"Branch! Branch! Branch are you in there!" Poppy called out, banging loudly at the rock outside her best friend's home. "Branch! Open the door! We need to talk!"
Silence... there was no answer...
"Open the door, Branch!" the young princess yelled out at the top of her lungs. "Branch! Branch, Branch, Branch, Branch, BRANCH!"
—————
Branch walked slowly through the forest, the little gray troll heading towards his home after a long exhausting day...
The young boy had left the pond where he had met with Poppy in his wolf form a while ago, but made sure to take the long way back to his bunker so he wouldn't be seen...
After all... the paranoid survivalist needed to make sure he was out of sight of anyone who could possibly of been spying on him before finally transforming back into his troll self. He couldn't let anyone know his secret... not even Poppy...
As he got closer, the village grump suddenly began to hear the sound of Poppy yelling for him, the shouting accompanied by loud banging on his bunker door...
"Come on, Branch!" the young princess called out loudly, pounding so hard on the rock above the entrance hatch that it almost seemed as if the solid object was about to break in half. "Open the door!"
"Poppy?"
At the sound of the sudden voice, Poppy spun around in the quickest manner possible, her newly found fear quickly fading away when she saw that Branch was now standing behind her...
"There you are!" she shouted, turning around completely to face the little gray troll who was now looking at her in pure confusion. "We need to talk..."
"Um... o... ok?" Branch muttered softly, raising an eyebrow at the young princess. "Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?"
"Because you are!" Poppy yelled, getting right up in Branch's face, causing him to back away slightly, the young boy's eyes wide in shock... "Why didn't you tell me!?"
Confusion...
"Uh..." Branch stuttered, backing away even farther to regain his personal space. "Tell... tell you... what... exactly?"
"I know your secret Branch!" Poppy yelled. "About the wolf!"
His eyes widening in horror at the sound of those words, the survivalist's whole world shattered in that instant...
Oh god... she knew!? How!? How did she know!?
Branch felt sick to his stomach, the young boy stumbling back slightly as he almost fell right down to the ground, all the blood seeming to drain from his face...
Was he gonna pass out? He certainly felt like he was about to pass out...
"Um... uh... I... I, I, I..." he stuttered, staring right at Poppy with wide fearful eyes.
Yep... he was gonna faint...
But... right before the poor boy could fall to the ground, losing all awareness of everything and everyone around him... the fearful thoughts swirling through the young troll's head were suddenly interrupted by Poppy beginning to laugh with joy...
"This is awesome!" she exclaimed, the young princess beginning to jump around excitedly.
"You... uh... you... you aren't... mad?" Branch questioned, looking at the overjoyed troll just in front of him in confusion...
"Mad!? Why would I be mad!?" Poppy laughed, grabbing hold of Branch's hands in hers and making him spin around with her. "I'm thrilled!"
"O... ok..." the young boy started, pulling away from his friend's grasp as he looked at her in pure confusion. "Why don't you tell me what we're talking about... I mean... I already know... but... but I want to make sure you know..." He smiled innocently, waiting rather impatiently for the young princess' answer...
"You're friends with the wolf!" Poppy exclaimed. "You helped heal his bullet wound!"
"Oooohh..." the little gray troll sighed in realization, relief that his actual secret was still unknown filling his heart. "You think... I mean... you know that I healed the wolf's injury... Y... yeah... I totally did that..."
Again, he faked a smile as the little gray troll chuckled innocently, his hands folded behind his back as he looked right at Poppy in slight fear...
"This is great!" Poppy exclaimed, quickly grabbing hold of Branch's hands yet again. "Now we can go visit Squishy together! We can be like the three trollskateers!"
Branch's smile faded at that statement, his eyes widening yet again in horror...
He couldn't visit the wolf with her! He was the wolf! He couldn't visit himself!
"Um... well... I... I actually... can't..." Branch stuttered, the young boy nervously rubbing his sweaty hands on his shorts...
"You can't?" Poppy questioned, seeming suddenly saddened by this statement. "Why not?"
"Well... well I..." the little gray troll started, trying desperately to think of an excuse. "I... I... I... I actually... I mean... I just..."
"Branch?" Poppy started, looking to her best friend in confusion, seeing how nervous he was all of a sudden. "Are you ok?"
"Um... well actually..." he started, trying his best to avoid eye contact. "I... I'm not friends with the... the wolf..."
"What?" Poppy questioned in shock. "But you said..."
"Actually... I just patched up the wound..." the young boy lied. "I... felt bad for the poor animal and... and decided to help it... while it was asleep... But... but I ran away in fear once it started to wake up..."
"Oh..." Poppy sighed, lowering her head in slight despair. "But... you could still come... I'm friends with him. He's nice and I could easily introduce the two of you."
"N... no... I... I can't..." Branch stuttered, slowly backing away from the young princess. "I... I just can't..."
"But..." Poppy tried to object, but Branch quickly interrupted before she could continue...
"Would you look at the time!?" the village grump exclaimed, smiling innocently once again. "I better get going... bye, Poppy!"
And without another word, Branch ran off as fast as he could, quickly jumping through his bunker hatch to hide from the pink troll down in his underground home, Poppy watching in despair for just a moment before sighing, the young girl finally walking away...