Born to Be Free (rewrite)

Chapter 20

     They walked back to troll village, Iris telling Poppy embarrassing stories about when Branch was little.

     "And then Branch..."
"Ok! Ok! That's enough! Can we please talk about something different?"
"Fine, Mr. Grumpy pants. What do you want to talk about?" Poppy said.
"Well... what about Spirit? Her test is in two days, and we're not even close to being ready."
"Oh come on, Branch. This is Spirit we're talking about," Iris said. "You two were so close. You used to do everything together."
"Yeah, but now she won't even let me ride her. And that's the only way we're gonna get Clay to let her be free."

     Iris looked away for a moment.

     "And... what if Spirit wasn't free? What if someone took her?"
"We can't let that happen! Spirit needs to be free! She needs to be with her pod. Not stuck in a tiny pool, where she can't even move without swimming into a wall!" Iris looked away again, sighing. What was she going to do?

     Back at Troll village, Tekay was playing with Spirit. Spirit slurped up water in her mouth, and then sprayed it at Tekay. Tekay laughed, wiping the water off her face. Then she notticed the three trolls walking towards her.

     "Poppy! Branch!" she yelled, waving to them.
"Hi, Tekay!" Poppy called back, waving as well.

     They walked up to Tekay and Spirit, Spirit immedioutly recognizing Iris. She chirped and squealed with joy, doing a backflip in the water. Iris laughed. "I missed you two, Spirit." She bent down, putting her head against Spirit's, as she pet her face.

     Spirit pulled away, licking Iris, her tongue covering her entire face. Iris laughed, wiping off the slobber. "Ok. Ok. That's enough," she laughed, scratching her head.

     "Hey, girl," Branch said, walking over, and sitting on the edge of the lagoon, with his feet in the water. "Iris is here to help you find your pod. You're gonna be free." Spirit squealed again, slapping her tail in the water. Branch, Tekay, and Poppy laughed, but Iris looked away, sadly. Branch noticed, and put his hand on his sister's shoulder.

     "What's wrong?"
"I... I need to tell you something."
"Of coarse... you can tell me anything. I'm your brother." She sighed, looking away.
"It's about Spirit..."
"What about Spirit?"
"I... I'm supposed to..."
"Hey! Music troll!"

     All four of the trolls turned, seeing Clay behind them.

     "Oh... Clay..." Branch said, his ears dropping in fear.
"You... here... now," he said, pointing at Branch, and then the ground in front of him. Branch gulped, shrinking away a little.

     "It'll be ok," Tekay said, softly. "His bark is worse than his bite." Branch nodded, and then stood, slowly walking towards Clay.

     "Ummm... hi, Clay..." he said, fiddling with his fingers, as he tried to avoid eye contact. "I heard you went on a little trip out of the village."
"Well... I... I mean..."
"Are you finally giving up on the Lyker?" Branch looked up at him, shocked by the question.

     "What!? No! Why would you even ask that?"
"Well it's clear you'll never be able to train it in time. You might as well just give up before you get yourself killed."
"Spirit wouldn't kill me!" Branch objected.
"I wasn't talking about the Lyker..." Branch backed up a bit, looking down, as his ears drooped.

     "Just give up. No shame in quitting, when there's no chance of success." Branch looked back at him, and then took a deep breath, swallowing his fear.

     "I will have her trained in time for that test! You just watch!"
"Fine," Clay shrugged. "It's your funeral."

     He turned walking away, Poppy, Tekay, and Iris walking over to Branch.

     "Wow, blue boy. You actually stood up to Clay. Didn't think you had it in you."
"Yeah... neither did I," Branch said. "I think I'm gonna puke..."
"You'll be fine," Tekay said, slapping Branch on the back. "Just... maybe watch your back for a few days. The last troll that talked back to Clay... well... let's just say it didn't turn out so good."
"Great," Branch mumbled. "Now I know I'm gonna puke..."

"Ok, Spirit. Just one time around the lagoon," Branch said, sitting on Spirit's back, the next day. Spirit didn't move. "Come on, girl. I know you can do this."
"Give up now, music troll?" Clay said, as he watched from the other side of the glass.
"Shut up, Clay!" Branch snapped. Clay glared at him, and Branch gulped, his ears dropping.

"I... I mean... no, sir. I don't..." Clay gave Branch the death glare, and then walked away.

"Come on, Spirit. If you can't do this, you'll never get to be free." Spirit sill wouldn't move. She couldn't stop thinking of the day she escaped from the aquarium. She just didn't want what happened to her trainer to happen to Branch.

Branch sighed, petting Spirit's back.

"Maybe we should take a break," Tekay said.
"The test is tomorrow. If she can't do this by then..." he looked down, sadly.
"Well..." Iris said. "I believe in her. And I believe in you, Branch. She will pass this test, because she has you to help her." Branch smiled slightly, but didn't look up at her. "And when she does pass that test, I know exactly where we can start looking for her pod." Branch looked at her, his eyes wide.

"You found, Spirit's pod?"
"Well... yes and no. Lyker's tend to live in warmer places, so that means they swam to the south. And I would always hear Lykers singing, when I was at the training camp. That means they must be somewhere around that area."
"You hear that, Spirit. We found your family," Branch said, petting Spirit's head.

"There's one problem with that though," Iris said.
"Problem? What problem?"
"We'd need to relocate all the Lykers once we find them."
"Why?" Branch questioned.
"They're too close to the training camp."
"What do you mean? Why can't they be near the training camp?"

Iris looked away. "Well... I tried to tell you before... my boss..."
"Hey guys!" Poppy interrupted, running over to them. "I've got great news!"
"What?" Branch asked, curious.
"I found a way to get Spirit to swim around the lagoon!"
"Really? What is it?"

Poppy ran to the other side of the lagoon, pulling a cupcake out of her hair.

"Spirit! You want the yummy cupcake?" she said, in the way people usually talk to babies. "Come get the cupcake!"

Branch and Spirit looked at each other, and then back at Poppy.

"Ugh... thanks for trying Poppy, but Lykers don't like cupcakes." Poppy's eyes widened, as she gasped. "Don't like cupcakes? How can anyone not like cupcakes!?"
"Sorry, Poppy. It's just not gonna work."
"Shhhhhuger!" Poppy pouted, as she kicked at the sand under her feet, in anger. Then she stuffed the cupcake into her mouth, eating it all in one bite.

"How can you not like cupcakes?" Poppy grumbled, walking away.
"Ok then..." Tekay said. "Anyone got a plan B?"