Was wanting to get this up earlier today but was having internet trouble.
With their boat destroyed after the battle with the Reaper, Rosiepuff had to rely on her brains and survival skills to get her surviving crew members home. Building a campfire on the boulder they were stuck on, Rosiepuff used her coat to send smoke signals to any nearby ships hoping they would pick up the signal and come to their rescue. She did that day after day for about a week before finally a fishing boat picked up the signal and came for them. It took a extra five days after the rescue to return back to the Troll Tree but finally they made it back. Tired, beat up, a little malnourished from eating nothing but fish for a week, but alive.
Peppy was the first one to greet Rosiepuff when she made it back on land. Peppy could tell by just how bad Rosiepuff looked that she had a rough trip, the fact that the boat they were on didn't return also gave it away.
"So, did you at least find the dragon's nest?" Peppy asked hoping for a little bit of good news.
"Not even close." Rosiepuff replied before she suddenly realized that Branch hadn't came and greeted her yet. "Where's my grandson?"
"Oh he's gone." Peppy said not realizing how his words came out.
"Gone, as in...?" Roseipuff was about to have a heart attack
"Oh no not like that," Peppy instantly corrected. Roseipuff tightly gripped one hand over her heart and panted heavily trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "He's not here at this moment. But that's the life of a celebrity. Always running away from the swarm of fans."
"Celebrity? Fans? Branch?"
"Who ever would of thought he would be so good at dragon training. He has a unique way with dragons, unlike anything anybody had ever seen before."
"Branch?" Rosiepuff asked again.
"Yes, we were wrong about him. Everybody was wrong about him. He's amazing."
"But how, the Cloud Guy predicted...?"
"Beats me, but let me tell you. I have never witnessed anything like what I have witnessed when training Branch."
Rosiepuff couldn't believe it, could it be true? Could Branch really be a dragon killer after all? If so why did the Cloud Guy predict otherwise? "Where is he? I need to speak to him."
"Who knows? Probably hiding from the paparazzi. Who could blame him?" Rosiepuff instantly ran home hoping that he would be in his room.
Branch was in his room asleep after a long day of dragon training with his friends. Reby was a fast learner and instantly got the hang of Melody. Cooper though, not to much. Melody completely ignored his every command. And the second Cooper got on Melody's back to try to fly her she instantly bucked him off, causing him to land in a hornet's nest. The rest of the session was spent chasing after Cooper who was running away from the hornets screaming. After a good thirty minutes everybody was able to get the hornets off of Cooper and treat Coopers many stings. As a result of the very dramatic experience Branch was exhausted and only wanted to rest the rest of the day.
That is until Rosiepuff burst into his room, instantly waking him up. "Grandma! Your... your back."
"We need to talk." Rosiepuff replied in a serious tone.
"We, we do?" Branch instantly started to get scared
"You've been keeping secrets from me,"
"I... I have?"
"Did you really think you could keep it from me?"
"I... uh... I?"
"Let's talk about the dragon situation."
Oh no she knows but how? But thought to himself oh well might as well get this over with and hope for a quick death "Grandma I'm sorry I was planning on telling you but..."
Suddenly Rosiepuff burst out laughing "You really had me going there Branch!"
"Huh?"
"All those years running into danger blindly, nearly getting yourself killed on hundreds of occasions. Who would of thought that you would actually have a dragon killer in you."
Branch just stared at Rosiepuff in silence, confused.
"Peppy told me about how good you are doing in the arena." Rosiepuff reached over and gave Branch a big hug "I'm so proud of you."
"You are?"
"Of course, knowing that you will be able to be able to handle yourself out there in battle, makes me confident you will be able to keep the tribe safe when you take over as chief of the tribe."
"Oh Grandma, trust me I am no where near ready for that kind of responsibility."
"Not yet, but you real be." Rosiepuff ensured "And this is a big first step. And with me out there with you on the battlefield. The dragons will think twice before they mess with us. I can't wait to see what you can do. I might even mount your first dragon head on the wall."
"I doubt that." Branch thought to himself.
"You know Branch, I always dreamed of handing the tribe over to your father, my son.
"Yeah I know your son was my father Grandma"
"Then one day," Rosiepuff paused as the memory of that day was enough to cause her to choke up tears. "He was taken away from me by a dragon, along with your mother. I always swore I was going to keep you safe, that I would never let a dragon take you from me, like they did your parents. Maybe I have been a little over protective over the years. I refused to give you a chance to show your potential. And I kept you from showing your true talent. I am sorry Branch. I promise that I will never hold you back again. From now on, I will support you in whatever you choose to do in your life."
Branch was starting to feel a huge weight of guilt in his body. For the first time in his life he felt like his grandmother was truly proud of him. But that only is because she thought he was a dragon killer. If only she knew the truth, would she still be proud of him? No of course not, not with her hatred of dragons. How could he possibly tell her the truth without it breaking her heart? Was there anyway?
"Well anyway," Rosiepuff got up and started to head for the door. "I saw that you were sleeping when I came in. Must of been a busy day for you, with all that hard training in all."
"Oh trust me Grandma you have no idea." Branch replied
"I will let you get back to sleep. Sweet dreams my grandson, you deserve it." Once Rosiepuf closed the door Branch let out a deep sigh. This was going to be a lot harder then he thought.
The next day was the final day of Dragon training. Today Cloud Guy would pick who he believed was the top student out of the class. Everybody showed up to support Branch, including Rosiepuff, who watched from her on special seat above the arena.
"Go Branch, show them what you are made of!"
Branch waved nervously at his grandmother as he entered the arena. If only she knew what I truly do with dragons.
The dragon of the day was a Widowmaker. As soon as the dragon flew out of it's cage the students fled to find a safe spot while preparing their attack. Like usual the twins would give away their hiding spot with their constant arguing.
"Your to close, your elbowing me!" Chenille argued
"Am not,"
"Are you!"
The two of them sensed the dragon behind them and instantly ran away screaming again.
Creek was the next one to attempt taking down the dragon. Stepping out of his hiding spot he insulted the dragons mother in order to cause it to run towards him. Creek then threw his spear at the Widowmaker, only for it to go wide right and miss the dragon by a good two feet. Creek quickly responded by running for his life.
Biggie tried next by leaping on the dragon and actually got a couple good hits on the head with his hammer. But the Widowmaker quickly bucked him off and sent him crashing threw the arena's gate and into the crowd.
"I'm okay." Biggie whined
Finally there was just Poppy and Branch. As they both sneaked to a closer hiding spot Poppy grabbed Branch and gave him a heated warning.
"I'm winning this, stay out of my way." Releasing Branch Poppy turned and studied the dragon one last time looking for the perfect area to strike.
"Okay this time for sure." Poppy breathed "This time, you got it!" Taking a deep breath Poppy picked up her ax, exited her hiding spot and charged after the dragon... only to see the dragon was already laying on the ground with Branch standing over it.
"NO!" Poppy screamed throwing her ax on the ground in anger "NO, NO, NO, NO!"
The entire arena cheered Branch, Rosiepuff could hardly stay in her seat she was so excited.
"That's my boy, my grandson! Yes!"
Alas now was the time everybody was waiting for. Time for Cloud Guy to pick the top student in the class. Seeing that Cloud Guy was the one doing the picking made Branch feel a little relief.
"Oh good Cloud Guy knows I'm not a dragon killer, there is no way he will pick me. I'm safe."
Peppy had all the students line up, Peppy brought the twins up to Cloud Guy first.
"Yeah no," Cloud Guy quickly responded. The twins stormed off, still arguing with each other.
"This is all your fault."
"No this is all your fault"
Peppy presented Creek next.
"Yeah is this a joke?" Cloud Guy asked. Feeling insulted Creek stormed off, throwing his weapon to the side.
Next was Biggie.
"Nope sorry." Biggie just hung his low and walked off sad.
"Cloud Guy has to pick Poppy" Branch thought to himself "She's the real dragon killer of the group."
Finally Peppy presented Poppy.
"Nope, uh uh."
"WHAT!" Branch gasped. "Wait, no.. no..." Poppy just glared at Branch as Peppy presented Branch next, and Branch quickly found himself sweating and shaking with fear.
"Oh yeah, he's the one." Cloud Guy said confidently. Branch felt himself going pale, and he thought for sure he was going to faint. As everybody cheered, and the other students (minus Poppy) congratulated him, Branch looked up at his grandmother who was cheering for her grandson louder then anybody else in the arena.
"Yep," Branch thought to himself as he looked at his grandma and then at the anger in Poppy's eyes. "I'm dead"
"We're leaving." Branch said later that afternoon as he walked into the woods. Branch ran back to the house before his grandmother showed up and packed himself a small bag filled with enough clothes and food to last him until he found a new place to stay. Wherever that would be. All he knew was that there was no way he could stay in the Troll Tree knowing what he was expected to do next.
"Branch you can't just leave." Suki replied, his friends confronted him after class. They too was concerned after Branch was chosen as top student, however they didn't expect him to run away.
"Don't you think you are taking this a tad to far?" Smidge asked
"Well what do want me to do?" Branch responded "I can't kill a dragon, and they are expecting me to kill one in front of the entire village."
"I'm pretty sure we can think something out." Cooper replied
"The event is happening tomorrow!" Branch responded. "What can we possibly come up with in such a short amount of time."
"What's up star student?" Everybody turned and saw Cloud Guy standing behind him with his hand raised for a high five. "Up high!"
"You." Branch growled before he lunged at Cloud Guy and started strangling him. "This is all your fault. I wouldn't be in this predicament if you had just kept your stupid trap shut."
"Branch get off of him, leave the immortal cloud guru alone." Reby yelled as she pulled Branch off of Cloud Guy. Branch was still yelling as Cloud Guy tried to catch his breath. "Why are you doing this to me? You know for a fact that I can't kill dragons."
"To help you fulfill your destiny."
"Which is what, to get myself killed? Because that's how this is starting to head thanks to you."
"I can't tell you what your destiny is Branch. You have to figure it out yourself. All I can do, is help steer you on the right path."
"Okay, you are starting to become a real pain in the butt you know that?"
"It comes with being a all knowing Cloud Guy. But believe me I will never lead you down the wrong path. I will never steer you toward death."
"Hello Branch," They all heard a voice growl toward their direction. They all turned to see Poppy laying on a boulder, sharpening her ax with a rock.
"Well bye," Cloud Guy waved before he floated off. "If you survive come find me."
"Wait, you can't just leave me you stupid cloud!" Branch yelled as Cloud Guy floated back into the sky. "Coward!" Branch then turned back to Poppy, who had a serious, and absolutely terrifying look on her face. As she laid there on that rock sharpening her ax, Branch felt as if she was glaring at his soul and thinking about which vital organ to rip out first.
Branch froze in fear, and let out a gulp. "Oh no."