If you guys need a little catching up on what happened to Willow before all this, I suggest you read the last three chapters of In The Stardust, which like this book, take place after Bye Bye Bunker. I hope you guys enjoy this, because this is all I'm writing until Trolls World Tour comes out.

This is partially based on the works of Rally9933 and fazed_. For the cover, I used an app @Lee_La_Jolie (who I am unable to mention, for whatever reason) recommended, but it's kinda hard to use when all you have to draw on is a smartphone. Enjoy!

Poppy woke up like it was just another day... No, not quite. There was an unusual chill in the air. She looked outside her window to find...

“Snow?"

Normally, Poppy would be happy to see Troll Village covered in a blanket of white. But it only snowed one day a year in Troll Village, and that day wasn't too long ago.

“This is odd," she said to herself, and put on her winter clothes.

“It's snowing!" a Troll cheered.

“And it's not even Snow Day!" another shouted happily.

“I'm gonna build a snowman!"

Poppy noticed Branch looking around, just as confused as she was.

“This is weird," she told her friend. “How can it be snowing so early?"

Branch looked around to find it snowing harder over by a purple and black pod.

“I think I know..."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was snowing inside of the pod, too, as melancholic music played on a radio. On a counter, a container of vanilla ice cream lay on its side, the opening off the edge, as the ice cream melted and slowly dripped into the open mouth of a certain pale Troll with dark hair who was lying on the floor. She grabbed a coffee pot and poured the black liquid into her mouth to magically mix it and refreeze it with a spin of her index finger. As she swallowed the frozen treat, she saw the cover of a newspaper that read, “Wicked Mother Found Dead." It showed a picture of Willow's mother and another of herself when she was nine years old, being bullied by her peers.

Suddenly, Willow heard someone knocking on her door. Letting out a groan and a belch, she struggled to spin her body around as she remained on her back. Using her feet, she pushed herself through the thick layer of snow across the floor to the door, leaving a cleared path, and grabbed a long, twisty periscope with her hair to see two familiar faces outside. One with a smile, the other with an... upside down smile.

Willow raised an eyebrow. “Poppy and Branch?"

“Branch, quit scowling!" Poppy scolded. “You're gonna scare her!"

“She's seen me angry before," Branch pointed out as Willow opened the door.

“What do you guys want?"

“We wanted to see how you were doing," Poppy answered.

“I'm fine," she said flatly.

“Then why is it snowing in your house?" Branch asked.

“The thermostat has a mind of its own," Willow lied. Branch just glared at her. “Okay, I've been thinking about that night between me and my mother, that thing with the Rattlecobra, and I just can't help but feel like I'm trapped in some sort of prison."

“But Will, they can't hurt you anymore," Poppy pointed out. “You're free from their torment."

“It's not them that scare me," Willow said, and led the pair inside. She grabbed a book with a Rattlecobra on the cover and turned to the page near the end. “It's this."

“The Connection will unintentionally carry my empathic abilities, as well as certain Rattlecobra abilities and this Darkness they say is inside me, but I don't expect it to be as powerful as myself, especially if it's female. Its only purpose is for me to drain the powerful energy out of these pathetic creatures."

“What is the Darkness?" Willow asked nervously, creating a blizzard both in and out of her house. “Why is it inside me? What did I do to..."

“Willow, calm down," Poppy said calmly. “Deep breaths, deep breaths. Feel better?"

“A little," Willow replied. “But seriously, what is it?"

“I've never heard of it," Branch said, looking through the book. “Doesn't say anything about it here, either."

“If you want to know what the Darkness is, your best chance would be to go to the resting place of Queen Penny," a voice spoke up. The three Trolls turned to find King Peppy standing at the entrance.

“Who's Queen Penny?" Poppy wondered.

“She ruled the Trolls three hundred years ago," Peppy answered. “After her retirement and passing the crown to her son, King Perky, she decided to settle down in a place called the Valley of Serenity, and spent her final years there understanding the magic of other creatures. She was said to have had many scrapbooks about the legends and tales of kingdoms near and far. But the only one that we were able to aquire was about Elora of Northros."

“Oh, yeah, that one's my favorite," Willow said. “Until the drinking, my dad told it to me and my brothers and sisters at bedtime."

“Ever since her passing, no one's ever been to the Valley," King Peppy continued. “Except maybe that one lad who puts a lot of mousse in his hair. What's his name? Puddle? No, Trickle! Wait, it's Tinkle!"

Branch couldn't stop laughing. He knew who King Peppy was talking about.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

“Hey, Creek?" Willow asked as he meditated. “King Peppy told us you've been to a place called the Valley of Serenity. Is this true?"

“Greetings, my friends," Creek greeted calmly. “And to answer your question, Willow, yes. I've been to the Valley of Serenity. It's quite lovely, especially in the springtime."

“Yeah, that's great," Branch interrupted, immediately annoyed. “Can you tell us where it is?"

“Yes, on one condition: all three of you have to come to my pod for tea."

“Do I have to?" Branch grumbled.

“Do you want to help Willow or not?" Poppy spat. Willow looked down sadly, and it began to snow harder.

“Ugh, fine! We'll go!" Branch groaned.

“Woo-hoo!" Willow shouted, causing all the clouds to blow away. Now that the sun was shining again, the snow began melting.

“Aww, come on! I wasn't finished with my snowman!" someone shouted.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I nearly died in the wilderness after I betrayed you all," Creek explained as they drank their cups of tea. “Fortunately, I was rescued by a creature called a Faunlette, and taken to the Valley of Serenity to heal. After recovery, I decided to ask my friends for forgiveness and the Faunlettes helped me return to Troll Village."

“And you remember the way back, right?" Poppy asked.

“Of course," Creek assured the queen. “I can take you there, if you want."

“Great, let's go!" Willow said excitedly, accidentally throwing a fireball into a bonsai. “Sorry."

“No worries," Creek insisted, and put the fire out with his hair. “Why do you want to find the Valley anyways?"

“Willow has something called the Darkness inside her, and we think one of Queen Penny's scrapbooks can tell us how it'll affect her," Branch answered. “Because the one about a magical queen of an enchanted forest won't help at all. Will it, Poppy? Wait, where's Poppy?"

Suddenly, the group heard a horn from outside. They looked out the window to find a pink dirigible, with Poppy at the steering wheel.

“All aboard!" she called out. “Gentlemen, you're in charge of navigation. Willow, bring the snacks!"

“Aye-aye, Cap'n!" Willow agreed, and rushed home to grab some.

“Poppy, Branch and I never get along!" Creek argued. “Why do we have to work together?"

Branch scoffed. “Don't- don't listen to him. We'll be fine!"

“Branch, I hope you're right, because you two need to learn to talk things out," Poppy replied. The guys nodded as Willow brought a bunch of different snacks.

Creek glanced at Branch. “You lied to her to impress her, didn't you?"

“Maybe..." Branch said sheepishly.

“Branch, I've been friends with Poppy a lot longer than you," Creek explained as they boarded the balloon, “and she's not exactly looking for the “grungy survivalist" type."

“You're just saying this to make me feel bad," Branch figured. “You had your chance with her, now it's my turn."

“Hey, guys?" Willow interrupted. “Before you start fighting about who gets to win Poppy's heart, if any of you have any food allergies, let me know. And Creek, due to your lactose intolerance, try to avoid the cake bars."

“What's the briefcase for?" Creek asked.

“To carry my inhalers," Willow answered.

“I got a bad feeling about this flight," Branch said quietly.

Yeah, that was a reference to Lost.

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