Rainbow
Author's Notes:
I apologize (again) if it took a long time for me to finish and post a new story. I had been busy at work and was also preparing for 2 weddings I had to attend.
But many thanks to those who reviewed, followed, added this story to their favorites! I actually didn't think that people would like this but I'm glad I was proven wrong. You are all awesome! I hope you guys continue supporting these stories even though I take a long time to update. (Hehehe :P)
This story has parts set before, within and after the movie. The pre and post movie parts are based on my personal headcanon so don't quote me on the ages, names, and other things. Also, since there are parts within the movie so there may be possible spoilers (but most probably you guys already watched the movie before coming here to check fanfics XD)
I'd like to point out as well that I haven't read any of the Trolls novels or anything of the sort, but there are mentions of a character or two here that didn't appear in the movie but were included in other stories or deleted scenes from the movie.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. But who knows, maybe I can become filthy rich and buy the rights to Trolls. (Though I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. I can still dream though right? :D)
But I do have a few OCs included here, so those are owned by me… And also five shirts, a tumbler, and one small sling bag from the Trolls merchandise. XD
Chapter 3: Yellow
On one fine day in the Forest Troll Village, a group of young troll children were huddled under one of the big mushrooms growing beside the trees holding their pod homes. Most of them were busy working on their coloring books while a few of them enjoyed drawing on their sketchpads. One of the young troll lasses, who was around five years old, had finished coloring a page and held it up to show it to her friends.
"I'm done!" The little pink troll, who also happened to be the princess, exclaimed proudly.
Her friends looked at her work, mildly impressed that she can already color in clean strokes and also work within the lines. They observed though that majority of the color used was the same as her skin. Some smiled while the others giggled at seeing this. The pink troll was a bit offended but curious at their reactions.
"What's so funny? Does it look bad?" She timidly asked.
Her friends shook their heads no. Another young female troll, who was red skinned with orange hair and was also around the same age as the pink one, spoke up.
"It's not bad, Poppy. But there's too much pink!"
The other troll children nodded, agreeing with their friend's comment.
Poppy turned the coloring book to see her own work and noticed she did use too much pink on the picture she colored. She gave a small smile of her own.
"Huh… I did use too much pink. Sorry, I love pink very much! It's my favorite color!"
"Us too…!" Two young female trolls with conjoined hair remarked.
"Also blue…"
"And green…"
"And purple…"
"And red…"
The twins kept alternating in saying their favorite colors and the others shared theirs as well. Most of them based their favorites from their own skin colors, except for one.
"What about you, Creek; what's your favorite color?" Poppy asked the purple troll in their group.
The said troll was quiet the whole time, simply listening to everyone else during the whole exchange. He smiled when his attention was called out, being asked the same question.
"Well… I love many colors, but I think my most favorite is yellow too, like Smidge."
The rest of the troll children were surprised hearing this. They expected that the young yogi would say that his favorite is his own skin color.
"Why yellow, Creek? Oh, is that why you started wearing yellow pants?" A blue six year old troll named Biggie asked.
The purple troll nodded.
"My mentor, Cybil, taught me about aura colors a few weeks ago. Yellow in the language of aura colors means creativity, playfulness, power, intelligence, curiosity…"
The purple ten year old troll trailed off when he noticed that the younger trolls had questioning looks on their faces. He got the desired effect; he intended to start off a bit technical with his terms to make him sound intelligent. Creek cleared his throat, brought a fist to cover his lips and hide a smirk, and tried a different approach to explain things a little simpler.
"I like the color yellow because it is a bright and happy color. You guys want to go out and play when it's bright and sunny, right?"
"Yes!" All the younger trolls surrounding him responded enthusiastically. Creek smiled.
"It is sort of the same thing that I feel when I see the color yellow. I feel happy and alive. It's a positive color. That's why I love it."
"Wow! You're so smart, Creek. I didn't know colors mean something." Poppy commented.
The rest of the troll children smiled and exclaimed their agreements. They were surprised though when they heard another voice nearby.
"Will you guys knock it off with the shouting? You'll never know if there's anything nearby that may just scoop you up and eat you."
The group looked towards the source of the voice and saw a young gray troll standing a few feet from them. It was clear that the eleven year old was out foraging for food as there were a few berries peeking out from his backpack; even holding one in his hands. Branch just happened to pass by when he heard the younger trolls were being loud.
The children frowned at his reprimand. He was spoiling their fun as usual. But Poppy just brushed this off and approached him with a smile. She brought her coloring book with her and showed the page she had worked on earlier to the gray troll.
"Look Branch, we're coloring!"
The said troll simply looked at the page with a blank expression on his face, and looked back at the troll princess.
"If you're just coloring, you guys shouldn't be so loud. What if a predator is nearby… or worse… a bergen! What will you guys do?"
Poppy scowled at this.
"I don't think there's anything out there…" She responded.
Branch huffed, feeling exasperated.
"But what if there was… You kids would be food by now! You guys better be careful around these parts."
"Chill, mate… We're safe right now and we were just talking about our favorite colors. There's no need to get worked up about this." Creek intervened.
Hearing this, the troll princess had renewed energy and started chatting up a storm. She was excitedly telling the survivalist troll about their favorite colors and ended up asking for his as well.
"I don't have any favorite colors." Branch replied.
He pointedly looked at the aspiring guru troll, recalling about what Poppy said that Creek loved the color yellow. The gray troll smirked at him.
"But my LEAST favorite is the color yellow. If you must know, although yellow is a happy color, in some cases, it also means cowardice and betrayal. So it's a good color for scaredy-cats and traitors. I guess that's a fitting color for you, huh, Creek?" Branch commented with a smug look on his face.
The rest of the troll children were surprised but the yogi remained silent for a while. It appeared that Creek wasn't the only one who knew about the language of colors.
"I don't know what you're talking about, mate." The purple troll eventually spoke up, forcing a smile on his lips to hide his grimace.
"Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out. I better leave now, still got some stuff to do. So you kids can run along and color more if you want."
The gray troll walked away before anyone could stop him. The other children looked at Creek; he was just standing there with an unreadable look on his face. It appeared that he was in deep thought. It was only when Poppy reached out to him and touched his arm that he broke out of his stupor.
"Creek… You okay?" She asked. The rest of her friends went closer, wondering what just happened with his interaction with Branch.
The aspiring guru troll simply gave them all a smile to ease their worries. He reached out to the troll princess, patting her head gently.
"Everything's fine, Poppy… Don't worry about it. You know how Branch is. It's best to leave him alone and never take his word seriously."
The pink troll blushed when he was gently caressing her head and silently nodded, accepting his response.
"Let's all get back to coloring shall we?" The purple troll addressed to the other troll children.
They looked at each other and regarded the older troll before they complied and went back to their coloring books and sketch pads.
It didn't take long for everything to be back to normal, but at the back of Creek's mind, he was still bothered with what happened earlier with the grumpy gray troll. He wasn't aware though that Poppy was observing him, and she was still concerned. Although she was curious, she didn't want to ask the purple troll anymore about this because she knew he will just be diverting the issue. She opted to go to the other source to get her answers. She remembered that she was planning a slumber party the following day, maybe she can get the other troll to come and ask him then.
The following day after the incident, the survivalist troll set out to gather sticks to store in his bunker. He was walking around, picking up the small pieces of wood, and storing them in a bag he was carrying. A little later he stopped; he had sworn he heard some rustling from the tall grass nearby and he suddenly became alert and aware of his surroundings. Branch concentrated and tried to locate the sound to know where it was coming from. He heard it again soon afterwards and he took out one of the sticks he just picked up to use it as a weapon if needed. The rustling drew closer and he was about to hit whatever would come out but stopped when he saw pink hair stuck out from one of the grass blades. Soon, a young female pink troll stepped out. She smiled when she saw him.
"Branch, here you are! Glad I finally found you."
The gray troll felt slightly relieved that it wasn't a predator that was lurking about, but he wasn't happy when the young troll princess found him.
"What do you want, Poppy?" Branch asked with annoyance in his voice.
Either she didn't detect the tone of his voice or chose to ignore it; the survivalist troll hadn't got a clue. She just continued smiling, unfazed by his rude approach. She reached into her hair and took out a small yellow card and presented it to him.
"I came here to give you this!"
She opened the card and there were cut out trolls that popped out, seeming to be engaged in a pillow fight. The card says, 'You're invited to our Slumber party!'
The gray troll looked at it long and hard. He then slowly reached out and got the card from the princess. She was thrilled, hoping that Branch will accept her invitation. But her excitement died when the grumpy troll threw the card to his left, landing in the grass blades nearby. Poppy looked at him wide-eyed in surprise, but soon she felt downcast for what he had done. He was about to step away from her when he suddenly heard her speak.
"I-I'm sorry. Was it because I used yellow paper when I made the card? I didn't have any other color left, I used it all up when I was making the other invitations and I thought that it's okay and –"
"Stop… Just stop it." Branch cut her off.
Poppy did as she was told and stopped talking. She looked at the older troll. She saw him face her.
"Look, it's not got anything to do with the color, okay? I'd rather be home alone rather than be in a party with loud kids."
The pink troll stared at him in wonder.
"Oh, I thought you hated the card because of the color."
But this didn't ease up the princess' feelings of her invitation being rejected.
"If you're not coming to the party, can I ask you something?" She continued.
The gray troll huffed irritatingly.
"What?"
"Do you hate Creek?" The princess asked.
Branch got caught off guard with the question. But a dark expression appeared on his face and he didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes."
"Why?" The young female troll continued asking.
"Just mind your own business Poppy." He started walking away. The pink troll tried to catch up with him but he was too fast.
"Branch, wait!"
It was too late, he was already far gone and the tall grass blades hid him from view.
The troll princess stood there looking at the direction that Branch went to and pondered about what the gray troll confirmed. He did hate Creek but wasn't clear as to the exact reason why. She walked towards the direction heading to the troll village, thinking what transpired with the grumpy troll all the way.
Several hours later that same day, night time fell. Most of the trolls were already heading to their respective homes to have supper or get some rest. In one area, just a few meters from the village and away from anyone's view, a lone gray troll was busy searching for something by the tall grass blades surrounding a clearing.
'Where is it?' He thought to himself as he was continuously combing through the glass carrying a small lantern to give light. A little later, he saw something yellow peeking out behind one of the blades.
Branch went closer to check and he confirmed that it was indeed the invitation card Poppy gave him earlier. He picked it up, dusted off some dirt, and looked at it, appreciating every detail that the princess added to make the card look beautiful. For a five year old, she was pretty talented and skillful with arts and crafts, impressing the gray troll. But he would never admit this to anyone out loud, most especially to Poppy.
He recalled what happened earlier that day when the pink troll brought him the card and he gave a heavy sigh. She asked him if he hated Creek and he affirmed this.
'Who wouldn't hate him for what he had done…' The survivalist troll thought to himself with anger.
When Branch was still a young troll and had his true colors, he was one of the well-loved troll children at that time and many of the trolls who were around his age admired him. He was adventurous, fun, intelligent, and smart for his age which made everyone like him. Creek also looked up to him and became his closest friend. At least, that was what Branch thought at first.
Everything changed ever since Branch's grandmother, Rosiepuff died. Branch was just around five years old back then. When he lost his colors due to grief and became gray, everyone was seeing him differently, including the children. At first they felt pity for him and tried to help but he was mean and he kept pushing them away. Instead of sympathy, it was replaced with annoyance and fear towards the gray troll child. As the months passed by, majority no longer cared for the lad and stayed away from him. Despite this, there were still a few trolls left who were truly concerned for him. The Troll Tree's King Peppy, his wife Queen Primrose, and a few of their kingdom's elders, who also happened to be close friends of Rosiepuff, continued to help Branch although he would usually refuse their aid.
The royal couple was infuriated when they first found out that the Bergen chef took one of the trolls outside of Trollstice. It was unheard of, considering the agreement that former Queen Pippi had compromised with the Bergen royalty during the last few years of her reign before Peppy took over. With a heavy heart, they had arranged that only a limited number of trolls can be taken once a year, which is on Trollstice, to avoid complete extinction. Eventually the royal troll couple found out that the bergen's queen was pregnant and somehow that day when Rosiepuff was taken, the expecting mother was craving for a troll. But this was not a good enough reason for someone to be taken outside of Trollstice. An agreement was an agreement and the bergens had violated this.
King Peppy and Queen Primrose tried their best to explain and comfort Branch about the situation but the gray lad didn't care much about the royal couple's sentiments. There was nothing they can do unless they can bring his grandmother back from the dead. Branch just wanted to be alone and not be tied to anyone else as much as possible. He believed that if there was anyone he would start caring about, bad things would happen to that troll. He even distanced himself from his friends, including Creek.
Apparently, the purple troll never minded that the newly gray troll had stayed away from them. In fact, he was kind of glad it happened. True, he felt sorry for Rosiepuff and was a 'close' friend to Branch before. But instead of admiration, he was actually jealous of the troll lad because of how he was appreciated by everyone in the kingdom. Creek initially intended to become his friend so he can get similar attention as with the other troll. Although he was indeed well-known, he was tagged only as 'Branch's friend' instead being recognized as his own self. The purple troll took this situation of the gray troll to his advantage and tried to find ways to be acknowledged much better compared to his 'friend'.
About a couple of months before Trollstice, the Troll kingdom celebrated the planting of the royal couple's first troll seed, bearing either a future prince or princess for their people. The king and queen took turns to take care of the seedling even before it started to sprout; but other trolls would also volunteer to watch over it. One of which who frequently did this was Creek himself despite his young age to impress the other trolls. Surprisingly though and to no one's knowledge, Branch would also take care of the sapling at night, to make sure no critter, Bergen, or any natural element brought harm to it. The only one who discovered this was Queen Primrose herself. When she revealed herself to the lad, she asked him to protect her child, in case something happened to either her or her husband. Branch insisted nothing will happen to them, but he still promised to protect their offspring.
That joy of having a new life come forth to the world was replaced with grief on Trollstice as the Troll Tree's queen was taken as one of the sacrifices. It was one of the most tragic Trollstice because aside from losing Queen Primrose, they also lost almost a half of their population under the Bergen King's request. King Peppy had heard from rumors that the reason why it was done so was because of the King's wife dying after giving birth. The newly born prince was well and healthy, but the queen lost too much blood during the delivery, taking away her life. To ease the king's pain along with the rest of his people for their queen's death, he had ordered their chef to pick more trolls than what was usually taken for the holiday so his royal subjects would experience twice the happiness after their loss.
'So… It's an eye for an eye, ay…? Just because they lost their queen, we had to lose ours?'
How devastated King Peppy was. But he recalled about what the rumors said, that the Bergen queen died after giving birth to their new prince.
'A new prince was born. That's another royal mouth to feed with a troll. And that troll might be… my child.'
The king scowled at the thought.
'No. I cannot let this happen. Not anymore. I am sick and tired of living in fear, along with my people, when that cursed day comes around. Another year and another batch of trolls get eaten… for what? The bergens' happiness…? How about ours? I've had enough of their selfishness. Taking my wife was the last straw. Primrose asked me to take care of our child and our people… and that is what I am going to do.'
King Peppy hurriedly went to their kingdom's meeting room where he discussed with the elder trolls who were his advisers as well. He mentioned about the plan to escape Bergen town which his wife had proposed to him before they even had their sapling. The king became regretful, he should have listened to her back then but he had hesitations because of his fears. What if they couldn't find a suitable place to live in? What if they were putting more lives at risk when escaping from Bergen town and exposing themselves to the dangers of the forest? But at that moment, he had to cast those fears aside. They should already plan an escape route and find a perfect place to rebuild their kingdom.
A few months had passed and the whole Troll kingdom was looking forward to the birth of a new prince or princess. When one of the sitters noticed a slight movement from the bud's petals, she immediately called for the king and everyone else to witness the blooming flower. It didn't take long that the bud fully blossomed, revealing a tiny pink troll baby within. King Peppy had tears in his eyes seeing his child. He was gifted with a baby girl! How he wished that his wife was right there with him to share that special moment. Branch saw the troll baby from a distance, thinking that the child was beautiful. To his surprise, his heart warmed at the sight of her, despite of him feeling gloomy most of the time. As he heard the king declare that the princess' name was Poppy, he smiled a little thinking that it suited her. But as he saw his 'friend' Creek approaching her and blatantly expressed his admiration towards the newborn. Seeing this made the gray troll scowl.
It wasn't long that Trollstice was just around the corner again. The Troll King along with his loyal subjects worked hard for about a whole year to make sure that the escape plans would be successful. For the past several months, the trolls worked hard to dig the tunnel. Others helped sculpted the troll dummies they will be using as their replacements on the day to trick the bergens. When the tunnel was completed, a small group of trolls had to go on an excursion to look for a potential location for their new home. It took another few months before Trollstice when the group was able to find a potential place. Immediately after finding it, they made sure to create a map and retrace their steps before heading home and inform their king about it. As soon as he heard this, he himself set out to inspect it. When King Peppy saw the location, he smiled and was relieved that at last, they indeed found the perfect place to rebuild their civilization away from those horrid creatures.
On the day before the dreaded holiday, the trolls made their final preparations and had the wooden dummies placed in their respective pods. They all gathered in their assembly room to go through the final plans and reminders during the trip. The king had initiated a prayer to their ancestors and their sacred Troll Tree to guide them and protect them during their journey. After they had taken their final meal in the tree, the king let his people rest for a short while to recharge their bodies for the long trip ahead. After a few hours, everyone had already set off to leave the Troll Tree and Bergen Town for good, hurrying to the root tunnels to make their escape. But because the tunnel was quite long, it took several hours for those trolls to reach the area just outside of the town. When morning came, the bergens started to gather around the Troll Tree to get a taste of those little colorful creatures. But when they realized that the trolls disappeared, the bergens became furious and tried to look for them. Unfortunately for those giants, but fortunately for those colorful creatures, they never caught up to those trolls. Because of this, they diverted their anger to their chef instead; whom they thought was the reason why their source of happiness got away.
Later that day when the sun was about to set, King Peppy decided to set up camp somewhere in the forest. He had appointed some of the trolls to help in putting up the tents, while others gathered sticks for fire, food and water, and others were appointed for guard duty. Once everything was set and everyone was able to eat, those trolls who weren't on guard duty started to head to their respective tents and prepared to get settled in for the night. Branch wasn't feeling sleepy yet so he opted to walk a little ways from the campsite and spotted a rock big enough to sit on and ponder about what has happened so far. He was too focused on his thoughts that he was startled when a slightly smaller mint colored troll lad with forest green hair suddenly appeared in front of him, coming out from tall grass blades close by. He had a panicked look on his face and was clearly out of breath as he struggled to get some air into his lungs. The gray troll recognized the child.
"Kale?"
The said troll looked up and saw Branch, his face shifting to a combination of fear and a bit of relief.
"Branch!" Kale suddenly grabbed on to the gray child's arms, almost making him lose his balance while the younger troll tried to catch his attention.
"You need to help me… help them! They're… Creek was…"
Oh no.
"What happened, Kale? Just calm down and tell me."
The mint colored troll took a deep breath and spoke up.
"We did some exploring heading that way…" Kale pointed to the direction where he came from and continued speaking.
"… and then Creek accidentally walked into a huge spider web and got stuck there. Ginger, Lake and I tried to get him free but we saw a big spider slowly coming down from the tree tops, getting closer to us. We started to move away but Creek was yelling at us to help him. Ginger and Lake started to take rocks and kept throwing at the big scary thing. I ran away instead to get some help."
Branch had a morbid look on his face as he was listening to what the other troll said. But he had to act fast or those kids will die!
"Kale, listen. You go back to the campsite and look for King Peppy and any other adult who can help. Bring them to where Creek and the others are. Got it?"
The younger troll nodded and hurriedly made his way back to the campsite. The gray troll took his small backpack with his survival gear and took off to where Kale pointed to. It wasn't hard to find the other troll children, he can hear them shouting from a distance. Branch followed the voices and arrived at the scene. He was horrified at the sight, seeing the giant spider almost near Creek but was hissing towards the two other troll children who were continuously throwing rocks at the creature. The gray troll wasted no time and hurried to the two, took out his sling shot, and hit the spider on one of its eyes. The large arachnid gave a loud screech, making it fall on the ground on its back just a little ways behind the web Creek was trapped in. The group of children were wide eyed, surprised at the stunt the gray troll performed.
Seeing the spider down, Branch immediately ran over to the purple troll trapped on the web and pulled out a knife from his pack. The other children gasped at this, even Creek got tense upon seeing the sharp object. He became still and silent though as the gray troll approached. When Branch got near, the purple troll closed his eyes shut, fearing what will be done to him. A little later Creek realized nothing was happening directly to him and felt the web getting loose. When he opened his eyes, he realized that Branch had just cut the surrounding web where he got stuck on so at least he can move.
"Branch? You…" Creek suddenly stopped when he noticed the movement from behind the gray troll. The other troll children also spotted this and became frightened. They realized that the spider managed to get back up and head towards them.
As Branch was about to turn around to see what they were looking at, he felt someone push him to the ground and heard running from behind. He realized it was Creek.
"Come on guys! Let's go!" The purple troll called out to the other children.
"But what about…" An indigo colored troll with sky blue colored hair named Lake spoke up but was cut off by Creek by dragging him and Ginger out of the area.
Upon realizing thy all left, Branch looked up, spotting the spider walking near to him. All he felt at that moment was intense fear coursed through his veins.
Was that it? Will his life end there?
He was about to accept his fate when all of a sudden he was wrapped around with hair and being pulled away from the spider. He looked down and noticed he was encased in pink hair. Following the source of the hair, he spotted King Peppy. When the gray child was already safe in the king's presence, one of the older trolls shot his own hair and hit the spider like a whip, making it move back to a cave which turned out to be a wide mouth of another monster. Branch looked at the attack with wonder, thinking he should practice with his hair to move like that in the future. He was disrupted from his thoughts though when he heard King Peppy calling out to him.
"Branch! Are you all right, child?" He asked. The said troll child simply nodded his head in response. Panic was replaced with relief on King Peppy's face.
"I'm glad. Good thing Kale was able to tell us in time and we ran here as fast as we could. Seeing Creek and the other children confirmed we were in the right path."
When the king mentioned Creek's name, Branch was seething from the inside.
Why did he push him and leave him there? Was Creek really that selfish that he wanted to save himself and resort to having another troll die in his place?
On the day after the incident, Branch found the opportunity to confront the purple troll. He had been plagued with thoughts the night prior which made him get less sleep. The gray troll wanted to know what made Creek do what he did. When the trolls took a break to rest before continuing with their journey to their new home, Branch noticed Creek discreetly leave the group. Looking around to see if anyone was watching and avoid any attention sent his way, the gray child quietly left to go after the other troll. He didn't need to search for long as he immediately saw the purple troll sitting cross-legged beside a small pond nearby. Branch remained quiet as he walked over; facing the other lad's back while keeping a safe distance between them.
"Creek…" The gray troll spoke up, but was not yet acknowledged by the other child.
"Why?" Branch continued.
The purple troll remained still but he responded.
"Why what, mate?"
The gray child frowned.
"Why did you leave me to be killed by that spider? Do you hate me that much that you want me dead? I thought we were friends!"
Creek snickered.
"Friends... Are you sure?" The purple troll stood and turned to look at Branch.
"I never considered us as 'friends'." Creek continued. "Everybody loved you, Branch. You hogged all of the attention. Everyone else, even my parents, kept comparing me to you, wanting me to be like you. 'Branch is such a good little troll! Branch is very smart! Branch is talented! Maybe you can be like him, Creek?' Yadda-yadda-yadda… No more... I don't want to be compared to you. I don't even like you!"
"But Creek… Why did you come to me… and act like you're my friend?"
"Other trolls notice you Branch. And I thought, maybe I'll be popular too if I keep tagging along with you. It did work but no one remembers me as 'Creek'. They would say, 'hey Branch's friend!' when they call out to me or talk about me. They still remember Branch… not Creek."
The gray troll looked hurt and appeared to be much grayer than before.
"So you used me…" Branch whispered but the purple troll still heard this and smirked.
"Yep! But I don't need you anymore. Since you're all gray and grumpy now, no one will like you. They'll like me instead! No one will care anyway if you're dead, right? Leaving you with that spider should have been okay! The only troll who cared about you already die-"
Creek wasn't able to finish what he said as Branch punched him in anger. The force was strong enough to bring the child to the ground. The purple troll was surprised and caressed gently his injured cheek. He can see the other troll still seething in rage and was breathing heavily. But unfortunately for the gray troll, it was right at that moment that the other troll children who came looking for Creek arrived and saw their friend on the ground while the other troll was looking angry with a clenched fist. They can already see a bruise starting to form on the purple troll's cheek.
The situation was misinterpreted by the children so they hurried to take Creek away and tell the older trolls about what happened. This was a clear win on the purple child's side as the elders accused of Branch being a bully. Although the gray troll tried his best to explain what really happened, none believed him. King Peppy tried his best to understand but even he couldn't help feeling the disappointment towards the lad. After this incident, Branch tried his best to stay away, to avoid hurting anybody and being hurt in return.
Branch looked at the invitation in his hands and carefully placed it in his hair. With heaviness in his heart, he went back to his bunker recalling the pain of betrayal from someone he thought was his friend. He knew that no matter how many years would pass, the ache would never go away.
Several years had passed and those troll children already grew up to be teenagers. One particular day, Poppy was heading to a crafts store to buy more glue, glitters and felt paper. She was going to work on a new set of invitations for their upcoming summer party. As the troll princess arrived and got inside the crafts store, she noticed a familiar purple troll standing on one corner, engrossed at looking at various types of threads and yarns. Poppy got excited all of a sudden and walked over immediately to her friend. The other troll noticed her right away and gave her a smile. The princess could have sworn her heart skipped a beat and felt a blush rising to her cheeks. She gave a bit of a shy smile before greeting the purple troll.
"Hi Creek… How are you?"
"I'm doing great, Poppy. Thanks for asking… and how about you?"
"Simply wonderful… I just came here to get some art materials for the invitations I'll be making for the celebration in the next few days." The princess answered.
"Is that for the summer party?" Creek asked.
"Yes! It'll be a blast I'm sure of it! You better come, Creek."
The teenage yogi gave a small chuckle.
"Of course, anything for you, love…" He then gave a bow, reaching out to Poppy's hand and giving a kiss on the back of it.
The troll princess swore she could feel her face growing warmer and coloring several shades darker after what he said and what he did. She gave a small giggle to ease her embarrassment.
"I'm glad…" Poppy answered timidly while looking away with a small smile. She didn't notice though the smirk on the yogi's lips. She tried instead to change the topic though as she was getting more embarrassed.
"So… What brings you here?" The princess asked the purple troll.
"Well…" Creek started. "Cybil wanted me to teach young trolls how to do yoga and meditation so I'm working on making mats for the kids. I'm just confused what color of yarns or threads I should be using, and also for the cloths."
The pink troll brightened at hearing this.
"Oh, that's super awesome! Hmm… let me think… Oh! Yoga deals with relaxation and peace right? Maybe you can use cool colors like blues, greens or purples. They're quite soothing to the eyes."
The purple troll considered this and grinned at Poppy.
"That's brilliant! I better check colors like those. Thanks Poppy!" Creek immediately gave the princess a tight hug, even if it wasn't hug time yet. This made the pink troll blush again, but gladly returned the hug eventually.
"No problem, Creek! I'll be glad to help you get the things you need too!"
Unbeknownst to the two, they were being watched by a gray troll from one of the windows nearby. Branch was just about to get inside the store to get some supplies for his cupboard project in his bunker when he noticed the two talking and then Creek embracing the princess. Seeing this made the troll clench his fists and he began to seethe with anger. If he had been there earlier, he might witness something else that could have made him enraged even more.
'That no good Creek…' The survivalist troll hissed to himself. For Branch, it was clear that Creek was manipulating Poppy into liking him. The gray troll knew that the yogi wanted to be well-loved by all, so going out with the princess makes him both renowned and possibly become part of the royal family.
How badly he wanted to barge in and punch the purple troll in the face. But regardless of him wanting to inflict physical pain to the young yogi, he had to restrain himself. It was just a waste of time and effort. Plus, Poppy would be upset with him.
He suddenly stopped upon realizing his train of thought. Why would he care about what Poppy thinks?
Speaking of Poppy, Branch looked through the window again and noticed that the Creek was holding her hand while they were looking around the shop. The survivalist troll was downright peeved at the sight and wanted to tear off that arm linked to the princess' hand. This reaction again surprised the gray troll; he has no clue as to why he was mad at the purple yogi because of his advances to the princess.
He got too preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice that the two trolls he was spying inside were about to step out of the store. He panicked when he heard the door open and hurriedly hid behind a corner of the shop. He took a peek, careful not to get caught, and saw Creek and Poppy walk out the store. Branch's ears twitched when he heard them continue their conversation mentioning his name.
"Wait, why are you still planning to give an invitation to Branch?" Creek asked his companion. "No offense, Poppy, but you know how he reacts to your invitations. And you work so hard on those too."
"Yes, I know." The princess responded. "But I hope that one day he will accept my invitations. That's why no matter how many times he refuses or destroys them, I will never give up inviting him to parties or events. I consider him a friend and I don't want him left out from all the fun! I really want to cheer him up."
Hearing this surprised the gray troll. She considered him as a friend even how mean and rude he was to her? She was inviting him not out of pity but because she wanted him to have fun? To be… happy…? He was starting to look at her in a new light. But… he knew he couldn't be completely happy. And being close to the princess might put her life at risk… just like what happened to his grandmother. He couldn't bear to lose someone else he loves. His eyes widened at the thought.
Love…? He… truly… loves her? This realization dawned upon him. But instead of being joyous of finding someone to love, Branch became even more worried.
'I cannot let anything happen to her. I have to stay away, be meaner to her if necessary just so she will be out of harm's way because of me. Nothing good comes out of being with me.'
The survivalist troll got too engrossed with his thoughts; he failed to notice Poppy and Creek already left the area. Upon realizing their absence, he stepped out from his hiding spot and looked towards the direction the two trolls headed to. He let out a heavy sigh.
'I'm really sorry, Poppy.'
Branch then turned, heading inside the shop.
"I'm selling you out."
As simple as those words sounded, it felt like the world fell on everyone present who heard it. It didn't take long for the troll princess to react; she immediately stretched out her hair to choke the traitor whom she thought had been their most trusted friend. Having witnessed this made everyone else surprised at Poppy's actions when she had never been seen that angry to the point she started to hurt someone else. But Branch was actually feeling satisfied at her reaction, crossing his arms and giving a smirk towards the traitor's way.
'Serves him right…' He thought.
"You better explain yourself, Creek!" The troll princess demanded.
As the purple troll proceeded to tell what had happened which resulted to his betrayal, Branch looked at the troll with contempt, hardly surprised at the action the yogi had taken. He was right. Creek couldn't be trusted – at all.
"No, Creek… Please don't do this." Poppy pleaded. The gray troll can hear the pain in her voice and felt his heart clench at her agony.
The yogi then responded. "Believe me. I wish there was some other 'me-not-getting-eaten' way…"
"But there isn't." The Bergen chef added while sharpening her knives.
"And now I have to live with this for the rest of my life." Creek continued as he went closer to the princess.
"At least you get to die with a clear conscience. So in a way, you could say…" He crossed his arms and shrugged. "…I'm doing this for you."
Creek reached out to cup her face into the palm of his hand. The survivalist troll was again boiling with rage and had to do everything in his power to control his temper. But he didn't want to do anything yet as his actions may put the princess in danger. They then noticed the purple troll release Poppy's face and reached into her hair to take out her cowbell. He then gave her a boop on the nose with the bell's stick. Branch then realized what he was up to. Creek didn't know the exact location of the other trolls so he was going to lure them out instead, misleading them to think it was Poppy calling out for them using her bell. He was about to stretch his hair again to grab the traitor but the chef already took Creek out of their reach and placed him on her shoulder. Soon afterwards, she took the cage and transferred the trolls into a large cooking pot. As they heard her speak again, a chill ran up their spines, making them shiver in fear.
"Let's go, Creek. You still have trolls to gather."
They can hear her footsteps as she walked away, giving out that loud horrid laugh as she left. The trolls inside the pot looked at each other with grim looks on their faces, all thinking the same thing…
'What are we going to do now?'
"You were right, Branch. The world isn't all cupcakes and rainbows."
Upon hearing these words uttered by the pink princess, her color gradually lost its saturation and turned gray, to the horror of all trolls surrounding her.
'No… No… NO! This isn't happening! She can't be gray!' Branch was shouting in his head.
But it wasn't the worst thing that happened. He took notice that the other trolls started to lose color too.
'NO! This can't be?! That no good Creek… He caused this! He caused all of this! If he hadn't betrayed us… if he hadn't been a coward and only thought about himself… we would have… she could have… I have to do something for Poppy… for everyone else, but… what?'
Branch was thinking long and hard what he had to do.
'Grandma… please, help me…'
Suddenly in the dark recesses of his mind, a bright yellow light shone through. He then swore he heard a voice, a very familiar voice… a voice he knew he heard in his childhood…
'Sing to her, Branch… Sing…'
He knew it was his grandmother's voice. She wanted him to sing, and that was what he was going to do. He took a deep breath and sang, after so many years of forbidding himself in doing so.
You with the sad eyes…
The unfamiliar singing voice caught everyone's attention, including Poppy's. To their surprise, they saw it was Branch who was singing.
Don't be discouraged…
He approached the troll princess, cupping her cheek in the palm of his hand to make her look at him as he tried to reach her heart with his song.
Oh I realize
It's hard to take courage…
In a word full of people
You can lose sight of it all
The darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small…
The gentle ding of Poppy's hug time bracelet chimed and the survivalist troll opened his arms to princess, offering her a hug. To his dismay, she refused him and looked away while covering her bracelet. But that didn't discourage Branch to stop singing. He can hear the dings of the other trolls' bracelets as he continued the song.
Show me a smile then
Don't be unhappy
Can't remember when
I last saw you laughing
This world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
Just call me up 'coz I will always be there…
And then, something amazing happened.
And I see your true colors
Shining through…
The princess' colors began to appear, starting from her feet until it gradually spread throughout her body.
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you…
Hearing this surprised the pink troll and she immediately turned to face the gray troll serenading to her. She smiled at him tenderly. He smiled back. Soon after, she began to sing with him.
So don't be afraid
To let them show…
It was then that Branch's colors started to show, to everyone's amazement.
Your true colors
True colors
Are beautiful…
The two trolls started to dance and continue with their song. Without them noticing, the other trolls surrounding them started to gain back their own colors, watching on with hope at Poppy and Branch. As the last note of the song died, every troll looked at each other with happiness in their eyes. To make up for the missed hug time a few minutes earlier, each troll embraced another, including Branch as he joined in to wrap his arms around the pink princess and she reciprocated the gesture. Soon after, they pulled apart but still holding each other's hands.
"Thank you." Poppy spoke up.
"No. Thank you." The former gray troll responded.
"For what…?" The princess asked.
"For showing me how to be…" Branch shrugged his shoulders and gave a small smile.
"Happy…"
Hearing this surprised the pink troll. But she became delighted with the news.
"Really…? You're finally happy?"
But the wide smile turned into a frown with an eyebrow raised as Poppy looked at the other troll questioningly.
"Now…?"
"I think so…" The survivalist troll began. "Happiness is inside of all of us, right? Sometimes… you just need someone to help you find it."
The troll princess gave a loving smile upon hearing his response. Just then, a young female troll approached her.
"What are we going to do now, Princess Poppy?"
The said troll looked to the child and replied, "I don't know… But I know we're not giving up."
She turned to face Branch again, seeing him with a wide smile in assurance to her response.
"Happiness isn't something you put inside; it's already there! Sometimes… you just need someone to help you find it." Poppy spoke to all the bergens within the dining hall, trying to get through to them the concept of happiness.
"Can I really be happy?" One bergen started to ask.
"I wanna be happy!" Another one exclaimed.
"And me!"
"Sign me up!" The other bergens started yelling one after the other.
"What about me?" One of the guards also asked, wanting to be included.
"And me, me!"
"Do you really think I can be happy?" The bergen from the bib shop inquired.
"Of course!" The pink troll affirmed. "It's inside you… It's inside of all of us!"
She looked back at Branch and she saw him nod at her, agreeing to what she said.
"And I don't just think it… I feel it!" Poppy continued. She then started singing and dancing to the music.
I got this feeling
Inside my bones
It goes electric wavy
When I turn it on
Branch then decided to join in.
And if you want it
Inside your soul
Just open up your heart
Let music take control
I've got that
Sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops
Ooh!
I can't take my eyes up off it
Moving so phenomenally
Room on lock the way we rock it
So don't stop
Poppy's friends began to sing and dance as well.
Under the lights
When everything goes
Nowhere to hide
When I'm getting you close
When we move
Well you already know
So just imagine
Just imagine
Just imagine
Their fellow trolls jumped in from the chandeliers above them and joined in to the song and dance number started by the pink princess.
Nothing I can see but you
When you dance, dance, dance
Feeling good, good creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance
Come on!
The trolls coaxed the bergens to dance along and a few started to move to the music.
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving soon
So keep dancing
Can't stop the feeling!
So just dance, dance, dance
Can't stop the feeling!
So just dance, dance, dance
Can't stop the feeling! Woo!
So just dance, dance, dance
Can't stop the feeling! Yeah!
So keep dancing
All bergens were already dancing and were finally feeling joyous. In celebration, they pulled off their bibs and threw it up in the air. The chef, being frustrated that her plan failed, took upon herself to try and kill the trolls who ruined everything for her. Branch, Poppy and the others were so preoccupied with their dancing that they didn't notice the evil chef approaching them, holding knives and about to stab them. Fortunately, Bridget, the scullery maid, noticed and she was able to stop the chef by throwing a wooden spoon at her. Because of the distraction, Poppy's friends threw off the chef by having lemon juice squeezed into her eyes, tripping her into the bergen's troll pot and lighting it up while she was being wheeled out of the castle and away from Bergen Town along with the traitor, Creek.
As soon as they were good as gone, Poppy initiated again the celebratory dance and soon she was accompanied by Branch himself. She along with the rest of the trolls and the bergens, danced and sang until all of Bergen Town was filled with color and the Troll Tree came to life after all those years. When the princess along with her friends continued dancing on top of a large mushroom underneath the tree, she didn't notice that her father, King Peppy, was approaching her carrying a leaf crown. He soon got near and placed the crown on the pink troll's head. She was surprised at first, but soon felt happiness and pride as her father declared her as the new queen. As everyone cheered for her, the former gray troll went to her and took her hands into his. No words can fully describe the happiness the two trolls were feeling at that moment. Soon after, they felt the mushroom shake and realized they were being pushed high above the tree, up into the sky. It appears they were given time alone together by Smidge.
"I know it's not officially hug time yet but…" Branch spoke up and spread out his arms, offering an embrace.
"Now that I am queen, I decree that hug time ... is all the time." Poppy suddenly declared and then soon approached the turquoise colored troll, wrapping her arms around him.
Several days had passed after the failed Trollstice and everything remained peaceful between the bergens and the trolls. Most trolls were busy with building their pods or arranging their things after they retrieved them from the old village. Even Branch was busy arranging his things in his new pod, which will act as a temporary storage for some of his belongings until the time he would be finished building his underground bunker for emergencies.
He had a bookcase set up in his pod and he was organizing the books he brought with him. As he was placing those books, he noticed one of them had the title, 'The Language of Colors'. It included different meanings and symbolisms of certain colors, which may even be used as basis for explaining a troll's behavior or character. Branch opened and scanned through the book, browsing through the different colors indicated. His eyes eventually landed on a page describing about the color yellow and his thoughts brought him back to the past wherein he despised that color because it reminded him of Creek. The survivalist troll read through the page, recalling that he told that purple troll straight to his face what the other meaning for yellow was.
'It was indeed a fitting color for him.' He thought. 'He was a traitor and a coward. He has always been ever since were kids, up until now that we are adults. After everything he did, he deserved what happened to him and that bergen chef.'
The former gray troll slammed the book shut before placing it in his book case.
'Good riddance.'
His thoughts got interrupted though when he heard a knock on the door of his pod. A bit curious who his guest might be, he hurried to greet whoever came to visit. Branch opened the leaf door and was surprised to see their queen standing outside. Instantly after seeing him, Queen Poppy gave him an affectionate smile.
"Hi Branch."
She then twirled a little, displaying her outfit for the day.
"How do I look?" She asked him, grinning all the while.
The turquoise colored troll was blushing a little at the sight of the lovely troll in front of him. But he was surprised when he noticed she was wearing a new color from what she usually wears. She was wearing a yellow colored dress with orange intricate flower designs on the edge of the skirt.
"The twins made this for me. Isn't it pretty?" Poppy held her skirt on the sides, looking down to admire her dress.
Branch was silent the whole time as he took in the sight of her. When she realized that the male troll remained quiet, she became a bit worried and frowned. All of a sudden though, she recalled that her companion said he didn't like the color yellow at one point when they were all younger because of Creek. This made her feel a bit guilty for reminding him, including her, something they should never speak about ever again.
"I'm sorry… Maybe I should change my clothes? I don't think this color suits me anyway and… "
Hearing her speak broke him out of his stupor. Branch's eyes widened and immediately cut her off.
"No, no, no! It's okay! It's actually more than okay! You look very beautiful in that dress, Poppy…" The male troll trailed off and then stopped talking as he realized what he said.
Both trolls blushed madly and fell silent for a bit while looking down at their feet. But his response made the troll queen smile. Branch glanced sideways and saw her smiling; making him feel warm inside and his heart beat wildly. He slowly reached out to take her hand in his, catching her attention and making her look back at him. She can see a tinge of purple on his cheeks.
"You know…" He began. "I think I'm starting to like the color yellow."
He felt Poppy squeeze his hand, making him turn to look at her.
"Why?" She asked.
Branch smiled lovingly at the queen and took both of her hands in his, gently running his thumbs on the back of her hands in a soothing manner.
"…It's all because of you."
-End-
Aaaaaaand… I'm finally done! Whew! That was pretty lengthy. I hope you enjoyed this story. Now, I'm not making any promises about the next chapters, because real life is pretty hectic for me. But I appreciate your patience and support. You guys are truly awesome!
By the way, I wasn't sure if Primrose was already taken as a name for Poppy's mom, but if anyone used it already, I apologize. I liked it when I was first looking for a list of possible names and I came across it. I also drew a picture of Queen Primrose and posted it in my Tumblr account, just remove the spaces or underscores: (add the h-t-t-p-s at the beginning, I have no idea why it's not saving even though I left spaces in between)
: / / foureyedbeauty24 . tumblr . c_o_m / post / 159972014030 / my-visualization-for-poppys-mother-im-not-sure
Songs included:
True Colors (From Trolls, Performed by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick)
Can't Stop the Feeling! (From Trolls, Performed by Justin Timberlake with Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Ron Funchess, Zooey Deschanel, Icona Pop, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Nayyar)
Special troll hugs to my new beta-reader neomoon585, you definitely rock! And thanks to my friends/officemates Lyn and Allan for giving your suggestions and comments for my story!