Work Text:
Studying the map before her, Sasha knew that they didn’t stand a chance.
Advanced technology, a robot army, a weaponized flying castle, and a music box powered by magic beyond her comprehension. And all she had was a bunch of half-trusting frogs and a few maps. She wasn’t even sure how accurate these maps were anymore. Grime had helped her to plot them, but with the ever-changing landscape of the battlefield, they needed new information and fast.
But beyond simply information, there was the strategy. What battles to fight and when? Who to send out to help deal with the dangers? And, worst of all, finding a way to get the more suspicious frogs to understand that no, she was not trying to kill them on purpose, she was sending them out because they were good at something she needed!
Sasha used to be quite charming. She was good at it. People did what she wanted because she knew what made them tick, and what made them swoon. She grit her teeth, lifting a hand to pinch her forehead between her index finger and thumb. It wasn’t right. Anne wouldn’t have-
Sasha caught herself before she could feel her throat fully constrict. A breath in. A breath out. Wartwood could not afford her to be unfocused.
A flash of brown by the cave entrance.
She jumped to her feet, feeling her hands begin to tremble.
The ragged brown cloth that separated her from the others mocked her.
“I can’t do this… ugh…” Sasha groaned to herself, feeling a heat beginning to rise in her chest. She fought it.
A breath in.
Chatter from outside seemed to hush as it neared the entrance of the cave. A crudely drawn Andrias on a nearby wall with various daggers stuck in his face glowered at her tauntingly. Her eyebrow twitched.
“That’s it!” Sasha swept the map on the table off to the side and marched towards the door.
Thrusting her arm through the flap covering her strategy room, she practically tore it in half as she moved past it and into the cave they’d dug to build their base. A few frogs’ heads turned as she made her appearance. She got two nods and several neutral expressions. Wartwood’s resistance, at its finest. Stubborn and nervous.
Sasha averted her gaze, focusing on the dirt beneath her feet as she trudged forward, up, and then out from the Plantar’s basement. Her eyes, ever fixed on the floor, started to feel heavy. She stopped at the doorway of the house, running a hand across the doorframe. The wood was gnarled, not smooth as she remembered it being where she lived. It had signs of imperfections, bumps, and swirls. It looked like wood.
“Ow,” she hissed to herself, pulling her hand back to see a splinter. “Stupid raw wood…”
The house creaked behind her, as if in response. She ignored it.
Determined to put more distance between herself and this place, she strode towards the nearby woods. In hindsight, she ought to have brought her swords, as eyeing the trees revealed to her that this was the perfect place for an ambush. Sasha grimaced, looking over her shoulder at the Plantar house. She could still remember…
The daggers would have to do.
Sasha had never been a fan of camping. She’d remembered hating it when she was little. Her family had never gone of course, but just the idea of the filth, the bugs, all of it. She snorted to herself as she unsheathed a dagger to spear a mushroom off of one of the trees she passed, absentmindedly taking a bite. Look at her now. A traitor and a rebel in one. Filthy on the inside.
The trees rustled, and Sasha lifted her gaze. Tilting her head, she began to feel a prickle on the back of her neck. Sasha let her gaze drift lazily around her, slowly spinning in a circle as she went. The forest floor was covered in foliage and leaves, and the soft breeze was a welcome blessing compared to the damp cave air. She hated the feeling of the earth pressing in around her.
Sasha stopped as a large tree emerged from within the depths of nature, greeting her and impeding her all at once. She tugged at her ponytail, taking it out and beginning to fix it. A branch behind her bounced, and she heard the leaves swishing in the wind playfully.
Snapping the rubber band back into place on her head, she suddenly darted behind the tree before her. She hoisted herself up quickly, having spotted the handholds earlier when she had been fixing her hair. Now perched on a branch out of sight, she waited.
There.
Sasha leaped onto a tree to her left, balancing in a crouch on the branch with practiced precision, arms straight out by her sides, and glared down at her pursuer.
The young frog let out a yelp and jumped backward, tripped over herself, and then tumbled to the ground with a soft grunt. Sasha jumped down, catching the same branch she’d stood on for half a second to slow her down. Her boots hit the ground with a much stronger thud.
“What’s your problem,” Sasha asked, crossing her arms.
Ivy Sundew fixed her beanie, tucking her hair back into it, and frowned up at Sasha. Her eyes glimmered with a mix of suspicion, defiance, and…
Guilt.
Sasha felt her stern expression waver, her arms loosening. Ivy stood up, dusting herself off, and crossed her arms too.
“Why did you follow me?” She prodded, this time a little softer.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Ivy grumbled, flashing a sharp glance at Sasha.
Sasha felt her eyebrow twitch and straightened her stance with a quick huff. Her foot tapped against the ground twice.
“Why yes, I would actually,” Sasha answered smoothly, “considering that I’m supposed to be the one in charge and you were following me without permission to leave the base.”
Ivy grit her teeth. “As if you have to ‘give me permission’ to do anything! This is my home!”
“This is enemy territory twerp!” Sasha shot back, feeling the heat start to bubble in her body. “You being out here is a liability!”
“Then why are you here, huh? Oh great and mighty commander?” Ivy scoffed. “I know you were up to something, and I came here to stop it!”
“Up to something?!” Sasha’s voice rose half an octave. “Really?! After all I’ve been doing for you frogs, this is the thanks I get?!”
Ivy spat on the ground in front of Sasha, saying nothing. Her eyes told the teenage girl all she needed to know.
“You know what? Maybe I was up to something!” Sasha let out a dangerous laugh. “Congratulations, you’ve caught me. Now what? Going to insult me to death?”
Ivy’s eyes widened slightly, and Sasha watched how her muscles tensed. She felt that familiar, beautiful feeling of power rushing back into her head. Leaning forward, she leveled herself with the frog.
“What. Are you going to do?” she growled.
Ivy took a step back, her shoulders tense. Sasha could see it clear as day. Fear.
Suddenly she felt sick.
Sasha straightened herself suddenly and then wobbled as she nearly hit the tree next to her. She gripped her face with a tired sigh.
“I- look, kid, I’m sorry I don’t-” Sasha cut herself off as she caught Ivy’s hostile gaze, and then slumped to the ground. “You have every right not to trust me.”
She closed her eyes momentarily, forcing her body to relax again. All she wanted was a walk to clear her head and look at what she’d done. Started taking control again. She really was just a manipulator.
Sasha risked a glance over at Ivy and paused. The girl was looking at her with an open mouth.
“B-but-” Ivy stuttered, her shoulders loosening. “That’s not- no you’re supposed to be angry!”
She laughed half-heartedly. Ivy looked at her with even more alarm.
“Yeah… I guess I am…” her fists curled around the grass beneath her as she let her gaze drift back to the treetops.
“You were just- you-” Ivy walked up to her and jabbed a finger at her chest. “You brought all this on us in the first place!”
Sasha nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that. I know I can’t make up for it.”
“That’s IT?!” The yellow frog before her flung her arms out to her sides.
“There’s nothing else to say,” Sasha shrugged. “You’re right.”
Ivy took a few steps backward and gestured at the air for a moment, before turning back to Sasha. She could still see the spark of a flame in her eyes. Sasha remembered that feeling, back there in that castle. Seeing Marcy…
She grit her teeth and lifted a hand to her face with a heavy sigh. It had only been so many days and yet she could tell she didn’t have it in her anymore. Ivy had proved her point. Sasha wasn’t any closer to being a hero than the day she’d let go of Anne’s hand on that crumbling tower.
“This is pathetic!” Ivy exclaimed. “Where’s the battle to the death!”
“What?” Sasha lowered her hand to look at the girl.
“You!” Ivy suddenly brandished a dagger. “Fight me!”
Sasha blinked, then shook her head with a tired huff. “Beat it, kid. Go back to the base.”
“I challenge you to a duel!” Ivy declared, her eyes sharp.
“I already told you, I’m not-”
“You’re a coward.”
Sasha froze. A coward. She lifted her gaze to glare at the little audacious stupid-
She cut her thoughts off and slumped even more against the tree. There she went again. Being nothing but a mean, arrogant girl who had pushed her friends away until they were out of reach, maybe forever.
“Yeah, whatever. Just go.”
In a sudden motion, Ivy leaped towards her with a holler. Sasha barely had time to roll out of the way before the blade was buried into the tree inches from where her shoulder had been.
“WHAT THE HECK!” Sasha yelled, dodging yet another assault.
“I SAID FIGHT ME!” Ivy yelled back, bunching her legs.
Sasha was ready as the small but quick frog rocketed towards her. She deftly blocked the blow aimed for her face with a dagger she’d seemingly pulled from nowhere. Ivy seemed satisfied with this as she readied herself for another charge.
Again, she found herself able to deflect the blow with ease. She knew that frogs were small and likely weaker but by this much? This little one had a broad frame. The lack of punch behind the dagger blows was strange.
“You aren’t even fighting back!” Ivy huffed in frustration after Sasha blocked a few more blows.
“I already TOLD YOU!” Sasha groaned as she ducked underneath a kick from the girl. “I don’t want to fight you!”
“Am I not a good enough opponent for you?” Ivy jumped onto the side of a nearby tree and used it as a springboard, brandishing her dagger.
Sasha found herself restraining an eye-roll as she ducked again. “Honestly, what’s your deal? Why do you want to fight me so bad? Punish me for my sins or something?”
As Ivy turned around, Sasha let the arm holding her dagger fall to her side. Through the piercing fiery eyes, through the emotions of rage and frustration, was a deep well of pain. A well that had finally started overflowing. Ivy glared even harder as she noticed the shift in Sasha’s demeanor, defying even her instinctual pity.
This time Sasha did not duck. She did not raise her dagger to block. Sasha stared Ivy down as the girl went for her, the blade gleaming through the air. The blonde sighed slightly and closed her eyes.
A small hand slapped her across the face as the rest of the frog’s body collided with Sasha. Snapping her eyes open again, she stumbled backward and fell onto her butt with a huff. Ivy jumped off of her, dagger in her opposite hand as she breathed heavily through the tears. Sasha lifted a hand to her face for a moment and then lowered it.
“Sprig is stuck in another world because of you!” Ivy choked out, her rage mixing with grief, words tumbling out like waves crashing on the shore.
Sasha nodded her head slightly. She knew very little about the frog she was looking at, and barely knew her name. Before everything had gotten worse, when it was still bad but maybe not so much, she hadn’t cared. Truly, she had believed them to be creatures who were beneath her. Even Grime. But the weight of the emotions being thrown at her pierced her worse than the dagger ever could have.
“Even Anne, who was supposed to be your best friend . Except, I’m not surprised at all. You betrayed her and were perfectly ready to condemn her along with the rest of us on Toad Tower. You were going to kill Sprig . I watched. I saw it all. But then, no no no, that wasn’t enough for you,” there was no stopping the flow as Ivy continued to give voice to a pressure that had been building for far too long, a pressure that was beginning to make her fists shake and voice quake, “you had to win her trust back over just so that you could crush it and betray her again with another army! An army that allowed King Andrias to destroy my home! And now? What do you expect?! You lied to us AGAIN in the very name of the friend who you betrayed twice and then lost. Showing up from another world just to destroy ours… you don’t deserve a third chance.”
The forest was quiet for a few moments as Sasha let her words soak in. Ivy’s shoulders shook as she breathed furiously, lifting a hand to wipe at the tears staining her face. She looked vicious. Sasha couldn’t help but be a little impressed by the girl.
“I’m sorry,” Sasha said quietly. She hugged herself as she looked down at her lap.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” Ivy mumbled.
“Yeah… it doesn’t…” Sasha squeezed her arms. “No amount of sorry brings anyone back…”
Ivy eyed her curiously for a moment, still busy wiping her eyes and face. For a small moment, a glimmer of something brighter shone behind the tears. The flood was beginning to leave room for something new.
“I know you don’t want to hear it… but I really am sorry,” Sasha continued slowly, “Anne… I don’t deserve her. I’ve betrayed and hurt her multiple times, and I can’t take it back. Ever. But if there’s anything I can do, it’s work to help those who are still around, and see if I can figure out a way to bring her and the Plantars back.”
Sasha tilted her head up and noticed Ivy had quieted. Her hands were limp by her sides as she stared at Sasha, the tears drying on her cheeks. After a moment’s pause, Ivy nodded slightly.
“So… Well, if you don’t really trust me, that’s fair. I understand,” Sasha rubbed her thumbs together, “But when I risked my life to defeat that robot and declared I would protect Wartwood, that was no lie. That might have been the most honest I’ve been in a long time. And if you want… you all can help keep an eye on me.”
“What?” Ivy gave a little start.
“I need you, the frogs of Wartwood, to keep me in check. I… I don’t really want to be in control, anyway… If only Anne were back now-” Sasha bit her lip as she felt her eyes threatening to water. This wasn’t the time for that.
Slowly, Ivy lowered herself into a seated position. Her dagger was sheathed on her back, and she seemed to search Sasha’s eyes for a few moments. She turned her gaze to the ground. As the frog hugged her knees, Sasha suddenly realized how young she was. How young they both were. What had they even gotten themselves into?
“What if they never come back…?”
Sasha let out a slight gasp, watching as Ivy tucked her head between her knees, covering her face. She felt something break a little more in her chest.
“I’m gonna miss his birthday…” Ivy sniffed, squishing her cheeks with her hands, “Sprig did so much for mine and… and…”
Sasha hesitated a moment, before gently placing a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. The girl flinched for a moment and then caught the watery eyes of her comforter and slumped slightly. They stared at each other a moment, and then Sasha sighed and retrieved her hand.
“Any day now, they’ll be back, I’m sure of it. They’re fighting to come back. Anne wouldn’t abandon Amphibia,” Sasha said, forcing a bit more confidence into her tone than she currently felt. “And you can celebrate together with Sprig when he gets back, yeah?”
Ivy nodded with a soft sigh. After a moment's pause, she stood up and extended a hand to Sasha. She looked a little nervous but waited expectantly.
Sasha lifted a brow and took the hand. She soon found herself being tugged to her feet, except in reality she was half-tugged into a low crouch due to the height difference. Ivy puffed up her cheeks slightly and then turned around.
“Do we have a truce then?” Relief trickled its way into Sasha’s voice as she spoke. Ivy looked over her shoulder.
“I haven’t forgiven you,” Ivy stated bluntly, “But… but we need your help. So… yeah. Truce.”
Sasha let out a sigh she hadn’t realized she was holding in and tucked her dagger into her boot. Ivy eyed it for a moment and then turned around. She took a few paces forward and then turned to look at the big tree they were near. Sasha looked around as well and felt her heart starting to drop.
“Do you um…” Ivy asked hesitantly, “Remember which direction…?”
“Nope,” Sasha groaned and rubbed her face. “Great. Awesome.”
Ivy scaled the tree within a few moments, gripping the wood with the help of sticky pads on her hands and feet. Sasha watched as she scanned their surroundings and leaped down from the tree. Her expression was worrying.
“What, what did you see?” Sasha asked quickly.
“Well… based on the Sun and where this tree is, I do know how to get back,” Ivy said with a frown.
“Yeah, but that is not a good news expression on your face,” Sasha pressed.
“One of Andrias’ bots. It’s not headed toward Wartwood, but it's nearby, in the opposite direction of the town,” the girl shuddered slightly. “It looks huge.”
Sasha crossed her arms and began to pace. Ivy watched her from a few steps away. This robot was a liability, that was certain. But she didn’t want to put Ivy in danger, not right after she’d barely just agreed with her. She needed her help to convince the others fully and truly that she was on their side, even if they just thought it was temporary.
But, no, that shouldn’t be her motivation. She was supposed to be protecting these frogs, and that meant getting rid of threats. What did it matter if they trusted her a little more but she did nothing to prove her words? That would be just like before. Another one of her little manipulation games.
“Does it look like anything we’ve encountered before?” Sasha asked, continuing to pace in a tight circle.
“Ah lemme see,” Ivy climbed back up onto the tree, squinting into the distance. “It’s hard to see… I think it’s smaller than whatever attacked Wartwood when you and ‘Mister Grump’ first showed up. But it's bulky. Probably won’t move around a lot, but it can take a hit or two.”
“Did you just call Grime ‘Mister Grump’?” Sasha smirked slightly.
Ivy looked down at her and offered her a nervous half-smile. “Ah… yes?”
“I’m soooo rubbing that in his face when we get back,” Sasha let out a laugh, dramatically wiping her eye with a finger. “He’s going to be furious~!”
Ivy blinked for a moment and then gave her a full grin. Sasha smiled back before she coughed and shook her head. She had to focus.
“Anyway, smaller but bulky… Can you see any other robots around it?” Sasha inquired.
“Hmmmm… nope,” Ivy looked back down at Sasha. “You going to put together a team or something?”
Sasha stretched her arms over her head. “Well… I’m thinking maybe we don’t need to. Maybe we just need a team of two and a slight detour on the way back to Wartwood.”
Ivy froze. “You mean us ? I’ve never actually- well- fought before, I guess.”
“You put up a pretty impressive show earlier,” Sasha gestured for her to jump down from the tree and join her. “I think you can handle it fine,”
“I… well…” Ivy landed on the ground with a soft thump. “I just… I just do stupid ambushes and trade a few blows with Mom… that’s all… couldn’t even do anything when-”
“Hey,” Sasha interrupted her with a snap of her fingers. “None of that self-deprecating nonsense, you hear me? I’ve had enough of it dealing with my regrets, I can’t have you doing it too. What’s your last name?”
“Uh Sundew,” Ivy answered automatically. “Wait why-”
“Listen up, Sundew!” Sasha declared. “You’re going to help me defeat this robot for the sake of the Wartwood rebellion. We will remove this threat so that it cannot hurt those we are trying to protect. Are you with me?”
Ivy gave her a blank stare. “...sure?”
“Oh come on, it’s way less cool when there’s no enthusiasm!” Sasha half-whined. “I even used the last name like a real professional adult.”
“I’m confused,” Ivy said bluntly.
Sasha let out a dramatic sigh. “Do you want to help me kick a robot’s butt or not?”
Ivy grinned. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Heck yeah I do!”
“You cheeky- whatever!” Sasha hit an open palm with her other hand balled up in a fist. “Let’s go!”
Ivy let out a whoop and took off in a run, Sasha easily catching up to her and outpacing her. The forest rushed by in a blur as she found herself jumping over logs like they were hurdles and began to have fun with the run. A cartwheel here, a few jumps a little higher than she needed to make them. Sasha felt lighter.
She turned her head to make sure that she wasn’t leaving her behind and found no one there. She was about to skid to a halt when she heard a rustle in the trees above her and caught Ivy grinning down at her from the trees. Jumping from branch to branch, she was keeping pretty even with Sasha.
As they neared their opponent, Sasha slowed. Ivy continued forward, and stopped, giving her a gesture to indicate that it was close. She didn’t need to.
The hulking metal thing wasn’t just an eye sore, but loud too. As Sasha approached, standing beneath Ivy but out of sight of the robot, a buzzing sound grew louder as it trudged slowly through the forest. Its size was enough that it was able to knock down a few trees as it went, but it seemed intelligent enough to avoid most of them. Through a crack in its hull, Sasha spotted something glowing blue.
Miming an explosion seemed to give Ivy the gist of the information. The girl looked down at Sasha with wide, expectant eyes. This time, Sasha didn’t know what to do with the fear in them. Beckoning her down, she took them a few paces away in case the robot could hear.
“Boomshrooms?!” Ivy shout-whispered.
“Shhh!” The buzzing was loud, but Sasha worried it wasn’t loud enough. “That’s what it looked like. It's not headed for Wartwood, but still. We could use those ourselves if we could retrieve them somehow.”
“Why not just,” Ivy mimed clicking a shroom and then an explosion. “I mean, it’s not like we can take down that huge thing on our own.”
“Maybe we can,” Sasha said slowly, cogs beginning to click in place. “Do you know how to make decoys?”
Ivy shrugged with a grin Sasha was now realizing seemed to contribute to a permanently cheeky expression on the girl’s face.
“How many d’ya want?”
~~~
T0AD-1108 D:RC U07 scanned its surroundings, sensors searching for any signs of mineral deposits. King Andrias had deployed it to this area to search for any metal sources that had gone unnoticed in the previous invasion of this area. It had been specifically instructed to remain far enough from Wartwood to not be noticed in its mission.
Once T0AD-1108 had secured a nearby vein of precious metal, preferably iron, it was to aid in digging a tunnel connecting to the nearest mine, located southeast and hidden in the mountain range. From there, the boomshrooms it was currently transporting would be used to both extract the mineral deposit and bombard the rebel stronghold in Wartwood.
The bushes to its left rustled. T0AD-1108 halted in its search and turned to investigate the source of the noise. Lowering its head slightly it scanned the underbrush around it.
“No heat sources detected” T0AD-1108 stated in a robotic drone. “Proceeding with assignment Hide and Seek.”
A nearby tree branch swayed, bouncing up and down under the weight of some creature. Again, T0AD-1108 turned, enabling its heat scanners to investigate.
“No heat sour-”
Behind it, a twig snapped. It cut off its readings and turned. This time it found itself faced with something.
“Entity detected. Readying weaponry.”
Out from the top of its hull, two blasters popped out, aiming at its adversary, who didn’t even flinch. The creature continued to grin at the robot. After a few seconds, the blasts were fired.
T0AD-1108 was splattered in a strange, sticky orange substance. The robot lifted one of its stubby limbs and scanned the residue on it.
“Coloration is distinct. No iron detected. Conclusion: not amphibian.”
It lowered its limb back onto the ground, the wires and mechanics hidden underneath the elbow-like joint creaking. T0AD-1108 turned its scanners toward the destroyed thing.
“Heat sensors return negative. No sentient life form detected. Vegetable origin. Conclusion: ordinary garden squash,” T0AD-1108 concluded. “Appears to have been altered by an amphibian. Recharging blasters. Other threats may be-”
“AMBUSH!”
A loud holler from behind caused T0AD-1108 to begin to turn around. As its scanners began to sweep the ground in a semicircle, various clangs rang out. By the time T0AD-1108 had maneuvered to face the threat, it was gone. Something crashed against the side of its hull from above.
“Critical damage to Blaster 2,” The warning beeped from the robot. “Damage sustained to the main hull.”
A scraping sound came from beneath T0AD-1108’s field of vision. The sound of metal against metal screeched out through the clearing. The robot stumbled and tipped forward, crashing against the ground. A robotic limb was wedged between its belly and the ground, frayed wires and broken springs sparking.
“WARNING! Cargo at risk. Blaster 2 offline. Mobility incapacitated. Requesting-”
“I don’t think so.”
A strange, lanky creature leaped onto T0AD-1108’s visor. She lifted a hand and tossed her ponytail behind her back as she raised her dagger with her other arm. Flashing a charming smile, she quickly drove the blade into T0AD-1108’s screen.
“Vision impaired- systems failing- communications offline- error- Err0RrrR-”
Sasha pulled her dagger out from the mess of smoking wires and metal, flipping it through the air to shake off some of the oil. She smiled as she sheathed it again, and lifted her head to look for her companion.
“Haha!” Ivy did a backflip from behind the robot’s head, brandishing two large fistfuls of torn wire with a huge grin on her face.
“That was incredible!” Sasha clapped her hands together, making her way around the robot to the gap where she’d spotted the boomshrooms earlier. “And the cargo is safe too. Well done, Sundew.”
Ivy hopped down from the frog, her overalls splattered with oil. A tuft of hair was now sticking out of her beanie, the threads newly split.
“Hey, your beanie,” Sasha pointed.
“Huh?” Ivy lifted her hands to pat it. “Ah! Ohhhh, Mom’s gonna kill me!”
“After putting on this show? She better not,” Sasha slapped the girl on the back with a grin. “What we need to get you is some armor and a proper sword.”
Ivy didn’t flinch from her touch. “I dunno. I’m more of a punching and kicking frog myself.”
Sasha shook her head. “And who said you can’t punch and kick while brandishing a sword and looking freaking AWESOME!”
“I do like the sound of that…” Ivy rubbed her hands together with a grin.
“Now, as for this,” Sasha crossed her arms as she regarded the defeated robot and the boomshrooms. “Not sure how to get these all back to Wartwood.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Ivy waved a hand. “We can just head back and get them to help us. Loggle’s been working out more lately, he’s gotten pretty strong already.”
“And leave this thing here, exposed? What if another bot comes by to check on it?” Sasha’s frown deepened. “At least one of us needs to stay here and keep guard.”
“Oh,” Ivy put her hands on her hips and swayed forward and backward, her brow scrunched.
Sasha began to pace again. Leaving one of them seemed the only reasonable course of action, but if another robot arrived, Sasha wasn’t sure either of them could handle it alone. Ivy knew the way back, so she would have to be the one to bring back help, but the prospect of facing a potential swarm of Andrias’ bots was not very appealing to Sasha.
She glanced over at Ivy, who had started absentmindedly mimicking the human girl. The frog traced a small figure eight on the ground with her steps. Ivy looked up when Sasha stopped pacing.
“Got somethin’?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.
“Well… no not really,” Sasha sighed as Ivy’s face fell. “But… our best bet I think is for you to go get help, and for me to wait here.”
Ivy tilted her head at the older girl as Sasha sat down, propping herself against a tree. Sasha watched her expectantly.
“You do know the way back, don’t you?” she asked.
“Of course I do… but…” Ivy stuck her hands in the pockets of her overalls.
Sasha raised an eyebrow.
Ivy puffed up her cheeks slightly. “...can’t leave you alone.”
Sasha blinked. Leave her alone? That’s what she was worried about? She searched Ivy’s gaze, though it was pointedly looking at the ground. There was a mix of emotions in there, the same as there had been just half an hour before when she had clashed with the girl. But something softer lingered in those eyes.
“I told Maddie when I left to come after me in an hour if I wasn’t back…” Ivy kicked a pebble on the ground. “She’s probably got something in her pouches that could help the three of us get back together. Or she might bring reinforcements.”
“We can’t just let half the town think we might be dead, Ivy,” Sasha sighed.
“She won’t think I’m dead,” Ivy waved a hand with a scoff. “I specifically told her I was going to be guarding err- well- I would be out if I got anywhere,”
“Ah…” Sasha’s expression darkened. Maddie would be expecting Ivy to be holding Sasha hostage should she be a traitor. She had to admit though, it was a good plan.
“I’ll just let her know right away that you’re… um… yeah I’ll…” Ivy fumbled with her words, looking increasingly guilty with each one.
“Don’t worry about it, Sundew,” Sasha stretched her arms above her head and then folded them in her lap. “They trust you.”
“I earned it,” Ivy stated bluntly.
Sasha opened her mouth for a second, her eyebrow starting to twitch again. But this time, as she stared at Ivy, who was grinning at her, she found herself smiling instead. The heat that would build up to a boil in her chest was soft and warm now.
“Say that again, twerp?” Sasha stood up, hand on a dagger hilt at her hip.
“Say what?” Ivy blinked up at her with a sweet smile.
“You’re on!” Sasha unsheathed the dagger and lunged forward.
“Hey!” Ivy jumped above it and kicked down at the flat side of the blade while it swung under her, knocking Sasha off-balance. “A little warning would have been nice!”
“In the real world, you don’t get one,” Sasha said sweetly as she slipped her other dagger out from her boot to block a blow from Ivy’s dagger.
Ivy hopped back a few paces, grinning, and then charged at her. This time, Sasha felt a rush of warm energy in her limbs as she sparred with the young frog. Maybe her technique was sloppy, overeager to attack. Maybe Sasha was going a little easy on her, showing off a little bit where she could. But they both wore faces of elation, eyes glittering with life.
Sasha almost began to wish that the reinforcements wouldn’t show up.