Trolls: Band Together (AU Version)

Frightful Flashbacks

Before she could question Viva about it, Viva quickly changed the subject, asking Poppy, "Wanna do candy toe rings next," and skipped over to a small candy pile that was near the couch to start making some candy bling.

Now, that really threw Poppy off; firsthand, she could see that this subject appeared to be too difficult for Viva to talk about. For whatever reason, whether emotional, mental, or physical, it seemed to be influencing the way that Viva was now acting in trying to change the subject and drop the current matter quickly. She knew that this seemed to be something that Viva didn't want to talk about it full, but answers were needed. While watching Viva go grab some candy pieces, she asked curiously, "Uh, accidentally separated"?

Back over with Branch, he, John Dory, and Bruce were listening to Clay, who started to explain to them the reason why Viva was so reluctant to discuss the reason for how she, he, and the other Putt-Putt Trolls ended up here. He softly whispered, in case someone overheard him, "Viva doesn't like to talk about it; it's too painful for her, but she's been here ever since the night of the great Bergen attack."

While John Dory and Bruce looked visibly confused, Branch appeared to be surprised by this since he knew exactly what Clay was talking about, and at the same time, he could add it up as to why it appeared to be uncomfortable for the Putt-Putt Trolls to hear the word "Bergen" because it possibly reminded them of that fateful event.

Cautiously, yet curious, Branch asked, "You mean...that night when we made our escape from the Troll Tree in Bergen Town"?

Clay nodded solemnly in response, with Bruce, now shocked to be hearing this, asking Branch, since he had already left long before the night of the Bergen Town escape, "Woah, how did everyone escape"?

Branch replied, "In the months before our escape, King Peppy and some of the stronger Trolls in the tribe worked together to dig an escape route from under the roots of the tree. Then, on the night of the Trollstice, just before the Bergens could come and eat us, we fled the pods secretly and went down into the tunnels."

"The Bergens soon found that we were missing and tried to hear us out, trying to dig the tunnel routes so they could catch us," Clay added, mentioning, "We had gotten pretty far ahead before they discovered we were gone. But..."

"But what," Branch asked, seeing the saddened look on the middle child's face.

Clay bit his lower lip, fiddling his thumbs nervously, feeling almost unsure if he should reveal what had happened that night to lead to this separation of Trolls. But he also knew that his brothers wanted to know the truth about what had happened.

Back by Viva's house, Viva was making a new candy necklace, placing some colorful candies on a piece of string, humming carefree to herself. Poppy, who still wanted to discuss the matter, asked her, "Viva, are you talking about the night the trolls escaped Bergen Town?"

Hearing that question made Viva freeze slowly, feeling a small shiver of fear down her spine from thinking about some really harrowing memories regarding the day that the Trolls made the daring escape. She tried not to focus on that and kept her gaze on the candy necklace she started making while staying with her tone of voice, trying to appear dismissive, "Oh, yeah-yeah, I guess it was that night."

Poppy could tell that Viva was feeling very conflicted about this. As much as she didn't want Viva to be too wound up to talk about it, she knew that from experience, talking about whatever's troubling you is effective in not only helping troubled minds understand better but also helping them feel better and right now, Poppy knew that this was something that Viva could use.

As Viva continued to hum softly while making the candy necklace, Poppy placed a reassuring hand on Viva's back and said, "Hey, you can talk to me about this; I know about that night, and if something happened, you could tell me about it."