Branch liked the other styles and clans of trolls. It felt nice to be able to listen to music that had such a different feel than what he was used to. He still loved pop music down to his core, but sometimes it just couldn't quite reach and speak to his darker feelings. That was part of the reason why Branch had isolated himself from the other trolls. He didn't think any of them, with their happy melodies and cheerful hugs, could understand him.

Now there were other options out there, and Branch could always find music that his mood needed. If he was angry and couldn't find the words to express how he would feel, he would turn on some heavy rock, turn the sound up, and just let the sound reflect his mood. It actually helped, though Poppy didn't understand it. If he was feeling melancholy, country music had a lot more 'sad song' options than pop did.

Branch hadn't liked techno too much at first, but it grew on him. It actually helped him to ground himself when he was feeling lost and didn't really know who he was anymore. The beat of the music was something he could feel in his very soul, and it made him feel connected to those who could also feel it.

Branch liked to listen to classical music when he just wanted some quiet time to himself, but he didn't want silence. It was really relaxing to have some instrumentals to listen to when he read, did a puzzle, or did repairs around his bunker.

Branch still didn't really understand funk music. It wasn't bad to listen to, and he liked the vocals and beat to it, but it didn't speak to him the way it spoke to Cooper. But Branch listened to it solely because it meant so much to their friend and his family. Music was an important part of who trolls were. If you understood someone's music, you could understand who they were as a troll.

Branch liked learning about these different cultures and meeting the different clans. Things were definitely better now that they had found harmony with each other. However, there was still bad blood between the genres, and they had to be careful to not step on people's toes. It had taken time to figure out how to ask the rock and techno trolls to turn down the sound without implying that what they were listening to was just meaningless noise. Every troll was still learning that seemingly harmless words they might have used to describe other music could be offensive.

There was just a lot of stuff that still needed to be figured out, so when Poppy got a message from Queen Barb, saying that they needed to talk about something important for the sake of peace between their tribes, Branch had his guard up.

Poppy didn't understand why he felt defensive. She and Barb were friends now, and to her that meant there wasn't anything to worry about. For Branch, things weren't nearly that easy. Just because you could forgive someone for what they'd done in the past didn't mean that you had to forget the wrongs they had done in the first place. And it also didn't mean that they wouldn't do something wrong again.

So Branch insisted on joining Poppy when she went to the outskirts of Pop Village to greet the rock trolls and their angler bus. Branch understood that it was the mode of transportation for the rock trolls, but the intimidating looking creature didn't make him feel any better.

The angler bus opened its mouth and Barb stepped out. Poppy greeted her with a tight hug and a slight squeal of excitement. Barb looked awkward in the embrace, but she returned the hold. It wasn't that she didn't like it, she just wasn't used to it.

"Barb!" Poppy said just a little too loudly. "How are you?"

"I've been better." Barb pulled away from the embrace. She looked like she didn't really want to be there. "So, there's something kinda important I should probably talk to you about. I really don't think you're going to like it." Barb rubbed the back of her neck. "A part of me doesn't even want to say anything, because if you don't know, then you can't get mad, and then we won't start fighting again."

Poppy's eyes were serious as she took Barb's hands and held them tight. "I won't get mad. I promise." Branch didn't have as much confidence. He crossed his arms and glared at Barb. Something was seriously wrong.

"What did you do?" Branch nearly growled. Poppy sent him an exasperated look.

"Branch!" She reprimanded. Barb held up her hand.

"No, no, he's right." Barb said. "I did kinda do something. Something that probably wasn't the best. It was years ago, when I thought pop trolls were just controlling, manipulative liars who wanted everyone under their thumb. I did what I thought was best to protect my people, but now I see that it wasn't so good."

Branch's grip on his arms tightened. He was so stiff that it hurt. "What did you do?" He said again, putting emphasis on every word.

"Okay, I'm just going to get it out there." Barb took a deep breath. "Like, twelvish years ago we found a pop troll in our territory, and we've been…taking care of him ever since."

Poppy frowned slightly in confusion. "Taking care of? Like…Cooper?" Her first thought was that the rock trolls had adopted a pop troll and raised him in their ways. It wasn't the most horrible crime out there, but Branch didn't think that was it.

If Barb had said that they 'took care' of him, Branch would think that they had killed the pop troll and called it a day. But she had said that they were 'taking care' of him. That was different.

"Were you torturing a pop troll?" Branch asked. Poppy looked horrified at the implication, but Branch's eyes were only on Barb's reaction. She shrugged, and that was answer enough for Branch.

"I wouldn't say we tortured him." Barb said somewhat dismissively, but also defensively. She knew she had done something wrong, and she was trying to tell herself that it wasn't as bad as it probably had been. Branch seethed. "I mean, we left him alone for the most part."

Leaving someone alone could mean so many things. It could mean that you didn't bully or hurt them. It could mean you gave them some space. And it could mean that you isolated them and left them in solitude, which was an especially heinous torture for a social creature like a pop troll.

Poppy took a small step back from Barb. She finally seemed to recognize that something was wrong. "You…you didn't keep a pop troll prisoner, did you?"

Barb grimaced and tapped her fist against her thigh. "Yeah, I guess we did."

"For twelve years!?" Poppy was sounding kinda mad now. Good. She should be.

"...Yeah." Barb looked like a child who had gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She didn't seem to appreciate the gravity of what she had done. Branch was furious, but he forced himself not to yell at Barb, because he had another priority.

"Where is he?" Branch asked, almost warningly. Barb gestured behind her to the angler bus. Branch wasted no time in running inside to find the pop troll. He hoped to see him immediately, because the bright colors of pop should stand out against the dull hues of the rock trolls. When Branch didn't spot him immediately he had a pretty good idea as to why.

He scanned the trolls in the bus again. There weren't too many, and he recognized some of them as Barb's crew. Branch quickly found the troll that didn't fit in. Someone who was sitting on the ground, his hands pulling tightly at his ears, which were already fairly droopy. He was Gray, just like Branch had worried he would be.

Barb really had no idea what she had done, did she?

Branch glared at the rock trolls approaching the Gray troll in front of him. He was shaking and making a low keening sound from the back of his throat. Branch took a deep breath to try to calm his nerves and gently grabbed the other troll's hand. The Gray troll stiffened and the keening sound stopped immediately. He was frozen. Waiting.

"Hey, it's okay." Branch said as quietly and soothingly as he could. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a pop troll, just like you." The other troll was still for a long minute before he lifted his head a little and looked at Branch. His eyes were just as dull and gray as the rest of him. Branch's heart broke. He hadn't really looked in many mirrors when he'd been at his most Gray, but he didn't think he had been quite this bad.

Branch hadn't gone monochromatic. There had still been hints of blue in his skin, and even in his hair. This guy had nothing. Branch couldn't even tell if his original colors had been warm or cool colors. All he was now was Gray.

Though even as Branch looked at him, he saw a hint of color come back into the other troll's eyes. Not enough to tell what color it was supposed to be, but it was more than just Gray. The other troll looked at Branch with wide eyes, staring at him in disbelief. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but he bit his lip to keep his words back.

Branch wanted to encourage him to talk, but before he could say a word the other troll launched himself at him, embracing him in a hug that could rival one of Poppy's. The other troll bawled, crying so harshly that it made Branch's ears ring and his heart break. He just held onto the Gray troll, holding onto him. It didn't matter that Branch was a little uncomfortable with this hug. His discomfort wasn't anywhere near as important as comforting this troll.

Branch heard a groan of clear annoyance from one of the rock trolls. He snapped his head around so quickly to glare at them that he almost gave himself whiplash. The rock troll seemed to wither under his gaze.

"You got something to say?" Branch growled.

"How can you take his crying?" The rock troll asked. "It's grating."

The Gray troll shoved his face into Branch's chest in an attempt to stifle the sound of his crying. His wails turned into gasping breaths of somebody who was trying hard to quiet their tears, but couldn't. Branch knew the sound well, and it brought out a surge of protectiveness in him.

He tightened his grip on the Gray troll, both to protect him and to keep himself from lashing out and hurting the rock trolls.

"Maybe he wouldn't be crying if you guys hadn't kept him prisoner for half his life!" Branch shouted. He didn't actually know how old the Gray troll was, but he was small. Shorter than Branch. Most pop trolls were the same height and size when they came of age, with very little variables.

It was more than possible that this troll was just shorter than other trolls. While it was uncommon, it wasn't unheard of. And if he'd been locked up for so long, enduring who knew what treatment, that could have affected his size as well.

But Branch couldn't shake the possibility that this troll was short because he was young. What if he was just an adolescent, not quite having reached maturity? Had the rock trolls found and imprisoned a small child? Branch didn't know, and the uncertainty made him feel sick.

Branch wanted to give this Gray troll all the time he needed to cry and feel better, but he felt like if he did he would be here in this angler bus forever. This troll needed sunlight and nature. He needed to be away from the rock environment that he'd been stuck in for years.

Branch pulled away, still keeping a tight grip on the Gray troll. "Come on. Let's get you out of here." The Gray troll looked devastated when Branch wasn't hugging him anymore, but he seemed a little reassured when Branch still held onto him.

He walked the Gray troll to the exit, taking it slowly. Branch saw Poppy still talking to Barb. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but they both looked serious. While it was nice to see her taking responsibility, Branch didn't like seeing his girlfriend so upset. Even through this horrible situation, he wanted to see her smile. He wanted her to reassure him that there was still hope.

"Hey, Poppy." Branch said as cheerfully as he could. "I've found us a new friend."

Poppy looked towards them. Her eyes were sad, but when she gave them a small smile it was still sincere. She stepped towards them, putting a soft hand on the Gray troll's back. He just stared at her curiously. He still clung to Branch, but he slowly reached a hand out and towards Poppy's hair.

For trolls, hair was an almost sacred thing. It was practically a rule that you didn't touch someone else's hair without their consent. It was an intimate thing. Branch didn't know if he would feel comfortable with a stranger touching his hair, but Poppy was far more open than he was. She lowered her head slightly to give the Gray troll easier access. He ran his hand gently over her pink hair, and then brought it back to rub at his own Gray hair. Branch could practically feel the sadness coming off of him.

"Hey, it's okay." Poppy said comfortingly. "You'll get your colors back. I know it."

"How long have your colors been gone?" Branch asked.

"Good luck getting an answer out of him." Barb said. She took a step towards them, but the Gray troll flinched and leaned closer to Branch, who glared at the rock queen. She didn't try to come closer. "He hasn't talked in years. And I don't remember what he used to look like."

Branch's heart broke when he heard that the Gray troll hadn't said a word in so long. Branch had spent twenty years forcing himself not to sing, and it had been devastating. But he'd still talked. He couldn't imagine how destroyed he would have felt if he felt like he didn't have his voice at all.

Poppy ran a comforting hand down the Gray troll's back. "What's your name?" Branch appreciated that she was asking him. Even if the Gray troll couldn't answer them himself, he shouldn't be locked out of the conversation about him. Barb could answer for him, but the question was still aimed at him.

"I don't remember that either." Barb said sheepishly. "I think it was something kinda rock-ish, but I don't know."

Branch seethed. "Is there anything about him that you do remember?" Branch wanted to know how to better help this troll, but he also wanted to know if Barb had bothered to remember anything about this troll to indicate that she saw him as a living being.

Barb crossed her arms. "I think he mentioned brothers one time."

Branch started. Brothers? As in, plural? That was unusual. Trolls didn't have a lot of kids. Most families had just a single child, though two wasn't uncommon. Any more than that was downright strange. That had been part of the appeal to Brozone. Pop trolls sang a lot, and boy bands had been really common. But Brozone had been new and exciting because they weren't just friends singing together, they were all brothers. It was something nobody had seen before.

Branch was a little horrified that this Gray troll had brothers. He couldn't imagine if one of his brothers had gone through this. He couldn't even bring himself to think about it.

Poppy wasn't as horrified at the thought of even more trolls suffering in one way or another because of the rock trolls. She looked excited.

"You have a family?!" Poppy smiled broadly at the Gray troll. He looked a little startled at her enthusiasm, but he nodded. "We can find them! We can get you home!"

The Gray troll blinked. He looked confused. He looked at Branch, an unreadable look on his face. It looked like he was trying to say something with his eyes, but Branch couldn't understand him.

"Do you want us to find your brothers?" Branch asked.

"Of course he does! Why wouldn't he?" Poppy said, but Branch ignored her. This wasn't about her idealistic worldview right now. This was about what the Gray troll wanted.

He was still for a long minute as he thought carefully about things. He was taking it into careful consideration. Finally he nodded, a hint of a smile on his face. That was that. They were going to get this guy home to his family. Branch just wished he knew where to start.

As far as he knew, he was the only one in Pop Village who had a large family. He liked to think that if someone had been missing their brother for twelve years, he would have heard about it by now. They would have concerned brothers asking around, looking for him. Branch hadn't heard a word.

Once again, Poppy didn't see the issues that Branch did. She jumped right into trying to fix the problem.

"I'll spread the word throughout the village." Poppy said. "We'll ask around. We'll find your family."

"What if they're not here?" Branch asked. He couldn't help but add in his own realistic view. "Where would we even begin to look past the village?"

"You could look with the other pop trolls." Barb said. Poppy and Branch turned to look at her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"What other pop trolls?" Branch asked slowly.

"You know, the branch off clan." Barb said, as though that was something they were supposed to understand. At their oblivious looks she rolled her eyes and went inside the angler bus. She came back a minute later with a map. She rolled it out on the ground, and Branch scowled when he saw that it had clearly been used by Barb to plan her conquest.

"Before this whole thing, I sent some scouts into the territories, just to make sure we knew where to go." Barb gestured to an area south of Pop Village, just at the border of what could be considered pop territory. "We found Pop Village, obviously, but there was another small clan of trolls right over here. The plan was to go after them, and the other small villages from the other tribes, after the majority were under the rule of rock."

Branch felt like the only thing keeping him from hitting Barb was the fact that the Gray troll was still holding onto him. If Poppy was mad after hearing Barb's plans, she didn't show it. She just looked excited.

"There are more pop trolls?" She clapped her hands together, a familiar gleam in her eyes. "That's great! We should reach out and say hi." For once, Branch agreed with her. He thought there was a better chance of finding the Gray troll's brothers in the other clan than with here in the village. And as queen of the pop trolls, it was Poppy's responsibility to know all of her people. Visiting the other tribe could do some good.

But that would need to wait at least a little bit. As much as both Branch and Poppy might want to just jump into fixing things, this situation was delicate and very complicated. If the Gray troll had been isolated, they would need to work on slowly reintegrating him into society, and Branch knew how hard that could be. This was going to take a while, and Branch just hoped that he had the patience to deal with it, because with the way the Gray troll was still clinging to him, he knew that he was stuck with him for the foreseeable future.

"We'll worry about that later." Branch said. "Why don't we just get you situated? I-I've got some extra space, if you want to stay with me until we can figure something else out."

Poppy gave him a concerned look. "Are you sure?" She knew how much Branch valued his space, and how overwhelmed he could be around others. Maybe this wouldn't work forever, but looking at the Gray troll Branch knew that he would need somebody watching him at all times, at least at first.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Branch said. The Gray troll was drawn to him, and Branch felt responsible for him. He wanted to at least try. They could change the arrangements later if necessary, but for now Branch was going to have a guest in his bunker with him