Trolls : Otherworldly Bonds

Branch and The Magical Gem Thief

After The Events of Band Together..

Branch was feeling very ecstatic about everything that happened. His brothers were back together, Floyd is safe and sound and ready for the recovery process and he FINALLY got the true love's first kiss on the lips by his most spontaneous, adventurous and most importantly, very adorable girlfriend and queen of their tribe, Poppy! Not to mention, they also found her long-lost sister, Viva, so yeah, things are finally going very well for our favorite survivalist/boyband member and former gray troll!

When they returned to Pop Troll Village, there was another celebration in honor of Brozone and Viva returning, and it was spontaneously, in Viva's words "fantasamazing"!
Then after that, the heroes decided to head to bed for an well deserved rest, Bruce called his wife Brandy that everything went very well and he was going to sleepover with his bros which she was ok with as she was happy that he is reunited with his family so that's good, Clay has his own pod in the village,
The Putt-Putt Trolls were reunited with their loved ones, Floyd is staying in the bunker with Branch as part of his recovery and John Dory has Rhonda, but now all the brothers are going to have a sleepover with Branch as an way to bond with him again which he was very happy about, so He's heading over to Poppy's pod to say goodnight to her, and Poppy was in her pod, getting ready for bed as Viva was in the shower, when she saw Branch coming over.

"Oh! Hi Branch!" she said as he came in, "Hey Poppy, how's everything going with Viva?" He said to her as she did her hair.
"Oh she's doing wonderful, although she's still very defensive towards the Bergans but we're going to work on that tomorrow..other than that, she's doing good, how's Floyd and the bros?" she asked him, "He's doing OK, still recovering from what those twins did to him, my other bros are doing good as well...we're going to be talking out about our emotions tomorrow so I'm excited" he said. "Oh that is wonderful, Branch. I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed as she hugged her wonderful boyfriend, a bit tightly.

"Mm...ok I should get back to my bunker, goodnight queen poppy" he said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And goodnight to you, my king branch" she whispered as she nuzzled him.

As Branch left the pod, he began to process what Poppy had whispered in his ear and immediately began to freak out about it.

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!! I totally forgot that I'm dating royalty...I'm not ready to be a king once I pro- ok ok...be chill branchie..." he mumbled to himself. "I will worry about the future later...all I need to worry about is the today.." he went back into his bunker where his brothers were waiting for him.
After hanging out more with them, it was time for bed, "Ok guys, time for sleep, we have a big day tomorrow " said Branch as he gets into his bed.
"Ok Bitty B, good night" said John Dory
"Good Night Little Bro" said Clay
"Good Night Baby Bro, I'm cooking breakfast tomorrow" said Bruce.
"Goodnight Branch, see ya in the morning" said Floyd finally.
But Unknown to the slumbering trolls an old face has come back. Making his way to a familiar bright pink pod.
The Stranger silently enters the pod finding the gem wrapped and tucked into one of Poppy's drawers. And just before he leaves he takes a look at poppy's sleeping face before slipping out just as quietly as he came.
Poppy then stirred in her sleep as she felt like there was someone in her room as feeling the cool air on her skin made her shift. A strange feeling in her tummy compels her awake. She looks around her room looking for something wrong. She finds it in one of her drawers being open. Panicked she gets up and opens her door seeing a speck of purple, yellow, and blue getting further away. Quickly and not knowing what else to do, she runs to Branch's bunker and begins knocking frantically on the wooden door then suddenly Branch and his brothers jump from the noises.
"AH! What the!?" Branch yelped as he jumped off his bed.
"Agh...who's knocking at this time..." groaned John Dory as he got up.
"Agh...I was having a good dream..and it was a serious one" said Clay as he rubbed his eyes.
"Branch! Branch Wake Up!!" They heard a familiar voice scream out from outside.
And outside the bunker, Poppy keeps knocking clear desperation seeping through her tone as she keeps up her assault on his door till someone answers.
Branch actually who was yelling outside of the bunker "Oh..it's just poppy.. I'll let her in"
He gets up and heads to the elevator that leads to the front door of his bunker, and once the elevator takes him to surface level, he gets to the front door, he opens it. Poppy then walks through the door of the bunker and starts pacing behind him speaking frantically "Branch I messed up. I... Creek he.... We need to get it back... I messed up" she exclaimed, not taking a single deep breath as she said this. Branch then tries to calm Poppy down because he didn't understand what she was freaking out about,"Whoa Poppy calm down..what happened? What's this about creek, and what do you mean "by getting it back"? He asked as he closed the door as he watched Poppy freaking out.
Then the brothers then came up from the elevator, tired and curious. Poppy then stopped freaking out and takes a long deep breath then blurts out "Creek stole the Gem of Harmony and ran away to hair knows wear and we need to get it back before all that is good is taken away and no amount of singing, hugging, or scrapbooking is gonna get it back!"
Branch then began to process what she had just said
"The Gem of Harmony?? Can you please tell me what is that?? And did you say creek stole it??" He simply asked her. JD then heard the name creek and remembered what branch told him the morning they returned to Pop Village, "Uh excuse me, is Creek the guy who sold the trolls out to bergans? Am I hearing this correctly?" He asked, wanting to know if he's right. "Wait, what?" Clay asked as he was still tired and had no idea what was going on.
Poppy then began to explain the stolen magical artifact "Ok so it's a story my father told me when I was a baby...the Gem of harmony is a gem made from the six elements of harmony, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, and music. This happened long before the strings though the strings helped keep the different kinds of trolls together. But without harmony we would all be unable to sing at all." Bruce, now fully awake, stands with his brothers "And this Creek guy stole it? Why would he do that?" he asked Poppy.
Branch couldn't believe what he was hearing, "....So this gem is responsible for the very fabric of all music? And Creek stole it....I KNEW HE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED POPPY!! DIDN'T I TELL YOU!" He yelled.
JD tried to calm Branch down "Easy Bitty B..no need to be screaming.."
Clay then finally realizes what was happening "Oh my...that sounds terrible..." he said.
Poppy then defended herself, "It's not like I let him into my pod and showed him where it was! Sure I let him back in the village but only my father and I should know about the gems unless a troll actually goes to the library and decides to read a boring history book." Clay then raised an eyebrow "And what's wrong with reading a boring book?"
JD then patted Clay on his shoulder, "Easy Clay...So Poppyseed, you're saying that this creek stole a powerful gem and if he knows what to do with it...could that mean we'll be voiceless for eternity?" He asked but worried about the answer. "Nothing is wrong with reading, Clay. I'm just saying there are other reasons we spontaneously sing and get the whole village into it. And yes that's right JD and not just us as trolls. I mean EVERYONE." she said grimly. Bruce looks at Poppy in shock, "You mean even Brandy? And everyone we know? How much power does this gem hold?!" Poppy then looked at Bruce with worry "that's the problem, no one knows how powerful the gem actually is.." Clay then began to freak out "....OH MY GOSH! THAT MEANS WE'RE DOOMED!!!" He starts grabbing Floyd and shaking him.
Branch then snapped out of it and had a determined look on his face "....We need to find Creek! Poppy, did you see where he went off to?" He asked his girlfriend for clues. Poppy then nods "I know what way he ran off too. I doubt we can catch him but I'm sure he wasn't exactly covering his tracks." she said as she made slightly pointed looks to JD and Branch because she knew that the two brothers are natural survivalists. JD then exclaimed "Right, we'll follow the tracks, come on boys! We're going Creek Hunting!" Branch then heads to the elevator "I'll go get my stuff" he said as he pulled the lever to go down to get his items.
Clay then stopped freaking out and now looks ready for a fight "Yeah! You up for it Floyd?"
Floyd then finally perked up from the shaking and is now awake enough to process all the information as he nods and moves along with his brothers "Another brother adventure to save all of the music? Sounds like a good story for the kids huh Bruce" he said.
Bruce then knew what he meant "Oh yeah kids are gonna love hearing it and so will brandy!" he said. The elevator then came up and Branch was wearing a backpack "I'm ready guys" he said as he put warpaint on his face. John Dory then takes out his machete from his hair and puts his goggles on "yeah! Let's go guys!" He yelled as he raised his machete up.
They then head out to search for Creek and both Branch and John Dory follow the foot tracks of the traitorous Creek. Poppy then runs in the direction she saw the traitor running before she went to grab the brothers. "I still can't believe he would do this... he said he was really sorry...and I and the village believed it!" she sadly yelled. Floyd then came up, running slightly behind her "Sometimes sorry doesn't mean they changed no matter how much you wish that was the case." he said to her, trying to take some breaths since he was recovering from his torture. Branch then yelled out "Yeah and remember, he sold us out!"
"That's a scummy move if I'm being honest" yelled John Dory as he tracked the footprints on the floor. Poppy then looked sadly "Yeah he did. I'm sorry for trying to see the bright side all the time. But for right now let's just focus on getting the Gem back."
Then they see a glowing lake not far from them and Clay yelled out "look! that lake is glowing!" Then JD noticed that the tracks actually led to the lake. "The tracks are that way! Follow me guys!" He yelled as he took off in the direction the tracks were in. The boys then nod as they follow the tracks to the glowing lake clay saw.
And once they arrived, Branch saw the tracks stopped at the edge of the lake "the tracks end here..Creek must've dived into this lake.." he said as he felt the ground and sniffed the dirt. JD then felt the tracks too "Seems like it..Unless he knows how to swim, I don't think Creek won't survive underwater.." he said as he also sniffed the tracks too. Clay was confused yet concerned "But..if that's the case, did he take the gem with him into the water?" He asked the question that was in everyone's minds. "That might explain the weird glow. Probably made a portal of some kind. I never really researched the possibilities because nothing had gone wrong until the past two years. And by the time I went to look into it the book was checked out..." Poppy said as she stared at the glowing and sparkling lake.
JD then decided what their next step should be "...Someone needs to dive in to go after the thief...who's up for it?"
Clay rubbed his neck nervously "uhm...I'm not a good swimmer.."
"I'm still recovering..I don't think I can't swim well yet, John.." said Floyd.
"I'm not getting my pajamas wet, my wife got this for me, sorry big bro" said Bruce.
Poppy then solemnly said "I should be the one to do it... it's my fault after all.."
Branch, knowing how upset his girlfriend was and how she was blaming herself, walks up to her and holds her hand softly "No Poppy..I should go after him, after all, I want to get the chance to punch him in the face and as your boyfriend, it's my duty to do the most dangerous things to keep our kingdom safe" he said firmly to her. Floyd then walked up to her as Branch let go of her hand and said "Also what about the village? Shouldn't you be the one to stay when they need you most?"
Bruce walks up to Floyd's side. "I agree with Floyd on this one. It's not like we can keep everyone calm with singing and stuff while their queen is missing." Clay walks up to his brothers's sides, "Yeah and Viva and your father would be worried about you"
JD walked up to Branch's side "That is true and besides, Branch is the best troll for the job since he has proven that he has what it takes to save the day, right Bitty B?" He said as he pats him on the back.
"AH! Yeah John..I know" said Branch as he rubs his back from the pain.
Poppy then walks up to Branch and holds his hand softly in hers "..if you go into the lake, you want no one to go with you? Are you sure you want to handle this alone? Without us?" She asked, worried about her boyfriend's safety. Branch then holds her hand as well "Of course I can, I have been handling it alone for 20 years, I can do this.." he said to her to reassure her that he will be fine.
JD felt concerned about that last lind "...when you come back with the gem, we're taking you to therapy" he said to him
Branch heard that and he knew that JD meant well "I know John.." he simply said
Clay then hugs him, knowing that Branch was going on an dangerous adventure "Good Luck Branch..Please Don't Get Yourself Killed.." he said, trying to be brave for him. Poppy then gives him a kiss on the cheek for luck.
Floyd then hugs Branch as well, "I know you can handle this branch and we will be right here when you get back." he said softly as he was trying to hold back his tears.
Bruce then gives Branch a big hug "Best believe we won't leave you alone after this Bitty B. We'll take care of Poppy and everything here till you get back. Ok?" He smiled at Branch, giving him a pat on the back. Branch smiled at his brothers, knowing what they said was genuine "..thanks guys.." he said as he looks at the lake, he muttered "...here I go"
Suddenly he jumps into the lake and immediately he gets sucked into the wormhole inside the lake, and a bright light flashes at his eyes
"AGH!!" he yelled as he closed his eyes then blacks out from the force of the wormhole, not knowing where he will end up jn.
Back with the others, Poppy then takes a deep shuttery breath and finally says "We should go back to the village and inform my father of what's going on... and each of us will take turns watching the lake for when he comes back" JD then steps up to her "I will take the first shift, Queen Poppy" he said as he sat at the lake.

"I will be next to take over JD's shift," said Bruce.

Clay then said "hey guys, do you wonder what world will branch end up in..." and that was one dreading question they all had in their minds tonight.

TO BE CONTINUED...