Thank you all so much for the supportive reviews! They all really brightened my day! This is going to be much longer than the original story, because there's a lot of things I want to fit in here. Also, there have been a couple of plagiarism scandals on these archives, and since I don't want that to happen to me, please let me know if either someone else is copying my work or if it seems like I am copying someone else's work!
Disclaimer: The movie Trolls belongs to DreamWorks Animations.
Tiny lumps of snow fluttered from the grey sky, blanketing everything like a shroud and turning the warm autumn breeze icy. But God, were they beautiful. As Rose trudged through the pristine white carpet of frozen vapor, she couldn't help but think of how wrong it seemed that these pretty, fluffy things were so cold.
But she wasn't out there to ponder the metaphorical value of snowflakes, her dog had gone missing. She had gone downstairs that morning to feed Buddy, but rather than barking and a lick to the face, she was met with nothing but a slightly ripped dog bed covered in wisps of black fur.
It was the 21st of December. She had went outside to see if Buddy was there, but then noticed paw prints in the snow, leading into the forest. He usually knew better than to stray too far from the house though, right?
Rose had flown upstairs, throwing on random clothes, and scribbling a note to her father that she was going out into the forest. He had worked late last night, and deserved a break to actually catch up on the sleep he seemed to be constantly chasing.
She shoved on her tattered, blue winter coat and her mud-stained boots, and speed-walked outside to follow the paw prints. She started off at a jog, hoping that Buddy wouldn't be too far away, but later slowed to a walk as what seemed like hours passed by. There was was another groove in the snow, between the paw prints, that Rose was pretty sure meant that her dog had his head down to sniff the ground. What on Earth could be so important that he couldn't wait for a walk to pursue?
Her mind drifted to the Trolls and Bergens. It had been about three months since she had had the encounter with them, and half-believed that it had all just been a dream. She had tried her hardest to search for them whenever she got the chance, which was rare, but never found so much as a strand of multicolored hair. Could they be what Buddy was searching for?
Her heart nearly stopped as she was yanked out of her thoughts upon almost falling into a hole. Well, 'hole' is putting it mildly. 'Hole' implies the rabbit hole that Alice falls down to get into Wonderland. It was more like a pit, about five metres by five metres. If this was a rabbit hole, she would sure as heck be scared of the rabbit.
Rose dug through the snow, trying to ignore her damp gloves. Finally finding a stone, she tossed the dirty rock down into the gap, which seemed to be filled with bottomless darkness. She counted, one... two... three... reaching thirty before realizing that it probably wasn't going to make a sound. She peered down into the abyss, wondering how it could possibly be that deep. Did it go right through the Earth's crust down into the mantle? That would be about... um... forty kilometres? She never was good at geography.
"Hey," The brunette heard a voice behind her. She whipped around, coming face-to-face with... a tiny cloud? Well, it was the size of her, but small for a cloud. It had the creepiest face that she had ever seen, arms, legs, and... socks? Without shoes? Who does that?
Before Rose could get over her shock enough to force out a word, the cloud-person placed his thin, purple arms on both of her shoulders, looked into her eyes and said, "I would be sorry for this, but you're gonna thank me later." She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, but before the words could fall from her lips, the cloud tensed his arms and pushed her into the void.
Rose opened her blue eyes, breathing heavily. Was-was she dead? She had just fallen into a pit. But, when she looked around, she realized that she was still, in fact, sitting next to the chasm. Was she going crazy? Hallucinating cloud people and falling into holes?
But there was definitely something different. It was hard to tell, due to the snow, but the plants and flowers around her were... odd. Nothing she had ever seen before, and far too exotic for winter. She definitely wasn't in the forest she was when she had fallen into the hole.
"A little disoriented, huh?" Said a familiar voice. The brunette looked to the side, to see the cloud, giving her a huge, toothy grin, holding up his arms, as if to say, Well, here we are! The same arms that had pushed her into the abyss she was sitting beside.
Rose felt an uncharacteristic anger rising up in her. She flew at the anthropomorphic cloud, trying to tackle him, but he just stepped out of the way. "Well, I've got some stuff to do. Leading people to their destiny and all that. Ta-ta!" And with that, what was supposed to be merely water vapor up in the sky, hopped into the darkness of the hole.
She stared at the place where the place where the cloud had been for a few beats, but then noticed something much more important... paw prints!
Rose gasped happily, and forced all the lingering thoughts of where the heck was she and how the heck did she get here to realize that, wherever she was, Buddy was here too! She almost slipped on the snow in her haste to scramble to her feet and set off to find her best friend.
Sure, she had friends at her new school. Well, two or three people that she would hover around so that she didn't look like a loner. But, truly, she didn't actually like any of the people at her school. They were all either know-it-alls that couldn't seem to wrap their huge brains around the fact that others weren't quite as smart as them, or people who couldn't care less about studying and just liked to snicker together in class. Rose never was the smartest person in the first place, and it just got worse after her mother left and wasn't there to help explain to her the things that she didn't understand. As much as she loved her father, he was always working to try and keep food on the table and a roof over their head, so she had to figure things out for herself most of the time.
Buddy, well, she'd had Buddy for six years, ever since he was just two weeks old, a puppy of the neighbor's dog. The two, he and Rose, had grown up together. She loved her dog almost as much as she loved her father. The thought of Buddy being in danger made her more scared than she had been since her mother left.
She waded through unfamiliar plant life, glittering with snow like icing on a cake, for what felt like hours. She noticed that the prints went through a particularly thick clump of bushes, and finally forced her way through it, getting some suspicious scratches that seemed to be glowing... purple?
Before she could question this, however, she saw the exact tail-wagger she had been looking for for hours. He was lying on his back, which worried her for a moment until she realized that the colorful things surrounding him weren't flowers, but Trolls!
Quietly, Rose approached them, careful not to startle. They seemed to be engrossed in rubbing her dog's belly, giggling when his tail wagged so hard that it almost sent one of them flying. Buddy was clearly enjoying the attention, and thankfully did not think that they were chew toys and try to play rough with them.
Rose felt herself step on a twig that was underneath the snow and flinched, thinking it would snap. Thankfully, the stick was soggy, instead of dry and brittle, and did not break easily. Finally, she was about half a metre away from the Trolls.
Further away, behind the Trolls, there was a small pool of water, frozen solid. It was only about the size of an icy goldfish pond, but she supposed it would be like a lake to the tiny Trolls.
"Um... hi?" The small, multicolored beings all squeaked in terror and hid behind Buddy. However, he leapt up and started licking her face madly. She forgot about the Trolls and just focused on her, now found, dog. She wrapped her arms around his furry body, stroking him with gloved hands. "Yes, I missed you too, boy. You scared me!" She cooed. Then she looked down at the scared Trolls. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just came here to find my dog."
A Troll with light purple hair and a buttercup-yellow body stepped forward tentatively. "What is a... dog?" Rose smiled at the minute creature, trying to show her, show them all that she didn't want to do any harm.
"He's a pet. I keep him around for companionship." All twenty-something heads nodded in understanding. They seemed to know what 'pet' meant. "His name is Buddy."
She realized that the Trolls actually had proper clothes on for winter. They had colorful coats and trousers on, boots, and even mittens and earmuffs. Rose couldn't tell very well because they were so small, but she thought she saw... ice skates on their feet? Perhaps that was what they were doing at the miniature ice rink.
One of the tinier ones, a child perhaps, timidly piped up, "You're very pretty. I thought Bergens weren't pretty." Rose didn't have much experience with children, so she just laughed kindly, hoping she looked gentle and mature.
"Thank you, but I'm not a Bergen. I'm a human." There was mutters throughout the crowd, making Rose nervous.
"I've heard legends about humans. They are evil creatures who live in dull lands and care little for any other human or animal. Their Kings and Queens... what's the word? Oh yes, execute anyone who displeases them." Spoke an old voice from the back.
Rose nodded solemnly, causing the Trolls to gasp and push the younger ones behind them, so she hastily started speaking. "We're not - I mean, people aren't allowed to do that anymore. That was hundreds of years ago. Now we're better." Are we? She put on an apologetic smile.
"Well!" Came a cheerful voice, an orange Troll with green hair, "I guess it's fate then." Rose cocked her head to the side. "That you arrive the day before King Gristle and future Queen Bridget's wedding."
Rose clapped her hands excitedly. "A wedding! I've never been to one of those before!"
"But first," A green Troll with red hair said sternly, "We must introduce you to Queen Poppy." She wondered if she should mention that they had already met. But then the cheery orange Troll spoke up again, rolling his purple eyes.
"Aw, Root, you always know how to ruin all the fun. We should at least welcome her properly with a Trollmas song before we start grilling her for information." He turned to her. "What's your name, anyway, poppet?" Rose introduced herself nervously. "Well, Rose, why don't I start us off with a nice song about everyone's favorite holiday?" He leapt onto the ice rink, sliding into the centre.
There's the snow
Look out below
And bundle up
Cause here it comes
More Trolls joined him, slipping and sliding while managing to keep the harmony.
Run outside
So starry eyed
A snowball fight breaks out
And winter has finally begun
Almost half the Trolls were on this tiny ice rink by now, smiling and dancing to themselves, some teaching others how to skate. Cheery Guy, however, kept eye contact and continued to be singing for her, a giant grin on his face as he sang the chorus.
I twirl through the driveway with angelic grace
Till I slip on the sidewalk and fall on my face
This peppermint winter is so sugar sweet
I don't need to taste to believe
What's December without Trollmas Eve?
Rose found herself singing along, sitting in the snow next to Buddy, who had his head on her lap, tired out due to all the excitement. The Trolls didn't seem to need lyrics. They just sang from their hearts, so Rose did the same, and strangely, everyone seemed to know to sing the same lines.
Hop in the sleigh
And we'll glide away
Into the night
And we'll sip on moonlight
The Trolls stopped and looked at Rose, seeming to be expecting her so sing a solo. So she sang her exact thoughts, causing the crowd to chuckle.
Runny nose
My frosty toes
Are getting cold but I feel alive
So I smile wide
She stopped and looked down at one of the teeny Troll children, a dark blue one with missing teeth, who started to sing his own solo, which was amazing despite his slight lisp.
The snowflakes start falling and I start to float
Till my mean older brother stuffs snow down my coat
Everyone laughed as a bigger Troll of the same color threw a snowball at his younger brother. The two chased each other around while everyone else continued singing.
This peppermint winter is so sugar sweet
I don't need to taste to believe
What's December without Trollmas Eve?
The last Troll, the stern red-haired one, finally joined in with the others, and didn't seem to realize that everyone had gone silent as he sang his unintentional solo. The green grump, 'Root' was his name, wasn't it? had a surprisingly deep and powerful voice, actually.
All this holiday cheer
Heaven knows where it goes
But it returns every year
And though this winter does nothing but storm
The joy in my heart is ablaze and it's keeping me warm
Everyone else started humming in the background, while Root echoed himself.
It's keeping me warm
It's keeping me warm
A new voice joined in, very beautiful and very enthusiastic.
I rip off the wrapping and tear through the box
Till I end up with 45 new pairs of socks
This peppermint winter is so sugar sweet
I don't need to taste to believe
The newcomer paused to let everyone else join in for the last line. And so, everyone finished together.
What's December without Trollmas Eve?
As everybody tried to catch their breath, the new, yet familiar, voice started chatting happily. "So, what was the big musical number for? Though, I suppose you don't really need an excuse to sing, do you?"
The orange troll smiled. "We were just welcoming someone," And then he gestured towards Rose.
Queen Poppy's violet eyes widened, and she let out a squeal of delight. "Oh, hello! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" All the other Trolls stared at Poppy, waiting for her to explain. "Branch, Bridget and I met her when we went out to investigate the Dull Lands!"
"But you said that you didn't find anything but boring, brown trees in every direction!" A female Troll with honey-colored skin piped up.
Queen Poppy scratched her bright pink head. "Well, after hearing the legends about cruel, violent humans we didn't want to cause mass panic." She explained. The crowd nodded, the mass of moving, rainbow-colored hair creating an almost kaleidoscopic effect.
Poppy then turned to Rose. "I would like to formally invite you to the wedding of King Gristle and future Queen Bridget." She said with a grin and a not-so-formal voice. "We have some extra seats, and it would truly be amazing if you attended!" Rose quickly accepted, trying not to stutter in her excitement.
The Queen of the Trolls clapped her little magenta hands and said, "Yes!" with genuine happiness. Rose wished that everyone had that kind of enthusiasm.
Rose glanced at the sky. The sun, which thankfully still existed in this world, was almost all the way at the top of the sky. She had been gone for about six hours. Her father would be going nuts by now. "Um, can I return tomorrow? I really have to go." She stammered, trying to hide the fear tinged in her voice. Poppy nodded happily.
"Of course! I'll show you the way to the portal." So Rose called Buddy, and put her hand on the ground, palm up, to ask 'Do you want me to carry you like this?' and Queen Poppy cheerfully skipped over, and stepped on. The pink Troll then bade goodbye to the others.
"Bye guys! If anyone asks where I am, tell them I'm escorting a visitor back to their home!" And with that, Rose started walking, cocker spaniel at her heels.
On the way back to the 'rabbit hole', Poppy chatted perkily, telling her about the tale of how the Trolls made peace with the Bergens, though when she talked about how she lost hope in the pot, Rose could tell that she was trying to put a positive spin on a horrible situation. It got easier when she told her about how they got their 'colors' back.
"Can I ask two questions?" The brunette asked, once the fuscia Troll had finished her story, ending it with her and Branch hugging.
"Of course!" Poppy exclaimed.
"First of all, what are a Troll's 'colors'?"
Poppy grinned. "That's an easy question! Okay, so most of the time, a Troll is colorful. They can be green, red, yellow, indigo, any variation of any color of the rainbow. But when a Troll loses hope, or loses someone they love, this makes them incredibly gloomy." Rose nodded, this sounded like a Troll version of depression. "Their color, it leaches out of them. Their skin turns a dull, miserable grey and their hair turns spider-black. It is the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to a Troll. They don't want to sing, dance or hug." Her voice softened, "Before the entire village turned grey, very few of us actually understood what losing your colors meant or how it was caused. Some-some even thought that a Troll could choose to be grey." The Queen was clearly getting upset, so Rose quickly changed the subject.
"Question two, are you and Branch a thing?" Rose asked, wiggling her reddish-brown eyebrows. Poppy cocked her head to the side, clearly showing that she had no idea what Rose was talking about. "As in like, dating?"
"What? N-no, no! Of course not! What would give you that impression?!" Poppy denied, her glittery cheeks going dark strawberry. The girl stared at her.
"Um, do you Trolls even know what subtle means?" Rose gave a half-smirk. "You two obviously fancy each other."
"Okay, okay, I like him!" The young queen fanned a hand in front of her face, "It sounds stupid, I'm the freaking queen and I'm talking about liking people!" She laughed, sounding embarrassed.
"It's no problem." Rose reassured her, "There's nothing wrong with having a crush on someone,"
The rest of the journey was Poppy chatting about this berry or that flower, interrupted only by the occasional question from Rose, until they reached the 'portal'. Rose set her small, pink, new-found friend on the snow, trying to do it as gently as possible.
"So I guess this is goodbye until tomorrow." Queen Poppy smiled up at her, waving.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay? The forest it huge, after all." Poppy nodded, looking sure of herself. Rose picked up Buddy with some, okay, a lot of effort, and just as she was about to step into the hole, she turned her head back and said, "Poppy?"
"Yes?"
"Don't ever come back into the human lands. It's not safe or fun there." And then, Rose stepped into the darkness.
Rose sat in a white chair, which was perched precariously on the snowy ground. She was wearing her favorite dress, white with a dark blue willow pattern and royal blue flats. She had a ribbon in her hair and a necklace with a fake sapphire around her neck. Buddy, of course, hadn't been dressed up, just a white ribbon carefully tied in a bow around his neck.
She had left another note, saying that she was going out to explore. Thankfully, she was smart enough to bring the snowy-white cardigan that went with her dress, but that was nowhere near enough to keep her warm on a snowy morning. Despite it being the tiniest bit warmer in the Troll lands, as she called it, she was still shivering violently.
The Bergens were certainly... something. Every Bergen and every Troll in the entire town had attended. The Bergens were ugly, but their warty skin and misshapen features were softened by the nice colors and beautiful clothes they wore. Thankfully, the only human at the entire wedding didn't stick out too much, despite the fact that she had peach-colored skin and the Bergens' skin were all green, blue or purple.
The Bergens sat in front of the arch, rows and rows of chairs for every single Bergen. King Gristle and Bridget had decided to get married underneath the Troll tree, to let all the Trolls watch too, and to symbolize the friendship and alliance between the Bergens and the Trolls.
There had been a bit of trouble, as since most of the Bergen children were too young to be able, the Troll children wanted to throw flowers down the aisle. But their parents had been nervous about them getting stepped on, so Rose came up with a solution.
Buddy would carry a basket with his mouth, and that basket would be full of petals, with the Troll children sitting on top and throwing them out. The petals were pink and white primrose, though primroses were a spring flower and this was a winter wedding. There wasn't technically any rules that anyone had to follow, though, so who cares?
Finally, the ceremony began. Queen Poppy was the Maid of Honor, wearing a pink dress made of flower petals, and the Best Man was this weird alligator/crocodile thing that wore a tie and was apparently called 'Barnabas'.
King Gristle was wearing a blue and silver suite, with his royal cape clipped around his shoulders, red eyes bright with excitement. The place where the priest would stand at a human wedding, there was a guard, Chad. According to Poppy, it was usually one of the bride or groom's parents, but since all of them were dead, Gristle chose the closest thing he had to a guardian.
Buddy then came trotting up the aisle, his wavy black fur braided with snowdrop heads. In the basket, the Troll children were laughing, tossing petal after petal out of the basket as fast as their tiny arms could, given that they could only take a petal or two at a time. Once her dog reached the altar, he didn't seem to be sure of what to do and looked at his owner. Rose mouthed the word Sit! at him, making the motion she had taught him to respond to. Thankfully, he sat, and put the basket of young Trolls on the ground with a slight bump.
Then, at last, Bridget came up the aisle, and gosh, she looked a lot different than when Rose had met her last. And Rose was regretting insinuating that Bridget was ugly even more now. She still had two pigtails, but they were tied with ribbons, one pink and the other white, and a flower crown of pink and white primroses perched around them. She had a dress, white as the snow around the path they had cleared, the hem almost touching the ground. Tied around her waist was another pink ribbon, with a fancy bow at the back. She held a bouquet of more pink and white primroses. Wow, that Bergen girl must really like primroses, and the colors pink and white. Around her neck was a small, porcelain rose head, pale pink, supported by a fine gold chain. Bridget was beautiful.
Once the bride reached the top of the aisle, the two soon-to-be-weds stared at each other with so much affection that Rose would have found it gross had it not have been at their actual wedding.
Chad dutifully read a ton of boring lines that nobody cared about, but it was one of the few Bergen traditions that didn't seem to hurt anybody, so Rose didn't find it surprising that they tried to cling to what was left of their culture.
"I do." "I do."
And the two kissed. It was absolutely adorable, despite the fact that it was also kind of disgusting. The Trolls all shrieked with joy and the Bergens clapped.
As they pulled apart and Poppy climbed onto one of the branches of the Troll Tree, Rose remembered that the Maid of Honor and the Best Man were supposed to sing a duet, as per Troll tradition, but Barnabas obviously couldn't sing, so she had to do it solo. The Queen of the Trolls took a deep breath.
Everybody's on the same page
No new chapters
We'll never change
Another deep breath.
Everybody wants to be cool, yes they do...
And I'm just like them
But I won't be no fool
Poppy then beckoned the new Queen Bridget to sing, surprising everyone. But the newly-wed Bergen agreed.
I guess I could waste all my time and my money, just trying to look right
But it doesn't change who I am in my heart if I look like a dime
Rose wanted to slump down her seat, when she realized that this song was about accepting looks. She knew that Poppy was just telling Bridget not to care about her looks in general, and it most likely wasn't directed at the human girl, as Poppy was far too nice for that, but it was still incredibly embarrassing.
Poppy then started singing alone again.
So I want you to close your eyes
Sing to the world tonight
And show them what's beautiful
Then she looked at Bridget, who started singing, the two voices effortlessly switching.
I don't care what they think
No, I'm not listening
'Cause I know I'm beautiful
Poppy then sang the last line of the chorus.
So close your eyes
A tiny, yellow Troll with blue hair then swung down out of nowhere, singing in the background with a surprising deep voice.
(Sh-sh-show them what's beautiful, sh-sh-show them what's beautiful)
Then Poppy sang her line.
Come and show them... Oh... Hey...
Back to the tiny yellow one with the deep voice. This was confusing!
(Sh-sh-show them what's beautiful
Sh-sh-show them what's beautiful)
The Queen Poppy sang the chorus, looking directly into Bridget's teary, purple eyes.
Everybody's born to be different
That's the one thing that makes us the same
So don't you let their words try to change you
Don't let them make you, into something you ain't... No!
And then the two sang the chorus, the same way as the first time.
So I want you to close your eyes
Sing to the world tonight
And show them what's beautiful
I don't care what they think
No, I'm not listening
'Cause I know I'm beautiful
So close your eyes
Then Deep Voice came in again.
(Sh-sh-show them what's beautiful)
Poppy took one last deep breath and sang the verse.
Show the world the you inside
Raise your voice and close your eyes
'Cause you're beautiful...
Every Troll in the Troll Tree joined in for the second part of the verse.
Come on and show the world the you inside
Raise your voice and close your eyes
'Cause you're beautiful...
For the final chorus, it was just the two queens.
So I want you to close your eyes
Sing to the world tonight
And show them what's beautiful
I don't care what they think
No, I'm not listening
'Cause I know I'm beautiful
Poppy's beautiful voice rang out across the entire town, clear as a bell.
So close your eyes
Bridget turned to the pink queen and murmured "Thank you," but Poppy just grinned in response.
Bridget then jumped a little and went "Oh!" as she seemed to remember something. She tossed the bouquet of primroses a bit to hard over her shoulder - and it hit Rose right smack in the nose, causing her to almost fall out of her chair. But her hands reached out and caught the pink and white bundle.
There was giggling from the Troll tree, and whistles from the crowd around her. Then, Rose remembered the superstition about catching the bouquet on someone's wedding day.
Rose tried to make conversation with Trolls and Bergens at the wedding reception, held in the castle, but she didn't really know what to talk about. She didn't want to seem rude by asking about their lives, so the most she could do was compliment them on their outfits.
She met several more unique Trolls, all apparently Queen Poppy's friends. A pink giraffe, a DJ, a huge one, and the tiny yellow one that seemed to be, rightly named, Smidge.
Finally, she was at a table with the blue and teal Troll that she remembered as Branch. Well, at least it would be a little easier to make conversation.
"So, why were you singing?" Admittedly, she was exhausted and could barely talk straight, never mind remember to give proper context for her questions.
"Um, sorry?" The sapphire Troll looked rightfully confused.
"Sorry, I mean when you were out in the 'dull lands'. Why were you singing?" She put quotations around the words 'dull lands'.
"Oh, right." He looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, in case you can't tell, Trolls are happy creatures. We'll take any excuse to sing, dance, hug or party. Even stupid ones."
"You sound rather self-aware." She noted.
Rose wasn't sure if he was going to respond, but just then, a pink blur almost tackled Branch in a hug. "Branch! I've been looking for you!"
The cerulean Troll looked at Rose with an apologetic look. "Poppy, I'm right here." He was grinning at her, though.
The queen rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, but I couldn't find you! I wanted to ask you something!" Rose decided that this would be a good time to slip away. But, before she did, she caught the eyes of some of Poppy's friends from another table. She suddenly knew what to do.
As she was leaving, she swayed her hips and 'accidentally' nudged the table, causing Poppy to fall on top of Branch. The queen's friends smiled at the brunette in a way that said, Nice one!
After that, she decided to just roam the halls. It truly was very fancy. Ruby carpets, gold chandeliers, extremely realistic paintings of flowers and wildlife from the nearby forest, their frames having expensive-looking details on them.
Then, Rose spotted someone familiar. It was Cheery Guy! Or at least, that's what his name was in her head. She made her way carefully through crowds of Trolls, and sat down in a chair beside the table he was standing on with some of his friends.
"Hello!" Rose grinned down at the green-haired Troll. He grinned right back.
"Hey, it's Little Miss Teacup!" He said, looking at the willow-pattern on her dress. She laughed, tucking a curl of mahogany hair behind her ear.
"I just want to say, thanks for welcoming me yesterday." She confessed. "What's your name, by the way?"
"The name's Tiger, love. Here, I'd like to introduce you to someone." He pulled a pretty female Troll out of the crowd beside him, powder blue skin with rosewood hair. "This is my fiancée, Sky."
"Hi!" Sky waved her tiny blue hand. "Are you the human that Tiger met? Oh, I've heard so much about you!"
The three chatted for about half an hour, the subject of choice ranging from the animal life here in the Troll lands, to the fact that the glowing scratches that she had gotten the other day were supposed to bring luck if she did a double backflip in the light of the full moon. It truly was a lot of fun.
"Hey, do you know the time, by any chance?" Rose asked, realizing how long she had been here.
"Oh, it's probably about eight-ish." Tiger replied, glancing at the darkness out of the castle window. Rose blanched.
"Oh no! Dad will be so worried!" She looked at the two, now concerned, Trolls before her. "Guys, I'm sorry, I have to go!"
"It's no problem," Sky reassured. Rose smiled at her, and then called Buddy, who had been playing with some Troll children in the corner.
The two ran out of the castle and through the forest, their feet making crunching sounds in the icy snow. Finally, they reached the Rabbit Hole. Rose picked Buddy up, holding him close to her for both comfort and warmth purposes, before leaping in.
They then ran through the boring, human forest, and finally reached her home, feeling a little bit like Cinderella, except very ruffled and out of breath. Her father shot up from where he had been reading a book on their old, worn couch. He ran over to give her a hug.
"Oh sweetheart! You had me so worried!" He checked her for injuries. "Why are you wearing your good clothes out in the forest?"
"I-I was um, playing princess." She lied. It wasn't very convincing, but her father was so tired that he couldn't exactly think straight and see through her excuse.
She didn't have time to go back to the world of the Trolls, since she had school and then there was Christmas. All of their relatives were in Australia, so it always used to be the four of them. But then, her mother left, so it was whittled down to three. Rose, Dad and Buddy.
Rose woke up on Christmas morning, extremely excited. She bounded downstairs to find several presents from her relatives. She fed Buddy, gave him her present - a new collar - and then called her father, who came down and together, they ripped open all of their presents, most of them clothes. Rose got a framed picture of her and Buddy beside the snowman they had built from her father, and she got her dad a new tie. Then, there was just one more gift. One from her mother.
It was just an envelope. Rose opened it to find a single plane ticket, to go to Chicago to visit her mother and her new boyfriend. Rose took one look at it, then ripped it up in her anger. "I don't want to see her." Rose hissed, a little louder than intended. But her father just smiled and made her a hot chocolate.
Rose went outside to drink it, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the tiny wooden deck. She might have been imagining it, but if she really strained her ears, she thought she could hear very, very faint singing in the distance. The singing of the Trolls.
So, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand, her dog beside her, and her father behind her, Rose finally felt hopeful for the future.
Oh. My. God. This is by far, the longest oneshot I've ever written. It was a bit freeing though, y'know? To not have a word limit, just to sit down and let it flow. And I knew that it would be longer than the original story, but damn, it's literally SIX TIMES the length. I'm kind of proud of myself. And Rose is actually a fleshed out character, instead of just a random name I plucked out of my head! I actually did not intend for her to have this backstory, or really any backstory at all. By the way, I only introduced Tiger's fiancée, Sky, because I realized that it looked like I was setting up a romance between them, which I diD NOT INTEND! I'M NOT INTO THAT KIND OF THING!
Songfics are actually harder to write than I originally thought. I mean, you gotta know who sings what and all that stuff, but I'll admit, it's fun. I mean, writing in general is fun. Would highly recommend.
I mean, I kind of want to make it a full series now. I can't really just have winter and autumn. Or I could, I mean I am hella lazy.
The songs in this story are Peppermint Winter by Owl City and Close Your Eyes by Meghan Trainor.
~FALFAL