Drastic Changes
Anne kept running until she couldn't go anymore. She leaned against a tree.
"W-w-what... how did I..." Anne said, questioning EVERYTHING.
She tried to pull away, but her hand was stuck to the tree.
"Ugh! Is this tree sap or slime or something?" Anne said as she kept trying to pull her hand off the tree.
With greater force, she pulled it off... but ended up pulling the bark off the tree as well.
"Oh come on!" She said.
She grabbed the bark and pulled it off her hand, which lead to the bark getting stuck in the other hand now. Making the human groan loudly to the sky before she put her foot against it which caused her to get THAT stuck against it.
"Come on!" Anne said, hopping around on one foot.
'What is going on with this stupid bark!?' Anne thought, trying to pull her hands free from the bark!
She managed to free herself, but it took so much force that she was actually sent flying backwards. She managed to stop herself by landing on a tree.
"Ah ha!" She said, looking at her hands, Free of the... bark?"
She looked down and realized something... she wasn't in the tree... she was stuck ON the tree. She was stuck to the trunk of the tree.
"W-w-what the?" Anne stuttered.
'This..this can't be real, can it?' Anne thought as she slowly pulled her hand off the tree and looked at it.
Searching for any traces of sap or slime to explain what's happening logically.
But there was nothing. Her hands were as clean as the day she got here.
But something felt….different about them. Something was growing on them as Anne leaned closer to check her hand.
The things she saw growing out of her finger were these strange, sharp, hair-like things.
'Are… are these what is causing it?' Anne thought.
Placing her hand back in the tree, Anne pulled her other hand off the true to see the exact same hair things growing out of her skin.
Slowly, as her curiosity got the better of her, Anne began climbing the tree with such incredible ease. Almost like she was born to do this.
Before long, she made it to the top of the tree and looked around the forest along with Wartwood in the distance.
'And here I thought my life was crazy enough already.' Anne thought with growing dread.
First it was dodging an attack she couldn't see and now it was sticking to surfaces like a gecko! What else could happen to Anne after she almost died from a spider bite?!
Anne was almost scared to find the answer to that question.
(Line Break)
Meanwhile, the Plantars were going all over town looking for Anne, asking anyone if they've seen her.
"Excuse me, have you seen my human granddaughter? Yey big, bush like hair, long limbs?" Hop Pop asked some random citizen.
"Sorry, haven't seen anyone like that." They said.
"Dang it." Hop Pop cursed.
"Hey, lady! You seen Anne!?" Polly shouted at Mrs. Croaker.
"No and watch your tone with me, girlie! I'm not too old to take you over my knee and spank you!" Mrs. Croaker said to Polly.
Sprig ran to Felicia's tea shop.
"Ms. Sundew, have you seen Anne?!" Sprig asked.
"I can't say I have but Ivy came back with a rather peculiar story about Anne." Felecia said.
"Tell me later, please! I gotta find my friend!" Sprig shouted as he ran out of the shop.
After an hour of searching, the family met up by the statue in the square.
"Anything?" Sprig asked.
"Nothing." Hop Pop said, shaking his head.
"Nada." Polly said, wallowing in her bucket.
"Ugh! Then she must still be in the woods, we have to go find her!" Sprig said.
"And run into a mantis again like when we met? No thanks!" Polly argued.
"Polly!" Sprig said, "It's Anne, she broke her arm trying to save you last week!"
"I know but I just don't want to be eaten!" Polly argued.
"For the ones you love, you'll risk being eaten Polly. You'll understand when you older." Hop Pop said as he turned to the forest. "Now let's go find our loved one!"
The Plantars ran into the woods in hopes of finding Anne.
"Anne! Are you here!?" Sprig asked.
"Sprig, look!" Hop Pop said, pointing at something.
It was the cast that was on Anne's arm. Sprig picked it up and got concerned.
"Anne! Anne, where are you!" Sprig yelled.
He ran deeper into the woods, which made Hop Pop and Polly chase after him.
"Sprig, wait!"
Sprig didn't listen, he was too busy looking for his best friend.
(Line Break)
Anne was hugging her knees as she sat on the ground, next to a tree. She was crying.
"Anne!"
Anne looked up and saw Sprig coming towards her.
"Sprig?! No, don't come any closer!" Anne said, panicking.
Sprig didn't listen and tried to hug her.
"Anne, I was so worried!" Sprig said.
Anne flipped over him.
"Don't touch me... I'm... I'm a freak." Anne said.
"What? So what you can do crazy flips, that doesn't make you a freak." Sprig said.
"No, but this does." Anne said, pointing her hand to a tree and flinching her middle and ring fingers.
Something shot out of her wrist and attached to the tree.
"Holy frog, what is that?!" Sprig asked as he looked closer to the line. "Is that…silk?"
"Yeah, I can shoot a web from my wrist. I can climb vertical structures. I can do who knows what else!" Anne said as she snapped the web line from her wrist.
"Web? Climb? Kind of like…" Sprig's eyes went wide in realization! "The spider! Its bite, mixed with Maddie's potions to heal you, gave you spider powers! That is so co-"
"IT'S NOT COOL!" Anne screamed, cutting Sprig off. "People JUST stopped treating me like a monster and if anyone learns about this, then I'll go right back to being treated like that!"
"Oh…they won't…I'm sure if we explain what happened, they'll understand." Spring said, trying to be positive.
"Yeah, because that worked so well last time." Anne said, rolling her eyes.
'Yeah…..' Sprig thought, recalling all of the times Anne tried and failed to get the town to view her positively.
Shaking his head, Sprig sat down next to Anne and placed a hand on her arm.
"Even so, even if the town doesn't like you, you'll always have a place with us Plantars. Hop Pop said it himself, you are family." Sprig said.
"Until he finds out what I've become." Anne said, "Who's to say this is the last change? What happens if I become some kind of... weird... grotesque... spider hybrid?" Anne asked.
Just then, Hop Pop came out from the bushes.
"Kids! Do you... have... oh I'm too old to run." Hop Pop said, leaning against a tree to regain his breath, "Why do you two always have to be the ones running around, getting in trouble!? Anne, do you have any idea how worried I was for you!?"
"And me?! I'm too young to die out here looking for my older sister figure!" Polly shouted as Hop Pop placed her bucket on the ground.
"Sorry." Anne mumbled.
"Anne was just a bit overwhelmed by her recovery. I mean, who else would react like she did after escaping death?" Sprig defended.
"Well, whatever happened, let's get home." Hop Pop said, "I think we've had enough excitement for one day."
'Some of us more than others.' Anne thought, as they went back to the farm.