Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Trolls franchise, I just own Melody.
A mystic melody.
Branch took a few minutes to let everything that was going on sink in.
Melody was laying in bed severely ill, drifting between the chasm of life and death, while burning with a dangerously high temperature. Her skin had become a pasty white colour (with the exception of the pink patch around her left eye which and turned a pale pink) and she seemed to have lost some of that characteristic glow of happiness that all pop trolls possessed. Her breathing was shallow and wheezy.
Branch still couldn't believe that this was even happening; his only daughter was sick and probably going to get worse.
He wanted this to all be some sort of nightmare that he could wake up from at any second, he desperately wanted to wake up from this if this was so fortunate to be a nightmare...at the same time, however, his mind was focused on what Poppy was probably going through right now.
He heaved a huge sigh and just decided to go and find Poppy, who had left the room earlier in order to address the situation with the rest of Pop troll village.
It didn't take long to find her.
The queen of pop was addressing the other pop trolls and telling them what was going on and what was happening to their princess. She spoke in a low tone as she looked directly at the cluster of pop/funk/techno/country/orchestra/rock trolls stood before her.
"Everybody, listen. Branch and I have just learned that Melody has been poisoned earlier this afternoon and is very unwell."
The loud gasps and murmurs only added to the gloomy and serious atmosphere.
They muttered quietly for a lengthy few seconds before Poppy raised her hand up high and silenced the lot of them. They fell silent and gazed up at the queen of pop and awaited her to continue her announcement, the Snack pack especially.
"I...I don't know how Melody is gonna get better —especially as there's no cure for her at the moment-"
Everyone started to gasp in a mix of shock and alarm until Poppy interrupted them yet again.
She wore the most serious expression she ever wore in her entire life.
"-and that is why I will go out and find a cure for her."
Branch immediately blurted out a disbelieving "What?!" while all the other trolls (including the leaders whom were present) resumed murmuring to one another and looked at one another in a mix of panic and chaotic order. The queen of pop didn't even give the other trolls much time to react before she spun on her heel. She made her way straight to her old pod where she started to pack a bunch of items needed for a journey while everyone stood in confusion.
Branch knew better that this was not a well-thought out decision and that Poppy's actions were fuelled on desperation, denial, fear and a misplaced determination. Poppy was not thinking rationally right now, probably driven by her motherly instincts alone, and was just desperate to find a cure for their daughter even though she knew nothing about it —let alone anything about obtaining it.
He couldn't let her go anywhere with such a reckless mindset!
The royal blue troll grit his teeth, chased after her and followed her to the pod that they shared.
"Poppy!" He cried upon seeing his wife snatch up a satchel bag and cramming a multitude of items into it. "What in the world are you doing!?"
Poppy didn't bother turning around and just answered him.
"I told everyone that I'm gonna search for a remedy for Melody's poisoning."
"Poppy, you heard Dr Plum and Dr Moondrop! They both saidthat no cure exists yet!"
Poppy snipped back, "Well I'm not waiting around for our baby girl to die before that happens!"
"Poppy. Calm down. Storming off unprepared like this won't help anyone!"
"I'm plenty prepared but I'm going and you can't stop me, Branch."
Branch wanted to groan as the nights events combined with Poppy's stubborn refusal to listen to him started to aggravate him to no end. He felt his emotions start to boil over but he tried to simmer down as he stomped over to Poppy and snatched the satchel out of her hands.
"Will you just listen!? The Doctors know what they are doing! But if one of us must go and risk our lives for this then I'll go!"
Poppy stared at her husband in bewilderment, shocked that he'd snatch the bag out of her hands, before her shock gave way to anger.
"What? Why you!?" She demanded.
Branch retorted.
"Because you also have your duties as queen! Those trolls out there need leadership and protection encase more predators like that Moonstalker decides to sneak in and make it so more of our friends and family are at risk of dying!"
He stared at Poppy with a stern-eyed glare and the latter mirrored that same facial expression.
Husband nor wife could help but give off an angry aura which made everyone else feel oh-so uncomfortable to even be in the same space as them. The tension in the atmosphere that brewed between the two grew more and more electrifying with each passing second.
"Poppy, one of us needs to stay behind and keep order here in the village and I'm not risking you if I can help it!"
Poppy shook her head stubbornly.
"But I can't stay home while I know that you are going to be risking life and limb, and besides I can go by myself if I have to!"
"No you can't! You normally wind up having me or someone else rescue you!"
"Yes I CAN! Why can't you just let me save our daughter?!"
"Why can't you just stay here, why do you insist on going!?"
"BECAUSE I DONT WANNA LOSE MY LITTLE GIRL TO THIS ILLNESS LIKE I LOST MY MOTHER!"
Silence.
The atmosphere changed.
Branch was taken aback by Poppy's outburst and he just stared at her with a dumbstruck expression, his eyes wide and his brain trying to register what he had just been told. Poppy...lost her mother...to a Moonstalker bite? How? He couldn't believe it, he had known full well how dangerous and cunning these wolffish predators were but they were the reason behind the previous queen —Poppy's mother— passing away?
He just couldn't believe it.
Poppy, in the meantime, was breathing hard as tears streaked down her cheeks and her chest heaved in and out. Her eyes moistened and her chin quivered and shook as she tried to bite back more tears flowing. She could feel a lot of eyes on her and she started to feel all of that emotion begin to crash down around her and, in that instant, she couldn't take it.
She burst into tears as she off into the brush to evade everything before her husband could even speak or stop her.
Branch could only watch with great sadness as his wife ran off, he hung his head and decided to just leave her to her thoughts for awhile and go back to Melody. He could feel his heart sink as he realised that, if things don't improve and fast, that things could go from bad to absolute worse.
Branch held his ailing daughter's hand gently, the edge of his thumb softly tracing along the small bumps of her knuckles.
The small troll just breathed in and out as she slept soundly with the light of the firefly lantern softly casting a soft glow along the frame of her face as it sat on the nightstand. Branch used his other hand to rub his beloved baby's forehead which was drenched with sweat and her tufts of brilliant hot pink hair frizzed up more than it normally did. His fingertips brushing her soft fluffy hair.
"Branch."
Branch's ears perked at the voice coming from behind him, his shoulders bunched up in surprise.
"K-King Peppy?"
Although Branch was surprised to see his father-in-law there, he couldn't help but let his surprise quickly wear off as he simply turned around to refocus on his sickly precious Mel laying in bed. His pale blue eyes were heavy and baggy with exhaustion but they also shimmered with worry for his baby girl, he couldn't help but worry for her.
The former troll King didn't respond to Branch as he just strolled towards her bedside. He spoke in a soft and quiet tone of voice, his grayish and magenta moustache low as it hung over his mouth.
"How is she?"
Branch sighed sleepily, trying hard to fight off a yawn, and he pinched his temples in hopes of making his fatigue go away. He didn't quite know how long he had stayed up to take care of Melody but he did know that he couldn't take his eyes off her, he had to make sure she didn't get any worse until somebody retrieved that healing flower.
"She's stable for now but she will need that cure soon or...she'll..." He trailed off since he couldn't finish that sentence, he could feel his heart grow heavy as he didn't even want to think about that scenario.
Peppy was silent for a few moments before he spoke up again. "And how's Poppy taking it all?"
Branch sighed and shook his head, his pointed ears drooping and his eyes drifting to the floor. "She's...trying to put on a brave face for everybody but I can tell that this is crushing her on the inside..."
Peppy sighed.
He should have expected this much, especially from his own daughter. When Poppy got upset she always tried to bury her emotions deep down inside her soul and hold them all in. The former king would have been killed on the inside if anything were to happen to her; alas since she was a parent herself now, though, it seemed that she was just trying to do everything for her subjects to keep herself distracted from the pain for the time being.
Branch covered his head in his hands and heaved a deep-throated exhale of oxygen from his lungs which were heavy with exhaustion, then he decided to ask Peppy a question —a question only he could answer...
He had decided to broach the subject carefully and tentatively.
"Umm...your...your former highness? Can I ask you something?"
Peppy's bushy brows furrowed, knitting together to create a look of confusion on his face yet he had this kind-hearted warmth in his eyes.
"Of course, my boy. What do you want to know?"
Branch lowered his head and braced himself, he didn't know whether he should be asking this but ever since that quarrel he had with Poppy earlier this had been boggling his mind. He exhaled deeply and let the question roll right off his tongue as he finally convinced himself to raise his gaze in order to meet Peppy's eyes.
"What happened to Poppy's mother?"
The former king flinched.
He seemed dumbstruck by that question yet, at the same time, he appeared as though he sort of seen it coming. He couldn't help but release a deep breath of his own as he hesitated on answering that question which his son-in-law had only just asked of him. He honestly didn't like talking about this subject but he knew that Branch deserved to know, especially with the current situation with the tiny sickly princess.
Peppy turned and stared at him for a long moment before opening his mouth to ask why he wanted to know that.
Branch winced as he recalled Poppy's outburst.
"Poppy and I...had a fight and she mentioned it. Can you please tell me?"
Peppy seemed very reluctant to tell him, not out of a refusal to talk about it but more out of pain, but he just came out with it whilst trying his best to ignore the anguish in his heart.
"Poppy's mother...she was poisoned after being bitten by a moonstalker—" He stiffly gestured to his ailing granddaughter laying in the bed for emphasis, knowing full well that his granddaughter was currently stricken from the very same affliction. "—when Poppy was very young, not long after she had hatched. My dear wife got so very sick and there was nothing I could do and...and she passed on during a cold rainy night...I am surprised that Poppy could remember it."
Branch said nothing but gave a small but subtle nod, gesturing him to elaborate.
Peppy closed his eyes painfully but decided to oblige to his son-in-law's wishes.
"Queen Joy —my beloved wife— went to pick a bunch of flowers from a bunch of blossoms that grew on a particular part on the Troll tree. They only grew during the night so she decided to go and grab them for Poppy because she loved those flowers. Even though we, and the tree we lived in, were locked in a cage for Bergens to devour us during Trollstice, it couldn't keep certain predators out."
Peppy tried his best to clear the thickness from his voice but to no avail.
"It just so happened that Joy was ambushed by a Moonstalker that had slipped in through the bars of the cage and it bit her. She managed to drag herself into the house before she collapsed...Poppy blames herself because she felt responsible for her mother going out and picking her those flowers she loved so much, even though she was a baby at the time."
Branch had trouble picking his jaw up from the floor.
He could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"But...Poppy is always so...so happy and optimistic! How could she be so happy-go-lucky after going through something like that?" He sputtered.
Peppy smiled sadly.
"Because she was too focused on being happy for everyone else's sake, just as you were always brave for everyone else's. You two have always had one of the strongest bonds I have ever seen between two trolls and that is why you both need to go and find that cure."
"Y-Your highness...I don't...I don't know what to say..." Branch breathed with a disbelieving expression on his face.
Peppy placed a gentle hand on his son-in-law's shoulder, looking him seriously in the eye. He knew that if anybody should go on this adventure then it was Branch because he was very good at protecting trolls and he was even better at protecting Poppy. Branch had never stopped trying to defend everyone, not even when he turned dark and gray and secluded and that was why he knew that Branch was the best choice.
"Just protect my daughter, and find that cure to save my little grandchild..."
Branch saluted his former king, "I won't let you down."
Branch got up and started to head out to find Poppy. He felt that fire of determination inside of him reignite and his hope had been renewed thanks to his father-in-law's words; now he needed to spread that hope to the one troll who needed it most, the one troll who had always done the same for him when his Hope was dead and gone —it was time for him to repay her.
"Thanks, former-king Peppy, I'll go and find Poppy now."
Peppy stretched out his hand to try and stop his son-in-law.
"Branch, wait."
But the royal blue troll had already made his exit before he could say anything else to stop him; Once Peppy was alone, he lowered his gaze and looked down thoughtfully. He brewed in the unbearable silence that was only filled by the soft wheezes coming from his sickly granddaughter laying in the bed beside him and his fuzzy pink/gray brows knitted together like thunderheads and he glanced over to Melody and sighed to himself.
He reached over and patted her blankets gingerly with one hand.
He pondered.
"I...I wonder if I should have told him the truth before he left."
After the fight she and Branch had, she had retreated into the bunker and had found one of the most isolated and out of sight corners there was. It was dark and isolated, perfect spot for a brooding session and it crafted
She hadn't meant to get so angry with Branch, she was just so angry and upset about what happened to their baby girl that she wasn't thinking clearly.
The queen troll concealed herself within her own hair that acted as some sort of cocoon, it created a darkness as it sprouted from atop her hair and created a sort of dome around her.
She only did this when she both needed to hide, be alone from the world, and was upset about something. It was something she always did and that wasn't going to change, not even when she was a queen and all grown. She did this when she and Bridget had gotten into their very first argument during the very first Bergens' Troll-a-bration holidays.
Poppy sat huddled up on the floor as she huffed in and out, her breathing hard and erratic as her face screwed into a tight ball of distress. Tears poured out of her eyes and streamed down her glittery cheeks, her body became rigid and hard.
Her body relaxed a tad when she heard someone approach her.
She knew it was Branch.
"Poppy?" Poppy's ears pricked when she heard a playfully chiding note present in her husband's voice. "I know you're hiding in your hair."
This sounded familiar.
Her hair retracted, allowing Branch to sit right next to her on the sandy ground but she didn't move a muscle. Her body remained hardened and her eyes felt like they were on fire as tears started to liquify and burn her eyeballs. Her breathing turned into strong pants, her chest heaved in and out as she sucked in breaths desperately.
"B-B-B-B-Branch...!" She could hardly talk through her sobs and choked yet erratic breaths.
Branch put his hand on his wife's back and tried to coach her into calming down from her hysterical state.
"Poppifer...? Poppy, take it easy. Hey. Easy...easy, slow down, slow down, shhhh...take deep breaths, Poppy, I'm here...just calm down..."
Branch pulled Poppy into a tight hug and he let her weep into his chest. He couldn't help but feel his own eyes start to water as he let his queen ease herself within his arms. She seemed to settle down considerably as her breathing slowed and normalised to a much more steady rhythm than before. She was sobbing and snivelling as she curled herself into an even tighter ball, spending her tears on to his lap.
"Shhhhhhhh...there you go...just try to breathe, Poppy...I've got you." Branch whispered soothingly.
The king held his queen, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as close as possible —he cradled her in his arms and rocked her back and forth while he rhythmically hummed softly to try and sing her into calming down; after humming a bit of the instrumental part, he started singing some of the words.
"Clock strikes upon the hour,
And the sun begins to fade.
Still enough time to figure out
How to chase my blues away..."
Branch voice was a soft croon as he held on tight to the one troll who had stole his heart, his brows knitted together and his ears dropped; he never liked to hear even a sniffle from Poppy since it always yanked at his heartstrings and seeing her cry (on the rare occasions she did cry) made him feel even worse than he did during his gray days. He just wanted to do nothing but hold her and hold her as tight and for as long as possible.
"I've done alright up 'til now,
It's the light of day that shows me how.
And when the night falls,
Loneliness calls..."
The blue troll made sure to keep his voice low and soft as he held on tightly to Poppy, his eyes were teary but he reigned back the overwhelming emotions he felt but he kept his voice steady and fought back the thickness threatening to creep into it. He might have felt hopeless but he needed to revitalise Poppy's hope or else all of it would die out.
He refused to let that happen.
"Oh! I wanna dance with somebody,
I wanna feel the heat with somebody,
Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody,
With somebody who loves me..."
Branch finished singing and both he and Poppy sat huddled next to one another for what felt like ages...until Poppy finally spoke.
"We're...gonna find that cure, Branch..."
Branch gripped on tight to Poppy's hand affirmingly.
He could hear the determination in her voice. It was still shaken but he could hear that stubborn positivity, that same resolute pep, return to her —not only that but he saw that spark alight in her eyes; that was the same look that she had when she was about to go on a trip that absolutely nobody could dissuade her from.
He kept holding his love close but he did feel a bit less hopeless.
"...Yeah. We will."
The king and queen continued to sit for a few minutes more,
He sighed but smiled a hint.
It sounded like the more positive Poppy that he knew and loved was back.
"You know that this will probably blow up in our faces, right?"
Poppy shrugged.
"I know. You wanna go on an adventure to save our daughter that will more than likely be full of hugging, singing, dancing and glitter?"
"Hey, where you go, I will be right behind you."
A/N: Hi, guys. Here's a new chapter for you.
We get a fight with Branch and Poppy, a talk with Branch and Peppy, a revelation about Poppy's mother and some reconciliation. All in one chapter!
The song was "I wanna dance with somebody" by Bootstraps.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this.
-Chloemcg
