Heart of the Wild (2.0)

Chapter 12

The next Morning
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     Buzzards circled around in the air, ready to swoop down on their meal as the sun shone brightly up in the sky, their shadows looming over a small figure who lay limply by the edge of a fast running river.

The river below was fairly long, stretching out for miles. No one knew quite where it started or where it ended.

At the edge of the river was a small Troll, his eyes shut and hair splattered against his face, the wetness from the flowing water holding it down on his blue skin.

"Ugh..." Branch groaned, slowly waking up to the sun shining brightly in his eyes. He had a splitting headache, and felt as if he were going to puke with how dizzy he was.

     His legs were weak as he slowly wobbled up to his four feet, looking around at his surroundings in confusion. Where was he?

By the looks of it, he had been carried away by the raging rapids of the river beside him, washing up on shore miles away from where he had started.

     "M... mom?" he mumbled softly, looking around, his vision blurry as he stood on his wobbly legs. "Mom!?"

     There was no answer. Where was his family?

Carefully, he took a shaky step forwards, stopping once more as he lowered his head, panting heavily in exhaustion as he coughed, trying to get the excess water to escape his throat.

He was now in a desert field, the glittery sand around him sparkling in the sunlight beaming hotly down onto the young puppy troll.

     "Mom!? Terk!?" he called out once he had caught his breath, looking around for his pack. "Where is everyone!?"

     There was no reply. There wasn't even any signs of them being nearby. How far had he traveled?

     "No..." he muttered softly, panting heavily as he struggled to hold back his tears. "No! Mom!"

     Quickly, his fear refueling his strength, the puppy troll took off into the nearby forest searching frantically for his pack as he panicked, worried he'd never find them.

     "Mom!? Mom, please!?" he cried out, running as fast as his four legs would take him. "Where are you!? Mom!?"

     He ran and ran, until he just couldn't run any more, panting heavily in exhaustion as he looked around.

     "Mom!?" Still... silence...

Tears began to pour from the puppy troll's eyes, as realization struck. He was never going to find them. His family... they left him... they didn't care about him... they never had...

     'You almost killed someone! He will never learn! He can't learn to be one of us!' Emerson's voice rung through his mind. 'He will never be one of us! He was a mistake!'

Branch whimpered softly at the horrible thoughts swimming through his mind, as he lowered his head, his ears drooping down in sadness.

     'I can not let you put our pack in danger! You will never be my son! You're a danger to us all!'

Memories of the night before flashed through his head.

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     The puppy troll almost had hold of his mom, when another vine snapped, whacking Ambrosia hard across the face.

"No!" Branch screamed out in terror, as she fell backwards, pulling her paw away from him.

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     His mom... she almost died... trying to save him... he was a danger to them all...

Quickly, he turned, running far away, not wanting to ever hurt any of his family members ever again. They would no longer be in any danger from the puppy troll. He would leave, and never come back... not that he had any chance of ever finding them again anyways...

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Up on a tall hilltop, Branch looked back to see the entire forest. The place where he had lived his whole life. The place where he had lived with his... the pack. He would never see them again... and they were probably happy about it... they were all happy he was gone. They were all probably going about their regular day, not missing Branch in the slightest. And... and they were better off without him...

     Branch sighed, lowering his head as he began to sing softly to himself, his heart aching in sorrow.

"Can someone tell me where I belong. Where I should go?" he sang softly, looking out through the forest, seeing no signs of his family. "Can someone show me where I'm going wrong? I need to know..."

     He sighed again, turning away from the view of the forest, as he began to walk on all fours, his head low, as Emerson's voice rung through his head, reminding him of how he hurt his family just by existing.

'You almost killed someone!' Emerson's voice screamed at the little puppy troll. He whimpered softly at the memory as he continued on his way, deep into the lonesome forest.

     "Why do I hurt the ones I love... with everything I do?" he continued to sing, as he walked slowly, Emerson's voice still echoing through his brain.

'He will never learn! He can't learn to be one of us!' Emerson's voice rung through his mind. 'He will never be one of us! He was a mistake!'

"If I can't be what they want of me..." Branch continued singing softly. "Then what am I to do?"

     The young puppy troll found a small lake, heading over to it so he could lap up some water. He was so thirsty...

     As he drank, a large glittergator stealthily rose to the surface, suddenly chomping it's massive jaws at the child.

     "AHHH!" Branch screamed, quickly dodging the sharp fangs of the predator, and bolting away before he could be eaten.

     "I can't go home. I can't go home," he continued singing. "Oh, this much I know. This much I know. It might be better if I just disappear. Alone..."

     "I've got to find my way," Branch sang, jumping across stones to pass a small river. "Got to find my way."

     He slipped on one of the stones, splashing down into the cold water, coughing as he swam the rest of the way to shore, shaking the water off of his body as he stood on dry land.

     "And I will survive some way," he continued singing. "I will survive some way."

     Branch plucked leaves from some trees, as he tried to make a bed to sleep in for the night. It was getting dark, and he was exhausted from his long journey, but as he plucked the leaves, he accidentally pulled a bird's feather out of it's butt, causing it to squawk loudly in pain.

     It turned to Branch, who smiled innocently, before quickly turning to run away, the bird flying after him as it pecked at the puppy troll's head with its pointy beak.

     "If only there was a place where I could be. Just me," he sang, as he continued walking through the forest alone, the sun slowly rising in the sky. "If only there was a place where I could be. Just me..."

Just imagine this is Branch
😢