Chapter 1

The Wandering Gray of Misty Meadows.

Frantically running, Bridget made her way towards Troll Village. She pushed her way through the brush, careful to avoid any possible nearby trolls. With puffs of breath escaping her lips, Bridget kept her target in mind. As she drew nearer to Troll Village, she began to scan the area for a bright pink troll: her best friend, Poppy.

"Poppy!" Bridget shouted in her hushed whisper of a voice. Her eyes honed in onto the village – she could finally see it! Carefully maneuvering her feet, she began to tiptoe through the village. "Poppy, where are you?"

"Bridget! Over here!" the pink troll shouted, standing on top of a mushroom.

Finally catching her breath, Bridget brought herself down to her knees, her face now closer to Poppy. "Poppy," Bridget said, furrowing her brow. "I- I saw a gray troll…" She paused to catch her breath some more, panting heavily.

"What do you mean?" Poppy questioned with worry. "Did you see who it was?"

"I dunno," Bridget admitted. "He ran away before I could get a good look at him. I think he came back this way."

Poppy let out a small gasp. "Let's check on Branch."

With little effort, the pink troll climbed onto Bridget's shoulder, and they headed towards the outskirts of the village where Branch lived. Once at his bunker, Poppy leapt to the ground and dashed towards it. With great force and speed, Poppy began slamming her fist onto the door, screaming Branch's name repeatedly.

"Branch! Branch! Branch!"

The troll queen could feel her heart racing as she continued to shout her friend's name. Her brain swelled with fear. Branch had recently gotten his true colors back, which had filled her heart with delight. But due to his solitude for the past twenty years, he was having trouble adapting to troll life. The pink troll never showed it, but she was afraid that he would drift back into his gray self. Branch deserved to be happy. In fact, ensuring his happiness was one of her top priorities.

A warm hand placed itself onto Poppy's shoulder. With a sudden jerk, she whipped around to face the hand's owner. Her lips pinched into a smile, heart calming.

"Branch…You're blue."

Lifting his hand off of Poppy's shoulder, Branch began to inspect himself. "Yeah, I've been blue for a while, Poppy. What's going on?" He arched an eyebrow.

"I saw a gray troll in Misty Meadows," Bridget interjected, pushing her face closer to the two trolls. "We thought it might be you."

Branch shifted his gaze towards Bridget. "Are you sure the troll wasn't silver. Maybe with lots of glitter?"

Bridget shook her head. "No way! He was definitely gray with black hair."

Biting his bottom lip, Branch and Poppy exchanged looks of concern. "Maybe we should go investigate."

Nodding in agreement, Bridget scooped up the two trolls and began moving back towards Misty Meadows. Branch made a few grumbles of complaint about how he didn't need to be carried, but both girls assured him that he shouldn't let it bother him that much. Although he didn't feel as though the reassurance helped, Branch just let it go and sat on top of Bridget's head. It wasn't worth arguing about, after all. Poppy nested herself right beside him.

Without paying much attention to how close she was, Poppy placed her hand down on Bridget's head – or that's what she thought she was doing. Instead, she placed her hand on top of Branch's. As if on cue, the two darted their eyes at their overlapping hands, then shifted their eyes towards each other. They both could feel themselves blush as they swiped their hands away, letting out awkward giggles.

"Sorry about that," Poppy said sheepishly.

"Yeah, didn't see you there," Branch added, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"We're here," Bridget finally exclaimed, not hearing a single word the two trolls had exchanged with each other.

Branch climbed his way down, immediately scanning the area for signs of a troll: glitter, hair, party supplies, or maybe even crumbs from some sweets. He just wanted to find anything that could aid them in finding the missing, gray troll.

Meanwhile, Bridget gently placed Poppy down as they began shouting aimlessly in hopes someone would answer them.

"Hello?! Anyone there?!" Poppy shouted.

"Little, gray troll?! Are you there?!" Bridget softly shouted.

"If there was a troll here, I don't think they wanted to be found," Branch said, finding no evidence of a troll. "Maybe you just saw something that looked like a troll."

"I know what I saw, Branch," Bridget retorted. "It was definitely a gray troll. I actually think he kind of looked like you."

Branch was taken aback. "Who in this village looks like me?"

Bridget shrugged. "I don't know all the trolls yet. Maybe a family member of yours? Like, maybe your parents or something…"
Branch grew silent, freezing in place. He hadn't thought about his parents in years. In fact, he could barely remember them. Both of them died when he was just a baby. Most of what he knew of them was from Grandma Rosiepuff. Letting out a sigh, Branch turned away from the group.

Poppy and Bridget glanced at each other. Bridget mouthed a "sorry", while Poppy began to head towards Branch.

"Hey, Branch. My man. Are you okay?" She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Branch shook his head, pulling himself out of his memories. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just look for this gray troll so we can go home."

"I-I'm sorry, Branch," Bridget whispered, finally mustering up the courage to speak.

"It's fine," Branch grumbled. "Just not a good subject for me."

"Oh," Poppy muttered. "Well, if you want to talk to me about it, I'm always here for you." A wide smile formed across her round face.

Branch returned a small smile. He then began to search for some more clues. Finally, he found something. It was a long strand of black hair – troll hair to be exact. It must've shredded off. "I guess you were right, Bridget. A troll was here."

The other two came closer for a better look.

"I told you," Bridget said.

"I think they were heading this way," Branch said, pointing at the group of trees that were in the direction he was facing.

"Let's look," Poppy exclaimed enthusiastically.

The group of three began wading through the trees. As they drew deeper into the thicket, the world grew darker. The sun could no longer softly caress their cheeks. The forest became quiet, the only sound to be heard was their footsteps.

"Maybe we should turn back," Bridget suggested. "It's kind of spooky here."

"Yeah, you're right," Poppy agreed. "I doubt a troll would come this way. It's too dark"

Bridget turned around.

OOF!

Just as she was about to take another step, she fell over. Dozens of small figures began to climb their way down the nearby trees like ants. With great agility, the small figures wrapped a few ropes around Bridget, preventing her from moving or getting up.

"What's going on?!" Bridget shouted, fear quivering her voice.

Branch took a closer look. "They look like…trolls."

The figures stopped, glancing at Poppy and Branch. Their eyes focused intently as the green-haired one began to move slowly towards them.

"Now you've done it," Poppy exclaimed.

"We don't know what they want, yet," Branch argued back.

The green-haired one was finally face to face with Branch. Half of her face was covered in brown face paint, while the rest of her skin was blanketed in a color that was somewhere between a lavender and a magenta. A leaf poncho hung off her shoulders, drifting slightly in the breeze as she inspected Branch. Finally, a smile curled against her cheeks.

"I'm glad you guys are safe. You can't be too careful with these bergens, ya' know. Am I right?" The green-haired one pounded the end of her spear against the ground, making a loud thumping noise. "By the way, I'm Sage."

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this. I've been wanting to write this for a while. I promise I will also continue Creek's Redemption as well (for those that are reading it). I just needed to get this out of my head. I know I am a little rusty on my fan fiction. I apologize. School got in the way of my writing. (The life of an animation student is very busy). Anyway, let me know what you guys think of it. Good or bad. I like hearing how I can improve. And I also like to know who's reading. :)