Faded Rainbows

Friends old and new

Trollex shut the book, looking down at his grey arms and his faintly glowing pink heart. "I don't know why the little troll gave up his color, this sucks..."

Poppy looked at Trollex, and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She sobbed softly. He tilted his head slightly, arching a brow. "Err, Poppy, are you alright?"

She gave a little nod. "Yeah, that story was just so sad...!"

Trollex laughed softly, setting the book back on the table. Glancing over at Branch, who had a serious expression. The young king gave the dark pop troll a quisitive look. "What's on your mind, Branch?"

Branch stood, beginning to pace. Poppy let out an excited noise, clapping her hands together. "Ooooh, he's onto something!"

Indeed he was, and once his thoughts were in order, he turned to the two trolls. "We need to go see the other Tribes."

Trollex blinked in surprise. "Um, why?"

Branch gestured to the book. "I remember a story a little like it from when I was little. There are small differences, but otherwise the same. Same colored troll friends, same progression... I think they were each a member of one of the core tribes. Pink was pop, you got that color back with us." He pointed to the pink pulsing heart in Trollex's chest. "Now we just need the rest of your rainbow."

Poppy let out a happy cry, springing to her feet and quickly running for the exit. "ROAD TRIP! I'll pack some bags!"

With a shared look of concern, Branch moved towards another room. "Um, I'm going to pack some useful items. If you want you can hang out here or head up through the exit."

Trollex hummed in thought. He rather liked what little he got to see of the little pop troll village so far, maybe exploring a bit more wouldn't hurt? He pushed himself off of the couch and stood on his fins, before giving a little push off the ground and floating upwards.

With a flick of his tail, he zipped up the exit tunnel and out into the open above ground. He winced slightly in the sunlight, glancing up to realize it was around midday. When he had first come to the surface, it was still dark.

He found himself thinking back to Beat, and what he could be doing right now. He missed his little fishy pal.

"Trollex!"

He could almost hear his friend's voice now.

"Trolleeeeeeeex!"

He blinked, that sounded exactly like Beat, actually.

"TROLLEX THERE YOU ARE!"

He turned just in time to get a fish to the face in the most literal of senses. He tumbled backwards head over tail before he managed to right himself. He shook his head to clear the dizziness before looking down, seeing Beat sobbing into his chest. He felt his heart tighten, seeing his friend so upset. He rested a gentle hand over the fishes head. "Hey, it's alright Beat, I'm here, it's alright... calm down, little buddy..."

Beat suddenly pushed away from Trollex, giving him a venom filled glare. "Oh don't you 'little buddy' me, mister! Do you have any IDEA how WORRIED I've been? One second you've lost your color and are pouting in your room, next you're GONE and NO ONE SAW YOU LEAVE?! WHAT THE HALIBUT MAN?!"

Trollex winced under the heat of his friend's righteous anger, feeling rather like a child receiving a scolding from a parent. "Sorry, Beat..."

The little fish seemed about to continue his tirade, until he saw the soft pink heart beating in Trollex's chest. "Trollex, your color...!"