Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls.

Parties were a daily occurrence in Troll Village, and today was no exception. In fact, today Queen Poppy herself intended to invite all of her friends to a party—a slumber party under the stars. After delivering invitations to all of her in-town friends, she headed out of the village to deliver one more invitation to a sometimes reluctant member of her inner circle.

Arriving at her destination, Poppy knocked on the rock over the bunker happily. "Branch!? Hey! You in there or what? Come on out! I've got a surprise for you..."

The welcome mat lifted up, and Branch poked out. "Hi, Poppy. What is it? You know I don't like surprises."

"Well, you're gonna love this one 'cause it's an invite to a slumber party!" she said, holding out his hand-made, personalized invitation.

Branch took the invitation and opened it, which was a step up from what he had done to her invitations for most of his life. Whether he came to her parties or not, these days, he at least had the courtesy to look at the invitations she worked so hard on.

As Poppy had intended, a tiny version of her popped up, wearing a nightgown and smiling brightly. "Let's sleep under the stars tonight! It's the Star-Gazing Club's Slumber Party! Whoo-hoo!" the invitation cried. More troll cut-outs popped up and shot glitter into the air.

"So? What do you think?" Poppy asked him, sounding excited.

Branch looked up at her, looking mildly irritated in that way that said there was something seriously wrong with the way she saw the world. "Poppy, this isn't the best night for a camping trip," he answered, trying to remain patient. Gesturing to the sky, he added, "There's a storm coming."

Poppy looked up curiously, seeing nothing but a bright blue sky with sunshine and fluffy white clouds. It couldn't look less like a storm was coming. "A storm, Branch? But it's a beautiful, sunny day!"

"Right now, yes. But there's moisture in the air that signifies a coming storm."

"What? No, there isn't! I mean, if there was, you'd think the other trolls would notice it, too!"

Branch just looked at her lamely. "Poppy, I gave up thinking that a long time ago."

Exasperated, Poppy sighed, tossing her head. "Whatever, Branch. Have it your way."

She should have known better. Being more social didn't mean Branch was guaranteed to accept her invitations. At least he refused more politely these days.

As she walked away, she heard Branch climb out of the bunker and knew he was following her. "Wait, you're not still planning on having that party, are you?" he asked her.

"Psh. Of course, I am, Branch. Everyone's been looking forward to it!" she answered as she kept walking. "And besides, I've already set everything up at our usual campsite, so it would be a total waste of time to try canceling it now. Especially since it's such a lovely day and all."

A lovely day that Captain Doom and Gloom wanted to claim would end in horror and disaster. What would his next prediction be? An invasion?

"Poppy, I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea!" Branch said with urgency. "You guys could get hurt, or worse!"

"We'll be fine, Branch. Trust me."

After that, Branch stopped following her. She hoped that meant he was accepting what she said. Then again, she might just have been being optimistic again. With Branch, the optimistic choice was rarely the correct one.

As Poppy walked off, Branch thought about his options. Clearly, as usual, a warning wasn't good enough for Poppy and the rest of Troll Village. Obviously she isn't going to just listen to me. Not that I expected her to. So what can I do about this?

That night, despite the prediction of disaster, the Star-Gazing Club met up at their usual location with their camping equipment. As they lay beneath the stars, it was easy to see that Branch had been wrong. The sky was clear, the night calm.

"And that's the Angel's Wing constellation!" Poppy pointed out one of her favorites.

All those gathered, including several of her inner circle, oohed and ahhed as was appropriate.

Suddenly a troll burst out of the bushes, looking like he was here to announce the imminent breakdown of society. Poppy should have known he'd be here, if only to warn them all to leave.

"Everyone! You have to pack up and get home now!" Branch cried, looking frantic. "There's a dangerous storm on the way, and you don't want to get caught out in it!"

The others all sat up and looked at him, confused. Well, all but Poppy. Since she should have seen this coming, she just put a hand to her face, annoyed at her favorite, overly cautious troll.

"What are you talking about, my friend?" Guy Diamond asked. "It looks clear out here to me!" He looked up at the sky, still very lost.

"I know it looks fine, but I'm telling you, there's a huge storm coming!"

"Argh!" Exasperated, Poppy turned to him, sitting up. "Branch! There is absolutely nothing going on! There isn't even a cloud in the sky, let alone one that would cause a storm! What's wrong with you?"

"Yeah, Branch! You need to learn to relax! Come on over and join us, dude!" Cooper offered, patting the space beside him.

Chenille cupped her hand around Satin's ear and whispered to her sister, "This is why I really wish Poppy would stop inviting him to parties. He always panics over nothing."

Satin nodded in understanding while Poppy secretly agreed, hoping that Branch hadn't hear that.

Branch growled. Either he did hear that, or the rest of it was annoying enough. Poppy was going with the former. Well, if he didn't like it, he should stop making it true. "Fine! You guys want to take that risk, go ahead! Don't say I didn't warn you!" With his dire warning given, Branch stormed off, making him the only storm anyone thought they'd be seeing this night.

Poppy just sighed. "Sorry about that, gang. Now where were we?"

The Star-Gazing Club lay down and continued as if that interruption hadn't happened.

As it turned out, Branch was right...that rain was coming. He just overestimated the severity. A gentle sprinkling of rain fell on the trolls' heads as they set up tents some of them had brought as a precautionary measure. They might not have been as paranoid as Branch, but the thought that it might rain wasn't entirely foreign to them.

The twins seemed eager to discuss the merits of Branch's warning while they set up their own tent. Satin said, "Well, he was right. There is a storm."

"If you can call it that," Chenille countered. "It's just a little rain! His definition of storm is severely outdated.

As often happened when it came to Branch, Satin nodded. She and Chenille didn't agree on a lot of things, but Branch was never an issue of contention.

Even if Poppy did agree, she couldn't just stand by and let two of her best friends belittle the troll who could easily lock himself away again if people weren't careful with him. After all, Branch needed someone to accept him, and his friends should be the ones defending him when he wasn't there to do it himself. They shouldn't be joining the others in complaining about him.

"Now, girls, I know Branch can be a bit eccentric at times, but his warning did convince some of us to pack for a rainstorm," Poppy said as she set up the tent she had brought.

Really, it was good that Branch had said something about rain. When Poppy told everyone why Branch wasn't coming, they'd agreed that it wasn't going to be that bad but still brought the supplies for it, just in case. Besides Poppy and the twins, Cooper, Biggie, and three other trolls had brought tents. Between all of them, Poppy was sure they had enough tents for everyone to have a dry place to sleep tonight.

"Yeah! I'm glad I brought a tent!" Cooper cheered as his tent fell down on one side. Another troll ran over to help the struggling giraffe troll.

"Agreed," Biggie said. "While Branch might have exaggerated the severity of the storm, at least he warned us something was coming."

"True," Chenille admitted. "I mean, we can stay dry now."

"Yeah, I guess," DJ, the only member of Poppy's inner circle without her own tent, said as she covered her head with her sleeping bag. "Now if only I'd remembered to bring one! I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders!"

"We have room in our tent, DJ," Satin offered as she and Chenille finished setting it up.

DJ tossed her wet sleeping bag aside and headed over, saying, "Aw, gee, thanks, you guys! You're a lifesaver!"

Poppy and another troll headed into her tent while this exchange was happening. She looked around and noticed she had room to offer another troll a place to sleep. She and an orange troll with green hair, poked their heads back out, smiling. "You can share mine with us, too, Guy! There's plenty of room left for one more!"

"Oh, thank you, Poppy! Don't mind if I do," he answered, heading over and into her tent.

Now four trolls remained in need of a dry space. Poppy briefly wondered if they needed another tent.

Then Cooper spoke up, his tent finally pitched. "Come on over! I got room!" he said.

A couple of trolls went to join him while another called out, "I can fit one more!"

This left one troll standing outside, sweating. He stood there a moment before saying, "Think I'll just run home and grab my own tend... I'll be back later!"

As he ran off, Cooper watched him go, then looked back into his own tent. "We still had room, didn't we?" he asked the occupants.

With Cooper's tent right across from hers, Poppy saw them nod.

"Aw, don't worry, Cooper! At least he's staying warm," Poppy said, smiling in amusement.

"Night, gang! See you in the morning!" Guy called out, ready to zip up the tent.

Everyone called out their nighttime well-wishes and went to bed.

And that was all the worse the "dangerous storm" ever got.

A few more days passed without serious incident. Branch was actually fun to hang out with instead of driving everyone crazy, and he and the rest of the Snack Pack bonded some. Since he'd had some time to get closer to other trolls, Poppy decided it was about time that she do something with him alone.

During Trollstice, Branch had confessed love for her. At first, she had thought it was just the song, but his sincerity had shown on his face, along with nerves while he waited for her response. Since then, they had been in a relationship, although you wouldn't know it from looking at them. Because Branch wasn't used to any kind of affection, Poppy was being very gentle with him, working up his comfort level. She didn't even call him her boyfriend, even though that's how she thought of him. They called themselves friends, but that wasn't how Poppy viewed their relationship. As he grew more comfortable, Poppy hoped that he would let her move this into more...intimate waters eventually.

So, with the goal of spending time with her favorite grouch, she headed out to find him with a picnic basket on her arm, excited about her plans for today. She found Branch gathering some wood, probably to restock his firewood.

"Good morning, Branch!" she said cheerily as she walked up to him. "How's your day been?"

He stopped and looked at her, arms full of wood. "Uh, it's been good." He looked at the basket on her arm and asked, "What's that for?"

"Well, Branch, I was thinking you and I could go to Bubbly Streams for a little picnic lunch!" she answered, all smiles. "I've cleared my entire afternoon so we can enjoy a little time together! We can go hiking in the forest, swimming in the stream, and enjoy this lovely meal I made for us when we're done! What do you say?"

"Wow, just us?" He looked a little surprised, and Poppy was sure he was going to say yes. But then he answered, "I'd love to, Poppy, really, I would. But this isn't a good day for those kind of plans."

Poppy deflated. "Aw... But why not? I was really looking forward to spending time alone with you."

"Sorry, but the weather's got other plans."

Poppy looked up, confused. There was a single gray cloud in the sky, not even a big one. Having finished analyzing the sky, she returned her gaze to him lamely. "Branch. Is this another one of those times where you're gonna tell me that a little bit of moisture in the air equals a huge rainstorm? 'Cause, for the record, you were wrong that last time."

"Hey, it rained, didn't it?" he countered.

"Branch! That hardly counted as a rainstorm! It barely let off a tiny drizzle, so you can't tell me you think a storm's coming over something as small as that. I don't smell anything, anyway."

Of all the statements Branch had ever made her say, that was one of the strangest.

"Look at the sky, Poppy," Branch responded, shifting his load so he could point at the sky. "See that cloud?" He pointed at the single gray cloud, as if it were a harbinger of doom. "That's a storm cloud, and, any minute now, it's going to start raining."

Poppy could hardly believe her ears. That was his reason? It took her a moment, stunned as she was, to answer him. When she did, her patience was gone. She cried out in frustration. "Branch! That thing's too small to cause an issue! Come on, I cleared my whole afternoon just so that I could spend some time with you! Please don't tell me you're gonna let one little, tiny rain cloud spoil it for us!"

"I'm sorry, Poppy, but a picnic, hiking, and swimming just aren't going to happen today," he answered her before going back to his business.

Poppy tossed her head, irritated, as she groaned loudly. "Fine! Then how 'bout this? We have our picnic at my place where it's safe. Then will you come spend some time with me?"

This time, she wasn't doing such a good job keeping frustration and annoyance out of her voice. That's why it wasn't really a surprise when Branch turned to her, looking startled, and seemed to analyze the situation. "Uh, sure...assuming you still want to," he said. "Because it sounds like you'd rather not right now."

"No, Branch. I want to, that's the whole problem! Why do you always have to make things more difficult? Hm?"

"I don't always make things difficult!" he countered indignantly.

"Whatever. Are you coming or not, Safety Nerd?" she asked as she started heading back to her pod. She was tired of arguing with him.

Branch blinked, standing there for a second as he wondered if he really did always make things harder for Poppy. Apparently she thought so. He'd have to work on that, he decided. So, to start with, he dropped the wood he'd been gathering—he could worry about this later. It wasn't an emergency, so bugging Poppy by insisting on finishing wasn't important. Instead he followed her back to her pod.

Soon the two were sitting in Poppy's pod, playing a nice, relaxing game of checkers. Poppy had calmed down now and wasn't irritated with him anymore.

"Ah... There, you see? Nothing bad happened on the way over here," she said as she jumped one of his checkers, landing directly in front of him on the board. "Queen me. And now we get to share a nice, relaxing afternoon together. Isn't it fun?"

Branch stuck another piece on top of hers, saying, "Yeah, this is great." Then he moved to jump 3 of her pieces at once.

Poppy started, her eyes widening. "What!? No fair, Branch! I—"

"Hey, don't blame me," Branch cut her off with a smirk. "You're the one who made that move."

"Aw, blueberries," Poppy complained, letting her head hit the table. The sound of rain on her roof got her attention, and she looked up, curious. It had been quiet all this time, with no sign of the storm Branch had predicted. "Huh?" She went to the window to see how bad it really was.

Outside she saw a gentle shower of rain, with trolls outside playing in it. Not nearly the problem Branch had made it out to be.

"Huh. Guess you were right about the rain," she admitted.

"I told you."

Poppy looked at the sky, seeing something that made her feel like saying that very line. She held off. "But...you also said it was going to be a big storm," Poppy added, smirking smugly as she crossed her arms.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started.

"And what do you know! It's already over. Gee, that was definitely enough to cancel our plans for the day," she finished sarcastically as she walked back over to the table.

Branch rolled his eyes, never one to admit he was wrong. "Okay, so it wasn't that big, but still."

"Uh-hm..." Slightly annoyed again, Poppy sat down, arms crossed.

"It's your turn, Poppy," Branch changed the subject.

"Okay... Uh...hm... Let's see here..." She looked at the board uncertainly.

The final straw in the weather department came some time later. Poppy had been trying to build camaraderie with the bergens and had formed a bergenball team of her own in the hopes that somebody would give her a high-five already! She and her team, Branch, Biggie, and Smidge, had just won five games in a row. They were now qualified for the semifinals.

"Alright, team!" Poppy said. "That was your best game yet! Keep it up, and that trophy will be ours in no time!"

"Ooh, ooh!" Smidge said, looking excited. "Let's celebrate! After all, it's not every day a team of trolls gets a shot at the bergenball semifinals, right?"

"Well, since we are the first trolls to compete in bergenball, no," Biggie answered. "So I'd say a celebration is definitely in order! Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Dinkles?"

"Meep!"

Well, they were all in agreement, then, because Poppy wanted to celebrate, too!

"Alright! Then let's head over to the party area and—"

"Ooh, yeah," Branch said, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, guys, that's probably not such a great idea right now."

Oh, no.

Biggie looked at Branch, confused. "Huh? But why not?"

"When this wind picks up, it'll blow everything away! Trolls included!" Branch answered.

So wind was his excuse this time. Poppy could hardly believe him. A gentle breeze meant a dangerous storm was coming, in his mind? She'd had enough of this nonsense.

The queen cried out in exasperation. "Come on, Branch! Again with the weather catastrophes!? You keep on telling us a disaster is moments away from striking, and none ever does!"

"Yeah, Branch," Smidge said. "What're you afraid of? Going outside's not gonna kill you. You've been out here with us all day!"

The wind blew, and it was a little stronger than before. Poppy knew Branch would latch onto that as a reason not to have a party tonight.

She wasn't disappointed—Branch gestured in the direction the wind had come from and said, "There, you see!? The wind's already picking up! I know I might have gotten it wrong the last two times, but that doesn't mean I'm always wrong!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're always right, either," Biggie countered. "In fact, with your track record, we'll probably have enough wind for hair gliding and nothing worse."

That was the truth. If Poppy canceled every event she planned because Branch predicted trouble, they'd never do anything in Troll Village.

"I say we just throw our party without him. It's pretty obvious Branch here's scared of the outdoors," Smidge said, crossing her arms with a smug look on her face.

She was baiting him, and it worked.

"I'm not scared of the outdoors!" Branch argued, fists clenched at his sides and a glare on his face.

"Oh, yeah? Then prove it." Smidge smirked at him, smug. She knew she had him now.

Branch growled a bit. "Fine! I'll go to your party!"

"Great!" Poppy responded, not even caring that he seemed annoyed. He'd get over it when this party went off without a hitch, just like the one he'd missed out on because of his death predictions. "Then I'll go round up everything we need for it! Come on!"

She took off to get everything set up, her team following her, Branch reluctantly.

By the time the party started, the wind had picked up quite a bit, but nobody was too concerned about it. Biggie, Cooper, and several other trolls had even decided to take advantage of it for some kite flying.

"It's so exciting!" Biggie told some of their friends of their bergenball success. "We're doing so well!"

"And against players ten times your size, too!" Satin said, sounding impressed.

"Well, they do have Branch and Smidge on the team," Chenille said.

Only one troll was worried about the wind. Branch could have swore that, in addition to the strong winds, it was getting cloudy. Unfortunately it was dark out by this point, and the disco ball was blocking his view, even if it wasn't so dark. He was staring at the sky, trying to decide if he should raise the alarm or just let it be.

Poppy walked over to him, a brownie in one hand and a cup of punch in the other. "Hey, Branch? Aren't you having a good time?"

"Huh?" His attention snapped to Poppy, and he said, "Oh! Yeah, it's great. Hey, Poppy, I think we might..."

He trailed off. All things considered, he doubted she'd believe him anyway. After all, she, like everyone else here, still looked unconcerned.

"Might what?" Poppy asked.

Branch never had a chance to answer—thunder rumbled, lightning struck, and suddenly there was rain. For the first time, Branch's disaster prediction was accurate. This wasn't a mild rainstorm, unlike the last two. The trolls started to panic, starting one of their freak-outs.

Smidge ducked under the refreshment table, crying, "Oh my ga, oh my ga, oh my gaaa!"

"Wow! That came out of nowhere!" Cooper said, looking up.

"I knew it!" Branch said. He cupped his hands around his mouth—survival was one thing he understood, and running in a blind panic wasn't going to help anyone. "Everyone! Find shelter, now!" he called, taking charge.

"Get to lower ground! Lightning always strikes the tallest objects!" Poppy added.

The trolls started running for sheltered locations on the ground—holes in tree roots, mushrooms, whatever was available.

Biggie ran under a mushroom and shook off the rain. "Oh, dear! Are you alright, Mr. Dinkles?" he asked his worm friend.

"Meep!"

"Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man—" DJ panicked as she ran for the same mushroom. Once safe, she said, "That was a close one!"

Smidge and Guy found a knothole in a tree that was low enough to clamber into and managed to squeeze themselves and five other trolls into it. The rest of the party-goers were mostly sheltered, but Cooper wasn't following directions, and Satin and Chenille were also having issues. Cooper ran in circles in a blind panic, his eyes closed and head thrown back as he screamed. The twins had tried to follow directions but had run in opposite directions. When their conjoined hair pulled them back, they'd fallen down.

Poppy ran out to get the twins, grabbing Chenille's hand and dragging them both along. "Arh! Come on, you guys! This is no time to be freaking out!" she said as she ran for shelter under a nearby tree.

Branch, meanwhile, was making sure that twelve other trolls were safe under a mushroom on the other side of the party zone. "Come on, come on!" he urged them to hurry up. He looked back to see if there was anyone else who needed help. That's when he saw Cooper, still running in circles and screaming. "Cooper!"

The teal troll was about to go get him when a lightning bolt struck the ground right where Cooper was standing, barbecuing him.

Poppy's eyes widened in horror. "Cooper! NOO!"

Satin and Chenille gasped, horrified, their hands flying to their mouths.

Dangerous or not, Cooper needed help, and Branch wasn't about to leave one of his friends behind. He ran out into the middle of the now empty party field, hoping Cooper was okay.

Guy and Smidge gasped. "Cooper!"

"Oh, my ga!"

Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion for Poppy. She had a moment of terror, realizing with a gasp that Branch was about to be next. "Branch, watch out!"

She tried to go help, but the twins grabbed her arms and pulled her back. "Poppy! No!" they cried.

They turned out to be right—just as they stopped her, a bolt of lightning struck the ground right outside of their hiding place.

Branch, meanwhile, dove out of the way of another lightning bolt just in time, somersaulted to his feet, and kept running. For once, Poppy was glad he had such insane survival skills. Shortly Branch had reached Cooper, who was speaking gibberish. Not that this was unusual for Cooper, so he could have been perfectly fine. In fact, him being conscious was already reassuring for Branch. The giraffe troll did still seem to have a bit of static cling going on, and he twitched a bit.

"Never kiss a light socket!" Cooper said. "'Specially not a French kiss!"

Great, advice, Cooper, but I'll worry about your health later! Right now, we gotta go! He grabbed one of Cooper's front legs and dragged him toward a hole at the roots of a nearby tree. He heard a lightning bolt strike the ground behind them, but he just kept running.

Soon Cooper and Branch were safe, the only two trolls hidden in this little hole. Now that they weren't in immediate danger, Branch examined Cooper. He saw some electrical burns, but nothing that really looked serious on the outside. It didn't seem like Cooper had any broken bones or anything, either.

Branch gripped Cooper's head, forcing the other troll to look him in the eye. "Cooper, can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying?" he asked.

Cooper's eyes were out of focus, which worried Branch some. "Uh...yeah?" Cooper answered. "Hey, Branch! Why you in my face?"

"Cooper, do you know what just happened?"

"Uh...no?"

"You got struck by lightning, Cooper," Branch said gently. "How do you feel?"

"Well, I feel kinda tingly, like I just got outta a bath that was way too hot! And everything's spinning, dude! Why can't you stay still!?"

Dizzy, tingly, a little burnt, and obviously confused. That wasn't necessarily all that was wrong with him, but he still seemed lucid. Branch knew there could be a lot more damage inside that he just couldn't see, though. Hopefully this storm would end soon so they could get Cooper taken care of.

"Okay, Cooper, just lay down for a bit. That'll help," he said to his friend. I'd better keep an eye on him until we can get him to Dr. Moonbloom.

"Branch!" he heard someone call. The voice was nearly drowned out by the wind and rain, but he could tell it was Poppy. "How's Cooper doing!? Is he alright!?"

He headed to the edge of the hole and cupped his hands around his mouth to help his answer carry to her. "I THINK SO!" he yelled as loud as he could. "I'LL KEEP AN EYE ON HIM!"

"Okay!" Poppy answered. "Just let us know if he gets any worse, okay!?"

"WILL DO!" With Poppy reassured, Branch turned his attention back to Cooper.

Cooper was laying on the ground, his legs folded under him. "Why am I in your bunker, Branch?" he asked.

"You think this is my bunker?"

"You mean it's not?"

Concerned, Branch just stared at his friend for a bit before pulling a blanket out of his hair. He walked over and draped it over Cooper, saying, "Just get some rest, okay?"

Cooper put his head down and closed his eyes. Branch left one hand on his friend, waiting anxiously for the storm to end.

It wasn't too long before the crazy lightning storm stopped, and nobody needed told to get Dr. Moonbloom. Branch had barely had the time to wake Cooper up and coax him out from under the tree before the doctor was there, reading to check up on him. She examined Cooper, checking him over there in the field. She kept asking her assistant for tools that made it sound like she was performing surgery on him right there—a scalpel, forceps, pin cutter—which got all those gathered extremely worried.

Finally she stopped and looked grim. "I'm sorry. There's nothing that will help him now..."

All those gathered gasped, horrified. Biggie hugged Mr. Dinkles for comfort.

"Nothing except putting some salve on his minor burns and having him take it easy for a few days," she added casually, pulling out a jar of salve.

Everyone sighed, relieved.

Feeling awkward, Poppy walked over to Branch now that they all knew Cooper's condition wasn't so bad. "Uh...so, Branch...about what happened to Cooper..." she started, sounding apologetic.

"Hey, it's fine," he said, saving her from this awkward apology. "At least everyone's okay, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." She laughed a bit, relieved.

Dr. Moonbloom and her nurses helped Cooper up and started taking him home. The other trolls were all helping to clean up the party site, given that the storm had made a serious mess. Branch, for his part, watched, concerned, as the medics took Cooper home. Sure, nobody was seriously hurt this time, but who knew what could happen in the future? He had to figure out a way to keep everyone safe.