#winkles

Some of my favorites in Saga

"Winkles" (2011)

Exactly what it says on the tin. It was a practise on shell shapes, I've always found these studies of shapes you don't normally draw to be very fruitful... not only they're relaxing and inspiring, but also, they help you loose/expand the things you are more used to draw. I'm the kind to get rusty/blocked/irritated if I draw the same thing for too long, so this kind of excercises (which I mostly doodle nowadays) is always sweet.

Aldo, I loooove toying around with the markings and patterns!

This story is a sequel to “The Queen and the Butterfly”.

The story: Poppy offers Branch some cupcakes with butterflies in it which turns out to be mysterious. When the two Trolls eat them, they got transformed into butterflies themselves and realize that the cupcakes were actually cursed by an evil witch! Now they must try to find the witch who made those cupcakes and get a cure to get themselves back to normal, while encountering obstacles in the process along the way.

You already seen what had happened in Part 19. Now get ready for the final part of the story - Part 20!:

A few minutes later, Poppy and Branch were now in the banquet room, waiting for Chrystelle to finish her latest creation. Poppy’s face is filled with hope and concern at the same time while she waited.

She was also sitting on the wrapper of the eaten butterfly cupcake that she and Branch have found when they first entered the mansion. She decided to study it closely to see if there are any answers about the victimized Troll who ate this. Unfortunately, she is unable to think due to trying to get Chrystelle or Branch to help her explain this.

Poppy tried to talk to Branch for help, but he was too busy flying around the mansion in order to pass the time.

But only this time, he looked happy instead of grumbling to himself. He appeared from just right above her, fluttering upside down like the way she did when he was stuck in a spiderweb two days ago. He called out to her happily “Hey, Poppy! How’s it going?”

“Hey, Branch,” said Poppy, giggling when she saw him. “You look funny. Why are you upside down?”

Branch laughed. “No, why aren’t you?!”

"Okay! I get it, Branch. You’re being upside for the next whole three hours and you’re enjoying it right now?!”

“Sorry, Poppy,” said Branch, fluttering in circles. “I just can’t help it but it’s so much fun to be flying upside!” He began to fly around in a little loop, hollering “Whooooooo!!”

Poppy giggled. “You’re adorable!”

“Yes!” Branch said. “Wow! So this is what it feels like!”

“I never knew you acted just like me before!” said Poppy.

“Thanks!” Branch replied. “Maybe someday when I’m now a Troll, I wish I have wings so I can fly around and defend Trolls from danger!”

He sped around in a circle with expert form. Flying like a butterfly was entirely different from walking like a Troll, but he could tell it was just as awesome. He zoomed back to Poppy, calling out “Hey, shall we chase each other? I'll race you to that plant over there!”

He gestured to a nearby plant pot in a corner and fluttered away. Poppy called back “You’re on, my boyfriend!” and zipped after him, flapping her wings and trying to catch up to him.

But ironically, Poppy was even more faster than Branch. She twirled around like an expert flyer and came right in front of Branch, much to his surprise.

“Race me there!” she laughed as she fluttered away. “You can’t catch me!”

“Come on, Poppy!” Branch said, laughing back at her. “Not this again! This time, I’m gonna get you now!”

The two of them are having the best time of their life, fluttering and twirling around the banquet room and laughing. For Poppy, it was great to pass the time when she and Branch were still butterflies. But she thought about Chrystelle’s plan of changing them back and wondered when she’ll be coming for them.

She wanted to think about this later, as she tried catching up to Branch once he flew past her.

Branch fluttered just above Poppy, trying to keep up with her as she instantly flew past him. He called down to her “Watch me do a loop, Poppy! It’s gonna be so cool and I’m totally gonna win!”

“Okay!” Poppy agreed. “If you say so!”

Branch narrowed his eyes, and he bolted downwards like a zipping missile.

Then he flew upwards before becoming upside down above Poppy.

She watched with awed amazement as Branch twirled and fluttered downwards again.

“WHOOOOOO!!!” Branch hollered happily as he twirled.

Finally, he zoomed past Poppy before smacking straight into a giant green Troll ear! It was Chrystelle’s ear.

“Hey there, little butterfly Troll!” she greeted him happily. “Wow! Aren’t you excited?”

“I am!” Branch said, grinning. “Sorry to run over to you, Chrystelle! I was starting to get the hang of it learning how to be a butterfly!”

“I see. That’s adorable!” Chrystelle said, pinching Branch’s cheek with her fingers and making him giggle. Then she pulled out two cupcakes from her pocket and presented them to Poppy and Branch. One was frosted like a rainbow, and the other was frosted in pink adorned with candies shaped like a ribbon bow.

“What’s that beautiful smell?” Poppy said, sniffing around the room. Her nose caught the delicious scent of Chrystelle’s new cupcakes. “Whoa!”

“Hey, Poppy,” she said. “Check out what I baked for you so far! Cupcakes with frosting shaped like Troll hair!”

She moved the cupcakes closer for Poppy and Branch to see. They reluctantly flutter to each cupcake and glanced at the frosting. They do indeed look like Troll hair. Chrystelle had put up every single idea to recap what Troll hair does look like.

“Oh, these look fantastic!” Poppy squealed, gazing at the pink-frosted cupcake with the candy ribbon. “I’ve never seen cupcakes decorated like Troll hair before!”

Chrystelle smiled. “Thanks, Poppy,” she said. “I made them myself! But I added some secret ingredients into it.” Then she decreased the volume of her voice to an audible whisper. “Don’t tell anyone about them! It’s secret!”

“Well, since you just mentioned 'secret ingredients',” Branch said. “How can we tell if these cupcakes can help us turn back to normal?”

“You have to eat them to see if they can really take effect,” Chrystelle explained. “Don’t depend how much they really take effect. Just wait a moment until you see what happens.”

Branch wasn’t so sure about this idea. He fluttered up to her face and asked “Are you sure that this is really going to work because what if these cupcakes change us randomly? What if I become a snail, or a peacock, or a unicorn....?”

Chrystelle giggled at this statement. “No, you won’t become anything else once you eat these cupcakes,” she told him. “It will definitely work! I’ve made a lot of experiments recently until you guys needed my help to change you back to Trolls. Hopefully the rest of the Trolls will know who I really am and I’ll prove that I’m a bit different.”

Poppy hovered forward and said “Chrystelle, it’d be our honor to help manage your feelings. Besides, what could go wrong if we ate the wrong cupcake?”

“I’m sure you’ll never want to hope for that,” Chrystelle replied. Then she held up her cupcakes for Poppy and Branch to eat. “Now eat these up. I promise they will work like success! Trust me.”

“Excuse me? Trust you?” Branch asked curiously. “I’m not so sure about this.”

“It’ll be fine. Just eat them!” Chrystelle told him, gesturing to her cupcakes. “Come on. Don’t be shy.”

But Branch pulled Poppy aside, and the two slinked into a fluttering huddle to speak privately.

“Uh, Poppy,” he said. “I’m starting to get a little worried right now about what would happen if we eat these new mysterious cupcakes. I mean, look at them! Do you think it looks dangerous than the ones decorated with candy butterflies?”

Poppy smiled with encouragement. “Cheer up, Branch! It will be fine!” she told him. “Chrystelle is counting on us!”

“Yeah, I was also hoping to just say goodbye to my antennae and butterfly wings before I possess arms and legs again,” Branch explained, flapping his wings. “And you know what? I am starting to feel a little more comfortable fluttering around and I’m gonna miss all of this adventure.”

“Me too!” said Poppy. “I've been flying around without two legs for days and picking things up with these!” She put her wings in the air with triumph, and finally, she fluttered towards the pink cupcake, concluding “Butterfly wings? I'm thrilled that's all I'll be dealing with back when I’ll eat these!”

“You better get eating right now,” said Chrystelle, shaking her cupcakes. “What are you waiting for?”

“You know, we’ve only been butterflies for a short time,” Branch said to her as he cautiously approached the rainbow cupcake; the only cupcake he must eat to regain his Troll form. “But I think it’s time I want to stop flying like this right away.”

Branch and Poppy went nearer to the cupcakes, sniffing at them. They try to understand what it smells like and what Chrystelle actually put in there.

I hope it isn’t poison, Branch thought anxiously. But let’s eat them anyway.

Then he took a bite on his cupcake. Poppy did the same with the other one. CHOMP!!! CHOMP!!!

They chewed and swallowed as chunks of the cakes went through their mouths. Smiling, they dipped themselves into the colorful frosting and munched happily on their final dessert of their lifetime.

CHOMP!!! CHOMP!!! CHOMP!!! CHOMP!!!!

They peeked out of the bite-marked hole of the cupcakes for a moment and glance at each other, eating heartily. Then they resumed their eating, wiggling their little bean-shaped bodies back and forth like worms.

Chrystelle began to giggle. It was just too much to watch that she clearly got amused even more! “I like the way you are eating!” she exclaimed through laughter.

Suddenly, bright balls of light emitted from inside the cupcakes with Poppy and Branch still eating in them. Shining and shimmering, they now looked like glowing balls of magic!

Horrified, Chrystelle stared at the glowing cupcakes. Then she quickly placed them on the table. They began to shake, as well as the table and the leftover eaten butterfly cupcake, once swirls of purple and pink surrounded the room.

“What’s happening?!” Chrystelle cried, totally losing her pressure. “What have I done? I think this experiment is not working so well!”

Indeed she was right. There were no more than a few seconds later as the cupcakes exploded with a burst of magic and a splatter of rainbow frosting all over the room! She closed her eyes as everything around her went...

POOOOOOOOOFFFF!!!

When everything came to clear, Chrystelle looked around, calling out in anguish “Poppy? Poppy! Queen Poppy! Where are you?!”

A hush fell over the large cloud of magic as it faded from view. Everything was still and in a mess of rainbow cupcake frosting, but Chrystelle couldn’t tear her eyes away from the spot where Poppy, Branch and her Troll hair cupcakes have disappeared.

Chrystelle’s eyes were wet with tears. She couldn’t believe the queen of Troll Village has been gone. But she couldn’t be gone forever.....could she? The idea was almost too much to bear.

Then the magic cloud had vanished, revealing Poppy and Branch, back in their restored Troll forms, coated with rainbow frosting from the magic blast and lying on the table, groaning. The Troll hair cupcakes they’ve been eating were lopsided on the edge, dripping some frosting onto the floor.

“Where are we?” asked Branch, rubbing his eyes. “W-w-what happened to us? We were eating just now!”

“Yeah,” Poppy said. “I felt strange!”

Chrystelle gasped with excitement and cheered as she rushed to Poppy and enveloped her in a big hug. “Poppy! Thank god! It worked!” she squealed happily. “I’m so glad you’re back to normal! Look at you! You’re a pretty beautiful queen again!”

“What?” asked Poppy. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re now a Troll again!” she told her as she pointed at her light blue dress. “Look!”

Poppy looked at her arms, then at her legs and finally, she felt her dress. She whooped with pride. “Yaaaaaay! I can feel my arms again! I’m totally back! I’m a Troll again! The queen’s finally back in town! Woooo-hoooo!!!”

Then Branch stood up, celebrating as well. He felt his arms, legs and his clothes as he danced along with Poppy. “I can feel them too! Especially my legs!” He looked up as his head for his butterfly antennae. Realizing they were no longer there anymore, he added “And I don’t have antennae in my head anymore! Oh, man! This is great! It’s so good to be back as a Troll once more! I am never eating anything like this anymore!”

Poppy jumped out of the table and embraced Chrystelle. “Thank you so much for your help, Chrystelle!” she said gratefully. “What you did was so amazing and inspiring! Your cupcakes you made taste very good than the other ones you give us!”

“You’re welcome, Poppy,” Chrystelle said kindly, wiping some cupcake frosting off Poppy’s dress with her hand. “I’m glad you like the cupcakes, especially that Troll beside you.” She pointed at Branch, who was checking to see if he still has his butterfly wings. But all he can see is nothing but his blue-skinned arms.

“Great,” he said sarcastically, waving his arms as if those are his own “butterfly wings”. “I don’t even have wings anymore. Let me see if I can try to fly.”

He flapped his arms and tried to take off, but instead, he fell facedown to the ground. SPLAT!!!

He landed on a smudge of pink cupcake frosting on the floor. Sitting up, he wiped some away from his face and concluded “My ability to fly is gone. What a pity.”

Deep down, he knew flying like a butterfly feels exciting for him, but for becoming a Troll again, that was a little hard to expect.

Chrystelle knelt down and helped him get up to his feet and asked “What’s your name? I don’t even know you since the cupcakes took effect!”

“Now you want me to introduce myself?” Branch retorted, dusting away the mess from his clothes with his hands. He stomped his foot and said “Fine! Here goes!” He cleared his throat before beginning to say his name. “The name’s Branch. I’m with Poppy the whole time. And you’re the one who fed me a cookie?”

“Yes,” Chrystelle answered awkwardly, trying not to feel the tone of his sarcasm. “Explain why you are here?”

“I was turned into a butterfly with her as well!” Branch went on. “I even ate that butterfly cupcake of yours and we had to spend the day flying around Troll Town in search of you after you left town 300 years ago!”

Chrystelle stared at him in upright shock for a moment. Then her frown faded as she said “After all these 300 years of isolation, you’re the only Troll who do even know who I am!” She held up her hand to shake hands with Branch. "Nice to meet you, Branch! Nice of you to support the queen!”

Branch shook her hand, replying “Thanks. It was my honor. Now is there anything else to explain for Poppy giving me that cupcake?!” He angrily pointed to the leftover butterfly cupcake on the table, smeared with pink frosting from the magical blast earlier. He turned to Poppy and gave her his infamous glare. “Poppy?!”

Poppy was so surprised that her voice quavered as she spoke to Branch “I swear I won’t be giving you any of those anymore, and it was official.”

Chrystelle glanced at their conversation. So far, she’d been very helpful to them, but now, she wanted to turn away from them and isolate in her beautiful yet creepy house once again so nobody will be able to see her true colors.

She looked at Poppy and Branch with sadness in her eyes. “Now that you two are back to normal, I think you just need to leave now,” she said.

“Why?” asked Poppy. “Don’t you want to stay? The rest of Troll Village will be excited for your reformation!”

“I know they would be,” Chrystelle said, sighing. “But I’m not coming with you. I’m just so nervous if the rest of the Trolls will think I’m like a witch to them right now when I claimed I managed to change my habit.”

She glanced up to space. Thinking of the citizens of Troll Village made her stomach lurch. She took a deep breath and turned on her feet to leave. She had no choice. If everyone believes her tendencies since the day she got fired from her own bakery, she would just have to go it alone.

Poppy stepped forward and pleaded “Please come with us, Chrystelle. You’ll be one of us if you change.” She put an arm on Chrystelle’s shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.

“Really?” she asked hopefully. I don’t think so. Do you think there is a way you can do to prevent me from coming to Troll Town?”

“Branch and I can show you how to live positively,” Poppy explained. “Just try to come outside with us. We’ll try to look for a new job for you once we get there.” She turned to Branch and he nodded with agreement, folding his arms bravely.

The green yellow-haired Troll felt a wave of relief wash over her as she realized the Troll queen will be helping her to live in the village once again. She hadn’t let herself admit that she had been scared to cause trouble again. Now all she needs to do was to prove that she’s changed.

“Um, okay,” she said, not feeling so sure. “It’s worth a try.”

Moments later, Poppy, Branch and Chrystelle are walking together around the forest, heading back to town.

Chrystelle felt a little better as they walked on. “It’s a good thing you brought me here, Poppy,” she told her. “Everything looks so peaceful in the meantime.”

“Yes!” the queen agreed. “And in Troll Village, you’re gonna love the most awesome changes ever since you left and everyone will love you once again!”

“Will they?” asked Chrystelle hopefully. “I still don’t know about this.”

“Just trust me,” Poppy reassured her. “Everytroll will!” Until her voice faltered with confusion as she concluded “Except...”

She thought about the leftover eaten butterfly cupcake back in the mansion. She had a moment of realization that she haven’t tell her what happened to the Troll who have been implied to come there and eat it before ending up as a butterfly in the first place since she and Branch came to her house! Stroking her chin with her finger, Poppy turned to Chrystelle with a worried-stricken look on her face and asked her “Can you tell me what happened to that Troll who came to your mansion before we even came? We saw an eaten butterfly cupcake in your banquet room!”

Chrystelle thought about this. Before knowing what is going on, she gasped after realizing what is the truth behind all of this. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she explained. “A few days ago, a Troll named William went to my mansion and ate my butterfly cupcake sitting there. After turning into a butterfly, my cat Winkles saw him and accidentally ate him alive!”

Poppy and Branch were mortified! “Oh my god,” Poppy gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. “Why did your cat eat him?”

“It’s because of his habit of chasing butterflies, Poppy!” Branch complained. “It’s a relief that your cat didn’t even eat me alive as well! Otherwise I could end up in his stomach being digested…like a Bergen’s stomach!”

“You know, sometimes being eaten by Bergens when you guys are butterflies would be as better as being eaten by Winkles,” Chrystelle replied.

“Yeah,” Branch said. “Good point. I felt bad for William, but he needs to know being eaten by Bergens more than that!”

“But speaking of that, what happened to the Bergens?” asked Chrystelle. “Back when I was in my job, they are still mean to us. Do they still eat you?”

“No, not anymore,” Poppy explained. “When my friends got captured, Branch and I went to Bergen Town to rescue them. After we end up in a cooking pot, Branch sang to me gently and he has his colors restored. Finally, we showed the Bergens about true happiness rather than eating Trolls to be happy!”

“And then Poppy became the queen after that!” Branch finished, blushing at the statement that she said he had sung to her while comforting her before. “Then I hugged her, knowing I had to be social to everyone from now on.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Chrystelle said, mystified by the story of how Poppy and Branch changed the lives of Bergens. “At least you don’t have to worry about them being evil anymore.” She looked at the ground, sighing. “But about what I did to William....was just an accident.”

Poppy nodded and put a hand to her shoulder. “I understand what happened with William but I hope your experiments won’t do anything dangerous to everyone anymore.”

“It’s okay,” Chrystelle said. “I just felt nervous about being back in the town and trying something different…after all what I did to you, William and Branch.”

“Don’t be nervous,” Poppy told her gently. “Starting today, you will be able to try something new in this world so you would start a new business here from now on. But for now, you must let go of the past and think positive!”

Chrystelle smiled weakly at her, trying to mean it.

Suddenly, Satin and Chenille appeared in front of them, calling out in unison “Poppy! There you are!”

“What took you so long?” Chenille cried. “The fashion show’s gonna begin after one hour and we need you there!”

“Oh, sorry I’m late for the preparations, girls!” Poppy apologized. “I was so busy helping my people that I forgot about your fashion show?”

“Yes, you did!” Satin answered. “It looks like you’ve overslept for too long!”

“Sorry about that,” Poppy said. “But don’t worry. I’ll be present with these festivities right now!”

Chrystelle whispered to Branch “Who are those Trolls with joined hair stuck to each other?”

“Those are Satin and Chenille,” Branch explained. “They are the fashion twins of Troll Village. I think they’re planning a fashion show today.”

“Really? Since when did you know them so well?”

“Because one time when we were butterflies, I had to save Poppy from being a decoration for their plan!” he hissed through gritted teeth. Satin and Chenille pulled out their dress adorned with butterfly-shaped clips. In between the clips laid a red ribbon on the left side. Branch gasped, suddenly remembering about what happened before this day happened. “Okay, that’s not what I meant!”

“Who’s responsible for pasting this piece of ribbon to this?!” Satin bellowed.

Branch stepped forward and puts his hands up with concern, saying “Uh, can I just discuss this ribbon came out of nowhere while it got prepared already? I didn’t mean for you to accuse us of this particular situation!”

“What do you mean? I don’t like the way it looks!” Chenille explained. “This dress is made especially for Poppy because she’s gonna wear this in the show!”

“I like it so far,” Poppy said, putting a finger to her chin. “What’s the point of disliking it?”

“It now looks like a dress made from a disgusting village right now!” said Satin. “We could totally use a makeover for this right now! Nova Swift will be disappointed with our result!”

Chrystelle felt terrible to see the fashion sisters arguing this way. Besides, she hated to see Trolls complaining in this manner as well. She put a finger on her chin to think of a way to resolve this.

“Did I remember pasting that ribbon there when we need to get past Satin and Chenille?” Branch whispered to Poppy, trying not to blow their cover.

“Well, how do you even know that?” Poppy asked.

But before Branch can explain everything, Chrystelle perked up “I think I have just the solution for this dilemma!”

Poppy, Branch, Satin and Chenille turned to her in confusion as they stopped talking for a moment.

“What is this Troll up to?” Satin whispered to her sister.

Moments later, that evening, the rest of the Trolls were crowding around a stage with purple curtains.

Bright shining spotlights moved around the area, creating an immense scenery of uncertain audience. They were waiting to see if any Troll would show up on the stage any second now. Nova Swift, the fashionable Troll, appeared before the audience, anticipating as well.

From behind the curtains, Chrystelle, Satin and Chenille are proudly looking at Poppy and Branch. The fashion twins were ready for Nova Swift’s next fashion show tonight.

“Wow, do you think they look beautiful in these costumes you helped for us?” Satin asked, softly chuckling.

“Yep!” Chrystelle answered proudly. She turned to Branch and Poppy and asked “What do you think, guys? I think I would work as a fashion designer like these girls!”

“This isn’t funny,” Branch complained, staring at Satin and Chenille giggling at them. “Why should we wear these?”

“Don’t worry about that, Branch,” Chrystelle told him. “Besides, I was inspired how you and Poppy dance to me like that back in the mansion earlier!”

It is true. Chrystelle gave Poppy and Branch matching butterfly costumes that resembled their butterfly forms. They were wearing jumpsuits that were colored like a butterfly’s bean-shaped body, headbands with fake insect antennae on their heads and stitched fabric wings on the back of the costumes.

Poppy looks amazed at what has been done so far. “These are amazing!” she said, straightening her antennae headband. “I really like these! I think you’d be working for them as your new job, Chrystelle!”

“Thank you!” she said gratefully. “But I’d rather be sticking to helping people in the village like a security officer right now. Would you agree?”

“Seriously?” Branch asked in confusion. “I don’t like this idea, especially the way your cat is looking at me right now.” He looked down at his feet, where Winkles the cat is snuggling beside them. He mewed “Meow!”

Everyone erupted into giggles and nodded with agreement. For the first time in forever, Chrystelle joined in, too. She may have forgotten how being social in Troll Village feels like, but she never would again.

Later, by the time the fashion show is over, Branch went back home, still wearing his butterfly costume after having Chrystelle’s permission of deciding to keep it. He exited his elevator, cheering “Hello! I’m home from Satin and Chenille’s fashion show!”

But as he took a step forward to the table, where Poppy’s picnic basket and the butterfly cupcakes are remaining there, he heard barking “Arf! Arf! Arf!”

It was coming from Binkie, his worm neighbor. He showed up from behind the basket....in the form of a pink butterfly with big purple wings! Branch’s smile faded when he saw him.

“Binkie?!” he asked in shock, gaping at his transformed neighbor. “You’re a butterfly now?”

“Arf!” Binkie barked as he fluttered to Branch. “Arf! Arf, arf!”

Branch couldn’t believe he has eaten one of the butterfly cupcakes left on the table! He sighed in dismay as Binkie fluttered to his cheek and cuddled beside it, whining happily.

“Oh boy,” Branch muttered, rolling his eyes and expecting the worse to come again. “Here we go again...”

                                                    THE END!

                                        Hope you enjoy this fanfiction!

Note: Hey, guys! This is the final part of this story and I just want to say, it took me forever to make it due to the length of parts required. But thank god, it was finished at last so I hope you like it! Please be glad that Poppy and Branch are finally back to normal at the end of the story and leave a comment if you like it! :)