A/N: I knew you guys would like seeing Branch in Gill's role! I thought he'd be perfect for it. Your questions about his scars will soon be answered.

Reby Montana – Branch is 15, a few months older than Creek.

Chapter Six – Angry Angler

"Poppy…" Peppy murmured in his sleep, dreaming of his daughter. He didn't want to wake up from the happy dream. But consciousness forced its way back, and he blinked his eyes open. He almost jumped when he saw Rosiepuff napping right next to him, and then everything from last night came rushing back.

The vegetarian crocodiles. The unwanted dating advice. Barnabas going crazy. Getting the thermos back. The boat exploding. In fact, they were still in the thermos, safe and sound.

But we can't stay here. I need Rosiepuff to read the thermos so we can find Poppy. Peppy felt something warm on his hand, and he realized Rosiepuff held his hand in hers in a gentle grip. Peppy suddenly felt uncomfortable, realizing he might've unconsciously took Rosiepuff's hand while he slept similarly to how he held Joy's hand so long ago. Peppy tried to slip his hand out, but Rosiepuff tightened her grip on his fingers.

"Don't go…." She murmured in her sleep. "Don't go….don't go…"

Pain stabbed at Peppy's heart, and he wondered if Rosiepuff really did have a family somewhere who worried for her. Even if she didn't remember them at the moment, she must have some memories of the love they shared with her.

"Rosiepuff." Peppy said softly. "Wake up." When Rosiepuff still didn't stir, Peppy spoke up. "Rosiepuff…" Again, nothing. Peppy tried again. "Rose!"

Rosiepuff yelped, jolting upright. She hit her head on the inside of the thermos. "Ow….." She moaned, rubbing her head.

"Sorry." Peppy said.

"Where are we?" Rosiepuff asked.

"Still in the thermos, alive." Peppy said. "Hang on." He poked his head out of the opening to the thermos and saw a clear, sunny day. It was already midmorning, meaning the explosion had knocked them out and they slept soundly.

"Well, let's go!" Rosiepuff called from inside. "It's cramped in here!"

Peppy moved to climb out, but then froze. "Uh….that might be a problem."

The force of the explosion knocked the boat off its sturdy foundation in the tree, and now it hung in the vines and branches precariously over the swamp. The strap of the thermos hung off a broken piece of the deck railing.

"So what do we do?" Rosiepuff asked.

Peppy thought for a moment. "Okay. Just follow my lead. And be careful!" He slowly crawled out of the thermos, keeping a tight grip on the strap of the thermos. Rosiepuff followed him, jumping when she saw the predicament they were in. The thermos slipped a little, but stayed on the railing. Peppy helped Rosiepuff climb up and hang onto the strap. They slid the thermos off the railing and pulled it along as they made their way up towards the boat deck.

Unfortunately, even their small movements made the already unstable boat even more treacherous. The vines holding the boat snapped. The two trolls shouted in terror as they fell and hit the water, still holding onto the thermos. When the boat crashed into the water, it kicked up a wave that swept the trolls and the thermos away and washed them ashore. Peppy and Rosiepuff landed on some soft moss, which cushioned their landing.

"That worked out well." Rosiepuff mused.

Peppy gasped. "The thermos! Where is it?!" He and Rosiepuff jumped when the thermos landed near them, bouncing over their heads and rolling away. "No! Get it, quick!" Peppy ran after the thermos as it rolled away. It rolled right into a large hole a short distance away and disappeared in the darkness. Peppy ran in after it. Not two seconds later, he retreated from the darkness and pinned himself to the rock outside the hole. He stared into the hole, panting softly.

Rosiepuff watched this, shrugged, and stood to leave. She really didn't see any reason to be there anymore. If he wanted the thermos so badly, he could go after it himself. But when she looked back to Peppy and saw that hopeless expression on his face, she felt a pang of pity. She sighed and walked up to him with a big smile on her face.

"Hey. What's up?" she asked.

"It's gone. The thermos is gone." Peppy moaned in despair.

"Well what'd you drop it down a hole for?" Rosiepuff asked.

Peppy glared at her. "Why didn't you tell me you could read bergen before a crocodile stole it?"

"What's so important about an old thermos?" Rosiepuff shrugged.

"Because that thermos was the only clue I had to finding my daughter, and now it's gone!" Peppy sighed heavily, softly banging his head against the rock.

Rosiepuff looked to the hole, where the thermos disappeared. She glanced back to Peppy, and then walked up closer with another smile. "Hey Mr. Pouty Pants." She spoke as though talking to a toddler. Peppy stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "When life knocks you down, you know what you do?"

"I don't want to know." Peppy droned, irritated by Rosiepuff's cheeriness.

"Get up, get up, gotta get up and try again!" Rosiepuff sang. "Can't stop now, finish what you begin!"

"Rosiepuff, please stop singing." Peppy said as Rosiepuff grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the hole. Any other time or place, he would enjoy a song; but this was so not the time nor the place. Still, Rosiepuff continued to sing as she led him down into the darkness.

You've got to
Get up, get up
Try it again!
Don't stop, don't stop
Finish what you begin!
Push on, pull through
Over every hurdle
Don't let anything get in your way!
Just get up!

Peppy groaned in irritation. "Stop with that song! Now it's in my head!"

"Sorry." Rosiepuff said sheepishly. By then, it was totally dark. So dark that they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces.

Peppy twisted his hand around to take Rosiepuff's wrist so they wouldn't get lost. "Rosiepuff—"

"Ah! Something grabbed me!" Rosiepuff yelped.

"Sorry!" Peppy said, not letting go. "That was me."

"Me who?"

"Who else?"

"Uh….my imaginary friend?"

Peppy growled in frustration, but decided to play along for the sake of getting out of there sooner. "Yes, you know what? Yes. It's me, your imaginary friend. How are you?"

"Eh, same old, same old." Rosiepuff said.

"Great." Peppy said. "Now, listen closely. Do you see anything?"

"Um…nothing there….or there….or—oh! Over there! I see a light!"

"A light?"

"Are we dead?"

"No, no, I see it."

There was a light, just ahead of them. A small light in the immense darkness. Rosiepuff and Peppy stepped up the white, iridescent spot, staring in awe.

"It's pretty." Rosiepuff breathed.

"It's so…alluring….." Peppy was completely captivated.

"Do you think it's hot?" Rosiepuff asked.

"I don't know. You touch it." Peppy was entranced by the light, but he would leave the dangerous stuff to the troll dumb enough to try it.

Rosiepuff reach out and touched the light. It wasn't hot, but it did jerk at the contact. It started to move away. "Hey, where you going, little guy?" Rosiepuff cooed as she and Peppy followed the light.

"Come on back here, little light." Peppy chuckled.

"Get back here!" Rosiepuff laughed.

"I've got you!" Peppy reached out and teasingly tried to grab the light. He purposely aimed high, and he ended up grabbing a sort of string-like thing that felt suspiciously like skin and cartilage. The two trolls froze when they heard a hiss. They slowly turned around and saw a pair of jaws filled with many pointy, needle-like teeth.

"Uh oh." Rosiepuff intoned.

"Not good." Peppy agreed.

More lights appeared on the body of a hungry angler-snake, which hissed menacingly at the trolls. Peppy and Rosiepuff screamed in fear and ran for their lives. The snake gave a chase. The two trolls ran as fast as they could, but it didn't help that their only source of light was attached to the very thing that wanted to eat them.

"Which way do we go?" Rosiepuff asked.

"Any way!" Peppy yelped. He suddenly spotted something familiar, and he stopped. "The thermos!"

"What thermos?" Rosiepuff asked right before Peppy pulled her down to avoid the snake's lunge. The trolls were cast in darkness while the angler-snake used its light to try and find them. "Hey!" Rosiepuff complained. "Who turned out the lights?" The snake heard her and whipped around to cast its light over the two trolls.

"Oh boy!" Peppy gulped. "Rosiepuff, read the thermos!" He darted away as the snake slithered after him.

"What words do I read?" Rosiepuff turned and the light flashed over long enough for her to see the words carved on the thermos. "Oh, right. Do you think you can get the light over here? I can't see a thing!" During the chase, the light did indeed stretch over to her. "Great! Keep it right there!"

"Just read the darned thing!" Peppy shouted, jumping to avoid the snake's teeth.

"All right! Geez! Keep your hair on." Rosiepuff rolled her eyes. She looked to the words printed on the thermos and began sounding out the first line. "Grai…grih…..gris…grist-lay? No, grist-lee….uh….."

Peppy ducked behind a rock, and the angler-snake bit that instead of him. He grabbed the light of the snake and shined it towards Rosiepuff so she could read. "Well?"

"It says 'Gristle Sr.'!" Rosiepuff reported.

"That doesn't help—" He yelped when the snake pulled him into the air, and he dangled from the light and desperately tried to avoid the snake's teeth. The snake swung Peppy around and smashed the troll against a wall. He hit the ground, barely able to jump aside when the snake lunged for him again. When the snake tried to go for Rosiepuff, seemingly the easier target, Peppy threw another rock to get the snake to chase him again. "Rosiepuff!" Peppy shouted. "What else does it say?"

"The next line is '114' and something else. I'm almost there!" Rosiepuff reported.

"Well hurry up!" Peppy cried desperately. He ran about the darkness, almost tripping half a dozen times on rocks he couldn't see until they were right at his feet. He saw the wall coming up, and he made a hairpin turn that the snake couldn't make. The snake smashed face-first into the wall, and Peppy shined the light back towards Rosiepuff.

"Okay, the full line is '114 Glitter Avenue.'" Rosiepuff said.

"Great, now speed read the next part and let's go!" Peppy urged. He yelped when the snake pulled him into the air again. The snake bashed Peppy on the ground, and the troll wobbled as he stood. Before he could run again, the snake wrapped its coils around Peppy and began constricting him. Peppy gasped, unable to move. "Rosiepuff…."

Rosiepuff was still focused on reading now that the light had stopped moving. "Ber….bergahn….no, beer-gain? No….."

"Rose…." Peppy's voice came out as a wheeze. He fought to keep his eyes open.

"Tow…..town? Beer-gain town? No." Rosiepuff thought for a brief moment.

The snake watched its prey struggle, waiting patiently for the troll to expire so it could swallow him whole.

"Oh! Bergen Town! It says Bergen Town!" Rosiepuff turned to Peppy excitedly. That's when she finally saw his predicament, and the fact that he was nearly dead and about to be eaten. She gasped. "Peppy!" Scrambling for an idea, she found a good-sized rock and pushed it into the stretchy strap of the thermos. She pulled back the strap as far as she could. "Hey ugly! Even braces can't fix your teeth!"

Whether it was the insult or Rosiepuff's shout that caught the snake's attention, the angler-snake took its eyes off Peppy and hissed at Rosiepuff, giving her the chance to shoot the rock out of her makeshift slingshot. The rock sailed into the snake's maw, and the snake's coils loosened enough for Peppy to inhale deeply. Rosiepuff pulled him from the snake's coils while the angler-snake tried to beat the rock out of his mouth. The two trolls ran from the cave and escaped out into the open air. They kept running until they both collapsed from falling off an adrenaline rush. They panted, Peppy coughing and feeling his ribs for any cracks.

"Did you….just…..save my life?" Peppy asked Rosiepuff.

Rosiepuff smoothed out her hair. "I don't know. Did I?"

"Never mind." Peppy said, making a mental note to find a way to thank Rosiepuff later. "What did the thermos say?"

"Gristle Sr., 114 Glitter Avenue, Bergen Town." Rosiepuff gasped. "I don't believe it! I remembered what it said! I actually remembered it!"

"Great! Now where is that?" Peppy asked.

"No idea, but I don't care!" Rosiepuff picked up Peppy in a bone-crushing hug. "I remembered something!"

"Ribs! Can't breathe!" Peppy gasped.

That night, long after Gristle Sr. and his son closed up the pet shop, Poppy settled down to sleep in her hammock. She accomplished something huge today. Well, it was huge for her. She wished Branch hadn't disappeared so soon after helping her. Quite mysterious, that one.

"Psst."

Poppy vaguely heard the whisper, but what woke her up was Fuzzbert shaking her hammock. She looked up and saw him gesturing for her to follow him. Poppy picked up her crutches and followed Fuzzbert through the tank. It looked so different in the nighttime, and the shadows mildly frightened Poppy. She stayed close behind Fuzzbert. After a moment, she heard strange singing coming from the shadows. As she hobbled her way to a cluster of rocks ahead, she saw the other members of the tank trolls. They wore strange outfits and had face paint on, looking silly and ominous at the same time. Fuzzbert helped Poppy up onto one of the rocks, and Poppy saw Branch already there and waiting for her. The trolls gathered around, and their leader held up a hand to halt their chanting and music.

"Welcome, pink troll of the forest, to your official initiation." Branch said.

"Initiation?" Poppy repeated. She never heard that word.

"By completing a single task of bravery and strength, you will prove yourself worthy of being part of the Tank Trolls." Branch explained. "A sacred society of trolls who share strength and defend one another, fighting for freedom."

Poppy blinked a few times. "Huh?"

"We're bringing you into our family." Suki whispered to her.

"Really?" Poppy asked happily.

"All you have to do is jump from this rock to that one." Branch pointed to a rock a short distance away. The distance between the two rocks wasn't much. In fact, Branch took a running start and easily leaped over the gap. The Tank Trolls cheered in encouragement for Poppy. The pink troll thought for a moment. She couldn't get as much of a running start as Branch. Even with one, she'd need a little more oomph. She looked around and saw a pole sitting horizontally above her, where Fuzzbert's leaf nest sat. Lighting up with an idea, Poppy moved to the edge of the rock and hopped forward as fast as she could. She used one of her crutches to pole vault off the edge of the rock. Then she stretched out her hair, farther than she ever tried before, and managed to loop her hair around the pole to swing herself over to the other rock. Her hair slipped before she could let go, and Branch used his hair to catch her and set her down gently. He retrieved her crutches and handed them to her.

"How was that?" Poppy asked nervously.

Branch chortled. "Very good." He turned to the Tank Trolls as they gathered around. "Let it be known: our new sister's nickname shall be…" He thought for a moment. "Princess!"

"Yay! Princess Poppy!" The Tank Trolls gathered around and hugged Poppy.

"Do you all have nicknames, too?" Poppy asked.

"Yes! Cute little names we earned during initiation." Suki said. "Mine's Headphones."

"My nickname is Namaste." Creek added.

"Glitter Bomb!" Guy Diamond cheered.

"Muscles." Smidge said proudly.

"Blueberry." Biggie said with a wide smile.

"We're the Sewing Sisters." Satin and Chenille said simultaneously.

Fuzzbert made a garbled sound, which Smidge translated to, "Hairball."

"And Branch is called Tyto." Creek said. "For obvious reasons." He glanced to Branch's owl home, and Poppy got the feeling 'Tyto' was a word that meant 'owl.' Seeing how owls were wise and strong, Poppy understood why Branch got that nickname.

"And you are our Princess, our precious little sister." Branch said to Poppy. "And we're not going to let Chef take you. In fact, no one is going to be taken. We're going to escape."

The Tank Trolls looked both hopeful and nervous. "Branch, really?" Biggie asked. "It's just that…well, your plans don't always work."

"But this time is different." Branch said. "Because we have her." He pointed to Poppy.

"What can I do?" Poppy asked.

"Let me show you." Branch led everyone to the side panel where the hole in the corner rested. "I've been chipping away at that hole for over a year, and now it's finally big enough and deep enough to get out. Now, you would think that means we can simply go down through the hole, into the cabinets below us, and waltz out the door. But, unfortunately, we have to deal with Lucifer."

Poppy gulped. Lucifer was the resident watchdog, who made sure nobody stole from the shop. Unfortunately, Lucifer was so good at her job that she'd also try to "rescue" any animal who escaped, which would result in that animal getting hurt by Lucifer's teeth. "So why the hole?"

Branch pointed down the counter. "See that power cord over there? That connects to the heater that keeps our enclosure at the proper temperature. It's been so hot outside that Gristle Sr. keeps the AC kicked on high, which means Gristle Jr. needs to keep this tank heated just enough to keep us from getting sick from the cold. There isn't enough light coming through the window to keep us warm, so he installed a heater for the tank. He only ever turns it off in the winter when his dad cranks up the heat in the shop. But if we can sever that cord that powers the heater, Gristle will have to replace it."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Creek said. The other Tank Trolls nodded in agreement.

"Now, this is what we're going to do." Branch said. "Poppy here is going to go out through that hole and through the cabinet. Then she'll climb/swing herself up to the counter, and she'll go over to the cord and cut it with this." Branch pulled a saw from his hair, carved from a metal grooming brush he found in the cabinet below them. "The handle is rubber, so the cord won't shock or electrocute you when you cut it. We'll do this on Friday morning, right before Gristle and his dad go on that weekend trip to visit some family. By the time they get back, the tank will be so cold that Gristle will have to replace the heater. When he does, he's going to take us out of the tank and put us into a wire cage, which is easier to break out of. We'll sneak out of the cage, go out the window, jump onto a passing horse carriage, and hitch a ride on the horse all the way back to the forest! It's foolproof!"

"It is a great plan." Satin admitted.

"With one exception." Chenille added. "Poppy."

"What about me?" Poppy asked.

"Well, no offense, but you're not very fast on those crutches." Guy Diamond said.

"Nonsense." Branch scoffed. "She can do it. We'll take the next couple days to teach her how to use her hair, too. She's small enough to fit in the hole, and she can carry the saw easily. Plus, she can climb onto her crutches to better reach the cord. What do you say, Princess? You up for it?"

Poppy didn't fully understand the danger, but she didn't care. This was her chance to go home. "Let's do it!"

A/N: Yeah, in a couple chapters, we're going to see how that won't work the first time. But does it make sense? Any other loopholes in the plan will be explained later.

Fun fact: the '114' in the address from the thermos is a reference to the day Trolls was released in theaters in the United States: 11/4, November 4.