BETTER DONE THAN PERFECT - ᴀ TROLLS ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

▪︎ CHAPTER 6 ▪︎ Burning

Trolls did not know how to hurt another living being... even less kill.

In the heart of the dense, dark and green vegetation, deep within the shadows of the old trees, a group of travellers had installed their primary shelters. Their history had forced them to be temporaily nomads as they had been looking for a home for weeks now, far from what they once knew. With limited resources and no way out, the nature their ancestors were once adapted and so close to, was now a battleground, testing their resilience and determination.

Away from the group, a younger troll with blue skin was sitting all alone, by himself. Tight in its paw was the stick of a pine tree as he used it to draw in the dirt the outline of what looked similar to a slice of delicious cake. His stomach grumbled another loud and audible complain as he added the cherry on top of his masterpiece, his hand holding into his belly; he hadn't he hadn't had a bite of a proper meal in so long now and the craving of food was making itself feel more intensely by the second. It's not like there was nothing they could munch around; they were in a forest after all ! It's just that there was nothing that wouldn't get them sick. The bushes were filled with poisonous, colorful berries, like teasing and tempting the poor Trolls that had been stuck in this part of the forest for days... they knew it was probably best not to touch them as they could clearly see the dead critters around them like a giant cemetery that gave them nightmares every single night.

Yet when you were so hungry, danger seemed to get forgotten...

The young troll had let go of the stick and was now staring with interest toward one of the forbidden to approach bushes filled with treats. His tail was slowly moving on the ground, his feet uncontrolled as he advanced carefully toward the blue fruits. They looked delicious, and the troll was starving, maybe just a single one wouldn't hurt ? It's not like he was making a pie with those... just one tiny berry to satisfy his hunger...

He had kneeled down, facing the bush and reaching toward the plant so similar to wild grapes to take just a single one as the snake of disobedience hissed in his ears... until something heavy fell on top of his, their weight rolling down the small irregular ground as he let out a scream;

- OW !! Viva !!?

- CLAY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ??

The pink troll with golden locks, now ruler of this tribe, had pinned him on the grass with force, holding him back from the highly toxic moonseeds. He then just noticed how angrily her tail was thrashing the air, her fear showing off as anger as she stopped him from his stupid attempt at dumbly sickening himself. After the recent Escape from BergenTown, these two young trolls had found their destiny intertwined on a common path. It was now their main concern that they would keep the same direction, together as a team. They had lost everything after that day, their families gone in the collapse of the tunnels; they wouldn't loose the only thing that helped them stand up again for anything in the world.

- You could've get hurt ! Don't you remember ? Toxic ??

She pulled on his yellow puffy jacket, shaking him to knock some sense into his apparently non-existent brain. Clay hissed at her to let him go, shaking her off him as he rolled on his side, stood up and dusted himself off. He took a look at the moonseed with envy burning in his eyes.

- Iˋm starving ! he tried to reach for one again.

And just now had Viva understood that hungry was not the only thing; the elders of the group of travelers had explained to the younger ones that moonseed had a perticular smell that would hypnotize their prey, filling their nostrils with an irresistible cloud of sugar in the only goal to get their roots on fresh decomposition. A troll would last them for years.