Faded Rainbows

Country Boy

Delta dawn had stayed awake for much longer than she had tonight, but for some reason, she felt more tired than she ever had before. She strummed absently at her banjo, tuning the strings as she needed. Once she had gotten the sound as she wanted, she glanced over towards the bed she sat next to.

In it lay Trollex, sleeping soundly thanks to the pain medication he had taken. His arm was set in a sling, which was strapped around his chest as well to prevent any unwanted movement. She sighed, returning to strumming her banjo.

It sounded wrong again.

She adjusted the strings again, as she had done already more times than she could count that night. As she tightened one of her strings, it suddenly gave way and snapped, whipping across the back of her hand and leaving a shallow cut. She hissed softly, bringing it closer to inspect.

"Least it's shallow..." She licked over the wound, trusting her body to take care of it for her. She glanced over at Trollex again over her hand. She should have called the Funk trolls, like Branch suggested. All the Country trolls had were supplies for common sicknesses and the occasional injury. Never to the extent of this though.

She had to admire the kid though, he had guts. He had held on as long as any Country troll she'd ever seen. She ruffled her hair slightly, standing up from her seat and standing over the Techno trolls bed. "You better wake up soon, kid."

"How soon... is soon...?"

She nearly leapt out of her horseshoes at the sound of his voice in the quiet room, before she managed to collect herself. "Right know'd be great, seein' as yer already up." She crossed her arms, looking towards the door. "I'll go tell the others yer up, you stay right where you are."

She made her way out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She was almost immediately accosted by Poppy, who was doing an admirable job of keeping her voice down. "Is he alright? Did he wake up yet?"

"Well, he's awake, yeah. Still looks kinda tired though. So if we go in, we go in quiet like, right?"

Poppy nodded, Hickory and Branch standing from their seats to join the two in visiting the young prince.

The prince that Delta was now an inch from turning into sushi!

When they stepped into the room, they found Trollex not just sitting up in bed, oh no. They found him humming a jolly tune as he went around the room to gathering his cape and hat.

He paused in his movements though, feeling murderous intent behind him. He turned slowly to see four very different facial expressions.

Poppy was easy to read, genuine concern and a whole heap of worry.

Branch was a bit more difficult, looking frustrated, but also very tired.

Hickory was trying to take a closer look at Trollex's arms from the distance he was currently maintaining.

And Delta dawn looked about ready to wring his neck.

He gulped softly, pulling at the sling in an attempt to keep it away from his neck, trying to avoid the creeping sensation of choking. "U-Uh, hi...?"

Delta stomped forward. "Don't chu 'hi' me, mister! You get yer fishy behind back in that bed or I swear I'll hog tie you myself!"

With a terrified squeak, Trollex darted for the bed, diving under the covers before peeking out from beneath. "Sorry, miss Delta..."

She stomped a hoof on the floor boards, a resounding crack echoing through the room. "An I said no more miss!" She stormed out of the room, muttering something about impossible kids before she slammed the door behind her.