The Lost Tribe

Chapter 9

After the celebration dance, Aria and Ash took Poppy and Branch to the center of town. It was so quiet and the cool evening breeze blew against their cheeks. They sat by the edge of a fountain and watched the passing trolls. Trolls of all ages, young ones with their families, some with their guardians. After a while, something stood out to Poppy.

"You guys have those marks on your faces," Poppy pointed out. "And lots of the other trolls have them, but how come the young troll kids don't?" Poppy was right. Most of the trolls above teenage had different marks on their faces, spirals, zig zags, cirles, all sorts. But the younger trolls didn't seem to have any.

"When a young troll comes of age, they show the whole tribe how strong their bond is with their guardian." Ash explained as his own guardian emerged from his gem. His guardian was a green falcon. "They'll sing to make their spirit glow, ride their spirit, dance with it, all in front of the tribe."

"Then after the performance, Tala awards the troll with a permanent mark," Aria continued with Echo nuzzling her face, along the spiral mark on her face. "As a reminder of the unbreakable bond of the troll with their guardian."

It made Poppy think about the troll gems. How it was a milestone of the troll embracing their joy and a reminder of all they had achieved. Maybe their tribes weren't so different after all, maybe what her dad told her wasn't true.

That made her think. The story of the strings that King Peppy told them wasn't true, and was corrected by the funk trolls. Was there a different side of the Lost Trolls story? Poppy spotted Tala in the center of town. If she was going to reunited the tribes, she had to learn the truth. The real truth. Poppy walked up to Tala and tapped her shoulder.

"Tala?" Poppy said.

"Yes Queen Poppy, what can I do for you?" Tala asked. Poppy lead her to the fountain where she was previously sitting with Branch, Aria and Ash.

"My dad told me about the story of how the trolls became so divided," Poppy explained. Tala could see where this was going. "What actually happened to divide the trolls? You know...to drive your tribe away?" Tala sighed as she sat down by the fountain.

"When the first troll ancestors were born, they sprouted from a great magical tree." Tala explained. "Each troll that sprouted absorbed its powers. They had magical hair and were guided by the music in their hearts." Tala paused for a moment to gather her breath. "Our tribe's ancestor was the last to sprout and by the time she was born, there was no magic left in the tree for her. Without this power, she couldn't keep up with the other trolls and they eventually left her isolated." Poppy and Branch looked at each other and nodded, recognizing the story.

"We were told that she left because she was jealous of the other trolls' powers." Branch said.

"Jealous?" Tala looked confused. "No, she left because she knew there was no chance of her fitting in so she ventured out to find somewhere she felt like she belonged." Poppy and Branch looked shocked, feeling bad for the ancestor. "Without magic, she struggled as she ventured into the forest. But she never gave up. Mother Nature blessed her for her determination, and gave her a spiritual companion, creating it with the troll's own soul." Tala's leopard guardian nuzzled against her. "Amazed by her new power, she wanted to show it to the other trolls. But when she arrived, she saw that the trolls were about to be attacked by a predator. She tried to warn them, but they couldn't hear her. So she used her guardian to help defend them, the fight was brutal and it even damaged the trolls' home and they blamed her, thinking the guardian was a demon that had possessed her."

"So what happened to her?" Poppy asked.

"She left." Tala said. "Knowing she would never earn their respect and would only fear her. So she didn't try to fix something that was beyond repair. She set off with her guardian and they found the Paradise Isles, the home where our tribe had lived ever since."