𝓓𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓭 | 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓼 |𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝔁 𝓯𝓮𝓶 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 {𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴}

𝓔𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽. 𝓜𝔂 𝓛𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓛𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓢𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻

𝓒𝓸𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥:
The sun is blazing overhead, high and merciless in the sky empty of clouds. I am trudging through the hottest oasis I'd ever known. Every step taken is slow and heavy, my body drenched in sweat, lungs struggling to take in the thick, steaming air lying above me like a blanket. I am so thirsty, I could easily be convinced to drink just about anything. "I'm so lost..." I'm breathing heavily, panting even, zigzagging forward as my body sways from side to side, exhaustion clouding my thoughts. My feet ache unbearably from the journey I've already endured - and the stretch that still lies ahead. I'm on the verge of giving up on my mission: to find Trolls who look like me. "I'm almost there..." I encourage myself further, even though I deep down know, that it is a straight out lie. Even the sun is panting with complaints about the weather, or is it all lying beneath my imagination?
I drag myself up a small sand-covered hill, coughing as grains scratch their way up my throat. In the distance- could it be? A lake! Water! My heart nearly bursts with relief. "I'm saved!" A sob manages to escape me as I stumble into a full sprint, racing down the slope as fast as my arching feet will carry me. A soft wind tugs at my cape, ripping it from my shoulders, but i don't care. It's far too hot for that anyway.
Lowering my neck for my mouth to reach the surface of the water, I drink, and I drink, and I drink. My Adam's apple bobbing by each mouthful of water I swallow. Suddenly, my figure reflecting in the still water, opens his mouth independently, and speaks. "Are you now? 'Cause last I checked, i was a mirage!" I jolt upright, and in that instant, the wet miracle vanish before my eyes. It had never been present at all. I have been swallowing sand this entire time. As I desperately tries to spit it out, the sand overwhelming me completely, burying me beneath the amount. "Oh, I'm done for. And on top of that, I never found any Trolls like me." With a mournful cry, I finally collapse, falling forward onto the sand, my chin coming to rest against its sunbaked surface.
I sense movement above me - noises, maybe voices - but I don't care. For all I know, it's possibly another mirage. Then a large shadow pass over me, bringing with it a, sudden unexpected chill. The sun no longer scorching my skin. Slowly, I reopen my eyes, through my blurry vision, i spot glowing purple lights and something that is familiar to a massive metal plate hovering overhead. A strange bubble forms around me, lifting me gently off the sand. Panic surges through me - this isn't a mirage. I scream, thrashing, trying to pop the bubble, but it won't break. It is unpopable! As I rise into the air, the metal plate above pulling me towards it. My hat slip from my head and tumbles downward, but the bubble stretches after it, scooping it back up and drawing it in alongside me.

———

𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥:
I sit with my feet dangling over the edge of the raft, staring out at the now still river. A thick fog has settled in, and an unsettling silence hangs over us. Ever since Biggie left - after accusing Poppy of breaking their Pinky Promise - no one has said a word. Not even a single song has been sung, which is rare for us. Juniper's been keeping her distance from me, and I can tell she and Poppy are wrapped up in a shared sadness that I can't quite reach.
🎵Ey, Fall to pieces. Pieces. Pieces.🎵 Hickory is singing - the first song we'd heard in hours. He approach where I am sat, cradling his guitar against his chest, a hand striking down across the strings with purpose. I turn my head, glancing up at him with a blank expression, but my eyes drift past him to Juniper. Poppy is in the back of the float, steering with the rudder, not starting up a conversation with Juniper sitting beside her, doodling figures into the pages of her scrapbook, resting in her lap. She is trying to keep her mind occupied. 🎵How can I be just your Sidepiece?🎵 Hickory keeps the song going, moving in a slow circle around me. Inhaling a sharp breath, letting it fill my lungs, I fall backwards for my spine to rest against the flooring. I drag my palms down my face, as if trying to pull the stress from my skin. Everyone's worn out - tired of everything we've been caught up in. 🎵Just your Piece?🎵 The Corndogs that is located along with the shore on each side of the river, is leaning above my lying frame, swaying side to side as they sing along, that is till another figure leans down to hover above my head, blocking my view of the sky. "Something tells me your heart ain't in this mission, Branch." Hickory being the one to block my view of the cloudy sky, forcing my gaze upon him. "What do you mean? I'm here, aren't I?" Hickory sticks a hand down to me, offering to pull me back into a sitting position. "Yeah, you're on a mission, all right. But your heart is with Miss Juniper, who's currently pushing you away, ain't she?"
"Hey! Hold your horses!" I snap, my eyebrows knitting together as he states the obvious - but as the words leave my moving lips, i realise how they must've sounded to him. "I'm sorry, is that offensive?" He chuckles at my uncertainty and my apology following with. He bends down, gently putting the guitar aside, before he plops down beside me. His back hooves lengthens to rest on either side of his arms. "Not as offensive as you thinking I can't see what's right in front of my eyes. Have you told her yet?"
"I've tried to. But every time she looks at me with those beautiful eyes of hers- it..." I stumble upon my words, struggling to explain it properly. So instead, I use my hands - one mimicking a bomb dropping toward my outstretched palm, complete with a soft whistling sound from my lips, before I spread my fingers wide in a silent explosion as it makes impact. "Well, if you did tell her, who knows if she'd even hear ya." Hickory reaches back to regain his guitar within his embrace, tuning the sound of it by adjusting the strings. "What do you mean by that?"  "Well, let's just say, her and her sister aren't the best listeners when they have sat their minds on something. And there's only one of you in this relationship who's doing the listening, and it's not her." Him pointing it out hits me in a way I didn't expect. Juniper is trying to, she really is. But she forgets just as quickly as she remembers, especially when Poppy is in the need of her help. No matter the situation, she always sides with Poppy, whether it is asked of her or not. Maybe that's why Juniper thought I am doubting their decisions, because deep down, she's doubting them too. And maybe she'd do anything to convince herself otherwise. I am digging so deep into my thoughts, I didn't even realise Hickory is still awaiting an answer from me. "... It's you!" "Yeah. I got that. Thanks!" Frustration kicks in as he manage to interrupt my thoughts, my arms crossing tightly over my torso as I twist my body away from his. I have already silently decided, that this conversation must come to an end, when both our attentions is caught by Poppy, who is finally speaking up.
———
𝓙𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥:
"Uh, guys?" Poppy's voice holds visible nerves, her pointer stretched in the direction of the sky. Emerging from the thick layer of fog, a large plate, flying straight toward us. In an instant, all four of us are back on our feet, tense and ready to dive overboard of it comes to that. "What in the buttered Biscuits?" Hickory hiccups as he reaches for his guitar, lifting it above his head like a weapon ready to strike. I rush down the steps to the main floor, heading straight for my boyfriend. I grab hold of his bicep, feeling the tension in his arm as both his fists rise in front of him to defend. A large bubble descends from the metal plate above, lowering to our level. More follow, surrounding the raft, cutting off every possible escape route. We're trapped. Hickory lowers the guitar behind him, but just before he swings, he thrusts out his free hand toward Branch and I, urging us to step back, afraid of accidentally hitting us. "I got it!" With a swing of his guitar, the bubble shifts just out of his reach. He spun a round, only to stumble back, thrown off by his own dizziness. That's when Branch step in, he broke free of my grasp and rush forward, slamming his clenched fists at the bubble - missing every time. Determined, he leaps up to kick it, but misjudged his aim and accidentally struck Hickory instead, just as he was getting back in balance. Hickory spun again and crash to the ground, his guitar slipping from his hands with a dull thud. Several bubbles emerge from the Metal plate, approaching the others already surrounding us. One specifically approach Poppy. She glances up at the reflective floating soap bubble, smiling with an examining expression. "Oh?" She hums with a hand reaching for it, not being able to protest the longing to do so. "Poppy no!" By my shout, she turns her attention to me, but didn't have a quick enough reaction to escape its grasp. The bubble traps her inside of it, taking her back to its source.
"Poppy!" I cry out her name, my eyes locked on her figure trapped inside the transporting pod as it drifts further away. Another one floats in silently, snatching Branch from my side. I instinctively reach out to pop it, not realising how close I am to the edge of the raft. Just as my finger is about to touch the surface, Hickory lunges toward me, grabbing hold and pulling me back before I can topple into the river. "No! We have to help them!" I fight against his tight grip around me, not caring about my own safety - my focus is on the two most important Trolls in my life, who is currently being abducted by those bubbles drifting off into the sky. Hickory's gaze shifts - not to the plate above, but to something else approaching from the distance. "I'm so sorry, Princess Juniper." Before I can even ask why he is apologising, he shoves me into the water with the quick movement of his arms. The force of the push sends me sinking down, but instinct takes over and my arms and legs start kicking, propelling me back to the surface. I burst up, gasping for air and rubbing the remaining water from my eyes. When my vision clears, I see it - another bubble now closing in around Hickory, trapping him inside. It brings him up in the same direction of the others, floating ahead of him. The bubbles disappear from my sight, getting pulled into the Metal plate, before it takes off with my sister, my boyfriend, my new friend - which I believed he was. I am left behind.
A soft sob escapes me, even as my arms and legs keep moving steadily, just enough to keep my head above the water. My whimpering cries cuts off abruptly at the sharp sound of an electric guitar tearing through the fog. In the distance, I spot massive flying machines - each one with a zipped-up mouth stretched across the front. One of the mouths unzips and opens wide, inside stands a Troll with the playing guitar within her grasp. She has bright red hair styled in a fierce Mohawk, the sides of her head shaved clean, her skin a cool grey. The Rock Tribe has arrived.
Remembering what Hickory and Chaz has been telling, I realise they're here for me. Panic sets in, my arms and legs picking up their pace, kicking faster against the water, propelling me closer to the shore. My plan is to hide between the towering corndogs - but I can already tell I won't make it in time. I switch to Plan B: I dive underwater with a deep breath beforehand, heart pounding against my ribcage, only left to hope they haven't caught on to me. I was too slow. One of their flying machines swoops down, gliding beneath me. Before I can react, it scoops me up from below.
———
I collapse to my knees, soaked and gasping, as the water that had surrounded me just a second ago floods the room around me. They are quick to drain it away, leaving puddles in its place. I cough violently, struggling to clear the water from my lungs, one fist pressed to my lips. Through the blur of tears and choking breaths, I turn my head and see them. A circle of Trolls surrounding me, all bearing the same dull grey skin, wild Mohawks or messy Mullets, metal piercings glinting in the dim light. Their clothes are torn and worn, and the space around them is littered with broken, battered belongings. Every gaze is fixed on my bent-over form, as if mesmerised by my presence - for a reason I can't begin to understand, because I don't even know why I'm here in the first place. If their wild imaginations has convinced them, that I am the one carrying the Pop String - that this Queen Barb wants so badly - i have to prove them wrong.
I tilt over, now sitting against my tail bone as I bring my ponytail in front of my vision, squeezing the remaining water out of it. "Why are you looking at me like I'm some kind of bait? What do you want from me! I don't have that String, if that's what you're looking for!" My harsh tone awakens something inside the staring Trolls, they lean closer to their sidekick, soft whispers erupts between them. "Hello?!" I spoke again, my voice raspy and strained from the effort of shouting. "Oh no, sweetie. That's not why you're here." A voice rings out within the crowd. My eyes dart from face to face as the surrounding Trolls slowly step aside, parting to form a path. And then I see her - the same Troll I'd glimpsed when I was taken. She strides to me with purpose, her presence commanding. This has to be her. The infamous Queen Barb I'd heard so much about. She squats down to my level, now face to face, our breaths mingling. Her face suddenly so close, so clear, sending a cold shiver running down my spine.
Her thumb and pointer grabs either side of my cheek with a firm hold, jerking my head towards left, then right, her eyes scanning my features with care. "Is it really you?" Her mumbled words is easy for me to catch, since there's barely a metre between us. Her eyes drifts to my hair, before she pulls a strand of her own in front of her face, seemingly comparing it to mine.
"Barbara?" Another voice cuts through the silence - a deeper, raspier tone. Barb snaps her gaze away from me, straightening to her full height as she turned toward the source of the voice. I take advantage of the opportunity, scrambling back to my feet, quickly putting some distance between us while her attention is elsewhere.
An Elder Troll rolls through the created path in between the curious Trolls, sat upon a wheelchair. His eyes fixed on Barb, before he realises my presence. His eyes go wide, a sudden spark of surprise flickering behind them, laced with an unexpected trace of sorrow.
"Is it really you..." The same mumbled sentence escapes his lips. "What is going on? Why do you keep saying that..." I manage to snap back in return, but the shaking in my voice gives me away. I fold my arms across my chest, feeling exposed and deeply uncomfortable. Barb's hand disappears down her side pocket, returning with a straight-folded piece of paper, then reaches it out for me to take. I have a fair reason to be hesitant, shifting my eyes between her and the little piece of paper between her fingers. She seems genuine, only wishing for me to waste a glance upon the mystery paper. My curiosity wins the mental fight i had in my mind. With my hand shaking as well, I reach for the offered piece with care. Just as my fingers feel the corner, with a quick reflex, i shove it into me, not darting my eyes away from Barb for even a second.
Once I am certain Barb hasn't fooled me and put me up for a trick, I allow myself to watch the folded piece. As the paper is unfolded, the truth it holds comes to my view. The picture upon it seems old. A younger version of the Elderly Troll in the wheelchair, another Female Troll by his side, holding a baby each. One of the babies has the same features - skin and hair - like the Queen. But the other baby is really catching my attention, her skin, hair, facial features, is identical to me. I reach beneath my mane, another picture now within my grasp - this one of my dad, holding both me and Poppy as babies. Holding it beside the first photo, comparing the two... it then hits me. Two of the babies are identical, it is the same baby, it is me!
I gasp, the shock knocking the breath from my lungs - which I have just gained back - both photos slipping from my hands, drifting like feathers to the floor. Tears well in my eyes. I can't believe it - I'm one of the others. And of all... a Rock Troll?
My legs get a mind of their own, guiding me closer to the figure in the wheelchair. My dad, my real, blood-related dad. As I bent down to his level, he reaches up with trembling hands and gently cups my cheeks. His eyes shine with tears, spilling freely down his face, matching the ones now slipping from mine.
Then Barb approaches both of our sides. I lean back from my dad to face my sister, my real, blood-related sister, just as she pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. I sink into it, a wave of relief washing over me, warm but overwhelming. For the first time, something clicks into place. This is my home, where I am born and should've been raised. This must be where I truly belong?... But, does this mean I will never see my dad again? I mean my not dad. No, he is my dad.
"Welcome home, Willow." My dad beams from beside our embraced figures, his voice soft but filled with emotion. Barb finally leans back, giving me space to breathe again. All around us, the crowd of Trolls still gathered in a wide circle around and have been witnessing the whole scene, erupts into cheers. Their voices rising in celebration, as this is the moment their lost princess, has finally returned to her throne.
My thoughts is drowning me. Unanswered questions, gut-clenching worries. And most importantly, who is Willow? am I Willow? Do I respond to: Princess Willow of Rock now?
I can't stop circling my worries back to Poppy, to Branch. Are they brought to safety? Torn away from the Traitor's grasp on them? Will I ever be able to see them again.
What is going on?!