Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy the story.
I am rewriting a few scenes from each chapter after the release of Trolls Band Together, so spoilers ahead in this story if you haven't watched all three movies. Any chapters with the .02 in the end will be the updated chapters! Hope you enjoy it! I will try and update the chapters every week or so, so stay tuned!
I do not own trolls, but love the movies. There will be a lot of Broppy fluff coming in future chapters!
------
Branch awoke that morning to the sounds of birds. He slowly got out of bed, yawning. Sleepily, he walked to the kitchen and began to make himself a pot of coffee. As the coffee brewed he took a quick shower, humming a little tune to himself as he got ready. After finishing his shower, he went to get his coffee and some berries for breakfast. Grabbing a pencil and paper, he sat down to eat.
As Branch ate the berries, he thought of how the last six months changed. His bunker wasn't far from the village now as they expanded to make room for the trolls who decided to live in Pop Village. After the huge party celebrating the different trolls, they agreed that those who wanted to live amongst each other should have the chance. After talking it over, the leaders agreed Pop Village was the best option for the main community of trolls with the largest supply of available resources. Many new trolls have settled into the village, causing problems to arise. He had watched how the leaders handled these situations and always offered his help when he could. One month after the rock apocalypse, Branch had reunited with his brothers. That was something he never thought would happen. They had left so long ago that the thought of them returning had not crossed his mind in so many years. Now that they were a family again, he had never been happier.
Clay and Viva moved the Putt Putt Trolls to Pop Village to reunite with their families. Clay and Floyd have been staying with him, and John Dory often stays around the village but prefers to stay with Rhonda. As for Bruce, he stays with his family but they visit each other quite frequently. Branch had cleared some storage rooms and converted them into rooms for his four brothers and Poppy so they would have a place to stay. It was amazing to have his brothers back in his life again.
This is the first quiet morning Branch has had in a while. Viva and Clay went back to their old home to make sure nothing was left behind from their move. Floyd and John Dory had gone to visit Bruce and his family, and Branch stayed behind to recuperate. He smiled to himself as he started writing down a new poem. Poppy had been with him every step of the way. He had confessed to the love of his life six months ago, and he was over the moon when she said she loved him back. He blushed at the thought of her, before looking at the entrance. He could normally hear the troll's morning song by now. He shrugged as he kept writing and sipping his coffee. "My sunshine beaming through the storm..." He muttered to himself as he wrote. He got up after finishing his food, and started making pancake batter. With how busy Poppy and the leaders of the other trolls have been, he didn't have as much time to spend with Poppy as he would have liked. Between hanging with their newfound siblings and her duties to the village, they had both become quite busy. They agreed that every morning after the first song of the day and before the first hug time, she would meet him in his bunker for breakfast.
The trolls normally started to sing their morning song by now. Branch's ears twitched when he finally heard a sound that he guessed was a troll, but it didn't sound musical at all. It sounded more like a trolling screaming. Branch shot up when he heard more voices joining in, more screams from other trolls. He quickly ran out of the room before he could hear loud drumming. As he went to go to the exit before almost losing his balance when his bunker started to shake. "What is happening?!" He gripped onto the elevator handle as the shaking stopped for a few seconds, then it became more fierce. The shaking continued for a few more minutes, until the it started to become a rumble, before stopping all together. 'It was large footsteps.' He thought as he quickly pulled the lever to go up. 'Was the village attacked?!' His stomach turned at the thought of the village being attacked. Once he reached the top, he quickly went to open the door. When he tried to push, nothing happened. He tried opening it again, but to no avail. He growled slightly and ran to one of his secret exits, but was stopped when he ran into a dirt wall. "A cave in? Great." He grumbled in frustration, and checked another exit which he was able to reach. "Good thing I planned for this." He said as he opened to the third door, taking a look around. He didn't see anything but could still hear a couple of trolls yelling, although he couldn't quite make out what was happening.
Branch stepped out of his bunker, almost falling in a large spade shaped hole in the ground roughly the same size as him. His eyes widened, as he took off into a sprint to the village.
Branch kept running, looking around frantically as he got to the village entrance, but he didn't see a single troll. He slowly came to a stop, panting heavily as he looked around. Suddenly his ear twitched, looking towards the middle of town where he could hear voices. He followed the sound, but slowly came to a stop when he heard what they were saying.
"That creature attacked the mushroom!" A scared voice came, causing Branch to freeze.
"I thought we were safe here!" A techno troll voice replied.
Branch slowly kept walking, seeing a large crowd surrounding a mushroom stem, which used to be a home. He looked around, and stopped when he saw a blue troll with his pet worm. "Biggie!" He called, making his way through the crowd. "Biggie, what happened? I heard screaming, then felt the earth shake." He panted, "Is anyone hurt?" He asked.
Biggie looked at Branch, and hugged him tightly. "Oh Branch! It was horrible! A large beast came and killed two trolls!" He cried. Branch froze. "Two trolls? Who..." he said quietly, hugging biggie back slightly. "Bea and Sterling" Biggie replied sadly. Branch patted biggies back gently, knowing Biggie was friends with every troll. Branch slowly looked around, trying to find a certain pink haired troll. Biggie noticed Branch looking through the crowd, he reached down and lifted Branch off the ground so he was able to get a better look around for a certain pink hair. As he searched for the pink haired queen, his eyes landed on the wreckage. He noticed something that caused him to stop breathing for a moment. "Biggie, put me down." He said, struggling slightly as Biggie obeyed.
When he was on the ground he quickly pushed through the crowd over to the destroyed home, with Biggie on his tail. Biggie looked at him confused. "Branch, what are you doing?" Biggie asked as he realized Branch was going to go into the rubble. "Branch, you shouldn't go in there." He said worried.
Branch stared at the wreckage for a moment, seeing a puddle of blood under a pile of books, before he went searching. "There was..." Branch started rummaging through the debris for a moment before holding up a small teddy bear. He stared at it for a long minute, before looking at Biggie. "Was there a kid here? Was the kid..." his voice failed him before he couldn't finish.
Before Biggie could answer, Smidge pushed through. "Branch, you did come." She said, stopping when she saw the bear in his hand and looked down.
Branch looked at Smidge, before looking at Biggie. "Biggie, do you think you and some other trolls can collect everything you can save from here? Everything belonging to the family?" He asked, handing Biggie the bear. Biggie looked at the bear, then at Branch. He nodded, but handed the bear back to Branch.
"Take this with you, and we will gather all the belongings." Biggie said. "I'm sure Smidge will bring you to Poppy and the others." He smiled slightly, before he started talking to other trolls about the clean up.
Smidge looked at Branch. "Come on, Poppy told me to come find you." She said, and started walking out of the crowd. Branch followed, glancing down at the bear before putting it in his hair and walking back to Smidge.
"Was anyone else hurt?" He asked, looking at Smidge, who looked up at him.
"There were a couple of trolls with minor injuries. Some trolls have a broken arm or leg, but nothing life threatening... other than Bea and Sterling." She said sadly. Branch gently placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him and smile sadly. "Poppy is okay, a couple scratches, but fine. You can just ask." She teased him, causing Branch to blush. "I've never seen that animal before. It ran through the village, and made a beeline for their house." She said, "It has these long, weird teeth that knocked a few pods down." She pointed to a few fallen pods ahead of them.
Branch looked at the pods. "Long teeth..." he muttered, before seeing Smidge climb a tree next to him. He trailed behind her before realizing where they were heading. "Poppy is in the emergency pod?" He said, looking at Smidge. "Is she there making sure others are okay?" He asked as she nodded. Smidge opened the pod's door and walked in.
"Wait here, I'll be right back. You can sit down." She told him before walking to the back of the pod behind a curtain. Branch looked around the pod, before sitting down. He could see a few beds from where he was sitting, a couple of trolls with casts, a couple more with cuts on their arms and faces but nothing serious. A few minutes passed before a loud voice came.
"Branch is here?! You should have said so sooner." Branch smiled when he heard the voice. As he stood up, the curtain that Smidge went behind moved slightly as a pink troll peered around.
When Poppy saw Branch, she smiled and quickly made her way over towards him. Branch let out a sigh of relief, smiling back at her. Poppy opened her arms when she was close enough to him, causing Branch to do the same. Poppy wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing him tightly as she rested her head against his shoulder. Branch held her close, smiling more with her in his arms. "You're here earlier than I thought." She muttered into his shoulder.
"I heard screaming, and whatever attacked ran over my bunker. The shaking caused a cave in through a couple of the tunnels, but no big damage I think. I had to make it here as fast as I could." He said, before letting her go slightly. When he loosened his grip on her, he could see her hands covered in cuts. He took a step back to quickly look her over, noticing her feet and her lower legs were cut as well. "Have you put any cream or disinfectant on your cuts?." He asked, seeing her not looking at him when he asked. He shook his head slightly, smiling slightly. "I know you put the village first, but you have to take care of yourself too." He told her, causing Poppy to smile at him.
"I have you for that, don't I?" She grinned when she saw him blush. "Oh you dork, you don't have to worry. I will be fine." She kissed his cheek, holding his hands. "But, there is something I want to talk to you about." As she spoke, her smile faded.
He looked at her confused for a minute, before bringing her to a free bed, sitting her down.
"Okay, but one moment." He said before walking to the front desk and talking to the receptionist for a moment. The receptionist took a moment to reply, glancing at Poppy before nodding and gathering a few supplies in a bin. She could see Branch nodding and walking back to her and closed the curtain to give them privacy. "While you talk, I'll put some cream on your cuts." He said, sitting next to her. "Your feet." He patted his leg once.
Poppy looked at him for a moment before swinging her legs up and putting them on his lap. "I should get a massage too." She teased, causing Branch to chuckle. She smiled more at his chuckles, before her smile dropped. He glanced at her, before taking a disinfectant cloth from his bin. He gently washed the cuts on her legs and feet. After a minute, he handed her a different cloth. "Wash the cuts on your hands." He said, pulling some cream out from the bin. She nodded before wincing when she felt the cream on the cuts on her leg. "Sorry, it may sting for a second but it will help." He told her as he slowly and gently rubbed the cream on her cuts. "You said you wanted to talk about something?" He reminded her as he could tell something was off.
"That creature was going on a rampage. It knocked over a few pods before stopping in front of the mushroom houses, and ate it. I was shocked when I saw what happened. I had to help somehow. I swung from the tree and tried to scare it, but it didn't really work. When it was eating, I saw..." she stopped and looked down. Branch knew what she saw, rubbing her leg gently to try and comfort her. "I was lucky I saw movement in the rubble, Bea's and Sterling's daughter was still hiding. She was so scared, and was under a lot of debris. With the help of the other trolls, we were to scare it with loud drums and some threw rocks at it. I got most of these cuts from digging her out." Poppy paused and took a deep breath, causing Branch to look at her. "What I really wanted to talk about was the little girl. She has a broken arm. She is sleeping right now, and she is full of cuts and bruises." She looked at him. "But before you see her, I had to let you know..." she went silent, looking towards the bed at the end where she came from earlier.
Branch waited a moment before speaking. "Let me know what?" He looked at her, moving her legs from his lap gently, taking her hands in his. He rubbed her hands gently, trying to soothe her as well as put the cream on her cuts.
She stopped him, gripping his hands in hers. She looked him in the eye as she built up the courage to speak again.
"She's grey.