Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marcy sighed, they really wished they could say that they didn’t have a clue how they ended up here, but that would be a lie. They got the box on purpose, because their parents were gonna separate Marcy and their friends by moving away. So, when they found the box, they had Sasha convince Anne to steal it as a birthday present. They had no idea it would work. I mean, the rumors about other worlds was amazing, sure, but also it sounded like something straight out of their favorite game ‘creatures and caverns’. When Anne opened the box, the first thing Marcy found once they woke up was a massive city, which they later learned was called ‘Newtopia’. They wanted to ask so many questions, but there was one tiny problem… They couldn’t speak… Anytime they tried to say anything, some animal-like noise came out. It was weird, maybe the magic in the box messed with their vocal cords. They really hoped this wasn’t permanent and what of their friends!? Sasha and Anne didn’t appear beside them, so if they got teleported too, they must be somewhere else entirely, unable to speak, lost outside in the wild!? They could be hurt or sick or worse!? And it would be all Marcy’s fault. She tried explaining to the newts that they weren’t alone and that they needed to find their friends, but the newts didn’t listen. To them, Marcy sounded like a lost animal. Which is why they were currently trapped in a large cage in a pet shop. All the newts that looked at them with either fear or- for the more daring- intrigue.

The Amphibian creatures that dominated this world had no clue that Marcy could understand every word spoken. Anytime a random person would inquire about buying Marcy, Marcy would try to voice their annoyance and assert the fact they were- in fact- just as self aware as these creatures- the family that wanted to buy them only heard angry- and sometimes feral- growling. Causing them to change their minds and look for another pet, but still leaving them in the cage. Andrias was different though, when Marcy first met the king it was because Lady Olivia was sent to get the castle a new pet. Marcy had tried their growling to avoid becoming a mere pet, the Lady Newt was unphased. Apparently, she’d seen worse from some creatures on a GOOD day, plus no dangerous creatures were allowed to be alive within the walls of Newtopia, that was when Marcy had learned the city name, so apparently the newt had nothing to fear. Marcy watched, as the shopkeeper opened the door to their cage for the first time in almost four weeks. Marcy backed away, when the newt pulled out a leash and tried to clip it to the collar around Marcy’s neck. They growled, as the newt forced them out of the cage. Marcy had planned on just dragging their feet on the ground while trying to unclip the leash, but was quickly shocked, as Lady Olivia picked them up like they weighed nothing and gently put them in a pet carrier. Marcy huffed, and laid down for the ride. Normally, they’d be excited to be in a new world. But they were bored, as soon as they’d arrived they’d been trapped and held in a cage with no way out. Now, they were heading to be a pet for some royal family. This will be so boring! If they had their friends maybe they would already be out having adventures and becoming well known heroes in this world! But they weren’t and it was all their fault.

Marcy wasn’t sure what they were expecting, when they arrived at the castle. Maybe a young prince or princess waiting for their new plaything. Maybe a mother calming down her young kids and telling them to behave like royals should. But their expectations were quickly proven wrong, as a giant newt with a white wooden crown sat on the throne. Marcy was amazed at the newt's size. Was it normal for newts to grow that big in this world? They should probably be scared, but they weren’t. They looked at the king in awe. He was so big. Marcy was sure they could fit in the king’s pocket, if given the chance. But they didn’t get that chance, as the king picked them up by the scruff of their hoodie. For some reason, the newts hadn’t removed their clothes despite thinking they were a mindless creature, which Marcy was grateful for. The king finally spoke, as he put Marcy in his hand.

“Get this creature some new clothes,” He said. “These rags aren’t fit for a pet of mine.”

“Right away, your majesty,” Lady Olivia bowed and left.

“What are you little creature?” The king wondered aloud. Marcy tried to explain, but could only make what sounded like the barking of a dog. “Well, whatever you are, you’re adorable.”

The king pet Marcy gently with his large finger. It felt oddly nice. No wonder pets liked being scratched behind the ears. They let it happen, knowing there wasn’t much they could do to stop it anyway. The king could easily crush them in an instant. But he didn’t seem to want to do that right now. So, they let themselves relax in the king’s hand.

“The city tailor is ready for your pet, King Andrias.”

Marcy perked up at the arrival of Lady Olivia. So, his name was Andrias. Cool and good to know. The king stood up, causing Marcy to fall onto their back, while riding on the King’s hand. He smiled at them, giving them time to get comfortable. They walked all the way to the end of the hallway, which had many hundred or so doors, likely all leading to rooms of the castle. There they were met with a newt that was more well dressed than any newt they’d met up until this point.

“Normally, I don’t do work for animals,” The newt said. “But the royal castle always pays well, and I never disappoint a customer.”

Chapter Text

When Anne first appeared in the forest outside of Wartwood, she had been scared, lost, and confused. She had just opened a music box- which she was pressured into stealing- and suddenly she was here. The box laid at her side. She sighed, and wrapped it in a towel and hid it in her backpack. She had tried muttering to herself, but that’s when she realized her voice was gone, replaced by animalistic sounds. She growled in frustration, as she realized if she found any people she wouldn’t be able to ask for help. She spent the first few nights in a cave. It was damp, giant bugs crawled all over her, and it barely kept out the rain and mud. Also, it rained A LOT here. Like seriously way too much to be considered normal. She knew she didn’t pay much attention in school, but she was sure it didn’t rain like this in LA. Whatever, she clearly wasn’t in LA, considering the giant mushrooms and lilypads, not to mention the MASSIVE BUGS, which were fucking taller than her!? She’d never seen bugs that big. She was quickly reminded of the Australia memes she’d seen posted online often. That didn’t matter, what mattered now was that she was being followed by someone- or something. She smirked, as she heard her trap go off, meaning she snagged something in her trap. She saw a pink, bipedal, frog. It was slightly smaller than the one she’d seen the night before. Did she mention that she ran into a blue bipedal talking frog? No? Well, she did and it ran off screaming like a child who’d seen a clown. But now this weird frog creature was trapped, she aimed her spear at it. Not knowing what this… thing… was capable of. Then, it spoke-

“DON’T EAT ME!” Anne made a disgusted face, sure SOME humans ate frog legs, but she absolutely did NOT. “Wait… can you understand me?” Anne nodded. Maybe she COULD communicate with these creatures. “Wow- uh- could you get me down, please?”

Anne was about to do so, when a loud screech came. Anne turned around. That giant red mantis thing was coming back! She took off running with a panicked expression. But she heard the frog child cry out for help. Anne paused, considering her options. She COULD save herself right now, and use the larger-than-normal frog boy as bait OR she could save him and hope to get the two of them to safety. Her eyes narrowed, as she made her choice. She grabbed the frog and ran as fast as she could, hiding in a log, and covering the boy’s mouth to keep him quiet. The two only relaxed once the mantis left.

“You… saved me?!” The frog boy smiled. “YOU’RE A HERO! AN UGLY UGLY HERO!!!” Anne growled-

‘Take a look in the mirror buddy.’

“So, I’m Sprig!” The frog boy- sprig- smiled, as he petted her hair. “So, why is an animal like you wearing clothes?” Anne looked at him confused. “I mean, look how much fur you have!” Anne nodded her head and pulled up her shirt, just enough to show her stomach. “Oh… you don’t have any fur on most of your body?” Anne nodded again. “Ahh that makes sense, you must find any covering you can to keep warm at night! Cool!”

Anne didn’t bother correcting him. She didn’t really know how to explain that she was from another world where humans, like her, were the dominant species. So she didn’t bother. She simply nodded with a gentle smile.

“So you’re a girl right?” Before Sprig could- uhm- check that. Anne pushed his hands away and she nodded. “Don’t like being touched. Got it. So, where’s your family or pack…?” Anne sighed, as she thought about her parents and her friends. About her cat and the people at the Tai Temple in LA. Sprig seemed to pick up on her distress. “Did… did you get separated from them?” Anne nodded, wiping a stay tear from her eye. “I’m sorry. Are you near your home?” Anne turned away from Sprig and nodded. “Well- ever since my pet spider died, I’ve wanted a new pet. Wanna stay with me?” Anne perked up at that, and smiled at him. Shaking her head excitedly. “Follow me!”

And so she did, avoiding any other frogs, as they made their way to an old farmhouse. Anne thought it looked cute. Kinda old and rustic looking, but cute nonetheless. She looked around when they arrived inside. The door was small, so she had to duck her head to avoid hitting it. She looked around. There was a wooden coat rack. Stairs leading up to the second floor. A yellow couch under a window. She heard humming from another room. She peaked her head around the open doorway.

“Sprig! Is that yo-” The old orange frog turned around, and froze at the sight of Anne. “Wh-what is that thing!?”

“Hop Pop! Calm down, she’s friendly!” Sprig stood in front of her. Anne waved, and made a gentle meowing sound like domino would make when she met new people. “See!”

“Sprig! That’s a wild animal!” Hop Pop- as Sprig had called him- yelled, clearly scared.

“Please let her stay! She got separated from her family!”

“Sprig, We have a rule. NO PETS! Especially wild ones!” Hop Pop didn’t take his eyes off of Anne. “Everytime you get a pet, I end up being the one to take care of it! Don’t you remember Charlie Big Bottom?!”

“Yes, but I promise to take care of her, this time!” Hop Pop looked between Sprig and Anne, seemingly calming down from his initial panic. “It doesn’t eat frogs does it?”

“I asked her that and she made a disgusted face... I’m not sure what she eats…” Sprig quickly added- “But I know it’s not frogs!”

“Hmm,” Hop Pop picked up a stack of- what looked like- chocolate pancakes, but when she got a closer look she saw it had bugs in it. She looked at it, and then at Sprig, trying to be polite about it, but not knowing how to voice that she didn’t eat bugs either.

“Try it!” Sprig insisted. Anne decided it couldn’t hurt to at least try the pancakes and she did. They tasted just like chocolate pancakes. Anne hummed in delight, smiling at the frogs. “See! Hop Pop!”

“Well… I guess it can stay…”

“YES!!!”

“But you have to take care of it, understand!”

“Yes, Hop Pop!”

Chapter Text

Sasha sighed. She already tried communicating with these creatures, but without her voice that hadn’t at all worked. These monsters had put a collar on her and chained her to the back wall of a cell at the top of an old stone tower that she happened to end up next to after Anne opened that weird box that Sasha convinced her to steal. She had quickly found out her voice was replaced with animalistic sounds. Which meant she couldn’t really explain anything or ask if they’d seen her friends. Odds were, however, they also got teleported to this crazy world. It didn’t seem likely that Anne was the one holding the box and then Sasha would have the only one that had been teleported. Sasha had also lost her phone when she was captured, so she had no way of telling the time or entertaining herself other than the half of the day or night when the moon or sun would be outside of the tiny window of her cell. She sighed. At least she had food and water. She really hoped wherever her girls were, that they were safe and not lost in the woods being attacked by giant bugs or birds. Or worse… Anne could handle herself, but Marcy? They would likely already be dead. No. Sasha shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Marcy was ok. Anne was ok. They just had to be.

The toads had been curious why a wild animal was wearing clothes. They assumed she already belonged to a frog or newt in the valley and that her ‘owner’- Sasha hissed at them when the toads used THAT term- had dressed her up. However, since she didn’t have a collar on, Captain Grime sent out search parties looking for Sasha’s owner. Asking around the valley if anyone had seen a creature like Sasha or was missing a pet of a rare species. Sasha had kept a close ear out after hearing about THAT little fact. If they found another creature like her, it could be Anne or Marcy! So Sasha listened. But day after day, week after week, they found nothing. It was about 3 weeks into her stay at Toad Tower- as the toads had called it- while Percy was performing for Sasha- she faked being interested to try and get him on her side- when the herons attacked. One of the godzilla sized monster birds had broken through the wall of her cell, Grime turned from scolding Percy to look in shock, as Sasha fought off the bird.

“So, the creature can fight…” Sasha heard Grime mutter. Grime bend open the bars, cutting Sasha’s chain free and calling out to her. “CREATURE! FIGHT WITH ME-” Sasha left not letting him finish.

“I really should have seen that coming. A creature doesn’t survive in Amphibia just by fighting…” Grime huffed. Of course that creature would run, any creature that wanted to live would run from a heron. The heron knocked Grime to the ground and the captain growled- “I’m not afraid of death…” As he awaited his fate, eyes closed. He heard an angry growl-

“RAAAAH!!!” It was the creature. And it had a barrel of wine. And IT FUCKING THREW THE BARREL AT THE HERON!? The heron squealed in pain, as a sickening CRACK was heard. Likely meaning a skull fracture. Grime stood up as the creature looked at him with a face that said- ‘Well? Do you want to live?!’ and Grime nodded. Clearly this creature was smarter than he gave it credit for. The herons were forced out of the tower as Grime and the creature fought them. The herons cried out as they flew away. Grime smirked-

“Well done, little fire creature!”

Sasha hummed with a smirk, as she was praised by Grime. Rather or not he saw her as an animal or a person, she proved she was able to fight and think on her feet. Which seemed to be enough to make the point that she wasn’t some dumb animal. Hopefully, she could communicate with Captain Grime. If only a little bit. She decided to try it. She pointed at him and at her and made a thumbs up. Grime’s eyes widened-

“Can you understand me?” Sasha nodded, firmly. “Well then, little fire creature… Do you have a name?” Sasha nodded, but she didn’t know how to tell him. “Hmm, can you write?” The girl nodded once more. “PERCY!”

“Yes, Captain G-Grime?!”

“Get me a quill and paper!”

“Y-YES SIR!!!” Percy left and quickly returned, giving Sasha the two requested items. Sasha wrote down her name and showed Grime, who seemed confused.

“It seems our written languages are different…” Grime Sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess I will need something else to call you… At least until we can find a way for you to tell me your name. How about…”

“FIRESTAR!”

“What was that?” Grime growled, turning to Braddock-

“W-well… You called h-her ‘Little Fire C-creature’! So I th-thought it… maybe, I don’t know… fits?” Before Grime could yell probably about how stupid that sounded, Sasha smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“You… like that name?” Grime questioned, turning back to Sasha. She nodded. Braddock blushed, happy that Sasha liked the name she picked out. “Well then, firestar. You fight well, but you could probably use some better training. What do you say?”

Sasha thought for a moment. If there were more creatures like those giant herons. She’d be dead if she tried to leave now. So, she came to a decision. It was risky. Trusting the very toad who kept her captive for three weeks. But honestly, it was better than roaming the wilds, aimlessly trying to find her friends who could be on a whole another continent for all she knew. Here she would have resources like food, water, armor, weapons, maybe even a cool cape or two, all to find her friends. She sighed, then smiled and nodded.

“Well, then…” Grime shook Sasha’s hand. “Let’s get you a sword, Firestar.”