⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀< ❈Branch's POV❈ >
Branch was leaned up against the bars of the cage, his face smashed into one of them. He ignored the coldness of the rusty metal, too upset and hopeless to care or notice. It was a surprise that his colors had not drained from his body. After all, the King was becoming rather depressed from the events of losing his daughter. But he knew he had to stay strong for Poppy. If he let his colors fade, so would hers and everyone else's in the cage. They'd been in here for almost a week, given little to no food.
Branch's whole body ached tiredly, dark circles underlining his eyes, and feeling constantly dizzy with a headache. He shut his eyes, sighing, and felt a single tear trickle from his eye. It was nighttime now and everyone was asleep except him.
He then had a sudden flashback...
Branch quickly reached forward, grabbing Iris' hand and pulling her away from the large, jagged stone she was so close to grazing her leg on.
"Careful, Cupcake!" he gasped, lifting her up and holding her against him. "You don't wanna hurt your leg." He nuzzled her cheek affectionately, love swelling his heart and making the smile on his face grow.
"Thank you, Daddy!" the little Troll squeaked as she snuggled into her father's chest. "You saved me!" She reached up, flicking his purple nose with her little hand.
"I'll always save you from trouble," the blue male promised, stroking his fingers through the Princess' soft, unique hair.
Iris was staring up at him with big pink eyes that resembled her mother's perfectly, a smile plastered on her cute toddler face. "Will you always protect me?" she asked.
"Of course I will, sweetheart," Branch cooed, holding her closer and rocking her back and forth before finally setting her back down on her feet. "You feel okay to walk now?"
"Are there any rocks in my way?" Iris asked, scanning the path ahead of them warily.
"Not that I can see, Cupcake," Branch reassured her.
"Then yes!" she replied boldly, marching along the flower-edged dirt path that wound through the little forest.
"Slow down!" Branch giggled as he ran after her, grabbing her hand once again. He was very protective of his daughter and would not let go of her while they were out here.
"It's okay, Daddy!" Iris squeaked. "There's no danger!"
The King smiled once again, his azure eyes full of love. "I know, baby. I'm just trying to make sure you're safe, though."
Iris leaned against his leg, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. "Okay, let's go!"
Branch and Iris walked on, with Branch's heart feeling warmed by the little moment with his sweet daughter.
The memory was drained from Branch's mind, many more tears spilling from his eyes and soaking his slightly glittery cheeks. "I'm sorry, Cupcake," he whispered to himself. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you from Creek. I'm a terrible father. I broke my promise."
The strong male began to tremble, his hands tightening around the metal cage bars. He sniffled repeatedly and clenched his teeth hard. The wetness of his tears was hot and scorched his face like fire.
"Branch?"
The soft voice of another Troll muttered towards him. He knew who it was without even thinking.
He turned to Poppy, his expression sorrowful as he blinked at her. "What?" he croaked.
"Why are you crying?" The Queen moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head to hers.
"I...I promised Iris I would keep her safe, Poppy. A long time ago. But I didn't this time." He broke out into his bout of crying once again, pressing his face into his wife's shoulder.
He felt her hand stroke the back of his head, rocking him back and forth as if he were a baby. He liked the comfort, the way the sweet pink Troll was cradling him. It was weird because he was usually doing this to her, not the other way around. Poppy loved being cuddled and held and Branch enjoyed feeling her in his arms. His favorite was when she fell asleep against him and he got to watch her for maybe thirty minutes straight before he too would pass out into a slumber. But the couple hadn't felt that at ease, so doing something like that now would almost be impossible.
"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..."
Branch's ears swiveled towards Poppy as he heard the sweet purity of her beautiful singing voice. It had been forever since he heard a song. And the lyrics and melody were gorgeous. He thought he knew this song...but he wasn't sure.
"...and everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow. I came along, I wrote a song for you, and all the things you do...and it was called Yellow." She rubbed her hand down his back and he smiled widely, feeling the depressed, painful lump in his throat shrinking.
"So then I took my turn. Oh, what a thing to have done. And it was all yellow." She presumed with the pretty song. "Your skin. Oh yeah, your skin and bones turn into something beautiful. You know, you know, I love you so. You know I love you so." Her voice was gaining volume and stretching out, filling Branch's ears and causing his chest to swell with emotion.
"I swam across, I jumped across for you. Oh, what a thing to do." She suddenly dipped her hand underneath his chin, lifting his face in the direction of hers. A loving smile was curled into her mouth, her bright magenta eyes sparkling happily. "'Cause you were all yellow. I drew a line, I drew a line for you. Oh, what a thing to do. And it was all yellow."
Branch then remembered the lyrics. This had been a song he'd heard many times before. So he joined her, picking up from the last line. "Your skin. Oh yeah, your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful. And you know, for you I'd bleed myself dry. For you I'd bleed myself dry."
Poppy smiled even wider at him, clearly happy he was brightening up now. "It's true. Look how they shine for you..."
"Look how they shine for you," Branch continued.
"Look how they shine for..."
"...look how they shine for you..."
"...look how they shine for you..."
"Look how they shine..."
Poppy and Branch's voices now conjoined, turning into a beautiful united melody. They were so lost in the moment, not paying one bit of attention to the other Trolls around them trying to sleep.
"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you...and all the things that you do," they ended the song in unison, gazing deeply into each other's eyes.
Branch leaned forward, his lips colliding with Poppy's. He hadn't done anything like this with her in forever and it felt refreshing to have it in his life once again. He hugged her closer to him, his hot breath intermixing with hers and creating a cloud of fire-like heat around their faces, their tongues dancing around each other, and love filling Branch from the very tippy-top of his fluffy dark blue hair all the way down to his toes.
The King pulled back, staring deeply into his lover's beautiful pink eyes that were reflecting his own affection. Before he could do anything else, the sound of a window crackling open made both him and Poppy practically leap out of their skin.
The couple scrambled to their feet, Branch wincing sharply as he put too much weight on his still-healing leg. But he positioned himself eventually to where it didn't hurt as bad.
The other Trolls had already awoken from them singing so loudly, but now they looked alarmed.
The silhouette of another Troll slowly walked in their direction, making Branch feel as if his heart would burst from his rib cage. He held Poppy closer to him in a protective barrier, narrowing his bright blue eyes. "Who's there?" he called.
Oohhh, who could that Troll be??
Lol I'm back at it with those cliffhangers dayum.
Oh, and song credit to Coldplay! I've been in love with this band for years! 😍
Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote!