Chapter Text
The night air was chilly. The wind was quiet where it whispered through the leaves of the giant Troll Tree. The colorful pods hung from the branches like they always did, swaying in time, like a dance. I sat curled among a cluster of leaves, watching the shadows play across the pale bark of the tree, catching my breath. A tiny, violently pink, bundle sat protectively in my grasp.
"Branch? There you are! Come on!" The voice was hushed and strained, hardly louder than the whisper of the wind. I didn't recognize the voice who spoke, but that hardly mattered, even if it did make me wonder. No one had really noticed me the past couple of days. But that made plenty of sense. Gray…
We were leaving the Troll Tree. We were going to be free. King Peppy had finally finished the tunnels.
I scrambled up, keeping a leaf on my back just in case a bergen on guard happened to look and see me moving. The thought had a cold sweat start on the back of my neck, and I stumbled slightly, making it to the mouth of the tunnel at the top of the Troll Tree.
Touching the bark, I could feel the soul of the tree crying out in pain. I grit my teeth against the uncomfortable sensation, sliding down through the trunk to the system down below. The voice that had called to me hadn't waited to see if I made it. The idea made my hackles raise in anger, didn't anyone remember I had volunteered to keep the youngest princess safe? With my grey complexion, it would be easier for me to shield her. How could they just leave her like this?
Whatever the case, the tunnels were filled to the brim with trolls, all of them muttering anxiously.
"Alright everyone, let's get going!" King Peppy's voice echoes through the tunnel, and the sudden sound of hundreds of trolls running, fills the tunnels.
It's almost deafening, but at least no one is screaming. The air is filled with nothing but grim determination, and the scattered whimper of a cub.
Speaking of which… I glance back to see Poppy happily bouncing along on my back, holding tightly to my ruff, her fingers tiny, but her grip sure. With how young I am, I didn't expect to be able to not feel the grip on my ruff or back… I'm glad its made things easier though. Pride welled within me at the thought that I was taking good care of her. It even almost drew a smile to my face, seeing her so happy. Hopefully she never has to remember this place. Hopefully she never has to experience this horror. I mused to myself, keeping pace with most of the adults around me.
Every now and then I would catch a few adults looking at me strangely, or almost look startled by my appearance next to them, but none of them would protest as I passed in front, getting closer to my goal of handing Poppy off to her father. Several of the other trolls had offered to pass her forward, but the idea made dread clench tight in my throat. What if she gets dropped? What if some kind of predator appears and she isn't secure? I couldn't let that happen, I had been charged with keeping her safe as we escaped.
Did I? I've never hung around the royals before. Why would they ask me to keep Poppy safe? Did I volunteer? Did someone else volunteer me? Shaking my head to clear the strange confusion, I sped up with renewed determination. It doesn't matter how I got her, it just matters that she's safe. The nagging feeling of unease wouldn't leave me alone, especially when I started stumbling, but I remembered the directions the king had given to everyone; after this bend should be the end of the tunnel system.
Light brightened up ahead, and I squinted slightly, realizing my head was pounding. When had it started to do that…? Everyone was crushing together, the sight of the light sending up a cheer in a wave through the crowd.
Swept along with the crowd, I almost tumbled out of the tunnel and into the forest. I gasped at the clear air, relieved to not be choking on the dirt-clogged air of the tunnels. A soft breeze drifted across the ground, and I closed my eyes briefly, taking it in as I had at the top of the tree.
"Is that everyone, Viva?" King Peppy's voice boomed out, and I focused in on the royal trolls at the front of the assembly, their colors should be easy to spot.
Their colors were noticeably dim, but Princess Viva wore an expression of fierce determination as she nodded, casting her eyes back across the crowd to double check. She passed right over me. Did she even notice her sister is safe?
I shrugged it off, following behind as everyone began to move. I'm doing a good job, might as well keep doing it while her family is seeing to the village. It's the least I can do to thank them for saving us from the bergens.
"Alright everyone, we need to hurry and cover as much ground as we can while it's dark. When dawn breaks we're going to run until we can't keep going, and by then we'll either be far enough away to settle down, or we hunker down, continuing at dusk until we are." King Peppy announced, to a ripple of quiet cheers, his booming voice settling something inside of me despite the volume making me wary.
As a unit we moved through the forest. It had taken us a good couple of hours to evacuate everyone from the tree, and now we moved at a steady clip. The stars moved across the sky, at a snail's pace it felt like. Hopefully with such a large group, predators would be lower on the list of things to worry about, besides other bergens of course. But they won't know we've gone until the morning, they can't possibly have caught up with us…
My thoughts had fuzzed to pretty much nothing at that point. The haze had crept up on me, and by the time I grew alarmed enough to want to tell someone, I couldn't think clearly enough to do it. The only things staying clear, was the image of the pink princess on my back, and the idea that I had to keep moving to keep her safe.
Rustling was heard around us as we hustled, but nothing poked its head out to look at us thankfully.
The sky grew brighter, and with it the rustling sounds, and everyone's anxiety. Panicked whispers spread throughout the traveling pack, those at the fringes desperately trying to shove their way into the center where it was safer. Most of the children were already in the center. Except for me. I was starting to trail behind, my steps turning more sluggish the longer we went on.
Stopping isn't safe for Poppy! You have to keep going! My mind screamed at me as I fell further behind the other trolls.
"Dawn!" King Peppy's voice called out, causing all of the trolls to cry out and begin to bolt. "To me! To me! Follow the sound of my voice! Do not panic!" Princess Viva began to join in on giving orders, her color brightening considerably despite the circumstances.
I saw something moving closer under the cover of a bush, and I skid to a stop, warily watching as some kind of creature emerged from the shadows.
"Hang on!" Princess Viva's voice rang out again, and suddenly she was there, flinging herself at the predator. Luckily her adult claws had started to come in, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to do anything against the animal's hide.
As it was, it screeched, rearing back, like it would strike.
Princess Viva's hair shot out like a whip, her neck moving as she sharply hit the animal with too many legs.
With one last cry, the animal left.
Adrenaline had shot through me at the appearance of the monster, but with how quickly it had been resolved, I was already starting to crash hard.
"Ngh!" I managed a sound, catching Princess Viva's attention.
She turned to look at me directly, and gasped, concern flooding her features.
"Oh spirits! What happened to you?!" She darted over, her pink hands fluttering around me.
I wasn't sure why, she had gotten here before the animal had even gotten close. Plus, I didn't matter, not when I had someone so much more important to give her.
Limply I waved off her concern, reaching behind my back and carefully extracting Poppy from where she had been clutching at my ruff. She hadn't made any sounds of alarm the entire time, just little happy baby noises that made a small part inside of me warm and shine brightly.
The moment I wasn't covering the brilliantly pink princess with my drabness, Princess Viva nearly screamed, lunging for Poppy.
The movement was too quick for my frazzled brain to handle. On instinct, I snarled, putting Poppy right back where she had been, small hands at the ready to defend her.
Princess Viva froze, staring at me. "She– she's alive– Poppy…!" Her words were broken, but she moved slower towards me this time, so I handed the tiny princess over. Princess Viva deflated, already crying, her color glowing with happiness.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the princess sobbed, finally drawing someone's attention.
The news spread like wildfire, and the sudden, panicked rush of dawn, became the first charge of a people renewed with hope. Their youngest princess was alive. Their king was leading them to safety.
It got harder to keep up with everyone, but Princess Viva made sure I didn't get left behind. She kept an eye on me, and would even give me Poppy to hold sometimes when we were resting. I still didn't know why Princess Viva had been concerned with me. She had tried to get me to see the village doctor, but the last one had been eaten last Trollstice. No one had the necessary knowledge yet. We had been more focused on getting out of the tree, someone could train as a doctor then.
We had been traveling for a week, trying to avoid the brightest points of the day, when King Peppy called a halt.
"THIS! THIS IS WHERE WE SHALL REBUILD!" He cried out, voice carrying beautifully. Loudly. "It has everything we need! Fresh air, clean water, food!" King Peppy grinned as he paused, climbing on top of a huge mushroom growing at the base of a massive oak tree. "And sweet acoustics!" He called, pulling Princess Poppy from his hair.
The tiny girl clutched a cowbell almost the same size as her, her beaming smile making me smile. Her happiness was infectious.
Perfectly in time, she struck the bell, setting the village off into song.
I grimaced, feeling my heart speed up as the volume swelled. What if something hears us? We haven't even done any scouting. How do we know this is far enough away? How do we know this is safe? How can they just start partying? Turning away from what I assumed would be the village center, I went off and crawled under a bush, keeping the villagers in sight, but hopefully me hidden so I could nap.
…
I never rejoined the village. I had meant to, Princess Viva had searched for me for a little while at least. But I couldn't go back, couldn't join in, no matter that the princess would bring her baby sister sometimes, and ended up crying when she couldn't find me.
I stayed out, the loud music too much for me to bear. Not to mention that ever since we had settled down, I noticed that no one else… really noticed me. Everyone was too busy building new pods, securing their children, building businesses, and partying. It was disturbing to me, seeing everyone who I had grown up with just… acting like nothing happened. Acting like we hadn't all been subject to Trollstice our entire lives.
I hated it. I wanted to hide from it.
So I threw myself into making the hideout I barely remembered. My brothers… they'll find the new Pop Village, and then we can be a family again. I tried to keep the hope alive that they wouldn't go back to the tree and get eaten, but as the years passed, so too, did the hope.
Underground I dug, clearing away space carefully, listening to the stones as they told me where it was safe to expand, and where it wasn't. I even hit gold when digging out a room I didn't have a plan for; I discovered a small cave that had begun forming from an underground river. Water being so close by, to have sturdy rock it was carving through instead of dirt, it was like a miracle. I would never need to leave to get water. The thought nearly made me dance, such was my happiness.
After less than a year of being on my own, I noticed that I looked visibly different from the other trolls besides the obvious lack of color. My fur was thicker, my claws sharper. There could be other things different that I couldn't notice too, but of course, figuring it out would require getting near another troll.
They would ask questions, and then be mad at me when I can't be happy like them.
So instead I observed from afar, watching from the outskirts. Protecting.
Before the first year at our new home, I had already run off a few different predators. Hopefully they stayed away. Hopefully if they came back I was nearby and could stop anything horrible from happening. You know it's useless to hope. Stop it. That'll only make things worse. Be prepared. Prepare and it'll be okay.