Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 5: Anne or Beast?

Anne was still roaming the wilderness trying to get her bearings. She had been out much longer than what she had originally agreed to, but she noticed a town not too far away and wanted to scout that out first. Unfortunately, getting to the town took longer than she anticipated. It was late at night and the woods would have been pitch black were it not for the glowing mushrooms. Then Anne heard some sort of music in the distance. Where there was music, there were likely people. Anne started making her way to it as quickly as possible. She stepped on a twig which made a cracking sound. The music stopped almost immediately.

"H-hello?" a voice nervously asked. It was a lot closer than she expected.

Anne tried to slow down. It was so dark; she could barely see. However, the mysterious person noticed her running by. She stopped by a small bush and saw a small figure standing in the middle of a dimly lit road.

"What was that?" the figure got even more nervous.

Anne stood up, trying to make her presence known. "Hello? Can you help me?" she said softly trying to ease his fear.

The figure started to scream. "Ah! No, no, no, no, no!" then he turned around and ran as fast as he could. His scream could be heard in the distance. "Nooo!!!!"

Anne stepped out onto the road. "Wait come back! I'm not going to hurt you!" she called out, but the figure kept running. It disappeared into the woods not long after. Anne was disappointed but she was able to find a road which was the only saving grace. She made a mental note of its location. It was time to head back for the night.

The sun was already rising when Anne approached the cave she and Drake were inhabiting, she noticed Drake was already there. He was sitting upright against the wall, facing toward the entrance yet he didn't acknowledge her.

Anne stepped inside and he quickly stood up. "Anne?" he asked still clearly tired. Then the next moment he was wide awake. He scowled as he began to yell at her, "Where have you been?! I've been waiting for you for hours! You were supposed to be back before it got dark!"

Anne rubbed the back of her head a little intimidated. "Sorry! It's just... I found a town and tried to talk to someone there."

Drake's face softened. "What happened?"

"I did see one guy. Unfortunately, he couldn't help me." Anne explained. Then she paused. "I may have spooked the town. How about you? What did you find?"

"I found a lake and a river but that's about it. I didn't see Sasha or that swamp we were in." Drake answered with a disappointed voice.

The duo sat silently in the cave. At least they got a source of water. Anne's yawn broke their silence. "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

"Nope! Besides, I'm more hungry than tired. Why don't we get some food?" Anne replied.

Drake stood up. "Alright, let's go to that lake. I think I saw some fishes there. It is a little dangerous. Wait what happened to your shoe?"

Anne looked down and noticed one of her shoes was missing. "I must've lost it somewhere. I didn't even realize it was gone. Now come on let's go." she replied. The duo walked out of the cave with Drake leading the way. Anne was confused about something. "So, Drake. How did you sleep?"

"I basically slept with one eye open. Especially after that scorpion incident. I'm going to have nightmares about that for years." Drake answered.

"No. I meant how do you sleep at night at all? How are you able to sleep without a bed?" Anne asked.

"I guess I just got used to it. I don't remember sleeping in my own bed for an entire year." Drake answered. Then his tone changed. It sounded like he was making excuses. "Well... mostly because I... sleep outside because... I can sleep anywhere I choose... and I chose to sleep on a tree outside!"