Faded Rainbows

Mischief

Trollex and Barb had found a quiet section amongst some of the shrubbery on the island, panting lightly as they tried to catch their breath after their mad dash to escape the overbearing older trolls. Once Trollex managed to calm himself, he sat on the ground a short distance from Barb, looking at her curiously.

He hadn't been around Barb since after the rock tour, but she seemed more tired. She was still energetic, but it seemed to have lethargy to it. "Are you ok, Queen Barb?"

She perked up at that, tilting her head at him. "Drop the queen bit, I don't wanna be calling everyone by titles, gets confusing with..." She ticked off on her fingers. "Three queens and three kings, plus two princes and if you include my dad and Popsqueak's, then that's tacking on two former kings..."

Trollex hadn't realized how many royals there were, active or not. "OK, I see your point...but that doesn't answer my question..."

She looked away, humming a bit. "I'm tired, that's all. Not been getting very good sleep lately. Plus I did just get my butt kicked by a fish boy so, there's that to."

He blushed brightly, covering his face. "Sorry, I just... I've been a ball of nerves lately and I just..." He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Barb, why...? Why did you do all of that...? I don't get it..."

Barb was silent for a while, hugging her knees to her chest. "Because... I don't know... I had just inherited the throne from dad, and he taught me about our Rock string, and what Pop did to us... And I guess I wanted... friends? I don't know, I wanted more than I had though. I figured if I could get all of you to be rockers, I'd have some real friends... That backfired huh? Now every tribe hates rock..."

He was a little shocked to hear that as the reason. "But why did you hurt so many trolls then...? Destroying their homes won't make them friends..."

"I don't know man, I really don't! It just felt like... I don't know, something told me that if I used all the strings like that, you guys wouldn't even care anymore, cause you'd all be rockers..." She rubbed her head. "But... I don't know how I even knew bringing the strings together in the first place would do that..."

"Wait, really? I thought your dad might have known how. I know my parents never taught me anything like that... of course they kinda didn't teach me... anything about being a leader." He reached a hand up, pulling that broken abalone shell out and turning it in his palm, admiring the sparkle it gave off in the sun light.

Barb looked at him. "Trollex, I been meaning to ask, since I know you're younger than me, why are you the king?"

Trollex jumped. "Wait, how'd you know I'm young? No other leaders seem to realize it right away."

She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well, honestly? I knew because I had heard it from some of the Techno trolls that washed up here a few times. It used to happen pretty often, a Techno troll would wash up on shore, either hurt, hungry, or just wanting to spend some time on the beach. We would chat with them and get an idea of what life under the sea was... It's the reason I targeted you first... I knew you were young, I thought you'd be easy..."

That was the reason? Just because they were close on a map, and he was a kid? He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well congrats, you chose right! We were easy..."

Barb flinched a little at the dead tone the other used. "I'm sorry, alright man? I know that won't make up for what I did, but... If there's anything the Rock trolls and I can do, tell us! We want to be good neighbors... We want to be good Trolls..."

He looked down at the splattering of color he had, and sighed. "Actually Barb, I'm here because I need help..."

She looked at him. "Your colors, right? You look like a weird patchwork quilt, and not a good one."