Orphaned Chapter 35, a trolls fanfic

Poppy sat up when she woke up to see that Branch was no longer by her side, her eyes scanned the room only to find that he wasn't there. In a panic she quickly got up and rushed to go find him, she did not have to search far because she found him sitting in the middle of the living area of the pod watching the dying embers in the fireplace.

"Branch?" she whispered as she slowly approached him.

"Poppy what are you doing up?" he asked not taking his eyes off the glowing embers.

"I was worried when I didn't see you," she explained taking a seat next to him on the floor "what's wrong?"

"Why do want to be my friend when I am unworthy of your friendship?" he whispered slowly turning towards her "Nobody likes that we are friends."

"Branch I don't care what everyone says about our friendship," she replied, "because they are the ones in the wrong not you. I can't stand how they hurt and make fun of you all the time, you don't deserve that."

Their friendship was special to him which is why Branch did not want to see her get hurt because she chose to be his friend. That is why he had made his decision even though it was going to hurt her feelings at least she wouldn't be hurt physically anymore. He was afraid yes but he knew it was what best for her and everyone.

Poppy could see that he was deep in thought about something "Branch," she said softly and taking his into hers before she started singing just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side
You know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold

And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No, I won't give in...

Poppy stood up and helped him to his feet...her eyes begged him to dance along with her...Branch smiled slightly as he began to slowly dance.

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you
I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through

So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late
This could all disappear

Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side, I will fight and defend
I'll fight and defend
Yeah, yeah...

The two trolls continued to dance together and as much as he enjoyed it, she was making his decision more difficult.

Hear me when I say, when I say I believe
Nothing's gonna change
Nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through
We'll make it through...

When she was done singing Poppy place a gentle kiss on his cheek and gave him one of her famous smiles that he liked so much. "Come on!" she said pulling towards the exit of the pod.

"Wait...wait..wait," he said pulling back "where are we going?"

She gave him a sly smile "It's a surprise."

"But..." he started to say but she tugged harder on his arm until he followed out of the door and into the night air.

"My dad would bring me here all the time when I was little," she said happily pulling along beside her.

"And where is here?" he asked keeping his ears alert for any kind of sound that would tell him that they were being followed.

Poppy shook her head and giggled "If I told you it wouldn't be very a surprise now would it?"

"I don't know," he mumbled "we are kind of far from the village, maybe this isn't such a good idea and we should go back."

"Branch relax," Poppy said, "everything is fine."

No soon after she said that Branch stopped suddenly "Poppy listen," he whispered pulling her back next to him.

Poppy listened closely but heard nothing "I don't hear anything," she pointed trying to pull him with her again, but the grey troll refused to move.

"That's just it," he said, "you don't hear anything, it's too quiet and unnatural."

"I'm sure it's fine," Poppy replied.

Just as Branch was about to continue following her it jumped out in front of them, the very same catlike creature that had attacked them once before and his parents appeared. It hissed and growled showing its razor-sharp teeth pawing towards them with its long-clawed paw. The creature slowly crept towards them without taking its' eyes from the tasty treat that stood before it. Poppy squeezed tightly onto Branch's hand afraid to let go for fear that she might lose him. "Branch," Poppy whispered, "you were right, this was a bad idea."

Branch quickly scanned the area looking for an escape route but all he could find was patch of thick roots with thorns. "You see that thick patch of thorns?" he asked tilting his slightly towards the roots.

Poppy looked quickly and replied "Yeah,"

"I will distract it while you make a run for it," he explained.

"Are you crazy?" she asked blinking at him in surprise "I'm not leaving you."

"You have to," he replied giving her a pleading look "please."

Poppy wrapped her arms around him giving him a tight hug not wanting to let go "Hey," he said giving her a reassuring smile "it's okay, it will be alright." Branch remembered those were the same words his parents said to him before the creature got them, he chose not to tell Poppy that detail because he knew that she would never let go and stay in harm's way. Poppy reluctantly let go of Branch and ran in the direction of the thorns, as soon as the creature saw her run it pounced. Thinking fast Branch picked up a couple rocks and threw them at the beast to stop it from going after Poppy, it quickly turned its attention to the lone troll standing in the middle. The creature let out a loud screech and ran towards the troll that thrown the rocks at it, Branch quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction leading it away from Poppy. However, he did not get far before he was knocked to the ground by the monster 's mighty paw. Before Branch had a chance to get back up the creature used its paw to slap its prey across the ground. Branch could feel his heart beating fast as he tumbled to a stop, his head was spinning as the creature hovered over him.

Just as the creature was about was about to attack again it let out a painful howl, Branch looked up to see Poppy standing behind it holding its tail. "Leave him alone!" she hissed pulling the tail back hard. With a quick swish of its tail the creature itself from the pink troll's grip, now it was furious. Using its mighty paw it hit the pink troll so hard that it sent her flying backwards into the patch of thorns.

"Poppy!" Branch shouted getting to his feet feeling a sort of braveness come over him, he shoved his hands into the creature's side to get its attention again. Once he had it he took off running away from Poppy, he ran until there was no more ground. He stopped fast at the edge and looked down, it was a long fall down to the water below. Just as he was about turn back the beast jumped out knocking both of them over the edge. Branch quickly used his hair to grab hold of an exposed root, the monster was not so luck and it fell to the water below. Using his hair Branch climbed back up and rushed back to where Poppy had landed. He found her holding her side and crying "It hurts so much," she whispered slowly removing her hand to show him that she had landed on one of the thorns.

"We have to get you home," he said kneeling down beside her "can you stand up."

Poppy shook her head as tears flowed down her sparkly cheeks "I can't."

"It's alright," he said, "I'll figure something out."

Gathering as many things as he could find Branch quickly assembled a makeshift lift for her to ride on and a bunch of soft flower petals that he carefully placed on her wound to help slow the bleeding. Branch helped her to her feet to get her over to the lift, he carefully lowered her down on to it.

"I'm so cold," she whispered starting to shiver.

Without any hesitation Branch quickly removed his vest and used it to cover her "Remember to keep as much pressure on the wound as possible," he said before going to the front of the lift and began pulling it behind him.

The journey back took longer than getting there because of much slower they had to go, they arrived back in the village just as the sun was raising. "We're here," he said breathing a sigh of relief only to realize that Poppy was being too quiet. "Poppy!" he exclaimed when he turned to see how pale she had become "Poppy…please wake up!" When she did not open her eyes Branch started to panic, he had to get her to the doctor's pod and fast.