Backstory
A/N: Requested by Chipmunkfanno1love on Tumblr, based on one of her theories for Viva's separation from Peppy and Poppy
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This was fun!
If Viva had been any older, and more aware of things, then maybe she wouldn't have deemed the situation as such. But, from her perspective, things were a blast. Her mother's hair, as golden and curled as her own, tickled her on all sides from her tucked spot inside of it. She was bounced as her mother went along, the motions making her giggle, and she could hear the patter of more running footsteps all around her. For a baby of only a couple of years, it sure sounded an awful lot like a game was taking place. Maybe tag! Or something else that was really fun that she still hadn't learned about yet.
In truth, it was a tag of sorts - only, this group didn't want to be caught by the ones chasing.
"Find them!" a great voice that felt loud enough to rumble the earth boomed. "We need them all!"
"But, Chef, don't we have plenty of Trolls for the Trollstice?" another voice asked.
"It sure looked like we did!" a third put in.
An answering growl that was so menacing it could curdle milk and kill flowers responded. It was a growl that sure didn't sound friendly in any way, and Viva could feel an unfamiliar shudder go down her spine. She didn't know what this new emotion she was starting to feel was, but she really didn't like it.
The baby must have whimpered, since she heard her mother hush her the next second.
"Shh, shhh, it's okay, honey. Mommy's here," she cooed. "Just hang in there, okay?"
The familiar soothing voice worked its magic on the baby, and Viva babbled sweetly in reply to her mother, who somehow knew exactly how to get rid of that strange feeling.
Suddenly, she heard her mother addressing the others that were with them.
"Come on, guys! Right over there! You can do it, it's not much farther. No Troll left behind!"
Viva felt herself being bounced even faster, an indicator that the running had picked up pace, and she couldn't help giggling a little more at the sensation. But not everyone was sharing in her good mood, it seemed.
"No Troll escapes on MY watch!" the awful, rotten voice screeched out again, somehow managing to sound even more horrible than before.
Unease began to ripple through their companions.
"Oh, no!"
"We're doomed!"
"They're going to find us!"
Her mother's voice cut in, however, hard with determination.
"No, we won't be found."
A timid voice suddenly spoke up. "Forgive me for seeming doubtful, Your Majesty, but, how do you know for sure?"
A pause was in the air, and then she responded. "Because I'll make sure of it."
It was here that little Viva finally was able to get some visuals to go along with the scene. Her mother reached into her hair and pulled the baby out. Viva blinked up at her with a one-toothed smile.
"Ma-ma!" she chirped.
Her mother smiled down at her, but Viva thought something looked a little different about it. It was like there was a strange, faraway look in her fuschia eyes. But Viva was only a baby, so she couldn't possibly piece together what it could mean. She had thought - as her mother hugged her tightly to her, kissed her little forehead, and told her she loved her very much - that it was just another display of affection. Her mother then placed her in the grasp of a nearby Troll, who took her with much confusion. But then something seemed to click in the Troll's head, and he gasped.
"M-my Queen! You can't possibly be thinking - ?"
"I told you that I'd make sure that nobody gets found," her mother answered.
"But what about 'No Troll left behind'?" another asked.
"I'll be catching up with you, don't worry. And I'll make sure the others are safe, too," her mother replied, confident that she'd be able to retrieve the remaining Trolls trapped at the Trollstice. She caressed her daughter's cheek one last time, Viva leaning into the touch, and then she was off.
"HEY YOU!" she cried out, waving her hands up above her head towards someone Viva couldn't see. "Looking for something?"
It was the grotesque voices who responded when the Queen had called out as such.
"Chef! There's one!"
"Yeah, right there!"
"Well, don't just stand there, go AFTER IT!"
The Troll that was holding Viva gasped again, and turned them away from the scene. Carrying the baby tightly, he began, along with the other Trolls that were there, to make his way through the piping that they'd hidden themselves inside of. It was a dank, dark passageway that Viva thought smelled kind of funny, but she figured there could be worse things to happen to oneself. As she would one day come to discover this, and fully understand.
"There it is! I see it! The exit!" a Troll suddenly cried out, and indeed, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, both in reality and in a metaphorical sense. This was their ticket to freedom. Sure they'd have to avoid Bergens once they'd reach the outside, but it wouldn't be as hazardous as it was in the actual castle area.
Trolls who'd been less than optimistic about the whole ordeal suddenly felt their spirits uplift, and excited chatter started up.
"We're almost there!"
"Oh, thank goodness!"
"Freedom!"
One Troll had gotten the idea to start singing "Celebration," but before the first notes could be uttered, a terrible, piercing scream echoed through the pipes.
It was high and feminine sounding, and all too much like the Queen's. The Trolls halted in their tracks with gasps. Surely, it couldn't actually mean...?
But the Trolls waited, an indefinite amount of time, and nobody else came through the tunnel to join them. The Queen did not rush up to them, out of breath and a little bedraggled, and say that she'd gotten a little caught up in trouble but was fine now. The Queen didn't come at all.
Viva had been looking down at the tunnel, too, seeing as how her companions were. She'd heard the scream, but hadn't registered its connection to her mother... at least, until she began to miss her. Viva liked being babysat by other Trolls, but found that even after only a few minutes, she longed for the gentle embrace of the Queen.
"Ma-ma?" she questioned, peering up at the Troll who'd been holding her.
The Troll didn't respond, too horrified with the realization to even properly inform the little baby of what had happened. But Viva heard a whisper somewhere among the others in the background.
"I don't think she made it..."
Viva in her innocent mind, didn't know who the 'she' who made 'what' was, though she could see that the other Trolls were looking very glum. That feeling from before was returning to her, and she whimpered a little.
"Should we continue looking for the others, Chef?" the group heard one of their pursuers ask faintly through the echoing of the pipes.
"The Bergens in the Banquet Hall are getting rather restless," the other said. And, if the Trolls actually did strain to listen, they could make out the banging of utensils on the table and a chanting of "We want Trolls! We want Trolls!"
A grumble was heard, and then an answer. "Never mind them! Let them run off back to the Troll Tree. They'll get eaten, eventually..." An evil chuckle was heard, that started off low and then grew into a sickening laugh. "They'll ALL get eaten! HAHA!!"
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"So we left. We didn't go back to the Troll Tree, as much as we wanted to. The Chef was right. We'd all just get eaten on some other Trollstice... We went really far from the Troll Tree, actually, far from Bergen Town, far past the forest until we got here. We were just a few lone refugees who just started a whole new village of our own, and, to honor my mother's memory, I was raised to follow in her footsteps and become their queen."
Viva finished recalling the story as best she could. She had, after all, been very young when it all went down, and only had mostly learned of the full story from the other Trolls who'd accompanied her that day.
Standing before her, her sister - Poppy - had an astonished look on her face. The tale was incredible to her, and she could hardly believe it was all true!
"I understand why we didn't go back to the Troll Tree, but sometimes I really wish that we had, so I at least could've been with my sis," Viva said, smiling a little sadly at the Pop Queen. "It was a little hard to come to terms with not having any family once Putt Putt Village was set up. But, I still made lots of great friends throughout the years." She shot a sweet smile at Clay - who stood alongside Branch, Spruce, and John Dory - and he blushed.
"Wow," Poppy finally said, still taking everything in. "My dad - I mean, our dad - he, uh, never told me anything about having a sister..." She reflected on this, realizing that perhaps, like the way he'd hidden the existence of five other musical tribes, it was a difficult subject to touch, and so he'd chosen to not ever discuss it for the sake of not ruining his daughter's happiness. But Poppy found that she could handle such subjects... now at least, as a grown Troll who'd learned much during her young adulthood. "...He actually led a revolt against the Bergens," Poppy continued, "I was still a baby when it happened. All the Trolls escaped the Troll Tree through the tunnels, and into the forest." She went on explaining about their successful 20-year hideout in their home, until the day that Chef had found them and taken her friends to Bergen Town, which, of course, led to events that eventually had the Bergens realize that true happiness had been inside them all along, and they did not need to consume Trolls to find it.
"That is so cool!" Viva said. "So you and the Bergens are friends now?"
Poppy nodded in affirmation. "Yep! We had a wedding take place in their town not too long ago," she said, sidling up next to Branch.
Viva got excited to hear this. "Awwww, sis, I didn't know you were married!"
Poppy gasped, and Branch almost felt himself faint when Viva suggested it.
"Oh! N-no, I meant the King and Queen of Bergen Town had a wedding that we went to," the Pop Queen clarified, feeling the heat of a blush rise onto her face.
"Oh... well, if you say so," Viva giggled, assessing how flustered Poppy and her boyfriend had gotten over the misunderstanding. "But anyway, that is sooooo great to hear! Our parents sure were brave, huh?" She nudged her sister playfully. "And so are you!"
"You too, Viva!" Poppy exclaimed with her own giggle.
Viva, always seeming a step ahead of Poppy's boundless joy, giggled and threw her arms around her sister for an enormous hug. "EEEE!" she squealed. "You know what this means, right?"
"What?" Poppy laughed.
"It means it's time to celebrate!" Viva unclipped her green, grasslike cape, flinging it off to the side and starting to do a little jig. The Putt Putt Trolls recognized their queen getting down and groovy, and started to play some music.
"Come on, Poppy!" she called. "This song's gonna take two!"
She extended her hand towards the Pop Queen, and Poppy could do little more than to jump right in. Now that she had her sister, she would make sure that it would always take the two of them!
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