"AHHH!" Branch screamed out in pure terror as the young boy was suddenly tackled right down to the ground with great force, his gun being uncontrollably knocked right out of his hands as he fell with a thud...
"Grrr..." the wolf growled viciously at it's pray as it held the 'helpless' child to the ground, suddenly slashing at Branch's chest with it's sharp claws, the deadly blade-like nails impaling straight into his dull gray skin deeply with a quick flash of pure undeniable pain...
"Ugh!" Branch screamed out loudly at the agonizing feeling, the survivalist quickly kicking the wolf off of himself, his feet hitting the beast square in the chest to hopefully save his own life...
As the wolf fell to the ground from the force of the much smaller creature's kick, Branch quickly jumped up to his feet, the village grump immediately taking off running towards his dropped gun, the young boy reaching out desperately for the tool that would ensure his survival...
But... unfortunately... the wolf wasn't finished with him yet...
Shaking off the dirt from it's thick maroon fur, the vicious beast jumped back up to it's four feet before quickly pouncing at the little gray troll once again...
Finally reaching his objective, Branch scooped up his rifle from off the ground with great haste before quickly turning back to aim it at the wolf...
But... the wild animal was just too fast for him, the beast suddenly swatting the weapon of death right out of his hand once again, the survivalist's finger just barely managing to hit the trigger as a bullet was fired...
—————
"Dinners done!" Peppy announced with a smile, placing a burnt husk of fried dough onto the table in front of his daughter, Poppy instantly looking to it in slight disgust...
"Um... looks... good... dad..." the young princess lied awkwardly as she poked at the blackened meal with her fork, the inedible thing being hard as a rock...
"Maybe we should just eat out again," the king of trolls chuckled, finding his cooking blunder rather hilarious.
"Good idea," Poppy laughed in reply, the pink troll rising up from her seat to get ready to go just as a loud 'BANG!' suddenly rung out through the forest, flocks of birds fleeing up into the sky to get away from the loud heart shattering sound that had just pierced the late night air...
"Aaaaaooooooooooo!" a cry of pure and utter pain suddenly yelped from somewhere not far from the village, both trolls looking towards the door of their home in shock...
"Branch..." Poppy whispered in stunned sorrow, the young girl instantly recognizing the sound of her friend desperately crying out for help as she looked through the open doorway with wide fearful eyes, an extremely horrible thought instantly making it's home inside her brain...
The other hunters... they... they found out...
"The wolf! They found it!" Peppy shouted out in shocked joy, the old king quickly jumping to his feet as he pulled a sharpened pitchfork out of his hair, having not heard his daughter's mumbled words...
"Wait, dad! No!" Poppy cried out, trying desperately to stop her father from going after the wolf... from killing Branch... but the orange troll just ignored his daughter's pleas, the old king running straight out the pod door without a second thought...
"Stay here, Poppy!" he called back to her before disappearing off into the distance. "I'm gonna finish this once and for all!"
Poppy shook her head at the sound of those awful words, her eyes wide and heart racing... her friend was in trouble... and she had to save him...
"Branch!" the young princess shouted out in horror before quickly taking off in the direction the yelp of pain had come from... "I'm coming!"