Amidst a dark grey sky with looking clouds and treacherous hills lay an extensive group of cottages as far as the eye could see. The streets were made of poorly-laid cobblestone, and the houses themselves boasted neutral earthen colors of brown, black, gray, and green.
The overall atmosphere of the place was dismal to say at best. Trolls fought and bargained for items amidst the market, shouting and carrying on in such a way that would make any newcomer shiver in their boots. Women hung tattered laundry from scraggily clotheslines atop the rooves of their shacks, dumping chamber pots into the streets below and wiping away at the seemingly endless dirt on the cloudy windows. The remaining trolls, mostly men and their sons, hung around outside local taverns and bars, hoping to catch a glimpse of the closest fight to place their bets. Beggars hung around every corner, reaching out desperately for a scrap of something from any passerby.
The spots of earth that were visible through the stone pathways and streets was turned up and quite uneven, with sprouts of pale green grass attempting to reach out to the crude air. Chimneys bellowed gray smoke without fail, creating a sort of haze about the entire town as if it were in a permanent fog.
A pair of troll children with pale gray skin scampered through the streets in haste, weaving in and around market stands where equally as discolored adults scowled at them.
"Hurry, Griffin, or we'll miss them!" The one child called to the other as they made their way to the main road that stretched all the way through town. Hooves of creatures unrecognizable pulled carts of vegetables and farm supplies in a sort of parade, the children getting stuck behind one such cart. They scurried to make their way around it, their patched overalls shagging about their bodies loosely. Finding an opening, they took it and careened to the left, the main road dead ahead.
Reaching their destination in front of a butcher, the children gawked at the newcomers along with several others.
One was a troll of their likeness, with dark red locks and gray skin. He wore a tan cloak that reached his shins, a simple peasant shirt, and brown pants. A sword was slung across his back, almost too long for him to carry. Who he had in tow with him, of course, was of much more interest to the townspeople.
She was shorter than them, considerably so. Her skin boasted a pleasant teal and her hair was of ultraviolet blue. Her bright pink eyes surveyed the scene quite apprehensively. She wore no shackles or restraints, but followed their fellow pureblood most closely and obediently. A gesture that made them all reel in confusion.
The two continued their way through the town, and her ears pricked at the vicious whispers behind her as people continued to stare at her in disgusted intrigue.
"Is that a troll? I've never seen one so brightly colored!"
"Of course she's a troll! Do you not see her ears?"
"Ah, but what troll wears their hair like that?"
"She must be one of those Rowan half-breeds. There's no other explanation for her. What an absolutely freakish little thing."
Briar heard the chatter as well, his lips pursing even more as he eyed Princess Willow's hurt expression at their talk. He had not spoken during the entire trip, for he felt that if he had, it would only dig his hole deeper with the Princess.
Their relationship was…..complicated at best. There was no going back on what he had done, nor was there any sign of a possible mend in the future. She had completely shut him out, when he wanted nothing more than to tell her everything.
But how? How could he even begin to tell her the weight of all his problems? He was convinced that now more than ever she would not care to listen to them. His moment for understanding had passed, and it was with this knowledge that he bitterly kept to himself.
As they neared their destination, he couldn't help but steal a few more glances at her. The streak in her hair had grown slightly, but was still relatively miniscule compared to the rest of her deep blue locks. Desperation tugged at his heart, and his emotions got the better of him.
"Willow."
The Princess did not so much as move in his direction, keeping her eyes dead ahead and her posture rigid as they walked along through the filthy streets. He frowned.
"Willow please….look at me." He pleaded. She kept walking, but slowly her eyes lifted to his, though the expression they gave off was one he would have rather never seen from her. She was morose, broken….completely embittered by his betrayal. And it showed in the gleam of her beautiful pink eyes. Those breathtaking eyes that Briar was convinced could cure any troll with half a brain of heartache. He took in a breath, his shoulders rising slightly as he did so.
"What I told you back in that field...it wasn't all a lie, okay?" He said, and he watched her expression turn sour as she puts both hands on her hips. He prepared himself for what she had to say, for he knew how sharp of a tongue she could possess, and this was by far an ample time for her to utilize it.
"Hm, which part? The part about you not being a pureblood or the part about how you were sent to kidnap me?" She responded bitterly, her mouth curved into a frown. He clamped up after that. It was no use. Any chance he ever had of being on her good side was ruined by his blatant disregard for telling her the truth from the beginning. He just gave her a sad look, which she only returned with one final grimace before the two carried on.
Approaching a heavily armed door, Briar pressed a small red button on its panel. Moments later, a repulsive looking troll answered, its one good eye bulging out profusely as it peered down at the two of them. Willow jumped at the sight of him.
"Who goes there?" He bellowed. In one flawless movement, the male troll gave him a salute, spreading his legs apart slightly in a respective stance.
"Huntsman Briar, reporting for drop-off." He said, his tone fighting to stay professional. The guard glared between the two of them, eyeing Willow in particular before he rolled his eyes and stepped to the side.
"Proceed." He grumbled, and Briar gently took a hold of Willow's arm as he guided her down the stairwell into the underground.
Immediately, they were met with a foul stench and dripping condensation from the mud-packed roof. Small holes had been dug to allow greenish light to pass through, creating beams along certain areas of the floor.
The two walked on in silence, with Willow yanking her arm away and continuing down the pathway with Briar leading her. The two approached another set of guards, who had been eyeing them for several feet before they were within earshot. Opening the door that separated them, the two trolls faced the burly guards and the slightly taller one pointed a yellow fingernail in Willow's direction.
"This the broad?" One of them asked. Briar had half a mind to punch him for his blunt use of words, but instead nodded with lips tight in a line. The other guard wasted no time in grabbing Willow by the back of the head, a movement that made her grunt in pain. In an instant, they had opened the door and threw her inside violently, making her fall to the floor.
"Alright, in ya go. Ya half-breed scum." He grumbled. Willow shot him a glare, sitting up and rubbing at her scalp tenderly. The two guards chuckled as they ogled her.
"Pretty little thing, isn't she? Too bad she's got Rowan's poison in her veins." Briar scowled angrily at that, his fists tightening. The two guards then noticed him once more, and smirked. Reaching into his pocket, the taller troll of the two threw something at him in a small leather pouch.
"Here ya go, Huntsman. Direct from Deveraux himself, as promised." He said, thinking that the young male troll would turn away and leave. When they heard no such change, he looked to him again, this time with his own scowl across his features.
"What's the matter, boy? You got your payment. Now scram!"
Briar just stood there, holding the small pouch in his hand while still trying to get one last look at Willow. The Princess had since looked up at the unfolding events outside, her sad eyes locking with his for a split second before he was roughly shoved away. He stumbled a bit, still clutching the pouch to his chest and looking between the two guards with a glare.
With all the reluctance in the world, he turned away and slowly made for the door again. Just as he was leaving, he looked back one more time before having the door slammed in his face.
Releasing a long sigh, his shoulders slumped and his eyes fell to the ground. He lazily shoved the pouch in his pocket.
He couldn't quite place it, but the streets leading back seemed particularly empty and dark as he made his way back home. The lanterns hanging outside flickered in the wind, and a rusty old sign creaked and rocked on its rusting pole.
Swirls of gray and black filled the sky, which made it even more ominous to be walking along the streets of his home with no companion. He had lived here all his life, and it seemed that as he looked around at it for the first time in weeks, he soon found himself completely and utterly hating it as never before. Perhaps he had always harbored these feelings, but seeing his putrid homeland up close once more drove the hatred deeper into his soul.
He knew he was nearing home as he rounded a corner and spotted a very familiar run-down tavern, with shattered windows and small kettle lights hanging from the frames haphazardly. He heard the booming sound of cheers from within, and their voices immediately sent his brain into a panic. Before he could so much as slip down the alleyway nearby, one of the patrons spotted him and beamed.
"Why if it isn't ol' Briar, back from the mountains!" A rather tall and lanky troll called out, making the rest of the group eye him through the gaping window.
"Hey Colt." Briar said sheepishly as he walked into the place, his hands shoved in his pockets. The very tall troll, boasting dark grey skin and a tower of pale brown hair, leaned against a bar stool with his weapon of choice slung across his back just as Briar did. The sharp curves of his tomahawks protruded from behind his shoulders.
"Well, how ya been, loafer? How was that latest mission of yours?" Colt asked, downing another pint before slamming the glass back on the battered wooden bar counter. Briar watched the remaining foam glide down the smooth clear surface for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.
"It was…..fine." He replied.
"Aw, c'mon bro, we know you have more for us than that!" Another troll, named Tez, chided him jokingly whilst giving him a sharp punch in the arm. His black hair towered above his head, his murky brown skin quite a contrast to Briar's light grey complexion and dark red locks.
"Guys, it was just a mission. You know how they go." Briar reassured his fellow huntsmen, at which the group exchanged skeptical glances before another troll decided to poke the bear even further.
"Yeah, but this was your special mission, right? The one that would get you the key?" He asked. He was shorter than all of them, with white hair and gray skin. His name was Shale.
"Yeah, did you get the key?" Tez piped up. Briar smiled at his friend's enthusiasm, and slowly withdrew the pouch from his pocket and held it up for all of them to see. They gasped and gawked, giving each other high-fives and clapping him on the back in a congratulatory manner.
"Lucky! My folks are still locked up in the underground." Shale whined quietly, kicking a pebble across the room.
"Dude, you must be so relieved to finally have it." Colt said. The young troll only smiled bitterly at them, trying hard to mask his obvious discomfort on the topic.
"Yeah…..something like that." Briar replied. The three boys noted their best huntsman's slight disenchantment.
"Hey, you alright, bud? What's eating at ya?" Colt asked, starting to walk over to him.
"Yeah, bro. You've never acted this way after a mission. What happened?" Shale asked, earning them both a vicious shake of his head in denial.
"Nothing. I just….I need to get home." He lied. The three stood there for a moment.
"Well, don't let us keep ya. We'll see ya in the AM, right?" Tez asked.
"Yeah. In the AM." Briar replied, leaving the tavern without so much as another glance in his friend's direction.
His heart clenched in his chest as he walked away. Never before had he returned to them in such a state, and he was not looking forward to the bombardment of questions from them in their weekly meeting in the morning.
Squeezing the pouch tightly to his chest, he continued his way through the beaten streets of his hometown, only one thing on his mind.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Queen Poppy had not slept very well the previous night, having busied herself with trying to think of ways to begin a rescue mission. Troll Village was abuzz with worry and were constantly asking her what their next course of action was. She said that they were thinking on it, but in all truth…..many things still seemed quite hopeless at the moment.
Her daughter had given up everything. Her happiness, her home, her freedom….Poppy was convinced that she had struck a deal with that wretched Deveraux. No doubt that she was in a cell in the middle of homeland right now, scared and alone. With neither Branch nor herself there to comfort her or protect her.
The very thought made the pink troll's blood run hot, and she paced relentlessly along the hallway as her brain continued to squander up dramatic images of her only child in the very center of the one place she had fought so desperately hard to keep her away from.
All those years placing herself in harm's way…..it all felt as if it were for naught. For despite her best efforts, Deveraux still found Willow and he still managed to rip her away from them.
Her wallowing was halted for a moment as she heard the clatter of metal nearby, and quickly she snuck over to the master bedroom and entered. She stopped a few inches in the doorway, immediately laying eyes on her husband in astonishment.
"What's all this?" Poppy asked quietly, gesturing to the area below her. A lot of Branch's old survival gear was spread out across the floor. He was tinkering away at a particular contraption, his hands nimble as he twisted a few bolts back into place.
"Supplies." He responded curtly. She frowned, clasping her hands together in front of her and coming up behind her love.
"Branch, we can't just go barging into homeland willy nilly." She pointed out. At this, he sighed and let the things in his hands drop to his lap, turning to her.
"And why not?" He said, an edge of annoyance in his tone. "Willow's in that….that horrible place and you're saying we should WAIT?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his wife's opposition for his preparation.
"Branch, we need a strategy. The purebloods are smart, crafty even. They'll see us coming from a mile away unless we have a plan." Poppy said, unrelenting in her opposition to his reckless ideas. He stood up abruptly.
"I WANT OUR DAUGHTER BACK." He said, his voice cracking at that last syllable. She stood there for a moment, frozen in shock. He immediately slumped, giving a sigh and reaching to envelop her in a hug.
"I'm sorry…..I just got you back and we're already fighting…..what kind of husband am I?" He mumbled, burying his face into her shoulder shamefully.
"Branch." Poppy whispered. When he did not immediately respond, she placed a hand on his arm. "Branch, look at me." Slowly the two pulled apart and locked eyes, and she gave him a small smile.
"We'll bring her back. I know we will. We just need to be smart about it. Okay?" She said. He nodded in agreement, and the two embraced tightly once more, exhaling almost in sync.
"How is it that I've become the emotional one?" Branch asked quietly, which made Poppy chuckle lightly.
"Having a child does that to you." She murmured sweetly, and the blue troll pulled away to look her in the eyes.
"Don't I know it." He mumbled, and the two shared a bittersweet but passionate kiss. They were still trying to absorb the reality that they were in each other's arms again, thanks to their beautiful daughter.
She needed to come home. There was no other way around it. And just as she had done for them, nothing was going to stand in their way.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Welcome back everybody! I am SO thrilled to introduce you all to my follow-up fic for this storyline, and I hope this first chapter was enough to keep you interested! Get ready for a whole new slew of mystery, fantasy, and some new OC's that I hope you'll love just as much as those in my first fic!
My cover art for this fic is my own fanart, so please enjoy!
As always, leave a review with your thoughts if you so desire and feel free to follow and favorite if this tickles your fancy. I hope to update as much as I possibly can.
That being said, please enjoy the rest of your day/afternoon/evening/night and I will see you all in the next installment!
Yours truly,
Heartforhumanity845