Song Defies Color

A/N: Well now, this is where things really get interesting. Although I had to push through it fast the past couple of days because my co-author on fanfiction.net wants progress on the Miraculous Ladybug story that we're working on together. We have deadlines to meet, and we try to follow them as best as we can.

But let's not worry about that. I'm pretty sure that you guys have been wanting more for a while. So let's get on with Chapter 4. Roll it!

Chapter 4

The Storm and the Calm Afterwards

Immediately, the captain of the boat began shouting out orders for everyone's safety. "Clear everything out!" He shouted. "Stand fast and get to the lifeboats!"

Right after he said that, all of the Trolls on board began getting all of the party supplies; food, presents, decorations, and putting them either inside their hair or onto little rafts that were attached to the lifeboats. The present that Guffin had been holding onto for Poppy slipped out of her hands from the ship tossing about and towards the end of the ship, where the three stowaways, plus Glitz, were hiding, holding onto the front of the ship as best as they could.

"No!" She exclaimed, and she went to try and retrieve it. But Poppy gently took her arm, pulling her away from it.

"Let's go!" The pink princess shouted over the blasts of wind, and then began guiding the disguised sorceress over to one of the lifeboats.

Branch and his friends were holding on as tight as they could to the front of the ship, all of them trying their best to not to be blown away by the stormy winds. The gray Troll then saw the present coming their way. It hit the side of one of the railings pretty hard, and he could've sworn that he heard something breaking from inside of it, over the roaring wind. But he shrugged it aside for the time being, knowing that there were more important things at the matter.

Archer grabbed the pretty red wrapped box before it would fall into the depths of the lake. There was just something about that little box and about the way that Guffin was acting so worried about it when she lost her hold on it; it just didn't feel right to him. She actually seemed much more worried about it than he had expected, coming from her. Something was up, and he suspected that it had something to do with whatever is inside it.

"Branch!" He shouted to him.

The gray Troll turned over to the teenage Party Crasher and he stuffed the present into his black hair. "We can't hold on much longer!"

"Guys?" Cloud Guy said, getting their attention. "I think I'm gonna-" He then lost his grip on the railings.

"Blow!" He then was carried away into the sky by the turbulent winds, yelling all the way.

Rain was now pouring in buckets, drenching everyone. Branch could feel the wooden timbers that he and Archer were holding onto were getting slippery. He looked down at the lake's waters beneath him and twisted his wrist. Right away, a glowing ball of water came out of the lake, quickly forming into a much larger platform.

"Get ready to let go!" He shouted.

"Normally, I would tell you that this is crazy!" Archer yelled back. "But at least I know I won't drown!"

Both of them then let go of the railings and fell onto the platform. Before they could, Branch got a funnel to form underneath the watery platform to give him and Archer some extra cushion. When they both breached the surface, they got onto the platform, and Branch made the funnel disappear before guiding the platform over to the shore.

Once they were in the shallows, Branch and Archer jumped off the platform before it could sink back into the lake and immediately began looking for shelter nearby. But before they could get very far, there was a booming and sickening crack that echoed through the area. They turned around and stared in horror as a lightning bolt struck the main mast of the ship, catching it on fire.

************************

By now, back on the ship, everyone was getting onto the lifeboats. They were being tossed around, getting everyone to become more scared. Soon, the ropes that were holding the boats snapped, and all of them landed in the water with heavy splashes. Luckily, no one had fallen off into the water.

Poppy was panting to regain her breath as she assumed control and made sure that everyone was safe and accounted for. But then, her eyes widened when she heard someone shriek out.

"Mr. Dinkles!" A large dark blue Troll with light platinum hair, wearing a purple vest that seemed a bit too small for him and matching shorts, was looking all around the lifeboat he was in, and even in the surrounding waters. 

"Where's Mr. Dinkles?" Everyone began looking around, until Poppy heard a loud and frightened 'meep' sound. She looked back up at the ship and saw a small yellow and pink striped glow worm still stranded on the deck.

"Mr. Dinkles!" The giant blue Troll exclaimed in horror at the sight of his beloved pet being surrounded by flames.

"I got this!" Poppy said to him before diving into the water. She quickly came up for air and then swam her way back to the burning ship.

"Poppy, no!" Guffin shouted out to the fearless princess. "It's too dangerous!"

But Poppy didn't listen to her, nor could she due to the loud blasts of wind and the growing volume of the crackling fires on the ship. Once she was close enough, she used her hair to wrap around one of the more stable parts of the railings and pulled herself out of the water and back onto the burning deck.

Just then, she heard a loud snap from behind her. She whirled around and saw the main mast of the ship, blazing with flames, falling down in her direction. Quickly, Poppy jumped out of its path, and it crashed into the deck, breaking a large piece of it, spreading the flames down to below the deck.

Coughing slightly due to the growing smoke, Poppy fanned it away from her and made her way over to where Mr. Dinkles was trapped, up on the upper deck. She held out her arms.

"Come on, Mr. Dinkles!" She shouted to the glow worm. "Jump!"

Immediately, Mr. Dinkles leaped down from the burning upper deck and into Poppy's arms. She cradled the glow worm as she began to make her way back over to the side of the ship.

Suddenly, the already weakening deck beneath her feet broke under her weight, and her right foot sunk into the wooden floor. She yelped in pain at the feeling of splintered wooden shards cutting against her bare skin. But she still held on tight to the pet glow worm in her arms.

The pink Troll princess looked through the building smoke and saw the lifeboats getting nearer. "Catch!" She shouted as loud as she could, coughing a little. 

Poppy then tossed Mr. Dinkles high into the air, off the ship. His owner immediately had his arms out, and he caught his beloved pet, crying tears of joy.

Poppy coughed as she tried to carefully get her leg free without getting more splinters into her skin. But it was pretty stuck, not moving very much. If she tried to tug it loose, she would only cause herself some more pain. 

Just then, she heard someone shout out her name. "Poppy!" 

The pink Troll in question coughed more vigorously as she turned around and saw that there were quite a few boxes of leftover fireworks below deck that hadn't been touched by the flames yet. But they were getting awfully close. She then tried even harder to get herself free, but her leg still wouldn't be set loose.

Suddenly, the flames had reached the fireworks, and the ship exploded into pieces of fiery bursts of smoke and colors. All of the Trolls that were in the life boats immediately feared the worst as they stared on in shock at the burning wreck.

*************************

Back over in the shallows, Branch and Archer were watching the whole thing with terrified eyes. The gray Troll had heard someone shout out Poppy's name from the wind carrying the sound over to his sensitive ears, right before it had exploded. That meant that she was still on board when the explosion happened. His mind habitually went to thinking the worst outcome, but there was something inside of him telling that maybe she was still alive, but won't be for long if she remains out there.

His sky blue eyes narrowed in determination. He knew what he had to do. Branch got Glitz out of his hiding spot in his hair, handed him to Archer, and then quickly jumped back onto another watery platform he conjured from the lake.

"Stay here!" He shouted to them as he guided the platform over to the wreck.

Archer briefly went after him as he got back out onto the wild lake. "Branch!" He shouted out to him.

But he was already too far out to be heard, even with the turbulent winds. So the Party Crasher could do nothing except to look for shelter and hope that his friend made it back alive.

*************************

Out on the wild waves of the lake, Branch had arrived at the burning remains of the ship. The gray Troll was frantically looking around for any sign of Poppy. Just then, he saw her, unconscious, resting on a floating piece of driftwood. But then she slowly lost her hold on it and sank down into the water.

Branch immediately took a deep breath and then dove down after her. Once he got close enough to her, he managed to hook his arms under hers before she would've sunk too far down, and got a good grip on her around her shoulders and back as he quickly made his way back up to the surface.

When both of them had breached, the male Troll gasping for fresh air, he formed a funnel of water from the platform and began pushing both of them away from the burning wreckage, the remaining fireworks exploding in the sky above. They needed to find a safe spot to wait out the storm, and fast. Branch held onto the unconscious princess as tight as he could while he began to search for a safe place to wait out the storm.

In a matter of minutes, Branch found a large hollow tree near the other side of the lake. He got the water funnel to push them over to the shallows, where he retreated it back into the wild lake. Then, the gray Troll, with what little strength that he had left from the ordeal, gently carried the princess, bridal-style, into the hollow trunk of the tree. He carefully set her down on the ground on a bed of leaves before lying down next to her, feeling completely worn out, panting from adrenaline.

The second that he felt like his lungs weren't feeling like they were going to pop anymore, Branch checked on the pink princess next to him. He leaned his ear against her chest, hoping and praying that there were still signs of a heartbeat. Thankfully, there were, but they were pretty faint. He then began some chest compressions, hoping to elicit a response.

After a good fifteen compressions; although he didn't dare do mouth-to-mouth because he was much too shy to do it, she finally started coughing out the water from her lungs. But she didn't open up her eyes. 

Branch let out a sigh of relief. At least she was alive. And it was a good thing that he didn't use any spark bugs to try and revive her; since she was soaked to the bone, and water conducts electricity.

He then saw her slightly shivering. Quickly, he gathered some more leaves to keep her warm until the storm ended. Then, as the night began to crackle away into the early hours of the dawn, Branch kept watch, not even bothering to notice that he too was shivering from his drenched condition.

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Soon, the early rays of the sun appeared, softly streaming into the hollow. Branch let out a sigh of relief as the sunny golden warmth spread out against his ashy gray skin, and then soon enveloped Poppy's sleeping form. He stared at the sight of the beautiful princess, her pink skin looking more healthier the longer it stayed in it and her freckles sparkling in the morning light.

He had managed to bandage her leg with some gauze wrappings that he was really lucky to have brought with him in his hair. Although he did have to wait a little bit for them to somewhat dry out before he could wrap her injured leg. There were a couple of splinters in her skin that he had to get out, but he was fortunate that she didn't wake up from his tight pinching to squeeze them out enough for him to pull out. Most of the blood that was on her leg had washed away in the lake, and he had applied the bandages before the wound would start to leak out again.

He watched her still form, her chest quietly moving up and down as she slept, her face relaxed. She was so beautiful, the most beautiful Troll he had ever seen. Feeling curiosity beginning to eat away at his mind; which should've had alarms blaring, he inched closer to her to where he could feel the heat of her body without actually touching her. Tentatively, Branch used his hand to gently brush away some bangs from Poppy's face.

Well, her physical beauty wasn't the only thing about her that attracted him to her. He heard her being a good leader to the panicking Trolls onboard the ship during the storm, making sure that everyone was safe and on a lifeboat. And she was brave, swimming back to the burning ship to rescue a stranded critter, even if it would've cost her her life. She was just.... amazing.

"You are either the bravest girl I have ever seen, or the craziest." He whispered with a slight chuckle. Then, very softly, he began to sing to her; singing to her his deepest, most fervent wish at that very moment. 

Branch: What would I give
To live where you are?
What would I pay
To stay here beside you?

The sound of his sweet, gentle voice carried along with the soft wind that had started to blow and to where his friends were searching for him. Cloud Guy had managed to find Archer and Glitz after he was blown away, and all of them were looking for Branch.

Glitz heard the familiar sound of his friend's voice first and quickly buzzed his way over in that direction. "Hey, Glitz!" Archer called out to the glow bug.

"Wait up, you little flying ball of fuzz!" Cloud Guy shouted, and both of them hurried after him.

Just then, they came over to the hollow tree and heard that familiar voice singing quietly and sweetly. Curiously, they peered inside, and were then greeted with the sight of their friend lying on his side, next to the princess, softly singing to her.

What would I do
To see you
Smiling at me?

Archer's jaw dropped at the sight of Branch sitting so close to Princess Poppy, gently serenading her as she was sleeping. But Cloud Guy just closed it by lifting his hand under his chin, having a knowing smile on his face. Glitz remained beside the entrance of the hollow, and he could once again sense the pheromones coming off his Troll friend as he sang to the pink female.

Where would we walk?
Where would we run,
If we could stay all day
In the sun?

Just then, Poppy began to slightly move, her hand instinctively reaching up to touch the large, warm hand that was ever so gently brushing her cheeks with his fingertips. Her vision was blurry, and her head was spinning. But all she could make out was that there was a handsome Troll hovering above her, golden sunbeams on the side of his face, the tip of his ear glowing a light aqua hue.

Just you and me,
And I could be
Part of your world.

Branch noticed Poppy's rosy pink eyes fluttering, her eyelashes framing them in a most lovely manner, and he quickly moved away from her. He had to get out of there before she woke up completely and saw him. Otherwise, he was going to get in big trouble from Guffin if she ever found out. What made matters worse was that he heard voices.

"Poppy!"

"Princess Poppy!"

Branch had to leave immediately. He left the hollow and was briefly surprised to see his friends standing there beside the entrance. But he pushed it aside for now.

"Come on." He said. Neither of them argued with him as they all hurried into another part of the forest, away from the oncoming voices.

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Poppy wasn't really sure what had happened. One second, her eyes were halfway opened, and she was seeing a Troll, carefully hovering above her. The next second; she must've blinked, because he was gone. 

She slowly sat up, carefully holding her head with one of her hands. When she completely took notice of her surroundings, she saw that she was inside a hollow tree, and that she was lying on a bed of leaves. Three larger ones covered up her body, acting as blankets. She slowly removed them and that saw that her leg was bandaged.

All of this had to have been the work of that Troll. It just had to. But where had he gone? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air. 

The princess slowly stood up and exited the hollow, being extremely mindful of her injured leg. She looked all around the area, but there was no sign of the mysterious Troll who had apparently saved her life.

Just then, she heard someone calling out her name. "Poppy!" She turned around and saw her friends coming over to her, along with a small crowd of those who were on board the now sunken ship.

One of them, the red Troll called DJ Suki, wrapped her arms around her. "Oh, thank goodness that you're alright!" She exclaimed.

As everyone else began talking to her about how worried they were about her, Poppy just nodded at their comments and questions, a little but distracted and not really paying attention to them as she continued to scan the area for any signs of her mystery Troll. But there was still no sign of anyone else around. 

Finally, the conjoined twins, who were named Satin and Chenille, noticed her odd behavior. "Poppy?" Satin, the pink twin, asked.

Then Chenille, the blue twin, waved her hand in front of the princess's face. "Are you okay, Poppy?" She continued the question.

Poppy blinked in confusion for a second before she focused her gaze on the lake ahead of her. "There was a.... a Troll." She finally said. "He.... rescued me."

A little dreamy smile appeared on her face as she slightly broke away from the group, taking a couple of steps closer to the lake. "He was.... singing." She continued. "He had the most.... amazing voice I ever heard." 

She knew that she would be able to easily recall every note that he had sung with perfect clarity. His voice was that good and that memorable. It really was like an angel was singing.

She was about to take another step forward when she suddenly felt a little woozy again as she put a little too much pressure on her bad leg, wincing in pain. Immediately, the twins came over to her and took an arm each.

"Poppy, are you sure you're okay?" The large blue Troll from earlier, fittingly named Biggie, asked her; cradling his beloved Mr. Dinkles in his arms.

"Maybe you've been out on the water too long." Suki suggested.

"Possibly." Satin agreed. "How about next year, we will stick on the ground for your birthday party?"

Chenille then began guiding both Poppy and her sister towards the direction of the village, their other friends following them. "Come along." She said. "Let's get you back home, Poppy. Your father is worried sick about you."

Poppy only nodded in agreement. As all of them began heading to the village at a slow pace for their weary friend, the pink Troll princess spared one last glance over at the lake. Maybe her friends were thinking that she was just hearing things, but she knew that he was real. That Troll is out there, and she is going to find him no matter what, and properly thank him.

Unbeknownst to all of them, they were being watched from above. High up in the trees, hiding in the dappled shadows, Branch, Archer, Cloud Guy and Glitz were observing them. Branch's eyes remained on Poppy as they passed them by.

"You know that if Guffin finds out about this, she is going to lose it." Archer fretted quietly. "Who knows what she might do?"

"Well, then she is not gonna find out." Cloud Guy said, pulling Archer to his eye level. "For Branch's sake, we are not going to let her learn about this. We have to stay in one piece."

Archer took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. "For once, you do have a point." He said to the talking cloud. "We're going to keep this under lock and key. Right, Branch?"

Both of them turned over to get their friend's opinion on the matter, but they soon saw that he wasn't there. "Branch?" Archer asked, looking around for the gray Troll.

Just then, they heard a rustling sound coming from above them. They looked up and saw Branch climbing higher up the tree, with Glitz following him.

"Oh, brother." Archer muttered under his breath, while Cloud Guy just smirked.

"Looks like Lover Boy has got it bad." He said, looking up at his friend as he continued to climb up the tree.

Soon, Branch had reached near the very top of the tree, but he could still see the Trolls walking along the path leading to the village. But his eyes were still trained on the tiny rosy pink form of Poppy. 

There was something stirring in his chest the more he looked at and thought of the beautiful, fearless Troll princess. It was a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time; one that he thought he would never feel again. It was hard to put it into words, but he remembered that this new feeling was good, and that maybe, it could be the key to finally get him his freedom.

That feeling of resolve continued to bubble up inside of him, along with the slight tingling and buzzing that were making his fingers slightly twitch. Then, he began to sing again, this time a little louder.

Branch: I don't know when.
I don't know how,
But I know something's
Starting right now.

Watch and you'll see.
Someday, I'll be
Part of your world!

Branch held that last note for a long while as it was punctuated with a sudden strong surge of wind around him, making his hair gently blow in its direction, the ebony black strands contrasting quite spectacularly against the growing pink and blue colors of the dawn. His voice was carried out by the wind, but none of the Trolls down on the ground heard it, luckily for him.

As they finally disappeared into the shrubbery beneath them in the distance, Branch continued looking longingly in that direction, his mind flooded with images of Poppy. At least now, he had another reason to look forward to another day, even if that meant that he would only be dreaming of seeing her again.

Well, one day. Who knows for sure? For now, he had to keep holding on; having faith, courage and being kind, and his life will eventually turn around for the better. Just like his grandmother had promised him in his dream. And Branch knew that she had never let him down with her word.

When he saw the sun slowly rising further up in the sky, his smile slightly diminished, knowing that he needed to get back to his bunker fast and at least catch one hour of sleep before Guffin would come and get him to start his daily chores at her manor. Goodness knows what she might do to punish him if she learned that he was out all night. 

And then maybe later, when he's done with them, he and his friends could try to figure out what was the present that she had tried to give to Poppy that made her almost risk her safety or possibly even her real identity. Surely one present wasn't really worth it? Right?

A/N: Yeah. Was it a little too cheesy that I put in the reprise of "Part of Your World"? In my mind, you just can't have "The Little Mermaid" without that song or a scene like that. However, I was listening to the recent, live-action version of this song, sung by Halle Bailey, who played Ariel. But no matter what version it is, I don't own the song in any way or form. All credit goes to their respective owners.

Well, that's all for now. I'll see y'all next time! School is starting back up today. At least for my brothers, and I hope they will double their efforts in their studies, even though most of the time, they're at home and taking classes online. For me, my third semester doesn't start for another couple of weeks. But still.

Anyway, all of that stuff aside, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. And I'll see you guys next time! Please leave a comment about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And remember to stay healthy! Also, check out my other "Trolls" stories if you're interested.

Got to fly! ;)