Chapter 8

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Poppy woke up with a terrible headache, she sat up slowly and looked around. She didn't recognize her surroundings at all. She was on a large pillow-like carpet in a small room. She felt a sharp pain in her arm and looked down to find the tranquilizer dart still stuck in her arm so she pulled in out gently. She soon noticed Branch lying behind her on his front, he was still unconscious.

"Branch! Branch! Wake up!" Poppy gasped as she rubbed his back. Branch winced as he opened his eyes.

"Ugh...what happened?" Branch asked tiredly. He tried to get up but felt a sudden pain. "And why does my butt hurt?" Poppy looked behind Branch and saw the dart still lodged in his backside. She pulled it out causing Branch to yelp and rub his aching butt. "Why did Aria tranquilize us?" Right as he said that, a door opened to reveal a familiar blue troll. It was Aria.

"You guys are awake!" Aria exclaimed.

"Don't 'you guys are awake' us!" Branch grunted. "Where the hair are we? And why did you tranquilize us?!" He was still rubbing his butt. Branch then looked at her confused. "And what's going on with your shoulder?" Suddenly a small creature appeared on her shoulder and screeched at Branch. "AHHHH What the heck is that?!" Branch was so shocked that he jumped into Poppy's arms. The small creature looked like it had the body of a cat but a bird head, she had blue and purple feathers with huge wings and a long tail.

"This is Orchid, my pet Skyer." Aria explained as she scratches the back of Orchid's neck.

"What the heck is a Skyer?!" Branch shouted, still clinging onto Poppy until she dropped him with a loud thud.

"They're common creatures here." Aria said. "Nearly everyone in the tribe has one." Aria opened the door wide to reveal the outside. Poppy and Branch followed Aria out of the room. They turned around and looked up at a large tree house, but not just any ordinary tree house. This one had three huts in the trees with zip lines and wooden spiral staircases connecting them. Poppy and Branch had been kept in a small hut in the base of the tree. "That's my house." Aria pointed to the high-up tree house.

"Wait! Are we in your tribe?" Poppy asked, excitedly. Aria nodded.

"Welcome to the Paradise Isles!" Aria said. They looked around and saw many other tall trees with huts just like Aria's. All around there were Lost Trolls with their guardians, but what caught Poppy and Branch's eye was that some of the trolls were flying with wings.

"How are they doing that?" Branch asked. Aria turned around and they saw that Orchid was clinging to her back with her claws and her tail around her waist, her wings outstretched. She flapped her wings and lifted Aria off the ground.

"You create a bond with them." Aria explained. "Then they allow you to fly together." Aria set her feet on the ground. The three trolls suddenly heard a loud voice, and a troll landed in front of them with a Skyer on his back.

"Hey sis!" The troll greeted. "Looks like you finally got them to wake up!" He said, referring to Poppy and Branch. The troll had the same light blue skin as Aria, he had short hunter green hair with blue tips that was tied up. He had an arrow-shaped mark on his forehead, similar to Aria's, and wore brown shorts with a tan-colored tunic and a green gem around his neck. "I'm Ash! Great to meet you guys!" Ash bowed his head in front of them.

"This is my twin brother." Aria pointed.

"The older twin." Ash whispered loudly. Aria rolled her eyes.

"By five minutes!" She argued.

"Okay, that's sweet and all but why did you have to tranquilize us to bring us here?" Branch asked. "Why not taking a calmer approach?!" He said sarcastically.

"Because if I told you guys, you would have insisted on bringing the troll leaders along to show them that we're not dangerous." Aria said. "So I had to bring you guys without knowing."

"Do I really do that?" Poppy whispered to Branch. He nodded back. "Well, why did you bring us here?"

"I thought about what you said about bringing our tribes together," Aria explained. "To do that, I need to show you our culture, and how different our worlds are." Poppy smiled at her. "And because I know the troll leaders wouldn't be happy to see me stick around and...well...I wanted to see you guys again." Poppy and Branch were touched by her words and the three trolls hugged each other.

"Well are you going to show us around or not?" Poppy asked with excitement. "So which way do we go?" Aria and Ash gave each other a sly look. Their Skyers flapped their wings while they clung onto their backs. Aria and Ash then picked Branch and Poppy in their arms and took off into the air.

"AHHH!!" Branch screamed as he clung onto Ash's arm. "THIS EVEN WORSE THAN RIDING THE WHALE!!"

"WHOOOO!!!" Poppy cheered as Aria held her. The trolls flew above the trees and saw a small village on the coast. They flew towards the village with the wind in their hair. And landed just outside the village. When they landed Branch looked traumatized and was shaking.

"If this flying is gonna be a regular thing then I don't think I can be friends with you." Branch joked, his voice still shaky. Aria and Ash's Skyers rested on their owners shoulders as they walked into the village. There were small huts all around the village, some being trolls' homes, some being stores for food, clothes and jewelry. There were trolls of all ages everywhere, some selling things at the market, young trolls playing ball games, flying kites and bonding with their guardians. Most trolls had a guardian by their side, each one was a unique color and form.

"This place is amazing!" Poppy sighed in relief, feeling the sun on her skin and the cool breeze in her hair. But they didn't notice that some trolls were looking at Poppy and Branch strangely, as if they were fearing them and yet confused by them. They occasionally murmured to each other about them.

"No guardian?" They would say to each other. "Where did they come from? What are they doing here?" The concern and murmuring of the trolls alerted an older troll holding a large staff with beads and feathers on it. She had tan skin with green and blue hair that was tied in plaits hanging around her shoulders. She wore a brown and red robe around her shoulders. Her guardian was a golden-brown leopard and followed her by her side.

"New-comers?" She asked. Her leopard guardian growled softly, she placed a hand on its head to calm it down.

"Would you like us to escort them out, your Chieftess?" One troll asked her. He was the same troll from the invasion at the party, with the golden panther. "They may be here for revenge."

"Easy," The Chieftess assured. "They don't seem threatening. Besides, they're with the twins. We must welcome them." She approached the trolls and gave them a friendly smile. "Greetings New-comers. My name is Tala, Chieftess of the trolls."

"Hello Tala," Poppy greeted. "I'm Poppy, queen of the Pop Trolls." The trolls around them gasped at her words, but Tala raised her hand to quiet them. Poppy looked around, concerned about how the trolls were reacting to them. "We're not looking for any trouble, Aria brought us here."

"It's time for our tribes to come together, and to do that we need to accept our differences." Aria explained. Tala thought about what she said. She had always wanted all the trolls to be reunited one day, just like how they were before the ancestors fought.

"Well then, I guess we should show you around." Tala smiled as she lead them through the town. Poppy and Branch weren't used to a place where trolls weren't bursting into song, it felt so strange to them. No singing, no dancing, no parties.

"It's strange to see trolls not singing and dancing 24/7." Branch said.

"Of course, you trolls are very musical, aren't you?" Tala said. "But while you guys are lead by music, we're lead by nature. Because it provides us with everything we need, our food, homes, even our guardians." She explained. But her expression soon dropped as she sighed. They came across a harvest patch. Where the trolls grew their crops for food. But most of the patches were completely destroyed. "We recently had a huge hurricane and it ruined our crops and patches." Poppy and Branch remembered that storm. They only caught the tail end of it, so it was just a regular thunderstorm for them. The Lost Trolls however, got the worst of it. "There was damage to our homes and buildings. We were able to repair them, but our patches couldn't be saved and have taken a long time to replace." Tala looked back at the town center at the local trolls, concerned for her people. "Without all our patches functioning, we barely have enough food for the whole tribe."

"Wait...is that why your tribe came to us the other night?" Poppy asked.

"We only wanted your help," Tala sighed. "If we had more hands to help, we could get all these patches repaired quicker."

"We didn't know a lot about your tribes," Aria explained. "That's why we went to spy on you guys, to see if you were...friendly enough."

"But...why did you cut the power to our party to get our attention? Why not just ask us?" Branch asked.

"Would you have listened?" Ash asked dryly.

"He's right, we are pretty stubborn." Poppy said.

"We had to stand up for ourselves to even get noticed by you." Aria said. "It may have seemed aggressive on the night, but we only wanted you to listen to us." Poppy and Branch looked at each other, compassionately. Poppy then looked at Tala and took her hand in hers.

"Tala, I promise that when Branch and I return to Pop Village, we will talk to the other troll leaders to help you replace your crops." Poppy promised to her. Tala smiled at her hopefully. "The country trolls are great at building and planting!" Branch coughed intentionally. Poppy pointed at Branch. "And Branch too!"

"Oh Thank you, Queen Poppy!" Tala hugged her tightly. "You're going to save our tribe." Tala mounted her leopard guardian and flew just above the village, alerting all the trolls around her. "Our food shortage will be over soon, my people." She then pointed to Poppy and Branch. "We have been promised the help we need by the queen of the Pop Trolls!" The trolls cheered in happiness, overwhelmed by emotion. "They are now our honored guests! We must celebrate!" The trolls started to rise into the sky, their Skyers lifting them into the air.

"Come on, guys!" Aria exclaimed. "It's time to celebrate!" Suddenly, two Skyers clung onto Poppy and Branch's backs, raising them into the air. They found it difficult to control them at first, but got used to it as they leaned their bodies to control where they went. The entire troll tribe joined in the sky and started dancing in the air with their Skyers.

🎶Do you hear the waves rolling in?🎶

🎶Crashing🎶

🎶Take my hand🎶

🎶Let me show you a place where the wonder never ends🎶

The whole tribe flew in a huge pyramid form with their Skyers, they weaved in and out of each other and twirled around each other. Poppy and Branch were near the bottom of the pyramid, still trying to learn how to fly their Skyers. Both Aria and Ash joined them, flying and dancing around them while singing along with the song.

🎶Can you feel it now?🎶

🎶That we're on our way🎶

🎶Like a ray of hope🎶

🎶The sunrise on the bay🎶

Aria and Ash suddenly pushed Poppy and Branch through the center of the pyramid of trolls until they were right at the top.

🎶You can sing out loud🎶

🎶Join a serenade🎶

🎶One song🎶

🎶One song for a brand new day!🎶

Poppy and Branch flew and twirled around each other as they were on top of the pyramid, holding each other's hands and spinning around. The trolls shaped the pyramid and made a huge heart shape around Poppy and Branch. The song ended and all the trolls threw handfuls of flower petals into the air as they all cheered.

The petals settled around Poppy and Branch as they landed their feet on the ground again. They looked at each other in the eyes as the sun shone on their faces. Poppy placed her hands on Branch's cheeks as he placed his hands on her shoulders. The petals getting caught in their hair and falling on their cheeks and noses.

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