Freaks in Nature [Poloka Pepon’Kiki/ Frogchops]

[Blaka]

It was a rainy day on Dautaun. Constant light drizzle was falling from the sky into the treetops and onto the blades of grass below. Down here, a small creature was making their way through these blades, hopping over sticks and stones, excitedly trying to take in every detail about its surroundings as they made their way. It honestly all looked a lot like back home, which was a slightly disappointing surprise to the little frog. Same kinds of leafy trees, same kinds of grass, same kinds of muddy ground. From what they heard, other islands were supposed to be all kinds of different. Not that they could think of what exactly they had expected though. The different kinds of fellow animals were already exciting enough. Back there a few minutes ago, they had hoped into a footprint in the mud that was at least thrice their size. Whoever that one belonged to was likely to pose a challenge to anyone who challenged them. Perhaps one of those "bears" they had been warned about? Frogchops was pretty thrilled to meet someone like that.

The clouds above didn't bother them so far. Skies usually looked like this when it was raining. Granted, not as dark as this most of the time, but it was nothing to worry about. That said, they had stopped trying to catch droplets of rain with their tongue pretty quickly; those did not taste as good as back home.

Thankfully, the available food was just the same as back home. This was the current short term coal of the currently pretty hungry hopper: Find enough mushrooms and some of those noodle thingies for a nice meal. They had already found and picked up some of those shrooms, tied them to their back, together with their knife. Unfortunately, no noodles yet. Frogchops just hoped they would recognise the plants those grew on at all. They had never seen them in the wild and some fruits could be rather hidden afterall.

Also, luckily, no humans yet. Those were the main reason Frogchops was hopping around as a little frog right now. Before having lunch, they didn't want to deal with any of their shouting and pointing weapons. Sure, they had already met one nice one, but the track record had not been amazing so far.

Just when they were thinking that, Frogchops heard a voice nearby:
"Help! Please help! Anybody there? I don't know how to get home!!"
Clearly, some human kid was yelling there. Typical, not paying attention to their youngins and getting them lost! Apparently, that's what human parents were like, truly preposterous! Straightening their yellow hat with one hand and pulling up their tiny dungarees with the other, Frogchops got ready to hop to the rescue!

[Vio]

^{Pepon’Kiki #1}

---

Pop… Pop… Pop… The subtle sounds of air pressure releasing barely graced one’s ears in the quietest of environments, the pitter-patter of rainfall adding to a natural ambience that completely concealed such noises. They were just a feeling now. A feeling their creator was getting used to as they walked among the trees — quite literally at that. Each step pressed bulbous digits against the rough bark of decidedly grey-brown trees, amongst the most bland and dull she had even seen, and the green of the canopy was dull and pale compared to the typically lush emeralds of brighter lands. And with such a dark sky, there wasn’t even a rainbow to gawk at with childlike wonderment.

A contrast.

What clung to the trees, hopping from bough to bough as necessary, was something somewhere between human, fish, and amphibian. A veritable cacophony of colours tenfold as rich and vibrant as nature’s presence, Poloka Pepon’Kiki had adopted a state between her regular self and the animal whose powers she had received: That of the tree frog. A broad face turned from a fragile jaw of mild complexion to a face of rich jade by the time it reached the cheeks, large eyes — a blend of vivid yellow and deep orange — dominated and peered about with curiosity. A wild finger wave bob of hair clung to the head, mixing colours that just should not have been blended, with indigo locks highlighted by streaks of chartreuse and fading coral tips.

“This place is so boring… Not even a single pretty flower! Pepon’Kiki does not like this, blegh,” she spoke to no-one in particular, hanging from the side of a tree with one hand held to her brow as if to block out the barely existing sunlight. Arms turned green by transformation were decorated with paint, her left adorned with bright red circles, while her right featured thick streaks of ultramarine, and even her face — somewhere between human and frog — featured further hues. Lips painted orange and fuchsia, cheeks marked with deep purple spots made from tiny fingers, and eyelashes dyed electric blue just seemed bizarre.

^{“Help…! Please,” a voice caught the wind:
“I don’t know how to get home…!”}

“Whooo…? Wait– Pepon’Kiki is a frog, not an owl,” the colourful curiosity muttered to herself, scanning the forest floor for signs of the sound’s origins. Nothing stood out, save for the odd print in the mud from what she assumed was native wildlife — very dull wildlife at that. Compared to even just her tie-dyed top of yellow, violet, and red, or the pink and yellow stripes of her shorts, everything here seemed practically monochrome. She wasn’t even counting the golden hue of her tail and its vivid blue spots and stripes. And then there were the various flowers and feathers adorning her hair, or decorating the heads and tails of the bamboo javelins strapped to the side of her backpack.

^{“Somebody…? I’m scared…”}

“Owls are so brown and silly… Oh! Pepon’Kiki will help,” Miss Poloka spoke, following further audible cues and hopping and climbing her way through the canopy, as obvious as she was. If this child was truly lost, well, she could empathise — it wasn’t that long ago that she had been laying immobile in a shipwreck waiting for her kin to pull her out. At least this child had the blessings of being able to move and speak…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis:—}
As she explores the woods, Pepon’Kiki hears the voice of a lost child calling out for help and leaps to the rescue!

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Note: --

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Poloka Pepon’Kiki | #a8c3bc
Lost Child [NPC] | #eeeeee

[Blaka]

Absolutely irresponsible!
Frogchops was getting pretty worked up about as they hopped towards the voice. Sure, their own parents had exactly protected them from predators. But that was mainly because they weren't actually able to. What was a silly old croak going to do to a large bird after all. But humans, humans were stronger and smarter than anything else this one had ever encountered - up until their own transformation, of course.

Luckily, they were here to help. It only took a few hops before Frogchops was able to find the place the crying was coming from. In the middle of a large sat a human child, not older than eight years. It was wearing a tiny fancy grey pantsuit, which must have been quite expensive at some point, but was pretty much torn beyond repair at this point. The left arm was missing, the knees were ripped open and a large tear was running across the right pantleg. Of course, Frogchops didn't know anything about human fashion, but the fact that there was mud all over the kid's hands and face and the sheer amount of leaves and twigs in the kid's long red mane told of a long and stressful journey.

"Anyone!?", the voice whimpered at the treetops "I just want to go hooome!"
Heeeey!
Frogchops croaked, quickly hopping closer.
It's alright, little one, I'm here!
Seconds later, they were at the little one's feet, who looked up and stopped crying immediately. Tilting its head, the child looked at the animal before it and blinked.
"H-hey there little one…" it stammered in a mix of surprise and wonder at the frog dressed up in dungarees, hat and knife. "Are you lost too?"
You're one to talk! Frogchops replied croaking, I'm not lost, I just don't know where I am yet! Big difference, you know!
The youngin giggled.
"Totally! I'm Potea by the way, and you?"
The redhead reached down to grab the strange hopper, but they took a leap back and wonkily stood up on their hindlegs for a second, proudly proclaiming:
They call me Frogchops!
Potea laughed out loud and withdrew her hand.
"Ribbit it is!" she agreed.

It was at this point, that Frogchops realised they had not been talking the language of the humans so far. Naturally, all the lass had heard was croaks and ribbits.

Alas, they would change to a form allowing them to communicate better. Over the course of a few seconds, out from where the little frog had sat popped a creature as tall as the girl: Big belly, large tusks, muscle packed biceps.
"Frogchops!", they yelled out pridefully, way louder than they had meant to.

Potea squeaked in horror.
Frogchops grunted back in surprise.

The bear at the edge of the clearing, who had meant to start running up and chomping down at his distracted, hurt and helpless prey, roared in fear.

_____________

SPOILER: Click to show

{Click here for Frogchops Hybrid Form}In Hybrid form, Frogchops is usually walking upright. In this form, their lower body is mostly that of a warthog. They are hopping around on hooves, not leaping like a frog, but as light as a ballerina. Their stomach is fairly chubby and hairy, especially in contrast to their rather thin legs. Around their lower chest area, their skin slowly turns less hairy and green. Their arms are almost absurdly muscular, ending in firm, webbed frog's feet, which function as their hands. Their head is that of a warthog, complete with long tusks. Their cheeks are still known to bloat like a frog's however. Of course, their upper body is also a little slippery all over. Their tongue can also extend up to 100cm in this form and is quite sticky.

Frogchops: #00ff60

[Vio]

^{Pepon’Kiki #2}

---

“Hm! If Pepon’Kiki were lost, where would Pepon’Kiki be?” asked the Mermaid, completely ignoring the irony of the words that had just come from her mouth as she hung by her toes from a branch. Eyes scoured the immediate vicinity, though again found nothing. Not even the slightest trace of a lost child, not even a whisper, as if the gentle rainfall had swallowed the child whole. But while she hung there, now pondering the mental imagery of carnivorous raindrops, something — two things actually — broke nature’s silence.

One was the loud and slightly throaty yell of “‘Frog Chops’” from somewhere nearby. The other, closer to where Miss Poloka clung to the tree, was the loud but rather shrill roar of what was likely a much larger beast. With a start, amphibian eyes locked on to the source: A bear. A horrid display of brown, brown, and more brown. Was there ever a more bland animal? Even the owl had a little bit of appreciation for contrast! Well, at least said offensively dull ursine was taking its leave.

“Why are you running?” she asked of the animal, but it provided no response — not even a cursory glance — as it sprinted into the trees. There was a moment to process exactly what she was seeing, however, as she looked to the clearing whose borders it had patrolled. “Ah, Pepon’Kiki found you!” With a cheery chirp and a few more barely audible pops, the peculiar palette navigated her way to the forest floor, leaping from the lower trunk of one tree and into the clearing itself. There was a girl, lost and alone, and a curious critter whose form was… well, curious! Eyes shifted from one to the other, then back again to the child, whose face had turned a rather odd shade of pale.

^{“Are they okay?”}

^{“I… Uhm,” the girl gasped:
“Wh– I… Ah… … …!”}

^Thud!

“Eep! She passed out! Fig! Quick, fetch some water,” Pepon’Kiki ordered, apparently unfazed by the horrendous creature in dungarees currently standing a couple of yards away. Though, perhaps the same could be said for him? Somewhere between frog and something else, neither was something anyone in their right mind would expect to see in the middle of the woods. A colourful harlequin with features of frog, human, and fish was perhaps even more bizarre than the thing she had dubbed ‘Fig’…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis:—}
A curious Pepon’Kiki finds the lost child, who promptly passes out when surrounded by two anomalous amphibians.

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Note: --

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Poloka Pepon’Kiki | #a8c3bc
Frogchops | #00ff60
Lost Child [NPC] | #eeeeee

[Blaka]

“Ah,Pepon’Kiki found you!”

Frogchops let out another surprised oink as the unusual creature hopped into frame. Definetely a kind of being they had never seen before, speaking the language of the humans and looking sort of similar, but not really. It was more so the general human vibe she gave off than anything else, mixed with a very frog like vibe. Not that Frogchops thought of her as a frog, there were way too many clear differences for that, not to mention the size. Their first gut feeling about the situation was excitement, this had to be a species they had not even heard of before. Already. this island even more promising!

Before the Warthog Frog could say anything to her though, the immediate happenings got in the way: Potea fell over! Immediately, Frogchops was by her side, too late to catch her fall, but holding her in their comparatively monstrous looking arms.
“Why the yelling!?” they asked distraught, half directed at Pepon’Kiki, half at the girl. It was apparent that Potea was knocked out, so they tried to lightly shake her awake, to no effect.

When they heard the order to get water, it seemed well-advised to do as told. This wondrous woman probably possessed greater knowledge of what to do in this scenario. After all, she was closer to humans physically, so even if it was just a guess it was likely a good one. So, Frogchops’ tongue sprung forth from their mouth to catch a droplet or two and give it to the girl - before they made a disgusted face. Already, they had forgotten about the rain tasting awfully unhealthy here.

Alright, there was another option luckily. They would have to trace their steps back, but it wasn’t very far.
“I know where water is!”, the beast grunted as they picked the kid up and flung her over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They turned back to the stranger and waved, just like they had seen people do before.
“I am Frogchops! Water is that way!”, they claimed, less loud than before, pointing in the direction of the coast.

It was just now that they saw the items the mermaid was wearing: Some javelins and a bag. Instantly, they recongnised both of those things for what they were: Weapons for defense - and a good way to store stuff, just like cheeks, except way larger! What a great idea!
“You can store more water in that!”, they suggested, excited about this revolutionary idea “You carry it where you need it! Come, you follow Frogchops!”

With that, they began hopping lightly like a ballerina towards the saving sea.

[Vio]

^{Pepon’Kiki #3}

---

^{“I know where,” the stranger spoke:
“Water is that way…! Come!”}

“Ooh?” Pepon’Kiki chirped, her throat expanding slightly as any frog’s would before springing back into shape with a very light squeak. Eyes watched with curiosity as this bestial anomaly — half-frog, half-pig, which had earned it the nickname of ‘Fig’ — hopped to it. He’d scooped up the child, throwing her over his shoulder in a most unflattering manner, and half-hopped, half-sprinted into the trees. “Store water in what?” she questioned, unsure about what he’d meant as she too hopped along.

A minute at most passed them by as they hurried along, trees breaking to reveal that which Miss Poloka was all too familiar with — the coastline. Sadly, the lack of proper sunlight gracing the land subtracted massively from what would be natural beauty, dulling the colours of everything. Even the sapphire blue ocean looked decidedly more like a murky grey here, coastal sands more gravelly and lacking in anything more than a damp polish from soft rain and sea spray. Yuck!

“Oh? But this is not fresh water, this is sea water,” Kiki chirped, scurrying along the ground on all fours as they approached the shoreline, stopping where the trees and grasses provided a natural buffer against the elements, before touching the point where soils became sands. With wide eyes, her face still decidedly frog-like, she looked to the one calling itself Frogchops and whispered loudly. “Pepon’Kiki does not think this place has any good water, anyway,” she added, turning her focus to the child and allowed herself to change shape as she sat herself on a flat boulder.

Arms returned to a decidedly more human appearance, as did her visage, and the emerald hue of an amphibian swiftly shifted to a milder complexion. Legs, distinctly amphibious in nature, shrank and shifted into flattened wings of vibrant yellow flesh spotted with stunning blue that undulated gently. Despite her still very vivid and cacophonous colour scheme, Pepon’Kiki was revealing her true colours — that of a people that most dwellers of the Blue Seas thought mere myths.

A Mermaid.

^{“Hey,” she asked:
“Is she awake yet…?”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis:—}
As Frogchops runs to the coast, Pepon’Kiki follows before returning to her true form.

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Note: --

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Poloka Pepon’Kiki | #a8c3bc
Frogchops | #00ff60
Lost Child [NPC] | #eeeeee

[Blaka]

How similar to themselves this person was! Frogchops was quite fascinated by this mix between a human and a frog. Perhaps, it came to them in a moment that made them frown for a second, the female had also been experimented on? Human natures seemed quite able to do that to one of their own. Alas, they wouldn’t bother their new acquaintance with questions about something dark like that.

“Store water in your pouch!”, they explained instead, pointing at the bag. “Carry it everywhere!”

When they arrived at shore, Frogchops was about to grab the girl on their back by the ankles and give her a good dip, but Pepon’s words stopped them.
“What’s wrong with sea water?”, they queried, turning to the woman - who was just in the process of shapeshifting just like them! Not into a human or frog though, she was actually growing a fish’s fin! Excitedly, the warthog hybrid’s cheeks expanded just like Pepon’s throat earlier.
“You’re just like me!” they roared, way louder than necessary again. They didn’t know they could actually turn into all kinds of animals though!
“How do you turn into fish!?”

That noise was enough to wake up Potea. Within seconds, she realised the monsters had taken her somewhere else - and were about to throw her into the sea by the looks of it!
“Eeeeeek!” she shrieked as loud as possible “Let me go you freaks!”
Her little fists tried punching the one that was holding her in the spine, which was unfortunately not very successful. All it did was make the beast’s fat wobble a little.
“Woah, calm down!”
Frogchops gently let the kid down into the grass. She crawled away from the two on her behind before quickly hitting a tree with her back.
“Please don’t drown me! I just want to get home!”

Carefully, she was eyeing not just the warthog frog, but the mermaid’s tail as well, very clearly just as worried about that as she was about the other mutant.

"We don't want to to dr-"

“I’m sorry I ran, I’ll never do it again I swear!”
Baffled, Frogchops scratched their head with their huge arms.
“Where is home?”, they wondered out loud.
“I don’t knoooooow!”

[Vio]

^{Pepon’Kiki #4}

---

“What’s wrong with sea water?” Frogchops asked, turning in time to witness Miss Poloka’s transformation and apparently equally fascinated by it. “How do you turn into fish!?” they’d asked of her as she set her backpack down, prompting the technicolour marvel to look at the equally anomalous individual. Her tail, which somewhat served to anchor her position as it wrapped most of its length about the rock, wiggled lightly.

“Pepon’Kiki does not turn into fish: Pepon’Kiki turns into a frog because Pepon’Kiki is a Mermaid,” she voiced as matter-of-factly as she could, though her pitch and manner of speaking perhaps lessened the impact. “And sea water is salty! Humans can’t drink that,” she continued, before a panicked shriek of alertness indicated to the both of them that the girl whose rescue they had hopped to was actually awake. Frightened, scared, and entirely caught up in the moment, she eventually found herself pressed against a tree.

“Oh… Pepon’Kiki was going to splash water on your face to wake you up and so you would have something to drink,” the multicoloured Mermaid corrected, realising now that Frogchops’ method was perhaps a lot less helpful than her own. Hindsight was twenty-twenty. “Oh! Pepon’Kiki has an idea! Why don’t we help you find home? It can’t be that far away, right…?”

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis:—}
Pepon’Kiki suggests they help the girl return home.

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Note: --

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Poloka Pepon’Kiki | #a8c3bc
Frogchops | #00ff60
Lost Child [NPC] | #eeeeee

[Blaka]

Frogchops had never heard of mermaids. From the sound of it, that would be maidens living in the sea. How cool was that!? Scary too though, for everyone else. Humans being able to live underwater could be very dangerous predators for sure. Especially if they could turn into their prey and hide among them. But certainly one of those fantastic things they had expected to find on their journey!

“Humans can’t drink that”
“I did not know that.” When they fell in once, there had been other problems. Like not being able to move. The sea really seemed like a dangerous place for individuals that weren’t fish or mermaidens. What a shame, that so much of the world was covered in it and all that water could not be used. “Scary place, seawater.”

“Wooooaaaah!”
Frogchops had meant to elaborate, but the girl interrupted, gulping down her fear as she saw Pepon’s transformation.
“You’re a mermaid!? I knew you were real! You look aaaweeeesoooome!”
Her face was lighting up with amazement, her little hands were opening and closing quickly, as if she was trying to squish the lady’s tail.
“Can I become one too?”

When Miss Poloka asked about home, the light in the kid’s face quickly vanished again.
“I don’t know, I’ve been out here for a whole day… The address is Dauntaun City, Chimney District, 6th Block, C6… but I don’t even know where the city is, I don’t know how to find the direction!”

Well, ‘Fig’ didn’t know how to find that either. Nibbling on one of the mushrooms they had collected, the Warthog Frog sat down and began wrecking their brain…

“W-what are you though?” Potea asked, a hardly hidden disgust on her face as she looked at the strange creature more closely.

“I” she was told “am Frogchops!”

[Vio]

^{Pepon’Kiki #5}

---

“Can I become one too?” the child asked, apparently fascinated by the fact that Mermaids were real. Truly, Pepon’Kiki originated from a rather secluded islet, isolated from typical trade routes and naval passages, where the winds seldom allowed sailors to make shore. Those that did had often wound up there by accident due to critical navigational failures and, with their course corrected, soon set off without paying much mind to the secrets of that little lush strip of land concealed within its waters.

“Human people can’t become Mermaids, Pepon’Kiki thinks,” she replied, though clearly not entirely certain as to whether that was actually the case. Older Mermaids’ tails split to become like legs — could older humans’ legs fuse to become a tail? She pondered the thought for a moment, conjuring curious mental images, but her own enquiry soon stirred the conversation elsewhere. The girl’s shining intrigue became dim and sullen as she answered with a series of words, letters, and numbers that meant a grand total of nothing to the Mermaid.

“Pepon’Kiki is not sure what they are, either,” Miss Poloka replied after a rather long moment of pause following Frogchops’ announcement. “All Pepon’Kiki knows is that you are lost and must find home, so let’s go and find this… ‘Chutney Discrete’, yes? If we are here, then all we have to do is follow the sea,” she said, sliding from her perch upon the boulder and allowing her shape to shift once again, fins becoming amphibian legs as her colours shifted and facial features distorted to the flamboyance of a froggy form.

“Also, Pepon’Kiki thinks you need more colour,” the now hybrid Zoan stated as she started to waddle her way along the coastline of this decidedly dull landscape. “Even Fig has more colours!”

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis:—}
Pepon’Kiki takes the initiative.

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Note: --

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Poloka Pepon’Kiki | #a8c3bc
Frogchops | #00ff60
Lost Child [NPC] | #eeeeee