AN: So, this is a fanfiction that I've been going back and forth on for a while now. This is experimental, a project if you will, so I may change things depending on how well this goes. The title is not exempt from that.
Inside the large, pink royal pod of the Troll Tree, two trolls were getting ready for their day. Humming to herself, the pink female troll stood in front of her basin and brushed her teeth quickly, then proceeded to brush the tangles out of her tall yellow hair. After that, she took a few items from her wooden nightstand and placed them inside of her hair.
"Leaving already, Daffodil?" the orange male troll asked.
She smiled, turning to her approaching husband. He was getting his own hair together, trying to tuck the dark pink locks inside of his leaf crown.
"I have to Peppy, I promised Rosiepuff," Daffodil said. She looked over at the sky blue crib on the other side of the room and inside could make out a tiny pink bundle with a dark pink tuft of hair that was lying down on a blanket.
"Poppy's still asleep?" she asked.
Peppy nodded, finally getting his hair in order. "Don't wake her up, I'll take her today."
"Are you sure?" she asked as she tied the green sash on her cream dress.
"It's no trouble, I don't have to leave until noon," he reassured.
His wife gave him an appreciative smile, then put on her own leaf crown.
"How do I look?" she asked, facing him completely.
"Beautiful," he said taking her hand and twirling her around. She giggled, then threw her arms around him.
"How do I look?" he asked. Daffodil looked him over, reached up and straightened his crown.
"Perfect," she mused. Peppy smiled and kissed her on the lips. She nearly laughed at the tickly feeling of his mustache against her skin. When they separated, she gave him an eskimo kiss.
"I'll see you this afternoon," she said, "Give Poppy a kiss for me."
"Will do Dilly," he said as she pulled away and left the pod.
Daffodil walked along the branches of the Troll Tree humming to herself once again. Daffodil was a 30 year old pink troll, with a light pink nose, blue eyes, and bright yellow hair that resembled the tube of a daffodil flower. She was the wife of King Peppy, the brave and selfless leader of the trolls. He was also a loving husband and an excellent father to their beautiful baby girl Poppy. Queen Daffodil felt so blessed to have him and Poppy.
When she made it to the learning space pod, she saw Rosiepuff, an older troll with purple skin and turquoise hair pulled up into a bun who was holding about five little ones. They giggled in her arms as she appeared to be be tickling them. Daffodil smiled at the endearing sight before her eyes wandered downward. Patiently sitting cross legged on the floor, gazing up affectionately at Rosiepuff was her grandson Branch, who was teal with royal blue hair. His ears twitched as he heard her walk into the pod. He turned to her and gave her a big smile.
"Good morning Queen Daffodil!" he greeted.
This got the attention of Rosiepuff and the young trolls. At that moment, her hug time bracelet went off, along with all of the others in the room. The children ran to her, greeting her with a big group hug, except for Branch, who jumped up into his grandma's awaiting arms. The queen hugged them all back the best that she could.
"Alright little ones, it's time to get started," Rosiepuff said, sitting Branch down next to her. All the trollings sat in a circle giving Rosiepuff and Queen Daffodil their full attention. Rosiepuff smiled at Daffodil in appreciation before speaking.
"Okay, does anyone know what we're learning today?" she asked.
"Tap dancing!"
"Harmonizing!"
"Pyrotechnics!"
At that last one, they all turned to Cooper, a fuzzy, giraffe-like, quadruped trolling with pink and red fur and yarn-like blue hair.
"What?" he asked.
The trolls stared at him in confusion, save for Branch, who looked mildly interested. After a few moments, Rosiepuff continued.
"Actually, today we're going to learn how to scrapbook." The kids all cheered as Daffodil took the art supplies out of her hair and passed them out.
The scrapbooking lesson went as well as expected. They all did pretty good for their first tries and they had such adorable, proud looks on their faces. The entire class laughed when Cooper somehow managed to eat an entire glue stick. It wasn't toxic, but Daffodil sent him to Dr. Plum's pod just to be on the safe side.
Hours later, Daffodil finally headed back home, knowing that Peppy would be elsewhere with their daughter. After helping Rosiepuff, she got caught up in some other errands, but she didn't mind as it kept her busy. She exchanged hellos with the trolls who passed her, loving how their faces brightened up.
"Good afternoon Queen Daffodil," they said. Honestly, she preferred to just be called Daffodil. It rolls off the tongue much easier. Be that as it may, she still appreciated the respect. Daffodil let her mind wander back to the children's scrapbooking lesson that morning. The queen was sure that they would all grow to be sweet, caring trolls. Unfortunately, there was something that was about to spoil her happy thoughts.
Not too far behind her, she heard a couple of trolls whispering to each other, fretting over Trollstice. The worry filled comments sent a chill up her spine, tainting her pleasant mood. The Troll Tree was in the center of Bergen Town, where large, dull colored beings were the population. Trollstice was an annual Bergen holiday set just the day after tomorrow. On that day, the bergen named Chef will collect many of the trolls from the tree and serve them to the citizens of Bergen Town.
Daffodil had lived most of her life trapped in Bergen Town and had heard the stories of how Bergens were so naturally miserable that the only way they could feel happiness even for a little while was to eat a troll, as trolls are naturally happy creatures.
Just the thought of any living thing being eaten, sickened Daffodil to her stomach. It made her feel things that she didn't like feeling and brought back memories that she preferred to keep buried. So, she instead she chose to ignore them and tried to focus on the positive things as she always had. However, there were also thoughts that accused her of forcing herself into a false sense of security. Those had been harder to suppress.
A sense of paranoia arose in her as it seemed for a moment that her bangs weren't as bright as usual. No, not now. Daffodil stopped walking, checked to make sure that no one was near her, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself before checking her hair again. After confirming that the color was normal, she continued on her way home, mentally berating herself in the process. She started thinking about her discussion with him the other week.
Her husband told her that this was going to be the year that they would escape. He explained the plan to her and it was clear to her that he had thought it through. Although it was perilous, she had absolute faith in him to keep them safe. Peppy was dedicated and did whatever he could for his people. It was one of the many things that she loved about him. When she finally made it back to her pod, she was met by a full clothesline.
"Peppy," she murmured sweetly. She was concerned that she wouldn't get to do the laundry before the afternoon came. And yet, here it was all set up. After determining that the clothes were dry, she went to get the basket. As she pulled the clothes from the line and folded them, she started to whistle the tune of a song she loved then started singing shortly after.
Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry, be happy)
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry, be happy)
Feeling the rhythm coursing through her, she took down the last blanket and twirled around with it a few times.
Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The landlord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
(Look at me I'm happy)
She moved away from the basket of clothes and swayed from side to side with her eyes closed. Daffodil was now belting out the song in her strong voice.
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be Happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Daffodil was so lost in her own little world that she didn't notice an approaching figure. It wasn't until she suddenly felt something smothering her body that her eyes shot open. A giant purple hand with warts was wrapped around her and lifting her off the surface. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she saw the eyes of Chef bore into her. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Before she knew it, she was tossed into Chef's fanny pack.
After hitting the bottom of the pack, she looked up just in time to see the zipper close, shutting out most of the light. As Chef started walking, Daffodil sat up and tried to process what just happened. Chef just took her from her home in broad daylight. What warranted her to do such a thing? She only gathered the trolls the morning of Trollstice and with her staff. The pink troll reached for the zipper that was just barely open trying to open it from the inside, but the constant moving made it difficult. Her breathing grew frantic as she continued her failed efforts. The queen stopped when she heard a clear, sweet voice singing. She put her ear to the zipper opening to hear more clearly.
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
She frowned with concern as it sounded like the voice was getting closer. Among the singing she heard another voice.
"Branch! Watch out!"
Her eyes widened at the familiarity. Was that Rosiepuff? Looking through the small opening, she squinted upward to see that it was indeed Rosiepuff and she was running towards her grandson Branch who was too caught up in his singing to notice that Chef was about to grab him. Daffodil finally found her voice.
"Branch! Look out behind you!" she yelled.
The young troll finally turned around just when Chef's hand was about to enclose on him. In the blink of an eye, Rosiepuff pushed Branch out of the way, getting herself caught in the process. Rosiepuff let out a terrified yell as Chef walked away and Branch was heard crying, "Grandma!" Daffodil's heart ached at the fright in the child's voice. The zipper opened, forcing her to move away from it as Rosiepuff was thrown in. Daffodil helped Rosiepuff sit up and the latter gave her a shocked look.
"Daffodil? She took you too?"
"Yes and I have no idea why," she said close to freaking out.
Rosiepuff must've noticed because she grabbed her hands and gently squeezed them. Daffodil took a few breaths to calm herself once again.
"You saved Branch," she said with fear and admiration.
"She was going to take him," Rosiepuff shut her eyes to prevent tears, "I wasn't going to let her."
Involuntarily, the image of little Branch frantically squirming in Chef's grasp came to her mind. How could anyone think of harming a child? She shook the unpleasant thought from her mind and wrapped Rosiepuff in a comforting embrace which she returned. The two stayed like that for the remainder of the way not aware that three figures down below saw the entire thing.
What appeared to be a fallen leaf changed into a mass of green hair that uncovered the three trolls. They were a lime green glitter troll with light green hair named Diamond, an orange troll with purple hair named Tandy, and her daughter Mandy who was yellow with hot pink hair. When they saw Chef, they hid and could only watch what had happened.
"We have to tell King Peppy right away," Tandy said while protectively tightening her grip on Mandy. Diamond absently nodded as she had been watching Branch who was still on the ground, staring at it with an empty, downcast expression. His hair had gone from blue to black, his skin had turned grey, and his ears drooped in utter despair. It was simply devastating to witness, especially for such a young troll.
"You go ahead. I'm going to take Branch to Dr. Plum."
"Alright," Tandy responded. With that they both went their separate ways.
AN: Well, that's the first chapter. Hopefully it won't take too long for me to finish the second chapter. Thanks for reading.