I love this film I have no idea why there was just something about it. Any way warnings of fluff, darkness and angst. I don't own anything here I just borrowed it for a little bit. I have dyslexia so please be kind about spelling and grammar mistakes I do the best I can. I'll admit I am a little nervous about this story…This is sort of an AU…It's hard to explain what I have done here so anyway read and enjoy.
Grey King.
Chapter one:
Branch could hardly believe that Creek had survived the forest and returned to the troll tree but he had somehow. The blue troll however had been even more shocked when Queen Poppy had with a simple apology from Creek permitted him back amongst the trolls. The purple troll had wasted little time in reclaiming his place in the new Queens affections and Branch had found this very painful to watch. He had been unsurprised when watching the troll he loved with all his heart being won away from him with so little effort and so little resistance on her part turned him grey once again. This time though Branch decided not to stay amongst the other colourful trolls, he went to a wooden trunk hidden in his new pod on the troll tree and opened it. Inside was a silver ring shaped in the form of a crown which he slipped onto his middle finger of his right hand. For a few moments Branch sat looking at it on his finger then determinedly closed his hand into a fist and rose. The blue eyed troll quickly packed up all of the things he thought he would need on his journey carefully into a back pack. Then when night came to the troll tree Branch slipped out of his pod, he reached back touching it turning it grey before turning and walking away. The grey troll made his way down the old escape tunnel and went into the forest beyond the tunnel determinedly not looking back at the troll tree as he walked away.
Branch knew exactly where he was going, the now grey troll was going home, back to the tree his father had come from…His grandma had told him all about that place when he was younger but the blue eyed troll hadn't thought he would ever have a reason to want to go back to the silver tree. In his pack was the map his father had made of his journey to the troll tree so the grey troll knew by following it he could safely make his wat back to the tree his father had come from. For Branch, it felt very right at this time to be going to go back there to claim his rightful place amongst the grey trolls. The ring which Branch had inherited from his father and now wore openly clearly marked out what the place was. It took him over two weeks to make the journey from his old home to the clearing which contained the completely silver tree of the grey trolls. From this tree hung pods all of which were in muted shades of grey, black, white and silver. The grey trolls who lived in this magical tree quickly noticed Branches arrival and they all approached him cautiously. It was an elder male who found his bravery first and addressed the newly arrived troll. "Who are you?"
"I am Branch and I am of the silver tree." As he spoke Branch held his hand out showing the ring to them. The eyes of all the grey trolls in the area widened as they noticed the ring and in a wave like motion they all bowed then knelt on one knee to Branch.
The older troll still on one knee spoke again addressing the blue eyed troll with the utmost respect. "Sire you have come home to us at last. Welcome back King of the grey trolls! We have long waited for you to return. I am one of the town elders my name is Ash."
"Thank you for the welcome Ash. Are you all truly willing to let me take my place as the King of the grey trolls even after all this time?" Branch asked them all curiously.
The noise of agreement which greeted this question was huge and Branch smiled round at his people glad of their acceptance of him. He was guided to the royal pod of the silver tree by several of the elder grey trolls, with the help of the other grey trolls the blue eyed troll soon had the pod clean and what little of his stuff he had brought with him moved in. The next day Branch was fitted for the robes which all the grey trolls wore, he had quite a few of them made as he was sure he would need them. The blue eyed troll was well aware Branch would need lots of different ones for all different events he would need to preside over as king and that his robes would be more ornate than the other grey trolls. Three days after Branches arrive back at the silver tree the blue eyed troll was formally crowned as the King of the grey trolls in an ornate coronation ceremony which the whole tree attended. The blue eyed troll's crown was shaped to look like fine silver interlaced vines with leaves which encircled his head at the base of his black hair. The new king had chosen to were a silver mask which covered the upper half of his face, so that all could be seen was his blue eyes. The grey trolls knew he wore the mask in case colourful trolls came looking for him and also as a sign of his broken heart. Branch had also told them to call him Bellious if the colourful trolls should come to their tree, after all Bellious was grey troll for Branch and they would not know this. The grey trolls celebrated their new King's coronation with a formal feast and ball which lasted for three days.
Branch was knew that his people had two great secrets which separated them from the colourful trolls, the first was that they were magic users every grey troll was a mage of some form but the King was the greatest one and the second thing which made them different from the coloured trolls was that they were metal workers. The King was glad that his people where less emotional than the colourful trolls, they did sing, they did dance and hug but not as often as the others. There songs where not as cheerful as the other trolls in fact their songs where more often like laments, ballads or opera. Their dances where either ball room danced or slow, with long flowing movements which joined one into the next this form of dancing was nothing at all like the colourful troll's high energy dances.
The grey trolls were very happy to have their King back but they were sad to hear what had happened to him amongst the colourful trolls and they were very keen to protect their King from any future emotional harm. Branch had found out from the council of elder grey trolls who were there to advise him, that his father when he had been just the prince of the grey trolls had left the silver tree to follow his wife and the love of his life, who had been a blue colour troll back to her colourful people and that his grandma had been his mother's mother. The elders also informed the new King that his parents had sent back a message to the silver tree when Branch had been born declaring his birth, but then nothing more had been heard from them and everyone had assumed all three of them had perished until Branch had returned to take his place as King amongst them.
The young King settled into his rule well, he proved to be a wise, willing to listen, just and even handed ruler of the grey trolls. Branches years of being ready for disaster had meant that he was a good problem solver and planner, these where skills which his people where very glad to know that their King had. Soon his people had plenty of supplies put aside for any period of bad weather or natural disaster that should occur, they also had underground bunkers and weapons ready in case of future attacks of any kind. The grey trolls had been pleased and proud of the fact that their new King quickly learned how to use his strong magic well.
It was a full year after Branches return to the silver tree that the colourful trolls finally found their way to the silver tree, how they had found it the grey trolls where not too sure but they assumed that it was quiet probably the magic of this place which had drawn them to their tree. At the head of the group was a pink troll, she looked round at all these grey trolls with amazement and they were all looking back at her clearly curious but at the same time guarded. After a few moments of silence Poppy found her voice from somewhere and addressed the grey trolls. "I am Queen Poppy of the trolls we are here searching for a troll named Branch."
Slowly an adult female grey troll stepped forward, the pink troll could not help but stair at the floor length flowing grey robes she wore, they were beautiful, they flattered her lithe figure, with long billowing sleeves. These grey robes were decorated with a complicated swirling white pattern at the edges of sleeves and all the way round the robes bottom edges. This female grey troll bowed to poppy politely and then addressed the young Queen in respectful tones. "Greetings Queen Poppy ruler of the colourful trolls. Welcome to the silver tree from which we grey trolls come and where we make out home. The only one who could help you with your inquiry is our King Bellious. I am sure by now he would have heard of your arrival and be coming to see you."
"Yes, I have heard of the Queens arrival and come to see what has brought her here to us." Said a low male voice, as soon as it spoke all the grey trolls bowed once in the direction of the voice before sinking down onto one knee.
Poppy turned in the direction of the voice, her pink eyes widened at the sight of the King, he wore silver robes which flowed out behind him as he walked, they simmered in the light. His robe had strait close fitted sleeves with points onto the back of his hands, they were completely unlike the female belled ones and the whole shimmering robe was decorated in a very ornate swirling black glittering beaded pattern. The silver mask on his face also caught Poppies attention it framed a pair of blue eyes but hid all of the top half of his face from view. The King brought his hands out, as he did so Poppy noticed on the middle finger of the right hand was a silver ring shaped like a crown. Bellious gestured his people to stand, once they were stood the King of the grey trolls turned his attention back to Poppy, he bowed his head politely to her and then addressed the young Queen in a formal manor. "How may I be of assistance to you Queen Poppy ruler of the colourful trolls?"
The pink troll quickly explained her quest to the King of the grey trolls. "I have been searching for a troll by the name of Branch, those I and my friends have met during our journey to your tree all told us that he was coming in this direction. Please King Bellious is he here?"
"Yes, it is true that a troll with such a name came here to us. He was suffering greatly with a broken heart…His pain was so very great, we all felt great pity and compassion for his suffering." The king explained to her gently.
Poppy quickly caught onto one thing in the way Bellious spoke of Branch. "You keep referring to Branch in the past tense…What happened to him?"
The King let out a deep sigh before explaining himself. "Branch was of grey troll decent, for one of us a broken heart is extremely painful so it takes a long time to recover, if the one suffering ever recovers…As for why I am referring to Branch in the past tense I am afraid your friend could not recover from his broken heart…He is gone I am sorry."
The pink troll stared at the king with disbelief and then tears started to form in her eyes. "You mean Branch is dead…"
"In a way yes this is so. He is in a place that he cannot come back from with ease. Come I will show you…It will be easier than trying to explain it to you." With these words the King led the Queen and her friends up into the silver tree and to one particular part of it. Here there hung lots of identical grey cocoons, Bellious gestured up at them and then spoke to the colourful trolls. "He is within one of these magical healing cocoons…This is what happens to a grey troll when they cannot recover from a broken heart. Eventually Branch will awake from his slumber within the cocoon but he will have no memory of the one who broke his heart hence why I say he is gone because in a way he is. How long his sleep will be I cannot say each troll is different, it could be only months or many years."
"No…That can't happen…" Poppy said raw emotion in her voice.
"Can you at least tell me why Branch returned to us so broken?" The King asked her his voice soft but curious as he asked the question.
The pink troll gulped and then looked down at her feet with shame. "It's my fault, he loved me, I loved him back then Creek came back to us. I was so happy to see him and so willing to forgive him that I didn't realise until it was too late that Creek had deliberately put himself between myself and Branch. He also made Branch think we were in love which turned him grey again…But I don't love Creek…I love Branch with all my heart. Once I had realised what had been going on I sent Creek into exile, I couldn't even bare to look at him after he managed to deceive me again…I was so stupid and now I've lost Branch…Probably forever…"
Gently the grey King laid a hand onto her shoulder and said to her tenderly. "I am sorry Queen Poppy, you came all this way for nothing."
"Please can you tell me which one is Branches?" She asked tears in her eyes.
Bellious gave her a nod and pointed to what he knew was really just an empty cocoon. "That one."
"I'd like to take Branch home with me."
"You can't the cocoons can't be taken from the tree, because if it is the cocoon would die and so would the one within. Even to touch one is considered a very bad idea as it could hurt the one within or even make their condition worse. I am sorry Queen Poppy but the Branch you knew is gone forever. If you really wish it and your people can do without you then you are welcome to come back once a year to stay for a while to visit with him if you wish."
Poppy took a deep breath then let it out. "Thank you I will do that. Can I sing to him?"
"If you wish but it is unlikely that Branch will hear you."
"I still want to."
"Then go right ahead."
Poppy settled down under Branches cocoon and started to sing a heart achingly beautiful song to it. Her friends moved away to let Poppy have this moment to herself, the King however staid with her he was listening to the song but at the same time Bellious was keeping an eye on her so that the pink troll didn't get tempted to try and touch the cocoon. When Poppies song finally came to an end he spoke to the young Queen. "You have a beautiful voice."
"Thank you. I was so stupid…I hurt Branch so badly…I broke his heart. I had no idea Branch loved me so deeply…I should have seen what was happening, I should have made time to ask him or talk to him…I should have told him I loved him back with all my heart."
Bellious placed a hand onto her shoulder again and said softly. "Be careful. If you aren't you will turn grey and I don't think that would be a good for you or your people."
"You are right my turning grey wouldn't be a good thing. Thank you for everything King Bellious…You will take good care of Branch for me won't you?"
The King of the grey troll smiled at the Queen of the coloured trolls and gave her a nod. "I promise, Branch will be well taken care of by us and most importantly he will be safe here with us. You should return home your people will be worried about you by now I am sure."
"I told them I would not come back until I found Branch I wish I could send them a message to let them know I was alright and wish to stay here for a little while."
"Well unfortunately that is not possible this time but at least next time they will know where you are and why. Come it is getting late you and your companions will need rest before you set off back home." Reluctantly Poppy permitted the grey troll King to guide her away from the clearing and to the large silver royal pod. The pink troll and her friends where given the best guest rooms in the royal pod. Poppy lay in the bed unable to sleep, there where to many thoughts where running through her head. It didn't seem to matter what the pink troll tried she couldn't get to sleep in the end Poppy gave up and got out of bed. The pink troll started to explore the pod, as she walked the Queen heard a low male voice singing in a voice which sounded a lot like Branches wonderful singing and although she didn't understand the words of the song being sung but the song sounded very sad. Quickly Poppy followed the voice determined to see who was singing, she found herself in a low lit long hallway, standing in the moon light his mask in place and still dressed as formally as he had been during the day stood the King of the grey trolls. It was he who was singing as he stood looking out of the window at the town bellow him, Poppy walked over to Bellious, she placed a hand on the windowsill and stood quietly next to him. When the King finished his song, he turned sad masked ringed blue eyes onto the female troll and spoke. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"No, I couldn't sleep any way. That song it was so sad…What where you singing about?"
Bellious let out a deep sigh and then explained his song to her. "I am singing for a love I lost. I was more fortunate than Branch I was able to hold my heart together even if it was only just…Sometimes though the pain comes back to me and it makes me sad again so I sing a lament to help ease the pain in my heart."
"Would it be to rude to ask what happened to you?" Poppy asked blushing slightly even as she asked the question.
The King gave a nod of his head. "It is alright I can talk about what happened to me. I loved her with all my heart but she chose another over me…That is when I began to were the mask…It helps me to hide the pain I feel especially from my people…I hope to feel less pain someday so that I can find love again, marry and have a family."
"No wonder you understood Branches pain so well you have suffered through something similar to him." Poppy said to him softly. Slowly the King smiled at her and the pink troll found himself smiling back. "You are a kind troll King Bellious whoever the lady was she was a fool just like me."
The grey troll placed a hand over hers. "You where foolish this is true but from what I have seen of you Queen Poppy you have a good heart…One day you will love again and so too will Branch."
Poppy shook her head determination burned in her pink eyes. "I don't want to love again, I don't want any other troll but Branch. Are you sure that there is nothing I can do to stop him forgetting me? I made a huge mistake I know that…But if I could just see him again…I'm sure I could get through to him…I want to apologise to Branch to tell him how much I love him and that he is the only troll I will ever love…But he won't hear me will he?"
"It is unlikely but not impossible..." The king said his blue eyes where gentle as he spoke. "There is an old legend which is told by the grey trolls. It is said that long ago one of our princesses also had a love she lost to the condition your Branch is in now but her love was so strong and so true that the one within the cocoon heard her and he came back to her but it is just a story. "
"Still that gives me hope that maybe if I love him enough and try hard enough then I can bring Branch back to me somehow…That I could bring his happiness back to him just like Branch did for me when I lost it. I know I don't deserve him after what I did but…But…I love him so much…I want him back so much." As she spoke the tears which Poppy had been keeping in started to fall. The King stepped forward he gathered the pink troll into his arms and let her cry against him. For some reason the pink troll couldn't put her finger on she felt safe in this strange trolls arms, she wrapped her arms round him, hid her head against his chest and just let herself weep. Gently Bellious stroked the back of her head in a gesture of comfort and Poppy was so very grateful for this freely given unconditional gesture of comfort and compassion. Slowly the tears stopped, the Queen looked up at the King and smiled a watery smile at him. "Thank you I needed that."
"Grey troll or colourful troll there are times when we all need to cry."
"Those are wise words."
"Thank you." This said Bellious walked Poppy back to her room, when they came to the door way the blue eyed king pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Sleep well Queen Poppy. It will be alright you will see." This said Bellious turned and walked away back into the royal pod eventually disappearing back into its shadows.
Poppy reached up, she placed a hand to her forehead that spot still felt warm from the Kings kiss and the pink troll felt more at peace then she had since Branch had disappeared from her life. Poppy settled down in her bed, this time she did fall asleep and the Queen found herself dreaming. In the dream the pink troll found herself back in the clearing with the cocoons in it and standing before her side by side was the King of the grey trolls and Branch. The blue troll smiled at her, before Poppy could say a word to the blue troll he turned towards the King before walking into Bellious and vanishing into him. The blue eyed King reached up he took off the silver mask showing Poppy that he was in fact Branch. The grey troll smiled at her widely, there was love shining clearly in his eyes, with a cry of delight Poppy ran into his arms and threw them round Branch. The King laughed with delight, he wrapped his arms round her, held her close and pressed a soft kiss to her brow. Poppy pulled back slightly to look up into those blue eyes she knew and loved. "I thought I had lost you forever. I love you so much never leave me again."
"I was just hidden, I would never leave you I love you too much to do that." He told her before kissing her softly but fully on the lips.
When Poppy woke the next morning, the dream she'd had that night made her smile but the dream had also left the young Queen very confused at the same time. It couldn't be possible that Bellious was Branch in disguise…could it. Poppy shook her head she was just looking for the cupcakes and rainbows again and she knew that wasn't going to help in this situation. The pink troll got out of bed, she got dressed for the day and then found her way with the help of the royal pods servants to the dining room. The King was already there so where her friends, Poppy joined them for breakfast and once they had eaten Bellious addressed them all. "I have made sure to have plenty of supplies ready for you all for your journey home."
"Before we go, would you take me back to Branches cocoon I want to apologise to him before I go home."
"Of cause I will." This said the King stood, together he and Poppy made their way out to the cocoons and once more Bellious pointed the cocoon out to the Queen.
The pink troll took a deep breath, she looked up at it, Poppy stretched out a hand towards the cocoon and then spoke. "I'm so sorry Branch…I should have realised what Creek was doing…I've sent him away into exile so Creek won't ever be coming back. Branch I love you and only you…I love you with all my heart…I…I don't want you to forget me…I wish you would come back to me. Even if you do forget me I want you to know I will never love anyone else and I'll never have any other troll to be my King…I only want you…Please Branch don't forget me and come back to me…I know I don't deserve your return to me…But when you have healed from your broken heart please come back to me."
When her words ran out and silence one again had descended over the area Bellious addressed the Queen. "Do you feel better now?"
"No…I don't think I will ever feel better…"
"Hopefully in time that will change for you. I wish you a safe journey home Queen Poppy." The blue eyed troll said seriously.
"Thank you for everything King Bellious."
"You are most welcome." The King of the grey trolls escorted Poppy and her people to the edge of the lands of the grey trolls and he watched them leave with several of the elder grey trolls beside him. Part of him was glad to see the young Queen going back to her home and another part of him wished that he had told her the truth. Branch was not sure that he was any were near ready for Poppy to know that he was the King of the grey trolls or that he was recovering from his heart break.