Faded Rainbows

Unprepared

King Trollex had always been a chipper tyke. No one could keep the kid from smiling, no matter what happened. Swam to fast and slammed head first into a coral? He'd sit on his dad's fins while his mom bandaged his head, laughing all the while and talking as though he had one a great battle against the coral. When he got caught in a strong current and carried out to open water? He called it an adventure, and swam back home on his own, with a grin on his face.

His whole tribe knew him for his glowing smile and perky beat.

This is why it shocked the whole tribe the day they saw their glowing boy cry.

Everything had seemed calm in the waters that day, so the King and Queen of the Techno trolls had decided to bring their young son to host his first Techno tribe rave. Prince Trollex had loved Techno music from the moment he cracked his egg. ¬He'd been the talk of the ocean since then to, having been born with rainbow patterning on his arms and colorful pixels on his tail.

He'd first heard his tribes beloved Techno music just a short time later, his parents throwing him a happy hatching day party, though it was small scale compared to the parties they usually hosted. He'd had a burning passion for music ever since that day, using every opportunity to try his fins and composing music like his parents.

Of course, he was no child prodigy when it came to Techno. Sure, he had all the right energy and the perfect amount of charisma, but he lacked in the technical and musical aspects. Try as he might, he would always toss aside his drafts, often not allowing anyone to see them.

He didn't want to disappoint his parents, or his fellow Techno Trolls. He wanted his first song to be the best it could be! He was often cooped up in his room, and it was one such night that his parents came to him, peeking into his room to see him glaring at his writing materials.

The queen smiled sweetly, looking over at her husband and nodding. They knew Trollex was going to be a great king one day, but for now they needed to convince him that he needed to take a break. The king cleared his throat, and suppressed a chuckle when Trollex let out a startled squeak, scrambling to hide his writing materials and any scrap he could reach. "M-Mom! Dad! What are you two doing in my room?" He tried and failed to nonchalantly shove some of the discarded kelp under his bed.

The queen hid a giggle behind her palm before she spoke. "My dear little Glow guppy, shouldn't you take a break?"

With a nod, the king swam into his son's room, dipping to pick up a piece of discarded kelp. "Right. Son, our music comes from our experiences, but you don't have any to draw from." He chuckled as Trollex snatched the kelp from the King before he could read the contents. "Why don't we three go on an adventure together?" He reached out, gently touching Trollex's digital heart, eliciting a tickled laugh from the young Techno troll. "What do you say?"

Trollex looked between the hopeful faces of his parents, and broke out in a grin. "Alright, I could use a break, let's do this!" He swam forward, pulling his parents into a hug. "Thanks mom, dad."

It didn't take long for the royal family to gather what they needed, though the King and Queen were now in a heated discussion on whether or not they'd need the king's saber for a family outing.

The queen roller her soft blue eyes, crossing her arms as she flicked her tail at her husband. "Why do you need it? It's not like we're going to run into anything that can hurt us, we're not going far!"

"No, it's best to bring it whenever we leave our reef, a shark can show up anywhere, even just outside the barrier!" The king protested, his arm waving through the water to gesture to the coral surrounding them.