Branch pulled his ship down to the figure of Poppy in the snow. He turned off his ship, then jumped out to her. "Your Highness?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Poppy!" he cried. He picked her up. "Poppy, you're freezing!" Branch cried. He carried her inside his ship and put her gently down on his chair. "Oh, Poppy, what are you even doing on Hoth? You're going the wrong way."
Branch covered her with a blanket, and a second one, just for good luck. Branch waited a while before Poppy woke back up. "Nghn," she said, shifting.
"Your Highness!" Branch cried. "Are you alright?"
She stared at him for a second. "Branch! My man!"
"You knew I was coming?" Branch asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, duh," Poppy replied. "I knew you wouldn't stay after the third Hug Time."
"Your Highness," Branch said, his tone softening. "Really. Are you okay?"
"Uh...I think so," Poppy replied. "I'm feeling nice and warm again!"
Branch sighed of relief. He wouldn't know what would've happened if Poppy died, and he would've hate to see it happen. Especially on his watch. Her handmaiden isn't here. It's his job to protect the queen.
"What are you even doing on Hoth, anyway?" Branch cried. "You're going the wrong direction!"
"Oh, I was-" Poppy stopped as realization hit her. "Branch, where's Basil?"
"What?" Branch asked, shocked.
"Where is Basil?" Poppy repeated. "I'm supposed to give this to him!"
Poppy handed Branch the picture of Cliff's family. Branch stared at it. He put it back before his hand shook. "Where did you get this?" he asked, his tone gruff.
"Uh, Cliff gave it to me," Poppy said, confused. "Branch, please!"
"Where is he?" Branch asked. Poppy stopped. This must be the friend he was talking about. The friend Cliff wanted Poppy to tell. Branch. Branch is Cliff's friend. And she was supposed to tell him what had happened.
A lump grew in Poppy's throat. She knew what she had to do, but she couldn't. She just couldn't tell him. Besides the fact that her hands are shaking, either from the cold or witnessing Cliff's death, and the lump in her throat became so big and unbearable, and that it made her throat extremely dry, she just couldn't tell herself to do it. She never liked hearing about a Troll's death, much less seeing one, but having to tell someone about their death makes it worse.
"He's, uh...he's..." Poppy tried. No matter how hard she tried, the words wouldn't come out. "He's..." the lump became more unbearable and she swallowed.
Poppy closed her eyes. "Branch, I'm sorry. He had to stop by Hoth while he was taking me to Coruscant and we got shot down by a ship and then he-he-he..." That was all she could get out. Her hands started to shake uncontrollably. Branch put his hand on Poppy's shoulder. "Tell me where."
Branch had put on his heaviest jacket, telling Poppy to keep the blankets and stay inside his ship. Poppy told him if he just went opposite from the ship for, she didn't exactly know how long, he should find a trail from their ship when it crashed. Sure enough, he did.
He followed the trail of broken debris until he came to a large, ship-shaped trail in the snow, partly covered up by snow from when it crashed. The ship still sparked, but less consistent now. "Cliff?" Brach asked. Branch came to a pile of snow near the ship. There are drag marks, going up a small hill. He followed them to see a pole sticking out of the snow, topped with his captain's hat.
Branch walked back down to the ship to see his bandana got caught on a chunk of the ship. He pulled the red, stitched up fabric, off the ship, carefully, as to not rip it, and walked back over to his makeshift grave.
Branch replaced the hat from the top of the pole, dusting off the snow, delicately, and wrapping his bandana around the top of the pole. Branch pulled off a chunk of hair from the bandana, and buried it, having the top of it stick out.
From Branch's knowledge on his people, Trolls have Troll Gems. The Troll Gems grow from a piece of their hair. Usually it's the first hair a baby Troll grows, but it can still work, no matter how old the hair is. Even if the Troll has passed, the Troll Gem can still sprout. It won't have the same abilities, to glow from the voice of their Troll, but it does still keep it's brilliance. Usually, the gem still grows, but only if the hair from the passed Troll is still around, and fresh. And it has to be close to the Troll.
Hopefully, this one will grow. They can withstand any weather, but he hasn't tested it on Hoth yet.
Branch put his hand on Cliff's grave. "Cliff...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I wasn't around often enough, and...I'm sorry."
Branch held back tears as his hand slid down the grave. "I'm sorry."
Branch returned to his ship, to see Poppy going through the storage box in the back. "What are you doing?" he asked, startling her.
"Oh, I was just...I dropped something!" she said quickly, hesitating halfway. Her eyes darted to the floor, then picked up a piece of dust. "Here it is!"
"If you wanted to look through my stuff, don't," Branch said. "That stuff is personal."
"Sorry," Poppy said. "You were taking a while and I wanted to go check on you but-" she paused. "Wait a minute! I'm the queen! I don't need to listen to you!" She put her hands on her hips.
"Well, if you don't want to see my lightsaber in your face, I recommend you listen to me," Branch said. "I've been off Naboo many times. I know what each planet is like and what to expect."
Poppy tried to come up with a response, a comeback, anything, but she came up blank. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, fine then!"
She sat on the box, after closing the lid, and huffed. Her Hug Time Bracelet dinged. "Don't even think about it," Branch said gravely. "If you even try, I'm kicking you off this ship." Poppy huffed again. "You warm back there, your Highness?" Branch asked sarcastically.
"Yes, and stop saying 'your Highness' like that," she mocked Branch's sarcasm. "You can just call me Poppy."
Branch ignored her and flipped a few switches on his control panel. "Alright, hang on back there, we're stopping by Basil's place."
Author's Note
I added a bit to Cliff's design by giving him a bandana, which is where he stuck the wings. He has a white stripe in his hair from a birth defect and his gear is blue and brown. He's a welder :)