Chapter Text
After a few days of traveling and a small problem in a town that Sasha refused to remember, she and the Plantars decided to stop in a forest to camp and eat a little.
Hop Pop was making something for everyone to eat, Sprig was preparing a tent while Polly took care of making a makeshift table. Sasha looked around, scythe in hand, ready to defend them from any predators that appeared. Sometimes she got bored and thought about relaxing, but the image of a tower made her abandon that thought and tighten her grip on her weapon.
“Okay, dinner is ready!” Hop Pop announced, going to the improvised table with a pan, the rest of the family approaching, with the young frogs celebrating. “Now hold onto your butts...” He opened the pan, only to reveal a half-roasted twig. “Bam! Stick surprise!”
The young frogs let out disappointed sighs, while the young human raised an eyebrow.
“Hop Pop, even I doubt that this is considered food anywhere in this world.”
“But I didn’t tell you what the surprise is...” He said, making Polly and Sprig perk up again. “... All right, there’s no surprise.” The two of them made dejected sounds again. “Sorry kids. This journey's been longer than expected, and we're out of food.”
“No food, huh? That's what you plebes think. ” Polly muttered, grabbing a biscuit from her bow and taking a bite, then hiding it again. Sasha ignored this and looked down at her scythe, for a moment seeing a hand that wasn’t hers holding hers before letting go.
“… Maybe it’s best if you guys go back. I think I can make it to Newtopia by myself, so…” Before she could finish speaking, Hop Pop silenced her.
“Nonsense. This is a family trip too, Sasha, and we’re not going to abandon you because things are tough.”
“Yeah! And it’s not like we’re going to starve. This is our chance to find food the way nature intended. As hunters!” Sprig commented proudly, almost puffing out his chest in excitement.
Sasha tilted her head a little as she thought. Hunters? The Plantar family, besides being farmers, are also hunters? It would make sense, honestly, considering that the basement of the house was full of things that no one would imagine a family of frogs working on a farm would do, from gladiators to scientists.
Still, she had a little trouble thinking of the Plantars as hunters, or even herself. She was a very capable fighter, but she doubted that she would be a good hunter; it was easier for an animal to try to attack her and end up becoming her dinner than for her to be able to hunt prey. Anne might do better than her, but Sasha could see her idealizing the idea of hunting something and being disappointed with the reality, leaving her with no desire to do it. Marcy would probably anger the wildlife in less than five minutes...
(“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...”)
Sasha suppressed the thought tightly.
“Do you want to come with me? I can teach you how to hunt the Plantar way, just like Hop Pop taught me!” Sprig offered, thankfully pulling Sasha out of her haunting memories.
“That’s fine with me, what about you, Hop Pop?” Hop Pop looked thoughtful for a moment, almost looking like he was analyzing.
“...Hmm, okay, but you two need to be careful. We're not in the valley anymore. Who knows what dangerous predators could be lurking about? They could be poisonous or they could be psychic. They could be poisonous and psychic. You don't know!” He was almost shouting as he pointed at the children, and Sasha dodged her finger the other way.
“Yes, we understand, it’s dangerous to go alone, we’ll be careful.” Sasha sighed, if it weren’t for the fact that she no longer trusted the toads after the tower, she would have had her weasels accompany them. Even if they were just the pups, they would certainly be very useful here in the wild for protection or hunting. But she couldn't trust them, so she left the four of them to protect the town.
(“This is the Pain Room, where soldiers and prisoners who have been here for a while are taken to be tortured in some way to make them submit to the tower captain.”)
Sasha bit the inside of her mouth, ignoring the images that flashed through her mind.
“Sasha, are you ready to hunt?” She turned to Sprig and forced a small smile onto her face.
“Sure, sounds cool.”
***
As she expected, it wasn't cool at all.
Once they were far from the small camp, Sprig immediately walked over to a mound of mud and bit into a piece. Gross. After spitting it out and saying he had a trail, he began explaining that hunting was about becoming one with nature, not trying to conquer it or anything like that. Interesting. He explained the three steps of hunting as a Plantar, the first being finding your prey, which was why he bit into the mud, and he actually found a trail of some bugs while licking the dirt or eating a leaf. Still gross, but effective. The second step was to use your surroundings, preferably to create a trap for your prey, which he did by digging a hole and placing a wooden path through the thicket where the bugs were. Makes sense.
It was the third and final step that really made her question what they were doing.
Because the third step... Was dancing.
More specifically, doing the Plantar family's Hunting Dance, which had been around for generations.
Sasha wasn't going to belittle the work, the dance Sprig did really seemed to have some kind of hypnotic effect on the creatures, making the little sweet dumpling-like worms go for the trap without hesitation. Some of the moves were actually pretty cool, and Sasha found herself getting the hang of how to do it without much trouble.
Still... Seeing Sprig fall to the ground and jump like a fish out of water before getting up and hitting his head on the ground a few times made her doubt the sanity of it all.
“Is all this really necessary? I mean, I don’t think these things are worth hitting your head on a rock over and over.” Sasha commented, approaching the bush and picking up one of the worms with her own hands. It squirmed a little, but didn’t make much of an effort to get away. Sprig massaged his head.
“Okay, maybe I might have exaggerated a little. But not all prey will be as easy as grubbles, and that's not the point. Hunting is about connecting to the harmony of nature. Let its rhythm flow through you” He moved a little in a rhythm that only he could hear. “Can you hear the drums, Sasha? Can you hear them playing the beat of the hunt?”
(The scythe and the spear met in a conflicting rhythm, her gaze the entire time fixed on her friend's face. It was a dance of blades to lessen the suspicion of her friend's captor, both just waiting for the right moment for her to finally use her scythe against the one who deserves it. But the moment never came, and her friend paid the price for it.)
“The last time I followed someone else’s lead, I lost one of my best friends.”
The mood suddenly grew heavy, and Sasha looked away, a neutral expression appearing on her face. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but it was no less than the truth. If she hadn’t been so focused on what was happening with the battle, paid attention to her surroundings, to what Wally was doing in the sewer, or reacted faster when the tower began to collapse, things would have ended in a completely different way.
“Sasha...” Sprig raised his hand to touch her, but Sasha turned her back on him, taking a step forward.
“Think these worms are enough for everyone?” She asked, receiving an affirmative sound. “Great. Then let’s go.”
She grabbed as many as she could and started back toward camp. Sasha heard Sprig's cautious footsteps approaching her before he appeared in her line of sight, also holding a few worms and looking haggard. She thought about trying to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say or how to say it, so she resigned herself to having a silent walk with him.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize they were being followed until it was too late.
***
Sasha groaned as she sat down, massaging her head as her left arm felt a little sore. What the hell...
And then her eyes widened and she stood up quickly as memories came flooding back.
The animal. That... Part lion, part wolf, part scorpion thing appeared as everyone prepared to eat the worms Sprig had found. It suddenly attacked from the trees and Sasha managed to get everyone out of the way. She went to grab her scythe to fight it, but the animal used its stinger and hit her arm. She fainted soon after.
She looked around, the camp was empty, except for Bessie who was curled up in her shell and shaking in fear. Sasha ran to her and gently petted her until she calmed down, trying to find some clue as to where that creature had taken the Plantar family. If there was no skeleton or blood, it meant the animal hadn't killed anyone, so it must have taken everyone to its den to feed.
She hoped it wouldn’t be another Snow Day Shenanigans. Sasha wasn’t in the mood to adopt yet another family of wild and dangerous animals.
Sasha finally found some claw marks that led in a direction deep into the forest. She pulled Bessie out of the fwagon and asked her to hide in her shell somewhere nearby so Sasha could come find her when she saved the Plantars. Bessie did so and Sasha picked up her scythe, starting to follow the trail of destruction. She hoped the trail would lead her to the den soon, but the destruction began to fade away, the trail growing cold as Sasha came to a crossroads she didn’t know where to go.
“No, no, no…” She took a step forward, her gaze darting back and forth between the various paths. “I can’t fail now, not again. I need to find them, I need to protect them!”
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she knelt on the ground, her hands pulling at her hair. It was all happening again. People Sasha cared about, worried about, were in danger, and Sasha could do nothing to help them. Despair and hopelessness began to consume her mind as memories of all the times she had failed her friends came flooding back.
(“I bet this brat could fetch a lot of money on the black market. What do you guys think?”)
(“We’re here to put an end to this stupid rebellion of yours, frogs. Capture everyone involved!”)
(“…Hey, Sasha?”)
“I can’t fail them too... I have to find them...”
***
That's... not good.
No. But it could be worse. She still has a chance of finding them alive if she pulls herself together.
Yeah, but I think I can help speed things up a bit... Hehe.
? What's wrong?
It's just... If it works out the way I think it will... This will be kind of fun.
Oh? I'm looking forward to it.
***
‘So what are you waiting for? Sasha Waybright never backs down from a challenge! Just use the tricks Sprig taught you and you’ll succeed!’
Sasha blinked, the incredibly familiar voice cutting through her dark thoughts. She looked back and a pink glow seemed to come out of her, before condensing into a humanoid form. And that form was…
“…Marcy?”
Marcy smiled and waved at her.
‘Hi Sashy.’
“What the…” Sasha took a hesitant step and tried to touch her, only to walk right past her. That and the fact that Marcy was semi-translucent, surrounded by a pink aura, made Sasha’s mind quickly conclude one thing. “You… You died? Did you end up dying after the tower? Oh, Marcy, I’m so sorry, I-”
‘Hey, hey, hey, calm down!’ The ghostly Marcy held up her hands as she tried to calm the blonde. ‘I’m not the ghost of your Marcy, she’s not even dead! The toads caught her before she fell, remember? And nothing bad is happening to her…’ She paused, looking hesitant. ‘… Nothing that can’t be fixed with time. Probably, of course.’
Sasha looked suspiciously at the being in front of her.
“Really?”
‘Really.’ She smiled softly. ‘I’m not your Marcy, and she’s not dead. I promise.’
“Hm...” Sasha placed a hand on her chin, thoughtful. “Okay, if you’re telling the truth, then you’re not her ghost that came to haunt me, even though you’re here, in front of me, looking like a spirit. And if that’s true, it can only mean one thing...” She casually pointed at the being in front of her with a tired expression. “... The stress finally caught up with me, and I snapped.”
The stress-induced hallucination that looked like her friend simply smiled, and that was confirmation enough for Sasha, who sighed and took a closer look at her.
“... Why did you take Marcy’s form? And your armor looks... Different.” Sasha commented, looking up and down at the translucent being. She didn’t remember much about the armor Marcy was wearing, but she knew it was something similar to the ones that toad’s soldiers wore, those big, heavy armors. Not armor that looked light and comfortable, and definitely not with such a fluffy, furry cape.
‘Don’t question the appearance of your stress-induced hallucination, Sasha.’ Marcy commented with a playful smile. ‘But if you want, I can take the form of a floating head that follows you around.’
“...” The thought of having her friend’s floating head following her, even if it was a hallucination, sent a shiver down Sasha’s spine. She decided to ignore the comment with another question. “So, what do we do?”
‘Just follow what Sprig taught you.’ Marcy-Hallucination walked to the trail split and stopped in front of Sasha. ‘You remember the three steps, don’t you?’
“The three steps...” Sasha took a few steps forward and knelt down. “First step is to track your prey.” She put her face close to the ground and hesitated, sitting up. “Do I really have to eat dirt?”
‘I mean, it would be effective, but I think just licking it is enough.’
“That option isn’t much better, you know? Who knows how many disgusting things have passed through here.”
‘Sashy, be honest. Would you rather lick the ground or lose your frog family?’
Sasha frowned and grunted, but put her face back in the dirt and licked. She grimaced in disgust at the sensation and taste, but stopped and paid a little more attention to the taste, there was something a little different, something slightly sweet and familiar. Marcy-Hallucination leaned curiously towards Sasha, who licked the ground again to make sure of that flavor.
‘Found something?’
“... Yes... Yes! I know that taste! It’s biscuit. Polly’s biscuit.” Sasha stood up, the biscuit taste was more right than left, which meant... “It’s to the right!”
So, with her confidence and hope renewed, she began her hunt.
It was honestly fun, even with the dangers and the fear that she would be too late. The adrenaline pumping through her veins, the need to find the details or she would get stuck, the feeling of triumph whenever she found a fresh clue that meant she was getting closer. It was all an almost intoxicating feeling compared to the emptiness she had been feeling since the tower.
For the first time in days, Sasha's head wasn't in a constant loop of her mistakes, nor was her chest tight with the feeling of uselessness. No, she didn't have time to process past actions or negative feelings. She had to stay aware of her surroundings or she would lose the trail, and she couldn't lose the trail.
Sasha could use her wit and heart, but she focused more on her instincts.
For some reason, Marcy-Hallucination almost seemed proud of this, encouraging her to keep going like this.
‘Don’t worry about the green-hued future, or the blue feelings of the past… Accept them, but focus on the pink blood that runs through your veins in the now.’
A strange way of saying ‘focus on the now’, but it helps her whenever she starts to lose her focus, the world feeling slightly blurrier and harder to navigate every time she doesn’t focus on her mission.
‘Can you feel it?’
Yes, Sasha can feel it. The sense of power in her being, the fire that seems to burn in her chest, the way the trails appear in a redder tone than normal, making it easier for her to notice them. That… Pink blood running through her veins, encouraging her to keep going. Nothing could stop her, not even gravity was an obstacle, nothing bent to her will, but nothing was really trying to stop her.
She was a force on a mission, and nature recognized that and let her go on without challenge.
Finally, she reached a cave, several amphibian bones scattered around. And right in front of her, that animal had just knocked the Plantars off its tail, trapping them with its claws as it prepared to devour them. Sasha prepared to advance.
‘Wait. Your scythe isn’t strong enough to cut through its shell.’ Marcy-Hallucination suddenly commented, and this made Sasha growl a little in frustration and put her weapon back on her back, she was so close to accomplishing her goal!
“So what do I do now?”
‘Continue with the Plantar style of hunting.’ Marcy-Hallucination turned to her. ‘What’s the second step?’
“Use the surroundings. Create a trap.” Quickly, Sasha began to dig a hole wide enough for the animal.
Luckily for her, the animal seemed to be acting a bit like a cat, enjoying the Plantars’ desperate attempts to escape before going in for the kill, which gave Sasha considerable time to create a hole wide enough for the animal to fall into. She placed some leaves in time to see the animal open its mouth, and then the animal’s jaw split like one of those creatures from a horror movie.
“Scary.” Sasha’s comment was made in a neutral tone, which made Marcy-Hallucination laugh lightly. “And now?”
‘Oh, you know the last step…’ She gave an excited smile. ‘The dance!’ That made Sasha hesitate, looking down with her body tense. ‘I know you can imitate that dance, you’ve always been good at it. And no one will mock the movements, there’s only me and the Plantars, after all.’
“It’s not that...” She looked back at the Plantars, the animal finally looking ready to devour them, and yet, something in Sasha was a little afraid. “I...”
‘... It’s because of what happened in the tower.’ It wasn’t a question, but Sasha nodded slightly, and clenched her fists, maybe if she ran and jumped at the animal, she would set the Plantars free and... ‘You realize that you got into the rhythm of nature a little while ago, don’t you?’
That made Sasha hesitate, looking at the illusion of her friend, who smiled gently at her.
‘You can do this, and it will be okay. I know it. I promise.’
(“... I’ve always needed you... But maybe you've never needed me.”)
“... I don’t want to do this, not alone.” Sasha looked away before looking directly into her friend’s eyes. “So, even if I’m the only one who sees you... Do you want to dance with me?”
Her friend’s eyes widened a little before softening, a sweet and loving smile on her face.
‘I would love to.’
The animal licked Polly, who looked disgusted for a moment before returning to terror, and prepared to eat the smaller ones when it heard footsteps. It turned and found a warm-blooded bipedal creature, looking to the side for a moment with a smile before turning to its with a determined expression. It growled, demonstrating its dominance, and the creature placed her hands on the ground and... Began to move in a rhythm.
A rhythm... impressive. Wonderful even. An aura seemed to come off of her as she danced, and the animal couldn’t help but let go of its preys. A strange need to do what that creature told it to do arose, and now it was telling it to get closer to her.
Meanwhile, still doing the dance, Sasha opened her eyes a little and smiled a little at the clumsy way her friend's illusion followed her.
"Having rhythm problems?" Marcy-Hallucination laughed.
‘You know Super Dance Fusion is the only game I'm bad at.’ Sasha also laughed, but kept dancing.
She focused on the animal, which was walking towards her in the same way those worms had gone towards Sprig. As ridiculous as the dance was, Sasha couldn't deny the results, it was something incredibly potent against animals, she was probably messing up or making up some steps and it still worked perfectly. Still, she didn't really feel like writhing like a fish or banging her head on the ground, so as much as a part of her wanted to do a perfect hunt like Plantar, she would have to finish it Sasha-style.
So when the animal stood in front of her and she crouched down while dancing, she winked at her friend, who nod, and grabbed a handful of dirt to throw in the animal's face.
The animal screamed in confusion, quickly snapping out of its trance, and growled aggressively at the human, who simply gestured for it to come to her. The animal, furious, jumped to attack her, only for her to duck at the last second, causing it to run over her and straight into the trap.
"Heh, loser!" she yelled, and without wasting time, she grabbed the Plantars and ran. No time to celebrate or have any conversation, the animal could leave at any moment and she didn't want to be there when it did.
***
The ride back was pretty uneventful considering everything. The animal didn't follow them, which Sasha was very grateful for, she really didn't feel like fighting right now. Once they got back to camp, Bessie quickly greeted everyone, and Sasha checked them for any injuries they might have, relieved that they were just minor scratches at most.
“That was amazing, Sasha! It was the best hunter's dance I've ever seen!” Sprig commented excitedly, Sasha smiling.
“Well, I followed nature's rhythm, like you said, and it worked. Maybe... Maybe it's not as bad not to take control as I thought.” She whispered the last part, a little thoughtfully.
“Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving!” Polly complained, jumping for her bucket. “When's dinner?”
While the Plantars argued and searched for the worms Sprig had hunted, Sasha stood up and asked for some time alone. She didn’t stray too far, just enough to have a private conversation without looking crazy.
“So, are you going to disappear now?” She asked the illusion of her friend, a little dejected. Marcy-Hallucination gave a sad smile.
‘Yes, I will. You’re better now, so you don’t need a guide.’ Was her answer, Sasha looked down with her hands clenched. She knew it was an illusion, but still, she felt like she was losing her friend a second time. ‘Sashy, look at me.’ She did, meeting her friend’s soft smile again. ‘Don’t worry. Soon you’ll be reunited with your Marcy and Anne and things will get better, have no doubt about it. Everything will be okay.’
Sasha nodded and hesitated for a moment, before stepping forward and taking her hand. Not exactly ‘holding her hand’, she was pretending to hold something in the air, but that was exactly where Marcy’s hand was, so it was the closest thing she could do. Marcy looked at her in surprise, also realizing what she wanted to do.
“...I failed you before, Marcy, but it won’t happen again. I will find you, and I will save you. So please, hold on.” Sasha steeled herself to say the words she knew she would probably never be able to say to her friend. “... I love you. And I forgive you. For everything.”
The two stared at each other for a moment without reacting, and then, surprisingly, tears began to fall from Marcy’s eyes. Sasha was surprised, but said nothing as she watched the illusion of her friend desperately try to hold back the flow of tears, wiping them away with one hand while leaving the one Sasha was supposedly holding still. Finally, she seemed to compose herself enough to smile at Sasha, tears still streaming down her face.
‘T-Thanks... For saying that. And don’t forget to tell your Marcy that too.’ The pink around her began to deepen a little, beginning to obscure her body. ‘And Sasha? I love you too.’
The pink light grew stronger, temporarily blinding Sasha. When she opened her eyes again, she was alone, her hallucination completely gone.
She gave a small sigh of disappointment and looked up, the red moon shining along with the stars. Somewhere, far away from her, her friends were under the same sky she was watching, maybe even doing what she was doing now. And she will find them, she will find Anne and find out how she is doing, she will find Marcy and try to understand why she didn't tell them about her parents and brought them into this world. And together, they will fix this toxic friendship they had and turn it into something new and better for all three of them.
That was a promise Sasha Plantar made. And Sasha Plantar, unlike Sasha Waybright, never broke her promises.
...
... Are you okay?
Y-Yes! I just... I was caught off guard at the end, that's all...
I see...
...
... You have great friends, I understand now a little why you risked everything for them.
...
Do you need some time alone?
... Yes.
Feel free, I'll keep an eye on them in the meantime.
...Thanks, Guardian.
That’s what friends do, right?