Once the first week passed, Poppy pulled through on her promise. She set up the best party any troll had seen, decorations covered the entirety of the village, glitter rained from above in all directions, and everyone made special snacks to create a large feast. Everything was set and the party was kicking off. There was one thing missing, the guests of honor. Poppy stood at the royal mushroom cap with her dad, staring in the direction of the forest where she had seen her friend disappear into a week prior.
"Poppy, you can't just throw a bash like this without enjoying it yourself." King Peppy says, gently rubbing the princess's hair.
"I know, I know." Poppy gently moved away Peppy's hand," Just let me wait a little more for those two to show up."
"It was a good idea for only Spruce to go in the end." Peppy says, turning his gaze to the dance floor where Doctor Plum and Doctor Ash dance together happily," I don't think the village could handle it if we are down even one doctor for too long."
Poppy bites her lip and sits on the mushroom, fixing her gaze to the forest. Peppy sighs, looking from the party to his distressed daughter.
"Hey, I'll keep a look out up here." Peppy lifts Poppy to her feet once more," You go and enjoy the music and food."
"But dad."
"No 'buts' about it, Teacup." Peppy says, tossing her to the ground," I'll alert you as soon as they come. Enjoy the fruits of your effort."
Peppy fixes his gaze to the forest and smiles. If there was any troll who would keep their promise it would be both of those stubborn trolls. He resumes dancing and partying the day away, all the way into the night. Once the last of the trolls falls to exhaustion into sleep, Peppy fixes his gaze once more to the forest, now worried.
Once the dawn broke over the trees, Peppy ordered for the party to be cleaned up right away. Poppy, still asleep with exhaustion from the fun she had, was carried gently by Peppy back into the royal pod and tucked into her bed. Peppy calls for an emergency meeting.
In the thicket right on the outskirts of the village, Peppy joins a group of six trolls, all staring at the ground seriously. Ash Tree, Plum Plimsey, Ted, Pinch, Cybil and Hugster silently greet King Peppy as he enters the circle. Peppy nods approvingly and breathes deeply.
"You know why you've been called." Peppy says in a serious tone," How should we handle the current predicament?"
"Let me go." Ash says abruptly," I'm one of the best wilderness trackers in the village. If anyone can find them, I can."
"We can't lose another doctor." Pinch, a smaller yellow troll with a large tuft of red hair sprouting out of her head says in a deep voice," I'm not trying to devalue your skills, but are you seriously willing to risk Plum's health to find them? We don't even know if there is anything left to find of them."
"We have to keep a positive attitude." Plum says angrily," They're fine. They probably got too caught up in reading the old books. I think we should give them a bit more time to come back before we launch into a full-on panic."
"Plum." Ash looks despairingly at Plum.
"You might be one of the best, but we both know Spruce is the best." Plum says with a fierce look to Ash," Branch is getting up there as well. The only sensible course of action is to wait."
"I couldn't agree more." Cybil says in a flowing tone," Seeing you all so worked up is completely against the troll's code of behavior. We must remain positive and optimistic at all times."
"Honey." Ted, a lighter purple troll with a dull blue colored hair tuff says while holding Cybil's hand," We can't just not worry. Creek's best friend is out there, as well as the doctor.``
"Who cares about the gray brat." Hugster, a large burgundy glitter troll with deep midnight purple hair popping out of his head in a buzzcut, says while stomping his foot with such force, the others have to orient themselves to avoid falling down," We need to focus an effort on retrieving Spruce Tree. He's one of the most talented trolls in the village, we can't have him gone for an extended period of time without seeing harsh negative consequences."
"Listen here." Ash starts towards the troll but is held back by Plum.
"Your majesty." Hugster kneels before Peppy," Allow my scouts to go out and try to find any trace of the trolls."
"What's your proposal?" Peppy looks down bemusedly at the kneeling troll.
"Yes. Half of my scouts will spread out and search for any traces of path diversion or cases of predatory behavior exhibited by the fauna of the forest. The other half shall be stationed out of sight around the perimeter of the village to keep a watch in case they come out."
"You want to use the full scout force?" Plum asks in a worried tone.
"I believe it necessary to use as much manpower as possible to retrieve a troll. In the case of our wise leader,' No Troll Left Behind'."
"My force would be more than halved." Ted says angrily," Even if we need to retrieve Spruce, I need the guard forces to protect the village and our royalty. The most I can spare is a fourth of my guards."
"You're all going to hasty again." Cybil says, putting up a hand to shush her husband," We need to depend on those two to come back of their own volition and avoid a ruckus in the village. The populace should be our main concern, not a specific troll."
"That's my brother you're talking about." Ash growls out," But I'll leave this up to Peppy."
"Yes, what's your take on this your majesty?" Pinch says looking up to Peppy. Peppy squeezes his eyes shut and places two fingers on his forehead, trying to decide the best course of action.
"We'll wait another week to account for potential breaks for them to come back. After that, I'll allow a squad of five scouts to search the surrounding forest for the two, but you won't take away from the stationed guards. I'll allow up to one month of searching, however they are not to enter the marmot tunnels we used to escape the Burgens. We have no idea as to what could've made those tunnels a home in the time we've been away. After a month's period we shall formally declare them lost to the forest and hold a memorial."
"Sire." Hugster starts but is silenced by Peppy.
"This will remain a secret to the rest of the village. Only once the memorial is announced shall we tell of this tragedy. I hope you'll forgive me Ash." Peppy looks over to Ash, a paler green then he's seen in a while," This is my final say."
The trolls bow deeply as Peppy walks away, quickly accompanied by Pinch, leaving the remaining five by themselves. A tense silence in between them all.
"It's just another week, Ash." Plum says, gently lifting Ash's head so his gaze meets hers," I believe in Spruce and Branch."
"Can you really say that?" Hugster says in a grumbling tone.
"Say what exactly, Hugster?" Ash growls back angrily.
"You know exactly what I mean, Ash." Hugster sneers," Branch is nothing compared to Spruce. If either of them is coming back, it'll be Spruce."
Before anyone can make a move to react, Cybil extends her hair into a wall physically separating the two angry trolls. She gives a subtle nod to her husband, he nods back in agreement. He takes Ash by the shoulder and leads him away without allowing him to say any protest. Once Cybil sees they've retreated a distance away, she retracts her hair and approaches the glitter troll, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Spruce will come back to us in due time, Hugs." Cybil says in her calming voice," I know you're anxious, but he will return to us. Return to you."
"I don't want him hurt, Cyl." Hugster replies staring into the forest.
"He won't be. At least I hope he won't be. But he's strong."
"Too strong if you ask me." Hugster chuckles out.
"There's that sweet laugh I know from my good friend." Cybil gently nudges Hugster, before guiding him back towards the village.
The night fades into dawn. The days pass slowly, even though Peppy's parties and celebrations of obscure holidays are well received by the village. Soon enough, the first week passes and the scout team is sent out secretly. Even sooner, the month passes without a word about Spruce and Branch's return. With a heavy heart, Peppy sits in his pod, staring over the village gaining the courage to announce the memorial of the Doctor and the little troll who only knew sadness.
"Daddy?" Poppy asks, approaching Peppy from behind.
"Hello, cupcake." Peppy says, trying to stifle a sob in his throat.
"What's going on?" She asks in her precious and naive tone that breaks Peppy's heart further.
"Nothing, darling." Peppy says, turning and petting Poppy's head," Now, I wonder if you'll do me a huge mega favor today?"
"Anything!" Poppy excitedly jumps around at the prospect of helping someone.
"Well, Gia has been having a pretty rough time at her new daycare lately. I'm hoping you could go over and lend her a hand with the younger trollings." Poppy looks up to Peppy with slight confusion before a large smile dawns across her face.
"Got it!" Poppy dances out of the room. When Peppy looks out the window of his pod he can see his daughter playfully gliding over to the daycare. With this she won't have to experience this head on. She's still too young to make it through a ceremony like this without reason.
Peppy dons his ceremonial cape, and fixes his hair in the mirror. He takes two unsteady breaths before exiting his pod and descending to the ground, where the memorial preparations have already been taken care of. Dozens of trolls dressed in black huddle together, some a few shades darker in color then normal, giving and receiving hugs from those next to them. Peppy stands in front of the crowd.
"Thank you for being here, lady and gentletrolls." Peppy begins," It is with a heavy heart, that I am announcing the official loss of one Dr. Spruce Tree and a Branch Sparrow-Tree. It fills me with a great sadness that we have to part ways with these special trolls without so much as a tuft of hair to bury in their honor. However, we hold this ceremony to remember these trolls for the heroic figures they are. Now would anyone like to speak?"
A couple hands slowly rise into the air. Peppy points and gestures one of the mourners to take the stage. Ash begrudgingly trudges onto the stage, followed by Plum who refuses to let go of his hand. Ash looks to the crowd and tears cloud his vision. He takes a large breath to begin speaking.
"Movement spotted to the North!" A troll yells bursting into the memorial. Whispers begin as many trolls angrily look towards the pink troll that just ran in, filled with color and life.
"This better be good." Ash almost growls out while squeezing Plum's hand. Peppy raises his hand to silence the distraught troll.
"What is it, scout?" Peppy says, taking a stance between the pink troll and Ash.
"There's movement to the north, my king." The troll says in a breathy gasp," I have come to tell you that there's a high possibility it may be the two who were lost."
"You can't mean…" Peppy breaths sharply, before a commotion begins stirring at the north end of the village. The crowd of mourners sprint like their lives depend on it to the north.
Peppy arrives first through the brush to see the source of commotion. A ragged and thin grey troll holds a large what looks to be a leaf sack on his back as he trudges forwards towards scared onlookers. Ash arrives quickly after Peppy, but he doesn't stop at the edge of the brush like Peppy.
"Branch!" Ash cries out as he rushes to hug the grey troll. However, he's stopped dead in his tracks once he sees the cold and harsh glare coming out of the little troll's body. He feels...fear, looking at Branch.
Branch quietly takes the sack, twice his own size, off his back and gently places it on the ground. He unwraps it slowly, carefully making sure not a single fold is taken off too quickly. Once he's unwrapped it halfway, everyone gasps in shock to see a near white troll with ghostly white wisps of hair coming off his head.
"Spruce." Ash gasps staring at the white troll.
Branch nods slightly before unwrapping the rest of the troll, revealing the cause of the sudden bleach of skin. The crowd gasps once more, some even faint, at the sight of a troll missing an entire arm and leg sitting in front of them. They've been hastily patched up, but red blood still pools beneath the stumps of severed limbs. Everyone stands in stunned silence before Plum bursts through the crowd holding a medical kit.
"Get two healthy trolls to get the stretcher, I'm going to need to wheel him into emergency surgery. I'll do what I can on-scene to stop the flow of blood." Plum looks to Ash who looks as still as a statue and face paled with fear. She takes a sharp breath before slapping him across the face as hard as she can," Wake up Tree, we can either save this troll or let him die by pretending to be frozen. Now move!"
Quickly two trolls rush over with a stretcher and place Spruce onto it. Plum rushes with the stretcher and Spruce towards the clinic as Ash gets up from the ground and struggles to his feet. He looks hazily towards Plum, and feels his feet leading him in that direction.
"Branch, we'll have to talk later." Ash says turning quickly to look at the little troll, but he's not there. Among the chaos, Branch had disappeared, leaving only the blood soaked leaves. Ash would try to chase the little trolling, however he has to assist Plum right now. So he goes where his feet take him, to Plum's side.
Little did he know the true cost that small action had against the little grey troll watching from the outskirts of the village, his color fading to monochrome as he walked home.