Branch stood atop the troll tree and searched his surroundings for a bright pink troll. He was looking for Poppy. This task ended up being more difficult than he had originally anticipated for two reasons: 1) it was dark out, and 2) the tree was now covered with newly grown leaves.
He finally spotted her lying on one of the tree's knotted limbs, sleeping.
That makes sense, Branch thought, It's been a long, tiring day. Especially for her. She probably hadn't even meant to allow exhaustionion to take hold until she was safely bundled up in a pod; she must have dosed off.
But there was something wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but as Branch looked out at Poppy, a feeling of unease began nagging at his brain. There was a hint of something... sinister that he just couldn't brush aside. At that moment, the realization hit him full force. She...
She had gone grey. This was something he had only seen one other time in regards to Poppy.
Branch jumped down the tree, using his hair to swing towards her.
"Poppy!" he yelled as he landed.
HearingHearing his call, Poppy awoke with a start. She nearly fell to the ground, but she instinctively wrapped her hair around a small, nearby twig.
"What? What happened? What's wrong?" Poppy's voice quivered slightly as she asked this. She was a little shaken up after her sudden awakening. She stared up at Branch with wide eyes, still dangling a few inches below him.
Branch was a little shaken too, "Are you okay? What ha-" he cut himself off. Her color was... back.
Maybe it was just a trick of the moonlight? he wondered.
"N- nevermind," he was confused, "Sorry... I, um... I didn't mean to scare you," he looked down at her, "Do you need some help? That twig doesn't look stable, don't move. I'll go get some other trolls-"
"No, Branch, wait! I can do it myself," fully recovered from her start, Poppy flipped herself upwards and stuck the landing, "See? I'm fine," she smoothed out her bluish green dress and patted the dust off of it, "Now, what did you want?"
Instead of answering, Branch just wrapped his arms tightly around Poppy.