Calamitous Intervention

Little Stringbean / Tea Time

On a beautiful day in Wartwood, Luz and Sprig were doing farmwork in front of their house. The frog was showing Luz how to till the dirt and plant seeds. The human took a step back, doing her best at this task. "Uhh... Am I doing this right?" she asked.

"You'll get the hang of it eventually," Sprig assured her, deciding not to mention that she was messing up some of his hard work. "I mean, you'll have to since you're living here."

"My weak nerd arms aren't made for this," Luz muttered, wiping sweat off her forehead. "I'm really out of shape. I think Polly could even beat me in a hand-to-hand fight."

"To be fair, nobody should mess with her," Sprig said.

"You know what?" Luz placed the hoe down before hopping up and down, feeling motivated. "I should start working these legs. I'm gonna go for a jog."

"I'll come with you," Sprig replied. "Where are you going?"

"To the forest," she stated, and he shrugged.

"That's risky, but okay," he agreed, and so, the two of them ran off from the house. As they were jogging, they suddenly heard a faint noise, and Luz stopped to listen in.

"Wait... Am I going crazy, or was that..." she murmured. The two of them heard a distressed meow, and Luz's eyes widened. "A cat?! How did a cat get here?!" She ran off, and Sprig followed her. They ran toward the source of the sound and found a swarm of massive wasps swarming something fluffy that was desperately trying to escape.

A furry creature was stuck in a puddle of orange liquid, as the wasps above tried to stab it with their stingers. Luckily, their aim wasn't very good.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Luz ran forward, grabbed a spell, and threw it at one wasp. A burst of wind knocked it and the other ones away. Taking this chance, the human ran up to the defenseless creature and pulled it out of the sticky puddle, sighing in relief. "You're safe now!"

Right as Luz got up, the wasps stung the surrounding ground, making her yelp. She dashed toward Sprig as he used his slingshot to launch rocks at the wasps, disorienting them. "Take that, buzz brains! Go sting someone your own size!" he yelled.

Luz ran past him, holding the fluffy creature in her arms. "Come on!" she said urgently.

"Sprig out!" Sprig taunted the wasps, hopping backward in the bushes dramatically. "Peace!"

Luz made it out of there, with Sprig on her trail, and rushed back into the clearing, panting heavily. "Are you hurt, little angel?" Her eyes then widened as she took in the creature's appearance. "Huh?!"

Sprig leapt down, startled by her sound. "What's wrong? Are you stung? We'll have to amputate you!"

"No, I'm fine," Luz replied, petting the little creature. "I guess this isn't a cat, but this world's version of one. It's so cute!" She scratched behind its ear, and it purred. "Who's a good little kitty thing? Yes, you are! I wanna keep her!" she cooed.

The frog boy was unsure. "Eh, I don't know, Luz," he said. "That's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."

Luz gave Sprig puppy eyes as she hugged the creature close to her, making it clear she wasn't willing to part with it. "But I can't leave this precious little fur ball out to be eaten!" she protested.

Sprig shrugged. "Well, it's not that I'm not okay with it, but Hop Pop might not want it there. What are you gonna name her, though?"

Luz thought about it for a moment, going through a mental list of names. "How about... Stringbean? Yes! That's the perfect name! My little Stringbean!"