Faded Rainbows

Mischief

He bristled a little at that. "Hey, not cool! I'm just... a little faded is all, just need a bit of a touch up!"

Barb laughed, grinning widely. "Hah! Yeah, sure, whatever you say fish boy." She looked up towards the volcano. "So what do you need me to help with? I would think Funk could help out, since they got all our colors back?"

He shook his head. "Already tried, that's how I got purple." Explained the system they'd been needing to follow lately, and how each place he'd visited so far got him a new color.

She whistled, clearly impressed. "So you've been going on a world tour of your own, huh?"

"Wait; is that what I've been doing...?" He thought it through, and sure enough... yeah! He had gone on a world tour, seen so many tribes, made friends and even got some new family! He smiled softly, resting a hand on his chest to feel his pulse. "I have been, haven't I...? It's been a lot of fun...!"

Barb laughed, standing and dusting herself off. "Well, if music and that's what gets back your colors, let's throw a party! We got all the leaders here; we can make it a HUGE shindig!"

Trollex sprung into the air, cheering happily. "Yeah, for sure! I can't wait to see the rest of the city, you know, not in a cage."

Barb blushed, shrugging her shoulders a little. "Sorry again about that, man." She smiled. "How bout I give you a personal tour? There's a snack shop in town that sells the BEST rock candy!"

His eyes widened a bit, and he looked down at the rocks below them. "Rock... candy?" Did the rock trolls literally eat rocks? Maybe he should be careful what he eats here... "You have any... fish?" Fish couldn't be made of rocks, right?

She arched a brow. "Yeah, the marketplace sells fresh rock bass, why? Wait do you eat em raw?"

Trollex slumped a little. If that was a species of real fish that wasn't made of rocks, it wasn't a deep sea fish. "As long as I don't have to eat rocks, I'll eat anything..."

It was then that Barb realized what he was so concerned about. She cackled, holding her stomach. She had two choices, either play it up, or tell him the truth... Oh, such temptation! "Dude, you think we eat rocks?"

"Well, don't you?"

That clinched it. She tried to calm herself. "Y-Yeah, totally man. Love our rocks... pfft!"

He really wasn't sure what was so funny. He should ask if Trollzart of Quincy was willing to cook... "Wait! Ooooh man they're going to kill me! Especially Essence..."

Barb wiped a tear from her eye, giving the other a quizzical look as she finally started to settle down. "What'cha mean? I thought they all loved you to pieces, hence why they're here?"

He fidgeted a bit, blushing as he looked away. "Yeah, I guess... but that's exactly why they'll kill me! I ran off and they're probably really confused and worried..." He bit his lip. "But if I go back now I think Essence will lock me in a bubble for time out..."

She let out an appreciative whistle. "Sounds harsh man, so let's skedaddle, have fun, and deal with the consequences later! If you're in trouble anyway, might as well make it worthwhile!" She began to run for the volcano again, calling after him. "Come on, let's do this!"

He darted forward to follow her, grinning as he caught up. "You're going to get me in so much trouble you know."

"That's the idea!"

It didn't take long for them to enter the city itself, and his eyes widened when he finally saw the expanse of it. It was protected from sight within a large crater behind the volcano, but the entire place was huge! As he was led through the streets, many rock trolls smiled and waved at him. Sure, after visiting the Classical trolls, the manners of the rock trolls seemed to be a little lacking, but there was a sort of organized chaos to how they moved about and talked.