Here's chapter 10!

Disclaimer: I don't own Trolls.

Enjoy!

BornOnTheBreakOfDawn - All prideful, glory hogs are like that. Branch does have to save the day, or else, nobody will.

mikaela2015 - Thanks.

Butterflyruby144 - I'll try to update soon. I'm only human,you know. But thanks for your support.

mlpfanceline1 - Glad to know you love the story. Read this chapter and you'll see what I've written so far. Hope it pleases you.

GirlFish - Guess we'll see that in future, though it's obvious how it went in the movie.

The Grey Hero

Chapter 10: Attack of the Ursemoth

It's been almost two days since Branch and his friends had left the village and they're walking through a forest. As they wandered through the woods, Branch was about to mark another tree when a snowball landed on a trunk. He smiled as he looked behind him, seeing Biggie and Guy Diamond having a snowball fight with each other.

"Take this!" Guy Diamond shouted as he threw another snowball.

"No, you!" Biggie cried. The two trolls laughed as snowballs were thrown at each other. Some managed to be thrown away from them.

Branch giggled slightly at their fun even though that he's more focused on his whereabouts. Cooper walked behind him, listening to the others with their fun. He thought that they shouldn't be playing at a time like this, especially in the open. Who knows what creature would be attracted by their sounds? He managed to dodge three snowballs by either jumping or ducking his head.

"SHH!" Cooper tried to shush them but a sudden snowball hit him in the face and fell in a pile of snow, leaving a Cooper shaped hole in the ground.

"Brilliant! Right on the schnoz! What a bulls-eye!" Guy Diamond cheered as he and Biggie high-five each other and bumped rumps while doing their victory dance until...

"That did it! Who did that?!"

Biggie and Guy stopped dancing and saw Cooper, with his head full of snow, glaring at them while thumping his feet impatiently for an answer.

Guy Diamond hid behind Biggie and pointed at him. "It was him!" He cried.

"What?! I did no such thing! That was so you!" Biggie argued.

Branch heard them arguing and chuckled a little, but then he stopped. He thought he heard something big, like heavy footsteps. He raised his ears in alarm and listened for any unfamiliar sounds. No sounds were heard. It's quiet. Too quiet. Never a good sign. "Guys, I think..." He gasps as he saw a mysterious figure go to a tree, shifting some snow to the ground. "I think we should keep moving." He then started walking again but cautiously this time.

"Is that your answer to all problems; motion?!" Cooper muttered as he straightens his back from the fall. He shook the snow off of himself and then started following Branch. Behind him, Guy Diamond was making another snowball, snickering slightly.

"Biggie!" Branch called out to the duo. "Guy Diamond! Come on, let's get going!"

"Come on, boys...let's go, boys...faster, boys..." Cooper mumbled along. "Easy to say for a survival expert troll!" He shouted. Suddenly, a bigger snowball hit him on the head, causing him to fall face down on the snow. "Okay... That's it!" Cooper had just had it with the trolls' incompetence and immaturity. He angrily shook off the snow again and faces the snowball throwers with a glare, scratching the ground like a bull. "It's time for this llama troll to teach you guys a lesson you'll never forget!"

At that moment, Biggie and Guy Diamond were shaking with fear as they dropped all the snow they had in their hands. Their teeth chattering loudly, bodies shivering, and knees shaking uncontrollably like maracas. Their eyes filled with terror as if they're now staring at something scarier than Cooper's threats.

"Ah-ha! Finally!" Cooper said as he stood proudly. Guy Diamond tried to point at what they are afraid of to Cooper, but he didn't get the message. "Your uncle Cooper is finally making an impression!" He took a step backward until he bumps into something strange. "Now what?"

He put his paw behind him and felt something soft...furry...and strong. A quiet growl was heard over him. He gulped and turn around, looking up with widened eyes. What he saw made him petrified with fear. It was an Ursemoth. It was a bear-like creature as big as half a Bergen with dark purple fur with blue stripes, big paws, claws, fangs, curved horns on his head, and a big nose on a snout. The Ursemoth growled as it glared at the poor llama troll, letting out a fierce snarl. Cooper's jaw dropped at the sight of the beast and also pooped out cupcakes out of fear.

The beast raised its clawed arm, about to strike Cooper. Branch heard the growling and roaring from behind him. He looked over and gasped at the scene. Cooper screamed and scrambled to his feet before it could slice him, but managed to get his head stuck in a fallen tree. The Ursemoth came over and slashed him, sending him flying into the air towards the trolls.

"RUN!" Biggie and Guy Diamond shrieked in alarm and scrambled to run, but the trapped Cooper landed over them, blocking their escape. Branch grabs a stick, snapped it into two with sharp ends and leaped into action. But the Ursemoth saw him coming and swiped him in the face, sending him to the ground.

Branch recovered from the fall and growled to the animal as it got closer to Cooper and the trolls again. He ran towards it once again. "HELP!" Guy Diamond screamed as the Ursemoth stomped closer to them and prepares to finish them off. But it felt something stopping him. Branch grabbed the beast's foot with his hair, wrapping it and tried to pull away with all his strength. The Ursemoth fell over, throwing Branch in the air and he then stabbed its snout with one of the sticks. The animal roared in pain. Angered by this, it grabs Branch and threw him down into the snow. Branch struggled to escape the tight grip but the force was too strong. The beast pushes him down harder and harder as he started to suffocate under its paw.

The fierce animal was about to slash Branch when suddenly, a yell was heard and a flash of pink attacked the Ursemoth's paw with a troll-sized pitchfork. It was Princess Poppy to the rescue!

The Ursemoth roared in agony as Poppy sank her tool into its paw. It tried to shake her off, but instead of letting go, she slapped her hair at its face. "Poppy?" Branch whispered after he saw her with his opened electric blue eyes. Despite her successful attack, the Ursemoth was stronger and it threw Poppy to the ground. However, Poppy was quick on her feet and desperate to prevent the animal from hurting Branch. She bravely pounced on the Ursemoth's face, making it release Branch, and he laid on the ground, coughing and panting heavily to get his breathing back.

Cooper, Biggie, and Guy Diamond screamed when the animal nearly stepped on them, but luckily, it stopped by mere inches. It grabbed Poppy and threw her at the terrified trio, making the tree move away from the trapped trolls and releasing Cooper from it.

Poppy rose from her ground and when she tried to get up, she winced from a sharp pain below her. She looked down and saw her right foot with a purple swelling. "Princess Poppy, are you alright?" Cooper asks as he ran over to her with a worried expression. He helped her onto her feet.

"I'm fine. Are you all hurt?"

"We're fine now, thanks to you," Guy Diamond commented.

Poppy smiled, but then realizes something. "Where's Branch?!"

They were cut off when they heard roaring and turned around to see Branch getting cornered by the Ursemoth. Branch backs up in fear of the beast who thundered over him, roaring loudly. In a second, Branch saw his chance to slip away and in an instant, he grabs a sharp stick and threw it at the beast's eye. As the beast roared in agony, Branch slides down the snowy slopes, landing on top of a snow-covered frozen lake.

Branch gets up and gasped when he saw the Ursemoth coming towards him in anger for his bleeding eye. He backs up, but gasps even more when he felt his foot going through the ice. The lake wasn't frozen enough to support much weight, even for a small troll like him, so he backs up, walking even slower. He started to recall of what had happened to his father who perished in a frozen death. He doesn't want to share that same fate, but he knows who will.

Poppy, riding on Cooper, ran to the cliff's edge with Biggie and Guy Diamond and gasps at the scene. "Branch!" Cooper yelled. Both of them were on the frozen lake and it didn't look stable enough for the both of them.

As the Ursemoth got closer to Branch, one step was all it took and all the ice began to crack from beneath them. Branch jumped to another way to avoid the animal. The Ursemoth let out a big roar and stomped towards him, but the ice began to crack even more. The animal didn't seem to care, only to chase its prey down. Branch skidded to a halt and saw that each step the Ursemoth took made even bigger cracks.

Finally, the beast took one last big step towards Branch and the ice broke underneath it and the animal fell through. The Ursemoth gave out one last roar as it sank underwater and under the ice, but then the ice under Branch started to crack, and the ice he was standing on started turning over. He managed to grab the edge, but he started to slip as he struggled to hold onto the ice.

"Branch!" Poppy yelled in shock. The other trolls ran as fast as they could to the lake, but the ice flipped over and Branch was trapped underneath it!

"NOO!" Poppy and Cooper cried out in alarm. Poppy gasped in horror at Branch's demise and they all got worried once they reached the bottom of the hill.

"Geronimo!" Guy Diamond suddenly yelled, followed by Biggie's cry. "Branch, here we come!"

Poppy and Cooper looked over and watched as the two trolls jumped through the ice and into the water without hesitation! She ran over to where they jumped and gasped, "Guy Diamond! Biggie!"

"This is not good!" Cooper shook with worry as another crack went through his legs. "They cannot swim!" He nearly fell over when the ice broke through, but he managed to jump away in time.

"What?" Poppy said in disbelief. "What kind of troll doesn't know how to swim?!"

"These two, apparently! They're scared of the water!" Cooper replied. "I just hope their swimming lessons with Branch pays off for his sake."

As Guy Diamond and Biggie struggled to swim underwater due to the strong current, they searched for Branch. It was dark there and the water was freezing cold, but they kept going. Then Guy Diamond spotted something ahead of them.

He pointed at it for Biggie to show but saw that he was facing another way. Annoyed, he spun him around and pointed once again; it was Branch! But he was struggling to breathe in the air bubbles under the ice, but he didn't find enough and lost consciousness.

Back on the surface, Poppy saw something under the ice and quickly pushed the thin layer of snow away with her hands. She gasped when it revealed to be an unconscious Branch. "He's drowning!" The grey troll floated away from view as she gasped. "No!" She looked back at Cooper, who poked his head into the water through the hold. She helped pull Cooper out and his head was all wet and covered in ice.

"Well?" Poppy asked worriedly.

"Ah-choo!" Cooper let out a big sneeze from the cold water and shook the ice off of him. "I don't see them."

They looked around worriedly...but there's no sign of anyone anywhere! All was too quiet.

"Where are they?" Poppy wondered, while putting her hands on her face. Cooper didn't answer nor did he dare to. He only put his paw in his teeth in fear. They fear the worst for their friends.

Suddenly, they heard some cracks behind them. They looked over to see some wet figures bursting through the ice, gasping for air; it was Biggie and Guy Diamond! And in Biggie's arm was Branch as he dragged him out of the water.

"Branch!" Poppy cried in relief.

"Biggie! Guy Diamond!" Cooper gleefully cried. They both started running down towards the dripping wet trio. "Branch!"

Guy Diamond was drying his hair as Biggie laid Branch onto a log as he tried to get him to breath again. "Please tell me he's gonna be okay! Is he gonna be okay? 'Cause he's not breathing and he doesn't look well!" Guy Diamond said frantically.

"Guy! Snap out of it! Your panic attack is not helping!" Biggie shook his friend to calm him down.

"Branch!" Poppy came over to where Branch was and she listened to his heartbeat. "Stand back! Give him some air, Biggie." Biggie nodded and backed up. Poppy turned Branch to his side and started doing chest compression on him to do CPR.

Cooper came over and asked with worry, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know. Just stay back for now," Poppy assured him. "Biggie, Cooper, come here!" The two said trolls came quickly by her side. "When I say go, push Branch down on his stomach with all your might. Okay?" The two nodded and place their hands/paws on his chest. "Go!" The two trolls pushed down hard on his chest. It worked as the force made Branch cough up all the water out.

Poppy tried at least five more chest compressions and then proceeded to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation into Branch's mouth. "Come on, Branch. You can't give up!" She whispered as she repeated the process.

"Come to life, come to life. Breathe! Come on!" Cooper whimpered nervously.

And then by a miracle, Branch coughed out water from his lungs and gasped for air. Everyone sighed in relief and Poppy started to cry tears of joy. "You're alive!"

Cooper ran over to Branch and cried in relief as he embraced him, "Branch! I was so scared, I got trollbumps!"

Branch coughed more water out and started getting up, and Cooper back up to give him some air. "Cooper..." He gasped before coughing more water out of him; he then sat up and laid on the ground, shivering with his arms around him, "I know y-you think this trip is a bit c-crazy but...brr... I'm glad you came."

"Well, of course, brother," Cooper smiled with a chuckle, "Who else could be a better animal companion to you, but me, eh? We're brothers for life!"

Branch chuckled. Then he saw Poppy coming over to him. "Are you okay, Poppy/Branch?" They both chorused. They laughed slightly.

"I'm fine," Poppy replied. "The better question is are you alright?"

"I am now," he answered.

"You could say that it was thanks to my 'kiss of life' that brought you back to us," she replied.

Branch was surprised. He knew that it was the mouth-to-mouth procedure, but the thought of her doing it to him made him blush. Yet, he's thankful for it. "I'm grateful. Thank you for saving me," he kindly said which made Poppy smile. Branch then shivered uncontrollably.

"You're shaking," Poppy said worriedly.

"In my..b-backpack...t-there are...extra blankets..." Poppy got the idea and went searching in the backpack and took out the blankets he mentioned.

"Let's get you out of these wet clothes," Poppy insisted. She removed his jacket and his vest, revealing his chest. She then wrapped him in a dry blanket. Still, he shivered in it. "Biggie, could you dry his hair for me, please?"

"Sure thing, Princess," Biggie nodded.

Poppy then took another blanket and she went over to Branch to share her body heat with him while Biggie removed the water from his hair. Thanks to her idea, Branch began to warm up. "Look, a message came through; we have to take the mountain trail."

"But if we take Glitter Pass, it'll save us half a day," Branch stuttered as he shivered.

"I'm afraid it's blocked," Poppy said sadly. "The mountain trail's dangerous, but we can do it, together."

"I'm beginning to... see there isn't anything you can't do," he smiled to Poppy who gave him a tender smile in return.

Seeing those two together has put a wide grin on Cooper's face. "I'm seeing a few things too. And it's making the ice melt," he smiled at Branch and Poppy, but he got interrupted when Biggie and Guy Diamond shook all the water off their bodies and onto Cooper. Cooper groaned, all soaking wet and covered with glitter, thanks to Guy Diamond, "GUYS, MUST YOU DO THAT?!"

Poppy and Branch laughed at him. "For a couple of trolls who are afraid of the water, you two guys were very good down there," Branch grinned.

Biggie and Guy Diamond looked at Branch as if he was crazy. "Uh, Guy, did we just did what I thought we just did down there?" Biggie mumbled to Guy.

"Yes, of course we were! We were in the water, we were moving, we got wet, didn't we? We-" Guy Diamond stopped in the middle of his sentence and realized, "Biggie! WE WERE SWIMMING!"

Branch laughed at them as Poppy tried to walk but she collapsed on the ground and wincing in pain from her foot. She tried to get up, but she fell down again. "Clumsy."

"No, you're not. You're hurt," Branch said as he came over, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Poppy replied. She took a step forward, but she yelled in pain and fell again, but Branch went over to her and helped her up.

"No, you're not fine, Poppy," Branch said to her with concern. "You could barely stand. Did you hurt your foot?"

"No. But I think it's broken," she said. Branch inspected her foot and saw that it was swelling with a big purple bruise on it. He gently felt around for any broken bones, but didn't find any. When he pressed her foot gently, Poppy cried in pain. "Ow!"

"Well, good news is that it's not broken. But you must have sprained it while you were fighting the Ursemoth," Branch had a sad expression on his face.

Poppy sighed and knew that he was right. "Maybe you're right. I'm not so fine. You should all go ahead without me."

"Poppy, I'm not leaving here on your own," Branch said. He was against the idea of leaving without her and after everything she did for him, he owes her, even his life.

She cuts him off. "No, at this rate, I'll only be slowing everyone down," She looked down sadly. "Lilly and the others can't hold out much longer."

Branch felt his heart torn two ways when he heard the news about the sick kids back home. He felt upset, but then his pity turned to determination and thought of an idea. "Guy Diamond! You and Biggie carry Poppy back to the village on this!" He ran over to a fallen log and ripped out a piece big enough for Poppy to lay on and brought it over to her. He then took out some rope and made reins out of them so that Biggie and Guy Diamond can pull it like a sled.

"And this time, don't take time out for a swim!" Cooper chuckled at his joke to the trolls.

"You're going to make sure of that, Cooper! You're going to lead them home," Branch sternly said to him. Cooper slapped his forehead, not believing this. "Just follow my B marks."

"You're going out there alone?" Poppy asked him with concern as Branch put on his vest again.

"Won't be the first time," Branch commented sadly.

"Here," Poppy untied her red scarf that had pink hearts. "It was my mother's. I'm afraid it won't keep you very warm," she stated as she wrapped it around his neck.

"Yeah, it will," Branch accepted the scarf with a smile. Poppy then wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a hug. Branch hugs her back tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"Be careful out there. I don't want to lose you." Poppy whispered, holding back tears.

"Poppy, you won't." Branch held her hands, looked into her eyes, and smiled. He then was about to put his lips against Poppy. Poppy was about to do the same. Just as they were going to kiss, they heard someone crying. They turned and saw Biggie sniffling as he wiped some tears.

Guy Diamond came over to the big troll and assured him, "Don't worry, Biggie. Branch will come back. He's... Branch! Will he?"

"I hope so, but it's still sad to see him go!" Biggie cried harder and Guy Diamond patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Hey, I'm coming back! With the medicine." Branch said, and then looked over at Poppy with soft eyes. "I promise, Poppy." She smiled gratefully at him. "Branch, there's something I want to tell you, but I just don't think it's the right time for me to say it." Branch gave her an reassuring smile and then, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "That's for saving me and for caring. Wait for my return." Poppy smiled as she placed her hand on her cheek, but still hoped for his safe return home.

"Go ahead, guys. Take her home." Just as he was about to make his way across the lake, Cooper called out to him.

"Branch! I do not like leaving you out here alone," he said as he puts his paw on his shoulder. "Who's going to tell you how cold you are?"

"Cooper," he gestured him to the trolls, who were standing by the log sled while Poppy rested on top of it, ready for them to take her back to the village. "They need you even more than I do." Branch gave Cooper a hug, hoping that this isn't the last hug he'll give.

Cooper felt like tearing up, but he regained himself and hugged him back tightly. They let go of each other and Cooper started to walk towards the others, but before he could join his friends stopped short and turned to Branch. "Let me tell you something, Branch; a single troll cannot make this journey alone..." He walked away, but he stopped and face Branch with a smile. "But, even a grey troll can shine like a rainbow when he becomes who he's truly meant to be."

Branch seemed unsure of his words of wisdom. He wondered what he meant, but there's no time to think about that now. His mission is his top priority.

"All right! You two crazy trolls! Let's move!" Cooper commanded the two trolls to take Poppy back home and they started making their way. Branch saw them leave and he, too, resumes his mission once again to find the missing team.

Meanwhile, back at the village, Scoop had received word from the other villages and it was anything but good. He then announced it to his co-workers as they listened with worried looks.

"To the Troll forest village, I regret to inform you that we cannot send any more Anti-Toxin. The weather is too severing for any troll to travel. Your only hope for survival is the lost sled team carrying the medicine. Our prayers are with them for their return and for your people.

Signed,

The other villages in the outer lands.

"Well, that's it, trolls. There's nothing we can do but wait and pray," Scoop declared sadly as his pet, Pixel, nudged him affectingly.

All their hope lies within the sled team and the sled team's hope all lies on the one grey troll searching for them.

Hope you like it!

A/N: Ursemoth is a name I made up. "Urs-"came from the latin word Ursa meaning "bear" and -emoth is the suffix of behemoth which is a mythological beast.

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