There are a few plot holes in the movie that were tricky to fix (and don't get me started on World Tour 'cause that one has more holes than emmental cheese), but after a lot of thinking thanks to quarantine and my terrible insomnia I think I have suitable fillings.
"This is regular dialogue"
'These are thoughts'
"This is singing"
This is a flashback
This is a time or setting change
"This is a Fuzzling speaking"
"This is auto-tune"
(This is a mini flashback)
It was early in the morning when Branch carefully shook the sleeping princess awake to continue on their journey to Bergen Town. It was so early that the sun was barely poking out of the horizon but now that Poppy has slept for a few hours, she felt a whole lot better than when she first left the village.
The pink troll was still mad at the village grump for torching her mandolin and she made it obvious as they packed their things. Poppy glared at him by comedily widening her eyelids to show the grey troll her inner rage and puffing out her cheeks to look more serious. It only served to make her look like an angry toad but Branch wasn't about to tell her that. Heck, if he wasn't still feeling bad about last night, he would've teased her the rest of the day about it.
Instead he offered to carry the princess' things since she didn't have her backpack and her hair was becoming too full. Troll hair could hold a number of items by wrapping a few strands around the objects to keep it from falling out, but when too much stuff is placed within the colorful locks, trolls might hurt their necks from the weight or damage their hair from overdoing it.
Although she accepted his offer, she refused to let go of her silver harmonica and plastic kazoo because of trust issues involving fires.
After eating some crackers with cheese and taking a quick bathroom break, the two trolls finished packing up and got ready for the rest of their journey.
While Branch placed the retainer back on Pell-Mell's upper jaw, Poppy quickly reached into her hair and felt the smooth surface of her precious cowbell and the drumstick tied to the handle. She's had it on her since the morning of her birthday and has been carrying it around this whole time. It had a lot of sentimental value to it and brought her some much needed comfort but she wasn't going to tell the grey troll about it though. At least not until she confirmed that he wouldn't throw it away or melt it down like that loon he could be at times.
'Called it!' Poppy thought before responding. "Some things don't just randomly pop up in conversions. You gotta sneak it in like broccoli in brownies for kids. Or lead into it like trying to figure out what someone wants for their birthday."
"You're not good at being sneaky. You're the exact opposite of the word 'slick'. And being born into royalty means you have authority over everyone, remember? Can't you just order them to tell you what you want to know and be done with it? No need for dragging it out."
"I could but I won't." Poppy clarified with a sober tone she rarely has. "As the princess, I have to have everyone's trust but I refuse to use force and turn their trust into fear. I'd rather be nice so I can be a good influence on my people."
"You're already a great influence. I'm sure little girls are gonna grow up to just as giddy as you one day." Branch said with a thick layer of sarcasm as he steered the flyer bug.
"Thank you." Poppy smiled, unaware of the not-so-subtle jeer. "Being the future queen means I have to be on my A-game."
"Yup. You sure are a royal."
"Thanks!"
"A royal pain in the butt." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Poppy was not amused in the slightest. "Why you gotta do me like that?"
He stiffened a laugh. "If we're talking about being crafty in conversations, then you should learn how to read between the lines." Branch advised as he reached into his pants pocket with one hand to grab his compass. He checked on it every hour to make sure they were still on the right course to Bergen Town.
"Why should I?" Poppy asked as she spotted a cute family of ducks in a river.
"Sometimes people say one thing but mean something else. It's important that you can tell the difference." Branch said, recalling all the times he felt indignant towards the citizens of Pop Village. But at least it helped him hone the skill of interpreting the true meaning of a person's words.
"Isn't that like lying?"
"It's more like solving a riddle or deciphering a code." Branch clarified as he placed his compass back in his pocket. "Tone of voice, facial expressions and body language can give away what the words are hiding. And sometimes even when you still don't fully understand, you can still...feel the scorn, ya know?"
The princess and village grump mounted Pell-Mell and prepared for liftoff. Poppy wrapped her arms around the grey troll's torso when the insect ascended and held on tight as the survivalist revved the flyer bug by throttling the handlebars.
As angry as the princess was, she didn't want the whole trip to be silent so she decided to be the one to break the ice. Again. She wished Branch would be the one to start a conversation for once but oh well.
"I didn't know you had your own flyer bug." She was very curious about the origin story of Pell-Mell but the survivalist was most likely going to save that story for another time.
"You never asked and I wouldn't have told you anyways. And no, I'm not going to tell you about it now."
Although Poppy didn't see the point in 'deciphering' someone's words and had no idea what he meant by 'feeling scorn', she kept his guidance in mind. It might be one of those things that Branch was right about.
"Are we there yet?"
"No but we're close. And if you even think about asking again I'll stuff you in a sack full of flour."
Poppy giggled at his drama. "Sorry, I just really miss my friends. I can't wait to see them again and get back home."
"How can you be so sure all of your friends are still alive?" Branch asked, wanting to know how she managed being sanguine.
"I'm not sure but...l have hope." Poppy she must sound stupid to the survivalist, but her heart was saying that the rest of the Snack Pack were alive and she trusted her heart more than anything else in the world.
"Oh gawd... " Branch rubbed the side of his temple in exhaustion. "You're unbelievable."
As much as her endless optimism tired the grey troll, part of him was concerned for the princess and what might happen if even one of her friends were currently dead. Would she go into denial? Would she have a nervous breakdown? Could she continue with the rescue mission or be too busy grieving? Would she be okay afterwards? Could she recover from the loss?
Either way, the village grump was going to do everything in his power to rescue whoever was left and take them straight to his bunker.
"Speaking of being unbelievable, I'm gonna throw a party after we find another place to call home. It'll be an apology/housewarming party to help everyone calm down. And as always, you're invited too! Will you come?"
"No thanks. If we make it out of this alive, I'll have a lot of critical stuff to do." Branch answered in a monotone that shows how accustomed he was to the question.
"Dang it..." Poppy moaned in disappointment.
The princess felt responsible for the lone troll since he was one of her many subjects. As the leaders of the trolls, it was Poppy's job to make sure her people were living their best life, but Branch was a special case since he's been grey for a long time and is impossible to persuade.
No one knew why the village grump was so dedicated to his work to the point of obsession and almost everyone has given up on trying to understand him. But those who did know and understand wouldn't share that information for unknown reasons. The elderly and older adults who knew Branch when he was a trolling always said the same thing: 'only Branch can tell you but he'll never reveal anything'.
Poppy thought they were exaggerating at first but holy cow were they right!
After reading some books on troll anatomy and questioning a few doctors and psychologists, she now knows that it takes a large amount of pain for someone to turn grey. The only known cure for grayness is for the person to recover from their trauma and embrace their inner happiness but it has to be by that person's own choosing and couldn't be forced.
She couldn't help but wonder what it's like to suffer alone the way Branch has. Was his pride keeping him from asking for help? Did he not trust her or her trolls? Does his greyness affect him not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too?
The princess had an endless amount of questions but zero answers. Does that mean she's going to give up? Not even a little.
Branch is a tight lipped and mysterious guy, but he was still a good person at heart no matter what others might say.
She's not stupid. She knows that her people don't like the village grump very much, but the princess was one hundred percent sure that a bit of convincing can get them to see what she sees in her grey buddy. Poppy knew that deep down, beneath the colorless skin and grouchy attitude was a kind and joyful person that deserved to be happy.
A few months after meeting the elusive grey troll, the princess made time for him on a regular basis. Poppy would sneak away and sometimes the adults would give her 'warnings' but she ignored them in favor of hanging out with Branch. But one day, she was in a bad mood because she lost at a game of capture the flag. After failing to win too many times, she was beginning to feel upset so the pink troll excused herself from the game and went looking for her lonely friend(?).
The grey boy noticed how quiet and troubled the pink girl was, so he became dead set on finding out what the problem was to see if there was anything he could do to help. While she sulked under a mushroom, Branch talked about things he didn't like and why he felt that way. The plan was to see if the thought of things the girl hated would push her into voicing what was wrong.
It didn't take long for Poppy to break since the likelihood of the village grump talking to her like this again was low and joined in his discussion about things they didn't like. And soon enough, she began ranting about her time playing capture the flag for a full five minutes and how unfair it was that she kept losing. Twelve whole rounds and she didn't win or even come close to winning!
The young survivalist helped her feel better by advising the pink girl to enjoy herself even when she loses and to practice if she was truly bent on winning. These small but handy pointers inspired Poppy to stop whining about fairness and work hard to reach her goals instead. His words still affect her to this day.
But what made that day so memorable was that before she went back home, Branch gave the princess a smile. It was the tiniest smile she's ever seen on a troll but it was real and it was just for her.
Can he be disrespectful and brash? Yes but that wasn't the point of all of this. The point was that Branch can be sweet and warm but chooses not to.
"When we get there, don't run off or make loud noises." He instructed the pink troll, snapping her out of her train of thoughts. "We're likely to die today but I'd rather it not be so soon."
"Why do you have to be so negative?" Poppy asked as she laid her chin on his right shoulder. "Creek says that negativity can damage your soul."
"I'm not negative, I'm realistic." Branch corrected. "It's not my fault the truth is ugly."
"But what's the point in thinking that way if it makes you a stick in the mud? It might be the reason you have those wrinkles." The princess stated as she pointed at the premature folds on the corner of the village grump's eyes.
"First of all, thank you so much for mentioning my crow's feet. I'm totally not insecure about them." Actually, he was very insecure about his wrinkles since they're from stress instead of age and trolls have drawn attention to them before. "Second, the 'point' is that it keeps people from making stupid mistakes. Like, ya know, stopping people from throwing crazy parties that attract bergens?"
When the princess became quiet, Branch feared that he may have crossed a line. If anything, he stomped on that line without a shred of mercy!
'Idiot!' The grey troll firmly lectured himself. 'She probably blames herself for this, you don't have to rub salt in the wound you dimwit!'
But Poppy wasn't insulted. Well, that comment did sting a little but that wasn't why she went silent. For some reason, the village grump talking about her party made her brain itchy. It was as if she was trying to remind herself of something important. And whatever it was, it involved Branch and her party. Which was beyond weird because the only times the words 'Branch' and 'party' were in the same sentence was when 'hates' or 'would never go to a' were between them.
Hold on a pancake flipping minute… That's' it!
"That reminds me!" Poppy shouted, causing her pilot to recoil from having a screaming troll so close to him. "Thank you for coming."
The survivalist rolled his eyes. "I told you to stop that. I was going to follow you anyways."
"Not to Bergen Town you dope."
Branch turned his head slightly to the right so he could make eye contact with the pink troll and show her how confused he was.
"Thanks for coming to my birthday party/coronation ceremony." The princess chuckled when the confusion turned into realization as it finally dawned on the grey troll what she meant.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Branch quickly denied as he faced a different direction.
Poppy smirked and shook her head. "Stop lying. I saw you up in that tree right before you left."
"I was never there." Branch fibbed. "You must be thinking of someone else."
"Someone else with grey skin that would hide from others and leave halfway through a party?"
"Yup."
"Well whoever that was, I'm glad he came." Poppy spoke sincerely. "Seeing him there made me really really happy."
Branch's grip on the handles was so tight that his knuckles turned a lighter hue from the pink troll's kind words. No one but Poppy could say such a thing about him and mean it with all her heart.
"Too bad it wasn't you." The princess jokes. "Now that would've been a dream come true."
The village grump had a hint of a smile on the left side of his face, where Poppy couldn't see it. "Keep dreaming."
It wasn't long before a shadowy town with giant buildings and a stone wall surrounding it came into view. Branch landed his flyer bug by the entrance of the historical tunnel that saved so many lives and jumped off the insect to walk the rest of the way.
"Why aren't we riding Pell-Mell to Bergen Town?" Asked the princess as she got off of the bug's dark.
"Because I don't know what that place is like and I won't risk us getting caught if they have bug traps or zero places to hide. Pell-Mell can't carry more than three average sized trolls so bringing him wouldn't be a great idea anyways. And don't forget that if we're going to leave together we need to find a clear path from their location to the Troll Tree, so it's better if we go on foot." Branch explained thoroughly as he took his backpack from the flyer bug.
Poppy couldn't argue with his logic. "Gotcha."
Branch kneeled down in front of the flyer bug. "Go back to your stable. I'll give you an extra large maple berry when I get back."
Then the pink troll gave the insect a kiss on the head. "Thanks for the ride. I'll make you the best cake ever when we get home."
Pell-Mell had the biggest smile on his face and wished them luck before he flew away.
The princess and survivalist approached the entrance of the elusive tunnels and noticed a big problem with their plan. Instead of a single tunnel that led to the Troll Tree, there were multiple paths inside that went who-knows-where.
"That's not good..." The village grump muttered.
"No it's not!" The pink troll shouted, causing an echo. "Please tell me you know which way leads into Bergen Town?"
The grey troll shook his head to confirm her fears. "Nuh uh. The original tunnel was one way but now it's like an abandoned subworm station. We're gonna have to wing it and pick a path."
"What if we spend all day going the wrong way?" The princess usually didn't question a troll's ideas like this but there was a time limit on their adventure and she didn't want to waste it running around in circles!
Branch took a second to think. It looks like he was right about animals making a new tunnel, but he didn't think it would end up being turned into a scaled-down labyrinth. Maybe they can use some of Poppy's useless supplies to leave a trail of some sort. Or he could get some string-like material and use it as a safe line since he couldn't waste the rope on-
"I'll help ya if you ask nicely." Said a slothful voice.
"Who's there?!" Branch demanded as he placed himself in front of Poppy.
"Up here."
Looking up at the top of the tunnel's entrance was a white creature sitting on the ledge above them, swinging his thin legs with a goofy/serene smile. It was a fluffy cloud person with a plain face, ocean blue eyes, purple noodle limbs and only wore a pair of white knee high socks. Just socks. No shoes whatsoever. What in the heck was that all about?
"Hi, I'm Cloud Guy." He introduced himself. "Now it's your turn."
"Hi Cloud Guy!" Poppy greeted her newest friend. "My name's Princess Poppy and this is Branch."
"Nice ta meetcha." He said as he shot her with his finger guns. "So you guys wanna go to Bergen Town?"
"That's absolutely true. My friends are in trouble and we have to get there before it's too late."
"Poppy, stop!" Branch grabbed the pink troll's forearms and pulled her away from the stranger. "You can't tell him about that. We don't know him and he could be trouble."
"I promise I'm not here ta hurt anyone." The cloud said in his defense, not at all trying to hide that he was eavesdropping. "I'm a regular ol' catterbus driver. I like using these tunnels as sweet shortcuts to avoid those nasty bergens. And the little lady's right, it'll take all day for ya to figure out which one leads into town unless you guys are a pair of lucky leprechauns."
"Really?" Branch didn't want to ask a person he's never met before for help, but they may not have a choice.
"Really real my man." The walking cloud said as he hopped down the stump. "I know these bad boys like the back of my hand and some of them lead to certain death! I could guide ya if you want but it's gonna cost ya."
The grey troll should've known there was a catch. "What do you want?"
"Depends..." Cloud Guy rubs his hands in anticipation. "Whatcha got?"
As Branch rubbed his chin in thought and tried to think of something this cloud might like. He had some tools that may interest him or a jar of rations to trade but he may need them later. But before he could offer anything, Poppy beat him to the punch.
"I've got a kazoo you can have if you help us." The princess offered as she pulled out the yellow instrument from her hair.
Branch sighed at the dissatisfying proposal that obviously wasn't going to work. I mean, who would want a used mouthpiece from an unknown person?
"Free kazoo?! It's a done dealio!"
Apparently the answer was an unhygienic cloud person.
The pink troll handed him the instrument and Cloud Guy blew into it to test it out. Since it was Poppy's and she took great care of her favorite items, the kazoo was in perfect condition.
"If you'll follow me, I'll take you straight to the town of suckiness." The cloud instructed as he casually strolled into the tunnels. "The key to going to and from Bergen Town is to keep going straight."
"Come on." Poppy said as she took Branch's wrist and dragged him into the hole with many twists and turns inside. It would've been unsettling to walk around in these abandoned burrows, but Cloud Guy was playing a song with that stupid kazoo and it was bouncing off the walls of the tunnels.
The grey troll could already feel the migraine forming in his head. "I regret this already..."
8 minutes later
Yup. Branch was definitely going to kill this obnoxious guy. Ever since they entered the burrows, the white creature hasn't stopped blowing air into the kazoo and making ear slitting sounds.
Poppy was having a wonderful time helping Cloud Guy with his 'song' but the village grump was near his limit. If this agonizingly bad excuse for music didn't end soon, the grey troll was going to shank the walking cloud with a pointy stick and-
"We have arrived at our destination!" The cloud announced, finally putting an end to the horribly bad humming.
The princess and village grump climbed out of the diagonal tunnel that was different from the dirt they walked on and found themselves at the very top of a dead tree.
"This is it." Branch confirmed with an unexpected sense of dread. "This is the Troll Tree."
"Thanks for the help Cloud Guy." Poppy said as she hugged the cloud-like being. "I'm definitely inviting you to future parties."
"Noice! I'll pass by your place after this, kay? But if you need me, I'll be right where ya found me at the other end of the tunnel."
"You got it!" Poppy gave the fluffy creature a high five.
"Later guys!" With that, Cloud Guy jumped down the hole and continued to make unpleasant sounds with the kazoo.
The princess and survivalist took a minute to look around before taking the next steps of their rescue mission. The buildings were made of brick or stone, the roads were plain dirty or hard concrete and there was no animal or plant life anywhere. If it weren't for the bergens in the streets, the two trolls would have thought that this place was uninhabited.
"Woah... I never thought a place like this could exist." The pink troll commented, unnerved by the cold atmosphere of this giant civilization.
"That's Bergen Town for ya." Branch said as he glared at the ugly beings. "It's as repulsive as the monsters who built it."
The princess looked towards the grey troll and noticed how stiff he was. Poppy put a hand on Branch's shoulder and was surprised to feel him shaking ever so slightly. And that's when it hit her. Of course he's scared! How could the princess forget that Branch was terrified of bergens and was now surrounded by them?
"Do you need a minute?" Poppy asked softly, ready to do anything and everything possible to comfort her (kinda) friend.
"I'm fine." The grey troll assured as he shook off his nerves. "Just stay close and don't do anything hasty."
"I promise I'll listen to every single word you say. You're taking the lead now and I won't do anything you wouldn't do."
Branch knew that the princess was a woman of her word, so he trusted that a promise was all he needed to ensure her attention.
"Where should we start looking?" The pink troll asked as she looked around for her friends.
"The castle." Branch stated as he took out a pair of binoculars from his bag. "If the bergen you saw wants to get rich off of trolls, it would take them to whoever's in charge."
"But where's the castle?"
Branch gently pushed Poppy's face a little to the left and she spotted the largest building with towers, a drawbridge and guards by every entrance.
"There it is!"
"Good job." He congratulated sarcastically as he reached into his backpack and tossed a piece of cloth at the chirpy girl. "Now put this on."
"Why?" The princess caught it mid-air and realized that it was a baggy, charcoal grey cloak with long sleeves and a hoodie.
"Look at yourself." Branch said as he inspected the girl's shining colors and bright cloth. "Your pinkness is going to catch a bergen's eye. Especially in a place like this."
Said pink troll understood his reasoning so she reluctantly put on the cloak and redid her hair so it was in a tight bun to help keep the fuchsia locks under the hood.
"How do I look?" She asked with a twirl.
"Not as noticeable."
The grey troll removed his backpack and took out the most useful items inside before hiding the brown bag under a rotting twig. He couldn't risk the extra weight slowing him down or making noise, so he was only going to take his bow and arrows, a first aid kit, the rope and other equipment that he'll likely need. The rest of it would have to stay here until they came back to leave town.
"What're you doing?"
"Looking for a safe route." Branch said as he looked through his binoculars and searched for a way to travel through Bergen Town without being seen.
"Can I help?"
"No thanks. Just give me time to work something out."
Poppy gave him some space by getting some of her stuff from his bag and using her time to add new pages to the scrapbook while Branch came up with a plan. She decided to make tiny felt versions of everyone she knew to pass the time and started with her best friends.
As the princess kept herself busy, the village grump looked high and low for a way through the large town.
Branch wanted Poppy to stay somewhere safe while he rescued her friends, but he needed her for all of this to work. He knew there was a change that the Snack Pack might ignore his orders or argue with his ideas once he found them. But if the princess was with him, they would listen to him thanks to her presence.
The grey troll looked around the tree and noticed three important things.
One, the cage that once engulfed the tree had many gaps that any troll could fit through. Two, there was a thick rope attached to one of the branches that connected it to the roof of a shop to hold up a banner that said 'CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES!'. And three, there were only five bergens outside at the moment and they were all looking downwards.
This shouldn't be too hard. Branch rolled up his sleeves and approached the girl from behind to spell out his plan to her. But before he got her attention, he peered over her shoulder to see what the princess had been working on.
He was not the least bit surprised at the sight of her scrapbooking smaller versions of her subjects being blissful. But what he easily noticed was that the felt Poppy was holding hands with a figure made out of grey fabric that stood out like a sore thumb against the other colors glued together. Poppy was the only troll in the entire forest who owned grey and black scrapbook material and it was all used to make tiny felt Branches.
Real Branch could ponder over that some other time. He had an important mission to focus on and a plan that the pink troll needed to hear.
"Listen up." Branch said, snapping the girl out of her craft. "We're gonna play a game."
"A game? Right now?" The princess was baffled like no tomorrow. Since when did the village grump play games?
"Yes, so pay attention. Do you remember the rules of 'red light green light'?"
"This isn't the time for games! And that's saying a lot coming from me."
"Just answer the stupid question."
The pink troll groaned but complied. "A few kids go behind a line while one of them faces the other way to be the 'light bulb'. The light bulb has to say 'green light' so his friends can move and 'red light' to freeze them. Anyone caught moving on red light is out and the first kid to touch the light bulb wins."
"Good 'cause we're going to do something like that."
"Hu?"
Branch stands up and leads her to where the cord was secured.
"We're going to walk across the rope to get to that shop over there. I'll go first and I want you to pay attention to what I'm doing, okay? Once I'm on the other side, I'm going to be the 'light bulb'."
"Okay, but why the game?"
Branch pointed to the few bergens walking around. "I don't want to risk any of them spotting us so I'm gonna tell you to stop if a bergen is passing by and when to go when they're gone. But instead of words, I'm going to use hand gestures to stay hidden. Whatever you do, don't look down and keep your eyes on me."
"Gotcha." Poppy said as she and the grey troll climbed down the tree until they reached the twig with the rope tied to it.
The survivalist carefully climbed onto the rope and treaded lightly as he made his way to the other end.
Poppy watched in astonishment as her guide outstretched his arms to keep his balance and put one foot in front of the other. She could see him watching every step he took while glancing around for any signs of danger and still keeping perfect stability.
Branch was truly an amazing person. The things he's done and could do were like nothing the princess has seen before. It was hard to believe that they were the same height when his actions made him feel like a much bigger and grander person.
It took the survivalist a full minute to safely get to the other side and land on the shop's roof. The princess saw him give her a thumbs up and motioned her to begin.
Poppy pulled herself onto the knot and carefully placed one foot in front of the other. She kept her eyes on the grey troll as he made the 'come here' signal by waving his hands towards himself.
Every once in a while the pink troll would look down to make sure she was walking in a straight line since drifting in a different direction can happen when you're not paying attention to your movements. But then she noted how far off the ground she was. If Poppy fell, she wouldn't be able to use her hair to save herself since it was a bun right now and even if she could, a bergen would catch sight of her and gobble her up.
When the survivalist made the 'stop' sign extending his hand out, the princess immediately froze and stared at the hand for the signal to keep moving. Branch was gazing at whoever or whatever was below her and the suspension was killing her!
It didn't take long for the grey troll to motion for the pink girl to keep moving, but her steps were wobbly now that she realized how dangerous this is. But she relaxed at the thought that she had nothing to worry about because there was someone here who would save her if anything went wrong.
Once she was finally on the other side, Poppy jumped from the rope to the head of a large nail sticking out of a brick. Then she hopped off the cold metal and into the arms of Branch, who didn't hesitate to catch her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, heart thumping rapidly against her ribs as she let out a breath that the princess didn't know she had been holding until now.
Poppy giggled shakily and whispered, "I can't believe we did that!"
"You did great." Branch replied as he gently pried the girl's arms off of his person.
"What now?"
"Now we head for the castle and come back here with your friends."
"I'm not sure Cooper and Biggie can walk on a tightrope." The pink troll knew that both trolls were too big for the rope and weren't good at keeping their balance.
"Don't worry, I already have a plan for that." Branch said as he spotted a suitable place to hide the rope he's been carrying along with a single arrow. When they returned, the survivalist was going to shoot a line into the tree and use the thinner rope to zipline back to the tunnels.
Once he was done placing an arrow and the rope under a glass bottle leaning against a rock, the survivalist and princess went on their way to their missing trolls.
This was the start of a long trip from the dead Troll Tree to the massive palace.
A few hours later by the castle
It was around noon when the two trolls finally arrived at the large structure. It took a lot of storm drain climbing, makeshift bridge crossing and sliding down pipes but they finally made it to the castle.
The princess spotted an open window away from a bergen's view and not too far off the ground. The village grump tied a vine growing off the side of the walls to the end of one of his arrows and fired it at the window frame. With a few tugs to confirm that it was security, Poppy and Branch scaled the vine and stood on the sill.
The inside of the stone building was a lot nicer than they expected. They were in a long hallway with giant paintings of bergens in fancy clothing, a red carpet on the floor with beautiful stitching and servants running around to do their share of the labor. These bergens were a lot more active than the ones the village grump and princess spotted near the Troll Tree and there were three times as many in this single hallway. That was going to be a problem.
"Stay close." The grey troll muttered to the princess and received a thumbs up in return.
The two trolls jumped off the sill and hid under the lower slate of a console table. They watched as the large creatures cleaned every nook and crevice until it was completely spotless. Looking around, there were two choices on which direction they should go but they felt indecisive on whether to start their search to the left or the right. This place was gigantic and full of busy bergens. It could take the pair days to sneak around and find the Snack Pack.
"Widget!"
Both trolls took a few steps back and stayed put until it was safe to move forward. The only thing they could see was a pair of feet moving in on a shorter bergen that was sweeping dirt off of the rug.
"Yes chef?" Answered a timid voice.
"I want you to hide these trolls in your room until I say otherwise. They're distracting my cooks and I don't want those fools losing focus or trying to snatch one of my integrals."
"Of course chef." The maid agreed as she leaned the broom against the wall and took the cage in her hands.
"And I've counted them so if I find even a single one missing I'll hand your butt over to the king on a silver platter!"
"Y-yes chef!"
Poppy and Branch took a look upwards when the word 'trolls' was spoken and saw a short bergen wearing a maids uniform holding what appeared to be a bird cage wrapped in a towel. They didn't hesitate to follow that beregn in the pink uniform to wherever she was taking the Snack Pack.
The two trolls tailed the smaller bergen as she escorted the portable prison to a closet. But it wasn't a regular closet full of cleaning supplies and extra napkins. This closet had been renovated into a small bedroom for Bridget a long time ago because she's worked in the castle ever since she was a kid. There was a bed, a few tables, a lamp, a wardrobe and everything else a working girl needs.
The pink and grey troll hid behind the opened door and observed the maid as she placed the small prison on a table by the window. The table had clean dishes on one side, dirty dishes on the other and a couple of personal items scattered around but there was enough space in the center for the imprisoned trolls.
Once the enclosure was settled into place, Bridget got the stack of dirty dishes and left her room to clean the last few plates and cups.
The second the door was closed behind the bergen, Poppy and Branch sprinted towards the table where the cage sat, climbed up one of the legs and the pink troll ripped the cloth off to reveal all of her friends alive and together!
"Poppy!" The imprisoned trolls cheered at the sight of their princess.
The pink troll grabbed onto the bars and did a quick headcount to make sure everyone was here. 'Biggie? Check! Smidge? Check! Cooper? Checkity check! The twins? Double check!'
Her mental roll call was interrupted when felt someone touch her hand and she looked up to see her favorite Guru troll smiling at her with pure solace on his face.
"I knew you'd come for us." The sound of Creek uttering his mellow words made Poppy's heart jump into her throat.
Branch was also checking out the group to make sure no one was injured. He may not have believed that they were all alive, but he was glad that Poppy was right this time. All nine trolls that were taken are in one place and unharmed. The Snack Pack was a bit shaken and messy, but they were overall in good health.
"Are you okay?" Guy Diamond asked worriedly.
"What're you wearing?" Satin asked as her twin cringed at the tacky cloak.
"This place is totally bananas!" Cooper hollered.
"Thanks for coming." Biggie thanked her as a wave of ease washed over him.
Then the ten of them began to chat amongst themselves about how they are, almost forgetting about the situation they were currently in. It's a good thing there was someone there to be their voice of reason.
"Be quiet!" The grey troll warned as quietly as he could. "We're not out of the woods yet, so keep it down."
"Branch?!" The Snack Pack roared, completely ignoring the grey troll as he tried to shush them.
None of them noticed that the village grump was there until he spoke and the sight of him here in Bergen Town with Poppy confused the hair off of them. Why was he here instead of in his 'super secret safe and secure' bunker that he always bragged about?
Poppy didn't acknowledge the shock her friends were in. "Can you get them out?" She asked the survivalist.
"Of course I can." Branch stated as he grabbed his lock picking kit from his hair. "Stand back."
The pink troll stepped away from the giant lock to allow the survivalist to take a knee and focus on the task at hand. The grey troll's warning didn't stop the group of friends from babbling away as if their lives weren't in danger. The Snack Pack were reunited with their leader and they had a lot of say and there was a chance that they won't be able to say it again.
"How're you guys feeling?" Poppy asked, noticing the miserable state her besties were in.
"We're hungry but we can break for lunch after we leave." Smidge said as her empty stomach gurgled for food.
"My shoulder hurt from all the swinging." The Glitter troll stated as he rolled his right arm that hit the bars too hard. "I need to see a doctor after this."
"I have to get Mr. Dinkles to a therapist when we get back home." The Giant troll said as he cradled his still worm.
"Hey, where's everyone else?" Cooper asked as the caged Snack Pack members looked around the small room, expecting the rest of the trolls to be hiding and waiting for their queen to confirm it was safe to come out.
Poppy looked to the survivalist for some help, but he shrugged his shoulders and gave her a look that said 'sorry but you're on your own 'cause I don't know what to do either'. The pink troll knew she had to tell them the truth about their people being too scared to come, but wouldn't her friends be heartbroken to hear that she and Branch were the only ones that volunteered to their rescue?
After thinking things over, the princess finally made her decision and did something she would normally never do to her closest friends.
"I...ordered them to stay behind." Poppy lied. "This is all my fault and I don't want to risk anyone else getting hurt because of me. I'm sorry..."
While Creek, Smidge, Satin and DJ Suki could tell she was hiding something, the others mistook her guilt from lying with the guilt of not bringing backup.
"Hey, don't worry about it." The giant troll comforted.
Chenille gave the pink troll a comforting smile. "Yeah, at least they're safe."
"It was a tough call but you did the right thing." Fuzzbert reassured.
"How are they?" Suki asked, still suspecting something fishy going on but more worried about her family to ponder over it.
"Everyone's okay. I found an awesome place for them to hide until we came back." Poppy said as she sent the grey troll a smile full of recognition.
"What about you? Are you okay?" The silver troll asked again. "You look kinda..."
"Wrecked." The twins said in union.
Looking herself over the princess noticed the grubby state she was in. From underneath the cloak Poppy could see her cute outfit was completely soiled, there were sweat stains in a few places and she had dark circles under her eyes.
"I'm perfectly fine." Poppy assured her friends with a big smile. "What about you guys? What's Bergen Town like?"
"This place sucks!" Cooper complained.
"And Brawdy is downright terrifying." DJ added.
Poppy tilted her head at the odd name. "Who?"
"That bergen that took us." The fuzzy troll explained. "Her name is Brawdy and she's King Gristle's head chef."
"She's a real piece of work. We tried talking to her but she wouldn't even hear us out!" Guy grumbled.
"And that's not even the worse part!" Chenille shouted in a hurry to tell the pink troll what they've learned.
"Yeah! Everything here is either bland, dirty or both." Satin said in disgust.
"But what about the whole-"
"Especially the bergens." Smidge commented while cutting off the lavender troll.
"These beings are so sad and pitiful." Creek stated with a shake of the head. Then he looked towards the grey troll with a knowing smirk and whispered his catty remark. "Kind of like you."
Branch glared at the guru and frowned at the insult. Of course this pompous jerk would take the time to taunt him and compare him to a bergen of all things.
Since Creek is one of very few Guru trolls in the village, people took everything he said and did with cognizance. Because of that, the purple troll grew up being praised and acknowledged nonstop so now he's spoiled to the point where Creek thinks he's some kind of sacred fountain of wisdom. And since the oh so wise guru said that the village grump was a danger to others and a bad omen, a lot of trolls believed him.
Well, all but a handful of trolls he knew thought otherwise and one of them was looking at the clashing duo with awareness in her pink eyes.
Unknowing to the grey and purple troll, Poppy heard that little comment and understood the unkind meaning of it. Usually she didn't hear these remarks, but when she did the princess would either reason that she misheard the guru or that it was meant to be a harmless joke.
But after listening to the ridicule in his voice, seeing the smugness on his face, watching the guru literally look down upon the kneeling troll and reading between the lines of his words, the princess could hear what he was truly saying. Instead of Creek making an innocent observation, it sounded like a jab at Branch's greyness.
"Hey Creek?" Poppy called out, not understanding why the guru would suddenly be so mean spirited. "That's not a very nice thing to say."
The purple troll simply shrugged and gave her a honeyed grin. "Sorry love, it was a slip of the tongue."
He may have apologized, but Poppy didn't like how unashamed the guru was of his actions. Since when did Creek purposely agitate people like that? And why weren't the rest of her friends as stunned as she was by his abnormal behavior?
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." The pink troll gently stated as she walked up to Branch. Now that she stood by the survivalist, she waited patiently for her crush to pardon himself for what he said earlier.
The trolls in the cage stared at Creek to see what he would do next since none of them have ever been caught teasing Branch before. The purple troll had to keep himself from flinching from the shock of the princess herself hinting that he must ask for forgiveness from the village grump. But being the sensible man that he is, the guru clutched his hands together in the Ganesha mudra and did what needed to be done.
"Branch, please accept my apology for what I said. I should've regarded your feeling before speaking and remembered that you don't have a well developed sense of humor. Can you ever forgive me?" Creek announced as genuinely as possible.
"Nope. Apology not accepted." Branch replied bitterly. "Just let me work in peace."
"Welp, I tried mates. You know how he can be." Creek declared to the rest of the imprisoned trolls who agreed with their friend.
Poppy sighed tiredly, wishing that the grey troll had been more lenient but chose to deal with that later. "How much longer until you're done?"
"I've never picked a lock this big before but it should be much-" Then he suddenly went stiff and turned his head so his ear was facing the closed door.
Poppy didn't like the way Branch's face went from attentive to alarmed. "What's wrong?"
The village grump didn't answer. Instead, he continued to listen for something that could be a threat to them. Then, he plunged his tools back in his hair and grabbed the princess' hand.
"Hide!" He answered vaguely as he dashed towards the stack of clean plates to hide behind.
Before Poppy or her friends could ask what the problem was, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching and saw a shadow under the doorway. When the door was opened, the maid from earlier entered the room while drying her wet hands on her apron.
As she closed the door behind her, she climbed onto her bed and moved the purple curtains behind her headrest that hid posters and pictures of King Gristle Jr. tapped all over that small section of the wall.
She held onto a small picture of the king sitting on his throne with the best smile he could muster. It was obviously a forced and empty grin, but it was the effort he put into it that made the maid smile too. But the smile didn't stay for long. Seeing King Gristle quietly suffering on the inside and not being able to do a thing about it broke Bridget's heart.
"Hello?"
"Is it me you're looking for?"
"I can see it in your eyes,"
"I can see it in your smile."
"Your all I've ever wanted,"
"And my arms are open wide."
"Cause you know just what to say,"
"And you know just what to do."
"And I want to tell you so much,"
"I love you..."
As the small bergen closed the drapes with a regretful sigh and stepped off her mattress, the princess came to an incredible conclusion. For one, this girl had a great set of pipes on her! Poppy really wanted to sing a duvet with her sometime in the future (if that were possible). But more importantly, this maid had romantic feelings for the king!
"She's in love..." Poppy muttered in astonishment. "That bergen's in love with the king."
"Bergens don't love. The only reason they get married is so they can reproduce, not because they have actual feelings for each other." The grey troll didn't know whether or not this was true, but he bet it was since these were a bunch of emotionless monsters.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
At the sound of feet quickly approaching, Branch swept the pink troll off her feet and held her bridal style before leaping off the corner of the table to hide behind the wooden leg. He didn't know if it was his instinct or something entirely different, but he had a strong feeling that they needed a better hiding spot that wasn't on the table.
The door swung open with so much force that it shook the thick layer of dust off the walls and ceiling. Below the frame was none other than chef Brawdy herself with an unpleasant grin across her face.
Branch's entire body froze when he saw the bergen that entered the room.
It was her. The behemoth from so long ago!
"That must be Brawdy." Poppy said as quietly as possible, not noticing Branch's inner turmoil. "She's the bergen who crashed my party."
"Get back to work Diget!" The head chef order, making the smaller girl scurry out of the room.
After Bridget left, the newly appointed chef used her copper key to unlock the cage and she reached inside to get a sample of the product. The confined trolls ran around in a panic, attempting to avoid the bergen's grotesque hand.
After hearing her friends screaming in terror, Poppy decided that she had to help them!
Branch watched as the princess began to walk out of their hiding spot and open her mouth to likely shout something to the chef. Knowing she was going to do something stupid, he quickly covered Poppy's mouth with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her middle before she could do anything. If she tried to stop that bergen, she would fail miserably and get caught in the process.
"What do you think you're doing?!" The grey troll whispered harshly in her ear. "Showing yourself will only make things a lot harder for all of us!"
The princess moved his grey hand out of the way and reluctantly stayed still. "We can't just let her hurt them!" She whispered/yelled back.
The village grump knew she was right but they couldn't do anything without messing up the rescue mission. If he attacked this bergen, it could easily stop him without breaking a sweat. He had a few ideas that could work, but anything he did would cause the bergens outside to notice something happening here and come in to investigate.
Poppy and her friends gasped as they watched Brawdy leave the room with her fingers wrapped around a screaming guru.
As Chef Brawdy walked out of the room with Creek, not bothering to close the door behind her. Meanwhile, the Snack Pack were doing their best to break free and help the purple troll while Branch tried to brainstorm a miracle of a plan in record time. But Princess Poppy didn't want to wait any longer, so she ran after the bergens while ignoring the cries of her friends and Branch's orders.
The survivalist groaned in the back of his throat with deep irritation and ran after the crazed girl before she got herself killed.
Once the pink troll was out of the room, she zipped to the hall, scurried under furniture and went after Creek before anything bad could happen to him.
Seeing a set of curtains close by, the princess climbed up the royal blue fabric to get a view of her surroundings and found that evil bergen walking towards the dining room. The village grump was not too far away, ready to knock the girl unconscious with a karate chop to the neck before she did anything unpredictable.
Looking around from behind the header, Poppy spotted a bunch of bergens in the hallway doing various chores. Some were on their hands and knees scrubbing the floors using sponges, others were scrubbing the stone walls with scrub brushes, a few of them were polishing the frames of pictures and the rest were putting up party decorations.
But her eyes zoned in on the tall white hat that cooks wore and was worn by the bergen who took her Creek! Having her target in sight, the princess ran along the rod as fast as she could. While she hurried along the rod pocket, she yanked the scrunchy off to free her hair from the bun and use it to get to Brawdy.
The pink troll could hear Branch closing in on her and whisper/shouting 'stop' but she didn't have time for him to make a well thought out plan! At the very end of the metal rod, Poppy jumped and freefell onto a cord dangling from a table, used it to fling herself a good five feet down the hall and onto a chair cushion to softly land on.
She ducked, rolled and slid around the bergens with the skill of an energized hare trying to escape a predator. Although the bergens in that hall could hear the little tings coming from the tables, the tiny pitter patters by their feet and the itty bitty boings from the furniture, none of them dared to look anywhere other than their work while Chef Brawdy was in the same room.
'Woah! Since when could she do all of that?!' Branch couldn't help but be both impressed and dumbfounded by the sight of the pink troll doing what could only be described as freerunning. The survivalist knew that the princess was a bouncy and nimble troll but he had no idea she could pull off stunts like that.
After regaining his composure and picking his jaw off the ground, the grey troll proceeded to do similar stunts but with more efficiency from years of experience. The pink troll might be more limber than the survivalist, but Branch has practiced the art of moving while making little to no sound.
The village grump was closing in on the princess but he still wasn't close enough to grab her without causing a scene. And she was pretty fast too, so Branch just needed her to slow down or stop for a second to catch up and he'll be able to nab her.
While climbing one of the many portrait frames to get the high ground again, Poppy noticed a male bergen cleaning the painting next to her, finishing up and moving on to the next one. And it so happens that the princess is currently scaling his next cleaning assignment!
He was closing in with a bucket full of water in one hand and a wet towel in the other but the pink troll quickly used her hair to grab onto the hook of a candle holder. Poppy pulled herself onto the plate where the candle would go, squatted down and turned her hair yellow with orange highlights to resemble a flame. Being a talented troll who prided herself on stage performances, she even had the movements of fire down.
Once the janitor was finished and went up to a different painting, Poppy turned her hair back to its original pink coloration and saw a line of candle holders leading to a set of double doors that the chef was heading for. She used her hair to swing from one metal hook to another and continued until she reached the guru.
Soon enough, it'll just take a few more jumps and she'll be able to snatch Creek away from that awful bergen. As she landed on another metal plate screwed to the wall, she felt something hug her from behind with so much force that her arms were pinned to her sides in the process. For the first time in her life, Poppy did not want to be hugged!
It was Branch who had caught the princess after using her fire act as the perfect opportunity to catch up to her and grabbed onto her with all his might. Poppy struggled to free herself but the village grump was a lot stronger than she was.
"Let me-!" Her sentence was interrupted by a hand covering her mouth again.
"Are you insane?" The grey troll quietly hissed. "You're gonna get us caught!"
Branch understood why she was running after the chef but there was no way for the princess to succeed when she was in the heart of their castle and completely surrounded by bergens!
The sound of unoiled hinges made the two trolls simultaneously turn their heads towards the large entrance that led to the dinning hall. A pair of guards were closing the doors and on the other side were the head chef and the bergen king discussing something, but the trolls couldn't hear any of it.
It wasn't until Chef Brawdy showed the king the frightened troll in her grasp that Poppy increased her struggling. She wiggled aggressively and kicked her legs and tried to bite the hand that kept her from speaking and tried to wrestle herself away from Branch to help her bestest friend. But nothing was working because the survivalist was five times stronger than her and refused to let go of the princess while she was planning to endanger herself.
Both trolls froze from their different objectives and watched in horror as Brawdy handed her king the very person Poppy was supposed to be rescuing. The doors closed behind the bergens, leaving the pink and grey trolls with the image of King Gristle dangling Creek over his open mouth to be swallowed up imprinted in their minds.
Even Princess Poppy's positive attitude couldn't save her from the horrible conclusion that one of the closest friends she's ever had and her long time crush was gone forever.
Poppy and Branch have made contact with the Snack Pack but they've lost Creek. I wanted Poppy to interact with Creek one more time before being taken and show her doing more than watch as the guru is eaten. (Although everyone already knows what the big plot twist is gonna be so...)
I also added Branch being afraid at the sight of bergens since he obviously has somewhat of a deep seeded fear of them. I thought it's appropriate that after years of antagonizing bergens that he would be frightened to be in a town full of them! But he's gonna push down his fears and save the day! Right?
Poppy wants to help Branch regain his colors so it makes sense to me that she'd study greyness to get an idea of what she could do to help. The only known cure is to find happiness again but as we all know, it's easier said than done.
Branch doesn't want to be mean to the princess, but he knows that being friendly with her in any way will give Poppy false hope to hold onto. It's one of those 'tough love/doing the wrong thing for the right reasons' kind of mindsets he developed over the years.
Name: Smidge a.k.a. the toughest girl around
Age: 23 (looks like she's 5)
Birthstone: Diamond (innocence and love)
Misc. Type: Pop/Teaspoon
Loves: lifting heavy weights, crazy parties, crocheting, man stuff and fighting.
Hates: too much sugar, being mistaken for a child and (secretly) her voice.
Fun Fact: she and her entire family have been named after words that mean 'small' in some way.
Motto: "Gotta work hard to party harder!"