After being taken literally under the ground, Hickory stared in awe as the lift brought them down to the market floor. There were mostly grey trolls but, some either had greyish tint to their colouring or were bright  similar to what Hickory was used to seeing for Pop trolls. Some folks had horns or antlers. Tails of all kinds were common but, not considered a standard trait to have. Claws, fluff covered ears, glowing nocturnal eyes, wings and other traits were in the same boat but, more varied and less likely. There were trolls that seemed to align closer to Hickory's view of normal but, that was due to them having more subtle and hidden away features.

The underground bunker had lamps and adjustable LED lights installed in the ceiling. They resembled wall flowers surrounded by vines. They were also on upper parts of the walls in certain parts of the expansive room. Makeshift cooking set ups, clothing stands and trading tables stood strong in their chosen spots. The meal serving section had barstools and square counters.

Children ran around as their parents followed them focused solely on their spontaneous runners. A couple stand owners glanced at the direction of the Arcane Enforcers and smiled before returning back to work. Their colours brightened to a greyish version of their original colours.

" The Prince and his enforcers are home." One troll whispered.

That whisper caused a couple more trolls to brighten up and turn to see for themselves. The whisper passed on like a rumor being shared around getting altered in the process. As soon as it came it left the market to gemstone growing on the walls hallway with graffiti art.

The trolls in that passage were not just Pop trolls. They were normal Rock, Funk, Country, Classical, K-Pop and Raggaeton drifters and runaways who settled in the village. A handful had developed either a pair of wings or a tail. Claws were presented in one of them. One of the rock trolls who recently formed bat wings,fangs and retractable claws moved closer to a male Country troll who had not developed any bodily changes.

" Foxy and his buddies are back with a cowboy." A Rocker whispered to a Country troll.

" And what does that have to do with me?"

" Aren't you buddies with JD,Rosewood?" The rocker said.

" So what,Punk? What his Baby Blue does is not my concern." Rosewood scoffed indifferent.

The female Country troll approached the group with her arms loosely bandaged wraps covering decades old burn marks. Her ears perked at the mention of "Baby Blue". Taking the open space beside Rosewood she turned her head to him and Punk.

" Bluebell is back?"

" Yeah. Foxy is back,Jessie." Punk confirmed.

Nodding her head Jessie turned around. She trotted through the hallway until she entered the clinic. The young doctors were testing the water of their shimmering colourfully glowing river. Dr Moonbloom showed a tired John Dory her chart of results. John had changed just as much as Branch did. His colouring had grey and black tint to them. Addax horns stood tall poking through his hair. His fingers had the common retractable claws. His tail was similar to Trickee's tail.

" Maybe we shouldn't combat Shimmer. Embrace it like potential medicine instead. Like how we embraced the Arcane crystals for protection." Dr Moonbloom pitched.

" Doc, Shimmer is changing us... " John calmly gestured to himself. "Well look at me."

" King John. Please. Let me study this further. I won't do any Troll testing. "

Sighing at the plea of the young doctor John ran his clawed hands through his hair. His palms had become more paw-like over the years. Becoming King of a village of trolls was not on his twenty year long plan. He didn't even plan his next five years. The title was thrown up into the air by the trolls following his lead and he caught it. For twenty years John Dory has been ruling with his baby brother as Prince and his heir.

" Okay but, do it off the clock." John caved in.

" Thank you." Dr Moonbloom placed her hand on her chest.

" Hey! JD! Bluebell is home." Jessie called out from the door.

At the mention of one of Branch's many nicknames, the older brother's ears perked up. His tiredness left his body as her eyes widened then softened. His colouring restored to his birth colours but, his hair stayed somewhat darker green. A smile graced his face until it dawned on him that Branch was gone for hours into the night again.

" Thanks,Jessie!" John ran past her.

Taking her word literally John dashed straight to the housing district to his and Branch's shared flat. Rewarding his assumption John opened the door and pulled the curtains apart to see the younger troll checking his black boots for any holes. Surrounding Branch was none other than the rest of his team which John nicknamed "Kismet". It was due to the fact they were friends outside of work and were friends first.

Boom had already changed into more casual clothing made from denim. Trickee wore Hype's work jacket over his casual attire of shorts and a white tank top. Hype sat on the couch arm rest wearing Trickee's vest with his patchy jeans. Ablaze walked out of the kitchen wearing leather vest, hoop earrings and  faded knee length shorts. He had six bottles of normal water and passed them around through the group.

Hype grabbed Trickee's hand and lightly tugged. Trickee ended up sitting between his boyfriend and Branch. One of Hype's feathered wings curled Trickee while Trickee's tail curled around Hype's ankle. Branch barely reacted to his friends being so open about their relationship. He set down his boots on the floor then pulled down on his leaf vest trying to straighten it. Similar to Hype Branch had patches on his shorts.

Standing up Branch from the couch with the bottle of water in hand,he finally looked to see John. Noticing the familiar look in his older brother's eyes. There was a twinkle. A twinkle Branch related to John Dory embarrassing him. Usually it was classic brotherly love antics of Branch getting treated like a baby.

" No. Don't you dare. " Branch warned.

" Where have you been? No note. You know how dangerous it is to be out at night. You could have died." John said.

Branch rolled his eyes. " You said I could start my own taskforce and we were just patrolling,Dee. Until we had to deal with the Shadow Walkers to save a traveller and his pet." He crossed his arms. " My point still stands. "

Branch pouted waiting for John to react. Ever since the Shadow Walkers took over the night, something had changed in him. JD had seen too many losses. He feared losing Branch but, he wasn't strict on the little brother he raised like he was his own son. Protective? Definitely. Glancing up and down Branch's tails and mane John noticed that flowers were missing.

" Branch, did something happen out there?" John asked.

" I healed the traveller and his pet. " Branch shrugged.

John turned his attention to Boom, Trickee, Hype and Ablaze. They looked up at him back. Boom opened his bottle of water and took a sip. Stepping fully into the flat John brought his hands to his sides. His expression remained serious.

" Was he pushing himself again?" John asked.

" Nope." Ablaze said.

" I don't think so." Boom muttered.

" Not on our watch. " Trickee added.

" No fainting episodes." Hype clarified.

Branch rolled his eyes for a second. While Branch did have a history of testing his own limits when it came to the healing abilities Shimmer gave him, he did not enjoy how it put him on a watch list. The fainting episodes were due to him exhausting himself while healing people but, he hasn't done that in a week. The last fainting episode happened cause he didn't eat enough before trying to heal three badly burnt runaways they rescued.

" Guys. I just forgot to eat last time. I know my limits." Branch insisted.

" That was still one week ago,Bitty B. Go eat something. Now. I'll wait. " John said.

" God! I am a grown up,JD." Branch said.

" Did you eat lunch? Snack at all?" John asked.

Branch became silent. His whole demeanor faltered. He hadn't eaten anything after having a small breakfast. He had been on empty the entire time. Not wanting to admit that his older brother was right about him needing to eat, Branch went into the kitchen. He grabbed a muffin and came back to the main room.

" I'm only doing this to shut you up. " Branch insisted.

" As long as you eat. " John responded.

Bringing the vanilla muffin to his mouth Branch took a bite. John watched making sure his little brother actually ate and wasn't putting on a show. Hype shrugged sliding off the couch armrest as Trickee moved over to the middle. He landed right into the briefly open spot. Ablaze joined Boom on the floor. He pulled out a deck of hards and shuffled them.

Later that night Prince Branch had King John follow him to the veteran. There was Hickory checking on his sleeping large spider petting his head. The normal troll stood beside Finn's current sleeping spot. That spider could manage to fall asleep anywhere. Even on a table. John looked into the room then back at his brother.

" This is him." Branch gestured.

" Where did you find him?" John asked.

" At the main river." Branch inserted his hands into his pockets." He was admiring the glowing fruit."

" Okay. I'll talk to him." John sighed.

Branch nodded his head in agreement before turning back to go tend to his personal responsibilities as a person. John's eyes followed him until the grey blue fox tailed troll was out of sight. His three tails raised up happily swaying in different directions. They were fluffy and cute making him seem rather adorable.

John knocked on the sliding door. " Am I interrupting?"

Hickory turned his gaze away from his fuzzy friend to see a troll similar to Branch but more square in body shape,taller and with differing animalistic traits. He noticed the goggles and the brown leather jacket. Something else about this troll seemed familiar but, Hickory couldn't put his finger on it. Dory walked into the veteran center.

" Oh. No. I was just making sure Finn was okay." Hickory said.

" I'm the same with my Rhonda." John Dory said. " What's your name?"

" It's Hickory. You?" Hickory stepped forward.

" John Dory. Kinda a big deal around here. You already met my brother, Branch. " John said.

" Wait..." Hickory paused. " So that means you're probably the -..." He trailed off.

" King? Yeah. I am but, just call me "JD". No need to get fancy and formal. Your critter will be fine here. There's plenty of space in the flats. " John put his hand on Hickory's shoulder. "We'll help you prep to hit the road again when it's safe again and Finn is better. Wait until morning."

Hickory glanced down at the leader's hand. While there were no claws currently present he could see a subtle difference in the shape of John's hand. His mind up filled with wonder. Were these trolls born this way? Was it their environment at hand? What kind of trolls were they? Biting down on his lip Hickory glanced at Finn then back up at JD. John pulled his hand away hoping his attempt of providing accommodations for their new guest was good enough.

This wasn't the first time they had unknown trolls in their bunker. They welcomed everyone during the night. Usually they were travelers, drifters and runaways. The drifters and runaways would choose to stay surprisingly but, John knew travelers had other places calling to them. No matter how much experience the early forties year old picked up, ruling like a king wasn't his strong suit if you asked him.

" Thank you. " Hickory said. " You know you remind me of someone I know."

" Let me guess. Branch?" John joked.

Hickory chuckled shaking his head. " Besides him. You kinda look like my friend and his brother actually. You probably don't know them."

John folded his arms. " Try me. What are their names?"

" Floyd Timberlake and..." Hickory paused. " Was it Spruce or Bruce now?"

The world around John stopped moving to him. His jaw dropped while his heartbeat picked up. Eyes widened with pure shock. His legs threatened to give out from under him. With a shaking hand John pulled out a chair to sit down. Floyd and Spruce...

He hadn't heard those names in a long time. John Dory hadn't spoken to them in twenty years. He never doubted that they were alive but, life stringed him around so much that he didn't have the time to find them. John didn't even know the way to the island they escaped to. His chest ached a little with regret. Regret for not finding them.

" Maybe I'm wrong. You do seem to be a different type of troll from them. But, I do know Floyd had four brothers. I have never been great with remembering all their names. I think his eldest brother was named after a fish, one was Clay and the youngest... Twig? Bough?" Hickory commented unaware of John's mental state.