Down in his heavily fortified Bergen proof survival bunker, Branch slept not so peacefully as he lay curled up in a ball on the cold hard dirt floor of his bedroom, the little Weretroll whimpering silently with his dream, his hands and feet twitching violently as if he were running from something... something that clearly scared the poor boy... a lot...

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     The sounds of fighting rung through the air, the trolls and wolves attacking one another in a violent rage, so many of each kind suffering a horrible bloody death...

—————

Branch whimpered at the horrifying sounds echoing loudly through his skull... the horrible sights he could see with his own eyes that flashed with extreme intensity inside his mind... it was almost as if... he were a part of this battle... a scared kid fearing for his life in a seemingly never ending war...

Screams of pure pain and terror rung through the survivalist's head as he scrunched up his face in discomfort, his terrible dream deeply affecting the poor boy as he tried his best to just wake up, his fingers involuntary curling to tightly grasp his sweat soaked pillow...

     "N... no..." he whimpered softly in his sleep, unable to determine for sure weather this was a dream or reality... "No..."

—————

"Help!" a rather young light blue troll with dark green hair screamed out in pure and utter terror, the poor thing huddled up in the small crevice of a tall tree as she held her baby close to her chest, an angry bloodthirsty wolf right in front of her with bared teeth. "Someone help!"

—————

Flashes of light interrupted the scene as it played out in the little troll's head, making it impossible for him to clearly decipher what was actually going on in this moment as blood splattered everywhere, the young survivalist tossing and turning in his sleep, his gray skin shimmering with sweat...

     The poor boy was terrified... petrified...

—————

The wolf pounced at the young mother... another flash of light suddenly blocking Branch's view of the scene completely...

     But... when the light finally faded away... the women was gone... replaced instead by another wolf who was now attacking the first in a violent rage of fury... the poor helpless baby laying on the ground as it cried out in fear, unable to do anything but watch the fight taking place right in front of it... just like Branch was being forced to do right now...

—————

     "Grrrr..." Branch growled softly, his hands and feet twitching fiercely as he tried to run and save this poor child he was unwillingly watching suffer...

But... then... he just... stopped...

Everything about the little gray troll just froze in that one singular instant... his movement... his whimpers of pure and utter terror... even his breathing had stopped, caught dead in his throat as his mind went completely blank....

     Just then... after a few moments of complete darkness... complete silence... a sudden voice began ringing softly through the survivalist's head, his brain throbbing at the horrible blood curdling sound...

'Come...' the voice whispered, calling out to the young boy in a somewhat mesmerizing way. 'Come to me, Weretroll... come meet your fate...'

Suddenly... without any warning whatsoever... Branch's eyes popped open, staring off into the pitch black darkness of his room without seeming to focus on anything in particular...

But... instead of his troll eyes looking through the darkness surrounding him on all sides... he now had his wolf eyes, a small ominous glow illuminating from them to just barely enhance his sight...

His pupils were small as the gray troll slowly rose to his four feet, moving as if he wasn't in control or even aware of what he was currently doing...

As if he were under some sort of spell... Branch headed out of his bunker before walking slowly into the forest beyond...

—————

Poppy couldn't help but yawn as she looked through the book she had taken from Branch, the young princess still searching for a cure even though it seemed hopeless... there was just no way she was giving up on her friend... no matter how tired she was getting...

Crack!

The sudden sound made the pink troll jump as she turned to her window, looking out into the dark of night to try and spot what had made the strange noise...

It was late... like... already past midnight. No one should have been up at this time... especially not with what people were calling a monster on the lose...

Slowly, the young girl rose up to her feet, heading just outside her doorway to have a look around...

And of course... that's when she spotted who had made the sound that had completely awoken her from her tired state...

"Branch?" she muttered to herself in a curious whisper, seeing the village grump walking through the village on all fours, her best friend heading for the next section of forest just on their town's boarder... "What are you doing?"

She looked back into the royal pod, the young princess seeing her dad sleeping peacefully in his room, the old king having no idea what his daughter was about to do...

Taking a deep breath, Poppy silently left the pod completely, heading off into the dark and dangerous forest to follow Branch...

—————

'Come... come to me..." the voice in Branch's head kept saying over and over, almost as if it were a broken record stuck on repeat... 'Come...'

His unblinking eyes wide and pupils narrowed, Branch continued forwards, his hands and feet shuffling across the dirt, making it so the poor Weretroll almost stumbled and fell multiple times on his unknown journey...

At one point... the survivalist even tripped over his own foot, all of his limbs seeming rather weak and uncontrolled...

'Come... come... come...'

"Branch! Hey, Branch!" a voice suddenly yelled out from behind him, the little Weretroll paying no attention to it whatsoever as Poppy ran after her best friend... "Branch! Wait up!"

But the young boy just kept walking... seeming as if he had no idea his secret crush was even there...

Poppy got closer, finally catching up to the slow moving Weretroll as she realized Branch was no longer in his troll form... but... at the same time... he wasn't completely in his wolf form either... Instead, he was somewhere in between the two, both a wolf... and a troll...

"Branch?" Poppy questioned, not understanding what was going on... but still... the village grump didn't even look at her, his eyes locked on the path he was taking...

Confused, Poppy walked up in front of her friend to try and catch his attention, but instead of acknowledging her... Branch just went around the obstacle, the little Weretroll continuing on his way as he stared straight ahead... nothing else mattering to him other than his final destination...

'Come...'

"Hey... Branch?" Poppy questioned, turning to face him once again. "What's wrong?"

But of course... he didn't answer... the young boy just continuing to walk as if he were in a trance... nothing reregistering in his brain other than the voice beckoning him forwards...

'Come...'

"Branch!" Poppy yelled firmly, stepping in front of the Weretroll once again to hopefully block his path. "Would you please just look at me!?"

She stood right in front of her best friend, but the little gray troll seemed to be looking right through her, not seeming to see her through the fog that clouded his vision...

He continued walking, going around the obstacle in his path once more, but Poppy just cut him off yet again. She wasn't letting him go anywhere... not until he explained to her what the hair was going on!

"Branch!" she yelled again, still not seeming to catch his attention...

Again, Branch tried to go around her, switching directions multiple times to get past, but the young princess just quickly moved side to side to stop him...

'Kill her...'

Finally... Branch seemed to see Poppy, the little Weretroll looking right at her with an angered expression, a fierce growl emerging softly from the bottom of his throat...

"Branch?" the young princess questioned, not liking the way this wolf troll was now looking at her... "What's wrong?"

With slow prominent steps, the vicious Weretroll slowly began approaching his prey, his eyes narrowed on his target as he growled with pure rage, his sharp fangs showing to warn of his intent...

"Grr..." he growled, slowly moving towards the pink troll who was now backing away from him in fear... "Grrrr..."

'Kill her...' the voice whispered in Branch's brain, forcing him to do something he would surly regret. 'Kill your impermissible friend... get rid of her now like you should have done before on your own...'

"B... Branch?" Poppy whimpered, her voice squeaking in pure terror... "Wha... what are you..."

Quickly... before his best friend had a chance to even finish her question... Branch pounced at the young princess, the monster tacking the little girl right down to the ground...

"Branch! No!" Poppy screeched out in terror, trying to fight her way out of the Weretroll's deadly grasp. "Stop! Please stop!"
"Grrr..." the young boy growled again, ready to kill his prey as he raised his claws up into the air... "Branch! It's me! It's Poppy!"

Branch's eyes widened at the horrified squeal, his pupils dilating as he looked down in shock at the troll he secretly loved so much trapped beneath him...

"P... Poppy?" he questioned softly, confused of what was going on...

"Yes, Branch!" Poppy cried out, staring up at the gray troll in terror, knowing something was wrong here. "It's me! I'm your friend!"

'Kill her...' the voice whispered again, pulling Branch right back into his unknowing daze...

The young boy's pupils shrunk back down, the beast glaring back at Poppy as he growled, once again readying his final attack...

"Come on, Branch!" the young princess cried desperately. "You know me!"

Again, Branch's pupils dilated, the fog in his eyes seeming to fade away once more. What was happening?

'What are you waiting for!?' the voice yelled, becoming more demanding. 'Kill her! Kill her now!?'

His pupils shrunk again, the fog instantly coming back...

He... he wasn't in control... Poppy knew... she could tell... this wasn't her Branch...

"Grrrr..." he growled again, raising up his claws one last time...

"You know me, Branch!" Poppy cried, trying her absolute best to break through to him. "And I know you!"

Branch whimpered softly, backing away from the young princess as he shook his head violently, trying desperately to chase away the fog that still clouded his vision...

'Obey me!'

"Grr..."

Branch grabbed tightly at his aching head, clutching his hair with his fingers...

The poor boy seemed to be in a lot of pain trying to fight to regain his control... and although poppy couldn't see the violent battle that was clearly going on inside his head... she knew it was happening...

Tears of pure terror flowing from her eyes, Poppy sat up, watching the little Weretroll with wide fearful eyes, the young princess clearly concerned for her best friend as he whimpered softly, his head shaking rapidly to try and free himself from this torture...

She had to help him...

Slowly, the pink troll pushed herself up to her feet, cautiously beginning to approach the war currently going on right in front of her...

'Kill her!'

Branch whipped up his head, his pupils once again tiny as he glared at the approaching troll, the young boy quickly getting back up on all fours, his teeth bared and thirsty for blood...

"Grrr..."

But... Poppy was no longer afraid of his growls... Branch was in there somewhere... even if he was buried deep, deep, deep down... he was still in there... and she knew... she knew he would never hurt her...

"I know you, Branch..." she said again as she reached out to touch the Weretroll's fur covered head...

He backed away from the hand a bit, seeming slightly scared as he snarled at it, the little boy continuing to growl viciously...

'Kill her...'

"I know you..." she said again in a comforting whisper. "And this... this isn't you..."

Her hand outstretched to the wide eyed Weretroll, Poppy stared straight at Branch with no fear as he slowly leaned forwards, involuntarily pressing his forehead against the palm of his love's hand...

His pupils dilating once more, Branch took a small stumbling step back as he looked up at the young princess in pure confusion...

"Poppy?" he questioned yet again, the fog finally fading away once and for all...

Slowly pushing himself up onto his two back feet, Branch rubbed his eyes sleepily as he slowly transformed back into his full troll form...

"Wha... what's happening?" he questioned, looking around himself in slight panic. "Where am I?"

"B... Branch?" Poppy whispered softly, staring intently at Branch. "Is... is it really you?"

Branch looked at her for a moment and then down at himself...

He didn't know what was going on... or how he ended up out in the middle of the woods with Poppy... but he did know his friend was scared... he could see it in her tear filled eyes... and he had to comfort her...

Looking back up to his secret crush, Branch nodded in response to the young princess' question, Poppy smiling as she suddenly lunged forwards, hugging her best friend tightly in her arms, the pink troll sobbing softly into the survivalist's shoulder...

'KILL HER!' The voice screamed out again, but fortunately... it no longer had any control over Branch... his love for Poppy was just too strong...

Smiling slightly, the village grump hugged Poppy in return, comforting the young girl as she cried softly, still incredibly shaken up by what had just occurred only moments ago...

"It's ok..." Branch whispered, gently rubbing the princess' back to try and help her calm down. "You're ok... you're ok..."