Chapter Text
Branch was sick. That was the only reason he was allowing Poppy to go check on the traps by herself. Or at least that’s what he told himself.
It definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he was so weak, the pink troll had practically been able to push him down in the nest with one finger.
He felt hot all over. Even after he had ditched his signature vest, heat still surrounded his body. It was like he couldn’t shake it. He had only been this sick one other time in his memory. JD had given him a cold bath to bring down his fever.
Branch wondered if Poppy could help him get down to the nearby stream when she got back. It was early spring, so surely the water would still be cold enough.
Coughing, he shifted uncomfortably in the nest. Poppy had tried to make him comfy before she had left. She had brought him an extra blanket and her straw doll. Branch hadn’t had the heart to tell her that he would rather die than put on another layer. As soon as she left, he kicked the blanket off and sucked down the container of water she had placed beside the nest.
According to the sundial that Branch had placed just outside of the burrow, Poppy had only been gone twenty minutes. He would give her another twenty. If she wasn’t back after that, then he would start to worry.
He really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He didn’t think he had the strength to go out and search for her.
A wave of nausea overtook him. He tried not to gag. He couldn’t throw up. If he threw up then he would have to scrape up the entire dirt floor of the burrow. That would take days. Not to mention the time that it would take to replace the soil.
He clamped his mouth shut. No. He would not throw up. No matter how much his stomach wanted him to.
What had gotten him sick? He was always careful about the food he placed in his body. He was also cautious about the types of critters he hunted and the plants he surrounded himself with.
It couldn’t have been food poisoning. Poppy was completely healthy and they ate all the same food. It had to be something viral. But where had he gotten it from?
His musings were interrupted by a loud squeaking.
Branch!
Poppy? She sounded so close, but that didn’t make any sense. It hadn’t been long enough for her to be back already. There was no way she was already done checking all of the traps. However, the young troll came sprinting into the burrow at full speed. She collapsed onto his bare chest, effectively knocking the wind out of him.
Branch groaned and shoved her away. Undeterred, the pink troll shook at his shoulder. She squeaked again excitedly.
Branch! Branch!
Being a kid, she didn’t realize how loud she was squeaking right into his ear. Branch covered up his face with his discarded vest. He clacked weakly.
Poppy-Quiet. Please.
Ignoring the blue troll, Poppy continued to shake his shoulder. She chirped.
Saw-Something! Someone!
Branch scoffed from under the vest. Every time the little troll went out on her own she befriended every critter she ran into. Last week she had found a baby inchworm and decided that it was her best friend. Branch was only mildly offended by this. How could a worm be a better friend than him?
Anyway, she had named the worm Twig . Poppy claimed that she had named it after Branch, which helped expel the feeling of jealousy in his mind.
He clicked and clacked at her.
What-Worm-Now?
Poppy shook her head vigorously. She clicked at him.
Not-Worm. Troll!
A chill ran through his spine that was completely unrelated to his illness. Another troll was out in the wilderness? Branch had always been certain that something terrible happened to the trolls that had fled the Troll Tree. Why else hadn’t they come back for their princess?
Everyone in the tree had adored Poppy. It was how he even knew her name. So everyone from the tree had to be gone.
They all had to be dead.
But a troll in the woods? Who could that be? Had someone else survived like Branch and Poppy had? Living off the land in the forest?
Poppy didn’t look scared, no she actually appeared to be excited by the looks of her wide smile and dazzling eyes. Whoever this troll was, it couldn’t have been anyone scary. Branch chirped.
Who?
The pink troll shrugged. She didn’t know, she reached a hand into her hair and squeaked.
Took-this!
Branch groaned. Her first interaction with a troll other than himself and she was already stealing. He really needed to teach her that just because something was out in the open, it didn’t mean that it was hers to take. That would be a hard lesson for the wild troll to learn. Everything was hers for the taking in the woods.
Gently, she pulled out a pair of white glasses with blue tinted lenses. They were clearly child sized. Poppy placed them over her eyes and shot Branch with a twenty watt smile.
Branch however, couldn’t return her smile.
Those glasses.
He knew those glasses.
They had been his. When he lived with his brothers. When he had performed with his brothers. When he had been a part of Brozone.
What was a random troll doing with a pair of his baby glasses?
Then a thought slammed into his brain so hard, tears started to prick at his eyes. It hadn’t been a random troll. There was only one troll who would have had those glasses.
Tears started to fall down his cheeks and Branch began to cry earnestly. Normally, he would have been able to reign in the loud sobbing noises he was emitting, but with him already feeling so out of it from being sick, Branch wailed like a baby.
Poppy was all over him in an instant, chirping and squeaking at him, begging him to tell her what was wrong.
All he could squeak out was:
Don’t-Know.
Because he didn’t know.
Why would he be upset, be crying so wildly, over his brother who had left him behind?
*********************************
Against Viva and Branch’s wishes, they were headed to Lonesome Flats. Home of the county music trolls.
Poppy was convinced that they had to warn the country trolls about Barb’s infamous World Tour. That way the trolls of Lonesome Flats would be prepared when the rock trolls attacked. Poppy also mentioned trying to talk the country trolls into joining their cause, but Branch wasn’t sure if that would be possible.
He knew from experience how trolls didn’t like to help other that were different from them.
The land that surrounded the town was like a desert. Dust blew everywhere and the heat was just about unbearable. As they landed the balloon just outside of the town, Branch had to squint his eyes to keep dirt from blinding him.
The Queen jumped out of the basket like she was immune to the harsh conditions of the area. “You guys ready to go?”
Viva and Branch shared a look. It was obvious that neither one of them fully supported Poppy’s plan. Branch shrugged at Poppy. He was as ready as he ever was going to be. Before he jumped out the balloon, he made sure to tuck a few of the sharpened stakes into his hair.
It was like Viva said. It was just in case. It was better to have the stakes and not need them, than to need them and not have them.
While Poppy skipped ahead of them, heading straight for the town, Viva and Branch hung back. They walked like they were on the way to their own funeral.
“You’ve got it secure?” Viva asked in a hushed voice.
Branch nodded and gestured to his hair. The string, the very thing that controlled all pop music, was buried safely in Branch’s hair.
Clay would freak if he knew that.
Viva scratched aggressively at her head. “Branch, I’m not sure about this whole plan that Poppy has cooked up.”
“Me neither.” Branch whispered. Although it didn’t matter if he believed in it or not. He would follow Poppy to the ends of the earth regardless. He charged forward, running a bit to catch up with the pink troll.
A determined look was plastered all over the Queen’s face. Poppy was a force of nature when she got like this. Unmovable, unyielding. It was something that he admired about her. Her fierce stubbornness.
Her expression wavered a bit however, when music from the town drifted into the pop troll’s ears. Poppy’s nose scrunched up in distaste. “What is that?”
“Sounds like… a song?” Viva guessed from behind them.
Sure enough, as they got closer, a country song could be heard being belted from the center of town.
“ This kind of life has made our hearts as hard as leather. And all these tears are from the dust in our eyes. ”
There was a kind of twang in the woman’s voice as she sang. The singer sang with passion and soul, as if the song was coming straight from her heart. The lyrics danced around in Branch’s head softly. The music sounded good. It felt good in his brain. The notes weren’t sharp and the melody wasn’t over-bearing.
It was just right.
Poppy on the other hand, did not think so. She watched in disgusted confusion as the country trolls danced around to the melancholy song. “This song is so sad. ” She pointed out.
The lead singer, the one with big poofy red hair, continued to sing passionately. “Passing us by we all know that we're just born to die.”
She was right. It was sad. But that’s what Branch liked about it. Unlike with pop music, where everything was always cheery and upbeat, this music seemed to have a sort of realism to it. Times weren’t always good and their music reflected that. Maybe these country trolls weren’t so bad.
Snapping her fingers, Poppy turned to her sister and Branch. “Oh, I get it! They don’t know that music is supposed to make you happy!” She held a hand over her heart. “Oh, that’s awful.”
“Uh,” Viva made an uncomfortable face. “I don’t think that’s---”
Poppy cut her sister off. She yelled at the lead singer and waved. “Hello! My name’s Queen Poppy. We have some important news to share with you!”
The lead singer abruptly stopped her singing and the whole town seemed to dissipate. Popping her gum, she strummed an off key note on her guitar. “Queen ‘a what?”
Looking a bit sheepish for interrupting their whole song and dance, Poppy stepped forward a bit nervously. She picked at her nail beds. “Oh, um. The pop trolls!” This was clearly a phrase that the Queen was still new to using.
The singer narrowed her eyes and looked the three trolls up and down suspiciously. “Thought y’all were extinct. Heard giants got to ya’.”
Branch and Viva shared a look. So these trolls had heard about their issues with the Bergens? And they chose to do nothing? Branch frowned. This bit of information didn’t sit right in his stomach.
“Oh, that!” Poppy laughed, a bit forcibly. The horrible smile that Branch thought Poppy had finally given up, crept up onto her face. Branch winced. She only smiled like that when she felt like she had to. When she felt like she had to assimilate in order to fit in.
Branch hated that smile.
“That was a big misunderstanding.” Poppy explained.
“One hell of a misunderstandin’. Heard they ate y’all.”
Viva gulped and stepped an inch closer to Branch. He didn’t miss the way she messed with her bangs more anxiously.
Poppy blew a raspberry. “Oh, that’s all in the past now. Anyway, I need to speak to your leader about something important. All troll life depends on it!”
The singer nodded. “That would be me. Name’s Delta Dawn.”