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

If there are any parts that say they are newer, that is from the pronouns update for the non-human cast. I've decided that Hoplash, Coaliz, Sapliz, etc. will be agender due to their vastly different culture and world mechanics to the human world.

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 sky blue tadpole creatures charge with their spears, a special type of spear with a blade made of their solidified, toxic saliva.

One young tadpole in particular stands amongst the crowd. They look on in horror. They run the opposite direction as the others. Their family. Their friends. Everyone who was charging to their certain doom. Left behind. A coward amongst warriors runs from certain doom.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early in the waking period, three creatures decided to get to their daily shenanigans and adventures. Hoplash, a small, energetic, sky blue tadpole frog, went hunting, and killed about 30 snakes in their first waking hour, and about 45 more in their next. Coaliz, a tired dusty gray lizard with a horn protruding from their forehead, and a coal-like growth on the end of their tail, traded a couple of them in exchange for marshmallows, very much to Hoplash’s dismay. And Tortoiseed, the hyperactive, plant loving turtle. Uh, they nuzzled against a tree. Yeah.

After a long, peaceful day of hunting, exploring, and whatever Tortoiseed was doing, evening set in, and the crew settled down for an early dinner. Like every other day, it was salty fried snake, using Coaliz as a stove, and some oil Hoplash bought at the trading center in the village. Oh, and some peppers Tortoiseed grew.

Outside, under a nearby tree, two shady hooded figures sat 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 retorted 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. Quite a small settlement. Hopefully I could do some work with them.”

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

THE NEXT MORNING

Hoplash wakes up way before the waking period. Perfect. They ran 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 they’re up, there will never be peaceful sleep until the moment they begin their slumber at the end of the day.

Coaliz joined Hoplash for their daily hunting session, though it's mostly so they could snag more snakes to trade away. Unfortunately for them, Hoplash would not stand for this. Every time they grabbed a snake, they got a blast of water to the face. It was when they’d just about given up when something interesting happened. A green lizard with a leaf growing out of their head and strange markings around their eyes held out their hand to greet the pair.

“Hiya, I’m Sapliz. Nice to meetcha!”

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

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

Coaliz’s gaze softened, regretting their words. “Oh, well then. Sorry.” They stood and begins to make their way past Sapliz. However, a strange machine appeared revealed itself in the sky. It swooped down and swept all three of them off the ground, efficiently capturing them. It then flew off into the distance.

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

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