Out in the darkened forest, nothing but tall trees surrounding them on all sides, Branch wrestled with the much larger wolf, the survivalist trying with all his might to get it off of himself as the horrendous beast suddenly bit down hard on his shoulder, it's sharp fangs diving deep into his flesh...

"Ahhhh!" Branch cried out uncontrollably in pure undeniable pain as the poor boy squinted his eyes tightly shut, tons of blood pouring out of his now horribly mangled shoulder... way to much blood...

Pain... so much pain... he... he had to get away... now... or else... this monster would tear him to pieces in a matter of seconds...

Quickly whipping up his feet to kick the wolf square in the jaw, the village grump finally managed to get the beast to stumble back off of him, the little Weretroll quickly rising up to all fours in a defensive stance as he growled fiercely at the threat, his eyes glowing in fury as he tried his absolute best to hide his fear and pain...

The wolf seemed shocked by this troll's actions for a moment... the way he was standing... the way he was growling ferociously at the monster attacking him... the way his eyes were literally glowing like a... like a wolf...

Realization...

Suddenly, a malicious smirk arose across the wolf's face, the hideous beast seeming quite pleased with itself all of a sudden...

'So it's you...' it snickered. 'You're the other Weretroll...'

Branch's eyes widened in shock, the young boy completely stunned by the wolf's statement...

Other Weretroll? He... he wasn't the only one?

But... despite his complete confusion... Branch held his position, the little Weretroll continuing to growl as he kept his eyes locked on the beast in front of him...

'You are a strong one,' the wolf chuckled maliciously as Branch slowly rose up to his two feet, the gray troll still growling softly as his eyes turned back to normal. 'But not strong enough...'

The wolf slowly began circling his prey, Branch keeping his gaze locked on the threat, the survivalist remaining completely alert despite the tiredness now washing over him so that the beast couldn't gain the upper hand... he would die if he let his guard down for even a second... he had to stay focused...

"Get out of here!" the village grump finally yelled, panting heavily as he reached up to clutch his throbbing shoulder. "And stay away from my fa... my village!"
'Oh... I will...' the wolf replied smugly. 'I just came to get something...'
"And what is that?" Branch asked suspiciously, raising a slight eyebrow as he kept his eyes locked on the circling Weretroll. 'You!'

Quickly, the humungous monster pounced yet again, Branch immediately ducking back down onto all fours to avoid the ambush...

Falling flat onto it's face as it failed it's attack, the wolf shook the dirt from its fur before turning back to it's meal, Branch now standing on all fours as he began growling fiercely once again...

Yet... he wasn't transforming himself into his wolf form... instead... he remained as a troll... a puny helpless troll...

'You're afraid...' the wolf observed with a fiendish grin. 'You're afraid of who you are...'

"I said go!" Branch shouted, pure rage filling his trembling voice. "Leave the trolls alone! Before I do something I'll regret..."

'Don't worry...' the wolf smirked. 'You won't have a chance to regret anything else...'

Roaring loudly, the evil beast jumped at Branch yet again, Branch jumping into it at the same moment, both of them colliding in a massive fight to the death...

Fighting back, the little gray troll tried his best to win the battle he had unfortunately found himself in, but this wolf... the wolf chomping at him with it's sharp blood-thirsty fangs... it was much stronger than the young survivalist was, pinning him to the ground with ease after only a few seconds of war...

'Say good night, Weretroll...' the vicious beast chuckled threateningly, raising it's paw high up into the air to slash Branch's head clean off of his shoulders...

Branch looked up helplessly at the monster holding him to the ground, his eyes wide in terror, the poor boy unable to do any but await his horrible... painful... bloody fate...

"Get away from him!" they both suddenly heard in an angered shout, a pitchfork strangely being thrown directly into the wolf's shoulder...

     "Aaaaooooo!" the wolf howled out in pain, suddenly stumbling away from Branch before looking up at it's attacker in pure uncontainable rage...

     It was Peppy... the old king standing near by, glaring at the beast with no fear...

     "King Peppy!" Branch cried out in pure absolute terror upon seeing the orange troll standing just a few feet away...

He couldn't be here! It wasn't safe! This wolf was dangerous!

     "Grrr..." the wolf growled before quickly lunging at the king of trolls, the beast forgetting about it's former target to focus all of it's attention on this new prey...

     Peppy's eyes widened at seeing the wolf now coming towards him at top speed, his whole life flashing before his eyes...

     "No!" Branch screamed out loudly, the young boy quickly jumping into the wolf's side, and knocking it to the ground to stop it's attack on his only father figure... his friend... his family...

—————

     "Branch!" Poppy screamed out in terror as she ran at top speed through the forest, the young princess pushing leaves and branches out of her way so she could pass, the poor girl terrified out of her mind for the safety of her best friend, hoping with all her heart that she wasn't too late... "Branch! What happened!? What's going..."

     But she froze dead in her track as she pushed through one final bush, instantly seeing that Branch... the troll she cared so much about... was currently engrossed in a deadly battle, the young boy trying desperately to fight off a massive wolf from on top of him.

     "Branch!" she screeched in complete horror, the pink princess quickly beginning to run over to help her friend despite the danger she knew she'd be putting herself in...

     "Poppy! No!" Peppy shouted when he saw her run past him, the old king quickly grabbing his daughter tightly in his arms as he held her back, away from all the violence occurring just in front of them. "Stay back!"

     "No! Branch! Branch, no!" Poppy cried, tears flowing from her eyes as she tried her absolute hardest to pull out of her father's grasp. "Branch!"

     Yet again... the wolf pinned Branch to the ground, the little gray troll letting out an almost silent groan of pain before the beast leaned over to whisper something into his ear...

     'After I get rid of you...' it began in a soft whisper, Branch allowing his eyes to fall shut in defeat, the pain shooting all throughout his body just too much for the young boy to handle. 'Troll village will be mine...'

     "Branch!" Poppy cried out again, still pulling with all her might to break free from her father's protective hold... "Branch! Get up!"

     But unfortunately... the princess' voice hadn't caught the attention of who she had wanted it to... instead... her shouts only got the wolf to look up at her, the beast smiling maliciously at the sight of the young pink troll as he instantly recognized her... the traitor's little friend...

     'Hmm...' the beast muttered softly with an idea before turning back to it's severely  injured prey with a smirk. 'I think I'll start with that one...'

     Branch's eyes shot open at the sound of those horrifying words, sudden fear flashing in his very soul at the thought of this monster hurting the troll he secretly loved so much...

     'Her blood will be sweet...' the wolf smirked. 'And her flesh deliciously easy to tear off the bone...'

     "No!" Branch screamed in pure rage, the little Weretroll quickly punching the wolf's snout as hard as he possibly could...

     "Aaaooooo!" the beast howled, whimpering in agony as it backed away from the gray troll, the beast's head whipping around to try and relieve the pain now shooting through it's nose...

     Quickly, pushing away all of his own pain, Branch stood, the survivalist getting ready to fight once more, an angry glare plastered on his face...

     "I won't let you hurt her..." he yelled firmly. "No matter what..."

     With a low growl, the wolf backed away from the little Weretroll, it's eyes narrowed as the beast looked back and forth between him and the two royals that still stood nearby, Peppy now once again holding his pitchfork, ready to defend Branch and his daughter at all costs...

     'This isn't over, Weretroll...' the wolf stated in an angered bark before quickly running off into the forest and disappearing into the clumps of trees surrounding them...

     Branch watched the monster leave with a firm glare, waiting for it to fully disappear from view before finally turning back to Poppy as he heard her quickly approaching...

     The young princess had finally gotten away from her father, and was now running at top speed towards Branch, tears flowing from her bright pink eyes as she jumped into him, hugging the village grump tightly in her arms before he could protest...

     "Ow..." Branch gasped silently in pain, the sudden squeeze sending a sharp stabbing sensation through his entire body as the poor boy shut his eyes tight in pure agony...

     Poppy gasped at the sound of pain, the young princess quickly looking to him in fear...

     Much to her dismay, she was clearly able to see that her best friend had deep bite marks in his torn up shoulder, and four scratches on his chest... not to even mention the other cuts and bruises he had gotten during the fight...

     "You're hurt!" Poppy cried out in fear, Branch quickly shaking his head in reply... "I'm ok," he assured, not wanting the love of his life to worry about him, though he was indeed in a lot of pain. "Really... I'm fine..."

     Quickly, Peppy rushed over to the now pale and clammy gray troll, immediately checking Branch's wounds...

     "You need to sit down, my boy..." he instructed, worried about the young troll he considered a son.

     His injuries were just so bad... and the blood... the poor boy's skin could barely be seen under the amount of blood covering him head to toe...

     "I'm fine, King Peppy," Branch responded, but he sat down on the ground anyways, knowing it was a request from the king. Plus... he was feeling rather dizzy...

     "I'm going to get a doctor," Peppy stated firmly, seeing how bad Branch's injuries were despite the village grump saying otherwise...

     Branch wanted so badly to turn down the offer... to say that he didn't need a doctor... but the survivalist inside him knew that he definitely did... so... he just stayed silent...

     "I'm staying with Branch," Poppy insisted, stubbornly sitting down beside the gray troll...

     She expected her father to object to this statement, but instead... the old king just nodded, understanding that no matter what he said... no matter what he did... Poppy was going to stay... she was going to stay with her best friend...

     "I'll be right back," the orange troll assured softly. "Please stay safe while I'm gone..."
"I won't let anything happen to her, your majesty," Branch promised, surprisingly seeming rather awake and alert despite his major blood loss...

     Peppy nodded at the gray troll's statement, muttering an almost silent 'I know you will' before finally turning, the old king quickly running off to find a doctor for Branch... before it was too late...

     Once her father was gone... completely out of sight... Poppy looked to Branch with a saddened expression, the survivalist gazing right back at her with slightly tired eyes...

     "There... there's another wolf?" she finally asked softly, still not believing what she had just witnessed, but Branch just shook his head at the question, his heart racing in fear at what he was about to say...

     "Worse..." he started in an almost muttered tone, his gaze locked fearfully on his secret crush. "There's another Weretroll..."