While the rest of the group searched for Flower, they came across a tornado or, more accurately, a tornado came across them. Branch took a good look at it and found something blue and purple spinning around inside. He recognized that blur anywhere.

“Flower!" he shouted, running up to her. Suddenly, the strong gust of wind scooped up the rest of the Trolls!

“Hey, guys! Meet the Wind Spirit!" Flower said as Poppy grabbed her.

“I think I'm gonna be sick!" Dusty shouted, gagging. The storm was so intense, Cooper and Prince D found their necks twisted together!

“Branch, tell me something helpful!" Willow yelled.

“Like what?!"

“Anything!"

“Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie shouted. Mr. Dinkles mewed loudly as he spun around the walls of the whirlwind.

“Well, like clouds, tornadoes are mostly water vapor," Branch explained.

“Perfect!" Willow said and, with her rainbow hair glowing bright, used her telekinesis to grab the others and push them out the whirlwind.

“Willow!" Poppy shouted as everyone else got back on their feet.

Inside the twister, Willow magically forced the Wind Spirit to the ground and tried to fight back by freezing the water vapor. It was strong, but Willow refused to give up.

“Poppy, be careful!" Barb shouted as the Pop queen got closer to the whirlwind.

“I'm not leaving her!" she protested.

Willow, meanwhile, began to hear voices she never heard before, and saw her own icy magic make unfamiliar faces.

“You are no longer safe here!"

“I thought you were our friends!"

“Get out, now!"

“You'll regret this!"

“Prince Peppy, look out!"

“Ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhhh!"

“What's happening?!"

Suddenly, Willow saw a creature she was all too familiar with and in a flash of white light, the Wind Spirit vanished, leaving behind statues of ice.

“Willow!" Poppy exclaimed, running up to her. “Are you okay?"

Willow began to hyperventilate. “There were Trolls, they were fighting these weird-looking people... And then, I saw your dad as a kid, and there was a Rat-rat-rat..."

“Willow, it's okay," Ash said soothingly, holding her close. “You're okay now."

The Trolls looked carefully at the ice sculptures. Some looked like Pop Trolls, others looked like creatures similar to Trolls, but with their hair down and tufts of fur on their ears. Barb noticed one in particular that strangely looked like...

“No, it can't be," she said to herself.

“Daddy, what are they?" Flower asked.

“I don't know, sprout," he answered, “but I think they're... moments in time. Like frozen memories."

“Memories?" Poppy asked. “You mean, like Nefilheim?"

“I guess so," he replied. “But we don't even know if it exists."

“Aunt Poppy, what's Nefilheim?" Tiny Diamond asked curiously.

“It's a magical river said to be full of memories," she explained. “When we were kids, a Troll named Elora sang a song to us about it."

“But how does water have memory?" Dusty asked. Suddenly, they all heard whistling sounds and Flower's hat was blown off her head again.

“Hey, the wind's back!" she giggled in delight, pulling her hat back down. “Silly wind! I'll call you Zephyr. You like that?"

To respond, Zephyr the Wind Spirit picked up a few leaves and blew them around her face, tickling her.

“I think that's a yes," Manta laughed as Zephyr blew her into the air. “Hey, this is fun!"

“You must be feeling better," Dusty said as his tail was blown upward.

While the kids played with the wind, the adults got together to talk.

“I think we need a better plan to keep the kids safe than the explorer buddy system," Branch said.

“Are you saying my idea was bad?" Poppy said angrily.

“Yes. I mean, no! I mean..."

At that moment, all the Pop Trolls' Hug Time watches went off. This gave Willow an idea. After calming down, she magically grew flower bracelets on everyone's wrists, and the tiny flowers glowed before shriveling up.

“Yay, new Hug Watches!" Cooper cheered.

“They're Beacon Bracelets," she explained. “Now, whenever one of us gets lost, just tap twice on the bud and it'll open up, letting out a searchlight so we can find each other."

Curious, Barb tapped hers and the flower bud opened, letting out an awfully bright red light.

“Not now!" Willow spat, shutting it off. “Jeez!"

At that moment, Zephyr blew around and led the Trolls to an ice sculpture of a large creature with a strange neck wound looking down at a small Troll child. Recognizing the snake-like creature, Willow backed away nervously.

“What is that?" Manta asked.

“That, young lady, is a Rattlecobra," Branch answered. “They went extinct after their prince went mad with power and killed them all, taking their magic. He tried to do the same thing to the Trolls by creating Willow, but we managed to stop him."

“Oh."

“Branch, don't scare the kids!" Poppy scolded him.

“Poppy, you may want to look at this," Biggie said, pointing at the ice Troll child. Poppy looked close at his young yet familiar face.

“Dad!" she gasped. “It's my dad!"

“This Rattlecobra's saving him," Branch said in awe. “It looks nothing like the prince. In fact, I think it's a female."

“But who is she?" Flower wondered. Suddenly, they all heard a rustling noise and saw the forest... moving?

“Someone must've seen Barb's beacon," Willow said, quite annoyed.

“Relax, we'll be fine," Barb insisted, holding up her guitar like a club. Ash did the same and Branch pulled a pair of nunchucks out of his hair.

“You brought nunchucks?!" Poppy whispered angrily.

“I came prepared!" he said. Everyone backed away from the ice sculptures nervously.

Barb noticed one bush in particular, shaking like crazy, and ran up to it to smash it with her guitar. Once the bush was down, Troll-like creatures covered with brown fur jumped out at them. One with braided pink hair and lilac eyes held a staff to Barb's face, threatening her.

“Lower your weapon," she said in a low voice.

Biggie screamed as a glitter bomb was thrown at him from behind. The group turned around to find some Pop Trolls, all either seniors, middle-aged, or somewhere in between, with glitter bombs, party cannons, and water balloons.

“And you lower yours," the oldest of them replied.

“Pop Trolls?" Barb said to herself.

“Threatening my people, Dandelion?" an elderly woman with blue-grey hair asked angrily.

“Invading my dance space, Sapphira?" he said, his voice full of snarkiness.

Poppy grabbed one of Branch's nunchucks and spun it around at Dandelion.

“Why does that Troll look so familiar?" she asked herself.

“Uh, Pops," Branch warned, “I wouldn't–"

“Mister Dandelion!" a middle-aged Troll alerted.

“Get the nunchucks!" Dandelion commanded. The Trolls and Northrens charged at the group without hesitation. Flower felt the urge to scream.

“Get behind me, kids!" Ash said as Willow let out a blast of energy, knocking down their attackers. They all stared at her in shock.

“That was magic!" Dandelion said, turning to Sapphira. “Did you see that?"

“Of course, I saw it!" she scoffed.

“Not the best way to start a friendship, Will," Poppy whispered.

“They've been trapped here this whole time?" Prince D asked. Biggie nodded.

“What do we do now?" Ash asked.

“I got this!" Cooper reassured her and stepped up to the other Trolls and Northrens. “Hey, everybody! I'm Cooper!"

Scared, a green-haired Northren hid behind the pink-haired girl.

“What are you?" someone asked.

“I'm a Troll, of course!" Cooper answered.

“You don't look like a Troll I've ever seen," one of the elders said. “How is it possible?"

“Well, it's a very complicated story," Cooper began. “Long ago, there was nothing but silence. Then one day, our ancestors found six strings, each for a different type of music. They played pop, techno, classical, funk, country, hard rock, and everything in between."

“Including hip-hop, like me!" Prince D. pointed out.

Cooper nodded. “With all these different sounds, life was one big party. But then the Pop Trolls stole all the strings so they would only play pop music."

“The Pop Trolls are us, by the way," Branch added. Sapphira made a face as if she already guessed it.

“So the other Trolls each grabbed their own string and ran far, far away and we would never live in harmony again," Cooper continued. “Centuries passed and while you guys were hanging out here for some reason, the Pop Trolls were captured by the Bergens, who would eat some of us once a year because they thought it made them happy. Fortunately, King Peppy led us to freedom, and we were free to be happy and live in harmony. Unfortunately, twenty years later, a Bergen found and took some of us away, including myself, Biggie, and Tiny's dad."

“This is my favorite part," Tiny Diamond whispered to Dusty.

“If it wasn't for Princess Poppy and Branch, we would all be done for," Cooper said. “It wasn't easy, especially since Creek betrayed us and Poppy lost all hope, but in the end, she and Branch showed the Bergens that happiness is inside of all of us and we just need to find it. Poppy became queen and everyone was happy again! Then, sometime later, Queen Barb of the Hard Rock Trolls set out on a mission to unite all the Trolls by stealing our strings and turning us into rock zombies."

Barb did the sign of the horns and smiled.

“Luckily," Cooper continued, “Poppy managed to outsmart her, smashed her magic guitar, and destroyed the strings. At first, we all thought we lost our music, but since it's really a part of us, it could never be taken away. We realized our differences weren't a bad thing, but we can't just ignore them either. Now we're listening to different voices, the world is a richer place! Oh, and then the magical spirits woke up and the Classical and Country Music Trolls were forced out of their homes and the only way to fix it is to find the truth about the past, but we have no idea how to do that and all we got going for us is that Willow's hearing voices."

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

“Hmm, maybe it was too complicated," Cooper figured. Prince D laughed.

“Are you really the queen now?" Dandelion asked Poppy, who nodded. Sapphira approached Willow curiously.

“Why would nature reward a person from such a troubled tribe with magic?" she asked.

“Maybe it was to make up for the actions of your people," Dandelion assumed.

“My people are innocent," Sapphira said defensively. “We would never have threatened our friends."

“May the truth be found."

Flower peeked out of the crowd and ran up to Marigold. “Mommy, Daddy, it's the guy from the picture! He's older than I thought, though."

“What picture, young lady?" Dandelion asked her.

“That's it!" Poppy realized. “You're Camp Sunshine's counselor, Dandelion! I recognize you from one of my dad's photo albums."

“Peppy," he sighed. “What did happen to your parents?"

“Queen Melody died when I was a baby, but my dad's still around," Poppy explained.

“And me!" Flower piped in.

“This is my daughter, Flower," Poppy said. “I have two more on the way. That's their dad over there."

Branch waved nervously.

One middle-aged Troll, Fuchsia Von Glow, approached Ash in awe. “Oh, my goodness!" she gasped. Barb noticed the size of her ears and stood in between them.

“Get away from my sister!" she snarled.

“Your sister?" Fuchsia said. “She's my daughter!"

“What?" Ash asked in disbelief.

“Doesn't matter," Barb spat. “What kind of parents abandon their kid?!"

“We thought the Northrens egg-napped her," she explained. “We didn't think she got out of the mist."

“What happened to your husband?" Ash asked. “Or boyfriend, or whatever."

“Your father died in an accident while building the dam seventeen years ago," Fuchsia answered.

“Ash only has one dad," Barb said. “Our dad."

“Barb, we're not gonna solve anything by fighting," Ash said.

“Ugh! Fine!" she groaned. “But I'm watching you, lady."

Dandelion smiled at Poppy and Flower. “I see him in your faces," he said, then turned to his group. “Camp Sunshine, we may be much older now, but we're still strong and proud to serve Queen Poppy and her friends and family."

The Northrens felt tense as the Trolls all banded together.

“Wait, please," Willow said, stepping up to Sapphira. “Someone has called me here. If I can just find them, I think they have the answers to help free this forest. Trust me, I just want to help."

Sapphira shook her head. “We only trust nature. When nature speaks..."

Suddenly, up above, a tree was set ablaze and the hot pink flames began to spread across the forest and a tiny bright ball of pink fire was causing it.

“... we listen," Sapphira finished as the others began to panic.

“This will all make sense when I'm older," Flower whimpered.

“Fire Spirit!" someone shouted.

“Head for the river!" Dandelion commanded, and everyone ran off. Willow stayed behind to take out the flames with her magic and pursue the Fire Spirit.

“No, no! The dragonflies!" the green-haired Northren shouted as they flew in the opposite direction. “That's a dead end!"

“Barb, Ash, take the kids!" Branch said. The two sisters took Flower, Tiny Diamond, Dusty, and Manta Rave and followed the others, Branch ran into the fire after the dragonflies.

Poppy, meanwhile, noticed Willow was in the middle of the fire and freezing out the flames. What on Earth was she doing?

“Willow, get out of there!" she shouted, but Willow didn't listen. So Poppy ran after her. Unfortunately, Poppy couldn't breathe with all the smoke. And Willow was the one who usually had trouble breathing.

Then, Branch found the dragonflies by some large stones. The large, colorful critters were scared stiff.

“It's okay," he reassured them, petting one's nose. “I'll get you out of here."

As Branch rode one of them like a horse, they all flew away and towards the river. Along the way, Branch found Poppy in a coughing fit and holding onto her stomach.

“Poppy!" he yelled. Willow noticed and, in an icy blast, took out all of the flames. Branch flew down on his dragonfly and grabbed her.

“Get her out of here!" Willow shouted.

“No! Willow!" Poppy cried out, but Branch wouldn't stop.

The Fire Spirit ran past Willow and after opening up her wings, she flew after it, freezing its path. She chased it through a clearing with small huts and had it cornered in a rock. Willow prepared to freeze it out completely, but then noticed it was a tiny, pink gecko-like creature with little ear nubs. Willow held back and got down to take a closer look. The gecko hissed and spit a fireball at her, but Willow ducked and it hit a tree, which she froze. The gecko's expression softened and tilted her head at the magical Pop Troll. Willow lowered her body temperature to almost freezing and held her hand out to the Fire Spirit, who crawled onto it. Although she received some small burns, Willow let the gecko cool down and the remaining flames died. Willow smiled and let a few snowflakes fall on her head, one of which the spirit ate. The gecko looked past her and noticed the Trolls and Northrens staring in shock.

“They're all looking at us, aren't they?" Willow whispered. The Fire Spirit nodded. “Got any advice?"

The gecko just stared at her with a grin.

“Nothing?" Willow asked as the spirit licked her own eyeball. “Should I know what that means?"

Ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhhh!

Willow gasped as she heard the voice again. The Fire Spirit noticed and looked ahead.

“You hear it, too," Willow realized. “Somebody's calling us. Who is it? What do we do?"

To answer her question, the spirit jumped out of her hands and climbed up on a rock. She looked back at Willow, hoping she would follow.

“Okay," Willow agreed. “Keep going north."

The Fire Spirit headed off, but just before Willow could follow it...

“Willow!" Poppy exclaimed, hugging her. “Oh, thank goodness you're okay!"

“Poppy, what were you thinking?!" Willow scolded, pulling out of the hug. “You could've been killed! You can't just follow me into fire!"

“You don't want me to follow you into fire, then don't run into fire!" Poppy argued. “You're... not being careful, Will."

Willow sighed. “I'm sorry, Pops. Are you okay?"

“I've been better," Poppy admitted, rubbing her baby bump.

“I know what you need," Willow said, pulling her blue scarf out of her hair and wrapping it around Poppy, who smiled. The Northrens gasped.

“Where did you get that scarf?" Sapphira asked.

“That's a Northren scarf!" said the green-haired Northren.

“What?" Poppy said in disbelief.

The pink-haired girl nodded. “It has the symbols of the spirits embroidered on it."

“It was a gift from Elora," Willow said.

“Who's Elora?" Fuchsia asked.

“She was a Troll from our village," Poppy explained. “But we only saw her for one summer eighteen years ago. After that, she just disappeared."

“We never had a Troll named Elora with us," Dandelion said.

Branch thought about this for a moment and ran back to the ice sculpture of Peppy and the female Rattlecobra, with everyone else following him. Since Branch was a little older than his friends, he had the best memories of Elora.

“This is just an ice sculpture, but I think this could've been her," Branch said. “She must've cast a spell on herself that would reincarnate her as a Troll for a short while."

“Well," Willow said, “now that you mention it, I do remember her not having a shadow. It was weird, even for me."

“So Elora saved my dad's life that day?" Poppy asked.

“Most likely, yes," Branch answered.

“But how did she get the scarf?" Willow asked. “Rattlecobras don't need them."

“Perhaps she knew the Northrens well and made it for you," Sapphira replied. “Why she did it, we may never know."

Willow smiled. “I promise you, I will free Northros and restore Symphonyville and Lonesome Flats."

“That's a pretty big promise, Will," Poppy said uneasily.

“Free Northros? Wow!" the green-haired Northren said to Branch. “I'm sorry, it's just... some of us were born in here, we've never even seen a clear sky."

“I spent most of my life underground in darkness, so join the club," Branch joked.

The Northren laughed and shook Branch's hand. “I'm Errick, by the way."

“Branch."

“I heard the voice again," Willow told the others. “We need to go north."

“But the Earth Giants roam the north at night," the pink-haired Northren warned.

“You are welcome to stay with us until morning," Sapphira said, leading them back to the huts. “Rhegan, set up a place for them."

“Yes, Sapphira," she said.

The young Trolls agreed that it was a good idea to rest before continuing north. But nothing they did would prepare what would come next.

Thank you crystqqlline for coming up with the name for Ash's birth mother.

Until next time. 🤘