Panting heavily in pure exhaustion, his hip throbbing in pain from all the running he had just done, Branch leaned with one hand against a tree to keep his balance, his legs feeling as if they were going to give out at any moment...
Once the little troll was finally able to catch his breath, his hip pain dying down enough to allow him to move once again, the village grump straightened himself up before turning to head home to his beloved bunker...
He was exhausted... the little gray troll just needed to get home so he could rest... then everything would be ok... he would be ok...
But... the survivalist froze before he could even take a single step forwards towards the safety of his bunker, the young boy's ears drooping and eyes widening in pure terror as he suddenly spotted something he wished he hadn't...
"Oh god..." he whimpered softly, his heart racing wildly as he backed slightly away, the horrified Weretroll noticing that the young princess was standing right there in front of him, her eyes wide as she stared right at the gray troll in disbelief. "P... Poppy... I... I..."
Suddenly... before Branch could even try to explain himself... Poppy turned away from him, the pink troll quickly running off back towards the village in pure and utter terror...
"Daaaaaaad!" she cried out loudly, quickly making her way to tell all of troll kind what she had just discovered...
"No, Poppy!" Branch yelled out in a desperate sounding tone, hoping with all his heart that she would come back and just listen to him. "Wait!"
Quickly, the little Weretroll took off running, dropping down onto all fours almost instinctually as he rushed forwards as fast as his legs would take him, the terrified child chasing after the young princess who threatened to expose his deepest secret...
Finally, he got up ahead of Poppy, the survivalist cutting off the young girl's escape route as he quickly jumped up to his two feet before holding up both of his hands to stop her from running...
"Please, Poppy! Don't tell!" he begged, almost breaking down into tears as he stared straight into the young princess' bright pink eyes in uncontainable horror. "They'll kill me if they find out! Please!"
Poppy stared at him with wide eyes, the young princess panting heavily in fear as horrifying thoughts of what she now knew swirled through her brain...
She just couldn't believe it... Branch was Squishy? Squishy was Branch!?
He had lied to her... this entire time... what else had he lied about?
Branch looked her in the eyes, pure terror painted all over his face as she didn't respond, the poor boy panting in complete panic as his heart pounded painfully inside his chest...
"Please..." he begged, trying his hardest to not have a full blown panic attack, though the signs pointed to one happening at any moment now. "Please don't tell..."
The princess backed away a bit to keep her distance from the dangerous wolf troll, not saying a single word as she looked at Branch as if he were a monster... and... and he was...
"I... I..." he stammered, his tears finally breaking free from his eyes before sliding smoothly down his gray cheeks...
Branch could see the terror in Poppy's eyes... she was scared of him... no... she was petrified of him... and she had every reason to be...
"P... please..." the young boy finally muttered yet again, his crystal blue eyes sparkling with tears as he looked up at the love of his life, pleading with her to keep his secret. "I... I don't want to die, Poppy..."
Silence...
Poppy was completely speechless as she stared straight at Branch, the young girl not blinking even once...
"Don't... don't let them kill me..." Branch muttered in pure terror, crying hard as he turned away from her, the poor boy beginning to pace anxiously as he gripped tightly at his thick black hair. "I... I... I don't... I'm sorry..."
His legs suddenly feeling extremely weak, the village grump fell to his knees his back to the princess as he cried hard into his hands, his heart aching in sorrowful fear...
Poppy looked at her best friend as he cried his eyes out on the ground in front of her, the young princess still somewhat scared of him... but... but why?
What was she scared of? This was her friend... both as a troll... and a wolf... The fact that they were the same changed nothing... right?
Slowly, the young girl walked over to Branch before placing a gentle hand on the gray troll's shoulder...
At the feeling of the comforting hand of the troll he loved more than anything else in the world... Branch looked up at the young princess, his eyes glassy and red...
There it was... not dangerous... just scared... he was scared... Branch... was scared...
"Branch..." Poppy finally whispered softly, looking to her best friend in understanding. "You're Squishy?"
He nodded slowly, his eyes locked on the pink troll in front of him...
"Please..." he begged again, Poppy gently wiping the tears from his eyes. "Don't tell..."
Poppy nodded at her friend's request, holding back her own tears as she suddenly hugged him tight, trying her best to chase away his fear...
"I won't tell..." she whispered into his ear as the village grump slowly hugged her in return, the young boy crying into her shoulder. "I promise..."