This Isn't Home (Amphibia x The Owl House)

Summary:

Sasha is in need of help.

Sasha couldn't help the large smile on her face as the three began to walk back through the forest. She had a jump in her step as they passed bush after bush and went through the strange mini clearing with the den, not noticing the small green-and-white bug that crawled after her and up into her hair.

Halfway there, Marcy began to talk about her discoveries with the plants around the area. Sasha and Anne didn't stop her, or ignore her, they just… listened. Anne even chipped in with a few questions.

"So how do we know if it's edible or not?"

"Well," Marcy began, "The edible ones were hard to find, but you can eat almost all of the roots, as long as it's not a mushroom-looking plant you should be fine." She continued to talk about the dangers of these mushroom plants and how she'd tested them on small rodents until the group made it back to the camp.

"Hey, Sasha, you've got something on your arm." Willow pointed out, seeing them arrive.

Sasha looked down and saw a hideous bug face. She screeched and waved her arm around in fright.

"EW EW EWW! GET IT OFF!" She cried.

"Sasha, stand still !" Luz tried to grab her arm but failed, nearly getting hit with it instead.

The bug on Sasha's arm raised its barbed antenna and dug the sharp points into her skin, latching on painfully before biting down. Hard.

"OW! The damned thing b-bit.. me…"

Sasha felt dizzy. She grunted and blinked, suddenly falling backwards in an endless dark void.

Woah… she thought, this is new…

It felt like she was falling through water, the liquid around her slowing her down ever so slightly and trapping air bubbles around her in time.

Sasha thought she saw something sparkling- but she was too tired to move her head to see it.

… Anne? … Marcy? She saw a little burst of light above her, slowly growing as if two hands were reaching down to help her up.

And then she hit the ground on her behind, suddenly back to the real world. She saw the bug and ripped it away from her, tossing it into the river behind her.

"Are you okay?" Gus asked, his tone worried.

"I-" Sasha couldn't answer. She could barely breathe, and the spot the insect had bitten her was burning like fire. She sucked air into her lungs through gritted teeth, eyes squeezed shut and hand clenched around the bite.

"I'm fine-..."

"You don't look fine! That thing did something to you." Marcy pressed a gentle hand to Sasha's cheek. "You're pale. Like, deathly pale."

"S-so?" Sasha was nearly cut off by a jolt of pain. She was sweating profusely and her hair drifted in front of her face, she didn't bother to move it. It was helping cover the tears, anyways.

"No, Sasha, you need help ." Amity butted in, "We don't know what that bug was, it could kill you."

"Hey, how come you didn't get help for me?" Hunter asked, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head.

"We saw your bite, it wasn't great but nothing had really infected you. There was no venom anywhere." Marcy flipped to a page of her notebook and showed him. It was littered with small drawings and words haphazardly scattered near the top of the page.

Hunter hummed, his eyes darkening a bit as he looked away.

Sasha couldn't hold back a quiet gasp of pain as the injury began to throb.

"Yeah, no, you're getting help." Luz pointed directly at Sasha, "Can you walk?"

"I- I dunno, maybe? But I don't need- ow- where would we even find people who know medical things!?" The blonde huffed.

Amity shuffled her feet and said "I saw something. It looked like the walls of houses. It's just beyond the river, after you walk for a while, there's a prairie. Past that prairie is the start of a desert, and there's a small lake surrounded by the walls of the houses, only five feet tall."

"That's… A long walk. Are you sure we-"

"Yep! C'mon, guys, the sooner we start the sooner we'll get there!" Willow enthusiastically interrupted Sasha with a painted-on smile, hiding her worries in half-hearted laughter and excitement.

Sasha sighed as she was helped up by Anne and Marcy. They let her use them for support as the group started their journey.

Hunter side-eyed Sasha for most of the walk, an uneasy feeling in his gut. She was pale and tired, and he now noticed the bite turning black.

"How did you even get to this village in the first place?" Luz was asking Amity, who just shrugged.

"I was wandering around and saw it."

"It's like a day's walk! How could you have had time to walk here and walk back with time to sleep?"

Amity was quiet, and she looked away.

Hunter shifted his attention in front of him, where he saw the beginnings of the promised desert.

"There! Look!" Gus exclaimed, running ahead but stopping soon after.

Oh no .

Hunter joined him, and his mouth fell open in shock.

The village. It was destroyed.

Some parts of it were still aflame, walls and entire houses lay, torn apart and scattered.

"Great. Now what?!" Sasha groaned, wincing with pain. Hunter thought he saw the black venom slowly seep further into her arm.

"Townspeople." Marcy gasped.

"...What?"

" Townspeople ! There, by the well!" Sure enough, there was a rather large group of small goblin-looking 'people' standing around a well.

Hunter turned to go back to the group but swivelled on his heels too fast and ended up rolling down the small hill to the village, crashing through a wobbly brick wall.

"Hunter!" Willow smoothly slid down the hill and helped him to his feet.

" Grandma, is that a demon? " A small voice asked. Hunter shook his hair out and caught sight of an even smaller goblin-person, holding hands with one in a strawberry-coloured dress.

" I don't think so, dear ." replied the other.

"Hi there! Why are you so small ? What happened to the village? Is anyone hurt and can we help?" Marcy seemingly appeared out of nowhere, scaring the hell out of Hunter.

"Let's not bombard them with questions, Mar-Mar." Anne walked up beside her, one of Sasha's arms around her shoulders.

Luz, Amity, and Gus followed, joining the group and gently whispering together.

Hunter noticed the small goblin people weren't necessarily tiny , they were just short, the larger ones standing at just over two feet tall.

"A big bug-monster came through the town!" The kid from before cried, raising his arms for extra dramatization, "It lighted a fire and we had to run! But then we attacked it and it didn't liked us anymore so it leaved!"

"A bug-monster…?" Hunter felt Luz's gaze on him but didn't meet it.

"Are you messengers from the one?" The kid's grandmother asked sweetly, her hands clasping together.

Marcy hesitated, unsure of what to say.

" Why are you here ?!"

" Are they really sent by the one? "

" Could they kill us? "

" What's with the blonde one ?"

The crowd began to fill with noise, chattering and whispers being said.

"Hey, um, we actually need help for our friend here… If you could-" Marcy tried to talk over them but stopped when they all went silent and turned their heads, staring with big, beady eyes.

Marcy swallowed and continued, "If you could please help us, that would be appreciated."

Hunter felt a shiver run down his spine as some of the townsfolk fixed their gaze on him, too.

The small grandmother from earlier smiled, "Of course, dearie. We can try our best if you'll help us rebuild our town."

Marcy nodded frantically.

Hunter found it strange how she'd instantly just… accepted the deal, without any caution. Hadn't most of her trauma been because she was too trusting?

But then again…

He looked back to Sasha, and felt pity at the sweat dripping down her face.

… Sasha kind of needs this.