Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Trolls franchise, I just own Melody.
A mystic melody.
Poppy practically felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach when she heard what had happened.
Melody —her precious baby trolling— had gotten attacked by some monster! Her magenta eyes were bugging out of their sockets, her arms were shaking with fear, her knees were quivering, a thick layer of sweat thoroughly dampened her face and she felt like her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest. The instant someone was able to take over and take care of the trollings, Poppy practically ran straight to Branch's emergency bunker.
Where else would Branch take their child after such a terrifying event?
She had whipped her hair around and around in a loop until it propelled her into the air, whirling like a helicopter blade, until she finally came across the wooden slot that was the entrance to the bunker and she fell right on top of it.
Literally.
The queen face planted the ground until she came to her senses and pried the doors open, hopped down to the lift and let it carry her all the way down towards the small kitchen area where Melody was still sat on the counter with a little plaster on her arm as she was licking a spoon of icing. The second Poppy laid her eyes on her daughter, her heart threatened to burst out of her chest as she ran straight over to her in a frenzied panic.
She zipped around Melody in an unheard of speed.
"Melody! Are you alright? Is anything broken? Clampers told me that you were attacked by a monster!"
The queen fretted as she scooped up the small troll into her arms as she started to study her for any injuries that might have ended up on her.
Now, Poppy was nowhere near as paranoid as Branch. she was way more easy going actually! But if her small one had gotten hurt it made her heart gallop so fast that it might have broken break-neck-speed. She hated seeing her daughter get hurt yet she knew that it was all apart of life and injuries were bound to happen sooner or later...attacks by monsters, on the other hand, weren't on the list of common occurrences.
Melody looked at her mother with mild annoyance.
Hadn't she just gone through this?
"Mama, I'm perfectly fine. I just have a small cut."
Relief flooded over Poppy like a tidal wave and she hugged her daughter tighter.
But she noticed that her daughter had a slight...warmth about her when she touched her, she seemed hotter than normal but just by a touch; it was so minor that it didn't even seem worth acknowledging but...then again...there was something about it that pulled at Poppy's gut and it made her hair stand on end. She didn't know how or why but everything was setting alarm bells and she could tell something was wrong but, a strong part of her mind went into denial mode.
Nevertheless, she quirked her brow at her child as suspicious expression set itself on her face.
Melody caught it, though.
"I'm fine." She said again.
Poppy wanted to press her but if she insisted she was alright then who was she to question it?
The queen frowned.
"Y-You haven't been left on your own have you?"
Mel shook her head.
"Daddy left as soon as he heard you activate the lift. He said something about "needing to check his traps" and said to wait for you before giving me a spoon to lick and he told me not to move or leave the hidey hole."
Melody was taught to call Branch survival bunker the "hidey hole" because both Poppy and Branch had decided to wait until their daughter was a tad older to learn about the survival bunker and the purpose for them.
Poppy sighed.
Branch probably got worried about other monsters coming in and decided to check them to make sure the other trolls would be safe; she would have smirked were it not for the dire situation at hand —she knew that Branch would make a fantastic king.
"Ok. But do we need to see Dr Plum Plimsy?" She asked.
Poppy hated even suggesting that any young troll go to the doctors on their birthday but she didn't want to take any chances with her little one right now. She put a hand to her chest to calm her pounding heart as she conversed with the young periwinkle blue troll.
Melody shook her head.
"I talked to daddy about it and he said I could still go to the party but I need to sit down and not get too excited and we could go see Dr Plum tomorrow."
Poppy felt a measure of relief, if Branch had felt comfortable enough to let her go to her own party then it couldn't have been too serious. Of course she fully intended to keep her eyes open about the situation and talk to Branch later but for now...
The pink pop queen sighed and finally put her daughter down on her feet, knelt down on the ground in front of her, and just stared at her. Her gaze was rather intense and full of worry —it was such an unexpected and unusual look to find on the happiest and most positive pop troll of all. She leaned forwards and scrutinised Melody for a moment or so, as if she were looking for a blemish on her little face, and then finally smiled after that moment was up and her eyes softened.
Melody had to release a deep breath she had no idea she'd been withholding after seeing that smile curl on her mother's lips.
Poppy pushed herself to stand on her own two feet, rising up, and gently grabbed her daughter's little hand while her smile widened even further. Even though she still felt a twinge of worry, she was positively bursting with excitement as she asked the much smaller troll with a curt bow of the head.
"Are you ready, little sparkle?"
Mel nodded with a smile that spread from ear-to-ear.
"I'm ready, mama!"
Branch broke into a steady jog as he tried to reach the boarders of the pop troll village.
After hearing Poppy head down on the lift of his survival bunker, making sure Melody wasn't left unattended, he had decided to head out and check the other traps that he'd set for any other predators that should come a'sneaking. If a Moonstalker had managed to slip through the traps and attack the trollings, what else could have snuck through undetected?
His stomach twisted into a knot just thinking about it...
He shook his head.
He needed to focus.
He kept jogging at an even pace until he decided to get to higher ground and he stretched his azure blue hair up until its roots latched on to the branch of a tree that towered over him and, when his hair grabbed on to the thick twig, his body retracted and pulled the rest of him up to the branch that his hair had gripped. When his body was zipped up, he clambered on to the wood and scrambled on to the top of the thick tree branch.
After using his own hair as a grappling hook, the royal blue troll decided to resume his trek.
He carefully scaled the intense tangle of twigs and branches, making sure to keep his balance as he slid one foot in front of the other to avoid toppling over and possibly breaking his skull should he fall. He kept his back straight, his arms tucked in, his feet planted against the top of the tree tops he balanced upon and his eyes focused on what was in front of him.
But then he probably took a misstep that almost cost him dearly.
His droopy ears splayed back and his eyes widened as he abruptly came to a halt, the tree branch he was standing on trembled and shook beneath him. He almost wanted to grab on to something to give himself some assurance that he wasn't going to tumble down to the ground —but instead he oh so carefully planted his right foot forth, making absolutely sure the wood wouldn't tip beneath his weight, before he continued onwards.
Branch felt like his heart was two seconds away from imploding as he continued his venture through the trees and canopies that eventually led him to one of his traps which consisted of a large snare that was covered up (for the most part) by an abundance of leaves and foliage.
From what he could see, however, the trap had appeared to have been untriggered.
He frowned.
Nothing there.
Branch moved on a few trees more until he came across another trap.
Still nothing was even triggered.
Then he moved on to check the third trap, there was a creature in there that was struggling but it was a herbivorous creature that didn't really cause any of the trolls any harm. Branch took pity on the struggling monster that tried to break free of the net and used a sharp pointy stick that he carried with him (just encase) and proceeded to use the edge of the pointy stick to slice into the netting. He went around untangling the netting while he kept speaking to the struggling beast in one of his most soothing voices.
Branch tried to soothe the squirmish creature, as he spoke with a calming whisper.
"Easy, easy boy. I'm not gonna hurt you. Shhhh. I'm gonna get you out. Hang on. Good boy...easy does it."
Eventually the creature was cut loose.
Branch stepped back and he watched it with great relief, he was a lover of animals and knew how to handle them but he tried not to let too many other trolls see it. He didn't want to be seen as a big softy...even if he was the husband of the most delightful trolls of all trolldom and the father to the second most sweetest and delightful trolls in all of trolldom.
"There you go. You're free." He smiled.
The beast gave the king of the pop trolls a long huff through its nostrils before turning and rushing away.
Branch watched but he frowned.
He couldn't find any sign of the traps being tripped so that gave him the reassurance that none other monsters or predators had tried to sneak in...but that made him start to ponder on how in the world did that Moonstalker get passed the traps if they weren't triggered? How did it evade all the countermeasures he had made to keep the other trolls safe?
He scratched the top of his head with a perplexed look etched on his face.
He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and hung his head low.
He'd think about the how's and why's later.
He just needed to hasten this process and get to Melody's party.
Later that night...
Melody was sat on the edge of a small mushroom while all the troll leaders came to present the small princess of pop a birthday gift. She was so excited that she was quite literally on the edge of her seat as she bounced up and down with pure excitement, but she tried not to get too carried away; she recalled what she had agreed with her father.
The trolls all danced around excitedly while witnessing the gifts Melody was being given.
Mayor Delta Dawn of the Country trolls clapped her hands once in delight as she stared down at the trolling.
"Awww, what a sweet lil' dumplin!" The leader of the country trolls crooned.
Melody smiled earnestly at the compliment and shuffled on the edge of her seat.
Delta smiled warmly as she stooped down, folding her front hooves inward so she could kneel down and bestow the gift that she was going to give the little pop princess; she had a smile as sweet as honey as she handed over a small wooden gift box tied with some spider string.
Mel hardly hesitated before opening the gift and seeing a small very-well-made wooden carving of a pony.
Melody's eyes sparkled excitedly as she beheld the wooden sculpture.
"One of m'ah mastahpieces that ah' like t' make when ah' have sum' spare time." Delta explained simply but proudly. "Ah' hope it's to yer likin'."
Melody chirped merrily and excitedly.
"It is! Thank you, mayor Delta!"
Delta patted her atop the head, her smile getting bigger and bigger by the second.
"Aw, shucks, think nothin' of it."
Delta Dawn backed off a bit to allow the king and queen of the Funk trolls access to the small pop princess.
Queen Essence and King Quincy both wore their share of kind smiles.
"She is the sweetest lil' small fry I ever did see..." Essence cooed as she craned her long neck to lean down towards the baby pop trolling. She planted several kisses of affection on the small trolls cheek, staining them blue. Mel giggled delightedly as she tried to move away from the llama-like funk troll queen's affectionate kisses that sort of reminded her of an aunt or a grandmothers kisses.
Quincy smiled an equally soft smile.
"That she is, Essie." He agreed with his wife. "How is the birthday gal anyway?"
Melody was still receiving a bunch of kisses from the queen of funk and she answered the king's question through a flurry of giggles.
"I-I'm okay, thank you!"
Queen Essence finally stopped kissing the small troll but she did notice the bandage wrapped around her small arm; she thought of Mel as a granddaughter of sorts so she felt instant concern when she saw that the small periwinkle blue trolling had possibly injured herself and she frowned with caring eyes directed at Mel.
"Dear, are you alright? What happened to your arm?"
Melody wanted to scream internally. How many times was she going to go through this conversation? Did she really have to tell every troll about the stupid cut she received because a predator had decided to try and turn her into a little snack? She wanted to rub her temples to outwardly show her annoyance but decided against it since she knew that the question came from a place of concern and care.
"O-Oh, it's nothing. It's just a cut."
The two llama-like troll rulers looked to one another with sceptical expressions, clearly showing that they weren't buying it but then they decided to change the subject. The two rulers along with Cooper and Prince D stepped up and Quincy handed the princess a small wrapped up gift.
"Anyway, this is from us, Cooper and Darnell. Happy birthday, Melody!" Quincy said.
Mel tore into the wrapping paper and smiled when she beheld what the paper revealed.
"Ohhhh, a new hat!" Melody lofted up her new hat to show everyone. It was a hot pink beanie hat that had a purple flower sewn and stitched into the material; it was supremely soft and it looked cool too. She reached up and pulled it over her head, making sure her inherently long and poofy violet fuzz of hair fit in.
"Thank you!"
Everyone "oohed" and "ahhhed" at the hat as it did look quite nice on Melody.
King Trollex stepped forwards next.
He approached softly as he rubbed Melody's violet hair fuzz (even though it was hidden beneath her new hat) and grinned warmly at her.
"Hey there, lil' Melody." He smirked. "Are ya enjoying your party?"
Melody nodded with a small smile.
"Uh-Huh!
The king of the techno trolls reached behind his back and presented to her a small piece of underwater coral that pulsated with this sort of techno beat. The coral also looked to be not only translucent but illuminant too as it glowed with a bright green colouration in the slight hint of shade that was present in the room.
Melody gasped in awe and wonderment at the pulsating coral and couldn't help but bop her head in time with it.
"Ohhhh, thank you very much, king Trollex!" She squeaked excitedly.
The young princess would have gotten up to hug the king of the techno trolls but decided against it as she wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to because of her father's strict orders. The techno troll king noticed, though, and was more than happy to wrap his arms around her to hug her instead.
Trollex chuckled. He unfurled his arms and backed off, flapping his fins to reverse himself and went to gather with the rest of the leaders; he was thrilled to join up with the other leaders.
"You're welcome, Mel-Mel." The leader of the techno trolls said.
It as time for the king/conductor/maestro of the Classical orchestra trolls, Trollzart, to give his gift.
"Oh what a beautiful party for a lovely young princess!" The conductor chimed as he fluttered up to Melody. He bowed politely, his little golden-framed butterfly wings flittering away as he hovered in front of the small troll princess of pop.
Melody just smiled as much as possible in an attempt to show her appreciation but she did feel like her personal bubble was being invaded.
Heedless of this, the cherub-like conductor's chubby cheeks bunched up as he presented his gift.
He said proudly. "Here you go, little sweetling."
Melody reached up and gently took it from Trollzart's grasp and proceeded to examine it in order to determine what it was. It appeared to be a tuft of cloud that had a unique golden radiance to it, it was soft and fluffy like a regular puff of cumulus but there was something about it that Melody didn't know how to describe —she even looked up at her mother whom just shrugged helplessly.
The young princess trolling looked back down at the golden/yellow cloud but, within instants, the cloud dissipated and a small golden flute was left in its place.
Melody gasped incredulously.
A flute!
She didn't mind getting a flute, heck, it was cool that she now had her very own instrument —like her mother with her cowbell— but she wasn't expecting a flute to be the instrument of her. It wasn't her first choice but she was still grateful to have received an instrument (especially a flute) on its own.
Besides, she had learned how to be polite and be appreciative as she wanted to be a good princess.
She bowed her head respectfully.
"Thank you, Trollzart."
"Excellent! You are very welcome, precious." He fluttered aside to let Queen Barb and her family through. The queen of rock was last on the group of leaders and she stepped forwards with Riff and little Ozzie by her side.
She had a slightly timid but crooked grin on her face as she glanced down at little Ozzie and gently (yet abruptly) nudged the little one towards the birthday girl. Melody's eyes went big with surprise as she watched the young rock troll cautiously step forth and present a flower to her that he'd probably picked earlier that day. She took note of the small rock prince's sour expression and the fact that he was scuffing the ground with his foot, he looked as though he had bitten into the worlds most sour lemon.
Mel's eyes widened with delight as she accepted the flower and she chirped.
"Aww, it's a lovely flower Ozzie!"
Before anyone could really react, Melody leaned forwards and pecked Ozzie's cheek.
It was an innocent little kiss, sweet and short, and it was one that made everyone feel their hearts swell to the size of grapefruits upon witnessing it —however it appeared that the recipient of said kiss didn't exactly appreciate the gesture and was outright horrified by it.
Ozzie's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped to the ground.
"AGH!" The three-year-old rock troll stepped back quickly after receiving the kiss and he cried while furiously wiping at his cheek with a closed knuckle. "YUCKY!"
The small troll's reaction prompted an amused chorus of resounding laughter from everyone present as they watch little Ozzie run around while trying furiously to remove any remnants of that little innocent kiss. He was roaring and stomping around the place while shouting things about "cooties" and how "kisses were absolutely gross".
In the meantime, Poppy stood off to the side as she stifled a giggle.
She was so glad that Branch didn't see that or else the small rock trolling prince would have a sharp pointy stick possibly impale him in his near future. The thought of Branch overreacting did make her smile but she also dreaded having to talk to her fiercely over-protective husband about how Melody will probably end up bringing boys home very soon when she got a bit older.
Barb stifled a snigger, knelt down in front of Melody and presented a small spiked bracelet to her.
Melody's eyes widened with panic.
Barb caught the youngling's panicked expression and decided to reassure her before she became a miniature version of her paranoid dad and had a full on fit of hysterics.
"Woah! Chill, lil' Dudette. The spikes are just plastic." Barb assured her in the most calming voice she could muster.
Mel calmed down instantly after hearing that and was more than happy to slip her new rock bracelet on to her wrist, making sure it didn't overlap with her Hug time bracelet. Her eyes were glued to the new accessory and she was sure that she couldn't have been happier with how her birthday was going so far. She wore a smile that was so big it could have split her face in half.
"Thank you very much, Aunty Queen Barb!" She beamed as she lurched forwards and hugged the queen of the rock trolls.
Barb, admittedly felt a bit uncomfortable with the display of affection, but she sucked it up and reluctantly hugged the small trolling she considered to be a niece back. A small sincere yet heartfelt smile spread across her lips as she hugged Mel for a lengthy few moments.
Eventually she set Melody down.
Poppy knelt alongside her daughter and put her hand on her small shoulder with a huge smile. She could see the brilliant glow of excitement pulsate inside her daughter's eyes —those same eyes that matched her own to a point where it was ominous— and she was happy about it but she noticed that Melody felt a bit warmer than before.
The queen felt a twinge of disconcert in wake of her baby's temperature increase.
She shook it off, though.
Surely she must have been imagining it.
Melody must have noticed the worry on her mother's face as she smiled at her softly while she tried to reassure her. Mel fought back the urge to roll her eyes whilst she said for what felt like the umpteenth time.
"Mama, I'm totally fine."
Poppy still wasn't completely convinced but, if her daughter was sure about this...
The queen of pop glanced around at the pod filled with a multitude of trolls, taking in how all the different tribes were getting along extremely well, this was the spirit of the Troll festival of harmony; a time where all the tribes came together and had the time of their lives together.
Poppy grabbed her daughter's hand before announcing as loud as she could.
"OKAY, LETS GET THIS PAR-TAY STARTED!"
"I gotta feeling!" Poppy started to sing.
"That tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good, good night."
The snack pack followed their queen/friend's lead and started to sing along with their queen —Biggie, Legsly, Satin and Chenile, Guy and Tiny Diamonds, Smidge, DJ Suki and even Cooper all sang in perfect harmony as they danced along to the song they were singing.
"A feeling, woohoo, that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good, good night."
King Trollex with Techno Beat Drop Button (Or T.B.D.B for short) spun around as the king of the techno trolls whirled about the party place —he narrowed his lime green eyes in determination while flapping his fins to give himself some momentum while he performed a midair kick flip...but with fins instead of feet.
"Tonight's the night, let's live it up, I got my money, let's spend it up. Go out and smash it! Like oh my gosh. Jump off that sofa, let's kick it off!" King Trollex held T.B.D.B close to him as the latter pulsated to the beat that was being created by Poppy and the other trolls, their pixelated groove spread throughout the techno trolls (and some of the other non-techno trolls). He was caught by surprise, though, when DJ Suki sang the next part with Poppy and Legsly by her side.
"I know that we'll have a ball, If we get down and go out and just lose it all. I feel stressed out, I wanna let it go! Let's go way out spaced out and losing all control!" Prince D popped up for a sec.
"Chi-chi-chi-chi!" Once Prince D had left momentarily, Tiny Diamond with Guy Diamond both sang (or rather rapped) together. Tiny was being balanced on his father's hip while Guy used his auto tune voice to do an even cooler duet with his son; the two glitter pop/hip-hop trolls clapped their hands and stomped their feet.
"Fill up my cup, do this stuff. Look at her dancing, just shake it off! Let's paint the town, we'll shut it down. Let's burn the roof, and then we'll do it again."
Prince D came back and bopped his head, he swayed his body from side-to-side while Biggie and Mr Dinkles came over and sang right along with him.
"Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it And do it and do it, let's live it up And do it and do it and do it, do it, do it Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it."
"'Cause I gotta feeling, woohoo..." Practically every troll joined in at this point as they raised their heads and sang along with the queen of pop, each and every one of their voices intermingling with hers. Poppy felt her heart swell with both joy of having been witness to such harmony and of being the one who helped make all of this happen.
Hearing everyone's voices unified like this made her feel so happy that she could have just cried.
"That tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good, good night." Poppy, Queen Essence, Delta Dawn and Barb all sang this verse as they all sung in a mesmerising harmony; they clapped their hands as they moved their bodies and swayed along to the music —their hearts aglow with joy and happiness that could not be truly described.
"A feeling, woohoo, that tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good, good night..." The queens all looked over to Cooper and Prince D whom rapped the next bit of the song.
Prince D stomped one of his front right legs rhythmically while Cooper backed him up.
"Tonight's the night-"
"Hey!"
"Let's live it up-"
"Let's live it up!"
"I got my money-"
"Heeey..."
"Let's spend it up-"
"Let's spend it up!"
"Go out and smash it-"
"Smash it!"
"Like oh my gosh-"
"Like oh my gosh!"
"Jump off that sofa-"
"Come on!"
"Let's get it on!"
"Fill up my cup-"
"Drink!"
"Do this stuff-"
"Fine!"
"Look at her dancing-"
"Move it, move it."
"Just take it off!"
"Let's paint the town-"
"Paint the town!"
"We'll shut it down-"
"Let's shut it down..."
"Let's burn the roof-"
"WHOO!"
"-And then we'll do it again."
Prince D, Cooper, King Quincy, Riff and King Trollex all bounced up and down to the beat as they simultaneously sang along to this part with Guy Diamond assisting thanks to his auto tune vocals. The two funk troll princes and king, the king of rock, the Techno troll king and the glittery pop troll all harmonised as they kept on bouncing themselves up and down.
"Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, and do it and do it, let's live it up. Do it and do it and do it, do it, do it Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, do it, do it, do it..."
King Trollex and DJ Suki both sang the next verse as they stood back-to-back with each other, Suki taking the opportunity to rub at her scratch records that played on her turntable and Trollex providing assistance by weaving in some techno.
"Here we come, here we go, we gotta rock! Easy come, easy go, now we on top! Feel the shot, body rock, rock it, don't stop! Round and round, up and down, around the clock!" Barb strummed a rock guitar while Riff grabbed a pair of drumsticks and managed to somehow assemble some rock and roll drums and they both sang their verse; while they weren't harmonising as well as the others, the two rock trolls smirked at one another as they sang with a tight swing in both of their voices.
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Friday, Saturday, Saturday to Sunday. Get, get, get, get, get with us, you know what we say, say, party every day, p-p-p-party every day!" Everyone sang all together now as they danced along to the song, stomping their feet/hooves/fins on the ground and cheering while they all sung simultaneously in a full on choir of sorts but each troll made sure to their own individual flare of music preferences and genre while they sang and danced too.
"I gotta feelin', woohoo, that tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good night That tonight's gonna be a good, good night."
"A feelin', woohoo!"
Everyone quietened down as little Melody sang as loud but as gently as she could. The Pop troll princess sang the last verse, her voice soft but angelic as she clasped her hands, closed her eyes and lifted her head. Her singing was beautiful and it was clear that she was definitely Poppy's daughter since her singing —even though she was still young— was crystal clear and pure. Her voice was so beautiful it made everyone's hearts melt into a puddle of goo.
"That tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good night, That tonight's gonna be a good, good night."
The small periwinkle blue troll with the pink spot on her eye finished the song with a hint of pride very much present on her face...she felt so happy that it was indescribable and every single troll in the room noticed how she shined as bright as a star twinkle in the night sky.
"...woohoo."
Melody's smile somehow broadened when her singing was met with a huge round of applause. She relished in all the love she was receiving and she couldn't have felt happier; she felt like the luckiest trolling in the world right now.
Her smile dropped when she was suddenly stricken with this odd sensation.
Her eyes went wide and shrunk, her ears drooped, she felt this numbness as all the sensation seemed to have been sucked right out of her. The princess of the pop trolls felt her skin crawl and her heart dropped from her chest and fell into the pit of her stomach.
The jovial party atmosphere had been sucked right out of the area, the joy and good natured cheer had been replaced by this intense sense of dread and shock. The air had this electrifying fear set in when they had noticed something was not right...not right at all.
The music had even come to a dead halt.
All eyes fell on the princess who didn't look right as she staggered around.
Melody trembled, her body felt numb and her legs hurt so much.
The small troll's head was fuzzy and her blackened vision somehow became even darker.
Her eyes which were normally usually full of life had been glazed over and crystallised like gems, her legs trembled and quivered as she swayed back and forth as she stood upright. Then, without warning, her small knees gave up and caved in as she fell to the ground.
Poppy came rushing over and caught her baby just before she could fall to the ground and hurt herself.
"M-Melody!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs.
It wasn't just Poppy whom was deathly afraid right now, several of the other trolls had rushed over and surrounded both the queen and their small princess quicker than anything with concerned expressions on their very own faces. They all frowned as they spoke in loud yet hushed murmurs about what could possibly be going on, Poppy drowned them out as her entire focus was on her unconscious daughter who lay limp in her sheltering embrace.
Biggie came forwards, Mr. Dinkles cradled in his arms, a look of deep concern on his face; the small yellow and green glow worm mewed and snuggled up as he rested in the loving arms of his owner whose head had hung as low as the dirt under their feet.
"P-Poppy!" He cried, "Is she okay? Is she sick? This doesn't look good!"
Poppy's eyes watered.
No, she didn't look good but, while Mel may have had a slight fever before, she had seemed okay otherwise!
"S-S-She'll be fine! Just please! G-Get the nearest physician you can find! Now!" She ordered as she pointed at a small group consisting of Cooper, Guy Diamond and Biggie and Mr. Dinkles, a tremor of fear anchored in her voice as she ordered them with the purest of urgency on her face.
No one even hesitated as they all rushed off to find someone —anyone— who could possibly help them in a time like this.
Poppy closed her eyes as they started to water.
Her ears drooped sadly and her lower lip quivered in upset, she could feel this oppression inside her heart and it just didn't feel right inside of her. She knew in her heart that Branch's intuition from earlier might have been correct but she really wanted the blue troll to be incorrect, she desperately wanted him to be wrong on the matter because she didn't want to face the fact that that affliction had taken a hold of her family.
Branch knew his way around predators but he just had to be wrong!
Speaking of whom...
Her ears perked when she heard quick footsteps from behind her, quick footsteps that she easily recognised. Her eyes teary, she glanced over her shoulder to have a look at her husband whose shoulders heaved with each pant of breath he took as he doubled over to touch his knees and tried to catch his breath after presumably running so fast.
"Poppy! What happened?!" Branch asked as he recovered from his previous exhaustion and rushed to the pink troll's side, his body trembling with terror for the fallen child laying in his wife's arms.
Poppy was just as panicked as her husband was as she examined her daughter.
Melody's cheeks were a blazing red colour and her breathing had become shallow and wheezy, although she was laying in her arms Poppy could feel that her daughter's spine had stiffened and become hard and recumbent. Sweeping Melody's fluffy violet hair out of her flitting eyes, the Troll queen of pop had realised that her beautiful little baby was completely soaked with sweat and she was burning so hot that she might as well as become a scalding fire.
The tiny troll was listless.
Looking back up at Branch, Poppy cried out. "I don't know! Sh-She just keeled over!"
Branch looked down at the unconscious child in Poppy's arms in terror and he gently but swiftly place the back of his hand against her forehead. His eyes widened. She actually was scorching hot! The azure blue blue troll yelled, his voice trembling almost as much as his whole body was.
He didn't know what to do.
"Mel! Please wake up! MELODY!"
A/N: Okay, this HAS to be one of the longest chapters I have ever written.
We finally get the big moment where things go wrong. What will happen with Melody? Will Mel's diagnosis be? Was it really her being poisoned? Will this be the beginning of a new adventure? What will come of this?
The song is "I gotta feeling" by the Black eyed peas.
-Chloemcg