6. S1: A Scone's Tale

Dirty old open markets, the ones with torn tents and weirdly cheerful farm folk, were the last places one would expect Sasha to be at. In fact, even she herself had to admit she'd rather be caught dead than be in such a place. And yet, she can't help but feel drawn to it. Like an old memory, she hadn't touched for so long.

Which was why she wasn't bothered even once while accompanying the Plantars to the weekly town marketplace.

"Here we are! The Wartwood's weekly marketplace!" Hop Pop exclaimed, his hands firmly on Bessie's reins.

Behind the larger-than-average snail was an old wooden cart, carrying various goods and products such as market equipment, tomatoes from a man-eating tomato plant, a whole lot of beans and turnips, and three weird kids who decided to ride the cart instead of the back of the snail-like a normal person.

Sasha looked out from the cart, examining the marketplace. It was currently early in the morning, so everyone was still setting up shop and getting ready for the day. The area itself was quite spacious and located at the edge of town, near the main road, leading to other towns.

During her stay with the Plantars, Sasha tried to find any information about the magical music box that sent her to this other froggy world but to no avail. None of the books she had read held any information about the music box but she did learn some other relevant stuff; info about the world she's in.

Sasha was not a heavy reader so the knowledge she possessed was limited. However, she learned that the valley she was stuck in was a lot bigger than she had first thought and was home to several other towns, not just Wartwood. The weekly market here invited those from other towns, either to buy produce or to sell them. So there were a few familiar faces and a few she'd never seen before.

About a minute or so later, they finally arrived at their rented spot. "Alright, kids, time to unpack. Sprig, help me set up the tent, will ya?"

"You got it, Hop Pop." Sprig replied instantaneously.

Hop Pop nodded. "Sasha, unload all our vegetables we want to sell. And do be careful with them tomatoes. They're our moneymakers, right there."

"Yeah yeah, I got it." Sasha responded nonchalantly, grabbing a crate of turnips. The old frog then turned to the youngest. "And Polly, go help Sasha. You know where to put the stuff."

"Gotcha, Hop Pop!" Polly saluted, hopping out of her bucket and towards the only human.

It took them less than 10 minutes or so to set up their little tent-store. Usually it would've taken them twice as long but having an extra pair of hands helped a lot. Crates stacked upon one another acted as a makeshift counter, with a long wooden board on top. The produce they brought with them surrounded the counter, placed all neat and tidy. On the counter itself had a rusty green fishing box, reused as the cash register.

Hop Pop was standing on an empty crate, hanging a sign on one of the tent's stilts. "And there… we… go." He climbed down, admiring his work. The sign was carved with the words 'Plantars' Fresh Produce' on it and underneath was a smaller sign, though the words were painted in bright red as 'Tomatoes For Sale' instead.

"We're ready to open!" He exclaimed with a smile. "We're a few minutes earlier than usual, so why don't you three go around for a bit? Be sure to come back in half an hour!"

"Alright/Okay, Hop Pop!" "See ya later, old man." Sprig, Polly and Sasha respectively said. The trio left their stand just after, Polly sitting in her bucket of water.

Walking by the nearby stalls, Sprig turned to Sasha, curious. "So, where do you want to go first?"

Sasha shrugged without a thought. It wasn't like she knew any of the shops here. "Dunno. I haven't had breakfast yet though. Why don't you pick the way?"

"Well…" Sprig tapped his chin, thinking. "Let's go walk by town to get something to eat. I know a place!"

Sasha just shrugged again. Again, she didn't know the place that well so she wasn't in the best position to judge. Plus, she trusted Sprig. If he said that this place was good, then it was good, no question. Sprig wasn't as naïve as he made everyone else think he was and Sasha noticed.

"Lead the way, man." She told him. With an enthusiastic smile, he marched forward, Sasha and Polly in tow.

A few minutes of walking later, they have finally arrived at Sprig's recommended eatery; a small and quaint café built into a giant tree stump. A unique sign shaped like a teacup was hung by a horizontal pole outside. The stump had several windows on its side with a single more noticeable one just above the front door. Said door was also unique; two hearts decorated the wooden entrance, making it stand out.

"Welcome to Felicia's Tea Shoppe!" Sprig declared. "I sometimes come here when we visit town. Food's a bit pricey though. But…" Sprig pulled out a small leather pouch from his vest pocket. "I can afford it this time."

Sprig pushed the door wide open and entered with a skip, followed by Sasha and Polly, the latter in her bucket. The resident human looked around in the surrounding area, somewhat amazed by the fanciness of the place. It wasn't really that fancy by human standards but it was still quite up there; pink decorative wallpaper, patterned oak floorboards, large toadstool tables and chairs, expensive-looking china and the most obvious case, amphibious people dressing up all fancy and the like.

Sasha whistled. "Whooo, nice choice there, Sprig. Have you ever been here too, Polly?" she asked the polliwog in her arms. Polly shrugged with her little fins. "Eh, nope. Sprig sometimes brings me scones though. They're really good!"

"Really good?"

"Yep! I can't wait to try one, warm and fresh. Not like the cold and sad ones Sprig brings back. I mean, they're still good…" Polly proudly said without a hint of shame, though her tone changing by the end.

Before they could grab a table, however, a yellowish and femininely slender frog bumped into them. She had red braided hair that adorned a tiara of flowers in it. She too was wearing fancy clothing, more precisely a green dress. She nearly dropped a wooden plate with what one could assume to be scones.

"Oh hello there, Sprig. Didn't see you there, you little scamper." She said in an affectionate tone. "I'm guessing you'd want a table for one, right?"

"Nope! This time, a table for three please, Mrs Sundew." He requested.

"A table for three?" Mrs Sundew, full name Felicia Sundew, inquisitively repeated. "I see, that means the whole family is here, huh? Ooo hoo hoo, I'd love to finally meet that little sister of yours you've been talking about."

"She's at the back in her bucket." He pointed out. "Sasha's there too."

Felicia raised a brow. "Sasha? Who's Sash-AAAAAAAA!?"

The slender frog cried in fear upon looking at Sasha, dropping her plate of scones, causing Polly to wail in dramatic fashion as she watched the baked goods fall onto the dirty; actually dirtier, ground. Felicia stared at the teenager human girl with horror in her eyes and a finger pointing directly at the girl. Stammering, she almost shouted the town's trademarked 'MONSTER!' shriek of fear but Sprig was light on his feet.

"W-WAIT! SHE'S WITH US!" Sprig shouted, quickly defusing the situation. Felicia looked at Sprig, her mouth agape. Her expression slowly turned to something akin to anger but the fear was still there. "YOUNG MAN, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

"Uh…" He rubbed the back of his head with guilt. Immediately after, he grabbed Felicia's arm and dragged her into the kitchen, where mutterings and whispered occurred. Sasha wasn't sure exactly what they were talking about but she was definitely sure that her little froggy BFF was desperately trying to explain who she was. She was grateful but not surprised, somewhat used to people here screaming in her face.

A few seconds of raucous and inexplicit mumbles later, Sprig and Felicia walked out through the kitchen door, the former with a big smile on his face and two thumbs up while the latter had a somewhat strained smile instead. The two walked back to Sasha and Polly, the polliwog still distraught over the broken scones.

"Sasha, meet Mrs Sundew. She owns the café." He introduced. "Mrs Sundew, meet Sasha. She's the human living in our basement."

"Hey." "Charmed." The two greeted, at least trying to sound sincere. Whether or not Sprig noticed didn't matter much, as he continued on anyway. "So, I'm showing Sasha around town for a bit since this is her first time here. Well… more like second time but the last one didn't count."

As he finished talking, Sprig noticed that Sasha and Felicia were still on edge around each other; Sasha not seemingly caring while Felicia looking a little tense. Even though he was glad that he managed to avoid a huge outburst in the middle of town (and have an angry mob chase after them), he realized that the situation wasn't really getting any better.

"Uh, Mrs Sundew?" Sprig called. "Do you still have a table for three?"

"Huh? Oh right, a table." Felicia replied, breaking out of the awkward silence. "Right this way, Sprig. And bring your, eh… human, with you."

Sasha, Sprig and Polly all followed Felicia to their table before leaving to serve them some treats. The table was located right next to a window, giving Sasha a nice view of the outside. The chairs were a bit small for her but the view pretty much made up for it. Frogs, toads and other amphibious humanoids walked all over the place outside, all going on with their lives, unhindered by her observation.

She also quickly realized that the windows were a two-way view when a child from across the street started crying upon seeing her. Sasha quickly ducked from the window and silently decided to spend the rest of her time here leaning instead of sitting upright.

Felicia returned and placed a wooden plate onto their table, carrying her valley-famous scones. "Here you are, you two; one serving of newly-baked scones, each." She said, pushing two plates in front of Sprig and Polly. The siblings salivated like hungry dogs and immediately grabbed a piece. Though, they were forced to blow on it since it was still piping hot.

"As for your friend here…" Felicia turned to Sasha, who was leaning back on her small chair. She placed a plate in front of the teen. "The scones are my restaurant's speciality but I'm not exactly sure your kind can eat such a thing."

Sasha raised an eyebrow. My kind, she said? While it is, in fact, true that humans and amphibians had different diets, that doesn't mean she can eat what they ate. From where she came from, she was sure frogs didn't eat mushrooms or bake cakes. Wordlessly, she grabbed a scone from her plate and bit into it, tasting inquisitively.

After a few chews, she swallowed with no complication and opened her eyes, showing stars. "… Holy heck that was the best thing I've tasted since I got here."

Felicia smiled, her nervousness lessened. "Oh, I'm glad you liked it! I was so worried since I was afraid you might die from it or something. Hahahaha!" She jokingly said.

"Ha!" Sasha laughed. "The only food that's ever tried to kill me was Hop Pop's cooking." She said, eating the scones as fast as a vacuum cleaner.

Felicia waved, blushing. "Ohoho, well I'm glad you like it. Dung beetles are difficult to find but I do try to manage."

It took only a fraction of a millisecond for Sasha to realize the main ingredient of these scones; dung beetles. Named so due to their nature of collecting and rolling animal poop into a giant ball, in which they'd store later as food. So according to the laws of conservation of mass, if dung beetles eat poop and these scones are made of dung beetles, then that would mean Sasha was eating poop.

With the thought cementing itself into her mind like a really annoying snake, it took all of her willpower to not spit out the food and dip her head in the sink. Instead, she simply smiled awkwardly, her cheeks full of delicious flavourful scone mush.

"Are you okay, dear? You don't look so well." Felicia looked at her worriedly. Sasha nodded with a full mouth, trying her best to at least look normal.

"Oh, I'm glad! But, uh…" Felicia pointed at her own cheek. "You don't seem to be chewing. Is there a matter?"

Sasha, with her eyes wide open, pupils shrunk, a puckered mouth and the face sweating nervously, made a slight disagreeing shake of her head and a grunting sound.

"Oh, if that's the case, you should eat up! My scones are also known to be quite healthy." Felicia advised, complimenting herself on the way. She then stared at Sasha, waiting for the human teen to chew and swallow.

With what's left of her willpower, Sasha did exactly so. For every bite, she felt the crunch of an insectoid's exoskeleton which of course constantly reminded her this was a dung beetle. Tears started to swell in her eyes and even though the scones themselves were incredible, she, unfortunately, could not enjoy them.

After a few chews, she struggled and swallowed, looking somewhat traumatized. Sasha breathed in and out heavily, her face wet with sweat and tears. She glanced at her side and watched as Polly and Sprig gouged those things like no tomorrow.

Oh, she wished she could've forgotten it all.

"O-oh boy, that was deeeee-licious. I'm sure glad I t-tasted that." Sasha exclaimed to Felicia, her tone not sounding quite truthful.

Felicia clapped her hands. "I'm so happy to know that! You are quite polite for a monster, aren't cha?"

"… I-it's Sasha. I'm a human."

"Oops, silly me. Sasha the human, not a monster." Felicia slid the plate closer. "Why don't you take another one?"

"ON SECOND THOUGHT—" Sasha interrupted, pushing the plate towards Sprig and Polly, the latter of which deciding to chase after it. "I'M A BIT FULL FROM THE SCONES! WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOURSELF INSTEAD?"

Sprig stopped eating, entering the conversation. "Oo oo, why don't you tell us about your restaurant, Mrs Sundew?"

"My restaurant, huh?" Felicia tapped her sticky frog chin. "Well, the restaurant is a pretty big part of my life but it's my scones that's my pride and joy."

"Your scones?" Sasha asked.

"Yup, that's right." Felicia looked back into her memories, where her journey to becoming a restaurant owner truly began. Many, many years back, she was but a young femme frog. She was like any other of her age; arrogant, daring and full of expectations.

"Back when I was just over Sprig's age, I used to travel from town to town as a hired maid." Felicia said, thinking of a caravan she stayed in, cluttered with junk of various shapes and sizes. "I would go from house to house, providing my service to clean the place and get paid. It's a pretty simple job."

"Unfortunately, my caravan had a broken wheel so I needed some extra money to fix. Thus, I chose a relatively simple job for easy pay." She sheepishly spoke. She remembered how she walked up to a nice place in her little dirty overalls and a ruined broom, and confidently knocked. "The people there weren't kind to strangers, however. So getting a job wasn't as easy as it looked."

"But the one store that did accept me changed my life forever." Felicia said fondly.

A dried-up and old-looking newt walked out of the store, wearing well-suited clothing and a cane in hand. He inspected the young Felicia, who was frozen in place by fear.

"You, girl." The newt said with a rough tone. "What's your name?"

"Felicia, sir!"

"Felicia, huh…" He inquisitively scratched his chin. "Well, the named Jeremiah. What do you want? "

Sweat drooped from her forehead. "I'm here to provide you with my services! A-as a maid, sire!"

"A maid? Heh, with that crummy look of yours, I doubt you'd be able to do anything right. Go somewhere else, girl." He dismissively remarked, before walking back into his store. However, he was stopped by Felicia, who pulled the handle.

"Sire, I assure you I can do it! My skills are not second-rate!" She boasted defensively. An easy job was all she needed to get the cash and leave town, and she won't have some random newt insult her ability.

Jeremiah opened the door once more, staring at the young Felicia. He thought about it for a few seconds but did not look satisfied. "You're a maid, right?"

"Yes, sire."

"Will you be following everything I say, without question?"

She saluted. "I c-can definitely do it, sire!"

"Then throw away that old broom of yours." He said, walking back inside. The young Felicia blinked, looking at her precious broom. Sure, it may have seen better days but it was such a precious tool to her.

However, the newt returned while she contemplated, throwing at her a bunch of cleaning supplies. For example, a nicer broom and a mop. "Here, take this. Come inside."

The young Felicia took the supplies without question. Being a hired maid, she was used to doing chores and whatnot. It wasn't a skill to be proud of but to Felicia, she did believe it was above average. With the broom in hand, she followed the old newt into the building and was shocked by what she saw.

Walls of glittering gold and lacquered red oak floors. Toadstool tables, strategically placed throughout the room, gave a sense of class and etiquette while still maintaining its spacious feeling. The whole place was lit by chandeliers with bright glowing mushrooms up top, giving the room a yellowish hue. The only thing that stood out of place was herself and her dirty uniform.

"Sweep the floors, then mop it till not a speck of dirt is left! Once done, call me to check. I'll be in the back."

Young Felicia nodded and went off to work without complaint. She swept with the broom and mopped with the mop as best as she could, certain of the potential outcome.

Many minutes later, she wiped the sweat off her forehead, sure that she cleaned up to his standards. The floor wasn't just spotless, it was as clear as a mirror! Just as she finished, the Jeremiah walked up to her and inspected the surroundings.

"Hmm…" He sounded. "It's… too clean."

Felicia blinked. "What?"

"What?" Back in the present, Sasha exclaimed in surprise. Felicia giggled amusingly at her response. "I know. I was surprised too. I've never been yelled at for making something too clean."

"So he was a slob?" Polly asked innocently. In return, Felicia shook her head. "No no, he wasn't a slob or anything like that. He was just… practical."

Back in the past-slash-flashback, Felicia bent backwards in shock. "T-t-too clean?!"

"It's too clean! You wasted energy, time and resources! How are you gonna able to do the other chores if you're too tired to move?!" He scolded.

He threw a rag into her hands, still shocked and shaking. "Wipe the tables next! And do it PROPERLY!"

"Eep!" the young Felicia shrieked and ran off, wiping the tables frantically as the old newt watched. Once done, he checked her work again and just like before, he scolded her for doing it too vigorously and damaging the toadstool's surface.

No matter how hard she tried, he would always find some way to be angry at her. And with every interaction, her frustration bubbled and built up, slowly and surely about to overflow. It was just a matter of time.

Once more in the present, Sprig took another scone and popped it in his mouth. "Shounds toughf."

"Oh, it was. He was very critical if my work, either shouting at me for doing too much or shouting at me for doing too little." She said back, laughing a little. "Haha, it was torture. I nearly gave up too."

"But you didn't." Sasha added, unconsciously eating a scone herself despite the dung beetles.

"A hungry stomach is the biggest motivator." She answered. "But truthfully, there was just something about the place that kept me there."

After a month of back-breaking and stressful work later, she looked over all of her hard work. The floors were swept just right, the tables were wiped perfectly, all of the windows were as clean as a whistle, heck she even removed the dust from the chandeliers.

This time, she was definitely sure that old coot would finally appreciate her work.

"Uh, sire? A-are you there?" Young Felicia questioned, though she found herself unanswered. The kitchen was cleaner than a pollywog's bottom and smelled nicer too. It had all of the basic necessities such as a stove, a freezer and a working sink, bordered by a line of countertops.

In the middle however was an island counter and on it, a plate of short cylindrical biscuits underneath a glass cloche lid. They were glowing as if magic coursed through them.

The young Felicia stared in awe and stepped closer. Her stomach grumbled angrily and tempted her to try just one bite. With one hand lifting the lid, the other crept closer and closer…

"I see you found the scones." A voice came from behind her, scaring her. She nearly dropped the lid but managed to quickly put it back with a ting. Young Felicia turned around to meet Jeremiah who somehow appeared without her noticing.

"I-I-I—"

"No need. I can tell you wanted to try them but you could've just asked." He exclaimed with a disappointed tone. Before he could continue, however, Felicia's stomach grumbled once more, causing him to raise an eyebrow and for her to blush, embarrassed.

He sighed and walked pass Felicia and towards the scones, lifting the lid and taking one. "Here, try one."

Hesitantly, she took the scone from his hand and took a small bite. In fact, a small bite was all it took and Felicia's taste buds exploded with flavour. She stared at her slightly bitten piece and instantly, she gruesomely gouged it like a wild animal.

As if she had a blackout, she looked at her crumb-covered hands and for the first time in a long time, felt truly satisfied with her meal. Realizing she wasn't alone, Felicia turned towards Jeremiah with an embarrassed blush.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, smiled. "Heh, I see you liked that, didn't cha?"

"I-it… was delicious."

He tipped his cane. "Glad to be of service." He then strolled past her and opened the door to the dining hall. "Come here, let me show you something."

Felicia walked slowly to him, looking out the door. She stared at the same dining hall she had been cleaning for the past month, all of the hard work she's done.

"I already gave you enough pay to move and yet, you kept coming back. I know you came here for some easy copper but you refused to leave." He leaned to her. "So why are you here?"

Felicia opened her mouth to answer, feeling it was quite simple and yet, she couldn't find her words. Why did she stay? She already fixed her wheel after a week of work. She could've left any time she wanted.

"I…" She gaped. "I don't know…"

Jeremiah grunted. "You know, you always come by to clean up the place after the restaurant's closed, so you never did hear what the folks here say. And by golly, are they the chatty bunch."

Felicia thought back about her interactions, how people here treated her. When she first came, they didn't seem to like her that much but after a month of working there, she found herself unintentionally easing into the community. People were nicer and there were fewer stares and glares, they just weren't vocal about it.

"A restaurant is more than just a place to serve food. It's a place of new experiences, where people all over town meet and chat. They learn new things about one another, experience new ways to enjoy life and understand what it means to try new things. The food here, it's just a spark but it's the spark the folks needed."

"They appreciate your work and treat you better. You might have not noticed and I might have been harsh to you, but you do good work and you deserve to know that. You also deserve to do better than you ever before."

The young Felicia turned away from Jeremiah and looked upon the dining-room she had painstakingly cleaned. She could hear the voices of town folk conversing with each other, the stories they tell and the laughs they share. Outside of the restaurant, everything was back to normal but here, the atmosphere changed. People would dress up nicely, act polite and mannerly for no other reason but a good meal.

To be a different person and try new and exciting things. That's what a restaurant truly was, is and will be.

Felicia opened her eyes, finally finished with her tale of growth. She took a look at her patrons who had listened to her story, in particular, were the three children in front. Sasha was eating her scones like it was the end of the world, too enamoured by the story that she didn't even care about the dung beetles. Polly was in awe, so surprised and amazed that she honestly forgot about the half-eaten baked good in her fins. Sprig, on the other hand, was crying tender tears, both on his face and in his heart.

"I see you all enjoyed my story-telling. I feel flattered." Felicia said with a humorous tone. Polly raised her fins and shouted with vigour. "THAT WAS THE BEST STORY EVER!"

"I admit, that was pretty cool, Mrs Sundew." Sasha praised, taking another bite. Sprig, with tears in his eyes and a trembling jaw, just had to ask. "W-wHa DiD yOu Do AfTeRwArDs?!"

"Well, I decided to stay and became a full-time employee. Gave up the whole maid thing." Felicia answered easily. "I was there for a whole year before I left. Then I opened this little restaurant of mine with the savings I got. Honestly, though, I haven't seen the old coot in years, but I'm sure he's just fine."

She lifted a plate of scones. "Before I left, he gave me the recipe to make these babies. I was honoured by it but I did have to tweak the recipe a bit. You know, business reasons."

"I also noticed you're having no problem with eating them now, Sasha. Considering you looked like you were going to die earlier." Felicia giggled with her statement.

"Huh, I guess I'm not. Cool."

Felicia looked at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Golly, look at the time." She turned towards Sasha, Sprig and Polly and grabbed their empty plates. "You kids should head on back. The market's already starting."

"OH NO! THE MARKET! WE ALMOST FORGOT!" Sprig gasped loudly in shock. He then jumped out of his chair and ran straight to the front door, followed by Sasha and Polly who simply jogged behind him. "Bye, Mrs Sundew! Thanks for the meal!"

"See ya later, Mrs S." Sasha said her goodbyes, making up a nickname on the way.

"Goodbye, Mrs Sundew." Polly exclaimed the same from her water bucket.

Mrs Felicia Sundew waved as they left her beloved restaurant, smiling the entire time. "Goodbye, kids. Do come back sometime in the future!"

Back at the marketplace, Hop Pop was standing by the Plantar vegetable stall, tapping his feet impatiently. "Now where did them kids ran off to? The market's about to get swamped."

Just as he spoke those words out loud, Sprig, Sasha and Polly all leapt out of the horizon and right in front of the stall, startling Hop Pop. Well, Sprig leapt out from the horizon. Sasha only jogged behind him with Polly in her hands. Sprig landed next to the old frog, jazz hands upwards. "HOP POP! WE HAVE ARRIVED!"

"Well, y'all sure took your time." Hop Pop scolded. "Come on, go to your stations, you two. As for you Sasha, I guess you can stand by for now."

Sprig went and grabbed a sign to stand around and advertise, Hop Pop had to man the 'cash register' while Polly laid in the back, giving any requested vegetables to the old frog. Sasha stood by the side, watching as the Plantars did their work with any customers. Sprig was good with his words and the townsfolk seemed to like him. Hop Pop's experienced and can haggle good, all while Polly helped out and watched him work.

Sasha couldn't help but felt a bit left out.

"So, how was your morning, Sasha?" Hop Pop asked by the counter. "Any interesting stories to tell?"

Sasha tapped her chin. "Well, we did go to that tea shop in town that sells baked goods. I thought it was neat."

"A tea shop? Do you mean Felicia's place? Ha! 'Neat' would be a bit of an understatement. That's pretty much the fanciest place in Wartwood!" He responded, smiling. "Though, I bet your home has some exciting places too, right?"

"Probably. But hey, nothing wrong with trying out some new things." Sasha replied with a smug. She turned to behind the counter. "Say, you think I can help you with the cash?"

"Sure! Here, let me explain to ya how much is how much…"

Hop Pop began to explain to Sasha the prices of each vegetable, the best method of haggling and how to treat their customers. Sasha meanwhile spent no time wasting and quickly absorbed as much as she could. She was, after all, currently stuck at this place for a couple of weeks already and she'll be stuck for a couple of months more, so why not try out some new experiences while she waited? After all, she had all the time in the world.