[attr="class","cwsideh"]@tags @tags @tags @tags @tags @tags

[attr="class","cwmtex"]There he was.

A huge frog in his hands, running away in a cobbled street adorned with lanterns.

To him, it felt like time had slowed down. He turned his head back to look at the people chasing him, and recognized the two of them. Each of their faces stretched to hideous expressions, fuming, burning with the desire to get their hands on Corinth and the frog. As their chase continued however, more and more people joined in, some to just get a piece of the action, some just to enjoy the absurdity.

He slowly turned to face forwards once more, dodging the people that were watching the spectacle. The frog in his hand croaked while staring directly into his eyes. Corinth looked back at the frog. He saw his reflection on the cold, emotionless eyes of it. As if mocking him, the frog croaked once more, louder this time. Corinth shook his head to clear his thoughts and made a sharp left around a corner. He was in an alleyway now between two houses. Without thinking he jumped on a window still, then the one on the opposite wall till he reached the top.

He tried to ignore the curses of the crowd down below. Slowly he peeked over the side of the roof and saw while they still wanted to get to him, they were arguing among themselves. He rested his head on the shingles of the roof and exhaled deeply.

“How did it get to this?” He asked himself, holding the frog upwards as he laid face up on the roof. He touched the stomach of the frog with his finger, and felt the hard pair of glasses in its stomach. He rose up and pet the frog with a single finger, which responded by trying to eat the said finger. “Ack!”

The crowd had dispersed trying to find him. He couldn’t help but wonder if things could’ve gone better. If he could’ve done this job without causing a chase. Slowly, his mind drifted to the morning of the same day, and he started to go through his memories.

---

When he picked up the mission to deliver some glasses, Corinth didn’t think much of it. Sure, they were extremely fragile, but he could just cover them in some cloth or cotton and be on his way. It was a long way to Aries Garse, but he was rather excited to see that town again. It’s been years since he visited it, and his memories were hazy.

Corinth had the glasses in a soft pouch that he held in front of him with both hands. Covering it like a flickering candle flame. Aries Garse didn’t feel as crowded as Kikka, yet Corinth felt a bit of tension. Was he a city guy now, despite the fact he once called these lands his home? Sometimes he felt a gaze upon himself, and couldn’t discern whether that was his imagination or not.

The first wave of bad luck showed itself in the form of three kids, who cut in front of Corinth with a glint in their eyes. “Hello mister!”

“Um, hello.” Corinth responded dryly. He wanted to get the glasses to the lord as soon as possible. The kids seemed to be between 6-9 years old. They were dressed in worn out looking clothing. “...Can I help you kids?”

“You are not from around here right?” One of the girls asked. Her wavy hair made into two buns, her outfit a striking bright yellow with white trims.

“No, not really,” Corinth responded, while telling himself to shut up inside.

“What’s in that?” The boy asked, pointing his finger and touching the pouch, which caused Corinth to quickly hold it back. “Careful!” He warned. “Why? What’s in it?” The boy asked again. Corinth started to smell trouble and wanted to circle around them without a word, but the third girl, who was silent till now, jumped and grabbed the pouch from his hand at a speed that surprised him.

Snickering, the trio of kids started to run from him. “Get back here! All of you!” Corinth shouted after them. His speed was more than enough to reach them, but the kids were crafty and went through the nooks and crannies of the town to lose him. Sometimes they dove between the legs of people. Corinth wanted to cry, praying that the glasses weren’t broken already.

The chase brought them in front of a stall full of potions, natural stones and caged animals. The stall’s sign was a skewed piece of wood with the words: “Peacebread’s Stall of Wanders.”

The word “Wonders” was spelled incorrectly.

When attempting to grab one of the kids, the kid jumped out of the way at the last second, causing Corinth to trip right into the stall itself. While he didn’t damage the items that much, one of the cages fell down and opened. A frog, bigger than any Corinth has ever seen before jumped out. The owner of the stall who looked like a little kid himself jumped from behind it. “What is this?!” he shouted. Corinth, panicking, rose to his feet and apologized quickly. However, he had to run and get the glasses back from the kids.

As he continued his chase, he felt a slight weight on his left leg. When he turned, he was faced with the huge frog that was hugging his leg, coming along with him. “Huh??” he shouted, and saw the angry face of Peacebread chasing them. He cursed, but had no time since he was losing the kids. When the kids entered a small green shop, he dove after them, and was face to face with an old woman who smelled of grass.

It seemed to be a flower shop, but Corinth recognized some medicinal herbs as well. The kids, snickering, all hid behind the woman. “What’s the meaning of this young man?” The woman said sternly. Corinth was out of breath and could barely form sentences. Finally, he managed to let the woman know how the kids took something from him.

“Ah... I see.” The woman said and turned to the kids. Without having to say anything, the kids started to explain how they wanted to prank him. “He came from the city Iwa! We wanted to play a prank on him.”

“Yeah we ain’t no thieves!”

The old woman shook her head and took the pouch from them. Corinth, finally with the glasses (but also the huge frog still) held his breath as he looked inside. He held the glasses in front of him, and was relieved beyond belief that they were safe and in one piece. He then felt a wet thing on his hand, then the glasses were gone.




The room was silent. Corinth, very slowly, looked down to face the frog, who had swallowed the glasses in one go. “I’m finished,” Corinth thought. “I’m going to have to pay for the glasses, and then I’ll have to move back in with my parents.”
While he was lost in thought, the frog jumped from his leg, onto a shelf of flowers. Corinth thought, maybe, just maybe, he could get the glasses back somehow without hurting the frog. He jumped after the frog without thinking, and the shelf came crashing down. He held the frog in his hands, but the lilies were destroyed.

“Uh oh,” one of the kids said.

“YOU!” Iwa shouted, and with a flash of light, summoned her green grimoire.

“Iwa really likes lilies,” one of the kids said.

Corinth, fearing for his life, ran out of the store while hugging the giant frog, and immediately ran into Peacebread, whose short legs were not made for running. The short wizard flew backwards and fell down. The entire alleyway stopped and stared at them both. “This isn’t happening.”

“Hey, that guy hit Peacebread!” A random person shouted.

“Good, Peacebread sucks!” Someone else responded.

“It’s a very stupid name!” Someone else, for some reason, commented.

Corinth didn’t know what to do. Iwa was after him, Peacebread was after the frog, the frog had the glasses that he needed to deliver, and he didn’t even know if they were in one peace. In a moment of panic, he simply started to run. He wanted to get to a safe place, figure out how to get the glasses from the frog, deliver it, and pay back Iwa and Peacebread however he could. Peacebread could very easily not care about the glasses and just want the frog back, and Iwa was probably just mad either at him or the frog, both bad news.

---

And that’s how he came to be in the situation he is in now. Gritting his teeth, he peeked towards the streets from above, trying to make sense of where he was supposed to be going. He hugged the frog against his body and started to slowly climb down. Going up was easier when just jumping like a monkey, but going down took some of his time. To his destination he continued from the shadows of the back streets, away from prying eyes.

When the frog croaked again, he tried to cover its his mouth with his arm. That however, did not help as the frog demonstrated he could croak any time he wanted. Miraculously, he managed to reach the lord’s house.

“Halt,” a guard said in a speaking voice. Seemed to be like a mage on payroll to act like a guard for the lord’s estate. Corinth was still holding the frog, and didn’t know how he could ever explain himself. “What are you here for.”

Corinth, tired and battered, improvised a bow. “I’m here for a delivery,” he said. The guard raised an eyebrow and pointed at the frog Corinth was holding.

“That?”

Corinth stood still and thought for a second. If he said no, and said it was about glasses, the guard could snitch and tell the lord where his glasses has been. That would be as good as failing the mission. “Um. Yes,” Corinth responded.

The guard looked him up and down in silence, and then shrugged. “Sure. Name?”

“Corinth Cheerwright.”

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll accompany you.”

They walked through the well-kept flower garden of the lord. While the flowers were pretty, each step squeezed Corinth’s heart more. He made it here, but the glasses were still inside the frogs stomach. He loved animals, all kinds of them, but looking at that stupid blank expression of the frog made him want to squeeze him.

“Croak.”

“Shut up please.”

He could sense the side eye the guard gave him. Thankfully, he was spared from a comment or two. He had to do something, now. “Uh, sorry can you give me a second?” Corinth asked. “I need to... Use the bathroom?”

“Okay, I’ll deliver it for you,” the guard said, and picked the frog from Corinth’s hands. Corinth wanted to protest and held on to the frog. “No! I mean, it gets very cranky with strangers!” He said, pulling the frog back. “It’s fine, stop wasting our time,” the man said, pulling the frog again. They went back and forth, putting up their reasons why they should be the one to deliver it. Left, right, left, right, each time they squeezed the frog more without realizing, till finally it let out a croak and shot up the pair of glasses.

There, flying in the moonlight, the glasses, somehow, were in one piece. He jumped and grabbed them, and cleaned them on his well worn shirt while the guard watched in awe. He didn’t know what kind of frog this was, but whatever kinda saliva it had, it left the glasses spotless, crystal clear.

“Nevermind!” he said, grinning. “I’m all good.” He tried to map out where he could find Peacebread again so he could give him his frog back after finishing the delivery.

Or, well, maybe he could keep the dumb thing after paying for it.