Chapter Text
One night during a normal night in a troll village, sat John Dory, and his brothers. Spruce, Clay, Floyd, and Branch, though Branch was only an egg at the time. Their mother and father were out at the time, and it was just their grandmother around looking after the boys. John looked after Branch rocking his egg as he waited for their parents to return. The other brothers were currently sleeping in their designated beds. Rosiepuff, their grandmother, had walked into the room adjusting her cardigan as she looked down at the tired John Dory who was humming to Branch’s egg. She smiled with a soft sigh as she crouched down next to John. “Hey honey, you know you don’t have to watch over Branch. I can take him off your hands so you can get some rest.”
John looked up at her with a gentle but tired smile. “It’s alright grandma, I like looking after him. Plus, I'm waiting for Mom and Dad to get home.” Rosiepuff smiled as she gently patted John’s head, his bright orange goggles tilting slightly. “Alright now my dear, if you need anything don’t hesitate to come get me, I’ll be in the living room.” She gave a smile before she then turned leaving John in the room with his sleeping brothers. John sighed as he stood up gently, setting Branch’s egg back in the crib, his eyes scanned over his brothers who were all sleeping in their respective beds. He then walked into the kitchen to grab himself a drink, his eyes looking out the window above their sink. John sighed as he checked the clock on the wall, he wondered when their parents were to arrive back home.
John tilted the cup he was drinking out of, his eyes flickering between the cup and the clock. Rosiepuff finally came into the kitchen looking down at John. "Dear, Why don't you get some rest now, it's getting far too late for you to stay up" She placed a comforting hand on his smaller shoulder. John looked up at her with his tired teal-colored eyes, he then sighed in defeat. "You're probably right.." He stood up setting his empty cup in the sink. Rosiepuff looked at him sympathetically while he looked up at her once more. "Goodnight Grandma.." He gave her a gentle hug, then turned on his heels and made his way to the nursery.
It was now a few hours later, John had fallen asleep in the nursery, next to Branch’s crib. A sudden noise woke John up, the main thing that caused a panic was the image of their grandmother running in with a distraught expression, her eyes wide as she yelled for John to round up his brothers and follow her. He did just that, he quickly grabbed Branch’s egg and Floyd in his arms. He woke up Spruce and Clay telling them to follow him without complaint. In their sleepy daze, they followed John who ran after their grandmother's stressed movements. The next thing they knew they were running away from their village, which had vacant areas and broken pods everywhere, the only place they called home looked destroyed. John kept tears from falling as he thought about their circumstances.
Their village had been attacked, which meant their old life went with it. He stayed strong the best he could, he took a breath as he held Floyd in his arms and Branch’s egg tucked tightly in his hair as well as he kept an eye on Clay and Spruce who were sleepily following along. With time they finally made it to a safe environment. Finally, they could take a breather from their running and constant movement. John finally got a moment to feel the devastation that their parents were likely gone, his home, and his friends were gone. John silently sobbed, he couldn’t hold onto his tough boy atmosphere, his parents were the one thing he knew, the one thing he had in his life that kept his days better besides his brothers.
Their mother was the one who taught him all he needed to know about nature and about surviving with only a few things. Their father on the other hand had taught him to sing and about the beauty of music. John sobbed as he held Floyd close. Floyd was still sleeping soundly in John's arms surprisingly. Spruce looked over at John, this was a new side to John he hadn't seen before. Especially because he was so used to seeing his older brother being the more calm and overachieving.
Clay looked at John with a concerned look, he didn't know why they had to do all this running and he didn't know why his older brother was crying. He gently toddled over to John placing his tiny hand on John's arm. "Johnny...?" Clay spoke up his soft blue eyes looking into John's teary ones. John looked over at Clay with a sad look "Oh...hey buddy what's up?" John used his free hand that wasn't holding Floyd to wipe his eyes. "Why Crying?" Clay questioned as he tilted his head to the side. Clay is after all only six, he wasn't aware of the severity of their situation. Clay's gentle tone and small innocent blue eyes caused John to choke back a sob. He knew he had to be strong for his brothers. Spruce only being four years younger than John knew the source of John's sadness and was now coming to terms that things would never be the same.
John gave another sigh as he looked down at Clay "I'm fine Clay...I was just a bit upset about something but don't you worry, everything is going to be okay.." Clay gave an innocent smile, he then sat next to John leaning against his side where Floyd was resting in John's arms. John gave a bit of a weak smile as he leaned back a bit. Spruce walked over, sitting down on John's other side, while Branch's egg was still resting safely in John's hair. Rosiepuff held it together quite well, she began to come up with new ways in her head to buy supplies and to build another pod for them to live in, some place for them to call home after this great travesty. Rosiepuff looked over at her now sleeping grandsons, her face formed a frown as she sighed. She had no idea what they were gonna do now, but she had to be strong for the boys.