A Queen and Her Hero

Ineluctable

Ineluctable

A/N: Okay, I was watching "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" a couple of days ago for the first time in almost two years. I haven't seen that movie in a long time! I loved all three movies, and they were all inspired by one of my favorite books back when I was a kid, by one of my favorite authors ever.

Anyway, I was watching the dance fighting scene, which in my opinion, was one of the best scenes ever in that film. I just love seeing girls kick butt like that. It shows that us females are more than just a pretty face. But then, I got inspired to write this. I just got one thing to say about it though. Why do I love writing a certain Troll to be not just a loveable dork, but also as a serious bad-A when the occasion calls for it?

Well, I hope y'all enjoy it. And action!

Why didn't I listen?! A familiar pink Troll screamed out in her head as she immediately dove for cover to avoid the fuzzy legs of a giant spider two times her size that almost tried to bite her ear. Trolls already were trying to quiet their screams of panic as they copied her actions.

Why didn't she listen to him?! Branch had told Poppy to keep the parties to a lower excitement level for a couple of weeks since it was tarantuapuff mating season, which makes the already scary and dangerous spiders even more vicious than usual. Mostly because of the males fighting against each other to show off to the females. And they are attracted to anything that sparkles.

But instead, she didn't listen because she thought that he was just being his usual paranoid self, although she did not want to see another tarantuapuff for as long as she lived. The first time, she was nearly eaten by them back when she was traveling to Bergen Town months ago. And then the second time, it was Branch that was in danger of becoming their next meal because he wanted to show off.

Maybe hosting the annual Glitter-Fest Glitterball game as planned instead of postponing it until the end of the week wasn't a good idea after all. The pink-haired queen thought to herself as she quickly disguised herself as a shrub near one of the mushrooms that her friends were hiding in. There was glitter everywhere, and the hormone-induced spiders were soon attracted to the sparkling village to compete for the attention of the opposite gender.

Luckily, everyone managed to make it to their homes either on the ground or in the tree to hide or to blend in with their surroundings. Poppy had to disguise herself as a shrub because a tarantuapuff almost spotted her before she could make it to the mushroom where the rest of the Snack Pack decided to hide.

Could this day get any worse? The pink Troll thought bitterly to herself as she slowly crouched down to further conceal herself.

Just then, there was a gentle, melodic whistling sound that got all of the tarantuapuffs' attention. Poppy felt her blood freeze when she instantly recognized the voice that was whistling.

She looked in the direction where it was coming from and saw Branch coming into the plaza, carrying a good-sized pile of berries in his arms as he whistled. The cheerful sound immediately stopped when he saw the glittery village and the tarantuapuffs now looking at him, half of them looking at him with hunger, the other half wondering what was going to happen now that a potential meal had arrived.

His sky blue eyes narrowed in annoyance. "And of course Poppy doesn't listen to me. Again." He muttered under his breath as he dropped the berries and took a defensive stance as the male tarantuapuffs started to slowly inch towards him.

Branch then turned over to the nearest mushroom. "Hey, Suki." He called out.

The red Troll gingerly peeked out of the window. "Give me a beat. I'll send these guys out of here while everyone that's still out in the open can get somewhere safe."