Branch, meanwhile, wasn't as lucky as Willow. If only he had all his equipment, but it got lost in the crash!

“This has got to be the worst day ever," he grumbled. “Poppy has a problem I can't fix, she's hanging out with Creek and a bunch of monks, and Willow's... well, actually, Willow's pretty much normal. Well, as normal as she can be. And these bugs are eating me alive! I hate this jungle!"

Suddenly, he heard something. Branch prepared himself with a hairball-duken, and saw... a lone Faunlette picking berries off a bush. She had yellow fur, a white belly and face, red hair braided in pigtails, violet eyes, a green shirt, a rather ample bosom, white spots scattered across her flanks, and horns that resembled candy canes.

Branch was curious. What was she doing this far away from her village? But he had no time to worry about it, he had to find Queen Penny's home.

“Excuse me?" he said, catching the Faunlette's attention. “Have you seen the home of a Troll named Penny?"

She shook her head with a blank expression.

“Well, can you tell me where I should look?" he asked. She just tilted her head. Branch had his fill of these Faunlettes. “Oh, for the love of all that's Trolly! I've been through enough today, can't you just say something?!"

With that, the Faunlette wagged her tail and smiled.

“Gotcha!" she giggled. “Sorry, sorry, but that was too good. Oh, you don't believe how much I missed jokes. High-larity! Am I pronouncing that right? Some words I haven't said in a will. While! While. Hi! I'm Helga Hedgewinks. You've just arrived, and perhaps you're tired or hungry or reflective and want to sleep and eat and journal? Which you should do, of course! But first— Oh! Oh, what joy to talk with another creature! It's been so long! You must tell me everything about you! There's so much to say, so much to do! Oh, look at me. I'm going on, and you haven't seen— I mean, have you seen—? W-what am I saying? Of course you haven't.  So just— I— yeah— I will j— Follow me!"

With that, Helga trotted off extremely elated.

“Well... that was something."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Branch had a feeling he was going to regret it, but found himself following Helga's hoofprints all the way to the top of a cliff. What he found was a small treehouse with a large bucket on a pulley attached to the balcony. He grabbed a branch with his hair and climbed up to the house. He saw Helga staring at the horizon with five small gourds with faces drawn on them, and joined her. The way the sun shined created a double rainbow on the waterfalls.

“Oh, my hair!" Branch exclaimed. “This is amazing!"

Helga gasped. “Oh, you think so, too?! The way the light shimmers off everything, like, like it all suddenly woke up the moment you saw it. And you realize maybe the water and the mountains and the forest and the... yes, the rainbow and the stars and the sky are all looking back at you thinking the same thing? That we are a part of the everything. That maybe there's just one thing and we are all it."

“I was going to say it's pretty, but yeah," Branch said nervously. Despite coming from a quiet species, this Faunlette was quite a chatterbox.

She hummed a little and sniffed a flower. “Mmmm! And this is just the first stop on a journey of amazing things to see, smell, tiptoe through. Oh, I haven't been able to share all of this with anyone in forever! Since they all took that vow of silence. So, it's a lot for me to pro-cess. Pro-cess? Uh, deal with."

“Wait, vow of silence?" Branch asked. “I thought it was an accident!"

“Oh, no, it was all on purpose," Helga assured him, and looked down sadly. “That's uh, that's why they asked me to leave."

Branch gazed at Helga empathetically. He had to comfort her.

“I know what you're going through, Helga," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I was an outcast, too. I was Branch: the only Troll who wouldn't sing, dance or hug. For years, I was alone. But I eventually made friends who helped me. Maybe I can help you, too. You could start by telling me why they took this vow in the first place."

“It's a long story," she sighed.

Branch nodded. “I guess you'd rather not talk about it?"

“No," Helga answered.

“I under—"

“I'd rather SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGG!"

La la-la-la la-la!

La-la-la, la-la-la!

The Faunlettes used to speak and sing

We weren't always quiet

We told stories and funny jokes

My stand-up was a riot!

But then, one day, a fight broke out

And hurtful words were said

Flaring tempers were enflamed

Destruction quickly spread

And flaming red from head to head

It even burned our... bread!

“Sorry, I forgot how much I love rhyming!" Helga said. “Where was I? Oh, right!"

My happy village lay in ruins

Relationships got worse

Spoiler alert: we quickly learned

That words can be a curse

“NO MORE TALKING!" yelled our leader

The last thing said out loud

Into the Stream of Silence

We stepped as a crowd

The water cooled emotions

And peace was soon restored

But with no way to speak my thoughts

I got super... bored

“Seriously, there's only so long that Sudoku can keep you entertained!"

'Cuz rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let it rain

And shiny apples sometimes come with worms

No, you can't give up your laughter 'cuz you're scared of a little pain

It's a lesson that the Faunlettes never learned

Helga remembered the torture she went through being completely silent for days, which turned into months, which turned into years.

I was stuck in silent prison

With the voices in my head

Till I tripped over my salvation

In a helpful flower bed

I found a cure to clear my pipes

And I became quite chatty

With years and years of stored-up words

I drove my village batty

They didn't like my jokes and songs

And daily dose of news

The plays I wrote, the speeches spoke

Variety reviews

Or the story about the Faunlette

Who hid below an opera stage...

“... and fell in love with this opera singer, and he wore a freaky half-mask thing, and he played the organ a lot, and got all broody because the singer was in love with another dude, so he took her away on this underground gondola... I mean, who doesn't love musical theatre?!"

Branch just groaned.

The village leader made it clear

I had to make my choice

I could stay and live with them

Or I could keep my voice

So, I came here, but left the couch alone

They're hard to move

With just the view for company

Until you heard me groove!

“Take it away, boys!" she shouted to the gourds.

'Cuz rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let it rain

And candles just won't glow until they're burned

No, you can't give up your laughter 'cuz you're scared of a little pain

It's a lesson that my village never learned

No matter how hard I schooled them

Fear of hurt is still what ruled them

Sometimes you've gotta let it RAIN!

Yeah, sometimes you've gotta let it rain...

“That... sounds terrible!" Branch said in shock. “No one should give up feeling... their feelings just to keep themselves from getting angry!"

“That's what I said!" Helga agreed. “You know, when I started talking again."

“And Poppy just fell in the stream," Branch added. “She would never give all that up on purpose."

“Really? Who's Poppy?" Helga asked. “Oh, did you name your shadow? Mine's called Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands!"

“Right..." he trailed off as she waved at her own shadow. “Well, maybe my friends and I can help you. If we just go talk to the other Faunlettes, we can get them to welcome you back to the village. Maybe even convince them to take your cure!"

“Oh, yes! Yes, of course!" Helga agreed excitedly. “Oh! Just one small thing. The antidote for my anecdote? It's gone."

Branch couldn't believe it. “There's no cure left?"

“I used the last of the Sparklepuff flowers to make it, and I— I haven't seen them bloom since."

“Well, no one said this would be easy," Branch said with determination, and headed back to the village. “I'm gonna start by getting your friends to welcome you back!"

Feeling skeptical, Helga drew a face on her hand and stuck two sticks between her fingers.

“You know, between you and me, I'm not sure he's gonna convince them," she said to her hand. “‘Nope!' But... I hope he does."

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

“Hey, guys! I found the book!" Willow shouted, running back to the village.

“Guys, there's something we gotta do!" Branch shouted.

“You know Poppy, sometimes you got to take a breath of fresh air and really take in your surroundings," Creek calmly explained. “Let the joys of nature fill your very being."

Poppy just glared at him. How could she be filled with joy when she couldn't feel anything?

Before Creek could go on, Branch and Willow joined them. Poppy began making gestures.

“Did you... find Penny's home... and a cure... for my silence?" Branch translated.

“I found Penny's house!" Willow replied, holding the book up.

“And I found a solution!" Branch added. “It's not the cure, but it could help."

“Pfft, of course you couldn't find anything helpful," Creek scoffed. “Willow, why don't you go first?"

“Okay..." she said nervously as Branch muttered something under his breath. “According to this scrapbook, the Darkness is something that plagues the hearts of magical creatures with the worst of intentions. It is usually created out of a strong negative feeling one could have, be it greed, jealousy, lust, or pride. Some creatures can be attacked by the Darkness, and depending on whether or not they have magic, will either be infected or die on impact."

“But why do you have it?" Branch asked. Willow skimmed a few pages to find something.

“A creature of Darkness can create something with his or her magic, and it'll carry that same Darkness. It could be a simple object, a plant they grow... or even their own children."

Creek nodded. “So, when your father—"

“That thing was not my father," Willow growled.

“Right, sorry," Creek apologized. “When he created you, he passed the Darkness down to you. But you've created stuff with your magic. How come those things don't have it?"

“Probably because it hasn't completely taken over her body," Branch pointed out. “The Rattlecobra was completely black with some of his scales really sharp. Willow only has black hair and these markings all over her body."

Suddenly, Poppy's eyes widened. She tapped Branch on the shoulders and made more gestures.

“Willow, she wants to know what you felt right before your mother died," Branch translated.

“I... I felt this burning rage inside of me," she explained. “I mean, my own mother tried to kill me, she made my dad an alcoholic on purpose, she fought with him just to scare me, she constantly reminded me I was worthless and ruined her life. Every bad thing about my life happened because of her! I... I wanted her dead."

“It seems as if the Darkness could've been buried inside of Willow forever," Branch whispered to Poppy and Creek. “But when she let out all that anger, and accidentally killed her mother, it started to wake up."

Poppy pointed to a section in the scrapbook and nodded. Branch then noticed something else.

“Willow, look!" he said. “It says here that all you have to do is feel something that can counterattack that negative feeling, and the Darkness can turn into light!"

“But Branch, most creatures end up killed by their own negative feeling before they can do that," Willow pointed out.

“Well, a greedy person wouldn't usually act generous. Nor would the proud be humble. But you're just angry. If you feel happy enough, then maybe..."

“No one's that happy!" Willow argued. “J— Just forget it, I don't wanna talk about this right now."

“Willow, there's nothing wrong with being angry sometimes," Branch said. “It's something we feel naturally. Which is also why we gotta get the Faunlettes to start talking again!"

“Why would we want to do that?" Creek wondered. The other Faunlettes were getting curious.

“Because they gave up their happiness to avoid anger," Branch explained. “And isn't spreading happiness what Trolls do best?"

“But look what I found out," Creek said, leading them all to a painting on a stone wall. “The Faunlettes are usually peaceful and kind, but when they get mad, they turn into creatures of fire and vengeance."

“Huh, that seemed less scary when it was in a song," Branch said nervously.

“The last time they all argued, they got so angry, they accidentally destroyed their whole village!" Creek continued. “So, the Faunlettes decided to make sure it would never happen again."

“But that's no reason to stop talking," Branch pointed out.

“Yes, it is!" Creek argued. “That many negative auras in one place is dangerous, let alone fire. Especially in a forest like this, it could hurt all the critters that live here!"

“Not if they don't turn into fire-breathing monsters in the first place!" Branch fought back. The Faunlettes were beginning to get worried, and Poppy took notice.

“Well, how can you be sure that won't happen?!" Creek asked angrily.

“There's got to be a better way than giving up all of your feelings!" Branch shouted. Willow's eyes turned black again as her eyebrows and lips began twitching.

“I knew you didn't have an answer!" Creek huffed.

“Because you're not making any sense!"

“ENOUGH!" Willow screamed in a deep voice, letting out a blast of a black cloud, which hit Branch in the shoulder. Returning to normal, Willow watched in horror as his body absorbed the blow and it was released through his hair. “I... I have to go."

Willow tried to leave, but found herself, Branch and Creek surrounded by the Faunlettes.

“Uh, what are they doing?" Branch asked worriedly.

About how Branch is able to understand Poppy, it helps you see how they're soulmates and share a deep, mystical understanding. In other words, she belongs with him and not Creek.

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