Welcome back everyone! I hope you liked the first chapter. I don't own trolls. I couldn't really think of a unique name for the creature that attacked, so I just went with a regular animal. I'm going to try to update weekly with chapters. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!


Grey.

That word rang through Branch's head. His eyes widened when poppy told him, but he was unable to speak. Sure, the village had turned grey before, but this was different. This was similar to why he turned grey. He quickly glanced at his hands, seeing them still blue.

Poppy couldn't take her eyes off him. She has no idea how he would react. Poppy noticed him look at his hands, and gently rubbed them with her thumbs. Her motion caused Branch to look at her. "I thought you should be the first to know…" she spoke softly.

Branch shook his head slightly. "Thank you for telling me. Does she have any other family she can stay with? She shouldn't be alone."

Poppy slowly shook her head. "No, she has no living family left. There are lots of trolls who were friends with her parents. I'm sure someone will be wanting to take her in." She said hopefully.

Branch was quiet for a moment, not looking at her. "You would have to find the right family. It's harder when the kid is grey. She needs to know she's understood. And if she wants space then she needs it given, but also needs to not be alone. It's...complicated." He looked away, sighing. "It's not going to be easy for her or the family. They need to be understanding, and patient. Very patient."

Poppy moved closer to him and held him, feeling his arms and going around her in return. "I'll make sure we find the right trolls for her. I know this is hard on you Branch. I can imagine it's bringing back bad memories. If you want to stay out of it, you can."

Branch shook his head. "No. I'd rather be there, in case something happens." He let her go and handed poppy a pair of slippers. He stood up, looking at her. "Make sure you use the slippers, you don't want to slip."

Poppy smiled at him. "You are such a worry wart." She teased, before placing a hand on his cheek. "Are you sure you're okay Branch? You can talk to me."

Branch smiled softly at her. "I know, and I'm okay." He kissed her softly for a moment. "Are you okay? You have gone through a lot today, and I don't think I even heard the first hug time go off." He looked at his bracelet then looked at her.

She held his hand and nodded. "For now, I will be okay. I have to focus on Rose and the village." She said, before feeling branch tense. "Branch?" She looked at him confused.

"Oh, no. It's nothing." He said, before opening the curtain. "You came from the far bed, is she in that one?" He looked at her. Poppy nodded and led him to where the trolling was. Branch stopped just close enough where he could see Smidge, but not the child.

Poppy glanced at him before she went to smidge. "Is she still sleeping?" Poppy asked.

"She is. The doctor did stop by to check on her, and all was good." Smidge could see Branch around the corner. "Branch? Are you coming in?" She asked.

Branch took a moment before walking in and stopped at the end of the bed. He looked up to see the little grey troll. She was quite small, a couple centimeters smaller than smidge. She had a cast around her left lower arm as well as a few cuts and bruises on her face. Her right arm had an IV cord in it,he looked up to see a couple monitors in the room as well. "She's so young…" he whispered. Poppy placed a hand on his shoulder.

Smidge looked at him. "Do you want the seat?" She asked him, standing up from the seat.

"Oh, no. It's okay Smidge." He said, his eyes not leaving the bed. "Is it just a broken arm she has?" He asked. He glanced at Smidge who nodded. "That's good then, nothing too serious."

"Queen poppy!" A voice came as Queen essence came into the emergency pod along with her husband king Quincy. "We heard what happened." She said as Branch quickly stepped back, letting them in to see poppy. Essence looked at the bed and gasped. "So it's true. A grey troll…" she whispered.

Poppy looked at them, as king Quincy spoke. "King Trollex and Delta dawn are out gathering trolls to help clean up, while Trollzart is taking a group of trolls to look around the area to make sure no one else is hurt." He informed her. "We heard you rescued her, that was very brave of you." He walked over to her.

"Oh, it was nothing. I'm just glad no one else got terribly hurt." Poppy smiled at them slightly, seeing their eyes on the child. "She is doing okay so far. She fell asleep as soon as I got her up here. She has a broken arm and quite a few cuts and bruises."

"Oh the poor child. I can't believe this happened." Essence said sadly. "How old is she?" She looked at poppy.

"She is about 3 and a half." Poppy said, hearing essence gasp.

"We have never had a grey troll before, let alone one this young. Is there a plan queen Poppy?" King Quincy asked.

"Well…" poppy thought for a moment. "Maybe we should ask around, See who knows her well and may be able to look after her for now until we think of something." She suggested, as king Quincy nodded. Suddenly Poppy heard her name, looking at the door to see Barb, Delta, and Trollex coming their way. "You are here. How is everything out there?"

"Lots of trolls are panicked, worried." Dalta said, glancing at the grey trolling. "Most of them are worried about the gal."

"And they're worried about you Popsqueak. How are you?" Barb asked, seeing the cuts on her hands.

"Oh, I'm fine! I'm just glad no one else got hurt." She said, looked at them. "We have never had this happen before. I heard a few asking if it was safe here. I assure you, we never had any thing like this happen with any creatures from the forest."

"Don't blame yourself Poppy. There are risks anywhere we go." King trollex assured her.

" We can talk to everyone about what happened later. Make sure they understand it's still safe here." Dalta commented, placing a hand on her shoulder. "No one would have thought anything like this would happen. It was an accident."

Poppy smiled at them. "Thank you all. I don't want anyone to feel unsafe here." She said, before she smiled more. "Oh! Branch is the best with safety! He may have some ideas to help. If you can think of anything?" Poppy said, looking at Branch.

Branch nodded slowly. "That creature isn't native to this area. If how smidge describes it, I called them boars. They're normally timid creatures, and eat plants and mushrooms. I've never seen one anywhere near the village, only way down past the waterfall. For one to be in the village, something must have happened." He informed them. "From what I've observed, they don't like the smell of wild galaxa flowers which normally bloom around the village. Since it's the end of summer, they're starting to die off. It may be a reason for it getting into the village. They normally travel to warmer areas in the winter, so we shouldn't have to worry about them. Next year I will grow some more for the later summer to try and prevent this from happening again." He thought out loud.

"Well, isn't boy toy a smarty pants." Barb snickered. "How do you know all that branch?"

Branch frowned. "Stop calling me that. And I had a lot of free time when I was younger, so I explored the forest farther than the other trolls." He crossed his arms.

"That's very good information Branch, thank you. Until the cold comes we will have some trolls keep a lookout." King Quincy said as the others agreed.

Branch nodded, glad he was able to help. His attention was brought back to the child. He could see her face scrunch up the more everyone talked. Branch looked at poppy and whispered so only she could hear. "I don't mean to be rude, but There are a lot of trolls here. She may get too overwhelmed if she wakes up and sees a lot of trolls she doesn't really know." He informed her.

She looked at the trolling, then at the other leaders. "With all of us here, she may get scared." She told the leaders. "We should go talk to Trollzart and update him on what happened." She asked, then looked at Branch. "Do you want to stay here?" He nodded. "Okay, I will come back in a bit. Let me know if anything changes." She kissed his cheek, causing him to blush slightly. "Let's go to my pod to talk!" She told the other leaders, shooting them away. "See you later smidge!" She called, as Smidge waves back.

Smidge looked at Branch once the others left. "Are you okay branch?"

He nodded. "I mean, I've been better." He sighed. "I don't want what happened to me to happen to her." He confessed.

Smidge was quiet for a moment. "The other troll leaders acted like they had never seen a grey troll before." She admitted. "They also don't know about you. Are you going to tell them?" She asked, before seeing him tense. "I'm sorry for praying. If you don't want anyone else knowing, you may want to let Poppy know."

Branch shook his head. "No, it's fine Smidge. If they find out, they find out. It's not like we can tell all the pop trolls to not talk about it." He said, looking at the trolling, as smidge nodded not saying anything.

They were quiet for a couple of minutes, before Branch noticed that she was shaking. "Hey, Smidge, is she shaking?" He took a step closer to the child.

Smidge looked at the trolling . "She is." She looked at him.

"Maybe we should get the doctor." He suggested as smidge nodded and quickly went to get the doctor.

Branch looked at the child, glancing at the monitor. "Hey kid." He spoke softly and quietly. "You're safe. Nothing is going to hurt you. You're not alone." He placed a hand on her right hand, holding it gently. Branch could feel the child shaking under his hand. Branch's ear twitched, hearing footsteps. He looked up, seeing the doctor quickly coming in. "She's shaking, I don't think that's normal." Branch told doctor moon.

Doctor Moon, a pop troll with pink hair and purple skin, quickly went to the trollings side, looking at the monitors. "It looks like she's having a nightmare." Moon said, checking the child's pulse and her breath. "Rose, rose. Listen to me. You need to relax. You're okay." She told the child. Doctor Moon looked at Branch, seeing his hand on the child's hand. "Branch, you talk to her."

Her statement shocked Branch, causing him to look at her. "What? Why me?" He asked.

"I heard you talking to her before we got here. Her heart is beating the more I talk to her. You are also the one who understands her the most. Until Smidge comes back with the others, you're her best shot." She smiled at Branch, before taking a step back.

Branch looked at her, still surprised, before looking at the child. He could see her eyes shut right, moving her head to the side. "Um, hey kid. I know you're scared, but you need to open your eyes." He spoke softly, gently squeezing her hand. He noticed the child stopped moving, but her eyes still closed shut. "You are not alone." He said, seeing the child relaxing the more he spoke. "Come on kid. You can open your eyes." He said one more time, before waiting to see if she responded. After a few more minutes she relaxed more but still wouldn't open her eyes. "Is she okay now?" Branch asked the doctor, who nodded. "That's good." He looked at the doctor for a moment, then looked back at the trolling. His eyes widened when he saw it.

Her baby blue eyes opened.