Chapter Text
It was just an idea. An incredibly risky, win-or-lose idea that might get her killed if she failed but she had to do something. Being inside this cell left her numb in front of the pass of time.
Days, hours, weeks, and months, all seemed to be the same while she waited for a chance, a miracle to get out of the hellhole she was in.
But, if Sasha was honest with herself, the whole waiting technique would surely send her to her death faster than the shit they gave her as food.
And she was done with the bugs crawling on her prison. Fortunately, one of those goddamn critters may be her key to freedom if she played her cards correctly, and it was going to happen right now as a new soldier took charge.
"Creature, your food!" The toad threw at her a dirty bowl filled with that disgusting green mush. She bet it was fungus, crushed worms, and rotten vegetables. How hadn't the toads died yet with this kind of diet was beyond her.
"Hey, can you tell me which insect tastes better? I wanna put a new flavor on my...soup..." She then held two of them that were near her. The little things' screeched, squirmed, and protested but couldn't free themselves from her grasp.
The toad's stomach growled which was a good sign, it meant he would fall for her trick. He glanced behind him in case Grime or someone else was going to appear out of nowhere and scold him, then his tongue shot out to the bug held by her right hand.
The tip of it was sticky, rough on the edges, wet, and ew ew ew!
Gosh, this was disgusting! Whatever!
She braved on and grabbed the tongue before it retracted. Then, with sheer will, she pulled the toad towards the bars of the cell. His head hit them violently, and a clank of the helmet against the bars echoed the prison. Before the soldier could get up, Sasha took his sword away from him and placed the sharp edge on his neck.
"Don't. Move." She threatened, snarling. "Now, if you don't want to be another skeleton like the one inside this cell, help me get out of here. Say no, and it's over."
The soldier swallowed. He could scream for help but that would lead to the sword being nailed to his neck or front head.
He nodded fearfully, got up, and with both hands twisted the bars of the cell to create an exit for Sasha.
She was going to get out until she remembered the shackle on her foot and the chain that connected it to the wall. She pointed at the shackle with the sword and the soldier, with both clawed hands, broke it in half, making sure it didn't hurt Sasha or else his head would fall off from his neck. The pieces of metal clattered to the ground, the girl staring at them in a daze.
She trembled internally when her feet touched the floor outside her jail as if she couldn't believe this was working. However, the logical side of her mind and the rush of adrenaline told her to don't let go of the stolen sword in case the toad tried to knock her out.
In a matter of seconds, her right hand balled into a fist and punched the soldier who fell unconscious.
Good, that was better.
Step one, done. Step two, getting out of the tower without being skewered.
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One moment, the place was filled with the cheers of battle and competition. Toads eating the filthy mush they called food or throwing axes and daggers at an old dummy, yelling and insulting each other in a show of dominance.
The next one, a soldier rolled down the stairs, grunting and with a nasty gash on his left shoulder. Then a gangly figure made its appearance and everyone, including Percy and Braddock, gasped shocked, disbelieving.
"It's the creature!" Screamed one of the many soldiers. The audience couldn't move, the surprise of Sasha's sudden escape and the sword in her hands got them all trapped in a deep trance.
Until someone else screamed, "Get it!!". That's when pandemonium began.
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Days in the Tower were always a blur of noise and ruckus, no matter if you were a prisoner, a soldier, or captain Grime who, at this moment, was writing a new report or trying to due to the immense chaos beneath his room.
He was used to it, and only his presence silenced the soldiers as a glare pierced through their souls. After all, concentration and disorder never got along and his patience was as thin as a sheet of paper.
Today, much to his headache, proved to be a glorious day for his men to do whatever they wanted and the worst one on his schedule. For real, couldn't they stop for five minutes?!
10 minutes. He'd give them 10 minutes to get their shit together if not, the hard way would it be.
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Evade, punch, slash, defend.
Evade, punch, slash, defend.
Evade, punch, slash, defend.
Evade, punch, slash, defend!
It was never going to end, wasn't it?
At every defeated toad, 2 or 3 more ran towards her with swords, spears, and other weapons.
Sasha was a fighter; it was part of her nature. Being fearless and strong was as easy as breathing but the rush of adrenaline wouldn't last, not with all the scratches, cuts, bruises, sweat, and blood taking bits of her energy until nothing was left.
"Aaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!" A toad roared, jumping from a table, ready to crush her with a mace. However, a barrel filled with beer clashed with him much to her confusion. Her eyes landed on Braddock who whistled nervously.
Well, at least not everyone wanted to kill her.
Then a spiked club hit her back, and a crack inside of her made her curse mentally. Fuck, that hurt!
Maybe one or two ribs had been broken, shit!
A foot stepped on her back, in the same spot where the hit landed.
"You're not so strong, aren't you, uh, filthy creature?" Bog mocked cruelly while pressing his foot more and more, reveling in Sasha's groans of pain.
"Ya know? You remind me so much of another thing like you. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Anne." Wait what? That brute met her?!
"She was feisty, had attitude, I liked that, but of course, she got soft on the frogs and ruined our fun. We had to teach her a lesson." A lesson? What did he mean with that?! Did he--?!
"It was just an arm of course, but I wished I had cut off her head. She got in our way, and when that happens, well it gets ugly, am I right?"
Suddenly, a wave of murderous anger consumed her rationality, her eyes shining neon pink.
That guy, that brute, he attacked one of her best friends! How dared he?!
In a sudden movement, Bog's whole right arm was sliced like meat, falling to the ground. His screams reverberated throughout the Tower while he stepped back, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
A sick satisfaction washed over the girl.
It hurt, didn't it, you fucko? Good, pretty good.
Her mind was blank due to the fury, both hands trembling not out of fear but of a thirst for revenge.
"No one. Touches. My friends!!" She exclaimed. The sword raised for a killing blow until a cough broke her train of thought. The pink in her eyes faded and the fog on her head vanished.
"S-Sasha, I think that's, eh, enough..." Percy mumbled.
She turned around and watched the only two toads who had been nice to her. Percy and Braddock were trembling and holding one another, terrified of what she had done but not running away from her...yet.
A sudden headache put her on her knees, the adrenaline wearing off quickly.
"What the hell is going on?!" Grime's voice suddenly got her on her feet again. If he found out what she did, it was over.
Gathering the last remnants of strength on her, Sasha sprinted to the principal door.
"Stop it! It's running away!" Fens yelled. She, Mire, and a group of toads chased her leaving the dining hall in uneasy silence.
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The soldiers guarding the walls surrounding the tower turned around as the first screams of 'Trap it! Stop the creature!' entered their ears. They saw Sasha running towards the gates, a sword in her hand, battered and sweating.
Some archers fired their crossbows and other toads threw at her spears of all sizes.
She evaded and deflected the weapons as best as she could but the point of an arrow ruined her left sock, making a gash on her leg.
Sasha hissed and kept running. More arrows were fired and one of them struck her right shoulder.
"FUCK!!" The curse sent a shiver of fear throughout the soldiers as they watched the somber landscapes. Some kilometers away from the tower, two herons rummaged the forest for food. If those beasts heard another yell from the gangly creature, it would be over for everyone.
Herons were the nightmare of every amphibian and only someone with a death wish would want to face them.
It seemed that someone was Sasha in their opinion.
Recognition appeared on her face when everyone readied their weapons, becoming a stampede of metal and muscles.
This was too much. Not only she was exhausted, hungry, and filthy but there was a goddamn arrow stuck in her right shoulder too.
More swords were raised to cut her head off and she used her own to deflect and slash.
Evade, punch and slice. Evade, punch and slice. Over and over and over again.
Sasha had lost the count of how many of them had been hurt or ran away in fear; she couldn't care less.
Gosh, what she would give for that crazy rush of adrenaline and power that made her amputate Bog's arm. Her energies were at her limit, at any moment she would be stabbed or something.
Then the tongue of a soldier lifted her and pinned her to the ground and repeated the process 2 more times. She spat some saliva, her lungs burned, the pressure grinding on her ribs as if an elephant was stepping on her.
A curved movement of her sword was enough to slice the tongue, and the toad cried in agony, letting her go. Another one was going to crush her head with a hammer until she trapped his hand in a vice grip and the sword collided with the soldier's helmet.
The clang reverberated in all the area. The toads paled, praying for the herons to have ignored the noise; however, the screeching and huge steps from kilometers away were proof enough to know that they were screwed. Bloodily screwed.