Trolls: I'm In Love With A Mertroll

~Chapter 11~

Poppy swam as fast as she could, she couldn't get that far because Branch wasn't there with her, she felt so embarrassed, the one thing she didn't want to happen tonight happened, Branch was probably in a lot of trouble and she felt like it was her fault, she barley didn't even see where she was going cause she fell into an underwater bush with these purple flowers, she quickly brushed most of the flowers off of her when she heard something.

"Come on Jasper we're almost there" Tahlia said.

"Tahlia I've been swimming for hours can't we take a break?" Jasper whined.

Poppy immediately froze hearing the name, she hid behind a nearby rock and peeked to see what was going on, Poppy was in shock, that was the evil mertroll from Branch's story and she was riding on this massive creature that she didn't recognize.

"The Seazites aren't complaining" Tahlia said

"The Seazites aren't complaining" That sentence echoed in Poppy's mind, and they were heading in the direction of Aqua village, the mertrolls were in danger!

Suddenly Poppy felt two arms wrap around her as she was pulled up to the surface, she turned her head to see who it was and it was her father holding her tight and getting her back on the boat.

"What the- Dad?!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Poppy! I'm so glad you're alright, are you hurt? What did they do to you?" King Peppy checked his daughter for any injuries.

"They didn't do anything, I have to go back down there, they're in danger!" Poppy explained trying to get back into the water but her father held her back.

"No Poppy! You disobeyed me and you're not going back in there it's too dangerous! How did you even breathe down there?" Peppy asked.

"This seaweed lets you breathe underwater" Poppy gestured to the seaweed wrapped around her chest.

"It doesn't matter, that's enough adventure for you today, we're going home!" Peppy exclaimed.

"No! We have to save them! I know you don't trust them but everything we know about the mertrolls is wrong! They love parties, they love singing and dancing, and Branch is the sweetest mertroll I've ever met!!" Poppy yelled.

"Who is Branch?" Peppy glared.

"Branch is the mer-pop troll prince and he and everyone are gonna die if I don't go back" Poppy explained.

King Peppy and the other leaders stayed silent as they let her explain what happened.

"Mertrolls are scared of us as much as we are of them but us, it doesn't have to be like this, the ancestors had a misunderstanding because you wanna know why they're so protective of crystallites? It keeps them safe from predators like seazites and keeps them warm so they don't freeze to death, I know we've had a bad history but we said we would accept creatures for who they are and to not judge a book by its cover, isn't it about time we make amends again so we can live in harmony and not fear?

The leaders were quiet for a moment, were they really about to trust the future queen with what she said? Was friendship possible?

"I'm with you Poppy!" Smidge exclaimed popping out from a metal chest.

"Smidge? What are you doing here?" Peppy asked.

"Where did you get that dress from? It's amazing!" Satin asked, surprised by Poppy's new dress.
"Satin focus, we're here to help Poppy" Chenille reminded her sister.

"We're here to help Poppy" Prince D said.

"Son, you're here too?" King Quincy asked

"And me!" Cooper laughed.

"Anyone else wanna come out of there?" Delta raised an eyebrow.

The rest of The Snackpack, Holly, Rhythm and Blues came out of the metal chest too.

"Woo! I think I have more cramps than an elderly troll" Holly exclaimed.

"Poppy I don't know about this" King Peppy sighed.

"Dad you taught me that no troll gets left behind and the mertrolls shouldn't get left behind either" Poppy said, she wasn't going to give up on them and her father knew this.

Peppy thought about it for a moment, his little girl was all grown up, ready to protect those in need, even if it was their supposed enemy, he knew she would be this stubborn but it was a good thing, if she was able to befriend the other tribes, she certainly could help the mertrolls and befriend them as well.

"Ok Poppy, I'm trusting you with this, just please be careful" Peppy hugged his daughter.

Poppy hugged back and looked at her friends. "Guys, I want you all safe and also the mertrolls might freak out if you guys show up so can you guys stay here until I may need you?" she asked with pleading eyes.

They all looked at each other and smiled.

"Of course Poppy" Holly said.

"We'll be right here if you need us" Smidge smiled at her best friend.

Poppy smiled back at them before waving goodbye, determined to help save the mertrolls.

~~~ Meanwhile at Aqua Village ~~~

The party was back to how it was, as if the land troll never arrived, Branch was in his room upset, the only real friend he had was forced to leave and to never return, he wouldn't see her again, wouldn't feel her comforting hugs, wouldn't be there to make him laugh or smile like he did when she was around him, would he go back to being the grumpy prince all the village knew him as? But because of Poppy, he was actually starting to lighten up more, he was able to sing in front of a crowd, she helped him have a good time at the party. He smiled at the thought, maybe one day he would see her again, she did seem pretty persistent when she put her mind to something, but suddenly a bunch of panicking sounds coming from the ballroom caught his attention, was Poppy back? No, she wouldn't be, would she? He left his room to have a peak in the ballroom just a tiny peek to see what the problem was, he felt something was wrong and when he gently opened the door he was shocked at what he saw...

"I'm baaaaaaack" Tahlia exclaimed in a sing-song voice.