ARC 2: Teen Girl in a Frog World
The light from the rising sun shone down on the world of Amphibia—a world that, outside of its scattered towns and great city, was a wild world of large insects, dangerous predators, and an unforgiving climate. A world in which Luz Noceda was struggling to survive. As the sun began to beat down, it awoke Luz from her sleep, though her sleep had been far too restless for it to actually do any good for her. Luz had lost track of time in the days that had passed since she first arrived in this world. While she had been able to construct a crude shelter out of branches and large leaves, it had done little to give her reassurance of any sort of protection against the many dangers that this world had to offer. Furthermore, she had been unable to find any sort of food, and hunger was beginning to take its toll on her. Water was another concern, as the only water Luz had managed to find was dirty swamp water, which was hardly something she wanted to consume. She was very glad that it had rained the other day, allowing her to simply open her mouth and drink some of the rainwater. Though, unfortunately, the rain had also been absorbed into the dirt and had turned the ground into mud once again. This mud was particularly thick and difficult to walk through. Once or twice, Luz lost one of her shoes in the mud as she struggled to walk through it.
Ugh, can you imagine if I lost my shoes in this place? she thought as she went to retrieve her shoe from the mud yet again. Luz pulled her shoe out of the mud, her white shoes having been thoroughly stained brown by both the mud and the swamps she had walked through. Afterward, she continued on her journey to explore her new surroundings and, maybe this time, find some food.
She hadn't seen any signs of civilization, nor had she run into Sasha, Marcy, or Anne. After a few days of searching for them, Luz had concluded that either she was entirely alone in this world or Sasha, Marcy, and Anne were here as well, just in a different area than her. While the thought that they were still here had given her some comfort, it was slightly offset by the fact that only a few minutes before she had arrived in this world, Anne had coldly told her that she didn't want to be friends anymore. Luz secretly hoped that if she did run into someone, it would be either Sasha or Marcy, but she hoped it would be Marcy. In the meantime, with not much else to do, she had erected a shelter and tried not to wander too far from it, hoping that she would either be found or somehow miraculously be transported home.
Occasionally, Luz would take out her cell phone and look to see if her service had been restored, though it never was. Sometimes, she'd delay looking at her phone, hoping from the bottom of her heart that this time would be different. But every time, it was the same, almost as if her phone were mocking her. Thankfully, her phone had been fully charged before she was zapped to this strange place, but Luz knew she would need to find a power source for her phone if she wanted to keep using it for its other functions. She had some music and videos stored directly on the phone that did not require the internet to play. Music had brought her some comfort from her loneliness and helped to keep her mental state in check.
As Luz was walking through the swamp, she came upon a large stick, which she decided to carry. It wasn't much, but she figured any sort of weapon would be good under the circumstances. She kept moving forward and heard some noises up ahead. Quietly, she made her way toward the noise and peered from behind a bush to see what it was. On the other side was a large purple butterfly, or was it a moth? She wasn't sure, but it was certainly big. It was flying around the ground, seeming to mind its own business. Still, Luz was careful not to attract any attention to herself and began to back away slowly. That's when she stepped on a stick, and the creature turned around.
Luz was face to face with the giant creature and stared into its enormous, compound eyes. Suddenly, the creature let out a loud screech and charged straight at Luz. Luz used her newly acquired stick and swung at the creature, hitting it on the head. The creature responded by flying into the sky, and it began beating its large wings, creating a gust of wind that tried to blow Luz away. Luz stood up and tried to fight against the wind. She used her stick and stuck it in the ground, trying to use it to help her brace against the strong gale the moth was sending at her. The moth saw this and stopped flapping its wings and instead flew straight at Luz, who was ready, though, and used her stick once again to hit the moth, sending it back into the sky. As she looked up, she saw the moth coming at her again, though it stopped just above her. It began flapping its wings again, but this time, it didn't create wind with them. Instead, it began to release a bluish-green powder from its wings. The moth creature directed this powder at Luz, who inhaled some of it and began to feel dizzy and sleepy. She got to her feet and ran away as fast as she could from the moth creature, and this time, it didn't follow her.
When Luz felt she was far enough away, she finally took a break and stopped running. She began coughing and panting, trying to get the powder that the creature had thrown at her out of her system. Luz began to get scared that she had inhaled some kind of poison and would succumb to it. Already, her vision was getting blurry, and she found it hard to keep her eyes open. Luz kept walking and coughing, doing her best to stay conscious. But she didn't last much longer, and soon she fell to the ground and passed out.
As it so happened, a trio of amphibians came walking by near the spot where Luz had fallen. They didn't notice her at first, though, as they were busy with their own tasks. They looked at the various flora and compared it to a list they had, trying to find certain ones.
"Hmmm," said a blue frog with blue hair, "I think this is one of the plants we're supposed to collect. Do you guys want to take a look?" she called to her companions.
The other two came over to look at the plant she was pointing at.
"I can't remember," began a small green toad, "are the leaves on this supposed to have three points or five? Because this one has three."
"Oh, honestly, you two," complained the third, a pink newt. "I thought you would have paid more attention to what our teacher said. The plant we need has five points, so clearly it's not this one. Not only that, it also has red berries that grow with the leaves."
"Hey, give me a break. I'm still new at this," said the toad.
"You didn't do any sort of preparation for your apprenticeship," scolded the newt. "I would have thought you would read up on some books or something before you came to start learning about magic."
"Well, it's kind of hard to do any of that when you're constantly being bullied for being a runt," replied the toad. "Oh, and I'm sorry I didn't have access to a private library like you did, Little Miss Perfect."
"That's enough, both of you!" said the frog, trying to restore order. "This plant is the last one on the list, so all we need to do is find it, and we'll be done for the day."
"Maybe we should split up?" suggested the toad.
"No, that's a bad plan," countered the newt. "We're deep in the wilds of Amphibia, and there are all kinds of dangers out here. We're better off sticking together in case we run across anything unfamiliar."
"Do you maybe mean like that?" asked the frog, pointing to a figure lying in the mud a few feet away.
"Huh? What is that?" asked the newt as she cautiously stepped towards the figure.
"Be careful," said the frog. "It could be a dangerous predator."
"Maybe it's sleeping," suggested the toad.
The newt got close to where the figure was and carefully turned it over using her foot. All three children looked at the figure, and it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was very gangly, with thin arms and legs. Its skin was a dark tan, and it was wearing a strange set of clothes. Its eyes were closed, but as the newt got close to it, she could clearly hear the creature breathing slowly.
"So, hey, you're from Newtopia, right?" asked the toad. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"
The newt stared closely at the figure before replying, "No, I haven't seen anything like this, nor have I read about any sort of creature like this. Could it be a new, as of yet undiscovered species?"
"A new species?!" said the frog excitedly. "I mean, do you think we could name it if that was the case?"
"Well, I know for certain my parents would be delighted if I told them I discovered a new species. They'll finally be proud of me!" said the newt.
"Hey, do you think Teach might know what this thing is?" asked the toad.
"Oh, yeah, good point," said the newt. "If Teach can't identify this thing, then I bet no one can. We should take this back to the house."
"I mean, how are we going to carry it, though?" asked the frog.
The newt got close to the creature's head and tried lifting her up by her shoulders. As it turned out, she was surprisingly light.
"Here, I've got this end," said the newt. "You two grab its… I think those are its feet. Grab those, and we'll carry her back."
"But what if she wakes up?" asked the frog. "We have no idea what this thing eats. It might eat us!"
"Don't worry, it won't be waking up for a while," said the newt confidently.
"Huh, how do you know that?" asked the toad
"Look closely around her mouth," said the newt, directing their attention to the creature's mouth. "See that bluish residue there? That's sleep powder. I get the feeling this thing ran into a Venomoth, and they use that powder when they get attacked by predators in order to put the predator to sleep, and then they fly away. It lasts for hours. I learned that from my library," she said smugly to the toad.
The toad grumbled at that statement but still helped to move the creature. With that, the three of them were able to grab the creature and move it back to the house they were staying at. The house was a cozy little cottage deep in the forest. It was mostly red, with traces of black mixed in. The door had an ornate silver bell with a string to pull on it. There was also a sign on the front of the house that bore the name of its owner. From the outside, it looked very normal, though, upon closer inspection, it was clear that there was artwork of salamanders all over, both outside and inside the house. As the three children entered the house, they placed the strange creature on a couch in the living room. She had continued to breathe but had not awakened from her sleep.
"Should we wake her up?" asked the frog.
"I think the more pressing question is, should we restrain her in some way?" said the newt. With that, she disappeared into her room and reemerged with some rope.
"Come on, help me, you two. We need to get it tied up before it wakes up," demanded the newt.
The frog and the toad began to help the newt wrap the rope around the creature. They were almost finished when suddenly the creature stirred and began to open its eyes.
As Luz began to regain consciousness, it took her a second to realize that she couldn't move. But since the rope hadn't yet been tied, she was able to easily work her way out of it and free herself. As she did, she noticed the three amphibians in her presence and let out a cry of surprise, making them bolt from the room and out the front door. Luz didn't follow and instead took in her surroundings. She was in a house of some kind. In fact, it didn't look much different from a house she might see in the human world. She noticed she was lying on a couch in the living room, where she could see a hallway leading out and one or two doors that likely led to other rooms. She also saw a staircase leading to an upstairs area of the house. For one brief second, she wondered if perhaps she had dreamt the whole experience and if she were, in fact, back in her world, having been taken in by a kindly stranger.
That hope was shattered, though, as the front door opened and a small, anthropomorphic frog came in through the door. The frog was a lot shorter than her and colored a light sky blue with a darker set of blue hair. She also wore glasses and was dressed in a green tunic. The frog stared at Luz, and then it spoke to her.
"So, uh, you're not gonna eat me, are you?" she asked timidly.
"I mean, I am hungry, but I don't really eat frogs. In fact, there's been very little in this world that I've found to be edible," answered Luz.
"What?!" exclaimed the frog. "You can talk?!"
"Of course I can talk," replied Luz. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"
"This is fascinating!" she exclaimed. "To think we may have discovered another intelligent species. It's better than we could have hoped for."
"Oh, so I take it you have no idea what a human is?" asked Luz.
"A human?" repeated the frog. "Is that what you call yourself? Human?"
"Well, that's what my species is called," clarified Luz. "My name is Luz."
"Wow, you have your own individual name? That is so cool!" said the frog. "Oh, speaking of which, my name is Lilly."
"Oh, like a Lilly Pad," began Luz, "because you're a frog."
"You even understand puns and humor. This truly is wonderful," said Lilly. With that, she opened the door and called out to her friends, "Gustav, Amara, come in! The creature can talk. It says it won't eat us, and it even has a name."
Two creatures entered the house again. One was what looked to be a toad. Luz wasn't entirely sure, but she did notice how small it was; it was almost the same size as the frog she had spoken to. It was green and had a sky-blue cloak on. It also had a small tuft of black hair on its head. The other was a newt, who towered over the frog and the toad. In fact, it was almost as tall as Luz herself. The newt had a scowl on its face as it looked at Luz with suspicion. The newt was pink, wearing gray clothes, and had long, flowing brown hair. The toad and the newt entered back into the house, still nervous, but Luz tried to assure them with a wave and a greeting. They were fascinated to see that Luz could talk. Lilly introduced Luz to the other two.
"The toad here is Gustav," she said, "and the newt is Amara. She's from Newtopia—the capital city of this land."
"Don't tell the monster where I'm from!" exclaimed Amara, the newt, in outrage. "For all you know, it could travel to Newtopia and eat my family."
"Listen, as I was telling your friend here, I don't eat frogs," explained Luz.
"Firstly, she's not my friend, more like an acquaintance. And secondly, how do I know you don't eat newts?" said Amara.
"I don't eat frogs, newts, or toads, I swear," said Luz. It was at that moment, though, that her stomach let out a loud and inopportune growl.
"Uh, I know that sounded bad," said Luz sheepishly, "but um, do you maybe have anything to eat around here?"
"Oh, well, if you come outside with me, I bet we could find some bugs," offered Lilly the frog.
"Uh, any chance you have something besides bugs?" asked Luz.
"Oh, Teach has a small garden outside, so I think she might have a few vegetables," said Gustav the toad. With that, he left the living room and went to the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with a carrot and a zucchini. Luz eyed the vegetables greedily, quickly reached out to take them, and began eating them. As hungry as she was, Luz chowed down and ate rather messily. In no time, she had consumed both vegetables, leaving the kids staring at her, slightly aghast.
"Sorry, I just haven't eaten for days," said Luz. "Honestly, I'm still a bit hungry."
"So, you're a strange creature that can talk like us, you seem to eat vegetables, not bugs, and you have your own name. This truly is astounding!" said Lilly. "Are there more of you out there? We've never seen a creature like you in Amphibia before."
"Amphibia?" asked Luz.
"That's the land we live in," answered Gustav. "All manner of amphibians live here, which is why we were fascinated with you. You don't look like an Amphibian of any sort, or really any kind of creature we've seen in the wild before."
"I guess that would be because, like I said, I'm not an amphibian; I'm a human," said Luz. "And also, I'm not from here. I'm actually from another world."
"Psssh, you expect us to believe that you just came here from another world?" said Amara, the newt in disbelief. "How exactly did you get from your world to ours?"
"Well, I…." began Luz before stopping. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she had a feeling that she shouldn't reveal the specifics of how she had arrived here. Partly because she herself wasn't exactly sure how she got here, but also because while these people were friendly to her, she wasn't sure about trusting them one hundred percent yet.
"I don't really know," answered Luz. "One minute, I was in my world, and the next, I was zapped here."
"Hmm, that sounds a little suspicious," said Amara, eying Luz suspiciously. "I don't think you're telling the truth."
"Hey, give her a break, Amara," said Lilly, sticking up for Luz. "I mean, even you said you've never seen anything like her before, so for all we know, her story is real. Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe some magic spell brought her here."
"I've never heard of any sort of spell that could pull a being from another world here," countered Amara. "Plus, what purpose would such a spell serve except to potentially bring more dangerous creatures here?"
"Did you say magic spell?" asked Luz, suddenly interested. "Do you mean to tell me I'm in a world where magic is real?"
The three kids stared at Luz at this statement, stunned by what she had said.
"Well, of course, magic is real," said Lilly. "In fact, the three of us are here on an apprenticeship to learn magic and become witches."
"You're studying magic?" said Luz in amazement. "That is so cool!"
"Yeah, it is cool," said Gustav, "especially because we have one of the best teachers in the land. Oh, which reminds me, I should probably go get her so she can have a look at you."
"Don't bother, Gustav," said a voice from upstairs. "I've heard enough of the conversation to have a guess at what's going on."
All eyes turned to the stairs as a new figure came down. The figure was old, though how old it wasn't clear. From her appearance, Luz guessed she was a salamander of some sort. Her skin was bright red with black spots all over. She had a huge mane of long, bushy, white hair flowing out of her head and was carrying a staff that helped to give her the look of a witch. Though she didn't carry the staff in her hands, instead, she used her tail to hold on to it until she got to the bottom of the stairs and then transferred the staff from her tail to her hand. She stared straight at Luz and gazed at her for a long time before speaking.
"So, you're the creature my apprentices found," she said, continuing to look at Luz.
"We found her in the woods while we were out looking for those ingredients you asked us to get," said Gustav. "We brought her back because we wanted you to have a look at her to see if you'd ever seen anything like this."
"I see," said the salamander.
"Is this your teacher?" asked Luz.
"Throughout the years, I have borne many titles," replied the salamander. "But yes, I am the Master of these up-and-coming witches in training. I have roamed the Wilds of Amphibia for many years, dedicating myself to uncovering its secrets and learning all I can about magic. My name is Uodeela—the Witch of the Wilds!"