Author here again, I know literally no one asked, but, the cover image for this story is now a drawing I drew of my interpretation of Queen Joy when she was still in alright health. It took me a while, and time I should've been using to create more chapters or better chapters for the story, but yeah. Hope you guys like it, I tried pretty hard and that's not even the entire image. Hope you enjoy another chapter, but I got to say, I'm going to speed it up from this chapter on. Thanks for reading!
King Peppy knew it would be hard to start a new kingdom, but not nearly this hard. In the past seven days he's gotten at most seven hours of sleep. Constant moving from place to place, helping out to create new pods, assigning jobs to the trolls to keep them busy and even creating his own pod for his daughter and himself to live in. He had even seen less of Poppy than sleep, but he knows that once everyone is settled he'd have plenty of time to share with his daughter. Cybil had taken to caring for the children, and calming down the adults, as is her specialty.
It's the middle of the day, Peppy has already gone through twelve pod construction sites, ten land agreements, four moving projects, five furnishing advising sessions and two public disputes. He walks on the ground, too tired to use his hair, when a shouting match starts close to the large mushroom where his new pod is being built. Make that, three public disputes.
Sighing a little loudly Peppy walks over to the large group, hoping to end the discussion quickly so he can get a ten minute nap in. Surprisingly it's the Tree brothers, arguing loudly in front of their pod. Normally they're closer than peas in a pod, always having each others backs. It's rare for them to fight, especially so publicly like this. Trolls whisper worriedly to each other as they look to the doctors.
"He's five years old, you crocodile skinned fuzz for brains!" Spruce yells at his younger brother," How could you just let him up and leave?"
"He doesn't want to be around other trolls moss breath!" Ash yells back," He can't stand these judgemental trolls whispering behind his back anymore! For trollstice sake, he's paranoid to the point of insanity, and he's only five! Do you really think his psyche could stand another moment of constantly looking over his shoulder?"
"No one whispers about him, he's accepted by everyone." Spruce says angrily glaring.
"Then you've gone deaf and dumb, eh?" Ash laughs out," There is no other explanation for how you can be so ignorant to your son's treatment. I shouldn't even call him that for you, seeing as you aren't acting like a father right now."
"Why you!" Spruce yells as he lunges at his brother," Take that back!"
"You're the one who forced him to call you 'dad', idiot brother!" Ash yells as he throws punches at his older brother.
"What about you making him call you 'uncle'?" Spruce spits and he throws punches and blocks.
"It's about that weird gray kid again, isn't it?" A troll onlooker sighs out," Those doctors are crazy about that kid."
"I don't even understand why they make so much of a fuss, it's not like he's happy with them." Another laughs to a friend," If he was, he'd have color."
"It is weird for him to not have color. He's been smiling a lot." A different one whispers.
"He doesn't sing or dance, just watches us. It's really creepy." A trolling, not much older than Branch, says to a friend.
"Look what he's done to the doctors. They've caught some sort of disease from the child." Another says, grabbing her child as she walks away," I'm not letting my kid get infected with that."
Peppy looks around to try and stop the whispers, but no one seems to notice him. Spruce and Ash continue to fight, yelling and rolling around in a flurry of punches and kicks. Peppy tries to think of something to say to break up the fight. They're only damaging their reputations and Banch's by throwing fits like children.
"That's enough!" Plum yells, pulling the two apart from each other with her hair," You are two grown adult trolls with responsibilities and reputation. Stop this petty argument, and resolve it like the mature trolls I know you are."
Everyone looks at the smaller female troll in awe and silence. Her face contorted into an angry glare directed at everyone somehow.
"What are you all looking at, if you have time to make rumors, you have time to work on building up the village." Plum snaps at the crowd, almost instantly making the crowd disperse, leaving Peppy," And you, get over here and clear up this mess."
"Yes, ma'am." Peppy says, quickly scurrying over to the two green trolls, still glaring at each other.
"We can use my pod as a discussion ground." Plum sighs out, then whispers to herself," I work the night shift so those two can rest in peace, but when I have time to sleep it's only yelling and screaming as the background to my dreams."
The four, all tired for various reasons, stagger into the violet pod floating next to the clinic. Plum had set up her pod close to the clinic so she could always be close to the medical supplies while still living her own life and maintaining her own organization of equipment. She also didn't trust the weirdly survivalist brothers to be very dependable once they got everything settled. They didn't organise shifts well together, so Plum has to be close to fill in the gaps, it's why she became a doctor.
Spruce and Ash sit adjacent from each other in two small wooden stools. Between them is a coffee table gifted to Plum by Branch, when he got the hang of trying to make furniture. It's lopsided, and cups can slip off if one's not careful, but Plum loves the small table. Peppy sits to the side of the brothers, with Plum going off into the kitchen to make herself some coffee.
"What led up to this?" Peppy asks with a heavy sigh.
"Ash let Branch leave the clinic to find a new place." Spruce says while maintaining his glare on his brother.
"Branch left because he didn't feel comfortable near those trolls." Ash says sharply.
"He's five." Spruce says.
"He's discriminated against." Ash snaps back.
"Boys!" Peppy says, silencing the brothers," So, Branch felt the trolls were still wary of him, and decided to live elsewhere where there wouldn't be as many trolls around him, right?"
"Yes." Ash responds.
"So you let him pack up his belongings and go searching for a new home. Did you follow him to make sure he was safe?"
"N...no…" Ash says, breaking the glare and looking down.
"So you let a five year old trolling, with no knowledge of the potential creatures of the forest, wander away from the village to try and find a house. I understand his reasons, but he doesn't have much control of his hair due to the stress of his life. Why didn't you go with him?" Peppy asks, clenching the crest of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger.
"I had to take care of the patients." Ash sighs," I should've gone with him, but he wanted to be alone."
"It doesn't matter if he wanted to be alone, you should've been keeping him safe!" Spruce hisses out.
"And where were you then, 'dad'?" Peppy asks quickly, staring at Spruce.
"I...I was out getting berries." Spruce says defensively," I thought Ash would keep everything under control."
"Why didn't you bring Branch? That seems like prime father-son bonding time." Peppy asks," You haven't had this relationship for long, it should've occured to you that he'd want to be by your side."
"I left while they were asleep so I could find enough and be back by dinner." Spruce says.
"Still…" Peppy says.
"I didn't want him to come, alright?" Spruce snaps," The berries I were after were in an unexplored section of the forest. I thought since it's denser the water in the ground would produce more, and I was right, but I didn't know what to expect when out there. I've almost lost Branch twice, I'm not risking him again to the unknown."
"Better safe than sorry." Ash says with a small laugh.
"Exactly." Spruce nods.
"You are idiots." Plum says as she sits down across from Peppy, dark circles under her eye as she looks into her cup of coffee," Let the boy have space, sure, but don't let him go away without supervision. He's a child. Now, you two are going to agree that you're both right, and both wrong, then your going to get your ascots in gear and find Branch. At least see where he's chosen to live, but make sure he's okay. Is that enough?"
"Yes, Plum." The brothers says in unison.
"Plum, can you look after the clinic for a little bit?" Peppy asks, jealous of Plums coffee.
"I'm already up, it's the least I can do." Plum says with a half smile.
"You two, go and find Branch. Tell him to ask me next time when he wants to move somewhere." Peppy says.
"You're not coming?" Ash asks.
"I'm going to take a nap." Peppy says in an absolute tone," I've gone for twenty-seven hours straight helping everyone. If I go out now, I'm going to pass out and get eaten."
"You can sleep here." Plum says," The room is in the back. Hope you don't mind the smell of incense. Cybil gave me some to help me sleep deeper. They're still burning because I'm supposed to be asleep."
"Thanks Plum." Peppy says as he gets up and walks to the back of the pod.
"Why are you still here?" Plum says coldly," Go."
"Yes, ma'am." The brothers say, quickly getting up and leaving.
There's nothing scarier than a tired and mad Plum Plimsy. The brothers quickly left the pod and troll village in search of the young troll. Plum watches them go from the door of her pod. She smiles a small smile before retreating back into the pod.
She walks into her restroom, and looks into the mirror Glitter Diamond gave her a day ago. The silver troll is known for her glasswork and mirror collages, but Plum knows this one's special. The small specks of glitter in the corners, from Glitter's hard work, shows how much care was put into this mirror before it was hung.
Plum smiles before she slaps the sides of her cheeks to refocus. She picks up a comb given to her by Cybil, and quickly brushes her hair so her bed head isn't as visible. She then takes out a box of accessory bandages given to her by Silk and Cotton. That dynamic couple could make anything fashionable or trendy. Plum's happy to see that legacy live on through their daughters, Satin and Chenille.
Plum quickly places four bandages in her hair, before smiling and walking back out into the main area of her living quarters. She grabs her cup of coffee and downs the rest. She jumps side to side, shaking every part of her body to make sure they're awake. Once she's feeling energized, she walks out the front of the pod and next door into the clinic.
Several trolls, all with varying injuries greet her. She smiles, but can't help but feel a little angry at the brothers.
'They're definitely going to owe me big for this.' She thinks to herself, before getting to work.
It took an hour of searching before Ash placed a hand on Spruce's arm. The little brother decides to guide Spruce back to the village. As much as he knows Plum is capable, with only a small amount of sleep, it'd be more irresponsible of them to look for a well hidden troll than take up their own duties.
"He'll come back tomorrow for reading and writing lessons." Ash says softly to his brother.
"Okay." The only response Spruce could muster.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Spruce knows that Branch still has a stigma against him. Maybe Spruce really did become deaf and dumb, because he was almost constantly surrounded by trolls asking or talking about Branch's complexion in a serious tone. Many think he's sick, some think he's contagious, and others just don't want to interact with him because he's gray. It's not fair.
"Why do they feel the need to ostracize a five year old?" Spruce asks quietly, not expecting a response.
"They've only known the bright colors they see everyday as happiness." Ash sighs," If there is no color, then they're reminded of the bergens. Gray is a repressed symbol of the burgens, and is frowned upon in this rainbow troll society."
"But a gray troll can gain its colors back with help." Spruce says looking up through the trees," We've heard about it in legends. When the first trolls were taken, they turned gray, but one strong willed troll sang until everyone regained their colors. Even when I was depressed, no happiness left, Branch gave my colors back to me through reassurement and trust. Why can't I do the same?"
"He's young." Ash says," He needs time to take in his surroundings and feel truly comfortable."
"You're right." Spruce says with a smile," As always."
The two quickly rish back to the clinic, where Plum is quickly trying to hop from patient to patient. She's sweating and working hard, when she locks eyes with the two. A silent exchange of glances between them all tells Plum everything. She sighs, and points to the patients, making the boys move to take care of the patients instead of her.
She walks into the bedroom, and throws herself onto the bed, not able to fight back her heavy eyelids. Without any coaxing, she's deep asleep.
After a few hours, she wakes up to Spruce gently shaking her shoulder. She feels a weight on her stomach, and looks over to see Ash sleeping next to her, his arm draped over her stomach. A large pink blush comes to Plum's face, but she doesn't say anything. Ash has been a long time crush for her, but this is pretty idiotic behavior for the green troll. Spruce giggles and Plum glares up to him, gently taking off Ash's arm and standing.
Spruce raises a hand with a yawn, and Plum smacks it in a high five.
"Tag out." They say simultaneously.
Spruce collapses on the bed while Plum walks into the empty clinic. It's dark outside, by the feel of the air it's about three in the morning. Plum will have to work until nine or ten, but hopefully with nearly all the pods becoming complete and cooperation going steadily for the rest of the projects, she won't have many patients.
"I love being a doctor." She says with a smile, putting on her white coat," Let's get to work."