Everyone in the other tribes has been beyond welcoming. They didn't seem bothered by the fact Ash and Star were human, more curious than anything. The ones who seemed to take the most interest was Queen Barb and King Trollex. Ash knew Queen Barb was interested because of Ash's love of rock music. King Trollex seemed to be interested in where they came from, though she hadn't really had a proper conversation with him yet.

She glanced at the queen of rock wondering if she could go with Queen Barb back to her city, she looked like she also had enough of pop for the moment and was fairly sure the queen would be okay with it. Though, would it be rude to ask? The red-haired queen noticed her and waved. "Hey!" Ash waved back and started walking to the queen. "Hi." Barb grinned at Ash "You know, I was thinking. Are you sure you're not at least part rock troll? You have the tattoos, you like rock music, and your name is Ash." She laughed at the comment. "Pretty sure, my dad is really into rock though." Barb grabbed her guitar. "Can you play?" "I cannot." Ash shook her head. "Oh, maybe I can teach you! It'll be a nice break from the pop music, right?" She laughed and Ash had to agree. Though she doubted she could properly learn from the troll. Their hands were completely different, and trolls only had four fingers. But Barb was right, it'll be a nice break even if it's only listening to Barb play.

Star glanced at King Trollex as Ash spoke to Queen Barb. "Rock music is her favorite genre. She's hoping she can visit Rock City and get a bit of a rest from pop music." The king turned his gaze from Ash to Star. "She wants to leave pop village?" Star nodded. "Yeah and go to Rock City. If we never find a way home that's probably where she'd like to end up." The king looked like he glitched for a moment. "Who knows, maybe she'll find a nice rock troll to settle down with. Though now that I think about it, she might want to follow Hickory home. She loves his cappuccinos." She laughed to herself, thinking it was a ridiculous thought, a troll and a human? Though she stopped when she looked at the king. He wasn't laughing.

"I think I should cut you off." Hickory laughed as he handed Ash another cappuccino. "It's so nice to have something that isn't sickly sweet after only eating sweets the last week. On top of that it's an amazing cappuccino." Ash sighed as she took another sip. "Darlin', this is the last one. I'll make you some more tomorrow." The troll winked at her. Hickory looked past her shoulder and raised a brow. Ash turned to see what he was looking at. "King Trollex?" The king grinned gliding towards her. She had completely missed the look he had tossed Hickory before she turned. Hickory wondered for a moment if the king himself realized what look he gave him. "You can just call me Trollex. I was curious about something, so I thought I'd ask you." Ash nodded for him to continue. "Star was talking about how you have rock in your world. Do you have techno?" Ash tilted her head. "Yeah, we do. We have all the genres I've seen so far." The king looked like he started to glow more brightly than he already was. "Oh really?" Hickory excused himself saying something about finding his brother. "Yeah, but honestly I don't know much about it." The look of disappointment that crossed his face made her stomach twist. "But I'd love to hear some." She quickly spoke trying to help the situation. King Trollex perked up. "You can visit techno reef." Ash stared at him unsure, isn't techno reef underwater? He didn't seem to notice her expression as he continued. "You can come to one of our parties. Oh, we can have a party to introduce you to everyone!" He moved close enough to her that she could smell the ocean on him and practically feel his heart beating excitedly. She was pretty sure that was his actual heartbeat. Which lead her to wonder if his heart was shaped like that. "That sounds fun, though isn't it underwater? Me and Star can't breathe underwater." Trollex blinked. "Oh, well maybe we can bring the party on land." He grinned again at the thought. Ash nodded "Yeah, that sounds fun." Staring at his heart beating, she was so tempted to touch it. How did he glow like that? If that is his heart, why is only his heart visible? Does he even have other organs? I wonder what he feels like she thought as she glanced over the rest of him including his scales. The scales seemed to only be on his tail and fin like ears, the rest of his body seemed smooth like the other trolls. The bands on his arms were interesting too. Trollex frowned as he noticed Poppy waving for him in the background. "Sorry, we'll have to chat later." He waved to her before heading towards Poppy. Not long after he left Star joined Ash sitting under the tree she was at.

"He said he wants to introduce us to everyone." Star raised a brow. "Did he?" "Yeah." "Do you remember his exact words?" Ash tossed Star a confused look. "We can have a party to introduce you to everyone." Star nodded. "uh-huh, and do you think he was using 'you' as singular or plural?" "Well, I mean, he was talking to me but I'm sure he meant it plural. Why would he want to throw a party only to introduce me? I'm sure like Queen Poppy he's excited to introduce everyone to the new people." Ash rolled her eyes.

Star glanced at the King of Techno chatting with the Queen of Pop.

"Uh Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you not noticed the way King Trollex keeps staring at you?"

"Everyone stares at us; they've never seen humans before."

"Well yeah, but he's…. you know what? Never mind."

"Okay then."

She'll just figure it out herself. Star shrugged. "I'm a bit tired, I'm going to go back to my room and relax. Goodnight." Ash headed off.

"You've noticed, right?" Star turned to a troll in the background.

"Oh yeah." Branch nodded.

"Where am I supposed to put this finger?" Ash questioned Barb as she awkwardly held the guitar. "I don't know." Barb laughed as she watched the human move her fingers around trying to find the right position. "It's so weird you have five fingers instead of four." "In my world it's weird not to have five fingers." Ash grumbled which made the rock queen laugh even more. "Maybe, but we're not in your world." "Yeah, yeah. How about you just play a song? I doubt I'll ever learn to play since I don't have a teacher with five fingers." "We could chop the extras off." Ash dropped the guitar, she sounded way too serious. "What?!" Barb laughed at her expression. "Oh come on, it'll leave a gnarly scar." Barb teased. "No, there's no way I'm letting you cut off my fingers." Barb shrugged. "Okay, okay, maybe I can teach you another instrument? Maybe drums? Riff would probably be best to help teach you to play drums though." Ash was pretty sure she is a lost cause. She had zero talent for music, she doubted even the greatest teacher could help her. "It's so weird you can't sing or play any instruments. I've never met anyone with zero talent." Barb mumbled as she played a few notes on her guitar. "Are you sure you can't sing?" "You really don't want to hear me sing." Ash laughed. Barb shrugged and continued playing.

The troll leaders sat in a circle with Ash and Star joining them. "I spoke to the elders and looked deeper into our records, I didn't come across anything talking about humans or other worlds." Mayor Delta was the first to speak up. Unfortunately for Ash and Star everyone else had a similar answer. "Did you talk to the bergens? That's what they're called, right?" Ash questioned. Poppy nodded. "Yeah, but they didn't have any information either. Though Bridget wants to meet you, she said she can stop by in a few days." Ash deflated at the answer. They really needed to return home. She could only imagine how panicked their family and friends were. Kidnapped? Dead? Ran away? No, I left my new book at home. I would've taken it if I ran away. Plus, extra clothes. Ash glanced down at the red dress the conjoined twins kindly made her. The texture was a bit odd almost like felt, but it was comfortable. I wish I had a way to at least let them know we're safe even if we can't return.

Mayor Delta, King Quincy, Queen Essence, King Peppy, and Trollzart had left, leaving just Queen Poppy, Queen Barb, King Trollex, Ash, and Star. It wasn't long before Branch and Hickory showed up to join them. "Does anyone want a cappuccino?"

"I need to find someone who looks at me the way Ash looks at Hickory when he places a cappuccino in front of her." Star laughed at Ash's expression when the cappuccino was placed in front of her. "So, since you can't return at the moment. You can stay with us as long as you'd like." Poppy kindly offered once again. Ash frowned at the thought. She really didn't want to stay with the pop trolls for god knows how long. "Or you could come stay in Rock City." Barb playfully punched Ash's arm. Trollex frowned thinking back to the comment Star had made. "If you're sure I wouldn't mind staying here." Star grinned at Poppy. Ash glanced at Star and frowned. She really didn't want to stay here, but she also didn't want to go anywhere without Star. "You could come back with me and Dickory." Hickory offered Ash, the expression she made after Star's comment wasn't missed by him. Trollex zipped to the small gap between Queen Barb and Ash. "You could come to Techno Reef." The scent of the ocean suddenly washed over Ash. It reminded her of the summer vacations to the beach she always took with her family. "I told you, I don't think I could breathe underwater." "Wait, you can't breathe underwater?" Branch looked at her like she was crazy. "You can?" Branch along with every other troll nodded. Star scooted closer to Ash. "Maybe it's different here? We should try." She mumbled in her ear. Ash twitched as Star's breath hit her ear and pushed the blonde away. "Don't do that again." She mumbled as she rubbed her ear. "You don't like sweet nothings whispered in your ear?" Hickory laughed. "Not by her." Trollex leaned a bit closer to Ash while grinning. "Star is right, you should try." "That's great and all but we're talking about where Ash wants to stay." Barb spoke while crossing her arms. "Well, if they can breathe underwater Ash might want to stay at Techno Reef." Poppy pipped up. "Nah, Ash wants to stay where the best music is." Poppy narrowed her eyes. "Then she should stay in Pop Village." Ash stared at the ground; she wasn't the biggest fan of yodeling. She didn't know anything about techno and still wasn't sure if she could breathe underwater. Rock city seemed like the best option. "Why don't you come to Techno Reef first and then you can decide?" Ash sipped her cappuccino and shrugged. "Okay, but I don't want to waste your time. If I can't breathe underwater." Trollex shook his head and just grinned. "Not a waste of my time."

A sly grin spread on Hickory's face. "Darlin' you sure you don't want to come stay with me? I doubt you'll find a cappuccino as good as I make anywhere else." Oh, that's a good point, I wonder how often they yodel? I might could deal with it if it's not that often. Ash thought to herself. The techno king seemed to deflate when he noticed Ash was interested in the offer. Star joined in on the teasing. "If Rock City or Techno Reef don't have cappuccinos you might have her Hickory." She spoke in a teasing tone. Branch glanced at Trollex and decided he'd try to help another troll out. "I'm sure someone in Techno Reef could make them, it's not that difficult once you know what you're doing, right?" Branch was right, if they knew what they were doing they should be able to make one. "Where do you live Hickory?" Star questioned. "We live in the mountains." "Ohh, really? We love the mountains. Our families took us to the mountains a few times during our winter breaks from school. Right Ash?" Ash shrugged. "Honestly, I think a prefer the trips we had to the beach over the summer. Last year we stayed in that really cool beach house that was right on the beach." Star nodded. "Are you saying you want to go with King Trollex?" Star raised a brow. The king perked up once more.

"What do you think our families are doing?" Ash mumbled to Star. "What do you think they think happened to us?" Star sat beside Ash on the bed. "I can't even imagine how they must feel, and you're an only child." Ash looked at Star as she spoke. "At least my mom and dad would have my brother to keep them going. I don't know how I'd go on if I lost my only child." Star frowned; she hadn't thought about that. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way home. My great great great grandmother knew about trolls and even claimed one helped her meet her husband. There has to be someone here that knows about humans and a way for us to get home, right?" Ash didn't answer, honestly, she had no idea.

Star nudged Ash in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, Isa probably thinks we summoned a troll, and it ate us or something." Star laughed to herself. Ash stared at Star confused. "Why would Isa think we summoned a troll?" "Oh, because I originally asked her to join me in summoning a troll. She looked at the spell and called me crazy, talking about how it looked dangerous and I should probably sprinkle the book with holy water." Ash looked at Star in disbelief. "Isabella told you it looked dangerous and not to do it, so instead of listening to her you pulled me into it?" Isabella was their one friend that was really into this kind of stuff and honestly if she told someone to stay clear of some spell it would be best to listen to her. Star shook her head. "Actually, Isa told me if I was so desperate to summon a troll, I should ask you."

"Wait, she told you to ask me to do it even though she thought it was dangerous?"

"Well, she said you were the only one dumb enough to go along with my dumb idea."

"I'm not dumb." Ash huffed in annoyance. She blinked slowly then frowned. "Okay, after seeing the summoning circle I'll admit it was a dumb idea. It looked way too much like something you'd use to summon a demon. People shouldn't play with stuff like that." Ash was pretty sure they got off lucky regarding that. Though the best outcome would've been no outcome.

"I seriously can't believe Isa warned you not to do it and you did it anyway, dragging me in." Star frowned. "Well, my great great great grandma did it, so I thought it had to be safe. If I didn't have the information about her doing it of course I would've listened to Isa but." Star sighed. Excuses didn't matter now, it had already been done.

"Hey Star?"

"Yeah?"

"I really don't think it's a good idea for us to split up. I know everyone is insanely friendly, but I really think it'll be best if we stay together."

"You don't want to stay in Pop Village."

Ash shook her head. "All the singing and dancing is driving me crazy."

"The other trolls revolve around music too; do you think they sing as often as the pop trolls?" When Ash didn't answer Star continued. "I agree, we probably shouldn't split up. We don't even know how far they all live from each other. Honestly though, the rock trolls kind of intimidate me." Ash frowned. "Really? The ones I've spoken to have all been friendly." "I wonder how often the techno trolls sing. Think it's all day?" Ash shrugged. "We still don't know if we can go underwater and breathe." "I have a feeling we'll be able to, also King Trollex really wants you to go." Star mumbled. "We'll see. But I really don't want to separate from you. If you don't want to go to Rock City, we'll have to mark it off the list." "I'll visit it with you, maybe it's not that bad? Though the lava rivers sound a bit scary." Ash's eyes widened. She had forgot about that. "Do you think it's really hot there?" Star shrugged. "The country place is an option, what's the name of it?" Star questioned. "I'm not sure I ever caught the name of it." "What about the funk place?" "I'm not living on a spaceship." Ash stated bluntly. "So what? We're down to Country place, the mountains Hickory lives in, Rock City, and Techno Reef, which we may or may not be able to breathe in? Though I really think we'll be able to." "I thought we were marking Rock City off the list?" "I said I'll visit with you first." "Do you like country music?" Ash tried to remember a time when Star ever spoke about country music. "Not really." "Then why suggest it?"

Ash, Star, and Hickory sat relaxed by a stream. "Yeah, and so she grabbed this random this random kid thinking it was her cousin and was like 'the line starts this way' the kid told her okay and stood where she dragged him for an awkward moment then walked back to whoever he was with. Now this kid was like ten or twelve and it's a no-no touching random kids where we're from. Especially if you grab them and walk off. So, Ash steps to the side and her cousin walks up to her. She paused a moment because her cousin walked up to her from the opposite side, then she realized she grabbed a random kid. I think the funniest thing was the fact the kid was a whole head taller than her cousin and he wasn't even wearing the same color shirt." Star and Hickory laughed while Ash pouted. "Why are you only telling him embarrassing stories about me? Anyway, that story is not even that funny." They moved on talking about cars and education in their world. How everyone needs a job and money to survive. Plus, the fact everything was insanely expensive, and many people struggled to make ends meet. "What do people do if they can't afford it?" Ash and Star glanced at each other.

"Homeless?" Hickory frowned. "That sounds horrible, you really want to return to that?" "Honestly, the main reason is our families and friends. They probably think the worst happened to us." Star frowned as she spoke. "We were supposed to start university this fall. It's a big thing for people our age, the first time we can get away from our family and live on our own in dorms with other students." Ash nodded. "Plus, the stress from studying and passing everything." She added. Hickory raised a brow. "Well, here you'd never have to worry about something like that." "Yeah, it's crazy how welcoming everyone is. Honestly, it was a bit much to take in when Queen Poppy welcomed us with open arms. Plus, everyone else we've met being so welcoming and willing to take us in. You, Queen Barb, and King Trollex, it's all so overwhelming." Ash smiled at Hickory. Hickory grinned at Ash. "Yeah, especially King Trollex huh? He really wants you to visit Techno Reef." Ash didn't catch his sly tone as he spoke. "Yeah, I hope we're able to visit him. I don't want to disappoint him." "He really likes being close to you." A thoughtful look crossed Ash's face. "You think so?" Hickory bit his lower lip to keep from laughing. "Oh, I know so." When Ash just looked confused Star sighed in annoyance. "You're not usually this dense." "Dense about what?" Star just shook her head.

"Hey! My friend Bridget is here, I want to introduce you two to her." Poppy grinned as she ran towards the two humans. "She's over this way, she has a bit of a difficult time coming into the village. Let's go." She grabbed their arms and started to tug them in the opposite direction. As they approached the area Poppy's friend was waiting for them Ash's hazel eyes widened. An extremely large creature stared down at them with a smile. Ash glanced at Star who looked just as surprised and leaned a bit closer lowering her voice. "Imagine us summoning a bergen or ending up where all the bergens live." Honestly, she looked like what Ash had imagined trolls to look like before ending up in this world. Poppy noticed their surprised expressions and decided to quickly share the story of how the met Bridget, and how she became best friends with her. "Bergens use to eat trolls?" Ash looked at Poppy horrified. Poppy nodded. "Yeah, but only because they believed it was the only way they could be happy." "They used to eat you." Star repeated what Ash just said also looking horrified. "They don't anymore though. They realized they can be happy without eating us." Poor Bridget looked ashamed of their history. "I've never ate a troll." She whispered. Ash felt bad seeing how sad the poor girl looked and spoke up. "What you did was amazing, you saved everyone and helped make everyone realize they didn't need trolls to make them happy." The older bergens should definitely feel ashamed for their past, but she didn't want the bergen in front of them to feel bad. Especially after all the good she did. "You said you were going to look again for some information about humans, did you happen to find anything?" Poppy asked her friend. "I'm sorry, we weren't able to. Gristle even helped me look."

As Poppy caught up with Bridget about life Star turned to Ash. "Hey, do you think she's actually a giant or do you think we shrunk when we fell through the portal?" "I have no idea, if we did shrink, I hope we return to normal once we go home."