The two children ran through the Enchanted Forest village, heading off towards the scream that had just rung out through the forest.
All of a sudden, fighting broke out amongst them, the Enchanted Forest trolls attacking the Troll Village trolls.
Branch looked around terrified, as he ran after Poppy. Everyone was trying to kill each other!
"No..." he muttered to himself, his eyes wide in fear. This was it... this was the bad thing... the thing he felt was going to happen since the moment he arrived here. The Enchanted Forest trolls... they had betrayed them... this entire time... inviting the Troll Village trolls here... it was a trap...
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Branch noticed a bolder flying through the air, heading right towards Poppy!
"Poppy!" he yelled, in terror, jumping forewords to push her out of the way.
"AHHH!" Poppy screamed in surprise, as Branch shoved her to the ground, causing her to roll out of the path of the falling Boulder.
The rock slammed into the ground, pushing up dust to cover the area, making it impossible to see anything.
Poppy coughed, as she slowly sat up, looking around in the dust.
"Branch?" she said softly, looking around, unable to see him anywhere. "Branch!? Where are you!?"
"Over... (cough) here..." she heard in a quiet voice. The voice coming through the dust was weak, struggling to speak, but Poppy could still tell who it belonged to...
She looked over towards the voice, her eyes wide. "Branch..." she gasped, seeing a small silhouette laying on the ground, through the dust.
Slowly, the dust began to clear, Poppy's heart racing in terror, as she saw Branch laying on the ground, his eyes shut, the gigantic boulder smashed into the ground right beside him, crushing his arm.
"Branch!" she yelled out in terror, quickly running over, and dropping down to her knees beside him.
"Poppy..." Branch said weakly, his voice filled with pain. He slowly blinked his eyes open, looking up at her with tears in his eyes. "Go. Run. Save yourself."
"No, Branch!" Poppy cried. "I'm not leaving you!"
Quickly, she jumped up to her feet, pushing her entire body against the boulder, trying to move it off of Branch's arm, but it was way too heavy, and wouldn't move even an inch.
Branch winced in pain, closing his eyes tightly, panting heavily, as he struggled to hold back his tears.
"Please, Poppy..." he begged, not even looking at her. "Just go."
It wasn't safe there... she had to leave... she had to leave him...
She looked at him, tears in her eyes, as she shook her head.
"No, Branch," she cried. "I can't... I... I won't..." She bent down next to her friend, taking his free hand gently in hers. "I won't leave you, Branch..."
He looked at her, tears flooding his bright blue eyes.
"Poppy... I..." he started.
"Ruuuuuuuuugh!" they both suddenly heard, interrupting Branch's words.
Branch's ear twitched at the sound, turning towards it.
His eyes widened in horror, as he saw one of the Enchanted Forest trolls running at them, holding a spear high up in the air. He was going to attack Poppy! He was gonna kill her!
"Run!" Branch yelled, pleading with Poppy to leave. "Run, Poppy! Run!"
"Not without you..." she said softly, turning to the approaching Enchanted Forest troll, blocking Branch to keep him safe.
Branch looked up at her, as she stood in front of him, refusing to let this troll hurt her friend.
"Poppy..." Branch whispered, crying softly. "No..."
The Enchanted Forest troll came closer, and closer, ready to plunge his spear into the little pink troll.
"No!" Branch cried out, but Poppy stood her ground, protecting her friend.
Suddenly, a line of fire shot in front of the approaching threat, circling its way around the two children.
The Enchanted Forest troll stopped quick to avoid running straight into the fire, looking up at the gigantic flames, which were now blocking his path. He could no longer see Poppy and Branch, through the flames, and even if he could... he had no way of getting to them...
"Ugh!" he yelled out in anger, turning to run the other direction, giving up on his attempt to kill the young princess.
—————
Poppy coughed, the smoke from the fire filling her lungs, as she turned back to Branch, who was looking around at the flames in fear.
"Don't worry, (cough) Branch. I'm gonna (cough) get us both (cough) outta (cough) here," she said, turning back to the large rock, struggling to push it off of the little grey troll's arm.
Branch looked around, coughing as well, but he wasn't looking around in fear of his life like Poppy had thought. No... he was looking for a way for Poppy to escape. If there was even just a small gap in the flames... she could run out to safety. But they were both completely surrounded by the flames, the thick black smoke strangling the two children, cutting off their air flow almost completely.
"P... Poppy," Branch coughed, struggling to breath, as he looked back at her sadly.
"It's (cough) ok, Branch," Poppy coughed. "We'll get out of (cough) here. I (cough) promise."
Poppy was determined to rescue them both, but Branch knew there was just no way, either one of them was getting out of there alive.
Branch coughed frantically, his eyes slowly beginning to close, as he lay on the ground, unable to breath.
Poppy noticed him losing consciousness, and dropped down to her knees beside him, gently taking his hand in hers once again.
"Come on, Branch..." she cried. "You gotta stay (cough, cough) awake."
He looked up at her weakly, blinking slowly, as he continued to cough. He knew they wouldn't be getting out of there. He knew he'd never see her beautiful face again. He needed to let her know how he felt. Before it was too late...
"Poppy... I... (cough, cough, cough)" His eyes fell shut, as he gasped for air.
"Please, Branch..." Poppy cried, shaking him gently. "Stay awake. Just please... stay awake..."
He blinked his eyes open once more, gazing up at the troll he loved more than anything else in the world.
"P... Pop... py..." he gasped, looking into her beautiful eyes one last time. "I... I love... yo..."
His eyes slowly closed for a final time, as his words trailed off, all of his strength leaving him.
"Branch? Branch!" Poppy screeched, shaking him back and forth. "No! Wake up, Branch! You have to wake up!"
She shook him, as hard as she could, but he didn't wake up. He couldn't wake up...
Her eyes began to get heavy, as she cried, coughing from the lack of air.
"Please, Branch..." she whispered. "Please don't go..."
Slowly, she lay down next to Branch, too weak to sit up any longer.
"H... help..." she called out, in a quiet voice. "We... we need... help..."
Her eyes fell shut, as she too began to lose consciousness.
"Help..." she whispered, still holding Branch's hand gently in hers as everything went black, the sights, sounds, and smells all around her fading away.
As she drifted away, a sudden stream of water splashed over the fire, putting it out within seconds, and then quickly headed to the boulder, pushing up against it, to move it off of Branch's arm.
The boulder slid away from Branch, releasing him from it's grasp, as the water suddenly transformed into a horse, picking up both trolls on it's back, before running away.