Viva La Gira

Prolouge

As the stars twinkled and shined in the night sky, the sleepy trolls gathered within the hollow Troll Tree, lit inside only by glowflies and torches that hung from the mossy walls. Standing on a coral mushroom wearing his typical green shirt and pants with his cape and crown, King Peppy was sitting on the middle point in his hair and a matching decorative ring around the tip of his tail. His eldest daughter, Viva, flanked his right, wearing her tea green leotard and crown slung across her body, and his youngest, Poppy, peeked out of Viva's bushy blonde hair wearing a matching crown with Viva, smiling wide.

After having a little giggle amongst "Is everyone here?" the king asked and was met with a sleepy groaning "Yes.".

"Here's how we are going to-" As King Peppy explained what to do and where everyone would go during their escape, Viva fidgeted with her hands and gazed upon the mass, fearful of what was to come, only to be interrupted by Poppy's innocent giggle as she began to slide face first onto Peppy's face as though she were sledding on a snow-covered hill, stopping Viva's nose. Viva then began to laugh along, not thinking for the first time that day what was to come. She looked at her softly, now holding her properly. "Well, no matter what, I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you," she promised solemnly and seriously. She put Poppy back in her hair. The pink infant continued her laughter, not knowing the gravity of her situation. Viva then continued to fidget apprehensively.

-*-*-*-

It was now well past dawn, and the bergens stomped from every street, chanting "Trolls! Trolls! Trolls! Trolls!" as their captives jumped into the tunnel entry within the tree. "Go! Go! Go!" King Peppy urged them to go forward, noticing Viva had yet to do anything. "You too! And keep Poppy safe!" he asked. She nodded uneasily and went with the rest of the trolls as her father had asked.

She ran slightly faster than most trolls, tripping over her tail, as she began her journey through the dark and damp tunnels. As she ran through the tunnel, she put Poppy in her hair and bumped into other trolls. Almost immediately after, the bergens could be heard exclaiming "Fake!?". She began running even faster, Poppy bobbing in her hair.

After a few minutes of this high-speed running and dodging the bergen's shovels, she slowed to catch her breath, only to hear "No troll left behind!". Her father, throwing a ball of trolls below, yelled. In the blink of an eye, he was in the grasp of the hand purple hand of a bergen "Let me go!" he shouted repeatedly as he hit her hand with his fist.

"Dad!" Viva cried, stretching her arm out tears forming in her eyes. After being bumped into by another troll she continued to run, lest she be heard by a bergen and put both her and her sister's life at risk.

-*-*-*-

After roughly 2 hours, the outpour of trolls through the tunnels slowed down and eventually stopped completely. As this happened, they looked around, murmuring about their king's absence.

After a short awkward silence, a random feminine troll, with yellow skin and aqua hair asked "Do you know where he is, Princess?"

"I know where he is," Viva started pausing to prevent tears, "He's just never gonna get here" she finished, with a crack in her voice. Everyone around went quiet, taking in her statement. The silence was solemn, heavy, and dreary. Despite the pain she was feeling in this moment, Viva went up to the edge of the largest tunnel to address her subjects.

"We've got to get farther away - they might be able to discover the tunnels and track us down if we stay here. Let's go!" she jumps off and swiftly makes her way to the front of the crowd to
Lead them to their new home.