I inked the cover art this time! Anyways, how's your day?

ALL CHAPTERS LINKED HERE:
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A tall skinny man stands from his throne-like seat. He is wearing a lab coat and glasses, his hair unkempt. He walks up to the railing in front of him, looking down to see a horde of angry Hoplashes. He smirks.

“Release the wasps,” the man commands.

Thousands of decaying insects fly through the air, zipping around, with their wings creating a storm of buzzing. Hundreds of Hoplashes charge with their spears, which are a special type of spears with a blade made of their dried, venomous saliva.

One young Hoplash in particular stands amongst the crowd. He looks on in horror. He runs the opposite direction as the others. His family. His friends. Everyone who was charging to their certain doom. Left behind. A coward amongst warriors runs from certain doom.

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It’s early in the morning, and three creatures decide to get to their daily shenanigans and adventures. Hoplash, a small, energetic, sky blue tadpole frog, goes hunting, and kills about 30 snakes in his first waking hour, and about 45 more in his next. Coaliz, a tired dusty gray lizard with a horn protruding from his forehead, and a coal-like growth on the end of his tail, sells a couple of them in exchange for marshmallows, to Hoplash’s dismay. And Tortoiseed, the hyperactive, plant loving turtle. Uh, she nuzzles against a tree. Yeah.

After a long, peaceful day of hunting, play, and exploring, evening sets in, and the crew sits down for an early dinner. Like every other day, it’s salty fried snake, using Coaliz as a stove, and Hoplash’s oily sweat as cooking oil. Oh, and some peppers Tortoiseed grew.

Outside, under a nearby tree, two shady hooded figures sit down, with their backs facing each other. One of the figures, with a protruding green snout and a sharp little tooth poking out, starts the conversation.

“Status report? We’re quite curious about your findings.”

The other person, with a warbled voice and slight glint coming out of their hood, replies: “These bumbling fools wouldn’t hurt a damn fly if it was holding a knife to their throat. Are we sure that we can find anyone capable of fighting in a WAR amongst these little tree huggers?!”

The first figure speaks in a mock offended voice, “Are you suggesting it’s my fault they’re all soft, or are you calling me a liar?! These are rescues, not trained soldiers. They may not be in fighting shape now, but I see enough potential in them that I think it’s worth a shot.”

“No, I am simply saying we should be focusing on quality, not quantity. Toss the spoiled food, only allowing the fresh apples to pass.”

“Your analogies make no sense.” The snouted figure stands. “I think I’ll take your place here. Keep an eye on this little village. If you can even call it one.”

“Fine. It was difficult dealing with all those pests anyway.”

THE NEXT MORNING

Hoplash wakes up so early that it’s pitch black out. Perfect. He runs outside making enough noise to bother everyone in their small, friendly town. Starfield Woods. The small grove where refugees of various recent disasters reside. As well as some more permanent residents.

Hoplash is basically the alarm clock for the entire town, because once he’s up, there will never be peaceful sleep until the moment he goes back to sleep.

Coaliz joins Hoplash in his daily hunting session, though it’s mostly so he can snag another snake to restock his supply of marshmallows. Unfortunately for him, Hoplash is fed up with this. Every time he grabs a snake, he gets a blast of water to the face. It’s when he’s just about given up when something interesting happens. A green lizard with a leaf growing out of his head and strange markings around his eyes holds out his hand.

“Hiya, I’m Sapliz. Nice to meetcha!”

Coaliz has an annoyed look. “Great, another treehugger like Tortoiseed..”

Sapliz, taken aback, responds, “Can’t say I HAVE actually hugged a tree, but.. I do sorta draw my power from ‘em, I suppose..”

Coaliz’s gaze softens. “Oh, well then. Sorry.” He stands and begins to make his way past Sapliz. However, something appears in the sky. It swoops down and sweeps all three of them off the ground, effectively capturing them. It then flies off into the distance.

Meanwhile, Tortoiseed was making a tomato plant dance. Yes. Important plot points.