*At Creek and His Father's Hideout*

Once I made it to the hideout I could hear Creek shouting at Trollex and a small group of doves. "What do you mean you couldn't find the gray troll?!" Trollex and the doves shook their heads. Creek slumped back. "Ugh! This is pointless!" Barb and Riff ran over urgently. They started signing some type of message. "Oh.... So Poppy and Branch made it back to the Heart Tree? Ah. And Emerald has planned a sneak attack? Hmmmmm.... Okay then. We'll see how far she can get with that plan of hers!"

I hope they show up before we plan our attack. Creek stood up and yawned. "Well Imma get to bed now. Barb and Riff guard the guitar in that tent down there." Barb and Riff guard the guitar in that tent down there." Barb and Riff nodded, and with that, Creek and his father started off to bed. I better go see how the others are doing. I was about to start flying until someone grabbed me in a bag! "Hey! Who are you?! Let me out!" I started wiggling around in the bag. "Shush and stop wiggling! I'm a good guy. Just be quiet and I'll let you out when we get to the secret hideout." A familiar voice told me. "Who are you?" I repeated. "You'll see at the hideout, but you can't talk or Creek might hear us." I felt the bag shaking. We must be moving.

*A Few Minutes Later*

We stopped for a second and I heard a door opening. The bag started shaking harder as we walked on what felt like stairs. Soon after I heard another door open. We walked in and I got put down. I started feeling really scared. Someone opened the bag and I felt light streaming in. I looked up and saw Barb, Riff, Trollex, Guy, and DJ. "What in Trollstopia is going on?!" I shouted. "Shush!" They whispered. "I said to be quiet!" Barb whispered. "Look," Trollex started. "We know your confused and scared because you think we're rock zombies, but we're not. We just had to make Creek think that we are."

"See, we knew he had plans to zombified us, so we put gumdrops in our ears to block out the guitar waves. Ever since then, we've been sneaking out at night to send messages to everyone about our location. We've also been planning an attack on him, but we can't attack until we have enough trolls." Guy explained. "Please tell us you have other trolls or doves with you!" Barb pleaded. "I need a break from them." The others frowned. "Hey! You weren't that easy to get along with either!"

"Well I guess you'll be happy to know that I have Ocean, Iris, and Phoenix." I said. "Great! Where are they?" DJ asked. "That depends. Where are we?" I asked them. "This why you should've added holes in the bag Barb!" Trollex groaned. "If you two don't stop -" Guy cut in. "I whistled really loudly. "All of you stop!" They turned to me.

"Listen if you would just let me out, I can turn into a bird with a keen sense of sight. I could fly over the camp until I see the camp we set up." They looked at each other. "Sounds good to me." DJ said. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. "Great, but Imma need one of you to come with me so I can find my way back."

"Guess I'll go." Barb stepped forward. "Cool, just don't get scared." I smirked. She rolled her eyes. "I don't get scared." She said and with that she started leading me out. Before she did, she turned around to everyone else. "Riff if he asks where I went, you tell him I went to find more trolls to capture. Riff was playing with a stick. "Huh? Or something?" Barb rolled her eyes. "Trollex you tell Creek that." Trollex nodded and Barb started leading me out.

Once we made it out I grabbed an bald eagle feather and a camera out of my hair. I held the feather, turned into a bald eagle, and then turned around to Barb. She grabbed a twig and looked terrified. "Oh yeah sure. Why slay an eagle with a sword when you can use a twig?" I spoke with sarcasm. Before her terrified face faded, I used the camera and snapped like ten pictures. She glared at me. "You better delete those!" She said through clenched teeth. I smirked. "We'll see." Barb tried to grab the camera. "Nope!" I pulled it out of her way. "Now how do you wanna fly? Net? Bucket? Basket? Or maybe back?"

She looked at me. "Wait I'm gonna get to fly?!" She asked excitedly. I rolled my eyes. "Duh! Now how do you want to fly?" She thought for a second. "Hanggliding on your wings through fire!" She grinned excitedly. I felt nauseous. "Absolutely not!"😁 I smiled. She groaned "Fine! I'll just go for the hanggliding on your talons."

I rolled my eyes. This should be fun! "Fine, I'll start finding things to build the hangglider." I started looking around. "No need." Barb pulled out a hangglider! "How did you -"

"I've had a lot of time here okay?" I nod. "Okie then." I can't believe I'm doing this! "Just attach the hangglider to my talons." Barb found some rope and tied it to the hangglider. Then, with pieces of rope in both her hands, tied the hangglider to my talons. I ain't gonna lie - it did feel a little weird, but I can put up with it. After Barb tied it too me, she climbed into the hangglider without no safety equipment! "Aren't you gonna tie some rope around you so you don't fall out?" I asked her. She scoffed. "If I did it wouldn't be fun!" I shrugged. "Fine." I flew up really fast. I looked down and saw Barb shaking a little, but she was smiling excitedly! "I never want this to end!!"

I flew a little higher, so I could see father. I still couldn't see any trolls or doves. Wait! I think I can see the camp! I swooped down and landed. Barb climbed out of her hangglider and started looking around. Since I couldn't walk yet, I turned into a hummingbird and flew around. I got pulled into a bush. I looked in the dim bush and was able to see Iris. "Glad your back, but you might wanna stay hidden. Phoenix saw an eagle, so we all hid inside different bushes. Phoenix is in the one next to this one and Ocean is in the tree above this bush." I laughed a little. "That eagle was me."

"AHGHHHHHHH!!! YOU CAN EAT IRIS IF YOU LET ME LIVE!!" Iris rolled her eyes.🙄😑 "Well I better go tell them not to worry." She walked out. I waited for a second, until I heard her scream. "AHHHHHH ESMERALD'S IN THAT BUSH AND OCEAN'S IN THE TREE!! WE PLAY NO PART IN THIS!!!" I rolled my eyes🙄😑 and crawled out. I saw Barb holding Iris and Phoenix. "Will you chickens chill?!"
Iris held her heart. "Chickens? Ouch."

I walked over to Barb. "Barb let them go." She let go and Iris and Phoenix hid behind me. I turned around. "You know she's not actually Zombiefied right?" They still didn't move. "Hey I wonder what's in that tree?" Barb said and started climbing it. I turned to Iris and Phoenix. "Please don't tell me that's the tree Ocean's in." They looked at each other and smiled innocently.😅😁 "No....."

I face palmed, 🤦 but got a camera out. I need to capture to this! Barb climbed up and we waited a bit. I counted down in my head. 3...2...1! On cue we heard a scream. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! STAY BACK!!!!! I'V GOT A STICK AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!!!!"

Then we saw a light blue blur and lightish grayish purple blur falling down the tree. Thump! They landed hard! I ran over to them. Ocean was about to pounce on Barb. I stood in front of them. "Both of you stop!" They both looked at me. I turned to Ocean, Phoenix, and Iris. "Guys. She's not actually zombified! Neither is Trolled, Riff, Guy, or DJ. All of them had to make Creek think that they were zombified! They took me to the hideout that they've been secretly going to every night when Creek and his father are asleep. They've been trying to send us messages on their location and have even been trying to form a plan to capture Creek and his father."

"Oh okay, I see." Ocean piped up. "Well if that is true... Then why in Trollstopia would you try to attack me?!" He pointed at Barb. She glared at him. I pulled my camera out. "This thing is also a video camera." I told them all. I played the video I have took. We couldn't see Ocean or Barb, but we could hear them. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! STAY BACK!!!!! I'VE GOT A STICK AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!!!!" Ocean's voice shouted. We all snickered a little.

Ocean glared at me. "Why would you have that on?!" He tried to grab it. I moved it out of the way. "Nice try!" Barb interrupts. "Okay enough! Just turn into an eagle so I can hangglide through fire!" I slowly backed away from her. "Didn't I already tell I'm not doing that?!" She frowns. "But I wanna!!" She whined. "Nope! You can still get on my talons though." She smiled. "Yes!!!" I turned into an eagle and she fastened the hangglider to my talons. I turned to Iris and Phoenix. "You two gonna fly with me or on your own. "

"Well fly on our own." They answered. Ocean followed them. "Yep! They can just carry me like they did before!" He walked over to them smiling.😁😁 Both doves looked at each other, then back at him. They slowly backed away smiling. "Absolutely not!😁😁" Ocean glared at them. "Gee thanks a lot!"

"Look on the bright side," Phoenix said. "Now you can tell her -" Ocean slapped his hand over Phoenix's mouth before he could finish. "C'mon Secret Spiller. Better leave before you spill everyone's secrets." Iris started dragging Phoenix away. Ocean groaned. "You don't happen to have room for another hangglider do you?" He asked me. I looked at Barb and saw she was putting rockets on her glider?! "Absolutely not! I said no fire!" I backed away. She crossed her arms. "Oh c'mon! It wasn't like there was a lot of fire!" I shook my head. "No!"

She groaned. "Fine!" She walked over and undid the rockets. "I never get to have any fun!" She mumbled. I ignored her and turned to Ocean. "Sorry. What were you asking?"

"I was wondering if ya got room for another hangglider?" He asked. "Sheesh what is it with you trolls and hanggliders?" I mumbled. "I heard that!" Barb and Ocean spoke at once. I rolled my eyes. "Fine!" I gave in. "Gimme a second." I turned into a troll and redid my wagon. I dug in my hair until I pulled out an animal fur, feather, and scale collection. (No animals were harm by the way). I started looking through it. Parrot? No. Vulture? No. I dug through all of my bird feathers, but I couldn't find one stronger than a bald eagle. Then I had a thought.

I have wondered what it would be like to be a pegasus, but since most people though pegasuses were myths, I didn't have a sample of pegasus fur or a feather from it's wings. I kept thinking. I knew most people describe a pegasus as a horse with bird wings. I had horse fur and bird feathers. So what if... I continued thinking. What if I could combine the DNA from a birds feather and the DNA from horse fur. Maybe that would make a pegasus. Or if I'm doing this I may as well go for a dragon. Maybe I could combine the DNA from a lizard scale and the DNA from a bat's wing. It might work. I grabbed a lizard's scale and a little piece of fur from a bat's wing.

I held them both in separate hands. It took a little longer, but soon I became surrounded with non toxic smoke. Just as soon as the smoke appeared, it disappeared. As it started to clear up, I looked over at everyone else. Ocean, Iris, and Phoenix looked terrified, while Barb looked like she was about to die of happiness. "She's...she's...she's...a dragon!" They all whispered. "Wohoo she's a dragon!" Barb ran over and tried to attach the hanggliders to me again. "Now I can finally fly through fire!!"

Meanwhile Ocean, Iris, and Phoenix stared at me in awe. Every so often they would mumble "She's a dragon!" I turned back into a hummingbird bird and flew up to them."Hey get back here! I wanna fly through fire!" Barb called out. "Guys really?" Phoenix fell over. I turned into a dove, found a bucket, and flew to a nearby pond. I carefully lifted the bucket into the pond, and slid it out once it felt full enough. Then I flew over to them and dump an equal amount of cold water on top of each of them. Ocean flinched back. "Seriously?! More water?!" I gave him a towel. Iris flinched as well. "Hey! It's funny when you do it to Ocean, but not to me!"

"Or me!" Phoenix said. Ocean just stood there. "I'm standing right here!" He said annoyed. They turned to him. "Yeah we know."
Ocean facepalmed himself. "Well I had to snap you all out of it. You stood there after I turned into a dragon." They thought for a second. "Oh.....right." They realized. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Imma just turn into an eagle." Barb ran over to me. "No please! One of my dreams was about to come true!" Ocean raised an eyebrow. "You've dreamed of flying through fire?" Barb rolled her eyes. "Duh!"

"Okay, okay break it up." I flew over between them. They stopped and looked at me. Iris and Phoenix stared at me too. Um okay. Guess their waiting on a speech? I cleared my throat. "Okay everyone listen up! Here's the plan. Now that we have more trolls to help us defeat Creek and his father, we're gonna split up. Ocean, you and Iris go on the hunt to find everyone else. Once you find them bring them to Creek's hideout. Trust me you'll be able to find it. Barb, your gonna have to lead me and Phoenix to your secret hideout where everyone else is. We'll find out a plan there. Any questions?" Barb raised her hand.

I sighed. "Yes Barb you can hang glide on my talons, but your not, I repeat not going to hang glide through fire!" She sighed. "Fine." I turned to everyone else. "Any questions that do not involve hanggliding?" Nobody said anything. "Great. Now let's move out!" Ocean started walking and Iris fluttered beside him. "Now I ain't allowing no more water buckets getting poured on me." I heard Ocean telling Iris. "Okay, that time was not me!" Iris contradicted. I sighed. I hope I made the right choice partnering them together.

I turned to Barb and Phoenix. "C'mon you two. We gotta move out before Creek and his father realizes that Barb is gone." I took off into the sky.

*With Poppy, Branch, Journey, and Adventure*

All of them continued on the search to find Esmerald as Adventure piped up with another joke every so often. "Ugh!" Branch groaned. "I can't take it anymore! When will he stop?!" Adventure glared at him. "Well excuse me, but at least I'm trying to lighten things up! All your doing is staring at the map looking up every so often!"

"Well sorry! If you'd like to lead us around, then be my guest!" Branch gave Adventure the map. Adventure gave it back to him. "You know I've never been outside Trollstopia before!" Branch took the map and went back to the front. Adventure continued to glare at Branch. "You know what? Maybe I'll just shut up!"

Branch rolled his eyes. "Yeah whatever." He continued walking along the trail. Journey looked out in the distance missing one of her best friends. Poppy noticed. "We'll find her and find a way to send all of you home." She told her. Journey smiled. "Thanks Poppy." They both hugged each other. All of them continued walking. Journey and Poppy talked to each other, but stopped after they didn't hear a joke from Adventure for over an hour. "Has he ever gone this long without telling a joke?" Journey asked Poppy.

Poppy shook her head. "Nope. This is a new record for him." Adventure frowned covered his mouth with his hair. "He looks so depressed." Journey noticed. Poppy nodded. "That's how he gets when he doesn't tell any jokes for a while." Adventure flopped down on the grass. "Okay this is ridiculous!" Journey groaned. She walked over and stood Adventure up. He flopped back down. Journey used her hair to surround Adventure, the turned it into a wagon, and pulled Adventure along the trail. "I certainly hope Creek hasn't found them yet though." Poppy said. "I'm sure he hasn't yet." Journey grunted as she struggled to pull Adventure. "Now please get over here and help me pull him!" The wagon flopped down taking Journey with it. "Woah!" She flopped down. Poppy ran over and helped her up. Then she used her hair to help pull Adventure.

They continued on the trail for another half hour. Poppy got too tired, so Branch was busy pulling her in a separate hair wagon. Journey continued struggling to pull Adventure after he flopped down for the the tenth time! Finally she had enough and started shaking him. "Snap out of it!" Adventure's face was blank. Journey slapped him lightly with her hair. "Ugh!!!" She groaned, but continued pulling him. Branch stopped in his tracks as his ear twitched to a sudden noise. "What is it?" Poppy asked as she got out of the wagon. Branch turned to her. "I think there's something wrong. Something doesn't sound right."

Journey grunted from behind. "Oh really? I wonder...what...that...could be?" Branch shrugged "I don't know."
Journey rolled her eyes and continued pulling Adventure. "If we don't...find Ocean or...somebody to snap...Adventure out...of it...I'm going...to lose...my mind!!!" She shouted out of breath. Branch continued looking around. "I think somebody's watching us." He put down the map and stood in front of Poppy. All of them stared intently at the tree, from which Branch heard the noise. Two figures jumped out and they all screamed!

A\N: *plants her face on the bed* Well that's a wrap! Chapter 19 is finally completed!! Sorry it took so long. I've had writer's block for a while now. I also didn't have a lot of time because of school and other reasons. Word count : 3,167 words! I was so close to a new record!!!😭😭 Oh well. There's still a few more chapters left I'll break it eventually!🥰🥰😇😇 Anyway I'm going to take a much needed writing vacation! (Not really tho. I can't stop writing!!🤣😂🤣😂) Anyway hope you all have an amazing day/night depending where you are. *Waves* Bye amazing, beautiful, talented people!!🥰🥰😇😇😇

-EsmeraldLovesBroppy🥰🥰😇😇😇💖💖