Love in a Family Dose

From Isolationist to Isolationist

-Deep within the forested Valley-

Deep at its core of the forested valley, Branch and John Dory moved along searching for wood suitable for making the bonfire. Thirty minutes had already passed between their travel from camp to the core of the valley. Both Branch and John Dory searched diligently for trees which were small enough to be cut down easily but thick enough to provide a sufficient amount of fire fuel to last them. However, the more they searched, the more they figured it would take them a lot longer to head back to camp than they thought.

"Ugh! Look, the suns going down! It's gonna be hard to look for firewood in the darkness." Branch exclaimed as he took out a flashlight that he had stored up in his hair.

John Dory had had his eye peeled for any trees when he had been snapped out of his thought bubble by Branch's comment. Now, watching as Branch pulled out a flashlight for his hair, he smiled, "Hey! You also carry gear in your hair!?" Now pulling out a flashlight from his own hair too, "Me too!"

Branch now stood looking at John Dory as he saw him reach for a flashlight in his hair. Now chuckling, "Oh yeah, I usually carry a lot of pre-precaution supplies in my hair. It's kinda my thing"

"Kinda your thing?" John Dory asked with curiosity in his tone

"Oh yeah! Well, I'm usually the safety guy" Branch responded shortly before noticing John was still rubbing his head. "Me and Poppy go out on alot of adventures! Sometimes we go out as a group but most of the time it's Just me and Poppy. Anyway, It's usually me who is looking out for them, I'm kinda one of the only trolls who knows how to navigate their way around" Branch now let out a nervous chuckle, trying not to sound as if he was boasting.

"Oh, I see now! That's kinda cool!.........Look at you, all grown up and looking out for everyone" John Smiled

"It's nothing really, I just make sure we head in the right direction, stay on track and make sure no one gets hurt" Branch was now pointing his flashlight to illuminate the trail ahead, still searching for firewood.

"Wow! That's a lot of pressure. I mean being their guide and all, having to keep your eyes peeled at all times for any potential dangers, looking out for everyone...... .Not really getting a chance to be as carefree as everyone else......Doesn't that get overwhelming, I mean looking out for everyone?" John now held a melancholic expression, Listening to Branch talk about his responsibilities had taken him back to his Band leader days when he had felt such an enormous pressure on his shoulders. He thought about how in the moment, it all felt like the world would come crashing down if he didn't keep everything under control and made sure everything went smoothly, how it felt like he would disappoint so many trolls if he wasn't perfect.......or if he came anywhere close to making a mistake. It made him think about just how similar Branch and Himself were compared to one another.

"I mean no, not really. I guess it's just second nature for me...Almost like an instinct. Maybe it's because I spent so much of my life doing it for myself, so much so that it was just an easy transition.....Though, I guess sometimes it can be frustrating when no one really takes me seriously..."Branch now sighed as he reminisced.

"When no one takes you seriously?" John inquired further

"Yeah. Back when the Bergens were still eating us.....I was the only one who would constantly suggest that we take more repercussions......but everyone thought I was just being well...me....Since we had relocated, I had always kept myself at a distance, trying to built the bunker for myself.....I found that If i had managed to isolate myself from the rest that I could avoid getting eaten" Branch looked down, reminiscing upon the horrible pit of isolation that he had once felt, "Anyhow, as you may know trolls are happy by nature and though we are emotional by nature, that doesn't technically equate to us exactly being okay with being vulnerable.....at least not with the more complex emotions anyway. I mean it is kinda hard to talk about the harder topics when youre to busy having fun" He chuckled slightly, "Since i was the only one not having fun, you can only imagine just exactly what ate away at my brain.....whenever i mentioned it, everyone would just brush me off....I guess in retrospect it probably should have made me sad but it only irritated me further and that's kinda how I came to be known as the village grump" Branch was now rubbing the back of his head sheepishly