It was another lovely day in Amphibia. The Plantars, Shadow, Anne and Kaemon were riding on their respective snails next to each other, driving down a road in the middle of a grassy steppe, where several massive mountains can be seen off to the right.
"Now, remember, gang," Hop Pop said. "The mountain pass will clear up in one week. Meaning, it's almost time to leave this valley and find Anne a way home."
"Whoo! Love that!" Anne exclaimed.
"I'm quite intrigued to see Earth myself." Shadow said.
"Excitement!" Sprig declared.
"Sights!" Polly chimed in.
"Adrenaline pumping!" Kaemon added.
"And you know the best way to start a quest?" Hop Pop asked.
"Danger?" Sprig said with an excited grin.
"Weapons?" Polly added.
"Combat?!" Kaemon chimed in.
"Research!" Hop Pop declared, making everyone except Shadow groan, clearly not showing the same enthusiasm about research.
"Come on, everyone." Shadow tried to reason with them. "Research is important if we're gonna be prepared for whatever lurks beyond the valley."
"Exactly!" Hop Pop said. "We'll never get Anne home if we get bitten to death by a venomous snake fly."
Looking off at the steppe, Kaemon spotted a snake fly uncoil and hiss at them.
"Or eaten to death by a camouflaged sod skink." Shadow said, said snake fly getting eaten by a sod skink.
"Or crushed to death by a sand liger." Hop Pop said, before a sand liger appeared from nowhere and killed said sod skink before dragging it away.
"Okay, okay, okay. Enough death already." Anne said. "Sheesh. I'm beginning to think you guys are obsessed."
"Try cautious." Shadow retorted. "Better to be safe than sorry."
Soon enough, they arrived at their destination; the Historic Wartwood Town Archives. It wasn't much to look at on the outside, being a tiny stone building with a tiny wooden door. On top was a statue of a frog in a robe and holding a book. Next to it was the archive's sign, which seemed to be in much better condition than the building.
Sprig, however, groaned. "The town archives?" The little red frog groaned, grunting as he slipped into the front of the saddle. "This place is dustier than Dusty's dustbin."
"Who?" Polly asked.
"Come on. You know Dusty." Sprig said, sitting up. "Local dust merchant. Friendly, always smiling, sells dust."
"Oh, yeah, yeah. Right." Polly said, waving her flipper at him.
"Yeah, I caught the guy trying to dig through my pockets for lint." Kaemon said before getting out of the saddle.
"I get this place." Anne said with a smile. "It's like a library from my world. Zoobooks and manga, here I come!"
"Enough chatter, you lot. Time to hit the books." Hop Pop said, opening the frog-sized door.
Shadow, Anne, Kaemon made to follow, with Anne carrying Polly, but Sprig hopped back onto Bessie's saddle, determined to change their minds.
"Wait! Wouldn't we be better off preparing by diving headfirst into deadly situations?" Sprig declared, holding his hands up and giving an encouraging smile.
Shadow gave Sprig an exasperated look, "Sprig, do you have any idea how terrible that is?"
Anne, on the other hand, seemed to give it some thought, "Actually, maybe Sprig's right, Shadow. Research is overrated."
"Is that so?" Shadow raised a brow. "And how's diving into adventure been working out so far?"
"Oh, come on, Shadow." Anne said. "Name one time things went wrong?"
"Well, gee, let me think." Shadow said, a finger to his chin. "Remember that fire-breathing star-nosed mole you had trouble with?"
"Or the time you took Bessie for a joyride and got caught in a mudslide?" Hop Pop chimed in.
"And don't even get me started about the skunk!" Shadow cringed. "I honestly have no idea how you got into that situation in the first place!"
The memory alone made Anne and Polly give the thousand-yard stare. "I can still smell that skunk juice." Polly said, shuddering with Anne.
"Yeah. Fair enough. Research it is." Anne quickly said before approaching the small building.
"What? You're siding with Hop Pop?" Sprig asked incredulously, hopping after them.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, we are." Shadow said.
"This trip is gonna take us beyond the valley, Sprig." Anne told him. "Who knows what we'll run into out there?" She turned to enter, but didn't duck her head low enough and ended up hitting her head on the low door. "Ow."
Shadow chuckled as he and Kaemon followed after, Sprig groaning in annoyance and followed, having little choice on the matter.
They went down into the dark underground spiral staircase, walking past walls covered in glowing fungi, they soon came upon a golden metal doorway with a door that looked like it belonged in a vault. Walking through, Anne was amazed by what she saw. The inside of the archives resembled a giant library with two floors lined with shelves full of books, ranging from weapons to dangerous animals, to history and plants. There were also chairs and tables for any visitors to use when reading or researching.
Anne let out an impressed whistle, while Kaemon looked around in awe, "Wow, I've always wanted to visit a place like this."
Sprig, on the other hand, was still not a fan, "The archives." He groaned.
"This place seems pretty cool to me." Anne said, not understanding his problem.
"Sure, it seems cool, until you realize all you do here is read other people's cool adventures." Sprig complained.
"Okay, enough prattle." Hop Pop said. "We gotta get a move on before we're locked in here."
Anne turned to Hop Pop with confusion, "Uh, come again?"
"The door to this place is set on a sunlight timer." The old frog said, pointing above the door. "It opens when the sun rises and deadlocks when the sun sets."
Looking above the door, they saw a small mechanical device with rotating gears that were ticking. On it was a metal frog head with a glass monocle that had a beam of sunlight shining into it, the sunlight coming from a small skylight that was reflecting light off a mirror and a crystal.
"That is some steampunk-y nonsense right there." Anne said as they walked into the library, Sprig still grumbling about the smelling old books.
Walking up to the fireplace, Anne looked at the painting of an old frog hanging above it. Under the painting was a plaque, which she read from, "'Mycroft Newtback, archives founder. This structure, originally Newtback's home, was turned into the public archives after he died violently attempting to travel beyond the valley'."
There was a moment of silence as everyone straightened up.
"Ooookay, time to hit the books." Anne said.
In agreement, everyone decided to split up, with Shadow, Anne and Hop Pop going up to the second level while Kaemon, Sprig and Polly stayed on the first floor.
Hop Pop walked to one of the shelves and looked at one of the books. "'Only nature facts'. Fair." He said, and made to pull the book, but another had caught his attention. "Well, now. Hold on. 'Older than the old ways'. Now this I gotta read." He then grabbed several books before walking over to a table to begin his research.
Polly hopped around, browsing the shelves, before coming across a bookshelf that only had books about weapons. "Hot mama."
Kaemon looked around the first floor, looking about, humming to himself, trying to find a book to research, but none of the topics caught his attention.
"What to do, what to do…" He said to no one in particular.
"Kaemon, have you found anything?" Sprig asked, walking up to him.
"Can't quite find anything that interests me." Kaemon admitted. "To be frank, I'm not much of a reader, unless it's about swords."
"Right?! This is boring!" Sprig exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "We should be diving head-first into danger, using our wits to-"
"Found something!" Kaemon suddenly declared, pulling a book from the shelf, his eyes bright with excitement. "No way! This is the autobiography of Malikai!"
"Who?" Sprig asked.
"My ancestor who invented the four-sword style!" Kaemon told him. "He traveled across Amphibia, using his skills to protect the weak and punish the wicked! This book was his telling of his adventures around the continent!"
"Wait, I thought you were the first one to develop that style." Sprig pointed out.
"Nope, that was always my ancestor." Kaemon declared. "He was always the one to develop and master the Four-Sword Style." He held the book tightly. "I can learn so much from this!"
"Dude, seriously?" Sprig frowned. "What's the point of reading about other people's adventures when we could have our own?!"
"Sprig, there's nothing wrong with learning from other people's experiences." Kaemon returned the frown. "Sometimes, you can learn from reading other people's adventures and prepare for our own adventure!"
Sprig only scoffed before walking off, Kaemon shrugged before finding a spot to read, already invested in his ancestor's autobiography.
Meanwhile, Anne and Shadow sat together on a couch, reading with a stack of books between them. While Shadow read a book about fairytales, Anne was looking at a book with diagrams of various carnivorous plants.
"Ew." She said, looking at a plant biting a frog's eye.
Flipping through the pages, Shadow raised a brow at one particular tale.
"Interested in hearing a tale?" He asked his fellow human.
"As long as it doesn't involve horror." She replied.
"Trust me, you might like this one." Shadow said.
"Fine with me." Anne said, giving him her full attention.
Holding up the book, Shadow began to read.
Long ago, there was a black wolf, held in captivity by the mad king as a weapon of war. Fueled by a desire for freedom, the black wolf broke free from the chains that bind him and escaped, roaming the land without a place to call home.
The mad king, however, sent out a great many hunters to kill or capture the beast. Many had tried, all had failed, falling before the black wolf's might.
As time went on, the black wolf fell further into despair, crafting a hardened shell around his heart, isolating himself from the rest of the world.
One day, a maiden in blue approached the wolf's den and called out, "Oh mighty wolf. Why do you isolate yourself?"
Touched by the maiden's compassion, the wolf replied, "Seeking freedom denied to me by the mad tyrant. But even now, it feels as though I am being punished."
The maiden in blue approached and gently placed a hand against the wolf's muzzle and said, "You have been hurt, mighty wolf. You have a kind heart, and yet have been shown nothing but cruelty. The world and its people can be cruel, but you cannot harden your heart forever. You can become like those who would hunt and harm you…or you can rise above them, let yourself heal, and find it in you to give kindness to others."
The black wolf's shell melted away, for the first time, he felt at peace as he opened up to the maiden, allowing him to retake his original wolf form. The maiden, in return, revealed herself to be the great and wise goddess of the sky. And so, the two would travel together to bring peace to their world.
"And that's the story." Shadow said, looking up to see Anne tearing up.
"That was beautiful." She sniffed.
"It's a good tale." Shadow smiled. "My other caretaker would read it to me every night before bed."
"Other caretaker?" Anne repeated with confusion.
"I had two caretakers, both acted as my parental figures." Shadow told her. "The mother treated me like her own blood. She was one of the best parts of my upbringing."
"Well, at least it wasn't all bad." Anne said.
Nodding, Shadow had put the book away before picking up another book titled 'Weapons of Famous Heroes'. Turning the pages, he saw various weapons that belonged to famous heroes, such as a warhammer that belonged to Barrel the Brave. One entry, however, was about the Black Hope katana.
"That's curious." He said. "This book says that the Black Hope once belonged to a famous warlord. But rather than a king, he was revered to as a shogun."
"Ooh, that sounds interesting!" Anne said with interest.
"It says here that while he was a ruthless warlord, he cared about his people." Shadow read into the entry. "But one day, he just disappeared. Nobody knows what happened."
"Ooh, mystery." Anne nodded. "I had no idea that the sword had that much importance."
Before Shadow could read more, Sprig's hand came into view, with a crudely drawn face on it.
"Hi, Shadow. Whatcha doing?" Sprig asked in a weird voice, moving his thumb like a mouth.
"Sprig, stop acting like a child and read a book." Shadow said, pushing his hand away.
"Oh, come on." Sprig whined, but Shadow only got up and walked over to the bookshelves to get another book. Without him to bother, Sprig turned to Anne, hopping up on the back of the couch and getting close in her face. "Anne.~"
"Yeah, Sprig?" Anne said, annoyed but not taking her eyes off the book.
"Wouldn't it be better if we found some plants to fight?" Sprig asked.
"Nope." Anne replied before pushing a book in his hands. "Here, see if you can find a way to survive a tiger viper attack."
Sprig groaned, much to Shadow's ire, "Sprig, stop complaining and get to reading." He said in annoyance.
Sprig walked off, grumbling the whole way, before sitting on the floor at the edge with his legs between the railing poles and pouting like a child. "Stupid books. Stupid learning. Don't they want a real adventure?"
However, he looked at the mechanism that was keeping the door open, the light of the sun shining into the monocle as the gears clinked. This gave Sprig an idea, and he intended to have his way.
Shadow yawned as he set his book down. It had been two hours since they had started, hard at work to learn everything they could.
"All right, kids. Time for a lunch break." Hop Pop announced.
"I'm actually glad you suggested this, Hop Pop." Anne said. "I'm learning a ton about your terrifying world."
"Did you guys know that there are 60 weapons in the Morningstar family?" Polly asked.
"My great ancestor traveled the world!" Kaemon declared, hugging the book tightly.
"And I've learned a lot about my katana too." Shadow chimed in. "It belonged to a frog warlord by the name of Shen!"
"Shen the Unifier?!" Hop Pop gasped. "That was the first frog king to unify and rule all of Amphibia!"
"Wait, really?" Anne said. "I thought he might've just ruled Frog Valley."
"Not just the valley, but the whole of Amphibia!" Hop Pop told her. "Sure, he was a ruthless warlord, but he cared about his subjects. In fact, once a month, he would come down to the villages and visit the towns!"
"But then he died of mysterious circumstances." Shadow said. "I wonder what caused that…"
As they approached the door, however, they saw that it was shut.
"The door is shut!" Hop Pop gasped.
Shadow, Kaemon and Anne rushed forward and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge.
"This can't be right!" Shadow exclaimed. "We weren't in here for that long!"
"Uh, guys?" Polly said, pointing up at the mechanism, everyone looking up to see the lens missing.
"The lens is missing!" Hop Pop gasped.
"We can see that!" Kaemon said loudly. "But who the hell would want to trap us in here?"
His question was answered with the sound of someone clearing their throat, looking to see Sprig sitting on a mushroom lamp, his back facing them and his hands together.
"Maybe somebody is trying to prepare us by forcing us to dive in." He said, looking over his shoulder at them and letting the mystery linger just a bit longer. "Me! I did it."
"Sprig, have you lost your frog marbles?" Shadow said, clearly not happy with what the frog boy was attempting to do, as he walked over to them, as if expecting to be showered with appreciation.
"Yeah, put that piece back!" Anne yelled.
"Guys, reading these moldy, old books ain't gonna prepare us for squat." Sprig declared, still believing he was right. "What we need is a daring escape from an old, underground library!"
He was then met with a katana pointed in his face, Sprig staring up at a very very angry looking Kaemon, his angry eyes staring right into Sprig's scared eyes.
"You listen here, you lily pad squatter," He growled. "If you think we're gonna play your game because you refuse to read, you better get that little head of yours check! Now you either put that piece back, or I'm gonna cut you into sashimi and feed you to my pet alligator!"
"Dude, a little much?" Anne said, a little scared of the newt's anger.
"Kaemon, there's no need to threaten him." Shadow frowned.
Reigning in his anger, Kaemon took a few deep breaths before sheathing his sword, "Sorry. I just don't like being trapped. Especially because of some bored idiot!"
"Kaemon's right, boy." Hop Pop said, not happy with his grandson's actions. "Now hand it over."
Sprig sighed exasperatedly, "Fine. Party poopers." He then reached into his pocket. But when he couldn't find it, he started to get nervous. Especially when he started looking through the other pocket and still couldn't find it. "I know I have it…somewhere," He stepped back a bit, noticing how the others were getting angrier, only to step on something small and what felt like glass.
He prayed to his frog god that it wasn't what he thought it was, looking down to see that it was the lens, shattered under his foot.
"Well, that's not good." Polly said.
Anne groaned and yelled, "Sprig!"
"Uh, maybe I can fix it." Sprig said before kneeling down and carefully pushing the pieces back together, then carefully picking it off the ground. "Aha! Good as new!"
He then sneezed into it, everyone watching in wide eyed horror as the pieces went everywhere, never to be seen again.
"Uh…" Sprig said nervously. "…who needs glasses, am I right?"
Kaemon then reached for his sword.
"Kaemon, wait!" Anne said.
"I just wanna talk to him." Kaemon said, pulling his sword free and making to approach a terrified Sprig.
"Kaemon, calm down." Shadow said, holding the newt back.
"I just wanna talk to him."
"Dude, chill!" Polly yelled.
"I just wanna kill him." Kaemon said through gritted teeth, as Shadow, Anne, and Polly held on to him to keep him from hurting Sprig.
"All of you, stop!" Hop Pop yelled. "Yelling at each other and threatening one another ain't fixing any of this."
"You got any ideas, old man?!" Kaemon shouted before pointing a sword in Sprig's direction. "No one knows we're here, and because of your frog damned grandson, we're trapped here!"
"Well, we wait for someone to visit the archives." Hop Pop told him.
"Oh, okay. Well, when was the last time someone came down here?" Anne asked.
Hop Pop pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it a look over, "Well, I checked the logs, and it says... three years ago."
There was silence, the group realizing they were trapped. Anne, Polly and Kaemon started banging on the door, screaming for help, but to no avail.
"This is it! This is how it ends!" Anne said in a panic, hyperventilating.
"Everyone, panicking will do us no good." Shadow told them. "Right now, we need to think of a way out." He then pointed at Sprig. "Sprig, be quiet."
"What? What did I say?" Sprig asked, throwing his hands up.
"Nothing, yet." Shadow gave a stern glare. "But I had a feeling that you were going to make some big inspirational speech, even though you were the one who put us in this situation in the first place."
"So, does anyone have any ideas?" Hop Pop asked.
Looking up, Kaemon looked at the skylight, "I could climb up through the skylight and open the door from the outside. I think it's big enough for me to squeeze through."
"That's it!" Anne declared. "Kaemon, you're a genius!"
Kaemon climbed the walls of the library before reaching the skylight, pushing the glass out before sticking his head up, taking in a breath of fresh air before fully climbing out.
"Okay, I've made it outside!" He called down.
"Try to open the door!" Shadow yelled up to him.
Nodding, Kaemon made his way to the entrance, looking for a handle or a secret switch, but found nothing.
"There is no switch!" He called.
"Are you serious?!" Anne yelled. "Isn't there some kinda secret emergency switch or something?!"
"I'm sorry, Anne, but I don't see any!" Kaemon called. "Seriously, who makes doors like this without a handle!?"
"You're gonna have to go into town and get help there." Shadow exclaimed. "Someone has to know how to make a new lens for the door."
"And leave you guys here?! Unless…Hang on!" He called before rushing back outside. Thankfully, Bessie and Ironhide were still sitting there, both giving each other flirting gazes. The newt ran to the snails and petted them, earning him coos from both snails, before reaching into Ironhide's saddle bag and pulling up some rope. Heading back to the skylight, he tied the rope around a tree, testing it to make sure it was secured, then tossed it down the hole.
"Try climbing out!" He called.
"Dude, we could've just flown out." Anne whispered to Shadow.
"Let him have this." Shadow replied.
Shrugging, Anne concentrated and flew upward to the hole, Shadow standing by to allow her to go first, as well as jump in should she fall, but his eyes widened a bit when he realized he was looking up her skirt, his face turning red at the sight of her underwear before turning away.
"Hey, you better not be looking up my skirt!" Anne yelled down at him, realizing he was in the perfect position to do so.
"I swear, I'm not!" Shadow yelled back, before seeing the Plantars staring at him. "Not a word."
Popping her head out, Anne pulled herself out, taking in a breath before getting to her feet. Shadow flew upward, while the Plantars started climbing up the rope.
Sprig, still convinced he was in the right, felt it best to gloat, "See, guys? How do you feel about diving in now?"
"Sprig, now is not the time." Shadow said, pocking his head and arm out through the hole, only to find that he couldn't quite fit through. Compared to Anne, who was much slimmer, Shadow was much broader and couldn't fit through. "Oh, this isn't good."
"What's wrong?" Anne asked.
Shadow tried to force himself out, but to no avail, "I can't get out!"
"Master, try not to panic." Kaemon suggested. "Just go back down. The Plantars will come up and we'll dig a bigger hole for you."
"Okay, that can work." Shadow nodded and tried to go back down, grunting and groaning before realizing something. "Guys, I think I'm stuck."
"What?!" Anne cried out.
"I'm seriously stuck!" Shadow yelled, thrashing about. "I can't get out!"
"Hang on, I've got you!" Kaemon yelled before attempting to push the boy back down, but this only caused pain for his neck.
"OW! OW! OW! QUIT THAT! IT'S NOT HELPING!" Shadow yelled before the newt backed off.
"I got this!" Sprig declared, climbing up the rope, but when he was halfway up, the rope snapped, causing the frog to fall to the ground.
"Uh, what just happened?" Shadow asked with concern.
"Uh, nothing. Everything's fine." Sprig said nervously.
"Sprig!" Shadow, Anne, and Kaemon yelled.
"Okay, the rope snapped, you're stuck and blocking our only way out." Sprig quickly said.
"Oh, now that's just perfect!" Kaemon yelled in anger. "What else could go wrong?!"
"Don't worry. We'll build a tower of books and get you down." Sprig called.
Sighing, Kaemon only fell flat on his back before noticing Shadow chuckling a bit.
"Master, this is hardly something to laugh about." The newt said with a frown.
"No, not that." Shadow said with a shake of his head. "I'm just thinking about what Apollo would say if he saw me like this. 'Oh dear brother, is this how you fall? Bested by a mere hole in the dirt? Shameful'."
Kaemon and Anne stared at him for a moment before chuckling themselves, Shadow smiling that he did something to lighten the mood, before noticing the tired look on Anne's face.
"Anne, if you need to rest, go ahead." Shadow told the girl. "It's gonna be a while before the Plantars get me out."
"I don't need to rest." Anne denied. "Not while you're stuck like this."
"No need to act tough, Anne." Kaemon said. "What're you trying to prove, anyways?"
Anne tilted her head down in shame, "That I'm not a burden. Ever since I got here, I've caused nothing but trouble for you guys. The lake, Domino 2, the whole camping trip, those toads…I just don't want you guys to think I'm holding you guys back."
Seeing the tears threatening to fall from his friend's face, Shadow sighed, not liking seeing her sad, before reaching with his free hand, gently rubbing her arm.
"Anne, you were never a burden for me." He told her. "If anything, taking you in has been the best choice I've ever made."
"You mean that?" Anne looked at the boy.
"I was in a dark place for the longest time." Shadow revealed. "I was isolating myself for the sake of others. But meeting you has brought light into my life like never before. You made me feel things I hadn't felt in so long." He looked up into her eyes. "You make me feel good enough."
Anne blushed at his words, her heart beating fast, before they heard a strange buzzing noise.
"What's that sound?" Anne asked with worry.
"Uh, it's cicadas coming out to graze." Sprig said, having heard the sound, which filled him with horror "Which is totally fine. If you just stay super quiet, they should go away."
"Oh, cicadas, like little cute cicadas?" Anne said hopeful, when suddenly a very large cicada landed in front of her. "Oh, my God! That's huge!" Another landed behind Shadow, causing Anne and Kaemon to yell before jumping to their feet, as one of them advanced on a defenseless Shadow.
"I don't like the way they're looking at me." Shadow said, before seeing another cicada grazing a bush before another landed and approached him, its eyes locked on his black hair. "I'm warning you; I give serious indigestion!"
"Hang on, Master!" Kaemon yelled, drawing out two of his swords, while Anne pulled out her tennis racket.
One of the cicadas advanced on them, only for Anne to bat it away with a swing of her racket before another rushed her from behind, biting her leg, causing her to scream in pain.
"I'm not food!" She yelled before throwing the bug off.
Kaemon jumped on the back of a cicada before cutting it head off, dashing off to slash at two more before another bit his tail.
"Yeow!" He yelped in pain before kicking the bug in the head. "My tail ain't for biting!"
"Guys, we need some help!" Shadow yelled, using his free hand to snap the neck of a cicada. "Otherwise, we're screwed!"
"I can't believe this. I tried to do things the right way!" Anne groaned before smacking another cicada. "And now I'm gonna die stuck in this stupid hole and I'll never get back home!"
At that moment, Sprig had an idea, "That's it! This building used to be someone's home, which means, there was a bathroom!"
"Sprig, now is not the time to be using the toilet!" Shadow yelled, slamming another cicada into the ground, crushing its head.
"No, Sprig's onto something!" Hop Pop said.
Polly thought for a moment before she started realizing what her family was getting at, "There was a bathroom. That also means there were—"
"Pipes!" Sprig yelled before rushing off to find a book and flipping the pages, then pulling out a scroll and unrolling it. "Aha! Here it is! The blueprints!"
"And look here." Hop Pop said, pointing at a part of the blueprints. "This is where the bathroom used to be," He then pointed upwards at the bookcase in front of them. "behind that bookcase. We just need to break it down!"
With a war cry, Polly used the flail she saw earlier to break down the bookcase and the wall, revealing the bathroom.
"War cry!" Polly yelled, swinging the flail around.
Sprig ran inside, seeing no toilet connected to the pipe, "Yes! Don't worry, guys! I'm on my way!" He then began climbing up inside the pipe.
"Sprig! Hurry up and help us!" Anne yelled, swatting away another cicada before another jumped on her back, biting at her hair. "Gah!"
"Anne!" Kaemon yelled, cutting down three more, only for another to bite down on his leg, then another bit down on his arm. "Crap!"
"Anne! Kaemon!" Shadow gasped, crushing the throat of a cicada, before another bit his arm, causing him to yell in pain, before another chewed at his hair. "Get off!"
Meanwhile, in Felicia's Tea Shoppe, business was going good, with every table occupied, as the mother of Ivy went to the restroom. A few moments later, the flushing of the toilet can be heard, indicating that she had finished her business.
However, Felicia let out of scream and opened the door, as Sprig, covered in toilet water and no doubt women's urine, ran out, chanting, "Sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry."
He then proceeded to run out of the tea shop, determined to save his friends.
Despite their best efforts, Anne and Kaemon were being overwhelmed by the numbers of the cicadas, both human and newt having lost their weapons, the giant bugs biting on them, mostly their hair, when…
"Yahoo!" Suddenly, Sprig jumped out of nowhere, tackling one of the cicadas before climbing on its back. "Help has arrived!"
"Sprig?" Anne exclaimed, happy to see her frog friend.
"Wait. How did you get out?" Kaemon asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Sprig grimaced before kicking the cicada in the side, the bug neighing like a horse before tackling into the other bugs like bowling ball pins, sending the ones still alive flying off. "Whoo-hoo!" He cheered, jumping off the cicada he was on with a flip, landing near the trio. "See you later, cicadas!" He yelled, blowing a raspberry.
"Thanks, Sprig. That was a close one." Anne said with a grateful smile, as Kaemon helped her up.
"I'm just glad you're okay." Sprig said.
"Yeah, so am I./Me too." Both Polly and Hop Pop said as they approached, much to the surprise of the humans and newt. "We couldn't wait. So we took the pipes too." Polly said.
"I've seen things." Hop Pop said in a haunted voice.
"So we did it!" Sprig cheered in delight. "We dove into another adventure and escaped! I told you it would work."
Everyone glared at him, however, and Kaemon had the worst reaction.
"Are you kidding me?!" The newt snapped at the frog boy furiously. "We didn't dive in! You pushed us! All because you wouldn't stop whining for five minutes to read a damn book!"
Sprig shrugged and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but—"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Kaemon roared, much to everyone's shock, startling Sprig, even Shadow was taken aback by the newts anger on display. "Not only did you trap us in the archives, but you also almost got us killed! This trip out of the valley, it's not just another game or adventure. It's Anne's chance to get home. We can't mess this up. And we especially don't 'dive in' to terrible situations all because you're bored and don't want to read!"
Sprig looked away in shame, grabbing his left arm. Hearing these words made him realize just how selfish his actions were and he could feel the weight of them. "Guys, I'm sorry." He said. "I just wanted to have an adventure, like we always do. I should have remembered that it was so important for Anne."
"Sprig." He turned to Shadow, who had a serious expression on his face. "Come here."
The frog boy sat next to him so he could be at eye level.
"I understand." The human boy said. "When I was younger than you, I hated the very idea of reading, let alone studying. But after reading my first book, I was invested. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to become someone worthy of protecting the weak, so I studied all I could; language skills, chemistry and biology, math and physics, the whole nine yards." He then gave a serious look. "Because, in the words of a famous philosopher, knowledge is power; you need just as much intellectual strength as you do physical strength."
Sprig seemed in awe at Shadow's words, especially Polly, her mouth hanging open.
"So if I study, could I make weapons?!" Polly exclaimed her question.
"Absolutely!" Shadow declared.
"Could I build bridges?!" Sprig asked excitedly.
"You sure can!" Shadow declared again.
"Could I conquer the world?!" Polly shouted.
Shadow seemed hesitant to answer, but gave an answer, "I…well, I guess, if that's what you want."
"Look, we do want to have more adventures with you," Anne said, placing a hand on Sprig's shoulder. "And if that means doing a few things I don't like to help me get ready, well, then..."
"Then that's what we'll do, together." Sprig finished, looking at Shadow, who gave a smile and a nod, before turning to Kaemon with a hopeful smile.
Kameon frowned at him for a moment, before sighing a smiling, "Together."
"Yeah!" Sprig cheered as he jumped at the newt with a hug, happy to have been forgiven.
Suddenly, however, the ground collapsed beneath Shadow, Anne, Kaemon and Sprig, and while the humans were able to keep themselves afloat with their ability of flight, but Kaemon and Sprig weren't so lucky, falling down screaming. The humans, Hop Pop and Polly looked down and saw the two laying on a pile of books, both groaning in pain.
"We're okay! We landed on books!" Kaemon called up.
"Knowledge hurts." Sprig groaned.
Meanwhile, as night fell, far from Wartwood, a lone frog ran through the woods, breathing heavily, desperate to escape from something, before stopping behind a tree, trying to catch his breath, before screaming as a sword punched right through the tree, making the frog run once again. Dashing through the forest, the frog suddenly saw a red streak dart across the forest, before a wall of flame erupted, blocking his path.
Screaming in fright, he tried to escape another way, before feeling his body begin to shrivel up, as though the water was being drained from his body, falling to his hands and knees, watching in horror as his pursuer approached, a katana crackling with electricity, the frog looking up to see a rather human looking face with a scar over his right eye and appeared to be in his forties.
"I've done nothing to deserve this," The frog choked out, coughing. "Why must you do this? Why must I die?!"
The stranger stared down at the frog, face blank, before raising his sword.
"Nothing personal." He said. "Just business."
He then swung the sword downward, the last thing being heard throughout the night was a dying scream.