Into The Mud

Branch woke up in the middle of the night. He was drenched in sweat and out of breath. His heart was racing like he had been running around the room in his sleep. He didn't remember the nightmare this time, he wasn't even sure if he was dreaming at all. All he could recall was an absolute sense of desperation taking over him.

Well, what else could be expected after the horrible conversation he had with Demo? The pile of books over his desk was evidence that he had tracked every Blue Moon since Poppy had come to a mature age. He was horrified to find that indeed there was a specific day when the Blue Moon happened during Spring. Their mating festival.

It was a day when the trolls would go mindless and it was highly hazardous for anyone who was still looking for their special someone.

It was catastrophic. How he had managed to sleep after finding that information was a mystery.

There were knocks on the trapdoor. Not the three knocks that he was used to when Poppy announced her arrival, but urgent knocks that made it sound like more than one troll was on his door.

Something must have happened.

It was with a heartbreaking surprise that he found Holly and Val outside. One look at their faces and he felt faint. The corner of his sight darkened and the color vanished from his face.

Poppy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Hair, Branch." Holly sobbed uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry. We tried to hold her, but-"

"We have to look for Poppy!" Val yelled.

"Where is she? What happened?" The emergency mode was on. He had no time for shaking knees. Since when did he become such a softie?

"She fell off the car into a cliff," Holly kept crying and Val seemed to be getting angrier with her. "I'm afraid it's a pretty bad situation. She might be-"

"Don't you dare say it!" Val shouted. Her voice echoed through the village and some pods lightened up because of the commotion.

Branch, on the other hand, wasn't hearing much. He pictured the situation Holly described: Poppy falling into pointy rocks, scared and screaming. Being very optimistic and hoping she had survived the fall, either she was very hurt or very lost in the deep forest full of predators.

Blue Moon calendars were forgotten.

The survivalist had no idea how he managed to gather all the equipment for a rescue mission. All he knew was that in minutes he was out of the bunker, with a big backpack filled with rations, ropes, a first aid kit, hiking tools, blankets, and a canteen.

"Can you take me where she… she…?" Hair, he could say it.

"I'll drive you." Val nodded.

They could use more help. It was the more sensible thing to do, but Branch was strongly urged to go on his own. Other trolls started coming toward them. Holly kept crying and she wailed even louder when Biggie showed up.

"Let's go." Branch said to Val, pulling her discreetly toward the car so they could leave before anyone could see them.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was dark.

Her head was pounding so acutely that it felt on fire.

Poppy tried to move to feel her body. She was so cold her limbs felt numb. She made sure her eyes were open, but she could see nothing but black in front of her.

A moment of panic made her wonder if she had damaged her eyes during the fall. So she scanned herself for injuries. Her feet didn't feel hurt, nor did her legs. Her ribcage was hurting each time she tried to take a deeper breath, but as long as she was able to take in the air she assumed she was fine.

Carefully sitting up, her pink hands searched for something other than muddy ground. The noise of something damp flopped at each attempt to stand up.

She confirmed that her ribs were hurting quite painfully. She had a bruised side. She wasn't bleeding, but she could bet her hair that she had a big ugly bruise.

A twig snapped under her toes. Holding her breath, she looked up, afraid to wake up some sort of animal nearby.

Then she found daylight. The sky was almost completely covered by thick leaves, but there was a very discreet opening from where she could see the bright blue above her head.

Great. She had fallen so deep that even sunlight didn't reach the ground. Perfect.

Screaming for help was useless then. Suddenly she wished she had paid more attention to Branch's survival lessons. He had mentioned something about finding water because a river would lead to civilization sooner or later.

Her stomach rumbled loudly.

Uh. Branch also explained how to find edible berries in the forest, but she had started doodling flowers in her notebook and lost track of his class.

She wasn't going to risk eating any more poison-blue-acks.

The best she could do was to keep moving and find a way out of the darkness.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"She fell off the bridge?" Branch looked incredulously at the potentially lethal fall ahead of him.

"I'm positive she parachuted her hair at some point," Val commented, not sure if she was trying to comfort Branch or herself.

Poppy had to be alive. Her poor driving skills weren't going to be the reason why the queen wasn't among the living anymore.

Val jumped off the Dune Huggy and tried to reassure herself with a positivity that she didn't usually have. It was when she noticed Branch.

The survivalist was gripping the car's side so hard his hands were trembling. His breathing was shallow and rapid. He sniffed, wiping a couple of tears that got in the way of his rationality.

It struck Val that maybe the worst could have happened to her BFF.

"Oh, fudge." She breathed next to Branch, looking down at the bleak possibilities ahead. She couldn't hide a shaky breath. "She was so happy…"

"Don't speak like that." Branch replied impatiently, sobering up. "She's fine and I'm going to find her."

"Right." Val wasn't sure about it, but it was best to start an argument with the one troll with a good history of negativity. "How do we do this?"

"I'm going down," Branch tied the rope on a tree at the end of the bridge, dismissing Val completely. "You get back, find Biggie, and ask him to get the Snack Pack."

"Snack Pack?" Val asked in confusion, but Branch ignored her.

"... then get the bloodhounds." The survivalist clicked the emergency ropes in place with an agility that showed Val he probably had done it before. "And tell them to hurry back to track us down."

"Branch, you're not going on your own." Val protested.

"If Poppy is hurt, I'm the best chance she's got." And he wouldn't be delayed by taking care of another troll who wanted to tag along. "And if she's too hurt, a rescue team is the best chance she's got."

Far into the forest, nothing but tree cups could be seen. The sun was starting to shine at the crack of the morning. Val wasn't very good with directions, but she had feared Branch was walking into the lair of a hungry Bergen.

She shouldn't tell Poppy's secret like that. But then… she couldn't allow Branch to walk into a potential danger unprepared.

"Wait." Val stopped him the second he started to climb down. He halted with little patience left. "It's just that… Poppy was going to tell you this, okay? But we found a Bergen in these woods."

Branch merely raised an eyebrow.

"So…?"

Oh, gosh, he thought Bergens were nice.

"This is a troll-eating Bergen," Val said in a hurry. Branch stiffened. "Poppy didn't believe it either, she was almost eaten and…"

"Wait." The absurdity of it all made Branch drop the ropes. "You're telling me Poppy went near a Bergen who still eats trolls?"

"She was trying to befriend him." Val should stop talking. She had spilled enough of Poppy's secrets and Branch looked horrified with the new information. "Look, I'm telling you because he's out there and Poppy said you're a Bergen expert."

Dizzy. Branch felt dizzy. It was too much to take in at once. Poppy was lost, probably hurt, and there was a monster dangerously near and somehow the stupid Blue Moon calendar popped into his mind.

He turned around. The forest suddenly looked darker than before. The contrast between the sunny sky and the dark green trees made a chill run down his spine. Branch's eyes narrowed for a moment. Far down the maze of gigantic cups with thick foliage, he could spot smoke coming out of a chimney.

There was an isolated Bergen there. He could feel it.

He couldn't waste any more time!

"Just go get the others," Branch said before dropping in a controlled fall down the pointy rocks. He could hear Val apologizing over and over, saying that she wasn't supposed to tell him about the Bergen and asking him to promise he wouldn't tell Poppy.

Well… first he had to make sure his girlfriend was fine and then… of course, he would confront her.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"Water!" Poppy stumbled on a tuft of dry moss but it didn't stop her from crawling near the stream and drinking as much as she could.

She had lost track of time. The queen had no idea for how long she had dragged herself among the plants and flowers that were all too quiet. On the bright side, she had found water, which meant she could follow the river until it reached somewhere… or someone.

Sugar… Branch would be so worried.

The last thing she needed was for her boyfriend to wake up at the crack of dawn and find out she had fallen off a bridge. It was very probable that Holly and Val would seek help instead of venturing themselves on their own.

She could barely sit on her heels. She was covered in mud and for some reason, the sticky feeling started bothering her.

Poppy would give anything to be in Branch's arms at that moment. Cuddling, feeding each other ice cream or bits of chocolate. She also wished for his pie. How lucky was she to find a cute boyfriend who could cook so well? The entire troll kingdom would envy her menu.

Perhaps she was going delirious.

Her fingers looked swollen. Did she go through any poisonous plants? In the dark, she couldn't know. But her skin felt sensitive… and her crown fell off her hair…

The ground was getting near.

"Branch…"

ooooooooooooo

Branch looked around, having a feeling that he had heard his name. He stood still for a few seconds. Hair lightened up and feet deep into the mud.

No other sound reached his ears and he continued searching for Poppy in the dark and wet place where she had probably landed. He was relieved he hadn't found any blood, but the affliction progressed since he still found no hint of where his girlfriend was.

A tiny flower moved out of his way and Branch turned to thank her. He found a spike on the plant and a small blue tread that was familiar to him.

He stopped breathing for a minute and looked down, falling on his knees and digging into the mud. It was too shallow for her to have drowned, but it was deep enough to hide hints of the direction she had gone.

Another blue tread floated around him. Branch looked up to see where it was coming from. The trail he had wished for wasn't on the ground, but hanging on the flowers, light blue and very clear.

She was alive! And walking on her own. For some miracle, Poppy was able to get out of there on her own.

Branch walked faster, slipping on the wet road, but with his hopes high and lungs filling up with joy to the point of bursting, he could avoid crying out as happy tears blinded him.

The ground dried and the thick plants were left behind. Sunlight finally reached him and Branch was left with no doubts that Poppy had managed to get out of the swamp on her own.

"Good girl." He whispered to himself.

Branch adjusted the bag on his back and kept walking, now carefully quiet so he could hear a sneaky Bergen approaching. As his worries about Poppy subsided, his thoughts involuntarily turned to his childhood nightmare.

How come a Bergen was still eating trolls? Either he disrespected Gristle's orders - which made Branch's suspicions valid from day one - or the guy was a survivalist like himself. Living on his own and out of reach for years, he couldn't know about the end of Trollstice. And still, his suspicions were right. Not all Bergen had given up years of troll diet just because someone said so.

And what the Hair Poppy was doing trying to befriend a predator? She was going to have an earful once he found her.

To answer his wishes, a mist clouded his sight, being raised too suddenly and unnoticed. He was perfectly camouflaged like that.

Branch heard the sound of running water.

He could use some quick wash-up.

His eyes narrowed as he carefully walked towards the water. Looking for safe places to stand and avoiding slippery rocks was a good way to keep sharp eyes.

Then he saw a mass of pink. It was lying, unmoving, next to the stream.

"POPPY!"