"Creek…" Poppy's voice broke, "No…please don't do this..."
Creek smiled in a way that made Poppy's blood turn cold. He sauntered up to the cage.
"Actually, Poppy love, there is a way I can save you and your baby."
Branch fumed; how dare that traitor bring Rosiepuff into this!
"You see," Creek continued, "the Bergens need Trolls to keep Trollstice going. So, there needs to be at least two Trolls kept alive to reproduce, if you follow me."
Realizing what Creek was getting at, Poppy gripped the bars in anger.
"I'm married to Branch," she said lowly.
Creek's smile flickered and he involuntarily glanced at Poppy's marriage braid hanging down the left side of her face.
"You'll be widowed by this time tomorrow," Chef chimed in while sharpening a knife.
The Snack Pack cowered to the back of the cage, their gazes snapping back to Creek as he stepped closer to Poppy with a smug grin.
"So, whadda you say, love? I'll raise your Trolling as my own, and we'll just forget about your…infatuation with the grey Troll."
Poppy spit in his face.
Behind her, she heard everyone gasp and Smidge's trademark exclamation of "Oh my gah!" Poppy didn't care; if Creek thought she would readily leave Branch and raise their child with him – regardless of the circumstances – he was out of his flipping mind!
He wiped his face, his calm and peaceful façade gone, and glared at her in pure hatred.
"Fine!" Creek snarled, grabbing Poppy by her hair. She cried out in pain.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Branch raged, whipping his hair around Creek's wrist.
Creek yanked his arm to make Branch's head bang against one of the cage bars. He stumbled back, momentarily disoriented.
"Branch!" Poppy screamed.
Creek jerked Poppy to him and growled in her ear, "You should've chosen me to begin with. Now you, your lover, and your illegitimate brat will die with everyone else."
He pulled her cowbell out of her hair and roughly shoved her into her husband.
"Keep the little slut," Creek sneered at Branch.
Branch just put his arms around Poppy and scowled at Creek until Chef picked him up and left.
"Poppy," he whispered, turning his attention to his wife. He was shocked to find her wide-eyed and trembling like a leaf; he wrapped his arms tighter around her. Their friends, who had been frozen in horror throughout Creek's outburst, slowly surrounded them.
"You okay, Poppy?" Cooper asked. Branch and the rest of the Snack Pack resisted the temptation to snap at him for asking such an obvious question.
Poppy shook her head; of course she wasn't okay!
"Rosiepuff…" she managed to breathe out before dissolving into tears.
Not only had she failed to save her friends, but she endangered her Village and her beloved daughter. The only way she could've saved Rosiepuff was agreeing to be with that monster she had once considered a friend. And after now seeing what Creek's true colors were, she could easily imagine what he would've done to both of them.
"H-how could I not've seen it?"
"It wasn't just you," Satin said softly.
"Creek fooled all of us," Chenille finished.
"Except maybe Branch," Biggie replied.
Branch shut his eyes to minimize the headache he got from both hitting his head and this whole ordeal. He had never trusted Creek, that much was true, but he only thought he was a fraudulent "guru" trying to worm his way into Poppy's affections. Not even in his worst nightmares did he think Creek would go this far.
Poppy whimpered and snuggled closer to her husband.
"I-I-I'm so s-sorry Branch…" she sobbed. At this point, she had run out of tears and was gasping for breath.
Branch gently ran his fingers through his wife's hair and rocked her back and forth, hoping it would be somewhat comforting. He wanted to tell her it was alright, that she had nothing to apologize for, that everyone was going to be okay, including their daughter. Hair, he was even slightly tempted to sing to her.
But he knew it would've been pointless. It was clear that even Poppy didn't see a bright side to this. If Poppy didn't see a bright side to this, then there probably wasn't a bright side at all.
It was going to be a long twenty-four hours.
Notes:
Gah! I'm so sorry! I promise the next fic I publish for this series will be much happier!
This is super short due to the fact that I'm struggling with a minor writer's block. I might come back and edit this, but we'll see; I still have more one-shots for this series that I want to work on.