Crystal Facets

Branch

Branch groaned softly as he came to, rubbing at the back of his head where he'd surely have a lump later. He looked around, spotting Poppy next to him, and Cooper a short distance away. He stood on wobbly feet and gently shook Poppy awake. She let out a small grumble, muttering about five more minutes.

He huffed, and abandoned waking her for now. He went over to Cooper, but paused for a moment. Something seemed... off about him. He inched closer slowly, and nudged the other troll lightly. "Cooper...?"

As the other troll groaned softly in pain and lifted their head, Branch realized this DEFINITELY wasn't Cooper. He shuffled back a few paces, taking up a defensive stance. When the new troll turned to face him, they both stared at each other, each looking the other over curiously.

It was no wonder at a distance Branch had thought this troll was Cooper, he was a dead ringer! Even the light and dark pink stripes on the fur of his body. The only real differences between the two were that this new troll had shorter, thicker dreads, jewelry, and golden tinsel along his neck.

Branch hesitated a moment longer before speaking. "You're not Cooper, who are you?" He hadn't meant to sound so aggressive, but maybe that was the best approach here?

The Cooper look-alike lifted his ears for a moment before wincing and lowering them again. "Man, rough tune..." The new troll smiled softly, pushing himself into a standing position and held out a hand. "I'm Prince Darnell, but my friends call me Prince D."

"Prince D? You're royalty...? But... what are you? You're a troll, right? Like Cooper..." Branch wasn't sure how to feel about Prince D's relaxed approach, but he wasn't as tense as before.

"I'm a funk troll, though I'm more hip hop than that. And you are...?" Prince D. gave the other a quizzical look, seeing the pure confusion that painted the grey trolls features.

"A... hip hop? Funk? Um, I'm Branch, and... I'm a troll?" He wasn't sure where the other terms D had used came from, and he hoped he'd have enough time to ask before Poppy woke up.

Darnell shook his head. "No, what kind of troll are you... wait!" He stepped closer, his ears perking up a bit. "You sound weird, but... the troll behind you sounds Pop, are you a Pop troll?" D took up a slightly more defence ready posture.

Branch arched a brow, curiosity overtaking his anxiety. "Pop? Wait, what are you talking about... are there different types of trolls...?" He perked up, ears twitching slightly as he heard the groans of several other trolls nearby. As he scanned over his surroundings, he realized that there were four other trolls, besides Cooper and Poppy.

There was a dark blue one that glowed faintly and, oddly enough, had no feet. Another with enough hair to make a Pop troll jealous and four legs, with a bushy tail. A third that looked like a small glitter troll with wings and one that looked like a Pop troll, but grey and red rather than flashy colors.

As each new, strange troll stood, Branch made his way back over to Poppy, putting himself between her and the perceived danger. Once Cooper had stood up, and shaken himself off, Branch tried to call him over. He may not consider Cooper a friend, but he'd protect any troll from his village. Especially Poppy.

Cooper wasn't listening to Branch though, his eyes fixed on Prince D, his ears up and pointing forward. "You sound... like me...! You look like me too!"

Prince D. lifted his head and looked at the source of the voice, and his jaw dropped when he saw Cooper. "W-Wait... You're a funk troll, like me! How... you look..." His eyes widened, and he stepped a little closer to Cooper. Branch readied to grab the prince with his hair. "You're... my brother... I think you're my twin brother...!"