Luz yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. The floor had been a little uncomfortable, but she still had a refreshing night's sleep for the first time in a long time. Moving over to where she kept her clothes, she changed back into her old school uniform. It had been nice to take those clothes off for a bit, as she had worn them for several days in a row. As she put her uniform back on, though, she noticed just how worn it had become in her time, traipsing through the wild.
Her St. James shirt had stains all over it, and her skirt was relatively undamaged, but her blue tights had a big hole around the knee where she had fallen and scraped them against a rock. Her white Keds were all but brown, having walked through so much mud. On more than one occasion, she almost lost one of her shoes to the mud of Amphibia, though she was glad to have both of them.
"Ugggh," she said out loud, "I don't suppose I'll be able to get new clothes out here, but I don't fancy wearing this all the time either. Still, it's all I really have for now, so I guess we'll see what happens."
When Luz was finished getting dressed, she finally went upstairs to see that the rest of the household was seated at a table eating.
"Good morning, everyone!" greeted Luz cheerfully. "How are we all doing this morning?"
"Pretty good," said Gustav and Lilly.
"Fine, until you showed up," said Amara coldly. "So it's true then. Teach said you'd be staying with us for a while. Here I was hoping she'd be able to just send you back to your world."
"Trust me, we were both hoping that," said Luz, trying to be friendly to Amara. "But hey, in the meantime, it means I get to stay here with you guys and learn magic."
"What?!" said Amara, dumbfounded.
"Oh, did Uodeela forget to mention that?" said Luz. "I asked her if I could learn magic like you guys, and she said yes."
Amara's mouth hung open as she tried to absorb what Luz had just said. Thankfully, at that moment, Uodeela entered the dining room, holding a mug.
"Master, is it true what the creature just said?" asked Amara. "That you would be teaching her magic?"
"Did I say that?" asked Uodeela, a little out of it, clearly still sleepy as she sipped the mug she was carrying. "Eh, that sounds like something I would say, so I guess, yeah. Sorry if I don't remember the details. Didn't get much sleep last night."
"But, Master, how could you agree to such a thing?" asked Amara incredulously. "I mean, are you even sure that the creature can do magic?"
"That creature's name is Luz," responded Uodeela, "and you of all people should know that magic is just mixing ingredients together. There's no reason to think she can't do that."
"But, but, but," protested Amara.
"No more buts," said Uodeela. "Hurry up and finish breakfast, you guys. I'm gonna need you to make some deliveries for me today, on account of my hand being out of commission." As she said that, she waved her bandaged stump around.
"Here, Luz, you need to eat something to keep up your strength," said Uodeela, sliding a bowl of mashed bugs to her. Luz took a look at the bowl and had to stop herself from vomiting in disgust.
"Um, do you have any more of those vegetables? Maybe some carrots, potatoes, or tomatoes?" she asked.
All the occupants of the room turned to Luz as she said tomatoes.
"Hmmm, well, I suppose you do have some upper-class tastes if you like tomatoes," said Amara.
"You eat tomatoes?" asked Lilly incredulously. "Wow, um, I've never had one, but if you come back alive from getting some, I'd love to try one!"
"Toads have sometimes used the challenge of gathering tomatoes as a trial to prove their worth. Honestly, I can't see why people would ever want to eat them. They taste so bland," said Gustav.
"Tomatoes are used in a few potions that I know of," said Uodeela, "but getting them is always hard. Even if I had any, I'm not just going to give them to you to eat."
"Am I missing something, or are tomatoes really different in this world?" asked Luz.
"Wait, how are tomatoes grown in your world?" asked Lilly.
"They grow out of a vine from the ground," said Luz
"Wait, that's it?" said Amara. "They aren't guarded by a giant amphibian-eating plant?"
"Not that I know of," said Luz, a little slowly. "But I've never actually grown any, though, and I think I would have heard if tomatoes also grew a deadly plant that guarded them."
"In any case, I don't have any tomatoes right now, though you're more than welcome to try to get some later if you want." Uodeela left and went into the kitchen, then returned with a carrot and a potato, which she offered to Luz.
"So your species doesn't eat bugs, then?" asked Uodeela.
"Well, I suppose some humans do eat bugs. Humans can actually eat quite a lot of things, but bugs just aren't that appetizing to us," said Luz as she munched on the carrot. "I suppose, seeing as you are all amphibians, I shouldn't be surprised that you all like bugs. I've seen some pretty big ones out there! Are they like steaks for you guys?"
"Not sure what a steak is, but hang on a second," said Gustav. "You said you aren't surprised that we like bugs, but how would you know that's what we eat if you're new to this world?"
"Oh well, there are amphibians in my world too," said Luz.
"There are?!" exclaimed Gustav in surprise.
"The thing is, in my world, amphibians are a lot smaller. They also don't talk, and well, I suppose they don't really have any towns or cities. But I do know for sure that they eat bugs," said Luz.
"That sounds so sad," said Lilly. "To think there's a world where amphibians aren't an intelligent species. How dreadful."
"Well, enough depressing talk," said Uodeela. "Luz can tell us all about the horrors of her world tonight after you four have gone into town to deliver potions to my customers. You'll also have to collect payment from them and don't try to shortchange me. I have a list of exactly who is supposed to be getting what and how much it costs, so I will know if the money is short."
With that, Uodeela handed a bag to Luz that was full of various potions. She also handed a list with a pen to Amara that had the names and information of her clients, and finally, a small treasure box to Gustav to hold the money.
"You'll be going to the small town of Tadpole Pond," began Uodeela. "The list I gave to Amara has all the clients who have ordered potions from me and how much I charge them."
"Wait, you're sending Luz with us?" asked Amara.
"Is that a problem?" asked Uodeela.
"Um, hello? Of course it is!" exclaimed Amara. "Did you forget that she's a new, unsettling, strange, bizarre, gangly, HORRIFYING! creature that no one in Amphibia has ever seen before?"
"And if we keep her locked up here, all it will do is raise suspicion and make her even more disliked if she ever has to interact with other denizens of this land," countered Uodeela. "Look, you do bring up a good point, but that's also exactly why we need to introduce Luz to the people of the town. If they see her more, then they'll start to get used to her and hopefully come to accept her." Uodeela turned to Luz.
"Listen, kid, Amara is right. The folks in town have never seen anything like you before, so the first few times you visit, they might get a little nervous around you. I recommend you think of something to say on your way to town, something to try to assure them that you're alright," recommended Uodeela.
"Ugghh, it's not enough that I'm stranded in a strange world; I'm also considered a monster in that world," sighed Luz. "But I suppose you're right! I have to try to integrate with the people of this world, so I'll do my best!"
"Alright, you four, you better get going!" said Uodeela. "There are a lot of names on that list." With that, the four apprentices got ready and left out the door. They walked in relative silence on their way to the village, and in a short time, they reached their destination.
Tadpole Pond was a small town with a central pond (no doubt where it got its name from) and some scattered buildings and homes around the edge. Luz looked around and noticed that most of the inhabitants were indeed frogs, though she started to see many differences in the types of frogs, not only in color but also in small little things as well. She also saw one or two newts and a few species of amphibians that she didn't recognize. As the four apprentices entered town, all eyes turned to Luz, and many of the citizens began whispering and pointing at her. A small crowd began to gather near them, and Luz decided to try to convince them she meant no harm.
"Greetings, frogs, newts, and various other amphibians," she said in an attempt to be cordial. "I am Luz Noceda… the human!"
Hushed whispers came from the crowd as they wondered aloud what a human was.
"I have come to this land of Amphibia from far away, but I want to assure you here and now that I mean no harm to any of you. I do not eat any kind of amphibian, and I hope to even make friends with some of you," she continued.
"How do we know you won't eat us?" asked a frog in the crowd. "For all we know, you could just be saying that to get us to lower our guard and then swoop in for a snack."
"Yeah, he's got a point!" said another frog.
"I say we keep an eye on her and watch for any signs of her acting suspicious," said an elderly frog.
All the residents of Tadpole Pond seemed to agree and collectively gave Luz the stink eye all at once. Amara sighed with frustration and motioned for the group to leave and go back outside the town.
"Okay, Luz," said Amara once they were outside the town, "it seems that wasn't the best idea. So here, give me the bag, and the three of us will make the deliveries. You just hang here outside of town so you won't scare anyone."
"But I—" protested Luz.
"End of discussion," said Amara firmly as she motioned for Luz to hand over the bag. Luz did so begrudgingly and then found a rock to sit on outside of town while she waited for the others to finish the deliveries.
"Was that maybe just a bit too harsh?" asked Gustav as they walked away from Luz.
"It's for the better," replied Amara. "This way, we can get the deliveries taken care of without having the townspeople constantly be suspicious of us."
"You do seem to always take the more pragmatic options, Amara," said Lilly, "even when it means being mean to someone."
"Oh boy, here we go again," sighed Gustav.
"As I've told you before, I prefer the most direct course of action. I get results," said Amara.
"I'm surprised you want to take any action. I mean, you're a newt, right? I thought newts didn't take action. They prefer to leave menial tasks to others," said Lilly.
"Hmmm, good point," said Amara. "Maybe I should come up with a plan for the deliveries and then just give the list to you two and have you take care of them. I mean, as a Newt, I am a great planner, and I shouldn't have to dirty my hands with pointless work."
"Nice going," said Gustav sarcastically to Lilly.
"If you do that, then I will report you to teacher and tell her that you didn't help us at all," threatened Lilly.
"Hey, I did some work. I made a very effective plan and route for the two of you," countered Amara.
Luz watched in the distance as the three amphibians continued to bicker with each other. She sighed as she wondered just how they would manage to do anything if they were at each other's throats all the time. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, as she noticed an elderly frog come up to her—the same one who had told the crowd in town to treat Luz suspiciously.
"Hmmm," he said as he stared at Luz.
"Can I help you with something?" asked Luz a little stiffly as she recognized him.
"I wonder… Are you truly a beast from some unknown realm? If so, perhaps you can prove useful," he said.
"Um, it's a little weird that you're asking for my help after telling the town to be suspicious of me," replied Luz.
"Oh, I am sorry about that," said the frog, "but then I noticed how your companions shoved you to the side and how sad you looked because of that. Plus, I do feel a little guilty about my comment."
"Honestly, I'm starting to feel as though Amara has it out for me," said Luz. "Seems like she's always looking for an excuse to fight or say something demeaning to me."
"Yes, those newts can be stuck up at times. Perhaps you aren't so different from us at all," said the frog.
"Huh, well, thanks," said Luz. "Anyway, what did you want to ask me?"
"You see, I've wanted to try to get my hands on some tomatoes," said the frog. "Normally, that would be quite a challenge, but I think for a creature such as yourself, it might prove easier."
Luz paused upon hearing this. She remembered the conversation at breakfast, where Amara had mentioned something about the tomatoes being guarded by a plant of some sort. Still, perhaps she had been exaggerating a bit. This task might not be so hard.
"Yeah, okay," said Luz. "I'll help you get some tomatoes, then you can re-introduce me to the town and tell everyone that I mean no harm."
"Deal! The tomatoes are deep in the forest, but I know the way, so follow me," said the frog. "Oh, by the way, my name is Gaspar."
Amara, Gustav, and Lilly eventually stopped arguing and got to the actual work of delivering Uodeela's potions. The day passed by, and soon they had completed all the deliveries. They went back outside town to the spot where they had left Luz, only to not find her.
"Uggh, I guess she wandered off," said Amara. "Oh well, guess we should tell teach we lost her."
"Maybe she went home?" suggested Gustav.
"Well, let's go check then," said Amara. "If she's not at home, then it's likely she got eaten."
"Excuse me," said a female frog. "Are you talking about that strange creature who was with you?"
"Yes, exactly!" replied Lilly. "Do you know what happened to her?"
"I saw her talking with someone. I think they mentioned they were going to go into the forest and look for tomatoes," said the frog.
"WHAT?!" said all three apprentices in unison.
"Why did we even bother telling her about the dangers of tomatoes this morning if she wasn't going to listen?" complained Amara.
"We have to find her before she gets herself killed," said Lilly in distress. "Amara, go back to the house and get Uodeela; tell her what happened. Gustav and I will go after her."
"We will?" asked Gustav, somewhat hesitantly.
"Why do you care so much about what happened to Luz, anyway?" asked Amara dismissively.
"Because she's my friend," said Lilly defiantly. "Honestly, she's been a lot nicer to me than you ever have, despite being from a different world. Maybe you should try being more like her." With that, Lilly grabbed Gustav and headed into the forest after Luz, leaving Amara standing there, speechless.
"We're close now," said Gaspar. "It's not much farther. I must say, I'm glad you agreed to help me with this."
"No problem," said Luz. "I like helping people. And hey, I want to prove that I'm not a monster, despite what I must look like to you guys."
"Good to hear," said Gaspar. "Oh, we've arrived. Look, there in the distance are the tomato plants."
Luz stared in shock in front of her. To say that tomatoes were "guarded" was an understatement. She saw the bushes where the tomatoes were growing, and right above them were enormous carnivorous plants. They almost looked like sentient tomato plants. Even from a distance, Luz could see their enormous size and teeth. They roared and growled as they hovered above, the tomatoes gnashing their teeth and growling. Luz quickly regretted her decision to help this frog, but at the same time, she didn't want to break her word to him. She looked from the giant plants to the tomatoes they were guarding and tried to think of some way she could sneak past them to get the prize.
Come on, come on, think of something, she thought to herself. What would the Good Witch Azura do In this situation? She would probably cast a spell to get rid of the plant beasts and then swoop in to get the tomatoes, but what can I do?
Gaspar eventually interrupted her thoughts, saying, "If I may, I believe I have an idea."
"Oh, what is it?" asked Luz.
"If we work together, then I think one of us can distract the beasts, and the other can sneak in and take the tomatoes. You look a little more spry than me, so I reckon you should be the one doing the distracting," began Gaspar. "Once I grab the tomatoes, we can get outta here."
"Sounds like a plan," agreed Luz. With that, she picked up a rock and nodded to Gaspar. Luz threw the rock at the plant monster and immediately got its attention. She then began running to the right of the creature, trying to get it to chase her. The three heads of the beast came after her and began trying to eat her. Luz jumped out of their range and saw Gaspar picking at the tomatoes, gathering them up. She continued to run from the plants until she felt she was safely out of their range. She watched as Gaspar ran away with tomatoes in his hands.
Luz didn't notice as a tendril crept up her leg and ensnared her. It began pulling her towards the carnivorous plants. Luz let out a scream and shouted for Gaspar to help her.
"Sorry, creature," called Gaspar. "I got what I wanted, and if you get eaten, I can claim I drove the beast away."
"You no-good traitor!" called Luz as she dug her fingers into the ground in an attempt to prevent herself from getting dragged to the plant.
"Ah, don't worry," called Gaspar. "If it makes you feel better, I'll make a fortune selling these tomatoes, considering how rare they are."
"Why would that make me feel better?" asked Luz.
"At least you can know that you died for a noble cause," taunted Gaspar, "making me rich!"
"Luz!" said a new pair of voices as Gustav and Lilly rushed into the clearing to help her. They were so set on rescuing Luz that they ran right into Gaspar, knocking him down and causing him to drop his tomatoes. Gustav and Lilly grabbed Luz's hands and attempted to pull her back. The creature redoubled its efforts to pull Luz into its maw, and it became a tug of war to try to save Luz. At the same time, Gaspar tried to gather up his fallen treasures. He wasn't paying attention, however, to the fact that one of his tomatoes had rolled right into the range of the tomato monster. As he rushed to retrieve it, he was snatched up by the plant's vines and instantly deposited into its mouth with a sickening crunch.
"I'm sorry I wandered off," said Luz to her two friends. "That frog needed help and said he would talk to the other frogs in town about me, but he abandoned me when I got caught."
"It's okay; we'll get you out of this," said Lilly as she continued pulling to try to free Luz.
"We sent Amara to go get teach, but I don't know if she came through," said Gustav.
As if in answer to his question, a fireball suddenly whizzed past the trio and hit the center plant, which howled in agony. The three turned to see Uodeela standing in the clearing, her eyes glowing red as she conjured up another fireball in her hand and launched it at the monster again. Behind her, Amara suddenly appeared as well and joined Lilly and Gustav in their effort to free Luz. Uodeela launched a third fireball at the plant, and it finally relinquished its hold on Luz. With Luz free, Uodeela concentrated and brought her staff to her hand. She made a quick slashing motion with her staff, which caused a blade of air to materialize and sever the root of one of the heads of the plant monster, killing it and halting its threat. Another of the heads lunged at Uodeela to try to eat her, but she jumped to avoid it. While in the air, Uodeela repeated the motion a second time to decapitate the second head and, finally, a third time to kill the final head. With the three heads severed, the monster was no longer a threat. Uodeela landed back on the ground and turned to face her students, her eyes returning to their normal color.
"Aye ai ai, I sent you to do a simple delivery mission, and you almost wound up getting killed," said Uodeela, shaking her head. "What the heck happened?"
Luz launched into an explanation of what happened, telling Uodeela all the details.
"Well, I guess I can't be too mad," said Uodeela. "I'm sorry about the town being cold to you. I should have figured that out, but I didn't think their reaction would be that bad. Still, you showed some real moxie by trying to get some tomatoes." With that, Uodeela turned to the now unguarded tomato bush.
"I guess this day wasn't a total loss," said Uodeela, grinning as she began thinking of an idea.
A few days later, Uodeela had set up a small stand in town and was selling some new wares.
"Few amphibians have ever tasted the glorious splendor of tomatoes," she said as she held a tomato in her hand and showed it off to the crowd. "Now, I, Uodeela, the witch of the wilds, have managed to bring this rare delicacy from the forest into your mouths. For a price, that is."
Immediately, the crowd went crazy, offering money to Uodeela for the tomatoes. In less than an hour, she had managed to sell out her entire stock.
"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, kid. Your foolhardy and reckless decision ended up being a prime moneymaker. You should take stupid risks more often." She had said this to Luz in jest, but she noticed how the comment seemed to make the human look sad.
"Hey, I was joking, kid," said Uodeela, placing a hand on Luz. "Look, don't feel bad about this. Sometimes, you get in a bad situation, and you have to learn to make the best of it."
"I almost died," said Luz morosely. "If you hadn't shown up, I would have been plant food."
"But you weren't, at least not today. Look, I was trying to make you feel better about this. Fact of the matter is, in life, you're going to make one or two stupid mistakes, but you can't let that discourage you," said Uodeela.
"I know," began Luz, "it's just that this world is so dangerous. It's not like my world at all, and it's not what I imagined a fantasy world would feel like either. There were no giant bugs, killer plants, or evil toads in my world. I keep thinking of how fragile I am and how easily I could die in this world, and then I think of my friends." Luz paused as she realized what she was thinking.
"I don't know if they were brought to this world or not, but if they were, then for all I know, they could have been killed or eaten, and I'd never even know," said Luz.
"Hey, you can't think like that," said Uodeela. "Tell you what, while I work on trying to get you home, I'll also do some digging and see if I can maybe find out what happened to your friends, okay?"
Luz perked up a bit at hearing this and smiled.
"That's the spirit!" said Uodeela. With that, she handed her some coins she had earned. "You like bread, right? There's a local baker in this town, so why don't you get some bread for yourself and maybe stop by another stall that sells fruits or vegetables that you like? It is because of you that I have this money. Take Lilly and Gustav with you."
With that, Luz, Gustav, and Lilly went off to get some food. Amara stared after them, frowning.
"You know, it's a good thing you got me when you did," said Uodeela to Amara. "If you'd waited any longer, I might not have been able to save Luz."
"I… well… Good, I guess it all worked out then," said Amara, still looking at where the other three had left.
"Lilly says she was surprised that you not only got me but also came yourself to help Luz. said something about the two of you arguing earlier," began Uodeela. "Wanna tell me what that was about?"
"I… no… Not really," replied Amara, in a dejected tone.
"Look, kid, maybe it's not my place to say, but whatever other newts have told you, we're all amphibians here. No species is inherently worse or better than another. Just food for thought," said Uodeela.
Amara stood there once again, speechless, as she gazed out and saw Luz laughing and enjoying herself with both Gustav and Lilly. Amara was still somewhat shaken by what Lilly had said to her about how mean she had been to her. A part of her wanted to join in with them and hang out as friends, but another part of her was remembering what her parents had told her about other amphibians, right before she had left to become Uodeela's student.
Now don't forget, dear, said her mother, you're a newt, and newts are at the top of the social caste in both Newtopia and in all of Amphibia. We only ever associate with other Newts of similar status.
Quite right, said her father. As a newt, you are much more intelligent than those stupid toads and much better at planning than frogs. We newts are above such things as "fieldwork." Don't feel bad about looking down on those other, lesser species.
You're going to be learning alongside other species, said her mother, so I expect you to do better than the others. Help to prove that newts are the best and deserve to be on top.
It's your birthright to be the best of the amphibian species, said her father. Never forget that, Amara.
As these thoughts played out in her head, Amara was, for the first time in her life, starting to wonder if everything her parents had told her in regard to other species was true.