Banished: A Hero's Redemption

by Midna Azusa

20 years have passed since the trolls escaped the bergens. When Poppy's party gets crashed by a bergen, her closest friends are all captured. Alone, she can't possibly save them, so she decides to enlist the help of a true hero. The only problem is she doesn't know where to find him. Her dad banished him years ago. AU rewrite of the first movie. Collab with Shadgirl2.

11. Branch Appreciation Ceremony

Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls.

Notes at the end.

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Poppy ran straight to Branch and gave him a tight hug, hugely relieved that he was safe. "Oh, Branch! Thank trollness! I was so worried!"

"Oof!" Branch cried out on impact. "Enthusiastic, aren't you?"

Creek walked up and hugged him from behind, startling Branch. Why would any of the others even want to touch him? "Brilliant showmanship, mate! Well done!" Creek said.

"Yeah, thanks," Branch said flatly. "Now let go."

Seriously, he still wasn't a fan of hugs. Poppy knew that, and Creek should have assumed it.

Both let go. The smile Poppy gave Branch, though, made Creek more nervous. He stared at Branch uncertainly.

Bridget picked up the stuff she had brought for the trolls and headed back over to the tank, saying, "Okay, like I was trying to say before, I found some ingredients for your baking, Biggie. Assuming no one's going to try to escape if I open the tank?"

"Thank you, Idget!" Biggie said.

Okay, it might be time to actually correct them before that name stuck. "Uh, actually, my name's Bridget."

"Oh, Bridget," Biggie corrected himself. "I'm sorry! Anyway, of course we aren't going to escape." He glanced at Branch, doubting the sincerity of his promise, and turned to Poppy and stage whispered, "Poppy, you might want to hold on to Branch."

Poppy gave him a puzzled look. Why would she need to do that?

Branch just rolled his eyes and said, "Relax. I'll stay put."

Everyone else agreed, some eagerly and some awkwardly. The jumble of words was hard for Bridget to understand, but she did hear a lot of affirmative answers and see a lot of nodding, so she figured they were saying they'd stay in the tank. Satisfied, she opened the tank and placed the flour—which she had put into tiny, troll-sized packaging—and the eggs—cracked open and meticulously divided into minuscule containers—inside the tank. She put in a tiny battery-powered oven(probably not very strong, but good enough for trolls) and a bunch of dishes, pots, pans, and cooking utensils, as well as other necessary cooking and baking ingredients.

Biggie ran over to get his baking supplies, saying, "Thank you, Bridget!" He was rather surprised that she'd taken the time to find a way to divide the ingredients up so that he'd have things closer to his own size to work with.

"You're welcome. I'm still trying to find the blankets, though. There might be some fabric in the storage room that you could use to make your own, if anyone here thinks they can..."

DJ leaned toward Biggie, still just as confused as ever, and asked, "Still, does anyone have a clue why this bergen's being so nice to us? She even gave Branch a second chance, and that's sayin' somethin'."

After all, Branch had assaulted her way worse than Smidge ever did.

Guy and Smidge both closed their eyes and shrugged. They'd given up on making sense of Bridget.

"We can!" Satin answered Bridget as she eagerly jumped into the air and waved a hand. "We make our own clothing all the time! Blankets are nothing for us!"

Chenille added, "We'd love it if you could find us some material for our clothing. Preferably in bright colors, nothing black. Black is so out right now."

"Ooo, and make sure to get a variety of fabric types! You know, Cotton, denim, silk..."

"And find something suited for a soft blanket. I'm thinking..." She looked at Satin, who looked back, and both got excited as they cried out, "FLEECE!"

"Wow, that's really specific..." Bridget said, trying to keep all of that in mind. "Okay, I can get that for you! Does anyone else need anything?"

Branch muttered, "A divider? Separated from these rainbow trolls? A brain?"

Seriously, if he'd been using his, he wouldn't be here right now. Alternatively, if they'd been using theirs, maybe they actually could have gotten out of here.

Poppy nudged him with her shoulder in annoyance. Branch glared at her in response.

"You wouldn't happen to have any sparkle melon around, would you?" Biggie asked.

"Uh... I don't know. I can take a look, if you want."

"Please do, Bridget. I'm sure Smidge would appreciate it if you could find some. But, if you don't have any, other fresh fruits will suffice, thank you."

Smidge's eyes brightened with excitement. She stared at Biggie, hands on her cheeks. "Oh, my ga! You really mean all that, Biggie?"

Was he, perhaps, wanting to make some of her favorite frosting?

"Why, of course, Smidge! I just want to make sure you're as happy as you can be, given the circumstances."

Certainly none of them were completely happy, but they could at least make this place as comfortable as it could be. It seemed they'd be staying here awhile.

"Aw... Gee, Biggie... I don't know what to say..." Smidge blushed slightly and laughed a little.

Guy crossed his arms, glaring over his shoulder. "Hmph! Showoff," he muttered.

Branch raised an eyebrow at Guy, thinking, Huh. Biggie and Smidge? That seems like a weird match... Guy and Smidge make a lot more sense.

After all, Biggie was gentle and friendly to most people (Branch knew he would be the exception), and Smidge was the opposite—she was the most aggressive troll in Troll Village, and Branch even thought she could top him since he had never actually hurt anyone before being banished. Smidge attacked things that made her mad.

Poppy was too distracted with her own thoughts to notice Guy's reaction. Okay. So obviously Smidge hooked up with Biggie. So who else did my friends hook up with? Well, if I know these guys as well as I think I do, Cooper's probably with DJ now. They have the most in common, after all. And that means Guy's most likely with one of the twins, probably Chenille for the same reasons. And that puts Satin with Fuzzbert since they're the only ones left. I mean, it's pretty obvious Creek stuck with me, but... She suddenly caught what she was doing and groaned internally. Argh. Why am I thinking about this in the first place!? That's just sick and wrong!

"Well, if nobody else needs anything right now, I guess I'll go get the fabric and fruit," Bridget said, latching the lid back on. "I'll be right back."

She hurried out of the room to fetch more supplies for her trolls. After all, she was officially supposed to give the girls anything they wanted, and Biggie was asking for things for Smidge. Besides that, she wouldn't feel right spoiling the girls and ignoring the boys.

"Well," Creek said. "That was rather traumatic." He turned a sympathetic look to Poppy and asked, "So, what say you to doing all that we can to prevent anything like that from ever occurring again? Now, Poppet, the bergens have graciously granted us a chance to live. But only if we—" He took her hands in a flirtatious manner, trying to set the mood.

Poppy stared back at her boyfriend. She was curious, but she was pretty sure her discomfort showed on her face as well, especially since one other troll reacted very negatively to this innocent gesture from her boyfriend.

Branch took a step toward the couple, cutting Creek off, "Yeah, we're not staying here."

"Uh, Branch..." Biggie started timidly. "I think you're already on your second chance, so should you really be trying to escape again?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like there's much ya can do from here anyway, so—" DJ started.

Apparently two of them cared if he got himself killed. Duly noted.

"I'm not planning on getting myself killed," Branch cut them off. "That approach isn't going to work, so I'll have to try something else. Don't worry. I've got plenty of ideas."

After all, it wasn't like this place was particularly secure.

"Really? Any good ones?" Cooper asked curiously.

Branch glared at him and said, "I'm not telling you what they are."

Sensing danger, Poppy ran over to stand in front of Branch, putting a hand on his chest to hold him back from the others. Looking anxiously at the rest, she said, "Okay, okay. Now let's all just take a deep breath and calm down. I'm sure his ideas are good ones, all things considered."

Guy crossed his arms, glaring suspiciously. "Oh, really? And how, pray tell, could you know that? You don't know anything about him!"

While this conversation was going, Biggie started baking cupcakes for Smidge. He looked up from mixing the batter to say, "That's right, Poppy! The last time you saw him, he nearly got you killed! Right, Mr. Dinkles?" He looked at the worm sitting on the ground beside him.

Mr. Dinkles meeped in agreement.

So much for Biggie caring. Seemed he was just squeamish at the idea of someone dying around him.

"I know I was wishing he was here earlier, but I didn't mean it!" Satin said worriedly.

"Branch never wanted anything to do with the village!" Chenille said, glaring. She punched her hands onto her hips and demanded, "Why should we believe he's trying to help anyone but himself?"

Branch growled. "I don't care what you believe! You rainbow trolls can think whatever you want! But you're not staying in this tank to think it!"

He shouldn't have come. He should have left them to their fates. But, since he was here, he might as well get them out, right?

Poppy stared lamely at her friends. They just never learned. Even worse, they were acting this way with Branch right there. She could tell their words were bothering him, hurting him.

They brought this on themselves.

"Happy Branch Appreciation Day, everyone!" she cried out, throwing her arms out with a wide smile.

Biggie turned from his baking—he'd just stuffed a tray of cupcakes into the oven. "Oh, Poppy, it's too early for that!" he complained.

"Yeah! We don't celebrate that holiday for two more days! Besides, we don't have any cake!" Cooper added.

Poppy pulled out the cakes she had grabbed from her pod, grinning mischievously. "Oh, don't worry. I started baking your share the day of the big party!" She smiled proudly, holding ten gray cakes, each with a different kind of frosting and blue sprinkles.

Since nobody else would bake the cakes for this holiday and every troll in the village needed a piece, Poppy always started preparations for it early. It was a good thing she'd started with her friends' cakes. She knew she'd need them.

DJ's eyes widened in shock. "What!?"

"Oh, my ga!"

"You can't be serious!" Guy cried in shock and annoyance.

"Oh, I'm dead serious. It's time for our annual Branch Appreciation Day ceremony, and here's your cake to prove it! Smidge, here's your sparkle melon flavored frosting." Poppy handed a cake topped with sparkle melon frosting to the small troll.

"Biggie, here's your cherry flavored one and Mr. Dinkles chocolate-vanilla swirl." She handed him a cake that was topped with both of those frostings—Biggie and Mr. Dinkles always shared their cake, but that did mean their piece was twice as big.

Biggie took it, looking dejected.

"And, Guy, here's your—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Branch cut her off, waving his hands in front of him, "what are you handing out?"

Poppy looked at him, many cakes held in her hair, and gave a bright smile as she answered, "Branch Cake! With everyone's favorite flavored frosting to make it taste better!"

Annoyed, Guy took his cake from Poppy. The light brown frosting made Branch think it was peanut butter or something.

Branch just stared at her lamely for a moment. Was she serious? She'd named a cake after him. "Branch Cake," he said flatly, trying to confirm that he'd heard the stupidity right.

"Yep! See?" She showed him one with pink strawberry frosting, saying, "It's gray and blue! Just like you! And it even comes with a dark chocolate cream filling that's black, like your hair. I've thought about using blueberry flavored fillings and black sprinkles before, but—"

The proud smile was too much. Why was she so proud of this ridiculous creation of hers? Clearly nobody liked it!

"You actually make a special cake for that?" Branch cut her off. And, judging by everyone's reactions and her comment about frostings, it tastes terrible.

Using her hair, Poppy handed Cooper his cake as she answered, "Of course! How else do you celebrate such a special troll such as yourself!?"

Creek took his cake without being told.

Poppy turned to Fuzzbert, smiling, and said, "Here, Fuzzbert. Lemon custard with extra lemon. Just the way you like it!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Branch exclaimed. Special? Celebrate? Everyone was being literally forced to just take the stupid cake!

"And one raspberry one for you," Poppy said, handing a cake to Chenille. "And an extra creamy cheese cake for you," she said as she gave Satin a piece. "And..."

As Poppy kept handing out cakes, Creek walked over to Branch with a cake frosted with something purple that, knowing trolls and their weird frosting flavors, was probably grape. "Oh, she's quite serious, mate," he answered Branch with a smug grin. "Why, as a matter of fact, that's not the only thing we do for this one, either."

"Oh, really? What else do you have to do?"

"Okay! Everyone got one!?" Poppy asked cheerfully, as if she wasn't forcing everyone into this.

All of her friends besides Creek groaned, sitting down to eat their cakes. They knew what was coming next.

"Poppy, this is ridiculous," Branch said. "You don't have to force them to celebrate. I mean, it's a stupid holiday, anyway."

He got that the goal was to get everyone to see the good in him, but it hadn't worked in ten years. Why was she still wasting her time with it? Even he knew he wasn't worth celebrating.

Poppy turned to him, then, seeing that he didn't have any cake, she quickly shoved the one with strawberry frosting into his hands, beaming. It was only right that Branch should have some of his own cake, after all. "Here, Branch! Happy Branch Appreciation Day!"

Startled, Branch looked at the cake, then looked back at Poppy. "Poppy!"

With all the cakes passed out, Poppy popped up right in front of everyone, beaming with excitement. "Great! Then it's story time, everyone!" She held the up the black and green scrapbook, still looking way too perky, especially considering this holiday was so unpopular.

Poppy opened the book, looking super excited, and said, "And you guys are in for a real treat this year, 'cause this time, I'm adding a brand new chapter to it!"

"You are?" Satin asked nervously.

Chenille said, "Oh, no."

Branch just sighed. Did she honestly think this would help anything? Her friends hated him, they didn't care that he'd come here to try to save them, and nothing she said would change that. When would she realize that her world wasn't as sunny and happy as she thought it was?

Poppy sat down, opening the book to the right chapter, and read, "Once upon a time, there was this gray troll named Branch."

The door opened, and Bridget came back in. She was going to tell the trolls she had what they wanted, but they seemed busy, so she decided to wait.

"Branch was a grumpy troll who didn't want anything to do with singing, dancing, or hugging. But then, one day, the beautiful princess of Troll Village befriended him and started trying to invite him to all her parties!"

On the scrapbook page, a scowling Branch had a smiling Poppy in front of him with an invitation in her hand.

Realizing he might be in for a long story if she planned to start at the beginning, Branch sat down, putting the ridiculous cake beside him. He didn't even care that he was sitting next to Creek—since Creek had come to him and sat down there, apparently the yogi didn't mind. Besides, he was the most tolerable of Poppy's friends these days, strange as that seemed.

Creek took a forkful of cake and asked Branch, "So just how much of that was true so far, mate? I mean, we all already know that first part was." He sounded smug.

What Creek wanted to know was simple: Was Poppy using the right word? Did she actually befriend Branch, or was that all her?

Branch rolled his eyes and said, "If never leaving someone alone means you're friends with them, then I guess she befriended me."

Bridget set her things down and turned her attention to the story. So far, it sounded interesting. She knew Branch had to be the gray one—maybe she could learn a bit about him.

"But Branch hated parties, too! So he kept turning her down over and over again. But the brave little princess already knew that, deep down, he secretly wanted to come! 'He's probably just shy!' she'd tell herself! And so, day after day, year after year, the brave, little princess kept right on trying! Until one day, this evil, nasty bird came swooping down! Gasp! It grabbed the unsuspecting princess and flew her to its nest! Oh, no! But, fortunately for her, Branch heard and saw everything!" Poppy pulled a tab, and a little scrapbook Branch poked out of the bunker and waved around as she mimicked his voice and said, "'I heard and saw everything! Don't worry, Poppy! I'll save you!'"

Branch rolled his eyes and muttered, "Not exactly how that happened."

"The princess was dropped in the wicked bird's nest! Where a bunch of hungry baby birds tried having her for lunch! 'Oh, no! I'm doomed!' she cried! But then, out of nowhere...Branch came swooping in and beat up all the bad guys!"

The image on this page was in the bird's nest, with the mother and three babies surrounding Poppy. Branch was off to the side, and, with the pull of a tab, he headbutted the mother bird.

"'Come on! We need to get out of here!' he told the beautiful, young princess. So Poppy leaped into his arms, and he whisked her away to safety!" The new image showed the two trolls safely on the ground, with Poppy hugging Branch, who was smiling. There was a heart above Poppy's head. "'My hero!'"

Poppy closed the book then, smiling, and finished, "And that's the story of how Branch, the gray troll, saved Princess Poppy from the clutches of a troll-hungry family of birds!"

"Right...aabout that, mate... Exactly how far did that go?" Creek asked Branch, looking slightly jealous.

Honestly, given the image he'd just seen and the fact that Poppy was seemingly obsessed with him, Branch couldn't blame Creek for being jealous. Not that it mattered—he was banished, and the reactions he'd gotten so far from the other trolls told him that nothing he did would change that.

"She was 11, Creek," Branch answered, arms crossed. "Besides, I let her get into that mess in the first place, so I had to get her out of it."

"Hmm..." Creek eyed Poppy uncertainly. "Are you really sure about that? 'Cause, you see, my friend, I'm beginning to wonder."

"I'm banished, Creek. No need to worry about that."

"Okay! Now that our traditional tale is over with..." Poppy said, pulling out a black scrapbook with blue pages, "onto the new one that I just wrote up this week!"

The title of the new book was MORE Proof Branch is a Hero, not a Traitor!

Most of her friends looked shocked and horror-struck. Since she'd warned them this was coming, you would think they would have mentally prepared for that.

"What!?" Guy cried.

"Oh, my ga!"

"Poppy!" Biggie complained.

"When did you make that one?" Branch asked, startled by this book's sudden existence. He hadn't seen her doing any scrapbooking during this disastrous trip, and she couldn't have added anything without finding him first.

"Eh-hem..." Poppy cleared her throat, ignoring the question. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Poppy..."

And she continued her new tale. This one was a lot closer to the present era—it started at the party six days ago. She recounted the story of the party that ended in tragedy when a bergen took her friends. Told everyone how she'd gone looking for a banished troll, hoping he'd help her. She skipped the more violent details, like the traps she fell into or the threats he'd made on her life—that would only confirm her friends' fears, which wouldn't be fair since those incidents were caused by Branch's own fear of other trolls.

Speaking of that little detail, since Poppy knew that was Branch's reason for initially refusing—he'd said he didn't want to die at the hands of rainbow trolls, after all—she went on to tell everyone that the troll in question had refused to come with her because he was too scared of being attacked by the other trolls.

This had the desired effect—some of her friends looked guilty. DJ looked down, and Biggie and Satin both had looks on their faces that showed they felt bad about that, too.

"Oh..." Biggie said, sounding sympathetic.

Poppy grinned, lowering her book a bit to appreciate their expressions. She picked her book back up and continued, "Anyway, after Branch ran and hid inside his bunker, the brave princess ran into some trouble with a couple of growlbeasts who wanted to eat her!"

Everyone gasped in horror—well, except for Branch. He already knew this story since he'd been there.

"Oh, my!" Bridget cried, her hands flying to her face.

"That's terrible!" Biggie exclaimed.

"How did she get away?" Satin asked.

"Oh, well, ha ha, that's the best part!" Poppy answered. Going back to her book, she continued, "Poppy tried everything she could to lose the deadly beasts but was unexpectedly cornered in a thicklethorn bush! 'Oh, no! I'm cornered!'" Her felt version looked panicked, trapped in a bush with growlbeasts on either side. "All hope seemed lost until suddenly someone attacked the growlbeasts and drove them off with a series of fierce punches and hair whips!"

"Oh, wow!" Smidge exclaimed.

"They did?" Guy asked.

"Uh-huh!"

Sure, "drove them off," Branch thought. If by "drove them off," she meant "brutally mutilated and impaled them," then she was correct.

This story had everyone on the edge of their metaphorical seats. Leaning forward, Chenille asked, "Was it...?"

"Yyep," Poppy answered with a smug grin.

Okay, that was enough. Poppy was giving these guys a false image of him, and Branch wasn't going to sit here and let her do it. When they inevitably learned the truth (namely when he mutilated Cooper in the near future), they'd hate him even more.

Huh. With that in mind, maybe he shouldn't mutilate Cooper.

Branch decided to worry about that later. Either way, he needed to stop Poppy from lying to her friends. "Poppy, this story sounds like a heavily edited version of what really happened," he cut in.

Poppy rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed. "Gah, oh, alright. So he didn't exactly drive them off..."

Biggie looked nervous now as he asked, "Then...what did he do, Poppy?"

"He beat the beasts up and knocked them out!" she amended.

The trolls gasped, eyes wide. Even Creek seemed bothered.

"Ya serious!?" DJ asked.

"Oh, those poor, innocent growlbeasts!" Creek cried. "What sort of malicious creature would ever even do such a thing?"

Looking around at their horror-struck expressions, Branch decided right there that this was good enough. If even Creek, who'd been friendly to him, was bothered by knocking something unconscious, then the truth would make them ostracize him completely. Since he needed them to at least trust him enough to get them out of here, he couldn't afford that right now.

He was already the bad guy. He didn't need to be some irredeemable villain.

"...Yeah, that's better," he said, accepting the slightly more accurate lie.

"Oh, that's just terrible!" Satin cried, hands on her face.

"Remind me why we're supposed to appreciate him again?" Chenille asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that's a little brutal, but can you blame him? Those vicious growlbeasts wouldn't quit!" Poppy said. "I mean, what else could he do? Run away and get trapped, like the brave princess did? Anyway, after that, Poppy ran over to her hero and hugged him for the second time in a lifetime! 'My hero!' she told him. 'So does that mean you're coming with me after all?' 'Of course, Poppy! I'm worried you'll get hurt if I don't! But I'm not going near those scary rainbow trolls. They scare me more than the bergens do!'"

Each and every member of the Snack Pack stared at Branch after that, eyes wide and jaws slack. The idea that they were scarier than the bergens, creatures that had caused Branch many, many panic attacks, was hard to wrap their minds around.

"Wait, what?" Bridget couldn't believe what she was hearing, either. She looked at Branch and asked, "You're more afraid of other trolls than us?"

"No! I'm not!" Branch answered indignantly. "I just don't want anything to do with them!"

Poppy rolled her eyes. She didn't believe that—his home security was meant for dealing with trolls, she knew, and he'd told her he didn't want to be killed by trolls, either.

Branch probably would have glared at Poppy, but he didn't even see her rolling her eyes. Stunned by who he was talking to, Branch looked up at Bridget and asked, "And why am I talking to you?" His tone indicated confusion—Why was a bergen paying this ridiculous celebration any attention?

"So you're not scared of us?" Satin asked.

Branch looked Satin up and down. Poppy figured he was analyzing his chances of winning in a fight against her. After a moment he pointed at her and said, "You? No."

"See?" Poppy asked, taking that as confirmation. "He's way more scared of us than any bergen nowadays. He keeps telling me he'd rather face off with deadly beasts than even set one foot near another troll." She gave Branch a smug grin, then reached to pick up her book again as she smiled with excitement. "Anyway, after that, they both—"

Nope. That was more than enough for Branch. If she was going to tell these stupid trolls that he was afraid of them and turn him into a target, he didn't want to hear the rest of her tale. "Poppy, you clearly hit your head when you fell off your flyer bug earlier today," he cut her off. "I'm thinking you should get some rest instead of telling more of this riveting tale."

Poppy closed the book and put it back in her hair, smiling at him. "You're right, Branch. It can wait until later."

"Or never," he suggested.

Poppy turned to the others, arms wide. She pulled ten gifts wrapped in a variety of wrapping papers out of her hair and the folded piece of cardboard she'd grabbed from her closet, beaming at them all. "After all! We've still gotta offer our gifts to the great hero Branch! Anyone here need one!?"

Some of her friends refused every time to get gifts of their own for this holiday, but some bothered with it. Since it had been fairly close to the holiday when they were taken, she assumed the regulars would need gifts but the rest might have been carrying theirs.

She was correct. Guy groaned and pulled a wrapped box out of his hair, looking at it in exasperation. The silver, glittery wrapping paper was probably the only reason he always brought his own. Smidge and DJ, on the other hand, came and took gifts from her. Smidge looked annoyed, DJ guilty. Next year, Poppy figured, one of those two would actually bring their own gift.

Biggie opened the oven and took out his fresh-baked cupcakes. Hot or not, he frosted them quickly with chocolate frosting from the supplies Bridget had brought earlier, carefully placed them in a box, and wrapped it up with dark blue wrapping paper he found in the jumble of supplies scattered in the tank.

Cooper came to get a gift from Poppy, but Satin, Chenille, Creek, and Fuzzbert all pulled out gifts of their own from their hair.

Yep. The usual five had their gifts on them.

Branch just looked at everyone as if they'd suddenly grown two heads. First of all, what did she mean "offer our gifts to the great hero Branch?" That didn't sound right. Was this some kind of cult? Second, why were so many of them carrying their gifts around a week before the holiday they hated!?

As Poppy unfolded her cardboard, it turned into a troll-sized version of Branch with a nasty glare on its face. She set that up, then pulled a wooden torch out as well, saying, "Great! Let's get started."

This was getting way too weird. "No, Poppy, let's not," Branch said, feeling uncomfortable. "Really, how about not offering gifts to a cardboard version of me?"

Did they seriously do this every year?

Poppy waved her arm through the air dismissively and gave him a sly smile. "Psh. Relax, Branch. I'm not offering them to the cardboard this year," she said.

"Poppy, this is weird, even for you."

"Do you see what I mean now, mate?" Creek asked. He looked at Branch with both suspicion and jealousy.

Poppy turned to the crowd cheerily and said, "We'll offer them to them both!"

"What!?" Branch cried. "No!"

That was worse.

"Now, as you all know, we offer these gifts to show our appreciation for keeping me alive, as well as an apology to him for banishing him in the first place. So, for an extra special twist, this year, we have the real Branch here for you to choose instead!" She smiled excitedly as she gestured to the gray troll standing slightly detached from the group.

"I don't want it, Poppy! Stop it!"

She decided to ignore him. If he wanted to complain about it, she couldn't stop him. "It all depends on just how sorry you really are and how you really feel. So, if you really mean it, give it to him instead of the Hero Altar."

Hero Altar. She had an altar for this. Apparently he was her religion or something.

Poppy whirled around, holding a gift of her own (wrapped in pink paper with red hearts on it) out to Branch as she said, "So! Let's get started. Thank you so much for saving me, not once but twice, from a troll-eating monster, Branch. Oh. And I'm sorry for not seeing you off."

She handed him the gift, which Branch took in irritation, and walked away to stand by the altar.

Branch rolled his eyes. He may have taken Poppy's gift, but he highly doubted anyone else would give their "offerings" to anything but the "altar." Even if they did, he wouldn't take them. "This is..." he started, exasperated.

DJ stood up, holding her gift. That guilty look was still on her face. She looked at her gift for a moment before walking up to Branch, looking down. "Uh, sorry about not trusting ya more. I guess I didn't know ya had a less grumpy side. My bad." She placed her gift at his feet, then walked away and took her seat again.

Branch, still holding Poppy's gift as a convenient excuse to refuse all others, looked down at the gift, then raised an eyebrow at DJ. He hadn't expected that.

Creek walked over with a gentle smile on his face, saying, "Now, just for the record, I never doubted you for a second. Thank you for looking after my Poppy for me...both times, my friend." He put the gift down as well, sounding slightly jealous there at the end.

Biggie was the next one to surprise Branch by walking up to him. Looking away uncomfortably, he said, "I'm, ah, sorry for believing you would try to hurt one of us. You've saved Poppy twice now, so I owe you an apology...and my gratitude." He put his gift down and walked away as well.

Satin walked over to Branch, her hair extending so she could do that—Chenille remained resolutely in her seat. "Sorry for thinking you were a traitor. I guess I never really knew you before. Thank you for saving Poppy, and for coming to help us." She placed her gift down and headed back to her sister.

"Even if you did do a pretty terrible job of it," Chenille added.

Branch glared at her. What, did she think it was his fault that everybody would rather hug and hate him than leave when given a chance?

"Great!" Poppy said, a smile on her face. This was way better than any other year—she could tell that more than just she and Creek actually meant what they were saying for once! She turned to the remaining trolls and asked, "So? How about it, guys!? Is it Branch or the Hero Altar?"

Guy sighed and moved to the cardboard Branch. "Sorry, Branch. My bad." He put his gift down in front of it and walked away.

Smidge looked from Branch to the altar and screamed in frustration. She ran over to the altar and slammed a gift down there, yelling, "THERE! This is for being sorry!" She then grabbed one of Poppy's extras, startling the princess a bit, and ran over to Branch, where she tossed it down at his feet. "And that's for saving Poppy! Thank you!" As she walked away, she complained, "Oh, my ga! Can we please get on with it!? This gets harder and harder every year!"

Chenille took her gift up to the altar. "I'm sorry, Branch." She put it down and retreated.

Fuzzbert walked up to Branch and dropped his gift there before scurrying off. Branch looked at the gift for a moment before staring after the fuzzling. There was a surprising number of gifts before him now.

Cooper approached the altar, said, "My bad, Branch," dropped his gift, and walked away.

Branch glared at Cooper, regardless.

This is weird, Bridget thought. From the sound of those stories, Branch wasn't anywhere near this important, yet they had a holiday dedicated to him, an altar to which they offered gifts, and entire books dedicated to him. Who was this troll?

Poppy just watched quietly. Once everyone was done, she turned to the crowd with a smile and said, "Well! Fine job apologizing, guys! Now, as you all know, this is the part where I'd normally burn these gifts..." She grabbed the unlit torch and pulled out a match.

Branch's eyes bugged out of his head. They gave him burnt offerings!?

"What!?"

"But why do a silly thing like that," she asked, tossing the match and torch aside, "when I can present them to the real Branch to dispose of them instead!?"

"Hold on, you're doing what?" Branch asked.

Poppy turned to him, suddenly holding the gifts that had been left at the altar, and tossed them onto him. Branch was knocked over as the gifts slightly buried him. "Here you go, Branch! Go ahead and do whatever you feel like to 'em!" she said with a smile.

Branch sat up, knocking the various gifts off him as he did so. That was irritating. "Poppy! Ugh..."

Okay, so it was up to him what happened to these stupid gifts, was it? Well, he was just going to destroy or toss all of them but Poppy's, but...after what had just happened, he had some rethinking to do. He started sorting through the gifts, deciding which ones to accept based on how sincere he thought the giver was.

Everyone watched as Branch sorted through the presents, some anxious (like Poppy and Biggie), others annoyed (like Guy and Smidge).

The first obvious one was Poppy's, especially since he was still holding it. Branch set that gift off to his right, which made Poppy beam. Did that mean he'd accepted it?

When Branch picked up DJ's gift and put it next to Poppy's, the pink troll grew nervous. She hoped she'd been right to think he accepted it. DJ blinked, slightly surprised, and turned a curious look on Poppy.

Both of those gifts, he treated with care. The next one, not so much. He picked up one of the twins' gifts, wrapped in sky blue aluminum paper, and tossed it to his left without a moment's thought. Everyone's eyes widened—there were now two piles. Poppy clutched her hands over her heart and sighed in relief. Surely that was a good sign. Chenille, on the other hand, brought her hands up to her mouth. That was her gift. She worried about what that meant for her. She didn't care if Branch forgave her or not—she wasn't sorry. What she was worried about was the penalty for your gift not being accepted.

Now everybody was growing nervous—it seemed Branch was actually accepting some of the gifts other than Poppy's. The question was why. What criteria was he looking for? Why forgive, say, DJ? Who else would he forgive, if anyone? And how much trouble would the rest, like Chenille, be in?

Branch then put Biggie's gift with Poppy's. Biggie's eyes lit up—surely being in the same group as Poppy was a good thing, right?

Next was Satin's gift. Branch deliberated for a couple of seconds before putting it in the pile on the right. Satin sighed in relief—the hesitation made her nervous. Unlike her sister, she was sorry.

Branch only debated on Creek's turquoise-wrapped box for a fraction of a second before putting it in the pile on his right. Creek crossed his arms, grinning smugly. It was easy to be forgiven when you had done nothing wrong, after all.

Then came the confusing gift—Smidge's "thank you" gift. Yes, she had gone to the stupid altar and given a very fake apology, but she had come to him after with a gift to express her gratitude. She also said this got harder each year, which could mean that she was slowly starting to realize maybe she'd been too harsh... If nothing else, she did seem genuinely grateful, and she clearly hated that.

Branch debated on that one for quite awhile before putting it down in front of him off to the left in a pile of its own. He'd reserve judgment for now. Everyone gasped loudly and started whispering about what that could mean. Branch spared them a glare, narrowing his eyes slightly. He then tossed both Guy's gift and Smidge's apology gift over to the left with Chenille's gift.

Guy shrugged, not caring what Branch did with that stupid thing. Smidge, on the other hand, gave a start, her eyes wide in surprise. She looked between her two gifts, not at all sure what was going on here.

While Smidge tried to make heads or tails of Branch's organizational system, Branch picked up the gift Fuzzbert had given him. Like most, he debated for a bit. The fuzzling hadn't really said anything, but he'd been brave enough to approach and give a gift to Branch instead of a dumb piece of cardboard, so Branch finally set it down in the pile on the right.

Fuzzbert turned to Poppy, who was definitely beaming now. She gave him a proud smile that sent the silent message "good job."

The last gift was Cooper's. Branch stood up, leaving that one sitting on the ground in front of him. He reached into his hair, pulled out a baseball bat, and started smashing it to pieces, like he wanted to do to the troll who'd given it.

Cooper cringed, now looking extremely nervous. It couldn't be a good thing that his gift was the first slated for a personal destruction. Branch was really angry at him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that he was the one who told King Peppy.

Bridget watched this, slightly concerned. She wasn't a fool—she could tell he wanted to be beating somebody with that bat. "Uh..." Silently she wondered, Is it safe to keep him in there with the others?

Poppy danced around excitedly, using her hands and hair to grab the arms of those whose gifts had seemingly been accepted. She dragged them over to Branch's right, where the gifts they'd given him were. Meanwhile Guy grabbed Smidge, Cooper, and Chenille and went to Branch's left side. The twins' hair stretched over the head of the gray troll to allow for the separation.

Poppy pulled her group into a huddle and whispered some new instructions—normally nobody's gift was accepted, for obvious reasons, so she had to make something up on the spot. The lucky trolls who had been accepted widened their eyes, some relieved and some excited.

On the left, Guy, Smidge, Chenille, and Cooper all went to their knees and raised their hands high over their heads. This was definitely the most annoying part of this holiday. On the right, Poppy, DJ, Creek, Biggie, Satin, and Fuzzbert crouched down with smiles on their faces (okay, they assumed Fuzzbert was smiling).

Branch noticed none of this, too busy destroying Cooper's present. Bridget, on the other hand, watched it all, wondering what the other trolls were doing.

"Ready!?" Poppy asked.

Everyone reacted at once.

Guy, Chenille, Smidge, and Cooper all bowed low to the ground, facing Branch. They cried, "WE'RE NOT WORTHY!" with such theatrics that it would have been comical even without Smidge adding, "Sort of! I'm not really sure what's going on!"

"Please don't kill me, oh great hero!" Cooper added.

At the same time that started, Poppy's group leaped up into the air, their arms above their heads as they cheered, "THANK YOU, OH GREAT HERO BRANCH!"

This was all loud and bizarre enough to stop Branch mid-destruction. He was nowhere near finished with it, but he looked from his left to his right and back again, disturbed. "Uh... What is this?" he asked.

Nobody answered. Those bowing stayed down, waiting. They looked resigned, embarrassed, or, in Cooper's case, scared. The others kept jumping around, cheering wordlessly. Poppy and Creek were both smiling, excited and proud. The others on that side looked awkward, though, like they agreed with Branch.

Bridget sweat, wondering once more, Who is he?

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Branch cried. He turned to the cheerers and snapped, "Cut that out!" He then turned to the other group and added, "And you! Get up! This is ridiculous!"

Poppy's group stopped, looking confused. Poppy looked curious but happy.

"Oh! That mean you're done for now!?" she asked, excited.

Those on the left didn't move. Poppy hadn't given them the signal yet.

To explain what was happening here, every year, after the village gave their gifts, the offerings would be burned. All trolls were to bow to the altar and exclaim about how unworthy they were to be forgiven by Branch. They were to hold that position until the fire died down, which often took a long time—after all, the entire village had gifts to burn. Even Poppy always bowed that entire time.

Branch looked at the bowing group, looked back at the cheering group, then said, "Yes?" This was way too much. If it stops this nonsense.

The destruction was over. The bowing group rose, frowning. Somehow that was worse with the real Branch here.

Poppy beamed even brighter, if that were possible. She turned to face everyone and said, "Great! Then what are we waiting for!? Everyone get in position for our next big event!"

All those who didn't love or even like Branch groaned as they took formation, lining up like a carefully organized choir.

"Okay! So who's ready to sing the annual 'Branch Appreciation Day Anthem!?'"

Surprisingly, DJ waved a hand in excitement and answered, "Oh, you know I am!" She closed her eyes and sang, "Oh, Branch is the greatest hero! He's definitely no zero!"

"He saved the day, hip hip hooray!" Satin sang.

"Now let me tell you the way," Biggie sang next.

"This is definitely weird..." Bridget said as the song progressed.

"You're telling me," Branch agreed, putting the baseball bat away and eyeing the stack on his left. He supposed Cooper's gift was pretty thoroughly disfigured and ruined. "What should I do with those ones?" he wondered. Besides not let Poppy know I'm doing anything with them.

"Oh, the birds didn't sing, though their claws give a sting!" Poppy sang the next line.

"All...hope...was...lost!" Creek sang slowly.

Guy groaned and joined in, "But the brave one did appear... Oh, he did appear..."

Chenille sighed and sang, "With nary a word, he halted the birds, saving the day, yes, it's clear."

"The princess was saved," Smidge sang, rolling her eyes. "Safe passage was paved. And so we all cheer..."

"Branch is a hero, never a zero! To him we give our praise!" Poppy sang.

The whole group sang, "Hooray for Branch! Hip hip hooray!"

The reluctant trolls sang their lines rather dully, but several actually sang with enthusiasm for once.

With the song completed, Poppy turned her smile on Branch and asked, "So!? How'd you like it!?"

Branch just stared at her, thinking that the song sounded like it was written by a little kid—which it probably was since she would be the author and obviously wrote it years ago. After a moment, he said, "It's more accurate than your scrapbook."

"Ain't it, though?" She turned to Cooper, excited, and said, "Okay, Cooper! Let 'er rip!"

"Well, okay," Cooper said. And he pulled fireworks out of nowhere and started setting them up.

"Wait, fireworks!? Poppy!" Branch protested. "We're inside a glass tank!"

Poppy smiled at him and said, "Aw, it's fine, Branch!" She looked up at the lid, adding, "There are holes in the lid!"

That wasn't exactly good enough for Bridget, so she removed the lid from the tank and quickly set it down under the hole where the dishes always dropped down. If that didn't give them room to work with, she didn't know what would. Now hopefully Chef wouldn't need any dishes done right now.

Cooper launched the fireworks. There were eight specially made rockets just for this event. The first that blew left the word "Branch" in the air in green.

With the show started, Poppy yelled, "Let's get this party STAARRRTEEEED!"

Hated holiday or not, all of the Snack Pack started partying. DJ handled the music using some of the supplies Bridget had brought in, and they even managed to get a flashy light show going, too. The rest of the trolls started dancing in excitement. Celebrating Branch or not, trolls always loved a good party.

Branch groaned and moved farther away from them. He did not love a good party.

The colorful fireworks continued, with more normal ones that just gave off bright sparks in circles and ovals. However, the next custom firework went off about that time, lighting the room with the word "is." As the party continued, words appeared in the fireworks about every 30 seconds. After the first two, "a" was next, then "hero," then "not," then "a," then "traitor." 30 seconds after that, one final custom firework went off, showing an image of Poppy hugging Branch from the side. This one was both green and pink.

"Huh," Bridget said as the last special one faded. "These fireworks are interesting."

"And made by Poppy," Branch said, mildly annoyed. Normally he'd retreat into his bunker to escape the loud, wild, and crazy trolls he didn't like. Unfortunately, in this tank, that wasn't an option. He was stuck with them until they stopped this ridiculous party.

Bridget paused, looking down at the gray troll, then asked, "Why don't they like you?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Oh, I was just curious, that's all," Bridget answered, fidgeting with her hands.

Branch sighed. "Poppy—that's the pink, crazy one over there," he pointed at her, "almost got eaten by a bird ten years ago. I knew it was coming but didn't warn her, so I was banished for 'reckless endangerment of the princess.' I went after her as soon as I knew the bird had her, but that didn't change anything."

"Oh."

"Now you," Branch said, looking at the bergen with suspicion. "Why are you talking to us in the first place? You're not acting like a bergen."

"Well, you're not acting like a troll."

"Yeah, that's because I'm not, in case you hadn't noticed."

After all, all trolls loved singing, dancing, and hugging.

"No, you're a troll," Bridget countered. "Just a sad, gray troll."

Yeah, and he didn't want to talk about why that was, especially not with a bergen. "Hey, I answered your question. It's only fair. Answer mine."

He was right. Bridget thought about it for a second, then said, "I don't know. I guess...I just want to make sure everyone's comfortable. I know it sounds weird. I mean, you're here for food, not as pets or anything, but it doesn't mean I need to be mean, right?"

Branch stared at her in awe. A bergen who didn't want to be mean?

"...Wow, you're definitely different."

"So are you," Bridget pressed.

"Yeah, but you've had your one nosy question for the day," Branch shut her down, turning away. "I'm not answering any more.

"Oh, ha ha, Suki!" Poppy complained as DJ started playing a "special" song for the night's festivities—"Bleeding Love." "That's a good one!"

"What is?" DJ teased, grinning.

Poppy stood there and looked at her lamely for a moment. Bridget and Branch both looked that way and listened. After a moment, Branch sweat, while Bridget merely looked confused. She was seriously thinking that Branch might have been Poppy's ex-boyfriend. Branch, on the other hand, was seriously thinking that everyone needed to knock it off.

---

A/N: Just a little analysis on Creek here since he's a hot topic in reviews... We're basing his behavior off what the DreamWorks website said about him. He's supportive and knows what to say to cheer others up, according to the website. That's why he's on Poppy's side in all of this. Unlike the others, he listened to her when she told him what happened and believed her. Obviously he's still a craven coward, though, as seen here with the "let's have kids" thing. He'll do anything to save himself, so he'll freak out and betray everyone (despite knowing he'll feel guilty about it later) if he feels like it's his only choice. So if you're expecting Creek to be an a**hole in this story...well, he has his moments. We all know he won't like Branch stealing his girl, right? Who's to say what he'll do later?

Shadgirl2 adds that a person will betray their friends under duress, hence Creek's betrayal in the movie. He was literally seconds away from dying, so desperation kicked in. It's not like that was Chef's intention (obviously or she would have said he could save himself by selling out the others), but it boils down to the same thing. Nobody can say what they would really do in a similar situation until they're there.

Also, to answer iloveanimals's question about Branch's glass cutter: It would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean, he's in a glass tank. Keep reading to find out!