Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 9: Sasha in Prison

Sasha was in a dark damp cell, curled up in the corner as far away from the bars as possible. One of her legs had a chain that was secured to the floor in the center of her cell.

On the other side of her cell, was Captain Grime. She could barely see him in the dimly lit room. "Take a look at this please, Sasha." he held up a yellow shoe. "It was found far from here, in the South Forest. Now we know that you've been lying to us. Now we know that there are more of you."

Sasha recognized it immediately; it was Anne's shoe. That means Drake wasn't the only one running around out there.

"You have nothing to say? Very well, I'm going to ask you once again and you better not lie to me this time. How many of you are there?" Captain Grime asked.

"Well, counting myself. There should be four of us." Sasha answered truthfully.

Captain Grime seemed satisfied with the answer. "Alright, we're off to a good start. Now who sent you?"

"Nobody sent me. I got here by accident." Sasha answered.

Captain Grime scowled. "Don't lie to me!" he charged at the cell bars. "We know your companions are out there. Tell me how you all got here!"

"I don't know!" Sasha yelled. She only had a vague idea of what happened. Not enough to give a solid answer.

Captain Grime growled. Something told her that wasn't the answer he wanted. "Last question... what is your mission?"

"My mission is to find my friends and go home. Simple as that." Sasha answered.

Captain Grime slammed his fist into the cell bars, causing it dent. Though the new hole in the cell wasn't enough for Sasha to squeeze through. "I've had enough of your lies creature! Tell me why I shouldn't just torture the information out of you!"

"Living in this cell is torture. It's so dark all the time, there's no bed, it's cold, damp and worst of all. You've only given me bugs for food. I can't eat that!" Sasha gestured to her bowl full of slob.

Captain Grime glared at her. They both knew it was true, Sasha had refused to eat anything the toads would provide. Preferring to starve than eat the prison food. "Perhaps I need a stronger motivator. What if I bring you, their heads?"

Sasha grabbed the bars. "Don't you touch them!"

"It seems I have struck a nerve." Captain Grime gave a large smile showing his razor-sharp teeth. "I'll be back. Either with answers from you or with the head of one of your friends. Whichever one comes first."

Sasha started pulling on the bars like a caged monkey. "You'll never get away with this! You hurt them and I swear I will break out of here and rip your arms off!" Sasha threatened.

Captain Grime disappeared down the stairs. Not long after, another toad came up. This one had a lime green skin. "Hello." he said nervously.

Sasha relaxed. "Hello..." she replied.

"Captain Grime wants someone to keep an eye on you. I am going to be your guard for today." he walked in hesitantly. Sasha could tell this guy wasn't exactly good at his job.

"Do you have a name?" Sasha asked.

The toad dodged the question. "We're not supposed to talk while on duty."

"Come on! It's going to get boring here otherwise. Let loose a little bit."

"Alright, my name is Percy." the guard answered still on edge.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Sasha Waybright. What's it like working at the tower?"

"Not much to say. It's alright so far. I've only been here for about a week." Percy was starting to relax.

"Oh really? What do you think about your job so far?"

"I've always wanted to be a part of the toad army but after I got here, turns out it was the most boring job I've ever had. Nothing but guard duty and tedious inspections. I wanted to travel." Percy answered. He was opening up a lot faster than Sasha had anticipated.

"Surely you have other interests. Things you could pursue. Something else that could also let you travel around?" Sasha hinted.

"Well, I like music. I used to play a bunch of instruments. Tried to be a one-man travelling band once."

Sasha perked up. "Really? I love music. You should play a song for me later."

"Oh... I'm not that good." Percy kicked some dust on the floor.

"You should at least put some time playing. Practice makes perfect after all. Who knows, one day you might be able to pursue a career in music. Do you really want to be a guard here for the rest of your life?"

"Working here is a lifelong commitment. Once you are sworn in. You are staying until retirement. It was in the job description. It's not like I can just leave whenever I want."

"Why can't you leave?"

"If I wanted to leave, I would need permission to quit. Desertion is a capital offense. After I leave, where would I even go? Not to mention the area around the tower is also pretty dangerous. It's safer to travel in a group."

These toads may not be sitting in a cell, but they were just as much a prisoner as Sasha was.

Percy rubbed his chin. "You make a good point. I'll practice a bit on my off time."

"I look forward to seeing your progress."

"Well, enough about me. I heard there are more creatures like you out there." Percy said trying to change the subject and keep the conversation going.

"We're called humans. Anyway yeah, my friends are out there. I don't know where they are right now. There are four of us. I know at least two of them are out there somewhere."

"What are they like?"

"Well Anne is kind of a pushover. Whenever someone started talking down to her, she needed me to stand up for her. Marcy is a clumsy nerd. She is super smart but is so unaware of her surroundings, I sometimes wonder if she's blind. One of these days, she's going to get herself killed. Drake can be a bit violent, and he acts like a tough guy even though he's not tough at all. At worst, he thinks he's an edge lord but he's not a bad person. I don't want to see any of them get hurt but I have no idea how I'm going to find them. I can't find them while I'm in here..." Sasha looked down in sadness. In her mind, if she was in control, they would all be fine. Unfortunately, she was powerless at the moment which meant things could go wrong quickly.

Percy noticed her unhappiness. "You know what'll lighten the mood. Barrel jokes!"

Barrel? Sasha wasn't exactly sure what a barrel joke was. Nor was she really in the mood for a joke but decided to listen.

"One day Barrel was shot by a bow; the next day they held a funeral for the arrow!"

So Barrel was a person? Was he important or something? Sasha still had no idea who this Barrel was. Though at least she knew what a Barrel joke was.

"Oh wait, I got a better one. Barrel can no longer see himself in the mirror because the first time he did, he killed his own reflection!"

Percy continued trying different jokes. Is this what Captain Grime had in mind when he threatened to torture me? Sasha thought. She continued to listen but in the back of her mind, she was still thinking about her friends.