Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 29: Anne Hunter

In the middle of a jungle, a family was busy setting up camp for the night. "Okay, dinner's ready." Hop Pop said, holding a covered plate. The children sat down on a log excitedly as Hop Pop placed the plate on a makeshift table. "Now hold onto your butts." he uncovered the plate. "Bam! Stick surprise!"

The children were all disappointed at the meal. "Hop Pop, this isn't food." Sprig complained.

"But I didn't tell you what the surprise is." Hop Pop said, getting everyone excited again. "Alright, there's no surprise." the children collapsed in disappointment. "Sorry, kids. This journey's been longer than expected, and we're out of food."

Anne groaned. "Arggh! This is all my fault. I dragged you all out here to figure out how to get me home, and now we're all going to starve to death."

This earned a laugh from Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop. "We're not gonna starve. This is our chance to find food the way nature intended, as hunters." Sprig explained.

"Hunters, eh?" Anne looked like she was daydreaming. Then she shook her head. "Guys, leave the hunting to me." This surprised everyone.

"What?"

"That came out of nowhere."

"When did you learn how to hunt?" although Drake had to rely on hunting and gathering to survive for over a month. He was used to having Nyx around to help him. He only knew the basics to her hunting style which relied on keen senses and natural born weapons humans didn't possess.

Anne stood up. "You guys do so much for me. Let me do something for you for a change."

Sprig hopped forward. "Ooh! I can teach her to hunt the Plantar way, Hop Pop. Just like you taught me."

Hop Pop was deep in thought. "Okay, but be careful. We're not in the valley anymore. Who knows what dangerous predators could be lurking about? They could be poisonous, or they could be psychic. They could be poisonous and psychic. You don't know!"

Sprig tried to calm him down. "Whoa. Hop Pop, it's fine. Anne, you ready to hunt?"

"I'm so pumped. This is gonna be so awesome." Anne and Sprig ran off into the woods.

"Drake, while they're gone, I need you to help me do some maintenance on the fwagon."

"You got it Hop Pop!" Drake said.

"I want you to go and walk around inside the fwagon. I need to make sure the floor is stable." Hop Pop ordered as he went underneath the family wagon.

"Alright..." Drake went inside the wagon and started walking around aimlessly as instructed. After a while, he grabbed the toolbox just in case Hop Pop needed it. As he walked around, he noticed it was already dark outside and was a little confused as to why Hop Pop didn't call him back out yet. Then the wagon shook, and Drake could hear screaming.

Drake charged out the door and noticed Anne had returned. She was trying to comfort Bessie who was clearly scared. "Shh. Bessie. Where's the family-?"

Suddenly Anne and Drake noticed a large creature that looked to be a mix between a scorpion and a lion. It was carrying the Plantars with its tail. The Plantars screamed.

"It came out of nowhere!" Sprig exclaimed.

"Careful, Anne. It still might be psychic." Hop Pop said.

"I'm too cute to die!" Polly yelled.

"Guys!" Anne yelled as she started running. Drake followed behind as the creature ran off with its prize. Right before the creature disappeared, Polly dropped a biscuit.

"That's thing's fast." Drake panted as he stopped right next to Anne.

"Dang it, Polly. Food hoarder." Anne looked up and noticed the destruction. "It left a trail. Super huntress instincts engage. Come on Drake! We can totally do this."