The actual ride seemed uninteresting as John Dory held the steering wheel, looking back as Branch still wasn't talking to him. The youngest brother sat on the sofa with his girlfriend, JD was still comprehending that Branch was with Queen Barb. Poppy was still hitting him with questions about BroZone, which he answered as best he could before asking if he could be alone with his thoughts.
Poppy nodded, concluding that she was being too much as she walked to the sofa, sitting on the other side of Branch. JD watched the three through the rearview mirror before focusing on the road, his mind drifting off to a memory as he was driving on muscle memory.
It was many years ago and John Dory was 12, Back than BroZone was just him and 11-year-old Spruce; two preteens who started writing songs about their childhood crushes. John was tapping his pencil against his chin as he jotted down lyrics, handing the sheet to Spruce who nodded.
Even in the early days JD was the lead songwriter and upon reflection some of the song titles were pretty stupid but this was just something the two brothers did for fun. The two would perform their songs to applause from Trolls passing by but BroZone had no intentions of getting big.
Being the two oldest Brothers, they shared a room, as they were inseparable. the other two kids room belonged to a 9-year-old Clay and a 6-year-old Floyd. Spruce went over the lyrics, pointing out a mistake in the phrasing as JD rubbed his eraser over the text, making the change as he fixed the error, thanking Spruce for catching it.
"Kids, Breakfast" a voice called from the lower floor of the pod. as the sounds of footsteps rumbling down the stairs could be heard as the 4 kids, saw an adult troll, standing by a stove. he was a forest green with dark blue hair and a beard as the four boys sat at the table. This was Oaken, their father, who had taken care of the four after the death of their mother, Lake, which occurred four years ago.
Oaken handed out the bowls of food to his children as John smiled, picking up his spoon. this dish like most of what Oaken cooked, was from his mother's cookbook, which Rosiepuff gifted to Oaken upon him getting married to Lake. The kids loved the food as Oaken turned to JD and Spruce.
"Okay I want you two to make sure Floyd takes his Bath and gets his lunch while I head off to work, see you kids later" Oaken playfully waved as Clay jumped up, clinging to Oaken's leg. Oaken simply nodded, rubbing Clay's head, telling the green haired troll that of course he could come, as the Princess would be happy to see him.
The older Troll left with Clay as the two walked along the Tree, Clay talking about the book he was reading with Princess Viva as Oaken Chuckled, glad to see the two kids got along so well. since Oaken worked for the king, he felt it important for Peppy's Daughter to have a playmate and Clay filled that role.
Oaken knocked on the Royal pod as the door was opened by a youthful King Peppy, letting the two inside, Clay was instantly tackled by the blond Princess Viva, giggling at Clay as the two kids ran off, leaving the adults to talk.
Peppy was one to rely on Oaken for advice, not only was he the Royal advisor but also one of Peppy's oldest Friends. he asked Oaken for his thought on the festival as Oaken looked over the plans, skimming the King's writing.
"In all honesty I'd suggest adding more structure to the lights, last thing we want is one of those falling off and beaming someone. Peppy agreed making note of it, the two kept talking official business as a Troll just barged into the Royal, calling out for King Peppy. he seemed frantic but from what the two were able to put together, there was a crash at the base of the tree.
Of Course, the two went out to investigate. Oaken making sure the kids were busy playing as if there was an accident, they did not want the kids seeing it.
The Two dropped from the tree by their hair. At the source of the crash, some sort of bug smashed into the base of the tree and a Troll was lying face down. the mystery troll had dark purple skin, and blond hair but it as her clothing that seemed off, instead of the fabrics worn by the village, she was wearing denim shorts and a brown leather vest.
The Purple Trolls tried to stand up as a loud crunch was heard as she fell back to the ground, passing out. Peppy and Oaken looked at each other before examining this Troll. Peppy used his finger to open her eye lids, turning her over as the belt she wore was metal and shaped like a skull, this made him realize...what they had found was a Rock Troll.
"This is Bad Oaken, a Rock Troll has found their way here" Peppy commented, pulling Oaken into a whisper. The two talked about what to do with their 'friend' as Oaken looked at Peppy, pointing out this Troll needed medical attention, drawing Peppy's focus to her broken leg. Peppy's kind heart got the better of him as he allowed her to stay but the second, she was recovered she was out of the tree.
The Purple Troll's eyes jotted awake as she surveyed her surroundings, last thing she remembered was her beetle bike losing control and crashing. Now she was in a strange room, looking at her wrapped leg, held together by a brace. trying to get of the bed as she shrieked, falling on the floor. The door was opened by a Troll she had never seen before.
This Troll had green skin and dark blue hair. wearing brown pants and a brown and green vest, as he looked at her, with an emotion she could not describe, one that said he was cautious but wanted to help. she was quick to establish her dominance, demanding to know where she was, and who he was, among other things.
"I could ask you some questions to. from I know your transport crashed, you landed at the base of the tree. I brought you up and dressed your wounds" Oaken explained as Eclipsa looked at her leg, he gave her a second glance asking what a Rock Troll was doing so far away from Volcano Rock City".
It was the method of question that made Eclipsa realize something this Troll standing before her was a Pop Troll as she shambled to the corner of the room, reaching for the door.
"Stay away, you Stringsnatcher" Eclipsa called out, trying to crawl as her leg gave out. Oaken reached towards her as Eclipsa bit at him, digging her teeth into Oaken's arm. If Eclipsa could stand she could easily put the hurt on this Troll but the intense pain of her leg and the medicine, she was on was against her; That was how Oaken and Eclipsa meet.
John Dory parked Rhonda, looking at the forest Infront of them, which was too big to clear. He would have to leave Rhonda there and come back for her, probably after they had found Spruce as he opened the door.
"Okay everyone we're traveling the rest of the way on foot" John called out, pulling a machete off the wall, sliding it to his belt. The four Trolls left Rhonda as Branch looked at the map.
"We should be within walking distance, we'll just have to make our way, through this forest" Branch explained as the group walked along the jungle. John Dory, swinging his machete to clear a path through the vegetation. Poppy chatting it up with JD about how Branch used to be in BroZone, JD nodded, admitting how popular Bitty B was during his short involvement in the band.
JD told Poppy about how cute everyone thought the baby was, with his plastic glasses and his frosted tip as Poppy simply squealed at the thought, asking if what she heard was true, Branch, having frosted tips. JD added that there was also a period when he had a perm as Poppy was starting to think JD was punking with her, asking for proof as JD stuck the machete blade in the ground.
"Sure, just hold on" John Dory said digging through his wallet, finding a collection of pictures, JD flipped through them finding the picture he was looking for handing it to Poppy.
"OH, MY GAH, Baby Branch, is so CUTE" Poppy replied looking at the picture as Barb plucked it from Poppy's hand, looking at it before snorting. commenting on how adorable Branch looked as he gave the rock queen a glare that said 'you too' to her.
Barb turned to Dory, asking if he had any copies of that photo, feeling that Eclipsa would love a copy.
"Sure, a got bunch, though we had to draw the line when Branch tried to frost his perm" JD explained picking up his machete and continuing to clear a path as the two girls seemed to laugh, which Branch grumbled at. he was just a baby at the time and Frosted tips were in style and after a while he got the group to drop the topic of hair.
Branch did this by asking John Dory what Spruce was like, claiming he did not remember much about his brothers. this succeeded in getting JD to change topics to Spruce. according to JD Spruce was his best friend growing up.
"We started Brozone Together, just two kids writing songs about our crushes he was a Heartthrob even back then, almost every girl wanted to date him, and some guys. Of course, he'd tell them he wasn't interested in a Long-Term relationship, most of his flings, lasted about a week, then on to the next one.
JD also admitted that Spruce was good cook, back in the early days, their dad was always working so Spruce had to cook for the family. Even when their grandmother visited and would prepare dinner, Spruce was in the kitchen with her, helping out.
"He always said cooking was therapeutic" JD explained as Branch started feeling uncomfortable when JD started bringing up their grandmother; Barb noticed this, asking JD the change the topic which he did.
"Branch, you don't know how lucky you are, not one but four siblings, do you know what I give to have older sibling, a sibling is like a best friend given to you a birth, we would do so many things together" Poppy explained going on about her ideal brother/sister as branch groaned.
"Tell you what Poppy, you can have mine" Branch replied sarcastically, reinforcing the 'Ex' in 'Ex-Brothers' as Barb comforted him, reminding him that she hasn't forgot about JD knocking out her guards.
the group continued walking as the green lush jungle turned to sand. John Dory pulling up his postcard, looking at the island in the distance and the postcard, it was a perfect match, meaning they were so close to Spruce.
(A/N: so, some backstory on Oaken and Eclipsa, I wanted to flesh out their characters and the past, so I decided to do that via flashbacks. also, some details on Spruce, since he and JD were the oldest, it made sense that they were in charge of the others. Also, Clay naturally has green hair)