"I'm telling you guys, it was him!" Poppy told her friends as she scrapbooked the scene to help them get more of a visual. She had told all of her friends about what she had seen on her adventure just three days ago that was a little too far from the village. Poppy was always wanting to go on adventures and never wanted to stay in one place.

"I didn't recognize him at first," she continued, "but I saw it in his eyes." Suddenly her face dropped. "He looked so sad, and I didn't know what happened to him."

King Peppy had been watching from the kitchen. He frowned. His daughter didn't know what had really happened to Branch's grandmother, she and the other children didn't see the Bergan. It made him doubt they they weren't completely safe where they had rebuilt their civilization. But Rosiepuff and Branch's pod was so separate from everyone else, and the rest of them blended in. Branch wasn't at all responsible for what had happened, he was so wrapped up in singing that he didn't realize what was happening. Luckily the hungry Bergan didn't take anyone else, but being their king, he couldn't help but worry that they weren't safe.

"Done," said Poppy, who had finished her scrapbook. She lifted it up so they could all see.

"He looks so sad…" DJ Suki mumbled, frowning.

"It's so...dark, and colorless," Cooper said.

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"That's how he looks now," Poppy said sadly, slumping down in her seat, not sure what to do. "I can't figure it."

"I'm sure everything will turn out fine Poppy," nine-year-old Creek assured her in his sweet voice that always got Poppy's hopes up. He booped her nose, making her giggle and have hope grow inside of her.

"I hope your right Creek," she sighed, looking at the scrapbook once more. Everyone deserves to be happy, she thought. What happened to him? He was happy, at least from what I've seen.

Peppy emerged from the kitchen. "Alright kids, I think you should be getting home to your pods," he said calmly.

"Aww man!" they groaned.

"We wanna stay with Princess Poppy!" Biggie said, crestfallen.

"You'll see her in the morning," the king said. "Get some sleep. You'll want to be bright-eyed and bushy-haired for the morning song, won't wanna miss it!"

That was enough to convince the children to get some rest. Saying their final goodbyes to Poppy, they made their way out as a group as well as hugging each other goodbye and disappearing into their own homes.

A sudden pang of loneliness struck Poppy. Not only was she sad that her friends had to leave, but she couldn't stop thinking about the look on Branch's face when she tried to talk to him. He was so sad.

"Bedtime, little one." Her father interrupted her thoughts as he scooped her up in his arms. She didn't speak, for even though her thoughts were interrupted when he had picked her up, her mind was still trying to piece everything together.

He set her down gently in bed, wrapping the covers around her. She turned to her side, confused and unhappy about what had happened to Branch. One troll alone being sad was enough for her to be sad, and it didn't help that she had no idea where he had disappeared to.

Peppy could tell she was in thought. She had that look her mother did when she was thinking about leaned against the doorframe, watching her with his head tilted. She looked at him slowly. "C'mon, where's my happy girl?"

Poppy shrugged. "I can't stop thinking about Branch. It's been three days! What happened to him? Where is he?"

"Oh, I'm sure he just wants to be alone right now," he said, approaching her and sitting on the foot of her bed. "He'll be alright."

"I've never seen a troll go grey before, it...it freaked me out! I wonder what made him that way?"

Peppy took a breath. He knew his daughter was too innocent for the truth. He knew that Rosiepuff, his grandmother, was gone. She was the only family the young troll had left, and now she was gone. He knew that was the reason he turned grey. Branch was born into a father that never acknowledged him and a mother that was unable to take care of him. So she gave him up to her mother Rosiepuff when he was very young. It was the only person who looked after him. His mother knew her time was coming when she had gotten almost too sick that she could barely stand. Branch was too young to understand what was happening when he was that young. As for his father, he left the troll tree soon after Branch was born. No one knew why and no one ever heard from him since.

He finally found what to say. "Hey, do you remember what your mom would always say?"

"Don't eat the yellow snow?" Poppy asked, knowing that wasn't right because her giggling gave it away.

"She did say that," Peppy chuckled. "But remember what she said? About when a troll turns grey, I mean."

Poppy nodded. "Tell me the story Papa! Tell me the story!" she said excitedly, sitting up slightly in her bed and hugging her stuffed animal.

"What do we say?"

She did the puppy-dog-eyes. "Pwease?" she asked innocently.

Peppy smiled. "Yes your majesty," he chortled. "There was once a strong, noble king called Pippy."

"Grandpa!"

"Mhm," he nodded. "It was way before the evil Bergan's invaded our village. Pippy and his wife Piper had just had a son."

"You!"

"That's right. When his son was six, he saw a troll about his age. She appeared to be very sad. Her colors had faded. Her name was Sky. As each day passed Peppy was determined to help Sky get her colors back, but she was the most stubborn girl Peppy met. He didn't give up though. He began to break down her rough shell and took her hand in friendship. As the years went by Peppy and Sky's friendship became something more."

"And then what happened?" asked Poppy even though she had heard this story many times. She was on the edge of her seat, as always.

"One day, Peppy sang a special song to her, and guess what happened?"

"What?" she asked excitedly, as she did every time he told this story.

"Her true colors came back!"

"Wow…" her eyes widnened in astonishment as she cupped her hand in her chin.

"She was a beautiful yellow troll with pink hair and glitter freckles! Peppy had never seen a more beautiful troll in his life. He never wanted to let Sky out of his arms. They had a beautiful daughter and lived happily ever after."

Poppy smiled, but then frowned, getting a scrapbook that was full of all of the adventures her and Peppy had. "Not entirely Papa." A tear steamed down her face.

Peppy wanted to cry himself, but he knew he had to hold it together, not wanting to cry in front of his daughter. "Dry those tears dear child." He wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her forehead. "As long as we remember the ones we love in our hearts, they're never truly gone."

"I know Papa." She weakly smiled.

"As your mother once said, true love will always get a trolls colors back."

Poppy thought about that for a moment. "Then...what about Branch?"

"Same thing with him. Once he find his true love, then and only then will he get his colors back. But whomever it is, they must love him in return with all their hearts."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Chin up Pop's," Peppy smiled. "He'll find his true love when the time is right. Meanwhile you should get some rest."

"But I'm not tired!" she protested. "I wanna stay up and-" her voice was cut off by yawning.

"Goodnight love." He kissed her forehead and exited the room, turning off the light.

Once her father left, Poppy's eyes fluttered opened. It almost seemed impossible to sleep. Branch was still on her mind. She wanted him to be happy. She needed him to be happy. Ever since she met him he was happy. She remembered when they were really young they would play hide and seek in the bushes.

She looked at the glowing star stickers on her ceiling and began to sing quietly in the darkness.

"Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah they were all yellow
I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow
So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow…"

Poppy left the song off there. She had to find Branch. It wouldn't feel right. He could be anywhere. When everyone is asleep, she decided. That's when I'll leave.

Branch had just woken up from a nightmare. He took a few deep breaths. For a moment he thought everything that had happened was just a dream. It was pitch black, and it was freezing. The ran had stopped, finally. But it was still freezing down there, wherever he was.

It had been three days and he hadn't moved from the spot where he fell, nor tried to find a way out. He pushed his hunger aside and hadn't thought of anything else but Grandma Rosiepuff. Over the last few days he grew very angry. The world had token everything from him.

He curled himself in a ball with his hair, letting himself shed a few tears.

He dozed off for another hour or so until he felt dirt fall onto him. "Hello?" a voice called. "Branch?" Poppy!

Branch sat up, but didn't say anything. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head. More dirt gave away from the top of the hole where he fell. After a grunt of surprise and a scream of shock before he knew it Poppy was right on top of him, eyes closed as if she thought she had died, but she slowly opened them and they got wider when she saw him.

"Branch!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Branch, I never thought I'd see you again!" She nuzzled herself in his chest. Trying to keep blush from forming on his face, he awkwardly pulled her away.

"Yeah yeah, it's not hug time," he said.

"I think that every time should be hug time, don't you think?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Sure. I wish it was every minute."

"Really? That'd be amazing!" she said excitedly. "Hugs all around, every minute! Great idea Branch!"

"I was being sarcastic Poppy," he murmured.

"Sarcastic?" she asked more to herself than him. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that. Shaking it off, she took her backpack off her shoulders. "Hey, I brought some fruit, want some?" she offered, taking out the raspberries she brought.

"No."

She frowned. Branch had always been this way. He let his pride get in the way of everything. "Have you even eaten for these three days?"

"Nope."

"Well, you should really-"

"Sh." He covered her mouth and listened.

"What is it?" she whispered. "Is it...is it a Bergan?"

He couldn't help but feel a pinch in his heart when she said Bergan, but he didn't let the pain show. Not in front of her. "Maybe."

After a few moments of silence Poppy knew what he was doing. "Are you just doing it to make me stop talking?"

"Maybe," he whispered with a smug grin.

"Branch, please eat something," she begged. "If you don't want food I brought sandwiches."

He turned his head but said nothing.

She grabbed the sandwich she cut in half. "C'mon, at least have half." She held it up, and he took it. He thanked her, but didn't smile.

"So what's the plan? How are we getting out of here?" Poppy asked, taking a bite of her sandwich while Branch had already devoured his and was moving on to the next one along with eating some raspberries.

"I dunno, I don't have a plan, really," he said.

"We have to get out of here," she said. "You cant just sit here doing nothing! You almost starved yourself to death!" When Branch didn't say anything, she continued. "How are you not restless in...whatever this is?! What made you turn grey? What made you run away?"

"Hey! You don't have any idea what's going on so shut your nosy mouth!" he snapped.

Poppy froze. "You're...not the troll I used to know...you've changed…"

"I'm still the same me. We were never close so why do you care so much? Just because my colors are gone it doesn't make me any different!" he said.

"You're unhappy," she whispered.

"Of course I am, I've always been this way."

"That's a lie!"

"Well some people change! And there's nothing you can do about it because-"

She interrupted him by hugging him. "You grouch," she whispered effectionately. "You think this is over. I'm not giving up on you. Until we get out of here, and many days after that, I'll still be here."

Needless to say, he didn't hug her back. But he did agree to find a way out of this place.

I like this and hate it at the same time ahaha. Tell me what you think :)