✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

 Update time! Since I only have a few days left of school before summer, I'll be able to get more updates out sooner. However, my mental health has been in the gutter recently. Last weekend it was the worst it had been in a while. If you don't know, the whole friend situation surrounding (Y/N), with her old friends being manipulative and toxic, is based upon my current life. A few months ago, my friends of over 7 years, left me for good. We have had previous fights that would result in me being kicked from the friend group. Every fight we would have would end in me having panic attacks and not being able to eat anything until it was resolved. I was so afraid to be alone and let go that I allowed them to continue messing with my mind, despite the countless times my mom told me to leave. Now here I am with awful trust and self esteem issues, and no friends. Anyways! Enough about my irrelevant life. As I was saying, updates will depend on my mental health. I apologize for the long venting. Without further ado, here's chapter 10!

Total Word Count: 2401

!𝑻𝑾!: 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝑮𝒂𝒚 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

"We were a pair

But I saw you there

Too much to bear

You were my life

But life is far away from fair

Was I stupid to love you?

Was I reckless to help?

Was it obvious to everybody else

That I'd fallen for a lie?

You were never on my side

Fool me once, fool me twice

Are you death or paradise?

Now you'll never see me cry

There's just no time to die."

"No Time To Die"-Billie Eilish

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

"Wow, (Y/N), look at all your cool stuff! What's this?"

You look over at Sprig, who picked up a toenail clipper out of your bag.

"Ah, I get it. Torture device."

"That's a toenail clipper."

"Oh, okay, okay, sure. Oh! How about this?"

He holds up a bike pump.

'Where did he even get that?'

"What does this do?"

Sprig puts the item into his mouth and begins pumping air.

"It's painful."

He then picks up a cat pen and begins clicking it. "Oh, and this," he pauses, still clicking. "Oh, I love this. This is amazing."

You giggle at him. "You know what? You can keep it."

A bell ringing is heard from upstairs.

"Kids! Chow time!"

In the kitchen, Hop-pop is serving a meal. Anne and Sprig bang their fists on the table while Polly flaps her arms. You sit at the table patiently.

"Time to eat! Time to eat!"

"Hold on, you kids. Hold on."

"Time to eat!"

Hop-pop sets down bowls of food and you and Anne immediately grimace.

'...Ew.'

"Ugh! Uh, you know what? I think I'm gonna pass."

Anne gently pushes away her bowl of food, while you pretend to be content, not wanting to be rude to someone who was providing for you and sheltering you free of charge.

Hop-pop gives Anne an annoyed look.

"Why? Is my food not good enough for the princess?"

"Well, if I'm the princess, then you're the king of bad cooking."

You, Polly, and Sprig all chant and laugh at Anne's roast.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you... I..."

"What's the matter, Hop Pop? Frog in your throat?"

'Damn Lmfao.'

"Oh, dang it! You know what? I'm gonna take a nap. I don't believe this. I feed you, I house you, and this is how you repay me? If you don't shape up soon, Anne, I'm throwin' you out!"

'Shit.'

Hop-pop storms into his bedroom and slams the door, knocking over a vase.

"Yeesh. What's his problem?"

Anne grabs a cane and hunches over speaking like an old man. "I'm Hop Pop, and I cook bad and have a temper problem!"

You laugh at her silly antics.

"That's so Hop Pop!"

She continues, "Eat your aphids, don't play with them. Elbows off the table! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother putting up with you at all!"

The cane breaks, causing Sprig and Polly to gasp, and you to search the back of your neck anxiously.

"Oopsies. Guess I don't know my own strength, right, guys? You guys okay? What's the big deal? It's just one cane."

"That wasn't just any cane. It was Hop Pop's special cane, passed down from his father, Hop Poppity Pop, all the way from his father, Hop-and-Lock-Drop Soppity Pop."

Anne's attitude changes in an instant. "Oh! You guys gotta help me. He's gonna kick me and (Y/N) out the second he finds out about this. I cannot go back to living in a cave!"

(A flashback is seen, and Anne is hunched over in a curled position, in the back of a dark cave covered in bugs.)

She shudders. "Uhhh! The nights were the hardest."

"Don't worry, Anne. We'll do whatever it takes to help you."

"Eh, count me out."

"Polly!"

"What? I hardly know her."

"Would you help me for one of these?" Anne pulls a candy bar out of her pocket.

Polly gasps. "Candy from another world? Lady, you've got yourself a deal."

"Glad to hear it. Now, let's try to save my skin."

Anne takes the cane and grabs Polly's bow to wrap around it. Sadly, this attempt fails and the cane falls apart again.

You think for a second. "Okay, maybe we can't fix it, but someone else can? Someone good with... wood?"

"(Y/N), you're a genius! We'll just take it to Leopold Loggle, the woodsmith. He loves wood. Almost a little too much."

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

"Uh-huh. Oh, oh, yes. Well, aren't you fascinating? Yes, you are."

"Can you fix it?"

"As a matter of fact, I can... not."

"Huh. Can you make a new one?"

"Absolutely... no way."

"Do you have one we could buy?"

"Of course I do... n't. I don't."

You could feel a headache forming from Loggle's annoying way of speaking.

'How annoying.'

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Old smithing accident. You don't want to know."

"Uh, okay, so–"

"Tripped on an anvil. Landed neck-first on a metal pipe. Pierced my voice box clean through!"

The four of you shuddered simultaneously, how gross. Except for Sprig, seemingly fascinated by the creepy scar.

"Switched over to wood after that. Anyhow, I'm afraid I can't do much for you. That cane was made with wood from the incredibly rare, extremely dangerous Doom Tree!"

Everyone gasps.

"Few have made it to the Doom Tree alive, fewer yet returned. It holds many secrets that mortals dare not–"

"Dude, it's a tree. Just tell us where it is."

"Yeah, Loggle, cut the chit-chat!"

"You're bald!"

You snort and hold back a cackle at Polly's statement.

'She just called him out. Polly wants all the smoke.'

"Okay, okay. I got a map to the Doom Tree right here, but it'll cost ya."

Anne grabs your phone and takes a photo of the map, then hands it to you, to which you show Loggle the photo.

"Or you could do that for free."

"Come on, guys. We gotta hurry. Hop Pop could wake up at any second!"

"Be careful, you kids. It's cursed, I tell ya. Cursed!"

The three of you follow Anne out the door of Loggle's shop, but as Sprig runs outside, he sticks his head back through the door at the sight of a buff statue of Loggle.

"Yeah! Whoa, Loggle. We gotta talk about this, man. We're comin' back. We're gonna talk about this. All right, goodbye."

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

You all arrive at the site of the tree.

"Hold up. We're here. Now, that is an ugly tree."

"Just one of Mother Nature's horrible mistakes."

Polly chuckles. "Frogs died here."

Anne scoured the tree with her eyes, before deciding on a branch. "Look. That branch is perfect."

She grunts as she pulls on the branch, trying to pry it from the tree. As she's about to fall, you appear from under her and grab her legs, placing them on your shoulders. Of course, not without almost falling yourself.

'Oh my god her thighs are so soft mnghhh...Don't think suspicious thoughts grr.'

"Okay, seriously though, on three. One, two..."

Anne yanks on the branch, successfully separating it from the tree.

A loud shrieking sound is heard, startling you and Anne.

"Uh, did the tree just scream?"

The tree roars, knocking both of you to the ground. Luckily, you catch Anne, breaking her fall.

Some of the trees 'blood' gets on Sprig's finger. "Oh, hey, it's maple."

"Run!"

You all run away screaming, the tree monster following you.

"That thing is not a tree. It's some kind of grody bug!"

"A bug that wants to kill us!"

"Less talky-talky, more runny-runny!"

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

"Well, Loggle, another day, another step closer to bankrupt-- Eh?"

Anne shouts and pulls everyone inside the wood shop, slamming the door.

"What the-- What's going on?"

"Don't ask questions!"

The wall is ripped off by the tree monster, causing all of you to scream.

"What's it gonna take to get rid of this thing?"

In desperation, you start throwing things at the monster. Anne follows, picking up a complex-looking carving and marvelling at it, before chunking it at the monster.

Loggle shrieks. "That took 20 years to carve."

Polly grabs wooden limbs and starts attacking as well. "Yah! Yah yah yah yah yah! And that! And that! Hi-yah!"

Anne grunts. "Charge!"

She picks up a jar labelled 'Termites,' "Termites! Why would a woodsmith have termites?"

"I'm a complicated man!"

Twisting off the lid, Anne throws the jar at the tree monster.

The termites devour all the wood on the tree, leaving a weird-looking, bug thing underneath.

You deadpan. "This world is messed up."

The monster whimpers, scattering off.

Anne scoops you up into a hug and holds out her hand for Sprig. "Up top!"

"We did it!"

"That was awesome, you guys!"

She holds up the cane, ready to leave, but is still holding you for some reason. "Now, let's get this cane back to Hop Pop."

"Give me that!"

Logger snatches the cane from Anne's grasp, making her yell in protest.

"Hey!"

"What gives, Loggle?"

"I'll tell you what gives. This doesn't even begin to cover the damages you've caused to my shop. You're gonna have to give me something else. Come on. Pony up."

Sprig sighs and pulls something out of his vest. It was the cat pen.

"Will this work?"

He hands it to Loggle, who looks confused. "What? What is this, uh..."

Loggle clicks the pen repeatedly.

"Oh. Oh! I like this. You can go."

Sprig frowns. "Sorry, Anne. After all we worked for too."

"It's okay. We'd better head home. Hop Pop's probably already awake and furious."

Anne groans and you rub comforting circles onto her back. She blushes and realizes she's still holding your waist tightly, and lets go of you.

"Thanks (Y/N). Maybe Hop-pop will be merciful to you."

You grab her hand and squeeze it lightly.

Polly interrupts your moment, "Probably a bad time to bring this up, but I still get the candy, right?"

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

Hop-pop yawns, waking up from his well-deserved nap. "Whoa, boy. I needed that. Hope nothing happened while I was asleep to make me mad again."

He pauses when he sees the four of you standing in front of him, guilty.

"Oh, no. What did you do?"

Sprig begins stalling nervously. "What's up with canes? Who even needs them these days, am I right?"

"I'm really sorry, Hop Pop. I was goofing around, and I broke your favorite cane."

"You what?"

Anne grips your hand tighter, only for you to rub circles on it with your thumb.

"I know, I know. We'll show ourselves out."

Sprig and Polly run to hug you and Anne.

"We'll come to visit you both. We promise."

"And just when I was starting to like you!"

Anne frowns. "Don't make this harder than it is."

You all began bawling.

"What the-- What's going on?"

"You're throwing me out. You know, like you said you would."

Hop-pop sighs. "Mmm. Anne, truth be told, I was never gonna throw you out. I was just talking tough so that you'd show me a little bit more respect."

"That's kinda messed up, man."

He inhales, "Heh heh heh. Yeah. I probably was a little bit too harsh. But I only did it because you remind me of myself when I was your age. Rough around the edges. Now, put that bag down, young lady. You're not going anywhere."

You sigh aloud in relief. 'Thank god.'

"Thanks, Hop Pop. So you're not mad about the cane?"

"Oh, I'm furious about the cane. You're on dish duty for a month!"

"Ugh. Yes, sir!"

"Now that that's settled, I wrote a long list of comebacks to get you back for this morning."

Hop-pop clears his throat. "Hey, Anne, is that your hair, or is it a dandelion? Ha."

(Cricket noises.)

"Uh-- Oh. Are those long, lanky limbs, Anne, or are those, uh, twigs?"

You and Anne stare at him in silence. It took all of your soul to not laugh at the ridiculous, unfunny comebacks.

"The moment has passed, hasn't it?"

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

You sat down on your makeshift bed, massaging your temples.

The headache from earlier had only gotten worse because of the amount of chaos that had happened previously.

"Owww..."

Closing your eyes, you leaned back and tried to forget about the pain. How annoying.

Something landed in your lap, causing you to open your eyes.

"Someone told me you might need this."

It was Sprig.

The item that had been placed in your lap was some ibuprofen. (Headache Medicine)

Smiling, you got up and playfully patted his head. "Thanks, bud."

He grinned and went back upstairs, only for Anne to take his place.

She walked over to her side of the room and began doing her own thing.

'How sweet. She was thinking of me...Why do I feel so warm? It was just a friendly gesture, nothing more...'

Blush made its way onto your cheeks. No matter what you did, the past few days your thoughts had been full of her.

Looking down at the pill bottle, you smiled softly. Genuine happiness graced your features. One might even describe it as a look of love, which it was, but denial is a river in Egypt.

You made your way over to Anne without making noise, as she hadn't noticed you yet, and wrapped your arms around her waist, nuzzling your face into the crook of her neck.

Her face erupted in red.

"Thanks for thinking of me."

The proximity of the both of you made Anne flustered. You knew what you were doing. (And you would do it again too)

"N-No problem."

You grinned, victorious. Hesitantly, you released Anne from your grip, only to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

She stood frozen like a scarecrow. From far away you could have mistaken her for a tomato.

'Aww. Sadly, I had to let go. She was so warm.'

You ran up the stairs with a smirk before she could react any further.

This might turn out to be more fun than you thought.

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡

"I was scared of the pain I'd feel if I let you go, until I realized how much pain I was in just trying to hold on."

-Unknown

✧˖°ʚ🍓ɞ♡