The next day, Queen Poppy and the Snack Pack were having a fun picnic as a retry of the first failed one. Bridget and Gristle were there too. They told the couple all about the sleepover. Even about the kiss. Creek frowned at that, but continued with his meditations.
"Oh my gosh, really? Poppy I'm so happy for you!" Bridget sweetly exclaimed. The pink troll gave a quick smile.
However, Poppy looked around for a certain blue troll who she hadn't seen since that morning, when she told him about it. He said he'd be there, but he wasn't yet...come to think of it, he was acting off.
"So, how about it?"
"Uh..." Branch said, quickly stuffing his scrapbook in his hair. Huh. "Well, I mean...I was planning to do something else toda-"
His stuttering paused at the sight of the look Poppy was giving him. Oh yeah. She whipped out the puppy dog eyes. There's no way he can resist it. Branch faltered.
"Ugh...fine..." he said, giving in. Poppy beamed and gave him a quick hug. Branch shook his head, but returned the hug.
"Haha, yes! I knew you couldn't say no!" she exclaimed, proudly.
"You're evil, you know that?" Branch said, rolling his eyes. He wore a small smile that didn't go unnoticed by her. Poppy smirked.
"And that's why you love me."
"Whatever you tell yourself, your highness," he spoke sarcastically. Poppy laughed.
"I take it the Snack Pack's gonna be there?"
"Yup! And Bridget, Gristle...and Creek!" Poppy replied. Branch blinked.
"Creek?"
"Yeah," Poppy replied, her smile turning nervous. "That's okay with you, right...?"
Branch was silent for a bit, then he grinned widely. Oh, that was unexpected.
"Yes, perfect."
But he still hasn't shown up. The picnic was less fun without her favourite grump. Poppy leaned into Satin's ear, since she was sitting the closest to her.
"Where's Branch?" Poppy whispered. Satin looked around.
"Hmm...I don't know. I expected him to be here sooner-"
"CREEK," a familiar voice yelled in the distance. They all looked up to see Branch marching towards them with his scrapbook. He didn't look happy.
"You've got some explaining to do!"
Creek looked uninterested, but confused. They all stared at Branch.
"What're you talking about, mate?" he asked as the grump approached them. Cooper, Biggie and Guy Diamond glanced at each other.
"Branch, what's wrong?" Poppy asked, concerned. Branch turned to his girlfriend with a defiant look on his face. He opened the scrapbook to the Creek and Chef page.
"What do you guys see here?"
They all examined it.
"That's the time Creek and Chef got banished before Poppy was crowned, right?" Suki said, racking her brain. Branch nodded vigorously, waiting for them to realise.
"Ah, good times," Gristle commented, chuckling.
"I remember that. I loved getting to throw a spoon at Chef," Bridget said, laughing.
"Watching some trolls squeeze lemons into her eyes..." Gristle added.
"Tripping her into the bowl..." the twins said together, giggling.
"Setting them both on fire..." Cooper said fondly.
"Watching them leave Bergen Town forever..." Poppy said, smiling. Creek looked unamused. He was right there, guys.
"And then we saw you two get eaten by a huge monster," Branch said to Creek, giving him an angry glare as he held the book out further.
"What's your point?" the purple troll asked, nonchalantly.
"You. Got eaten." Branch said, emphasising every word. Unbelievable. They were still giving him a blank look.
"This doesn't make sense? How can he be monster poop but also alive?" Smidge asked. Branch sighed.
"I've been thinking about it since yesterday-"
"So you didn't take a break?" Guy Diamond said, raising his eyebrows. Of course. Mr. Paranoid, duh.
"-and I know for sure we saw Creek and Chef get eaten. You said you got here by escaping Chef, but you should both be dead," Branch continued. They all looked at the calm troll. Branch narrowed his glare. "Start talking, liar."
The group of trolls all awaited his answer. He looked from one troll to the next.
"To be fair, I never lied. I just left out details. Why on earth would I lie about that? I see no real motive there. Your suspicions are unnecessary," Creek replied calmly.
"Start. Talking," Branch repeated. "I'm sick of your bull, I want answers."
"Okay, I will. But first of all, mate: relax and centre yourself."
"Creek, please. Explain now," Poppy said, stern but calm. She wanted answers too, but he needed to get to the point. She looked at Branch and put a hand on his shoulder. He was getting his hair in a twist.
"Of course, Poppy," Creek said, clearing his throat. "As you all remember, we fell into the mouth of a large monster."
"Phew," Chef and Creek said once the fire went out. It was no longer burning them. Then Chef, noticing she had him right there, grabbed the troll greedily and prepared to eat him.
"No no no wait! Hold on, wait a second!" Creek pleaded as he neared closer to her open mouth. That's when they realised, the cart they were sitting on was balancing on a long, outstrectched tongue that was pointing skywards. The large beast's mouth was wide open, and they were in the middle of it, balancing on the tongue. Before they knew it, the tongue dropped down into the beast's mouth, taking them with it. They screamed as they fell.
"I don't wanna die!" Creek screamed as he stretched his hair upwards and grabbed hold of the monster's giant uvula. Chef quickly grabbed hold of his small body and outstrectched hair as a desperate attempt to not fall into the stomach acid, though.
"Oh no, you're not surviving this without me!" Chef cried. If she was gonna die, he was too. Creek struggled to hold onto the uvula as the weight of the Bergen pulled him down. He was getting stretched so bad, it hurt. His hair which was curled around it, slipped down the uvula slightly as Creek struggled to hold on and try to keep himself together. He was about to get pulled apart..!
The beast felt a tickling in his throat. Especially, the uvula. Get it out! Get it out! It coughed up the two creatures that were causing a disturbance in his throat.
Creek and Chef hit the forest ground harshly. They didn't know which part of the forest they were in. Creek winced at the injuries he received, while Chef stood up.
"D-don't eat me!" the troll pleaded. "I-I'll do anything, I promise! You know I would!" If there was anything Chef knew about the troll, it's that he would do anything to avoid death. Useful.
After a couple of days, they came across Chef's old base in the forest. They lived there for a couple of months. Creek was used as a scrub brush to clean her pots and pans but at least he wasn't getting eaten. Then that one day...
They had run out of food to eat. Chef couldn't control herself anymore. She tried to grab Creek as he ran away through the forest, trying to lose the hungry Bergen. He kept running and running and didn't stop. He heard the sound of the waves nearby. Well, at least he'd be out of the jungle of trees. Creek ran to the beach, but he heard voices in the distance. He paused. Creek stayed silent, listening for the sounds. Civilisation?
Then he heard a bush nearby rustle.
A troll with blue hair jumped out of the bush, facing Creek. Who-?!
The troll gasped and then swiftly entrapped Creek in a hair cage, making him yelp.
The blue troll looked at Creek worriedly. Creek stared back.
"Not good," the troll exclaimed running to a different part of the beach, taking Creek with him. That's when he saw...
"You. That's really a summary of it all," Creek finished his story, addressing Poppy. Poppy looked at him in pity.
"Awh, you went through so much..."
"And rightfully so, considering what made us go through," Branch added, harshly. He was mad and confused. Creek had to have been up to no good! He just had to!
"So you see, I wasn't lying. I now just want to start over and continue being a citizen here-"
"Why did you sneak off into the forest at night?" Branch blurted out, desperately. Creek stared at him. Everyone remained silent.
"What do you mean?" Creek replied.
"I saw you during the past week. You snuck into the forest, making sure nobody was following. You did a crap job," Branch explained, trying to get something out of him. To relieve that gut feeling.
"What? Is it illegal to go into the forest at night now?" Creek asked sarcastically. "I meditate there."
Branch opened his mouth to say something, but Poppy interrupted him.
"Branch, can we talk?"
Oh god that wasn't a good sign to hear from your girlfriend. Did he screw up? Did he mess up?! What did he do!? AHHHHHH-
"Uh...sure."
They walked away from the picnic, and away from the group. Branch nervously turned to Poppy.
"Yeah..?"
"Branch, what is your problem?!"
Oh boy.
Poppy frowned at him.
"You're tired, you've lost sleep and you're hysterical! All because you couldn't stop obsessing over this. Why are you trying so hard to prove Creek is such a bad guy? I thought you said you'd be willing to trust him for me!" Poppy cried, legitimately concerned.
"I-I don't know..! He just seemed suspicious, and I just want everyone to be safe. That's all I ever wanted and I don't think he helps. I thought it was strange how he just suddenly showed up after being banished for months!" Branch exclaimed, breathing heavily.
"Branch look. So have we, and Creek explained himself. Please can I ask you to calm down? We got our answers," Poppy asked him.
"..." Branch remained silent. Could he ever calm down with Creek being present in the village? For the past few weeks he's been fine, I guess...but he could still have an evil plan up his sleeves!
...he was obsessing over it too much...now he had zero evidence against him...
After he didn't reply, Poppy took Branch's shoulders and looked into his eyes. Branch looked at her too. She...was right. They were all right. Branch looked insane with his obsession with exposing Creek. He sighed. For her. Let it go for her. And you.
He nodded, but he still wasn't quite calm. She could tell he was troubled. Poppy silently leaned in and kissed his forehead gently. Blush dusted both their cheeks since they weren't quite used to casual kisses, but he looked like he needed one.
"I'll try this time..." he said quietly. Poppy smiled.
"Thanks. Now let's get back and apologise to Creek for the accusations," she said taking his hand and walking back. Branch sighed. He was wrong.
Once again, Creek made Branch look crazy. Things never change..
Guys, Aftermath just hit 100 likes! Thank you so much! In return, I give you another chapter!
So Branch finally gets the answers out of Creek and..nothing. I took the movie and the novel into account for this one. That's the answer to the oust movie credit scene that a lot of you asked about.
The original plan for Creek's flashback was gonna be a bit more brutal towards the monster, so I changed it a bit. Chef was originally gonna take her knives and stab-
Anyway, Branch's accusations are debunked by Creek. Luckily, Poppy is there for her grump. They're so cute~
I'm kinda sleeping and tired, so I understand if this one ain't that good.
Hope you enjoyed!
bye!
