Chapter Text
It was time for their biyearly boys trip. It was something they had started as just a boys hang out/camping trip before John Dory found an armadillobus as a baby and raised- something all the boys teased him about as he sobbed over his ‘daughter’ and put his many pictures of her right next to the pictures of his nephews and niece. With Rhonda they would travel farther for their month long trip, slowly mapping out the world around them. They were goo enough at scavenging to get by if they ran out of supplies but if they wandered into a town they would take the time to explore and even perform for money and supplies. They were, they figured, some of the most well traveled trolls of any of the kinds.
They had parked Rhonda not that far from the country trolls town, setting up for a campout. Clay had already got out his book on constellations they had gotten from the Funk Troll three years ago, ready to mark off which ones were overhead this time of year. Floyd was working on setting up their sleeping bags and pillows, humming softly as he layered everything to make the ground softer. With John Dory and Spruce handling cooking, branch took the moment to wander around.
Kicking a stone as he sang softly to himself.
“Hand me a pen and I’ll rewrite the pain,
When youre ready, we’ll turn the page together
Open a bottle, it’s time we celebrate
Who you were, who you are
We’re one and the same, yeah…. yeah”
Squinting against the evening sun, his soft yeahs tapered off as he tilted his head. Breaking the orange sand of the Lonesome Flat was a bit of pink. Looking over his shoulder where he could still see Rhonda nestled down for the evening, the smoke of their campfire burning as the heat began to cool. His brothers’ forms were obscured by rocks and dried bushes. Branch turned back around to the pink thing, wondering how much trouble he’d get into for investigating without telling anyone he found something.
“I’m twenty-three.” he told himself, “I am an adult. I don’t need to tell them I found something.” assuring himself of the fact he moved forward, his stride turning into a run when he finally saw what the pink thing was.
It was a troll! Not any troll he’d seen, unlike the techo, funk, or country troll this one looked like his brothers and him!
He slid a bit to a stop, cradling her head onto his lap as he looked at her. Her hair was pulled up and sitting at the top of her head, it was the same shade of pink as the rest of her. She wore a flowered headband across her forehead and a simple blue dress. Branch didn’t think he’s ever seen a troll as pretty as her.
Lightly he shook her but all she did was mumble and move her head to the side.
Looking back towards where his brothers’ were he doubted they would hear if he shouted. Lifting her up wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be, but he reckoned that it has to do with Spruce’s many giant children that he had grown used to taking care of and playing with. Grumbling a bit under his breath as walked her all the way back to the campsite.
He was so focused on the weight in his arms he didn’t see his brothers panicked and nervous looks, as he finally reached them.
“I think she needs help… and probably water.” he said, placing her as gently as he could on top of the sleeping bags.
He didn’t look up at them, instead carefully moving her bangs out of her face. He finally looked up to see his brothers- they were pale, several shades lighter than their natural blue.
“Guys?” he questioned, “Water?”
Clay and Floyd moved at once, Floyd towards their water bottles and Clay reaching forward and pulling Branch away, his face changing from confused to a deep troubling frown. Slowly Floyd sat her up and gave her water, watching as the pinkness of her cheeks seemed to brighten.
“Where did you find her?” Spruce demanded, his face flushed in anger.
Branch couldn’t help but flinch back, he’d seen his brothers mad before but they had never taken that tone or voice to him. Spruce seemed to soften, looking towards their eldest brother with a grimace.
“Sorry Bitty,” he sighed, but his fist where still clenched at his sides. “Where’d you find her?” he asked softer this time, but he was still facing John Dory.
“She was over there,” he pointed meekly, glancing up at Clay who was clutching him close and looked like he was going to start growling. “I… she doesn’t look good so I thought we could help?.”
Finding a Pop troll- other then them- in Country Troll territory was not on the
perfect,
he wasn’t supposed to use that word anymore, it wasn’t part of the plans. John Dory wanted to scream. This was supposed to be a good time, it was something he always looked forward to, the five of them taking the time to travel around just the bros and just exploring. It had become a family tradition after they had settled down in Vacay Island and Spruce had noticed how twitchy he and Floyd would get. Brandy and her family would watch the kids and the family own restaurant and they would pack up and explore, sing, and just exist without the added pressure of
being perfect
,everything.
He could see the confusion in Branch’s face, the glances between the pink troll and their brothers and with a dawning realization he almost laughed. They had put the Troll Tree behind them, the Bergens and Pop Trolls, hell John Dory didn’t remember the last time they spoke about their parents or grandma. Branch didn’t have a memory of inside the tree. He had no idea why the brothers were so freaked out. That, John Dory thought, made sense- he read those parenting books with Spruce he knew kids, especially little ones, didn't tend to hold on to good memories, only traumatic ones would still for those younger than four. He even knew the memory of escaping, of grandma getting eaten was something Branch had disjointed nightmares of, things he couldn’t really remember or that would happen in a blur sending him crying to one of them even twenty years later but also something that didn’t match his childhood memories of being free in the sun, playing in the sand and learning how to surf. John Dory didn’t even know if Branch remembered being gray, if he thought his ears being down turned was just a family thing since Floyd’s were the same too.
Branch had no idea why they were freaking out at the sight of a pop troll, and John Dory didn’t really know how to explain that.
Shaking his head at Spruce’s stare, he jerked his head to Rhonda. The second oldest nodded, turning to grab Branch from Clay he dragged him inside to talk. Leaving Clay, Floyd, and him to stare at the pink pop troll.
“She’s the same shade of pink as Viva.” Clay announced after a second, “And has a crown.”
“Oh great,” John Dory couldn’t help but mutter bitterly, “Not only a pop troll but Princess pop troll.”
“But,” Floyd fretted, still hovering over her, “What is she doing all the way out here?”
“I don’t know…”
“Maybe we should go grab Delta, she’d want to know of more pop trolls passing through.” Clay muttered.
Rubbing his neck John Dory gave a loud sigh, looking at Rhonda’s windows where he could make out Spruce hugging Branch.
“I’ll go get her.” he settled on, ignoring the small grins Floyd and Clay shot each other. The mood shifted at the words and John Dory knew he messed up the second he opened his mouth.
“Aw, you want some alone time with your girlfriend.” Clay teased.
“You better come right back here mister.” Floyd said with a wag of his finger.
Ignoring the flush of his cheeks and rolling his eyes at his younger brothers he huffed, turning around with a stomp that just made them laugh louder.