Arte knew she was near a gigafrog den well before she actually found it, recognizing that nasty dank smell anywhere. Back home in Vorrah, gigafrogs were the most common farm pests, often making their nests in farmers’ irrigation fields. She had distinct memories of her father telling her stories of how big gigafrogs could get, sometimes becoming even larger than their house. Young Arte had only laughed in disbelief, certain Magnus was only teasing. She knew better now.

The tingling feeling had directed her here, to this gigafrog den. She was used to the feeling now, scarcely felt it at all unless she went the wrong way. Using the tip of her sword to push aside a patch of tired-looking roose vines, Arte slipped into the humid darkness of the den. Gigafrogs buried themselves in mud while they slept, making every part of the wet ground a potential hazard; the smallest vibrations could wake the frog. The safest way to cross a gigafrog den was from above, so Arte began looking for the perfect climbing tree.

Just a few arms-lengths away stood an ideal candidate, twice as big around as her torso with thick, sturdy branches low enough to grab. Minimal effort was required for Arte to jump straight up, grab the lowest branch, and pull herself up. Having spent a good part of her childhood climbing through picnut trees just like this one, she had no difficulty climbing higher, her well-trained eye easily picking out the next suitable limb to grab in order to work her way up into the canopy. The higher she got, the safer she would be from the gigafrog.

Once she felt she had created enough distance between herself and the threat below, Arte settled on a branch and began to study the map of limbs overhead. The network of different trees’ branches seemed to form a pretty solid roof over most of the den, creating something like a giant bowl with a narrow mouth. Roose vines latticed through the branches, so tightly knit they blocked out almost all light. Arte couldn’t help but smile. Navigating out of here would be a breeze. As long as she kept moving in a straight line, she could avoid getting lost in the darkness.

Hanging within reach was a clump of roose vines; tugging on them revealed a strong anchor Arte figured could be used to climb into the next closest tree. Keeping a firm grip on the vines, she slowly extended her leg until the heel of her boot hit its target. It was closer than she thought. She pushed on the branch with her foot and it hardly gave at all.

“Sturdy enough.” Thinking out loud, Arte held the vines tighter and prepared to swing over. Just as she was putting her weight on the vines, the tingling came back so suddenly and so strong she almost let go. The split-second sensation of the bottom dropping out of her gut left Arte shaking and clinging to the roose vines for dear life. Her skin crawled with the worst pins-and-needles yet and it was only getting worse by the second. What the hell was going on?! She could have sworn she was going the right way! Why did it feel like her skin was trying to rip itself off?!

Something rustled in the leafage down below. Arte had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out as the tingling became almost unbearable. She thought she could hear voices drifting up from somewhere to her right. Squinting through the darkness, she could just barely make out two shapes that could have been people. One came into focus right away, wearing the brightest white cape Arte had ever seen. Her heart sank; they were about to wander right into the gigafrog’s den. Choosing not to act right away, she instead watched the travelers closely. One of them was speaking to the other in hushed tones, maybe they were aware of the potential danger?

“Ew, I can feel it soaking through my boots! It’s so cold!” Okay, maybe not; Arte cringed as the shrill voice cut through the silence.

Before she could even decide if she wanted to intervene, the gigafrog let out a bassy croak and the ground shook violently as it began to emerge from its hiding place. The travelers started shouting; they had walked right into the frog’s trap. Arte grabbed the roose vines again and swung to the next tree, watching the hapless travelers jump off the rising frog’s head.

Now that the frog was mostly exposed and its glowing underbelly illuminated the mire, Arte could better see what was going on. Closest to the tree she was in, the white-caped individual was on their hands and knees in the mud while their companion was squaring up to the gigafrog, broadsword in hand. As soon as her eyes fell on the cloaked one, the tingling crescendoed intensely before ceasing entirely, and it seemed as though this was what the signal had been directing her toward. This person was important, she could feel it.

When she looked at the other one, though, the one with the sword, a deep sense of unease filled her. He held an intense aura that exuded destructive power, surrounding him like an impervious fog. Was he that powerful a warrior? Or was he cursed? Whatever he was, he was certainly holding his own against the gigafrog!

“Kit, your cloak! You’re too visible! Drop it!”

“What?! No way!” The pair was shouting back and forth while the frog was distracted with a mouthful of debris.

“Do you want to get eaten?! Just do it, dummy!” Had the situation not been so dire, Arte would have laughed at the childish bickering. The swordsman dove and attacked the frog from the side as it shot out its tongue, but his blade hardly scratched the animal’s tough hide. Didn’t he know to go for the mouth?

“Jamil!!” The cloaked one cried out, stumbling through the muck with their arms outstretched to their companion. The gigafrog attacked them instantly, and that was when Arte witnessed something incredible.

A pink light began to emanate from the cloaked figure, their hands shimmering. The gigafrog seemed to freeze with its tongue partially extended, and Arte realized it had slowed to a nearly imperceptible speed.

This was her opportunity. Drawing her sword, Arte lined up the shot with her thumb before drawing her arm back and flinging the sword like a javelin. It sliced through the air and struck its target, pinning the frog’s tongue to the tree behind it.

“Hell yeah!” Arte exclaimed and pumped her fist in the air. She couldn’t believe that actually worked! While the frog flailed about trying to free itself and the people on the ground looked around in confusion, Arte climbed her way down the tree until she was close enough to drop down safely.

The swordsman almost tripped over himself in surprise when Arte landed right in front of him. Wanting to laugh but deciding against it, she casually strolled past the baffled and muddied swordsman to pluck her sword out of the tree, freeing the gigafrog. Wounded, it made a break for it, crashing away through the trees with great bounding hops. The den was thrown back into darkness.

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“Can always count on a gigafrog’s cowardice in the face of danger!” Picking up a handful of dead leaves, Arte wiped her blade and sheathed it, turning back to the swordsman and his still-glowing companion. By their light, Arte could at least see their faces: the swordsman looked Vorran, handsome, but the scowl on his face marred that considerably, while the pink one was youthful and cute, maybe a little vacant-looking with their wide eyes. Their ears were small and round, something Arte had never seen before. Interesting.

“Well! That was an ordeal and a half! Everyone okay?” She took a step forward but the swordsman blocked her with both his big body and his blade, standing between Arte and his companion.

“Don’t move!” He snapped, his pale blue eyes narrow and suspicious. Slightly offended, Arte did as he said. He did have the bigger sword, after all, and the immense power he held was intimidating. Behind him, the pink one made an indignant sound and smacked him hard on his back.

“Jamil, don’t be rude! She just saved us!” They exclaimed, but Jamil didn’t budge.

“Who the hell are you?” He demanded, not even responding to the other. Arte raised her hands to show she meant no harm. Jamil’s eyes seemed to burn right through her.

“I-I’m Arte, I’m a cadet of the King’s Army! I swear I'm not a danger to you! I was traveling to Port Isteel and ended up in this frog den, same as you!” She sounded a lot more nervous than she would have liked, so she lowered her hands to assume a more soldier-like stance. Behind Jamil, the pink one giggled softly. While Jamil did not relent with his intense gaze and defensive pose, his companion seemed to be much more personable. They stepped out from behind him and gave a little wave. Reflexively, Arte stepped back; they were both much taller than her.

“Hi, I’m Kit. Don’t let the big grouchy here scare you. Thanks so much for helping us!” They smiled brightly and Arte felt the tingle again, but this time it seemed to be coming from Kit rather than pointing to them. She let out a nervous laugh.

“It was nothing, really. Gigafrogs can be a real pain if you don’t know how to handle them properly.” Unable to resist, Arte shot a knowing glance up at Jamil, instantly regretting it when his expression dropped from annoyed to outright furious. His anger pushed out against her like a wall of hot air, stinging her skin. What the hell was this guy?

“You think I don’t know how to handle a gigafrog?” He growled through his teeth, earning another smack from Kit.

“Enough! Stop being such a jerk!!” They snapped at him, and Arte couldn’t stop the laughter that burst out of her. Seeing the willowy sprite that was Kit admonishing big, scary-looking Jamil like a child was too funny. Doubling over, she clutched her sides and laughed for much longer than she meant to. This only enraged Jamil more, and suddenly Arte was hit by a wave of anger so strong it knocked her off her feet.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Kit threw their shoulder hard into Jamil’s side, forcing him to drop his weapon. He shouted in annoyance and whipped around to glare at them, but something in Kit’s expression made him stand down, sulking like a little boy.

“Sorry,” he muttered, picking up his sword and sheathing it on his back. Kit bent over Arte, offering their hand to help her up.

“I’m really sorry for all that. Try not to think too poorly of him, we’ve been through a lot the last couple days.” They smiled apologetically and Arte took their hand, allowing them to pull her to her feet.

“It’s, uh, it’s fine. I can understand being wary of an armed stranger in the woods.” Laughing nervously, she brushed some mud off her armor.

“Yeah, but he didn’t have to be so mean about it.” Kit shrugged while Jamil looked away.

“I said sorry.” Grumbling, he folded his arms over his chest. The glow from Kit’s body was beginning to fade and soon it would be too dark to even tell which way was which. Quickly looking around to remember where things were, Arte stepped forward and gently grabbed Kit’s wrist; Jamil’s much-larger hand immediately clamped around her own wrist.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He demanded.

“We need to get out of here before it’s too dark to see! Come with me, I know where the way out is!” Her eyes pleading, she looked from Kit’s concerned confusion to Jamil’s scowl, her wrist beginning to throb in his grasp.

“If you cross us in any way, I will not hesitate to kill you.” His voice was soft but his tone was dangerous, not an empty threat but a promise of consequence. Swallowing hard, Arte nodded.

“O-of course, I’d expect nothing less. Come on!” Jamil released her but prevented her from pulling Kit along. He placed his companion behind him again, and they groaned.

“You’re such a baby,” they said.

“Shut up.” Was his curt response.

“Come on, follow me.” Arte turned to where the trees had been shoved aside by the gigafrog. Picking her way carefully through the mud, she slowly advanced toward the tree line. Jamil and Kit followed right behind, but Kit’s glow was growing dimmer by the second. Arte feared they would not reach the edge of the darkness before their only light faded.

Thankfully that was not the case. Kit’s light went out just as Arte found the murky shape of the hole in the trees, and light stabbed through when she pushed the leaves aside.

“Here! You guys, it’s here!” She called over her shoulder before someone ran right into her back, sending them both through the gap and onto the ground.

“Oof! Sorry!” It was Kit, who quickly got up and pulled Arte to her feet.

“It’s okay!” She laughed and dusted herself off, looking up at Kit now that they were in the light and she could see. Their eyes were an interesting shade of red, and they were staring at her as if she had two heads.

“Um…everything okay?” She asked.

“Green hair…” Kit whispered. Blinking in the brightness, Jamil emerged from the den and looked at Kit curiously.

“Kit? What’s wrong?” His concerned tone was a huge change from his angry one. Kit took a step back, bumping into Jamil’s chest, and pointed at Arte. She blushed hard, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Green hair,” they said again. Jamil’s brows furrowed for a moment, then his eyes widened.

“Oh, shit.”

“Is something wrong…?” Arte asked, and Kit finally met her gaze. They looked terrified.

“I had a dream about you…”

“About me? Are you sure?” A bad feeling began to creep around in her belly, the tingle lighting up all over her.

“I saw a girl with green hair and white freckles just like yours…” Kit swayed slightly, eyes unfocused, and Jamil held their shoulders.

“What, uh…what were we doing in this dream…?” Arte asked anxiously, and Kit’s answer made her blood run cold.

“We were drowning.”

~