Heather’s scout squad moved through the thin treeline at the edge of the Screaming Forest and the swamplands to the north of Genkysou village. They moved slowly and cautiously. These lands were well travelled, but in the World of Bones, that still meant they were exceptionally lethal. One wrong step, and they could put a foot in a scalding pool of springwater, or worse, get entangled by one of the voracious Venus man-traps that littered the Screaming Forest.

It was only Heather’s second ever sortie. Her leader had already successfully led them on a raid on a Helhound nest the other week. This time they’d be coming back empty handed. They’d been pushed back to safer lines by a horde of Miedo Mosquitoes in the foggy swamplands. Thankfully they’d been able to blend back into their environment like they’d been taught to. Otherwise they’d all be sacks of flesh covered bones littering the shores of the bog.

She mused on the day as a good one. With all the ways that a scouting mission could go wrong, survival was considered its own form of success. She felt like one of the brave warriors of old, bold and confident: A force to be reckoned with… even though she was still only a rookie. Heather sighed as she felt the aches in her muscles. A long soak in some of the more temperate heated rock pools on the way back to the village would do wonders for how she felt.

She was about to ask her leader, when she realised that she’d lost sight of the scout leader in the messy underbrush. A small spike of fear shot through Heather. A separated scout was easy pickings for most all of the monsters in this area. Her spear was a very good weapon for keeping things at bay.. But it was better utilised with a group of other spearmaidens. It would do Heather little good if she ran into a Hellhound pack out here.

For a moment, she thought about retracing her steps and looking for where the tracks of the group split from her own, just like they’d learned in school. But then somewhere in the jumbled green foliage up ahead, she heard a human shout. Her heart rose in her chest… They must be searching for her. Thank the God’s - she was saved.

As she ran through the brambles and tropical pines, and the pervasive mists of the sub-tropical rainforest, she could hear the environment come alive with the singing of birds, and the croaking of frogs. It just sounded so good, and alive.

Heather had always liked frogs. Her junior scout school books had said that adult frogs reached sizes large enough to eat a large woman. But when she was younger, during the rainy season, when the tadpoles washed through the river and into Genkysou village, she’d seen baby frogs emerge from the streams and pools of water. Some girls thought they were slimy and icky, but Heather liked the cool, wet sticky feeling as a frog leapt onto her. The tiny things tried to eat her… but she was simply too large for the tiny predators, and they gave up quickly, hopping away to search for something to eat.

They weren’t without danger.. Newborn babies often disappeared without a trace during the wet seasons. But Heather thought they were cute little things. She’d wanted to keep one as a pet, but her mother had turned white when she raised the prospect, and given Heather an hour long lecture about responsibility, and danger. Maybe the lessons had sunk in, after all Heather had graduated from Scout School. Not every girl survived the harsh training and education to become a full fledged Scout.

Heather’s feet pounded the rotting detritus and muddy rocks as she approached a small clearing where her group’s cry had come from. The Croaking seemed louder here. Maybe there’d be some cute little frogs here?

“SLAAAAAAWWWP”

Something pink, fleshy and sticky slapped between Heather’s tiny pointy breasts.