Chapter Five

Branch spoke nothing to Creek that morning as he saddled up his backpack and stretched his arms up over his head. Without looking back at what was being left behind, he swung his black hair out and grasped the nearest tree, grappling himself through the forest as fast as he could muster to get back to Troll Village. He felt colder and a lot more empty today. That suited him just fine because it was better to feel this than what he'd been dealing with recently. He wasn't angry anymore at the guru, just fed up with the situation entirely. He hoped that things really could go back to normal between them. The words that Creek said permeated Branch in an awful way and he was trying his best to stop thinking about them.

A few hours later when he stepped into the circle of the main village venue, the party was full blast with trolls and Bergens alike having wild conversation, dancing, eating, and ultimately breaking things in the area. Glitter and food were splattered in every direction. Confetti and paper streamers littered the Troll Tree and the grass below. He was instantly relieved that he wasn't here for most of the party if it looked like this now. Branch took a mental head count, spotting Poppy with Bridget and King Gristle with their two royal Bergen guards and half the racket ball sports team. He also saw Smidge and Cooper, sitting on top of a large mushroom stage in the distance. They had large, devilish grins as Smidge lit a match-like twig and held the tiny flame to a row of huge, dangerous looking fireworks. Branch's eyes widened and he felt his stomach twist. This was going to be bad.

"Wait, no! Don't do that," he called out to them. Before Branch could reach the two deviant trolls, the fireworks display rocketed into the sky with a deafening screech. It shot past the Bergen group, who yelped in surprise, and spiraled for the trunk of the Troll Tree in a dazzling display of rainbow sparks. The entire party stopped gasped to look at the spectacle, but then winced when a firework smashed into the bark.

"Oh my God!" Smidge cried out, grabbing Cooper around the neck and then they jumped off the mushroom to escape the falling pieces of wood.

Poppy watched with a stricken face as the whole right side of the great Troll Tree burst into blue and yellow flames. The fire violently licked up the trunk and through the leaves in the canopy. Trolls everywhere were screaming in disarray and leaping from their pods to the forest floor. The fires crackled madly, consuming everything in its destructive path, and danced over the branches to the pod homes.

"Get out of the tree, let's go! NOBODY PANIC! STOP PANICKING!" Poppy screamed as loud as she could through the sea of frantic trolls. But in reality, she wanted to panic and flee just like the rest of them. Everyone backed far away from the burning tree, many crying out as they watched their pod homes burn.

Branch yelled in frustration and darted around inside the confusion, trying to direct the traffic with his waving arms. "Listen to Princess Poppy, everyone back up! Stay away as far as you can!" Their Bergen guests backed up as well and watched the fire, though not as assaulted with grief as their tiny troll friends. They mumbled among themselves, wondering what they could do to help.

"I got this, I got this!" Bridget yelled out. She ran as fast as her stubby legs could carry, grabbing her Bergen guard Kevin's hat right off his head. It was shaped perfectly like a bucket.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, covering his green balding head.

"I'll bring it right back," she said quickly. Bridget rushed over to the small lake that rested on the edge of Troll Village. They primarily used it for water sports but today it made Bridge the fire brigade. She dunked the hat into the water and filled it to the brim, then carefully waddled back to the tree and tossed a healthy amount onto the root of the fire. It went out instantly with a small poof and everyone sighed in unison. Bridget splashed the rest of up into the branches and the smaller flames dissipated. In actuality, the fire was small compared to the Bergens' great stature so a single douse was good enough to bring the destruction to a halt. White smoke fumed from the damaged wood while black leaves and ash littered the grass below. Bridget shook the excess water droplets from Kevin's hat and offered it back to him. He smiled and took it, covering up his balding once more.

Poppy jumped over to Bridget and hugged the Bergen around the ankle. "Oh Bridget, thank you! You saved our tree," she whimpered, overcome with emotion.

"Of course, Poppy!" Bridget said. "But I don't think some of your little homes made it..." And while saying that, a few burnt pods broke from their stems and crashed to the ground, shattering to wooden bits. The others dangled still from branches but weren't salvageable at all.

"Oh darling, you're so wonderful! You saved the day," Gristle said with a huge gush, taking his girlfriend's hands.

"Saved the day?! Look at this mess!" Branch gestured to the pods smoking and broken on the ground in front of them.

"Branch, let's be positive for a minute. It could have been a lot worse," Poppy interjected.

"This wouldn't have happened if you would have listened to me about firework hazards when letting trolls use them in the village," Branch bit off. "Those things were huge! Way outside the safety standards."

"Of course I didn't tell them to use such a big firework inside but what could I have done while I was entertaining our guests?" Poppy put her hands on her hips and stared Branch down. "Where have you been anyway? I banged on your bunker door forever! I can't believe you locked me out."

"Oh, I… I wasn't there, actually. The lock was just a precaution, not directed at you necessarily but anything that wanted inside while I was gone. I spent some time camping in the forest because I couldn't handle the noise... I told you that I don't do parties, Poppy," he said quickly as she started to look visibly upset with him.

"Hey now, you guys," Bridget frowned. "It was an accident, don't blame Poppy for this okay? She's doing the best she can."

Branch ran his hands through his hair and sighed rigidly. "I'm sorry. I'm just upset too. I shouldn't have left like I did… I feel like I could have prevented this if I was here."

Poppy pouted softly. She leaned and picked up a piece of wood from the ground while the trolls slowly gathered back to where she was standing. King Peppy sifted out of the crowd and placed his hand on his daughters shoulder in support, smiling softly. "Dangers happen in life," he said to her. "We get knocked over, but all we can do is get back up again. Right, Poppy?"

Poppy smiled and nodded at her father, then turned to face the troll village. They looked scared, unsure, and quiet. "Listen up, everyone," she said to them. "It's going to be alright, I promise. We've had worse things happen to us and this is just a little remodeling project now, amirite?" She laughed nervously when the trolls quirked their heads, confused. "What I mean is," she continued, "we're going to have to rebuild the pods that we've lost. Let's clean up what we can and take a note of whose pods were damaged and THEN," the pink troll paused dramatically, "we can have a sleepover until they're rebuilt! Help your fellow troll in need and let's pair up so everyone has a place to sleep tonight."

The crowd of trolls clapped excitedly and shouted in unison, "SLEEPOVER!"

"And in the meantime," Poppy said turning to her Bergen friends. "We'll have to put this friendship party on hold until later on."

Gristle waved his hand, "Not to worry, Poppy. We, Bergens are worn out anyway, you guys party harder than expected. We'll come over again for the next party."

- - - - - -

As soon as Branch left the waterfall retreat, Creek followed him out. He felt dazed but managed to match the grey troll's speed through the forest and arrived back at the village just after the tragic events of the fire. He wanted to get into his pod and lock himself in bed for a good nap, but his heart sank as he gazed up at the smoking wood. He could feel the magical aura of the tree was damaged, but not irreparable fortunately. No doubt that this work was done by a lot of fools who had no sense for control. His thoughts felt clouded while he listened to the backdrop of Poppy's announcement. How these trolls got all all their energy in crisis was beyond comprehension.

Creek rubbed his tired eyes, then he spotted it; his pod among the wreckage of others. Creek went to kneel down at his pod, mouth open slightly in shock. He picked up a few small pieces of the lavender-painted wood and stared over the rough scorch marks. The entire pod was destroyed, caved in on itself from the fall out of the tree and most of it was burnt black. Carefully digging through the debris, Creek tried to find something that was worth saving but none of the items were recognizable. The entire place was broken and ashy. His beautiful home went from lavish to trash and he was away for just a few days. He thought about all the beautiful things he'd collected over the years that adorned the walls. He ached over the books and study material he wrote that carried secrets to peace and tranquility. It was all gone now. He had nothing. Everything that he held dear was destroyed.

Behind him, trolls who were also pod-less were pairing up with friends and family, carrying their saved possessions with them. They looked happy, despite their shared circumstances. Creek's mind reeled thinking about the possibility of not finding someone who would take him in while his pod was built. The purple troll was the meditation master and yoga guru among the norm. He gushed positivism in the village and everyone liked him, apart from Branch, but even with that he didn't feel he had a single, real friend besides Poppy. She was the queen-in-training, of course. Sometimes Creek wondered if it was her royal duty to befriend people. The rest of the trolls seemed to just tolerate Creek's presence.

"Hey, Creek. Are you doing okay?"

Speak of the pink devil. Creek blinked back the fog in his eyes and got to his feet, turning and forcing a smile at Poppy who looked deeply concerned for him. "All is well, dear Poppy. It's such a shame what happened but I am glad that everyone is safe."

Poppy smiled back, leaning in and giving him a brief hug. "Yeah, I'm really glad no one got hurt. Have you figured out where you'll be staying while the Fuzzlings go about their repairs?"

"Ah, well... no, not yet," he said slowly, pressing his palms together. "To be quite honest with you, I'm not sure there is a place for me, but I have an idea –," he was cut off when Poppy grabbed his hand.

"Oh, that's nonsense!" Poppy said, dragging him abruptly back towards her friends, Biggie, Satin, Chenille, and Smidge, after waving them down out of the crowd.

"Wait – wait, this isn't necessary," Creek babbled with a small blush. "Poppy!"

"Hey guys! Hey," she shouted happily. "Real quick question. Does anyone have room for one more troll? Creek here needs a place to stay. It looks like his pod was burned down, too."

"Oh no, you were affected too?" Biggie turned and said with a frown. "I would invite you in, but there isn't enough room between myself and Mr. Dinkles."

"Meep," the tiny green worm confirmed from Biggie's hold.

The twin trolls Satin and Chenille folded their arms and looked at one another. "Awe," they said together. "We don't have room either," Satin continued. "Our pod is full of designer clothes, there would be nowhere for you to sleep."

"Besides, Satin snores in her sleep. Do you really want to be subjected to that?" Chenille grinned slyly as her sister huffed in annoyance.

Poppy laughed a little and looked worriedly at Smidge. "Uh, what about you Smidge? I know you have a bigger pod."

"I would, Poppy," Smidge said sadly, "but Guy Diamond's pod caught fire too and we already agreed to bunk up. He's still out trying to salvage some of his things. Why can't you do it, Poppy?"

Poppy rubbed the back of her neck, "Because I already agreed to be roomies with Harper. She was the first one to come up to me."

Creek held up his hand at the group and stepped in, "Really, everyone. It's quite alright, I can manage without a sleepover. I did just spent the last couple days camping in the forest for meditative purposes. I can do it again easily."

Poppy looked at him and quirked her head, "You were camping in the forest?" she asked.

He looked at her and laughed slightly, "Indeed. I was trying to find peace for my aura, like always. That's… a normal thing." Creek avoided her eyes nervously, wondering if he was in trouble somehow.

"Oh, that's weird because Branch was camping too." she said, eyeing Creek down with heavy suspicion.

"OH! Branch!" Biggie said suddenly, holding up his finger from the idea. "Why don't we see if Creek can stay with Branch in his bunker?" Creek stared at the big blue troll, absolutely appalled at the idea.

Satin laughed and nodded her head. "I agree. That little troll has so much room down there!"

"No, no, no," Creek shook his hands in front of him frantically.

"Oh my God. That's a great idea!" Smidge exclaimed.

The Snack Pack turned towards Branch's direction immediately. He was across the field, crouched down at the base of the Troll Tree with a set of tools and a blueprint unrolled at his feet. He was twisting a small screwdriver into the wood, obviously hard at work creating a new safety mechanism that would prevent another fire catastrophe within the village.

Creek tapped the tips of his fingers together and bit his lower lip. "Do you REALLY think that's a good idea? He seems incredibly busy and I don't want to impose."

Poppy watched the nervous reactions of Creek and lifted her brow. "I know that you two haven't really gotten along much, but if you guys camped together then it can't be all that bad."

"I did not say we camped together," Creek said in a hurry.

"It's totally obvious Creek, and you don't have anywhere else to go. I don't know what you two were doing out there together, but let's just get this over with, shall we?" She took Creek's hand again and he was dragged mercilessly to where Branch was crouched. He tried pulling out of her grasp but she was stubborn and he didn't want to go against the word of the future queen of their village, but this was something that he absolutely didn't want to do! There was already enough tension between him and Branch.

"Branch! My main man, my best troll buddy, how are you doing?" Poppy said happily, yanking Creek up to her side. Creek refused to look at the dark troll, still trying to release himself from Poppy's vice grip. How did she have such strength in times like this? He blamed his lack of freedom on lack of sleep.

Branch placed his screwdriver down and stood up, wiping his hands on his slacks. "Doing alright..." he said slowly, eyes shifting from Creek then back to Poppy. "What are you planning? What is this?" Poppy was so easy to read when she wanted something from Branch. Usually it wasn't awful and Branch would give in without resisting, but with Creek obviously being held hostage he didn't know if he wanted to take part.

"Planning? No, nothing being planned. I just have a favor to ask you," she giggled, trying to keep the topic light. Branch crossed his arms defensively, unamused. Poppy dropped her happy charade and returned the grumpy look, then gestured to Creek. "Let him live with you while his pod is fixed. You're the only one that has room, everyone else is booked up."

"You're joking," Branch said flatly.

"I'm not joking," Poppy said, getting slightly irritated.

"She's not joking," Creek added in, finally able to wrestle his hand out of Poppy's. "It is true I have nowhere to go. I already said I would live outside among the wild."

Poppy snapped a glare at the purple troll, "I'm not letting you live outside! You don't know how long it'll be before you even get your pod back. There are so many homes that we have to build – it could be weeks!"

Branch chuckled and put his hands on his hips. "I don't think you have the survival instinct to last that long outside anyway, no offense." Creek couldn't help but scowl at the comment, his opinions totally being undermined by both trolls.

"So you'll let him live with you?" Poppy asked hopefully.

"No. Absolutely not. Find someone else," Branch said, waving his hand to usher them away, then turned to go work to his project. Poppy grabbed the grey troll and flipped him back around to face her.

"Branch!" she yelled, frustrated with his stubbornness.

"I said no! It's a horrible idea, I'm not doing it."

"It's not horrible, it's just Creek! Help your fellow troll in need!"

"It being Creek is precisely why it's a horrible thing," Branch said through the grit in his teeth.

Creek stood on the sidelines of the feud wondering if he could just quietly walk away while they talked about him like he wasn't capable of handling his own situation. It was aggravating, to say the least. He wasn't a poor, forgotten animal. He could do this on his own and he didn't need either of them to help him.

"BRANCH!" Poppy shook the grey troll's shoulders violently. "You better let Creek live with you until his pod is built or, so help me, you will NEVER see Gary again!"

Branch stopped and squinted his eyes at her, his frown deepened, "Is that a threat?"

"You bet it is," she said hotly. "I know all your hiding places, too. Don't think I won't find him."

Creek leaned in and whispered to Poppy out of curiosity, "Who is this 'Gary'?"

"Oh, that's his silly remote he uses for all his safety gadgets," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It's not silly, he's my child and I won't let you use him in your blackmail," Branch said, though they could see now that his stance was starting to falter the more he thought about Poppy taking away his remote control.

Poppy grinned to herself with a new idea, placing her hands over her heart. She flung her hand out and gestured to Branch, face now solemn and full of emotion. "Do you remember everything I've done for you?" She questioned him, voice started to draw out deeply.

Branch panicked inwardly knowing full well what was about to happen and he took a full step back from the pink troll about to burst into song.

"For all those times I stood by you, for all the truth that I made you see," she sang to him, pupils expanding like furry, depressed Swampkin.

Branch refused to give in. He couldn't let Poppy win like this. This song was hitting below the belt and she knew it, too. His lips pressed into a thin line and his ears started to fold backwards, staring Poppy down with ungodly defiance. A dark blue blush started to fill his cheeks.

"For all the joy I brought to your life, for all the wrong that I made right!

For every dream I made come true, for all the love I found in you,

Be forever thankful, baby – I was the one that held you up… Now never let me fall," she sang to him with full, beautiful notes, taking Branch's hands in the passion.

"I'm the one that saw you… through it all!"

"Argh, fine! Fine! He can stay at the bunker, just please stop singing, Poppy!" Branch caved immediately and pulled his hands away, letting Poppy have her merciless victory. Poppy cheered and slapped Creek on the back.

"Easy win," she laughed. "Branch can't stand mushy songs for some reason. Welp! I'll let you guys get to it then, I gotta go help with the clean up management. I'll owe you one after this, Branch." Poppy kissed her palm and blew the love towards Creek and Branch, skipping away back to the waiting Snack Pack looking exceptionally happy.

The two male trolls stood there next to each other and watched her, both of them feeling incredibly awkward with what just transpired.

"Look here, Branch," Creek said finally, placing his hands behind his back. "I don't need to move in with –"

"Don't go against Poppy's wishes. She's the princess." Branch said firmly, his voice sounding prickly but defeated. He bent and picked up his tools and blueprints, walking away from the purple troll. "I have things I have to do. Meet me at the hatch of my bunker when you're ready," he said over his shoulder.