𝓞𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓼 | 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓼 |𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝔁 𝓯𝓮𝓶 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 {𝓕𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴}

𝓣𝔀𝓸. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓘𝓖𝓖𝓔𝓢𝓣, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓛𝓞𝓤𝓓𝓔𝓢𝓣, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓪𝔃𝓲𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻!

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror above the sink, I was running my hair brush through my red locks, stroking the knots out of it.
I was already running late to the biggest Party ever and still is.
My feet were tripping on the spot as I fought to click my bracelets closed around my wrists. When I finally got my hair to look somewhat doable, my feet started moving in a great pace towards my front door, almost tripping on my way out of it. My hands run down my dress, straightening it out, before I make my way towards the party, completely forgetting to close the door after myself. And with a smack over my forehead, I ran back, closing the wooden door and now I was on my way, for real this time.
The mix DJ has sat up for the party was loud enough for me to hear right outside my hut, and as I got closer to the village's center, I could feel the vibrations from the music underneath my feet.
'DJ always has the best beats' I thought to myself. And with my mind deeply buried in my own thoughts, my focus on my surroundings no where to be found, I bumped into something, or someone. Before I even had time to process what was about to happen. Me and the other Troll both lost balance and landed butts first on the ground, making him drop all of the stuff he was carrying.
With guilt painted all over my features, I slowly lifted my gaze to the troll, only to recognise him as Branch, which was already lifting himself back to stand up, dusting the dirt off of his vest and patched shorts.
"I'm so sorry!" I sit up with my back straightened, my feet getting tugged underneath my legs. "I should have paid attention to my surroundings!" He could probably sense the guilt in my voice, but chose to ignore it, sticking his open palm down to me, offering me his help to get back up. He offered me his help instead of picking the forest supplies, he have gathered, back into his arms.
"I'm sorry too. I could have avoided you, but instead i let you bump into me." he apologised with a humorous chuckle. So he has a sense of humour, who would have expected that?
With a hesitant move, I reached up to accept the offered hand, letting him pull me up. "Thanks." I bend down to gather the scattered branches, handing them to him afterwards. "Thanks." He copied my words, before we both fell silent, just looking at each other.
I felt a burning feeling coming from my cheeks, not painful, but hot. With the back of my hand, I felt around it. I'm afraid I might be getting a cold. He seemed to notice my Rosy cheeks, his own getting a light, rosy colour on his grey skin.
He caught my attention by clearing his throat. "Uh. I should.. get going." he stuttered, waving his pointer finger in my direction, walking right past me and up the path. "Wait!" I spun around on my heel, now facing the back of his head. "...Please come with me to the party."
His side profile was now visible as he peeked at me over his shoulder, before turning his body more towards mine in a polite matter, as our conversation continued. With a thoughtful expression. "That's a big risk Juniper, I'd rather stay in my bunker... You could come with me?"
He suggested, holding his hand out for me to take again.
He cared.
It was my expression's turn to be thoughtful, repeating his spoken words in my mind. I caught myself looking back, in the direction of the music. Showing where I really wanted to be. At the party. Branch didn't need spoken words to get the hint. I heard a sigh escape through his closed lips. I turn my head back to Branch, parting my lips to answer, but as I did, I was met with nobody. He already walked off.
~~~
I sprinted the rest of the way to the party destination. When I finally arrived a little later than expected, I noticed trolls hammering on large drums, fireflies lightening up the forest and Trolls swaying, dancing and jumping to the beats DJ was making. Poppy was throwing on an enormous mushroom standing in the center of the party, jumping up and down with her arms pulsing up and down with her jumps. Her wrist motioned for me to join her, but instead, I mingled my way into the large crowd on the ground. I bumped into Smidge and Cooper, dancing and having fun. Biggie was apparently there too, but he was now getting carried around by the crowd.
"June. You showed up!" Cooper spoke, his heavy panting giving away he was out of breath from jumping on the spot.
"Yeah, just ran a little late" I started moving my feet and swaying my hips and arms to the beat, copying Cooper's movements. While every Troll was having fun, DJ accidentally had her mouth open too wide, inviting a firefly into her mouth. She was shook by the sudden incident, pausing her dancing. Her eyeballs and throat got lightened up in multiple colours, as long as she kept her eyes and lips open.
A colourful caterpillar strolled by. Creek, Satin and Chenille stood on its back, blasting balls of glitter upon the crowd, with the help of the twins' hair.
My jumps got more passionate, living myself into the nice tune of the music from the dj-pult. My muscles froze on the spot when my gaze caught something in the corner of my eye, turning my gaze to the figure, I acknowledged it as Branch, staring down on all of the partying trolls.
Without a second thought, my palm raised high up in the air, waving at him to catch his attention. He shook his head in disapproval as he turned on his heel, his gaze facing back towards the forest where he came from.
As he did, I felt the feeling of disappointment, which was rare for a Troll. I - weirdly enough - wanted him to be here.
"Juniper? What's wrong? Are you not enjoying yourself at Poppy's Party?" Cooper's voice made my eyes go to him, the negative feeling forced out of me."I do! I do! I just thought I saw something.. I-It's not important."
He parted his lips to come with a response, but got distracted when Smidge flew by. Wait... flew by?
The both of us whipped our heads in the direction she flew in, or rather was thrown in. More heads around us turned, followed by the rest of the village. She had glitter smushed all over her face, arms and legs spread out on the grass underneath her. Creek must have hid her by accident. We all gasped in realisation. My palms went to cover my lips, waiting for her to react. She then quickly sprung back up, yelling out. "YOLO!" as the beat got turned back up and she started jumping to the music again. The party just continued.
All that was quickly forgotten as everyone started jumping and dancing to the beat again.
I slowly started moving my body as well. Cooper's leg went around my waist, then spun me around in an attempt to cheer me up. I giggled by the sweet gesture, willingly letting him spin me around, my dress flowing in the wind. He really is one of my bestest friends, and with good reason.
Cooper eventually convinced me to follow him up on the mushroom Poppy was dancing on, dancing our way up beside her.
"More GLITTER!" Poppy shouted with clenched fists in the air. Big Glitter bombs got blasted up into the air, framed with lasers.
The lasers was blinding, everyone had to put their palms in between the explosion and their eyes. The pressure of the glitter made us all stumble a step back, but it was all worth it because it was so beautiful in the end. Spoken from the part of it we actually saw.
~~~
Little did the Trolls know that another place - at the same time - were the Bergen who got thrown out of BergenTown 20 years ago, today to be exact. The same day the Trolls escaped the Bergen's. All these years has gone by, but the chef of BergenTown, as she still called herself, was still on the lookout for the Trolls she lost. The glitter from the bombs got caught in the wind, eventually reaching her.
Whatever she was doing was quickly forgotten once she got the taste of glitter, the taste of happiness. She quickly pulled out her telescope and placed it on its stand. Her eye lowered to the telescopes level. "I can't hear you!" Poppy's voice rang through the forest from the distance, right as a glittery figure of her, exploded up into the sky from one of the glitter bombs. "Trolls..." The voice got spoken with the biggest smirk growing on her face, and in a haste, she packed all the stuff she needed and went out in the night to get her Trolls back.
~~~
Poppy started to calm down, inhaling a deep breath, before waving her arms out in a calming matter. "Okay everyone, I just wanna take a moment, and get a little real." The crowd slowly started to quieten down and eventually fell in silence.
"POPPY! THATS MY FRIEND, I KNOW HER-" Biggie suddenly stood out from the crowd, hugging Dinkles close into him, but quickly got shushed by the Trolls surrounding him. King Peppy cleared his throat as he has made his way up on the mushroom beside the rest of us. Poppy turning to face him. "I'd like to take a moment to celebrate our king- my father - who, 20 years ago this night, saved all of us." Poppy grasped his hand in her own. "From those dreaded-" Her speech got interrupted by a sudden loud sound. The sound of heavy trail-leaving footsteps. The whole area gathered with Trolls, with slow movements, turned heads in terror of what they were going to see.
Poppy's pink eyes met mine, the both of us sharing worried looks.
"Bergens." King Peppy let out between a breath, finishing the sentence Poppy started.
Our houses were dangling side to side by the pressure of each footstep. My heart sunk all the way down to my feet when a very tall figure appeared in front of me. As my dad said. A Bergen.
She bend down to look at us, showing her crooked teeth and big, eyes filled with the blue veins containing her blood. The smirk has never left her lips. "Gotchá" She stood with a belt bag around her waist and the old, torn Chef clothes were still covering her body.
Cooper has gotten so frightened, he pooped cupcakes. The Bergens smirk finally fell into a confused frown.
"Uh..." Poppy scurried behind Cooper, picking up his cupcakes and offering them to the Bergen. "Cupcakes?"
The Bergen's smirk quickly returned upon her lips, flashing those crooked teeth of hers. Her thumb and pointer grabbed into the zipper of her bag, opening it wide open and ready to store some Trolls.
Poppy dropped the cupcakes. "RUN!" The panic in her voice made the village react, screaming up mid air and sprinting in different directions.
"Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie ran by me, shouting for his pet. "Has anyone seen Mr. Dinkles?!" Biggie hasn't noticed Dinkles has been on his back the whole time. His panicked shouting unfortunately caught the attention of the Bergen. Running as fast as my legs could drag me, I tried to reach Biggie, but he got snatched right before I did. "No Biggie!" The Bergen's eye shifted to me, luckily I noticed in time. She reached down to grab me as her next victim. My legs dragged me in the opposite direction, sprinting like my life depended on it. Because it did.
"Blend in! Blend in!" Poppy ran around shouting, helping other Trolls hide between the tall grass. My eye caught a trail of Troll kids, standing frozen in spot. They must be so frightened they don't know what to do with themselves, or where to go.
They've never experienced a Bergen Attack. Neither have I, not what I can remember anyway.
I shifted my direction to theirs, grasping the first troll i reached's small hand and dragged the whole thread with me, Cooper following behind. I led us into the thick grown grass, changing my hair colour into a greenish one similar to the colour of the grass, blending in, each troll following my lead, doing the same.
Cooper let out a shaky breath once his legs finally got to stop running, a too early feeling of relief. Even though he was hiding in between the thick grass with me, he was still visible to the naked eye, his neck being longer than the grass.
"No Cooper!" I cried out after another one of my friends was taken right in front of me. Cooper's head getting squashed down into the hideous brown bag.
"Run Smidge!" I heard Poppy's voice shout from another direction, turning my head, I noticed her panicked eyes following Smidge as she was sprinting. But her small legs couldn't pick up a pace fast enough to outrun the Bergen's eye on her. Grasping her by the pink bow tied in her blue hair. Then right after went for the twins, capturing Satin and Chenille by their interlinked hair. They didn't make it easier to run, as they went two different ways.
"Everyone! Minimize your auras!" Creek screamed, holding both arms out in front of him as he ran in Poppy's direction, his eyes begging her to save him. A large purple hand wrapped around Creek, her nails digging into his skin. The hand raised up towards the bag, where Creek was gonna get captured and hidden away. Poppy couldn't let that happen. She jumped into action, stomping her feet in the ground and swung her hair, lengthening it for Creek to get a hold on it. "Creek hold on!" She was almost digging her feet into the ground to steady herself, but she struggled, her feet gliding along the ground anyway.
"Poppy let go!" I was forced to shout, I can't loose her as well. And I was going to, if she didn't let Creek go "The Bergen is too strong!" I hands got a hold around her, using all of my strength to keep her feet on the ground. "Never!" She protested against me. No matter how hard Poppy pulled, she wasn't half as strong as a Bergen 10 times bigger than her. Poppy got ripped out of my hold and the Bergen shoved both Creek and Poppy in her bag.
"Poppy!" I cried out in a painful scream, falling to my knees as they suddenly fell weak under me.
"Bad Bergen! Bad, Bad, Bergen!" My dad, out of nowhere, started kicking the Bergen's big toenail with his cane. The Bergen saw her opportunity, bending down to take him as well. I can't loose another one of the people I love.
"Dad!" I got right off of my knees as they suddenly got a boost of strength, the last one I had.
Grasping his hand in mine and harshly dragging him along with me, his old legs having a hard time keeping up with my young and strong ones. I led him through the legs belonging to the Bergen, then headed under a mushroom behind her. Lengthening my hair to make a shield in front of us, I blended in with the grass surrounding us. Through my hair, I could see two eyes appear, the eyeballs scanning the area, searching for us. I froze, barely breathing. With a huff from the Bergen she gave up on us, pushing herself back to stand up.
She assessed the amount of Trolls she had gathered, was enough for the King to let her come back home.
"Thanks for throwing the biggest, the loudest-"
"The Craziest party ever!" Cooper finished the sentence the Bergen was about to say, as he stuck his head out from the still open bag. But got squeezed right back into it, then she zipped up the bag. She turned on her heel, kicking a house on her way, then heading back in the direction she came from. Probably back to BergenTown where she belonged.
~~~
Trolls, of those who remained, slowly emerged from their hiding spots. I was gazing around with terror in my eye, noting all of the damage the Bergen had made. Her big feet has left big footsteps in the dirt. Houses was either severely damaged, dangling or fallen down and shattered on the ground... The whole village was left a mess. Branch was right after all...
Everyone slowly started gathering together again. I could almost count on one hand what was remaining of the Trolls.
All gazes were at the King, worry painted on their faces. "Is it coming back?" One of them asked. "What are we gonna do now?" Another Troll asked. I stumbled backwards, crumbling down to sit on the stump of a tree, my legs has grown tired from all the chasing. My gaze held a look of concern, as it met my dad. Now every gaze was looking hopeful at him, waiting for him to tell us what to do next. "We have to find a new home! Hurry, we have to leave, before the Bergens come back for the rest of us!" The words rolled off of his tongue like it was the easiest thing to say. "What? We have to rescue them!" I can't believe him. I get the fact he is experienced, he have tried this scheme before, plus he is older and wiser. But he can't just give up! On the Village, his people, his own daughter!
"We have to rescue Poppy!" I continued, his face falling into a frown by the mention of his daughter. Almost like he hasn't noticed her absence. My eyebrows furrowed, expressing that I was clearly angry with him. "No Juniper, we have to run!" Dad held his cane out, pushing Trolls forward to the journey ahead of them. "What about 'No Troll left behind' ?!" Those words made him turn his attention back to me. He can't ignore the words that once left his lips.
"I'm sorry Sunshine, that was a long time ago, and I'm not the king I once was." His words made me jump back on my feet, an impulsive idea popping into my head. "Then I'll go! I'll go and save my sister, save all of them!"
"No Juniper, it's too Dangerous! I've already lost one of my daughters, I can't loose you either..." I sprung a centimeter above the ground, then ran to me and grasped both of my shoulders, almost shaking the words into me. I could see in his eyes he was terrified.
"I have to at least try-"
"No! You can't go to BergenTown by yourself." I sighed as his way-too-tight grip released me again, leaving small hand marks on my golden skin. Deep down, I hated to admit that was right, I wouldn't last a day out there alone.
"Then I won't go by myself. I have to get some help."