With his hand against his burning throat, the other leaning against the bathroom counter, Branch coughed violently, his large shoulders shaking intensely.

Again that strange feeling like this morning that suffocated him, made him rise tears of pain in his eyes as he had the feeling that something was trying to escape from his chest. It was the third time since he had got up. The gray troll had never felt this kind of pain before this day, having no idea what it could be... All his symptoms were not in any of his medical books and the only relief that normally worked - a good cup of tea with the sweet honey of the eastern forest - had not given any convincing results. The only way to get rid of this pain was to cough, which he hated to do at every minute in his day.

After one last trembling cough, Branch finally felt his irritated airways clear. The silence troll sighed with relief, leaning towards the sink in front of him to rinse his face covered in cold sweat and take a glass of fresh water.

As he looked at himself in the mirror, he frowned, thinking for himself; he had no sigh fever, no headache, just totally bad-chosen moments when he choked and could no longer breathe as if a foreign body was trying to go up his bronchi, then through his pharynx and larynx to escape from his lips. It wasn't a pneumonia, neither bronchitis, or a normal cough... He felt it was something else... A more delicate case.

But as he considered the possibility of going to the village hospital to get a diagnosis, his ears shuddered at the sound of a troll's footsteps above his head, outside the fear bunker.

- Sup dude, were the words he was greeted with when he came out of his underground house.

It wasn't Princess Poppy like he had guessed... This troll there, with her lilac skin, her red hair in spikes, her black makeup and her look of absolute power was no other than the queen of rock herself. Queen Barb. Branch growled.

Even though she was a little younger than the future queen of Pop, the strong young woman had been forced to take the crown of rock much earlier than expected after an accident that had parallelized her father, the powerful King Thrash, permanently. Her young age had not prevented her from taking her place with imposance... Oh, last thing to know; She and Branch had a slight problem getting along;

-What do you want, harpy ? Branch growled, coming out of the bunker to pick up some logs of wood, forgetting his idea of going to the hospital.

The troll of rock raised an eyebrow, staring at him with a piercing look he hated. She watched his colors, as she did every time she had a chance to see him get his ass out of his damn smelly shelter. The gray troll hated to be observe in this way.

- The leaders of music want to talk to you, she finally shrugged her shoulders, it seemed to annoy her, her gaze still on him.

- Why in the world would they want talk to my dumbass person ? He asked, in a tone that he wanted to be sarcastic.

She raised an eyebrow again, and then walked away fastly towards the colored forest;

- Follow me, she obliged him, I am queen you have no choice to obey me, silence troll, whatever you are-

Branch felt slightly insulted, wanting to reply, he wanted to yell 'No, I have no obligation to obey you, harpy, because I am a pop troll, my only superior is King Peppy' as the Law intended, but he resigned himself; silence troll, it suited him. He didn't have to obey anyone... except to Poppy in his strangest dreams.

Then he grunted, and with his hands in both of his short pockets, followed her with a furious step. The grass under his feet was still wet with dew, and a few drops of rain fell on him... But the bad weather didn't bother him any more than that; he prefered fresh air to the sweltering heat of a summer day.

Barb watched him out of the corner of her red eye, her hands behind her back as she walked confidently in front of him, guiding him to the place where all the other leaders were waiting for them. This troll intrigued her; many times, some had asked her if they were related, due to his pointed ears and his dull, gray colors... It annoyed her, she had no brother, and she would never have one... Branch seemed to have confidence in all his actions, unlike her who hid her insecurities behind her image as powerful queen... She was a little jealous of Branch, even if she never admitted it, as much to herself as to those around her.

Poppy, she had assumed, had an obsession with his grumpy and cold character... It was an impossible mystery for her to understand; why choose to take care of a rain cloud in the middle of all the rainbow of choices that the village offered her? The pink troll had preferred rain, she assumed, after all... Without rain, there were no flowers.

This thought comfirmed it when she saw him delicately replace a poppy flower that this morning's storm had damaged.

- Stop staring at me, Branch growled, embarrassed when he noticed the red eyes of the rock troll still on him, scanning him as if he were a mutant monster, Mind your own crap.

He frowned as he let go of the flower gently, continuing on his way without another word.

- Well, like you want, she shrugged, staring at the flower that seemed to be smiling now that its petals had been dried, and then she followed him.

They walked silently for the next few minutes, not exchanging a single glance... Until the moment when;

- Why are you gray ?

Branch looked at the rock troll with big eyes, she looked away;

- Well, okay, if you want to stay in your lil-corner, all alone to cry like a big baby boohoo... She laughed at him.

Branch let out a sigh of anger, and then he turned toward her;

- If I tell you, you promise me to shut the hell up about it and to stop staring at me as if I were some kind of weird monster? He asked, annoyed.

- Like you want, she repeated, smiling amusedly.

The male troll hesitated... Then finally explained;

- It's not my real colors... This gray is a scar, a mark that this fucking world ripped on my skin forever...

It was a revelation ! Barb began to be slightly more intrigued;

- What are your true colors then ?

He did not answer, and it was clear like that... Barb was the third troll to know it now, he hadn't always been a gray troll. The other trolls who knew the truth were his former therapist, who had made him get the words out of his mouth like a therapist always did, and King Peppy... Who known the whole truth about the accident.

Another silence reigned, only the few singing critters of the forest came to twirl around them sometimes disturbed their walk in silence.

- Can I ask you a question? Branch suddenly end the peace of the forest.

Queen Barb let out a mocking laugh;

- What's going on in your head, big baby? Come on, talk to your big sister Barb! She joked about the rumor that was running in the village about them being related.

Another sigh, he hid his face in his hands, discouraged. This time Barb seemed to stop the mockery, showing a certain maturity;

- No, seriously, what's going on? She asked in a softer voice; it's my job to listen to the people of my kind, even if you are not a rock troll it's important to me to help any kind of trolls, so go ahead.

- Fine, fine... Did you already had... Strange dreams ?

He only realized how disturbing the question was when she burst out laughing, tears in her eyes;

- You mean strange like... Wet dreams?? She laughed, OH GOD, Okay, who is it?

- NOT WET DREAMS, WHAT THE HELL! Branch stopped her, embarrassed.

- Who it is!? Karma?? No wait...

She stared at the gray troll in the eyes for a few seconds, the puzzles taking place in her mind... Then finally, she exclaimed;

- You're in love with Popsqueak, aren't you ? She laughed, amused by the situation

Branch remained silent; honestly, he had no idea how he felt about the princess... It was strange. One day of grumpy mood, he hated her, wanting her to leave him alone and stop singing to him in his sensitive, unique shaped ears... And one sad day, he strangely wanted her to come to him so that she could talk to him for hours and hours about the lyrics of a song... And maybe, just maybe talk to her about his passion for poetry. Spend the day by her side, watch her smile about a flirty comment he could make, caress the glitters on her cheeks...

All his questions about himself spinned in his head every time he was fixing her invitations; he felt horrible to break them, to reject her in this way... But even if he could fix the collages until 1 a.m., he hated asking himself those questions... And the worst of all his questions was... Was he in love ?

If so, well, he already had an answer to his stupid desires; she would never want him.

That was for sure.

He was sure.

-... NO!! Branch finally shook his head, a pain squeezed his heart to this simple word, Strange dreams where you know... You become... Someone else.

- Hmm... She whispered, looking at him unconvinced, No, not really, but it must be pretty cool ! She punched him in the shoulder, still mocking his crimson, blushing face.

Then, with this not really satisfacting result, Branch returned to his thoughts; what did his dream of him singing that song meant ?

But hey... For now, the question to ask rather was... What did the leaders wanted from him?

<< ~ × ~ >>

Oh.

Build a barage, on the river.

Of course.

Poppy and the other leaders were close to the river, well, at a respectable distance. The strong currents made a lot of noises, so no one could hear the whispers of Branch who was observing the landscape with a thinking expression... Yes, Branch. Poppy had been shocked at first, happy that the others had liked her idea of asking Branch to help them build this barage. After all, he was a talented engineer, and only he would want to accomplish such a boring task while the sun would hit his sweaty back all day....

Branch mainly took the time to observe the river for two reasons; of one, he analyzed the time that the thing would take to build. Apparently, we thought he could do miracles on this part... It was one of the few times that someone thought his engineering skills were useful. He didn't want to disappoint them.

Two... He had the strange feeling that Poppy's gaze was on him, as if she was expecting something from him... If she hoped to see him smile again today, she could just forget it right away.

- So? DeltaDawn spoke loudly so that her voice could be heard despite the rapids.

Branch had no problem hearing it with ears like his. He turned to the group that had been staring at him for five minutes, trying to ignore the pink troll's that made him slightly uncomfortable;

- There is a way to build a diversion to direct it towards The Falls, he shrugged his shoulders, pointing to a drawing he had just made, but it will take me all month... I would dig for at least two weeks and then make the water flow away by small parts, he explained.

He bent down, taking out a tape measure to begin the task... But eventually turned around again; no one understood anything, staying there, they all raised an eyebrow, confused by his complicated explanations. Branch sighed, his face clearly showed how the gray troll just wanted to go home, to his cozy bunker away from the world, and forget about this damn barage story.;

- It means yes, he growled in frustration, I can divert the flow of the water for you.

Poppy laughed softly at this anger, and once again, Branch ignored her the best he could. Finally, his simplified words made themselves understood. The leaders smiled widely, thanking him and assuring him that if he needed something, he could ask for it.

- OH OH! Trollex suddenly raised his hand like a child in kindergarten.

Branch throw away his tape measure, turned to the troop which was still staring at him;

- What is it again, talking fish ? He was getting impatient, pulling both of his ears, Trollex didn't notice.

- Maybe you could build a beach instead!! He got excited, proud of his idea, the summer will be hot this year, and I'm sure a pool party would be great!!

Everyone was already jumping with joy at this idea, even Poppy seemed to have forgotten to observe him as a work in an art museum with dubious taste. Branch, for his part, tried to calm their enthusiasm; he couldn't build a beach next to a barage! A security build was not a playground for brainless trolls!

- Oh, I'm sure everyone will love it!! Trollzart clapped his hands happily, forgetting that he didn't like water.

- We could add a water slide?? Barb proposed, and maybe a trenpelin!

- Guys!! Branch once again tried to get their attention, but even the wise king and queen of Funk had forgotten his presence; he had become the unimportant gray troll again within a few tiny seconds.

- Oh! We could also add a space to relax! Poppy clapped her hands, hopping on the spot, I love to stay lying in the sun !!

The gray troll almost wanted to smile once again; her joy would have been enough to chase away all the gray clouds on his heart... So she liked to relax under the sun? He thought that he could perhaps install a chair under the rays for her, knowing that in any case she would come to see him work on his that barage ... But the words that came next took him by surprise.

- Creek will love coming here to meditate! Trollex gave Poppy a little elbow, teasing her.

- C-Creek? Guys we've already talked about this I... Poppy started, embarrassed.

She had already explained to them... Creek was a purple troll with horrible yoga pants who thought he was the future king of pop trolls because he supposedly saved King Thrash from certain death... Everyone had assumed that Poppy had fallen under the spell of this boy, while she had without anyone knowing, rather spend the evening crying, snuggling against Branch's chest.

The origin of his feelings.

But that was another story that we will see later in this story...

Branch saw the princess's incofort, and knowing that everyone thought she loved Creek was lighting up a flame of jealousy in him...

- Do you have tell him at least-

But Branch lost the thread of conversation at that moment. Coming from nowhere, the feeling of this morning returned....

Branch was choking.

His hand found his throat, pounding again, his legs trembled as he looked for something to lean on. He was panicked, scared that they would see him in this state, he could not cough, he was going to faint! He needed air!

- Guyyys! Creek is a friend, I already told you... Poppy whispered, waving her hands, her back facing Branch.

And then finally, the thing found its way to his trembling lips;

- I won't lie to you...

Silence.

Everyone froze, the conversation was stopped at the first note of the song. Without believing it, their eyes wide with shock, the leaders turned to the origin of the voice.

Poppy her, stayed turned. She might have sworn that her heart had just stopped;

- I know he's just not right for you...

Slowly, trembling, she turned around... Branch stood in the same spot, one could read the terror on his expression, looking at Poppy with incomprehension of what was happening; his nightmare had become real.

He was singing.

... And you can tell if I'm off
But I see it on your face
When you say that he's the one that you want ~
And you're spending all your time in this wrong situation...
And anytime you want it to stop...

Branch looked at them with so much terror in his blue eyes, she would have sworn that he was going to faint... But suddenly, his body no longer listened to him; he began to dance as if he had done this all his life, catching Poppy's hands and continuing to sing in his revealed angel voice as he danced a contemporary-style choreography with her;

I know I can treat you better... than he can!
And any girl like you deserves a... gentleman!
Tell me why are we wasting time,
On all your wasted crying,
When you should be with me instead?
I know I can treat you better...

Branch stopped in front of her, placing his hands in front of his mouth... But since he could not breathe, he had no choice but to sing the last words;

- ... Better than he can !!

Finally, he coughed violently, his body trembling as he took in a lot of gasp for air, staring at the ground, shocked. The group of royal blood trolls in front of him stared at him without believing it, all exchanging confused and somewhat worried glances.

Poppy was the most shocked though, and stood in front of him without moving, her hands resting against her heart in shock.

- W-What was that just now?... She asked him

The gray troll looked up at her, still breathing with difficulty. He shook his head, she could have sworn that he was crying... He was moving away from her...

... Without another word, he ran away to his bunker.

- Welp, guess he is a pop troll- Trollex murmured to Barb.