A/N: I'm back! I couldn't help but post the first chapter of Frozen Trolls now. I was going to wait until the weekend, but I'm just so excited thanks to your reviews from Poppy and the Grey Troll. Also, I have heard your requests, and I can say for sure that I have a Cinderella Trolls in the works and I will publish it after this one!
Also, I must give a little disclaimer. Obviously, I do not own the plotlines and characters of Frozen and Trolls. But I am also utilizing characters created by Turtle Babe: the ice trolls. With that author's permission, I am using them here in this story. If you want to see where I got my information about them, see Turtle Babe's story Find Me – I'm Lost.
Enjoy!
Chapter One – Child's Play
There are many kingdoms in this wondrous land, great and small. The greatest and the largest are the ones known as the Compass Kingdoms: the Bergens of Bergen Town in the west, the ice trolls of Aurora's Mountains in the north, the fairies of Faerie Forest in the east, and the great beasts of Flora-Fauna Plains in the south. In the heart of the Compass Kingdoms, deep in the forest, sat arguably the greatest kingdom of them all: the rainbow trolls of the Troll Tree. There are several breeds of trolls. The rainbow trolls tend to stay in the calmer parts of the forest, where they can sing, dance, and hug to their hearts' content. They built their pod homes in the branches of trees, but mainly in the magical Troll Tree that stood taller than most of the other trees. A lake sat near the Troll Tree kingdom, feeding into a river the kingdom used for trading. Ruling this kingdom were King Peppy and his wife, Queen Joy. They were beloved by their subjects, and governed the kingdom fairly.
This story begins with the ice and snow of the mountains. No matter what the season down below, there was always some bit of ice in the mountains to harvest. The ice trolls were the best for ice harvesting, being sturdier and larger in build and bred for the wintery lands. A group of ice trolls journeyed to a field of ice now, donned in warm, fur-lined clothing, winter hats, boots, and mittens. Unlike the rainbow trolls, ice troll hair lay flat, often tied back or braided. Their skin and hair were in varying shades of blues, silvers, and even pure white. A few arctic foxes joined the ice trolls, ready to pull their sleds home.
Marching across a small, now-frozen lake on the mountaintop, the muscular creatures began their work, rhythmically cutting through the ice with their saws. Very soon, a song began. Though they didn't sing as often as the rainbow trolls, the ice harvesters knew that sometimes something as small as a song could help the work go by faster, especially if a storm came.
As they worked and the ice broke to float on water, the ice trolls each took a position. Some sliced the ice, some pushed it along the water, some hacked it to smaller chunks with pickaxes, and some pulled it onto a large cart for transport. Some of the trolls had large pairs of hooks to grip the ice like a pair of pliers and pull it from the water. One of these workers was not like the others: he was a little rainbow troll boy, about nine years old, with lavender skin, glitter freckles, and indigo eyes. His hair started out teal and faded into a more spring green-ish color. He wore yellow pants, a deep purple winter coat, boots, and mittens, his clothing brighter compared to his ice troll friends. Instead of an arctic fox, a troll llama walked alongside him. The llama had pink fur with darker pink stripes on his neck. His legs were light blue, and a green hat rested on his dreadlock-like blue hair. Though he didn't like it, he wore boots on all four feet and a very long scarf wrapped around his entire neck.
The troll boy reached into his coat and pulled out a carrot. Excitedly, the llama took half of the vegetable in one bite, leaving the other half for his friend to finish. The troll child and llama jumped aside as the ice trolls marched past him, and the children scrambled happily to keep up. The troll boy joined the ice trolls at the line for picking up the ice and watched them carefully. The ice trolls beside him watched, amused, as they lifted their ice blocks with ease while the boy's block slipped and fell back into the water. The troll boy tried again and again to lift the small block out, but instead the ice plopped back into the water and splashed him with the gelid droplets. The troll llama laughed, nudging his friend encouragingly. The rest of the ice trolls worked away, lighting lanterns when the last rays of twilight disappeared.
As the song and their work finished, the ice trolls loaded up their ice and urged their foxes on, dragging the fruits of their labor down the mountain path. The troll boy finally managed to get the ice out of the water and pushed it onto his tiny sled. The troll llama carried a lantern in his mouth and started pulling the sled, making sure the boy sat on the ice block.
"Come on, Cooper!" the troll boy encouraged.
"I'm going, Creek! I'm going!" the llama said, hurrying to catch up with the ice trolls.
Down in the forest, the Northern Lights from the mountains lit up the skies like a nightlight, giving comfort to the sleeping and near-sleeping residents of the Troll Tree Kingdom. Though the Troll Tree held most of the trolls' pod homes, the most magnificent was the royal pod. Not only larger than the other pods, it consisted of multiple pods and some of the royal home was made of treehouse-like rooms.
Currently, the royal family settled to sleep like the rest of the village. The king held his mate and queen in a warm embrace, the two of them sleeping soundly in their room. On the other side of the castle, in a smaller pod, two children also slept peacefully in the room they shared. One child was a boy, eight years old, with cerulean skin, azure hair, and icy blue eyes, shut at the moment in peaceful sleep. The other child: a five-year-old girl with skin the color of bubblegum, rosy dark pink hair, and cotton candy pink eyes.
The boy nestled under his comforter, allowing himself to fall into a deep sleep. But he didn't fall very far before a familiar voice spurred him from sleep.
"Branch!" the girl troll whispered, climbing onto the boy's bed. Her pale pink nightgown hardly hindered her movements, but she still pushed the skirt away a bit to sit on top of Branch. "Psst! Branch! Wake up!"
Branch moaned sleepily, pulling the blanket a little farther over his white nightshirt and pants. "Poppy, go back to sleep."
Poppy sighed and laid on her blue friend. "I can't! I'm too excited to sleep! So let's play!"
Smiling in amusement, Branch only pushed her off his bed. "Go play by yourself!" he chuckled, closing his eyes to sleep again.
Poppy landed right on her rear end, frowning a little. She thought for a moment, then gasped in realization. She knew only one thing that would get her best friend out of bed, so she scrambled back up and opened one of Branch's eyes. Poppy smirked craftily. "Do you wanna build a snow-troll?"
Branch finally opened his eyes as he smiled again. Okay, he could wake up for that.
Seconds later, the children pulled on their snow boots and hurried down the stairs. Poppy held tight to Branch's wrist, practically dragging him along.
"Come on!" Poppy urged excitedly. "Come on come on come on!"
"Shhh!" Branch whispered as he laughed. "We don't wanna wake your mom and dad."
"They're your mommy and daddy too!" Poppy reminded him with a giggle. Branch laughed too. He wasn't King Peppy and Queen Joy's official son. They found him two years ago, wandering the forest alone and without a family. They decided to take Branch in and raise him as their own, and he became a constant companion for the princess Poppy. As a result, the two children became very close. So close that, as Queen Joy noticed, a romance began to bud between Branch and Poppy.
Branch and Poppy entered the ballroom and shut the doors after them. Poppy practically dragged Branch to the middle of the room. "Come on! Let it snow!"
Branch laughed but happily obliged. He made swirling motions with his hands. His magical abilities instantly came into the light, revealing a snowball that appeared about of thin air. For that was the troll boy's power: to create ice and snow. No one outside the royal family knew Branch's secret. He loved his powers and loved what he could create. But the one thing he loved most about his powers was seeing the light in Poppy's eyes as she watched.
"Ready?" Branch asked. Poppy, smiling still, nodded feverishly. Branch suddenly launched the snowball into the air and it exploded like a firework, sending down a flurry of snow. Branch lightly stomped his foot on the floor, sending out a sheet of ice that covered much of the floor. Poppy giggled, sliding a little bit.
Once the snow built up a little, the children quickly got to work with their snow-troll. They rolled up snow into a large clump, and then placed two medium-sized ones on the top. Branch used his powers to perfectly sculpt a troll head, but he couldn't get the ears or the nose quite right.
"Hold on!" Poppy ran off to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, her arms full. She stuck two twigs on either side of the snow-troll for arms, two pieces of coal into the head for eyes and a carrot below them for a nose. She also placed a hat and scarf on the snow-troll. Branch grinned, nodding in agreement while Poppy twirled around the room before jumping up into King Peppy's throne.
Branch used his powers to spin the snow-troll around and spoke in a falsetto, goofy voice. "Hi, I'm Snowflake. And I like warm hugs!"
Poppy clapped in delight and ran forward to hug the snow-troll. "I love you Snowflake!" She and Branch shared warm smiles.
The fun only continued from there. Using his powers, Branch helped Poppy dance and skate with Snowflake all over the ballroom, the two of them laughing all the way. The children threw snow at each other in a furious snowball fight, but it soon ended when Branch created a large snowball out of thin air and buried his friend in it. Branch made a large pile of snow like a slide and pulled Poppy to the top. Placing her in front, they slid down the freezing slope. Poppy flew off the end of the slide and hit a nearby pile of snow, made by Branch so they wouldn't hurt themselves falling on the floor. Poppy sat up in the snow pile and threw snow into the air, giggling. Branch laughed too. They both felt cold, playing in the snow wearing only their nightclothes and boots, but neither of them could care less. Ever since they discovered Branch's unique powers, the two children spent dozens of nights like this, enjoying everything that snow and winter had to offer. Tonight was no different.
Or so they thought.
Poppy jumped off the snow pile, but Branch was ready. "I got you!" he said, using his powers to create another pile of snow.
Poppy's smile grew, if even possible. "Do it again!" she cried, jumping again. Branch laughed as he created another pile. Branch continued to make piles of snow as he turned in a circle, successfully catching Poppy and making each pile higher and higher. But he could feel the fatigue setting in, and Poppy wasn't slowing down.
"Uh, Poppy?" He panted a little. Poppy either didn't hear or didn't listen, jumping and laughing. Branch suddenly yelped when his feet slipped from under him, and he hit the ice. His expression morphed from happy to terrified when he saw his best friend jump off the highest snow pile yet, whooping with joy and not noticing the lack of snow needed for a soft landing.
"Poppy!" Branch cried, throwing a blast of magic.
Poppy grunted in pain as the blast of snow magic hit her head. Luckily, it knocked her off-course just enough to hit a snow bank and safely slide to the floor. Branch gasped, rushing to the unconscious princess.
"Poppy." Branch breathed, pulling the girl's head into his lap. He watched, horrified, as a periwinkle blue streak appeared in Poppy's hair and bangs. Branch began hyperventilating, realizing that Poppy didn't stir. So, like any scared child would, he immediately screamed, "Queen Joy! King Peppy!" He began sobbing fearfully. "Dad! Mommy!" Branch held Poppy close, tears streaming down his face. His powers, reacting to the child's emotions, leaked through his boots and to the floor, sending frost all over the floor and up the walls, destroying Snowflake in the process.
Branch's distressed cries abruptly woke the king and queen. Peppy had peach skin and dark pink hair complete with a dark pink mustache. Joy had sky blue skin and pink hair the color of cotton candy. They both wore their nightclothes as they hurried downstairs to the ballroom where they knew the children liked to play. But the doors were frozen shut, and they had to ram into them a few times before the doors could fly open. The royal couple took a look around to see frost and ice all around the room, snow on the ground, and their adoptive son cradling their beloved daughter in his lap.
"What are you two doing up? And what happened to Poppy?" King Peppy gasped.
"It was an accident." Branch sniffled as the parents rushed over.
Joy took Poppy from Branch's arms, and she immediately paled. "She's ice-cold."
Peppy thought for a moment. "I know where we have to go. Prepare the horses and wrap Poppy in a blanket. Get your cloaks." He ran off to the library, straight to a bookshelf across the room. He muttered to himself as he hurriedly searched the shelf. He finally found the right book and pulled it open, finding a picture of a figure performing magic. A map with a marked trail fell from the book, revealing a location known only to the royal family.
Joy and Branch waited at the base of the Troll Tree. Branch handed Peppy his cloak as he ran out to meet them. Joy carried Poppy, currently wrapped like a swaddled newborn, while riding one of the troll horses. Peppy helped Branch onto a second horse and mounted it to sit behind him. The riders spurred their horses along, past the village and into the forest. Branch, still distraught over what he caused, accidentally left a trail of ice after Peppy's horse.
Meanwhile, a couple miles up the mountain, Creek and Cooper traveled alone. The ice trolls long since disappeared to their homes farther north. Despite the invitation from the ice trolls, Creek and Cooper decided to go their separate way to their own home. However, the two orphans didn't have much of a home, so Cooper pulled the sled towards the tree they currently slept in. Sometimes they each wished that they could sleep somewhere besides a tree. They didn't mind much. They had each other, and that was most important. Truth be told, if they didn't have each other, the two orphans might have lost their colors by now. Creek lost his parents when he was a little older than a toddler, and he found Cooper when he ran away from home. Cooper never really knew his family, and he stuck to Creek like glue. The two of them became fast friends, and decided they could live with each other as family.
I'll always be thankful for him. Creek thought, smiling at Cooper.
So lost in his thoughts, Creek nearly jumped out of his skin when two horses suddenly whooshed past behind him. Cooper stopped and the two of them stared at what was left behind.
"Ice?" Creek breathed. He stared after the horses. They're making ice out of thin air! Intrigued, he released Cooper from his harness and climbed onto the llama's back, spurring him to run after the horses. They followed the ice trail even when the horses disappeared. Finally, the ice trail stopped at some rocks, where the horses waited for their riders. Creek hopped off Cooper's back, calling him when the llama ran ahead. Together, they snuck through the rocks to a small clearing dotted with moss-covered stones and a few small trees. Four figures appeared in the middle of the clearing. Creek recognized two of them as the King and Queen, so he guessed the two children with them were their son and daughter.
"Please, help! If anyone is out there, we need help!" Peppy called. He felt a shiver up his spine, or perhaps it was from Branch's powers. Still, quite some time passed since he visited the Valley of Earth-Touching Light.
Joy noticed movement, and she saw a troll child with royal blue skin and blue hair so pale that it looked white. A rather rotund troll, he tried to hide behind a small rock out of shyness. Joy smiled comfortingly. "It's all right. We won't hurt you. Our daughter needs help. Please."
Slowly, the child emerged from behind the rock. He wore purple shorts and a vest, cuddling a yellow and pink-striped glowworm larvae to his chest. More troll children emerged from their hiding spots around the area. One had red skin, curly orange hair in a ponytail, and rose-colored eyes. She wore capris, a crop top, bangles on both wrists, and a pair of headphones made of yarn. Another had glittery skin and sparkling white hair dusted with more glitter, his eyes gray-blue and his nose green. Two of the children had light blue hair that faded to light lavender, conjoined at the top. One of the conjoined twins had pink-purple skin and cyan blue eyes, and wore a silvery, glittery jumpsuit with leg warmers. The other twin had periwinkle blue skin and violet eyes, wearing a dress made of similar fabric as her twin's. Both of them had earrings, one a few more than her twin, and tattoos on their ankles and wrists. One of the twins carried a little baby troll with yellow skin, teal-blue hair, and light blue eyes, wearing a dark pink dress with a bow in her hair. The last child looked like nothing more than a large tuft of lime green hair attached to orange legs. The children all wore crystal necklaces, the boys' gems blue and the girls' gems pink. They stared at the royals in awe.
"It's the king!" one of them breathed. They all started murmuring and whispering at once, and the lime green tuft on legs scurried away. When he returned, an older troll joined him. She had jade green hair, eyes, and lips, her hair streaked with white and her skin violet. She wore a cream-colored dress and a knit magenta shawl with pink hearts on it. She wore a crystal necklace with a jade-colored gem. The Northern Lights shining above seemed to brighten when the older troll arrived.
The elder troll, leader of the tribe, bowed to Peppy. "Your Majesty." She took Branch's hand in a gentle grip. "Born with the powers, I assume? Such strength does not come with a curse."
Peppy blinked in surprise, unsure how the troll could've known about the powers already. But he pushed the matter aside to answer the question. "Yes, you're right. They're getting stronger."
The elder troll nodded and gestured for Poppy. Joy came closer and let the older troll look the child over. Branch swallowed, breaking into sobs again. "I…..I hit her with my magic….." he blubbered. "It was an accident."
"I know, child." The green-haired troll nodded in understanding.
The red-skinned troll came a little closer to look at Poppy. "Aw, she's cute! Can you help her, Grandma Rosiepuff?"
The green-haired troll placed her hand on Poppy's head and concentrated for a moment, then sighed in relief. "You were lucky it wasn't her heart. The heart is not so easily changed, even with magic."
"Do what you must." Peppy encouraged. "Please."
"I will remove all traces of the magic, including her memories of it." Rosiepuff touched Poppy's head and moved her hands to the air. At her command, a stream of light came down from the Northern Lights and formed a glowing circle, like a mirror, to show Poppy's memories. With a few simple waves, Rosiepuff turned the children's snow in the ballroom into fun time in a wintery landscape near the Troll Tree. "She will not remember the magic, but she will always remember the fun." When she finished, Rosiepuff gathered the blue dust into her palms and pressed it to Poppy's forehead. The little troll girl smiled softly in her sleep.
Creek blinked in surprise. "Magi Trolls?" I only ever heard of them in stories! Magi Trolls differed from every other troll breed. Though many breeds had some sort of magic like hair manipulation, Magi Trolls were more like sorcerers.
"Whoa." Cooper breathed.
Rosiepuff sighed softly. "She will awaken tomorrow. Tonight will seem like only a dream."
Greatly relieved, Joy held her daughter close in a warm hug. Branch seemed worried, even a little hurt. "But she won't remember my magic?"
"It's for the best." Peppy soothed.
Rosiepuff gestured for Branch to come forward. "Listen to me, Branch. Your power is strong now, and it will become stronger as time goes by." Rosiepuff waved her hands a bit more, creating shadows in steams of Northern Lights that surrounded the trolls. Within the shapes the shadows made, the royals and Magi Trolls saw an older Branch performing his magic. "Magic is made up of both light and darkness, beauty and danger, like a rose." Rosiepuff warned. A snowflake appeared above the Branch shape, but then it took on a pointy, more threatening shape. "If you do not be a guide for this magic, it will go out of control. Remember this: fear is your greatest enemy." Suddenly, the snowflake stabbed down into the Branch shadow, destroying it. Branch gasped and hugged Peppy in fear.
"No." Peppy assured. "Branch is a bright young lad. He can learn to control his magic."
Joy readjusted Poppy to one arm and removed her leafy crown. "I hope this is enough to thank you." She said, holding out the crown to Rosiepuff.
Rosiepuff gently pushed the crown back. "Branch's powers are a gift. Promise me you will help him learn to control them, and that alone will be thanks enough."
"We'll help him." Peppy promised. He thanked Rosiepuff again and ushered his family back to their horses. The children followed the royals to the edge of their home, waving to the family as they rode off.
"I hope they come back to visit soon." The glitter-skinned child said.
"That blue one was cute." The red-skinned troll said.
"All of you come back here!" Rosiepuff called. "It's past your bedtimes!"
"Coming, Grandma!" the children called, jogging back to their guardian.
The twins paused when they saw a bit of green hair sticking out from behind a rock. Checking it out curiously, they found Cooper and Creek trying to hide from them.
"Hi there!" one of the twins greeted.
"What are you doing back there?" the other twin asked.
Creek swallowed. "Uh…nothing…"
"Did you see Grandma's magic?" one twin asked.
"Pretty great, huh?" her sister added.
"Yeah!" Cooper nodded.
"Satin! Chenille! Where are you?" Rosiepuff called.
"Over here, Grandma!" the twins called back. "We found a couple boys!"
"What?" Rosiepuff sounded amused and confused at the same time.
"We're sorry for intruding." Creek said. "We'll be going now."
"You gotta meet Grandma!" the twins insisted, grabbing Creek and Cooper and pretty much dragging them towards Rosiepuff, who waited with the children gathered around her. Creek and Cooper shrunk down under Rosiepuff's gaze, despite the kind smile she gave them.
"Hello there." Rosiepuff knelt down to be more at the boys' eye-level. "What are you two doing out here so late?"
"We live nearby." Cooper said. "We saw the royals come by and wanted to see what happened."
"That's some very lovely magic, madam." Creek complimented. "We won't bother you any longer."
"You aren't a bother at all." Rosiepuff assured. "And I certainly can't let you walk around the forest this late at night. Why don't I escort you home?"
"Oh, you don't need to go to such trouble." Creek insisted.
"I insist." Rosiepuff said firmly. "I would hate for your parents to worry."
Creek and Cooper shared a look, and their eyes traveled to the ground. "Uh….."
Rosiepuff understood at once. "You two don't have parents, do you?" The boys shook their heads. "No families of any kind?"
"We live in a tree." Cooper said. "Not always the same one each night."
"Cooper." Creek scolded. He chuckled nervously. "It's nothing, Miss, really."
"Don't be ridiculous." Rosiepuff scoffed. "You need a family. People to watch out for you and love you." She tilted Creek's head up so he would look at her. "How would you and Cooper like to stay with me and my family?"
Creek was so shocked by the offer that he didn't notice Rosiepuff already knew Cooper's name. "Really?"
"Grandma adopted all of us!" the large blue troll child said excitedly.
"You'll have lots of fun here!" the red-skinned troll assured.
"Stay with us!" the twin girls encouraged.
Creek and Cooper stared at Rosiepuff. "Really?"
Rosiepuff grinned warmly and stood up. "Children! Come welcome your newest brothers!"
The troll children cheered, gathering around Creek and Cooper in one big group hug. The former orphans shared a look, accepting the love excitedly. Rosiepuff chuckled softly at their reaction.
"Welcome to the family, boys." Rosiepuff said. She opened her arms, and Creek and Cooper leaped into her embrace.
A/N: So, due to FFN's rules, I can't transcribe the lyrics to the songs. But anyone who knows the movie knows where the songs go. Enjoy!