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Chapter Text

The troll in the tower.

Chapter one:

Once upon a time there lived a troll Queen named Poppy, she was a kind and beautiful pink troll who was loved by all the people of the kingdom. She was happily married to her King Diamond, he was sparkling troll who was wise and gentle King he was just as loved by his people as his wife was. The royal couple had been wanting a child for a long time, at long last they produced a pod in two shades of blue teal and royal blue which they hung onto the troll tree. The royal couple waited for the pod to finish growing and open, the King and Queen were there the day that their pod opened, it showed to them their son, he’s skin was teal blue and he also had royal blue hair. As soon as they noticed the colours of their child Poppy and Diamond knew what they would name their son and so the King and the Queen announced to the kingdom the birth of prince Branch. This announcement by the royal couple was greeted with great joy by all the people of the kingdom and there was a lot of celebrating all across the kingdom.

Unfortunately for Queen Poppy and King Diamond their happiness at the birth of their son was not to last as shortly after he was born the child was snatched by the Bergen witch Chef. Despite the best efforts of the guards of the castle to capture her, the magic of the witch was to strong and she carried the child away never to be seen again. Both the King and Queen fell into a deep mourning for their lost child, they both became grey, in sympathy for their pain the rest of the trolls of the kingdom also turned grey with them. Queen Poppy wept for her child, the tears of the pink troll glowed with pink light, her family had always held some magic, their tears were however very magical and knowing this Poppy caught the tear on her finger and whispered to it. “Please keep my little boy safe and bring him home to us one day.” The tear glowed with a bright pink light and then it vanished, from this the pink troll knew that her spell had worked. Diamond who had been in the room with the one he loved, the King placed his arms around his wife holding her close and even though he had no magic of his own he also wished that their son would return to them safe.

Far away from the castle in a tower, situated in a clearing in a forest and hidden from the word the Chef raised the troll child as her own. She had wanted him for his magic, but it appeared that the child had none, so instead the Bergen decided to try to use him as bait to draw other trolls to the tower. She wanted to draw trolls to the tower so she could capture prisoners, Chef wanted the trolls as her prisoners so that she could feast on their happiness over time before they were empty of it at which point they of no more use to her and the Bergen would dispose of them. The Chef taught the blue troll to sing in order to bring other trolls to the tower, she soon discovered that he had a magnificent voice and the Bergen felt sure that this would help Branch to lure other trolls to her. So it was whenever Chef had him sing to lure other trolls to her she would keep the shutters of the windows closed so that the blue troll didn’t see what she was doing to those drawn in by his voice.

When the prince was young and had asked why the Bergen was taking care of him, Chef had told him, she had found him abandoned in the forest and taken him in. This was a story which the blue troll being so young when he asked about this had believed without question. As time passed, Branch grew up from a child into an adult troll and his voice which had been beautiful as a child was angelic now he was fully grown. The blue troll spent all his time in the tower, the blue troll read all the books his mother brought him, he learnt to sew, cook as well as playing the harp, he painted anything and everything in the tower, including the furniture to help pass the time when his mother was not home. The blue troll also spent part of each day working out his hair and body, it was more than a way to pass time for him, it also made him fit which he felt was important. Branch also wrote stories these were just to entertain himself, he hid them from his mother, the blue troll didn’t know why he did this, but there was something deep inside him which told the blue troll that she wouldn’t be pleased to discover he wrote about being rescued or leaving the tower to make a life of his own in the world beyond the tower.

There were days when the blue troll felt a little sad that his mother would never see the outside world, but he would always remind himself that he was safe in the tower and well looked after by his adopted mother, who just wanted to keep him safe from all the nasty things in the world. It was on these gloomy days, that he would sit on the window seat looking out of the tower and Branch would find himself wondering what the outside world might be like. His Bergen mother always told him it was dangerous out there, but still the blue troll found himself really wanting to find out for himself what the outside world might be like. Branch also wondered what it might be like to actually meet another troll and be able to talk to one.

Usually Branch only sang when his mother told him to, but there was one song which just like the stories the blue troll kept to himself, he would only sing this song when Branch was sure he was alone and today as he was sad the blue troll found himself singing it. “Moonlight glow, and starlight glimmer. Mask my heart in silver light, keep it safe, for to find true love the mask is the key. With the mask my truth is hidden, a loving heart to loving heart, I was always there from the start. Within the tears hides the magic, of a love which cannot be broken, it can heal a broken heart and make all new at once.” As Branch came to the end of his song, he let out a sigh the song always comforted him, but at the same time it left the blue troll feeling very confused, he didn’t even know how he knew this song it was just always there.

The blue troll was totally unaware that this song had drawn another troll, he was hiding in the trees as the edge of the clearing the tower was in watching this other troll. The watching troll had to admit that the blue troll had a truly amazing voice, the likes of which he had never heard before and he couldn’t help but feel that the voice of this troll would easily surpass any other troll’s singing. This male troll couldn’t help but wonder why the blue troll was in the tower or if he ever left the tower and if not why not. This watching troll knew that the only way to get answers to all of these questions would be to ask the other troll. The male troll decided that he would try to befriend this troll hoping to find out how such a handsome troll ended up in a tower and in order to get closer to this wonderful troll.

Slowly the male troll stepped out of the tree line which surrounded, the clearing in which the tower stood he looked up at the troll in the window and called out to him. “Hello up there!”

The blue troll gave a start of surprise as the other troll called out to him and then the troll in the tower looked down at him with wide teal blue eyes. Branch knew he was staring at this other troll and realising that he was staring at him caused the blue troll to blushing slightly. Still Branch didn’t take his eyes off of him, instead he took in every detail of this other male troll, as the blue troll did so he felt this was a very handsome troll, his skin was a beautiful shade of purple which reminded the blue troll of the twilight sky. The hair of this other troll was long, it was bright blue at the bottom, going to teal green at the top part of the hair which curled backwards. “Hello.” Branch called back to him, smiling down onto the other troll.

“I’m Creek and you are?” He asked loudly but with a charming smile.

“Branch.” He called back shyly.

“May I come in?”

Branch shook his head at the other troll. “My mother wouldn’t like that…You’re a stranger…”

“Oh I see…You have a wonderful voice Branch…I’ve never heard that song before.”

The blue troll blushed as the other troll complimented him, receiving this praise from the other troll made him feel very warm inside. “Thank you…”

“Do you ever leave the tower?” Creek asked him curiously.

Branch shook his head. “No mother doesn’t want to lose me…”

“You know it’s really difficult to talk like this…” After the purple troll said this he was thoughtful for a few moments and then suddenly an idea came to him. Creek quickly followed this idea he whipped his hair out using it to grab the windowsill and then the purple troll used his hold on it to pull himself up. When he reached the windowsill Creek sat on the outside of it, he looked at Branch and then smiled at him before saying to the blue troll. “There now we can talk much more easily and you can honestly tell your mother no troll came into the tower.”

Branch blushed slightly again. “That’s true I won’t have to lie to my mother.”

“Have you met many other trolls before now?”

“No…You’re the first…It’s nice to have another troll to talk to.”

“Would you like me to come and visit you again?” Creek asked him, hoping that this handsome troll would say yes to his question.

The blue troll thought about this question for a few moments, he wanted to say yes but at the same time Branch didn’t want to get in trouble with his mother or have this first troll he had met to caught by her. “I’d like that but my mother is very strict…But I would like to see you again, it would be nice to talk to you again Creek I won’t lie about that. So do you have a family?”

“I did but they died when I was very young.”

“Oh I’m sorry…”

Branch began but the purple troll interrupted him with. “You weren’t to know.”

Deciding to try a different subject the blue troll asked. “So what do you do with your days?”

“I gather things from the forest to sell to the healers in towns near here and I make things from the dead wood I find in the forest.”

Branch felt very curious after he said this about the dead wood. “Oh what do you make from the wood?”

“All sorts of things, bangles, animals useful wooden objects like spoons.”

“That sounds really interesting, I paint and sew.” The blue troll felt these two skills were safe to admit to this other troll.

Creek smiled at the blue troll and said ruefully. “I wish I could paint…I tired once, it was terrible.”

Branch couldn’t help but chuckle at the tone of voice the other troll said this in, the blue troll found himself feeling very relaxed in the presence of this purple troll and he didn’t want this time to end, but Branch knew that Creek needed to leave before his mother came back. “My mother will come home soon you should go, I don’t want her to catch you.

“When can I see you again?” Creek asked him gently, he really wanted to see this handsome troll again soon, as Branch made him feel desirable and as though he had met some troll who could become very dear to him.

“I’d like to see you again soon…But we need to work out a way for me to let you know that it is safe to come and see me…What would work though?” Branch feel quiet after he asked this thinking about what might work as a good signal between them.

A sudden idea presented itself to Creek, who said quickly to the other troll. “How about that song you sung today?”

The blue troll turned this idea over in his head and then gave Creek a nod. “Yes I think that would work, I never sing that song when my mother is around…I don’t know why but I don’t.”

“Then we agreed when you sing the song you did today then I know that I can come out to see you.” With this said the purple troll gave Branch a smile, he took one of the blue troll’s hands into his and kissed the back of it. “I shall see you tomorrow Branch.”

The blue troll blushed as Creek kissed the back of his hand and then said softly. “Yes you will.”

Creek used his hair to leave the tower, Branch watched the purple troll until he was out of sight, it was then that the blue troll left the window, he started to cook dinner for his mother and himself for that evening. Branch was careful when she got home to act as though nothing was different from any other day, Chef had brought him a new art pad and supplies so the blue troll thanked her gratefully for these gifts and Branch was really looking forward to being able to use these items as well as to seeing and talking to Creek the next day after his mother left him for the day.

Chapter Text

Chapter two:

When Chef left Branch alone in the tower the next day it was rather early in the morning, the blue troll felt that it was far too early for Creek to be waiting for him in the forest so Branch baked some cupcakes for himself, a few for Creek and some for his mother to be eaten later. Once they had finished cooking, the blue troll got them out of the oven and then he placed the cupcakes to one side to cool off. With this done Branch picked up his drawing pad and pencils, the blue troll settled in the window, he started to draw, it wasn’t long before Branch realised that he was drawing Creek and this caused the blue troll to blush slightly but he didn’t stop drawing until picture of the other troll was finished at last.

A while later when Branch looked up from his finished drawing, he realised that the sun was now further up in the sky, smiling himself the blue troll put his pad and pencils to one side and sang his song. The smile on the face of Branch grew as a few moments after he started to sing, Creek came out of the tree line of the forest and smiled up at him. “Good morning!” The purple troll called up to him.

As soon as Creek smiled at him, the blue troll felt his heart flutter and warmth filling him. “Good morning!”

The purple troll did as he had done last time, Creek wiped his hair out used it to grab hold of the windowsill, then once he was sure he had a good grip of the windowsill the purple troll used his hair to get up to the windowsill and sat on it looking at the other male troll before saying to him. “I found myself wondering have you ever left this tower?”

“No, I have to admit I have wondered what the world beyond my home is like…I mean this is going to sound odd, but I’ve always wanted to know what does grass feel like?” As Branch asked this question his voice was soft and he felt a little ashamed not to know the answer to this question himself.

Creek tried not to show how surprised he was by this question from the other troll and said to him gently. “Grass is soft and smooth, have you ever touched a flower?”

The blue troll shook his head, instantly Creek felt compassion for the other troll as he did this and said softly to him. “That’s sad…I could bring you one if you like.”

Again Branch shook his head at the purple troll. “No please don’t…I read that plants are living things, I wouldn’t want to kill something just to satisfy my curiosity. Do you live in a tower as I do?”

The purple troll was rather surprised by the other troll’s compassionate words but he felt respect for him filling him as Branch spoke them. “No, I live in a pod on the troll tree.” Creek told him in answer to his question.

The blue troll looked at him with curiosity and then asked. “Pods? What’s a pod and what’s the troll tree?”

The purple troll was very shocked by the fact that Branch had no idea what a pod was or what the troll tree was either. “Your mother has never told you about them?” The answer he got to this question was a shake of the head and so Creek explained them to him. “Well the troll tree is a huge magical tree, it’s were most trolls make their home, but there are some trolls like your mother and yourself who decide not to. As for pods well, that is what trolls call their home, it hangs from the troll tree like a fruit or flower and a pod is also what a baby troll grows inside. Pods are very colourful, they are often in the shades of that troll, but they can also have in them other colours and their shapes can be different from each other.”

“Sounds beautiful.” Branch said wistfully, he wondered what it might be like to see such a sight, but quickly pushed that thought to one side he couldn’t make his mother sad by leaving the tower and becoming lose to her. Deciding to distract himself from these thoughts the blue troll then asked Creek the next question on his mind which was. “And are all trolls as colourful as you?”

“Oh yes! Some are even more colourful than me.”

This thought made the blue troll smile and after a few moments of trying to imagine troll’s more colourful than Creek, Branch spoke to him again. “Creek every year on midwinters day, I hear very sad singing do you know why that happens?”

The purple troll gave his handsome companion a sad nod to show he did know why it happened and then he spoke to him. “It is well…That is the day that we mourn the loss of our prince on, midwinters day is the day of his birth you see, so we all sing that song together every last troll in the troll tree. Every troll in the kingdom knows the words of that song by heart.”

“I’ve never heard the words of the song, it’s too far away for me make them out, but I can tell that the voices are very sad, I’ll admit I was always curious as to what they were singing. What happened to the prince?”

“He was stolen away, no troll even knows if he is still alive, the prince was the only child our King and Queen was ever able to have, so we mourn with them and worry for our future after all with the prince gone no troll knows who will rule over us after the King and Queen die…” Creek shook his head trying to dispel his concerns over the future of his home and then addressed Branch again. “Would you like to hear the words of our song?”

“If you do not mind telling them to me…I would be honoured to hear the words of the song.”

Creek took a deep breath, the purple troll let it out, he closed his eyes for a moment, he opened them after a few moments and then sang very quietly to the other troll.

“Here this night we gather together,
Under the sky of the night
The starts they shine bright.
We sing to the moon and stars
Of our hope and our pain.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

All together we voice our pain
Not one heart left untouched.
We mourn with our King and Queen
Our song may it reach him
Let our voices call him back to us.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

Together we call to our prince
Return to us we beg you.
Bring back the light to the kingdom
Give us the joy we lost
Repay our hope with his return.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

We shall never release our hope
Let our hope be his light.
May our prince find his way home
Hear our voices, feel our hope
Return to us our prince this we pray.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.”

As Creek had sung the blue troll had closed his eyes to listen to him, when the song came to an end Branch was quiet for a long moment, the words of the song had touched him deeply and the blue troll wasn’t too sure how to feel about this song just yet, but he knew without a doubt that the song would haunt him for some time to come. Slowly Branch opened his eyes, the blue troll let out a sigh, then turned his teal eyes onto Creek and before he said to him. “The words of the song are very sad yet, but at the same time they make it clear that you all refuse to give up on the prince or your hope that he will return to you all.”

Slowly the purple troll smiled at his companion. “Yes, we do wish for the prince to return with all of our hearts, the kingdom needs him, even I know that.”

“I hope the prince does return to you all from were ever he is.” As he spoke Branch meant every single one of the words he spoke.

Creek could tell from the tone of the handsome troll’s voice that he meant what he said to him. “Thank you Branch.”

The blue troll decided to turn the other troll’s thoughts away from such negativity. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes actually I am and I didn’t even think to bring food with me…But then I didn’t expect to become so involved in talking to you.” Creek confessed looking a little sheepish.

Branch gave a small chuckle, he went inside the tower, he came back with some fruit and the extra cupcakes he had baked earlier for their lunch, the blue troll presented the cupcakes to his guest and said clearly nervous. “Here, good thing I cooked extra. I hope that you like my cupcakes I usually only cook for mother…”

As the purple troll noticed how nervous the other troll was, he smiled at Branch and said softly. “I’m sure they will be wonderful.” Creek chose one of the cupcakes, he bit into it, the cake was amazing and the purple troll let out a hum of appreciation before swallowing his bite and saying to Branch. “Oh wow you can cook!”

The blue troll couldn’t help the short laugh which escaped him at the sight of the blissful smile on Creeks face. “I’m glad you enjoy mu cupcakes so much.”

The two trolls ate in a companionable silence, when lunch was finished, Creek looked at the other troll, he really didn’t want to have to go, but the purple troll knew that he had to do some herb collecting for the next few days so that he had them to trade for the things he needed to live and so he said regretfully to Branch. “I won’t be able to see you for the next few days I have to collect herbs, so I can sell them to the healers.”

“I understand, mother has to do something similar to make a living. I shall miss you, but I shall also look forward to seeing you again, just remember don’t come out to see me unless I sing my song about the moon and the mask.”

Creek smiled at Branch he was very glad that the other troll understood why he wouldn’t be able to visit. “What exactly does your mother do for a living?”

Branch titled his head to one side. “Mother did explain it to me once but it was all so complicated that I didn’t really follow it…She acts as a midwife and as a kind of medicine woman to a tribe I’m not sure where it is though.”

“Your mother must be very busy.”

“Yes, I sometimes don’t see her for days…But enough of my woes you should get on with your day.”

Creek smiled at him and said with honesty. “I’ll look forward to being able to see you again.”
“As will I.” Branch assured him, he gave the purple troll a gentle kiss on the cheek.

This action on the part of the other troll caused Creek to blush, then he smiled at him and kissed Branch on the cheek in return. “I’ll see you soon.” After he spoke these words the purple troll used his hair to leave the tower, he made his way to the edge of the clearing but this time before Creek left it, he turned back and waved to Branch who smiled at waved back. When he could no longer see the other troll the blue troll set to work cleaning the tower and making dinner for when his mother would come home later in the day.

Chapter Text

Chapter three:

Branch was really missing Creek, he’d never felt anything like this before, except when he had been very young and his mother had left him alone, the blue troll found himself sighing over the other troll and daydreaming about him a lot. Branch had also been experiencing a lot of dreams where he left the tower with Creek and they explored the word together before setting up their home, dreaming of making his home of with the purple troll made him feel truly happy. The blue troll had never had the feelings he did for Creek before now, they were wonderful, exciting and terrifying to him all at the same time. Branch hoped with all of his heart that the purple troll was developing feelings similar to his own towards him and at the same time the blue troll couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to tell Creek about the feelings which were starting to stir in him.

The blue troll was cleaning the tower room one day three days after he had last seen Creek, when he heard a small pathetic noise, instantly Branch stopped cleaning and then the blue troll started looking around the tower for were this noise was coming from. Branch looked under the various pieces of furniture trying to find what was causing the noise, then and eventually he found a small green fuzzy spider hiding under one of the chest of draws. “Hello there.” The blue troll said to it as gently as possible, he didn’t want to scare the green fuzzy spider.

The spider turned to look at him with it’s many eyes, it let out another small noise of fright and pulled itself closer to the wall of the tower. As it reacted to him like this Branch noticed that one of its pink legs was dragging behind it slightly and instantly the blue troll felt sorry for the poor little thing it had to be in such pain as well as very scared in this moment. “It’s alright I’m not going to hurt you, come on out little one. I won’t hurt you, come out from under there and let me have a look at that leg.”

Branch stepped back from the chest of draws, he sat on the ground close to it, the blue troll didn’t say anything more to the spider instead he just waited quietly for the spider to come out. After a short while the green fuzzy spider slowly came out from under the chest of draws, the spider watched the blue troll for a few moments. Branch smiled softly at it, then he held a hand out towards it, the blue troll placed his hand onto the ground in front of it and said gently to the spider. “It’s alright I’m not going to hurt you. Come on little one let me have a look at your leg.” Slowly the fuzzy spider got onto Branch’s hand, he looked at the leg, then very gently he ran his fingers over the leg feeling it for any damage and then after this he hummed in thought before saying to it. “The good news is that your leg is not broken, but it is badly swollen did you get it caught in something?”

The spider answered him in a deep male voice. “Yes…I caught it between the door to the kitchen and the floor.”

“Oh dear that must of hurt!” As he spoke to the spider Branch had to admit that he was rather surprised that the green spider had spoken to him. The blue troll quickly pushed his surprise about the spider talking to one side, he smiled at it and then asked the fuzzy spider. “Do you have a name? After all calling you Mr Spider sounds a little odd.”

The fuzzy spider chuckled as Branch called him Mr spider and then he answered this question from the blue troll. “My name is Fizz…”

“Fizz, I like it. My name is Branch.” Slowly the troll stood Branch was being careful not to jostle the spider and make his leg hurt any more than it was already. The blue troll he carried the spider across the room, gently he settled the fuzzy spider onto one of the side and once he had done this Branch got out his medical kit. The blue troll pulled out of it a small glass jar which contained a yellow cream, he unscrewed the lid, turned to the spider and then said to him gently. “This will help.” Branch took some of the cream out of the jar, the blue troll gently he smoothed it onto the spider’s leg and then once this was done he bound the leg up. “There we go Fizz your leg will need some rest but you should be fine. Are you on your own Fizz?”

“Yes…And you Branch?” Fizz asked him gently.

The blue troll let out a deep sigh and then answered this question. “Yes I am also alone.” After he has said this an idea presented itself to Branch and he spoke to the spider again. “Do you want to stay here with me?”

“Really?” Fizz asked rather shocked but at the same time pleased by this question.

“I’d like the company.” The blue troll admitted without a trace of shame.

After hearing this the fuzzy spider carefully moved up Branch’s arm, it settled on his shoulder and nuzzled against his cheek. “You are a kind troll, I like you, so I shall stay with you.”

“Thank you Fizz. Just one thing, don’t talk around mother I think that should be a secret between us, is that alright?”

“That it is fine by me.” The spider assured him.

Chef had arrived back at the tower two days after Branch met Fizz, at first the Bergen didn’t notice his new spider friend. It was the day after this just after they had finished eating dinner when Chef actually noticed the spider on Branch’s shoulder for the first time, she pointed at Fizz and then asked the blue troll with evident surprise. “Where did you get that?”

“I found him in the tower and he’s leg is hurt so I took care of him. I’ve called him fizz, I’m hoping you will let me keep him for some company, your often away from me for a long time and I get lonely here.” Branch said softly to her and letting the sadness bleed into his voice a little bit as he spoke to his adopted mother.

Chef sighed, the Bergen had to admit she had always been feeling worried that perhaps being here on his own might make her bait go sad and go grey which would have made Branch useless to her so this spider might be the answer to that problem. The female Bergan looked at the little spider, the green fuzzball on pink legs regarded her quietly with its many eyes and she let out a second sigh before saying to the blue troll. “Alright Branch you can keep him. I’ll admit that I had been a little concerned about all the time I had been leaving you here on your own. I had also been wondering how I could make it easier on you when I have to leave you here so I can tend to my duties to my people and If having a pet like Fizz helps then he can stay, just make sure that you take care of him.”

“I will take good care of him mother. Thank you so much for letting me keep Fizz!” Branch gave her a quick hug, he felt utterly grateful that his mother was willing to let him keep his spider friend. After doing this the blue troll placed a finger to the spider’s head stroking it and then said to him with his joy clear in his voice. “You hear that boy you can stay with me!” The spider let out a little chirp of joy and snuggled a little closer to Branch and who let out a gentle laugh as he continued to stroke his head.

Even Chef cracked a smile at the sight of the younger trolls happy reaction to her letting him keep the spider, but at the same time seeing him like this made her feel very hungry for happiness and so she said softly to her adopted son. “Will you sing for me, while I prepare for my next trip to the village?”

Wanting to make his mother happy and repay her for letting him keep Fizz Branch answered this question quickly. “Of course I will mother.” After he assured her of this the blue troll quickly settled himself down in the tower, he started to sing, the spider looked at his new friend with wide eyed surprise, he’d never heard such a beautiful voice in his life before now and Fizz was totally enchanted by Branch’s singing.

Quickly Chef left the room to supposedly prepare for his trip back to town, but in reality, she had left the tower and hurriedly used her magic to take a new troll drawn by Branch’s voice captive. The Bergen had used her powers to drag the poor helpless troll into the tower, as soon as she had him in the tower she started to feast on its happiness right away. After feasting on it for a while, she had then taking some extra happiness by using her magic and put it into glass jars to sell off to her fellow Bergans. With this done Chef imprisoning the green skinned and purple haired troll in a cell she had especially prepared for her captives in the hidden basement of the tower were Branch wouldn’t hear or see the other troll.

By the time Branch had finished singing Chef had returned to the room, she felt so much better for feasting on the happiness of her new captive and the Bergen had also made herself ready to visit her people’s town again with spare happiness from the troll she was now holding prisoner to sell to the other Bergens. “Thank you for singing for me my son, you have a lovely voice as always. I will leave tomorrow morning for my next trip I will be gone for a week this time. Will you be alright on your own for that long Branch?”

Branch had to admit that he felt great pleasure when his mother praised his singing voice, he answered the question from the Bergen. “Now I have Fizz mother I’m sure I will be alright, there is enough food and things to entertain me while you are gone.”

“Good I am glad to hear you say that my son.” Chef said with a smile for her son.

Branch smiled back at his mother and then pulling up all his bravery he spoke to the Bergen once more. “Mother do you think this midwinter I could leave the tower…I’d like to meet some of my own kind, just for the day and I will be eighteen this year, please mother just one day that’s all I’m asking.”

Chef let out a sigh, she had to admit she had been wondering how long it would be before Branch asked her a question like this and the Bergen had to admit the blue troll had waited a long time to ask such a question but she felt she couldn’t say no directly to this question without turning her treasure grey. “You know I’m not comfortable with the idea of you leaving the tower, I don’t want you to get hurt, but as you are going to be eighteen I promise that I will think about it.”

The blue troll smiled at his adopted mother more widely that before. “Thank you for promising to think about it mother, I know it’s not easy for you, but I am growing up and I need to at least see what the world beyond the tower is like. I want to know, so that if something terrible ever happened to you I would know that I could survive on my own out there or find you the help you might need.”

Gently the female Bergen stroked the hair of the blue troll, Chef couldn’t help but feel that these were both valid arguments as to why she should let him leave the tower and Chef then said to him. “You make a good point my son and I shall give it some thought while I am away and I shall let you know of my decision when I get back, does that sound fair to you?”

“Yes mother that sounds very fair.” With these words Branch made his way to bed feeling a lot happier than he had in the longest time, the blue troll truly hoped that maybe, just maybe his mother would let him out of the tower for the day. Then he could go to the troll tree with Creek, he could see it, the pods and then actually listen to the trolls sing their song for their missing prince just the idea of this thrilled him and made him happy all at the same time. When Branch got to his room, he let Fizz climb off of his shoulder, the green fuzzy spider clambered off of the blue trolls shoulder and made his way into his web hammock to get some sleep. The blue troll took off his leaf vest, he climbed into bed, Branch let out a happy sigh, he then closed his eyes and quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.

Not long after he went to bed Chef went to bed herself, she was turning over in her head the idea of letting Branch out of the tower for the day, she didn’t want him to realise that he was the missing prince but at the same time Chef wasn’t sure that she could really deny this request from her adopted son. The Bergen decided that she wouldn’t say no just yet, she would instead look into the possibility of being able to place spells onto Branch which would assure that he had to return to her and the tower after his one day of freedom was over. With these thoughts securely in her mind Chef wrote them down, so she would remember to look into these things up in while she was in town, with this done the Bergen got into bed and then went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter four:

Creek had been collecting herbs and dead wood in the forest for five days, he thought of Branch every day, the purple troll felt empty without the other troll with him and longed to be back at the side of the handsome troll once more. Creek knew he needed to gather enough to make money to live on for the next month, that way he could spend his time with the blue troll while he made things to sell from the dead wood whenever they couldn’t be together. So it was after selling the herbs he had found in the forest to the healers of the troll tree, Creek brought all of the things he needed in order to spend the next month with Branch. The purple troll told his friends he would be away for a while, they didn’t think this strange as Creek often spent a lot of time in the forest, but they were still glad to know that their friend would be out in the forest for some time to come.

Creek made his camp in the forest not far from the tower, the purple troll found himself eagerly waiting for when he would hear Branch sing the song which let him know that the he could come to the tower at last. It was two days later, when at long last Creek heard the song which he had been anticipating for days and as soon as the purple troll heard that angelic voice which belonged to the other troll singing that song he quickly came out of hiding in the forest and made his way to the tower. The instant Creek noticed Branch leaning out of the tower window waiting for him, joy filled his heart and the purple troll couldn’t help but grin up at the other troll.

As soon as Branch noticed the other troll on the grass under his tower, he felt absolute joy run through him, the blue troll returned his wide smile with one of his own and called down to Creek with an eager note to his voice. “Hello there Creek, come on up!”

The purple troll was more than glad to oblige the other troll, he quickly whipped his hair out and a few moments later he was sitting on the windowsill looking at the blue troll leaning on the stone of the tower looking at him with joyful teal eyes. To be honest the purple and grey troll felt very comfortable with each other now, they were friends but deep down they both longed for more from each other, but neither one of them was quite sure how to approach the other when it came to this desire. All the two male trolls found they could do was hope that slowly but surely they would find a way to come together, as a couple and that they would not hurt each other as they walked down this tricky pathway towards their eventual loving relationship.

“I missed you Branch.” Creek confessed to the other troll without a trace of shame to his voice.

The smile of the face of the other troll somehow grew even wider than it had been before. “I missed you too Creek, but I did make another friend while you were away.”

The instant Branch said this to him, Creek felt envy burn its way through him, but asked the other troll as casually as possible. “Oh?”

The blue troll gave him yet another smile, he goes away from the window into the tower, and then comes back a few moments later with a green fuzzy spider sitting on his shoulder. “This is Fizz, Fizz this is Creek the troll I have been telling you all about.”

“Hello.” The spider said to him lifting one pink leg to wave it at him.

Creek looked at Fizz with wide eyed shock as he spoke to him, quickly the purple troll shook himself out of his surprise and then said to the spider. “Hello there!” Fizz could instantly tell that there was a romantic under current between these two trolls, but the little spider wasn’t sure if he wanted help bring them together or not, he didn’t know the purple troll very well yet and Fizz really didn’t want to see Branch hurt by him or any other troll. The spider decided that he would watch them together and then decide if Creek deserved his help in winning the blue troll to be his.

Branch smiled warmly at the other troll, he was extremely glad to see that the two of them didn’t hate each other on sight. The blue troll was excited to tell Creek about what his mother had said to him before she had left on one of her trips and so he addressed the other troll his excitement clear in his voice as he spoke. “I have some good news to tell you. After talking to my mother, she has said that she will consider letting me out of the tower for the day of midwinter! I’m hoping that my mother will say yes, after all I am almost eighteen now.”

The purple troll smiled back at the other troll, he felt glad for the other troll, after all as far as Creek was concerned spending all his time in this tower was no life for Branch and so the purple troll said to him joyfully. “I hope your mother will say yes too, you deserve a day out of this tower. Almost eighteen…I’m just two years older than you.”

“So you are twenty, it’s nice to know that you aren’t too much older than me, not that your age would have really bothered me it’s just nice to know…Am I making any sense to you at all?” Creek gave him an understanding nod, Branch gave a sigh of relief and then said to him with eagerness. “I really want to be able to see the troll tree, pods and join in with the singing.”

Creek smiled at Branch, he could just imagine how all of the other trolls of the troll tree would react to the angelic voice of the other male troll. The purple troll knew that if the blue troll did make it to the troll tree, he would have to make sure to make it clear to all of the other trolls that this troll was his. Creek had never felt so possessive in his whole life before this, it was this feeling along with his longing for the other troll which made the purple troll realise that he wanted a more romantic relationship with Branch than the one he has now. As Creek came to this sudden realisation, he instantly wanted to confess his feelings to the blue troll, but the purple troll couldn’t help but think that this might be unwise and that it might instead lay the foundations for his confession of love to Branch.

The purple troll held these feelings of love close to his heart, bathing in the warm feeling which flooded through him as Creek let himself embrace the love he felt for the blue troll. Branch could see that the other troll was thinking about something very hard, not wanting to disturb him, he got out his drawing pad, pencils and then started to draw the sky outside the tower. Eventually Creek realised he had been staring into the distance not really aware of anything other than these wonderful new feelings for the longest time. Quickly he shook himself out of his dazed state he turned to look at the handsome blue troll, who was sitting on the window seat and drawing quietly. When Branch noticed that the other troll was looking at him, the blue troll looked up from his drawing at the purple troll and gave him a gentle smile. “What are you drawing?” Creek found himself asking Branch with curiosity, in answer to the question the blue troll turned the pad around to show Creek his pencil picture of birds flying through a blue with some puffy clouds in that sky. “Wow that’s amazing.”

“Thank you. I love to draw…I drew you.” Branch told him, as he spoke the words the blue troll suddenly felt very shy, he blushed brightly and started to wish that he hadn’t told the other troll about that particular drawing.

Creek couldn’t help but feel flattered that Branch had drawn him and after seeing the other troll’s level of skill, he found himself really wanting to see the picture Branch had drawn, so the purple troll asked the blue troll gently. “Can I see it please?”

Branch blushed a slightly deeper shade of blue, he gave him a shy nod, the blue troll put down his current drawing pad, Branch went back into the tower room. He brought out another pad from a little secret place he had in the tower where he hid things he didn’t want his mother to see and then the blue troll came back to the window with it. When he reached the window once more, Branch settled down on the window seat again, he opened the pad and then handed it across to Creek. The purple troll accepted the art pad from Branch, then looked down at the picture on the page, as he did this his eyes went wide and Creek had to admit it was a wonderful likeness of himself. “You drew me perfectly Branch! Would you mind drawing yourself for me?”

The blue troll had to admit hearing the praise of the troll he was developing romantic feelings for pleased him a lot and it made him glad that he had shown Creek the picture of himself after all. “Why would you want a picture of me?” Branch asked the other troll with confusion.

“Well I would like to have a picture of you to keep as my own.” As the purple troll confessed this to Branch he could feel himself blushing.

Slowly the blue troll smiled at the other troll and asked with a note of disbelief to his voice. “You’d really like that?”

Creek gave him a firm nod as he said. “Yes, I’d also like to make you a gift in return for your gift.”

“It would need to be something that my mother wouldn’t be likely to notice…” The blue troll told him a thoughtful note entering his voice as he spoke these words.

They were both quiet for a while the two of them thinking about what Creek could make Branch in return for the blue troll drawing him a portrait of himself for him to keep. Eventually it was Fizz who came up with the answer to this particular question and so the little spider addressed the two male trolls with his idea. “How about you make him a wooden bangle Creek, then Branch can ware it when his mother is out of the tower and hide it in his hair when she is at home.”

Branch turned a beaming smile onto the fuzzy spider and said to him gratefully. “Fizz that’s an amazing idea! What do you think Creek?”

The purple troll sat on the urge to glare at the Fizz, he had wanted to come up with the solution to this problem in order to impress Branch, but Creek couldn’t deny that this was a good solution. “Yes, I’ll admit that sounds like a wonderful idea. I should be able to make you one from the wood I have gathered from the forest when I go back to my camp for the night.”

“Well we have a week to spend together before my mother returns from her trip.” Branch told Creek with a gentle smile on his face and another blush colouring his cheeks slightly.

Creek had to admit that the idea of having a week to spend with the blue troll made him feel absolutely blissful, he was determined that he was going to make these next few days the best which Branch had ever experienced in his whole life. The purple troll wanted to make sure that the other troll has a whole store of wonderful memories to look back on until they met again after this time was over and Creek also hoped that by doing all of this, it might help any romantic feelings which Branch had for him grow stronger. “A week that sounds wonderful, I’m sure we shall enjoy ourselves.”

“I hope so, I have been look forward to having time to spend with you Creek.” The blue troll admitted to him his voice soft and emotional.

As Branch said this to him Creek felt delight shoot through him, the purple troll only just about managed to resisted the urge to kiss the other troll on the lips right then and there and instead he said cheekily to the blue troll. “Please tell me that this means I get to eat more of your wonderful cupcakes during my stay?”

Branch chuckled with delight at him and then answered the question. “Yes it does.”

The two trolls spent the rest of the day talking, Branch discovered that Creek’s mother and father had died many years ago from a terrible illness which had almost claimed him too. The blue troll could tell that talking about his family pained the purple troll so he decided that he wouldn’t ask Creek about them again and he would wait for the other troll to talk to him about them in the future. So wanting to get away from this discussion Branch told him that his mother had adopted him after he had been found by her in the forest abandoned there. The purple troll had been astounded to discover that the other troll had been abandoned, it was something which Creek had never heard of happening to a troll child before now and it left him wondering what exactly happened to Branch’s family for him to have been left in the forest in the way he had been. As they spoke about this the blue troll admitted that he had sometimes wondered why he had been abandoned or who his family had been, but at the same time Branch told him that he was grateful that his mother had taken him and raised him and that he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by asking questions or looking for his real family.

Deciding to turn both their thoughts away from subjects which were morose to both of them and onto something more cheerful Creek started telling Branch all about his friends. There was Cooper a four legged troll who would always laugh in the most inappropriate places, but was the kindest of souls. There were the twins Satin and Chenille, they were connected by the hair though they could let go they did not like to and they loved anything to do with fashion. Fuzzbert was more hair than anything else, he grumbled all of the time, but he cared for his friends and could be very protective when the need presented itself. Biggie loved to cook and was an expert chef, he had a pet glow worms named Mr Dinkles who he treated with all the care in the world. There was Smidge, a tiny female troll who had incredibly strong hair, a big heart and spoke with a deep male voice and lastly was Suki, she wrote music, loved to sing and because of her amazing skills Suki was in charge of all the musical events around the troll tree.

Branch found himself grinning widely as Creek talked to him about all of his friends, the descriptions of them all brought them to life for the blue troll and when at last the purple troll stopped speaking Branch still with the large smile on his face said to him. “It sounds like you have wonderful friends. I wish I could meet them!”

Determined to keep things up beat Creek said to him. “Hey if your mother will allow to leave the tower for the day we can meet up and then I can introduce you to them all.”

“That would be wonderful, I really hope that my mother will let me leave…I’m hoping that I can get her use to it so that I can then spend more time out of the tower.” Branch said this last part wistfully and he stared out at the world beyond his tower, as he did this Creek couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the expression on the other troll’s face.

When the sun started to go down Branch gave Creek a sad smile and spoke to him in a gloomy tone of voice. “I guess this is good night?”

“Yes, but I will see you in the morning.” The purple troll reminded him in a soft voice, his reward for these comforting words was a gentle smile from the handsome troll.

It was then and there that the blue troll made a decision and before he could think to change his mind from this rash thought Branch spoke to the other troll determinedly. “Tomorrow I thought you could come into the main room of the tower.”

“Really?” Creek asked him with surprise clear in his voice.

Branch gave him a firm nod and confirmed. “Yes really…I’m hoping that you might be willing to teach me to dance over this next week.”

The purple troll smiled widely at the handsome troll, Creek couldn’t hide the pleasure he felt that Branch was willing to let him into the tower and he was also thrilled by the idea of teaching the blue troll to dance. “I’d be happy to teach you to dance. Good night Branch.”

“Good night Creek.” After he spoke these words the blue troll gave the other male troll a kiss on his cheek and then hurriedly closed the shutters to the window.

Creek grinned at the closed window shutters, that kiss on the cheek really gave him hope that Branch was starting to develop romantic feelings for him and this knowledge made the purple troll decide that he would start to show the other troll his own feelings for him. Mentally making plans for the next day Creek used his hair to get down from the tower and headed back into the forest to his camp. When both male trolls went to bed that night, both Creek and Branch had their thoughts on each other and their growing romantic feelings for each other, so it was perhaps unsurprising that they dreamt of dancing together under the moon light. Little did the two trolls realise that they were sharing this dream, they both felt that it was strange that in this dream that Branch was dressed very finely as though he were a prince and that Creek was dressed smart suite and wearing a silver domino mask.

Chapter Text

Chapter five:

The next day after he had washed, dressed and eaten breakfast Creek came back to the tower, today he had a leather bag slung across his back in this was his woodworking tools, and the dead wood from the forest which he intended to work. The purple troll looked up at the tower, the shutters were open and Creek was extremely pleased to see that Branch was waiting for him at the window with a wide smile on his face. The purple troll waved at the other troll and as soon as he noticed this action Branch waved back to him enthusiastically. A few moments later when the purple troll had made it to the tower window sill, the blue troll looked at him and then asked curiously. “So, what do you want to do first dancing or shall I draw while you work on making things from the wood you have collected?

Creek put his bag down on the windowsill next to him, he sat quietly thinking about this for a few moments, both ideas had their merits, but the purple troll had to amid that he really wanted to see the inside of the other troll’s home and so the purple troll said to him. “I think that we should start with the dancing.”

“That sounds good to me.” Branch said with happiness, he then offered Creek a hand, which the purple troll took before he got off of the windowsill and once his feet hit the floor inside of the window Creek let Branch guide him into the tower.

The first thing which the purple troll noticed about the tower room he was in was that every surface was painted even the furniture. After seeing his other work, it was clearly to him that all of this was Branch’s work, Creek let himself stand in the centre of the room, holding hands with the other troll and admire his amazing work all around them. “Wow…This is…This is…You are an amazing artist,” As he spoke Creek meant every single word he was saying to the other troll he’d never seen anything quite like this in his whole life. The purple troll was completely awed by the painting which had been done by the other troll and Creek could easily see that if Branch could ever leave this tower he would make a fine living as an artist.

The blue troll blushed brightly as the other troll complimented his skills and said with sincere modesty to the purple troll. “Thank you for those kind words Creek, painting and drawing makes me very happy and it nice to her I have skill. What would you suggest I learn to dance first?”

“Well I’d suggest a simple slow dance to begin with, a waltz would be best. Now your hand goes here at my waist, yes that’s it, mine goes onto yours and now we hold hands like this and you step back with this foot and I step forward, yes that’s it.” So, the instruction went on and after a few false starts, which caused the two male trolls to share some laughter they were eventually making their way around the tower room in a simple three step waltz. Fizz was very impressed when Creek didn’t criticise Branch’s ability or lack of and instead just carried on teaching the other troll how to dance this first simpler dance clearly intending to keep trying to teach the blue troll to dance until he learnt the steps of the waltz.

It took some time but once Branch had this simple waltz mastered, Creek started to show him how to add some more complex moves to it in order to make the waltz more interesting. The purple troll soon discovered that the other troll was a good learner, he was also willing to laugh at his own mistakes and learn from them. Eventually the two trolls stopped dancing, their eyes locked, slowly they moved closer to each other, Creek slid his arms around Branch and the blue troll moved his arms up to rest on the shoulders of the other troll. They both knew what was coming, but neither of them felt that they wanted to stop, slowly Creek slid his arm up over the leaf jacket the blue troll wore, he gently cupped the back of Branch’s head, the purple troll closed his eyes and then softly touched his lips to those of the other troll not wanting to overwhelm him this first time.

Slowly as well as a little uncertainty the blue troll started to move his lips against Creek’s, this simple action sent a fire of desire burning through the purple troll and it took all of his control not to deepen the kiss that they were sharing. It was Branch who broke this first kiss, he felt wonderful almost as though he were floating on air and all the blue troll wanted was to kiss Creek all over again. Slowly both Creek and Branch opened their eyes, their blue eyed gazes met again and the two male troll’s smiled warmly at each other, they knew that everything between them had just changed, but neither of them regretted it in the slightest. They stood in contented silence together and it was the purple troll who broke this silence by saying very gently to Branch. “I’ve been wanting to do that almost since I met you for the first time.”

Neither of the two trolls let go of the other and Branch said to Creek. “I will admit that I have been wondering for a while now what that it might be like to kiss you and now I have done so all I want to do is kiss you again.”

“I’d like that.” Creek told him with honesty.

Nervously the blue troll pressed his lips to those of the other troll, when he did this Creek began to kiss him back gently but firmly, he did this trying to give Branch courage to continue to kiss him and maybe do so a little more strongly. Slowly the blue troll closed his eyes and he felt so blissful right now, kissing was such a simple but wonderful thing Branch decided. Creek also closed his eyes, he let the blue troll control this second kiss, he was determined to let the other troll enjoy this experience and kiss him as he wished to.

Slowly but surely Branch began to feel slightly braver than he had before, the blue troll started to press his lips more firmly to Creek’s, he lifted one hand from his shoulder and ran his fingers into the two tone hair of the other troll. Wanting to let him know that he liked him doing this to him the purple troll hummed in pleasure and tightened his hold on Branch’s waist. The blue troll stroked his fingers through Creek’s hair, as he carried on kissing him firmly, the blue troll was loving every moment of this kiss just as he had the first one. Very slowly the two male trolls broke this second kiss, they both opened their eyes, the blue troll and purple troll both sighed with contentment.

“Creek…I love you…” Branch said softly, as he confessed this the blue troll could feel his heart thundering in his chest and he hoped that he had not just made a complete fool of himself by saying this to the other troll.

Creek smiled widely at the Branch, the purple troll rested his forehead to his and then said to him very gently. “I love you too Branch.” The blue troll smiled widely at him in response to this confession from the other troll, for the longest time the two trolls stood there, their foreheads rested together and then very they reluctantly released each other from their tight hold at last. Despite letting go of each other they still kept hold of each other’s hand, together they walked over to the window seat, when they reached it Creek and Branch sat down on the seat side by side and then the blue troll rested his head onto the purple troll’s shoulder.

Neither of them say anything, the two trolls don’t feel that they needed to and instead they just sat there together quietly enjoying the simple act of being together. Fizz sat watching them from atop a chest of draws with a small smile, he had to admit that Creek and Branch made an adorable couple and the little spider was starting to feel that Creek might indeed deserve his help in order to win Branch for his. At the same time Fizz couldn’t help, but wonder if the purple troll would even need his help with his quest to make the blue troll his own. In the end the fuzzy spider decided that he would do what he could to help them both when the time came, because the thing he wished most was to see his troll friend Branch happy above all.

The two trolls did not kiss again that day, eventually Creek and Branch left the window seat, they ate lunch together and then spent the afternoon in Branch’s case drawing and in Creeks working on his bangle for the troll he loved. After a while the purple troll began to sing lavenders blue, a few moments later Branch joined him, Creek smiled at him and they sang this song together in perfect harmony. The blue troll couldn’t help but smile, he didn’t know how he knew, but somehow Branch knew that the fact that their voices harmonised was a good sign for their growing relationship.

When the two trolls said their farewells that evening, neither of them could help but wonder if they would have the same strange dream they had experienced the night before this night. Creek’s night passed without his experiencing a single dream, but the same could not be said for Branch as he was dreaming. In his dream all was dark, then a white light, which looked to him like moonlight broke through the darkness, it highlighted a floating silver domino mask which sparkled like starlight and the blue troll felt as though he had seen this mask before. From all around him came a male voice, which sounded like his own, but Branch knew that he had never spoke these words before. “He was the only one to ever say he could see me for who I am despite my grey colour, so it makes sense that now no troll will ever see me properly again.” The blue troll felt sure those words were very important and instantly Branch knew that he shouldn’t forget these words or this mask.

So it was that when the blue troll woke in the morning, he quickly got out of his hiding whole in his bedroom, his diary, Branch recorded the dream in the pages of his plane note bad and drew the mask, even after he had drawn it. Once he had finished doing this the blue troll just sat on the edge of his bed staring at the mask he had drawn, Branch couldn’t help but think that he knew this mask from somewhere but from where the blue troll wasn’t sure. Fizz settled as he always did on the shoulder of the blue troll, and the spider brought the attention of the blue troll away from the drawing and to him, by asking the troll curiously. “What’s that?”

“A mask…I’ve seen it twice in my dreams, in one dream Creek was wearing it and in another the mask was just floating in the air in moonlight and I heard a voice which sounded like mine say, ‘he was the only one to ever say he could see me for who I am despite my grey colour, so it makes sense that now no troll will ever see me properly again.’…I know I have never said those words, I can’t help but wonder what those words meant…They sounded very powerful to me and I didn’t want to forget them.”

Fizz nuzzled closer to Branch and then said to him. “If you think those words are important then you should write them down.” The blue troll smiled at the little spider and then stroked his fuzzy head affectionately.

“I’m glad you agree with my decision to write this down.” With this said to his spider friend the blue troll slipped the notepad back into its hiding place in his room and started to get ready for the day ahead.

Branch and Creek spent their mornings over the next few days dancing and singing together, they would eat lunch together and then in the afternoons the two trolls would sit on the window seat side by side the two trolls worked on their projects, during this time they sang together as well as talk to each other about different things. They were both enjoying this time together as it was letting them both get to know each other even better than ever before. With each day that passed Creek and Branch found themselves falling even more in love than before, slowly both of them started to share kisses, at first most of them were on the forehead, the cheek, but eventually kisses on the lips began to outnumber these other kinds of kissing.

The purple troll and the blue troll were not looking forward to their time together ending, they knew that it had to, but at the same time Branch and Creek both hoped that they would get to see each other again soon and the two male trolls also hoped the blue troll’s mother would let him out of the tower for midwinter so they could celebrate it together. Creek yearned to show Branch the outside world, as well as all the sights of the troll tree, he wanted to introduce this handsome troll to all of his friends and see the reactions of all the other trolls when Branch sang.
On the last evening of their time together, Creek sat on the windowsill looking into the teal blue eyes of the blue troll, he gently cupped his cheek and stroked it with his fingers as he said to Branch wistfully. “I will miss you so very much my love.” The purple troll could hardly hide the pain he feels at being separated from the one he loves as he spoke to him.

The blue troll leant into this loving gesture, Branch whispered back to him, his own sadness clear on his face and in his voice as he said. “And I will miss you too, but hopefully we will get to see each other again very soon.”

“I hope so too my love.” After he said this in very wistful tones Creek then let himself down from the tower.

The blue troll watched him walk away, just as he had done before now Creek waved to Branch who waved back and he watched the purple troll until Creek was out of his sight. Once he could no longer see the one he loved Branch let out a deep sigh and closed the shutters of the tower window for the night. Once they were closed he turned away from the window, the blue troll busied himself by tidying up the tower and making sure that there was nothing around to hint to his mother that he had any company whilst she had been gone.

Chapter Text

Chapter six:

When his mother returned to the tower on the morning of the eight day, Branch was glad to see that as she looked around that his mother didn’t notice that Creek had been in the tower while she had been gone and this made him feel more confident about letting the other troll back into the tower when his mother left him alone in it once again. The blue troll waited patiently as he can to see if she would talk about if he could leave the tower for midwinter. During this time Branch was trying to make sure that he was behaving as well as possible, he was really hoping that this fact would help his mother to agree to let him go out just for this one day to begin with.

It was two days after Chef has returned to the tower, that she finally addressed the subject of Branch leaving the tower for the day. While the female Bergen had been in her own home town she had not managed to find any spells which would force her adopted son to come back to the tower after a day from the tower and Chef was unwilling to risk losing him so she said to the younger troll. “I have thought long and hard about whether or not to let you leave the tower for midwinter and I am not willing to risk your safety in the world outside the tower just yet. I know that you are going to be eighteen my son, but I just don’t think you are ready to face the outside world yet, but I will reconsider this when you are twenty I promise Branch.”

As soon as she said this Branch deflated, Chef noticed this reaction to her words instantly, she placed a hand onto his shoulder and trying to make sure he would not become unhappy Chef said to him comfortingly. “I’m just worried about your safety my son, I think when you are twenty I will feel better letting you go out and I was thinking that I will let you go just into the clearing around the tower at first. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt, at least if you are close to begin with I can keep an eye on you and if you do well then I will you go a bit further over time.”

The blue troll didn’t say anything in return to this, instead he waited until his mother took her hands off of his shoulder, Branch simply quietly went back to his room, the blue troll sat on his bed and let out a deep sigh. The blue troll was very disappointed that his mother wasn’t going to let him leave the tower for midwinter, but at least she had said in two more years he could start to leave the tower and go out into the clearing around it. Deep down though Branch didn’t want to wait two years, he wanted to leave the tower now and part of him was seriously starting to consider sneaking out of the tower next time his mother left him alone in it. Until now the blue troll had never been dismissive towards his mother’s wishes, but now he had so many reasons to want to leave the tower and part of him felt that he really was strong enough to be alright in the outside world especially with Creek at his side. By the time Branch went to bed that night, he had decided that if his mother left the tower for midwinter then he would leave the tower with Creek for the day. The blue troll knew that he might get caught by his mother and punished, but Branch was feeling willing to take that risk so that he could finally see what the world outside his tower was like.

His mother wanted him to sing three days after this discussion, but Chef was very understanding towards the blue troll when Branch said he really didn’t feel up to it at this time. So the Bergen went to her prisoner in the very bowls of the castle, she fed on its happiness for a short while, as well as draining extra into bottles for her next trip to Bergen town before returning to her adopted son and saying to Branch. “Now I am going to go to town, to sell my wares for midwinter and celebrate midwinter with my people. I will be back in a few days, I know you won’t mind spending midwinter alone as you have done before and I shall bring you back a nice midwinter gift to make up for the time you will have spent alone. Make sure to stay in the tower won’t you my son.”

“Don’t worry mother I will be fine alone. I hope you have a good trip.” Branch said with a real smile for her, as he knew that when his mother was gone he would be safe to leave the tower to go with Creek to the troll tree and join in with their midwinter celebration.

Once Branch felt sure that his mother was well and truly gone, he sang his song and hoped that the purple troll would come to him soon. Sure enough a few moments after he finished singing Creek came out of the forest into the clearing, he smiled up at Branch and then using his hair the purple troll made his way up onto the windowsill. As soon as Creek had settled on the windowsill he noticed that the blue troll despite the smile he was giving him was not as happy as he usually was and instantly Creek had a very good idea of why the other troll was looking so unhappy. “Your mother said you couldn’t leave the tower for midwinter, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she said no. Still I have to admit I was thinking of going out with you anyway, despite my determination to do so…I’m…I don’t want to hurt my mother.”

Creek placed one of his hands over Branch’s and said softly to him. “Of course, you don’t want to hurt her, but you have to realise unless you take this chance, your mother may never let you out of this tower.”

Fizz came out of Branch’s hair, he made his way from there to his shoulder and nuzzled against the troll as he said to the blue troll. “Creek is right…And I cannot help but think that no matter what you do she will keep finding ways to prevent you from leaving the tower. I can’t help but think that it was terrible of her to not let you out of the tower for midwinter. I my opinion it was rather cruel of her to have left you here alone during the celebration to go off to enjoy it with her own people after denying your request to be aloud out.”

Branch took a deep breath and then let it out. “Your right, both of you are right.”

Creek held a hand out to the blue troll. “I’ll help you down.”

Slowly the blue troll sat down on the window sill, he moved slowly swinging his legs out over the edge of the windowsill, he sat beside Creek and took the purple troll’s hand into his. “Thank you for your help, I think I shall need it.”

So it was that together that the two trolls and one spider slowly made their way down from the tower and onto the grass bellow. When Branch’s feet touched the grass it is a new but wonderful feeling for him, Creek watched with a small smile on his face as the blue troll walked around on the grass loving the feeling of it against his feet. “It’s so soft.” Branch said to the other troll, who gave him a wider smile and a nod.

“I finished your wooden bangle.” Creek told him and brought it out of his hair holding it out towards the blue troll.

Quickly Branch came over to the purple troll, the bangle was carved with a leaf pattern and the blue troll loved it on sight. Branch held his right arm out towards the one he loves, smiling softly Creek puts the wooden bangle onto his arm, the blue troll looked down at it and then to the purple troll before saying sincerely to him. “It’s beautiful thank you so much my love.”

“You are welcome.” Creek was thrilled to see that Branch liked his gift, he didn’t release the hand of the blue troll and the one he loved didn’t seem to mind this fact at all.

“I had finished the picture would you like it now?”

The purple troll grinned at Branch and gave him a nod. “Yes of course I would very much like to have the picture.”

The blue troll put his free left hand into his hair, he drew the paper out of his hair and then carefully handed it to the one he loves. The purple troll accepts the picture from him, Creek looks at it, just like all of the rest of Branch’s art this rendition of the blue troll on is wonderful, quickly he puts the picture into his hair and then says to the troll he loves. “It’s amazing and I look forward to getting the picture framed and hanging it in my home.”

Branch couldn’t stop himself from blushing as Creek says this to him. “Good I am glad that you like it so very much my love.”

“Well if we want to make the most of tonight, we should make our way to the troll tree.” The purple troll tells the one he loves, Creek knows that the blue troll has been wanting to see the troll tree, as well as take part in the singing. Branch gives the purple troll a nod of understanding and so it was that hand in hand the two trolls set off away from the tower and into the forest. Creek carefully led the other troll through the forest towards the troll tree, when the forest fell back to show the troll tree the two trolls came to a halt. Branch stood staring up at the vast troll tree, he was totally awed by the sight before him, the blue troll could hardly take in all of the colours of the beautiful pods hanging from the tree, to him it looked as if someone had taken a rainbow from the sky and wrapped it around and through this tree. This was the place where he had been born, this was where his mother and father had lived or maybe still lived, and it made Branch wonder even more than he had before what had happened for him to have been left abandoned in the forest as he had been. “It’s so very beautiful.” The blue troll whispered in a reverential voice to Creek.

The purple troll smiled widely at the other troll, he was thrilled to see Branch’s positive reaction to seeing the troll tree for the very first time. Seeing him so happy made both Creek and Fizz very glad that they had convinced the blue troll to leave the tower to come here for midwinter. After the blue troll had looked at the troll tree for some time, he turned his gaze onto Creek and then said to him. “I would very much like to meet your friends.”

“I would like them to meet you too and I think I know where we will find them.” With this said, Creek still holding onto Branch’s hand guided him on, up into the tree and to a bright orange, green and yellow pod. When they entered this pod, the blue troll found himself in some sort of shop, there were cakes in a glass cabinet, there was also some sort of machines behind the counter as well as lots of chairs and tables all around the pod. Branch noticed a group of trolls sitting around one table, a large blue troll looked up at them, when he noticed Creek this troll smiled widely and said cheerfully to the other troll. “Hey Creek!”

“Hello Biggie.” The purple troll said in response to this, he brought Branch over to the table his friends were sitting around and then he spoke to them all. “Everyone this is Branch and his spider Fizz, Branch and Fizz these are my friends, Biggie, Smidge, Cooper, Fuzzbert, Suki, Satin and Chenille.”

The blue troll looked at them all a little shyly and said softly to them. “Hello.”

They all smiled at him, their eyes went between the two of them, the friends of the purple troll had no doubt that this was why their friend had been spending so much time in the forest lately and they all felt very glad that Creek had found himself a troll to love at last. The group decided to say nothing about their suspicions about the relationship between them to Creek at this time, as they didn’t want to embrace him in front of this other quiet clearly shy troll who he had feelings for. Creek’s friends also had lots of questions about the blue troll, but they decided to also leave this talk with their friend until after the purple troll had taken the other troll home so that they wouldn’t scare the blue troll any more than he already was. They all greeted Branch cheerfully, they made room for the two trolls at their table, Creek let go of the hand of the one he loves, the purple troll sat in one of the chair and the blue troll sat in another. Branch missed having the hand of the troll he loves in his, but he somehow manages to sit on his urge to take Creek’s hand back into his.

A few moments later a troll came over to the table, it was a female troll, she had yellow skin and bright green and white hair. “What can I get you all?”

The trolls ordered cakes and drinks, them doing this caused Branch to understand that this place were trolls gathered together to drink, eat and chat. Soon Creek’s friends had the blue troll joining in with the conversation, they found themselves liking Branch and he them. The seven trolls thought that the blue troll though shy, was kind, he seemed to be willing to try to join in with their conversations and have a little fun alongside them. These trolls were good trolls Branch had decided and so far, none of the terrible things his mother had said would happen to him if he left the tower and met other trolls had occurred.

As the evening set in the group started to get up, Branch also rose with them, as soon as he stood the blue troll sought out the hand of the purple troll, the moment that Creek felt the other troll do this, he quickly took Branch’s hand into his and held it firmly. This simple interaction between the two trolls caused the other seven trolls to grin at them, as they found them doing this utterly adorable. Together the troll’s left the pod, they all made their way down the troll tree to the clearing under it, this clearing was lit only by small shimmering blue lights, making this area glow blue it was beautiful and like nothing Branch had ever seen in his life before. It was almost as if this clearing were a magical land, the blue troll was completely in awe he looked all around the area not wanting to forget a moment of this amazing experience. He quickly notices that none of the trolls are moving into the middle of this clearing, or going near to the mushroom platform at one end of the clearing and he can only wonder why.

Before Branch can ask Creek about anything which is happening, all of the troll’s fall into silence and the blue troll watches as a pink troll and a silver shimmering troll walk into the clearing hand in hand. Branch quickly notices that they are both wearing leafy crowns, it is in this moment that the blue troll realises that this must be the King and Queen of the trolls, he watches them with wide wonder filled eyes as they walk to the mushroom platform at one end of the clearing. The royal couple make their way up onto it, when they turn to face the trolls gathered to morn their son with them, Branch can see the absolute sadness they suffer from the loss of their child, it is draped over the King and Queen like a suffocating blanket and the blue troll finds himself wishing there was something there was he could do to help ease their suffering.

The pink troll Queen dressed in a lovely, but simple long blue dress steps forward and addresses all those who are gathered in the clearing. “Thank you, all of you for coming together tonight to mourn our son with us.” After she spoke these words the King came to stand at her side, they held hands, then with their free hands the two royal trolls signalled to a small group of troll musicians situated on one side of the clearing, as they noticed this the trolls started to play and then together the troll’s started to sing their mournful song.

“Here this night we gather together,
Under the sky of the night
The starts they shine bright.
We sing to the moon and stars
Of our hope and our pain.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

All together we voice our pain
Not one heart left untouched.
We mourn with our King and Queen
Our song may it reach him
Let our voices call him back to us.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

Together we call to our prince
Return to us we beg you.
Bring back the light to the kingdom
Give us the joy we lost
Repay our hope with his return.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.

We shall never release our hope
Let our hope be his light.
May our prince find his way home
Hear our voices, feel our hope
Return to us our prince this we pray.

Lost to the night so long ago
Was the light of our kingdom.
The pain is deep but our hope never ending.”

Branch’s fine voice had drawn quite a few admiring looks from Creek’s friends and the other trolls around them when he had been singing. The blue troll continued to stand close to the one he loved and kept hold of his hand showing clearly to the rest of the trolls around them that he belonged to Creek and only to him. As the song came to an end, Branch lay his head onto the purple troll’s shoulder, he watched as the King and Queen walk back out of the clearing and then said softly to Creek. “The poor King and Queen they truly suffer without their son.”

“Yes they do, but he will return to us all someday.” Creek told him, his voice was full of his belief in this coming to happen Branch smiles at him, he gently kissed the purple troll on the cheek, this caused him to look at the one he loves, Creek returned his smile and then addresses the other troll once more in a regretful tone of voice this time. “I should get you back to the tower for the night.”

“Yes that would probably be best.” Branch said in a sad tone of voice, he let out a deep sigh, the blue troll really didn’t want to have to leave, he felt at home here, he felt like he belonged and these were wonderful feelings. Branch really wanted to stay here with Creek and his own people but at the same time the blue troll knew that he needed to return to his home and his mother at least for now. So it was that the two trolls waved goodbye to Creek’s friends, they waved back and then the purple troll and the blue troll still holding hands set off into the forest going back to the tower.

Chapter Text

Chapter seven:

When the two male trolls at last made it back to the tower, Chef was waiting for them in the clearing, she was pacing back and forth muttering to herself darkly, the female Bergen cannot help but fear that she has lost her adopted son and bait to bring trolls to her. As soon as Chef spotted Creek and Branch coming out of the forest, into the clearing around the tower she lets out a furious yell and addresses the blue troll in absolute anger clear in her voice as she does so. “You dared to leave the tower! You ungrateful wretch! How dare you leave after all my care and with another troll! I will not let this happen! I will not lose you!” After she says this there is a sudden blast of yellow magic, it forced the two trolls apart and then it quickly bound up Creek and Branch making them both helpless to whatever Chef plans to do to them or with them.

“CREEK!” Branch yelled in fear and desperation, as he struggled against the yellow magic holding him captive, he had never thought his mother would react like this to him leaving the tower and the thought that his mother might hurt Creek makes the blue troll feel horribly sick.

“BRANCH!” The purple troll screamed his voice holding just as much desperation and fear as Branch’s and the purple troll fought the magic entrapping him hard. He couldn’t stand the thought of the one he loved somehow being harmed by the one he had considered his mother and he hated feeling so helpless to do anything for Branch in this moment.

The yellow magic then made the struggling Creek vanish, while at the same time carrying the thrashing blue troll up into the tower and binding him to a chair in the main room of the tower. A few moments later in a flash of yellow light Chef appeared before Branch, she glares at the blue troll who is still fighting the hold of her power and then addresses him in gloating tones. “You cannot escape me Branch. Now you will sing for me!”

“No I won’t sing! You took Creek from me so I will not sing!” The blue troll yells at her defiantly, despite the fact he feels afraid of his adopted mother for the first time in his life, Branch is determined not to sing for her until she lets Creek go free. Unnoticed by the enraged Chef Fizz has quietly slid down the back of the blue troll, the little fuzzy spider slowly made his way across the tower room and now he is hiding in the shadows near the window waiting for a chance to help Branch in any way he can.

Chef approaches Branch, she growls down at him fiercely and then says to him. “You will sing, you will draw a new troll to the tower so I can drain it of its happiness, just like all the others I have used you to draw to this tower before now. If you disobey me Branch then I will drain your precious Creek and the other prisoner I have in the tower of their happiness instead! Once I have drained a new victim I will take you to a new clearing, build a new tower and this time I will make sure you can never escape me!”

As the female Bergen says this the blue troll feels utterly sick, but from some were deep down inside him, Branch still finds enough bravery to defy her still. “I will never sing again and I am not going to let you hurt Creek or any other troll ever again!” Branch promises her, as he thinks of all the harm his adopted mother has done over the years by using him as bait to draw in other trolls to rob of their happiness, he turns grey slowly but surely, but at the same time he feels his anger towards his adopted mother growing within him.

It is almost as if going grey and becoming angry at the same time has set something which until now had been dormant in Branch free of the chains which had been keeping it subdued, because suddenly the now grey troll glowed with silver light which was edged with blue. Branch let out a furious roar, in response to this the silver and blue light quickly washes out of the grey troll it swiftly destroys the yellow bonds holding him to the chair, but Branch doesn’t get up, the magic which had left the grey troll hits Chef it’s sheer power starts pushing her back away from the grey troll and towards the window.

Fizz reacts to this happening instantly, he throws out a thick line of silk across the space in front of the window attaching it to the wall opposite him, once it is attached the spider quickly pulls it tort. As the female Bergen stumbles backwards towards the window, the back of her foot finds the silk Fizz has thrown across this area and she fell backwards out of the window screaming in absolute fear as she does so. A few moments later there is a loud thump from outside, but the fussy spider didn’t even think to check to see what had happened to Chef, Fizz doesn’t care about her fate, instead he quickly crossed the room to Branch, he was still glowing brightly and didn’t seem to be seeing the room at all. Extremely worried for his troll friend Fizz hastily climbed onto his shoulder, the little spider spoke to Branch desperately trying to get him to look at him or respond to him in any way at all. “Branch! BRANCH!”

There is no answer from the grey troll in response to the desperate calling of the spider, instead the blue and silver magical power around Branch washes out again and Fizz clings stubbornly to his shoulder even as the silver blue power tries to remove him from his shoulder. Then suddenly the grey troll screams loudly, his magical power floods out for a third time, this time the tower shakes, it sways and then the tower starts to collapses downwards like an old tree which has been caught in a furious storm. Despite the tower disintegrating all around them the spider determinedly keeps his hold on Branch, together they fall along with the tower, then everything all around Fizz goes black and he knows no more.

When the yellow magic at last releases the purple troll, Creek had found himself in some kind of stone cell, he quickly noticed another troll chained to a nearby wall, he was partly grey and instantly the purple troll knows that the female Bergen has been draining him of his happiness. Quickly Creek goes over to him, he places a hand onto the shoulder of the other troll, and then addresses him in a gentle but friendly voice. “Hello there.”

Slowly the green skinned and purple haired troll looked up, his light green eyes go wide as he notices that the one touching him is a troll who is not chained to the wall as he is and says to him softly. “Are you a prisoner of the female Bergen to?”

“Yes I think so.” Creek told him some sadness entering his voice as he confessed this to the other troll in the cell with him.

The green troll let out a deep sigh. “She is terrible using another troll’s wonderful voice to draw us in and take our happiness…I hope the other troll doesn’t know what that Bergen has been doing it would be horrible for him.”

Creek shakes his head at the other troll and then tells him. “No, the singer, he didn’t know…I should know, because I know the one who was singing and he is the gentlest and kindest of souls I have ever met in my whole life.”

“You care for this male singer don’t you?” The green troll asks him perceptively.

“Yes, I love him,” The purple troll admits without a moment’s hesitation and then he addresses the other toll for a second time. “I’m Creek and you are?”

“Leaf.” The green troll told him, he smiles a little at the other troll and as he does so Leaf fills with a little more colour.

Before Creek can say anything more to leaf, silver and blue magic fills the room, it embraces both him and leaf gently but firmly in its grip, this magic feels to the purple troll absolutely nothing like the cold yellow magic of the Bergen and Creek wonders were this new magic coming from. The blue, silver magic makes the chains around the green troll release him, but the weakened troll doesn’t fall down because the magic is holding him up, the silver and blue magic quickly returned Leaf’s colours and his strength to him. Then the room around the two male trolls blurred around them, the blue, silver magic gently lays both of the male trolls in the grass of the clearing at the edge of the tree line.

As he hears all of the thunderous banging and crashing in the clearing, Creek quickly sits up fear racing through him as he does so, when the purple troll sees the tower is crumbling down into nothing but rubble, his eyes widen in terror and feelings of total anguish fills Creek. The purple troll gets up onto his feet, he starts to go towards the falling tower, but Leaf catches hold of him and stops the other troll from going forward, while the green troll says at the same time. “I know you want to save the one you love, but it’s no good going out there until the tower stops falling, you might get hit or buried by the rubble to!”

Creek knew the other troll was right, but helplessly watching it fall down like this, knowing that Branch is probably out there somewhere filled him with a pain and a desperation which the purple troll couldn’t even quantify or put a name to. When at last all in the clearing was quiet, Creek carefully made his way out into the clearing towards the remnants of the tower. Leaf followed the purple troll out into the clearing, he wants to be able to help the other troll in any way he can. “BRACH!” Creek calls out over the field of debris, the distress he is feeling at this moment in time is clear in the purple troll’s voice.

As they search for the other troll, the purple troll and the green troll both notice Chef laying on the grass in the clearing, she is quite clearly dead, neither of them approach her and instead continue to scour the wreckage of the tower for the one Creek loves. “Branch! Branch!” The purple troll calls again, he is desperately hoping to get some sort of response to his cries from the one he loves.

“Creek…” Calls a from not far away voice.

The purple troll instantly recognises this voice calling out his name. “Fizz!” Creek yells joyfully as he makes his way in the direction of the voice closely followed by Leaf.

“Over here!” The voice of the spider calls again.

It doesn’t take long for the two trolls locate were the voice of the spider is coming from, carefully Leaf and Creek work together to remove some of the rubble, to show the green fuzzy spider. Once this heavy rubble is off of him Fizz gives a little shake and then starts checking himself over for any wounds from his fall. “Are you alright Fizz?” The purple troll asked the little spider with concern.

“I’m fine.” Fizz assures him.

“Where is Branch?” Creek quickly asks the spider, he is desperate to find Branch and he hopes with all his heart that Fizz will be able to guide him to the one he loves.

The small fussy spider points at the rubble he is on top of. “He is under here, we can get to Branch if we work together alright?”

With nods of agreement both the green and the purple troll set to work on the rubble moving it to one side away from were Fizz had pointed them too. The little spider, was working right alongside the two male trolls, he is helping them by moving smaller pieces of the rubble out of their way and covering sharp edges of debris with his silk so it won’t cause any harm. Eventually they find Branch in the rubble, as soon as Creek sees he is grey the purple troll lets out a noise which is part horror and part shock and tears fill his eyes. “Oh no Branch!”

Quickly he kneels in the rubble alongside Branch, the purple troll can see that the one he loves is still breathing which gives him hope that he will be alright and very gently Creek eases the now grey troll into his arms. As the purple troll does this Fizz quickly but carefully climbs onto the shoulder of the grey troll and nuzzles close to his cheek. Happy he has a good hold on Branch Creek carefully stands up, he turns to look at the green troll and then he addresses Leaf in a serious tone of voice. “I need to get Branch to a healer and fast. Leaf do you think you can run ahead and get them to meet me when I get to the troll tree?”

Quickly the green toll gives him a nod, he then reaches out, Leaf gently touches the cheek of the grey troll and says to him softly. “I forgive you, what happened to me was not your fault Branch, never think that.” After he had said this to the grey troll Leaf dashed off out of the clearing running as fast as he can back towards the troll tree.

Creek looks down at the grey troll in his arms and says to him softly. “Hold on for me Branch, just hold on.” After he spoke these words to Branch, the purple troll set off into the forest heading toward the troll tree where he knows that the one he loves can be helped to heal and somehow find his colours once again.

Chapter Text

Chapter eight:

As soon as Creek makes it to the clearing which contains the troll tree, Leaf is waiting there with two healers, one male and one female, when they see the purple troll carrying the grey troll in his arms the two healers and Leaf quickly make their way over to him. The male healer troll looks at Creek, he very carefully starts to check Branch over in his arms, the ice blue skinned and white haired troll can tell from the body language of the purple troll that Creek isn’t going to let go of the other male troll and decided not to ask that of him. After checking the grey troll over, the male healer gives a nod to himself, he moves his hands away from Branch and then says to Creek. “Leaf told us what happened with the tower and who this is. The good thing is that nothing is broken, he has a few deep cuts which will need cleaning and maybe stitching, but other than that nothing else seems wrong with physically with Branch.”

After he said to Creek this the male healer steps back, the female comes forward, she is a pink skinned and purple haired troll, the female troll gently placed a hand onto Branch’s forehead and then she glows slightly with pink light. Creek knows this troll is Pansy the younger sister of the Queen, he can only wonder what she is doing with her magic and hope that it doesn’t hurt Branch. Suddenly the bright pink eyes of the pink troll open up wide, she gasps with surprise, Pansy stairs at the grey troll in Creek’s arms and then says her voice full of absolute awe. “Magic…By the troll tree he has magic…But that would mean…”

Quickly Pansy looks to the male healer and says to him her voice full of urgency. “Storm, please go and fetch the King and Queen and hurry! Creek come with me, we need to get him back to the healer’s pod where we can keep a close eye on him.”

“Branch really has magic?”

“Yes Creek, Branch really does have magic…I have a small amount being related to the royal family, but his magic is a lot stronger, in fact I think the royal family of the troll tree might have its first full troll mage in Branch.” After she had said this to the purple troll they made their way into the troll tree, to the healer’s pod, once they are inside Creek carries Branch over to one of the beds there, when he goes to lay him down Pansy stops him for a moment by placing a hand onto the purple troll’s arm and saying to him. “You shouldn’t leave him, I don’t really understand it, but Branch needs you close to him at the moment. Hopefully when the King and Queen get here they can tell us more about what is wrong with Branch and why he needs you so much.”

Creek gave Pansy a nod of understanding, he lays Branch down in the bed, then the purple troll climbed in the bed with the grey troll. Laying alongside him as the one he loved lay on his back Creek held Branch close to him and watched him breathing, it was amazing to the purple troll how watching such a simple act made him feel so at peace. There was so much which Creek wanted to say to the grey troll in his arms in this moment, but he just couldn’t find the words, so instead the purple troll gently kissed him on the forehead and said softly but honestly to him. “I love you Branch, please wake up soon.”

It was only a few moments after this that the King and Queen came flying into the healer’s pod, they looked at Creek for a moment and then moved their eyes to the grey troll laying on his back alongside the purple troll. Poppy and Diamond slowly approached the bed, the pink troll Queen gently lay a shaking hand onto Branch’s arm, she closed her eyes and then the Queen glowed with a pink light which raced over the grey troll. After a few moments of silence her pink eyes opened up wide, she let out a gasp, Poppy used her free hand to grab one of Diamond’s hands into hers and said to him with absolute joy and tremendous wonder in her voice. “This is him, this is our son, our Branch.”

Diamond looked down on the grey troll, he smiles softly, but sadly and says regretfully. “All the time with him which we’ve lost with him.”

“Yes, but he is back now and Branch needs help.” After she has said this the Queen turns her attention to Creek and speaks to him. “You are the one to help Branch Creek. We will talk about what happened to Branch after you have helped him.”

“Me?” Creek asked her in complete disbelief, his eyes were wide and it was clear that the purple troll had not been expecting to hear this from his Queen in the slightest.

The pink Queen gave him a serious look. “Yes, you Creek are the one who can help Branch. I have to ask you something and it is important you answer me honestly do you understand?” As she spoke Creek could hear the absolute seriousness in her voice, it caused the purple troll to gulp hard, he then gave Poppy a nod, and the Queen seeing this addressed him for a second time. “Do you see my son for who he is?”

Creek didn’t even need to think about the answer to this question. “Yes, I see Branch.” This was evidently the right answer to give her, as the Queen smiled at him widely, she looked to her husband, Diamond was also smiling and looked back at her, without saying anything the sparkling troll gave his wife a gentle kiss on the forehead. Wondering what was going on here the purple troll spoke to the King and Queen asking them as respectfully as he could. “Why did you ask me that question Queen Poppy?”

The Queen quickly turned her attention away from her husband, then explained to him why she had asked him this question. “It is somewhat of a tradition in our family for us to seek our true love. Ever since my ancestor the first King Branch for who my son is named for found his true love, the words I see you for who you are have become very important to us. So important that we keep these special words to ourselves never telling any troll outside of the family about them, even the recorded story of the Cindertroll Creek, who you are named for doesn’t use these exact words.”

“I see you.” Creek said softly to the grey troll next to him without any urging from wither of the monarchs.

The two royal trolls smiled at each other again, both of them recalling when Diamond had said these words to the one he loved so many years ago and then Poppy pulled herself back to the task at hand, she addressed the purple troll once more. “Our son is trapped in a very dark place right now, I can reach Branch but I cannot pull him back here, I am sure you can though. What I am going to do is use my magic to open a pathway to were my son is at the moment and then it will be up to you to bring Branch back to us. Do you understand Creek?”

The purple troll gave the Queen a nod and then said to Poppy meaning every word as he spoke. “I understand and I will bring Branch back to us all.”

“Thank you.” Poppy said to him gratefully, the Queen, placed a hand onto her son’s brow, she glowed slightly with pink light, a few moments later silver and blue light started to emanate from Branch and in this moment Creek realised with a sudden clarity that it had been the grey troll’s magic which had saved himself and Leaf from the Bergen Chef. The purple troll felt both happy and concerned when he realised this fact and he hoped that he would be able to help the one he loved in return for his assistance. The pink troll carefully and gently opened up a pathway to were Branch was, once she had fully opened a pathway to were her son was Poppy didn’t open her eyes but spoke to Creek. “I have Branch now, Creek place your hand on Branch’s chest over his heart, close your eyes and then talk to him.”

Creek gently rolls Branch towards him, making sure not to move the Queen’s hand from his head, he carefully placed his hand onto the chest of the grey troll over his heart, the purple troll closed his eyes let out a deep breath and then started talking to Branch with determination and love clear in his voice as he speaks. “What happened to all those trolls was not your fault! You didn’t know what she was doing and I know they forgive you that’s our people’s way! Your mother and father are here waiting to meet you Branch, they have been waiting for you to come home for so long and I know you have always wanted to meet them so you need to wake up. Come back to me please Branch…I love you, I truly love you, so please come back…Come on, you can do this, you can’t let her win like this come on Branch.” Though Creek doesn’t see it he feels the grey troll’s magic all around him, the purple troll thinks he knows why this is happening and so he says to Branch. “It’s really me Branch, it’s not her trying to trick you into coming back. I’m here, I see you my love come on Branch please my love.”

Branch let out a small waking noise, despite hearing this Creek doesn’t dare open his eyes in case this does something to affect the magic in the room. Slowly the grey troll opens his eyes, he instantly notices that the one he loves is lying beside him, that they are free and that Creek is alright. Branch can feel a hand on his forehead, it slips away from his forehead before he could think to follow were the hand has gone. The grey troll’s attention is focused completely on the troll in his arms and Branch smiles slowly at the one he loves who is still not looking at him but is keeping his hand pressed flat firmly onto his chest over his heart. As Branch smiles blue light starts to spread out over his body, it slowly obliterates the grey that had coloured the prince until now and filled him with joyful colour once more. “Creek…” Branch whispers his voice filled with the joy and love seeing Creek brings to him.

As soon as he hears the prince’s voice the grey blue eyes of the purple troll shoot open, they lock with the teal blue of Branch, the moment Creek realises that the one he loves is alright and has colour again the purple troll lets out a cry of absolute relief and delight, before throwing swiftly putting his arms around Branch hugging him tightly to him. “I thought I was going to lose you…I thought you might not come back to me.” Creek confessed to him his voice wavering as fear enters him for a moment.

Branch returns his embrace, he nuzzles close to Creek and says to him gently but reassuringly. “I would never leave you Creek I love you too much to do that. As soon as I heard your voice…All I wanted was to get back to where you were.”

“Your mother and father are here my love.” Creek tells him as gently as possible gesturing over his left shoulder towards the King and Queen standing behind him.

Before Branch can roll over towards them, Diamond speaks to his son in a firm but kind voice. “Don’t move, we both know you need to stay close to Creek right now so we will come into your line of sight.”

They walked around the bed, as Poppy and Diamond came into his line of sight Branch’s eyes shot side, he gasped and then said in a disbelieving voice. “But you are the King and Queen of the trolls…I can’t be…I just can’t be the missing prince.”

“Yes, you are our son Branch.” The pink troll Queen told assured him with a nod and a smile for her son. “You have magic, only the royal trolls have magic, most of the time they don’t have much, but you…You are the first mage our family has ever had and I am sure that some point in our family’s future your gift will be important. We are so very glad to have you returned to us son.”

The blue trolls swallowed hard, tears were threatening to come as shame and despair pricked at him and he said to them with a shake of his head. “You won’t be glad I came back after you hear what happened…”

Before Branch could get any further, Creek gripped the troll he loved tightly and interrupted him in an angry tone of voice. “It was not your fault! Don’t you dare blame yourself for what she did to you and the other trolls, you are another of her victims! Do you understand?” The blue troll gave a nod, Creek deflated as the anger ran out of him, he regretted his anger immediately and to show he was sorry the purple troll placed his forehead to Branch’s, before saying gently to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to shout at you, but I can’t stand you blaming yourself for something which you had absolutely no control over.”

When the purple troll finished speaking to Branch Poppy spoke up. “We will talk about what happened to you, when you feel stronger Branch. May I ask something of you Branch?” The blue troll gave her a nod and the Queen seeing this addressed him again. “Would it be too much to ask you to call us mother and father just yet?”

Quickly Branch shook his head at the Queen, he took a deep breath and then said in a very small whisper. “Mother, father…”

They both smiled brilliantly at their son, the pink troll reached out towards his hair, her fingers stopped short of touching it, Branch lifted one hand from where it hand been around Creek, he took the Queen’s hand and placed it against his hair, the blue troll let go of her hand before giving her a nod of permission. Poppy gave her son a grateful smile, she gently started to stroke over his hair and then said very gently to Branch. “Rest now…” Slowly the prince put his arm back around Creek, Branch’s eyes started to close, Diamond placed his arm around Poppy’s shoulders as she stroked over their son’s hair and then together they started to sing. “Moonlight glow, and starlight glimmer. Mask my heart in silver light, keep it safe, for to find true love the mask is the key. With the mask my truth is hidden, a loving heart to loving heart, I was always there from the start. Within the tears hides the magic, of a love which cannot be broken, it can heal a broken heart and make all new at once.”

With this Branch knew were the song he had always known came from, but he was too tired to say anything to his parents just yet and instead the blue troll fell asleep against Creek. Once the prince was asleep against his true love, Poppy looked to the purple troll as she continued to stroke her sons hair and then said to him in a low voice. “Will you mind carrying him back to the royal pod and staying with our son.”

“You mean you won’t make me leave Branch?” Creek asked them awed, he hadn’t been expecting this, he had assumed that once the prince was alright his parents would true love or not, wouldn’t want a common troll to stand at the side of their son as his life partner.

It was the King who spoke to Creek this time. “Creek, you are our sons true love, he is your Branch and you are his Creek, we would never ever separate the two of you. It would cause our son pain and we have no wish to do that, we have no wish to see him grey again or unhappy. When the time comes common troll or not we will be more than happy to welcome you to our family as our son’s true love.” When the King finished speaking, Poppy removed her hand from her son’s hair and they both smiled down at the purple troll.

Creek was so overwhelmed by their acceptance of him that it took him a few moments before he finally managed to say to the King and Queen. “Thank you…I couldn’t imagine my life without Branch.” Once he had admitted this the purple troll, slowly took Branch’s arms from around him, carefully he got out of the bed, he wrapped Branch in its covers and then lifted him up into his arms. Creek followed the King Diamond and Queen Poppy back to the castle, they show him to the room in the royal pod which they had put to one side for their son. The pink troll quickly pulled the fresh sheets on the bed down and Creek gently lowered the prince into the bed. He unwrapped the one he loved from the covers of the healer’s bed, the purple troll placed them to one side, and then climbed into the bed alongside Branch taking him back into his arms.

“If you need anything, just pull the cord there.” The King told him pointing at the cord, Creek gave him a nod and the royal couple gathered up the covers Creek had used to carry the prince back to the royal pod and left him alone with their son. The King and Queen both knew that the purple troll would take good care of Branch for them, as he clearly loved him with all of his heart and had made it clear that he never wanted to see any harm come to the other troll ever again.

Chapter Text

Chapter nine:

Branch’s recovery over the next few days and weeks was slow, but steady, Creek and Fizz never left his side during this time and they were always ready to help the blue troll in any way. In fact these three spent so much time together that the castle staff got quickly used to seeing the two male trolls and the little spider together. The blue troll was spending plenty of his healing time getting to know his mother and father, he was glad to see them embrace his love for Creek and this was one of the facts which caused Branch to find his parents easy to love and soon the prince felt as though he had known them both all his life. The blue troll loved hearing form them the story of how they came together and how he had been a much longed for child. The King and Queen had shown him the silver domino mask which had been used by his ancestor Branch to find his Creek and as soon as he got to see this mask the blue troll knew it had been the one from his dreams which had made him smile. At this time the prince also was learning from his mother how to control his magic, it was taking time but the blue troll was making good progress in this area and it was bringing him closer to his mother. From his father Branch was learning all of the skills he needed to make a good prince and great King of the troll tree one day.

Diamond and Poppy were both extremely proud of their son, he was a good, kind and wise troll and despite his time in the tower Branch had no fear of the outside world or his own kind. When the prince had felt strong enough, the blue troll had with the help of Creek and Fizz, told his mother and father all about his life in the tower with the Bergen he had called mother. When their son had at last finished telling them about his life in the tower, the King and Queen had hugged Branch for a long time. They had also sided with Creek and Fizz about who was to blame for everything which had happened during the prince’s time in the tower. The blue troll’s mother had looked to her husband, then to the prince before saying to him in a kind but firm voice. “You true love and Fizz are quiet my son right nothing which happened was your fault. You never knew what the one you called your mother was doing when she made you sing and you shouldn’t punish yourself for what she did to the other trolls.”

Before Branch can say a word to her, Diamond spoke next his voice kind but determined. “We will tell our people what happened to you and what the Bergen you called mother did to the other trolls. Your mother and I will make it very clear to all of them that you had absolutely no control over anything she did.”

“You will see Branch the other trolls will forgive you and just as I said they will see you as just another victim of Chef.” After he had said this Creek gently took the one he loved into his arms and hold him close to him combing his fingers comfortingly into his hair, while Fizz gave the blue troll a nod and nuzzled against his cheek. Branch burrowed into him feeling utterly safe, he trusted that all those he loved would be right about the reaction to the other trolls to what had happened to him.

Sure enough both the King and Queen as well as Fizz and Creek were proved tight in their assertions, once the trolls knew what had happened to their prince, they did not blame Branch for what had happened. They forgave him as he had not known what was happening, instead the trolls had laid the blame on the Bergen who had held him captive and used him for so long. The prince gained further popularity and respect from the other troll’s by making sure that all those who had been effected by what Chef had done received any support which they needed from the crown. The blue troll was able to find those who had been effected by what the Bergen had done by simply using his magic to sense their links to those who had been taken by Chef.

It was shortly after this that the young Bergen King, Gristle sent a message to the Queen Poppy and King Diamond, he had heard disturbing rumours of what had happened to their son and he wanted to know if these rumours had any truth to them. The troll King and Queen were quick to answer this message with the conformation that what he had heard about their son was indeed the truth and they wrote down all which Branch had told them had happened during his time in the tower. They were very surprised when Gristle wrote to them again, the young King expressed his genuine sorrow for what had happened to the prince and the other trolls. Gristle also wrote that he wished to find some way for their two peoples to live in peace from now on and that he desired to offer his formal apologies to prince Branch and the trolls of the troll tree for what they had all been through. After receiving this letter Poppy and Diamond, sat Branch and Creek down, it was the King who addressed his son. “King Gristle of the Bergen’s wishes there to be peace between our two people and he desires to offer you and our people his apologies for what happened. My son your mother and I feel that it should be your decision if the King of the Bergen’s should be permitted to come here to us and make his recompenses to us all.”

Branch was quiet for a few moments, none of the other trolls said anything, they simply let the prince think about what he felt was the best thing to do in this situation and eventually the blue troll said softly to his parents. “I think it would be wise to let him make his apology.”

Poppy takes one of her son’s hands, she gives it a squeeze the Queen feels ever so proud of her son for being willing to do this after his experience of Bergens, Poppy then smiles at him and then says to her son her pride in him clear in her voice. “Then this is what we shall do, Branch you are sure you are strong enough for this?”

The blue troll gives her a nod, he smiles at his mother and squeezed her hand back before saying to her firmly. “I shall be fine, besides Creek and Fizz will keep an eye on me and if they think I am over stretching myself they will make me rest.” As Branch says this both Fizz and Creek give Queen Poppy a nod and she smiles widely at them both, grateful that they were both there to make sure her son would always be alright.

It was a week later, when the nervous King Gristle with his young Queen Bridget arrived at the troll tree, his meeting with the King and Queen of the trolls went well, but he was worried about meeting the prince after all prince Branch would one day be the King of the trolls and so far, his encounters with Bergen’s had not been at all positive. Sensing her husband’s distress, Bridget took his hand into hers, she gave the one she loved a kiss on the cheek and said to him very softly. “It will be alright my love.”

Then prince Branch came to into the room to meet them, as he crossed the room coming towards them, they quickly noticed the blue troll had a purple troll standing at his left shoulder and on his right one was settled a small fuzzy spider. Politely the prince bowed to the Bergen King, Gristle quickly acknowledged this with a bow of his head and then the King addressed Branch in a very polite voice. “I am glad to meet you prince Branch, I am very sorry to hear what happened to you and your people at the hands of Chef. I shall offer my formal apologies to all of your people and you once again tomorrow but I wanted to apologies to you privately today. I true am sorry for what happened to you, if I had known what was going on I would have done something to stop Chef, as her way of gaining happiness has been illegal for many years now.”

Branch could tell that the King really was sorry for what had been done to him and his people at the hands Chef. “Thank you, for your apology, I can hardly hold you responsible what Chef did alone, as like me you had no knowledge of it either. I have however come to understand that your people need to drain happiness from others…May I ask why this is so?”

Gristle feels relieved that the prince is willing to accept his apology and he understands why Branch is asking him this question so the King answers it. “Our people do not have our own happiness.”

Clearly very confused by what the Bergen King was telling him, the blue troll frowned and then said to Gristle. “Forgive me if this seems a little rude, but are you telling me you only feel happy by taking others happiness, and that your Queen doesn’t make you happy without it?” Both the King and Queen looked at each other for a few moments, then a shocked realisation started to dawn over their faces and they turned back to Branch their mouths working but no words coming out. As the prince sees their shocked faces the blue troll smiles at them both and then says gently to the royal couple. “Happiness was always right there inside of you, your people never needed to steal it, you just needed someone to show you that you’ve had it all along.”

Finally, Queen Bridget looked at her husband one last time and then said to Branch the shock she was feeling clear in her voice. “I can’t believe it, all this time, every time we felt happy, we thought it was left over from the last lot of troll happiness we absorbed, but it wasn’t it was our own…Thank you prince Branch for helping us to realise this, thank you so much.”

“You are welcome.” As he said this the prince wavered slightly on his feet and noticing this happening the Bergen royals shared a concerned look.

Before they could say anything the purple troll at Branch’s left shoulder stepped forward, he placed an arm around the prince’s waist, he leant onto him and the purple troll addressed them. “Forgive us, I am Creek the true love of Branch, this is his spider Fizz, I’m afraid the prince still needs to rest as he is not fully recovered from using so much of his magic all at once.”

Queen Bridget smiles kindly and she makes shooing motions towards them. “Of course, take your true love to rest, we take no offence.”

“Thank you.” Creek said softly, before Branch could think to object the one he loved swept him up into his arms and the prince rested his head onto the shoulder of the other troll.
The Bergan Queen stepped forward, she gently lay her hand on the arm of the blue troll and said to him ever so softly. “Thank you for giving us our own happiness and do not think you need to apologies to us for needing to recover from what you have been through.”

Branch gave her a small nod of thanks, Bridget took her hand off of the prince, she nodded back then stepped away from him and Creek carried the prince away to rest.

The next day as had been planned King Gristle not only formally apologised to all of the trolls and Branch for what had happened, also he announced that the Bergens would also contribute to helping those who were effected by Chef and that thanks to prince Branch it had been discovered that Bergen’s didn’t need to steal happiness they could in fact make their own. This visit from the King and Queen of the Bergen’s was the turning point in the relationship between the two peoples and stared them on the path towards a lasting peace.

It was four months after Branch had first used his magic, at last the blue troll was back to normal, now he had his strength back there was something which the prince wanted to do, this something had required him to be given something very special by his mother and father and the blue troll making Fizz promise to say nothing to the one he loves until he was ready. So it was that one afternoon when Branch and Creek were walking together, the prince drew the other troll to a halt, this caused the one he loved to look at him with concern and ask. “Are you alright Branch?”

“I’m fine Creek don’t worry.” As he finished saying this reassuringly to the other troll, the blue troll drew out of his hair a simple gold band, then Branch got down on one knee in front of Creek. The grey blue eyes of the purple troll went wide as he suddenly realised exactly what his boyfriend was up to, as this realisation hit him Creek felt both shock and wonder make their way through him. Feeling slightly nervous now, Branch looked up at the one he loved, he could see that the purple troll was surprised and finding his courage once more the prince held the ring our towards Creek then spoke to him. “My true love, will you marry me?”

The purple troll didn’t even need to think about his answer to this question from the one he loved and said with a huge smile on his face and absolute joy in his heart. “Yes, yes of course I will marry you Branch.”

The blue troll was grinning like just as widely as Creek when he said yes, the prince felt so relived and happy that he one he had love had agreed to marry him. Branch quickly came onto his feet, he gently took the purple troll’s left hand into his, the prince slipped the gold ring onto his finger and then said softly. “This was worn by my ancestor Creek and now it is yours.”

With wide eyes the purple troll lifted his left hand, he looked to the gold ring embracing his finger and then he looked to the one he loved before saying to him. “Are you sure it is alright to give me this?”

“I’m sure, my mother and father agreed to this and I think…No I know he would be happy with you having his ring and who knows maybe someday in the future this ring along with the one belonging to the first King Branch will belong to yet another Creek and Branch after us.” As he said this the blue troll drew out the other ring from his hair and then he held out this ring on the palm of his hand left towards the one he loved.

Creek gently took the matching gold ring from his hand, quickly the purple troll caught hold of Branch’s hand and slipped the ring onto the middle finger of his hand as he does this Creek says earnestly to the prince. “I have to admit that I rather like that idea my love.”

“So do I.” Branch admitted in a soft voice and then he spoke to the one he loved again. “I’m sure that it will take a while to organise our wedding as it will be a royal one, but I shall look forward to the moment I marry you before all the tribe. So my beloved shall we go and tell my mother and father our good news?”

“I’m glad that you are looking forward to marrying me. Yes, my love lets go and tell King Diamond and Queen Poppy the news.” After Creek said this the two male trolls held hands, then they made their way into the castle to tell the King and Queen their news. When Branch told them that Creek had accepted his proposal, Poppy and Diamond were extremely pleased to hear this news and they had officially as well as happily welcomed the purple troll to their family. Despite knowing that their response to him joining the royal family would not be negative Creek had felt extremely relived and blessed to have received such a joyful welcome into what was soon to be his family.

Creek and Branch were married by King Diamond three months later, all of the tribe was in attendance and so to were King Gristle and Queen Bridget. The prince was magnificently dressed in a suite of royal blue to match his hair which was embroidered with a celtic knot in silver thread at the cuffs and lapels, under it was a white shirt with a high neck, over this was a silver waist coat and atop his head was a simple silver crown which was settled where his head met his hair. The prince really wasn’t used to being dressed like this, it made him feel a little uncomfortable but he was determined to do this correctly, both for the one he loved and his parents.

When Creek came down the aisle towards him, the eyes of the blue troll went wide, the purple troll was dressed in a suite which was just as fine as his own, but it was teal blue with royal blue embroidery. The prince knows without Creek needing to say a word to him that he was dressed in these colours in order to honour him and Branch could feel himself blushing at the sight of his colours on the one he loved. The prince had always thought that Creek was a handsome troll but right now he dressed as he was to his eyes the one he loved was absolutely exquisite. The blue troll feels as though he is the luckiest troll alive to be marrying this troll and he hoped with all of his might that he would always be able to make the other troll happy.

As he walked down the aisle the purple troll kept his grey blue eyes locked with the teal blue ones of the one he loved, as far as Creek was concerned right now no other troll at the wedding mattered. The purple troll let his eyes quickly go over the blue troll, today he looked just like the prince from a fairy tale, Creek could hardly believe that he was the lucky troll marrying him and the purple troll thanked fate for bringing them together. When the purple troll reached the side of Branch, the prince smiled at him, the purple troll smiled back and then they took hold of each other’s hands before turning to face King Diamond, who started to ceremony.

When the time came the vows the two trolls shared were simple but heartfelt, there was no exchange of rings as they already wore their rings and so instead the King said to them. “I now pronounce you husband’s you may kiss.”

Creek and Branch shared a soft but loving kiss, they well aware of their audience, as the newly married couple shared their first kiss all of those present at the wedding cheered and clapped for them. When they drew apart from the kiss, the two trolls reluctantly let go of each other, then the purple troll knelt down before his new husband. As he did this Queen Poppy walked up to Branch’s right side carrying a blue pillow on which sat a silver crown to match that of the blue troll. Smiling softly at his mother the blue troll took the crown from the pillow, he then carefully put the crown onto Creeks head and held a hand out to him. The newly crowned purple troll prince took the hand of the one he loved, Creek let Branch help him up onto his feet, keeping hold of the hand of the purple troll the blue prince led him back down the aisle. The witnesses of the wedding stood, they followed the couple, soon the party to celebrate the wedding was well underway and the happy couple joined in enjoying every moment of this celebration. When the two newly married trolls were taking a break from Branch leant into Creek, he gave him a soft kiss on the lips and then said softly. “I love you Creek my true love.”

Creek smiled at him gently and then said in return to his new husband. “I love you too Branch my true love.

This Branch and Creek would go down in troll history as the ones who finally brought about lasting peace with the Bergen’s. The two male trolls would eventually go on to have a daughter who would be the light of their lives, she was names Rosiepuff by her fathers. Creek and Branch would spend the rest of their lives in love, they would have their disagreements but they never went to bed angry at each other and they would confirm their love to each other in small ways every day for the rest of their lives.