt you. We're just here 'cause we heard you're good with wood and we sort of need that right now."

"O- Oh... Well, please forgive me for how I was just a moment ago. It's just... a couple of new creatures like you is still a new sight for me."

"Don't worry, Loggle. It's cool," Sprig said before taking out the cane pieces. "We just wanna know if you could try and fix this thing up."

"Oh?"

The woodsmith then walked up to him and leaned in closer to inspect it.

* * * * *

"Uh-huh. Oh, oh, yes. Well, aren't you fascinating? Yes, you are."

Leopold Loggle was observing the cane while you were all observing all of the amazing merchandise that the man has on display for all of his customers to see. Sprig told you that he had an affinity for wood but you didn't expect this kind of level of quality. Though... the only thing that didn't impress you all that much were the limbs. If anything, it was actually really creepy.

After turning your head to him, you thought he's had a good enough look at it. Therefore, you want to finally ask the question. One look at Anne, and you could tell that she had the exact same question. That was when you all stopped marveling and went to his desk.

"Alright, so, can you fix it?" Anne asked.

"As a matter of fact, I can..."

You all gasped from excitement while you made faces of pure ecstasy.

"Wait, you really can-"

"..not..."

Aaaand poof! All of that glee was brought to an end with that one small add-on to finish his sentence. But that couldn't really mean 'The End', right?

"Huh, well, can you make a new one?"

"Absolutelyyyyy..."

The smiles returned yet again. Hope was retrieved after being lost. Hopefully, this was for good this-

"...yyy no way."

The hope was shot down yet again. Just as soon as that first part of the sentence was simply a delay from the rest of the sentence. It only happened the second time, and yet at this point, it was starting to tick you off...

"Well, okay then..." You then said through gritted teeth. "You can't fix it, you can't make another... then maybe you might have one that we can buy?"

...

"Of course I do..."

You all were about to get happy again... but then you realized the last two times, and wouldn't you know it...

"....ooon't."

Wow, Dr. Delay. You have such a way with words.

You pinched pinched the bridge of her nose out of exasperation. As soon as you looked Sprig and Polly's way, you found that they were getting visibly annoyed with the man as well... not that you expected to be the only one, though.

"Okay, why do you keep doing that?" Anne asked.

"Old smithing accident, you don't wanna know," He explained.

"Uh, okay, so-"

"Tripped on an anvil. Landed neck-first on a metal pipe. Pierced my voice box clean through!"

He then grabbed his red bandana and pulled it down while lifting his head, revealing a hole right in the center of his neck and causing all of you to lean back and gag in disgust in response... well, all but Sprig.

"Bleh!" Polly said.

"Dude! Come on!" Anne said.

"Cool," Sprig said.

"I thought you said we didn't want to know!" You exclaimed.

"Well, most people actually would want to know when you say that they don't, so I figured you might, too. Also, deep down, I kinda did wanna tell you, and it also explained why I kept doing that delayed answer thing so yeah."

"Well, okay... then?"

"Now, continuing on, switched over to wood after that. Anyhow, I'm afraid I can't do much for you. That cane was made with wood from the incredibly rare, extremely dangerous Doom Tree!

Upon hearing that information, all of you gasped.

"The Doom Tree?"

"Yep! The Doom Tree... Few have made it there alive, fewer yet returned. It holds many secrets mortals dare not-"

"Dude, It's a tree," Anne said, unamused. "Just tell us where it is."

"Yeah, Loggle, cut the chitchat!" Sprig said.

"You're bald!" Polly said while pointing to the top of his head.

Meanwhile, you just stood there, staring blankly at them while they dismissed his warnings.

"Ummm, guys," You said to them. "You do realize that this is a world where there are giant bugs and frogs walking on two legs and building societies. I know that might be completely abnormal for you, Polly and Sprig, but from where we're from, that's not normal in any sense of the word..."

"Wait, it's not?" Sprig asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, not in the least... Right Anne?"

"Oooh... yeah, that's not very far from the truth, actually..." Anne answered.

"Right! AND not to mention, since that whole lake thing, we pretty much agreed that almost everything in this world wants to kill you. So, who's to say that even a tree could be excluded from the term, 'everything'?"

Anne was silent for a moment before she turned to face the desk with a face that suggested that she was deep in thought. She was about to say something in response, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she shut it again and returned to her thoughtful state.

"What? Don't tell me you're really buying this kind of crud, are you?" Polly asked you, jumping on top of your head while raising a single eyebrow.

"I dunno... I'm just saying, there's no telling what this kind of world could throw at us. Going to be completely honest, it's not like we have a choice in the matter, since there's probably no other way we could replace that cane. Though, given what Anne and I have encountered, I say maybe we should at least take his warnings a little bit more seriously..."

"Pfft- what a lame-o! That's just a bunch of beetle dung! Just show us how to get there already before I start chewing on one of the boards of wood you oh so love to work with."

"Alright, alright," Loggle said. "I got a map to the Doom Tree right here..."

After he ducked behind his desk, you could hear all kinds of ruffling and clattering as he seemingly was digging through all of his stuff. After a little while, you saw him resurfacing with a rolled up piece of paper featuring, wouldn't you know it, a map.

"...but, it's gonna cost ya-"

Anne held up her phone and took a picture of the map he showed her.

"...or you could do that..."

He hung his head dejectedly.

"...for free..."

"Come on, guys! We've gotta hurry," Anne said. "Hop Pop could wake up any second."

"Right!" You all said in unison while pumping your fists into the air... however, you still felt a small twinge of uncertainty regarding the Axolotl's warning.

"Be careful, kids!" He warned for the last time. "That tree is cursed, CURSED!"

"To the doom tree, everyone!"

And then, the rest of the group cheered... save for you, you simply let out a hushed and unsure "Yeah?" and followed the rest as they turned and ran straight out of the door. However, while you were still resolute in helping your friend get out of the predicament she found herself in, you still kept the words he said to you in your head and remained cautious about what was to come ahead.

Still, you couldn't help but notice one more of the man's bizarre craftsmanship on the way out. More specifically, a wooden statue of a buff version of him rolling a ball. You weren't even the only one who took interest because Sprig came back in as soon as he caught sight of it.

"Woah, Loggle," He said. "We gotta talk about this, man. We're commin' back. We're gonna talk about this. Alright, bye."

He then ran out again.

"You know, I'd like to talk about that too," You said before briskly following him.

* * * * *

After you all left the store, you all went to go find the legendary Doom Tree. Everybody else was completely nonchalant upon taking up this quest, but despite the fact that what you were looking for was a tree, you couldn't help but feel like maybe you could be a little better prepared.

Because of the memories of your prior experiences, the subtle feeling of fear was clawing at your conscience the moment that you started walking. Once you crossed the gates of Wartwood, you couldn't ignore the feeling any longer. That's when you had to speak up.

"Hmm... Hey guys, wait." You said, causing everyone to halt and turn your way. "Don't you think maybe we should gear up for this journey first? You know, just to be ready for whatever happens."

"Uhh, for what, though?" Anne asked. "Dude, I don't think there's any reason to. Plus, we don't have that much time anyway. Hop Pop, remember?"

"Yeah, and I have a weapon of my own!" Sprig said as he pulled out his slingshot. "So, that's all taken care of for me."

"Yeah. See?"

"Yeah... yeah. Guess you're right. It'll still be nice if we all did though...

Wait a minute... I have an idea. You guys can go on ahead without me. I'll go back to the house to get the rest of us some gear and I'll catch up with you guys after. That way, we don't lose any more time and we have what we need to defend ourselves. Sound like a good idea?"

"Huh. Well, that does seem like one..."

"I dunno. Still sounds a little unnecessary for our trip to go find a tree," Polly said. "...and especially with what Sprig said about his slingshot."

"A tree that's in a world where everything wants to kill all of us- Wait a minute. Yeah... What about the journey to said tree?''

"Huh?"

"Think about it. Sprig, Polly. You've been here longer than we have. This place is filled with all sorts of giant creepy crawly nasties prowling about out there. Who says we won't meet any of them on the way there? Also, no offence, Sprig, but if it does, would you really be able to protect all of us all by himself?"

"Hmmm, you may have a point," Sprig said as he stroked his chin. "Oh, and none taken."

"Look, it's good that Sprig has something to defend himself, but if we all could be able to take care of ourselves, it'd be all for the better. The old saying goes: "Better safe than sorry", guys. You never know what to expect out there, so don't wait up for me. We've wasted enough time already. I'll be right back, I promise!"

You then turned around and ran down the path that lead all the way back to the house. Meanwhile, all three of them stood there and with a slightly puzzled look in their eyes as their gaze shifted between each other.

"Hmmm, you know, maybe he's right." Sprig said. "Hop Pop did warn me of all those monsters in the woods when I was just a little pollywog. Maybe it's for the best."

"Eh, I guess..." Polly said. "Welp, he did say not to wait for him anyway so... onto the Doom Tree, everybody!"

"Right!" Anne said, pumping her fist into the air. "Everyone, onward!"

Turning around, they went in the opposite direction that you did. Their next objective: to find and take from the so called 'Doom Tree' to get that replacement cane, or possibly die trying.

As for you, you opened the household doors and immediately got to searching for any suitable weapons that you could find for you and your friends. The first thing you got was the axe from your basement. Next, you saw something stick out of her backpack while you were there. It was a pink racket that was white at the handle and had two black circles printed on the sides of its head.

After picking it up, you went back up and looked around the house for anything for Polly and Sprig. The first thing that came to your eyes was a rolling pin on the counter.

It wasn't just any, though. As you were about to pass it by, you quickly realized the first thing that came to mind when you thought about it. You vividly remembered Polly trying to smash your brains in with one that she named 'Old Dorris'. That's when you came to a sudden stop and looked back at it.

Putting that into context, you thought that perhaps it could possibly suit her well. There wasn't any special features defining it to actually be "Dorris", but regardless, you picked it up for her. Heck, if it turns out to be her. Even better!

Now, you would find a weapon for Sprig, but he already has one, so you don't have to worry about him. Therefore, your collection was complete. You left the front door and sprinted to your fullest potential to get back to your friends.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, the trio had just begun their trek. They were currently travelling down a road between the forest and were all on guard for anything that could possibly be waiting to end their trip when they least expected it.

A few moments later, they could hear the sound of distant footsteps behind them, and once it came to their ears, they all turned around being a little worried that it might have been something bad. Turns out, it was just you, carrying all of the weapons that you picked out for them.

Once you got to them after they stopped for a second to let you, you presented all of them to the group with a smile on your face.

"He-llooo!~" You cheerily said. "Here he is! The one and only, (Y/N)! Back with new and shiny weapons for all of you!"

"Hey!" Anne said. "Welcome back (Y/N)."

She picked up her racket and she swung the air with it.

"Hmmm, you know, tough, formidable, doesn't break easily... This could make a good bat to hit people with. Who knows? Maybe I could even bat out some small stuff I find lying around for a ranged attack. Thanks, dude."

You gave her a thumbs up, and then you handed Polly's weapon to her. Once she took it, she instantly gained a smile and looked upon it with slight admiration.

"Aw, sick!" She said as she continued examining it. "You brought me Ol' Dorris?"

"Haha. Yep. I know how much you like to use that thing so I thought, eh, why not?"

You threw a finger gun her way as well as a wink.

"Niiiiice. Don't get me wrong, I still don't think I'll be needing her, but now I'm kinda hoping I do. I don't get to use this thing, like, ever."

"And as for me..."

You raised your axe into the air as if it was a mystical sword of legend that only you were worthy of wielding.

"I have my trusty axe on me, ready to slice up any bad guy that comes my way!"

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" Sprig exclaimed.

"So, shall we, everybody?"

All of you exchanged gazes paired with a simple nod, and you've officially got confirmation that your quest had now officially begin. So, you continued. Everybody banded together, side by side, to support each other on this possibly perilous trek to find new wood for a new cane.

All of you had your weapons out just in case anything came out at you and tried to take your life when you least expected it. However, none of that happened, luckily and all was smooth sailing. Still, it couldn't hurt to keep your guard up.

You, specifically, felt a lot safer now that you were travelling with one in your hand. Still, you couldn't escape the tension that you were feeling the whole time with every step you took. Partly, it was because of what you thought could be lurking in these woods... but mostly, it was the thought of what could possibly be waiting to greet you on the end of your journey.

"Hey, Anne," You said. "How close are we to that tree?"

Anne pulled out her phone and looked closely at the picture she took at Loggle's.

"According to the map, we shouldn't be all that far anymore," She said. "Just a few more minutes and we should be there."

"Okay, good... good..."

You took a short breath and clutched your axe in your hand as your expression hardened. Part of you felt a little silly for feeling such dread about what you were looking for, but this world is not your own. You've seen giant bugs, talking frogs, and a music box that takes you across dimensions.

Needless to say, having all of that behind you, carrying those notions didn't feel all that nonsensical anymore.

"Hey, relax, (Y/N)," Sprig said. "I don't see anything coming 'round this road for miles, so I wouldn't worry about it, okay?"

You sighed.

"Actually, I know that. To tell you the truth, Sprig. It's not these woods I'm worried about..."

"Wait, what? What do you mean- Wait... is this about the Doom Tree?"

You looked to the side as you nodded your head.

"What?! You're still on that?!" Polly said in genuine disbelief. "Are crazy old woodworkers the wisest people in your world or something?"

"Well, no... but I'm just saying, what if maybe what that guy said back there might have at least some merit to it?"

"...You're kidding right?"

"Of course I am. Look, you can't be too safe, you know. Think about it, if anybody or anything has a name, title, or label, it's not just slapped on at random for the fun of it. That thing's probably called the 'Doom Tree' for a reason and I'm not looking to take any chances."

Polly held in a snicker. "Seriously?! Oh, and let me guess, that's probably why you wanted us to gear up for this adventure, huh?"

"Well, I mean..."

Your face looked noticeably nervous when she heard it, and that was all the confirmation you needed.

"Oh. my. frog... HA! I KNEW it! I can't believe you're getting so uppity about being careful with a literal tree. Haha! You really are as big of a wuss as I thought you'd be."

"What?! Polly, you seriously can't deny that after all we've had to go through, I have no reason to believe there can be exceptions as to what in this backwoods psycho universe is out for our heads!"

"Even though I've been here a lot longer than you've been, and I'm a freaking pollywog."

You rolled your eyes as Polly laughed on top of your head.

"And what makes you think you know any more about this world?"

"Honestly, (Y/N)..." Sprig said. "I can't really understand this notion of yours either. Trust me, out of all the stuff I've been attacked by, getting by a tree is not one of them."

"Um, how many things have you been attacked by?"

"Quite a lot, actually. I may be only ten but you'd be surprised at how much you have to deal with when working on the farm. Mountain mantises, Plantation Mosquitoes, Crop Gobbling Ladybugs, the whole nine yards."

"...Wow..."

"Yeah, wow," Polly said. "But Sprig, tell him how many trees have any of us plantars been attacked by..."

"None," Sprig answered.

"Exactly! See, (Y/N)? So, stop being such a baby already!"

"Mmmmm... well, I'm still not so sure about this."

Polly then blew a raspberry in your face. "Seriously?! Anne, I had no idea your friend was such a flippin' wimp! Ha!"

"Come on, Polly..." Sprig said. "...I know it sounds a little silly but-"

"Pfft- Screw that! Didn't you hear him when he said he was afraid of a tree?... A tree! Hahahahahahahaha!"

"Really?" You asked with a stone cold face. "We're really still going to do this now?"

"HA HA! Yeah we are! (Y/N)'s scared of trees! (Y/N)'s scared of trees!" Polly said, hopping around him while putting on a mocking tone. "(Y/N)'s scared of trees!"

"Polly!" Sprig said sternly.

"Shut up! You're not Hop Pop, Sprig! Don't you at least find this a little funny? Imagine being afraid of trees, out of EVERYTHING in Amphibia! TREES!"

She then fell on her back and continued to laugh as hard as she could while using her stubs to hold her stomach.

"You do know I can pick you up and punt you all the way up to the tallest tree I could find right now and leave you there while we go out to find the doom tree."

"Hah! Just try it, twigspine!... heh-heheh... 'twig'spine. You wouldn't last a single second if you tried picking a fight with me."

At this point, you were really, really close to actually following up on your threat. In fact, you were even reaching your hands out towards her as she raised her rolling pin with an aggressive glare. That display had only ended when Sprig came in between you with arms outstretched.

"Guys! Guys!... calm down," He said. "Calm down. All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Look, Polly, I know what (Y/N)'s saying sounds a bit ridiculous..."

"Hey!" You said with your arms crossed.

"...but let's not let that get in the way of what we're trying to do right now."

"Sprig's right," Anne said. "We're almost at the doom tree, so let's just hold off on it until we're there, okay?"

"Ugh... fiiiiiiine!" Polly said, crossing her arms. "...but I'm still gonna make fun of him after the cane's taken care of. Let's go, gang!"

She then bounced away from you and put herself in her bucket. Sprig looked at her a little dissapprovingly, but it was only for a moment before he continued to move on down the road. Anne followed suit, and soon, so did you. However, just as you were about to start walking again, you saw Polly peek over his shoulder with a smug expression.

You let out an exasperated sigh and walked up so that you could be next to Anne.

"I can't believe her..." You whispered to her. "The absolute nerve of that prick of a tadpole..."

Anne's eyes awkwardly shifted to the right as her face became increasingly more awkward while doing so.

"Umm... Anne?"

"I mean... to be fair, It does kinda seem like you're overreacting just a tiny little bit."

"W- What? But didn't I tell you-"

"I know, I know, but I'm just saying. Deadly rumors or not, don't you think it's a little ridiculous for Loggle to act like that over one little tree?"

"Exactly my point!" Polly said from her carrying chamber. "See?! Even your friend agrees that you're a tree baby, (Y/N)-"

She then received a quick smack to the head from Sprig. After which, you took a quick breath in and sighed, calming your nerves just a little bit.

"It might sound ridiculous, I get that... I get that, but remember, Anne..." You retorted. "Remember? We both-"

"We both agreed that everything in this world wants us both dead, I know, I know, and I get where you're coming from. It's just that... well... It's a tree, dude. I wouldn't worry so hard about it, kay?"

You then looked at her for a little bit, and then you sighed, still keeping that uneasy look about you as you considered Anne's argument. Yes, it is true that trees, even a world as insane and backwoods as this is, were the most unassuming thing you could possibly ever see. On the other hand, however, in a world as insane and backwoods as this, there's probably a good reason as to why Loggle's warning was even told in the first place.

Heeding both sides of the argument, you clutched your axe and pressed forward with the group.

Suddenly, you felt a presence on your shoulder, and as you felt it lean closer you heard Polly's voice whisper into your ear.

"(Y/N)'s afraid of trees."

And then you swatted her off her shoulder out of annoyance. Now it was getting pretty hard to not follow up on your threat. In fact, looking at her right now, she looks like she'd make a pretty good berry.

Nonetheless, you kept your head up and kept walking.

* * * * *

From the very beginning, the journey felt like forever. It was nothing but steps and steps and constantly looking out for any enemies possibly out for your life. However, very soon, after doing this for the longest time, and after making it past a few thorned vines and some thick foliage, you made it.

"Hold up, we're here," Anne said.

You've all arrived, and right in front of you, the main goal of your trek stood in all of it's glory... or rather, whatever kind of 'glory' you could ever possibly find in a withered, shrivelled up, husk like that. It didn't even have leaves. Just two large branches among the smaller ones and a little bit of moss growing on them.

It was also fitting that the environment around it complimented it's appearance, looking just as unappealing as the tree itself, surrounded by thorned bushes that sometimes grew along the dirt it stood on itself. The other trees around it shared the decay as well, looking long dead, but nearly not as much as the main one you sought out to find. The only sliver of life you could notice in that area was just a tiny sample of yellow glowing mushrooms, and even then that was scarce. As in, only four caught your eyes and one was the smallest of them all.

You shook your head and looked on at the scenery in disapproval, narrowing your eyes as you did so.

"Now that is an ugly tree," Anne said.

"Just another one of mother nature's horrible mistakes," Sprig said.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go get what we came for," Polly said... before turning to you. "Before (Y/N) goes into shock and faints. Heh..."

You felt a little annoyed, but she wasn't worth it. You just ignored her and walked up to your objective with everybody else.

"So, how do you think we get some of that wood, huh?" You asked, your axe still in hand at the ready.

"I think it's pretty straight forward," Anne answered. "Oh! And look!"

You raised a single eyebrow, and then she pointed up at a single section of the tree.

"That branch is perfect!"

She then hopped up top and started to climb the tree, inch by inch. Sprig followed as well close behind her. Meanwhile, you told them to be careful and stayed behind, wary of anything that could try to hurt you.

Polly then jumped on your shoulder.

"Heh, don't worry," She said in a condescending tone. "We're gonna be out of here soon. Just try not to have a heart attack too soon, okay?"

You sighed out of annoyance, but on the bright side, you're almost there. Just a little bit more to endure... you hoped. You then looked up at the duo on the wood and Anne try and rip off the branch she sought.

Polly scoffed. "You people and your legs,"

You rolled your eyes and ignored her. "Hey, how's it going up there, guys?"

"Pretty good!" Anne responded. "I just need a little bit more elbow grease before I can..."

She grunted as she tried her damndest to rip it off, then Sprig caught up with her and spit on his hands.

"Let me help," He said as he put his hands on the tree.

"Careful! The tree is cursed," Anne responded before breaking out into laughter with her froggy friend. Polly then followed up on it soon. You only let out a weak chuckle as you still kept your guard up.

"Okay, one, two..."

And on the count of three they both successfully pulled off the branch together. Their faces both had looks of triumph as they held the replacement cane. Not for much longer, though. Before they could even celebrate, their accomplishments were instantly cut short when they heard a monstrous shriek, catching everybody off guard, even you.

"Uh, did the tree just scream?" Anne asked.

Suddenly, there was movement. The rotting trunk rocked itself back and forth over and over as the two were still on. Still utterly shocked, both of them tried to hold on for as long as they could as they were being shaken off until they were eventually thrown away and were sent rapidly towards the ground screaming. Sprig landed on his rear end hitting the dirt, but thankfully for Anne, she was headed towards you on your descent and you managed to catch her with both of your arms.

Anne had her eyes shut as she was making her descent to the ground, but as soon as she realized that she didn't meet a hard landing with the soil, one of them opened, a little puzzled by the situation until she found out what happened. After which, she took a quick pause as she looked at you but then let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh... whew..." She said, "Thanks for the save, dude..."

You simply paused for a moment and nodded at her. Unfortunately, thankings will still have to wait because as she was talking, the tree continued to move. Soon, a dark thin leg that resembled an insect came out of the ground and planted itself firmly on the ground. Then another did the exact same thing on the opposite side.

Uprooting itself, it made two smaller legs come out just above them before it stood up, stretched out its 'branches' that were eventually revealed to be arms with sharp claws at the end of them. Next, two pink eyes opened at the top, and below it, a mouth with two mandibles at each of its sides.

After all of that, the truth was finally revealed as it did one last roar, spouting droplets of an orange substance all over your face. What you were taking from was no tree.

Sprig licked his face and looked pleased for a second. "Oh hey, it's maple."

"RUN!" Anne shouted before hopping out of your arms and hot footing it out of there. The rest of you following close behind her as Polly rid on top of your head.

* * * * *

At that very moment, this journey just went from tedious and somewhat treacherous to life threateningly terrifying. As now the monster was giving chase to all of you. Hatred and bloodlust in its eyes. You could tell, you all could. The monster rounded a corner as it destroyed a stump during the turn, showing that nothing you could find so far was going be able to stop this thing so far.

"That thing's not a tree! It's some kind of grody bug!" Anne said as she was sprinting away for dear life.

"A bug that wants to kill us!" Sprig said.

"Less talky talky, more runny runny!" Polly exclaimed in pure fear.

The monster let out another roar, striking fear into all of your hearts.

"You were right, dude!" She said, turning in your direction. "That thing really was called 'The Doom Tree' for a reason after all."

"So much for learning your lesson from the lake, Boonchuy! What the ever loving heck did I tell you!?" You said. "It's like I said, Anne, THIS WORLD AND EVERYTHING IN IT WANTS OUR FREAKING HEADS ROLLING ON THE GROUND!"

You then felt a scratch on your leg as it turns out the thing managed to slash at it with its claws. Clearly showing a sign that you weren't running fast enough and motivating you to pick up the pace.

"Even being right, apparently!"

"Do you seriously have to rub it in now?!" Polly said in annoyance.

"Well excuse me, marble face, but you do kinda owe me at least something after adding something to all that built up all that trauma looking at all those big scary..."

You mockingly gasped.

"...trees the way here! OH the humanity-"

You were about to follow that up with a fake shiver until Anne nudged you with her elbow.

"We'll save the "I told you so"s after we lose that thing, okay?!" She said.

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

And so, the chase continued. The creature on your tails continued to mercilessly swipe at your party. Sprig managed to pull off some impressive moves as he ducked, backflipped, and cartwheeled out of the way of its attacks. You ducked and fended one off with your axe. Then, you noticed that Anne was directly in the line of fire of the next attempt.

You gasped. "ANNE! Look out!"

She then looked behind her with a confused face, only to see the sharp, shredding blades of death zooming right towards her neck. She couldn't dodge in time, but just as she thought she was done for, you interrupted it by driving the head of your weapons as hard as you could into the arm.

Unfortunately, while that did have enough of an effect to stop it, that wasn't nearly enough to cut through it. As a result, your axe was stuck inside. It pulled away before you could let go of your weapon and before you knew it, you were already being pulled up with it, high, high up.

With understandable panic in your eyes, you scrambled to find an idea in your head that would help you get out of this one. However, as you were doing so, you looked at the bug's face as it glared angrily at you and shrieked as it grabbed you with its claw and tightened its grip, allowing the sharp points it held within to dig into your flesh.

You made a grimace at the pain before you looked the bug right in the face. It then squeezed you a little harder, making the pain even worse.

"(Y/N)! NO!" Anne shouted as she stretched her hand towards you.

"Okay, gonna admit here... not my best moment," You said as your mind raced with thoughts about how you were possibly going to get out of this one.

Meanwhile, Anne's face quickly switched from distraught worry to anger. After she tossed the cane to Sprig, she didn't even hesitate to raise her racket against it. Holding it as she would a sword, she charged forward without any second thought or hesitation, only shouting;

"HEY! LET HIM GO, YOU FREAK!"

The creature looked down at her as she rushed forward towards it and made the first strike by furiously hitting the her weapon against its legs, obviously to no effect. Its stare was unreadable, but if anyone were to take a guess, it was most likely unimpressed by her ineffective excuse for an assault.

In response, it lifted up the appendage that she was attacking and positioned it directly over her head. Getting a good idea as to what was going to happen next, the next course of action she did was immediately make a dive out of the way before it was able to come down on her. The attack thankfully missed, but that doesn't mean she was going to stop yet.

You, as she was doing this, was furiously swinging your axe and putting into this thing's arm, no doubt causing it pain, but clearly not enough for it to let you go. In fact, all it really did was make it angrier at you. You might as well face it, even if that thing bears the stark physique of a tree that was weathered away and has been rotting away due to either time, the elements, or whatever the heck could do something like that to tree, its armor was not easily penetrable by any of sense of the word.

Did that stop Anne from trying, though. After she nearly got stabbed by the bottom of some giant insect's foot, instead of retreating, she grabbed onto the leg and started climbing it.

"What the?!" Polly said, completely shocked at her actions. "Anne, what in frog's name are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Polly?" She answered. "That thing's got (Y/N) and there's not a chance I'm letting him become that thing's meal!"

After having that said, she continued her climb, and as she did, all Sprig had to do was have his eyes witness the scene for only a few seconds to convince himself to take out his slingshot, load it, and go charging in, too.

"Wha- You too, Sprig?"

"Hey! (Y/N)'s my friend, too!" He said. "So, if that thing messes with him, he messes with me, too. I don't care how big and scary that bug is. I'm saving him, one way or another."

And so, he continued to rush in as Polly stood there, completely astonished that either of them would be willing to risk their lives for something like this. Before he started fighting, he tossed the cane over to her.

"If you don't want to join me, then hold onto that for me. Okay?"

He said that before he continued sprinting towards it. Once he got close enough, the young frog pulled back his slingshot elastic.

"Alright, buddy," Sprig said. "This can either go two ways. One, you drop him and walk away, two, you could-"

The bug looked down at him and reached out for him with his claw while shrieking.

"Uhhh, guys... are you sure this is a good idea?!" You said, fearfully watching them try to fight and/or threaten the hulking monstrosity that's going after all of you.

"You're our friend, dude!" Anne said. "Like heck we're going to just leave you to get crushed by this thing!"

She was still scaling the creature until she noticed that it swung one of its claws to try and knock her off. Thinking quickly on her feet, she jumped off of its body and let the attack swing by, only for her to grab hold onto its pincer as it was passing by.

"Yesss!" She said, before being completely taken by surprise at how fast she was moving with the arm while it was blocking Sprig's fired pellets.

"...I appreciate it, guys, but I'm not so sure we even stand a chance against this thing," You said, then pointed at the slash marks you left on your captor's arm. "Look! Even my Axe only barely managed to hurt it. I swear, this thing's skin is as hard as flipping mahogany!"

"Well, you know what they say," Sprig said. "The sturdier they are..."

He noticed an incoming insect swipe and jumped over it before continuing to shoot at it.

"The harder they fall!... or something like that."

He dodged another attack by ducking.

Unfortunately, it seemed that all of Sprig's efforts seemed to be in vain as the pellets only bounced off of it. That hopeless feeling only tripled as your theory of its body only gained more and more validity. The fact that its pincers were digging even deeper into you was certainly NOT helping at all. At this rate, you were about to be chopped completely in half under a matter of seconds.

As the pain intensified, you were certain that your teeth were going to break because of how hard you were gritting them. You had to think of a way out, and fast. The answer was crucial, and time was of the essence, but for the life of you, you could not figure out any way at all to get past that creature's exoskeleton.

...

Wait a minute...

An idea suddenly came to you!

Your eyes were briefly squeezed shut because of how much you were suffering, but you swiftly opened them yet again to get a good look at your enemy. The first thing you saw was it staring into your eyes with a vengeful bitterness in it's gaze as it tightened its claw even further, sending more pain through your body.

"Hang in there, dude! We're coming for you!" Anne shouted as she tried her best to make her way across the arm she was riding on as it was shaking back and forth rapidly because of the creature trying to shake her off. "It's just... taking... a little... Okay, I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Hang on, Anne..." You said, raising your axe in hand. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

Both Sprig and Anne shot up with faces of confusion as soon as you said that.

"I've got an idea."

You stared that abomination right in the eye as you readied your arm. Seeing it now, the answer was clear. You may not be able to hurt the rest of its body all that badly. However, there was one thing that you didn't see before about it. Just one simple ace in the hole that could just be your only hope.

The rest of its body might be near invincible... but despite it all, it had one weak spot.

"Anne! Listen to me," You explained. "Get off of that thing's arm. I don't want you getting hurt."

"But... but... what about you?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me... I got this."

Your gaze returned to the monster and it swiftly changed to one of determination. Anne was about to say something until she suddenly lost grip fell from the arm that she was holding onto for dear life. She frantically reached for it to try and get back on, but it was too late.

Everyone. You, Sprig, and Polly, you all watched in horror and held your breath as she made her descent, but luckily, Sprig was there and ready. He shot his tongue out of his mouth and wrapped it around her torso before pulling her over to him, letting go just as she was about to hit the ground.

You breathed a sigh of relief as you finally got to execute your plan. You winded up your arm and threw your axe right at the spot that you were counting on to bail you out.

Its eyes.

The tool flew through the air until it arrived right at its destination. The head of your weapon was lodged deep into its right one and the beast immediately made a pained shriek that was so loud that it felt like its soundwaves could rumble the very air itself. You all even had to cover your ears for that one.

Immediately, it went from trying to chop you with its pincers to flailing its arms around in a panic with you still in its grip, starting to make you a little dizzy because of all the motion. After a while, however, it calmed down just a little and screamed as it wound up its arm far, far back. As far back as it would allow itself to go before sending itself forward to throw you away purely out of agony and blind rage.

You zoomed over the heads of the group, screaming at the top of your lungs as you went as fast as a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher determined to win a baseball match by any means. When you hit the ground, to say it was a rough landing was the biggest understatement you could ever make. Your arrival was with a hard thud that felt akin to falling into a pool of bricks, followed by you rolling on your side all over the dirt before it finally ended with you hitting your back hard against an old log.

"Well... that's one way to do it, I guess..." You said to yourself before you felt your eyelids become heavier.

"(Y/N)!!" Anne screamed as she instantly dashed off into a sprint towards you before the other two swiftly followed.

The horrific noises of the beast still suffering because of its wound was still in your ear as you slowly opened your eyes and felt pain surging all throughout your body. The first thing that came into your vision was your three companions hurrying over to you, Anne looking like the most distraught of the bunch.

"(Y/N)!" She continued as she kneeled down and reached out to you. "Are... are you okay?"

Anne... did it look like your friend was okay?! No! No, you weren't okay, being completely honest. If anything, you even felt a part of your ribcage crack a bit. All over your body, it felt like you had been repeatedly hit by a sledgehammer.

Well, at least nothing was broken. No arms, no legs, thankfully no skull. You still felt like you could move your body, as you did so with your arm to reach out to Anne. That was good, but still, your whole body felt like it was absolute pain.

Because of this, the answer you gave Anne was the only thing you felt as appropriate.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"I'm going to take that as a no..." Sprig asked.

"Uh, yeah, you think?" Polly said.

However, despite your agonizing ailments, you still made an effort to stand up after motioning for everyone to give you a little space. It wasn't easy because of the pressure you put on your afflicted limbs, but you managed to prop yourself up using your hand on the log for support.

"S- Sorry... about that... Well, at least nothing's broken. That's a good sign."

Anne was about to try to console you again, but the shrieks of that grody creature pierced the air once again. This time, though, it didn't sound anything like it was in pain. Rather, it sounded like a scream of anger instead... severe anger...

"Oh no..." You said, looking in the direction it came from. "We can worry about this later guys, 'cause we're not out of the woods just yet."

You pointed towards the source of that enraged cry and all of you discovered that your pursuer's attention was no longer on the injuries you had caused it, but back to you. Not a second later, it sprinted right towards you all again, much to everyone's displeasement.

"Alright, adrenaline," You said to yourself. "Hope you're ready to keep pumpkin', cause I'm gonna need a lot of you now."

Polly hopped to Anne's side before handing the cane to her. After taking it, she put it in the left side of her skirt as a makeshift holder. Without another word, you all went back to sprinting away from that terrible creature, now more determined to catch and kill you than ever before.

* * * * *

Soon enough, you managed to find shelter behind an old and mossy wooden log. Sprig and Polly were both peeking from around its sides at the monster in worry while Anne was trying comfort you after what you just went through. However, you simply said you were fine and patiently waited for what was currently pursuing you all to give up its chase.

"So..." You said, out of breath and a little pained from the residue of what you just went through. "...how long... do you think It'll take... for that thing to leave."

"I dunno," Anne said. "...but I'm willing to wait a long, long time if it means we don't have to-"

Before she could finish her sentence, however, a group of various bugs came spilling out of a hole in your hiding spot, and it was just above her head as they crawled all over and made themselves very nice and comfortable on her face.

She tensed up at this, and by the very looks of it, she was struggling to hold in a scream. Luckily for her, you reached out with your hands and wiped all of them away before they stayed for long.

"Thanks..." She said to you with a smile.

More started spilling out, but you managed to clean all of them off in no time. Meanwhile, she just muttered to herself. "Come on... please... just go away already..."

Not such a bad job at cleaning off all the bugs if you did say so yourself. Though, you were still annoyed at just how much of them there were and how they just kept coming. Soon, though, it reached a point where the amount was becoming less and less in quantity until it eventually dwindled all the way down to nothing. With a prideful look on your face, you pulled yourself back and returned to your regular sitting position.

Unfortunately, when you thought you were done and took care of them all, you saw that Anne's face quickly went from calm to slightly bothered before she reached into her hair and then gained the look of a petrified man who dared to gaze into Medusa's eyes.

You turned to her wondering what's wrong... only for her to slowly face you with that exact same look on her face as she removed her hand from the inside of her mane to reveal seven small centipedes crawling that hitched a ride on the way out of that place as well.

Followed by a spider crawling out of it, and then a ladybug perching on top, and then even more various bugs revealing themselves to have made a home inside of that place.

Anne went back to holding in her screams immediately once this reveal came to, just having a harder time doing it, though. You reached out to pick them out, but just as you were about to, the worst of your problems would soon be realized.

You quickly realized that her face became a pained grimace as you looked on in concern. Catching something on her neck, you could see the root cause of the problem. It was four fire ants that all seemed to have bit into her flesh, one after the other.

You swiped them all away, but you were already too late, because when you turned back to her, you saw that it cringed up more and more in agony until...

"AA-"

She was only able to scream for a split second before you covered her mouth to prevent any more sound from coming out. Your head then turned over to take a quick peek from behind your hiding spot so see if it heard that.

Unfortunately, what you saw was something you hoped with all your heart didn't. The bug was turning its head, but the face it had was nothing of malice or anger or anything of the sort. Rather, it was one of puzzle and intrigue. Just as it was about to walk away, too.

An exasperated sigh came from your mouth before you went back to hiding along with anyone else.

"Did it hear that?" Sprig asked, and to that, you regretfully nodded.

And with that, everybody else's hearts began to fill up with dread once again, even more so when you turned back over to see that it was actually walking up to where you were hiding.

"Oh my goodness, okay... guys, don't be alarmed but..."

The rest of your group peeked from outside the log and quickly discovered that the bug was closer than it was before. Before you could panic, though, you saw that it was only turning its head left and right, scanning the area as to where you could have possibly gone.

"Maybe if we all stay quiet, then it'll go away?" Sprig suggested.

The creature scanned each and every crevice and despite how very, very tempted you were to run away, you still stayed and held your breath, holding onto your hopes that perhaps the creature would think it was just hearing things and give up on searching for you.

Unfortunately, that would take a lot longer than you thought it would. The creature still made its eyes observe every area of the empty land around itself, scouring for any kind of trace of you. However, all attempts fell short. Meanwhile, you were sitting right underneath its vision, your breathing stiff as you were sweating bullets.

You waited around still, willing to sit there until the sun went down. Though, that kind of will was able to be shaken fairly easily when the enemy lingered for even longer. It even did a few sniffs to try and get ahold of your scent anywhere before it kept looking.

At this point, it felt like you were going to pass out because of how long you didn't even dare to breathe. It genuinely felt like that monster was standing there forever. However, eventually, you felt your heartbeats calm down dramatically as you watched it turn the other way.

It then walked away.

Once you were completely sure that it was gone, you instantly jumped out from where you hid and sighed a large wind of relief as you leaned back on the log now that your threat was thankfully gone.

"Ugh, finally! I thought that'd take forever!" Polly exclaimed, throwing her nubs into the air.

Meanwhile, Anne was clutching her chest with heavy and shaky breath before gradually calming down as she did so.

"Hey, you okay, Anne?" Sprig asked.

"Y- Yeah... yeah, I'm... I'm fine. I just... can't believe it. We actually managed to get out of that alive..."

Her eyes went to the new replacement cane that was taken from that beast. She took it out from the side of her skirt and looked at it with admiration.

"...and with Hop Pop's new cane, too!"

"So, in other words, we did it?!" Sprig asked.

"WE-"

Anne covered her mouth, her eyes cautiously darting to where the monster disappeared, fearing she might have drawn it back in before toning her voice down to a whisper.

"We did it!"

A quiet, yet still joyful cheer came out of all of your mouths before you all got together for a great big group hug. You all laughed all the way through it as well. Hushed celebrations and happy cries went all around in your ecstatic embrace.

"Now nobody's getting thrown out!" Sprig exclaimed.

"And I get to eat my new interdimensionally exotic candy bar!" Polly said.

"We are SO going to therapy after we get home!" You said.

Soon, the festivities were cut short as you all took a second to breathe after one last laugh.

"Alright, alright. Now, let's just get back home and give this thing to Hop Pop, and we'd better do it fast. I'm not so sure how much time we have."

"Right!" The rest of you said before Anne broke off into yet another sprint and you all followed behind.

* * * * *

Traversing through the passage in between the thickets of the woods, you kept your spirits high while Anne carried the new cane as she looked on with it in admiration.

"Well, guys, I'd say that today was a rousing success!" Sprig said his arms still up over his head.

"Frog yeah it was!" Polly said. "And best of all, nobody got eaten, killed..."

"And we didn't lose the cane on the way either!" You said. "Though, not to be a downer but I wouldn't say it was all easygoing, sunshine and rainbows. Especially since..."

You then felt every single wound that you've accumulated up to this point catching up to you, especially your broken arm and your bruised legs, especially after you've abused them from running so much.

"Yep, 'kay... adrenaline's wearing off now."

The feeling started off like a lingering aftermath from falling off your bike and taking a tumble. After which, it quickly devolved into running right into a metal pipe at full speed. Then, it escalated to what you could only describe as your whole body being hit by a sledgehammer... twice.

The mere intensity of the pain caused you to drop down onto your knees, clutching your body with a pained grimace.

"And... everything hurts."

"Oh geez," Anne said before helping you up and holding you in place to stand. "Don't worry. Once we get home, Hop Pop might have what you need to help soothe all those nasty bruises. I hope so, anyway..."

"Looking forward to it. Onward, gang."

And you continued walking, Anne supported you by going to your right side, putting your arm over her shoulder and held you close as you walked alongside her. You caught her taking a few quick glances at you from time to time and when you did, you smiled back before she looked away.

As you all continued the trek back to wartwood, she also seemed to be quite interested in the cane as well. She took some long glances as she had a smile on her face while doing so. It would be rather reasonable to assume that she was really excited to get it to Hop Pop, which she was!

Every time she observed it, she thought of the wave of relief that she would get to have knowing that he will be none the wiser of her actions. However, at that very moment, you looked over to her and the gaze on her face looked towards the ground with a look of almost shame.

"Um, what's wrong, Anne?"

"Well, speaking of the old guy, now that I think about it, maybe he did kind of have a point back there," She explained. "Back at the house, all that talk about us being ungrateful and stuff."

"I mean, to be fair, that food he gave us was pretty terrible."

"Yeah... but he still at least served us something to eat in the morning. It still doesn't change the fact that he did it out of the goodness of his heart."

"What made you start changing your tune all of the sudden, though?" Polly asked.

"I mean, that's probably what almost dying might do to you," Sprig said with a shrug.

"It's not just that. It's... well, everything about this journey. It's really started to make me think that maybe I took living at your house for granted... especially considering what we just had to deal with out here."

"Correction," You said. "A taste of what we had to deal with out there...

...

...Um, sorry, I just thought I needed to correct you there."

"Yeah, that's true, too... But... man, that bug back there reminded me that we could have had it way, way worse out here. For crying out loud, our only option for food was the bugs we killed back at that cave!"

Oh, yes... those disgusting bug corpses that you left back at your old living space. You even recalled Anne's words echoing in the back of your mind, 'We gotta get out there to get some food... unless you wanna eat those bugs...'. Though, when you looked back on it now, was it really all that different from what you saw at the plantar household?...

Actually, no. You pushed that thought out of your mind. Even if it wasn't, at least you had a reliable roof over your head and were safe from monstrous bugs.

"...then you guys found us," She continued. "And instead of being like the rest of the town and trying to turn us into worm food, he took us in and gave us a roof over our heads."

"Yep, that's our Hop Pop!" Sprig said, looking up at the sky in admiration. "He may be old and cranky most of the time, but deep down, he's got a heart of gold!"

Anne's face then looked a little bit more regretful and her head slowly faced down even.

"Yeah, you're right..." She said, "Looking back on it now, it's pretty funny. Only a few days trapped in here and we've already forgotten just how good we got it here."

She looked at the cane, but then her mind went to the two broken pieces of the old one. She thought of how it was collecting dust at the house, a shattered shell of its former self.

"...and to think, we ended up repaying him by breaking his favorite cane... And we almost got thrown out because of it."

"Hey, it was an accident. We know you didn't really mean to break it."

"But we did mean to make fun of him with it..." You said and saw Anne sadly nod.

"Perhaps I should have given him a little more respect other than slinging burn after burn at him."

"Well, it's not too late, you know," Sprig said. "Maybe if you start treating him with some more respect, then perhaps you could move on and forget about that. Plus, it's not like you're getting thrown out of here now anyways."

She once again turned her eyes to the brand new cane in her skirt that Sprig pointed at, and then her face changed to show a small smile of hope.

"Yeah, you're right. It's not like he's really ever going to know it was even broken in the first place anyway so at least I've got that going for him...

Still, though. When we get back to the house, I'll try to put the water under the bridge with Hop Pop. I'm not a plantar here, I'm a guest, and I think it's time I start acting like a good one."

"Hmmm... you know, Anne," You said. "I can respect that, what you just said. Takes a lot to admit something like that, and I think that's pretty cool of you."

Her eyes then quickly switched directions to look at you and she smiled at you with a shy gaze.

"Thanks (Y/N)."

"You're not alone either, Anne..."

Sprig jumped into the conversation, but just as he started talking in support of her as well, you started to notice something walking along within the forest's darkness. It was hard to see past her head, but it was just legible enough to make out.

However, once you turned to look at it, it wasn't there anymore. Your head tilted as you raised a single eyebrow in confusion. Anne noticed your behavior and she got the same one of her own.

"Uhhh, dude... You okay?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah... yeah," You answered. "I just thought I saw something, but turns out I might be wrong. Still, I think we should be a little careful."

"Well... okay. You got it."

A small piece of worry had pricked at you as you continued to look at where the figure used to be. It was strange, you could have sworn that you saw something crawling just barely visible from the trees.

...Wait a minute. Just barely visible? Pah! You laughed at yourself internally as soon as you realized that. If your vision was limited when looking past the thick of the forest, then you clearly had to have been mistaken. Shaking your head, you realized there wasn't anything more to look into.

After you diffused your previous notion, you felt a lot more relaxed, but still remained on your guard as you advised the rest of your group. Still, as you kept going on, you couldn't help but notice the same thing out of the corner of your eye.

At first, you thought that you didn't have to worry about it because since it's probably nothing too important, you could just ignore it and go on your merry way. However, when you continued to see it persist in your peripheral vision, you didn't see that to be the case.

You weren't sure if it was an actual legitimate creature or just you seeing things, but after seeing its silhouette persist in view for a while, you quickly turned to its direction. This time, you actually managed to see it.

It wasn't a false vision. The creature was actually there, and once you continued to observe it more and more, you noticed that its behavior seemed... oddly peculiar. For example, when you all thought you heard something and panicked before looking around and running as fast as you could, it wasn't there when you took another gaze, but it came back soon enough, slowly and carefully.

You couldn't figure out just what it was, but some aspects of it seemed like it was oddly familiar. To name a few, there were the two pairs of spindly legs akin to a mantis, and there was that thin stick-like body... and that head that oddly resembled a messed up peanut... and those twig-resembling arms... yet bore sharp and deadly looking claws-

Oh no... Oh... NO!

At that very moment, your slight concern turned instantly to worried dread as you continued to stare at the monster's silhouette before it noticed that your eyes were locked onto it and quickly retreated into the shadows.

"Hey guys, look!" Sprig said, pointing ahead of him, showing all of you wartwood, which appears to only be five meters away. "It's wartwood! C'mon guys, we're almost there!"

As soon as you saw this, the others all jumped for joy and threw your hands into the air while happily cheering in celebration! You, however. You couldn't, because what you just discovered made you unable to ignore any sense of worry you got because of the fact that you were still in the fire. You needed to warn everyone, and fast.

"Sweet! We did it!" Anne said.

"Great! Now let's get back home and get this cane to Hop Pop!" Anne said.

"Um, yeah... guys, about that..." You said... before turning your head towards the wooden thickets one last time. "...we'd need to pick up the pace and get there fast. Like, REALLY fast, because we're not off the hook just yet..."

"Huh?" Polly asked, looking your way. "What do you mean by that?"

"So... remember that bug we just got away from-"

Before you could even explain what you've just found out, Anne gasped out of shock and horror as she gazed into the darkness and hastily moved towards you.

"DUDE! WATCH OUT!" She shouted as she pulled you away and brought you past her and to her other side, then got snatched up by a very... very familiar insect's claw.

Polly and Sprig were taken completely off guard, yet you were simply horrified as the creature you thought you had lost had re-emerged from the shadows, your axe still stuck in its fluid oozing eye now gone ka-put. It had concluded its stalking cycle as it roared at all of you with all of its heart and lungs put into it, even generating such a big gust of wind that you were even pushed away just a little bit.

"G- Guys?" She shakily said, her voice filled with fear.

The monster then reeled its arm back and threw her right at the ground, hitting it with a thud and rolling around until she stopped and lay on her back.

"So... that's how it feels, huh?"

"Anne!" Sprig shouted and he ran and went to check and see if she was alright.

The creature stared each and every single one of you down, then took in a deep breath, and screamed at all of you with such hateful vitriol at all of you from the bottom of its heart.

"WHAT!?" Anne exclaimed. "What!?" Sprig exclaimed. "But I thought we got rid of this thing a while back!"

"Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell you guys. While we were walking home, I kept catching something out of the corner of my eye, but I always kept thinking that I was just seeing things because when I looked to see it, it wasn't there..."

You then looked up at your enemy.

"...But then I finally got a chance to properly look at it... Turns out it didn't lose interest in us just yet."

"Yeah, something tells me it never really did in the first place!" Sprig said.

"Seriously?!" Anne complained. "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!"

"Well, looks like that means we'd better keep doing what we do best..." Sprig said before looking at all of you, fully knowing what your answer was going to be.

"Um, yeah... about that," Polly said, pointing at the bug before them.

It turned out, you didn't realize just where that bug just ended up once it jumped out of the shadows. Turns out, it had just swiftly moved onto the road ahead of you, completely blocking your path as it stretched out its claws to its sides and glared daggers into all of your souls.

"Oh... cruuuud..." Anne said.

"That freak's blocked off our road to Wartwood!" You said, looking on both sides of the beast. "And I don't think we're gonna be able to walk around it easily with all of those trees on the sides."

"Then we'd better turn around!" Polly said. "If we don't start running either right now we might not even have legs to walk back to wartwood anymore!"

"Agreed," Anne said. "Looks like we're going to have to hotfoot it the other way. Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

"...RIGHT!" You all shouted in unison as you started sprinting the other way.

The beast let out another enraged roar as it instantly made pursuit the moment your feet started moving on the ground. As you all continued to spring away as fast as you could. It didn't waste even a single second going back to attacking you, reaching out to your group and slashing with its pincers, just like the first time it attacked you.

This time, however, you started to notice something. As the attacks kept coming and coming, you quickly realized that most of them weren't really directed at Anne, Sprig and Polly. Sure, they had to avoid their fair share of attacks coming their way, yet they weren't as frequently... not as frequently as what you had to deal with.

You had to dodge a straightforward stab by ducking, a sideways swipe by jumping, and you had to strafe to the side to prevent a high to low swing. Yet again, another roar was let out, piercing all of your ears before you had to avoid yet another strike.

"Okay, this is bad..." Anne said. "This is really, really bad! It doesn't look like we're getting away all that much and I don't see anywhere we could go to possibly lose that thing!"

"So, what you're saying is..." You said before getting cut off by having to avoid yet another attack. "...we're pretty much done for, basically."

"No! It's not over yet," Sprig said. "If only there was a way we could get rid of this stupid thing. I've tried firing my slingshot at its eyes but the stones don't do anything."

"Well whatever the plan is, we've gotta think of one fast," Anne said. "or else this bug's going to end up beating Hop Pop to the punch when it comes to killing us!"

It then stuck again, and as you expected, you were the prime target. This time, you were just barely able to keep yourself from getting sliced by those pincers because of your injuries starting to catch up with you again and impeding your ability to dodge.

On the very last bit of movement you had, you fell to the ground on your stomach. Flipping around and looking up, you saw the insect towering over you and still holding that angry face as it reeled back its right claw.

You flinched, already expecting the worst. However, Anne was watching as that was happening and she wasn't about to have any of it. Her face quickly shifting from worry to anger, her fists quickly clenched, especially the one holding her racket.

Suddenly, the creature struck, sending its pincer straight towards you at great speed. You closed your eyes so you at least wouldn't see it coming.

But... nothing really happened. You were expecting to at least feel some sort of pain or stinging sensation as your neck or stomach was sliced open but... nothing. You felt nothing. Curiously, you opened one of your eyes to see what was going on. That's when you saw Anne holding back the bug's claw using the racket to keep it from closing on her.

"A- Anne?"

"Don't worry..." She said, looking back at you. "I got'cha!"

You gave her a smile before you quickly rolled out of the way and then picked yourself back up with Sprig supporting you.

However, just as you finally got to your feet, you noticed that Sprig was rather deep in thought. He stroked his own chin and his pensive face was focused on the bug that narrowly managed to cut Anne, but she managed to avoid it just enough via a simple jump before she ran over to you.

"Anne... thank you SO MUCH!" You told her, and in response, you only got a smile and a simple thumbs up.

The beast roared and you didn't waste any more time before you ran away again. Therefore, the chase continued on as normal, but as you were running, Sprig was in the corner of your eye as you noticed that he was still holding that pensive expression.

"Hey, guys," He asked. "Don't you notice anything... weird going on with that bug?"

"What do you mean?" Polly asked.

"Like, how it's attacking. When it started swinging, it didn't seem like it was really targeting us very often. If anything, it looked like it was actually going for (Y/N) the most."

You then facepalmed and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Of course... It's me. OF COURSE, IT'S ALWAYS ME!" You said as you had to avoid another claw swipe via ducking.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's mad at you for what you did to its eye..." Anne said.

"Oh... oh yeah, that... that does make sense, actually."

You then felt two slashes on your back. It could only mean that the bug had nearly hit its mark with its pincers, but you still continued and soldiered on. Still, you tried to push yourself to go faster and faster, because you could NOT have another close call like that again.

"Ahhh! It's gaining on us!" Polly said. "Faster, faster! FASTER, FROG DAN-"

Suddenly, without any warning, her bow was cut off by a slash from the monster's claws.

"AHHHH! DID YOU GUYS HEAR ME! FASTER, EVERYONE! FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER!"

"We're going as fast as we can, Polly!" Sprig Shoutd.

And so, you continued to sprint away, still carrying the desire to go faster, to push past your current speed to try and at least get some distance. Unfortunately, you quickly learned a terrible truth... Despite your best efforts, this was as fast as you could currently run.

Your hearts sank as soon as that thought entered your head, and you could tell that the others quickly had that made clear to them by simply one look at their faces. They were riddled with panic and dread, the same expression yours had.

So, seeing as the bug could be breathing down your neck for all you knew and any hope of you getting away was considered null and void at this point, you started to wonder if this was it... No... it couldn't be it. You worked so hard to get to this point, you can't have it end like this. The only question was, 'how'?

You were asking this question to yourself every single time you had to avoid a claw slash. One after another, you had to keep moving if you wanted to stay alive despite all the stamina it cost you to run for this long. To be honest, it was exhausting, but at least your friends had to endure a lot less than what you had to.

...

Wait a minute, that just gave you an idea. But... if you were to execute it, then that would mean putting you at even more risk than you already were. However, you got one quick glance at Anne, Sprig and Polly and they seemed like they were quickly running out of energy. Their eyes were looking droopy and they were getting more and more out of breath by the seconds.

At this rate, they could stop running and fall victim to that monster at any second, and at that moment, your decision was made easier. You took a deep breath and gave a sigh of reluctance.

Okay, your decision was made. All you could think to yourself was, 'let's do this'.

You then turned to the others to explain your idea.

"Hey, guys," You said. "I think I might have an idea to get rid of this thing?"

"Wait, you do?!" Anne said as she looked at you with shining hope in her eyes. "Awesome! What is it?"

"Well, to be honest. It's a little risky, but don't think we have any other option so here goes nothing. Here's how it goes. Polly, I need you to hand me that rolling pin of yours."

"Wait, you mean Dorris?"

"Yeah, 'Doris' or whatever you call that thing. Quick! Hurry!"

She paused for only a quick millisecond but obviously, she didn't want to die, so she placed her trust in you and threw her weapon right to you. It fumbled in your hands when it got to you, but you managed to catch it. At that very instant, you stopped running and turned back to your pursuer.

"Um, (Y/N)... what are you doing?"

"Trust me!" You answered. "I know what I'm doing."

Still facing towards that incoming beast, you gripped it in hand, preparing. Without warning, you shouted, "HEY! FREAK!"

It turned its head to look down at you, now with more hatred and vitriol for you than before. Without even thinking, it raised its claws and let out another resentful shriek, ready to strike.

Then you did it, you threw Polly's rolling pin right at its face. As it was barreling through the air, right on course to smack that thing right in the eye, everyone watched in anticipation to see what was going to happen next and had high hopes that it would hurt it really badly.

Unfortunately, before that pin was even remotely close to hitting its target, the bug caught it with its right hand and observed it for a short second before narrowing its eyes at it and crushing it in between its claws.

Polly gasped. "DORRIS! NOOOO!!!"

The two halves it broke into fell right to the ground. Once they hit, you all knew that you could never use it for anything ever again. Afterwards, the bug looked down at you, having a rather annoyed look on its face.

"Dang it, (Y/N)!" Polly said. "That was your plan!?"

However, what everyone didn't know was that you were never really counting on that rolling pin striking it in the eye or not.

"Uh, yeah," You said with your hands on your hips as your eyes were still focused on the insect. "I just did that, and I'll do it again!"

You then noticed a rock on the ground.

"Like right now!"

You bent down, about to pick it up, but then you saw it start to move out of the corner of your eye and you didn't even have any time to take that stone before you saw a claw coming your way. You were thankfully able to dodge it just in time with a quick forward roll.

You quickly noticed that your axe had fallen from its eye when you looked up from your recent action. A prime opportunity to further aggravate this thing even more. Dashing for it, you managed to take it up into your hands, right where it belonged.

It was still important to note that you were forcing yourself to do all of this, because with each movement, you can still your still-sore body radiating with only a little bit more pain added on. Still, regardless, this was to keep your friends safe. So if you had to endure, then so be it.

"Oh, come on! Is that all you got, big guy? For shame..."

You rushed over to one of its legs and slashed at it without hesitation. Slight cries of pain could be heard from your enemy before it continued to look at you, but this time with an even more resentful gaze. You didn't care, though, and you kept attacking it. Minor damage was made to it, but you could tell that hurt for the guy, so you kept doing it.

Only when you saw an attack incoming did you stop. That monster swiped its claw at you and you couldn't move in time to avoid it. As a result, you got knocked away and you flew right behind that beast, which turned behind itself to get a good look at you.

Seeing this, both of your friends, and Polly, were all taken aback by what you just did. In an instant, Sprig and Anne pulled out a racket and headed straight into the action in order to try and help you in anyway. However, you simply reached out your hand to stop them.

"No!" You said. "Don't. This is your only shot to get back to wartwood safety.

"Um, dude? Can you please explain what your plan even IS?" Anne asked.

You only took a deep breath and stared at her with an unflinching gaze.

"This thing's mad at me, right?" You explained, watching her hesitantly nod. "Yeah? Well, if it's me that thing wants, then it's me it's going to get!"

"WHAT!?"

"Serioualy, (Y/N)? That's crazy!" Sprig said.

"You got a death wish or something, kid?" Polly asked, as even she was shocked at what you just said.

"Anne, listen to me. We can't beat this thing. We've tried, and it's clearly not going to fall for another quick throw for the eyes again. We're so close... and I'm not letting us trip at the finish line!"

Anne raised her racket as she charged in anyway, despite your instruction not to. She would have struck with every ounce of the strength she had just to at least get the attention off you, but she tripped on a rock and fell onto the dirt, her weapon falling out of her hands.

"No!" She cried.

"Listen to me," You told her, "I know this sounds crazy-"

"It IS crazy!"

"But it's our best bet to try and get this thing off your tails so you can get that cane to hop pop without any more issues."

"But- but what about you?! You're already clearly hurt. What are you going to do against that-"

"I'll manage... some- somehow..." You said before you narrowly avoided that monster's pincer coming straight down at you from above. "Don't worry about me, just go. Go to wartwood! Get the cane to Hop Pop!"

You looked up at the bug and it was even angrier now. It pinched its pincers twice and its eyes narrowed at you as it hissed, seething with rage. There was no sugarcoating it, it was time to go... now. So, you turned around and ran.

"I'll be fine!" You shouted, and that was the last thing they heard from you before you disappeared into the foliage. The bug watched you run off, and it didn't even run off into the forest after you.

Just as planned.

* * * * *

As soon as both you and that bug were gone from sight, Anne, Sprig, and Polly all stood there, mouths agape, and the first two looked in absolute dismay, while the latter was completely stunned at the stunt you just pulled.

"...Did (Y/N) just sacrifice himself to get rid of that monster for us?" Polly asked.

"Y- Yeah..." Sprig answered. "...and now he's out there in the forest, getting chased by it... in that dark forest... all by himself!"

"I can't believe it..." Anne said as she was kneeling on all fours, staring at the ground as the most distressed one of them all. "...what the heck was that guy even thinking? We could barely escape that thing as a team and now he has to deal with it all by himself!"

She didn't say anything else for a good couple of seconds, but once she raised her head up she stared into the darkness of that forest and thought about her human companion... all alone in there, fighting a giant monster of a tree-mimic with an already heavily hurt body.

Such images in her head made her heart hurt... but it also caused her face to turn to hardened grit as she slowly made herself stand up, racket in hand. Afterwards, she only said one thing.

"We have to go help him."

"But... what about the cane-" Polly asked, only for her sentence to immediately get cut off.

"Forget the cane! (Y/N) put himself at risk for us, but I'd rather get kicked out of the house than keep living there one person short! So, are you with me or not?"

Without question, Sprig immediately loaded and held up his slingshot. "I am. Friends always have each other's backs, no matter what... Polly?"

They still carried Polly on Anne's head, and once her name was called, knowing exactly what that meant, she faced the ground in thought out of apprehension. Next thing she looked at was the dark forest that you were currently in to fend off that giant bug.

She didn't want to risk her life saving a dude she just barely met, and who broke her faithful rolling pin, no less. However, if she could be completely honest, what said 'some dude' just did was a really stupid, but also very brave thing. Not many people she knew would put their lives on the line just to help out people they knew. Yet, in this world where survival of the fittest is key, there were still people who'd do such a thing.

Her internal conflict only lasted four seconds before she made her answer... with a great sigh.

"Alright, alright. Fine... I guess I'll join you, too. But only because I don't wanna have to deal with any questions from Hop Pop on why I'm the only one who came back."

"Eh, at least it's something," Sprig said.

All three of them then quickly sprinted into the direction that you were heading in when you left them. Anne whacked away the leaves of the bushes that you ran through and with that, there they went to save their friend.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, you hastily stumbled through the thorns, over the flora, and past the thickets of wooden trunks just to keep yourself moving. From behind, you could hear the wretched roars of the abomination that wanted to settle its score with you... no matter the cost. You looked over your shoulder before seeing a tree topple over and that was more than enough motivation to make yourself go faster.

You ran and ran, and you ran as fast as the current state of your body allowed you to. You didn't even dare to look back, you only kept moving forward, no matter what. You slid underneath a low hanging branch before you noticed a good spot to hide, a big and thick bush that could easily fit a whole person inside.

Your refuge was not about to be passed up upon, and so you instantly took the opportunity. You jumped right in, curled yourself up into a ball, and held your breath, hoping that was enough to get away.

As you were hiding, you heard the steps of the very monster that you were running from. They were getting closer and closer and you could feel your heart pounding right out of your chest when they sounded like they were right behind you.

You heard a few short and light screeches here and there as you heard the skittering of its legs, probably a sign that it was looking around for any trace of where you went. As if you weren't nervous enough, you saw one of its legs enter your hiding space to your right. It was practically within touching distance. That was how close it was to your body.

Your anxiety levels went from high to through the roof at that very moment. You didn't even think it was possible for your heart to beat even faster than it already was, but it looks like miracles could happen apparently. Still, you kept quiet, and remained as still as possible. Even when the leg moved, you still managed to compose yourself.

On the inside, you were praying to whatever gods were up in the sky looking down upon you right now, if there were any, that the bug would just move on and keep looking someplace else. However, it felt like those prayers were in vain as the leg left your hiding place, only to re-enter and move in such a way that it felt like you'd make contact with it at any moment.

You were so tempted to move, just a little bit, for peace of mind. If you were to do that, though, you would run the risk of causing a rustle in the bushes that might alert it to your location. Frog forbid if that were the case, so you just put up with it and remained as silent as a mouse and as immobile as a rock.

Even though it was most likely mere minutes, it felt like an eternity waiting for it to go away, and as each second passed by, your fear only had time to build more and more. You had several close calls where the bug's leg nearly brushed up against your body, and soon, you considered moving away more and more just to be safe.

Those temptations quickly rose to a peak when you noticed that it was at a point where it was just on the brink of touching the fabric of your clothes. Your fear was at its absolute worst at this point and when it showed any more signs of moving, you just couldn't take it anymore.

You slowly and carefully moved away from the appendage at just the very slightest distance. You tried your absolute hardest to make sure that the movement wouldn't make any noticeable noises in the forms of shaking leaves and you didn't even move all that far. Just enough to give you peace that it wouldn't be touched.

...

...The leg stopped moving. It remained in place for a very long time. Then it disappeared from sight.

Your eyes faced upwards and your breath became shaky. Did you just mess up? Did you just alert that thing to your location by causing the leaves to rustle? Were you not careful enough?

You couldn't help but assume the worst, as much as you wanted to force yourself to think otherwise. You were already completely wracked with fear, but now the only thought in your head was, 'Oh no... oh no... NO! IT'S OVER! MY LIFE IS OVER! THERE'S NO WAY I'M NOT DEAD ANYMORE! NO. WAY!'

Completely crushed by the weight of your anxiety, you squeezed your eyes shut as you held onto that tiny speck of hope that maybe you still had a chance to go unnoticed, yet still expected to get your head ripped off at any moment. A few seconds passed by, and you waited... and waited... and waited. Until finally...

The beast's footsteps were heard once again, and they subsided.

At that moment, you were in complete disbelief. You actually managed to get away? As in, for real?!

All of that fear that you were harboring within your soul all that time exploded into pure ecstasy. You waited just a moment more before you burst out into frantic relieved laughter as on the inside, you celebrated the fact that you were finally free. From the very second you moved again, you were ready to really let it loose with your hands in the air once you jumped out of that bush.

And just that, you did. Then you saw what was waiting for you on the outside.

"HAHAHA-

...

Oh... oh, you're joking..."

You saw the bug's face, right in front of yours. Its eyes stared into yours. Your celebration only lasted a second before you discovered this.

Needless to say, it roared at you with all of the hatred and vitriol that it had in its heart. Next thing you knew, its claws were coming in at you from both sides in a criss-cross slashing motion.

You didn't know how you managed to do it, whether it be your fight-or-flight response making that split-second decision for you or your reflexes were just feeling very nice to you that day, but you managed to avoid that attack with a simple jump. You didn't even have time to realize before it tried to chew on you with its mandibles.

You raised your axe and stuck it just above the mouth, stunning it for a few seconds and giving you the opportunity to escape. Only by the skin of your teeth you managed to escape that... or, rather, by the fabric of your shirt, because while it didn't get to snack on your skin, it did manage to catch you by the back of your shirt. You still kept running, though, and because of that, it ripped and left a big hole in the center as you ran away.

Unfortunately, your troubles weren't over yet. You continued to sprint and you even started to feel your legs give out, but you couldn't slow down by just one inch, let alone stop. How long you could maintain that stride was the very difference between life and death for you, and if it were possible for you, you preferred to keep living!

You quickly noticed a hollow tree that had a big hole in it. Without even thinking, you put your axe between your teeth and jumped inside of it, just barely able to fit through without getting stuck. You hoped that it would provide any protection from that abomination's wrath as you put your hands on your feet on both sides of the tree and used that position to climb up it.

You had a near miss once you saw one of its claws shove itself into that tree's hole and just barely missed underneath you in the very center. It sent you into full panic mode as you climbed the tree faster than you did before.

You continued to hide within the wooden walls of that tree as you pushed your mind to its absolute limit to think of a strategy for any kind of escape route. You then calmed yourself down with the self-reassurance that at least you were safe for the time being, so you had all the time in the world.

That notion was quickly diffused once you felt the tree shaking back and forth. After that, you were instantly put back into your previous panicking state. You wanted to know what the heck could be causing this, unless... no, it couldn't. Could that monster's claws really be strong enough to tear through wood?

Judging by the way your tree was moving, that might be the case, as much as you wish it wasn't. Although, now that you thought about it, there had to be some perfect explanation as to why it could be happening. Maybe there was some other bug rattling it or maybe the tree was weak at its base or something. Maybe it was the wind moving it. Who knew-

You then stopped thinking when you realized none of those rationalizations made it any better.

The next thing you heard was the crashing and breaking of wood above you before you looked up to see that a brown claw had burst through the trunk and your place of refuge was shaking even more.

You weren't as safe as you once thought, and that kind of thought was enough to put you through the absolute most detrimental kind of despair. The worst part was, you just put yourself into a situation where all that you could do was cross your fingers and hope that you were lucky enough for some random element to save you.

However, it felt like your luck was running out as you felt the tree shake even more and the sounds of wood breaking could be heard below you. Your resolve was starting to break and crack under the pressure of imminent death as you could only assume that you were done for at this point.

Only then, that was when it hit you, the fact that the growth that you were hiding in right now was even bigger than all the others that you've encountered. You just remembered this and even looking up in your current position, you saw that the empty space reached further than you could even see before being obscured by darkness.

Then, an idea hit you, if that tree really were to fall, then perhaps it would fall down right on that big ugly mug that was after you and its weight would crush the creature and put it out of commission for good. Your face lit up that very instant and when you noticed it was rocking even harder, and closer to completely falling in turn, you even felt... happy that was the case. Because if it did, then it turned out that you weren't so screwed after all.

'LUCKY ME!' You thought to yourself as you felt the rocking become even stronger.

At that point, you waited, but you didn't have to wait all that long before...

TIMBER!!!

The tree tipped over in the direction of where your current enemy was. Its claws tore another hole into it and it revealed you standing inside, but your fearful expression of dread was entirely replaced with excitement to finally see that demented farce of a rotting growth dead. All it took was for it to finally reach the ground. In three, two-

It caught it with its claw and held it up without even breaking a sweat.

You took the axe out of your mouth and held it in your dominant hand.

"You little-"

That was all that you were able to say before you got grabbed by the torso by that monster's left claw and getting pulled out of the tree. The monster gritted its teeth at the sight of you and its grip on you instantly tightened. It felt like being trapped inside of a circle of knives being held in its pincers.

You wiggled, thrashed, and struggled to break free, yet it was all in vain. The sharp points dug even deeper into you as you tried to do so. However, you quickly realized something. When you got grabbed, you had your arms stretched out at your sides, and because of that, you had both of your hands free to do whatever they wanted.

You had a chance, and you weren't going to waste it.

"So, this is how it's gonna be, huh?" You said. "Well if that's the case, then fine by me."

It narrowed its eyes at you and you had your axe at the ready. You didn't plan on throwing it at its remaining eye yet because you quickly learned that it learned to be extra watchful for anything that could be headed its way. You had to admit, that bug learned quick, but you were going to make sure it didn't learn quick enough.

...or... so you thought.

Out of the corner of your right eye, you noticed a claw fast approaching. Not willing to fall victim to whatever it was trying to do, you swung your axe and managed to hit it right in the middle of the offensive appendage. With that attack, you managed to stun it for a split second.

However, it didn't back down, nor did it even move. In fact, it stayed where it was and clamped down on the midsection of your lower arm. You let out a scream of pain as a result, but you still didn't shake just yet. You still pushed through and kept your spirits high, but your resentment towards your enemy even higher.

"Okay, that's it! You'd better let me go, freak. Or else-"

You were about to switch hands with your axe by moving your left arm closer and using your right wrist to toss it over, but the very instant that you executed step one of your plan, you instantly found that your middle region was released and the exact same thing were to happen as before to the opposite hand.

Next thing you knew, you were completely restrained from both sides. Pinned in the air by the points of that monster's pincers penetrating your skin. This was when you realised things were starting to get bad...

Within an instant, you got to pondering how you were going to get out of this one. With your arms restrained in the manner that currently were, you had absolutely no chance at throwing anything even with both of its claws busy with something else.

You felt the claws on your arms close more and more as you forced yourself to think. Although, it didn't give you all that much room to think practically being backed in a corner.

...but what if... you weren't?

Maybe there was just one thing you weren't able to see before because of your panic at your situation. Maybe there was just one way to counter this move. Well, whatever it was, you had to think of it fast, because the bug was leaning in closer, opening its mandibles to eat you.

You had to think fast, and fortunately, that's just what you did. Although you doubted its validity, you still had to give it a shot. You closed your eyes and internally cursed yourself for even coming up with such a possibly stupid idea, but seeing as it's the only one you've got, you might as well use it.

You began to swing your body back and forth over and over again to build up momentum, and each swing forward, you got further and further one after the other. You kept doing this until you finally decided that you were able to kick hard enough with the movement you had going.

You then weakly tossed your axe in front of yourself using the movement of your wrist to make it stumble through the air to wherever you wanted it to go.

Then, you closed your eyes and crossed your fingers. In all honesty, you weren't expecting this to work at all, but using the momentum you've built up, you sent your lower body swinging forward one last time and gave it all you got. This was because when the axe was low enough, you kicked it with your feet and...

Wait, it actually went flying, and... was it... was it actually headed straight for its target!?

No way! It actually worked! You managed to kick your weapon into the trajectory towards that fowl monster's last eye left. Once your feet made contact, it was launched through the air and the way it was going, it seemed like it was about to hit.

A smile came across your face as a wave of relief could be felt in the distance behind you, waiting to see if this was a cause worthy of celebration or not.

However, what happened next was nothing like what you hoped for. Yes, you managed to kick it with enough force to effectively launch it towards the eye, but the bug saw the projectile coming, and did a short jump and tilted its head sideways to deflect it with its mandibles.

You were completely taken off guard and your hopeful demeanour quickly shifted back into dismayed terror. As it turned out, you were the one who had to learn more efficiently, because it seemed like you were giving that monster far less credit than it deserved.

At that moment, you had exhausted all of your trump cards, and at that point. You could do nothing. Suddenly, a feeling came to you that you hoped would never make any kind of acquaintance with you when you ran off to distract the bug. Yet. Here you were.

That feeling... was helplessness.

Yes, pure helplessness. You didn't have any more power to do anything as this bug had you in its claws. It was clear, to both of you now... and as it moved its face in closer to look at you with that one big, ugly, marble it had for an eye.

It made a low growl, and it finally had enough of you. Its eyes widened and it let out an enraged scream right in your face. Every single tiny speck of patience that it ever had was now thrown completely out the window. You've ticked it off enough, and now it was time to face the consequences.

You felt those claws digging into your flesh yet again, and then you felt something else. It wasn't the feeling of your lower arms being practically impaled. Rather, it was the feeling of your flesh stretching out in a way that it clearly wasn't meant to be. You felt both halves of your body being pulled in opposite directions as you saw the insect's eyes gain an angrier and angrier glare.

You knew what it was trying to do, and it was going to be bad. That's right, if your current situation wasn't bad enough, that monster decided that it wasn't even fit to be eaten anymore. No, now it wanted to tear you in half and throw you away like the worthless scumbag trash it perceived you to be.

This was all it took to make you excessively alarmed once again. You felt the dread build up in your heart and your mouth opened to slowly let out a pained moan that slowly escalated into a panicked scream.

You grew desperate, and in that instant, you shook your body back and forth, left to right, basically thrashing around in suspension while screaming, "LET ME GO, YOU DISGUSTING FREAK OF NATURE! LET. ME. GO!"

However, your efforts were futile. You continued to struggle against your execution but all you ended up doing was making your captor even more bitter towards you each time your axe hit. As a result, the grip got even worse. The claws dug even deeper into your arms as they were both being pulled apart even harder.

At this point, you were starting to cry out of fear for your life, you swung harder and faster with more and more desperation in your eyes. Then, one more second later, you felt a bone pop in your right arm.

Who knew how much longer you could last? One more second? Two more seconds? Minutes? You had absolutely no idea. Regardless, you didn't care. You only kept screaming and thrashing not wanting to die at all.

It was here where you were at your most desperate. As you writhed in both agony and panic to the highest degree while screaming your lungs out with your eyes tightly shut.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

Yet, it didn't listen. Instead, it ignored you and continued to follow through on its revenge. It continued to try pulling you in two and each second it did so was pain and agony on your end, fueling your want to scream even more.

Although, despite how loud you were screaming, and how much you were screaming for it to let you go, it was very clear where this road was going to end up taking you. You knew that however long it took for the deed to be done... it was going to be done, sooner or later.

As you threw yourself in every single direction in protest, wishing that this was not the case... you couldn't deny the truth for long. There was nothing you could do, and the slow clarity of it was followed by your movements becoming slower and less frequent, as well as your screams slowly dying off as time went by.

So... this was it, wasn't it? Yes, yes it was.

You slowly closed your eyes and tried to at least make yourself come to terms with your imminent demise. Thoughts of your family filled your head... your mother, father, your little brother and sister. They all were probably back on earth, wondering why you never came back from your game of soccer with your friends.

Next came your friends... who were overcome with worry at not seeing you at your next game.

They will probably not be seeing you for a long... long time. It made your eyes come to tears just thinking about it. Then, you wandered off to the positive side. At least Anne, Sprig, and Polly were safe and Hop Pop was none the wiser about his cane.

So... if you were to die, then if it was for the benefit of your new friends, then you could at least die peacefully knowing so.

You just hoped Anne would tell them all what you did for them when she got-

"LET HIM GO YOU TREE TRUNK WANNABE!!!"

You thought you heard a girl's voice shout out before the sound of something hitting against another could be heard. It sounded a little like someone hitting a tennis ball with a racket.

Suddenly, you felt the oppressive sting of the pincers holding you in place and trying to rip you apart disappear. You weren't even being held in the air anymore, you felt yourself falling towards the ground with the wind below you indicating such.

You wondered what was going on, so you quickly opened your eyes to see that what you were feeling was, in fact, the truth. You were plummeting to the ground at an alarmingly fast rate. However, before you hit the ground, you felt a frog's tongue latch onto you and carry you to safety.

When you made it onto the ground safely, you grew confused. What just happened, why did the bug drop you? Who saved-

"(Y/N)!" Sprig said as he popped up in front of your face. "Thank frog you're alright!"

"S- S-... Sprig?!"

That wasn't all, however, because you then realized that pained cries from that exact same monster you were rescued from were sounding off from it as he caught you. When you looked up at it, you saw it screeching while holding its closed eye. Below it, you noticed Polly landing on the ground.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a figure step into view. It was fiercely gripping a tennis racket and its teeth were grit the hardest that they could be. That was no frog, tadpole, or any creature that could be found in Amphibia. There was no mistaking it, it was Anne.

"How about you try picking on somebody your own size, huh?!"

"Wh- What?!" You said in complete disbelief. "Anne? Sprig?!"

"Polly, too," You heard a voice say on the top of your head before you looked up to see the tadpole herself.

"What the actual HECK!? Guys! What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go back to wartwood-"

"FRIEND PUNCH!" Sprig shouted before punching you in the arm.

"OW!"

"You really thought we were going to let you deal with that thing all by yourself? Did that soup you drank this morning give you brain damage or something?!"

"Yeah, dude," Anne said. "You've gotta be insane if you think we're leaving you behind, let alone leave you to die because of a mess that I dragged you into! Either all of us are getting back home, or none of us are, ain't that right, gang?"

Sprig and Polly all said, "Right!" in agreement with her statement, and you could tell that it came from the heart.

"By the way, that stunt you just pulled was really dumb," Polly said. "But not gonna lie, pretty respectable, so you know what? You aren't so bad."

SCREEEEEEEEECH!

Looks like you were gonna have to hold off on the heartfelt reunion for now, because that horrible monster wasn't out of the game just yet. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be even angrier than ever. It let out another enraged roar before it came charging straight at you.

"Uh oh," Anne said.

"Okay, here's the plan," Sprig explained. "Polly and I distract it, while you take care of (Y/N), got it?"

Anne nodded, and Polly gave a "Copy that" before in seconds, she realized what she just agreed to.

"Wait, WHAT!? No way! I'm not going out there and taking care of that freak!"

"Polly."

"...Ugh... FINE! I'll go with you... Just try not to get us eaten, alright?"

"Right..."

Sprig pulled out his slingshot, and Polly jumped on top of his head before they started circling the enemy and firing pebbles to annoy it as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Anne was kneeling by your side as you were trying to stand up. She was holding parts of you, such as your arm and your legs, to examine your injuries. Afterwards, she desperately tried to look for something, anything in this forest that could treat them. Unfortunately, she was straight out of luck.

"Oh, man... it looks like you've had it pretty bad."

"Yep... Sometimes you've gotta make sacrifices to be a good human decoy... heh."

"...Look, I know you were just looking out for us back there, but please... don't do anything like this again. You scared me half to death when you ran off into the forest with that thing on your tail."

"I... I know. I just found out that you were running out of stamina, we had absolutely no chance of getting away from that thing. I felt like this was our one shot at getting rid of that thing. I'm sorry if I scared you with that stunt I pulled. I just-"

Without even any warning, she pulled you into a tight hug.

"Listen to me... You didn't have anything to do with what we were doing at that park when you got zapped here. You weren't the one that broke Hop Pop's cane, either. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if anything were to happen to you here. So, please... just... promise me, you won't ever do that again... okay?"

You stopped for a moment and even the movement of your eyes were frozen. They were stuck on her before you noticed that there was a feeling of guilt that made your heart become heavy. Though, you weren't surprised. What you did would make anyone who was friends with you worry themselves to death about your safety. However, you still weren't sure on whether you could follow up on that.

"But... what if-"

She pulled out of the hug and held you in front of her.

"No buts! Promise me, (Y/N)."

"...Okay... I- I promise..."

You had half a mind to cross your fingers behind your back, but you also didn't want to. You didn't know if you could keep it, but if it meant sparing her of such anxiety... then perhaps another future solution might serve you better.

"Look out!" Sprig shouted as he ducked under a claw strike that Polly jumped over. "Phew... too close- WOAH!"

He was forced to jump away from another attack, and by the looks of it, he was just barely scraping by against that thing. At that moment, you stood up and faced the scene.

"Easy, dude," Anne said. "You're still dealing with... whatever you had to deal with before we showed up."

"We need to get rid of that thing," You said. "If we don't we might as well just let it put us six feet under one by one."

"How do we even do that, though? We needed something as sharp as an axe to even damage it and even then it didn't do much, and by the looks of it, my tennis ball didn't hurt its eye too badly either..."

You then put your fingers under your chin before you thought to yourself. You genuinely couldn't figure out how you were going to take it down. Heck, you were even low on weapons at this point. You didn't have your axe, as it was probably lodged in the trunk of some tree somewhere when it flicked it away, Polly lost her rolling pin in the distraction you made to make sure it followed you, and Anne's racket, nor Sprig's slingshot was able to do anything to it.

If only there was a way to catch that thing off guard. You needed to make sure that it didn't have any time to guard the last eye it had. However, right now, you had absolutely nothing at your disposal that would make it so that you could do that.

But... you can't give up. You've already come this far and done so much. You couldn't just give up now, could you? You had to think of something, and after quite a while of conceptualizing, you soon caught something happening out of the corner of your eye.

You noticed that Polly was being thrown from Sprig's hand before it was quickly pinned to a nearby tree thanks to its claws. She let out a scream as she flew through the air and bounced off of a tree before she landed directly into Anne's arms.

"So... how are you two doing?" She asked.

"Well, that's not good," Sprig said, looking at his arm before he got yanked up and screamed at by that monster.

In response, he narrowed his eyes and fired out his tongue at its face. Unfortunately, that didn't prove to be the smartest thing for him to do since all that ended up doing was get offer the enemy an opportunity to grab it. Once that was done, Sprig was hanging in the air from his tongue without an opportunity to leave.

Anne gasped in distress before pulling out her racket and rushing in to rescue him. You took notice and worriedly watched her run up to it.

"Be careful, Anne!" You called out to her.

She didn't say anything else. She just charged ahead, racket in hand. She picked up the tennis ball she fired at it a moment ago when she found it laying on the ground, then she tossed it up and fiercely hit it with her racket to send it right at the back of its head.

It hit and it bounced right off its head and back at her, but it did what she was hoping it to do, capture the creature's attention. Once it looked her way as the ball flew back towards her, she hit it right back at it, and then it was on its way to hit its eye. Not surprising any of you at this point, it knocked it away, and went to attack her as well.

Good for her, as that was what she wanted. She still ran ahead and saw that it was reaching its claw out towards her and she jumped to avoid it. After that, she landed on and ran up the arm to try and get to her captured friend. However, what she didn't anticipate was that it was spinning around her froggy friend from the tongue in circles like a mace.

She had absolutely no time to react before it slung him forward and slammed him right into her. The impact was enough to knock her off, but that wasn't it just yet. No.

You gasped in horror seeing her fly off of the creature's appendage just like that. But you were even more so when you witness that she didn't even get a chance to hit the ground before she got caught inside its claws as well. She looked like her heart was skipping a beat as she got pulled in closed towards her enemy and Sprig was also being pulled towards it as well. They were both headed towards the same place, and then they both slammed into each other at full force.

"Sorry Anne-" Sprig said, but was quickly cut off by a roar from the creature before it lifted the both of them over its head, which turned upwards as it opened its mouth, awaiting its treats.

Polly was completely taken aback by what was about to take place. So much so that she didn't even think for a second before hopping over to it. Noticing this, you gasped and reached out your hand to her.

"Wait! Polly-" You called.

"You'd better drop my brother and my candy provider right now, or you're about to feel a whole WORLD of pain!" Polly shouted, completely ignoring your warnings.

Once she got to it, she unleashed a whole flurry of punches with her little nubs, screaming all the while doing so as you looked on in horror. Obviously, her attacks were having absolutely no effect. Every single punch she managed to land had done absolutely nothing.

The bug's face looked extremely unimpressed as it looked down at her doing such a thing. In her desperation, she bared her teeth and bit down on its leg as hard as she could. Unfortunately, nothing was still what she got.

Like, she was a tadpole. Was she expecting to happen?

Giving her a gaze, that bug raised its foot and positioned it just above her. She instantly noticed what was going on and rolled right out of the way. Her ineffective assault didn't stop, though. She continued her barrage of constant punches and bites in the faint hopes and prayers that it would do something, anything against it and let her be set free.

Unfortunately, it didn't do anything, and it didn't stop it from dropping the two into its sharp, piercing mandibles. Both of you looked in despair as they fell in, both of them at once, until they were no longer in sight.

Both of you had completely frozen up at such a sight. In an instant, both of your friends had just become an evening snack for that horrendous beast. Or... at least, that's what you believed. As you continued to stare at the scene in utter horror, you then saw it lower its head with its mouth partially still open.

From inside, you noticed two pairs of legs standing. One was Sprig's and one was Anne's. After that, it slowly opened to reveal them still alive and completely in tact. That dread you felt in your stomachs when you saw them get "eaten" were entirely replaced with overwhelming relief.

Anne was visibly straining as she was using all of her strength to hold its mouth open. She told Sprig to get out and so, he did, but afterwards, he stopped to look back at her. Again, you thought you saw her eyes flash blue, but it was only for a split second and you simply brushed it off as you had much more important things to take care of.

"Wait... what about you?" He asked.

"I'll be there in a sec," Anne answered. "It's just... really hard to..."

She struggled to even talk when she was busy prying open its mandibles.

"I'll be fine... just run!"

"Hang in there, Anne!" You shouted. "We'll find a way to get you out of here!"

She would have given you a thumbs up, but once she tried to, she immediately felt her push force drastically become reduced when she was only holding it up with one hand, so she instantly went back to using both.

"Oh frog..." Sprig said. "What are we gonna do?"

"Don't worry, bros. I've got this!" Polly said before preparing to attack again.

She pulled one of her nubs back and then she punched its leg at full force. Yet again, having no right to expect anything else, it didn't do anything. In fact, the only effect it had was making her rapidly wave her stub and suck on it because it just hurt her hand.

"I'm... I'm wearing it down... Don't- Yeah I'm not really doing anything."

She noticed a foot positioned above her yet again. Afterwards, she jumped away to avoid getting impaled. It tried again, and she dodged it, and then she tried again, and she dodged it. This cycle continued until the monster was essentially tap dancing to try and get rid of the pathetic spherical tick trying to bother it.

Meanwhile, both you and Sprig were both brainstorming for a plan. You wanted to take it down, but the only problem was that you didn't even know how. How were you going to even deal with something that's ten times larger than you and which's skin you couldn't even pierce?

Hurting its eyes wasn't even an option, either, as you'd have to get past its wary guard in order to deal any sort ofsufficient damage. This time, you had to actually stop and think about how to approach this situation, but what could you possibly do to bypass this?

You thought back long and hard, visibly distressed as you theorized desperately on any kind of remaining chinks in its armor. However, you already felt like you had a short window of time to come up with a solution to even save Anne, as you just noticed that she was struggling even more trying to hold that beast's maw and keep it from shutting on her.

"I almost... got... it..."

However, the forceful pressure of her enemy's mouth started to bear more and more upon her, and she was showing some signs of cracking underneath it.

"Okay... maybe I might not got it..."

"Don't worry!" Sprig shouted. "I've got you!"

He shot out his tounge at her and he was planning on having it tie around her waist, but before he could do it, the bug was able to grab it

You needed to think! Think, dang you! Anne could be crushed and ripped to shreds in between its horrible teeth at any second and you could only think about what kind of actions you could possibly take. Out of all of the solutions that you've picked out, you dwelled upon that time Polly was thrown at a tree before she bounced off as she flew away from danger.

That's when you got it. It suddenly slipped into your mind, the solution for your problems. When you recalled her ricocheting off of the wood of the tree trunks, it all started coming together. To pull this off, you needed only one single thing to make all of this work. Though, you can probably guess what this was.

"...That's it..." You thought to yourself. "...I... I got it."

Your voice then escalated to a yell.

"GUYS, I GOT IT!"

Both Sprig and Polly took their eyes off of their current issue to face you out of curiosity. In the latter's case, it almost cost her her life when she just noticed one of its legs hovering above her before coming down to be dodged by the skin of her teeth.

"You do?" Polly asked.

"Oh thank frog!" Sprig exclaimed. "What's your plan? Honestly, I think I'll take anything at this point."

"Ditto... Spill it, tree baby!"

The tadpole dodged yet another attempt on her life by rolling away.

"Okay so first, Sprig, you try and get that thing's attention and keep it off of Polly," You explained.

In response, Sprig took out his slingshot and replied,

"Now that I can do."

After running up, you turned to Polly.

"And you, I need you to come over to me real quick."

She looked a little hesitant as she watched her frog brethren sling pebbles at its eyes, but once she looked back at you, she swiftly hopped all the way over to where you were.

"Ok, so what now?" She asked.

"Alright... here we go... so, do you remember when I talked about being able to punt you into the highest tree I could find?"

"Uh, yeah- Oh... OHHHH! Wait a minute... isn't he just going to bat me away like last time?"

"That's not exactly the plan. I'm not planning on having you hit that thing directly."

"Then what is?"

You paused, and then you pointed your finger towards the area around it. You even held her head and slowly steered it around so that you would make sure that she noticed the trees that you were trying to point out to her.

"I saw you bounce off of those when Sprig tossed you after he got attacked. That's what gave me this idea. If we take as much advantage out of that as we could..."

Polly then put herself deep in thought, but soon, she would quickly realize what you were trying to convey.

"Oh yeah... I think I know what you mean now."

That was all the whispering you needed to do. The next words you said had your voice at a normal volume.

"Great! Now quickly, get in position. I don't know if we're gonna get more than one shot at this before Anne's its lunch. Frankly, I don't even know how much longer she has."

"I feel like I can hold out a little longer!" Anne called out, visibly struggling between its jaws. "...Um... maybe?"

"No more wasting time!" You shouted. "It's now, or never!"

You firmly planted Polly on the ground and turned to Sprig as he was just narrowly avoiding his death at the hands of the monster's claws. If you were going to execute your plans, you'd better do it right away. Watching Anne just barely keep that bug's mouth open, looking like she was about to succumb at any moment, it reminded you of the importance of pulling this off.

You closed your eyes and calmed your nerves as best as you could. You reminded yourself: all you needed was one firm kick. That was all that you needed. You then thought about the possible fate of your companion currently stuck inside of its mouth. The would-be consequences of what could happen if you failed this.

Opening your eyes again, you could see that she was at her breaking point, she was about to be eaten with Sprig looking on in despair. A gasp escaped your lips before your face quickly switched to determination. You weren't going to fail this, no matter what.

Even with your injuries about to catch up to you, and you being able to feel the sting of them with each inch you raised your foot, you still refused to give up after you've come so far.

The sight of her almost completely giving up and succumbing stuck to your mind and served as the motivation to what you were about to do. Even with doubts flooding your mind, there was no way in HELL that you were going to let your only human friend meet such a fate!

Taking a deep breath, you heard Polly's voice in front of you.

"Alright, I'm ready, (Y/N)! Kick me!"

Right, and kick her, you were going to!

At that moment, you felt a surging rush of strength come to you all of a sudden. It felt like from bottom to top, some kind of energy had overtaken you just enough to make you push through the pain and give you the strength you needed. You finally finished winding up and...

BAM! You delivered the kick of your life. Just like that, Polly was flying straight towards the monster at lightspeed... a lot faster than she was expecting, honestly, causing her to scream out as her adrenaline rushed through her body.

The bug was completely shocked to find the Polly projectile being launched at its face. As a matter of fact, it seemed like she was about to beat its reaction and hit her before it even noticed. However, just barely, it was able to knock her away in the nick of time, flying her at one of those trees.

Little did it know, that was exactly what you wanted.

"Alright, here's to hoping I'm able to pull this off now," Polly said as she looked straight ahead at what she was about to crash into.

She pulled back her left arm, and then punched it at the trunk to launch her in an entirely different direction. A triumphant laugh escaped her lips when she realized that she actually managed to effectively ricochet off of it and actually saw all the pieces coming together.

She bounced off of another tree, then another, and another. All around the area, she was launched around all over the place, getting faster and faster with each time she did it. Even without the pickup in speed, the monster wouldn't be able to follow it with its eyes. This continued for a short few seconds before she completely disappeared, launching off into the darkness of the woods.

You all saw, none of you expecting for this to happen. However, Anne and Sprig both watched her fly away and immediately assumed the worst, seeing as she got way to carried away and bounced off course and was far from doing what she was supposed to do.

You, however. You still had some hope. You didn't assume she was gone for good yet, because gone from sight or not, you knew she had to come back just to surprise attack that bug.

'Come on... Come on...' You said. 'You've got this, Polly.'

The shock of seeing the tadpole being launched at it was enough to give Anne some leeway. Once she realised this, she immediately took her opportunity to jump away and out of that mouth before it was able to remember what it was doing before and finish the job. Sprig caught her with his tongue before she was able to reach the ground.

Okay, so Anne wasn't at risk of being eaten anymore. That's good. Next comes dealing with that monster for good. It let out another roar as you bit your lips and were completely held by your suspense as you were still hoping on the inside that everything was going to go just as planned.

Then, as it was going to make another attack, it then heard a distinct sound getting closer and closer behind it. To see what it was, it turned behind itself and saw Polly rapidly approaching it. She went faster than ever before, not that it really mattered since it was already to late to react before she slammed right into that monster's last intact eye like the ballistic bolt of a crossbow.

It threw its arms into the air and screamed out in pain when the impact landed. It immediately went to remove her, but she wasn't done yet. Once she arrived at her destination, she also raised a tree branch that looked like it had been freshly picked off. Gripping it tightly in her hand, she put the sharp end of the stuck directly inside that peeper just for good measure and then jumped away before the pincers could reach her.

At that very moment, a large wave of relief, shock, and happiness overcame all of you when you got to witness it.

"Holy crud!" Anne exclaimed.

"Heck Yeah!" Sprig yelled. "Wait... Is that... POLLY!?"

"She did it!" You shouted. "A direct hit!"

And she stuck the landing and then she hopped towards you all.

"So, (Y/N), how was that for a little ol' Pollywog?" She asked you.

"Holy cow, Polly..." You answered. "That... Was... AWESOME!"

You immediately scooped her up and held her close to your chest.

"You did awesome, girl!"

"And that WAS awesome! Flying through the speed of light like that. It was like... WOOSH! Man, I gotta hand it to ya, that plan was pretty sweet."

"Wait, that was your idea, (Y/N)?" Sprig asked you.

You proudly nodded with your hands on your hips. "Yep, and luckily it payed off."

"Huh... well, great thinking dude!" Anne said.

However, before you were able to converse any further, you were all cut off by a loud roar that bellowed from the depths of that beasts lungs. You all looked its way and it was flailing and thrashing around because of the pain of both of its eyes being put out of commission forever.

However, that behavior would soon cease in a few seconds before it made a low shriek of anger. You could all tell at this point that it was properly ticked off now.

Without even thinking, it all charged into your direction, violently swinging its claws left and right. Immediately, you all gasped and jumped right out of the way. The attack missed and it dashed straight through without hitting a single target.

It shouted at all of you in rage upon realizing this, or... at least, it thought it was, because it wasn't even facing you at all. It was only looking to its right before it swept its claw at nothing and hissed angrily. It then turned around and made another charge to its diagonal right. It looked like it was headed straight towards you and Anne and you both reacted accordingly.

You both prepared to jump out of the way, just like last time, but you then felt Sprig's tongue wrap around the two of you and pull you to safety. As a result, the strikes that came from it resulted in it only feeling the earth being hit by its efforts.

It then spun around and slashed without even thinking at this point. Just swinging and swinging its pincers at the ground trying desperately to find at least one of you. However, it was then met with nothing.

It then made another charge, but this time, it wasn't headed for anyone to begin with. All it hit with that move was the trunk of an idle tree. It went in head first, and so that was the body part that was hit because of its actions.

It roared with fury, still slashing at nothing, its movements becoming more and more frantic each time. Then it did another charge that made it hit a tree, then another, and then another. It repeated this five times, and the last one nearly hit you, making you all nervous, but there was no cause for alarm because it only ran past you.

Then, it stopped to take a quick second to gather its bearings, and "scan" the area, listening for any clue as to where you could be.

Meanwhile, all of you were observing its behavior, and given the state it was in now, you all immediately knew what this meant for all of you.

"Now's our chance," Anne said. "Time to get out of here... quickly and quietly."

You all nodded and gave your signatures of approval. Thumbs ups, 'ok' hand signals, anything you saw fit. Steadying yourselves and cautiously moving your feet, you all crept away from the monster, doing your best not to make any noises.

The bug was desperately trying to find you. It scuttled around from place to place, put its head to the ground, and slashed over and over again at nothing of value just hoping to have you caught in the crossfire. No matter what, you took express care to not draw any kind of attention to yourselves.

It made another charge trying to find you, and it was yet another near miss. The path it was on was so close to yours that when it got close to you, Sprig nearly let out a sound of panic, but Anne luckily acted fast and covered his mouth before any sound could come out.

It stopped for a second, as if it was trying to listen out for any more sounds. You all immediately stood still. Not even a single move you made as you all stood there, hoping it didn't hear anything that might have escaped Sprig's mouth. Then, it raised its claws and lowered its body, looking like it was ready to attack, but then it turned around and made another angry roar as it charged in the opposite direction. What a relief.

After that, you made sure that wouldn't happen again. No matter how close it got to you at times, and regardless of how wildly it swings and slashes out of fury, you didn't panic and reminded yourself that if you just were careful and made no noise, you could get away unscathed. A few careful steps later, you felt like you could actually pull this off and get away.

You were almost there, just a few steps more and you could be running home free. However, your only obstacle was that it was getting more and more agitated. It swung more wildly, it charged faster and more frequently, and it didn't give up, even if it felt like it was attacking nothing but inanimate objects.

It was livid at you, and it wanted you dead no matter the cost. That was why when it got close to you some more at times, you felt like death was more and more imminent with how mad it was. It even swung at the air near you, and it nearly hit Polly. Its claws were just inches away from scratching her, but she miraculously managed to stay out of harm's way.

The journey was getting more difficult with that bug relentlessly keeping up its pursuit. It even felt like sooner or later, you might have gotten caught. You still didn't give up though, and you kept your spirits up. That was until you felt something on the back of your neck that would make you come to a terrible revelation.

It was the breath of another creature, and since you were at the very back of the group, there was only one conclusion you could come to. Turning around, you saw that bug right in your face. A horrible chill went down your spine knowing that you were now directly in front of the enemy, but thankfully, it didn't attack.

It only put its hot breath on you and lowered its head to the ground to taste it and try to scan for any traces. It turned a little bit to the side, but the distance did not grow at all. You couldn't prevent yourself from quivering out of fear as this meant that just one of the smallest mistakes could put it into attack mode.

Anne and the others could tell this as well, and they showed it when they turned around and had a look of dreadful worry on their faces. It was even more so the case when it proceeded forward, but you quickly discovered that you were just able to fit underneath its body in between the main segment and the legs at its left side. It continued to try tasting the ground, still finding nothing.

You all carefully stepped away from it, maneuvering cautiously to avoid touching any of its body segments. Just when you were about to keep moving away from it, you still weren't able to widen the distance, because as soon as you moved away, it was slowly drifting in your direction.

It still wasn't on you, as its searches still seemed a little aimless. Its movements even led it away from its targets sometimes, but you still knew that it wasn't getting any easier to get away. None of you had ever said a word throughout this whole exchange, but just by looking at each other you could all tell what you were feeling instantly.

Those thoughts were, 'This. Isn't. Good.'

It continued to scan the ground with its mandibles and its mouth as it didn't move any further from your location, almost feeling like it really was following you as it moved its search to be closer to you every inch you got further from it. Something had to be done, and it had to be done fast. However, that's when you felt something underneath your foot. It was small, yes, but it's not small enough for something to be ignored.

Once you lifted up your foot, you saw that it was a rock. It was about the size of a tennis ball if you were to have a reference. You stepped over it and continued thinking about how to deal with that blind beast, but that's when you had an idea.

You picked up the rock and you looked at your slowly approaching enemy. You made up your mind easily. If it were to get you out of this tight situation, then so be it. You raised your hand and pulled it back as you leaned backwards and one single foot was raised off of the ground.

Channeling all the strength you had left in you, you then threw the instrument at a good distance away from where you were. As soon as it hit the ground, it touched the grass and made a sound upon impact. It even happened twice as it hit against something other than the ground. The noise was small, but it was just noticeable enough for the bug to hear.

However, despite this, it didn't even react to the sound for even a second. Instead, it just stood still and looked like it had just gone into shock. No joke, even the tiniest of its movements were completely suspended. It was as still as a statue.

Obviously, this confused the whole lot of you considering that it was so adamant on hunting all of you down before, even though it had to adapt to the fact that you've just robbed it of its sight. Yet now it's suddenly become a statue? What's... going on?

It was like this for only a few seconds, however. After that, it slowly rose itself up, and then it turned around to face where the ball went as promptly as it could.

What followed next...

Was a hate-filled, rage infused, vitriol driven scream that was so loud that it genuinely had the power to shatter ears. Luckily, you managed to cover them with your hands before any serious damage was done, but it lasted for a whole minute before every single inch of its body shook and it suddenly rushed forward, pincers out and reached in front of itself, shrieking all the way.

It's speed was completely past anything that you've seen from it before. It was almost akin to seeing ammo being shot out of a cannon. It took a while for your eyes to even catch up before you saw it reach its false destination in the form of a wild tree that had some visible damage accumulated on it and strike with its claws without hesitation.

Under the impression that you were all going to be on the receiving end, it put all of its strength and effort into it. The telling signs of such a thing was the fact that it not only cut clean through the wood, but it also continued to do so over and over again, as if it was savagely tearing it all up.

The attack got even more violent as it went on, with each swing it made, even more malice was evidently put into it. It dedicated itself even more to tearing apart that poor, innocent tree trunk because it was so convinced that it was the very people who had blinded it.

You all stood in disturbed awe as you watched the monster unleash the full extent of its wrath. Well... all of you except for Polly, who was just standing there in appreciation at such a violent nature.

"Wow... I didn't know that freak had it in it." Polly said.

"Yeah... M- Me neither..." You said, your voice shaking with fear. "Though, I guess anyone's capable of doing stuff like that if you push them far enough off the edge..."

"True..." Anne said. "Man, we must have really ticked that thing off."

"Come on guys, let's just use this opportunity to get out of here, while it's still-"

"Wait a minute..." Sprig said. "...guys, look."

He pointed to the scene once again, as if he wanted to show you something.. As it was actively ripping into the growth with every single ounce of the disdain that it had for its former prey in its heart, something strange was happening inside of said victim of the attacks.

Currently, the bug was tearing holes in that tree's trunk mercilessly, but just as you were about to make up your mind and leave while you still could, you noticed that something was emerging from those holes. It appeared to be... bugs? Wait a minute, no. Now that you managed to get a good look at them, they actually looked somewhat familiar to you.

"Hang on a minute..." Anne said. "...Guys, those things, crawling out of the tree. Is it just me, or do those things look a lot like..."

Those bugs were seen crawling over the enraged monster and as they passed over parts of its body. They were revealed to have disappeared. Soon, it would become apparent what those bugs were. Taking another look at what that tree looked like in its damaged state. Only one thing came to mind when you continued to look at those bugs coming out of something like that, and you could only imagine that they were the ones responsible for it.

That was because they were none other than...

"Termites!"

You all exclaimed it in unison and it turns out the bug was the only one who hasn't come to that realization because of... well, obvious reasons, and so, it kept tearing into what it mistook for you. It soon came to a stop, either because it realized it wasn't you it was tearing apart, or because it felt them crawling all over. Regardless, it seemed like it was too late to even stop.

They had already swarmed the entirety of its arms by the time it had stopped and it definitely wasn't going to end there. You were soon able to hear various sounds that were akin to logs being put into a wood chipper. Strange for the the sounds that they apparently made, but you didn't bother questioning it further as you kept watching.

No matter how odd it seemed to hear that coming from insects, you still got a clue out of it as to what was happening. It made sense too, because during your... to put it lightly, "close encounters" with that monster, you you got to feel its skin. Despite not being a tree, it sure did feel like one, and the swarm it was currently dealing with surely thought no different.

Who knows? Maybe it was just because it might be because they were eating it so fast. Still, you didn't even bother dwelling on that. Next, the termites quickly moved from the arms, to the rest of its body. First, came its torso, next was its head, and then its legs. Soon enough, it was completely engulfed in seconds.

The predator, now made prey by several tiny, wood eating mites, was emitting sawdust that turned it into a cloud. That made everything a lot more obscure. Lots of tiny minibeasts swarming around the mist of the wood's destruction, almost resembling what you'd see in a cartoon.

The most shocking thing was that it only lasted a couple seconds before their feasting was complete. Once they were finished, they all left its body and crawled away. That and the dust settling down, revealed...

...Okay, what you saw, you could only describe as a mutated wad of chewed and stretched lime gum that grew arms, four legs, eyes, and a mouth. It was basically like what you saw before the termite attack, but it was smoother, smaller, FAR less threatening, and green. The eyes were still heavily damaged, obviously.

Looking upon its true form, you had about a million questions swimming through your mind, but you had absolutely no words. Unlike you, the others made a few comments.

"Uhhhh..." Was all came from Polly.

"Cool," Sprig said.

"This world is messed up," Anne commented, and you couldn't agree with her more.

Your eyes remained fixed upon it as it scurried away while whimpering with terror. Due to it being blind, it expectedly ran into some trees here and there before it went off into the darkness. Whatever was lurking out there, it was its free meal now, and given what it just put you through, you didn't even care.

You stood there, staring at it while it fled. You were all stunned, but after a while, your faces changed. On them, all of them, there slowly appeared expressions of... excitement, ecstasy. You all gained the biggest smiles on your faces, and then collapsed to the ground while letting out a collective sigh of relief.

"We did it!" Polly said. "We won!"

"Thank the souls of my long dead ancestors!" You said. "We actually pulled it off!"

"And with the new cane to boot..." Anne tiredly said.

"You said it, girl. Now, let's get out of here and get back home quickly... before anything else in this forest tries to make our carcasses into their dinner."

"Yeah, you're right..." Sprig said. "Still, can I have a little more time... to rest?"

"No time..." Polly said. "We can rest after we get home, okay?"

"Plus, we still have to get there before Hop Pop, remember?" Anne said.

"Alright... Fine."

You all then slowly got up, one by one. You were the last person to stand up, and you all dusted yourselves off. Your next stop, back to the Plantar household.

"Man, today's been a complete mess, but in the end, it was completely-"

As she was talking, she was patting the side of her hip where the can was supposed to be held. Key word... SUPPOSED TO BE, because as she tapped it, all she could feel was the fabric of her clothes. No wood at all.

"Worth... it..."

She continued to tap, but this time she did it faster. A worried look slowly crept onto her face as she still didn't feel the cane held there. The same caste happened when she tapped the opposite side, and her brain defaulted to being near full on panic.

"Uhhh..."

"Why that look, Anne?" Sprig asked. "Is something wro- Ummm..."

Once he looked at her side, he immediately saw what the problem was. Hoping that it was somewhere else, he circled her and investigated for the cane, but he saw nothing.

"Ohhh..."

You and Polly had realized as well, and you quickly joined the duo of concern, turning it into a quartet.

"Wait, what's going on?" Polly asked. "Are you saying you guys lost the cane?"

Anne stared at Polly with her face completely stiff. She was frozen from what she just found out.

"Now, hang on guys," You said. "Let's not default to panicking so early. Chances are she just dropped it somewhere when she was fighting that ugly tree mimic, so we just have to find it again."

"Y- You're right (Y/N)," Anne said. "It's probably around here somewhere... We just need to look."

And she walked away to go find her lost saving grace. You and Sprig both assisted her in the search as well. You all spread out to cover more ground and it took a few minutes, but Sprig finally came across a spot that looked like the top of what he was seeking.

He let out a pleased gasp, and ran up to go check it out. Once he picked it up, however... he immediately saw the truth behind it and his happy expression faded fast.

It truly was the cane they were looking for, yes, but once he pulled it up from the ground, he saw that it was only the top half. Nothing more was present from under it. Discovering this, he was completely filled with dread before he slowly turned to Anne.

"Did you find it?" You asked.

"Uhhh, yeah... but guys... I have some bad news."

Anne halted her search immediately and turned her head to see what he had found. It was at that moment, her heart dropped as soon as her eyes laid upon Sprig hanging the broken piece in front of himself.

"No... no... no no no no no no!"

Anne immediately rushed to him so he could investigate if what she just found out really was true or not. She was partly in denial and didn't want to admit that it was, but as you stared at it, it was apparent.

"It... It broke!?" She exclaimed.

"That bug must have trampled it during the fight..." Polly said.

"Oh... oh god no..." You shakily said. "I- I really hope that's just some random branch from some tree somewhere,"

"Well, it sure doesn't look like it," Sprig drearily said.

Unfortunately, as Anne took it into her own hands and distraughtly gazed upon it more closely, her hands began to shake until Polly hopped up to her and put the second piece of it on. It fit perfectly, and together, they formed exactly what she thought it would.

"Welp, looks like I found the second piece." Polly said.

Now that they were together, it was all too much of a dead ringer for it not to be their replacement. There was no mistaking it, it's the real deal. They then fell apart again, and out of shock, she dropped it and it fell to the ground. After that, you walked up and joined the conversation.

"Okay... okay, this... seems bad," You said. "But wait a minute guys. I know glue didn't work last time, but maybe this time might be different... We can't just give up and leave now-"

However, you all then noticed something else happening to the broken cane. You noticed that between the mere seconds that Anne dropped it and you were trying to lighten the sting of despair that had just befallen everyone, parts of the fragments were disappearing.

After that, you saw some termites crawling all over it. The same ones that you saw devouring what you had to deal with during this entire adventure. They chewed and gnawed on it mercilessly, still hungry after their meal. It continued further and further until there was nothing left to even recognise, and they left like nothing happened.

...

You all said nothing, just completely stuck in place because of what you all just saw. Anne buried her head in her hands and groaned with dismay before falling forwards flat on her face.

"We're done for..."

* * * * *

And so, you all left the forest. Finding your way back to the beaten path, you all walked down it, your heads hung in defeat. Now with no replacement cane and no way to get any more, the outcome of your actions were sealed.

Once you made it back to wartwood while the sun was setting, you were all relieved to have made it back home safe and sound. You weren't any happier, though, because all that meant is that you'd have to deal with an entirely new beast soon. On your way home, you walked past Loggle's shop and saw him closing up for the day.

He sighed. "Well, Loggle, another day, another step closer to bankruptcy."

After turning the sign to say "closed", he saw you walking by.

"Oh, hey there, kids.

...Wait, you're still alive!? Wow, looks like I might have underestimated ya."

"We may be, but we didn't get to bring the cane home either..." You said.

"What? Darn. Well, that's a bummer. At least you didn't have your heads abandon your shoulders. I tell ya, I'm sure glad I wasn't dragged into whatever mess you got into, even worse if it was my precious shop as well. Haha."

"Well, lucky you, I guess." Anne said, kicking a rock down the road.

"Welp, I'm going home. Take care you guys. Oh, and I hope your old man isn't too hard on ya."

After that exchange, he simply walked away casually while waving goodbye. Anne let out another sigh.

"Yeah, I hope so, too..." She said.

"I'm so sorry, Anne..." Sprig said, petting her shoulder. "And after all we worked for, too..."

"It's okay. Let's just get home. Hop Pop's already awake and furious..."

She was also carrying Polly in her arms the whole time they were traveling back. In that moment, she looked up and said,

"Probably a bad time to bring this up, but I still get the candy, right?"

All that she got in response was an annoyed look from her. It then quickly faded before she sighed.

"Alright, fine... I'll give it to you when we get back. Before I'm shoved out the door, that is."

"Oh... okay...

...Anne?"

"It's okay. Let's just go..."

And so, you all continued forward... all the way to meet your guardian frog's wrath with nothing to show for it. But hey, at least you're still alive...

...

...maybe for the time being.

* * * * *

Back inside the safe and warm walls of the hood and honorable Plantar household, the lights were turned on in the main living room again. The one responsible was a certain elderly frog who was stretching his arms in a good mood. Hop Pop walked inside and cracked his back, his face more relaxed than ever. Well, for now at least...

"Woah, boy. I needed that," He said. "Hope nothing happened while I was asleep to make me mad again-"

Of course, that was all changed once he saw the four of you standing before him, messy and bruised. Like, heavily bruised, almost as if you'd gone through something terrible. If only he knew... His relaxed smile quickly faded into a tired frown.

"Oh no... what did you do?"

Suddenly, Sprig spoke up. "What's up with canes? Who even needs them these days, am I right?"

Anne only punched his arm, then she wore a sad face that had a little hint of fear. However, she took a sharp breath as she approached him with her hands behind her back... before she admitted the truth.

"I'm really sorry, Hop Pop," She said, then showed her the two broken pieces that she left in the house. "I was goofing around, and I broke your favorite cane."

Your eyes widened for a moment upon that sudden change in structure.

"YOU WHAT!?" Hop Pop exclaimed.

"I know, I know... I'll show myself out."

Turning around and heading for the door, she went past you while still hanging her head. While she was going, she patted you on the shoulder and looked your way... one last time.

"Well, at least one of us gets to stay," She said. "Just try not to mess up as badly as I did, okay?"

She then walked away from you, and you stared at her with a hint of sorrow in your eyes. Though, one thing crossed your mind when you were watching her head for the door. She only involved the fact that only she was playing around, despite you being in on it.

Did she really just leave you out of this to keep the blame off of you?

And now she was getting her backpack off of the coat rack next to the front door while Sprig and Polly also sadly watched before going up to her.

At that moment, your fist clenched and you quickly turned back to Hop Pop.

"Wait, if Anne's coming clean about this, then I guess I'd better, too. She wasn't the only one who broke your cane. I was in on it, too."

"W- Wait... YOU WHAT!?"

"Yeah, I was playing around with it too, so I'm just as guilty. I'll show myself out, too."

Anne then turned back on herself upon hearing you say that. You made your own sad walk to the door, leaving her confused.

"Wait, dude? Why are you-"

"I'm not leaving you alone to fend for yourself out in those crazy woods alone, especially not a girl so nice as you, especially one who'd take the fall alone. After all, I did play with the cane too. Who says you should take all the blame?"

You held her hand.

"If I'm going down, then I'm going with you."

Her eyes were locked onto you as she stared in complete disbelief. It didn't even go away with time, either. Perhaps she was just that surprised at what you did.

"It's okay. We made it this long together, didn't we?"

Suddenly, you felt something wrapping around your leg. Looking down, you find out that it was Sprig with tears in his eyes.

"We'll come visit you guys..." He said, choking up as he barely holds them back from pouring out. "We... We promise."

Polly, on the other hand, you were surprised to find out that she couldn't even last as long as Sprig. Immediately, she started bawling her eyes out before she jumped up to hug Anne's face.

"And just when I was starting to like you two!" She exclaimed.

At that very moment, you felt yourself feeling the same emotion that those kids were feeling as well. This time, however, it was even worse for you. Now that you were about to say goodbye to not only your new home, but also your new friends, you felt your tears rising up from your chest and into your eyes. Anne's lip quivered, and she couldn't prevent herself from spilling out a few of her own.

"Don't make this harder than it is..."

You knew she tried to hold herself back, but she couldn't help herself. She was crying just like the others, and soon, you couldn't even hold yourself back either. Your barriers broke down and the waterworks started up.

"I can't believe it..." You said. "We just found a nice place to live in while we were trapped in, and we forfeited it just like that..."

You sniffed.

"...Well, it's fine... We brought this on ourselves anyways. Well, before we're kicked out, for what it's worth... I just want you guys to know... I... I...

I'M GONNA MISS ALL OF YOU!"

Receiving a punch to the shoulder from Anne, you looked up to know what the heck that was for. You then saw her even more teary eyed than before, and she was crying harder than ever.

"(Y/N)! What did I say?"

You were the last one to join the group hug, and the last one to join the salty clump of accumulated tears that you were all pouring out. Your grief was just too powerful to bear, and you felt the urge to cry even more and more. However, there was nothing you could do now. You broke the cane, and now it was time to face the consequences.

Though... strangely, during all of this, Hop Pop just watched the display, scratching his head out of confusion.

"What the- What's going on?" He asked.

"You're throwing us out," Anne answered. "Just like you said you would."

And that's when he finally got it, and once he did, he sighed.

"Mmm... Anne, truth be told, I was never gonna throw you out. I was just talking tough so that you'd show me a little bit more respect."

Upon hearing the truth, the crying from all of you died down a little bit before it halted to a stop. Everyone stopped crying and turned back to Hop Pop with just the tiniest bit of hope in their eyes. However, the first one to truly smile was Anne.

"That's... kinda messed up man." She replied.

"Heh heh heh, yeah. I was probably a little bit too harsh, but I only did it because you remind me of myself when I was your age: Rough around the edges! Now, put down that bag, young lady. You're not going anywhere, and neither is your friend."

In a near instant, the despair of the looming threat of eviction was lifted and replaced with excitement and happiness. Everyone did a single hop out of joy and their cries of celebration filled the room, especially yours.

"WOO! HOO!" Sprig shouted.

"Heck yeah!" Polly exclaimed. "I wasn't worried."

"Thanks, Hop Pop," You said. "So... are you mad about the cane, orrrr..."

"Oh, I'm furious about the cane.

YOU'RE ON DISH DUTY FOR A MONTH, BOTH OF YOU!"

His expression switched from calm to enraged in the blink of an eye. This caused both of you to shudder in fear, but there was no way in hell that you were going to disregard any of his orders. In response, you saluted and said, "Yes sir!"

"Well, now that that's settled, I wrote a long list of comebacks to get you back for this morning."

He pulled out a scroll filled with sentences that was written on it from top to bottom. After he cleared his throat, he held it in front of himself and read it aloud.

"Hey, Anne. Is that your hair, or is it a dandelion? Ha!

Uh- Oh! Are those long, lanky limbs, or are those, uh... twigs?"

His lines were followed by a second of awkward silence, to which he looks around and comes to a realisation.

"Uhh... The moment's passed, hasn't it?"

"Yep, it definitely has, Pops," You said. "But hey, don't fret. Maybe you'll get her tomorrow."

Feeling fatigue washing over you, you gave into the urge to yawn before you went over to the couch and fell back onto it.

"Ahhh... Today has been... I won't lie, today's been absolute hell."

"Get used to it, boy," Hop Pop said. "cause when you're living with the plantars, the days are never easy."

"Dang it..."

Surprisingly, Polly jumped on next to you, looking like she wants to relax just as much as you.

"Hope you're ready for the hard farm life," She said.

"Well, seeing as I have no choice, I might as well be. Oh, and nice work out there with that bouncing ball thing."

"Thanks. Same with you. You know, maybe I've underestimated you back there... especially with that kick, jeez, dude. It's like you do this for a living or something."

'Heh, funny you say that actually,' You thought to yourself.

"Though, as sick as that was, between all the bouncing in that plan and the giant tree bug out to eat us like living sausages, I don't think I'll be able to look at trees the same way again to be honest."

You heard that, and you heard it well. Next, you looked over her way with a very smug smile.

"Uhhh... why are you looking at me like that?"

"What? I'm just puzzled, that's all," You said in a teasing tone. "...after all, you said it yourself. Isn't it a little ridiculous to be so scared of such a silly little thing?"

Her face then dropped to a neutral expression as your face remained the same. A chuckle escaped your lips.

"Ain't that right? You silly little-"

"One more word out of your mouth and I'll bash your brains in! Dorris is gone, but that's not stopping me from doing it with the nearest frying pan I could find, bub!"

"Alright, alright, chill. I was just joking..."

But then, your voice changed to a faint whisper.

"...who's the tree baby now, eh?"

Before you even knew what happened next, she was right up in your face and she threw punch after punch directly at your face.

"Alright, that's it! YOU WANNA KNOW HOW TOUGH, I AM? I'LL-"

Before she could finish her sentence, you grabbed her and threw her away so that you could get up.

"Get back here, you!"

Not even caring at all, you got up and ran away, giggling while you did so. She tailed behind you, as excited as she could ever be to get her hands on you and probably beat you to a pulp. Still, you didn't have any fear, because you still wanted to tease her a little bit.

Anne watched the two of you run around the room, and she giggled a little bit, and on the inside, she was very grateful that she wasn't about to lose living in the Plantars' house.

Though, she'll have some more time to explain tomorrow. For now, she felt like she could use some shut-eye, so she went back to the basement to go to sleep.

End Of Chapter 7

Hope you enjoyed it. :)