Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Trolls franchise, I just own Melody.
A mystic melody.
The next morning everyone was joyous especially with Melody's birthday party and the Troll festival of harmony underway.
Nobody could contain their excitement, especially as not only did the other young trollings come to spend time with the birthday girl but the tribe leaders had also come to visit. Melody and some of the other trollings had decided to play with the birthday girl while Poppy and the rest of the pop trolls, with the assistance with the other troll leaders, got the party ready.
The snack pack were getting refreshments ready and setting tables, some of the pop troll adults were doing their part in not only preparing for Melody's birthday but also for the Troll festival of harmony and a few members of each different type troll had decided to come and celebrate the two occasions. The children, including the birthday girl herself, went off to play somewhere with Clampers (Mayor Delta's niece and next in line to become mayor of the Country trolls).
Poppy, King Trollex, Maestro Trollzart, King Quincy and Queen Essence (who had both brought Cooper and Prince D along), Delta Dawn and Barb decided to convene with one another before the big party.
Poppy had decided to take a break as she chatted happily with Barb, who was more than happy to converse...unfortunately, however, there was one small trolling who was not only causing stress for Barb but was also mayhem on the set up, decoration and other things.
"Ah! Ozzie! Come back here!" Barb cried, her eyes wide with panic.
Poppy just sat back and watched with amusement.
She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that the queen of hard rock trolls —the troll who wanted to unite the trolls and turn them into rock zombies— would practically become a frantic mother whose anxieties could easily rival Branch's.
The pink pop troll watched as the little red-gray troll prince of rock ran off from his mother while ducking and diving under the nearest pieces of furniture that was scattered around the place. Heck, in his attempts to cause mischief, Ozzie got close to knocking over a table full of party snacks and decorations.
Barb went to go and admonish her son but Poppy intervened before she could.
The queen of pop went over, bent down, grabbed little Ozzie by the feet and lifted him up into the air whilst quirking a brow at him; as she stared into the stunned-looking rock trolling's face she was briefly reminded of Melody when she was that age.
Ozzie gave a cry of annoyance of having been halted from his mini rampage.
Luckily, Poppy knew how to deal with troublesome three-year-olds.
"Listen, Ozzie… I know that you wanna have fun, but you should never do it in a way that could hurt others. I know you don't mean any harm but you're really hurting your mother's feelings by disobeying her. You don't wanna hurt your mummy's feelings, do you?"
Ozzie looked mortified as he seemed to take his mother's feelings into consideration.
"B-Buh I...I din' mean to...!" He cried out.
Poppy's stern expression melted
"I know you didn't, sweetheart, but you gotta be mindful sometimes. Your mama wants what's best for you and when you be bad it hurts her feelings. Why don't you try and be a good boy for her? Can you do that?"
Ozzie seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before he smiled timidly up at Poppy and nodded.
Barb watched the whole exchange in shock.
The way she spoke to her boy...that sternness but care present in her voice...that softness on her face; Barb couldn't help but feel a tad inadequate as a mother and she felt her heart sunk with guilt —she tried her best but was struggling with the transition from married to having a child. Sure, she was a queen and was used to being around rock trollings but this was her child. How could Poppy get through to her son so easily while she struggled to get him to listen to her?
Was she...doing something wrong?
She hardly had the time to even think about any more since she watched as her son waddled up to her.
Ozzie approached his mother, head hung low, and he sighed.
"I...I sowwy mama..."
Barb smiled softly at her boy, knelt down to his level and playfully tussled his black and crimson spikes of har.
"It's cool, lil' dude. Just try an' be a rockin' good kid while at the other trolls. Ya dig?"
The three-year-old nodded.
Barb stuck her tongue out and proceeded to gently thrust her hand forwards while she stuck her index finger up, flexed both of her middle fingers down, raised her pinky up and tucked her thumb in. She gave her son her signature "rock on" hand gesture while Ozzie copied it.
Then she chuckled warmly and stroked her boy's small head, her eyes bright and warm.
"Atta boy. Maybe you can ask someone for a snack or whatever..."
"O-Okay, mama!"
With that, Ozzie ran off to hunt down someone to give him a snack of some sort.
Barb watched with a faint smile before she sighed internally. She didn't feel comfortable leaving her boy out of her sight quite yet because she thought that he was a bit too young to go anywhere without her nearby. But that didn't mean that she didn't feel a twinge of guilt for keeping her child isolated and possibly coming off as overprotective.
Sometimes she even wondered whether or not she was a bad mother...
She stood back up and wore a gloomy expression on her face as she contemplated on her darkened thoughts.
Poppy walked up to the queen of the rock trolls, had noticed and saw Barb's expression and smiled a compassionate yet reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Barb. You're still new at this so you'll get better..." She said.
Barb sent a side-eyed gaze to her fellow queen and couldn't fight back a sincere smile. Her heart continued to pound with this slight ache but she tried her best to ignore it; she had help and, while she didn't exactly see herself as the type to become a mother, she tried her best to adapt. She knew that she had help and it made her feel a bit better about her insecurities.
Poppy smiled gingerly.
"Barb, I will always be there to help you. You know that, right?"
The size of Barb's smile increased and she nodded.
Poppy glanced up to the sun and she realised what time it was, her face turning into one of shock due to how quickly the day was passing, and started to make her way to her old pod so she could prepare for one of her favourite times of day.
Barb noticed and asked after her.
"Hey! Where ya going?"
Poppy smiled back.
"It's time for me to get ready to read a story for the young ones!"
Meanwhile...
Melody and the other children played tag with one another just near the boarder of the village. Clampers —being the oldest of the group of younglings— trotted alongside them with her teeth chattering away as she galloped at a purposefully slow pace so the others could keep up.
"Hey, guys!" Melody called out. "Wait for me!"
Clampers skidded to a halt and turned to face the other younglings who all stopped upon seeing the older country troll with huge teeth stop.
"Hold yer horses." She could hear the younglings snicker after hearing her say that. "Gotta wait fer the birthday gal to catch up!"
The other youngsters obliged.
"'Okay, Clampers..." They groaned simultaneously.
Melody was breathless from all the running but she was still smiling as she caught up with the other young trollings; they all playfully pushed one another and giggled lightly as they played with one another.
"Sooo...what're ya wanting for your birthday?" A young Funk troll asked Melody.
Melody giggled, still panting, and replied "I don't know. Maybe a new toy or to sing a song with mama, there's a lot of stuff I want for my birthday!"
Clampers smirked down at the little princess of pop and couldn't fight back a warm chuckle.
She'd known Mel since she was really small and couldn't believe how many years it had been since she had chased down Branch, Poppy and their friend Biggie; she could recall her running so fast that her hooves were blazing, it seemed like only yesterday that her Aunty Delta had sic her on the runaway pop trolls, she was chasing them down as she and the other country trolls were in hot pursuit.
It was a memory that made her hooves burn at the mere recollection.
She was in such a thoughtful stupor that she hadn't realised how much time has passed until she heard one of the younglings pipe up. Clampers blinked for a moment as she remembered where she was.
"C'mon, Melody, it's almost time for your mum to start telling her daily story!" Said a young classical orchestra troll.
"Yeah!" A young techno troll added. "We don't wanna be late!"
The group of young trollings started to hasten back the way they came yet they all froze when they heard a sound.
It was a noise that made their blood run cold, a noise that send severe tremors up their small spines, a noise that made their respective hair (especially the young pop trolls in the group) quiver with trepidation and fright. The foliage around them started to quiver as a sense of ominous yet silent fury began to build in the ground itself, electrifying the air with a stifling atmosphere.
The small cluster of trollings simultaneously all turned around and looked up to find themselves staring into a pair of fiery red eyes.
The youngsters were paralysed with fear, too scared to really move.
What was this thing...?
It looked like some sort of ferocious monster...!
Clampers recovered from her momentary shock and narrowed her eyes determinedly as she opened her mouth let her teeth chatter away.
The young country troll proceeded to pull ahead of the pack before she bit down hard on the beasts foot, causing it to let out a fearsome roar of pain, and quickly lowered herself down to her haunches while the other younglings clambered on to her back and, at the same time, she gathered the young funk troll and a techno troll into her arms as she reared up and started to gallop away as fast as she could. The only exception was the lone orchestra troll who just fluttered hurriedly alongside her thanks to his little wings.
In her panic, however, Clampers hadn't noticed that Mel had not been able to climb on to her back in time.
Melody tried to keep up with the other trollings but she was much too slow, she didn't even watch where she was going until she accidentally tripped over a stray vine that was in her path.
She tumbled to the ground but thanks to the moss she had a somewhat soft landing.
She squealed with fright as she felt some large, white, fluffy fingers wrap themselves around her as she was lifted off the ground by whatever force had grasped her. Melody let out a gasp as she looked up into the fierce red eyes that paralysed her body from her head to her feet.
Her heart leapt up into her throat and she couldn't keep her bottom lip from quivering as the beast bared its gnarly sharp fangs at her as it hissed, it's wolf-like ears pointed and it had this look of cunning yet insatiable hunger.
The tiny pop troll princess noticed how its muzzle was wrinkled in vicious rage as it lowered its claw and furled its fingers around her tiny body and slowly lifted her so she was right in front of its mouth. The creature licked its lips and pressed its giant, slimy, bright red nose against its prey and started to sniff at her much like a curious dog would and then it licked its chops a second time and opened his mouth in preparation to inflict a deadly bite.
Melody cried out in pain when a fang had managed to knick her forearm.
Her eyes started watering from both pain and fear; she felt this strange warmth flow through her body the instant that ivory tip had pierced her arm and it made her feel a bit lightheaded. Nevertheless she never stopped shaking as she started to realise that she was probably going to die.
She closed her eyes and whimpered, steeling herself for the end...but then realised it never came. Her eyes flickered open just in time to see that the Moonstalker's maw snapped shut when it felt a tiny frying pan flying towards it and hitting its face. It honestly didn't hurt in the least but the object colliding with its long muzzle almost shocked it into letting go of its prey.
"Hey!"
The wolffish creature looked down to find a royal blue troll standing a fair yard away, scowling fiercely up at it with the most iciest of glares ever.
Melody almost fainted with relief but the tears cascading down her cheeks were huge and endless.
"D-D-DADDY!" She cried.
Melody, imbued by a sudden burst of courage, stretched her hair forwards and poked the eye of the monster. The Moonstalker gave a second roaring howl of pain as it winced from the small tufts of hair that just poked its eyeball, not even realising that it loosened its grip enough for Melody to quite literally slip through its fingers.
Melody was so stunned that she didn't even seem to have noticed that she had fallen.
Branch caught his daughter and cradled her stilled form in his arms, holding her like a baby as he held her tight.
The King of the pop trolls could feel how stiff his daughter's still body was as she sobbed quietly and clung to him in a death grip as though he were her lifeline. The empty look that was frozen with petrification made the royal blue troll's stomach wrench with sickening worry; he had never seen such a look ever worn on a trolls face before. Her eyes were wide in their sockets but her pupils were unfocused and empty but were overflowing with a stream of never ending tears.
Branch couldn't help but feel his heart break for his daughter as he tried to assure her that she was safe now and that he wasn't going to let that monster harm her. He quickly studied the small cut on Melody's arm that she got from the beast's fang and he started to speak in a gentle hushed voice while he carried the small troll.
"Shhh. It's alright, Melody, you're safe now. Daddy's here, daddy's got you..."
He looked up and gave the monster one of the harshest glares ever. He cuddled Melody closer to him in a protective manner and his whole face tightened with rage, his navy blue hair started to bristle and his posture stiffened as he stared down this beast that not only invaded his home but had hurt his baby girl.
NOBODY was going to get away with that.
He took a step back, glowering up at the monster who had taken to snarling down at the king of the pop trolls, extended his hair in a way that looked similar to what Melody had done a moment or so prior, and proceeded to toss it forwards in a lashing moment; his hair smacked against the Moonstalkers foot like a whip and the response was a bunch of predatory hissing.
Branch turned half of his body away, Melody still held fast and tight, and turned his back on to the monster but kept his gaze entirely focused on the moonstalker.
His brows knitted together and gathered like furious thunderheads, thus adding to his scowl.
The monster drew back, snapped it jaws and let out a fearsome screech as it's evil red eyes started trying to pierce through Branch's own protective scowl to intimidating him. Branch, however, tightened his hold on his baby girl and spared him with the most angriest scowl he ever wore in his entire life.
"Get out and never come back..." He said through tightly-gritted teeth, the tone of his voice was coated with frost and had a low and ominous air anchoring it.
The Moonstalker didn't cower in fear but it did give one last snap of its jaws before rearing back stomping away. It's giant steps caused the ground to vibrate beneath Branch's feet and it made him bounce a bit until the wolffish monster was completely out of sight. When the beast was gone, Branch immediately went into a panicked frenzy as he closely examined Melody's arm and had a closer look at the wound.
Melody, in the meantime, sniffled and sobbed.
The periwinkle trolling's mind kept rewinding to the fact that she almost died and those scary red eyes blazing into her very soul. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot and her ears were droopy; her lower lip quivered and the tears kept falling down her cheeks like waterfalls but she clung in tight to her father as if her life depended on it.
Branch's eyes softened.
"It's okay, I've got you...I'm here."
A small smile spread across his face as he made an attempt to lighten the mood.
"C'mon. Let's go home and get you a bandage for that cut, then we can see about getting you a little early birthday cake for you being so brave...that sound good?"
Melody stiffly nodded, a look of fear still frozen on her sweet little face.
A/N: Here's a new chapter, guys.
Melody receives her bite in this chapter but how will the party go? Will the party and the festival go to plan or will something bad happen? And Branch is the one who rescued her. What will happen in the next chapter?
Oh and I named Ozzie after Ozzie Osborne who voiced Barb's father, Thrash, and I thought it would be a good idea.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for more.
-Chloemcg