At this point, I feel like I could've made this its own separate story lol.

Warning: These trolls are getting put through the wringer, both physically and emotionally.

…

Time continued to pass by without a familiar face in sight.

Seconds turned to minutes…

Minutes turned to hours…

They still tried to distract themselves as best they could.

Sunshine shouted playfully as her uncle chased after her. "Can't catch me, old man!"

John Dory mustered up just enough energy to gain on her, mainly out of spite. "Oh yeah," he said. His niece screamed as he scooped her into his arms and began rubbing his knuckles against the top of her head.

"Aah, no," she yelled, "not the noogies!"

"Yeah, see this," John Dory growled playfully, "This is what happens when you mess with the Noogie Monster!"

Sunshine managed to push his hand away with her hair and wriggle herself out of his grip. She fell to the ground in a fit of giggles, her uncle laughing along with her.

John Dory's laughter started to fade when he noticed that they had been out long enough for the sky to change colors. What was once a vibrant blue had faded into a pale lavender, which was now turning into a slowly darkening burnt orange. "Y'know, today has been fun," he said, "but we should really focus on finding home now."

Sunshine pouted, knowing he was right, but also not wanting the fun to end. Scanning the trees and finding the tallest one, she excitedly pointed to it and asked, "Do you think I'd be able to see the village from the top of that tree?"

JD followed her gaze to the tree and felt his stomach sink. It looked like its height surpassed all of the others by a long shot! Branch definitely wouldn't approve of her climbing a tree that tall; John Dory barely trusted himself to let her do it.

"Uh, you might end up climbing all the way to the moon with that tree," he said cautiously, "Let's see if we can't find another way to—"

He stopped when he realized that Sunshine was no longer standing next to him. He turned to see her already making a beeline for the tree. Quickly, he raced to catch up to her, grabbing her by the arm before she could start climbing. "Whoa, wait just a second, Sunny!" He wrapped his hair tightly around her waist, making sure it was securely tied and double-knotting it as an extra precaution. "There, that'll make it easier for me to catch you if you fall."

Sunshine hugged her uncle before beginning her ascent. John Dory wasn't usually the most cautious of trolls, but if he hadn't taken his niece's safety into account, Branch would never let him hear the end of it. He kept as close an eye on her as he could until she started to disappear from view. Hopefully, she'd be able to come back down as easily as she went up.

By the time his hair felt like it had reached its limit, the sky had almost completely darkened. "Have you made it to the top yet, kiddo," John Dory called, "Do you see anything that looks like home?"

He felt a faint tug on his hair, assuming it was an indication that she could hear him. So either he was unable to hear her respond, or she wasn't responding at all.

"Sunny," he called louder, "you okay up there?"

He didn't recognize the sound she was making right away, but he let out a worried gasp when he realized she was hyperventilating. Whether from fear or lack of oxygen, he knew neither reason was good.

He started to angrily pace back and forth, muttering "I knew this was a bad idea. Why am I so stupid?

Go ahead and come back down, Sunshine. Hurry!"

His hair abruptly went slack as he saw a little yellow dot rapidly falling towards him. "Wait wait wait not that fast!"

The impact of the child crash landing into his arms knocked him to the ground. She was crying, shaking, and breathing heavily, clinging onto his jacket for dear life.

John Dory wrapped his arms tightly around his niece, shushing her and whispering apologies. She was just a kid; she had no business climbing a tree that high. They were lucky a panic attack was the worst thing that came from it, he assumed.

"Shh, it's okay, Uncle John's got you," he whispered, doing his best to calm her down. "Breathe, sweetie. In through your nose, out through your mouth. There you go."

Even though he managed to get her to slow her breathing, he still felt guilty. "Are you afraid of heights, Sunny?"

Sunshine shook her head and pointed up at the sky, keeping her face buried in his jacket. He could just barely see a sliver of dark gray peeking through the trees, and he heard a soft rumble of thunder.

"Oh," he gasped knowingly.

Having started her life trapped alone in the middle of a thunderstorm, Sunshine was terrified every time the weather took a dark turn ever since. She began looking around for some form of shelter, not wanting to be stuck outside when the rain started. She looked over her uncle's shoulder and saw a large cave.

John Dory released his grip on Sunshine, watching as she ran towards the cave entrance in her panic. Alarm bells started going off in his head when he saw something move inside it.

"Wait," he shouted, rushing to stop her, "Don't go in there!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked towards her uncle with an incredulous expression. "Why not?"

He quickly ran to her side and picked up a large rock. "Stay back," he said, his niece holding onto his arm in a vice grip. He tossed the rock into the air before hurling it into the cave.

Sunshine screamed when the cave snapped shut around it, revealing itself to be the gaping maw of a giant creature with sharp stalactites and stalagmites of teeth. The movement turned out to be its massive tongue, waiting to make the trolls its prey.

"That's why," John Dory replied, luckily spotting his trusty steed not too far from them. "Don't worry. Rhonda's completely waterproof," he assured her, "she'll keep you safe and dry."

Even when they had made it safely inside the armadillo bus, Sunshine refused to let go of her uncle. She clung tightly to him like a koala, wincing every time the thunder resounded.

"I'm scared, Uncle John," she whimpered. "I can't handle anymore adventure. I want my mom, I want my dad, I want to go home."

It broke John Dory's heart to see his niece in such a pitiful state. He situated himself in the driver's seat as best he could and gave Sunny's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, kiddo," he said, "I promise, I won't rest until I've gotten you home safely."

…

Unfortunately, that promise was easier said than done.

As they trekked further through the forest, the rainfall went straight from a trickle to a downpour. Even with the wipers on, John Dory's visibility was limited. He didn't want to end up causing an accident, but he didn't want to pull over and leave Sunshine in this scary situation any longer.

She had finally let go of her uncle, but she stayed right next to him and refused to let go of his hand. He didn't mind, though. As long as it made her feel better.

They both wondered what Branch was thinking right now. Of course, they knew he was worried about Sunshine, but did he worry at all about his brother? Or was he just compiling a list of all of the different ways he could kill him for putting his daughter in danger?

JD would have to find a way to make this up to him later. If he hadn't already gotten it from Grandma, he could probably give him her old Fluffleberry cake recipe. No, he could do better than that. He didn't know how, but he was sure he could come up with something better.

Sunny grabbed the back of his seat as he suddenly felt his heart drop and his head reel. He didn't know what had happened until he looked back and saw that his niece's feet were no longer touching the floor.

They had somehow found their way off the edge of a cliff! It had happened so fast it took a second for his mind to catch up, but he had apparently lost sight of the land until it was no longer underneath them.

He was so glad Rhonda was a quick thinker, feeling her jerk to a stop as she sank her teeth into a hanging tree branch. Sunshine was left dangling from John's seat in their now inverted position.

"Hold on tight girls," he shouted, making sure he kept a strong handle on the controls. He was determined to get them out of this mess before he could let it get worse.

He shouldn't have considered that last possibility.

"Uncle John," he heard Sunshine scream at the top of her lungs, "it's snapping!" Sure enough, he could hear the telltale sounds of the branch breaking.

"What are we gonna do," Sunny yelled, "I don't wanna fall! I don't wanna die!"

John tried to think of something, anything, that would guarantee their survival, but he was coming up empty. Sure, there was a cushion of water at the bottom of the chasm below, but while Rhonda was waterproof, she wasn't exactly buoyant. The rain wouldn't help matters, either, keeping the waters raging and likely to sweep them away before they could return to land.

They were going down, no matter what.

But he was determined to make sure she didn't go down without a fight.

"Sorry if this doesn't help, kiddo."

Sunshine looked at her uncle with confusion, wondering what he could possibly be doing that would help them.

Her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as he undid his seat belt and let himself fall back against the couch, pulling her into a bear hug on the way down.

He held her as close and as protectively as he could, ignoring her screaming directly in his ear and the rush of the air as they plunged to the ground. He hoped upon hope that she would make it through this without even a scratch.

If she didn't, at least he could say he tried.

…

It seemed like an eternity before they landed, but it felt like their environment had changed in the blink of an eye. One second John Dory was watching Rhonda's interior spin around them, the next he was staring at a stone wall and lying on an equally hard stone surface.

He grunted as he lifted himself back to his feet. He pressed his hand firmly against the wall, confirming that they were in a cave and not the belly of a beast. He wondered how long he had been knocked out, and how they had managed to get separated from Rhonda.

Wait. They…We…

There had been two of them in the accident.

He didn't see her when he woke up!

"Sunny," he called, running through the tunnels and trying to keep his fear in check. "Sunshine, where are you?!"

A faint cough drew his attention a few steps away from where he came to. He gasped when he saw the state his niece had ended up in. Her left arm and right leg were bent in a way that they were never meant to bend, there was a fresh purple bruise forming on her forehead, and he could have sworn he saw blood on her dress.

"Sunny," he said softly, resting her head in his lap, "Can you hear me?"

Sunshine moaned as she weakly slurred, "Uncle John," but her eyes remained shut. John was devastated that he had let her get this badly hurt. He had to get her out of here, and fast.

"Stay with me, kiddo," he said, carrying her gently as he walked through the tunnel, "I'm going to get us out of here, and I'm going to get you home. Just hang in there, okay?"

He was confident that he would be able to make this right. He was getting closer to the exit; he could feel it. Pretty soon, they'd be back in the village, and everything would be back to normal.

His optimism was crushed when he reached a dead end. It would have been their exit, had it not been blocked off by a landslide of boulders.

"No. No," he began to cry out, each one growing louder and more desperate as he punched and kicked at the barrier, "No no no!"

He knew it was no use crying for help; there had been no one for miles around the whole time they'd been out. He didn't know where Rhonda had ended up, or he'd find a way to rely on her.

He saw his vision blur and felt his eyes start to moisten with tears. "No, don't cry," he scolded himself, "John Dory doesn't cry. You're the adult, you're supposed to have a plan. You're supposed to know what you're doing. You're…"

He sank to the ground and held his unconscious niece close to his chest. Who was he kidding? There was nothing else he could do right now. Everything he had done so far had either taken them nowhere or made things worse.

He had no choice but to give up.

"I'm sorry, Sunshine," he sobbed, "I don't blame your dad for hating me for this. I'd hate me too if I were in his shoes. But I hope you know, I tried as hard as I could to keep you safe."

He wanted to tell her that everything was okay.

He wanted to tell her that he would find another way to save her.

But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. He couldn't make anymore promises knowing that he hadn't kept a single one all day.

He had tried to be the responsible uncle and big brother for once, but his recklessness still managed to seep through the cracks.

It was time to face the music. She wasn't going to make it. All because of him.

He had resigned himself to his failure, ready to accept that it was only a matter of time before she slipped away, when…

He heard a weird scratching sound from the other side of the exit.

"You sure this is where they are?"

"Hey, I learned a long time ago, never doubt Rhonda's instincts."

Those voices…

Relief and dread coursed through him at the sound of those voices.

And Rhonda had led them to him…

Having a vehicle with sentience really came in handy.

"John Dory! Sunshine! Are you in there?"

"Guys," John called back, "oh, thank God you're here! I thought for sure we were goners!"

"Yeah, yeah," he heard Branch reply angrily, "We can get back to family pleasantries after I wring your neck."

Well, JD figured his brother would be out for blood when they saw each other again, considering he made him go through hell and back for him and Sunshine. Maybe he should just let Branch beat him up and get it out of his system.

First things first, though, they had to be freed from their stone prison.

"Brace yourselves," he heard Bruce shout in the distance. Loud, plodding footsteps began to grow closer, the ground shaking as they approached. Suddenly, the barrier burst open, and John pulled Sunshine in closer, shielding her from the rocks and debris.

The trolls and Rhonda eyed the cave entrance expectantly, the armadillo bus shaking the dizziness from her head. "Are you guys okay," Floyd asked.

John Dory knew that there was no time to waste. He ignored his brothers' and Viva's horrified looks and remarks as he climbed inside Rhonda's mouth.

"John Dory, what have you done?!"

"I think she's bleeding!"

"Poppy, don't look!"

The worst reactions were saved for last. Poppy and Branch were waiting for them inside the bus, and John cringed as they gasped at the sight of their daughter's battered and wounded body.

"No, Sunshine," Branch yelled, taking her from his brother.

"My baby," Poppy shouted at the same time.

More and more guilt swept over John Dory as Sunshine's parents cried over her, Branch whispering a lullaby and Poppy caressing her cheek where her bruise was.

Once everyone had returned to the bus, Bruce hopped in the driver's seat and slammed on the gas. John sure was lucky they knew how to get back home from where they were. None of them could look him in the eye right now. The only one that was even facing his direction was Poppy.

He had expected Branch to be furious…

But none of them had ever seen Poppy so incensed before.