Foreigners of Rageanity

【≪ⅲ≫】May the Bridges I Burn Light My Way To You

Tiny Diamond was never the same after the Bergen attack that took his dad. Nobody was, really. But for a four month old baby who had never known true sorrow, it was incomprehensible to lose his father. He tried to be strong. He tried to be a big boy, but it was so hard. He hated the dark, he hated being alone, he hated scary things, he hated bedtimes, and he hated vegetables.

He hated how the adults would look at him now, with be an expression that for some reason was reserved for him. The pity.

He was only four months old, but he knew what loss was, and he hated it.

He hated that he felt like he needed to be a big boy, since he had experienced big boy things like losing his dad and a Bergen attack.

It left him confused in a way a four month old shouldn't have to be. A four month old shouldn't have to question the legitimately of the Trolls friendship with Bergens. A four month old shouldn't have to know that not every Bergen is safe. A four month old shouldn't have to feel like he has to be careful with who he trusts. A four month old shouldn't feel terrified when he can't see another Troll, in fear that they are hiding and left him behind. A four month old shouldn't have nightmares of his father running with him in his arms through the forest as thundering footsteps echoed and shook the ground behind them. A four month old shouldn't have the vivid image of his dad being snatched from the hole they had found in a tree, of the auto-tuned scream of his father, of the frantic desperate promises that his dad will find him again...

A four month old shouldn't be forced to live without his dad.

But he is being forced to, so he must be a big boy. He has to prove that he can do it, so when Aunt Poppy and Branch went on an adventure to find his brothers, Tiny Diamond decided to join.... And he also didn't want to be left alone in Bergen-Town with the other Trolls.

And who is it that he's admired since he drew his first breath? Who's the coolest, most adult person he knows?

(Y/n) is.

He remembers hatching from his egg, and she was the first thing he saw besides his dad, and she had blown his freshly born mind, commanding attention with little more than a few words or actions. She was the biggest thing he had ever seen in his few seconds of life, and he had loved everything she represented. He wanted to be like her, to make Trolls laugh and smile, and protect everyone... Even though, now, she's gone for reasons he doesn't know. It must have been really important adult things, so he decided he would be cool, he would be fearless, and he would take up the mantle she left behind.

He would try to be like her.

Because that's what big boys do.

______________ ___ __ _

Branch was beginning to regret agreeing to this trip. John Dory and Poppy got along too well. They kept undermining him and ignoring his efforts to find Spruce.

"One word, Branch. Keeper~!" John sang.

"We aren't dating!" Branch snapped aggressively, feeling triggered just by the notion of him and Poppy being a couple. Once upon a time, that would have sent him spiraling into a clumsy blushing mess, but now the idea was offensive and left a bad taste in his mouth.

He ignored the awkward silence he caused and made his way up to the front, where Tiny Diamond sat in the driver's seat. He felt exhausted.

"Branch?"

"What!?" He snapped, before immediately regretting it after realizing it was just Tiny Diamond, who flinched heavily and turned back to face the road, a dejected and slightly fearful look on his little face.