Trolls and the Enchanted Forest (rewrite)

Chapter 39

"Ugh..." Barb groaned, slowly waking up, as she lay on the ground. "Ow... my head..." she whined, placing her hands on her head.

Slowly, she sat up, looking around in confusion. What had happened?

     Her vision was blurred, but as she continued to look around, it slowly cleared enough for her to see Poppy sleeping on the ground next to her.

"Yo... Popcorn. Wake up, dude," she said in a tired voice, shaking Poppy gently.

"Hugh... what..." Poppy muttered. She opened her eyes slightly, but immediately closed them again, still very tired. She just couldn't muster the energy to get up.

"POPSQUEEK!" Barb yelled, suddenly slapping Poppy hard across the face.

"Ow!" Poppy screamed, jumping up, as she rubbed her cheek. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Barb smirked, chuckling quietly, as she looked at Poppy.

     "That was fun," she laughed. "Hey, Braaaaaaaanch! Time for your wake up caaall!"

She turned, ready to slap Branch awake, but quickly noticed... he wasn't there...

"Wait... where's Branch?" Barb questioned, looking around in confusion.

Poppy's eyes widened at the sound of Barb's question, as she stared at her in disbelief.

"He's gone!?" she yelled out in pure terror, quickly jumping to her feet. "Oh no... oh no, no, no, no, no! What if something bad happened to him!? What if he's in danger!? We gotta find him! We gotta..."

She started to run, but almost immediately ran into the steal bars of a cage.

"AHHH!" she yelled out in surprise, falling back onto the ground. "Ow..." she groaned, rubbing her head, as she slowly sat back up.

"You good, Popcorn?" Barb asked, helping her back up to her feet.

Poppy looked around in complete panic, realizing that they were both locked in a cage with no way out.

"This..." Poppy said quietly, her eyes wide in terror. "Is bad..."

—————

"Where did he come from?"
"I've never seen him before."
"What's up with his hair?"

"Ugh..." Branch groaned, laying on the ground, his eyes shut gently.

"He's waking up!"

Branch heard the whispers all around him, not recognizing any of them.

"Wha... who's..." he muttered, slowly blinking his eyes open, his vision blurry, as he looked around in confusion.

     What had happened? Where was he?

His head was aching, as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, his vision had cleared, allowing him to see the group of trolls standing over him.

"AHHH!" he screamed, startled by the group of unfamiliar faces.

Everyone flinched at the sudden scream, but then got closer to him, continuing to murmur softly to each other.

He looked around at them, terrified. He didn't know them... what did they want? Were they dangerous?

     The more he looked at them... the more he realized they weren't like the trolls in Trollstopia. Their hair, fell straight down towards the ground, instead of going up into the air, and their ears were a lot bigger and pointier, kinda like Branch's.

They were also all either blue of purple. No reds, greens, oranges, or pinks. Only blue and purple.

And their colors weren't as bright as the trolls he knew. More like a greyed down version of the color. (Again... kinda like Branch...)

"Wh... what do you want?" he asked, his voice trembling, as he stood up defensively.

The strange trolls got closer to him, and he gulped, looking around in fear.

"Stay back!" he warned, but they continued approaching the terrified troll, murmuring softly to each other. "I... I said... stay back!" he yelled, quickly whipping his hair at them.

"AHHH!" they all screamed in shock, jumping back, startled.

"How did he do that!?" one of them asked.
"Like the others..." another whispered.

     The murmurs of confusion overtook each other, no one being heard in all the ruckus.

     Suddenly, all the murmurs stopped, as they turned back to Branch, their confusion being replaced by anger.

     "Get him!" one of the trolls ordered.
"Kill the beast!" shouted another.
"Kill the beast! Kill the beast! Kill the beast!" they all chanted in unison, slowly approaching the blue troll, holding up sharp spears, pointing them right at Branch.

"Uhhhh..." he whimpered, backing away slowly, but he was surrounded, all of the angry trolls circling around him with their spears.

Having no other option, he got down onto his knees, covering his head with his arms, as he whimpered softly in fear.

'I'm dead... I'm dead... I'm so dead...' he thought to himself, shutting his eyes tight, as he braced himself for the excruciating pain he was about to feel, the pointy spears just inches away from his head and face.

     "Kill the beast! Kill the beast! Kill the beast!" the trolls chanted, ready to plunge their spears right through the defenseless troll's body.

"Everyone stop!" a firm voice suddenly shouted out, obliterating all the shouts and murmurs. "Lower your weapons!"

Slowly, the trolls lowered their spears, backing slowly away from the terrified troll.

Branch looked up, his heart racing in terror, as another troll slowly approached.

His eyes widened, as he gasped, recognizing this troll from when he was just a child, back when he was still grey.

"Ch... Chief Tula?"