After days of being tied up in darkness, Archer could finally feel the warmth of the sunlight on his skin and breathe in the fresh air of the forest. Even with the given mission at hand and the threat of death should he be caught, it couldn't prevent him from enjoying the moment of total freedom. Birds sang along to the breeze that rustled the leaves. Critters scurrying through the underbrush. He could hear it all and was reminded of how much he fell in love with this place. But as he sat, calm and listening to the world, there was a sound that was missing. The sound that made it feel like home. The Trolls. There was no more time to waste. He stretched once more, then headed towards the village.

Sticking low and moving with caution, he made sure to find a patch of flowers before getting too close to the village. First he ripped them from the ground to kill them so they wouldn't scream or sing, or whatever the flowers felt like doing. Then he rolled himself around on their dead faces. It was the best way he knew of to mask his scent. When he had done that before infiltrating Troll Village months prior, it turned out to be unnecessary since Trolls lacked a strong sense of smell. However, he knew that wouldn't pass when scouting out his own kind. It wasn't safe to smell like himself right now. And with that minor act of plant murder out of the way, he was ready to enter the lion's den.

As he got into the outer boundaries of Troll Village, the destructive presence of the Party Crashers was more and more evident. Pods had been cut from the trees and torn apart. Their remnants strewn about the forest floor. It was enough to make his chest hurt, but the worst was stumbling across the remains of a killed Troll, partially eaten by the Crashers. Archer had to fight back the urge to stop and mourn. There wasn't time and it wasn't safe here. He had to press on, knowing now just how important it was to find and help any survivors. Who knew how injured or traumatized they'd be?

It didn't take very long after his gruesome discovery to finally encounter a few of the Party Crashers in a tussle. He was aware that ignoring it and moving on was the smart choice, but a familiar voice compelled him to stop and check it out. As quietly as possible, he peered around the roots of a large tree and watched. It was Peter and he was being harassed by one of the larger Party Crashers.

Archer couldn't do anything to defuse the situation, but he reminded himself that Peter would be alright. Party Crashers didn't typically hurt their own when they played around like this. The only injury was to their self-esteem and their ego. So he turned his back to them to press on, his curiosity satisfied.

It was moments later however, that Peter, in a rage, pulled away from the larger Crasher and took off into the woods. And it was right then that he happened to jump over a tree root that landed him right on top of Archer. The whole thing happened so quickly, they pushed away from each other in a panic. Peter, afraid of being punished for tackling a higher ranking member. Archer, afraid for his life.

The fear had Archer frozen, ready for fight or flight, even if it was Peter. But for Peter, the fear immediately gave way to anger when he realized it was Archer.

"You idiot!" barked Peter. "What the hell did you do to make Bash banish you?"

Archer had been ready to run, ready for a fight, but what he wasn't ready for, was for Peter to ask about that. Still in shock and unable to answer quickly enough, he was interrogated even more.

"I swear, it's like I don't even know you anymore." Peter began to pace as he argued, "First, you let yourself get captured by the Trolls because you just had to hide your stuff in that mushroom. Then, I run my butt off to get back to the others so they'll follow me all the way back here, just to save you. Oh, and then, instead of being grateful, you tell me to piss off and get yourself banished! I outta turn you into the others right now."

"I never told you to piss off and I am grateful for what you did." muttered Archer in response. Unable to look him in the eyes, he kept his gaze low.

"Yeah, well, you have a stupid way of showing it." Peter huffed and sat. "So I assume you came back to suck up to Bash. You can try but he made it very clear we're supposed to either kill you or bring you to him. I suppose I could drag you to Bash since I already saved you once. Maybe he'll show you mercy for whatever the heck it was that you said to him?"

Archer looked up at him, remembering how annoying it was to listen to Peter talk down to him as if they weren't on the same social tier; but he also knew that Peter was all talk and no bite. "I don't want anything to do with Bash and I meant every word I said to him."

"What did you say to him?" asked Peter.

"That killing the Trolls is wrong." he answered. "I only came back to find as many survivors as I can and take them to safety."

Peter raised a brow and looked at Archer with disgust, "God, what did they do to you in that fun-dungeon? You're willing to give up your friends and family for them? You don't owe them anything, they locked you up like an animal."

"They were afraid of me and I don't blame them. But even so, they were still very good to me, even when I treated them like a total jerk. The Trolls are my friends and family now and I don't feel like I'm giving up anything to protect them." said Archer, trying to get through to him.

"I'm not buying it," sighed Peter. "If the tables were turned, do you honestly believe they would go out of their way to save you?"

"Yes," answered Archer, seriously. "But whatever, I'm not asking for your help. I'm just gonna ask that you please don't tell anyone I'm here? I know you wouldn't do that to help the Trolls, but do it for me. For all those good times we had when it was just the two of us, sharing a makeshift pod and daydreaming about running away together."

"Ugh!" groaned Peter. "That's not fair. You know I can't say no when you remind me that I actually like you. I guess I'll help."

"Thanks," Archer smiled and gave Peter a lick on the cheek. "I appreciate it."

"Thanks for helping me get into the fun-dungeon," said Archer, waiting for Peter to retrieve a Troll costume from one of their many hidden stashes. "I still can't imagine Bash going back on his orders to kill everyone, you know? Not that I'm not thankful, it just isn't like him. Trying to kill all the Trolls in the first place really wasn't like him either."

"Yeah, well, apparently he hasn't been himself for a couple months now and the rumor is it has something to do with my sister. But of course, they aren't going to tell me anything, I'm just," Peter made an unenthused raspberry sound with his tongue, representing the name they gave to him, and rolled his eyes.

Archer thought on the matter for a moment, then posed the question, "Maybe Pow rejected him and it made him go crazy? They weren't a thing last I remember, but I know Bash liked her. He could've made a move in the five months that we lived here."

"I wouldn't know, but no girl says no to an alpha either," said Peter as he turned around to show Archer the disguise he found. It was one of the sparkling red ones with blue hair.

"You found my favorite disguise!" Archer exclaimed, joyfully.

Everything was in place. Archer was once again in his Troll disguise and Peter was ready to help him get into the fun-dungeon. They agreed that getting him thrown in there on purpose would be less risky than him sneaking in. The guard wouldn't be as suspicious if he'd thrown Archer in himself, rather than a mysterious Glitter Troll appearing suddenly among the captives. Captives, whom Peter had informed him, where made up entirely of women and children.

Making it as believable as possible, Peter approached the guard, dragging Archer behind him. Archer forced out fake tears as he cried for mercy, "Please, spare me! Let me go! I'm too young and beautiful to die!"

Peter gave him a light kick to shut him up as he spoke with the guard, "I found this hiding out in the woods."

The guard gave Archer a look, then frowned at Peter, "I don't think we're allowed to keep the boy ones alive? It'll just make with the girls and cause trouble."

"That's true, but trust me, this one's so gay, it qualifies as a female. I would know, I'm the one that lived with them, remember?" Peter had to use all of his willpower to not laugh when Archer slapped him on the tail in protest, but he also knew he wasn't wrong.

"Hah, yeah, I guess if that's true, this one wouldn't be a problem," laughed the guard. "As long as Bash doesn't find out we missed one."

"Obviously." Peter handed Archer over to the guard and watched as his friend was thrown inside. With his job done, he left to wait for Archer in the place they agreed to meet up at afterwards.

Archer was forcefully thrown inside and landed on his face. When he sat up, he saw that all of the Trolls were staring at him in shock. With a big toothy grin, he waved to them, "Hey guys!"

The awkward silence that fell after Archer greeted the captive Trolls was broken by Nova Swift's commanding presence. "Get behind me, nuggets," she said to the girls and the children. Then she addressed Archer directly, "We know it's you Mr. Pastry. If you want to hurt them, you have to go through me."

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," replied Archer as he got to his feet. "I was scouting for survivors and disguised myself to get in here to check on you. Is anyone hurt?"

"No…" she answered, still cautious, but resurred through whispers from the others that Archer was most likely okay. "Sorry to come down heavy on you nugget, but I've taken charge of the girls in our désespéré situation."

"I can see that, but I'm glad." Archer looked around as he spoke, taking a mental note of every face he recognized to report back to the others. Suddenly, a small body squeezed Archer's leg in a tight hug. He looked down to see Keith and smiled as he picked him up in his arms to hug tighter, "My favorite little guy, you made it! Have you been keeping everyone entertained with your stories?"

"You know it!" bragged Keith, not letting go of Archer whatsoever.

Archer didn't mind Keith attaching himself to him, but turned his attention back to Nova Swift, "Can I talk to just you since you've taken charge in here?"

"Of course." Nova shrugged and lead Archer over to the back of the fun-dungeon so they could sit and talk. When they were alone, with the exception of Keith, she asked, "So how bad is it? How many were able to make it out alive? Was my brother one of the survivors?"

"I saw Sky Toronto's body on the way here, I'm sorry," said Archer quietly. "Me, Branch, Guy Diamond and King Peppy, were the only ones who managed to get to the bunker, but… I've not seen or heard any signs of any survivors outside of us and you guys. I think we're all that's left."

Nova prided herself on being a strong woman, but found herself pushing back the sudden tears. "I'm sorry… It's a good thing that we still have King Peppy." Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to regain composure.

"You don't need to be sorry. I'm sorry for how much you've all suffered because of my kind," he said in an attempt to comfort her.

"Apparently they have some sense of chivalry for sparing us, but we need a plan to get out," said Nova, toughening herself back up.

"I know, I know, but I don't think we should go through with anything just yet. I need to go back and let the others know that you guys are still alive. Then we can figure out a plan from there. If you tried to escape now I'm just worried they'll notice and hunt all of you down," explained Archer. "It's a risk, but please trust me and don't try to do anything until I come back. Just try to keep everyone safe and calm until then."

"Queen Poppy trusted you, so I will to," she replied. "But if you aren't back in three days, we'll take matters into our own hands. This is where I compromise, nugget."

"Understood," he agreed.