The Youngest Runaways

After the celebration, the bergens went home for the most part.

"You guys are welcome here anytime, alright? Have a good night!" King Gristle told the trolls before walking away.

"You guys are heading back in the morning, right?" Bridget asked.

"Yeah, and then we're going to start on rebuilding the village. Hopefully, we can come visit real soon," Poppy shook the bergen's finger.

The maid wished them goodnight before running off after her new boyfriend.

"Alright everyone, if you lived in the Tree before the escape, go and search for your pod. For everyone who didn't or their pod got lost, you might need to partner up with someone or find an unclaimed pod!" the Queen announced.

"We'll meet up at the top of the Tree by noon tomorrow to begin our journey home, so be sure to rest up until then!"

---

Floyd called the rest of the Guard to attention.

"Alright, since we're going to be working together from now on, there's something that I need to fill you guys in on. I'll take you guys to where my old hideout is and we can spend the night there. I'll show you what we need to discuss in the morning," the redhead motioned for them to follow.

The group walked around the base of the Tree for some time until the magenta-haired troll stopped at a patch of dirt with a wooden handle sticking out.

Floyd grabbed the handle and tugged on it, opening what turned out to be a wooden hatch door.

"Be careful on your way down, use the ladder that's right there."

---

Everyone took in what they were seeing as Branch turned the light on.

The dirt room that they were currently in had a couple of beanbag chairs leaning against a wall, and a wooden desk with a lamp on the opposite side.

There were a few more open doors that they couldn't see into due to there being no light.

"This leads into the kitchen. Don't get your hopes up though, I made this place when I was a little kid, so the most that's in there is a portable stove, a table, and a fridge. There isn't many plates or silverware in the cabinets since only Branch and I lived here. This leads into our bedroom. There's a closet in there with blankets, so you guys could make a big nest to fit in. This leads into the bathroom. You wouldn't think that someone younger than 8 years old did the plumbing in there. I even surprised myself when I got it to work," Floyd smiled with pride.

As most of the group made their way inside the bedroom, he pulled Smidge and DJ aside.

"So, a bird told me that you have some suspicions about who Branch and I are," he crossed his arms, looking at the raspberry-colored troll.

Cooper quickly glanced into the bedroom to make sure no one was snooping before returning to sit on the ground next to Branch and Smidge, who were sitting on the beanbag chairs.

"Y-yeah. Mentioning your relatives' names and calling Branch 'Bits' got me thinking... and looking at your colors now, they match," she explained.

"Well, you're correct. We were in BroZone back when it was still a thing all those years ago."

He glanced over to the closed door of the bedroom before looking at her with a more relaxed expression.

"It's actually related to where I was going to take you guys before we head back to the village. Just... don't tell them, it's a surprise," he added with a wink before sending her into the lively bedroom.