Here's the first chapter of my second Trolls story. I know I said before that I'll be making Trumpet of the swan, but something happened and I'm afraid that's going to be on hold for who knows how long.

Anyway, I hope that you would appreciate reading this one instead. I apologize for any conveniences.

I like to give a shout out to Reby Montana who gave me the idea and chance to try it out.

I don't own "Ratatouille", "Trolls", or any of the characters, except for the OC's.

"Italics" means narration, FYI.

Enjoy!

Trollatouille

Chapter 1: Living the Hard Life

On a small TV, a Bergen Announcer spoke while the planet itself spun until it pointed to the location of Bergen Town in the land known as Bergoll.

"Although everywhere on this world would like to dispute this fact, we Bergens know the truth. The best food in the world is made in the land of Bergoll. The best food in Bergoll is made in Bergen Town. And the best food in Bergen Town, some say, is made by Chef Gristle Sr."

The TV then cuts to a place with a sign that said "Gristle's" on it and a male Bergen figure grinning. It zooms out giving full view of the whole restaurant. It was big, castle-like, filled with lights, flags, and parasols. It was known to be a popular restaurant with its five star rating glowing on the sign. There were even trees around it, a fountain with lamps around it in the center of the street, and there were plenty of Bergens outside whether entering the restaurant or passing by, but most of them went inside for their meals.

"Gristle's Restaurant is the toast of Bergen Town, booked five months in advance. And his dazzling ascent to the top of fine Bergen cuisine has made his competitors envious. He's the youngest chef ever to achieve a five star rating."

This was proven by the numerous famous magazine covers appearing one by one, each one with Chef Gristle Sr. on the cover, indicating his success. But none of these magazines were more successful than Chef Gristle's own book titled "Anyone can cook". His book was so famous that many Bergens went in line to get their books signed by Gristle himself which he was happy to obliged.

"Chef Gristle's cookbook, "Anyone Can Cook", has climbed up to the top of the best seller list. But not everyone celebrates his success."

There was one person who wasn't in good terms with Chef Gristle's Success. This person was one of the most important, popular, but mostly terrifying, food critic in all of Bergoll. He was a tall, skinny Bergen with purple hair which covered his right side, red eyes, pale gray skin and black patches surrounding his eyes. He wore a Gothic style tuxedo, a black necktie, and shoes. He was known as Nicholas Tombstone which everyone refers him as the "Dark Slenderman".

"Why am I wasting my time here in these annoying interviews given by these lowlifes?" Nicholas groaned, not noticing that he's on camera.

"Um, sir, we're on," the cameraman whispered.

He then realized the camera was on as he spoke. "Right, right." Nicholas cleared his throat and stood straight in his chair while reading Gristle's book. He shook his head and closed the book.

"Amusing Title: 'Anyone can cook.' But what's even more amusing is that jolly fool, Gristle Sr., actually seems to believe in it. I mean, if anyone can cook, that must mean my TV can cook, the trees can cook, heck, even my neighbor's pet alligator can cook. Huh, when trolls fly, I say they cook!" He then threw the book on the trashcan, disagreeing with the topic. "I, on the other hand, take cooking seriously and no, I don't think anyone can do it!"

Then, everything went black.

Deep in the forest, faraway from Bergen Town, there was a log cabin located right in front of the giant tree. It was raining in the area, raindrops spattered on the roof and trees, the ground was muddy, and the sky was dark. In fact, the day looks peaceful enough for anyone to stay warm and cozy indoors. Not in this case.

BOOM!

Loud, booming sounds were heard inside the log cabin. The window flashed red for a second. It was gunshots. The sounds were followed by a crash and then a loud yell. Many unfamiliar sounds were heard inside along with banging, crashing, shattering, clanking, and even screaming.

Suddenly, two creatures jumped out the window, carrying a book while looking very terrified. They were trolls.

One was a male troll with teal skin, long, royal blue hair, sky blue eyes, and wearing a leafy vest with brown pants with patches on it. The other was a female troll with flamingo pink skin, magenta hair and eyes, and wearing a blue dress and green hairband with blue flowers on it.

"This is me," A male voice narrated. "Obviously, I'm the male, bluish one. And that's Poppy. You're probably wondering how we got ourselves into this mess. Let me make one thing clear: This was not my idea. I think it's apparent that we need to rethink our lives a little bit. What's our problem? I'll tell you."

-Earlier days ago-

"First of all, we're trolls...which means life is hard. It wasn't always like this, mind you. We used to live in prosper and our homes were full of food and life, but thanks to drastic weather changes and many Bergens destroying our land and moving in, our lives are practically hanging by a thread. My name is Branch, yes, like the tree branch. Deal with it."

At twilight, when the sun was setting, a scout troll came out of hiding, passing by a barrel. Then the rest of the trolls followed behind him, running fast in the shadows. Sometimes, they could practically run in all fours to move faster. They reached their destination which was a pig pen full of garbage, half eaten food, old berries, and some desserts, if lucky. The trolls all climbed up it and got in.

"Second, I have a highly developed sense of taste and smell, which isn't ignored by Poppy, a dear friend of mine."

Inside the pen, Poppy lifted a piece of paper covering some cake. "Jackpot! Look at this, Branch! Bet ya can't name at least five ingredients on this sweet thing."

"Wanna bet?" Branch smirked. He sniffed and smiled as he breathed in the sweet smell. "Hmm, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla bean..." He then taste a bit of it with his finger. "...and oh, a small twist of lemon! Ha! That's five, Poppy!"

"Lucky guess," Poppy teased as she gently punches Branch's shoulder.

"Come on, let's take first dibs before some other mouth gets here." Branch said. But before they could start eating it, another troll popped out of the cake. He is a large, chubby, dark blue troll with short, light teal hair and blue eyes. He wears a purple vest and pants.

"Whoa, you can smell all that? You have a gift!" The blue troll said, tasting it as he grinned.

"This is Biggie, my brother. He's easily impressed. He might be the biggest of all of us, as well as his appetite, but he has the kindest heart, besides Poppy, of course. 'The Gentle Giant' as I call him."

"Suddenly, I lost my appetite." Branch muttered which Poppy chuckled.

"So, you could smell ingredients," an annoyed matured voice shouted. "Big deal! It's not going to feed us."

The three trolls looked as they found the source of the voice. An orange troll whose hair is red with grey streaks, same as his mustache and eyebrows, was digging through the garbage. His clothes consists of green trousers and a green and blue waistcoat. He also carried a wooden cane due to his age.

"And that's Poppy's father, King Peppy. He's never impressed, at least, not with my abilities. He's also happens to be the leader of our clan. He's kind and sweet with everyone, especially with Poppy. He's just against anything that's not troll traditional."

The old troll then came near an apple core as he glanced at Branch and Poppy.

"So what's wrong with having highly developed senses?"

Smacked his lips, Peppy attempts to eat his food, until Branch began sniffing and caught scent of an unknown substance. With alerted ears and wide eyes, he gasps. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No, don't eat that!" He immediately yanked the apple from Peppy and sniffed around.

"What's going on here?" Peppy asked.

Branch followed the scent while Poppy and the others followed him. He then found something covered in a tarp beside the cabin. As he pull it up, he revealed the source of the smell: troll poison. There were empty boxes of troll killing poison. Thanks to Branch, he managed to avoid a major disaster. The trolls, even the king, looked surprised as they looked at Branch. Biggie and Poppy were impressed and grateful for his actions, making Branch smile happily.

"Turns out that funny smell was troll poison. One bite of food with that and it's a one way ticket to troll heaven. Suddenly, King Peppy didn't think my talent was useless. I was feeling pretty good about my gift..."

The next day, Branch, looking extremely bored, was sitting as a line of trolls held their food pick up for him to smell for poison. Though he wanted his gift to be noticed and useful to the clan, this isn't what he had in mind.

"That is...until his majesty gave me a job. That's right. Poison checker. I don't mind using my talents for the clan, but this is a low job, even for me!"

One by one, Branch checked every food that came across his nose. The red troll DJ Suki showed him a bad strawberry. Branch sniffed it. "Clean."

The next troll, Guy Diamond, a glitter troll, showed him an old mushroom. "Clean."

Then the twins, Satin and Chenille, came along with their food. Satin showed her bitten carrot to Branch. "Cleanariffic." Next was Chenille's crumb. "Cleanarino."

Then, the small yellow troll, Smidge, showed him her food. "Most to godliness." She looked confused as Branch looked at her. "Which means clean. You know: cleaniness. Close to..." He then sighed as he shook his head. "Ah, never mind. Move on."

Later, inside the tree above the log cabin, many trolls were moving about while some of them were eating. King Peppy was proud of their success And grinned as he watched the trolls wandering about the area.

"Well, it made the king proud, though."

"Now, don't you feel better, Branch?" He patted him. "Eh? Thanks to your gifts, you helped a noble cause."

"Noble?" Branch, however, looked stern at him as he spoke. "We're thieves, King Peppy! We've sunk so low. That's bad enough for me. What's worse is that instead of looking for quality food, what we're stealing is, let's be honest, garbage!"

"It's not stealing if no one wants it." King Peppy glared at Branch.

"If no one wants it, then why are we stealing it?!" Branch argued, raising his voice.

"I am not having this again!" The king sternly scolded as both of them continuously argued. One would think they are related by how constant they argue over the same topic.

"Well, let's just say that he and I have different points of view, especially for these robbing actions. That's my struggle with him. Poppy, on the other hand, also shared discomfort with this lifestyle, but her problem is different than mine. While I want to have a safe, happy life, Poppy wants to eat good food and not the garbage we have to steal. I admit that the food we're scrounging is not my taste either, but I always say 'any food is a blessing.' Poppy, well, she's tends to be picky."

A bit later, King Peppy, Biggie, and Branch (though only slightly) were eating the food or garbage, in this case, while Poppy looked at her food with disgust.

"Come on, Poppy. You got to eat something. I picked the better looking ones for you," Branch said softly. "You'll need strength to run. The food will make you strong and fast."

"Yeah, but first, it's gonna make me sick," Poppy said as she pushed the plate away, letting her father notice. "Thanks for trying, Branch."

"This much I knew. If you are what you eat, then Poppy only want to eat the good stuff. But to her dad..."

"Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now come on and eat your garbage," Peppy ordered.

"Come on, Poppy. It's not so bad once you've taste it," Biggie added.

"That's because you don't know where it's been. Sure, it may not been poisoned, but it will give us indigestion and food poisoning!" Poppy said before facing her father. "Dad, if we're going to be thieves, no offense, Branch, then why not steal the good stuff in the cabin kitchen? Where nothing is poisoned?" She motioned specifically.

"Branch!" King Peppy stood up, facing the teal troll, thinking that he told Poppy about them being thieves.

"What? I didn't say anything!" Branch defended himself.

"He didn't tell me anything, Dad! I can see it for myself!" Poppy said. "Why can't we eat the good food? Fresh ones? Better looking ones? Delicious? We just go down to the kitchen quietly, and look around until..."

Peppy slams his cane down. "First of all, we are not thieves! Secondly, stay out of the kitchen and away from the Bergens! It's dangerous! Besides, you know what they're like. They come in and try to eliminate us the moment they see us!"

Poppy sighed in defeat. "I know..."

"I don't want any of you to bring this up again and that's final!" Peppy sternly said. "Understood?"

The other trolls nodded silently before they resumed eating, besides Poppy, who only looked at her father.

"If there's one thing that can make the king steam is Bergens. That's one topic you have to avoid bringing to Peppy."

That night, outside the tree, Poppy looked at the log cabin. Branch was beside her. Though he was cautious about being anywhere near the Bergens, he won't leave Poppy alone. He wouldn't admit it but even he was becoming curious about them and about the food they make.

"I know we're suppose to hate Bergens, but there's something about them from what Poppy had told me before. They...They don't just survive. They discover, they create. I mean, just look at what they do with the food! Food is a treasure to behold. At least, that's what Poppy told me."

In an instant, Poppy and Branch were inside as they wandered around in the kitchen. Branch was against it at first, but once he smelled the food, he just wanted to keep smelling each new food and even taste them which is what Poppy is dying for.

As Branch came to stop near a food bowl, Poppy then saw the TV where Gristle Sr. was being shown. "Branch, come look at this!" She called him in a whisper. Once he joined her, they both watched in awe in Gristle's descriptions in food on TV.

"How can I describe it? Good food is like music you can taste. Color you can smell! There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and consider it," Gristle explained.

It was because of Gristle that gave Poppy her love for good food. This has been rubbed off on to Branch as well. Good food is good to taste, but it tastes better when it's being shared with the people you love.

Branch smiled as he looked at the food bowl behind him. Then, he took two pieces of cheese and strawberry each. He gave the different pieces to Poppy and both took the tasting test together. First, they tried the cheese, which gave them a soft, chewy taste to savor. In a way, they sensed like they were tasting jazz.

"Oh, Gristle was right. Ah! Mmmm, yeah. Amazing."

They swallowed it with satisfaction. Then, Poppy tasted the strawberry, following Branch, giving them a strong, juicy taste. It seemed like classical French music was playing inside of them. Poppy just couldn't get enough of it.

"Each flavor was totally unique. But combine one flavor with another and something new was created!"

After swallowing with satisfaction, Poppy looked at the two items she had. She had an idea of trying both of them at the same time. Branch was willing to try it if Poppy would. So, together, they then bit both the cheese and the strawberry at the same time, tasting what seemed samba music. It was a heavenly party inside their mouths and they just don't want to stop.

But before the trolls could swallow, the light was heard turning on. They gulped as they saw the cabin owner, an old Bergen they call Grandpa Rusty getting up. Quickly, Poppy and Branch left just as the old Bergen turned around.

"I need a cat around here," he muttered. The two trolls had left the area before Grandpa Rusty could discover them and they ran back home.

"So now, we had a secret life, despite the risks we have or will have."

Hope you like it!

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Neomoon585